Fans of the Dray Prescot series of planetary adventures by Alan Burt Akers may be interested in a very good and informative article on Sword and Planet Fiction on ERBzine. Written by two stalwart fans and supporters of the Dray Prescot series — Charles Gramlich and Stephen Servello. Well worth the read!

New from Renee Angers, the author of Ice and a Curious Man, is The Garden, a strong and emotional story from a great storyteller.

The Garden is available from all good ebookstores in various ebook formats, including at Amazon for the Kindle, wowio.com, scribd.com, fictionwise.com and ebooks.com. Now also on Smashwords.com, iTunes and at B&N.com for the Nook.

The Garden is also available in paperback from all good bookstores (ISBN 9781843198291), such as Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, or B&N.com.

The blurb:

With their school friends residing miles away in neighboring Ponoka, two kids are seemingly trapped in the expansive isolation of rural Alberta, Canada to spend the summer vacation in each other’s company.

Thirteen-year-old Cameron Keller finds welcome relief from his boozing father’s physical beatings in classmate Ani Sauvé’s presence. The summer heat spreading across the acres of prairies and grasslands only feed the curiosities, heartbeats, fireflies and unexplained feelings that blossom between the two.

As they grow into adults, a dark cloud of ill luck follows Cam around mercilessly, as does his unconditional love for Ani. Unable to shake the first and not willing to shake the latter, he fights to survive.

Alcoholism, abandonment, abuse, betrayal, and murder cannot keep Ani and Cam apart. The Garden is their refuge, and its memory pushes them past whatever penance they must endure to find each other again.

The first part of the Lohvian Cycle, The Lohvian Cycle I, by Alan Burt Akers, is now available in hard cover from Bladud Books. You can find it at Amazon.com and all other good bookstores.

The Lohvian Cycle I is the eleventh omnibus and contains Scorpio Reborn, Scorpio Assassin and Scorpio Invasion (all available separately in ebook editions).

Here is the blurb:

Scorpio Reborn:

Sent by the Star Lords to save a life from a fire, Dray Prescot finds himself utterly helpless in a strange land. Confused and unable to move, he is cared for by Mevancy, a woman with a strange and wonderful secret.

But why have the Star Lords left him there? Who is he expected to protect, and how is he supposed to do it? Flying a kite one moment, battling through an inferno the next, Prescot is flung headlong into fresh adventures under the mingled streaming lights of the Suns of Scorpio.

Scorpio Assassin:

Down in the southern half of the continent of Loh, in an isolated desert land where the belief in reincarnation as a punishment is firmly accepted, Prescot and his new comrade battle intrigue and assassins and attempt to follow the desires of the Star Lords. This new kregoinya is Mevancy nal Chardaz, a most spirited lady who means to keep Prescot thoroughly in his place. Not completely sure if the guardian Tuong Mishuro is the man the Star Lords wished protected, Prescot and the guards have been hoodwinked. Prescot races to Mishuro’s assistance, to arrive too late. Thus continues the tale begun in Scorpio Reborn.

Scorpio Invasion:

In Scorpio Assassin, Dray Prescot defied the Star Lords by saving Queen Leone from a grizzly death, and now he must answer for his disobedience. But the Star Lords argue over him and Dray is dropped accidentally in a walled garden. He is lost. Even the Star Lords don’t know where he is. He knows he is on the splendid if horrific planet of Kregen, and in the continent of Loh, but nothing is familiar. He must find his way back to Makilorn, and from there to Tarankar to train an army to fight the Shanks…

The Lohvian Cycle I by Alan Burt Akers (ISBN 9781843198901, 390 pages).

To keep the volume numbering consistent between the ebooks and the printed books, I have split The Havilfar Cycle ebook into two volumes, The Havilfar Cycle I and The Havilfar Cycle II. They are volumes 2 and 3 respectively of the Saga of Dray Prescot omnibus editions. The original single volume ebook, The Havilfar Cycle, will be withdrawn from book stores over the next couple of weeks.

The Havilfar Cycle I contains books 6 to 8: Manhounds of Antares, Arena of Antares and Fliers of Antares.

The Havilfar Cycle II contains books 9 to 11: Bladesman of Antares, Avenger of Antares and Armada of Antares.

Roger Taylor, author of the bestselling “The Chronicles of Hawklan” has returned with possibly the most original fantasy novel you will have read in years. The Keep is set in an imaginary world, not too dissimilar to our own. Josyff, a surveyor, is sent to the Keep by the mysterious authoritarian regime in control of the country to measure it. He doesn’t know why they are so interested in it, but soon discovers that the Keep is a very strange building with many secrets and what appear to be paranormal happenings.

The Keep by Roger Taylor is available from all good ebookstores in various ebook formats, including at Amazon for the Kindle, wowio.com, scribd.com, fictionwise.com and ebooks.com.

The blurb:

Isolated and deep in the mountains, the Keep is a disturbing place. Why would the New Order want it, and for what? But you didn’t ask questions the way things were. You kept your head down and did as you were told. Just do your job, Josyff kept reminding himself.

Yet there were strange problems with his work… and dreams… and him… and the building itself — massive, yet, somehow, changing.

And when the authoritarian Adroyan arrived at the Keep, together with his nemesis, Esyal, things became even stranger, pushing Josyff to the edge of his sanity…

The latest omnibus ebook edition title is now available. The Witch War Cycle is the tenth omnibus from Alan Burt Akers and contains volumes 33 to 37 in the epic Saga of Dray Prescot: Werewolves of Kregen,  Witches of Kregen, Storm over Vallia,  Omens of Kregen and Warlord of Antares.

The Witch War Cycle is available now for the Kindle from Amazon, and in various formats from all the usual ebook retailers online, or via your reading device.

The blurb:

On the magnificent and mysterious, beautiful and terrible world of Kregen, a planet orbiting Antares four-hundred light-years from Earth, much may be achieved and much lost. Far more than merely a strong sword arm is required for victory. Far more than a cunning and devious brain is needed to secure success.

The island Empire of Vallia, sundered by internal dissension and invasion, is gradually reestablishing itself after the Times of Troubles, but the grouping of continents and islands called Paz are threatened by the Shanks, fish-headed reivers from over the curve of the world. Dray Prescot’s task is to unite all of Paz in alliance against the aggressors, but not all the people of Paz are willing to forget their old enmities. And there is Csitra, the Witch of Loh, who lusts after Prescot and would drag down all of Vallia to ruin for his sake. But in the passionate, shrewd, charismatic figure of Delia of Delphond, and his family and blade comrades, Prescot possesses riches past the mundane dreams of empire.

The Witch War Cycle is also available in hardback and paperback from all good booksellers, or from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

Our latest cartoon book is now available! Less Than A Full Deck by Doug Pike and Harry Margulies is a collection of 100 hilarious gambling cartoons. Doug Pike has created three previous ebooks with Mushroom: The Grapes of Laugh, Splattered on the Road to Wealth, and Pukka & Fremd. Doug is a long-time member of  The National Cartoonists Society. Harry Margulies has been writing and drawing cartoons for fifteen years.

The Blurb:

Gambling is a wonderfully engaging diversion thoroughly enjoyed by everyone – at least everyone that owns a wonderfully successful casino. For the rest of us, it is an occasionally maddening, sometimes exhilarating, and frequently humor-filled misuse of time.

Craps, blackjack, poker, bingo, keno – roll these words slowly about your head for a bit. There’s something funny about them, isn’t there? Now try the phrase “slot machine”, or better yet, “slot player”… The whole gaming experience is awash in chortles and titters, and that’s where we come in.

Less Than a Full Deck is a somewhat-twisted take on the quirky (let’s face it, there’s some pretty curious stuff going on here) world of gambling. Doug Pike and Harry Margulies have assembled 100 of their most comical wager-inspired doodles to keep you amused for hours – or at least to keep you well stocked on high quality E-toilet paper!

Less Than a Full Deck is available in PDF (Adobe Digital Editions) from Wowio.com, eBooks.com and Scribd.com (among many others), Mobipocket from mobipocket.com and eBooks.com, and for the Kindle from Amazon.com.

The Pandahem Cycle II, the ninth omnibus of “The Saga of Dray Prescot”, by Kenneth Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers, is now published in ebook format, as well as in paperback and hard cover from Bladud Books.

eBook formats include Kindle, Sony Reader, PDF, eReader, Mobipocket, Rocket eBook, Microsoft Reader, and others, and can be obtained from all good ebook stores, including Fictionwise.com, eBooks.com, Scribd, Wowio Sony Connect, and on Amazon.com for the Kindle.

The Pandahem Cycle II omnibus edition contains the short story “Green Shadows”, and the three books: Talons of Scorpio, Masks of Scorpio and Seg the Bowman.

Here is the “back cover copy”:

Four hundred light years from Earth, Kregen is a marvelous world, peopled by wonderful beings, filled with light and clamor and furor of life lived to the hilt. But Kregen has its darker side, where horror and terror batten on innocent people, where sorceries rend reason, where injustice denies light.

Called to be the Emperor of Vallia, Dray Prescot, with his comrades, has vanquished poor old mad Thyllis, Empress of Hamal, and now seeks to create a fresh and lasting unity among all the nations of Paz. They all face a common foe in the Shanks, the Fishheads who raid their coasts. And, there are worms within the bud, the followers of Lem the Silver Leem, who desire only to drag all down for their own selfish ends…

For more details about Alan Burt Akers, The Pandahem Cycle II, and links to available ebook formats, please see The Pandahem Cycle II page on mushroom-ebooks.com

And now for something rather unique and unusual: Pukka and Fremd by Doug Pike (the author and award-winning cartoonist responsible for The Grapes of Laugh and Splattered on the Road to Wealth) is now available on the Kindle, in Mobipocket format, and in PDF.

Pukka and Fremd are weird English words meaning Genuine and Strange, respectively, and this is a book of genuine and strange weird words, illustrated with 100 beautifully drawn (but weird) pieces of artwork that you wouldn’t usually associate with cartoons.

You can find the ebook on Amazon for the Kindle, at Wowio.com, Fictionwise.com, eBooks.com, mobipocket.com, scribd.com, or most other ebook stores.

Here is the blurb:

Ever had a tranq slipped into your twanky? Ever come across a pawky chouser that was adept at loo? Or (and I promise, this is the last one), have you ever swilled skookum saloop? If your answer to all of the above is a resounding no and you’re curious as to what those bizarre words mean, then Pukka & Fremd is the book for you.

Pukka & Fremd is not, as you might guess, a popular comedic team from the 1950s, or a 60s folk music group. Pukka & Fremd (genuine & strange) is a collection of 100 unique cartoons by syndicated and award-winning cartoonist, Doug Pike.

For years, Doug was an avid Scrabble player, as well as the cartoonist for the National Scrabble Association’s Scrabble News. As an aid to remembering obscure words and their parts of speech, he came up with these remarkable cartoons. As weird as the words are, the drawings are even stranger. Combined, they provide a useful mnemonic for those who enjoy word games and puzzles. For everyone else, they’re just plain fun!

The Pandahem Cycle I, the eighth omnibus of “The Saga of Dray Prescot”, by Kenneth Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers, is now published in ebook format, as well as paperback and hard cover.

eBook formats include Kindle, Sony Reader, PDF, eReader, Mobipocket, Rocket eBook, Microsoft Reader, and others, and can be obtained from all good ebook stores, including Fictionwise.com, eBooks.com, Scribd, Wowio Sony Connect, and on Amazon.com for the Kindle.

The Pandahem Cycle I ebook omnibus edition contains the three books, Mazes of Scorpio, Delia of Vallia and Fires of Scorpio, and the short story “Lallia the Slave Girl”.

Here is the “back cover copy”:

Four hundred light years from Earth, Kregen is a marvelous world, peopled by wonderful beings, filled with light and clamor and furor of life lived to the hilt. But Kregen has its darker side, where horror and terror batten on innocent people, where sorceries rend reason, where injustice denies light.

Called to be the Emperor of Vallia, Dray Prescot, with his comrades, has vanquished poor old mad Thyllis, Empress of Hamal, and now seeks to create a fresh and lasting unity among all the nations of Paz. They all face a common foe in the Shanks, the Fishheads who raid their coasts. And, there are worms within the bud, secret enemies who desire only to drag all down for their own selfish ends…

For more details about Alan Burt Akers, The Pandahem Cycle I, and links to available ebook formats, please see The Pandahem Cycle I page on mushroom-eBooks.com