12 Days — & Counting Down To “The Gathering of the Lost”
Are you getting excited yet? I have to tell you—I sure am! Especially with a launch and the other celebratory festivities planned, but more on that a little later … 🙂
Of course, the 11 days is only to the USA & Canada, Australia & New Zealand launch on 27 March—the UK launch will be in 22 days, on 5 April!
But meanwhile, on with the countdown—and today’s extract is from Part 4, Midsummer:
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from The Gathering of the Lost
(c) Helen Lowe
Chapter 35, Caer Argent
“Malian had been shown to the rooms close on midnight and the first thing she did then was persuade the lead-paned casement to open, initially to let in cool air and secondly to swing herself out and climb to the tower roof. Even when her eyes adjusted to the dark she had not seen much of the palace, just a surrounding patchwork of roofs and towers.
An early morning climb to the same vantage point revealed a great deal more. “‘The island of Emer,’” Malian murmured, knowing that this foothold in the Argent had been the dukedom once, during the troubled centuries that followed the Cataclysm, when war had surged back and forward across what was now Emer. Control of the island with its command over the river and surrounding countryside had been one of the great prizes, but the Black Tower was an Old Empire structure and had never fallen, in part because of foundations dug too deep into rock to be undermined.
At least by Haarth technology, Malian reflected, although she had to admit that the tower was impressive, rising sheer from the northern end of the island. The great dome of Imuln graced the skyline to the south, with a small, enclosed wood on its river side. The rest of the ducal palace was a series of halls and wings sprawling out from the Black Tower: a warren, she thought dispassionately.
…”
You manage to pack a lot into a few words there.
Not long to go now.