About

Barry Mathias, B.Ed.,M.A. emigrated to Canada with his wife, Clare, and his elder daughter, Lara in 1990.  He taught English at Camosun College, Victoria, BC, and on taking early retirement he opened a bookstore on Pender Island. He is now a full-time writer, who has published novels, short stories, and poems.  His younger daughter, Natasha Smith, emigrated to British Columbia with her husband in 1996, and is the illustrator of the unique artwork on the front covers of all three books of the Ancient Bloodlines Trilogy  (www.natashasmith.net).

The Power in the Dark is the first book of The Ancient Bloodlines Trilogy, and was originally published by Salal Press of Victoria in 1997.  It was well received by young adults and adults in BC.  It has since been republished by Agio Publishing House in its revised form together with the second book in the Trilogy – Shadow of the Swords. The third book,  Keeper of the Grail, was published in April 2010. The Trilogy has received great acclaim and is available at www.amazon.ca; www.amazon.com; www.amazon.co.uk

My fourth novel, Celtic Dreams of Glory, is available on the above sites and as an E Book. It is an exciting Welsh tale based on historical fact about Gruffydd ap Llewellyn, the only King who ever ruled all of Wales. It ends in the year 1063, only three years before the coming of the Normans.

Barry developed and implemented the Car Stop system on Pender Island, which has since been taken up by Salt Spring Island, Mayne Island, Saturna Island, Quadra Island, and Bowen Island. For his work on this project, Barry received the 2011 Community Stewardship Award from the Islands Trust.