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Free eBook for July 2010: The Choir Boats by Daniel Rabuzzi

Online bookseller WOWIO has teamed up with ChiZine Publications to make Daniel Rabuzzi’s dark fantasy novel The Choir Boats available as its free eBook of the Month for July 2010. Described as “vibrant” and rich with “verve and wit,” it’s a seagoing fantasy yarn that is like “Gulliver’s Travels crossed with The Golden Compass and a dollop of Pride and Prejudice.”

This WOWIO-exclusive edition also includes a bonus insert with previously unpublished artwork for The Choir Boats by Deborah Mills.

Image: The Choir Boats book cover When emissaries from a world called Yount offer merchant Barnabas McDoon a chance to redeem himself, he accepts their price to voyage to Yount with the key that only he can use to unlock the door to their prison. But bleak forces seek to stop him: Yount’s jailer, a once-human wizard who craves his own salvation, kidnaps Barnabas’s nephew. A fallen angel , a monstrous owl with eyes of fire will unleash Hell if Yount is freed. And, meanwhile, Barnabas’s niece, Sally, and a mysterious pauper named Maggie seek with dream-songs to wake the sleeping goddess who may be the only hope for Yount and Earth alike.

The Choir Boats has been receiving positive critical response since its publication:

"An auspicious debut . . . a muscular, Napoleonic-era fantasy that,like Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials series, will appeal to both adult and young adult readers. There’s a Dickensian vibrancy . . . filled with outsized characters, colourful slang, outrageous coincidences, buried secrets, stunning revelations, and star-crossed lovers." Realms of Fantasy Magazine

"A deliciously convoluted tale . . . The Choir Boats is a strong opening to what could be a remarkable project. Since it came from a small press without a great deal of fanfare, I particularly urge you to check it out." Locus Magazine

"A fantastic and deeply entertaining debut novel . . . Part steampunk adventure, part classic fantasy, The Choir Boats might be earmarked for young adults, but anyone to whom this sounds like a rich ride will be surprised and delighted." January Magazine

"With full flanks ahead, The Choir Boats charts a magical course of verve and wit through a richly detailed nineteenth-century world, spinning off little arabesques of wonderment with every turn of the page." Senses Five Press

For more information and to download this title now, visit http://news.wowio.com/2010/07/book-of-the-month-choir-boats/

WOWIO have been offering a free download every month since its earliest days of WOWIO, always choosing the most intriguing titles that will pique readers’ interest.

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