The Law of Nines

2:00 AM Nikki

Ok folks. Here it is.The big one.You wanted it.We deliver it.Are you ready for this? Its a long one.Last Friday we left you with a recommendation for one of the most amazing books you will read. This weekend we will leave you with some wisdom, that will most likely preserve your utter existence. Or at least that will save you from utter boredom... Seriously, though, if you want to suggest our names for sainthood, after we so entirely save you, feel free. Really we don't mind.Rahl. That word just said it all, at least for those of you that know anything about Terry Goodkind. For those blessed, uninitiated folks, let us tell you that if anyone...


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Dawnthief

3:00 AM Nikki

The next time you run across Lou Anders from Pyr SF&F, buy him a drink. In fact, buy him two, he won't mind. Then, ask him where you can find James Barclay so you can buy that gentleman a drink as well. In Lou's on-going crusade to bring the US great fantasy titles from the Brits, he brings us James Barclay's DAWNTHIEF, and in doing so takes us on and honest-to-goodness adventure.Do you remember a few reviews back where we reviewed WINTERBIRTH? Do you remember how upset we were with the comparisons people had been drawing between it and David Gemmell's work? Well, we are pleased to tell you that Barclay's DAWNTHIEF is truly worthy of the...


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Gardens of the Moon

7:26 AM Nikki

Since DUST OF DREAMS is coming to the US soon, we thought we would go back to the series' roots to both introduce newcomers and invigorate the old-timers. GARDENS OF THE MOON, by Steven Erikson, is not a simple novel--in fact this novel has, arguably, the steepest learning curve of any fantasy novel to date. This review will be a tad longer than usual, but it deserves nothing less.GARDENS OF THE MOON is the first tale in Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Currently we have eight novels released in the series (with the ninth out in the UK now--yeah, yeah, we are waiting for our import copy), three short stories, and two other novels...


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The Last Colony

1:10 AM Nikki

We often wondered if the reason Scalzi was nominated for various Hugo awards was due to his insane amount of blogging (why do you think we started this site, eh?). Last year, his novel THE LAST COLONY was nominated for the prestigious 2008 Hugo Award. He didn't win, and initially we thought, "Guess we were right, as always."The thing is, we read THE LAST COLONY, and realized that he should have won in that field of competition.Scalzi will be the first one to tell you that he was more than happy to even be nominated, and that the other authors were very deserving of their nominations. Sure, we thought the other 2008 Hugo nominated novels were...


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Fantasy 101

8:00 AM Nikki

Instructors:Nick Dianatkhah, PhD in Being Attractive.Steve Diamond, PhD in Being Awesome.Office hours:By appointment only.Course Info:What you can expect from this course is a selection of recommendations from your instructors to give you a doorway into the fantasy genre.Introduction:In a departure from our normal structure,to answer the request of a number of our readers for some more entry level recommendations, we decided to give a crash-course in the Fantasy genre. After all there is definitely not a shortage of entries, both good and bad, to be read. For someone just looking to broaden their horizons and breach the unknown of the Fantasy...


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Best Served Cold

3:00 AM Nikki

We will leave you for the weekend with our review of this stand-alone novel by Joe Abercrombie set in First Law Trilogy universe.There are few books we have looked forward to more, after finishing THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS, than Abercrombie's next. So when we first heard word of BEST SERVED COLD we could barely contain our excitement. In other words, Steve ran around squealing like a 15-year-old girl and clapping excitedly.Right from the get-go you know what this book about, and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. It's a fast-paced, action and twisted humor-filled tale of a woman's pursuit of revenge. They say Hell hath no fury like a woman...


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Winter Duty

1:00 AM Nikki

WINTER DUTY is the latest entry in E. E. Knight's Vampire Earth saga, and it gets the story on track. The prior entry--the seventh novel--was generally regarded (and rightfully so) as a sub-par effort in an otherwise fantastic series. Thankfully, WINTER DUTY is a welcome return to the quality of the prior novels.For those uninitiated with the series, here is a brief lesson on this apocalyptic take on vampires (before you point fingers and go rabid, remember, we like vampires as long as they don't sparkle at us). The world has been overrun by the Kurian Order, which are basically monsters that have a remarkable similarities to vampires, (Duh....


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Devices and Desires

2:00 AM Nikki

The first thing that comes to mind to mention for K.J. Parker's first entry into her Engineer Trilogy, DEVICES AND DESIRES, is that the author knows how to do her research. There are very technical descriptions for nearly everything in the novel, and it really lends a lot of credibility to both the story and the writer. However it isn't without drawbacks.We will get to those later though; let's do like we were taught and focus on the positive. The book was interesting and the plot is engaging. Most of the character's exploits are fun to read, with a few exceptions. The plot is also laden with political intrigue and it plays out remarkably...


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The Steel Remains

12:00 AM Nikki

THE STEEL REMAINS is Richard K. Morgan's first foray into the fantasy genre, after a strong history in Science Fiction, as well as a winner of an Arthur C. Clarke Award, Philip K. Dick Award, and a John W. Campbell Award. Obviously, we were interested to see how he would do in his new genre experiment. There was very little that disappointed, though we did give thoughtful pause as to just how good it actually was.Morgan doesn't seem to be one for half measures. We are under the impression that he is either 150% or 0% in his writing. In this first entry into a planned trilogy he establishes that he does indeed have what it takes to be an epic...


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The Swordbearer

1:00 AM Nikki

With THE RETURN OF THE BLACK COMPANY, a Tor published omnibus, coming next month we thought we should get some Glen Cook on the site in preparation.THE SWORDBEARER is one of a number of Glen Cook's earlier works that is being reprinted by Nightshade Books. It was written, originally, in 1982 and showcases a lot of the themes and ideas that would later be used in what we, and many others, consider one of the greatest entries into the military fantasy genre, THE BLACK COMPANY.As per Glen Cook's usual, THE SWORDBEARER is a fast-paced, action-packed tale. It follows a somewhat traditional fantasy story, with a magical sword taking center stage...


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The Strain

12:00 PM Nikki

How about a requested review from one of our readers?Have you ever watched the movie 28 DAYS LATER? The basic plot is that a virus gets loose among the population of England. This virus turns people into rage-crazed zombies, whose blood, when given to a non-exposed person, turns them into a zombie within 30 seconds. Essentially, in the movie, we see the initial release of the virus, and then we cut to 28 days later (get it?) and the aftermath of the spread of the virus.THE STRAIN, by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, follows this basic premise, only instead of zombies we get vampires. It's difficult to say if we liked this book or not. It has...


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Darkly Dreaming Dexter

4:25 PM Nikki

Have you met Dexter Morgan? Surely you have watched the Showtime series based on his character, or even better, read the absurdly entertaining novels by Jeff Lindsay?If you answered "no" to any of those questions, you have problems.It's time everyone met Dexter, a blood-spatter specialist who works for the Miami Police Department. He is good at his job. He has a girlfriend. His tries to take care of his sister (also in the Miami P.D.).Dexter Morgan is also a serial killer.DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER is the first novel in an on-going series by Jeff Lindsay. In this first novel we are introduced to Dexter as he takes us on an introductory ride to one...


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Winterbirth

12:00 PM Nikki

"The world breeds no heroes now."This line from the novel WINTERBIRTH, by Brian Ruckley, sums up our main observation after reading the novel. WINTERBIRTH is marketed as both Epic Fantasy and Heroic Fantasy. What does that mean? Well, for starters, it means we have heroes in some sort of capacity. It also means we should have blood and battle...and in high quantities. Epic Fantasy usually involves some sort of epic quest, or a huge, all-engrossing plot that the heroes must stop. Heroic Fantasy means we have heroic and tragic last-stands.There was nothing epic about this fantasy, and as for battles...can someone please explain to us why the first...


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The Lies of Locke Lamora

3:30 AM Nikki

Ah, Mr. Scott Lynch, how you have won our hearts. It has been four years since THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA was released, and we still find that we are chuckling quietly to ourselves at the antics of your characters. Of course when this happens, people tend to look at us strangely because they have no idea as to the origins of the quiet laughter.It is their loss. We sit in satisfaction of our assured superiority.Taking into account that the next, third, entry into his Gentleman Bastard sequence, The REPUBLIC OF THIEVES was slightly delayed until next year (Scott Lynch had some personal issues to deal with, and we hope that everything went as peacefully...


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The Judging Eye

6:30 AM Nikki

It was hard to approach this book without wetting our pants in excitement. R. Scott Bakker is Nick's favorite author, by far, and owes Steve for introducing him to The Prince of Nothing series.After reading the book a number of times we have decided how we can proceed on this review. We will make a concession right here and now. As much as we'd like to, it is completely impossible to review this book without comparing it to Bakker's earlier trilogy set 20 years prior to the events in, this, the beginning of his second trilogy.We love Bakker and his work, but the heartbreaking truth is that THE JUDGING EYE doesn't even come close to the powerhouse...


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The Graveyard Book

8:23 AM Nikki

Lest you dear readers feel we have a prejudice against novels that are written for young adults or children, we are here today to prove you wrong.Neil Gaiman's THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is a prime example of a brilliantly written children's book. Granted, as a children's book it's a simpler read, and in many ways not as beautifully complex as the anvil sized tomes we prefer. But some of the most brilliant and enjoyable things in the world are easy and simple (bashing on TWILIGHT for example is the easiest, simplest thing in the world--and yet both enjoyable, and a mark of intelligence).In addition, while THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is a simple read, it is by...


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Turn Coat

3:00 AM Nikki

It is with irony that we, the superheroes of book reviews, feel betrayed by Jim Butcher's latest Dresden Files novel TURN COAT. We debated long over what we should say in regards to this novel, and more importantly, this series. How about a history lesson? No?Too bad.Back when Steve "used to be important" (sorry, inside joke) at the bookstore, one of his regular customers said he wouldn't read another recommendation until Steve read the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. There were only seven books out in the series at the time. Steve read them, and thought they were great fun. He, in turn, forced his superior attitudes on Nick and Rob. They...


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The Twilight Herald

1:20 AM Nikki

Don't worry. Despite having the word Twilight in the title, THE TWILIGHT HERALD is nothing like the book in our last review. This is Tom Lloyd's second entry in his Twilight Reign series, and it is much grander is scope and larger in size than the opening book, THE STORMCALLER.In a word (and you only need one from us): AWESOME.Tom Lloyd is a newcomer, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have what it takes to blow us away with his story telling. He has managed to create a believable, original setting using the familiar fantasy tropes and bending or breaking them to his will. Populating his enormous, top-notch world is an exponentially growing list...


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Twilight (Seriously!)

4:50 AM Nikki

What's this? Two reviews in one day? Well this one was a special request from some fans, and we were more than happy to oblige.It's time we shared the hate...There are few things in life that we don't understand. Why do people clip their finger and toe-nails in public? Why are Utah drivers incapable of using their turn signal? Why do people think Megan Fox can actually act? But mostly, we don't understand ONE MAJOR THING:When ON EARTH did sparkles on a VAMPIRE become cool? We just each threw up a little. Steve more than a little actually. It was gross. It was like an emetic taste test here.Don't get us wrong, we like vampires. E.E. Knight's VAMPIRE...


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