Guest Post & Giveaway: Dark Light of Day by Jill Archer

UFI welcomes Jill Archer Author of Dark Light of Day. Thanks for Joining us!!

Dark Light of Day's Spellcasters -- The Angels

What do you think of when you think of an Angel? Large, white, feathery wings? A golden halo? David Boreanaz? Tess of the D'Urbervilles? When someone asks you to "name an Angel," who do you think of first? Gabriel or Michael? Do you know how many different types of Angels there are? (The answer depends on who you talk to. Some say nine, if you include the seraphim, the cherubim, the archangels, etc. Others say there's only two: the good ones and the fallen ones.)

There are no fallen angels in Dark Light of Day, at least not in the traditional sense. (There are no white wings or halos either). The Angels in my debut novel lost a war, but they fought valiantly and honorably. In the world of my story, Armageddon, the last battle of the Apocalypse, ended over two thousand years ago. In the millennia since, the descendants of Lucifer's Host army have learned to get along with the descendants of the Savior's army, the Angels. In fact, in modern day Halja, where the story takes place, the descendants of both sides work together all the time.

The male descendants of Lucifer's Host warlords are called Maegesters. I wrote an earlier post about them, but in a nutshell, they are Halja's demon peacekeepers. They are similar to magical knights. They uphold Lucifer's law, round up demon rowdies, and maintain order among the demons. They serve as demon consiglieres, judges, and executioners. And who helps them do all this? The Angels.

Halja's Angels are the ultimate linguists. They are fluent in all three primary demon languages and many of them know a handful of other lesser ones. So they serve as interpreters and scribes. But they are also renowned historians and archeologists. They are experts on early post-Apocalyptic knowledge, the history of Armageddon, and its aftermath. Any case involving a matter of interpretation, whether historical or linguistic, is likely to have an Angel involved.

The real value of the Angels, however, is their spell casting abilities. Unlike the other magic users of Halja, whose magic is innate, an Angel's magic comes from belief, study, and constant practice. Student Angels spend a lot of time in libraries and archives. They spend hours of every day memorizing spells and practicing their casting.

Noon Onyx's best friend, Peter Aster, is an Angel. His family's estate borders the Onyx estate and the two grew up together. Noon has a secret: she was born with the dark, destructive waning magic usually given to the male descendants of Lucifer's warlords. If anyone finds out about it, she'll be forced to train as a Maegester or demon peacekeeper. It's a grim and dangerous way to live and Noon wants no part of it. She wants the nurturing, healing waxing magic usually given to the female descendants of Lucifer's warlords.

Peter thinks he's found an answer to Noon's predicament -- an ancient, mysterious, lost spell that can reverse Noon's magic and turn her into a healer instead of a killer.

Want to hear more about Noon and Peter? Here's a Dark Light of Day excerpt from when Noon tells Peter she's been summoned to St. Lucifer's Law School, a "school of demon law" where they train demon peacekeepers. Her being summoned there means it's twice as likely that her unusual magic will be discovered and she'll lose her chance to reverse it. Their meeting takes place mid-winter in Peter's family garden the night before Noon is supposed to leave.

“I can cast a cloaking spell over you that should last for a few weeks,” Peter said. “I’ll reinforce it when I get there.”

Peter was twenty-four. For the last three years he’d been attending the Joshua School, a prestigious Angel academy that shared a campus with St. Lucifer’s. Angels, whose power came from their beliefs rather than their birth, were different than waning and waxing magic users. They cast spells, instead of using innate power.

I raised my eyebrows at him. “You can cast a powerful enough cloaking spell to hide me from any Maegester at St. Lucifer’s?”

For the first time that night, Peter grinned. “Have a little faith, Noon. Have you ever sensed your dad’s magic before?”

I frowned. Not that I could remember. Peter nodded and smiled.

“That’s because he’s always cloaked. I can do the same for you.”

“Do you really think you can find the Reversal Spell in less than a month?” I said, still worried. “Most people think it’s a myth.”

“It’s not a myth!” Peter grabbed my arm as if I hadn’t heard his next words quoted from him a thousand times already.

“‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away. And He who was seated on the throne said, “I make all things new. Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”’

“Noon, somewhere out there is an ultimate spell of reversal, a spell that makes things the way they were meant to be. The old book of Revelation doesn’t give us the spell, but we know from it that the spell once existed. Someone wrote it down at His command and I’m going to find it.”

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Did the Reversal Spell really exist?

So, readers, how about you? Do you think you have a guardian angel watching over you? Do you want one? Do you have a favorite book, movie, or TV show with an angel in it? Do you wish you had an Angel who could cast a cloaking spell over you? How about one who could cast something more powerful than that?

Stacy, thank you for hosting me here at UFI and allowing me to share a bit more about Dark Light of Day with you and your readers!

 

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Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jill earned a bachelor of science from Penn State University and later moved to Baltimore to attend the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. She went on to practice law as a “dirt lawyer” for ten years, specializing in real estate law, municipal development, commercial leasing, and anything involving exceedingly lengthy legalese-like contractual monstrosities.

Jill now lives in rural Maryland with her two children and husband, who is a recreational pilot. Weekends are often spent flying around in the family’s small Cessna, visiting tiny un-towered airfields and other local points of interest.

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Find Jill and her books

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Dark Light of Day

Barnes & Noble   Amazon

 Armageddon is over. The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued. Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves, and the world from slipping back into chaos.

Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, the daughter of a prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a secret: She was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of, and some would consider her an abomination.

Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there…or to attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at stake than just her life.

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UFI Stop Giveaway- US Only

PRIZE: 1 Ace/Roc Science Fiction and Fantasy 2012 Sampler.  
(These are bound, print samplers with a color cover and the first few pages of new work from the following authors/titles: Benedict Jacka's FATED, Alex Hughes' CLEAN, Jacqueline Carey's DARK CURRENTS, Steve Bein's DAUGHTER OF THE SWORD, Anton Strout's ALCHEMYSTIC, and Jill Archer's DARK LIGHT OF DAY.)

• * Jill will choose the winner.
• * Sampler giveaway will close by midnight 10/2
• * Jill will announce the winner via comment on the post the day after the giveaway closes 10/3
• * Winners have 48 hours to send Jill their street address.
• *Jill’s plan is to mail samplers out every week or so during the tour

 Tour Wide-US Only

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