Thursday, August 18, 2011
“First Frost” by Jennifer Estep w/Bonus Q&A (Reviewed & Interviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)
Order “First Frost” HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Jennifer Estep has a Bachelor’s degree in English & Journalism, and a Master's in Professional Communications. Her bibliography includes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, the Mythos Academy YA urban fantasy series, and the Bigtime paranormal romance series. She is also a member of Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and other writing groups.
ABOUT FIRST FROST: I am Gwen Frost, and I have a Gypsy gift. It’s called psychometry—that's a fancy way of saying that I see images in my head and get flashes of other people’s memories off almost everything I touch, even guys.
My gift makes me kind of nosy. Okay, okay, maybe a lot nosy—to the point of obsession sometimes. I want to know everything about everyone around me. But even I don't want to know the secrets my friend Paige is hiding or the terrible loss that will send me to a new school—Mythos Academy—where the teachers aren't preparing us for the SATs, but to battle Reapers of Chaos. Now I have no friends and no idea how my gift fits in with all these warrior whiz kids. The only thing I do know is that my life is never, ever going to be the same...
FORMAT/INFO: First Frost is a prequel short story, available as an e-exclusive. Narration is in the first-person, exclusively via the protagonist Gwen Frost. It is self-contained, but leads into the Mythos Academy series. First Frost was released on July 1, 2011.
ANALYSIS: Having read and enjoyed Touch of Frost, the opening volume in Jennifer Estep’s new YA series, I was very much interested in the prequel short story since its events are alluded to in the first Mythos Academy novel.
First Frost occurs a few weeks before Touch of Frost, introducing readers to Gwen Frost, her gift of psychometry, and the events that led to Gwen’s admission into the Mythos Academy, where kids between the age of sixteen and twenty-one are trained in various arts (magical, martial, etc.) to become defenders of humanity against the Reapers of Chaos who are trying to free their master Loki.
Since First Frost is referenced to in Touch of Frost, the prequel short story is not required reading, but it does explain a crucial part of Gwen Frost’s background. Plus, First Frost is fun to read, leads directly into Touch of Frost, and provides readers with a taste of what to expect in the Mythos Academy series...
NOTE: I will be reviewing Touch of Frost in the forthcoming weeks. In the meantime, included below is a short Q&A with Jennifer Estep which talks more the Mythos Academy series, its mythological roots, the future of the series and more...
BONUS INTERVIEW — Q&A with Jennifer Estep:
Jennifer: Thanks for taking the time to interview me. I appreciate it.
I just had an idea for a story that I thought would work better as a YA book than as an adult book. Plus, YA is one genre that everyone seems to be reading these days—teens, adults, parents, teachers, etc.—and that everyone gets excited about. There are so many great YA books and authors out there, and I wanted to add my story to the mix. Plus, you always want to grow and stretch yourself as a writer, and I thought writing a YA book would be a way to flex my creative muscles. So far, it’s been a fun challenge.
Q: Could you tell us about the inspiration(s) behind the creation of the Mythos Academy series and the world within it?
Jennifer: I’ve always loved mythology and the idea of all these gods, goddesses, heroes, monsters, and more battling it out. I remember watching the old Clash of the Titans when we would have movie days at school, and over the years, I’ve read and watch a lot of mythology-based stories, everything from The Iliad and The Odyssey to Xena: Warrior Princess and the movie 300.
One day, I just thought it would be cool to write my own mythology story with my own characters, myths, magic, and more, and put my own spin on things. That was the beginning of Touch of Frost and the rest of the Mythos Academy series.
Q: Can you tell us more about the protagonist Gwen Frost and why she is written in the first person?
Jennifer: I thought it would be interesting to write a story about a Gypsy girl who’s shipped off to a new school and is faced with all these things that she doesn’t really believe in, like gods, goddesses, Reapers of Chaos (my bad guys), and mythological monsters. Gwen is definitely skeptical about all the magic mumbo jumbo, as she calls it, that goes on at Mythos Academy, but she quickly realizes that monsters and Reapers of Chaos do exist—and that she’s been gifted with magic that can help stop them.
All of my books so far are first person. It’s just the narrative voice that I like the best and the one that really lets me get inside my heroine’s head.
Q: While Gwen is obviously the star of the show, I felt you did a very good job with the supporting cast—Daphne, Carson etc. Which supporting character has surprised you the most and who should readers pay attention to in future volumes?
Jennifer: Thanks. I appreciate that. I have my core group of four characters—Gwen; Daphne Cruz, a Valkyrie; Carson Callahan, a band geek and Celt; and Logan Quinn, a deadly Spartan warrior. The relationships between them will be a big part of the books.
Also, I think folks will like Vic a lot. Vic appears in the latter part of Touch of Frost, and he’s a really bloodthirsty character who wants to kill Reapers of Chaos more than anything else. Plus, he’s got attitudes and opinions to spare. Vic was just a really fun character for me to write.
Q: There’s a lot of mythology in the Mythos Academy. How did you decide which mythology to use in your series?
Jennifer: I’m using a lot of Greek and Norse mythology since that’s what I’m most familiar with. I picked the gods, goddesses, warriors, monsters, and more that I thought were interesting—the ones that I thought I could put my own spin on and that would fit in well with the overall story that I wanted to tell about Gwen—and how she’s stronger and more of a warrior than she ever thought she could be.
Q: Earlier you mentioned the Reapers of Chaos who are the ‘bad guys’ of the series. Their chief is Loki, who was recently portrayed by Tom Hiddeston in the movie Thor. What did you think of Hiddleston’s performance and how does your interpretation of Loki differ/compare to the movie version?
Jennifer: I thought Hiddleston did a good job portraying Loki. He was very sly and sneaky and definitely had that conniving, trickster air about him. He was very convincing—everything he said was perfectly reasonable even though you knew that he was only out to help himself. Hiddleston’s Loki is the kind of character who will lure you in and make you think that he’s on your side—right before he stabs you in the back. I’m looking forward to seeing Hiddleston as Loki again next year in The Avengers movie.
Readers don’t get to see Loki in First Frost or Touch of Frost, since he’s locked away in his mythological prison. But I would say that my Loki is definitely much more in-your-face, hardcore evil. You know he’s the bad guy from the very beginning, and he’s not shy about wanting my heroine Gwen dead—and wanting his Reapers of Chaos to do the job for him.
Q: What did you think of the other Norse mythology portrayed in the Thor movie? How does it compare to your own interpretation in the Mythos Academy series?
Jennifer: I thought it was definitely more of a comic book-type movie than a mythology movie, but it was supposed to be that way. I enjoyed seeing the writers’ and filmmakers’ take on Asgard, Thor’s hammer, and things like that. I thought it was an entertaining movie.
Most of the action in my books takes place on the campus of Mythos Academy, which is located in the fictional town of Cypress Mountain, North Carolina, supposedly not too far away from Asheville. So it’s definitely more of a private school setting as opposed to this grand, magical city that you see in the movie Thor. But I hope that folks enjoy my take on things.
Q: Regarding the Mythos Academy series, how many volumes are planned and what’s the release schedule look like?
Jennifer: Right now, I’m under contract for three books—Touch of Frost, Kiss of Frost, and Dark Frost. There is also a prequel e-story to the series called First Frost. I’m hoping to write five or maybe even seven books in the series. That will let me finish out the main story arc with Gwen and her friends battling Loki and his Reapers of Chaos.
First Frost is available now along with Touch of Frost. Kiss of Frost, the second book in the series, will be out on Nov. 29, and Dark Frost will be released in 2012. So the books will be out fairly close together.
Q: Will you be releasing any more short stories like First Frost?
Jennifer: I hope to write at least one short story to go along with each one of the Mythos Academy books, but it depends on my writing schedule and the time that I have available. I’m going to try my best, though.
Q: Lastly, can you tell us a bit about Touch of Frost (book 1) and Kiss of Frost (book 2) and what readers can expect?
Jennifer: Of course. The books focus on Gwen Frost, a 17-year-old Gypsy girl who has the gift of psychometry, or the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. After a serious freak-out with her magic, Gwen is shipped off to Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors like Spartans, Valkyries, Amazons, and more.
In Touch of Frost, Gwen is getting used to going to a new school and trying to figure out how she fits in with the other warrior whiz kids, as she calls them. Gwen doesn’t think that she belongs at Mythos Academy, but when a girl is murdered in the Library of Antiquities, Gwen decides to use her psychometry magic to figure out who killed the girl and why. She gets into a lot of trouble along the way. Basically, Touch of Frost features myths, magic, monsters, and mean girls.
In Kiss of Frost, Gwen deals with the fallout of what happened in the first book (which I won’t spoil here), and the various ways that her relationships with the other characters grow and change—especially with Logan, the love interest. Also in Kiss of Frost, Gwen realizes that a Reaper of Chaos is trying to kill her, and that if she doesn’t figure out who it is, the Reaper just might succeed...
Happy reading, everyone! ;-)
12:01 AM | 
Posted by
Robert |
Official Gary Gibson Website
Read FBC Review of Stealing Light
Read FBC Review of Nova War
Read FBC Review of Empire of Light
Read FBC and Walker of Worlds Interview with Gary Gibson
Order Final Days HERE
INTRODUCTION: Scottish sf writer Gary Gibson burst onto the scene in 2004 with a very ambitious debut Angel Stations which made me a big time fan. While having some debut flaws like lack of balance and even too much ambition for the relatively limited page count, Angel Stations is not your "average" debut, but a very complex and mature novel that pays several close readings. His second novel, Against Gravity, quite different in tone was another hit with me and then turning his hand to "popular" new space opera on a galactic canvas and with all the associated paraphernalia, Mr. Gibson completed the Shoal trilogy of which its debut Stealing Light was my top sf novel of the year.
So with five novels that worked very well, Final Days was understandably another asap book for me despite that its main themes hinted in the blurb below: time travel and apocalyptic sf are among my least favorite in sf.
Read FBC Review of Stealing Light
Read FBC Review of Nova War
Read FBC Review of Empire of Light
Read FBC and Walker of Worlds Interview with Gary Gibson
Order Final Days HERE
INTRODUCTION: Scottish sf writer Gary Gibson burst onto the scene in 2004 with a very ambitious debut Angel Stations which made me a big time fan. While having some debut flaws like lack of balance and even too much ambition for the relatively limited page count, Angel Stations is not your "average" debut, but a very complex and mature novel that pays several close readings. His second novel, Against Gravity, quite different in tone was another hit with me and then turning his hand to "popular" new space opera on a galactic canvas and with all the associated paraphernalia, Mr. Gibson completed the Shoal trilogy of which its debut Stealing Light was my top sf novel of the year.
So with five novels that worked very well, Final Days was understandably another asap book for me despite that its main themes hinted in the blurb below: time travel and apocalyptic sf are among my least favorite in sf.
"But this new mode of transportation comes at a price and there are risks. Saul Dumont knows this better than anyone. He’s still trying to cope with the loss of the wormhole link to the Galileo system, which has stranded him on Earth far from his wife and child for the past several years.
Only weeks away from the link with Galileo finally being re-established, he stumbles across a conspiracy to suppress the discovery of a second, alien network of wormholes which lead billions of years in the future. A covert expedition is sent to what is named Site 17 to investigate, but when an accident occurs and one of the expedition, Mitchell Stone, disappears – they realise that they are dealing with something far beyond their understanding.
When a second expedition travels via the wormholes to Earth in the near future of 2245 they discover a devastated, lifeless solar system - all except for one man, Mitchell Stone, recovered from an experimental cryogenics facility in the ruins of a lunar city.
Stone may be the only surviving witness to the coming destruction of the Earth. But why is he the only survivor — and once he’s brought back to the present, is there any way he and Saul can prevent the destruction that’s coming"
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Starting in the past of our narrative but in the far future of the universe - all this being possible due to the wonders of an alien wormhole network that crisscrosses the spacetime - Final Days is a novel that has a puzzle like structure for maybe a third and then turns into pure action for the rest of its 350 odd pages. So in the first several chapters we have several plotlines developing and while they seem disparate it's worth paying close attention to their details which hint at how they will start converging.
The author starts each chapter with both location and the Earth timeline, though on occasion the story also takes place aeons away "objective" as the universe is concerned and that is important to note since the book progresses linearly as "Home Date" goes from January 2235 to some months later, but the plot twists back through time and fits piece by piece as the reader slowly discovers.
While having several more POV's that are important in outlining the global picture, Final Days has three main protagonists whose actions we follow: scientists Jeff Cairns part of one of the teams investigating the recently discovered far future alien wormhole network and Mitchell Stone from another such team whose close encounter with the alien artifacts gets the ball rolling so to speak, while grounding the novel, government agent Saul Dumont provides both the main action sequences and the "human" link between the seemingly disparate story-lines.
Complicated personal relationships with both Jeff and Mitchell that are slowly revealed and his personal tragedy of having his wife and daughter on the wrong side of a wormhole network link that had been severed ten years previously by still unknown but presumably hostile groups to the main Western Coalition government that controls the human wormhole network and hence the access to the "colonies", a near future reopening of that link as the government's slower than light ships finally are closing in, and current dangerous but seemingly routine undercover work, put Saul Dumont squarely in the center of the novel from the tension packed second chapter to the superb ending that wraps up nicely most threads.
Final Days (A+) has all the characteristics that have made Gary Gibson such a favorite writer of mine: great style, flowing narration that keeps one turning pages, compelling characters and enough twists to keep me guessing - even though here the general picture became reasonably clear after a while, there is a lot going on and the fate of the main characters plays out to the end so to speak. While a loose sequel titled Thousand Emperors is scheduled for next year, Final Days is a standalone novel in all ways that matter and it is another very strong showing for the author.
The author starts each chapter with both location and the Earth timeline, though on occasion the story also takes place aeons away "objective" as the universe is concerned and that is important to note since the book progresses linearly as "Home Date" goes from January 2235 to some months later, but the plot twists back through time and fits piece by piece as the reader slowly discovers.
While having several more POV's that are important in outlining the global picture, Final Days has three main protagonists whose actions we follow: scientists Jeff Cairns part of one of the teams investigating the recently discovered far future alien wormhole network and Mitchell Stone from another such team whose close encounter with the alien artifacts gets the ball rolling so to speak, while grounding the novel, government agent Saul Dumont provides both the main action sequences and the "human" link between the seemingly disparate story-lines.
Complicated personal relationships with both Jeff and Mitchell that are slowly revealed and his personal tragedy of having his wife and daughter on the wrong side of a wormhole network link that had been severed ten years previously by still unknown but presumably hostile groups to the main Western Coalition government that controls the human wormhole network and hence the access to the "colonies", a near future reopening of that link as the government's slower than light ships finally are closing in, and current dangerous but seemingly routine undercover work, put Saul Dumont squarely in the center of the novel from the tension packed second chapter to the superb ending that wraps up nicely most threads.
Final Days (A+) has all the characteristics that have made Gary Gibson such a favorite writer of mine: great style, flowing narration that keeps one turning pages, compelling characters and enough twists to keep me guessing - even though here the general picture became reasonably clear after a while, there is a lot going on and the fate of the main characters plays out to the end so to speak. While a loose sequel titled Thousand Emperors is scheduled for next year, Final Days is a standalone novel in all ways that matter and it is another very strong showing for the author.
Watch the Book Trailer HERE
Read FBC’s Review of “Low Town”
Occasionally you'll be with a group of people and they'll get to talking about their favorite historical epochs, nostalgic for lives they never led. One person will talk up their childhood love of the Wild West, another reveal a penchant for Victorian England. This last one just has a thing for corsets, but it's better not to call them on it.
When my turn rolls round I take a sip of whatever we're drinking and look at my shoes. “The mid 90's were pretty good,” I say lamely. “Slower internet and everything, but at least we had penicillin.”
Perhaps it's my being a history buff, but the past sucked. For about a millennium and a half after the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe just seems like a real shit place to reside. Lots of rooting in filth until you die at thirty a half mile from where you born. Nominally the nobles had it better, but still, your fever would have been treated with the application of leaches and your pretty young bride had like a one in two chance of surviving child birth.
This probably is why I don't understand fantasy—that is to say that collection of high medieval tropes collected by Tolkien and gleefully reproduced by two generations of descendants.
Take elves for instance—though perfectly capable of imagining a world where higher intelligence evolved in a species separate from humanity, my powers of make believe fail when positing that the relation between said species would be anything beyond unceasing warfare. Even a cursory glance at human history reveals our collective willingness to commit genocide on fellow homo sapiens—how much quicker would we have been to eradicate a separate species competing for identical resources? If elves existed, our ancestors would have hunted them down to extinction and erected a monument to the accomplishment.
But I digress.
Even when nestled comfortably in a quest to kill a dragon or overthrow a dark lord or what have you, strange thoughts plague me. What does the shady side of Gondor look like? How many platinum coins would a dime bag set me back? What is the point of hobbits? They're just short, fat people. People are plenty fat as it is.
More broadly, Low Town is an attempt to meld the best aspects of noir with a low fantasy setting—a meeting of tastes which I think complement each other nicely. The spare language and fast pace of good noir offers a pleasant counterpoint to the sprawling—one might even say bloated—length of much modern fantasy. On a somewhat broader level, the tendency of fantasy to focus on world shaking events often renders it irrelevant to the average reader, whose life relatively rarely devolves into single combat against vaguely satanic analogs. By contrast, noir is concerned with the individual, with greed and lust, sins all of us can comprehend to some degree. Low Town centers on the conceit that a world with magic wouldn't be altogether different from a world without it. People are still (on the whole) selfish, stupid creatures, focused almost exclusively on the immediate satisfaction of their basic desires, only now some of them can shoot fire out of their hands.
That's the idea at least. Low Town comes out today (August 16th) in the US and Canada, and on Thursday (August 18th) in the UK and Commonwealth. I hope you check it out and see if I've succeeded, or if I'm just a pretentious clown. Or both.
Read An Excerpt HERE
Read FBC’s Review of “Changes”
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Jim Butcher is the bestselling author of The Dresden Files, which has been adapted into a SyFy television show and a series of comic book adaptations produced by Dynamite Entertainment. He is also the author of The Codex Alera epic fantasy saga. In addition to writing, Jim Butcher is a martial arts enthusiast and live-action gamer. He currently lives in Independence, Missouri with his family.
OFFICIAL PLOT SYNOPSIS: When readers last left the mighty wizard detective Harry Dresden, he wasn’t doing well. In fact, he had been murdered by an unknown assassin.
But being dead doesn’t stop him when his friends are in danger. Except now he has no body, and no magic to help him. And there are also several dark spirits roaming the Chicago shadows who owe Harry some payback of their own.
To save his friends—and his own soul—Harry will have to pull off the ultimate trick without any magic…
CLASSIFICATION: The Dresden Files is an Urban Fantasy series that blends humor with action.
FORMAT/INFO: Ghost Story is 477 pages long divided over fifty-one chapters, an Author’s Note and an Acknowledgments page. As usual, narration is in the first-person, exclusively via the private investigator/wizard Harry Dresden. Ghost Story is the thirteenth volume in The Dresden Files after Changes. It is highly recommended that new readers start at the beginning of the series since Ghost Story builds on plot developments and characters that are introduced in the previous books.
July 26, 2011 marked the North American Hardcover publication of Ghost Story via Roc Books. The UK edition (see below) was published on July 28, 2011 via Orbit Books.
ANALYSIS: With the way Changes ended, readers were understandably excited and anxious for the arrival of Ghost Story. Ghost Story begins much like any other Harry Dresden novel except for one glaring difference . . . he’s DEAD! Well, sort of. Harry soon learns that he’s neither completely dead nor fully alive. He also learns that three of his friends are in dire jeopardy, but not who, so now he must go back to Chicago to try and save his friends and discover who murdered him, all without the use of his magical powers.
In many ways, Ghost Story is pretty similar to the other Harry Dresden books with the same accessible prose and the same blend of humor, supernatural action, and gravitas. Then again, Ghost Story is also different. After all, it’s been months since Harry ‘died’, so Ghost Story has a gloomier feel to it and it’s interesting to see how others—Karrin Murphy, the Alphas, Father Murphy, Molly Carpenter, etc.—are coping with his loss. It’s also interesting to see how Harry handles things without his powers, which may result in fewer epic battles compared to the rest of the series, but definitely brought a smile to my face.
The supporting cast remains large and revolving, with a couple of characters receiving an upgraded role that will excite the fanbase, while others are noticeably absent or only make a cameo appearance. There is also a brand new character who I’m sure will have a much larger role to play in future volumes.
Plot-wise, Ghost Story resolves the mystery of who murdered Harry and why. The clues were all laid out in Changes, so I—and a host of others—had already guessed the killer’s identity. However, I was very interested in the reasoning behind Harry’s death. Unfortunately, I thought the author utilized the easy route with the killer’s motive, when he could have made it more sinister or even fantastic, so I was a bit deflated by the revelation. The ending though goes a long way in redeeming the novel’s twist and revelations, while nicely setting up the next volume in the series, Cold Days. There is also a revelation about a major event in Harry’s past which doesn’t do much with the main plot in Ghost Story, but is very appreciated since it shines a light on things that could come into play in the future.
The major negative factor in Ghost Story is how much time & effort Harry spends rationalizing his actions in Changes. There’s no question Harry faced some horrific choices in the previous book, but up till now, Harry has always been a person who does things fully committed with no middle ground. So it felt rather strange and false to me that Harry would spend so much time trying to justify his actions. More like an authorial decision than actually acting or thinking in line with Harry’s personality.
CONCLUSION: Ghost Story was a difficult book to review. As usual, Jim Butcher delivers another entertaining blend of humor, action and urban fantasy goodness, but after twelve volumes, The Dresden Files is starting to show cracks. Ghost Story certainly has its share of weak points and could have been tighter overall. Nevertheless, Ghost Story is still a good book and I can’t wait to see what kind of trouble Harry gets into in Cold Days...
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After two years of controversial success, Guardian's Not the Booker returned for a third season with a great change for the shortlist vote; this time you have to write a review - 150 words or more - for the book you vote for from the pretty big longlist HERE.
There are some very good sff choices on the longlist - I put there The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan which is still my overall number one novel of the year so far - but for the shortlist choice, I voted for a sf novel with good chances of making the top six, namely Embassytown by China Mieville which is quite superb too.
Go check the list and if you have read at least one of the choices there, liked it and are in the mood to write a quick review in the comments on the Guardian site or for that matter somewhere else like Goodreads, Amazon or a blog and link it there, show your support!
As I will also point out in the next item, the main point about the Not the Booker is its origination in one of the mainstream newspapers with a pretty good global audience and promoting sff there is always something to cheer for.
Vote HERE!
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Recently I have posted the NPR longlist for their Top 100 sff of all time and my ten choices I voted for; the top 100 vote getters have been recently announced and you can find them HERE.
I was not that surprised about the list compiled from about 60000 votes, while 7 of 10 of my choices appeared there, one in the top 10 too.
As expected the usual grumbles from several corners appeared with the usual reasons - this came ahead of that, the quota of this particular gender/race/ethnic group has not been filled especially compared with the longlist where the percentage of that was x, but here in the top 100 we have the lower percentage y - and yes people count that - complaints which imho miss the main point of this list, namely its origination in one of the pillars of mainstream media, home of such famous shows like Prairie Home Companion, This American Life and Car Talk to name some of my favorites I listen to on and off...
Promoting written sff - and the list had a lot of breadth to make it a decent one at the least - in the mainstream is nothing to be sneered at imho and I am really happy NPR offered the genre fans this chance!
There are some very good sff choices on the longlist - I put there The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan which is still my overall number one novel of the year so far - but for the shortlist choice, I voted for a sf novel with good chances of making the top six, namely Embassytown by China Mieville which is quite superb too.
Go check the list and if you have read at least one of the choices there, liked it and are in the mood to write a quick review in the comments on the Guardian site or for that matter somewhere else like Goodreads, Amazon or a blog and link it there, show your support!
As I will also point out in the next item, the main point about the Not the Booker is its origination in one of the mainstream newspapers with a pretty good global audience and promoting sff there is always something to cheer for.
Vote HERE!
*********************************************************
Recently I have posted the NPR longlist for their Top 100 sff of all time and my ten choices I voted for; the top 100 vote getters have been recently announced and you can find them HERE.
I was not that surprised about the list compiled from about 60000 votes, while 7 of 10 of my choices appeared there, one in the top 10 too.
As expected the usual grumbles from several corners appeared with the usual reasons - this came ahead of that, the quota of this particular gender/race/ethnic group has not been filled especially compared with the longlist where the percentage of that was x, but here in the top 100 we have the lower percentage y - and yes people count that - complaints which imho miss the main point of this list, namely its origination in one of the pillars of mainstream media, home of such famous shows like Prairie Home Companion, This American Life and Car Talk to name some of my favorites I listen to on and off...
Promoting written sff - and the list had a lot of breadth to make it a decent one at the least - in the mainstream is nothing to be sneered at imho and I am really happy NPR offered the genre fans this chance!
Official Gav Thorpe Website
Order "The Crown of the Conqueror" HERE or HERE (ebook)
Read FBC Review of The Crown of the Blood HERE
INTRODUCTION: As it can be seen from my review, I have enjoyed the series debut "The Crown of the Blood" quite a lot but I was apprehensive about The Crown of the Conqueror on two counts. The twist at the end while indeed cool and unexpected, indicated a clear deepening of the magic used in the universe and of course the "middle book syndrome" which has been keeping quite a few books in a narrative harness that lessened their potential.
On opening The Crown of the Conqueror, I was immediately sucked into the flow of the story and while both points above turned out to be pertinent, the powerful writing of the author and the interesting characters and setting of the series made the novel another page turner I had to finish as soon as possible.
Since the following discussion will have major spoilers for The Crown of the Blood as The Crown of the Conqueror directly continues the story there, if you have not read the series debut, continue at your risk!
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: For people who have not read The Crown of the Blood, the salient facts about the series are: it is set into a world that mixes Roman-style armies with middle-Eastern - from the Assyrian or Babylonian Empires of yore - customs and attitudes and with magic that becomes much more important in this second volume. The legions and style of fighting resemble the Roman armies, but the Greater Askhos Empire's provinces resemble oriental satrapies rather than Roman provinces as do customs like a special brand of polygamy - the high nobles marry all the sisters from another noble family, custom that is quite important in the structure of the series. The way the imperial power is structured resembles also the middle-Eastern experience as are the naming conventions.
The main character is Ullsaard, who from provincial ranks became general, hitched himself to the star of Aalun, the second prince of the blood since the eldest was sickly and almost incapacitated and when the old king Alluan refused to name Aalun heir, was forced to rebel first in Aalun's name, but soon he started aspiring to the crown himself.
Since the Askhos crown has been passed only to the direct descendants of the founder, Askhos himself, Ulssard seemed to have no chance until it was discovered that despite a tradition of "disappearing" all children of the blood outside of the first legitimate boys - one as heir, one as "reserve" so to speak - Ullsaard was actually the bastard son of Alluan and indeed the oldest of the blood to which the crown could rightfully belong.
And The Crown of the Blood ends with Ullsaard crowning himself only to discover that Askhos himself - his spirit, ghost, etc - haunts the crown and takes over its wearer so the founder has been ruling the empire beyond the grave while the reason for the tradition above becomes clear. But due to the circumstances, Askhos cannot take over Ullsaard and the two start an unusual "cohabitation" in Ulssard's head though the new king soon finds out how to diminish the influence of Askhos and to the founder's horror is ready to set the empire on a completely different course - a very reckless expansionary one in Askhos' view.
In the meantime, former slave dealer, all around slimy but cunning Anghlan, current governor of the important border town of Magilnada, has his own plans that involve sticking the knife in his patron's back, the Brotherhood, the priesthood that actually formed the bureaucratic backbone of the state has been disbanded by an angry Ullsaard who soon discovers that empires do not run by themselves, its leader, another old man with an agenda grooms Erlaan, the grandson of Alluan, though since the youngster would usually be just lunch for the experienced Ullsaard, lots of magic is needed, while the Salphorian clans targeted for invasion by Ullsaard refuse to heed their king's pleas and unite to deal with the empire.
So a volatile mixture with some things going for Ullsaard, but a lot more - including the unresolved tensions in his family of three wives, three sons and an injured friend who saved his bacon at great personal cost - going against, while the new king is ready to make his mark on the world and conquer Salphoria despite Askhos' desperate pleas that is way too soon as his centuries long plans go. And magic of course, the usual "ancient evil soon to be awoken" lurks somewhere too!
Action galore, including a duel for the ages, battles and intrigue, but The Crown of the Conqueror also expands the universe a lot and we get to see not only the width and breadth of the empire and a big chunk of Salphoria, but also another neighbor, the usually undisciplined "savage" Mekhani who now may have found their messiah-king of legend and are ready to sweep the Askhos away...
The character development continues strongly here and we see different facets of Ullsaard who shows that he can make mistakes as everyone, he can be scared as everyone but he is still the dodged fighter who would not give up but use the smallest edge to turn things around. On the other hand the other characters - especially Anghlan who loses most nuance from the first volume - have somewhat reduced roles, though there are several that stand out from the page and offer some great scenes, most notably the drunk king of Salphoria and the nasty chief priest of the Brothehood.
The more important role played by magic in this novel -role that moves The Crown of the Conqueror away from the straight-up military fantasy of the series debut towards the more traditional epic - was integrated skilfully by the author and I never felt my suspension of disbelief waver at any moment.
While the action advances a lot and the main threads of the novel are wrapped up well, The Crown of the Conqueror is still a middle book in the sense that the big picture issues remain to be addressed. Following the example of The Crown of the Blood, the ending is on another twist though this time it is foreshadowed so it comes as less of a shock, though it serves well its purpose of hook for the next installment as well as giving a slight hint where that will go.
All in all, The Crown of the Conqueror (A+) is another excellent fantasy that I strongly recommend without and the author has another winner here!
Order "The Crown of the Conqueror" HERE or HERE (ebook)
Read FBC Review of The Crown of the Blood HERE
INTRODUCTION: As it can be seen from my review, I have enjoyed the series debut "The Crown of the Blood" quite a lot but I was apprehensive about The Crown of the Conqueror on two counts. The twist at the end while indeed cool and unexpected, indicated a clear deepening of the magic used in the universe and of course the "middle book syndrome" which has been keeping quite a few books in a narrative harness that lessened their potential.
On opening The Crown of the Conqueror, I was immediately sucked into the flow of the story and while both points above turned out to be pertinent, the powerful writing of the author and the interesting characters and setting of the series made the novel another page turner I had to finish as soon as possible.
Since the following discussion will have major spoilers for The Crown of the Blood as The Crown of the Conqueror directly continues the story there, if you have not read the series debut, continue at your risk!
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: For people who have not read The Crown of the Blood, the salient facts about the series are: it is set into a world that mixes Roman-style armies with middle-Eastern - from the Assyrian or Babylonian Empires of yore - customs and attitudes and with magic that becomes much more important in this second volume. The legions and style of fighting resemble the Roman armies, but the Greater Askhos Empire's provinces resemble oriental satrapies rather than Roman provinces as do customs like a special brand of polygamy - the high nobles marry all the sisters from another noble family, custom that is quite important in the structure of the series. The way the imperial power is structured resembles also the middle-Eastern experience as are the naming conventions.
The main character is Ullsaard, who from provincial ranks became general, hitched himself to the star of Aalun, the second prince of the blood since the eldest was sickly and almost incapacitated and when the old king Alluan refused to name Aalun heir, was forced to rebel first in Aalun's name, but soon he started aspiring to the crown himself.
Since the Askhos crown has been passed only to the direct descendants of the founder, Askhos himself, Ulssard seemed to have no chance until it was discovered that despite a tradition of "disappearing" all children of the blood outside of the first legitimate boys - one as heir, one as "reserve" so to speak - Ullsaard was actually the bastard son of Alluan and indeed the oldest of the blood to which the crown could rightfully belong.
And The Crown of the Blood ends with Ullsaard crowning himself only to discover that Askhos himself - his spirit, ghost, etc - haunts the crown and takes over its wearer so the founder has been ruling the empire beyond the grave while the reason for the tradition above becomes clear. But due to the circumstances, Askhos cannot take over Ullsaard and the two start an unusual "cohabitation" in Ulssard's head though the new king soon finds out how to diminish the influence of Askhos and to the founder's horror is ready to set the empire on a completely different course - a very reckless expansionary one in Askhos' view.
In the meantime, former slave dealer, all around slimy but cunning Anghlan, current governor of the important border town of Magilnada, has his own plans that involve sticking the knife in his patron's back, the Brotherhood, the priesthood that actually formed the bureaucratic backbone of the state has been disbanded by an angry Ullsaard who soon discovers that empires do not run by themselves, its leader, another old man with an agenda grooms Erlaan, the grandson of Alluan, though since the youngster would usually be just lunch for the experienced Ullsaard, lots of magic is needed, while the Salphorian clans targeted for invasion by Ullsaard refuse to heed their king's pleas and unite to deal with the empire.
So a volatile mixture with some things going for Ullsaard, but a lot more - including the unresolved tensions in his family of three wives, three sons and an injured friend who saved his bacon at great personal cost - going against, while the new king is ready to make his mark on the world and conquer Salphoria despite Askhos' desperate pleas that is way too soon as his centuries long plans go. And magic of course, the usual "ancient evil soon to be awoken" lurks somewhere too!
Action galore, including a duel for the ages, battles and intrigue, but The Crown of the Conqueror also expands the universe a lot and we get to see not only the width and breadth of the empire and a big chunk of Salphoria, but also another neighbor, the usually undisciplined "savage" Mekhani who now may have found their messiah-king of legend and are ready to sweep the Askhos away...
The character development continues strongly here and we see different facets of Ullsaard who shows that he can make mistakes as everyone, he can be scared as everyone but he is still the dodged fighter who would not give up but use the smallest edge to turn things around. On the other hand the other characters - especially Anghlan who loses most nuance from the first volume - have somewhat reduced roles, though there are several that stand out from the page and offer some great scenes, most notably the drunk king of Salphoria and the nasty chief priest of the Brothehood.
The more important role played by magic in this novel -role that moves The Crown of the Conqueror away from the straight-up military fantasy of the series debut towards the more traditional epic - was integrated skilfully by the author and I never felt my suspension of disbelief waver at any moment.
While the action advances a lot and the main threads of the novel are wrapped up well, The Crown of the Conqueror is still a middle book in the sense that the big picture issues remain to be addressed. Following the example of The Crown of the Blood, the ending is on another twist though this time it is foreshadowed so it comes as less of a shock, though it serves well its purpose of hook for the next installment as well as giving a slight hint where that will go.
All in all, The Crown of the Conqueror (A+) is another excellent fantasy that I strongly recommend without and the author has another winner here!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
"The Forgotten Locket" Book Three of the Hourglass Door Trilogy by Lisa Mangum (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)
Read FBC's Review of The HourGlass Door Here
Read FBC's Review of The Golden Spiral Here
Visit Lisa Mangum's Website Here
OVERVIEW: Abby walked through the black door at the end of the Golden Spiral (book 2 of the Hourglass Door Trilogy). The decision to walk through the door meant that she had to leave Dante, Abby's one true love, behind. However, it is the only one that can help her save her family and stop the river of time from being destroyed by Zo. If the river of time is destroyed the past, present and future will be thrown into pure chaos and everyone's future will be uncertain.
FORMAT: The Forgotten Locket is the third book in the Hourglass Door Trilogy. It is a YA novel that contains a mixture of time traveling, romance, magic and action. Events within The Forgotten Locket pick up right where The Golden Spiral left off and it is imperative to read the previous novels before starting this final book. The Forgotten Locket stands at 416 pages and was published May 30, 2011 by Shadow Mountain Publishing.
ANALYSIS: The Hourglass Door Trilogy has slowly become one of those series I couldn't wait to read the next book in. When I read the first novel, The Hourglass Door, I was a little taken aback. I loved the characters and the plot but there were some elements, mainly the time traveling and river, that left me a little confused.
Jump ahead to the second book, The Golden Spiral, and things really picked up. There was action, adventure, and the characters continued to grow and develop right before my eyes. The one downside? It ended in a cliffhanger and like every fantasy reader cliffhangers just make me want to read the next book immediately.
So now, we've come to the end of the Hourglass Door Trilogy and I have to say that The Forgotten Locket is the perfect ending to a wonderful and amazing series.
Lisa Mangum absolutely knows how to take a story, develop it right before your eyes and wrap it up with no loose ends. Everything that I loved about the previous two books, mainly the characterizations and plot line, continued throughout The Forgotten Locket. Abby, Dante, Zo and Valerie continued to become fleshed out characters that are multi-dimensional. So many authors get wrapped up in ending the series that they forget to let the characters continue to grow. Luckily for readers, Lisa Mangum seized the opportunity to let her characters grow while finishing the series.
The Forgotten Locket is just as much a page turner as the previous books in the series. However, I did start to feel the novel drag a little towards the end but this could be because things were wrapping up and the plot was starting to come full circle.
One of the elements that I was still a little confused about, the river of time, really did come together in the end. After reading all three books it makes sense. It still might be a little confusing if you just take it at face value in the first or second book, but when you put all three together it just fits.
While I really enjoyed the characters and plot development, what I absolutely loved about The Forgotten Locket was the way that Lisa Mangum tied everything together. Little clues that were dropped in previous novels are brought back and explained in further detail. I thought this was a nice touch and a great way to acknowledge the previous novels without rehashing everything for the readers.
Overall, I thought this was a perfect way to end the series. In fact, I couldn't think of a better way to end it if I had written it. There was just the right blend of sweet romance between Abby and Dante, and heart pounding action between Dante, Zo and Abby.
I really believe that because this series bares the stigma of "YA romance/fantasy" it is overlooked by many people who would enjoy it. Lisa Mangum is an amazingly gifted author who really hit the fantasy scene with an outstanding debut. While the door for this series comes to a close, I really can't wait to see what new door opens for Lisa Mangum as I am almost certain that this will not be the last we hear from her.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
“Hammered” by Kevin Hearne w/Bonus Review of “A Test of Mettle” (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)
Order “Hammered” HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Kevin Hearne graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in English literature and currently teaches high school English. Kevin is a self-confessed comic book fan and collector. He also collects and paints miniature dwarves in his free time. He currently lives with his family in Arizona and is the author of The Iron Druid Chronicles.
OFFICIAL PLOT SUMMARY: Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.
One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. Plus things are heating up in his home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plane of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry Norse gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself...
CLASSIFICATION: Like its predecessors, Hammered is an urban fantasy novel in the vein of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher and K.A. Stewart’s Jesse James Dawson series, and features an exciting mix of comedy, action and mythology.
FORMAT/INFO: Hammered is 336 pages long divided over twenty-eight numbered chapters and an Epilogue. Also includes a Pronunciation guide for all the names and phrases mentioned in the book, a map of Asgard, and excerpts from the previous books, Hounded & Hexed. Narration is in the first-person, mostly via Atticus O’Sullivan. Hammered also features five solo first-person POV chapters from five different individuals. Hammered is the third book in The Iron Druid Chronicles after Hounded and Hexed. It would be extremely ill advised to jump into the series with this book as the plot has a lot of references to the past events portrayed in the preceding two titles.
July 5, 2011 marked the North Amercian Mass Markert Paperback publication of Hammered via Del Rey. Cover art is provided by Gene Mollica. The e-book version of Hammered includes a bonus short story called “A Test of Mettle” featuring Granuaile MacTiernan.
ANALYSIS: With Hounded & Hexed, Kevin Hearne has pretty much established himself as one of urban fantasy’s best new voices. Not surprisingly, expectations were sky-high for Hammered, the third volume of The Iron Druid Chronicles.
Hammered begins with Atticus O’Sullivan undertaking a reconnaissance mission in Asgard. The plan is to retrieve a golden apple that would cancel his debt with the Indian witch Laksha, while also relieving Thor of his power and godhood. Unfortunately, like many of his past outings, the mission doesn’t go as planned and Atticus ends up making things worse. His plan botched, Atticus returns to Arizona to settle some business before dealing with Thor. This involves Atticus’ Third Eye bookstore and Granuaile MacTiernan, the latter of which is further explored in the short story, “A Test of Mettle”. The book also features the return of the Jewish demon hunters from Hexed as well as the appearance of someone who will surprise many readers. Meanwhile, joining Atticus in his quest against Thor is Lief, Gunnar and three other very powerful individuals, thus setting the stage for Hammered...
Like its predecessors, Hammered features a liberal does of humor, which is one of the most consistently fun factors in The Iron Druid Chronicles, with the Irish wolfhound Oberon once again stealing most of the show with lines like “Anyplace is good so long as there’s sausage and bitches”, “Oh look it’s a dead guy and a wet dog”, and “Pai Mei’s probably on Facebook right now, look him up.” Despite the humor, The Iron Druid Chronicles has progressively become darker with each volume with Hammered the darkest book yet. The author never descends to all-out gore in Hammered, but there is lots of violence and death, tragic histories, depressing futures, and a more overall serious tone. Characterization meanwhile, remains superb as ever with Atticus leading the way. This time however, Magnus & Lief get to share center stage with Atticus, while five chapters from the POVs of five different characters lets readers see what others think about Thor, which was very rewarding. Story-wise, Hammered is the most epic and satisfying volume yet in The Iron Druid Chronicles, but the ending will leave readers salivating for the fourth volume, Tricked.
Negatively, nearly every book possesses some element that will rankle the reader. For me, the issues in Hounded and Hexed were fairly minor, but in Hammered, they are non-existent.
CONCLUSION: The Iron Druid Chronicles has been receiving praise all over the blogosphere. Praise that is richly deserved considering the series’s memorable characters, entertaining humor, and surprising, action-packed story. As impressive as the series has been though, Kevin Hearne takes The Iron Druid Chronicles to a whole new level with the excellent Hammered...
A Test Of Mettle is featured in the e-book version of Hammered. The short story is about 9-10 pages long and occurs side-by-side with the latter half of Hammered. A Test of Mettle is narrated in the first-person by Granuaile MacTiernan, who must perform a task set to her by an elemental, while overcoming the expectations of the pantheon to which her new status is associated with. Accompanying Granuaile on her task is Oberon.
A Test Of Mettle reveals a small, but significant part of Granuaile’s past which I believe might factor in future volumes. The pace of the story is rather fast and it was good to see Kevin give Granuaile a narrative voice distinctive from Atticus’s. The short story also reveals a bit about a certain pantheon, which happens to establish Atticus’s views of that pantheon from the earlier books. Overall, I thought A Test Of Mettle was a nice addition to Hammered, making an already great book even better...
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