Seventh Star Press Cyber Monday Blow Out

 Coming Cyber Monday, Big SSP Kindle eBook Sale and Kindle HDX Contest!

We just wanted to give everyone a little heads up about this coming Monday, December 1st, which happens to be Cyber Monday in the USA! We will be having a very big Seventh Star Press eBook sale that anyone around the world can benefit from! 

We will also be opening up a Feel the Fire III contest featuring a Kindle HDX as the grand prize for a USA-based winner! It will be easy to enter and you will get bonus entries for tweeting and posting about the sale on the 1st! 

So what's in store?  Select titles from these authors  will be made available for 99 cents on Kindle as part of the Seventh Star Press Cyber Monday sale on December 1, 2014.

D.A.Adams

John F. Allen

H.David Blalock

A. Christopher Drown

Bob Freeman

JackieGamber

E.CGarrison

CrymsynHart

Selah Janel

J.L. Mulvihill

S.H. Roddey

Jason Sizemore

Steven Shrewsbury

AshleyRose Sullivan

R.J. Sullivan

Peter Welmerink

Michael West

Stephen Zimmer

Anthologies and Collections

Hero’s Best Friend:

A Chimerical World: Tales of the Unseelie Court

A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court

Writers Workshop of Science Fiction and Fantasy

The End Was Not the End

Southern Haunts 1

Southern Haunts 2

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sorcery

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword

Perfect Flaw

Vampires Don’t Sparkle!

- See more at: Seventh Star Press

Anvil of Tears by Erica Lindquist and Aron Christensen

 

This is a tale of civilization lost and survivors guilt.   Maeve, a fairy, is pursed by an implacable  bounty hunter driven by the challenge of a "mark" wanted for genocide.

Logan Coldhand is dealing with his own survivor's guilt as his truncated body and mind struggle to maintain his sanity.  His chase of Maeve is based as much on the challenge as the ridiculously high bounty.  

Maeve Cavainna is running from her past and making every effort to manipulate her future.  

The plot of the story has two guilt ridden protagonists surrounded by both enemies and friends.   The setting is a galactic civilization that encompasses a variety of sentient beings.  The remnants of Maeve's race are the down trodden pariahs.   A cult of death prays on the downtrodden of all races and ends up crossing both Logan Coldhand and Maeve Cavainna, a glass knight.  Mayhem and action ensue in the dark religious clash. 

A bounty hunter tale with psychological twists.

I recommend it.

Web: http://cifiscape.onyxneon.com/lindquistchristensen.html

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

The Genome by Sergei Lukyanenko

This story postulates a future populated by Speshes.   Speshes are genetical special humans whose parents have gene selected their future.   The age old question of nature or nurture comes to mind.   This is an entertaining story with highly provocative and thought provoking side bars.

The author successfully pulls the reader into the story with minor action and then character development.   Alex, a pilot spesh, is the main protagonist whose character development anchors the story.   Alex's choices on his crew for a mission of mystery leads he and his crew to be immersed in an intergalactic confrontation.  

The author successfully combines action, introspection and philosophy in an entertaining format.  I recommend the book.

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Last Plane To Heaven by Jay Lake

A Wonderful Voice For the Genre,
You will be missed!

Sadly this is purported to be Jay Lake's last book due to his demise.  I only use the purported since I still see books by V.C. Andrews and she has been deceased for years.   This is a collection of Jay Lake short stories.   I have made it known in the past, I am not a fan of short stories.   This book was not an exception.   I liked several of the stories very much and then they were over.   There were others I didn't like at all.   I would prefer to remember Jay Lake for his outstanding trilogy on Copper Downs.

I would suggest reading Green  and  Endurance  and Kalimpura.  All three books deal with empowering women and defying the status quo.  There is a body of literature that suggests that if women were in charge there would be fewer wars.   I don’t think this is just due to the heighten sensibilities of women, nor do their lack of interest in macho posturing.  I do think there would be less conflict because when they do throw down the gauntlet, they follow it with massive overkill.  Green exemplifies that role with her temper and actions.

This book is worth reading as it shows another side of Jay Lake.   It shows some whimsy and in some cases a depth of creativity that might be beyond bizarre.  

Jay Lake's untimely demise is a blow to literature.   His mind drifted to realms that are daunting in their characterizations and scenes.

RIP Jay Lake.

Web Site: http://www.jlake.com/2010/08/14/writing-endurance-is-a-wrap/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

The Black Stars by Dan Krokos

This is one of the better YA SciFi stories I have read recently.   Mason Stark is a teen hero who finds living up to his reputation can provide some problems.

Mason and his team of ESC cadets find themselves wrapped up in another interstellar war.  If a back story had been provided it would be a lot clearer as to why the team feels how they feel.   The lack of a back story is the biggest flaw in this otherwise excellent teen tale. 

The characters are interesting, they exhibit the arrogance and stupidity of teenagers and they pay for it.   Of course they don't pay as high a price as real kids do if they behaved the same way.   The arrogance and stupidity comment is based on my own behavior growing up and should not be applied to kids today unless the shoe fits.

I enjoyed the story, there were some inspiring heroics and a entertaining plot.

I highly recommend the book.

Web Site: http://dankrokos.tumblr.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

The Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp

The full title of this book appears to be The Accidental Highwayman Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, his horse Midnight, A Mysterious Princess and Sundry Magical Person's Besides.  

This is a tale of a teen-age orphan thrust into magical events.   Kit is quite satisfied working for his master who is far kinder than anyone in his past life.   The demise of his master and the sudden enmity of a self centered obsessive Captain Sterne forces him to go on the run.  

His journey is be speckled with characters out of fairy tales.   Those would be the edgy, Brothers Grimm, type of fairytale characters.   The gist of the book is the journey and the inter-personal (person?) relationship with the myriad strange characters.

Kit faces adversity with courage and teen angst.   This is an excellent coming of age kind of book for young teens.

I recommend it.

Web site: http://us.macmillan.com/theaccidentalhighwayman/bentripp

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Thornlost by Melanie Rawn

Touchstone  was the first book in this thought provoking series, Elsewhens is the second.  I was under the erroneous assumption that this was a trilogy. Unless Ms. Rawn wants to leave us all hang as David Weber did with  there will be at least another book.   This is a behind the scenes look at theatrical production powered not by animation but magic.   Touchstone, a group of four, has made a name for themselves as well as acquiring some serious enemies.

Precognition would be another description for one of Cayden Silversun's erratic magical abilities.   The nature of this ability escapes both Cayden and often the reader.   Mieka, his volatile elf like sidekick curbs some of his normal drug enhanced frivolity in this book.  The use of thorn is akin to the abuse of a variety of drugs.   Thorn seems to be more tailored for individuals and their genealogy which does not negate the fact that it appears to be an addiction.

Political intrigue continues in this book.   Vampirism is introduced.  Women's rights continue to be a major subtheme of the book.   Black Lightning's performances include targeted magic that appears to promote racial discrimination off a type that is similar to the Hitler racial purity concepts.   In this case racial isn't based on color but on whether goblin, elf, human, wizard, troll or giant rules your gemological background.

It seems that although Cayden postulates that theater can change society, he is shocked to discover it happening.  The interpersonal relationships between a rather large cast of characters fuels a major chunk of the prose.

The book is more thought provoking than action prone.

I recommend the book.

Web Site: http://www.melanierawn.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

WhipEye by Geoffrey Saign

 Animal rights, loss, depression and adventure feed the plot of this story.   WhipEye is a staff of power or is it merely a manifestation of a young girls power and love of animals.   Sam mourns the loss of her mother and finds herself in a struggle that threatens the fabric of her world.

The author does a nice job on showing a coming of age of a couple of kids while helping Samantha learn how to cope with her loss and recognize the loss her father is also harboring.

The pantheon of characters but good and bad are highly imaginative.   The author portrays continuations action with the characters learning from their harrowing experiences.   Charlie's wise cracking adds some levity to the terror of facing Magnar.

This is a good story that may help kids who are struggling with loss or personal growth by examples in the book. 

Web Site: http://www.geoffreysaign.net/ 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.