August 2021 Book Haul Video

I got a bunch of books, mostly non-physical, i.e. kindle and audio. Hope you like Book Hauls without many physical books! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CpIM2UXeGY

Please like, subscribe, feel free to watch the video even! Thanks!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The awesome-and-perfectly-fitting UK Ed.

The Krasians

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

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

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

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

The Warded Man

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

The Matrix

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


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

I've Been Overly Critical Out of Love

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

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

4.5 out of 5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended!)

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

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

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

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

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher

The Verdict's In - Painted Man versus Warded Man

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

Painted or Warded? Which word did you originally write?

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

Brett's response:

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

And knowing is half the battle.

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

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

Updates and Excuses

I know posting's been sparse the last week or so and I apologize. I'm in that place where anything outside of bar studying just isn't happening, at least not effectively. I'm reading fine, I need the breaks whenever I can get them, but to actually sit down and review has proved ... difficult to say the least.

So, I figured I should give a quick update of what I'm reading and what you can hopefully expect soon.

But first, here's a sign at the local college where I've been studying. I think there's a reason it's called the Nook Color and not the other way around:

Sorry for the terrible picture that's not even focused on the thing I wanted to focus on. It's in the upper left corner of the sign.

As to what I'm reading, I've actually found audiobooks to really hit the spot lately. They don't take too much brain power and I don't have much to spare.

Finished (and in need of review):
-Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn - Audiobook (Good but not great and maybe closer to okay)
-The Eyes of the Overworld (Dying Earth #2) by Jack Vance - Audiobook (Excellent)

Currently reading:
-The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) by Peter V. Brett (Loving every second)
-Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops #2) by Myke Cole (Great sequel so far)
-Gardens of the Moon (Malazan #1) by Steven Erikson - reread (I really shouldn't read anything concurrently with this, it's so good)
-World War Z by Max Brooks - Audiobook (Good, but not as great as I thought it would be)

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.

Duck and Cover Revisited - The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) by Peter V. Brett

So I complained about the US cover of The Daylight War because I thought it didn't quite represent the series as a whole and barely the book itself. I thought I needed to revisit this analysis because the UK cover does everything that was missing in the US.

UK Cover

My main problem was the fact that the US cover didn't show that this was a series full of action. It looks more like a romance book when that's far from the point of the series albeit it's an element. But look at the UK cover! Now that's a cover that's fully representative of the series I love. The silks are there, but so is the fighting pose, the knife, the "I'm gonna cut you" look. Perfect.

The crazy thing is that there's really very little difference in the two, but that makes all the difference.

Here's the US cover for comparison:

US Cover

Duck and Cover - The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) by Peter V. Brett

This is blowing up on the blogosphere at the moment and I just HAVE to give my two cents as well. The reveal of the cover of one of (if not the number one) release I am looking forward to next year, The Daylight War, book three in the Demon Cycle.

I'm finding myself in a love/hate relationship with this cover though, here's why:

Pros:
-It's so flashy! This screams energy and makes me want to read it.
-We're not chauvinists! Women are pretty main characters in the series and 1 out of 3 covers ain't too bad.
-Nerd shout out! Look at those dice, who doesn't have a pair or 50?

Cons:
- Where's the action? The other covers show action, this cover gives the series a whole different vibe and while representative of an important character (Inevra right?), she could really use a spear/axe/sword/laser-beams? I don't really think it's very representative of the series as a whole. Fighting demons is kinda important right?
-Nerd shout out! Okay, the dice don't really seem to fit. Are they floating? Did she just toss them? If so, why does her hand look more "come hither" than anything?

Overall, I can't say I'm too disappointed. It really could be worse and not even that much better. I can't wait to read The Daylight War and now we're one step closer to that happening.

Here have a blurb:

With The Warded Man and The Desert Spear, Peter V. Brett surged to the front rank of contemporary fantasy, standing alongside giants in the field like George R. R. Martin, Robert Jordan, and Terry Brooks. The Daylight War, the eagerly anticipated third volume in Brett’s internationally bestselling Demon Cycle, continues the epic tale of humanity’s last stand against an army of demons that rise each night to prey on mankind.

On the night of the new moon, the demons rise in force, seeking the deaths of two men both of whom have the potential to become the fabled Deliverer, the man prophesied to reunite the scattered remnants of humanity in a final push to destroy the demon corelings once and for all.

Arlen Bales was once an ordinary man, but now he has become something more—the Warded Man, tattooed with eldritch wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. Arlen denies he is the Deliverer at every turn, but the more he tries to be one with the common folk, the more fervently they believe. Many would follow him, but Arlen’s path threatens to lead him to a dark place he alone can travel to, and from which there may be no returning.

The only one with hope of keeping Arlen in the world of men, or joining him in his descent into the world of demons, is Renna Tanner, a fierce young woman in danger of losing herself to the power of demon magic.

Ahmann Jardir has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army and proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer. He carries ancient weapons—a spear and a crown—that give credence to his claim, and already vast swaths of the green lands bow to his control.

But Jardir did not come to power on his own. His rise was engineered by his First Wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose formidable demon bone magic gives her the ability to glimpse the future. Inevera’s motives and past are shrouded in mystery, and even Jardir does not entirely trust her.

Once Arlen and Jardir were as close as brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity’s enemies rise, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all—those lurking in the human heart.

Ps. Happy Thanksgiving!

Review - The Great Bazaar and Other Stories (A Demon Cycle Novella) by Peter V. Brett

I probably don't need to mention this again, but I love the Demon Cycle by Peter Brett. It just gets me. It's not perfect, but there are so many great things about it that I can easily dismiss/overlook/completely ignore any shortcomings. I keep reading and I can't get enough.

Brett has created literary crack.

The Great Bazaar and Other Stories [US] [UK] [Kindle - only $4.99] takes place somewhere in the middle (time-wise) of The Warded Man, book one of the Demon Cycle. Our hero, Arlen Bales, is working as a messenger -those who brave the night and accompanying demons to bring messages to different towns. Brett explains in the introduction that this was a hugely fertile ground for stories that were mostly skipped over in the main sequence of novels because they would have taken a toll on the timing and pace.

Let me just say that I greatly appreciate authors who do this, streamlining the main sequence and releasing other stories, less important stories, that fans will read anyway, but that drag down an otherwise excellent book. Something I wish other authors would replicate...*looks to Erikson*.

So what's included in The Great Bazaar and Other Stories you may ask. Well, let me tell you...

The Great Bazaar is the main bulk of this book, as you can imagine, but also included are deleted scenes (one of which was the original beginning written for a writing class project), a Krasian Dictionary, and a Ward Grimoire.

The Great Bazaar is an excellent story of one of Arlen's visits to Krasia. Having already built up a name for himself as the only non-Krasian to enter alagai'sharak, the Krasian's nightly fight against the demons, Arlen learns of places that haven't been visited in ages, but which are supposed to contain many riches.

Sadly, they neglected to mention the clay demons, against which Arlen had no protecting wards. The Great Bazaar also delves into Arlen's relationship with the kaffit (essentially means coward), Abban, who helps Arlen out in The Warded Man.

The Krasians are a very interesting, hardly putting any value in anyone who can't fight, which means women and the weak are not much thought of. While I loved the action and adventure that was Arlen's trek through the desert, my favorite parts were probably in the bazaar where a former warrior picks a fight with Abban and Arlen.

I have to say I enjoyed The Great Bazaar more even more than I did Brayan's Gold. While Brayan's Gold was high in action, there wasn't a whole lot of incite into the story, Brett's intention being only to showcase Snow demons and that's about it. Go read it, it's great.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Review - Brayan's Gold (A Demon Cycle Novella) by Peter V. Brett

Brayan's Gold [US] [UK] [Kindle] is a novella set in the Demon Cycle universe (The Warded Man, The Desert Spear) covering a short portion in Arlen's life...you know...before he became superman.

This story occurs during Arlen's time as an apprentice messenger technically before The Great Bazaar and Other Stories (another novella in this universe) in time, but not publication. Both novellas are available on Kindle for only $4.99, whereas they're a bit harder to come by in the Subterranean Press edition.

Messenger's are the brave and daring souls who brave the night and the corelings to deliver messages and other materials. His task, along with his master, Curk, is to escort a wagonload of easily combustible firesticks up into the high mountains to Brayan's Gold, where Count Brayan has found his riches.

Mixing the perilous trail, firesticks, and possibly even the rumored snow demon, Arlen has some work cut out for him, along with some other surprises.

Now, I have to admit, I'm extremely biased when it comes to this series. This is one of my all-time favorite series and only two books in at that. There's something about this fear of the night and the demons that stalk and the magic of the wards. I have to have more and more, it's like crack.

So, needless to say, Brayan's Gold is worth it's weight in gold.

4 out of 5 Stars (Loved it)

It's News To Me #25 - Interviews and First Chapters

So many things this week, this post is bursting with joy...and dragons. :D

Bastard Books has the First Chapter of the next Demon Squad Book: It's called At the Gates and it's supposed to be ready by the end of the year. Wow. Really can't wait.


Peter V. Brett Gets interviewed at Fantasy Faction: Brett's become one of my favorite authors and with only two books to his name. He talks about the Demon Cycle and that is cool. :)


Aidan Brags about his Signing with Blake Charlton: Yeah, of course I'm jealous.

Stomping on Yeti Pleads for Tobias S. Buckell: Buckell's trying to raise money to finish off his Xenowealth series, which was sadly dropped before it even finished. From the short stories I've read, I'm already a fan. I own Crystal Rain and promise *fingers crossed* to get to it early next year.

Some cool covers for Deas and Redick, but especially Deas: I mean, Look at it...

It's News To Me #24

Some of my favorite authors are doing some great slash silly things this week, from Brandon Sanderson to George RR Martin and HBO (some day it will be for the book) and even Peter V. Brett. Now I only need more reading time.

And then there's some (possibly) big-ish news from the blogosphere. I'll explain down there.

Cover Art


Another novella from Peter V. Brett is coming out from Subterranean Press called Brayan's Gold. From the SubPress website:

Return to the world of The Warded Man and The Desert Spear in an illustrated new novella by Peter V. Brett.

Humanity has been brought to the brink of extinction. Each night, the world is overrun by demons—bloodthirsty creatures of nightmare that have been hunting the surface for over 300 years. A scant few hamlets and half-starved city-states are all that remain of a once proud civilization, and it is only by hiding behind wards, ancient symbols with the power to repel the demons, that they survive. A handful of Messengers brave the night to keep the lines of communication open between the increasingly isolated populace.

Arlen Bales is seventeen, an apprentice Messenger in brand new armor, about to go out for the first time alongside a trained Messenger on a simple overnight trip. Instead Arlen finds himself alone on a frozen mountainside, carrying a dangerous cargo to Count Brayan’s gold mine, one of the furthest points in the duchy. And One Arm, the giant rock demon, hunts him still.

But Brayan’s Gold may offer a way for Arlen to be free of One Arm forever, if he is willing to wager his life on the chance.

News

An interesting point was brought up by ChrisW at sffnews about the split of the final books of The Wheel of Time. He makes the point that we were told the book had to be split because it was getting too big for this publishing world we live in...and then comes The Way of Kings, a doorstop by a Balrog's standards and published by the same people. Hrmmm?? Thoughts?

Chris also has some inciteful comments about the whole Postmodernism in fantasy, Brandon Sanderson, Jeff Vandermeer kerfluffle. Gave me a few chuckles.

Short version:

Vandermeer: Brandon is clueless.
50 other random dudes: Hear here!!
Brandon's side kick: You misunderstand him.
Sanderson: Damn, you got me, I'm a simpleton but in my defence I wasn't really trying to define it.
Vandermeer: No worries mate, not everyone can be as smart as me. I can jog and text at the same time!

Speaking of Brandon Sanderson, Pat's got a great Brandon Sanderson interview up at the Hotlist put together by Pat himself and friends. Seriously check it out, I mean it, it's really great. Here's a snippet:

When I approached writing the Stormlight Archive--when I approached creating Roshar--I very consciously said, “I want to create something that feels new to me.” I’m not the only one who does this, and I’m certainly not the one who does it best, but I wanted a world that was not medieval Europe. At all. I wanted a world that was its own thing. I started with the highstorms and went from there.

On that note, Pat just announced that may be bowing out of the game. The Fantasy Hotlist was the start of my blogging addiction, so it'll be sad to see one of the pioneers leaving.

And then here's Larry's parody of said announcement. And then the defense of said parody.

Movies/Videos/TV (or Everybody's Doing It #2)

Things seem to be moving along with A Game of Thrones on HBO. There's a Making Of blog and this exiting look at the show, including short interviews from the extremely excited George RR Martin, Sean Bean, and writers E.B. Weiss and David Benioff:



Here's another teaser trailer, "Raven":



Winter is Coming, the blog following production of HBO's A Game of Thrones since 2008, also has some great production stills. Yes, I'm salivating. (Thanks A Dribble of Ink)

This one cracks me up:

Arya and Bran look happy to be there. I'm guessing they still don't know what's about to happen to them.

And that's the news...at least to me.

(Audiobook) Review - The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett

Mankind finally has a way not only to defend themselves from the demons that have taken over the night, but they have the ability to combat their enemies. Arlen, aka the Warded Man, wants to distribute the combat wards he found to everyone in the world so they don't have to suffer at the hands of the demons as he did when his mother died.

Compare this to the Krasian method of enslaving all mankind and forcing them to fight in alagai'sharak, the Krasian's name for their nightly battle with the demons.

In this respect, I couldn't help but compare The Desert Spear to The Matrix Reloaded. Not because there was a decrease in quality like the Matrix films, but moreso because suddenly the demons aren't as scary just like the agents lost all their spunk in the second film.

There are so many ways and means that have been found, especially by Leesha and those of Deliverer's (formerly Cutter's) Hollow, to either combat the demons or make oneself invisible to them that it's almost like the demons aren't even there anymore. This was a little disappointing especially in a series that is all about groups of people coming together for the cause of warring with demonkind.

Luckily, there's enough going on that this isn't too big of an issue, just something that was a little disappointing.

The Desert Spear (2010) [US] [UK], book 2 of the Demon Cycle, begins by following Ahmann something something something Jardir, who we met in The Warded Man (Alec's review, my review), and exclusively deals with the events in Krasia and Jardir's history...and this lasts for about a quarter of the book.

I know many have complained about this aspect of the book, that the book takes far too long to get to Arlan, Leesha, and Rojer, but I'm a firm believer that delayed satisfaction does in fact make you appreciate your favorite parts.

But, I can't really say that I even loathed reading the first part. The more I read/listened, the more I found I was sucked into Jardir's past/present and the effort that went into creating this society.

Not only are new wards created/found, but we find out there are more demons than we have seen so far, one of them being the Mind demons, who rule all of demonkind. These guys make a couple of appearances and prove that although most demons aren't much of a threat, there are still some that could pose some difficulties, especially since they have the ability to think and reason like man.

Leesha and Rojer have become mainstays in Deliverer's Hollow where many refugees have fled to escape the flood that is the Krasians. This is where we also find out the advancements that Leesha has made on warding. Many have mentioned that Leesha is a bit of a wonder woman in this book and while that's true to an extent, I think a lot of this comes from the fact that we see Leesha through the eyes of Ahmann Jardir, who has a bit of a skewed perspective of her.

The issue of The Deliverer, or Shar'Dama Ka in Krasia, is central to The Desert Spear. While Arlan does everything he can to fight this distinction, the people of the north will believe what they want to believe, and many times to Arlen's frustration.

On the other hand, in Krasia, Ahmann Jardir not only convinces himself and Krasia that he is the Shar'Dama Ka, but takes his unified Krasian army to the north to force the people of the north to fight demonkind.

Audio Commentary

I realized I haven't been that good at discussing the audio portion of the book when I do an Audiobook review, so I wanted to add this section so that the review will actually be handy to those who were debating on whether to listen or read, having already made the decision to obtain this book.

Pete Bradbury does a great job in both The Desert Spear and The Warded/Painted Man audiobooks. He has a gruff voice, which works well for Arlen, Jardir, all of Krasia, Messengers, etc. But, at the same time, it doesn't even sound weird when he does the female characters' voices. The Audiobook is really well done and definitely recommended.

When Should You Read The Desert Spear?

The Desert Spear continues on the same level as The Warded Man, which I highly recommend and while the characters are great, the world that Peter V. Brett created has created a huge fan in me.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

It's News To Me #17

I'm still looking to get sleep whenever I can. Even though I do menial tasks at work, I'm suddenly finding it very hard to focus. Does 2 come after or before 1?

I guess, contrary to popular opinion, sleep is important.

Cover Art


I saw this on Goodreads and it looks like things are working out for Michael J. Sullivan's 5th book (out of 6) in the Riyria Revelations, Wintertide, to be out in October this year. Awesome cover. Reminds me of the US edition of Nights of Villjamur.

It is scheduled for release in October, and just as recent as two weeks ago I wondered if it would make it.

I saw this on A Fantasy Reader and yes, it will be called The Cold Commands instead of The Dark Commands until we're told otherwise? This is the UK cover art btw, and Me Likey (signed Kanye West).

I'm probably not the only one who can't get enough of Joe Abercrombie especially when he's teamed up with the people at Subterranean Press. That's quite the combo and here's what they've got:

I like this cover, but I think I actually like the original ones the best. Those are what put me over the top on buying the series.

News

As you well know, I'm a huge Malazan fan and Steven Erikson has some great news (Woot!):

GASP! That would be me, coming up for air. How long was I down there? About twenty years, from conception to completion. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is done. Sure, editing and all that crap to follow. But ... done. I don't know who I am. Who am I again? What planet is this? Three months of butterflies ... maybe this double whiskey will fix that. Hmm. No. Delayed reaction going on here.

Stephen Deas not only has this amazing cover art for the US edition of The King of the Crags, but he's also just signed a 4 book deal with Gollancz. More info about the books here.

You may also know that I'm a bit of a Peter V. Brett fan (review) and I'm actually quite enjoying The Desert Spear at the moment. From A Dribble of Ink and other sources, Brett's sold another novella to Subterranean Press called Brayan's Gold. I didn't get my hands on The Great Bazaar (and don't quite have the hundred+ dollars to buy a used copy) so I'll have to actually be on the ball this time around.




Movies/Videos/TV

Hollywood Spy is a great new (as in "new to me") site I found, or should I say that found our blog. Run by Dezmond, who's a frequent commenter around these parts, it seems to focus on science fiction, fantasy, and other movies that attract such fans. I'll at least stick with that until he corrects me. :)

Great stuff, seriously, check it out.



Lastly, doesn't this just look cool:



And that's the news...at least to me.