Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy

(revisited) Review - Old Man's War (OMW #1) by John Scalzi

2013-05-17T11:29:00.001-04:00

I read Old Man's War [US] [UK] a number of years ago, back in 2008 or 9 and I just now jumped back into the world with The Ghost Brigades. Before that period of time, I'd considered myself a fantasy/science fiction fan and I thought I was actually relatively well-read in the genre. I'd read Tolkien, Feist, Eddings, Card, Herbert, and a bunch more.

In 2008, I had a bit of a rude awakening when I started to become active (okay that's putting it lightly, "obsessive" is the word we want) in the genre and in online forums. I scoured "best of," "top 10," and even "top 100" lists and started a list of books that I found consistently on just about every list. Sffworld.com had (and still does) a great thread where everyone on the forum posted their top 10 favorite books so I did the same - I wrote down the books that commonly popped (almost wrote pooped :)) up.

Suddenly I was terribly underread and I wanted to read everything immediately. As some of you may have already discovered, it's not only an uphill battle, but just about impossible to read EVERYTHING there is (check out this article, it will make you feel better).

So my solution was to read one book of just about every series I could get my hands on just to get a feel and to be able to better participate in online discussions. In a way this solution backfired on me, since I now have about a million books to read and I've started so many series that I now have to reread books to figure out what's going on. But it also let me find out about some great authors who I wouldn't have tried otherwise.

I'm sure I would have read Scalzi eventually, but Old Man's War was one of these. Four years later, I finally got to the sequel and I plan on reading The Last Colony soon in preparation for The Human Division.

Anyway, this was a long way to introduce the short review I put up for Old Man's War on Goodreads all those years ago:

This book was quite the page-turner. It was really enjoyable, great premise, loved the ideas. I wasn't a huge fan of the cussing and that's why I put this book on my "Liked, not loved" shelf. It just didn't make sense to me. These are 75-year-olds. I just thought it wasn't very believable, but that's probably just me. Other than that, this was a very entertaining, quick-paced and fun book.

Hopefully my reviews have improved a bit, but probably not. I obviously hadn't heard of Sh*t My Dad Says at the time either.

4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)

eBook Deals - Cooper, Novik, Clarke, Bledsoe, Vonnegut, Wells, and Carlson

2013-05-13T14:23:00.002-04:00

Hope you've been meaning to catch up on your Arthur C. Clarke reading because that's the majority of the deals today. Also Vonnegut, which you should always have room on your shelf for.

[$0.99] The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - One I'd been meaning to get for a while, patience paid off.
[$0.99] His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire #1) by Naomi Novik
[$2.99] The Hammer of God by Arthur C. Clarke
[$2.99] Islands in the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke
[$2.99] The Ghost from the Grand Banks by Arthur C. Clarke
[$2.99] The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe
[$2.99] Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut
[$2.99] Palm Sunday by Kurt Vonnegut
[$2.99] Bagombo Snuff Box by Kurt Vonnegut
[$2.99] The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
[$2.99] The Frozen Sky by Jeff Carlson

Review - The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

2013-05-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

The press release proclaims The 5th Wave [US] [UK] to be the next Hunger Games and though it may yet be so (only $750,000 is going into marketing!), I wasn't fully convinced. My thoughts on this book run the gamut of ratings. Here's why: (and there's no coincidence there are 5 waves and 5 stars)

5 Stars

Wow, great start. I just picked it up for a second to get a feel and 100 pages later, I was hooked. Aliens come to earth only to begin to wipe humanity out? Great, this hasn't been done for a while at least not this way.

The aliens, or Others, start killing off humanity through waves as you may have already guessed from the title. The first, they cut off the power. Next, they wipe out all the coastal cities through tidal waves since most large cities are situated near large bodies of water. Then, pestilence and disease and lastly silencers or assassins. Very cool, I want more!

I was even up all night that first night because my mind wouldn't let go of the concept. I was afraid for the aliens in my room one moment, trying to survive on my own in the wilderness the next. There's no way this book could let me down right? ...erm...

4 Stars

It's a brutal reality, people have to survive by whatever means necessary and we're told over and over - trust no one! It's a great tagline, but it begins to break down because when you, as a reader, don't trust anyone, it gets much harder to be surprised. I will say, I never saw what actually does happen coming.

3 Stars

Things are still going well, but suddenly, some unnecessary discussions of current topics pulled me out of the story. Both times, they got me thinking about things that didn't matter at all in the context of the story and really didn't need to be there.

Also, this says this book is for 12 and up, but you better believe I won't be letting my 12-year-olds read it with the language it has. I'm not so oblivious that I don't think they don't hear it all the time, but I disagree with the marketing that says this is for 12-year-olds when it barely makes the PG-13 standards. This is more a personal pet peeve and doesn't take much away from the book.

2 Stars

Something that might have been the reason this book didn't completely work for me, but was definitely was something I couldn't get over. You see, there are only so many people who survived the plague. Individuals were lucky to have their immune system overcome the plague, but it's rare and whole families surviving is almost unheard of. We're getting into spoiler territory so I'll warn you here:

spoiler: Our main protagonist, Cassie, and her father and brother all survive. All but their mother who succumbs to the plague. Almost a complete family and they almost all survive. Everyone else has to figure things out on their own, but they get to rely on each other and especially their father to help them survive.

Skipping over a couple parts, the father agrees to let the younger brother, Sam, who's five-years-old go with some military guys and stay behind because the guys have said they don't have enough room. The father has a hard time with it of course, be he eventually trusts them.

This just wouldn't happen. There's no way. It's rare enough that an almost-complete family could still be together, but for the military to require them to separate would be a huge enough sign that something fishy's going on.
/spoiler

And thus begins where I started to question if I am not the right market for this book. I have three kids and thinking of this situation from this perspective, makes this such an impossible choice it's not even funny. This is something I actually haven't had to think in any previous YA book I've read, especially The Hunger Games and Harry Potter, and I think that's a testament to why they did so well.

1 Star

The love story. Plain and simple, this fast-paced and entertaining novel gets bogged down for love. There are two rather lengthy sections (of 13) devoted to this and each time, all I wanted to do was read something else.

In addition, there's one big "show up" moment toward the end where everyone happens to be at the same place at the same time, but for which an explanation is sorely lacking.

Conclusion

It's sad because The 5th Wave started out so well. Aliens take over and start wiping humanity out by waves. First the power, then tidal waves, then pestilence and disease, and then assassins. Now it's the fifth wave and what is it? A boring romance? That will definitely wipe this reader out.

3 out of 5 Stars (cutting it down the middle)

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

Ender's Game Trailer

2013-05-07T16:29:00.002-04:00

I don't show many trailers, but I've been waiting for this one for quite a while. I'm attempting to keep expectations reasonable, but I don't think that's reasonably possible.

eBook Deals

2013-05-07T00:24:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I last posted some eBook deals to the blog. I've had a few requests lately, although I'm pretty positive some of those are just spammers (really really good ones), so I thought I should post some. If you want to know my secret (that's not even a secret), I use BookBub for the most part and the rest I usually find doing a search through Amazon. Also, The Tattered Scroll has a list of eBook deals that is updated pretty regularly and I would never post deals that he finds ... never.

[$1.99] The Dreaming Void (Void Trilogy #1) by Peter F. Hamilton
[$2.99] The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
[$2.99] Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
[$2.99] Lamentation (Psalms of Isaak #1) by Ken Scholes
[$4.98] Ender's Game (Ender #1) by Orson Scott Card - Good time to start this one...hint hint
[$2.99] The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson - Yup, still this price. Great book.
[$2.99] Wide Open by Deborah Coates - Sarah seems to like it.
[$2.99] Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearn
[$7.99] The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - Okay, not even close to a "deal" in the true sense of the word, but I consider "quite possibly the best reading experience of your life" to be one dang good deal for only 8 bucks.

EDIT: [$2.99] The Dragon's Path/Leviathan Wakes by Daniel Abraham/James S.A. Corey - This was just added today - May 7, 2013.

Review - The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

2013-05-02T10:00:00.000-04:00

The Past:

Thousands if not millions of years ago aliens crashed to earth and wanted nothing more than to return. To make that happen, it became necessary to encourage technology growth in any way possible and when homo sapiens came around, they were the horse the Quasing (wraith-like aliens who can inhabit living bodies) bet on to make their return home a reality.

The Present:

Split into two warring factions, the Prophus and the Genjix, the Quasing use humans in a network of spies not only to further their goals of returning home, but also to prevent their counterparts from their own ambitions.

Now:

Edward Blair is sold out by his own friend and now former Prophus agent. It's either surrender or get killed, but there's also another way to protect his Quasing, Tao from falling into the hands of the Genjix.

The Lives of Tao [US] [UK] jumps into the life of agent Edward Blair, but our time with Blair is a short one. After being betrayed, we see the first glimpse of what a Quasing is and what it can do. As explained above, they are aliens who can inhabit humans (among other living creatures) and who have lived through the entire history of humanity and longer. This presents an interesting device that allows the Quasing's host a wealth of knowledge at the drop of a hat and which reminded me a little of Brandon Sanderson's novella, Legion, at times.

The Quasing, Tao, is forced to find a new host almost immediately in the book, and happens upon the main character of the book, Roen Tan - an out-of-shape computer engineer who is in no way prepared for a life of espionage. Instead of a short training montage, we go through the beginning of Roen's training, his workouts, his non-007 type jobs such as monitoring a mailbox, and his progression to missions with more responsibility and danger.

I love a good training or schooling book and this one's no exception. Roen has to not only master his body, but learn to function with his symbiotic Quasing relationship.

While sometimes confusing, because it can sometimes be difficult to tell if Roen is talking to Tao inside his head or to another person, a fun dynamic develops between Roen and Tao as Tao sarcastically tries to get Roen in shape. Other people have Quasing too and luckily The Lives of Tao is told in third person limited so we don't get the back-and-forth from any other character but the one point of view.

This book is filled with great ideas, none of which are bogged down in exposition. The fast pace is kept up throughout the book and the way things are set up to train Roen really help that - lots of training mixed with action makes for a happy reader. One of those ideas, only hinted at above, essentially makes the Quasing the cause of pretty much every major (and probably minor) event in history.

Toa himself formerly invented Tai Chi and inhabited Genghis Khan among other famous historical people. This was a fun concept, but I did find it hard to take fully. It's not ever claimed, but it's made to seem that every single event was caused by the Quasing and if everything, then nothing caused by humanity. Then again, you can't complain too much about it because the concept works and it has to be thorough.

In the end, I had a great time with The Lives of Tao and will be checking in this October for the second installment in this series, The Deaths of Tao. Great ideas mixed with great action and a non-stop pace made this book extremely hard to put down. Bravo, Mr. Chu!

4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended!)

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

(audiobook) Review - Carrie by Stephen King

2013-04-29T16:32:00.000-04:00

As you know, my audiobook reviews are posted over at SFFaudio.com, so here's that handy dandy link and a little teaser:

First of all, this audiobook was read by Sissy Spacek. If you’ve been living under a rock, she’s the one who played Carrie in the classic film based on this book. She’s a great actress, although I’ve not seen this film, and she’s perfect for the reading of this book.

This is a bit misleading, but I'll let you check out the review of Carrie by Stephen King for the rest of my thoughts.

Brian McClellan AMA on r/Fantasy

2013-04-23T20:45:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to let you know Brian McClellan is currently answering questions on reddit at r/fantasy. AMA stands for Ask Me Anything and literally anything goes. I'm about 70% through McClellan's debut, Promise of Blood, and I can already tell you it's excellent. Hope it doesn't tank it in the last hundred pages, but I doubt it will.

Review - The Devil's Armor (Bronze Knight #2) by John Marco

2013-04-17T18:00:00.001-04:00

A number of trilogies will tend to have the following loose format: the first delves into the world of new and exciting things, the finale gives you that wonderful climax and denouement for these characters you've grown to love, but the second novel just kind of gets you there. It bridges a gap and makes the third book a little better, but in it's own right it's just there doing exactly what a bridge does. It looks cool from a distance, but when you're on it, it's just another road.

This is my oh-so-clever way to tell you The Devil's Armor [US] [UK] does not suffer from the sequel slump. You didn't see that coming at all did you?

In Marco's Tyrants and Kings trilogy, it was actually the second book, The Grand Design, that was my favorite of the entire trilogy. While I can't say so at this point as I've yet to even start the final book, but the same thing is looking to be a possibility in this trilogy as well. The Devil's Armor is an excellent sequel and while it serves as a great bridge to the third novel, it's a deep and compelling book all on its own.

It's no secret that epic fantasy is my main concentration. It just gets me. Not that I want to be alive through all that famine and disease and blood. I mean I really really like medical advancements. But I love reading about battles and history in the making. The problems epic fantasy addresses isn't constrained by history or the laws of physics, it can be anything even if many times it's the same boy-who-defeats-evil-lord plot.

And that's another reason Marco pushes all the right buttons for me. He writes epic fantasy, but he turns a lot of the fantasy tropes on their heads. What happens if that evil dark lord is actually your best friend? What if all you have is an army of people with disabilities (you tear them a new one is what you do!)? What if your hero doesn't make the right decisions, what if he makes terrible decisions sometimes? What if the guy called "King Lorn the Wicked" isn't really a bad guy after all?

The Devil's Armor takes up a year after The Eyes of God, book one of the Bronze Knight trilogy, and starts with the civil war going on in Norvor. The Diamond Queen, Jazana Carr, has paid her way to an almost complete conquest of Norvor and King Lorn (the Wicked) realizes he's been betrayed by almost everyone around him. What a great opening this is, what a satisfying story in and of itself where King Lorn essentially betrays his betrayers.

We also go back to Lukien, who's busy defending Grimhold as is his calling now with the Eye of God keeping him alive. It's actually quite interesting that Lukien really doesn't make a huge appearance in this novel and yet I still consider this one of my favorites. I remember reading The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan and it drove me nuts that Rand was quite possibly in all of 3 pages in the whole book. Here, I hardly noticed until the very end, there were too many things I was interested in to even care.

Gilwyn has been put in charge of Jador as regent for the true ruler, White-Eye, who cannot even visit the place because her eyes prevent her from going anywhere that is too bright. The one-armed Baron Glass is also still in Grimhold and finding himself less and less useful as war has passed (for now) and everyone, including his friends, have gone to their old and new duties.

Marco does an excellent job of seamlessly filling the reader in with details from the previous book, which is very unlike how I have done. Sometimes I like to struggle to find something out, but sometimes it's nice not to have to go look something up, to be told what happened and why this person or event is important. To be done succinctly without interrupting the flow of the novel is hard work, but it's pitch perfect here.

I think the thing I was most impressed with was how much I liked the character of King Lorn the Wicked. Marco writes some of my favorite characters and somehow my favorites are the ones that are supposed to be the bad guys.

Battles are fought, evil manifested, and betrayals are numerous. Marco knows how to plot a book (and series for that matter) and I'm amazed at where things end up from where they began. I thoroughly enjoyed this second installment in the Bronze Knight trilogy, an improvement on the first even and can't wait for more.

4.5 out of 5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended!)

The Bronze Knight/Lukien/Inhuman Trilogy [Read in red]:
1) The Eyes of God (review)
2) The Devil's Armor
3) The Sword of Angels

Stand-alone in same universe:
- The Forever Knight (Released just last week)

Variety Pack Giveaway: Winners & Snark

2013-04-10T10:16:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Brandon H. on his successful entry! Regrettably, Brandon did not enter a full mailing address as per the explicit instructions of the giveaway. Brandon will have 24 hours to respond with a full mailing address or Caroline W. from WA shall be victorious. May destiny fold you into her loving embrace Caroline!

We had a fair number of participants in this giveaway and some quality snark as well, though the usual confusion as to what snark means remains. See the assorted snark and witticisms below.

I want to make a witty comment about how a plain text ad for term life insurance "makes above possible." - Jeff R.

I don't think i ever got so mad at another human being as i have since i started playing league of legends. - Josh R.

I sat here trying to make a pun using the word snark but it just turned into my brain going "Snarf Snarf" ala Snarf from Thundercats. It was terrible. - Bett W.

I was going to share this with a certain friend then I remembered that Orson Scott Card doesn't think he should have the right to marry the man he loves. - Joseph G.

Great site for reviews. - Bobby W.

Dragons and starships on the book cover? How could they possibly be bad? - Jeremy M.

I wonder how many people won't share because of your attempt to guilt-trip them into sharing. - Ross W.

Fantasy Ebook Releases for 2013

2013-04-07T15:54:00.000-04:00

A big thanks to Michael J. Sullivan over on Reddit for putting together the list. You might notice that you won't be able to resist buying some of these in hardcover before the ebook comes out, but at $15 and up for the Feist, Modesitt, Donaldson, and Salvatore, it won't make much of a difference. Have any must reads on the list?

03/12/2013 Bloodfire Quest: The Dark Legacy of Shannara by Terry Brooks ($12.99)
03/19/2013 Shattered Pillars (Eternal Sky) by Elizabeth Bear ($11.04)
03/26/2013 Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins ($11.04)
04/02/2013 Without a Summer (Glamourist Histories) by Mary Robinette Kowal ($10.67)
04/02/2013 The Exiled Blade (The Assassini) by Jon Courtenay Grimwood ($8.99)
04/02/2013 River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay ($12.99)
04/09/2013 A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson ($12.74)
04/09/2013 Blood of Dragons (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 4) by Robin Hobb ($12.74)
04/16/2013 Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage Trilogy) by Brian McClellan ($9.78)
04/30/2013 Necessary Evil (Milkweed) by Ian Tregillis ($11.04)
04/30/2013 NOS4A2: A Novel by Joe Hill ($13.59)
04/30/2013 Bronze Gods (An Apparatus Infernum Novel) by A. A. Aguirre ($7.99)
05/14/2013 Magician's End (Chaoswar Saga) by Raymond E. Feist ($14.99)
05/14/2013 The Tyrant's Law (The Dagger and the Coin) by Daniel Abraham ($8.89)
05/14/2013 The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson ($9.99)
05/21/2013 The Red Plague Affair (Bannon and Clare) by Lilith Saintcrow ($8.89)
05/28/2013 Antiagon Fire (Imager Portfolio) by L. E. Modesitt ($14.99)
05/30/2013 Unfettered Anthology edited by Shawn Speakman (UNKNOWN)
06/01/2013 Sovereign (The Books of Mortals) by Ted Dekker ($10.67)
06/05/2013 Sworn in Steel: A Tale of the Kin by Douglas Hulick (UNKNOWN)
06/11/2013 Limits of Power (Paladin's Legacy) by Elizabeth Moon ($12.99)
06/18/2013 The Ocean at the end of the Lane by Neil Gaiman ($13.59)
06/25/2013 Cold Steel (The Spiritwalker Trilogy) by Kate Elliott ($8.99)
06/25/2013 Hunted (Iron Druid #6) by Kevin Hearne ($7.99)
07/09/2013 The Secret of Abdu El Yezdi (A Burton & Swinburne Adventure) by Mark Hodder ($10.31)

07/25/2013 Broken Homes (Rivers of London 4) by Ben Aaronovitch (UNKNOWN)
07/16/2013 Witch Wraith: The Dark Legacy of Shannara by Terry Brooks ($13.99)
08/01/2013 The Dark Defiles (A Land Fit for Heroes #3)by Richard K. Morgan (UNKNOWN)
08/06/2013 The Companions: The Sundering, Book I by R. A. Salvatore ($15.37)
08/06/2013 Emperor of Thorns (THE BROKEN EMPIRE) by Mark Lawrence ($12.99)
08/06/2013 The Crown Tower: (The Riyria Chronicles #1)¹ by Michael J. Sullivan ($9.99)
08/06/2013 Warbound: Book Three of the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia (UNKNOWN)
08/06/2013 Codex Born: (Magic Ex Libris: Book Two) by Jim C. Hines ($11.99)
08/13/2013 Blood of Tyrants (Temeraire) by Naomi Novik ($12.99)
08/27/2013 The Time of Contempt (The Witcher) by Andrzej Sapkowski ($9.99)
08/27/2013 Chosen (Alex Verus) by Benedict Jacka ($7.99)
09/17/2013 The Rose and the Thorn (The Riyria Chronicles #2)¹ by Michael J. Sullivan ($9.99)
09/19/2013 The Ace of Skulls by Chris Wooding (UNKNOWN)
09/24/2013 Doctor Sleep by Stephen King ($16.84)
09/24/2013 Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson ($9.99)
10/01/2013 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2) by Brandon Sanderson (UNKNOWN)
10/15/2013 The Last Dark (LAST CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVE) by Stephen R. Donaldson ($16.99)
10/08/2013 The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch ($13.99)
11/26/2013 Dawn's Early Light: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris ($7.99)
12/03/2013 Malice (The Faithful and the Fallen) by John Gwynne ($9.99)
01/01/2014 The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) by Jim Butcher (UNKOWN)
01/20/2014 Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan ($5.99)

Giveaway: SF/F Variety Pack

2013-04-06T13:00:00.002-04:00

Hear ye, hear ye! This Variety Pack Giveaway is open to all US contestants until April 9, 2013. Just fill out the form below and you are good to go. Winner take all!

As usual, sharing the post or writing in some good snark will net you a bonus entry. Good luck!

Review - Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops #2) by Myke Cole

2013-04-04T16:05:00.000-04:00

One of the things that really gets me into a series is when an author creates a unique world or magic system and not only does a good job staying true to those ideas, but constantly and consistently using them throughout the story. Brandon Sanderson and Peter V. Brett are two authors that quickly come to mind where they have created such interesting and compelling worlds that I want to live and breath it no matter what happens, even when they're a doorstopper that doesn't further the plot all that much.

Myke Cole has created such a world with his Shadow Ops series even though it takes place in the present day. Magic is such an integral part of the world that it consumes the reader with its awesome implications. In addition, Cole has created a whole new world, the frontier, in a whole new dimension to be explored and similar to Matthew Woodring Stover's Heroes Die, takes technology to a world that has not advanced past the dark ages.

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began to develop terrifying powers—summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Overnight the rules changed…but not for everyone.

Colonel Alan Bookbinder is an army bureaucrat whose worst war wound is a paper-cut. But after he develops magical powers, he is torn from everything he knows and thrown onto the front-lines.

Drafted into the Supernatural Operations Corps in a new and dangerous world, Bookbinder finds himself in command of Forward Operating Base Frontier—cut off, surrounded by monsters, and on the brink of being overrun.

Now, he must find the will to lead the people of FOB Frontier out of hell, even if the one hope of salvation lies in teaming up with the man whose own magical powers put the base in such grave danger in the first place—Oscar Britton, public enemy number one...

Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier [US] [UK] actually begins just before the events of the last book, Control Point, and continues the story as well. Introducing a new lead character in Colonel Alan Bookbinder while continuing the story of Oscar Britton, who graces the top of the most wanted list of Selfers, or fugitive magic users who have not given themselves up to the military.

Something that comes off almost immediately is that Bookbinder is a much more sympathetic character than Oscar Britton. It's not the fact that he's one of the highest ranking officers in the Army, but only through pencil-pushing not through field work, but the fact that he is pushed into the world of magic out of nowhere, deprived of his family, and sent to a new world without any real assurances of seeing them again.

I know lots of people had problems with Britton in the first book, but I still liked him. I didn't always agree with the choices he made, one of which got a lot of people killed, but I thought he was compelling and interesting and like I said above, I almost immediately fell in love with the world Cole created.

Bookbinder, having such a high ranking in the military, experiences things a bit different than Britton when he comes into his magic, or rump latency since magic hasn't manifested. He's given a command position, but like most everyone who is magically inclined he is sent to the FOB or forward operating base. But that comes with its own problems as the present commander for the FOB, who is equal in rank with Bookbinder, doesn't take too kindly to his imposition.

That brings me to the point that there are lots of acronyms and many are actual ones used in the military as Cole himself is a military man. I've been extremely impressed at how seamlessly he has integrated the magical (and hence non-existent in the real world) acronyms, but I'm sure my lack of knowledge helps in that regard as well.

Fortress Frontier introduces us to the world of the Source, much more than did Control Point. Where CP focused on the actual base and Britton's training, FF takes us through the world, which shown to be much more dangerous (and even cooler) than we were first shown in CP.

Because of Britton's actions at the end of Control Point, the FOB is cut off from the normal plane of existence and the goblin hordes that have been fighting them to a standstill while the FOB was fully armed and stocked with food and ammo is getting even more brave. Thus, it's time for Bookbinder to show his mettle as a leader taking a small band of the best the FOB has, including a terromancer (uses earth magic) and a seven-headed snake creature who is a prince in his culture.

The interesting organization of this novel, what with starting just around the same time as the events of the first novel in the series and then continuing on both plots toward the end was a bold play that really worked with me. It's interesting to see another's take on the whole magic thing along with the instant reassignment in the military and Bookbinder is such a great character, I was happy to spend more time with his POV (not a military acronym, well, it probably is). Then, Bookbinder's POV is able to show us much more of the world of the Source, which turns out to be a vast and dangerous place, which is always good for more action in a fiction novel.

So what would happen if people suddenly started manifesting powerful magic? You'd get drafted. I don't think Myke Cole's that far off to be honest. I've expressed my opinions on urban fantasy before and while i don't hate it, I don't love it either. However, the Shadow Ops series is something I can get behind, this is my kind of urban fantasy. Highly entertaining, unending action, and great characters that make you think. What more can you ask for?

4.5 out of 5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended!)

Shadow Ops series [read in red]:
1) Control Point (review)
2) Fortress Frontier
3) Breach Zone (forthcoming)

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher

Michael J. Sullivan's Kickstarter Ending Soon

2013-03-30T01:07:00.003-04:00

You know, when I first heard of Kickstarter my immediate reaction was to hate it. I really don't know why especially as my viewpoint has changed considerably (in the 180 degree amount). What could possibly be bad about (1) being a part of something you love at the ground level, (2) often getting content for cheaper than you would buying it new, and (3) helping make something you will already love that much better because they have more of an ability to make it better. It's win-win. Seriously, I have no idea what my problem was...oh, it was the fact that I had zero understanding of it.

With that, here's the second time I'm promoting something great that's happening on Kickstarter because why not make something awesome more awesome?

Michael J. Sullivan is not only a self-publishing superstar, but a great author and person. Having been a self-published and traditionally published author, his perspective is extremely valuable in this day where the hybrid author is becoming more and more prevalent.

This year he has three books coming out, two traditionally (Orbit books) and one self-published with the help of the aforementioned Kickstarter campaign. Already, this campaign has beautiful artwork (as depicted above) and lots of people backing it. And yet it's still worth jumping in at this point. Like I said, you can get a good deal on the book, plus things like limited posters of the artwork and more.

In a Goodreads email, Mr. Sullivan explained his book releases for this year and the Kickstarter (which only has 6 days left) as follows:

The first two are a new series that feature Royce and Hadrian from my Riyria Revelations. These are prequels that tell how Riyria began. It was a lot of fun exploring the roots of the pair, espcially given they didn't like each other upon first meeting. I'm not sure how much you know about "the book business," but pre-orders dictate a great deal for an author. It will determine the print run, the marketing budget, and titles with large pre-orders generally get more attention from the sales department. So if you are a fan of Riyria, and will be purchasing anyway, it would be a great help to me if you did so now by pre-ordering. Here are some links to make it easy:

* The Crown Tower: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
* The Rose and the Thorn: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The last book, Hollow World, is a project that I'm very excited about. It's a non-Riyria story and combines science fiction, fantasy, and mystery in a seemless cross-genre adventure/thriller. I'm going to return to my self-publishing route with this title, and due to some restrictions in my current contract I'm not able to release any book between April 6, 2013 and January 17, 2014. So, I'm doing something rather interesting with this. I'm doing a Kickstarter Campaign. It will end on April 4 and anyone who pre-orders will get their copies of the book in June or July, which will be 6 - 7 months before it goes officially on sale.

In additon, since I'm doing a kickstarter I can offer backers all types of perks such as a poster, bookmarks, short stories, bundled ebook when paper copies are ordered, and a chance for you to be a character in one of my future books.

* Learn more & contribute here by April 4, 2013.

Here's a little bit about each book:

The Crown Tower (Aug 6, 2013): TWO MEN WHO HATE EACH OTHER. ONE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION. A LEGEND IN THE MAKING.
A warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm's most prized possessions. But it isn't gold or jewels that the old wizard is after, and if he can just keep them from killing each other, they just might do it.

The Rose and the Thorn (Sep 17, 2013): TWO THIEVES WANT ANSWERS. RIYRIA IS BORN.
For more than a year Royce Melborn has tried to forget Gwen DeLancy, the woman who saved him and his partner Hadrian Blackwater from certain death. Unable to get her out of his mind, the two thieves return to Medford but receive a very different reception--Gwen refuses to see them. The victim of abuse by a powerful noble, she suspects that Royce will ignore any danger in his desire for revenge. By turning the thieves away, Gwen hopes to once more protect them. What she doesn’t realize is what the two are capable of--she’s about to find out.

Hollow World (Jan 20, 2014): THE FUTURE IS COMING...FOR SOME, SOONER THAN OTHERS.
A Detroit factory worker who has always played it safe and done the right thing is rewarded with unemployment, a loveless marriage, and a terminal illness. Now with nothing to lose, he’s willing to take an insane gamble. He’s spent months building a time machine, and if it works, he could find a place that challenges what it means to be human, what it takes to love, and the cost of paradise. If only he can survive…Hollow World.

Riyria Revelations: Theft of Swords | Rise of Empire | Heir of Novron
Riyria Chronicles: The Crown Tower | The Rose and the Thorn
Standalone Novels: Hollow World | Antithesis | A Burden to the Earth

Review - The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll

2013-03-25T17:04:00.000-04:00

Thomas Abbey has always loved the books by Marshall France, you may even say he's obsessed with them. He has a copy of just about every book written by the famed (and fictional) author and has an inheritance from his famous father that allows him to pay big bucks for even the rarest publications.

Abbey, who is also a school English teacher, decides he wants to write a biography of his favorite author even though he's never written anything in his life. He manages to run into a fellow France-obsessed fan in his endeavors and they proceed to visit the mysterious town where France did the majority of his writing and where he escaped the limelight.

The Land of Laughs [US] [UK] is really a book for book lovers. I'm sure if you've found yourself on this blog, you may have been borderline obsessive about an author or two in your life and even currently, so this book is extremely easy to relate to in that respect.

If this doesn't make perfect sense to you, I don't know what will:

“Reading a book, for me at least, is like traveling in someone else's world. If it's a good book, then you feel comfortable and yet anxious to see what's going to happen to you there, what'll be around the next corner. But if it's a lousy book, then it's like going through Secaucus, New Jersey -- it smells and you wish you weren't there, but since you've started the trip, you roll up the windows and breathe through your mouth until you're done.”

Then again, I've gotten over my need to read through everything I start. Life's way too short for that.

The Land of Laughs is considered a fantasy, but most of the book has almost nothing fantastical about it. It could also very easily be described as a horror, at least just as much as it can be considered fantasy because there were some truly spine-tingling scenes toward the end that are worth the read alone.

What impressed me almost immediately is that this is Carroll's debut novel and he's writing about a fictional author who's legendary in this novel he's created. Naturally, you have to prove at least to some degree why this person is such a beloved author. I guess you don't have to necessarily, but it would be much harder to make it believable. And yet, some of the lines from this fictional author are beautiful and therefore completely believable in all respects.

Similar to Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, The Land of Laughs is a book of many other books. Many of the famous books that are fictionally written by Marshall France are explained and even plotted even though never written in real life. Carroll even gives us lines from the books which are splendid and as I said above, purvey the beauty of France's writing.

The eponymous book is actually France's most famous book:

"The eyes that light The Land of Laughs was lit by eyes that saw the light's that no one's seen."

Cover for my copy.

There were a few lines like this that just made me smile and enchanted me to no end. I wish I could find more of them right now because they're excellent and really do provide a magical quality to the story and writing both.

In addition, the rest of The Land of Laughs is written in a clever way that resonated really well with me. The first person narrative of Thomas Abbey is clever, but in a self-depricating way. In a book where I should have been bored by the slow start, I was enamored from the beginning.

This story has that magical aspect to it that makes reading an experience. Neil Gaiman doest this to me as well with the same sort of wit and charm. Add to that the twist at the end and this is one of those books that's impossible to forget.

4 out of 5 Stars (Highly Recommended)

Review - The Eyes of God (The Bronze Knight #1) by John Marco

2013-03-18T13:41:00.000-04:00

As I've noted on the blog, John Marco took a break from writing for a little while, but is back in the game in April with the next installment in The Bronze Knight series, The Forever Knight. Sadly, part of the reason for that break was because his editor sat on TFK without even reading it for 2 years.

This kind of stuff gets my blood boiling and if you want more thoughts, I wrote a little bit more here.

Marco is a unique fantasy writer in my opinion. He writes adult fantasy, but not gritty or over-sexualized fantasy as is the current trend. He writes quests, but not travelogues. He writes about library apprentices, but not about their destiny for power and glory. He writes unique tales that are filled with action and thought, that skip over the fluff and get right to the point. And sometimes I just need to get my head out of the gutter, it's not really all that pleasant a place.

For some reason, many fantasy writers have begun telling a story only to feel the need to go back and fill the reader in on backstory. Suddenly, instead of moving forward, the plot stagnates and a 700 page behemoth is mostly filler and hardly any plot. Not so in The Eyes of God [US] [UK]. There is so much that goes on, I was constantly amazed. They travel to and from distant places without any mention of what kinds of dried meat and cheese they had for breakfast. Then, they travel back again. There's betrayal, tragedy, hope, madness, it has it all.

But quite possibly my favorite part about Marco's writing is how real his characters are. They are flawed in a very human way that makes them compelling, and at times makes you both love and hate them. It brings the storytelling to a whole new level to understand the motives of the villain and even pity them, to root for the hero and yet despise his or her actions and thoughts.

The Eyes of God is largely about The Bronze Knight, Lukien. He's a character who has seemingly everything, looks, swagger, military prowess. He even wins all the tourneys with hardly a second thought. He's also a very flawed character that you root for nonetheless. Because he's good at fighting, he loves war. While he can get almost any woman he wants, he longs for noble women he can't attain because of his low beginnings. The thing that gets me is that Lukien is a real person. Who doesn't want to belong? And if the only thing you're good at is war, why wouldn't you want wars to continue?

Lukien's best friend is also the king, Akeela. Akeela is a man of learning and peace. He will do anything it takes to not only erect his grand library, but to offer peace to his enemies, even if that means giving some things up. But at the same time, Akeela lacks Lukien's looks and grace with the ladies. Thus sets up the tale that is really just about the characters, one of the ultimate betrayal and constant forward momentum.

Like I said above, there are so many things that happen in this book. Everything is precisely planned and worked to the fullest and most efficient. Besides the characters, and to be honest, because of the characters, Marco sets up and executes some of the best twists I've seen.

Because the characters are so real, they can be "good" one moment and "evil" the next. I'm using those terms in the sense of the typical archetypes, hence the quotation marks. Not unlike ourselves. They can be driven to the point of no turning back and it really makes for some great surprises in where the story goes.

John Marco is an author that I wish more people would read. I hope you give this series a chance or another favorite, The Jackal of Nar. This epic fantasy will have you reading for the characters as it breaks your heart and reassembles it only to break it again.

4.5 out of 5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended!)

EDIT:
The Bronze Knight/Lukien/Inhuman Trilogy [Read in red]:
1) The Eyes of God
2) The Devil's Armor
3) The Sword of Angels

Stand-alone in same universe:
- The Forever Knight (Released on April 2, 2013)

eBook Deals and BIG SCOTT LYNCH NEWS!

2013-03-14T13:23:00.002-04:00

We'll go in order of importance...you decide what that order is:

eBook Deals:
[$2.99] The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson - This is a wonderful book at a great price. Highly recommended.

[$2.99] The King of Plagues (Joe Ledger #3) by Jonathan Maberry - I liked (not loved) the first book and thought someone may want to know about this deal even though I won't be picking it up.

[$0.99] The Year of the Jackpot (Novella) by Robert Heinlein - TODAY ONLY - This is Amazon's deal of the day.

In other news...

The Republic of Thieves has a release date!!!!! US - October 8, 2013 and UK - October 10, 2013. That's this year!!! I can't contain all these exclamation marks!!!

Book 3 in the Gentleman Bastard series.

For more information, check out Gollancz' website.

eBook Deals - Vonnegut and Abercrombie

2013-03-12T13:10:00.003-04:00

(Today Only) For the US, a deal that I bought instantly, Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick for $1.99. You may already know of my love affair with Vonnegut and usually these books go for somewhere around $15.00 in paperback, so this is a deal of deals. Highly recommended, not because I've read the book (I haven't) but because it's Vonnegut so you know it's worth it. Admittedly, they've been pretty reasonably priced as far as Kindle books go - anywhere from $3 to $6.

For the UK, Pat just posted a really sweet deal on Joe Abercrombie's debut, The Blade Itself. Head over to Pat's blog for the details.

Quick Update and Duck and Cover

2013-03-08T14:13:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry for the lack of posting lately. I took the bar last week (3 days x 6 hours per day) and then I've just been recovering and helping out with the twins this week, even looking for jobs because at some point I may or may not need to start using these degrees I've been racking up.

Anyway, as far as reading goes, I'm about halfway through a review for The Eyes of God by John Marco and currently reading the following:

- Shadow Ops #2: Fortress Frontier by Myke Cole - Should finish this up soon.
- The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll - Going to finish this today.
- The Devil's Armor by John Marco - This is the sequel to The Eyes of God.
- Carrie by Stephen King - I've been spending lots of time patting babies to sleep so audiobooks are perfect although this book makes me wish they wouldn't grow up - it's such a cruel world.

I'll get back on track (somewhat) soon, I just need to figure out my new schedule.

Also, did you see this amazing cover:

Thanks Rob.

This is for book two in the Powder Mage Trilogy by Brian McClellan and book one hasn't even come out yet. I haven't even read a word and already I'm excited for the sequel. Weird, but great cover.

Guest Post - Lauren Zurchin's A Year of Daydreams: Fantasy Author Calendar

2013-02-22T18:08:00.001-05:00

Lauren Zurchin contacted me earlier this month about her Kickstarter campaign and I was immediately intrigued. You may have noticed I also haven't had a lot of time this month, so I asked if she would put together a quick guest post.

She did, and just in time. There are only 5 days left, so you still have a chance to support this great project.

-------------------------

Hi! My name's Lauren Zurchin, and I am a professional photographer and the managing book editor for scifi/fantasy website Lytherus. During the spring of last year I wanted to try something new and creative, and settled on making some custom costumes (yes, I can also sew pretty well!) for fantasy-themed photos I'd shoot. Then I got the great idea to make fantasy authors the subjects of these photos. Immediately I knew I'd have to do something with this, something bigger than just my crazy idea. So I decided to create a 12-month calendar, the proceeds of which will go to two different non-profits: First Book and Worldbuilders.

I gathered an amazing team of world-famous authors who were interested in this project: Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles; The Curse Workers Series), Gail Carriger (Soulless; The Parasol Protectorate), Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments; The Infernal Devices), Lauren Kate (Fallen), Gregory Maguire (Wicked; The Oz Chronicles), The Merry Sisters of Fate- a trio of authors consisting of: Tessa Gratton(Blood Magic; The Blood Keeper), Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver; The Scorpio Races; The Raven Boys), and Brenna Yovanoff (The Replacement; Paper Valentine), Brandon Mull (Fablehaven; Beyonders), Lauren Oliver (Delirium; Before I Fall), Christopher Paolini (The Inheritance Cycle), Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind), Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time; Mistborn), Tad Williams (Otherland; Memory, Sorrow and Thorn).

As the idea started to come together I realized that the cost of making costumes for fourteen authors, and the costs of travel to actually go and shoot all of these photos, was more than I could afford. So I decided to do some crowdfunding, utilizing Kickstarter to bring in the finances to cover the cost of this project. We hit the goal with over a week left, and so now I'm working toward the stretch goal, which will allow me to take these photos to another level with detail and props I wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. And as a treat for the backers I had all the authors agree to sign various items related to the project for the Kickstarter rewards, things that are extremely limited in number and, once gone, will never happen again.
This is an amazing project that will be bringing a lot of good to the world in addition to making some good art. Please consider backing the Kickstarter and/or spreading the word. Thanks for your support!

The Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/354009039/beyond-words-a-year-of-daydreams-fantasy-author-ca

Want to learn more? Check out my website. http://laurenzurchinstudios.com/author-fantasy-calendar/

eBook Deals

2013-02-15T20:47:00.001-05:00

Today only:

[$1.99] Swan Song by Robert McCammon
[$1.99] Blackcollar by Timothy Zahn

(reread) Review - Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) by Steven Erikson

2013-02-14T18:17:00.000-05:00

There are few books you put down and immediately want to reread. Gardens of the Moon[US] [UK] is one of those books for two reasons. One, it's that good. Two, it's that confusing.

On a reread I already know I missed a lot the first time, but I quickly realized I missed SOOOO much that first time and most of it is because I wasn't used to having to use my brain as much. I was constantly amazed at how much foreshadowing is in this first book. So much is mentioned from the origins of the T'lan Imass and Tiste Andii to the Jaghut and even a little about the Forkrul Assail.

And the epigraphs made sense! They ACTUALLY made sense! I always thought they might, but they are tell quite a bit in fact. Some I was amazed actually give away events in the following chapter, but you have no idea when you first read it. You wily bastard, Erikson!

Hand in hand with the foreshadowing I'm amazed at the level of detail in this book, there's hardly a sentence without extra meanings behind it. But the problem is - you just don't know who to trust when you're going through this on your first time and it's so hard to catch it when so much is revealed in such an offhand manner.

I still remember being so confused the first time and then figuring something out. That's what sold me on the series and why I still consider it one of the best, if not the best out there. A second reading sealed the deal.

Having said that I also saw a lot of why people say it's the least well-written of the series. It's well done, leaps and bounds ahead of most I think, but it can be inconsistent. For most of the series it's told in third person limited, and while that seems to have been attempted for most of this book, there were instances where it drifts to omniscient within a section. The pacing is also a bit off, but that's not really any different from the rest either.

Despite that, I stick with what I said above. These complaints are drops in the bucket compared to this vast, epic tale filled with history and magic and plans within plans.

At the moment, The Malazan Book of the Fallen is my all-time favorite series. This may or may not change when George finishes his series (in 2113, zing!), but I have a hard time right now seeing how it will be possible to top. Yes, there's a similar level of detail and even camaraderie you feel with some of the characters, but how do you top this kind of epic? I don't think there's a better feeling in reading than figuring something out that the author withheld, that's what sold me on my first read and what continues to make this my favorite.

5 out of 5 Stars (Not even a second thought)

Note: I also highly recommend reading this with a group, or just checking out the discussions from the group read I've been participating in. Being able to toss around ideas and theories is priceless and having people to explain some of it is also very helpful especially if it's not as rewarding for you to figure things out on your own.

Review - The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) by Peter V. Brett

2013-02-12T00:09:00.000-05:00

The fitting-but-not-as-good US Cover.

The Daylight War [US] [UK] was easily my most anticipated novel this year. There's just something about Brett's world that makes me want to live and breath it always. I can't get enough of it and the really the worst part about this book is that I have to wait at least a year to read the next one. In short, yes it's good and worth the wait. It's consistent with its predecessors and even surpasses them in some aspects.

Spoilers follow for the previous books. You've been warned.

The Daylight War picks up directly after the end of events in The Desert Spear. It's literally within the hour, but that's not before we learn about the lovely lady on the cover of the book, Inevera. The cover is very fitting because we learn a ton about her in this book. There are hundreds of pages of backstory from her early years to her current position next to Jardir, the Shar'Dama Ka or Deliverer at least according to the Krasians.

I know what you're thinking. So how is this consistent and possibly even better with such a focus on a less than likable character? She tried to kill Leesha for crying out loud! (I know, I should never go into palm reading) But that's part of the genius of this book, we learn more about Inevera and it's hard not to root for her and if not that, then at least to understand her motives that much better.

And she's a great character. The early parts of this rather large book show her in essentially Dama'ting school and that always gets me right there. Show me a school filled with bullies, difficult tests and traps, and a highly difficult ascension through the ranks and I'm already halfway there. Just pay attention to the time period displayed at the beginning of the chapter. Anytime the focus in on the Krasians, however, I have a bit of a hard time.

The awesome-and-perfectly-fitting UK Ed.

The Krasians

I think Brett's done an excellent job with the Krasians and the Krasian language, it's a realistic society with a realistic and interesting language, but I have a terrible time with it. There are so many words that are terribly similar. Once you get over the fact that a woman's title will have the suffix 'ting on the end, you've barely cracked it. Half the words have the word "dama" somewhere in it and darned if I could remember what titled referred to whom. Good thing for the Krasian dictionary at the back.

And then to add to this, there are a lot of characters with similar names, especially names beginning with the letter "A." Again, this is by no means unrealistic, that's literally how plenty of cultures and languages work, but it was difficult keeping track of who's who.

Then, for a society who makes their women cover up, they're extremely obsessed with sex. I know, that's a whole discussion on it's own, but I felt it got a bit heavy-handed on this one. So much revolved around it when it wasn't all that necessary. I read for action and plotting and not for romance and sex. That's just a personal preference though.

Lastly, for a society who is deeply religious and concerned with sacred things, it was a little odd for some of the characters to shout epithets such as "Everam's balls." Not a huge detractor, it was usually funny even, but I thought it took away from the realism. There's no way they would refer to this holy being in such a way, not when they refer to with the utmost respect and have such harsh penalties for the smallest of sacrileges. But enough of the Krasians, back to Arlen.

The Warded Man

Arlen is a great character, I love reading his pov. He's not afraid to stand up to anyone and tells it like it is. I was really surprised that unlike The Desert Spear, we're given a good hundred or so pages with him right after the prologue. He's constantly struggling with people's perception of him and I really like that his whole message is that everyone's the deliverer, not just one person. That kind of thinking got everyone in trouble in the first place. Arlen's grown more and more powerful and his attack from the mind-demon only strengthened his power.

The Matrix

I mentioned in my last review that I was worried about The Matrix effect. Once Neo becomes all-powerful, the agents are no longer scary in The Matrix: Reloaded.

The same kind of thing started to happen in The Desert Spear for me. Suddenly, the demons were no longer scary like they were in The Warded Man. That can really hurt the suspense factor. Luckily, Brett has obviously prepared for this because we only begin to see what awaits the Free Cities at the end of The Desert Spear. We've barely cracked the surface, literally.

I've Been Overly Critical Out of Love

To be honest, any complaint I've mentioned has really only been minor. I felt like Brett's writing stepped up in this volume and the plot is excellent. Obviously we're in for some real treats to come, especially after that insane cliffhanger ending.

The Demon Cycle is my crack, I can't get enough of it. If you haven't read The Warded Man, do it already. I need friends at the AA meetings.

4.5 out of 5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended!)

Note: I received a copy of both the UK and US versions of this book and found out that the respective names for The Painted Man/The Warded Man are used throughout the respective country's book. It seems obvious now, but I had always thought it was just a title thing. I asked the author about that (at a reddit.com "Ask Me Anything") and here's what he said.

Note #2: Read the first 50 pages at Suvudu.

The Demon Cycle
1) The Warded Man (Alec's review, my review)
2) The Desert Spear (my review)
3) The Daylight War
4) (forthcoming)
5) (forthcoming)

Novellas
1) The Great Bazaar and Other Stories (my review)
2) Brayans' Gold (my review)

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher

(audiobook) Review - Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn

2013-02-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

With a cover like that, you're almost compelled to read Star Wars: Scoundrels. It oozes cool and then with the teaser that there's Han AND Lando. Happiness, that's what that is. Okay, this one wasn't perfect, but it was fun.

Like all my audiobook reviews now this one's over at sffaudio.com.

The Verdict's In - Painted Man versus Warded Man

2013-02-06T21:29:00.003-05:00

I'm hanging out at the AMA for author, Peter V. Brett, at the moment and asked a question that's probably been asked a thousand times:

Painted or Warded? Which word did you originally write?

I always thought it was just a title thing, but got copies of UK and US books that have the respective word throughout the book (duh!).

Brett's response:

Painted was the original, though when my US publisher (for reasons still unknown) insisted on changing it, I was the one who came up with the alternate title and insisted on having it changed throughout. Over time I came to prefer “warded” over “painted”, but there no wrong answer.

And knowing is half the battle.

I just wanted to shout out that the AMA's are awesome. Take some time to figure reddit.com out if you haven't already and get an author you love to respond to a question you have. It's "Ask Me Anything" so everything you can think of is on the table...which usually means lots of jokes and silliness but lots of fun.

Also, I'm about 70% through The Daylight War (which is released next week! February 12) and it's just candy. I love this world Brett's created.