BSU Books: Spring
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BSU Books: Spring
Monday, 24 March, 2025With the arrival of warmer weather and a bit more sunshine, it's the perfect time to find a nice spot in your garden - or even on our lovely campus - and get stuck into a good book. Here are the latest books from our Bath Spa University community that have made us #BathSpaProud
A Language of Dragons – S.F. Williamson, MA Writing for Young People
Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons.
London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.
Dancing on Knives – Joanne Rush, Professional Development Officer
Laura, a Bosnian war survivor and Cambridge University librarian, has long tried to forget the horrors of her past. But when she and her husband Adam move to Serbia, disturbing memories start to emerge. Adam’s work as a British diplomat takes him on a mission to capture war criminal General Ratko Mladić, leaving Laura isolated in the very country that invaded her own.
Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age – Eleanor Barraclough, Senior Lecturer in Environmental History
In imagining a Viking, a certain image springs to mind: a barbaric warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorize the hapless local population of a northern European town. Yet while such characters define our imagination of the Viking Age today, they were in the minority.
Instead, in the time-stopping soils, water, and ice of the North, Eleanor Barraclough excavates a preserved lost world, one that reimagines a misunderstood society.
Embers of the Hands has also recently been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.
By Way of Paris – Christopher J Newman, MA Creative Writing
Luke’s life in North Carolina sucks until things start to look up when he sets off for a writing program in London, spending the month before his course exploring Europe. But his dream trip quickly derails in Paris after he discovers a body at a party and is blackmailed into hiding the evidence. Arriving in London, Luke decides that crafting the perfect novel will help him overcome the Paris catastrophe.
When Snow Falls Like Fire – Anne Leone, MA Writing for Young People
Ever since government agents murdered her best friend, Raya has planned her escape. The sixteen-year-old grew up in a federally designated Dead Zone, a hollowed-out city whose people were stripped of their citizenship rights. Except Raya is lucky enough to work for her grandmother’s burgeoning virtual-media company. Creating a best-selling game could be Raya’s ticket out for good.
But Raya’s plans fall apart when her best friend reappears as a ghost. This is no game. Marcus challenges Raya to stay and craft her virtual-reality entertainments into weapons of war.
The Girl and the Robot Heart – Neal Hoskins, MA Creative Writing
Set in a sleepy town on Christmas Eve, the story begins with a conversation between a girl and her toy robot, who wants to know what's inside a human heart. Describing it as a series of rooms filled with storybooks, the girl sets about building the robot a heart of its own by telling stories about the quiet little town she calls home.
Do you have a story to tell? Our Creative Writing courses can help you find your voice and take your writing to the next level.