Blog Tour – The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King #BBNYA 2020 winner

Synopsis

John Carver has three rules: Don’t drink in the daytime, don’t gamble when the luck has gone, and don’t talk to the dead people who come to visit.

It has been almost five years since the incident in Kabul. Since the magic stirred within him and the stories began. Fleeing the army, running from the whispers, the guilt, and the fear he was losing his mind, Carver fell into addiction, dragging himself through life one day at a time.

Desperation has pulled him back to Afghanistan, back to the heat, the dust, and the truth he worked so hard to avoid. But there are others, obsessed with power and forbidden magics, who will stop at nothing to learn the truth of his gifts. Abducted and chained, Carver must break more than his own rules if he is to harness this power and survive.

About The Author

Graham Austin-King was born in the south of England and weaned on broken swords and half-forgotten spells.

A shortage of these forced him to consume fantasy novels at an ever-increasing rate, turning to computers and tabletop gaming between meals.

He experimented with writing at the beginning of an education that meandered through journalism, international relations, and law. To this day he is committed to never allowing those first efforts to reach public eyes.

After spending a decade in Canada learning what ‘cold’ really means, and being horrified by poutine, he settled once again in the UK with a seemingly endless horde of children.

To date he is the author of five novels, drawing on a foundation of literary influences ranging from David Eddings to Clive Barker.

Website: https://grahamaustin-king.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrayAustin

My Thoughts

Fantasy is not a genre I read a lot of, but The Lore of Prometheus really peaked my interest as it combines my love for thrillers with the fact that it won the BBNYA novel of the year 2020! I really trust the opinions of my fellow bloggers (after all, we read A LOT), and this didn’t disappoint.

John Carver returns to Kabul to train a security detail in the hopes of earning enough money to repay his gambling debts and hide from the people chasing him for money for a bit longer. While serving in the Middle East half a decade ago, he sees some of his squadron die in front of his eyes, but when the gun is turned on him he manages to stop the bullet, earning him the nickname of “Miracle of Kabul”. Carver has no idea how he was able to do this and is wracked by guilt and trauma. His comrades start to appear to him as hallucinations. When he returns to work in Kabul, he is abducted by someone who wishes to learn the secrets of his powers and harness them for himself.

The book is told in the first person for Carver’s POV, and the third person for the POV of Mackenzie, an Australian nurse who is also kidnapped by the same people and held in the same facility as Carver as she is able to harness the power of fire. I really liked the character of Mackenzie as she was really bold and resourceful. I also felt like there was a good amount of depth to these two main characters who are very troubled and I was keen to find out what was going to happen to them. I thought the PTSD angle with serving soldiers and mental toll that this line of work takes was a really important feature. A lot of the time, I feel like entering the armed forces is glorified but the sacrifice and the impact is not always appreciated and there needs to be more support for serving soldiers and veterans.

It’s a shame that the villains of Afridi and Elias weren’t quite as nuanced but you can’t have it all and I think this might have distracted from the action. I also wasn’t really a fan of the relationship between Mackenzie and Carver at the end – it felt a bit predictable, tropey action film – but this didn’t detract too much from my overall enjoyment.

On the whole, the book was fast paced and I read it in two days. I was quickly drawn into the action and I enjoyed the writing style. It’s perfect for people who enjoy thrillers, crime and espionage novels. My heart was in my throat for most of the book, but particularly the final third – but I don’t want to spoil why! I also felt like the author really captured the dry and dusty heat and atmosphere of the Middle East (although, this is based on my general knowledge rather than actually going there).

There was a lot to like in this book and it was certainly a brilliant book for a quick and entertaining read. The end also left it open for the possibility of a sequel, so I think I’ll be keeping an eye out for that!

About BBNYA

I received this book to read and review as part of the BBNYA 2020 competition and/or the BBNYA tours organised by the @The_WriteReads tours team. All opinions are my own.

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. 

If you are an author and wish to learn more about the 2021 BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website (https://www.bbnya.com/) or our Twitter account, @BBNYA_Official. If you would like to sign-up and enter your book, you can find the BBNYA 2021 AUTHOR SIGN UP FORM HERE. Please make sure to carefully read our terms and conditions before entering. 

If you are a book blogger or reviewer, you can apply to be part of BBNYA 2021 by filling out this form (also remember to read the terms and conditions before signing up)! 

BBNYA is brought to you in association with the Folio Society (If you love beautiful books you NEED to check out their website!) And the book blogger support group TheWriteReads.