Sorry I haven't posted for a few days, but I have been waiting because I knew that soon I would be able to show you the cover and the first two chapters. And today it came! So without any further delay, here is the cover and the first two chapters of Farworld Water Keep! Hope you like them.
You know how when you were a kid, you'd count down every day until your birthday? That's kind of how it's going now with the book. Sometime today I'm hoping to see a more detailed version of the cover art. I did get some dates though. ARCs go to press on the 6th, which means they should be back from the printer by the end of May. I assume this means the cover will be finalized sometime between now and then. The actual release is going to be a week later than I thought. It will offically come out on the 12th of September. That means I'll be touring for the two weeks beginning the 13th. Whoo hoo!
Yesterday I got back the final inside the cover blurb, and the final author bio. Not quite as cool as the cover I'll admit. But, hey, I'll take what I can get. So here they are. (Tomorrow I have to tell you about the most fun and funniest game I've played in quite a while. My younger boys and I are hooked on it.)
Farworld, book 1: Water Keep
Confined to a wheelchair, thirteen-year-old Marcus Kanenas is an outcast and a nobody, but that doesn't stop him from dreaming of a world far away, a world where magic is as common as air, where animals tell jokes and trees beg people to pick their fruit. He even has a name for this place—Farworld.
When Marcus magically travels to Farworld, he meets Kyja, a girl without magic in a world where spells, charms, and potions are everywhere, and Master Therapass, a master wizard who has kept a secret hidden for thirteen years, a secret that could change two worlds.
But the Dark Circle has learned of Master Therapass’s secret and their evil influence and power are growing. Farworld’s only hope is for Marcus and Kyja to find the mythical Elementals—water, land, air, and fire—and convince them to open a drift between Earth and Farworld.
As Kyja and Marcus travel to Water Keep, they must face the worst the evil Dark Circle can throw at them—Summoners, who can call forth armies of the dead; Unmakers, invisible creatures that are the very opposite of reality; and dark mages known as Thrathkin S’Bae.
Along the way, Marcus and Kyja will discover the truth about their own heritage, the strength of their friendship, and the depths of their unique powers.
About the Author
J. Scott Savage has been creating stories for as long as he can remember. He lives at the mouth of a canyon where morning and evening winds keep the air clear and blue—along with blowing over patio tables, trees, basketball stands, and the occasional small child. He has a wonderful wife who has stuck with him for more than twenty years, four great children, a spastic border collie, and possibly three or four fish. (The pond is still frozen, so he isn’t quite sure.)
Scott has held too many jobs to count, including: a mall Santa, French chef, CEO of a dot com, plumber, radio station talk show host, and the guy who sits in the little photo developing booth. He has completed one marathon and hopes to complete another when the memories finally fade away. He loves reading, writing, camping, playing games with his family, and especially hearing from and meeting his readers. To e-mail him or schedule a visit, come to his website www.readfarworld.com
And thus ends the second to the last round. We’ve narrowed the fantasy series titles from sixty to ten.
The second five to go move on are as follows.
In first place, with 78.9% Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
Coming in second, with 52.6% The Time Quartet by Madeline L'Engle
Then we have a two way tie between The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, each with 42.1%
And finally Tales of Alvin Maker by Orson Scott Card 42.1%
For the final shootout, I am going to try something a little different. Rather than just voting for your favorites, I trying a tool that will actually let you rank your favorites from 1-10 (1 being the highest, 10 being the lowest.) Just click the arrows until you have the titles in the order you want and click vote.
It doesn't look like I can have the results show after voting, So I'll post the full results at the end of the voting Saturday. Good luck and good voting.
Wow, the number of people voting has skyrocketed. And the competition was fierce. (Although just wait until Saturday!) Out of ten very good fantasy series we have narrowed it down to five that will go on.
They are:
With 88.9% of the votes, first place goes to Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
In a close second with 85.2% of the votes, was The Chronicles of Narnia
With 55.6% of the votes, the Inkheart Trilogy by Corneila Funke
With 44,4% of the votes, Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
And finally, with 37% of the votes, The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud (Which was actually out at one point. Cool comeback.)
Now for Round 6, which will decide the final five books that will make it to the ultimate fantasy shootout.
Wow. This has been a tough one. It’s like watching a triple overtime basketball game, or a baseball game that goes twenty innings. Since I need to get up the next poll. I took the one clear winner, The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, and picked the second winner by the scientific method of asking my wife to pick a number between 1 and 4. Since the Vizu poll opens in random order, it seemed as good a way to pick as any. The last series to make round five is . . . (internet drum roll please) . . . The Chronicles of Prydain by Alexander Lloyd. (loud tooting of cornets!)
Let the next round begin. Step 1 in, THE FINAL COUNDOWN!
Okay, I know I’ve been cutting the voting off earlier than I said I would. But I am still in Michigan. Grand Rapids yesterday. Lansing today. (To all you Michiganites out there, this area is just plain gorgeous!) But I have to get up at 5:00 (3:00 my time) to catch a flight home. So I need to get some shut eye.
Five more clear winners today. They are:
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling in a runaway first place (any surprises there?) with 16 votes.
The Time Quartet by Madeline L'Engle with seven votes
And a three way tie for third, with five votes each for: Belgariad and Mallorean by David Eddings, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, and The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
All very good books. Let me just give a shout out to a friend and fellow author, Brandon Sanderson who not only has written the Mistborn series, Elantris, and Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians (a MG fantasy/SciFi) novel, but who was also chosen by Robert Jordan’s widow to write the last book in The Wheel of Time Series. He is a great person. An awesome writer. And definitely the right man for the job.
Okay, on to round 4 ½ where we break some ties, give some drop outs a second chance, and pick the final two novels to make round five. This time you can only vote for up to two.
Thanks again, this has been a lot of fun for me.
Good news by the way. I can go back to the VIZU voting. I wish it showed how many people had voted (to you the readers. I can see it from my side) but at least it works and doesn't break the backspace button on IE browsers.
