The Lost Kingdom (The Elements #1)
Stephanie Beerden
Genre: Fantasy
A Prophecy made long ago, announced the arrival of the new Ladies of Elements.
And now almost a millennia later, it finally came true …
All her life Arima thought she knew who and what she was. That is until the day of her sixteenth birthday came and her world is turned upside down, when she’s told she’s not a White Witch but Lady Spirit. And that she is the one that has been foretold, will unite the Five Ladies of Elements once again and save Ilendia and the Other Lands from Ahriman, the Demon King.
At first Arima refuses to accept her new fate, but when Shanums come and destroy her village and kill her loved ones, she has no choice but to flee and fall right into the destiny she never wanted.
As she grudgingly starts her journey into the unknown, she is accompanied by her unicorn familiar Sirrim, Blythe, a Vampire with a dark past and Myrddin, a mysterious Ljosalfar.
And the longer her journey lasts, the more Arima begins to realise that she can’t escape her own destiny and she must learn to control her powers and learn to be a Lady for the sake of the Sisters she doesn’t know and the people of Ilendia and the Other Lands.
However, things get more complicated when Arima comes into the possession of a key. Her instincts compel her to go towards danger when she discovers that the key she holds, can unlock the legendary kingdom of Eléssima, the home of the Ladies of Elements.
She will have to make the choice to follow her instincts …
…or stay on the path that has been laid out for her.
DREAM CAST
The Lost Kingdom has so many characters that are only around for a short time, so I tried to focus on the characters that are a constant throughout the book, sans Ahriman (only because I keep imagining him as a living suit of armor for some reason... no idea why).
ARIMA - DAKOTA FANNING
While reading the book, I kept thinking of the Fanning sisters when I read Arima, personality-wise, Dakota fits better, however. Of course the last film I saw with Fanning was a while ago and she played a young girl with attitude and rebelliousness which I feel fits Arima well. Also, I feel like Arima's eyes are an interesting part of her looks, so Fanning's huge and gorgeous eyes would be a great way to highlight that feature.
BLYTHE - IAIN GLEN
As for Blythe, in my brain I both as both rugged in a "I've been through a lot" kind of way and dashing. I also wanted to pick someone who looking exasperated constantly would sit well on.
I had a hard time with Bryeia. I didn't want to find a stereotypical older woman actress. She is introduced to us as being pretty crotchety and then we are shown the other side with Arima. Thompson's pretty versatile in that way.
Also she always looks so fantastic aged up.
I'm not 100% on this though, as I said I had a hard time, but since she's important, I wanted to cast her.
Crimson was first character that I casted almost immediately while reading. For some reason I kept seeing her as Eva Green in Dark Shadows (except with red hair) and that terrifying smile end up sticking in my head every time she popped into the story.
ECHANTRE - MICHELLE PFEIFFER
Beautiful, Enchanting and fantastic at going from sweet to vengeful and cruel at the turn of a dime
||*|| Giveaway & Excerpt ||*||
Shortly before
midnight Bryeia and Gideon called out to her and told her they would be going
back home because they had something very important to tell her. The walk to
Arima and Bryeia’s house was quiet and tense. It made Arima feel uneasy. Even
Rowan was silent and wouldn’t even look at her. After a while, they arrived at
the house. The house itself was made out of light brown wood and had a wooden
roof with a layer of straw beneath it to insulate it during the winter months.
The windows were a bit dirty and the door was worn, but it was home. Bryeia let
everybody into the house before shutting the door securely behind her.
They entered the
living room; it was cosy with a rectangular table and two chairs. A coloured
carpet decorated the floor for a small coffee table, and a rocking chair stood
near the window close to the broad window-sill, which had a few small pillows
on it because it was Arima’s favourite spot to sit. There were several cabinets
and closets against the wall; one of them was a book-case, which held several
books and parchment paper, and the other was a long cabinet with closed doors.
Arima immediately went to her favourite spot on the window-sill and looked at
the other three people in the room, confused as to what was going on.
“Why did we leave so
early, Nana?” Arima asked, feeling a bit disappointed. Bryeia and Gideon looked
at each other while Rowan pushed himself against a wall and kept his gaze away
from hers.
Bryeia hesitantly
stepped forward and said, “Arima, there is something I must tell you. Something
I am not sure will be easy to accept, but you must know that it is the truth.”
“What is, Nana?” Arima
asked, confused.
Bryeia sighed and
looked at Gideon , who nodded encouragingly. “Arima, you weren’t abandoned on
my doorstep as a baby,” Bryeia started. “I found you in the forest sixteen
years ago on the first night of spring, like today … when you fell from the
heavens like a falling star.”
“What?” Arima said,
looking at Bryeia with wide, unbelieving eyes.
“Arima, you are not a
White Witch. I made you that way with a spell I cast on you when you were a
baby, to protect you from Ahriman. But I cannot protect you any longer. At
midnight tonight, the spell will break, and Ahriman will be able to find you,”
Bryeia said. She took a deep breath, while taking Arima’s hands in her own and
looked at the hurt and disbelief in the girl’s light-green eyes . “Arima
… you … you are Lady Spirit.”
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About the Author
Stephanie Beerden was born on Friday the 13th (no joke, she really was) in a small city called Genk in Belgium. She has always been fascinated with the occult, magic and books. Her childhood and teen years were filled with reading lots and lots of books and imagining what life would be like as a vampire. Until one day she decided that she wanted to try her hand at writing her own books and that was the beginning of her writing adventure.
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2 comments:
Cool dream cast & excerpt. Thanks for participating!
Thanks for the giveaway :)
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