The Banished Lands Review, Guest Post and Giveaway!

Posted by abakersp in Contemporary / 4 Comments

The Banished land FB Banner copy

 

About the Book

 

The Banished Land

Book Title: The Banished Lands, book one in The Banished Lands Series

Author: Benjamin Mester

Genre: Fantasy

Release date: May, 2015

 

A kingdom in danger. A prophecy that will change everything. But will they understand it in time? The old world is gone, and barely even histories remain. But something from that time is returning. The closing lines of a farewell poem, written centuries ago by the last great king of the age to his slain wife, might be more than just a poem:

The world and all its light shall fade,

I’ll stay with her beneath the shade

And wait until the world’s remade…

 

Join us in this epic fantasy adventure as three friends plunge into the great mystery of their age, twelve centuries in the making. A mysterious fog blankets the forest just outside the sleepy town of Suriya. A dark plot unfolds as Durian and his friends discover ties between a strange wanderer and the warlike barbarian kingdom far to the north. Are the mysterious things happening in the forest a prelude to invasion? What happens next will propel Durian and his curious friends into the middle of the oldest riddle in the history of their kingdom, a dozen centuries old.

 

Click here to purchase your copy!

 

My Perspective

 

This book was full of fun, mystery and adventure. It was my first time reading a book by this author, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect at first. I was pleasantly surprised, although I will admit it did take me a little bit to get into the story line. About a third of the way through it picked up for me, and I was glad I stuck with it. I have slowly started reading more fantasy books, here and there really, and I find that they really let me use my imagination. It was nice to read a book that was different, not your typical love story (which is what I read most of the time. You see strength, courage, and characters who don’t give up hope. I loved the message of the story, and I am sure this will not be the last time I read something by Mr. Mester.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

About the Author

 

Ben MesterBenjamin Mester is a novelist and poet. He fell in love with the written word and beauty of language at a young age, marvelling at the way a story can transport a person, enveloping their whole mind and heart as they dive into new places and grand adventures. A lover of nature, Mester has spent the whole of his adult life immersed in the study of poetry, often wandering the woodlands of northern Minnesota or the beaches of California.

If asked about his writing, he would say his overarching goal is to inspire people to live with greater passion, often quoting one of his favorite Proverbs, 14:8: The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways. How often do we stop to give thought to our ways, asking ourselves why we live the way we do? What does it mean to live to the full? How can I love more deeply? Mester hopes his writing will build a longing in his readers, that his stories inspire them to want more for their lives than the mediocrity of good enough we so often settle for.

 

 

Guest Post from Ben

 

I’ve always loved that enthralling feeling of adventure and mystery that comes when you dive into a brand new world. My greatest motivation for The Banished Lands was to create a world of rich lore and history, but not overburden the reader with backstory. In The Banished Lands series, we enter a fractured world with a forgotten history. But hints of it remain through a set of poems that speak of the old world and cryptic events which brought an end to that age.

 

I love the idea of characters living normal, mundane lives, suddenly thrust into an ancient struggle they didn’t even know was raging. I love the fantasy genre because it isn’t ashamed of the classic archetypes – the epic struggle of good and evil, heroics, and everything that often gets the label cliché. Using these archetypes in ways that haven’t been done before was my real motivation for writing The Banished Lands series. The way this series combines poetry, lore and mystery is something unique in the fantasy genre.

 

When writing this first book, I often sat back and wondered to myself, What would it be like to live in a world with a shrouded past? We often take modern life for granted – the whole wealth of human knowledge at our fingertips. But what would it be like to live in a world where the only history was cryptic poetry telling of a time when the world was a wildly different place? And what if, somehow, those ancient poems that no one really understands seem to be the only thing that really explains the dark things creeping forward from the fringes of the world? Welcome to The Banished Lands!

 

Blog Stops

 

Texas Book-aholic, August 2

Two Points of Interest, August 3

Blogging With CarolAugust 4

Mary Hake, August 4

Inklings and Notions, August 5

A Rup Life, August 6

proud to be an autism mom, August 7

Bibliophile Reviews, August 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 8

Janices book reviews, August 9

Jeanette’s Thoughts, August 10

Carpe Diem, August 11

A Baker’s Perspective, August 12

Books, Books, and More Books., August 13

Multifarious, August 14

Bigreadersite, August 14

Little Homeschool on the Prairie, August 15

The Mimosa Blossom, August 15

 

Giveaway

e5f4939d-cd96-45de-b748-8fb15bc1a0af

 

To celebrate his tour, Benjamin is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d1c7/the-banished-lands-celebration-tour-giveaway

4 responses to “The Banished Lands Review, Guest Post and Giveaway!

  1. Kay Garrett

    Thank you for your review and information on “The Banished Lands” by Benjamin Mester.

    This book, though not my general genre, intrigues me and sounds very much like a book I’d love the chance to read. With all I’ve read about it, I’ve definitely placed this book on my TBR list.

  2. Upon exposure to sunlight, the game of a gang of enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases (MMP’s) is up-regulated.
    In contrast to essential oils, honey absolute oil does not blend well and requires to become used
    in isolation. This is because it sticks to debris and dirt, making an effort
    to unclog pores within your skin.