Book picks similar to
Half Sick of Shadows by Richard Abbott


historical-fiction
fantasy
science-fiction
arthurian

To Sleep No More


Dinah Lampitt - 1987
    This panoramic novel skilfully interweaves past and present, fact and fiction, exploring the enigma of reincarnation through the ages.Set in the village of Mayfield in Sussex, To Sleep No More opens in the tumultuous reign of Edward III when monarch and Church struggled for supremacy and ambitious noblemen aimed to better themselves by marrying their daughters well. Oriel accepts the Archbishop's half-witted brother Colin de Stratford to please her father but soon falls in love with the dashing Gascon squire, Marcus de Flaviel. A strange and touching friendship develops between the three but, when Oriel becomes pregnant, suspicions are aroused and Marcus disappears without trace.But their souls cannot rest and the story follows them through the times of witchcraft persecution under James I to the troubled Georgian period when highwaymen and smugglers held sway.

Onwards and Upwards


Lynda Page - 2006
    As a milkman and a nanny, making ends meet is a constant juggling act – not helped by their mothers who are sworn enemies - but they are happy together and that’s all that matters. But when their flashy new neighbours convince Danny he is not giving Maxie the sort of life she deserves, he fears he’ll lose her if he doesn’t do something about it. Embarking on a series of disastrous money-making schemes, Danny finds himself getting into deeper and deeper trouble. But then Maxie begins to face a few troubles of her own...

The Unexpected Bride


Stella Clark - 2019
    Out of desperation, she posts an ad and begins a correspondence with a widowed farmer, Thomas. Desperate to escape her grim situation, she accepts his marriage of convenience proposal, looking forward to a fresh start in Nebraska. As her heart fills with hope, she journeys to Nebraska, looking forward to a fresh start and new life. But when she arrives, it is not Thomas who meets her but his brother, Jay. And when Emma learns a terrible secret, she realizes that her life in Nebraska will be just as grim as it was in Chicago. Too late, she realizes that she has made the biggest mistake of her life; a mistake that will cost her dearly.

The Best Seller


Dina Rae - 2016
    Her book practically writes itself. She marries her gorgeous agent. Her name is on all of the best seller lists. Billionaire author Jay McCallister takes an interest in her meteoric rise to fame and invites her into his world of alien-believing celebrities. Her life changes forever when he tells her that they were both created inside of a laboratory. These authors are embedding an alien genetic code within the pages of their novels that originated from Nazi Germany because... The time has come. They are here.

Refuge 9 (Fire and Rust #5)


Anthony James - 2019
     For the human Unity League, this is a truth to be stamped on the barrel of every gun and painted on the side of every warship. The Sekar aliens have already killed billions and nobody knows where they came from or how to defeat them. The enemy’s only weakness is tharniol – the rarest substance in the known universe. Desperate times call for desperate measures and a shaky truce is made with the treacherous Raggers. The Raggers claim knowledge of data that will assist in the fight. Unfortunately, the data is buried deep in a subsurface facility on a fringe planet called Glesia – a facility which is crawling with Sekar. The mission to recover it goes wrong from the outset, leaving Captain Tanner Conway and his squad the task of rescuing an impossible situation. With limited ammunition and no chance of a resupply, they must fight their way to the mission goal. An alien weapon sweeps through the place at seemingly random intervals. It is Conway’s best friend and his worst enemy. Meanwhile, Captain Jake Griffin, alongside Captain Endrax Isental from the Fangrin navy, are left with a similarly unpalatable task – they must handle a Ragger officer with an immensely powerful warship and more faces than a crate full of dice. Hass-Tei-112 has his own plans for what lies below the surface of Glesia. When you can’t trust your friends and you can’t stop your enemies, what hope is there for survival? Refuge 9 is a fast-paced military sci-fi shooter filled with spaceships, guns, tech and warfare. It follows on from book 4 in the Fire and Rust Series: Death Skies.

The Super Olympian: Bloodhound (Shapechanger Tales)


Laer Carroll - 2012
    And she has strange powers. What can feed her challenge-addiction now? Fighting crime? There is plenty of it.

Paradise Lane


Ruth Hamilton - 1996
    Young Sally leads a ragged and lonely existence in the shadow of Paradise Mill, whose corrupt, evil and greedy owner destroys his own family and then turns his venom on Sally and her friends.

I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! (Light Novel) Vol. 2


三嶋与夢 - 2022
    

The Angel of Time


Michael Stewart - 2014
    After George's encounter with Violet - a sweet old lady dying with cancer - and the sinister ghostly soldier who accompanied her, he suddenly finds himself back in war torn France in 1918, fighting for his life. Wounded, but finally managing to escape the horrors of Flanders, George faces an arduous and hair raising journey through France, England and Scotland before he finally arrives home. He discovers that he is in fact married to the younger Violet, whom he has never met, and falls madly in love with her. Happy at last, George then finds their whole existence is threatened again by a sinister figure intent on killing them both. Why was George transported from 1984 to war torn Flanders in March 1918?Who is the ghostly figure following George?Who wants him dead and why?A romantic, time travelling, historical drama with a real twist. Filled with accurate accounts of life in the trenches on the Western Front in 1918, you will be saddened, horrified and thrilled in equal measures as you share George's amazing adventures. If you like romance, if you like accurate historical drama, if you like time travel and if you are interested in the events of the First World War, this is a ‘must-read’ for you.

Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds


Wade Adrian - 2016
    Toby has been waiting for years to finally get his chance to see the game, but after server problems and issues with the download he only has a few minutes to do so before real life calls. And nothing seems to go right. His first glimpses of the world leave him confused, and it turns out he isn’t alone. Someone has broken into the server and changed things to suit themselves. Everyone has only one character, one life, and an impossible goal: make it to the end in a week. Everyone is mortal, and everyone is a killer. It’s open season on other players. The man who usurped the world chose Toby to be the champion of this cause, despite his lack of knowledge of game… or perhaps because of it. He is given a terrible weapon, the only one capable of setting things right. Yet he is just as mortal as everyone else. Or worse, as his character remains in the world even if he logs out. But with the future of their hard work on the line, the developers are not about to sit out of this fight. Their game, their reputation, and their very company are on the line. With Toby’s help they take up the challenge and fight to reclaim their world.

The Challenges of a King (The Road to Hastings #1)


K.M. Ashman - 2021
    

The Bear That Fell From The Stars


Keith C. Blackmore - 2011
    On the night he decides to strike, his life, and his world, are forever changed. Alien scientists from across the cosmos, abduct and place Kazaka in deep storage for centuries. When they revive him with the intent to subject him to extraterrestrial evisceration, the ninja escapes. The shadow warrior then begins to hunt his captors, one by one, leading up to a battle that will shake the galaxy.The Bear That Fell From the StarsA different kind of alien terror. NOTE: This is a Novella of approx. 20,000 words, or about 60 pages.Science Fiction Fantasy and not hard SciFi.Some scenes of graphic violence.

Jessica Christ Volume 1: The Early Years


H. Claire Taylor - 2017
    Lord help her… NOTE: This volume contains the first three books of the Jessica Christ series, including ... Book 1: The BeginningBook 2: And It Was GoodBook 3: It's a Miracle!*Plus* the first chapter of Book 4: Nu Alpha Omega The Beginning Jessica McCloud knows first-hand that it’s tough to fit in when you’re God’s only begotten daughter. While she has the power to smite, and she’s privy to most of the juicy gossip in her West Texas town, nobody is knocking on her door with frankincense and myrrh. The Messiah-in-the-making still has to contend with algebra tests, her first crush, and menstrual cramps with the power to spark lightning storms…As if dealing with her overbearing Father and a scheming preacher wasn’t enough, Jessica must face down the demons that lurk around every corner. No matter what she wants from life, everything seems to lead to a final showdown with the devil. The daughter of God has a choice: face the destiny thrust upon her or find some way to forge her own path…And It Was GoodAs she enters the uncharted territory of high school, Jessica McCloud could use a few more friends who believe in her. Of course, that means something entirely different for the daughter of God. After her two-millennia-dead half-brother visits her in a dream and tells her it’s time for her to stop messing around, Jessica begins the hunt to discover what miracles she can perform. And if one of them happens to win the heart of her long-time crush, Greg, then so be it. But when a reporter with a grudge against God catches wind of her first miracle, Jessica stumbles her way through one scandal after another until she wonders if the world wouldn’t be a much happier place with no miracles at all. It's a Miracle! Miracles happen when you least expect them. And if you’re Jessica McCloud, God’s only begotten daughter, they happen when you least want them. Is an uneventful senior year of high school too much for Jessica to hope for?Yes. Yes it is.Instead of focusing on college applications, Jessica must juggle Jimmy’s newest scheme, Eugene’s latest slander, and a gruesome (unpaid) internship at Midland Memorial Hospital. And just when she’s starting to get the hang of it, a serious PR blunder ignites a firestorm of brand new accusations. It would take nothing short of a miracle for Jessica to come out on top this round, and she isn’t holding her breath…

A Daughter's Journey


Anna Jacobs - 2019
    She's not intending to stay long, but after tracking down her distant family, Jo becomes more involved in village life than she could ever have imagined - and suddenly in danger too.Jo also finds herself drawn to Nick, a handsome newcomer to the village. Nick had planned to settle in Birch End and start a business, but as he grows closer to Jo, he realises he may have to choose between his dreams and a chance at love.Meanwhile, the new local council are faced with some tough decisions of their own. It's time to take a stand against the poor conditions in Backshaw Moss, the nearby slum, but some councillors want things to stay as they are - and will go to any lengths to make sure they get their way . . .Will the decent people of the valley win a brighter future for themselves? And can Jo find a way to stay with Nick in a place she's grown to love?

Leaving Pimlico


P.B. North - 2014
    I can never get used to this, Alexi. Having you, that is. How did I deserve you? Deserve me? You don't have to do anything to deserve me. I love you. It's as simple as that. I love you for what you are. All you need to do is love me back. You don't earn love, as a payment in return.Peter Kingsmill's life had run into the sands since the death of his wife. What was a glittering London career had lost its shine. Until, that is, his life is turned upside down by an unexpected collision of events. He inherits the family estate, meets a girl seventeen years his junior and receives an anonymous letter which casts doubt on all the certainties on which he has built his past life.What follows is a journey of discovery which takes him back in time to war-torn Europe. To a story of betrayal in the secret world of spies and double agents, and ultimately to redemption and a bright new life.The narrative moves at speed from the dusty plains of pre-war Poland to the frozen winter landscapes of German-occupied Norway and finally to the gentle pastoral of the north Yorkshire hills. It is a story of a search for the pieces that make up a human life; and of the love that binds those pieces together....Do you remember the Snow Queen story? I can complete the pattern now. I have everything I need.