GIVEAWAY: Win an ADVANCE READING COPY of Jonathan Maberry's "The King of Plagues"!

“Saturday 09:11 Hours: A blast rocks a London hospital and thousands are dead or injured… 10:09 Hours: Joe Ledger arrives on scene to investigate. The horror is unlike anything he has ever seen. Compelled by grief and rage, Joe rejoins the DMS and within hours is attacked by a hit-team of assassins and sent on a suicide mission into a viral hot zone during an Ebola outbreak. Soon Joe Ledger and the Department of Military Sciences begin tearing down the veils of deception to uncover a vast and powerful secret society using weaponized versions of the Ten Plagues of Egypt to destabilize world economies and profit from the resulting chaos. Millions will die unless Joe Ledger meets the this powerful new enemy on their own terms as he fights terror with terror...”

Jonathan Maberry’s The King of Plagues isn’t scheduled for publication until March 29, 2011, but thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin, FIFTY very lucky readers will get the opportunity to read an ADVANCE READING COPY of The King of Plagues now. To enter, just fill out the form HERE. Giveaway ends on November 30, 2010 by 12:00 p.m. ET.

Note: Open only to US residents

"The Royal Dragoneers" by M.R. Mathias (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official M.R. Mathias Website
Order "The Royal Dragoneers" or HERE(Kindle) or HERE(Nook)
Read an Extended Excerpt from the novel HERE
Read FBC Review of The Sword and the Dragon

INTRODUCTION: Not long ago I discovered M.R. Mathias, the author of The Sword and the Dragon, book that stayed in my memory despite seemingly being the traditional fantasy I tend to avoid; though of course there is a twist in the tale, but the crucial fact is that the author' style just resonated with me.

When I heard about The Royal Dragoneers, a more YA oriented series debut from the author, I was curious since occasionally YA books by authors whose style I like a lot also appeal to me. Here is the blurb, though I would say that it only partly reflects the essence the novel.

"After struggling for more than two centuries to tame the inhospitable, dragon infested Islands where they washed up, the descendants of the survivors of a lost passenger ship are now striving to tame the Mainland they have found. But the Goblin King, an Ivory antlered demon called Gravelbone, has a different plan for the men who are invading his territory. He and his Nightshade are rallying the trolls to defend their lands. With the help of the dragons, goblins, and orcs they plan on rendering the wall the humans have built useless, so that they can drive man back to the islands from where they came. When stubborn King Blanchard finally accepts that the kingdom really is under attack it may be too late, and the only ones who can save the people on the Mainland have been locked away in the dungeon Join some brave young men and their mentor, a grizzled old King's Ranger, and a particularly clever young magic wielding woman, as they traverse the wild frontier, and sail to King's Island to warn the King of the warring trolls. Then hold on for your life as you tear through the pages, because the pure blooded dragons they have befriended have another plan all together."

FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: The Royal Dragoneers stands at about 350 pages divided into five named parts and 39 chapters. The narration is third person and from several POV's. There is also a map of the Dragoneers' Lands which you can find online HERE.

Jenka De Swasso is a sixteen year old ranger's apprentice from the deep frontier lands who has an unexpected encounter with a dragon. Zahrellion (Zah) is a seemingly young looking and beautiful druida whose people tend to keep to themselves and study science and magic. Rikky is one of Jenka's friends who will have his own tale. Prince Richard, the popular dashing heir to the kingdom is seemingly the hero of a prophecy.

With a reasonable ending point, The Royal Dragoneers starts a YA-ish series of adventure, discovery and magic, written in the exuberant style of the author which is familiar from The Sword and the Dragon.

ANALYSIS: "Good" dragons, destined boys and girls, prophecies, princes, magicians (called druids) and witches with some of the funniest names in recent books like Linux and Mysterian, nasty demons, "bad" dragons, goblins, orcs, cackling villains and combat of the "my magic is bigger than your magic" type - all in a YA setting to boot; this seems another book I would run away as fast as I can from, but I actually enjoyed it a lot and read it in one sitting since it was very engrossing and I wanted to see what happens. I also reread it after to see the little things I have missed and get some clues where the action goes next. Why?

The major reason was the style of the author; hard to pinpoint the specifics but it just appeals to me and it makes me want to read his books. Luckily there is an extended excerpt (currently 36% of the novel) at the link above, so you can go and check it out for yourself. Narrative energy, earnest, likable main characters, a tone that is not ultra-dramatic or self important and a very well thought out world building are some of the conscious reasons that justify my statement above, but ultimately a lot depends if the book flows for you or not.

Regarding world building, little details that add up and show the carefulness mentioned are the number of generations from the shipwreck that populated the Dragoneers' Lands with humans, the rate of growth and expansion and its economic underpinnings, the historical memory or lack of such - 200 years is a long time too and much more plausible than the usual millennium or more that too often is thrown around in fantasies together with a steady state society.

Jenka may start as the typical destined boy, but he is modest and likable and he grows well into his role, while not becoming the know-it-all conquering hero that annoys me to no end in similar tales. The mysterious Zah remains, well mysterious, to the end of the book and I am curious to find out more about her and the druids and witches in general. Even the dragons have a twist or two, though you gotta read the book to find out about that.

Prince Richard and Rikky are less well developed and more "stock" to the end, but both bring their surprises too and the novel has the author's trademark twists on the traditional storyline and keeps one guessing where it will go. The action is fast and furious though from time to time it barely stops from descending into farce, when the "my magic is bigger than yours" becomes the sole reason for how the heroes escape this or that battle.

While The Royal Dragoneers (A) does not transcend its narrative space - YA exuberant adventure fantasy - it is a fun book that I heartily recommend if you want such and on par with anything from that space. The series has a lot of potential - there are geographical expansion hints, possibilities in the explorations of the world's magic, the whole dragons ecosystem that may offer surprises - and I am eager to see the next adventure M.R. Mathias will send our heroes on.

“Kill the Dead” by Richard Kadrey (Reviewed by Robert Thompson)

Official Richard Kadrey Website
Order “Kill the Dead” HERE
Browse Inside HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Review of “Sandman Slim’

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Richard Kadrey is the author of over fifty short stories, a small number of non-fiction books, and five novels including Metrophage, Butcher Bird and Sandman Slim. He has written and spoken about art, culture and technology for Wired, The San Francisco Chronicle, Discovery Online, The Site, SXSW, and Wired for Sex on the G4 cable network. He is also a fetish photographer. Kill the Dead is his second Sandman Slim novel.

PLOT SUMMARY: James Stark, a.k.a. Sandman Slim, crawled out of Hell, took bloody revenge for his girlfriend's murder, and saved the world along the way. After that, what do you do for an encore? You take a lousy job tracking down monsters for money. It's a depressing gig, but it pays for your beer and cigarettes. But in L.A., things can always get worse.

Like when Lucifer comes to town to supervise his movie biography and drafts Stark as his bodyguard. Sandman Slim has to swim with the human and inhuman sharks of L.A.'s underground power elite. That's before the murders start. And before he runs into the Czech porn star who isn't quite what she seems. Even before all those murdered people start coming back from the dead and join a zombie army that will change our world—and Stark's—forever...

FORMAT/INFO: Kill the Dead is 434 pages long without any chapter or part breaks. Narration is in the first-person present tense, exclusively via the protagonist, James Stark, a.k.a. Sandman Slim. Kill the Dead can be read as a standalone story, but is the second Sandman Slim novel, while the open ending provides plenty of material for future sequels. October 5, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of Kill the Dead via EOS.

ANALYSIS: There was a time when I used to like reading urban fantasy novels, but thanks to publishers flooding the market with second/third-rate carbon copies and authors recycling the same ideas over and over, I’ve grown weary of the whole subgenre. Even so, every once in a while an urban fantasy title comes along that really catches my eye, like last year’s Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey...

Combining the humor and accessibility of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels with the detective noir influences of the Nightside series by Simon R. Green, and the hard-boiled grittiness of Hellblazer, Charlie Huston’s Joe Pitt casebooks and Mike Carey’s Felix Castor novels, Sandman Slim was a fun and exciting introduction to James Stark—a nephilim (part human, part angel) who escaped after eleven years trapped in Hell to take revenge against Mason Faim, the person responsible for betraying Stark and murdering his girlfriend. Along the way, the book also introduces Stark’s impressive collection of weapons (the shape-shifting na’at, Azazel’s knife, Mason’s lighter, Hellion magic, the Room of Thirteen Doors) and an interesting supporting cast that includes a talking head in former magician, Kasabian; Stark’s friend, the 200-year-old immortal alchemist, Vidocq; Allegra, an ex-video clerk who becomes Vidocq’s apprentice; Candy, a vampire-like Jade and possible romantic interest of Stark’s; Doc Kinski, a fallen angel who provides healing for the supernatural; Mr. Muninn, a “merchant to the stars and connoisseurs of esoterica”; and Carlos, the bartender of the Bamboo House of Dolls which caters to L.A.’s supernatural underworld; not to mention Lucifer, Aelita, and Marshal Wells of the Golden Vigil. In addition to all of this, readers were also treated to a revenge-driven tale full of graphic violence, over-the-top action, creative magic, and surprising twists.

In the second Sandman Slim novel, Kill the Dead, readers can expect more of the same. More of the cocky, foul-mouthed Stark with his accompanying addictions for nicotine, booze, Aqua Regia, car theft, and smart-ass comments. More of Stark at his favorite hangouts (Max Overload, Donut Universe, the Bamboo House of Dolls, Vidoq’s apartment which was formerly where Stark and his girlfriend lived) with the same supporting cast—and a couple of new faces in Marshal Julie and Brigitte, a “Czech Gypsy porn-star zombie killer”. More of Stark wielding his favorite weapons with violent and bloody results, while acquiring some new pieces for his arsenal including the Druj Ammun, access to the Daimonion Codex (Lucifer’s “mystical database”), and the manifestation of angelic powers. And more of Stark kicking ass, cracking jokes, and getting into trouble.

The story however, is a different matter altogether. Where Sandman Slim was all about revenge and started out with a bang that really never let up until the end of the book, Kill the End is a much slower and tedious affair—at least for the first two-thirds of the novel. During that time frame, readers are subjected to Stark talking a lot—to friends, strangers and readers alike—and such mundane matters as Sub Rosa politics and Stark combating money issues by working freelance for both the Golden Vigil and Lucifer, taking on menial jobs like hunting monsters, examining supernatural crime scenes, and working as Lucifer’s bodyguard. Granted, there are moments of exciting, blood-spewing violence, impassioned sex, and entertaining verbal sparring sprinkled throughout these pages, but for the most part, I had to drag myself through this portion of the novel, all the while wondering if things were ever going to get better. Fortunately, the book does improve, significantly. Around the time the zombie plot to destroy Los Angeles is in full effect, the Sandman Slim I knew and loved from the first book, was back in all his cynical, ass-kicking glory. Add to that revelations about Stark’s father, one of his friends getting killed, another friend getting bitten by a zombie for which there is no cure, Stark’s angelic personality taking over his human side, some fascinating loose ends to be explored in future sequels, and plots to dethrone both God and Lucifer, and it was enough to make me forget about the novel’s laborious first two-thirds.

Writing-wise, Richard Kadrey puts together another solid performance in Kill the Dead highlighted by energetic pacing; stylish action sequences; cool slang words—Downtown (Hell), shroud eaters (vampires), Shut Eyes (psychics), High Plains Drifters (zombies); a creative twist on zombies that includes different types of zombies (Drifters, Lacunas, Savants) and the brutal method (ripping out their spines) in which to destroy them; and accessible, pop culture-soaked figures of speech:

“Know your enemy. His tactics, strengths, and weaknesses. When you do, ninety-nine percent of the time you’re going to make him squeak like a church mouse and run away like the Road Runner. Of course, if you get it wrong, you’re going to be a ten-foot banana and the guy you’re fighting will be King Kong with the munchies.”

Unfortunately, Richard Kadrey’s performance is not all good. Characterization for example, is practically non-existent, especially toward the supporting characters, which is apparent by my complete lack of care and concern when one of the characters is killed off and the lives of others are threatened. Then there’s Stark’s little identity crisis when his angel personality takes over, but his narrative voice remains largely the same. Also, Kadrey has a tendency to introduce interesting ideas like the Jackal’s Backbone or the Winter Garden, without really explaining their purpose or origins. On a personal note meanwhile, I grew tired of Stark’s incessant jokes and commentary, partly because it just doesn’t fit my view of how a cynical badass would act, making Stark seem more like an obnoxious teenager rather than a hardened killer, and partly because of the author’s overreliance on pop culture references and similes/metaphors that just weren’t very creative. Additionally, I felt Richard Kadrey dropped the ball a few times towards the end of the novel, taking the easy way out with convenient, Hollywood-esque resolutions instead of embracing the unconventional route.

CONCLUSION: Overall, Richard Kadrey’s Kill the Dead takes its sweet time getting to the good stuff, but when it does, the action is fast, furious and compelling, and will definitely satisfy fans of the first Sandman Slim novel while leaving readers already anticipating the next volume in the series. That said, if you like your urban fantasy dark and gritty, then there are much better options available than Sandman Slim, starting with Mike Carey’s superb Felix Castor novels and the awesome Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston...

Some More Similar Narrative Space 2011 Books, Carol Berg, Leona Wisoker and Barbara Friend Ish

Following the previous post about two upcoming 2011 novels that live in the same narrative space (YA'ish fantasy) though at opposite ends (fun, exuberant, over the top vs dark, suspense, Gothic), here are are three more upcoming novels that live in their own same narrative space too (fantasy with magic and intrigue).

In January, the sequel to Carol Berg's The Spirit Lens (FBC Rv) comes from Roc. Four years after the events in the first Collegia Magica novel, Anne de Vernasse now 22 years old is summoned to the court from her family estate and The Soul Mirror is told in her voice. I am currently reading it and it is a very impressive novel so far which has the potential to become a top-top one of mine if it stays this way to the end. Here is the Amazon link for more, but it is spoilerish for The Spirit Lens so I won't include the blurb.

Edit 11/22 Finished the novel and it is awesome and an A++; more thoughts on Goodreads but full of spoilers for the Spirit Lens since any discussion of this book will be that way; full rv in due time and for now just the link to avoid spoilers.

*********************************************************

In March, the sequel to the excellent debut Secrets of the Sands (FBC Rv) by Leona Wisoker comes from Mercury Retrograde Press. Again the blurb for Guardians of the Desert is spoilerish for the first installment, so I will include only the link to the publisher page for more details. This one is another high expectations novel of mine and the first several pages pick up with gusto from where Secrets of the Sands ended.

*********************************************************

In February, a debut that has some similarities in style and content with Carol Berg's previous series the Lighthouse Duet, comes also from Mercury Retrograde Press.

The Shadow of the Sun by Barbara Friend Ish is the first installment of her The Way of the Gods series. Here is the link to the publisher's page for more information and a sample chapter and the blurb:

"A Man Cannot Deny the Gods

Ten years ago, Ellion violated a sacred rule of magic and brought tragedy on his family. Forced to abandon his throne, exiled from the holy Aballo Order of wizards, and severed from his patron goddess, he swore never to work magic again. He retreated into music and a bard's footlose existence: living in other men's kingdoms, singing of other men's victories.

A Man Cannot Escape Destiny

But then the ard-righ, the king of kings, is murdered in an act of insurrection by a rogue wizard who follows the old gods. As the human nations teeter on the verge of chaos and civil war, Ellion tries to slip even farther away to the Tanaan realms, only to discover that they are threatened by the same enemy.

A Man Cannot Hide from the Shadow of the Sun

Now Ellion finds himself the protector of Letitia: a Tanaan princess, daughter of one of the greatest Tanaan heroines, and unwitting key to a great arcane mystery. Pursued by the rogue wizard's minions, enticed by gods he was taught to forswear, challenged by his former mentor, and tempted by the most enchanting woman he has ever encountered, Ellion must battle his faith, his vows, and the darkness his soul yearns to tap as he races to unravel the secret of the rogue's power: the Shadow of the Sun."

Edit 11/22

I finished the novel and The Shadow of the Sun is not quite what I am interested in - starts great but after a while it becomes "my magic is bigger than your magic" and I kind of lost interest though I turned the pages and fast read them to the end; very traditional fantasy and not bad if you like such, but not really what I appreciate; unlikely to be interested in the sequel.

Two More 2011 Books and their covers: Alex Bell and CR Zafon

I am an unabashed big fan of Alex Bell's novels (FBC Reviews of The Ninth Circle, Jasmyn, Lex Trent Versus the Gods) and despite being in territory that interests me less, I am really looking forward to the next Lex Trent adventure, whose cover has been recently released.

The title will be Lex Trent Fighting with Fire and I find the cover above very fitting for the spirit of the novels. Here is some Amazon.uk information which contains a little spoiler for the first Lex Trent book, so I will include only the link and not the blurb.

************************************************************

In the same territory but on the darker side, the first English translation of Carlos Ruiz Zafon novel The Midnight Palace will be published by Hachette USA next year. I think that his two classic novels The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game are already established in the canon of imaginative literature and I cannot recommend them highly enough.

I was a bit mixed on the first book from his loose YA trilogy, The Prince of Mist (FBC review CH, my take on Goodreads), but The Midnight Palace reads much better so far and I will finish the e-arc I got soon, though the review will come later in 2011.

Edit 11/22 I finished the book and it was a marked improvement on The Prince of the Mist.
A short take is here and a full review in due time:

After the mediocre Prince of the Mist (very, very YA), CR Zafon returns (in a manner of speaking since the book is from the early 90's predating his two masterpieces but the translation is only 2011) to what we expect from TSoW and TAG; now this book is still YA so we have simple action and relatively predictable plot with a twist and 16 year old heroes and heroines in typical world building that does not question the YA's roles as main leads - hence do not expect the layers and sophistication o ...more After the mediocre Prince of the Mist (very, very YA), CR Zafon returns (in a manner of speaking since the book is from the early 90's predating his two masterpieces but the translation is only 2011) to what we expect from TSoW and TAG; now this book is still YA so we have simple action and relatively predictable plot with a twist and 16 year old heroes and heroines in typical world building that does not question the YA's roles as main leads - hence do not expect the layers and sophistication of the two adult novels - but the elements are there: narrative energy, inventiveness, great characters (even as sketches), surprises and the creepy descriptions that justly made the atmosphere of TSoW and TAG so awesome.

If you want an introduction to the author and see what the fuss is this book will do since it's short and fast. Highly recommended (again keeping in mind that is still YA so with all the limitations thereof)