Raven knew her life would never be the same since the age of six and a half. But now ten years later, that prediction has came true. Raven is now on the run trying to stay alive as she battles her way through the realms, with the help of her three friends and four mysterious guys. She also needs to try and figure out what the prophecy meant, from saying that her seventeenth birthday is literally the beginning or the end of everything. Now she must discover what her powers mean, and why everyone is either willing to bow down before her as their queen and savior or kill her since she is an abomination. And it doesn't help that a strange figure that she keeps seeing in her dreams and vision is also out to make her his or kill her. Raven must travel through hell on earth, to try and protect the ones she loves while also uncovering a buttload of secrets, like who her real parents are. Will raven become the leader and savior the realms need, or will she deny her fate and let the world crumble to nothingness.
This story has fey, faries, vampires, werewolves, achlys, spell bounders, firelease, angels, fallen angels, Skelton creatures, giants, water dragons, trolls, elves, demons, spirit creatures, witches, warlocks, hunters, and etc...
This is my first story and I am co writing it with two of my friends, so send me tips on how to improve it.
This story is copy righted so please don't take any ideas or parts without my consent. Thank you.
WARNING- this story has language and violence, so if you don't like that don't read.
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An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved.
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*** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year!
*** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! *
*** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! *
*** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! *
*** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! *
*** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! *
*** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but...
*** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! *
MY INSPIRATION
I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war.
Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with.
SERIES
The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.