(audiobook) Review - The Garden of Stones (Echoes of Empire #1) by Mark T. Barnes

As usual, you can find this review for The Garden of Stones by Mark T. Barnes on SFFaudio.com where I do all my audiobook reviews. I really enjoyed this one although I'm sure it would have been better had I read it with my eyes instead of ears because of the amount of characters and the fact that it's like Erikson in that it drops you right in without explaining much.

With The Garden of Stones, I wonder if I would have stalled in my reading. I’m no stranger to being thrown into the action having survived (and thoroughly enjoyed!) Erikson’s masterpiece, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, so that probably wouldn’t have been a problem. I did, however, have a difficult time keeping a lot of the characters, names, and races straight through listening only. Had I had my eyes on this one, I probably would have enjoyed it even more than I already did.

Looking Forward to 2014 - Most Anticipated Books

Last year, I had high hopes, as I usually do, that I would read quite a few books in the year. I wasn't too far off, having read 57 or so, but lots of those were in the form of audiobooks, none of which were on my list last year. I'm getting a bit more conservative this year in terms of what I think I can actually read and leave a bit more open to what I randomly pick up throughout the year, which I know I will do regardless of any plans I make. It makes for happier reading that way anyway. In bold are those books I actually think I have a chance of reading this year.

Keep in mind, this is by no means an exhaustive list (or even remotely close), these are just the titles I'm especially interested in and I know I'm probably missing quite a few that I'll have to add later.


Jan:

Brian Stavely, The Emperor's Blades - January 14

Myke Cole, Breach Zone (Shadow Ops #3) - January 28

Paul Kearney, A Different Kingdom - January 28

Miles Cameron, The Fell Sword (Traitor Son #2) - January 30

Feb:

David Edison, The Waking Engine - February 11

March:

Scott Lynch, The Bastards and the Knives (Gentlemen Bastards Novellas) - March 3 (UK) Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive #2) - March 4

Jon Sprunk, Blood and Iron (The Book of the Black Earth #1) - March 11

April:

Michael J. Sullivan, The Hollow World - April 8 (Just finished)

Elizabeth Bear, Steles of the Sky (Eternal Sky #3) - April 8

Robin Hobb, The Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy #1) - April 10

Sam Sykes, The City Stained Red - April 17 (UK Date)

May:

Brian McClellan, The Crimson Campaign (Powder Mages #2) - May 6 Jim Butcher, Skin Game (Dresden #15) - May 27 Douglas Hulick, Sworn in Steel (Tales of the Kin #2)

Jun:

Mark Lawrence, Prince of Fools (The Red Queen's War #1) - June 3

Jul:

Joe Abercrombie, Half a King

Aug:

Lev Grossman, The Magician's Land (Magician's #3) - August
Daniel Abraham, The Widow's House (The Dagger and the Coin #4) - August 5
Jim Butcher, The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) - August 7

Brent Weeks, The Broken Eye (Lightbringer #3) - August 26

Ian Cameron Esslemont, Assail (Malazan Empire #6)

Sep:

Robert Jackson Bennett, City of Stairs - September 9

Oct:

Bradley P. Beaulieu, Twelve Kings in Sharakhai - October 1
Ernest Cline, Armada - October 7

Nov:

Dec:

Steven Erikson, Willfull Child - December 4 (says Goodreads)

TBD: (Mostly just hoping all these come out in 2014)
John Marco, The Bloody Chorus
Courtney Schafer, The Labyrinth of Flame (Shattered Sigil #3) 

Scott Lynch, The Thorn of Emberlain (Gentlemen Bastards #4)

Orson Scott Card,  (Mithermages #3)

Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters (Bloodsounder's Arc #2) Steven Erikson, Fall of Light (Kharkanas Trilogy #2) - Have to read Forge of Darkness first. Janny Wurts, Destiny's Conflict (Wars of Light and Shadow #10)

Not Counting On:
Patrick Rothfuss, The Doors of Stone (Kingkiller Chronicle #3)
George R.R. Martin, The Winds of Winter (ASoIaF #6) 
Peter V. Brett, The Skull Throne (Demon Cycle #4) - Probably 2015

EDIT: Added a few I'd completely forgotten (like Cline's Armada for instance!), which makes no sense because I'm dying to read them. 

EDIT #2: Bennett's City of Stairs apparently has a release date in September.

eBook Deals - Sanderson, Gaiman, Martin, Beaulieu, Cameron

I haven't read any of Brandon Sanderson's novellas for the Infinity Blade game on iPhone, but I've played the first game and it's pretty fun until everything gets ridiculously pricy. They've always been $2.99, but I just saw they are reduced at the moment so of course I'm jumping on it. Anyone know how good they are?

[$0.99] Infinity Blade: Awakening (Infinity Blade #1) by Brandon Sanderson (novella set in Infinity Blade world)
[$0.99] Infinity Blade: Redemption (Infinity Blade #2)by Brandon Sanderson (novella set in Infinity Blade world)
[$1.99] Stardust by Neil Gaiman
[$2.99] A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) by George R.R. Martin
[$2.99] The Winds of Khalakovo (Lays of Anuskay #1) by Bradley P. Beaulieu
[$2.99] The Red Knight (Traitor Son #1) by Miles Cameron

(movie) Review - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (The Hobbit #2)

The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is my all-time favorite movie trilogy ever. It was pure bliss watching these movies in the theaters and last year around this time I spoke about the grin on my face as I watched the first of The Hobbit movie trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (review). I absolutely loved it even despite all the rancor.

I can't say I felt exactly the same way this time.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug starts to show some of the bloat we all knew would be in a trilogy of movies surrounding a single book that was shorter than any of the books in the former trilogy that only needed a movie a piece. Even I, who couldn't get enough of the first movie, thought this one was getting a bit ridiculous with every single event getting turned into impossible action scenes. And then there's the, spoiler alert, scene with Gandalf and Sauron that was not only odd but at least twice as long as it needed to be ... which could be said about a few more scenes, especially the final one where the dwarves are chased by Smaug.

Last time, I made the argument that it doesn't make logical sense to expect a movie to actually follow the books when we know going into the movies that it's three movies out of a relatively short book. In all reality, these movies actually do follow the book pretty well ... for what it is. The main events are all there even though it's easy to get lost in the shenanigans. Then, of course, there are things such as the needless love interest, Evangeline Lily, getting added that just didn't need to be there.

It's easy to complain, and very many are taking advantage, but I don't mean to say I hated it, only that I felt the bloat this time. I enjoyed myself, I enjoyed the scenery, and I enjoyed the non-stop action. It's just that I'm finally finding myself questioning the need for three movies when two, though still much, might have been just right.