Falcata Times

FANTASY REVIEW: Malazan Empire 4: Orb, Sceptre, Throne - Ian C Esslemont

2012-01-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 19/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

The tumult of great powers colliding has passed and the city of Darujhistan and its citizens can at last get on with what matters: trading, bickering, politicking and enjoying all the good things in life. However, not all are ready to leave the past behind. A treasure hunter, digging amongst the burial grounds that surround the city, is about to uncover a hidden crypt. He will open the last of a series of sealed vaults - the one that no other dared touch - and, in so doing, set free something so terrifying that the knowledge of its internment may have been systematically wiped from all history.

Fortune hunters are also at work far to the south. When a fragment of Moon's Spawn, once the home of Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, crashed into the Rivan Sea it created a chain of small islands. Legends and rumours already surround them. The most potent of these is that here is hidden the Throne of Night, claimed by some to be the seat of Mother Dark herself. Either way, all who seek this ancient artefact - renegade mages, hardened mercenaries, even a Malazan army deserter - believe it will bestow unlimited power upon the eventual possessor. The stakes are high, greed is rife, betrayal inevitable, and murder and chaos lie in wait...

Epic and exciting, Ian Esslemont's new novel is an enthralling new chapter in the thrillingly imagined world of Malaz.

REVIEW:

Since his first Malazan Title Night of Knives, Ian’s writing has just gotten better and better. The key ingredients that made the world so fascinating in Steven Erikson’s epic ten book series still enthuse the reader as well as explore the world in greater depth as war wreaks it’s terrible vengeance as treasure hunters seek ultimate power.

Its cleverly written, Ian’s author voice strong as well as clear and when backed with a great sense of pace, style of inner conflict between the protagonists it’s a story that will keep you guessing. All in, this title is lots of fun which when added to a huge plot, a whole host of adventure alongside perhaps best of all a story that keeps on giving to the world as a whole, you know that a real treat is in store for all. Cracking.

VIDEO GAME NEWS: DEEP SILVER Risen 2 and Summer Stars 2012

2012-01-27T07:07:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
We have two game updates from our friends at Deep Silver who've let us know about their new sports game, Summer Stars (compatible with Kinect™ for Xbox 360), PlayStation®3 with PlayStation®Move support, and Wii™) which will be out in the second quarter of the year (just in time for the Olympics.)

There will be more than 18 different disciplines & challenges, which will cover the whole range of summer sports where players can prove their talent in disciplines like Triple Jump, Mountain Biking, Diving or Sprinting and become a top athlete in the career mode.

Multiplayer will allow you to take on three other people on split screen to see who's the best.

In our second piece of news, Deep Silver has released some details on one of the new characters in the forthcoming Risen 2: Dark Waters. So without further ado, we bring to you Patty Steelbeard...

Armed with a sabre, a pistol and a very sharp tongue, Patty has boldly stood by the nameless hero since Faranga. She is the astute daughter of probably the most famous and most notorious pirate of all time: Gregorius Emanuel Steelbeard. She has spent most of her life searching for her missing father.

To help in her search, she follows in the footsteps of her father and earns her living as a pirate bride. She has certainly managed to hold her ground in the male-dominated pirate world and has earned the respect of her male counterparts. To help survive she has developed a rough and sassy manner.

But Patty also has a loving and charming side to her which only her friends get to see.

Her relationship to the “nameless hero” in particular is very special…

"Perhaps you can pick me a special new outfit, for any other jobs you can want to rent me out for?"

Risen 2 will be released in April and will be available for the following formats:
Xbox 360® video game
Windows PC,
PlayStation®3.

For more information please check out the relevant sites at the following locationsL
Official Website
Facebook
Community

GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: Tank Girl: Bad WInd Rising - Rufus Dayglo and Alan Martin

2012-01-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 27/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

A brand new graphic novel from the exciting new "Tank Girl" creative team: Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo!
A holiday. A hold-up. A murder. A car chase. A very large vodka. A fistfight. An earthquake. A mutant surfer. A lorry heist. A tiny moped. The return of a much loved secondary character - and a gang of killer kangaroos after Tan Girl's scalp.
Don't miss Tank Girl's latest twisted action adventure!

REVIEW:

Ah, memories of my youth came flooding back when I opened this title in the recent relaunch of the 90’s icon alongside snippets of the film starring Lori Petty. As with the original it has a kick ass storyline, top notch humour and of course the usual amount of groinal shots that amuse the masses. Add to this cracking artwork, a twisted vision of the future which when added to the coupling of Tank Girl and Booga allows the reader to escape the dull real world for quite some time.

All in this was, rather than a truck, a tank load of fun. Great stuff.

GUEST BLOG: Spiritualism - Chris Womersley

2012-01-26T00:10:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
We;ve been lucky enough to get a guest blog from the wonder Chris Womersly (whose latest book Bereft we reviewed earlier), who has let us know about the strange and teh wonderful world of writing. So without further ado, his piece on Spiritualism...

________________

One of the (many) strange and wonderful things about writing a novel is the occasional outbreak of good fortune. The premise of my novel Bereft was always something of a ghost story, in which a man called Quinn Walker meets a girl he comes to believe is the ghost of his dead sister. A novel, then, about love and longing.

Around the time of starting to write Bereft, I became fascinated by millennium movements, in which people believe the end of the world is nigh and I felt compelled to set the novel in a period in which it might seem plausible the end of the world was close at hand. The year 1919 presented itself as a likely candidate; not only had World War One just finished but the Spanish flu pandemic was sweeping the globe, eventually taking more lives than had been lost during the war. For those of a religious persuasion, it might indeed seem as if the Horsemen of the Apocalypse were urging their steeds into a furious gallop.

I already relished the notion of a London wartime séance forming a crucial part of the narrative of Bereft (had, in fact, already written an early draft of the scene) when I stumbled across the curious fact of the rise in Spiritualism and spirit photography (in which photographers capture the image of dead loved ones hovering in the background of portraits) during the years of World War One.

Spiritualism, by this time, was not a new phenomenon; Victorian-era Great Britain had managed to fuse the seemingly contradictory interests in mourning and scientific inquiry into a ‘scientific religion’, which flourished upon its transportation from America in the 1850s. Despite its occult trappings – not to mention stern Biblical prohibitions against talking with the dead — Spiritualism was at the time not considered antithetical with Christianity and the new-fangled beliefs soon took root in Australia, where a young Alfred Deakin was among its most active adherents. During the 1870s, Australia’s future prime minister was an active member of Melbourne’s Spiritualist Motherwell Circle. He married a powerful medium and even acted as amanuensis for the spirit of author John Bunyan who, through him, dictated a book titled A New Pilgrim’s Progress, which was published in 1877 under a pseudonym.

Although interest in Spiritualism had faded in the early years of the 20th century, it gained a new lease of life, as it were, during World War One, when those freshly killed — and their corollary, those who mourned them — numbered in the millions. Grief on such a global scale was unprecedented; this most modern and industrial of wars had the curious consequence of sending those widowed and orphaned by it scurrying back to more superstitious modes of mourning. Among the more traditional religious notices of Australian metropolitan newspapers during the period are countless advertisements for séances, talks and presentations in suburban halls and churches. HOME OF RATIONAL SPIRITUALISM. Open platform. 7.15. Address by Mr Deacon from England. SPIRITUALISM FOR THE WORKING MAN.

Spiritualism had a number of powerful adherents in the UK. Prominent among them were: the Scottish creator of the rationalist detective Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the physicist Sir Oliver Lodge; poet WB Yeats; and Alfred Russell Wallace, the co-discoverer of the theory of natural selection. Doyle — whose son Kingsley had been killed during the war — toured America and Australia and lectured to tens of thousands both during and after the war.

Belief in the afterlife was not confined to those on the home front. Among men in the trenches, stories of ghosts and spirits were rife. The most famous example is the 1914 tale of the Angels of Mons, in which hundreds of bowmen from the 1415 battle of Agincourt had appeared hovering over outnumbered British troops, provided them with covering fog and even inflicted arrow wounds on German soldiers. The tale began as a short story by writer and occultist Arthur Machen, but quickly took on a life of its own, to the point where soldiers present at the Battle of Mons reported seeing the Agincourt angels with their own eyes.

The novel I had in mind suddenly had several factual hooks on which I could hang my tale, not to mention the historical precedent of those so desperate to believe their loved ones had not been undone by death that they wrestled them back to life. As his mother asks of the main character Quinn Walker in Bereft: ‘Would you think it possible to imagine someone into being? With nothing but love?’

Do we require something from our dead? Ulysses, vainly attempting to embrace his mother in the underworld, cries out: ‘If we could throw our arms around one another we might find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows…’

And that, in the end, might just be enough.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Sea Haven Series 2: Sisters of the Heart 2: Spirit Bound - Christine Feehan

2012-01-26T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 26/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Six women of varying age meet in special grief counselling group composed of victims of violent crimes. Each has suffered unbelievable loss. Working through their grief, they learn to love one another and trust only each other. Pooling their resources, they purchase a large farming community. Each has their own home and five acres, sharing the rest of the farm. Though not related by blood, they form a loving family, calling themselves sisters of the heart. These stories are of the sisters and the men who dare to love them.

REVIEW:

Christine is a writer that is not only prolific but also an author that gives the reader what they want, a story with a huge plot, a tale of magic, and of course a tale of passion to last the ages as we return to Sea Haven in the second novel of the second series.

It has solid characters, great prose and of course all the elements that have kept Christine at the top of most readers TBR piles. That said, as a fan, I did feel a little disappointed with this title as for me, it spent way too much time on the emotional feelings rather than getting to the heart of the matter, almost as if it were used as padding to make the story full length. Don’t get me wrong, it is well written, it will fulfil the brief but when you’re reading a tale and keep thinking about how much you could have slashed, it’s a sign that perhaps the title needs a rework and perhaps would have been better as a novella.

NEWS: Angry Robot Open Door Submissions 2012

2012-01-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers and Writers,
Our friends at Angry Robot have let us know about thier forthcoming Open Door Policy which brought about a huge amount of submissions last year.

Well they're doing it again this year (between 16th and the 30th April) for authors without an agent. Yes you read that right, your chance to get your manuscript in with a major publisher with no need for an agent.

Now before you go rushing off to submit please view thier submission page here, to check that you qualify. In addition to this, in case you're already thinking "But I have a Young Adult Fantasy story" well worry not, for thier new YA Imprint, Strange Chemistry, is also looking, so come one come all, dust off that story, neaten it up and get it in there, theres really no better time to do it.

All the best and remember if you sell remember who let you know and we'd love to do an interview.

Gareth

LADY ELEANOR URBAN FANTASY REVIEW; Haters 3: Them or Us - David Moody

2012-01-25T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 17/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

Movie rights in the HATER series were snapped up by PAN'S LABYRINTH/HELLBOY director Guillermo del Toro and producer Mark Johnson (The NARNIA movies). Perfect for fans of HBO's THE WALKING DEAD, the series reaches a shattering conclusion...The war which has torn the human race apart is finally nearing an end. The population has been devastated, and the earth has been reduced to a poisoned ruin. Most of the towns and cities are uninhabitable, and with the country in the grip of a savage nuclear winter, both Haters and Unchanged alike struggle to survive. Hundreds of Hater fighters have settled in the east, in the relatively undamaged coastal town of Lowestoft, under the command of the ruthless Hinchcliffe. His fledgling society is harsh and unforgiving, and he'll stop at nothing to eradicate the last few Unchanged and consolidate his position at the top of this new world order. Danny McCoyne is the exception to the rule. His ability to hold the Hate has given him a unique position in Hinchcliffe's army, for he uses his unique skill to hunt out the remaining Unchanged. But as the enemy's numbers shrink, so the pressure on McCoyne increases, until he finds himself at the very centre of a pivotal confrontation. The outcome will have repercussions on the future of everyone who is still alive. It's down to him alone: will it be Them, or Us?

REVIEW:

As people know I’m a huge fan of the horror genre, and I love a good scare as much as the next person. What the first book in the series did was set up the whole zombie scenario from a different point of view, as if the inhabitants of the body were still there but a chemical change made them hate anyone dissimilar to others of their kind. It was cleverly thought out, it had great scope for the author to play with and overall it gave the reader a real thriller to hang on for.

Yet the second book really didn’t further the concept and unfortunately whilst it had moments that I loved within, the third really fell into the same category when, had I been writing it, I’d have condensed the series into a duology rather than the trilogy to keep it sharp and snappy. Don’t get me wrong the writing is decent, the authors use of prose nicely done, but the overall plotline structure felt a little flat and almost padded out rather than getting to the meat of the matter for me. All in a reasonable read but one that won’t stay with me for long as it didn’t have enough going for it to keep the pace at the level I expected.

HISTORICAL FICTION REVIEW: Perdition - James Jackson

2012-01-24T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Almost two hundred years have elapsed since the Crusader armies took Jerusalem. Now it is the turn of the Saracen to seek revenge and send an overwhelming force against the last Christian enclave in the Holy Land. In Acre, the defenders await their fate. Knight and bishop, mercenary and merchant, all will be tested and all may perish. For this is the endgame. No quarter will be given and no mercy shown. William of Beaujeu, Grand Master of the Templars, will stop at little to secure the city and preserve his legendary military order. He knows that final judgement is approaching and that time is running out. But among the garrison are allies - the adventurer de Flor, Theobald, the young Hospitaller, the court dwarf Amethyst, the camel master Selim and the orphan boy and spy Benedict - who must stay alive in the chaos to be unleashed. In their midst prowl the feared Assassins and sinister enemies from among a rabble army of Italians. Deserted by the pope and the princes of Europe, it seems as if Acre faces annihilation - but perhaps something can still be salvaged from perdition ...

REVIEW:

I love a story of swords, of bravery and of course a historical setting so when I heard about this story in the catalogue it was ordered pretty quickly for me to enjoy arriving just prior to Christmas. Alas what I got, whilst reasonable didn’t set my world on fire purely for the fact that I didn’t like the principle character and due to this had a hard time getting into it. Don’t get me wrong, the author has done a lot of work, has put a lot of time and energy within to get the feel, but without that personal connection it was a struggle from start to finish for me. Which, for me, was a great shame all in although I will definitely look into more by this author in the future as I did see the architectural promise beneath the pages.

NEWS: Iain M Banks Makes World Book Night List

2012-01-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
After the last World Book Night, Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans the world over complained at the lack of any titles featured within the genre.

This year, on the 23rd April, Iain M Banks, The Player of Games has made it to the list. So we urge you to join the campaign and let others know about it as well as sign up on the board to help promote your love of the genre.

So come one, come all, stand up and be counted and let your voices be heard.

And just to whet your appetite in case you haven't already read the title heres the book blurb:

The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game ...a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.

And on a final note just because we love reading, heres a direct link to the website.

CRIME THRILLER REVIEW: Total Immunity - Robert Ward

2012-01-23T00:05:00.001-08:00

Release Date: 12/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Smart, tough Los Angeles FBI agents Jack Harper and Oscar Hidalgo breathe sighs of relief after violent diamond smuggler Karl Steinbach is finally arrested in a complex sting. Vowing vengeance on the agents who brought him down, Steinbach is imprisoned - only to be offered a release with total immunity in a dodgy deal with Homeland Security. As Jack and Oscar's team of agents start to die, it becomes clear that Steinbach's is no idle threat. But when the pair investigate their slain comrade's lives, they discover that what looked like retribution is actually tied to a web of deceit that stretches to the highest echelons of the FBI. Navigating car chases, shootouts, and even venomous reptiles, Jack and Oscar furiously pursue clues scattered throughout the underbelly of Los Angeles, in a desperate attempt to find the killer - before he finds them.

REVIEW:

As a fan of a solid crime story I was interested in this title released by Corvus in the UK as I remember Robert’s writing from the TV show Miami Vice and thought I’d be in for a nostalgic trip down memory lane with hardened criminals and even harder cops. And boy was I right about that.

The principle characters are not just fun to hang around but are characters that many readers would want to go for a drink with. Add to this some great prose and a sense of pace that really doesn’t let up from the word go and the readers in for a treat. That said there are some clichéd phrases within, but when you’re enjoying a story to this degree you’re more than happy to let that slide by. All in a good bit of fun but don’t expect anything to make you think too deeply.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Frankenstein 5/5: The Dead Town - Dean Koontz

2012-01-23T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 19/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

The cataclysmic conclusion to Koontz’s brilliant reworking of the classic tale.The war against humanity is raging. As the small town of Rainbow Falls, Montana, comes under siege, scattered survivors come together to weather the onslaught.Victor Frankenstein’s nihilistic plan is to remake the future: a future in which mankind will be annihilated. To accomplish this aim he has created nothing less than the shock troops of the Apocalypse.Now the alliance of the good must make their last, best stand and do battle against overwhelming odds. And Deucalion, Frankenstein's original and flawed attempt at replicating life, must finally confront his evil creator. In a climax that will shatter every expectation, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance…

REVIEW:

OK, you’ve been twiddling your fingers and thumbs, joined Boris and the Cryptkickers with Pans People as well as watching the dates slide by awaiting this, the final title in the Dean Koontz Frankenstein series. So what will you get for your money? Will it be worth the wait and perhaps most importantly will it give the reader the conclusion that they’ve been looking for in this modern take on the classic story?

What Dean presents as usual is well written, the cast continues to impress and perhaps best of all it’s a story that has an almost epic conclusive feel that the readers have been wanting since they first discovered this author’s series a while ago. It has great prose, the usual Koontz flair that will not only keep you occupied but engrossed and when mixed with the authors clever use of misdirection the reader is in for a treat.

Finally throw into the cauldron an epic battle of good versus evil and it’s a story that I really had a hard time putting down making this high voltage title a cracking end to a top series.

LADY ELEANOR HISTORICAL FICTION REVIEW: The Devil's Queen - Jeanne Kalogridis

2012-01-22T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 10/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

A compelling tale of love, lust and murder which traces the evolution of Catherine de Medici ? the great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent ? from an unloved, timid orphan to France's most cunning monarch A cold, ruthless murderess and occultist, or a loyal wife and mother, and the most competent monarch France ever knew? In The Devil?s Queen, Jeanne Kalogridis examines Catherine de'Medici?s attraction to astrology and the dark arts, as well as the political, religious and personal forces that converged during her life. Catherine de'Medici was one of France's most notorious and blood thirsty monarchs, feared by some as an occultist, seen to be consorting with the likes of Nostradamus and thought to have been responsible for the brutal St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. For many she was loved as a monarch devoted to bringing about peace during the Wars of Religion. Others saw her as an unfortunate victim of circumstances, struggling to come to terms with the death of her own husband whom she loved dearly, as well as the tragic death of her own parents at an early age. In Kalogridis' most passionate and thought-provoking novel yet, we follow in the footsteps of France's orphan queen and her rise to power in the tumultuous climate of sixteenth century France.

REVIEW:

Having been attracted to Jeanne’s writing with The Borgia Bride, I was more than interested to see what she’d come up with for this, her version of the life of Catherine De Medici which is not only fascinating but also one of intrigue double dealing, murder and of course politics. Yet what would Jeanne bring to the fore and having recently enjoyed CW Gortner’s version (The Confession of Catherine De Medici) how would this author change the facts to generate not only a story of interest but one of history.

What this tale brought to the fore was the age to which it all pertains, its lively, it has a great level of understanding for the principle character (especially when dealing with her husband’s infidelity) as well as delving in the mysticism alongside witchcraft with people of interest like Nostradamus. But perhaps most importantly it brought a character to the fore that the reader can associate with and understand whilst viewing all the intrigues of the era where rumour never lost anything in the telling. All in this story is well written, the author maintains the reader’s interest and apart from a few places where the pace lulls, it’s a very tight tale of love, romance and of course the darker aspects that haunted the principle characters life. Great stuff.

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Ragnarok 2: Transmission - John Meaney

2012-01-21T00:10:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 18/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

The second volume of Meaney's epic Ragnarok space opera trilogy. The dark matter in the universe is alive and is seeking to pervert human history to its own ends. Its influence has reached back into the dark ages, to the centre of the 3rd Reich and 600 years into the future. The Ragnarok universe not only provides a stunning SF rationale for Norse mythology but posits a world where pilots are locked into symbiotic relationships with their ships and the cities can come alive.

REVIEW:

John Meaney is one of those authors that you either love or hate. I love the guys writing, the hard combat, the speed of thought and the idea’s that seem to keep flying around and hitting you like neutrino’s. It’s cleverly plotted and of course it has a pace that few authors can manage to keep up with let alone emulate.

Add to this an almost adult by the hand guide through the work as it wends it way through numerous characters and timelines as well as a great use of prose and it’s a title that I absolutely adored as there’s something for everyone within be it good old fashioned Scandinavian mythology or even an honour system alongside a dark future.

All in this is a cracking piece of fiction and a pure joy to read, just prepare to leave grip marks within the titles pages.

HISTORICAL FICTION REVIEW: Bereft - Chris Womersley

2012-01-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 12/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

A CRIME UNSPEAKABLE. Australia, 1919. Quinn Walker returns from the Great War to the New South Wales town of Flint: the birthplace he fled ten years earlier when he was accused of a heinous act. A LIE UNFORGIVABLE. Aware of the townsmen's vow to hang him, Quinn takes to the surrounding hills. Here, deciding upon his plan of action, and questioning just what he has returned for, he meets Sadie Fox. A BOND UNBREAKABLE. This mysterious girl seems to know, and share, his darkest fear. And, as their bond greatens, Quinn learns what he must do to lay the ghosts of his past, and Sadie's present, to rest.

REVIEW:

Many historical fiction titles tend to take the reader back quite a way time wise so that you’re clear of anything within living memory (although this setting is close to being outside that remit) so when this title from Chris arrived I really was looking forward to it to read a story set with a character suffering the aftermath of the effects of time within the trenches of the first world war. What Chris’ writing does is take the reader to a setting that is almost cinematic with a principle character that you can not only imagine but see as if they were flesh and blood.

Add to this a wonderful story which whilst quite short, fulfils the key points for me as a reader with a solid character, well thought out description and an overall arc that presents a tale that keeps you interested from start to finish. All in this is a wonderful read and whilst I think it may be missed by a lot of others it’s well worth your time to search it out. Great stuff.

NEWS: Strange Chemistry Books Announces First Two Authors

2012-01-20T03:23:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
Our friends at Angry Robot's YA Imprint Strange Chemistry have let us know about thier first two signings. Here is the article for your enjoyment:

Shift by Kim Curran

About The Book: When your average, 16-year old loser, Scott Tyler, meets the beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Jones, e learns he’s not quite so average after all. He’s a ‘Shifter’. And that means he has the power to undo any decision he’s ever made. At first, he thinks the power to shift is pretty cool. But as his world quickly starts to unravel around him he realises that each time he uses his power, it has consequences; terrible unforeseen consequences. Shifting is going to get him killed. In a world where everything can change with a thought, Scott has to decide where he stands.

About the Author: Kim Curran was born in Dublin and moved to London when she was seven. After studying Philosophy and Literature at Sussex University her plan of being paid big bucks to think deep thoughts never quite paid off. She became an advertising copywriter instead, specialising in writing for video games. She lives in SW London with her husband, if they’re not both off travelling. When she’s not writing she fences and plays guitar, both very badly.
Visit Kim online at http://www.kimcurran.co.uk/

Kim Curran says: “When I saw Angry Robot was launching a YA imprint I literally said I would kill to be published by those guys. So to have signed with Strange Chemistry is everything I could have wished for and then some. To say I’m excited is a massive understatement. I just hope I won’t be expected to actually kill anyone!”

Amanda Rutter says: “We’ve signed debut novelist Kim Curran for two books in a new YA SF thriller series. The first title – Shift – will be published in September of this year, with the second to follow in 2013. The deal, concluded with Sam Copeland, of Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd, includes world English rights in physical and electronic formats.
“As soon as I read the first page of Shift, I absolutely knew I wanted Kim on board. The novel is fast-paced, exciting and a real page turner. I simply cannot wait to introduce the world of Scott and Aubrey to YA readers!”

Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings

About the Book: Julie is an apprentice witch – or so she believes. When a dark power comes stalking out of the past to haunt her and her mother, Julie learns that she is far more than just a witch. With the help of her best friend Marcus and a rather unusual Great Dane, Julie has to race against time to ensure she can defeat the bad guy, save her mother and avoid being grounded – again!

About the Author: Sean Cummings lives in Saskatoon, Canada. He’s a comic book geek, superhero junkie, zombie fan and a total nerd. His interests include science fiction, the borg, cats with extra toes, east Indian cuisine and quality sci-fi movies/television. Sean has been writing since 1978 (as a means of liberating his “inner nerd”) and his published works for adults include Shade Fright, Funeral Pallor and Unseen World, all published by Snowbooks. Poltergeeks is his first book for Young Adults.
Visit Sean online at www.sean-cummings.ca and www.darkcentralstation.com.

Amanda Rutter says: “We have signed Sean for two novels in the Poltergeeks universe, the first to be published in October of this year with the second to follow in the summer of 2013. The deal, concluded with Jenny Savill and Ella Kahn of Andrew Nurnberg Associates International Ltd, includes world English rights in physical and electronic formats.
“Sean has written a wonderful book with a title that made the whole AR office sit up and take notice – who wouldn’t want to read a novel called Poltergeeks?! As you read further, you just become gripped by this sassy and sarcastic apprentice witch who has to face down the darkest of powers. It’s just a tremendous story, and I’m thrilled that Strange Chemistry is bringing it to you.”

Sean Cummings says: "I'm a huge fan of Angry Robot Books and when I heard they were starting a Young Adult imprint I just knew they'd be publishing some of the best in YA fiction. I'm thrilled that Poltergeeks has found a home with Strange Chemistry and I look forward to working with Amanda. (Did I mention that Angry Robot has fantastic cover art, too?)"

To keep up to date please subscribe to Strange Chemisty's Updates on their main page.

GUEST BLOG: Spartacus - Ben Kane

2012-01-20T00:10:00.000-08:00

Just how did the ancient rebel and war leader Spartacus become a modern symbol of the struggle against oppression?

The list of figures from ancient times who are still universally known is vanishingly small. In my mind, it totals just five men and one woman. Tutankhamen. Alexander the Great. Hannibal. Julius Caesar. Cleopatra. Spartacus.

Spartacus is unusual because he is the only one of the six who is known not for what he did ‘for his race’ or in the interests ‘of his people’. (Technically, I know that neither Julius Caesar and Alexander were acting in this manner ― one could argue that they were megalomaniacs ― but they were at least operating within the norms of what was done by other generals and leaders of their respective peoples.) Spartacus is also the only one of these icons who was not just an ordinary person, but a slave. This makes his lasting fame even more remarkable.

As with any controversial figure, there are those who rush to downgrade the scale of Spartacus’ success. The only legions in Italy were newly raised and poorly led, they say. If the veteran legions from Spain or Pontus had been recalled, his forces would have been defeated far more quickly. And so on. While there is some validity to these arguments, I also think that it’s possible to stand back and be amazed by what Spartacus did. I’ll list just a few of the details that survive in the ancient texts.

Having escaped from the gladiator school in Capua, he and his seventy-odd companions were besieged on Mount Vesuvius by about three thousand Roman soldiers. These may not have been crack troops, but consider the odds. In a daring night attack that involved scaling down a cliff on ropes made from vines, Spartacus and his men put the Romans to flight.

In the ensuing months, tens of thousands of slaves ran away from their masters to join Spartacus. Another military force was sent from Rome to deal with him, but he roundly defeated its three parts in separate battles. Marching north, he was pursued by one of the two consuls. Having laid an ambush for the consul’s legions, he and his men drove them from the field. A month later, they did the same to the second consul and his army, and shortly after that, annihilated two more legions who garrisoned the Republic’s northern border. After Spartacus had made the fateful decision not to leave Italy, he was confronted by the united legions of both consuls. Again the slaves won a decisive victory.

Events after that began to go wrong for Spartacus, but I defy anyone to say that what he did was not extraordinary. In a short space of time, he trained and armed thousands of men who had either never handled weapons, or who, as herdsmen, had only hunted wild animals. He forged his men into an army that was capable of standing up to, and roundly defeating, full-size Roman armies. They may not have been made up of veteran soldiers, but they were still properly trained, fully armed legions, forces which would have been well capable of dispatching just about any other opponents.

Typically, however, all is not as it seems. Spartacus’ achievements were astonishing, but he has not been constantly remembered since the first century BC. When one does a little digging on the subject, it soon becomes apparent that after more than a thousand years of obscurity, Spartacus’ memory was resurrected in France in the mid to late eighteenth century. This was a time of great social change, when the notion of political freedom was being born, and when slave uprisings were regularly sweeping the European powers’ colonies. For those downtrodden individuals who were dreaming of success or freedom against unassailable odds - whether that be an absolute monarch or a slave master, Spartacus’ story must have seemed like a message from the gods.

In the nineteenth century, revolutionaries from the Haitian leader Toussaint L’Ouverture to the Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi used Spartacus’ name to rally support for their causes. Karl Marx regarded him as one of his heroes, so it’s no surprise that Spartacus was also adopted by Lenin and Stalin as the ultimate symbol of class struggle, and the model whom the proletariat should emulate. More recently, politicians on the other side of the divide, notably former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, have also commented favourably on his fight for freedom.

Yet for all the portrayals of Spartacus by politicians, revolutionaries, writers and filmmakers, it is very likely that he was not a man whose mission was to end slavery. To think that he was is to look back at history with all of our modern sensibilities, which abhor slavery, the mistreatment of women and so on. To put it simply, slavery was embedded as deeply in ancient life as having a washing machine to wash our clothes is for us today. People who lived two thousand years ago would have simply accepted it for what it was, not tried to stop it.

With this in mind, I have portrayed Spartacus as a courageous fighter, a charismatic leader and skilled general, but not as a revolutionary in the modern sense. In my opinion, this doesn’t make his story any less appealing. If anything, it makes it more so. I hope that my readers agree!

HISTORICAL FICTION REVIEW: Spartacus: The Gladiator - Ben Kane

2012-01-20T00:05:00.001-08:00

Release Date: 19/01/11

SYNOPSIS:

In historical terms we know very little about Spartacus the man - partly because most contemporary Roman historians were keen to obliterate his memory and prevent him from attaining mythic status. This ofcourse is grist to the novelist's mill. Ben Kane's brilliant novel begins in the Thracian village to which Spartacus has returned, after escaping from life as an auxiliary in the Roman army. But here he quickly falls foul of his overlord, the Thracian king, who has set his heart on Dionysian priestess, Ariadne - later to become wife of Spartacus. Betrayed again to the Romans by his jealous king, Spartacus - and with him Ariadne - are taken in captivity to the school of gladiators at Capua. It is here - against the unbelievable brutality of gladiatorial life - that Spartacus and Crixus the Gaul plan the audacious overthrow of their Roman masters, escaping to Vesuvius, where they recruit and train a huge slave army - an army which will keep the might of Rome at bay for two years and create one of the most extraordinary legends in history. "Spartacus: The Gladiator" takes the story up to the moment when the slave army has inflicted its first great defeat on Rome.

REVIEW:

I’ve enjoyed Ben’s writing for quite some time so when I heard he was tackling Spartacus I had to hope that he was bringing something new to the fore especially when most people will be thinking either of Kirk Douglas or the recently deceased Andy Whitfield. Also tricky when theres seems to be a whole host of Spartacus titles out there from other authors for the Young Adult market.

So what has Ben produced? Is it worth the money? And perhaps most importantly, is it any good?

Well to be honest it’s a title that has a realistic feel which isn’t surprising when you consider that the author has done a lot of in depth research and when blended with a feel of David Gemmell’s Connovar (from the first Rigante Book, Sword in the Storm) and the reader is in for a real treat.

Add to this great prose, top notch action and when backed with Ben’s own authorly voice, it’s a story that, in subsequent books, will help bring the rebel to life.

VIDEO GAME NEWS: Developer Video: Darksiders 2 - THQ

2012-01-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers and those of the Calloused hands,
Our friends at THQ have let us know that they've uploaded a development video for Darksiders 2 (out later this year) to whet you appetite.

If like us you can't wait to play as Death and charge against the hordes against your fellow Horseman Brother, then this will hopefully go some way to act as a balm on your gamers soul.

Have fun and remember to keep tuned to see further developments.

Gareth

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Blue Remembered Earth - Alastair Reynolds

2012-01-19T00:10:00.001-08:00

Release Date: 18/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

One hundred and fifty years from now, in a world where Africa is the dominant technological and economic power, and where crime, war, disease and poverty have been banished to history, Geoffrey Akinya wants only one thing: to be left in peace, so that he can continue his studies into the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But Geoffrey's family, the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans. After the death of Eunice, Geoffrey's grandmother, erstwhile space explorer and entrepreneur, something awkward has come to light on the Moon, and Geoffrey is tasked - well, blackmailed, really - to go up there and make sure the family's name stays suitably unblemished. But little does Geoffrey realise - or anyone else in the family, for that matter - what he's about to unravel. Eunice's ashes have already have been scattered in sight of Kilimanjaro. But the secrets she died with are about to come back out into the open, and they could change everything. Or shatter this near-utopia into shards ...

REVIEW:

OK do you like a book with a huge scope? A title that will grab you, shake you up and throw all sorts of twists and turns so that your view is like Escher’s Relativity? Well search no longer as this new title in a cracking new series by Alastair Reynolds hits not only the shops but the readers minds in such a way that you’ll be confused as you wend your way through.

It’s clever, it has an almost mind blowing scope and when you add to the mix an author who knows what they’re doing with sleight of hand, it’s a title that will stay with you long after the final page is turned. Finally add to this the makings for a trilogy to be long remembered and it’s clear why this author is high up on most fans lists of must buys. Great stuff all in and a real treat although for me, it’s going to be a long wait for book two.

GUEST BLOG: Julie Campbell

2012-01-19T00:10:00.000-08:00

Friend of the blog, Julie Campbell is on a whirlwind blog tour and we were lucky enough to grab some of her time as its all about her new book available on Amazon (in the US, UK) as either an E-Book or a hardcopy.

So without further ado, we give you OWGer (one of the Kelley Armstrong Forum writers) Julie Campbell to take you on a journey with a different twist in its tail...

Gareth, thank you for having me here today for my blog tour.

My novella, Doc, Vampire-Hunting Dog is about a Border Collie who… hunts vampires. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Well, the second part anyway. You may not have guessed Border Collie unless you’ve already seen the cover. Then the breed of the MC is kind of obvious. Border Collies aren’t exactly known for being the most blood thirsty of breeds. Normally people think of Babe, the movie about a pig who herds sheep like the dogs do. They are cute, smart and a little grumpy with sheep sometimes, but not hunters.

Well, that’s true. But they do have that pretty cool eye. The Border Collie eye was developed early in the breeds history and they use it to control the sheep (and vampires). Yes, they literally stare at the sheep. It’s an intense gaze, and if you’ve ever had it turned on you, it can be intimidating. You can actually feel it even when you don’t know the dog is looking at you. They are also super smart. This is the blessing and curse of the breed. I won’t get on my soapbox here, but let me tell you, most people aren’t prepared to deal with a smart dog that might as well be a perpetual energy machine.

To me Border Collies make the perfect vampire-hunting dog. They’re smart enough, intense enough, loyal enough, and boy do they love to have a job and work with their human partner to get it done.

So what does my vampire-hunting dog in training do while I’m writing? A lot of the time she sits right under my feet. Sometimes I’ll come up for air and find I’m surrounded by her toys and she’s staring at me, hoping I’ll throw them. Sometimes she goes and sleeps on the couch. Poor dog. It’s a huge challenge to live with a Border Collie, especially since I also work 40+ hours a week out of the home, and write as much as I can. I have to keep her exercised and mentally occupied. If I lived on a farm she’d be outside working all day, every day, because that’s what BC’s do. They go and go and go. Since she’s a companion dog, I have to dedicate large amounts of time to doing things with her. I trail ride with her and my horse, play a lot of fetch, do a dog sport called flyball and we do herding. It’s kind of like having a kid… all her lessons and spending time with her. It’s wonderful though because a happy active BC means a happy active author – at least in my case.

Kira is my inspiration for Doc. Even Doc’s love for his lazy chair… Kira loves to sit in my lazy chair. So do the cats actually. Sometimes they even let me sit in it. She’s had a huge impact on this novella. I hope, if you decide to read it, that you’ll be able to see the real Border Collie behind the fictional one.

CRIME REVIEW: Tideline - Penny Hancock

2012-01-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

One winter's afternoon, voice coach Sonia opens the door of her beautiful riverside home to fifteen-year-old Jez, the nephew of a family friend. He's come to borrow some music. Sonia invites him in and soon decides that she isn't going to let him leave.
As Sonia's desire to keep Jez hidden and protected from the outside world becomes all the more overpowering, she is haunted by memories of an intense teenage relationship, which gradually reveal a terrifying truth. The River House, Sonia's home since childhood, holds secrets within its walls. And outside, on the shores of the Thames, new ones are coming in on the tide...

REVIEW:

I love new authors, so this one when it landed (earlier today) was something that I was surprised at when I started as it became a novel that hooked me in from the beginning with beautifully rounded characters, wonderful plot line and a deeper hint of mystery to be uncovered as you watched the pages fly by.

Add to this a great authorly style where the prose and pace are of a high standard which when backed with a writer who is clearly out to impress and it’s going to be a tough crime debut to beat in 2012. This year really has started out highly and I really can’t wait to see what Penny hits back with next.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Magic in the Blood - Devon Monk

2012-01-18T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 01/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Allie Beckstrom knows that there's a price to pay for using magic ...She's suffered her fair share of migraines and gaps in her memory during her time working as a Hound, tracing spells back to their casters. But now Allie's been visibly marked by magic with a mysterious iridescent tattoo. She's not only lost all memory of how she got it, but also of the man that she's supposedly fallen in love with. Oh, and as usual, she's completely broke. So when the criminal magic enforcement division of the police asks her to consult on a missing person's case, things start to look up. At first, it seems to be a fairly straightforward way of earning some money - but like most things in Allie's life it soon turns into a dangerous mix of underworld criminals, ghosts and blood magic. This time Allie is going to discover it takes more than magic to survive...

REVIEW:

OK, I love a good Urban Fantasy story and when you add a price into the mix for the use of the characters magic it has extra danger for the use of power, however coming into this series with the second book, I was left wondering for quite a while what I’d missed in the previous as it kept being alluded to throughout.

Don’t get me wrong, I did have fun with this title, but I felt that something was missing for me as a reader as I hadn’t gotten to know the character prior to the consequences that seem to have affected her in the end of the previous story which left me wondering about her associations alongside having to figure the world and her role out in greater detail. The writing is crisp, the character was interesting but without the background I felt I was on the backfoot from the beginning. I’ll reread this book when I’ve read the original story Magic in the Bone.

LADY ELEANOR FACTUAL REVIEW: The Women of the Cousin's War - Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin and Michael Jones

2012-01-17T00:10:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 15/09/11

SYNOPSIS:

Elizabeth Woodville, The White Queen (2009), Margaret Beaufort, The Red Queen (2010), and Jacquetta, Lady Rivers, The Rivers Woman (2011) are the subjects of the first three novels in Philippa Gregory's Cousins' War series, and of the three biographical essays in this book. Philippa Gregory and two historians, leading experts in their field who helped Philippa to research the novels, tell the extraordinary 'true' stories of the life of these women who until now have been largely forgotten by history, their background and times, highlighting questions which are raised in the fiction and illuminating the novels. With a foreword by Philippa Gregory - in which Philippa writes revealingly about the differences between history and fiction and examines the gaps in the historical record - and beautifully illustrated with rare portraits, The Women of the Cousins' War is an exciting new addition to the Philippa Gregory oeuvre.

REVIEW:

Knowing Philippa’s name from the historical fiction part of the bookshop, I had high hopes for this, the factual representation of the female characters to which the current series pertains. What unfortunately happens is a presented title that is a little higgledy-piggledy with no real background and some of the facts that for me were quite important missed out almost as if they weren’t important when in a factual historical document lineage and wills can shape the future of all. Add to this that there isn’t a lot of detail known and perhaps it’s a title that would have been best to leave well enough alone and stick to historical fiction where a certain amount of leeway is acceptable and where for me, the Philippa’s talents lie.

LADY ELEANOR HISTORICAL FICTION REVIEW: The Cousin's War 3: The Lady of the Rivers - Philippa Gregory

2012-01-17T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 15/09/11

SYNOPSIS:

Jacquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg and kinswoman to half the royalty of Europe, was married to the great Englishman John, Duke of Bedford, uncle to Henry VI. Widowed at the age of nineteen she took the extraordinary risk of marrying a gentleman of her house-hold for love, and then carved out a life for herself as Queen Margaret of Anjou's close friend and a Lancaster supporter - until the day that her daughter Elizabeth Woodville fell in love and married the rival king Edward IV. Of all the little-known but important women of the period, her dramatic story is the most neglected. With her links to Melusina, and to the founder of the house of Luxembourg, together with her reputation for making magic, she is the most haunting of heroines.

REVIEW:

I’ve been a fan of Philippa’s since I originally read her story, The Other Queen, which not only enchanted me but gave me all the things that I look for in a story, a character I want to spend time with, emotional involvement and of course a setting where no matter how much you wished for a different outcome you know what will happen in the end.

Yet sadly for me, the currently series set in the Cousin’s War really isn’t giving me what I want. There isn’t enough available material for the author to utilise to help bring it altogether (a fact that Philippa admits as most of the historical texts are about the male lineage rather than dealing with the female) and with the same timeline told from various points of view, the reader will feel that they keep reading the same thing in each title. Add to this, that for me, this book about Jacquetta should have been released before the White Queen to get the full effect and I was left feeling a little cheated, especially when I wanted the author to delve into the characters emotions about her husband and son’s beheading which was completely ignored.

That said, the authors writing style is there, its gripping with decent pace, but with no real substance to help back it up (a fact backed up sadly with the Cousins War Historical Title) it felt that it floundered pretty early on. All in, I’ll read a few more of Philippa’s titles but unless they head more towards the factual and documented which will allow her to present the principle character to a modern audience then I won’t be staying with her for much longer.

FANTASY REVIEW: Dragon Age 3: Dragon Age: Asunder - David Gaider

2012-01-16T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 23/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

A mystical killer stalks the halls of the White Spire, the heart of templar power in the mighty Orlesian Empire. To prove his innocence, Adrian reluctantly embarks on a journey into the western wastelands that will not only reveal much more than he bargained for but change the fate of his fellow mages forever.

REVIEW:

If you’re a fan of the games or the previous two titles this new book is an absolute corker as it starts shortly after the end of the first game. It’s well written, the prose top notch and David Gaider really does give the reader what they want in this imaginative as well as dangerous world.

Add to this great pace, a wonderful control of the lulls as well as peaks of combat which when blended with an authorly voice that gives the reader exactly what they want which will more than entertain, although to be honest you have to expect perhaps a change or two to the outline from the game as some of your choices you made will have given you differing results. Still, that said, a satisfactory read and one that I really enjoyed, so much so that a complete replay will be in action shortly.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Dracula's Guest: A Commisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories - Ed. Michael Sims

2012-01-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 03/10/11

SYNOPSIS:

Even in the twenty-first century, the undead walk among us...Before Twilight and True Blood, vampires haunted the nineteenth century, when brilliant writers indulged their bloodthirsty imaginations, culminating in Bram Stoker's legendary 1897 novel, Dracula. Acclaimed author and anthologist Michael Sims brings together the finest vampire stories of the Victorian era in a unique collection that highlights their cultural variety. Beginning with the supposedly true accounts that captivated Byron and Shelley, the stories range from Aleksei Tolstoy's tale of a vampire family to Fitz James O'Brien's invisible monster to Mary Elizabeth Braddon's rich and sinister widow, Good Lady Ducayne. Sims also includes a nineteenth-century travel tour of Transylvanian superstitions, and finishes the collection with Stoker's own Dracula's Guest - a chapter omitted from his landmark novel. Vampires captivated Victorian society, and these wonderful stories demonstrate how Romantic and Victorian writers refined the raw ore of peasant superstition into a whole vampire mythology of aristocratic decadence and innocence betrayed.

REVIEW:

If you’re a firm fan of many of the modern vampire stories, you really have to read these as they’re just as frightening and eerie as the modern counterparts. They have something for everyone from masters of the genre whether you want the calculating vampire or a lonely vamp or even a good old fashioned noble undead you’ve got some in here as well.

Add to this solid writing, a whole host of talent, great prose alongside dialogue and this is true value for money for any fan of the living dead. A cracking read and a wonderful addition to anyone shelves.

CRIME THRILLER REVIEW: She's Never Coming Back - Hans Koppel

2012-01-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Mike Zetterberg lives with his wife Ylva and their daughter in a house just outside Helsingborg. One evening, Ylva isn't home as expected after work. Mike passes it off as a drink with a work friend, but when she's still missing the next day, he starts to worry.

As Mike battles suspicion from the police and his own despair, he is unaware that Ylva is still alive, just a stone's throw from his own home. Ylva has been drawn into a twisted plot of revenge and tragedy that leads back into her and her abductors' shared past…

REVIEW:

When you’ve never read an author before the reader usually suffers from one of two reactions (or rather I do to be honest.) First of all that thrill of excitement at not knowing what to expect and secondly that cold chill down your back that says, but what if it doesn’t live up to my expectations and for me wastes my time and money? So which is this title going to do? And with such an early launch for the new year, is it a book that they hope will do well or just tacked in to get the season off to a start when people may spend without realising what they’re getting.

All of which are pertinent questions and of course I’ll do my best to answer them. First of all, this book by Hans is a story of firstly the human spirit and the strength that it can demonstrate when evil things are thrust their way, not by way of a creature but by way of the evil that others do unto us and for me, it’s a story of crime.

Its cunningly crafted, it’s addictive and the way that the pages meld you really can’t find a convenient place to put the book down for the night as you promise yourself just a few more pages. Add to this solid characterisation and people that you can believe in, great prose and of course a storyline that really will keep you gripped as you follow the actions and reactions as they unfurl. Finally add to this an author who likes to add some sleight of hand (you’ll find this out towards the books culmination) and a wicked twist or two that will leave you wanting more. Cracking all round and a great way to start the new year.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Black Sun's Daughter 1: Unclean Spirits - MLN Hanover

2012-01-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

The first novel in a bold and fast-paced new urban fantasy series starring Jayné Heller, a young college student who inherits a string of houses across the world, several bank accounts, and a very unconventional business from her murdered uncle. And it turns out Uncle Eric has been fighting to rid the world of supernatural riders - demons, vampires, werewolves and all sorts of other nasty parasites - since before Jayné was born. Now it's up to Jayné to avenge her uncle's death and continue his mission - if she can survive her first week on the job.

REVIEW:

Originally I thought that MLN Hanover was a new author so I was really looking forward to seeing what would occur in a paranormal genre that’s heavily laden with almost mythical heroes, vamps and of course magic weilders, so when I learned that the name was a pseudonym for an author whose fantasy titles I loved I was a little apprehensive as I didn’t want to ruin my own reading pleasure with a title that didn’t fit into what they did.

What unfurled however was a well thought out, cunningly crafted title with a new take on magic, were’s and other “riders” which made this a tale that I could really get my teeth into and when added with a good sense of prose, some decent action and a whole host of chaos with casualties based on the lead characters choices I found it a story I couldn’t leave alone. Add to this some interesting dialogue which when backed with all the traits that I like from Daniel Abraham’s writing (solid characters having to deal with a world that’s given them lemons) with a good dash of flaws and it was a story that left me wanting more. I’ll look forward to seeing where it goes.

READER OPPORTUNITY: Mulholland Driver 2012

2012-01-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
Our friends over at Mullholland Books have let us know about this opportunity for you to become a Mullholland Blogger and to get ahead on the published titles from them the details are as follows:

"Do you love suspense fiction? Crime novels, thrillers, police procedurals and supernatural suspense? If you love these books then Mulholland Books is the imprint for you, bringing exciting American thriller writers to the UK alongside British crime authors who deliver what thrill-hungry fans demand.

Mulholland Books UK are offering you the chance to become a MULHOLLAND DRIVER in 2012 – one of a team of bloggers who get the chance to read and review Mulholland Books ahead of the curve. We have developed an online community of crime and thriller readers and would love to offer you the chance to be a part of it.

We are looking for two new additions to the team, book lovers who can’t get enough of compelling, fast-paced, page-turning reads. If you would like to become a Mulholland Driver please send an email to lucy.zilberkweit@hodder.co.uk explaining why you’d like to join us, the name of your blog and your address. We will then post you a copy of the fantastic GUILT BY ASSOCIATION by Marcia Clark – email us your review for a chance to win spot on the team.

Looking forward to hearing from you all soon!"

GUEST BLOG: The Ying and Yang of Fiction - John R Fultz

2012-01-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

Everything that exists in our universe possesses a dual nature.

There is first the literal (or physical) nature. Then there is the symbolic (or ideal) nature.

This principle is nowhere more evident than in the world of literature. The events of a story, the characters, the setting, all the various elements that compose a narrative work…all of these can be analyzed from a symbolic (ideal) perspective. Sure, there’s a blazing mountain of ghosts in the hero’s path, but what does that truly MEAN? A red hawk crosses a witch’s path as she stumbles from her hovel…what is the deeper meaning of the occurrence?

I teach a combined class of English Language Arts and History called Humanities. My partner, a history teacher, continually reminds our students that it’s not enough just to know WHAT happened in history; it is far more important to know the SIGNIFICANCE of a historical event. The dual nature of events is displayed clearly in this study of the past. What did it MEAN that the Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated? What was the significance of Napolean’s obsession with defeating the Russians?

To get the most out of a work of literature, a study of history, or the latest great book you’re reading, you must look beyond the literal/physical and strive to understand the symbolic/ideal elements of the story unfolding in your mind. Often such understanding is second nature to a reader—we pick up on symbolism, connections, metaphor, imagery, and other types of figurative language without even trying. These are natural tools that allow us to convey and understand comparisons, deeper connections, and meanings beyond the literal. “My love is a red, red rose,” does not have to be explained. We instinctively “get” the metaphor.

Usually writers work by instinct, weaving literal and figurative language as a loom spins cloth. Yet it’s not only about what a writer intends to put in the story. It’s also important what the reader brings to the story: life experience, education, existing tastes, prejudices, culture, and insight. When two minds (or souls) converge in the meeting of writer/reader, we find the true magic of synergy unleashed, and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. This is the power of literature, as well as other forms of art that involve output/receiver relationships.

When it comes to SEVEN PRINCES, a lot of people have been asking me to describe the book. Distilling years of hard work into a brief description can be a difficult process. Sure, I’ve said “It’s about blood,” and “It’s about young people living in the shadows of their legendary fathers,” and “It’s about the subjective nature of reality.” Yet none of these descriptions encapsulates what the entire novel is actually ABOUT.

On its literal/physical surface, SEVEN PRINCES is about brave, conflicted souls doing the best they can in a world full of ancient menace, strange sorcery, and brutal warfare. Yet on the symbolic/ideal side, that same novel is about love, hate, vengeance, history, family, destiny, honor, justice, betrayal, murder, romance, death, and magic.

Yet none of those statements is going to express the complete wholeness that is the book itself. There is only one way to understand that wholeness—reading the novel. When you bring your own consciousness to bear upon a work of art (such as a novel), you spark that synergy and actually join the creative process of fiction. Fiction itself possesses a dual nature: It takes both a writer who writes and a reader who reads to create the phenomenon that is a story. Like magic itself, two forces come together and create something unique and special: the experience of reading a narrative.

What I tried to do was to write the novel I most wanted to read. I’m of the belief that a writer does his best work when writing to please himself. The best rock albums are created this way as well. In fact, I believe that the very best works of art (regardless of medium or genre) are created as fulfillments of a creator’s singular vision. The manifestations of his or her obsessions. In cinema these types of storytellers are called “auteurs.” They bring a personalized vision to life onscreen and share it with a mass audience.

Writers do the same thing, only our personalized visions show up on the page, then later in the “mental theatre” of the reader’s mind. However, when it comes to writing, the reader brings far more to the story than the watcher of a movie. A lot of the “heavy lifting” is done by the reader: instead of detailed set pieces created by the work of an artisan team, the reader supplies the background visuals based solely on the writer’s choice of words and evoked imagery. In a movie, the music will often determine the mood, but when you read a book, it’s all YOU. Even the physical appearances of the characters are ultimately determined by the reader—not the writer—because words are limited.

Words carry meaning, but they are far more interpretive than pictures. This is why movies based on books are usually a let-down. Unless you make the movie yourself, how can it possibly live up to the images that book conjured in your mind with its unlimited budget and boundless special effects? Don’t get me wrong—I love movies. But reading a book will always be a more personal, and therefore a more meaningful, experience.

SEVEN PRINCES is an epic adventure waiting to happen. Like all things in our universe, it possesses a dual nature. It is equal parts Writer and Reader. Literal and Symbolic. Epic and Intimate. Real and Magical. It is an arcane spell in need of casting.

All you need to do is open the book…and start reading.

FANTASY REVIEW: Seven Princes - John R Fultz

2012-01-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

An ancient necromancer slaughters the king and his court in front of the unbelieving eyes of crown prince D'zan. From that moment, his life is consumed by one thought - to regain his throne. Others will join him, some will oppose him. In a world where men and giants fight side by side against ancient monsters and new powers, only one thing is sure - war is coming. Blood will run and princes will clash. Seven princes. Seven destinies. All will be legend.

REVIEW:

If you love a good fantasy story then you really have to try this debut from John R Fultz. It has all the elements to please readers with dark villains, a characters decent into evil alongside peoples fighting to save their world from a creeping darkness. Add to this giants, magic and of course plenty of swordplay and the reader has a treat in store but when backed with a solid authorly voice alongside cracking prose and character’s that you want to get to know and overall it’s a title that’s hard to put down.

Finally throw to the mix a world with infinite possibilities, an author who plays for keeps and I suspect that there will be a vast number of readers who will fall for this authors writing completely. Great stuff.

FANTASY REVIEW: Babylon Steel - Gaie Sebold

2012-01-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/11

SYNOPSIS:

abylon Steel, ex-sword-for-hire, ex… other things, runs the best brothel in Scalentine; city of many portals, two moons, and a wide variety of races, were-creatures, and religions, not to mention the occasional insane warlock.
She’s not having a good week. The Vessels of Purity are protesting against brothels, women in the trade are being attacked, it’s tax time, and there’s not enough money to pay the bill. So when the mysterious Darask Fain offers her a job finding a missing girl, Babylon decides to take it. But the missing girl is not what she seems, and neither is Darask Fain. In the meantime twomoon is approaching, and more than just a few night’s takings are at risk when Babylon’s hidden past reaches out to grab her by the throat.

Babylon Steel sees the start of an an exciting new fantasy series.

REVIEW:

OK, so you’ve gone through a truck load of fantasy, you’ve slaughtered thousands with Conan, defended your homeland from invading armies and stood up against the oppressor. Yet you still want more and something a little different to boot. So what are you going to do?

Well my advice to you is try this title from Gaie Sebold. It’s dark, it is twisted and it has characters that the readers will love. The world is one that has a realistic flavour and when you add mystery into the adventure alongside a hint of forgotten realms and the reader really will be in for a treat. Finally add to the concoction solid prose, great twists and a story that kicks ass from start to finish and you really will be kicking the New Year off with a bang. Cracking.

FANTASY REVIEW: Warhammer Fantasy: Age of Legend - Ed. Christian Dunn

2012-01-10T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 02/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

The dark origins of the Warhammer World are soaked in blood. Epic wars between kindred races reshaped the continents, vase civilisations rose and fell, the dead walked the earth in legions. This is an age of mighty heroes who like will never be seen again, such as the man-god Sigmar and Caledor, the Phoenix King of the elves. It is also an era of dread villains like the Witch-King Malekith and Nagash, the Lord of the undead. In these troubled times, dragons still flock the skies and magic exists that can doom or save the world.

It is an age of legend.

REVIEW:

I love a short story compendium and for me, the Black Library really pulls out the stops with these titles as it allows the reader to try an author that they may not have had chance to see before. It’s a great way to launch new talent such as Sarah Cawkwell, whose previous Warhammer 40K novel, The Gildar Rift (out last month) was a real triumph.

Not only do you get new names but established hands of the Star War’s Universe like Paul S Kemp who writes a mean fantasy tale. Back that up with the old hands to the Warhammer world like Gav Thorpe and Clint Werner which guarantee’s some old favourites return. All in, this is a cracking release and one that I had a lot of fun with which is a cracking way to begin the New Year.

VIDEO GAME NEWS: South Park

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

OK, this is another game that we're looking forward to as massive fans of the whole South Park Franchise. Whilst details are currently a little sketchy here's what is currently know:

“South Park: The Game” is an epic role-playing adventure that will allow the user to befriend Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny and explore the quiet little mountain town like never before.

“Our goal is simple: to put creative talent first,” said Danny Bilson, EVP Core Games, THQ. “Matt and Trey are arguably two of the most important comedic talents of their generation. Bringing their vision of South Park to the interactive space is a dream-come-true.”

The finished game will be available for the following platforms:
Xbox 360
PS3
PC

More as we find out.

HISTORICAL FICTION REVIEW: God of War: The Story of Alexander the Great - Christian Cameron

2012-01-09T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

The story of how Alexander the Great conquered the world - first crushing Greek resistance to Macedonian rule, then destroying the Persian Empire in three monumental battles, before marching into the unknown and final victory in India - is a truly epic tale that has mesmerised countless generations of listeners. He crammed more adventure into his thirty-three years than any other human being before or since, and now for the first time a novelist will tell the tale in a single suitably epic volume. The combination of Alexander's life story and Christian Cameron's unrivalled skills as an historian and storyteller will ensure that this will not only be the definitive version for many years to come, but also one of the most exciting historical epics ever written.

REVIEW:

OK, so you want an historical fiction title that will not only impress but one that will give you real characters that have a more 3D feel as well as being people you can associate with. You also want a story that concentrates on giving you factual information without a lot of hocus pocus and tales about divine intervention alongside a story that allows you to get to know the principle players with a realistic feel with the events that shaped them.

Well look no further as this new book by Christian Cameron about the story of Alexander the Great comes to the fore. He’s rounded, he is talked about in the third person and the things that can make a king a villain are also present as the events that shaped his life are brought to the reader’s attention. It’s wonderfully descriptive, the characters are fascinating and above all else it’s the story of Alexander that everyone should read as it allows you to see the man, the not the mythical figure that has made his way through antiquity.

Finally add to this Christian’s wonderful writing style, with cracking prose, a wonderful sense of pace and when backed with an instantly identifiable writing style, it’s a book that is going to take a hell of a lot to beat this year especially in the award season, and lets face it, that’s saying something considering how early this one’s out.

DVD Review: Arena - Samuel L Jackson and Kellan Lutz

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 09/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

How do you make a fortune from the bloodlust of millions? One sadistically savvy businessman (Samuel L. Jackson) has created an empire with his brutal, fight-to-the-death gladiator website. His newest warrior is David Lord (Kellan Lutz), a kidnapped fireman, now imprisoned and forced to fight for his life. To buy his freedom, Lord agrees to do a series of lethal bouts. But as the body count escalates, and with his most challenging battle remaining, Lord unleashes a torrent of bloody carnage and reveals a secret that threatens to tear down the entire enterprise. Also featuring Daniel Dae Kim (TV’s Lost) and Nina Dobrev (TV’s The Vampire Diaries).

REVIEW:

OK, there are times when you want a film that you don’t have to think with. You want blood, you want combat and you want a crime edge to it. So what do you do? Well for a child of the Video, you know the concept pretty well where a guy ends up fighting in an arena for his life against all comers. It’s an often used plot with films such as American Samurai, Unleashed as well as TV shows such as Angel (The Ring), A-Team (Pro’s and Cons) alongside the original series of Star Trek (Arena) all utilising it to their own ends. So what does this film add?

What this offering from Sony presents to the viewer is a film with some decent effects, a simplistic storyline and to be honest some wooden acting from the principle cast which clearly demonstrates that it isn’t intended for much more than a glut of blood. OK, that said, on the plus side I wanted something to watch with a beer and this did the job, yet with Samuel L Jackson staring I did expect something a little more than what I was presented. All in its OK but don’t expect anything Oscar worthy for your cash.

URBAN FANTASY THRILLER REVIEW: Gates of Orpheus: Shift - Tim Kring, Dale Peck

2012-01-08T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Tune in. Turn on. Change History America in the Sixties is a country at a crossroads: Vietnam, the civil rights movement, the Cuban missile crisis, the sexual revolution, FBI, CIA and LSD. A new president, John F. Kennedy, is promising change. While some people believe in the future, others conspire to control it. Chandler Forrestal is a man whose life is changed for ever when he is unwittingly dragged into a CIA mind-control experiment. After being given a massive dose of LSD, Chandler develops a frightening array of mental powers. With his one-in-a-billion brain chemistry, Chandler's heightened perception uncovers a plot to assassinate President Kennedy. Propelled to stop the conspiracy, Chandler becomes a target for deadly forces in and out of government. Chased across America, will Chandler be able to harness his 'shift' and rewrite history? Both heart-stopping and thought-provoking, "Shift" is a new calibre of thriller set at the collision of Sixties counter-culture and the rise of dark forces in world government.

REVIEW:

I love a conspiracy thriller as much as the next guy but when you get one written by the creator of Heroes and add another thriller writer (Dale Peck) into the mix, you know it’s a no holds barred title that takes the reader into a world of denial and negligible culpability as the principle character alongside some well-known cameo’s take the reader on a journey of double dealing, politics and back stabbing where your closest confident can swiftly become your deadliest enemy.

Add to this a cracking sense of delusional paranoia and a plotline that’s so wickedly twisted you just can’t figure out the route until the final page and overall it’s a story that will thrill as well as enthuse the reader. Crackingly well written and definitely something different to a lot of titles already out there. I really expect a TV series of this at some point shortly.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Hell Train - Christopher Fowler

2012-01-07T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Imagine there was a supernatural chiller that Hammer Films never made. A grand epic produced at the studio’s peak, which played like a cross between the Dracula and Frankenstein films and Dr Terror’s House Of Horrors...

Four passengers meet on a train journey through Eastern Europe during the First World War, and face a mystery that must be solved if they are to survive.

As the ‘Arkangel’ races through the war-torn countryside, they must find out:

What is in the casket that everyone is so afraid of? What is the tragic secret of the veiled Red Countess who travels with them? Why is their fellow passenger the army brigadier so feared by his own men? And what exactly is the devilish secret of the Arkangel itself?

Bizarre creatures, satanic rites, terrified passengers and the romance of travelling by train, all in a classically styled horror novel.

REVIEW:

Christopher Fowler is perhaps best known for his Bryant and May Detective series so I was a little apprehensive when I discovered that he was writing a horror story for Solaris, not that I doubted that he could do it, but when an author is established in one genre, it is often hard for the reader to adapt to them in another.

That said, I really shouldn’t have worried as a lot of the skills utilised in the crime genre translate wonderfully to the horror. As usual with Christopher’s writing you have top notch characters, solid prose and of course when added to an illustrious history of British Horror Giant, Hammer, then it’s a tales that’s as gripping in the bound form as the celluloid was for me growing up.

Add to this, a few magical twists alongside an identifiable authorly voice which will leave the reader in no doubt about what a treat this title is with the odd sleight of hand trick. Cracking.

BIOGRAPHY REVIEW: Talk to the Tail: Adventures in Cat Ownership and Beyond - Tom Cox

2012-01-06T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Following on from Tom's life with six cats in UNDER THE PAW, he now picks up the story in TALK TO THE TAIL, updating readers on what has happened with his feline friends as well as looking back for more confessions about his animal-loving past. Readers of Tom's previous book will be delighted to read what has happened to his six eccentric cats. Why does Janet keep bringing 1980s sweet wrappers into the house? Will 24-hour surveillance of The Bear, using a state-of-the-art cat GPS system, finally solve the mystery of his wanderlust? Tom also writes about his bumbling forays into the remainder of the animal kingdom. He attempts to overcome his crippling fear of horses with disastrous results, chase ostriches in Kenya, put his hand into a tiger's mouth for 0.9 seconds and he meets his 'alter-doggo' -- the spaniel Tom regularly walks who likes to roll around in dead animals. Where will it all end? Will he give in to temptation and get a dog, a goat or even more cats? With this soppy creature-obsessive, anything is possible. Gerald Durrell has lots of family and other animals, but Tom Cox has MY ANIMALS AND OTHER FAMILY.

REVIEW:

Like Tom, I have a secret identity. I too am Cat-Man, able to rip open pouches at the speed of light, with the super power of tickles and able to hold conversations with my feline friends (and yes, they do swear at me.) What this title does is bring more exploits of Tom’s six “friends” to the reader so they can enjoy the journey through a man’s everyday life with these extraordinary friends which will make you laugh, occasionally cry but always with a story to keep you interested.

Add to this a wonderfully talkative writing style that will appeal to the reader, a great sense of finding the right thing at the right time to keep the reader happy and a book that will strike more than the occasional chord with the reader.

HISTORICAL FICTION REVIEW: Hawk Quest - Robert Lyndon

2012-01-05T00:05:00.001-08:00

Release Date:05 /01/12

SYNOPSIS:

In this sweeping epic set in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, a rogue French knight named Vallon accepts a dangerous commission: he must travel to the ends of Europe in search of four rare gyrfalcons demanded as ransom for a Norman knight held captive by Seljuk Turks in Anatolia. Accompanied by a young English falconer and a Sicilian scholar, Vallon sets out on a quest that takes him from Iceland to Greenland to Russia and south to Byzantium. On the nine-month journey the company is joined by other adventurers. Together they brave raging seas, icy arctic wastes, treacherous rapids. They fight furious battles against Normans, Vikings and steppe nomads, pit their wits against warlords desperate to steal their precious cargo. And these are not the only perils they face, for among their company is a man who will stop at nothing to prevent them from fulfilling their quest. At more than 200,000 words, Hawk Quest is one of the most vast, utterly thrilling historical adventures ever written.

REVIEW:

I’m always dubious when a publisher claims that the book was many years in the making but when I picked up this debut from Robert I could see the clear depth of research that went into it. It’s solid historically, has some cracking concepts and when you add detailed facts to the mix about all manner of things from climbing to handling of falcons then it’s something that really takes the reader back to the time period concerned.

Add to this great characters, some interesting prose and of course a pace that matches the time period to engulf the reader into a world of war as well as historical significance that they simply cannot pass up. Finally throw into this a world where choices have consequences and the characters have to live with them and it’s a story that I couldn’t put down. Prepare for a few late nights.

GUEST BLOG: The Inspiration for Hawk Quest by Robert Lyndon

2012-01-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

I’m a rather reluctant writer. Not for me a rush of blood when confronted with a sheet of blank paper. So I was surprised when I found myself embarking on an epic historical novel that would take me more than five years to complete. At the outset I rated my chances of success as slim. After all, I was in my mid-fifties, and I guessed that publishers wouldn’t be falling over themselves to buy a 250,000-word debut novel.

It turned out that Hawk Quest was the book I’d been waiting most of my life to write. A falconer since boyhood, I’d long been intrigued by accounts of birds of prey being used as ransom payments in the Middle Ages. That was the germ of the idea which sprouted into the tale of three adventurers who set off to the ends of the earth in search of four rare gyrfalcons demanded as ransom for a Norman knight held captive in Anatolia. Although set in the 11th centry, the story gave me scope to explore many elements of personal interest – not just falconry, but also travel in wild places, battles with the elements and a whole host of enemies, the forging of friendships, the way characters develop under hostile circumstances. I even found room for two love stories and a major sub-plot.

When I’d written about 60,000 words, I showed the typescript to my agent, Anthony Goff of David Higham Associates. ‘Int-er-est-ing,’ he said very slowly, then made me beef up the action and get rid of some irrelevant characters. When he saw the revised version, he encouraged me to go on writing, saying that the more complete the book, the better his chances of selling it.

So I wrote another 80,000 words and showed it to Anthony again. This time he told me that since I was so close to the end (in fact I had another 100,000 words to go), I might as well finish it.

I wrote Hawk Quest in three stages, researching and revising in the morning, writing new material in late afternoon and evening, when I find the words flow more freely. During the long interludes when I wasn’t working on the book, I scraped a living any way I could. I drove trucks and taxis, worked in a warehouse, took a stall at antique fairs, flogged stuff on eBay, taught Creative Writing at an Adult Education Centre … I even found myself hired to re-write a thriller by a multi-millionaire tax exile. That enterprise came to an end when the Australian authorities launched a criminal investigation into his business affairs.

I finished the book in early 2010 and my agent promptly made me re-write the ending. He was quite right. I don’t usually have difficulties with openings, rarely struggle during those difficult middle sections, but I often find myself stumbling awkwardly over the finishing line. It took me three months to complete the revisions, and when Anthony read the final version, he said, ‘If we don’t sell it, you can console yourself with the thought that you’ll never write a better book.’ A great compliment, but by now I was broke and my wife and I agreed that if I didn’t get a sale, we’d have to sell our house.

Well, Anthony did sell it. Three publishers bid for it at auction, and it was finally bought by Sphere, who have done a terrific job steering it to publication. My editor, Daniel Mallory, has consulted me at every stage, responding to feedback about editorial changes, maps, cover design and copy. Hawk Quest couldn’t have found a better home.

Soon after the UK deal, I got my first foreign sales; to date the rights have been bought by nine overseas publishers, including Orbit in the United States. That’s something I’m particularly pleased with, because Orbit specialises in Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and Hawk Quest will be their first historical novel.

So what were the successful ingredients? Good luck, of course, coupled with an ability to string words together, perseverance, excellent agents and editors. Above all, though, I think I was fortunate in coming up with a good story, by which I mean a compelling and original narrative peopled with interesting characters motivated by complex (sometimes secret) reasons for achieving a near-impossible goal. It sounds so simple, but in practice it isn’t. I should know. I’m now writing the sequel to Hawk Quest. This time my adventurers are off on a diplomatic (and not so diplomatic) mission from Constantinople to Song China. In some ways working with established characters makes the task easier, yet still there are days when it feels like every word has to be hacked from stone. And there is always the nagging fear that, however hard I try, the sequel won’t measure up to the original. Fortunately these doubts never quite overmaster the pleasure of creating something that maybe, some day, someone will read and say, ‘I enjoyed that.’

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: Horus Heresy 18: Deliverance Lost - Gav Thorpe

2012-01-04T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 02/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

As the Horus Heresy divides the Imperium, Corax and his few remaining Raven Guard escape the massacre at Isstvan V. Tending to their wounds, the bloodied Space Marines endeavour to replenish their numbers and return to the fray, taking the fight to the traitor Warmaster. Distraught at the crippling blow dealt to his Legion, Corax returns to Terra to seek the aid of his father – the Emperor of Mankind. Granted access to ancient secrets, Corax begins to rebuild the Raven Guard, planning his revenge against his treacherous brother primarchs. But not all his remaining warriors are who they appear to be… the mysterious Alpha Legion have infiltrated the survivors and plan to destroy the Raven Guard before they can rebuild and threaten Horus’s plans.

REVIEW:

Whilst I’ve been into the Horus Heresy for quite some time this one in the series, which whilst OK, didn’t quite hit the same spot or level that quite a few of the others did for me as personally I felt that Gav tried to cram a little too much into the title and whilst succeeding didn’t get it in enough detail to make it convincing enough for myself as a reader. It does have some decent characters, it has some acceptable prose, but considering it’s during a pivotal point in mankind’s civil war then it should have perhaps split the plot between two titles to allow them to be explored fully rather than rushing through to get to the meat of the tale.

All in, it is a middle of the road title for the series which in my opinion is a great shame as the rich and vivid tapestry really has all the elements available to create something a little special with enough freedom for the authors to move within the established structure.

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: The Word Bearer Omnibus - Anthony Reynolds

2012-01-03T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 02/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

The Word Bearers are among the most feared and reviled of all Chaos Space Marines. Fierce warriors with a fanatical religious zeal, they blaze across the galaxy in the service of their dark gods. Worlds will burn, and entire civilisations will fall before the fury of the XVIIth Legion.

This omnibus is the definitive collection of Anthony Reynold’s popular Word Bearers series, following the cruel exploits and machinations of First Acolyte Marduk and the 34th Host. Gathered together for the first time, the novels Dark Apostle, Dark Disciple and Dark Creed are concluded with the all-new short story Torment.

REVIEW:

The compendium of the Word Bearer series by Anthony Reynolds who takes the reader to the dark side as we follow the exploits of First Acolyte Marduk within the three tales Dark Aposttle, Dark Disciple and Dark Creed. It has a top notch plot line, cracking prose and above all else a character that’s unpredictable as he schemes, fights and double deals his way to his goals.

It’s a cracking read, has lots of wonderful moments and of course, as a compendium its sheer value for money almost worthy of the rank of Word Bearer itself. Top notch entertainment.

VIDEO GAMES NEWS: Darksiders 2

2012-01-02T00:10:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
In another look forward on the game front we bring to you Darksiders 2, it runs timeline wise at the same period as the original and having looked at these two ads we think you'll agree that it looks like a top notch game thats built upon the success of the first.

Promo
Death Lives

The story is as follows:
Awakened by the End of Days, Death, the most feared of the legendary Four Horsemen, embarks upon a quest to restore mankind, and redeem his brother's name. Along the way, the Horseman discovers that there are far worse things than an earthly Apocalypse, and that an ancient grudge may threaten all of Creation . . . Can DEATH really become mankind's savior? The original Darksiders, released in January 2010, received critical acclaim including the Best Fantasy Game 2010 award from IGN. Darksiders followed the story of WAR, wrongly accused of starting the apocalypse, on a quest to reclaim lost honor and take revenge on those who wronged him.

This game will be available on the following formats in the Summer of 2012:
Xbox®360
Playstation®3
PC
Wii UTM

To keep up to date sign up on facebook: Darksiders

SCIENCE FICTION AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: Horus Heresy: Galaxy in Flames - Ben Counter, read by Martyn Ellis

2012-01-02T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 02/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

Having recovered from his grievous injuries, Warmaster Horus leads the triumphant Imperial forces against the rebel world of Isstvan III. Though the rebels are swiftly crushed, Horus’s treachery is finally revealed when the planet is razed by virus bombs and Space Marines turn on their battle-brothers in the most bitter struggle imaginable. Ben Counter brings the opening trilogy of this bestselling series to explosive life as the Horus Heresy begins!

REVIEW:

We’re always looking for ways to save not only time but to have a kickass way of doing so. So when we have the opportunity to enjoy an audio book it’s a real joy to be able to sit back and listen to it, whether its to help you get relax or whether its to help use up journey time.

What this five CD (yes that’s right I said five CD’s) audio book does is bring the Horus Heresy to life from the pages of the full length novel published originally in 2006 and gives you a story that will live within the imagination for quite some time to come. Add to this the sheer value for money aspect to this (£20) and the expert reading by Martyn Ellis (who was Tuck in Warner Brothers New Adventure of Robin Hood) and it’s a sheer joy to listen to. Cracking fun for all.

VIDEO GAME NEWS: Risen 2: Dark Water - Deep Silver and Piranha Bytes

2012-01-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
Well its a new year, so we thought that we'd let you know about a game thats captured our imagination and one that we're looking forward to playing.

Risen 2: Dark Waters Plotline:
Many horrible years have passed since the Gods abandoned the world and the titans rose from the confines of their prisons. They devastated everything in their path with unstoppable force.

However, there is a place on the southern tip of the Old Empire which still seems safe from the clutches of the Titans – the “Crystal Fortress” in Caldera. It is the headquarters of the Inquisition and a place of refuge for the people. It is repeatedly attacked by sea monsters, and supply ships are sunk en route. Nobody knows how long the walls will hold; food and weapons are gradually running out.

The nameless hero, devastated by the developments on Faranga, now drowns his sorrows in rum in the harbour town Caldera. As the situation grows more and more dire due to the shortage of food, he sets out on a mission to put an end to the sea monsters once and for all.

During his adventurous journey he not only faces new and immense challenges, he also meets old acquaintances who help him on his quest.

This game has been created by Deep Silver and Piranha Bytes and will be available currently in February 2012.

In addition to this you can see developer diaries here:
Episode 1
Episode 2

Finally to whet your appetite you can watch the trailer here.

CRIME REVIEW: Good Bait - John Harvey

2012-01-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 05/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

The compelling new novel from the Cartier Diamond Dagger winner and "Sunday Times "bestseller.
When a 17-year-old Moldovan boy is found dead on Hampstead Heath, the case falls to DCI Karen Shields and her overstretched Homicide & Serious Crime Unit. Karen knows she needs a result. What she doesn't know is that her new case is tied inextricably to a much larger web of gang warfare and organised crime which infiltrates almost every aspect of London society.
Several hundred miles away in Cornwall, DI Trevor Cordon is stirred from his day-to-day duties by another tragic London fatality. Travelling to the capital, determined to establish the cause of death and trace the deceased's daughter -- an old acquaintance from Newlyn -- Cordon becomes entangled in a complicated situation of his own. A situation much closer to Karen's case than either of them will ever know.
Brilliantly plotted and filled with rich, subtle characters, John Harvey's latest novel reveals him once again as a masterful writer with his finger firmly on the pulse of twenty-first century crime.

REVIEW:

I loved John’s Darker Shade of Blue so when this book arrived I really couldn’t wait to start it, it has a gripping writing style that is not only unique but something that a lot of other authors could learn from as for me he really does seem to get better and better with each passing title. Add to this cracking prose, a wonderfully twisted novel and a few sleight of hand tricks that will help keep you guessing and as a reader I was more than sated by the stories conclusion.

If you love a good crime title written by an author in the know about police procedures as well as a writer who can twist the readers emotions to his own will then you really have to read Harvey. All in this was cracking good fun and a great way to start the New Year.

WRITING SUBMISSION: Greek Zombies by Scott Oden

2011-12-31T23:16:00.001-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
Author Friend of the blog Scott Oden, has been spending a bit of time thinking about Ancient Greek Zombies. So much so that he is looking to put together an anthology of stories from established as well as new authors.

The guidelines to date are:
1) Stories MUST take place before the end of the 1st Century BC.

2) Stories must be between 3,000 and 7, 000 words (this is firm unless you have prior permission — or you’re the one true Stephen King).

3) Deadline TBD

Send your submissions in standard manuscript format (txt or doc) to Scott at scottoden (at) gmail.com. As an historical author, despite the presence of the shambling and unquiet dead, he does insist on settings and portrayals of the ancient world that ring true. Do your research . . . then add zombies.

So far theres interest from a number of known authors, so it could be a great opportunity to get your first published story out there.

For more info contact Scott via his blog, The Wine Dark Sea's.

All the best to all submitting,

Gareth and Lady Eleanor

NEWS: Reading Challenges for 2012

2011-12-31T15:45:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
Well to welcome in the new year, you can see that we've signed up for some reading challenges. However we're more than happy to engage in a few more so if you hear of one that might be of interest please let us know. Especially if there's going to be a Fantasy Reading one.

So far we're in for:
New Authors 0/50
100 books reading challenge 0/100
Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge 0/48
Mystery and Suspense - 0/24
Zombie Challenge - 0/24
New Author - 0/50
Science Fiction - 0/24
Historical Reading - 0/20
What's in a Name - 0/5

In addition to this we'll change the colours so that it's red until we hit half way, then it will go yellow and upon completion we go green.

Come back each month and see how we're doing and hopefully you'll sign up for a few yourselves. We wish you all a happy and safe new year as well as a lot of top reads.

Gareth and Lady Eleanor

COMPETITION: Rabid Readers Competition to win Two Top Authors Titles

2011-12-31T03:52:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
Our friends over at Rabid Readers are holding a spectacular competition where you can win two, yes that's two top authors who are friends of us here at Falcata Times.

Here are the relative book blurbs for both the authors and their respective titles and all you have to do is enter is link directly to Rabid Readers competition on your own blog or FB page and leave a comment on the page.

Doc the Vampire Hunting Dog - Julie Campbell
Doc is a Border Collie who hunts vampires with his human, Kevin. In this adventure they face their first fight and their most dangerous foe. It’s man’s best friend vs. his worst enemy…

A Bitter Seed of Magic - Suzanne McLeod

On the surface, Genny's life seems ripple-free right now. Finn, her sexy boss and -- well, Genny's not sure what else she wants him to be -- has stopped pushing for a decision on their relationship. The seductive vampire Malik al-Khan has vanished back into the shadows. And the witches have declared her no longer a threat. But unless Genny can find a way to break the fertility curse afflicting London's fae, she knows this is just the lull before the magical storm.

Then a faeling -- a teenage girl -- is fished out of the River Thames, dead and bound with magic, and Genny is called into investigate. As she digs through the clues, her search takes a sinister and dangerous turn, exposing age-old secrets that might be better left buried. Then another faeling disappears, and Genny finds herself in a race against time to save the faeling and stop the curse from claiming its next victim -- herself!

So best of luck to everyone,

Gareth

NEWS: Deja Review

2011-12-31T00:15:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
Here's this months round up of previously reviewed titles that have either been released in PB format or have undergone new binding/artwork. (Covers in review may differ from current incarnation.)

This month you'll find:
01/12/11 CHAN, Kylie - Blue Dragon
08/12/11 PINBOROUGH, Sarah - The Shadow of the Soul
08/12/11 RUTHERFORD, Alex - Ruler of the World
08/12/11 TEPPER, Sherri S - The Waters Rising

If we've missed one please let us know,

Gareth

FANTASY REVIEW: Conan the Indomitable - Robert E Howard

2011-12-30T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 08/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

Conan the Barbarian is one of the most famed figures in fantasy fiction. With the success of the new film starring Jason Momoa and Ron Perlman, the time is right to revisit Robert E. Howard's classic stories. Presented in chronological order over three books, all of Conan's life is here, from his wild adventures as a youth to the final tale of Conan the King. Howard's tales of the wanderer, the reaver, the thief, the Barbarian have never been surpassed. In this volume Conan learns the secrets of THE SCARLET CITADEL and THE HOUR OF THE DRAGON, and meets THE BLACK STRANGER and THE PHOENIX ON THE SWORD. A selection of other tales and fragments round out this new collection of a classic character.

REVIEW:

There are times in life when you want a book that doesn’t require you to think, gives you a high bloody body count and above all else satisfies the inner barbarian especially at Christmas Time when your brain for a split second suddenly realises that siblingcide is actually quite reasonable way of resolving your issues. So when you end up like this, a good dash of classic Conan does the job quite admirably.

As with all Howard’s writing it hits the spot, gives you high octane action and adds the usual amount of adventure dashed with women to sate you for quite some time. Finally add to this that it’s a great way to read the authors work in another compendium so that it makes it more manageable chunks and you’ll be more than a happy slaughterer. Great stuff.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Makayla Lane 4: Dreamfever - Karen Marie Moning

2011-12-29T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 08/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

Recommended by Charlaine Harris, author of the series that inspired HBO's hit series TRUE BLOOD, this new #1 Bestselling series will take readers by storm! They may have stolen my past, but I'll never let them take my future. When the walls between Man and Fae come crashing down, freeing the insatiable, immortal Unseelie from their icy prison, MacKayla Lane is caught in a deadly trap. Captured by the Fae Lord Master, she is left with no memory of who or what she is. Clawing her way back from oblivion is only the first step Mac must take down a perilous path, from the battle-filled streets of Dublin to the treacherous politics of an ancient, secret sect, through the tangled lies of men who claim to be her allies into the illusory world of the Fae themselves, where nothing is as it seems - and Mac is forced to face a soul-shattering truth.

REVIEW:

I’m an avid reader and as such I feel that I’ve been lucky to get the Makayla Lane series back to back over a few months rather than the usual wait time that you endure for favoured authors next titles, however this series is getting deeper and darker with each passing title and whilst a lot of them hint at further games being played by all sides with our heroine as the principle pawn, the reader is left with another cliff-hanger at the end of this book.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Karen’s writing but this book really felt a lot more like filler than anything else to me. It is a gripping series, the characters are decent and keep you guessing as personal and professional motives seem to interplay and change as twists unfurl, but when a story feels like its going round in circles with reminders as to what’s gone before, you do end up wondering wha’ts happening. I just hope that the final book in the series (for now at least) Shadowfever, will break up a lot of the tension that’s been building and answer some questions that have been enquired about since the beginning.

GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: The Boys Vol 9: Big Ride - Garth Ennis, Darrick Robertson and Russell Braun

2011-12-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 25/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

The countdown to the end begins, as Jack from Jupiter takes one step beyond... or does he? Hughie's triumphant return is not all he'd hoped for, but Butcher has bigger fish to fry. And The Boys meet the mysterious Doctor Peculiar...

REVIEW:

I’ve been a fan of Ennis’ “The Boys” for quite some time, however whilst the artwork is still high quality this release feels a little flatter than the others. Don’t get me wrong we get to see a new Hughie who’s determined to stand up for himself and we get a whole load of backstory on the Unit’s operation however the whole thing just didn’t zing with the usual humour or get into the downright dirty style of fighting that we’re used to.

Add to this a thread that felt that it has been reused from an earlier title and as such the reader really could miss out on this title without missing much on the plotline overall. I just hope that the next release picks up the pace as otherwise I’ll be feeling very disappointed that such a great series went down so quickly.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Iron Druid 3: Hammered - Kevin Hearne

2011-12-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 03/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

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. But things are heating up in Atticus's 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 plain 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 gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

REVIEW:

The third book in the Kevin Hearne series and one that continues to build upon the success of the others as the stakes are raised even higher due to promises of the lead character. It’s a quirky series, it’s a whole lot of fun to read and of course there is nothing else out there like it.

Add to this great prose, an author who likes to keep the readers on tenterhooks and the reader really is in for one hell of a treat at the culmination of the series to date. (Although that said he has been signed for a new one, so worry not.) All in a whole host of fun with great dialogue, a wonderful twist on the myths of the western world and for me, this is one of my highlight series of the year. Great stuff.

MYSTERY STORIES REVIEW: The Best American Mystery Stories - Otto Penzler and Guest Editor Harlan Corben

2011-12-26T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 06/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

Featuring twenty of the year's standout crime short stories handpicked by one of the world's best thriller writers, Best American Mystery Stories 2011 showcases not only the very best of the crime genre, but the best of American writing full stop. Within its pages, literary legends rub shoulders with the hottest new talent. Contributors in the past have included Lee Child, James Lee Burke, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Connelly, Alice Munro and Joyce Carol Oates.

REVIEW:

The trouble with a lot of books these days is that with so many names you only have chance to read a number of them and of course when you’re not as familiar with them as you ‘d like to be, buying a book can feel a lot like pot luck. What this title guest edited by Harlan Corben does is allow the reader to try the best of a huge selection of authors for the price of one title.

Its great value, the selected short stories have been picked by an expert and of course the reader is guaranteed a selection of titles that will entertain as well as travel the broad spectrum that the genre entails. Finally add to this cracking prose, top notch dialogue and of course high octane pace and I was left a very happy reader. Thank you Otto and Harlan.

FANTASY VIDEO GAME TIE IN REVIEW: Assassins Creed Revelations - Oliver Bowden

2011-12-25T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 24/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

When a man has won all his battles and defeated his enemies, what is left for him to achieve? Ezio Auditore must leave his life behind in search of answers, in search of the truth. In "Assassin's Creedp[registered]: Revelations", master assassin Ezio Auditore walks in the footsteps of the legendary mentor Altair, on a journey of discovery and revelation. It is a perilous path - one that will take Ezio to Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire, where a growing army of Templars threatens to destabilise the region.

REVIEW:

Oliver’s best AC title to date and one that works extremely well with the game series as it has everything that the fans want. There’s decent combat, great action sequences and of course intrigue, double dealing and the mysterious under currents of the previous civilisation that will undoubtedly lead the reader into deeper Templar mythos in the future outings.

Add to this some great prose, a wonderful sense of finishing the Ezio threads for now and of course a title that really did add another layer to make the game more fun, which all in, is a great thing for a book to do. Cracking.

FANTASY REVIEW: Mistborn Novel: Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson

2011-12-24T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 17/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

The Mistborn trilogy has become a firm favourite with fantasy fans the world over. The imagination that Sanderson brought to the series and his skill at marshalling epic storylines and dramatic action, his ability to create vivid characters made him a natural choice to complete Robert Jordan's epic wheel of time sequence. But with Mistborn, his standalone fantasies and his new series, The Stormlight Archive, Sanderson has shown his bountiful talents in his own fiction. Now he returns to the series that made his name with a new story set years after the events of Hero of Ages. In a world recovering only slowly from evil, a world where allomancers wield immense power through their ability to unleash the magic bound up in common metals someone who can burn metals that no-one has burned before can tip the balance...Sanderson has the knack of giving the epic fantasy reader exactly what they want. This ability has thrown him to the forefront of the genre and the dramatic story within The Alloy of Law shows off this skill to its very best.

REVIEW:

Fans of Sanderson have been eagerly awaiting this new title in the Mistborn world (I say set in the Mistborn world rather than a Mistworld title as people may be confused as it’s not part of the series) where the reader gets to grips with events set three centuries after the previous stories.

It has moments of lightness, it has decent prose and of course it is a title that brings Sanderson’s Mistborn back to the fore to over shadow the Wheel of Time series at the moment. However the major problem with this book is that it felt more like a filler rather than a serious book and really didn’t accomplish much. Whether the levity of this is due to the darkness to come I’m not sure but we’ll have to wait to see.

All in a decent enough book and one that was a fun excursion but if you want more serious fantasy read his Mistborn trilogy and leave this on the shelf for now.

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Artemis - Philip Palmer

2011-12-23T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 02/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

Artemis McIvor is a stone-cold killer and a bibliophile. Raised on the library planet of Rebus, she has a love of books in a future where reading is a lost art. But unfortunately, her story doesn't end there. Artemis has been sentenced to incarceration for multiple murders and she's innocent of these, but guilty of many more which haven't yet come to light. Within days of arrival Artemis is planning her escape, but behind this is a darker strategy. She needs freedom to take revenge on those who have wronged her - and her vengeance is mighty indeed. Yet when she is recaptured, she is faced with a surprising choice that turns out to be no choice at all. She'll have her liberty if she becomes a guerrilla warrior, fighting rebels targeting Earth. Despite being part of a motley crew of criminals and psychopaths, she'd be one of the good guys for the very first time, fighting a war that is all that stands between civilization and depravity. Or if she says no, it'll be the last decision she ever makes.

REVIEW:

As a fan of Philips writing, I’d been looking forward to this title for quite some time. I love the worlds he creates, the different situations his characters end up in and of course his writing style which feels quite nostalgic especially when added to the covers that Orbit produces to accompany them.

However that said, I had one major problem with the current release and that was the lead character, I couldn’t stand her and as such it didn’t matter how much work had gone into the rest of the project that one major niggle kept me from enjoying the title to the full potential. Don’t get me wrong, his usual elements are all there but when I can’t stand the principle player, I tend to have a hell of a job reading the title to the end. (I still do it, but it really feels like an uphill slog.)

Sadly for me, I prefer other titles by Philip such as Red Claw and Hell Ship but I won’t let this title put me off and I’ll hope my faith is rewarded in the next book of his to land.

GUEST BLOG: The Serial Killers Next Door - Jennifer Hillier

2011-12-22T00:10:00.000-08:00

When I was 15, all I could talk about with my friends was murder.

In the early 1990s, my hometown of Toronto, Canada had its very own serial killer. His name was Paul Bernardo. He was young – around 26 at the time – and quite handsome. His victims were girls our age, and because of this, his crimes hit close to home.

Rumors were rampant at my high school. There was ongoing speculation about who might have unknowingly come into contact with Bernardo. One rumor was that a friend of a friend's student ID card had been found at his house after his arrest. The girl had supposedly lost her wallet at the local shopping mall a few weeks earlier. Did this mean that Bernardo had followed this girl and stolen her wallet?

We hung out at that shopping mall all the time. Had we passed right by him without being aware of his eyes on us? How close had we come to a killer? How close had we come to being snatched?

Over French fries and Diet Coke in the cafeteria, it's all we could talk about.

Updates about Paul Bernardo, and his wife and partner-in-crime, Karla Homolka, were on the news every day. Nicknamed by the media as the Ken and Barbie Killers, I remember following the trial that was to come with both fear and fascination. After all, Bernardo had lived close by. How could my hometown have produced a monster? This was the kind of thing that only happened in books or movies. This was the kind of thing that happened somewhere else.

I started reading books on serial killers and was genuinely shocked to realize how many there were in the world. There were the names I'd already heard about, like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, the Zodiac Killer, the Son of Sam. But there were also killers I had never heard of, like Aileen Wuornos (a prostitute who murdered her johns) and Robert Hansen (who supposedly let his victims escape into the woods so he could hunt them).

I've never been a huge fan of horror movies like Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th. They're scary, sure, but I can watch them without getting nightmares because to me, the villains aren't real. They're clearly fictional, even cartoonish. I don't expect Freddie or Jason to live next door.

But author Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter could be my neighbor. So could Chelsea Cain's Gretchen Lowell. Ethan Wolfe, the creep in my own novel Creep, could most definitely be someone who lives next door.

The scariest monsters are the ones we don't know are monsters. The ones who live among us, who could be our neighbors, our friends, even our family members. Judith Mawson never knew that her husband of twenty years, Gary Ridgway, was the Green River Killer. Ridgway confessed to murdering 48 women, though he's suspected of killing more than 70 in the Seattle area. Paula Rader was married for more than three decades to Dennis Rader, also known as the BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) Killer, who was a church-going father and an Air Force veteran. During their marriage, he murdered ten people. When he was arrested, she was stunned.

As someone who writes fictional serial killers, there's not much I can write about that hasn't already happened. The darkest sides of human nature have already been covered in real life. The challenge is making this dark nature – and the evil deeds that occur because of it – believable to the reader, because as Mark Twain said, "It's no wonder truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense."

In a sensational trial in 1995, Karla Homolka, the Barbie half of the Ken and Barbie Killers, testified against her husband in exchange for a twelve-year prison sentence. She served her time and has since been released.

Paul Bernardo is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He spends over twenty-three hours a day in a cell in a maximum security prison outside Toronto. He can no longer stalk, rape, or murder anyone.

But yet he lingers with me, as he does for all my friends. One of my best friends asked me what I was writing about today, and I told her I was working on a post about Paul Bernardo. Instantly she remembered him. Of course she would. She and I went to the same high school. We were bombarded by the same news stories and rumors about him, and we talked about him endlessly. Bernardo was her Bogeyman, too.

When people ask me now why I chose thrillers as my genre, I usually answer that it's because I like the adrenaline rush. I enjoy the quick pace, and the challenge of creating fear in my readers that seeps deep into their pores and lingers.

But the real reason might just be Paul Bernardo. The terror I felt in my teens was very real, and if there's one lesson I learned from back then, it's that you never really know who your neighbors are.

CRIME REVIEW: Creep - Jennifer Hillier

2011-12-22T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 22/12/12

SYNOPSIS:

If he can't have her... Psychology professor Dr Sheila Tao is an expert on human behaviour, so when she begins an affair with charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she's well aware she's playing with fire. Consumed by lust and riddled with guilt, Sheila ends their three month fling when she becomes engaged to a kind and loving man who adores her. But Ethan has different plans... NO ONE CAN. When a star student is stabbed to death, it's clear someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex and blackmail on campus. Before long, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with Ethan: the lover she couldn't resist is now the monster who will never let her go.

REVIEW:

I’m always intrigued by a new author so when a new book is presented they have to do something that will live on with the reader after the final page is turned to not only be remembered but to help establish their name within the genre. What Jennifer presents within this book is a tale that is part Captivity as well as a terrifying tale of twisted imagination as one man can’t take no for an answer. He has high intelligence, he has some twisted ideal’s and overall it’s the struggle of the principle character that keeps the story not only moving along but demonstrates how the reader establishes the emotional context as they undergo the madman’s administrations alongside her.

Add to this decent writing, some wonderful twists and of course an author who keeps the reader on tenterhooks to the last page which left me as a reader a little chilled as well as fascinated. Great stuff.

FANTASY REVIEW: The Riyria Revelation 2: Rise of Empire - Michael J Sullivan

2011-12-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 02/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

The birth of the Nyphron Empire has brought war to Melengar. To save her kingdom, Princess Arista runs a desperate gamble when she defies her brother and hires Royce and Hadrian to perform a dangerous mission behind the enemy's lines. As the power of the Nyphron Empire grows, so does Royce's suspicion that the wizard Esrahaddon is using the thieves as pawns in his own shadowy struggle for power. To find the truth, he must unravel the secret of Hadrian's past. What he discovers leads the thieves to the ends of the world on a journey amid treachery and betrayals, forcing Hadrian to face a past he hoped never to see again.

REVIEW:

The second compendium in the Riyria Revelations series that keeps the story moving at a breakneck pace with cracking lead characters who in an effort to save their own hides end up in all manner of scrapes and shenanigans.

As with the original book it was fun, it had great moments of levity and of course action packed with high octane adrenaline fuelling the story from start to finish. Finally add to this a great overall arc, dark misdeeds and a knack for scraping through literally by the skin of their teeth and it’s a series that I’ve really come to enjoy. Definitely a great read and one I’d recommend to others, although personally I’d say to wait for the third books release and have a real marathon with Hadrian and Royce. You won’t regret it.

WRITING ADVICE: How to be a Writer - Sally O'Reilly

2011-12-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 03/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

How To Be a Writer is a comprehensive guide to the career of writing from experienced writer and creative writing tutor Sally O'Reilly. The book will cover questions such as: If you want to be a writer, should you invest in a creative writing course? If so, which one? Are writing groups a good thing? What grants, awards and prizes are available to the aspiring writer? How should you plan your career in the long term? It will also feature an introduction from Fay Weldon - 'Why I wish I'd read this book when I was 25' - and will include comments and case studies from other established authors, agents and industry experts. How To Be a Writer will include everything that a writer needs to know about running their own career, from choosing an agent to cafe scribbling, and from filing a tax return to flirting with the literati and it will be an essential reference book for any author who takes their work seriously.

REVIEW:

OK this book is a little different to a lot of the books out there as rather than deal with getting that first book done, what this concentrates on mainly is building your career as a writer from networking to contracts, from PR to the Perils and Pitfalls as well as giving you the reality check about how to make your finances stretch.

It’s well written, the author clearly knows what they’re talking about and it’s a book that helps people take that next step into a world that is not only cold and harsh but one that many have had to learn the hard way in how to survive almost as if writing that first book plunges them into the middle of the ocean with sharks waiting for that buffet bell to ring. It’s a similar circumstance as it’s a sink or swim usually and the ones that you tend to hear about are the survivors rather than those who fell foul.

Add to this a book that is broken down into manageable chunks and a style that is friendly as well as informative and its almost as if you’ve been kitted out with that special survival training that you’re going to need. All round, for me, this is a great book and whilst I’m yet to be published it’s a title that gives me area’s to focus on to help improve areas of my craft that I haven’t even thought about. Solid, helpful and a title that I think a great many writers will find useful.

FACTUAL REVIEW: The Age of Chivalry - Hywel Williams

2011-12-19T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 24/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

The five hundred years that separate the mid-tenth century from the mid-15th century constitute a critical and formative period in the history of Europe.

This was the age of the system of legal and military obligation known as 'feudalism', and of the birth and consolidation of powerful kingdoms in England, France and Spain; it was an era of urbanization and the expansion of trade, of the building of the great Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals, of courtly romance and the art of the troubadour, and of the founding of celebrated seats of learning in Paris, Oxford and Bologna. But it was also an epoch characterised by brutal military adventure in the launching of armed pilgrimages to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim control, of the brutal dynastic conflict of the Hundred Years' War and of the devastating pandemic of the Black Death.

In a sequence of scholarly but accessible articles - accompanied by an array of beautiful and authentic images of the era, plus timelines, maps, boxed features and display quotes - distinguished historian Hywel Williams sheds revelatory light on every aspect of a rich and complex period of European history.

Ottonians and Salians; Rise of the Capetians; Normans in England; Birth of the city-states; The Normans in Sicily; The First Crusade; The Investiture contest; The Hohenstaufen; The Angevin Empire; 12th-century Renaissance; Triumph of the Capetians; The Third Crusade; The Albigensian Crusade; The glory of Islamic Spain; The Kingdom of Naples; The Hundred Years War I; The Hundred Years War II; Avignon and the Schism; The Golden Age of Florence; The Reconquista; Popes, Saints and Heretics; Medieval society; Medieval culture; Medieval warfare.

REVIEW:

Whilst many see the romanticised version of the Middle Ages, Knights on White Chargers rescuing Damsels in the distress, it was a time of bloodshed, loss of life and in some places enlightenment. What this title by Hywel does is bring the historical world to life through some well researched pieces alongside the use of artwork that has survived from the period. It’s a wonderful amalgamation, has the book set out in easy to manage chapters and helps take you through the world so that it not only makes sense but allows you to grasp the history that our ancestors lived through.

Finally add to the mix an author who knows their stuff and this title is a book I’d recommend to people of all ages as there’s something for everyone especially when you add the complexities of politics, military strategy and of course the furtherance of each nations own goals. Great all round and a real chance to see the past through the eyes of an expert.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Shadow Saga 5: Waking Nightmares - Christopher Golden

2011-12-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 03/05/11

SYNOPSIS:

When chaos erupts in the small coastal town of Hawthorne, Massachusetts, former vampire-turned-mage Peter Octavian and earthwitch Keomany Shaw arrive to investigate. Years ago, Octavian helped expose the secret existence of vampires to the world, dismantling the Vatican's sorcery corps in order to save his fellow shadows from destruction. But without the Vatican sorcerers, the magical barriers they spent centuries constructing to keep the forces of darkness out of our world are beginning to fail, and things are slipping through. Now an ancient god of chaos is awakening in Hawthorne, its influence spreading...and it's Octavian's fault. If he can't stop it, the blood of all humankind will be on his hands.

REVIEW:

The fifth book in the Shadow Saga and the toughest challenge yet for former vampire Peter Octavian as he battles to save the world from an elder chaos god. It’s cleverly written, the characters are fully rounded and as a fan of the Urban Fantasy, it’s a title that more than pleases on all my criteria.

Add to this the usual Golden prose and pace, cracking twists and backed up with an overall arc that is hard to put down. The only disappointment for me was the title being left off on a Saturday Matinee cliff hanger which will leave the readers clamouring for more sooner rather than later. Christopher get writing.

FANTASY REVIEW: Conan the Beserker - Robert E Howard

2011-12-17T00:10:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 10/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

Conan the Barbarian is one of the most famed figures in fantasy fiction. With the success of the new film starring Jason Momoa (of A GAME OF THRONES)and Ron Perlman, the time is right to revisit Robert E. Howard's classic stories. Presented in chronological order over three books, all of Conan's life is here, from his wild adventures as a youth to the final tale of Conan the King. Howard's tales of the wanderer, the reaver, the thief, the Barbarian have never been surpassed. In this volume Conan learns the secrets of the RED NAILS and the JEWELS OF GWAHLUR, meets THE SLITHERING SHADOW and THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE, visits THE POOL OF THE BLACK ONE and travels BEYOND THE BLACK RIVER. A selection of other tales and fragments round out this new collection of a classic character.

REVIEW:

The second book of tales from the Conan series that features the stories from “The People of the Black Circle” through to “Beyond the Black River” which takes the reader on a whole set of adventures with perhaps one of the best known fantasy characters of all time. It’s fun, it has plenty of action and as such with Howard’s writing the reader is in for a pulp fiction treat as the tales unfurl.

Add to this as usual, great prose, top notch characters and pace and as a reader I loved the chance to journey back to a time when fantasy was becoming popular again with the reader. A sad shame for the early death of the creator, it would be interesting to see what he’d have made of the success of the series. All in, this is a real treat and if you want something special to help encourage a young reader to move onto adult titles then the Conan series is one of the best ways to go.

NEWS: FIve Days of Christmas: 1 Wanted Gift and a plethora of books fo rme to read

2011-12-16T00:10:00.000-08:00

OK, as part of our Five Days of Christmas celebration we’re at our number one and rather than sticking with the theme about releases this year, we thought that we’d put what our Number One Christmas Gift Request for ourselves is:

1 E Reader.

We’re huge readers and whilst the personal library is a thing of beauty I really could do with either an E-Reader or someone to come round and install wall to wall shelving so that I can utilise the space to the best of abilities. However since the shelving isn’t likely to happen, I thought that it would be a good idea to mention that we’d like an E-Reader for any kind publisher who happens to be viewing this.

So thank you for joining our 5 days of Christmas, we wish you a happy season and a glorious new year as well as hoping that our countdown has given you an idea or two for this last week of shopping.

All the best,

Gareth and Lady Eleanor.

HUMOUR REVIEW: Stand Up Put Down's - Rufus Hound

2011-12-16T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 13/10/11

SYNOPSIS:

For a stand-up comedian, a heckler is either a curse or a blessing. On one hand, the drunk at the back of the room yelling incoherent nonsense can ruin the evening for everyone. But on the other, a funny, well-timed heckle can really ramp up the laughter in the room. Either way, all stand-ups know they must be prepared to deal with hecklers by using the most effective weapon at their disposal - the put-down. Whether they are sharp enough to fire them off on the spot or they have a battery of tried-and-tested insults to suit every different occasion, put-downs are an essential part of every comedian's repertoire.

Here Rufus Hound, compère extraordinaire, has compiled 200 of his favourites. Read on, and laugh along at some of the funniest insults in comedy history.

REVIEW:

How many times have you had someone had a go at you and you can’t think of either a decent put down instantly or are just so annoyed that you blow up and make yourself look like an idiot? Well if you’re going to be honest about it, like me, its going to be more than once. So this title by Rufus Hound is an absolute little gem for these as there is pretty much a reply for all situations. Its funny, it has some great put downs, however a lot of them are x rated and may surprise you when you find out which comedian to which they’re attributed.

Add to this some hecklers that have gotten one over them and the whole thing will result in a chuckle or two. Finally if you do some canny online shopping you can get this title for half the cover price which will make it an ideal stocking filler for your other half and a fiver well spent as it’ll keep them cheerful throughout the Christmas stress.

NEWS: Five Days of Christmas: 2 Interviews/Guest Blogs - Supernatural London Tour: New Season - Suzanne McLeod

2011-12-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

PROMOTIONAL ADVERT SPONSORED BY SPELLCRACKERS.COM

New River Thames Troll Trail Tours Added exclusively for the Winter Holiday Season!

Supernatural Capital Tours is a recognised leader in London City magical sightseeing. Our hop-on, hop-off, and escorted bus tours are operated on a fleet of luxury, double-decker buses designed with top-deck-only seating to provide you with the best possible views of London’s magical attractions, supernatural neighbourhoods and places of paranormal interest.

Supernatural Capital Tours provides the best paranormal attractions, including vampire theatrical shows, magical markets, and Charmed river cruises. SCT is an expert in Magical Tourism. Please preview some of our new tours below.

SCT River Thames Troll Trails ~ Adults and Children (where allowed)

Escorted Bus Tours (hop-on, hop-off). All tours will be escorted by Chalky Revod, a venerable mountain troll and expert geologist from Kent. Tours includes all meals, drinks and accommodation where stated.

Please note: The River Thames Troll Trails are troll pilgrimages, and as such SCT ask that our customers respect the sacred nature of the trail and refrain from playing loud music, using mobile phones or making remarks that could be considered offensive. We thank you in advance for your consideration.

Please note: Each SCT Enchanted Boarding Ticket includes a celebratory libation of Cairngorm Mountain Dew for adults and orange juice for those under 18, after each bridge crossing. Please drink responsibly.

Afternoon tea includes the troll specialities: Butter Pebbles, Cheddar Gorge Lime Cakes, Snowdon Leek Tarts, and Blencathra Wild Boar Sandwiches.

Warning: Butter pebbles can be hazarders to your teeth. Eat at your own risk. SCT accepts no liability for customers dental costs.

River Thames Troll Trail: Central London (Adults and Children)

• Tower Bridge (1894)
Included in the crossing of this most iconic of all of London’s bridges is a visit to the bridge’s engine rooms where it is possible to see the bridge’s resident gremlins*.
Please note: SCT cannot guarantee sight of gremlins due to routine maintenance programmes during which the gremlins are often evicted.

Should Tower Bridge be the end of your tour then there is an option to take afternoon tea in the Bridge Master's Dining Room ~ a unique experience with a fantastic view of the north bank of the Thames and the Bridge itself. (Pre-bookings only).

• London Bridge (1973)
Now fully restored after the catastrophic events in London at Hallowe’en* left the south side of the bridge partially collapsed.
Please note: SCT would like to reassure our customers that the ghosts of the 17th Century plague victims disturbed during the attack have now been laid fully to rest.

• Millennium Bridge (footbridge, 2002)
Londoners nicknamed the bridge the "Wobbly Bridge" after participants in a charity walk on behalf of Save the Children to open the bridge felt an unexpected, and, for some, uncomfortable, swaying motion on the first two days after the bridge opened.
Please note: Whilst the bridge has undergone modifications to combat this SCT are able to issue Anti-sickness spell potions courtesy of Spellcrackers.com free to any customers who require them.

• Blackfriars Bridge (1869)
Here can be seen the famous animated stone carvings of water birds by wizard and sculptor John Birnie Philip. On the East (downstream) side the carving are of marine life and seabirds; and on the West (upstream) of freshwater birds.

Please note: SCT would like to inform customers that "Blackfriars Bridge" is not the home of an unknown order of monks who held the key to an angelic prison as depicted in Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. This is a fictional association.

• Waterloo Bridge (1945) (the "women's bridge")
It is frequently asserted that the work force was largely female and it is sometimes referred to as "the ladies' bridge". The arches are clad in Portland stone from the South West of England; the stone contains a Self-Cleaning spell which cleans the bridge whenever it rains. This produces a glorious sight of multi-hued double rainbows stretching from one end of the bridge to the other.
Please note: Rainbows do not guarantee leprechauns* or the possibility of pots of gold.

• Hungerford Footbridges (Golden Jubilee Bridges) (2002)
The north end of the bridge is near to the Victoria Embankment where our Charmed River Cruises depart (tickets are available from your tour troll) and where the RAF monument can be visited.
Please note: SCT cannot confirm that the RAF monument* is home to London’s resident kelpie but recommends that all customers are aware of local River Lore; the kelpie has agreed to no longer Charm innocents into the water, but only takes those who venture in of their own accord, who want to die, or who have another’s death staining their soul. Should you be of a depressive or nervous disposition it is recommended that you do not venture onto the steps leading down to the river.

• Westminster Bridge (1862)
This seven-arch wrought iron bridge with Gothic detailing Gothic is the oldest bridge in central London. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the House of Commons which is on the side of the Palace of Westminster nearest the bridge.
Should Westminster Bridge be the end of your tour then there is an option to take an exclusive afternoon tea flight on the London Eye ~ a wonderful experience which gives a panoramic view of surrounding London. (Pre-bookings only).
Please note: SCT troll tour guide, Chalky Revod, is unable to accompany customers on the London Eye due to individual pod weight restrictions.

Spellcrackers.com wishes to thank and acknowledge Suzanne McLeod the author of the following books for her assistance in compiling the content for these magical tours.

*London Eye and leprechauns – The Sweet Scent of Blood – Spellcrackers #1
*London Bridge and RAF Monument – The Cold Kiss of Death – Spellcrackers # 2
*Tower Bridge and Gremlins – The Bitter Seed of Magic – Spellcrackers #3

The Spellcrackers series is set in London with magic, mayhem and murder – liberally spiced with hot guys, kick-ass chicks and super-cool supes!

Suzanne McLeod: Website
Facebook
Twitter @Suzanne_McLeod

NEWS: Five Days of Christmas: Interviews: Daniel Polansky

2011-12-15T00:10:00.000-08:00

Friend of the blog and new author Daniel Polansky (author of Fantasy novel “The Straight Razor Cure”) helped us give you a little extra bonus on the build up to Christmas with this, his interview for us, that we’d thought lost to the Electron Spider ravages through the massive Interweb.

So, for your reading pleasure, Daniel answers some of the telling questions that new authors get and responds openly, honestly and of course hopefully will buoy up that writer within you…

Falcata Times: Writing is said to be something that people are afflicted with rather than gifted and that it's something you have to do rather than want. What is your opinion of this statement and how true is it to you?

Daniel Polansky: It’s a bit hyperbolic, at least for me.

FT: When did you realise that you wanted to be a writer?

DP: I think that first you realize you want to write. The verb comes first, if you can dig it.

FT: It is often said that if you can write a short story you can write anything. How true do you think this is and what have you written that either proves or disproves this POV?

DP: I’ve never read that quote.

FT: If someone were to enter a bookshop, how would you persuade them to try your novel over someone else's and how would you define it?

DP: I would subtly threaten their family, or perhaps observe that my competition was a nazi-pedophile.

FT: How would you "sell" your book in 20 words or less?

DP: The recipe for the antidote to the poison you just drank is hidden somewhere in its pages.

FT: Who is a must have on your bookshelf and whose latest release will find you on the bookshops doorstep waiting for it to open?

DP: My bookshelf is getting a little thick these days, but you can always find a few Raymond Chandler novels amidst the debris.

FT: When you sit down and write do you know how the story will end or do you just let the pen take you? ie Do you develop character profiles and outlines for your novels before writing them or do you let your idea's develop as you write?

DP: For the first book, it was all a little slapdash. With the sequel I'm being much more deliberate with outlines and such.

FT: What do you do to relax and what have you read recently?

DP: I walk and listen to music. I’m in the middle of Winston Churchill’s biography of the Duke of Marlborough.

FT: What is your guiltiest pleasure that few know about?

DP: I am a black-out drunk.

FT: Lots of writers tend to have pets. What do you have and what are their key traits (and do they appear in your novel in certain character attributes?)

DP: I don’t have a pet.

FT: How similar to your principle protagonist are you?

DP: Not very. He’s a two-fisted amoral homicidal drug addict, and I’m only the second and fourth.

FT: What hobbies do you have and how do they influence your work?

DP: I love to travel.

FT: Where do you get your idea's from?

DP: Books and life.

FT: Do you ever encounter writers block and if so how do you overcome it?

DP: Some days it’s easier than others. You push as far as you can every day and don’t kick yourself too much if you can’t always hit a quota.

FT: Certain authors are renowned for writing at what many would call uncivilised times. When do you write and how do the others in your household feel about it?

DP: I do most of my writing during the day. Sometimes I will think of an idea that I want to jot down and will ask whomever I’m talking to not to talk to me until I’m done, but mostly they’re understanding about it.

FT: Sometimes pieces of music seem to influence certain scenes within novels, do you have a soundtrack for your tale or is it a case of writing in silence with perhaps the odd musical break in-between scenes?

DP: I guess in my book it’s all atmospheric noise.

FT: What misconceptions, if any, did you have about the writing and publishing field when you were first getting started?

DP: I really didn’t know enough about it to have preconceptions. I suppose I thought it would take less time from the date of the sale to the book being published.

FT: If music be the food of love, what do you think writing is and please explain your answer?

DP: I don’t know how to answer this question.

FT: What can you tell us about the next novel?

DP: It’s similar to this one, but better.

FT: What are the last five internet sites that you've visited?

DP: They’re all x-rated. Am I kidding?

FT: Did you ever take any writing classes or specific instructions to learn the craft? If so please let us know which ones.

DP: I have never taken a creative writing class, for better or worse.

FT: How did you get past the initial barriers of criticism and rejection?

DP: I wept a lot.

FT: In your opinion, what are the best and worst aspects of writing for a living?

DP: Filling a blank page is the best thing about writing. It has to be, or there wouldn’t be a point. As far as the negatives -- it can be a solitary existence.

HISTORICAL FICTION REVIEW: Conqueror - Conn Iggulden

2011-12-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 27/10/11

SYNOPSIS:

The one and only Conn Iggulden takes on the story of the mighty Kublai Khan. An epic tale of a great and heroic mind; his action-packed rule; and how in conquering one-fifth of the world's inhabited land, he changed the course of history forever. A scholar who conquered an empire larger than those of Alexander or Caesar. A warrior who would rule a fifth of the world with strength and wisdom. A man who betrayed a brother to protect a nation. From a young scholar to one of history's most powerful warriors, Conqueror tells the story of Kublai Khan -- an extraordinary man who should be remembered alongside Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte as one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever known. It should have been a golden age, with an empire to dwarf the lands won by the mighty Genghis Khan. Instead, the vast Mongol nation is slowly losing ground, swallowed whole by their most ancient enemy. A new generation has arisen, yet the long shadow of the Great Khan still hangs over them all ! Kublai dreams of an empire stretching from sea to sea. But to see it built, this scholar must first learn the art of war. He must take his nation's warriors to the ends of the known world. And when he is weary, when he is wounded, he must face his own brothers in bloody civil war.

REVIEW:

For me, there are some authors in a genre that you just have to buy and Conn Iggulden is one of them. He’s gone from strength to strength with his writing, and for me, he is the David Gemmell of Historical Fiction, a talent that is unique, rarely equalled and an author you can depend upon for a quality read that will be kept in your collection for rereads later on.

The writing is gripping, the characters have a realistic angle that the reader can grab onto and whilst in places he’s spartan in his descriptive allowing the reader to fill in the blanks it doesn’t detract from the story which moves along at its own pace. Add to this cracking prose, top notch dialogue and a way of explaining history in a context that it brings it to live. (And yes I know its historical fiction but getting it to come to life so that the reader wants to do their own research is key here.)

Finally add to the mix a story that reads well as a standalone and it’s a book that is accessible for new readers as well as established fans makes this a real gem of a title this year. Great stuff.

NEWS: Five Days of Christmas: 3 Top Games

2011-12-14T00:15:00.000-08:00

Whilst it;s hard just to pick three games for recommendations after the year we’ve had, we’re pretty sure that certain ones will already be on the Christmas list. These ones are:
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Batman: Arkham City (Yep it’s on mine already.)

As such whilst most people will already know of these I wanted to bring some others to the fore. These games I’ve had fun with and wanted to share with you in case you’re looking for something a little different:

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean:
If you’re a huge fan of the other Lego games (Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and Star Wars) then the odds are you’re going to love this as they’ve spent a lot of time getting things right such as Captain Jack’s swagger for the character. Add to this the usual mayhem of smashing the environment to bits and earning additional characters and the player is in for a whole world of fun as theres loads of things to discover on each play through. The humour is right up there as usual and of course its good clean fun for everyone if you want a break from the usual death dealing blood splattered combat games out there.

Gears of War 3:
The final game in the famous franchise which see’s loss, hope and the world reclaimed for mankind after years of battles. It’s combat heavy, there’s tons of firepower and above all else the player will be knee deep in grubs as they slaughter their way across the landscape to save Phoenix’s father.

Add to this a whole host of new bad guys, some fun pick ups (like the massive swords of Berserker Grubs) and the player will be in 7th heaven. However if you’re not a fan of blood splatter or the heavy combat this may not be the game for you. In a similar vein is Space Marine although this, in my opinion is the superior.

LA Noire:
A cop game with a difference. Here you start off as a patrol man and investigate crimes finding clues and interrogating suspects. Each correct answer leads you to more locations to find out more pertaining to the case, which you drive to (although prepare for a hefty bill if you’re as bad at it as me) as well as gaining extra bonus’ for helping out on Police Summons on the radio. It’s quirky, its different and its one that you have to think about as well as checking your notes to make sure that you pick the right option. The characters within will also give signals that let you know if they’re lying or not being fully forthright so you can question them about it and you can also choose to reveal certain aspects of your evidence during questioning to help you further the case.

As you undergo the investigations you get promoted and each new rank gives you a whole host of new one to solve. All in, it’s a lot of fun and as a player its something that is unlike any other game out there. A great thing from Rockstar games.

Hopefully this has helped you find something a little different for the Christmas market and of course, the prices of these are hitting the better budget area’s for those with seasonal cash to spend.

FACTUAL REVIEW: The Beastly Battles of Old England - Nigel Cawthorne

2011-12-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 06/10/11

SYNOPSIS:

Throughout history the English have been a warlike lot. Often we fight among ourselves - there have been a good few civil wars - and when we were not slaughtering each other, we practiced on our neighbours, the Scots, the Irish, the French ...When that got too easy, we set off around the world to find other people to fight. This was usually done with a hubris that invited some ludicrous pratfall. In THE BEASTLY BATTLES OF OLD ENGLAND, Nigel Cawthorne takes us on a darkly humorous journey through some of our ill-advised military actions. From the war over a severed ear to a general seeking out his rival's mistresses to even the score, it is a miscellany of insufferable arrogance, reckless gallantry, stunning stupidity, massive misjudgements and general beastliness.

REVIEW:

As this book lets you know, the British have often regarded war as a game and if that’s the case, it will probably come as no surprise to read up on all the military blunders that have oft occurred when we marched into battle, almost as if it’s a game that we don’t care about winning (as you’ll probably think whenever you see one of our national teams playing.)

This book by Nigel Cawthorne is funny, it has some great military anecdotes and of course it’s entertaining to the reader as it imparts it information in such a way that a lot of it sticks. For me, if you’re trying to get your Teen into History (and they’ve claimed that its bored them) this is one of those titles that might just get them to change their mind. For me, this is a great read and one that I’ll be passing on to my Dad to keep him amused over the holiday period.

NEWS: Five Days of Christmas: 4 Childrens Books (from Tatty's Treasure Chest by Age)

2011-12-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
So you've got the adults sorted but what about the kids? Well hopefully some of our choices will help you make that special choice to become the book King or Queen of your household.

Here are our personal choices:
5 and Under:
Frank and Teddy Make Friends - Louise Yates
The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm - Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, Noel Daniel and Matthew R Price
Again - Emily Gravett
Cats Ahoy - Peter Bently, Ill. Jim Field

7-12
Spooks: I am Grimalkin - Joseph Delaney
The Encyclopedia of the Unexplained - Judy Allen
Young Samurai: Ring of Water - Chris Bradford
Bartimaeus: Amulet of Samarkland (Graphic Novel) - Jonathan Stroud

Teen
Bleeding Hearts - Alyxandra Harvey
Texas Gothic - Rosemary Clement Moore
Shelter - Harlan Coben
The Demon Trappers 2: Forbidden - Jana Oliver

Hope this helps,

Gareth and Lady Eleanor

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Battles: The Gildar Rift - Sarah Cawkwell

2011-12-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 08/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

When the ancient warship Wolf of Fenris emerges from the warp, Imperial forces find that it has been overrun by the dreaded Red Corsairs. However, this is no mere raiding party – Huron Blackheart and his entire renegade fleet soon follow, intent on conquering the Gildar Rift and tightening their grip on the sector. Lance batteries and torpedo salvos burn fiery contrails through the void, and only Captain Arrun of the Silver Skulls Space Marine Chapter can halt the renegades’ advance. The fate of the Rift will not be decided in the heavens but on the surface of Gildar Secundus below.

REVIEW:

I hadn’t read any of Sarah’s writing before, so when it’s an established series I always look at the architecture of the authors writing to see not only if it fits in but adds something new and unique to the world. What Sarah does in this book is bring the human element to the fore of the Astartes as characters have doubts as well as emotional conflicts that aids in humanising these almost superhero giants.

It’s wonderfully written, contains cleverly crafted space battles and hand to hand which when all brought together gives the reader a story that they’ll remember for quite some time. Sarah for me, is a real find for the Black Library and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. Magic.

NEWS: Five Days of Christmas: 5 Book Genre Recommendations (from Falcata Times)

2011-12-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

Hail Mighty Readers,
Well this is our first of our Five Days of Christmas (yes we know we’re early but we wanted to give you shopping time in case of finding something that you like) and as such we thought that it would be pretty good to do five recommendations per genre of books reviewed by Falcata Times. As such we hope that you can find a title or two of interest for the bibliophile in your life.

We hope everyone has a great holiday season and here’s our massive list of top fives:

Art and Crafts Books:
Drew Stuzan - Oeuvre
Creating Comics - Start to Finish - Buddy Scalera
Fräulein - Ellen von Unwerth
Stitch with Love - Mandy Shaw
The Songwriters Guide - Writers Digest

Crime:
The Silent Girl - Tess Gerritsen
The Dead Witness - Ed Michael Sims
A Fear of Dark Water - Craig Russell
Death Sentence - Mikkel Birkegaard
The Quarry - Johan Theorin

Cuisine:
Hawkmoor at Home - Huw Gott, Dan Lepard
PieMinister - Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon
Perfect: 68 Essential Recipes - Felicity Cloake
Hairy Bikers - Perfect Pies - Hairy Bikers
Perfect Slow Cooking - Elizabeth Brown

Fantasy:
The Heroes - Joe Abercrombie
The Straight Razor Cure - Daniel Polansky
The Fallen Blade - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Conan's Brethren - Robert E Howard
The Crippled God - Steven Erikson

Historical Fiction:
The Clash of Empires: The Great Siege - William Napier
The Long War 2: Marathon - Christian Cameron
Agent of Rome: The Siege - Nick Brown
Outlander 7: An Echo in Time - Diana Gabaldon
Lady of Hay - Barbara Erskine

Misc:
The Spirit of the Sword - Steve Shackleford
Early Firearms 1300-1800 - Michael Spencer
Crooked Talk - Jonathan Green
Making Craft Cider - Simon McKie
Booze for Free - Andy Hamilton

Science Fiction:
Chemical Garden: Wither - Lauren DeStefano
World Wide Web 3: Wonder - Robert J Sawyer
Embassytown - China Mieville
Embedded - Dan Abnett
The Subteranean War: Germline - TC McCarthy

Thriller:
The Lion - Nelson DeMille
The Affair - Lee Child
The Nosferatu Scroll - James Becker
The Silenced - Brett Battles
Blood Counts - Robert Goddard

Urban Fantasy:
Zombie Autopsy - Dr Steven C Schlozman
Deadtown 3: Bloodstone - Nancy Holzner
Dresden Files: Ghost Story - Jim Butcher
The Iron Druid: Hounded - Kevin Hearne
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch

Lady Eleanor Top Books:
Choices Inside Out - Robert Lasardo
Rose West: Making of a Monster - Jane Carter Woodrow
The Confessions of Catherine De Medici - CW Gortner
The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty
The Ritual - Adam G Neville

Tune in for the next few days to see other recommendations,

Gareth and Lady Eleanor

DVD REVIEW: Conan - Jason Momoa, Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan

2011-12-12T00:05:00.001-08:00

Release Date:

SYNOPSIS:

When a powerful force of supernatural evil threatens to destroy Hyboria, legendary Cimmerian warrior Conan (Jason Momoa) raises his sword against mythical monsters and treacherous enemies. Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan, Stephen Lang, and Rachel Nichols co-star in a sweeping fantasy adventure based on the character created by Robert E. Howard, and directed by Marcus Nispel (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, FRIDAY THE 13TH).

REVIEW:

OK, I love a good fantasy film so when I heard about the new Conan I had to see it. I love a film where they rely on few CG’s and whilst this wasn’t the biggest of budgets they did themselves proud with a film that will appeal to fans of not only the Barbarian but combat heavy films.

Jason Momoa works well in the title role and I have to give kudos to Leo Howard (the actor who played Young Conan) for helping to bring it to the audience. Add to this a reasonable plot, and a storyline that felt that it had a lot in common with the source material and I was a very happy movie watcher (although there are places within where it is a little patchy.) Which when added to some decent DVD featurettes and on the whole I was very pleased.

Finally please be aware that this title is full of gore and that it’s 15 for a reason. Yes there’s the odd shot of topless ladies but with the splattering of chopped off body parts it’s definitely something to be aware of, especially if you’re aware of the Conan Cartoon.

FANTASY REVIEW: Warhammer Fantasy: Blood of Aenarion - William King

2011-12-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 08/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

The twins Tyrion and Teclis are the greatest high elf heroes still to walk the earth. They are as different to one another as darkness and light.

Tyrion is an unparalleled swordsman, a superlative warrior and tactician from birth. He inspires courage and loyalty in those around him. Champion of the Everqueen, he is Ulthuan’s greatest protector.

Teclis’s gift is magic. The greatest natural sorcerer of the age, his power rivals that of fabled Caledor. Wise councillor of the high elves, Teclis was amongst those who first taught magic to the race of men and gave them the means to defend themselves against Chaos.

From their humble origin in the wild lands of Chrace, Tyrion and Teclis were meant for a great destiny. They come from the line of Aenarion, the first king of Ulthuan and cursed champion of that magical island.

When the Witch King Malekith learns of the twins’ existence their lives are imperilled and they are taken to Lothern for their protection and to learn the arts of war.

REVIEW:

I have to admit that I originally came across William’s writing a good number of years ago with the first Felix and Gotrek novel and fell in love with it. So when I heard that he was writing a new series for the Black Library I was not only happy but also looking forward to see what would arrive. Especially when I learned he was dealing with two of the pointy eared ones greatest heroes in the Warhammer Universe, Tyrion and Teclis.

It’s a cracking story, woven with top notch prose, solid dragon flight pace and of course gives the reader all the glory and blood that they would want in a tale. It fits the universe well, the characters are solid and approachable for the reader and when you throw into the mix heroes that have flaws alongside great courage, it’s a title that fans have been clamouring for this epic duo for years. Magical.

DVD REVIEW: The Smurfs

2011-12-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 08/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours--in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.

REVIEW:

OK, I was at a loose end today so when the Smurfs film landed I thought, that I’d give it a go, especially as I have fond memories of my Smurf House, collecting the little blue creatures, from the Petrol Station (with Tokens, yes you know you do too, LOL) and of course fond memories of the comics.

So whilst I realised that a lot must happen to help bring it to a more modern audience, I did hope that some of my favourites were present as well as giving the viewer a little something special with some of the newer cast. Well, this adaptation has something for everyone, peril, adventure and of course Gargamel trying as usual and failing miserably. Add to this the wonderfully animated cat, the usual cast of Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brains backed with Grumpy, Clumsy (our tales hero) with the cracking Kilt Clad Gutsy Smurf (who was my personal favourite, voiced by Alan Cummings.)

Whilst the story is simplistic with the moral of staying true to your heart, it’s a sentiment that works well for the modern audience and when you add peril, places that the viewer will recognise and a whole host of hilarious chaotic encounters, it’s a story that will endear itself to the younger viewer. Great fun all in and let no Smurf be left behind.

Finally to bring things up to date, here’s the link to the fun launch at Tower Bridge that we told you about last week.

SCIENCE FICTION AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: Talon and Thorn - Dan Abnett

2011-12-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 08/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

Thorn and Talon is available as a two-disk CD set or as an MP3 download. It contains three separate audio dramas featuring Inquisitors Eisenhorn and Ravenor.
Master Imus's Transgression

Master Imus, a mild-mannered clerk, has a confession to make - he has unwittingly conspired in a crime. Inquisitor Eisenhorn investigates, and finds that the trail laid by this unassuming servant of the Imperium leads to unexpected places and a dangerous showdown.
Regia Occulta

On a world wracked by storms, Inquisitor Eisenhorn investigates a series of bizarre murders. Aided by local officials and using arcane methods of detection, Eisenhorn must decipher the secret of Regia Occulta and stop the bestial killer before it strikes again.
Thorn Wishes Talon

Inquisitor Ravenor travels to a distant world, summoned by a mysterious message. Attacked by vicious Chaos cultists, Ravenor's faithful companions battle to survive, to meet their mysterious correspondent and to discover the meaning behind the message: Thorn Wishes Talon.

REVIEW:

A cracking two disk Audio Book featuring stories written by Dan Abnett and wonderfully produced by Heavy Studio’s. It’s well written, the vocal talent does the job well and all in it’s a great way to spend some time with the Inquisition care of Eisenhorn and Ravenor. Add to this solid script, cracking dialogue and of course three tales that you can dip into for short periods and it’s a cracking title all round. I hope that more of these short tales are produced as it’s a great way to eke out excitement of the first listening for quite a while. Great stuff.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Alex Craft 1: Grave Witch - Kalayna Price

2011-12-10T00:10:00.000-08:00

Release Date: 08/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

Just because Grave Witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, doesn't mean she has to like what they have to say . . .

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she's on good terms with Death himself, nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high-profile murder when she's attacked by the ghost she is raising - which should be impossible. Then, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, thwarted only by Death's intervention. You know you're having a bad day when Death is saving your life . . .

To solve this case, Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Andrews seems to be hiding something, although it's certainly not his dislike of Alex. Despite all that, Alex is going to need his help to navigate the tangled webs of real-world and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex not just her life, but also her soul . . .

REVIEW:

I love a new Urban Fantasy title, especially when its backed with a fresh face as you’re never quite sure what’s going to appear within those sleek crisp white pages. What Kalanya presented was a world of enchantment and powers, of political machinations as well as groups that I could see springing up and of course a lead character that was a lot of fun to be around, despite all the scrapes she ended up in.

It’s cleverly woven, has touches of Chalaine Harris’ Harper Connolly as well as Trent Jamieson’s Steven De Selby. Add to this crisp prose, a unique take on what its like to summon the deceased as well as the decay it brings within our own world and it was a title that I had a hard time putting down, especially with the romance element added to sizzle those pages as the two characters resisted their own attraction. All in a great bit of fun and I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.