Author: L.L. Crane
Series: Mark of Powers (Book 1)
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: February 14 2015
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
What would you do if you were one of the last of your kind on earth? Sixteen year old Teak’s Mark of Power has kept her alive, but will it last? Although she is a trained killing machine, it isn’t by choice. Slated to be one of Siv Gareth's elite soldiers, her life seems to be on course, but she has a decision to make. Does she follow her father’s wishes and become a soldier, or chase after her own dreams of training dragons? Persecuted, shunned, and tortured because of her skin color, Teak is mad, and somebody is going to pay for it. Siv Gareth’s race war has just begun, and now that the Purity Law has passed, the Destroyers are out in hordes to kill her and any others with light skin. When she shoots an arrow at Siv Gareth, a chain of events unwinds that ultimately threatens her very existence. Accustomed to going it alone, Teak finds herself on a long journey with a group of inept teens, and she must learn to depend on them…or die. When two boys enter the scene, one irritating and the other mesmerizing, Teak wonders if she has a shot at a normal life. But will her lack of Power and skin color ruin it? This dystopian society novel, Book 1 in the Mark of Power Series, is riveting with suspense, action, betrayal, and the brimming hope of romance.
Wikipedia Page Mock Up
Teak Frain
Teak Frain is a fictional character, the protagonist in the
Mark of Power Series written by L.L. Crane. Teak has
managed to survive the brutal Race Wars masterminded
by Lord Gareth, the vicious leader of the Alliance due
to the Mark of Power she bears on her left cheek. It
is believed that those with the Mark of Power can help the
Alliance. Almost anyone with light skin has been destroyed,
and Teak’s father, a wealthy healer, sends her away to be trained as a soldier, thinking it will keep her safe. Little does he know that Teak is in more danger there than anywhere else.
Background
Teak’s mother died when she was four years old during a dragon training competition. Teak’s father, Entho, keeps Teak away from dragons at all costs, thinking it will keep her safe. Teak and Entho have a precarious relationship, as he is too busy with his patients as a healer to give her much attention when she is home from Weapons. It isn’t until Teak wins the Weapons competition and shoots an arrow at Siv Gareth that she gets the attention of Bello, her Weapons instructor, and her father. Teak wants to train dragons, not be a soldier.
But first Teak must pass the Dragon Assessment. Although books have been banned and there is no electricity or technology, Teak found her mother’s dragon books as a child and studied them without Entho’s knowledge.
When Entho apologizes to her for not letting her make her own career choices, Teak is allowed to take the Assessment, but the results fail to come in, so Teak works in Entho’s clinic, soon forgetting about Dragon Academy.
It is a terribly brutal day when a Light Skinned woman is brought to the clinic, her head almost cut off from her body. Entho works to save her when two boys enter the scene. Thann is a tall blonde boy with a broad chest and a similar Mark of Power on his cheek. A gregarious teen, Thann holds Teak’s attention, the first Light Skinned boy she has seen since she was a small child. Koree, with his piercing green eyes and copper curls, takes the background, sultry and silent.
It isn’t until Teak is accepted to Dragon Academy that she meets the boys again, along with her long time enemy, Reese. The group of teens sets out to Harcourt on a stately group of dragons, riding them as if they were horses since dragons have been the only transportation animals that survived the chemicals and radiation from the devastating wars. (Dragons were previously cloned from unearthed specimens that were found when technology existed.)
The group of teens leaves Bay City and believes they will have a quick trip to Harcourt. Teak is amazed that Echo and Gunter are not concerned about her skin color, and she hesitantly starts to trust them. They are the first friends she has had since she was six years old.
When Destroyers attack due to the Purity Law, where all Light Skinned people are to be destroyed, Teak must actually kill in order to save herself and Thann. She isn’t fast enough to save the other Light Skinned girl, Soot, and watches in horror as she is killed.
Teak and Gunter are the only ones who aren’t injured, and must tend to the group, including the dragons. Both of them Red Cloakers, who previously lived lives of privilege, they must use their wits to survive and help the others. Teak is rattled with guilt about Soot and killing the Destroyers, and she just wants to get to Harcourt where she can hopefully be safe.
But more Destroyers attack, and they are particularly interested in Teak and Thann. Instead of killing them, they capture them, and take them on a journey back to Mount Gareth. Thinking they have no chance of escape, a small, dark man releases them.
But it is up to Thann and Teak to find their way to Harcourt and safety. With thousands of Destroyers on the loose, the odds are not good for their survival.
From the Mountain
Book 1, Mark of Power Series
Teak is first introduced as an innocent six year old who is brutally gathered from her school yard to be destroyed due to her light skin color. At the last minute, Entho, her father, saves her by revealing the Mark of Power on her left cheek to the Destroyers. It is believed that those who are “marked”
have special powers that are helpful for the Alliance, led by Lord (Siv) Gareth, the mastermind behind the Race Wars. Unfortunately, though, Teak has never displayed any form of Power.
Held in her father’s arms, Teak looks over his shoulder to watch her closest friend,
Canto step forward, the next in line to be killed. Entho immediately enrolls Teak in Weapons Training School where she is tormented, often physically for her skin color. Teak learns one thing - to go it alone.
Teak is next seen as an angry sixteen year old. An expert with a bow and arrows, she remembers Siv Gareth from the school yard, and after much contemplation, shoots an arrow directly at his heart. But his Power is too great. He grabs the arrow from the air and soon announces Teak as the winner of the competition, the last thing she wants.
This sets off a spiraling trail of events where Teak finally sets off on the journey that she hopes will meet her dreams and expectations. Instead, she is caught up in a game of survival and power, trying to keep herself and her friends alive.
Teak is torn between the two boys who rival for her attention, but deep inside she still feels like “Teak the Freak”, and doesn’t know what to do about either of them. Along with these new feelings, she also learns to trust her new friends as well as kill Destroyers in order to save herself and Thann. Feeling like a failure after Soot is killed, Teak struggles with more than just her light skin. How is she going to get this rag-tag group of teens safely to Harcourt? When Destroyers attack again, Teak is sure that she and Thann have no chance for survival.
Teak evolves throughout the book from an angry, uncertain teen to someone who can not only kill for her friends, but gains confidence and inner power that she never knew she had.
Teak’s last appearance is with Thann, where they are both literally running for their lives, trying to find safe harbor at Harcourt.
L.L. Crane lives in a remote area of Northern California with her two horses, six goats, three dogs and two cats. When she was a child, L.L. Crane dreamed of being a writer. She used the name, “Katie Bush” as a pen name for the famous writer she hoped to become, cranking out book after book on her mom’s old blue typewriter.
As life often has twists and turns, L.L. Crane found herself becoming anything but a writer. She graduated with a B.A. in Education, even though she was honored to begin her college career with the aid of writing scholarships.
After becoming a teacher, raising three children primarily on her own, as well as owning and operating a business, L.L. Crane finally pursued her dreams and began writing novels. She brings her own experiences from teaching and her love of animals to her stories.
L.L. Crane is an avid reader and writer and loves children, animals, reading, riding horses, and gnomes.
Places to find L.L.
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