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Monday, February 28, 2011

Mary Victoria - Samiha's Song Review

Mary Victoria – Chronicles of the Tree #2 Samiha's Song

Tymon leaves his new home and his beloved Samiha to complete his Grafting studies with the famous Oracle of Nur. But Tymon and fellow traveller Jedda find that locating the Oracle in a corrupt and lawless city run by pirates and slave-drivers is no easy matter.
Samiha′s fate has been predicted by Grafters down the ages. When she is captured in Cherk Harbour and charged with grand heresy, there seems to be no way out ... but Tymon does not believe in fate and is desperate to save her lift.
As chaos hums through the Tree, survival revolves on the fate of just one ...

What can I say about this book?

I can only tell you the truth - that this book is awesome. Mary Victoria has really done a fantastic job on book two. It has action, romance, sacrifice, adventure and intrigue. You can see the journey that Tymon and Samiha take as they are separated at the beginning.
Each character has their part to play in the greater tale and it weaves together really well. The characters were well written and engaging and Mary makes you feel for their fate.

There are twists and turns all through out the book that you just don't see coming. When I got the end of the book I was like OMG.

I would recommend this series whole heartedly – Samiha's Song is a vast improvement over Tymon's Flight (Which was a great book as well)

We have signed copies in the store if any one is interested – you should be!!!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Manga

The Power of the Shaman!
Earthquakes. Fires. Floods. Tornados. The elements of Azeroth are out of control, unleashing devastating natural disasters that threaten to tear Azeroth asunder. Muln Earthfury, the shaman leader of the secretive Earthen Ring, attempts to pacify the elements but his pleas fall on deaf ears.


A Match Made in Hell
When the seal for Nora's form is released he becomes Cerberus, the vicious dog of disaster. But Nora can only use magic when Kazuma grants him permission...and Kazuma doesn't grant permission easily. The Dark Liege wants the two to team up and crack down on renegade demon factions in the human world, but how can they do that if they can't even get along?


The Ultimate Fanbook for Bleach
This indispensable guide takes you behind the scenes of the shadowy world of the Soul Reapers! Read all about the illustrious Thirteen Court Guard Companies, study for the grueling entrance examination, get fighting tips from a master, take the personality quiz and much, much more! This book includes 66 pages of full-color manga spun off from the original Bleach.


The Ultimate Fan Guide to Vampire Knight
Can't get enough of Vampire Knight? Delve into the world of your favourite vampires with this official fanbook filled with insider information about the hit series. Includes a Cross Academy student ID card, glossy color pages, character design sketches, storyboards and an exclusive interview with Vampire Knight creator Matsuri Hino!

Get the Inside Scoop on Bleach!
Get the inside scoop on Bleach! This profile books contains extensive information on the characters and story lines from Bleach vols. 1-22. It also includes exclusive stickers, a poster, bonus manga, the original Bleach one shot, and an interview with Tite Kubo! Come explore the world of Bleach!

Ichigo Kurosaki never asked for the ability to see ghosts--he was born with the gift. When his family is attacked by a Hollow--a malevolent lost soul--Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, dedicating his life to protecting the innocent and helping the tortured spirits themselves find peace. Find out why Tite Kubo's Bleach has become an international manga smash-hit!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

March New Releases

Destiny awaits Bianca and Lucas . . .  


Through darkness, the heart will find a way
A mysterious artefact leads Jarrod back to Gaela′s lost south-ern continent where he discovers a sentient being like him-self. Ruthless and extremely dangerous, this other version has captured Janis Richter.Luka Paree and Janis′ daughter, Ruby, are playing a dangerous game with Earth′s dictatorship. They have laid their escape plans, but the hunters are closing in. If ASSIST discovers the portal to Gaela, all is lost ...


Midkemia's fifth and final Riftwar - the devastating Chaoswar - explodes in the opening volume of Raymond E. Feist's spectacular new epic fantasy trilogy of magic, conflict, and world-shattering peril. A Kingdom Besieged is a breathtaking adventure that brings back Pug - first introduced in Feist's classic debut novel, Magician, and now Midkemia's most powerful sorcerer - who faces a major magical cataclysm that forces him to question everything he's ever held as true and dear.including the loyalty of his beloved son Magnus. The Chaoswar promises to be the crowning achievement in the three decades-long career of a New York Times bestselling master fantasist who rules the sword and sorcery universe along with Terry Goodkind, George R. R. Martin, and Terry Brooks.

 CJ Wishart is a hardworking country girl with a heart of gold but a life that can be tough.  Her job as a wool classer is back-breaking, her family life is a disaster and, after a string of dating debacles, she's put men in the too-hard basket.

When strong, handsome Lindsay arrives on the scene as their new shearer, CJ can't help but take notice.  They have an undeniable spark, but can she handle the complications and potential heartbreak of falling in love?

With help from her friend and an endearing old farmer, CJ learns that when you stay true to yourself and open your heart, anything is possible.

Set in the colourful world of the shearing sheds, this is a lively and uniquely Australian story of love overcoming adversity.


The Clifton Chronicles is Jeffrey Archer's most ambitious work in four decades as an international bestselling author.
The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the chilling words, 'I was told that my father was killed in the war'. But it will be another twenty years before Harry discovers how his father really died, which will only lead him to question: who was his father?
Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who worked in Bristol docks, or the first born son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line?
Only Time will Tell covers the years from 1920 to 1940, and includes a cast of memorable characters that The Times has compared to The Forsyte Saga. Volume one takes us from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take up a place at Oxford, or join the navy and go to war with Hitler's Germany.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Gift Card Update







Just a quick update - at the moment we are'nt accepting any gift vouchers. We advise that our customers hold on to them for a couple of week to see how the wind blows. Sorry for the inconvience caused by this!! There are a few glitches we have to work out and we ask for patience from our customers, but in the long run it will be business as usual.
If you have any enquires about the gift card situation then please call 03 96004922 or 03 92853400
 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tarran's Character Blog


I will admit to it - I am a writer. I have written a MS and what I have done, is made a blog for my work and characters. If your interested in reading my trials and tribulations, bit and pieces of the novel itself. If you want to give some good advise then come over to Chronicle of the Demon War

Friday, February 18, 2011

REDgroup Angus & Robertson/Borders News

Hi all,

Just a quick update on what everyone has been hearing about the REDgroup going into voluntary administration. We don't really know much at this point in time. I know it is plastered all over the news and all, but we won't know anything for a little bit. Don't fret though, we are open and ready for business. The only thing we can't do at the moment is sell gift cards - though we are redeeming them. 

There has been a lot of controversy about the redeeming of the giftcards at the moment and customer has every right to be upset and angry - but spare a thought for us (staff). We get told absolutely nothing until the very last moment. We are trying to work with our customer's with their vouchers - trying our hardest to make it so they are not charged double the price. It is all up in the air for us - but we are working on things. Read this page if you want to know more



There are a lot of factors as to why things are like this which Bookseller/Publisher Mag has written up here if you would like to go have a look.

Just a few to list are:

  • Among the former: no stimulus package payments for Christmas 2010, a strong Australian dollar, overseas online competition (helped slightly by lack of GST on overseas purchases), move by consumers to online purchasing whether driven by price or not
  • 2010 was the first year in its 10-year history in Australia that Nielsen BookScan reported a decline in book sales by mainstream retailers
  • Anecdotal evidence in the local book industry suggests around 10-15% (possibly more) of book sales to Australian consumers are from overseas online retailers and the current strong Australian dollar and visibility of price differentials mean this proportion is growing
All these things hurt us and as we are a independently owned franchise we just can't compete with the supermarket chain stores. They sell their books at below cost and they buy their stock at such low discount that we just can't compete. They have other stock in which they make up the loss of profit by selling books for under the cost price at which WE buy them. As we can't order from overseas as we would like, because there are the laws tying our hands it make it difficult to make money to stay open. 
If we can't stay open then where are you going to get your books from? Online you say - yes you can and probably will go online as it is so much cheaper but think of this when you do buy online, you are not supporting Australia. All your money is going to the US and the UK. 

E-books are a part of our lives now and they are not necessarily the enemy. People who love an E-book generally buy a hard copy of it for their shelves, just like people who download on I tunes - they are more likely to go buy the cd of it as well.  We can deal with E-books and make a place for them in the stones and mortar stores. It is the overseas buying that is killing the book industry.

If book stores go, where are you going to meet your favourite authors? How are you going to have events? How can Australian authors make a break into the Australian market if the Australian publishers are not going to take a risk on them? This not only affects chains such as Angus & Robertson and Borders - it affects ALL the publishers in Australia! Where are they going to showcase the next author like Matthew Reilly, Fiona McIntosh, Monica McInerney, Peter Temple, Peter FitzSimmons? 

Yes the prices are dearer, we all know that. Do you know what your paying for? You are paying for service, your paying for the feeling of being able to talk with people who know their books. I know there are a LOT of book stores out there that are crap and unfriendly, but by people refusing to support their local stores they are shutting down the book stores (like ours) that are worth the time and trouble to come in. We are all feeling the pinch as times become harder, we need to survive as well.

Our store is a family owned franchise, if we fail it won't be our support office that feels it. It will be the two individuals that poured their savings into buying the store. We can't price match as we simply can NOT afford to, not because we don't want to. 

So we will weather this storm and see how it turns out. If there is any more info we will post it up on facebook, twitter or the blog. For now we are open and ready for business as usual - we will see you in store!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

'Angel by L A Weatherly' Review by Tamara


Angel has to be one of the most creative books i have read for a while. L A Weatherly has put a twist on what we know and think about angels. Most people consider angels to be angelic peace bringers, but in the new book Angel they are considered a menace and need to be disposed of fast, why, because the angels cause disease and in the long run death by feeding from humans auraus. Once you have been "Touched" by and angel, you are never the same. This book is well worth reading, and once you start you are hooked!

Mem Fox Signing Tomorrow

Mem Fox


Will be signing copies of all her books including Possum Magic, Where is the Green Sheep & Let's Count Goats.

At Angus & Robertson Edwardstown
On Friday 18th February at 12.00 noon

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Voyager giveaway

If you head over to the VoyagerOnline blog they are giving away a copy of Paul Garrety's 'The Seventh Wave'

Win a copy of this book!
Take a thief, a witch and a journo.
Then … strange things happen.
Especially to Callum who, after breaking into a house is caught up in a terrifying occult world. He soon finds himself charged with protecting an ancient artifact from a deadly army of assassins, vampires and sorcerous Robes who are all desperate to recover it. Callum must work out who he can trust in a world he no longer recognizes.
There can only be one winner. And if Callum loses, so do we all.
For your chance to win one of ten copies of The Seventh Wave tell us in 25 words or less:
If one ancient artifact could ‘find’ its way into your possession – what would it be and why?
Leave a comment to enter. The competition is only open to Australian residents, but we'd still love to hear from you if you live elsewhere. Competition ends at 5pm on Friday 25 February. We'll post the winner's name and entry on the blog.

Finding Destiny - Jean Johnson


Four brand-new novellas, from the national bestselling author of the Sons of Destiny series.

The slave...Chanson, a privileged Arbran dyara, discovers an unexpected connection with the excitingly different Eduor, a bracingly sexy war-slave who desires his freedom.

The knight...The Arbran diplomat Sir Zeilas must turn the Guildaran people from former enemies into allies. But in the case of their intriguingly beautiful leader, perhaps something more intimate is in order.

The mage...Gabria never expected to become a Guildaran envoy to Aurul. But the most stunning surprise was what waited for her in His Majesty's winter palace-and why.

The pirate...Captain Ellett would do anything for his king-even hunt down the pirates plaguing the Jenodan Isles. But he never counted on the seductive powers of the pirate's captain-beautiful, tempestuous, and impossible to resist.

Primal


Four all-new stories of primitive desire- with a never-before- published novella of the Breeds.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh returns to her sensual world of the Breeds in an all-new novella that explores just how savage, and how far, a man is willing to go in the name of desire. Plus three other stories of irresistible passions from three masters of hot paranormal romance.


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Chung Kuo #1 Son of Heaven – David Wingrove

Chung Kuo #1 Son of Heaven – David Wingrove DUE APRIL 2011

In the future the world is experiencing another Dark Age. Every countries economy crashed in 2043 and it destroyed Western civilization. Twenty years later, Jake Reed – A Login for a company called Hinton. He dealt in Futures in the Datscape, is on the run and is in hiding with his teenage son.

The Chinese are the only ones who seem to have taken a step forward on the road to recovery and they want to bring the world under control.

This was a good book but very confusing to start off with. I felt that the writing was a little fragmented and hard to understand. Then when you get your mind around the concepts that the author is trying to get across, you start to enjoy it. I wanted to find out more about the world Jake lives in and how it collapsed.

The author has a good grasp of descriptive language. It brought the book alive with some of the things the characters smelled, tasted and saw.

You get to see the good and the bad sides of human nature, how we would react when our world is gone and we have to start anew. Also you get to see racism up close and personal with the views of certain characters of the book.

I particularly liked General Jiang, he had a terrible job to do – but he did it with honour.

I think this will be a great read for people who enjoyed Windup Girl and Sherri S Tepper fans.

Troubletwisters - Sean William & Garth Nix Review

TroubleTwisters – Sean Williams & Garth Nix DUE MAY 2011

Both Australian authors, Sean and Garth team up to write a brand new series for tweens Two twins are thrust into a new world in this exciting series. After a force of nature destroys their home, Jack and Jaide are sent to live with their mysterious Grandma X. There they are forced to confront an evil they never imagined and learn things about themselves that will change their lives forever.

I really enjoyed this book, I think it is a great start to a new tale. Garth and Sean have done a wonderful job at merging their two writing talents to create a seamless story. From the start there is action, intrigue and humour. Both Jaide and Jack are well written and you genuinely feel for them. Grandma X and her son, the twins father Hector, are mysterious and the writers give you just enough information to make you want to find out more of the history behind the events happening.

One of my favourite characters was Aristotle – Ari the cat. I liked his spunk.

I think that this book will appeal to fans of Garth's – Keys to the Kingdom series and also Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series.

Very engaging and you really can't tell where one writer starts and the other leaves. I can't wait to read the next book.

 

Helen Lowe interviews Mary Victoria

An Interview with Mary Victoria, Author of "Samiha's Song", with Giveaway

Tymon's Flight author, Mary Victoria, is interviewed on Helen Lowe's " ... on Anything, Really" blog today, talking about the newly released Samiha's Song (HarperVoyager), the second in her Chronicles of the Tree trilogy---and discusses the characters, the expansion in focus, and the ideas behind both this new book and the series.

And to celebrate the release of Samiha's Song, Mary is giving away a signed book set of both Tymon's Flight and Samiha's Song, to be drawn from those who comment on the interview.

To read the interview, click here.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Friday, February 11, 2011

Writing strong women characters - Helen Lowe at Mary Victoria's blog

The Heir of Night author Helen Lowe  guest posts with fellow SFF novelist Mary Victoria today, as part of a series on  "Writing Strong Women in SFF"—and according to Helen it's "All About Character":

"For me, the key to writing strong women characters lies in the words "writing" and "character." As authors, we must focus on writing characters who are credible and real ..."

To read the rest of what Helen has to say, click here: http://maryvictoria.net/?p=854

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Jo Nesbo - Harry Hole #6 The Leopard



Harry Hole is back and this time he's back from very, very far away. Another gripping instalment in this prize-winning and acclaimed series by the internationally #1 bestselling crime writer in Norway.

Two women are found murdered in Oslo - both of them have drowned in their own blood. What mystifies the police is that the puncture wounds in the victims' faces have been caused from the inside of their mouths. Kaja Solness from Homicide is sent to Hong Kong to track down a man who is the Oslo Police Department's only specialist on serial killings. The severely addicted detective has tried to disappear in the vast, anonymous city. He is on the run and haunted by his last case, the woman he loves, and creditors alike. His name is Harry Hole.

Snookie - A Shore Thing



It's a summer to remember . . . at the Jersey Shore.

Giovanna "Gia" Spumanti and her cousin Isabella "Bella" Rizzoli are going to have the sexiest summer ever. While they couldn't be more different—pint-size Gia is a carefree, outspoken party girl and Bella is a tall, slender athlete who always holds her tongue—for the next month they're ready to pouf up their hair, put on their stilettos, and soak up all that Seaside Heights, New Jersey, has to offer: hot guidos, cool clubs, fried Oreos, and lots of tequila.

So far, Gia's summer is on fire. Between nearly burning down their rented bungalow, inventing the popular "tan-tags" at the Tantastic Salon where she works, and rescuing a shark on the beach, she becomes a local celebrity overnight. Luckily, she meets the perfect guy to help her keep the flames under control. Firefighter Frank Rossi is exactly her type: big, tan, and Italian. But is he tough enough to handle Gia when things really heat up?

Bella is more than ready for some fun in the sun. Finally free of her bonehead ex-boyfriend, she left home in Brooklyn with one goal in mind: hooking up with a sexy gorilla for a no-strings-attached summer fling. In no time, she lands a job leading "Beat Up the Beat" dance classes at a local gym, and is scooped up by Beemer-driving, preppy Bender Newberry. Only problem: Bella can't get her romantic and ripped boss Tony "Trouble" Troublino out of her head. He's relationship material. Suddenly, Bella's not sure what she wants.

The cousins soon realize that for every friend they make on the boardwalk, there are also rivals, slummers, and frenemies who will do anything to ruin their summer—and try their relationship. Before July ends, the bonds of family and friendship will be stretched to the breaking point. Will the haters prevail, or will Gia and Bella find love at the Shore?

For everyone who loves MTV's hit reality show, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi's sweet, funny, and sexy novel perfectly captures the heat, the energy, the fun, and the drama of Jersey Shore.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Kevin J Anderson Guest Blog - What Science Fiction means to me?

The great Kevin J Anderson, author of books such as Dune: Prelude to Dune, Saga of Seven Suns, Terra Incognita and many many more fantastic novels, has kindly written us a blog post on what writing science fiction means to him.



Escaping Into Science Fiction

I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin in the US, a rural area with farms, big red barns and tall grain silos . . . and nothing interesting to do.  Even as a little kid I was enamored with watching science fiction movies (the Saturday afternoon Sci-Fi Cinema that broadcast old black-and-white science fiction movies with silly special effects and rubber bug-eyed monsters that didn’t look at all silly to me at my wide-eyed age).  At the age of five, I remember seeing the George Pal version of The War of the Worlds, and it scared the daylights out of me and had a profound effect, igniting my imagination and making me ponder other worlds, other races (not all of which wanted to invade the Earth).

Our town was too small to have a library of its own, but was serviced by a Bookmobile, a sort of bus/truck combination filled with books that traveled from place to place, making a weekly circuit so that rural communities had access to a steady flow of books.  I went to the Bookmobile as often as possible; at my age, I was relegated to the children’s section, which I finished quickly enough, and soon turned my eyes to their shelf or two of science fiction.  When I tried to check out an “adult” book, however—Dolphin Island by Arthur C. Clarke—the stern librarian (who looked as if she went to a mortician rather than a beauty parlor) informed me in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t allowed to check out any of the grown-up books because I wasn’t ready for them; apparently, her minimal customer-service abilities had disqualified her from a position in a more stable library (i.e., one not on wheels).  I was devastated; this was my only access to new books, and I had set my sights on Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke.  Hearing of this, however, my mom—bless her!—marched me right back down to the Bookmobile, checked out the books under her own name, and lectured the mobile-librarian that I was allowed to check out any books I wanted.


Around that time, my parents found an ad in the Sunday newspaper supplement advertising a home library of classics of literature “in handsome paperback format”—one hundred books for the princely sum of $25.  The Airmont Classics Library…rather poor-quality paperbacks with cheap paper, inept cover paintings, and microscopic print.  It was wonderful!  I remember the day the boxes were delivered to our door, and we spent the afternoon unpacking books, looking with delight on title after title, chosen by the staff of the Airmont Library as the greatest works ever written.  It was as if treasure chests had fallen from the sky.  Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens…those held no interest for a 9-year-old.  But War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, Frankenstein, A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Master of the World, Treasure Island, Stories of Edgar Allan Poe.  It opened the whole world.
For a young man who lived far from any movie theater, with 3-4 television stations available if the antenna on the roof was positioned just right, surrounded by rolling corn and soybean fields and a list of home chores, lawnmowing, garden work…the works of science fiction and fantasy took me away to adventurous and interesting places, exotic worlds.  Places far from home.

When I was ten, my mom took me on an expedition to a two-story shopping mall (my first ever) in the big city (of Milwaukee), and we entered a B. Dalton, Bookseller.  Though it was nothing like current huge book superstores, it was many times the size of any library I had ever seen, with a whole section devoted solely to science fiction.  The bookstore clerk suggested a few authors who might be appropriate, and my mom told me I could pick out two paperbacks and she would buy them.  Big mistake.  I froze: How could I pick only two?  I wanted to read everything there.  I went back and forth, picking up one after another, reading the back-cover summary, then trying another one and another one, then going back to an earlier one.  My sister, a few years younger, was bored to tears (she wanted to go clothes shopping…talk about boring!)  After an hour or so, I finally chose Andre Norton’s Daybreak: 2250 A.D. and H.G. Wells’s Star-Begotten.

Years later, when I was in a creative writing class in college, still in Wisconsin, I submitted science fiction short stories for critique while the other students turned in “creative writing class” stories (plotless things about characters discussing their crumbling relationships over the breakfast table).  In exasperation, the professor (who had published a single novel and took it as a point of pride that he was five years late on his next novel deadline) asked me, “Anderson, why don’t you write about anything real?  Why not do a story about a young man who grew up in a farming town who’s working his way through college by working in a restaurant?”  The suggestion appalled me.  “Because I live that every day.  Why would I want to write about a dull, regular life when there are so many more interesting stories to tell and places to describe?”  I don’t think he understood my answer any more than I understood his question.
That what science fiction has always been to me—not just lighthearted escape fiction, but genuine escape fiction, a way for me to get away from the mundane and to explore the wonders of the galaxy in my imagination, whether or not I lived in a small, humdrum town.  By now I have escaped that small town, but I haven’t even come close to the boundaries of what’s possible in science fiction.

--Kevin J. Anderson
Twitter: TheKJA


Kevin is celebrating the release of his latest novel 'Hellhole' which was co-authored by Brian Herbert who is the son of Frank Herbert - Author of the Dune series.

Kevin J. Anderson has written twenty-nine national bestsellers and has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFX Reader's Choice Award. His critically acclaimed original novels include Captain Nemo, Hopscotch, and Hidden Empire. He also set the Guiness world record for "Largest Single-Author Book Signing."




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