Chris Bradford biography

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Chris Bradford lives an action packed life and is a self-confessed adrenaline junkie. He’s thrown himself over Victoria Falls on a bungee cord, out of an airplane in New Zealand and off a French mountain on a paraglider, but he’s always managed to land safely – something he learnt from his martial arts training…

Chris joined a Judo club aged seven and since then he has trained in karate, kickboxing, samurai swordsmanship and has earned his black belt in Tai-jutsu, the fighting art of the ninja. Chris is a student of Sensei Akemi Solloway, who is the eldest daughter of an old samurai family, descended from the Karo of Iwatsuki Castle, near Tokyo.

Young Samurai was inspired by Chris’s passion for martial arts and a desire to share the positive influence it has had on his life, as well as his love of Japanese culture.

Before writing the Young Samurai series, Chris was a professional musician and songwriter. He’s even performed for her HRH Queen Elisabeth II (but suspects she found his bad a bit noisy).

Chris lives on the South Downs with his wife and two cats called Tigger and Rhubarb.

Chris Bradford books

  • Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior (2008)
  • Young Samurai: The Way of the Sword (2009)
  • Young Samurai: The Way of the Dragon (2010)

Latest news: Chris Bradford

Winners of the Red House Children’s Book Award 2009
Former journalist and editor Sophie McKenzie has scooped the overall prize in the prestigious Red House Children’s Book Award 2009 for her thrilling teen novel, Blood Ties. The award is regarded as the most important children’s prize for literature because it is the only award voted for solely by [...]

Coming Soon: The Way of the Sword by Chris Bradford
More than a year has passed since Jack Fletcher’s fateful arrival in Japan. Under the protection of the legendary warrior Masamoto Takeshi, Jack is now training to be a samurai at Niten Ichi Ry?, the ‘One School of Two Heavens” in Kyoto but he is in real trouble . . . There is talk of murderous a [...]

Red House Children's Book Award
The shortlist for this year's Red House Children’s Book Award (RHCBA) has been announced. Some 838 books were entered for the award, which is voted for by children and run by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups (FCBG). Each reader, aged from three to 16 years, from the 13 Federation of Childre [...]

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Book of the Month

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.

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Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled

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Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.

Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe

Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.

Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland

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Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.

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Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled

Competition is open to UK residents only and will run from March 16, 2010 until April 1, 2010 Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heav [...]

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