Aching for Always by Gwyn Cready

This book depicts a strong woman facing both her past and her future which is complicated by the distortion of time. Torn between morality, self respect and the love of two men, Joss O’Malley prevails.

I guess there really is a sub-genre of romantic fantasy. There is very little fantasy in the traditional scifi/fantasy arena. There is a great deal of sexual fantasy in the story. Hugh Hawksmoor is driven by grief and a desire for revenge. Joss O’Malley is focused on maintaining what she perceives as her mother’s legacy. The clash of emotions and time impacted morality give a certain panache to the book. I liked the book in spite of the predominant soap opera flavor.

I recommend the book.

Body of work of of Gwyn Cready

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The Absurdity of Banning Books

First, I went out and bought 8 books for my grandchildren today. None of them are banned. They were innocuous children’s books but it was my own little support of the book industry.

My stomach literally roils when I think of book banning. My first thoughts are of the Spanish Inquisition. Telling people don’t read that is akin to saying don’t look down when you are climbing. The first thing you do is look down. If the narrow minded idiots who seek to ban books really want to succeed, they should make whatever book they are trying to suppress required reading in the schools. This would curb the enthusiasm of the teens for whatever they are striving to ban.

My own recollection of restricted, not banned but restricted, books was in the town library. Children under 16 were not allowed to read books in the adult section. Of course that meant they must be better than the ones I was allowed to read. After I successfully read the children’s section of the Library my Dad got me dispensation to take out books from the ADULT section. Well, it wasn’t as adult as I had thought. This was long before the terminology of Adult was ascribed to porn so that wasn’t my surprise. My surprise was there was so little difference besides length of story. I never did figure out what they were protecting us from.

I do have to say that my love of reading and now writing must be laid at the feet of my father. He read constantly and encouraged all of us to read. Dad was the most well read person I ever met, ever! He graduated from high school but never had the opportunity to go further in his education so he made up for that by reading everything he could acquire. His love of reading has trickled down to great grandchildren who love books. All due to one very humble man’s love of reading.

He wasn’t perfect. Dad made a rash assumption years ago about the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. I was in a way, way,way, way off Broadway production of it and I asked him if he had listened to it. He shamefacedly admitted he hadn't, so I bought him a copy. He listened and he ended up using it to teach his Sunday school class of "young' adults. He generated a lot of controversy in that little church particularly when he was so outspoken about his own willingness to ban something before listening (reading) to it. I was always proud of my Dad but I truly busted my buttons when he dropped the needle on that LP and opened the eyes of his fellow parishioners.

So my love of reading led me to writing. Today I am writing to remind anyone who reads this that banning books is paramount to national suicide. If we let radicals of any stripe dictate what we read and how we then think our nation will perish. Succinctly it is patriotic to read!

Go out and buy a book!  Preferably go out and buy one of my books but if not mine, buy somebody’s book or get one out of the library.

Be proud to be a reader!

Aching for Always by Gwyn Cready Review Coming Soon! Check out her giveaway!

Tomorrow, to mark the launch of her new romance novel, Aching for Always, Gwyn Cready is giving away a leopard print Kate Spade bag ($225 value), reminiscent of the shoes her heroine is wearing on the cover.  Spread the word!

To enter, just go to www.cready.com. The giveaway ends October 4, 2010.

Raiders From The North by Alex Rutherford

Babur, a young man, thrust into leadership of his small kingdom finds himself threaten from all sides. Driven by memories of his father’s tales of past family glory, Babur becomes a conqueror who shrugs off defeat and becomes unstoppable.

Alex Rutherford

The Energizer Bunny has nothing on Babur. His ferocious tenacity in the search of glory just keeps going and going. I felt Babur’s compulsion to success was quite realistic. He was raised on tales of glory and may not have had to challenge those tales had his father not suffered an untimely death. That death basically forced him down a path he may have not otherwise chosen.

What I felt compelling about the book was how little things have changed in that area of the world. Regional and territorial imperatives as well as religious differences still fuel the violence that teems in that part of the world. This book provides an inkling into the physic of family, tribe, alliance and nation that western culture has difficulty in seeing and accepting. As historic fiction the book is well worth reading as a peek into the motivation of differing cultures it demands to be read.

I highly recommend the book.

Body of work of of Alex Rutherford

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The Scourge of God by S. M. Stiriling

The gods have tasked Rudi Mackenzie with a task. He must claim a sword across the country in Nantucket and return home. He and his companions set out across a hostile countryside, facing wasteland lands and the fanatic cutters.

Stirling stirs the soul. I find his writing captivating and enthralling. His hero’s embody both realism and astounding strength of character. The modesty and self depreciation of Rudi is contrasted with the self centeredness of Odard. Even Odard appears to be coming less odious. Ingolf is battling his personal demons and still manages to maintain his self respect and personal restraint when faced with the tantalizing Mary. Heroism does not escape unscathed. Stirling does not hesitate to kill off characters or maim them to further the story line. Considering I am generally reading at least three books simultaneously, Stirling is able to enthrall me to the point of charging through his work. Not many authors do that to me. This is the second of an excellent saga of the Change a post-apocalypse society. (or 5 of a continuing story) This book gives some incite as to what caused the fall of society as we know it.

I highly recommend the book.

Body of work of S. M. Stirling

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