Hello bookdragons!
Raven's Bookish Network proudly presents Heaven's Silhouette by Melissa Lynn Herold, a fantasy series about angels but with a twist! Book released on October 6th, 2020 by Wise Ink Creative Publishing.
About Iyarri Chronicles Series Synopsis:
A forgotten race. A forbidden child.
Two thousand years ago, on the Night of Bloody Feathers, humans used blades, bows, and fire to bring a violent end to their delicate partnership with the winged, mythical Iyarri, and in the same stroke, destroyed the balance of truth and justice that unified their enemy. Splintered, the Iyarri withdrew from the world of men, and with time and magic to hide them, faded into human mythos and religious iconography. But they did not forget, and in deep in cliffside strongholds, the Iyarri amended their laws: contact with humans became forbidden, and having a child with one, the Unspeakable Sin, was punishable by death. Now, one such forbidden child, Aurelia, learns the true circumstances of her birth and must evade a death-sentence handed down a millennia ago. It’s up to her to harness her unique blood and long-unseen powers to not only carve out a place for herself in Iyarri society, but also to mend what was broken so long ago.
About the book:
The differences between me and the Iyarri were so slight . . . but these similarities brought no kinship; instead the Iyarri treated them as things I'd stolen, things that weren't rightfully mine.
Hated, heckled, and reviled, Aurelia has spent six months cloistered inside the Iyarri stronghold of Idura as a living, breathing reminder of her father's sins. Much as she did in the human world, she takes refuge in her art, but when a savage act of cruelty shatters the last piece of her old life, something inside Aurelia breaks, awakening a dangerous new ability in a rush of golden light. Her new powers, left unchecked, threaten to drive her to madness, but she might never get the chance to learn more—there's someone out there who knows what she is and wants her dead.
Now, in a world full of blades, magic, and threats on all sides, Aurelia must rely on a traitor to master her newfound powers, stay alive, and reveal the secret behind her place in Iyarri society.
Here are the beautiful photos provided by our hosts for the Instagram Tour!
Day 1
Day 2
Review:
"I thought it was an emotional and thrilling book.
The pace of the story is high and a lot of things happened. It already starts out fast and there are a lot of plot twists that I didn’t see coming. That keeps you reading way past midnight and holds you inside this world even after you finish."
Review:
"The second installment of the book is just as gripping as the first one and I'm amazed by Aurelia's character development. Also, I loved how the tense chapters kept on the edge of my seat and how hope, defeat, love and loss was portrayed well over the book. It was an amazing read and I'm eagerly looking forward to more Iyarri in the next book!"
Day 3
Excerpt:
Feathers flashed and the split blades of napta rang like silver tuning forks. Two Laidrom warriors battled in the center of the great hall, their bare, taloned three-toed feet quick and light inside the braid of burnished metal embedded in the stone floor. Around them, a second, frightful circle formed, made from the wings and weapons of spectating Iyarri. My father stood among them, watching for the strike that would decide the victor.
Re-creation of the cover by @ceej_writes
Day 4
Review:
"Mourning’s Dawn is a test of perseverance, belief, and love. Aurelia finally understands why she was so different. She was The Unspeakable Sin. Now, she must do her best to prove herself and survive the trials she would face.
Mourning’s Dawn did not fail me. It still had those unique events and crazy plot twists! I certainly love those in books! The characters were also easily distinguishable but sometimes I forgot because of the names. I’m still getting a hang with remembering all the characters. Lastly, I love how the world-building is as smooth as glass, like Heaven’s Silhouette." @bhraopkpeyn
Day 5
Moodboard by @lunacelestial_reads
Q&A with author Melissa Lynn Herold and @cosmothereader
Q: What is your favorite line in the Mourning's Dawn, the second installment of the Iyarri Chronicles? Why?
A: Oh goodness, this is a tough one. I think I've always really loved: "Before the words had left my lips, the full power of the Ohlera hit me like an arctic storm breaking." It's such a transformative moment for Aurelia where she is either going to weather that storm, or perish to it.
Q: How was the process in formulating and creating the Loagæth words?
A: I wrote a very long Patreon post on this but Loagæth is based on Enochian which was the supposed "language of angels" deciphered by John Dee. In-world, humans think the Iyarri are angels and so Enochian is really snippets of (often incorrect and mistranslated Loagæth.What I kept was the essence of these things--Loagæth is a language full of syllables which lends to it sounding musical to human ears, but forging the more pronounceable accepts of Enochian into its own language. Napta is Enochian for sword. In this case an alternate spelling was nazpsad which is approaching the fantasy word salad I was trying to avoid and so picked the simpler of the two options. Other Loagæth words were created by paring back some of the more garbled Enochian to something that wasn't a train wreck on the page, or by paring together pieces of Enochian words. Linnia came from stitching together two similar Enochian words, Lnniao (beast) and Lnnia (animal). Iyarri is a blend of two Enochian words: Iarri "to the providence" and Iyar the name of a Talmundic angel.
Q: Who's the character that you created that deeply resonated with you? Why?
A: All my characters do, honestly, because there's a bit of me in each of them, but in Mourning's Dawn I just fell in love with Corat (it's hard not to, everyone loves him). When he's talking to Aurelia and says that he became a Laidrom because he wanted adventure to match the stories he loves so much and then, skies above, was he ever wrong, it's all following orders. He resonates with me so much there because I think we've all done something similar... we think we're doing one thing and it turns out the reality is very, very different.
Q: Are there any songs that you listen to or movies that you watch that gave a huge inspiration while you're in the process of writing the book?
A: I actually released one of my playlists after my Patrons unlocked it as a goal! You can find it here. I listen to a lot of atmospheric video game music when I write because it's just so easy to get lost to it.
Q: What was your main inspiration in writing this series? A: I've always had a deep fascination with winged begins and Enochian mysticism, so this seemed like a wonderful way to pair them! The idea that there ARE these things that John Dee reached and learned parts of the language of, but they weren't divine beings was too exciting to pass up.
About the Author:
Melissa Lynn Herold is artistically-talented, scientifically-minded, and magically-fascinated, something that manifests in both her fiction and nonfiction. Her debut into published fiction is the artistically immersive Heaven’s Silhouette, first book in the Iyarri Chronicles (September 17, 2019).
An herbal alchemist, Melissa owns and runs NightBlooming where she blends up herbs and oils that grow real-life fairytale hair, including ones lifted right off the pages of The Iyarri Chronicles. She has published two nonfiction books, Rehabilitating Damaged Hair Naturally and Coloring Hair Naturally with Henna & Other Herbs.
She lives with her husband in a sweeping river valley with their mutinous cats and garden dotted with honeybees.
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