A warm welcome to author Ravon Silvius joining us today to talk about new release “Thrall”.
October—Time for spooky reads!
With the shortening of the days and the last few gasps of summer heat dying away, it’s time to curl up under blankets and read some chilling stories. I’m here to talk about my newest release, of course, which you can check out below, but I also wanted to share my thoughts on the autumn and why it feels so relevant to a vampire book like mine—specifically, the world I’ve created within the story.
The book itself also takes place during the autumn, which is important within the story. Why? Well, it is a vampire book, and vampires can only come out when its dark. The autumn, at least in places north of the equator, means longer nights and shorter days. (it flips in the southern hemisphere, but they still have autumn—just in March, April and May!) For people living in fear of vampires, longer nights means plenty more time for danger. Imagine vampires in places like the north of Canada or Alaska, the land of the midnight sun. They could hunt for blood constantly!
My book doesn’t take place that far north, but it is a world where vampires have hunted humans to small pockets of civilization. People now live in small villages or the remnants of fallen cities. In a world like that, the growing night brings greater fear. I spent a lot of time crafting the world of the book, with plenty of mysteries that you can read about within the pages. But in sum, the world also reflects the autumn of a civilization—the people who remain after the empire has fallen and their gods have left them. There is still hope, and vampire hunters like Johann still fight to keep people safe as well as to learn how to prevent the further decay of civilization. But things look bleak, and everyone has to be very aware of the vampires and their vicious thralls that stalk the nights, every night.
Of course, the main character of the story is Kaiden, a vampire thrall. The long nights are great for him.
As you can tell, this is a high fantasy story, with a ton of worldbuilding and lore that I hope people will enjoy. Give it a read if it sounds like your cup of tea—and keep an eye out for the sequels, which will flesh out the world, and Kaiden and Johann, even further!
Blurb:
The old Empire has fallen, and humanity is losing the war against powerful vampires. Kaiden, once the pathetic town drunk, is now a thrall, a mindless servant driven only by bloodlust and his master’s orders.
But when his master orders Kaiden to kill a vampire hunter, Kaiden disobeys.
Hunter Johann has spent years studying old lore and killing thralls, but he’s never seen one like Kaiden, intelligent and capable of free will. If he can convince Kaiden to help him, he might reclaim something thought lost forever: a chance for humankind. But he isn’t sure if Kaiden can be trusted, much less become a tool to kill the vampire who created him.
Kaiden doesn’t know who he is or what he truly wants beyond blood. Most of his memories are shadows, and nothing will bring back the life he lost.
Not a vampire, not a mindless thrall, capable of using the old magics, Kaiden is something completely different.
And being different means being alone.
You can purchase Thrall at Dreamspinner press
Or at Amazon
Ravon Silvius lives in a tiny apartment with two tiny cats in a tiny town in the United States. Despite the cramped living quarters, Ravon enjoys coming up with big ideas for novels, with some plots coming from Ravon’s findings as a neuroscience researcher and others coming purely from Ravon’s imagination. Her other M/M fantasy work includes the standalone novel The Stormlords, and the 9-book Enforcer’s series.
You can find more of Ravon’s work at her website, ravonsilvius.blogspot.com