THE MARK OF THE UNSEEN GOD
Benjamin Patterson
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GENRE: Fantasy
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BLURB:
Look
to the hills with dread: Salmmonaksa has arrived. His armies swarm like a
plague of locusts. As the emperor prepares for his final assault, the Home City
trembles. Overrun by desperate refugees, the monarchs have gathered to plot
their defence. High King Eldilin is back at the helm, but there's no food and
no answers.
Princess
Kathryn has not given up hope. Lying on a cot in her room is the man destined
to save the realm. They desperately need him, and for the prophecies to prove
themselves true, but he will not wake no matter how much she prays. Even if he
did, he cannot do it alone. Many more will die, that is certain.
The
Mark of the Unseen God is the final instalment of the Markulian Prophecies, a
refreshingly original tale set in a breathtaking medieval world. To rid realm
of evil, everything will be required. There is no peace without sacrifice, and
no love without loss. May who they are and what they have be enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
Three:
The matching dark cloaks of these young risk-takers looked
impressive but were a childish indulgence. They caught the eye, marked them as
rebels. It would be better to dress plainly than to advertise how organised
they were. If anyone saw them gathered so, they would know immediately they
were more than a few disobedient scallywags out for a midnight adventure, but
the ambassador kept his judgements to himself. Their fate was not his concern.
Instead, he turned, pretending he was hesitant to be split
from his men. The truth was he was counting on it. After a pause, ensuring the
youths noticed his reticence, he nodded. Taking their cue, his crew pushed the
dandy back into the water and floated away. Six black-cloaked rebels led the
ambassador up the beach, three in front, three behind. From there, a winding
path appeared, cut into the mountainside. Stray fronds flicked against his
ears. Loose rocks skittered over stone. As they ascended, the coastal air lost
its heaviness,
but the bugs became more relentless about his ears. The
ambassador flicked them away. Such discomforts were familiar to Andreans,
particularly those from Mourilyan.
At the top of the hill, he looked back. His boat was a
darkened shadow amidst darker waters. If he did not know the boat was there, he
would not have been able to make it out.
All was quiet in the bay, for now.
‘Your dark clothing
is a good choice. It will help conceal you as we traverse the ridges.’ The
youth nearest him pointed to the ambassador’s cowl. ‘Is that how officials
dress where you are from?’
The ambassador glanced his way to acknowledge the question
but did not reply. Idle conversation would not benefit his cause. The less he
said, the better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST
Many thanks to Sandra’s book club for
hosting this guest post. I’ve been busily working away in the background for
more than decade, completing this trilogy. It contains more than 400,000 words
in total. Now that I’ve finally turned my had to marketing, it’s been amazing
to find so many readers and book clubs who support Indie Authors and are
willing to give new talent a try.
WHY I WRITE
Believe it or not, I was not a reader
during my school years. The only books I read were mandatory to complete school
assignments. That all changed when at the age of 18, I spied a title on a
friend’s bookshelf that immediately captured my imagination. The cover had a
wizard, a dragon and a princess. The book was gripping from start to finish. I
read the entire series. I could not put it down. And so, my love of fantasy
began.
Over the next decade I devoured every
fantasy series I could find. Sanderson, Tolkien, C.S Lewis. I read as many
books as work and family allowed. (My current all-time favourite is the
Gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch). Reading was fun, however eventually
my enthusiasm waned. I realised it was because I was struggling to find a new
fantasy story that lit the flame in my heart like those previous.
‘Why was this happening?’ I asked myself.
The answer, I discovered, had to do with
the type of fantasy available. I like old-school, good vs evil stories. Yes,
protagonists must be flawed, but they should still in their heart be fighting
for good. There’s a lot of fantasy that’s just not for me. It glorifies
violence, greed and selfish ambition. The characters in it aren’t worth
cheering for, even if they are well written. I don’t begrudge readers who like
those stories, but I have to pursue what makes me happy.
I decided that the best way to fix my
reading problem was to write the kind of story I craved. In 2017, after years
of writes, rewrites, edits and re-edits, I published my debut novel – The
Shadow of His Hand. That publication began one reluctant prison guard’s epic
quest to save the world and win the girl. Feedback from readers was extremely
positive, even if many didn’t appreciate the number of tissues required as the
narrative unfolded.
Book two of the same series was published
in 2021. The final instalment – The Mark of The Unseen God, was published in
November 2024.
The greatest experience for me as a writer
is receiving feedback from absolute strangers all over the world. It seems many
love the same type of fantasy I do. Cheers to them and cheers to old-school
epic fantasy.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Benjamin Patterson lives in North Queensland, Australia with his
wife and four children. When not writing, arguing with pilots or volunteering,
he's battling a life-controlling addiction to sport, an addiction his poor wife
has discovered is easily passed from father to sons.
The Mark of the Unseen God completes his first fantasy trilogy. He
hopes you enjoyed reading it as much as he enjoyed writing it. Writing is not
easy. Without the encouragement of friends and family, the series would never
have made it to print.
Though the series has sold well, Benjamin remains about one
million book sales short of his goal. You can help him fulfill his goal, and
encourage him to finish his next writing project, by writing rave reviews in
every forum available and catching up with him at: http://www.facebook.com/theshadowofhishand
Stay tuned...
CONNECT WITH BENJAMIN PATTERSON
LINKEDIN - https://au.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-patterson-31434494
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/theshadowofhishand/
INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/author_benjaminpatterson/
THREADS - https://www.threads.net/@author_benjaminpatterson
GOODREADS -
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16865006.Benjamin_Patterson
PURCHASE LINKS (The Mark of the Unseen God : Book Three of the
Markulian Prophecies)
AMAZON.COM - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1779622457
AMAZON KINDLE - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJDLGHWX
IBOOKS -
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-mark-of-the-unseen-god-book/id6736343749
INDIGO CHAPTERS -
https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-mark-of-the-unseen-god-book-three-of-the-markulian-prophecies/9781779622457.html
BOOKTOPIA -
https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-mark-of-the-unseen-god-benjamin-patterson/book/9781779622457.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
Benjamin
Patterson will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn
winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
