Author Archives: Barbara Howe

Before the Fall

Posted on 15 September 2019 by Barbara Howe

One summer evening a private jet takes off from Martha’s Vineyard, en route to New York City. There are ten people aboard: seven passengers and three crew. Among the passengers are the Bateman family: father David, mother Maggie, daughter Sarah, … Continue reading →

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Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

Posted on 30 August 2019 by Barbara Howe

What do you get when two writers play the Letter Game, in which they take turns telling the story by writing letters to each other in character, with the only rule being that they must never reveal their ideas about … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternate History, Fantasy | Leave a comment

Shards of Honor

Posted on 18 August 2019 by Barbara Howe

In Shards of Honor, the superb introduction to Lois McMaster Bujold’s many-volume Vorkosigan saga, Commander Cordelia Naismith, citizen of Beta Colony and head of a planetary survey mission, is down planet with a small team of scientists when they are … Continue reading →

Posted in Space Opera | 2 Comments

RotoVegas: Earthcore Book One

Posted on 9 August 2019 by Barbara Howe

Strange things are going on in the New Zealand resort town of Rotorua. Tourists targeted in a rash of pickpocket incidents seem dazed, unable to give a clear description of the thieves. Ghostly visitors drive a family out of their … Continue reading →

Posted in Kiwi author, New Zealand, Urban Fantasy | Leave a comment

The Blacksmith Book Launch

Posted on 4 August 2019 by Barbara Howe

The Blacksmith, the third book in my YA high fantasy Reforging series, is now available in paperback for non-North American readers. We will be holding a book launch to celebrate. Join us, if you can. When: 5:30pm, 14 August 2019 Where: … Continue reading →

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The Molenstraat Music Festival

Posted on 27 July 2019 by Barbara Howe

An accident leaves a brilliant young cellist brain-damaged. She can still play, but her concentration slips after a few minutes, leaving her unable to finish a piece. In The Molenstraat Music Festival, set a thousand years in the future, medical … Continue reading →

Posted in Kiwi author, Science Fiction | Leave a comment

Where We Land

Posted on 21 July 2019 by Barbara Howe

Where We Land, by New Zealand author Tim Jones, deals with the human impact of the worsening climate crisis. Set in the near future with crops ruined and river deltas drowned, refugees are streaming out of Asia in unseaworthy boats, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate fiction, Kiwi author | Leave a comment

The Kingfisher’s Debt

Posted on 14 July 2019 by Barbara Howe

“Aunty Tamsin, was Billy my dad?” I stopped applying my lipstick and and angled the rear-view mirror. … With grey eyes and auburn hair framing her face, Gwyn looked like her mother. She hadn’t inherited the blonde hair and blue … Continue reading →

Posted in Kiwi author, Urban Fantasy | Leave a comment

Lutapolii: White Dragon of the South

Posted on 7 July 2019 by Barbara Howe

Winner of the 2019 Sir Julius Vogel award for Best Youth Novel, Lutapolii: White Dragon of the South by New Zealand author Deryn Pittar is a story of a young dragon’s efforts to escape the tyranny of his flight’s abusive … Continue reading →

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Abandoning Books

Posted on 30 June 2019 by Barbara Howe

For most of my life, I would plow through and finish every novel I started, even if it wasn’t very good and/or I wasn’t enjoying it. I’d feel guilty if I abandoned one partway through. Those guilty feelings were probably … Continue reading →

Posted in On Reading | 2 Comments