Runes of Issalia Series - Book Tour and Giveaway

The Buried Symbol
​ The Runes of Issalia - Book 1 ​
By Jeffrey L. Kohanek
Genre: YA fantasy

Discover a lost magic, long buried and forgotten...
Without a rune marking his role in society, Brock is doomed to a life below the lowest rung of the social ladder. Unwilling to accept his fate, the teen risks his life to obtain a fake rune that marks him as a member of the Empire's ruling class. He then embarks on a quest to join an institution where the Empire's future leaders are trained.
As a student of the Academy, he soon uncovers a chain of secrets kept hidden for centuries, secrets that expose cracks in the foundation of Empire society. Among his discoveries is a powerful magic, long buried and forgotten.
Brock's compassion and sense of justice are seeds that sprout tight friendships and a blossoming romance. An unwillingness to be bullied earns him a dangerous enemy, growing into a feud that escalates to a climactic showdown.

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 A thrilling epic adventure that had me completely enthralled! This is seriously one of the best fantasy books I have ever read! With flawless writing and vivid descriptions, you're immersed into the realm of Issalia, where almost everybody is marked with a rune of their vocation on their forehead. For some mysterious reason, the Unchosen- people who were not chosen to receive a rune, are looked down upon as the underbelly of society and are denied the civil and humane rights that everybody else gets. After suffering through loss, young Brock takes his own destiny in his hands and illegally obtains his own rune. He then embarks on a perilous journey to enter the Academy where he takes the place by storm. Along the way, he discovers his latent talents, gains some true friends and uncovers secrets that have been hidden for centuries that were never meant to be revealed. I was completely entranced and absolutely enjoyed this book! There were times I was sitting on the edge of my seat at perilous times, grinning in delight at some incredible magic displays, and other times, my jaw almost hit the floor as I seethed in anger at the injustices and trials some of the other students put him through. I was left with quite a few unanswered questions as the book delved into some hidden mysteries that I am sure will be answered in the sequel! I can't wait to get started on it and live in Issalia some more! This was an absolutely epic book that anybody who enjoys fantasy and adventure will be sure to love!   

The Emblem Throne
The Runes of Issalia Book II

Journey on a magical quest to save the world

As they strive to become Masters within the Ministry, Brock and his friends resume their training at the Academy, an institution founded on magic, science, knowledge, law, and combat. They soon discover an expansive web of conspiracies and deceit within the Ministry, hidden behind a veil of benevolence and piety. The exposure of one of those secrets forces Brock and his friends to flee the institution with their lives in the balance.
Joined by a fierce Tantarri warrior, the group embarks on a quest to locate a mysterious throne that has been lost for centuries. Guided by the cryptic words of an ancient prophecy, and backed by a forbidden magic that they are still learning to wield, they journey across the continent to save humanity from extinction.

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 Once again, the author outdid himself! This book is even better than the first, which I thought wasn't even possible! Once again we enter the epic adventure to travel with Brock and his friends. After unsavory circumstanced force the group to flee the Academy, they embark on an exciting adventure into unknown lands wrought with mystery, intrigue and adventure that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat! Experimenting with Chaos along their journey, they discover new talents and encounter centuries old prophecies that foretold of their coming. Loaded with adventure, this fast paced adventure had me eagerly devouring the book as fast as I could as more and more secrets were unveiled. All unanswered questions from book 1 were answered along with many more that popped up along the way and I can't tell you how many "ah-hah" moments I had that pleased me to no end! I absolutely completely enjoyed this book and feel like I actually lived through the book with Brock and his friends! This series is an absolute must read for any fantasy or adventure lover of any age!!

Jeffrey L. Kohanek grew up in rural Minnesota where comic books sparked his young imagination, inspiring fantasies of heroes with super-powers saving the day. His tastes later evolved to fantasy epics featuring unlikely heroes overcoming impossible odds to save worlds born from the writer’s imagination.

Now residing in southern California, Jeff uses that imagination to weave tales of engaging characters caught in fantastic plots to inspire young adults and the child within us all. His debut book is The Buried Symbol, an epic fantasy novel released in May 2016.

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Greetings, fellow adventurers! This is epic (high) fantasy author Jeffrey L. Kohanek, sharing a bit of background about me and my first book.

From a young age, I’ve felt driven by an internal desire to create. With an early love for heroes with super powers, I found my childhood-self creating my own comic books. In 4th grade, I stepped through the wardrobe and never looked back, eschewing comics for journeys to wondrous lands such as Narnia and Middle Earth. In my teens, my love for epic fantasy grew to a crescendo with the Belgariad and Riftwar series both capturing my imagination, leaving me enthralled with the idea of discovering magical abilities and learning to harness them. When I finally decided to write my own epic fantasy series, it was with the desire to instill that same sense of wonder in my readers.

The Buried Symbol is the first book in The Runes of Issalia trilogy. It is a zero-to-hero story wrapped within a world where runes have inherent meaning. Citizens are marked at birth, assigning them their vocation and caste status for life. The main character is among the 1% who receive no rune, leaving him without a place in society. When he illegally obtains a fake rune, he journeys to a school for the elite, entering under a false identity. There, he begins to uncover secrets long-hidden, including a lost magic that he learns to harness. With the reader sharing in the discovery process, the magic system is well defined and logic-based. Being a trilogy, there are underlying plot lines and conspiracies throughout, with only the tip of the proverbial iceberg becoming exposed in book one.

Regards,
Jeffrey L. Kohanek
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