Title: The Sailweaver’s Son
Author: Jeff Minerd
Genre: MG/YA Fantasy
Description
The Sailweaver’s Son combines traditional fantasy with a dash of
steampunk and takes young readers to a unique world—Etherium. A world where
mountains rise like islands above a sea of clouds and adventurers travel the
sky in sail-driven airships.
When fifteen year-old Tak rescues the
survivor of an airship destroyed by one of the giant flammable gas bubbles
mysteriously appearing in the sky of Etherium, the authorities react like a
flock of startled grekks.
Admiral Scud accuses Tak of sabotage and
treason. Tak’s father grounds him for reckless airmanship. Rumors spread that
the bubbles are weapons devised by the Gublins, a race of loathsome but
ingenious underground creatures. The King’s advisors call for war, hoping to
win much-needed Gublin coal.
To clear his name, solve the mystery, and
prevent a misguided war, Tak must do what anyone knows is suicide—visit the
Gublins and find out what they’re up to. When the wizard’s adopted daughter, an
oddly beautiful and irksomely intelligent girl from the Eastern kingdoms, asks
Tak to help her do just that, he can’t say no.
The adventure will take Tak from the
deepest underground caves to a desperate battle on Etherium’s highest
mountaintop. It will force him to face his worst fears, and to grow up faster
than he expected.
Excerpt
He’d seen nothing like it in his life. No sky rider
ever had. It was an enormous bubble. Twice the size of the battleship. As it
rose into the sky, the bubble wobbled and shimmered, squished into lopsided
potato-like shapes then snapped back to roughly round. It was more or less
transparent, but its rippling surface glistened with a rainbow of colors where
the sunlight played on it. The bubble rose with alarming speed, rolling this
way and that with the wind. It was not on a collision course with the
battleship—yet. It was some distance off the port bow.
The lookouts didn’t see it until it was too late. As
the giant bubble drew level with the battleship, Tak heard the faint ringing of
alarm bells. The ship came to a full stop, propellers going still, sails
slanting upward to create drag. Tak could imagine the startled looks on the
faces of the men on deck. He was wearing such a look himself. Then the wind
shifted and gusted again. The sky riders have an old saying: Our lives rely upon the wind, and the wind
is not reliable. The saying proved true for the men on the battleship. The
wind took hold of that bubble and hurled it directly at them.
Too late, the captain cried the order to turn hard to
starboard, trying to veer away. Too late, the propellers leapt to life and the
ship lurched, listing heavily with the effort of making the turn while men
scrambled in the rigging to adjust the flapping sails. Large battleships like
the Vigilance are known for their
strength and forward speed, but they are not known for their maneuverability.
The bubble hit the ship broadside and enveloped it entirely.
And then both ship and bubble exploded into a burst of
fire that left a glowing yellow spot like the sun behind Tak’s eyes, which had
snapped shut. When he opened his eyes, blinking, the bubble was gone and the
ship was engulfed in flames. The sails were ablaze. Horrified, Tak watched as
burning men leapt from the deck like showers of sparks, their flaming
parachutes useless.
As Tak sat stricken in the stern of the Arrow, gaping in shock and disbelief, he
felt the first rumbles of the giant explosion in his chest. He felt hints of
its heat on his face. And then he saw the shock wave expanding in all
directions from the ruined ship.
Including his.
Author Bio
Jeff Minerd thought he
stopped writing fiction a long time ago until the story for The Sailweaver’s Son came to him not in
a dream but after a dream. He is grateful for that, and for the opportunity to
explore the world of Etherium and entertain others with what he finds there.
Jeff has a son, Noah,
who is also a writer and avid reader. Jeff hopes to one day place in the top
ten—or maybe even top five—of Noah’s favorite authors. But the competition is
pretty stiff.
In a previous
lifetime, Jeff published short fiction in literary journals including The North American Review. One of his
stories won the F. Scott Fitzgerald competition, judged by former NPR book
reviewer Alan Cheuse.
More recently, Jeff
has worked as a science and medical writer for publications and organizations
including the National Institutes of Health, MedPage Today, The Futurist
magazine, and the Scientist magazine.
Jeff lives in
Rochester, NY.
No comments:
Post a Comment