When invading Gyndilians tear through the kingdom of Klinhun and murder her sister, Adelaide mounts a peasant rebellion against the king who failed to protect them. Accompanied by her hawk Cyr, Adelaide sets out across Klinhun to secretly gather as many rebels as she can. Unfortunately, she's soon joined by a traveling companion who refuses to leave her side--and he just so happens to be the crown prince. Prince Elias has a mission of his own: to convince the people of Klinhun to join forces with the legendary dragons they've long regarded as enemies, before both races are destroyed. He's certain that fierce, stubborn Adelaide is exactly ... read more
SON OF THE DEEP: An Interview with K.B. Hoyle
I grew up with a whole collection of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales. My dad often read them aloud in the evenings to my sisters and me. But there were a few stories that I returned to on my own, again and again, because they woke something up in me: a deep, heart-pounding, chest-tightening longing. One of these was The Little Mermaid. If you’ve only ever experienced The Little Mermaid through the lens of Disney, I'd encourage you to dive into the original. Andersen’s classic is nuanced, bittersweet, and thoroughly gripping: the kind of tale that takes hold of your heart and never leaves. So I was thrilled when K.B. Hoyle, one of my ... read more
The Dragon’s Mark: An Interview with Taryn Frazier
A willful young man with an ache to prove his worth. A street girl who's trying to find her place in a world of magical wardens and lehrlings. Rumors of darkness infecting the land and of men turned into monsters. And a horrific dragon that doesn't really exist...or does it? Taryn Frazier's fantasy The Dragon's Mark, released this winter as a serial podcast, pulls listeners in with all this and more. Two summers ago, I had the great privilege of reading The Dragon's Mark in manuscript form. Taryn had read about my novel The Arrow and the Crown on the SCBWI Southern Breeze website, and reached out to learn more. We ended up becoming great ... read more
Death Be Not Proud: THE DOOR ON HALF-BALD HILL
You’d think that a book about a dying land would be the last place to turn for encouragement in the midst of a global pandemic. And in fact, I did put off reading The Door on Half-Bald Hill — for a little while. At the beginning of this summer, my heart was so heavy that I didn’t feel I could handle weighty reading. It was fun, for a few weeks, to turn to some light middle-grade reads like Ella Enchanted. But I’d heard Helena Sorensen read an excerpt of her new book at last year’s Hutchmoot conference in Nashville, and I’d soaked up her razor-sharp, insightful words in her workshop “Meeting God Through the Imagination.” Somewhere deep ... read more
A Matter of Life and Death: K.B. Hoyle’s Breeder Cycle
In these days of COVID-19, it feels both strange and somehow right to review a series in which a global pandemic plays a major role. But K.B. Hoyle's Breeder Cycle doesn't stop there. This YA dystopian series will make your pulse pound and your spirit soar as it delves into both the worst and best of human nature. With a fast-paced style that's both raw and tender, Hoyle's books reaffirm the value of life and liberty...and a pursuit of happiness that refuses to trample down others to get there. K.B. Hoyle's Breeder Cycle encompasses 4 books: Breeder, Criminal, Clone and the prequel Hunter, which takes place roughly 200 years before the ... read more
Fantasy: The Great Escape?
This was my first blog post as a new author, posted 3 years ago. But with COVID-19 raging around the world, it's been very much in my mind lately. When it feels like the world is falling apart, is reading--especially fantasy books--still a worthwhile pursuit? Is fantasy an escape from reality? For centuries, that's what critics of the genre have claimed. I freely admit that reading fantasy can be a distraction for me, a means of procrastination. Honestly, I'd much rather be exploring Tolkein's Misty Mountains than delving into the mountain of laundry covering my bed. But the fault there lies with me, not with hobbits or elves. A ... read more
“Survival is Resistance”: K.B. Hoyle’s HUNTER
Daniel Cohen starts the school day hoping he's got the guts to ask his friend Emma to prom. But when his entire town of Amherst, Virginia is destroyed in minutes--leaving only himself, Emma and their friend Crispin as survivors--Daniel must discover a courage that goes far deeper. HUNTER is the latest release from K.B. Hoyle, award-winning author of the Gateway Chronicles fantasy series (click here for my posts on her updated editions, released in 2018). It's the prequel to Hoyle's BREEDER CYCLE, a YA dystopian trilogy set about two centuries later. I devoured BREEDER and CRIMINAL, the first two books of the trilogy, and like many other ... read more
PULL: Author Interview with Anne Riley
What if you could pull back time just enough to make bad things come untrue? When Rosie Clayton travels to London to be with her dying grandfather, she stumbles on a band of teenage crime-fighters who are striving to do exactly that. Her mysterious new friend Albert, his sister Casey, and their pals Isaac and Dan are Servatores, a secret society founded 2,000 years ago to fight against forces of evil. Servatores are gifted with the ability to Pull. They can shift time backwards around them for a few brief minutes: hopefully just long enough to give them a chance to intervene for good, with no one the wiser. But through every twist and ... read more
K.B. Hoyle’s Gateway Chronicles, Part 3: The Scroll and The Bone Whistle
As a writer, I like to study other authors’ books and try to figure out how they cast their magic (or why the spell fails to stick). The downside of all that analysis, however, is that it’s hard to turn off. It’s difficult to simply let the story carry me away, without ticking off plot points in my head. So it’s been a joy to read through K.B. Hoyle’s updated Gateway Chronicles and lose myself completely. Her characters are so compelling, and the storyline so tense and deep, it’s impossible not to be swept away. Rescue and Reconaissance In my last two blog posts, I've reviewed Books 1 and 2 and Books 3 and 4 of the Gateway ... read more
Darkness to Light: K.B. Hoyle’s Gateway Chronicles Part 2
It’s possible that you might finish Book 1 of the Gateway Chronicles —The Six— and not continue on. And I suppose that, by sheer force of will, you could complete Book 2 —The Oracle— and somehow be content living with a host of unsolved riddles (for more on these books, see my last Gateway Chronicles post). But by the time you’ve read Book 3 —The White Thread— putting down this series is simply not an option. Trust me, friend, you’ll be captivated for good. A Daring Voyage Choosing a favorite Gateway Chronicle is like picking out just one favorite ice cream flavor. It’s pretty much impossible. But for me, The White Thread always rises to ... read more