Welcome to my tour stop! Check out an interview with the author and enter the giveaway below...
The Killing FogBy Jeff Wheeler
YA Fantasy
Paperback, Audiobook & ebook, 412 Pages
March 1st 2020 by 47North
Summary
The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Kingfountain series conjures an epic, adventurous world of ancient myth and magic as a young woman’s battle with infinite evil begins.
Survivor of a combat school, the orphaned Bingmei belongs to a band of mercenaries employed by a local ruler. Now the nobleman, and collector of rare artifacts, has entrusted Bingmei and the skilled team with a treacherous assignment: brave the wilderness’s dangers to retrieve the treasures of a lost palace buried in a glacier valley. But upsetting its tombs has a price.
Echion, emperor of the Grave Kingdom, ruler of darkness, Dragon of Night, has long been entombed. Now Bingmei has unwittingly awakened him and is answerable to a legendary prophecy. Destroying the dark lord before he reclaims the kingdoms of the living is her inherited mission. Killing Bingmei before she fulfills it is Echion’s.
Thrust unprepared into the role of savior, urged on by a renegade prince, and possessing a magic that is her destiny, Bingmei knows what she must do. But what must she risk to honor her ancestors? Bingmei’s fateful choice is one that neither her friends nor her enemies can foretell, as Echion’s dark war for control unfolds.
Praise for THE KILLING FOG
“Wheeler (Broken Veil) opens the Grave Kingdom series with this winding tale of valor and sacrifice, set in a realm where using magic summons a heavy fog that kills every living thing it touches. [T]he threat of the fog looming in the background adds atmosphere and tension…This excellent introduction to the prolific Wheeler’s work will appeal to fans of Asian-influenced fantasy.” —Publishers Weekly
Interview
Would you tell us a little more about the main characters from THE KILLING FOG?
The main character in the story is Bingmei, an orphan who was raised in a martial arts school with her grandfather and parents. She’s different from others because she was born with the ‘winter sickness’ which she tries to hide by wearing wigs. She also has a rare form of synesthesia where she can smell people’s emotions.
Also in the story is Quion, who is the son of a fisherman and joined the team as a cook and wilderness survival guy. Although he can’t fight like the others can, his ideas and woodland skills end up saving the day many times.
One of my favorite characters is Marenqo – he’s always cracking jokes and can be rather sarcastic at times. He’s not the best warrior but he helps break the tension sometimes with his comments.
Was there anything challenging in starting a new series with a new fantasy world, and what do you love about this fantasy world?
I’ve written multiple series which have been interwoven in plot or magical elements. This series is the first time I’ve broken away and done something completely new where I had to invent a new world, magic system, and culture that was different than my normal fare and took a lot more detailed planning and research than what I’ve done in the past. I was able to spend a month in China for the International Writer’s Conference which really immersed me in the culture and lore of that ancient country. It really inspired my imagination and gave me ideas for food, clothing, and even many of the bizarre names that appear in this story.
If we were to visit, what would we need to know, such as what to wear, eat, what to be wary of?
While the culture of the world of The Killing Fog is distinctively Chinese, the setting is more like Alaska. So yes, you’d need to dress warmly depending on the time of year you visited. And also realize that the number of daylight hours will also fluctuate wildly. In my world, there are two seasons – the Season of the Dragon of Day (Spring/Summer) and the Season of the Dragon of Night (Fall/Winter). I looked at tables to know when the seasons change in Alaska, how cold it gets, and I’ve even had a lot of experience camping in the snow. The food is also very Chinese and you’ll find interesting things on the menu, things that I actually ate during my visit to China, like spicy fried scorpions.
What’s one of your hobbies or something we might not know about you?
I actually sing tenor in the choir at my church. That’s something that most people don’t know about me. I was never able to hear the tenor line until I was asked to be a choir director years ago (a temporary gig) and have sung that part ever since. I was once asked to sing a solo at a funeral. That was intimidating. I much prefer singing with others.
What are you working on next?
One of the things my fans appreciate is that I’m a prolific writer. I’m wrapping the third and final book in this series so that all three are available to buy this year. With some authors, you have to wait years between books to find out what happens next. Not with me. The wait is only in months and the final book is nearly done with the editing process as we speak.
Other Books in the Series
(Coming soon - linked to Amazon affiliate links.)
About the Author
Jeff Wheeler took an early retirement from his career at Intel in 2014 to write full-time. He is a husband, father of five, and a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeff lives in the Rocky Mountains. His books have been on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller list 5 times (for The Thief’s Daughter, The King’s Traitor, The Hollow Crown, The Silent Shield, and Prism Cloud) and have sold more than 4 million copies. His novels have also been published or will be published in many languages: Italian, Chinese, Hungarian, Turkish, Polish, Spanish, Russian, and German.He is also the founder of Deep Magic: the E-zine of Clean Fantasy and Science Fiction (www.deepmagic.co), a quarterly e-zine featuring amazing short stories, novellas, and sample chapters.
You can usually find Jeff at Emerald City Comic Con, New York Comic Con or at writers conferences.
He welcomes hearing from readers: jgwheels /at/ gmail dot com
PHOTO CONTENT FROM JEFF WHEELER
Tour-Wide Giveaway
- Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter | Ends March 17, 2020
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Is this one on your list to read? What did you think of the interview?
No comments
Post a Comment
I love comments! I try to read and reply to them all. Feel free to agree or disagree and generally share your thoughts with me.