Utcan’s Talisman by Stella Atrium, the fifth installment in the Tribal Wars series, immerses readers in the adventurous journey of Bybiis el Putuki, a young woman entangled in daring exploits and complex political intrigues. Alongside her friend Opin, Bybiis faces the formidable challenge of resisting the manipulative intentions of the Khalif, who seeks to exploit Opin’s healing abilities for his own gain. Their escape leads them to a quaint fishing village, where they encounter new allies and reunite with Jesse Hartley. As Jesse and Hershel Henry attempt to rekindle their past connection, they must navigate the changes that time has wrought. Meanwhile, the escalating tension and peril in Utica force its inhabitants to defend their lives, even if it means defying their leaders.
Through Bybiis’s experiences, readers are drawn into Utica’s rich history and culture. Bybiis emerges as a compelling protagonist—resourceful, courageous, and unwavering in her loyalty. Her internal struggles with identity and belonging add depth to her character. The world-building in this novel is exceptional, painting a vivid picture of Utica as a city that is both familiar and otherworldly, with intricate details that enhance its allure. Atrium skillfully intertwines themes of identity, belonging, and the pursuit of knowledge as Bybiis navigates her place in the world and uncovers hidden truths. The plot is dynamic, filled with unexpected twists that keep readers thoroughly engaged. Despite the large cast of characters, each is relatable, though some may find the abrupt introductions challenging to follow. The novel’s exploration of the tension between tradition and progress is both thought-provoking and relevant, offering insights that resonate with contemporary issues. The book’s complexity can be daunting, especially at the outset, where the storyline takes time to unfold.
Utcan’s Talisman offers a rich, engaging narrative that will captivate fans of the series. Readers will be drawn into the rich world the author has created and find themselves deeply immersed in the story as it unfolds waiting to see where the characters’ paths take them next.
Until I Have No More to Give follows a Union Civil War survivor who joins a group of workers trying to fix the issue of millions of displaced Southern whites and freed slaves who have no place to go and no means to support themselves. What inspired you to write this story?
When all this began, I had preconceived notions of what the Civil War was all about and discovered that my grandfather’s half-brother played his minor role and my father and his siblings knew little to nothing about him, even who he was. So, I had to look harder and deeper. Using the internet and established historical venues, I had tremendous advantages over my immediate ancestors. They had a picture of a group of Civil War officers and they had Hiram’s Appointment Certificate into the Veteran Reserves Corps, signed of course, by President Abraham Lincoln and the Secretary of War; but they had no idea what they had.
As I began looking on sites, I kept finding more and more. Military records, retirement pensions, etc. It took several years to realize that I needed to share this information and by this time, my dad and his siblings were all gone. I had to find someone who would be interested, so, at the urgings of my sisters, I decided to write a book. The approach I took was to take all of the historical facts I had discovered and put them in a time sequence. I took A and B and tried to figure how would Hiram have got from one point to the other. Using a lot of history and and an untested imagination, a story somehow began to take form. My biggest and most pleasant discovery was how Hiram was historically right in the middle of major efforts that actually helped to shape who we are and perhaps even what we still stand for. I hope so.
So, ‘Chauncey’s Blood A Hiram Robinett Story of the Civil War‘ was published. However, my discoveries continued. I found new data and facts. I found answers that I did not have when writing book 1. Being the novice that I still am, I asked my editor/publisher if it was feasible to edit and update the story as a new edition. She suggested properly a second book, a story that expanded on the first book. So, that is what I decided to do.
I offered no apologies for changes that I found that modified the original story line somewhat. Such is life and why not reflect it accurately as fiction can be. I did that. The second book is a continuation of the story line from book 1 but reflects the accuracy discovered since the first writing. I additionally believe that I developed my interpretation of who Hiram was to be more accurate. He is definitely more human, with emotions that hopefully serve to make him more real. I love the guy and hope that who I described is who he was, an American average male who appreciated what life had handed him and felt a patriotic duty to give back when he could. His actions seem to dictate that to be true.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think makes for great fiction?
I should strive to say something really profound, but I’m not capable. At my age and in my condition, I have virtually every emotion under the sun. I can still be serious, I am quite feeble, I still love heartily and can only talk and sometimes dream with my new reality. So, I can soar with the eagles one day and have a difficult time getting out of my bed the next. I am getting a new rescue dog on Friday and expect to be all better by Monday. Life is good, sometimes hard, but always good. I should write about it.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The role that the President of the United States of America plays in history. History is far more favorable to the Reconstruction Era than is warranted. Historically, The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands was deemed a huge failure. I disputed that before the book and I continue to believe that an organization of 1,000 employees took on ‘fixing’ America’s 36 million ‘broke’ people. Their successes to support a million people is truly a highlight of a very dismal time in our country’s history.
Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?
I would love to make it a trilogy, however, the remainder of the story doesn’t have Hiram in the picture. There is a good story remaining, so I will just have to explore a bit more before making a decision. The other big question I still have is of 4.2 million freed slaves, approximately 1 million made use of the Freedmen’s Bureau. There has to be an amazing story as to how the additional 3 million survived. By 1870 Census, the black population had grown to more than 6 million, so something worked for them. Someone deserves credit.
Author Links: GoodReads | Second GoodReads
Hiram Robinett and his hometown friend answers President Lincoln’s Call to Arms to help put down the Rebellion. Four years later, almost to the day, the war is over and the country is a total mess. The President is murdered and his reconstruction philosophy is misinterpreted by his successor, Southern-loyalist Andrew Johnson. Most of the soldiers went home, the war was over. Twenty million Northerners are upset that the Rebels are being forgiven without consequence. Eleven million Southerners see no reason to ask for forgiveness. In the meantime, half a million displaced Southern Whites and 4.2 million freed slaves have no means of supporting themselves: no food, housing, medical care, assistance of any sort. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands is created, given the budget for 1,000 workers and told to fix it. Read of men like Hiram Robinett who jumped in and gave it their all, gave until indeed they had no more to give.
Award-Winning Author of “Chauncey’s Blood: A Hiram Robinette Story of the Civil War”
Human beings are hardwired for social connection – so much so that we think of even the most basic objects as having feelings or experiences. (Yup, we’re talking to you, Roomba owners!) Social robots add a layer to this. They’re designed to make us feel like they’re our friends. They can do things like care for children, the elderly or act as partners. But there’s a darker side to them, too. They may encourage us to opt out of authentic, real-life connections, making us feel more isolated. Today on the show, host Regina G. Barber explores the duality of social robots with Eve Herold, author of the book
Robots and the People Who Love Them
Leonard Riggio transformed the publishing industry by building Barnes & Noble into the country’s most powerful bookseller before his company was overtaken by the rise of Amazon.
It’s been more than ten months since devastating violence began unfolding in Israel and Gaza. And in the midst of all the death, so many people are trying to better understand what’s going on in that region, and how the United States is implicated in it. So on this episode, we’re looking back to the writing of James Baldwin, whose views on the country transformed significantly over the course of his life. His thoughts offer some ideas about how to grapple with trauma, and how to bridge the gap between places and ideas that, on their surface, might seem oceans apart.
Turns out Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka lived in Prague at the same time and had the same circle of friends. In a new graphic novel, Ken Krimstein puts us in the room with two 20th century geniuses.
As we stood on the slow line to enter the secure zone around the United Center in Chicago, an angry preacher thrust his sign toward us: “How can ye escape the damnation of Hell?” He probably did not realize how apt this question was. Just a month earlier, before Joe Biden announced that he would […]
As many of you know, Ann Abadie passed away on July 30 following a brief illness. As Ann was such a thoughtful and generous soul, she touched the lives of many people in various ways, including a great number in Oxford and those of us at Square Books, where she was a customer, of course, but a partner in many cultural endeavors and activities on campus and in town, and thus a dear friend to this bookstore.
Ann was a South Carolina native and graduate of Wake Forest University who came to Oxford in pursuit of a PhD in literature. She taught in the English Department — her husband, Dale, was a history professor — and Ann was instrumental in forming, fifty years ago, the first Faulkner Conference, and the Eudora Welty Symposium at UM in 1977. She also would be a guiding force in the Blues Symposium and the formation of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Most significantly, she was on a committee that determined the formation of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, then began working there as assistant director to Bill Ferris — then with Charles Wilson, Ted Ownby, and Katie McKee.
Ann edited more thanx fifty books, including many in the series that emerged from the annual Faulkner Conferences, such as Faulkner and the Natural World and The South and Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha, as well as Eudora Welty: A Form of Thanks; the significant publication of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture; The Beautiful Mysterious: The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston;The Mississippi Encyclopedia; and, in 2023, American Landscapes: Meditations on Art and Literature in a Changing World. Having witnessed how the Faulkner Conference had been a great success, I contacted Ann — a longtime Howorth family friend — and wondered aloud to Ann whether it might be possible to stage a literary conference which might acknowledge writers other than “merely” Faulkner. She replied, “Let me think about this.” A few weeks later she returned my call and said, basically, “I think we can do this, but give me a few years.” She needed time to clear the decks of the many other things she had going then. Surely enough, that first book conference was in 1994, and Ann was the person who enlisted numerous partners, including Square Books, in this annual event that within its first few years would draw William Styron, Willie Morris, Beverly Lowry, poet Charles Simic, editor Nan Talese, Ann Patchett, Pat Conroy, and longtime owner of The Tattered Cover in Denver, the late Joyce Meskis.
Ann, with her husband, history professor Dale Abadie, raised three lovely children — Elaine, Leslie and John — also was well known for her talent in the kitchen, as she baked (and delivered) cakes (including her famous poundcake) — and various goodies to those who might need gladdening, or perhaps were having out-of-town guests. She was always thinking of others, trying to help others, and shunned any praise directed her way. Lyn Roberts reminded me today that Ann was “a person you absolutely could not say no to.” This was not simply because Ann was very persuasive (and she was certainly that), but because you — for all of us who knew her — were forever in her debt because she had already done more for you than you could ever do to repay her.
– Richard Howorth
Image caption: Ann Abadie with Richard Howorth at Square Books — signing for Etheridge Knight, December, 1979. Photo courtesy Bill Ferris.
As many of you know, Ann Abadie passed away on July 30 following a brief illness. As Ann was such a thoughtful and generous soul, she touched the lives of many people in various ways, including a great number in Oxford and those of us at Square Books, where she was a customer, of course, but a partner in many cultural endeavors and activities on campus and in town, and thus a dear friend to this bookstore.
Ann was a South Carolina native and graduate of Wake Forest University who came to Oxford in pursuit of a PhD in literature. She taught in the English Department — her husband, Dale, was a history professor — and Ann was instrumental in forming, fifty years ago, the first Faulkner Conference, and the Eudora Welty Symposium at UM in 1977. She also would be a guiding force in the Blues Symposium and the formation of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Most significantly, she was on a committee that determined the formation of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, then began working there as assistant director to Bill Ferris — then with Charles Wilson, Ted Ownby, and Katie McKee.
Ann edited more thanx fifty books, including many in the series that emerged from the annual Faulkner Conferences, such as Faulkner and the Natural World and The South and Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha, as well as Eudora Welty: A Form of Thanks; the significant publication of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture; The Beautiful Mysterious: The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston;The Mississippi Encyclopedia; and, in 2023, American Landscapes: Meditations on Art and Literature in a Changing World. Having witnessed how the Faulkner Conference had been a great success, I contacted Ann — a longtime Howorth family friend — and wondered aloud to Ann whether it might be possible to stage a literary conference which might acknowledge writers other than “merely” Faulkner. She replied, “Let me think about this.” A few weeks later she returned my call and said, basically, “I think we can do this, but give me a few years.” She needed time to clear the decks of the many other things she had going then. Surely enough, that first book conference was in 1994, and Ann was the person who enlisted numerous partners, including Square Books, in this annual event that within its first few years would draw William Styron, Willie Morris, Beverly Lowry, poet Charles Simic, editor Nan Talese, Ann Patchett, Pat Conroy, and longtime owner of The Tattered Cover in Denver, the late Joyce Meskis.
Ann, with her husband, history professor Dale Abadie, raised three lovely children — Elaine, Leslie and John — also was well known for her talent in the kitchen, as she baked (and delivered) cakes (including her famous poundcake) — and various goodies to those who might need gladdening, or perhaps were having out-of-town guests. She was always thinking of others, trying to help others, and shunned any praise directed her way. Lyn Roberts reminded me today that Ann was “a person you absolutely could not say no to.” This was not simply because Ann was very persuasive (and she was certainly that), but because you — for all of us who knew her — were forever in her debt because she had already done more for you than you could ever do to repay her.
– Richard Howorth
Image caption: Ann Abadie with Richard Howorth at Square Books — signing for Etheridge Knight, December, 1979. Photo courtesy Bill Ferris.
Deeper Than the Dead by Debra Webb is the first in the Vera Boyett mystery series and was a Prime First Read in July. This was a twisty southern murder mystery that pulled me in as we meet Vera Boyett, a disgraced deputy police chief who returns home when a body is discovered on her family’s homestead.
Deeper Than The Dead by Debra Webb Series: Vera Boyett #1 Genres: Mystery Source: Prime Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Rating:
Someone’s found the skeleton in the closet, and it’s not the only one. Wall Street Journal bestselling author Debra Webb presents an emotional new mystery.
Crime analyst and newly disgraced deputy police chief Vera Boyett doesn’t visit home often, and she certainly doesn’t venture back into the cave on her family land. But when the remains of her long-missing stepmother are discovered, Vera will have to face a past that threatens all she is.
She and her sister Eve had a fairy-tale childhood: good until it was tragic, with a stepmother they never found a bond with. At least they had each other, a baby half-sister, and a mutual devotion that would have them do the unthinkable.
It’s a summer in small-town Tennessee, so thick with humidity it could drown you and so rife with secrets it could smother you. And deep beneath the surface, there are more bodies than you’d think…
{
“@context”:”https://schema.org”,
“@type”:”Review”,
“datePublished”: “2024-08-27T05:00:00+00:00”,
“description”: “Deeper Than the Dead by Debra Webb is the first in the Vera Boyett mystery series and was a Prime First Read in July. This was a twisty southern murder mystery that pulled me in as we meet Vera B”,
“publisher”: {
“@type”: “Organization”,
“name”: “Caffeinated Reviewer” },
“url”: “https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2024/08/deeper-than-the-dead-by-debra-webb.html”,
“itemReviewed”: {
“@type”: “Book”,
“name”: “Deeper Than The Dead”,
“author”: {
“@type”: “Person”,
“name”: “Debra Webb”,
“sameAs”: “https://debrawebb.com/” },
“isbn”: “” },
“author”: {
“@type”: “Person”,
“name”: “Kimberly”,
“sameAs”: “https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/” },
“reviewRating”: {
“@type”: “Rating”,
“ratingValue”: 4,
“bestRating”: “5”
}
}
I read this on vacation and enjoyed the twisted tale with secrets and small-town issues. For those who have KindleUnlimited, both the ebook & audiobook are available.
When we meet crime analyst and deputy police chief Vera Boyett, she is in trouble. She heads up a special team that garnished national attention, but things went topsy-turvy and Vera will become the fall out guy. She’s backing her desk expecting the worst, when her sister calls. Some kids found the body of a woman in a cave on her family property.
I liked Vera, who held the siblings together after their mother died, but slowly we begin to see the cracks that formed. The local sheriff just happens to be the boy who broke her heart and things turn interesting when more bodies are discovered.
The murder-mystery was twisty. We know some secrets, but it will take Vera and Sheriff to piece things together, because someone wants those secrets to remain buried. I liked the slow reveals, Vera’s quirky secrets, the growing suspense as Vera began piecing things together.
A solid start to the series. I am looking forward to seeing what the next Vera Boyett mystery novel brings. Part police procedural, part small-town family secrets and completely addictive, you’ll want to add this one if you enjoy Kendra Elliot.
Amazon* | Audible
*kindleunlimited
About Debra Webb
DEBRA WEBB is the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of more than 175 novels, including reader favorites the Devlin & Falco, Finley O’Sullivan and Faces of Evil series. She is the recipient of the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense, the Centennial Award, as well as numerous Reviewers Choice Awards. In 2012 Debra was honored as the first recipient of the esteemed L. A. Banks Warrior Woman Award for her courage, strength, and grace in the face of adversity. With more than ten million books in print in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood when, at the age of nine, her mother bought her an old typewriter in a tag sale. Born in Alabama, Debra grew up on a farm. She spent every available hour exploring the world around her and creating her stories.
Website | Instagram
Stay Caffeinated!
Never miss a post by adding Caffeinated to your Inbox
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
As we stood on the slow line to enter the secure zone around the United Center in Chicago, an angry preacher thrust his sign toward us: “How can ye escape the damnation of Hell?” He probably did not realize how apt this question was. Just a month earlier, before Joe Biden announced that he would […]
