Of The Divine
by Amelia
Atwater-Rhodes
GENRE: FICTION/Fantasy
BLURB:
Henna is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the Order of
Napthol, and her runes ’s runes tell her that the future of Kavet is balanced
on the edge of the knife. The treaties between Kavet and the dragon-like race
known as the Osei have become intolerable. The time has come for the royal
house to magically challenge Osei dominion. Prince Verte, Henna' lover, is to
serve as the nexus for the powerful but dangerous spell, with Naples--an
untested young sorcerer from the Order of Napthol--a volatile but critical
support to its creation.
Amid these plans, Dahlia Indathrone’s arrival in the city shouldn’t matter. She has no magic and no royal lineage, and yet, Henna immediately knows Dahlia is important. She just can’t see why.
As their lives intertwine, the four will learn that they are pawns in a larger game, one played by the forces of the Abyss and of the Numen—the infernal and the divine.
A game no mortal can ever hope to win.
Amid these plans, Dahlia Indathrone’s arrival in the city shouldn’t matter. She has no magic and no royal lineage, and yet, Henna immediately knows Dahlia is important. She just can’t see why.
As their lives intertwine, the four will learn that they are pawns in a larger game, one played by the forces of the Abyss and of the Numen—the infernal and the divine.
A game no mortal can ever hope to win.
Excerpt:
The
ocean that covered most of the Numen’s first level was clear and sweet. It
lapped against diamond sand where tiny long-legged birds spread wings the color
of honey as they raced back and forth, plucking drifting seeds from the air.
The Numini—those perfect, beautiful sentinels who ruled the divine realm by
might and decree—watched the birds’ antics with gentle amusement.
One
Numini looked past the white sands and crystal waters below to a realm where
the ocean was cold and tasted of salt, where verdant green cascaded across rich
earth, and where the mortal creatures lived.
Soon,
she thought. She was one of the three arbiters who ruled the Numen, second only
to the high justice of her kind.
“I
am concerned about the Abyssi,” remarked one of her brothers, a lesser judge.
“We have worked for generations to nurture these lines of power, and now they
could all be—”
“Have
faith,” she assured him. “Abyssi scrabble at the mortal realm like dogs at a
closed door. They always have. They lack the wisdom or discipline to do more
than that.”
“But
do the mortals have the wisdom to keep the door closed?” he challenged.
“Faith,”
the arbiter said again. This time it was a clear chastisement.
She
knew their children in the mortal world were defenseless. Humans had minds
barely capable of comprehending their own existence, and as a consequence lived
short and brutal lives. They needed their divine guardians to guide and nurture
them. The Abyssi—vicious, mindless beasts of the infernal realm—could fight for
sovereignty all they wanted. In the end, it wouldn’t matter.
In
the mortal realm, all things served the divine.
What inspired you to write Of the Divine?
Interview
with Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
What inspired you to write Of the Divine?
Divine is the second book in the Mancer trilogy, which I first
began in 2006 as my first-ever attempt at a National Novel Writing Month
project. It was meant to be a 50-thousand word escape from writer’s block, but
I ended up becoming so engrossed in the world, the characters, and their story
that it turned into a 300,000 word epic.
I can give a lot of cultural triggers that inspired me to write
this trilogy. I was at Texas State at San Marcos as part of a national student
exchange, so I was in the middle of a culture unlike the one I knew— Texas may
not be a different country, but it might as well be, when compared to
Massachusetts. I loved my time there, but among other things, I spent a lot of
time acting as a cultural anthrapologist. It was natural, in that context, that
I started creating a world.
Can you tell us a little bit about the next books in the Mancer trilogy, or what you have planned for the future?
Can you tell us a little bit about the next books in the Mancer trilogy, or what you have planned for the future?
Of the
Divine is the second of three books; I am in the middle of editing the
third book, Of the Mortal Realm, and
it will be released in 2019 (probably in the summer).
Mortal will wrap up the main story that started with Mancer 1: Of the Abyss, but as is the case in real
life, as one story ends others begin. In particular, I am looking at a story
narrated by the Osei, the dragon-like villians of Of the Divine; they have the perspective necessary to witness the ongoing
fallout from the Mancer trilogy, which goes beyond the boundaries of the island
nation of Kavet.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Of the Divine?
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Of the Divine?
Divine is narrated by four characters: Henna, a high-ranking
sorceress; Terre Verte, prince of Kavet; Naples, a young sorcerer; and Dahlia.
Two of the four (Terre Verte and Naples) are characters that
readers will recognize from Mancer 1, whose histories were mysteries in that
novel.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Amelia
Atwater-Rhodes wrote her first novel, In the Forests of the Night, when she was
13 years old. Other books in the Den of Shadows series are Demon in My View,
Shattered Mirror, Midnight Predator, all ALA Quick Picks for Young Adults. She
has also published the five-volume series The Kiesha’ra: Hawksong, a School
Library Journal Best Book of the Year and VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy,
and Horror List Selection; Snakecharm; Falcondance; Wolfcry; and Wyvernhail.
Buy Link:
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