Fallen Love
Book One of the Fallen series
Alex Stargazer
Gay Urban Fantasy
Release Date: 02.05.20
Blurb
There are many kinds of monster that walk the
Earth. Some are ugly. Others speak beautiful words through forked tongues. But
the worst possess the grace of angels, and the hearts of demons.
Upperclassman Conall is rich, impeccably
dressed, and set for a prestigious career in the Party hierarchy. He doesn’t
lack for anything—except, maybe, love.
When he finds Mark, alone, abandoned and hurt,
he doesn’t expect one act of kindness to alter the course of his life forever.
There is more to Mark than Conall can even dream of. The beautiful, vulnerable
boy Conall knows is not human. A dark power lies within Mark—it can make him
immortal... but love might be the price.
Fallen Love has dark magic, sweet romance, and
lots of action.
Excerpt
Two dart in front of us,
and for a moment, I freeze. They are creatures of nightmare: their legs are
spindly, misshapen, and they seem to glide across the road. They hiss again. A
split second later, they leap.
The first is incinerated
in mid-air by a laser flash, and the android crushes the second. A slick,
black-green substance drips from its dead body; the smell almost makes me
retch.
I snap back to reality:
we need to keep running. The boy is already in front of me.
“How many?” he cries.
“Does it matter? Let the
android take care of them.” Despite my cavalier words, I’m close to panic. I
squint, trying to make out the Upper Quarter. Not far, I think. We
can make it.
The android opens fire,
and at a glance I see what the boy meant: there are many, way too many. Several
fall in the firestorm, but others clamour to take their place. This isn’t a
lone attack; this is a swarm. And we’re right in the middle of it.
“Run faster!” I scream.
“We’re almost there!”
But it’s too late.
A mutant slams into me
with the power of a sledgehammer. I heave against it, fighting with its
mandibles: I have to stop those fangs, so gleaming with venom, from sinking in
and finishing me off.
And then the weight is
off me. Through the corner of my eyes, I see it sail high into the air and into
the reach of the android, but my sight never leaves the boy who saved me.
“I had to return the
bleedin’ favour,” he says, hand outstretched. I don’t have time to thank him.
He lifts me and we’re running again. The lights of the Upper Quarter are
tantalisingly close. They shimmer behind an immense force-field, designed to
keep out mutants and undesirables. Riffraff like the boy I just rescued.
Not that I have time to
worry about that right now. “My ID will open the force field!” I cry, and I
throw myself forward, fumbling for the ID.
With a flash of the
reader, we cross the threshold. We’re in.
We breathe deeply, and I
collapse against him. The mutants hiss, disappointed, and quickly slink back
from the force field. A few are not so lucky, and are noticed by one of the
guard towers. Machine gun fire turns the monsters into bloody smears on the
ground.
Still, my interest isn’t
on the monsters—it’s on him. It isn’t just the muscles, which are hard and
powerful against my body. His scent is masculine, and sends a surreptitious
thrill through me.
Before, I feared death;
but now, I feel very much alive.
“That was fun,” I say.
“Fuck you.”
Review
Conall had been warned not to stay out to late—not to be caught
in the Fallen quarter after dark for evil things lurk there and sure enough
Conall finds out all too soon that he should have listened. When he comes upon
an injured Fallen he decides to help him—they are set upon immediately by some
pretty serious spider like creatures called scarabs—they are deadly and fast.
Conall has an android with him who can handle the initial attack but as he and
the boy he discovered run for the safety of the Upper Quarter they are set upon
by scores of the loathsome creatures and nearly killed. They escape barely and
so begins the relationship of Conall, the upperclassman and child of a powerful
Party member and Mark—a fallen who is not at all as he seems.
Mark hides something inside—powers that he neither wants nor
fully understands. He and Conall both know that their races dare not mix—much
less fall in love but that can’t stop what seems to be destined to happen
between them and the feelings that bloom overnight. Theirs is a dangerous world
where mutants desire to kill those who have survived the nuclear blast that
created the hierarchy that sees upperclassman such as Conall as the elite
leaders and policy setters, the lowerclassman as the worker bees and the Fallen
as the dregs of society. Classes do not intermingle—but Conall and Mark are about
to change all that despite how dangerous a. move it will prove to be for them
both.
Alex Stargazer takes on a huge task in their debut novel, Fallen Love. Set in a dystopian world
created by the writer, there are all kinds of different races and types of
people from witches to demons, mutants and androids that populates this rather
cleverly created new land. This is something the author does quite well—there
is a great deal to be fascinated by in this novice story and Stargazer should
be proud of their world building capabilities.
However, not the same can be said of all aspects of this novel.
With well over 300 pages of storyline, the transitions between events and
chapters is often haphazardly accomplished—muddling an already complex story.
Since this story is told in differing points of view it’s important that the
mapping of the storyline itself be meticulous—the opposite occurs here and it
makes for a confusing read at times.
Conall and Mark are total opposite characters in many ways who
share a common disregard for how things “should be” and how they wish them to
be. For instance theirs is a forbidden love yet they never allow that to guide
their feelings for each other. I had a difficult time seeing any growth in
Conall—he started out arrogant and somewhat condescending and pretty much
remained that way throughout the entire novel. Mark, on the other hand, changed
and became a better version of himself—his was the winning character for me.
I think that given how many different genres this novel seemed to
embrace it ended up being responsible for the downfall of the story overall.
Yes, it was a fascinating new world, yes some of the inhabitants were
incredibly written and described, and, yes, the two main guys were likeable
enough and you wanted them to succeed but because there was so much going on in
this story it was easy to get lost and end up confused as to what exactly was
going on at any given time.
There is also a cliff hanger ending here—one that will either
make you want the next installment immediately or wish you had never started
the book to begin with—you will have to decide that for yourself. I can say
that I think this author has some real potential but needs to pick a lane and
stick to it—this will allow the story they next create to be more focused and I
think make it more rewarding for the reader overall.
About the Author
Alex Stargazer is an
author of dark, fantastical tales that snare you in with epic
world-building—and keep you reading with funny anecdotes and beautiful love
stories. He currently hails from rainy Scotland, but he can be found all over
Europe. Since publishing his first novel—the Necromancer—at 14, Alex has
released two short stories and an upcoming new novel, named Fallen Love. Sign
up to his newsletter to stay up-to-date: https://mailchi.mp/c0a00cf75af3/alex-stargazer-fallen
When not establishing
the finer points of magecraft or the peculiarities of dragons, Alex is working
hard on getting a Master’s degree in boring topics like economics. In his spare
time, Alex enjoys exploring the wilderness of Scotland—though Austria, Italy
and the Nordic countries fascinate him most. If he really needs to blow off
some steam, Alex will shoot zombies in his favourite shooter, Left 4 Dead 2.
Alex can be found on
Twitter @AlexStargazerWE or on Facebook at Alex Stargazer Writes
Books. You can also get a free short story on his
website: www.alexstargazer.com
Giveaway
Five weeks ago my boyfriend broke up with me. It all started when i went to summer camp i was trying to contact him but it was not going through. So when I came back from camp I saw him with a young lady kissing in his bed room, I was frustrated and it gave me a sleepless night. I thought he will come back to apologies but he didn't come for almost three week i was really hurt but i thank Dr.Azuka for all he did i met Dr.Azuka during my search at the internet i decided to contact him on his email dr.azukasolutionhome@gmail.com he brought my boyfriend back to me just within 48 hours i am really happy.
ReplyDelete