FERREN AND THE ANGEL NOW RELEASED!!!

Braaaaaaah! Great blast of angelic trumpets! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Massed chorus of Heavenly choirs! The release date for Ferren and the Angel has arrived! It’s now available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, GoodReads, Kobo, Apple Books and more. Also good bookshops everywhere. RRP in the US is $16.99 for print, $5.99 for ebook.

TIME TO REVEAL THE TRAILER (AGAIN)!!!

Check out the amazing video trailer created by Liana Burrage –

AND HERE’S THE COVER REVEAL (AGAIN)!!!

Spectacular image by Italian artist and designer, Elena Betti! It shows Miriael the Fourteenth Angel of Observance as she plummets from the sky, shot down by Humen forces in the thousand-year war between Heaven and Earth. Which is where the book begins …

JOIN ME IN A WORLD OF ANGELS AND APOCALYPSE…

The setting is a thousand years after the Venables-Hirsch Experiment and the early psychonauts (2028-33). An endless conflict between Heaven and Earth has devastated whole continents, and has altered both Heaven and Earth beyond recognition. 

On Earth, the fires ignited by the Great Collapse still burn across Europe and Asia, the Weather Wars have buried half of North America under ice, and the landmass of South America lies broken in blocks because of the Wars of Doctor Mengis and Doctor Genelle. Now the beings called Humen (it wasn’t a typo!) rule the Earth and wage constant battles against the Celestials.

In Heaven, the Supreme Trinity has withdrawn to the Seventh Altitude, while a War Council of the highest archangels directs strategy and defence. Peace and serenity have been lost, and the souls of the dead have been shut out for hundreds of years.

Also on the Earth, scattered tribes of people known as Residuals survive in degraded conditions and a state of fear. Ferren is one of the Residuals. All he knows are the ruins of his Home Ground and the Humen Selectors who come to claim an annual tribute for military service. 

Then Miriael crashes to the Earth, and his life changes …

She’s come down not far from the Home Ground, damaged and unable to fly. Abandoned by Heaven, she prays for extinction. When Ferren finds her lying in the grass, he knows she ought to be his enemy, since his people are on the side of the Earth. Yet seeing her there, so helpless and beautiful, his curiosity outweighs every rule and warning.

He understands almost nothing about the apocalyptic world he’s grown up in. Now he’s going to learn the truth about the history of the war, the nearby Humen army camp and what military service really means. His unique friendship with an angel will launch a revolution and transform everyone’s future.

For more background on the world of the Ferren Trilogy –

And here’s a map of planet Earth in 3000AD :-

I guess I’m best known for the steampunk world of Worldshaker and its sequels, but this world of the Ferren Trilogy goes one step further! It has steampunk qualities in parts, with the Humen armies and the Humen camp, but it also has the transcendental sublime of angels and Heaven. I’ve aimed to re-imagine the traditional lore of theological ‘angelology’.

Here’s what Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer at Midwest Book Review had to say about Ferren and the Angel:

Its powerful, unpredictable brand of fantasy is highly recommended for young adult to adult readers and for libraries seeking something refreshingly new in the fantasy genre …

… Richard Harland’s approach to entwining the perceptions, lives, and clashes between very different peoples is thoroughly engrossing. From Hypers and Residuals and pale threatening ghosts to mechanical actions that happen all by themselves with no humans at the helm, Ferren’s journey introduces him to realizations that he never saw coming.

Pair spiritual, philosophical, and social struggles with the unusual friendship that rises between an angel and a human of opposing forces, add sound effects and clashes that challenge their roles and perceptions, and build a firm relationship from a shaky foundation of mistrust for a sense of the powerful and disparate forces contrasted and profiled in Ferren and the Angel.

Midwest Book Review

And here’s Alexandria Ducksworth of Independent Book Review:

The worldbuilding here is addictive … This story has a great plot, some incredible conflict, and secrets just waiting to be revealed. Dystopian fans are in for a treat. 

 Independent Book Review

More reviews on my Blog>Reviews page.