THE QUEST TO THE UNCHARTED LANDS
BY JALEIGH JOHNSON
Hi, everyone! I read the synopsis for this title when I first saw it come up on ROCKSTAR BOOK TOUR'S schedule, and knew I had to bring you an excerpt and a giveaway chance for one of three copies of the book! I adore the cover, too...
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: THE QUEST TO THE UNCHARTED LANDS
Author: Jaleigh Johnson
Pub. Date: June 13, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 352
From the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller The Mark of the Dragonfly comes another magical and thrilling story that takes readers on an exciting new adventure.
Stella Glass dreams of exploring worlds beyond her home of Solace, but when her famous parents are sent on a historic mission to the Uncharted Lands, it's simply too dangerous for her to join them. By order of the king, she is left behind.
Missing out on the excitement is one thing, but Stella is devastated at the thought of her parents flying into the unknown. So she takes matters into her own hands. Instead of staying with family as planned, she steals away and--right before takeoff--sneaks aboard the airship.
But Stella isn't the only stowaway. In the cargo bay is a boy who is also desperate to get to the Uncharted Lands. And someone else who's determined to keep the ship from making it there at all. . . .
EXCERPT
When the Iron Glory’s engines rumbled to life for its journey to the uncharted lands, it marked a new future for the world of Solace. Confetti swirled, kings smiled, and thousands cheered.
Except Stella Glass, who was busy crouching on her hands and knees in a cypress grove, burying smoke bombs.
She rummaged in her alchemy case for some matches, trying to ignore the clutch of nerves in her stomach. Stella’s first love would always be medicine, and she intended to become a full-fledged healer someday like her parents, but she had to admit, the alchemical sciences tickled her imagination also. It wasn’t just the potential to make things go boom—although that was fantastic. There was a subtle art to alchemy, one that could be put to so many different uses. The smoke bomb was one of her favorites. A cooked concoction of saltpeter, sugar, and saleratus offered infinite possibilities. No boom required.
With her thumb, Stella dug a shallow hole at the base of the closest cypress tree and carefully placed one of the smoke bombs in it. She stood up and walked over to another tree about ten feet away, repeating the process until she’d created a rough square in the grove.
The next part of her plan was trickier. She’d measured the fuses of the smoke bombs so that each one was roughly three inches longer than the last. If she started with the longest fuse, this would theoretically allow her enough time to light each one, disappear from the grove, and join the massive crowd gathered on the palace grounds to watch the airship take off.
Four smoke bombs, though harmless, made for one big distraction, and Stella couldn’t risk anyone seeing that she had been the one responsible for setting them off. She’d guessed at how long it would take for the fuses to burn down based on experiments she’d done in the field behind her house. She thought she’d given herself enough time, but her experiments were never exactly the same and she couldn’t be certain. Yet one more variable to contend with, one more way her plan could go wrong.
Stella sat back on her heels and peeked between the trees to catch a glimpse of the Iron Glory. Sunlight reflected in blinding ribbons off the ship’s metal skin.
It rested on its landing gear in a roped-off field on the west side of the palace. The air was heavy with the reek of sulfur as steam clouds leaked from its stern. It was a strange mix, part sky-sailing ship and part balloon. Its long hull was a full five stories tall, with a set of propellers to guide it. A single mast and crow’s nest rose from the main deck, stripped down with no sails or rigging. Instead, it flew banners proudly displaying the Dragonfly territories’ colors of green and gold and the Merrow Kingdom’s blue and yellow.
But most impressive of all was the envelope that held the ship’s lifting gas. Locked in place by dozens of metal cables attached to the main deck, it towered over the rest of the ship like a huge pearl. The envelope’s milky-white fabric resembled silk, with a strange iridescent quality that made it sparkle in the sunlight. Stella didn’t know exactly what the material was, only that it had been designed to withstand both subzero temperatures and the most punishing winds.
Good thing too, because the vessel was going to take Stella’s parents and thirty-seven other brave humans, chamelins, and sarnuns all the way across the Hiterian Mountains to the uncharted lands of Solace.
Title: THE MARK OF THE DRAGONFLY
Author: Jaleigh Johnson
Pub. Date: March 25, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 400
Piper has never seen the Mark of the Dragonfly until she finds the girl amid the wreckage of a caravan in the Meteor Fields. The girl doesn't remember a thing about her life, but the intricate tattoo on her arm is proof that she's from the Dragonfly Territories and that she's protected by the king. Which means a reward for Piper if she can get the girl home. The one sure way to the Territories is the 401, a great old beauty of a train. But a ticket costs more coin than Piper could make in a year. And stowing away is a difficult prospect--everyone knows that getting past the peculiar green-eyed boy who stands guard is nearly impossible. Life for Piper just turned dangerous. A little bit magical. And very exciting, if she can manage to survive the journey.
Title: THE SECRETS OF SOLACE
Author: Jaleigh Johnson
Pub. Date: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook, audibook
Pages: 384
From Jaleigh Johnson, the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller The Mark of the Dragonfly, comes another thrilling adventure in the magical world of Solace.
Lina Winterbock lives in the mountain strongholds of Solace. She’s an apprentice to the archivists, the wise men and women whose lives are dedicated to cataloging, studying, and preserving the objects that mysteriously fall from the sky in the scrap towns.
Lina should be spending her days with books, but the Iron War has changed everything. The strongholds are now a refuge, and the people Lina once counted on no longer have time for her, so she spends her days exploring the hidden tunnels and passages of her home. The strongholds are vast and old, with twisting paths, forgotten rooms, and collapsed chambers, some of them containing objects that have been lost and forgotten even by the archivists.
And in one of the forgotten chambers, Lina discovers a secret.
Hidden deep in a cavern is a half-buried airship like nothing she has ever seen before. She’s determined to dig it out and restore it. But Lina needs help, and she doesn’t know anyone she can trust with her secret.
Then she meets Ozben, a mysterious boy who has a secret of his own—a secret that’s so dangerous it could change the course of the Iron War and the world of Solace forever.
Praise for The Secrets of Solace:
"An engaging world rich in detail, mayhem, and adventure...All aboard for fantasy lovers with a dual penchant for girl power and keeping up with the Indiana Joneses."—Kirkus Reviews
Praise for The Mark of the Dragonfly:
[STAR] “This magnetic middle-grade debut . . . [is] a page-turner that defies easy categorization and ought to have broad appeal.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred
[STAR] “Heart, brains, and courage find a home in a steampunk fantasy worthy of a nod from Baum.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred
[STAR] “A fantastic and original tale of adventure and magic. . . . Piper is a heroine to fall in love with: smart, brave, kind, and mechanically inclined to boot.”—School Library Journal, Starred
“A complex and impeccably developed plot—there is plenty to recommend in this novel.”—The Bulletin
“Appealing characters and lots of action make it a good choice for young adventure readers." ~ Backlist
JALEIGH JOHNSON
Jaleigh Johnson is a fantasy novelist living and writing in the wilds of the Midwest. Her middle grade debut novel The Mark of the Dragonfly is a New York Times bestseller, was chosen for the ABA 2014 Spring Indie Next list, and was named one of Amazon’s Top 20 Children’s Books of 2014. Her other books in the Solace series from Delacorte Press include The Secrets of Solace and The Quest to the Uncharted Lands. She has also written several novels and short stories for the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms fiction line published by Wizards of the Coast. Johnson is an avid gamer and lifelong geek, and in her spare time she also enjoys traveling, reading, baking, and going to movies with her husband. Visit her online at www.jaleighjohnson.com. Photo credit: Mark Jones.
THE GIVEAWAY
Three winners will receive a finished copy of THE QUEST TO THE UNCHARTED LANDS, US Only.
TOUR SCHEDULE
Week One
6/22/2017- La La in the Library- Excerpt
6/23/2017- The Blonde Bookworm- Review
Week Two
6/26/2017- YA Book Madness- Excerpt
6/27/2017- Book-Keeping- Review
6/28/2017- Bibliobakes- Review
Week Three
7/3/2017- The Desert Bibliophile- Review
7/4/2017- Savings in Seconds- Review
7/5/2017- Jrsbookreviews- Review
7/6/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Interview
7/7/2017- Seraphina Reads- Excerpt
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