Tangled Magic is the first novel I’ve posted chapter by chapter and completely for free on Substack, the online publishing platform. For now it’s not available anywhere else, so if you’d like to read my latest story, find your way there.
TANGLED MAGIC
Two men, two mages, Daav and Sebastian, live on an alternate modern day Earth in a crumbling country whose heyday has passed. Raised by a cruel mentor who used pain to grow their magic, they fell in love with each other as they struggled to survive his cruelty. Daav is destined to save magic to recapture his adopted country’s supremacy. Sebastian wants only to save Daav from himself. Is it simple physics that explains why 150 years ago magic was suddenly born from a splintering multiverse, and is it simple physics which will explain its demise?
The novel explores the conflicts between science and magic, darkness and light, and pain and pleasure. It reminds us that hope and love are the ingredients needed to walk through the pain in life, and lead to ultimate strength. Tangled Magic is kinky, romantic and reflects the place many of us now live feeling our world is at risk of destruction and asking ourselves what really matters.
Links to each chapter of Tangled Magic below:
Prologue, Chpt 1, Chpt 2, Chpt 3, Chpt 4, Chpt 5, Chpt 6, Chpt 7, Chpt 8, Chpt 9, Chpt 10, Chpt 11, Chpt 12, Chpt 13, Chpt 14, Chpt 15, Chpt 16, Chpt 17, Chpt 18, Chpt 19, Chpt 20, Chpt 21, Chpt 22, Chpt 23, Chpt 24, Chpt 25, Chpt 26, Chpt 27, Chpt 28, Chpt 29, Chpt 30, Chpt 31, Chpt 32, Chpt 33, Chpt 34, Chpt 35, Epilogue
The Whisper of Dragons is the last traditionally published book I have out. This is a stand alone contemporary fantasy. You are able to purchase it on Amazon in Kindle and print formats now. BUY LINK
Read the blurb below to get a sneak peek.
THE WHISPER OF DRAGONS
Something is wrong with the Story of the world.
Stories are the bonds of connection between all matter, and their breakdown is causing earthquakes and social unrest to tear apart 21st century Earth. Kavi, a Story Whisperer, must solve the mystery of this chaos before a deeper threat leads to the death of humankind.
Kavi has a secret. A dragon chose her as its heir when she was a child because she possessed strong magic to bend the Stories of matter. Kavi’s dragon wants her to inherit its mantle, transform, and join the ranks of the Guardians who protect the world. But if the dragon’s powerful Story magic cannot save her people, how will she?
And will she have to give up her humanity to do it?
Click HERE to purchase the Kindle book. And HERE to purchase the paperback.
D. DONOVAN, SENIOR REVIEWER OF MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW GAVE THE AMAZING REVIEW BELOW:
“Urban fantasy readers who enjoy stories replete with magic, intrigue, and adventure will find The Whisper of Dragons the perfect choice. It’s a pick for readers who want a compellingly original story that doesn’t just draw from the start, but yanks one’s attention with surprising descriptions reflective of the power of Michelle Picard’s writing: “The first moments of an Earth dive kicked ass compared to any rodeo bull ride. All tingling rush and alive, nerve-popping symphonies and color. Full dissolution into the body of the Earth was a potent, verdant, breakneck speed descent, except done in exquisite slow motion. Being ripped out of an Earth dive? That sucked worse than unexpected jalapeño bits in your breakfast cereal.”
From these first compelling moments, Picard demonstrates an ability to capture twenty-nine-year-old narrator Kavi Kindra’s wild romp through her world in search of Stories of miracles large and small, disasters, birth—and way too many Death Stories.
Kavi harbors a secret relationship with a Dragon, and holds the power to bend and change these Stories. She’s being pressured to become a Guardian, but is not sure this move will save her people. Instead, she seeks an alternative and ignores both the cautions of the Dragon and her own clan to become the kind of Guardian she believes her world needs.
Readers will find this land both familiar and alien, at the same time. It’s replete with powerful women, dragons, sages, whispered Stories, and influences that build upon nature and human worlds alike, from California’s Calaveras Big Trees State Park to experiences which illustrate that Kavi harbors different goals than the Guardians or her own people.
Dialogues between Kavi and both these forces offer philosophical inspections that will delight readers seeking more than action and adventure alone: “The dragon drawled a response. *Are you not willing to pay a price? Is the goal not important enough to push aside foolish rules and protests over personal rights? Is it not inconsequential to worry about forcing others without their permission?*
As supervolcanos, earthquakes, and other forces of nature enter the picture and are affected by Kavi’s decisions and talents, readers are treated to a compelling saga that takes the urban fantasy genre and turns it on end with a fresh tone of originality and action that is compelling and creatively new.
The Whisper of Dragons holds few of the familiar trappings of either dragons or magic that have grown old over the decades with such writers as Anne McCaffrey and those who followed her.
Instead, it’s a satisfyingly refreshing, surprising introduction to an entirely new world where dragons are just one facet of a tale which embraces romance, rebirth, and duty alike.
Fantasy readers seeking a new perspective that rocks with power and rolls with force will relish The Whisper of Dragons and its ability to forge a new world replete with revised Stories and a compellingly wild life.” — D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
YOU CAN FIND THE LOVELY KIRKUS REVIEW OF THE WHISPER OF DRAGONS HERE.
“Picard effectively presents a large and engaging cast, and she escorts the reader into what proves to be a complex world….Picard does showcase a clear, cohesive theme regarding the importance of human interaction, which runs through every conversation and plot development.” — Kirkus Reviews
This gets complicated when Kavi faces not just danger but betrayal. Picard proves adept at creating complex characters with interesting relationships. Kavi in particular is a compelling protagonist, and her relationship with Gideon–her childhood love who was exiled from the clan– is both sweet and rich, as is her dynamic with Guardian Amthorn, whom she clearly cares for but who is set against humanity.
Picard writes effective, imaginative prose, though this fantasy’s worldbuilding isn’t always clear, such as how exactly the Rawiya clan lives hidden away from “twenty-first century iPhone and YouTube lives” when they ride dragons and exercise mind-control on ordinary humans. The magical system, combining AI, dragons, and the Void, could be presented with greater clarity. Using her Crita, Kavi can create new Stories, which can control the way people and things act. “There are rules. Your power has limits,” Amthorn says to her late in the story, but those limits remain mysterious. Still, the characters and the idea that humanity has lost the Stories that connect us to the Earth and each other make for a compelling, enjoyable low fantasy.” — BookLife Review
“It has been a long time since I read an urban fantasy novel that really feels like it brings such a fresh twist to the world’s magic system….This book has everything! From dragons to artificial intelligence to the end of the world. And all are balanced perfectly on the much harangued but always brave Kavi Kindra.” — Reader Review
Fans of dragons, especially the intelligent, contrary type, will enjoy this story. Mix in the challenge of a modern world where magic, technology and science blend together, and a strong female character stubbornly determined to save her world, and you are on your way to understanding The Whisper of Dragons.
Click HERE to read Chapter One
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And check out my Books page for the full details on my already published Eden’s Court Saga.
Thanks and stay in touch,
