Book Reviews and News

Award-Winning Historical Novel Explores Classical Greek and Roman History, in the Critical Period Following the Death of Alexander the Great

2011-12-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

Award-Winning Historical Novel Explores Classical Greek and Roman History, in the Critical Period Following the Death of Alexander the Great.
The Central Character is the Brilliant Young King, Pyrrhus of Epirus.

"Writing with great style, Dr. Crouch brings this ancient age to life once more; maintaining an expert balance between historical accuracy and creative imagination. Dr. Crouch succeeds splendidly in conveying a compelling interpretation of the lives and loves, the achievements and aspirations of great men in a great age."
~ Dr. Eoghan Maloney, lecturer in ancient history at the University of Adelaide

The phrase "A Pyrrhic Victory" refers to a victory that comes at such a cost that it threatens to destroy the victor. In the debut volume of the new series by this name, author Ian Crouch transports readers to the Mediterranean in the early third century BC where they meet Pyrrhus, the young disinherited king of Epirus, a region of northern Greece.

Pyrrhus is a central figure of his age, the world left behind by Alexander the Great, which in the next century will become the world of the Romans. His struggles and alliances take him from Asia Minor to Greece and then to Egypt, where he is groomed for the great role that will be his to play when he becomes first the protegé and then the son-in-law of Ptolemy, Pharaoh of Egypt. Along the way, soldiers, battles, and luxuries of all kinds bring the ancient classical world to riveting life.

Pyrrhus' eventual return to Epirus with his queen Antigone sees him reinstated as king, a powerful ruler stable in his position, a figure of admiration. Yet Pyrrhus is a warrior at heart, and the Romans are nearing their time of greatness. Can he remain at rest for long in a peaceful Greece? The book's title, The Shaping of Destiny, hints at the answer to this question.

Dr. Crouch comments, "The great days of Greece and Rome are the crucible of the history of the Western World. I have tried to bring that history to life and demonstrate how the Greek struggle for liberty produced the unrivalled heights of drama, poetry, and philosophy all subsequent ages have enjoyed."

For Dr. Crouch's efforts, The Shaping of Destiny received the Gold Medal for Historical Fiction in the 2011 Independent Book Publisher (IPPY) Awards.

Author: Dr. Ian Crouch is a medical practitioner living in Adelaide, South Australia. Since his early days in medical school, his abiding interest has been Greek and Roman history. He is currently at work on the second volume of A Pyrrhic Victory, subtitled Destiny Unfolds.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Go on an interactive reading adventure on the iPad with Sock n Boots!

2011-11-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles, California - Sock n Boots Worldwide, a burgeoning children's book publisher, has today announced the release of Sock n Boots Adventures for iPad devices running on iOS 4.1 or later. Sock n Boots Adventures is a dynamic storybook app that updates three tales from the critically acclaimed Sock n Boots book series and turns them into interactive mobile adventures. Each story - starring the quirky duo of Sock and his wise friend Boots - includes scores of dynamic elements, animated thrills, and chances for kids and parents alike to interact with the app's two heroes! Not to be outdone, the app gives users a chance to tell each Sock and Boots adventure they way they'd like, as well as offering a fully featured coloring book! Sock n Boots Adventures is currently available for download on the Apple App Store for $0.99 in the Entertainment category.

Released to universal acclaim by children, parents, and pundits alike, the Sock n Boots book series has established itself as a perfect catalyst to bringing young readers and their parents together with stories that both entertain and encourage kids to gain a passion for reading. Sock n Boots Adventures for the iPad takes three of these beloved stories and turns them into full-fledged interactive spectacles where users can touch and hear the story unfolding in front of them via vibrant professional animations and audio narration. The app gives users the power to enjoy each of its three included stories in three equally unique ways as well. What remains constant though is these stories' power to engage children together with parents and encourage them to work together and bond while experiencing Sock n Boots Adventures.

Stories can be played like a movie if users want to simply lay back and enjoy, with the help of automatic audio narration where they get to control the pace, or as a conventional storybook where they read along themselves while playing around with the interactive elements included on every page! Advanced readers that create their own Sock n Boots adventures can share what they make via Facebook, and let friends know how they feel via Twitter as well! An education word association game is even included to help beginning readers.

For the uninitiated, the Sock n Boots series stars a mischevious Sock and his wise best friend Boots, following the pair's misadventures as they learn valuable real-world lessons and connect with children all over the world. A quest for knowledge lies at the heart of each story. Accordingly each Sock n Boots story begins with a question, and through the character's whimsical journeys answers are always found, and important lessons instilled within the reader in the process. The iPad serves as the perfect platform to engage young readers and help parents or grandparents connect with their kids regardless of whether it's through a story told at bedtime or as a daytime activity including the whole family.

Device Requirements:

* iPad

* Requires iOS 4.1 or later

* 57.6 MB

Pricing and Availability:

Sock n Boots 1.0 is only $0.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Entertainment category.

http://www.socknboots.com/

Based in Los Angeles, Sock n Boots Worldwide is a children's book publisher focused on helping kids, parents, and teachers bond through the magic of reading.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

My Most Popular Book Reviews on Epinions

2011-10-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

I was just looking at which of my book reviews had been quite successful on Epinions - so I thought I'd link to them here, to... um... hopefully make them even more successful. I've only listed book reviews with over a thousand page views.

Terry Pratchett - The Carpet People - 2674 page views
C. S. Lewis - Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia - 3645 page views
C. S. Lewis - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - 1318 page views
Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels - 2067 page views
C. S. Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia - Complete Collection - 2600 page views
J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 1137 page views
C. S. Lewis - The Horse And His Boy - 1040 page views
C. S. Lewis - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - 1208 page views
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit - 1233 page views
Jerome K Jerome - Three Men in a Boat - 2091 page views
C. S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew - 1263 page view
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World - 2010 page views
Mary Shelly - Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus - 2371 page views
J. R. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings - 1266 page views
J. R. R. Tolkien - The Silmarillion - 1228 page views
James Clavell - Shogun - 1272 page views
David Zinczenko and Ted Spiker - Abs Diet Eat Right Every Time Guide - 2710 page views

It would appear that I've written 152 book reviews so far. I'm currently 69th in the all-time "Most Popular Book Reviewers" list on Epinions. Since I'm not very prolific with writing book reviews these days, I guess I'll never get into the top fifty.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Press Release: Great new read along book app from the author of Bed Hog

2011-10-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

Appburgh is pleased to announce Tails 1.0, their latest iOS book. One of the best ways to encourage children to read is through humor. This interactive rhyming story will surely provide readers with a few giggles as they see what their world would look like "If people had tails." Written and Illustrated by Georgette Noullet. Colorful animated illustrations with hidden sound effects will keep the reader reading this book app over and over again.

Moon Township, Pennsylvania - "Kids would have fun hanging high in the air, laughing and playing, giving grown-ups a scare!"

One of the best ways to encourage children to read is through humor. This interactive rhyming story will surely provide readers with a few giggles as they see what their world would look like "If people had tails."

Children will wonder what the world would be like if we all had tails. What a wonderful world it would be if we all had tails and could swing from the trees.

Colorful animated illustrations with hidden sound effects will keep the reader reading this book app over and over again.

The narration options will allow them to read and have book read to them all by themselves for hours of entertainment.

So dive in and purchase the latest children's book app available on the Apple iTunes store. Most of all you will have fun discussing what the world would be like if people had tails with your child. There answers will definitely surprise and entertain you. Have fun.

Narration Options:* Read it to me - adult narration with accompanying text
* I'll read it - silent reading with all word display

Additional features:* Animated characters
* Hidden sound spots

Written and Illustrated by Georgette Noullet. Another quality mobile App brought to you by Appburgh.com

Device Requirements:* iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later
* 49.6 MB

Pricing and Availability:Tails 1.0 is $1.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Books category.

AppBurgh: http://www.appburgh.com/APPBURGH5.html
Tails 1.0: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id468420529

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Lulu.com

2011-09-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, I never expected my review of online self-publishing service Lulu.com to be this successful - today it hit 14,000 page views, is currently 21st most popular review in Web Services in 2005 (for the category's all-time list it's only #232, but hopefully it will go up!) - and frankly the revie has earned me a lot more money than my self-publishing endevours ever have!

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

eBook Review: Mathion - Book One of the Mavonduri Trilogy

2011-09-27T05:04:00.000-07:00

Mathion is the first book in the Mavonduri Trilogy, and the debut novel by author Jeff Shanley. It’s a traditional fantasy novel, but instead of elves, dwarves and trolls, the land is inhabited by… werewolves. Actually there are four distinct species inhabiting the land – pure-blood werewolves, halfbreeds, Wolven and humans. The Wolven have a similar heritage to the werewolves, but they don’t transform from their human-like appearance and are the good guys. Mathian is a Wolven prince, and the story largely concerns the Wolven’s conflict with the werewolves and half-breeds, although humans do come into it nearer the end too.

Without going into too much detail about the plot and characters, it’s full of the plot elements you’d expect from a fantasy novel – an epic quest, a small group of heroes, a really evil villain, battles, the group splitting up, rejoining later, and battles to win. The basic storyline is well developed, and the world the characters live feels alive and has plenty of history behind it. The battle sequences are handled pretty well, although a couple did, I felt, go on a little longer than perhaps necessary. The author’s love of Lord of the Rings is evident, though not in mimicking Tolkein’s work, rather in a similar meticulous imaginary world being built up with its own unique history, languages, mythology etc. The dialogue felt a bit dry at times, but mostly it was believable enough, and occasionally quite poignant.

By far the best element of the story was the way Elekan, the white wolf who is always at Mathion’s side, and the Wolfstone, given to Mathion by Elkanan’s mother, is developed. While at first the Wolfstone appeared to be a bit of a gimmicky one-trick pony (and I wondered why, considering its immense power, it wasn’t used sooner and more frequently with hordes of werewolves attacking!), as the story progresses, its role becomes more important – and more diverse. Elkekan is no ordinary wolf, either, and to me he was really the star of this book. The writing is a tad formal at times, for instance re-listing everyone’s name in a group of people perhaps more often than necessary, but it usually flows well.

Often the biggest criticism of self-published books is that their grammar and spelling are poor, and to some extent Mathion is a little guilty of this. The problem almost always occurs in the form of a word missing from a sentence – though at least the missing word is easy to work out in each occasion. This is a bit of a strange problem that I’ve rarely encountered before, and may to some extent be due to the ePub conversion process. However Jeff is aware of this problem and is currently working on a revised and expanded edition, both to sort this out and add full appendices. My advice would be to get the book when this edition comes out (and of course I’ll let you know on this blog when that happens).

I was slightly disappointed that some themes started to be developed and were left a bit unfinished – for instance it was hinted at that the werewolves actually lived pretty normal lives rather like the Wolven’s and humans’ at one point – but then the portrayal of starkly divided good and evil continued. There also seemed to be a betrayer among the Wolven themselves, and this pointed to an awareness by the werewolves that a great army was coming up against them which later seemed to be ignored, but I’m assuming that both these points are probably going to be developed in the next book(s).

The ending is quite an effective little cliff-hanger, and I’m certainly interested in finding out just what happens next. Miathon is a solid bit of fantasy fiction, the focus on werewolves makes it seem a little different from most fantasy, and the eBook edition (I read it in ePub format on the Nook, but are large number of different formats are available) it only costs 99 cents from Smashwords. On this evidence Jeff Shanley is a promising new author.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

2011-09-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

All the authors mentioned so far on this blog:

Isaac Asimov
Stephen Baxter
Susan Chandler
Anne McCaffrey
James Clavell
Roald Dahl
Len Deighton
Raymond E. Feist
George MacDonald Fraser
Goscinny and Uderzo
John Grisham
Dashiell Hammett
Anthony Horowitz
Aldous Huxley
Erica Jeffrey
CS Lewis
Alistair MacLean
Tim Maltin
Brian McGaklin
Keith McGowan
Sandy Mitchell
Garth Nix
Terry Pratchett
Jeff Shanley
Alec Sillifant
JRR Tolkein
Kevin M. Turner
Jan Costin Wagner
John Wyndham
Marion Zimmer Bradley

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Poetry Book Review: "Broetry"

2011-09-17T07:00:00.001-07:00

Broetry is, in the author’s own words, “poetry for dudes”, “poetry for people who don’t like poetry”, and “a literary chilli cheeseburger”. Author Brian McGackin is seeking to find a niche for himself – poetry that appeals to “bros”, poetry about one-night stands, the X-Box 360, and Bruce Willis movies. While even my limited knowledge of modern poetry makes me disagree with his implied view that there are no contemporary poets writing about contemporary issues, I think it’s fairly safe to say that it’s a fairly undiscovered niche – after all, who would write poetry specifically for people who don’t like poetry? The mind boggles.

Anyway, Broetry is split into 5 sections: “High School to Hangovers”, “Sophomoronic”, “Girls, Girls, Graduation”, Extreme Poverty is the New Poverty”, and “Twenty-Five to Life”. There are a lot of different styles on display here, from haiku to long freeform verse, although every so often I came across a poem that, even by my rather loose definition of what constitutes freeform, I couldn’t bring myself to think of as poetry. There were quite a few poems that struck me as banal or immature (“Ode to Nicole Scherzinger; or, What’s New Pussycat – last verse: “I know that you don’t need a man / but I’m no ordinary fan; / I’ll stick with you until you see / our love is real, I’m not some creep”) - the poems were probably written over a number of years though and the author is hardly old now, which probably explains a lot of it.

However other poems offered glimpses of genius (“Morning Sex: The Belgian waffle of the sexual world. / Or maybe the McDonald’s hasch brown, / if that’s more your type of breakfast item. / Both metaphors work for me. Don’t judge.”). In particular the poem “Not Another Teen Movie” stuck in my mind; even though it was virtually not a poem at all, simply a long list of movie titles. The way that it’s constructed though gives it a kind of lyrical beauty beyond many of the more conventional poems in this collection; it’s McGackin’s willingness to experiment, with mixed results, that seems to provide Broetry its highest points. (“28 Weeks Later. The Bachelor. The Ex. / Blast from the Past. Serendipity. Still Crazy. / Enough. Get Over It. / The Peacemaker. How to Deal. Apadtation. Atonement./ A Walk to Remember. Joy Ride.”)

Still other poems are just daft and quite funny (“Pocahotness: How wrong is it to be in love / with a cartoon character? ... love / that transcends race, language, time period / base physics, pixilation; / love that – Damn. Ariel’s pretty hot, too...”). There are also some illustrations to go with some of the poems; these are pretty good, occasionally funny.

For me personally the worst thing about Broetry was the regular use of profanity. I have a particular dislike for profanity, so that rather ruined for me a poetry collection that I would otherwise have quite liked. You’ll know if this is something that will put you off or not!

Broetry is published by Quirk Books

Review copy provided to Book Reviews and News by PGUK

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Announcing "The Magi", the debut novel by Kevin M. Turner

2011-09-14T00:33:00.000-07:00

THE MAGI, a YA fantasy/adventure novel written by Kevin M. Turner, is coming soon! Its tentative release is summer 2012. Check out www.kevinmturner.com for more details and released chapters!

Elijah Hawk is on a quest to solve the mysterious murder of his parents. Along the journey, he discovers a hidden group of people with the secret to a power they have held for thousands of years. They call themselves the Magi. However, Elijah soon finds out that he is being hunted by another group with this same power, called the Maliphists - and they want something from him. In order to find out who killed his parents, Elijah knows he must eventually confront the Maliphists, even though it means almost certain death!

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Press Release - Lone Wolf Comes To Kindle

2011-09-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Software developers Worldweaver Ltd, based in Pinewood Studios UK, have just released the first title from the popular Lone Wolf gamebook series for the Kindle e-book reader.

“Flight from the Dark” was originally released in July 1984 and was the first book from Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf series. The books have been adapted to make use of the Kindle's computing abilities, handling the combat, scoring and inventory systems. The author has been closely involved in the adaptation to help keep the original atmosphere of the games on the new device.

“Having already established that the Kindle platform is perfect at enhancing the gamebook experience, we were very happy to secure the Lone Wolf series” said Chris Sterling, CEO of Worldweaver. “The books create such a rich and immersive world that they should appeal to both younger and older audiences, as well as to those of us who enjoyed them in paperback form back in the 1980s.”

The launch of this title on Kindle also coincides with the company’s release of the third book in the Fighting Fantasy Series of gamebooks, “Deathtrap Dungeon”, which has proven to be a very popular series adaption in the Kindle Store.

Work is already underway developing the next Lone Wolf book, “Fire on the Water”, with plans for a new book from the twenty eight book series to be released every two months. More information on the Lone Wolf series and other Kindle adaptations can be found at www.worldweaver.com/lonewolf

Lone Wolf is a series of 28 gamebooks, created by Joe Dever and initially illustrated (books 1-8) by Gary Chalk. The series began publishing in July 1984 and sold more than 10.2 million copies worldwide.

The story focuses on the fictional world of Magnamund, where the forces of good and evil fight for control of the planet. The protagonist is Lone Wolf, last of his caste of warrior monks known as Kai Lords. The book series is written in the second person and recounts Lone Wolf's adventures as if the reader is the main character. As Lone Wolf, the reader makes choices at regular intervals throughout the story which then change the course, and the final outcome, of the book.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog
Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Currently Reading: Mathion: Book One of the Mavonduri Trilogy

2011-08-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

Mathion: Book One of the Mavonduri Trilogy is Jeff Shanley's debut novel. In the book's preface Jeff cites JRR Tolkien as being his main influence, particularly the detail with which he built up an imaginary world and its history. Mathion takes werewolves into a fantasy setting - the aim of this book is not only to tell an epic story but also to give them a complete background mythology. I'm about a tenth way through Mathion at the moment and it's been enjoyable so far - the idea of taking a creature out of horror and placing it squarely into the Fantasy genre seems to work rather well.

Full review soon(ish), but in the meantime you can buy the eBook (choose from a large variety of formats) for just $0.99 at:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38201

Synopsis:
When someone close to him is captured alive by werewolves, Prince Mathion of Ánovén resolves to attempt the impossible, and infiltrate the werewolves' homeland of Kânavad. But there is something else at work, and Mathion must embrace his destiny in order to turn the tide of a war that has raged for over twenty thousand years.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #1

2011-08-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is a novel split across 7 free ebooks from Barnes and Noble, I've been reading it on my Nook. It's the story of Commander Yaru Korsin and his merry band of Sith (well, maybe not quite merry) as they crash land on a remote planet and, after a desperate fight to survive, decide to make it their own - they are Sith, after all. I've not read much Star Wars fiction and rarely seen anything featuring Sith as the main protagonists, so this was an interesting read. Other key figures include Korsin's older brother Devore, his sister-in-law Seelah, a Red Sith called Ravilan, and a gigantic Houk called Gloyd, who is Korsin's closest ally.

At the end of each part there is an excerpt from another Star Wars novel; it's an advertising gimmick obviously, but for all that the story is quite compelling and written decently enough. (John Jackson Miller is the author.) At least some knowledge of Star Wars is probably necessary to keep tabs on what's going on.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog Check out my Barnes and Noble Nook review

Barnes and Noble Nook Review

2011-08-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

Looking for an eReader? Check out my review of the Barnes and Noble Nook!

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

Short Story: The Paradenishko Switch

2011-07-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is a short story I wrote recently that won first prize in a fortnightly writing contest on the AGS forums. Although there were only a few entries, I was quite chuffed to win as it's the first time I've ever entered a contest there.

Links:

Here's the story itself:

“The Paradenishko dragon is a very unusual species”, said G’nashtu in her well-practiced sardonic drawl that she reserved for use with particularly unpromising sets of students, “in that the pregnant female lays an unusually high quantity of eggs – normally 20-30 per batch.” She stifled a yawn. “Even stranger is the fact that there is usually only one male hatchling per batch, sometimes none at all. This combined with the comparative rarity of the species in general, and the long gestation period of 26 months, makes male Paradenishko dragons extremely valuable.”

‘Just another half hour and I can get out of this place…’ she thought. ‘Then off to matters more interesting… and profitable…’

K’lun met her and gave his customary greeting of a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the head. G’nashtu had always hoped their relationship would become something more than just friends, but it seemed that K’lun had never even considered the possibility. If only she’d been born into the Ullat clan, she could have made the first move... but as it was, such an action would be shameful for her and her entire family. She had dropped subtle hints, of course, but subtlety was something K’lun understood about as much as dragons understood “no smoking” signs.

“You have them?” she asked, a little breathlessly.

“Yes”, he replied. Never one to waste words, he said nothing more. If she hadn’t know him better, G’nasthu would have felt he was completely impassive about the whole business – but there was a gleam in his eye, a certain change in his bearing, a slight tremor to the timbre of his voice… K’lun was about as excited as he could be, just far too much in control of himself to let on. He intonated for her to enter the cave; she went in with him following. It had taken weeks of searching to find such a secluded spot, but it had been worth it.

“Here”, he said, nodding towards the huge nest. It took two parent dragons a few days to build; it had taken K’lun and G’nashtu several months to construct. She looked at the nest then did a double-take – there were not one, not two but three eggs with the telltale black spots on the shell. “Three male eggs? I thought there was only one! Three in a single batch is practically unheard of!” K’Lun smiled. “We really struck gold with this… I have a buyer coming to look at them tonight. Can you make it?” G’nashtu laughed. “Is there anything in the world that could make me miss this? I’ll be here!” This was going to be the sale of a lifetime…

However, the sale of a lifetime didn’t go quite as smoothly as they’d hoped. Their buyer, a shady character who wouldn’t give them a name or let them see his face, wanted to buy only the male eggs – something very unusual, as normally the batch needed to remain together to have much chance of all the hatchlings being born safely. He told them that he had his reasons, but wouldn’t elaborate further. Neither G’nashtu or K’lun were convinced that they could trust him, but the amount of gold he offered was very convincing – more than they could accumulate in several lifetimes of honest endeavour. They asked him to come back the next day to finalise the deal.

“I don’t like that guy”, muttered G’nashtu. “Whatever or whoever he is, and however rich he is, a glorious creature like a male Paradenishko dragon shouldn’t end up with him.”

“Agreed”, said K’lun. “Which is why I’ve come up with a plan: we’ll paint some female eggs to look like male eggs.”

“That wouldn’t fool an expert”, she said, “there are other signs to look for – weight, reaction to water, light reflection. As you well know.”

“Of course, but he performed all of these tests tonight, so he knows they’re genuine. I doubt if he’ll perform them again tomorrow, if he sees the same batch. I kept some female eggs back from another batch -we can use those, the difference in appearance is so small that he’ll never notice in the light from our small fire. We’ll take out the male eggs and replace them with the fakes. We can use identical bags – since we use sand to safeguard the eggs in transit, we can just use slightly more in bag with the fakes.”

“Well, if you’re sure we can pull it off... you’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this.”

That night went very quickly, with first one then the other having to go back and make sure no-one suspected anything, and that things appeared normal at home. With so little sleep it was difficult for either of them to make it through the day without feeling very sluggish, but some Julkana tea every now and then kept them going. Then it was evening, and time for their meeting with the mysterious buyer…

All went well; he brought them the gold coins in three large sacks, and they in turn gave him the fake eggs in a sack. Just as they G’nashtu was drifting off into a lovely dream about how she’d spend all of her money, and how being a wealthy woman she could forget all about her tribal traditions and just tell K’lun how she felt about him, she felt him roughly shaking her shoulders.

“What? I haven’t slept for two days!” she protested.

He ignored her and pointed at two sacks that he’d dragged up against the nearby cave wall. “Why exactly do we have two sacks with what appear to be male dragon eggs in them?”

She stared at them, trying to focus, not entirely sure if they were both suffering with hallucinations or double vision due to excessive sleep deprivation. But no, there were definitely two sacks there. Then realisation slowly dawned. “Did you paint some female eggs and replace them in the nest?”

“Yes, of course” he said, ”that’s what we agreed.”

“Not exactly… we said that we needed to do it, but we didn’t actually specific who was going to do it.”

He buried his face in his hands. “You mean… we both did it?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“So we may have given our buyer the male eggs?”

“Well, possibly…”

They sat dejectedly for a moment, trying to go through the flurry of activity of the previous night and piece together exactly what had happened. Unbeknownst to them, their buyer had stealthily crept back up to the cave entrance in the meantime, and when they did realise, he was pointing a rather nasty-looking crossbow at G’nashtu. Other shadowy figures lurked menacingly in the background.

“Well don’t look so surprised, of course I didn’t trust you for a moment! I’ll just be taking all the eggs, thanks very much. The gold too. That, at least, was genuine, although you were never going to get your grubby little hands on any of it.” He motioned to his accomplices, who carried out the sacks and carefully put the remaining eggs into even more sacks.

“Now I’ll be saying goodbye. I’m not going to kill you, it would only lead to messy questions when people found you – but as it is, you’re hardly likely to go to the authorities about this, are you? You see, crime really doesn’t pay – at least, not unless you do it properly.”

With that he departed, leaving K’lun and G’nashtu looking glumly at one another. Finally G’nashtu spoke. “I’m guessing this wouldn’t be a good time to tell you that I’ve been in love with you for years, but you’ve never noticed?”

K’lun laughed harshly. “Since you mention it, perhaps it’s also not a good time for me to tell you that I’ve been in love with you for years too, but that I wanted to have enough money for us to leave this place together.”

Much to his surprise, she laughed.

“Erm… I was expecting a coy smile, or a sad smile, or a sigh… but a laugh when I bare my soul to you like that?!”

She moved closer and kissed him. When they were both needing to come up for air, she smiled at him fondly. “Oh K’lun, darling, you’re so unobservant.”

“Eh?”

“Look over there. What do you see?”

He squinted for a while until he could make out a shape. “Um… a pair of sandals?”

“Yes. And do you noticed anything different about me?”

He looked her up and down, eventually following her own gaze. “You’ve got… bigger shoes?”

“Yes darling. And why is it that you think I might have bigger shoes on?”

He thought about this. “I’m guessing that the answer isn’t going to be that your feet have swelled.”

She shook her head and started taking off her shoes. Her feet were, in fact, exactly the same size as they’d always been; the shoes themselves, several times too big for her but previously hidden from view by her long tunic, contained quite a number of gold coins.

“I also have some coins hidden in my underwear,” she said, “but I’ll keep those in reserve for later.”

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

Broetry - coming soon from Quirk Books

2011-07-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Coming soon from Quirk Books - Broetry.

Due in September, this is a poetry book with a difference – written by a dude, and covering the subjects dudes, bros’ and real men are involved with and passionate about – beer, video game tournaments, Star Wars conventions, Part Time Job Search, Final Final Fantasy, My Friends Who Don’t Have Student Loans, and a host of other everyman subjects, Broetry takes us through the lives of the everyman Bro, from high school and college, his ‘quarter-life crisis’ and beyond.

Brian McGacklin, the ‘Broet Laureat’ fills this book with distinctive writings that any young man will recognise – from the ridiculous pressure to show you have the latest must-have electronic gizmo, moving in your first room at colleague, waiting for that first kiss in the movies, first drunk, followed by first hangover, email etiquette for friends, and much more make this a fresh, new, relevant voice in poetry writing, albeit with a tongue-in-cheek slant.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

Bedbugs - A Novel of Infestation!

2011-07-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

A biting novel from the author of Night of The Living Trekkies that explores the darkest fears raised by the current bedbug infestation in the UK, and takes the classic horror novel in a new direction!

[Publication Date: 06 Sept 2011 - Quirk Books]

Alex and Susan Wendt are the perfect couple in search of the perfect Brooklyn Brownstone to live the American dream in – and the house at 56 Cranberry street is too good to pass up. The landlady may be a little eccentric, and perhaps the handyman drops a creepy remark too many about the previous tenants, but the street is lined with trees, and there is a beautiful playground just down the road where their three-year-old daughter Emma can play. Alex loves their new home, but Susan slowly becomes more and more unsure as chapters pass and unease deepens to dread and paranoia in true Ramsey Campbell style, with day-to-day life being nibbled away. Susan wakens to find drops of blood on her pillow, and then her wrists are speckled with blood in the mornings – is this Rosemary’s Bedbugs, or is she becoming deluded? Despite her husband’s reassurance that she is experiencing psychosomatic reactions to a new home, and exterminators unable to find a single trace of cimicidae, she has seen these bedbugs swarming over her body, feasting on her flesh in incredibly vivid nightmares.

As reality becomes terror, her fear and paranoia build to fever pitch in a relentless grip that pulls the reader along with it’s combination of twin fears – being feasted upon, and attacked at night – to arrive at it’s horrific conclusion, when the many mysteries are revealed, and the reader has to ask can Susan contain the bugs before they destroy her family? Your sleep will never be the same again after reading this horrific, camp book that will get under your skin and lift the lid on one of our darkest suburban fears, and is perfect for any fan of slow-build terror, The Sentinel, Amityville Horror, revenge of nature, and suburban nightmare!

Tackles horror from a new perspective – Revenge of Nature in suburban homes!

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

ForeWord Reviews - 2010 Book of the Year Awards

2011-07-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

NEW ORLEANS (July 05, 2011)-- ForeWord Reviews has just announced the winners of the 2010 Book of the Year Awards. The winning authors were honored at a ceremony during the American Library Association Conference in New Orleans. They were selected by a panel of librarian and bookseller judges.

Los Angeles author Armen Melikian's Journey to Virginland: Epistle I, a novel that proposes an original vision of human transformation, is one of the four winners in the highly competitive Literary Fiction category. It received the only "Honorable Mention" from a list of 14 finalists. Journey to Virginland is published by Two Harbors Press of the Hillcrest Publishing Group.

"This is the third prize Journey to Virginland has won over the last three months," said Emily Weiss, marketing director at Two Harbor's Press. "Journey to Virginland recently won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Fiction, and was recognized as one of the top books in Humor/Comedy by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards."

"This is indeed an unusual book," added Weiss. "Publisher's Weekly, the leading publishing industry magazine, encapsulates the gist of Journey to Virginland with the assessment: 'Dog vs. God. In an iconoclastic story, Dog demolishes the foundations of Western civilization.'"

Book Cover
ForeWord's founder and publisher, Victoria Sutherland, spoke at the awards ceremony and announced the winners: "Today's celebration of our Award winners and finalists is the culmination of a very intense but rewarding year-long effort by everyone on staff at ForeWord Reviews. All of our editors become invested in certain genres, titles, and authors, and the award ceremony is very emotional. To make the announcements at ALA is especially satisfying."

Leia Menlove, a distinguished member of ForeWord's review team, describes Journey to Virginland as "an engrossing, brilliantly crafted read; a searing commentary on the world and its inhabitants." Menlove adds, "Melikian's prodigious writing talent and ability to show the world's history in a different air creates an entertaining ride into warring religions, warring cultures, warring sexes, and the histories and raison d'etre behind each. Melikian is an astonishing writer who teaches his reader about the world and the human condition through tragedy and humor."

Journey to Virginland is in certain respects reminiscent of the novelistic tapestries of James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, Umberto Eco, and others. With its ebullient style, innovative language, and kaleidoscopic yet highly calibrated thematic range, it is an extraordinary example of a literary revolution in the making.

For a list of worldwide booksellers and ordering information, visit the Order page at www.JourneyToVirginland.com

* * *

Armen Melikian

About the author: Armen Melikian holds a Master's degree in International Relations from American University in Washington, DC. He has also studied mathematics at a number of universities including Harvard. Abandoning both politics and science, he has instead devoted himself to literature. Journey to Virginland is his debut novel. Melikian lives in Los Angeles.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

Baby's Playtime (Ladybird)

2011-06-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the sort of book I thought I'd never be reviewing! It's a durable book made with thick cardboard with a shiny surface, that's already stood up to some serious chomping by our baby. It features simple, rhyming words to be read out to your child, along with bold, bright, colourful pictures of toys they will likely be familiar with. Our baby is probably slightly young for this yet to be honest, but she still enjoys playing with it and hearing us read it to her. It's designed to support your baby's first experiences and encourage sharing & talking.

Written by Marie Birkenshaw and illustrated by Claire Henley, Baby's Playtime a very nice first book (well, unless you count cloth books) for babies aged (my guess) about 9 months up to 2, maybe 3 years. But I'm a very inexperienced parent so I wouldn't necessarily take my word on that!

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

The Sixties: An American Family in Europe by Ada Feyerick

2011-06-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

"My book is an archaeological dig into the present." This provocative comment by Ada Feyerick describing her book The Sixties: An American Family in Europe sets the scene for a long-distance view of America from Zurich and Paris, where she and her husband lived during the tumultuous sixties, and delves into how the defining issues of that decade continue to impact nations and individuals today.

Among the author's many challenges was learning to accept that different national interests often were at odds with those of her own country. Accordingly, the book chronicles her reactions to numerous world events, how she settled in and coped overseas for six pivotal years that encompassed the birth of the couple's three children, and how she got to know the people of Switzerland and France on their own terms.

This personal and political recollection includes disagreements between French president Charles de Gaulle and President Lyndon Johnson during America's involvement in Vietnam and their different attitudes towards the Six-Day War in the Middle East. Domestic events on both continents focus on chaos in America's major cities and on college campuses due to the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the assassinations of President John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.; and in France, the student riots of May 1968 on the Left Bank that almost brought down the government.

The best of international political cartoons from the U.S., France, England, and Lebanon illustrate the events of the decade, while the book's Epilogue compares the 1960s to the present and asks the billion-dollar question: Do human beings ever really learn from the past?

Ada concludes, "Our story of two continents does not end. Many of the events that occurred during the sixties either have been, or are yet to be, resolved. The insights we gained of our country and Europe, the value of the friendships we formed with compatriots and people from other lands, now can be told by our children to theirs. They surely need remembering."

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

The Knowledge of Good and Bad - due for release on 19th July 2011

2011-06-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

"Ian Baringer may have stumbled across the greatest discovery of all time.
Or the greatest curse."

This is the premise of author Glenn Kleier's new book, The Knowledge of Good and Bad.

It's due for release by Macmillan on 19th Jluy 2011. In the meantime, those interested can find more information and sample chapters at the book's official website, http://www.kleier.com/

Book Reviews and News

Reading for Pleasure = Does better at school?

2011-05-14T04:04:00.000-07:00

It's long been known that young students who read do better at school than those who don't. In a world full of technological entertainment devices it's perhaps inevitable that reading for pleasure is not quite as common as in previous decades; however I have to say that I always loved computers, and I also always loved reading - I didn't see any reason why someone couldn't enjoy both. I guess it takes more effort in a way to read a book than play a game or watch a film, but personally I feel that books offer you a chance to do something that no other medium does (well, apart from perhaps text adventures) - create a world inside your head. Whether there's a link to people's use of their imagination to their classroom results I couldn't tell you, but if you've always had a visual and aural representation of a fictional world presented to you onscreen without ever having had to make one in your head, your brain must have developed differently (perhaps less, but definitely differently).

With the credit crunch and other world problems having a good education is more important than ever. One way to gain more qualifications could be to enrol at an online college - a phenomena that's gaining popularity these days. Whether you do that or not, reading for pleasure is something that enables young ones to experience whole new worlds, while at the same time being a painless way to give themselves a better chance of doing well at school. As a new parent, I know that I want to encourage my daughter to read as soon as she's able - reading well is such an important skill in many aspects of life; when we can read well we often take it for granted - until we see how people often struggle with various things when they can't read well.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

Out of Bounds: Journey of a Migrant by Francis Lee

2011-04-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

Out of Bounds: Journey of a Migrant by Francis Lee

New memoir reveals one man's search for belonging, compassion, and justice as he migrates to Australia and comes of age in a dynamic country that is likewise struggling to define itself

"This book tells of the joy, the struggle and the anxiety I experienced as a newcomer, at a time when the new Australia was slowly emerging...I invite you to join me in revisiting the journey of one migrant who now proudly calls Australia home: the sadness of departure, the ecstasy of reunion, the challenge of claiming a rightful place in a new land and the changing values of a new generation." ~ Excerpt from Out of Bounds: Journey of a Migrant

Francis Lee was sixteen years old in 1961 when he left his home and family in Hong Kong and traveled alone to Australia to finish his secondary education and better his chances of getting into university. Out of Bounds: Journey of a Migrant tells the story of his life experience migrating to this western country. It details Lee's memorable encounters with people of different persuasions and attitudes as well as his aspirations, struggles, and triumphs, from seeking a career to raising a family to learning how to relate to friends, business associates, and the very culture of his new country.

Australia had just entered the black-and-white television era when Lee arrived, and it was not out of the ordinary for strangers to come up and pat him on the head in the belief that touching a Chinese person would bring them luck. Yet as the tumultuous 1960s swept the nation, Australia changed and advanced, and Lee found himself increasingly involved in his community and politics.

Out of Bounds chronicles many of Lee's political experiences, including the enthusiasm of the Chinese community in embracing Australia's democratic process, his involvement in hotly debated social and political issues such as migrant loyalty, becoming a republic, party fund raising and factional infighting, and how he confronted hypocrisy both in politics and within his own community without losing his essential love for his fellow human beings or his adopted country.

He comments, "I want to share my story with readers experiencing similar struggles in life. I have encountered prejudice, yes, but prejudice is in all of us. Australia is no exception, and Australia is better than any other country I know."

# # #

Author: Francis Lee is the founding chairman of the Asian Media Council of Australia, former vice president of Sydney Chinese Writers' Association, and former president of the Australian Chinese Forum of Australia. On Australia Day 2004, for his service in various executive, honorary, and advisory posts in a number of community organizations, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for outstanding service to the community. A former environmental engineer for the New South Wales Public Works Department, he retired as the executive producer of the Chinese Cantonese group at SBS Radio in March, 2008. He is the author of two bilingual essay collections, English Idioms - a cultural fascination and English Idioms - under the lucky stars.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

Titanic 99th Anniversary - 101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic now available in paperback

2011-04-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

Titanic collided with an iceberg at 11.40pm on 14th April 1912 and sank at 2.20am on 15th April 1912, with the loss of 1,500 lives. In the 99 years since the disaster, many myths have developed which have clouded the truth of what really happened...but did you know:

• The Titanic disaster was predicted 14 years before it happened by writer Morgan Robertson
• Even if Titanic’s lookouts had had binoculars, they would not have seen the iceberg earlier
• Titanic had been steaming through iceberg-infested waters for three hours before she collided
• If Titanic had rammed the iceberg head-on, she would have survived
• Titanic’s distress signal gave the wrong position by over 10 miles
• Lifeboat No.1, with a capacity of 40, left Titanic with only five passengers
• Several male passengers were shot who refused to get out of crowded lifeboats in the final moments
• More third class men were saved from the Titanic than first class men
• More men were saved from the Titanic than women

These and other true Titanic facts are revealed in 101 Things You Thought You Knew About The Titanic...But Didn’t!, by Tim Maltin, published this week in paperback to mark the 99th anniversary of the most famous shipwreck in history.

Related Links:

Another Extract from "101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic... But Didn't"

Extract from "101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic... But didn't!" by Tim Maltin

Press Release - 101 Things You Thought You Knew About The Titanic...But Didn’t! by Tim Maltin

Buy 101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic... But Didn't:

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

New Book Release - Convention Career Connection by Steven Savage

2011-04-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

Fan to Pro author Steven Savage has released another book - "Convention Career Connection".

The Convention Scene is part of the culture scene for fans, geeks, otaku, and more. It’s also the place that many people get a chance, perhaps a first chance, to get some insights on their dream careers. It’s also the place where others may find career hopes rekindled yet again by the right panel or workshop.

This book is a guide to making those very events, debates, and happenings to help people’s career hopes come alive, or be brought back to life. This is a book on creating career events at your next convention!

With a simple five-part system, Convention Career Connection helps you come up with unique and interesting ideas for job, career, and professional happenings at your next con. Containing extensive suggestions and resources, as well as specific advice on the many options ahead of you, you can be sure to work out the best way to help your attendees in their ambitions!

The book itself is available in several formats. See the Official Website for more info.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

Charity Shops!

2011-03-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

I love charity shops for two reasons - 1/ they are generating money for good causes, 2/ you can get some amazing bargains there. I've started building up a small library of books for my daughter (nearly 4 months old now, how time flies!) and got Baby's Playtime, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too for the princely sum of £1.70.

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog