The Intelli-Gent Reviews

10 questions with author Jon Sprunk.

2010-06-02T05:20:00.000-07:00

Jon Sprunk is the author of Shadow's Son, available as of yesterday from Pyr Books. I sat down with this engaging rogue (more like emailed back and forth, but that sounds kind of lame, doesn't it?) and we talked about swords and sorcery, assassins, ideas and so forth. You can, of course, find Jon's book at an excellent independent bookstore near you, or an online one. Here's a link to Amazon as well. Also make sure to check out his blog. Now, onto the questions.

1. What's your story? You know, the "this happened, then this, then this, and then I got the magical phone call and someone told me they wanted my book," story?

Thanks for taking the time to talk. You want The Story? I had just finished reading Joe Abercrombie's excellent The First Law series, and I emailed Lou Anders at Pyr Books to say how much I enjoyed it. We got to talking and I mentioned (oh-so-casually) that I had a manuscript he might like. He agreed to take a look. The day he emailed me with an offer on Shadow's Son was one of the most exciting in my life.

2. Your first published novel, Shadow's Son, tells the story of Caim, an assassin. How long did you have this novel in your head prior to getting it down on paper? I guess what I'm getting at is, was the process gradual, taking a number of years like author Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, or was this something that you came up with and immediately set about writing?

It was a combination of those, actually. I had written a novella-length assassin story about four or five years ago, but never got around to fleshing it out. Then, one day I got an idea about a character that could manipulate shadows. The marriage of those inspriations became the Shadow Saga series.

3. I've asked several other authors about this, but I wanted to get your perspective on it. I received a PDF copy of Shadow's Son from your publicist, and I'm assuming that at some point you'll have an e-book version out for Kindle, Nook, etc. What's your take on the ebook industry? Is it good for writers, bad for writers, or just different, and do you see it changing things over the next few years?

I think it's too early to tell where the ebook revolution is heading, but I hope it will be good for writers. A new format means a new chance to reach readers, and that's exciting.

4. I love books about assassins. There's just something cool about characters who are hired killers, and there always will be. That being said, do you have a favorite character in Shadow's Son? If so, who is it and why?

I suppose I identify most closely with Caim, the assassin. He makes no excuses about his life or his profession. But I also like his ghostly companion, Kit. Both were fun to write.

5. Question five isn't really a question, so much as an opportunity for you to shamelessly plug something, anything, that you think is really cool and want to share with the world.

If you're in the Atlanta area this September, come to Dragon*Con and buy me a beer.

6. There seems to be a distinct craving in the reading world right now for books that are just a little grittier, a little darker, than the epic fantasy of the 80s. Do you think that's a trend that will continue? Is there a boundary that authors just shouldn't cross in terms of sex, language, or violence?

I try not to think about trends, or boundaries. You have to write what speaks to you. Sometimes that might rub some folks the wrong way. That's life.

Personally, I prefer the grit because it feels more authentic to me. Fantasies about knights and princesses and magical unicorns have their place, but I like a smorgasbord of options when I go to the bookstore.

7. For the sake of the aspiring writers out there (go me and a billion other people!) that want to gobble up the knowledge of The Mighty Published Ones, could you take us through your writing process? You know, do you outline, how long do you write, what software do you use, any quirks in outlining, writing, blah blah blah.

I write in the evenings because I look after our preschool-age son during the day. I aim for about four new pages per day when writing. I outline all my books scene by scene. Once I have a workable outline, I write the first draft all the way through without editing (much). Then begins a series of revisions aimed at different parts of the book (theme, plotting, language, character development, etc). Then I let my beta readers tear into it. Then I send it to my agent and my editor, and they suggest more things to change.

8. Certainly you're hard at work on sequels to Shadow's Son, but do you have anything else in the pipeline that you can tell us about?

My hands are full with the trilogy at the moment, but there are fragments of other novels in various states of completion. I'm not sure which I will get to next.

9. When I did an interview with Seanan Mcguire a while back, I asked her about why zombie fiction is so popular right now. Now I ask you, what is it going to take to get the genre that you're writing in back into that spot of absolute domination that the zombies and vampires hold right now?

More excellent books. Hopefully, I can be a part of the S&S revival of fantasy, but you can't think in terms of trend. I write the kind of books that I would want to read. That's where it starts. After that, all you can do is hope that some other folks want to come along for the ride.

10. Finally, if you were an assassin sent back in time, who would be your target and why?

Doesn't matter. No women, no children. Other than that, the only thing that matters is the paycheck.

First Chapters by Darren Part 2

2010-05-21T20:52:00.001-07:00

This one is from Soul Proprietor:

    When I started my new job at the hotel, I never thought for a moment that the graveyard shift would lead to my actual grave. I had just finished cleaning up a beer spill in the elevator (yeah, it was just that kind of a night) and was "walking the grounds", a clever euphemism my friend taught me for staying away from the desk work. I was riding the elevators up and down, checking the floors, when I noticed something strange.
    There were only four floors in the hotel, but the elevator sudddenly had a button labeled 5F. That was new. Yesterday we only had four floors... Out of curiosity, I pushed the button.
    I arrived on the fifth floor, and the doors chimed as they opened into a very different place. There was no carpet, or wallpaper, or windows. The room was very small, probably less than 20 feet square, and lit by a strangely dim light source I couldn't see. There was a single door with a sign on it saying "No Trespassing. Violators will be sacrificed". It would have seemed funny, if the atmosphere of the room wasn't creepy as hell.
    I hesitantly went up to the door, and put my ear against it. I heard voices that I recognized as my boss, and my friend Derrick.
    "...you doing this? I never did anything to you! I've worked for you, and I've never been late or sick or anything! Just... just put the knife down Mr. Rogers! Come on! Please?" shouted Derrick desperately. He sounded, well, desperate.
    I inched the door open, and looked through the crack. Mr. Rogers, my boss, was walking up to Derrick, who was tied to what appeared to be some sort of stone altar. He had a wavy-bladed knife in his hand, which I knew to be a kris from my martial arts background. He was right next to Derrick now, and laughing quite evilly. Before I could do anything, he plunged the blade right into Derrick's chest. Derrick gasped once, then convulsed. I saw some... thing hovering over him. It had long black robes on, and was humanoid in shape. Its arm shot out and pointed at Derrick, and I noticed it had very pale and skinny hands, almost like... bones.
    I wish I could put a better light on this, but I was freaked. I turned, ran to the elevator, and just shook the entire ride down. When I got the desk, I called the cops.
    "911, what is your emergency?"
    "I'm at the Westcreek Hotel, my boss just killed my best friend, he's on the fifth floor, please come quick!" I gasped into the phone, all of it rushing out at once.
    "Sir, please remain on the line, I'm sending someone over to you now."
    It took about five minutes for the cops to get there, and when they did, I took them to the elevator.
    "Right this way, gentlemen, it's just in here. He was on the fifth floor, it'll only take a second to get th..." the words died in my throat. There were only four buttons. The fifth had vanished.
    "But... it was... what?" was the best I could manage.
    The cops looked at me skeptically, asked if I was on anything, and called my boss at his house. He arrived on the scene a few minutes later, and said he was sorry about all the trouble, he'd take care of it.
    They left, but gave me a warning about calling the cops on a false alarm again.
    "Look, sorry about that, but could you do me a favor and go check his house? Please?" I asked, and gave them the address. They said they would, and left.
    "So James... what was all that about? Did you see something? What happened?" said Mr. Rogers, doing his best father figure impersonation.
    "I... no, I didn't see anything, sorry. I've just been having some trouble sleeping lately is all." I lied, hoping that he wouldn't ask me anything else about it.
    "Well, I can understand that, adjusting to a new schedule and all. Go ahead and go home, I'll finish the shift. Get some rest. I'll need you to be healthy for me, alright?" he said innocently enough, but I could tell there was an undercurrent of... hunger is the best way to describe it.
    "Sure, yeah... that'll be good. Thanks." I said, and walked out the door hurriedly, trying to figure out just what the hell had happened there. My cell phone rang. It was the officer I gave the address to.
    "Yeah, you sure this is the right place? No one's home. It looks like he might have just stepped out. No signs of a struggle or anything. Kid, thanks for the wild goose chase, but I have better things to do." He hung up.
    Great. I turned to go home, thinking furiously. What was that... thing above Derrick? How had my boss gotten home so quickly, and without me noticing? I didn't know of any back doors out of the hotel... then again, I didn't know there was sometimes a fifth floor either. "They really need to train us better" I though, and laughed. I knew I was still in shock, but laughing helped a little. Hell, it was better than crying.

That's all for now! I hope you enjoy!

First Chapters by Darren

2010-05-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

So, these are two different beginning chapters of books I am currently working on, and I figured that since I didn't have any reviews prepared this week I'd at least give you all something to read. Feedback is appreciated!

This one is from Dangerous Words:

    I had just ordered coffee and sat down, whipping out my laptop to work on my book, when suddenly I looked out the window to see a car crashing headlong into an 18-wheeler on the highway. It was late, and the only people in the diner were me and the cook; he was in the back freezer, and probably didn't hear anything. I ran outside to see if there was anything I could do, but I was not prepared for what I saw when I got to the car.
   The driver was the only one in the car, and he was quite dead, though from the crash or the large caliber wound in his chest I couldn't tell you. Judging by the amount of blood seeping through his suit jacket, I was leaning towards the bullet. He had a phone clutched in one hand, and a pistol in the other. It had a very professional-looking silencer on the end, which was a bit disconcerting. A tally was starting up in my head: black SUV, pistol, silencer, bullet wound, nice business suit, ear-piece... Shit. This was some heavy stuff, and probably way above the pay-grade of a wannabe author like myself, but this would make a hell of a story if I told it right.
   Before I could call the cops, a couple more black SUVs barreled towards me out of the darkness. [Like Hell!] I thought. [I want this story, and no coverups!] I grabbed the phone, and the gun, and ran. I tried to keep the body of the crashed SUV between them and me, and hoofed it back to the diner. I grabbed my things, tipped the cook, and got the hell out of there.
   As I left, a couple guys in nice suits and sunglasses (oh yeah, they were REALLY trying hard to blend in) came up to the doors, and stopped me. They were of average height and build, with drab brown hair, and tans that made it obvious they worked outside often.
   "Sir, we'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind. Did you see the crash?" said the first agent (because I'm pretty sure that's what they were).
   "Of course I saw it. I was right there!" I pointed out the window seat where I had been. "It was really loud too! But you guys got there before I even thought to go and check what happened. Is everything alright?" I asked, keeping my face carefully blank of anything but worry. No need to tip them to the fact that I knew anything (which I wasn't sure I did, really. I mean, yeah, dead guy... but that's about it at the moment).
   "Okay, well, we just needed to get a better picture of things. Can we get your contact information for follow up questions?" asked the second agent in a creepily similar manner. In fact, now that I thought about it, they both pretty much looked alike. I pride myself on my powers of observation, and I don't think I could tell these men apart if you put a gun to my head (now THAT was an unpleasant image).
   "Yeah, sure, of course." I gave them a fake name and address, of course. I'm not THAT stupid. I told them I didn't have a phone number at the moment, I had just moved in a couple days ago. Yes, I'm a damn good liar if necessary.
   "Thank you sir. We'll be in touch." said creepy clone-boy number one. The terrifying twosome then stared at me until I got the message, and left in a hurry. I didn't want to be around here much longer. I also wanted to go check out that phone, and see if it gave me any clues. No, I'm not a cop, or a P.I. I'm just an unnessicarily curious guy, and I was looking for some inspiration for a book. Plus, I mean, how often do you stumble across an obvious coverup of a murder? They hadn't asked me about anything other than where I was at the time of the crash, and if I had gone up to the car at all. It was pretty obvious they didn't want anyone to know that the driver was shot. That in itself was enough for me to investigate further. Plus now I had a gun, so I felt very Magnum P.I.
   Driving home I kept looking nervously in my rearview mirror for signs of a tail, but after a while I convinced myself that I was just being paranoid, and that I was way too good of a liar for them to think they needed to tail me. When I got home, I didn't immediately pull into my driveway, but instead rolled around the block one or two times, just to make sure. When I finally pulled in, I immediately ran inside, locked the door, and went into my study. My house is a decent-sized three room apartment in downtown Seattle. I had a living room with a kitchen tacked on, a bedroom with bathroom attached, and a small back room with no windows that I used for my study.
   I opened the phone, and when I read the last number dialed, my hair stood up on end. It was MY number. I looked at my phone, and my message light was blinking. I tried to calm myself down for a minute by writing down all the contact info from the phone, and then I turned it off, removed the battery, and the sim card. I'd seen way too many cop shows to let myself be caught by friggin GPS. I was still slightly hyperventillating when I walked over to my phone and pushed play.
   "You have one new message. Message one:" said the answering machine. A male voice spoke, sounding very much in pain, and I heard the sound of cars passing in the background.
   "Mr. Edwards, if you are there, please pick up, this is urgent. I have information that you really need. Your life is in danger. There are agents on their way to your house right now, and I am maybe 15 minutes ahead of them. My cover is already blown, and I am wounded, so I might not make it. If I don't, you need to know that you have information that is very interesting to the Organization, and you are considered expendable once they obtain that information. You need to talk to Eric Donahue, his number is..." and he cut off with a crashing sound. [That must have been him hitting the truck.] I thought detachedly, still in shock. [Why would anyone want to kill me? What information? What the hell is going on here?]
   I didn't know, but I was sure that if his timetable was on, agents should be outside my house in about 20 seconds, give or take. I had to get out of there, yesterday, and it didn't help that I didn't know where I should go. I pocketed the sim card, the contact info, and my phone. I also grabbed the pistol, because why not? I had a credible threat against my life, I felt I was entitled to fight back. Plus I'm a decent shot. I also grabbed a bottle of water and some aspirin, because I could feel the beginnings of the worst headache ever. It was going to be a long, long night.

More to come!

Friday Rant: Megavideo needs to die in a fire.

2010-05-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

You wanna know what really grinds my gears? Megavideo. I hate it with a fiery passion, and I don't see what the use for it is. You can't watch more than 72 minutes at a time, and you have to wait an hour in between each. That wouldn't be so bad if I didn't get all my TV online like a proper nerd. While looking for episode links, I ran across one of the greatest sites in the world, www.sidereel.com
It's a beautiful site to behold, so to speak, and it's really mostly perfect. There's just one little thing that annoys the everloving crap out of me: every episode has about 3 million megavideo links, and only like 4 that aren't. Since I prefer to watch TV in a barrage of episodes, I can't use megavideo. It doesn't work for me, and really, what's the point anyway? I can get it free elsewhere, obviously, so why even use the site? I don't know, this is just my opinion, that's why it's called a rant, but I believe that the whole megavideo idea needs to be rethought... Note that rethought here means "burned at the stake for crimes against the interwebs". It's just really annoying. It's like some dude that tries to sell you the latest version of Ubuntu: they fuel the world with hatred and animosity, and usually don't deliver anyway. That's all for now.

Red Seas Under Red Skies

2010-05-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I love Scott Lynch's writing, so I'm clearly going to be biased on this one. Also, they have adult language and content. This isn't so much a review as me sitting at the computer, tired after taking the baby to the doctor, and gushing about something I love.

Red Seas Under Red Skies came out in 2007. It's the sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. It is the second of a planned seven volumes. So, now that it's been almost 3 years since I first gave this guy a twirl, I've decided to do a re-read. How does this book stack up now?

Very, very well. RSURS is a fantastic sequel. I absolutely treasure The Lies of Locke Lamora, and RSURS gave me everything that I was looking for in a sequel to a first book of that quality. Locke and Jean are up to their usual tricks, and their comedic timing certainly hasn't lost a step from the first book. The characters are vivid, real, an enjoyable. I love the settings of this series, and especially love when Locke gets his chance to captain a ship.

For those of you who can't stand waiting for a sequel, this book might not be for you. Mr. Lynch has been going through some tough personal times, which I only bring up to explain that his writing output has slowed as a result. So, I might suggest holding off if you're one of those people that has to read a series straight through.

For the rest of us, there's absolutely no reason to not hop on indiebound.org, find the nearest bookstore and go and buy these two books. Yes, they've got language and adult content, so you might not let your teenager dive right in (unless you were like me and that was what you wanted from books as a teenager). But I would feel like I had cheated everyone on the interwebs out of a great thing if I didn't say that these books are some of the finest fantasy reading I've come across.

Monday Morning Rant: Why I hate Facebook

2010-05-16T23:46:00.000-07:00

Honestly, Facebook scares the crap out of me. It's like big brother for the internet, only it's not about stopping freedom of speech, it's about marketing it. Facebook counts on you not changing your privacy settings when you post something. It loves it. The more public things can be, the more they can be sold to people that want to target you. You specifically, for their ads. For instance, just take a look at this site. It searches public facebook posts, and yes, there's a lot of embarrassing stuff on there.

http://willmoffat.github.com/FacebookSearch/

Try "hate my boss," and then you'll understand why facebook is so evil. The kind of stuff we once told our friends in confidence has now become public because the masses aren't smart enough to keep up with the privacy settings that Facebook seems to change almost weekly.

Now, I can understand why a lot of people would just say "survival of the fittest," and move on, but the fact of the matter is privacy is privacy, and where privacy is concerned, facebook doesn't care about its users. I guess the saying is true, that absolute power corrupts absolutely. It's all about money now, and with money you can't trust a big company to do the right thing.

This is why I left Facebook a few months back. I'm happy to say that I don't miss it at all. I'm still in touch with all my friends and family, I still know what's going on in their lives, and, best of all, I'm not contributing to facebook's bottom line every time I post something innocent like how much I love Marshmallow Mateys.

The Week in Reviews....in Review

2010-05-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

As always, just click the review site to be taken straight to the full review. Credit this week goes to The Wertzone, Fantasy Book Critic, Debuts and Reviews, OF Blog of the Fallen and King of the Nerds!!!

"Stealing Fire (A+) is the best of Ms. Graham's work to date and a novel I strongly recommend to both lovers of historical fiction and fantasy adventures as the 'perfect crossover'".- Fantasy Book Critic

"It is rare for a genre work, especially an epic fantasy, to leave me thinking about the meanings behind the narratives as this series has done so far."- OF Blog of the Fallen

"Sci-fi horror fantasy post-apocalyptic westerns that tie together a single author’s (with at least one pseudonym) fiction in its near entirety are hardly a common occurrence and the scope of the Dark Tower series really is something to marvel at so if you’ve yet to experience this series I highly highly recommend giving it a try."- King of the Nerds!!!

"Had hoped for an enjoyable story to finish my WoT-setting re-reads, but this book was just poorly-structured, with the usual wooden characters and pedestrian prose. Might be another decade or more before I bother with this story again, if I ever do."- OF Blog of the Fallen

"Overall this book was a nice read, it brought about a bit of suspense and mystery that kept readers captivated. Those that aren't looking for an overly detailed novel, or ones that can appreciate a good 'Young Adult' novel will love this type of story."- Fantasy Book Critic

"Overall 'Speculative Horizons' achieves a sense of 'strangeness' and by mixing styles and subjects it offers quite a variety despite its relatively short 5 stories/120 odd pages."- Fantasy Book Critic

"The Alchemy of Stone is a little…melancholy for my tastes, but a worthwhile read nonetheless, and I think a number of you would enjoy it. A well-written steampunk novel, this book will appeal to those who like a literary style in their genre fiction and who don’t mind endings which are bittersweet."- Debuts and Reviews

"If you’re interested in fantasy, particularly of the sword and sorcery variety, if you’ve enjoyed authors like R. A. Salvatore, Fritz Leiber, and even Michael Sullivan then I think you’ll enjoy Alexy Prohov’s Shadow Prowler."- King of the Nerds!!!

"Those who read a lot of epic fantasy may feel the book brings nothing new to the table, but at the same time it is an enjoyable, solid read. Sprunk is a good writer and a capable storyteller with a lot of potential for the future..."- The Wertzone

Felix Gomez series by Mario Acevedo

2010-05-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.marioacevedo.com/

That's the homepage of one of my newest favorite authors, Mario Acevedo.

This review is focused on the first four books, and I will review book 5, Werewolf Smackdown, when I get my hands on a copy.

Warning: These books contain adult language and situations. Very adult.

Despite the somewhat heavily-sexual nature of these books (or perhaps I should say because of it, depends on what you like) these books are amazing. The vampires aren't sparkly and wussy. They are sexy, dangerous predators, and that is EXACTLY how they should be portrayed. They incorporate many of the better parts of the vampire mythos, and adds some new ones, such as the kundalini noir (the energy that powers a vampire). The main character is, of course, a detective. That is in no way a detriment however, as these books are full of very intriguing mystery.

Characters: I really get Felix. He's actually a pretty likable guy, even though he doesn't let anyone get close (you know, cause of the whole vampire thing). The characters are pretty well written, and they seem alive (or undead, anyway). 3/3.

Plot: There's a mystery to solve, and it's either a client that pays a suspicious amount of money, or the Araneum (the vampire council for lack of a better term) that gets Felix on the case. Looking at the names of the books (The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, X-Rated Bloodsuckers, Undead Kama Sutra, Jailbait Zombie) one sees the sexual nature of the books, but that isn't the main focus of the plot. In fact, there is quite a bit of other action, and not a small amount of humor. There is also a heavy Latino influence, which is great for me, because I am kind of sick of mainstream American culture. 4/4.

Setting: Umm... Colorado, California, Florida... a few other locales. Modern day Earth, realistically probably set the year they are written. It's an easily integrated setting, and one that the audience better be familiar with, because you LIVE IN IT. 3/3

Total Score: 10/10. I am really enjoying myself with this series, they are short enough to read in a day (or in an hour or so, depending on how fast you read), and they put a great and interesting spin on the generic Urban Fantasy Detective story. I really hope to get my hands on book 5 soon, and when I do, you'll be the first to hear about it. Mr. Acevedo, please, keep writing. I love these books.

At the Gates of Darkness by Raymond E. Feist

2010-05-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

I'll start by saying that I am a HUGE fan of this whole meta-series, The Riftwar Cycle. It starts with a 5 book series called the Riftwar Saga, at which time the Empire Trilogy written by Feist and Janny Wurts also takes place, and moves on to the Krondor's Sons series. Bah... enough of this, I'm just giving you his wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_E._Feist

It's all there. The man is a living, breathing, writing deity (according to the "how many books have you written" rule which states that a person's level of Deity is directly proportional to the amount of material they have written) and he has been writing since 1982, when his first book Magician came out. Okay, that's the series so far (and it is AMAZING) so on to the actual review of his latest book, At the Gates of Darkness.

Characters: Pug, the main character of probably half or more of these books (or at least a character that features prominently) is an easy character to relate to. The characters in these books are well written, and their motivations are clear and very human. They are some of the most well-written characters I have ever encountered, and this book doesn't fail to live up to that. 3/3

Plot: This is a sequel to Rides a Dread Legion, the first book in the Demonwar saga, where (unsurprisingly) we encounter demons on a more regular basis than previous books. I don't want to spoiler, but I will say that this book in every way lives up to the plot setup from the previous book. I recommend that you start with the beginning (so to speak) if you are going to read this series. Yes, it might take a while, but it is also well worth it. 4/4

Setting: The ever familiar setting of Midkemia, which is pretty much analogous of Earth (except for the fantasy parts of course). It is a well set up world, and I really enjoy my dual-citizenship there. There are other places as well, but we don't get to see them in as much detail (which makes sense, because neither do the characters). 3/3

Total Score: 10/10. This book is a great read, I couldn't put it down (and wouldn't have anyway), and I really look forward to the next book(s). Thank you Mr. Feist for keeping me entertained all these years.

Interview with author Seanan Mcguire

2010-05-07T00:57:00.000-07:00

Seanan Mcguire is the author of Rosemary and Rue (Review) and A Local Habitation (Review), both starring supernatural P.I. October Daye. Her newest book, Feed (Review coming soon), is part of what I can best describe as a "post zombie-apocalypse political fiction," which in no way does it justice. It's the first of a planned three books in The Newsflesh Trilogy, and is written under the name Mira Grant. The one-stop shop for all things Seanan Mcguire is, of course, http://seananmcguire.com/.

Buy October Daye books at Indiebound

Buy Mira Grant books at Indiebound

So, without further ado, let's ask her some questions.

1- What’s your story? You know, the one people ask you about over and over. The “How did you make it” story.

The "how did you make it" story? I wrote a book. It stunk. I wrote another book. It stunk less. I re-wrote the first book. I wrote a third book that kinda didn't stink. I re-wrote the second book. I wrote a fourth book. Somewhere in all that, I figured out how, precisely, one writes books, and stopped stinking (at least, that's my fervent hope). I found an agent. Agent make go.

2- With three books in print (that I know of) do you feel that you’ve arrived as an author? Have you been able to "quit your day job" and do writing full time?

Cheese and crackers, no. I am the most neurotic Halloweentown blonde on the planet, and I spend most of my waking hours working, one way or another. I'm still working a full-time day job, so I don't sleep much.

3-Having read both Rosemary and Rue and A Local Habitation , I can say that I love October Daye as a character. Is she your favorite character to write? If so, what makes her so enjoyable?

I love the hell out of Toby, and yeah, sometimes she's my favorite character to write. Other times, she's not -- it really depends on my mood. When she is my favorite, it's her pragmatism that makes her so much fun.

4-The time of the e-book seems to be upon us. While I’m not carrying a sign around telling folks to repent of their papyrus ways, it seems pretty clear to me that we’re quickly approaching a tipping point in the way the publishing industry works. What is your opinion of all of this, and how has it affected you as an author so far?

I like my books not to be turned off during airplane take-off and landing. I am a paper book girl. I use them to insulate my house. Also, and this has been a big one recently, there isn't a single e-book format -- every format requires a separate contract, negotiation, and release. This matters because when someone doesn't have their preferred format available instantly, I get angry email, sometimes accompanied with justification of piracy. As someone trying to make my living doing this, this makes me sad. So do the cries for an e-book price limit of under five dollars. I like eating. My cats like eating. So it's a thing.

I do tend to think that the publishing world is changing, and will have to change, but I don't think overnight change is a good idea, either for authors or for readers. We need to do this in a sustainable way.

5-Along the same lines as the e-book question, I want to ask about internet presence and self-marketing. It seems this is now the norm for authors, having to work hard to draw fans in through their websites, blogs, and other methods. Do you enjoy posting a livejournal and having social networks or other websites, or is it something you wouldn’t mind living without?

I've been blogging since 2000, and prior to that, I did a weekly humor column distributed to my college and an email list. I really love interacting with fans and being able to go "golly, I have this in-universe short story, guess I'll just put it up online." I wish there wasn't such a need for all the self-promotion, just because not everybody enjoys it? But I am a perky perky princess when you get me going, so it's a good time.

6-What’s your writing process like? I know people hate this question, so feel free to be as specific or general as you’d like. Some folks in the past have given me and hour by hour breakdown of a day in their life, and other people have just told me, “I get up and write.”

It depends on the project, honestly. Sometimes books start with detailed outlines and serious points. Other times, I sit down and start writing. I have beta-reading pools aligned by project, and they get installments every chapter or two. When they return their commentary, I back-track, edit, and carry on. I also retype books completely between drafts one and two, introducing typos and fixing jumbled sentences. It's a thing.

I type a hundred and twenty words a minute, and my cats make sure I occasionally get up and walk around.

7-Lucky number seven is an opportunity to shamelessly plug anything you’d like.

I have two series of short stories available for free online reading. "Sparrow Hill Road" is at The Edge of Propinquity and is the story of Rose Marshall, hitchhiking ghost from the 1940s, as she travels America in search of a jacket, a cheeseburger, and vengeance on the man who killed her. "Velveteen vs." is at my website, www.seananmcguire.com, and is the story of Velma Martinez, also known as "Velveteen," a former child superheroine who just wants to be left the hell alone. It's deeply silly, but stealth serious at the same time.

8- Your new series, The Newsflesh Trilogy, is really something great. We've chosen it for our segment Two Dudes Review: and we'll have a full review up soon. For the people who didn't immediately rush to the bookstore (oh, the shame they must feel), could you provide a quick synopsis of what's going to be going on in the first book, Feed?

Twenty years ago, the dead rose. This was a problem for a while...but we got over it, for the most part. In the post-Rising world, all the balances of power have changed, but some things are forever. Bloggers Shaun and Georgia Mason, and their friend Buffy, have been tapped to follow the Ryman campaign as he tries to become President of the United States. Then things get messy.

I tell people it's what you get when you cross Night of the Living Dead with The West Wing and Transmetropolitan. It's more political science fiction than straight horror. I'm very fond of it.

9- I'm learning more and more that I'm a fan of zombie fiction. Can you explain why you think zombie fiction has "risen from the grave" to become so popular lately?

Because vampires got sexy.

Look: we always need a monster that's just a monster, and things are cyclic. Zombies are the fear of contagion, they're the fear of loss of self, they're the fear of blending back into the crowd. This is the age of the zombie, where they're the only thing we can kill without guilt, and where we're terrified of becoming them someday.

10-And finally, the great equalizer: If you were an assassin traveling through time, who would you be sent to kill and why?

I tend to think that messing with history is a form of genocide, since the ripples will unwrite countless human lives. It's not cool. So I'd "accidentally" leave my gun in the time machine, and spend an afternoon hanging out with Vincent Price. Man was a god.

A Local Habitation by Seanan Mcguire

2010-05-07T00:46:00.000-07:00

A Local Habitation is the second October Daye book from Seanan Mcguire. For a review of the first book, Rosemary and Rue, click here.

In a sentence: A Local Habitation builds on the successful points of Rosemary and Rue, while still introducing us to new characters and concepts to the world of Faery.

Setting: I really enjoyed this particular chapter in Toby Daye's life. We got to see how she would work with a sort of "locked room" mystery. I was pleased to see that these books will move around a little bit, rather than just remain within the city of San Francisco. The setting was small, since the majority of the story took place in a single building (granted, a building that kept changing like Hogwarts on crack). I could see myself in the building with the characters, which is probably more important than it sounds. When you've got a story that takes place in a single building, it needs to be real enough that you understand where you're at and what's going on at all times. Mcguire did this very well. Looking back, I want to say that I felt like she was a little light on the description of the building itself, but the fact that it was an office building sort of leads you to that sterile, white room kind of place anyway. My own mind filled in the blanks, which is how a good author writes a setting, so I was satisfied.

Character: Toby is really a fun character. I'm also glad to see that Quentin gets some more screen time. It was good that Mcguire didn't drop him after foreshadowing him as an important character from the first book. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in the characters of Alex and Terrie, but I think that falls under plot a little more clearly than character. Tybalt is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. He's an interesting combination of street smarts and naiveté in that he's very good at being the King of Cats and at understanding how things work in the more dangerous parts of the city, but doesn't spend enough time with the common man to really get a grip on what daily life is like for someone that isn't nobility.

Plot: I'm torn on this book's plot, and I guess I'm just going to say that the mystery was better than the first book, but in other ways it didn't work as well. With the locked room mystery, it gets progressively easier to figure out the "whodunnit" simply because people keep on dying, increasing the odds of making a correct guess. In my first read through the book, I was disappointed because I thought I had figured out the mystery at about the 1/3 mark. In reality, I had only figured out half the mystery, but managed to get the whole thing by about the 2/3 mark. This still leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth, since I wasn't really sure who had committed the crime in the first book until nearer the big reveal. This could have simply been me reading more for enjoyment in the first book, though, since in theory it presented less characters, and therefore, an easier mystery.

Now, before you get the feeling that I didn't like this book, I want to point out that there were lots of things that I really LOVED about this book. I thought that we got some really good looks at Toby getting kicked while she was down a few times, and really got to see the woman under the mask of toughness and confidence, which was a great add-in to the story, and I also really liked the development of Quentin. I'm looking for to hearing and seeing more of Toby's relationship with her mom, and I'm assuming at some point the dam is going to burst as far as romance is concerned, and we'll see a full-blown love interest of some sort, and all the pain and difficulty associated with that.

Overall, A Local Habitation (8.75/10) is a fine sequel. In many ways, it builds on what was already there, and there are really no major drawbacks to the book. It's nice to see an author that's consistent, as so many seem to have that second book slump, where it just doesn't measure up to their first brilliant idea. I am definitely looking forward to An Artificial Light, coming in September.

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan Mcguire

2010-05-07T00:40:00.000-07:00

Rosemary and Rue is the first published work of author Seanan Mcguire (who, incidentally, seems like a very cool person. Interview coming soon!). It's urban fantasy starring October Daye, a changeling fae with limited powers who works...worked as a P.I. in San Francisco...until she got turned into a fish for 14 years. Yep, very catchy beginning. In the hope of giving some sort of order to my reviews, I'm going to try and separate all future reviews into Character, Setting and Plot.

Character- I really like Toby Daye. She's a funny, sort of bungling, magical creature that loves her cats, has a troubled past, a very interesting present, and an even more interesting future. I think she's the best character in the books, which is a very good thing because she's the narrator. The thing I like most about her is that she's not Superwoman, not by a long shot. It's nothing original to have a weak (magic-wise) main character, but after reading lots of epic fantasy (local boy makes good, becomes magical demi-god) and urban fantasy (local super-wizard get the crap beat out of him, saves the day anyway), it's sort of nice to not have Gandalf in the driver's seat. Don't get me wrong, Harry Dresden is awesome, but sometimes I wish he wasn't more powerful than a locomotive, able to decimate ranks of the undead with a single, "fuego!" It's sort of nice to see a character that gets a headache every time she pulls the, "these aren't the droids you're looking for" card.

The other characters in the story seem to have been given characterization appropriate to importance. Those we don't see much get just enough to keep them memorable, while those with a larger part to play get a little more of that magic paint that brings characters to life. That sits just fine with me, and I like my stories that way. Other good characters from the series include Tybalt and of course Toby's cats. Oh, and a walking rosebush.

Setting- I liked having a book in San Francisco. Mcguire's description of the town seems to show that she's got a soft spot for the city by the bay...well, at least Toby does. Again, I like the way she does setting. The description is there, and very well done, but I don't get to hear what every leaf on every tree looks like. Sometimes I feel that books take it too far, but this is just fine. In my own writing (yes, I do that sometimes) I don't do enough setting, so clearly I'm on the spartan side of the setting fence. The realms of faery are very well done, and I like the idea of different famous landmarks being duchies and whatnot. All in all, a cool idea, and pretty well executed.

Plot- Though parts of the story, as with a lot of urban fantasy P.I. books, read like a checklist (checkered past? Check. Main character gets the crap beat out of them but saves the day? Check), I really liked the story of this book. You really get all the emotions that come with someone whose life was in ruins and is just trying to make a second go of it. I connected with this book in a lot of ways, and that rooting interest in the characters, especially Toby, made the whole story greater than the sum of its parts. The mystery of whodunnit wasn't the most complex thing I've ever seen, but it was enough to make you feel things for the characters involved, and that's what a story is really about.

Rosemary and Rue ( 8.75/10) stacks up very well against all of the urban fantasy I've read in the last couple of years. The characters, setting and plot all come together to make you feel something, and thus it becometh a page turner. If you're a fan of the genre, you're going to want to add this to you list of things to read this year. The second book, A Local Habitation just came out about a month and a half ago, and from what I've read it looks to be adding to everything the first book established. Also, if you're a fan of zombie fiction, she's got a new trilogy coming out, the first of which is called Feed. I'm looking forward to that one for sure. In short, go and read them, you'll probably like 'em.

Thraxas by Martin Scott

2010-05-03T01:20:00.000-07:00

Warning: this book (and series) contains language and actions not suitable for children.

So to start, I read all of this series in one go, so I can barely remember which book was which (as far as plot goes) but I can give you a review of what the books were like. In the first book you meet Thraxas, a "Sorcerous Investigator" who happens to be the cheapest investigator in the whole city of Turai. He used to be an imperial investigator, until he got really drunk and hit on his boss's wife at their wedding. He was fired, and had to move to the poor sector of town, Twelve Seas, where he lives in a room in the upstairs of his friend and fellow onetime mercenary Gurd the Barbarian's tavern. He sometimes works with Makri, a barmaid who works there. She is an interesting person, in that she is 1/4 elf, 1/4 orc, and 1/2 human, an odd combination that few people seem to like (no one likes Orcs). She is also probably the best fighter in the world, and was Undefeated Champion of the Orcish gladiator pits for 6 years running before she broke out, killed all of her captors and their lord, and escaped to come to Turai. That's the two main characters in a nutshell. They are funny, interesting, and above all terribly flawed, which makes them quite reader-friendly. There are other characters of course, but we won't go into detail (I wouldn't want to spoil anything).

The book starts out with Thraxas taking on a job. That is pretty much how ALL the books in this series start, but it's okay because each job is different and interesting. He gets into trouble, and uses what little magic he has to get out of it (also a commonality of the series) but ends up getting into even more trouble BECAUSE of a) his magic, or b) him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He gets thrown in jail in almost every book, and someone tries to kill him at least three times (this is all pretty generic for the series, but in no way is it boring). I make it sound like the books are all the same, and to a certain extent they are; that being said, they are all equally as good as each other, which is why I had a hard time deciding which one to review. I chose the first one because of the fact that, well, it's the first book.

The plot is always pretty intriguing, and I (almost) never called who the culprit(s) were. There are plenty of recurring characters that make appearances, sometimes important, sometimes not, and for the most part they are all well rounded and entertaining. The city and other countries seem to be pretty realistic, and give the world a feeling of life that it would not otherwise have. There's enough fighting, magic, and mystery to impress even the most hardcore readers, and more than enough drinking and drug use for anyone (done with entertainment in mind, of course). By the end, though, one really doesn't mind that Thraxas is an overbearing, overweight, racist, sexist, alcoholic gambler; in fact, I believe people come to like him more as a character because of these things.

Overall I really enjoyed this series, and this book specifically. They are short (I think the longest was 250 pages) and well worth the time. The only complaint I have is that the series isn't actually concluded; no one bought the ninth book, so it isn't out (and doesn't look like it will be anytime soon). Even without a proper ending, though, I gave this series a 9/10. This book, however, definitely gets a 10/10. It's a great start to a great series, and I hope that someday the rest of the series will be published. That is all.

The Week in Reviews...In Review

2010-05-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

Note: As always, just click on the website to be taken straight to the full review. Enjoy!

"The epilogue part which is predictable but quite good, redeems a little what came before, but overall New Model Army was a B from me and a minor disappointment."- Fantasy Book Critic

"It will definitely be hard to top a novel such as this and I'm not sure if other novels will be as developed and well rounded as Neverland was."- Fantasy Book Critic

"The King of the Crags" was less of a favorite then The Adamantine Palace since it brought only a little new stuff at the table so to speak..."- Fantasy Book Critic

"The Hourglass Door has caught my eye as a YA romance/time travel novel. It seemed to have a unique twist on the regular romance novels that were coming out in mass quantities."- Fantasy Book Critic

"Plot-driven adventures with characters so vivid you feel like you’re right there with them through every disaster. These books are like potato chips–you can’t stop eating them up. It’s a rare gift to craft a book as riveting as Bewitched and Betrayed."- Debuts and Reviews

"This, my friends, is how young adult fantasy is done. In The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley has created a world out of whole cloth and polished it until it shines..."- FantasyLiterature.com

"So while it wasn't as disjointed in feel as was Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords contained too many dull and redundant moments for me to be enthused about reading it. Onwards and upwards."- OF Blog of the Fallen

"‘Spellwright’ made for some infuriating reading at times. I could see a potentially very good story itching to get out from underneath a mass of unnecessary text, very much like Nicodemus’ latent powers in fact!"- Graeme's Fantasy Review

"Kraken is...the story of a young man awakening to world around him, it’s a story of loss, it’s an apocalyptic, action-packed thriller, it’s magical, it’s squidpunk, it’s all a bad joke…and it’s simply an example of a master at work. Highly recommended. 8.5/10"- Nethspace

Two sides to a story: Darker Angels by MLN Hanover

2010-04-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

Warning: This book contains adult language and sexual content.

Bryce's Take:

Darker Angels continues The Black Suns Daughter series from Daniel Abraham, AKA MLN Hanover. In this second installment, more mayhem ensues, as main character Jayne receives a phonecall that there's a demon loose in New Orleans.

This book surprised me initially, since I expected for Jayne to have progressed a little bit more in her understanding of the supernatural and what was going on around her. The book begins more quickly than I had thought it would, taking place just a few weeks or months after the first book. Development-wise, Jayne is coming into her own a little more as a character, which I liked. This is going to be one of those reviews where I say that if you liked the first book, you'll like the second one as well. The twists and turns didn't seem quite as exciting to me this time around, and I figured out what was going on about twenty pages before the characters, but that's to be forgiven. Maybe the foreshadowing was too heavy, or maybe I was particularly brilliant in my insight.

This book is an opportunity for the reader to really settle in and get into the series. Jayne's a little more mature, and a little more thoughtful. Those polished gems of ideas about demons moving from person to person, using them as horses don't shine quite as much as they used to, but that's only because the idea isn't brand new anymore. This second effort is worthy of the original, and expands the world that this story is taking place in. I also love that Jayne has the means to travel the globe, since so many urban fantasy books revolve around the idea of "one wizard, one town." I enjoy that the scenery changes with each book, and Abraham does just enough to get me into each new setting. Using New Orleans in this second installment was brilliantly done, and I enjoyed the atmosphere that it created for the book.

Darker Angels (8.5/10) is a worthy sequel to Unclean Spirits, and I'm definitely looking forward to continuing the series later this fall when Vicious Grace is set to come out.

Darren's Take:

Darker Angels was a very good sequel to Unclean Spirits, and I think I like this series maybe slightly more than Bryce, because I didn't think that anything wasn't polished or shiny. The idea still had a lot more fleshing out to do (the demons I mean) and this book delivers. I'm gonna surprise you all and... agree with Bryce about the rest of what he said. If anything, this book delves even deeper into the emotional angle, and by the end I wasn't sure that Legba was all that bad (it's not a spoiler if you have no context). I found myself able to get emotionally invested (at least slightly) in a demon, a serial killer, and a guy who really needs to stop being such a dick and get laid (I can kind of understand that one, hehehe). I'll keep this short, only saying that it was an interesting turn for the plot to take, and it didn't suffer at all from the dreaded Book 2 Lull that happens so often in trilogies.

Another 9 of 10, and I hope that I can be one of your ARC readers in the future, Mr. Hanover (Or Mr. Abraham, whichever you prefer).

Two Sides to Every Story: Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover (aka Daniel Abraham)

2010-04-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

Warning: This book contains adult language and sexual content.

Bryce's Take:

Unclean Spirits is the first book in Hanover's Black Sun's Daughter urban fantasy series. So far, there are two books, the second being Darker Angels. The third book, Vicious Grace is due later this year.

The book tells the story of Janyé, a college dropout who learns that the death of her uncle Eric has suddenly, and quite completely, changed her life. Not all of these changes are for the better. As with all urban fantasy, we quickly learn that all of the creepy crawlies from our nightmares are quite real. This series deals (so far) with these demons as unclean spirits that inhabit the bodies of their victims, allowing them to move about in our world and to reproduce and do whatever it is really bad things do with their free time. Along the way, we'll meet some pretty nasty fellows, including the bad guy of this book, a Mr. Coin. What can I say? Money is the root of all evil.

Janyé is a strong character, and I enjoyed spending time in her head. Hanover (Abraham) does a solid job writing a woman who is complex, and sexual without being your cliché bombshell. The other characters feel very much like the characters from Jim Butcher's Dresden files. They're not terribly deep just yet but, given enough books, they'll be much more fleshed out.

Of course, there's a romance in the book between Janyé and a man named Aubrey. I have to admit that I was impressed with how it took center stage in a lot of the decisions the characters made, but wasn't over-done so that I was throwing up in my mouth a little.You see, I like a little romance in my urban fantasy, rather than a little urban fantasy in my romance novels, and Hanover has catered to people like me. I just don't feel like romance needs to be the center of every urban fantasy out there, and I'm tired of the blonde bombshell heroines in their leather pants. Thankfully, the romance is well done and the only leather was worn by men on motorcycles, so we're cool.

Probably the thing that I would praise most about this book was that it was "smart." Now, just saying that doesn't mean much. What I'm trying to say is that people thought things through, debated with one another, and formed logical plans. And when everything went straight to hell, it did so in a logical manner. The bad guy seemed realistic, and their try/fail cycles (look it up, ye un-writerly) made sense. It was "smart" urban fantasy, rather that a story about some busty blonde that falls in love with a zombie/werewolf/biker/night-shift manager and somehow learns that all things other-wordly are real, and goes out to right the wrongs. It was the story of a woman seeking revenge against a bastard that had killed her favorite relative and was after the closest thing she had to friends, and that makes sense.

Now, I haven't read a ton of urban fantasy, maybe only twenty books or so, so you'll have to forgive my ignorance. A question, though. Does everyone have to have the crap beat out of them at the beginning and the end of the book? It just seems like this happens a lot, and if I ever write an urban fantasy, I'm going to try to stay away from this.

Unclean Spirits (8.75/10) is a very solid beginning to an urban fantasy series that I'm sure I'll enjoy. It keeps the clichés to a minimum while still playing with elements familiar to fans of the genre. I'll look forward to reading Darker Angels soon and giving a full report.

Darren's Take:

Unclean Spirits was an interesting book in and of itself, but I think it represents a great step towards respectability for one group of writers: men who write female characters. There are quite a few people (women mostly, though I hope no one gets angry at me for pointing out that distinction) that think that men are frankly unqualified to write women, though there are those who take it far enough that it seems they feel men are drooling idiots when it comes to anything with breasts (which is actually possible, now that I think about it). There are even panels about male authors who write female characters at such places as LTUE, etc. I believe it was Tracy Hickman who said something to the amount of "Men write women as men with breasts" and I think he has a fair point, FOR THE MOST PART. MLN Hanover (Daniel Abraham) is quite the exception. His main character, Janye`, is not only emotionally believable, but as Bryce said, she's not the buxom superhero we normally see. Superhero, maybe. Buxom, I dunno, it never mentions that, but the point is, she's real enough to form an emotional bond with. Maybe it was just me, but I kind of understand what she's going through (at least at the start) with the whole family doesn't understand you, college dropout, nowhere to go, few friends thing. I've been there( I'm still kind of there) and that made the book speak to me more than I think it otherwise would. I'll not go on long, because Bryce already said all that needs saying about the plot and such, but I will agree that I look forward to the next two books, and the next ten if it so happens. I like this writing style, and it's quite interesting to note that it is completely different from his style in Long Price Quartet. I give it a 9 out of 10.

The Week in Reviews....In Review

2010-04-26T03:42:00.000-07:00

"Humour is a funny thing though isn’t it? ‘Blonde Bombshell’ wasn’t my thing but, like I said earlier, if you’re already a fan of Tom Holt’s work then it could very well be yours..."- Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

"The Passage (*****) is a superbly-written, well-paced and convincingly-characterised novel where the situation and characters remain in the imagination long after it is finished. This could be the start of something major indeed."- The Wertzone

"‘The Reapers are the Angels’ is a beautiful read and one that is thoroughly worth looking out for if you’re a fan of zombie fiction."- Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

"...if you’re ready to do some running then ‘Sleepless’ is a book full of rewards for those who ready to go looking for them. Not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination but one that I very much enjoyed."- Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

"The Adamantine Palace, provides a fast, fun escape into a world with just enough political intrigue and some pretty nasty dragons. However, it’s far from perfect and simply fails to stand-out in the crowded epic fantasy genre."- Nethspace

"Despite the tropes, Blake Charlton wrote an engaging -- if not the most original -- story. Spellwright makes for a good reading experience that does bring back memories."- Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

"The Horrifying Presence was a complete surprise. I didn't think it was possible for writers of this quality to languish in relative obscurity for so long. Why are all of this man's works not widely available in the English speaking world?"- Speculative Fiction Junkie

"Brett proves that fantasy doesn't have to be overcomplicated and it doesn't have to follow fantasy tropes of sword and sorcery. It's just a great book that has everything you want..."- Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lovin' News and Reviews

"If you haven't read Mr. Hussey's adult fiction, you absolutely should do so right away, but I can't give as strong an endorsement to his debut work for young adults."- Speculative Fiction Junkie

Review: A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham

2010-04-24T03:22:00.000-07:00

A Shadow in Summer is the first of a four book series (a complete one, no less) by Daniel Abraham called The Long Price Quartet. Let's see here, how to describe this book. Hrm.....well, it reminded me somewhat of Acacia: War with the Mein by David Anthony Durham in that it was a very political fantasy book. Now, that absolutely does NOT mean it was a boring book, or that Abraham had a political agenda in writing it. What it does mean is that the magic system is used in more gray areas, and less "Orcs are evil, we must needs rid the planet of their plague," areas. The book moves along fairly quickly, though it does start off somewhat slowly, and it has just the right mix of action, intrigue and mystery to keep you turning pages.

A Shadow in Summer opens us up to a new world by telling the story of several characters, most notably Amat, Liat, Maati and Otah. Their stories, naturally, come together in a plot that foreshadows horrible disaster for their city of Saraykeht, and great changes to the world as a whole.

The magic system is very interesting, in that it's heavily involved in commerce and trade. I've always wondered why more people didn't use their superpowers to make money, and it looks like Mr. Abraham has penned a tale that I can finally sink my economical teeth into. The poets are essentially magicians who use their studies and words to capture the Andat, thoughts made into words made into demigods. One such creature is the Andat Seedless, a cunning, ruthless element that wants nothing more than to be free of the bonds of slavery and to strike back at his master for having given him form. The story of Seedless' intricate plot to destroy Heshai, his master, and gain freedom ultimately draws all the characters in and sets up a wonderful fantasy series.

A Shadow in Summer (9/10) doesn't feel like a first effort from an author. Granted, Abraham has many short stories to his credits, and did spend time at the fantastic Clarion West workshop with authors such as George R.R. Martin and Connie Willis. His polished craft shows, and I'm eager to get to more of his books. For those of you who are more inclined to purchase something from the urban fantasy section of the world wide web, you might be interested in some work Abraham did under the pen name M.L.N. Hanover. The two books in that series (so far) are Unclean Spirits and Darker Angels, and I'll be trying to get my hands on both for upcoming reviews.

Review: Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon

2010-04-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

So to start off, I'd like to thank the author for a wonderful experience (yet again) and to say that I really look forward to the next book.

If that didn't give away my feelings towards this book, well... you aren't paying attention.

Oath of Fealty is set in the same universe as the Deed of Paksenarrion, and in fact takes place only a day or so after that series ended. It takes the viewpoints of other characters in the books, namely Dorrin, Arcolin, Stammel (somewhat) and the Duke Phelan, and tells their stories. All the others are still around, and we see Paks from time to time, but it isn't about her anymore, which is an interesting turn for this series to take.

The characters, as usual, are quite superbly written, and convey their emotions in a believable manner. They are well developed, and also quite entertaining from time to time, which is a good sign that they are well written (the characters themselves are entertaining, not just the plot).

I can't say too much about the plot without spoilers, so I won't. Suffice to say, some things need solving, and the crew is back to do the job.

There is little I can say in detriment to this book, and even less that I want to (writing critically about books you really enjoyed is a lot harder than you would think). The only thing I had been hoping for was some glimmer into what Paks and King Falkieri were doing in Liar's Oath, but I'm assuming that we'll get to that point.

Thank you, Elizabeth Moon, for a great read that I couldn't put down, and for coming back to this series after all these years. This is one of my favorite fantasy series of all time, and I am literally counting the days until I hear about book 2.

10/10.

This, in my opinion, is my runner up for Must Buy Book of 2010 (Changes still takes the title, though just barely.) For veteran fans of the series such as myself, it could well take the top spot. READ IT. It's good for you.

But first, if you haven't read them, you should read The Deed of Paksenarrion, and The Legacy of Gird (the two previous series). The first is a trilogy, the second is just two books, and in my opinion they are worth EVERY MOMENT spent reading them. That is all.

Just a quick drop post to tell you what's going on.

2010-04-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

So I'm now officially a contributor to the blog, and as such, I'm going to tell you what I'm reading right now, and that is:

Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon.

Moon has been one of my favorite sci-fi and fantasy (yes, both) authors for quite some time, and I was ecstatic to learn about this book, because it is a continuation of one of her older (and in my opinion best) trilogies, The Deed of Paksennarion. I wanted for so long to read more in that universe, because it is full of life and interesting things, and now I get to! Needless to say, I'll be done soon, and you'll have a full report from me. Thanks for tuning to this site, and hopefully you'll come back soon and often.
Darren

The Week in Reviews

2010-04-19T05:03:00.000-07:00

A new feature here at The Intelli-Gent Reviews, "The Week in Reviews" will be posted every Monday morning, unless I'm lazy. If that's the case, it will be posted whenever the heck I want to do it. I'll be linking to some of my favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy review sites, and I really hope they don't mind, since I haven't necessarily asked....um.....permission?

"‘Shadow Prowler’ doesn’t bring anything new to the table at all, and I’m still wondering if there’s a problem with the translation, but it is a lot of fun and has me waiting for the sequel to arrive."- Graeme's Fantasy Reviews

"I was very, very impressed with 'The Hunger Games' and would much rather spend my time with this series than with anything from the "Twilight" universe."- Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lovin' News and Reviews

"From time to time any avowed escapist such as myself needs a shock to the system – and King Maker provides just that. The wonderfully creative premise and horrific reality make it a book that should be read. Unfortunately, it is a flawed work that undermines the weight of the powerful punch it should deliver."- Nethspace

"Beneath the Surface is a strong collection punctuated here and there by near perfect stories. No one is better at writing compelling nightmares than Mr. Strantzas." - Speculative Fiction Junkie

Review: The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford

2010-04-19T00:53:00.000-07:00

The Shadow Year is the World Fantasy Award winning novel by Jeffrey Ford. Having decided to step back and try to read several of the World Fantasy Award winners, I thought I may as well begin with the most current. Full disclosure: The book did tie with Tender Morsels for the win, so it wasn't complete and total victory. Still, this book sang to me like few books do.

I was wrapped up in the setting of the book immediately. You can tell that the author grew up in the time period that he wrote about, because everything is living and breathing. It reminded me of stories my father used to tell about growing up with his older brother during the same time.

The Shadow Year is a murder mystery/fantasy/coming of age tale. As far as I can remember, the point of view character in the tale doesn't ever get a name. He's just an 11 year old boy. The story manages to blend the everyday life of growing up in the 60s with a child's hunt to catch a murderer. The novel is difficult for me to describe, so I'm just going to say that if you like coming of age tales like To Kill a Mockingbird, then this book is right up your alley.

The Shadow Year (9.5/10) is quick, humorous, frighteningly accurate, and well written to the point that I didn't want to put it down for sleep. I laughed out loud several times while reading the book. The humor inherent in growing up shines like a beacon, and looking back I can see why it beat out The Graveyard Book and the other nominees to win the World Fantasy Award. This isn't my MUST BUY of 2010, since it came out in early March of 2008, but I'm going to take a quick trip back in time and make it my MUST BUY of 2008.

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

2010-04-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a mystery thriller by Stieg Larsson, an author from Sweden. After his death in 2004, he published three novels ins his Millenium series. This is the first.

The story revolves around a journalist who is down on his luck getting a call from an old man, formerly the head of a well respected company. This old man wants the reporter to track down a murderer. The twist? The murder happened over 30 years ago. It's a classic locked room type mystery, with plenty of action and side story thrown in to keep you turning pages....just not the first 50 or the last 50.

I enjoyed everything but the first 50 pages and the last 50 pages of this book. Sadly, it starts out so heart-breakingly slow that I actually stopped reading it and came back to it on a day that I had more patience. Not unlike Andy in the Shawshank Redemption, you're going to have to crawl through some poo to get to freedom with this book. The last 50 pages are drawn out as well, in one of those "based on a true story" movie styles, giving each little character a nice tidy blurb about what they're doing now.. The mystery and thrill of a wonderful book are over, and you're left with a huge wrap-up that wasn't strictly necessary, especially given the fact that it's the first book in a series.

Now, while the book clearly doesn't believe in the writer's phrase, "In late, out early," everything but those 100 pages was wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed the murder mystery, and found the two main characters to be interesting, and easily capable of carrying a book. The twist was solid, especially when you find out that things were so much worse than you imagined, and the big reveal near the end was great.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (8.5/10) was an action packed, thrilling mystery, just not at the beginning or the end, where it should have been.

Mr. Monster by Dan Wells

2010-04-13T04:38:00.000-07:00

Dan Wells' second effort, Mr. Monster, is the second book in his amazing horror/sci-fi series. It's currently available in the UK, while a US release of his first book, I Am Not a Serial Killer, just took place last month. He's bigger than Strudel in Germany, and hopefully people will catch on to this fantastic author here in the U.S.

That being said, my review of Mr. Monster will undoubtedly be short. In fact, I could just leave the entire thing alone after spewing forth the following sentence (in all caps of course, to further clarify the extreme nature of my fanboyishness): IF YOU HAVE READ I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER YOU MUST ALSO READ THIS. There, it's just that simple. This book is the continuation of John Cleaver's struggle against the demon inside him, Mr. Monster. John tried so hard to stay away from becoming a serial killer, but after the results of book one, it's getting much much harder. He's looked at differently by everyone he knows, especially his neighbor/obsession. Can John keep it together when strange things start to happen in town again?

Everything about this book is better, faster, and creepier. Wells is really coming into his own, which is no small praise since I thought his first effort was pretty darned stellar. John Cleaver is an amazing character, and his interaction with people is even more interesting in this second installment.

Now, for the downside: the book was too short. I got it as a birthday present, and before I could even blow out the candles on the cake, I was through. I do have to remind myself that this is a young adult book, even though it's creepy enough for any adult, so it's naturally going to be a little shorter. It's also not epic fantasy, either. So, the length isn't really all that bad, considering. I just felt like things moved so quickly in the book that I didn't get as much enjoyment as I should have, somehow.

Still, the enjoyment that I did receive was huge. Mr. Monster (9.5/10) is right up there for my MUST BUY of 2010. I'd still say Changes by Jim Butcher had more of a wow factor, but it's the 12th book in the series, so you've gotta cut Wells some slack for doing something so amazing with just his second book in print.

Two Dudes Review: The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett

2010-04-10T00:14:00.000-07:00

In an effort to be somewhat different, we've decided to start a once a month chatlog review of a book that Darren and I both read. So, without further ado, welcome to Two Dudes Review: The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett Bryce: So, this is Two Dudes Review. Let's get right to some gripes. One thing that bugged me was the ending, more specifically the character development of Renna. She just flew way too quickly from helpless girl to murderous She Beastie...also, she reminded me of what's her name from Joe Abercrombie's series a little too much.

Darren: Yeah, I agree...

Bryce: You know, tough amazon chick that loves blood...whatever her name was.

Darren: She has almost zero character development.

2:39 AM Which really is alright, but she's pushed way too fast into the middle of everything.

Bryce: Or maybe it's that she has almost ten million character development. she grew too fast, and we all know what happens when you do that....you split your pants

Maybe that's why she had to cut them part way through the book?

Darren: Fair enough. Fair enough,

2:40 AM But I'm thinking that, (at least it seems this way to me) the author had a much bigger arc planned for her, and just didn't write it.

Either for time constraints or what have you.

Bryce: Could well be. Maybe she plays a huge part in the third book and he needed to hurry her along to meet that part.

Darren: But she goes from farm girl to murdering psycho hose beast in like 3 chapters.

sorry, Spoilers!

2:41 AM Bryce: It's all right.

No one reads this blog anyway :P

Darren: hehehe, fair enough

we do though!

i didn't want to spoil it... for... me?

I dunno, whatever

Bryce: Yep

So, favorite part of the book?

2:42 AM Darren: Gotta be when we got to see Par'Chin from Jardir's point of view.

How awesome and strange he was

Bryce: Yeah, it really made him larger than life

especially to someone that hated outsiders

Darren: Well, yes and no

He seemed larger than life to the Krasians

but we saw him when he was a sniveling farm boy

so it's an interesting dichotomy for us

2:43 AM Bryce: ooh, +5 for that word

Darren: meh, I use that word as often as possible, cause it makes me sound smart

Bryce: good call

For me, it was all about how Brett just dumps a big bucket of gray paint on his first book, which was much more black and white

Getting to see everything from Jardir's point of view did a lot of that

Darren: Yeah, and throws in a history book.

2:44 AM Yep

I agree

Bryce: So I guess we both have the same favorite part, to an extent

Darren: Yeah, but at the same time... that's the slowest part of the book

Bryce: Although Jardir's part was a little slow...

whoa, mind reading!

Darren: although... come to think of it, if that wasn't my favorite part, it'd have to be when Arlen was arming the Hollow

2:45 AM cause that's pretty cool

Bryce: That was pretty cool.

Darren: it's on the same scale as Perrin arming the Two Rivers in TWoT

just unexpected and awesome

Bryce: I liked the fight scene between a certain two unspoilered women.

Darren: oh yeah!

yeah, favorite scene all told for me

it was pretty fun

2:46 AM Bryce: Any time there's a demon skull and poisoned needles chick fight, I'm in!

Darren: and possession!

Bryce: ooh, very true

Darren: always a bonus

Bryce: So, comparing it to the first book, how do they stack up?

Darren: plus it was two hot chicks, I mean, come on! magical cat fight? where do I buy tickets?

Bryce: True, True

Darren: first book is waaaaay better I think

I like this book, but...

Bryce: I'd have to agree

2:47 AM Darren: the first book is just solid

this one seems a little frayed and glued on the edges

I think this sets up a good start for a third book, but the first one did that too, so it doesn't have anything over the first one there

Bryce: My only complaint about the first book was I didn't like seeing the Painted Man become so dark...but the second book showed me he had a heart again, so it's all good. I think that book 3 has the potential to be better the other two.

2:48 AM Darren: yeah, I agree. I think it has the POTENTIAL... we'll see if it pans out

I have faith in Mr. Brett's style of writing, but... I was slightly disappointed in the second book

2:49 AM Bryce: Yeah...it was still good, especially for a young author...but he's gonna have to win me over again with the third book.

Darren: Although I must admit that I do like the fact that the second book brought Arlen back as a character...

Bryce: Agreed. That raised its score from me quite a bit.

Darren: The end of the first book, he was just the random awesome dude that saved everyone.We actually get his perspective again.

It was nice.

2:50 AM Bryce: It was totally necessary.

Darren: Agreed.

Bryce: If he had left him as superman, I wouldn't have been able to read the next book.

Darren: well, that depends if he brought in a suitable replacement, which Jardir, for all his interestingness, is not.

Bryce: If you've got a point of view character, and they're not dead, they'd darned well better continue to be a point of view character down the line. Otherwise, I've wasted time investing emotionally in them.

2:51 AM And that makes me sad in the pants.

Darren: yeah, there is that... but sometimes that's what the author wants. is a slap in the emotional face so to speak.

Bryce: A kick in the emotional groin.

Darren: oh no, we are not degenerating into metaphor...

hopefully

2:52 AM Bryce: Maybe that should be the title of this Desert Spear review: A slight kick in the emotional groin.

Darren: A slight kick in the emotional groin, but more worth it.

Bryce: An emotional groin kick that comes with a bag of book 3 ice?

Okay, we're done here.

Darren: Yeah, done.

2:53 AM calling it...

Bryce: Called

Darren: 12:52 is time of death

That was two dudes reviewing stuff!

Darren: Thanks!

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett (review by Darren)

2010-04-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today, we're going to be talking about The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett. (Caveat: This book contains adult language and adult situations, and does it oh so well.) To give you a preface, it came out a couple years back, and caught everyone's attention because it was written in a very unorthodox fashion: on his Blackberry, while taking public transit to work. Odd, yes. But apparently effective, because his book is quite simply one of the best pieces of fantasy I have read in quite a while. My brother gave it to me to read, and lo and behold, as is always the case, Bryce was right again. It's a fine piece of literature, and I'll tell you why: because it seems real. Does it seem strange to you that I say a fantasy book seems real? Well, then you misunderstand me: magic isn't real, neither are demons, or many other fantasy tropes. But this book makes them seem alive, and if life isn't real, then what are we?

    The characters, mainly Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer, all start this book out very young: we meet Arlen when he's 11, Leesha when she's 13, and Rojer when he's 3. By the end of the book, Rojer is 17, which makes Leesha 27 and Arlen 25. Now that we've done our math, we begin to see a bit of interesting thought: how does he cram 14 years into one book and not make it seem like a history book? It's only barely more than 500 pages, and yet... I don't think there was ever a slow moment. I began reading this last night: I read for about 10 hours total, and am now done, and it's almost one in the morning. I couldn't put it down, and as soon as I finish writing this review, I will begin counting the seconds until I can read the second book, The Desert Spear, which Amazon says will be out on the 13th of April.

    The plot, a mixture of twisted fantasy tropes and ingenious new ideas, is basically this: every night, demons come out of the ground, and if you aren't behind some kind of warded shelter, you are dead, because the wards for fighting demons have been lost for... well, for a long time (it doesn't give you exact time frames, which makes sense with the amount of knowledge lost when the demons started destroying things). Seems basic, right? Well, only if you look at it from that perspective. The world is immersive, and the characters are literally alive, making you feel their emotions and see from their eyes, almost like you were playing a virtual reality game, rather than reading a book. I've spent 10 hours with them, and I'm pretty sure I could make full 3d models of them (and I'm no good with 3d modeling).

    It speaks as a testament to the writing prowess of Mr. Brett, that I can say things like that with a straight face, and completely mean them. I am looking forward to, well, anything that he writes from here on out. Please, if you read this, I'd love to be an ARC reader of yours in the future, and best wishes on your career. I give this book a 9.5 out of 10, only docking half a point for a slight plot hangup that I had (why didn't Arlen immediately go back to Cob with the new wards? I think he would have done that, but that's my opinion.) If you can ignore that plot point (and please don't kill me if that spoiled anything for you, I don't think it will) then it gets a 10/10. READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY. I command it. That is all.

Changes by Jim Butcher (guest review by Darren Dayton)

2010-04-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

    So, this being my first review, I wish to introduce myself. I am Darren, Bryce's younger brother, and we tend to have the same tastes in reading, so I was a natural extension of the reviews on his site.

    Today, we will be talking about Changes, the latest book in the Dresden Files series by author Jim Butcher, and a book (and series) I highly recommend. He has not been mentioned on the site thus far, but it was not due to lack of interest or appreciation, but rather time constraints. His latest (and one of his best in my opinion) books starts out like every other one of his books: an important, yet hilarious beginning scene that introduces well the main conflict of the story, and lends to the entertainment aspect of literature quite well. I am impressed, because this time the beginning was even more of a home-run than previous books, and I wasn't sure that was possible. It is, however, twelve books into the series, so I suggest starting with book one, Storm Front.

    On to the actual review, then, eh?

    The characters as always are completely alive, and to rate the immersion: I sometimes forget I'm reading a book. This book is no different than any of the others in the series... well, not quite. The title, Changes, is quite appropriate, in that we see some changes in characters, and things going in ways we never thought (or hoped, or dreaded) they could go.

    As to the quality of the work, I literally just read it in about 8 hours straight, in one sitting. I have not stopped for food, water, various toiletries; heck, I started reading it while I was at work this morning, and only stopped for the ten minutes it took me to get home. Mr. Butcher puts on an excellent performance, so to speak, and it is masterfully entertaining, while also being involved and absorbing on a level I, as an avid Fantasy fan since close after birth, have seen.

    The characters and plot left me emotionally invested enough that I have not only read 12 books about them, but I literally feel joy and sadness with them, live and die; without any spoilers I tell you that as I sit here writing this, I am still in an emotional stupor over the events at the end of the book, and that just doesn't happen to me folks.

    Quick non-spoiler plot summary:
        Harry, main character and resident wizard in Chicago, has just learned from an old girlfriend that the Red Court of vampires has taken a little girl, and intends to... well, they don't know what yet, but it obviously can't be good. I mean, vampires, right? Someone is destabilizing the power of the White Council of wizards, and Harry also has to try to find out what's going on there before full-on war breaks out anew between the Court and the Council (but that's nothing new, really. Read the last few books.) Anyway, things go wrong in a spectacular fashion, as is usual, and it's up to Harry to stop them from either destroying the world or killing millions of people.

    If that seems generic to you, it's because the plot is so involved I cannot say a single word different without giving things away. Suffice to say, like Robert Jordan, Jim Butcher weaves plot upon plot, twist upon twist, until no reader can say for sure what the outcome will be until the end of the book.

    Overall rating: 10/10.

    Fantastic work, Mr. Butcher, and while I had qualms with almost everything that happened (plot, character changes, building/car demolitions) know that you got a 10 out of 10 because all that points to just how good the writing is, and just how much of a vested interest I had in this book, and the series in general. I hope you continue to keep 'em coming, 'cause I will read them until they nail shut my coffin. Thank you for the wonderful time I had reading this, and I hope all the readers of this review will go out and get started by reading Storm Front, because this series is well worth it.

Great review Darren. I simply want to add that Changes is a very apt title for this particular book. Almost everything that we know about the Dresden Files gets turned on its head, and things are definitely headed in a new direction. I'm confident, though, that future volumes will still be excellent. This is, so far, my MUST BUY book of 2010.

Review: Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia

2010-04-03T05:27:00.000-07:00

Monster Hunter: International is a novel written by Larry Correia. The novel gives us the story of Owen Z. Pitt, an accountant who has the unique opportunity of killing his boss after he turns into a Werewolf and attacks him. Pitt, after recovering from the horrible battle to the death, is recruited by a special group of people who kill monsters, and make quite the living doing it. All this thanks to an excellent program put in place by the government to keep monsters under wraps and under control.

The novel has everything that a good sci-fi/fantasy fan is looking for, plus a little more. If you’re a fan of guns, especially detailed descriptions and accurate usage, look no further. Correia is a self-confessed gun nut, and takes plenty of time to describe each weapon in great detail. The action almost suffers from the point of view of someone who’s not such a gun nut (myself) but I was willing to overlook it for the sheer pleasure of the rest of the text. This story has it all, and all the classic stereotypes are twisted just enough to keep you coming back for more. The pacing is pretty solid, with action that keeps the story moving. It only slowed down where it absolutely had to, which is high praise for a first novel. The characters were believable, and fun, if somewhat predictable. This book isn’t going to blow you away with anything new and extraordinary, but it’s VERY FUN, and sometimes that’s just what I’m in the mood for.

Honestly, apart from the overzealous gun description (my brother and I coined the term “gunsterbation” while reading it on the way down to a writer’s conference) the only truly noticeable flaw in this debut novel is a severe lack of contractions. By the end of the book, I would have given my left arm if Pitt had just said “didn't” one time, instead of “did not.” It’s something minor, but when you’re reading a book, little things like that can throw you completely out of the story. It took me maybe 200 pages before I really stopped noticing it, my brain having switched to autopilot, replacing each “did not” with a much more natural “didn’t” automatically.

Monster Hunter International (8.5/10) doesn’t break much new ground, but it’s a highly enjoyable read. I’m looking forward to Monster Hunter: Vendetta which will be out this fall. Also, make sure to check out Correia’s website, as he has a lot to say and some of it’s very funny.

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

2010-01-29T04:21:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I've posted. What can I say. I'm busy with my own novel, and I've also become mildly addicted to Diablo II and Torchlight. Such is life. Anyhoo, onto the review.

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb was a surprise for me. It gives, in first person, the early childhood and teenage years of a bastard child fathered by the King in Waiting, Prince Chivalry. When Chivalry learns of his son, he abdicates the throne and leaves the Castle forever. The boy grows up under the watch of Chivalry's right hand man, the stablemaster Burrich. Part way through the book, as is fairly obvious by the title, he begins training to be an assassin.

I had assumed that this book was just another of the smear of books that came out in the 80s with an almost AC/DC level of sameness (if you missed that joke, just listen to their songs. I dare you to tell them apart). Turns out this book was published in the early 90s, which surprised me. Hobb doesn't exactly fall far from the tree when it comes to the basics of her story. Young boy, no parents, raised up for a great destiny, a kingdom at war, nasty royalty, classic love story. It's all there. But I found myself turning page after page, because it was just different enough that it came out quite nicely. In that regard it reminded me of other authors that have flirted with the classic 80s epic fantasy while still giving it a jolt in one area or another. Authors like Rothfuss, John Brown, and others come to mind.

One thing that bothered me a little bit about Assassin's Apprentice were the historical texts at the beginning of each chapter. I understood that they were there to flesh the story out, but I know for a fact that they could scare some readers off. When the first sentence of your book is, "A history of the Six Duchies is of necessity a history is of its ruling family, the Farseers," you're not exactly grabbing my interest, now are you. I tried to get my brother to read this, before I had even started it, and he put it down, saying it started out "way too boring" to hold his attention. That doesn't say good things, since he's a fan of the genre.

Still, Hobb did many things right with Assassin's Apprentice, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a well worn copy of Royal Assassin from the library and digging right in.

Overall Score: 8/10. The book suffers a little in the pacing department, but the story was top notch, and the characters, while somewhat static, were easily recognizable and easy to relate to. It kept me turning pages.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

2010-01-15T00:45:00.000-08:00

I must confess that this isn't my first time through this book, it's more like my third. I can't seem to avoid reading this book every year or so, just for the sheer pleasure I get from it. It really is a wonderful book. All right, enough fan boyism, time to get to the actual meat of the review.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a fantasy book by Scott Lynch. It's part of a series of a planned 7 books called The Gentleman Bastard Sequence. The novel tells the story of Locke Lamora, moving back and forth between his childhood upbringing and his current situation, namely that of a Garrista, a boss of a gang in the city of Camorr. Locke and his group of thieves are planning a massive heist of cash from a rich Don and Dona of Camorr. Robbing nobles is strictly prohibited by the Secret Peace, a sort of don't ask don't tell agreement between the nobility and the Mob boss of Camorr. They devise a clever plan to rid the Don of his wealth while at the same time keeping it secret from the Duke's police as well as the Mob boss. Things take a turn for the worst when Locke and his crew get wrapped up in the revenge of The Grey King, a clever man planning the overthrow of the underworld of Camorr.

The book is a wonderful lesson in giving just enough information that you can have a fully realized world, without spending chapter after chapter describing everything in sight. The city lives and breathes around you as you read. Lynch does get a bit verbose at times, and there were some parts that could have been removed altogether, but overall he does a wonderful job of giving just enough to keep you in the scene while at the same time making the world around you come alive.

If you're a fan of capers (Think Oceans 11) then I highly recommend this book to you. It's got a plot that I love, and shows how clever the writer and the characters are throughout. I also love the dialogue in this book. WARNING: This book does present a somewhat frequent use of the F Word, so if you absolutely can't overlook that, it might spoil the whole thing for you.

The Lies of Locke Lamora (9/10) is one of my favorite fantasy books of all time. The world is great, the characters are wonderful, and you're left heartbroken where you should be and rooting for the protagonist all the time. For a first book, this is very polished. In terms of the overall novel, I would rank this book above The Name of the Wind. Rothfuss manages to be a little bit better storyteller than Lynch, but you honestly couldn't have gone wrong with either in the year they came out, and you still can't go wrong with them now.

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson

2009-11-20T00:29:00.000-08:00

The Gathering Storm is the first of the final three books of The Wheel of Time. If you're a fan of fantasy, or have ever looked at a bookstore fantasy shelf, you've probably seen at least one of these books. They're incredibly popular, with numerous websites set up entirely to discuss the books. They've inspired many a would-be writer to step up to the keyboard and get their own great adventure out there, and they've generally been well received. With the passing of Robert Jordan (real name James Oliver Rigney) in 2007 the torch was passed to Brandon Sanderson to finish was Mr. Rigney started back in 1990. Though there was initially only one planned final book, after writing and looking at what they had it was decided that it would take at least three books to complete the series and tie up all the loose ends. The Gathering Storm is the first of three final volumes, which all together will be called A Memory of Light.

Due to the length of the series, I think I'll simply stick with my critique of the plot, pacing, etc. of the novel rather than try to give you a synopsis of the series.

First, I absolutely LOVED the pacing of this 12th book. Now, there are two schools of thought on this. Either Brandon Sanderson naturally writes with a quicker pace than Jordan (aka more stuff happens) OR Jordan always had a faster pace in mind for the final volumes. Either way, fans of the series (myself definitely included) seem to have enjoyed this book a great deal simply because "stuff happens." Lots of stuff, things that have been hinted at for years now are finally coming to fruition, and as a reader that's a beautiful thing to see.

My minor gripes about the twelfth book include the fact that Mat Cauthon doesn't seem completely like Mat Cauthon. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually just fine with Brandon Sanderson's depiction of Mat, but it bears mentioning that he's just not quite the same as in previous books. Again, could have been a planned thing by Mr. Jordan, but I doubt it.

Overall, I absolutely LOVED this book. Things are coming together very nicely for a fantastic ending, and since I was already a big fan of Brandon Sanderson, I'm very excited that he's the author that will deliver that ending for us. He's a hell of a writer, and a workhorse when it comes to completing books, so we've really got something to look forward to twice more before Robert Jordan's great work is complete.

Final Score: 9.5/10 Brandon Sanderson took on an incredibly daunting task, and delivered 95% believable characters, 100% wonderful pacing, and a fantastic beginning of the end in one of my favorite series of all time.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant by Darren Shan

2009-10-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is a novel written several years ago by Darren Shan. It first caught my attention when I saw the commercials for the soon-to-be-released movie. The movie seemed a little hokey, but it was nice to see something about vampires where they didn’t sparkle, so I decided to give the book a shot. It was actually the second book in the series, but it seemed like a quick read, and the first page was a synopsis of the first book, so I wasn’t lost for long.

The book revolves around Darren Shan, a young boy of about 15 or so, newly created half vampire and apprentice to Mr. Crepsley. They work together in a circus with all sorts of strange freaks. Darren befriends a boy who works with a giant snake, but things start to spiral out of control when a boy from town makes friends with Darren and gets too close to the circus and its dangerous creatures.

The plot was simple, straightforward, and very quick. The book read much more like a middle grade book than a young adult book. I sped through this almost as fast as Odd and the Frost Giants though it was over twice the size. 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. I can see the potential in a movie, especially with this series being 12 books long, but I have to imagine that due to the small size of each book they’ll be combining at least the first two or three books into a single movie.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (7/10) is a quick read, and enjoyable, but there are meatier tales out there for fans of vampire novels, and more well-written horror. It’ll almost certainly be better than the movie, but that’s probably not saying much, judging from the previews.

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

2009-10-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Odd and the Frost Giants comes from Neil Gaiman, who is quickly climbing into my list of all-time favorite authors. I think he's great because it seems like he can write effectively for any audience, and this latest book seems to show that.

Odd is a small boy with a tough life. His father is gone, drowned, and all the vikings in the village he lives with are upset, having been beset with what seems a never-ending winter. Odd runs into a bear, an eagle and a fox, who are much more than they seem. Soon he's off on a quest to help the animals return to their home, the city of Asgard.

Make no mistake, this a very small book for younger children. That said, I loved every page. It's simple, wonderful writing that drew me in and gave me the chuckles at several points. There are a few jokes thrown into the book that are clearly of the Spongebob variety (jokes that seem to be pandering more to the adults in the room than the children watching the program) and I loved them all. The book was incredibly short, and clearly written for a different audience, so I'm having a hard time giving it a really in-depth review. I was surprised by the higher than usual level of vocabulary in the book, but maybe I just assume that little kids can't read at as high a level as they really do. Someone let me know, I'm not a teacher and don't have a child this age, so I'm only guessing.

Gaiman impressed me with The Graveyard Book last year, and has done it again this time, with a much smaller book for an even younger audience. I'm more and more impressed that the guy can write so well for just about any age group, and though I still haven't jumped into American Gods, it's definitely on the list. I hear I should also check out his Sandman graphic novels, so I'll be looking into those sometime next year.

Odd and the Frost Giants (9/10) is a fun and quick adventure for a young audience. I'd guess that ages 8-10 should really enjoy this book, though I'm 25 and had a great time. If you're an adult and have about 45 minutes to kill, pick this one up. Gaiman wrote this book for World Book Day, to promote reading, and has stated that he would perhaps eventually return to the world to write more books about Odd. I'd certainly return to read them.

Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia

2009-10-17T00:27:00.000-07:00

Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia is the third volume in Brandon Sanderson's middlegrade series about a boy who breaks things. In the previous two volumes, Alcatraz has learned that he has special powers, and has done some incredible things with them. He's fought the librarians in a daring invasion of one of their libraries, he's braved the famous Library of Alexandria, and its ghostly curators who want to steal your soul, and much more. This time, he's headed back to Nalhalla, the homeland that he's never seen, having been just recently rescued from the United States, a librarian occupied land. Perhaps the biggest surprise in his trip home is the realization that he's famous. Very famous. People are writing FanFic famous. It's a little much for Alcatraz, who has to battle not only evil librarians set on taking over the Free Kingdoms and enslaving them just like they've done the United States and other places, but also struggle to deal with fame and fortune that he's never had before. Will he let it go to his head? Will he be able to expose the plot of the Librarians and their supposed "peace talks" and show the king who they truly are?

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. Now, these books are written for a twelve year old, so I might not be the best critic available, but my son's only five months old, so I'll have to do (If you'd like to wait until he's 12 and can tell me what he thought, email me, and I'll get back to you in 2022). That said, the very heavy feel of the narrator isn't for everyone. One example that I found particularly amusing was a point where Alcatraz reminds you of a scene he described from a previous book, and lets you know that it's coming, but not until book 6. This breaking down of that fourth wall might be a little too much for some, so reader be ware.

Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia (8.5/10) is a lighthearted, hilarious adventure from an author that I love. If you're a fan of other Sanderson works, like Mistborn or Elantris, it's worth checking out these younger audience books just to get a glimpse into Sanderson's mind. These books reveal a lot about his personality, and I enjoy the brief time I get to spend with each one (adults can blaze through each book in about an hour, maybe a little bit more with a potty break and dinner).

Servant of a Dark God by John Brown

2009-10-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

Servant of a Dark God is a new novel by up and coming author John Brown. I received an advance copy of this a little over a month ago (You're Welcome, FTC), and devoured it in just a few days. Now, time to put the fanboy attitude aside and do some honest reviewing.

This book struck me as falling into the mold of classic fantasy somewhat, while at the same time doing everything just different enough to be seen as original. Sure, there's a young boy with a destiny of sorts, but his interaction with his family and their involvement in that destiny are very different than other fantasy offerings. Yes, there's an evil power seeking dominion over the entire world, but it's basically already got it, and we're looking at the beginning of a rebellion. This, too, has been done, but I think it was just different enough with the political intrigue and terrible power of the evil forces to keep things fresh and new.

The story revolves around The Order, a group of people who want to give the power to the people. The magic power, that is. The Divines rule the land with an almost godlike status, hiding the reality that magic is for everyone in order to hold onto their power over the people. The story mainly revolves around two families who are caught up in the trouble brewing between the Order and the Divines.

I really enjoyed the emotional attachment that I developed to the characters, particularly to their interaction with one another. From the outset I was drawn in as Talen embarked upon the noble quest of finding his pants. It was a fun way to start a book, and a good way to see the humor in the characters before the try/fail cycles of the novel kicked in and we got to see the deeper side of each character. For me, the interaction in the emotional scene between Argoth and his son Nettle was particularly heart-wrenching, and signaled strong writing on the part of Mr. Brown. I also enjoyed the inner demons of Sugar, having to deal with the terrible things that she saw, particularly her reaction to them. Hunger was an excellent sort of anti-villain, someone you felt terrible for and routed against almost at the same time. In short, characters make a book, and this one is full of quality characters.

Rather than start with the young boy who gathers friends along the way for the great quest, this book begins with a well organized group, and that was refreshing in a way. Readers who aren't as experienced in the genre might struggle a little bit to understand everything that's going on, since Brown doesn't just hand it out to everyone. However, it's not nearly as difficult as, say, Gardens of the Moon by Erikson, where as a teenager I remember reading the entire first book and still asking myself, "What's going on here?" In fact, I now enjoy this approach, where the author doesn't explain every single detail of the world or the magic system. It should, in my opinion, come in parts, just like everything we learn in life comes in chunks that build together to become total knowledge. Think about it, when was the last time you went to Pep Boys for an oil change and the mechanic talked with you for nine hours about exactly how the car runs?

The book did have a couple of slow spots, where I felt like my emotions, fears and trust in the characters should have been building a little more dramatically rather than just maintaining, but I can't point them out specifically without a re-read, so that means they're not glaring enough to hinder anyone's reading of the tale.

The best compliment that I can give John Brown is this: Servant of a Dark God does not feel like it's his first published novel. It's more mature, and far more well-written than some of the first offerings of other authors I've come across. I would compare Servant of a Dark God to Brandon Sanderson's first offering, Elantris. Now, I didn't stay up all night reading Servant of a Dark God like I did Elantris but I'm also not 17 anymore, and have a 5 month old baby, so I can no longer base the quality of a work on how late it keeps me up at night. Also, let's remember that Sanderson wrote something like 12 books before he got Elantris published, so I'd say Brown's writing is definitely up to snuff. I'm eagerly awaiting the second book, and John, if you need an alpha reader, I'm right here baby!

Final Verdict: 8.5/10. A fresh new voice in fantasy is always welcome, and Mr. Brown's epic will undoubtedly claim its place on my shelves, right next to those other people I like enough to buy. A solid mix of humor and heart-wrenching sadness combine with plenty of well-done action to produce a novel that new readers as well as experienced hands will enjoy.

Interview with new author John Brown

2009-10-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

0. Ah, the ever-unappreciated question zero. This isn't really a question, more a place where you get to describe yourself, and give a brief "how I got published" story. For the record, fans, John has a fantastic "how I got published" in technicolor at his blog. Also for the record, this is a family friendly blog, but I'm allowing John one swear and one fake swear.

I swear by the Six! That’s a real swear in my novel and a fake one in Logan, Utah. So that should please everybody. I’m a city boy living up in the hinterlands of Bear Lake. As for breaking in, I won a first prize in the monster Writers of the Future contest in 1997. That was my first publication, which they paid me a total of $2,000 for. Not a bad opening. But then I failed to finish anything for many years. There was life, kids, a new career, and making the big beginner mistake of not putting in the hours. My mind is like big old boiler. You have to get it hot before it starts to work well. But I wasn’t putting in the time I needed to keep it hot. I’d write a few hours one week, none the next three. Or I’d pump out 20,000 words and then put the writing aside for four months. That just doesn’t work. It makes it impossible to finish. So after I figured out that dumb and obvious problem, I began to produce. That was in 2002. I soon sold a few shorts, finished two novels. I queried a bunch of agents on both of the novels. On the second, I snagged Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson who is a fabulous agent. The rest is history.

1. As a new author, what was your greatest difficulty in moving from brainstorming to actual publication?

Time. TIME! As I stated before. I have to put in hours. But that’s the same with anything, playing piano, flying airplanes, running criminal organizations. I also had to learn how to deal with writer’s block and rejection. Writer’s block is actually a gift. But that’s another topic.

2. Did you learn anything new about the publishing industry from this process?

One thing I learned was that in my case the relationships some agents have with editors can make a big difference. Caitlin, for example, used to be an editor with Avon. She knows a number of people personally. And they trust her opinion. I knew such relationships were important, but didn’t realize how important until we went through the sales process.

2. Was it difficult to get an agent, get a deal, etc?

In my case it was fairly straight-forward. Write a book, submit, write another book, submit. The difficulty really was in making time to finish and then making sure I didn’t let distorted thinking run away with me. For example, I sometimes read a favorite author and then think: “holy crap, how can I compete with that? I should just throw in the towel.” Or I see that another author started much later than I did and got a deal more quickly. And I’d think, “maybe I just don’t have what it takes; I must have the wrong brain DNA.” But those and similar thoughts are distortions of the truth. In some cases, I had to consciously highlight the distortions and the actual truth of the matter to be able to move forward without too much anxiety or doubt. I plan on writing a series of blogs on my site dealing with these distortions because I’ve found they’re so very common among writers. And none of us should let them hinder us.

3. Who were the authors that you read growing up and even into adulthood that made you want to get out there and write the next great fantasy epic?

I actually never considered writing fantasy until very late. As a teen, the Rankin/Bass animated Christmas specials thrilled me (Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Rudolph, etc.). I wanted to become an animator to tell such tales. But those weren’t epic fantasies. And that dream was soon laid aside. So since my teens I had an urge to develop and tell stories because I enjoyed them so much. But I really never thought it was possible to do it for real. So even when I took creative writing classes, it wasn’t with an eye towards publication. However, about the time I was finishing up my English degree at BYU I attended a workshop put on by Dave Wolverton who was the coordinating judge for the Writers of the Future contest. It was transformational. I began to think I could write for publication. Real publication. Of course, ever since I was a wee lad I’d loved fantasy. The Hobbit was what got me on the road to literacy. Until I read that book in sixth grade, I don’t think I’d read more than two dozen books total. I just wasn’t a reader. But Tolkien turned that all around. So because I loved fantasy, it was only normal I follow that genre when I began to write, hoping to entertain.

4. In your opinion, who are some of the great authors putting out works right now that we need to be reading?

I’m dismayed at the number of novels that come out every year. There is NO WAY for most people to keep up with it. Now you have your Harriet Klausners who read one to three books each day, and they can keep up with a small genre like SF/Fantasy. But they’re forces of nature. I can’t do that. So I can’t say that I’ve surveyed the field and know you should watch Bob, Bill, and Pedro. Nor can I say that my taste is predictive of what’s going to redefine literature. All I can do is highlight books I’ve read that I’ve loved, which I do on my site. Recently, I read the following and enjoyed them very much: Bernard Cornwell’s AGINCOURT, Dan Well’s I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, Brandon Sanderson’s THE HERO OF AGES, and Jonathon Stroud’s BARTIMAEUS TRILOGY. I also enjoyed BROTHER ODD by Dean Koontz. There are more, of course. But I do have to say that I find I’m reading a lot of non-fiction these days as well. One of the most interesting books of late that I read was WHERE THE WILD THINGS WERE by William Stolzenburg. As for what people NEED to read, I’d say just read. Anything. Old, new, weird, popular. If it draws you in, read it.

5. Given the scope of Servant of a Dark God it's easy to see that we're definitely in for an epic tale. Was the story always this big, or did it increase in size and scope as the pen hit the page (or fingers hit the keyboard, as it were)?

I knew it was going to be a few books from the get go and when I took it to market I did so with a synopsis that outlined three books. But all my plans change. It’s still three books. I am not going to extend it beyond that although I may write something else in this world. But ideas I started off with morphed into something else. Characters appeared. So there’s a lot of growth and discovery that comes through the writing process.

6. For the folks from other countries around the world: Any news on foreign rights?

Nope, none yet. I understand that in most cases foreign publishers like to wait and see how a book does with its initial release. I know my agent has included my book in their catalogue for publishers overseas. But I don’t expect to hear anything for a few months.

7. My favorite character to read from your novel was probably Hunger. The question is, who is your favorite character to write, and why?

I loved them all for different reasons. In fact, I can’t really write a scene unless I’m plugged into the people and situation. But I did like Hunger quite a bit as well. I knew I needed a henchman for my main villain. I’d written a short story set in this world that wasn’t quite ready for publication. But it did give me an idea for him. His voice and character came to me surprisingly easily. The image of him awakening in the spruce glen was so strong. It was delicious to write.

8. Fans of the wonderful podcast Writing Excuses know that you're very active in the comments section, as well as making several guest appearances. You've also got an active blog. Through the interwebs, meaning blogging, social networks and microblogs like Twitter, it has become easier than ever to stalk...er, follow new authors. How do you feel these relatively new means of communication are affecting the publishing industry and the authors that use them?

How do you know it’s not me stalking you? Mwuhahaha.

The two big effects I see are ways social networks affect word-of-mouth and the whole e-book revolution that’s coming. Social networks and blogs will become more and more important as newspapers and other media decline. Some will have more readership than others, but what the growth of that media does is allow a much more organic reading industry to evolve. And with ebooks the barriers to entry will diminish as will the constraints on book sizes.

It won’t be a free-for-all. Publishers and other sources of recommendation right now perform an important function—they remove unlimited choice from the consumer and point to “quality” works. In study after study it’s been proven that consumers just don’t want unlimited choice. They want unlimited availability. They want to find a few sources of recommendation that get it right for them. Nobody has the time to review all the choices. They’ll want someone to say, here, make a choice between these fifty or hundred books. We’ve narrowed it down. Isn’t that what happens with Oprah now? Of all the hundreds of thousands of books, she chooses just a handful. And it works for her viewers. We’ll continue to have mega platforms like that. But we won’t be limited to them. That function will spread out among the many blogger, sites, tweeters, etc.

9. Last, but certainly not least, here's a section for you to shamelessly plug anything related to you, the new book, the short stories, the current economic crisis, the local zoo, wombats, great places to eat, or just whatever.

Wow. Since it’s wide open, I’m going to plug the Kamin restaurant in Logan, Utah and Thai Evergreen in Orem, Utah. My wife and I both lived for a few years in the Netherlands as missionaries. We learned to love the Indonesian food there. But there aren’t many Indonesian restaurants in the US. However, there are quite a few Thai ones, and that was close enough for us. We used to live in the Bay Area in California and bemoaned our loss of Thai cuisine when we moved to Ohio. It took us two years to find a place out there. We were so happy to find these two places when we moved to Utah.

I’ll be doing a book tour with David Farland (Runelords) and Larry Correia (Monster Hunters International). You can see the schedule on my website. We’ll hit four spots in Utah. I invite folks to come out. Your readers might also want to know that X96 radio will be doing book giveaways all week long starting Monday October 19^th. So tune in on the radio or internet.

Other than that I’ll just say it was great to do this interview. Thanks, Bryce.

NOTE: John will be signing books in Logan UT, for any of you other Utards that live around here, on October 22nd at 6 pm.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins Small Spoilers, Clearly Marked

2009-10-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

NOTE: To get my overall opinion of the book, spoiler free, just skip the clearly marked spoiler section. If you can't see it, please go back to bed grandma, you know the little text just isn't your thing. I'll print it out for you in the morning. Sheesh.

As a reviewer of new fantasy and sci-fi books, I am a glutton for punishment. I almost never think about whether or not a series is complete before I start reading. In fact, since the blog attempts, albeit weakly, to stay on the cutting edge of what's out there, that's usually the last thing on my mind.

This brings me to Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the incredibly popular Hunger Games Trilogy. You can read my review of the first book here. In short, I loved it in that "can't get enough" way that had me clamoring for more.

***************************here there be spoilers****************************

This second book in The Hunger Games didn't disappoint. Katniss realizes, on a somewhat smaller scale, that she's the face of a rebellion starting to take place throughout the districts. President Snow, in an attempt to quell the rebellion before it can spread to all the districts, uses the Quarter Quell, an event that takes place every 25 years, to kill the poster child of the rebellion by placing Katniss and Peeta in the games yet again, this time against the victors from previous years.

**************************here be the end of them***************************

Hopefully that paragraph isn't too spoilerific for you. If so, sorry. It's my review, and I did mention that there were slight spoilers, so you had it coming.

The inherent weakness in a second book comes, I feel, from expectations ingrained in us from birth as readers. We want a happy ending, and a second book simply cannot deliver that. So, I fully expect there to be much gnashing of teeth and bemoaning the fact that we'll have to wait another year, perhaps more, to see the grand finale of what happens to our heroes. That's to be expected, and I'll try not to let that cloud my judgement in reviewing the book.

Something that was somewhat unexpected was the seeming drop in intelligence of our hero, Katniss. I expected her to be a little more on the ball, considering what she'd been through in the last book. I was left wanting somewhat in that regard. Don't read too much into this, she's still a great character. I was just looking for her to brighten up a bit, and I suppose she did, just not as much as I wanted.

Another minor beef I had with this book was the entirely-too-convenient plot twists. It's almost like Collins couldn't think of anything more dramatic than the original Hunger Games as a story, and so she just moved the characters back into that environment. I'm not complaining too much, since it's always good to see Katniss at her best, killing and surviving, but I was hoping for a little more character growth. This section of the overarching plot almost seemed more like a middle grade book rather than a young adult, in that Katniss spent entirely too much time reacting to things, and not enough time acting. All the clever defiances of the capitol were set up for her, and the big reveal of what's really going on at the end (a staple of almost any second book) was completely given to her, rather than puzzled out. She did make a couple of discoveries, so I guess I might just be grasping at straws here....no, I'm not. This was a weakness in the book, and that's that. For a character as strong as Katniss is, she was weaker in the thinking department in this second book.

On the plus side of things, I felt that the writing was top notch, again. The love scenes and the romance of Katniss and Gale, and Katniss and Peeta was well done, and thankfully much briefer than I expected given the first act of the book and what Katniss and Peeta were trying to accomplish. Also, the contrived plot that I mentioned above could be forgiven for being thought up by the antagonist rather than the author trying to write her way back into her comfort zone.

Despite my complaints above, I give this book a 8.5/10. It's a must read for fans of the series, and fans of post-apocalyptic sci-fi in general, especially if they happen to be between the ages of 14 and 18. My hats off to Collins, for delivering an excellent second book. I'm sure that the second book is the hardest to write, and although she didn't break any ground here as far as how to write it, it was still well done. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to surfing the web, looking for a convenient way to get an ARC of the third book and avoid the pain of waiting a whole year.

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers

2009-09-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

First, let me just say that...I like pirates. There's just something about a swashbuckling adventure that I can't help but love. So, obviously, I had to try very hard to put my nerdy love of pirates aside and make at least a half-hearted attempt to review the book as a book and not as "dude, it's got pirates."

On Stranger Tides is a novel by Tim Powers. Qualifications? Yep, he's got 'em. Two World Fantasy Awards, and this novel is now being optioned for adaptation as the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. After reading this book, I could easily see why.

All the elements of a great pirate movie are there. Humor, action, and a surprising amount of dark magic are contained in this 300 page novel. I felt that the pacing of this novel was excellent and the characters were deep and enjoyable creations. One thing that disappointed me a little bit was the characterization of Beth. To be honest, she felt a little too flat for me, being the only female character with more than 3 lines, but I was willing to forgive her, since for large portions of the novel she didn't really have much of a chance to stand up for herself and really be a strong character.

Also, I have to say that the ending of the book didn't really appeal to my need for completion. I'm the kind of guy that, if I can get it, wants every loose end tied up nicely. However, given the way the novel ended, I can understand that Powers was going by the old addage, "In late, out early." The main conflict was finished, and everything else after that couldn't have possibly been as exciting, so he gave us a little bit of closure and dropped the curtain. I don't really think tying up all the loose ends would have made it a better novel, and it certainly could have made it worse.

Overall, I'd say that if you're a fan of high seas action, dark voodoo style magic, or Monkey Island (yes, the creator of that game sites this as a big influence) you owe it to yourself to give this book a go. You'll enjoy the characters, and you'll feel super-informed when you go to see Pirates 4 in 2011. For me, this book was an excellent way to discover Tim Powers. Obviously he has other novels that have met with greater critical acclaim, but this was fun, well written and enjoyable. This book definitely convinced me that I've been missing out on a great writer.

Final Score: 8.5/10. An exciting, well paced swashbuckling adventure that's deserving of a movie all its own, but I guess Pirates 4 is the next best thing.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-09-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

The Hunger Games is a novel by award winning author Suzanne Collins. This book was recommended to me by the dude at my local Waldenbooks store, and since he's practically my twin in terms of what we enjoy, I assumed this would no doubt be another excellent recommendation.

I know that it seems a bit fanboy, but I can honestly say that I was blown away by this book. I was in no way prepared for the story inside. Well, maybe a little prepared. The guy at the Waldenbooks did tell me that it was like Thunderdome for kids. I guess that should have tipped me off.

Katniss lives in District 12, a coal mining district in what was once known as the Appalachian Mountains. Each year, one boy and one girl from each district compete in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death that the Capitol uses to show its dominance over the Districts. Only one person can emerge victorious, and that person is then set for life. Katniss always worries about being chosen, about what will happen to her family if she is. District 12 doesn't have a reputation for winning the games, and Katniss, though just 16, is the main bread winner for her family. Things take a turn for the worst, however, when Katniss' twelve year old sister is given the "privilege" of competing.

Collins weaves an incredible post-apocalyptic young adult tale that had me spellbound from the first few pages. The vocabulary is at an appropriate level for younger readers, and yet the story doesn't feel like it's being watered down in any way. This makes for a quick and suspenseful read. Collins chose to use the first person present tense to tell the story, which I thought was quite interesting. At first, this bothered me, but eventually I think it led me deeper into the story, closer to Katniss' tale.

Katniss is fantastic as a narrator. Humble to a fault, and unable to trust others, her logic and thought process is interesting and slightly disturbing for a person her age.

I've never read another story by Collins, but if they're anything like this one I'll have to get the whole library. I highly recommend this book. It was my favorite book of 2008, and as soon as my local library gets a copy of the recently released sequel, Catching Fire you can bet I'll be all over it.

Final Score: 9.5/10 An quick read with an overarching story line that will easily span the three volumes of the planned trilogy, but with the kind of satisfying ending that rarely accompanies the first volume of a trilogy.

Rant of the Week: Authors That Take a Long Time to Finish Stories- My Thoughts

2009-09-19T01:54:00.000-07:00

Now, I'm probably half the age of some of my readers, and almost certainly half the brain power , but I've got a few points I'd like to share with you today. So, everyone sit down, form a nice circle (an oval will also be accepted) and listen up. It's story time.

There are currently no less than 5 or 6 series that I'm into that aren't finished. Now, I know that some of you will simply consider me a glutton for punishment, while others will mock the fact that I've only got that many going right now. But hear me out, because I've got three points that just might help you along the way.

1. Remember, a series is what it is.

Some people will lose interest and never finish reading it. Some authors will lose interest, drive, passion, whatever you wanna call it, and never finish writing it. Authors are human beings. If you are a prick to them, do they not bleed? with a book, above all, you're paying for the escape; the chance to be somewhere else and read about something that interests and intrigues you. If you can't wait a couple of years in between books is a series, the second point might just help you out.

2. Please Read More Than One Series.

I know a guy that got started with fantasy about fifteen years ago. He devoured everything that David Eddings ever wrote, and then moved on to Robert Jordan. Well, he's still reading Jordan, and in the 10 years that I've known the guy he's read the following authors: Eddings, Jordan. He's always bitching to friends about how long it's taking The Wheel of Time to get finished, and I have to just shake my head and wonder why this guy has never thought of trying to read something else.

If you're in the middle of a series and waiting for the next book, try reading something else. Who knows, you might find that while Patrick Rothfuss and Scott Lynch are pretty cool guys, Steven Erikson is really your cup of tea. Then you get to where Erikson's not done. What do you do? Find another book or series. There are literally hundreds of blogs that review new books every week. Hell, even I've got one, which I'll gratuitously pimp by linking it at the bottom. These places will give you a better idea of what's out there. Don't like the interwebs for your recommendations? Go to the book store and ask that slightly pudgy, goatee-wearing, latte-sipping dude behind the counter what he suggests.

I don't know where I read it, but I recall some blog somewhere saying that there are roughly 150 books a week published in the US. That means that there's almost surely something worth reading while you're waiting for Mr. Martin to finish his magnum opus.

3. If promises by authors piss you off, and blog posts about progress make you want to find a knife and a home address, stay away from where you might hear them.

If you're a pretty severe case, and just can't get over a particular series you're waiting to get finished, I wouldn't recommend reading that author's blog or twitter posts anymore. You've got to remember that the internet is a relatively new means of communication, and people are inevitably going to shoot themselves in the foot now and again.

Blogs and tweets and facebook updates are awesome, and these technologies have let us see inside the machine of publishing like never before. But seeing the inner workings of the publishing industry is a double edged sword, people, and a mighty sharp one at that. It's sad to me that so many authors lately have had to go on the defensive about why their works of art are overdue. Rothfuss, Martin, Lynch and literally dozens of others have all chimed in in the past year or so on the topic. I think that says something about our society as a whole. The publishing industry is definitely NOT McDonalds. It's a wild mechanical creature, pieces of old and new technology all glued together somewhat haphazardly, and to say it's efficient would make most agents, editors and authors laugh their collective asses off. And there's nothing worse than going outside to get the morning paper and finding a pile of asses.

So, in summation, please please please have some patience. Don't misunderstand, I've been upset at authors before, too, and I'm still a little irritated at how long A Dance with Dragons is taking to get done. But I've found ways around it, and so can you. If, however, you insist on believing that authors can turn out thousand page books like McDonalds does cheeseburgers, then I guess you can just "Have it Your Way." No sweat off my back, dude.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

2009-09-13T23:21:00.000-07:00

From Amazon:

   Quentin Coldwater, a Brooklyn high school student devoted to a children's series set in the Narnia-like world of Fillory, is leading an aimless existence until he's tapped to enter a mysterious portal that leads to Brakebills College, an exclusive academy where he's taught magic. Coldwater, whose special gifts enable him to skip grades, finds his family's world mundane and domestic when he returns home for vacation. He loses his innocence after a prank unintentionally allows a powerful evil force known only as the Beast to enter the college and wreak havoc. Eventually, Coldwater's powers are put to the test when he learns that Fillory is a real place and how he can journey there. Genre fans will easily pick up the many nods to J.K. Rowling and C.S. Lewis, not to mention J.R.R. Tolkien in the climactic battle between the bad guy and a magician.

   The Magicians by Lev Grossman is a great book. If I had to describe it to someone, I would probably tell them to imagine what a book would turn out like if J.K Rowling, C.S. Lewis and Ernest Hemingway all decided to write a fantasy book together.

     As one Amazon reviewer puts it, "In 'The Magicians,' Lev Grossman has done something unusual, and remarkable, perhaps even unique: this is a grown-up fantasy. This book is to fantasy what "The Grapes of Wrath" is to travel books, what "The Metamorphosis" is to self-help: so much more depressing and visceral and funny and horrifying, and genuine, and fascinating, and hard to read and therefore valuable..."....Yeah, I guess that's a pretty good way of saying it, too.

   This is one of those novels that a guy like me won't read over and over again, but I'll always remember it. It's got that special something, that something that makes a book stick with a person, makes them think about it at the strangest of times. Understand this, I'm generally a pretty happy-go-lucky fellow. I enjoy a fantasy with a happy ending, I enjoy the confrontation of good and evil. The fantasy written by Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, or even Scott Lynch, is much more up my alley than things like Abercrombie, Baker or Lev Grossman. But, there is no doubt in my mind that Lev Grossman is an incredibly talented writer, and that The Magicians is a great novel.

   I feel a lot like Patrick Rothfuss who couldn't quite put a finger on what he liked about the book. I think it was very well written, and written in more of a literary style than typical fantasy. The pacing was excellent, plenty of action at the right times to keep you turning the pages. The last half of the novel was miserably depressing to me. It reminded me a lot of The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway, characters that seemed so full of potential, but the timing was off for a love story and everyone was far too busy being an alcoholic to really do something with their lives. In this way, it made me think of Baker and Abercrombie, writers whose characters are much more gray, and where terrible things can happen to any character, at any point.

   In conclusion, if you're a smarty pants, a person who loves the classics, or just a fan of gritty "Hemingway Fantasy" (I think Dark Fantasy just sounds stupid, and I haven't heard anyone come up with a better term to describe this type of writing) I think you'll really like The Magicians. This book definitely isn't for everyone, and I'm only about 60% sure it was for me, but I still give this book a 9/10, and highly recommend it.

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

2009-09-12T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Last wish is written by Polish sensation Andrzej Sapkowski, recent winner of the David Gemmell Legend Award for Fantasy.

     Geralt de Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin.
   And a cold-blooded killer.
   His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world.
   But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good
   . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

The book is basically a collection of short stories involving Geralt of Rivia, aka The Witcher. The Witcher is one of those tough guy heroes that's easy to get behind. Taken as a child, trained, given potions and other treatments to turn him into what he is. Deadly with a blade, Geralt is tough, sarcastic and thoroughly enjoyable. I wouldn't say that this book gives the kind of depth that I would have liked to see to a character like Geralt, but things certainly could have been worse.

My only complaint about the novel was that the text seemed a little short, almost as if it somehow suffered from translation. Then again, I have been reading The Wheel of Time, so I'm used to a little more exposition and a little more detail....okay, a lot more detail.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was fun to see how Sapkowski twisted fairy tales and fairy tale creatures into something bold and interesting. I'll look forward to reading Blood of Elves, and getting my first crack at an entire novel with The Witcher.

Score: 8/10. An exciting, fast paced group of short stories with a bold protagonist.

Interview with Dan Wells

2009-09-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Dan Wells is an up and coming author, whose book I Am Not a Serial Killer will be coming out in the US on March 30th, 2010 (at least that's when Amazon says it will, and we all know of their legendary reliability in that department). Our interview went as follows:

0. Not enough people utilize question zero. Anyway, this is the place that you tell us the story of who you are and how you got to where you are. Please be brief, and remember this is a family blog. I will allow you two swears.

My name is Dan Wells, and I've been writing since second grade, when I announced to my parents that I was going to be an author. Actually, I think I told them that I was already an author. I wrote a Choose Your Own Adventure book about a maze, specifically written so you could never get out of the maze. There was a page in there that said "congratulations, you've escaped the maze!" but you could never actually get there; it was just there so you could see it as you were flipping back and forth to make you think there was actually a way out. So I've been unnecessarily cruel to my readers since the beginning, is I guess the message of that story.

Anyway, I grew up and went to college and took a creative writing class from Dave Wolverton where he told us that it was 100% possible to make a living as a writer, and I was sold. Brandon Sanderson was also in that class, and we started a writing group and started going to conventions together to meet editors. There was also a girl named Stephanie in the class, who wrote vampire books--and this was at the right university at the right time to maybe be Stephenie Meyer, but honestly I have no idea if it was or not. I never saw her name written down, so I don't know if she spelled it wrong or not.

1. As a new author, what was your experience like getting into the publishing world? Was it hard to get an agent, get a deal, etc?

Like I said, I went to conventions with Brandon (another good friend named Peter Ahlstrom), and we hunted for editors. We met a guy at the Tor party named Moshe Feder, who had only just become an acquiring editor for Tor, and we pitched him our books, and a year later after he read them he accepted Brandon's and rejected mine. Years later (and three or four books later) when our writing group was reading I Am Not a Serial Killer, I started sending it to other editors I knew, but Brandon went behind my back and emailed a copy to Moshe, correctly guessing that he would love it. Moshe called me the next day, eager to buy the book, and I immediately started looking for agents to help with negotiations and foreign sales and so on. It all went very smoothly from there.

2. What is one thing you learned about the industry that you didn't know before getting published?

It's an incredibly "nice" industry. Shop a screenplay in Hollywood, for example, and anyone you show it to is just as likely to steal it as accept it. That doesn't happen in publishing--authors and editors from completely different publishing houses will sit around and talk to each other for hours, sharing ideas and talking about upcoming projects, and nobody steals from anybody else. There's a lot of respect and, in a way, nobility about they way they do business. It's great.

3. One of the things I loved about your novel I Am Not a Serial Killer is your main character John. He's creepy and more than just a little awesome. Many authors write themselves into their first novels, either by accident or very sneakily. If you did that with John...what's wrong with you? Seriously, though, would you say that you have your own obsession with these type of characters?

Part of the reason I wrote this book was that I already knew a lot about serial killers. I study them in my spare time and I find them very fascinating, so in that sense John is a reflection of me. That's more or less where the similarities end, though; I'm not a sociopath, I don't dream about killing everyone I meet, and so on. I have found, however, that people who know me are far more disturbed by the book than most because they start to wonder if their normal friend Dan is actually a crazy person in disguise.

4. I (and many others judging by your shiny new Parsec award) am a fan of the podcast you do with Brandon Sanderson and the irrepressible Howard Taylor. How much would you say your podcast influences sales of your book/builds your audience?

Are you kidding? Howard has daily readership in the hundreds of thousands, and Brandon is writing the fricking Wheel of Time series--they're both incredibly big, very famous writers, and I'm riding their coattails for all I'm worth. I don't think we'll really see the "Writing Excuses" effect in my sales numbers until the US launch next April, but even now I'm sure I owe a lot of my visibility to the podcast.

5. Your podcast seems to have helped many would-be authors get over that writing hump and gain some confidence in their work. If you could give one piece of advice for people struggling to get that first novel written, what would it be?

Allow yourself to write a bad book. Your first book is usually your baby, especially for fantasy writers, and you want it to be epic and huge and perfect right out of the gate. That doesn't happen in real life. Just write it, learn from the experience, and move on; I wrote five books before I finally got this one published. Every book you write will make you a better writer, and every idea you use will create another ten in the back of your mind, so don't feel like you have to make THIS book the BEST book ever. Write a bad book, then write another, and eventually you'll be writing the awesome, epic books you've always wanted.

6. Back to your novel. John is a great character, and I was honestly shocked when I heard that this would be a trilogy. Props to you, my good sir, for being an author that can actually "end" a book. You finished everything up in that first book so tidily. Where does John go from here?

The arc of the first book, as spelled out in the cover copy, is essentially "John follows strict rules to keep himself from hurting anyone, and then a real killer turns up and he has to let his inner monster out in order to stop it." Book two follows very logically from that point: John has let his monster out, and now it's very hard to put it back again.

7. David Farland recently sent out an email praising your book, and mentioned how well it was doing, especially in Germany. What do you think has made other countries such a big fan of the book?

Each genre translates very differently into other cultures; England, for example, very rarely buys American fantasy, because they have an enormous and very successful fantasy scene of their own. Asia loves American fantasy but rarely buys American horror, because their culture is scared by different things than we are. I feel kind of lucky with this series because "I have a dark side I don't want anyone to find out about" is a very universal thing, and people are responding to it regardless of what culture they come from.

8. Through the interwebs, meaning blogging, social networks and microblogs like Twitter, it has become easier than ever to stalk...er, follow new authors. How do you feel these relatively new means of communication are affecting the publishing industry and the authors that use them?

When I first started using Twitter (and these principles apply to things like Facebook as well) I started by following all of the big names in publishing, like Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow, to see what they did and how they used the medium. What I found is that the way they use Twitter is completely inapplicable to most authors, because we are not as famous as they are: people care about what Neil Gaiman has for breakfast because he's a rock star, and people care about EVERYTHING he does. If I posted what I had for breakfast, all my followers would get bored and leave. After a few weeks I went through and purged my twitter list of everyone I thought was boring, and I took a long look at who was left and why I found them interesting. Without exception, it was the people who used social media as a showcase for their talent instead of simply a news outlet--people like John Scalzi and Jim Gaffigan and Eric Snider. They use their media feeds to say "See how entertaining I am? You should totally buy my books/read my blog/etc." Gaffigan tweeted something about what he had for breakfast and I laughed about it ALL DAY. I can't say I'm as interesting as they are, but I'm trying to follow that model and use social media as a form of mini-entertainment.

9. Less of a question, more of a section for you to type up some shameless plugs.

We already mentioned the podcast, but please: if you haven't checked it out yet, please do: www.writingexcuses.com. Also, feel free to visit my website at www.fearfulsymmetry.net, where I post a semiregular blog. And, of course, follow me on twitter: @johncleaver.

Retro Review: The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

2009-09-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

In my neverending quest to prepare myself for the twelfth book in The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, I re-read The Great Hunt for, I wanna say, the third time? Maybe fourth, not sure.

Rand Al'Thor, a man who can channel, who will surely go mad, is drawn in further by the pattern, with every step working toward his ultimate destiny, becoming The Dragon Reborn. The horn of valere has been stolen, and it's up to Rand, Mat, and Perrin to ride with the Shienaran soldiers to retrieve it from Padan Fain. Egwene, Elayne, Min and Nynaeve are all locked in their own struggles within the White Tower of Tar Valon. And a new threat comes from the other side of the ocean. Artur Hawkwing's blood, returned to conquer and enslave all women who can channel the one power.

The Great Hunt is, in my opinion, better than The Eye of the World simply because the characters are finally starting to grow up. Now, eleven years ago when I read this book for the first time, I wouldn't have said that. A decade later, I'm not really in the mood for books starring sheltered backwoods kids anymore. The Great Hunt delivered much more intrigue, and showed the fans of the first book that there was much more going on in this world than they had ever imagined, and secret plots at every turn. Best of all, the characters started to think for themselves, rather than just react to everything going on around them. No longer starstruck by the lives they are forced by prophecy to lead, they begin to act according to what they feel is best, making their own decisions.

In this book, unlike some of the books that followed, I really enjoyed what every character added to the story. Yes, even Egwene, for all you haters out there. She had a great story right at the end of the book.

Now, as to what I didn't enjoy in this book. Two scenes both stand out to me, one with Rand and one with Egwene. They were just too dimwitted to be believable, I guess. I found myself acting like one of those crazy people at the theatre shouting at the woman to get out of the house because the killer's after her. I mean, could they really be so dumb that they couldn't see what was right in front of them. If you've read the series, you probably can figure out which two parts of the novel I'm thinking about. If not, read it again and I'm sure you'll see Rand and Egwene acting like morons a couple of times. Yep, there they are.

Verdict: 9/10. A deeper, darker, more interesting book than The Eye of the World. Well worth the read, and if you've already read the first, you had darned well better read the rest.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2009-09-06T04:22:00.000-07:00

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman tells the story of Nobody Owens, a young boy who fortuitously wanders off just as an assassin kills both his parents. The toddler is protected, and raised by the ghosts of the graveyard he waddles into.

A new twist on The Jungle Book, I found this book to be a real page turner. The story seemed a little too deep in places for what was going on, and a little open-ended, leaving me to wonder if perhaps there's some sort of sequel in the not-too-distant future, but otherwise, I have very little to complain about with this book. It's joined the prestigous ranks of "Books I Bought While Poor" meaning that I snatched it up for my personal collection despite my paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. Oh, and it won the Hugo, so obviously at least a few other people think it's a decent book.

To be honest, I haven't read much Gaiman, which makes me (and likely you) very sad. I'll be correcting that soon, starting with Neverwhere, and moving right into American Gods and Anansi Boys. I have Good Omens on my bookshelf, so I suppose I'll get to that one at some point, too.

Final Score: 9/10. A great book for younger readers, and a great way to kill a boring afternoon for adults. Enjoyable, highly readable, and quickly read.

My Ten Favorite Free Windows Software

2009-09-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

#1- Firefox- Firefox is better than internet explorer for one reason: extensions. The community that supports firefox and helps to develop the new versions is extremely active when it comes to developing add-ons to improve the program. Internet explorer has some of these, but you have to pay for the better ones.

If you download firefox, you need to make sure and search for Adblock Plus. This add-on will block almost all the ads that appear on web pages, meaning that you are less likely to run into dirty ads and that your pages will load faster. That alone makes firefox better than Internet Explorer

#2- Abiword. For just quickly typing up a document, I have yet to find anything that beats Abiword. It’s small and fast, but full featured, so it works on just about any system, no matter how old. IT saves files as .abw by default, but you can save files as .rtf or .doc. In fact, At their webpage, you can also download plugins that will let you read and write in the new .docx format of Microsoft Office 2007, so that’s a huge plus for those of you that don’t want to shell out the cash for Microsoft Word.

#3- Openoffice.org. If you need a full word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation, and more, openoffice has it, and it’s free. I will admit that for hardcore Microsoft Office users, especially Excel geniuses, Openoffice is a tiny bit lacking. But those people probably already have Microsoft Office, so it doesn’t really matter. For the rest of us, there’s Openoffice, and it’s great. Why pay $300 for something you can get for free?

#4- The Gimp (Gnu Image Manipulation Program). Speaking of free stuff that’s almost as good as payed stuff, if you’re into Photoshop, but short on cash, you need the Gimp. Gimp was designed for Linux, but ported over to Windows because it’s just that awesome. If you dig around on the net for a little bit, you can find literally Hundreds of tutorials on how to make The Gimp work more like Photoshop. Again, if you don’t already have Photoshop, get the Gimp.

#5- Revo Uninstaller. After installing as many programs as I have, you tend to end up with leftovers after you try and uninstall them. Revo Uninstaller is like built in Windows one, if it were a ninja in a monster truck…oh, and the monster truck and the ninja were both on fire. Revo uninstaller is smart enough to find the leftovers and let you get rid of them. It’s a brilliant program, and I use it every time I clean up someone’s computer.

#6- Ccleaner. Short for Crap Cleaner, this program gets rid of all the junk files that your computer saves, giving you more space for your files, and getting rid of temporary internet stuff that you don’t really need. It also has a program to clean your registry, uninstaller for programs, and one to delete those annoying startup entries that launch programs when windows starts. In short, it’s priceless.

#7- MediaMonkey. This program blows every other music player out of the water. For one thing, it can search Amazon.com to find the album that you have in your collection, and get you the album art and tag all the files so they have the correct names. That alone made me switch, and I never looked back. Ipod support? Yup. Can it burn CDs? Yup. Can it level the volume of the tracks so they’re not too loud or too quiet? You betcha (best Sarah Palin impression). If you like music and you run Windows, you owe it to yourself to try this one out.

#8- KMPlayer. The KMplayer is far and above the best media player around. I haven’t found a file type that it can’t play. It’s fast, looks good, and just plain works. And I mean works, for every file type under the sun. Take a look at this Comparison of Media Players, and you’ll see what I mean. KMPlayer does it ALL.

#9- Foxit Reader. If you’re still using Adobe Acrobat, I feel for you. The program is now 8 times the size of the original Adobe Acrobat Reader, and has to install a program at your computer’s startup just to make it run fast enough to use. That’s pathetic. 95% of people open a PDF, read it, and then close it, right? So why does that require so much computer muscle?

Enter Foxit Reader. It’s simple, lightweight, and fast fast fast compared to Adobe. That’s really all you need to know about that (best Forrest Gump).

#10- DVDSmith movie backup. With today’s computers coming standard with huge hard drives, unless you’re a super music buff or have a collection of porn the size of Michigan you’ve probably got some unused space on there. Enter DVDSmith. This little tool is a one click to backup that movie that you just rented bought completely legally. From there you can watch it using KMplayer and then delete it at your leisure or burn it do a DVD with one of the dozens of programs out there (if it fits, that is). This program doesn’t shrink the file size to fit on a regular DVD, so if you’re going to try and burn it you’ll want to select just the Main Movie to make sure you stay under the 4.5 GB limit of a DVD. If even that doesn’t work, you might look into another free program called DVDShrink to get that file down to size.

So, that’s it folks. I know that I haven’t provided any links for this software. Well, that’s what Google’s for, and I’m lazy, so that’s all you’re getting. Have fun!

I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells

2009-09-06T01:49:00.000-07:00

I am Not a Serial Killer is by a brand spanking new author to most of us named Dan Wells. He’s a buddy of famous fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, and helps him out on weekly podcasts. His first published book, I am not a Serial Killer is about a teenage sociopath with all the common characteristics of serial killers, who has designed very strict and important rules in his life to make sure that he doesn’t fall into the horrible life of a serial killer. His rules and his life are on the line, however, when an honest to goodness serial killer starts picking off middle aged men in his hometown.

Wells did an excellent job with John, the main character. He’s, well, creepy. So creepy that you just have to keep reading, because you don’t know if he’ll actually let loose and do something terrible or not. For those of you that can’t stand to read about people getting killed, blood or guts, you might want to avoid this one. If that’s not an issue, this is a very exciting and page turning read. Dan and I met at Life the Universe and Everything, and after listening to his humor on the panels he was involved with, and his book reading, I knew that I’d have to check him out. Don’t get me wrong, the book’s fairly dark, but it’s also hilarious and a very interesting situation to have a teenager grow up in.

Score: 8/10- A good beginning for someone that I hope has a long and successful career.

Note: This book isn't yet available in the US. Check out Amazon.uk if you're really interested. Either that, or make a trip to Logan UT and I’ll lend you my copy (with a tracking system to make sure it gets back to me).

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

2009-09-06T01:39:00.000-07:00

Don't let this incredibly ~~awful~~ awesome cover stop you from checking out Patrick Rothfuss.

Okay, Liz (my wife) will tell you that I’m a nut about The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and it’s somewhat true. I’m a huge fan of this book. I peddle it like crack to everyone that comes into my house.

If you liked anything at all about Harry Potter, you will love these books. Take my word for it.

If you thought Harry Potter was totally lame and predictable, you will absolutely love these books as well. It’s much better than Harry Potter. More beautifully written, more intense, better plot and more depth to the story.The main character is (for a decent part of the book) a teenager, and does go to a school where some magic is taught, but that's where the similarities end. These books seem to ride a line somewhere between Young adult and (regular adult?) regular fantasy. The character is young, and it's very much a coming of age story, at least as far as the first book is concerned. But, you'll understand from just the first few pages that this series will not end as a young adult story by any means.

For those of you who think, “I just don't like epic fantasy. All those dragons and wizards just don't work for me.” Well, how about the story of a boy whose parents die, and who is forced to live a life of fear and abuse on the streets. How about a person that has rumors spread about him that make him sound much cooler than he is? There’s much more to this book than magic, and no dragons (well, there IS a large lizard addicted to drugs, but that's a review for another day).

The Name of the Wind is told from the first person. It’s absolutely fantastic and I can’t help but recommend it to anyone that wants something to read. I even teared up just a little as I read parts of this book, and yes, I’m tough enough to admit it. Great book, just great, especially for a first novel. 9/10.

Several people I've talked to lately have mentioned that they think this book seemed just a little too cliche for them. I think that the style Rothfuss has chosen to write this first book in was chosen on purpose. We've got a first person book here, and I think that he may be playing with the concept of the unreliable narrator just a little bit. I believe the tone and feel of these books will change, especially in the final volume, as Kvothe, the main character, grows to adulthood.

Oh, and if you trust the people that publish books to recommend a good one, know this: The President of Daw books personally wrote to many people to give them advanced reader copies of this book, telling them it was the best book she’d read in decades.

Read and Find Out

2009-09-06T01:36:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are fans of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, there's a new kid in school....well, it's more like some old kid's cousin just moved into town. wotmania.com just closed down a few days ago, and the site that the die hard members have all transferred over to is readandfindout.com. It's got the same look and feel, minus a few of the old site's sections (theory post, chatroom). Go and check it out. I'll give you a sample of an excellent discussion someone started on fantasy books that don't get enough praise (I don't know who started it, but he sure is handsome). Check it out here

The Last Apprentice Series by Joseph Delaney

2009-09-06T01:30:00.000-07:00

The Last Apprentice is a series by Joseph Delaney. I would say it's for those kids that are about 10-14....or people like me. I really enjoyed every book in this series. The seventh book just came out recently, and I'm looking to get ahold of it as soon as possible.

The Last Apprentice is a series about a boy, the seventh son of a seventh son, who apprentices to the local Spook. I would describe the Spook as a sort of magical garbage man; he does a very important job, and it's very dirty, but no one ever really thanks him for it. He's in charge of getting rid of boggarts, witches, and all sorts of nasty evil creatures. The series grows deeper and deeper with each book, giving the world more of an epic feel with each new volume. The Spook is an amazing character, very well done. I'll grant you that there are definitely some stereotypes going on here, but there's enough of a twist that I continued reading.

Make no mistake, these books are for kids. Like Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz series, an adult could sit down and easily fly through one of these books in just a few hours. Hell, I read the entire 5th book just sitting in Walden Books with some time to kill before work. Don't let the readability give you the impression that these are second-rate, however. Each book has been an absolute page turner for me.

Though they're kids books, they are fairly graphic. We've got people getting stabbed and dying, and Satan walking the earth by the 6th book. So yeah, be warned, ye doers of good, they might not be for the Flanders family.

So, in summation, these books will:

-Give you a short, fun, and surprisingly deep look into the characters and their struggles.
-Show you that kids books can, in fact, be pretty gory and somewhat scary (not horribly gory or scary, but enough that I was surprised. Granted I don't read all that many kids books).
-Keep you turning pages as the story unfolds very organically.

They will not:

-Give deep, meaningful, viewpoints about the nature of God and our relationship with him.
-Cure cancer.
-Go bowling with you on Fridays. I know you're lonely, but they just won't, okay? Stop bugging me about it!

Retro Review: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

2009-09-06T01:24:00.000-07:00

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan is the first book in what many consider one of the greatest epic fantasy series of all time, The Wheel of Time. Book one of a proposed fourteen books, (twelve are written thus far, the twelfth to be published this October) it doesn’t get much larger or more epic than this. Mr Jordan (real name James Rigney) passed away not too long ago, leaving an incomplete series which will be completed by Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn Trilogy as well as the standalone fantasy novel Elantris and the Alcatraz series of young adult fantasy.

The one major complaint that I hear time and again about the first book of this series is that it started much too slowly. I, too, have felt this, and it makes for difficult reading up until the 50th page or so. After that, it’s quite the page turner in parts, and in no way boring for the rest of the tale. Given the broad scope fo this series, with multiple main characters, points of view, and heavy description of a foreign world, I can forgive its slow start.

Mr. Jordan has created a world that for nearly twenty years has sucked readers in and not let them go easily. As a fantasy fan, I would suggest this series for all fans of epic fantasy, with one caveat. Make sure you have plenty of time to dedicate to this, either that or don’t mind reading a fantasy series for several years. Each book weighs in at over 600 pages, the largest coming in at over 1000. Reading the new testament worth of pages 14 times, it might take some folks a while to finish this series. Also, the last two books haven’t been written by Mr. Sanderson yet, so it’ll be another few years until it’s all said and done.

That aside, this series deserves to be read. Many of the current crop of American fantasy writers grew up reading and loving Robert Jordan, so if you want to see what influenced them, or just have a great read, it’s well worth your time.

Other (somewhat) similar series that you might enjoy: George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice, Steven Erikson's Malazan series.

Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz Series

2009-09-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

Alcatraz is a young boy who breaks things. Radios. Televisions. Chickens. He can’t seem to touch anything without it breaking. He’s an orphan, who upon his 13th birthday receives his inheritance in the mail from his father…a bag of sand. Oh, and did I mention that there are evil librarians seeking to conquer the world and spread their lies about its history? These books are comedic fantasy, very well written for a young audience, and fun for the whole family. There are two books out so far, with a third planned for the end of this year, and a fourth tentatively planned for some time in 2010. The first book is titled Alcatraz Vs. The Evil Librarians, just so you can get started.

The Alcatraz books are for younger readers, probably somewhere between 10 and 15 or so, or perhaps younger readers who read very well. They’re written by Brandon Sanderson, the same bloke who is going to finish the Robert Jordan series. The guy puts out about 2 books a year, usually one young adult book, like these, and one epic fantasy book. I really don’t understand how he writes so many books so quickly, but I can vouch for the quality of his works.

About This Site

2009-09-06T01:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, this is a place to find reviews. Lots of them. Everything that I read will go up here, for better or for worse. It's also a sight where I will occasionally rant and rave about things, recommend books, movies, websites, software...whatever's on my mind. I want everyone to know that I'm not paid by anyone, and I don't have any loyalty beyond what I think is quality work that deserves my praise. I try my best to be fair, but I'm human, and I'm much more of an average joe reader than an uppity high-class reviewer. I'm not a professional, and don't aspire to be. I will make mistakes. I might even make spelling mistakes. I just want people to understand what's out there and help them find something good to read. If you're okay with that, then welcome and enjoy!