Showing posts with label ScienceFictionRomance. Show all posts

Thursday, 4 April 2024

Race to Novus - Release Day Spotlight and Review

A daughter’s last chance at redemption on an alien planet. A sweeping secret that could not only end her dreams, but her life as well.

Finn Rucker boards the starship to seek a fresh start as part of a colonizing effort on Joya. The race, sponsored by Governus, yields free land and startup funds for the lucky winners. The number of entrants guarantees someone is going to lose and Finn is determined that she and her bionic horse, Herc, are among the winners.

Racing through uncharted jungle to the settlement of Novus, Finn and her fellow racers soon discover that not everything is as it seems – and Governus withheld information from the contestants. Strange beasts attack the racers, mechanical equipment begins to fail, and the very air seems out to get them.

When all seems lost, a mysterious people arrive and help the racers, revealing the depth of Governus’ deception. Finn will have to keep her pulse pistols close and her new friends closer – but not too close – as they all race to survive the jungle.

You will love this mashup of Hidalgo and James Cameron’s Avatar as Finn navigates the guilt of her past, the promise of a future, and the imminent dangers of her present.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.ca/Race-Novus-R-Clarke-ebook/dp/B0CSC5YS3P/

https://www.amazon.com/Race-Novus-R-Clarke-ebook/dp/B0CSC5YS3P/

Publisher’s website: https://www.cloakedpress.com

Author Bio –

R.A. Clarke is a former police officer turned stay-at-home mom living with her family in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Besides raising two rambunctious boys, soaking in lake time, and acting in community theatre, R.A.’s
spare time is spent plotting fantastical novels and multi-genre short fiction. Her tales have been featured in various publications, and have won international writing contests, such as Red Penguin Books' humour contest, the Writer’s Weekly 24-hour contest, The Writer's Workout: Writer's Games, and the 2023 Write Fighters 3-Day Novella Challenge. She was also a finalist for both the 2021 Futurescapes Award and the 2022 Dark Sire Awards.

R.A. Clarke writes and illustrates a children’s chapter book series for ages 7-10 as Rachael Clarke as well. The first book in that series, The Big Ol’ Bike—a story about a smaller than average kid with a huge heart—was named a Females of Fiction Award finalist by Hindi’s Libraries in 2021. To learn more, please visit: www.rachaelclarkewrites.com.

Social Media Links –

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/raclarkeauthor

Twitter:

https://www.twitter.com/raclarkewrites

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachaelclarkewrites

Website:

www.rachaelclarkewrites.com

Linktr.ee:

https://linktr.ee/raclarkewrites

REVIEW

As a horse lover, as well as Science Fiction/Fantasy/Western romance lover, and having participated in several long distance horse races myself, I thought I would enjoy this book - I hadn't realised how much.

This is a real page turner with surprises that are as much a suprise to Finn as they are to the reader.

Finn is a sassy and determined main character - and what horse lover would not love a bionic Friesian stallion! Although I am usually annoyed when the main character, however young or inexperienced they are, rides a stallion, (not usually the easiest gender of horse to ride or handle.) In this case, however, Finn is perfectly capable, and her relationship with Herc is very caring and they make a perfect partnership. (The only fault I found was that she seemed to feed him on nothing but oats, which, while certainly being a good source of energy, would not do his digestion a lot of good, unless he was able to graze at night to up his intake of fibre. This is being a bit 'nit-picky' though, and on the whole I found Finn's actions completely plausible, even if, perhaps, she did not always make the wisest decisions, she always tried to keep Herc safe and blamed herself when things went wrong. The romance was lightly handled but one could see it subtly developing as the story progressed.

The scientific details were also absolutely credible, with some intriguing science fiction type vehicles, and I loved the descriptions of the Venanti and their 'city'.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a thrilling adventure story with a little light romance, especially if they also like horses!

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Monday, 13 July 2020

Welsh myths and legends - the gwyllion

Hi folks
Continuing my series on Welsh myths and legends, we've concentrated on mythical animals over the last few weeks - so this week I thought we'd have a kind of fairy.

No nice, pretty little fairies though, nor even the rather mischievous Tylwyth Teg, featured a few weeks ago.

No, these fairies are the gwyllion, female fairies, said to be frightfully ugly and scary, who haunt lonely mountain tracks and roads in the Welsh Mountains. They are really more like bad witches. They would lead the unwary traveller astray so that they were hopelessly lost, even if they had travelled the same road before. One gwyll was reputed to be the ghost of a witch, and to shriek and cry in the Llanhyddel Mountain which she haunted. A lost traveller upon encountering her, assumed she was a mortal woman and followed her, calling to her to help him find his way, but she led him further and further out of his way, eventually enticing him to a marsh. As she emitted an evil laugh, he realised the cackling sound was not human and drew his knife, whereupon she disappeared, because Welsh ghosts and fairies have an inherent fear of knives.

So should you ever come across an ugly old woman in the Welsh Mountians, be sure to flash a knife, and she will quickly disappear, but should she arrive in your home, treat her kindly, and you will come to no harm.

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For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation. http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Monday, 6 July 2020

Myths and legends of Wales - Adar Llwch Gwin

Apologies for there being no post in this series last week - no real excuse except time caught me up and passed me! Anyway the mythcal animals are back this week with the Adar Llwch Gwin (but more about that in a minute. First I want to say I hope all my friends in the U.S. had a very happy Independance Day and also that you are all keeping safe during this horrid pandemic.

Back to the Adar Llwch Gwin and once again, this story is connected to the Arthurian legends.
The name means Bird of dust and wine (Adar - bird, Llwch - dust, and gwin - wine.) This creature was a ferocious, giant bird, similar to a griffin. They were said to understand the human language and obey every command given to them by their keeper.

The story goes that the Adar Llwch Gwin was given to a warrior named Drudwas ap Tryffin, by his wife, who was also a fairy. Drudwas's father was the King of Denmark and his sister, so the story goes, was a mistress of King Arthur.

Drudwas was about to do battle with Arthur, and commanded the Adar Llwch Gwin to kill the first man to enter the battlefield. As he prepared for the battle, confident that Arthur would be first on the field, his sister delayed the King, and when Drudwas strode out onto the battlefield, the bird turned upon him and tore him to pieces. When it realised what it had done, the Adar Llwch Gwin let out a shrill and mournful wail.

Later, in medieval Welsh poetry, the phrase Adar Llwch Gwin came to describe all kinds of raptors including hawks and falcons, and was the name was also given to men who proved their bravery.

If you haven't yet read (or listened to) The Destiny Trilogy, and would like to see a 'taster', I'm thrilled to have had the covers animated, and a new trailer made for the series, by the talented Morgan Wright, with music by GeeGee Music

Productions.

FREE AUDIOBOOKS

If you're at a loose end in these strange and rather scary times, there are many great books out there to be read, so why no try a new author.
If you'd like to listen to a book rather than read it, again there are some really great books available in audio.

(You can get my own Destiny Trilogy for FREE.)

GET YOUR FREE CODES NOW:
Starquest: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=starquest
Children of the Mist: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=children+of+the+mist