Giveaway: Signed Copy of A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Jul
12
2011

A little while ago I decided to actually go to the signing on the A Dance With Dragons tour nearest me even though it’s 4 hours away.  Before deciding to go down, I called the bookstore to make sure I could reserve a book. After all, it would just be sad to cancel my Amazon pre-order, get the time off work, and go all the way down there to come away with no signed book!  It turned out I was able to reserve books, so I actually reserved 2 copies of the book – 1 for John and me and 1 to give away here to someone who isn’t fortunate enough to be able to attend one of the signings on the tour (or crazy enough to do what I’m doing and drive two states away to go to one).

Although I’m sure it needs no introduction, here is some information on A Dance With Dragons:

A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin

Dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series–as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again–beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone–a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all. . . .

Giveaway Rules: One entry per person.  This giveaway is open internationally and will run through the end of the day of Tuesday, July 19.  A winner will be selected using random.org on the following day.  If I do not hear from the winner by the end of the day on Friday, July 22, a new winner will be selected.  That winner will then have 48 hours to get back to me or a new winner will be selected.

To enter the giveaway, fill out the form below.  Please Note: Email addresses are only used for the purpose of notifying the winner.  All email addresses will be deleted once the giveaway is over and there is an address to send the book to.

Update: The form has been removed since the giveaway is now over.

Good luck!

The Leaning Pile of Books
Jul
10
2011

Due to a busy week, I haven’t had a chance to finish any of those reviews, but I’m hoping to at least finish the one I have started today so I can post it sometime next week.  However, next week is going to be busy as well since John and I decided to drive the 4 hours to go to one of George R. R. Martin’s signings on the A Dance With Dragons tour!  I’m very excited since this has been one of my favorite fantasy series since close to the beginning of my foray into reading fantasy books like an addict. And I may have reserved 2 copies so I can give away one to someone who will not be able to attend one of the book tour signings…

So, anyway, on to the books – 1 review copy, 1 bargain book bought, and 2 graphic novels received as gifts.

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel KayUnder Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

I’ve wanted to read this book for a while so when I found a hardcover copy for about $5 once shipping was added, I snatched it up.  It’s a stand alone fantasy inspired by Tang dynasty China, which sounds awesome enough on its own, but Guy Gavriel Kay also wrote Tigana, an excellent fantasy novel I absolutely loved.  (Here’s the review, but it’s a really early one so I’m hesitant to link to it).  I really must read more of his work.

Under Heaven came out in hardcover in 2010, and it was recently released in trade paperback. It is also available as an ebook.

In his latest innovative novel, the award-winning author evokes the dazzling Tang Dynasty of 8th-century China in a story of honor and power.

Inspired by the glory and power of Tang dynasty China, Guy Gavriel Kay has created a masterpiece.

It begins simply. Shen Tai, son of an illustrious general serving the Emperor of Kitai, has spent two years honoring the memory of his late father by burying the bones of the dead from both armies at the site of one of his father’s last great battles. In recognition of his labors and his filial piety, an unlikely source has sent him a dangerous gift: 250 Sardian horses.

You give a man one of the famed Sardian horses to reward him greatly. You give him four or five to exalt him above his fellows, propel him towards rank, and earn him jealousy, possibly mortal jealousy. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor.

Wisely, the gift comes with the stipulation that Tai must claim the horses in person. Otherwise he would probably be dead already…

Hard Spell by Justin GustainisHard Spell by Justin Gustainis

Hard Spell is the first book in a new urban fantasy series, an Occult Crimes Unit Investigation.  It will be released as a mass market paperback in the US and Canada on July 26th, but it is already available as an ebook.  It is also already available as a paperback in the UK.  There will be at least 3 books in this series with more to come if it sells well enough.  Justin Gustainis is also the author of the Morris/Chastain Investigations series (Evil Ways and Black Magic Woman with Sympathy for the Devil coming out soon).

Stan Markowski is a Detective Sergeant on the Scranton PD’s Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit.

Like the rest of America, Scranton’s got an uneasy ‘live and let unlive’ relationship with the supernatural. But when a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that’s when they call Markowski. He carries a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.

God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont and Brent AndersonX-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson

Ever since seeing X-Men: First Class in the theater recently (and becoming addicted to the movie soundtrack which I’ve now listened to about 80 times), I’ve been curious about learning more about the original source material.  I liked the movies and want to watch them again soon, and John and I have also been watching the TV show from the 1990s on Netflix streaming recently.  So I wasn’t surprised when a gift-giving occasion came up and John got me a couple of X-men graphic novels (with a third one that is out of print coming later).

The Uncanny X-Men. Magneto, master of magnetism. The bitterest of enemies for years. But now they must join forces against a new adversary who threatens them all and the entire world besides… in the name of God. One of Chris Claremont’s most powerful and influential stories, the partial basis for “X-Men 2,” is reprinted here for the first time in years.
Collects Marvel Graphic Novel #5: God Loves, Man Kills.

X-Men: Magneto Testament by Greg Pak and Carmine di GiandomenicoX-Men: Magneto Testament by Greg Pak and Carmine di Giandomenico

I especially like Magneto as a character so John got me his origin story, which is supposed to be more about growing up in Nazi Germany than it is superheroes/superpowers.  It sounds pretty interesting as well, and I’m looking forward to reading it. (And if anyone has X-Men recommendations, feel free to let me know which ones you like.  I can’t remember what the other one is I’m getting, but I’ve been told we also have House of M already.)

Today, the whole world knows him as Magneto, the most radical champion of mutant rights that mankind has ever seen. But in 1935, he was just another schoolboy – who happened to be Jewish in Nazi Germany. The definitive origin story of one of Marvel’s greatest icons begins with a silver chain and a crush on a girl – and quickly turns into a harrowing struggle for survival against the inexorable machinery of Hitler’s Final Solution From X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong writer Greg Pak and award-winning artist Carmine Di Giandomenico. Collects X-Men: Magneto Testament #1-5

Update on The Children of the Sky Review
Jul
06
2011

The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge

Just a quick update to my review of Vernor Vinge’s The Children of the Sky that I posted about a month ago.  In the conclusion to my review, I said this:

 
The Children of the Sky is a a typically wonderful tale from a master storyteller in Vinge.  It is only in comparison to the iconic A Fire Upon the Deep that it fails to live up to expectations.  Even then, if a third book is forthcoming then all of the groundwork being laid in Children becomes truly brilliant, crafted with subtlety and providing exactly enough information to fire the imagination and plant questions for what is to come.  Since I don’t know if that book is ever going to be written, I’m giving a provisional rating to The Children of the Sky.  As a sequel only, it gets an 8/10, but if it is a bridge book…frankly, it is one of the best that I have ever read and worthy of a 10/10.  Since I believe Vinge is too good a storyteller to have done all of this setup by accident, I’m going on the assumption that book three will be coming and calling it 10/10.

After I posted the review, Kristen wrote to Tor to try to find out if another book was planned.  Kristen’s contact couldn’t confirm or deny another book (understandably).  While it’s not really word either way, I’ve decided to change my final rating of the book to an 8 rather than a 10 to reflect the facts on the table rather than my guess.

The Leaning Pile of Books
Jul
03
2011

I thought I was going to end up bookless this week, but then on Friday I came home to find 5 of them waiting for me.

Since this week was the third time I got a copy of Cold Magic by Kate Elliott (this time in mass market paperback), I’m not going to list it below again.  If you have been waiting for it in mass market paperback the wait is almost over, though.  It will be available in stores in that format on July 26th, and the cover is a little bit different from the trade paperback.  It’s the cover on the right since that’s what I’m reading now.

A quick update on reviews: The books I need to review at the moment are Naamah’s Blessing by Jacqueline Carey (now my favorite book in the Naamah trilogy), Embassytown by China Mieville, and The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein.

Now for the books.

Heartless by Gail CarrigerHeartless by Gail Carriger

This is the fourth book in the Parasol Protectorate series following Soulless (review), Changeless (review), and Blameless (review).  I liked the first book, and I really liked the next two books so I’m looking forward to reading this one as well.   They are just such FUN books, a humorous story set in a paranormally enhanced alternate Victorian London.  The main character, Alexia Tarabotti, is a rare person who has no soul and cancels out the effects of the supernatural (who have an excess of soul).  I love her as a character since she’s so strong-minded and fearless.

Heartless just came out as a mass market paperback and ebook, and the final book in the series, Timeless, will be released in March of next year.

Since it does contain big spoilers for the first three books, I’m not including the blurb here, but if you do want to read it it’s on Gail Carriger’s website.

Eye of the Tempest by Nicole PeelerEye of the Tempest by Nicole Peeler

The fourth book in the Jane True series will be released on July 26th (mass market paperback, ebook). The first three books in the series are Tempest Rising (review), Tracking the Tempest, and Tempest’s Legacy.  I read the first book around the time it first came out and was entertained by it overall even though it had a lot more focus on a sexual (not even really romantic) relationship than I normally like.  But it did have a lot of different mythological creatures involved (and I am a sucker for having all kinds of different myths) and I liked the main character, a half selkie woman living in my home state of Maine.  Oh, and I envied the fact that she didn’t get cold and wished I could do that during the Maine winters.

Nothing says “home” like being attacked by humans with very large guns, as Jane and Anyan discover when they arrive in Rockabill. These are professionals, brought into kill, and they bring Anyan down before either Jane or the barghest can react. Seeing Anyan fall awakens a terrible power within Jane, and she nearly destroys herself taking out their attackers.

Jane wakes, weeks later, to discover that she’s not the only thing that’s been stirring. Something underneath Rockabill is coming to life: something ancient, something powerful, and something that just might destroy the world.

Jane and her friends must act, striking out on a quest that only Jane can finish. For whatever lurks beneath the Old Sow must be stopped…and Jane’s just the halfling for the job.

Stormlord's Exile by Glenda LarkeStormlord’s Exile by Glenda Larke

The final book in the Stormlords trilogy (or Watergivers trilogy, depending on which country you are in) will be released on July 26th (mass market paperback, ebook). The first two books are The Last Stormlord (review) and Stormlord Rising.  This series is set in a desert setting in which everything revolved around water and the main magic-users were those who could manipulate water and bring it to the people.  This part of it was interesting, but I was never able to care about any of the characters and didn’t find the first book all that much fun to read myself (although it did seem to be one of those books that was setting up more to come so I wouldn’t be surprised if the next two were better, but I’m not planning to read them and find out with the huge towering book pile).

SHALE is finally free from his greatest enemy. But now, he is responsible for bringing life-giving rain to all the people of the Quartern. He must stretch his powers to the limit or his people will die-if they don’t meet a nomad’s blade first. And while Shale’s own highlords and waterpriests plot against him, his Reduner brother plots his revenge.

TERELLE is Shale’s secret weapon, covertly boosting his powers with her own mystical abilities. But she is compelled by the strange magic of her people and will one day have to leave Shale’s side. No one knows what waits for her across the desert, but her people gave the Quartern its first Stormlord and they may save Shale and his people once again-or lead them to their doom.

This is the final volume of the epic Stormlord series.

The Key to Creation by Kevin J. AndersonThe Key to Creation by Kevin J. Anderson

The third book in the Terra Incognita series will be released on July 20th (trade paperback, ebook).  The first two books in the series are The Edge of the World and The Map of All Things.  I haven’t read any of these books so unlike the first three I don’t have anything else to add about them.

Brave explorers and mortal enemies across the world clash at a mysterious lost continent. After long voyages, encountering hurricanes and sea monsters, Criston Vora and Saan race to Terravitae, the legendary promised land. Saan’s quest is to find the Key to Creation, a weapon that may defeat Uraba’s enemies, and Criston wants vengeance against the monstrous Leviathan that ruined his life long ago.

Back home, two opposing continents and religions clash for the remnants of a sacred city, unleashing their hatred in a war that could end both civilizations. Queen Anjine and Soldan-Shah Omra are driven by mutual hatred, heaping atrocity upon atrocity in an escalating conflict that only their gods can end.

Meanwhile, the secretive Saedrans. manipulating both sides, come ever closer to their ultimate goal: to complete the Map of All Things and bring about the return of God.

Review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Jun
28
2011
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
by Laini Taylor
432pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 9.5/10
Amazon Rating: N/A/5
LibraryThing Rating: 5/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.55/5
 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is a young adult contemporary fantasy novel coming out this September.  It will be available in hardcover, as an ebook, and as an audiobook.  Since it ends with “to be continued,” there will be at least one sequel, although I haven’t been able to find any information on it or how many books there will be total. (Update: I asked Laini Taylor about the number of books on Twitter and she said there are two sequels planned at the moment.)

Karou, a 17-year-old art student living in Prague, is rather unusual with her myriad tattoos, blue hair (that she swears grows that color!), and propensity to disappear on mysterious errands.  With a sketchbook full of characters that are clearly not human and background stories for each, she has a reputation for a wild imagination.  However, it’s a true story, and Brimstone, the star of Karou’s drawings, raised her and is the one who sends her on dangerous errands that even Karou doesn’t understand.

Actually, there’s a lot about her life Karou doesn’t understand.  Where did she come from and why has she always had these strange markings on her hands?  What is Brimstone’s fascination with collecting teeth and reason for sending her out on a moment’s notice to bring them to him?  Most importantly, why is everything about Karou and where she came from such a closely guarded secret?

The arrival of angels and burning fires around the world begins the unraveling of it all – both an ancient enmity and a past love.

Ever since I discovered Laini Taylor’s Dreamdark books, I have been a fan and each of her books I’ve read since then has only cemented that even more.  She is one of those rare authors who has a special gift for excelling at every part of crafting a story, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone is amazing.  The writing is gorgeous, the dialogue is both creative and flowing, the characters are whimsical yet real, the mythology is imaginative as it slowly unfolds, and it is never dull. I do believe Laini Taylor’s greatest gift is her way with words and how she can do everything from write a beautifully worded passage to a humorous conversation to painting exactly how emotions like deep loneliness feel.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is reminiscent of the stories in Laini Taylor’s Lips Touch: Three Times and has more in common with that than her Dreamdark books, which are lighter and do not contain any references to sex.  It deals with love in a world infused with mythology that draws from other general myths but still remains unique.  It’s populated by characters with different motivations and drives, whose complexity comes out throughout the course of the story.  As the main character, Karou is of course the most fleshed out.  She’s so vibrant with her slight mischievous steak that leads her to waste the wishes she’s given by Brimstone on frivolous things like getting her way or wreaking some vengeance on an ex-boyfriend.  (Rest assured, it was relatively minor vengeance in the grand scheme of things and he very much deserved what he had coming to him!)  Underneath her creative spirit that seems so full of life is such a deep longing to be loved.  With no family in the human world she mainly inhabits and only one close friend, a girl she can’t even openly talk to about her secret world beyond the portals or the reason she disappears on “errands,” Karou is haunted by an abiding loneliness.

The details of the world Karou visits trickle slowly throughout the novel, and even Karou doesn’t know a lot of them at the beginning of the book.  The mysteries stack up, and by the final pages much is revealed about the past and the nature of the “devils” and the “angels.”  It’s not black and white, good or bad, and I particularly liked this nature and how sympathetic most of the different characters and their actions were.

Toward the end, the book did shift more focus more on the romance and I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about that at first.  It was a bit more of a rushed relationship than I normally like, but as hinted at earlier, there was much more complexity to it than first revealed.  While I initially felt there was more emphasis on the love story than I wanted when it became more of a central part of the story, that didn’t last for long once the details came out.  By the end of the story, the past had come out in to the open, but the next book will need to deal with the consequences of a present act done without all the information.

After reading through this review, I feel that it is much more vague than normal and that I’m not saying as much about the book as usual, but I really, really don’t want to give too much away about Karou’s other world and spoil it.  A lot of the fun in reading this book was in seeing these mysteries set up and then slowly learning more about the answers over the course of the novel.  Another big strength was the writing, and since I don’t have a final copy, I can’t even quote an example from that.  (However, I will be on the lookout for excerpts and will make sure I post a link to one if I come across one at any point!)

The more I read by Laini Taylor, the more impressed I am.  Her Dreamdark books were lovely, and  “Hatchling” in Lips Touch: Three Times is quite possibly the best piece of fiction shorter than novel length I’ve read.  Likewise, Daughter of Smoke and Bone showcases some gorgeous writing and creativity.  The world is dark but hopeful, the characters are memorable and vibrant, and it’s easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s one of those rare books that I find it hard to imagine anyone who likes fantasy not enjoying, at least as long as they don’t have a problem with a romantic storyline or conversations about what constitutes an “unnecessary penis.”

My Rating: 9.5/10

Where I got my reading copy: I picked up an ARC at Book Expo America.

If You Lived Here
Jun
27
2011

Jeff Vandermeer is working on a book titled If You Lived Here: The Top 30 All Time Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Worlds for Underland Press. They are looking for nominations from readers on their favorite fantasy and science fiction worlds, and it’s possible they may request to use what you have to say about one of your favorite imaginary worlds in the book.

I’ve been thinking about submitting some myself, but I’m having a horrible time limiting it to just 3.  There’s the quirkiness of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, the overall awesomeness of life in the Culture as created by Iain M. Banks, the open-minded beauty and expansiveness of Jacqueline Carey’s Terre d’Ange (ok, I guess that doesn’t count since it’s not quite secondary but on an alternate Earth).  Oh, and N. K. Jemisin’s world of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms in which gods are abundant is pretty neat too…  And so is Malazan with its ascendants… Sharon Shinn’s Samaria is pretty interesting, and so is the division between summer and winter in Joan D. Vinge’s The Snow Queen… And so many others, even if a lot of them have enough turmoil that I may not want to actually live there!

What are your favorite worlds from fantasy and science fiction? What is it you find so intriguing and memorable about them?