fidelis

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AR Horvath's Fidelis Book 1 One of Birth Pangs Series AR Horvath's Birth Pangs Spero book 2 tolkien potter lewis Role Playing Game RPG Stage of Game After the Desolations

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Read an Excerpt of Spero

"Spero is an imaginative fantasy that subtly instructs, entertains, and intellectually provokes the reader. It is fascinating reading. I'm definitely hooked on this series." Jean Heimann at Catholic Fire.

"...intelligent as well as inspiring..." Terry Barga at whattodoabout.com.

The first book in the Birth Pangs series, Fidelis, is Latin for faithfulness. The second book, Spero, is Latin for hope. Spero is an exploration, in fiction, of what hope is and why we need it. It is an exploration of what things are good to put our hope in and what things aren't. In the America of the future portrayed in the Birth Pangs series, all of the things that people have traditionally put their hope in have been brought low. There are no government agencies, no schools, and not even churches. In the face of daily perils, people have to figure out how where they are going to place their hope in dealing with them.

In the end, there is one daily peril that surpasses them all: death.

Spero is about people- even good people- putting their hope in lesser means to tackle lesser problems and being confronted with the consequences. Spero is a 'discussion' about our chief problems and what solutions, if any, are available to resolve them.


‘Spero’ (Hope) is one of those Latin words that you sort of know, even if you were lucky enough to attend a school which didn’t obstinately prioritise fluency in dead languages.  It is incorporated in quite a few modern English words, most obviously ‘desperate’, or ‘de - sperate’, meaning literally ‘without hope’.  Fortunately, although the times that AR Horvath is writing about may indeed be desperate, the quality of the writing itself is far from it.

Spero elaborates on the events described in ‘Fidelis’, but starts and ends in different places.  This may sound like an odd way to tell a story (book two of a series traditionally picks up where book one finished, after all), but it proves to be a refreshing and clever way to - almost literally - weave a narrative, with a different thread of the future history that Horvath is constructing being plucked out of the tapestry of the whole and examined. Read the rest of this entry »

I got word today that Steven McEvoy at Bookreviewsandmore.ca has posted a review of book 1, Fidelis.  As you can guess from the review, I’ll be definitely interested to read his review of book 2, Spero.  I hope I was able to sustain Steven’s interest!

Fidelis is the best speculative fiction I have read since the early 80’s. Reminiscent of Heinlein’s writings with the skills of a master wordsmith, A.R. Horvath has created an amazing world and looks to a possible future that is dark and brooding. He creates a world in which the United States has entered a second dark ages after a military defeat. The writing is superb, the characters believable and engaging. As you read you become transported into the events by Horvath’s skill with the pen for he draws you in and captivates you. His storytelling is masterful.

Read the rest of the review.

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Deadline for Overseas Shipping Order: Sunday November 25th, 2007

(A donation of $10.00 is approximately two books to a soldier. )

I have some relatives in the military who have read my book and enjoyed it and I believe that most American soldiers would as well. I got to thinking about it and wondering about how I can get copies of my book in the hands of soldiers. I contacted www.soldiersangels.com and they have replied agreeing to facilitate getting my book in the hands of our soldiers and veterans, including wounded soldiers in the Veteran’s hospitals, etc.

Your donation will help me make bulk purchases of my book so that I can distribute more than I would if I bought them in smaller quantities.

For tax purposes you should consider your donation a purchase as I am not equipped as a tax exempt organization. Also, if you would like to purchase your own, personal copy, please purchase it separately so that I can keep the monies distinct. However, if you donate and then purchase the book, I will in turn donate part of the proceeds to buying more books to give to our troops. That is for donors only!

(A donation of $10.00 is approximately two books to a soldier. )

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I was pleased to learn today that Jean Heimann at the Catholic Fire blog had reviewed my book, Fidelis and posted it to her site. Jean writes and reviews from a distinctly Christian point of view so it is no surprise that she caught onto many of the Christian themes in the book, as well as some that I thought I had reasonably well buried. :) That I am a Christian becomes obvious to anyone who knows me and that Fidelis has Christian overtones and undertones is clear to anyone that knows to look for them. And yet it pleases me that it can be read and enjoyed by non-Christians as well. As Jean says on her review, “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.” And a long time atheist friend of mine reviewed and enjoyed my book showing that Jean is right (to read his review, click here, but NOTE: there are SPOILERS).

I might ask my atheist friend how it comes that there are universal values that humans can mutually relate to… :)

This is the second reviewer that I’ve noted compared Fidelis to Harry Potter. Obviously, that makes me happy, because that puts me in good company. At least in Fidelis (what later books might be like, I won’t say) it seems to me that there are more affinities to the Lord of the Rings series than the Harry Potter ones, but one can certainly see both (Jean does).  The magic in Fidelis is of a different sort than that in Harry Potter, but certain themes certainly are shared: loyalty, courage, virtue, self-discipline, good is superior to evil- even if good ‘loses’ (which it never does!). It would be fair to say that Fidelis is not meant to be a knock off of Harry Potter, or the Lord of the Rings, or any other fantasy type series you might envision but that Fidelis is deeply inspired and influenced by such series is definitely true. In fact, the astute reader may see that the inspiration runs deeper then one might expect.

At any rate, for Christian readers out there who may have read my open letter to Christian Muggles, you can confident that when Ms. Heimann titles here review as an alternative to Harry Potter, she does so correctly. Feel free to buy my book instead of the Harry Potter books all you like. :)

In conclusion, Ms. Heimann makes this interesting comment: “There is a prophetic message presented in this first book of seven in the BirthPangs Series. …. Fidelis only hints at the possibilities, but it certainly poses a relevant concern for the future.”

Relevant, indeed. Boy, I can’t wait until I can talk freely about all of this!

Book 1 is almost ready to be re-released in hard cover and I’m very excited about it.  The design of the cover is sharp, and there will be some very nice surprises associated with it.  As soon as I can make it public, I will.  The cover is the chief reason why I have not yet released the introduction of book 2, as well.  Book 2 is not half way finished, but in my head it is 3/4 of the way finished, so I feel confident in releasing the intro to book 1.  Also forthcoming will be a Christmas promotion associated with the release of book 1 in hard cover, reviving of the birth pangs RPG, and an audio book, and maybe even an e-book!  So, lots to look at coming up!  As soon as I can I will make all this known.  Think October 15this.

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