Fantasy Book News & Reviews

Experiment: Using a Netbook as an E-Reader

2009-11-10T11:58:00.002-06:00

I've made it known that I am attempting to make the move to ebooks now. I have the Barnes & Noble nook on pre-order at the moment. It isn't due to arrive until November 30 (approximately), so I still have a 3 week wait. While waiting, I did some more research into ereader options, and came across one I hadn't thought of before: using a netbook as an e-reader device. I did some shopping around online and stopped by my local best buy yesterday and decided to pick up this:Gateway LT Series 10.1-Inch Netbook (Over 7 Hours of Battery Life). The reason I decided to demo a netbook is mostly due to features and price. For pretty much the same price as a dedicated ereader, I found out I could have a netbook..which i could use for more than just reading. Though I do have an iPhone and a macbook, so I'm planning on using the netbook primarily as an ereader. I have a 14 day return window for the netbook, so I'm planning on using it a lot the next 2 weeks. If I decide I like it, I will keep it and cancel the nook order. If I don't like it, I will return it and go with the nook.

There are some big differences between the netbook and a dedicated ereader, so below is my list of advantages/disadvantages for the netbook vs an ereader:

Netbook Advantages:
-Bigger screen. Instead of a 6-inch e-ink screen, I have a 10.1 inch LED display.
-Backlighting - able to read in the dark without a book light.
-Although not a primary concern, I can use the netbook for other things like checking email.
-I can buy ebooks from ANY ebookstore. No device lock-in due to a vendor specific device.
-I can read ANY format. And pdf's should be no problem. I do sometimes read technical books (java & iphone programming), and these will be much easier to read on the netbook.
-Amazon and B&N both have PC ereader software. Thus, theoretically, they should synch up with the iPhone versions. Meaning when I read on the PC, then open the Kindle or BN ereader on the iPhone, the app should open to the last page i read on the PC. nice.

Netbook Disadvantages:
-Lack of e-ink screen. While I do like the e-ink screen and find it much closer to a printed page, I actually don't have a problem with glare or eyestrain on backlit screens. With this new netbook, I turned the screen brightness all the way down, used a black background and grey text, and to me, the reading quality is pretty darn close to an e-ink screen. Definitely not the same, but close enough for me.
-form factor. the ereader is definitely smaller, lighter and more portable. But the netbook is also definitely smaller than a regular notebook, and it weighs under 3 lbs.

So..i have to decide if the flexibility of the netbook makes up for the increased size and weight. The ereader can be held like a book, while the netbook would still sit in my lap. I'll post more updates here on the blog as I spend more time with the netbook.

out of curiosity: is anyone else using their laptop or a netbook for ebook reading? Or is anyone else going through the netbook vs e-reader debate like I am?

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

New Releases: Week of November 9, 2009

2009-11-10T10:58:00.003-06:00

Below is the list of this week's new fantasy releases, according to Amazon. Links take you to the product page for more details.

Full Circle (The Castings Trilogy) by Pamela Freeman (tpb, kindle)

An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe (tpb, kindle)

The House of the Stag by Kage Baker (tpb)

A Young Man Without Magic by Lawrence Watt-Evans (hc. I would be interested in this if I could find a digital version. I like the plot, so hopefully an ebook version shows up somewhere. The Publisher's Weekly review on the bn.com site isn't reassuring, however)

Everlost (The Skinjacker Trilogy) by Neal Shusterman (pb, kindle)

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Today in Fantasy: The Gathering Storm Edition

2009-11-10T10:51:00.001-06:00

Most of you have probably already read most of these reviews, but I'll post 'em anyway. Instead of sprinkling them in with the normal review links, for some reason I wanted to wait until I have quite a few, and just do a special post of just The Gathering Storm reviews. Since it was announced yesterday that The Gathering Storm is now the #1 fiction book in the US (the New York Times list I think?), I thought today would be a good day to post all those review links I have collected. So take a look, in case there is one you missed.

Reviews:

There is a momentum shift in the final third of the book, when Sanderson finally kicks it into high gear. But the first two-thirds of The Gathering Storm suffer from broken rhythm. I felt that there were a number of missed opportunities and a few scenes were impaired by faulty execution.

link: Pat's Fantasy Hotlist: The Gathering Storm

How was I to write a review of a work that is likely to gather high praise from most as well as some few detractors? But the truth is my dilemma is a false one. You see, the Wheel of Time series is too deeply personal to me for me to be the objective reviewer I usually try to be. The Eye of the World came off the library shelf at a time when I was feeling a void in my life, a powerful feeling of hopelessness and despair that pervaded my workaday existence. The Eye of the World and its sequels brought me characters who struggled against impossible odds, yet triumphed at each and every turn, even as their own souls were damaged by the choices they were forced to make. This series of fiction brought to me a sense of hope, a joy in wonder. So I cannot be the objective reviewer I usually seek to be. The Wheel of Time is part and parcel of my self, as much a part of my psyche as my family and social upbringing.

link: Book Review: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson – Grasping for the Wind

It’s also appropriate for me to say that I’ve been one of those insane fans endlessly discussing these books on the internet. I’ve been reading The Wheel of Time since the mid-1990s and I’ve re-read the series multiple times. I think true objectivity in reviews is a fallacy, but I do believe that reviews need to be thorough and fair. So know that I’m a biased fanboy but also someone striving to write a decent, holistic view of The Gathering Storm that won’t come off feeling liked the biased praise of just another blind fan.

link: Neth Space: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

For those wanting to know if Sanderson would manage to capture the essence of the late Jordan's writing style or if his passages would integrate well with the ones Jordan had completed before his death, it will be difficult for most of the time to discern which author wrote which passage. Sanderson's interpretations of the two main characters of this story, Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, and Egwene al'Vere, the rebel Amyrlin, are almost pitch-perfect. What I found interesting about Sanderson's treatment of the characters is just how well they are integrated with Jordan's earlier development of them.

link: OF Blog of the Fallen: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, The Gathering Storm

As I finished the last page, bleary eyed and sleepy, the only thought that came to mind was “thank you, thank you”. I have been involved with Rand, Mat, and Perrin for longer than I care to think, and finally getting the ball rolling on the end of their epic adventure let me breath a great, and much needed sigh of relief – something akin to a junky finally getting a fix, but without all the negative connotations. In short, that is exactly what The Gathering Storm sought to achieve, to get the ball rolling, to get the story moving, to bring it towards a much-anticipated culmination, and most importantly, to give fans of the Wheel of Time much needed closure. Now ware readers, for the review that follows is steeped in spoilers.

link: Review: The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson | Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Another concern was that originally these last three books were supposed to be one volume, A Memory of Light, and Sanderson actually wrote the bulk of the text under the impression it was going to be probably split in two. The decision to split the book in three instead resulted in much recrimination, although at 800 pages in hardcover (and assuming the second and third come in at a similar size) and well over 300,000 words, tying it with Knife of Dreams as the longest book in the series since Lord of Chaos, it's clear this could never have been done in just two books either. One problem with this split was that since Sanderson hadn't been writing with three books in mind, The Gathering Storm would feel incomplete or unsatisfying on its own. This is not the case at all. In fact, The Gathering Storm has the most cohesive through-line in story, character and theme of any book in the series since The Shadow Rising, and possibly out of all of them.

link: The Wertzone: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

God, I’ve missed it so much. I had a very emotional reaction to this book. The question of whether Jordan substitute Brandon Sanderson is up to finishing the series has been answered. He is. Thank you, Brandon Sanderson. Not only did we enjoy your stellar Mistborn series, along with the rest of Team Jordan, you have already gone some way towards realising the dreams of likely hundreds of thousands (millions?) of Wheel of Time fans who have been dying for this series to be finished in a way that will honour Robert Jordan, arguably the best fantasy author of our time. Keep up the good work.

link: The Gathering Storm: Review by Keeping the Door

Let’s just get one thing cleared up before we start here. If it wasn’t obvious by the last eleven posts of the series re-read, I’m a bit of a Wheel of Time fanboy. There’s nothing I can do about that and I’m quite happy with it. This is a seminal series of my fantasy reading life and Robert Jordan has stuck with me over the last fifteen years when other authors failed me. So, please understand that while I may recognize flaws in the novel (and the series), I can easily gloss over them because this is a series I love dearly. Never is anything so egregious that it will hamper my enjoyment of the series.

link: Adventures in Reading: The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

There have been a number of well-written reviews for The Gathering Storm. So rather then belaboring many of the points covered elsewhere or echoing the slightly off-putting voice Sanderson employed for a one Matrim Cauthon (though the elderly aunt conversation did have me literally laugh out loud but there was something vaguely Erikson in that exchange) or even summarizing the plot up until this point I will recommend that you check one of the many fine reviews already out there. Instead I’d like to take the time to look at, and praise, the theme that runs through the entirety of novel: identity.

link: Sa souvraya niende misain ye: Identity and The Gathering Storm « King of the Nerds!!!

Angry Robot Books Announces US Release Schedule

2009-11-06T12:59:00.003-06:00

Angry Robot has announced their US book release schedule. Details below:

May
Moxyland" by Lauren Beukes
"Slights" by Kaaron Warren
"Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero" by Dan Abnett
"White Tiger" by Kylie Chan
"Winter Song" by Colin Harvey
"Kells Legend" by Andy Remic

June
"Amortals" by Matt Forbeck
"Damage Time" by Colin Harvey
"Sixty-One Nails" by Mike Shevdon
"Red Phoenix" by Kylie Chan
"Zoo City" by Lauren Beukes
"Soul Stealers" by Andy Remic

July
"Blue Dragon" by Kylie Chan
"Nekropolis" by Tim Waggoner
"Vegas Knights" by Matt Forbeck
"The Crown of the Blood" by Gav Thorpe
"Walking the Tree" by Kaaron Warren

August
"City of Dreams and Nightmare" by Ian Whates
"Death's Disciples" by J Robert King
"Edge" by Thomas Blackthorne
"Embedded" by Dan Abnett
"The Road to Bedlam" by Mike Shevdon

September
"Dead Streets" by Tim Waggoner
"Book of Secrets" by Chris Roberson
"King Maker" by Maurice Broaddus
"Point" by Thomas Blackthorne
"Servant of the Underworld" by Aliette de Bodard

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Interesting Comment on the E-Book Conversion Process at Amazon

2009-11-06T08:15:00.003-06:00

While reading the comments on the Tor post about the Wheel of Time ebook release schedule, I came across this from Pablo Defendini. It is his response to some folks questions about why the Kindle versions of The Eye of the World have a minor formatting issue at the beginning of each chapter. This is comment #15, if you want to check the original post for more details:

The ebooks all have maps and chapter images, as well as drop caps at the beginning of each chapter and other niceties. The maps, in particular, are nice: they are relatively high resolution scans, so you can even zoom in if you have the right hardware.

Speaking of hardware: Unfortunately, since Amazon handles the conversion from our source file (an ePub file, which is the de-facto open standard for ebooks, as opposed to their proprietary Kindle format) internally, after we hand them our file, the quality on Kindle editions leaves much to be desired (it's an automated process within Amazon, so we don't get to peek into that black box, much less get oversight once the file comes out the other end, before it's made available for sale). As a result, things like the maps, the formatting and such, that look great on all the other e-editions of the books, look bad or don't show up on the Kindle edition. For example, maps don't show on the Kindle sometimes, there is no table of contents, and drop caps look like Artanian's first letter on its own line. By all means, complain to Amazon. They listen to their customers much, much more than they listen to publishers, actually.

My advice, if you really want a nice e-edition? Don't go with the Amazon version (I know, I know: if you own a Kindle, you're kinda locked into the Amazon store. But that's a bigger conversation about open formats and device agnosticism). Of all the other retailers who have The Eye of the World available (B&N, Sony, etc.), Sony is the best-looking; they take our file as-is, and don't alter or convert it at all.

I find that pretty interesting. And it makes me wonder if its worth saving a buck or two to buy the Kindle version, if the conversion process lacks quality control. Does anyone at Amazon even look at the files, or due to the volume is it just totally automated? If I have to spend a little extra to ensure I get the formatting specified by the publisher, I think its worth it. I am guessing Sony is the best because they are now an epub shop (if their conversion is complete). B&N plans to move to epub with the release of the nook, so hopefully their epub files will be the exact same as the publisher's, just like Sony. I would guess Pablo's comment about B&N is probably due to them still using the eReader format in their store.

Do Pablo's comments surprise anyone? Does it make you want to consider a different ebook store (i.e not Amazon) if it means having more confidence in the quality of the ebook you will buy?

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Wheel of Time E-Book Publishing Schedule

2009-11-06T08:11:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Aidan (A Dribble of Ink) for pointing this out..I somehow missed it. Below is the release schedule for the Wheel of Time ebooks. You know I'll be picking up each of them (well, except for the split books versions..the ones at the end of November 2010):

October 27, 2009: The Eye of the World

November 17, 2009: The Great Hunt

December 15, 2009: The Dragon Reborn

January 19, 2010: The Shadow Rising

February 16, 2010: The Fires of Heaven

March 16, 2010: Lord of Chaos

April 20, 2010: A Crown of Swords

May 18, 2010: The Path of Daggers

June 22, 2010: Winter’s Heart

July 20, 2010: Crossroads of Twilight

August 24, 2010: Knife of Dreams

September 28, 2010: New Spring

November 2, 2010: The Gathering Storm

November 16, 2010: From Two Rivers

November 16, 2010: To The Blight

November 16, 2010: The Hunt Begins

November 16, 2010: New Threads in the Pattern

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Today in Fantasy: November 4, 2009

2009-11-04T09:02:00.001-06:00

FBNR Stuff:

While I am waiting on my nook to arrive (supposed to ship Nov 30), I thought I would try to read a couple of paperbacks. I know once my nook arrives, I will be reading mostly ebooks for awhile. Pyr was kind enough to send me all 3 of the Chronicles of the Raven books. I already reviewed (and loved) the first one. I started Noonshade but put it down because I just have more interest in reading digital versions (and there is none for the Raven books). Since there is about a 4 week gap between when i read the first 200 pages, and when I started it again this week, the review will be a little different. But, I'm on page 280 (of 410 or so) and enjoying it. I think I actually prefer Dawnthief so far, but not by a lot. Noonshade has been very enjoyable, and is getting even better as I approach the end.

Author News:

-Looks like Paul S. Kemp is done writing for Wizards of the Coast. So the book he was working on, Godborn, will not be published. Too bad, I know the Cale stories were pretty popular. Seems like Wizards of the Coast is falling on some tough times in the book world. I don't see anyone really talking about the Eberron novels, and i thought I read that after December, no more Dragonlance books would be published for awhile (need to find confirmation of that).

-You can read the first 3 chapters of David B. Coe's final Blood of the Southlands novel, The Dark Eyes' War, here.

Reviews:

Is this a better book because the last couple weren’t quite as good? Yeah, maybe. I’m not exactly unbiased here and I can only admit that I love this series and frequently overlook flaws. But, this one is just better than Wheel of Time had been for a while

link: Adventures in Reading: Knife of Dreams, by Robert Jordan

For me the plot is like the skin layers of an onion. So far I didn't talk much about my secret star of the series: The Chathrand. Mr. Redick's depiction of the sailing vessel and the life on board is most imposing. I got nearly seasick on the sofa when I read the novel.

link: Review: The Rats and the Ruling Sea by Robert V.S. Redick | Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy

....But the actual threat bears no connection whatsoever to the remainder of the book, and the resolution of it - and the book - is slightly, well, laughable. It's a deux-ex-machina to the extreme, insipid, and meanders slightly.

link: Drying Ink: Review|Hawkspar - Holly Lisle

Character-wise, “The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart” revolves around Hegel and Manfried Grossbart, two of the most vicious and appalling protagonists I’ve ever set eyes on. Crude, selfish, and nasty, the Brothers Grossbart are characters that filled me with disgust and who I would root against at every opportunity. Yet for all that I disliked Hegel and Manfried Grossbart, at the same time I found the twins to be quite fascinating thanks to Jesse’s wild imagination and detailed rendering.

link: Fantasy Book Critic: “The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart” by Jesse Bullington (Reviewed by Robert Thompson)

Tempest Rising is a short, entertaining read. It had some humor, which was rather hit or miss. Sometimes it was quite humorous, but other times it seemed to be overdone and trying too hard. There was a lot of sex - too much for my taste - and for a while I was thinking it seemed more like a paranormal romance. I decided I wouldn't actually label it a paranormal romance, though, just because it didn't seem, well, romantic.

link: Fantasy Cafe: Reviews of Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler

For me, as someone who genuinely enjoys a lot of different types and genres of fiction, Finch is one of the best books that I’ve read in years. It is also the book I’ve been waiting to read for years without knowing it. Beyond that, though, when all is said and done, Finch will be among the best books of the year.

link: Finch by Jeff VanderMeer – review » BSCreview

I really like the direction of this series and feel it has a very bright future. This will sound corny but as I finishing up this book there was a huge magic battle scene and a strange thought came into my head, this is like Harry Potter but for adults. This is series is becoming that good and easily becoming one of my favorites.

link: Robots and Vamps » RaV Book Review: Magic in the Shadows by Devon Monk

It's nothing of any great consequence, but it's certainly a quick engaging read. Salvatore keeps the plot moving along at a good clip, but he doesn't stint on his characters. These folks aren't as instantly engaging as the characters in his popular Drizzt books, (which are my favourite fun reads), but they're still fun to read about. They face some interesting moral dilemmas, too, in addition to the excellent fight scenes Salvatore's known for.

link: Stella Matutina - 146. Canticle by R.A. Salvatore

Basically, if the author had spent as much time and effort on developing the fantasy parts of the novel as he did the rest of the book, then “The Cardinal’s Blades” would have been profoundly better.

link: Fantasy Book Critic: “The Cardinal’s Blades” by Pierre Pevel (Reviewed by Robert Thompson)

I hate to say this because I very much like this series and hope for a satisfying conclusion with some future volume, but Chasing the Dragon was a bit of a disappointment. There are some interesting things going on here, a couple of major developments, but they don't add up to enough to recommend the book. Even though we don’t know what the larger picture is supposed to be, there is little sense of how Chasing the Dragon really connects to the previous books.

link: Adventures in Reading: Chasing the Dragon, by Justina Robson

Series Finale: The Silver Mage by Katharine Kerr

2009-11-03T13:01:00.002-06:00

Here is the debut of the new feature I mentioned last week, where I post a short feature/reminder on the publishing of concluding books in a series. Today, the 15th and final book in the Deverry series,The Silver Mage, hits stores. There is a temporary (I assume) LiveJournal site to celebrate the series conclusion here. The author's home page, including lots of info on the Deverry series, is here. I own 13 of the first 15 in mass market paperback, and hope to read them someday. However, I'm disappointed that only the last 4 in the series are available in ebook form. It seems like as part of the marketing for this series, they could have made an attempt to publish digital versions of all of the books...kinda how Tor is doing with the Wheel of Time. Though in this case I don't see a reason they should be published one per month. With ebooks gaining more visibility, I would have thought it made sense for them (Daw) to publish the entire series in ebook form, and add that to the marketing push. Maybe Daw doesn't own all of the series, in which case I would understand. But if they do have rights to all 15, seems like a missed opportunity. Plus, as part of the marketing push, I would have made the ebook for the first book, Daggerspell, free. Sorta like a "To celebrate the publishing of the final Deverry novel, we would like to announce that the entire series is now available in ebook format. And new readers can start the series by downloading Daggerspell for free."

At least that is my opinion. But hey, what do I know?

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

New Releases: Week of November 2, 2009

2009-11-03T08:35:00.002-06:00

Below is the list of new fantasy related releases this week, according to Amazon. As usual, links take you to the Amazon page for more details.

Grand Conspiracy by Janny Wurts (mmpb, kindle)

Finch by Jeff Vandermeer (tpb)

The Golden Tower: Book Two of The Warriors of Estavia by Fiona Patton (mmpb, kindle. Note that the kindle edition is still listed at 14.97, even though the mmpb is now available for 7.99. Hopefully the kindle price drops to match the mmpb price)

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier (hc, kindle)

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier (mmpb, kindle. Note this too has the high Kindle price reflecting the hc edition. Now that the mmpb is out, the kindle price should drop. At least that is normally the case)

The Lord-Protector's Daughter (Corean Chronicles) by L.E. Modesitt, Jr (mmpb, kindle. Kindle price still reflecting the hc. I know Amazon had problems with the Kindle store yesterday, wondering if these pricing issues are a side-effect? I would guess it is Amazon's job to make these pricing changes, right? They are normally pretty quick to drop the kindle price when the mmpb editions hit shelves.)

Magic in the Shadows: An Allie Beckstrom Novel by Devon Monk (mmpb, kindle)

Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set by Brandon Sanderson (mmpb box set. Not really a new release, but getting them all in one box set is. And at $16.17 for the entire set, its really like getting one free. So if you have been meaning to check out this series, this might be a good way to buy it.)

The Silver Mage: Book Four of the Silver Wyrm by Katharine Kerr (hc, kindle. The end of the Deverry series)

Son of Khyber: Thorn of Breland, Book 2 by Keith Baker (mmpb. Outside of Weiss & Hickman & Salvatore, Wizards of the Coast must not be a believer in ebooks.)

The Trouble With Heroes by Denise Little (mmpb, kindle)

Agents of Artifice: A Planeswalker Novel (Planeswalkers) by Ari Marmell (mmpb)

Born of Fire (A League Novel) by Sherrilyn Kenyon (mmpb, kindle)

The Breath of God by Harry Turtledove (mmpb, kindle)

Corsair: Blades of the Moonsea, Book II (Blades of Moonsea) by Richard Baker (mmpb)

Crusade: Destroyermen, Book II by Taylor Anderson (mmpb, kindle)

Death Masks: A Novel of the Dresden Files (The Dresden Files, Book 5) by Jim Butcher (hc, kindle. I am guessing this is the initial release of the hardcover edition, since the first several books were mmpb only.)

The Dragon Book: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy by various authors (hc, kindle)

Elegy Beach by Steven R. Boyett (hc, kindle)

The Fall of Highwatch: Chosen of Nendawen, Book I by Mark Sehestedt (mmpb. Wizards of the Coast is 0 for 4 in releasing digital editions today.)

Fade Out (Morganville Vampires, Book 7) by Rachel Caine (mmpb, kindle)

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Couldn't Finish It: Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman

2009-11-02T13:23:00.002-06:00

Saturday night, at around the 50% complete mark, I decided to stop reading Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman. (note: since I didn't finish the book, this isn't an official review, hence I also decided to leave off the cover art for this post).I'll keep this short so it doesn't sound like I am banging on this book. The writing quality and story were fine, I simply didn't care about any of the characters, and even more important, had no sense the plot had moved forward at all. And the pacing, for me, was too slow. While I appreciate the time spent on world and character building, I felt this occurred at the expense of the story. Sure, the characters were well fleshed out, and the author did a very good job giving the world a sense of place and a tangible history. But, after reading half the book, I didn't feel like any progress has been made in the story. And quite honestly, none of the characters made a connection with me. Going into this, based on other reviews, I know this wasn't the traditional fantasy I normally read. But neither is Best Served Cold or The Long Price Quartet. I can like a book without a quest, or much magic, or elves, dwarves, etc. As long as I care about the story, and heck, as long as I feel there is a story. In this case, I had no feeling for what the plot was supposed to be. I mean, there are hints, and of course I had more hints from the back cover. But at the halfway point, I felt like no real progress had been made on the actual story. It still felt like we were building the characters' and the world's background.

After wondering if I should continue, I decided to check my review index to see what other bloggers had to say. And I found my opinion closely matched Aidan's, and the reviewer at BSC Reviews. And while Jon (Grasping for the Wind) likes the series thus far, his review of book 2 makes me think I would have the same issues in the sequel. Thus, I can't really find the desire to continue. I can see how others would really like this story, and I did think the first-person "story" sections were very well done. I think the best way to phrase my opinion is this: I think this book and I just weren't meant for each other.

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

EBook: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan Now Available

2009-10-30T16:24:00.003-05:00

As you can imagine with me moving to mostly digital reading, I'm pretty happy to see the Wheel of Time books (officially) hits stores in ebook format. They should be coming once a month. I'll probably try to read each one as it comes out (starting next month). If I can read 1 Wheel of Time ebook per month, by the time I get to The Gathering Storm, book 13 should be out (hopefully with physical and digital simultaneous releases. The cover you see here is the new artwork for book 1, The Eye of the World. Not sure if I like it better than the original, but I'll pick it up with that cover anyway. I believe the Kindle store has the book with both the new and old cover, so you have a choice if Kindle is your format.

In case others are interested, here are some places you can get the book. The link in the storename should take you to the page for the book on that site.

Barnes & Noble: Price: $9.99, Format: .pdb (B&N doesn't explicitly tell you the format, but I downloaded the sample, and it was .pdb, so I assume the full book is also. With the Nook coming out, supposedly they are moving to Adobe .epub, so I'll probably wait for my Nook, and hope they have made the switch to .epub by then).

Amazon: Price: $9.99, Format: Kindle (interesting, they only have the version with the new cover now. Maybe I'm crazy, but I would SWEAR I saw 2 editions on Tuesday)

BooksOnBoard: Price: 13.46, Format: Adobe epub, and Adobe Digital Editions pdf. (I think BoB has moved to the epub format..need to browse around to confirm. If so, I also believe I should be able to buy books from here, and still read them on the Nook, since the Nook is supposed to support Adobe epub AND the B&N epub. I think.)

Fictionwise: Doesn't carry it. Odd. Still not sure why B&N doesn't combine Fictionwise into their ebook store. Unless its due to B&N moving to .epub, and they want to keep Fictionwise around for the ereader format customers.

Diesel Ebooks: Price: $15.00, Format: Adobe epub and pdf (Funny..if you search the store for Robert Jordan, this book comes up with the old cover. But on the product page, it doesn't even show a cover).

Sony EBook Store: Price: $10.50, Format: ? (Not sure if this is .lrf or .epub. Sony is moving to epub, but not sure if they have made that move yet, and the page doesnt tell the format. The filesize is twice the size of the Diesel ebooks epub, so I am guessing its lrf. But I could be wrong)

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Two Different Covers for Burn Me Deadly by Alex Bledsoe

2009-10-30T12:36:00.002-05:00

I don't really have much commentary to add to this post. I just happened to be searching for the ebook of Burn Me Deadly by Alex Bledsoe on the Barnes & Noble website (Amazon has a pre-order for it, but the Kindle version is almost $17!. Lately, it seems Amazon is pricing Tor ebooks around 15 bucks, but B&N, when they have them, are only 9.99). I didn't see a pre-order for the ebook, but I did see listings for the audio book. What struck me as interesting about this, is how different the 2 covers are. Is it common for audio books to have different cover art than the print edition? Is there any significance in regards to the audio cover looking way more mainstream than the print cover? Anyway, I thought someone out there besides me might find this interesting :)

Note: the first (top) image is the hardcover book, the second (bottom) image is the audiobook cover.

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Today in Fantasy: October 30, 2009

2009-10-30T08:05:00.001-05:00

FBNR Stuff:

I had absolutely no time to read yesterday, so still stuck on 30% complete reading Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman on my iPhone. Quite a bit of my free reading time is also spent reading the online forums at B&N and Mobileread to keep up to date on the latest Nook info, to make sure my pre-order was the right move. So far, I still think it is.

Reviews:

Shepherd could have done more to make the belief systems a little vibrant and more real, since they are such a large part of the motivations of many of the primary and secondary characters. The story is about a religious civil war, but the religion part of it is the least understood of the whole novel and it sadly damages the effectiveness of the tale.

link: Book Review: Sasha by Joel Shepherd | Grasping for the Wind

Harry Potter and Hogwarts this ain’t. Nor is it very much at all like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. But, if you like reading books about sometimes witty, often kooky wizards and the academic halls where said wizards teach – in this case, the Unseen University – and which also include in their cast of characters trolls, vampires, goblins, and orcs, then you owe it to yourself to check out Terry Pratchett’s latest Discworld book, Unseen Academicals.

link: Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett Review » BSCreview

Bacigalupi is a voice that must be heard. Paolo's work is sure to influence the next generation of writers, but I fear he will become a writers' writer. Meaning that he'll garner high praise and good reviews, but not the large sales he truly deserves for the almost too realistic views and ideas of a future I hope never happens. In the end The Windup Girl is a bit too depressing for my taste but it has an amazing setting with a great opening and almost as good ending yet suffers in the middle with a less than great storyline and mostly unlikeable characters.

link: REVIEW | The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books) ~ Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review

If you want to "feed" your brain holodeck with a sweeping mix of hard boiled detecive fiction, fantasy and a squeeze of mystery presented in a extreme vivid narrative style then put Burn Me Deadly on your to buy list.

link: Review: Burn Me Deadly, by Alex Bledsoe | Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy

The prose is arguably the novel's strongest point: fluid and atmospheric, and underpinned by a classic, dry British humour that really makes the novel. There are some truly excellent puns, which I won't repeat here. That said, I must admit I didn't find the novel as funny as I hoped - much of the humour brought a smile to my face, but mostly didn't make me laugh (the bath-house scene was a notable exception - if only there were more scenes that made use of that style of humour). At times it did feel like the humour was a little excessive - less is often more.

link: Speculative Horizons: Book review: Triumff - Her Majesty's Hero by Dan Abnett

I thoroughly enjoyed these novels. The characters are unabashedly Christan, except when they are Muslim. The Muslim character’s Muslim-ness could have been explored a bit more. I could not classify this as a Christian novel, because the theme is not Christian-centric. Yes, the subjects are Christian, but you don’t get the impression that the author has an agenda here. There are evil Christians and there are good Christians. The character spends such a short amount of time in the Holy Land that you don’t really have the opportunity to explore any evil Muslims. Mr. Spradlin toes a delicate line here, but eliminated much of the difficulty for himself by keeping the characters mostly in Europe.

link: Debuts & Reviews – The Youngest Templar by Michael P. Spradlin

Taking 9 main characters, with 9 separate backgrounds and trying to develop their flaws and strengths proved to be an impossible feat. Along with the main characters, there is also the story line being built, and the occasional bad guy, such as the main leader of the werewolf clan, and the Oracle, that also have backgrounds and history that needed to be presented. With so much going on with the characters one would think that there be a lot going on. Sadly, it appears that a lot of characters got overlooked or not developed properly due to the fact that there are so many in this book. Occasionally a character that felt like he could use more would act very one sided or predictable.

link: Fantasy Book Critic: "The Stolen Moon of Londor" Book One of the White Shadow Saga by A. P. Stephens (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)

Shame on me, for taking so long to read a book that I always expected to like yet somehow never quite got round to starting until recently. Robert V.S. Redick’s fantasy debut is an enjoyable, fast-paced and engaging book that left me wanting more (and fortunately, the second volume in the trilogy, The Rats and the Ruling Sea, is published at the end of October). There are shades of Scott Lynch’s approach to fantasy in Redick’s work: he does not sacrifice pace or narrative verve on the altar of excessive world-building, and he imbues his characters and plot with a hint of the melodramatic, to create fantasy that does not try to take itself too seriously, and which carries the reader along nicely.

link: Simon A’s Review: The Red Wolf Conspiracy, by Robert V.S. Redick | Bookgeeks

In all my years of reading, I don’t think I’ve ever met any character that is as black hearted, murderous, cold blooded and downright vicious as a single Grossbart. The fact that there are two Grossbarts means that the ‘evil quotient’ is doubled and, as a result, the reader is in for a bit of a treat if they’re after a ‘road trip of destruction’ that spans Medieval Europe and heads into Africa.

link: Graeme's Fantasy Book Review: ‘The Sad Tale of the Brother’s Grossbart’ – Jesse Bullington (Orbit)

Where The Way of Shadows leaned heavily on the action scenes the pace in this book slows down just a little, to allow a bit more worldbuilding to slip into the story. Personally, I feel Shadow's Edge is a bit more balanced and a much better read than previous novel. In fact, for a middle book it has a surprisingly satisfying end.

link: Val's Random Comments: Shadow's Edge - Brent Weeks

Music: 1372 Overton Park by Lucero

2009-10-28T15:42:00.002-05:00

Quick music recommendation for you here. I bought 1372 Overton Park by Lucero 3 or so weeks ago when it came out, and can't stop playing it. Lucero is a band I've tried to like several times in the past, but just couldn't seem to get into them. I listened to their new one on lala.com, and decided to take the plunge. Boy am I glad I did! This has a real shot as my favorite album of 2009, as it has quickly become my most listened to album at the moment. I liked it so much I bought their previous 2 albums, also. I wasn't thrilled with Nobody's Darlings (yet), but their last album, Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers has a lot of the same appeal as the new one. If you can get used to the lead singer's rough voice, you are in a for a treat. The album has a Springsteen Born To Run feel to me...just listen to the first song, Smoke, to see what I mean (though on the clip below you don't get to hear the vocals). They have also added a horn section, which adds another dimension to their sound. I really dig how they have added the horns and piano, is a large reason I love the new album. Plus the lyrics are good too, as always. Below is an Amazon widget so you can sample the songs. Or you can head to lala.com and listen to the entire thing 1 time before making up your mind.

If you are reading this in a Reader, you will most likely have to stop by the site to listen to the clips.

Amazon.com Widgets

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Today in Fantasy: October 28, 2009

2009-10-28T08:41:00.001-05:00

FBNR Stuff:

As part of my trend to read complete series (as discussed in yesterday's post), I am now reading Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman. It is the first book in The Castings Trilogy, and the third and final book is due November 12. I'm reading the kindle edition on my iPhone (in Stanza) and I'm about 20% done. Its had a bit of a slow start, but i like the 3 main characters, the world, and the story, so I think the book has good potential. Just waiting for things to really kick into gear.

Slightly off-topic: Does anyone know if you can just subscribe to the book reviews on BSCReview? I thought that is what I had done, but apparently not. I can't handle the 45 tv and movie updates they have everyday, so if I can't just subscribe to the book review feed, I'll drop them.

Reviews:

The Spook's character was a revelation to me - here was a fully fledged 3D character and not just a mysterious tutor who said cryptic and mystical things, letting poor Thomas figure it out himself. Written with a sly sense of humour and coming across as likeable, the Spook is someone you would want to know, not just to clear some boggarts from your cellar, but someone to talk to and understand.

link: My Favourite Books: Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney (I've been wondering if this series was good. After reading this review, my interested has increased. And I believe it is available digitally).

So the short review is; if you loved the series so far this is going to knock your socks off so read it!

link: Review: The Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey (Orbit) – NextRead

The great attraction of these books is the way Chadbourn deals with British mythology, the secret history of the land as he puts it by voice of Tom. There is a whole library worth of fantasy novels that borrow from this rich source but I don't think I have read anything that does so in such a comprehensive way as Chadbourn.

link: Val's Random Comments: Always Forever - Mark Chadbourn

I didn't *hate* the book but I don't feel like I got anything out of it either. There were lots of very, very cool ideas that could have been fleshed out into fascinating aspects of the story and I dearly wish they had been.

link: Seven Foot Shelves: JD's Take: Sandman Slim (Richard Kadrey)

It turns out that the Discworld's elves are a bunch of merciless and easily-amused homicidal maniacs with a perchance for toying with their prey before killing them. This leads to some of Pratchett's most effective horror and tension-filled sequences, not something he is renowned for but given how good he is at them it may be a style of writing he should have tried employing more often.

link: The Wertzone: Wertzone Classics: Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

To be honest, I wasn’t terribly impressed with this book. It was a page turner, but for an adult of 25 years the plot was terribly easy to figure out, right down to the last detail. Having read enough young adult in my life to spot an easy plot, I can reasonably assume that an intelligent 13 year old could figure out the ending to this book about 2/3 of the way through.

link: The Intelli-Gent Reviews:: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant by Darren Shan

Even if Modesitt's characters think of ethics a lot, some of their actions are questionable. The author is always carefully inserts various shades of grey into his stories and in this particular instance he succeeds very well.

link: Val's Random Comments: Magi'i of Cyador - L.E. Modesitt Jr.

many discerning readers will feel disappointed with The Darkest Road. On its own merits, it’s a fine read, but the book can’t help but showcase the fact that The Fionavar Tapestry as a whole did not live up to the promise displayed in The Summer Tree.

link: The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay: Review by Keeping the Door

The prose in The Windup Girl is fantastic as Mr. Bacigalupi's always is. Similarly, the book's characters are well fleshed out and the setting capably realized (for the most part). However, none of this can make up for the fact that the story being told does not, in my opinion, come anywhere close to reaching the high standard set by his short fiction.

link: Speculative Fiction Junkie: Review - The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

I learned a lot about Sookie Stackhouse from each of the five stories, there isn’t a dud out of any of them. I’m not saying they are going to win any prices either. Harris has wonderful way of storytelling don’t get me wrong but there isn’t anything that deep in them.

link: Review: A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) – NextRead

The real impressive part of this novel is the illustrations. The publishers went old school by including between one to two illustrations per chapter. The illustrations were done by Keith Thompson and are incredible adding a whole new level of enjoyment to the story that is rarely seen into today’s books. The purchase price alone is worth the artwork contained in this novel.

link: Robots and Vamps » RaV Book Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

More Tweaks To This Blog

2009-10-27T13:13:00.002-05:00

Its been quiet around the blog here since August. Part of it is my reading funk, part of it is wondering how to evolve the blog to keep it fun and interesting for me. I've toyed with some ideas throwing some out that I've quickly dropped, and others that I followed through on.

Here is a list of things I plan on changing going forward:

1) More focus on series that are complete. Before starting this blog, I almost never started a series until all the books were done. Over the last 2 years, I switched my reading to focus more on current and new releases (i figured thats what you guys would care about). This has been causing a problem for me, especially in the last year. I tend to do a lot of my reading while other things are going on, so in most cases its not in a nice, quiet environment. Due to this, my memory retention isn't always great, and with 1 year reading gaps between books, I've been struggling to remember details in previous books. To remedy this, and hopefully return some of the fun back to reading, I will concentrate more heavily on complete series. I won't say I will always do this, especially if individual books in a series tell complete stories (like the Recluce, Dresden novels and the Eddie LaCrosse novels). So you won't see quite as many shiny, new releases here.

2) More focus on digital books. I have been reading books almost exclusively on my iPhone since August. Now that I am running out of space to store books, and a more common ebook format is emerging (epub), I am once again interested in a dedicated ebook reader. Thus, I have pre-ordered the Nook from Barnes & Noble. Because most (but not all) of my reading will be done digitally, books available in the Kindle or Nook (epub) format will get much higher priority. I will still read some "paper" books, but I really want to make an effort to "go fully digital". As a side note, I will also post occasional pieces that focus on the ebook market in general (i.e. not just fantasy related).

3) Related to #1 above..I am borrowing an idea from Tia, but the opposite (hope you don't mind Tia!). I will make showcase posts to highlight concluding books in a series. These will be mostly just cover art and synopsis, with some personal commentary. The purpose of these will be just to remind you (i.e. highlight) series that are now complete. I know there are many like me who prefer to read a series when its done. These showcases/highlights will be reminders that a series is now complete and ready to read in its entirety. For example, to name 2 in November: the final Castings Trilogy by Pamela Freeman and the final Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. I would post a short highlight/showcase to remind you these 2 series are about to be complete.

4) I will continue the Today in Fantasy posts, since it seems there are at least semi-popular.

5) I might branch out to include the irregular non-fantasy review. These would most likely be mystery or espionage themed books.

So none of these are huge changes, though the most visible will probably be the increased coverage of the general ebook/digital reading market. This doesn't mean you will see ebook posts every day, but 1 or 2 a week is likely. First up will be a post on the Nook, and why I decided to pre-order (in case anyone else is wanting to jump in to the ereader market, and has questions about the Nook).

Much thanks to everyone who has stuck around during the lull the last 2 months, and hope these changes are of at least some interest to you :)

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Today in Fantasy: October 21, 2009

2009-10-21T17:14:00.001-05:00

FBNR Stuff:

I'm reading Servant of a Dark God by John Brown. I'm probably about 80 pages into it (reading mostly on my iPhone. Stanza says I am 14.5% into the book) and enjoying it quite a bit so far. Hope the goodness continues. I am also very interested in that new ereader Barnes & Noble announced yesterday, the Nook. Will try to find some time to post details about it tomorrow.

Authors/News:

-According to Paul S. Kemp, his next Forgotten Realms novel, Godborn, is available for preorder on Amazon. Interesting thing is its looking to be trade paperback. I have seen some tbp Wizards of the Coast omnibus book, but haven't noticed them use the trade paper size for a single book.

-Karen Miller has started Reluctant Mage. Yippee!

-David B. Coe with news on his next release, The Dark-Eyes' War (another one I am looking forward to).

-Trudy Canavan posted the cover of her next book, The Ambassador's Mission. Looks like the first book in a new trilogy...the sequel trilogy to her The Black Magician Trilogy. Tentatively due May 2010.

Reviews:

Visceral, action-packed, and wholly engrossing, Dead Men's Boots is easily the best book in the series so far.

link: REVIEW | Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey (Grand Central) ~ Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review

Salamander is an entertaining read that serves as a good primer for the Warhammer 40K universe. I like the mythology that surrounds the Salamanders as well as the universe itself. Kyme has laid out a solid foundation for his series, so I’m looking forward to the second installment of The Tome of Fire trilogy. Furthermore, Kyme has laid more than enough minor details about the Warhammer 40K universe in Salamander to encourage me to read more of the books in the this universe.

link: Salamander by Nick Kyme - Official sffworld.com review

Westerfeld’s vision of WWI is stunningly iconic – this is steampunk upped an order of magnitude. Huge walkers reminiscent of Star Wars’ Imperial Walkers rush to battle. Enormous zeppelins ply the skies for dominance. Mechanical scout vehicles put horses to shame. And this is just one side of the battle – the Clankers.

link: Neth Space: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (I bought a copy of this last week. Need to find time to read it, though I am worried about the cliffhanger ending several folks mention)

In The Windup Girl, Paolo with-the-unpronounceable-last-name (Bacigalupi), uses fiction to provide social commentary on such things as the environment, big business, international relations, and religion. Using themes of abandonment, failure, and the “other”, Bacigalupi provides a tale of political intrigue and power in a near future Bangkok.

link: Book Review: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi | Grasping for the Wind

The only real criticism I would level at The Island is that I feel - like Fallen - the ending is a little underwhelming; there's an aspect to the resolution of the plot that just felt a little cheap to me (not to mention rather unlikely). But this flaw aside, Lebbon deserves credit for constructing a well-constructed plot that unfolds at an even pace, with a really fresh feel to it

link: Speculative Horizons: Book review: The Island by Tim Lebbon

This was not the story I expected when I first saw this book. First and foremost is about survival and secondarily it is about uncovering a family mystery. The Seattle that Ms. Priest created felt like a real place instead of just a prop. She slowly painted the picture of her city as the story moved along creating a fully realized three dimensional place. The constant tension felt by the group of people still living inside the city is caused by the ever present threat of a zombie attack combined with the control exerted upon them by Dr. Minnericht.

link: Robots and Vamps » RaV Book Review: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Today in Fantasy: October 20, 2009

2009-10-20T17:56:00.001-05:00

FBNR Stuff:

I'm afraid I have to say that my big review index will not be updated going forward. I know I have kicked this around a bit, but recent events have made me change my mind. Updating the index is a VERY manual process. Keeping it up to date with new entries takes time, and updating older entries takes extra time I just don't have. For example, since the index started, Fantasy Book Spot has changed domains twice: to Bookspot Central, and now BSCReview. edifanob sent me the updated links, but i never got around to updating them, so the old FBS links are broken. Also, several blogs i initially followed are no longer active, making those links potential issues. And with Tia and John changing their sites in he last week, it just ends up being too costly in terms of time to keep the old links updated (and valid). So, I'm not blaming John or Tia for this, its just a symptom of how quickly blogs change, and its too time consuming to keep up with all of them. While I have the time (and desire) to add new reviews, continuously needing to modify old ones is beyond me. My new template does have a Search function, so all the links I add in my Today in Fantasy posts are searchable..meaning you can still search the site for book reviews. I will keep the index on the blog for at least the rest of the year.

Reviews:

Right off the bat, the thing we love most about these books is the description. Jones description is something to be marveled and enjoyed. We have never read a book where the setting is so realized and tangible. The book takes place in an extremely cold region and there were times that we literally shivered ("I was in the pool!" Please tell us you know this reference...) reading it because J.V. Jones wrote the scene so well we could picture ourselves there. This is a sign of a fantastic writer.

link: Elitist Book Reviews: A Cavern of Black Ice by J.V. Jones

I loved the world with its brightly colored monster animals, the story itself, the way the story unfolded and all the different plots tied together (some were predictable but there were a few I didn't see coming), and the various characters.

link: Fantasy Cafe: Review of Fire by Kristin Cashore

Overall, Robert V.S. Redick’s “The Rats and the Ruling Sea” possesses all of the same outstanding qualities that impressed me in “The Red Wolf Conspiracy”, while fixing most of the problems that plagued the first volume of The Chathrand Voyage Trilogy. In particular, the book manages to maintain a high level of excellence from the very beginning all the way to the engrossing finish. The end result is a vast improvement over its predecessor and easily one of the best fantasy novels of the year...

link: Fantasy Book Critic: “The Rats and the Ruling Sea” by Robert V.S. Redick (Reviewed by Robert Thompson) (Interesting. Robert had the same problems that I did with the last 100 pages of Red Wolf, so the fact that he likes this one better gives me hope. Though I thought Liviu might have been less impressed with Rats. Still on the fence about whether to import this early from Book Depository)

Jamie and Claire aren’t going to fade into the background just yet, however; they’re both still healthy and spry and getting into all sorts of trouble, and still going at it like randy teenagers whenever the opportunity presents itself (I will admit to mentally editing them back down to their Outlander-era ages whenever they were Doin’ It. Plus, there was a rather lengthy discussion on the frequency of red vs. gray hairs above vs. below Jamie’s neck that I just really, really didn’t need. Aaanyways.)

link: Diana Gabaldon – An Echo in the Bone « Fyrefly’s Book Blog (How could I not quote that part of the review?)

But what makes Wurts story unusual is not her plot, characters, or setting. It is the novel’s construction that makes this story unique. Though there are 18 sections within the story, there are actually many more chapters within the section. This may not seem so unusual, but Wurts does not follow the standard format of three sections, chapters, and then sections within chapters so common among novels. By having so many sections, each with several chapters within it, Wurts creates a different reading experience. Additionally, each section is led by three short paragraphs that keep different subplots moving.

link: Book Review: The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts | Grasping for the Wind

Small Gods is where Pratchett got it right. The entire book, from its first page to its last, is a lengthy, sustained and inordinately clever examination of religion, fundamentalism and blind faith and their conflict with reason, argument and science. And you barely notice, because the story itself is extremely taut, well-told and brilliantly characterised with Pratchett's occasional bursts of silliness kept to a minimum in favour of flashes of wry and at times angry humour. Small Gods is a book that Richard Dawkins would kill to have written, and done so in such a manner that even the most God-bothering evangelical would have still been riveted to it.

link: The Wertzone: Wertzone Classics: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

There's really only one negative thing I can say about these books, and it's more of a warning than an actual knock against them. If you're not a fan of a very heavy narrative voice, these are probably not up your alley. They're in first person, written as though Alcatraz were chronicling his story, and he isn't afraid to step in and chat about random things in the middle of his story. It's all done well, and very effectively from a comedy standpoint, but it's very over the top.

link: The Intelli-Gent Reviews:: Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia by Brandon Sanderson

Oh, this one was really, really good. It’s the same fun mixture of romance and fantasy and mystery and chick-lit as the rest of the series, but it comes together much more smoothly here. I liked that Harris continues to expand the borders of her supernatural world; we get our first glimpse of witches and fairies, as well as more information on how weres and shifters work

link: Charlaine Harris – Dead to the World « Fyrefly’s Book Blog

There is also a slight lack of believability to some of the magic acts accomplished in the book … at times it can seem like whenever the characters are in true danger, they can call upon the gods or their own (sometimes hidden) personal resources for a universal panacea.

link: The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay: Keeping the Door Review

Book Deal: First Lord's Fury for 9.00 (Hardcover)

2009-10-20T13:13:00.003-05:00

In case you missed it, Walmart, Target and Amazon are having a pricewar over some pre-release books due on shelves in November. One of those title is First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher. This is the 6th and final book in the series. Amazon is selling the book here for just 9.00 bucks. You can save 1 or 2 pennies by ordering from walmart or target. The Kindle price has also been lowered to $9. While I was ambivalent about the first book, I really enjoyed book 2, Academ's Fury. I already own the first 5 in hardcover, and for 9 bucks, I'll go ahead and pick up book 6.

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

New Releases: Week of October 20, 2009

2009-10-20T10:40:00.002-05:00

A smaller list of new releases this week. Look for a much larger list next week. Links take you to Amazon for more details.

The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks (this looks like a gift set. However, the interesting thing is the Kindle edition, which appears to be all 3 books for 9.99. Nice. Kindle edition coming Nov 4, apparently.)

Orcs: Army of Shadows by Stan Nicholls (tpb, kindle)

Crown of Earth (The Shield, Sword, and Crown) by Hilari Bell (hc, kindle)

Dragonfly by Julia Golding (hc)

The Islands of the Blessed by Nancy Farmer (hc, kindle)

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Listen To Chapter 1 of The Gathering Storm

2009-10-19T16:30:00.002-05:00

As the release date for The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson gets closer, we continue to get more little previews of the book. This time around Tor has made the 1st chapter of the audio book available for free listening.

Here is the info on the audiobook:

Images and sound clips courtesy of Macmillan Audio
The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer
26 CDs | 34.5 CDs | $69.99
On sale 10/27/09 and available for digital download

More details on the Macmillan site here (there is even a special leather bound edition of the book).

And below is the audio widget, which should play right here in the page as long as you have flash/shockwave:

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Today in Fantasy: October 17, 2009

2009-10-17T14:18:00.001-05:00

FBNR Stuff:

I've gotten a bit behind on posting review links this week, as its been a busy week with work and we had family in town. So, this will be a larger than normal list of links. It should give you plenty of ideas for good books, though :)

Reviews:

Unseen Academicals boasts some sparking comic passages – wizards trying to master football are putty in Pratchett’s hands. At one stage, the footie get rather pushed in to the background by the (far more profound) story of Mister Nutt, which while mildly frustrating is fairly understandable – but it all comes together for the grand finale, complete with the kind of organised chaos you can only find in Ankh-Morpork.

link: Simon A’s Review: Unseen Academicals, by Terry Pratchett | Bookgeeks

So far I guess I've painted a rather negative picture of The Name of the Wind, so it might come as a bit of a surprise to you that despite the flaws mentioned above, somehow the book managed to hook me. I think the real key is Kvothe himself; there's just something so earnest and likeable about him, and as I followed him through his various hardships, I found myself really rooting for him and interested to see how everything panned out.

link: Speculative Horizons: Book review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The book is a monument to one of the most tempting traps that an author can fall into: to focus so heavily on developing their characters and their interactions that they neglect to situate those characters in an interesting and complex world and with a plot that gradually reveals its twists and turns.

link: Keeping the Door: The Prodigal Mage by Karen Miller (its always interesting to read a review that is the complete opposite of mine. I thought the book was fantastic..and her best yet)

It's a solid start to another series by a brilliant urban fantasy writer. She neatly acknowledged the other series while not drawing attention away from the exciting story playing out in Cry Wolf.

link: Unbound!: Cry Wolf - Patricia Briggs

While the setting was the strongest element of the novel, I was unable to completely connect with the plot or remain connected with the characters throughout the novel. After the explosive and engaging first chapter or two, the narrative wasn’t able to maintain my interest completely for the remainder of the novel.

link: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi - Official sffworld.com review

Compared to the other novels in the series, there is a lot more build up to the action and fighting at the beginning of the book, but that doesn’t make this book any less amazing. It’s like a game of chess, but with a whole lot of thinking and planning before acting done, and it’s just awesome seeing all the characters we come to love (and hate, in Oliver’s case) trying o work together to come up with a way to defeat what seems the undefeatable, when there is very little power left in their hands.

link: Ink and Paper: Review: Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine

Still, Sanderson should be lauded for his endings, and his labyrinthine plotting. Once the revelations start rolling in, it’s clear that Sanderson had things under control from the very beginning. Seemingly small elements from the early pages of The Final Empire fall into place and have cataclysmic effects on the outcome of the series. The final 200 pages of the novel fly by as Sanderson brings the series to a satisfying, shocking conclusion. And, hell, he leaves a body count of major players that would make even George R.R. Martin blush.

link: Review | The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson | A Dribble of Ink

However, things fall apart with The Golden City. The story gets bogged down with far too much of the author trying to impart his ideals rather than telling a good story. While I appreciate and realize our world is closer than ever to being turned into a freedomless prison, readers would have been better served with a story that stayed with them and therefore imparted its message rather than being beaten over the head with one.

link: REVIEW | The Golden City by John Twelve Hawks (Doubleday) ~ Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review

If you like your urban fantasy but want something a little different, something that doesn't take itself to seriously but still delivers a satisfying story, this series is definately worth a look.

link: Unbound!: Deader Still - Anton Strout

If you like kick-ass heroines and fast-paced action, this is the series for you. Actually, Elena's so much more but she does kick butt like a pro.

link: My Favourite Books: Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong

It’s no exaggeration to say that even very small details from the opening pages of the first book, The Final Empire, are mentioned and finally put into their worthwhile context in the last pages of the final book. I was left stunned at times as I realised the subterfuge that the author had been undertaking in order to slowly reveal, like an onion, layers upon layers of his world.

link: Keeping the Door: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (I copied the above because its pretty close to the same thoughts Aidan had in his review above)

The Ghost King was a worthy Drizzt book, and at the same time a book worthy of DnD lore. I would say all readers of Forgetten Realms books really cannot afford to miss this book for the adventure, as well as the history. Players of the tabletop game should not miss a book that helps explain some of the lore that transitions the game itself.

link: The Ghost King by R.A. Salvatore Review » BSCreview

I've read my fair share of series' debuts this year and "Servant of a Dark God" is one of the better ones. I do wish there had been less of an info-dump feel to some of the chapters but I am optimistic that now that the foundation has been laid, the story may have a smoother feel going forward. And, like most good books, the characters are the thing, and they are done very well.

link: Fantasy & SciFi Lovin' News & Reviews: "Servant of a Dark God" by John Brown

A few years back, I found on my bookcase a specimen of one of fantasy's rarest creatures: a comic fantasy named Glass Dragons. Initially enjoying it, I resolved to pick it up again - and review it with my newly critical gaze. Does it stand up to a reread? The answer is most probably an emphatic "no".

link: Drying Ink: Review|Glass Dragons - Sean McMullen

Review: The Call of the Sword by Roger Taylor

2009-10-16T12:36:00.003-05:00

I stumbled on this book on some ebook store (cant remember the name) and for some weird reason I decided to check the Kindle store for more info. I found that the Kindle store had 12 books by Roger Taylor, including The Call of the Sword. After seeing that it was part of a larger series, all the books were available, and the first book was printed in 1988, I decided to download the book sample to my iPhone. Little did I know that I was in for a really pleasant treat.

The plot:

The castle of Anderras Darion has stood abandoned and majestic for as long as anyone can remember. Then, from out of the mountains, comes the healer, Hawklan - a man with no memory of the past - to take possession of the keep with his sole companion, Gavor. Across the country, the great fortress of Narsindalvak is a constant reminder of the victory won by the hero Ethriss in alliance with the three realms of Orthlund, Riddin and Fyorlund against the Dark Lord, Sumeral, hundreds of years before. But Rgoric, the ailing king of Fyorlund and protector of the peace, has fallen under the malign influence of the Lord Dan-Tor, and from the bleakness of Narsindal come ugly rumours. It is whispered that Mandrocs are abroad again and that the Dark Lord himself is stirring. And in the remote fastness of Anderras Darion, Hawklan feels deep within himself the echoes of an ancient power and the unknown, yet strangely familiar, call to arms...

The Review:
As you can see from the above description, there is nothing new about the plot (the book is 20 years old, but there was nothing new about it then, either). This alone doesn't make a book good or bad. Its the writing, characters, world, etc. And in this, the author does a pretty good job. It definitely has a 1980s & 1990s epic fantasy feel to it, so those of you who look down on such things wouldn't find much to enjoy here. Folks like me who do still like that style, will be pleasantly surprised how enjoyable the book is. It just happens to feel familiar and comfortable, with just enough different to make it interesting. The history seems pretty deep and well developed, as do the cultures of the different lands. We don't learn everything about the past...just what we need to know for book 1. But you get a sense there is much more to learn in further books. Sometimes the thing i like about fantasy is learning more about the world and history in which the story takes place. While I enjoyed the story that was told, I also was excited to learn more about the other lands and the past in the subsequent books.

As for the writing, its pretty good. There are times when it seems an editor could have cleaned up the adjectives a bit, and some sentences seem overwritten, but it wasn't enough to harm the story. The characters had sufficient depth, though they weren't complex. I would also say things are pretty black and white. You know who the good and bad guys are as you meet them. All of these are common in older fantasy (in my opinion). Yet despite this, I found myself greatly enjoying the book. I don't know if it was the right book at the right time, or if it just happened to be a perfect mix of the "traditional" fantasy that I like. All I know is I had a really good time reading it, and since the book is only 60k words, it goes by pretty quickly. It wasn't perfect, but it was great fun. Maybe good enough to crack my top 10 of 2009, even. Amazon has a print version of the book, but its a bit pricy (though via the Look Inside feature, you can read some sample pages). I bought the Kindle edition for 3.99 and thought I definitely got my money's worth. The story wrapped up by the end of the book, but a lot of things were left unresolved. I wouldn't call it a cliffhanger ending, and the main plot was resolved, but the larger story arc will unfold in later books. I also bought the sequel, The Fall of Fyorlund and am reading it now. I'm interested to see if this is a 1 book wonder...The Fall of Fyorlund is 150k words, so about 2.5 times the length of the first book. Such a big increase in word count is a bit worrying, but we'll see.

I would definitely recommend this book to folks who still like Eddings, Terry Brooks, Weiss & Hickman, Tad Williams, etc.

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

The Hidden Cost of High(ish) E-Book Prices

2009-10-14T15:05:00.003-05:00

Now that I am reading more stuff on my iPhone, I am keeping a closer eye on ebook prices. This post isn't about the idea that ebooks should be super cheap or given away. I'll leave that argument to others. But I have come to realize there is a "hidden" cost that publishers should think about which I will talk about below.

In the Amazon Kindle store, as well as the Barnes & Noble ebook store, most new releases are 9.99 if the print book is hardcover or trade paperback. If the book is mass-market paperback, then the ebook is most likely the same price as the print book (or a buck cheaper). Again, I'm not gonna argue in favor of 9.99 ebooks directly, but I will make that argument indirectly. I happen to buy hardcovers for new books. I used to also buy the mmpb for portability. I am phasing the mmpb purchases out, and replacing them with ebook purchases. Thus, I still will often purchase 2 copies: 1 hardcover (or trade) and 1 digital. However, to do this, the ebook price needs to be below 10 bucks. I'm not going to spend 20+ on a hardcover, and another 15 on the digital book...just not gonna happen. I can't justify 35 bucks for 2 copies of a book.

Tor this week released Kindle versions of Servant of a Dark God, Canticle, and Imager's Choice. All 3 Kindle versions are priced around 15 bucks...5 dollars more than the "normal" hardcover -> kindle price. Whether the publishers know it or not, that pricing strategy is going to lose them sales from me (and others like me). With a 9.99 Kindle price, combined with the discount Amazon.com or bn.com offers on hardcovers, I could pretty much get the ebook/hardcover combo for the normal list price of just the hardcover. Amazon and bn.com seem to offer around a 35% discount on pre-order hardcovers. With that 35% off, I can use the savings to buy the ebook. Hence, publishers get 2 purchases from me, but it only costs me the list price of the hardcover. But, when they charge $15 bucks for the ebook, the ebook/hardcover combo is now more expensive, and I can't afford to do it based on the large volume of books I buy.

I doubt I am the only one who buys 2 editions. I am sure some folks who buy ebooks are exclusively digital readers. But I bet there is a significant (not to say we are the majority, just that the group I am in is probably statistically significant) number of folks who do what i do, and buy both a digital and physical copy. And I think the publishers should consider this group when coming up with a price for ebooks. Price the book at 9.99, and I (we) can buy both digital and physical copies. Price the ebook at 14.99, and you are forcing me to choose between the digital and physical copy.

Maybe I'm crazy and that aren't enough other book buyers like me. But I bet there are. And I think publishers should consider this group when determining price. If you are only interested in selling the digital OR physical copy to a single person, price the ebook high. But if you would like folks to consider both physical and digital versions, you need to really think before you price the ebook above 10 bucks.

Note: To comment on this post from the home page, look at the top of the post, and click on the number in parenthesis beside "Comments"

Today in Fantasy: October 14, 2009

2009-10-14T12:57:00.001-05:00

FBNR Stuff:

Finished reading The Call of the Sword by Roger Taylor. ~~Good~~ Great stuff, and will probably make my top 10 of 2009 list. I love it when a book comes out of nowhere to give me way more enjoyment than I expected. Because this is so a low profile book, I will in fact do a full review on it sometime this week. I already bough the Kindle version of book 2, The Fall of Fyorlund. Can't wait to read it. But, I saw that the Kindle edition of Servant of a Dark God by John Brown came out today, so I'll probably read that next. I've had the arc for 2-3 months..but I've read 2 books in a row now totally on my iPhone, and plan to continue that trend. Since thare are already Kindle editions of Canticle and Imager's Challenge, I'll read those soon. Now what I am really missing are ebook editions of James Barclay's Raven books (and Tom Lloyds Twilight Reign books as well).

Reviews:

It a sense, it feels like Carey took the Harry Dresden character from Butcher's novels and hardened the edges a bit. Felix Castor is a borderline alcoholic. He's more violent. He cracks jokes less often. He's made a ton more irreparable mistakes (some explained in detail, with others left for the sequels). And those mistakes have had serious consequences. The character is darker. We love it.

link: Elitist Book Reviews: The Devil You Know by Mike Carey

The plot is well-paced, but predictable... you will in no way be surprised by the character development arcs of any of the half-dozen characters who have them. Sadly too, some of the more interesting secondary characters are quite regrettably left to languish, narration-less, along the borders of the story. These are, of course, quibbles. Yes, it's a tad predictable but this story will have you flipping pages with complete disregard for work schedules or sane sleeping habits. The witty writing, inventive world, and flawed characters make it challenging to find that perfect break to set it down.

link: Seven Foot Shelves: JD's Take: The Sheriff of Yrnameer: A Novel (Michael Rubens) (This is definitely the most (first?) positive review of this novel I have seen so far)

One thing we want to make clear is that the beginning of the novel may feel a tad slow, and you may start to get worried that it is going to fall into the "young man leaves to go on a heroic quest" cliche. However, our buddy John Brown avoids the early cliche by giving us important plot twists early on. There is NO EPIC QUEST in this epic fantasy. Everything is nicely focused and localized. If this break in the formula isn't enough of a reason to read the novel, you haven't been paying attention to the fantasy genre.

link: Elitist Book Reviews: Servant of a Dark God by John Brown

This tune-up of his characterization is propelling Cordell into not just enjoyable reading, but necessary reading. Each time he releases a new novel, I am finding myself more and more desperate to buy and devour his work the day it is released.

link: Book Review: City of Torment by Bruce R. Cordell | Grasping for the Wind

It also seemed unrealistic that all the people that Remy needed to visit to find out information would all live in the same city in America, especially since many of these people are biblical in original, I thought it would make more sense for at least some of them to live in the Middle East, among cultures similar to those they had interacted with the most.

link: A Kiss Before the Apocalpyse by Thomas E Sniegoski « Items of Interest

This newest novel was a little slower paced at the beginning and a bit harder to get hooked on than the previous two books for me. As with the previous book, the first chapter was largely summary of who everyone was and where the book had left off, but I was still completely unable to put the previous installment down by chapter 3. Although I did get to the point of not wanting to put this one down as well, it did take a bit longer than normal compared to the other books in the series.

link: Fantasy Cafe: Review of Doublebind by Ann Aguirre

For fans of the Malazan world this book delivers what has drawn people to the series in the first place. My expectations of the last two volumes were high and Erikson hasn't done anything to temper them with this book. Dust of Dreams sets things up for a blistering finale.

link: Val's Random Comments: Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson

Erikson's intensely moral, poignant tale will enthrall, an epic of breathtaking proportions. It's evident that the reader doesn't - and shouldn't - understand Erikson's world

link: Drying Ink: Review|Memories of Ice - Steven Erikson

There’s some impressive action scenes, and some excruciatingly bad jokes and puns throughout. At times this can be a real disadvantage – in places Dan seems to try too hard – but in this shotgun approach generally for me there were more hits than misses.

link: Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero by Dan Abnett - Official sffworld.com review

So is And Another Thing... worth it? For myself, who found the final two volumes in the original series to be rather depressing, muted affairs, I would have to say yes, as And Another Thing... managed to capture most of the good elements about the series (especially the wordplay) without repeating the more obvious catchphrases or (for the last two volumes) being as morose as Adams appeared to have become by then.

link: OF Blog of the Fallen: Eoin Colfer, And Another Thing...