Spotlight on Tools of a Thief by D. Hale. Rambo

 

Charming gnome embarks on engaging adventure
to change her path in spellbinding fantasy novella

ALLEN, Texas – D. Hale Rambo combines personality and fantasy to create a carefully crafted, character-centric story about finding your true happiness. Tools of a Thief: A Series of Decisions on Kairas (May 25, 2021, Fiercewood Press) takes readers on an unforgettable adventure with characters they’ll love from the first page.

How do you stop being a thief? Zizy assumed quitting her job, stealing from her boss, and flitting magically across the continent was one way to give it a go. Getting in and out of sticky situations is typically Zizy’s specialty. A little spellwork here, a pinch of deception there, and she’s home free. Quick-fingered, fast-talking and charming the gnome knows traveling across a shattered continent won’t be easy. Still, she has the skills to keep herself from getting killed.

Too bad she was followed on her one-way trip. Pressed into a mission she can’t say no to, Zizy feels desperate, out of place, and as lonely as before. But when she meets a charming book hoarder with bold curiosity, Zizy can’t help but want to bring her along on this one last job. She’ll just hide her past, her present, and complicating info about herself. What could go wrong?

Either she finishes the job and protects those she loves, or it all falls apart. Is this journey the final key to unlock a new path or just another sticky situation she has to run from? She’ll use every tool she’s got to get what she wants.

 

 

“Tools of a Thief: A Series of Decisions on Kairas”

D. Hale Rambo | May 25, 2021 | Fiercewood Press

Paperback | 978-1-7361281-0-7 | $9.99

Ebook | 978-1-7361281-1-4  | $2.99

Fantasy

 

D. HALE RAMBO: D. Hale Rambo is an avid reader, Pathfinder/Dungeons & Dragons player, bubble bath connoisseur, and author. She has been writing and creating other worlds since she was old enough to mark them on her bedroom wall. As a dungeon master and in life, D. Hale Rambo believes in the fun of morale bonuses, inspiration, and always using cover. Get updates on the series, say hello, or debate with her about the versatility of gnomes at www.dhalerambo.com.

 

Follow D. Hale Rambo on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dhalerambo

 Twitter: @therambogeeks

Instagram: @therambogeeks

An Interview with

D. Hale Rambo

 

1. How did you come up with the idea for Tools of a Thief?

I started with the deities first. Beginning with them was not the easiest thing to have started with, but I love a good creation myth. Their personalities and desires shaped the world, the inhabitants, and conflicts. I drew on my inspiration from classic fantasy and Greek and Egyptian mythology.

I knew I wanted to do two things. I wanted to hang out at the beginning of this world with these deities as their powers grew and I wanted to hang out after everything went horribly wrong for them.  I outlined the first part, built the world, and set it aside to use as a campaign setting (for Dungeons and Dragons). Then I sketched what the world looked like after a massive upheaval. I asked myself who would be the most entertaining person to explore the “Oh shit” timeline of the world with. Anyone who asks that question and doesn’t pick a thief is really missing out.

Zizy and Laysa came to be because I wanted to explore the world and see what had happened to it after the “Oh shit” cataclysmic part. A gnome who has more wits than sense and really just wanted a break. A Brix (earthy creatures with a natural knack for agriculture) who just wanted to learn everything she could about the wonders of the world. They’re just both parts of me fleshed out as characters.

I wanted to explore what it was like to start something new mid-way through your life. When you’re on a path already, good or bad, and you really want to be doing something else. It mirrored where I was several years ago. I was over my perfectly lovely job in my perfectly fine life that was, in my mind, exactly where I should’ve been. And I hated it all. But I’ve always believed you can do anything, start anything new at any age. I have had some really great mentors in my life who have stoked that fire of thinking.

 

2. How did you incorporate Zizy and Laysa's budding relationship with the adventure elements of their journey?

I wanted to make sure the story I was telling wasn’t just a fun adventure travel story but also a story of new beginnings through and through. An origin story of these characters’ adventure together is also one of a romantic relationship that could become the brickwork to utter joy and happiness.

          Anytime Zizy had a doubt about herself or felt like running away, Laysa is there to support her or give her a reason to try. Laysa absolutely believes in Zizy and is clearly smitten with her, and it sort of breaks Zizy’s walls down how open she is about it. And Zizy has a lot of walls up. You would too if you hadn’t been able to really trust anyone for years and years.

          I kept Laysa open and loving and curious. If Zizy backs away, Laysa asks her questions and gives her room to answer in a safe space. They start to trust and depend on each other and it sorta changes the whole nature of what Zizy has to do to change her life. And those changes become a rockslide that tweaks how each adventure moves on until you get to an ending that in no way could’ve happened without Zizy loving Laysa. Wanting to be worthy of Laysa’s love. There’s no will they, won’t they here.

 

3. How did your personal experience as a dungeon master influence your novella?

Poorly. Haha, it’s nice to have characters who will take the bait you leave out because you’re literally writing them to. Ultimately though it kinda ends up the same way. They do stuff you didn’t think of at all, and it takes you in a new direction. Having played games like this for years with various people has helped me broaden my horizons, stretch my imagination, and try to think of new twists on things people expect.

ToaT is a pretty light-hearted novella. It’s not about killing things or gaining XP. I leave all that to the campaign setting for the pre-cataclysm portion of the world.

-- The setting is open to Patreon subscribers

 

4. As an avid reader yourself, what types of books do you tend to read?

Currently,  it’s fantasy that satirizes like Orcanomics or character-focused works like Silver in the Wood. I love AU spec fic, sci-fi comedy, and of course, romance novels outside of fantasy. If I need something to read but just want a comfort book, I’ll re-read Jane Austen’s books for the 450th time. Now that I’m older Persuasion is my go-to.

 

5. What’s next for Zizy and Co.?

The second book in the series, Components of a Caster, leaves right off where ToaT ends but from Laysa’s POV. She’s been searching for her own sort of power for a while now, and she may have finally found a way in. I’m looking forward to exploring what it means to feel valuable and needed. Also, to showcase what it takes to do spellwork in the complex world that is Kairas.

 

6. Why is creating diverse characters important to you?

Creating characters who look like me or share my worldview is important because I grew up reading and watching characters who looked nothing like me. They had grand adventures while people like me were background characters. It took a few dozen years to even contemplate that I could change that by starring women or POC in the adventures that I always wanted to be on. So it’s literally a post-it on my monitor as a reminder that I can include all different types of people! And now I have these stories to share with people like my little sister, and she knows she’s in there and I’m in there and that really matters.

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Murder in Lamut by Raymond E. Feist and Joel Rosenberg

This is book two of the Legends of the Riftwar.   The book follows three hire swords. Pirojil, Durine and Kethol are the three main characters.   They make an unlikely three Musketeers. 

In a murder in a locked room mystery, the three are deemed the only group with no skin in the game of thrones that is the root of two murders.  The entire cast of characters is snowed in, due to an unseasonable blizzard. 

Each of the three has a skill set that has united them in their vocation of swords for hire.   Although they are bonafide thugs, they have occasional flashes of ethical behavior.

There is very little in the book to connect this to the Riftwar series unless the subtle nuances of politics intrigues you.

 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

A city-state controlled by priests whose houses have avatars.   The house of the sun’s high priestess is a progressive and wants to change the way things are done.   Her roots are in the Maw, a dark slum in the shadow of the city.   She finds that her bureaucracy is not progressive.   

This house of the Crow was attacked years ago for unclear reasons.  The night of the Knives is burned into the psychic of the Crows.   Some huge, sentient crows are used to fly some of the members of the Crow house.  

Serapio was brainwashed from an early age to reap havoc on those who had humiliated the Crows.   

He meets Xiala, a Teek sailor whose own differences breeds a mutual acceptance.  Teeks have power of their own and Xiala uses it to captain a ship to get Serapio to his fate. 

This story had many captivating moments but, for my taste, far too many loose ends.   I felt, at least, a cursory conclusion could have been made.   I’m guessing this is to lead to a sequel but I prefer some sort of wrap-up to enable the book to better stand alone.

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Battleground by Jim Butcher.

Harry Dresden goes to war with an assortment of enemies and some friends.   Chicago is attacked by an evil army and Harry finds himself in the front lines of the defense.

Butcher does a good job showing the weight of loss in battle.  The relief of survival and the soul-crushing despair of loss.  

Dresden is still a wise-ass but he is becoming a more powerful wise-ass.

The book is page after page of action.  There is a plot but it sometimes is overwhelmed by the action.

There is frequent reference to past characters so I recommend you read the books in order.

 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Kiku's Quest by William G. Bentrim

Thanks to the pandemic house confinement, I’ve finally finished my first full-length, Sci-Fi novel.  Kiku’s Quest features a strong female protagonist struggling to survive. Kiku, a street urchin, meets Jarvan, a naïve young man on his first interplanetary voyage.   Jarvan’s being mugged by homegrown street thugs in the slum surrounding the Capital leads to a random kiss that saves his life.

Kiku and Jarvan discover their hidden strengths when facing the threat of a coup by pirates.  Saxta, Kiku’s tribal war dog, Lucille an AI, the Waterside militia, and the Rum Runner’s Captain Morgan ally with the two teens to combat the greedy invaders.

Ravaging monsters, rebellious tribesmen, street gangs, and pirates provide literary adrenalin sufficient to sate any action addict’s thirst.

How likely will the coup be stopped by a teenage girl and her dog?

The Kindle version will be FREE on Amazon on March 19, 2021, and again for Free on April 7, 2021.  Please consider leaving a review on Amazon as free promotions are viewed as verified purchases.  Reviews of verified purchases score higher on the Amazon algorithms.

Thank you!
 

Link to Book:  https://tinyurl.com/yeshx4g5

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Spotlight on The Descent of the Drowned by Ana Lal Din

Spotlight on The Descent of the Drowned

 

A new thought-provoking YA fantasy debut that explores personal identity, what it means for us to be human

 

Greater Manchester, ENGLAND – She is bound to serve. He is meant to kill. Survival is their prison. Choice is their weapon. Ana Lal Din showcases her storytelling skills in her young adult debut, weaving together a harrowing narrative that examines humankind at its darkest and brightest. Set in a colonized Indo-Persian world and inspired by Pre-Islamic Arabian mythology, “The Descent of the Drowned” (March 15, 2021, White Tigress Press) weaves together tales of power, identity, redemption, and what it takes to hold on to one’s humanity in the face of devastation.

 As the sacred slave of a goddess, Roma is of a lower caste that serves patrons to sustain the balance between gods and men. What she wants is her freedom, but deserters are hunted and hanged, and Roma only knows how to survive in her village where women are vessels without a voice. When her younger brother is condemned to the same wretched fate as hers, Roma must choose between silence and rebellion.

Leviathan is the bastard son of an immortal tyrant. Raised in a military city where everyone knows of his blood relation to the persecuted clans, Leviathan is considered casteless. Lowest of the low. Graduating as one of the deadliest soldiers, he executes in his father’s name, displaying his worth. When he faces judgment from his mother’s people — the clans — Leviathan must confront his demons and forge his own path, if he ever hopes to reclaim his soul.

 But in the struggle to protect the people they love and rebuild their identities, Roma’s and Leviathan’s destinies interlock as the tyrant hunts an ancient treasure that will doom humankind should it come into his possession — a living treasure to which Roma and Leviathan are the ultimate key.

  

Ana Lal Din is an #ownvoices author who was born in a Danish southwestern city and raised in a small town outside Copenhagen. Passionate about culture, language, religion and social justice issues, Ana's story worlds are usually full of all four. What drives her as a writer is developing characters that are psychologically and emotionally complex, reflecting human nature at its darkest and brightest — and everything in between. Since Ana is a Danish-Pakistani Muslim with Indian heritage, she often explores the intricacies of a multicultural identity through her characters. “The Descent of the Drowned” is her debut novel. For more info, visit laldinana.net.

 

An Interview with Ana Lal Din

 

1. How did you convey your own struggles with cultural identity through the two protagonists in the book?

 Leviathan struggles with a physical sense of belonging in that the higher caste won’t accept him and neither will the clans. Roma struggles with a spiritual sense of belonging in that she feels disconnected from the belief system she has been raised with. Both characters have had society shape and force an identity on them that doesn’t harmonise with their nature, so they’re conflicted and rootless and have to dismantle their imposed identities, reconstruct them on their own terms, and carve out a place for themselves in the world — something that I feel I have had to do as well.

 2. How did you handle the identity crisis that came from being raised in three different cultures (Danish, Pakistani-Indian, Islamic)?

 I didn’t handle it. I grew up confused, frustrated, conflicted. I still am. I think most people, if not all, experience an identity crisis at some point in their lives. Mine also came from the fact that I was the youngest child of immigrant parents from an Indian-Pakistani and Muslim background. Choosing to be Muslim over Danish, Pakistani or Indian, eased some of that frustration, but nothing has been resolved. I’m still attempting to understand who I am. I’m still sorting through the cultural baggage to uncover the things that hold value to me and discard those that don’t. It’s a process. A long, unstable process.

 3. How did you explore the theme of humanity versus depravity throughout the book?

 Through the characters’ experiences, circumstances and choices. Some of the characters in the novel abandon human decency and become beasts. Others attempt to hold on to their humanity even in the darkest of times. I have tried to illustrate what happens when one crosses the line between humanity and depravity. When one chooses to oppress, violate, annihilate. And, also, when one chooses mercy, compassion and redemption.

 4. How do humans become a product of their social and cultural heritage?

 Social and cultural heritage is the behaviour, values, social status and belief system which we inherit from our environment (i.e. the people who raise us and the milieu wherein we are raised). We become a product of this heritage when we’re brought up in a particular environment with a particular belief system and uphold/follow that system with or without question.

 5. What inspired you to start writing?

 Stories. When I was a child, my older sisters would read the Arabian Nights and Danish fairy tales to me. I became so absorbed in the stories that I would enact them. If I didn’t like something, I changed the narrative or content. I discovered the power of words. That they can enlighten, manipulate, inspire, enrage. With this understanding, I wanted to use my own words to write something that might matter beyond just the entertainment value.

6. How did you portray the current issues, catastrophes, and sufferings of the voiceless within this fantasy world?

 I have woven previous and current social, cultural and political issues into the setting. Things such as caste system, rape culture, ethnic cleansing/genocide, colonisation and war crimes are all familiar aspects of our world. I have explored those issues (and others) through the characters’ circumstances and personal experiences in the novel.

 7. What is the connection between your background, the #ownvoices elements and the issues that are represented in the book?

 Like most of the characters in the novel, I come from a multicultural background, and I have struggled to break out of the social and cultural heritage that shaped the world wherein I was raised. Moreover, I’m a woman with a mental illness, which made it harder for me in a culture where women are already considered a burden without much value, so a mental illness on top of that was like the final nail in the coffin. Caste is also a reality in my culture. The perception/oppression of women, multicultural identity, mental illness, social and cultural heritage, and caste system are subjects I have explored or engaged with throughout the novel.

 8. What are some of the sources that have inspired the story world in your book?

 I have attempted to build a colonised Indo-Persian world and drawn inspiration from pre-Islamic Arabian mythology, Islam, and the social, cultural, religious, and political history of South Asia, West Asia, the Middle East, ancient Arabia and other places over time. Most of the incidents in the novel are authentic cases from our own world in some shape or form.

 9. What do you hope readers gain from your book?

 I want to spread awareness. It reminds us that we as human beings have a responsibility toward each other. To know, to understand, to listen and to help. I want to provoke thought, and I want readers to feel. Whether that feeling is anger, discomfort, compassion, hope, curiosity or a conflicting combination of all. If I can encourage even one person to research about any of the issues, I would feel that I have achieved something valuable with this novel. That I have succeeded.

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Capture the Crown by Jennifer Estep

This takes place in the world of Strixes and Gargoyles.   Strixes are pterodactylish and gargoyles are what you would expect except mobile.  I first posted on Estep, eleven years ago. I enjoyed her work then and I still do.

This book follows the Crown of Shards series.   I enjoyed Crush the King, Kill the Queen and Protect the Prince, the three books in that series.  This is the first book in the Gargoyle Queen series.   Same world, mostly different people populate this book.  Gemma is suffering from PTSD, of course, in Estep’s fantasy world this isn’t named as such.  She is striving to establish self-esteem and therefore takes more chances than are truly prudent. Tearstone has been disappearing from the family mine and Gemma decides to go undercover to determine why.

There is the obligatory love story as well as solid action and a devious plot.   Estep’s characters are always multidimensional which provides them with a firm belief footing.

This book indicates that this series should be as much fun to read as the last.

I recommend the book. 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Children of the Night by Mercedes Lackey

One of the very few good things about the pandemic is that I am finally whittling down my book collection.   When I check the publication dates I am often shocked at how long I have waited to read these books.   Diana Tregarde is a Guardian and a witch.   Her job is to answer anyone’s call for help.   She finds herself facing both a blast from her past and some psi-vamps.

Diana discovers that all vampires are not alike.  She also can bury some fears that have restricted her ability to deal with her Guardian duties.    Andre is a surprising addition to her circle although she is not quite sure on how to deal with him.

This was an entertaining book that has survived the test of time being 31  years old. 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned