Zein: The Prophecy, by Graham Wood
Fellow Fantasy and Science Fiction Network author, Graham Wood, joins us today to share about his novels, Zein: The Trilogy – Book 1, The Prophecy, and Book 2, The Homecoming, to be released in April/May 2015. Please welcome Graham Wood!
Silverberry: Tell us a little about yourself.
Wood: I was born and raised in Manchester in the UK and currently live in Timperley, Altrincham. I started work at 16 with Barclays and spent many years there. I now work as a freelancer, coordinating large global IT outsourcing contracts for clients of Efficio Consulting. I am married and have two children, Joe who is 20 and Becky who is shortly to be 17. When I was 6 years old it was spotted that I had a slight speech impediment where sometimes what I want to say is not what I actually say, with some amusing consequences. I had elocution lessons and was encouraged to read and read I did. I must have read 300 to 400 books before I started secondary school. This is the time I fell in love with reading as it allowed me to escape some of the constraints of my speech.
Silverberry: What inspired you to write the Zein Trilogy.
Wood: I always wanted to write from the age of 15 and did start writing two novels but did not complete either. Pressure of work and then family life taking over. It was summer 2012 when I was inspired to write, influenced by an emotional life event. My daughter was just fourteen-years-old when she was diagnosed with a potentially life threatening congenital condition which had been missed at every stage of her growing up. Astonishingly, Becky diagnosed her own heart defect in a school biology lesson, when her friends were trying to find a pulse on her left-hand side, but couldn’t; a subsequent enquiry with her GP concluded with terrifying heart surgery at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool 6 months later. It was witnessing the bravery of my daughter coupled with the inability to sleep during the nights in hospital during her recovery, when I realised life is too short and too precious to be wasted, that I started to pull together my thoughts for Zein. In January 2013 I started writing and my first book Zein: The Prophecy was published in January 2014 – 30 years after I started writing.
Silverberry: What do your heroes, Kabel Blackstone and Tyson Mountford, yearn for?
Wood: There are a number of strong female characters in my books but the main story is around two 21-year old guys who have a connection but initially don’t know about each other. Kabel Blackstone is the son of a famous alien royal clan who is rescued as a baby when his parents are killed. He is looking for answers about his past and to control the magics which his clan are famed for. He struggles with the knowledge that not just his clan but all the clans of Zein look to him for leadership and salvation. In the second book he sets out from Earth to search for his home planet which has waited forlornly for over a hundred years for the Expeditionary Force to return.
Tyson Mountford is a recent post-graduate living in Manchester who is thrown into epic battles and confrontations against his will. He yearns to understand and control the magics he has been born with and can’t control. He also is in love with Gemma, the sister of his best friend, who loves another, though he is himself pursued by another girl. It all adds to a confused and temperamental man who doesn’t recognise his own potential. He just wants to be rid of his magics and return to normality.
Silverberry: What’s the novel about and who would enjoy it?
Wood: The trilogy is a fast-paced, sci-fi thriller charting an epic battle of good against evil, as an alien species allies with the human race to fight dark forces, both on Earth and Zein. The book is suitable for young adult fiction lovers, though since Zein explores pertinent themes of romance, friendship and adversity it does resonate with many adults from feedback received.
Zein: The Prophecy (Book1) introduces the Zein Expeditionary Force who colonised the skies above Earth when they fled terror on their home planet. They shield their settlements with advanced alien technology and during the hundred years they are settled on Earth they mine, discreetly, the precious raw material, zinithium which the humans have not yet discovered. The settlements are split within 5 quadrants and the Zeinonians have to face the evil Zylar, warped by the magics, as he conquers the quadrants one by one before setting his sights on the unsuspecting Earth. Kabel Blackstone, destined to be one of the most powerful Zeinonians to have ever lived follows the Ancient Prophecy that one will come to end the terror. He travels to Earth where he meets Tyson Mountford and forms an unlikely group of companions to fight back against Zylar.
Zein: The Homecoming is the second book of the Zein trilogy. Newly appointed Lord Chancellor Kabel Blackstone leads a joint human and Zeinonian force in his search for his home planet, Zein.
On Zein, Tate Malacca defends the survivors in the last remaining safe haven from the attacks of the vicious Pod hordes, the indigenous race to the planet, who are intent on killing them all. As Tyson’s powers in the magics grow more unstable…who can control or guide him; hopes may lie with the enigmatic Changeling, Zebulon, a creature that can change its appearance.
On Earth, the mysterious Cabal spreads its influence and network, with the ultimate aim of controlling the production of the all-powerful zinithium.
Zylar waits for his opportunity for revenge, breeding his master race and building a new Ilsid army to crush the Blackstone brothers once and for all.
Facing incredible odds Kabel, Tyson and their friends have to conquer their own fears and temptations to fight for not just each other but the millions who face certain death if they fail.
Silverberry: What do you think makes for great sci-fi and fantasy fiction?
Wood: I write a mixture of science fiction and fantasy and I guess what I look for as a reader is escapism with a strong, powerful story. I think people who like this genre like to be taken on a journey of discovery in a world different from the one we live in. I love Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and Hunger Games for example.
Silverberry: Who are some of your biggest influences as a writer?
Wood: Tolkien due to my affinity with Lord of the Rings which I read before I was ten years old. Alexandre Dumas is another – I loved The Count of Monte Christo.
Silverberry: How do you approach crafting a novel?
Wood: I break down each chapter – name, number of words, a couple of sentences on the subject for the chapter – for the full trilogy and then use that as the template, but if the story develops, which it usually does, I do not slavishly keep to that template as long as the story is following the overall plot and sub-plot.
I then wake up early and go down to my hut at the bottom of the garden whatever the weather is! I then write from 5am to 9am and stop before I start my day job or enjoy the weekend. I can write around 4000 words in this time and then whilst I walk my dog or cut the grass, I develop the story in my head. The next morning I recraft the chapter I did the day before and then crack on. After 30 years of procrastination I have learnt don’t twiddle your thumbs get it down on paper (or in my case laptop) and then edit!
Silverberry: What’s ahead for you?!
Wood: Undertaking review of typeset for second book, Zein: The Homecoming, and then planning launch date with Authoright. I have £1,000 each for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House (Alder Hey) to present from my first book sales; so looking forward to giving something back. I then start the third book of my series Zein: The Return.
Synopsis of Zein – The Prophecy (Book 1):
On Earth an inexplicable change is occurring in young Tyson Mountford as an ancient power awakens within his body.
In the skies above him, an alien race live in four vast quadrants. With their colony masked from the humans below by advanced technology, they are attacked from within by an evil that not just threatens their existence but that of humanity.
Kabel Blackstone, from the most powerful alien Zein clan may be their last hope. Can he unravel the enigma of the Prophecy that one will come who will defeat this evil and bring peace to Zein and Earth?
With his destiny tied to that of Tyson, Kabel seeks help on Earth from a small band of unlikely companions. They are pursued relentlessly by a malevolent force, driven by greed for control of the precious zinithium ore.
Now the strangers from two separate worlds must put aside their differences, control their newly acquired magics and fight back to save their families, their planets and their lives.
About Graham Wood:
Graham Wood was born and raised in Manchester in the UK, and currently lives in Timperley, Altrincham. He is married with two children. He works as a freelancer, coordinating large global IT outsourcing contracts for clients of Efficio Consulting. Many of the characters in the books are based on idiosyncrasies he has encountered throughout his life and the ideas for the Zein trilogy have been developing over many years.
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Zein: The Homecoming, by Graham Wood
Graham Wood , Author of the Zein Trilogy
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