Original title: Hirvikaava Series: Rabbit Factor (#2) This edition Format: 300 pages, Hardcover Published: October 27, 2022 by Orenda Books ISBN: 9781914585340 (ISBN10: 1914585348) Language: English
Blurb
Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to YouMeFun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears – and turns everything upside down again. More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands. Why won’t Toy of Finland Ltd sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it as the park’s main attraction?
Meanwhile, Henri’s relationship with artist Laura has reached breaking point, and, in order to survive this new chaotic world, he must push every calculation to its limits, before it’s too late…
Absurdly funny, heart-stoppingly poignant and full of nail-biting suspense, The Moose Paradox is the second instalment in the critically acclaimed, pitch-perfect Rabbit Factor Trilogy and things are messier than ever…
PUBLICATION DATE: 12th OCTOBER 2023 PAPERBACK ORIGINAL | £9.99 | ORENDA BOOKS
Description
Alexander Blix is a broken man. Convicted for avenging his daughter’s death, he is now being held in one of Norway’s high-security prisons. Inside, the other prisoners take every opportunity to challenge and humiliate the former police investigator.
On the outside, Blix’s former colleagues have begun the hunt for a terrifying killer. Walter Kroos has escaped from prison in Germany and is making his way north. The only lead established by the police is that Kroos has a friend in Blix’s prison ward. And now they need Blix’s help.
Journalist Emma Ramm is one of Blix’s few visitors, and she becomes his ally as he struggles to connect the link between past and present, between the world inside and outside the prison walls. And as he begins to piece things together, he identifies a woodland community in Norway where deeply scarred inhabitants foster deadly secrets … secrets that may be the unravelling of everyone involved.
Pub. Date October 2023 Price £16.99 ISBN-13 9780715654866
Description
The role of resident vet in the British Overseas Territories encompasses the complexities of caring for the world’s oldest known land animal – a 190 year-old giant tortoise – and MoD mascots at the Falklands airbase; pursuing mystery creatures and invasive microorganisms; relocating herds of reindeer; and rescuing animals in extraordinarily rugged landscapes, from subtropical cloud forests to volcanic cliff faces.
Witty, warm and beautifully crafted, Jonathan Hollins’s tales of island vetting are not only full of wonderful creatures – they are also steeped in the unique local history, cultures and peoples of the islands, far removed from the hustle of modern life. These tales of island vetting are perfect for animal lovers, adventurers and armchair travellers alike.
P U B L I C AT I O N DATE: 12th OCTOBER 2023 PA PE RB AC K O R I G I N A L | £9.99 | ORE N DA BOOKS
Blurb
On a snowy winter morning, an abandoned shipping container is discovered near Reykjavík. Inside are the bodies of five young women – one of them barely alive.
As Icelandic Police detective Daníel struggles to investigate the most brutal crime of his career, Áróra looks into the background of a suspicious man, who turns out to be engaged to Daníel’s former wife, and the connections don’t stop there…
Daníel and Áróra’s cases pit them both against ruthless criminals with horrifying agendas, while Áróra persists with her search for her missing sister, Ísafold, whose devastating disappearance continues to haunt her.
As the temperature drops and the 24-hour darkness and freezing snow hamper their efforts, their investigations become increasingly dangerous … for everyone.
Paperback £9.99 || $12.95 Jun 30, 2023 978-1-78904-662-5
Synopsis
Rachel Patterson unearths and shines light on England’s ancient gods and goddesses – many of whom, until now, had long since been forgotten. Based on archaeological finds and ancient manuscripts, and including information about the tribes that once made their home in England’s pleasant lands, this book serves as a guide to the gods and goddesses of England, with suggested ways to work and connect with these very special deities.
My Review
Trevor at Moon Books sends me emails every now and then with new books and I agree to read and review them. I read this one a while ago, sorry Trevor, I’ve had a bit of a time lately, but I’ve finally got around to writing the review.
Rachel Patterson covers the broad history of Britain from the Iron Age to the Vikings – the broadly speaking non-Christian period, although Christianity existed in Britain and Ireland during the mid to late Roman Imperial period, and continued into the post-Roman period. However, during this period other deities were also worshipped, and some of these were recorded in monuments for the first, and in some cases only, time. Later deities were recorded in manuscripts, the days of the week and personal items.
The second section of the book covers the deities themselves, where they were worshipped and what we know about them, and ways to connect with a few of them.
The book focuses heavily on deities recorded on Roman monuments and in later Christian manuscripts – chronicles, sagas and legal records. The monuments are quite interesting, because they tell us something about the person who erected the monument as well as the deity they were erected to. In the later Cristian documents we obviously get a rather partial and one-sided view – no priest is going to give you a rounded opinion on rival religions, when they believe the gods of that religion are demons and believers are deluded or devil worshippers.
The author doesn’t seem to understand that pagan England is a specific time and place, and that it’s slightly disingenuous to include 2nd century northern British gods and 10th century Scandinavian deities.
The selection of rituals to connect with the deities are fairly standard neo-pagan rituals, that rely on the usual inclusion of elements, calling fairly generic directions, etc., which would not have been included in the original rituals, as they are 18th – 20th century inventions. I honestly don’t think the Matrones care if you call the Quarters, they just want us to remember and honour them.
If you’ve never thought about ancient deities in what is now England, this book is a place to start and if you want to know more, there is a list of books and websites in the further reading section.
I have recommendations of my own, although some are hard to get hold of. Brian Branston wrote ‘The Lost Gods of England’ in 1957, Kathleen Herbert wrote ‘Looking for The Lost Gods of England’ in the early 2000s, and then there’s ‘The Elder Gods: The Otherworld of Early England’, by Stephen Pollington. For the more academic, there is ‘Signals of Belief in Early England: Anglo-Saxon Paganism Revisited’, edited by Carver, Sanmark, and Semple, from 2010. It’s probably the newer and most comprehensive of the sources. These aren’t mentioned in the Further Reading so Patterson may not have heard of them.
Gods and Goddesses of England is easy to read and reasonably informative for those just beginning to explore these ideas.
Rachel Patterson
Rachel is an English witch who has been walking the Pagan pathway for over thirty years. A working wife and mother who has had over 25 books published (so far), some of them becoming best sellers. Her passion is to learn, she loves to study and has done so from books, online resources, schools and wonderful mentors over the years and still continues to learn each and every day but has learnt the most from actually getting outside and doing it.
She likes to laugh…and eat cake…
Rachel gives talks to pagan groups and co-runs open rituals and workshops run by the Kitchen Witch Coven. High Priestess of the Kitchen Witch Coven and an Elder at the online Kitchen Witch School of Natural Witchcraft. A regular columnist with Fate & Fortune magazine, she also contributes articles to several magazines such as Pagan Dawn and Witchcraft & Wicca. You will find her regular ramblings on her own personal blog and YouTube channel. Her craft is a combination of old religion witchcraft, Wicca, hedge witchery, kitchen witchery and folk magic. She lives in Portsmouth, England. Website: www.rachelpatterson.co.uk Personal blog https://www.rachelpatterson.co.uk/blog You Tube:https://www.youtube.com/user/Kitchenwitchuk Instagram https://www.instagram.com/racheltansypatterson/ Twitter https://twitter.com/TansyFireDragon
Publication date Thursday, September 14, 2023 Price £10.99 EAN\ISBN-13 9780857839732
Description
This book is a call to action. It warns that unless we learn to accept and respect our social, cultural and political differences as town and country people, we are never going to solve the chronic problems in our food system and environment.
As we stare down the barrel of climate change, only farmers – who manage two thirds of the UK’s landscape – working together with conservation groups can create a healthier food system and bring back nature in diverse abundance. But this fledgling progress is hindered and hamstrung by simplistic debates that still stoke conflict between conservative rural communities and the liberal green movement.
Each chapter, from Family and Politics to Animal Welfare and the Environment, explores a different aspect of the urban/rural disconnect, weaving case studies and research with Anna’s personal stories of growing up on a small, upland farm. There is a simple theme and a strong message running throughout the book – a plea to respect our differences, recognise each other’s strengths and work together to heal the land.
● Genre – Fiction > Fantasy ● ISBN hardcover – 978-1-78758-840-0 ● ISBN paperback – 978-1-78758-839-4 ● ISBN ebook – 978-1-78758-841-7 ● Pricing [USD] $26.95 (HC) / $16.95 (PB) / $4.99 (EB) ● Pricing [GBP] £20 (HC) / £9.95 (PB) / £6.95 (EB) ● Releases September 12 2023 ● Published by Flame Tree Press ● Distributed by Simon & Schuster (US), Hachette Book Group (UK)
Blurb
A Sword of Bronze and Ashes combines the fierce beauty of Celtic myth with grimdark battle violence. It’s a lyrical, folk horror high fantasy.
Kanda has a good life until shadows from her past return threatening everything she loves. And Kanda, like any parent, has things in her past she does not want her children to know. Red war is coming: pursued by an ancient evil, Kanda must call upon all her strength to protect her family. But how can she keep her children safe, if they want to stand as warriors beside her when the light fades and darkness rises?
Promise collects Christi Nogle’s best futuristic stories ranging from plausible tech-based science fiction to science fantasy stories about aliens in our midst: chameleonic foils hover in the skies, you can order a headset to speak and dream with your dog, and your devices sometimes connect not just to the web but to the underworld.
These tales will recall the stories of Ray Bradbury, television programs such as Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone, and novels such as Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin or Under the Skin by Michel Faber.
They are often strange and dreadful but veer towards themes of hope, potential, promise.
HARDBACK 978-1-80018-268-4 320 pages 303 × 216 mm 24 August 2023 £30 / $36.95 / C$54.99 / €32.49
A full-colour compendium of hundreds of never-before-published artefacts from Adams’ archive, including diary entries, notes and musings, letters, photographs, scripts, poems and more.
– Authorised by the estate of Douglas Adams, it includes personal memorabilia from his family. – Features a foreword from Stephen Fry and letters written after Adams’ death from friends and fans: Neil Gaiman, Margo Buchanan, Dirk Maggs, Robbie Stamp, Arvind David.
When Douglas Adams died in 2001, he left behind 60 boxes full of notebooks, letters, scripts, jokes, speeches and even poems. In 42, compiled by Douglas’s long-time collaborator Kevin Jon Davies, hundreds of these personal artefacts appear in print for the very first time. Douglas was as much a thinker as he was a writer, and his artefacts reveal how his deep fascination with technology led to ideas which were far ahead of their time: a convention speech envisioning the modern smartphone, with all the information in the world living at our fingertips; sheets of notes predicting the advent of electronic books; journal entries from his forays into home computing – it is a matter of legend that Douglas bought the very first Mac in the UK; musings on how the internet would disrupt the CD-Rom industry, among others.
42 also features archival material charting Douglas’s school days through Cambridge, Footlights, collaborations with Graham Chapman, and early scribbles from the development of Doctor Who, Hitchhiker’s and Dirk Gently. Alongside details of his most celebrated works are projects that never came to fruition, including the pilot for radio programme They’ll Never Play That on the Radio and a space-inspired theme park ride. Douglas’s personal papers prove that the greatest ideas come from the fleeting thoughts that collide in our own imagination, and offer a captivating insight into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers and most enduring storytellers.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 