Blog Archives
The Broken Coil: Thomas Berenford Chronicles
The Broken Coil follows Thomas Berenford, a gruff wanderer who calls himself a humble agent of “pest control,” though his problems involve far more than vermin. The story opens with a brutal prison warden, a terrified magian girl, and the whispered threat of a man who once escaped her torment. From that point on, the novel winds through desert canyons, strange pilgrim camps, dangerous raiders, and the looming legends of the Noman. Thomas ends up pulled into rescuing a girl named Chloe, dealing with religious wanderers, and confronting echoes of his own past, all while dragging around a magical broadsword with a temper of its own.
Reading this book felt like sliding into a world that was equal parts dust, danger, and strange kindness. Schwartz writes in a way that hits the senses first. I could almost taste the grit and smell the smoke of campfires as Thomas trudged across the land. His voice is rough but warm, and I found myself trusting him even when he appeared one bad night of drinking away from total collapse. I liked how the dialogue crackled with personality. Chloe’s eerie calmness and odd humor weirded me out in the best way. Mother Endelyn’s scenes caught me off guard. They were tender and sad, and they made Thomas look smaller and more human than his reputation suggests.
At times, I caught myself grinning at the book’s stranger touches. Wilma, the sword with a pulse and an attitude, added charm to moments that could have slipped into gloom. The raiders, the relic, the pilgrims breaking branches, and the nightmarish memories of the rack created a mix of mystery and grit that kept my curiosity buzzing. I will admit I wanted a little more breathing room in some sections. The world bursts with ideas, and I sometimes had trouble keeping track of which belief or threat mattered most. Still, the ride stayed exciting and the characters carried the weight of the story with heart.
I would recommend The Broken Coil to readers who enjoy fantasy with a rough edge and a good sense of humor. Anyone who likes wandering heroes, dusty landscapes, and stories that blend heart with hard choices will find plenty to enjoy here. It is a book for folks who want adventure that refuses to sit still, and for readers who like characters who are wounded yet stubborn enough to keep walking.
Pages: 181 | ASIN: B0DVQFDW5S
Heritage Mountain
Heritage Mountain is a heartwarming blend of cozy fantasy and wilderness adventure, following botanist Anita and survivalist Marco as they reunite for an archaeological expedition in the Adirondacks. Alongside their close-knit friends, Maria and Chase, and a delightful cast of supernatural beings like pixies, elves, and a telepathic cat, the group embarks on a journey that’s as much about discovery as it is about connection, both with nature and each other. The story gently weaves folklore, love, mystery, and magic into the everyday, creating a world where firepits reveal ancient tools, and a simple forest walk may bring you face-to-face with stargazers or nymphs.
I genuinely enjoyed reading this. There’s a quiet, comforting kind of magic in the way author Karen Black writes. She gives the characters space to breathe, laugh, stumble, and grow close. I loved the humor between Chase and Maria. It felt like watching old friends tease and support each other without missing a beat. Marco’s protective, grounded energy made him instantly likable. And Anita. I loved Anita. Her blend of practicality and wonder, her quiet strength and openness to magic, made her feel real and relatable. And the worldbuilding? It’s so gentle and subtle, the supernatural just slips in like a whisper. Nothing is overexplained or flashy. And that makes it feel real.
Everything feels safe, and sometimes I find myself wishing for a little more tension or stakes. But then again, that’s probably the point. Heritage Mountain tells a different kind of story. One about trust, connection, and ancient magic hidden in plain sight. It’s quiet but rich, like the kind of story you’d tell around a fire under the stars. It made me want to go hiking. Or at least take a walk and keep an eye out for little footprints in the moss.
I’d recommend Heritage Mountain to anyone who loves stories about found family, soft magic, and wilderness tales that feel like a warm blanket on a chilly morning. If you liked Practical Magic or The Bear and the Nightingale, or just need a break from the world, this book will meet you gently and invite you in. Fans of cozy fantasy, magical realism, and wilderness adventure will find Heritage Mountain a gentle, enchanting read full of heart, hidden magic, and unforgettable charm.
Pages: 264 | ASIN : B0FGVT464K
Heirs of Empire
S A Melia’s Heirs to Empire is a sprawling space opera of loyalty, survival, and rebirth. The story sweeps through twelve human worlds known as the Dodecahedral Empire, where young King Teodor, once presumed dead, claws his way from slavery on a plague-ridden world to reclaim his crown. Alongside him are soldiers, nomads, and lovers bound by webs of duty and betrayal. Melia threads political intrigue, biological warfare, and deep personal transformation into a story that feels both intimate and epic. It’s part military science fiction, part mythic hero’s journey, and part meditation on power and belonging.
Reading this book, I felt pulled between admiration and awe. Melia’s world-building is stunning, dense, and alive with detail. Her writing has a cinematic rhythm, with scenes that pulse between horror and beauty. There’s a strange poetry in how she describes destruction, especially the plague-ravaged London and the living forests of Sas Darona. The characters feel raw and human, even when they’re riding giant spiders or waging interplanetary wars. I loved the contrast between Teodor’s noble stoicism and Guy Erma’s rough-edged loyalty.
What struck me most was how personal the story feels beneath all the spectacle. This isn’t just about empires rising and falling, it’s about what happens to people when the idea of “home” burns down. Melia writes grief and hope side by side. Her characters are always torn, always trying to choose between love, survival, and duty. I found myself angry with them one moment and rooting for them the next. That unpredictability kept me turning pages, even when the politics grew thick. There’s a pulse of emotion here that feels tender, painful, and real.
Heirs to Empire is a bold, emotional ride. It’s perfect for readers who love the grand scope of Dune but crave the grit and heart of Battlestar Galactica. If you enjoy stories that blend science fiction with myth, politics with passion, and chaos with redemption, this book will grab you and not let go. It’s ambitious, heartfelt, and riveting.
Pages: 466 | ASIN : B0FCCX2672
A Man Driven By Greed
The Kingdom Thief follows Princess Sitnalta as she races to undo a thief’s reality-warping wish, becoming the lone keeper of the truth in a world that no longer remembers who she really is. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The Sitnalta Series finds itself focusing a lot on this coin- its origin, its powers, and the power of wishes. Through the first book, with Sitnalta’s relationship with the troll, Najort, we look into the consequences of wishes done with the right motivation, and by good people. For the sequel, I wanted to look at the reverse. Wilhelm is not Najort. He is not Sitnalta. He is a man driven by greed, and what would that look like, if he were to acquire the coin and make a wish.
Sitnalta and Navor’s relationship holds so much emotional weight. How did you approach balancing romance with the fast-paced plot?
For someone their age, the idea of a budding romance can be what drives a person. In a way, it is the plot. Navor wants to help Sitnalta, and Sitnalta wants her home back. This should be in balance with what is happening outside of their little bubble. For them at least, their feelings are just as important as magic, and politics, and stopping the mad man who has stolen a kingdom. When you look at the world through the lens of two young people and their feelings, one thing is never more important than the other. As a parent of teenagers, I’m surrounded by that on a daily basis, and that was my approach.
If you could expand one section of the story, give readers more time in any particular place or emotional moment, what would it be and why?
I would love to spend a lot more time in Navor’s head. He has a lot on his plate right now. Writing his dreams, his fears, and his hope for the future was a lot of fun, and I would love to have done a lot more of that.
What can readers expect in book three of the Sitnalta Series?
Oh, without giving too much away, I can say that we have tragedy, a very different type of romance, and so many questions about the past get answered. In a way, this is almost a prequel, but still very much Book Three. Sitnalta would not have been ready for these answers before now. I hope that wasn’t too cryptic.
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Princess Sitnalta has been living happily ever after with Queen Aud and King Gerald as her adoptive parents, enjoying the peace in her world. Her growing friendship with the mysterious Prince Navor leads her on a journey to visit his island kingdom. While there she receives the horrible news that her kingdom has been conquered and cruel King Wilhelm is responsible.
With King Gerald and Queen Aud imprisoned, Prince Navor and a secretive network of spies as her only allies, Princess Sitnalta feels lost and adrift. Nothing about Colonodona’s takeover seems right, and Sitnalta suspects magic may be to blame.
Far from home and unsure of whom to trust, Sitnalta must find a way to save her kingdom, and return her beloved Aud and Gerald to their rightful thrones.
The Knight at the Top of the Stairs
The Knight at the Top of the Stairs is an unsettling and emotionally resonant piece of psychological horror masquerading as a classic coming-of-age story. Set against the turbulent backdrop of 1968, the novel centers on nine-year-old David, a boy whose world, already fractured by historical tragedy, becomes increasingly governed by mythic struggle. His childhood home in Pine Hill, Massachusetts, becomes a metaphysical battleground, haunted by the rigid, silent vigilance of the ‘Knight at the Top of the Stairs’ and actively threatened by the ‘Buzzing Man,’ a creature of sickening, honey-sweet temptation that seeks to corrupt loyalty and exploit fear, particularly through David’s older brother, Steven. The narrative intricately weaves real-world chaos with deep-rooted occult evil, forcing David to discard the safe, simple rules of childhood for the complex, brutal code of knighthood, compelling him toward a final confrontation where he must determine the price of protecting the helpless.
My strongest emotional response stems from the author’s ability to juxtapose the cosmic horror with such tangible, domestic fear. The novel’s central theme, that historical trauma and moral failure do not fade but become inherited burdens, is articulated through the question, “Will you stand, or will you kneel?” It is a choice that hangs over every character, particularly David, whose journey from naive fear to resolute courage is genuinely moving. The inclusion of real-life upheavals, such as the distant, televised horrors of the Vietnam War and national assassinations, anchors the internal, supernatural dread, suggesting that the true source of evil is not the entity in the cellar, but the willingness of men to be whispered into betrayal. I felt a palpable sense of dread build throughout the middle chapters, not just because of the encroaching monster, but because of the agonizing realization that David’s own family history is intrinsically bound to this ancient conflict, leaving me utterly immersed in the moral weight of his inheritance.
The craftsmanship of the writing itself is exceptional. The prose possesses a rare lyrical intensity that elevates the narrative beyond typical genre fare. Author Brett Bacon employs an effective rhythm, utilizing both sharply concise sentences and sweeping, descriptive passages to maintain an almost unbearable tension. The voices of the children are rendered with startling clarity. David’s attempts to form new “rules” to govern the terrifying unknown, Kevin’s wide-eyed innocence and subsequent psychic sensitivity, and Steven’s rapid, chilling descent into malevolence, all felt tragically real. I found myself sympathetic to David’s father, whose own buried wartime experiences mirror the ancient knight’s legacy, adding layers of sorrow to the final, necessary fight. It is a text that demands, and rewards, careful reading.
The Knight at the Top of the Stairs is a dark and philosophical powerhouse that successfully merges the psychological depth of a domestic drama with the existential threat of epic fantasy. I highly recommend it to readers who appreciate character-driven horror that focuses less on jump scares and more on the slow, corrosive influence of evil, particularly fans of Stephen King’s early, atmospheric works (like It) or those who enjoy stories about inherited guilt and the cost of moral vigilance.
Pages: 225 | ASIN : B0FVP5KP5L
Respecting Water
The Tralls of Mundi follows a group of tralls headed to the Coming Together celebration who, along the way, discover a dark and dangerous adventure that threatens the tralls’ future. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Illegal damming of water sources is becoming an issue in Australia, especially in areas that have a lot of agriculture and limited water resources.
There are many reasons for this, some quite understandable, and in a vast country like Australia the situation is hard to monitor.
Unfortunately, however, Illegal dams can have a negatively impact on the environment and ecosystems.
They can lead to habitat destruction, degrade water quality, negatively impact aquatic life and cause health risks for humans through contaminated water.
I wanted to make my young readers aware of these issues and hopefully encourage them to be respectful water users in the future.
Were there any characters that you especially enjoyed writing for?
Each book in The Tall Series is dedicated to two of my grandchildren. The two represented in “The Tralls of Mundi” are often complimented on their leadership, persistence, courage and resourcefulness so I was keen to highlight these traits in the main characters, Jete and Jak.
What was the inspiration for the culture of your characters? Is it modeled after any particular society?
There are two memories that are very special to me. The first was when I lived with my grandparents in Tasmania. We spent a lot of time traipsing through the bush and marvelling at the beautiful flora and fauna during the daytime and then at night, we’d read and re-enact the classics. Those memories are very dear to me and I tried to share them with my family and my readers through this series.
The second very precious memory is of the time we spent living on Badu Island in the Torres Strait.
The laid-back, happy, communal life-style of the islanders and the friendly way they included us in their lives had a strong impact on us and Badu and the friends we made there still mean the world to us.
My hope is that by threading that happy, peaceful ambience through my stories , I could impart the same feeling to others.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from The Tralls of Mundi?
I hope “The Tralls of Mundi” engenders a deep respect in my readers for the environment and a desire to protect it. I also hope they learn the importance of all water resources and treat them with consideration and care.
Author Links: Facebook | Website
When the terrified tralls discover that the village of Mundi and all its inhabitants have disappeared they are convinced the Chameleons have returned, and when they find that the mighty River Maire is now only a dried-up mudflat, those fears are strengthened.
Jete and Jak are determined to save their friends but what they find when they enter the Sacred Caves of Mundi leaves them so confused and horrified, they are no longer sure they can save the tralls of Mundi or even their own kinships.
The Tralls of Mundi is the second book in The Trall Series; a collection of environmentally based portal fantasies set in the Australian bush. It is recommended for readers 9 years to 13 years.
Looking At The Night Sky
Moonlight Cruise: Murder and Magic follows a woman and her miracle-born daughter who are on the run from a Satanic cult that believes her daughter will grant them divine powers through a blood sacrifice. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Actually Moonlight Cruise is a sequel to my previous book Moonlight Rocks which describes how the miracle-born daughter came to be through her mother’s interaction with a meteorite sent to Earth by God the creator. Meteors and meteorites have long been thought to be messengers from the divine and they feature in many different religions. Anyway, my inspiration came from looking at the night sky (I studied astronomy in college and spent many long dark nights watching the heavens) and seeing a bright meteor streak across that sky. Seeing that bright flash of light triggered a lot of my other obsessions with spirituality and various religions all of which inspired me to write the story.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?
Humans need more than just cold, hard objective reality. Regardless of how strong people think they are, I think that everyone experiences times in their life where they feel the need to pray or to otherwise reach out (sometimes just through a curse) to a divine power for help or for resolution of some situation. What’s happening when they reach that breaking point, who they pray to and what they pray for are key story points.
I felt that Moonlight Cruise delivers the drama so well that it flirts with the grimdark genre. Was it your intention to give the story a darker tone?
The story of good versus evil always carries a darker element so truthfully I had to remain vigilant with my writing to keep things from getting too dark. That is why editing is so important – I let everything flow out, then go back and try to weed out the darkest, scary parts thus saving the more sensitive readers from an excess of horror.
I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
Since the Ocean Star sails around the world, the next book in the series takes place in Asia where the story continues with the characters we love while introducing some new friends from my Games series too.
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Facebook | Website
On the tranquil waters of a luxury cruise ship, Jessica Ascher and her miracle-born daughter Zamzam try to outrun the darkness. But a Satanic cult—rooted in the Mojave Desert and connected to the highest levels of power—is hunting them. They’ve already murdered countless women named Jessica and boys named David, seeking the child foretold to challenge evil itself.
This time, they think they’ve found her.
From blood-soaked biker rituals to high-tech surveillance and chilling political conspiracies, Moonlight Cruise is a pulse-pounding fusion of mystery, horror, and spiritual warfare. As mother and child sail unknowingly into danger, a final confrontation looms—one that pits divine innocence against demonic power.
Will the forces of darkness succeed in snuffing out a miracle? Or will faith, love, and the power of an extraordinary child rewrite destiny itself?
If you loved The Omen, The Da Vinci Code, or Carrie, then Moonlight Cruise is your next must-read.
The Next Leap Into the Universe
Those Alien Skies follows three gripping stories that explore the uneasy bonds between humans and aliens as flawed, desperate people search for truth, redemption, and meaning across the vast unknown. For readers new to the Milijun universe, what do you hope they take away from Those Alien Skies as their first entry point?
As the scope of the Milijun books developed, I grew to love the characters [human, alien, and robotic] decorating their pages. ‘Those Alien Skies’ is a cosmic extension of their escapades and a substantial broadening of their horizons; the next leap into the universe, if you like.
For readers new to the Milijun universe, I hope they can closely relate to the various personalities, the situations they face, and the world-building of their universal surrounds. After finishing this book, I hope they remember the intimate reflections on survival and belonging. Hopefully those will linger long after the final page.
Humans are unique and wonderful creatures—but likely not the zenith of creation. We should remain open to sharing our life journeys and unafraid of what may seem paranormal or beyond our understanding. Where do we lie within the vast measure of creation? What is our relationship with the universe and what lies within it?
Elias Weber’s moral unraveling is one of the most memorable parts of the collection. What inspired his internal struggle, and did you always know where his arc would end?
Elias Weber first came to the fore in ‘Alien Whispers: Conflict and Communion’, Milijun Book 3, where he was a strong leader of an aggressive Tellurian military group based on the moon. The Tellurians are a powerful world-wide organization with an archaic mandate for their home planet—no exploration beyond Earth’s atmosphere. They are also the sworn enemy of the breakaway ‘Alien Communication Enterprise’, known as ACE, a group that vehemently opposes the Tellurian creed. There is a warlike rift between the Tellurians and ACE.
Captured by ACE, and totally embittered, he endures a meaningless life on Mars. Resentment grows, and Elias needs to understand what has happened to the Tellurian cause on Earth, and why it appears to be waning.
His future is in his own hands. He can accept the ACE doctrine of universal exploration with the alien Rbuzen, or he can seek revenge fuelled by a wistful desire for days long gone.
Each novella balances awe-inspiring sci-fi concepts with deeply personal emotional beats. How do you decide which element leads a given scene?
There is no conscious decision making involved. The overall immediate plot comes first—something that can be described in a few sentences. From then on, it is the characters that create their own sub-plots and the flow of events: what they think, how they react with other people and their surrounds, how they overcome adversity, how they develop, how they succeed or fail.
The characters’ actions in given circumstances tell the story, and I just need to get inside their heads and make their reactions plausible. Quite often it is a balance between action and reaction – as are many of the things in our daily lives. Life is full of decisions – some of them minor, others critical to our future.
In a nutshell, I believe the plot is the foundation of the book, the characters are the stuff it’s made from.
The stories touch on belief, doubt, and the shaping of truth. What drew you to explore these themes in a futuristic setting?
I wonder at our universe, even though we are seemingly only a small part of it. Transitioning to interstellar space and coming across other lifeforms is just another mode of creative exploration that can become a wonderful backdrop to any story. How close would aliens be to ourselves? How different?
Ideas can come from everywhere and anywhere. Pondering the universe. Pondering religions. Checking out the human condition. Exploring possibilities. And quite often surfing thoughts on waking up in the morning.
From the Milijun Series there is a Terran translation of an Rbuzen idiom, well before the aliens’ discovered extra-dimensional space: ‘Like the worm in the soil, or the spider in the web, we know nothing of creation, save that of our immediate surrounds, for that is all we need to know in order to survive.’
I believe that well describes the human condition. Who knows what lies outside our visible spectrum?
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✅ Few and Far Between is a story of a search born out of love, an otherworldly encounter, and a reminder that children are the future. The action takes place on Venture and a strange alien artificial planet. As always, nothing can be taken for granted.
✅ Battle Lines takes place on the alien planet Glieze, and illustrates the futility of war and the necessity of trust. It is a contest between World War and extinction or survival and faith in the future. Sometimes the way forward springs from the most unlikely source.
Each novella offers a glimpse into strange new worlds, where danger, wonder, and discovery go hand in hand.
Perfect for both longtime fans and newcomers who enjoy bold ideas and thought-provoking adventures, Those Alien Skies is a smart, suspenseful collection that challenges the limits of imagination and defies expectations.
It is a timely reminder that the universe still has secrets waiting to be found.
The perfect addition to your sci-fi library.
LITERARY TITAN 