Dark Light of Day
Publication: 25th September 2012
Publisher: Ace
Pages: 384
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Adult
Armageddon is over. The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued. Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves, and the world from slipping back into chaos.
Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, the daughter of a prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a secret: She was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of, and some would consider her an abomination.
Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there…or to attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at stake than just her life.
Excerpt...
Failing
is not an option...
“I’ve been watching you, wondering, waiting to see
where you’d end up. After all, there are other demon law schools,” Seknecus
said, making a moue of distaste that made it clear exactly what he thought of
them. “But I was happy to see that you chose St. Lucifer’s.”
Technically my mother chose St.
Lucifer’s . . . But there seemed
no reason to interrupt just to clarify that bit of misinformation. Seknecus
wandered around the room, picking through papers, flipping open and quickly
shutting the front covers of various leather-bound books, never meeting my eye.
I had no doubt, however, that his attention was fully focused on me.
“So, you see, seeing your name on my List wasn’t
exactly a surprise, although it appeared much later than I would have liked.”
He did look at me then, with a frown of disapproval. I
did my best to look expressionless because none seemed appropriate. It wouldn’t
do to look amused, bored or, Luck forbid, rebellious. Seknecus stared at me
with narrowed eyes and then went back to wandering.
“You’ve got some catching up to do,” he said,
addressing a copy of Sin and Sanction: Codification & Case
Law. “It doesn’t matter why or what excuses you’ve got for yourself. You
will be held to the same standards as everyone else, regardless of whose
daughter you are. And you’ve missed a lot of class already.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off with a
wave.
“Manipulation class,” he clarified. “You’re going to
have to work ten times as hard as everyone else just to pass. Quintus Rochester
doesn’t go easy on students and he’s likely to see your absence during the
early part of the semester as a challenge. You know, failing is not an option.
Not if you want to live.”
Guest Post...
Dark Light of
Day's Technology Level: Halja is a Circa 1900's Fantasy World
Urban fantasy novels are often set in a contemporary setting.
The stories may take place in an alternate world, but the places within which
those stories are set are frequently based on real places. For fun, here's a
list of popular UF/Fantasy/Paranormal series and a separate list of the real
world places that inspired their settings. See if you can match them up:
1.
Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson
series
2.
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files
3.
Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series
4.
Cassandra Claire's Immortal
Instruments series
5.
Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire
series
6.
Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake
series
7.
Karen Marie Moning's Fever series
8.
Kim Harrison's The Hollows series
|
A. Cincinnati
B. Chicago
C. St. Louis
D. Ireland
E. Northwestern Louisiana
F. Manhattan
G. Atlanta
H. Washington State
|
When I started writing my debut novel Dark Light of Day I
knew I did not want to set it in any place that too closely mirrored reality. I
knew, even if I was building an alternate world, I would still have to be
fairly accurate in some of my setting details if the alternate world was based
on a real place. And I didn't want to spend hours researching the answers to
world building questions. I wanted to make them up. For me, it seemed easier --
and more fun -- to create a completely new place where my story would take
place. So I created a country called Halja.
When I first explained the country's backstory to my
husband, he called Halja an "upside-down world." But that makes it
sound as if everyone's walking around on the ceilings, which, of course, isn't the
case. What he meant though, was that instead of the meek inheriting the earth,
the demons did -- and they "inherited it" or won it, more than 2,000
years before Dark Light of Day even opens. So the people of Halja -- the
descendants of those who fought on both sides of Armageddon -- have had time to
re-build their world.
But to what level of technology? Initially, I only knew that
I didn't want to set the story in a medieval setting, nor did I want to set it
in a Matrix-like setting. I knew I wanted cars, but not horses and carriages. I
wanted letter writing, but no texting or e-mailing. And I definitely didn't
want cell phones, computers, or airplanes. On the other hand, I wanted
electricity and some modern conveniences. My editor helped me to shape and
smooth Halja's technology level during revisions and I love what we came up
with -- a circa 1900's fantasy setting.
To create the setting for Dark Light of Day, I gave many
common, everyday items a circa 1900's fantasy make-over. For instance:
·
Telephones became "electro-harmonic
machines." My inspiration for these frustratingly difficult to use
communication devices came from the first telephones -- those wooden boxes that
used to hang on the wall with separate ear and mouth pieces. My grandmother
used to have an old, inoperable one hanging on the wall in her basement. When
we were kids, my brother and I used to take turns standing on our tip-toes,
shouting into it. I've always been fascinated by people's stories of
"party lines" and telephone operators.
·
Elevators became "winder
lifts." Even if you've never ridden in one, you know what an old elevator
looks like. They're the kind with the gated fronts and the uniformed operators.
Some of them have marble tiled floors, brass railings, and mahogany paneling.
They are beautiful, vintage mechanical works of art from a bygone era. (Although
Baltimore still has one, I believe, at One East Lexington Street).
·
Even make-up, fashion, and food got a
retro Haljan make-over. Instead of stilettos, characters wear ballet slippers
or ribboned platform shoes. Lipstick and nail polish became "pots of lip
gloss" and "nail lacquer." Paella became "Lethe prawns and
shallots" and plain, old chardonnay and merlot became apple wines infused
with Angel spells.
In short, it was great fun building the world of Halja and
I'm looking forward to sprinkling future books with similar setting details.
[Quiz Key: 1-H, 2-B, 3-G, 4-F, 5-E, 6-C, 7-D, 8-A]
So, readers,
how about you? Do you like settings that are based on a real place? Somewhere
you can actually visit? Or do you like settings that are completely made-up?
One hundred percent fictional, where the only place you can visit them is on
your own mind? Do you like contemporary settings and modern trappings? Or do
you prefer historical or fantasy aesthetics? Let me know in the comments! A big
thanks to Sarah here at Head Stuck in a Book for hosting me
today!
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Author Bio:
Raised
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jill earned a bachelor of science from Penn
State University and later moved to Baltimore to attend the University of
Baltimore School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. She
went on to practice law as a “dirt lawyer” for ten years, specializing in real
estate law, municipal development, commercial leasing, and anything involving
exceedingly lengthy legalese-like contractual monstrosities.
Jill
now lives in rural Maryland with her two children and husband, who is a
recreational pilot. Weekends are often spent flying around in the family’s
small Cessna, visiting tiny un-towered airfields and other local points of
interest.
twitter: @archer_jill
