Dragon Apocalypse by Josh Powell

Dragon Apocalypse
by Josh Powell

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GENRE: Humorous Epic Fantasy

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BLURB:

On their way to apprehend a temple thief, Gurken Stonebiter, a templerager of the temple of Durstin Firebeard, and Pellonia, a little, but infuriatingly clever, girl stumble onto a quest to save a town from an evil dragon. The dragon is demanding sacrifices of maidens, and the town is fresh out. Can they discover a way to sate the dragon’s bloodlust and save the town?

Along the way, Gurken and Pellonia meet up with Maximina, a half under-elven woman that also happens to be a tad psychic, a ranger with a dash of necromantic ability, a smidgen of samurai training, and just enough time living as a rogue to acquire the ability to sneak up on and stab a foe in the back. Maximina is full of clever ideas on how to gain a tactical advantage over her foes, and on occasion they even work.

During their adventures, Gurken, Pellonia, and Maximina face a snarky unicorn, do battle with a terrible frost giant, contend with a rival adventuring party bent on their utter humiliation, and confront the end of the world in the form of an evil sorcerer and a teeming dragon horde. Can they save the world one more time?

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Excerpt:

“Stand aside, master thief,” Gurken said. “Your skills are useless here. As you can see, there is no lock for you to pick. The door is barred from the other side.”

“You haven’t even tried to open it yet,” Pellonia said. She walked up to the door and gave it a nudge. It did not open.

“As I said,” said Gurken, “stand aside.” Gurken took an enormous swing at the door, his axe biting deeply and lodging into it. Gurken strained to pull the axe back out of the door.

The board behind the window slid aside and a face with bushy eyebrows and a bulbous nose looked out. “Did you just cut into my door with your axe?” the dwarf asked.

“Aye, I did,” Gurken agreed, turning red.

“Without knocking first? Just come cuttin’ your way in?”

“Well, the door was in our way.”

“I should hope so! That’s what doors are for. To keep some people in, some people out, and let others pass between. It wouldn’t be of much use if it didn’t get in folks’ way.”

“But we needed to get by,” Gurken said.

“Did you consider knocking?”

“I did try to push it open,” Pellonia said. “It didn’t budge.”

“Of course not! It’s locked! To. Keep. People. Out. You have seen a door before, have you not?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then let’s try this again. I’m going to close the window. You knock.”

“But we’ve already got your attention,” Pellonia said.

“It seems to me, that you need the practice,” said the dwarf, closing the wooden cover behind the window.

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Interview with the Author

1. How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing in one form or another my entire life. In 4th grade it was creating D&D adventures, in middle school I wrote 5 paragraph reports in response to essay questions because I found that even if I didn’t know the answer to a question I got a lot of points for writing a thorough answer… it’s challenging to stretch “I don’t know” out into a page and a half! And a poem I wrote about dragons in high school served as part of the back story for the dragon Omumborombonga in Dragon Apocalypse.

2. How long have you been a published author?
My first book was published three years ago, it was a book teaching software engineers how to write single page web applications.

3. What titles do you have available?
Non-Fiction:
Single Page Web Applications: JavaScript end to end
Funny Fantasy:
The Berserker and the Pedant
Dragon Apocalypse (The Berserker and the Pedant, Book 2)

4. What made you choose the subject of this book?
I was actually writing another book, a sci-fi thriller, and the character Gurken Stonebiter, templerager to the Stonebiter clan came to me as I was writing it. He had no place in that book, so I started writing a short story with him in it, and that evolved to include Pellonia, a little girl with a mysterious background, and Arthur Gimble, Wizard of the Tenth Rank who felt drive to correct everyone’s poor grammar. Pedantic wizard, Berserker dwarf meet, death and hilarity ensue.

5. Do you have any new titles coming soon?
Dragon Apocalypse was just released a month ago! I’m going to start writing my next book in December and anticipate a summer release. It will either be the last book in this trilogy or the first book in a spin off series.

6. What is your favourite genre and why?
Funny fantasy is my favorite genre, followed by serious epic fantasy and science fiction. I love how they take me on an epic adventure, from the safety of my bed and/or couch. And I love to laugh, and know the tropes in fantasy so well that playing upon them is endlessly amusing.

7. What, to you, is the most exciting part of the writing process?
Seeing where the characters and the story take me, or rather where they characters take the story. The characters drive the stories I write as much as the stories drive the characters. If you were to take a different character and drop them into the same story, it would turn out differently. That’s actually a good idea, I’ll have to explore that. Hmm…

8. If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would you choose and why?
Terry Pratchett, because he is the undisputed master of funny fantasy books, anyone that loves his books is a great prospect to read mine. I also get much of my funny material by interacting with people, and I can only imagine how interacting with that comic genius would inspire me.

9. Where can readers find you on the web?
You can find me on twitter @seasoup or at http://www.pedantpublishing.com or email me at josh@pedantpublishing.com

Feel free to include your latest release/promo, and any additional info you might like included! Thanks so much for being my guest.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

JOSH POWELL, wielder of the Sommerswerd, destroyer of the thread, expeditioner to Barrier Peaks, discoverer of his magic talent, and venturer into the Tomb of Horrors is known for having survived a harrowing adolescence full of danger and fantasy. He’s gone on to write The Berserker and the Pedant and Dragon Apocalypse and is currently working on the yet to be named third book in the series.

He also spends some not inconsiderable amount of time wiggling his fingers over a keyboard as a software engineer. He lives with his wife, Marianne, and two amazing children, Liam and Chloe, in sunny California, where winter is, most decidedly, never coming.

Website:
www.pedantpublishing.com

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0108J28XE

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/seasoup

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26492210-dragon-apocalypse

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Josh Powell will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2015/10/vbt-dragon-apocalypse-by-josh-powell.html