Posts Tagged ‘Hope and Red’

Cover Launch: BLOOD AND TEMPEST by Jon Skovron

As the storm rages and the war marches on, Hope and Red must team up one last time to take down the corrupt power structure holding control over their homeland. And while they’re busy fighting for their lives in the final book of THE EMPIRE OF STORMS trilogy, we’re busy creating epic covers. Check out the cover for BLOOD AND TEMPEST, designed by Lauren Panepinto and with illustration by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme.

An empire fractures, a dark magic rises, and only they can stop it. In the first book of this epic new fantasy trilogy, a warrior and a thief must come together to stop the forces that threaten their people.

Still reeling from the events at Dawn’s Light, Hope struggles to understand what it means to be a warrior who has vowed to never again take up a sword.

Red is enjoying his new role as imperial spy. Perhaps a bit too much. But his loyalties will be tested when his employer, assigns him the one task he’s been begging for all along: recruiting Hope and Brigga Lin to help rid the empire of biomancery once and for all.

Fate brought them together; it will tear their empire apart.

Haven’t caught up with Hope and Red? Read the trilogy today with:

Book 1: HOPE AND RED (US | UK | ANZ)

Book 2: BANE AND SHADOW (US | UK | ANZ)

Book 3: BLOOD AND TEMPEST (US | UK | ANZ)

 

Cover Launch: BANE AND SHADOW by Jon Skovron

This summer HOPE AND RED stormed onto the scene. The sequel, BANE AND SHADOW releases in February, and it’s just as fast-paced and action-packed as the first. Now, we’re excited to show you the fantastic cover with design by Lauren Panepinto with art by Bastien Deharme.

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“Furious where it needs to be, deceptively tender where it can get away with it, adventurous all around.”
— Sam Sykes on Hope and Red

As Red becomes increasingly embroiled in palace politics, he learns that even life among the nobility can be deadly.

While terrorizing imperial ships as the pirate Dire Bane, Hope stumbles onto a plot of such horrifying scope that it makes even the massacre of her childhood village seem small in comparison.

In a fracturing empire spread across savage seas, two young people from different cultures find common purpose.

If you’re interested in finding out more — please visit the author’s website and signup for the author’s newsletter!


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New to the series? Start from the beginning today! 

Purchase in the US:
Amazon
| Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Google Play | iBooks | Indiebound | Kobo | Chapters

Purchase in the UK:
Amazon
| Google Play | iTunes | Kobo | Waterstones | More Stores

Cover Launch: HOPE AND RED by Jon Skovron

The Orbit offices in both the US and the UK haven’t stopped talking about this fantastic adventure fantasy since it first came in a year ago.  And we’re delighted to introduce it to you! Thanks very much to Lauren Panepinto and artist Bastien Deharme for the awesome cover.

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Here is a bit of a sneak peek as HOPE AND RED (US | UK) will be out this June:

A KILLER FANTASY ADVENTURE

HOPE, the lone survivor of a village massacred by the emperor’s forces, secretly trains asa  warrior and dreams of vengeance.

RED, an orphan adopted by a notorious matriarch of the criminal underworld, learns to be an expert thief and con artist.

TOGETHER THEY WILL TAKE DOWN AN EMPIRE.

If you’d like to know more — please visit the author’s website and sign up there! New newsletter subscribers will receive the first chapter in their inboxes this Monday.

Meet Jon Skovron, the author of HOPE & RED

Jon Skovron - cr Ryan BenyiLast month we introduced you to HOPE & RED—an upcoming adventure fantasy series we’re incredibly excited about! We’d like you to meet the author, Jon Skovron, and hear a little more about the novel.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m originally from Ohio, although I’ve since lived in Brooklyn, Seattle, and Pittsburgh. Now I live just outside DC, with my two sons and two cats. Rather than going to a regular college, I studied in the theater conservatory at Carnegie Mellon. But after a brief stint as a professional actor, I decided on the much more practical career of author. I started writing short SF&F stories in 2000, several of which were published in now defunct zines and online venues such as Baen’s Universe, where I had the honor of appearing in the same issue as Gene Wolfe. In 2006, my agent suggested I try my hand at this new craze called Young Adult, and my first YA novel was published in 2009. I’ve had two more YA novels published since, and my fourth comes out this August. HOPE & RED will be my first novel for grown-ups.

What is HOPE & RED about?

HOPE & RED takes place in an archipelago of islands called The Empire of Storms, with warrior monks, pirates, gang lords, science mages called biomancers, and a fair amount of monsters, violence, and mayhem. But as the title implies, this is ultimately a story about Hope and Red. They both lose their parents at a young age. Both are taken in by unconventional mentors who encourage them to transgress society, but in very different ways. Red is taught to become a thief and con artist in the urban slums, where he is fiercely loyal to his adopted neighborhood of Paradise Circle. Hope is secretly trained on a remote island as a warrior in an elite order that has specifically banned women. She seeks vengeance against the biomancer who murdered not only her parents, but her entire village.

When the biomancers team up with the gang lord of Paradise Circle to consolidate power, Hope and Red’s worlds come crashing together, resulting in a quest for justice that leads them all the way to the imperial palace.

Why did you decided to write HOPE & RED as an adult novel, rather than YA?

Don’t get me wrong. I adore writing YA, and will continue to do so. YA and adult Fantasy have a lot of similarities. But they also have some key differences. By nature, YA is all about teens. I wanted to write story that took these two characters from age eight all the way into adulthood. Also, YA is intensely story-focused. I love the lean efficiency of it. But this time I wanted to write a book where the world was rich and immersive, with a long, compelling history. Something you couldn’t see the edges of. I wanted characters that were complex and nuanced and broken. And frankly, I just wanted to write something R Rated, and not have to worry about gatekeepers.

There’s an lot of swashbuckling, sea-faring adventure in this book. Do you have any personal experience with sailing?

Quite a lot, actually. My grandfather was passionate about ships and sailing. When I was a boy, he often took me sailing for days on end. He taught me how to sail, of course, as well as all the parts of the ship, and odd little sailor adages that linger in my mind to this day. He was also a musician, so he’d often bring along his accordion, and we’d sing sea chanties once the sun went down.

 HOPE & RED will be published next summer. For more news and updates, follow the author on Twitter.