About Me

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.

My books

The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places. The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell

Buy The Talismans

The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Available as an e-book on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon. Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

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Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong,  Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park

Inner Peace Blog

Inner Peace Blog
Awarded by Joanna Fay. Click on the image to visit her lovely website!

Versatile Blogger Award

Versatile Blogger Award
Awarded by Kim Falconer. Click on the pic to check out her Quantum Astrology blog!

Fabulous Blog Award

Fabulous Blog Award
Awarded by Kathryn Warner. Click on the pic to check out her Edward II blog!

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Tuesday 30 December 2008

Favourite Reads of 2008

Several of my blogging buddies are listing their favourite books for this year, and that always seems an appropriate thing to do at the end of December. So, in the order in which I read them, here are the books I loved best in 2008...

The Accidental Sorcerer by K.E. Mills. This is by Karen Miller's not-so-altered alter-ego, so you don't need to be told how good it is! Funny, frightening and fantastic, this one got K.E. Mills's Rogue Agent series off to a flying start.

The Last Realm: Dragonscarpe by Pat McNamara, Michal Dutkiewicz and Gary Turner. An utterly lovely fantasy coffee-table book, richly illustrated and decorated.

Escape by Sea by LS Lawrence. Another excellent YA historical adventure from this author, who under another hat is a fine SF writer.

Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch by Simon Haynes. Just as funny as its predecessors and showing more character development. Another winner from Haynes.

The Two Pearls of Wisdom by Alison Goodman. A beautfully conceived and written tale set in an alternative-world far eastern country. We can hope for great things from this new author.

Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. A new edition of the first five books in Zelazny's signature series. I needed no encouragement to read them again - for about the sixth time!

The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Comprising The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged and The Last Argument of Kings, this has to be one of the best first trilogies to come out in years. Dark, bitter, cynical and incredibly entertaining, this set is on my keeper shelf for sure.

Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan. A quirky, different kind of fantasy set in Elizabethan London, well-researched and well worth reading.

The Siege of Arrandin by Marcus Herniman. This is the first of a trilogy and I'm still trying to track the others down. The world building in this book is amazing - lovingly detailed descriptions of sumptuous clothes and settings almost overpower the reader with their immediacy.

Time Machines Repaired While you Wait by K.A. Bedford. A new twist on an old trope: a murder mystery set in two times. This one has the distinction of being set in Perth, Western Australia - my favourite city:-)

Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier. At last - another Sevenwaters book! Just what so many Marillier fans have been waiting for! That is not to decry this fine author's other works - but there is something magical about the Sevenwaters world of medieval Ireland, and the books are a great introduction to Marillier's oeuvre.

Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell. A richly realised medieval setting from the creator of the Sharp series. Cornwell writes and researches impeccably, so his novels are always convincing.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. A mid-life story of a woman who did just as I did - packed her bags in middle age and went a-roaming in search of Life, The Universe and Everything. Any other dharma bums out there? You should read this. And if you've never gone dharma-bumming you should read it anyway, to see what you missed.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore. A truly original fantasy that includes favourite stock characters, thus giving the reader the comfort of familiarity while opening new doors. One of the best coming-of-age novels I've read in quite a while.

Hammer of God by Karen Miller. The third book in the Godspeaker trilogy, and perhaps the best. A very strong trilogy, this one. The first book, Empress of Mijak, shook many readers to the core - some were so horrified they did not want to read the others! - but when we read the other two, we can see why book one had to be so unremittingly dark. Be assured that if you got through the first book, the others will seem easy:-)

That's about half the books I've read this year, so I've been lucky. Not that the others were awful, but these are the ones that grabbed me and have stayed with me. Let's hope 2009 will bring even more excellent reading our way!

And to close, here's a progress report on Fenris the Furred, as Ru christened my son Kurt's new "baby". He's grown - and keeps on growing! (Fenris, BTW, is the name not only of the guard dog to the underworld in Norse mythology, but of the scariest fighter in print, found in The First Law trilogy - Fenris the Feared.) Here is the less scary version with my dinlaw Erinn.

I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve and a super year to follow. Roll on 2009!

10 comments:

Jo said...

How can I keep up with both you and Glenda recommending books? I had a pile of 10 books here the other day, I have reduced them somewhat though. I have read the first two books in Karen's Trilogy, but Hammer of God isn't available here yet. I can't wait to see if the Empress gets her comeuppance.

Haven't been able to find The Accidental Sorcerer.

Satima Flavell said...

Hammer of God is only just out here, so it might be a few months before you see it your shops. Probably The Accidental Sorcerer is also not available for the same reason, but it's also possible that it has a different name over there. You might find out on Karen's web site, or you could leave a note on her blog to ask her.

I know what you mean about books. At any given time I have a pile of about a dozen to-be-reads. A lot of them are review copies and I can pass them on to other reviewers, but even so, I never, ever, really catch up:-(

Anonymous said...

Nice list. I enjoyed Juliet Marillier's book and my 19 year old daughter loved it. I've got 'Spacejock' and 'Time Machines Repaired'. I certainly want to read the third book in Karen Miller's 'Godspeaker' trilogy, despite the violence in the first one, I need know how it all ends up. Alas a lot of my reading this year has been old stuff, though it was all well worth picking up.

Satima Flavell said...

While you are studying, I guess your reading must of necessity be related to your work, more's the pity:-) I hope you manage to sneak in a few that you just want to read, for no other reason than that you feel like it!

Anonymous said...

Yep, I'll be doing plenty of sneaking in books I want to read this year. I hope :)

Tehani Wessely said...

Love your list, and it's nice that I've read so much on your list!

Alison Goodman's not a new author though - she won an Aurealis Award in 1998! Doesn't seem to be all that prolific, but she's been around for a while :)

Happy New Year!

Satima Flavell said...

Oh, right - Singing the Dogstar Blues - I'd forgotten about that one. The sequel to Two Pearls won't be out for about another 18m, so she's obviously not wildly prolific. Of course, she's a lecturer and is probably busy with the day job:-)

Anonymous said...

happy new year satima !

Gabriele Campbell said...

Lol, that dog is all legs. Needs a lot of walking, I bet.

Happy New Year!

Satima Flavell said...

Yup, lo-ong legs, that I'm afraid he will eventually grow into. He's going to be one giant of a hound!

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