(audiobook) Review - Emperor Mollusk Versus The Sinister Brain by A. Lee Martinez

Here's my review for Emperor Mollusk Versus The Sinister Brain, my first and certainly not my last book from A. Lee Martinez.

This was a really fun book and my first by the author, I will definitely be going back to A. Lee Martinez in the future. There are some authors who can just go from one line to the next and keep you not only amused but chucking from time to time. A few I can think of are Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams and I’m in awe of their talent. Martinez may not be quite to their level, but he’s right up there.

Exclusive Excerpt from Kaiju Rising, Last Chance to Back This Kickstarter Anthology

The Kickstarter for Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters is almost at an end and I've got an exclusive (I'm mostly positive about that) excerpt from one of the short stories in the anthology. This kickstarter has exceeded all expectations reaching it's goal of $10,000 rather quickly and even every single stretch goal. What's great about contributing now is that you already know everything you'll get and it's quite a bit at this point.

Not including the stretch goals authors.

So without further ado...

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From Joshua M. Reynolds' "Dead Men's Bones":

          Despite the distance, and the lead the monster had on them, they caught up with it far too quickly for St. Cyprian’s liking. He pushed the car’s engine to its limit, until smoke was boiling out from under it, and his body was numb from the shaking. The car was racing parallel to the beast as it smashed aside trees and ruins both old and new in its stumbling scramble towards Vyones. Yellow smoke clung to it, oozing from its pores and even from a safe distance, the thought of it made St. Cyprian itch for a gas mask. 

          St. Cyprian cursed as a splintered tree-trunk crashed down in front of the car and he jerked the wheel, narrowly avoiding it. He nearly crashed then and there, as a massive bloody foot stomped down in front of him, causing the car to bounce up and his head to crack against the roof. He tasted blood and spat. “Any time you’d like to start shooting is fine by me!” he shouted over his shoulder. A snarl sounded from the heavy machine gun in Bass’ hands a moment later. The American gave a screeching wail, like the cry of some angry hunting cat, as he depressed the barrel, stitching the colossus’ ankles and thighs with bullets. Carnacki fed a steady stream of ammunition into the gun even as the floor was covered in spent casings. The colossus might have been immune to small arms fire, but it felt the machine gun and it stooped with a bone-rattling howl, its fingers digging trenches through the muddy road as it sought to scoop them up. Poison gas swept towards them, driven their way by the furious motion of the beast’s arm.

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I know that was a short teaser, so here's a behind-the-scenes video from Ragnarok Publications for your viewing pleasure:

Review - Emperor of Thorns (The Broken Empire #3) by Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence likes to claim that authors are not their characters, but I think we need to look at the facts.

Jorg Ancrath:

1. Single-mindedly takes the world by storm.
2. Spreads his wit (among other things, blood and guts included).
3. Flips everything on its head, traditions, magic, you name it.
4. Encourages blasphemy and the slaughter of innocents.
5. Will stop at nothing to reach his goals of claiming the title of Emperor.

Mark Lawrence:

1. Single-mindedly takes the fantasy world by storm.
2. Spreads HIS wit (and probably other things we won't name here).
3. Flips the fantasy world on its head with his antihero fantasy filled with modern technology and countless subverted tropes.
4. Encourages blasphemy and the slaughter of innocent bloggers and authors (through words only of course ... hopefully).
5. Will stop at nothing to reach his goals of claiming the David Gemmell Legend Award.

We're not fooled Mr. Lawrence, no not by a long shot. The next thing we'll see is Mark kicking around Joe Abercrombie's decapitated head.

And yes, this is to say, Emperor of Thorns [US] [UK] was excellent. The perfect conclusion to an excellent trilogy. It's actually hard to imagine that Lawrence is a debut author and this his debut series.

The writing is up there with Joe Abercrombie, filled with great one-liners and quotes at each turn of the page. The following were literally within a page of each other and I could add so many more:

"When a decision is inevitable you may as well take it as quick as possible so that you still have something left to deal with whatever consequences may arise." (p. 172 Hardback)

"When you're in a dark place, and your light is going to run out before too long, you get on with things. It's a wonder to me how few people apply that same logic to their lives." (p. 173)

It's also just about impossible to stop reading this fascinating character Lawrence has created. Jorg Ancrath is compelling from the first page even when you quickly learn how really terrible he can be. I think there's a lot to going out and doing, accomplishing those things you set out to do whether it's looks feasible or not and Jorg does it all. I honestly do think that there's a lot of Lawrence in Jorg or vice-versa just because of the things that Lawrence himself has overcome. Publishing traditionally is difficult enough, but he can also literally say he is a rocket scientist. He even has a family of four, one of whom is severely disabled (and she is publishing amazing stories that my son absolutely loves btw!). This is a man who sets out to accomplish what he puts his mind to. (I know, I'm just setting myself up for a wonderful review deletion from GR)

Really the only negative thing I can say is that the timeline gets a little crazy by this last volume. King of Thorns introduced a portion of the book that took us back "four years earlier" and which portion continues into Emperor of Thorns. The only problem is that it's a year later in the present so "four years" becomes "five years earlier," which later in the book (spoiler alert!) becomes four years earlier even though it is still called "five years earlier." Make sense? There are also flashbacks in the present time that add to the timeline fun, but it's nothing that takes you longer than a moment or two (days? not me, no way) to puzzle out, if that. I'm glad the reader is trusted enough to figure it all out, we can't all be rocket scientists can we? :)

Lawrence asks us what happens if the good guy can't make it to save the day and you have to settle for the guy who has done terrible things. The guy you really shouldn't have to root for but who will get the job done. Is it worth it? It's amazing how well he pulled that off. Brutal fantasy that will make you cringe, that will make you think, and that you can't stop reading. Mark Lawrence is in for a terribly long writing career and Emperor of Thorns is about as perfect an ending as you can get.

4.5 out of 5 Stars (super duper highly recommended with cherries on top)

The Broken Empire Trilogy: 
1) Prince of Thorns (review)
2) King of Thorns (review)
3) Emperor of Thorns

eBook Deals - Moon, Pratchett/Baxter, Goodkind, Brooks

I just finished my review of Emperor of Thorns, but I have to take another look at it before it goes up. Yes, contrary to popular belief, I do edit my reviews. :) Not well, but that's beside the point. Here are a couple deals going on right now, looks like Baxter and Moon are lucky to be on this list which covers just about all the Terrys:

[$0.99] Trading in Danger (Vatta's War #1) by Elizabeth Moon - OTBSFF review.
[$1.99] The Long Earth (Long Earth #1) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
[$1.99] The Long War (Long Earth #2) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
[$2.99] The First Confessor (The Legend of Magda Searus #1) by Terry Goodkind
[$3.99] Bloodfire Quest (Dark Legacy of Shannara #2) by Terry Brooks