Tuesday, April 1, 2014

"Honor Among Orcs: Orc Saga Book One" by Amalia Dillin

NEW RELEASE and GIVEAWAY
Honor Among Orcs:
Orc Saga Book One
by Amalia Dillin


Honor Among Orcs, the first book in the Orc Saga, has just been released. This book blast and giveaway is brought to you by Masquerade Book Tours.


Description
Tolkien meets Beauty and the Beast in this new romantic fantasy by Amalia Dillin, author of the Fate of the Gods trilogy.
After nearly a decade as the king’s whipping-girl, Princess Arianna has no intention of going quietly into marriage to some treasonous noble, or serving obediently as the king’s spy until her death is more convenient. When she discovers a handsome orc, chained and trapped inside a magic mirror, Arianna cannot help but see a lasting freedom from her father's abuse.
Left to rot inside a mirror by the king, Bolthorn never imagined his prayers would be answered by a princess. Nor did he ever expect to meet so worthy a woman after knowing her father’s cruelty. He needs her help to escape the mirror before the king marches against the orcs, but all he can offer Arianna is ice and darkness in exchange for her aid.
If Arianna can free the monster behind the glass, perhaps she might free herself, as well. But once they cross the mountain, there will be no return, and the deadly winter is the least of what threatens them on the other side. Romance blossoms in this gripping fantasy adventure.

Excerpt

Review
This book takes an interesting tack on the standard fantasy fare of Orcs being Elves who have been twisted by dark magic to be less attractive. But in this it is only their appearance that has been changed and not the soul of them. A lot of the relationships between Humans, Orcs, and Elves is delivered in this through the relationship of Arianna and Bolthorn, a human and orc respectively. Their relationship takes center stage and in the beginning I found the misunderstandings in their actions toward each other a little overwrought, but the romantic aspect wasn't something I was looking forward going into the book.
Once the characters have realized they love each other and get into the land of Elves and Orcs we get some political intrigue that was much more to my taste and really kicked the novel into a higher gear. I like how the novel builds to its climax, but being the first in a trilogy stops it from having too much of a conclusion, but it's still a solid wrap up for the opening piece in the trilogy.

About the Author
Amalia Dillin began as a Biology major before taking Latin and falling in love with old heroes and older gods. After that, she couldn't stop writing about them, with the occasional break for more contemporary subjects. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, and dreams of the day when she will own goats - to pull her chariot through the sky, of course.
Amalia is the author of the Fate of the Gods trilogy from World Weaver Press, and recently released Orc Saga.

Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash.

Links