Ill-fated by Evelyn Ink
“The stars have aligned to make my life grim and loathsome,” fourteen year old Leila Edgewick stands on the brink of disaster; balancing the fate of Bainland and her father’s legacy against a vague, ill-fated prophecy. A meaningless number, a luckless red moon, and worst of all– a star that falls south– send Leila on a quest she does not expect to survive.
Simultaneously, an unknown boy wakes up in the sunken hull of a decrepit cargo ship. Captured and mind-locked, the boy– dubbed “Sam” by the ship’s crew– must escape the infamous Bonesplitter and the dark schemes of one Captain Erastacus Oren.
All the while, Leila journeys out of Bainland. Crossing the wall for the first time in her life, she finds a world where magic meets machine. Aeroskiffs, daguerreotypes, and automatons merge with the ‘earthdolven’ magic of the South, leaving her to question, “What is sorcery and what is science?”
When Leila and Sam's paths cross, fate ties them together, sending them deep into the Ramble in search of the Wasteland Witches. Plagued by Sam's erratic memory and Leila's dubious rational, they must outwit the Southland drudge hunters, and take on the dangers of the Ramble: sandwolves, bloodswamps, and the Kartivause – terrifying night creatures from the Shadowland.
Their friendship develops quickly, but as Leila’s quest unravels, Sam’s past is pieced together– and when Sam’s identity is finally revealed, Leila must face up to a bloody family history that could rip their friendship apart...
Guest Post by Evelyn Ink
Author of Ill-fated and the Sticks, Stones, and Dragon Bones Books
Dear Readers,
Much like the heroine of my novel, the stars may have aligned to make your life grim and loathsome if you are thinking of reading Ill-fated. I, Evelyn Ink, the sad conveyor of this dark and terrifying story feel obligated to write down the events as they were told to me. However, you as a young and attractive reader, have no such obligation to read these ramblings. I’ve heard there are several fantastic vampire romances out at the moment depicting thoughtless and weak girls trapped in a paranormal love triangle. Perhaps one of those books is the book for you.
I myself am considering a book about vampire space gnomes trapped in a paranormal love triangle or a book about a steampunk zombie who is both remarkably inventive and trapped in a paranormal love triangle. I will report back on the excellent writing and philosophical depth of these books after I have read them.
Sadly, Ill-fated is not one of those sort of books. Not only is there no love triangle (can this even be classified as YA?), but the protagonist, Leila Edgewick, is a sassy and resourceful girl, if not a bit on the cynical side, and placed in a very unfortunate, if not–– dare I say… ill-fated position. If you are one of those peculiar readers who don’t mind darkness and danger over fluff and pillow talk, knives over nail polish, and monsters that bite rather than sparkle, perhaps this is the book for you.
Read at your own risk, and don’t swim for at least a half hour after reading.
Sincerely,
Evelyn Ink
About Ill-fated:
“The stars have aligned to make my life grim and loathsome...” Leila Edgewick stands on the brink of disaster, balancing the fate of Bainland and her father’s legacy against a vague, ill-fated prophecy. A meaningless number, a luckless red moon, and worst of all– a star that falls south– send Leila on a quest she does not expect to survive.
Simultaneously, an unknown boy wakes up in the sunken hull of a decrepit cargo ship. Captured and mind-locked, the boy– dubbed “Sam” by the crew– must escape the infamous Bonesplitter and the dark schemes of one Captain Erastacus Oren.
All the while, Leila journeys out of Bainland. Crossing the wall for the first time, she finds a world where magic meets machine. Aeroskiffs, daguerreotypes, and automatons merge with the earth-dolven magic of the South, leaving her to question, “What is sorcery and what is science?”
When Leila and Sam's paths cross, fate ties them together, sending them deep into the Ramble in search of the Wasteland Witches. Plagued by Sam's erratic memory and Leila's dubious rationale, they must outwit the Southland drudge hunters, and take on the dangers of the Ramble: sandwolves, bloodswamps, and the Kartivause – terrifying night creatures from the Shadowland.
Their friendship develops quickly, but as Leila’s quest unravels, Sam’s past is pieced together– and when Sam’s identity is finally revealed, Leila must face up to a bloody family history that could rip their friendship apart...
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Author Bio:
Evelyn Ink was formally trained to be a parachutist, but found it did not fit her longstanding desire to avoid heights and thus decided to study the much less vertically horrifying subject of English Literature.
Due to the world-wide web of conspiracy which surrounds Evelyn Ink, she rarely appears in public, but when she does it’s best to avoid her due to her enduring history of social disrepute. There has been more than one regrettable event regarding bent cameras and shattered umbrellas.
It’s hard to say how old she is, but it is likely she was born well before you were. Her childhood home, deep in some unknown, but undoubtedly pleasant countryside, was turned into a plastic bubblepuck factory forcing her family to move far into the Stonegrave Mountains. These Mountains were unfortunately chosen to be used as an experimental avalanche catastrophe (EAC) site and once again the Ink Family was forced to move. It seems ill-fortune struck again and again as they were repeatedly obligated to change locations: once due to a plague of urban badgers, a fracking sinkhole, and then again when a tuna factory’s waste disposal sight was established just outside their home.
As an adult she has continued on in this nomadic lifestyle, crossing oceans and continents when necessary. Necessary being: under the scrutiny of the press, unwarranted investigations, and an ill-timed anarchist fan base. Evelyn was quoted saying, “The prompt, brutal reports of the local tabloids are most inaccurate. Unrelated to that, I advise everyone to avoid the Newspaper as it is insufferably dull these days.” Mrs. Ink also prefers the term “vacation” to “exile.”
That said, Mrs. Ink continues on writing and publishing while in exile . . . sorry, on vacation, with her husband, who (name unknown) is thought by many to be both an anarchist and mad philosopher.
You may choose to follow Evelyn Ink on her blog, although due to her absolute terror of electronics and a crippling phobia of the social media (technical term: Socmephobia), her blog posts tend to be infrequent and erratic. Also, due to several post exile investigations and her current relocation program, she is generally prevented from giving specific information regarding her whereabouts (Though, by the hollowly echo and vintage-like hum of a rotary phone, I would suspect from our last conversation, she is somewhere deep underground).
This report was conducted by:
Mr. Edwin Riddle
Of Public Relations, Personal Investigates, and Subterfuge.
Now I am all curious
ReplyDeleteLOL Sign Me up :D My kind of read for sure. Love this guest post. Jaclyn @ JC's Book Haven.
ReplyDeletewow no love triangle? It"s a really wonderful point!
ReplyDelete