Excerpt One: The Longing
“Is this what you want me to do, Orah, run
like a coward?”
“Not to
run, but to be careful, especially with the vicar so near.”
“Only one in three are taken.”
“It’s
not worth the risk, Nathaniel. Or have you forgotten the look of those who have
been taught? The far off stare, the dreams seemingly ripped away.”
Dreams ripped away.
What good were dreams if they stayed unfulfilled? Since coming of age the month
before, Nathaniel had brooded on one thought — life was passing him by.
Excerpt Two: The Teaching
Thomas stared out,
trying to see to the opposite wall. It had to be close, because he could feel
his boots pressing against it. But try as he would, he couldn’t penetrate the
darkness. There was no glimmer to help, only the darkest dark he’d ever known.
No moon, no stars, no hint of light. A dark to haunt one’s dreams.
Sometimes,
he’d startle to the grating of the ceiling cover being removed. Light would
pour into the room, flooding him with exhilaration…He’d stand, stretch his
stiff limbs and look into the plump faces of the vicars surrounding him,
seniors all with their decorated hats. They, in turn, would look down on him
sympathetically before beginning a litany of the horrors of the darkness.
Excerpt Three: The Secret
Nathaniel
had forgotten his dilemma. The idea of the keep had awakened something in him
he thought he’d lost forever.
“But who’ll solve the puzzle?”
“The
founders of the keep believed a new generation would arise that would seek the
truth at all costs, even at the risk of their lives. Some few from that
generation would take the lead. These would be called seekers, and their task
would be to solve the puzzle and rediscover the keep.”
“But
what’s in the keep?”
“The
chain started so long ago, Nathaniel. Even the keepers don’t know any more. The
keep may not even exist.”
“Ancient
magic?”
“More.
Something the Temple fears. Something that might change the world.”
Nathaniel’s
hands were shaking. I’d be a seeker if I could.
There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack
Publication date: July 9th 2012
by Double Dragon Publishing
Genre: YA Dystopian
Publication date: July 9th 2012
by Double Dragon Publishing
Genre: YA Dystopian
Synopsis:
Who among us will cast aside a comfortable existence and risk death to follow a dream?
A world kept peaceful for a thousand years by the magic of the ruling vicars. But a threat lurks from a violent past. Wizards from the darkness have hidden their sorcery in a place called the keep and left a trail of clues that have never been solved.
Nathaniel has grown up longing for more but unwilling to challenge the vicars. Until his friend Thomas is taken for a teaching, the mysterious coming-of-age ritual. Thomas returns but with his dreams ripped away. When Orah is taken next, Nathaniel tries to rescue her and ends up in the prisons of Temple City. There he meets the first keeper of the ancient clues. But when he seeks the keep, what he finds is not magic at all.
If he reveals the truth, the words of the book of light might come to pass:
“If there comes among you a prophet saying ‘Let us return to the darkness,’ you shall stone him, because he has sought to thrust you away from the light.”
Who among us will cast aside a comfortable existence and risk death to follow a dream?
A world kept peaceful for a thousand years by the magic of the ruling vicars. But a threat lurks from a violent past. Wizards from the darkness have hidden their sorcery in a place called the keep and left a trail of clues that have never been solved.
Nathaniel has grown up longing for more but unwilling to challenge the vicars. Until his friend Thomas is taken for a teaching, the mysterious coming-of-age ritual. Thomas returns but with his dreams ripped away. When Orah is taken next, Nathaniel tries to rescue her and ends up in the prisons of Temple City. There he meets the first keeper of the ancient clues. But when he seeks the keep, what he finds is not magic at all.
If he reveals the truth, the words of the book of light might come to pass:
“If there comes among you a prophet saying ‘Let us return to the darkness,’ you shall stone him, because he has sought to thrust you away from the light.”
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AUTHOR BIOThe urge to write first struck when working on a newsletter at a youth encampment in the woods of northern Maine. It may have been the night when lightning flashed at sunset followed by northern lights rippling after dark. Or maybe it was the newsletter's editor, a girl with eyes the color of the ocean. But he was inspired to write about the blurry line between reality and the fantastic.
Using two fingers and lots of white-out, he religiously typed five pages a day throughout college and well into his twenties. Then life intervened. He paused to raise two sons and pursue a career, in the process becoming a well-known entrepreneur in the software industry, founding several successful companies. When he found time again to daydream, the urge to write returned. There Comes a Prophet is his first novel in this new stage of life.
David and his wife split their time between Cape Cod, Florida and anywhere else that catches their fancy. He no longer limits himself to five pages a day and is thankful every keystroke for the invention of the word processor.
Author Links:
David's Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter
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