Lorina Stephens's Blog, page 43
January 29, 2014
Cloudbearer's Shadow: Book 4, The Rune Blades of Celi, releases March 1, 2014
available March 1, 2014print and eBook
from Five Rivers Publishing
and online booksellers worldwide
The fourth book in the Rune Blades of Celi series by Ann Marston, Cloudbearer's Shadow, releases in both print and eBook March 1, 2014.
This is a revised reprint of the original novel published in 1999.
In this novel the plight of the people of Celi continues with Gareth, who is the youngest and the last of the unfortunate lords of Skai. Called home from a lonely exile, he finds his father fallen into shadow. And worse.
For the Maedun conquest of Gareth's homeland is complete. The standing stones are silent, their webs of magic torn asunder. The Rune Blade called Bane has been lost forever to dark sorcery, and the somber riders rule the islands that were once home to Gareth's people.
Lavish with historical overtones of Scotland, Marston has created a series captivating to audiences both young and old, to lovers of historically inspired fantasy and epic adventure.
The cover is the work of Five Rivers' Art Director, Jeff Minkevics, complete with runic inscription translated from Scots Gaelic into Ogham.
The fifth and sixth books of the original two-trilogy series will release later in 2014, with a brand new installment scheduled for early 2015.
Cloudbearer's Shadow: Book 4, The Rune Blades of Celi,, releases March 1, 2014
available March 1, 2014print and eBook
from Five Rivers Publishing
and online booksellers worldwide
The fourth book in the Rune Blades of Celi series by Ann Marston, Cloudbearer's Shadow, releases in both print and eBook March 1, 2014.
This is a revised reprint of the original novel published in 1999.
In this novel the plight of the people of Celi continues with Gareth, who is the youngest and the last of the unfortunate lords of Skai. Called home from a lonely exile, he finds his father fallen into shadow. And worse.
For the Maedun conquest of Gareth's homeland is complete. The standing stones are silent, their webs of magic torn asunder. The Rune Blade called Bane has been lost forever to dark sorcery, and the somber riders rule the islands that were once home to Gareth's people.
Lavish with historical overtones of Scotland, Marston has created a series captivating to audiences both young and old, to lovers of historically inspired fantasy and epic adventure.
The cover is the work of Five Rivers' Art Director, Jeff Minkevics, complete with runic inscription translated from Scots Gaelic into Ogham.
The fifth and sixth books of the original two-trilogy series will release later in 2014, with a brand new installment scheduled for early 2015.
January 25, 2014
4-stars for Black Wine on Goodreads
The re-release of award-winning Black Wine, by Candas Jane Dorsey, is still captivating readers, as evident in this review on Goodreads.
available in print and eBook
from Five Rivers Publishing
and online booksellers worldwide
Becky's review Jan 20, 14
This book is a little hard to get into, but oh my god, am I glad I stuck with it! It is a little confusing in the beginning, with too little information given to the reader. Some of the language choices made the reading, especially at the beginning, awkward.Setting aside the negatives (of which there are few), a couple of chapter in, I was so hooked that I stayed up all night to finish the book. As the world of Black Wine becomes clear and the women's stories are pulled together I found myself enjoying the rich universe that Dorsey created. It is so worth a read, the dark and fascinating plot lines of the individual women are woven together so beautifully and her unique way of telling a story spanning several generations make this book worth a look at.like ∙ flagfollow reviews
available in print and eBookfrom Five Rivers Publishing
and online booksellers worldwide
Becky's review Jan 20, 14
This book is a little hard to get into, but oh my god, am I glad I stuck with it! It is a little confusing in the beginning, with too little information given to the reader. Some of the language choices made the reading, especially at the beginning, awkward.Setting aside the negatives (of which there are few), a couple of chapter in, I was so hooked that I stayed up all night to finish the book. As the world of Black Wine becomes clear and the women's stories are pulled together I found myself enjoying the rich universe that Dorsey created. It is so worth a read, the dark and fascinating plot lines of the individual women are woven together so beautifully and her unique way of telling a story spanning several generations make this book worth a look at.like ∙ flagfollow reviews
January 20, 2014
Old Growth, by Matt Hughes, releases March 1, 2014
ISBN 9781927400494, 6x9 Trade Paperback, 316 pgs, $25.99eISBN 9781927400500 $4.99
The long awaited sequel in the Sid Rafferty Thriller series by Matt Hughes, Old Growth, releases from Five Rivers Publishing March 1, 2014 in both print and eBook.
Hughes returns to British Columbia in this installment, where once more Sid Rafferty finds himself unwittingly caught in the cross-purposes of employers and events, this time involving environmentalist with interests not always as benevolent as they might appear, and some of them on the grey side of the law.
The moody cover is the work of Five Rivers' Art Director, Jeff Minkevics.
Matt HughesMatt Hughes has plied the trade of writing first as a journalist, then as a staff speechwriter to the Canadian Ministers of Justice and Environment. From 1979 until a few years ago he worked as a freelance corporate and political speechwriter in British Columbia. He is a former director of the Federation of British Columbia Writers and used to belong to Mensa Canada.
He has won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award, and has been shortlisted for the Aurora, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, and Derringer Awards.
While writing, Hughes and his wife house-sit in various locales around the globe. He can be found through his website.
Old Growth is now available for pre-order.
Format Print $25.99 CAD eBook $4.99 CAD
January 17, 2014
Making the cut in February 2014
In two weeks Five Rivers will once again open to submissions for a short period between February 1 and 14. This will be our annual submission period, an opportunity for authors to woo us with their proposals and sample chapters.
What's likely to pique our interest this year, whether writing for adult or younger audiences:
Historical Fiction. We're not looking for romance disguised as historical fiction. That will get you a quick rejection. Rather, we're looking for solidly researched and richly detailed Canadian history that forms the subject or backdrop for your story. Write about the Beothuk, the Salish, or the Icelandic settlers of Manitoba, the Doukhobors of the Prairies, of the Chinese labourers on the Trans-Canada railway. Tell us a story about the misery of l'Acadiens and Fortress Louisbourg, the fur traders slogging it up to Great Slave Lake and beyond. What about the Orkney men who went slightly mad manning trading posts along Hudson's Bay, the soldiers who came home after the wars, the women who remained behind, the women who went to war with the men? We have a wealth of history largely unexplored and without voice.Science Fiction. Looking for gritty, imaginative science fiction that breaks away from wrist-slashing post-apocalyptic near or far future. Instead of focusing on how the world has gone to hell in a hand-basket, amaze us with a story of technology gone right, of inventive adaptations, a world in which the skies are blue not grey with rain. Give us solutions, not more problems. Give us unlikely heroes, real people in impossible situations. First Nations authors. We're particularly interested in nurturing and showcasing First Nations authors who have a compelling story to tell and tell it in an engaging fashion, whether the story is fact or fiction. Canadian history and biographies. Whether you're writing about a flush of precious mineral ore in the hills, a sports legend, scientist or politician, we'd very much be interested in any non-fiction illuminating Canada's culture.As always, please be sure to follow our guidelines. Failure to do so won't impress us and likely result in rejection.
Good luck. And look forward to hearing from you.
What's likely to pique our interest this year, whether writing for adult or younger audiences:
Historical Fiction. We're not looking for romance disguised as historical fiction. That will get you a quick rejection. Rather, we're looking for solidly researched and richly detailed Canadian history that forms the subject or backdrop for your story. Write about the Beothuk, the Salish, or the Icelandic settlers of Manitoba, the Doukhobors of the Prairies, of the Chinese labourers on the Trans-Canada railway. Tell us a story about the misery of l'Acadiens and Fortress Louisbourg, the fur traders slogging it up to Great Slave Lake and beyond. What about the Orkney men who went slightly mad manning trading posts along Hudson's Bay, the soldiers who came home after the wars, the women who remained behind, the women who went to war with the men? We have a wealth of history largely unexplored and without voice.Science Fiction. Looking for gritty, imaginative science fiction that breaks away from wrist-slashing post-apocalyptic near or far future. Instead of focusing on how the world has gone to hell in a hand-basket, amaze us with a story of technology gone right, of inventive adaptations, a world in which the skies are blue not grey with rain. Give us solutions, not more problems. Give us unlikely heroes, real people in impossible situations. First Nations authors. We're particularly interested in nurturing and showcasing First Nations authors who have a compelling story to tell and tell it in an engaging fashion, whether the story is fact or fiction. Canadian history and biographies. Whether you're writing about a flush of precious mineral ore in the hills, a sports legend, scientist or politician, we'd very much be interested in any non-fiction illuminating Canada's culture.As always, please be sure to follow our guidelines. Failure to do so won't impress us and likely result in rejection.
Good luck. And look forward to hearing from you.
January 15, 2014
4-stars for Derryl Murphy's Wasps at the Speed of Sound
The following review appeared at LibraryThing recently.
available in print and eBook
from Five Rivers Publishing
select bookstores
and online booksellers worldwide
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.A collection of 11 apocalypsi (apocalypses?) - I think the thing that impressed me the most was how very different all the apocalypsi were, apart from a common environmental theme. Well written stories, and I enjoyed reading all excepting one (What Goes Around, which I just didn't get). My favourite is probably The History of Photography, but Blue Train, The Abbey Engine, and Those Graves of Memory also made pretty good impressions.Day's Hunt didn't overly appeal - it was pretty gruesome in fact - but still well-written. I have the feeling if I met most of the protaganists in the street I'd possibly cross it to avoid them, but somehow despite that Derryl Murphy made me care about almost all of them, leaving only the viewpoint character in the final story (Laura, from Summer's Humans) and everyone in the aforementioned What Goes Around that I was happy to leave.
Bottom line: Skip the foreword, go straight into the stories. A lot of interesting apocalypsi await you. (
)
| 
flagtarshaan | Jan 11, 2014 |
available in print and eBookfrom Five Rivers Publishing
select bookstores
and online booksellers worldwide
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.A collection of 11 apocalypsi (apocalypses?) - I think the thing that impressed me the most was how very different all the apocalypsi were, apart from a common environmental theme. Well written stories, and I enjoyed reading all excepting one (What Goes Around, which I just didn't get). My favourite is probably The History of Photography, but Blue Train, The Abbey Engine, and Those Graves of Memory also made pretty good impressions.Day's Hunt didn't overly appeal - it was pretty gruesome in fact - but still well-written. I have the feeling if I met most of the protaganists in the street I'd possibly cross it to avoid them, but somehow despite that Derryl Murphy made me care about almost all of them, leaving only the viewpoint character in the final story (Laura, from Summer's Humans) and everyone in the aforementioned What Goes Around that I was happy to leave.Bottom line: Skip the foreword, go straight into the stories. A lot of interesting apocalypsi await you. (
)
| flagtarshaan | Jan 11, 2014 |
January 13, 2014
Nate Hendley to appear at Leaside Public Library
Nate HendleyJanuary 15, 2014, 7:00 PM, author Nate Hendley will appear at the Leaside branch of the Toronto Public Library to read from and discuss his biography, Steven Truscott: Decades of Injustice. The book is an excellent overview of the tragic case of wrongfully convicted Ontario teenager, Steven Truscott.
available in print and eBookfrom Five Rivers Publishing
and online booksellers worldwideGiven Hendley's captivating nature and subject matter, this is sure to be a fascinating evening.
January 10, 2014
Review of Michell Plested's Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero
available in print, eBook, audiobookfrom online booksellers internationally
and select bookstoresOver at View from Valhalla there is a glowing review for Michell Plested's YA novel, Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero. Among other things, the reviewer says:
Odin’s recommendation: If you can afford this book, buy it. Yes, it is a kids book. Preteen. However, I think most adults will be able to draw correlations between Mik’s adventures and their own childhoods. Most young children will be able to retain their curiosity in Mik as he gallops through his many mini-adventures presented in small vignettes while retaining a cohesive larger story.For the full review visit View from Valhalla.
I truly enjoyed Mik Murdoch and was delighted with the way Mr. Plested presented this charming story. Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero is a sweet, enchanting, delightful adventure that should appeal to the child in all of us.
Plested is presently working on the revision of book two of the series: Mik Murdoch: The Power Within, slated for release later this year.
Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero is available in print, eBook and audiobook from Five Rivers, online booksellers globally, and select bookstores like The Game Shelf.
January 8, 2014
Interview with Michael R. Fletcher, author of 88
Michael R. Fletcher, author of 88, met up with Lorina Stephens on Google+ to discuss his gripping SF novel and treat fans to a reading.
January 6, 2014
4-star review for A Quiet Place
available in print and eBookfrom Five Rivers Publishing
and booksellers worldwide
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.It's impressive to find an author that knows exactly when to end a short story. Far too often, stories drag on past a natural conclusion or end abruptly, leaving me unsatisfied. The supernatural nature of these shorts appeals to me, and the plots are fun and inventive. All-in-all, definitely worth a read. ( )
| flagcartomancer | Jan 3, 2014 |
