Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Book tour giveaway:Destiny Sets by Karen Fainges

Hello my amazingly distracted readers!
Another post today on a book I'm certain you will all enjoy.
Destiny Sets, Shayton Chronicles Book 1, by Karen Fainges. I've included everything today; not just a presentation of the book and its author but also my own review and a guest post that the author has written especially for YOU! And of course, there is always a giveaway in the end.
Enjoy!

Karen-Faignes-Banner
Shaytonian Chronicles – Book 1: Destiny Sets
Karen Fainges

downloadAuthor Bio: http://shayton.net/Author.htm
Karen Fainges works as a trainer in business and computing. A wife and mother, she started thinking up sci-fi stories at the age of 10. Editor of the K-tips business and computing ezine, she longed to present her fiction to the world. So she took those long ago stories, a love of the absurd and wrote about beings that were not humans. Sometimes you see a lot more about humanity and yourself when you are looking at someone else.

Author Links 
Website http://shayton.net/
Facebook Author page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Fainges/83671225033
Facebook Series page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shaytonian-Vampire-Fiction/88608175544
Twitter https://twitter.com/annalisamara
Linkedin http://au.linkedin.com/pub/karen-fainges/a/b99/424/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10612018
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Karen-Fainges/e/B0050KEU3S/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1382177091&sr=8-3 


About The Book

Book Genre: Scifi/Fantasy Vampire
Publisher: Writers Exchange
Release Date:


destiny-sets-mediumBook Description:

Destiny Sets is the first novel in the Shaytonian Chronicles.

Lightning sears a scene against the eye. Trapped between reality and death, every scrap of life is fighting for existence. To stop fighting is to die.
Some precious moments of peace can be stolen from small pockets of calm. Life can take a breath and wonder at the harsh beauty. But only for a moment, then struggle resumes. And others watch.
 The Shayton Chronicles begins in Destiny Sets, the story of one man. He is that drop of chaos that can spell success or failure.
Born from a vampiric race of slaves, genetically moulded to provide comfort for their masters, he alone decides to be truly free. Irreverent humour and a fierce need to know 'why', war within him and entire worlds are changed.
 "The Stainless Steel Rat with fangs."


Excerpt

Painting the mythic vampire

The deep royal blue sky of the Italian Riviera provided the perfect backdrop to the posed woman. She was an otherworldly figure set amongst the ancient columns. Her softly accented voice broke the stillness. "Are you sure about this?"
She watched as he added a daub more paint, "I am sure. You said it yourself, the best way to deny something it is to say it is true."
"And what if the Council finds out?"
Alfredo dabbed on a different colour. Going by the look on his face, he still did not have the skin colour the exactly right colour of purple. It had been frustrating him all evening. There was a timeline that neither one of them had mentioned, but it loomed in their thoughts. He was getting older, and no one lived forever. His words dragged her out of the wave of sadness that swept through her. "This mythical Council of yours, what if they do notice the paintings? They are just paintings."
"The Council is no myth. They rule our world."
"I thought the King ruled your homeworld?"
Lisa started to shrug but remembered in time not to move from the pose. "His rule is absolute, so long as he leaves all the day to day decisions, like whether to exile his daughter to Earth, to the Council."
"And you, as this poor exiled waif are concerned that one of those 'day to day' decisions may be objecting to this painting?"
Lisa snorted at the sarcasm in his voice, knowing it was meant more to chide her out of the doldrums than anything else. "They defend of the safety of Shayton. They hold dear her anonymity. It keeps her from being destroyed by those that fear the different, which, my dear, you must agree describes most humans remarkably well."
Alfredo nodded, "And trust me, the picture of a masked dancer with obviously fake wings..." Lisa snorted again at this description of her body, "will ensure that any little slip ups like the one in Venice, will be seen as a publicity stunt and nothing else. Your Council will thank us."


Karen-Faignes-Long

Guest Post
Wondering what a gorgeous vampire would like to say to you, readers of Urania's Distractions? Read Talkar's letter TO YOU below!

To the readers of Urania's Distractions,

May I begin by complimenting you on the name of your missive. I am a big believer in distractions, specifically of the feminine kind. Yes, I know, it is a source of constant concern to my mother that I limit my affections to a single gender, but there you are, I must be myself. Due to that self-belief, it was so flattering to be asked to correspond with you all about one of my favourite topics. Physically, I am all a Shaytonian male should be, well-muscled, toned and fit. I have my dark hair unbound and long to the middle of my back as befits a full and named male, one of the few that can breed. My naming blade normally goes hidden at my hip, though these day I may wear a sword at my side. Normally I fight with the weapons I was born with, claw and fang, but there are times you wish to keep the enemy at a distance. On Home, clothing varies depending on how you feel, or who you are feeling. Whilst on your lovely planet, I find I wear rather more as I am still not used to your sun however long I have lived amongst your people. Shaytonian colouring is so pale that I find I am often taken as a goth on your fine planet, though I find their fascination with vampires amusing. I often wonder what would happen if I did "fang out"as my eldest calls it. He was raised on Earth and so speaks a great deal more comfortably the slang and idiom of the modern day. Raised myself on Shayton, I find it difficult to drop the cadence and tone of my speech into your more relaxed mode, though I try. Still, many seem to like the air of the exotic, so unless someone is trying to hunt me, I must admit, I do not try too hard. I use a fine covering on my face and hands that shades my skin from its more normal slightly purplish tone to the closest human shade of pinkish white. Keeping the secret of my people's existence a secret is paramount as humans have shown a disturbing tendency over the centuries to kill what they do not understand. I myself am still quite young, being barely more than 200 though  I have done so much in that short time. Saving worlds, creating a new one for my people to live on in safety, destroying want to be gods and introducing myself to a fair number of quite fascinating ladies along the way. Karen Fainges has been kind enough to pen a few words on my travels, and those of my close family, and she and I were quite charmed to be invited to your blog to discuss her books. We look forward to the time we may get to know you all a great deal better.

Kind RegardsTalkar Mara

Review

(after receiving a pdf review copy by the author)

 Destiny Sets is a story that fans of the paranormal genre will most definitely enjoy. Why? Because it’s got everything you guys will be looking for: shape-shifting, vampires, otherworldly creatures, aliens, and sensual scenes.
What makes this story different from other stories on the same shelf?
Two things in my opinion:
First, in Destiny Sets vampires are nothing like the scary, bloodsuckers that threaten and intimidate humans or even aspire to turn them (for their own reasons of course!). Shaytonians are a new species in the mythical vampiric universe: they come form another planet and their struggle for survival has brought them to Earth demanding their “mingling” with humans. Even more, they are superior, wise and cultivated beings entangled in their own spiritual pursuit. More often than not, they resemble ethereal creatures you’d find in fantasy books.
Second, Karen Fainges’ language is teeming with lyricism as she handles speech skillfully and includes elements that reminded me of classic literature.
My favorite scene: the enticing, sensual, vampire dance while on a legendary train like Orient Express...
Would I change anything?
I found that the easiness of vampire acceptance by humans has taken away from the story any last sense of realism. But of course, one might argue here; why would I be looking for realism in a paranormal story?
  4 out of 5 hearts to Destiny Sets!



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2 comments:

  1. It was a pleasure to blog with you. Thank you for your kind words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Karen!
      Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to write this guest post.I really enjoyed reading Destiny sets.The best of luck with everything you write.

      Delete

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