A Fantasy Reader

Circumstance made him a criminal. Destiny may make him a hero.

As a thief, Malden is unparalleled in the Free City of Ness, and happy there. But by saving the life of the knight Croy, Malden has bound himself to an ancient, noble brotherhood . . . and he now possesses one of only seven Ancient Blades capable of destroying demons.

Malden fears accompanying Croy and the barbarian Mörget on their quest to dispatch a foul creature of nightmare . . . nor does he want to disturb the vengeful dead. But with an assassin on his heels, the young cutpurse is left with no choice. And there is the comely sorceress, Cythera, to consider— promised to Croy but in love with Malden—not to mention the fabulous treasure rumored to be hidden in the depths of the demon’s lair . . . 

Reaching far beyond sword and sorcery, The Scar is a story of two people torn by disaster, their descent into despair, and their reemergence through love and courage. Sergey and Marina Dyachenko mix dramatic scenes with romance, action and wit, in a style both direct and lyrical. Written with a sure artistic hand, The Scar is the story of a man driven by his own feverish demons to find redemption and the woman who just might save him. 

Egert is a brash, confident member of the elite guards and an egotistical philanderer. But after he kills an innocent student in a duel, a mysterious man known as “The Wanderer” challenges Egert and slashes his face with his sword, leaving Egert with a scar that comes to symbolize his cowardice. Unable to end his suffering by his own hand, Egert embarks on an odyssey to undo the curse and the horrible damage he has caused, which can only be repaired by a painful journey down a long and harrowing path. Toria, the woman whose fiancé Egert killed, hates Egert, and is saddened and numb, but comes to forgive the drastically changed Egert. 

An ancient sorcerer slaughters the King of Yaskatha and his court before the unbelieving eyes of the young Prince D’zan. From that moment the fugitive Prince is driven by one thought – he must regain his father’s stolen throne. The lives of six foreign Princes are tied to D’zan’s fate as he seeks allies for his cause.

In a land where Men and Giants battle side by side against ancient monsters and terrifying sorcery, only one thing is certain – war is coming.

Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse. From being a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg has the ability to master the living and the dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.

“So . . .” I looked around them, real slow-like. “So, the Baron knows where bandits such as ourselves will be going, and he knows the way we’ve got to go.” I let that sink in. “And I just lit a bloody big fire that tells him and his what a bad idea it’d be to follow.”
I stuck Gemt with my knife then. I didn’t need to, but I wanted it. He danced pretty enough too, bubble bubble on his blood, and fell off his horse. His red face went pale quick enough.
“Maical,” I said. “Take his head.”
And he did.
Gemt just chose a bad moment.

Two new covert art, or maybe artwork since it's not the final result yet, surfaced recently, the UK art for the next dragon novel by Stephen Deas, The Black Mausoleum and the fourth novel in Robert V.S. Redick series, the Chathrand Voyage, The Night of the Swarm. Both novels should be out by Spring 2012.

From Stephen Youll who also made the covers for Deas' US novels :

The future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance. In the east, Daenerys, last scion of House Targaryen, her dragons grown to terrifying maturity, rules as queen of a city built on dust and death, beset by enemies. Now that her whereabouts are known many are seeking Daenerys and her dragons. Among them the dwarf, Tyrion Lannister, who has escaped King's Landing with a price on his head, wrongfully condemned to death for the murder of his nephew, King Joffrey. But not before killing his hated father, Lord Tywin. To the north lies the great Wall of ice and stone -- a structure only as strong as those guarding it. Eddard Stark's bastard son Jon Snow has been elected the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, but he has enemies both in the Watch and beyond the Wall, where the wildling armies are massing for an assault. On all sides bitter conflicts are reigniting, played out by a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves.

Feast and Dance could be seen as bridging novels.  In both of them, there's less clashing of armies and less epic battles but the war aftermath of Storm of Swords can't really get back to speed faster.  I understand why the book is written this way and the sense of dragging I've explained doesn't eclipse the masterful storytelling I experienced.

I don't think I really have to talk about world building after five books. The world created by Martin is simply amazing and in Dance, the history behind the alliances and betrayals of old is expanded, the religion of R'hllor is making more noise and the Free cities/Valyria parts of the continent are explored further, Westeros feels less isolated.

Winter has finally come and even though the road to reach it was not a perfectly scribbled endeavor, I think that it was worth the wait. The scope of things to come is mesmerizing.

Technically, the Bantam Spectra cover, the one at the start of the review is good looking and almost all of the alternative covers are generic but nice enough. All the maps necessary, from beyond the wall to the Dothraki Sea are present, which is really really appreciated. The hardcover edition of the book stands at 1040 pages with obviously, all the family trees.

That one I found so funny.  This small extract is from The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. It's no spoiler but since you may want to keep the last bit for the actual reading of the book if you've not yet picked up the novel, I put the text of the last sentence in white on white. Highlight to read it. It's a story Kvothe is telling around a fire:

     "Once upon a time," I began. "There was a little boy born in a little town. He was perfect, or so his mother thought. But one thing was different about him. He had a gold screw in his belly button. Just the head of it peeping out.

    "Now his mother was simply glad he had all his fingers and toes to count with. But as the boy grew up he realized not everyone had screws in their belly buttons, let alone gold ones. He asked his mother what i was for, but she didn't know. Next he asked his father, but his father didn't know. He asked his grandparents, but they didn't know either.

    "That settled it for a while, but it kept nagging him. Finally, when he was old enough, he packed a bag and set out, hoping he could find someone who knew the truth of it.

    "He went from place to place, asking everyone who claimed to know something about anything. He asked midwives and physickers, but they couldn't make heads of tails of it. The boy asked arcanists, tinkers, and old hermits living in the woods, but no one had ever seen anything like it.

    "He went to ask the Cealdim merchants, thinking if anyone would know about gold, it would be them. But the Cealdim merchants didn't know. He went to the arcanists at the University, thinking if anyone would know about screws and their workings, they would. But the arcanists didn't know. The boy followed the road over the Stormwal to ask the witch women of Tahl, but none of them could give him an answer.

    "Eventually, he went to the King of Vint, the richest king in the world. But the king didn't know. He went to the Emperor of Atur, but even with all his power, the emperor didn't know. He went to each of the small kingdoms, one by one, but no one could tell him anything.

    "Finally, the boy went to the High King of Modeg, the wisest of all the kings in the world. The high king looked closely at the head of the golden screw peeping from the boy's belly button. Then the high king made as gesture, and his seneschal brought out a pillow of golden silk. On that pillow was a golden box. The high king took a golden key from his neck, opened the box, and inside was a golden screwdriver.

    "The high king took the screwdriver and motioned the boy to come closer. Trembling with excitement, the boy did. Then the high king took the golden screwdriver and put it in the boy's belly button.

(HIGHLIGHT)

    I paused to take a long drink of water. I could feel my small audience leaning toward me. "Then the high king carefully turned the golden screw. Once: Nothing. Twice: Nothing. Then he turned it the third time, and the boy's ass fell off."

• Croaker from the Black Company novels by Glen Cook

• Kvothe from The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

• Eddie LaCrosse from The Sword-Edge Blonde, Burn Me Deadly and Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

Twenty years ago, a barmaid in a harbor town fell for a young sailor who turned pirate to make his fortune.  But what truly became of Black Edward Tew remains a mystery, one that just has fallen into the lap of freelance sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse.

For years, Eddie has kept his office above Angelina’s tavern, so when Angelina herself asks him to find out what happened to the dashing pirate who stole her heart years ago, he can hardly say no–even though the trail is two decades old.  Some say Black Edward and his ship, The Bloody Angel, went to bottom of the sea, taking with it  a king’s fortune in treasure.  Others say he rules a wealthy, secret pirate kingdom.  And a few believe he still sails under a ghostly flag, with a crew of the damned. 

To find the truth, and earn his twenty-five gold pieces a day, Eddie must take to sea in the company of a sexy former pirate queen in search of the infamous Black Edward Tew . . . and his even more legendary treasure.