...And One More Cover for ICE (Ian C. Esslemont)

One I'm very much looking forward to, Ian C. Esslemont's Orb, Sceptre, Throne:

(via Jussi, artist Steve Stone)

Count me a fan, although I'm kind of missing those Lockwood's that had some kind of scene from the book and usually included some cool monster or other.

It's news To Me #23 - You're Covered, Cover Up, reCover redux

Some great covers have been revealed this week, or at least recently, so duck and Cover.

Douglas Huick's sequel to the blogger-acclaimed Among Thieves gets both US and UK covers. Sworn in Steel (UK):


The again-falling-short US:

(via Civilian Reader)

A Dance with Dragons goes Subterranean Press:


The first two in the Shadows of the Apt series get new covers next year:

Empire in Black and Gold:
Dragonfly Falling:

(via A Fantasy Reader - who has comparisons to the old covers)

My A Song of Ice and Fire Recommendation

So, I'm in the book store the other day (of course), looking at all the books I long to read (I know, instead of actually reading them). I was actually waiting on the clerk to process the books I'd brought to sell because this is a never-ending cycle.

I noticed a couple eying George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, boxed set version, and I thought I'd make a comment. Why not. I've actually noticed people in the fantasy/scifi section really like talking about their books, recommendations, etc. and I happen to be a big proponent of this.

I always like to ask what people recommend to see if there's anything I've been missing. Usually it ends up being the same things (Eddings, Tolkien, Feist, etc.) and sometimes it's crap (Brian Herbert's Dune books one time). But I digress...

Well, I told this couple they wouldn't regret picking up ASoIaF. To be honest, I couldn't believe they'd never heard of it, but I guess not everyone lives in this lovely niche of the internet as I do. They saw it was an HBO show, which I recommended as well. I did warn them of the wait between books, which actually made them opt only for the boxed set and to wait on the hardcover A Dance with Dragons, which I thought interesting.

I guess I make this post to let you know I'm fighting the good fight...recommending awesome fantasy to those in need. Kinda like Superman.

Does anyone else talk to people in bookstores or am I just strange? Anyone else make recommendations in bookstores? Anyone have bad experiences with it?

I wonder if they just walked away with it and stashed it somewhere in the Romance section or something. What I'm thinking is that I'll find these people some day with the back of their heads missing (minds blown) and they will have named their first child after me.

Hilarious Review of Sword of Truth Series

I had to post this as I found it quite hilarious. It's technically a review of Naked Empire (book 8), but the author of this review gives a summary of his experience with the entire series in his most hilarious style:

Anatomy of a Break-up:

Going through a break-up or a divorce is never easy. The best of them are tinged with sadness and regret while the worst feel like a grenade going off in your chest. Worse still is the ending of a relationship that has lasted for many years and survived through adversity.

Well after almost 15 years, my relationship with the Sword of Truth series is over.

Given that these situations are already emotionally charged, I know the “right” thing to do is just to walk away and say nothing. If I were a bigger man, I could do that. If the Sword of Truth was less of a mind-numbingly stupid, mega-pretentious BITCH, I could do that. I’m not and it’s not. My anger…my soul-crushing humiliation at sticking this long with such a vacuous, repetitive chunk of IQ-draining smegma needs to vent, and so that’s what I’m gonna do.

Check out this review on Goodreads.