Author Archives: Barbara Howe

Resurrection in Progress

Posted on 15 September 2018 by Barbara Howe

You would think, wouldn’t you, that a computer science professional who’s been in the business for decades would know the value of backups? I do, and I have most of the content of my blog backed up on my home … Continue reading →

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Rendezvous with Rama

Posted on 27 July 2018 by Barbara Howe

The year is 2131. Aboard the Solar Survey ship Endeavour, Commander Bill Norton and a team of scientists are on a mission to intercept and glean what information they can from an alien spacecraft as it hurtles through our solar … Continue reading →

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Thirteen Orphans

Posted on 15 July 2018 by Barbara Howe

Years ago in the Land Born of Smoke and Sacrifice, a China-like alternate reality, the winners in a war exiled the losers into our reality. The exiles—the young emperor and his twelve advisors, each personifying an animal in the Chinese … Continue reading →

Posted in Noblebright Fantasy, Urban Fantasy | Comments Off on Thirteen Orphans

The Lord of Dreams

Posted on 30 June 2018 by Barbara Howe

Be careful what you wish for, as you will surely get it. Claire Delaney, normal American teenager, wishes she could be a hero. She is immediately snatched out of her bedroom by a delightfully dangerous figure, transported into the world … Continue reading →

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Have His Carcase

Posted on 15 June 2018 by Barbara Howe

What would you do if you came across the body of a man with his throat cut, so recently dead that the still-liquid blood is running in a glistening stream down the side of the rock he is lying on? … Continue reading →

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Léon and Louise

Posted on 3 June 2018 by Barbara Howe

Léon and Louise, by Alex Capus, is a charming love story, but is not a formulaic romance. The book spans decades and two wars, and the two title characters spend far more time apart than they do together. They meet … Continue reading →

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A Short Rant About ‘Home’

Posted on 26 May 2018 by Barbara Howe

I recently started reading a book where the otherwise fine opening scene was marred, for me, by one little detail: the narrator kept referring to the place she lived as a treehome. This irritated me for a couple of reasons. … Continue reading →

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Cunning Devil

Posted on 12 May 2018 by Barbara Howe

Ozzy Turner is a man you don’t want to cross. He is a cunning man, aka white witch; a magic user specialising in breaking curses and finding lost items or people. A man dedicated to protecting his community, the town … Continue reading →

Posted in Kiwi author, Urban Fantasy | 1 Comment

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Posted on 5 May 2018 by Barbara Howe

Imagine a world where a human raised by fairies rules three kingdoms: one in Faerie, one in the human realm of northern England, and the third on the far side of Hell. During his three hundred year reign in the … Continue reading →

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The Traitor and the Thief

Posted on 20 April 2018 by Barbara Howe

In The Traitor and the Thief, debut novel by Gareth Ward, a fourteen-year-old boy named Sin is plucked off the streets and given an opportunity to earn a place in the Covert Operations Group (COG). COG is a clandestine organisation … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Kiwi author, Noblebright Fantasy | 2 Comments