Title: The Great Contagion: A Merliss Tale
Author: Jeff Chapman
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Main character description (short). Merliss is the spirit of a young girl trapped in the body of a cat. The magic that forced her spirit to reside in the cat has granted her an unusually long life. In her human life, Merliss was training to be a shaman. She uses her magic and herbal knowledge to fight disease and malevolent creatures.
Synopsis:
Plagues kill but Merliss has far more to fear than a disease.
Merliss is no ordinary cat. She’s a young girl’s spirit trapped in a cat’s body. While the magic that banished her has snatched away her ability to speak to humans, it has given her a life spanning millennia. For centuries she has lived with the cunning folk, assisting their efforts to heal the sick and ward off malevolent creatures. Now a bleeding sickness has thrown the medieval community into chaos.
The cunning man Hailaird and his apprentice Fendrel are in danger from the disease. The life Merliss has worked so long to build is in jeopardy. Before she entered the cat, she had trained to be a shaman. Do her centuries of experience hold a secret to a cure? But disease isn’t her only nemesis.
A pair of malevolent creatures have crossed the moor into the forest, threatening more havoc. With disease and monsters ravaging the land, Merliss is hard-pressed to survive. It couldn’t be worse, until a mob looking for a scapegoat turns its wrath on Merliss. Tooth and claw and magic may not be enough.
The Great Contagion is the gripping first novel in the dark fantasy Merliss Tales series. If you like strong and dynamic characters, rich description, magic and intrigue, then you’ll love Jeff Chapman’s Merliss Tales.
Brief Excerpt 250 words:
Torches glowed in the distance and flickered as the bearers passed behind trees.
“They almost caught me at the bridge,” Merliss said.
“I would brook no harm to you,” said Slynid. “You know that.”
“Not intentionally.” Consequences might write a different story.
“Promise me one thing. Promise me that you will go to faerie with me and learn what you could become.”
So was that all he wanted? She didn’t understand the greater game he was playing and she didn’t like being a piece on the board, but those cats were waiting. She hoped.
“I promise.”
The pooka grinned and Merliss sensed he had gotten what he wanted. She felt not a little used.
“I do this for you, Merliss. Now go!”
She ran. Wog’s power had restored her. She felt as fresh as if she had napped all day. Her senses were extra acute. At a full sprint, she avoided fallen branches, roots, and thin saplings as if she were walking. She leaped and sailed over a coney that she hadn’t seen flush until she passed it.
Behind her came a ferocious roar like a thousand bears made into one. She stopped. She had heard that voice before. On the riverbank during a storm. It roared again. But this was far louder and far wilder.
He had given her his last shift of the moon cycle. She certainly owed him. She felt certain he had scried and calculated his risk.
Next came the screams of men dying.
Why should readers buy this book (50 words max)?
The Great Contagion delivers a dark and gritty fantasy adventure from a cat’s eye view. If you’re looking for a unique fantasy experience featuring strong characters, magical creatures, and danger in a richly described world, The Great Contagion is the book for you.
Links etc.
The Great Contagion: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082F32BHF/
Website: https://www.jeffchapmanbooks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeffChapmanWriter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/JeffChapman
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jeff-chapman
Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.com/Jeff-Chapman/e/B004YQ2ZWW
Boods2Read: https://books2read.com/ap/n0Qjkw/Jeff-Chapman
Library of Erana 