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The Black Chalice (A Science Fiction Book Club Selection)

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by Marie Jakober

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Hard Cover ISBN: 1-894063-00-7 ISBN-13: 978-1-894063-00-5 6" X 9" Four color dust jacket embossed with gold foil Collector's First Edition $23.95 US (Free shipping in North America) 460 pages

The Black Chalice It's 1134. In a bleak monastery somewhere in Germany, Paul of Ardiun begins the chronicle he has been ordered by his religious superiors to write: the story of the knight Karelian Brandeis, for whom Paul once served as squire, who fell prey to the evil wiles of a seductive sorceress, thereby precipitating civil war and the downfall of a king. But before Paul can set down more than a sentence or two of this cautionary tale, the sorceress herself magically appears to him. He is a liar, she tells him, and always has been. She lays a spell on him: from this moment, he will only be able to write the truth. But what is the truth? All his life he has rearranged his memories to suit his faith. He has judged Karelian, judged the women, judged the world. Now, against his will, an entirely different story begins to emerge. The Black Chalice NOW AVAILABLE Marie Jakober Marie Jakober graduated from Carleton University (Ottawa) with distinction. Her work is, in one way or another, about power. When time allows, she enjoys great music, good ethnic food, challenging conversations, and yes, believe it or not, hockey. The Black Chalice Even The Stones

Interviews and reviews have appeared in: Publishers Weekly, Locus, Solaris, SFRA, Talebones, On Spec, Challenging Destiny, Scavenger's newsletter, KLIATT, Quill and Quire, The Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Midwest Book Review, Historical Novels Review, The Contra Costa Times, Dead Trees Reviews, Prairie Fire Reviews, FFWDWeekly, Canadian Book Review Annual, U of C Gazette, Pagan Times; on Radio Fremantle, CKUA Radio, CJSF Radio, Bookwatch (WYOU-TV, Madison, WI); in Gale's Book Review Index; and on... SFSite.com, Strange Horizons, Canadian Literature web site, The Feminist Science Fiction Fantasy and Utopia site, BookReview.com, The NCF Guide to Canadian Science Fiction and Fandom site, dnapublications.com, the Writer's Market web site, sffworld.com, allscifi.com, rambles.com, Yet Another Book Review site, The Romantic Science Fiction and Fantasy site, Amazon.com (readers reviews); and perhaps other places that we are yet to discover! A Message to My Readers I grew up in a world where there were six months of winter, bad roads, few neighbors, and no schools. Books were everything. I lived in them, and in large measure I still do. And whether I'm reading them or writing them, I'm still fascinated by the same questions-what and why? At the heart of everything which happens in the human world lie ideas about how the world works-or how it ought to work-ideas about power and authority, male and female, love and sex, truth and divinity. And I always wonder what would happen if some of those ideas were changed-not just the ones we think are changeable, but more especially, the ones we think are not.      I've loved many books which explored such questions, extrapolating into the far future, or building alternative worlds. But somehow when I write my own, I generally find myself tackling the questions here, in our own world, our own past, with our own beliefs and history on the drawing board.      I am, I suppose, someone who's never been scared of a good scrap. Awards: The Black Chalice The Independent Publisher Book Award First Place:     Fantasy and science fiction category. Sunburst Award Short-listed:     First annual Sunburst Award. Book of the Year Award Finalist:     ForeWord Magazine's annual Award. Online Reviews: Christopher Cobb Paul Lappen J. Schellenberg Dave Duncan Victoria Strauss Briggs, R.F. Donna McMahon          Douglas Barbour Georges T. Dodds Harry Vandervlist Laura Quilter Christine Mains Paul (footle.net) Irma Arkus Amazon.com Online Interviews: "Marketing Archaic Lands and Magical Crusaders" -Candi Lace, Writer's Market University of Calgary Gazette -Robyn Herrington, author ACE up her sleeve by Robyn Herrington In an industry where the majority of published books are either reprints or media tie-ins and less than three per cent of new titles come from new authors, Marie Jakober has beaten the odds. Jakober’s most recent title, The Black Chalice, published in hard-cover by Calgary-based EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing - has been released in paperback by ACE Books. "While I’ve had previous books released internationally, this is the first of my novels to be published by one of the largest science fiction publishers in North America. This will bring my work to a much wider readership than it has reached in the past - and when you’ve worked hard at your craft for many years, it’s very gratifying to receive this kind of success and recognition," says Jakober. Jakober’s book caught the attention of Anne Sowards, editor-in-chief at ACE Books, because of its overall quality. "I read a lot of books, and The Black Chalice stood out immediately from the other submissions. It’s very well-written, accessible (and it’s rare to find those two qualities in the same book), and the characters are vibrant, alive, and completely believable," says Sowards. "The story is intense and interesting. I cared about the characters and what they were going through, and if a writer can make his or her readers care, the book is definitely on its way," Sowards adds. Brian Hades, managing editor of EDGE, believes that the US marketplace is not much different from the Canadian marketplace. "I simply think of the entire world as the proper place to market Marie’s work. I am currently looking into the possibility of editions in Chinese, French* and German*," says Hades. * After the publication of this article, the following editions were licensed: US Book club edition. Available from the Science Fiction Book Club of America. French language edition. Available from ALIRE. German language edition. Forthcoming from Random House. Testimonials: "I just wanted to tell you how much I loved your novel." -Elisabeth Vonarburg "Congratulations to Ms. Jakober for her splendid novel." -Anne I. McCaffrey "A book like this deserves to be cherished, whatever the readers' personal faith or lack of it. " -Publishers Weekly "This is a first-rate piece of writing. It has all the elements a fantasy lover could want, in an interesting and well done story. This book runs rings around most of what is packaged as fantasy in the local chain bookstore." -Paul Lappen, reviewer "The Black Chalice is about Karelian, Count of Lys, knight of the Rhinemark. On his way back from the Crusades he meets Raven, priestess of the black chalice of the story's title. Having seen horrors abundantly in Jerusalem, it is easy to convince him to join in Paganism. What follows is a closely studied plot of intrigue and conflict. It is a beautifully crafted work. On almost every page there is some turn of phrase, some insight into the human condition, some act of description that makes you stop and take notice.." -D Jason Cooper "Jakober puts our sympathies firmly with Karelian, but it is Pauli's blind, rigid faith that the story tackles. The Black Chalice will leave you thinking and wanting more." -Renee Stern, reviewer "Historically based on the church vs. state struggle of 11th century Germany, Jakober spins a fascinating fantasy yarn (particularly for this reader as I am an avid reader of religious based material). Her style is direct and easily accessible, and her descriptive talents make the scenes jump off the pages. ... Highly recommended." -R.F. Briggs, Yet Another Book Review Site "The work's originality and its more profound attractions lie in the way the tale is told." -Christopher Cobb, Strange Horizons "I recently finished your book The Black Chalice. I was really impressed by it; so much so, I am using it as the basis of my paper for a fantasy class that I am taking at Fort Hays State University (Hays, Kansas) this summer. I am trying to finish my master's degree." -Vicki Ronn MORE TESTIMONIALS DOWNLOADS: Click here if you need to download support materials for your review, magazine article, fan-zine, newspaper or e-zine. No other permissions required.

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