Antonio in the rigging and a book review

  

 Those of you who have read Threading the Rude Eye may recognize this scene in which Antonio dares the British to do their worst. He, of course, has great confidence in his enchanted ward against British ball--as well as his personal charm with women.

Earlier today, I spent a short time Les Freres Corses, and we did one of our talking adventures. (These adventures don't use dice or abilities etc; each participant makes a suggestion of what happens next in the adventure--like being spotted by dinosaurs, making it the ruins, suffering a fall, or what happens when the single lit button in the ancient UFO is pushed--and then everyone votes by playing one of three cards dealt to them to start the game. The suggestion that receives the high card is what happens; and the players each draw another card). Anyway, I'll spare you the turn by turn, but in less than an hour, the heroes escaped dinosaurs, discovered a secret passage into the ruins, activated an ancient starship and survived the crash thereof, were attacked by a giant spider and dinosaurs, did some highly cinematic battle sequences, and completed the mission while suffering some serious wounds.

One of the things we talked about was the imminent release of Accidental Wizard - the sequel to Accidental Pirates. (Amazon Associate link acknowledgement: I, or someone else, may receive some kind of remuneration or commission when the link is used). Let me share with you something about the new book before we get to the book review for this week:

Chris and his twin brother Kenny step into a fallen log on a hike with their grandfather and come out on a grassy hill in a kingdom at war. The court mage who summoned them is dying on the spot from the cost of the spell. Within the hour, Chris has been handed a cut palm and an order to produce fire.

The magic in this book is not free. Every spell Chris casts opens a wound somewhere on his own body — the book calls it the mulct — and it never stops being true. Power costs something and he is the one who pays it.

There is no romance subplot and no crude language. What there is: two brothers who refuse to be separated, and a grandfather who sends them off expecting them to come back having learned something.

ACCIDENTAL WIZARD is on sale this month.

Check out the cover: 

 

Book Review:

 

I finished reading Rick Cutler's excellent book, Colt Ostergaard: Man with a Gun. I've already sent him a note of appreciation for writing the book. It's a rip-roaring good time and a rootin' tootin' shootin' read. Colt's a man of honor surrounded by dishonorable people from both sides of a war, the wounds from which have never healed. Colt is the man in the middle, the honorable man who is therefore a target and scapegoat for those carrying the wounds. Speaking of wounds, Colt's not the white knight hero who never gets a wound. In fact, if there is something that is opposite of the guy who never gets a scratch, it would be Colt. Get his book on your list to be read immediately.

I could tell you more about this book, the planet Fenris, the war with the Alphies, the fur snakes, the 40 year winter, the exoskeletons, etc., but I won't ruin the delightful discovery of these things for yourself.