All you need to know about books at www.booksmonthly.co.uk Issue 4 July 2008
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The menu is self-explanatory - try it and see for yourselves. The magazine is arranged into three main sections, REVIEWS, FEATURE ARTICLES and STORIES, and NEW & COMING SOON TITLES. The latter section is a little like a bookshop where you can browse what's new for this month, but it is arranged by Publisher, as this is the easiest way for me to do it. Let me knowwhat you think...
Amanda Greenslade is a fantasy writer, like me (except she's young enough to be my granddaughter, and therefore has time on her side!). Her ASTOR CHRONICLES look fantastic, and I hope it won't be long before she finds a publisher. In the meantime, there's an interview with Amanda in this issue, together with information on TALON, the first book in the series. KELLEY ARMSTRONG's latest book, THE SUMMONING, is so good I had to give it joint book of the month in the fantasy section; Kelley never lets you down, and this is a terrific read, chilling and entertaining at the same time - don't miss it! And don't forget to let me know what you think of this issue of BOOKS MONTHLY ~ you can e-mail me at editor@booksmonthly.co.uk Last weekend the fourth INDIANA JONES movie smashed box office records with takings estimated to be in excess of £148m - there are lots more great new Indy books reviewed in this issue, see the Feature Articles and Stories menu above All of the titles listed or reviewed in Books Monthly are available from the store. Click on the Amazon logo to check availability as many are not yet published.
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If you were lucky, and you're a dad, you might have received a copy of this fantastic book on Father's Day! Neil Oliver, the historian from the smash BBC series COAST, retells the stories that inspired us to be better men during the last century. He laments... 
Lois McMaster Bujold: The Sharing Knife ~ Passage
Acclaimed science fiction and fantasy writer Lois McMaster Bujold—five-time winner of the Hugo Award—brings us the third installment in her New York Times bestselling romantic fantasy. The Sharing Knife, Volume Three: Passage. Young Fawn Bluefield and soldier-sorcerer Dag Redwing Hickory have survived magical dangers and found, in each other, love and loyalty. But even their strength and passion cannot overcome the bigotry of their own kin, and so, leaving behind all they have known, the couple sets off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples. But they will not journey alone. Along the way they acquire comrades, starting with Fawn's irrepressible brother Whit,
whose future on the Bluefield family farm seems as hopeless as Fawn's once did. Planning to seek passage on a riverboat heading to the sea, Dag and Fawn find themselves allied with a young flatboat captain searching for her father and fiancé, who mysteriously vanished on the river nearly a year earlier. They travel downstream, hoping to find word of the missing men, and inadvertently pick up more followers: a pair of novice Lakewalker patrollers running away from an honest mistake with catastrophic consequences;
a shrewd backwoods hunter stranded in a wreck of boats and hopes; and a farmer boy Dag unintentionally beguiles, leaving Dag with more questions than answers about his growing magery. As the ill-assorted crew is tested and tempered on its journey to where great rivers join, Fawn and Dag will discover surprising new abilities both Lakewalker and farmer, a growing understanding of the bonds between themselves and their kinfolk, and a new world of hazards both human and uncanny. Available from the Books Monthly
Amazon store!
Raymond E Feist: Jimmy the Hand
The third and last novel of Feist's successful collaborative series. From the endlessly inventive mind of one of fantasy's all time greats comes a spellbinding new adventure of high magic, treachery and bloody war. This time in conjunction with master of alternative history, Steve Stirling, Feist returns to tell the full tale
of one of his fans' favourite most colourful Riftwar characters, pickpocket, mountebank and confidence trickster Jimmy the Hand. From the Publisher
From the endlessly inventive mind of one of fantasy's all time greats, comes a spellbinding new adventure of high magic, treachery and bloody war. This time in conjunction with master of alternative US history, Steve Stirling, Feist returns to tell the full tale of one
of his fans' favourite most colourful Riftwar characters, pickpocket, montebank and confidence trickster Jimmy the Hand. About the Author: Raymond E. Feist was born and raised in Southern California. He was educated at the University of California, San Diego, where he graduated with honours in Communication Arts. He is the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Riftwar Saga. Available from the Books Monthly
Amazon store!
Fiona McIntosh: Goddess
The city-state of Percheron is in crisis. Zaradine Ana has been captured by the mysterious Arafanz and his desert warriors and is being held in their isolated fort. It is also suspected that she is pregnant with Zar Boaz's son, the heir to the throne . . . Though Lazar has made it out of the desert, his heroics in bringing the
Valide and Grand Vizier to safety have cost him. Afflicted with the drezden illness that befalls him when he is weak, he is too sick to move from his bed, when help comes from an unexpected source . . . Zar Boaz finds himself trapped by both his heart and his head. Though he can think of nothing but Ana, imprisoned in the desert, his country is on the brink of war and his Spur is helpless. Hatching a daring plan, he calls for Percheron's strongest to make one more pilgrimage into the desert, even as warships
threaten Percheron's harbor, and the Goddess reaches the crest of her ascent, throwing all parties—mortal and divine—into a perilous battle for their hearts, their lives, and their souls. Available from the Books Monthly Amazon store!
Sara Douglass: Twisted Citadel
Tencendor is no more. The land is gone. But a few SunSoars remain, and a new foe walks the world. In a time of magic and danger, three new heroes have stepped forward—Ishbel Brunelle, priestess of the Serpent Coil; Isaiah, the Tyrant of Isembaard; and Maximilian, the Lord of Elcho Falling. Yet despite their best efforts,
the Dark God Kanubai has risen. And worse yet, war approaches—backed by the evil, insidious DarkGlass Mountain, hordes of insatiable Skraelings ravage the land. While the trio struggles to keep its armies and alliances alive, the SunSoars have their own challenges, including the chance to rejoin the magical Star Dance at long last, and the appearance of the Lealfast, long-lost kin to the Icarii. The Lealfast and the Icarii may be friends . . . or deadly enemies. And as tensions rise between the two races, Axis
SunSoar revives his elite Strike Force in a desperate bid to stop the darkness. Available from the Books Monthly Amazon store!
Books Monthly (formerly Gateway Monthly) is published by Paul Edmund Norman on the first day of each month. You can contact me via e-mail at: editor@booksmonthly.co.uk. If you'd like to get a story published in Books Monthly just e-mail it to me and I'll consider it - no payment though, I'm afraid!