Tag: cover reveal

The Reign of Mordred the Immortal continues in The Prometheus Engine

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The Forever Avalon Series continues as the Reign of Mordred the Immortal brings darkness and despair while seeking to unlock the power of The Prometheus Engine.

It’s time. The saga of the MoonDrake family on Avalon continues with the upcoming release of The Prometheus Engine: Book Four of the Forever Avalon Series. It’s been several years since I finished the original trilogy, and it’s time for the story to continue. I put it off for some time as my mind traveled into other realms and new stories, but now is the time to bring the story to a close.

For those who don’t know me, Forever Avalon was my first book to be published. I began writing during my last deployment in 2001 aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65). After several years of rejections and waiting, it was finally published in 2009. It has been the rock of storytelling for me as an independent author. When people ask me which book is my favorite, I usually flinch at answering that question, but I can honestly say it will always be Forever Avalon. It was my first, and you always remember your first.

The Prometheus Engine continues the story of the resistance against Mordred the Immortal after he usurped the throne of Avalon. With the death of their father, the children of the Gil-Gamesh have risen up to take arms and lead an open rebellion against Mordred’s reign.

Five years have passed since Avalon suddenly returned to the real world and faced the loss of magic and an invasion by the modern, technological might of the United States and Russia. Only through the efforts of the Gil-Gamesh, Lord Bryan MoonDrake, along with great sacrifice by the Elves of Alfheimer, did Avalon disappear from the world once again. However, that victory came at a high cost.

Avalon tore asunder, an island shattered into an archipelago. Mordred, the immortal bastard child of Morgana le Fay, usurped the throne from the boy King, Bowen Pendragon, at this moment of weakness. With an army of undead wraith knights at his command and the new Lords of Avalon by his side, it was child’s play for Mordred to take the Granite Throne and become King.

The only thing standing in his way of total domination are the children of the Gil-Gamesh:  Hunter, Rose, and Ashley. Since their father’s death during Avalon’s Reclamation, these three have resisted Mordred’s reign at every turn from their new home in the ruined city of Alfheimer. Along with the Holy Order of Shield Maidens and the Hîldrägo Boquè, an elite corps of Elven warriors, they fight to reclaim King Bowen’s throne and restore Avalon to the people.

But even now, Mordred schemes to bring down the resistance by constructing an ancient magical artifact—The Prometheus Engine. Only the immortal King knows its secrets and the power it will bring him, no matter the cost. Even now, Hunter and his sisters race across the archipelago to uncover the engine’s secrets and discover the truth behind Avalon’s devastation.

The cover reveal (and it’s a fantastic book cover by Emily’s World of Design) will happen on October 15th when the pre-orders open! Get ready for The Prometheus Engine, coming December 1 from Curious Corvid Publishing.

Check out Buy My Books to pick out your next binge read!

Mark Piggott is an award-winning independent author of several fantasy/steampunk novels and short stories. A 23-year U.S. Navy veteran, his stories will take you from the shores of eternal Avalon to a dystopian steampunk future and other fantastic worlds as he weaves through a myriad of flights of fancy in his tales.

The Forever Avalon fantasy book series—including Forever Avalon, The Dark Tides, and The Outlander War—are available online at Amazon and other booksellers. His fantasy steampunk novel, The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart, is available through Lulu and other booksellers.

Cross over The River of Souls in a fantasy novella, take flight in the steampunk historical fiction, Corsair and the Sky Pirates, and the saga continues in The Last Magus: Dragonfire and Steel, and his first YA fantasy, Gwen Iver and Pendragon’s Puzzle from Curious Corvid Publishing. The Prometheus Engine: Book Four of the Forever Avalon Series and A Dance of Darklings and Demons are coming soon from Curious Corvid. Stay tuned for new fantastic stories from the imagination of Mark Piggott.

What a beautiful cover for my first YA fantasy

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Gwen Iver & Pendragon’s Puzzle, coming soon from Curious Corvid Publishing.

All I can say is WOW! This cover took my breath away. It is exactly as I imagined it. Special bug THANK YOU to Emily’s World of Design for creating an awesome book cover for my first YA fantasy, Gwen Iver & Pendragon’s Puzzle.

It captures the essence of the story, from the teenage heroine to the small Michigan town on the shores of Lake Superior to the magic of the Pendragon itself. It is enthralling to look at it and not wonder about the story within the pages.

Camelot Cove is a quiet village on the shores of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Most people know it as a fishing town, but this sleepy little community has a secret. Camelot Cove is the home of the Fae—magical beings from myth and legend. From mermaids, dryads, and centaurs to ogres, elves, and dwarves, the community is a mixture of humans and Fae. They were brought together in this out-of-the-way place by the wizard Merlin and the mysterious Lady of the Lake under the protection of the Pendragon. The power of the Pendragon has passed from generation to generation through the descendants of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. That power now waits to be passed to the next descendant to continue the legacy as the protector of the Fae.

Gwen Iver is a fifteen-year-old girl starting her first day of high school. Surrounded by friends and facing off against her rivals, including Morgan Moor and her infamous Dreadmoor Gang, Gwen’s idyllic life is about to be turned upside-down. She begins a journey into a magical world of infinite possibilities when she attempts to unlock Pendragon’s Puzzle.

Check back here for more updates on the release of Gwen Iver & Pendragon’s Puzzle. And to my fellow authors, check out Emily’s World of Design if you’re looking for your next book cover design!

Check out Buy My Books to pick out your next binge read!

Mark Piggott is an award-winning independent author of several fantasy/steampunk novels and short stories. A 23-year U.S. Navy veteran, his stories will take you from the shores of eternal Avalon to a dystopian steampunk future and other fantastic worlds as he weaves through a myriad of flights of fancy in his tales.

The Forever Avalon fantasy book series—including Forever Avalon, The Dark Tides, and The Outlander War—are available online at Amazon and other booksellers. His fantasy steampunk novel, The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart, is available through Lulu and other booksellers.

Cross over The River of Souls in a fantasy novella, take flight in the steampunk historical fiction, Corsair and the Sky Pirates, and the saga continues in The Last Magus: Dragonfire and Steel from Curious Corvid Publishing. His first YA fantasy, Gwen Iver and Pendragon’s Puzzle, and The Prometheus Engine: Book Four of the Forever Avalon Series are coming soon from Curious Corvid. Stay tuned for new fantastic stories from the imagination of Mark Piggott.

Your Halloween “Treat” is the Cover Reveal for The Last Magus: Dragonfire & Steel

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Happy Halloween! Instead of a trick, you get a treat! Here’s the COVER REVEAL for the sequel to The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart, ready for its December 2023 release. Get ready to experience Dragonfire and Steel!

Once again, the cover was done by Anna Lena Spies and she really captured the true essence of Marcus Gideon and his journey as The Last Magus of Attlain.

The saga of Marcus Gideon, The Last Magus of Attlain, continues in Dragonfire and Steel. The Magus were legendary magic casters/warriors, able to cast spells and wield powerful magical weapons. They were the guardians of magic in Attlain but were cast out and feared for their power. Marcus Gideon was trained by The Last Magus, destined to restore the dignity of the order. 

 After graduating from the Basilon Magical Academy, Gideon sets off for his master’s homeland. Plodoro is an isolated city in the far north of the Skjem-Tur mountains. Surrounded by giants and blanketed in an endless winter, Gideon travels to the far-flung region to fulfill a final request of his master and return a sacred weapon to his people. He must finish this task to return to his true love, Wren.

 The First Princess of Attlain fell in love with Gideon during their time at Basilon. Now, to win her parents’ approval, Gideon must win the Helios Arcanum Magical Arts Festival. This celebration showcases the best magic casters in Attlain, and Gideon is the first Magus to compete in over a hundred years. As he fights for his life and reputation, the dark shadow looms over him as the Ulbrecht Domo―the Shadow Lord of Ishtar―has other plans for The Last Magus.

Stay tuned for more details on my upcoming book signing Events and future book releases in 2024 from Curious Corvid Publishing. Thanks for your continued support.

Mark Piggott is an award-winning independent author of several fantasy/steampunk novels and short stories. A 23-year U.S. Navy veteran, his stories will take you from the shores of eternal Avalon to a dystopian steampunk future and other worlds as he weaves flights of fancy in his tales.

The Forever Avalon fantasy book series—including Forever Avalon, The Dark Tides, and The Outlander War—are available online at Amazon and other booksellers. His fantasy steampunk novel, The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart, is available through Lulu and other booksellers.

Cross over The River of Souls in a fantasy novella and the steampunk historical fiction, Corsair and the Sky Pirates from Curious Corvid Publishing. The Last Magus: Dragonfire and Steel and The Prometheus Engine: Book Four of the Forever Avalon Series, are coming soon from Curious Corvid. Stay tuned for new fantastic stories from the imagination of Mark Piggott.

Presenting “The Last Magus” and “The Prometheus Engine” book covers

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THIS IS IT! I am thrilled to reveal the covers for my next two books, The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart and The Prometheus Engine: Book 4 of the Forever Avalon Series. I spent my 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in my apartment in Alexandria, Va., finishing these two books. Although I was not able to find a traditional publisher for them, I couldn’t wait any longer and I will be releasing the books myself through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart takes you to Attlain, a world where magic and machines are a part of everyday life. It is there you meet Marcus Gideon, a man with no memory of his part and a bleak future, left for dead at a crossroads, stabbed through the heart. He was saved by a mysterious blacksmith with a magical miracle… a clockwork heart, powered by magic, beating strong as the gears turned as the precise mechanics kept him alive. The journey that Marcus Gideon takes to discover his past while looking toward the future begins here.

Special thanks to Anna-Lena Spies, Eerilyfair Design, for her wonderful work on the cover art. Here’s an excerpt to explain this new world of The Last Magus:

Gideon’s Journal – Attlain is a strange world of magic and miracles. It has cities built on the technological might of modern marvels called “Magius Engines” powered by magic, lighting the darkness by electric lamps, connecting the towns in all directions by a network of Magius-powered trains and iron-hulled ships. Many different people filled the world, both humans and demi-humans, from various races—Humans, Alfs, Dwarves, Catsei, and many others. That’s just the basics of what I learned about Attlain from the books I’ve read. Beyond that, I can’t remember who I am or where I came from before I arrived in Armändis. I’m as much of a mystery as this brilliant world.

My past is a clean slate. I remember the ocean, sailing on a warship, but nothing about family or friends. It’s as if the hand of God erased my life. The only possession that provides me clues to my previous experience is a book that I can’t even read. Everything about my past is blank, yet this place seems familiar to me. My memories began at the crossroads outside Armändis on the edge of the forest of Imestrüs, where I died, and then I was saved.

The Forever Avalon saga continues in The Prometheus Engine: Book 4 of the Forever Avalon Series. The story picks up five years after Avalon’s Reclamation at the end of The Outlander War… Five years into the the reign of Mordred the Immortal. Avalon has become a dark and desolate place where the people live under the thumb of the bastard son of King Arthur. The only thing standing in his way are the children of the Gil-Gamesh… Hunter, Rose, and Ashley. Along with the Holy Order of Shield Maidens and the Hîldrägo Boquè, an elite corps of Elven warriors, they fight to reclaim the throne for the rightful king, Bowen Pendragon, and restore Avalon to the people.

Thanks to Book Brush for Authors and using their cover design program for this cover. Here’s an excerpt from The Prometheus Engine to take you back to Avalon:

The room was filled with the sound of grinding gears, clanging metal, and burning fires. Within the dank chamber, Gnomes worked tirelessly at their tasks, not even aware of Mordred’s presence. Though relatively small in stature, Gnomes were meticulous and inventive and greedy, cunning, and ruthless. Their dynamic nature made them the best workers money could buy. They were shorter than Dwarves, most under three feet tall, with large, bulbous heads and slim bodies. Their tiny hands allowed them to perform precision work, particularly in building small instruments and machines. Though the laws of magic that governed Avalon didn’t allow for many mechanical and electrical devices to operate, Gnomes got around this by using magic to power them.

The Gnomes were all working on a giant engine of sorts. It towered more than 20-feet tall and nearly 40-feet wide. Though the engine was silent, the work was intense. A small army of workers was painstakingly calibrating each gear, pipe, and valve. Gnomes covered the machine—on ladders, on scaffolding, or dangling from harnesses suspended from the ceiling—like busy bees working in a hive. A large crystal mounted on top of the engine resembled a weathervane perched on a rooftop. It’s a marvel that somebody could build such a device on Avalon, but this was no ordinary engine.

The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart will be release in June 2021 and The Prometheus Engine: Book 4 of the Forever Avalon Series will be released in September 2021. Thank you for all the love and support for this indie author!

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Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon fantasy book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides: Book 2 of the Forever Avalon Series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from iUniverse Publishing and at Amazon, and other booksellers. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from Austin Macauley Publishing, and at Amazon and other booksellers.

Double the cover reveal! Double the fantasy!

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Brace yourselves for a pair of big reveals this week! I will be revealing the covers for the TWO BOOKS I will be releasing in 2021 through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing… The Prometheus Engine: Book 4 of the Forever Avalon Series and The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart. I spent my COVID-19 lockdown polishing these two novels and now the book covers are ready to be revealed!

If you’re impatient, hop into your DeLorean, kick it up to 88mph, and head to Saturday, April 10, at 8am EST. In the meantime, here’s a glimpse and a preview of my new novels.

Five years have passed since Avalon suddenly returned to the real world and faced the loss of magic and an invasion by the modern, technological might of the United States and Russia. It was only through the efforts of the Gil-Gamesh, Lord Bryan MoonDrake, along with great sacrifice by the Elves of Alfheimer, that Avalon disappeared from the world once again.

However, that victory came at a high cost. Avalon tore asunder, an island shattered into an archipelago. Mordred, the immortal bastard child of Morgana le Fay, usurped the throne from King Bowen Pendragon at this moment of weakness. With an army of undead wraith knights at his command and the children of the Lords of Avalon by his side, it was child’s play for Mordred to take the Granite Throne and become King.

The only thing standing in his way of total domination are the children of the Gil-Gamesh:  Hunter, Rose, and Ashley. Since their father’s death during Avalon’s Reclamation, these three have resisted Mordred’s reign at every turn from their new home in the ruined city of Alfheimer. Along with the Holy Order of Shield Maidens and the Hîldrägo Boquè, an elite corps of Elven warriors, they fight to reclaim King Bowen’s throne and restore Avalon to the people. But even now, Mordred schemes to bring down the resistance through the construction of an ancient magical artifact… The Prometheus Engine. Only the immortal King knows its secrets and the power it will bring him, no matter what the cost. Even now, Hunter and his sisters race across the archipelago to uncover the engine’s secrets and discover the truth behind Avalon’s devastation.

The Magus were the protectors of magic, armed with a magic caster’s power and a warrior’s strength. They were able to summon magical weapons from specialized caches they wore as armored pauldrons known as the Armory of Attlain. The Magus were legendary among the people of Attlain until a few decided they should lead the people instead of protecting them. The rebellion ended quickly from within their ranks, but the damage was done. The Magus were feared and outlawed except for those few who remained loyal to the crown and lived as adventurers. For generations, they had all but disappeared from the world.

Marcus Gideon awoke at the crossroads outside the border town of Armändis. Lost, with no memory of his past life, he was stabbed through the heart and left for dead. His life was saved by a blacksmith’s kindness who replaced his damaged heart with a mechanical, magical miracle—a clockwork heart. The gears clicked, the motor spun, and his heart started beating again, powered by his own magical energy.

Gideon was alive, but his savior was no ordinary blacksmith. Henry Botàn was a Magus, hiding out in Armändis to protect the weapons within his magical armory. The swords, spears, and other-worldly artifacts were potent, some cursed and even forbidden to wield. His responsibility was to protect these weapons from falling into the wrong hands, but he was old and past his prime. He needed an apprentice, and Marcus Gideon may be the one he waited for. As Gideon searches for clues to his past, he looks toward his future and his fate in Attlain as The Last Magus.

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Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon fantasy book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides: Book 2 of the Forever Avalon Series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from iUniverse Publishing and at Amazon, and other booksellers. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from Austin Macauley Publishing, and at Amazon and other booksellers.