As anyone who follows this blog knows, I am especially fond of fiction set in the Middle Ages. My own novel, Enoch’s Device, is set at the end of the Tenth Century, and most of the books I read and review have some connection to the medieval world. These include not only historical fiction, but…
This week, Enoch’s Device received two more reviews on the web. Steven Reynolds’ review on SPR went live on February 12. You can read the complete review here, but here are some highlights: “Enoch’s Device is a wonderfully imagined, vividly described, alternately lyrical and violent romp of a novel that should give lovers of historical…
I picked up this book a while back because I’m a huge Bernard Cornwell fan and have always been interested in Stonehenge. It was not my favorite Cornwell novel, but that’s probably because of its Bronze Age setting (I really prefer Cornwell’s books set in the Middle Ages). To be clear, however, Stonehenge did not…
I’ve been travelling this week for work, and I’m way behind on blog posts. So for this week, I’m updating one of my first posts on puzzle-like plots.This month on the SFWA Blog author Terry Bisson offers 60 Rules for Short SF and Fantasy. I found Rule #3 particularly interesting: “The SF reader is a gamer…
The newest novel from one of my favorite authors, Bernard Cornwell, was released this week in the U.S. My copy arrived yesterday from Amazon and it looks fantastic. Here is an image of its very cool cover. 1356 is the latest novel to feature Thomas of Hookton, the protagonist of Cornwell’s Grail Quest Series. Thomas…
It took far longer than I expected to get around to reading Bernard Cornwell’s Death of Kings. I hoped to skim through the other five books in The Saxon Tales series before reading the sixth book, but that never came to pass. Eventually, I just dove into the novel, and I’m glad I did since…
My new novel, Enoch’s Device, is now available on Amazon! I have long awaited this day, and I’m grateful to be able to share it with you now. Nearly a thousand years after the birth of Christ, when all Europe fears that the world will soon end, an Irish monk, Brother Ciarán, discovers an ominous warning…
I can finally reveal the cover art for my new novel, Enoch’s Device! The artwork was done by Glendon Haddix of Streetlight Graphics, who was great to work with. The back-cover blurb follows this image of the book’s cover. Nearly a thousand years after the birth of Christ, when all Europe fears that the world will…
This week I finished reading Devil’s Lair by David Wisehart, a historical fantasy novel that’s part grail quest, and part return to Dante’s Inferno. It’s an engaging read, and my full review follows this image of the book’s cover. Part Grail Quest, Part Return to Dante’s Inferno. The premise of Devil’s Lair is that…
On a lazy weekend back in the early ‘90s, I stumbled across a movie on TV that helped me discover one of the finest books I have ever read – and the story that became the inspiration for my first novel. I was drawn to the movie by its medieval setting, and became immediately intrigued…
This is my thirtieth post on beginnings, and I think it’s time for a change. Does this mean I’ll never again talk about what makes a great beginning to a novel? Probably not. But it is the end of this series, and likely the beginning of something new every Monday. So, for my final “beginning,”…