NEW Landau Book Reviews - From My Pen to Yours!

Welcome to my BLOG with Landau Book Reviews and more. It's been a while since I last posted, since I was busy researching, traveling and writing six novels for my Langbourne Series, which did not leave much time for anything else.

However, now I have more time, I am keen to share these reviews. Some reviews I've written, others I've read and both I want to share. You will also read some earlier behind the scenes stories from when I started writing before I completed the Langbourne series of novels.

Alan Landau, author, signing books at the launch of his fourth Langbourne novel, Evolution, in Harare, Zimbabwe. February 2018.

The launch of Evolution in Harare, Zimbabwe. February 2018.

The Author

A little about my background, from where I found myself writing African novels for the younger generation - although it still surprises me how readers of all ages, from across Southern Africa, Australia, the United States and the UK appear to be enjoying these stories as well. I am humbly grateful to each and every one, a big thank you!

My story starts in the warm heart of Africa, where I was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia and later served in the new Zimbabwe Republic Police for a short time, during the civil war in the late 1970s. After my national service, I retired to enter the commercial world, and five years later I joined my father and ultimately took over the family business, when he retired to the UK. Later on, I was involved in the travel, tourism, hotel, property, financial, and retail sectors. I am passionate about service to the community and this took the form of Rotary International with a committed focus on the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. Having since migrated to Brisbane, Australia, I bought a franchise in the retail sector, which I ran successfully with my late wife and two children. In 2012 I sold the business and went into semi-retirement. I now pursue my hobbies of writing, travelling, wildlife safaris and ornithology with my wife, Sharon.

The Langbourne Series

My first novel "Langbourne" was published in 2015. It is a true story and I share in the video on my HOME page why I felt this story just had to be told, and for the younger generation especially. I had heard these stories growing up, handed down from generation to generation in my family, stories which were true yet hard to believe. So on retiring, and thanks to the inspiration of my wife Sharon, I decided to travel the world and find out more. On meeting far flung relatives and friends of the family around the world, the stories grew and I realized that they were too valuable to be lost. So I wrote these books, the last of which was published in 2019.

A Whole New World

If you have read my books, you may see a whole new world, where the past comes alive with many beating drums and hearts. Historical fiction gave me the freedom to relay these stories from the past in a vividly real setting - dusty pictures come alive, distant relatives appear real, personalized, passionate and vibrant. Historical events are seen through a colourful lens, through characters you feel you already know and understand.

The African environment is a backdrop that many of my readers may already be familiar with, or not. Back then, there was no internet, no television, so the Langbourne boys were in perpetual states of astonishment, fear, awe and survival. Life in Africa was incredible for them, full of danger and adventure, opportunity and challenges. History unravelled amidst the harsh landscape, wildlife and people, each vying for survival. Some had already been there for thousands of years, others came, some went, those that survived remained.

I hope you will enjoy this selection of Landau Book Reviews, when I have the chance to read, write and share them.

Some are much appreciated, in-depth reviews of my own books, The Langbourne novels, written by readers online where I will link you to the full review on their blogs and websites.
Some are my own reviews of other African novels which I've read and enjoyed, wriitten by authors, some of whom I already know and respect, and want to share with you here.

Perhaps you have heard that signature African sound, as the sun goes down, of a lone beating drum sharing a story across a brilliant orange sky, across miles of dust laden or rain drenched African bush.

The INTERNET is just as vast, so I hope these blog beats reach you too!