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Monday, October 27, 2014

Blog Tour- MORTAL HEART by Robin LaFevers and a Giveaway!


Hey y'all I'm trilled to have Robin LaFevers here today to kick off the MORTAL HEART blog tour! I absolutely love this series it will go down as an all time favorite and I can't wait for everyone to read Anith's story. I have a post from Robin about Mortain's origins and why he isn't an evil god of death.  Oh how I love Death/Mortain in these books!!!. Oh and make sure to stick around and enter the giveaway! 

Haven't heard of MORTAL HEART? Check it out!



Title: MORTAL HEART
Author: Robin LaFevers
Pub. Date: November 4, 2014
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 464
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.


She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...




Now on to the post!


The Origins of Saint Mortain

Oh that, Death! What a fascinating and misunderstood figure he is, as both Ismae and Sybella have already discovered. One of the questions I am most often asked is where did I get the idea for his character.

Well, the first answer is that the vast majority of cultures had some sort of death figure or personification of Death. And Mortain, just like the other Nine old gods in His Fair Assassin, was constructed from bits and pieces of lore from earlier Celtic gods and goddesses and seasoned liberally with embellishments of my own.

I knew absolutely that I did not want my god of death to be vengeful or punishing, for there are many indications that those views of death did not develop until the early middle ages. I have always been struck by how death was once viewed as part of the fabric of life, but during the middle ages, with the Black Plague and accounts of hell and damnation that grew ever more elaborate, it changed into something more akin to punishment and filled with terror.

Mortain in particular, was inspired not only earlier gods, but by the Breton folktale of the Ankou, a personification of death. Other influences upon which I drew heavily were: Arawn, lord and king of the Welsh Otherworld and the Irish god of the dead, Donn, who was also considered the father of the Irish people. He was known to be somewhat retiring and chose to remain aloof from the other Irish gods. According to some Christian accounts, the souls of the damned resided with him before departing for heaven or hell.

According to the Romans, the Gaulish Celts worshipped a god the Romans called Dis Pater. He was one of their primary gods and thought of as an ancestor to the entire race. What drew me in particular to the Dis Pater material was that it tied him to even older beliefs that enveloped not only death and the underworld, but the entire cycle of life and rebirth. He was believed to derive from an earlier god who not only ruled over the riches of the underworld, but fertility and regeneration, not unlike the Egyptian god Osiris. I liked the fullness of that concept, that death had both a rich, giving aspect as well as something that took loved ones away from us, which in turn became a thematic thread of the trilogy.



Thanks Robin this was awesome! 






About Robin:

Robin LaFevers was raised on a steady diet of fairy tales, Bulfinch’s mythology, and 19th century poetry. It is not surprising she grew up to be a hopeless romantic.

Though she has never trained as an assassin or joined a convent, she did attend Catholic school for three years, which instilled in her a deep fascination with sacred rituals and the concept of the Divine. She has been on a search for answers to life’s mysteries ever since.

While many of those answers still elude her, she was lucky enough to find her one true love, and is living happily ever after with him in the foothills of southern California.

In addition to writing about teen assassin nuns in medieval Brittany, she writes books for middle grade readers, including the Theodosia books and the Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist series. You can learn more about those books at www.rllafevers.com.

Where you can find Robin:



Giveaway Details:


(1) One winner will receive a rustic arrow necklace, a leather bound notebook and a hardcover of MORTAL HEART! US Only.







a Rafflecopter giveaway




Check out the Tour Schedule for more awesome posts!

Week One:
10/27/2014- Two Chicks on BooksGuest Post
10/28/2014-Katie's Book BlogReview
10/29/2014- Once Upon a TwilightInterview
10/30/2014- Magical Urban Fantasy ReadsReview
10/31/2014- Reading YA RocksGuest Post

Week Two:
11/3/2014- Mundie MomsReview
11/4/2014- Tales of the Ravenous ReaderInterview
11/5/2014- The Starry-Eyed RevueReview
11/6/2014- Step Into FictionInterview
11/7/2014- ParajunkeeGuest Post

38 comments:

  1. Love Annith! cant wait to read this! Bravo on a tremendous series!

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  2. this series sounds fantastic! I just got book 1, so I'm very excited to get caught up :)

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  3. I absolutely LOVE this series. Mortal Heart is my most anticipated book of 2014!! I've tried everything to get my hands on it and the wait is almost over!! My favorite character is Beast! Thanks for the giveaway!! :) :)

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  4. What great prizes, thanks! Of course, the one I want most is the book itself. Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

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  5. I just finished Dark Triumph a couple of weeks ago and I love this series! I can't wait to read Annith's story :)

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  6. I've always loved mythology and can't wait to read this book. The prizes are the best! Thank you for the giveaway!

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  7. Pick me! I'll plot mayhem in the notebook, explore the dual purpose-ness of the necklace (heh), and, as a die-hard lover of this series and all-things-Robin, I'm DYING to read MORTAL HEART!

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  8. Christina R. in the rafflecopter

    LOVE how Celtic and Irish mythology blended with French mythology for her story and characters :)

    thank you so very much :)

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    1. Christina R. in the rafflecopter

      Just in case rafflecopter shows my location outside US, I'm doing a semester abroad and would use my regular US address :)

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  9. I absolutely love this author!! Her writing style is one of my favorites! Definitely have my eye on this one. Cannot wait to read it!

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  10. I've read Grave Mercy a few years ago, but I've been waiting to read the last two books until Mortal Heart came out! I'm so very excited, as I loved Grave Mercy! It was full of awesome!

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  11. I love that arrow necklace! I'm going to be Robin Hood for Halloween this year, that would've been perfect.

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  12. Congratulations on your new book!! I have the first book and I plan on reading it soon. Thank you for this giveaway!

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  13. I just finished my ARC of this one and it just...so much yes!

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  14. Wow! This sounds amazing! I love your writing style already and it would be amazing if I got to read this soon!!!

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  15. (Alisha Sienkiel in rafflecopter)

    This series sounds amazing! I will definitely be putting it on my tbr. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  16. A truly unique and wonderful series. Sybella is such a strong, inspiring heroine! Can't wait to read Mortal Heart!

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  17. I love the idea of this whole series, I have the first 2 books (that I still need to read). Been hearing so many amazing things about this series.

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  18. I love the cover! It is an amazing photo!

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  19. The prizes are awesome!!! <3 I WANT!!! I love the first book! Thank you for the chance!

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  20. So excited to read this series I'm always looking for new books to read. And this one seems so very different in a very good way from a lot of the things that are the hype these days. Can't wait to get my hands on these books.

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  21. I am excited for the release of Mortal Heart and to finally learn Annith's story.

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  22. I cannot wait! I'm re-listening to the first two right now.

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  23. I can't wait to read this book! :)

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  24. I love this series so much!! Thanks so much for this epic giveaway

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  25. There is something incredibly special about this series, and I cannot wait to read Mortal Heart. This series is absolutely one of the best that I have ever read, and I have no doubt that Annith's book will be just as special!

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  26. The cover looks very interesting. The origin history was a bit hard to understand, yet I am still looking forward to assassins who actually assassinate people.

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    1. The origin story makes sense of you've read the two previous books in the series. And if you want to see assassins who actually assinnate people I highly suggest you read this series! It's awesome!

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  27. Cannot wait for this book to come out! One of my all-time favorite series.

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  28. As a fan of the first installment, I'm excited to the release of MORTAL HEART (because I plan to (finally!) read DARK TRIUMPH with a swift chaser of the third book).

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  29. Oh Mortain, I love him. So interesting to read about how he came to be!

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  30. Can't wait for this!

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  31. I would LOVE to win this giveaway! *fingers crossed*

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  32. I ADORE these books!! I cannot wait to read this one too!

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  33. Read it and loved it! My favorite of the sereis! Heavy on the mythology which was awesome- sexy too!

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  34. I am in the midst of reading "Mortal Heart" right now and I'm not disappointed! I love the mixture of fantasy, lore, and historical fact. This is definitely one of my favorite book series that I can read more than once and still be as satisfied as the first time. Thanks Robin!

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