Myths are really fun. Not just the well known ones (although the Greeks and Romans have their moments), but the less visited canons such as Celtic, Indian, and Japanese have really strange and wonderful moments in them. Not only is delving into the myths themselves a good time, but exploring the gods is a blast. The stranger the better, and there is no shortage of really weird ones.
That’s why the gods that feature in Strange Angels aren’t your typical ones. Balor has a co-starring role, and he’s an interesting guy. According to myth, he’s a death god who’s also a giant and has one eye, which is also a death eye. What the hell is a death eye? Good question. All the myth really says is he never opened his eye because everything he saw would die instantly. Which just opens up a whole bunch of other questions. Now, I could do some serious in depth research, or I could just go ahead and write up my conception of Balor, which is what I did. That’s the truly fun part, twisting a myth and making it your own. And I doubt any expert in Celtic mythology would recognize the Balor in these pages, but I think he’s one of the more together gods presented in this book, because the gods are pretty weird. In fact, if anyone recognizes any of the gods here, I may owe you a cookie, because I took some liberties. I had to, because let’s face it, a staid, old fashioned god would seem desperately out of place. There are places for sober, nuanced portrayals of gods, but my story is not that place.
Just thinking about it, the gods would all be crazy, wouldn’t they? In completely different ways. If you were an all powerful being who could create your own world and were surrounded by yes men, wouldn’t you be crazy and spoiled after a few millenniums? Knowing me, yes. So I figured the same would be true of the gods, but since they all have different powers, some would be inherently more dangerous than others. So if crazy gods and weird variations on myth are your thing, you may enjoy my story. Also, you may not. But the myths themselves never stop being fun, no matter how you use them.
Title: Strange Angels by Andrea Speed
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Genre: Paranormal, M/M, Romance
Length: 138 pages/Word Count: 35,000
Summary:
Death is the family business, and Brendan Connolly is about to come into his legacy. Nobody warned Bren that Dad was a death god, or that someday he’d inherit his powers. So far, falling in love with the angel sent to protect him has been the only good thing to come out of this whole mess.
Bren’s guardian angel, Lorygdarain, knows the aura of a ticking supernatural time bomb when he sees one. Add to that the angel’s first taste of the human emotion called love, and protecting Bren from the god who killed his father could be Dar’s hardest job in an eon.
Snakes, amnesia, and a mysterious god named Bob might not be much of a rescue plan, but one guardian angel can only do so much. With a veritable pantheon on his heels, and the universe hanging in the balance, Bren must learn to lock and load the most dangerous weapon of all: himself.
Contest
Ms. Speed is giving away a copy of Prey (Infected 1), so be sure and leave a comment along with your e-mail address on today’s post.
Follow the rest of the tour HERE.
I’ve been wanting to read the Prey series for some time now! Count me in, thanks! And…An angel named Bob? Hmmm…Interesting! 😀
Rush
I loved all the myths and legends when I was younger ( read them from all over the world) and I really like some of the more modern takes on them too.
Your book sounds like a good one and I already have it on my wishlist.
I’ve already read Prey and just wanted to say I love it! Whoever wins it will be a lucky person
Please count me in. Thanks. I have heard great things about the Infected series.
I’ve been wanting to read the Prey series for some time now! Count me in, thanks! And…An angel named Bob? Hmmm…Interesting! 😀
Thanks for sharing and the giveaway. I’d love to read it this one.
Thank you! And thank you for having me at the blog today. 😀
I’ve always been interested in myth and legends. There are some great modern takes on them and it’s always fun discovering how others view a certain myth or legend.
I’m intrigued by this book-thanks for the chance to win a copy!
taccb(underscore)1981(at)yahoo(dot)com
Haven’t read any of the Prey series yet, so count me in please 🙂
Loved the guest post, and this book sounds awesome, thanks for the giveaway!
tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com