announcements

The Birth Pangs role playing game is unique in that it aims to reflect the book series in the game world. There are some limitations to how accurately the RPG can do something like that but literally hundreds of hours have gone into rendering it as close as possible. What really makes the game unique is that the author of the Birth Pangs series himself participates and the characters in the book also makes appearances in the game. But what is potentially ground breaking is the fact that it is possible that there can be reverse inspiration, where events in the RPG might actually come to be reflected in later books… !

The Birth Pangs world is one with post-apocalyptic feel to it. There has been a terrible disease and some nuclear strikes and now there is virtual anarchy. This plays out in the game as players are able to conquer cities and territory, build city defenses, and tax travelers, as well as uncover material that will help them understand the Birth Pangs series itself as they read the books.

Technology continues to shape how books are marketed and promoted today. The close interaction between Horvath and his fans and the real potential for ‘fan fiction’ (in the RPG sense) to be integrated into future books is just a sign of how the industry is transforming.

In anticipation for the Christmas season, Horvath has released a special RPG package where a small donation gets new members some advantages as they begin playing. Normally, players start out with just the clothes on their back, but Horvath will give new donating players money, weapons, and a ride so that they can quickly immerse themselves into the fantasy world that is the Birth Pangs universe.

The promotional donation amount is just $5.00 and puts new players in a position of strength right to start with. Go here to purchase the promotion resource bonus and/or go here to play the role playing game: www.birthpangs.com/rpg

NOTE: This is for new players only, as existing players already know that they can donate through the game and that since they are already strong characters, they don’t need this special help to get started.

Check out the new cover, click for up close!

Check out the Leather Copies, click for up close!

Courtesy of Luke and Christine Thompson… at www.sojournerleather.com

How does that baby look?!?!?!? 

As I’ve mentioned in numerous places, Fidelis is going to be re-released in hard cover for the Christmas season. A very neat promotion is going to be in effect that I hope you all take advantage of. I will be pushing that promotion and the role playing game for the book series, too. My goal is to have several thousand new players in the rpg by February of 2008. That would be fantastic! Plus, the game world is going to be expanded to take into account the release of book 2 in the series, which has new cities involved.

Feel free to poke around and drop me an email at author @ birthpangs.com if you are so inclined. I’m looking for book signing gigs, so if you’ve got ideas, let me know!

If you want to get into the groove, click on the wallpaper above and then right click and save the file to your desktop. From there, you can set it as your desktop wallpaper! More images to come! (You can also download it by clicking here.)

Wallpaper courtesy of http://www.sojournerleather.com

Press Release at I-News.

(I-Newswire) – La Crosse, WI.  Even though A.R. Horvath’s Fidelis has been available since 2006, positive reviews still are arriving.  These arrive in the midst of rumors that Fidelis is going to be released in hard cover for the Christmas season.

Though openly a Christian author, Horvath argues that he considers himself to be an author who is a Christian and not an author creating Christian literature.  That said, Ms. Heimann’s review makes it clear that Christians will approve of many of the themes percolating within his book.

For example, she writes: Put quite simply, Fidelis depicts the battle of good vs. evil. Similar in nature to the writings of C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien, Fidelis bears a Christian theme, includes Scripture passages, and is rich in Christian symbolism.  Other comparisons are invoked merely in the title of her review:An Alternative to Harry Potter.

Though the Christian symbolism is clear in many cases, Ms Heimann adds, Both Christians and non-Christians alike will find Fidelis enjoyable, as it focuses on man’s universal struggles of good vs. evil and truth vs. propaganda. Fidelis is an action- packed, imaginative fantasy that subtly instructs, entertains, and intellectually provokes the reader. It is fascinating reading.

This sentiment is echoed in another favorable review that is recorded on Horvath’s discussion forum posted by a secular humanist, Full of fascinating characters, replete with Tolkeinesque battle sequences and poetical songs, woven with biblical themes and tied up with some extremely fine writing Anthony Horvath’s ‘Fidelis’ is a must-read for fans of the genre which he has single-handedly created with his first novel. Quite an achievement.

Horvath says that this reaction is exactly what he wanted to generate. I wanted to produce a story that just about anyone would enjoy but would allow me to explore themes that are important to me from a perspective that is important to me.  As the later books are released, I think these themes will continue to be fleshed out, and if I am as successful with them as I seem to be with Fidelis people will enjoy the yarn, whether they agree with me or not.

Horvath is available for interviews, seminars, and lectures and can be reached best at his email address at author@ birthpangs.com. Heimann’s review can be found at her blog at http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2007/10/book-review-harry-potter-alternative.html or by by visiting A.R. Horvath’s web page at http://www.birthpangs.com.  Horvath maintains a Christian ministry site at http://www.sntjohnny.com

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