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Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts

Sunday, 21 December 2014

It’s Out! Book Three of A Seared Sky Hits the Shelves.

For all you fans of fantasy, the third book in my epic fantasy series, A Seared Sky, is now out, completing the trilogy. At present, Convergence is available in digital form only, but the print version will be out soon in the New Year.

So, what is book three, Convergence, about? I assume that you’ll have read, or intend to read, books one and two, as this is a sequential story set over the three books.

Wise woman, Ivdulon, finally discovers how the world is in danger, but knows only young Tumalind, a gifted female mindtalker, has the means to save it.
Dagla Kaz, fanatical High Priest, fights to prevent changes that will undo all his power and prestige, engaging with evil forces to get his way.
Aklon-Dji, fighting to save the future of his islanders, faces war, treachery and violent death to bring justice to his land and security to the woman he loves.
Tumalind, gifted and brave, faces unknown terrors and the peril of utter destruction for herself, as she sends her beloved Okkyntalah into great danger in hope of saving the world from evil.

As a gift for the Christmas period, my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing, is offering the new book as part of a package of all three in digital form with a substantial discount. Bought separately, they’re £9.27 (already good value for 660,000 words of adventure, excitement and character-driven action), but you can have them for £7.99 as a set, saving you 14%. Just click this link.
And remember, 10% of all proceeds go to charity, funding research into ME/CFS.

To buy book one, Joinings, in digital form, click here. In paperback, click here.
For book two, Partings, clickhere.
And for all three in digital form, either separately or as a bundle, click here.

Thursday, 30 October 2014

#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 30

The penultimate day of the Books Are My Bag.com promotion for independent bookshops. I hope it's encouraged lots of readers to support these bastions of literature and entertainment.

Today's theme is 'Favourite experimental book'.  Not something I've ever been really keen on. Most such volumes turn out to be more or less unreadable or incomprehensible. I have no problem with the artist allowing him/herself some freedom in the manner of expression, of course. But language, and therefore writing, is a means of communication and it seems to me that w work of literature that fails to communicate is ineffective.
So, I won't cite James Joyce's Ulysses, here. I started to read it and gave it up as a bad job, much like his Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which I found decidedly self-absorbed and puerile.

Instead, I'll nominate the rather charming, if slightly cheesy, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. It was, at the time, an interesting idea, portraying the story through words and pictures on different types of paper and in different ways. I recall enjoying it at the time, though that was a very long time ago and, for reasons I won't bore you with, I no longer have the book.

If you haven't come across it and can find a copy, it's certainly worth a read.

Wednesday, 29 October 2014

#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 29

The Books Are My Bag.com promotion to support independent bookshops is coming to a close.

Today's theme is 'Most memorable fashion moment'. For me, this is a difficult one, since I am of the same mind as Oscar Wilde on the issue of fashion. He said: 'Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.' In fact, I'd go further. Fashion is probably one of the most irresponsible industries that we have to endure. It makes women, and more recently, many younger men, feel inadequate and unsatisfied with their bodies. It demands that people replace their wardrobes with increasing frequency, thus wasting valuable resources in a world with finite supplies of almost everything. And it grants an inappropriate status to those who simply have the good fortune to be today's accepted version of beauty.

However, since this is actually about book shops, and therefore books, I shall have to find something that has some mention of fashion or at least clothing in its content. To be honest, since the issue doesn't interest me, I'm struggling. And the only book I can recall with any sort of mention of clothing is one of my own. So, I'll shamelessly promote my own book, which can be ordered from your local book shop. It's received a lot of 5* reviews, so it must be considered a good read. Try Breaking Faith: you never know, you might enjoy it!

Friday, 24 October 2014

#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 24

Today, following the daily threads proposed by the Books Are My Bag.com promotion of
independent bookshops, we are urged to consider, 'A hidden gem'.

Now, what is hidden for some may well be openly on show for others. So, this, like so many of the others in this series, has to be a personal perception. I've decided to go with a book written by a friend, a work I think deserves a wider readership than it has so far achieved. Many books today fail to reach the readership they deserve simply because there are so many books published. This book, the second in a series, is a real gem. So, I nominate Linda Acaster's The Bull at the Gate. You can read my review of it here on the blog by clicking on this link.






Sunday, 19 October 2014

Falling Through the World, by Rachel Clarke, Reviewed.

I read this novel as part of the research I’m undertaking before writing an account of my own experience of ME/CFS. The book is written from the point of view of a teenage girl brought down by this dreadful condition. It’s an honest, funny, moving and, at times, harrowing account of the life of a sufferer.

The reader is exposed to the prejudices of the ignorant, the helpless ignorance of the general medical profession, the casual cruelty that can come from friends and relatives, and the total lack of understanding that so frequently accompanies this much-misjudged condition.

Although this is a novel, it’s also a work that encapsulates the reality of ME/CFS. At the same time, it captures the fears, hopes, dreams and sorrows of a teenage girl and, to some extent, those of her family and friends.

A well-written story, full of hope, questioning, self-doubt, frustration and ambition, it carries the reader on waves of emotional ups and downs as the narrator describes what’s happening to her. Not a long novel, it nevertheless manages to incorporate most of what it’s like to live with ME/CFS, and provides readers with useful clues as to how sufferers, their families, and their medical helpers can best be approached.


There is the strong possibility that all readers will have some contact with either a sufferer or a member of the family of a victim. Because of this, I recommend the book to all. It’s punchy, accessible and short enough for all to read. Please do that, and educate yourself about this condition that attacks and ruins the lives of so many people of all ages.

Saturday, 18 October 2014

#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 18

The theme for today is, 'Made me laugh in public'. And, although this is true of many of the books I've read (Tom Sharpe's novels come to mind), the one that stands out for me is Seers by Karen Wolfe. A comic tale of a community existing within a normal social stratum but with the advantage of telepathy and other magical skills, it uses humour to examine certain human traits. Entertaining and full of earthy humour, it's a book I thoroughly enjoyed at the time. If you haven't read it, give it a go. You can find a link here, by clicking these words.

Don't forget to use the #tag, #bookadayUK if you're going to share this post by Twitter, will you?

Thursday, 16 October 2014

#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 16

The theme for today is, 'Most memorable adventure/journey in literature.' Now, that's a pretty tall order, since so many books involve either a journey or adventure, often both. Obvious choices include The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, almost any epic fantasy book, including my own trilogy, A Seared Sky, most thrillers, some crime novels and a number of literary works. Faced with such diversity and numbers, I decided on a book that I've returned to more often than most. Richard Adam's Maia tracks the journey of the eponymous heroine from a social backwater, where she's a neglected daughter put upon by her mother and seduced by her step-father, through sexual slavery and abuse to a life as consort to powerful men and a friendship with the beautiful, brilliant, tough and savvy Occula. It's an engaging and fascinating read, with an undercurrent of moral message about sexual inequality, slavery, and the corruptive nature of power. A great read.

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 15

Not my edition, but mine has lost its dust jacket and
a plain blue cover makes no sense.
What do we have for today, in the #BookadayUK promotion for independent book shops?
This event, run by the Books Are My Bag.com website, suggests for today the following: 'Best home in literature'

I could choose Bilbo's house in Lord of the Rings, I suppose, but I like to look out of the windows. There are many opulent homes in many of the novels I've read, but I'm not too keen on excess. Hundreds of different homes must've been described in the thousands of novels I've read over the last 50/60 years. But the one that sticks in my mind, possibly enhanced and romanticised by the passage of the years, is a house called 'Heronswood' (I think) in Howard Spring's novel, My Son, My Son. The house is set on the upper slope of a headland in Cornwall, with one side of the wooded land leading to the sea coast and the other leading down to a private quay on the River Fowey. So, this place has all the elements I would love in a house. It's surrounded, but not enclosed, by trees. It's in an elevated position. It's within walking distance of the sea, and it has a river frontage free from the danger of flooding. What else could a civilised human being require, except, perhaps, now I'm reaching that age when I feel the cold, a location in a warmer clime?
So, that's my choice. What's yours?

Friday, 10 October 2014

#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 10

So, what's the theme for today's Books Are My Bag event? Simply, 'One with an orange cover'. I'm
sure there's some deep-seated esoteric reason for this theme, but I can't work out what it might be.
No matter. I have books on my shelves that have orange covers. Sadly, a lot of them have faded with the passage of time and influence of sunlight on their spines.
I chose my boxed set of Graham Greene novels for this one. A great writer who managed to combine action and adventure with good writing. Just one of a multitude of authors who had a formative effect on my own writing. You'll see from the picture that some of the spines have faded rather more than others. I know not the reason and can only speculate that there is some difference in the quality of ink used by the publisher. But who really knows?
Anyway, it's the content of the books rather than the appearance of their covers that matters. Some really great stories here. If you've never read Graham Greene, you've missed a treat. But I'm sure most of these are still available. Have a go; treat yourself.

And, should you decide to tweet about this, please use the #tag #bookadayUK, won't you?

Monday, 29 September 2014

Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon, Reviewed.

Is this the precursor of much of today’s science fiction? The themes, ideas, stories he covers in this long work are multitude. I’ve read developments of these ideas in so many other works. First published in 1937, it is definitely a work of its time. The style, a narrative without dialogue, is dated and I suspect many new readers would find it difficult. But it is well worth the effort of reading the whole work.

The voyage, unexplained in terms of the ‘how?’, is more concerned with the ‘why?’ and deals with this question very well. Multiple imagined worlds are brought alive on the page, alien life is explored and many diverse creatures described.

The author examines the big themes: war, man’s self-destructive nature, religion, relationships, the natural world, and many more. He looks at potential mental development and attempts to get inside the minds of creatures with greater experience, higher intelligence, different moral stances than our own. There is an undercurrent of analogy to the world in which the book was written; a reflection of the concerns and worries engendered by the burgeoning aggression that would ultimately be World War II.

This is a massive work of intellect and imagination. Yes, there are limitations on the science posed by the lack of knowledge at the time of its writing, but there are also surprising references to ideas we still hold dear.

Those who enjoy science fiction for its ability to examine serious themes, to go beyond the guns and rockets and lasers of the gamers and star warriors, will find a lot to enjoy within these pages. Those who thrive on battling superships and military space academicians will be less excited. But this is a work that may well have been seminal for writers who followed. Within its pages are the seeds of many later stories by other writers, and I wonder how many of those seeds began to grow in the fertile brains of developing talent as they read this book.


I enjoyed it and happily recommend it to those who enjoy science fiction with something to say beyond the obvious.

Monday, 8 September 2014

Another 5 Star Review for Joinings.

5.0 out of 5 stars Religious Dystopia v Enlightenment, 7 Sep 2014
By 
Linda Acaster (Yorkshire, UK) - See all my reviews
Verified Purchase(What is this?)
This review is from: Joinings (A Seared Sky Book 1) (Kindle Edition)

Although this novel fits firmly into the Epic Fantasy subgenre, it would be an underestimation to view this first book as a mere quest story to right wrongs. It is an examination of dogma and believers of a religion, the Followers of Ytraa, physically split into three many generations before the opening of the trilogy. In ‘Joinings’ readers experience only two – those of the land of Muhnilahm ruled by a priesthood, and the land of Litkala ruled by a royal house. Yet for all their extolled differences and mutual mistrust they are reflections of the same, societies built on sex - publicly orchestrated and privately profligate - with emotional love, devotion and self-sacrifice funnelled only towards the fuelling of the dogma.

It is the ‘why?’ that I found fascinating. What had occurred in the far past to bring this about? Certainly the approaching Skyfire, with its lore of burning all unbelievers, is at its root. Had a group of survivors of a natural disaster instigated a method of rapid repopulation – at all costs? Certainly there are no old, or sick, or malformed, or merely ‘ugly’. Eugenics? There is mention on Muhnilahm of ‘The Point’, a desolate area where unfortunates are banished, or escape to rather than face a tortured death in the name of the religion. Yet within the society there are hardly any children to be seen or, for all the constant euphemistically-termed ‘frowking’, no pregnant women, and the Virgin Gifts, female despite the vaunted equality of the sexes, are exalted in the creed as an exchange of blood lines.

It is the quest to exchange Virgin Gifts – and to secure the release of one fraudulently chosen – that journeys the main groups of characters through lands of unbelievers and, because of these ongoing experiences, the tenets of their own religious dogma. Hypocrisy is emphasised early on as the fanatic Aglydron attempts to ‘free’ an exploited young woman by replacing her people’s indoctrination with his own without realising what he's doing.

Into this mix are dripped the personal stories, each with its own layered secrets: Tumalind, chosen falsely as a Virgin Gift who holds a striking likeness to the daughter of the High Priest; the high priest’s son and rebel leader, Aklon, an escapee on pain of death for refusing to embrace and promote the secrets of Ytraa when its history was revealed to him; Feldrark, son of the royal house, who professes undying love to gain the high priest's daughter, Jodisa, while hiding his true reasons. Some walk with veiled intellect, others with that veil gradually being stripped away by the experiences encountered. As the groups move into Book 2, and the mind-talkers manipulate and are manipulated, this layered tale promises much. Enjoy.