Emissary by E.B. Brooks | Book Review ~ Excerpt ~ Guest Post ~ $25 Gift Card | #ScienceFiction #GameLit #Adventure #IndieAuthor | @GoddessFish @EBBrooksFiction
A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.
Book Details
Emissary by E.B. Brooks Series: Emissary Quintet #1
Published by E.B. Brooks on April 18, 2020
Genres: Science Fiction
Format: eBook, Hardcover, Paperback
Pages: 433
Source: Goddess Fish PromotionsTwo Worlds. One Future.
Ewan O’Meara is no stranger to death: in recent months, he’s found his way to limbo at least once per week, much to his parents’ concern. It’s a necessary price for getting experience to become the greatest adventurer his homeland of Veridor has ever known, but the overbearing Veridian Church has him pinned down, soaking him for the penance gold to unlock his stats each time he respawns. And because the Church’s ancient war put an end to both the godlike Gems and the epic quests they once bestowed, Ewan has no better alternative.
That is, until he encounters a young woman fleeing arrest from the Church’s soldiers. At first glance, Treanna Rothchild needs it: she’s clueless about Veridian life. But she has other skills that defy Ewan’s understanding, and she knows things. Unsettling, seditious things the Church wants kept secret at any cost.
And she’s in Veridor to raise an army, to fight an enemy only she can see.
Risking both life and soul, Ewan follows Treanna where no Veridian has ever been, where there is no respawning. But for him to have a chance at making a real difference in the strange, harsh world she reveals to him, he must first come to terms with it. Especially as he and Treanna discover how much it has in common with Veridor—and how much they depend on each other to survive.
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Excerpt from Emissary
Ewan didn’t know why he did it. He had plenty of reasons. He was angry about getting censured, annoyed with Paul’s warning to keep his head down, and embarrassed by how quickly he’d ignored it. No one took him seriously as an adventurer, much less understood when he asked the big questions.
But, more than anything, looking into those eyes, he simply knew this girl was in trouble, and that he wanted to help her.
She flew past as time resumed its normal flow; Ewan shouted and leaped in front of the Swords to draw their aggro. He called up his menu, winced when he remembered he’d given Kate his armor, then equipped his blades anyway.
An ominous tone sounded in his mind, and a warning flashed across his vision that he now had a bounty, along with a reminder that only Swords were permitted to equip weapons in the cathedral. As if to prove the point, the soldiers slowed as they saw the blades flash into being on his back, but with grim smiles they equipped their own and changed targets.
Ewan spared a quick glance behind him to see the girl vanish down the steps, then turned to face his opponents.
The crowd was whispering excitedly now, but he focused on the Swords, quickly calling on his own basic aura-reading skills to scan them. They were stronger than him, and bigger too, but neither had bothered to bolster their defense beyond their armor, clearly seeing him as an easy mark.
Time to see what agility’s all about, he thought with a nervous chuckle.
Excerpt provided by the author/publisher for use in this post.
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Purchase Links for Emissary
Amazon – OneLink for every country
Emissary (Emissary Quintet ...Shop on Amazon
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My thoughts on Emissary
“Emissary” by E.B. Brooks is an engaging GameLit novel that opens the door to a thrilling adventure. In a world where death leads to frequent visits to limbo and the overbearing Veridian Church holds sway, Ewan O’Meara’s quest for greatness takes a dangerous turn. The story introduces us to a young woman, Treanna Rothchild, who possesses mysterious skills and knowledge that challenge the Church’s secrets.
The novel is a solid start to what promises to be an epic adventure quest. Even if GameLit is not your usual genre, “Emissary” offers an enjoyable experience with well-crafted characters, including both heroes and villains. The author’s world-building skills shine through, immersing readers in a rich and intriguing setting. As Ewan and Treanna venture into the unknown, the story showcases their worlds’ interconnectedness and dependency on each other for survival. “Emissary” is a captivating and well-executed tale that paves the way for an exciting journey ahead.
I received a copy of the book for the tour. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.
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I love my Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. So many books, so little time!
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About E.B. Brooks
E.B. Brooks lives in the southeastern USA, where he splits his time between writing, research, and homesteading. He enjoys building fictional worlds, real houses, and landscape models, but he’s most at home with his wife and children, and their many, many pets.
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Guest Post by E.B. Brooks, Author of Emissary
Tones and Subtones
When writing the Emissary Quintet, and perhaps because I was excited to be writing at all and eager to explore the full breadth of the field, I found myself drafting each book…differently. As I went through the first drafts of all five books, I came to realize that I was adding a distinct subtone to each one, layered in through the more comprehensive tone of the series. That’s had some interesting ramifications, not least of which is a real challenge for marketing.
Accordingly, the following will contain spoilers for the series and its settings. The clean version is to say Emissary is science fiction with a fantasy/gaming subtone, whereas its sequels use subtones ranging from political suspense to romance to military to horror—all while holding to the same core tone as the characters suffer and grow. If you don’t mind spoilers that break some of the immersion to get a more complete picture of what I mean, then read on! (Otherwise, read Emissary first!)
What do I mean by subtones? For example, Emissary starts in the swords-and-sorcery style world of Veridor, where the people routinely work with swords and axes, monsters and loot, and enchanted gear. There’s a natural fantasy-adventure feel to it, and had the story stayed in Veridor, that might have been enough to run with. But Emissary isn’t fantasy, not really: it’s science fiction, in that Veridor is (spoilers!) one of many game worlds interconnected through the Logos operating system in the Centre, which is itself an underground refuge from the climate-changed, post-apocalyptic real world above. Events in the real world drive one Central staff member, Treanna Rothchild, to log into Veridor and recruit an army for the Centre’s defense. When this goes disastrously wrong, she instead allies with Ewan O’Meara, an erstwhile adventurer desperate to make a lasting impact on the world. Accordingly, Emissary, being told from Ewan’s perspective (except for the prologue, from Tree’s), starts out as a fantasy, GameLit story, with deliberately tropey elements, terms, and humor familiar to most RPG gamers. But as Ewan (and the reader) learn more about the truth of the worlds, the book moves into hard science fiction and becomes a hopepunk tale about accepting responsibility for the world we inherit, no matter whose fault it is, and striving to improve it.
In contrast, the series’ second book, Sandstorm, drops the fantasy subtone and moves into political suspense. At this point, Ewan has established himself in the real world, but his nemesis, the Diamond Lord, is working covertly to undermine Ewan’s efforts and ultimately annihilate every one of Ewan’s countrymen. Even Ewan’s allies in the Centre aren’t trustworthy, because each has their own agenda, and everyone uses Ewan. He has to learn who he can trust, while reaching out to a new game world and dealing with the consequences of merging two player cultures with the barely-tolerant Central one. And every mistake he makes is fuel for the Diamond Lord to secure more allies.
Neverborn is the soon-to-be published third book in the quintet, and its subtone shifts completely into a peculiar blend of romance and horror—which might be the best thing to expect when Ewan and his fellow emissaries log into a new game world, populated by elves and harried by a relentless necromancer. Scarred in multiple ways by the events of Sandstorm, Ewan has to relearn to trust and forgive, and he must hurry, because the Diamond Lord works tirelessly to bring apocalyptic destruction from within to every world. Ewan finds temptation and healing in the new world, but he must rebuild who he is and how he loves to help his friends.
The fourth book, with a working title of Olive & Locust, moves things to a more global, more Orwellian subtone. By this point in the series, the question of whether humans can reclaim the Earth is giving way to the question of what kind of world they would create there. As before, Ewan must navigate a minefield of conflicting agendas, but it’s the consequences of events in Neverborn that thrust him into a deadly situation that ultimately leaves him bereft of conscience, not knowing anymore what’s right and what’s wrong.
This sets up the fifth and final book, Transcendence, which has less a subtone (hopepunk, if anything) and more the synthesis of all that came before it, making it the most quintessentially “Emissary” of the series. With the scars of his experiences and the consequences of his actions shaping his every move, Ewan must overcome his own resentment and despair to find the secret heartbeat of the future he desperately desires, one that the more he learns, the more he fears can never be. The Centre’s darkest secrets are exposed at last, and Ewan is forced to understand the root of the Diamond Lord’s hate—and either overcome it, or decide the worlds not only can’t but shouldn’t be saved, and, like his enemy, become an emissary of the end.
Putting all this into one coherent series has been an intense effort, but it’s been rewarding in the extreme. Little things, like coordinating with my cover artist on whether for Neverborn Ewan should have the torn shirt all leading men in romance novels, or leaning into tropes of fantasy and horror, these all give each book its unique flavor, while—just as with real life—contributing to a synthesized whole. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.
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Purchase Emissary online from a local bookstore.
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Easy Amazon Info Link
Amazon – OneLink for every country
If the above link does not take you to your country, here are a few more:
Please send me a note if your country isn’t listed and you would like to purchase using my links. Using my link does not change the price you pay. Amazon pays me a minimal amount out of their share.
Emissary (Emissary Quintet ...Shop on Amazon
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Giveaway!
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
Visit more stops on this Goddess Fish tour for extra chances to win!
Official Tour Page for Emissary
Full Tour Schedule:
September 26: Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
September 28: Kenyan Poet
October 3: Sandra’s Book Club
October 5: Literary Gold
October 10: Readers Roost
October 12: The Writer’s Blog
October 17: Kit ‘n Kabookle
October 19: Sybrina’s Book Blog
October 24: Beyond Romance
October 26: Gina Rae Mitchell – review
October 31: Westveil Publishing
November 2: The Avid Reader
November 7: FUONLYKNEW
November 9: fundinmental
November 14: Fabulous and Brunette
November 16: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
November 21: Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!
November 28: Author Deborah A. Bailey Blog
November 30: A Wonderful World of Words
December 5: Ilovebooksandstuffblog
December 7: Dawn’s Reading Nook
December 12: Author C.A.Milson
December 14: Straight From the Library
December 19: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
December 21: Our Town Book Reviews
January 2: The Faerie Review – review only
January 4: It’s Raining Books
January 9: Wendi Zwaduk – Romance to Make Your Heart Race
January 11: travel the ages
January 16: Long and Short Reviews
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Goddess Fish Virtual Book Tour Host
[…] Gina Rae Mitchell […]
What does your ideal weekend look like?
I really like the cover and excerpt.
Thank you! I’m very happy with how the cover came out, especially next to Sandstorm’s cover.
The cover looks good. Sounds like an interesting story.
Thank you!
What values are most important to you?
Not unlike Ewan, I’d say honesty and a focus on the truth are key values for me.
Such an important value and I appreciated your taking the time such an insightful response!
Thank you for your review! I’m tickled that you enjoyed the book. Here’s hoping you’ll enjoy the sequel, Sandstorm, as well!
Thanks for sharing your book with us!
It was my pleasure! Let me know if you’d like a look at Sandstorm as well.
Emissary by E.B. Brooks sounds like a book that will engage many readers.
I certainly hope so! 🙂
Thank you for hosting today.