September releases

The follow-up to one of the great debut of last year is coming out this month, Spellbound by Blake Charlton.  I noticed that the book reading level on Amazon is Young Adult... I admit that it can be justified, maybe as "for all the family" but as I said in my review of Spellwright : "Judging by this, the book could almost be considered a YA novel, but I would tag it as for all ages instead, i.e. not specifically targeted towards the YA audience."

David Chandler's second book in a couple of months will also be out, fellow Canadian K.V. Johansen's novel will be released and if you wondered what Greg Keyes was up to, he has written a second novel set in the Elder Scrolls universe.

From the list of the 2011 releases I posted back in January, one novel set for release initially in September was pushed back to October, The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin.

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Spellbound
Blake Charlton
September 13

Francesca DeVega is a successful healer in the city of Avel, wielding magical text to close wounds and disspell curses, but her life is thrown into chaos when a dead patient suddenly sits up and tells her to run. Now Francesca is in the middle of a game she doesn’t understand, one that ties her to the notorious rogue wizard, Nicodemus Weal, and brings her face to face with demons, demigods, and a man she thought she’d never see again.
It has been ten years since Nicodemus Weal escaped the Starhaven Academy, where he was considered disabled and useless, where he battled the demon who stole his birthright and killed his friends. Unable to use the magical languages of his own people, Nico has honed his skills in  the dark language of the kobolds, readying himself for his next encounter with the demon. But there are complications: his mentor suffers from an incurable curse, his half-sister’s agents are hunting him, and he’s still not sure what part Francesca DeVega will play. He certainly doesn’t know what to make of Francesca herself….

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Lord of Souls
Greg Keyes
September 17

Reeling from a devastating discovery, Prince Attrebus continues on his seemingly doomed quest to obtain a magic sword that holds the key to destroying the deadly invaders. Meanwhile, in the Imperial City, the spy Colin finds evidence of betrayal at the heart of the empire - if his own heart doesn't betray him first. And Annaig, trapped in Umbriel itself, has become a slave to its dark lord.

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Blackdog

K.V. Johansen

September 20

Long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, there were seven devils...
In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping a bloodily-conquered lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, he flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.
And long ago, after the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods...
Moth was once Ulfhild the King’s Sword, wizard and warrior of the north. And she was once Vartu Kingsbane, one of the seven devils of legend. Moth cares little for the fate of a minor goddess of the earth like Attalissa, but at the command of the Old Great Gods she is hunting down her former comrades, though how her enemies have compelled her obedience is a mystery even to her lover, the bear-demon Mikki.
And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still. Necromancy, treachery, massacres and rebellions, gods dead or lost or mad, follow hard on the devils’ heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s -- and Holla-Sayan’s -- doom. 

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A Thief in the Night

David Chandler

September 27

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 . . .

The Well of Ascension review

The Well of Ascension is Brandon Sanderson second novel in the Mistborn trilogy. It was originally released in August 2007 and was Sanderson first sequel in one of his Fantasy worlds, the third 'non-YA' novel he wrote.  Sadly, it's now his best work.

The Lord Ruler is no more. The city of Luthadel and the central dominance are now in the hands of the newly crowned King Elend Venture. With the help of the crew and under the protection of the now named Lady Heir, the mistborn Vin, the young charismatic noble who dreamed of a utopian society is trying to create a kingdom with fair laws for everyone. However, for the nobles in the other dominances, this new regime is not to their taste. Upon the rumors of the cache of atium, the ultimate allomantic metal, residing under the city, it's not long before Elend and his people find themselves surrounded by enemies. As the stalemate between the armies and the besieged begins, Vin is now hearing a thrumming sound more and more loudly. Could it be the power of the Well of Ascension coming back after the departure of the Lord Ruler?

If you haven't read the first Mistborn novel before plunging into Well of Ascension, you won't remain lost for too long since in many occurrences, Vin thoughts are directed at the past (mostly hers but other protagonists do it too).  This 'slow-going' recap of the first book was slightly annoying.  Maybe it could come as a plus if you had read it a long time ago but if that's not the case that's just unnecessary filling.

Speaking of thoughts… I don't remember being aware of that aspect of Sanderson's writing in the first volume but there's quite a lot of introspection done by the protagonists. They actually have long reflections about every bit of information or events happening around them and it even affects the discussions they have. This creates a crushingly slow pace with barely a trace of action for several consecutive pages or even chapters. And in action, I'm not simply implying battle sequence but actual progress in the plot. At least, the main arc of the Mistborn trilogy remains original and captivating.

Also, I think that this is even worse when you realize that these writing "defects" are applied to the story itself.  You see, Well of Ascension storyline is concentrated on the military stalemate going on between two or eventually three armies and the city of Luthadel where our heroes from the first volume are currently struggling with power.  This whole situation could be seen as an interesting puzzle but for me it not only created a deadlock in term of warfare but also in term of narrative.  The events are dragging.

Enough negative elements, let's counterbalance this with what I actually enjoyed while reading the book, because from what I've said it may look as if this middle book is borderline with a catastrophe but it's not. Vin, mostly so since she's an allomancer/mistborn, is a very compelling character with great potential and some flaws to make her appear more human. With her former companion/mentor out of the way, someone else with the same kind of "power" ought to step up to the plate, some balance is needed.  That individual is Zane, another mistborn and the son of a high noble. His madness and skills and the relationship he develops with Vin bring a refreshing breath to the lethargic tale.  However, I could ask myself if it's normal to cheer for a relationship that you know is wrong or at least you think it is when taking into account all the info and feelings the author injected into it….

Another shining star in this covered sky is Sazed and the epigraphs telling the story of the world builder Kwaan, who followed the first supposed Hero of Ages. The recounting itself and the way Sazed is looking into it add an extra layer to the whole mystery at the heart of the second book who was indeed in need of more (for at least a good portion of the tale). Moreover, since Sazed is now the only ferruchemist using his skills in original ways, he hopefully got enough page time.  The last character that I would compliment is Oreseur, the kandra.  Again, he's revolving around Vin and creating with an entertaining set of exchanges.

The ending can be seen as redeeming for some of the more negative sides of the book. It's not transforming a decent book into a splendid one but at least it creates a more interesting setting for the final book of the trilogy. I still enjoyed enough parts of the ride to eventually pick up the last novel and not simply because I started it or want to witness the resolution but because many elements are in place to produce something great.

As such, the one thing I truly remember from the first novel was its originality in its magic system, plot and world-building. While in a bridging novel some of these aspects can fade out a bit, as it does in this instance with the story, it still remains strong enough in Well of Ascension to help in making me continue to read Sanderson's work in this universe.  The upcoming book set in the same world centuries later, The Allow of Law could be the icing on an uneven cake but a good cake nonetheless.

Technically, the Tor books covers are not amazing (the first one posted is the one for the mass market paperback edition and the second one for the hardcover) but the UK art as its charms. The map is still present as is the glossary with the allomantic metals.  The hardcover edition of the novel stands at 592 pages.  As for the audiobook edition I listened to, it was read by the always agreeable Michael Kramer, who I enjoyed several times in the past in the Wheel of Time and Acacia series audiobooks.  The duration of the narration is 29 hours and 1 minute.

The Well of Ascension review score :

Characterization............. 7.5 /10
World building............... 8.5 / 10
Magic system................. 9 / 10
Story.............................. 6.5 / 10
Writing........................... 7 / 10

Overall (not an average) 7 / 10

Enjoy!

Mistborn review
Brandon Sanderson page

New poll - Completed series

A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading The Crippled God by Steven Erikson, the final volume of his lengthy series.  I remember saying "After 3 million 300 thousand words, I can't actually believe that it's over but I'm also glad for it." and "And even though you might struggle in some passages, you'll probably end up being quite satisfied that you went through the ten books.".  So, as you can observe, as sporadic as it may seems for series (long lasting, not trilogies), I actually found at least one occurrence where the ending was satisfying enough for my taste. I know that many (and I should probably say quite a lot) of threads where not present at the ending but not all of them were necessary and few of them ended in cliffhangers. Though I would probably like some side stories with a couple of the characters from the books.

But, the Malazan book of the Fallen is one of those huge Fantasy series that is actually finished.  Moreover, it was planned from almost the beginning as a 'decalogy' (I could not confirm this 100%, any help on this?), while many other long running series were planned as trilogy or something close to it and ended up being much more (lets chose as examples... hum... the obvious? the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and a Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin).

For these two titles however, the tale is a continuous thread (with a clear ending more often than not in each novel) instead of a series of adventures with a "meta" thread in the background, a la Gentlemen Bastard sequence by Scott Lynch. This last example won't open too many sidestories to eventually get somewhat out of control, at least I hope so.

As for myself, if your a regular of the blog, you may know that I kind of love starting new series. Some time ago I posted the list of series I was actually reading and since then, the list is always increasing. And also, it seems that I'm not alone in being a 'series lover' (I hope that doesn't sound weird) if we take a look back at this poll where I asked you readers whether you prefer a stand-alone or series (92% of the answers went that way...). However, in that case, the difference between a trilogy and a ten novels series was not evident. Moreover, you're also more tempted by sequels than new ideas.... in a 44% vs 13 % proportion (even though 41% of the respondents didn't care...).

Why am I talking about this?  Because it's one of the subject I stumbled upon a couple of times since the release of A Dance with Dragons (and maybe the Game of Thrones TV series).  Readers are asking themselves whether or not they will pick up the series depending on the finished status of it. Another side of the question is influenced by the time factor.  I know that many readers will wait because they don't want to read a sequel when the previous book was read too long ago and it's not fresh in your memory.

An interesting article about these long lasting, several volume spanning sagas is available at the A.V. Club. It's titled "The perils and pleasures of long-running fantasy series". Different aspects of this reality are analysed in the post, for example the authors obligation to deliver and the difficulty of putting all the threads together toward a grandiose conclusion that was planned form the start.  As for that part, I'm actually thinking in pretty much the same lines as the author of the piece but with some nuances.  However, I'll stick with one subject for now and keep the rest for later polls/discussions.

So my question is simple : "Do you wait for series to be completed before starting one?"

- Yes
- No

NPR Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

Two weeks ago, NPR (books) posted the results for their list of the Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy books.  As they mention on their site, more than 5000 series/books were nominated (in June) and 60 000 people voted (from August 2nd to August 11).


If you don't know anything about NPR (as I did...) it seems that in addition to radio broadcast, NPR.org presents constantly updated news and alerts, timely news blogs, streaming audio, downloadable multimedia content, exclusive multimedia features (video and photojournalism), and free access to more than 10 years of archived coverage and transcripts to web users through NPR.org. Enough of free publicity :)


My first reflex, was to check whether or not I had read most of these books (the same as many other bloggers I think, who I will plagiarize and highlight the ones I have read).  Since I'm mostly a Fantasy reader with some background and several excursions in Sci-Fi, I can't say that I've read much of the titles the people voted for. Ok... so that list has to be taken lightly as with every list voted by readers but then, even when critics or influential people in the domain produce this kind of work, there's always someone to complain .At least, the voters were not afraid to vote for some recent works.  Usually, we find more titles that have proven their worth over a longer period of time but it's fun to have a glimpse of what people cherish in the genre these days.


I was really surprised by the presence of some titles like Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey... (it was not bad... but a Top 100???) but some of the series that became really popular are indeed in the list even though I think (don't forget, it's a personal opinion) they may not deserve to be in a top 100 or wouldn't be in mine... for example, The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodking (the second half of the series was... so disappointing but I know, the first book at least had its charms...) , Donaldson work (I couldn't even finish the first book), the Shannara Trilogy (felt too much like a ripoff of LOTR for me) or The Belgariad by David Eddings would be more fitting in a Top 100 YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi list...


Anyway, we would all have removed some books from that list and added some of our own.  No Abercrombie, Richard Morgan, Tad Williams, Scott Lynch or Mark Charan Newton is a crime!!! :)


So what do you think?  Interesting anyway?  Have you read much of these?

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

25. The Stand, by Stephen King

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan

51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

54. World War Z, by Max Brooks

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb

70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Updates - Weeks, Jemisin and Abercrombie

Some interesting tidbits surfaced in the last two days concerning Brent Weeks, N.K. Jemisin and Joe Abercrombie.

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First, if you have a Facebook account (hum... who doesn't anyway...) you can take a peak at the first three chapters of The Binding Knife, book two of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.  The author posted the chapters on The Black Prism Facebook page.  The novel is set for release in Fall 2012.

The Binding Knife excerpt.

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Lauren Panepinto posted another nice cover art this week for the Orbit release of the third novel in the Inheritance trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, The Kingdoms of Gods.  The cover was drawn again by Cliff Nielsen with the same kind of city art with a face on the background.

Here for the Orbit page.

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Finally, Joe Abercrombie posted an update on his next project (another stand alone in the same universe), for now titled (working name) Red Country (maybe with an 'A' before...).  Here's a glimpse of what he's talking about :

So I’ve finished the first draft of the second part of my latest masterwork, workingly titled, ‘A Red Country,’ or possibly just, ‘Red Country,’ we will see on that score.  For those who have failed to follow this blog religiously for the past few months (shame on you faithless scum), it is another semi-standalone set in the world of The First Law, and fusing fantasy elements with western elements, in the same way that The Heroes was a fantasy/war story and Best Served Cold fantasy/thriller-ish.  That puts me about 40% of the way through a first draft, though I suspect there’ll be a fair bit of work to do once the first draft is complete.  Isn’t there always?  Now the terrifying wait for feedback from my editor and readers while I try and sort out what exactly I’m going to do with my next part.  I guess one could say that if Part I was a little bit Searchers then Part II rolled into Lonesome Dove territory and Part III has something of a Deadwood/Fistful of Dollars motif.

Poll results

As the latest post closed, we get our results for this question :

"Which fantasy series should come to TV?"

- The First Law by Joe Abercrombie - 17%
- The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan - 16%
- The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch - 8%
- Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - 7%
- The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson - 7%
- The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb - 6%
- Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny - 4%
- The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss  - 3%
- The Psalm of Isaak by Ken Scholes - 3%
- The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks - 3%
- The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist - 3%

And with 2% or less : The Black Company by Glen Cook, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson, The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker, Shannara by Terry Brooks, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams, Eddie LaCrosse by Alex Bledsoe, Codex Alera by Jim Butcher, The Dragon Trilogy by Stephen Deas, Acacia by David Anthony Durham, Godless World by Brian Ruckley, The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone by Greg Keyes, Legend of the Red Sun by Mark Charan Newton, The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham, The Coldfire Trilogy, C.S. Friedman, The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett, Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I have to agree with some of the comments on the original post that many of these series would offer a problem of scope. As Grant said, action, more specifically battle scenes would come as a challenge... However, many of the series listed wouldn't have that much epic battle scenes with huge armies.

Anyway, let's dream that we could see Glokta slowly making his way toward an interrogation room, doing his click, tap, pain...

New Orbit covers for Abercrombie

Orbit unveiled today the two new covers for their upcoming trade paperback editions of two latest stand-alone novels by Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold and The Heroes.

I still would pick up the original UK covers with the map background but it's an interesting result.  At least Joe is happy about it! :) What do you think?

Here's the previous covers :

The Dragon's Path review

The Dragon's Path is the first novel of a new fantasy series called the Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham. The author already has a nice reputation in fantasy with his Long Price quartet which received very good reviews in general. He's also MLN Hanover when writing urban fantasy and James S.A. Corey when writing sci-fi.  This is my first read of a novel by Abraham and it won't be my last.

Cithrin Bel Sarcour is a ward of the Medean Bank of Vanai.  Having to flee the city with the bank holdings before a new Antean invasion of the free city, she finds herself on a caravan on the long road to Carse.  Guarding the caravan is the legendary Captain Marcus Wester, now a guard for hire.  Back in Antea, Dawson Kalliam, Baron of Osterling Fells is plotting against the other noblemen to help his old friend King Simeon in keeping his position on the throne. And on the road to Vanai, Sir Geder Palliako, heir to the Viscount of Rivenhalm is marching to war in spite of dreaming about his speculative essays translations.

The Dagger and the Coin... really a fitting name for the series. It's not often that economic elements are included in a plot but they sure are important in this one. Don't worry, the author is not trying to drown us in complex mercantile schemes but money is at the heart of everything happening between many of the protagonists. And then, the dagger, representing all the plotting and deceptions. The book feels like traditional fantasy but it's not a pure good vs evil fantasy. Anyway, let's say it's a patchwork of interrelated stories with a backdrop of finances, dragons and successions that eventually comes together.


After all, it all comes down to the characters. The narration is divided between four PoV (with a few exceptions here and there) and set in the third person perspective.  The 'heroes' are Cithrin, Dawson, Marcus and Geder. At first, the link between them is thin indeed, aside for the attack on Vanai but the relevance of all their paths is more linked than it seems. My empathy for the characters came slowly but became the stronger for it.  At least, it does get connected together but there's a feeling of grander things happening in the future that is quite appealing. We're certainly in for more epic demonstrations.

The four of them are all flawed people. Cithrin is an orphan (no real cliché here, she's not the incarnation of some destiny) with a little tendency toward drunkenness but with a flair for business. Her part is not the most compelling but she creates interesting situations.  Marcus is more straightforward, even uni-dimensional. The ex-hero who lost loved ones and becomes closed when coming into contact with others, aside from Yardem,  his trustworthy Tralgu... His best moments are with Master Kit, a troupe leader with a lot of charisma.

Consequently, there's my two favorite PoV, Geder and Dawson. The last one is a stubborn nobleman believing in the higher calling of aristocracy but with too much dedication. His family entourage is composed of a great supporting cast. Finally, welcome the young outcast dreamer. Geder's storyline is both fun and distressing to follow. The perspectives for him are amazing, he's throwing me off balance.

 

Abraham's writing is accessible and he easily creates hype through mid lengths chapters where he switches perspective just at the right time to keep my appetite up.  The pace may not be terrific but it flows without making me notice. All in all, it may bit more traditional for Daniel Abraham from what I gather but he does it well enough that it remains a commanding effort.

I have to admit that I stumbled a bit with the different races (thirteen in all) inhabiting the world created by Abraham. I don't know if it's included in the physical edition of the book (I've read a kind of ARC e-book edition) but it can be useful to read An Introduction of the Taxonomy of Races on the author website first.  The descriptions of each race, from Timzinae to Tralgu to Cinnae are brief and the names come a bit too fast for me to get my bearings on them easily. Hopefully the time invested by him to create them and present them in this first book will prove worthy. So far, aside from spicing things up in term of background it doesn't really interfere in the plot.

Moreover, there's the cult of the spider goddess.  They are a recluse sect (a la Dûnyain from Prince of Nothing if you've read some Bakker) whose members are given the ability to detect the lies said by other people.  That's where most of the fantasy elements of the book are concentrated aside from all the dragon lore.  These two instances are again aspects where Abraham succeeded in my opinion.  As for the first, even though it's not a big part of the tale for the first book, the prospect it creates in conjunction with all the plotting and scheming is daunting.  As for the dragon mythos, it may not be specifically important but Geder's readings are where most of the history of the world comes from and it adds depths where the world building is slightly lacking.  However, it's still dragons, not the most original specimen in fantasy these days.

So there you go, another great story has started. I'm pretty sure you'll find at least some characters to your liking in this novel.

Technically, the Orbit books cover is nothing amazing and the focus on a sword is not really representative of what's under the cover (but yes it's still a medieval fantasy setting). A nice map of the world is included and the paperback edition stands at 592 pages.

The Dragon's Path review score :

Characterization............. 9 /10
World building............... 7.5 / 10
Magic system................. 8 / 10
Story.............................. 8.5 / 10
Writing........................... 8 / 10

Overall (not an average) 8.5 / 10

Enjoy!

Daniel Abraham's Dragon Path page

New arrivals!

Two eagerly awaited novels have become sitters on my shelves...  and I really need to read those soon...

Excerpts

A couple of new extracts from upcoming/newly released books surfaced lately.

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Here's the fourth (and final before release in October) excerpt for The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan (here for the first three) :

Poets and the prosaic

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The fourth chapter for The Alloy of Law (Mistborn novel) by Brandon Sanderson :


The Alloy of Law: Chapter Four

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From Jon Sprunk's second novel, Shadow's Lure :


Shadow’s Lure (Excerpt)

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For the Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence :

Extract

Deadhouse Gates - limited edition take 2

In early July, Subterranean Press released the cover art for the second book of the Malazan Book of the Fallen limited edition by J.K. Drummond.  The comments on the cover were not that good, mostly so in comparison with the beautiful work of Michael Kormack for Gardens of the Moon.

It seems that they changed idea and went for you know who's (don't want to spoil but if you've read the novel you know who is depicted) death instead. Wise choice me thinks!

August releases

Another contender for the fantasy debut of the year is released this month.  Prince of Thorns has received very good reviews so far.  As for Paul Hoffman's novel, I hope he could do better than his first book (not that I've read it, it's still a long way into my reading pile but it generated so much comments...).

Also, Spellbound by Blake Charlton was moved to September and Heirs of the Blade (Shadows of the Apt book 7) was pushed back to October.

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Prince of Thorns
Mark Lawrence
August 2nd

"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.

Once 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's bleak past has set him beyond fear of any man, living or 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.

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The Last Four Things

Paul Hoffman

August 4

To the warrior-monks known as the Redeemers, who rule over massive armies of child slaves, "the last four things" represent the culmination of a faithful life. Death. Judgement. Heaven. Hell. The last four things represent eternal bliss-or endless destruction, permanent chaos, and infinite pain.


Perhaps nowhere are the competing ideas of heaven and hell exhibited more clearly than in the dark and tormented soul of Thomas Cale. Betrayed by his beloved but still marked by a child's innocence, possessed of a remarkable aptitude for violence but capable of extreme tenderness, Cale will lead the Redeemers into a battle for nothing less than the fate of the human race. And though his broken heart foretells the bloody trail he will leave in pursuit of a personal peace he can never achieve, a glimmer of hope remains. The question even Cale can't answer: When it comes time to decide the fate of the world, to ensure the extermination of humankind or spare it, what will he choose? To express God's will on the edge of his sword, or to forgive his fellow man-and himself?

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The Magician King

Lev Grossman

August 9

The Magicians was praised as a triumph by readers and critics of both mainstream and fantasy literature. Now Grossman takes us back to Fillory, where the Brakebills graduates have fled the sorrows of the mundane world, only to face terrifying new challenges.

Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom.

Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent's house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.

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The Measure of the Magic: Legends of Shannara

Terry Brooks

August 23

For five hundred years, the survivors of the Great Wars lived peacefully in a valley sanctuary shielded by powerful magic from the blighted and dangerous outside world. But the enchanted barriers have crumbled, the borders have been breached by predators, and the threat of annihilation looms large once more. Sider Ament, bearer of the last black staff and its profound power, devoted his life to protecting the valley and its inhabitants—and, in his final moments, gave stewardship of the black staff to the young tracker Panterra Qu. Now the newly anointed Knight of the Word must take up the battle against evil wherever it threatens: from without, where an army of bloodthirsty trolls is massing for invasion; and from within, where the Elf king of Arborlon has been murdered, his daughter, Princess Phryne Amarantyne, stands accused, and a heinous conspiracy is poised to subjugate the kingdom. But even these will pale beside the most harrowing menace Panterra is destined to confront—a nameless, merciless figure who wanders the devastated land on a relentless mission: to claim the last black staff . . . and the life of he who wields it.