Exile of the Seas
Chronicles of Dasnaria #2
by Jeffe Kennedy
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Pub Date: 9/4/18
Around the shifting borders of the Twelve Kingdoms, trade and conflict,
danger and adventure put every traveler on guard . . . but some have
everything to lose.
danger and adventure put every traveler on guard . . . but some have
everything to lose.
ESCAPED
Once she was known as Jenna, Imperial Princess of Dasnaria, schooled in
graceful dance and comely submission. Until the man her parents
married her off to almost killed her with his brutality.
graceful dance and comely submission. Until the man her parents
married her off to almost killed her with his brutality.
Now, all she knows is that the ship she’s boarded is bound away from her
vicious homeland. The warrior woman aboard says Jenna’s skill in
dancing might translate into a more lethal ability. Danu’s fighter
priestesses will take her in, disguise her as one of their own—and
allow her to keep her silence.
vicious homeland. The warrior woman aboard says Jenna’s skill in
dancing might translate into a more lethal ability. Danu’s fighter
priestesses will take her in, disguise her as one of their own—and
allow her to keep her silence.
But it’s only a matter of time until Jenna’s monster of a husband
hunts her down. Her best chance to stay hidden is to hire out as
bodyguard to a caravan traveling to a far-off land, home to beasts
and people so unfamiliar they seem like part of a fairy tale. But her
supposed prowess in combat is a fraud. And sooner or later, Jenna’s
flight will end in battle—or betrayal . . .
hunts her down. Her best chance to stay hidden is to hire out as
bodyguard to a caravan traveling to a far-off land, home to beasts
and people so unfamiliar they seem like part of a fairy tale. But her
supposed prowess in combat is a fraud. And sooner or later, Jenna’s
flight will end in battle—or betrayal . . .
Prisoner of the Crown
Chronicles of Dasnaria #1
She was raised to be beautiful, nothing more. And then the rules changed . . .
In icy Dasnaria, rival realm to the Twelve Kingdoms, a woman’s role is
to give pleasure, produce heirs, and question nothing. But a plot to
overthrow the emperor depends on the fate of his eldest daughter. And
the treachery at its heart will change more than one carefully
limited life . . .
to give pleasure, produce heirs, and question nothing. But a plot to
overthrow the emperor depends on the fate of his eldest daughter. And
the treachery at its heart will change more than one carefully
limited life . . .
The Gilded Cage
Princess Jenna has been raised in supreme luxury—and ignorance. Within the
sweet-scented, golden confines of the palace seraglio, she’s never
seen the sun, or a man, or even learned her numbers. But she’s been
schooled enough in the paths to a woman’s power. When her betrothal
is announced, she’s ready to begin the machinations that her mother
promises will take Jenna from ornament to queen.
sweet-scented, golden confines of the palace seraglio, she’s never
seen the sun, or a man, or even learned her numbers. But she’s been
schooled enough in the paths to a woman’s power. When her betrothal
is announced, she’s ready to begin the machinations that her mother
promises will take Jenna from ornament to queen.
But the man named as Jenna’s husband is no innocent to be cozened or
prince to charm. He’s a monster in human form, and the horrors of
life under his thumb are clear within moments of her wedding vows. If
Jenna is to live, she must somehow break free—and for one born to a
soft prison, the way to cold, hard freedom will be a dangerous path indeed…
prince to charm. He’s a monster in human form, and the horrors of
life under his thumb are clear within moments of her wedding vows. If
Jenna is to live, she must somehow break free—and for one born to a
soft prison, the way to cold, hard freedom will be a dangerous path indeed…
Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning author with a writing career that spans
decades. She lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine Coon cats, a border
collie, plentiful free-range lizards and a Doctor of Oriental
Medicine. Jeffe can be found online at JeffeKennedy.com, or every
Sunday at the popular Word Whores blog.
decades. She lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine Coon cats, a border
collie, plentiful free-range lizards and a Doctor of Oriental
Medicine. Jeffe can be found online at JeffeKennedy.com, or every
Sunday at the popular Word Whores blog.
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Amazon * Goodreads
Writing PRISONER OF THE CROWN was an
interesting foray into history for me. See, this book is the first in a trilogy
that’s a spinoff from the world established in my Twelve Kingdoms and Uncharted
Realms series. The Empire of Dasnaria, where PRISONER takes place, is a foreign
– and aggressive – realm encountered by the people of the Twelve Kingdoms. And
Dasnaria is a very different culture
where women do not have the same rights and freedoms that they do in the
twelve.
Part of that came from wanting a foil to my
assertive and powerful High Queen of the Twelve Kingdoms, and the other part
came from me being aware of the political and cultural situation in our modern
world. I wanted to better understand how women can be happy raised in a culture
where they’re kept “under wraps” in one way or another, where men decide their
lives and provide escorts everywhere. Dasnaria became that place in my
fictional world.
With PRISONER, I got to write that story
from the inside, through the character of Imperial Princess Jenna, born in the
seraglio of the Imperial Palace of Dasnaria. She’s spent her entire life there,
surrounded by women and given a carefully crafted education. So, while I knew
the societal rules of Dasnaria from my people of the Twelve Kingdoms learning about
them, Jenna was my first opportunity to be in the head of a woman who grew up
inside that culture, who knows those rules as immutable.
This proved to be a challenge, because the
cloistered world of the seraglio is all Jenna knows to begin with. It’s not
until she leaves the seraglio to be married that she begins to seriously
question whether she could have another life. At first, she utterly believes
that men are smarter and stronger, that only through her husband and sons – and
manipulating her daughters the same way she’s been groomed – can she gain any
power. She takes at face value that women must learn to pleasure men, and
she’ll offer her body with complete obedience and submissive grace to her
husband, no matter what he demands of her. She even nurtures a romantic ideal
that if she’s beautiful and perfect, then she will have a happy marriage.
We all know how that kind of thinking works
out.
This
story is not a romance. The beastly husband doesn’t turn out to be a wonderful
man beneath. This is entirely Jenna’s story, and how she discovers that how
she’s been raised and what she’s been taught is only one lens on the world.
And that there’s more out there beyond the
Empire of Dasnaria.
Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
No comments:
Post a Comment