I'm still in shock.

Received a notification on the 28th of February that COMPILE:QUEST had been nominated for Book of the Year at the 2015 South African Indies Rock Book Awards. 

Would you do me the honor of voting for COMPILE:QUEST? It would mean the world to me.

There's no signing up - just one click of the mouse button could make all the difference in this indie author's life!

I've also been nominated for Author of the Year, if you're feeling really generous and would like to click that button too :)

CLICK TO VOTE?

BOOKLIKES GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the release of my second book in the Corrupted SUN Script sci-fi series, I'm giving away copies of the first and second book to some lucky Booklikes members. 

Be sure to check it out!

http://booklikes.com/giveaways/show/1545/debug-heroes-ronel-van-tonder 

A heck of a surreal statement that is True. :D

Like so many, I too listen to music while I am reading my precious books. I finally had the time to look at my records and see what bands and songs were the shit this year during my word devoting. No surprises, I am extremely stuck with my oldies, year after year.

This will also work as a music for my New Years Eve, have a good one fellow readers. 

1. Eminem

It might be a little surprising that a woman who is all the way metal and rock, manages to come up with Eminem as a most listened and played artist. But it really is not. He makes me laugh, think and sometimes even cry. I love his hate, love his pain, love his love and his real him.

TOP 3 Tracks: Space Bound , Not Afraid , Survival

2. Down 

I love Phil's music, his voice, his mind. Meow.

TOP 3 Tracks: Jail , Learn From this Mistake , Bury Me In Smoke

3. In This Moment 

She has got the music, the voice, the attitude and the looks. Definitely my number one girl crush.

TOP 3 Tracks: Whore , Adrenalize , Blood

4. Alice in Chains 

The Voice. Yeah, the feels. The feels.

TOP 3 Tracks: Would , Nutshell , Down In a Hole

5. Metallica 

They actually were young at some point... Me too. Nostalgia band, biggest there will  ever be.

TOP 3 Tracks: Welcome Home (Sanitarium) , Fade to Black , Orion

Last chance to get your hands on this intricate dystopian sci-fi for free! 

Head over to Amazon in the next four hours and get this Kindle E-Book for free.

Here's the link again: http://amzn.to/1vKiQJU

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Outsourced is a thriller following the story of two authors as they attempt to decipher the mystery behind a serial killer’s success without injuring innocent people in the process. In this fast-paced thriller, Eric J Gates combines many elements of the perfect thriller - a fast pace, well-defined characters and a deceptively twisty plot.

Add some paranormal elements, a touch of humour at just the right times, and thorough research and you have an excellent read. The action scenes were breathtakingly action-packed, and the ending was epic. Especially since I quite smugly thought I’d worked out the ending and was then proved very wrong. I love it when a book isn’t a paper cut out of overdone plots and fake characters.
The research behind the elements in the book was done perfectly - as in, not dumped on the reader in the form of an essay, but wreathed into the plot so that you didn’t even notice it. It spoke volumes of the writer’s authority on the subject.

I only wish the relationship between the characters could have been explored more. Maybe in a follow up book we could see if Beasley and Mason go on any more “dates”?

The way the writer speaks about destiny versus fate made a lot of sense, and I appreciated the way these arcane subjects were entwined into the story. I especially liked the ending. It was both unexpected and heartwarming.
This is a definite page-turner and I will highly recommend it to anyone looking for a punch in the adrenal gland.

More helpful Shakespeare stuff: an infographic demonstrating how stabby his plays are.

  Alex was more un-believeable in this book than others. The voice-over guy on the audiobook seemed to only change the inflection of his voice, but didn't seem to be able to convey the characters' emotionally. I'm new to audiobooks so, maybe he wasn't meant to.

  The Wolf strikes again. He'll huff and he'll puff and he'll blown the house down. He actually does this at one point. This guys seems to have eyes and ears everywhere. Cross seems to be in the background for the first half of the story, just tagging along.

This read was a little thinner than usual with more holes than a king-sized crocheted blanket.

 It's all good though because I like fast-paced reads. For some reason far-fetched-ness is allowed in thriller/mystery at times.

  This read was wrapped up way too quick and neatly after all the run-around

On to the next.

I suppose every author is their own biggest fan.

But from my perspective, here's what I loved about it:

- There's so much geekery in this book that just reading it is like receiving a +50 Geek Power Up
- I had an amazing time creating the characters, and hopefully this translates in the story
- The story is set in a future South Africa, so it should be a refreshing change both in scenery and culture

More than anything, I thoroughly enjoyed writing the story and I hope you enjoy reading it just as much.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. This is the first book in the Odyssey of the Occult series featuring Dylan Hart as the heroine. Burdened with student loans to repay, Dylan Hart decides to write a best seller using the recent swathe of vampire-style slayings in her town as book fodder. With her best friend Tatum in tow, and with the help of an ex-boyfriend cop Mike, Dylan goes into the heart of vampire territory looking to solve the mystery.

The writing itself was good, with well structured sentences and good use of language. The author made a good effort of giving each character an individual style. But the plot felt too staged for my liking. Everything just fell into place for the heroine. I found the fact that she was able to solve the mystery behind several grisly murders by speaking to a handful of people difficult to swallow.

But, while I found the plot weak, some of the main character’s inner (and spoken) dialogue came off as authentic and funny. But these instances were too few and far between. The characters’ motivations didn’t feel genuine to me, and one of the biggest twists at the end felt staged. I was unable to empathise with the main character, and even her motivations felt like more of an afterthought than an integral plot point.

The book was a light, fun read. I think anyone who enjoys books in the paranormal genre will find this book entertaining.

Just a heads up that there are only a few days left to enter this giveaway. 

There are many ways to enter such as joining the mailing list, tweeting about the competition and joining us on Facebook. Make sure you get at least one entry and it could be you winning the voucher!

http://ronelvantonder.co.za/compilequest-competition/

Only 5 copies left of Compile:Quest!

Make sure you enter the giveaway before someone else nabs your copy!

Booklikes Giveaway Link

It's like a Movie in your Head

If you're looking for a reason to request this book, then why don't you take a listen to the first three chapters of this book. With a soundtrack. For free. 

Booktrack Link 

A Bright Power Rising is volume one of the Golden Rule series.

This story follows the lives of three men during a particularly stormy time in the country’s history. I enjoyed this novel mainly due to the writing style. The author is articulate and there are many well-turned phrases throughout the book. The story is told through different viewpoints, and I especially liked AscendantSun’s part of the book.

The characters were clearly defined, but I only empathised with AscendantSun and the Harbringer. Both of these characters seemed extraordinary and had a tale to tell.

I really enjoyed the author’s depiction of AscendantSun’s past, even though I normally don’t like flashbacks in a novel.

This book delves very deeply into the political and religious beliefs of the characters. While not something I would normally enjoy, the world-building in this aspect was spectacular. However, I would have liked more information on the religions. I’m still left yearning to know more about their various beliefs and the significance of certain religious symbols.

My initial response is that the book could have been more concise. It does lose momentum about a third of the way in, only regaining it nearer the end. And yet, at the same time, I longed for more descriptive prose regarding the surroundings and the characters themselves. The world seems so vivid to the author, but there wasn’t enough information for me to render a clear painting of the land in my mind.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well thought out fantasy world with religious and political undertones. The author creates likable characters and a fascinating societal structure with lush writing that will leave you wanting to read more.

Find more reviews on my website: 

http://ronelvantonder.co.za/category/reviews/