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Back in February, I applied for a couple of reviews for The Orb and the Airship, as I am attempting to do some actual marketing for this book and series to give it the best launch possible. One of those review sites was Publisher’s Weekly review, as well as BookLife (which is a subset of PW). It doesn’t cost anything to apply for PW, but you’re not guaranteed to even get a review from them.

BookLife is Publisher’s Weekly’s “focused on indie books” branch, and while you do have to pay for the review (a la Kirkus) you are not guaranteed a GOOD review. If it’s not a good review, you do not have to make it public… so that’s nice.

So… I’m sure you can understand that it was with much trepidation that I opened up the review they sent me yesterday evening.

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It’s time to meet Marik’s crew…

Marik’s crew consists of a core built around Oleck, Raisa, and Mouse.

They often hire other members for specific jobs, but these three are the main pillars on which he leans, these three are the ones who call the Valdeun Hawk “home.”

I wasn’t entirely certain who to introduce first, but then I realized that it has to be…

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Let me introduce you to Berenger Adelfried.

Beren jumped into the story without being invited. He quite literally just showed up at the Black Arms inn when Grayden and Wynn arrived in Dalton, introduced himself as a fellow Academy initiate, and the three of them have became instant best buds.

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Wynn Drexel: artificineer

Ahh, my dear, sweet, problem child.

Wynn is the first of my characters ever to keep secrets from me. He originally showed up as Grayden’s prankster-best-friend, in and out of scrapes, and generally causing most people around him a moderate level of annoyance.

But it never felt right. He didn’t really fit in that role as I hammered out book 1, but I didn’t know what else to do with him. Wynn completely refused to tell me anything more about himself as I wrote that first book.

In book 2, he informed me that he was smarter than I had originally thought. But not just smart… like… scary brilliant. (And can we just acknowledge how overwhelming that particular nugget of info was? Now I… a not at all scary brilliant individual… have to write someone who is?!)

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Although you meet the rest of the pirate crew before you meet Grayden in The Orb and the Airship, Grayden is a more main character than they are, and so I’m introducing him here because he comes first in terms of importance.

Grayden Ormond lives on his family’s large orchard on the outskirts of Dalsea. (Yes, the same town that Dalmir’s tower is located near). He’s a bit of a prankster with a fantastic sense of humor (as you can clearly see in his portrait above - truly, Chloe Grace captured him so perfectly), but he also has a serious and studious side.

Self-assured, confident, and capable, Grayden is fairly unrufflable. He likes structure, but he’s also good at rolling with the punches.

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