Dream Magic
by Joshua Khan
Praise for Shadow Magic:
"If you are
pining for that thrill you felt when you first discovered Harry Potter […]
here is a fantasy
world you will lose yourself in. I defy you not to love this story."
—Rick Riordan, #1
New York Times bestselling author
Things are dire for the inhabitants of Castle
Gloom and the surrounding villages. The undead are leaving their graves in
droves, a troll army is on the march from the north, and people are
mysteriously disappearing from their homes. The people of Gehenna are blaming
their misfortunes on Lilith Shadow, their young queen. They believe she has
cursed them by using magic, a practice forbidden to women. With her trusty
executioner among the missing and her blackguard soldiers busy battling trolls,
it is up to Lily and her friend Thorn to root out the real cause of all the
trouble. Their search will uncover ugly truths and eventually lead to a
nightmarish confrontation with nothing less than the rulership of the realm at
stake.
Zombies, ghosts, trolls, dream weavers,
a black-hearted villain, and a giant hero bat are only some of the imaginative
delights that await readers in DREAM MAGIC by Joshua Khan,
a soaring adventure combined with a
hair-raising mystery.
JOSHUA
KAHN was born in Britain, a land filled with ancient
castles, dark forests, and tales of legendary heroes and fantastical monsters. His
head stuffed with magical stories, it was inevitable that Joshua would want to
create some of his own. Hence SHADOW MAGIC and DREAM MAGIC. Josh lives in
London with his family, but he’d rather live in a castle. It wouldn’t have to
be very big, just as long as it had battlements. Follow him on Twitter @WriterJoshKhan.
DREAM MAGIC, A SHADOW MAGIC NOVEL
by Joshua Kahn
Disney-Hyperion | On Sale April 11, 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 9781484737620 | $16.99 | $17.99 Can. | 352 pages |
Ages 8-12
Ebook ISBN: 9781368002462
MUSIC AT MIDNIGHT
Okay, the first thing you got to know is my
musical taste is all over the place. SHADOW MAGIC does indeed have a
soundtrack, I could have given you a few chapter references to what was playing
when I was writing, or imagining a scene.
I’ve inserted
links, some are just tunes to be listened to, others are clips that fed the
world of SHADOW MAGIC itself.
And that’s the one
we’ll start with, the Queen
of the Night aria out of Die Zauberflote by Mozart. The imagery, all dark,
extravagant, unearthly, it’s pure Castle Gloom. And then the voice itself. I am
stunned into awe each time I hear it. How can a person produce such magic? I am
a big opera fan, and Mozart has a special place in my heart. It’s all high
drama, no one does anything small in opera. The grandeur might feel
melodramatic to some, but to me it’s all ‘caught in the throat’ emotion. Opera
is about fate, love, betrayal, divided loyalties and most of all passion. All the things I love writing about.
Next up are the
ultimate goth band, The Sisters of Mercy. If you love black, bats and the
creatures out of the dark places of the soul then look no further. The lead
singer, Andrew Eldritch is a vampire, just check out his look in This
Corrosion. Now I could have filled the whole list with tracks from these guys,
but I’ll limit myself to The
Temple of Love, featuring Ofra Haza. It pumps, it pounds, and then it
soars.
David Bowie. There
can be no list without the Thin White Duke. Again, this guy could have been
born in Castle Gloom. He was weird, groundbreaking, and unique. To fit the
theme of SHADOW MAGIC I give you Scary Monsters and Super
Freaks, but there could have been so many more. I won’t distract you with a
video, just listen to the music.
One of the key
characters out of SHADOW MAGIC is K’leef, so I’ll use that as an excuse to put
in the Middle-Eastern singer, Natasha Atlas. I found Ezzay, and (strangely)
along with a video of cats. Make of that what you will but this is music to be
listened to at the setting of the sun.
Now before you
think it’s just going to be world music from now on, here’s something
completely different, Muse. Map of the Problematique
was played more than anything else during those early drafts of SHADOW MAGIC.
Listen to these lyrics.
Life will flash before my eyes, so scattered so lost, I want to
touch the other side.
Pure House Shadow.
Time to get back
into the classical. This was a hard one, Mozart’s Requiem or Dies Irae by Verdi.
Since I have already done Mozart I gave Verdi the nod, but I strongly suggest
you check out Mozart too. Big, loud and epic. And a little bit terrifying.
Let’s tone down
the bombast a little, but dial up the creepiness. So, The Prodigy. My favourite
band. This next track is not their usual assault on the eardrums. Narayan has a dash of
Eastern mix, which suits SHADOW MAGIC well. A lot of House Shadow is inspired
by the Middle East, its history, religion and mythology. Iblis is the Arabic
name for the Devil, Salome was of course the Biblical villainess, and Lilith is
the Hebrew name for the first wife Adam and the mother of demonkind. Book 3,
BURNING MAGIC, explored the eastern kingdom of Djinn in greater detail, so
there’s much more yet to come.
As we head to the
finish I need to add one of my other fav goth bands, The Cult. This is their
bono fide classic, She
Sells Sanctuary. I saw them in concert recently, having missed them during
their 1980’s heyday, and the crowd went bonkers when this came on.
Last two and I
must put in Hans Zimmer. The guy has composed some of the most epic soundtracks
in recent years but nothing tops this one from The Man of Steel. It’s What Are You Going to Do
When You’re Not Saving the World? Just listening to it makes me want to be
a better person, it’s that inspiring and quiet rightly attached to the most
inspiring superhero of the all, Superman. I’ve added the
trailer too, the one where I first heard this music. I wept as I watched it.
Yes, I am a BIG, BIG, BIG Superman fan. I was sooo tempted to add the Wonder
Woman intro, Is She with You? Out of Batman v Superman. But I save it for next
time.
I will finish with
Siouxsie and the Banshees, another classic goth band of the 70s and 80s. Oh,
how I adore Siouxsie, surely a queen of House Shadow from some parallel
universe. I’ve picked Cities
in Dust. This is the theme of the Shardlands, the ruins of the Old Kingdom,
destroyed in the great war between the Six Princes.
I hope you found
that fun and maybe you’ve been introduced to something new and unexpected. There
were so, so many more tunes to be added, but we’ll save those for Vol 2...
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