I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE END OF THE WORLD by H.S. Gilchrist Blog
Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to
enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Author: H.S.
Gilchrist
Pub. Date: February 5, 2024
Publisher: Dystopian
Sunrise Press
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback,
eBook
Pages: 474
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/THE-END-OF-THE-WORLD
The End of the World is coming!
In a broken future governed by the oppressive Technocrats and their parasitic
technology, enslaved warrior Animkii's mind is a battleground for control.
After an act of sabotage shatters her bondage, she faces a dire mission:
ridding herself of the invasive tech implanted inside her before it consumes
her remaining humanity. Seeking salvation, she forms an uneasy alliance with
Mica Stone, a troubled black-market recycler, whose dreams hold the power to
awaken an ancient alien god known as the After Lord.
Fleeing the bloody machinations of the After Lord's dark cult, Animkii and Mica
embark on a perilous odyssey that takes them out of the dystopian depths of the
undercity and into the remote and icy Witherlands. There, amidst the ruins of
an ancient world, they face a force that hungers for more than just flesh and
bone.
With reality crumbling and Earth's survival at stake, a battle between two
worlds begins, leaving Animkii and Mica to confront the ultimate question: can
they retain their humanity in a world on the brink of oblivion, or is the end
of the world inevitable?
Interview
Hey Heather! First I want to say welcome, I’m glad you could stop by for a chat! THE END OF THE WORLD sounds AWESOME and I can’t wait for everyone to read it!
For the readers: can you tell us a little bit
about THE END OF THE WORLD and the characters?
·
Set in a dystopian, future Earth – about a thousand years after an event
called the Sundering tore the Earth into pieces. Life sucks. Former U.S. is a
technocracy ruled with an iron fist by the Technocrats, who use technology to
control the minds of their subjects. Former Canada is a wasteland riddled with
massive ‘rifts’ in the earth that spew forth soul-sucking monstrosities called
Dreamers. You’ll see both lands in THE END OF THE WORLD.
·
Animkii is a mod – ‘modified’ human (think: cyborg)– controlled by the
Technocracy’s hive mind, the Alphaknot. She manages to break free from their
control, only to find out a new tech her masters implanted into her is
literally consuming her humanity and replacing it with machine. Despite this
grim fate awaiting her, she’s determined to fight all way to the end and
protect the people she cares about.
·
Mica Stone is a deeply troubled young woman. She has this great potential
blunted by a drug addiction she uses to escape the vivid nightmares from her
past that she suffers. She can fix just about anything, but she needs a ‘fix’
to do it. Unfortunately, the nightmares are more than simply dreams-gone-bad.
Within them is hidden the Blood Gateway.
If the Blood Gateway is opened / destroyed, then bad things are going to
happen. And of course, there is a Cult dedicated to making sure the bad thing
happens.
·
The After Lord is the alien god responsible for the Earth’s Sundering.
And he wants to come back and finish the job… Guess who has to stop him?
What are you working on now?
I am about a
quarter of the way through the good draft of Book 2 of the Primordial Engine
Series, called SEPARATE WORLDS: THE GATHERING STORM. Hoping to release it October
2024. I have five books in total planned out in detail, with room to add two
more if the series gains traction.
Were any of the characters in the book
inspired by people from your real life?
Not
intentionally!
Who was your favorite character to write? What
about your least favorite?
My favorite
character to write was The After Lord. In Book 1, he’s the ‘Big Bad’ who wants
to end the world, and there’s not much chance to explore his motivations—what
with the characters trying to survive. In reality, his backstory is pretty
complex and Book 2 (SEPARATE WORLDS: THE GATHERING STORM) will be exploring a
lot of the reasoning behind his actions.
My least favorite
was a minor character I introduce near the end named Harvester. She was a drag
to write in my earlier drafts, but I tweaked her enough that I’m happy with how
she turned out.
What is your favorite passage/scene in THE END
OF THE WORLD?
Animkii’s
end fight scene. I felt I did a good of making her sacrifice impactful.
What kind of research did you have to do for
the story?
Animkii’s
people are largely descended from various Anishinaabe nations in Canada,
particularly the Ojibwe people. They have retained some traditional knowledge (pre-Sundering),
but between the Dreamers and the After Lord’s influence, they have strayed from
the correct path. Book 2 involves a return to the correct traditions, which in
turn hold the key to healing the Earth.
Lightning Round Questions
What are you reading right now? Or
what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
My own book. Looking for last minute typos! In all seriousness, I have multiple books on the go (books everywhere in my house – bathroom, bedroom, living room, kitchen table, Kindle… haha). List:
Cage of Souls (Adrian Tchaikovsky)
Salem’s Lot (Stephen King)
Mirrormaze: A Dreampunk Anthology (Cliff Jones Jr.)
Elf Quest Volume 1
Moose Meat & World Rice (Basil Johnston)
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning (I’m a data
analyst in my day job)
Embers of War (Gareth Powell)
Favorite social media site?
I’ve been jumping between the different sites, trying to decide which one to focus on. X/Twitter is still the site where I get the most engagement with other folks, but I’m searching for a viable replacement. Bluesky and Mastodon don’t have enough going on yet, but I recently started using Threads and I’m finding some good interaction with writers and readers. I feel like Threads is the top contender (for now).
Favorite Superhero or Villain?
Superhero: Raven
Villain: Magneto
Favorite TV show?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, forever.
Sweet or Salty?
Sweet.
Any Phobias?
Not keen on spiders, but I’ve learned to humanely dispose of them (gloves > plastic container > outside)
Song you can’t get enough of right
now?
Dream Theater – The Ministry of Lost Souls
2024 Movie you’re most looking forward
to?
Beetlejuice 2
Do you play video games? If so what
are some of your favorites?
When I used to have time! Final Fantasy 7’s remake was the last one I finished. I’ve started Baldur’s Gate 3 and Harry Potter Hogwart’s Legacy recently, but I haven’t put any time into them. If I want something a little more strategic, my go-to is Civilizations 6. It gets a lot of play when I’m stressed.
Thanks so much Heather for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read THE END OF THE WORLD!
About H.S. Gilchrist:
H.S. Gilchrist’s ambitions of becoming a real-life Indiana
Jones (degree in Anthropology) spurred her love for world cultures and history
but conjured no realistic job prospects. So, she set aside the thrill of
chasing ancient curses for the rigors of a twenty-year career in information
technology, where she’s worked as both a technician (“I fix broken stuff”) and
a data analyst (“I save management a lot of work”).
Outside of work, she's gently nudging her daughter toward
embracing her inner nerd (with some success). And in those rare quiet moments,
she pens the adventures she's always dreamed of experiencing.
To follow my book-writing adventures and see some fun
character art, check out my website: https://hsgilchrist.com
and subscribe to the newsletter.
Website | Twitter | Bluesky | Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub
Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.
Ends February 27th, midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:
Week One:
|
1/29/2024 |
Interview/IG Post |
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1/30/2024 |
Excerpt |
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1/31/2024 |
Guest Post/IG Post |
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2/1/2024 |
IG Post |
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2/2/2024 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
Week Two:
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2/5/2024 |
Guest Post |
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2/6/2024 |
Guest Post/IG Post |
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2/7/2024 |
Guest Post/IG Post |
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2/8/2024 |
Guest Post |
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2/9/2024 |
IG Review |
Week Three:
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2/12/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
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2/13/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/14/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
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2/15/2024 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
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2/16/2024 |
IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
Week Four:
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2/19/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
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2/20/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
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2/21/2024 |
Review |
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2/22/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/23/2024 |
Review |
