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Saturday, November 26, 2011

Ian Irvine on Vengeance



 A Taste of Vengeance


Ten years ago, two children witnessed a murder that still haunts them as adults.

Tali, a slave girl in subterranean Cython, saw a mysterious object ripped from her dead mother. Rix, boy heir to the biggest fortune in Hightspall, watched in horror as two shrouded but troublingly familiar figures committed the murder.

Tali has sworn to bring her mother's killers to justice, but now she’s hunted by a sorcerer who can only be beaten by magic – Tali's magic that she does not understand.

That’s how my new epic fantasy novel, Vengeance, Book 1 of The Tainted Realm, begins.

Why Vengeance?

Loyal readers may ask why I’m writing a brand new epic fantasy series when they’re constantly asking for the next episode in the Three Worlds saga. Here’s why.


At the end of each big fantasy series I write something completely different, to freshen and rejuvenate my work. The problem with writing such vast sagas (the Three Worlds sequence runs to 2.3 million words thus far), is that I’ve used up an enormous number of different characters, settings and plots, and I don’t want to repeat myself. Not that this is necessarily a problem – a number of writers have made a lucrative career out of writing the same book over and over, lol. But I want each book to be different. And better.

By the end of The Destiny of the Dead, in 2008, I was exhausted and desperately needed a rest from the Three Worlds. Having spent two-thirds of my writing time since 1987 on that vast saga, I wasn’t ready to go back to it. I didn’t want to grind out the next book or trilogy to meet a deadline and let readers down with a story that wasn’t good enough. I wanted to be overflowing with white-hot enthusiasm for the next episode – the one that finally tells what fate befell Karan, Llian and the children after the end of The Way Between the Worlds.

For a complete change, I wrote Grim and Grimmer, a humorous fantasy quartet for younger readers, and these wild and wacky books were the most fun I’ve ever had writing.
Also, being small, they could be written and edited in intense bursts.


Then I turned to The Tainted Realm, a new epic fantasy series set in an entirely new fantasy world. Or at least, a small part of a new world. Most of it is covered in ice and the ice sheets are steadily closing around the last place where people still survive, the land of Hightspall which is ice free because it’s so incredibly volcanic. Though the eruptions are getting worse …

Hightspall was stolen from the Cythians 2,000 years ago, but now the nation is struggling under one natural disaster after another, and both Hightspall’s power and magery are failing. The very land seems to be rising up to defeat them, as if Hightspall is cursed – a tainted realm. Then the last of the Solaces appears in the underground realm of Cython, the iron book called The Consolation of Vengeance, and the Cythians know that it is time to take back their land.

What about Tali the slave girl and Rix the nobleman?

Tali’s escape from Cython results in war, and Tali and Rix flee through a land in turmoil, hunted by enemies and allies alike. Before they can solve the crime, and save the realm, Tali and Rix must learn to trust each other. But when Rix uncovers the shattering truth about the murder, he’s tormented by sickening premonitions that he’s destined to repeat the killing – on Tali herself.

Soon, Hightspall is close to defeat.  The only way to save the realm is to unmask and defeat the mastermind behind the murder. But how can Tali avenge herself on a sorcerer who died two thousand years ago?


The Fate of the Children
That’s all very well, I hear readers say, but what about the Three Worlds? What about the story you’ve been promising to write for more than a decade, the follow-on from The View from the Mirror to be called The Fate of the Children?

It’s next, I promise you. Honest! I’ll finish The Tainted Realm around the end of 2012, and begin The Fate of the Children straight after that. At this stage I don’t know whether it’ll be a single book, a pair, a trilogy, or longer. That will depend on what comes up when I reread The View from the Mirror, which I haven’t opened since the series was finished back in 1999. I’m looking forward to seeing how it reads after so long.


Book 1, Vengeance, has just been published in Australia, and will be published in the US and UK early next year.  

If you are interested in finding out more, then head over to Ian's website here 




Thursday, November 24, 2011

Top 12 Bestsellers for November













Top 12 Bestsellers for November!

  1.       Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6 Cabin Fever – Jeff Kinney
  2.       Inheritance #4 Inheritance – Christopher Paolini
  3.      Sins of the Father -  Eamonn Duff
  4.       Discworld #33 Snuff – Terry Pratchett
  5.       Brotherband #1 Outcasts – John Flanagan
  6.     11 22 63 – Stephen King
  7.       Lola’s Secret – Monica McInerney
  8.       Afterwords PJ Keating – Paul Keating
  9.       Carpathians #19 Dark Predator – Christine Feehan
  10.      The Affair – Lee Child
  11.      Vampire Knight Manga – Matsuri Hino
  12.        Kelly Group #3 Hidden Away – Maya Banks

Monday, November 21, 2011

Book Review - Pandora English #2 Spider Goddess - Tara Moss


Spider Goddess – Tara Moss


We were lucky and our rep gave us a review copy of Spider Goddess, book 2 in the Pandora English series. I really enjoyed the first book and couldn’t wait to read the second.  The book picks up basically just after the end of book 1. Pandora is still working for Pandora Magazine and she is still getting picked on by the trio of vampire models. The story starts off with Pandora finding a big spider, yes a big spider and she doesn’t kill it. She puts it into a cup and takes it home. This starts off a chain of events that involve the Spider Goddess.
We find out a lot more in this book about Pandora and her family. Tara Moss weaves all the plot elements together with finesse and love. The story is well paced and you don’t want to put the book down. I think if you enjoyed the first one, you will love the second as the story only gets better. IF I had to gripe about this book, it would be that I felt it didn’t have as much action in it as the first book, but Tara makes up for that with fantastic storytelling.
Definatly a great book for paranormal/YA fans for Christmas!


Spider Goddess is out 22/11/11

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Kobo Ereader's are now instock

THEY HAVE ARRIVED!!!! 

 KOBO TOUCH
$179.99
  Glare-free E link screen
  • left-arrowNatural touch navigation
  • left-arrowEarn awards and share your Reading Life™ to Facebook ®






 
KOBO WIRELESS
$139.99
  • Glare-free E link screen
  • left-arrowAdjustable fonts and views
  • left-arrowLong Lasting Battery
  • left-arrowIncludes 100 free classics




KOBO VOX
$299.99
  • left-arrow7 inch multimedia screen
  • left-arrowBrilliant colour Books for all ages
  • left-arrowNew social reading experience
  • left-arrowWeb, email and apps for Android™!

  • (We are still waiting for the VOX to arrive)

Friday, November 11, 2011

Mary Victoria's interview by Helen Lowe


Helen Lowe, author of 'The Heir of Night', has interviewed the wonderful Mary Victoria on the release of her third book 'Oracles Fire' A brilliant interview filled with not the standard questions like how much coffee does Mary consume ( which I am led to believe is a lot :D) but with character portrayals, development and layout. It is a fun, frank talk about Mary's novels and there is also a giveaway to be had, all you have to do is comment on the blog post over at Helen Lowe's site to be in it to win!!

http://helenlowe.info/blog/2011/11/11/an-interview-with-mary-victoria-author-of-oracles-fire-giveaway/
Don't miss out!


Sunday, November 6, 2011

Book Review - Beka Cooper #3 Mastiff - Tamora Pierce

Mastiff (Beka Cooper, #3)Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love Tamora Pierce's writing! Ever since I picked up Alanna: The First Adventure when I was 12, she has had me hooked. My favourite world of hers is Tortall and the characters that inhabit this world. I have just finished reading Mastiff, book three (yes I said that right, 3 not 4) in the Beka Cooper series. It was brilliant! Made me tear up and I didn't see coming an event at the end.
You get to see in this book how the end of female knighthood came about also some big issues with the running of the country. Well written and it had me completely absorbed in the world. You don't get bored with this series like you can do with other longstanding series.
Tamora seems to write from her heart and you can tell she loves these characters. I can't wait to see what new adventures she creates. In fact i really want to start the series over again with Alanna and go from there.

Highly recommened!!!

View all my reviews
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