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Monday, October 3, 2016

The Gift - The Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield by Tegon Maus - Book Tour - Review - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Tegon Maus and his new book, “The Gift – The Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield”!  For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card.  Also, come back daily to interact with Tegon and to increase your chances of winning! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this exciting giveaway!


The Gift - The Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield
by Tegon Maus

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GENRE: Fantasy Action / Adventure

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BLURB:

Tucker Littlefield is a liar, a thief, a con-man. In an attempt to take advantage of a party thrown by the King, he becomes involved in the kidnapping of the King’s niece, Elizabeth. Injured, he is saved by a shaman who turns Tucker into a Soul Bearer who is enslaved by its power, compelled to devour the souls of the dead. "I am Tucker Littlefield. Know all that I say now is true-spoken.”

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EXCERPT ONE:

The trees had grown closer together their shade deepened and travel between them more difficult.  I trotted next to Enon.  His stride, an easy gate for him, was so enormous I had to make every effort to keep up.

At long last Enon stopped at the edge of a small opening in the trees.  He held his hand over his head and gestured silently.

I had been so busy keeping up with him, I hadn't noticed the others had spread out to the point they were no longer visible, all except Bowen and Enon himself. He gestured for my silence as a light breeze filtered through the trees.  I settled onto the ground next to Bowen and waited, happy for the lull.

With a faint rustle of leaves he and the dog trotted away from us.  The sound of a strange voice drifted from a short distance away.

Someone was talking to the dog.  I sank lower, trying to burrow under the leaves at the base of a large tree.  Bowen moved closer to me, hiding me with his body.  I wanted to look and edged my way up to peek over his shoulder.

There, not more than fifty feet away, was a half-naked man.  He was shorter than a Jonda but larger than me.  From the back of his head grew a long tuft of black hair, braided with leather its full length.  His head was shaved with this lone exception.  It laid as a single entity across his back, cut square at the bottom of his hunched shoulders. He turned briefly toward us, I was shocked. His face was a dull, ruddy red and stood as stark contrast to the gray tone that covered the remainder of his body.  Square, primitive, with a single brow and a protruding jaw his face was like no other I have ever seen.  His body and arms were as muscled as any Jonda, only squatter, more compact standing on short powerful legs. He was covered only by a loincloth laced at the hip. It seemed unnatural he would be wearing anything at all.

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REVIEW:


This book is book one in the Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield series.  This book is a quick read with only 179 pages.  However, I felt this book was a bit complicated and confusing at times.  It was mostly due to the odd character names, complex conflicts, and unfamiliar cultural references.  Regardless, I did enjoy following the journey and reading about the exciting adventures of Tucker and Enon.

This book starts off with the main character, Tucker Littlefield telling a story at a tavern.  This tavern is full of people that have traveled from over seven towns to partake in the telling event.  Apparently a telling event is a competition and includes a monetary bet with the best telling winning the whole pot.

Tucker begins the story with the sad and tragic details of Enon Tutelo’s difficult birth.  He describes in detail the power of a mother’s love and how Enon is truly a great man. The story was so despairing; even Tucker was wiping his eyes while telling it.  Tucker then goes into how he first met Enon and how he’ll never forget that night.

Tucker scored a prestigious invite to the Palace for a birthday party – the hottest ticket in town.  During the party Tucker and Enon meet.  However, Enon doesn’t think highly of Tucker and Tucker doesn’t care for Enon either.  From the minute Enon arrived at the party he is constantly looked down at and is treated rudely as if he carried the plague.  Enon is a Jonda, which is like a Giant, and Jonda’s are considered to be outsiders and monsters.  But Enon is there as a guest of Princess Ruth, “Ruthie,” and her daughter, Elizabeth, often referred to as “Lizie” and “Izie,” in the book.   Regardless of the snarls and whispers Enon ignores the crowd and stays focused on Ruthie and Lizie.  During the party several Jonda force their way in and began fighting with the guards while making their way toward the Royal Family.  Tucker tries to help, but is beaten and left unconscious.  The story then picks up with Eloise, Elizabeth’s governess, “nanny,” looking after Tucker. When Tucker comes to he is told that the King’s niece, Elizabeth has been kidnapped.  The King’s right hand, Chancellor Grimwell has convinced the King that the Jonda are responsible, including Enon.  The King gave Chancellor Grimwell full responsibility to do as he pleases to retrieve Lizie.  Furthermore, all Jonda’s are to be arrested or killed on sight if they resist until Lizie is returned.

While taking care of Tucker, Eloise blackmails him into searching for Lizie.  She demands that he arrives in Bridgehaven within two days.  Eloise says that Enon is there waiting for him and that the two of them must work together to bring Lizie home.   Eloise tells Tucker that if he rescues Lizie, he will never have to work again another day.  Fearful of what Eloise holds over Tucker he decides to look for Lizie.  Tucker is given the King’s personal horse, Escalan.  He is also given a letter that states he on King’s business and is to have an open-ended supply of money and authority and to be treated in this high regard.  Tucker heads to Bridgehaven and this is where Tucker and Enon start on a very dangerous hunt to rescue Lizie. 

As Tucker and Enon meet in Bridgehaven, Tucker convinces Enon to stay put for the night, get something to eat, and start the search tomorrow.  Tucker leads Enon to the center of town to the Dores Inn, a familiar spot of Tucker’s.  Upon arriving, Tucker is greeted by an old friend, Andy who seems excited to see Tucker until he sees Enon.  He demands Enon and Tucker leave, but somehow Tucker convinces Andy to let them stay.  The next morning Andy and three of his pals storm into Tucker and Enon’s room.  The men believed Enon was the leader of the Jonda group that burned down Caldron and murdered several of their people.  Tucker tries to persuade the men that Enon is not like that and was not part of that group.  As Tucker tries to calm the men down as he realizes they plan to kill Enon right then and there, he steps in front on Enon to protect him and Tucker is then stabbed and badly injured.  Enon and his dog, Noget, finish off Andy and his friends.  Enon then takes Tucker to see Daneba, a shaman for the Jonda and not only does she fix him, she turns Tucker into a Soul Bearer for the Kindred.

The story then continues with Tucker, Enon, and Noget back on the trail to find Lizie.  While on the search they come across many threatening and menacing creatures that try to stop Tucker and Enon from saving Lizie.

 It is later determined that Elizabeth is a prisoner of the Norha.  The Norha are a cannibalistic tribe that lives under a volcano.  But of course, this is an action book and nothing is ever that simple.  There are plot twists and a surprising traitor involved in Elizabeth’s kidnapping – a shocking betrayer that I didn’t see coming.

As for this book being book one in a possible, but unknown number of books in a series, I think this book does a good job as a starting point.  I think the main characters were well introduced and leave a memorable existence.  I think the setting could use some work.  Perhaps more world-building and more emphasis on describing the area and a more detailed graphic would help the reader understand and be able to picture the setting better.

I think most people will have a love/hate relationship with the main character, Tucker.  I think they will find him off-putting, annoying, and arrogant at first.  Tucker is a thief, a coward, a liar, and a con-man.  But as you spend more time with him and get to know him better, I think he’ll start to win you over.  I am curious to see if that attitude will continue over the course of the other books in the series of if he’ll go back to his old ways.

I am giving this book, “The Gift” a three and a half star rating.  I felt that this book was quite entertaining and was an enjoyable read.  I am happy to have spent the time to read it; however, it wouldn’t be a book that I would keep to re-read over the years.  I do recommend this book to readers who enjoy fantasy and science fiction books.  I think you will like the constant action and intriguing adventures of Tucker Littlefield.

**I received a free copy of this book from Goddess Fish Promotions in exchange for an honest review.**

Did you find this review helpful?
If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1KPF80ZVAJYG5

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MY FAVORITE QUOTES:

“Not all witches are bad and not all men are good.”

“There is nothing more powerful than a mother’s love, be she witch
or mortal; nothing stronger in all of creation.”

“Our brothers, your brothers, are held as slaves. Their souls ripped from their bodies to become the undead. We come to free them, and to make an example of their keeper.”

“Pray, sir, you never have need to find out how evil. You have seen but a blade of grass in a whole world of fields,”

“Do you have a name? If you’re going to haunt the balance of my life, I’ll need a name. I would like to curse it,”

            “Bring her home and I promise you, you will never have to work another day for the rest of your life. Ale will flow like water, food will have no end, and you can sleep to your heart’s content.”

“If you’re not, I’ll know, Mr. Littlefield, and hell itself won’t be able to hide you,”

“I had no choice, you are his Soul-Bearer. The law is the law, even for you, Cowan,”

“Being stabbed? It was an accident. I wasn’t trying to save him. I was trying to kick the shit out of Andy, and the other drunk stabbed me. Nothing more.”

“Here, you are not equal, not a Citizen. You are not Jonda, you are an outsider. Here, you are the lesser being.”

“This is the price of desire, the price of arrogance, and all the promise it holds.”

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AUTHOR BIO:


I was raised pretty much the same as everyone else... devoted mother, strict father and all the imaginary friends I could conjure. Not that I wasn't friendly, I just wasn't "people orientated". Maybe I lived in my head way more than I should have, maybe not. I liked machines more than people, at least I did until I met my wife.

The first thing I can remember writing was for her. For the life of me I can't remember what it was about... something about dust bunnies under the bed and monsters in my closet. It must have been pretty good because she married me shortly after that. I spent a good number of years chasing other dreams before I got back to writing.

It wasn't a deliberate conscious thought it was more of a stepping stone. My wife and I had joined a dream interpret group and we were encouraged to write down our dreams as they occurred. "Be as detailed as you can," we were told.

I was thrilled. If there is one thing I enjoy it's making people believe me and I like to exaggerate. Not a big exaggeration or an outright lie mine you, just a little step out of sync, just enough so you couldn't be sure if it were true or not.  When I write, I always write with the effort of "it could happen" very much in mind and nothing, I guarantee you, nothing, makes me happier.

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

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Barnes & Noble:

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Tegon Maus will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.


**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.

8 comments:

  1. Happy Monday! We'll make it a good one even if it is Monday. Thanks for the opportunity to win this giveaway.

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  2. Thank you for hosting my book and your kind review !

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  3. Enjoyed reading the excerpt and review. Thanks for the giveaway chance.

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  4. Great post - thanks for sharing your review!

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  5. What books have most influenced your life?

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  6. Thank you for your open and honest review! :)

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  7. Thank you for your honest review, much appreciated!

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