I'm excited to announce that Annie Douglass Lima's young adult action and adventure novel, The Gladiator and the Guard, is now available for purchase! This is the second book in the Krillonian Chronicles, sequel to The Collar and the Cavvarach.
First Things First: a Little Information about Book 1:
What is the Collar for, and What is a Cavvarach?
The story is set in a world very much like our own, with just a few major differences. One is that slavery is legal there. Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone. Any slave attempting to escape faces the dilemma of how and where to illegally get their collar removed (a crime punishable by enslavement for the remover).
Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil. It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with "have a rack"), a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge. Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades. You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.
First Things First: a Little Information about Book 1:
Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire's most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie's escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time. With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?
What is the Collar for, and What is a Cavvarach?The story is set in a world very much like our own, with just a few major differences. One is that slavery is legal there. Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone. Any slave attempting to escape faces the dilemma of how and where to illegally get their collar removed (a crime punishable by enslavement for the remover).
Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil. It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with "have a rack"), a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge. Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades. You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.
Bensin, a teenage slave and
martial artist, is just one victory away from freedom. But after he is accused
of a crime he didn’t commit, he is condemned to the violent life and early
death of a gladiator. While his loved ones seek desperately for a way to rescue
him, Bensin struggles to stay alive and forge an identity in an environment
designed to strip it from him. When he infuriates the authorities with his
choices, he knows he is running out of time. Can he stand against the cruelty
of the arena system and
seize his freedom before that system crushes him?
Click here to order The Gladiator and the Guard from Smashwords (for Nook or in other digital formats)
Annie Douglass Lima spent most of her childhood in Kenya and
later graduated from Biola University in Southern California. She and her
husband Floyd currently live in Taiwan, where she teaches fifth grade at
Morrison Academy. She has been writing poetry, short stories, and novels since
her childhood, and to date has published twelve books (two YA action and
adventure novels, four fantasies, a puppet script, and five anthologies of her
students’ poetry). Besides writing, her hobbies include reading (especially
fantasy and science fiction), scrapbooking, and international travel.Connect with the Author Online:
Email: AnnieDouglassLima@gmail.com
Blog: http://anniedouglasslima.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieDouglassLimaAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/princeofalasia
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGoodreads
Amazon Author Page: http://bit.ly/AnnieDouglassLimaOnAmazon
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnieDouglassLima
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnLinkedIn
Google Plus: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGooglePlus
Blog: http://anniedouglasslima.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieDouglassLimaAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/princeofalasia
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGoodreads
Amazon Author Page: http://bit.ly/AnnieDouglassLimaOnAmazon
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnieDouglassLima
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnLinkedIn
Google Plus: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGooglePlus
Review
Four years have passed since Bensin bought Ellie’s
freedom by winning the cavvarach tournament. Coach Stein adopted Ellie and
promises Bensin freedom – as soon as Bensin can win the tournament again. But
before the championship match can even begin, Bensin is attacked and then
accused of attempted murder, since slaves face the death penalty for injuring a
free person, even, apparently, in self-defense. His death sentence is given in
the form of execution in a gladiatorial arena. Will Bensin be able to find a
way out in time?
Wow. The
Gladiator and the Guard was pretty awesome. I don’t remember being this
impressed with the previous book, The
Collar and the Cavvarach, or any other book in the last several months. It
was that good. Not just because of
the world-building, the character development, or the descriptive battle
scenes. No, it was all of that in
addition to the moral and psychological depth of the story. All those
things add up to a truly great novel.
The story took place in an alternate present; that
is, this setting represents the way America would be if the North hadn’t won
the American Civil War and, instead, slavery still existed and the United
States was broken up into several warring factions. The technology is
relatively the same as it is in the real-world present. It’s a little strange
to wrap one’s mind around but it works really well for the story. Which brings
me to the specific setting, which mostly takes place in a gladiatorial arena
much like the Roman arenas where gladiators fight even to the death. Yikes!
The next part worth mentioning are the battle
scenes. The author seems to have put a lot of work into creating a unique form
of martial arts and describing how it works in battle. I’m not a martial
artist, but I could visualize the fight scenes relatively well especially
considering no one has ever actually fought that way.
Now, we get to the part that made me give this
book a five star rating. It was a combination of the character development and the
moral dilemmas and decisions made by them. Bensin struggled with bitterness and
hate as a result of his own and others’ actions. But what got me was how he
responded. Bensin chose not to hate because it made him no different than
anyone else, give in to the system that wanted him to be that way, and, even,
less than human. Instead of responding to violence with violence, he responded
with kindness. And he did that without some religious epiphany, either. It
struck me as inspiring and awesome.
I highly recommend The Gladiator and the Guard by Annie Douglass Lima to fans of
speculative fiction (and Karate Kid).
I received a free copy of this book from the
author in exchange for an honest review.
Now, enter to win an Amazon gift card or a free digital copy of The Collar and the Cavvarach!
