Fantasy Book Critic

Official Chuck Wendig Website

Friday, May 17, 2013

“Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters” by Chuck Wendig (Reviewed by Casey Blair)

Order “Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters” HERE

Read An Excerpt HERE

Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters, released on May 7th, was my first introduction to Chuck Wendig's writing, and I didn't really know what to expect. Now I can't wait to read more.

This is the first of a new urban fantasy series from Abaddon Books. The similarities to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods are hard to miss, but don't be fooled: Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters is a whole different animal. The tone, the pacing, the characters, all of it, and honestly, this story is just plain fun. Dark, sometimes horribly creepy, but fun.

Wendig really has a gift for mood. He absolutely nails dialect, which is so easy to mess up, and I loved how he used sentence structure and tight POVs to bring the reader into the chaotic or violent scenes. I should probably mention that if you have difficulty with graphic imagery and profanity, then this book is not for you. I don't think either was gratuitous, but there was quite a lot.

The author did a great job of making extremely dangerous choices seem perfectly reasonable, as if, given who those characters are, the choices they make are the only ones that make any possible sense, and being that truthful to human nature is especially important in a story that has so much bizarre going on.

I love how Wendig captured the capriciousness of gods, and the resilience of humans despite, or because of, any odds. The Coyote sections are absolutely perfect, and I snickered all the way through. I really appreciated that he didn't show favoritism to the more famous mythologies (I weary of supposedly pantheistic world-building that dwells on the Olympians). There are some enormous cosmic things going on in this story, but Wendig doesn't really give you time to process the implications because they're already punching the protagonist in the face. And even though this reads like a fun, plot-driven story that doesn't dwell on the philosophical side so much, you know the he understands what matters:

“It's always in the myths. The legends. The history. The stories. The stories have secrets. They tell the truth, even when it's a lie.”

I have very little to nit-pick with Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters. The ending was a little abrupt for me, but it does keep with the character of the book. And the protagonist makes all kinds of Casey cracks for a character whose name is actually Cason, but I suppose I'm predisposed to notice that. =)

So I was happy to learn that Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters isn't the end for this series, and happier still to learn Chuck Wendig has another new book, Blue Blazes (May 28, 2013 via Angry Robot), coming out in just a few weeks.

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Posted by Robert |

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Official Jenna Black Website

Thursday, May 16, 2013

“Rogue Descendant” by Jenna Black (Reviewed by Casey Blair)

Order “Rogue Descendant” HERE

Read An Excerpt HERE

Rogue Descendant, published at the end of April, is the third of Jenna Black's latest urban fantasy series (she's written a few, all worth checking out), the Nikki Glass or Descendant series. This is one of those world-building structures where Greek mythology features heavily, though there are some other cool mythologies as well. Essentially, the gods have descendants, and if a mortal descendant kills an immortal one, they gain immortality and some magical powers related to whatever deity they're descended from. How our protagonist came by her seed of immortality is part of the matter of book one, Dark Descendant, but the fact of the matter is that all unwanted, Nikki has to learn how to live in the world she's joined and with the powers she inherited from Artemis. Unfortunately, while she's beginning to deal with the former, there is no movement on the latter.

This bothers me. In book one, of course Nikki wouldn’t know how to use her powers; she was too busy trying to survive to start exploring them. Book two rolls around and that no longer holds up; when her approach in book three is still pretty much, "Oh, I feel like we should turn this way for no apparent reason IT MUST BE MY HUNTING POWERS,” I have suspension of disbelief problems. In fairness, Nikki seems to find this ridiculous as well, but she doesn't seem inclined to do anything about it. She can come up with ways for other characters to explore their power, but her own she ignores until she needs it and then vainly wishes it worked better. Possibly a comment on human nature, but I find it tiring.

There's also no net movement on the romance front — it's still well-handled, but it leaves off in pretty much the same place as the last book. I can deal with that, though. What concerns me is that the climax of all three books has involved a final confrontation with Nikki and Anderson, the head of their non-Olympian-descended-exclusive band who is not the love interest, against an external threat, and now this book has been dropping hints that we are going to have a love triangle on our hands, and I hate love triangles.

However, excepting the fact that all the immortal characters seem to be easily swayed by circumstantial evidence when they're supposed to be experienced enough with Byzantine plots to know better, they do all behave in horribly logical and often twisted ways given what they did know and who they were. Konstantin's son is a refreshingly complicated sort-of-villain, and the lingering problem of Emma has been resolved. In theory. Jenna Black is great with character consistency and emotional responses to traumatic events, be they personally painful or physically, that really resonate as true. It must be said that Nikki is very inventive about not relying on magic or immortality to save her, and understanding her limits makes scenes a lot tenser than they would be if she knew how to use her magic and depended on it. I burned through this book, which is always a good sign.

And yet, I'm disappointed in this installment. Rogue Descendant wasn't painful to read by any stretch, but there's no character growth, no romance development, no exploration of the protagonist's abilities, and no particularly revealing information about the world. I feel like this whole book was in order to set-up the characters' huge problems in the next book. It's very plot-centric, and I want more from a story than just events unfolding.

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Posted by Robert |

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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

"Incarnation" by Emma Cornwall (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)

OVERVIEW: In the steampunk world of Victorian London, a beautiful vampire seeks out the author of Dracula–to set the record straight . . . If one is to believe Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire tale, Lucy Weston is Dracula’s most wanton creation, a sexual creature of the night who preys on innocent boys. But the real-life Lucy is nothing like her fictional counterpart—and she demands to know why the Victorian author deliberately lied. With Stoker’s reluctant help, she’s determined to track down the very fiend who transformed her—from the sensual underworld where humans vie to become vampires, to a hidden cell beneath a temple to madness, and finally into the glittering Crystal Palace where death reigns supreme.

Haunted by fragmentary memories of her lost life and love, Lucy must battle her thirst for blood as she struggles to stop a catastrophic war that will doom vampires and humans alike. Ultimately, she must make a choice that illuminates for her—and for us—what it means to be human

FORMAT: Incarnation is a novel that combines steampunk, supernatural, Victorian London, mystery, and adventure elements into one. It stands at 352 pages and was published September 2012 by Gallery Books.

ANALYSIS: Incarnation weaves a unique combination of steampunk, adventure, mystery, and vampires into an elegantly written standout novel. Literally from the first chapter readers are thrust into a steampunk Victorian London world where vampires secretly run amuck, but the public is none the wiser.

This may sound like the setup for just any old vampire novel, but it isn't. The first chapter of Incarnation starts off with a rather detailed description of what it would feel like to mysteriously wake up as a vampire. Readers are introduced to Lucy Weston as she awakens buried deep underground with a wooden stake driven through her chest. She has no idea how she got there, why she is like this, and immediately starts digging herself out of her own grave.

After Lucy Weston valiantly digs herself out of her grave, she works to piece together the memories she has of her former life. She discovers that a newly published novel, Dracula, contains what appears to be a rather accurate, yet slightly fictionalized version of her death and she vows to get to the bottom of the story. This quest to find out what happened to her, why she appears as a main character in a novel, and why she has a sudden craving for blood pushes her deeper into the underground world of the supernatural.

Incarnation is an absolute amazing novel. It was fast paced, yet didn't let things, such as character development or plots falter in favor of a faster pace. All of the characters readers encounter in Incarnation are extremely fleshed out, especially Lucy. It is as if readers almost become Lucy as they read the novel.

The style of writing in the novel is slightly different than most vampire/supernatural novels. Incarnation takes on a slightly dark, poetic style of writing compared to a sassy, in your face style. This style might not work for everyone, but it really helps set the tone and pace of the novel.

I have to admit this novel had me sitting on the edge of my seat. Every scene just seemed to get better and better, and I kept wanting and craving to read more. I really think this had to do with the fact that this novel details a young woman's adventure in finding herself and discovering who she really is. However, unlike most of us, this young woman happens to be a vampire and discovers herself with the help of several members of the supernatural community.

While Incarnation is filled with the typical vampires, there isn't one thing 'typical' about the plot. There are fresh, unique twists and turns at every corner. This novel is filled with adventure, mystery, and romance. Yes, there is a little romance, but it doesn't overpower or overshadow the plot.

The one slight issue I do have with Incarnation is the way that it ended. I don't believe the ending could be considered a cliffhanger, but the door is definitely open for more novels in the future.

In the end, Incarnation was a wonderful, amazing read. While it wasn't totally what I expected (a typical vampire/romance novel), it turned out to be so much more and an absolute delight to read.

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Posted by Cindy |

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Official Daniel Abraham Website
Order "The Tyrant's Law" HERE

3 comments

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

"The Tyrant's Law" by Daniel Abraham (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu and Mihir Wanchoo)

Read FBC's Review of "The Dragon's Path"
Read FBC's Review of "The King's Blood"

INTRODUCTION: The Tyrant's Law is the third installment of Daniel Abraham's Dagger and Coin series after The Dragon Path and The King's Blood. For a description of the series' universe, I refer to our reviews of the previous books linked above and for the blurb, to the Amazon link to avoid immediate spoilers. However the review below necessarily has spoilers for what came before...

ANALYSIS (Mihir): I would be lying if I didn't mention that this book was heavily anticipated by lots of book bloggers, including me. Daniel Abraham since the start of this series has become more and more of a fantasy writing star. His debut series had established his writing credentials but with the Dagger And The Coin series he has really established himself as an epic fantasy writer. This series is a proper visitation of medieval epic fantasy tropes but with the author's slant.

The story is now firmly in the middle of the planned arc of five books and we open with Kit and Marcus who are taking their journey together to destroy the Spider goddess and all those who would worship her. Kit and Marcus have their hands full as they covertly try to reach where Kit became an apostate. The second thread opens up with Cithrin who is now apprenticed to another Medean bank but far away in and she discovers that she has a lot to learn about banking as well as inter-personal relations. Clara Dawson is slowly becoming what she was accused of previously but slowly decided to save her nation by betraying it. Lastly we have Geder who is learning more about his role, the fate of Antea and the function of spider priests and vagaries of fate vis-a-vis his personal life.

These are the POV characters since the last book barring one-off prologue ones and a rare epilogue-ish one. Daniel Abraham has kept a tight hold of his story and his refusal to exponentially increase the POV list has helped this series tremendously. This narrow focus helps center the story and now that the story is slowly evolving beyond the confines of traditional fantasy. It has become an absolute pleasure to read. Last time around I had mentioned that the story needs to be a bit more epic, well with the prologue and the climax of the story; the author really swings the epic part back into the story. So far we have only heard about what happened in the past but within the pages we get a very solid look at what could have possibly happened. This was my favorite part of the book as the author easily shows what lies ahead and it is mouthwatering to say the least. Characterization has been Daniel Abraham’s signature as world building has been Brandon Sanderson's forte and he continues to allow his characters to evolve naturally without it seeming to be convoluted. Geder, Cithrin and Marcus are the main POV characters however the others share remarkable page time and thus every chapter pushes the story arc significantly and keeps the readers entertained on all levels.

This book clearly takes a look at the journey trope with this being explored by Marcus and Kit. I enjoyed this section of the story the most as Daniel Abraham subverts this trope and then makes the reader confused as we can never guess where their thread is going. For me their thread was the most lucrative plot thread this time around. Also I was looking forward to the meeting between Marcus and Yardem especially after the second book but the event was not much of a showdown. Also this book does another spectacularly is that it brings into play some characters from the first book as well as the legends which were talked/discussed in the first book. So readers that don't recall the previous story, I would suggest that a re-read of the first book might be of vital importance.

I don’t think I had any complaints with this book as it doesn't suffer from the middle volume syndrome and offers a near complete story but of course ending in such a fashion for you to hunger for the penultimate volume immediately. Maybe another drawback could be that readers expecting all out action and mayhem may not find it as for majority of the book, the characters are often scheming or traveling to new places. This perhaps can be something of a deterrent for readers expecting an action-packed story-line.

Overall I'm highly impressed with Daniel Abraham and his storytelling efforts. This series is his version of epic fantasy and is a spectacular one. For folks who have to discover him, kindly do so at the earliest as the Dagger and the Coin quintet is epic fantasy handled by an exquisite writer who is at the top of his writing game. The Tyrant's Law is a very good book and also manages to upend the scales of the over all story arc significantly, making the wait for The Widow's House (4th book) a very hard one. Highly recommended for series fans.

ANALYSIS (Liviu): To give a taste of where The Tyrant's Law and more generally Dagger and Coin sits, I offer here a choice early quote with the name of the characters removed though for anyone familiar with the earlier volumes, it iss easily guessed who is talking with whom. This is the fantasy version of science clashing with religion and is representative of the partly ironical, partly serious but always contemporary tone of the books:

“That can’t be right, can it?” **** said.
***** raised querying eyebrows.
“The three-year fire,” **** explained. “A fire that went on that long would have left a layer of ash all over the world. And there are cities that stood where they are now since before the dragons fell.”
“If it must be, it must be,” **** said. “But the fire years are truth.”
“But there are forests in Northcoast that have trees older than that. Not many, maybe, but I read an essay about how you can tell the age of a tree by the number of rings, and it said the largest of the redwoods in Northcoast—”
There is a lot of universe expansion, quite a few twists and turns including one that I really did not expect and that plays well with the fantasy tropes and of course the superb characters we know from the previous volumes. The structure is still of 4 alternating pov's and finally Marcus gets to truly shine, though I greatly enjoyed each storyline as they complement and intersect well.

The other main strengths are the literate style of the author which makes for smooth transitions between pov's and the narrative energy that compels one to turn the pages until the end. While the ending is another "to be continued", we get a bonus snippet from the next installment, The Widow's House.

If there is one thing that lessens the impact of this series is the structural decision of the author to imbue his world with modern ideology (hey ho everyone prefers diversity until the spider priests and their "universal conformity" and racial cleansing agenda we start seeing in this volume) which of course in an ironic, and at a guess I would say unintentional though of course here I could be wrong, way, illustrates precisely the main weakness of "live and let live", namely that when genocidal but charismatic and pseudo-secular baddies come, most people do not see a reason to oppose them if they are not their target (see Communism, Nazism, etc...).

In our modern world there are structural reasons why "live and live" is workable though of course it's way too early to tell for how long - mostly the ability of technology to deliver only when combined with a relatively free society as the ultimate failure of communism showed, but in any pre-industrial world only tradition and faith were bulwarks against such and the series essentially lacks both, with only the doomed Dawson as embodiment of tradition but with a notable lack of serious religion, making the spider priests takeover a cakewalk...

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Posted by Liviu |

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Monday, May 13, 2013

GUEST POST: Stepping Off the Map of the World by Charlotte E. English

Hello, you may remember me from the Drifting Isle Chronicles discussions in April. I've been asked to talk to you about some of my other books, and I thought I’d begin with my most popular series to date: the Draykon Series. These books consist of a blend of high fantasy and mystery, all set in an alternate world. It’s this alternate world that I’m going to talk about the most, as I think it’s the most distinctive feature of the books.

When I say “alternate world”, I really mean it. A lot of fantasy books (including some of my own) create fantasy nations by basing them on real-world places, past or present. This approach has a lot to recommend it (not the least of them being that it’s easier to build a world this way). But I've always read fantasy fiction for escapism. I developed this taste years ago, at a time when it was imperative to get away from the real world as much as possible; and the stories I loved the best were the ones that made me feel as though I’d stepped off the map of the world altogether. As a child, one of my favourite stories was Alice in Wonderland; what could be better than a trip through a world where flowers and animals talk?

It’s the sense of wonder that I love, the feeling that I've wandered so far from reality that anything could happen. But over the years, I could never find enough books that really satisfied my wishes. I wanted truly different alternate worlds, the crazier the better. So when I began working on Draykon—which went on to become my first completed novel—the very first thing I set about doing was building a truly crazy world. I was writing for the pure fun of it, so I simply took the restraints off my imagination and waited to see what happened.

The world I ended up with—or part of it—is called The Seven Realms, and those realms became progressively stranger as I went along. The result is a series of places where many of the natural laws of our own world don’t apply; perhaps the biggest alteration I made was in kicking out the traditional day/night cycle. Two of the Seven Realms are kept in perpetual daylight through the use of arcane magic; three are kept in permanent darkness; a sixth has a natural day-night cycle; and the seventh, Orlind, is a mystery entirely, for no one has seen it in many years. This of course means that some of my people have never seen the darkness, while some are wholly nocturnal.

Linked to these realms—terra firma, if you like—are two other, much more nebulous areas (or planes of reality, we could say that instead). The Upper Realm, with its multiple suns, is always sun-drenched; the Lower Realm is always dark. These two places are changeable in ways that the Seven are not. Deeply unpredictable, they cycle through infinite variations. In the Lowers, you can be standing in a moonlit meadow one moment, and drowning in the ocean the next. In writing these, I was reminded of another set of books I used to love: Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series, does anyone remember those? At the top of the mysterious Faraway Tree there was always a different land; you never knew what might roll around next.

But unlike the lands at the top of the Tree, my Uppers and Lowers are not entirely impervious to influence. They can be changed, at least to a certain extent, and the uncovering of these particular mysteries is an important part of the story in Draykon. In fact, the series is full of mysteries: the mystery of a strange and mesmerizing new gem puts the Daylander Llandry Sanfaer into danger when she happens to stumble over it; the mysteries and dangers of the Lower Realm may be too much for Darklander Eva Glostrum, in spite of all her wit and wiles; and the mystery of the realm of Orlind must be solved, no matter how dangerous that long-vanished place may be.

With so many mysteries and so many strange characters, events and places, the series is full of surprises. It’s hard to guess at what will happen on the next page, in a world where anything can happen. I went into invention overdrive when writing that first book, and created virtually everything anew; after all, why stick with apples and oranges, cats and dogs when I could have nara-fruit and rosuis blossoms, muumuks and olifers? This level of invention is hard on me as a writer, and a little hard on the reader, too—it stretches the imagination very thoroughly, and gives me a great deal to keep track of—but I think it is infinitely worth the extra effort. The world of Draykon is like nothing else, full of wonder and mystery, and I love every minute that I spend mucking about within it.

At the moment the series stands at three books, and it is complete at that. But I am frequently asked for more stories, and I’d like nothing more myself than to spend another few months exploring the Seven Realms and seeing what happens next. I’ll be returning to the world later this year to write a follow-on series; there will be a new story and new characters, though many old friends and familiar faces will be making their appearances as well. There are dozens of mysteries still to be uncovered in my weird and crazy world, and I can’t wait to get started.

Official Author Website

Order Black Mercury HERE

Order The Kaiser Affair HERE

Order The Machine God HERE

Read Melissa's Review of The Kaiser Affair
Read Qwill's Review of Black Mercury
Read FBC's Review of The Machine God
Read Drifting Isle Chronicles Multi-Author interview

Read The Drifting Isle Chronicles - A new way to tell new stories ( A guest post by Joseph R. Lewis)

Read When Collaborating, Say Yes! (A guest post by Meilin Miranda)
Read On Machines And Talking Birds (A guest post by Charlotte E. English)
Read The Kaiser Affair - A fantasy thriller and travelogue to The Drifting Isle Chronicles (A guest post by Joseph R. Lewis)

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Born in the historic city of Lincoln, UK, Charlotte now lives in the heart of windmill country in the Netherlands. She has a degree in Heritage, and her interests include books, crafts, cooking and social history. She likes to write whimsical, colourful tales full of character and humour.

NOTE: Author picture, book covers and Draykon world map courtesy of the author herself.

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Posted by The Reader |

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Official Alex Espinoza Website

Sunday, May 12, 2013

"The Five Acts of Diego Leon" by Alex Espinoza (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Order The Five Acts of Diego Leon HERE

"For readers of The Chaperone and The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, a thrilling, unforgettable novel about an unusually gifted young man who leaves Mexico for Hollywood in the late 1920s, determined to pursue his dreams-no matter the cost.

July 1917, Mexico: Orphaned by a fever that took his mother's life and a civil war that left his father a broken man, 11-year-old Diego Leon is sent to the provincial capital to live with his aristocratic grandparents. There, they try to forge a new identity for young Diego, rewriting his past and grooming him to take over the family business. The only relief from this suffocating life are his warm, kind music teacher and her son, from whom Diego is inseparable.

But when his grandparents force an engagement with a woman he doesn't love, Diego finally snaps, leaving his fractious country behind. He heads for Hollywood, where silent films are just transitioning into "talkies," and Prohibition is in full swing. But thousands of miles from home, in a land full of people out for themselves, will Diego ultimately find the love and acceptance he seeks? In this moving novel about ambition, love and identity, Diego Leon discovers that living your dreams can come at a cost."

The Five Acts of Diego Leon is a very intriguing novel with an excellent last half after a scattered beginning that almost kept me from reading it. There are books where throwing the reader into the "deep" and then going back to the "real start of the story" can be confusing sure, but usually there is a good reason for that since the first few pages are so important. The Five Acts of Diego Leon is just a perfect an example where the use of that technique would make it a stronger novel, since following a chronological order makes for a very boring and narrative wall hitting beginning 100 pages or so.

Luckily my habit of reading random pages from a book that sounds interesting but whose beginning is a slog, just to see if there is a "hook", worked so I got really interested in the story of Diego Leon on about here:

"November 1928
His payment was enough to cover the rent, plus a little extra, so he used some of his earnings to purchase a pair of plus four trousers, argyle socks, a new shirt, and a tweed checkered flat cap to wear on his date with Fiona. That night he showered and dressed and adjusted his tie in the mirror. He placed the flat cap on his head, turned, and walked out the door, whistling all the way down the steps."

After that I read the remaining part of the novel in one sitting and then got back and read the beginning too, though the story really doesn't get interesting until Diego skips on his arranged marriage and that should have been the first page of the novel imho...

Anyway, The Five Acts of Diego Leon turned out to be quite a good story and the narrator who while confused about his identity - he gets his break in Hollywood by having a (gay) affair with the boss of a studio, though also having earlier encounters with both women and men, and similarly wanting to fit in LA, he also desired to keep his Mexican identity and his "regular" name and story while the studio bosses wanted both a "conqueror name" aka Diego Cortes and a glamorous background to market him as a star - becomes very interesting after that first blandish half.

The last 100 or so pages and the series of events leading to a great ending - which may or may not signal a new beginning, so do not expect things to be neatly tied up with a string - are superb and the book is worth reading for that part only.

Lots of topical stuff regarding the Latino and Mexican experience in the US, the various responses of various people to it, so all in all The Five Acts of Diego Leon is a highly recommended novel with great narrative energy once it settles down.

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Posted by Liviu |

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Mini-Reviews: Demon Squad: Beyond The Veil by Tim Marquitz and The Witch's Eye by Steven Montano (by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Author website
Order the book HERE
Read the first chapter HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Armageddon Bound
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Resurrection
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of At The Gates
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Echoes Of The Past
Read Fantasy Book Critic interview with Tim Marquitz

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Beyond the Veil is the fifth book of the critically under-appreciated Demon Squad series. It’s a series that is a big favorite of mine because of the unique approach taken by the author. Tim’s series protagonist is a guy who would be a villain in most and would not survive more than a book or two. Frank is a guy who is shady, lecherous and immature to a certain degree but he’s also loyal, kindhearted and best of all a wise-cracking dude whose inner monologue will leave you in splits. He’s the kind of guy who they say is a diamond among the coal however you would have to dig really, really deep and perhaps the diamond might be more than flawed in a jewelers estimate. His actions though have lead many readers to be enamored of him and also a bit leery as well.

With this being book five, the review becomes a bit hard as there will be minor spoilers for the previous four titles so be warned those who haven’t read the previous titles. With the previous book’s climatic cliffhanger, things were left precariously for Frank as his girlfriend Karra is missing and no one knows where and who took her. Frank is hellbent on involving Longinus (her father) as he doesn't want to the ex-AntiChrist on his bad side.The DRAC folks however are wary of involving Longinus and want Frank only in a supporting role. The key to finding out Karra’s location is the alien Mihheer and he’s in no mood to talk. Frank will have to decide where his loyalties lie and how will he get Karra back and still stay sane with all the revelations that have been sprung on him and how many more secrets will he have to burden himself with.

The last book was a lot different than the previous three volumes and I mentioned that it was a very introspective volume. This book manages to combine that introspection with the fast-paced nature of the third book. Let’s begin with why I think Tim Marquitz outdid himself with this one, firstly the action shifts to a plane other than Earth which I’ll leave the readers to RAFO. Then we finally get to know the main, main reason why God and Lucifer have left Earth. This is the biggest plus point of the book that only do we get to know the all the reasons but we get to actually “know” the fundamental crisis behind it. This was the big reveal of the book, of all the secrets that were teased throughout the past four books; we get a big dose of revelations in this one. Plus for those wishing for the action found in Resurrection & At The Gates will be heartily rewarded as Frank, Longinus and others get down and dirty in new places.

The action sequences and plot pace are what can be expected from a Tim Marquitz novel and by this I mean they are of the fast and furious kind that leave no quarter for the protagonist and will pull the reader along. These are the shining facets of the story and I was glad to see my Tuckerized version get a stellar cameo role to play in the events of this book (continuing from the book four). Lastly with Frank, Tim has been putting him through a world of pain and in this book, he gets closure of a sort to many of the questions that have haunted his past and lingered throughout his life. As a character the readers love to see him pick himself up debacle after debacle and try to live a decent life. With the climax of this book, I can’t wait to see where he goes next. The book basically delivered on all fronts for me and so I can’t wait to see where Tim takes Frank next and what new story will he explore. Though knowing Tim’s nefarious ideas, it won’t be something that Frank will enjoy but as a reader it could be fun to read about it.

With this book I didn't have any complaints however the other readers will have to decide if that was the case for them as well. Beyond The Veil basically caps off the first arc for Frank Trigg in the Demon Squad series in high style. Readers who have followed the series so far will be sumptuously rewarded with world and back story revelations that surprise and astound to a high degree. If you haven’t read this series so far, kindly remedy this mistake immediately. As for urban fantasy naysayers, the Demon Squad series is the one of the many solid reasons that might change your opinion about this beloved sub-genre of mine.

Official Author Website

Order the book HERE

Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Blood Skies

Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Black Scars

Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Soulrazor
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Crown Of Ash

Read Steven Montano's guest post on Cross-genre writing

Read an excerpt HERE

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Steven Montano’s books have made me a fan of his after I first came across his debut last year. Even though it was a bit rough, the potential within in regards to the writing and the series convinced me that this was an author worth paying attention to. Since then I've read and reviewed all four books of the Blood Skies series and it’s safe to say I haven’t been disappointed. Before I begin the review, I would like to re-iterate that by discussing certain aspects of the fifth book, I’ll be spoiling some of the earlier four prequels. So those readers who haven’t read the previous ones, be warned...

With the fourth book, certain events occurred that made the book a great and equally tragic one. We got a POV from Kane and it was great to see the happenings from his eyes. The author then continues his POV run by giving Ronan a narrative voice with this book and it’s a different experience as well. The story begins with not two but three distinct threads. The first one is centered on Ronan and Maur and he try to get back to the Southern Claw. The second tract focuses on Cross who is back to the land of the living but having aged nearly more than a decade with his sojourn in the Shadowlands. Lastly we get to see what happened to Danica especially after the events of the fourth book and we learn that she faces a cruel fate as did Cross in the last book. She is made to serve the vampires albeit with a different name and with a different set of circumstances

The biggest change of the series is the change in the number of POV characters, with the first two books we have had only Cross as the sole POV, however with the third book, we gained another set of eyes into the world and since then with every book, there has been a POV addition. With this book, we get to see the world via Ronan’s mind and that is a great facet for this book. The story so far has been a grim one with each book having a few character deaths and a few of those have been main characters as well. This has led to the readers never being sure who might survive in each book. With this book, the story becomes even grimmer if that was even possible with such a dark world to begin with, but the author goes out of his way to further torture his characters. Now while that doesn't speak all too well about a person I haven’t met, I must say it makes for some fascinating reading. Steven Montano has surprised greatly with the direction of the story he’s taking and even with the world he has created, he continues to add further facets to it that make it seem as mysterious and foreboding as it was when I discovered it in the first book.

The characterization is what makes this story such a terrific one, Cross, Danica and Ronan have been pushed physically, mentally and talents-wise. Their struggles to remain as a team and save each other make this story worth reading. With this book we learn a good deal about Ronan’s past (not that it makes him any less scary), Danica continues to evolve further and after the events of the last book she seems like a whole new person (there’s also certain plot points which facilitate this transformation) but I’m also talking about her overall character arc, which has been a great one to read so far. Maur is another of my favorite characters however doesn't get much page time for reasons that have to be discovered by the reader. Cross also returns and furthers his evolution as the soul of his team and the person who has given it his all multiple times before and will be forced to do so again.

The author has started a four book arc beginning with book three and this is the penultimate book in that arc as there are many references to events of the past three books. There’s also the further peeling back of the curtain for readers to understand what truly is happening behind the scenes. After being mildly disappointed with book three, the fourth book and this one have completely reinvigorated my faith and interest in this series and I can’t wait to see what happens next. The Blood Skies series comes highly recommended for readers who would like reading a heady mix of genres and books that are bloody, dark and action-packed as those by David Dalglish and Matthew Reilly to a certain degree.

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Posted by The Reader |

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Official Brandon Sanderson Website

Friday, May 10, 2013

“The Rithmatist” by Brandon Sanderson (Reviewed by Casey Blair)

Order “The Rithmatist” HERE

Read An Excerpt HERE

The Rithmatist (published May 14, 2013 via Tor Teen) is a new YA fantasy with a steampunk flavor by Brandon Sanderson, and it's utterly engrossing. Because it's a Sanderson book, I feel like it almost doesn't even bear mentioning any more that there's an inventive new magic system with well-defined rules. There are also drawings and diagrams between each chapter, presumably our protagonist Joel's notes to himself. While reading them in-depth isn't necessary to understand the plot, they definitely added to the mood of the book.

Although Sanderson's magic system has clear rules, he doesn't let those limit the story, and he stretches and breaks them when necessary. I appreciated that intuitive and clinically scientific approaches to the magic were both completely valid.

The premise of The Rithmatist felt in a lot of ways like a reaction to his Alcatraz series, where one character knows everything about magic use but can't do anything about the fact that she was born unable to use it. This book plays with the same idea—wanting something so badly and putting in all the effort in the world and yet still lacking the talent—but takes it in a different direction. I can't wait to see how he explores this.

Sanderson nailed the tone of how teenagers think and behave. Our protagonist Joel is absolutely brilliant—so brilliant, in fact, that he has difficulty doing the work and has nearly flunked out more than once. Joel's approach to school, and life, really rang true, and he's a different kind of protagonist than I'm used to reading. Within the school setting, there were also some interesting thoughts on bullying, talent, class interactions, and the purpose and value of education. The school administrator was actually one of my favorite characters.

I have to say that I never really had a clear sense of the setting. The story mentions a place called “Georgiabama” (really), and there's a lot of states that are similar to our world yet not quite exact (“Maineford,” “Nebrask,” etc.), almost like an exercise in creating place names. There's also apparently a giant Korean empire, which is cool, but I really would have liked a) a map and b) a little more historical background on how our characters' world came to be. I did like a lot of the intercultural elements, like Joel's observations on “authentic” Italian food or the normality of eating a ham and kimchi sandwich. We get a lot of clues about the world through what Joel eats and reads.

The ending felt kind of abrupt, but I actually liked it; the story stopped in exactly the right place. There's no denouement, really; it pretty much ends with an action scene. I appreciated that the story about the legendary duel from the very beginning came full circle at the end. Brandon Sanderson wrapped up the plot of The Rithmatist, but still left plenty for a second book to deal with. I can't find anything conclusive about a sequel, but I am hopeful.

NOTE: The Hardcover edition features a map which will be helpful to all readers.

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Posted by Robert |

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Official Charles Gannon Website

Thursday, May 9, 2013

"Fire with Fire" by Charles Gannon (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Order "Fire with Fire" HERE

Read the first 10 Chapters from Fire with Fire HERE

"Original trade paperback. New Science Fiction Thriller Series! An agent for a spy organization uncovers an alien alliance in nearby interstellar space—an alliance that will soon involve humanity in politics and war on a galactic scale.2105, September: Intelligence Analyst Caine Riordan uncovers a conspiracy on Earth’s Moon—a history-changing clandestine project—and ends up involuntarily cryocelled for his troubles. Twelve years later, Riordan awakens to a changed world. Humanity has achieved faster-than-light travel and is pioneering nearby star systems. And now, Riordan is compelled to become an inadvertent agent of conspiracy himself. Riordan’s mission: travel to a newly settled world and investigate whether a primitive local species was once sentient—enough so to have built a lost civilization.

However, arriving on site in the Delta Pavonis system, Caine discovers that the job he’s been given is anything but secret or safe. With assassins and saboteurs dogging his every step, it's clear that someone doesn't want his mission to succeed. In the end, it takes the broad-based insights of an intelligence analyst and a matching instinct for intrigue to ferret out the truth: that humanity is neither alone in the cosmos nor safe. Earth is revealed to be the lynchpin planet in an impending struggle for interstellar dominance, a struggle into which it is being irresistibly dragged. Discovering new dangers at every turn, Riordan must now convince the powers-that-be that the only way for humanity to survive as a free species is to face the perils directly—and to fight fire with fire."

Fire with Fire was a novel I really did not expect to even open as based on Extremis, the Starfire novel co-written with Steve White which did not work in the least for me, I put Charles Gannon on my avoid list a while ago. However, I really enjoyed By the Book, his contribution to the 6th Honorverse anthology, Beginnings (Goodreads mini-review to be edited July), so I decided to take a look at his solo series debut Fire with Fire.

In 2105, Caine Riordan, gadfly writer/reporter, investigates rumors of shady goings on the Moon, accepts to stay quiet for the good of the humanity as said events are part of something big and universe changing so to speak, but is still put in cryo for 13 years with induced loss of short memory so he cannot remember what he had found out in those 4 days there.

When Caine wakes up in 2118, humanity has ftl and colonies here and there, while a rumor floats in intelligence circles, namely that on Delta Pavonis advanced alien artifacts have been found but the discovery has been covered up by the local company building the colony there. As he is "out of time" by 13 years, our hero accepts to work for the people who put him in crio - a super-secret spy agency - and investigate. Stuff happens...

Fire with Fire has 3 distinct parts in addition to the 2105 prologue: the first part is outstanding investigative/mystery sf, the second is pretty good but not particularly special action thriller sf, while the last part is again outstanding old style first contact segueing into space opera.

The transition between the parts when the pov's multiply a little, is not as smooth as it could be, but it is acceptable. The Odyssey inspired code names that denote the respective pov's - Caine being obviously Odysseus himself - are a little jarring at first but then one gets used with them and in the end the choices turn out to be even more inspired than I originally thought.

However you have to read the book to find out why with the final cool twist which I really did not see and which raised the enjoyment a notch and made a reread a must. Also Fire with Fire ends at a good tbc stopping point and for the most part has great narrative energy with the first and last parts being real page turners that one doesn't want to put down.

The characters and world building are commensurate with the above with "honorable guy" Caine, the almost typical old style sf hero but for him being a writer, so not particularly experienced in combat to start with, though (of course) he learns quickly.

Fire with Fire also has a diverse and quite modern assortment of other good and bad guys and girls - ethnically, racially and gender wise, which is where the difference with the all white males old-style sf is most evident -, while similarly the alien species are both stock and with enough originality to make only a "half predictable" storyline there.

Overall Fire with Fire is the kind of sf that is basic and that made the genre my favorite for so long, so it can be described as entertaining old-style sf with modern sensibilities. It does things very well with great promise for more and I am really looking forward to the next installment which has become an asap.

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Posted by Liviu |

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