There is a special treat in store for readers of Safar Timura's adventures. In March or April of 1998 a music CD album of original songs inspired by "Wizard Of The Winds" - alternately titled "When The Gods Slept" in the U.K. - will make its debut.

Created by Bjorn Lynne - a highly acclaimed "underground" musician and composer - the album is the result of months of experimentation and plain hard work. It will be released under the British label, Cyclops.

You heard a small sample of the music when you first visited my homepage. Titled "Gundaree & Gundara," it was inspired by the mischevious twin "Favorites" who both help and bedevil Safar Timura during his adventures.

I was flattered when Bjorn first asked if he could base an album on "Wizard" the first volume of the "Timura Trilogy." For an artist in another field to see merit and inspiration in one's own work is high praise, indeed. And then when I listened to his music the flattery turned into a great thrill. As all his fans already know, Bjorn is a marvelous composer and musician. Soon as I heard his songs I was eager to proceed.

Although Bjorn has kindly consulted with me every step of the way during this project, mostly I have sat back marveling at how astutely he has gone to the heart of the novel, evoking the very images that I originally dreamed of while composing the prose for each scene.

Since our first "meeting" on the web, here are some of the things I've learned about this unique young man:

Bjorn is  originally from Norway, but in 1995 he decided to roll the artistic dice and moved to England so he could put all of his efforts  into his art. He now works in his own studio in Yorkshire, England, producing music for CDROM games and his own music albums.

An aside - for those among you who are game fans, here is a brief glimpse of his work in that field: Some of the games he  has produced music for include  Worms 2, Seven Kingdoms, Rasdan, X2, Pinball Addiction, Worms, Alien Breed 3D, Arcade Pool, Project-X, Qwak, Fantastic Voyage, and many others.

Bjorn writes adventure/fantasy and SF based instrumental rock music, with influences from (among others) Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, Genesis, Porcupine Tree, etc.. His debut album from 1992 was called "Hobbits & Spaceships" and to this date the album has sold several thousand copies - even though it has never been available in any record-stores or serious mail order outlets.

Other albums he has released under the Lynne  name include "Montage" (1994), "Dreamstate" (1995), "Witchwood" (1996) and "The Void" (1997).

But don't take my word for his massive talents. Here's a sampling of  what some international  music critics have said about him.
 

But you don't have to take the word of the critics, either. You can hear his wonderful sounds for yourself. Bjorn has kindly put two of the songs from the upcoming "Wizard Of The Winds" album on his homepage for you to sample. Listen to them and enjoy!

The Forbidden Desert: Download song in MP3 format (zipped, about 5 MB)

Thief Of Walaria: Download song in MP3 format (zipped, about 5 MB)

(These files are in a file format called MP3; it's like RealAudio, only the files are larger and the sound quality is far better in MP3 than in RealAudio. Actually, the sound quality in these MP3 files are very close to real CD quality. MP3 files can be played with a program called WinAmp, which is available for free download here. When you download the songs, they are inside a "Zip" package, which you need to "Unzip" to find the MP3 files inside. Then just play these MP3 files using WinAmp.)

Bjorn has his own web page at http://www.lynnemusic.com

While you are visiting Bjorn's page, be sure to browse around and sample the music from his other albums. And please don't leave without buying at least one of his albums. In this age of conformity and mass-market commercialism, artists the world over are struggling to present unique sounds, sights and words to a world that sorely needs their inspiration. You can buy the albums from his page either through mail order, or by credit card.

From his page, you can also subscribe to his free newsletter and keep up with the wonderful world of Bjorn Lynne.

Here is a complete discography of Bjorn's music releases:

Music released under the artist name LYNNE or Bjorn Lynne:

1991: MC: "Bjorn Lynne Demo Tape" - self published - (sold out / deleted / discontinued)
1992: CD: "Hobbits & Spaceships" - self published - still available
1992: MC: "Hobbits & Spaceships - The Extras" - self published - (sold out / deleted / discontinued)
1993: MC: "Brave New Virtual World" - self published (sold out / deleted / discontinued)
1994: CD: "Montage" - self published - still available
1995: CD: "Dreamstate" - Centaur Discs CENCD009 - (sold out / deleted / discontinued)
1996: CD: "Witchwood" - Mellow Records MMP288 - still available
1997: CD: "The Void" - Cyclops/GFT CYCL-051 - still available
1998: CD: "Wizard of the Winds" - Cyclops/GFT CYCL-???- to be released Spring 1998

Music released under the artist name "Dr.Awesome":

1996: CD: "Decade" - self published - still available

Music CDs released with Bjorn's computer game soundtracks:

1996: CD: "X2" - TRSI Records TRSICD004 - still available
1997: CD: "Worms 2 Soundtrack" - SynSoniq Records VCD1 - still available

Track listings, sound clips, online CD ordering and other details are available on Bjorn Lynne's web page.