Goddess of Limbo
The Forgotten Splinters Chronicles Book 1
by Lea Falls
Genre: Dark Epic Fantasy
Free will is a relic of the past. Souls have a prewritten path to heaven. If they miss it, they are doomed to roam the lost realm of limbo as splinters of their former selves or worse—as demons.
Their only hope is the reaper Alames, whose own soul shattered when her celestial lover, Balthos, usurped their creators to make them gods. In her absence, he builds a pantheon of monsters and tricks the mortals, whom he blames for his grief, into worshiping him. But when a new generation defies Balthos’s law, Alames’s splinters appear among them.
Brilliant physicist Ally longs for progress and innovation, but the Council controlling her nation strips the “Mad Princess” of power. Pregnant and uncertain, the unrivaled Captain Se’azana abandons her career for the false promises of love. The starving serf Richard makes a deal with a Fae demon to save his son. And teenage rebel Vana trades her guitar for a blade when faced with ruthless nobility.
When worlds tear and hearts break, will they defy the gods’ narrative to create a brighter future or will they obey the lies preached and doom their soul forever?
For fans of THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE and THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE comes an epic rollercoaster ride of demons, rebellion, and dark magic.
Amazon * Books2Read * Signed Copy
from CHAPTER 3 – SUBIRA (in combat)
The guard who had attacked her was large and slow—human. Subira bared her sharp teeth and charged. She feinted at his left leg, which he parried in the slow fashion she had expected. Her blade sliced through the air and caught his right ankle. The guard dropped to his knees with a yowl. She considered how to end him and settled on a quick death that would intimidate other guards the most. She whipped the shotel around and sank the blade into his jugular. Blood shot out of his neck like water from a newly discovered spring and sent as clear of a message. Life, death, either way, change was coming.
She shook the blood off her shotel and watched it touch the ground—the only tribute she was willing to pay Tazadahar. She thought of Huda. They had paid too much tribute already. The man’s desperate voice crossed her mind once more, but there was no use holding on to him. Generals didn’t fight phantom anguish.
She rushed into the heart of the chaos. Talbot’s guards were holding down the main fort. A wooden archway that led to the entrance provided leverage, but the rebels cut their way through the guards, one man at a time. Subira dove into the chaos as a dancer, not a fighter. The combatants fought for their lives. She used their focus to slip between them like an extension of their shadows.
A few seconds in, she noticed a guard about to behead a rebel, a young man she had recruited personally. She slowed her dance and slit the guard’s throat before his saber cut skin. Combining movement and violence caused an intoxicating rush. This was her last battle. She had the right to savor it.
Her other hand pulled a dagger from its sheath on her thigh. The weapons became extensions of her arms as she lost herself in the dance. Each stab followed a beat only she could hear. The blood that flowed around her was wine, spilled to celebrate her performance. She longed to close her eyes and live off the movement alone, but Makeda had trained her too well to die for a dream.
The dance sped up until she was sprinting. She reached the archway and passed through the thick wall of guards before the humans realized what had happened. She wasn’t entirely sure herself. There had been stabs, blood, and more light shot over her face, then she found herself running into the entrance hall of the main fort.
Lea Falls is a writer, actor, and passionate lover of stories. Equally drawn to page and stage, she’s written plays, screenplays, poetry, short stories, and two novels, and has acted in numerous short films, plays, and improv shows. She earned her BFA in Acting at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and attended the Yale Writers Workshop. After a brief call and response with Londontown, she now lives in NYC with her wife, two cats, and a slither of skyline that never fails to inspire her. There, she spends her days murmuring lines over a keyboard or a script.
GODDESS OF LIMBO is her debut novel. Her short story EMILY'S HEIRS will appear in Hansen House's ELIXIR: STORIES OF HOPE AND HEALING (AN LGBTQ+ SFF ANTHOLOGY), set to release in January 2022.
Website * Twitter * Instagram * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads
Thank you so much for featuring me on your blog!
ReplyDelete