Season’s greetings and Merry Christmas to you all
I hope this finds you well.
Wow, this year seems to have flown by and here I am facing mince pies and Christmas turkey once again. I wonder how you are all doing? It’s been tricky (or as Gollum would say tricksy) times for so many people and the world looms ever deeper into darkness with war still in Ukraine, the Gaza conflict and the ongoing climate crisis and cost of living crisis.
Sorry, this is meant to be a pick-me-up newsletter, not one filled with doom and gloom. So I will try with some cheery news, news I am proud to announce because I have really loved writing this third book.
Yes, you saw before anyone else the cover reveal for Book 3 Darkness Resides and now it is finally here….
BOOK LAUNCH DAY
Darkness Resides is available on Amazon, in eBook, Paperback and Hardcover editions. It is also free to read for Kindle Unlimited members. It is available in every Amazon marketplace and below are the links for the UK and US my 2 biggest markets.
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CNGHWVDC
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNGHWVDC
It has been a lot of work and I have had great support along the way. I would like to especially thank my editor Michelle who has had to listen to my ideas and plans and then edit my manuscript and slap it all into readable shape. I would like to thank Ian, Jordan and Martin my beta-readers, your feedback was awesome and made the book better so thank you. Finally, special mention to my wife Lynne who, whilst not a devourer of fantasy, was a great enabler. She gave me the time and freedom to pursue my dream and without her none of this would have been possible (look at her – grabbing all the glory! Oops, that was the Smeagol in me, I’ll just put it back in it’s box).
For those who have pre-ordered – blessings to you. You have given the book the best of starts.
BOOK GIVEAWAY PRIZE WINNER
As promised you, my subscribers, were all entered into my Darkness Resides book giveaway draw. I used a number randomiser on google to randomly pick the winner and I can announce that winner was…
Charlie from York, England. Charlie wins a signed paperback edition of his choice of either Rivers Run Red, Shadows Fall or Darkness Resides. Congratulations Charlie.
BOOK REVIEWS
This newsletter is not all about me ( although it is mostly) but also books that I have been reading. The observant among you will have noticed I have not sent a book review since the 11th November which was for the rather good historical maritime novel ‘A Certain Threat’ Book one in the Merriman Chronicles. Well, I have been reading, never fear. A good writer needs also to be a good reader!
I decided to try my hand at some more LitRPG and started with:
Re-Roll by Robyn Wideman. It started okay and I found the story mildly pleasant. There was a quaintness about it I liked. The story was clearly aimed at a YA audience which is fine, YA books can be a great read, but this one just didn’t hold my attention. There was too much mundane to go with the action and whilst I liked the main character and wouldn’t rule out revisiting the book my interest in it waned and I stopped reading 60% through. So no formally rating.
Next up….
The Realm Between by Phoenix Grey – this was a 3 book boxset. The writing was solid and the premise, whilst still a cookie-cutter, typical LitRPG start, was somewhat more promising than most. I enjoyed the start but by interest struggled and I only finished the first of the 3 books in the set. The world building was okay but the characters were, just stupid. Made poor choices, were dumb as a wall and just too disjointed for me. I think the quality of the writing is there just not the story for me. I found I did not care for Will the main character at all and it all seemed a little underwhelming to me. Others may love it and indeed it seems many do, but it wasn’t my taste. Again – DNF’d so no rating given
I was despairing at this point so I turned to a classic that I had not read before…
The Lensman Super Pack by E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith – One of the founding fathers of Science fiction. Okay, I know I will love this series but the superpack is big…and the concepts are brilliant, however, I will need to read this over a larger timeframe. At least initially. The first part reads like a science fiction Silmarillion and is quite cerebral. No main characters, more main civilisations and concepts. I know it will intrigue me but…I need something less deep so this will be a slow read for me.
So then I went to an old favourite of mine I had not read for a decade or more…
Amoung Thieves, A Tale of the Kin by Douglas Hulick – Fantasy, old school and simply awesome. This book is an old friend and is a thrill ride from start to finish with some amazing characters in it. Really, if you are looking for a fun; edge of your seat; you can’t get any deeper in the mire; fantasy book. Then do yourself a favour and pick this bad boy up. The story is clever and twisted and Bronze Degan is the man! Say no more.
Finally…yep almost done….what am I reading now…
The First Wizard (Dawn of Wizards Book 1) by Jeffrey L. Kohanek – Quite an enjoyable fantasy read. I am 60% in and will post a full review when I finish it.
That’s it. It just remains for me to say. Merry Christmas. Enjoy your friends and family, eat plenty, walk lots and read!
Thank you all for your support and I will be back in the New Year.
A D Green 