I am so excited to partner with some other amazing authors for a March Reading Contest! It’s super easy to enter and sure to be a lot of fun! To enter, download the National Reading Month Challenge score card:
Every time your child reads for 20 minutes or you read to your child for 20 minutes, color in one of the books. Then, post a picture of your score card in the official Facebook Event Page in the comments of the pinned post. Mark down which prize bundle you’d like to enter in to win:
November has come to a close and we’re already a week deep into December! We’re all set up for Christmas and looking forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus all month and into January. Last month I read 13 books, and really enjoyed many of them. In the latest vlog post, I’ll share the books I read last month and which ones I recommend!
Freshly updated editions of Secret of the Lost King and Sword of the Broken Son, books 1 and 2 in the Thrones series have both released, as well as the brand new, never released before book 3: Skin of the Dragon Lord! The next book is finally here, and I can’t wait for you to read it!
I re-read these books for the first time in a few years over the past couple months, and I have to say, it was so exciting to re-experience them almost as if it was the first time. I love a good plot twist, and there’s one in Skin of the Dragon Lord I had completely forgotten! When I came to it, I actually gasped out loud!
For those new to the world of Jack, Molly, and Ellie, Thrones is an epic fantasy series perfect for middle grade readers who love action, adventure, and the thrill of discovery.
In Secret of the Lost King, Jack and Molly must rescue Jack’s little sister, Ellie, from the evil emperor Morogh, who has discovered a secret: Jack, Molly, and Ellie know something—something they’ve actually forgotten! And if Morogh can get the secret from them, then he can rule the kingdom of Tanniyn forever unopposed. Along the way, Jack receives help from mysterious visions of a man named Gideon, who is facing his own battles and must find the courage to remember who he truly is.
Sword of the Broken Son continues the story from book one, taking Molly on an adventure along with the Prince of Trevan, all to save the kingdom from an army bent on the destruction of Tanniyn. If Molly fails, then Tanniyn will fall. But if she succeeds in her quest, old friends will become enemies, ancient evils will emerge, and Molly will find herself stuck in a world without hope.
In the latest installment of Thrones, Skin of the Dragon Lord, Ellie must seek out the enigmatic Dragon Lord and enlist their assistance in preventing a catastrophic event that will irreversibly reshape the face of the known world. Throughout her journey, Ellie is unexpectedly reunited with individuals she never imagined crossing paths with again, forcing her to grapple with the question of whether someone can truly be redeemed.
The books are all available now in paperback on Amazon.com. Click the links below to pick them up today!
As I prepare for Thrones 1-3 to release any day now, I have posted my first video on my new YouTube Channel: @shaunstevensonbooks! I had the chance to speak at a Preteen Retreat in Arkansas and while there, I was able to do some work on Thrones, so I decided to show you what my cabin looked like as well as share my Fall Reads, Releases, and Ramblings!
It’s finally here! Yes, books one to three of Thrones are coming October 2023! I couldn’t be more excited for you to re-experience books 1 & 2 of one of my favorite series, and I absolutely cannot wait for you to experience book 3: Skin of the Dragon Lord! That book has been five years in the making, and now it’s finally right around the corner!
So what have I been up to over the past few years? Well, I’ve still been writing, but I took a detour to finish my Masters of Divinity degree. That took a lot of my time from writing, but now that I’ve graduated, I’m hard at work creating new Worlds of stories for you to enjoy!
If you haven’t read the Thrones series before, you’ll want to check out books one and two: Secret of the Lost King and Sword of the Broken Son. Each one of these books has meant so much to me, and to the many of you who have read them! I often receive emails asking me about what’s next, and now it’s finally here in Skin of the Dragon Lord. This is the longest book yet, and I think the most exciting of all three!
In Secret of the Lost King, Jack and Molly must rescue Ellie from the clutches of the evil Morogh, ruler of the Kingdom of Tanniyn. In order to save Ellie and dethrone Morogh, they’re going to have to find the Lost King of Tanniyn and discover the secret he has been hiding all this time.
In Sword of the Broken Son, a few years have passed, and Molly, Jack, and Ellie soon find themselves fighting for the sake of the Kingdom when a threat from the North invades. They’ll have to turn to old friends and enemies in order to find a way to defeat the growing evil right under the castle stones.
In Skin of the Dragon Lord, Ellie embarks on a quest to discover the identity of the Dragon Lord, who may hold the key to stopping a cataclysmic event threatening the very existence of everything Jack, Molly, and Ellie have worked so hard to preserve. However, no one could have guessed the plans of an old enemy who will stop for nothing to destroy them all.
One of my favorite aspects of these books in the opportunity to explore a story from Scripture as Jack, Molly, and Ellie discover them for the first time. They see how God has been at work in history, and even up to their present day.
So if you’re ready to dive back in to the world of Tanniyn in Thrones, now is the time! Your perfect Fall Fantasy Read is here! See you soon!
Waiting over a year for this final installment in the FIVE KINGDOMS series was difficult. So difficult. I wanted to find out what happened to Cole, Mira, Jace, and their friends. What would be the fate of the Outskirts as the evil torivor Ramarro threatened the existence of the Five Kingdoms and everyone living in them? As the year wore on, I wondered if the final book could live up to the incredible fantasy epic Mull had woven throughout the previous four books. But as I closed the last few pages with a lump in my throat, I can say, “He’s done it again.”
TIME JUMPERS, the final book in the FIVE KINGDOMS series picks up where book four left off, with Cole and his friends desperately racing toward an apocalyptic ending to the Outskirts, the place he has decided to call home, and the place many others do call home. TIME JUMPERS lives up to the hype of the series, and even though we had to wait a long time to finish out Cole’s story, it was worth the wait. Packed with adventure, mystery, crazy reveals, and moments I never saw coming, Brandon Mull’s latest puts every reader on the edge of their seats once again.
If you haven’t read any of the books in the series, starting with this one will definitely leave you lost as you try to catch up. I highly recommend going back to SKY RAIDERS and reading through from there. However, Mull does an excellent job reminding the reader what has happened previously with enough detail to jog the memory, but not so much that it bogs down this story.
The one weakness this series has is in the character development for Cole. He goes from a mainly altruistic boy who wants to save his friends to a very altruistic boy who wants to save an entire world. He learns some bravery along the way, but nothing that wasn’t already present in him from book one. Despite the lack of growth, the plot remains an incredible ride through action set pieces and far off locales I wish we could have explored even more.
I am so excited to announce that I have signed on with Crimson Pulse Media to author a serial story in 2017! THE RUNNERS OF ABRA will debut on January 7th on BrockEastman.com!
THE RUNNERS OF ABRA:
When Eric was only thirteen, he was taken from his family and the peaceful rice fields on the island of Jedros to become a Runner. Roaming the five islands of Abra, Runners are tasked with jobs — jobs they must see to the end. Either finish the job or die.
And then a mysterious benefactor arrives with a bag of gold and Eric’s first job: find the girl spotted somewhere in the northern islands responding only to the name Bella. Simple enough. But this job is not what anyone thought. Others are searching for the girl. Others who will kill to keep Bella a secret.
But Bella has her own secret to keep. And if it gets out, the very fabric of the known world will change forever.
A year was a long time to wait for Five Kingdoms: Book 4: Death Weavers, but, a year wait does not disappoint when it comes to Brandon Mull. Mull’s signature high stakes fantasy adventure fills the pages of this next installment, and definitely leaves a few surprises for the very end that had me gasping at the last pages.
Cole and his friends have been through three of the five kingdoms in the Outskirts: Sambria, Elloweer, and the futuristic kingdom of Zeropolis. And now, they have finally ventured over into Necronum, the land of the dead. Apparitions appear frequently with slippery deals and valuable information. Hunters lick up their trail. And a mysterious fiery horse named the Mare has been sighted roaming the vast lands. When Cole’s friends fall prey to an evil entity, Cole must travel to the land inbetween the Outskirts and death and try to rescue his friends before they are separated from him for good this time.
Death Weavers felt very different from Mull’s other books, but also very similar in some ways. At this point, we have arrived at a bit of a formula for these Five Kingdoms books: find a princess, rescue the princess, and reunite her with her run-amuck power. While that structure is truly at the heart of this fourth book, there are also some other pieces at play. We finally discover more information about some of the evils lurking throughout the Outskirts, and we also learn more about what exactly has happened to bring Cole to these kingdoms. As usual, Mull is quite innovative when it comes to twisting up the typical fantasy tropes and make them into his own creations, giving us some of the most unique places in the five kingdoms yet.
However, Cole continues to remain something of a flat character. This is something I noted from previous installments in the series, and it is definitely true here. Cole has a bit of a character arc, but he feels much more typical than Seth and Kendra from Fablehaven or even Jason from Beyonders. There is something about Cole that seems to keep him stunted in character growth. Is the story still entertaining? Yes. Is it a page-turner? Oh yes. Is Cole someone worth rooting for? Sure…?
Fans of the previous books will love Death Weavers. Newcomers will definitely feel lost entering the series here, and it is really best to go back to Sky Raiders and start from there. Mull has set up some great conflicts for the last book in the series coming in another year, and it will be interesting to see how he ends up wrapping things up.
When I first heard Wayne Thomas Batson would be returning to the world of pirates, I was beside myself with excitement. Isle of Swords and Isle of Fire were two of my favorites when they first came out back in 2007 and 2008, respectively. So to hear that another installment in what was truly an incredible series of books would be arriving soon was enough to get me itching to return to a world of pirates, swordplay, and adventure. And Batson definitely does not disappoint here.
To begin with, Isle of Stars is a shorter story than the first two books in what is now known as The Isle Chronicles. The story is smaller is scope than the previous two, and the characterization is much more subdued than before. Also, Batson weaves in characters from his Dreamtreaders series, and readers unfamiliar with those books may be lost at the beginning of the book. Also, the plot device to bring in those characters from Dreamtreaders is a little forced, which may turn some readers off.
The story this time circles around Cat and Anne, who are going to be getting married soon — hopefully by Christmas, but no guarantees what with pirates about — when word arrives that the nefarious pirate, Captain Tobias Dredd has surfaced and is looking for the legendary Isle of Stars, an island that has never been desecrated by human sin. When Dredd kidnaps young Hopper, it is up to the crew of Captain Declain Ross’ ship to rescue him and stop Dredd from reaching the starlit isle before it’s too late.
Isle of Stars moves very quickly, and returns the reader to the world of the Batson’s pirates in a way that left me wanting much, much more. I was aching by the last page for another full novel set in this world, and time will tell if Batson plans to return here later. There is some violence here as well that does come across a bit shocking when it arrives, but it fits the world created here.The climax of the book does come rather quickly as well, and I had to stop and take stock of where things were at a couple of times to make sure I was still following the storyline.
All said, Isle of Stars is a very welcome addition to The Isle Chronicles, and I deeply hope Batson continues to put out more of these kinds of adventure stories. Here’s to hoping.
A year was a long time to wait for Five Kingdoms: Book 4: Death Weavers, but, a year wait does not disappoint when it comes to Brandon Mull. Mull’s signature high stakes fantasy adventure fills the pages of this next installment, and definitely leaves a few surprises for the very end that had me gasping at the last pages.