Lynne Matson joins SciFiChick.com today to talk about her latest release Nil on Fire, complete with an excerpt and giveaway!
I’m so excited to be here today as part of the NIL ON FIRE blog tour! Today I’m sharing the first chapter of the last book in the Nil series: my forthcoming release, NIL ON FIRE.
As y’all may know, the Nil series is a trilogy about a mysterious island where teens have exactly one year to escape, or they die. Think Survivor meets LOST, with dashes of the Twilight Zone and heaps of FEELS. The trilogy begins with NIL, continues with NIL UNLOCKED, and on May 31, 2016, the trilogy ends with NIL ON FIRE. I can’t wait for y’all to read it!
Before I share the first chapter, here’s the synopsis of NIL ON FIRE:
Despite Rives and Skye’s attempt to destroy Nil, the island remains. And back in this world, Nil won’t let Skye go. Haunted by a darkness she can’t ignore, Skye wrestles with Nil nightmares that worsen by the day and threaten to tear her apart. As Skye fights to keep her mind intact, she realizes that to finally break free of Nil, she must end Nil’s vicious cycle once and for all–and she can’t do it alone.
Who will return to Nil, and in the end, who will survive? In this thrilling final installment of the Nil series, the stakes have never been higher: everyone’s fate hangs in the balance, including Nil’s own–and Nil will fight to the death. When the full force of the island is unleashed, Skye faces an impossible choice, a cruel one she’d never imagined she’d have to make. Soon one Nil truth becomes painfully clear: only one side can win.
Losing isn’t an option, but winning will cost Skye everything.
Awesome, right? (Of course, I’m totally biased, and unreliable. I love these characters more than I love Thin Mints, and if you know me, THAT’S SERIOUS.) Ready for the first chapter?
Here you go! Enjoy!
Chapter
1
Nil
After Noon
Paulo blinked, slowly, his consciousness returning in crisp frames filled with color and scent and sound.
He stood alone on the black rock platform. The acrid smell of death filled the air, accompanied by the distant crackle of flames. Above him, the sun burned like smokeless fire, still high noon. But over the carving, the gate was gone. Skye was gone.
His chance to leave was gone.
Reality set in, stark and devastating.
I failed, he thought.
A cry ripped from his throat like the wail of an injured animal. He dropped to his hands and knees on the harsh black rock, landing so hard that pebbles raked his palms, drawing blood, but he was too consumed by his growing terror and overwhelming bewilderment to care. How had he missed the gate? He’d waved to Skye, grateful she’d made it, knowing he was last and that the timing felt right—the completion of a circle begun three months before, the end of a cycle begun years before he or Skye were ever born. Only he’d hesitated, for reasons that he couldn’t explain. For reasons he couldn’t remember.
He’d lost time, mysterious minutes stolen by an invisible entity.
And now he was alone on Nil.
An angry tear welled in his eye; he wiped it quickly, already pulling himself together, knowing he wasn’t truly alone. There were lions and hyenas and pumas on the island too, and he was very aware that he did not sit on top of Nil’s food chain. He coughed, then choked, tasting smoke and salt. The thick air billowing up from the meadow snapped him to attention like a hot slap to the face.
He needed to get away from the mountain. There was nothing for him here, not now.
Not for three more months, to be precise.
Paulo stood, and with one last look around the silent black platform, he stepped back. Then, even though there was no escape, he turned and began to run. Down the steps, past the fiery meadow.
Around him, the island burned.
The island let him go.
It would wait.
It was accustomed to waiting.
Once it had waited for centuries. Time wrapped the island like an invisible sheath, fluid and constant, both armor and weapon.
The island was weakened but not broken.
The male kept running, through smoke and flames and blood as the island settled in to watch. And to wait. And above all, to renew.
And so it began, again. Only this time, the island would not show weakness.
Or mercy.
That era was over.
–End of Chapter One —
I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek at NIL ON FIRE. The full novel hits the wild on May 31, 2016. Or, as I like to say…
The end begins on May 31.
Before I leave, I want to thank you, Angela, for having me today, and for allowing me the perfect space to give readers a NIL ON FIRE sneak peek. Thank you so much for your love of books everywhere and your support of the Nil series over these past few years! I also want to thank all my readers for taking a chance on a crazy island . . . and for sticking with me to the end. This book is for you! To the #NILtribe! #NoRegrets
xo
Lynne
Courtesy of Henry Holt and Co., I have a copy of Nil on Fire by Lynne Matson for one (1) lucky winner!
Contest is open to US residents only. No PO Boxes please. To enter, just fill out the form below. Contest ends June 10. I’ll draw a name on June 11, and notify winner via email.
ENTER DAILY TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING!
Good luck!
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