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Book Details:
Book Title: Mages Unbound: Book 2 of the Fifth Mage War Series by Laura Engelhardt
Series: Fifth Mage War Series
Category: Adult fiction (18+), 480 pages
Genre: Paranormal Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Laura Engelhardt
Release date: Nov 2020
Content Rating:
Book Description:
It’s ironic to find out your whole life has been a lie when you’re married to a truth-teller.
If only Mary could find some humor in it. She’s drowning her sorrow in vodka and song when a surprise visit from her youngest sister jolts her into accepting the magical reality hidden from her for fifty years.
Mary’s epiphany can’t come soon enough because her fresh start may be the only thing that can save her siblings and the world from an utter melt-down.
As the two Bant sisters grapple with sirens, faeries and the FBI in America, their brother is trapped in a high-stakes game of mage politics in Australia. Meanwhile, middle-sister Amy’s malfunctioning mage-sight forces her to seek help from the very same mages who tricked her once before.
Can Mary pull herself together in time to rescue her family from the coming war?
Mages Unbound is a paranormal women's fiction novel, told from the perspective of the Bant family members. This is Book 2 in the Fifth Mage War Series, a magical epic about sirens, fae, and family ties.
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You May Also Want to Read:
Book Title: Sirens Unbound: Book 1 of the Fifth Mage War Series by Laura Engelhardt
Series: Fifth Mage War Series
Category: Adult fiction (18+), 548 pages
Genre: Paranormal Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Laura Engelhardt
Release date: July 29, 2019
Content Rating:
"Loved it! Members of the Bant family become entwined in an upcoming mage war in this epic urban fantasy novel about sirens, fae, and family ties." -- Michelle Hogmire, Reedsy Discovery
"a unique take and meshing of different established ideas... Sirens that feed and aid? Fae trapped in England as a prisoner camp? Mage's getting optical surgery for magick sight? I really loved the combination of ideas and I thought they all worked together surprisingly well ... I found myself immersed in watching the fae emerge and interested in Amy's work. I appreciated not being talked down to on either side, as a reader. Some writers over-explain or use too much jargon. This was just the right mix for me. And the descriptions placed me in each scene. I'd definitely buy this." -- Mel Candea, Ink & Insights
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGArxGVzb7I]
Amy’s day starts with three things: Coffee, breakfast, then brains. In that order.
Relax, it’s not what you think. She’s just your everyday neurosurgeon who can fix everyone’s brain but her own. It doesn’t matter if she has fifty years of life experience and regularly works with mages—she’s still a mundane.
She’s turning fifty, and her last achievement was what, ten years ago? She’s not sure if anyone even remembers it.
Determined not to be a one-hit-wonder, Amy jumps head-first into a new opportunity. Literally.
Some people have affairs to deal with a midlife crisis—Amy has brain surgery.
The results are even bigger than her career ambitions, and Dr. Amy Bant will need the help of her siblings to survive what comes next. Cordelia, an agoraphobic underwater photographer, Thomas, a playboy with a Brazilian tourism business, and Mary, a choir director with a truth-teller husband are all keys to unlocking secrets a whole lot closer to home than any of them could have realized.
Turning fifty doesn’t have to be mundane—not when you’re in the Bant family!
Sirens Unbound is a paranormal women’s fiction novel told from each member of the Bant family. This is Book 1 in the Fifth Mage War Series, a magical epic about sirens, fae, and family ties.
AMAZON
BEFORE WE READ ABOUT THE AUTHOR, LET'S READ THIS VERY INTERESTING INTERVIEW
Q: How do you balance your time between your writing and your family?
A: I have four school-age children. When I was working full-time, I barely had time to read, let alone write! But after I stopped working, I discovered that there were a few glorious hours during the school day when I could actually focus on what I wanted to accomplish. Of course with everyone at home now, it's been harder to find my own time. But writing keeps me sane, so I try to find a half hour here and there to sneak off.
Q: How does your faith inform your writing?
A: I like to think my faith informs everything I do, most especially my writing. Christian fantasy writers have a long history – from C.S. Lewis and his Narnia books to L.E. Modesitt and his Imager series (which includes actual sermons). I'm not writing a classic fantasy series where the villains are utterly irredeemable forces of darkness. Instead, my villains start out as heroes. I think their transformation is just as interesting as the rise of heroes. All my main characters have a chance to be great — it comes down to their decisions. Some will make the right choices, but they often falter (just like us regular people ☺). When my characters fall down the slippery slope of justifying wrong-doing (for extremely worthwhile causes), they begin their fall from grace. The question is whether they can turn it around or not.
Q: You've traveled outside the country? Where would you like to go next?
A: I've never been to Australia. Since so much of Mages Unbound takes place there, I would really like to actually visit the country. Of course, Australian culture in my world is SO different from the real Australia, I don't think my work on the book will actually help me acclimate ;)
Q: You say the Australia in your world is quite different from the real Australia — in what way?
A: I had fun making the Australians super-formal, with fussy and tight clothing styles. Since Aussies are known for being laid-back, I thought this would help readers distinguish the Australians of my world to actual Australians. In my world, a mage cabal rules Australia as an apartheid state, where mages have a lot more legal rights than their mundane citizens. All Australians are devoted to their cause of freeing the mages of Europe and America from their self-imposed "enclave bonds," but have little sympathy or understanding for non-mages. I really love writing about my Australians, and can't wait to explore their world view further as I continue writing this series.
Q: Why do you write fantasy fiction?
A: I write the kind of books I like to read. While I read a ton of romance novels, historical fiction and mysteries, most of my library is filled with sci-fi and fantasy. While fantastic worlds draw me in, it's the characters that keep me reading. I love magic and science so advanced it's like magic, but more than that, it's the people fantasy authors write about that make me love the genre so much.
Q: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
A: It was such a learning experience — from start to finish! I think I cut and re-wrote 70% of the first book. And like most authors, if I were going to write it again now, the story would be very different. There's so much to learn from the process of doing. Our culture places such emphasis on training & book-learning. But honestly, I think we learn so much more by doing & by the feedback we receive from others who experience our work product.
AS WELL AS A GREAT GUEST POST FROM THIS AUTHOR
“Can’t there be just one thing, one pure source of truth, that doesn’t have to be questioned? I’ve changed so much — I don’t want to change religions!”
Poor Mira! Can you imagine how hard it must be to be caught between a world of magick and the mundane world? It's especially difficult for her because she doesn't discover she's a siren until she's thirty years old. She spends the next forty years clinging to her human life.
Her unwillingness to abandon her human children is a large part of what keeps her in the mundane world. Unlike most sirens who transition from human to siren, Mira isn't willing to break with her family when she changes. But even after her children are grown, Mira still can't bring herself to embrace a new life. She's held back by her fear that if she acknowledges the truth — that she's a siren — she will be accepting the fact that she may no longer be welcome in the church.
For some readers, this may not be such a big challenge. But for people with strong ties to a faith community, the prospect of being outcast can be even more of a horror than the thought of being divorced by your spouse.
In my books, sirens are a hybrid creation developed by a great mage years ago, artificially constructed by magick. Mira worries that because sirens were created by a mage, not God, that the Pope will declare that have no souls. So ever since Mira discovered that she was a siren, she's been tortured by the fear that she'll be excommunicated if the church becomes aware that sirens exist. I don't delve into this sub-theme beyond one rather poignant scene in Mages Unbound, but am laying the groundwork for Mira to eventually address her crisis of faith in later books.
Most fiction stories only explore the heartache of a broken relationship in the context of a failed romance. But such devastating heartbreak can happen when you're fired from your job, when a friend ghosts you, or when your church no longer accepts you. In Mages Unbound, Mira worries that she isn't really God's beloved daughter. But her journey of faith will continue in the next book!
An avid sf/fantasy reader, Laura Engelhardt writes the kind of book she likes to read: fantasy with intricate worlds and complex characters facing moral dilemmas. She started writing plays in college, then moved to Germany, where she continued to write while teaching ESL to executives. After moving back to the U.S., she supported her playwriting by teaching ballroom dance and working retail. Deciding that living in her parents' attic wasn't for her, Laura went to law school and then spent the next seventeen years as a lawyer and compliance officer in New York City. In 2017, she quit Wall Street and began helping people resolve disputes as a mediator and arbitrator. She now lives in New Jersey with her family.
connect with author: website ~ facebook ~ goodreads
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