iAi Book of the Month: When Shadows Fall

This month's featured iAi book is...   

When Shadows Fall by Bruce Blake 

A hundred hundred seasons have turned since the Goddess banished the Small Gods to the sky, leaving the land to mankind alone. 

For Prince Teryk, life behind the castle walls is boring and uneventful until he stumbles upon an arcane scroll in a long-forgotten chamber. The parchment speaks of Small Gods, the fall of man, and the kingdom's savior—the firstborn child of the rightful king. It's his opportunity to prove himself to his father, the king, and assure his place in history. All he needs to do is find the man from across the sea—a man who can't possibly exist—and save mankind.

But ancient magic has been put in motion by a mysterious cult determined to see the Small Gods reborn. Powerful forces clash, uncaring for the lives of mortals in their struggle to prevent the return of the banished ones, or aid in their rebirth.

Named in a prophecy or not, what chance does a cocky prince who barely understands the task laid before him stand in a battle with the gods?

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Bruce Blake lives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. When pressing issues like shovelling snow and building igloos don't take up his spare time, Bruce can be found taking the dog sled to the nearest coffee shop to work on his short stories and novels.

Actually, Victoria, B.C. is only a couple hours north of Seattle, Wash., where more rain is seen than snow, and the dog is too small to pull a sled. Since snow isn't really a pressing issue, Bruce spends more time trying to remember to leave the "u" out of words like "colour" and "neighbour" then he does shovelling (and darn those double l's). The father of two, Bruce is also the trophy husband of a burlesque diva.

Bruce has been writing since grade school but it wasn't until a few years ago he set his sights on becoming a full-time writer. Since then, his first short story, "Another Man's Shoes" was published in the Winter 2008 edition of Cemetery Moon, another short, "Yardwork", was made into a podcast in Oct., 2011 by Pseudopod and his first Icarus Fell novel, On Unfaithful Wings, was published to Kindle in Dec., 2011. The second Icarus Fell novel, All Who Wander Are Lost, was released in July, 2012, and the third, Secrets of the Hanged Man, in July 2013. Sept., 2013 saw the publication of Blood of the King, the first book in the Khirro's Journey epic fantasy trilogy, followed by second book, Spirit of the King, in Dec., 2012, and the third, Heart of the King in Jan., 2013. He has plans for more Icarus novels, several stand alones, and several more books in the Small Gods series.

You can learn more about Bruce and his books by following thses links:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BruceBlakeWrites 
Twitter: @bruceablake 
www.bruceblake.wordpress.com 
bruceblake@hotmail.ca  

Book Review: What Happened to Jory and Other Dark Departures

An anthology of short stories ranging in length from a few pages to novelette, What Happened to Jory and Other Dark Departures by Gary R. Henry is a fun and well-written read.

The titular story is jam-packed with backwoods creepiness and more than delivers on author Henry's promise of "dark departures." Roth's Machine is a dread-infused work of sci-fi that chronicles a rogue scientist's journey to "the other side" and is a true nail-biter.

All of the shorts are enjoyable but I have to say my favorite is A Barbarian in Rome, the novelette-length work of historical fiction at the end of the collection. Here, the author takes us back to Imperial Rome where Cugirtha, a captured barbarian warrior turned slave/gladiator, must use his wits and unmatched combat skills to survive in the brutal world of ancient Rome. The author promises Cugirtha's adventures will continue in a full-length novel and I'm going to hold him to that as the writing is superb.

My only complaint about the collection is the drab and uninteresting cover. I think a re-do is called for in this instance as the cover does not reflect the high quality of the stories contained within. Don't let this deter you from giving it a read, though, as What Happened to Jory and Other Dark Departures is highly recommended.

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Gary R. Henry, "Grew up at the beach in Virginia. Discovered the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Rockies in college, where I studied journalism and theater. Honed my writing craft in the military as a "Navy Journalist." Taught journalism at the Defense Information School. Discovered spelunking while stationed in Nashville, Tenn. Love the AP Stylebook. Retired from the Navy, live in Lawrence, Kansas with spouse Karen Ann and dogs Sophie Jones and Lambchop. Write marketing copy and technical for a manufacturer of construction products. Enjoy running all day and night on trails in woods. Wrote my first novel a couple months after discovering Smashwords. Now living happily ever after."

You can find out more about Gary by visiting his Back of the Pack blog.

Littlest Pet Shop: Season Two Starts Tomorrow!

And by "tomorrow," I mean Saturday, Nov. 2nd. Check your local listings...

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Official Trailer

I am so looking forward to this...

12-13-13

Littlest Pet Shop Back in One Month!

Just finished my fourth script for Season 3. It's a privilege to write for such a fun show. Doubly so since they really seem to like my stuff. Season 2 starts on Nov.2 so set them DVRs!

iAi Book of the Month: The Bones of the Earth

This month's featured iAi book is...  

 

The Bones of the Earth  by Scott Bury

The Dark Age. Western Rome has been shattered by waves of invaders. The earth itself seems to have turned on the remaining Eastern Empire: rising seas drown cities, a year of clouds destroys crops brings famine, and a new plague kills a third of the population, including the Emperor Justinian himself.

Far from the Empire’s borders, rejected by his own people, Javor heads for Constantinople, centre of civilization, encountering more raiders and mysteries — like Danisa, a girl crucified naked in the middle of the ancient, crumbling Roman highway. He rescues her, but she has a strange fascination with his heirlooms. And when she disappears again, Javor quest changes: what is the link between the girl he loves, his enemies and the two items he inherited from his great-grandfather?

The answer, just out of reach, lies in the nature of the earth itself.

Click on the book's cover to visit its Amazon.com page.

 

Scott Bury is a journalist, editor and writer living in Ottawa. His articles have been published in newspapers and magazines in Canada, the US, UK and Australia. His first published novel was The Bones of the Earth, followed a year later by the erotic comedy One Shade of Red. Other published fiction includes two related short stories, “Dark Clouds” and “What Made Me Love You?” His first published fiction, “Sam, the Strawb Part,” is a short story; all proceeds from its sales go to a charity for children with autism-spectrum disorders. Scott Bury was born in Winnipeg, grew up in Thunder Bay, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University. He has two sons, an orange cat and a loving wife who puts up with a lot. You can read more of Scott’s writing at Written Words and Scott’s Travel Blog, and on his website, The Written Word. Follow him on Twitter @ScottTheWriter. 

Blog: http://scottswrittenwords.blogspot.com 

iAi Book of the Month: American Goddesses

This month's featured iAi book is American Goddesses by Gary Henry. 

When two small-town women find themselves with nearly unlimited powers of mind and body, their lives get complicated. Things turn nasty as a shadowy organization attempts to use Meagan and Trish for their own evil ends, and destroy them, their town and the USA in the process.

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About Gary Henry: 

"Grew up at the beach in Virginia. Discovered the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Rockies in college, where I studied journalism and theater. Honed my writing craft in the military as a "Navy Journalist." Taught journalism at the Defense Information School.

Discovered spelunking while stationed in Nashville, Tenn. Love the AP Stylebook. Retired from the Navy, live in Lawrence, Kansas with spouse Karen Ann and dogs Sophie Jones and Lambchop.

Write marketing copy and technical for a manufacturer of construction products. Enjoy running all day and night on trails in woods. Wrote my first novel a couple months after discovering Smashwords. Now living happily ever after."
 
You can learn more about Gary and his books by visiting his blog, Honest Indie Book Reviews.

Click on the iAi Book of the Month tab on the top of this page to discover additional featured books from previous months. 

Click on the book's cover to visit its Amazon.com page.