Published by POINT BLANK 7 October 2021 Hardback £14.99
A murder A resident of small-town Visberg is found decapitated in the forest A festival An isolated hilltop community celebrates ’Pan Night’ after the apple harvest A race against time As Visberg closes ranks, there could not be a worse time for Tuva Moodyson to arrive as deputy editor of the local newspaper. Tuva senses the scoop of her career, unaware perhaps that she is the story…
Set in Sweden’s Halloween season, when the forests are full of elk hunters and the town of Visberg is thick with the aroma of rotting fruit, BAD APPLES is a thrilling introduction for readers new to the series, and for die-hard #TeamTuva fans, a heart-stopping rollercoaster…
The Wolf Skinned is the first book in a series which chronicles the saga of Ulf The Wolf Skinned, a blood hungry Viking Berserker. Ulf is one of Odin’s sacred warriors known as a Ulfhednar; clothed in a wolf’s skin, he leaves a trail of death and pain wherever he goes. At the tender age of 17 he already has a fearsome reputation as his adopted father Eric Bloodaxe’s deadly hound of war. And by the end of the year 915 AD, every Saxon will know and fear the name, Ulf The Wolf Skinned. Link Here
My Review
I quite like historical fantasy, and historical fiction, especially stuff from the Anglo-Saxon period. It’s even better if some of the main characters were real, but unknown generally and going on an adventure. In this novella, Lady Ælfwynn of Mercia, daughter of Æthelflæd of Mercia and her husband Æthelred, has an adventure among the Vikings, and meets Ulf, a berserker.
Set in 915, five years after Æthelred’s death, when Edward of Wessex and Æthelflæd of Mercia continued to fight the Vikings as their father Alfred the Great, of Wessex, had done. In history, Æthelflæd died in 918, just before the Vikings of York were to kneel to her, and Ælfwynn took control of Mercia, but only for a few months. Before the end of the year she had been taken to Wessex by her uncle Edward and he took control of Mercia. His son became the first King of the English. No one knows what happened to Lady Ælfwynn. I personally think she was locked up in a nunnery so no one could object to her uncle’s theft of her throne. It wasn’t unheard of for a royal woman to become a nun, and it was unusual for a woman to rule alone.
Jack Johnson gives Lady Ælfwynn an adventure to rival the real adventures of her mother.
Lady Ælfwynn is doomed to marry a man of Northumbria that she doesn’t like, until the Vikings arrive to rescue the Berserker Ulf from captivity in Durham. Ulf and Ælfwynn run away from the fighting and head to York to join up with Ulf’s adopted father, Eric Bloodaxe. On their journey, they get to know each other and fall in love. In York, the Vikings are concerned about having Edward of Wessex’s niece in their halls as a ‘hostage’.
When the Lady of Mercia arrives with her brother and prospective son-in-law at the gates of York, it seems a battle is inevitable. Eric Bloodaxe tries to discuss terms with the Lady, but things don’t go well.
There is a battle. There is treachery. It’s very exciting.
And I want to know what happens next.
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Luckily I know the author, so I’ll get to read the next instalment before it’s published. I got to read this one in an earlier stage.
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I thought the descriptive writing was excellent and the little bits of magical reality add an enchanted element to the narrative. The Gods are certainly playing with people’s lives. It’s hinted at, subtly, that Odin is abroad in England.
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One-eye’d trouble-making git.
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I enjoyed the characterisation of Ælfwynn and Ulf, and the development of their relationship. Their relationship is loving and based on friendship and shared difficulties, before it becomes physical, which I liked.
The battles are very invigorating and exciting to read. They are written with a dreamlike reality. This is because the author sees them in his mind and writes what he sees.
If you like Bernard Cornwall’s Uhtred of Bebbenburg books or the TV series based on them, or the TV series Vikings, this novella is for you.
Female writing duo ‘Elizabeth Harrison’ releases a powerful thriller that addresses the issues women face through life and the readiness of the drug companies to provide a pill for every problem.
Roberta, Rosie, Sandra and Linda meet at college in the 70s and remain constant friends, despite life’s up and downs. The sudden death of one of the friends leads the others to suspect that a slimming drug she had been taking was perhaps to blame. Was this a wonder drug or a threat to life? The friends start to uncover long held secrets and betrayals – both personal and professional, but the pharmaceutical industry is not yet finished with them.
Feeding the Gods is a thriller that addresses friendships, the different roles a woman must take on through life and the power of the drug giants.
“Feeding the Gods is a triumph of strong female voices. Posing toughquestions and packed with character, it’s bold, witty and thoroughly engaging.” – Miles Hawksley
Themes Friendship Adventure Family Deaf sibling Sign Language Acceptance
Blurb
What would you do if you found the world’s smallest dog?
When Ernie and his family leave the countryside to move to the city. Ernie feels like he’ll never settle into their new home.
Yet on his very first night, a surprising new friend introduces himself – Swop is a very tiny dog. A dog that just happens to be the size of a satsuma.
Ernie vows to keep Swop a secret, but Swop has other ideas and he’s determined to make Ernie’s first day at his new school a memorable one!
Billy Plonka – the Prince of Stink, the Monarch of Muck, the Sultan of Slime, the Duke of Dregs and the King of Kak. He’s the most extraordinary maker of GROT in the entire world, and he’s invited 5 individuals (Orson Ploop – An overweight kazoo playing protégé; Victoria Scabb – 259th in line to the English throne; Viola Mudguard – 11-year-old, ex-Wollywood star; Spike Peecee – A self-obsessed dweeb who can never disconnect from the Internet; and Marley Suckett – An anti-hero), to visit his world-famous Grot Laboratory, and step into an adventure they will never forget!
Your tour is about to start. Don’t wander off . YOU! Yes, YOU! I’m talking to YOU! Mr. Plonka would hate to lose you along the way… READ IT!!! BILLY PLONKA AND THE GROT LABORATORY- the 100% unofficial official parody of one of the greatest children’s stories of all time.
This modern re-telling of the Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ stays true to the wonderful wit of Dahl, but brings the tale into the modern age with a lovely twist at the end. Each character meets their grotty fate as they go on their tour of The Grot Laboratory – as the name suggests, a disgusting place full of scumpiddlinoxious fumes and materials. Words reminiscent of Dahl fill the pages – Whi-ffi (it’s like wifi only smellier), whazzplop and picklescooper to name but a few.
Deadbeat Kevin Jones finds himself kidnapped to an alternative reality where Wales is the single global superpower. Abducted from his mundane existence by the mysterious Gwen, she tells him there are forces seeking his destruction – he has to run or die. It turns out Kevin’s story holds the key to why all worlds but ours turn out the way they do – Pax Cambria.
Featuring a host of mysterious characters, cheese-on-toast based fast food, altright druids and the deadly all-knowing Taffia, Anthracite begins the battle to address the woeful lack of Welsh themed comedy cyberpunk. The fearsome Jones-Corporation might run the world but they have a dirty little secret they don’t want to get out. Swansea has never looked more like near-future LA. It’s already got the rain.
Lyra. Lucy. Percy. Once in a generation, a hero emerges whose story enthralls readers worldwide.
Fireborn is an epic quest, perfect for fans of the His Dark Materials and The School for Good and Evil series, that will spin readers into a magical world like no other–and introduce them to an unforgettable new heroine named Twelve.
Ember is full of monsters.
Twelve gave up her name and identity to train in the art of hunting them–so she says. The truth is much more deadly: she trains to take revenge on those who took her family from her.
But when Twelve’s new home is attacked, she’ll find herself on an unexpected journey, where her hidden past is inescapably intertwined with her destiny–and the very fate of her world.
If you like fantasy tales of conquest, dark kings, daemonic heroes, and magic, you’ll love ‘Kings and Daemons’ by Epic Fantasy author, Marcus Lee. This is a spellbinding Dark Fantasy novel which will enchant you with its plot of ambition, revenge, love, and tragedy. What the gods give with one hand, they take away with the other, for if you are gifted, you shall also be cursed.
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Over fifty years have passed since Daleth the seemingly immortal Witch-King, and his army conquered the Ember Kingdom.
Now, with the once fertile lands and its enslaved people dying around him, the Witch-King, driven by his insatiable thirst for eternal youth, prepares his forces to march on the prosperous neighbouring Freestates. It will be the beginnings of a conquest that could destroy nations, bringing death and destruction on an unimaginable scale.
Then, when a peasant huntress whose rare gift was concealed from birth is exposed, it sets in motion a chain of events that could alter the destiny of generations to come.
If something is missing, and you’re feeling blue, you could learn from Hector, who feels this way too.
This little genius lives in an upside down boat, and he grunts from his hill like a grumpy old goat:
“Hector van Groat needs no one but Hector, because he is a genius, a crazy inventor!”
Book #1 in the D.M. Mullan’s Curious Tales series.
D.M. Mullan’s Curious Tales
D.M. Mullan’s Curious Tales is a series of peculiar modern fables from author D.M. Mullan and illustrator Kirsteen Harris-Jones.
With a classic rhyming style and wonderfully quirky illustrations, each book centres around a unique little individual and tells their story all whilst
Paperback, 416 pages Published July 22nd 2021 by Mantle ISBN1529043395 (ISBN13: 9781529043396)
Blurb
She’ll change the world to survive her fate . . .
In Mongol-occupied imperial China, a peasant girl refuses her fate of an early death. Stealing her dead brother’s identity to survive, she rises from monk to soldier, then to rebel commander. Zhu’s pursuing the destiny her brother somehow failed to attain: greatness. But all the while, she feels Heaven is watching.
Can anyone fool Heaven indefinitely, escaping what’s written in the stars? Or can Zhu claim her own future, burn all the rules and rise as high as she can dream?
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is a re-imagining of the rise to power of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu was the peasant rebel who expelled the Mongols, unified China under native rule, and became the founding Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
![The Wolf Skinned (The Wolf Skinned Saga Book 1) by [Jack Johnson]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41HGkdfEQ1L.jpg)
Everything Is Better With Dragons 