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My TBR List Thanks to the 2013 Christy Award Nominees
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Category Archives: Speculative
The Hobbit
Illuminated by Jackie Castle {Preview}
Alyra, mockingly known as Princess, was captured at an early age by the evil ruler, Darnel, and brought up in the dark land of Racah. At the age of seventeen, she considers herself nothing special. She has no recollection of who she is or where she came from. Her hope of ever finding freedom dims.
Until the messenger arrives. Until he brings to light the meaning behind the medallion she’s kept hidden. Until she accepts the blinding truth.
Now she flees for her life.
Alyra’s journey leads her down a narrow road with strange traveling companions. Together, they encounter a kingdom where nothing is what it first seems. Continue reading
Judge by R.J. Larson {Preview}
Kien Lantec, you will bear witness to my followers in ToronSea.
The last thing Kien Lantec expects on his first day of military leave is to receive marching orders from his Creator, the Infinite. Orders that don’t involve destroyer-racing or courting the love of his life, Ela. Adding to Kien’s frustration, his Infinite-ordained duties have little to do with his skills as a military judge-in-training. His mission? To warn the people of ToronSea against turning their backs on the Infinite to worship a new goddess.
Tell them I see they are beguiled. Tell them I seek their hearts. The wise will hear Me.
But why Kien? Isn’t this the role of a true prophet, such as Ela of Parne? Seeking answers, Kien visits Ela and finds her stricken by a devastating vision of her own. Her birthplace, Parne, has forsaken their Creator and will soon suffer judgment. Pulled in separate ways, each must seek to follow the Infinite’s leading…and hope He will reunite them again soon.
Child of dust, will you be My servant?
Starflower by Anne Elisabeth Stengl {Preview}
The Black Dogs Are on the Hunt, But Who Is Their Prey?
When a cursed dragon-witch kidnaps fairest Lady Gleamdren, the Bard Eanrin sets boldly forth on a rescue mission…and a race against his rival for Gleamdren’s favor. Intent upon his quest, the last thing the immortal Faerie needs is to become mixed up with the troubles of an insignificant mortal.
But when he stumbles upon a maiden trapped in an enchanted sleep, he cannot leave her alone in the dangerous Wood Between. One waking kiss later, Eanrin suddenly finds his story entangled with that of young Starflower. A strange link exists between this mortal girl and the dragon-witch. Will Starflower prove the key to Lady Gleamdren’s rescue? Or will the dark power from which she flees destroy both her and her rescuer?
The Enchanted Attic by L.L. Samson
Award-Winning Author Lisa Samson Offers an Imaginative Twist on a Classic Tale
Linus and Julia Easterday find themselves in the strangest situations. Repeatedly. And it’s entirely their own fault.
Samson, the author of over twenty-five books, draws kids in through a witty narrator who never takes the job too seriously, a fun plot, and quirky characters with heart. Parents, teachers, and librarians will find The Enchanted Attic series a great tool for introducing children to classic literature and inspiring a love for great writing. Continue reading
Blog Tour – Author Janalyn Voigt’s DawnSinger
Please join us for an interview with author Janalyn Voigt upon the release of her speculative fiction, DawnSinger at my blog, www.goldenkeyesparsons.blogspot.com. What a delightful read! If you liked Lord of the Rings, you will like DawnSinger. Leave a comment to be in a drawing for a $25 Starbuck’s gift card and an autographed copy of her novel.
Road to the Christys: The Merchant’s Daughter
Now, this is one I love and I am totally excited about her third novel coming out this late fall/winter! The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson Genre: Christian Historical Ages 15-18 Pages: 304 Trade Paperback Date Published: November 2011 Publisher: Zondervan Melanie Dickerson, the Award-Winning author of “The Healer’s Apprentice,” returns with another inspiring retelling of a classic fairy tale Following the success of her multiple award-winning debut novel, The Healer’s Apprentice, Melanie Dickerson revisits the alluring fairy tale world with an eagerly anticipated follow-up, THE MERCHANT’S DAUGHTER (Zondervan; December 2011; $9.99). Inspired by “The Beauty and the Beast,” THE … Continue reading
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Just as readers have been transfixed by the stories, characters, and deeper meanings of Lewis’s timeless tales in The Chronicles of Narnia, most find this same allure in his classic Space Trilogy. In these fantasy stories for adults, we encounter, once again, magical creatures, a world of wonders, epic battles, and revelations of transcendent truths.
Out of the Silent Planet is the first novel in C. S. Lewis’s classic science fiction trilogy. It tells the adventure of Dr. Ransom, a Cambridge academic, who is abducted and taken on a spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra, which he knows as Mars. His captors are plotting to plunder the planet’s treasures and plan to offer Ransom as a sacrifice to the creatures who live there. Ransom discovers he has come from the “silent planet”-Earth-whose tragic story is known throughout the universe!
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The Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead Blog Tour
Ancient legend tells of an army of knights that will remain sleeping until the last days.
The knights are waking up.
A homeless man is stalked by a pale, wraithlike creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth. Maimed animals and a host of suicides cluster around a mountain in Scotland. And deep beneath the cobbled streets of Oxford, a malicious hoard besieges a hidden city.
Freya Reynolds is a university student with a touch of OCD and an obsession with myth and folklore. Daniel Tully is living rough on the streets of Oxford, waging a secret war against an enemy only he can identify. Years ago, they found themselves in a world few know is real. They have since gone their separate ways and tried to put that adventure behind them.
But the mythical world is now bleeding into our reality-a dark spiritual evil that is manifesting itself in forgotten corners of the British Isles. Alex Simpson is a Scottish police officer who specializes in hunting mythical creatures. Together, they must confront the past, the present, and points beyond to defeat the ultimate threat to humanity.
Nothing they’ve seen so far prepares them for what awaits . . . in “The Realms Thereunder.” Continue reading
FREE ALL WEEK in honor of the Author’s birthday!
F.A.I.R.I.E.S. Baptism by Fire by M.C. Pearson Here lies a most precious treasure, Awaiting one Chosen to deliver. Seek out the red cousins in the East, For on this your greed mustn’t feast. The wealth of a species now in your hands, Do with it as the Light demands. Give them your gift to unite, For it is the darkness we all must fight. Tweet
Halflings by Heather Burch
In the first book of the Halfling Trilogy, Nikki Youngblood discovers she’s the central force of a madman’s plan, and turns to three half-angel boys for protection. With the Halflings, she’s completely safe. Everything except her heart. And Mace’s soul. Falling for him could ensure his eternal ruin. Continue reading
Have you checked out The Gates of Heaven Series from C.S. Lakin?
About The Gates of Heaven Series
Eons ago . . . heaven decreed seven sacred sites to be established throughout the kingdom: the sha’har sha’ma’yim or Gates of Heaven. These sites were placed to prevent evil from gaining a stronghold in the world of humans, and were guarded by Keepers. Yet, over time these stone structures have been destroyed, vandalized, or abandoned, and thus evil has now spread. However, evil is no match for heaven, and so as those living in the realm confront evil in its many forms, they experience heaven’s hand guiding them, as is traditional in classic fairy tales.
Fairy tales have an uncanny staying power, and the need for the archetypes of myth has never been greater. Most traditional tales carry the message that blessings follow those choosing honorable principles and seeking heaven’s will. Fairy tales inspire hope, while at the same time impart life lessons as a hero or heroine ventures out into the world on a classic “hero’s journey.” Those of us raised reading fairy tales have had these values inculcated in us from early on, but it seems no one has taken the path of reinventing traditional fairy tales and turning them into full-length, original novels.
This is the aim of The Gates of Heaven collection of fairy tales: to draw from traditional, well-known classic tales and combine these elements with new storylines and deep characters. Designed to follow in the tradition of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia (but for a more adult and sophisticated audience), these tales meld humor, purpose, and inner struggles as characters seek heaven’s will for their lives.
The series is set in a world not unlike our own. Central to the many various villages and lands is the kingdom of Sherbourne, which is also the hub of the series. Each tale is set in a different land, featuring different characters and one of the sacred sites, although in all the books an occasional character will wander off the page and appear in another’s story. Continue reading