Black Blade
Author: Alexander Charalambides
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Release Date: June 11th, 2017
Book Description:
Lance is a hero.
With his friend Megan, he does his best to survive high school in a world that doesn't always make sense, and is almost never fair.
When their school receives a donation from an anonymous millionaire, Lance and Megan find themselves on an international field trip to England, where the two receive an irresistible call to a supernatural adventure that could change their destinies, and the destiny of the country, forever.
Together with three mysterious adults who all claim to be wizards, Lance must safe-guard the legendary Excalibur. Traveling into a strange parallel world and keeping his friends, new and old, safe from harm at the hands of a malevolent army of magical soldiers, Lance discovers the truth about heroism and the content of his character.
Author: Alexander Charalambides
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Release Date: June 11th, 2017
Book Description:
Lance is a hero.
With his friend Megan, he does his best to survive high school in a world that doesn't always make sense, and is almost never fair.
When their school receives a donation from an anonymous millionaire, Lance and Megan find themselves on an international field trip to England, where the two receive an irresistible call to a supernatural adventure that could change their destinies, and the destiny of the country, forever.
Together with three mysterious adults who all claim to be wizards, Lance must safe-guard the legendary Excalibur. Traveling into a strange parallel world and keeping his friends, new and old, safe from harm at the hands of a malevolent army of magical soldiers, Lance discovers the truth about heroism and the content of his character.
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MUSIC PLAYLIST
Music is an extremely powerful tool for the imagination, it strengths atmosphere and preserves the author’s intent while still allowing the reader to freely imagine the details and texture the author choses to leave blank.
The said, Black Blade’s atmosphere, and therefore “imaginary” soundtrack is sort of set in stone. Since Black Blade is almost a comedy, you might expect me to have listened to all sorts of silly music (which is what I usually listen to), but this is where the “almost” is important. Black Blade’s characters are pretty over the top, sometimes absurd, but the plot and atmosphere are always serious and often sombre, so the comedy really comes from contrast rather than any specific action.
I can’t score the whole thing, but plenty of musical pieces went into building the atmosphere, and since the atmosphere really grew from John Boorman’s Excalibur, we’ll start there.
If you watch Excalibur (and I highly recommend you do) the soundtrack will stand out immediately, the key player being Wagner’s Siegfried’s Funeral March. It’s the keystone of the film’s atmosphere and Black Blade’s as well. In fact, I’m listening to it right now and feeling really proud of myself.
Obviously, though, playlists aren’t composed of a single song. I tried to diversify and ended up with a lot of classical stuff.
Most people know Night On Bald Mountain, which I think comes in louder and louder towards Black Blade’s end, and I always imagined the crowded breathing and clattering equipment of the Mason’s Guild accompanied by Prokofiev’s Dance Of The Knights.
I know, you probably think I’m boring. All posturing about authorial intent and atmosphere aside, I found that writing with these really old, forbidding pieces added something that I couldn’t find in more modern music, and lyrics were right out.
Maybe I’m just ignorant of the music I really needed since all I usually listen to are non-sense mashups and songs made of sampled dog barks.
About the Author
Alexander Charalambides was born in London and grew up in Berkshire. He studied Creative Writing, and graduated from the Open University.
In 2008 he moved to the United States, and now lives in New Hampshire.
As a freelance writer Alexander enjoys storytelling just as much as editing and analysis, but often takes time off to enjoy wind surfing, do the sickest of motorcycle flips, wrestle with deadly animals and lie about his hobbies.
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***GIVEAWAY***
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The book description sounds intriguing. Thanks for sharing. Love the cover too.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the cover, it's an event from the book and I thought it would give readers an idea of the tone. You've no idea how many people told me a quirky cover was a bad idea!
DeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeletelove the synopsis
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ReplyDeleteWhat an unusual cover!
ReplyDeleteMeeting up with three adults claiming to be wizards just screams Stranger Danger! LOL This sound like a great read.
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ReplyDeleteThis sounds like it's going to be a fun book, thanks for sharing :)
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ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for featuring my book on your Blog, I really appreciate you taking the time.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this book !
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ReplyDeleteThanks for all the hard work you do writing books for us!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeletemia2009(at)comcast(dot)net
Thanks for this giveaway
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