Blog Tour: THE RIVER AGAINST THE SEA by Z. Lindsey

 

The River Against the Sea

by Z. Lindsey

 

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GENRE:   New Adult Fantasy

 

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BLURB:

 

Some heroes have swords. Essimore Darkenchyl has a pen. But it’s a magic pen.
Some wizards have spellbooks. Essie has Gossen’s Guide to Shipping Law. But it’s a current edition.
Some sailors have . . . experience. Essie has a new diploma and a year-long contract, and her people have won wars with less.
And that’s good, because between stolen weapons, a coup, and a strange disease creeping in around her and the crew, she might need to win a war.
In a world that blends traditional fantasy with the Age of Exploration, Essie knows a pen is mightier than a sword, especially since hers sometimes shoots lightning.
But what she thinks is a routine political dispute turns out to be something much, much more, and she may have finally met the one problem she can’t talk her way out of.

 

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Excerpt One:

 

Essie cleared her throat. From her backpack, she removed the letter of service that granted her travel permission to sail on the ship. It was folded neatly into thirds, with a glittering blue wax seal on it.

 

“Essimore Darkenchyl at your service, sir. I’m your new fully licensed shipping coordinator with Power of the Pen. It’s an honor to be aboard.”

 

The captain took the letter without opening it, folded it in half with no regard for the beautiful wax seal, folded it messily again, and jammed it into his pocket. The whole time, Essie winced.

 

“Right-o.” As he smiled, the older man’s cheeks dimpled and his white teeth shined in the sun. “Well, I thought we were leaving without you, but here you are. Good on you. Great. Yeah.” The captain turned to the teenager at his side. “Grab her bag and get her stuff to her room. She can hang out there til dinner.”

 

As the teenager shouldered her bag and grunted, she and the captain looked at each other, the captain with his beaming smile. Once the teenager left, she said, “Thanks for welcoming me onto your ship.”

 

“Yeah. Fully licensed, you say?”

 

“Absolutely!”

 

“Okay. Have a nice one. See you at dinner.”

 

“Don’t we need to . . . uh . . . onboard?”

 

“You’re already on board. You managed that just fine.”

 

“But . . . signing things. Paperwork. Reviewing the staff log. Staff log, sir!”

 

The captain’s smile faded, but reappeared so fast she wasn’t sure if she’d seen it go.

 

“Okay, fine. Let’s talk in my cabin.”

 

 

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What makes this book different from any other book in this genre?

 

I love fantasy, but my wife does not. I wrote this story for her, so right off the bat, this isn’t the kind of fantasy book where you need to memorize twelve generations of kings to know what the heck is going on. Like my wife, the character is a woman of color from a tiny town in the desert. She’s not a chosen one (neither is my wife as far as we know), and she mostly just wants to go about her business.

Essie’s not your typical adventurer; she’s a young woman with a new job who is more worried about things going wrong at work than the world ending. Unfortunately for her, the god of death is interested in the end of the world, although not the way one might expect.

Although this can be read on its own, I’ve got a trilogy already written and ready to go, so the whole story is her journey to realizing she doesn’t have to live up to anyone’s expectations but her own. It’s kind of a reverse-”chosen one” story. Instead of being forced into some sacred destiny, the story sees her stop feeling the need to be defined by the identities that have been put upon her by her family and the society she lives in.

The setting is also a break from traditional fantasy. As a resident of southern Mexico, I wrote about a fantastical version of my home, removing readers from the European-style towns of most swords and sorcery and placing them on an island that would be right at home in the Caribbean if it weren’t for the magic.

Finally, the tone is less grimdark than a lot of recent fantasy. I wrote this book five years ago now, when my daughter was a baby. That was right as Game of Thrones was winding down. I don’t dislike dark fantasy, but A Song of Ice and Fire seems to have encouraged a wave of absolutely bleak fantasy. There are dark parts to the book, because a great hero can only shine in the dark (especially if they happen to have glowing eyes). But I consider this whole trilogy project a bit of an anti-Game of Thrones: If you think it has a happy ending, you’re mostly right.

Although bleak fantasy has been mainstream for a few decades, it is hardly the only style of fantasy fiction, and many of my favorite fantasy stories aren’t bleak. One way this book is like my favorite fantasy is that it is a story of wonder and hope, a story of unlikely alliances blossoming into deep friendships, and a story of a person who could be any of us stepping up and doing the right thing. Like any good hero, Essie gets put through the ringer, but her sense of humor and her sense of wonder survive the story, and I think that message is always important.

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Zac Lindsey is an anthropologist and a linguist who focuses on the Maya people of Quintana Roo. Since childhood, he's had a not-so-secret love of weird, silly, and well-structured fantasy. When other people's parents were reading them picture books, his mom was reading him Terry Brooks. He typically writes hopeful and character-driven fantasy.

 

Today, he lives in Quintana Roo, Mexico with his wife, daughter, and various stray cats.

 

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/z.lindsey_fiction/

Face: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550498257222

Amazon preorders (for ebook): https://www.amazon.com/River-Against-Sea-Z-Lindsey-ebook/dp/B0CH3TW3YD/

B&N preorders (for paperback): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-river-against-the-sea-z-lindsey/1144077772

 

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GIVEAWAY :

Z. Lindsey will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. a Rafflecopter giveaway