Title: The SOLSTICE SERIES BOXSET: Of The Heart, Sacrifice, Black Moon Rising, Songline, and New World
Author: John J Blenkush
Genre: Fantasy Romance, Magical Realism
Book Blurb:
HER DESTINY CALLS…
Lemurian DNA is at its end. Armageddon is near. A new world is about to be created. Few will survive. And only one, the surface-equal, can save the ancient race from extinction. Through happenstance 16-year old Julissa Grant becomes the Lemurian’s choice. But she’s not without flaws. Although she can inject fresh DNA, is a virgin, and is believed pure of heart, she is easily misled. Her temperament is problematic to learning the Lemurian age-old art of transferring, manipulating, and storing life-force energy, critical to living in the New World. Her notoriety gained when she’s embodied with the Holy Grail of healing only serves to lead her further off course. For a time, she joins the Sons and Daughters of Belial, the Lemurian’s arch enemies. After she and her loved ones become targets of the Belials, she chooses to go below to the Lemurian city of Telos. But she’s a diamond in the rough. She fails at walking Songline with her equal, Aaron Delmon. She’s given a last-gasp chance to prove she’s the surface-equal by completing Discovery. Will she make it to the NEW WORLD? Give birth to their visionary leader, HeIs? As the Lemurian Foretold has prophesied? Or die trying?
Excerpt:
It took only Jualina to pull me along over the ground and into the Antiquities Cave. As I floated up and over rocks, debris, and sand, the others kept pace, following from behind while conversing as to my state of being. Words I heard were, “demonic,” “devil,” “possessed,” “charged,” “enlightened,” and some others I couldn’t make out because of the buzz. They all wanted to talk at once. A raised hand and “That’s enough!” by Tualina put an end to the guessing game.
The Antiquities Cave is surreal in that everything suspended in ice appears alive and in motion. It doesn’t help I’m floating along, giving the impression it is I who is standing still, and what I’m watching are scenes from a movie. I shut my eyes and concentrate on preventing lifeforce energy from escaping. My fear is that once I open a channel, I won’t be able to stop the transfer, which is what happened when I melted my mom’s mirror. Back then my anger nearly caused my death. So, what if, when I open a channel this time, I can’t control how much lifeforce energy drains from my body? Will I die in my attempt to save the two brides? Kriss’shon and I never discussed this.
Jualina brings me up alongside the ice wall where the two pods sit in suspension. As I look in, I gauge how far in I’ll have to melt the ice in order to reach the brides. I figure maybe five-six feet. Of glacier, case-hardened ice. None of this matters. When I’m out of energy, I’m out. Simple as that.
My audience, standing but feet away, observe me in earnest. Tualina steps forward.
“What do you need us to do?”
“Ready the blood. The sooner it gets in their bodies, the better chance they live.”
“You never gave us blood.”
I think back. Remember talking about it. Laying there watching as Edeaoin had walked down to the beach to fetch more fish bladders. And, no, I hadn’t given blood.
I turn my attention and angst on Edeaoin. “Where’re the bladders? We need to draw blood. Now!”
Edeaoin points. “Left them at camp.”
“Well, get them!”
Edeaoin hesitates, then bolts for camp. In what seems an eternity to me, but is minutes in reality, he returns, bladders and needles in hand.
“Where’re the tubes?”
“Told you. We don’t have tubes.”
I grab a hollow reed from his hand. Although small in diameter, they’re quite long. “These will have to do.”
I look around for something to lay on. Nothing. The tunnel is exactly that; a smooth-walled tube. Unlike the caves I imagined (and dreamed about) up on Rainier, which were scalloped from steam rising out of the volcano, this cave has been hollowed out by the flow of water, grinding through the ice cube as if an enormous boring tool had been used. I hand the needle back to Edeaoin and wave him aside.
“What’re you going to do?”
“Melt ice.”
With the Glass Clan in audience, I step forward, place my hands on the curved ice wall, and attempt to slip into trance. The murmurs emanating from the girls behind me is distracting, especially since their voices echo through the chamber. I yell, “shush!” and all becomes quiet. Except for the breaking of waves on shore. I key in on the rhythmic beat, achieve singlemindedness, and direct lifeforce energy into my fingers and beyond. In short order, I find myself cold and drenched. But there in front of me, is a shelf, wide enough for me to lay down on, and I do.
Because I’m cold, I’m having to use energy to keep my core temperature up. I motion for Edeaoin to bring me the bladders and needles.
“Careful,” I say. “Poke the needle in the bladder.”
We all watch as Edeaoin inserts the needle into the bladder. I marvel at his intuition to turn the needle like a drill bit, while puncturing the bladder’s skin. I pinch a vein on my arm until it rises, make a fist, and nod to Edeaoin to get on with it. He inserts the needle into my skin. Misses the vein. I yank it out.
“Try again. And this time, pinch the vein, so it can’t move.”
Edeaoin stalls. “Don’t know if I can do this.”
“Yes, you can. Go. We don’t have time to waste.”
Edeaoin follows my instructions, pinching the vein with his fingers and at the same time wheedling the needle into my skin and into the vein. I hear a shout from the girls as blood spurts into the bladder. Edeaoin’s face breaks into a wide smile, as though he had just performed surgery and saved my life. His smile disappears as I give him further instruction.
“Another bag,” I say. “Once this one gets full, you’ll need to pull it and stick me again.”
“Can’t we just remove the bag?”
“No. Keep the needle inserted in the bag. Make sure it doesn’t spill. We’ve got to use the same set-up to transfer the blood into the brides.”
Edeaoin pulls the needle from my arm, hands off the blood-filled bladder, and reenacts the procedure. I watch as the blood drains from me. No one should ever give more than a pint of blood. This is what the nurse had told me. And here I’m doubling that. What will happen if I can’t get up off this shelf? And melt enough ice to free the brides? I assuage my concern by reminding myself that I now know how to extract energy from the ocean. What difference will a day make to the brides? After all, they’ve been locked in suspension for over seventy years.
And then it happens. As I watch the bladder top off to near full, my vision clouds. Darkness creeps in. And I black out.
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Why is your featured book a must-read?
"…Blenkush has created a universe that stands out from the rest, wrapping his main characters up in narratives that are full of mystery, passion, and inspiration. The writing is immersive and descriptive, his characters truly come alive on the page. Julissa is an interesting character, whose traits are used in the utmost extent to deliver a story that is an undeniably a good read. Blenkush spends a great deal of time incorporating within his plot historical information about the mysticism behind Mt. Shasta, the lost city of Telos, Mu (the cradle of mankind), and the Lemurians’ connection with another lost city: Atlantis. Blenkush keeps his story constantly flowing by combining all of the above-mentioned literary elements, as well as including un-hackneyed scenarios and cliff-hanging chapter endings. The Solstice Series offers fantasy romance aficionados a unique and unforgettable storyline. This (series) has the ability to grab the reader and never let them go.” (Red City Reviews)
Giveaway –
Enter to win an e-book bundle of all 23 books featured in the Young Adult Bookish Event:
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Author Biography:
John J Blenkush, is the author of the critically acclaimed thrillers, REDDITION and STACY’S STORY, (Kirkus Reviews) and the epic SOLSTICE SERIES. Besides writing, he loves the great outdoors, running marathons, and recreational mountain climbing. He lives with his wife, Nancy, in Northern California. For more information please visit www.lostfingerart.com
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