There is a rather stunning review of D.G. Valdron’s equally stunning novel, The Mermaid’s Tale, over at Booksprens today. You’ll have to go there to read the entire, lengthy review, but a few highlights are warranted here: This novel is so much more then just a ‘Grimdark’, it was so freaking amazing and it was literally an emotional roller coaster. And: It got to the point where I would have to put the book down and just…
Publisher’s Weekly reviewed Joe Mahoney’s debut SF novel, A Time and a Place, and we’d have to say it’s glowing. Debut author Mahoney sends a mild-mannered fellow on an interdimensional journey in this entertaining, chaotic adventure. Barnabus Wildebear needs to know why his teen nephew and ward, Ridley, is acting so strangely. Unfortunately the cause is an ominous entity, possibly a demon, named Iugurtha. She whisks Ridley away to dimensions unknown while implanting mysterious information in Barnabus’s mind…
The Mermaid’s Tale is a fable of personhood wrapped in a murder mystery framed by a fantasy setting, peopled by familiar races that are presented in subtly original ways. Valdron’s protagonist has no name. Most Arukh (orcs) don’t. The few that have been so graced have earned their names by distinguishing themselves from their mad and murderous brethren. Each race has its own name for the Arukh, but all of them translate to either abomination,…
I thoroughly enjoyed your book, “Dutch Schultz: the Brazen Beer Baron of New York.” You deftly blended the story of Arthur Flegenheimer with the history — and zeitgeist — of the prohibition era. Here are two of your stand-out sentences: “The urge to drink proved stronger than the will to obey the law. Almost overnight, an enormous black market in spirits sprang up, serviced by young, enterprising criminals.” “Against this backdrop of social engineering, Arthur…
There’s an excellent review by Stephen Hume of Paula Johanson’s fascinating biography of hockey legend Larry Kwong in the August 4 edition of the Vancouver Sun. King Kwong, book by Paula Johanson. Photograph by: Handout Mention the China Clipper and football fans think of Calgary-born Normie Kwong, the hall-of-famer who won three consecutive Grey Cups with the Edmonton Eskimos. But for all his deserved accolades in football, in business and as Alberta’s lieutenant-governor — fellow footballers…