Margaret Weis Interview

There are certain authors that hold a special place in our hearts. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are two of them. So, when Wizards of the Coast came calling and asked if we would like to interview Margaret Weis as part of her blog tour, we jumped at the opportunity. Without any further delay, we are excited to give you our brief interview with Margaret.Margaret, thank you for taking the time to stop by our not-so-humble blog for an interview. Now, we want you to throw caution and humility to the wind. Here at Elitist Book Reviews we don’t hesitate to pat ourselves on the back, and we want you to do the same (your back, not ours). So tell us,...

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Posted in Contests , Interviews , Margaret Weis

The Electric Church

In our continued quest to bring you new authors and new series we have come across a number of candidates. You have a lot to look forward to. We, however, decided to start with this book, simply because it really has the coolest cover. (Hey...turns out even WE judge a book by it's cover.)THE ELECTRIC CHURCH, by Jeff Somers, is a loose SF/Cyberpunk novel set in a post-apocalyptic near-future USA (and London). In this particular world, a new religion, The Electric Church, guarantees Salvation and Eternal Life......with a catch.The followers of the church are all called Monks, and their method of conversion is (assuming you don't go willingly)...

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Posted in Jeff Somers , science fiction

The Grave Thief

Every now and then, we get a little hesitant to pick up and read a novel. We know, this is a dangerous admission on our part--believe it or not we are human sometimes (the rest of the time we are Review Gods, remember?). You see, when we find a series of novels that we like, each subsequent novel in that series becomes more exciting and terrifying to pick up. Why? Because we are afraid of being let down (read: Jim Butcher).You, faithful readers, may recall our review of Tom Lloyd's THE TWILIGHT HERALD a few weeks back (go here to read it). We loved it, and said you all should go out and worship Mr. Lloyd. We recently received a lovely care-package...

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Posted in Books We Love , Epic Fantasy , Tom Lloyd

Ghost Ocean

GHOST OCEAN, by S.M Peters, is an Urban Fantasy that,to put it simply, rocked our socks off. S.M. Peters is the author of the awesome WHITECHAPEL GODS which you may remember Nick recommended in the 102 class of the University of Fantasy here (If you paid attention and were a good student, that is). We already knew he was a very creative and imaginative author, and were not surprised in the least with the way GHOST OCEAN held our attention.Te Evangeline, the main character of the book, is more than she seems (it's all we can do not to make a Transformers reference here...oh wait, did that count anyway?), and so is the city she lives in. The city...

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Posted in Books We Like , S.M. Peters , Urban Fantasy

Contest Results

Here are the contest results and we, to put it simply, had a blast reading all of your submissions. There were a handful of potential winners that we debated back and forth in deciding who would be declared the winner. So without further ado we give you:Meg! You are the grand prize winner and will be receiving the ARC of I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER. For the rest of you, here is her submission.1. If Steve could be a classic horror monster, what would he be?c) a were-unicorn. What is more horrifying than that? (and Nick, I'm sorry but if you can possibly qualify as a "classic" horror monster then a were-unicorn can too.)2. Steve's favorite food is:e) Me. I'm very tasty.3. Nick Prefers:e) Let’s not get picky now…all of the above! (But this sadly forgot to mention calico and every other hue imaginable:)4....

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Posted in Contests

Dark Time

Let us just start, right from the get go, by saying that DARK TIME: Mortal Path by Dakota Banks is NOT written for guys like us. In fact we would go so far as to say its not written for guys at all. So we feel an obligation for some leeway in the way we review it. Don't worry, we will still do it in style, as you have come to expect from us.DARK TIME is an entry into the current trend of Urban Fantasy with a touch of eroticism and a strong female lead. It follows closely in the footsteps of the likes of Laurell K. Hamilton and Faith Hunter. Is this a bad thing? Well our feelings our mixed on that score. It doesn't stray from that tried and true...

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Posted in Books for Chicks , Dakota Banks , Urban Fantasy

The Company

K.J. Parker's THE COMPANY has a paperback release here shortly. We figured after reading the Engineer Trilogy that we should give her (K.J. Parker) another chance. Bottom line here: we really wanted to like this novel, but at the end of the day, we were left unsatisfied.Let's be clear here, we didn't hate THE COMPANY, but we sure didn't love it either. This novel follows the story of A Company, a small group of soldiers who were considered the most fearsome during a past war. THE COMPANY is partially about their attempts to reintegrate into society after the war, and partially about their attempts to colonize an island they...procured.The good?...

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Posted in Books that are Mediocre , Fantasy , K.J. Parker

Interview with Dan Wells

Elitist Book Reviews: We here at Elitist Book Reviews don't hesitate to tell people how awesome we are, because its the truth, and we want you to do the same. So tell us, why are you so awesome, Dan?Dan Wells: I'm awesome because I once wrote a Choose Your Own Adventure book specifically designed to be unwinnable. I'm awesome because I've eaten brains. I'm awesome because I am not a cylon (as far as you know). But most of all, I'm awesome because Elitist Book Reviews loves my book. EBR: Without giving too much away, can you give us a little background on the I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER trilogy?DW: I wrote the first book because one night when I was explaining the MacDonald Triad to Brandon Sanderson he said, "that would make a cool book." It took me a year to figure out the best way to write...

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Posted in Dan Wells , Interviews

EBR Contest: The First

We at EBR are definitely fans of free stuff, and we figured that surely some of our readers must be fans of free stuff as well. So we wanted to offer you all the chance to get some. (Free stuff that is. Nick is too busy for anything else right now.)What free stuff? Well. Glad you asked. The grand prize winner will receive an ARC (advance reader copy) of Dan Wells' novel, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER. Remember, we reviewed and LOVED this book. It is one of the best novels we have read in a LONG time. It even has the US cover on it, so its different from all the rest available right now. Not to mention you will get to read the book half a year before...

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Posted in Contests

Patient Zero

There is a topic in novels that has become sacred to us here at Elitist Book Reviews. If you screw it up, we will hate you forever. If you do it well, we may send you cookies...or at the very least worship you. The topic?Zombies, baby. Zombies.The easiest way for us to describe PATIENT ZERO by Jonathan Maberry is to say that it is Rainbow Six: Zombies. Cut out the technical mumbo-jumbo that Tom Clancy felt he needed to put in RAINBOW SIX, add more zombie action, and you get PATIENT ZERO. Zombie novels don't get much better than this. Take a half-hour break right now, and go to your bookstore and pick up this novel. And get a bag or two of popcorn...

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Posted in Books We Like , Horror , Jonathan Maberry

A Princess of Landover

Once upon a time, there were two kids who loved reading fantasy novels. Their names were Steve and Nick, and though they lived lived in different parts of the country, they both were reading the same types of novels. In fact, they both stumbled across a novel by Terry Brooks called MAGIC KINGDOM FOR SALE--SOLD!, and they both loved it. It was a fairy-tale of sorts where a struggling man in our world sees an advertisement that will allow him to purchase a magical kingdom for the sum of one-million dollars. What followed was a fantastic adventure that allowed the imagination of those two kids wander...OK, you get the point. Enough of the sappy....

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Posted in Books We Hate , Fantasy , Terry Brooks

Fantasy 201

Your elite instructors here at the University of Fantasy are back and offering a new course. Like the 101 section we both, separately, came up with our suggestions for the class reading assignments. As you will see Steve and I ended with very differing approaches, again both viable, to the 201 section. While Steve's choices are, mainly, the threads of the larger tapestry in the broad fantasy genre, mine are the best examples I could find for three of the big sub-genres in fantasy. One of the main things to keep in mind while reading over our picks is that the 201 and 202 level fantasy is generally as far as the typical reader will go. Why? Well,...

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Posted in University of Fantasy

Un Lun Dun

First, we want to thank Kaylynn ZoBell for letting us borrow her copy of this novel. She is full of awesome, and hopefully, will be published soon so we can do advance reviews of her work (no pressure there, Kaylynn).Secondly, it's been a long time since we have been this conflicted over a novel.UN LUN DUN, by the excellent China Miéville, is a Alice in Wonderland-style tale about two girls living in London who are mysteriously transported to Un Lun Dun (UnLondon...get it?). One of the girls, Zanna, is the Prophesied One who is supposed to save Un Lun Dun from a disaster. The other girl, Deeba, is the Prophesied Sidekick (seriously, it's mentioned...

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Posted in Books We Like , China Miéville , Young Adult

The Dragon Keeper

What happened?Robin Hobb is held by many as a fantastic author of the fantasy genre. Her first three trilogies are constantly given high marks in most circles, and are easily recommended to newer readers of the genre. We recommend starting with ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE, it's a great read. However, her fourth trilogy--The Soldier Son Trilogy--was met with much poorer reviews (and rightfully so). So, when we saw that Hobb had released another novel in the UK, we got our expectations up hoping she would return to form.Disappointment just doesn't seem to cover how we felt.THE DRAGON KEEPER marks a return to the Liveship universe Hobb created, and the...

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Posted in Books We Hate , Fantasy , Robin Hobb

Fantasy 102

Ready for a little continued education? After making our individual picks for Fantasy 101, we realized there were quite a few novels and sub-genres that we weren't been able to include. Steampunk, Urban Fantasy, YA Fantasy, etc. There are tons of novels that can help ease a person into fantasy without getting so...epic. Here are some quick definition links for you:Steam PunkUrban FantasySo, in an effort to introduce you all to a wider variety of Fantasy, here are six more picks.Steve's Picks:The Book of Three: (Middle-Grade/Young Adult)When I was young, in the 2nd Grade, I was hungry for books to read. Looking back, I believe that was when I...

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Posted in University of Fantasy