Bruno Blog

Second term is almost over. This week is the Bologna’s Children Book Fair and Catalan is the literature invited. We’re going to be there with all our titles written in Catalan, a language we want to take care of, and also with all the titles from other countries, obviously. However, I’m glad that a fair such as this, the most important one regarding children and YA, takes into account the Catalan language and helps us open our way into the market, because Catalan authors can’t always have a translation into Spanish and it’s very complicated to sell their books to other countries when it’s been written only in Catalan. Therefore, let’s take this opportunity because every language is enriching and ours has really great authors that help it make it even better.

Bologna is a pretty fair, more relaxing than Frankfurt, but not less important because Children and YA’s literature keeps giving us many joys. The sales of books such as THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, by John Green; THE TRIALS OF APOLLO: THE HIDDEN ORACLE, MAGNUS CHASE AND THE GODS OF ASGARD, by Rick Riordan; the FALLEN series, by Lauren Kate; the saga DIVERGENT, by Veronica Roth or THE LUNAR CHRONICLES, by Marissa Meyer, have allowed us to take a breath in times of crisis and they continue to sell nowadays. So, a literature that had been ignored in the past, is now a driving force in the publishing world and, in our agency in particular, has always been one of its strongest points.

If books exist at home, children and teenagers are going to end up falling in love with it. In a house with no books, it’s difficult for new generations to get hooked on reading, but not impossible. However, I want to encourage parents not to leave this matter only in school’s hands, because we still have a lot of work to do in the family environment and, with everyone’s help, we can achieve that the ones that come after us keep enjoying books. For the ones who are already doing this, we know that it’s one of the biggest pleasures in life and that anyone who doesn’t read is missing on a lot of things. So, today, I’m going to leave you with the complete Bologna’s catalogue so you can enjoy our novelties that are about to come out shortly and that we try they get to other markets. I wish each of these titles triumphs in our country and encourages many kids and teenagers to live life with the best of companions: a good book.

In today’s society, I am not certain if courage and wit would be two of the virtues that I would highlight from among most human beings. During the times of King Arthur, on the other hand, the bravest were the ones that held other’s acknowledgement; the ones that fought for what they believed until they died, and for what they were told to defend. The ones that weren’t afraid, even when their lives were in risk, those who took action for conviction, because it was their duty to reach the end. Wit was also valued: those who were smart, or the good ‘sneaky’ ones, were the people who survived within the society of the times, in which hierarchies were extremely defined, rich and poor. But the witty ones also had a good weapon in a world filled with corruption and badly handled power, like today.

It horrifies me to turn the TV on and watch the news, given the fact that this world is full of even worse than ‘sneaky’ individuals, and the worst of all is that we have to put up with them all. However, there are very few brave people, or honored people, that can reach the top without converting to the ‘dark side’. It is a pity that so few are actually authentic, brave and willing to fight for what they believe. New generations have it all, and maybe it is our fault if they don’t value many of the things they owe and don’t know how to fight for them. It all comes given to them. It is for this very reason that I think a reading like the saga I present here can help new generations to see the importance of values within a community, a kingdom, a society, which is not that different from the one in which we live today. And through Arthurian myths, we can make these new generations see life from the perspective of effort, the need to fight for things, and teach them that life is about ‘giving and receiving’ and not a unidirectional pathway.

THE BRITANNIA SAGA is a big bet, an epic story, full of magic and adventures that will take the reader to unique places, where courage and wit are fundamental to save life and honor. In this first volume of THE SAGA, Gwen is the daughter of queen Igraine, and Lance is a knight of the court. The princess, heir of the throne, is in big danger because Saxons have entered London and want to conquest the kingdom. Merlin (the famous magician) and Uriens have designed a plan for the princess to escape safe and sound. But in the darkness of the city, behind every corner, the spies of the Saxons are aware of a salvation plan that might be harder to execute than the magician believes. For all of you who enjoy Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings, this saga is not going to deceive you, you will devour the book but keep calm, there are still three other books to come and understand the great times of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.