Monday, August 10, 2015

Meet the Characters of The Semei Trilogy by Natalie Crown - Giveaway


Please help me welcome Natalie Crown, author of The Semei Trilogy, to the blog. The covers for this trilogy are so beautiful, I love them:)
Ready to meet some of the characters from Natalie's fantasy world?

Meet the Characters of The Semei Trilogy

Kammy Helseth

Of all the characters I feel that Kammy grew the most over the course of the first book. She started out very unsure of herself, very unsure of what she wanted, and absolutely terrified of the situation that she found herself in. The only reason she kept going, kept running from Bagor, initially was because she quite simply had no other choice.

But the longer she spent in the Semei world, the longer she travelled with Jad and the others, the more she started to learn about herself. For one thing, she learned that she was not useless when she saved the others from a patrol of Armours. She learned that she could be brave, when she made the decision to return to Alashdial. And she learned what it was to have friends, other than Jamie.

By the end of the book, Kammy was not so much changed...rather, she had finally learned how to be herself in her own skin. And she takes that forward within the Lion’s Pride. She fights to become stronger, she fights to learn more about her heritage, and she also begins to open her heart to further possibilities…

Kammy is kind and loyal. She doubts too often, and she may be too malleable. At heart Kammy is still somewhat reserved, but she has the heart of a lion when she is backed into a corner.
  
Jadanim Ollarion

Jad was always meant to be a leader, but when his grandfather was alive that future seemed a distant thing. When his grandfather led the Council, Jad was still free to be a boy. He laughed with his friends, he kissed the people that he wanted to kiss and he looked forward to each day with the optimism of youth.

When his uncle, Bagor, killed his grandfather - that all changed.

Suddenly, the responsibility of leadership crashed down upon his shoulders. And what was worse was that he was in no position to lead. At first imprisoned, and then outlawed, Jad feels the pressure to save Alashdial from its new king, without knowing how to win it back.

And so, Jad smiles a lot less now. He can be annoyingly stubborn, and often focuses on the negatives. Then again, there are quite a few negatives in his life so we can forgive him that at least.

Still, in the The Lion’s Pride he starts to find his way. Not only with regards to being a leader, not only with the scar on his arm and what it stands for, but he also starts to realise that the Jad he used to be can work together with the new.
  
Tayah Quell

Tayah has been friends with Jad and Eric for years, best friends. She is fiercely loyal to them and to their cause, and every action that she takes considers Boo, her little brother. She is quick to anger and to snap, but she is also quick to laugh and ready for mischief.

It took her a long time to warm to Kammy in the first book, as she was deeply prejudiced against humans - much like her sister, Ria. Unlike her sister, who is Bagor’s right hand woman, Tayah is coming around to the idea. In fact, she feels quite guilty for her past opinions, and her struggle to make amends for that is a big part of The Lion’s Pride.

We get to know Tayah a lot better in this book actually, so I won’t say too much more. Fingers crossed people enjoy reading about her as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Eric Howd

Eric is the rock of the group.

Long time friend of both Jad and Tayah, he is the one that can calm Tayah’s temper and pull Jad out of his moods. He is also the driving force when it comes to deciding to save Kammy, and he looks out for her initially while the other two are more sceptical about her presence.

He is a kind and thoughtful individual, who is always looking out for everyone else. At one point in The Wolf’s Cry, Kammy wonders who is there to look out for him?

Sadly, he found himself struggling towards the end of the first book. Will that impact him going forwards in The Lion’s Pride? We shall have to wait and see.
  
Jamie Powell

Jamie is Kammy’s best friend. For much of The Wolf’s Cry, Kammy believes that he is dead. In fact, he was captured by Ria and spent that time without the palace in Alashdial to be used as bait. The bait worked, but Kammy and the others thwarted Bagor and saved Jamie’s life.

So, now he is part of the gang and while Kammy took some time to find her way, he jumps head first into things. He is confident, he is bold, and he faces everything with a smile and a laugh.

That said, perhaps things aren’t as easy for him as he makes it seem...

 Bagor Ollarion

Bagor is our antagonist.

He is Jad’s uncle, but their relationship is strained due to the fact that Bagor murdered both Jad’s father and grandfather. Awkward.

He also has an...odd relationship with Kammy, due to his past with her mother. Bagor was, in fact, in love with Marianna and he seems fixated on bringing Kammy under his wing in Alashdial.

Still, his primary focus is building his army to take the humans on the surface to war for the damage that they are doing to the earth and its Crystal’s. It sounds strangely heroic, but Bagor’s motivations, though shrouded with question marks, seem entirely selfish. Many Semei would die in such a war, yet he does not seem to care.

Bagor is still a mystery in many ways. What does he really want from Kammy? What does he see in his future?


One thing I love about fantasy books is the awesome array of names. If you are a writer, how do you come up with names? With fantasy, an author not only has to name the characters but all the places as well. It can be a daunting task.
When writing Shadow Fire, there were several times I put 'name later' for places, rivers, mountains, etc. The forest near the town where Ashlyn grew up is the Planthes Forest (I didn't have a name, so I typed the first thing that came to mind-- Plant & hes. It ended up sticking.)

Want to follow the tour? It runs August 3 - 14 with reviews, author interviews, guest posts and excerpts.  This is a YA Fantasy/Alternate World book that released on August 2nd. This is the second book in the The Semei Trilogy. Check out the tour page for the full schedule.
    

Lionspride1 
'She is the reason your friends are dead. She should pay the price for that betrayal.'
Not long ago Kammy had led a simple existence, stuck on an island, with only her Gran and Jamie to care about. Now she knows she is half Semei and of royal blood, in possession of an item that could bring about a war that would destroy the world, and so the worlds within it. She cannot go back and, despite everything, she does not want to.But she is haunted by the man - the king - that shadows her.Bagor and his army wait. In three days he will march into Emire and he will take everything.Kammy and her friends have one hope. They must find Danorrah; a cursed city, lost to the memory of all. Bagor will hunt them, every step of the way, determined to claim the Key and to claim her. It is all well and good that Kammy does not want to go back to her old life, but she will need the blessing of the Mother if she is to elude Bagor and hang on to her new one.



Be sure to check out The Wolf's Cry, Book One of The Semei Trilogy

WolfsCry


About the Author:
NatalieCrown
I grew up in a village called Swilland, in the countryside of Suffolk, England. There wasn’t much around, other than farms and fields, but for the most part I loved it, and I still do. I’m a passionate person by nature. I don’t just LIKE things, I LOVE things. Whether it’s a book, a film, or a sports team. Once I decide to enjoy something, I enjoy it to the MAX.

I’m a terrible cook. I prioritise essential social media work over keeping my flat tidy, because I know best.

Onto my love of reading and, consequently, writing – it was my dad that played a big role in encouraging me to read. He didn’t push me towards books necessarily; he simply read a lot himself. Then I would pick up his books and read them after him. I was reading high and epic fantasy from a very young age. I guess that might explain why I have always loved adventure stories with magic and intrigue and princes and princesses in.

I was aware that I wanted to ‘be a writer’ from a very young age. I was convinced I would be the first best seller that hadn’t reached double figures in age yet! I wrote about the Danshees, furry creatures that lived through a mirror. I wrote about a Sand Bottle that transported a boy into a world of magic. I wrote about a sick girl finding a music boy that healed her, but transported her back in time. (Wow, I always have loved alternate universes…)

When I was eight I wrote my first novel called The Land of No Return. Despite the title, I am determined to return to it one day. I feel like I owe it to my past self. So, as you can see, I have always been writing. There have been times when I have gone weeks without scratching down a word. Then there are days where I churn out multiple chapters and only my body’s silly desire for sleep and/or food can stop me.

I write because I enjoy it. I write fantasy because I enjoy it. I try my hardest to put something of myself into my writing. I like to think my characters have depth, I like to think that my fantasy worlds reflect upon the real world in some way. You guys will be the judge of that but even if you don’t agree I know that I at least try and I can do no more than that.

These days I live in North London and I love it. I work full time and London is a hectic city. Juggling work, writing and a social life is tough but nobody is forcing me to do it so I can’t complain. The dream is that writing will be my career one day but it doesn’t matter if I never quite make it. I love writing too much to ever pack it in.

I am desperate to get a dog. My mum suspects I miss my cats at home more than I miss her. I am a devout Arsenal/Ferrari/Rafael Nadal fan. I get all mad when confronted with a case of social injustice and then I get all mad when people take the fight for social justice too far. I mostly keep those thoughts to myself and simmer with rage. I watch good TV and bad TV, because I can. What I can’t do is enjoy bad books (subjective opinion of course). I just can’t.

Website/BlogTumblr | Facebook | Twitter @Natalie_Crown | Goodreads

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Giveaway:
$25 Amazon gift card & copy of The Wolf's Cry or The Lion's Pride in paperback (INT), two (2) additional winners will receive a copy of The Wolf's Cry or The Lion's Pride in paperback (INT)
Ends Aug. 18th
Prizing provided by the author, hosts are in no way responsible.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

9 comments:

  1. This really looks like a good read and I will enjoy reading this. I also love the cover. It is so majestic!!

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    1. I can't wait to see the cover for the third book :)

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  2. This sounds like it will be a very good book.

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  3. Thank you , this book sounds great! I really liked learning about all of the characters

    :)

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    1. Character bios and interviews are my favorite posts :)

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  4. Thank you so much for hosting a tour stop!

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  5. Hi Kimberleigh!

    Apologies for this coming so late - but thank you so much for taking part in the tour! (I've just got back from a much needed holiday where the internet was temperamental!)

    It's funny, but I found it so hard writing the character bios. I kept changing style over and over again. I really enjoyed it though - it was something different and really made me stop and think.

    So thank you!

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    1. Hope you enjoyed your vacation! I love character bios and interviews both as a reader and as a writer. It's fun to get to know the characters a bit better.

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