Join me on Goodreads this Friday, June 25th for a Q&A on I Love Canadian Authors!

Hi there fellow book enthusiasts,

As I have mentioned many times, Goodreads is one of my favorite sites. I am also proud to be a member of the Goodreads group "I Love Canadian Authors" & was honored to be invited to participate in their Author Q&A. My turn is this Friday, June 25th, and I will be available to answer questions throughout the day.

Here is the link to the group on Goodreads:

I Love Canadian Authors group

And here is the link to the Author Q&A thread:

Author Q&A

I am following on the heels of some very cool authors, so do stop by & check out the previous Q&A's - there's lots of interesting things being asked & shared.

Of course, like many of the other participants, I will keep an eye on my thread after my day and respond to addition questions that come in. If you are not already a Goodreads member, but books are an important part of your life, I encourage you to join!

I am looking forward to this & thank the moderators of the "I Love Canadian Authors" group very much for this opportunity. Talk to you soon!

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Secret of the Sands - Bestseller for Historical Fiction!

Good day!

I wanted to share our cool news - our award-winning mystery novel Secret of the Sands has been on the Amazon kindle BESTSELLER list for Historical Fiction for the last several weeks. Whoohoo!! We have our awesome readers to thank for that!

Currently, we are at #75, here's a screen shot:




We are so very grateful for each & every reader. We love to entertain you! I also want to pass along to our fans who take the time to write in to tell us how much they enjoyed Secret of the Sands - that gives us big, huge warm fuzzies every time :)

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Celebrating Secret of the Sands' BESTSELLER status for Historical Fiction!!

Hi friends & fellow readers,

I was doing my dance of joy this week as Secret of the Sands kindle edition spent a couple of days on Amazon's BESTSELLER list for Historical Fiction, reaching at least #78. That is a huge honor for us & I want to pass along our sincere thanks to our readers - you're everything to us!

I'll take a moment to show off the screen shot of our super-cool bestselling standing:



Yippee!! Here is the link to the kindle edition:

Secret of the Sands kindle edition

Our readers rock!

Happy reading always my friends :)

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Come & check out Book Town

Hi fellow authors,

I wanted to pass the word along about one of the very cool ning sites out there. It's called Book Town and here is their mission statement:

"The social network that brings writers, readers & artists together. From novels to short stories Book Town is the place to promote your work."

The site has discussion forums, a bookstore, groups, various resources organized by genre, and more. We all have many choices in our social networking, and with some sites, it can be challenging to find places within that are on point with your needs and goals. Book Town makes a great addition to your social networking activities if you are interested in writing, reading, or are an artist.

Here is a link to the site:

http://booktown.ning.com/

and here is a little more info on what they are about:

"Book Town was built to provide a social network that brings writers of novels, graphic novels, short stories, poems, quotes, and artist together to:

* Provide assistance to the novice writer by building a network of accomplished authors who are willing to give pointers and advice to beginners in need of assistance.

* Gain additional exposure for authors to promote their projects by way of book sales, video trailers, contest, and by posting appearances in book fairs, book signings, radio and TV appearances."


Also, as many of you know, the free ning sites are no longer, but Book Town is not one of them, so you can rest assured your profile will remain. I have been a member since shortly after their inception and there are lots of cool peeps there to engage with & learn from. If you are an author, they are also offering opportunities for FREE promotion, including author features & a Book of the Week program. Sign up & check it out! Do befriend me there, too :)

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Book review: 5-stars for Knight Eternal, by Glenn G. Thater

Knight Eternal

Here is another of my most recent book reviews, also posted on Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Knight Eternal, the follow up book to Harbinger of Doom (made up of two stories, The Gateway & The Fallen Angle) was a most excellent read by author Glenn G. Thater. If you are a fan of fantasy stories, this one - in fact all of Glenn's books - are for you.




Here is a description of the story:

"In Knight Eternal, Glenn G. Thater transports us to an age of high adventure where knights battle supernatural creatures, political intrigues abound, ancient fiends lurk in the mist, and the line between good and evil is all too thin. This next volume in the epic Harbinger of Doom series is certain to delight fantasy fans everywhere. KNIGHT ETERNAL Lord Angle Theta, Claradon Eotrus, and Ob the gnome battle fanatical monks, deadly bounty hunters, and otherworldly fiends whose merest touch is death, in their relentless pursuit of Korrgonn, Lord of Chaos. Meanwhile, Korrgonn stops at nothing to acquire the fabled Orb of Wisdom, that ancient talisman that can return Azathoth and his kingdom to Midgaard. But the fate of the world turns when Claradon faces DeBoors, the ancient sword-master who has sworn to slay him."

And here is my review:

"5-stars: Pure Excellence in the Fantasy Genre

The author, Glenn G. Thater, wrote this story based on 1200-year old documents about an enigmatic character, Lord Angle Theta, and his epic journeys and battles. There is even evidence dating all the way back to 2600 B.C. that speaks to the Angle Theta lore. The author has updated this lost tale into the fantasy novel Knight Eternal. It is a battle of good vs. evil in a time of gnomes, elves & knights, and sword & sorcery. Terrible evil has befallen a vast land, creeping into places everywhere - seen and unseen - and corrupting countless people. A cadre of souls sets out to save a comrade after a merciless attack, restore justice and stability, and exact revenge.

Like his first book, Harbinger of Doom (made up of two stories - The Gateway & The Fallen Angle), this is, in my opinion, truly excellent fantasy literature. Many of the themes will be be familiar to fans of the fantasy genre, but it's possible that's because the ancient lore these books are derived from predates many other fantasy stories. Perhaps the intriguing and highly entertaining stories of the intensely mysterious and powerful Angle Theta were amongst of the original sources of inspiration for these later tales. It is obvious to me the appeal of these tales and why they lived on.

I am not exaggerating when I say that excellence is in every part of this book - from the dialogue, the settings, the pacing, the plot, to the overall feel of the story. There is not one word that is extraneous or out of place, there is never any place where I wish there had been more description, or better description, better flow, or more excitement. The characters are all clearly drawn out with palpable presences and personalities - my two faves are Ob the Gnome, and Lord Angle Theta, who continuously simmers with nearly unmatched power, danger, and deep mystery. The dialogue is crisp & witty, humorous at times, and always meaningful. The stakes are high and the journey is wild and unpredictable. The story is perfectly put together and, I think, should be read by every fan of the fantasy genre - I mean this all sincerely. It is a classic in the making.

***Possible spoiler alerts - next paragraph only***

What is really surprising & completely refreshing is that near the end of the book, the story is switched over to the bad guys' point of view, and absolutely everything is upended. The reader is then left questioning if they have it backwards, maybe those are actually the good guys (though ultimately, everyone does bad things, no one is blame-free, but everything seems to have solid motivations). This sets this book (and its predecessors) apart from most other stories. It is revelatory, and so incredibly well done, I am enthralled by it. I am not sure who the good guys are, plus there are many shades of grey, and what an agonizing treat for the reader that is. The possibilities this leaves are so tantalizing that I have never wanted to read a sequel so bad. Ever!

***End spoiler alerts***

One thing is important to mention - the story ends suddenly, very suddenly. It really is the first half of a full story. I didn't realize this about the book, there were pages left, but they turned out to be the glossary, so it caught me by surprise. I dearly hope the next installment will be released post haste!

To wrap it up, Knight Eternal is brilliant storytelling in every possible way. So much so, that I want to read every single tale about Angle Theta that has ever existed. Highly recommended!"

You can learn more about these books and the author on Glenn's website:

www.glenngthater.com

and on his Amazon.com Author page:

Glenn G. Thater - Amazon Author page

And here is the link to his book:

Knight Eternal on Amazon


Happy reading always, my friends!

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning sci-fi / mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Rai's book reviews

I thought that I would start to share a selection of my book reviews here. I do a fair bit of them, and my policy is that I only post reviews of books that I can give honest 4 or 5-star reviews to. As a fellow author, I don't want to publicly criticize anyone else's work. I know how much hard work goes into writing a book, and the uphill battle it can be to find one's readership. Sometimes, it's a matter of personal taste, what may make me dislike a certain book, may not bother someone else, or they may like it that way. There are so many reasons why people like or dislike books, and it's certainly not the same for everyone. Preferences and opinions vary. It's also a professional courtesy, I do not put myself out there as a professional reviewer, but rather as an avid reader who simply likes to give credit where credit is due. There are enough official reviewers and bloggers out there to get a wide opinion on a given book.

I love to read (obviously), so there are tons of books I've read that I have not yet reviewed. Maybe one day I'll catch up, perhaps it could be a retirement project! (though I'd have to re-read them all, by then). For now, I will share reviews of selected books that stand out for me on a go-forward basis, because of how well they are written and/or because they are really my cup of tea. I might at some point, choose selected reviews from books I have read in the past and post them here, too.





I also do the odd movie review, though I haven't written as many of those recently, probably because movies have to be really special for me to take the time to write a review (books are my main focus and like everyone else, there's a time shortage in my universe!). However, for the films I did take the time to review, my reviews can be found in a couple of places. First is my Amazon profile, which also has most of my book reviews posted there:

Rai's Amazon profile

and my MySpace page in the blog section:

Rai's MySpace page

My MySpace blog is the most varied of my three blogs (the other two are this one & Goodreads), so there is a wider variety of topics there than on the others.

All of my book reviews can also be found on my Goodreads profile:

Rai's Goodreads profile


I hope that my reviews help you find some more worthy reads you might not have come across yet or encourage you to pick up a book you were just considering.

As always, happy reading my friends!

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS