Escape from the Past: The Duke’s Wrath
by Annette Oppenlander
Genre: YA Historical Fiction, Time-Travel
Release Date: July 31st 2015
Summary from Goodreads:
When fifteen-year-old nerd and gamer Max Anderson thinks he’s sneaking a preview of an unpublished video game, he doesn’t realize that 1) He’s been chosen as a beta, an experimental test player. 2) He’s playing the ultimate history game, transporting him into the actual past: anywhere and anytime. And 3) Survival is optional: to return home he must decipher the game’s rules and complete its missions—if he lives long enough. To fail means to stay in the past—forever.
Now Max is trapped in medieval Germany, unprepared and clueless. It is 1471 and he quickly learns that being an outcast may cost him his head. Especially after rescuing a beautiful peasant girl from a deadly infection and thus provoking sinister wannabe Duke Ott. Overnight he is dragged into a hornets’ nest of feuding lords who will stop at nothing to bring down the conjuring stranger in their midst.
Excerpt
I leaned forward because all of a sudden my chest was killing me.
I was stuck in a truck-sized vise, my ribs squeezing together,
body compressing. My lungs throbbed and I couldn’t breathe,
not even a little. My arms and legs felt numb. Do something, I
thought. I pushed myself to stand. Something is wrong with the
game, stop the game, my mind urged. But I couldn’t. Lights
exploded behind my eyelids and I had to pay every shred of
attention to the task of breathing.
It occurred to me that I was having a heart attack.
My mother’s face flashed by. I wanted to shout for her, but my
lungs had quit for good, my tongue a rigid piece of meat. She’d
find me in the morning dead on the carpet. My sight turned
foggy then black. I was passing out. I sucked frantically and
drew in a bit of air. Slowly with each breath the crushing
heaviness disappeared.
Blinking away the haze, I wiped my sweaty forehead. I
should make an appointment with the family doctor.
Something moved ahead. There at the edge of a clearing
cowered the man in rags holding his right elbow. He trembled
and now that I was closer, I saw blood dripping from his wrist.
The three riders had surrounded him, their blades pointing
toward the man’s neck. One rider dismounted, his face shadowed
by a half helmet and curled brownish beard, his hands covered
by steel gauntlets like lizard scales. The other two sat motionless,
waiting. I tried to get a better view of what the horsemen were
doing when I looked down.
And froze.
I stood on the root of an oak tree. Surely I imagined things.
But those were definitely my Nikes I’d forgotten to take off when
I returned home. I moved my foot. Leaves crackled. A twig
snapped. Something terrible had happened, something I couldn’t
wrap my mind around. I blinked and looked to my right. Trees
and undergrowth were losing themselves in the gloom. I remembered
the mouse in my right hand, but when I lifted my arm, my
fingers came up empty—except for the smear of something sticky
on my palm. I was bleeding.
Wait.
The bush next to me was covered in blood. Not mine, I
realized with relief. Disgusted I wiped my shaking hands with a
fistful of leaves and turned to look behind me. The woods
stretched into darkness—shadows within shadows nearly black.
My room was gone.
Buy Links:
Amazon│Barnes and Noble│Indiebound
Book Trailer:
About the Author
Annette Oppenlander writes historical fiction for young adults and anyone who loves stories set in the past. When she isn’t in front of her computer, she loves indulging her dog, Mocha, and traveling around the U.S. and Europe to discover amazing histories.
“Nearly every place holds some kind of secret, something that makes history come alive. When we scrutinize people and places closely, history is no longer a number, it turns into a story.”
Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook│Pinterest
Blog Tour Organized by:
Giveaway
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I would love the opportunity to travel back in time to see how things really were although I’m not too sure I’d like to be in Max’s position!
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Here we are again, back to Monday. Thanks for this chance to win and the excerpt.
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This book sounds like it be a great read
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Love the excerpt, going back in time would be awesome but confusing at the same time..thanks for the great review….
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I love anything historical whether it be fiction or non fiction.
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I liked the excerpt. Sounds like a great read.
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Sounds very interesting. I enjoyed the excerpt. Thanks for the giveaway chance.
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What a brilliant idea for a story. I have not read a book set in medieval Germany before.
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yeah! fun gamer story with one of my favorite times in history. Looking forward to reading it.
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This is a very interesting time travel novel! I have never read a book where the time traveler ends up in medieval Germany. Since I have traced my family back to this era, I am particularly intrigued.
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Judging by the excerpt, book sounds very intriguing, looking forward to reading it!
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The story is based on Castle Hanstein in Thuringia, Germany. The drawing on the cover is actually from an original work dated 1450. I visited the ruins of Hanstein in 2012 and got so inspired, I knew I had to write a story about it. Thank you everyone for reading the post and commenting.
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Thanks for hosting this giveaway & good luck to all 🙂
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Looks like a very good read. I look forward to reading this.
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Sounds very exciting! Sure to keep me on the edge of my seat.
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This book sounds great and I would love to read it. ty.
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I like the cover and summary of the book. This sounds like a good time travel story with a good main character.
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I enjoyed the excerpt – look like an interesting read.
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This looks like a very interesting book. Loved the excerpt.
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Thanks for the great giveaway!
I reallyl like to read the book!
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This is an interesting book – on my to read soon list.
thank you
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Thank you for all of your great and nice reviews of awesome books, including Escape From the Past: The Duke’s Wrath. Keep up the good work in the future.
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