Hello there!

       I hope you’re well and doing well as we close in on the Autumnal Equinox (Sept. 22nd) and the release of the next entry in the Quest of Fire series (Sept. 17th)! It’s probably fitting that Quest of Fire books tend to release this time of year, because book 1, The Gathering Dark actually takes place largely in the months of late August to early November. Or in the calendar of the Lowlands, late Gladiol to early Fómhar. September is known as Aurigids as well, though fall is, well, fall in the Lowlands. It’s one of those balances I struck with the world-building of Quest of Fire. Since most of our western month names are derived from Roman deities or an early Roman numbering scheme, it didn’t make sense in a story world where Rome technically never existed to use those names. But fall, well we inherited that term from Old Germanic and it has always been associated with the falling of leaves or falling of the year into its end. Technically autumn comes to us from Latin, but it’s not tied to anything intrinsically culturally Roman. At least that’s what felt best for Quest of Fire. I did a more extensive post on this a little over two years ago if you want to check it out: Quest of Fire Friday: It’s About Time

Now, that bit of world-building insight aside, the big news for today is that since Devastation is coming out this coming Tuesday, my publisher is doing a really cool special offer where you can read each of the first three chapters in the book for free on their website. If you’ve been on the fence about whether to try it or are just eager to get an early peek at what’s in store, you can access the chapters via the link below with the following breakdown:

https://scrivenings.link/devastationpreview

Saturday – Chapter 1

Sunday – Chapter 2

Monday – Chapter 3

In honesty, I’m biased, but those are some really cool chapters from the book and Chapter 3 will leave you on a cliffhanger. Literally. The good thing is that the full book releases the next day on Tuesday, September 17th, so the wait to find out what happens in Chapter 4 will be pretty short! Though you’ll probably want to read straight to the end after that, because things don’t really let up from there.

If you’re a fan of The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and/or Star Wars, then I think this will definitely fit well with you. If you’re a returning fan of the series, definitely let me know what your favorite moment series-wise has been so far and what you’re looking forward to seeing most in Devastation.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy the first chapters of Quest of Fire: Devastation, and may the Lord bless and be with you always.