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...

Some Highly Anticipated 2012 Books: January-March (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, 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 January-March 2012 are:

1: “A Rising Thunder” by David Weber. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by Baen. (SF).
2: “Heir of Novron” by Michael J. Sullivan. Release Date: January 31, 2012. Published by Orbit. (FAN / Omnibus).
3.“The Daemon Prism” by Carol Berg. Release Date: January 3, 2012. Published by Roc. (FAN).
4.“Blue Remembered Earth” by Alastair Reynolds. UK Release Date: January 19, 2012. Published by Gollancz. (SF).
5.“In the Mouth of the Whale” by Paul McAuley. UK Release Date: January 19, 2012. Published by Gollancz. (SF).

As the Honorverse is still my number one ongoing sff series, my first choice is obvious.

Heir of Novron's second part - Percepliquis - is the highly-awaited conclusion to the superb Ryria Revelations series of Michael Sullivan of which I have read and reviewed the first five individual volumes so far. As is well known, Orbit acquired the series and will start releasing it in November 2011 as three monthly omnibuses, each consisting of two of the original books with some edits and additions - Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire and Heir of Novron which will have the first ever release of the sixth book in addition to the re-release of Wintertide.

Next on my list is The Daemon Prism with the continuing adventures and intrigues in Carol Berg's excellent Collegia Magica series of which I reviewed both earlier books.

And to round up the top five I have two hard sf/space opera novels, the new Alastair Reynolds novel - as I keep mentioning today's hard sf has two names at the top, namely AR and Greg Egan, so any new offering by either is immediately a high priority - while the new Paul McAuley book which is a loose sequel of his superb The Quiet War/Gardens of the Sun duology is another must.

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The second category has five novels which are more of the "really intriguing" kind than knowing what to expect and they are listed in chronological order from our UR page.

“The Great Game” by Lavie Tidhar. Release Date: January 31, 2012. Published by Angry Robot. (Steampunk).
“2312” by Kim Stanley Robinson. Release Date: February 3, 2012. Published by Orbit. (SF).
“Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed. Release Date: February 7, 2012. Published by DAW. (FAN).
“Guardian of Night” by Tony Daniel. Release Date: February 7, 2012. Published by Baen. (SF).
“The Outcast Blade” by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. Release Date: March 26, 2012. Published by Orbit. (FAN).

After the inventive The Bookman was continued by the even more inventive Camera Obscura, I am curious to see if Lavie Tidhar can continue being on a roll.

Never really a fan of celebrated author KS. Robinson whose famed Mars trilogy kind of bored me badly after a book and a half, I am curious to see if his move to Orbit with their style of books that made them my #1 sff publisher of today - see my choices above to note why and more will come for the April-July period - and the very appetizing blurb of 2312 will change my opinion.

Ever since we posted Saladin Ahmed's award nominated story Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela, I have been looking forward to read more of the author's fiction and his debut novel definitely qualifies as a highly awaited 2012 book!

For many years, I have been a huge fan of Tony Daniel's stories and his sadly so far unfinished trilogy that had the potential to be a classic of the genre, so his back to publishing novels is an event and I have quite high expectations of his first Baen offering.

Despite my misgivings about The Fallen Blade, I still consider JC Grimwood one of the best sff writers out there and I hope that the second offering of his series will cohere better and will finally deliver the high quality novel I have got used to in his first 10 books.

“Alphas: Origins” by Ilona Andrews (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Ilona Andrews Website

Order “Angels of Darkness” HERE

Read An Excerpt HERE

INTRODUCTION: Angels of Darkness is a collection of four all-new novellas featuring tales of angels and guardians of both good & evil. Since the anthology features four masters of urban fantasy and paranormal romance—Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, Sharon Shinn and Nalini Singh—I thought it would be cool to do a multi-blog review with each blog covering a specific novella. So my thanks to Bastard Books and other crap, My World...in words and pages, and The Qwillery for agreeing to participate in this multi blog review. Angels of Darkness will be split up and reviewed in the following order:

“Angel’s Wolf” by Nalini Singh (Reviewed by My World...in words and pages)

“Alphas: Origins” by Ilona Andrews (Reviewed by Fantasy Book Critic)

“Nocturne” by Sharon Shinn (Reviewed by The Qwillery)

“Ascension” by Meljean Brook (Reviewed by Bastard Books and other crap)

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for the husband-and-wife writing team of Ilona Gordon & Andrew Gordon. Together, Andrew and Ilona are the co-authors of the New York Times bestselling Kate Daniels urban fantasy series and the romantic urban fantasy novels of The Edge.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: Alphas: Origins introduces readers to a new world of people with shocking powers who live on the fringe of our society. It’s a place where telepaths wage vicious wars, where withers spread their wings of fire, and men wrench bones out of the bodies of their opponents with a single thought. It’s a place of darkness…

When a young woman is taken captive by a dangerous male, she is pulled against her will into a world hidden from humanity’s view, where those with superhuman powers fight a bloody civil war. Now she must make a choice: to submit and become a pawn or to take hold of her own destiny and fight for her survival against overwhelming odds.

FORMAT/INFO: Alphas: Origins is 123 pages long divided over eight chapters. Narration is third person omniscient via Karina Tucker & Lucas. Alphas: Origins has a self-contained plot and is possibly the start of a new gritty SF series. October 4, 2011 marks the North American Trade Paperback publication of Angels of Darkness via Berkley.

ANALYSIS: Alphas: Origins first came to my attention when a snippet was posted on Ilona Andrews’ blog under the title ALPHAS or Alpha Menz. The snippet gave a brief look at a violent world where a woman encounters monsters and then becomes a prisoner of one side of a war to help against the other. At the same time, this preview caused a stir among Ilona Andrews’ fans with readers either complaining about the darkness of the snippet compared to the authors’ other work, or loving the preview and wanting more. I was in the latter camp.

Originally, the snippet was supposed to have been part of the first book in a new series called Alphas. However, those plans were scrapped, and instead, the snippet was molded into a novella which will serve as a launchpad for the series. Alphas:Origins begins with Karina Tucker, a recent widower driving a school bus full of children for their field trip. Along the way, Karina will have to deal with headaches like children fighting, complaints about hunger and toilet issues, but nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until Karina and the children are accosted by a pair of strangers, setting them on a path where their nightmares and darkest imaginations are brought to life. From here, Karina is forced to do things which may endanger her sanity in order to save their lives, thus setting the stage for Alphas: Origins...

Because Alphas: Origins is a novella rather than a long form novel, the pacing is relentless with little time wasted on introducing the lead character and setting up the story & backdrop, while action sequences are nonstop and thrilling, highlighted by an exciting climax and twist. Personally, this was a major plus point for me as I was constantly flipping the pages to see what happenened next. Prose meanwhile, is good as it manages to project the protagonist’s sense of helplessness at her impossible situation, as well as capture the viciousness of the others.

Compared to the authors’ other books, there is hardly any humor in Alphas: Origins. Then again, the story doesn’t call for much. Instead, Alphas: Origins is supposed to be a dark and gritty tale, which was an absolute thrill for me to read in regards to the authors’ interpretation of the theme in Angels of Darkness. Plus, as a fan of Ilona Andrews’ previous work, it’s good to see the authors not resting on their laurels, while striving to give readers something different. Speaking of different, the setting in Alphas: Origins has more of a science fiction feel than urban fantasy—think slight overtones of Battlestar Gallactica—which allowed the authors to utilize their world-building skills in a different manner.

Negatively, the way the story ends is a bit abrupt, but considering the demands of the novella structure, it’s not a major issue. Then there’s the relationship between Karina and Lucas which might be a little difficult to digest for some, but that, along with the overall darkness and grittiness of Alphas: Origins, will largely depend on the reader’s personal tastes.

CONCLUSION: Alphas: Origins offers readers a glimpse at something different from Ilona Andrews. Something darker and more violent. A story that may turn off fans of the authors’ previous work, but will reward those who give the novella a chance. I for one was absolutely enthralled by Alphas: Origins and will be waiting with bated breath for the series to properly start so I can learn more about the world, its denizens and their war...

NOTE: To read Melissa’s review of “Angel’s Wolf” by Nalini Singh, please click HERE. Quill’s review of “Nocturne” by Sharon Shinn can be found HERE. Lastly, Bastard has posted his thoughts on “Ascension” by Meljean Brook over HERE.

"Cold Fire" by Kate Elliott (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official Kate Elliott Website
Order "Cold Fire" HERE
Read FBC Review of "Cold Magic" HERE
Read FBC Review of "Traitor's Gate" with Bonus Q/A
Read FBC Review of "Shadow Gate"
Read FBC Interview with Kate Elliott

INTRODUCTION: Last year's Cold Magic has been an unexpected hit with me and I have reread it twice this year too, once earlier when I was in the mood for an exuberant read and once a week or so ago, just after I got a copy of Cold Fire, so I could read them back to back. Very high expectations and after a somewhat surprising beginning and some 150 pages that were more of a retread of the action in Cold Magic than what I expected to see in Cold Fire - pages that were engrossing but felt a little repetitive - Cold Fire got into high gear and delivered the story I was looking forward to.

I discussed the world building in detail in my Cold Magic review and the following will contain spoilers for the first installment. Since the two novels are part of one long story and they have the same "feel", I recommend reading Cold Magic before Cold Fire since the odds are high that you will love - or not - both the same way.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: While Cold Fire is still a voice novel first and foremost and the exuberant narrator Catherine Bell Barahal aka Cat is back on form trying to navigate the changed situation in which she discovers herself after the revelations of Cold Magic, the structure of the book is quite interesting too.

So far there have been three main aspects: the sociopolitical situation which is at a cusp, the interaction with the spirit world which seems to be out of balance too and the personal saga of Cat with both its romantic and emancipation parts, not to speak her deep personal bond with her cousin Beatrice who is another pivotal character in all three aspects above.

The way Cold Magic ended, it clearly suggested that Cold Fire will continue to follow these three themes with the "big picture" moving center stage and this is why the first 150 pages surprised me since they were partly a retread of events in Cold Magic - though indeed the subtle differences that appear due to the new circumstances make quite a difference and the supernatural rather than the political is thrown into prominence. Then with a little authorial "magic", the novel moves back to the expected channel and from there on it just rolls over 300 pages that I really did not want to end and I would have gladly read another 300.

We get everything we want - the right mix of old and new both in world building and characters, in adventure and romance, not to speak of superb twists and turns and a powerful ending that promises so much for the last trilogy volume. Cold Fire also becomes Andevai's novel too from about halfway on and the arrogant cold mage of the first volume now thrown into a different realm where his kind are lowly "fire banes" and cannon fodder for the powerful local fire mages, disguises himself as - or maybe reverts to - the "simple" worker of his childhood and becomes much more human and likable in the process.

But there is more - pirates, invasion and revolution, powerful mages, a look at the "salt sickness" that threw the world in chaos centuries ago, the simple pleasures of life and family and overall the yearning for "freedom" that most characters have and which is so eloquently expressed by Cat here:

“I want this chain off my tongue, Vai. Just as you want the chains off your village, just as Bee wants to live. I want not to live at the mercy of Four Moons House, or a prince’s militia, or the general’s schemes. Surely it’s the same thing most people want. Health and vigor. A refuge which is not a cage but those who care for us and whom we care for."

Besides the first 150 pages detour - which on balance works well enough, while the stuff in there is interesting in itself though its main point did not justify the time spent getting to it - there was one thing that bothered me, namely the way the people of the Antilles were described to talk which sounded too much like the Victorian description of "native talk" for comfort. After all Cat, Vai and the rest of the European characters do not speak English either, academic or stilted, so the reader and the author share this suspension of disbelief as the book is narrated in English, and making the natives speak "bad English" is not that inspired.

Overall Cold Fire (A++, top 10 novel of 2011 for me) is a remarkable achievement since it expands the universe of the series, ends at a definite point while promising a lot for the last volume, all narrated in the same wonderful exuberant voice that enchanted me so much in Cold Magic.