Sunday, April 23, 2006

Introducing Our New Review Coordinator, Dawno

Dawno will be managing the intake and assignment of books for review. Dawno has been an avid reader since she was three years old. One of her best loved books as a child was Robert Silverberg’s Lost Race of Mars which began a life-long addiction to all things Science Fiction. Over the years she has acquired a taste for a number of genres, including Military History and Military Fiction, Alternative History, Mysteries and Thrillers, to name a few.

Dawno looks forward to working with the authors and reviewers here. She can be reached through the same email address used for submissions. Welcome, Dawno!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Other Sites that Review Self-Published Books

Bards and Sages provides a very thorough summary of the sites that provide book reviews for self-published authors. Kudos to them for developing this useful resource which includes many different review sites along with an accurate summary of what they offer.

Writers Digest Self-Published Book Awards


writersdigest.com

Open to entries until May 1st. I would like to hear from anyone who decided to enter, or has entered in the past. Or even if you looked it over and choose not to enter? Is the chance to win worth the $100 entry fee? What is more appealling, the cash prizes or the potential publicity?

Monday, April 17, 2006

'Bob the Dragon Slayer' by Harry E. Gilleland, Jr.

Reviewed by Tim Case

TITLE - Bob the Dragon Slayer,
AUTHOR - Harry E. Gilleland, Jr.
PRICE - 2.30 (ebook), $8.95 (print)
GENRE - Fantasy
ISBN - 1411633156
PUBLISHER - Lulu
POINT OF SALE Lulu

Bob the Dragon Slayer is an Arthurian tale of a young peasant, named Bob, who, having acquired a sword named Bruce, sets about making a career for himself by, well, slaying dragons. He meets many interesting characters along the way, including a wizard named Stephan and a knight named Willie, and has many adventures roaming around the countryside on his horse, Spot. As Bob's career advances, a romance emerges, and Bob faces many unforeseen challenges, including, but not limited to the slaying of dragons. The book is written in the style of a great-grandfather relating this legend to his family after a thanksgiving day feast. It's language is simple, straight-forward, and tinged with a healthy dose of sarcasm and wit throughout. Often the language is repetitive and the story stumbles a little because of this, but overall this is a minor drawback to the tale.

The characters do come through as real people, and I found myself developing a fondness for each of them. Throughout the book, the author even manages to occasionally make some limited commentary on human nature. The fact that this commentary is limited is not a bad thing, as it ensures that the other-wise light-hearted story does not get bogged down in the complexities of real life, but still has a good time poking fun at them.

It seems the book is aimed mostly at a young audience, though there are certainly occasional asides that an older reader will enjoy. This book offers a funny and charming jaunt through Bob's life that would make excellent bed-time reading for
children up to about ten years old. The act of writing and relating stories to younger generations is a crucial one, and Harry E. Gilleland Jr. performs this feat quite well. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone looking for something sweet and simple to softly sweep their children to sleep with. This book really shows the usefulness of print on demand in allowing for the sharing of good stories, between friends, family members, or anyone of like mind to their tellers, and that's what this is all about.

RATING: 7/10

SEE ALSO:
10/10 Lulu
10/10 Amazon
9/10 Bookideas
6/10 Reviewcentre
8/10 Molly's reviews

AVERAGE RATING: 8.3/10