The Emblazoned Red
(Book One in the Trilogy of a Tyrant)
by Dawn McCullough White
Series: Trilogy of the Tyrant
Paperback: 236 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 30, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1490317171
ISBN-13: 978-1490317175
Paperback: 236 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 30, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1490317171
ISBN-13: 978-1490317175
Book Synopsis
Once, in another world—a dark world, the world of Faetta—there lived
paladins and pirates, tyrants and scallywags, vampires and the undead.
In this world a revolution is brewing. The royalty of Sieunes are in
chains, and those priests and paladins who follow the holy word of the
gods are under attack. In the west, the kingdom of Kellerhald receives
the fleeing priests in their temples of the paladins of Silvius, god of
the Sky. Here, a young woman has just passed her tests to become a
paladin. A pirate crew raids along the Azez Sea. An undead creature,
wielding great power, roams the graveyard of Yetta. And a lost soul,
crying out from beyond the veil, seeks out a pure hearted warrior to
hear its plea. Amid the turmoil of the revolution, Ilka’s mettle is
tested. Rescued by pirates, she ends up with an unlikely ally: the
pirate captain himself. The newly trained paladin finds herself
collaborating with the undead, working with a vampire, and worst of all,
longing for vengeance against the man who has ignited the revolution in
Sieunes: Francois Mond... Death of an Innocent. Rise of a Paladin.
Book One in the Trilogy of the Tyrant, a stand-alone series set fifteen
years after the Trilogy of Shadows.
Book Excerpt:
"Beautiful Rhiannon ..." he sighed, and sank his fangs into her neck, pressing her body down onto the pile of dead flowers atop her son's grave.He had been following her around the streets of Lockenwood for a good month. He had begun following the moment he had caught sight of her lithe body and her bright red hair. Sometimes he'd sit on top of a roof and just watch as she shopped or left work at night. As he got more daring, he'd slip inside the tavern where she worked, losing himself in the hot, dirty crowd within. His cold, hard body was shoved along through the crowd: peasants, villains, beggars. The poor and the evildoers all jam-packed within the smoke-stained tavern. And there was Rhiannon, fetching swill for each of them.All of his efforts in the last month were now at their end. They reached the final climax with her death.Augustine released her limp form and laid her down to rest with her dead baby, and then he sighed because it had come too soon. He had been longing to talk to her, that's where this generally went. He wanted to get to know her a little before her inevitable death. Wanted to know who she was, what she thought, and what she thought of him. Perhaps he could've eased her sorrows for a time ... but then, of course, the lust for her blood would've gotten the better of him, and he'd have had to kill her. But still, this was basically a wasted month.
My Review
I reviewed the Kindle Edition of this book. This book is not a YA book.
As always, lets start with the cover: A young lady reclining on a tree trunk in the forest, clutching what looks like a cloth with red on it. A shield and sword to her side. What does it all mean? What is on the cloth? Whose sword and shield? Then the wording right above her: "Death of an innocent. Rise of a Paladin." Well more questions, whose innocence dies, what is a Paladin? The cover gives just enough to leave you wanting to know, what on earth is going on.
You meet a woman, a pirate, a vampire and an undead... sounds like the opener to a good story simply because what on earth could these beings have in common?
The young woman named Ilka, a Paladin whose life changes so quickly it makes your jaw drop. A weathered Pirate who inadvertently comes to her rescue, a vampire who helps her out and death. All these elements made the book interesting and I enjoyed in the book.
The story line was a great one. I think the problem for me, came to be that the transitioning was a bit off. I was left confused at certain points because of how the author sequenced her events. I did have some disconnect with the vampires character and a little background could have been given, simply because he seemed to be an intricate part of the story, given where the audience meets him in the book.That would honestly be my only complaint. Simply because the story itself has such great potential and left me wanting more.
Author, McCullough White did a marvelous job introducing the characters and feeling their struggles. Ilka's struggles really will touch the readers heart, her journey will make the reader want more. The best part was the growth of Ilka's character, she went from a young naive Paladin, to a strong Paladin and woman.
McCullough White gave you just enough to start all the questions again, who is Francois Mond? Was the rumor Ilka heard true? And I think that book 2 will be fantastic and address the questions as well as open the door to some characters that were introduced later on in the book, that I personally took a liking to and would really love to read and learn more about.
All in all, I would rate this book as a Hot - Page Turner. It kept me interested, the story line was very good and I enjoyed the characters.
As always, lets start with the cover: A young lady reclining on a tree trunk in the forest, clutching what looks like a cloth with red on it. A shield and sword to her side. What does it all mean? What is on the cloth? Whose sword and shield? Then the wording right above her: "Death of an innocent. Rise of a Paladin." Well more questions, whose innocence dies, what is a Paladin? The cover gives just enough to leave you wanting to know, what on earth is going on.
You meet a woman, a pirate, a vampire and an undead... sounds like the opener to a good story simply because what on earth could these beings have in common?
The young woman named Ilka, a Paladin whose life changes so quickly it makes your jaw drop. A weathered Pirate who inadvertently comes to her rescue, a vampire who helps her out and death. All these elements made the book interesting and I enjoyed in the book.
The story line was a great one. I think the problem for me, came to be that the transitioning was a bit off. I was left confused at certain points because of how the author sequenced her events. I did have some disconnect with the vampires character and a little background could have been given, simply because he seemed to be an intricate part of the story, given where the audience meets him in the book.That would honestly be my only complaint. Simply because the story itself has such great potential and left me wanting more.
Author, McCullough White did a marvelous job introducing the characters and feeling their struggles. Ilka's struggles really will touch the readers heart, her journey will make the reader want more. The best part was the growth of Ilka's character, she went from a young naive Paladin, to a strong Paladin and woman.
McCullough White gave you just enough to start all the questions again, who is Francois Mond? Was the rumor Ilka heard true? And I think that book 2 will be fantastic and address the questions as well as open the door to some characters that were introduced later on in the book, that I personally took a liking to and would really love to read and learn more about.
All in all, I would rate this book as a Hot - Page Turner. It kept me interested, the story line was very good and I enjoyed the characters.
About the Author - Picture and Bio Taken from Dawn McCullough White's Website
Ms. McCullough-White has lived the majority of her life in and around Rochester, NY with a brief stint in Tucson, AZ. She is pursuing a degree in psychology at R.I.T. Dawn is a history buff and was a member of the Society of Creative Anachronism for years, active as a heavy weapons fighter. She currently resides with her husband and son in a quaint neighborhood next to an old cemetery.
Dawn McCullough White's Work
Dark Fantasy series the "Trilogy of Shadows":
Cameo the Assassin
Cameo and the Highwayman
Cameo and the Vampire
Dark Fantasy series the "Trilogy of the Tyrant":
The Emblazoned Red
Short stories:
"The Ghastly Bath" The Gate 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair
Connect with the author:
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