Genres: fantasy
People in Blanow think that books are dangerous: they fill your head with drivel, make poor firewood and cannot be eaten (even in an emergency).
This book is about Howul. He sees things differently: fires are dangerous; people are dangerous; books are just books.
Howul secretly writes down what goes on around him in Blanow. How its people treat foreigners, treat his daughter, treat him. None of it is pretty. Worse still, everything here keeps trying to kill him: rats, snakes, diseases, roof slates, the weather, the sea. That he survives must mean something. He wants to find out what. By trying to do this, he gets himself thrown out of Blanow... and so his journey begins.
Like all gripping stories, HOWUL is about the bad things people do to each other and what to do if they happen to you. Some people use sticks to stay safe. Some use guns. Words are the weapons that Howul uses most. He makes them sharp. He makes them hurt.
Of course books are dangerous.
Read more: Howul - David Shannon
Review: The Child Cephalina by Rebecca Lloyd
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Reviews
Rebecca Lloyd's The Child Cephalina was published by Tartarus Press in November 2019.
About Rebecca Lloyd:
Much of Rebecca Lloyd’s work is in the literary horror and Gothic genres, including The Bellboy, a novella (Zagava 2018), and Seven Strange Stories, (Tartarus Press 2017). Her other story collections include Ragman and Other Family Curses, (Egaeus Press 2016), Mercy and Other Stories, (Tartarus Press 2014), and The View from Endless Street, (WiDo Publishing 2014). Recent literary awards in which she has been acknowledged include The World Fantasy Award, The Aestas Short Story Prize, and the Paul Bowles Short Fiction Award. Some of her stories have been reprinted in Best British Horror, (Salt Publishing), Best New Horror, (PS Publishing), and in recent volumes of Best Horror of the Year.
Click here to visit her official website.
About The Child Cephalina:
Rebecca Lloyd’s superb Gothic novel explores friendship, obsession and the uncanny in teeming mid-Victorian London. At its heart is a tale of human relationships threatened by an unknowable force.
From the very first, the child Cephalina brought conflict into the otherwise peaceful, if eccentric, household at number 12 Judd Street. Robert’s fascination with her was instant, but he could never decide if this eleven-year-old was innocent and lonely, or clever and manipulative. It worried him. His encounters with her were both enchanting and unnerving. All the while his devotion to her was growing, until in the end, nothing could save him from a fate he would never have believed could be his...
REVIEW: THE CHILD CEPHALINA BY REBECCA LLOYD
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Review: The Echoing Green and Other Stories by David Jordan
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Reviews
David Jordan's The Echoing Green and Other Stories was published in October 2019.
About David Jordan:
David Jordan lives in Cork, Ireland, where he was born and bred. He has an MA in English. He loves music, coffee and peace.
Click here to visit his official website.
About The Echoing Green and Other Stories:
From a quest to find the Starbucks mermaid, to a god’s dream of saving the planet, this collection of short stories has an abundance of imagination as well as ingenuity and style. In serene and sparkling prose, David Jordan will introduce you to places and people that you have never encountered before, with a unique voice and vision that will satisfy story lovers everywhere.
REVIEW: THE ECHOING GREEN AND OTHER STORIES BY DAVID JORDAN
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Review: Sweet Dreams by Tricia Sullivan
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Reviews
Tricia Sullivan's Sweet Dreams was published by Titan Books in July 2019.
About the author:
Tricia Sullivan is an award-winning writer of SF, Fantasy and YA. Her third novel, Dreaming In Smoke, won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best SF novel. Her work has encompassed cyberpunk, space opera and near-future satire. Her novels have been shortlisted for the BSFA Award, the Tiptree Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. An American, she has lived in the UK since 1995.
Click here to visit her official website.
About Sweet Dreams:
Charlie is a dreamhacker, able to enter your dreams and mold their direction. Forget that recurring nightmare about being naked in an exam - Charlie will step into your dream, bring you a dressing gown and give you the answers. In London 2022 her skills are in demand, though they still only just pay the bills.
Hired by a celebrity whose nights are haunted by a masked figure who stalks her through a bewildering and sinister landscape, Charlie hopes her star is on the rise. Then her client sleepwalks straight off a tall building, and Charlie starts to realize that these horrors are not all just a dream...
REVIEW: SWEET DREAMS BY TRICIA SULLIVAN
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Review: The Twins of Moon by Frank P. Ryan
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Reviews
Frank P. Ryan's The Twins of Moon was published by Swift Publishers in May 2019.
About Frank P. Ryan:
Frank P. Ryan is a multiple-bestselling author, in the UK and US. His other fiction includes the thrillers Goodbye Baby Blue and Tiger Tiger. His books have been translated into over ten different languages. Born in Ireland, he now lives in England.
Click here to visit his official website.
About The Twins of Moon:
Eefa and her twin brother, Magio, are on the run, hunted by a ruthless predator with a pack of terrifying wolf hounds. They have no idea why this is happening to them. Until recently they enjoyed a carefree life in the ramshackle town of Warren on the semi-tropical isle of Moon. Since birth Eefa has been invisible to everybody other than Magio, an invitation, as Magio sees it, to adventure, inspired by the tall tales of their lodger, Quimbre. But now the sudden death of their beloved Gran has turned their world upside down. Out of the blue, terrifying giants attempt to kidnap Eefa, who is only rescued by the intervention of a stranger, scorned by the townsfolk as an eccentric known as Bird Woman. And now this same stranger insists that Eefa and Magio are no longer safe. They must abandon their childhood home and flee to the Valley of the Raptors, high in the snow-capped mountain peaks of Moon. Here, Bird Woman promises, Eefa will discover the reason for her invisibility. While running, Magio has recurrent dreams about an old woman shackled to a monstrous beach of bones.
What magic will they discover in the Valley of the Raptors? Is Bird Woman telling them the truth? Will Eefa discover the secret of her invisibility? Will they find sanctuary from the malevolent forces that are closing in about them?
REVIEW: THE TWINS OF MOON BY FRANK P. RYAN
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The Wolf of Ashford Manor by Toni Cox
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Others
- The Wolf of Ashford Manor -
A new book by Toni Cox
Blurb:
The animal within him was never far from the surface, but with her, the wolf was untameable.
Patrick Blakesley, born to a bloodline of werewolves, falls in love with the mysteriously shy, yet ravishingly beautiful daughter of his new employer – the Lord of Ashford Manor.
When the town of Ashford is besieged by a sudden spate of murders, suspicions fall on Patrick, for he has been discovered for the beast that he is.
Although forced to go into hiding, it does not stop Patrick from pursuing his love for Angelica. Shacked up in an old boat shed, they discover pleasures such as only forbidden fruits can yield.
As Patrick discovers all that Angelica has to offer, the brutal murders continue.
Are they strong enough together to discover the true beast and tame it, before all of humanity perishes before its wrath?
A steamy paranormal romance that merges romance, thriller, mystery, and the paranormal.
Links:
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Excerpt:
Patrick stood at the edge of the precipice of white cliffs, and gazed out over the ocean, staring at the distant continent across the water; the ship he had stepped off earlier was already out of sight.
Too long had he been away from home.
He now turned his back on those distant shores, burying deep within the memories of the last three years. He strode out powerfully, his long legs steeled from the years in the war. He had miles to go to Ashford and would not reach it for several days.
There would be inns along the road, and he hoped to find accommodations there for the nights.
After a good day’s march, Patrick readjusted his weighty satchel and stepped off the rutted road to allow a wagon to pass. The two heavy draught horses snorted uneasily as they went by him.
He looked up into the sky and realised night would be upon him soon.
“Good sir,” he called out to the driver, “would there be an inn close by?”
“Not for another twenty miles, ‘m ‘fraid.”
The horse nearest to him exhaled nervously, and the driver shifted his attention away from Patrick.
Stepping back, Patrick cast another heavenward. Wispy clouds sailed across an orange tinged sky as the sun began to set in the west. Soon the moon would rise.
Leaving the driver to calm his horses, Patrick turned away from the road and headed towards the nearby forest. A vein in his neck throbbed at the thought of spending the night within the confines of the dark trees before him.
He walked deep into the woods, well out of sight of the road. At a pebbly creek, he hung his satchel upon a high branch of a tree before slaking his thirst with the cool water.
As the light faded, Patrick gathered firewood and made a fire pit with rocks from the riverbed. He put dry moss and kindling in the centre, and then stacked some logs around it, but he did not light it.
Instead, he removed his clothing, folding it neatly and arranging it next to the fire pit. His clothes were worn and faded, but clean. Although muscular, his tall body was made of clean lines, long legs and a broad chest. Years of war had made him lean and tough.
Naked, he cast an approving glance over his sparse camp and then walked away from it. Over the years that he had been away, he had learned to control himself. It had not always been easy, and until even a year ago, there were occasions where he could not trust himself. Today, however, he was in control.
Away from his camp, with the moon rising over the forest, his naked body distorted, changing shape with agonising contortions.
Breathing heavily, the werewolf ’s fur bristled in the cool evening air, and he raised his snout to taste the scents on the wind.
Tonight, he would hunt.
About the author:
Born in Germany in 1976, International Bestselling Author Toni Cox moved to South Africa in 1991. Although she has spent much of her working career in the timber wholesale business, she is also an accomplished horse rider, has a diploma in project management, photography, and nutrition, and has a passion for books and all things fantasy.
From a young age, her dream had always been to put her imagination into words. When she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2013, she decided life is too short not to follow her dream. With the support of her husband and three children, she began writing book 1 of the Elemental Trilogy in January 2015.
Toni Cox writes Epic Fantasy, YA Fantasy, Sci-Fi Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Dystopian Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, and Dark Fantasy. She is a firm believer in dragons.
Author links:
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ToniCoxAuthor
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonicoxelemental
- BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/toni-cox
- WordPress: https://tonicoxelemental.wordpress.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonicoxauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authortonicox
- FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/toniselementals
- Website: https://www.tonicoxauthor.com
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/tonicox
- GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/tonicoxauthor
- Pinterest: https://za.pinterest.com/tonicoxauthor/
- Newsletter: https://www.tonicoxauthor.com/subscribe
Things you might not know:
I have a cat, named Kitty, who sleeps on my desk whenever I work.
I love dragons and unicorns and collect them in all colours, shapes, and sizes.
I study something new every year – 2020 it is a combination of writing techniques and marketing.
My parents own a Big-5 Safari Lodge in South Africa.
Due to health reasons, I had to become a Vegan and eat only gluten-free meals.