Today not only am I getting to do my first ever Book Tour but I'm also getting to kick off the proceedings with my review of the first book in what promises to be an exciting trilogy. Then, and how exciting is this, on June 12th my guest host will be none other than author Rebecca Hazell which will be followed by my review of book two in the series (Solomon's Bride) on June 13th.
THE GRIP OF GOD by REBECCA HAZELL.SOURCE: Received for review from the author as part of a Book Tour. My thanks to Rebecca who very kindly sent me paper copies of the books and to MICHELLE over at The True Book Addict (and other sites) for all her help. TT
ABOUT THE BOOK .....
Duncan, BC Canada: Award Winning Writer Rebecca Hazell Releases First Book in Trilogy of Historical Fiction Novels.
Rebecca Hazell's The Grip of God, the first novel in an epic historical trilogy, is available on AMAZON.COM and its affiliates and by special order through your local bookstore. The saga’s heroine, Sofia, is a young princess of Kievan Rus. Clear eyed and intelligent, she recounts her capture in battle and life of slavery to a young army captain in the Mongol hordes that are flooding Europe. Not only is her life shattered, it is haunted by a prophecy that catalyzes bitter rivalries in her new master's powerful family. She must learn to survive in a world of total war, always seeking the love she once took for granted.
Rebecca Hazell's The Grip of God, the first novel in an epic historical trilogy, is available on AMAZON.COM and its affiliates and by special order through your local bookstore. The saga’s heroine, Sofia, is a young princess of Kievan Rus. Clear eyed and intelligent, she recounts her capture in battle and life of slavery to a young army captain in the Mongol hordes that are flooding Europe. Not only is her life shattered, it is haunted by a prophecy that catalyzes bitter rivalries in her new master's powerful family. She must learn to survive in a world of total war, always seeking the love she once took for granted.
Sofia's story is based on actual historical events that determine her destiny. Readers will delight in this very personal and engaging tale from a time that set the stage for many of the conflicts of today's world.
FIRST SENTENCE {October to November, Anno Domini 1239}: The night before I set my fate in motion, the wind blew a foretaste of winter through cracks in the palace walls and I lost sleep trying to elude it under my quilts.
MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 82}: The wind whistling through the trees sounded like the groans and sighs of dying people. Had the ghosts of my lost companions followed me here.
MY THOUGHTS: Part one of The Tiger And The Dove trilogy, The Grip Of God is an epic 13th century saga. The story of a young girl (Sofia) who, not yet thirteen when we first meet her, is spared certain death because of a prophecy.
A wonderfully descriptive book that has a great sense of time and place. The author does a magnificent job in capturing the harshness of the barren landscape in which Sofia finds herself, contrasting beautifully the cultures in which the young Princess grows up and the one in which she now finds herself, the concubine of a Mongol warrior's son.
A long story (at almost 400 pages perhaps a tad too long) and with dialogue that can on occasion be sightly stilted, whilst the events through which the reader finds themselves hurtling after what I thought was a rather slow start are a wonderful tale of invasion, of power struggles, of differing beliefs and bitter rivalries for me it was the engaging characters, main and secondary, likeable and not so likeable, that made this such a gripping read.
Quite different and yet not without similarities to the European historical fiction I generally read. The Grip Of God is well worth the read if you enjoy historical fiction in general and if like me you tend towards European history it makes a wonderful change.
PRAISE FOR THE TRILOGY .....
“How deftly and compellingly Hazell takes the reader with her into that mysterious and exotic world, and makes it all seem so very close to hand!” – Peter Conradi, Fellow of Britain's Royal Society of Literature and author of Iris Murdoch: A Life, and of A Very English Hero
"I enjoyed watching her morph from a spoiled sheltered princess with slaves of her own, into a tough, savvy survivor, with a new awareness of social injustice. The book is action packed. I couldn't put it down." - from a review on Amazon.com
"I got completely caught up in the characters and story and always looked forward to getting back to them. What a fully fleshed and fascinating world you developed and it was wondrous to learn so much about that time and the Mongol culture. Your gifts come out in your lush descriptions of place and objects. All very vivid and colorful." - author Dede Crane Gaston.
The novel is available both in paperback and Kindle versions and through your local bookstore by special order. The subsequent two novels in the trilogy are scheduled for publication later this year.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR .....
Rebecca Hazell is a an award winning artist, author and educator. She has written, illustrated and published four non-fiction children’s books, created best selling educational filmstrips, designed educational craft kits for children and even created award winning needlepoint canvases.
“How deftly and compellingly Hazell takes the reader with her into that mysterious and exotic world, and makes it all seem so very close to hand!” – Peter Conradi, Fellow of Britain's Royal Society of Literature and author of Iris Murdoch: A Life, and of A Very English Hero
"I enjoyed watching her morph from a spoiled sheltered princess with slaves of her own, into a tough, savvy survivor, with a new awareness of social injustice. The book is action packed. I couldn't put it down." - from a review on Amazon.com
"I got completely caught up in the characters and story and always looked forward to getting back to them. What a fully fleshed and fascinating world you developed and it was wondrous to learn so much about that time and the Mongol culture. Your gifts come out in your lush descriptions of place and objects. All very vivid and colorful." - author Dede Crane Gaston.
The novel is available both in paperback and Kindle versions and through your local bookstore by special order. The subsequent two novels in the trilogy are scheduled for publication later this year.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR .....
Rebecca Hazell is a an award winning artist, author and educator. She has written, illustrated and published four non-fiction children’s books, created best selling educational filmstrips, designed educational craft kits for children and even created award winning needlepoint canvases.
She is a senior teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, and she holds an honours BA from the University of California at Santa Cruz in Russian and Chinese history.
Rebecca lived for many years in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1988 she and her family moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in 2006 she and her husband moved to Vancouver Island. They live near their two adult children in the beautiful Cowichan Valley.
VISIT REBECCA .....
WEBSITE ~ GOODREADS ~ FACEBOOK
TOUR SCHEDULE .....
VISIT REBECCA .....
WEBSITE ~ GOODREADS ~ FACEBOOK
TOUR SCHEDULE .....
- Tuesday, May 15th: PEN AND PAPER (Review of The Grip Of God - Book one) ~ THE TRUE BOOK ADDICT (Review and Kindle copy of The Grip Of God - Book one)
- Friday, May 16th: HISTORICAL FICTION CONNECTION
- Monday, May 19th: MUST READ FASTER
- Wednesday, May 21st: SHE IS TOO FOND OF BOOKS
- Thursday, May 22nd: MY BOOK ADDICTION AND MORE
- Wednesday, May 28th: THE TRUE BOOK ADDICT
- Friday, May 30th: CREATE WITH JOY
- Monday, June 2nd: BOOK DRUNKARD
- Tuesday, June 3rd: BOOK DRUNKARD
- Wednesday, June 4th: KELLIE'S READING NOOK
- Thursday, June 5th: OH, FOR THE HOOK OF A BOOK
- Monday, June 9th: KELLIE'S READING NOOK
- Tuesday, June 10th: HISTORY FROM A WOMAN'S PERSPECTIVE
- Wednesday, June 11th: HISTORY FROM A WOMAN'S PERSPECTIVE
- Thursday, June 12th: PEN AND PAPER ~ PRINCESS OF EBOLI
- Friday, June 13th: PEN AND PAPER ~ PRINCESS OF EBOLI ~ MUST READ FASTER
Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper. All original content on http://pettywitter.blogspot.co.uk/ is created by the website owner, including but not limited to text, design, code, images, photographs and videos are considered to be the Intellectual Property of the website owner, whether copyrighted or not, and are protected by DMCA Protection Services using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Title 17 Chapter 512 (c)(3). Reproduction or re-publication of this content is prohibited without permission. In addition I would also urge that if you are reading this on any other page you contact the original blog owner/reviewer.
Disclaimer: Read and reviewed as part of a Book Tour on behalf of the author I was merely asked for my honest opinion, no financial compensation was asked for nor given.
18 comments:
Congratulations on your first book tour participation. How exciting. It sounds like a great book. Can't wait to read the guest post.
I felt you were speaking directly to me with this review. This series appears to be right up my alley, so I can promise it will go on my wishlist (if not directly into my shopping cart).
Terrific review, Tracy! I also reviewed it on my blog today. Such a great book. And Rebecca said people are liking the second book even more. Can't wait to read it!
Thanks again for being on the tour. So glad your first one was with us. :)
Omg! Congratulations for your first ever Book Tour and for your review of the first book! I know you'll be perfect, because everything you write is good!
Congrats on participating in your first book tour! I enjoyed your well-written review (as usual). I look forward to the author's guest post next month.
Congrats on the book tour!! I've only done one book tour to date and it was a heck of a lot of fun and pretty exciting to me, but also a little stressful.
I like the sound of these books, and the prose, at least what you posted, are absolutely beautiful. I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on book 2.
A great review, Tracy, and congrats on hosting your first book tour!
Hi Tracy, Congratulations on your first ever Book Tour! You did a great job! I always enjoy your reviews, and this one was just as good as all the others.
Excellent commentary on this one Tracy.
The book sounds so very rich. I would likely not mind the length. I would actually be concerned that I might find it a bit disturbing as a young girl put in such a position is very, very bad thing.
Hm... wondering if the editing had been sharper, you might have liked it better? Still intrigues me and I might have to see if the library has this one. Great review.
Hi Tracy,
This is a great post, well put together and with an excellent backing review, to really give the tour a flying start .... Well Done!!
I am not sure that this kind of epic saga is one I would read through choice, as I prefer my reading to be in shorter, lighter chunks. However the couple of passages you chose to highlight, seem to indicate some excellent descriptive writing, which would definitely give the books the Wow! factor for me.
Have a fantastic weekend,
Yvonne
hi tracy,
how exciting! congrats on the book tour!
a brilliant review as usual.
big hugs~
xx
Sounds like it was a winner for you - always a bonus for a blog tour book!
I am so excited you got to participate in your first book tour- especially for such a great book! It sounds wonderful. I love HF- so I will have to look for this one. ;) Great review!
Not one for me I'm afraid but fabulous job on the post! First ever book tour? Pulled it off like a pro. ^-^
Well done on your first book tour post, and a lovely review.
This does sound good! I haven't read too many fantasy books set in real life historical times.
I am glad you enjoyed this first book, Tracy. I look forward to the author's guest post and your review of the follow up books.
i have read one book set with the Mongols. Quite a different view on history. I do enjoy historical fiction as long as there is enough fact inclued, real people and events not just a the general setting . It's the specifics that really appeal to me.
Thanks for sharing this book.
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