Book Review: Bloodstone by Helen C. Johannes

I thought I'd do something a little different for you this month.

I recently read Bloodstone, by Helen C. Johannes. Having been drawn to the book because of the author's surname (I thought she might've been South African), I will admit to being a little disappointed to find that the book was categorised as Romance. Once I read the description, though, it seemed more Fantasy than Romance to me and, since Fantasy's my preferred genre to read, I picked it up.

Here's the product description:

What if looking at the face of the man you loved meant death?

Years ago, warrior Durren Drakkonwehr was cursed by a mage. Now feared and reviled as the Shadow Man, he keeps to himself, only going to town to trade rare bloodstones--petrified dragon's blood--for supplies. Though he hides his face, he can't hide his heart from the woman who haunts his dreams...

Needing bloodstones for a jewelry commission, Mirianna and her father journey across the dreaded Wehrland where the beast-men roam. When their party is attacked, only the Shadow Man can save them. Strangely drawn to him, Mirianna offers herself in return for her father's rescue.

Living in the ruined fortress with the Shadow Man, Mirianna slowly realizes that a flesh-and-blood man--not a fiend--hides there in hoods and darkness. But are love and courage enough to lift the curse and restore the man?

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and gave it four stars out of five on Goodreads (I very seldom give five star ratings. Very seldom indeed). Here's what I had to say about it:

Don't be mad: I'm going to make a sweeping generalisation here. Girls love romance, and boys love fantasy.

If this is true, then Helen C. Johannes has come up with the perfect formula in Bloodstone. There is just enough romance to keep all those "girly-girls" happy, but not too much to detract from the awesomely epic fantasy that is this story.

Like most men, I'm not generally a romance fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's epic fantasy at its most beautiful. The story is deep and complex, the descriptions are vivid, and the characters well constructed.

The writing is very good - nary a typo to be found, and the language is appropriate to the period (which is something that tends to really bother me about most modern fantasy).

I also thought the introduction was just genius. Many TV shows nowadays start with some shocking revelation. A character gets shot, a secret is revealed, and then the next scene starts with "x days/hours earlier". Some of those work well, but I think that particular trope can be overused. Well, this book starts like that. But, far from being frustrating, it worked extremely well. Many of these TV shows could learn a thing or two!

My only gripe with this book is something that I think many fantasy fans will actually see as a good thing: It's long. Or at least, it feels that way. It's the chapters, you see. If, like me, your busy life doesn't allow for much more than twenty minutes a day spent reading, and you're the kind of person who at least likes to finish a chapter in a sitting, you'll be a bit disappointed. Most of these chapters will take you more than a single reading session to finish, and some of them will take you more than two.

But hey, if that's my only complaint, then the author has done a good job. A great one, in fact.

If you're intrigued by my review, and would like to download a free sample or buy it, click here for the book's page on Amazon.

Crossword Puzzle - October 2015

So, it's that time of the month again. It's time for a crossword puzzle!

If this is your first time here, then here's the deal:

Print out this crossword puzzle, solve it, and e-mail me your answers before Tuesday, 17 November 2015.

I'll be posting the answers to this blog on that date, and if you're the first person to send me the correct answers before then, I'll mention you as the winner.

Make sense? Well, let's get cracking....

Across

1 Carson, author (3)
4 Afrikaans "doos" (3)
8 Computer animated talking parrot (3)
10 Allow (3)
11 Promise to pay debt (3)
12 Little plastic building blocks (4)
13 Tolstoy (3)
14 Three times (6)
16 Ask nicely (6)
19 Jik (6)
23 Christian rapper (6)
25 It's what we breathe (3)
26 TV psychologist (4)
27 Ilness causing aching muscles (3)
29 Thus was it written (3)
30 Female sibling (3)
31 Vehicle with internal combustion engine (3)
32 Can be high or low in poker (3)

Down

2 British PM from 1945 to 1951 (6)
3 Story of a person (3)
5 Strigine (7)
6 Alcohol (5)
7 Helium powered flying machine (5)
8 Mobs getting out of control (5)
9 Get rid of (4)
15 Laceration (abbr.) (3)
17 (slang) A flirtatious woman (3)
18 Armband awarded to Roman soldiers (7)
20 Hawaiian party (5)
21 Extension of a bird's lung (6)
22 A place for keeping rabbits (5)
23 Comedic heist (5)
24 Elaborate table decorations in the shapes of ships (4)
28 Actress with many husbands (3)

Good luck!

Crossword Puzzle - September 2015 Answers

Anyone looking for answers to the September 2015 Crossword puzzle? You're welcome!

Across

1 Using animals to treat medical conditions (10) zootherapy
3 On which a gun is mounted (6) turret
6 Jones (4) Nora
8 To get married (3) wed
9 Yoko (3) Ono
10 Independent (4) indy
12 Left-handed (6) leftie
13 Sun City (10) Heliopolis

Down

1 Nothing (4) Zero
2 Tethered (5) yoked
4 Author of When Twins War (4) Ryan
5 One of the two longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales (4) Towy
6 Christmas Carol (4) Noel
7 Cluster or sequence of notes or chords used in a song (4) riff
9 That special quality (5) oomph
11 What a pity! (4) alas

See you next week, for a new puzzle.

Tales from Virdua: Mary's Papa

Mary squeezed her father’s hand. It was hot and clammy, despite the cold cloth that had been placed over his head.

He was unconscious, lost to the fever that had held him captive through the night. Mary looked down at his pale face, and tears welled in her eyes for the umpteenth time. She looked to her mother, who was standing next to her.

“Mama,” she spoke softly. “Do you think he’ll make it?”

Her mother didn’t respond. She just looked into Mary’s eyes, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

On her other side, her love Richard took her free hand and held it tightly.

“Don’t worry, Mary,” he said. “Your da’ will be all right. I know it.”

“Thank you, my love.”

Richard was a little slow, sometimes. But his heart was in the right place, and Mary loved him dearly.

***

The previous day, during their afternoon meal, Mary’s father had inexplicably got up from the table and announced that he wasn’t feeling well.

He turned, and was about to go and lie down, when he suddenly clutched his chest. His eyes went wide, and he keeled over.

Mary’s mother screamed and rushed to his side. She crouched down next to him and began to shake him. 

“Wake up! Wake up!” she yelled. 

Mary had the presence of mind to rush up to him and hold her hand above his mouth and nose. Feeling for breath. It was there, but it was faint. She then pressed her palm against his forehead; he was burning up.

“Mama, we need to get the healer…”

“Go!”

***

“Jonatan, please, come quickly!” said Mary, as she banged furiously on the door to the healer’s.

In a few moments, the door opened.

“What’s wrong, child?”

Mary quickly explained to Jonatan everything that had happened, but it was difficult for him to follow was she was saying, so hysterical she was. He had to keep telling her to calm down and repeat herself.

When she had finally finished, Jonatan grabbed his pack.

“Let’s go.”

“Please go ahead,” said Mary, who by this time was gasping for air. “I need to fetch Richard. I need him near me right now. I’m sorry. I’ll meet you there.”

***

When Mary returned with Richard, her father was in bed. He lay on his back, with his arms beside him, outside the covers, and he had a cloth on his head.

Jonatan approached Mary.

“I’m not sure what’s wrong,” he said. “From what you and your mother describe, something has gone awry with his heart. But he has a terrible fever. I have instructed your mother to put a cold cloth over his head, to try and break it, and I’ve given him a herb tea as well. That’s all I can do for now. We’ll just have to see if he makes it through the night.”

With that, Jonatan packed up his things and walked out the door.

***

Mary’s eyes burned with tears as she remembered the callousness of that conversation. She heaved and sobbed inconsolably.

Richard wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her close.

The three stared down at her father’s pale face, and watched his chest slowly rise and fall, rise and fall.

Suddenly, the man on the bed heaved. His eyes shot open, and he exhaled a long sharp breath, as though waking from the nightmare.

“Papa!”

The man finished his breath, and looked up at the panic-stricken faces. He smiled.

Mary and her mother were upon him at once, hugging him and kissing him, and saying how glad they were that he was all right.

Richard looked down at him and smiled. “I told you,” he said to Mary. “I told you he’d be okay.”

Once all the excitement was over, Mary’s father cleared his throat.

“My daughter,” he said. “There is something that I need to say to you.”

“Of course, papa. Anything.”

Her father nodded towards Richard and his wife.

“Alone.”

Mary’s mother put her arms around Richard. “Come, Richard,” she said. “I know what he needs to discuss with her, and we shouldn’t be here for it.”

Richard looked at Mary quizzically. She smiled and squeezed his hand.

“It’ll be all right, my love.”

Richard shrugged, and reluctantly followed Mary’s mother out of the room.

***

“What is it, father?” asked Mary when they were alone. “It sounds serious.”

Her father sighed. “It is.”

He gave a cough, before continuing, “What happened to me yesterday reminded me of how short life is. Of how little time we are given with the ones we love.

“I fear that I have little time left on this earth, and what I have to tell you can no longer wait.

“Buried in fields, under our grain crops, is a chest. When I am gone, I want you to go and dig it up.”

Mary interrupted with tears in her eyes. “No! Don’t talk like this papa. Please. You’re…”

Her father held out a hand.

“Please, my daughter, this is important. In the chest, you will find five thousand gold pieces. It should be enough for you to see to your mother, and to build a life for yourself.”

By this time, tears were streaming down Mary’s face. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

“But papa,” she whispered. “I don’t want any money. I just want you.”

Her father smiled, and started to say something. But before he could speak a word, his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell silent.

Mary screamed. She leaned forward and pressed her ear to her father’s mouth. She felt no breath.

By the time her mother came rushing in, with Richard in tow, Mary was lying on her father’s chest, weeping inconsolably.

Heritage of Deceit Paperback (Second Edition) - Coming Soon

For a while now, I've been a bit concerned about what the paperback edition of Heritage of Deceit looks like. It's U.S. Trade Paperback size (6" x 9"), but it's only 46 pages. It just looks too thin.

When I did the paperback of my latest book, Heaven and Earth: Paranormal Flash Fiction, I made it the slightly smaller 5.8" x 8.3". Really not much smaller, when you think about it, but it ended up being slightly more pages. It just feels a bit heftier, and fits more comfortably in your hand.

Because I was quite new to publishing print books, I didn't take into account the "bleed" of the cover, so the end of my surname exactly touches the right end of the book. Finally, there's a typo in it, that's been fixed in the e-book version for almost a year already. It's been bugging me about the paperback edition, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to fix it.

I've already mocked up a cover for the new edition - you can see it on the right. Please comment on this post and let me know what you think!

I'll be working on the new print edition over the next week or so, and it should filter through to all retailers within the next few months. So, you might actually want to hurry up and buy a first edition paperback while you still can. It'll be unpublished once the second edition filters through, and you'll have a collector's edition on your hands....

Crossword Puzzle - September 2015

This month, I have a really quick and easy crossword puzzle for you.

If you can solve it, e-mail me the answers before Tuesday, 20 October 2015. That's day on which I will post the answers to this blog. If you're the first person to send me the correct answers before then, I'll mention your name in that post.

Sound simple enough? Go!

Clues

Across

1 Using animals to treat medical conditions (10)
3 On which a gun is mounted (6)
6 Jones (4)
8 To get married (3)
9 Yoko (3)
10 Independent (4)
12 Left-handed (6)
13 Sun City (10)

Down

1 Nothing (4)
2 Tethered (5)
4 Author of When Twins War (4)
5 One of the two longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales (4)
6 Christmas Carol (4)
7 Cluster or sequence of notes or chords used in a song (4)
9 That special quality (5)
11 What a pity! (4)

Crossword Puzzle - August 2015 Answers

Okay, so I just know you've all been tearing your hair out trying to solve the August 2015 crossword puzzle, haven't you?

Well, tear no more: the answers are in!

Clues

Across

1 Era (5) epoch
2 Ballroom dance (5) waltz
6 Wife of a nobleman between a count and a duke (8) marquise
10 Discount South African retail chain (3) pep
11 Edible kernel inside a hard shell (3) nut
12 Kiss kiss (4) mwah
14 Omega (3) end
16 Female sibling (3) sis
19 Fey, actress (4) Tina
22 Tac toe (3) Tic
24 Apple computer (3) Mac
25 WWII fighter plane (8) Spitfire
26 Drop him (fly my balloon) (5) pilot
27 Exert downward force (5) press

Down

1 Active hostility (6) enmity
2 Sadness (3) woe
3 Patch of grass in front of a house (4) lawn
4 Lively (5) zesty
5 Seen from your balcony (4) view
7 Turkish brandy (5) rakis
8 At the very top (6) upmost
9 Get a massage here (3) spa
13 Having six rays (6) hexact
15 Capital of India (5) Delhi
17 Shorts worn as underwear (6) boxers
18 Remove all your clothes (5) strip
20 Demon (3) imp
21 Hit it with a hammer (4) nail
23 Medieval hood (4) cowl
25 Take a load off (3) sit

New puzzle coming next week. See you then!