Nolander

Becca Mills

Apr 2012 · Emanations Book 1 · Recompense Press

About this ebook

Beth Ryder knows she's different. In a tiny rural town, being an orphaned and perpetually single amateur photographer crippled by panic disorder is pretty much guaranteed to make you stick out like a sore thumb.

But Beth doesn't understand just how different she really is.

One day, strange things start cropping up in her photos. Things that don't look human. Impossible things. Monstrosities. Beth thinks her hateful sister-in-law, Justine, has tampered with her pictures to play a cruel joke, but rather than admitting or denying it, Justine up and vanishes, leaving the family in disarray.

Beth's search for Justine plunges her into a world she never knew existed, one filled with ancient and terrifying creatures. Both enemies and allies await her there—a disturbingly sexy boss, a sentient wolf with diamond fur, body-snatching dinosaur-birds. Separating the allies from the enemies is no easy chore, but in this strange new world, allies are a necessity. A plot is afoot, and Beth—whose abilities no one seems able to explain—may well hold the key to solving it.

Nolander is the first novel in the fantasy series Emanations. The second novel, Solatium, and a short story, "Theriac," are also available.

The Emanations Series

Of all the beings that have lived on Earth, what if just a few had the power to make new realities, according to their desires? What would they create? The Second Emanation: a shadow world where ancient creatures persist, where humanity's dominance is far less certain, where wonder competes with horror. A world like an autumn forest, its realities as multiple and layered as fallen leaves. The world that gives us our gods. In Becca Mills's Emanations series, this strange and magical world crosses paths with a seemingly ordinary young woman from the American Midwest. It'll never be the same again.

Reviews

"This is among the best of the urban fantasy genre, and it is a wonder why a major publisher has yet to pick it up. Mills has given us such a dynamic world with vibrant characters and multiple plot lines that really bring it all to life." - Twisting the Lens

"I simply loved Nolander. I'm going to put it out there and say that this is one of the best debut fantasy books I've read this year! It was that fantastic." - scifinerdsare.us

"Nolander was a highly entertaining read. Each time I thought I had a handle on what was going on and what was going to come next the plot would take a turn to something completely unexpected. Becca Mills has created a very vibrant world full of unique creatures and happenings where just about anything you can imagine is possible." - The Dragon's Inkpot


Series keywords: fantasy, urban fantasy, contemporary fantasy, fantasy series, speculative fiction, hard fantasy, dark fantasy, paranormal, female protagonist, female main character, science fantasy, action, adventure, monsters, deities, gods, demons, dragons, dying earth, action, fantasy action, magic, alternative history, parallel world, free, freebie

Ratings and reviews

This was one of those books that had so much potential. The premise is unique and well thought out. The writing style flows through the story with excellent pace. The characters are comprised of a wide variety of backgrounds and mesh well together. The fiends are fiendish. The good guys are hard to distinguish. There is magic, and mayhem. Even a character named Ghosteater. But even with all that, this story just falls flat. Nothing happens. There are so many loose ends at the conclusion of this book I felt like my Kindle ate some of the content. There just wasn't enough substance to even drive me to pursue the next book in the series.

If you are into alternate dimensions and realities, then this is the book for you. It is amazing how Becca Mills puts so many different levels of worlds and then links them together. It seems to be a start of an endless world of possibilities. I really enjoyed reading this book. I still don’t know what the main character is capable of, so looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Now this is interesting... It's not your standard "vampires and werewolves and witches oh my" scenario but something much weirder. There are also several highly unlikeable characters, including our protagonist at times, which is really refreshing in a genre filled with over-earnest Chosen Ones & "antiheroes" who turn out to be good guys dressed in Heathcliff's castoffs. I'm keeping an eye on this one.

About the author

Becca Mills teaches writing at a university in California. She has loved fantasy since, at age seven, she listened to her father read Tolkien aloud.

Nolander is the first book in Becca’s Emanations series (the second is Solatium). She’d love to hear your comments. You can find her on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/bccamlls) or through her website (http://the-active-voice.com/contact-me/). If you’d like to be alerted when Becca publishes new works of fiction, you can add yourself to her mailing list, which is super-duper 100%-guaranteed spam-free (honest!): http://the-active-voice.com/beccas-books/

The third novel in the Emanations series, tentatively titled Isolate, is forthcoming in 2016. A free short story in the Emanations series, “Theriac,” is now available.