The Shadow Guard
Diane Whiteside
Kensington Brava, $14.00
ISBN: 9780758225191
FBI interpreter Astrid Carlsen as a sorcerer also belongs to Shadow Guard; a top secret organization with strict rules governing the use of magic. When she mentally hears a psychic final scream of a woman murdered by magic, Astrid investigates.
Police officer Jake Hammond leads the official inquiry. He and Astrid are on-line gambling opponents. When they meet for the first time in person, she realizes he is Kubri, an essence who can recharge her magical energy to its acme with sex or for that matter destroy her through her libido. She hopes he desires an older woman as they team up on the case and in the boudoir where the magic they generate enables the pair to challenge the psychic serial killers more powerful than either of them.
The Shadow Guard is a superb erotic urban fantasy police procedural that blends the elements from the various genres into a power paranormal page turner. With an entertaining investigation, the fast-paced story line heats up on the normal and paranormal planes as Astrid and Jake learn the whole is greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to this pair sexually charging up their prowess. Harriet Klausner
Mermaid
Carolyn Turgeon
Crown, $14.00
ISBN: 9780307589972
While her Northern Lands kingdom is at war, Princess Margrethe is safely concealed at the convent under the guise of Mira. Bored she escapes her cell to look out at the water only to see a mermaid drag a man onto the beach. The male turns out to be Prince Christopher, the son of the enemy of her father and their kingdom.
Lenia the teenage mermaid who saved Christopher’s life falls in love with him. Although she knows staying on land is fatal for her kind, she vows to remain with her beloved. At the same time Margrethe concludes that if she and the prince marry, the combat would end and unite their warring kingdoms. However, by the time she goes to the Prince to offer a marriage of political convenience, he seems to be in love with Lenia; though he fails to realize who she is. Margrethe plans to eliminate her rival by sending the ailing sea creature back to her watery home.
This is a terrific extremely dark twisting of the Hans Christian Andersen's classic The Little Mermaid as Carolyn Turgeon for the most part un Disney’s the tale. The story line is at its best when the two women compete for the prince as their methods are different. Although the Sea Witch subplot feels out of place with the rest of the strong adult fairy tale, fans will relish the political spin to the Mermaid. Harriet Klausner
The Shining City
Fiona Patton
DAW, $15.00
ISBN: 9781101479117
In Anavatan, the Gods walk among the people. Most of them pledge oaths to one deity or another. The more supporters a God has, the stronger that being is; and in turn the more that essence can do for his or her followers. The God of prophesy Incasa, the Chief God used the thousands of supporters especially the boys Brax, Spar and Graize six years ago to create the fledgling God Hisar.
While the seer Spar became young Hisar’s chief priest, Brax the warrior is pledged to the war god Estavia. In turn seer Graize became bitter enemies of his two former friends. He left for another land to fight against the warriors of Estavia while seeking allies to return in order to conquer Anavatan. He may get his wish as war is coming since Anavatan has hostile relations with neighbors Volinsk and Roctov, who were once adversaries but now are united against a common foe. Other counties jointhe planned invasion of Anavatan who lacks the military strength to prevent an invasion on several fronts. The only hope is for former friends turned foes to reunite behind Hisar, but Graize resents his two ex buddies and his homeland
The final Warriors of Estavia (see The Golden Tower and The Golden Sword) is an exciting climax that ties up all the major threads to a strong epic fantasy trilogy. Although readers may be disappointed with the way the invasion is given a short amount of pages Fiona Patton’s heroes insure a gripping entertaining High Noon finish. Harriet Klausner
Dark Enchantment
Anya Bast
Berkley, $7.99
ISBN 9780425240533
Desperate to free the Fae, Unseelie Kieran Aimhrea uses irresistible magic to propel accountant Charlotte Bennett to come to Piefferburg. He hopes her arrival will awaken ancestral memories that she unknowingly possesses, which should enable her to open the wards binding the city and its Fae residents.
Kieran is very careful to insure no one falls in love with him because of the curse in which those who do die. He knows Charlotte loathes him for the abduction that still frightens her so he feels somewhat assured she will not diee in some gruesome way. However, he had not calculated how he would feels towards her when he computed the odds of her loving him as zero.
The third Dark Magick urban fantasy (see Wicked Enchantment and Cruel Enchantment) is a superb entry as Kieran uses Charlotte though he detests that he does but rationalizes his actions are for the better good of many until he falls in love. His transformation and trepidation turn this tale into a terrific thriller. With the trademark jocularity side by side with betrayal, fans will enjoy the latest magical tour of the enchanting (though often dark) world of Bast. Harriet Klausner
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
NO MAN'S LAND
NO MAN’S WORLD: The Ironclad Prophecy by Pat Kelleher
21 July 2011 • £7.99 (UK) ISBN 978-1-907992-15-5
12 July 2011 • $9.99/$12.99 (US & CAN) ISBN 978-1-907992-16-2
Also Available as an eBook on 12 July
A corner of an alien field that is forever England?
It has been three months since the 13th Battalion of the Pennine Fusiliers vanished from the battlefields of the Somme. Stranded on an alien world by forces they cannot comprehend, this beleaguered band of Tommies must now try and find a way home...
In the action-packed follow-up to Kelleher's widely-acclaimed debut, No Man's World: Black Hand Gang, this genre-shattering tale of First World War soldiers fighting to survive on an alien world continues its blistering blend of historical detail, strong characters and powerful storytelling.
Corporal ‘Only’ Atkins and his Black Hand Gang return as the Pennines fight for their lives against the mounting horrors of No Man’s World, their only hope for survival – and a way home – lying in the psychotropic fuel-addicted crew of the ‘ironclad’ tank Ivanhoe... and its increasingly insane commander!
“I couldn’t put this one down... a thoroughly entertaining tale.”
– Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review on Black Hand Gang
About the Series
On November 1st 1916, 900 men of the 13th Battalion of the Pennine Fusiliers vanish without trace from the battlefield only to find themselves on an alien planet. There they must learn to survive in a hostile environment, while facing a sinister threat from within their own ranks and a confrontation with an inscrutable alien race!
No Man's World takes the conventions of horror and throws them out of the window in a series that pulses with action, tension and character. Pat Kelleher has created a unique world in which the so-familiar monochrome images of the trenches of Flanders are brought to vivid life in an alien environment.
“Abaddon are onto a real winner with this series.”
– Total Sci-Fi Online
About the Author
Pat Kelleher lives in Penury, Greater Manchester. He has written for a wide variety of TV licensed characters across a bewildering array of media, meeting one or two celebrities along the way. He has worked for BBC Magazines, Egmont, Marvel UK, and Panini amongst others. He has several non-fiction books to his credit. No Man’s World: Ironclad Prophesy is his second novel.
www.nomansworldblog.blogspot.com
21 July 2011 • £7.99 (UK) ISBN 978-1-907992-15-5
12 July 2011 • $9.99/$12.99 (US & CAN) ISBN 978-1-907992-16-2
Also Available as an eBook on 12 July
A corner of an alien field that is forever England?
It has been three months since the 13th Battalion of the Pennine Fusiliers vanished from the battlefields of the Somme. Stranded on an alien world by forces they cannot comprehend, this beleaguered band of Tommies must now try and find a way home...
In the action-packed follow-up to Kelleher's widely-acclaimed debut, No Man's World: Black Hand Gang, this genre-shattering tale of First World War soldiers fighting to survive on an alien world continues its blistering blend of historical detail, strong characters and powerful storytelling.
Corporal ‘Only’ Atkins and his Black Hand Gang return as the Pennines fight for their lives against the mounting horrors of No Man’s World, their only hope for survival – and a way home – lying in the psychotropic fuel-addicted crew of the ‘ironclad’ tank Ivanhoe... and its increasingly insane commander!
“I couldn’t put this one down... a thoroughly entertaining tale.”
– Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review on Black Hand Gang
About the Series
On November 1st 1916, 900 men of the 13th Battalion of the Pennine Fusiliers vanish without trace from the battlefield only to find themselves on an alien planet. There they must learn to survive in a hostile environment, while facing a sinister threat from within their own ranks and a confrontation with an inscrutable alien race!
No Man's World takes the conventions of horror and throws them out of the window in a series that pulses with action, tension and character. Pat Kelleher has created a unique world in which the so-familiar monochrome images of the trenches of Flanders are brought to vivid life in an alien environment.
“Abaddon are onto a real winner with this series.”
– Total Sci-Fi Online
About the Author
Pat Kelleher lives in Penury, Greater Manchester. He has written for a wide variety of TV licensed characters across a bewildering array of media, meeting one or two celebrities along the way. He has worked for BBC Magazines, Egmont, Marvel UK, and Panini amongst others. He has several non-fiction books to his credit. No Man’s World: Ironclad Prophesy is his second novel.
www.nomansworldblog.blogspot.com
Monday, June 20, 2011
Perspectives
I had planned on doing some reviews to post in this space, but as it has been of late, something else hit me and I'm sharing them with you.
Perspectives
June 19, 2011
While looking through some old photographs the other day, I came across some that were taken when I was a child. It was wonderful to see the looks in my friends’ faces. Their youth, their joy, their love of life. Not the lines of old age, the gray hair, the harshness of life that was apparent when they passed over to whatever lies beyond.
I thought about the old Tarzan movies and the natives who thought that the camera took your soul and wouldn’t allow the photographer to live unless they destroyed the image. This got me to thinking, and Crom knows it’s not always a good thing for me to think too hard.
A photograph does steal your soul. It takes a piece of it and places it on a piece of paper for everyone to see. It steals the moment it was taken. It steals a moment of joy, a moment of sadness and keeps it constant. It will never change as each passing second changes the person in the picture.
As you grow older, you remember the youth and the things only the young can do. You wonder why you have to age and allow the miseries of age to rob you of the things you want to do, but cannot do. Age, illness and misery are the earmarks of a long life, while the image on paper stays the same and mocks you.
If you could live forever and not age another day, would you? Would you want to watch your friends and family age and wither until they die? Would you want your feet firmly planted on solid ground and never discover the mysteries beyond the veil?
No one knows what tomorrow will bring. If we did, we would all be happy and win the lottery and not have a care in the world. Or is it better to live each day to the fullest and enjoy your life? If we live each day as if it were our last and follow the original “golden rule” of treating each other as we wish to be treated, wouldn’t the world be a better place.
It seems there are too many today who live by the “Modern Golden Rule” in that he who has the gold, makes the rules. I’m sure there are more “modern” folks out there than “originals”. We all have our demons and angels in our lives.
There are some who allow the demons to rule their life and use them to obtain their goals. Every now and then, someone loses the control and allows the demon to reach out and touch someone else and in doing so end up as demons themselves.
Then there are those who feel the demons inside and use any means possible to keep them bottled up inside and lose themselves only to become a vessel of pain.
Sometimes one can keep the demon under control and keep it in a deep dark place in their soul, but know that it can break out at any time and wreak havoc. It becomes a constant ache or ringing in your ears to let you know it’s there waiting for that instant it needs to break out and go on a spree. You maintain the control, but become numb to the joys and, sadly, to the love that is in the world. You “live in your own world”, “march to the sounds of a different drummer”, or beat on the cells of a rubber room.
A home is said to be a place filled with familiar things, love, and safety. I would say it’s funny, but too many people have a home only in their mind. Too often the dust and the cobwebs build up there and they are afraid to shed the skin or the shell and grow and find their feelings again. They can’t bring themselves to open that door and escape into the sunshine.
Why do we stay this way? Are we happy to spend our lives in our own private Idaho or in one of the nine circles of Hell? Crom, I’m full of questions and I have no answers. BS, that’s not true. I’m full of answers, but no one ever asks me, or if they do, it’s the wrong one and they really don’t want an answer.
Do you really think the person that you pass on the street really wants to know “How are you?” No, they don’t, not any more than they want to know what you had for breakfast this morning. We go through life making the motions until they become habits.
Here’s an exercise for you. Make a list of your friends, I’ll wait.
Now look at that list and use your fingers to count those to whom you would tell your deepest, darkest secret. Use your other hand and count those who already know your deepest, darkest secret. I’ll bet you have at least two fingers left on your first hand. I’ll also bet that your other hand only has one finger outstretched at the most. If I’m wrong, you are a better person than I am, but I know who I trust and who I can talk to about anything and it makes me a better person.
I never said I was an exceptional person, not even a good one; but, I know it makes me a better person. I may be totally fubar, but I know it, my true friends know it and they accept me for who and what I am. No apologies needed or wanted - just honesty, truth and understanding. They are with you from the lowest low to the highest high, but yet they are an anchor to keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.
Living is a lot harder than dying, especially these days. But living is always better than dying. We all will pass over one day and I would rather it be on my own terms than on someone else’s. Make peace with yourself, live life to its’ fullest, laugh often and love with all your heart.
I hope this little epistle gives you a new perspective on what’s going on. Let me hear what you think, I’m not going anywhere until the guys in the white coats drag me off kicking and screaming.
Perspectives
June 19, 2011
While looking through some old photographs the other day, I came across some that were taken when I was a child. It was wonderful to see the looks in my friends’ faces. Their youth, their joy, their love of life. Not the lines of old age, the gray hair, the harshness of life that was apparent when they passed over to whatever lies beyond.
I thought about the old Tarzan movies and the natives who thought that the camera took your soul and wouldn’t allow the photographer to live unless they destroyed the image. This got me to thinking, and Crom knows it’s not always a good thing for me to think too hard.
A photograph does steal your soul. It takes a piece of it and places it on a piece of paper for everyone to see. It steals the moment it was taken. It steals a moment of joy, a moment of sadness and keeps it constant. It will never change as each passing second changes the person in the picture.
As you grow older, you remember the youth and the things only the young can do. You wonder why you have to age and allow the miseries of age to rob you of the things you want to do, but cannot do. Age, illness and misery are the earmarks of a long life, while the image on paper stays the same and mocks you.
If you could live forever and not age another day, would you? Would you want to watch your friends and family age and wither until they die? Would you want your feet firmly planted on solid ground and never discover the mysteries beyond the veil?
No one knows what tomorrow will bring. If we did, we would all be happy and win the lottery and not have a care in the world. Or is it better to live each day to the fullest and enjoy your life? If we live each day as if it were our last and follow the original “golden rule” of treating each other as we wish to be treated, wouldn’t the world be a better place.
It seems there are too many today who live by the “Modern Golden Rule” in that he who has the gold, makes the rules. I’m sure there are more “modern” folks out there than “originals”. We all have our demons and angels in our lives.
There are some who allow the demons to rule their life and use them to obtain their goals. Every now and then, someone loses the control and allows the demon to reach out and touch someone else and in doing so end up as demons themselves.
Then there are those who feel the demons inside and use any means possible to keep them bottled up inside and lose themselves only to become a vessel of pain.
Sometimes one can keep the demon under control and keep it in a deep dark place in their soul, but know that it can break out at any time and wreak havoc. It becomes a constant ache or ringing in your ears to let you know it’s there waiting for that instant it needs to break out and go on a spree. You maintain the control, but become numb to the joys and, sadly, to the love that is in the world. You “live in your own world”, “march to the sounds of a different drummer”, or beat on the cells of a rubber room.
A home is said to be a place filled with familiar things, love, and safety. I would say it’s funny, but too many people have a home only in their mind. Too often the dust and the cobwebs build up there and they are afraid to shed the skin or the shell and grow and find their feelings again. They can’t bring themselves to open that door and escape into the sunshine.
Why do we stay this way? Are we happy to spend our lives in our own private Idaho or in one of the nine circles of Hell? Crom, I’m full of questions and I have no answers. BS, that’s not true. I’m full of answers, but no one ever asks me, or if they do, it’s the wrong one and they really don’t want an answer.
Do you really think the person that you pass on the street really wants to know “How are you?” No, they don’t, not any more than they want to know what you had for breakfast this morning. We go through life making the motions until they become habits.
Here’s an exercise for you. Make a list of your friends, I’ll wait.
Now look at that list and use your fingers to count those to whom you would tell your deepest, darkest secret. Use your other hand and count those who already know your deepest, darkest secret. I’ll bet you have at least two fingers left on your first hand. I’ll also bet that your other hand only has one finger outstretched at the most. If I’m wrong, you are a better person than I am, but I know who I trust and who I can talk to about anything and it makes me a better person.
I never said I was an exceptional person, not even a good one; but, I know it makes me a better person. I may be totally fubar, but I know it, my true friends know it and they accept me for who and what I am. No apologies needed or wanted - just honesty, truth and understanding. They are with you from the lowest low to the highest high, but yet they are an anchor to keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.
Living is a lot harder than dying, especially these days. But living is always better than dying. We all will pass over one day and I would rather it be on my own terms than on someone else’s. Make peace with yourself, live life to its’ fullest, laugh often and love with all your heart.
I hope this little epistle gives you a new perspective on what’s going on. Let me hear what you think, I’m not going anywhere until the guys in the white coats drag me off kicking and screaming.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Interesting Titles from Harriet
Blood Wicked
Sharon Page
Kensington Aphrodisia, $14.00
ISBN: 9780758250940
In 1820 Vivienne Dare knows only one way to obtain the money pay for the medicine her child needs to stay alive. The former courtesan uses her body to bring in needed revenue. She especially services affluent males.
When she is directed to sleep with Lord Heath Winthrop, she emphatically refuses. She fears the Lord of Blackmoor will demand more than just a night and she will want to obey his desires. Instead she is ignorant of what Heath wants from her; as the vampire plans to interrogate Vivienne using seduction to obtain answers from her as to what happened to his missing brother Raine. He thinks she may have been involved or her father who made him ten years ago.
Blood Wicked is a terrific erotic Regency paranormal romance starring two individuals with similar needs and ultimately desires. Whereas she willingly would sell her soul to save her child’s life, he understands how she feels from his human days as a father whose daughter died. Character driven, Sharon Page provides another suspenseful Blood Deep historical romantic urban fantasy (see Blood Red and Blood Rose). Harriet Klausner
Enigmatic Pilot
Kris Saknussemm
Del Rey, $16.00
ISBN: 9780812974171
In 1844 in Zanesville, Ohio, clubfooted inventor Hephaestus Sitturd; his Seal islands Creole wife Rapture and their genius five year old son Lloyd receive an invitation to move to Texas. Hephaestus’s half-brother Micah claims they can make a fortune, but his message is enigmatic as he insists he cannot explain how on paper.
Although mystified by Micah’s odd note as war with Mexico seems imminent, the Sitturd family begins their odyssey across America. Lloyd a gifted inventor of oddities learns how to play poker from watching St, Ives a riverboat gambler with a mechanical hand containing a saber; they become partners. He works out the issue of humans flying and encounters robots masquerading as people after meeting the Professor and his two mute wives as ambassadors of Mars. It is Miss Viola who teaches him the ways of seduction as two ancient arcane societies continue their epochal war with one another over the future of humanity with each believing the brilliant Lloyd will be a tipping point. However it is teenage Hattie the escaped slave who teaches the lad how to love.
Starting in Zanesville but a couple of centuries earlier than Kris Saknussemm’s previous Zanesville dark futuristic thriller, preadolescent genius Lloyd holds the exhilarating but enigmatic tale together as he creates oddities and meets oddities. Lloyd learns from the masters while teaching his mentors as well. However, each time the audience feels comfortable, Kris Saknussemm throws a spitball that spins the moral code elsewhere. The author extrapolates the present values back to the nineteenth century arguing that the American dream is a nightmarish facade for most and a dream for few even as early as the Antebellum period. Harriet Klausner
The Emperor of Nihon-Ja
John Flanagan
Philomel, $17.99
ISBN: 9780399255007
In Toscana, the Aridi representatives led by Selethen negotiate a treaty with the Toscan Senate. The two nations have had wars in the past, but with wiser leaders each sees the benefit of trade and security even as they deploy different military strategies. At the same time that Will and Halt toss friendly insults at each other while watching the Toscan military perform under the leadership of General Sapristi, Alyss is part of the negotiating team.
Meanwhile their friend Horace fails to communicate with his comrades in arms as he has spent months in the Nihon-Ja Empire. However, something is not right as the popular Emperor Lord Shigeru is disposed of in a coup d’état. Knowing he should stay out of the internal squabble between those loyal to the Emperor and the Arisaka led Senji rebels, but he feels injustice has come to the eastern kingdom. Soon his worried Araluen friends (Selethen, Will, Alyss and Evanlyn) arrive in Nihon-Ja searching for him.
The latest Ranger’s Apprentice saga is a great thriller that grips the audience as all is quiet on the western front, but civil war has broken out in the east. The story line is loaded with action from the moment the story line shifts to Nihon-Ja and never slows down with heroes’ regretting they have only one life to give to their emperor. Fans will enjoy this powerful military thriller in the Flanagan realm as one person can clearly make a difference if he or she takes the risk.
Harriet Klausner
Wolfsangel
M.D. Lachlan
PYR, $16.00
ISBN: 9781616143572
King Authun leads his men on a raid of a village; but before they arrive at their destination he warns them they will all die. None are afraid as warriors prefer death in combat. The monarch’s mission is to find the royal heir to his throne as prophesied by the Queen of the witches. In a Christian church, Authun finds twin male babies. He takes the pair with him leaving behind his loyal soldiers except one to die. In the North Sea his last comrade raises his sword in combat before diving to his death as no one except the witch, the king and his wife will know the heir’s origin.
Several years later, one of the infants Prince Vali the heir lives with a rival ruler. He loves Adisla and prefers working the land rather than fighting for land. When raiders attack, Vali uses strategy to defend the village successfully though they capture Adisla. Those he saved from certain death loath Vali for using unacceptable tactics as the warrior credo insists on fighting to the death. Cerebral Vali and his feral brother Feileg raised by the Witch Queen as a warrior wolf join on a quest to rescue Adisla though neither realizes they are related. The adventures of the twins are just beginning.
Using Norse mythology, M.D. Lachlan tells a strong quest fantasy that contains two distinct yet related story lines. The first described above is a sword and sorcery thriller while the other subplot involved the intrusion of the Gods on the lives of mortals. Fast-paced and loaded with plenty of action while establishing the Lachlan world order and setting up future escapades; readers will be hooked as the twins chase after raiders to rescue Adisla. Interestingly even with long stretches without either of the polar opposite twin stars, Wolfsangel enchants the audience.
Harriet Klausner
Sharon Page
Kensington Aphrodisia, $14.00
ISBN: 9780758250940
In 1820 Vivienne Dare knows only one way to obtain the money pay for the medicine her child needs to stay alive. The former courtesan uses her body to bring in needed revenue. She especially services affluent males.
When she is directed to sleep with Lord Heath Winthrop, she emphatically refuses. She fears the Lord of Blackmoor will demand more than just a night and she will want to obey his desires. Instead she is ignorant of what Heath wants from her; as the vampire plans to interrogate Vivienne using seduction to obtain answers from her as to what happened to his missing brother Raine. He thinks she may have been involved or her father who made him ten years ago.
Blood Wicked is a terrific erotic Regency paranormal romance starring two individuals with similar needs and ultimately desires. Whereas she willingly would sell her soul to save her child’s life, he understands how she feels from his human days as a father whose daughter died. Character driven, Sharon Page provides another suspenseful Blood Deep historical romantic urban fantasy (see Blood Red and Blood Rose). Harriet Klausner
Enigmatic Pilot
Kris Saknussemm
Del Rey, $16.00
ISBN: 9780812974171
In 1844 in Zanesville, Ohio, clubfooted inventor Hephaestus Sitturd; his Seal islands Creole wife Rapture and their genius five year old son Lloyd receive an invitation to move to Texas. Hephaestus’s half-brother Micah claims they can make a fortune, but his message is enigmatic as he insists he cannot explain how on paper.
Although mystified by Micah’s odd note as war with Mexico seems imminent, the Sitturd family begins their odyssey across America. Lloyd a gifted inventor of oddities learns how to play poker from watching St, Ives a riverboat gambler with a mechanical hand containing a saber; they become partners. He works out the issue of humans flying and encounters robots masquerading as people after meeting the Professor and his two mute wives as ambassadors of Mars. It is Miss Viola who teaches him the ways of seduction as two ancient arcane societies continue their epochal war with one another over the future of humanity with each believing the brilliant Lloyd will be a tipping point. However it is teenage Hattie the escaped slave who teaches the lad how to love.
Starting in Zanesville but a couple of centuries earlier than Kris Saknussemm’s previous Zanesville dark futuristic thriller, preadolescent genius Lloyd holds the exhilarating but enigmatic tale together as he creates oddities and meets oddities. Lloyd learns from the masters while teaching his mentors as well. However, each time the audience feels comfortable, Kris Saknussemm throws a spitball that spins the moral code elsewhere. The author extrapolates the present values back to the nineteenth century arguing that the American dream is a nightmarish facade for most and a dream for few even as early as the Antebellum period. Harriet Klausner
The Emperor of Nihon-Ja
John Flanagan
Philomel, $17.99
ISBN: 9780399255007
In Toscana, the Aridi representatives led by Selethen negotiate a treaty with the Toscan Senate. The two nations have had wars in the past, but with wiser leaders each sees the benefit of trade and security even as they deploy different military strategies. At the same time that Will and Halt toss friendly insults at each other while watching the Toscan military perform under the leadership of General Sapristi, Alyss is part of the negotiating team.
Meanwhile their friend Horace fails to communicate with his comrades in arms as he has spent months in the Nihon-Ja Empire. However, something is not right as the popular Emperor Lord Shigeru is disposed of in a coup d’état. Knowing he should stay out of the internal squabble between those loyal to the Emperor and the Arisaka led Senji rebels, but he feels injustice has come to the eastern kingdom. Soon his worried Araluen friends (Selethen, Will, Alyss and Evanlyn) arrive in Nihon-Ja searching for him.
The latest Ranger’s Apprentice saga is a great thriller that grips the audience as all is quiet on the western front, but civil war has broken out in the east. The story line is loaded with action from the moment the story line shifts to Nihon-Ja and never slows down with heroes’ regretting they have only one life to give to their emperor. Fans will enjoy this powerful military thriller in the Flanagan realm as one person can clearly make a difference if he or she takes the risk.
Harriet Klausner
Wolfsangel
M.D. Lachlan
PYR, $16.00
ISBN: 9781616143572
King Authun leads his men on a raid of a village; but before they arrive at their destination he warns them they will all die. None are afraid as warriors prefer death in combat. The monarch’s mission is to find the royal heir to his throne as prophesied by the Queen of the witches. In a Christian church, Authun finds twin male babies. He takes the pair with him leaving behind his loyal soldiers except one to die. In the North Sea his last comrade raises his sword in combat before diving to his death as no one except the witch, the king and his wife will know the heir’s origin.
Several years later, one of the infants Prince Vali the heir lives with a rival ruler. He loves Adisla and prefers working the land rather than fighting for land. When raiders attack, Vali uses strategy to defend the village successfully though they capture Adisla. Those he saved from certain death loath Vali for using unacceptable tactics as the warrior credo insists on fighting to the death. Cerebral Vali and his feral brother Feileg raised by the Witch Queen as a warrior wolf join on a quest to rescue Adisla though neither realizes they are related. The adventures of the twins are just beginning.
Using Norse mythology, M.D. Lachlan tells a strong quest fantasy that contains two distinct yet related story lines. The first described above is a sword and sorcery thriller while the other subplot involved the intrusion of the Gods on the lives of mortals. Fast-paced and loaded with plenty of action while establishing the Lachlan world order and setting up future escapades; readers will be hooked as the twins chase after raiders to rescue Adisla. Interestingly even with long stretches without either of the polar opposite twin stars, Wolfsangel enchants the audience.
Harriet Klausner
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Ebook available
15th June 2011 ***For immediate
Solaris eBook breaks into US top 100 free downloads chart!
A free eBook from SF great, Eric Brown, has broken into iTunes’ top 100 free downloads chart for America.
The Blue Portal is the short story upon which the award-winning author’s groundbreaking novel, The Kings of Eternity, is based.
More than 2,500 copies of The Blue Portal have been downloaded in the last four days alone – putting it at #73 in the US chart, above perennial “classics” such as Pride and Prejudice and The Jungle Book!
Download the .epub file from our website, or find the book on Apple’s iBookstore. If you haven’t got an e-reader, just read the book in PDF format
Brown is a major new voice in the world of science fiction, and The Kings of Eternity is his most ambitious novel to date. A major awards contender, it was released in April to widespread acclaim.
Jonathan Oliver, editor-in-chief of Solaris, said: “Eric Brown is one of the finest writers of SF in the business and The Blue Portal is a fantastic sampler of this author’s work. It’s encouraging to see it getting such a wide readership and leading new fans to the work of this remarkable author.”
1999, on the threshold of a new millennium, the novelist Daniel Langham lives a reclusive life on an idyllic Greek island, hiding away from humanity and the events of the past. All that changes, however, when he meets artist Caroline Platt and finds himself falling in love. But what is his secret, and what are the horrors that haunt him?
1935. Writers Jonathon Langham and Edward Vaughan are summoned from London by their editor friend Jasper Carnegie to help investigate strange goings on in Hopton Wood. What they discover there - no less than a strange creature from another world - will change their lives forever. What they become, and their link to the novelist of the future, is the subject of Eric Brown’s most ambitious novel to date. Almost ten years in the writing, The Kings of Eternity is a novel of vast scope and depth, full of the staple tropes of the genre and yet imbued with humanity and characters you’ll come to love.
The Kings of Eternity
UK ISBN: 978-1-907519-71-0
US ISBN: 978-1-907519-70-3
About the Author
Eric Brown is the award-winning author of a huge number of SF novels, children’s books, radio plays, articles and reviews, including Helix, The Bengal Station Trilogy, The New York Trilogy, Kéthani, Engineman, Guardians of the Phoenix and The Fall of Tartarus.
www.ericbrown.com
Solaris eBook breaks into US top 100 free downloads chart!
A free eBook from SF great, Eric Brown, has broken into iTunes’ top 100 free downloads chart for America.
The Blue Portal is the short story upon which the award-winning author’s groundbreaking novel, The Kings of Eternity, is based.
More than 2,500 copies of The Blue Portal have been downloaded in the last four days alone – putting it at #73 in the US chart, above perennial “classics” such as Pride and Prejudice and The Jungle Book!
Download the .epub file from our website, or find the book on Apple’s iBookstore. If you haven’t got an e-reader, just read the book in PDF format
Brown is a major new voice in the world of science fiction, and The Kings of Eternity is his most ambitious novel to date. A major awards contender, it was released in April to widespread acclaim.
Jonathan Oliver, editor-in-chief of Solaris, said: “Eric Brown is one of the finest writers of SF in the business and The Blue Portal is a fantastic sampler of this author’s work. It’s encouraging to see it getting such a wide readership and leading new fans to the work of this remarkable author.”
1999, on the threshold of a new millennium, the novelist Daniel Langham lives a reclusive life on an idyllic Greek island, hiding away from humanity and the events of the past. All that changes, however, when he meets artist Caroline Platt and finds himself falling in love. But what is his secret, and what are the horrors that haunt him?
1935. Writers Jonathon Langham and Edward Vaughan are summoned from London by their editor friend Jasper Carnegie to help investigate strange goings on in Hopton Wood. What they discover there - no less than a strange creature from another world - will change their lives forever. What they become, and their link to the novelist of the future, is the subject of Eric Brown’s most ambitious novel to date. Almost ten years in the writing, The Kings of Eternity is a novel of vast scope and depth, full of the staple tropes of the genre and yet imbued with humanity and characters you’ll come to love.
The Kings of Eternity
UK ISBN: 978-1-907519-71-0
US ISBN: 978-1-907519-70-3
About the Author
Eric Brown is the award-winning author of a huge number of SF novels, children’s books, radio plays, articles and reviews, including Helix, The Bengal Station Trilogy, The New York Trilogy, Kéthani, Engineman, Guardians of the Phoenix and The Fall of Tartarus.
www.ericbrown.com
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Desdaemona Press Release
Desdaemona by Ben Macallan
OUT NOW!
£7.99 (UK), ISBN 978-1-907519-62-8
$7.99/$9.99 (US & CAN), ISBN 978-1-907519-63-5
Also Available as an eBook
New town. New girl. New job. That’s good, right?
Not really. Not when the girl can pretty much tear a vampire in two and the job is trying to find her kid sister, who’s in trouble with creatures even worse than the ones that have been trying to find you for how-many-years-has-it-been?!
In Ben Macallan’s terrifying, sexy, sinister urban fantasy debut, Jordan may look like a teenager but he treads the line between mundane reality and the supernatural in a world where vampires don’t glitter and runaways don’t just disappear – they’re hunted.
Macallan is not only a pseudonym of award-winning crime and thriller writer Chaz Brenchley, but has also appeared as a character in his books, Dead of Light and Light Errant. Brenchley has now let Macallan out to speak for himself in Desdaemona, a whole new kind of urban fiction. Dynamic and emotionally charged, Desdaemona will delight fans of Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker.
“One of the most innovative and sophisticated writers of horror fiction.”
– Tangled Web Books
About the Author
Ben Macallan is the boy your mother warned you about, the one with the motorbike and the cool clothes and the dangerous superpowers. He shoots round corners without looking, can put on his socks without bending and finds new planets as a Sunday afternoon hobby. He may be watching you, but you’ll never know.
www.chazbrenchley.co.uk
OUT NOW!
£7.99 (UK), ISBN 978-1-907519-62-8
$7.99/$9.99 (US & CAN), ISBN 978-1-907519-63-5
Also Available as an eBook
New town. New girl. New job. That’s good, right?
Not really. Not when the girl can pretty much tear a vampire in two and the job is trying to find her kid sister, who’s in trouble with creatures even worse than the ones that have been trying to find you for how-many-years-has-it-been?!
In Ben Macallan’s terrifying, sexy, sinister urban fantasy debut, Jordan may look like a teenager but he treads the line between mundane reality and the supernatural in a world where vampires don’t glitter and runaways don’t just disappear – they’re hunted.
Macallan is not only a pseudonym of award-winning crime and thriller writer Chaz Brenchley, but has also appeared as a character in his books, Dead of Light and Light Errant. Brenchley has now let Macallan out to speak for himself in Desdaemona, a whole new kind of urban fiction. Dynamic and emotionally charged, Desdaemona will delight fans of Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker.
“One of the most innovative and sophisticated writers of horror fiction.”
– Tangled Web Books
About the Author
Ben Macallan is the boy your mother warned you about, the one with the motorbike and the cool clothes and the dangerous superpowers. He shoots round corners without looking, can put on his socks without bending and finds new planets as a Sunday afternoon hobby. He may be watching you, but you’ll never know.
www.chazbrenchley.co.uk
More Urban Fantasy
Moon Cursed
Lori Handeland
St. Martin’s, $7.99
ISBN: 9780312389352
With the cancellation of her TV show the Hoax Hunters, Kristin Daniels knows she will need a miracle to revitalize her career. Not one to idly sit around waiting for divine intervention, Kristin believes proving a legendary monster is a fake is the ticket back to the small screen. She chooses the Loch Ness monster as her target.
Kristin arrives in Drumnadrochit, Scotland to begin her hoax busting. However, she finds the corpse of a drowned female who some locals insist was murdered by Nessie. At the ruins of Urquhart Castle, Kristin and Liam Grant meet and are attracted to one another though she feels he conceals something dark from her. Meanwhile, Edward Mandenauer offers her a lot of money to assist him on his obsessive quest to find Nessie.
The tenth “Moon” Nightcreature urban romantic fantasy takes a terrific twist as the village of Drumnadrochit seems cursed by Nessie. In the gloomy dark atmosphere, the Hoax Hunter sets out to prove the killer is human, not mythical. The predator (Nessie or human), Liam and Edward form the rest of the Moon Cursed inquiry into whom or what is the psychopathic serial killer (can Nessie be a psychopath?). Fans will Crave the Moon saga as Lori Handeland provides a great entry in a strong series. Harriet Klausner
Seaborne
Katherine Irons
Kensington Brava,$14.00
ISBN: 9780758261403
Thirtyish and a former Olympic team rider, Claire Bishop recently inherited Seaborne, an estate in Maine. Over the objections of her caring father Richard and her odious former husband Justin, she has decided to stay at Seaborne by herself. Since she suffered an injury in a boating accident, Claire has been wheelchair bound. Her dad fears for her safety; and her ex has other schemes in mind.
Off of Coastal Maine, Atlantean Prince Morgan senses Claire’s anguish. He comes out of the ocean and takes Claire with him into the sea where he escorts her around his undersea world and like magic her useless legs work perfectly. However, Morgan has broken the strict Atlantean legal code by mingling with the humans as his half-brother Caddoc witnessed and demands legal action. As they fall in taboo love, adversaries from each of their worlds want the star-crossed couple separated and death is the best means to achieve this objective.
This is a delightful oceanic fantasy as Katherine Irons makes the underwater realm of the Atlanteans seem real from the moment the blue man-dolphin rescues a human child and never slows down until the surprising brilliant final tidal wave. Although their two respective prime enemies have no redeeming qualities, readers will root for the lead couple as Ms. Irons provides a wonderful under the sea tour.
Harriet Klausner
Con and Conjure
Lisa Shearin
Ace, $7.99
ISBN: 9780441020188
Raine Benares has always been the black sheep of her family as the seeker of the lost while her blood relatives are thieves; in fact her kin are the most infamous criminal clan in the seven kingdoms. However, Raine turns to her family for help after she and the Saghred soul-stealing stone bond; not to de-link them but to help her pull off a necessary con to end the stalking by elves and goblins who want the power of the rock.
The King of the Goblins Sathik Mal’Salin and the darkest mage Sarad Nukpana each plans to use the Saghred for personnel gain at the cost of the kingdoms. The elven leaders Taltek Balmorlan and Magus Carnades Silvanus send her former fiancé Rache Kai the elven assassin to hunt her down as her powerful enemies have no monetary problems. With her allies Mychael and Tam and her con artist family, Raine sets in motion a diabolical counter scheme.
The fifth Benares fantasy is a terrific tale that moves forward the overarching saga theme of the apocalypse soon seemingly a certainty. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action while the wise cracking heroine learns the depth of her power at the same time eluding a horde of foes who want to use her to use the stone. Series fans will enjoy the latest entry (see Bewitched and Betrayed and The Trouble With Demons) as Con and Conjure is a sly family affair stone included.
Harriet Klausner
In the Arms of Stone Angels
Jordan Dane
Harlequin Teen
ISBN: 9780373210299
In Shawano, Oklahoma when Brenna Nash was fourteen years old, she came upon her best friend Isaac (White Bird) Henry rocking over the corpse of Heather Madsen in his hands and mumbling insanely. She called 911. Fearing retaliation from the townsfolk for her daughter doing the responsible thing, Mom takes Brenna with her as she moves to North Carolina leaving behind their family.
Two years later, Brenna’s maternal grandmother dies. Mom accompanied by a reluctant Brenna returns home to fix up the house in order to sell it. Unable to ignore White Bird, Brenna learns he is in a catatonic state in an asylum. Although she believes her Brenna was involved in the Madsen murder, Mom proves right about the town; Sheriff Logan also thinks Brenna was involved in the homicide and teens vandalize their home. However, though warned to stay away from White Bird, Brenna somehow communicates with him when she touches him at the mental hospital. The horror she “sees’ is the hell he resides in filled with demons and worse. Her only recourse is to turn to Joe “Spirit Walker” Sunne who does not trust her.
In the Arms of Stone Angels is an engaging teen rural fantasy starring a strong cast who evolve as events happen, especially the young lead. Brenna at first is overwhelmingly filled with remorse for turning in her BFF, but knows she did the right thing though her emotional regret supersedes her defense mechanism logic. Although too many threads are left unanswered, readers will enjoy a stop at “A Town Without Pity” (Gene Pitney) as Native American mythos blends with a whodunit in Jordan Dane’s entertaining tale. Harriet Klausner
Lori Handeland
St. Martin’s, $7.99
ISBN: 9780312389352
With the cancellation of her TV show the Hoax Hunters, Kristin Daniels knows she will need a miracle to revitalize her career. Not one to idly sit around waiting for divine intervention, Kristin believes proving a legendary monster is a fake is the ticket back to the small screen. She chooses the Loch Ness monster as her target.
Kristin arrives in Drumnadrochit, Scotland to begin her hoax busting. However, she finds the corpse of a drowned female who some locals insist was murdered by Nessie. At the ruins of Urquhart Castle, Kristin and Liam Grant meet and are attracted to one another though she feels he conceals something dark from her. Meanwhile, Edward Mandenauer offers her a lot of money to assist him on his obsessive quest to find Nessie.
The tenth “Moon” Nightcreature urban romantic fantasy takes a terrific twist as the village of Drumnadrochit seems cursed by Nessie. In the gloomy dark atmosphere, the Hoax Hunter sets out to prove the killer is human, not mythical. The predator (Nessie or human), Liam and Edward form the rest of the Moon Cursed inquiry into whom or what is the psychopathic serial killer (can Nessie be a psychopath?). Fans will Crave the Moon saga as Lori Handeland provides a great entry in a strong series. Harriet Klausner
Seaborne
Katherine Irons
Kensington Brava,$14.00
ISBN: 9780758261403
Thirtyish and a former Olympic team rider, Claire Bishop recently inherited Seaborne, an estate in Maine. Over the objections of her caring father Richard and her odious former husband Justin, she has decided to stay at Seaborne by herself. Since she suffered an injury in a boating accident, Claire has been wheelchair bound. Her dad fears for her safety; and her ex has other schemes in mind.
Off of Coastal Maine, Atlantean Prince Morgan senses Claire’s anguish. He comes out of the ocean and takes Claire with him into the sea where he escorts her around his undersea world and like magic her useless legs work perfectly. However, Morgan has broken the strict Atlantean legal code by mingling with the humans as his half-brother Caddoc witnessed and demands legal action. As they fall in taboo love, adversaries from each of their worlds want the star-crossed couple separated and death is the best means to achieve this objective.
This is a delightful oceanic fantasy as Katherine Irons makes the underwater realm of the Atlanteans seem real from the moment the blue man-dolphin rescues a human child and never slows down until the surprising brilliant final tidal wave. Although their two respective prime enemies have no redeeming qualities, readers will root for the lead couple as Ms. Irons provides a wonderful under the sea tour.
Harriet Klausner
Con and Conjure
Lisa Shearin
Ace, $7.99
ISBN: 9780441020188
Raine Benares has always been the black sheep of her family as the seeker of the lost while her blood relatives are thieves; in fact her kin are the most infamous criminal clan in the seven kingdoms. However, Raine turns to her family for help after she and the Saghred soul-stealing stone bond; not to de-link them but to help her pull off a necessary con to end the stalking by elves and goblins who want the power of the rock.
The King of the Goblins Sathik Mal’Salin and the darkest mage Sarad Nukpana each plans to use the Saghred for personnel gain at the cost of the kingdoms. The elven leaders Taltek Balmorlan and Magus Carnades Silvanus send her former fiancé Rache Kai the elven assassin to hunt her down as her powerful enemies have no monetary problems. With her allies Mychael and Tam and her con artist family, Raine sets in motion a diabolical counter scheme.
The fifth Benares fantasy is a terrific tale that moves forward the overarching saga theme of the apocalypse soon seemingly a certainty. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action while the wise cracking heroine learns the depth of her power at the same time eluding a horde of foes who want to use her to use the stone. Series fans will enjoy the latest entry (see Bewitched and Betrayed and The Trouble With Demons) as Con and Conjure is a sly family affair stone included.
Harriet Klausner
In the Arms of Stone Angels
Jordan Dane
Harlequin Teen
ISBN: 9780373210299
In Shawano, Oklahoma when Brenna Nash was fourteen years old, she came upon her best friend Isaac (White Bird) Henry rocking over the corpse of Heather Madsen in his hands and mumbling insanely. She called 911. Fearing retaliation from the townsfolk for her daughter doing the responsible thing, Mom takes Brenna with her as she moves to North Carolina leaving behind their family.
Two years later, Brenna’s maternal grandmother dies. Mom accompanied by a reluctant Brenna returns home to fix up the house in order to sell it. Unable to ignore White Bird, Brenna learns he is in a catatonic state in an asylum. Although she believes her Brenna was involved in the Madsen murder, Mom proves right about the town; Sheriff Logan also thinks Brenna was involved in the homicide and teens vandalize their home. However, though warned to stay away from White Bird, Brenna somehow communicates with him when she touches him at the mental hospital. The horror she “sees’ is the hell he resides in filled with demons and worse. Her only recourse is to turn to Joe “Spirit Walker” Sunne who does not trust her.
In the Arms of Stone Angels is an engaging teen rural fantasy starring a strong cast who evolve as events happen, especially the young lead. Brenna at first is overwhelmingly filled with remorse for turning in her BFF, but knows she did the right thing though her emotional regret supersedes her defense mechanism logic. Although too many threads are left unanswered, readers will enjoy a stop at “A Town Without Pity” (Gene Pitney) as Native American mythos blends with a whodunit in Jordan Dane’s entertaining tale. Harriet Klausner
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