Sandra's Book Club: Blog Tour: THE MARK OF THE UNSEEN GOD by Benjamin Patterson

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.

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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.

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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