The Firelight of Maalda - Blog Tour

The Firelight of Maalda
by Melissa Douthit

This is Book 2 in the  YA trilogy The Legend of the Raie' Chaelia (rye - kale - ya).  I discussed Book 1, The Raie' Chaelia, and its two prequel short stories in last Tuesday's post so I won't retread that ground here.


The adventures of Chalice and Jeremiah continue in  The Firelight of Maalda as they make their escape from the ancient underground city where they had taken refuge with the entire community of Bransbury whom they had rescued from captivity in Book 1.

Chalice is introduced to her father's side of the family and learns what it means to be daughter of the True King.  She chafes under the imposed 'princess lessons', and she and Jeremiah are separated by space and social convention as he must stay in quarters on the opposite side of the city from the royal quarters and they must endure the shocked reactions from both their people at the fraternizing between the royal princess and the country bumbkin.  But it is not just class it is also a racial divide.

Chalice learns the burdensome secret kept by her family for thousands of years.  The secret sought by the False King who had deposed her father and exiled him.  The secret is thought to be a powerful weapon and in a sense is.

Chalice also discovers the significance of the obsidian stone and dagger given to her by the Chinook race in Book 1.  The stone had been stolen from her by the men who had kidnapped her on behalf of the False King.  Now the False King's men had also figured out the purpose of the stone and were on their way to the islands of Maalda where they would use it to awaken and enslave the enchanted race of  'dragons'  to use them as weapons to subjugate the peoples of the world.  Chalice is the only one who can prevent this and she must set out from the city with her royal guard, her trusted friends and her wits to rescue the stone, her father's ship and the dragons.

The book ends on a terrible cliff hanger.  Literally.

Well I am going to just quote myself from last Tuesday's post since the following is something I said while talking about the trilogy as a whole:

This fantasy trilogy has a lot going for it.  It is well plotted and the world building is extraordinary. The science under-girding it is impeccable   The main characters have depth and personalities that come alive on the page.  The dialog is more than competent with different characters having distinctive voices.

That said, there are a few areas that could do with some polishing.  The pacing within the scenes is often choppy with action and dialog being interrupted for too long with large chunks of description.  The information imparted at these times is interesting, even fascinating, and it furthers the plot and/or world building so it is not that it is fluff or filler just that it jars one out of the flow of the story.

And as with the first book, this one needs a good line edit.  But in spite of these flaws it is a fun story to read and I am champing at the bit to get my hands on Book 3.  Not only that, I hope there will be another trilogy in the future set on this world.

Giveaway:

I'm authorized to giveaway one ebook copy and since it is ebook that means this is open internationally.  The ebook is available in several of the most popular formats.

This drawing will be open until February 12, 2012. As usual I will be using random.org to choose a winner.  

Enter by leaving a comment expressing interest on this post along with your @ so I can contact you.

Extra entries can be had by:

Following Joystory on Twitter  if you already do leave a separate comment saying so

Like  Joystory's page on Facebook   if you already do leave a separate comment saying so

Tweeting once per day (leave the tweet's url in a comment here)

Add Joystory feed to your reader.   if you already do leave a separate comment saying so

Following Joystory on Networked Blogs   if you already do leave a separate comment saying so

For each one you do leave a comment here with the identifying url and/or your username.  Remember leave a separate comment for each task as the individual comments will be the entries that I assign numbers to in the order they are made.

BTW if you wonder why bother entering a drawing for book 2 when you haven't read book 1 well you can download or read it and both prequels for free at Smashwords for a limited time as part of the promotion for The Firelight of Maalda.

Mellisa Douthit has the science background that qualifies her for the exquisite world building in this trilogy.   With a degree in Computer Science she currently works as a scientific and mathematic programmer for the Army Corp of Engineers in Salt Lake City.  Previously she has worked for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, NASA Ames research Center, Lawrence Livermore National Lab and Naval Postgraduate School.

 At this time she writes on the side but her dream is to shift the balance the other direction making programming the side job while writing full time.

Melissa is holding a contest on her web site for a free Kindle during this promotion.  She says:

Contest - Free Kindle
Enter a drawing and win a free Kindle by answering the following question:
What is the title of book two of the trilogy, The Legend of the Raie'Chaelia?
To answer the question go to this link and fill in the information (place answer in Message field):
http://melissadouthit.com/contact-me-2/
Contest ends March 10, 2012.  Winner will be announced March 11th on Melissa Douthit's Blog.


Follow the tour for more giveaway drawings, author interviews and guest posts:

http://www.virtualauthorbooktours.com/

Butterfly-O-Meter Jan 27 Review                                           

I'd Rather Be At the Beach  Dec. 21 G Dec. 21

Butterfly-O-Meter  Jan. 28 Guest Post

Butterfly-O-Meter Jan 27-31 Giveaway Hop

Joy Story Jan. 31 Review and Giveaway

Hywela Lyn Feb. 1 Review

Hywela Lyn Feb. 2 Interview and Giveaway

Peeking Between the Pages Feb 3 Review and Giveaway

Everything to Do With Books Feb 9 Review                          

Reader Girls Feb 9 Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway

Life Long Learning Feb. 10 Review and Guest Post                                                       

Darlene's Book Nook Feb. 10 Guest Post and Giveaway

Jagged Edge Reviews Feb. 13 Review

Jagged Edge Reviews Feb. 14 Guest Post

WinterHaven Books Feb. 13Review                                       

Books Ahoy Feb 14 Review and Giveaway                                        

This Miss Loves to Read Feb 15          Review

This Miss Loves to Read Feb 16 Guest Post

Tessa From The Bookshelf of T.B. Feb 16 Review and Giveaway

Confessions of a Readaholic  Feb 17 Review                         

The Wormhole Feb. 20            Review and Giveaway                        

Book Nook Club Feb. 20 Review                                           

The Book Faery Reviews Feb 21 Review

The Book Faery Reviews Feb 22nd Interview and Giveaway

My Book Boyfriend Feb. 23 Review and Interview                                        

To Read, Perchance to Dream Feb 27 Review

To Read, Perchance to Dream Feb 28th Guest Post and Giveaway