The Way of Kings is in

I received my ARC for The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson today. Farlander will be pushed to the side for a third time in the last two months. As soon as I finish City of Ruin, I will dive into this behemoth!

I admit that I was hungry for a doorstopper type of novel set in an epic fantasy world that will span several books and be huge in scale. Since Erikson will finish his Malazan series soon, this may to be what I need. I don't know if I'm too much influenced by the hype machine but I haven't been as eager for a book since a while. So far, I've read Elantris, the first Mistborn book and The Gathering Storm by Brandon Sanderson and I was impressed. With all the info about The Way of Kings I received so far, my expectation are high. Good reading folks, I'll keep you updated!

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths,

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

July releases

No big guns next month, although I should receive my advance review copy of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Three books caught my attention in July. One is the third book in a series I'm just starting in audiobook, another is the follow-up to a novel I had mixed feelings about and the last one is an omnibus for a series written by an author I could put on my pile-o-shame for not having read anything by him.

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Imager's Intrigue
L.E. Modesitt Jr.
July 20

I started listening to Imager by L.E. Modesitt Jr. last week after reading a couple of nice reviews. I have never read anything by the prolific author. I'm a 100 pages in and so far I'm not really impressed although I'm still interested enough to continue. This month, the third book in the series named The Imager Porfolio that started with Imager and was followed by Imager's Challenge will be released. Here's the blurb :

Rhenn has come into his own. He has a wife and a young child, and a solid career as an imager. But he has made more than one enemy during his journey from apprentice painter to master imager, and even his great powers won't allow him to escape his past.

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The Office of Shadow
Matthew Sturges
July 6

As I mentioned, I had mixed feelings about Midwinter (my review here). However, I think I could give the second book a chance eventually. Although Silverdun was not the character I connected with the most, he still had the potential to become a compelling protagonist. And also, the narrative seems more focused on Sturges created fae world... Here you go :

If 2009's Midwinter was the Dirty Dozen in Elfland, this thrilling sequel is Magical Mission Impossible. Former lothario Silverdun becomes a priest, but finds himself bored. When his government recruits him as a spy, he takes the offer and is shocked when they demand he learn extraordinary physical and magical skills. Silverdun, scholarly former soldier Ironfoot, and deadly empath Sela are assigned to discover the origin of Einswrath, the city-killing weapons unleashed in the previous Seelie/Unseelie war. Standard spy tropes—training sequences, double agents, betrayals from within—take on new life when melded with high fantasy, and Sturges has an easy ear for dialogue and character. Silverdun's backstory is nicely fleshed out in the process, though fans of the first book should be warned that the other characters appear briefly or not at all.

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Hawkwood and the Kings
Paul Kearney
July 27

Monarchies of the God is Paul Kearney first series (after a couple of stand alones). The five books are re-issued as two omnibus, Hawkwood and the Kings this month and Century of the Soldier in September. I think I ought to read The Ten Thousand soon but I could be tempted by a series with much critical acclaim and Steven Erikson as a fan! Blurb you say?

The world is in turmoil. In the east the savage Mer­duks, followers of the Prophet Ahrimuz, have cap­tured the holy city of Aekir. The western kingdoms are too distracted by internecine bickering to intervene and the Chruch seems more obsessed with rooting out heresy. It is an age where men go to the stake for the taint of magic in their blood, where gunpowder and cannon co-exit with werewolves and sorcerers. It is the turning point when two get reilgions will fight to the death and the common folk will struggle to merely survive.

The White Luck Warrior US cover and blurb

The White Luck Warrior is the upcoming novel from R. Scott Bakker series The Aspect Emperor, the series that chronicle the events following the magnificent first trilogy by the author, The Prince of Nothing. There's was not much info so far about the book but Adam at The Wertzone picked up the US cover in the Overlook Press 2010/2011 catalog. Argh! I'm really not a fan of this one...

Anyway, at least we know now that the book will be out in March 2011 and I'm very enthusiastic about it. The first book of the series, The Judging Eye was quite good although not as excellent as I expected from Bakker. You know, I realized that 2011 will probably be an amazing year, with Abercrombie's The Heroes, Erikson's The Crippled God, Lynch's The Republic of Thieves, Martin's A Dance With Dragons, Rothfuss's Wise Man Fear and at least 2 books by Brandon Sanderson :) So anyway, here's the blurb :

Widely praised by reviewers and a growing body of fans, R. Scott Bakker has already established his reputation as one of the few unique new talents in the fantasy genre. Now he returns with the long-awaited The White Luck Warrior—the second book in the Aspect-Emperor series.

As Anasûrimbor Kellhus and his Great Ordeal march ever farther into the wastes of the Ancient North, Esmenet finds herself at war with not only the Gods, but her own family as well. Achamian, meanwhile, leads his own ragtag expedition to the legendary ruins of Sauglish, and to a truth he can scarcely survive, let alone comprehend. Into this tumult walks the White-Luck Warrior, assassin and messiah both.

The White Luck Warrior is a story filled with heartstopping action, devious treachery, grand passion, and meticulous detail. It is both a classic quest tale and a high fantasy war story.

***

In other news about R. Scott Bakker, if you haven't stumbled about the info yet, the guy is making a comeback as a presence on the net. His new blog, Three Pound Brain can be found here.

Alternate covers and GRRM RPG art

Two new foreign, well not really that much foreign in UK's case.... :), covers surfaced last week. The first one is the Taiwanese cover for The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. This is the third cover art, beside the french and US/UK cover. I'm still rooting for the french one. Week's thanks for the Taiwanese edition goes to Cameron McClure, Gray Tan, and Tai Tien Electrics.

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Secondly, the UK cover for the newly released novel Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk. This time, you have to choose between a hooded assassin surrounded by blue and green or a hooded assassin surrounded by yellow. My personal vote... hum... kind of hard. I think the guy on the US cover looks better, close call.

UK :



US :

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Finally, a cool piece of art but not on the cover of a novel. George R.R. Martin posted the cover art for the Campaign Guide for its SONG OF ICE AND FIRE ROLE-PLAYING GAME. This is the Kingslayer himself, Jaime Lannister beside the Iron Throne and the corpse of mad King Aerys. Michael Kormack (his website) is responsible for this beautiful piece of work. This is really one of my favorite artist in the genre right now, mostly for his work on the Subterranean Press edition of Gardens of the Moon. Click it to see it in all it's glory!

The Desert Spear review

Peter V. Brett was formerly known as the guy who wrote his first novel on his Blackberry. Peter V. Brett is now the author of an ongoing popular and acclaimed fantasy series and he deserves the title. I enjoyed quite enough his first work (The Warded Man review) to become really eager for the sequel, The Desert Spear.

In Krasia, the rise of the Shar’Dama Ka, the deliverer reborn is recounted up to the invasion of Thesa. In the North, the Warded Man is teaching his people to defend themselves and strike back against the coreling invasion forming up from the mist every night. With his friends, Leesha and Rojer, he will undertake a quest to spread the knowledge of the newly found battle wards throughout the old Thesan free cities. In the darkness of the night, the coreling princes watch patiently, waiting for their moment.

The Desert Spear is literally and fundamentally a middle book. Brett chose to concentrate on placing his characters exactly where he wants them and prepares the ground for something bigger in scale, a great convergence. However, because of this, the book suffers a bit. First of all, there's clearly two parts to the novel. The first one is a catch up/alternative PoV of the story from the first book for Jardir (from birth to his betrayal of Arlen). The second part is what I just detailed as "a middle book".

It felt kind of weird for me to switch from the first part to the second. Jardir's story is captivating, the more so because it's set in a tightly constructed and imaginative substitute version of the Muslim world. Being able to see the other side of the mirror and get a hold of the Shar’Dama Ka perspective deepens the narrative and creates a vibrating new ambiance. The knowledge of the Krasian deliverer goals, hardships and origin was a necessity to make the remainder of the story believable. Nonetheless, the switch of setting is a rough one.

One of the things I disliked from the first book was the too numerous chapters about those "good old tales of farmer wives" (dubious choice of term from yours truly but I think you grasp my meaning). Even though I initially thought it actually gave the protagonists their motivations, there was too much of it. I was disappointed to find out that it's still not over in the follow-up. However, the author eventually gets on to business adroitly and brings on to the front lines Renna. A welcome addition to the main cast that will probably shine through the next book. She's probably the only one who could stand up to the Warded Man.

The best improvement in term of writing was the pace. In the Warded Man, it was uneven and the story wasn't evenly told with the same amount of details. This is corrected in the second novel. The writing is more fluid, the world feels richer in details and the characters really have the time to think and act consequently. This great progression can only mean one thing, a finely written conclusion.

I still have some problem with Rojer. I'm not really sure that it's actually possible to like him, at least in my case. His jealousy, his guilt and feeling of failure.... I'm simply unable to connect with his situation. That being said, I don't think it's the author fault. Then, there's a lack of Arlen as a PoV. The Thesan deliverer is at the heart of the tale and I would have given him more spotlight. However, I'm not the author and I'm sure that Peter has very specific and captivating plans for him. Since he is the sole protagonist who actually has insightful interactions with the corelings, it would have been fun to have him go down deeper in the rabbit hole. Hopefully, the hero still has his moments, as when he confronts all his past relations, an heartbreaking succession of trials that will define the man that will probably lead the upcoming war.

Corelings and warding. In this case again, kudos to Mr. Brett, more so for the new additions to the alagai cast. The new coreling princes and mimics expand the bestiary in such an interesting way that elevates the combat to new heights. With both the deliverers getting stronger and stronger with the help of all those new wards, they ought to have more terrific foes to fight, and they have. I would have hoped to have a glimpse of them earlier but they send a signal that a glorious challenge is coming.

Speaking of warding, I would finish with Leesha. She brings innovation to the table and helps in integrating the wards to the background. This special touch is the most compelling element of Brett's world. Moreover, she brings sensuality and desire. All the aspects of her flirting are exploited with finesse and used in just the right dose by the author. She and the khaffit Abban, augment significantly the quality of the cast.

The book was pretty hard to judge as far as numbers goes. I would probably have given the novel a better score if it wasn't for the "middle book" factor I felt a bit too much. Yet, I will watch and wait for the last opus intently.

Technically, I can only praise the cover art by Larry Rostant. The Del Rey hardcover edition of the novel stand at 579 pages and is still lacking a map. The Daylight War should be out in 2012 to finish the trilogy.

The Desert Spear review score :

Characterization............. 7.5 /10
World building............... 8 / 10
Magic system................. 8 /10
Story.............................. 7 / 10
Writing........................... 8.5 / 10

Overall (not an average) 7.5 / 10

Enjoy!

Peter V. Brett page

Winter's heart ebook cover art

We have almost reached the end. The ninth cover art for the nearly released (June 22nd) ebook edition of Robert Jordan's Winter's Heart is unveiled. Tor.com posted today the cover with some information about the creation process. The artist behind this one is Scott Fischer (website here).

The scene depicted is the cleansing of saidin in Shadar Logoth (in the blurry background). Too bad that Nynaeve wasn't included but it looks nice, as far as my taste goes. Fischer sketched the facial features of Rand with the help of the cover art from the first book and it ended up looking way better.

You can see the first eight ebook covers here :

The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords
The Path of Daggers

Game of Thrones Teaser

Tor.com posted the link for the new teaser for the Game of Thrones series on HBO. The page on HBO.com for the George R.R. Martin based tv series is still slightly bare of information aside from a little synopsis and the teaser. Not much is revealed in the video but here's the pic of Sean Bean as Eddard Stark holding on to Ice.

Winter is coming.

The Way of Kings excerpt

Tor.com posted today an excerpt for the eagerly awaited novel The Way of Kings, first book of the ambitious Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson. The excerpt includes the a prelude, the prologue and the first three chapters for the Tor.com members(for this last part). Note that the prologue was already included in the Warbreaker paperback). Tor is energetically pushing this one but I already jumped in the bandwagon and this book is one of my strongest must-red of 2010.

I had already posted the cover art (here for the US and here for the UK cover) and some info about this huge project (here). Brandon Sanderson detailed a bit more on his blog a couple of months ago.

Here's a glimpse :

Kalak rounded a rocky stone ridge and stumbled to a stop before the body of a dying thunderclast. The enormous stone beast lay on its side, riblike protrusions from its chest broken and cracked. The monstrosity was vaguely skeletal in shape, with unnaturally long limbs that sprouted from granite shoulders. The eyes were deep red spots on the arrowhead face, as if created by a fire burning deep within the stone. They faded.

Even after all these centuries, seeing a thunderclast up close made Kalak shiver. The beast’s hand was as long as a man was tall. He’d been killed by hands like those before, and it hadn’t been pleasant.

Of course, dying rarely was.

He rounded the creature, picking his way more carefully across the battlefield. The plain was a place of misshapen rock and stone, natural pillars rising around him, bodies littering the ground. Few plants lived here. The stone ridges and mounds bore numerous scars. Some were shattered, blasted-out sections where Surgebinders had fought. Less frequently, he passed cracked, oddly shaped hollows where thunderclasts had ripped themselves free of the stone to join the fray.

Many of the bodies around him were human; many were not. Blood mixed. Red. Orange. Violet. Though none of the bodies around him stirred, an indistinct haze of sounds hung in the air. Moans of pain, cries of grief. They did not seem like the sounds of victory. Smoke curled from the occasional patches of growth or heaps of burning corpses. Even some sections of rock smoldered. The Dustbringers had done their work well.

But I survived, Kalak thought, hand to breast as he hastened to the meeting place. I actually survived this time.

That was dangerous. When he died, he was sent back, no choice. When he survived the Desolation, he was supposed to go back as well. Back to that place that he dreaded. Back to that place of pain and fire. What if he just decided . . . not to go?

Perilous thoughts, perhaps traitorous thoughts. He hastened on his way.

The complete prelude and prologue here.

Malazan updates

Here's some tidbits all related to the gargantuan Malazan project.

First off is the synopsis/blurb for Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont, author of Night of Knives and Return of the Crimson Guard. The book is still scheduled for a release this year. This was posted first by Pat at Pat Fantasy Hotlist (here). Greymane, the continent of Korel and the stormriders.... sounds very promising! Here you go :

Greymane believed he'd outrun his past. He now ran a school for swordsmanship in Falar and was looking forward to becoming fat and lazy. With him was Kyle, though the plains youth was not quite so contented with civilian life outside the mercenary company the Crimson Guard. Yet it is not so easy to disappear when you are an ex-Fist of the Malazan Empire, especially one denounced and under a death-sentence from that very Empire.

For there is a new Emperor on the throne of Malaz, and his thoughts turn to the lingering drain of blood and treasure that is the failed invasion of the Korel subcontinent. In the record vaults beneath Unta, the Imperial capital, lie the answers to that disaster. And out of this buried history surfaces the name Stonewielder.

In Korel, Lord Protector Hiam, commander of the Stormguard, faces the potential annihilation of all that he loves as with the blood of his few remaining men and a crumbling stone wall that has seen better days, he labours to stave off the sea-borne Stormriders who would destroy his lands.

Meanwhile, religious war has broken out all across these lands as the local cult of the Blessed Lady, who has stood firm for millennia against the assaults of the Stormriders, seeks to stamp out all rivals; a champion refuses to stand against the alien 'Riders' and takes up arms in rebellion; and a local magistrate innocently pursuing the mystery of a series of murders is brought to the very heart of a far larger and far more terrifying ancient crime that has stained the entire subcontinent.

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I already posted the tentative map of the Malazan world (sometimes called Wu) and you can find it in the index. However, as was reported by Adam at The Wertzone (here), someone at the Cartographer Guild striked again! After making beautiful renderings for the maps of A Song of Ice and Fire and A Land Fit for Heroes (The Steel Remains), here's the Malazan world in all it's glory (as Adam mentioned, the map is a bit outdated...) :

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Finally, a word again from the man himself, Steven Erikson. He posted another entry for his "Notes on a Crisis" on Life as a human, this time about his motivations and more specifically the character of Badalle (from the Snake in Toll the Hounds). He explains his inspiration for the character who was called by some the "poet bitch". I admit that I didn't really liked that story arc and this protagonist in particular. Not sure if this reconcile me with her...

Winterbirth review

I'm coming in a bit late to Brian Ruckley but late is better than never. Winterbirth is Brian Ruckley first novel in the Godless World trilogy and was released in 2006. The follow-ups, Bloodheir and Fall of Thanes are already released. Ruckley is actually working on a new novel about an alternate fantasy version of Edinburgh.

The Gods have left the world and the Gyre blood, followers of the Black Road, are forced into exile. Several generations later, the Haig are ruling the Huanin race in the north but they still fight for territories. While soldiers of the Lannis and Kilkry blood are fighting for the High Thane in the south, their homes are attacked by an expeditionary force form the Gyre with the help of a Kyrinin clan and a forsaken Na'kyrim, a mixed-blood, Aeglyss. They will take prisoners but Orisian, the nephew of the Lannis-Haig Thane will take flight with his bodyguard. They will be taken in by the mysterious Kyrinin and with their help they will try to come to the rescue of their people.

Winterbirth is a tale of blood feud and vendetta where members of the blood have forsaken or killed their brothers and they want their revenge. This is a long ongoing cycle that doesn't seem to be breakable. The only way would be to wipe out your blood enemies completely or abandon the old grudges. This is the struggle lived by most of the characters in the novel, mostly so in Orisian (whose bloodline is decimated) case and for the Horin-Gyre bloodheir and his sister. Around them, some of the characters are more common occurrences in term of fantasy literature, like Mordyn, the High Thane chancellor who is the mastermind behind his thane conquest and prosperity, the dumb High Thane son or Varryn the exceptional and silent warrior. However I found more originality than déjà-vu, as in Ess'yr case, Orisian inaccessible love interest or pretty much all of the leaders of the different factions of the Black Road.

The tale is narrated at a nice pace through several PoV (in a third person perspective). Every side of the struggle are represented. Moreover, another interesting point within this story is that if one puts Aeglyss on side, since his past resembles that of the youth who is rejected by everybody for being different and who ends up as a blind avenger (even then his storyline will probably end up really compelling), all the other protagonists have justified reasons to act in the way in which Ruckley makes them. Moral limits are fuzzy and the faults of each one of them are skilfully exploited.

The mix of all their storyline viewed with the help of many PoV makes us live the struggle from many perspectives except for the Kyrinin (which are related to elves). Since they are as much mysterious for the Huanin (humans) protagonists as they are for the reader, I believe that it was a good choice to keep them on the side. In the mist of all this, there's the Na'kyrim, half Huanin and half Kyrinin, mainly represented by Inurian, the old advisor to Orisian father (an easy to love paternal figure) and Aeglyss. In short, a nice large cast admirably orchestrated.

While being slightly more limited in proportion and less profound in the exploration of the characters, perhaps that Winterbirth cannot be compared to aSoIaF, but I often had the sensation that the world delivered by the author resembled the northern portion of the Seven Kingdoms. The people difficulty to withstand the elements, the blood ties which are more crucial than anything else, the brutality and roughness necessary for survival, I found in both. Indeed, for me it seemed a bit like a portion of aSoIaF with elvish-like people, and this is meant as a compliment.

I felt that the world was ancient and that even if there's some hint about great cataclysms of the past caused by some rogue Na' kyrim, the humanity is thus because of the factors to which I allotted the resemblances to the work of George R.R. Martin. In my opinion, this makes of it a success in term of world building. In accordance with the history, races, gods and the geography, Ruckley succeeded masterfully in making me live what it's like to be among his protagonists.

As for magic, it reminds mysterious aside from some explanations about the Shared, the place in which the Na'kyrim draw their power and are interconnected. The development of Aeglyss in the following books will probably shed more light on this.

The naming pattern in Ruckley's work is tricky to follow in the first couple of chapters. Members of the blood are named by their first name, their link within the family and their Thane (chief) family name. This result in Croesan oc Lannis-Haig, Kanin nan Horin-Gyre or Aewult nan Haig. Hopefully, through the end of the first third of the book, they felt familiar. The cast of characters at the beginning of the book can be of great assistance.

Even though I think I saw easily where Ruckley is going with some of his storylines (anyway there's a lot of them), I'm still eager to pick up the next volume. The author created an unforgiving world in which I really want to see who will come out of it with his skin still on his back.

Technically, I would have loved to have the Czech edition on my shelves. Ketai Kotaki is one of my favorite artists. However, the Orbit cover is not bad with its distinct font. The paperback edition of the novel is 541 pages. There are two simple but welcomed maps and a cast of characters.

If you want to read an extract or take a look at all the cover arts for the book in different languages, head on to Brian's Winterbirth page.

Winterbirth review score :

Characterization............. 8.5 /10
World building............... 9 / 10
Magic system................. 7 /10
Story.............................. 8 / 10
Writing........................... 8 / 10

Overall (not an average) 8.5 / 10

Enjoy!

Brian Ruckley page