Today we’re delighted to bring you an exciting cover reveal for Blood Legacy by Tej Turner, the second novel in his Avatars of Ruin series. It’s being released by Elsewhen Press digitally on 11th February 2022, and physical copies will be available from 14th March 2022. Let us tell you right now, this book sounds incredible!

The ragtag group from Jalard have finally reached Shemet, Sharma’s capital city. Scarred and bereft, they bring with them the grim tale of what happened to their village, and a warning about the ancient powers that have been awakened and now threaten all humanity.

Despite this, some of them still hope that reaching sanctuary within the Synod will mean an end to their hardships, but these hopes are soon dashed. Sharma’s ruling class are caught within their own inner turmoil. When Jaedin senses that there are moles within their ranks, not only does his call to crisis fall mostly on deaf ears, but some who do hear seek to thwart him when he tries to hunt these infiltrators down.

Meanwhile, across the Valantian Mountains, Gavendara is beginning to muster its forces. Using ritualistic means to augment their soldiers, their mutant army is like nothing the world has ever seen before.

The Zakaras are coming. And Sharma’s only hope of stopping them is if it can unite its people in time.

And so, without further ado, let’s check out that cover…

About the Artist:

The cover was designed by Alison Buck. Alison is a figurative and landscape artist and has exhibited and sold paintings of various styles throughout her career. Latterly she has increasingly been working on larger canvases, focusing on the natural world, trying to capture the transient and transforming effects of light and movement within landscapes. For some thirty years she has also been working as a commercial graphic designer, running a design studio and producing graphics and artwork for corporate clients, book covers and illustrations. As a co-founder of Elsewhen Press, Alison has created the artwork for many Elsewhen Press book covers, as well internal illustrations and maps for various titles. She has also created a science fiction themed Colouring Book for adults, called Futures. Alison is also an accomplished author.

Quote from Author:

This series has a handful of characters who all have equal claim to being the central protagonist, so Elsewhen Press and I decided it was only fitting to feature one of them as the inspiration for each cover. For the first instalment – Bloodsworn – we based the cover on Kyra and thus had a hunting theme; with a bow, rabbits, and deer.

The cover for Blood Legacy is themed around Bryna, Jaedin’s witchy and mysterious twin sister. I am really pleased with what Alison did. This cover matches the first book,  and it is obvious they are in the same series, yet it is also distinctive.

In the story, Bryna is often gathering herbs – which she uses for healing and other things – and she also has unusual purple eyes. As for the stone in the middle of the cover… well, to say what that is would give spoilers, but I am pretty sure that those who have read Bloodsworn will know.

You can find more information on the Avatars of Ruin series and how to purchase copies HERE

Tej Turner’s debut novelThe Janus Cycle was published by Elsewhen Press in 2015 and its sequel Dinnusos Rises was released in 2017. Both are hard to classify within typical genres but were semi-biographical in nature with elements of magical realism. They have often been described as ‘gritty and surreal urban fantasy’.

He has since branched off into writing epic fantasy and has an ongoing series called the Avatars of Ruin. The first instalment –Bloodsworn – was released in 2021, and its sequel Blood Legacyis due out in 2022. He is currently engaged in writing the third instalment (‘Blood War’).

Tej does not have any particular place he would say he is ‘from’, as his family moved between various parts of England during his childhood. He eventually settled in Wales, where he studied Creative Writing and Film at Trinity College in Carmarthen, followed by a master’s degree at The University of Wales Lampeter.

Since then, Tej has mostly resided in Cardiff, where he works as a chef by day and writes by moonlight. His childhood on the move seems to have rubbed off on him because when he is not in Cardiff, it is usually because he has strapped on a backpack and flown off to another part of the world to go on an adventure.

When he travels, he takes a particular interest in historic sites, jungles, wildlife, native cultures, and mountains, and so far, he has clocked two years in Asia and a year in South America. He also spent some time volunteering at the Merazonia Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Ecuador, a place he intends to return to someday. He also hopes to go on more adventures and has his sights set on Central America next.

Firsthand accounts of Tej’s adventures abroad can be found on his travel blog.