Sabaska’s Tale
Series: Tales of the Travelers
By J. A. Campbell
Series: Tales of the Travelers
By J. A. Campbell
Genres:
Fantasy + Young Adult, Horses
Published:
July 5 2013
Untold
Press www.untoldpress.com
Word
count: 63 000
Pages:
224
Price
eBook:
3.99
eBook
Buy Links
Amazon Smart Url: http://bookShow.me/B00DSOCNWS
Goodreads- book link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18134649-sabaska-s-tale
Blurb
To Anna, horses were more than a fascination, they were everything.
Luckily, she had the opportunity to spend every summer on her grandmother's
horse ranch in Colorado. Life was perfect, until she received the devastating
news that her grandmother had been tragically killed. Anna knew she was the
only member of her family who could take over the ranch and hopefully find new
homes for her grandmother's beloved Arabians.
Anna wasn't alone for long. Her grandmother had hired a local teenage boy to help tend the horses for the summer. Anna didn't stand a chance against Cody's quiet charm and the two rapidly become friends. However, even with the responsibilities of the ranch, Anna quickly discovers the secrets her grandmother had been hiding and a legacy that sends her on an adventure she never thought possible. An adventure in the saddle of a horse that wasn't a horse at all. Sabaska, her grandmother's favorite Arabian, was a Traveler; a magical being that could travel between worlds. With Anna at the reins, they find themselves trapped in a fight against evil with the highest of stakes… Their very survival.
Anna wasn't alone for long. Her grandmother had hired a local teenage boy to help tend the horses for the summer. Anna didn't stand a chance against Cody's quiet charm and the two rapidly become friends. However, even with the responsibilities of the ranch, Anna quickly discovers the secrets her grandmother had been hiding and a legacy that sends her on an adventure she never thought possible. An adventure in the saddle of a horse that wasn't a horse at all. Sabaska, her grandmother's favorite Arabian, was a Traveler; a magical being that could travel between worlds. With Anna at the reins, they find themselves trapped in a fight against evil with the highest of stakes… Their very survival.
Author
Bio
J.A.
Campbell
Julie has been many things over the last few years,
from college student, to bookstore clerk and an over the road trucker. She’s
worked as a 911 dispatcher and in computer tech support, but through it all
she’s been a writer and when she’s not out riding horses, she can usually be
found sitting in front of her computer. She lives in Colorado with her three
cats, her vampire-hunting dog Kira, her new horse and Traveler-in training,
Triska, and her Irish Sailor. She is the author of many Vampire and
Ghost-Hunting Dog stories and the young adult urban fantasy series The
Clanless.
Author Links
****************************************************************
Reviews
Once again,
Campbell lures us into a fantastical world in which animals remind us what it
means to be human.
Anne Michaud -
Author of Girls and Monsters.
Christine
Meunier
So this novel’s
due to be released July 15th and I’m rapt to have been able to read it before
then and offer a review for potential buyers! Now I haven’t really read
fantasy/adventure novels before, so I’m glad such a unique horse filled tale
was the first offered to me to read in this genre!
Campbell writes
the tale of Sabaska, a bay Arabian mare who has a little more to offer than one
would usually expect from an equine. Caught in a battle against good and evil,
Sabaska is a Traveler, an intelligent being in the body of a horse.
The Travelers
have partnered with humans to fight against an evil source that is seeking to destroy
worlds.
After the event
of her grandmother’s death, 16 year old Anna is devastated at the idea that her
grandmother’s beloved horses may be sold off to random people. Determined to
find them good homes, she puts forward an argument to her parents that she can
spend the summer advertising and looking after the horses.
This starts Anna
on an incredible journey of discovering why her grandmother loved her bay
Arabian mare Sabaska so much.
Anna finds
herself unintentionally caught up in the battle that was being fought well
before she was born.
Sabaska’s Tale
is an imaginative and entertaining read that looks at horses from a different
angle. Although they are mythical creatures, the author’s horse knowledge is
factual and put to good use in describing events that occur.
The book has
some mild language and fighting scenes feature in it, but otherwise is friendly
to the younger reader and will no doubt be enjoyed for its story line. When it
comes out July 15, why not grab a copy?
Excerpt
Footsteps came down the hall toward her grandma’s
bedroom. Anna’s hands shook. They would have heard her footsteps if the carpet
hadn’t muffled them. She crept away from the door and slipped into the
bathroom. A small window with frosted panes opened on the roof. Though she had
thought it odd at the time, her grandma had shown her an escape route. “Anna,
in case there is a fire and you can’t get out the door, you can go out through
this window. Come on, follow me. It’s safe.”
She set the shotgun down across the sink and climbed on the toilet and slid the
window open. The bright moon clearly lit her path. She climbed into the warm,
dry air and reached back for her gun. Just to be sure, she shut the window
behind her, and then noticed a curious thing. It locked from outside.
What had Grandma been involved with?
Anna latched the window and crouched, holding the shotgun to her chest. It was
one thing to follow her grandma onto the roof in broad daylight, it was quite
another to escape intruders in the middle of the night. The light from the moon
didn’t seem so bright now. Shadows danced everywhere. She wished the shotgun
had a sling. She considered staying hidden by the window. They wouldn’t get
through the window without breaking it.
One of the horses screamed. Anna’s blood ran cold, but it broke her out of her
crouch. Before she could think better of it, she crawled across the roof, being
sure to stay in the shadows. The shingles scraped her knuckles where she
clutched the gun. They weren’t doing her jeans or her knees any favors either.
“Damn it.” The harsh whisper echoed in the night.
Anna flattened herself against the roof, heart trying to climb out of her
chest. The next muttered curse might have come from the barn. Yet she heard
both so clearly, they could have been right beside her. It must have been a
trick of the night air. Anna clenched her lips tight, smothering a whimper and
started crawling again. At the trellis, she paused, trying to decide what to do
next.
“Maybe the Traveler is gone, M’lord,” a man said underneath her.
“It won’t leave the girl.” The second man spoke. She knew that voice. Blue
shirts and mean sports cars flashed through her brain.
“The girl isn’t here,” another man said.
“She’s here.” He sounded very confident. “Just be ready to track them if they
get a chance to run.”
The men faded out of hearing range.
You have to get off this roof! She tried to get herself to move, knowing
she wouldn’t get a better chance.
A quiet, encouraging nicker caught Anna’s attention and a dark shape in a clump
of evergreens moved slightly. The faint outline of horse dissolved into the
shadows.
What the hell?
With no time to figure it out, she carefully scooted to the edge of the roof
and climbed down onto the reinforced trellis. It was awkward with one hand
occupied by the shotgun but the shadows hid hid the trellis from view and the
foot and handholds were predictable. The faint scent of crushed leaves tickled
her nose and she fought a sneeze. That would be just perfect; reaching the
bottom without falling only to have a sneeze give her away. She made it, though
she breathed hard and her limbs shook–only partially from exertion.
Okay, now what?
The dark shape moved again. If she could get to the horse maybe she could get
away. Horses could go a lot of places trucks couldn’t. Maybe she could find a
way to call the police. Of course she left her cell phone behind, but Sherrie’s
neighbors were far enough away to be safe and would let her use their phone.
Anna checked for the intruders. Nothing moved so she darted across the open ground
and into the bush. She hoped her sudden appearance didn’t startle the horse
into making noise. The horse stayed silent, bumping her head against Anna’s arm
in a reassuring manner. Sabaska, of course.
Why would the horse hide in a clump of trees waiting for her to climb off a
roof? Sabaska turned to let her climb on her back. She leaned the shotgun
against a tree and scrambled ungracefully onto the horse. Sabaska edged closer
to the gun without being asked and Anna picked it up, not sure how to carry it,
ride bareback and direct her horse, but Sabaska didn’t seem to care. Anna got
settled and grabbed a hold of the horse’s mane while cradling the gun
awkwardly.
“M’lord,” one of the men called more loudly.
Sabaska snorted, tossed her head, and started moving, slowly at first, and then
her muscles bunched.
“No,” Anna whispered.
The horse ignored her and she held on, stifling scream as the little horse
burst from the trees into a dead gallop.
“M’lord! There!”
“Catch them before they Travel!”
She clung to Sabaska’s back as the horse galloped toward a fence. Needing both
hands to stay astride, she tossed the shotgun to the ground and held on. Anna
screamed as Sabaska leapt the fence. In the air, she came off Sabaska’s back,
but the little horse landed underneath her and did a funny jig to keep Anna
from falling.
The men shouted behind her, but as Sabaska ran, the air grew muffled and dense
and the voices faded. Anna thought she might be passing out and clutched the
horse tighter. Sabaska slowed and trees scraped against her legs and arms.
Leafy trees.
Cold frosted her breath and she started to shake. No deciduous forest
surrounded her Grandma’s property and though it could get cold in the summer in
Colorado, there wasn’t usually snow on the ground. Overwhelmed, she stopped
thinking and clung to Sabaska’s back while the little horse pushed through the
trees. Anna hoped she knew where she was going. The numb, suffocating feeling
came and went several times that night. Anna thought she saw the sun high in
the sky a few times, but when Sabaska finally did stop, the sky had just begun
to lighten. Incomprehensible trees surrounded them. She blinked at the red blur
of leaves and smooth silver bark and then passed out. In her dreams, an unseen
entity chased her until a distant voice woke her.
“Sabaska! What are you doing?”
Her horse snorted and though Anna wanted to sit up, exhaustion sent her back to
sleep.
Teasers
Teaser 1
Sabaska pushed through her
grief and looked at Amir, considering. I need a new partner. This world has
to be saved. Sherrie can’t have died in vain.
Amir nodded. Who?
Sabaska looked at her fallen
partner, cradled in Raymond’s arms. She would miss Sherrie. They’d Traveled
together for over thirty years and she’d been a wonderful friend.
Anna.
Surprised, Amir twitched an
ear toward her. I don’t think that’s what Sherrie meant when she asked us to
look after her.
Sabaska snorted, and then sighed. I know, but
she’ll make a good partner.
Teaser
2
“Well…” She hadn’t
considered riding Sabaska. Her grandma never mentioned it as a possibility and
it stuck in her head that this was Grandma’s horse and no one else rode her.
But Grandma was gone and
Anna needed to ride her at least once to determine what to say to buyers.
“Okay. Sure.”
Sabaska tossed her head
happily and whinnied before heading to the barn.
Anna stared after her,
dumbfounded.
“Right. That’s weird.”
Teaser
3
Sabaska and Amir halted, and
Anna stared at the world below her. They stood high on a mountainside, the air
cool and crisp against Anna’s bare arms. A slight breeze ruffled through
Sabaska’s mane and carried a strong pine scent. She could see the valley
directly below her, though mist shrouded it, obscuring most of the details.
Mountain peaks filled the world, most shrouded in the same mist.
“Raymond, this is amazing. I
feel like I’m on top of the world.”
“There are perks to this
job. On your world we’d be far above timberline. As it is, not much lives up
here and people rarely come up this high. You’re seeing a sight few others will
ever get to see.”
Anna grinned. How could she possibly give up
something like this?
Quotes
1.
“Are we in a labyrinth?”
2.
“Not bad, girlie,” the ghost said. “Not bad at all.
Personally, I thought it would be a waste of my sleeping dust. Figured you’d
die, but since you didn’t, well done. By the by, my name is David.”
3.
“I will get what I want, and there is nowhere you
can Travel with that horse that I won’t find you.” His voice turned low,
icy, and dangerous.
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteJulie