Poplar Press

Excerpt: NOT ALL DRAGONS by David Ly (Poplar Press)

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On May 19th, Poplar Press are due to publish Not All Dragons by David Ly. It’s a debut fantasy novel that offers a new take on the myth of dragons, and the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share with our readers. First, though, here’s the synopsis:

What is it that you are, Rhys?

In a land of magic and myth, Rhys awakens on the shore of Lanilia with mysterious wounds on his back and no memory of his life before. Disoriented, he stumbles on the Mernese estuary protected by the mermaid Delia, who is quickly intrigued by this male who doesn’t smell like any Lanilian she’s ever met and who is unable to answer questions about himself.

Determined to figure out his past, Rhys convinces Delia to help, and begins a dangerous journey to discover who he is, or was, and who he might become as they hunt for the truth beneath story and prophecy.

And now, on to the excerpt, which is the Prologue.

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Excerpt: THE WONDER LANDS WAR by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)

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Today we have an excerpt from The Wonder Lands War, the fourth book in Peter Darbyshire‘s The Books of Cross series — readers may recall that we have shared excerpts from the three previous novels in the series, too (see below for links). It’s is out now, published by Poplar Press. Here’s the synopsis:

I would take the whole world apart to find her.

The immortal Cross is back in a wild new adventure – a desperate hunt to find the enigmatic Alice from the Wonderland tales. Alice has helped Cross save the world countless times over since she stepped out of the pages of her book, but now she is the one that needs rescue after vanishing during an apocalyptic battle. Aided by the faerie queen Morgana and her court, Cross journeys to mystical islands populated with murderous immortals and into famous libraries with powerful librarians and magical texts until they reach the chaotic and terrifying Wonder Lands, the dangerous inspiration for the original Alice tales. But they are not the only ones looking for Alice – a rogue group of angels are also hunting her for mysterious reasons of their own. The very fate of the world may rest upon who finds Alice first.

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Excerpt: THE APOCALYPSE ARK by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)

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DarbyshireP-BoC3-ApocalypseArkThe Apocalypse Ark is the third novel in Peter Darbyshire‘s Book of Cross series, and today we have an excerpt from the book. We’ve already shared excerpts from the first two books in the series — The Mona Lisa Sacrifice and The Dead Hamlets. The three novels are out now, published by Poplar Press. Here’s the synopsis for the third book:

“You fool,” Sariel said. She gestured with a hand and the table between us slid to the side. “You ridiculous mortal fool. What did you do with the sphinx?”

With these words Cross finds himself thrust into his most dangerous adventure yet, working with the double-crossing angel Sariel to stop Noah from ending his eternal suffering by ending the world. But this Noah has not saved any beings from the flood, he is God’s warden, and he is bound to hold all God’s mistakes captive on his ark for eternity. And he has gone mad. Between provoking the sorcerous pirate Blackbeard, dealing with the devious vampire Ishmael and travelling beneath the seas with Captain Nemo and the last of the Atlanteans, Cross struggles to keep one step ahead of Noah until the last battle occurs before the very doors of Atlantis itself.

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Excerpt: THE DEAD HAMLETS by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)

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DarbyshireP-BoC2-DeadHamletsOn January 13th, we shared an excerpt from the first novel in Peter Darbyshire‘s Book of Cross series, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice. Today, we have an excerpt from the follow-up book: The Dead Hamlets. (In a few days, we’ll post an excerpt from the third novel, The Apocalypse Ark.) The three novels are out now, published by Poplar Press. Here’s the synopsis:

The Witches never failed to extract a price somehow.

When Cross stumbles drunkenly into a darkened Berlin theatre that is staging Hamlet, he does not expect to see Morgana le Fay on stage as Queen Gertrude or witness a real murder. But a deadly ghost is haunting the faerie queen’s plays and Morgana expects Cross to solve the mystery or risk his daughter, Amelia, becoming the next victim. With the fate of Amelia in the balance Cross tries to unravel a mystery that takes him to libraries outside of time, into battles alongside an undead Christopher Marlowe and to bargaining with the real Witches of Macbeth. But is the play the thing, or is there something far older haunting Shakespeare’s famous work?

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Excerpt: MONA LISA SACRIFICE by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)

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DarbyshireP-BoC1-MonaLisaSacrificeToday, we have an excerpt from The Mona Lisa Sacrifice by Peter Derbyshire, the first book in the Book of Cross series. The book is out now, published by Poplar Press. Here’s the synopsis:

“Even angels have to make a living these days.”

Cross is a man who has lived thousands of years, though he’d prefer not to have, and who is now hunting angels in a Barcelona filled with tourists, phone cameras and deep mystery.

When an angel promises to deliver Judas, a forgotten god of a forgotten people, to Cross for revenge if he can find the real Mona Lisa, a cascading set of mysteries involving a sisterhood of gorgons, Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Morgana le Fay and renegade angels is set in motion. Everything hangs in the balance. Even the fate of the world.

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Excerpt: THE GREAT OUTER DARK by David Neil Lee (Poplar Press)

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LeeDN-MG3-GreatOuterDarkCAHCToday we have an excerpt from The Great Outer Dark by David Neil Lee, the conclusion to the Midnight Games trilogy, in which “the cosmic Cthulhu Mythos comes to life in a struggling post-industrial city.” The novel is out now, published by Poplar Press/Wolsak & Wynn, here’s the synopsis:

After his voyage across the galaxy, Nate Silva arrives home to find Hamilton in the grip of a monstrous triumvirate. The Resurrection Church of the Ancient Gods has returned, with the human form of the shape-changing nightmare from the Medusa Deep as its leader. And closely guarded in a downtown tower a mind-devouring entity called Oracle lurks. The city is infested with invasive species that have slithered into our world during the Church’s occult ceremonies – many-legged dritches, bat-like thrals and the eerie, flying night-gaunts.

Caught in the middle of this are Nate’s friends Megan and Mehri, who are leading the resistance with the Furies, along with a mysterious double agent, the enigmatic Dr. Eldritch and his Cosmic Wonder Circus.

For the safety of everyone he loves, Nate and his friend H.P. Lovecraft hijack the antique airship Sorcerer for one last voyage, to free Earth from the Great Old Ones once and for all.

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