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Steven’s Year In Books

Steven’s 2025 Year in Books

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Steven’s Friends (217)

Doug Cooper

490 books | 3,714 friends

Sharif Khan

743 books | 483 friends

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3,607 books | 20 friends

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286 books | 9 friends

Jason R.

59 books | 31 friends

Glen Krisch

1,155 books | 4,732 friends

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406 books | 3,976 friends

Jessica Piro

985 books | 263 friends

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Steven J. Pemberton

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.pembers.net

Twitter

sjpemb

Genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Influences

J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, David Eddings, Ursula K. Le Guin, Susan Co ...more

Member Since

September 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/pembers

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Steven was born in England in 1970, the son of a librarian and a teacher. It was probably inevitable, therefore, that he would grow up loving books. For much of his childhood, he and his family lived in New Zealand, returning to England in 1981. He now lives in Lancashire with his partner, where he works as a software developer.

If you'd like to be the first to know about new releases, you can join Steven's mailing list at http://eepurl.com/_5EDX (Subscribers get an exclusive free short story!) ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Steven: I'm asking this of a few different writers -- As you make your way in the writing world, do you ever find yourself thinking: * It's tough out there for ___________ writers like me. * [pick your label, genre, or brand of madness)] Does your mind ever go there? Or do you not accept the handicap? Both? Can you explain?

Steven J. Pemberton Boring answer, I'm afraid... I don't think of myself as having any difficulties to overcome that are peculiar to me or to fantasy writers. I sometimes…moreBoring answer, I'm afraid... I don't think of myself as having any difficulties to overcome that are peculiar to me or to fantasy writers. I sometimes wish I could write faster, but I know that's mainly down to laziness on my part. More sales would be nice, of course, but that's a problem for any writer who isn't selling enough that they could afford to stop writing for a few years.

I think I'm fortunate that I can spend as much time writing as I do, without having to feel guilty about not spending the time on something else. I'm glad that I can self-publish and not have to worry about whether a book fits with the marketing department's idea of what will be popular in two years. Though I'm also glad it wasn't a viable option until a few years ago, because I would probably have jumped into it before I was ready.(less)

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Steven J. Pemberton I normally struggle to answer this question, because often years pass between my getting the idea and starting to write the book. In that time, the id…moreI normally struggle to answer this question, because often years pass between my getting the idea and starting to write the book. In that time, the idea gets extended and modified so much that I often don't remember what it was to begin with.

But with my latest novel, The Mirrors of Elangir, I distinctly recall the inspiration as being a TV documentary about the early history of photography. It mentioned that daguerreotypes were once known as "mirrors with memories", because they were printed on silvered metal plates, so the parts that would be white in a modern photograph were reflective.

This set me wondering what a mirror with a memory would be like in a fantasy context. The "memory" part would presumably have to be something magical. I thought about the mirror functioning like a camera or a video recorder, but couldn't see how I could get a story out of that. Then I thought that instead of recording what was happening in front of it, a mirror could send that picture to another mirror. After some more brainstorming, I decided the mirrors would be made in matched pairs, so that each mirror could send pictures to only one other mirror. That means one mirror by itself is of little worth, but both mirrors of a pair, taken together, are quite valuable. This fitted well with the "treasure hunt" story I'd decided I wanted to tell.

Of course, there are all sorts of other aspects to the world, the plot and the characters, which had countless other inspirations, but that's where it all started.(less)

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Steven J. Pemberton’s books

Average rating: 3.95 · 131 ratings · 19 reviews · 16 distinct works

	Death & Magic (The Barefoot Healer #1) 4.13 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Plague & Poison (The Barefoot Healer #2) 4.18 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Accidental Dragonrider 3.35 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Escape Velocity 3.12 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mirrors of Elangir 3.56 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dust & Water (The Barefoot Healer #3) 3.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stone & Silence (The Barefoot Healer #4) 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Reluctant Dragonrider 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Racing the Storm and Other Stories 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Barefoot Healer it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Steven J. Pemberton…

236 posts
Steven J. Pemberton's Blog

April's Writing Progress

I sent out a newsletter yesterday, which includes a free short story called The Artisan Dreamer. If you want to read it, all you have to do is subscribe to the newsletter, by going to http://eepurl.com/_5EDX . You'll also get to read all the previous stories for subscribers. (Full disclosure: some of them are available in Racing the Storm and Other Stories, though they were exclusive to subscriber Read more of this blog post »

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Published on April 30, 2026 16:05 • Tags: writing_progress

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Series by Steven J. Pemberton

The Barefoot Healer (4 books)
by

Steven J. Pemberton (Goodreads Author)

4.11 avg rating — 54 ratings

The Dragonrider (2 books)
by

Steven J. Pemberton (Goodreads Author)

3.48 avg rating — 23 ratings

The Schemes of Raltarn & Tomaz (1 book)
by

Steven J. Pemberton (Goodreads Author)

3.56 avg rating — 9 ratings

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Steven’s Recent Updates

Steven J. Pemberton wrote a new blog post April's Writing Progress I sent out a newsletter yesterday, which includes a free short story called The Artisan Dreamer. If you want to read it, all you have to do is subscri Read more of this blog post »
Apr 30, 2026 04:05PM · like
Steven Pemberton has read The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 30, 2026 03:12PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Steven Pemberton rated a book really liked it Postal Intelligence: The Tassis Family and Communications Revolution in Early Modern Europe by Rachel Midura	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 17, 2026 08:49AM · like
Steven Pemberton rated a book really liked it Sea Wolves: The Extraordinary Story of Britain's Ww2 Submarines by clayton-tim	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 09, 2026 09:18AM · like
Steven Pemberton rated a book it was amazing This Is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 09, 2026 09:12AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of This Is for Everyone by Tim Berners-Lee. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — This Is for Everyone by Tim Berners-Lee <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Steven Pemberton rated a book liked it To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 31, 2026 02:55PM · like
Steven Pemberton rated a book really liked it Blueprints: How Mathematics Shapes Creativity by Marcus du Sautoy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 16, 2026 04:06PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Blueprints by Marcus du Sautoy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Blueprints by Marcus du Sautoy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Steven Pemberton rated a book liked it The Herdsmen of Venus: Part 1 of the Transgenesis Chronicles by Christopher Cotton (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 16, 2026 04:06PM · like
Steven Pemberton rated a book really liked it Strikingly Similar: Plagiarism and Appropriation from Chaucer to Chatbots by Roger Kreuz	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 16, 2026 04:06PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Strikingly Similar by Roger Kreuz. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Strikingly Similar by Roger Kreuz <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Steven Pemberton has read The Herdsmen of Venus: Part 1 of the Transgenesis Chronicles by Christopher Cotton (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 16, 2026 04:05PM · like

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Bloggers Unite™ : Most Under Appreciated Indie Authors	5	23	Nov 27, 2011 01:29PM

Steven’s Quotes

“I can't understand why a person will take a year or two to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars.”
― Fred Allen

tags: humor

15 likes

“Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's life.”
― Kate Chopin, The Awakening, and Selected Stories

1317 likes

“Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.”
― Evelyn Waugh

tags: punctuality

1201 likes

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune

tags: bene-gesserit, fear, litany-against-fear, motivational, scifi

16902 likes