Guest Post: Introducing Blazebringer By A.J. Norfield

It’s my pleasure to welcome A.J. Norfield, the author of the Stone War Chronicles series. He will talk about his upcoming new novel, Blazebringer (out on August 17th!), and you can also win all four paperbacks with a generous giveaway. If you are impatient to jump on the series (I would be if I were you), then you can get the first book, Windcatcher free on Amazon until August 19th! Seriously, you are totally spoiled, my friends. Don’t believe me? Check out Jen’s review of book 1, Windcatcher, and my review of book 2 Part 1, Wavebreaker: Trickle.

Let’s go and see what this is all about, shall we?

For several years A.J. Norfield worked as a falconer; training and flying the likes of owls, eagles and other types of birds of prey. Next to roughhousing with his kids, he likes to stay active with a mixture of aikido, nature walks and dabbling in the art of archery. A big fan of Japanese RPGs, and anime, he’ll often play the swordfighter in any type of game. For writing, he often likes to draw from his experiences with nature and animals, focusing on the bonds, interactions and frictions that inevitably take place when the stakes are high.

Connect with A.J. Norfield

Hey everyone, A.J. Norfield here. The queen herself was kind enough to lend me a page on her blog to tell you about my upcoming book Blazebringer. Coming to Amazon on the 17^th of August 2023!

So, what can I say? A fire dragon. It’s about damn time! The world is crumbling in the Stone War Chronicles as evil forces sweep across the land and leave devastation in its wake. But why? Why is the Stone King so hellbent on destruction? That’s what Raylan and his friend, the wind dragon Galirras, would also like to know. The duo feels ill-equipped to face such a force, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. After freeing their friend Xi’Lao from imprisonment, they now need to find help—not an easy thing when you’re being hunted.

Chaos reigns, order crumbles. Balance seems to have been lost, but there are more dragons out there. And so, the adventure continues!

Worldbuilding

I’ve had the pleasure to travel to many distant places in my life so far. All those visits to cities, wildlife reserves and wilderness have provided me with the inspiration for my worldbuilding. I’ve always been drawn to the mountains/forests and nature in general, so it was only natural for me that this became a big part of my writing. This includes the animals, whose diversity and adaptation can make such wonderfully different creatures to explore. Predators, symbionts or mystical beings, the world should feel like a big living organism itself in which humans are only a small part of the bigger whole.

And that’s precisely what’s happening in the Stone War Chronicles. All these conflicts and impact of cultures clashing… it’s blinding people from what is really going on.

In Wavebreaker Part 1&2, I really enjoyed exploring the semi-nomadic culture of the Minai. A tribe led by women with a close affinity to the animals in the world… one would think it would all be harmony and bliss. But nobody is without flaws and those that have already finished those books know how devastating human jealousy can be.

In Blazebringer we find ourselves in the jungle, following Raylan’s struggle for survival. In the background, the worldbuilding shows glimpses “modern” hunger of exploitation and greed, thrown against those trying to live more in balance with nature. Hell, sometimes nature even strikes back.

All these different aspects give the world depth and history. It paints the big panoramic view against which the action takes place. The world can bring relief, or danger… and if you ask Raylan, he’ll probably tell you that danger seems to find him a little too often.

We’re celebrating Blazebringer’s release with an awesome giveaway. Enter to win all FOUR released paperbacks of the Stone War Chronicles series. That’s almost $70,- USD in dragon adventure goodness that can find its way to your bookshelf. Don’t wait too long. The giveaway ends on Blazebringer’s launch day, August 17. Click here or see below to enter and before you know it, you’ll be soaring high above in the Aeterran skies with Galirras and his friends.