Path Of Bones Blog Tour by Steven Montano+ Excerpt & Giveaway

Path of Bones Book Blurb~




Return to the world of Malzaria in the highly anticipated sequel to the best-selling epic fantasy adventure City of Scars.




Hunted by Empires and crime lords alike, Ijanna Taivorkan and the young warrior Kath Cardrezhej make their north through the dire Bonelands, a twisted wastelands populated by unnatural terrors. Hoping to find the answers to her dark destiny and driven by a need to escape her fate, Ijanna won't rest until she locates the last of the Skullborn.




Azander Dane, fallen Dawn Knight, pursues Ijanna in order to help her as a way for making amends for the crimes of his past. Aided by an exiled giant and gripped by a magical disease that is slowly driving him mad, Dane must brave the dangers of the Phage-controlled city of Kaldrak Iyresin order to reach the Dream Witch in time.




Beset at every turn by evil magic, powerful assassins and dark revelations, Dane and Ijanna will ultimately find themselves in the ruined city of Corinth, where ancient artifacts may hold the key to the world's salavation...or to its untimely doom.




E-Book: $4.99




Print Edition: $13.99

Check out the page on Goodreads

Purchase links: Amazon / Amazon Uk / Amazon CA / Smashwords / Barnes&Noble

City of Scars (Skullborn Trilogy #1) Book Blurb~

It’s been three decades since the Blood Queen led her legions on a brutal campaign of conquest and destruction, and the Empires are still struggling to rebuild. Now, in the distant aftermath of the war, the real battle is about to begin.

Haunted by the crimes of his past, fallen knight Azander Dane ekes out a mercenary existence as he drifts from one city to the next. His latest job is to hunt down Ijanna Taivorkan, a powerful outlaw witch desperate to escape her destiny.

Dane and Ijanna find themselves in Ebonmark, the City of Scars, where deadly crime guilds and shadowy agents of the White Dragon Empire prepare for a brutal confrontation. Pursued by apocalypse cults, mad alchemists, exiled giants and werewolf gangs, Dane and Ijanna soon learn a deadly lesson – in Ebonmark, only the cruelest and most cunning can survive.

City of Scars is the first volume of The Skullborn Trilogy, an all new epic fantasy adventure from the author of BloodSkies .

Check out bloodskies.com for more!

Helpful Links : Goodreads / Amazon / Smashwords  / Barnes&Noble 

About the Author~

Steven Montano is an author, accountant, and blogger, part human and part...well, we’re not entirely sure, but he sure does write a lot of books.

Steven is the author of the Skullborn novels (City of Scars, Path of Bones), the Blood Skies series (Blood Skies, Black Scars, Soulrazor, Crown of Ash, The Witch’s Eye and Chain of Shadows), Tales of a Blood Earth 1 and 2, Crucifix Point, and something black….  He’s currently hard at work on Blood Angel Rising, a paranormal action/horror/thriller; Vampire Down, the next installment of the Blood Skies series; and The Black Tower, the conclusion to The Skullborn trilogy. 

He and his family live in Michigan, where even zombies fear to tread.

Stalk Him: website / Facebook   / Twitter 

Visit Steven’s official website at www.stevenmontano.com

Exclusive excerpt:

FROM CHAPTER 11

Kaldrak Iyres’ water channels had been designed to discourage attacks  originating from the lake, and they spread under the city like a spider’s web.  Most of the tunnels were wide enough to accommodate sailing vessels and small warships, but their confusing layout made direct access to the docks all but impossible, and it required patience and careful navigation to avoid colliding with the curved walls lined with murder holes, siege weapons and Veilcrafted traps capable of turning even a stout frigate into a flaming husk by the time it reached any place it could do significant damage. 

Dane piloted their ship through the twisted tunnels.  Lit braziers set in alcoves in the sandstone walls cast blazing illumination, and only the steady flow of wind kept the tunnels from clogging up with dark smoke.  The waterways were busy, and it took careful piloting to avoid the other ships coming and going from the docks: sleek Raithian vessels with dark furled sails and black-clad pirates wearing facial chains and scimitars; stout Blackmoon warships, iron-clad boats churning flames from their Veilcrafted engines whose painted crews and well-paid war mages constantly watched for signs of trouble; sinuous schooners out of the Scorpion Isles, fast ships curved like daggers and manned by veiled women with filed teeth and eunuch weapons masters.  All of those crafts were loaded down with contraband and illegal goods, everything from narcotics and stolen steel to whores and slaves.  Money flowed in and of Kaldrak Iyres day and night, as the city was a major staging point for dark trade to the west and south, and in many ways it was considered the base of power for the dreaded Phage.

Platinum-scaled fish populated the waters; Dane recalled that it was considered good luck to consume them, and small fishing boats weaved in and out of the traffic both on the Lake and in the tunnels as they tried to pull in a catch. 

They sailed past small docks set aside for prisoners to be pilloried or executed.  Diseased and rotting remains steamed in the stale air, and crows nested in the enormous tunnels.  Thick blocks of stone washed of color gathered patches of moss and fungus that had spread across the walls like diseased veins.  The water itself was dank and muddy and filled with sediment and rust.

Dane knew that Kruje was getting impatient hiding beneath the tarp, and he wanted to try to avoid coming under close scrutiny, which meant docking the ship as quickly as possible.  They eventually lost sight of the entrance and came to one of the ports, which stood beyond a massive archway of pale stone set with carved images of gargoyles and dragons.  Piers of dark wood and iron were connected by rickety wooden walkways and rope bridges; dozens of boats of all shapes and sizes were tied to the water-stained pylons.  Planks and ladders led up to the streets, which were dark come day or night, for only the uppermost levels of Kaldrak Iyres were actually exposed to the sun.  Blazing arcane fires cast a blue shine throughout the cavernous underground harbor, and Phage soldiers patrolled the chain bridges.  The ceiling extended hundreds of feet up to a shadow-laden network of dangling metal platforms.

The buildings off the wharf were constructed from bleached limestone, and everything was dotted with spikes and oddly curved windows.  Dane smelled alcohol, tobacco and blood.  Sailors and workers milled around the docked vessels, hauling crates of goods, timber and steel under the watchful eye of crimson-cloaked Phage soldiers.  The diverse variety of ships hailed from all over northeastern Malzaria, making it so no two pirates or smugglers looked alike, but Dane spied some of Kaldrak Iyres’ citizens in the throngs of patchwork armor and colorful doublets, marked by their customary grey or green cloaks and thick beards or braided hair.  Very few Drage were left in Kaldrak Iyres, but years spent cross-breeding with Jlantrians and Den’nari had produced a dark-haired and olive-skinned stock slightly shorter than pure-blooded Jlantrians but still much larger than the diminutive northern people. 

Most of the buildings Dane saw were businesses meant to cater to boatmen and smugglers: taverns and whorehouses, loan sharks and weapons dealers, hawkers, drug merchants and gambling dens.  Money and goods changed hands freely, and many negotiations ended with a slit throat or a small battle.

In addition to the standard Phage soldiers Dane spied a pair of Blood Knights, elite gladiators turned enforcers who dressed in boiled red leather armor and featureless iron masks which left only their eyes exposed.  The hardened killers roamed the streets like predators, enforcing the Phage’s will or executing beggars, street urchins and other undesirables with impunity.  They wore rare kan’aar – curved shafts of wood with axe-blades affixed to either end – slung across their backs, and they left their muscled forearms bared to display their carefully cast scars, each of which represented a kill. 

Dane steered the boat to a small wharf next to a squat and ugly stone building with boarded windows; he thought it looked like an abandoned blacksmith’s shop.  The next closest dock to starboard was broken and badly in need of repair, while the port dock was occupied by an iron cargo vessel whose crew celebrated at a raucous tavern up above. 

This should work nicely.

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More tours here:

Feb. 7^th

My Book Addiction ~ Author Interview

Literary, etc. ~ Spotlight/ Excerpt

Feb. 8^th

Library at the End of the Universe~ Review, City of Scars (book 1) & Soundtrack

Feb. 9^th

Little Read Riding Hood ~ Guest Post & Spotlight/ Excerpt

Feb. 10^th

In Libris Veritas ~ Review, City of Scars (book 1)

Feb. 11^th

Relaxed Reads ~ Review, City of Scars (book 1)

Feb. 12^th

Liberty's Yarn ~ Top Ten

Feb. 13^th

Book Groupies ~ Spotlight/ Excerpt

Feb. 14^th

Consuming Worlds ~ Review, Path of Bones (book 2)

Bruce Blake ~ Spotlight/ Excerpt