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The Alliance of Remarkable Landlords
When George Stout inherits his grandfather's pub in the sleepy, secluded village of Somewhere, little does he realise what extraordinary adventures are about to unfold. For the golden ale and scrumptious cider flowing from the taps of The Blue Goblin hold a secret, ancient power. As the newest member of the Alliance of Remarkable Landlords, George embarks on a strange and epic quest that will take him through the mysterious Water Door and into the enchanted world of Thera. Along the way he meets a cast of magical creatures, with whose help he just might save both worlds, and enjoy some fine ale in the process. This story mixes the contemporary with the magical in a world where brass-knuckled squirrels fight monstrous giants, witches terrorize enchanted animals and dastardly DJ's haunt the airwaves.
- GenresFantasy
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 22, 2015
5 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Mark J. Oliver
12 books11 followersMark J. Oliver is the author of two novels, THE ALLIANCE OF REMARKABLE LANDLORDS, a contemporary adult fairy tale and THE RIFT RIDER, a science fiction story that blends action adventure, quest, romance, and surfing.
Mark was born in Gloucestershire, England. After Graduating from Cardiff University and brief spells temping in Brighton, Gloucester and London, Mark left the UK to start teaching English as a foreign language. He has an MA in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).
Over the last fourteen years, he has lived and taught in Australia, Japan, Brazil, Portugal, Thailand, Singapore, Lebanon, Taiwan and Sri Lanka. He has also worked on teacher training projects with UNRWA in Lebanon and the British Council in Borneo.
Inspired by his travels, experiences and the cast of incredible characters he met along the way, Mark set out to write his first novel, The Rift Rider, in 2013. He published his second novel, The Alliance of Remarkable Landlords in 2015. They are both available on Amazon.
He is also the author of four graded readers for learners of English, three essay writing guides and the teacher training book, Text Chat Activities.
His articles have been published in Modern English Teacher and English Australia Journal.
Mark was born in Gloucestershire, England. After Graduating from Cardiff University and brief spells temping in Brighton, Gloucester and London, Mark left the UK to start teaching English as a foreign language. He has an MA in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).
Over the last fourteen years, he has lived and taught in Australia, Japan, Brazil, Portugal, Thailand, Singapore, Lebanon, Taiwan and Sri Lanka. He has also worked on teacher training projects with UNRWA in Lebanon and the British Council in Borneo.
Inspired by his travels, experiences and the cast of incredible characters he met along the way, Mark set out to write his first novel, The Rift Rider, in 2013. He published his second novel, The Alliance of Remarkable Landlords in 2015. They are both available on Amazon.
He is also the author of four graded readers for learners of English, three essay writing guides and the teacher training book, Text Chat Activities.
His articles have been published in Modern English Teacher and English Australia Journal.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 5, 2016
I was waffling on whether this was a one star or a two star when I noticed that the mouse-over for one star is "did not like it", which is a fair assessment of my feelings about the book.
The first big issue is the quantity of errors. Some are typos, some are formatting errors, others are issues of grammar or usage (even allowing for differences between British and US English). They weren't bad enough to render the book unreadable, but they were bad enough to be distracting and occasionally require the re-reading of a sentence. Basically, the kind of errors that editors are paid to fix and that make people nervous about self-published books.
To summarize my issues with the content ... think about the harmful, sexist tropes that typically pop up in connection with geek culture. They're pretty much all present. Our central character, George, is an overweight IT worker who starts out his adventures by repeatedly ignoring the extremely overt rejection of a girl he's hitting on in a club. By the time things really kick into gear, we learn that "George had decided to bide his time, play the friend and see where it led him" (emphasis mine) with our female lead, Lucy. Much of the rest of the book is an exercise in fantasy fulfillment (pun definitely intended), as he magically (literally and figuratively) becomes a leaner, meaner, machismo machine who can fight his way out of anything.
Lucy -- who is repeatedly described in terms that make it clear that our hero is attracted to her in spite of the fact that she's "a far cry from the glamourous, sun-blessed beauties of Sydney" -- somewhat predictably demonstrates that she's as powerful as the hero (and probably more competent) and then spends the rest of the book being rescued. George and various villains repeatedly talk about her in terms that make it clear that she belongs to him (e.g. "this woman is not [character]'s to give away. She belongs to me.").
It's okay, though, because who else is she going to end up with? Certainly not the attractive, charming secondary character who . The deal-breaker for me -- and I'm not going to bother with a spoiler tag on this one -- was when George challenged an eight meter tall monster with "two fist-sized balls and a tool an elephant would have been proud of" to single combat to keep him from absconding with Lucy to add her to his "harem". Naturally, in spite of the monster's tremendous size advantage and George's previous lack of fighting experience (as far as we know), George wins and Lucy swoons appropriately.
I won't rehash the reasons why this sort of "woman as object/reward" is particularly problematic in the context of nerd culture. It's something that's hard to unsee once you've seen it, and it's everywhere in this book. Combined with the mediocre quality of the writing (apart from The Butler's TV interview), it takes the wind out of a potentially fun concept.
The first big issue is the quantity of errors. Some are typos, some are formatting errors, others are issues of grammar or usage (even allowing for differences between British and US English). They weren't bad enough to render the book unreadable, but they were bad enough to be distracting and occasionally require the re-reading of a sentence. Basically, the kind of errors that editors are paid to fix and that make people nervous about self-published books.
To summarize my issues with the content ... think about the harmful, sexist tropes that typically pop up in connection with geek culture. They're pretty much all present. Our central character, George, is an overweight IT worker who starts out his adventures by repeatedly ignoring the extremely overt rejection of a girl he's hitting on in a club. By the time things really kick into gear, we learn that "George had decided to bide his time, play the friend and see where it led him" (emphasis mine) with our female lead, Lucy. Much of the rest of the book is an exercise in fantasy fulfillment (pun definitely intended), as he magically (literally and figuratively) becomes a leaner, meaner, machismo machine who can fight his way out of anything.
Lucy -- who is repeatedly described in terms that make it clear that our hero is attracted to her in spite of the fact that she's "a far cry from the glamourous, sun-blessed beauties of Sydney" -- somewhat predictably demonstrates that she's as powerful as the hero (and probably more competent) and then spends the rest of the book being rescued. George and various villains repeatedly talk about her in terms that make it clear that she belongs to him (e.g. "this woman is not [character]'s to give away. She belongs to me.").
It's okay, though, because who else is she going to end up with? Certainly not the attractive, charming secondary character who . The deal-breaker for me -- and I'm not going to bother with a spoiler tag on this one -- was when George challenged an eight meter tall monster with "two fist-sized balls and a tool an elephant would have been proud of" to single combat to keep him from absconding with Lucy to add her to his "harem". Naturally, in spite of the monster's tremendous size advantage and George's previous lack of fighting experience (as far as we know), George wins and Lucy swoons appropriately.
I won't rehash the reasons why this sort of "woman as object/reward" is particularly problematic in the context of nerd culture. It's something that's hard to unsee once you've seen it, and it's everywhere in this book. Combined with the mediocre quality of the writing (apart from The Butler's TV interview), it takes the wind out of a potentially fun concept.
November 11, 2020
I liked it, but will not rave about it or insist it's one not to miss. The author has obviously never had to fight, and follows the formulaic "hero gets lucky and wins" structure. There's little in the way of originality regarding strategy or tactics; apparently landlords are just destined to win.
I would have enjoyed it significantly more if I didn't have to stop every few paragraphs to make a note about the abysmal use of the English (or British) language. This edition is a poster child for the value of an editor and a proofreader.
I would have enjoyed it significantly more if I didn't have to stop every few paragraphs to make a note about the abysmal use of the English (or British) language. This edition is a poster child for the value of an editor and a proofreader.
July 10, 2016
Not for the Squeamish
If you aren't up for reading about insects and even grosser things then this is not the book for you. With the exception of some errors, this book is well-written. It is entertaining and keeps you wanting to read more even after the last page.
There are some errors that are surprising that spell check didn't get. There are others, such as "mould cider" instead of "mulled cider" that the author should have known better about.
But if you can stand the disgusting bits, this is well worth the read.
If you aren't up for reading about insects and even grosser things then this is not the book for you. With the exception of some errors, this book is well-written. It is entertaining and keeps you wanting to read more even after the last page.
There are some errors that are surprising that spell check didn't get. There are others, such as "mould cider" instead of "mulled cider" that the author should have known better about.
But if you can stand the disgusting bits, this is well worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews