Blood and Chaos – Book 2
by Nicole Sallak Anderson
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
BLURB:
The second chapter of Lord Ankhwenefer’s story is one of love, betrayal, and death. The world needs to know this forgotten king’s tale so that the ghosts of the past may finally rest.
Prince Ankhmakis has left his beloved Natasa for war and treacherous obstacles block his path to becoming Egypt’s last native king. He is the warrior that the men revere, and his orders are followed without question. He is strong and powerful with Natasa on his side, and the fear that breeds in those around him is more dangerous to Ankhmakis than the swords of the Greeks.
Natasa has risen higher in the mystic arts than any priestess before her—and she is in more peril because of it. All she desires is to assist her lover, Ankhmakis, in his quest to take back Egypt from the Macedonians once and for all, but his jealous queen, his plotting brother, and the truest evil in the world want nothing more than to be rid of her.
Natasa and Ankhmakis fight not only against the Greeks but also those at court who will do anything to see them both dead. Together, Ankhmakis would become a great general and Natasa the mystic healer who saves him. Apart, they may not survive.
Excerpt:
The prince of Behdet gazed across the Nile River at the city of Panopolis, its bonfires flickering like beacons in the dark night. A hot wind caressed his sunburnt face. He turned to see his enemy’s army spread out before him, torchlights zigzagging across an island downriver like ants on honey, protecting their city with their mighty arsenal of archers ships. He wanted control of the island, needed it, if he were ever to return home to his lover’s arms.
“This war is taking too long,” he hissed under his breath.
“My lord,” Min, his personal guard, answered. “It has been a year. It took our greatest ancestor, Pharaoh Amhose I, nineteen years to banish the Hyksos filth from our lands. Prior to his victory, his father and grandfather also battled for independence. Their line of kings fought for over thirty years to take Egypt unto back unto native hands. Our war is young. Be patient.”
Ankhmakis turned to his friend and captain, his lips curled. “I don’t want this to take three generations, Min. I will not leave this task to my heirs. I will march upon Alexandria and kill Ptolemy IV with my own hands. We should at least be to Memphis by now. Instead we’re in Panopolis, held back by their army. For the second time, the Inundation is at our backs. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be trapped here when the river floods. Such a failure can’t happen again.”
Interview with Nicole Sallak Anderson
Can you describe your dream home?
This is an interesting question. For me, location is more important than the home itself. I thought I’d found my dream home, deep in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains, in California. I lost the home, and also the trees themselves to wildfire in August of 2020. Now, I’m not sure I care at all about a home. What I want most are my gardens and my friends. So my dream home would be a beautiful landscape near the people I love the most.
If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?
I’ve recently begun eating mostly paleo and I discovered a set of cookbooks by Mel Joulwan called “Well Fed.” I would serve you something from that cookbook, most likely a salmon dish covered in ginger, coconut oil, cumin, and garlic with a side salad of tahini covered cucumber noodles. I’d add a nice bottle of red wine from the Santa Cruz mountains (I said I’m mostly paleo). For dessert…dark chocolate and ginger tea. Yum.
Tell us about the absolute BEST fan letter you have received.
I recently had a reader reach out to me to discuss my work more. He totally understood the deeper meanings in the novels about ancient Egypt and the dialogue between us has been quite delightful. He compared my work to Wilbur Smith’s historical fiction, a man considered one of the best writers of ancient Egyptian fiction. When a reader enjoys my work and ask what happens next, I’m thrilled. For me, it’s the interaction with readers that I desire most, and I try my best to answer every bit of mail, messages, or comments that I receive on the various platforms where I’m present.
Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?
The south of France. When you read Civilization’s End, you’ll understand why.
Who designed the book cover for the book you are touring?
Pozu Mitzuma. My publisher, Literary Wanderlust, purchased the cover art for all three books at once, which are stele taken from Egyptian temples. On the first cover, Origins, there is a priestess, to represent Natasa since she is the song of the king’s heart. The second book, Blood and Chaos, has a pharaoh and his queen, which represents the couple together. The last book, Civilization’s End, has the pharaoh alone, for in the end, he stood alone in history against the great Ptolemaic empire. Pozu has taken each one and recreated the colors as they might have been on temple walls before fading, making the three flow together and designing a perfect set.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Nicole Sallak Anderson is Computer Science graduate from Purdue University, and former CTO for a small Silicon Valley startup, turned novelist, speaker, and blogger, focusing on the intersection of technology and consciousness. Her essays range from AI and Zen to direct democracy to the loneliness of modern parenting (https://medium.com/@NSallakAnderson/pretty-birds-in-pretty-cages-could-the-nuclear-family-be-the-reason-were-all-miserable-46126d573263) — featured as a top twenty story on Medium. In addition, her work on Universal Basic Income has been included on 2020 presidential candidate, Andrew Yang’s, website.
Her latest project, The Song of the King’s Heart Trilogy, is a series about the last native Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and his quest to take back his ancestral kingdom from the Ptolemaic Empire. The first two installments, Origins and Blood and Chaos, are available on Amazon. The last novel in the series, Civilization’s End, will be released October 2021. You can keep up with all her latest writing on her website or by following @NSallakAnderson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Medium. Feel free to contact her, she almost always answers to any query or comment!
The books will be on sale for $0.99
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4 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Sounds like a good read.
Thanks for hosting! I love sharing ancient Egypt, and Ankhmakis and Natasa with others.
sounds like a fun one
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