Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: mike-hartner

  • 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! 

          • CELEBRATING CHILDREN’S BOOKS with GERTRUDE WARNER Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Magic, School, Sci-fi

            CELEBRATING CHILDREN’S BOOKS with GERTRUDE WARNER Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Magic, School, Sci-fi

            Here at Chanticleer, we love Children’s literature! There is just something about a truly well-told story that sparks the imagination of the young – and the young at heart.

            So, as we celebrate Children’s Book Week – May 4 – 10, 2020, allow us to bring along a few friends and share with you some really good books.

            Gertrude Warner Children's Chapter Books

             

            Did you know that 2020 marks the 96th anniversary of the first edition of the first book The Boxcar Children by Gertrude C. Warner?

            It’s true! We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for middle-grade readers The Gertrude Warner Awards in honor of the author of the well-loved children’s The Boxcar Children Series.

            I guess you could say, we’re fans. BIG fans!

             

             

            We love Gertrude and so many others! Here’s a little list of some of Middle-Grade Children’s authors you probably already know: 

            Ron Dahl – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

            J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter series

            Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians

            R.J. Palacio – Wonder

            Lemony Snicket – The Series of Unfortunate Events

            Madeleine L’Engle – A Wrinkle in Time

            Louis Sachar  – Holes

            Kelly Barnhill for The Girl Who Drank the Moon

            Neil Gaiman – for so, so many books!

            Lois Lowry – The Giver

            Now – a very special treat! Please take the time to find out about some of our very own personal favorite Middle-Grade Children’s Authors: 

            The Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – FINALISTS for 2019 – are 

            • Amber L. Wyss – Phoenix Rising     
            • M.J. Evans – PINTO!   
            • M.J. Evans – The Stone of Wisdom – Book 4 of the Centaur Chronicles
            • 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
            • Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
            • Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories
            • Liana Gardner – 7th Grade Revolution
            • Nancy McDonald – Boy from Berlin
            • Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Tudor Rose 
            • Kit Bakke – Dancing on the Edge
            • Mobi Warren – The Bee Maker
            • C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown
            • B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Serious Business

            These titles are in the running for the First Place positions of the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers

            – and one will be named GRAND Prize Winner!

             

             

             

            The 2018 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize went to Jules Luther – for the unpublished book, The Portals of Peril

             

            2018 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners

            • Keelic and the Pathfinders of Midgarth by Alexander Edlund
            • Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend by Cheryl Carpinello
            • The Portals of Peril by Jules Luther
            • From the Shadows by KB Shaw
            • Tallulah’s Flying Adventure by Gloria Two-Feathers
            • Vampire Boy by Aric Cushing
            • The Adventures of Rug Bug by Kay M. Bates

            Paul Aertker took home the CIBA GRAND PRIZE 2017 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize for

            BRAINWASHED: CRIME TRAVELERS SPY SCHOOL SERIES 

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

            2017 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners

             

             

            The 2016 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize was won by Alan Sproles & Lizanne Southgate for their work, The Train From Outer Space.

             

            2016 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners are:

            Are you interested in seeing how your Middle-Grade book stands up to the competition? Submit them to the Chanticleer International Book Awards and we will choose the best among the entries!

            Click here for more information about The CIBAs! 

            Gertrude Warner Children's Chapter Books

            The deadline to submit your book for the Gertrude Warner awards is May 31, 2019. Enter here!

            The deadline for 2019 submissions has been extended to June 15, 2019. Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced on September 5, 2020, at the CIBA Awards Banquet.

            Any entries received on or after June 16, 2019, will be entered into the 2020 Gertrude Warner Book Awards.

            As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your Middle-Grade Reader deserves!  Enter today!

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

            All 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!

          • I, ANGUS: Book 4 of the Eternity Series by Mike Hartner – historical fiction

            I, ANGUS: Book 4 of the Eternity Series by Mike Hartner – historical fiction

            Immediately, readers are swept up in an adventure taking place in Northern Scotland during these harrowing times. The English have invaded and land is bereft with broken homes and broken families. In particular the story follows the war-ravaged life of fifteen-year-old, Angus Mackenzie. As the first pages of the book unfold Angus is tasked with leaving the safety of his family’s castle to deliver a message from his father to a neighboring king.

            The trip is not an easy one nor is it without profound dangers. Twists and turns occur not only on the trail, but in the journey itself. Eventually Angus makes it to neighboring castle and comes upon Angela, the daughter of the king he was to deliver his father’s message to. Angela is alone in the castle. The return of her father’s rider-less horse one day, was an ominous sign.

            What ensues is the pairs quest to find her father. As the story unfolds these two teens who have been through so much, fall in love in the midst of dark times and terrible hardships. Their travels in search of her father lead them to a battlefield and a cave where they take up temporary residence and nurse wounded soldiers back to health. Thus begins Angus’ personal journey as he grapples with challenges and trials that will test him and shape him.

            Mike Hartner delivers in a young-adult book that is rich in historical details and large on adventure.The author does an exceptional job of making readers care about his main character, Angus. They become emotionally attached to Angus as a young adult and invested in the story as he progresses through middle aged adulthood. Utilizing war torn Scotland as the backdrop Mike Hartner has delivered a gem of a historical fiction novel certain to please many a young adult reader.

            I, Angus is another addition to author Mike Hartner’s The Eternity Series.  Each of the books tells its own story so they can be read as stand-alone volumes. The author presents a main character readers will become emotionally invested in. Set in war torn Scotland and rich in medieval lore with castles and kings and knights, this story will surely please many young adult readers.

          • I, Mary: Book 3 of the Crofter Family Saga by Mike Hartner, an historical fiction middle grade book

            I, Mary: Book 3 of the Crofter Family Saga by Mike Hartner, an historical fiction middle grade book

            Heartwarming and inspirational, Mike Hartner’s novel I, Mary is a beautifully-written middle grade children’s novel that captures a young girl’s dreams of becoming a sailor. A fantastic read for children and their families who enjoy fiction set to the background of sailing and historical times. If your middle grade reader loves The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, then she will love reading I, Mary by Mike Hartner, the third book in the Eternity Crofter Family Saga series.

            The tale takes a reader into a turbulent time in England’s history, when Oliver Cromwell usurps power from the monarchy and plunged England into a civil war. Readers are introduced to the protagonist Mary as a toddler aboard one of her father’s ships. She shows an innate love and connection with the sea. At age eleven, she pleads with her father to allow her to become a sailor. A caring man, he yields. He urges one of his captains to take her on, even though she is still a young girl. Her superior intelligence, reliability, and hard work earns the respect of sailors and their captains who, along with the readers, watch Mary learn and excel in seamanship.

            Mary is a unique, strong, and kind girl existing during a time in history when females were considered by many to be chattel without rights. Readers admire her from the start as they watch her navigate through calm waters and stormy seas. She is a praiseworthy character for her courage and the way she helped or touched so many other characters .

            When the first person narrator changes, a line of three stars above the passage marks the switch. Intimate content is limited to hand holding and kissing, but the growing love story carries emotional impact throughout. The dialogue, though, is still written using some of the authentic dialect of Highland Scotland, such as lass, laddie, and bairn. Hartner’s novel is also an easy, smooth read for children and to read aloud to children.

            Children can also get a history lesson as well, or be inspired to learn more Highland Scotland and clan life. In the author’s note to his readers, Mike Hartner says, “My goal is to provide an enjoyable reading experience and not a historical map.” But admits he’d be pleased if a youngster got motivated to check the book’s historical accuracy regarding the British Crown Hierarchy, the ‘Rump’ parliament, the Great Plague, and the Great Fire in London, all of which are mentioned in the story.

            This reviewer rarely cries during the emotional hits in a story, but Hartner’s ending stirred powerful feelings and brought forth tears. Readers will resonate with Mary from start to finish over the poignancy of her life. An inspiring read that pulls at your heartstrings, I Mary is a brilliant novel that sets the dreams of a young girl to the historical backdrop of a time that was most difficult for women. 

          • An Editorial Review of “I, James” by Mike Hartner

            An Editorial Review of “I, James” by Mike Hartner

            James Crofter is born in Spain in the early hours of September 21, 1613. Rosalind Caufield is born the same day and same time in London. Their lives, families, and fortunes will forever be intertwined.

            I, James, is the second book in Mike Hartner’s historical young adult saga, a series designed to flow from the 16th century to the present time. It is a story of adventure, hardships, survival, heroics, and sweet romance.

            When Rosalind is just 10 years old, she and her mother are cast out of the family home. Her grandparents have died and her father is away at sea. Rosalind can’t understand how family can turn against family. She and her mother are shipped to Sarat, India, presumably to be met by her father.  Her mother dies and her father cannot be found. Rosalind, now alone in a strange city, is grabbed and trained, readied to be sold as a slave. Instead, her trainer decides to befriend her; she is put on a trade ship where she has some protection; she dresses as a boy and calls herself Sal. She becomes a sailor, a cook, a fighter, growing from child to young woman.

            James is a child of privilege, a prince, the second son of Walter, King of Northern Spain. On his eleventh birthday, James is snatched from his family, transported to Africa, and sold into slavery. James never gives up on the thought of taking revenge the man who took him from his home and made him a slave.

            Hartner takes us on the journey of James and Rosalind who are from these very different walks of life at the time of who rules the sea rules the world. Their lives and stories become entwined as they struggle with pirates, slaves and slavers, cruel masters, and just down-right evil bad guys as they each find their way with the help of compassionate friends, determination, hard work, and quick thinking. It is a book that will transport you back to the time of your childhood daydreams of faraway places and distant times.

            I, James is a captivating tale of survival, of helping others, of not letting others discourage you, and of never giving up hope. Fascinating historical details are woven throughout this classic coming-of-age story adding to its intrigue. Readers will find themselves rooting for Hartner’s feisty and resourceful protagonists. However, I, James, is told in a matter-of-fact tone throughout; the harshness and cruelty of the time period comes through in all its bleakness. During James’ time working on the tobacco plantation, he is whipped many times. James is reminded of his father’s stories but with fuller understanding of the hardships his father actually endured. As a small boy, James enjoyed his father’s stories of adventure, never expecting to experience such things for himself.

             I, James may be categorized as a middle school – young adult novel, but if you enjoy classic adventure stories, it will draw you in, no matter your age. You’ll also want to read the first volume in the series, I, Walter, and watch for upcoming books with new characters and new adventures in Mike Hartner’s Eternity series. Highly recommended.

          • “I, Walter” by Mike Hartner

            “I, Walter” by Mike Hartner

            I, Walter  is a captivating story of valor and chivalry. This classic grand adventure takes you on the high seas and to exotic ports-of-call during the Elizabethan era when a boy acknowledges that he must change his stars and expand his horizons if he is to live the life that he wants to live–one that is quite different than the one into which he was born.

            The narrator is Walter, who at the age of 67 years and possibly dying of malaria – in sixteenth century England- begins his tale of how he, like other boys of that era  who lacked social standing, were “earning coin” as soon as they could be put to work to earn money for their family and find food, too.

            After his older brother suddenly leaves home without notice, Walter does his best to help his family. But in doing so, he learns the reality of what life has in store for him if he continues down the same path as his father, whom he considers lethargic. He has often felt as if he was born into the wrong family. He decides that he must leave his family (now living in a hovel near London) or succumb to a disappointing life.  He decides to take a chance to change his stars. He finds himself in Bristol, where he is commandeered into the Royal Merchant Marines as a lowly sailor. It was then and there that his adventures began.

            Young Walter learns how to use the stars to steer the way the ancient mariners did, but he also is taught how to work with the Davis Quadrant, the latest advancement in navigational technology at that time. Meanwhile, the crusty old salts taught him the survival skills that he would need to survive at sea; they took a special interest that the boy could hold his own if their ship was boarded. They teach the young boy to fight with knives, swords, muskets, and cannons. Trading merchant ships, like the one that Walter served on, were hunted by pirates who are always plying the waters in search of booty–making “sayling” a most dangerous endeavor.

            Walter narrates his encounters with the scoundrels in a way that makes us feel as if we need to dodge a cutlass or thrust a sword in the heat of a battle. Walter cannot seem to escape the threat of peril even on dry land. A mysterious thin man with a hat pulled down over one eye seems to be following him. And even more dangerous to Walter, he falls in love with the beautiful, but to his heart, unattainable Marie.

            Walter engages us with tales of his sea adventures that took him to strange lands and introduced him to new trading goods such as sugar and tobacco along with excellent new wines and exotic spices. As we read Walter’s memories, we smell the odors and aromas of foreign markets. We feel his strength and confidence building as he develops into a valiant, but humble, young man.

            However, all is not glory and honor. Hartner, the author, also shares the brutishness and indifference of the times in the telling of  I, Walter. The story nuances mature as Walter ages. We experience the travails of life at sea, the treacheries of traveling by land, the comforts of a familiar pub, and love’s longing.

            This action packed novel is a tale of noble innocence with a most refreshing, charming slant. Romance, adventures, mysteries, rescues, deceptions, along with vivid descriptions make this novel an enjoyable and inspirational read that will leave you wanting more. This reviewer is happy to know that I, Walter is the first of the series from Mike Hartner.