Tag Archives: dark romantic fantasy

The Lady of the Lake Chapter 4 part 1

What had she done? Water slapped gently on the sides of Fairy Child. Morning sunshine filtered in through the skylight. This boat was all she had to show for the past four years. They couldn’t go back, not when she had aided and abetted Mordred’s escape. The boat money would be eaten by legal fees, and she knew there would be jail time. John would make sure of that. God, why had she ever hooked up with such a bastard? Why hadn’t she seen through him before now? Because you didn’t want to see the truth, a hard little voice whispered.
“Thee be too quiet.” Mordred slid off the seat to kneel in front of her. “I did come to your home, where a good meal was about to spoil for the want of eating. Thy raiments and other possessions were already packed. Thee willingly gave me the raiment of thy man and worked thy magic to give I the semblance of him. This was not asked of thee.” He reached over to wipe a fresh tear from her cheek. “Say why this man doth not deserve chastisement.”
“Because we are both free, and he isn’t worth the effort.” Four years of her life gone. Four years of love, total commitment and trust thrown away when the illusion shattered. A burning pit now resided in the place of her heart. No man would ever get close to her again. “I need to move forward. The devil catches the hindermost.”
Mordred flashed a wicked smile. “Aye, and he can be right in thy path.”
Yes, he could at that. Mordred wasn’t safe. Ella knew this. She had to ditch him as soon as she could, but she had to do so in a way that wasn’t going to get her caught. If she dropped him off in the Scilly Isles, he would be picked up immediately with all his strange thees and thous. Mad man, he might well be, but in John’s pay, no.
“Mordred, you need to learn to speak properly, or you will be caught the moment you open your mouth. Before we make land, you need to learn modern syntax.”
“What be that?”
“No, what is that?” The ocean was calm, and now there they had no pressing need to be elsewhere. What was pressing was her need not to think. Changing his speech was a way forward for both of them.

Five Star Review for Darkspire Reaches

Leave a reply

Amazon Customer reviewed Darkspire Reaches

Darkspire Reaches had me from the first page July 20, 2016
I didn’t know I enjoyed fantasy novels until I read Darkspire Reaches. I picked up the book because I was intrigued by the cover, but after reading the first two pages, I just couldn’t put it down. I finished it in two sittings because I had to go to work, and even then I managed to sneak out and read a few pages.
Magic, fantastic beasts, mysterious maidens, love, betrayal… Immersing myself into the rich and imaginative world created by CN Lesley felt like a guilty pleasure. The reader roots for Raven, a young girl abandoned at birth, who has to hide her mysterious magical powers to escape persecution by her hostile adoptive clan. A very entertaining and enjoyable ride!

Free Book, Dreaming of Darkspires

Leave a reply

At least it is free in some places and some areas as Amazon is not cooperating, except in the U.S. The story is also available for free at Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Tolfino and Page Foundry. When I get a moment I will put it up on other sites, too.

Serpent of the Shangrove is live now

Leave a reply

Copper is now a fully grown Drakken, but despite his magical abilities, he is shunned and shamed by his pure-blood kin.
Wandering despondent in the wilderness, Copper discovers a portal that reminds him of his lost crèche mate, left behind when the Drakkens fled their ancestral home. Knowing the portal will only remain open for three short days, Copper cannot resist the challenge to bring the lost maiden to safety, and prove himself worthy of his breed.

But the other world is not what he and his kin expected. The peoples are hostile, the Angressi emperor has not forgotten his grudge, and something is killing Samara Maidens.

In this eagerly anticipated sequel to her bestseller, Darkspire Reaches, CN Lesley transports us back into the world of Drakkens, of Connor and Raven, and of their son.

Deep in the Shangrove—a dark place that feeds on creatures of magic—a new evil is growing, waiting for the perfect mate.

http://www.amazon.com/Serpent-Shangrove-C-N-Lesley-ebook/dp/B01CO4E25I

Politics in Fantasy and Sci fi

Leave a reply

Should they be there? Oh, my word yes. Politics is really a set of happenings that determine who will be in charge and what sort of things, based on character traits, will happen when/if they achieve their goal. The character traits are way more important that what they actually promise. Promises are words and words can be denied. Who a person is, inside, is much more indicative.

Frex, in Darkspire Reaches, the Angressi emperor decrees all witches must die. Now it isn’t really as simple as suddenly deciding he doesn’t like them. There is always cause before effect and he has a secret and is none too secure on his throne. He knows witches/wise women can scry, (look into the past and the future through magical means), as his own cousin he tried to have arrested had this skill. He thought he had dealt with the issue at that time, since she disappeared. Whispers have started, so he must remove all of these people with magic. His actions start a series of events, so again effect generated by a cause. In this case, the cause was fear and guilt. He needed to protect his position, which would have become jeopardised if his secret had been revealed, which is part of the guilt. Character traits are everything, for had he been a wise and kind ruler no one would be digging around for a way to displace him.

Very often the motivation is grounded in politics. Something important needs to happen for the continuation or the replacement of a set of circumstances. They are grounded into our lives so, by extension, are part of life that must be present in full in a story to create the living, believability factor.

And here it is. The official cover release of Serpent of the Shangrove along with comments from Kristell Ink.

2016 looks to be an exciting year. We have some excellent pieces scheduled for release and today we’re sharing with you the cover for C.N Lesley’s Serpent of the Shangrove, her follow-on novel to the hugely successful Darkspire Reaches.
Evelinn Enoksen has captured (again!) the feel of the novel entirely. Nature, lush yet dark and dangerous.

More details coming soon, but for the time being, C. N Lesley has written a little bit about the book. This isn’t the official blurb, but when we asked her to sum up the story in a few paragraphs, this is what she said:

Given one chance to find the fate of a crèche mate, Copper grasps the challenge to save her and to prove himself worthy to the other Drakkens, who look down on him as a half-breed, despite his full array of magic abilities. The other world is not as he expected and the races living there don’t seem to have honor. Then he finds the Serpent, a creature of pure evil. Who will live? Who will die? One of them will not walk away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMwPuG0FEys

A seven minute interview with Jennifer Loiske

1 Reply

Today I have the privilege of featuring in a Jennifer Loiske interview. Go check it out and find out about my books and about me. Perhaps there are things you didn’t know.
https://jenniferloiske.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/seven-minutes-with-jennifer-interview-of-c-n-lesley/

Darksire Reaches, a different world.

Leave a reply

Here is where I envisaged the aerie of Darkspire Reaches. Actually, this is my own photo, taken at 5 a.m in the morning in the foothills of Mount Robson when the rising sun was melting off the mist from the peaks. If the picture looks familiar, then I use it for my banner. Anyhow, a place needs to be big and majestic to house the mighty Drakkens.

And here is the same mountain later in the morning from a slightly different angle. What a difference a few hours can make.

This is a story of self -discovery as well as survival. When a world changes and the rules alter, what must a person do to keep one step ahead? How can they spot a traitor? Who do they trust? Here is what one reader thought about the story. See below.

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful Fantasy Experience,

bookcollecter – See all my reviews

Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This review is from: Darkspire Reaches (Kindle Edition)

Darkspire Reaches by C.N. Lesley is a mixture of fantasy, self discovery, magic, and romance. Raven is no ordinary girl, however it takes quite a few chapters until her true potential is evident and her character builds from a low serving girl and healer into a magical creature, who causes a stir on her journey through kingdoms and tribal territories.

I enjoyed this book immensely and not just because of the compelling story. Raven, Margie, Connor, Captain Merrill, and the others, owe their character’s appeal to the author, who weaved their personalities with style and wonderful visual descriptions. It does not take long to immerse oneself into the world where these characters live, fight, survive, and love. it was also very apparent to me, that this was a book of exquisite fantasy. By that I mean a book, which captured my mind, and took me to another realm of existence. This is what fantasy is supposed to do, although not all books in this genre manage that with such aplomb.

I am hoping that there is something more to come? The book and story ended yet I find myself thinking that Raven and Connor’s journey is not entirely over and that maybe, just maybe we will hear from some of the other wonderful characters again, in another story.

The writing was as smooth and as clear as glass, as was the dialogue and speech patterns of the colourful array of characters.
I take my hat off to Ms Lesley, who did not take me out of her world for one second, but kept me there from beginning to end.

http://www.amazon.com/Darkspire-Reaches-C-N-Lesley-ebook/dp/B00DJE8RP4/ref=la_B00HTV3GV8_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422363798&sr=1-1

Small snippet from Darkspire Reaches

Leave a reply

I know this isn’t in the free sample offered on Amazon, so it will be something new to all who haven’t read the book.

Raven forced the food down and took a long drink of water. A bowl for washing rested at the foot of her pallet, and she poured the remainder of the water in that vessel. Margie might have told the villagers her scrying water came from a sacred spring, but Raven knew she got it from the stream behind their shack. The bowl wasn’t black inside, yet the dark brown wood might be dark enough for the sight to show future.

The ripples calmed. Shadows swirled in the depths. One by one, pinpricks of light winked into existence and then the pale orb of a full moon. A great beast flew across the night sky, an impossible beast with wings and four legs. Moonlight shimmered off the gleaming muscles as it climbed, higher and higher. A firedrake? It dove like an arrow to lights on the ground. Torch-lit shacks and people running hither and thither, terrified.
The size of the beast killing those terrified people stunned her. No firedrake grew to more than an arm span. The beast banked, hovering, and opened its mouth. Fire spewed forth. Streams of fire caught people, lighting them into living torches. Screams and shrieks from the dying. The bowl slipped out of her hands.

Now she knew the look of the beast from close by and was afraid—this was a wyvern, worshiped by the First Born tribes. Raven ran to the window, wrenching the beaded strings aside. Outside, embedded in the ground, sharp stakes pointed toward her. A creature who could fly might escape, not a walker of the earth. No one could climb across those stakes without getting impaled by the sharp tips.

***
For those interested, here is the trailer teaser for the next book in this series, Serpent of the Shangrove.
Trailer

http://www.amazon.com/Darkspire-Reaches-C-N-Lesley-ebook/dp/B00DJE8RP4/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1