Gears of War Story Consultant Releases Fantasy Novel

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Gears of War Story Consultant Releases Fantasy Novel
By The Editor
December 22, 2008 - 19:46

The New York Times Bestselling Author of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx Blends Urban Fantasy with Ancient Mythology in the First of an Epic New Five Book Series

Who is Eric Nylund?

    * As a writer and story consultant for Microsoft Game Studios, Eric Nylund has been instrumental in developing and maintaining blockbuster billion-dollar game franchises such as HALO and GEARS OF WAR.

    * He has helped shape the intellectual property for some of the world's best videogame developers including Bioware, Ensemble Studios, and Epic Games.

    * He is the author of three of the five bestselling novels set in the Halo universe: HALO: The Fall of Reach, HALO: First Strike, and HALO: Ghosts of Onyx. Together, his novels have sold over two million copies.

    * His first comic mini-series, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: The Cylon War—a prequel to the hit television show—is due out in January 2009.

    * A graphic novelist, his HALO: Genesis will be published in the spring of 2009, and will appear in the Limited Collector's Edition of HALO WARS.

    * MORTAL COILS (A Tor Trade Paperback Original; $14.95; On-sale Date: February 3, 2009), his first novel since writing the three HALO novels, is the launch of an epic five book series that is a brilliant blend of urban fantasy, fantastic atmosphere, and ancient mythology.

A contemporary writer with one of the most fascinating—and diverse—backgrounds imaginable, Eric Nylund has a consummate gift for storytelling and characterization and is a premier talent in a myriad of mediums: blockbuster videogames, graphic novels, comics—and bestselling epic novels. With MORTAL COILS, he takes the kind of storyline that has mesmerized the millions of readers of his HALO novels, and deftly applies it to a genre he loves—urban fantasy.

ABOUT MORTAL COILS

Nestled in a small town between San Francisco and the heart of the California wine country, a set of twins—a brother and a sister—live a life of mundane obscurity. Fiona and Eliot Post dream of running away from the oppressive rule of their grandmother, who has raised them since infancy after their parents were killed in an accident at sea. They hate being part of such a strange family—with all of its restrictive rules. Audrey Post insists on home schooling her grandchildren and forces them to work at a local pizzeria where they are bullied by a tyrannical boss. She seems to truly love Fiona and Eliot, but refuses to allow them to explore the beauty of the world that surrounds them.

On the eve of their fifteenth birthday, however, everything changes. It begins with hauntingly familiar violin music played by a homeless man who reeks of sardines and sulfur; a victorious confrontation with their bully of a boss; and a visit from two mysterious strangers, one known only as "a Driver" and the other who claims to be their long-lost uncle.

It turns out that Fiona and Eliot are much more than ordinary teenagers. They are the result of a single mistake: Years ago, an immortal goddess…and the infernal Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, fell in love. To protect them from their dangerous heritage, Audrey Post valiantly kept the twins hidden and camouflaged from the entities that have sought them over the years, transforming the divine into the dull.

But now they have been found—not only by their maternal relatives, but also by their paternal ancestors. For millennia, the Immortals and the Infernals have abided a strict law that they may not meddle in each others' affairs. The twins represent a new balance of power, however, and can potentially open a door into the unknown. If they tip one way, they can be a great boon for the Immortals. If they tip the other way, they will be a powerful asset to the Infernals.

Each family is determined to gain control of Fiona and Eliot. But in order to establish the twins' proper place and rightful allegiance, they each must devise tests to determine which side the twins favor. The Immortals create three heroic trials inspired by urban legends, taking them into deeper and more dangerous pockets of mythology incarnate in the modern world. The Infernals fashion three diabolical temptations for the twins, each one an attempt to forever isolate brother from sister.

The time has come for Fiona and Eliot to be judged, and it is a matter of life—and death—that they band together and learn to use their fledgling powers. For family allegiances are constantly shifting and the twins' actions could ultimately cause a war of apocalyptic proportions.

Readers will remember Fiona and Eliot long after they've finished the last page of MORTAL COILS, and will eagerly anticipate their next adventure.