Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Giveaway! 'Gardens of the Moon' - Steven Erikson (10th Anniversary Edition)

2009-11-08T00:07:00.001Z

Has it really been ten years since 'Gardens of the Moon' was released? Apparently so, I feel old now...No matter though, for those yet to start the series (or those who are looking to replace a well loved paperback) I've got the perfect competition! Thanks to Transworld Books, I have five copies of the 10th Anniversary Hardback Edition of 'Gardens of the Moon' (complete with a special foreword

Giveaway! 'The Gathering Storm' (Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson)

2009-11-07T09:35:00.002Z

Here's a book that a lot of people have been eagerly waiting for. If you haven't got yourself a copy already then here's a chance to pick one up for the princely sum of... nothing! :o) That's right, thanks to Orbit I have three copies of 'The Gathering Storm' to give away to three readers of the blog. Here's the thing though, this competition is only open to UK readers, I've been reliably

‘Iron Man: Femmes Fatales’ – Robert Greenberger (Del Rey)

2009-11-06T14:24:00.002Z

Well, the plan was to finish reading ‘Finch’ last night and post a review this morning; that didn’t happen! Not only didn’t I have much time for reading last night but ‘Finch’ is fast becoming one of those books that I really want to take my time over and not rush. It’s good, look out for a review hopefully sometime next week.In the meantime, I finished reading Robert Greenberger’s ‘Iron Man’

‘A Touch of Dead’ – Charlaine Harris (Gollancz)

2009-11-05T14:13:00.001Z

Apparently there’s a show on right now called ‘True Blood’ that’s about vampires in Louisiana. Sounds cool, if only I had a TV to watch it on (curse me for my irrational hatred of the TV licence etc)... In these situations, it’s always good to be able to fall back on TV tie-in fiction or, in Charlaine Harris’ case, the fiction that inspired the TV show that I’m unable to watch.I’ve actually

Tor UK acquires dark, literary zombie novel

2009-11-05T09:31:00.003Z

It won't be published until August next year but it sounds like it could be one to keep an eye open for. At least as far as I'm concerned, they used the 'Z word'... :o)Here's the press release...Pan Macmillan imprint Tor UK has signed a two book deal for titles by novelist Joshua Gaylord, written under the pseudonym Alden Bell.Senior commissioning editor Julie Crisp bought UK and Commonwealth

‘Elric in the Dream Realms’ – Michael Moorcock (Del Rey)

2009-11-04T14:10:00.001Z

After yesterday’s brief sojourn into ‘books with girly covers’ I felt the need to pick something up where the cover was a little more... you know... manly. This probably says a little more about me than I should admit! ;o) There are plenty of covers, on the reading pile, that do the whole ‘manly thing’ but the one that caught my eye was the cover for Del Rey’s latest ‘Elric’ collection. Have a

'Finch' - Join the Insurgency Campaign!

2009-11-04T09:18:00.002Z

I'm a little behind with this (what with not being able to access my email at work and ) but it's still worth a mention.Jeff Vandermeer's 'Finch' was released yesterday (I started reading it this morning) and if you click Here the you'll be able to play around with a whole load of cool stuff inspired by the book (including listen to the 'Murder by Death' sountrack amongst other things). Now, if

‘Candle in the Storm’ – Morgan Howell (Del Rey)

2009-11-03T13:42:00.001Z

When this book came through the door my first thought was to leave it to one side. After all, it was ‘book two in a trilogy’ and I hadn’t read the first book so wasn’t sure if I’d get the most out of the story (seeing as I’d be playing catch up). Then I figured, why don’t I just give it a go anyway? It would be interesting to see if I could just jump in without having read the first book and it

Jeff Vandermeer - 'Endurance' Tour

2009-11-03T09:34:00.005Z

I'm going to be reading Jeff Vandermeer's 'Finch' very soon (loved 'City of Saints and Madmen' but couldn't get into 'Shriek' so it will be interesting to see how this one goes) so thought it was just the right time to point you guys in the direction of the schedule for Vandermeer's 'Endurance' signing tour. I'll be nowhere near any of these events unfortunately (stupid not being able to nip over

‘The Goon: Calamity of Conscience’ – Eric Powell (Dark Horse Comics)

2009-11-02T14:51:00.001Z

Remember the other day when I was talking about the sadness of coming to the end of a favourite series? While there’s hopefully a lot more to come from Eric Powell and the Goon, an absorbing and compelling storyline comes to an end in ‘Calamity of Conscience’ and I’m left looking for a new fix until ‘The Goon’ picks up again (although do I start buying the comics now or stick with the trades...?)

'Fantasy Debut' is now 'Debuts and Reviews'...

2009-11-02T11:31:00.002Z

One of my favourite 'always check it daily' blogs is Tia's 'Fantasy Debut' as it's a great way to find out about a whole load of new books by authors you've never heard of. I would have added a little link there but the whole point of this post is that Tia is now blogging over Here instead. It's a little different this time round but it's still worth you having a little click and a browse... ;o)

The 'Monday Morning Competition Winner's Post' (Early Edition)

2009-11-02T02:39:00.001Z

Happy November everybody! Now it's dark outside when I get up as well as when I come home... And it's nearly Christmas too (I'm starting to get a little excited!)This month I shall be bringing a whole load of books your way; advance reviews, books that are just making it onto the shelves and another stab at the big pile of books looming over the computer. Some of these books have been in the pile

Giveaway! '7th Son: Descent' (J.C. Hutchins)

2009-11-01T00:03:00.000Z

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, I have three copies of '7th Son: Descent' to give away to three lucky readers of this very blog (Although the competition is only open to people living in the US and Canada, sorry everyone else...) This is a book that was high up on my 'To Read' pile, so high up in fact that my wife saw it and decided she was going to read it first. '7th Son' will be read and

The 'Big Fat Horror Giveaway!'

2009-10-31T00:16:00.004Z

Happy Halloween everyone! :o) To mark the day (and while I'm hiding behind the sofa waiting for the goblin to go away...) I've got something pretty cool for you all...You've read the reviews, now you get a chance to read the books for yourselves! Thanks to the generosity of the people at Constable Robinson, I have five packs containing 'Nightlight' and 'The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20' to

‘The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20’ – Edited by Stephen Jones (Constable Robinson)

2009-10-30T14:47:00.002Z

Seeing as Halloween is tomorrow there was really no option other than to review something chock full of horror and other supernatural goings on. What’s the one thing that’s better than a horror book? The answer is simple; one horror book that’s absolutely crammed full of horror stories! The ‘Mammoth Book of Best New Horror’ series has been going on for a fair while now (hint, the clue is in the

'Saw' Contest - Winner!

2009-10-30T10:58:00.002Z

My first go at giving cinema tickets, on the blog, ended up going very well. Thanks to everyone who took part! There could only be one winner though and that was one Alpesh Lathia. Good work Alpesh, hope you enjoy the films!

Cover Art and Line-Up for 'Halo: Evolution'

2009-10-30T09:46:00.003Z

I've never really played 'Halo' (a couple of goes in the shop but I never quite made the leap to buying an X-Box...) but I'm always up for a slice of military sci-fi so news of Tor's forthcoming 'Halo: Evolution' was more than welcome.First up, here's the cover art which is looking pretty sweet...What I'm more interested in though are the people who are going to be contributing stories to the

‘501st’ – Karen Traviss (Del Rey)

2009-10-29T15:49:00.002Z

It’s always a little bit sad when a series that you love comes to an end. It’s not like there aren’t more great books out there to discover but even so... You’ve invested in a plotline along with characters that can end up being as important to you as people you know in real life... and then it all ends. There are no more books...What’s worse though is when a series that you’re really getting

‘The Sad Tale of the Brother’s Grossbart’ – Jesse Bullington (Orbit)

2009-10-28T15:33:00.003Z

A great philosopher once wrote ‘shit happens’. Or was it something that I saw on a t-shirt somewhere? Not that there’s anything wrong with t-shirt philosophy...The bottom line is that shit happens everywhere and every day, not least of all in books. I don’t know about you but this is one of the main reasons why I read, to see bad stuff happen and then see how it’s dealt with. There’s nothing like

‘Nightlight, A Parody’ – The Harvard Lampoon (Constable)

2009-10-27T15:58:00.001Z

This isn’t something that you’ll catch me admitting around here too often so pay attention! One of the first books I reviewed on here (maybe even the first) was Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’. Don’t hold it against me, everyone has to start somewhere :o) It wasn’t much of a review but, to be fair to me, ‘Twilight’ wasn’t much of a book (although it did keep me reading it)... I know that the phrase

Trailer for Alex Bledsoe's 'Burn Me Deadly'...

2009-10-27T13:21:00.003Z

I got a little bit mixed up with the release dates and ended up reviewing 'Burn Me Deadly' far too early. By way of making up for this (and also because I really enjoyed the book and wanted to post about it again) here's a Link to the 'Burn Me Deadly' trailer over at Alex' blog.If you haven't picked up either of the Eddie LaCrosse books yet, do yourself a favour and grab a copy of 'The Sword

'Saw' All-Nighter at the BFI (Who fancies some free tickets)

2009-10-27T02:28:00.003Z

I've always meant to check out the 'Saw' films but life has managed to conspire to stop me every time I've come close... This weekend, for example, the BFI are showing all the 'Saw' films back to back (at the IMAX) but we've got visitors who I really don't think would be up for a journey into the twisted mind of a psychotic killer. Oh well, there's always next time.For those of you who are up for

‘Zombies for Zombies: Advice and Etiquette for the Living Dead’ – David P. Murphy (Sourcebooks Inc)

2009-10-26T16:16:00.001Z

Now here’s a book that I’ve been planning to write about for the last couple of weeks but somehow never got round to. Life has a habit of getting in the way of my plans, even with zombie books (strange but true). Like my rotting heroes though, I got there in the end. If there’s one thing you can learn from zombies it’s the value of just putting one foot in front of the other; you’ll get there in

The 'First Day Back After A Week off Work' Competition Winner's Post!

2009-10-26T09:58:00.002Z

We all know what it's like to be back at work after a week away so I'm not going to bore you with what's going through my head right now; not when there are competition winners to be announced! Without further ado, here they are...'Breaking Point' - John MackenRichard Sutherland, Edinburgh, UKDavid Sweet, Bridport, UKMichael Below, Egelsbach, Germany'The Other Lands' - David Anthony DurhamPedro

‘The Talisman: Road of Trials #0’ – Furth, Shasteen & Ruffino (Del Rey Comics)

2009-10-26T00:10:00.001Z

Stephen King and Peter Straub’s ‘The Talisman’ is one book that I have never got round to reading. Anyone here read it? If so, what did you think? Is it worth searching out and picking up?Del Rey are kicking off their new comics line with a monthly serial of ‘The Talisman’ and, for people like me who have never read the book, are taking us right back to just before ‘The Talisman’ began with a six