Blood of Ten Kings Giveaway: Goodreads.com

Guardians of Aandor Series from TOR Books (Macmillan Publishing)

The third book in the Aandor trilogy is out on Dec. 4, 2018, and to celebrate, Goodreads is hosting a giveaway for five hardcover copies of Blood of Ten Kings, signed by the author. The giveaway runs from Nov.1 to Dec. 1, 2018. Your odds of winning are infinitely better than the Powerball, so tell your friends, sign up, and get ready to own one of the best fantasy novels of the year.

High Praise for Awakenings and The Lost Prince

Most of the great quotes and good reviews for my books won't fit in a twitter feed, so I put them here.

Goodreads Giveaway Of Awakenings And The Lost Prince

In association with Goodreads.com, I am giving away signed copies of the first two novels in my Guardians of Aandor series from Tor Books.

To win a paperback copy of Book 1, Awakenings click here. 
To win a hardcover copy of book 2, The Lost Prince, click here.
The signing period ends Dec. 18, 2014, so don't wait!

“Combines crossover fantasy in the style of Charles de Lint and Mercedes Lackey with urban fantasy reminiscent of Jim Butcher in a hard knocks action tale.”—Library Journal on Awakenings

Awakenings

Cal MacDonnell is a happily married New York City cop with a loving family. Seth Raincrest is a washed-up photographer who has alienated even his closest friends. The two have nothing in common—except that they both suffer from retrograde amnesia. It’s as if they just appeared out of thin air thirteen years ago, and nothing has been able to restore their memories. Now their forgotten past has caught up to them with a vengeance.

The Lost Prince

In Lazellari’s debut fantasy, Awakenings, New York City cop Cal MacDonnell and photographer Seth Raincrest found themselves stalked by otherworldly beings intent on killing them. The two had to accept the aid of a mysterious woman to unlock their hidden pasts, and what they discovered changed their lives.

Everything they knew about their lives was an illusion. They had in fact travelled to our dimension from the medieval reality of Aandor to hide their infant prince from assassins, but upon arriving, a freak mishap wiped their memories. Cal, Seth, and the rest of their party were incapacitated, and the infant prince was lost.

Thirteen years later, that prince, Daniel Hauer, is unaware of his origins--or that he has become the prize in a race between two powerful opposing factions. Cal and Seth’s group want to keep Daniel safe. The other wants Daniel dead—by any means necessary.

From the streets of New York City to the back roads of rural North Carolina, the search for the prince sets powerful forces against each other in a do-or-die battle for the rule of the kingdom of Aandor.

Against a backdrop of murder, magic, and mayhem on the streets of New York City, victory goes to the swiftest and the truest of hearts.

For those who do not win, you may also find the books anywhere novels are sold.

Awakenings Amazon
Awakenings Barnes & Noble
Awakenings KOBO

The Lost Prince Amazon
The Lost Prince Barnes & Noble
The Lost Prince KOBO

Science Fiction Assoc. of Bergen County Gathering

Me lecturing at SFABC gathering in Bergen County B&N

On Aug. 11 of this year, I was invited as a guest to speak at a gathering of The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County. Meeting fellow local  sci-fi and fantasy fans was a thrill and I enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experiences about general writing and publishing with them. Many thanks to director Phil Departo for the invitation.

I was excited to see people's interest in Awakenings as I explained the book to them, and more excited by how many attendees had already read the book and engaged me with specifics about their favorite characters. At the time, I was hard at work at finishing book 2, "The Lost Prince," and this was one of the rare engagements I made during he summer. (FYI, Book 2 is turned in and with the editor at TOR. We're looking at a summer 2013 release.)

Lecturing at B&N in Bergen County NJ

SFABC meets once a month at the Barnes & Noble on Route 4 in Bergen County. For those interested in joining this group, please contact Phil at: sfabcphil@gmail.com.

Me lecturing at SFABC gathering in Bergen County B&N

Two New Interviews

I've recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by two very smart ladies dabbling in the worlds of fantasy, paranormal, and horror fiction. The first is "Ten Questions For Awakenings Author Edward Lazellari," by Lauren Zurchin at Lytherus.com. 




The second is the "All Kinds Of Writing" interview by Lorna Suzuki at Imago Books Fantasy Realm.


These are intelligent conversations about writing process, the business, and my book AWAKENINGS.

ENJOY.

Review: Like Its Protagonist, All Men of Genius Gets An 'A'

The last steam punk novel I read was The Difference Engine, and that was over 10 years ago. I liked it well enough, but the genre didn't catch on with me. I think had I read All Men Of Genius by Lev AC Rosen, though, steam punk would have been more consistent fare in my literary diet. This sideways retelling of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a fun, witty tale, with characters you wish you could befriend and drink with at a dingy London pub. 

Rosen's devotion to character does not detract from the main tenant of steam punk, the revisualization of a more scientifically advanced Victorian world. His England is wondrously detailed, original, and still maintains an element of mystery. If I have one criticism, it's that I want to know even more about the parts of this world that were not mentioned in the story. The school of science where the lion's share of the action takes place is architecturally well thought out. (I've never been to London, but feel as though the place as described must exist in some form or another.) The comradery and competition within the school is spiritually reminiscent of Harry Potter's Hogwarts, only with the eccentric students pursuing scientific discovery instead of magic spells. Alliances are made early on between the students, with Violet and her friend Jack falling in with a noble crowd suggestive of Gryffindor. 

I don't want to go into much detail about the story itself because this is really a journey best discovered by letting it unfold. The short of it is that the protagonist, a young woman who's been denied the opportunity to study science due to her sex, is actually one of the great scientific minds of her age. Sufficed to say, she doesn't take "no" from the school's admission board very well and concocts a scheme to get her education anyway, at the risk of massive reprisal. Violet is a heroine you can't help but root for. Despite her unorthodox methods of getting into the school, and the doubts and tribulation that come along with her plan, Rosen never loses the beauty of Violet's innocence despite her intellect, and keeps her true to herself. You just want to jump into the pages and help Violet and the gang in their adventure. 

I would love to see this book as a movie or television series. Violet, as a character that uses her mind and promotes the benefits of study and education, would make an excellent and entertaining heroine for girls (and boys) to aspire to be like. Maybe Spielberg or J.J. Abrams will pick up All Men of Genius and be inspired to make it happen.

Edward Lazellari is the winner of Playboy's 1999 Short Fiction Contest and the author of fantasy novels Awakenings and The Lost Prince, from Tor Books.

Graeme's Fantasy "Thoroughly Enjoys" AWAKENINGS

Graeme Flory says of AWAKENINGS: "A thoroughly entertaining read with a cast that you can really get behind and root for."

Read the entire review on his blog at Graeme's Fantasy Book Review.