The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter #77
New indie releases, a book review and a link to a free book!
Editor’s Note
Content for the Newsletter is always wanted! Send in details of new releases, pre-orders, news items, reviews and free books! Please click here for submissions via Google Forms. Read the T&Cs before you submit.
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Featured Promotion
The Miners of the Mine series by Penny Moss
Deep in the mountain where magic and mining coincide, penniless Oliver enlists as a Miner of the Mystics. The dream is unfathomable riches, the risk is injury or even death. A risk worth taking for just a glance at Sentinel Tau, an otherworldly being tasked with protecting the mountain’s inhabitants.
Oliver’s luck plummets when he suffers a magical curse. Even a wayward touch could hurt him or his friends, alienating Oliver from everyone but Tau, whose healing magic he needs to survive. Oliver aches for an echo of his feelings behind the Sentinel’s expressionless mask—and discovers it in unexpected ways.
When Oliver and his friends unearth a portal, the rarest artefact of all, he is plunged into a world of nightmares. There, he uncovers the gruesome origins of mining for the transmundane. The truth of what they might have unleashed upon their own world is only the beginning of a harrowing road Oliver stumbles down to be with Tau.
Features full-page chapter art!
New Releases
Out of Time by Ian Hornett
Don’t let anyone tell you that time travelling is easy. It’s not. It hurts – a lot!
Go back in time. Make the changes. Get out… are Derrin’s instructions to help save Earth from the catastrophic effects of a meteor strike. But Derrin likes to do things her way.
A botched trip to 1989 is the trigger for a new, perilous timeline to form. Derrin will need her nerve, know-how and Ninja skills to clear up the mess.
Can Derrin fix the timelines? Or is she – and Earth – out of time?
Rubbles of Magrath (Inner Universe Book 5) by Natalie Kelda
Three months have passed since the Great Quake shook Magrath. Three months since Balfour lost Skye.
The city lies in ruin and survival is only possible by scavenging. Every day they root through buildings filled with those killed in the earthquake that was meant to mark the end of the tarilla war. The war that still rages on.
Balfour's biggest fear is to find Skye. Rotten and crushed under the rubble. But he knows where she died: In the starless vaults at the centre of town.
Struggling to accept his loss, Balfour strays to the courtyard where he once spent a night beside Skye. But there he discovers an old enemy and that hope yet remains.
Can he risk the people who have become his family for someone he has already lost and mourned?
Soul of Silver and Smoke by Arianne Nicks
The last book in the Soul Erosion series is here to shed light on all the unanswered questions—but not without taking us through a roller coaster of emotions and plot twists.
The aftermath of a secret plan gets Sophie imprisoned in a place she has always hated. But she is not alone.
An otherworldly presence teaches Sophie how to wield her light so she can protect her mind and the mirror from evil forces. Her failure would mean the damnation of a world she grew to love and her success—its salvation.
To have a fighting chance in this undercover battle, Sophie left behind the man she loved. But his memory is what keeps her from breaking when she finds herself at the mercy of her captor, surrounded by pain and darkness.
Will their broken bond be enough to remove the threat from the magic world?
Sick Girl Screams by S J Townend
Woven together by the black ribbon of grief, with whispers of haunted children, feminism, and the unnerving concept of infinity, this inaugural collection of dark fiction by S J Townend is an eclectic mixture of reprints and original material.
Prepare to unravel.
When Death Becomes Her by Kim Evans
A woman is betrayed, a painting is cursed, and lives are changed.
Driven by bitterness and despair after the betrayal of her unfaithful husband, Clara places a curse on her favourite painting. Anyone who owns it after her will encounter tragedy. Determined that no one else should feel joy or happiness, Clara gets a twisted enjoyment from watching other people suffer.
The painting is passed from home to home, where Clara causes devastation while also witnessing deceit, happiness, and even murder. It seems that everybody already has their own personal battles to deal with. After decades of inflicting and witnessing tragedies, Clara’s enjoyment begins to turn to regret as her heart softens for those suffering around her, and the once cursed painting becomes a blessing for some.
Clara watches the world change as time moves on and not for the better. In the new and unfamiliar world of the future, she watches as people struggle to adapt to enforced changes, and wonders if this is still somewhere she wants to be.
News Round-Up
Indie Visible Services has launched a reward scheme which offers free Instagram tours for authors and prizes for readers. Sign up using this form.
TheWriteReads is touring the BBNYA (Book Blogger Novel of the Year Awards) 2024 semi-finalists’ books.
The submission window for the next Brigids Gate Press anthology, Poisoned Soup, is December 14-31st.
Book Review
Third Loch from the Sun by Rex Burke, reviewed by N S Ford
A charmingly original sci-fi comedy set on a Scottish island, this novel is quite slow-paced (like island life!) and takes its time introducing the sci-fi element. I think that even readers who don't usually read sci-fi might enjoy the book.
The story follows Jake, a student who has travelled all the way from the English south to the Scottish island of Elsay for a summer job. The job was advertised by mistake but he is still given some work. He meets a number of characters who make his time on the island very interesting indeed. Then he discovers the huge secret on the island, known to just two other people.
I enjoyed the narrative style, which was warm and humorous. I also liked the distinctiveness of the characters and the strong sense of place. My only criticism is of an over-reliance on comparing the female lead character / romantic interest, Alva, to the actress Emma Stone, who is mentioned thirteen times in the novel.
Free Book
The Shattering of the Spirit-Sword Brackish: Part I by Sam Farren
Free on Amazon US and UK at the time of composing this edition of the Newsletter.
The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter is compiled and edited by N S Ford, indie author and book blogger.