Backwater Mystic Blues

Backwater Mystic Blues
Author: Lloyd Ratzlaff
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2023-01-11
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 1989398618

"Between the voids at the deepest and farthest reaches of our science, there is this eternal now..." In this second suite of intimate essays, Lloyd Ratzlaff summons the secret hiding spots, makeshift rafts, and uncomplicated childhood joys that lay the foundations for adult philosophy. In tune with the vivid simplicities of the sensuous world and the honour of unassuming people, Ratzlaff explores the disguises shaped by religion, family, and memory as he recreates the discovery and illumination that his past has offered. Whether you sit back and savour the ribald yarns of Sandra Dee or pick up a bit of Christian dating advice circa 1950s, remember, the tombstones are talking, and the child's cookie box found in the river may contain miracle or misery-but you won't know until you open it.

Cat's Game

Cat's Game
Author: Leslie Gadallah
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2023-11-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1989398715

Book 3 in Leslie Gadallah's trilogy of interstellar intrigue, The Empire of Kaz The Kazi Empire, once beaten back, is inexorably returning to the offensive. With a small group of Oriani scientists, Ehreh, an elderly academic, is developing a new weapon he hopes will put an end to the Kaz for good—but to deploy it, he must overcome the politics, rivalries, and special interests rife in the Strategic Conference and the hesitation and doubts of his own people, contend with spies and downright crooks, and find the means to take action. And so, it falls to Lauren Fox, an ordinary human in extraordinary circumstances, to find the way.

Cat's Pawn

Cat's Pawn
Author: Leslie Gadallah
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2023-11-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1989398677

Book 1 in Leslie Gadallah's trilogy of interstellar intrigue, The Empire of Kaz The Kazi Empire is slowly, inexorably, expanding up the arm of the Galaxy. Only the Oriani see the danger, and only Ambassador Talan recognizes the need to include humans in the alliance to oppose the Kaz. Unfortunately, in the chess of interstellar diplomacy, humans make terrible pawns . . .

The Legend of Sarah

The Legend of Sarah
Author: Leslie Gadallah
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2022-07-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1989398502

She could almost see the people gathered around a fire, listening with rapt attention while the storyteller’s rich voice recounted the love tale of Sarah, a legend in her own time... At fourteen, Sarah is an accomplished pickpocket who knows all the back streets and boltholes of the town of Monn. She steers clear of Brother Parker and his Church of True Faith, knows better than to enter the Inn of The Honest Keeper, and avoids the attentions of Butch, the Miller’s son, as best she can. The one bright spot in Sarah’s day is listening to the storyteller’s tales of the magically easy lives of the Old People—and if, as darkness falls, one of the wealthier listeners happens to be so intent on the storyteller’s voice that he becomes careless of his own purse, well, so much the better. Inspired by the storyteller’s narratives, Sarah often imagines her own life as the stuff of legend for some future troubadour. But even such daydreams can’t prepare her for becoming embroiled with a witchy Phile—an agent of the devil, come in search of the Old People’s hidden secrets. How could Sarah have known that picking the wrong pocket would strand her in the middle of a power struggle among Brother Parker, the Governor, and the encroaching Phile spies? A new edition of Leslie Gadallah's classic science fiction novel, originally published by Del Rey Books as The Loremasters.

What If You Could?

What If You Could?
Author: Lynne Harley
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 38
Release: 2022-07-11
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1989398480

Bored with hanging around on a branch, munching leaves, a little caterpillar has a big dream of a wonderful future of flying and twirling in the sun and enjoying nectar from beautiful flowers. But which inner voice should he listen to? The kind voice that encourages him to believe in his dreams, or the mean one that warns him against change and tells him to give up on a brighter future? This little caterpillar’s inspirational story of transformation is everyone’s story. We all have to decide which inner voice to listen to whenever we prepare to leave our comfort zone, spread our wings, and fly.

Cave Beneath the Sea

Cave Beneath the Sea
Author: Edward Willett
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2022-12-12
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 198939812X

Ariane’s mother is still alive. She knows it, but so does Rex Major. And if he finds her first, Ariane will give up all the shards of Excalibur to save her . . . Ariane and Wally race to the Caribbean as they try to find Ariane’s mother and the fourth shard of Excalibur before Major. As they struggle to stop Major, Ariane and Wally face desperate danger…and must make the most difficult decisions of their lives. Cave Beneath the Sea is an exciting modern-day young-adult fantasy by award-winning author Edward Willett, perfect for anyone who thrills to stories of modern-day magic and tales of King Arthur. Enjoy exciting adventure in Canada and above and below the water in the Caribbean in this fourth instalment of the five-book Shards of Excalibur series. Get your copy today!

The Shards of Excalibur Complete Series

The Shards of Excalibur Complete Series
Author: Edward Willett
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 1079
Release: 2022-12-23
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 198939857X

For the first time, enjoy all five books of The Shards of Excalibur series in one omnibus volume! Ariane Forsythe and Wally Knight are just two ordinary Canadian teenagers until the morning they encounter the Lady of the Lake in the unlikely waters of Wascana Lake in Regina, Saskatchewan. Ariane learns she's heir to the power of the Lady, and she and Wally, who turns out to have his own unsuspected connection to the legends of King Arthur, are given the difficult task of finding the five scattered shards of Arthur's sword Excalibur before Merlin can, in his modern-day guise as wealthy and powerful computer magnate Rex Major. If Merlin gets the sword, he will use its power to take over the world and then launch an attack into his homeland of Faerie, no matter what the cost. Ariane's and Wally's quest takes them all over the world (courtesy of the power Ariane has inherited that allows them to travel through water and the clouds), from Saskatchewan to the Northwest Territories to southern France; to New Zealand and the Caribbean; to British Columbia and Scotland, always struggling--and sometimes failing--to stay one step ahead of Rex Major. Along the way, they face betrayal and treachery, difficult choices, and unexpected discoveries. And when the quest is finally achieved and the sword reforged, what happens next is nothing at all like either Wally or Ariane imagined, and threatens everything they've sought to achieve--and everyone they love. Includes Song of the Sword, Twist of the Blade, Lake in the Clouds, Cave Beneath the Sea, and Door Into Faerie.

The Ghosts of Spiritwood

The Ghosts of Spiritwood
Author: Martine Noël-Maw
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 85
Release: 2023-03-21
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1989398634

The first English edition of the popular young adult novel Les fantômes de Spiritwood, originally published in French by Éditions de la nouvelle plume, translated by the author One summer night, Ethan and four friends are heading north of Spiritwood, Saskatchewan, for a weekend of camping to watch the northern lights, but their car swerves off the road and ends up in the ditch. The teenagers head back to Spiritwood on foot, but a severe thunderstorm strikes before they reach the town, forcing them to break into an abandoned country school to take shelter. After exchanging scary stories for a while, they fall asleep. When they wake a few hours later, the storm is over and the sky is filled with bright-coloured northern lights. Ethan recounts the legend of the northern lights. "Those lights are produced by the spirits of the departed. It's a sign that they want to communicate with the living. To establish contact, we just have to whistle at them." Then, Ethan produces a spirit whistle that he had bought at Wanuskewin, and he starts to whistle at the sky. Moments later, weird things begin to happen...

Soulworm

Soulworm
Author: Edward Willett
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2023-05-20
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1989398812

A new, revised edition of award-winning author Edward Willett's debut novel She was never meant to be sent into the strange parallel world known as Earth . . . but now, trapped inside the mind of a teenager like herself, she must find a way to save it from destruction. For years, Liothel has waited in vain for her powers to manifest themselves, so that she can become a full-blown Warder, defender of the realm of Mykia from the mind-controlling spirit creatures known as soulworms. But when a soulworm escapes from the Warden's citadel through a magical portal into the parallel world of Earth, it is her spirit that, entirely by accident, is sent in pursuit. She finds herself, a helpless, unsuspected observer, in the mind of Maribeth, a teenage girl in the small Canadian prairie city of Weyburn, Saskatchewan, in 1984-and discovers the soulworm has possessed Maribeth's best friend, Christine. Somehow, she must find a way to save Earth from the plague of death and destruction the soulworm and its offspring will release if allowed to spread across the unprotected planet. Only she knows the danger-and only she can stop it.

The Emir's Falcon

The Emir's Falcon
Author: Matt Hughes
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Total Pages: 157
Release: 2022-09-28
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1989398324

"She was raised to be free, not some rich man's pet . . . It's just not right!" Bernie Cholach's dad wants him to take over the family's rural Alberta feedlot, but Bernie has other ideas: he wants to be a biologist, an interest sparked by his experiences as a volunteer bird handler at a Canadian Wildlife Service facility that breeds and rears peregrine falcons for release into the wild. Sheik Nasur bin Mukhta, son of a Persian Gulf emir, studying petroleum engineering at the University of Alberta, dutifully accepts his life's course, laid out for him by his traditionalist culture. Rosie Leboucan, daughter of a Métis trapper, running her injured dad's trap line in the Swan Hills, is focused on keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. Then the Government of Canada decides to give the emir one of the peregrines as a diplomatic gift. It's more than Bernie can stand. Impulsively, he takes the bird he has been tending-he's named it Skyrider-and flees to a remote cabin in the Swan Hills wilderness. The RCMP mount a search. Nasur, sent by his father to collect the bird, insists on being on the scene-which turns out to be both Rosie's trapping territory and the territory of a hungry and dangerous mama grizzly bear with cubs. The paths of the young people and the bear converge-and their coming together will send each in a new direction.