Lorina Stephens's Blog, page 45

Gifts for gardeners and foodies

For the gardener or foodie on your listmight we suggest the followingin print or eBook The Organic Home Garden
by Patrick Lima and John Scanlan
Stonehouse Cooks
by Lorina Stephens

Gifts for young readers from 9 to 19

For young readers on your list
The Runner and the Wizard
by Dave Duncan Out of Time
by D.G. Laderoute Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero
by Michell Plested
Type
by Alicia Hendley

Gifts for short story lovers

For the lover of horror, two great collectionsby J.W. Schnarr













For the lover of classic Canadian SFand a deeper look at an author's inspirationtwo inspiring readsby H.A. Hargreaves













And for the devotee of speculative short fictionSusan Forest's collection paired with Derryl Murphy's or Lorina Stephens'provocative, great reads all


Or for just plain whacky, weird and just a little bit evil

The Runner and the Wizard, 5-star LibraryThing review

Reader reviews are now coming in from a recent LibraryThing promotion Five Rivers offered for Dave Duncan's new YA fantasy novelette, The Runner and the Wizard. This reviewer from Lebanon had this to say:

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Set in ancient Scotland just before 1000AD this story is one of a young man coming into his own. Ivor Bracken, ninth son and runner for Thane Carrack, is sent to bring back the wizard Rorie the Sellsword to help his thane. It is a story of adventure, intellect, puzzles, intrigue and derring-do. Ivor is a young man who is coming into his own. He has big dreams, is able to memorize and carry messages easily and is able to think outside the box. This is a book that is targeted for YA audiences but kept me interested throughout the entire story even wanting to read what would happen next. The characters were believable and interesting and the plot delightful. I felt I was tired and hungry on the mountain path with Ivor and later filled with pride after he had won a race. This is a book I would recommend to anyone. There is no violence or foul language. I applaud Dave Duncan for writing such an interesting tale! (  )    |   flagCathyGeha | Dec 8, 2013 |  available in print and eBook
from Five Rivers Publishing
and online booksellers worldwide

Gifts for crime fans

This holiday season you might consider some perfect pairings from Five Rivers for your gift-giving, in either print or eBook.
For the lover of true-crime stories, might we suggest... Al Capone: Chicago's King of Crime
by Nate Hendley Dutch Schultz: the brazen beer baron of New York
by Nate Hendley

Crystal Death: Methamphetamine, North America's #1 Killer Drug
by Nate Hendley Steven Truscott: Decades of Injustice
by Nate Hendley

Out of Time, by D.G. Laderoute, LibaryThing 5-star review

available in print and eBook
from Five Rivers Publishing
and online booksellers worldwide
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.One of my favourite books when I was young was a collection of Aboriginal stories about Glooscap and his friends. I learned a little about Native spirituality and loved the animal spirits and their antics and interactions. Out of Time is a wonderful YA story that reminded me of that old, lovely book. It is the story of two boys, one an Objibway, alone on his vision quest in a time long past, and the other a modern-day boy struggling to find his way in a new town, newly bereft of his mother and trying to get on with life with his father and sister. How they meet, the adventures they have, the relationship they develop and the challenge they overcome makes for an exciting page-turner. (  )    |   flagkatylit | Dec 6, 2013 | 

Wasps at the Speed of Sound garners 4-stars at LibraryThing

Another LibraryThing review, this for Derryl Murphy's edgy collection of short, speculative fiction, Wasps at the Speed of Sound. available from Five Rivers
and online booksellers worldwide
print and eBook This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Very thought-provoking and entertaining stories. Most of them have an underlying environmental element to them. My favorite story is Those Graves of Memory-about a boy, memories and a very distant future. Others go from a human who has a chance to leave the earth and save himself and possibly humanity or stay and die, to changes in the human body on an alien planet far from earth. These stories are well told with characters solid enough for a short story. The good variety is one reason I read short stories. I received this free as an ebook through a Library Thing giveaway for an honest review. (  )    |   flagslvie50 | Dec 5, 2013 | 

LibraryThing 4-stars for Dave Duncan's The Runner and the Wizard

Plainly this reader likes Dave Duncan's newest YA novelette. available through Five Rivers
and online booksellers worldwide
print and eBook
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.The Runner and the Wizard by Dave Duncan. Reviewed from an e-book received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program. Ivor is the youngest of a large clan of bossy older siblings. Wanting to do something without brotherly oversight, he volunteers to carry a message for his thane to a holy man. Neither Ivor nor the Thane get what they expected. A neat little coming-of-age story. Recommended. (  )    |   flagtardis | Dec 6, 2013 | 

Susan MacGregor interviews D.G. Laderoute

Five Rivers' author (The Tattooed Witch), and editor at OnSpec Magazine, Susan MacGregor, recently interviewed D.G. Laderoute (Out of Time) over on her blog at Suzenyms. Thought our fans might enjoy reading that.

Both novels can be purchased directly from Five Rivers, or through online booksellers worldwide in both print and eBook.

University of Lethbridge features their own

The University of Lethbridge presents an excellent video of three of their own professors' recent book releases, including Five Rivers' John Poulsen, and his book Shakespeare for Readers' Theatre: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Midsummer Night's Dream.