Agent Palmer

“Vancouver is falling down–crumbling into sand. To save it, Astrid O’Brien boards a bus to a parallel dimension, there to confront the demons of the city, and to answer the question: Are we who we’re told we are, or who we decide to be?” This is the back cover synopsis for Andrew Cownden’s debut novel Astrid Falls: A Legend of Vancouver. And it is not a book to skip, but one to read and discuss with friends. Who are you?…

Never judge a book by its cover. This may be true, but for honesty’s sake, I must say that the reason I chose to pick up Magic of the Plains: By the Sword Volume 1 by Greg Costikayan was exactly because of its cover. Particularly, I got it for its back cover which states “BY THE SWORD MAGIC OF THE PLAINS As seen on Prodigy®.” For those of you my age, this will have a certain mystique.

Travis Baldree has returned to the cozy fantasy world established in Legends & Lattes with the prequel Bookshops & Bonedust. This time, instead of choosing to stop adventuring and open a coffee shop in the city of Thune, Viv is wounded in battle and dumped in the small backwater beach town of Murk.

It is an animated tale about an unlikely hero in a time of chivalry and knights. Its humor is across all age groups, and it feels like it’s telling an underdog story while also talking about being an outcast, trying to find one’s place and one’s self.

Getting a promotion that you’ve worked for day in and day out, forgoing vacation and social graces, may seem like a dream come true. But when Edward Wozny gets such an opportunity, he takes a break and it’s not like a vacation at all. It’s a thrilling mystery that he wasn’t expecting.