C Gockel Writes

Featured Fantasy: Nutcracker of Crystalfall by Kay L. Moody

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Featured Fantasy: Nutcracker of Crystalfall by Kay L. Moody

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The annual Christmas party was going just fine… until the trolls showed up.

Clara is a young woman who is wickedly good at puzzles, but she also has a secret her parents have shamed her into hiding. The weight of that secret has ruined nearly every happy moment in her life.

At least this year’s Christmas party gets more interesting once a mysterious stranger shows up. He teaches Clara how to crack nuts, wears a soldier’s uniform she’s never seen, and flashes a smile she’ll never forget.

But then a cruel party guest destroys the only gift that matters to Clara. Even worse, trolls appear and try to kill the handsome stranger she only just met. The fight rages into the night. Soon, Clara has to make a choice.

She could finally escape her unloving parents and the dreadful life they have planned for her. It would only take a promise to join an even greater conflict in the magical and dangerous realm of Faerie—a land she previously didn’t know existed.

If she stays home, her happiness will end forever. If she goes to Faerie, a great adventure awaits her…but it might kill her too.

***Note*** This standalone novella takes place in the same world as the Fae and Crystal Thorns series, but it takes place much earlier. Although it is technically a prequel, it can be read at any time throughout the series.

Featured Fantasy: Of Beast and Beauty by Chanda Hahn

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Featured Fantasy: Of Beast and Beauty by Chanda Hahn

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Everyone dreams of marrying a prince—except for me.

I am nothing more than a pawn in my adoptive mother’s diabolical plot against the seven kingdoms. I was the chosen tool, her sharpened blade that would cut the deepest into the heart of the Kingdom of Baist. But like all deadly weapons, my wedding is two-edged sword that could cost me my soul.

For I am Rosalie, one of the adopted daughters of Lady Eville, and it is my duty to enter into a loveless and hate-filled marriage with the narcissistic Crown Prince of Baist. My choices and heart are not my own to give. Yet even in the thick of dire situations, beastly vengeance can give way to beautiful attraction.

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Featured Fantasy: Kingdoms of Sand Books 1 – 3 by Daniel Arenson

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Featured Fantasy: Kingdoms of Sand Books 1 - 3 by Daniel Arenson

FREE as of January 3, 2023
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Game of Thrones meets Spartacus in an epic saga of sand and splendor. This bundle contains the first three novels of Kingdoms of Sand, a fantasy series from a USA Today bestselling author. That’s over 1,000 pages of battles, intrigue, and magic.

Sweeping from snowy forests to cruel deserts, from bazaars of wonder to fields of war, here is a tale of legionaries and lepers, priests and paupers, kings and crows. Here a girl travels across endless dunes, seeking magic; a cruel prince struggles to claim a bloodstained throne; and a young soldier fights to hold back an overwhelming host. As the empire spreads, the fate of one family–and of all civilization–stands upon a knife’s edge, for under the storm of war, even the greatest nations are but kingdoms of sand.

Book Review: Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

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Mickey7 is the only clone on a deep space colonization mission. He has a very important job–to die, whenever a suicidal mission presents itself. This happens a lot. Fortunately, for Mickey, he’s got his consciousness and body backed up on the colony mainframe. He doesn’t really die. Or does he?

Mickey 7 asks deep questions and explores the attitudes that non-clones might have towards him, but it does it with a light touch. At times Mickey 7 borders on satire, but never crosses so far over the line that you wind up not feeling for it’s main character.

Highly recommended.

Traditionally published and probably available at your public library.

Book Review: The Thief (Queen’s Thief Book One) by Megan Whalen Turner

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I picked up this book on the recommendation of two of my fans (the guilty parties know who they are.) I am now hooked on the series. Mickey7 explores hi-tech immortality, The Thief explores the God given kind in a high fantasy setting inspired by ancient Greece. A wonderful engaging protagonist, a richly drawn fantasy world, humor, and a gentle philosophical undercurrent, I was sucked in. It also delivered a satisfying ending with a twist. The first book has a real ending, but I want more. Fortunately, there are quite a few more books in the series.

Highly recommended.

This is a traditionally published novel (and series) and you may be able to find it at the library. It’s currently available at Scribd in eBook and Audiobook. Also, the used paperback version on Amazon is very affordable (and it has a pretty cover.)

Book Review: The Bastard Brigade by Sam Kean

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The Bastard Brigade by Sam Kean is everything I’ve come to love about Kean revved up a notch. It’s a scientific history through the lens of deep compassion and humanity. It’s blisteringly funny at times, educational, gut wrenching, and hard to put down. It doesn’t tell the story of the American race to get the atomic bomb–though it does give an excellent outline of the characters involved in that–so much as it tells the story of the allies’ struggle to keep the Germans from getting the atom bomb first. You’ll be thinking about the characters: Fermi, Heisenberg, the Curies, Goudschmit long after you finish the book.

Highly recommended.

This is a traditionally published book, and you may be able to find it at your public library.

P.S. This book does some justice to the Norwegian resistance’s struggles at Vemork, but for a deeper, just as thrilling look at those adventures, I cannot recommend The Winter Fortress enough.