BY DARKNESS HID by Jill Williamson ~ The Review

BY DARKNESS HID by JILL WILLIAMSON
My Synopsis

Achan Cham is a stray. In the feudal caste system of Er’Rets a stray is the bottom rung of society. Without family, he is forced to work in the kitchens and serve an abusive master.

An offer from a charismatic knight to train for the King’s Guard lifts Achan’s spirits. And yet, as Achan grows more capable with the blade and confident in himself, he hears voices in his head. Despite his new found courage gained from his sword training, he fears he has gone mad.

Meanwhile, Vrell Sparrow, a girl dressed as a male stray hiding from an arranged marriage that will unite her to the most horrific of lords, works in the household of a friend of the family. And a powerful man, who covets her strong blood voicing powers which enable to hear other’s thoughts, sends men to fetch her. Though Vrell is admired by a few of her captors, it looks as if she is on her way to the dungeon.

Both Achan and Vrell meet as they get caught up in the whirlpool battle for the highest seat in the land. As century old lies crumble and cruel secrets melt, shocking secrets are revealed about their families, their identities, and the world as they know it. In the end Vrell and Achan are required to run for their lives into the land which is by darkness hid.

My Review

I have to admit, as a writer this book sent me into a long depression – or writer’s block -- whatever title you want to slap onto it. As I read the last page of BY DARKNESS HID and closed the book, I said aloud, “That’s it. It’s been written. The perfect fantasy tale has been written and it is called BY DARKNESS HID.”

Oh yeah, and I went on to wallow about it. Why write? The perfect fantasy tale had been written.

Okay, rest assured that not long after later I have emerged from my self-pity and began writing again, and after you’ve assuredly rested go and buy this book.

These characters are alive, loveable and as real as any I have seen. Without endlesss narrative, you feel like you are in middle of the medieval fantasy world. All that is medieval and fantasy is painted and portrayed in entertaining brilliance.

The action is fast paced without being choppy; the conflict is flashy without being violent. It is my favorite book to date. Aye, my fellow fantasy fan, I said it: This is my favorite book to date!

What more to say? We can look back in admiration at Tolkien and Lewis as they forged the road. We can honor Jordan, Whedon, Lucas, as they constructed their footsteps. But I say, Jill Williamson is a hero of our time.

You decide. Pick up the book.

Check out the Christian Science Fiction and Blog Tour. . .See what the others have to say!
Brandon Barr


Keanan Brand

Gina Burgess

Beckie Burnham

Melissa Carswell

Valerie Comer

Karri Compton

R. L. Copple

Amy Cruson

CSFF Blog Tour

Stacey Dale

D. G. D. Davidson

Jeff Draper

Emmalyn Edwards

April Erwin

Sarah Flanagan

Andrea Graham

Tori Greene

Ryan Heart

Joleen Howell

Becky Jesse

Cris Jesse

Jason Joyner

Julie

Carol Keen

Krystine Kercher

Dawn King

Leighton

Rebecca LuElla Miller

New Authors Fellowship

John W. Otte

Crista Richey

Chawna Schroeder

Andrea Schultz

James Somers

Rachel Starr Thomson

Steve Trower

Fred Warren

Dona Watson

Phyllis Wheeler

KM Wilsher

Jill Williamson's Web site and Blog

Purchase By Darkness Hid

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Interview with Jill Williamson author of By Darkness Hid

I feel so very grateful to share with you a conversation I had with Jill Williamson about her Blood of Kings Trilogy, especially Book One: By Darkness Hid.

KM: Hi, Jill. Thanks for coming over. So question one: What is your favorite story?

Jill: I don't have one!!! There are way too many to pick. My favorite story of this week was Chop, Chop. It's a coming-of-age story that I couldn't put down. The author may have self published it, I'm not certain. Here is a link to my review of it on Amazon.com.

KM: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Jill: When I got my first article published in Brio and Beyond.

KM: What is the hardest trial you have with writing? Either ongoing, or your defining moment.

Jill: It's so hard to know what to work on next. I guess this is something that God will reveal to me in time. My mind is always racing from one idea to the next. It's hard to stay focused on one story.

KM: Who designed the covers?

Jill: Kirk DouPonce. You can see what other amazing covers he designed on his website: http://www.dogeareddesign.com/

KM: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Jill: Thank you for reading my story and telling people about it! I'd love to hear from you. If you haven't already, come find me on Facebook. And if you live in the Northwest, I'd love to come and visit your library or school. Email me for more information at info@jillwilliamson.com.

KM: How did you come up with the idea for this story?

Jill: Two things happened close together that inspired this story. First, I was walking with my son one day and we came upon a burned-down house. There was a tree in the front yard. The part of the tree that hung over the fence and above the street was leafy green, rocking and rustling in the wind. But the branches of the tree near the house were charred and stiff.

I stared at that tree for a long time, then took off for home, pushing that stroller at top speed. I went straight to the computer, opened Adobe Photoshop, and made the image of the tree that is the header on my author website. I couldn’t wait to write a story about this tree!

Around that same time, I had a weird dream about a guy with amnesia. Little did everyone know that he was someone very important. When I woke up, I liked the idea of this lost character, so I put him together with my ideas for the half-living, half-dead tree and I was off and running.

The next thing I did was draw the map. It looked a bit like Africa, which was an accident, and it had A LOT of dots on it. I needed a way to name all those places. I remembered that J.K. Rowling used Latin for most of the spells and many character names in the Harry Potter series. So I looked on my shelf. It was French or Hebrew/Greek. I thought Hebrew was way cooler, so I went with it.

For example, in the center of the map, you see Allowntown. Allown is Hebrew for oak. So that's treetown, where my cool half dead tree went. I got many character names the same way. Achan (Ay-kan) means trouble in Hebrew.

I started a notebook and brainstormed things about each town. I used a set of encyclopedias to help me. I knew I wanted Barth to be dessert, so I looked up some countries in northern Africa and wrote down their exports, crops, climate, vegetation, animals, etc. This helped me make each town diverse and realistic to the readers.

I also brainstormed lists of names. In Allowntown, aka treetown, I wrote down a list of types of apples. Braeburn, Concord, Gala, Pippin, Fuji, Ambrosia, Taylor, Macoun, Baldwin, etc. And I had a nice list of character names should I need someone from Allowntown. I used the same process for the other towns. I came up with a theme and made a list of names. Berland names are Inuit. Carmine names have to do with wine. Walden's Watch names have to do with the ocean. It was fun.

At one point, my husband said, "Uh, Jill? You've been messing around with that map for like two months. Are you going to write this book or what?"

He had a point. So I put all that down and started the story.

Thank you, Jill! You have been the most personable author I've ever known. And that story turned out to be one of the best books of 2009.

Jill shared some of the brainstorm images she used while developing By Darkness Hid. I now share them with you:

Look at these "sketches" she is quite the artist as well as writer. Maybe that is why By Darkness Hid's images were so vivid.






Achan is the main character. I likable boy. Honorable and loyal. He is oppressed. Living as a slave for as long as he can remember.

Hang on, the party is just getting started. We have two more days to delve into the Blood of Kings Trilogy: By Darkness Hid.
 
JILL WILLIAMSON'S WEBSITE AND BLOG
PURCHASE BY DARKNESS HID
 
Come back tomorrow for my review. And tonight visit the others on the tour to see what they have to say:
 
Brandon Barr

R.L. Copple
Keanan Brand

Gina Burgess

Beckie Burnham

Melissa Carswell

Valerie Comer

Karri Compton

Amy Cruson

CSFF Blog Tour

Stacey Dale

D. G. D. Davidson

Jeff Draper

Emmalyn Edwards

April Erwin

Sarah Flanagan

Andrea Graham

Tori Greene

Ryan Heart

Joleen Howell

Becky Jesse

Cris Jesse

Jason Joyner

Julie

Carol Keen

Krystine Kercher

Dawn King

Leighton

Rebecca LuElla Miller

New Authors Fellowship

John W. Otte

Crista Richey

Chawna Schroeder

Andrea Schultz

James Somers

Rachel Starr Thomson

Steve Trower

Fred Warren

Dona Watson

Phyllis Wheeler

KM Wilsher

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

BY DARKNESS HID by Jill Williamson

I am dancing up and down this week. Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour is hosting the AWARD WINNING: BY DARKNESS HID by Jill Williamson. And boy do I have some treats for you!

If you buy any book this summer, buy this one!

Today I'd like to share with you the book trailor for BY DARKNESS HID.


And click here to see a map of Er'Rets! The lovely medieval town where it all got started.

Stay tuned through out the week for an interview, review, and secret treasures I recently uncovered about and from JILL WILLIAMSON.





Buy by Darkness Hid


Jill's site and blog

See what others on the tour have to say. Participants’ links:

Brandon Barr

Keanan Brand

Gina Burgess

Beckie Burnham

Melissa Carswell

Valerie Comer

Karri Compton

Amy Cruson

CSFF Blog Tour

Stacey Dale

D. G. D. Davidson

Jeff Draper

Emmalyn Edwards

April Erwin

Sarah Flanagan

Andrea Graham

Tori Greene

Ryan Heart

Joleen Howell

Becky Jesse

Cris Jesse

Jason Joyner

Julie

Carol Keen

Krystine Kercher

Dawn King

Leighton

Rebecca LuElla Miller

New Authors Fellowship

John W. Otte

Crista Richey

Chawna Schroeder

Andrea Schultz

James Somers

Rachel Starr Thomson

Steve Trower

Fred Warren

Dona Watson

Phyllis Wheeler

KM Wilsher

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Come back tomorrow for more fun with BY DARKNESS HID by Jill Williamson

BY DARKNESS HID by JILL WILLIAMSON

THE HOLIDAY SERIES
UNLEASH THE MAGIC
DECEMBER CHAPTER
FALL ON YOUR KNEES

A BOOK REVIEW
BY DARKNESS HID by JILL WILLIAMSON
My Synopsis
Achan Cham is a stray. In the feudal caste system of Er’Rets a stray is the bottom rung of society. Without family, he is forced to work in the kitchens and serve an abusive master.

An offer from a charismatic knight to train for the King’s Guard lifts Achan’s spirits. And yet, as Achan grows more capable with the blade and confident in himself, he hears voices in his head. Despite his new found courage gained from his sword training, he fears he has gone mad.

Meanwhile, Vrell Sparrow, a girl dressed as a male stray hiding from an arranged marriage that will unite her to the most horrific of lords, works in the household of a friend of the family. And a powerful man, who covets her strong blood voicing powers which enable to hear other’s thoughts, sends men to fetch her. Though Vrell is admired by a few of her captors, it looks as if she is on her way to the dungeon.

Both Achan and Vrell meet as they get caught up in the whirlpool battle for the highest seat in the land. As century old lies crumble and cruel secrets melt, shocking secrets are revealed about their families, their identities, and the world as they know it. In the end Vrell and Achan are required to run for their lives into the land which is by darkness hid.

My Review
I have to admit, as a writer this book sent me into a long depression – or writer’s block -- whatever title you want to slap onto it. As I read the last page of BY DARKNESS HID and closed the book, I said aloud, “That’s it. It’s been written. The perfect fantasy tale has been written and it is called BY DARKNESS HID.”

Oh yeah, and I went on to wallow about it. Why write? The perfect fantasy tale had been written.

Okay, rest assured that three weeks later I have emerged from my self-pity and am writing again, and after you’ve assuredly rested go and buy this book.

These characters are alive, loveable and as real as any I have seen. Without endless narrative, you feel like you are in middle of the medieval fantasy world. All that is medieval and fantasy is painted and portrayed in entertaining brilliance.

The action is fast paced without being choppy; the conflict is flashy without being violent. It is my favorite book to date. Aye, my fellow fantasy fan, I said it: This is my favorite book to date!

What more to say? We can look back in admiration at Tolkien and Lewis as they forged the road. We can honor Jordan, Whedon, Lucas, as they constructed their footsteps. But I say, Jill Williamson will be the hero of our time.

You decide. Pick up the book.