Today marks the official kickoff of the The Jealousy of Jalice Book Tour presented by Storytellers On Tour, and we’ve got a great lineup helping us spotlight this incredible Dark Fantasy tale! The Jealousy of Jalice is Jesse Nolan Bailey’s debut, and the first installment in his A Disaster of Dokojin series. An imaginative and atmospheric journey overflowing with fresh ideas and concepts that I have yet to come across in my literary adventures, it’s a beautiful start to a series that has a bright future ahead of itself.
We’ve enlisted the help of a group of wonderful and talented bloggers and Bookstagrammers to help us celebrate the release of the The Jealousy of Jalice. This is what we have going on, so make sure to check out each and everyone one throughout the week for some brilliant content, including reviews, spotlights, and more.
The Tour
MAY 24TH–THE WELCOMING
Whispers & Wonder
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MAY 25TH
Debbie Does Books
Olliespot SFF Book Review
Foals, Fiction & Filigree
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MAY 26TH
@the.littlest.bookshelf
@sarahsbookadventures
The Good Book Nook
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MAY 27TH
Frayed Books
Randi in Horrorland
Sometimes Leelynn Reads
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MAY 28TH
Out of the World SFF Reviews
The Paperback Voyager
Betwixt The Sheets
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MAY 29TH
FanFiAddict
Bookends and Bagends
Grimdark Dad
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MAY 30TH–THE ENCORE
RockStarlit BookAsylum
For more about this tour visit Storytellers On Tour.
The Book
SERIES: A Disaster of Dokojin (#1)
PUBLISHED: May 19, 2020 (Self-published)
PAGES: 388
GENRE: Dark Fantasy
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The Blurb
The Realms have split apart, the Stones of Elation have been hidden, and warnings of dokojin drift among the tribes.
The land and its people are corrupted. The Sachem, chief of the Unified Tribes, is to blame.
It is this conviction that drives Annilasia and Delilee to risk their lives. Afraid of the aether magic he wields, they enact a subtler scheme: kidnap his wife. In her place, Delilee will pretend to be the chieftess and spy on the Sachem.
Unaware of this plot against her husband, Jalice is whisked away by Annilasia. Pleading with her captor proves futile, and she rejects Annilasia’s delusional accusations against the chief. After all, the Sachem has brought peace to the land.
Yet a dangerous truth hides in Jalice’s past. As she and Annilasia flee through a forest of insidious threats, they must confront the evil plaguing the tribes and the events that unleashed it.
What Reviewers Are Saying
“A slick, modern sword-and-sorcery tale!” – Christopher Ruocchio, Author of The Sun Eater series
“The book’s scenes of action and eldritch horror are especially well handled, but its greatest strength is Bailey’s commitment to developing the nuanced cast. A suspenseful, intriguing, and highly original fantasy tale from a promising new author.” – Kirkus Reviews
“With slick original plotting and high octane action, there’s much to keep the most ardent of fantasy fans on tenterhooks with Bailey’s The Jealousy Of Jalice.” – Book Viral Review
“A riveting and brilliantly penned novel. This female-led fantasy adventure features visceral descriptive language, an endlessly creative new world, uniquely relatable characters, and a fine balance of emotional intrigue and enrapturing action. The subtle weaving of magic and fantastic cultures through these pages create a rich and immersive world, and the pitfalls and enemies the pair encounter are each more mind-bending than the last. This is an electric debut, and newborn fans of Jesse Nolan Bailey will eagerly await the sequel, as The Jealousy of Jalice is an imaginative and impressive start to a new fantasy series.” Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★½
The Review
ALSO REVIEWED AT: Goodreads
No star dies without a burst of final light. No constellation forms without a future meaning. Sahrumm steps into the tomorrows of the faithful and protects those that hold to infinite wisdom.
The Jealousy of Jalice is a gritty and imaginative Dark Fantasy debut from author Jesse Nolan Bailey. At its heart, it’s a cautionary tale of the ugliness and indecency jealousy brings upon the world, and how acting on such feelings must be avoided at all costs. The narrative focuses on the concept that no matter how deep one tucks away the pains of the past, there’s truly no escape, but instead that crippling trauma should be utilized to learn and grow. Part fantasy, part surrealism, part horror, this story is an artistic, yet terrifying journey to exhume the truth, brimming with revelations every step of the way.
The opulent worldbuilding is where The Jealousy of Jalice genuinely shines. The world Bailey has crafted is really quite unconventional in the best of ways; an almost primitive, tribal setting infused with enigmatic, advanced technology from the cosmos. Lush forests lay claim to forgotten secrets, diverse humanoid species populate the lands, wisps of magic binding different planes of existence travel on the winds, everything is eerie and enchanting in equal measure. Readers are introduced to a nation being choked by a savage tyrant and haunted by demon-like beings lying in wait in the darkness, its citizens left to fend for themselves as they wade through the horrors of reality. Richly detailed, new discoveries await with turn of the page. I did, however, find some of the story-specific terminology to be distracting at times, injuring the flow of the narrative.
There exists a link between the world and its people, a breathtaking and otherworldly element I wasn’t expecting when I first began making my way through this book. Aether exists as a bridge between various realms, and translating between them is akin to shifting through stages of consciousness. The dreamlike details, such as the body reflecting a star-speckled night sky and corporeal chains were simply gorgeous, and surely propose profound philosophical meaning. I only wish we could’ve spent more time drifting through this unknown.
The story is led by a small cast, each very distinct, each with conflicting goals, each so tragically flawed. Jalice, chieftess of the people, is a woman who is blind to the atrocities committed by her husband. Initially appearing naive, her venture to discover the devastating secrets locked away is transformative in more ways than one. Annilasia is a trained assassin in service to a despot she abhors, and her campaign to rid the world of corruption forces her to contend with the evil within herself. I personally found it difficult to connect with these characters, their behavior both erratic and inconsistent, but it’s clear their environment plays a large role in deciding their actions. Alluring secondary characters serve to flesh out this yarn, and they do so perfectly.
The story itself is told with straightforward prose, and while it begins rather slow, it picks up as new truths come to light. Readers are submerged in a world already in motion without so much as a preamble, leaving them to unearth much on their own, which could be beneficial or detrimental depending on the audience’s tastes. Bailey’s creativity and ability to vividly portray concepts that fall outside the norm is incredible, painting the wondrous in a chilling manner. He crafts a crusade ripe with tension and urgency, a race to the finish line as lives hang in the balance. My one critique would be the need for more fluid transitions between points of views. Though there are few, I found them to be jarring.
The Jealousy of Jalice is a solid, atmospheric debut and initial installment of A Disaster of Dokojin, a series that has a bright future ahead of itself. So very different from the stories that seem to saturate the genre, it’s overflowing with fresh ideas and concepts that I have yet to come across in my literary adventures. Readers are delivered back to ground level after a crushing climax, but this tale is far from finished. There are so many veiled truths, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Note: A huge thank you to the author for providing me with a complementary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Author
Enthralled by the magic that written stories contain, Jesse Nolan Bailey has always wanted to be an author. With his debut novel finally released to the masses, he can now claim such title with relief. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, where he has embraced the equally-gratifying lifework of hosting a trio of spoiled cats.
WEBSITE: https://jessenolanbailey.com/
The Giveaway
Enter to win a The Jealousy of Jalice Swag Pack, which includes an advance physical galley of The Jealousy of Jalice, a notebook, a pin, and a limited edition enamel pin.
(US Only)
That’s all I got for ya! Be sure to keep an eye on the official The Jealousy of Jalice tour page over at Storytellers On Tour (https://storytellersontour.online/2020/04/20/tour-schedule-the-jealousy-of-jalice-by-jesse-nolan-bailey/) to see what the other bloggers and Bookstagrammers have to say!
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Happy Reading!
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2 comments
Although this is a new author to me, I would love to win, read and review the paperback/Hardback/print format of this book. The swag pack is a great prize and hope I win it.
I love finding new authors and their books. It’s how I find most of my favorite authors.
Hope I win.
Best of luck, Crystal! I hope the random winner picker chooses in your favor!