Saturday, August 6, 2016

Recreated (Reawakened, #2) by Colleen Houck ~ Guest Post & Giveaway


Now Available
From Delacorte Press


From Colleen Houck, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger’s Curse, comes Recreated, the second book in the epic Egyptian-inspired Reawakened series, in which a seventeen-year-old must literally go to hell to save the love of her life.

Lily Young thought traveling across the globe with a reawakened sun prince was a grand adventure. Now she’s about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.

When Amon and Lily part tragically, he transports himself to the Netherworld—what mortals call hell. Tormented by the loss of his one true love, he’d rather suffer in agony during Lily’s mortal years than fulfill his duty to protect humanity.

Heartbroken, Lily seeks refuge on her grandmother’s farm. Yet she can feel Amon’s pain, and she has been having dreams—dreams of Amon continually suffering.

For before he departed, Amon gave Lily something very special, an item that connects them even though they are worlds apart. Now Lily must use this object to free him, and to free their realms from darkness and utter chaos. She will do whatever it takes.





AFTERLIFE


The Afterlife is a pretty big deal in Egyptian mythology, so I knew I needed to talk about it at some point in my series. When I began writing I didn’t realize just how big a role it was going to play.

For research I began by studying a gigantic book called, Journey Through the Afterlife: The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. This is a way complicated book that explains pretty much everything the Egyptians believed in regarding what happens after you die. It covers everything from the way your family prepares you to begin the journey to how to protect yourself during judgement to what or who you might meet along the way.

Now, I’ve always said that reading my books is in no way akin to studying any particular mythology in the hopes of passing a test. I’m pretty much all over the place when I craft a series. An example of this is found in Recreated when I steal the idea of a ferryman from Greek mythology and assign him the task of ferrying the dead, and also, Lily, to the Afterlife. Obviously Charon doesn’t go with Egyptian mythology, but the idea of him, the theme of him, fits perfectly.

In my series I also incorporate the River Styx but in a new way. Instead of traveling the River Styx, my ferryboat captain, Cherty, uses “river stix” to beat away the demons that haunt the Cosmic River, AKA the Milky Way.

Now, for those of you who are mythological purists, who are right now groaning and smacking your heads with your palms, keep in mind that there are various stories that are common in many cultures. I was happily surprised to find that a ferryman who guides the dead is one of them.

However, I did keep a few things that are exclusive to Egyptian mythology. One of the most important is Apep, the cosmic snake, who tries to prevent Amun-Ra from entering the Afterlife on his nightly journey.

Apep is Cherty’s nemesis. The snake haunts his journey and gobbles up inattentive ghosts for his dinner, (He’s a very hungry serpent but you won’t figure out why until book three). Once a ghost reaches the Afterlife, they make the journey to the scales of judgment where their heart is weighed. There are a series of questions they must answer and, then, if the scales dip when the heart is balanced against the feather of justice, they are assigned to enter the Netherworld.

However, if they are deemed worthy, they get a choice. They can either move on, experiencing what’s called a second death, or they can wait in the Afterlife to be joined by their loved ones.

Much of this version of the Afterlife was woven from bits and pieces of my study, but a lot of it comes from my own imagination. Lily’s adventure is surely an interesting one. She’ll cross the city of the gods, Heliopolis, traverse the cosmic river, encounter the sentinels who guard the gates of the Afterlife, and pass over the waterway of the white hippo.

Come along with her in Recreated, where her journey takes a turn and her transformation is just beginning.





Trailer



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Giveaway

Colleen Houck will be giving away FIVE REAWAKENED & RECREATED BOOK SETS!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This giveaway is hosted and sponsored by the author.   StuckInBooks is not responsible for selecting a winner or sending out prizes.



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