"The Crown of the Conqueror" by Gav Thorpe (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official Gav Thorpe Website

Order "The Crown of the Conqueror" HERE or HERE (ebook)

Read FBC Review of The Crown of the Blood HERE



INTRODUCTION: As it can be seen from my review, I have enjoyed the series debut "The Crown of the Blood" quite a lot but I was apprehensive about The Crown of the Conqueror on two counts. The twist at the end while indeed cool and unexpected, indicated a clear deepening of the magic used in the universe and of course the "middle book syndrome" which has been keeping quite a few books in a narrative harness that lessened their potential.



On opening The Crown of the Conqueror, I was immediately sucked into the flow of the story and while both points above turned out to be pertinent, the powerful writing of the author and the interesting characters and setting of the series made the novel another page turner I had to finish as soon as possible.



Since the following discussion will have major spoilers for The Crown of the Blood as The Crown of the Conqueror directly continues the story there, if you have not read the series debut, continue at your risk!



OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: For people who have not read The Crown of the Blood, the salient facts about the series are: it is set into a world that mixes Roman-style armies with middle-Eastern - from the Assyrian or Babylonian Empires of yore - customs and attitudes and with magic that becomes much more important in this second volume. The legions and style of fighting resemble the Roman armies, but the Greater Askhos Empire's provinces resemble oriental satrapies rather than Roman provinces as do customs like a special brand of polygamy - the high nobles marry all the sisters from another noble family, custom that is quite important in the structure of the series. The way the imperial power is structured resembles also the middle-Eastern experience as are the naming conventions.



The main character is Ullsaard, who from provincial ranks became general, hitched himself to the star of Aalun, the second prince of the blood since the eldest was sickly and almost incapacitated and when the old king Alluan refused to name Aalun heir, was forced to rebel first in Aalun's name, but soon he started aspiring to the crown himself.



Since the Askhos crown has been passed only to the direct descendants of the founder, Askhos himself, Ulssard seemed to have no chance until it was discovered that despite a tradition of "disappearing" all children of the blood outside of the first legitimate boys - one as heir, one as "reserve" so to speak - Ullsaard was actually the bastard son of Alluan and indeed the oldest of the blood to which the crown could rightfully belong.



And The Crown of the Blood ends with Ullsaard crowning himself only to discover that Askhos himself - his spirit, ghost, etc - haunts the crown and takes over its wearer so the founder has been ruling the empire beyond the grave while the reason for the tradition above becomes clear. But due to the circumstances, Askhos cannot take over Ullsaard and the two start an unusual "cohabitation" in Ulssard's head though the new king soon finds out how to diminish the influence of Askhos and to the founder's horror is ready to set the empire on a completely different course - a very reckless expansionary one in Askhos' view.



In the meantime, former slave dealer, all around slimy but cunning Anghlan, current governor of the important border town of Magilnada, has his own plans that involve sticking the knife in his patron's back, the Brotherhood, the priesthood that actually formed the bureaucratic backbone of the state has been disbanded by an angry Ullsaard who soon discovers that empires do not run by themselves, its leader, another old man with an agenda grooms Erlaan, the grandson of Alluan, though since the youngster would usually be just lunch for the experienced Ullsaard, lots of magic is needed, while the Salphorian clans targeted for invasion by Ullsaard refuse to heed their king's pleas and unite to deal with the empire.



So a volatile mixture with some things going for Ullsaard, but a lot more - including the unresolved tensions in his family of three wives, three sons and an injured friend who saved his bacon at great personal cost - going against, while the new king is ready to make his mark on the world and conquer Salphoria despite Askhos' desperate pleas that is way too soon as his centuries long plans go. And magic of course, the usual "ancient evil soon to be awoken" lurks somewhere too!



Action galore, including a duel for the ages, battles and intrigue, but The Crown of the Conqueror also expands the universe a lot and we get to see not only the width and breadth of the empire and a big chunk of Salphoria, but also another neighbor, the usually undisciplined "savage" Mekhani who now may have found their messiah-king of legend and are ready to sweep the Askhos away...



The character development continues strongly here and we see different facets of Ullsaard who shows that he can make mistakes as everyone, he can be scared as everyone but he is still the dodged fighter who would not give up but use the smallest edge to turn things around. On the other hand the other characters - especially Anghlan who loses most nuance from the first volume - have somewhat reduced roles, though there are several that stand out from the page and offer some great scenes, most notably the drunk king of Salphoria and the nasty chief priest of the Brothehood.



The more important role played by magic in this novel -role that moves The Crown of the Conqueror away from the straight-up military fantasy of the series debut towards the more traditional epic - was integrated skilfully by the author and I never felt my suspension of disbelief waver at any moment.



While the action advances a lot and the main threads of the novel are wrapped up well, The Crown of the Conqueror is still a middle book in the sense that the big picture issues remain to be addressed. Following the example of The Crown of the Blood, the ending is on another twist though this time it is foreshadowed so it comes as less of a shock, though it serves well its purpose of hook for the next installment as well as giving a slight hint where that will go.



All in all, The Crown of the Conqueror (A+) is another excellent fantasy that I strongly recommend without and the author has another winner here!

"The Forgotten Locket" Book Three of the Hourglass Door Trilogy by Lisa Mangum (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)

Read FBC's Review of The HourGlass Door Here

Read FBC's Review of The Golden Spiral Here

Visit Lisa Mangum's Website Here 

OVERVIEW: Abby walked through the black door at the end of the Golden Spiral (book 2 of the Hourglass Door Trilogy). The decision to walk through the door meant that she had to leave Dante, Abby's one true love, behind. However, it is the only one that can help her save her family and stop the river of time from being destroyed by Zo. If the river of time is destroyed the past, present and future will be thrown into pure chaos and everyone's future will be uncertain.

FORMAT: The Forgotten Locket is the third book in the Hourglass Door Trilogy. It is a YA novel that contains a mixture of time traveling, romance, magic and action. Events within The Forgotten Locket pick up right where The Golden Spiral left off and it is imperative to read the previous novels before starting this final book. The Forgotten Locket stands at 416 pages and was published May 30, 2011 by Shadow Mountain Publishing.

ANALYSIS: The Hourglass Door Trilogy has slowly become one of those series I couldn't wait to read the next book in. When I read the first novel, The Hourglass Door, I was a little taken aback. I loved the characters and the plot but there were some elements, mainly the time traveling and river, that left me a little confused.

Jump ahead to the second book, The Golden Spiral, and things really picked up. There was action, adventure, and the characters continued to grow and develop right before my eyes. The one downside? It ended in a cliffhanger and like every fantasy reader cliffhangers just make me want to read the next book immediately.

So now, we've come to the end of the Hourglass Door Trilogy and I have to say that The Forgotten Locket is the perfect ending to a wonderful and amazing series.

Lisa Mangum absolutely knows how to take a story, develop it right before your eyes and wrap it up with no loose ends. Everything that I loved about the previous two books, mainly the characterizations and plot line, continued throughout The Forgotten Locket. Abby, Dante, Zo and Valerie continued to become fleshed out characters that are multi-dimensional. So many authors get wrapped up in ending the series that they forget to let the characters continue to grow. Luckily for readers, Lisa Mangum seized the opportunity to let her characters grow while finishing the series.

The Forgotten Locket is just as much a page turner as the previous books in the series. However, I did start to feel the novel drag a little towards the end but this could be because things were wrapping up and the plot was starting to come full circle.

One of the elements that I was still a little confused about, the river of time, really did come together in the end. After reading all three books it makes sense. It still might be a little confusing if you just take it at face value in the first or second book, but when you put all three together it just fits.

While I really enjoyed the characters and plot development, what I absolutely loved about The Forgotten Locket was the way that Lisa Mangum tied everything together. Little clues that were dropped in previous novels are brought back and explained in further detail. I thought this was a nice touch and a great way to acknowledge the previous novels without rehashing everything for the readers.

Overall, I thought this was a perfect way to end the series. In fact, I couldn't think of a better way to end it if I had written it. There was just the right blend of sweet romance between Abby and Dante, and heart pounding action between Dante, Zo and Abby.

I really believe that because this series bares the stigma of "YA romance/fantasy" it is overlooked by many people who would enjoy it. Lisa Mangum is an amazingly gifted author who really hit the fantasy scene with an outstanding debut. While the door for this series comes to a close, I really can't wait to see what new door opens for Lisa Mangum as I am almost certain that this will not be the last we hear from her.

“Hammered” by Kevin Hearne w/Bonus Review of “A Test of Mettle” (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Kevin Hearne Webste

Order “Hammered” HERE

Listen to A Sample HERE (MP3)

Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Review of “Hounded”

Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Review of “Hexed” 

Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Interview with Kevin Hearne

AUTHOR INFORMATION:  Kevin Hearne graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in English literature and currently teaches high school English. Kevin is a self-confessed comic book fan and collector. He also collects and paints miniature dwarves in his free time. He currently lives with his family in Arizona and is the author of The Iron Druid Chronicles.

OFFICIAL PLOT SUMMARY: 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. Plus things are heating up in his 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 plane 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 Norse gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself...

CLASSIFICATION: Like its predecessors, Hammered is an urban fantasy novel in the vein of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher and K.A. Stewart’s Jesse James Dawson series, and features an exciting mix of comedy, action and mythology.

FORMAT/INFO: Hammered is 336 pages long divided over twenty-eight numbered chapters and an Epilogue. Also includes a Pronunciation guide for all the names and phrases mentioned in the book, a map of Asgard, and excerpts from the previous books, Hounded & Hexed. Narration is in the first-person, mostly via Atticus O’Sullivan. Hammered also features five solo first-person POV chapters from five different individuals. Hammered is the third book in The Iron Druid Chronicles after Hounded and Hexed. It would be extremely ill advised to jump into the series with this book as the plot has a lot of references to the past events portrayed in the preceding two titles.

July 5, 2011 marked the North Amercian Mass Markert Paperback publication of Hammered via Del Rey. Cover art is provided by Gene Mollica. The e-book version of Hammered includes a bonus short story called “A Test of Mettle” featuring Granuaile MacTiernan.

ANALYSIS: With Hounded & Hexed, Kevin Hearne has pretty much established himself as one of urban fantasy’s best new voices. Not surprisingly, expectations were sky-high for Hammered, the third volume of The Iron Druid Chronicles.

Hammered begins with Atticus O’Sullivan undertaking a reconnaissance mission in Asgard. The plan is to retrieve a golden apple that would cancel his debt with the Indian witch Laksha, while also relieving Thor of his power and godhood. Unfortunately, like many of his past outings, the mission doesn’t go as planned and Atticus ends up making things worse. His plan botched, Atticus returns to Arizona to settle some business before dealing with Thor. This involves Atticus’ Third Eye bookstore and Granuaile MacTiernan, the latter of which is further explored in the short story, “A Test of Mettle”. The book also features the return of the Jewish demon hunters from Hexed as well as the appearance of someone who will surprise many readers. Meanwhile, joining Atticus in his quest against Thor is Lief, Gunnar and three other very powerful individuals, thus setting the stage for Hammered...

Like its predecessors, Hammered features a liberal does of humor, which is one of the most consistently fun factors in The Iron Druid Chronicles, with the Irish wolfhound Oberon once again stealing most of the show with lines like “Anyplace is good so long as there’s sausage and bitches”, “Oh look it’s a dead guy and a wet dog”, and “Pai Mei’s probably on Facebook right now, look him up.” Despite the humor, The Iron Druid Chronicles has progressively become darker with each volume with Hammered the darkest book yet. The author never descends to all-out gore in Hammered, but there is lots of violence and death, tragic histories, depressing futures, and a more overall serious tone. Characterization meanwhile, remains superb as ever with Atticus leading the way. This time however, Magnus & Lief get to share center stage with Atticus, while five chapters from the POVs of five different characters lets readers see what others think about Thor, which was very rewarding. Story-wise, Hammered is the most epic and satisfying volume yet in The Iron Druid Chronicles, but the ending will leave readers salivating for the fourth volume, Tricked.

Negatively, nearly every book possesses some element that will rankle the reader. For me, the issues in Hounded and Hexed were fairly minor, but in Hammered, they are non-existent.

CONCLUSION: The Iron Druid Chronicles has been receiving praise all over the blogosphere. Praise that is richly deserved considering the series’s memorable characters, entertaining humor, and surprising, action-packed story. As impressive as the series has been though, Kevin Hearne takes The Iron Druid Chronicles to a whole new level with the excellent Hammered...

BONUS REVIEW – “A Test Of Mettle”:

A Test Of Mettle is featured in the e-book version of Hammered. The short story is about 9-10 pages long and occurs side-by-side with the latter half of Hammered. A Test of Mettle is narrated in the first-person by Granuaile MacTiernan, who must perform a task set to her by an elemental, while overcoming the expectations of the pantheon to which her new status is associated with. Accompanying Granuaile on her task is Oberon.

A Test Of Mettle reveals a small, but significant part of Granuaile’s past which I believe might factor in future volumes. The pace of the story is rather fast and it was good to see Kevin give Granuaile a narrative voice distinctive from Atticus’s. The short story also reveals a bit about a certain pantheon, which happens to establish Atticus’s views of that pantheon from the earlier books. Overall, I thought A Test Of Mettle was a nice addition to Hammered, making an already great book even better...

"The Key to Creation" by Kevin J. Anderson (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official Kevin J. Anderson Website

Order "The Key to Creation" HERE

Read FBC Review of The Edge of the World

Read FBC Review of The Map of All Things



INTRODUCTION: Last year I said the following about "The Map of all Things":



"If you want a complex series with multiple happenings, lots of plot threads and "swords and sail-ships" as sense of wonder, Terra Incognita is for you. Written in the author's clear prose I enjoyed a lot the series debut "The Edge of the World", while I thought "The Map of all Things" (A+ from me) a step up in the series taking it to the top level of current secondary world epic offerings."



I started "The Key to Creation" the moment I got it since it picked up where "The Map of all Things" ended with all set up both for the deciding confrontation between Tierra and Uraba as well as for finding out the "true" story of Ondun, Terravitae, Aiden and Urec. I provided a lengthy overview of the setting and main characters in the reviews linked above but for newcomers to the series, its basics facts are as follow:



There is the legend of the world creator Ondun and his three sons, of whom Aiden and Urec set across the seas in great arkships and supposedly settled the two known continents of the present, Tierra and Uraba which are separated by a narrow isthmus of land; there has been a centuries long conflict between the Aidenists of Tierra and the Urabans that follow Urec's teachings, conflict that seemed just to be settled by a treaty, when it actually flared into the nastiest war ever between the two people due to a set of unfortunate circumstances and the logic of escalation; there are also neutral map-makers and scientists/philosophers called Saedrans who are supposedly the surviving remnants of Joron's people, the third son of Ondun who remained in the ancestral continent of Terravitae now assumed submerged under the sea.



OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: As befitting a trilogy ending novel, all the main characters from the series appear and most have extensive POV chapters: Queen Anjine of Tierra, her childhood friend, army sub-commander Mateo Bornan, Criston Vora former sailor, hermit and now ship captain on a quest for Terravitae, Saan, stepson of Soldan-shah Omra of Uraba whose quest led to his meeting of the mysterious girl Ystia and her menacing mother Iyomelka who claim to be Ondun's daughter and wife respectively, Istar, Omra's main wife, mother of Saan and two princesses, prester Hannes fanatic Aidenist clergy, terrorist in Uraba and escapee from Uraban mines and quite a few others.



The series ending novel is always a tricky proposition especially in a trilogy with a classical structure and The Key to Creation shows this to a large extent by tying all the sub-threads of the epic which pushes the story along predictable lines. Another difference from the earlier books is that the content of the novel is less dark - there is still the quota of killed characters though this time none really came as a surprise, so the book was less twisty and dramatic.



These being said, I greatly enjoyed The Key to Creation for several reasons: the essential stylistic features of the series: short chapters, multiple POV's, fast action are still there and the detached third person POV narration works very well especially when the multiple threads of the epic coalesce first into two and then those join together also.



The events happen fast, in a very compressed time period, so the authorial choice of showing them from several vantage points as "opposing sides" go, could have easily led to a fragmentation of the story and a disruption of the flow in a more intimate narration where the thoughts rather than the action of the characters were presented. There are also some great moments - mostly made so by their unexpectedness - though overall there are no big surprises and the story lines move to their natural conclusions.



The last thing I would want to add is that after some pretty grim and dark two volumes and maybe two thirds here, the conclusion of the series that is reached in The Key to Creation read to me a little cute and pat, but to be honest I loved it on an emotional level and I found it appropriate since the characters grew on me during their journeys and I enjoyed seeing their story lines ending in such a manner.



Overall the The Key to Creation (A) is a strong conclusion to a series - Terra Incognita - that has everything you want from a fantasy epic - intrigue, land and sea battles, assassinations and assassination attempts, discoveries, magic, strange creatures - as well as sense of wonder that is usually associated with space opera, but which the author managed to transpose in the "swords and sails" context.

NEWS: Updates on the Forthcoming Ilona Andrews Novels (by Mihir Wanchoo)

After debuting in 2007 with Magic Bites (Reviewed HERE), the first volume in the Kate Daniels urban fantasy series, the husband/wife duo of Ilona Andrews has consistently produced a new Kate Daniels novel every year around the last week of May/first week of June, while also writing The Edge series. During this time, not only have the authors’ novels progressively improved, but their fans have also increased exponentially.

Unfortunately, after this year’s release of Magic Slays (Reviewed HERE)—the fifth book in the Kate Daniels series—the authors revealed that they had been dropped from their UK publisher. To make matters worse, the authors were experiencing an issue with the plot of the sixth book, which is explained in this blog post that was posted on July 18th:

“We don’t really know when Kate 6 will be released. It’s not written yet, and typically I would say “May of next year,” however we’re hitting a storyline snag. For the timeline to make sense, we need a Andrea/Raphael spin-off to happen before Kate 6 takes place. How this is going to work, I have no idea. That’s a conversation we’ll have after FATE’S EDGE edits are turned in and it’s off on its way to publication.”

After the edits for Fate’s Edge were turned in, the authors posted some new information HERE about Kate 6, which is now tentatively scheduled for publication in February 2013:

“We are actually doing this for a good reason. We have Kate 6 pretty much figured out, but for it to work we need to resolve the Andrea situation. The Andrea book is set in Atlanta, and takes place between Magic Slays and Kate 6 timeline wise. Kate & Curran will be in it, but are side characters. It is Andrea’s story, the one where she decides if she will be in the Pack and perhaps more importantly who she will be with romantically. As I said, we have it figured out and we are going with a new villain and mythology. Not sure how much I am allowed to say. Also, for the rest of this year and the next we will be working to put out extra content via eBooks.”

So with this announcement, the current release schedule for the Magic series is as follows:

1) Andrea book—5/31/2012

2) Kate 6—2/2013

3) Jim/Dali book or Kate 7—Late 2012/2013

The bright side to these delays is that the authors will be providing “extra content” to help alleviate the extended wait for the forthcoming releases. This year—most likely—readers we will get to see a Kate & Curran novella, which is described as follows (provided generously and exclusively by the authors):

Sometimes even the Beast Lord and the Consort have to take a break from protecting the Pack. Sometimes they just want to have a nice quiet dinner out in town. And then a necromancer at the nearby table dies, the lose vampires come flying through the glass windows, and before you know it the walls of the restaurant are redecorated in a lovely shade of red. What seems at first to be an unfortunate accident turns into a slow murder of a child. Now Kate and Curran must follow the clues to stop an ancient power intent on revenge. To succeed, they must bargain with Vikings, face horrifying undead, and hardest of all, work with each other!

The events of the novella will be occurring simultaneously with the Andrea novel and will be self-released by the authors. Which just shows much Ilona Andrews cares about their fans! The authors would also like to add a disclaimer that their publisher put no pressure on them in regards to this decision, and that the spin-off was already in the planning stages because the authors were trying to create a storyline that would prove the most satisfying to readers...

Lastly, it seems that a certain someone is taking the credit blame for all of this happening by claiming it was due to his prophetic tweets ;) So please welcome the blogosphere’s newest member, and my friend & fellow UF connoisseur: Bastard!