The
Missing Planets
By Hawk MacKinney
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Planet
Terato has become a member of the assembly of the Confederated League of Allied
Star Systems. The Murian Outpost Terato once commanded by His Imperial
Majesty’s Lord High Chamberlain Herklo Korvo XXXIV is now Teratoan staffed and
under the command of Teratoan Eklam a’Qoc.
From
the uncharted reaches between galaxies, attacks of extraordinary weaponry come
against Terato and the Myr worlds of the Murians. Terminus Terato’s expanded link-portals
and converter power modules are virtually useless. Power loss, defenses,
communications and travel are totally disrupted. High Chamberlain Korvo’s
unexpected return to Terminus on a mission for His Imperial Majesty leaves him
stranded on Terato. Attacks grow more massive, more unpredictable; spread
across the worlds of the League, as an isolated Terminus struggles among the
shattered rubble and whispering remains of an ancient Polity of star-walkers.
Family
and friends are lost, empires and civilizations in disarray, Terminus and
Planet Terato almost defenseless. Desperate for answers, their worlds being overwhelmed by this
remorseless aggressor, Eklam and Korvo reach across unexplored space in a
despairing gamble and the last reserves of converter star-substrate, seeking
one insignificant star system of gas giants and rocky inner planets for
possible relics of the elusive Lantaraan
Polity.
EXCERPT:
Uncle a’Qoc hadn’t been wrong; much
had changed. Like the ancient Teratoan proverb… change is part of life, change had come. In ways big and small it
had touched all of them. Touched worlds beyond what even Uncle a’Qoc and his
determined nephew foreknew, and changed things even the mighty Murian Empire
could not know—a tumult of the unexpected. Ek was already a Senior Apprentice
the first time he met Herklo Korvo; was one of four honor escorts at the
hurried change of command: ruddy-faced Outpost Commander Kartn Gurlo relieved
by the steely green-eyed Grand Duke Korvo. Ek sensed Gurlo’s anxiety as Gurlo
and the Grand Duke talked with one another. During his apprentice time in Outpost
Terato, Ek had started learning the Murian syntax; had studied the complex
grammar of the Murian tongue, usually spoken with a soft evenness, and caught
only the uttered harsh bleak abrupt Murian idiom.
Since then Ek hadn’t heard the
expression. The discordant tone of the expression struck a jar to Ek’s ears. In
time he learned the expression came from the Malfesian War, when the slaughter
of western Feldovat clans destroyed some bloodlines. “… s' bleikovaat... ”
Carried an intense meaning for Murians. “… events
with unforeseen results... ”
None of the others in the honor escort
picked up on Gurlo’s disquiet or the cause of it, Ek likely the only one with a
grasp of the Murian idiom. And none of the apprentices were aware of its
breakpoint implication, of the unexplainable upheavals rushing toward their
home-worlds.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
With
postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities,
Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and
Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on
chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has
authored several works of fiction.
Hawk began
writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and
mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and
reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin
Trace, a historical
novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in
Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family
bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the
Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod
Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have
received national attention. Walking the Pet is Hawk’s latest release
in the Ingram series. The first book in another mystery-thriller series is
scheduled for release in 2015. The
Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science
fiction series, was released in 2012. Its sequel, The Missing Planets, has just been released.
Hawk will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Use the rafflecopter link below to enter. You can find his schedule at http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/10/book-blast-missing-planets-by-hawk.html
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHope. Dreams. Life…Love –
ReplyDeleteThank U for hosting the blur of genre(s) & character-driven plots & other worlds with new languages
Hawk MacKinney
www.hawkmackinney.net