Book Review: Gyrfalcon (Taking Shield #1) by Anna Butler

Earth's last known colony, Albion, is fighting an alien enemy. In the first of the Taking Shield series, Shield Captain Bennet is dropped behind the lines to steal priceless intelligence. A dangerous job, and Bennet doesn't need the distractions of changing relationships with his long-term partner, Joss, or with his father-and with Flynn, the new lover who will turn his world upside-down. He expects to risk his life. He expects the data will alter the course of the war. What he doesn't expect is that it will change his life or that Flynn will be impossible to forget.

Universal Buy Link (Free on all Platforms)

Blog Tour: Day of Wrath by Anna Butler (Guest Post + Giveaway)

Blog Tour: Day of Wrath by Anna Butler (Guest Post + Giveaway)

Designing the Gyrfalcon

One of the greatest joys of playing in a science fiction universe is that you can look at the limitations and constraints of this one, shrug, and toss them aside.

Well, to an extent. If you strive for plausibility in your writing—I don’t say realism, because it isn’t realistic to have ships going faster than the speed of light—then you toss aside those constraints only after due thought and consideration. You plan out how to get around them.

Some of the greatest fun I had came from thinking about the spacecraft in the series, everything from fast and mean personal fighter craft to the behemoth military dreadnought that is the Gyrfalcon. So, let’s take a look at her, because while she maybe doesn’t have a speaking part, she has far more than a walk-on, third-spear-carrier-from-the-left sort of r0le. She’s been in every book so far, so certainly counts as a major recurring character.

This is the ship that is home for Bennet and Flynn, my two MCs. This is where they live and work, and where they learned to love each other and where they had to give each other up. She’s their safe place, and their haven. And she’s also a place of torment, where they live in close proximity to each other but can’t be together.

Gyrfalcon is one of (originally) nine massive dreadnoughts, one for each of Albion’s provinces, and heads up the First Flotilla (one destroyer, six frigates, nine corvettes). A dreadnought is, as Bennet notes in Makepeace … a triumph of functional design. There were more graceful ships. There were more beautiful ships. But there weren't more brutally powerful ships anywhere in the Fleet. What you saw with a dreadnought was what you got: sheer strength and overwhelming might, and more clout to the cubic yard than seemed technologically feasible.

Here are some ‘facts’ about her:

• She has faster-than-light capability that utilises dropping out of normal space, and into ‘hyperspace’. This is grandly described in the dictionaries as “(in science fiction) a notional space–time continuum in which it is possible to travel faster than light.” In Shield, scanning and communications can be beamed through hyperspace with you (which is mightily convenient!) but it isn’t without its drawbacks. Ships can’t drop into hyperspace in an atmosphere or while they’re in the middle of a space battle (too much energy in flux)—that makes sure they just can’t jump away out of trouble. I mean, where would the drama be if they could all just scarper the minute the enemy shows up?

• Gyrfalcon’s a warship. She fights through a combination of directed energy beams(lasers), laser guided cannon that shoot missiles at her target and she’s really rather like an aircraft carrier, with 180 fighter craft—Hornets—she sends out in battle to harry the enemy. A Hornet is capable of faster-than-light, with the same restrictions on making the jump in atmospheres or where there’s lots of stray energy about. Bennet’s the boss of all the Hornets, with Flynn flying as his wingman.

Release Blitz: Day of Wrath (Taking Shield #5) by Anna Butler (Giveaway)

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | KOBO | Smashwords

Length: 106,470 words

Taking Shield Series

Gyrfalcon (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Heart Scarab (Book #2) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Makepeace (Book #3) Amazon US | Amazon UK
The Chains of Their Sins (Book #4) Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

In less than a week, Bennet will finally return to the Shield Regiment, leaving behind the Gyrfalcon, his father, his friends… and Flynn. Promotion to Shield Major and being given command of a battle group despite the political fallout from Makepeace the year before is everything he thought he wanted. Everything he’s worked towards for the last three years. Except for leaving Flynn. He really doesn’t want to leave Flynn.

There’s time for one last flight together. A routine mission. Nothing too taxing, just savouring every moment with the best wingman, the best friend, he’s ever had. That’s the plan.

Bennet should know better than to trust to routine because what waits for them out there will change their lives forever.

Review Tour ~ The Jackal's House (Lancaster's Luck #2) by Anna Butler (Review + Giveaway)

Review Tour ~ The Jackal's House (Lancaster's Luck #2) by Anna Butler (Review + Giveaway)

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner 

Length: 114,000 words approx. 

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Design: Reese Dante 

Lancaster's Luck Series

The Gilded Scarab (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK 

About The Series

Lancaster's Luck is set in a steampunk world where, at the turn of the 20th century, the eight powerful Convocation Houses are the de facto rulers of the Britannic Imperium. In this world of politics and assassins, a world powered by luminiferous aether and phlogiston and where aeroships fill the skies, Captain Rafe Lancaster, late of Her Majesty's Imperial Aero Corps, buys a coffee house in one of the little streets near the Britannic Museum in Bloomsbury.

So begins the romantic steampunk adventures which have Rafe, a member of Minor House Stravaigor, scrambling over Londiniumís rooftops on a sultry summer night or facing dire peril in the pitch dark of an Aegyptian night. And all the while, sharing the danger is the man he loves: Ned Winter, First Heir of Convocation House Gallowglass, the most powerful House in the entire Imperium.

Blurb

Something is stalking the Aegyptian night and endangering the archaeologists excavating the mysterious temple ruins in Abydos. But is it a vengeful ancient spirit or a very modern conspiracy?

Rafe Lancaster's relationship with Gallowglass First Heir, Ned Winter, flourishes over the summer of 1900, and when Rafe's House encourages him to join Ned's next archaeological expedition, he sees a chance for it to deepen further. Since all the Houses of the Britannic Imperium, Rafeís included, view assassination as a convenient solution to most problems, he packs his aether pistol—just in case.

Trouble finds them in Abydos. Rafe and Ned begin to wonder if they're facing opposition to the Temple of Seti being disturbed. What begins as tricks and pranks escalates to attacks and death, while the figure of the Dog—the jackal-headed god, Anubis, ruler of death—casts a long shadow over the desert sands. Destruction follows in his wake as he returns to reclaim his place in Abydos. Can Rafe and Ned stand against both the god and House plots when the life of Ned's son is on the line?

Guest Post: The Jackal’s House by Anna Butler (Giveaway)

Title: The Jackal’s House

Series: Lancaster’s Luck: Book II.

Sequel to The Gilded Scarab

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Publication Date: 30 October 2017

Genre: Steampunk adventure m/m romance

Wordcount: c111,600

Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Illustrator (Map): Margaret Warner

About The Book

Something is stalking the Aegyptian night and endangering the archaeologists excavating the mysterious temple ruins in Abydos. But is it a vengeful ancient spirit or a very modern conspiracy…

Rafe Lancaster’s relationship with Gallowglass First Heir, Ned Winter, flourishes over the summer of 1900, and when Rafe’s House encourages him to join Ned’s next archaeological expedition, he sees a chance for it to deepen further. Since all the Houses of the Britannic Imperium, Rafe’s included, view assassination as a convenient solution to most problems, he packs his aether pistol—just in case.

Trouble finds them in Abydos. Rafe and Ned begin to wonder if they’re facing opposition to the Temple of Seti being disturbed. What begins as tricks and pranks escalates to attacks and death, while the figure of the Dog—the jackal-headed god Anubis, ruler of death—casts a long shadow over the desert sands. Destruction follows in his wake as he returns to reclaim his place in Abydos. Can Rafe and Ned stand against both the god and House plots when the life of Ned’s son is on the line?

Release Blitz: The Jackal's House by Anna Butler (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner 

Length: 114,000 words approx. 

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Design: Reese Dante 

Lancaster's Luck Series

The Gilded Scarab (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK 

About The Series

Lancaster’s Luck is set in a steampunk world where, at the turn of the 20th century, the eight powerful Convocation Houses are the de facto rulers of the Britannic Imperium. In this world of politics and assassins, a world powered by luminiferous aether and phlogiston and where aeroships fill the skies, Captain Rafe Lancaster, late of Her Majesty’s Imperial Aero Corps, buys a coffee house in one of the little streets near the Britannic Museum in Bloomsbury.

So begins the romantic steampunk adventures which have Rafe, a member of Minor House Stravaigor, scrambling over Londinium’s rooftops on a sultry summer night or facing dire peril in the pitch dark of an Aegyptian night. And all the while, sharing the danger is the man he loves: Ned Winter, First Heir of Convocation House Gallowglass, the most powerful House in the entire Imperium.

Blurb

Something is stalking the Aegyptian night and endangering the archaeologists excavating the mysterious temple ruins in Abydos. But is it a vengeful ancient spirit or a very modern conspiracy….

Rafe Lancaster’s relationship with Gallowglass First Heir, Ned Winter, flourishes over the summer of 1900, and when Rafe’s House encourages him to join Ned’s next archaeological expedition, he sees a chance for it to deepen further. Since all the Houses of the Britannic Imperium, Rafe’s included, view assassination as a convenient solution to most problems, he packs his aether pistol—just in case.

Trouble finds them in Abydos. Rafe and Ned begin to wonder if they’re facing opposition to the Temple of Seti being disturbed. What begins as tricks and pranks escalates to attacks and death, while the figure of the Dog—the jackal-headed god, Anubis, ruler of death—casts a long shadow over the desert sands. Destruction follows in his wake as he returns to reclaim his place in Abydos. Can Rafe and Ned stand against both the god and House plots when the life of Ned’s son is on the line?

Cover Reveal: The Jackal's House by Anna Butler (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Pre Order Ebook: Dreamspinner  Pre Order Paperback: Dreamspinner

Cover Design: Reese Dante

Length: 111,600 words

Lancaster's Luck Series

The Gilded Scarab (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner

Blurb

Something is stalking the Aegyptian night and endangering the archaeologists excavating the mysterious temple ruins in Abydos. But is it a vengeful ancient spirit or a very modern conspiracy…

Rafe Lancaster’s relationship with Gallowglass First Heir, Ned Winter, flourishes over the summer of 1900, and when Rafe’s House encourages him to join Ned’s next archaeological expedition, he sees a chance for it to deepen further. Since all the Houses of the Britannic Imperium, Rafe’s included, view assassination as a convenient solution to most problems, he packs his aether pistol—just in case.

Trouble finds them in Abydos. Rafe and Ned begin to wonder if they’re facing opposition to the Temple of Seti being disturbed. What begins as tricks and pranks escalates to attacks and death, while the figure of the Dog—the jackal-headed god Anubis, ruler of death—casts a long shadow over the desert sands. Destruction follows in his wake as he returns to reclaim his place in Abydos. Can Rafe and Ned stand against both the god and House plots when the life of Ned’s son is on the line?