Mushroom eBooks Blog

Due to delays in receiving some of the manuscripts from Kenneth Bulmer’s agent, it has become necessary to revise the dates for publication of volumes 46 to 52 of the Dray Prescot books. Dates are now “To Be Confirmed”. I am hopeful that this situation will change very soon.

Publication of Intrigue of Antares [Dray Prescot #44] has gone ahead, but it will not now appear at Fictionwise until Monday, July 21 July 28.

Gangs of Antares [Dray Prescot #45] will also be published everywhere on Monday, July 28.

Share This

Dawnmaid is the third book of the Song of the Arkafina series by Suzanne Francis, which began with Heart of Hythea and continued with Ketha’s Daughter. Available now from all the usual ebookstores, including Fictionwise (update – not available from Fictionwise until Monday June 21), eBooks.com, Cyberread.com, Mobipocket, eReader.com and Amazon Kindle. The final book in the series, Beyond the Gyre, will be available in September or October.

Here is the blurb…

Gwenn and Gunnar travel to Khalama to fulfill a last request, but when they arrive, nothing is as it seems. For one thing, the man whose lifeless body they faithfully transported, Arkady Svalbarad, turns out not to be dead after all. And his old teacher, Dawa Tinley, is strangely absentminded. When Gunnar disappears, Gwenn has to make the best of her situation, so she turns once more to Arkady. The consequences of their union will bring both mortal peril and new hope to the peoples of Yrth.

Katkin and Huw have holed up in an old farmhouse for the winter, but the addition of two children to their family has left Katkin feeling trapped and miserable. After Huw is arrested for a terrible crime, she must decide whether to run, or stand by his side. When Katkin is reunited with an old love, the choice becomes even more difficult, until a betrayal and a chance meeting steer her to the right path. When she finally arrives on Starruthe, she is just in time to help Gwenn with the baby, but is it too late for Gunnar? Only Gwenn and keth’fell can save him now.

When the Dawnmaid comes into the world, it will take a miracle to hide her from Maggrai, who has come back from the future with a weapon of total annihilation. But Gunnar also has a secret weapon, though he is loath to use it. Will he come to terms with his true identity in time to protect the Dawnmaid from Maggrai’s wrath?

Contains adult themes.

Share This

Intrigue of Antares by Alan Burt Akers is the rip-roaring new adventure for Dray Prescot on the planet Kregen, and is now available for the first time in the original English from all good ebookstores including Fictionwise (update – not available from Fictionwise until Monday July 21 July 28), eBooks.com, Mobipocket, eReader, and Amazon Kindle. It is the first volume of the Balintol Cycle, and volume 44 of the saga of Dray Prescot.

Here is the blurb…

Reared in the harsh conditions of Nelson’s Navy, Dray Prescot failed to find success on Earth but has succeeded in winning fortune on Kregen. He is called the Emperor of Emperors, the Emperor of Paz, but he himself regards these titles as meaningless. Paz, a vast grouping of continents and islands, is inhabited by innumerable races and nations - so why should they band together under Prescot? The Star Lords themselves have chosen him for this heavy task, for he has the yrium, that particular charisma that binds other mortals to his service. Now, in this the first volume of the Balintol Cycle, the Star Lords have dispatched him to the town of Amintin in the continent of Balintol. Under the streaming mingled lights of the Suns of Scorpio, Dray Prescot must set forth on his new adventures…

Share This

Scorpio Triumph, being volume forty-three of the saga of Dray Prescot and the final volume of the Lohvian Cycle, by Alan Burt Akers, is now available from Fictionwise, eBooks.com, eReader.com, cyberread.com, Mobipocket and Amazon Kindle and all other good online ebookstores.

Previously only published in a German translation in 1993, this is the first time that fans of Dray Prescot have been able to read this book in the original English. This edition also contains a new glossary to the complete Lohvian Cycle compiled by Els Withers.

Here is the blurb:

Reared in the harsh conditions of Nelson’s navy, Dray Prescot has been transported to the exotic and barbaric, beautiful and cruel world of Kregen, four hundred light years from Earth, under the double star Antares, the twin Suns of Scorpio.

Paz, the hemisphere of Kregen where Prescot has adventured and succeeded, is threatened by the reiving Shanks from Schan, the other half of the planet. He has been pitchforked into the job of organizing the resistance, a so-called Emperor of Paz, and has managed - temporarily - to drive off the Shanks and their mentor, the mysterious Carazaar. Now he must concentrate on finding the rubies forming the Skantiklar. These have been scattered in seasons past, and if brought together will confer stupendous sorcerous power on the possessor of the Skantiklar.

Down in the continent of Loh expeditions have ventured below the City of Eternal Twilight into the Realm of the Drums in search of one of the rubies. A Wizard of Loh, Na-Si-Fantong, has been collecting the rubies, and it is believed he wants them for no good purposes. He has succeeded in obtaining a ruby and vanishes into the maze of tunnels under the city. Not really convinced of the importance of the Skantiklar, Prescot has to go in pursuit. Alone, he threads his way through the labyrinth, already feeling he will never catch Na-Si-Fantong…

Scorpio Triumph concludes the Lohvian Cycle of the saga of Dray Prescot. This edition contains a glossary to the Lohvian Cycle.

Share This

Child of the Dark Star by Moyra Caldecott is now available for free from WOWIO. Get it while you can.

This is Moyra Caldecott’s only science fiction novel, and concerns the earthly legend of the crystal skulls (which you may have come across recently in a film starring Harrison Ford) but set on another planet.

Here is the blurb:

There was a planet once called Earth. Its people, scattered like seeds before the wind, came to rest on Agaron…

The Star Law of the planet Agaron had never been questioned - until Bardek arrived in the city of Bar-Geda. His premature birth under the dreaded Dark Star had doomed him to be banished to the marshlands, but he found himself drawn like a magnet to the glittering Temple of the White Star. There he found a girl trapped in crystal. Who was she? Could he release her? And could they, together, outwit the harsh lords of Agaron?

This is the gripping story of one man’s fight to free his mind from the conditioning of a restrictive and powerful system… It is the story of a love that would not accept the Law… It is a story of the last days and the first…

Share This

Just a short post to let you know that Scorpio Triumph, volume 43 of the Dray Prescot series, will be available on Monday 23rd June 2008 (all being well) and volumes 44 and 45 will follow at fortnightly intervals. There is no news on subsequent titles at the moment.

Share This

Read an interview with Suzanne Francis, author of Heart of Hythea and Ketha’s Daughter, the first two books of the “Song of the Arkafina” series, over at The Long and the Short of It.

Share This

I am pleased to announce that Mushroom has signed up with WOWIO to offer some of our titles for free. The books are advertising supported, which involves two or three ads placed at the beginning and end of the book — there are no adverts placed to interrupt the reading experience at all. Mushroom receives a small remuneration from Wowio for each download, which we split with the author. Unfortunately, Wowio is only available in North America at the moment, but is hoping to make the service available internationally in the future. The books are available in PDF format, which can be read on desktops and laptops with Adobe Reader or other PDF viewers, and on some portable devices, such as the Sony Reader and Palm, using appropriate software.

We currently have titles by Roger Taylor, Moyra Caldecott and Dennis Radha-Rose available, and they provide an opportunity to sample these authors with something more substantial than the usual two or three chapters.

About WOWIO

What is WOWIO?

WOWIO is our passion. A passion for books. A passion for reading. A passion for removing barriers and expanding access to the written word. Ultimately, it’s passion for FREE BOOKS + FREE MINDS.

Our Goals

Our business goal is to build a unique and viable company that creates valued relationships between readers, sponsors, and publishers.
Our community goal is to dramatically expand access to written works by eliminating the economic, geographic, and logistical barriers while also ensuring fair compensation for publishers.

A Win-Win-Win Community

Authors and artists work hard to create their books and should receive fair compensation. WOWIO introduces sponsors as the primary source of compensation. Readers get books for free. Sponsors get opportunities to establish valued relationships with readers. Authors, artists, and their publishers get fair compensation. It’s a win-win-win for the WOWIO community — where each group willingly gives a little to get something in return.

Respect for Readers

As book fanatics, we revere the sanctity of books and the purity of the reading experience. Therefore, our inclusion of sponsors in the WOWIO community does not mean ads are indiscriminately placed in books. Instead, WOWIO appoints a sole sponsor who willingly covers the cost of the book in exchange for an opportunity to establish a meaningful connection with an appreciative reader. It’s about sponsors earning a reader’s respect by honoring their reading experience.

Respect for Sponsors

Traditional advertising shouts its message whether anyone wants to hear it and whether or not it is relevant. By contrast, WOWIO sponsorships are targeted by readers’ own pre-selected preferences — delivering messages that are more relevant. With WOWIO, it’s about sponsorships being a tool for awareness, rather than intrusion. It’s about readers having a say in the messages they see. And it’s about a mutual respect between sponsors and readers that results in unprecedented brand loyalty.

Respect for Publishers

Authors, artists, and their publishers are at risk in today’s digital world. Their passion and hard work is often trivialized by those seeking free access above fair compensation. WOWIO works to undermine this piracy by creating a sustainable micro-economy where books are free and their creators still get compensated. It’s simply about readers respecting the work of authors and artists by supporting the sponsors who pay them.

About WOWIO

WOWIO is today the only source where readers can legally download high-quality copyrighted ebooks from leading publishers for free. Readers have access to a wide range of offerings, including works of classic literature, college textbooks, comic books, and popular fiction and non-fiction titles.
WOWIO opened on the World Wide Web in August 2006. It is a privately owned company with headquarters in Houston, Texas.

Share This

I am very sorry to announce that Scorpio Triumph by Alan Burt Akers, volume 43 of the Dray Prescot series, is delayed again. Subsequent titles may also be delayed, although I will do everything in my power to publish them all as near to their previously announced dates as possible, and have them all published by Christmas, as originally intended. Realistically, it is unlikely that Scorpio Triumph will be available much before the end of June. As soon as I receive the manuscripts, I will issue a revised publication schedule.

Share This

The Mary Jane Mission by Daniel Wyatt is now available from Fictionwise and all other good ebookstores. It is a fast-paced, time-travel mystery thriller or technothriller which is best enjoyed in a single sitting. The Mary Jane Mission was originally published in 1992 by Random House in Canada.

Here is the blurb:

When the B29 Superfortress Mary Jane is discovered in 1945 sitting in thick jungle with no visible damage, and her crew and mysterious payload are missing, the incident is hushed up and forgotten. But in 1990, mysterious radar images start to appear. F18 crews sent up to investigate discover a B29 flying towards Japan. What is this mysterious plane? If it is the Mary Jane continuing her mission, how can they stop it?

And some reviews:

“Plenty of action … a great choice for any fan of military thrillers…” Deb Hern, The Romance Reader’s Connection.

“a fascinating story of the discovery of a plane that cannot exist, and the efforts of a number of people to solve the mystery. All lovers of stories of the Pacific and Bermuda triangles will love this book.” Robert H. Goss, www.roundtablereviews.com.

Share This