Only the Best (of the Year) - Top Ten New Releases of 2013

It seems like more and more of these end of the year posts are going up less and less close to the end of the year. I've always tried to get close and sometimes I realize I won't be able to finish anything new by the end of the year, so it's understandable. I've done so myself even. However, I think I'm done with that.

Maybe it's because I have a December birthday and I'm sick of this perfectly great month getting neglected when it comes to "best of" lists. Goodreads starts their process in November for crying out loud. I vow right now to do December justice ... erm ... to wait until the new year for any of my year-in-review type posts because come on. For December!

Disclaimer and all that: Please remember that this is from the books I read so if your favorite didn't make the list it's probably because it's a terrible book and you have just as abismal taste I didn't read it.

Top 10 New Releases of 2013

10) A Discourse in Steel (Egil & Nix #2) by Paul S. Kemp - Review - Even better than the first, Egil and Nix are becoming one of my favorite duos.

9) The Garden of Stones (Echoes of Empire #1) by Mark T. Barnes - Review - This was a surprising find for me. I was curious given the beautiful by the same artist as for Abraham's The Long Price Quartet, but blown away by the world Barnes has created here.

8) The Lives of Tao (Lives of Tao #1) - Review - and The Deaths of Tao (Lives of Tao #2) by Wesley Chu - Review Not Yet Posted - Interview - Wesley Chu

7) The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) by Michael J. Sullivan - Review Not Yet Posted - I find I can't put Sullivan's books down and this is yet another.

6) Promise of Blood (Powder Mages #1) by Brian McClellan - Review - This series is only just started and I'm dying to read its sequel. For any release, this was excellent, for a debut, it's incredible.

5) Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops #2) by Myke Cole - Review - Myke Cole keeps getting better and better and Breach Zone is already in my hands. Very much looking forward to this.

4) The Forever Knight (A Novel of the Bronze Knight) by John Marco - Review - The discerning reader will notice this is actually rated lower than the previous book on the list. I'm not saying there's a failing in a number rating system (okay, yes I am), but I rated this compared to the prior series probably a little more than compared to any book ever. Yeah, it makes ... sense?

3) The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) by Peter V. Brett - Review - I was dying to get my hands on this book. I know many were disappointed as this installment contains lots of backstory, but let's just say that Brett will have to really throw this series off for me not to love it.

2) Joyland by Stephen King - Review - A big surprise in a little package, especially for Stephen King. It's more coming of age than anything it proclaims to be (horror? no; hard case crime? no), but still a great tale.




And the best release for 2013 goes to ...

1) Emperor of Thorns (Broken Empire #3) by Mark Lawrence - Review - Lawrence does the impossible and writes an excellent conclusion to an already stellar trilogy. He's jumped quickly into my list of authors to slavishly follow.


Honorable Mentions:

Inheritance (Heir to the Blood Throne #1) by Tim Marquitz - Review - This just barely missed the list. I enjoyed it immensely and thought it an excellent spin on the typical vampire tale.

The Gate Thief (Mither Mages #2) by Orson Scott Card - Review Not Yet Posted - Yet another I still need to review. This one was slow to start but had a great ending. Lots needed to be explained for the ending to make sense, so it gets bogged down for a while because the world is so intricate yet fascinating.

Missing From the List:

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett - I was waiting for the perfect time to read this book. I know I'll enjoy every bit of it and I wanted to savor it ... but somehow that perfect time never happened to reveal itself. Ever happen to you? It happens to me all the time.

The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1) by Brandon Sanderson - Review - I enjoyed this enough to lend it to a friend to read, but it just didn't quite hit everything exactly as it could have. I do see the potential and I'll be lining up for the next installment.

There are actually quite a few missing. I haven't kept up with Daniel Abraham's The Dagger and the Coin series and The Tyrant's Law came out this year. Then there's Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and of course the final installment of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light and a couple more that just didn't quite fit into my schedule. To this coming year!

Review - The Forever Knight (A Novel of the Bronze Knight) by John Marco

The Forever Knight [US] [UK] is John Marco's return to fantasy writing after a number of years break. A couple of those years were not self-imposed, which makes the release of this book that much more rewarding.

This book is a follow-up novel to the epic trilogy of The Bronze Knight or The Inhumans or Lukien Trilogy.** The Forever Knight continues the journey of our hero, Lukien, but in first person this time as opposed to third person used in the trilogy.

**I have to mention that I love that the trilogy goes by so many different names. I think The Inhumans is the intended one, but it's such a cool mystic about the series that it can go by any of them.

It's interesting that the author chose to use first person in this new series and I think overall it was a good decision. First person is much more intimate and lets you get to know the character that much better. In this one, Lukien is a bit more crude and hard-headed and we didn't get this part of him in the main trilogy because we weren't in his head. Now that's not to say that this is a different Lukien, one not true to form in the trilogy, it's a very realistic portrayal of a character we knew, but didn't know this well.

While I don't think there was a point of view in the trilogy that I didn't enjoy, I even commented that in the second book, The Devil's Armor, I didn't even miss Lukien's limited page count point of view all that much because I was so fascinated by the other characters. Having said that, it was really a pleasure to read one pov that is the main character. You know the plot will move along and there will be plenty of action, which you won't be disappointed with. 

I struggled for a rating with this book because while I highly enjoyed it, it's just about impossible to overcome how much I enjoyed the Lukien trilogy. And that makes sense because we're talking 300 pages versus about 2400. However, I am looking forward to where Marco will take Lukien next in Walker Between Worlds and may have to reassess my rating once this new series of books is through.

John Marco is back to form, writing intelligent and thought-provoking fantasy that I can't get enough of. Also, note that The Forever Knight can be read without reading the trilogy as it's a self-contained story, but I highly recommend the Lukien/Bronze Knight/Inhumans trilogy because it's full of awesome.

4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)

Lukien Trilogy (read in red)
1) The Eyes of God (review)
2) The Devil's Armor (review)
3) The Sword of Angels (review)

Stand-alone:
- The Forever Knight
- Walker Between Worlds (Forthcoming)

Review - The Sword of Angels (Bronze Knight #3) by John Marco

It's pretty safe to say that epic fantasy is my favorite genre reading preference and the more epic the better. I like to change it up, but I always come back to it. I love series that push the boundaries of what is epic, take The Malazan Book of the Fallen, but I will always love the traditional epics.

The Bronze Knight or Lukien trilogy is just that kind of fantasy. Traditional fantasy done right. And even while it is great traditional fantasy, the Lukien trilogy plays with plenty of tropes of the genre. 

In this series, we have the typical warring kingdoms vying for power when a peace-loving king, Akeela, decides peace is more valuable than rights to a disputed river. The only problem is that his best friend and highest-ranking officer, Lukien, betrays him by falling in love with the king's wife. 

This is the last straw in Akeela's increasingly stressful and frustrating world and he snaps. He goes mad and even though this is high treason, Lukien isn't beheaded, but banished. 

I love how Marco plays with madness in his works. Usually in traditional fantasy, it's the big bad guy has his bad reasons for being so bad and it's not so in this trilogy. Marco makes you second-guess your gut feelings because these are still good people who may not be responsible for their actions. Akeela is still someone who Lukien considers his friend even through all the terrible events. 

These events all occurred in the first book, The Eyes of God, and Marco goes even further with this idea of madness in this final book of the trilogy, The Sword of Angels [US] [UK]. Here, another of Lukien's (and Gilwyn's and many others') best friends makes a decision that leads him on the path of madness. They've all been warned of the dangers of the Devil's Armor, but Baron Glass ignored the warnings, thinking he could overcome any problem. However, the Devil's Armor begins to change him nonetheless.

In this final volume, the Devil's Armor, and really the Akari inside the armor, has really had an effect on Glass. It makes him kill when he never would and even though everyone else sees the signs of his growing madness, he remains willfully blind. 

Lukien learned at the end of the prior book that he was no match for the Devil's Armor even with his Eye of God which makes him immortal. In The Sword of Angels, Lukien must go on a quest to find this elusive sword, which is the only way to defeat the Devil's Armor.

It all seems so straight-forward, but you'll never guess how this ends. It was both a comfortable read with a great quest story, but also surprising in ways I never imagined to be lead. The Lukien trilogy is at the height of the game, it's traditional fantasy with just enough to challenge you while excelling in all the ways that make this genre great. I'm looking forward to reading the stand-alone book, The Forever Knight, that just came out earlier this year.

4.5 out of 5 Stars (very highly recommended)

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

Stand-alone:
The Forever Knight (up next)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4.5 out of 5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4.5 out of 5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended!)

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

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

A Book Haul From Two Johns

I just got my copy of The Human Division by John Scalzi, so of course that means I'll be posting the weekly episodes here from this point forward. If you're wondering what I'm referring to, The Human Division has been serialized - each "episode" or chapter comes out every week through April (Here's the schedule). At the end of that time, it will be published as the book you can see above. (Also, if it's unclear that I'm joking about posting the episodes, I'm joking.)

I think the claim is funny that it's a new and innovative format that's being "experiment[ed]" with. Because books have never been serialized ever...not even Scalzi's own first two novels, oh wait. I guess I have to give them that it's not a thing that's done as often anymore, so I guess it's an experiment to see if it still works, which I'm sure it will. Scalzi's just a fun author no matter how you read him.

As to the other John, I'm extremely excited about this one:

Front Cover

John Marco took a break for a little while, partially on purpose and partially because his editor didn't read his manuscript for a couple years. I'm very excited to see him back in the game. This book continues the story of the Bronze Knight, which began in the trilogy, The Eyes of God, The Devil's Armor, and The Sword of Angels.

Marco's work in progress at the moment is blowing my mind with awesome too. It's titled The Bloody Chorus, which already has me sold, but you gotta read some of the description and the six sentences he posted. It's brilliant, I can tell already. Like I said, I'm very happy he's back.

Looking Forward to 2013 - Most Anticipated Books

I've been working on this list for a couple months now and it's just about right to publish to the blog. I may have to update it a few more times, but the following are the books, released in 2013, I plan on reading this upcoming year or at least plan on making an attempt to get to. As you'll see, I still have a few books to read to get to all the new releases this year.

I've placed them by the month (and even the exact date when available), but this in no way means I'll be reviewing them in that same month. I figured it was as good a way as any to put things together, plus people may want to refer back to this (myself included) for those release dates (US only).

Jan:

Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, A Memory of Light (WoT #14) (Jan. 8) [US] [UK]

Myke Cole, Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops #2) (Jan. 29) [US] [UK]

Feb:

Marie Brennan, A Natural History of Dragons (Feb. 5) [US] [UK]
Robert V. S. Redick, The Night of the Swarm (Chathrad Voyages #4) (Feb. 5) [US] [UK]
Robert Jackson Bennett, American Elsewhere (Feb. 12) [US] [UK]
Peter V. Brett, The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) (Feb. 12) [US] [UK]

March:
Orson Scott Card, The Gate Thief (Mithermages #2) (Mar. 19) [US] [UK]

April:

John Marco, The Forever Knight (Lukien #4) (Apr. 2) [US] [UK]
John Scalzi, The Human Division (Apr. 2) [US] [UK]
Brian McClellan, Promise of Blood (Apr. 16) [US] [UK]

May:

Westley Chu, The Lives of Tao (May 2) [US] [UK]
Brandon Sanderson, The Rithmatist (May 14) [US] [UK]
Ian C. Esslemont, Blood and Bone (Malazan Empire #5) (May 21) [US] [UK] - Available now in the UK.

Jun:
Ofir Touche Gafla, The World of the End (Jun. 25) [Goodreads]

Aug:

Mark Lawrence, Emperor of Thorns (Broken Empire #3) (Aug. 1) [US] [UK]
Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) (Aug. 3) [US] [UK]

Sep:
Michael J. Sullivan, The Rose and Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2) [US] [UK]

TBD:
Courtney Schafer, The Labyrinth of Flame (Shattered Sigil #3) 
Scott Lynch, The Republic of Thieves (Gentlemen Bastards #3)

Not Counting On:
Patrick Rothfuss, The Doors of Stone (Kingkiller Chronicle #3)
George R.R. Martin, The Winds of Winter (ASoIaF #6) 
Brandon Sanderson, Highprince of War (Stormlight Archive #2) [Title not final]

Non-2013 Release Date Books: (i.e., Books I need to read to catch up)
The Lukien Trilogy by John Marco (The Eyes of God, The Devil's Armor, The Sword of Angels)
The Chathrad Voyages by Robert V.S. Redick (The Red Wolf Conspiracy, The Ruling Sea, The River of Shadows)
The Wheel of Time (A Crown of Swords, Path of Daggers, Winter's Heart, Crossroads of Twilight, Knife of Dreams, The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight)
Malazan Empire (Stonewielder and Orb, Sceptre, Throne)
Riyria Revelations (Heir of Novron)

35 in total. 19 new releases. I read about 50 to 60 a year, so this is going to take up the bulk of my reading and this is only through September.

EDIT: There are a few books being released that I probably should have put on this list (Daniel Abraham's Tyrant's Law, Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane, S.A. Corey's Abbadon's Gate), but the ones listed are what I think I actually have a chance of reading this year.

EDIT Feb. 8: Updated some dates for The Daylight War and The Lives of Tao.

National Buy a Book Day - The Books I Bought

I really loved that there is a day set aside to buy a book each year and because I don't even need a reason to buy books at any given time, having a reason was the perfect time for me to go a bit overboard.

I wish I could have made it to a store, as I recommended yesterday, but that did not happen. I have newborn twins! That pretty much excuses me from everything.

Here's what I bought:

The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Amazon - only $2.99 for kindle)

What's the best way to create artificial intelligence? In 1950, Alan Turing wrote, "Many people think that a very abstract activity, like the playing of chess, would be best. It can also be maintained that it is best to provide the machine with the best sense organs that money can buy, and then teach it to understand and speak English. This process could follow the normal teaching of a child. Things would be pointed out and named, etc. Again I do not know what the right answer is, but I think both approaches should be tried."

The first approach has been tried many times in both science fiction and reality. In this new novella, at over 30,000 words, his longest work to date, Ted Chiang offers a detailed imagining of how the second approach might work within the contemporary landscape of startup companies, massively-multiplayer online gaming, and open-source software. It's a story of two people and the artificial intelligences they helped create, following them for more than a decade as they deal with the upgrades and obsolescence that are inevitable in the world of software. At the same time, it's an examination of the difference between processing power and intelligence, and of what it means to have a real relationship with an artificial entity.

Armor by John Steakley (Amazon)

Felix is an Earth soldier, encased in special body armor designed to withstand Earth's most implacable enemy-a bioengineered, insectoid alien horde. But Felix is also equipped with internal mechanisms that enable him, and his fellow soldiers, to survive battle situations that would destroy a man's mind.

This is a remarkable novel of the horror, the courage, and the aftermath of combat-and how the strength of the human spirit can be the greatest armor of all.

Swords and Dark Magic edited by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan (Amazon)

Seventeen original tales of sword and sorcery penned by masters old and new

Elric . . . the Black Company . . . Majipoor. For years, these have been some of the names that have captured the hearts of generations of readers and embodied the sword and sorcery genre. And now some of the most beloved and bestselling fantasy writers working today deliver stunning all-new sword and sorcery stories in an anthology of small stakes but high action, grim humor mixed with gritty violence, fierce monsters and fabulous treasures, and, of course, swordplay. Don't miss the adventure of the decade!

Army of the Fantastic edited by John Marco and John Helfers (Amazon)

13 original tales of fantastical battles for anyone who needs a dose of un-reality.

How might the course of World War II have changed if civilized dragons ran bombing missions for the Germans? Here are 13 tales of war in alternate worlds where magical creatures are real and often prove victorious. Human troops fight alongside gryphons, unicorns, and a sea serpent, who can give submarine warfare a whole new slant.

These are just a few of the stories gathered together in this all-original volume that opens the way to magical places in our own world where the armies of the fantastic are on the march, waging wars both vast and personal.

U.B.I.K. by Phillip K. Dick (Amazon)

Glen Runciter is dead. Or is everybody else? Someone died in an explosion orchestrated by Runciter's business competitors. And, indeed, it's the kingly Runciter whose funeral is scheduled in Des Moines. But in the meantime, his mourning employees are receiving bewildering -- and sometimes scatological -- messages from their boss. And the world around them is warping in ways that suggest that their own time is running out. Or already has.

Leviathan Wept and Other Stories by Daniel Abraham (Amazon)

What if you had a holocaust and nobody came?

Imagine a father who has sent his child's soul voyaging and seen it go astray. Or a backyard tale from the 1001 American Nights. Macbeth re-imagined as a screwball comedy. Three extraordinary economic tasks performed by a small expert in currency exchange that risk first career and then life and then soul.

From the disturbing beauty of 'Flat Diane' (Nebula-nominee, International Horror Guild award-winner) to the idiosyncratic vision of 'The Cambist and Lord Iron' (Hugo- and World Fantasy-nominee), Daniel Abraham has been writing some of the most enjoyable and widely admired short fiction in the genre for over a decade.

Ranging from high fantasy to hard science fiction, screwball comedy to gut-punching tragedy, Daniel Abraham's stories never fail to be intelligent, compassionate, thoughtful, and humane. Leviathan Wept and Other Stories is the first collection of his short works, including selections from both the well-known and the rare.

Contents:
The Cambist and Lord Iron (2007)
Flat Diane (2004)
The Best Monkey (2009)
The Support Technician Tango (2007)
A Hunter in Arin-Quin (2010)
Leviathan Wept (2004)
Exclusion (2001)
As Sweet (2001)
The Curandero and the Swede (2010)

The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan (Amazon) - I needed to complete my collection of the original, self-published versions. (review here)

THEY KILLED THE KING. THEY PINNED IT ON TWO MEN. THEY CHOSE POORLY.
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they become the unwitting scapegoats to the murder of the king. Sentenced to death, they have only one way out…and so begins this epic tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

John Marco's Really Awesome Giveaway

This is too cool not to pass up posting about, even with my limited bar studying time left.

John Marco is running a giveaway of sorts in preparation for the release of his newest book coming out in November, The Forever Knight. He's giving away first edition hardcover copies of the second book in his Lukien trilogy, The Devil's Armor. I'll let the man himself explain the giveaway:

Anyone who purchases a copy of either the first Lukien book, The Eyes of God, or the third book, The Sword of Angels, will get one of these first edition hardbacks for free.  All you need to do is send me a receipt from a reputable book seller.  It doesn't matter what format you buy--paperback, Kindle, Nook, whatever. As long as the book was purchased today or afterwards, you're in--at least until I run out of books to giveaway.  Just send/forward a copy of your receipt to me at johnmarco@aol.com.  The rest is completely free--the book, the shipping, and the author's messy signature.

So, all you have to do is buy one of those books, no matter the format, send him your receipt, and he'll send you a nice, pretty signed hardcover while supplies last. That's a pretty good deal if you ask me.

These are easily some of my favorite covers.