“Dead of Night” by Jonathan Maberry (Reviewed by Robert Thompson)

Official Jonathan Maberry Website
Order “Dead of Night” HERE

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Jonathan Maberry is the multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the Pine Deep Trilogy, the YA novels Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay, and the Joe Ledger series which was optioned for TV by Sony Pictures. His nonfiction work includes Vampire Universe, The Cryptopedia, and Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead. He also writes for Marvel Comics including The Black Panther, Marvel Zombies Return, DoomWar, and Marvel Universe Vs. The Punisher. Upcoming releases include the new Joe Ledger novel, Assassin’s Code.

PLOT SUMMARY: A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave. But before he can be buried, the killer wakes up. Hungry. Infected. Contagious. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang . . . but a bite.

CLASSIFICATION: Dead of Night is a zombie/horror/techno-thriller hybrid that combines the relentless pacing & action of Dean Koontz and James Rollins with the characterization of Stephen King and the gore & terror of George A. Romero and The Walking Dead.

FORMAT/INFO: Dead of Night is 368 pages long divided over 105 chapters, which each chapter denoted by location. Narration is in the third-person via numerous POVs, but mainly follows two characters in Officer Dez Fox and reporter Billy Trout. Dead of Night is described as a standalone novel, but the ending leaves room for an obvious sequel or two. October 25, 2011 marks the North American Hardcover & Trade Paperback publication of Dead of Night via St. Martin’s Griffin.

ANALYSIS: When it comes to zombie literature, Jonathan Maberry boasts an impressive résumé which includes the Marvel Zombies Return comic book series, the awesome Joe Ledger thriller Patient Zero (reviewed HERE), a couple of YA novels in Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay, short stories that have appeared in such anthologies as The Living Dead 2 and The New Dead (reviewed HERE), and the nonfiction book Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead. Thanks to the author’s latest zombie offering, Dead of Night, that résumé has become significantly stronger...

Creatively, Dead of Night is a familiar setup with a small American town the site of a zombie outbreak, which starts off as a series of violent, unexplainable murders before escalating into a widespread massacre requiring military intervention, containment and other drastic measures. Maberry spices things up with a serial killer, a mad scientist, zombies with trapped awarenesses and a hurricane, while the parasitic nature of the virus offers creative & logical explanations for how the dead can walk again, their insatiable hunger, and an infected’s weak spots—the motor cortex or brain stem—but for the most part, Dead of Night is a textbook zombie tale.

What makes Dead of Night so special is Jonathan Maberry’s skillful writing. Pacing for instance, is breathtaking, which, combined with the author’s vivid prose and cinematic-like storytelling, makes it feel like you’re watching a big-budget Hollywood movie rather than reading a novel. Characters are recognizable stereotypes—Dez Fox is a tough-as-nails cop suffering from abandonment issues, Billy Trout is a reporter looking for his big break, Dr. Herman Volker is a brilliant scientist driven by revenge, Homer Gibbon is a deranged serial killer, and so on—but they are believable characters, supported by realistic dialogue, personalities and baggage. In the case of Dez & Billy, Maberry has created a couple of sympathetic protagonists that readers can really root for, even as impossible as their situation might be.

Pop culture references meanwhile, are up-to-date and relevant with social networking (Youtube, Facebook, Twitter) and viral marketing playing an important role in the plot. Finally, even though Dead of Night features plenty of nail-biting tension, gore and heart-stopping scares, Jonathan Maberry does a fantastic job of balancing out the novel’s horror elements with moments that are thought-provoking and emotionally heartbreaking, which really shows off the author’s skill and versatility.

Negatively, an ending that leaves the reader hanging and an overall lack of closure is a minor issue, but only if the author doesn’t produce a sequel. Apart from this, Dead of Night is the total package. We’re talking accomplished writing, terrific characters, a story that is enormously entertaining, pulse-pounding zombie action, the works. In short, Jonathan Maberry’s Dead of Night is a tour de force and one of the best zombie novels I have ever read...

Some Highly Anticipated 2012 Books: April-July (by Liviu Suciu)

As 2012's publishing schedule starts becoming clearer, I plan to talk about what books I am looking forward to for the next year. Since I like variation, this time I will do it in several posts for Jan-March (HERE), April-July, the rest of 2012 including presumed but unsure titles.

For the full schedule as known to us at a given time, you can visit the Upcoming Releases page. As usually schedules change unexpectedly, wrong dates spread fast online, so while we try to be as accurate as possible, let us know of any mistakes.

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My top five anticipated releases for April-July 2012 are:

1.“Sharps” by KJ Parker. Release Date: July, 2012. Published by Orbit. (FAN).
2.“Caliban's War” by James S.A. Corey. Release Date: June, 2012. Published by Orbit. (SF).
3.“The Master of Heathcrest Hall” by Galen Beckett. Release Date: April, 2012. Published by Del Rey. (FAN).
4.“The King's Blood” by Daniel Abraham. Release Date: May, 2012. Published by Orbit. (FAN).
5.“The Night of the Swarm” by Robert V.S. Redick. UK Release Date: May, 2012. Published by Gollancz. (FAN).

For the reasons behind choices 1-5, I direct you to the Review Index and my seven reviews of works by KJ Parker plus reviews of all the previous installments in the series that contain the novels ranked 2-5. I also will direct you to the FBC Best Of page and my ranking pretty much all the above mentioned reviewed works in my top 20-25 of their respective year, while in several cases in the top 5 or 10 too.

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My next five anticipated novels from April-July 2012 are:

6.“The Twelve” by Justin Cronin. UK Release Date: May, 2012. Published by Orion. (SF).
7.“Thousand Emperors” by Gary Gibson. UK Release Date: June, 2012. Published by Macmillan. (SF).
8."No Going Back” by Mark L. Van Name. Release Date: May, 2012. Published by Baen. (SF)
9.“Weapons of Flowers” by Liz Williams. Release Date: June, 2012. Published by Prime (SF/FAN?).
10.“Caine’s Law” by Matthew Stover. Release Date: April, 2012. Published by Del Rey. (FAN)."

Here the choices 7/8 are again clear if you check the Review Index, while I am a huge fan of Liz Williams' non UF work and while I have no information about this one, it seems not to be UF/Inspector Chen but the start of a new series.

Despite my reservations about The Passage, it was still a mostly gripping - if way overlong - and superbly written novel and I am really curious where the story goes next.

Caine's Law on the other hand is a bit of a reverse. If you would have asked me in 2008-9 about it, it would have been one my top 5 choices as my reviews of the previous three Caine novels show, but in the meantime I have read much more dark/gritty than at that time and I started getting tired of much of it so I am unsure how the book will stand now.

"The Viscount and the Witch" by Michael Sullivan (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official Michael Sullivan Website
Get "The Viscount of the Witch" HERE (author's site) or
Order It HERE(Kindle)
Read FBC Review of The Crown Conspiracy
Read FBC Review of Avempartha
Read FBC Review of Nypron Rising
Read FBC Review of The Emerald Storm
Read FBC Review of Wintertide

INTRODUCTION:In the space of two years, Michael Sullivan has moved from a small press debut author that was featured in one of my first "Indie Spotlight Reviews" to a "name" in the fantasy field who sold-out his first novel and is getting both critical acclaim and fan appreciation. In my 2009 end-of-the-year rankings, Avempartha went head to head against the "big names" and made both my Top 2009 Books list and Cindy's Top 2009 Book list, while The Crown Conspiracy made Mihir's Top 2009 Reads too. Last year's Wintertide was a top 10 novel of mine and Percepliquis the much awaited conclusion to the Ryria Revelation series which will be released in early 2012 is my top awaited fantasy of the first quarter of 2012.

ANALYSIS: "The Viscount and the Witch" is a fast and fun short story set in the Ryria universe some 10 years previous to start of the main story and it details the fledgling partnership of Royce and Hadrian meeting with the impoverished viscount and expanding Ryria's reach into the intrigues of the nobility. There is a little extra background for the characters and the story serves as a very good introduction to the author's style and to his wonderful universe.

Royce's world weariness and even cynicism and Hadrian's optimism and his "I want to do good" attitude are on display and they show again why the two form such a great pair. Even more characters of the series are hinted at too!

In a nice bonus addition, the first chapter of Theft of Swords - the Orbit omnibus release on November 23 of the first two novels, The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha - is included. Since this chapter has a new first half that introduces Royce and Hadrian in action, rather than starting with Archie's misadventures with some stolen letters as in the original release of The Crown Conspiracy, you can regard this as a "new story" too if you have previously read only the original novel, while you can see "what's this fuss about about Ryria?" if you have not.

And to top it all there is a great introduction where the author talks about the series at large! So get The Viscount and the Witch and enjoy!

Winners of Blake Charlton’s “Spellwright” & ”Spellbound” Giveaway!!!

Congratulations to Michelle Costello (California), David Holden (Washington D.C.) and Ryan Finney (Mississippi) who were all randomly selected to win a COPY of Blake Charlton’s “Spellbound”—the second volume in The Spellwright Trilogy—courtesy of Tor!!! Each winner will also receive a SIGNED COPY of “Spellwright” (MMPB) courtesy of Blake Charlton! For more information on Blake Charlton and The Spellwright Trilogy, please visit the following links:

Official Blake Charlton Website

Order “Spellbound” HERE

Read An Excerpt HERE

Read FBC’s Review of “Spellwright”

Read FBC’s Review of “Spellbound”

Read FBC’s Interview with Blake Charlton

“Ashes of a Black Frost” by Chris Evans (Reviewed by Robert Thompson)

Official Iron Elves Website
Official Chris Evans Blog
Order “Ashes of a Black Frost” HERE (US) + HERE (UK)
Read FBC’s Review of “A Darkness Forged in Fire”

Read FBC’s Review of “The Light of Burning Shadows”

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Chris Evans has earned degrees in English, Political Science, and a Masters in History. As a historian he has conducted battlefield tours of Europe, and was the historical consultant on a television documentary on the First World War. He is also as an editor of military history and current affairs for Stackpole Books. His bibliography includes The Iron Elves trilogy.

PLOT SUMMARY: Amidst a scene of carnage on a desert battlefield blanketed in metallic snow, Major Konowa Swift Dragon sees his future, and it is one drenched in shadow and blood. Never mind that he has won a grand victory for the Calahrian Empire. He came here in search of his lost regiment of elves, while the Imperial Prince came looking for the treasures of a mystical library, and both ventures have failed. But Konowa knows, as do the Iron Elves—both living and dead—that another, far more important battle now looms before them. The campaign in the desert was only the latest obstacle on the twisted, darkening path leading inexorably to the Hyntaland, and the final confrontation with the dreaded Shadow Monarch.

In this third novel of musket and magic in Chris Evans' Iron Elves saga, Konowa's ultimate journey is fraught with escalating danger. A vast, black forest finds a new source of dark power, spawning creatures even more monstrous than the blood trees from which they evolve. The maniacally unstable former emissary of the Shadow Monarch hungers for revenge, leading an army of ravenous beasts bent on utterly destroying the Iron Elves. A reluctant hero, Private Alwyn Renwar, struggles to maintain his connection to this world and that of the loyalty of the shades of the dead. And in a maze of underground tunnels, Visyna Tekoy, whom Konowa counts among those he has loved and lost, fights for her life against the very elves he so desperately wants to find.

And so Konowa sets off from this Canyon of Bones, pursuing his freedom from a curse that has cast his life in darkness. For though his long, violent trek may indeed lead him to his destiny, he is ill prepared for the discovery he will make . . . with the fate of the Iron Elves, and the world, hinging on the courage of one wrathful elf...

CLASSIFICATION: The Iron Elves trilogy is a cross between military fantasy and PG-13 sword & sorcery fantasy. Think Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore and Jennifer Roberson combined with a smattering of Glen Cook’s Black Company novels and Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series.

FORMAT/INFO: Ashes of a Black Frost is 448 pages long divided over thirty-nine chapters. Also includes a map, a glossary, and a letter from Major Konowa Swift Dragon. Narration is in the third-person, mostly via Konowa Swift Dragon, but there are several minor viewpoints including Visyna Tekoy, Private Alwyn Renwar, Viceroy Faltinald Gwyn, etc. Ashes of a Black Frost is the third and final volume in The Iron Elves trilogy after A Darkness Forged In Fire and The Light of Burning Shadows. It is recommended that readers finish A Darkness Forged In Fire and The Light of Burning Shadows before attempting Ashes of a Black Frost.

October 18, 2011 marks the North American Hardcover publication of Ashes of a Black Frost via Gallery Books. The UK edition will be released on October 13, 2011 via Simon & Schuster UK.

ANALYSIS: Chris Evans’ The Light of Burning Shadows was a marked improvement over the author’s debut novel, A Darkness Forged In Fire, highlighted by an exciting finish to the book. Because of the cliffhanger ending and the improvement shown over the first novel, I had very high expectations for Ashes of a Black Frost, the third and final volume in The Iron Elves trilogy. Unfortunately, those expectations were shot to pieces.

Ashes of a Black Frost opens with the Iron Elves dealing with the victorious, yet tragic aftermath of their battle in the Hasshugeb Expanse, and Major Konowa Swift Dragon coming to a decision to confront the Shadow Monarch once and for all. From here, the Iron Elves face evolved sarka har, rakkes, and numerous other dangers on the beginning of their journey to the Shadow Monarch’s mountain in the Hyntaland, which starts the novel off on the right track. Unfortunately, Ashes of a Black Frost soon becomes sidetracked by unnecessary humor/silliness (HMT The Flying Elf for example), romance and various subplots—Private Bawton Feylan, Viceroy Alstonfar, the Queen’s heir, et cetera—that fail to add anything of value to the book.

To make matters worse, Chris Evans spends far too much time dealing with events in the Hasshugeb Expanse—around 350 pages to be more precise. That only leaves less than a hundred pages to cover the rest of the Iron Elves’ journey to the Hyntaland and Major Konowa Swift Dragon’s final confrontation with the Shadow Monarch. Which leads directly to the novel’s biggest issue: a lack of payoff. As the third and final volume in The Iron Elves trilogy, Ashes of a Black Frost wraps up most of the series’ most important storylines—the Shadow Monarch, the Blood Oath, the Darkly Departed, Konowa’s relationship with Visyna Tekoy, Alwyn Renwar’s transformation, the revenge of Faltinald Gwyn and Corporal Critton, and so on—but does so in a manner that is largely unsatisfying. Not only that, but the book never resolves the mystery of Rallie Synjyn or settles matters between Konowa and the original Iron Elves.

Writing-wise, Ashes of a Black Frost is a mixed performance. On the one hand, Chris Evans continues to impress me with the military aspects of his series and a creative imagination accompanied by skillful prose. On the other hand, weak characterization, shallow world-building and straightforward plotting are once again problems. In this case, I was particularly troubled by the author’s ineffective attempts at romance & humor, and the decision to mainly narrate Ashes of a Black Frost from the POVs of Konowa and Visyna, which made Alwyn, Prince Tykkin and the rest of the novel’s supporting characters virtually useless.

At the end of the day though, the unfulfilling payoff remains the novel’s most glaring problem. Simply put, I wanted to be rewarded for all of the time and effort I had invested in The Iron Elves trilogy, but instead, Ashes of a Black Frost was a disappointing conclusion to Chris Evans’ series. Still, The Light of Burning Shadows is ample proof that Chris Evans can write highly entertaining epic fantasy. So for now, I remain interested in the author’s future efforts, but he has to do a better job...