Monday Book Recommendation: Iron and Blood

A Steampunk novel set in the fictional city of New Pittsburgh.

New Pittsburgh in 1898, a crucible of invention and intrigue, the hub of American industry at the height of its steam-driven power. Born from the ashes of devastating fire, flood and earthquake, New Pittsburgh is ruled by the shadow government of The Oligarchy. In the abandoned mine tunnels beneath the city, supernatural creatures hide from the light, emerging to feed in the smoky city known as ‘hell with the lid off.’

Jake Desmet and Rick Brand, heirs to the Brand & Desmet Import Company, travel the world to secure treasures and unusual items for the collections of wealthy patrons, accompanied by Jake’s cousin, Veronique ‘Nikki’ LeClerque. Smuggling a small package as a favor for a Polish witch should have been easy. But when hired killers come after Jake and a Ripper-style killer leaves the city awash in blood, Jake, Rick and Nikki realize that dark magic, vampire power struggles and industrial sabotage are just a prelude to a bigger plot that threatens New Pittsburgh and the world. Stopping that plot will require every ounce of Jake’s courage, every bit of Rick’s cunning, every scintilla of Nikki’s bravura and all the steampowered innovation imaginable.

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Gail Z. Martin has a long list of fantasy stories out already and this is a collaboration with her husband, right along my current alley. She’s my most anticipated author on Read Them First, a collection of upcoming books compiled by myself, Jen from Combustible Reviews and Vicky from Books and Strips.

Through the Looking Glass

We’re halfway through the year already, can you believe it? June is just two days away. It has been a trying journey with plenty of developments both good and bad.

Reading

At the beginning of January I took on the Goodreads challenge and set a goal of 52 books for the year; essentially a book a week. There was a point in the last couple of months where I felt I would never accomplish this goal and was about to quit. I think it was around this time that I found Jen from Combustible Reviews and Vicky from Books & Strips. These lovely ladies run book blogs with a myriad of book reviews. They encouraged me to continue reading not so much in their words but in their actions; they were sitting down and getting that reading done. It’s easy to come up with an excuse not to read and sometimes it was another one of those “One more game of Hearthstone/FIFA16/Titanfall/Monster Hunter”… you get my drift. Since then I have read:

1. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
2. The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith
3. Dolores Clairborne by Stephen King
4. The Dream Engine by Leah Karloff
5. Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
6. Revival by Stephen King
7. Vasa and Ypres by J.B Chrisholm
8. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
9. Endgame: The Calling by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton
10. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Writing

My writing hasn’t necessarily taken a knock, but it hasn’t been consistent (then again, when has it?). Writing prompts from Rachel Poli have been a huge help and in fact inspired my six-part short story, 2055 (which can be read on Wattpad here: 2055).

I was also inspired by Kelly Griffiths when she said “It’s (writing) like being in the confessional booth with a stuffed bear.” It inspired my emotive writing behind a facade of fiction, a little slow at first, and picking up these last few weeks. I’ll be posting my emotive writing on Tuesdays and you can read my previous works here:

1. Death of Man
2. Fool Me
3. Demons
4. Unraveled

Read Them First

Reading has once again drawn out my love for books. This past weekend I stopped by my favourite book store, Exclusive Books – Greenstone, and found Stephen King’s “latest” book 11/22/63 as well s Doctor Sleep for quite a bargain. Also, because I’m such a good patron, I received vouchers that cut half the price of one of the books which was even more of a bargain! Ahem I digress. So reading has drawn out my love for books, and now the two ladies I mentioned before, Vicky and Jen, and I, have started a book blog. ReadThemFirst. The purpose of this blog is to let you, the reader, know about any upcoming books in India, South Africa, UK and the world. We have already posted the books coming out in the first week of June for your perusal. Even I’m excited about these books!

If you are an author (or know of one), we are reaching out to you. If you have any book coming up from June onward, let us know and we can put it on our blog. There’a an author bio, link to the author’s social media and a blurb on the upcoming book. If you are a reader looking to see what’s coming out soon, check it out. Read Them First, your one stop book blog. (Not the official slogan :P)

Nthato Morakabi.com

I have my own website now. I don’t think I officially announced it but better late than never. As an aspiring author, one must have a place where others can reach them and see what they are about. So that is what my page is for. It has all my social media profiles, as well as most of the books I’ve reviewed. It was supposed to take over from this blog but have decided to keep it as a separate entity.

As part of this, I would like to ask you to sign up to my Nthato Morakabi newsletter. Don’t worry I won’t SPAM you or sell your email address to the underground email black market or whatever, I promise to keep it safe and send you very occasional mails. You can sign up here: Nthato Morakabi Newsletter

Jozi Flash

Lastly, don’t forget to get your free copy of Jozi Flash below, featuring five of my short stories as well as a collection from other talented writers such as Carin Marais, Sharon Parkinson, Candice Burger and Chasing Dreams Publishing owner and contributing author, Nicolette Stephens.

There are no zombie-dalek-rainbow-unicorns in this anthology. Not for lack of trying – they just wouldn’t play nicely with the other characters.

Instead you’ll find a genie with a unique wish, a border post between worlds, a light romance, an alien recorder and a very special chair, amongst others.

This is what you get when you challenge five talented South African writers with a series of prompts and strict word limits: Jozi Flash – an anthology of 29 bite-sized stories with a huge amount of heart.

As unique as the narrators, these tales range from the macabre to heart warming in fewer words than it took to write this blurb.

The zombie-dalek-rainbow-unicorns ate the rest.

 

 

Free to download in the following formats:

 Jozi Flash – ePub Format

 Jozi Flash – Mobi Format

 Jozi Flash – PDF Format

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How was has the first half of your year treated you so far?