Welcome to my tour stop for The Banished Craft by E.D.E. Bell! The tour
runs August 18 - September 1 with reviews, interviews, guest posts, excerpts and giveaways.
The Banished Craft is a fantasy novel and is written for adults but is
appropriate for mature young adult readers. This is the first book of the Shkode series and
releases on September 1, 2015.
About the Book:
The Banished Craft is a genre-bending fantasy saga that follows the adventures of Cor, a woman caught
in a dying world that does not accept her, and Atesh, a dragon scientist who's been asked to violate his
own ethics or put the lives of his family at risk. Follow their trials as they deal with a shattered world,
mired in political upheaval, while they try to rediscover a lost magic. The Banished Craft begins the
Shkode trilogy: a quirky and modern take on dragons and wizards, exploring themes of identity,
prejudice, violence, compassion, and the ways we are all connected.
looking for something to answer a hunch, though she doesn’t know exactly what.
Then she saw it.
It was an old book, and judging by its coating of dust, hadn’t been read in a very long time.
Across the cover, the title Villains Amongst Us was emblazoned. She opened to the introductory
page and gasped. It was embellished with crude drawings of hunched-over, obese women with
misshapen noses. One of the women was topless, exhibiting unrealistically alert nipples for a
woman of that age. But her eyes rested on the woman’s exposed stomach, which displayed a
simple, yet familiar, symbol. A circle, with two lines, crossing at the center.
For a moment she stopped breathing. It was the same symbol found on her own skin: the
symbol for which she had no name, and no meaning.
Her hands shook as she leafed through the book, wondering if its absence would be noticed if
she borrowed it. Removing a book from the library was considered violating a sacred trust. Iohn
would never allow such a thing.
He didn’t need to know. She could slip it under her clothing while he was staring like a hawk at
the hallway outside, and she’d be sure to return it. She debated the idea as she flipped through
the pages, scanning back and forth in the hopes something would jump out.
Women are evil beings who have destroyed the world through their practice of sorcery . . . Every
word spoken by a woman is a lie . . . demons . . . Women exist as a vessel in which to plant
man’s seed, so that vines may grow . . . eww! Women must be monitored, especially at night . . .
Women exterminated all the dragons in a fit of jealous rage.
Dragons?
Cor scanned the pages in disbelief. The words and images seethed with prejudice and distrust,
the same barriers that Cor had faced her whole life. She lived in a world that treated women as
unremarkable, yet here their description was mixed with warnings of magic and beasts of myth.
Sorcery was one thing; it was a common jest used to spook folks into believing evil was afoot.
Many people spoke in whispers of sorcery, from traveling healers to the local fooler. But
dragons? They didn’t exist.
Cor closed her eyes, stunned as much by the book’s harsh depictions as by this new connection.
As a child, she had dreamed of a purple dragon, flying past. The dragon could not hear Cor call
to it and would fly on, to return again another night.
Sometimes the dragon did not fly but rested in a corner. On those nights, Cor almost thought
the dragon knew she was there.
Calci had pursed her lips when Cor mentioned it, and Cor had resolved not to mention to
anyone that her dreams still included childish fantasies. Especially not to Iohn. Iohn.
The floor under her began to tremble. Without warning, Cor lost her balance. She smacked her
face against the shelf, scrambling to steady herself as the floor shook again and the books
rattled on the shelves. No. Not this again. Not another quake.
Not now.
----------------------
3 The Banished Craft | CBB Book Promotions
"A wonderfully delightful and deeply imaginative tale of struggle and the quest for knowledge, set in a well-developed and complex high fantasy setting."
--G. S. Jennsen,
author of Science-Fiction saga Aurora Rhapsody
"I love Bell's sensitive and insightful exploration of compassion, connection, and relationships. The Banished Craft provides layers of thought-provoking ideas as well as good old-fashioned escapism."
--Colleen Patrick-
Goudreau, bestselling author of The 30-Day Vegan Challenge
Website | Facebook | Twitter @edebellauthor | Pinterest | Instagram | Wattpad
Bell will be releasing her first Wattpad story on 1 Sept to coincide with the release of The Banished
Craft.
Giveaway:
$25 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
Ends Sept. 9th
Prizing is provided by the publisher and hosts are not responsible in any way.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This event was organized by CBB
Book Promotions.
I want to read this book so badly. Great job.
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