Out now -- the "Tales of Old Russia" e-books!


The Golden Horde (Tales of Old Russia #3)

Available now!

In the middle of the thirteenth century, the private quarrels of Russia's brawling little kingdoms are savagely interrupted by the ruthless advance of the Tatars. One by one the city-states fall to the irresistible force of the Golden Horde. Those tsardoms that resist are stamped out of existence and their inhabitants slaughtered. Only those that submit are spared, but each conquered Prince must travel to the great tent-city of Sarai and surrender his crown to the Khan. At last the choice comes to the little tsardom of Khorlov: bow down, or be destroyed!

Ivan Khorlovskiy, once Prince, now Tsar, needs all his cunning -- and all his patience -- to restrain his proud, hotheaded warriors from defying the mightiest army the world has ever seen, and bringing destruction on all his people. When the Khan commands him to Sarai with Khorlov's Great Crown, that command includes three treasures as priceless -- and as dangerous: Ivan's wife Mar'ya Morevna the sorceress, and their two small children. But once within the walls they find themselves facing a peril more terrible than even their captors: the dark pagan gods of Russia, starved of worship -- and of sacrifice -- for half a thousand years...

"The main strength of the book is the characterization of Ivan ... more please!" (Interzone)

"Peter Morwood has always been an engaging, surprising and original storyteller... One of the foremost talents in the British field." (FEAR)

The third volume of Peter Morwood's Tales of Old Russia is available from this page in all the major electronic formats for USD $6.99 (with instant download fulfillment courtesy of E-junkie) as well as via Smashwords.com. (The proceeds from purchases made here go immediately to the author via PayPal: proceeds from purchases made at Smashwords and its affiliates take longer to reach the author.)


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If ordering from other ebook providers: The ISBN of The Golden Horde is 978-1-4523-7876-3 .

Update: A reset/revised print edition is also coming soon in mass market and trade paperback formats. Please check back here in November for info about the new print editions.

Sherlock - New Show, old gun discipline

Submitted by petermorwood on September 24, 2010 - 23:12

I really like(d) "Sherlock," the 21st-century update of you-know-who, and I think Conan Doyle would have liked it too. (He'd certainly have given Dr. Watson's Afghan War connection a sour 'been there before' look.)

But good grief, if Holmes wants to survive for another series (already green-lighted) he needs someone behind the camera telling director and actor (where do you shoot a name like "Benedict (Timothy Carlton) Cumberbatch"?) that you treat a Browning L9A1 pistol with a LOT more respect. You don't point it at your friend, you don't wave it about for emphasis, and you DO NOT scratch the back of your head with it (with finger on trigger, unless I mis-saw!)

In series canon, one shot from this is able to put a Bad Guy down for good. Sherlock is supposedly so clever that he mocks everyone else for "living in such boring little minds." Well, if he continues treating Watson's Browning like a Super-Squirter, some malevolent screenwriter will be justified in making the last thing to cross his mind something 9mm wide.

Last time I saw something this gun-careless was "Plan Nine from Outer Space." And that's no compliment.

"Shave him, and he'd be the King!"

Submitted by petermorwood on September 10, 2008 - 09:37

I've always been fond of The Prisoner of Zenda movies and I've often wondered about the claim (current in Wikipedia, among other places) that the 1952 colour version was a shot-for-shot remake of the 1937 black-and-white original.

To me, shot-for-shot means "as nearly exact a copy as possible", and I'm now able to say that though the 1952 is very, very close in most respects, it's not shot-for-shot, and most emphatically not line-for-line. There are a lot more than "slight variations" between them, especially in dialogue.

Click "read more" for the rest of the article and the links to the screenplays.

Firebird (Tales of Old Russia #2)

In the dark winter of 1235 the Teutonic Knights are plotting a crusade against Russia. Their secret weapon is the foul witch Baba Yaga, out for revenge against her old enemy, Ivan, Prince of Khorlov.

In his second spectacular fantasy adventure in the lands of Old Russia, Prince Ivan finds himself battling against civil war at home, foreign invaders, the dreadful powers of the Inquisition, and the soured magic of an evil old woman.

But Ivan is not without allies. And the forces arrayed against him soon discover that they may have miscalculated when they find themselves up against not only Ivan and the forces of Khorlov, but a cranky sorceress-wife who may or may not be pregnant, a fabulous and deadly bird with its own agenda... and Volk Volkhovitch, the opposite of a werewolf.

Witty, thrilling, played out agianst the backcloth of a brilliantly realized medieval world, Peter Morwood's Firebird seamlessly weaves together Russian myth with real history to conjure up an unputdownable tale.

"Peter Morwood has always been an engaging, surprising and original storyteller... One of the foremost talents in the British field." (FEAR)

The second volume of Peter Morwood's Tales of Old Russia is available from this page in all the major electronic formats for USD $5.99 (with instant download fulfillment courtesy of E-junkie) as well as via Smashwords.com. (The proceeds from purchases made here go immediately to the author via PayPal: proceeds from purchases made at Smashwords and its affiliates take longer to reach the author.)


ePub (.EPUB): 
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 Kindle (.MOBI):
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Sony Reader (.LRF): 
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 Adobe Acrobat (.PDF):
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Immediately after purchase, eJunkie will email you with a download link for your chosen file. To view your cart at eJunkie, use the button below.

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Read a sample at Smashwords (Java-friendly reader)
Read a sample at Smashwords (non-Java reader)

If ordering from other ebook providers: The ISBN of Firebird is 978-1-4523-9725-2 .

Update: A reset/revised print edition is also coming soon in mass market and trade paperback formats. Please check back here in late October for info about the new print editions.

Tactical errors in advertising

Submitted by petermorwood on December 17, 2007 - 16:22

Advertising vocabularies differ depending on what's being sold. A sports car doesn't get the same write-up as a family saloon, and a laptop computer isn't described in the same high-tech language as an iPod. But there are some words which have crossed genres, and now seem to be applied with blind enthusiasm in the most unlikely places.

My current favourite is tactical.

You'll find it defined on Answers.com in various ways, but they quote the current U.S. Military Dictionary, which for this LJ entry seems more appropriate than most.

tactical, adj.

Designed or implemented so as to gain a temporary limited advantage: short-range.

1. of, relating to, or constituting actions carefully planned to gain a specific military end.

2. (of bombing or weapons) done or for use in immediate support of military or naval operations. Often contrasted with strategic.

This once-military-only term has since moved, via business, into more-or-less everyday use, but it's slipped its leash and like an unruly dog, is leaving traces of its passage in places where it shouldn't be allowed to go. (Mind your feet.)

I just wanted two coats of emulsion on the ceiling...

Submitted by petermorwood on December 14, 2007 - 19:19

...not a recreation of the Sistine Chapel!

But try telling that to Heston Blumenthal.

Diane and I recorded last week's Further Adventures in Search of Perfection - the one about chili con carne -- and watched it the other night with increasing amazement as he piled on layer after layer of daft, pointless elaboration.

The man hasn't a clue about how to cook with chilis, either: presented with something that used them - Oh look, they're in the name of the dish and everything! - he instantly reverted to Macho Man and went for the hottest he could find (or at least with the funniest name - Devil's Penis.) Someone should have let him try a Jolokia without telling him how hot it is; now that would have been really funny.

(click on read more for the rest...)

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