It's release day for Collision, Book 3 in the universe-hopping urban fantasy Alliance series!
On a distant world, where magic-fuelled forces of nature rule over humans, a disaster is sweeping the land, threatening to knock the Balance across the Multiverse out of sync. When Kay and Ada are sent there with the other Ambassadors, they’re thrown into the centre of chaos. Nature is alive, and angry.
Ada embraces the magic she still half-fears, but learning to control it proves harder than she can imagine. Kay, meanwhile, becomes more reckless than ever when testing the boundaries of his own abilities. When faced with living magic, no one is safe from its influence. Ada and Kay must choose what they’re willing to risk for the sake of saving a world that might already be doomed. Can mortals overcome the gods?
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Excerpt:
Heart in my throat, I pulled the stunner. Sparks immediately shot from the end, and I winced.
Carl struck at the creature with his stunner. An electric jolt split the smoke and the creature yelped. A creeping feeling curled around my spine, and I turned in time to dodge a second pair of insubstantial fangs as they snapped inches from my head.
I aimed the stunner at the beast and fired, a jet of red-purple lightning sparking off the walls. The creature screamed, but a louder noise overlaid it: a tremendous roar from ahead.
“Watch out!” Carl yelled.
I spun around in time to see an even bigger monstrosity rise from the smoke–red and long-limbed and snarling.
Where did it come from? Stupid how that was my first thought, but panic made me freeze up for a moment. It lashed out in a sea of sparks, and several guards fell, lightning encasing them. Carl swore, backing up, and other two monsters appeared alongside it–where the hell did they come from?
“My stunner’s out!” Carl yelled. “I’m calling for backup–if you run out of shots, just run!”
I had five shots left. Ignoring my pounding heart and shaking limbs, I ran at the nearest creature, which advanced on the fallen guards, and shot it with the stunner. A blast of magic far stronger than the stunner should have hit the creature in the face, sending ripples of magic pulsing outwards–only by pure luck did it miss the guards on the ground. Damn. If it hadn’t been for the adamantine in my blood, the backlash would have probably knocked me out. I wasn’t in control.
“Guys, stay back!” I yelled at two other guards who’d come to stand alongside me. “It’s not stable.”
I’m not stable.
But I had no choice. I struck with the stunner, sending a searing bolt of lightning at the nearest beast. Except the lightning didn’t come from the stunner. It came from my hand.
A nearby guard swore. “I’m out of shots.”
“Take mine,” I said quickly. “I can fight without it.” Magic seemed to want me to.
“Thanks,” he said, blinking like he was surprised I’d give away my weapon, and caught the stunner.
A snarling bundle of red smoke descended on us. How many of these things were there? For every one I knocked down, two more appeared, sparking and trailing smoke. I struck another with a bolt of magic, aiming at the floor to make sure I didn’t hit any of the other guards. The beast dissolved in smoke… and then divided in two. Like some ghastly hydra. Both halves growled at me, sparks flying out from their clawed, smoky red hands.
Shit. I backed away, thinking hard.
A rumbling sounded, and the ground trembled under my feet. What the hell? I’d thought the reinforced floor was impervious to any kind of hit. The magic. It’s got to be the magic. Lucky my shoes were magicproof, too.
“I’m getting outta this corridor!” someone shouted, and the sound of running footsteps clattered on metal.
A growl sounded, but before I could strike the two smoky creatures down, both dissolved into a formless red haze. Through the fog, guards ran everywhere, shouting, while I struck out with magic, to no effect. The magic-creatures had turned themselves into smoke, and it was like trying to beat up a cloud. At least we all looked equally ridiculous, I thought as I spun on the spot in what probably looked like an undignified ballet manoeuvre. Another guard face-planted, while a second tripped over him and brought the two of them crashing into a heap.
And the floor shook again, the smoke coalescing in the centre to form one formidable beast, filling the space from floor to ceiling. A shower of purple-red danced off the walls. I jumped back, but not before a spark grazed my forehead. The pain was more sharp than electric. Wincing, I braced myself against the wall, out of range of the magic. I still couldn’t see the creature. It was made of pure magic, and didn’t have a solid form. But I could feel the energy burning, and it was all concentrated in one place. The monster had pulled all the magic in the area into itself. It has to burn out. It can’t keep going like that.
But the monster didn’t show any signs of slowing down. Stunner shots mingled with the sparks, and inhuman screams told us at least one hit the target. My hands shook too much to risk aiming another magic shot, even as I felt the creature’s magic surging through the air. A bolt of pain shot through my forehead. I reached to touch the skin, and found it blistering hot. I thought magic couldn’t hit me!
But the monster didn’t show any signs of slowing down. Stunner shots mingled with the sparks, and inhuman screams told us at least one hit the target. My hands shook too much to risk aiming another magic shot, even as I felt the creature’s magic surging through the air. A bolt of pain shot through my forehead. I reached to touch the skin, and found it blistering hot. I thought magic couldn’t hit me!
Ever since a devastating magical war tore apart Ada Fletcher's homeworld, she and her family have lived under cover on the low-magic Earth. Stuck in a dead-end job in London, Ada has spent her life hiding her true identity--and her magic. Until she loses her job, is chased by a rampaging monster, and is arrested as a prime suspect for a murder she had nothing to do with. It really isn't Ada's day.
Kay Walker, grandson of the Inter-World Alliance's late founder, expects to spend his first week as an Alliance employee hunting rogue monsters, not solving his supervisor's murder or questioning a strange, fierce young woman caught trespassing in the Passages between worlds. Killer or not, her abilities raise questions about the Alliance's history, and the closer he gets to the truth, the higher the body count rises.
The last thing Ada wants to do is help the infuriating Alliance guard who arrested her, but it soon becomes clear that the Alliance knows too much about Ada's magic. More, in fact, than she knows herself. One thing's certain: she's not the only one keeping secrets, and trusting the wrong person might cost more than her life...
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What reviewers are saying
"Adams delivers high suspense throughout the whole book and manages to get you emotionally attached to the main characters which keeps you worried at every twist and turn. I basically flew through the action-packed story with its monsters and magic." - Goodreads reviewer
"Adamant is a fantastic start to a fun, adventurous and super cool series... Can't praise it enough!" - Alisha at Reality's A Bore.
Discovering she's a walking magical weapon is just the beginning of Ada's problems.
Joining the Alliance might be the key to seeing the worlds she's always dreamed of, but now Ada's in trouble with her family and her boss has put her on goblin-catching duty. With enemies around every corner and a centaur uprising threatening to bring a bloodbath to Earth's doorstep, the Alliance has their work cut out. While investigating the mysterious death of the centaurs' king, Kay and Ada navigate tensions between humans and centaurs and find the real, deadly potential of magic.
Against an enemy they quite literally can't see, Ada and Kay must face up to the power that almost destroyed their lives...
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The Passages between worlds are out of bounds for a very good reason, but nineteen-year-old Kay Walker sees them as another challenge. Exploring the monster-ridden tunnels offers a thrill nothing on Earth can match. Until a rivalry escalates into a deadly game, and the lure of magic comes with a high price...
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Emma is the author of various fantasy novels, including the universe-hopping urban fantasy Alliance series and the YA paranormal Darkworld series.
Emma spent her childhood creating imaginary worlds to compensate for a disappointingly average reality, so it was probably inevitable that she ended up writing speculative fiction with magic and monsters. She lives in the middle of England, but dreams of exploring the Multiverse. When she's not immersed in her own fictional worlds, Emma works as a freelance editor and proofreader and reads an improbable number of books.
Visit www.emmaladams.com to find out more about Emma's books, or subscribe to her newsletter (smarturl.it/ELAnewsletter) to get a free Alliance short story and monthly updates on upcoming releases.
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Happy Book Birthday, Emma!
What do you guys think? Have you read the other two? Does she not have a fun author picture?
May you find your Muse.
