Hey everyone, Stephen here! Today I'm excited to be sharing something a little different with you all. Most of you probably aren't aware of Ben Galley...until NOW! Ben is the author of the epic 'Emaneska' series (which is one of my favourite series and should be checked out by anyone who likes fantasy), and is now embarking on his next novel Bloodrush, which is where things get exciting. To give you a little taste here's the prelude:
There are many places in this world where we humans are not welcome. Antarticus, for example, has slain explorer after explorer with its wolves and winds so cold and fierce they can cut a man in half. Or the Sandara, plaguing travellers for millennia with its fanged dunes and sandstorms. Or what about the high seas, and the Cape of Black Souls? Where the waves swallow ships whole, and never spit them back out. But there are darker places on this earth. Much, much darker places.These are places that time has forgotten. That we have forgotten, now that we've turned our attention to industry, to business, and to science. Our steam and our clockwork may have conquered the globe, but we have built our cities on old and borrowed ground, a ground that knew many creatures and empires before it felt the kiss of our own feet. These were the ages that spawned fairytale and folklore. Dreams and nightmares. The world that we trampled in our march for progress, burying it beneath cobble and railroad. But stubbornness is a trait of victors, so they say. The vestiges of this old world are still clinging on, hiding in the dark places, lost in the shadows, glaring at us from behind their magic. Oh, they are very much alive, friends. Hiding in the cracks of reality; the spaces between your blinks. And woe betide anybody that dares to go hunting for them. You would have better luck in the Sandara. Of course, you have known this all along. If you have ever felt the hot rush of fear in your stomach when a twig snaps in the twilight woods, then you have known it. If you have ever felt that chill run up your spine every time you cross the old bridge, you have known it. We humans remember the darkness very well, and how its monsters prowled the edges of our campfires and snatched us into the night. We simply refuse to acknowledge it is anything other than irrational fear. Ghost stories. Boogeymen. Old wives’ tales. Nonsense, though we secretly know the truth. So much so that when we read in the newspapers that a man was ripped to shreds by a mysterious assailant in the old dockyards last Thursday, we do not think psychopath, we think werewolf. Maybe we would be right.There are dark things in the shadows, and they are far from fond of us humans.
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It sounds dark and gritty and everything I would expect from a Ben Galley novel! NOW onto the exciting bit (well I find it exciting...and I hope you do too). 'Traditional' ways of publishing are changing, and more and more the reader is getting involved, and one of those ways is through crowd sourcing. This is where the reader helps to fund the book and get's rewards for doing so! Primarily you'll get to read the book before anyone else, AND you get to say, I was part of that. There are some really cool rewards with this project, from merch to shoutouts, eBooks (including the Emaneska books, so you've no excuse not to read them), and exclusive artwork. I've taken part in projects like this before and for me it makes the reading experience so much more exciting as you get all the inside information as the project develops so the hype leading up to publication is immense because I know I've been part of this.
You can check out the project, it's rewards and read the first chapter of the book here:
The project, as I type, is 34% funded, and I think everyone should check it out and if they like what they see spread the word and get involved! I'm excited to read the book, share my thoughts with you, and I hope some of you will want to read it to!
Don't just buy a book...be part of one TODAY!
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