God Storm, the second book in Coco Ma’s Shadow Frost trilogy, doesn’t hit bookshelves until October, but we’ve got your first look at its cover and one of its first chapters.
At just 19 years old, author Coco Ma has created quite a fantastic world full of power, demons, and danger. Ever since the first book, Shadow Frost, came out last year, we’ve been eagerly anticipating God Storm, the sequel.
If, like us, you also can’t wait to dive into God Storm, hopefully the cover, along with a sneak peek at the story, will help tide you over.
‘God Storm’ by Coco Ma: Here’s your first look at the magical cover and exclusive excerpt
The ushers welcomed them into the grand lobby with a flurry of bows. Torches circled the space at varying intervals, casting a flickering ombre of shadow across the opalescent tiles. A stairway led upstairs to the balconies. Usually, the delicious cacophony of the orchestra warming up drifted through the ground-level doors, but tonight Asterin heard only the muffled chatter of the audience.
As promised, the music director of the concert hall waited for them at the foot of the stairs, his hands clasped in front of him. Even with his wild thicket of silver hair, he stood no taller than Asterin’s shoulder, yet his presence could not have been more grandiose.
“Your Royal Majesty and Your Royal Grace. Captain Covington and Elites,” Director Levain said with a deep bow. “An honor, as always, to have you with us.” He eyed Asterin’s dress, a merry twinkle in his eyes. “I take it Your Majesty and company shall be using the royal box this evening?”
Asterin hummed her affirmation. In the past few months, she had attended an increasing number of concerts. More often than not, she wore something plain and sneaked into the performances along with the crowds—trying to blend in, just another audience member among thousands, rather than draw attention away from the actual performers by flaunting her status.
“Allow me to escort you upstairs,” Levain said. Nicole and Gino jogged into the foyer just as the torches around them began flickering to signify the start of the concert. They took up position behind Elyssa. “The performance is set to begin in a minute or so, although I can of course notify the stage managers to hold—”
“We don’t mind running,” Asterin told him
Levain grinned. “Then run we shall.”
They ascended to the lower balcony, the accented click-clack of Asterin’s stilettos echoing and Casper and Laurel still dogging after her with the train of her dress in hand. Eadric and Elyssa followed close behind, with Nicole and Gino at the rear, and soon they were hurrying through a set of heavy teakwood doors. Ushers held back rich plum drapes and shepherded them to the royal box. Levain tipped his chin in farewell just as the audience burst into applause and the performer emerged onstage.
In the darkness, almost no one had noticed the appearance of the Queen of Axaria.
Asterin blindly felt for her seat and watched in awe as a young girl strode toward the piano. The girl bowed centre stage, her sleek red dress shimmering like fiery embers in the golden glow of the mammoth chandelier overhead. As one, Asterin and the pianist settled into their respective seats.
The pianist’s hands rose to the keyboard.
Asterin leaned over the balcony rails in anticipation.
“Don’t fall,” whispered Eadric.
The pianist struck the first chord, a spark in the silence, like a match striking flame. Asterin inhaled sharply as the girl’s fingers darted to the bottom end of the keyboard, notes chasing higher and higher in a tumultuous blur. On and on the passages went, until a soaring melody emerged from the maelstrom, its beauty stealing the air from her lungs.
I can’t be Queen of Axaria, she’d told Quinlan an eternity ago.
He had reached forward to cup her jaw, tilting her face up to his. You can be whatever the hell you want, he had whispered, eyes blazing with indigo wildfire, his smoke-and-mountain air scent washing over her.
And I promise that if you so desire, I will stay by your side through all of it.
The climax of the piece reverberated through the hall, burning for want, tearing itself apart, yearning for something unattainable.
Then the music began winding down—no, unraveling. Just barely holding together at the seams . . . until out of the dust emerged the melody once more.
One harmony at a time, the tatters began to mend. Some hole deep inside Asterin had yawned open, naked and aching, but the music soothed it. Healed it. The hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end as the melody warbled a final cry, utterly spent and dwindling to ash . . .
And then nothing.
Asterin leapt to her feet, clapping furiously, her throat tight and her eyes wet as the pianist bowed and walked offstage. Thunderous applause followed her back on moments later. The girl flashed a dazzling smile to her audience and raised her eyes, one hand over her heart as she met Asterin’s gaze. The look seemed to set off a chain reaction, and Asterin felt herself stiffen ever-so-slightly as every neck in the hall swiveled to scrutinize the royal box.
She returned the pianist’s gesture with her brightest smile, and though she could do without the stares, they were only to be expected—besides, as long as she could hold all her broken pieces together beneath the public’s notice, those stares of admiration could only ever work in her favor.
Even so, Asterin loosed the faintest sigh of relief when the pianist’s fingers fluttered over the keys and the crowd’s attention returned to the stage.
The opening harmonies shuddered up her spine, hollow and bleak.
At that moment, a shadow slunk out of the glossy piano lid, which had been propped fully open.
Asterin glanced over at Eadric, but the captain’s eyes were closed in rapture. My imagination? she wondered, and tried to refocus on the performance.
The music told a story of desolation, of grief. Her magic welled up within her at the memory of blackened corpses piled high in a pit, pleading for release. She shoved her tingling fingers beneath her thighs.
And that was when she caught the shadow again, skimming the arches of the ribbed ceiling. The light of the massive crystal chandelier and spotlights overhead made it impossible for such a shadow to exist, let alone move. Her eyes narrowed as it coiled around the chandelier canopy, writhing like a dark eel.
Related to God Storm: Exclusive Shadow Frost excerpt pits princess against wyvern
It happened so quickly that she almost missed it. A tiny glint of metal fell from the rafters and bounced off the piano, silent beneath the waves of music. The pianist played on, blissfully unaware and wrapped up in her song.
“Eadric,” Asterin hissed, elbowing him. He startled to attention, blinking at her in the dark. She jerked her chin at the chandelier and then below, where more silver pieces were now raining down upon the stage—enough that even some audience members were taking notice.
Asterin’s heart stuttered when the chandelier emitted a sinister creak and veered violently to the left, chains and pendants clinking like the rattle of bones as screws continued to loosen and fall, ping ping pinging on the ground. People were rising from their seats, pointing upward and murmuring to one another, but as the pianist crescendoed into the coda of the piece, the sheer power of her playing drowned out their voices.
By the time Asterin finally had the sense to spring out of her seat, the chandelier was swaying in a drunken sailor’s dance. She whipped back the curtains dividing the royal box from the other seats and sprinted for the gallery ring on the opposite side of the hall, directly above the stage. Eadric and her Elites were right at her heels.
The train of her dress caught on the corner of a seat. Eadric caught her wrist to keep her from nose-diving into the floor, and helped her yank the fabric until it ripped free.
Her magic thrummed beneath her skin, still electrified from the music, and when the piece drew to a close and the first scream from the audience pierced the air, she collided into the railing and flung her arms heavenward to unleash her power in one mighty blast.
Wind and ice roared forth, snagging the chandelier as it plummeted. Nicole, Casper, and Laurel seized the folds of her dress just in time to keep her from toppling off the balcony and earning herself a broken neck. Nearby audience members jumped out of their way, eyes wide with awe, but Asterin paid them no heed, focusing all her strength on safely lowering the hunk of metal—and Immortals be damned, it was heavy—to the ground. Shards of ice as tall as trees erupted from the ceiling to latch onto the metal, frosting over at the base. Wind pushed upward to lessen the weight. Slowly but surely, the chandelier descended like a final curtain, each flame hissing out one by one as her ice spread.
Audience members pulled out their affinity stones to combat the onslaught of darkness. Little orbs of light flickered to life all around her, submerging the concert hall in an eerie wash of color that danced along the walls like an aurora.
Once Asterin felt certain her ice would hold, she sighed, right arm still raised to keep the chandelier frozen in place. Silence greeted her.
Asterin signaled for the Elites to release her dress. Eadric made a faint choking noise when she swung over the railing without warning. She summoned a path of ice to deliver herself swiftly to the stage, where the trembling soloist was still seated at the piano, her arms shielding her head from the would-have-been death looming above her.
“You’re safe now,” Asterin murmured to the girl, reaching forward to squeeze her shoulder. “Everything is going to be just fine—”
A smear of darkness along the rafters blurred across Asterin’s peripherals. With the speed and force of a meteoroid, it smashed through her reinforcements. She only had enough time to tackle the pianist aside before her ice blasted apart with an earth-shattering bang and the chandelier plummeted to the stage.
About ‘God Storm’ by Coco Ma
Everything has a price.
In the kingdom of Axaria, a darkness has fallen. After defeating the evil mother who summoned an immortal demon to kill her, newly coronated Queen Asterin Faelenhart should have every reason to celebrate. Her kingdom is safe, forbidden magic eradicated, and her friends are alive. Except Asterin’s triumph has come at a devastating cost—forced to choose between a lifelong friend and true love, she’s lost both. But the shadows in Axaria have begun to stir once again, and no one is more starved for vengeance than Asterin …
Yet it soon becomes clear that the shadows plaguing her kingdom are just the beginning. Another realm coexists with the mortal world—the beautiful, nightmarish Immortal Realm ruled by the wicked God of Shadow, King Eoin. When their paths entwine, Asterin realizes that Eoin possesses exactly what—and who—she seeks most. And the fates of all those that she holds dear—Orion, her missing Guardian; Luna, the friend she could not save; Harry, the demon who saved them all; and Quinlan, her beloved broken prince—ultimately rest in the god’s hands.
But in a world of magic, not everyone is always as they seem. When shocking discoveries threaten everything and everyone that Asterin has sworn her life to protect, she won’t be the only person forced to make a choice … a choice that will change the mortal world forever.
And maybe even destroy it.
God Storm by Coco Ma hits bookshelves everywhere on October 20, 2020. Preorder your copy now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, or Indiebound. Also, don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads “to read” list!
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