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Club Fantasci

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Club Fantasci

Monthly Archives: May 2013

June’s Book of the Month “Fool Moon” by Jim Butcher

31 Friday May 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Previous Books of the Month

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Fool Moon, Horror, Indie authors, Jim Butcher, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn’t been able to dredge up any kind of work — magical or mundane.

But just when it looks like he can’t afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise.

A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses — and the first two don’t count…

You can find out more about Jim Butcher here: www.jim-butcher.com

Club Fantasci’s Book of the Month Hangout for “Waylander” by David Gemmell

31 Friday May 2013

Posted by David Lowry in News

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Gemmell, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, urban fantasy, Vampires, Waylander, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Melody-Ann Jones Kaufmann Joins the Club Fantasci Team

27 Monday May 2013

Posted by David Lowry in News

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MAJK

Club Fantasci would love to officially welcome Melody-Ann Jones Kaufmann to the team! Melody-Ann will be a major part of helping make Club Fantasci a success and we extremely happy to bring her on board.

Please give her a warm welcome and tune in Friday night to say hi! You can find out more about Melody-Ann at www.safireblade.com.

Storm Front Book Review by David Lowry

26 Sunday May 2013

Posted by David Lowry in The Dresden Files, Uncategorized

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Storm Front

“Storm Front” by Jim Butcher

 “My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure it at your own risk. I am a wizard. I work out of an office in downtown Chicago. As far as I know, I am the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country.”

“Storm Front” is the first in a series of 15 books (so far) called “The Dresden Files” based on the wizard Harry Dresden in this urban fantasy setting by author Jim Butcher. I admit I have come to this series a bit late as I have known about it for awhile both by recommendation and the TV series called “The Dresden Files” (which I loved by the way) and its untimely demise in 2008-09. This series of books is wildly popular enough to have spawned of a TV series as well as an RPG Game. This game is really what pushed me into the novels as I had recently been asked to review the game for a website. After reading through a good portion of both core manuals, I knew I need to read the books as the manuals were cool enough on their own and brought me into a whole new exciting world. I had already purchased the first to two books of the series awhile back and just hadn’t gotten around to reading them yet. I am glad I finally did and disappointed I hadn’t read them earlier.

In “Storm Front,” Harry is brought in to help consult on a double homicide case with mysterious circumstances, as he is often asked to do with the Special Investigations team of the Chicago Police Department. Detective Karrin Murphy heads this team that brings Harry in to ask his “advice” on things out of the ordinary. One of the two deaths have a mob tie to it seemingly and the other death is a bit more puzzling.

Quickly after leaving the scene of the crime, Harry is confronted by the mob and asked to avoid helping in this case, which of course, Harry declines as he smells something is not quite right with this situation and, well, he needs the money as you can imagine, wizards aren’t on everyone’s first call list for solving problems.

Harry gets back to his office for another appointment and finds himself involved in a missing persons case. Unbeknownst to Harry, both cases are of course tied together and things get rough very quickly. Soon Harry is being roughed up by strangers, attacked by a giant scorpion, an known wizard Harry calls Vic “Shadowman” is attempting to kill Harry at every possible opportunity, while trying to avoid the mob as well as attempting to help Detective Murphy as much as possible even though he is not able to be completely honest with Murphy as per the rules of the White Council, a type of governing body for wizards unknown to the public. Harry has a Warden of the White Council on his tail all the time it seems who is just gunning to get Harry killed because he doesn’t trust Harry and things he works in the “Black.” That being black magic of course. Harry’s not being able to be honest with the police also lands Harry in hot water to add to his troubles.

The thing about “Storm Front” is it is completely fun! The narration in which the story is told left me chuckling many times. I love a book that has a sense of humor to it. The character of Harry Dresden is one that many people can relate to and it just draws you in. Harry is one of the best at what he does; yet he struggles to make a living. He tries to do the best he can, help as many as he can and yet, things are always going against him. I am sure many of us understand how hard it is to be very good at something, but not make a great living at it. I know that Detective Murphy is a main stay in the series and I am sure her character will be much more fleshed out in the later books as obviously there is a special relationship between her and Harry.

Butcher does a great job of telling a fun, exciting story that compels you to keep reading. The world is completely imaginable and the tension is just enough to make you want more. Of course I will read the other books in the series as so far “Strom Front” has done an amazing job of detailing a world of magic, mystery and danger with a touch of humor and making it completely fun.

If you love urban fantasy or fantasy books of any kind, I highly recommend “Strom Front” to you. You don’t want to pass this one up!

I am giving this book 5 out of 5 stars.

You can find out more about Jim Butcher and his books here: www.jim-butcher.com

David Lowry

David Lowry

David Lowry was first attracted to the guitar at the young age of twelve. By the age of fifteen he had surpassed many teenagers’ wildest dreams as he performed regularly in bars as a part of various cover bands emulating rock icons such as Winger, Slaughter, Firehouse, Bone Angels, XYZ and Johnny Lang. During the early years of his career David also held the position of “guitar tech” for Shrapnel recording artist Todd Duane, David’s primary guitar instructor, as well as R&B Billboard chart toppers Mint Condition. Deftly skilled in all areas of music, from the technical to the creative, David has also worked with some of the Minneapolis Jazz legends on charting projects for the local jazz scene while developing a personal teaching curriculum for guitar theory. A graduate of Musicians Technical Training Institute in Minneapolis, MN in 1996, David has expanded his reach in the music industry to record music for HeadGames Publishing, now Activision Value on their best selling series of games for PC with Matt Fink (Dr. Fink) formerly of Prince and the Revolution.

David joined Difference United in 2006 and launched his new creative outlet immediately launched a tour through the Eastern European country of Romania. Since then the band has toured the United States, China and India.

In response to an overwhelming number of Nashville-based musicians seeking his management, in 2008 David founded The Lowry Agency. The Lowry Agency is a full service artist management/development and promotions agency. David and his dedicated, passionate team, work with musicians, actors, speakers, authors, voice over artists, entertainment companies, music coordination/supervision for film and TV. They strive to help their clients identify and fulfill their clients’ entertainment and business goals. The Lowry Agency’s talent roster has included such stars as Damon Johnson, Brother Cane, Juno Award winning songwriter & Candian Idol host Sass Jordan, TV personality Todd Newton, and up and coming rocker Goldy Locks.

In 2010 David launched the popular blog talk radio show “Live From Music City.” The show won the “Shorty” award for best radio show on twitter in its very first year of operation. The show focuses on how to make it in the music business with both music business professionals and successful artists who share their music business experience. David has interviewed guests such as The Oak Ridge Boys, King’s X, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Guess Who, Richie Kotzen, Tommy Emannuael, CJ Snare, Jesse James Dupree, Andy Timmons, Sass Jordan, Foghat, Warrant, Damon Johnson, Gunnar Nelson, Little River Band, Rik Emmett, Neil Zazza and Ambrosia.

David is also a staff writer for the “Rock School” column at Metalholic Magazine and a staff writer at Geek Eccentric for board game and RPG reviews.

More information about The Lowry Agency and David Lowry can be found on www.thelowryagency.com.

Club Fantasci Co-Host Dionne Lister’s Interview with R.K. Grow

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by David Lowry in News

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Australia, Author, Circle of Talia, Club Fantasci, Dionne Lister, Fantasy, Indie Author, Interview, Shadows of the Realm, Writer

Dionne Lister

Dionne Lister

Today we have a guest blogger with us, Indie author Dionne Lister. I hope you enjoy getting to know more about her and The Circle Of Talia fantasy series. I met Dionne for the first time on Twitter through another Indie author K.A Last. Kim happened to be posting about her book or something and I decided to investigate further. I love fantasy and wanted to know what her books were about. I fell in LOVE with her book covers. Gorgeous! I am currently reading book one in her series and will report back once I am finished. Enjoy the interview! I just found out that the first book in the series, Shadows of the Realm,  has been nominated in the 2013 eFestival of Words Awards! Congrats Dionne!

 

Dumbledore or Gandalf? Gandalf

Please give us a peek into your writing life. How much time each week do you spend writing? Is your desk messy or clean? Do you have a schedule or are you sporadic? What helps you stay motivated? I have a messy desk, but I write in an armchair with my laptop on my lap. if I’m determined to finish a book, I’ll manage 3-4 hours a day but I haven’t written anything for 3 weeks after releasing my sequel to Shadows of the Realm because I needed a break. So I guess you could say I’m sporadic. I’m finishing a university degree at the moment too and trying to fit writing in around paid work and children. My biggest motivators are my friends who always encourage me when I’m feeling a bit over it and the need to write always hits when I haven’t done it for a while.

Read the rest of the interview here: http://rkgtheauthor.com/meet-indie-fantasy-author-dionne-lister/

 

 

The Glass Demon by Helen Grant Review By Dionne Lister

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Book Reviews

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Gemmell, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, urban fantasy, Vampires, Waylander, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Wow what a book! Fast-paced narrative with a character I liked. Helen Grant writes with a style I enjoy reading. Her sense of humour shines through, with the main character, Lin, snarky and with little patience for stupidity or arseholes. The characterization rang true for me—a teen who is not afraid to stand up for what she thinks is right, but second-guesses herself at times.

 

The main story was mystery and horror combined, underscored with the secondary plot of Lin’s sister, Polly, having anorexia, and Lin’s fear for her. This adds tension to the main narrative. It was all woven together smoothly. Her similes were deftly drawn, one of my favourites being, “Reality seems to be unraveling as though it were a piece of knitting and someone had taken the end of the wool and pulled until the stiches slipped, one after another, dissolution running back and forth across the work, faster and faster…”.

 

The journey Lin undertakes reveals her strengths, while it exposes the weaknesses of those around her, including her father and mother. While I was not scared while reading this book, I did fear for the characters, although assumed Lin would come out of it alive since she was narrating it. If you want a book that is within the thriller/horror genre but has a literary slant, you should try this book. I couldn’t put it down. I’m off to find Helen Grants other books now. Bye.

Dionne Lister

Dionne Lister

Dionne is an author and editor from Sydney who loves reading (obviously) and playing sport. She co-hosts a humorous podcast called Tweep Nation where she interviews authors and discusses all things Twitter. She loves writing and sharing her stories, but she wishes they wouldn’t keep her awake at night.

 

More information about Dionne Lister can be found here: www.dionnelisterwriter.wordpress.com

May’s Book of the Month “Waylander” by David Gemmell

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Book of the Month, News

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Gemmell, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, urban fantasy, Vampires, Waylander, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Waylander

Waylander

The Drenai King is dead – murdered by a ruthless assassin. Enemy troops swarm into Drenai lands. Their orders are simple – kill every man, woman and child. But there is hope. Stalked by men who act like beasts and beasts that walk like men, the warrior Waylander must journey into the shadow-haunted lands of the Nadir to find the legendary Armour of Bronze. With this he can turn the tide. But can he be trusted? For he is Waylander the Slayer. The traitor who killed the King…

The Glass Demon by Helen Grant Review by Ciara Ballintyne

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Book Reviews, News

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Helen Grant, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Glass Demon, The Lowry Agency, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Lin is dragged from England to backwater Germany by her father, Dr Oliver Fox, obsessed with the discovery of the famed Allerheiligen glass, a set of stained glass windows missing for hundreds of years, perhaps no longer even in existence.

Lin thinks her biggest problems are completing her final exams in a foreign country and serving as interpreter for her father as he chases the fabulous glass, but these are the least of her worries. For the glass is rumoured to be haunted by the demon Bonschariant, and murder and woe have followed in its wake ever since its creation. No sooner has the family – Lin, her elder sister Polly, younger brother Ru, and her parents – arrived in Germany than Lin has stumbled over a corpse.

It is the first of many, as her father’s contact in Germany, a man who insisted her knew where to find the Allerheiligen glass, is dead – supposedly drowned in his bath. But his corpse, like the corpse in the apple orchard, was surrounded by fragments of shattered glass. Is there some connection between these deaths, and other events heralded by broken glass, and the Glass Demon? Is Bonschariant intent on murdering everyone who crosses paths with his glass? Or is it just the locals, intent on deterring outsiders from finding the famed stained windows? From the very start, Lin is warned by Michel, a boy who lives on a nearby farm, that her father will never find the glass without help.

The story is told from Lin’s point of view, and the author does an excellent job of capturing the essence of a wilful teenager. That said, that very fact drove me nuts sometimes, as the childish foolishness and wilful blindness of said teenager left me furious and wanting to smack her across the head. Teenagers may more readily relate to Lin than older adults.

The story is solid, with her enough mystery, conflict and intrigue to draw the reader onwards. While I wouldn’t say I was desperate to finish the story, I certainly felt compelled to read on. The opening was a little slow, and I was perhaps a quarter of the way through before I felt the story had really captured me.

I was confused for much of the book about the nature of the relationship with Tuesday. Initially I thought she was a second wife, and Lin and Polly’s stepmother, which explained why a couple with two teenage daughters on the brink of their twenties had an eighteen month old son, as well as Tuesday’s disinterest in the girls, and Lin’s attitude to her. When I realised she was their real mother, that left too many unanswered questions. Why did they have such a large gap between their elder and younger children? Especially since Tuesday was so disinterested in actually being a mother? The lack of explanation is unimportant to the overall story, but it bothered me.

Well handled was the relationship between Lin and Michel. While ordinarily a relationship between them might seem inevitable, with him the obvious love interest, I found the author did an excellent job of convincing me that there was no way Lin would ever entertain such a notion, so that when a relationship did actually start to blossom, I found myself a bit surprised.

Having read this for Club Fantasci, I expected it to be speculative fiction, but I’d classify it as more crime/thriller/suspense in the vein of The Da Vinci Code. That said, if you don’t mind the genre, it’s well worth the read.

Ciara Ballyntine
Ciara is a writer of high fantasy. A fantasy lover from her early years, this loyal, passionate, quirky, strong-willed, confident woman is bent on world domination and already has a couple of minions in the making. Born argumentative and recognising the long road to make money out of writing, Ciara wisely invested her natural inclinations in a career in law. Her favourite authors include Terry Goodkind, Terry Pratchett, Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan and Brent Weeks. She is the official dragon expert of #stabbylove.

More information about Ciara Ballintyne can be found on www.ciaraballintyne.com

 

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