This Christmas I read a very appropriate boxed set of science fiction adventures called Claus. It contained three novels and I couldn’t put them down. Such a clever concept and so well executed. They are what I want to recommend to you as the year closes, and wish you a happy New Year.
The Christmas stories you never heard as a kid. Discover how elven live on the North Pole, how reindeer fly and what makes a snowman live.
CLAUS: LEGEND OF THE FAT MAN
This is a series about the journey that Archbishop
Baldwin and Gerald of Wales took in 1188 to preach the crusade
throughout Wales. Gerald kept a detailed account of the journey and
their surroundings, which he later published. The series began with
some background posts about Gerald. If you want to read the series
from the beginning, go here.
In this series on Gerald of Wales, we come to his trip to Ireland. There were problems in Ireland between the Irish nobility and the Norman Marcher lords who has gone over from Wales and conquered mini kingdoms for themselves. In 1185 King Henry appointed his youngest son John (the future King John) as Lord of Ireland and sent him over with a large expedition to solve the problem once and for all. Henry sent Gerald along too, because he was related to some of the invaders and the king thought Gerald might be able to smooth the way.
Two more science fiction books to recommend, one set in familiar surroundings and one on an alien and inhospitable planet.
Social Engineer by Ian Sutherland
This is a series about the journey that Archbishop
Baldwin and Gerald of Wales took in 1188 to preach the crusade
throughout Wales. Gerald kept a detailed account of the journey and
their surroundings, which he later published. The series began with
some background posts about Gerald. If you want to read the series
from the beginning, go here.
So far we’ve looked at Gerald's early life and his time as Archdeacon. In July 1184, Gerald began his ten years in the service of the Plantagenet kings. When King Henry II summoned him to his presence he claimed to be unwilling, but he would have known that a period at court was likely to lead to high church office.
In my last science fiction post I said I would be recommending some of the modern books I’ve read. I talked about series of books where the author makes the first ebook free as a carrot to draw you in, hoping that you will like it enough to buy the rest of the series. It is indeed a good marketing strategy and has worked with me several times.
This time I want to introduce you firstly to the Alien Invasion series by Sean Platt and Johnny B Truant. These two writers are worth getting to know as I have loved almost everything of theirs I have read. They are very prolific and write in a range of genres, some of which I’m not interested in, like zombies, so I haven’t read everything yet.
