From Grail Quest Books:
On November 5th, Grail Quest Books is excited to present the international debut of Key, the opening novel in Kylie Leane’s the epic fantasy series Chronicles of the Children.
Livila is a world distraught in its anguish, slowly being torn apart, through an unknown, unnatural force. The aboriginal races of the lands dwell in ignorant bliss of the destruction of their home. In one of those lands – Pennadot – a once great monarchy of Starborns has dwindled to but one line of royalty. After an Uprising tips the balance of power towards Zilon, Steward to the Throne and Overlord of the Dragon, Daniel becomes the last of the Starborn Princes. The Overlord desires to bring the Dragon into physical existence so that the ancient beast can take control of the lands. The Prince’s twin brother, David, managed to foil this once; the chance of foiling it again is slim.
“I started working on the series Chronicles of the Children when I was around ten,” Leane recalls. “It is a vivid memory in my mind, travelling in the family van on a six hour trip with my word processer in my lap–before laptops. I happened to ask my siblings what names I could use for characters in a book. My elder brother replied simply with ‘Zinkx and Zilon’ and in those six hours I built an entire story around these two opposing characters.”
Although she feels the initial developments were “awful”, readers should understand that Leane had a more challenging path to Storyteller than most. “I had no manner in which to express this imagination until I started to teach myself to type, as I am dyslexic and once could not tell a B from a D. Slowly, I taught myself how to spell, to read, and to form sentences. Suddenly, I had a way to share my adventures, not just live them myself, because for me, these worlds were a real and vibrant as the dimension we live in.”
The Child takes place some ten years after the Uprising. Messenger, Zinkx Ma’to, and his Mentor, Denvy Maz, travel home to Pennadot, in search of the Key that the Messengers believe will aid in their unending war against the Dragon’s rising armies. However the Key is not an object but a child: Semyueru Mi Runnaway (or “Sam”), the last of his alien kind – the Zaprexs – who is on a search of his own to find pieces of a Map that will tell him the truth behind his people’s disappearance, and why their magnificent Tower Machines have been erased from history.
Thus begins an adventure across Pennadot’s vastness to unravel deep mysteries and keep alive the torch of hope, while protecting Sam from both sides of the war between the Messengers and the Dragon. A tale of perseverance through all adversity, even when it is all but final that your side will lose.
“Sam is small and tiny, indicating that even the smallest glimmer of hope in terrible dark times can cause a ripple of strength to begin to stir,” Leane says. “There is woven throughout the story the concept of commitment to a cause, and of racial acceptance. Love is triumphant above all.”
For more information on this book, or to PRE-ORDER please visit Grail Quest Books HERE.
Key is Australian author Kylie Leane’s first full-length novel. It is Book One in her Chronicles of the Children series, which you can pre-order at a special price for a very limited time. Be sure to connect with Kylie on the Middle-earth Network and follow her blog and deviantART site too!
Also an important “FYI” about the cover artist 🙂
The cover art is by Ben Wootten, a freelance designer and Illustrator living in New Zealand. Wootten worked in the film industry as a designer for Weta Workshop for 10 yrs before going freelance 5 years ago. He has worked on The Lord of the Rings, King Kong and the Narnia films as a designer, and was head of the design dept for the last 2 years he was working at Weta.
Wonderful and incredibly talented guy 😀