Author: james-conroyd-martin

  • Part Three – The 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards Overall Grand Prize Winner, Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners – CIBAs

    Part Three – The 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards Overall Grand Prize Winner, Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners – CIBAs

    We are deeply honored and excited  to announce the 2019 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs). Part Three of Three – 2019 CIBA  Winner Announcements

    CIBA Grand Prize Ribbons! You know that you want one!

    The winners were recognized at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Ceremonies that were held on during VCAC September 8 – 13, 2020 by ZOOM webinars based at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.

    We want to thank each and everyone  of the CIBA judges who read each and every entry and then comment, rate, and rank within each of the 17 CIBA Divisions. Without your passion and labor of love for books, the Chanticleer International Book Awards would not exist and we could not fulfill our mandate:  Discovering Today’s Best Books!

    THANK YOU JUDGES!

     

    Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increasing exponentially. We added a new level to the judging rounds in 2019—the premier Level of FINALIST per each CIBA Division. The CIBA judges wanted to add the Finalist Level of Achievement as a way to recognize and validate the entries that had outstanding merit but were not selected for the very few First Place Award positions within each genre division.

    We are honored to present the

    2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards

    Grand Prize Winners 

    The 2019 CIBA Winners! 


    Romance Fiction Award

    The CHATELAINE Book Awards for

    Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

    Grand Prize Winner is

    The SKEPTICAL PHYSCICK

    by Gail Avery Halverson

          • T.K. Conklin – Threads of Passion
          • Jule Selbo – Find Me in Florence 
          • Michelle Cox – A Veil Removed
          • Heather Novak – Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex’s Brother
          • Kari Bovee – Grace in the Wings
          • Joanne Jaytanie – Salvaging Truth, Hunters & Seekers
          • L.E. Rico – Mischief and Mayhem

    The SOMERSET Book Awards for Literary, Contemporary, and Mainstream Fiction

    Grand Prize Winner is

    A MANUSCRIPT

    The PROPRIETOR of the THEATRE of LIFE

    by Donna LeClair

        • Carl Roberts for The Trial of Connor Padget
        • Judith Kirscht for End of the Race
        • Patrick Finegan for Cooperative Lives
        • Santiago Xaman  for After Olympus
        • Claire Fullerton for Little Tea
        • Maggie St. Claire for Martha
        • Jamie Zerndt for  Jerkwater
        • R. Barber Anderson for  The Sunken Forest, Where the Forest Came out of the Earth
          • HONORABLE MENTIONS:
            • Beth Burgmeyer – The Broken Road, ms
            • Bob Holt – Firebird, ms

    Journey Narrative Non-Fiction

    The JOURNEY Book Awards for

    Narrative Non-Fiction, Memoirs, and Biographies 

    Grand Prize Winner is

    PERSISTENCE of LIGHT by John Hoyte

        • Anna Carner – Blossom ~ The Wild Ambassador of Tewksbury
        • Linda Gartz – Redlined: A Memoir of Race, Change, and Fractured Community in 1960s Chicago
        • Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson – The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug
        • Nikki West – The Odyssey of the Chameleon
        • Eva Doherty Gremmert – Our Time To Dance 

    The INSTRUCTION and INSIGHT Book Awards for How-To Guides, Travel Guides, Cook Books, Self-Help, and Enlightenment

    Grand Prize Winner is 

    TEN THINGS EVERY CHILD with AUTISM

    WISHES YOU KNEW

    by Ellen Notbohm

      • Margaret A Hellyer – A Home on the South Fork
      • Donna Cameron – A Year of Living Kindly: Choices That Will Change Your Life and the World Around You
      • Brad Borkan and David Hirzel – When Your Life Depends on It: Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic
      • Donald M. Rattner – My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation, 48 Science-based Techniques
      • Carole Bumpus – Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, Book One, Savoring the Olde Ways Series
      • Lisa Boucher – Raising The Bottom: Making Mindful Choices in a Drinking Culture
      • Ryan M. Chukuske – Bigfoot 200: Because, You Know, Why the #@&% Not? 

     

    Nellie Bly Awards

    The NELLIE BLY Book Awards for Investigative and Long Form Journalism Non-Fiction 

    Grand Prize Winner is

    Cover of Shaping Public Opinion by Janice S. Ellis, PhD. A burning typewriter sits in a series of concentric circles

    SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION:

    How Real Advocacy Journalism

    Should Be Practiced

    by Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D.

    • T.S. Lewis – The Why of War: An Unorthodox Soldier’s Memoirs
    • Maya Castro – The Bubble: Everything I Learned as a Target of the Political, and Often Corrupt, World of Youth Sports
    • John Hoyte – Persistence of Light
    • Judy Bebelaar and Ron Cabral – And Then They Were Gone: Teenagers of Peoples Temple from High School to Jonestown
    • Patrick Hogan – Silent Spring – Deadly Autumn of the Vietnam War
    • Gordon Cross, Robert Fowler, Ted Neill – Finding St. Lo: A Memoir of War & Family

    CONGRATULATIONS to ALL! 

     

    And NOW for the 

    2019 CHANTICLEER INT’L BOOK AWARDS

    BEST BOOK

    and

    OVERALL GRAND PRIZE WINNER

    FORTUNE’S CHILD:

    A Novel of Empress Theodora 

    by

    James Conroyd Martin

    James Conroyd Martin will also be awarded $1,000 USD in recognition of his 2019 BEST BOOK of the YEAR – Chanticleer International Book Awards – Sponsored by Chanticleer Reviews & Media. 

    A Chanticleer Review of Fortune’s Child will be featured in the in the SPRING 2021 quarterly edition of the Chanticleer Reviews Magazine (print and epub) along with other promotional and marketing opportunities.

    Thank you James Conroyd Martin for participating in the 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards. We look forward to receiving the sequel to Fortune’s Child in the 2021 Chaucer Book Awards, a division of the CIBAs.

    We look forward to toasting James in person at our next gathering–hopefully in 2021. We are so happy that he joined us virtually for the CIBA announcements at VCAC20.

    CONGRATULATIONS JAMES CONROYD MARTIN! 

    From all of us at Chanticleer International Book Awards and Chanticleer Reviews. 


    THANK YOU to VCAC20 SPONSORS and FRIENDS

    And to FRIENDS of CHANTICLEER REVIEWS:

    J.D. Barker, Robert Dugoni, and Scott Steindorff.

     


    Link to Part One of the 2019 CIBA Announcements:

    The 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards Overall Grand Prize and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners (CIBAs) – Part One

    Link to Part Two of the 2019 CIBA Announcements:

    Part Two – The 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards Overall Grand Prize Winner and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners

    We will post more photographs and information. Do check back and subscribe to the Chanticleer Reviews e-news letter.

    The video recordings of VCAC 20 are available on VIMEO. More information to come.

    We have exciting news for the Chanticleer Community on the horizon so do stay tuned!  

    You know you want a coveted Chanticleer Reviews Blue Ribbon! 

    Submit your works (manuscripts or novels published after or on January 1, 2018, are accepted) to the prestigious Chanticleer International Book Awards today! Entries are being accepted into the 2020 CIBAs in all 17 fiction divisions and five non-fiction divisions. 

    Be sure to register early for the 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference that will start on April 16th, 2021 with the 2020 CIBA banquet and ceremony scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. If we cannot move forward with CAC21 due to the coronavirus, we will host another LIVE and HYBRID Chanticleer Authors Conference and 2020 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards ceremony.

    Pivot and Oscillate are the Words for Today’s Challenging Times.

    An email will go out to all 2019 CIBA award winners prior to October 30, 2020, with instructions, links, and more information about the awards packages. We appreciate your patience. As stated many times before “One does not need to be present at the CIBA ceremony and banquet to win. But it sure is a lot more fun!” –even if it is virtual!

    As always, please contact us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!

    Be well. Stay Healthy. Take Care!

    The Chanticleer Reviews Team

  • Part Two – The 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards Overall Grand Prize Winner and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners

    Part Two – The 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards Overall Grand Prize Winner and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners

    We are deeply honored and excited to continue to announce the 2019 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

    The winners were recognized at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Ceremonies that were held on during VCAC September 8 – 13, 2020 by ZOOM webinars based at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.

    We cheered on the CIBA Premier Finalists with our bubbly of choice from wherever we were Zooming!

    The CIBA announcements were made LIVE with Chanticleerians participating and interacting from around the globe and North America. A virtual happy hour was held following each evening’s announcements.

    We want to thank all of the CIBA judges who read each and every entry and then comment, rate, and rank within each of the 17 CIBA Divisions. Without your labors of love for books, the Chanticleer International Book Awards would not exist. THANK YOU!

     

    We want to thank all of the authors and publishers who participated in the 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs). Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increasing exponentially. We added a new level to the judging rounds in 2019—the premier Level of FINALIST per each CIBA Division. The CIBA judges wanted to add the Finalist Level of Achievement as a way to recognize and validate the entries that had outstanding merit but were not selected for the very few First Place Award positions within each genre division.

    Grand Prize Ribbons!

    We are honored to present the

    2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards

    Grand Prize Winners 

    The 2019 CIBA Winners! 


     

    Western Pioneeer Civil War Fiction Award

    The LARAMIE Book Awards for American, Western, Pioneer, Civil War, and First Nation Novels

    The Grand Prize Winner is

    SEVEN APRILS by Eileen Charbonneau

          • E. Alan Fleischauer – Rescued  
          • Lynwood Kelly – The Gamble: Lost Treasures    
          • David Fitz-Gerald– Wanders Far-An Unlikely Hero’s Journey     
          • Juliette Douglas – Bed of Conspiracy  
          • John Hansen – Hard Times
          • J. R. Collins – Spirit of the Rabbit Place   

    The Chaucer Awards for Historical Novels

    The CHAUCER Book Awards for

    Pre-1750s Historical Fiction 

    Grand Prize Winner is

    FORTUNE’S CHILD: A Novel of Empress Theodora 

    by James Conroyd Martin

          • Gail Avery Halverson for The Skeptical Physick
          • Linda Cardillo for Love That Moves the Sun: Vittoria Colonna and Michelangelo Buonarotti
          • June Hall McCash for Eleanor’s Daughter: A Novel of Marie de Champagne
          • James Hutson-Wiley for The Sugar Merchant
          • Catherine Mathis for Death in Coimbra
          • Patricia J. Boomsma for The Way of Glory
          • A.L. Cleven for 26.2

    Post 1750s Historical Fiction Award

    The GOETHE Book Awards for

    Post-1750’s Historical Fiction 

    Grand Prize Winner is

    PECCADILLO at the PALACE by Kari Bovee

          • Vanda Writer for Paris, Adrift 
          • PJ Devlin for Wissahickon Souls   
          • Mary Adler for Shadowed by Death: An Oliver Wright WWII Mystery   
          • Mike Jordan for The Runner     
          • J.G. Schwartz for The Pearl Harbor Conspiracy 

    Early Readers and Picture books

    LITTLE PEEPS Book Awards for

    Early Readers and Picture Books

    Grand Prize Winner is 

    GALDO’S GIFT: The Boovie

    by Trevor Young & Eleanor Long

        • Sylva Fae and Katie Weaver for Elfabet    
        • Lauren Mosback for My Sister’s Super Skills  
        • Norma Lewis for Totem Pole   
        • Kizzie Jones for A Tall Tale About Dachshunds in Costumes: How MORE Dogs Came to Be   
        • Justine Avery forWhat Wonders Do You See… When You Dream?
        • Kasey J. Claytor for  Pinky and The Magical Secret He Kept Inside   
        • Robert Wright Jr for Mummy in the Museum

    Gertrude Warner Children's Chapter Books

    GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for

    Middle-Grade Books 

    Grand Prize is

    The VALLEY of DEATH, Book 5 by Alex Paul

        • Amber L. Wyss – Phoenix Rising     
        • M.J. Evans – PINTO!   
        • Beth Stickley – Tarnation’s Gate    
        • Rey Clark – Legends of the Vale   
        • Laura M. Kemp – Burnt Feathers   
        • Alex Paul – The Valley of Death, Book 5, Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals
        • C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown    
        • Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
        • Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    The DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards

    for Young Adult Fiction

    Grand Prize Winner is

    BUT NOT FOREVER by Jan Von Schleh

        • Michelle Rene  Manufactured Witches  
        • Nancy Thorne  Victorian Town   
        • Susan Brown  Twelve 
        • Sandra L Rostirolla  Cecilia    
        • David Patneaude  Fast Backward   
        • John Middleton  Dillion & The Curse of Arminius   

    Congratulations to ALL!

    We will email each winner with more information about their prize packages and more information.

    Be sure to FOLLOW and LIKE us Facebook and on Twitter @ChantiReviews

    Please standby for our next posts that will honor:

    • Chatelaine Book Award Winners
    • Somerset Book Award Winners
    • Journey Book Award Winners
    • Nellie Bly Book Award Winners
    • Instructional and Insight Book Award Winners

    And the OVERALL GRAND PRIZE for the 2019 CIBAs!

    Here is the link to the first installment for announcing the 2019 CIBAS.

    Stay tuned for PART 3 of the 2019 Chanticleer International Book Award Winners

    We are now accepting entries into the 2020 and 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards.

    Click here for more information and submission deadlines: https://www.chantireviews.com/contests/

    As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please email us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com   We will try to respond within 3 business days.

    Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 2019 CIBA Winners! – The Chanticleer Team

  • CHAUCER Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction – 2019 CIBAs

    CHAUCER Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction – 2019 CIBAs

    Pre 1750 Historical Fiction AwardCongratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the CHAUCER Book Awards for Pre-1750s historical fiction, a division of the 2019 CIBAs.

     

     

    The Search for the Best New Pre-1750s Historical Fiction 

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is celebrating the best books featuring Pre-1750s Historical Fiction, Including Pre-History, Ancient History, Classical, World History (non-western culture), Dark Ages and Medieval Europe, Renaissance, Elizabethan, Tudor, and 1600s. We love them all.

    The 2019 CHAUCER Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the CHAUCER Grand Prize winner were announced at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of Sept 8 -13, 2020 from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.

    Michelle Cox, author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard Mystery Series, the 2016 M & M Grand Prize Winner, announced the 2019 CHAUCER Book Awards.

    This is the Official 2019 LIST of the CHAUCER Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the CHAUCER Grand Prize Winner.

    Congratulations to All! 

    • Gail Avery Halverson – The Skeptical Physick
    • Linda Cardillo – Love That Moves the Sun: Vittoria Colonna and Michelangelo Buonarotti
    • June Hall McCash – Eleanor’s Daughter: A Novel of Marie de Champagne
    • James Hutson-Wiley – The Sugar Merchant
    • James Conroyd Martin – Fortune’s Child: A Novel of Empress Theodora
    • Catherine Mathis – Death in Coimbra
    • Patricia J. Boomsma – The Way of Glory
    • A.L. Cleven – 26.2

    The CHAUCER Book Awards

    2019 Grand Prize Winner is 

    Fortune’s Child: A Novel of Empress Theodora

    by James Conroyd Martin 

     

    This is the digital badge for the 2018 CHAUCER Grand Prize Winner – The Serpent and the Eagle by Edward Rickford

    How to Enter the Chaucer Book Awards?

    We are accepting submissions into the 2021 CHAUCER Book Awards until June30, 2021. Submissions into the 2020 CHAUCER Book Awards are closed. 

    The 2020 CHAUCER Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC 21 on April 17, 2021.

    Don’t delay! Enter today! 

    A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in mid-October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

    If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com == we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.

  • June SPOTLIGHT on CHAUCER AWARDS – Early Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Romantic Fiction, Crusades, Medieval

    June SPOTLIGHT on CHAUCER AWARDS – Early Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Romantic Fiction, Crusades, Medieval

    Pre 1750 Historical Fiction Award

    Do you have an early historical fiction manuscript or recently released novel? Submit your work to the CIBA 2019 CHAUCER Awards by
    June 30, 2020, and see how your work stacks up against others. 

     

    We know you want to – because we never tire of promoting our authors’ achievements!

    As in Chaucer’s words in the Nun’s Priest Tale of the Canterbury Tales,

    “For crowing there was not his equal in all the land.”

     

    Click here to find out more. 

    We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction the Chaucer Awards, after the English poet and author of the Canterbury Tales, because #CHAUCER.

    But seriously, did you know that The Canterbury Tales is considered one of the greatest works in the English language? In fact, it was among the first non-secular books written in Middle English to be printed. So, yeah, #Chaucer

    A woodcut from William Caxton’s second edition 0f the Canterbury Tales printed in 1483

    Some interesting tidbits about Geoffrey Chaucer

            • born c. 1342/43 probably in London. He died on October 25, 1400
            • his father was an important London vintner
            • His family’s finances were derived from wine and leather
            • Chaucer spoke Middle English and was fluent in French, Latin, and Italian
            • He guided diplomatic missions across the continent of Europe for ten years where he discovered the works of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio whose The Decameron had a profound influence on Chaucer’s later works
            • He married well as his wife received an annuity from the queen consort of Edward III
            • His remains are interred in the Westminster Abbey

     


     As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your historical fiction deserves!  Enter today!

    Welcome to the CHAUCER BOOK AWARDS HALL OF FAME

    Click on the links below to read the Chanticleer Review of the award-winning work!

    Pre 1750 Historical Fiction Award

     

    The 2018 Chaucer Book Awards Grand Prize Winner:

    The SERPENT and The EAGLE  by Edward Rickford 

     

     

    2018 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction First in Category Winners:

     

     

     

     

     


    The 2017 Chaucer Book Awards Grand Prize:

    The Traitor’s Noose: Lions and Lilies Book 4 by Catherine A. Wilson and Catherine T. Wilson

    2017 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction First in Category Winners:

     

     

     

     

     


     

    The 2016 Chaucer Book Awards Grand Prize Winner:

    (Chaucer Book Awards was the Historical Fiction division until we divided it for the 2016 CIBAs into two divisions because of the number of entries:

    Goethe Book Awards for post-1750s Historical Fiction and Chaucer Book Awards for pre-1750s Historical Fiction).

    The Towers of Tuscany by Carol M. Cram

     

    2016 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction First in Category Winners:

             

             

             

             

             


             

            The 2015 Chaucer Book Awards Grand Prize Winner:

            (Chaucer Book Awards was the Historical Fiction division until we divided it into two divisions for the 2016 CIBAs because of the number of entries:

            Goethe Book Awards for post-1750s Historical Fiction and Chaucer Book Awards for pre-1750s Historical Fiction).

            Valhalla Revealed by Robert A. Wright

            Valhalla Revealed by Robert A Wright

             

            2015 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction First in Category Winners:

             

             

             

             


             

            The 2014 Chaucer Book Awards Grand Prize:

            (Chaucer Book Awards was the Historical Fiction division until we divided it into two divisions because of the number of entries:

            Goethe Book Awards for post-1750s Historical Fiction and Chaucer Book Awards for pre-1750s Historical Fiction).

            The Love of Finished Years  by Gregory Erich Phillips

            2014 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction First in Category Winners

             


            The 2013 Chaucer Book Awards Grand Prize Winner:

            Propositum - Front Cover 2

            Propositum by Sean Curley

            2013 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction First in Category Winners:

            • Adventure/Young Adult:  I, Walter by Mike Hartner
            • N.A. Western:  Crossing Purgatory by Gary Schanbacher
            • World War II (European):  Deal with the Devil by J. Gunner Grey
            • Adventure/Romance/YA: “Lady Blade” by C.J. Thrush
            • Nordic History:  The Jøssing Affair by J.L.Oakley
            • Regency:  Traitor’s Gate by David Chacko & Alexander Kulcsar
            • Women’s Fiction/WWII: Wait for Me  by Janet K. Shawgo
            • Medieval/Dark Ages: Divine Vengeance by David Koons
            • Women’s Fiction/World History: Daughters of India by Kavita Jade

            What are you waiting for? Before long the CHAUCER Book Award deadline will be history.

            Submit your manuscript or recently released Historical Fiction (pre-1750s) to the Chanticleer International Book Awards!

            Want to be a winner next year? The deadline to submit your book for the Chaucer awards is June 30, 2020. Enter here!

            Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced on September 5, 2020.

            Any entries received on or after June 30, 2020, will be entered into the 2021 Chaucer Book Awards. The Grand Prize and First Place for 2020 CIBA winners will be held on April 17, 2021.

             As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your historical fiction deserves!  Enter today!

            The CHAUCER Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.

            The 2020 winners will be announced at the CIBA  Awards Ceremony on September 5, 2020, which will take place during the 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first-place winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of dinner, networking, and celebrations! 

            Don’t delay! Enter today! 

          • The BOY WHO WANTED WINGS by James Conroyd Martin – Medieval Historical Fiction, War/Military, European

            The BOY WHO WANTED WINGS by James Conroyd Martin – Medieval Historical Fiction, War/Military, European

            A suspenseful and often overlooked chapter in history, the siege of Vienna in the late 17th century is the subject of James Conroyd Martin’s masterful novel, The Boy Who Wanted Wings.

            Although Poland’s involvement in the protection of the city from the invading Turks is the mainstay of the book, Martin widens the breadth of his study to underscore the multinational effort undertaken to halt the spread of Islam, providing meticulously researched details about the allied forces of the Saxons, Franconians, and Bavarians uniting to halt the siege of the Ottomans and Crimean Tatars*.  Although this is a work of fiction, to the author’s credit, the wealth of historical information provided is beyond impressive.  Most helpful is the glossary of Polish cultural and military terms of the time at the outset of the book.

            The reader navigates this chapter in Europe’s past with Aleksy Gazdecki, a boy on the verge of manhood whose personal past and present circumstances present no end of identity issues.  A Tatar by birth, he was orphaned as an infant and raised by a Polish peasant family, tenants of Lord Halicki.  Aleksy’s swarthy complexion and dark, almond-shaped eyes cause him to stand out amongst the Poles and ultimately be treated with suspicion.  He longs to join the Winged Hussars, the elite branch of the Polish military whose legendary skills with seventeen-foot-long lances are announced by a uniform that includes “wings.”  Although he trains with a former soldier, currently a stablemaster, Aleksy knows how futile his dream is since only men of noble birth can become Winged Hussars.

            Amidst the military drama is, of course, personal drama.  Aleksy has a chance encounter with the beautiful Krystyna, Lord Halicki’s daughter, and the two engage in a dangerous, secretive romance, jumping the hurdles presented by her family, who are determined to see her married to a wealthy noble, as well as confronting the escalating war at hand. Krystyna’s brothers, the sweet Marek and the haughty, vengeful Roman, will cross paths with Aleksy again and again since he follows them into battle as Marek’s “retainer.”

            Just as Aleksy sought to overcome the circumstances of his birth in his romantic life, he will do so also on the battlefield. Ironically, his Tatar heritage gives him the opportunity to save a life, a very important life, and the resulting events put Krystyna within his reach. Martin takes no shortcuts and keeps the reader guessing with a long list of characters and numerous plots twists all carried out with exquisite pacing.

            Despite the triumph of the Poles, Martin deftly explores the addictive nature of bloodlust and the true consequences of war. Aleksy is exhausted and saddened by the killing and able to transcend nationalistic feelings.  He has killed men, regardless of where they’re from or what faith they practice. It’s an apt observation from a Tatar who has lived his life amongst a people other than his own, a Tatar who has tried to be the most loyal subject of Poland.

            This is a novel with staying power.  Given the geopolitical situations in the world today, the author reminds us that war has a long and bloody history, and political alliances are intricately tied to this history. James Conroyd Martin’s The Boy Who Wanted Wings will make one most glad for the opportunity to spend time in the 17th century.

            *Alternate spelling: Tartar

            This book is also available in Softcover (ISBN-13: 978-0997894509) and Hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0997894516)

            5 Star Best Book Chanticleer Reviews round silver sticker