Book Spotlight: Conquist by Dirk Strasser

 Capitán Cristóbal de Varga’s drive for glory and gold in 1538 Peru leads him and his army of conquistadors into a New World that refuses to be conquered. He is a man torn by life-long obsessions and knows this is his last campaign.

What he doesn’t know is that his Incan allies led by the princess Sarpay have their own furtive plans to make sure he never finds the golden city of Vilcabamba. He also doesn’t know that Héctor Valiente, the freed African slave he appointed as his lieutenant, has found a portal that will lead them all into a world that will challenge his deepest beliefs. And what he can’t possibly know is that this world will trap him in a war between two eternal enemies, leading him to question everything he has devoted his life to - his command, his Incan princess, his honor, his God.

In the end, he faces the ultimate dilemma: how is it possible to battle your own obsessions . . . to conquer yourself?

 Buy Links:

 Universal Amazon Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4AM52K

 Publisher’s Conquist page:

https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/roundfire-books/our-books/conquist-novel

Dirk Strasser’s epic fantasy trilogy The Books of Ascension—Zenith, Equinox and Eclipse—was published in German and English, and his short stories have been translated into several European languages. “The Doppelgänger Effect” appeared in the World Fantasy Award-winning anthology Dreaming Down Under. He is the co-editor of Australia’s premier science-fiction and fantasy magazine, Aurealis.

Dirk was born in Germany but has lived most of his life in Australia. He has written a series of best-selling school textbooks, trekked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and studied Renaissance history. “Conquist” was first published as a short story in the anthology Dreaming Again (HarperCollins). The serialized version of Conquist was a finalist in the Aurealis Awards Best Fantasy Novel category. Dirk’s screenplay version of Conquist won the Wildsound Fantasy/Sci-Fi Festival Best Scene Reading Award and was a featured finalist in the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival and the Creative World Awards.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.dirkstrasser.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DirkStrasser

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054955883297

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirk-strasser-1249a949/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com.au/stores/author/B00CWMHGHO

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203225407-conquist

Dirk’s blog: https://www.dirkstrasser.com/dirks-blog

 

 

Book Spotlight: The Dragon Tree by Julia Ibbotson

 

A haunting medieval time-slip (#2 in the Dr DuLac series, sequel to A Shape on the Air, but can be read as a stand-alone)

Echoes of the past resonate through time and disturb medievalist Dr Viv DuLac as she struggles with misfortune in the present. She and Rev Rory have escaped to the island of Madeira on a secondment from their posts, yet they are not to find peace – until they can solve the mystery of the shard of azulejo and the ancient ammonite. Viv’s search brings her into contact with two troubled women: a noblewoman shipwrecked on the island in the 14^th century and a rebellious nun at the island convent in the 16^th century. As Viv reaches out across the centuries, their lives become intertwined, and she must uncover the secrets of the ominous Dragon Tree in order to locate lost artefacts that can shape the future.

For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay.

“The idea of being able to ‘feel’ what happened in the past is enticing … The sense of the island is really wonderful … Julia brings it to life evocatively.”

~ Joanna Barnden

 “Julia does an incredible job of setting up the idea of time-shift so that it’s believable and makes sense.”

~ book tour reviewer

“… an engaging and original time-slip novel that keeps the reader turning the pages…the characters are authentic and the mystery is neatly woven between the centuries … seamless time transitions …”

~ Melissa Morgan

 Buy Links:

 This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

 Universal Buy Link:  https://mybook.to/TDT

Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of time. She is the author of historical mysteries with a frisson of romance. Her books are evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners. Her current series focuses on early medieval time-slip/dual-time mysteries. Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language / literature / history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics.

After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher. Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s. She has published five other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone.

Her work in progress is a new series of Anglo-Saxon mystery romances, beginning with Daughter of Mercia, where echoes of the past resonate across the centuries. Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘Julia’s books captured my imagination’, ‘beautiful storytelling’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘brilliant and fascinating’ and ‘I just couldn’t put it down’.

Author Links:

Website: https://juliaibbotsonauthor.com

Twitter:   https://x.com/JuliaIbbotson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuliaIbbotsonauthor

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-julia-ibbotson-62a5401a/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/julia.ibbotson

Pinterest:   http://www.pinterest.co.uk/juliai1

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/julia-ibbotson

Amazon Author Page:  https://Author.to/JuliaIbbotsonauthor

Goodreads:   https://www.goodreads.com/juliaibbotson