Title: Dreamwielder
Series: The Dreamwielder Chronicles, #1
Author: Garrett Calcaterra
Published by: Diversion Books
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Published by: Diversion Books
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publication date: September 29th 2015
BLURB supplied by Xpresso Book Tours
In a world shrouded by soot and smoke, young Makarria has literally been forbidden to dream.
Legend has foretold the demise of Emperor Thedric Guderian at the hands of a sorceress with royal blood, and the Emperor has made it his legacy to stamp out all magic from the Sargothian Empire in favor of primitive coal fired smelters and steam powered machines. When Guderian’s minions discover a Dreamwielder on a seaside farmstead, a chain of events forces Guderian’s new threat—the young Makarria—to flee from her home and embark upon an epic journey where her path intertwines with that of Princess Taera, her headstrong brother, Prince Caile, and the northman Siegbjorn, who captains a night-flying airship.
Dogging their every step is the part-wolf, part-raven sorcerer, Wulfram, and Emperor Guderian himself, a man who has the ability to stint magic and a vision to create a world where the laws of nature are beholden to men and machines. Only by learning to control the power she wields can Makarria save her newfound companions and stop the Emperor from irreversibly exterminating both the magic in humans and their bond with nature.
DREAMWIELDER will be available in eBook and print editions on 29th SEPT
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
“Hold on, what do you mean you know what
to do?” Caile started to say, but Makarria ignored him and sprinted off through
the tunnel toward the city before the words were halfway out of his mouth. “Get
back here!” Caile yelled, but Makarria paid him no heed.
Caile snatched up his weapons with a
curse and ran off in the direction of Issborg. At the edge of the cavern city,
he caught sight of Makarria nearly halfway to the other side—the only movement
in the entire city. The Snjaer Firan were hidden away in their homes and
had closed the shutters over every window. Only the blue daylight protruding
through the glacier aboe illuminated the city. Damn it all, she’s fast,
Caile swore inwardly as he chased after Makarria. When he finally caught up to
her at the far end of the city he grabbed her shoulder and dragged her to a
halt, heavily winded.
“Stop. Wait!”
Makarria pushed his hand aside and
trotted on. “Please don’t try to stop me.”
“I’m not here to stop you. I’m here to
help. Now just slow down for moment and tell me what it is you think you’re
going to do that a sorceresses can’t.”
They were getting close to the chambers
beyond the city now and Makarria slowed to a brisk walk. “I need to get Kadar
into one of the chambers.”
“All right, that’s a start. What
chambers?”
“A few hundred yards down the corridor
on the right, there’s a bunch of caves with doors.”
“Does it matter which one we get him
into?”
“No.”
“All right,” he said again. “And what do
we do after that?”
“Then I do my work. Quiet now. We’re
getting close.”
Caile bristled at being shushed. “Slow
down then,” he whispered. “We don’t want to rush headlong into something.”
As if on cue, a heavy concussion echoed
through the cavern.
“I’ve heard that sound before,” Caile
whispered. “That’s sorcerers fighting.” He left his sword sheathed and instead
strung his bow and notched an arrow, remembering what Talitha had told him
about trying to kill sorcerers. Surprise them. Be unpredictable.
The sound of concussions and bellowing
flames grew louder and more frequent as they continued on, and before long they
could hear voices, although, they could not make out the words. Talitha’s
indecipherable shouts were little more than guttural moans, while Kadar’s
heavily accented words were taunting in their tone. Suddenly, dark figures
appeared before them, and Caile almost let loose his arrow but luckily held it
back at the last moment, realizing it was the Snjaer Firan warriors who
had accompanied Talitha. There were only four of them, and they all huddled
close to the wall at their right.
“We’re here to help,” Makarria whispered
when one of them turned back to see her and Caile approaching. “Where’s Kadar?”
“Up there,” the man said with effort,
and Makarria and Caile saw that he was badly burned on one side of his face.
“Talitha is trapped on the far side, below the glacier.”
“Where’s the rest of your men?” Caile
asked. “I thought there were twelve of you?”
“There were.”
Caile pursed his lips and pushed his way
forward past the four men to peer farther down the corridor. A torrent of
flames spat forward in the distance, and for a brief moment Caile could make
out Talitha’s form huddled behind a stalagmite twenty yards ahead and Kadar a
little farther beyond her. Then the flames were gone and he saw only shadows
again. Caile stepped back safely out of sight. “He’s got her cornered, and he’s
too far away for me to get a clean look at him,” he whispered to Makarria. “How
is it you think we’re going to get him into one of those caves?”
“I’ll get him into the open,” Makarria
said. “When I yell, start shooting.”
“I don’t see how—” Caile started to say,
but before he could get the rest of the sentence out Makarria strode forward
into the middle of the corridor.
“Kadar!” Makarria yelled. “Kadar! It’s
me, Makarria. Stop, please.”
“Makarria, no, get back,” Talitha’s
voice rang out.
Makarria ignored her and walked on, fear
in her belly. He won’t risk killing you—you’re too important to him, she
told herself, but now that she was exposed, she wasn’t so certain.
Kadar peered out from his hiding spot
and began laughing an oily, rodent-like laugh. “It is all right, Makarria. Yes,
come to me. I would not hurt you.”
“Leave the woman alone,” Makarria said.
“And then you can have me.” She stopped parallel to the first of the caves on
the right. She saw in front of her the smoldering bodies of the slain Snjaer
Firan warriors but quickly averted her eyes and kept her attention solely
on Kadar.
“But I can kill her and still take you,”
Kadar said.
“Not if I’m in the way, you can’t,”
Makarria retorted, and she stepped forward to place herself firmly in the path
between the two sorcerers. “Go,” she said, looking back toward Talitha.
“Are you mad?” Talitha hissed. “You’ll
be killed.”
“Just go,” Makarria told her. “Trust
me.”
In the distance, Kadar laughed again.
“Go on. Let the little girl save you for now.”
“Go,” Makarria said again.
Talitha paused for a moment longer, then
sprang from behind the stalagmite and scurried back into the cavern behind
Makarria toward the others.
“My end of the bargain is met now,”
Kadar said. “Now it is your turn. Come to me.”
“I’m right here. Come get me.”
Kadar stepped forward from his hiding
spot, and when he spoke there was menace in his voice. “What is it you hope to
accomplish, girl? Your dream powers are weak and unhoned still. I could burn
you to ash or bring that ice crashing down upon your head before you even close
your eyes, let alone dream.”
“Not if you want me to kill the Emperor,
you can’t.”
Kadar smiled and his black teeth
glimmered as he slowly stepped forward. “You are a clever girl. Too clever for
your own good.”
He was almost upon her now. She waited
one breath longer, then turned and sprinted away. “Now!” she screamed.
Caile stepped out into the corridor and
loosed his arrow. It whizzed by Makarria’s ear, and Kadar leapt to the side,
just narrowly dodging the projectile. He raised his hands to strike back, but
Makarria had changed her course to run right for Caile, blocking Kadar’s line
of sight. Caile fired another arrow over the top of Makarria, and this time
Kadar had no choice but to jump for cover in the nearest of the chambers.
“He’s in!” Caile yelled, notching
another arrow.
Makarria skidded to a halt and plopped
down on her butt, facing back toward the chamber. “Keep him in there,” she said
breathlessly and closed her eyes.
“I only have four arrows left—move
fast,” Caile yelled, but Makarria was already halfway in her trance...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Garrett Calcaterra is author of the epic fantasy novel DREAMWIELDER, available from Diversion Books. In addition, he is author of the horror collection UMBRAL VISIONS, and co-author of the mosaic fantasy novel THE ROADS TO BALDAIRN MOTTE. His humor titles include CODE BROWN and A GOOD BREW IS HARD TO FIND. When not writing, Garrett enjoys hiking with his two dogs and quaffing good beer.
XPRESSO BOOK TOURS
INTERVIEW WITH
GARRETT CALCATERRA
So Garrett, Makarria and Caile meet up in
this first book and start to bond—how much can you divulge about Makarria and
Caile’s relationship in the next book? Do they end up together?
Ha! Nice try. No spoilers here. I will say
this, though. They are much closer in Book 2, and the plot is, in part,
directly tied in to their budding relationship. Just remember, new
relationships are always hard. Compound that with the fact that Makarria and
Caile have some new, very powerful, adversaries, and you don’t exactly have a
great formula for a normal relationship.
It sounds like Book 2, Souldrifter,
is going to have just as much drama and action as the first book.
It’s actually even more action packed. I
worked really hard to make sure Souldrifter was better than Dreamwielder
in every way, so the plot is full of action and twists, there are great new
characters, and Makarria and Caile continue to grow as individuals.
How many more books do you have planned for
the series?
Just one more book after Souldrifter,
to round it out as a trilogy. That’s the plan, at least. Who knows? I’m just
now starting Book 3, so things could change.
How long did it take you to come up with
the world of the Five Kingdoms? And did you draw the map in the books yourself?
That’s a good question. I’m not entirely
certain how long it took me to come up with the world. All said and done, I
spent a good six months outlining Dreamwielder, developing my
characters, and figuring out the world—which included coming up with the
history and mythology of the Five Kingdoms and, yes, drawing the map myself.
I’m not a horribly good artist, but if I take my time, I can put together a
decent map.
Your novella, The Knight’s Dog,
has blown up on Wattpad and frequently gets compared to George R.R. Martin’s A
Game of Thrones. For readers who haven’t read your work before, would you
say that The Dreamwielder Chronicles fall into the same vein?
Well, I hate comparing myself to other
authors, particularly authors I admire, like Martin! How about this? Martin’s A
Song of Ice and Fire is definitely an influence of mine. It’s more apparent
in The Knight’s Dog, but I imagine you can see the influence in the Dreamwielder
novels, too. Since the series is aimed toward a YA audience, it doesn’t have
quite as much, uh, “adult content,” but that’s not to say it’s not dark and
complex.
Okay, last question. What made you
decide to have a young female protagonist? And who would play Makarria in a
movie?
Hey, that’s two questions! Ha! Okay, the
second question first. I think Sarah Hyland would do a great job as Makarria in
a movie. Or maybe Hailee Steinfeld. As for the first question, it’s pretty
simple. My mom literally dreamt up Makarria! The opening scene in Dreamwielder
is based on the dream she had. Once she told me about it, I saw all the
potential in Makarria as a character and the world she inhabited, and I just
had to write the novel.
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