Tuesday, August 9, 2016

The Dragon Sphere

The Dragon Sphere banner


This is my stop during the blog tour for The Dragon Sphere by Abel Gallardo. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 8 till 21 August, you can view the tour schedule here



The Dragon SphereThe Dragon Sphere (Nation of Dragons #1)

by Abel Gallardo

Genre: Fantasy

Age category: Young Adult

Release Date: July 20, 2016



Blurb:

Landon Brown, fifteen year old high school football star, is always on the top of his game. That is until he receives a visit from an uncle he’s never met with information about Landon’s father, who disappeared without a trace thirteen years before. Landon learns that the life he’s been living is a lie and that his true nature is powerful and dangerous. He’s half dragon and a threat to the delicate balance that has kept dragon society hidden from humans for hundreds of years.



Landon now must learn about his dragon heritage and train to control his incredible abilities with the help of the Elder Dragons, a bizarre trainer named Alpha, and other dragonoids like himself.



He quickly realizes that the mysterious world of dragons, spirits, and secret societies are not for the weak. Tasked with finding the Dragon Sphere, an ancient relic harboring a terrible power that could destroy the world, Landon recognizes that he just might be way in over his head. Will he be able to control his newfound power in time for the fight of his life?




You can find The Dragon Sphere on Goodreads



You can buy The Dragon Sphere here:

- Amazon Paperback



Abel GallardoAbout the Author:

Abel Gallardo was greatly influenced by Greek mythology, comic books, and the fantasy/mystery novels he had read as a child. Shortly after graduating with his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, he began writing stories that reminded him of the adventures he cherished growing up. Abel Gallardo now lives with his wife and children in Albuquerque, NM.



You can find and contact Abel here:

- Website

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Goodreads



Giveaway

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of The Dragon Sphere. Two winners will each win a 10$ amazon gift card!



For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter giveaway below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway










Excerpt:
“I can see him,” she said in disbelief. “I can make out his form. It’s as if the air is bending around his body. He’s about twenty yards straight ahead, and about ten feet off the ground. It looks like he’s waiting for something.”

Just then I heard a loud rush of wind swirling towards me. The force knocked me to the ground. I picked myself up right away.

“WATCH OUT!” yelled Aurora, as I felt the full force of a fist against the left side of my face.

The wind demon swirled towards Aurora. She rolled to the side, then put her hand up and blocked a blow from above. With a clenched fist and eyes closed, Aurora pounded the air, hoping to hit the demon. It was a powerful blow that summoned a strong gust of air with its force. I noticed dust and small fragments of rock blast off from the ground as the demon’s invisible body landed on them. I ran to the spot where the demon had hit the ground, hoping to hit him while he was down. Before I could even swing, though, I was lifted ten feet in the air and dropped straight down.

As I was about to land, Aurora pushed a pocket of air towards me to break my fall. Unfortunately she missed, and I ended up hitting the ground. I landed hard on my back. Nothing was broken and my head didn’t hurt; I took it as a good sign.

“Are you okay?” shouted Aurora.

I nodded and asked where the demon was. Before she could answer, she shot a powerful gust that blew me away.

“What the…?” I called to her as I rose angrily to my feet. Then I suddenly realized what she had done. The demon had been right above me and had smashed a crater into the ground where I was lying just seconds before. If she hadn’t pushed me back, he would’ve tackled me deep into the earth.

“He’s down!” she yelled.

Dust, pebbles and other debris slid into the deep crater created by the wind demon. I felt an intense rush of energy flow through my body as I willed the freshly made crater, where the demon had landed, to collapse onto itself. I compacted the rocks, dirt, and branches into a spherical shape and enclosed the wind demon within it.

“LET ME OUT!” called the demon. “I am Soldier the mighty. I will destroy you stupid kids!”

“We should let Alpha know that we trapped him,” Aurora suggested.

I nodded in agreement but was speechless. I was astonished that the earth listened to me. The energy that ran through my body actually moved the ground. Aurora waved her hand in front of my face and snapped me out of my shock. She looked exhausted, even though we’d only been out here for a few minutes.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Those wind blasts drained me,” she said, her warm smile assuring me she was okay.

We turned back to the cave to inform Alpha of our success.

“AAARRRGGGHHH!” screamed the wind demon, as he exploded the rocky sphere he was trapped in. The demon was furiously gasping for air. I could see him now; his body was covered in dirt and other debris. He was about six feet tall, with a muscular build, and he was wearing… was that a toga?

“Where did you get the dress?” I mocked.

The demon howled in anger and swirled towards us. Aurora and I evaded his attack by rolling away from each other. I got up quickly, sprinted towards him and punched him in his midsection. Before I could get another punch in, he blasted me with a gust of wind that knocked me on my back. But the dusty figure was holding his gut with his left hand and wincing in pain. Aurora shot a blast of wind at him that pushed him face first to the ground. Instinctively, I raised my right arm and willed a patch of earth below his face to rise up and strike him.

The demon roared.




I love seeing what authors read and the reviews/comments they make about books. Check out what Abel Gallardo likes.

Top 10 favorite books/authors

10. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher: The message behind this novel was deep, emotional, and well crafted. The premise of this book surrounds the suicide of Hannah Baker. Jay Asher nails delivering a very thought provoking journey through the psyche of this young girl and this cause and effect type mystery novel.
9. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore: This was a really entertaining story and I loved the first person narrative. I’ve always been a big fan of coming of age stories and this one kept me hooked the entire time.
8. The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw: Entertaining from beginning to end. Thomas Lourds Harvard linguistics professor follows clues and uses his expertise to decipher the meaning of ancient artifacts to find the lost city of Atlantis. This is my type of story with loads of adventure and mystery. Very fun read.
7. Watchmen by Alan Moore, Illustrated by Dave Gibbons: I hope this isn’t cheating but the Watchmen is definitely deserving of a place among my top ten reads of all time. Sure it was a graphic novel but the story was unique and fresh as I kept flipping the pages to find out what would happen next. The ending shocked me but left me completely satisfied as I finished that journey.
6. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan: I first read this book when I was in 4th grade. I couldn’t put it down. Once I finished it, I felt like I had graduated to a whole new level of mystery book. This book was beautifully written and has great depth to all of its characters.
5. R. L. Stine (Author): I started writing my first short stories because of the Goosebumps author. I learned to love reading because of his works and it’s cool to see my oldest child loving these books as well.
4. Jurassic Park (Book): I didn’t read the book until many years after the movie had come out but once I did, the essence of the book reinvigorated my awe in the movie. It’s rare in my world to love both the book and the film. Ofcourse, the book will always be better but the movie was never second rate.
3. H.G. Wells: What an iconic novelist. I’ll have to admit that I saw most of the movies before going back to read his works but Mr. Wells was such a visionary and his classics are timeless. I feel blessed to have read The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Island of Doctor Moreau.
2. J.R.R. Tolkien: Mr. Tolkien would have to make it on any fantasy adventure novelists top anything list. His creativity and ability to engage readers in all of his classics have truly transcended time. Peter Jackson didn’t make Tolkien’s epic fantasies relevant again…Tolkien made Peter Jackson relevant. That’s just my humble opinion.
1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: AKA the Modern Prometheus, this book really grabbed me and filled me with awe. What a superior piece of writing that Mary Shelley crafted. I felt more intelligent as I read the book and her writing must have completely shocked the people in her era. There’s nothing like going back to the source of a story and uncovering all the details for yourself. Does anyone else get tired of hearing people referring to the monster as Frankenstein?





1 comment: