I am
thrilled to be hosting a spot on the CHILDREN OF SOLO by Andrew
D.H. Moore Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar
Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Author: Andrew D.H. Moore
Pub. Date: April 18, 2025
Publisher: World System Books, LLC
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 722
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/CHILDREN-OF-SOLO
Buy direct from Andrew! https://books.by/adhmoore
The God of
Creation is missing, but pirate captain Adi Crestone has more immediate
problems. Caught between her criminal past and her maternal instincts, she
struggles to protect
her son from the Blood Queen. Buffeted by inner demons and external foes, she
must decide
what she is willing to sacrifice for freedom and family, all while navigating
treacherous alliances
that force her to confront her own past.
Theo Vanguard is an Imperial naval officer entangled in familial duty and
political
machinations. Trapped between his personal desires and his noble father’s
expectations, he is
captured by pirates and descends into the seedy underbelly of the city of
Solvigant. Where he
reveals a world of survival and sacrifice.
Dreams of adventure beyond the mundane inspire young Ion Rucinare to run away
from
home, only to find himself thrust into a perilous quest that could alter the
fate of the World
System. His yearning for acceptance and belonging is complicated as he grapples
with newfound
magical abilities and the harsh realities of life on the dying moon Xys.
Caught between the Empire, ruthless gang leaders, and enigmatic gods all vying
for
power, Adi, Theo, and Ion’s paths converge in a high-stakes search for a
powerful artifact,
Apyreon, which grants the wielder the very power of the gods themselves. Will
each find their
place in a universe teetering on the brink of chaos?
Interview Questions
For the readers: can
you tell us a little bit about your book and the characters?
Children of
Solo is the first installment in a series entitled Steam and Stars. This first
book takes place on the moon Xys, one of ten moons that orbit the ringed gas
giant, Solo. Solo is a Saturn-esque planet, and the embodiment of the mother
goddess. Each of her divine children call one of her moons home. Unfortunately
for the residents of Xys, Pallantier, the God of Creation, has gone missing.
That means Xys’s orbit is now in decay, and soon the rocky rings of Solo will
collide with and destroy it. In the meantime, the increasing gravitational
force is wreaking ecological havoc on the moon.
The main
protagonist is wayward pirate captain Adi Crestone. At fifteen years old she
ran away from home and her noble upbringings in House Azure after a series of
traumatic events and built a life for herself in the wandering City of
Solvigant on Xys. Piracy is a dangerous career, and Adi becomes entangled in
the criminal underbelly of the city. She wants only to escape to the freedom of
the open sea, with her son by her side, but every move she makes seems to drag
her further away from her goals and into more dangerous waters.
The book
also follows Theo Vanguard and Ion Rucinare. Theo is the youngest of five sons.
His father is arguably the second most powerful man in the Solan Empire, as he
is High Chancellor to the emperor. Theo has tried to make a life for himself
free from his powerful father’s political machinations, but when a powerful
artifact is stolen from under Theo’s nose, he becomes a pawn in a bigger deadly
game.
Ion is a
twelve-year-old boy living in a backwater town, Castes, on the moon Xys. He and
his grandfather eke out a meager living fishing the Boiled Sea, until a
powerful mage arrives and changes the course of Ion’s life. Forced to flee
Castes, Ion seeks protection and adventure in Solvigant by trying to become a
pirate himself.
What are you working on
now?
I’m well into The Knights of
Acadia, Steam and Stars Book 2. I’m also working on book one of another
trilogy, the first book of which will be called The Hearthstone Cavern.
Were any of the
characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?
None of the characters are wholly
based on a specific person, but each one contains elements or experiences of
people I know. Theo has a lot of elements of me, I think, in that he grapples
with questions like: What do I want to do with my life, and do I even get the
freedom to decide? My parents have always been supportive of my broad range of
endeavors, but even so, as the oldest child, I have often felt pressure to live
up to what I perceive the expectations of my parents to be.
Who was your favorite
character to write? What about your least favorite?
Adi was my
favorite. She leapt into my life like Athena from the skull of Zeus, fully
formed and ready to take on the world. Adi is a heroine on a heroine’s journey,
who would rather be a hero. She wants to solve her problems alone, without
burdening anyone else with the consequences of her questionable decisions. But
that’s not how difficult challenges are overcome. It takes a support network. Life
requires help. No pirate captain is successful without a crew. I find myself
rooting for Adi. I want her to find those people, to recognize that she is
surrounded by characters who love and care for her, and who will help carry her
through the most difficult challenges.
Least
favorite I will interpret as most difficult to write, though I am pleased with
the way his character is taking shape. Even though I am one, I find men
difficult to write. We’re trained to be stoic, to cram our emotions down until
we have ulcers or shingles, and to not speak openly about our trials and
tribulations. While I think that’s changing, that change is slow. I have had to
put in work to unlearn that tendency, and the myth of the quiet suffering man
doesn’t translate well to the page. I also think it’s important to see Theo
through Theo’s eyes. He can perhaps sound a little spoiled and whiny at times,
but part of his journey is recognizing his privilege.
What is your favorite
passage/scene in your book?
Two scenes
immediately come to mind. The first is Adi and Rehka’s visit to the Crook and
Vine tavern. Rehka has just come back into Adi’s life and Adi is struggling to
understand how she feels about her former lover’s return. I love the raw
emotion of the scene, the anger, the irreconcilable goals each of them has and
how they’re trying to shoehorn the other into their lives. It feels masochistic
to love an argument, but there it is.
The other
scene jostling for attention comes near the very end, when Ion travels to the
moon Karis on the freighter Cerul’s Horn and sees a dragon in its
reptilian form for the first time. The way children hold onto awe in the face
of dire peril never ceases to amaze me.
What kind of research
did you have to do for the story?
I knew next
to nothing about ships. I’ve read many of the books by Patrick O’Brian,
beginning with Master and Commander, and watched all the Pirates of the
Caribbean movies, but when it came to writing ships, I had to dive in and
learn. I still cannot claim to be an expert, but I can now tell you the
difference between a caravel and a galleon, so that’s a start.
Outside of
ships, I didn’t have to do a ton of research
for this book as it’s a fantasy steampunk space opera with very little
hard science. I did, however, spend a lot of time working through the magic
system. It’s complex and central to the arc of the series. With all the maps,
diagrams, descriptions, and schemata I created, it felt like I did a lot of
research.
Lightning Round
Questions
What are you reading
right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies
Okungbowa
Favorite social media
site?
Facebook
Favorite Superhero or
Villain?
Superhero: Batman
Villain: Judge Holden in Cormac
McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. He’s so terrifyingly creepy and evil, and so human.
Favorite TV show?
Futurama
Sweet or Salty?
Sweet
Any Phobias?
The Dark
Song you can’t get
enough of right now?
Lighthouse by Sierra Farrell,
really the whole Trail of Flowers album
2025 Movie you’re most
looking forward to?
The Phoenician Scheme
Do you play video
games? If so what are some of your favorites?
I don’t play many video games, but growing up it was Crash
Bandicoot.
About Andrew D.H. Moore:
Andrew Moore
lives in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado. He is an avid writer of stories and
rider of bikes. Andrew's love of fantasy blossomed early when he fell in love
with such books as Redwall by Brian Jacques and the Dragonlance Chronicles by
Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman. He graduated with honors from Indiana
University with undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Classical Literature.
He completed a post-baccalaureate at the University of Pennsylvania before
obtaining his Master's in Classical Archaeology from CU Boulder. He worked as
an archaeologist and scholar in Germany, Greece, Turkey, and Jordan. In
Colorado, Andrew taught philosophy, history, and literature at Rocky Mountain
College of Art and Design, before leaving formal academia to pursue a passion
in brewing beer. His brewery brainchild, The Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project,
closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, but not before winning many awards both
domestic and international.
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Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, courtesy of Rockstar Book Tours, International.
1 winner
will receive a finished copy of CHILDREN OF SOLO, US Only.
Ends May 13th, midnight EST
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