Midnight Oil

Book Two in The Witches of Galdorheim Series

A Novel by Marva Dasef

Genre: Tween Fantasy

Release: January 13, 2012

Editor: Nancy Bell

Line editor: Penny Ehrenkranz

Cover Designer: Kaytalin Platt

Words: 47041

Pages: 143

ISBN: 978-1-927361-56-6

Price: $5.50

Back Cover:

Kat is a nervous wreck waiting for her boyfriend's first visit to her Arctic island home. He doesn't show up, so she's sure he’s given her the brushoff.

Excerpt:

With nothing to do while Ivansi gathered a few items to take with him, Rune walked up a slight incline away from the rocky beach. He gazed around the barren landscape, consisting of fewer rocks than the beach and scattered clumps of dead grass. Spring hadn’t reached Novaya Zemlya. A stiff breeze blew in from the ocean, flattening the brown vegetation toward the east and sending a chill up his back. At least, he hoped it was the breeze. Something didn’t feel quite right. Just as the thought was passing, a motion caught his attention, but nothing was there. Then he saw a shadowy figure out of the corner of his eye. “Hey, who’s there?” he yelled.

Nadia joined him on the low ridge between shore and land. She swept her eyes one-hundred-eighty degrees, scanning the landscape. “No one here, Rune.”

“Maybe it was just a shadow from a cloud.” He looked up at the clear blue sky. “Or a bird.” After a pause, he asked, “Have you been here before?”

“No, but Ivansi sometimes here.”

“Good. I hope he knows where to get fuel. I was afraid he’d just have to wander around. I could help him search, you know.”

The girl nodded. “You ask him.”

As they turned to walk back onto the beach, something hit Rune’s back…hard. He whipped around to see a short, blocky figure poised with a rock in its hand, ready to throw again. He stepped in front of Nadia, rubbing his neck where the stone had struck. “Stop that,” he yelled at the figure, who ducked down into a clump of dried grass without a sound. Rune thought it must be a boy, being so short. But the boy was gone so fast even Rune couldn’t make out any details.

Rune strode to the clump of brush, but nobody was there. He wondered where somebody could have disappeared to on this stretch of barren land. Hiding just wasn’t possible on the tundra. Wind flattened the grass; no large rocks stood out. Rune raised his hand, palm outward, and let his senses spread out like radar. This part of his vampire abilities he could use without changing his appearance. He detected a heat signature, a body, maybe, a dozen feet in front of him.

There! He felt a presence. Tuning up his vision, he saw a column of warm air, shimmering like a desert mirage. Puzzled, he approached the heat column. He stepped gingerly, one foot in front of the other, holding his breath.

The source of the heat proved to be a dark hole in the rocky ground, big enough for a body to dive into. That explained how the boy, or whatever it was, disappeared. A faint, musky odor rose up along with the heat. Rune sniffed, trying to identify it.

“Come out, whoever you are!” Rune hollered down the hole, shaking his fist. There was no response. “If you don’t come out, I’ll come in and get you!”

Again, no response. Puzzled, he looked outward from the heat column. Stretching his senses again, he saw a faint wavering line of warmth leading away from the tunnel entrance. Rune walked along the heat trail, watching for anything hotter, which might suggest someone hidden below the ground.

A scream pierced the silence, ringing horribly familiar in his ears. He spun to face the beach, his eyes wide with shock. There were more of them! One pinned Nadia’s arms behind her. Another held Ivansi in check with a club. Stupid, stupid! They tricked me. They lured me away, and I fell for it! Now they held his friends captive.

Rune wracked his brain trying to think of the right action, but nothing came to mind. He wasn’t well versed in battle spells, and it would take far too long for him to cast a shield.

Now the figures were holding still, he saw the musky odor must come from the ragged animal hides draping their stocky bodies. Unlike the Samis’ clothing, these people did not bead or decorate the hides in any way.

He raised his hands to show his surrender, but the others must have taken it as a hostile move. The one holding Ivansi at bay clubbed the Sami man on the side of the head. Ivansi fell with a thud, disappearing from Rune’s view as he dropped behind the rise. The one holding Nadia pulled a stone knife from his belt and held it at the girl’s neck.

“No,” Rune yelled and dropped his hands. What do they want? First his sister and now Nadia. He felt helpless, wishing he knew what to do.

About the Author:

Marva Dasef lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and a fat white cat. Retired from thirty-five years in the software industry, she has now turned her energies to writing fiction and finds it a much more satisfying occupation. Marva has published more than thirty-five stories in a number of on-line and print magazines, with her stories included in several Best of anthologies, and several books in print and e-book formats.

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Customer Reviews:

Midnight Oil is a wonderful sequel to Bad Spelling, filled with tension, conflict, fun and humor. While we meet old acquaintances, this adventure provides unexpected twists. An entertaining, charming and touching read. While the end is satisfying, it left me hoping for a third book in the series.

Ms Dasef has done it again. This second book in the Witches of Galdorheim Series carries on the story of Kat and Rune, a young witch and even younger witch/vampire. I love the way the author brings in legendary monsters and her own invented creatures making me believe they are all unseen inhabitants of this world. Once again Kat and Rune fight for their friends and family. Kat must find and save her boyfriend while Rune's journey takes him to strange lands in search of the Midnight Oil. Once again Ms Dasef drew me into the story so I could see the monsters and tremble for both Kat and Rune's safety. This time the adult witches had more input into the book, but this did not detract from the bravery, pluck and determination of Kat and her brother. This is a wonderful book and carries on Kat's story in such a seamless way. Both books stand alone and successfully complement one another. I understand there is a third book in this series and I wait impatiently for its release.

When I read the first book, I was entralled with the characters, the adventure and the plain fun read.rnrnNow, I have read Midnight Oil and I wasn't disappointed. The thrill continued. I love Kat's family and all the creatures she meets along the way on her new adventure.rnrnI recommend this book for all ages. It's thrill a minute. And the world building, the author's imagination astound me.

When I read the first book in The Witches of Galdorheim series, Bad Spelling, it blew me away. The writing was vivid and humorous, the story engrossing. It was the kind of book I couldn't put down, and one that stuck with me long after.rnrnPerhaps it was holding the second book to such a high standard that led me to being just a little disappointed.rnrnThe story started out a bit slower than the last. But by the time Kat left Galdorheim, bent on rescuing her boyfriend Andy, the story picked up. Here was the action, the thrill I got from reading Bad Spelling. Kat's scenes just flew by with my eyes glued to the screen of my e-reader.rnrnHowever, unlike the first book, Midnight Oil was not written entirely in Kat's point of view. I understand the author's reasoning behind this and craved knowledge of the scenes from Kat's vampiric half-brother, Rune, when they split up, but Rune's perspective didn't glow like Kat's did. I wasn't invested in what happened to him, not as much as I should have been considering he is a likeable character. Every time the book switched to his point of view, I groaned a bit under my breath and skimmed in anticipation of Kat's forthcoming scenes.rnrnSo overall, this book wasn't nearly as good as the last, mostly because of the forays into Rune's point of view. Nevertheless, I'll definitely be buying the third book. This little witch has me hooked.

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