I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the WAR OF THE ANIMALS by
Jonathan Decoteau Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Author: Jonathan
Decoteau
Pub. Date: June
26, 2023
Publisher: Animus Nor
Books
Formats: Paperback,
eBook
Pages: 266
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/WAR-OF-THE-ANIMALS
The eBook is FREE on ALL retailer sites!
War breaks out. This time, nature fights back...
A failed effort to weaponize animals awakens their intellects. The military
responds by creating death camps to exterminate infected animals. Moon Shadow,
an Arctic white wolf, unites with White Claw, a polar bear king, to form Animus
Nor, the first animal republic, to negotiate peace. The uneasy peace is broken
with the rise of Azaz, lord of the grizzly bears. Azaz attacks human
settlements, considering humans an invasive species that wreaks havoc on bears
and the environment. A world war breaks out as animals face humans and each
other to see who will become the true apex species.
Will humanity win, or will nature triumph in the end?
Grab all 3 books in the series now!
Book Trailer:
Excerpt
The War of The Animals series asks: What if animals rose up against humanity’s pollution of the environment and destruction of their habitats? What if it was a fair fight? This excerpt is from the first chapter and introduces Moon Shadow, queen of the wolves, the protagonist of the early books.
Photo courtesy of Midjourney
Moon Shadow shook the harshest of the white winds off with an afflicted whimper. Her paws—icicles lined with nails—winced in their impending numbness. Still, Moon Shadow ran forward. In the distant echo of dreams, she remembered what it was like to live in the world before the end of worlds. An illegally smuggled white Arctic wolf, Moon Shadow knew the love of her former masters before the new age. The tiniest of the humans reminded her of her own pups, tiny balls of white fur that she hoped to coddle until it was their time to hunt. Yet, the same masters took her pups from her, putting them up for the highest bidder to steal. Even after seeing more of the great North American continent than she had ever dreamed of in her life of relative leisure, Moon Shadow had seen no sign of her pups. She wondered if they were now grown with pups of their own. In her heart, she knew it was unlikely that they survived The Rapsys, or Opening of Eyes, as the street dogs of her former town rather poetically referred to this massive change that shook the very marrow of their bones.
While Moon Shadow considered herself a peaceful wolf by nature, a woowen-ken, or one who walks with nature, she had killed. Before her blue eyes locked on their prey, a rather pushy raccoon that threatened her masters with snarls and claws had its neck torn asunder in her mighty jaws. The occasional wild cat that crossed her path had fared no better. But when Moon Shadow killed, it was never in fear. It was always with purpose. The Harkening, or Great Slaughter, had come upon her with more robustness than the pups that ever so briefly sought her milk before they disappeared. Trusted masters everywhere turned their pets into authorities, and from even the most distant howls, whinnies, neighs, and hisses, Moon Shadow knew what the rulku, or killers, were capable of. Her eyes met her master’s and even as their little ones cried, Moon Shadow knew. Her fur stood on end, and in a brief moment, she saw the eyes of the rulku in her masters. She snarled, biting hands that no longer fed her. One of her former masters, the mother, no less—the one who, unlike her, had not lost her pups—screamed at the authorities. They turned their sights on her. Moon Shadow ran through the killing fields, making eye contact with the vacuous eyes of a falling prize filly as it crashed to the earth. She saw the ravens and vultures circling before flying off. And she heard the thunder of the crackling sticks the rulku held before she felt one of her legs give out in wordless pain beneath her. Had the filly not fallen when it did, had the whimpering, betrayed house dogs not collapsed behind her, the rulku would have killed Moon Shadow then and there.
But even the least awakened of the street dogs knew of the term Ozu, the great binding spirit that held all of Nature at balance, deciding which dog lived and which dog died. Ozu was with Moon Shadow that coldest of nights, and so she ran, gaining what food and wisdom she could from the edge of old towns that were death to any dog that dared enter unawares. The street dogs spoke, in vibrant, guttural growls, of an army forming in The Great White North. They spoke of how The Rapsys came with the winds of the tundra, of how the wolves, deer, eagles, and hawks, were gathering, along with the sea creatures, the otters and whales, of how all the animals were gathering, in a secret meeting with a strange creature, Nurvlyn, a rulku with eyes like theirs and the wisdom of the flowers. Moon Shadow did not know if this was but legend, but she was the only street dog with enough youth and stamina for such a quest, the only one who was not starving, taking what meat from the rulku bones she could feast on. Her barks had a rhythm to them, the other street dogs said, that showed wisdom born of pain and experience. And so, Moon Shadow kept running, the first American dog to reach the wilds of the great northern tundra, asking always, how much farther to Nurvlyn, how much farther must she go in the Arctic snow.
About Jonathan Decoteau:
I am a nature lover who lives and
teaches in beautiful, pastoral New England.
The War of the Animals books were inspired
by the 2020 pandemic lockdown. I remember driving by animals that freely roamed
the streets after we were in lockdown (I was getting groceries—not ignoring
state mandates—I promise!). I felt for the first time how much the animals were
in lockdown whenever we weren’t. That inspired the idea of a variety of animals
having voices and speaking up for the earth. I started writing the books
shortly thereafter.
I write
because I love doing so. I’ve been published by a small press and a few
literary journals. Before self-publishing the War of the Animals books, I wrote The Naked Earth, named 2008 Fiction Book of the Year by The Online Journal of News and Current
Affairs. I also received a Writer’s
Notes Magazine general fiction book award for my stories in Sing of the High Country.
Contact Info: waroftheanimals@gmail.com
Photo Caption: Cavendish Cliffs,
Prince Edward Island, Canada
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Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a finished copy of WAR OF THE ANIMALS, US Only.
1 winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card, international!
Ends December 26th, midnight EST.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
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11/27/2023 |
Guest Post/IG Post |
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11/28/2023 |
Guest Post/IG Post |
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11/29/2023 |
Blog Spotlight/IG Post |
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11/30/2023 |
Guest Post |
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12/1/2023 |
Excerpt |
Week Two:
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12/4/2023 |
Review |
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12/5/2023 |
Review |
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12/6/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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12/7/2023 |
IG Review |
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12/8/2023 |
IG Review |
Week Three:
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12/11/2023 |
IG Review |
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12/12/2023 |
IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
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12/13/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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12/14/2023 |
FB Review/IG Post |
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12/15/2023 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
Week Four:
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12/18/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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12/19/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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12/20/2023 |
IG Review |
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12/21/2023 |
Review |
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12/22/2023 |
Review |
Thank you for featuring my book today!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover art, synopsis and excerpt, this is a must read book and series for me. Thank you for sharing your bio and book details and for offering the free book and giveaway
ReplyDelete