Infected by James Schannep

 Current technology has made it possible to return to the “chose your own ending” type of story far more seamlessly than its previous paper medium.  Schannep has written a book that not only allows you to chose your own ending but middle, restart and more.   A zombie apocalypse which you control is the main plot of the book. 

I like the concept of this book.  Not necessarily zombies but the ability to make decisions that impacts the direction of the story.   The book provides a good story but it also is teaching decision making.  The reader can see what action results from the story direction they chose.  

I am, apparently, not a particularly good decision maker in this story.   I seem to make decisions that lead to an immediate and painful death.   The breadth of the book allows the reading of a multitude of short stories.  I guess it is possible that if you make better decisions, the stories won’t be so short. LOL

Good concept, entertaining reading, I think the book will be a hit. 

I recommend the book. 

 Web Site:  http://jamesschannep.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Fantasy Art 2/26/13

Source: fantasyinspiration.com via Joseph on Pinterest

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Initiate’s Trial by Janny Wurts

Curse of the Mistwraith(Wars of Light& Shadow#1), Ships of Merior (Wars of Light& Shadow#2) and Warhost of Vastmark (Wars of Light& Shadow#3) hooked me on Janny Wurts.  This is volume nine and I have missed some in between.  It is a typical Wurts, a richly detailed plot with superb character development.

One of the difficulties in reviewing or in my case recommending books is that often get a book that is out of synch with the order in which they were published.   I really don’t like reading books out of order.  No matter how much the author tries it is difficult to not have veiled references to a previous book when it is a long series.   As a matter of fact, I normally love that when I have read the books in order.   It provides a sense of continuity that I like.  I would like to have seen a little more back story.
This book may be a bit florid for many readers.  Waxing eloquently can be beautiful but a bit less prose might have increased the readability of the book.   Overall I liked it and it does work as a stand alone albeit a bit confusing without the full backstory.

I recommend the book.

Body of  work of <a type="amzn" > Janny Wurts </a>

Web Site:  http://www.paravia.com/JannyWurts/website/index.html

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Fantasy Art 2/22/13

Source: sherdog.net via Tammy on Pinterest

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Firebrand by Gillian Philip

This has the earmarks of a good series.  This is book one of the Rebel Angels series.  It is a fantasy adventure.  

This is more of a character study than a fantasy adventure.  The Sithe are long lived with a perspective of length and breadth.  They do not live in the moment.   Their relationships are complicated and commingled with their society.   The expulsion of Seth and Conal to the mortal plane is a harsh punishment.

Mortals, of necessity, live short miserable and often angry lives.  Seth and Conal are forced to re-evaluate their lives based on a new standard.   The characterizations are excellent.  The story has a gritty reality.  
A clash of wills with the Queen leaves the brothers with little room to maneuver.   Disaster follows disaster, violence begets violence.   This book is not for the faint of heart and may provoke depression if you really delve into the plot.  David Feintuch evoked similar feelings of despair in his Seafort series and it turned out to be an outstanding series so you may want to plow through this book in anticipation of the next one.
I am hoping the next book has a lighter feel.
 
I recommend the book.

Body of  work of <a type="amzn" > Gillian Philip </a>

  

Web Site:  http://www.gillianphilip.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Fantasy Art 2/18/13

Source: fantasyinspiration.com via Aedyn on Pinterest

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Bad to The Bone by Jeri Smith-Ready

This is the second in the series of rather unique vampire books.  The wealth of vampire books out there makes it difficult to differentiate yourself from the horde.  Ms. Smith-Ready does a nice job standing out from the pack.   She put together a unique plot with some “civilized” vampires.  The “good” vampires are DJ’s living in the basement of an independent radio station.   This installment has them facing revenge from some folks who feel they have been wronged by the vampires.

Ciara is the focus of the first two books.   She is a “retired” con artist who is struggling in college and takes a job at WVMP to make ends meet.  She quickly discovers her co-workers are a bit different.   This story has more interpersonal actions between Shane, one of the Djs and Ciara.   I guess some would characterize this as a “chick” book because of the emphasis on relations and smoldering sex.  I think the basis of every good book should be the characters and this author does a nice job fleshing out her characters. (vampire joke intended)

There is a lot of action and my new personal favorite character, Dexter.   

I liked the premise and the DJs concept.   The book was entertaining and romantic.  The romantic aspect is not something I personally find appealing but it will most definitely entice a large audience.
I recommend the book.

Body of  work of <a type="amzn" > Jeri Smith-Ready</a>


Web site: http://www.jerismithready.com/
 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Fantasy Art 2/14/13 Happy "Vincent" Valentines Day

Source: latanieredecyberwolf.tumblr.com via Delynn on Pinterest

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Sands of the Solar Empire by Ren Garcia

 

This book does a nice job intertwining the occult and scifi.  It appears to be the fourth book in the League of Elder series.   Bel Stenstrom is the protagonist whose life is wound back from his current ship difficulties to look at what events in his childhood have created the man as he stands.

Flash backs from current to past are not that unusual.   Bel’s childhood with his seemingly less than stable mother, Lady Jubilee, is rather interesting.  Combining talents, sorcery and science in one volume that holds your interest would seem to be a daunting task.  Mr. Garcia does it well.
Bel’s development into manhood and developing as a man are the focus of the story.  Mystery abounds as to his “haunted” ship and his mysterious lady love.   The story is entertaining.

I recommend the book.

Body of  work of <a type="amzn" > Ren Garcia</a>


Web site: http://www.theleagueofelder.com/sotse.html

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Fantasy Art 2/10/13

Source: fantasyinspiration.com via Aedyn on Pinterest

Source: fantasyinspiration.com via Aedyn on Pinterest

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

More Steven Shrewsbury--WhooHoo!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Seventh Star Press Announces New Trilogy From Steven Shrewsbury

For Immediate Release
February 8, 2013

Seventh Star Press proudly announces A Story of Goliath, a brand new, epic-scale sword and sorcery trilogy from Steven Shrewsbury.  The trilogy gets underway with the first book, Philistine, to be released in early summer of 2013.

Set within the same world as Shrewsbury's increasingly popular Gorias La Gaul stories, A Story of Goliath takes place many centuries later and follows the adventures and exploits of the legendary biblical figure Goliath.  Readers of the trilogy can expect a gritty, hard-hitting take on the great warrior, set within a world rife with dark supernatural dangers, violence, lust, and all manner of elements both villainous and heroic that Shrewsbury's sword and sorcery tales are known to contain.

In Philistine, Goliath, rumored to be the offspring of a fallen angel, is a champion warrior of Philistia, a land with five great cities each ruled by a king.  Serving the Kings of Philistia, Goliath is pulled into a great conflict as a rogue general named Samien seeks to establish a new confederation, and throw off the yoke of older rulers and gods alike.

With his shield bearer, Abimelech, and a company of soldiers, Goliath sets out on missions for the five kings and encounters alchemists, the rising of ancient cities, bizarre creatures, cannibal wizards and dire dreams of death for his people.  The schemes of demons and humans intertwine, and Goliath discovers that humanity sometimes rivals the demonic horde in desire, greed and hate.

The trilogy will bring the team behind the Gorias La Gaul novel Overkill together again, as Joshua H. Leet will be handling editing duties, and award-winning artist Matthew Perry will be creating cover designs and interior illustrations for the novels.  A limited edition hardcover is planned, along with trade paperback and eBook versions.

Residing in Illinois, Steven Shrewsbury is a fantasy and horror author whose work has appeared in numerous short stories and novels.  His Gorias La Gaul tales include the novels Thrall and Overkill (both from Seventh Star Press And both of which I really enjoyed, Gorias is a great butt kicker.), as well as the short stories "Beginning of the Trail", "Author and Finisher of Our Flesh", and "Insurmountable", which are all available as eBooks from Seventh Star Press.  Other novel credits include Hell Billy (Bad Moon Books) Tormentor (Lachesis Publishing), Hawg (Graveside Tales) and Stronger Than Death (Snuff Books).

For further information on Steven Shrewsbury releases or Seventh Star Press, please visit www.seventhstarpress.com or the author’s site at: sshrewsbury.wordpress.com

Guns of Seneca 6 by Bernard Schaffer

This is a cowboys and aliens novel.  Space ships and six guns sounds simplistic but as in all compelling books, the characters are what makes a book fly off the shelf.   Stern justice is served up in this sweat, leather, courage and tech novel.

Jem Clayton is the anti-hero of this book.   He is a lonely soul who wanders the desert of Seneca working to keep death from those he loves.  Seneca is a gritty world where hard scrabble miners struggle to eke out a living digging out some obscure mineral that appears to be valuable due to it’s scarcity.

The is violence, action and vigilante justice in major doses in this western style scifi adventure.   Evil is pretty darn despicable and the protagonists lean more to vengeance than justice.   A simplistic look at confrontation that takes nothing away from how enjoyable a book it was to read.  

There is a Doc Holiday clone, a Matt Dillion or maybe it was Chester, a Miss Kitty as the town Doc, pretty much a cast of characters you can recognize and enjoy.  A brutal but entertaining book.    

I recommend it.

Body of  work of <a type="amzn" > Bernard Schaffer </a>

Web Site: http://bernardjschaffer.blogspot.com/

 This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Fantasy Art 2/6/13

Source: fantasyinspiration.com via Angela on Pinterest

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Selah Janel Joins 7th Star Press

An exciting7th Star Press press release!
Selah Janel Joins 7th Star Press

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Crown of Vengeance by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

 

All hail a new trilogy from the mistress of magical stories!  Hmm, if you expect dispassionate diatribes you are at the wrong blog.   I suppose Ms. Lackey could write something I wouldn’t like but I suspect not!   Mr. Mallory is new, to me.   Obviously I am now forced to check out his work as this was a wonderful beginning to a new trilogy set in a bucolic world of dark and light where white has no idea that black exists.  It is a story of kingdom building not due to lust or greed but due to a dismal prophecy.

Vieliessar of Farcarinon finds herself living a monastic life without the benefit of any magic.   She is a child of a disgraced and destroyed High House in a culture that has ennobled battle to an art form.   She is an angry child that grows into an angry young woman searching for self identity.   

The book continues in the Lackey tradition with poetic imagery found in battle and in Flower Forests.   The simplistic nature of the basic plot of dark against light does not detract one whit from the complexity of the story.  Bards will sing of the books and the heroic and despicable populace of this, the first book, in The Dragon Prophecy trilogy.

Site: http://www.mercedeslackey.com/

http://merlinscribe.dreamwidth.org/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Fantasy Art 2/2/13

Source: io9.com via Jodie on Pinterest

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.