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Not All Ghost Stories are Frightening

 This was not exactly the blog that we planned to write. We were going to share a post about our Ghost Story Competition  (which this still is), but it has suddenly become very pertinent and personal. On Saturday, only a day after sharing our Puplishing  blog, we lost our founding publisher, Orlando. We are all utterly devastated, and Crowvus HQ has become very quiet. It is truly strange not to see him at the bottom of the stairs, or not to have him sitting at my feet while I write this. It is the little, everyday, routine  things where his death is most acutely felt. Nine years ago, in our first ever Ghost Story Competition , we received a story entitled Black Dog . I admit, I had preconceived ideas about this one, based on its title, thinking about baying hounds and the Black Shuck. Nothing was further from the truth. A. J. Black's beautiful story was a journey of grief, a coming to terms with a loss of more than life, but of a companion. I remember reading it and ...
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"Only One Death" Book Review

"Only One Death" by Alexander Crow

Book Review



☆☆☆☆☆

“Only One Death” is an engaging novel, which is quite dark in places, but creates a sense of urgency for the reader to read on…you need to find out what’s going to happen next!! As a result, this is a very difficult book to put down!
It is a fantasy novel and some of the names can be a bit tricky, especially as it is about a group of 10 people. Three characters, in particular, are very well developed. As it is a novella, it is quite short, but you feel like you really know some of the characters by the end.
The book is written by someone who knows how to survive in the wilderness, and this comes across in the writing. The wilds play an important role in the story, and is clearly important to the author. The reader is left pondering on a time when more of Britain was engulfed in wilderness, rather than the towns and settlements we know today.
I would certainly recommend this book to any lover of fantasy stories.


Book Blurb (from Goodreads)

“Amongst his people ten was an unlucky number.”

Dhinal is searching for a guide into the high mountains. With his mismatched band of companions, he knows he must find the legendary Red City.

Meanwhile, in Eastsea, Kees prepares to leave behind the Talking Races for winter.

Both Dhinal and Kees know that nature does not care whether you live, or whether you die. Both Dhinal and Kees know that even the best prepared of expeditions can falter and fail.

A journey into the mountains, with winter approaching. A group with secrets to hide. What could possibly go wrong?


The novella Only One Death is the first of three introductions to the Isthmus, and both a homage and an alternative approach to the standard fantasy quest.

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