A Storm Hits Valparaiso [Kindle Edition]

David Gaughran (Author)

Book Description

Catalina Flores de la Peña's tongue got her in more trouble than any other part of her body, even though there were far more likely candidates. But when a storm rolls into her sleepy port town, she finds herself embroiled with a gang of adventurers, mercenaries, and prostitutes on a journey to free South America from the Spanish Empire.

A Storm Hits Valparaíso is an epic historical adventure starring two brothers torn apart by love; a slave running for his life; a disgraced British sailor seeking redemption; and José de San Martín, an Argentine general who deserts the Spanish Army to lead a bloody revolt against his former masters.

Praise for A Storm Hits Valparaiso:

"A work of sweeping historical fiction that captivates and entertains ... engaging and richly textured." -- John D. Glass, author of Legend of Zodiac.

"David Gaughran has woven a captivating story set during this dangerous period in South America's history. I'd happily recommend it to fans of the genre." -- Tracy Cook, Booked Up Reviews.

"A romping classico... it reminded me of Louis de Bernières." -- SR Noss, author of Life on the Suburban Fringe

"An ambitious story of love and betrayal, victory and defeat. In characters drawn from real historical figures, the author delves into the politics of war and how battles turn on the smallest of details or the whims of a single man." -- JW Manus, author of The Devil His Due

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An ambitious story of love and betrayal, victory and defeat. In characters drawn from real historical figures, the author delves into the politics of war and how battles turn on the smallest of details or the whims of a single man." -- JW Manus, author of The Devil His Due

About the Author

Sign up to Dave's New Release Mailing List here: bit.ly/dgmlist (Simply cut-and-paste that address into your browser. Your email will never be shared and you will only be contacted when a new book is out.)

David Gaughran is an Irish writer, living in London, who spends most of his time travelling the world, collecting stories.

He runs the publishing blog Let's Get Digital and the South American history site South Americana, has a regular column at Indie Reader, and his work has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, and the Irish Times.

Product Details

• File Size: 1207 KB
• Print Length: 350 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 146818203X
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Arriba Arriba Books (December 20, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006OPORV8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,743 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Storm That Packs A Wallop January 8, 2012

By John Glass

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

A Storm Hits Valparaiso is a work of sweeping historical fiction that captivates and entertains both in terms of the characters and the story narrative. The story follows the exploits of San Martin, a deserter from the Spanish army who returns to South America to fight for the continent's independence from Spain. Of course drawn into all of this are the local inhabitants whose loyalties and actions are tested by the uncertainty of San Martin and his followers' ability to carry out their ambitious task.

Gaughran makes a concerted effort to preserve the accuracy of the historical record and uses the deft touch of his creative imagination to fill in the gaps, as is required in a work of this sort, creating a story that is at once engaging and richly textured.

Adding to this is the world of characters that inhabit the story who are by turns heroic and tragic, vain and magnanimous - in short Gaughran has created believable characters who display the wide range of traits and personalities one would expect in a work of this nature. From military commander to foot soldier to inn keeper to prostitute, each of them attempts to make sense of and survive in a world turned upside down by war and personal tragedy.

The strength of this novel lies in the author's ability to pull together the stories of a wide range of individuals without adversely affecting the story's narrative arc, or worse causing the reader to get too sidetracked in character development at the expense of losing the plot.

I would certainly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys good historical fiction driven by interesting characters and a well conceived and executed narrative.

39 of 45 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good But Not Great February 6, 2012

By Gregory Lynn

Format:Kindle Edition

I have a lot of respect for David Gaughran. I read his blog daily and his non fiction work Let's Get Digital manages to be both inspiring and of practical use so when I saw the chance to get a review copy of his first novel, A Storm Hits Valparaiso I jumped at it, not lease because I saw it as a way of repaying a little bit of what I've gotten from David over the past several months.

A Storm Hits Valparaiso is an epic story of love, hate, brotherhood, power, revenge, and the thirst for independence told from the points of view of a variety of people in positions both high and low. For the sake of perspective, Historical Fiction is not a genre I read a lot and I have no particular interest in South America. My home genre is Epic Fantasy though, so I am fully ready to accept a story that spans a continent where what's at stake is the lives of every single person on the continent.

I wanted to love this book and I ended up just liking it.

Why did I like it?

Well, it has a little bit of everything it claims. There is love, of both the romantic and brotherly varieties. There is the simple struggle for survival of individuals juxtaposed against the larger struggle for the survival of a people with a regional identity. There is the desire of individual slaves to be free smacked right up next to the desire of a nation of people desiring to be free of a colonial power half a world away. In short, it has everything you would want in an epic.

Why then, didn't I love it?

There are two things I would point to but I think they both stem from one overriding factor. The story is too big for the book. I come from a world of Epic Fantasy where doorstopper novels are, if not quite the norm, well within the normal range. A Storm Hits Valparaiso comes in at a bit less than a hundred thousand words which is fairly normal for a novel. But this isn't a normal novel. We don't have a main plot with a few sub plots. Gaughran is trying to tell us a real story from real history and if you haven't noticed, real life is far more complex than your average novel.

To get into the specifics, I think A Storm Hits Valparaiso has two significant flaws.

One is characterization. It is spotty at best. There are, I think, two characters who are decently written though even there, we should have had more. In other cases, including what should have been one of the more emotional subplots there wasn't enough characterization to make me actually care about the character. If I don't care about them I don't care about what happens to them and they--and the novel--lose all the dramatic tension they should have.

The other problem--and it's related--is a showing/telling problem. There are a lot of places where Gaughran tells us something instead of showing us something and the story suffers as a result.

For example, there are two brothers, Jorge and Diego who get separated for a long time. When they get back together they find things aren't quite like they were before and they end up growing apart. Gaughran tells us this and gives us a scene or two to illustrate. It should have been the reverse. Give us nine scenes where we can see that things are different and just a few lines where one of them recognizes the differences.

All in all, if you like historical fiction and/or have a particular affection for South America, I think you'll really enjoy this story.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The War to Free a Continent January 18, 2012

By Cathryn Leigh

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This epic tale of South America's struggle for freedom is told from seven perspectives. Starting with a barmaid in Valparaiso we are lead back and forth across the Atlantic to follow multiple characters. As the story progressed it became a game to figure out who would cross paths with who and how. Sometimes the moment was brief and other times the paths became interwove. Through it all it is clear that war changes everything. I definitely enjoyed reading this.

More About the Author

Sign up to Dave's New Release Mailing List here: bit.ly/dgmlist (Simply cut-and-paste that address into your browser. Your email will never be shared and you will only be contacted when a new book is out.)

David Gaughran is an Irish writer, living in London, who spends most of his time travelling the world, collecting stories.

He runs the publishing blog Let's Get Digital and the South American history site South Americana, has a regular column at Indie Reader, and his work has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, and the Irish Times.