Reviews :: Book Rating :: Books We Like :: Page 32

It isn’t often that we’re completely taken by surprise by how deep the scope of a series is. After finally getting around to reading Alan Campbell’s SCAR NIGHT (EBR Review), we were left feeling complete and satisfied. The novel was fantastic, and it had a strong and definitive-feeling ending. In short, we had no idea where Campbell was going next with the story.

Just a few pages of IRON ANGEL (Amazon) will have you–as with us–saying, “Holy crap… so THAT’S where this is going.” The scope will throw you for a minute, and then you will begin devouring the pages of the novel that has raised the stakes and the bar significantly higher.
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Matthew Swift is the epitome of the urban sorcerer. Proof: he takes the bus. But there are ways he’s not your usual sorcerer, the least of which being that he serves as the Midnight Mayor of London. He also shares a body with the blue electric angels. And he’s got a conscience.

But being the Midnight Mayor is not all roses and bon-bons. Sure he’s got a fleet of aldermen to do his bidding… assuming they’d listen to him (it’s hard to take a guy seriously when he wears grubby t-shirts). And sure he’s powerful enough to have defeated the destroyer of cities in THE MIDNIGHT MAYOR (EBR Review). But now in THE NEON COURT (Amazon), the underground Tribe and the fae Neon Court have declared war over a murder—with London as the battleground—unless Swift delivers the chosen one.
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Just saying the name “Gene Wolfe” is enough to evoke contemplations of Hugo Award votes, so we figured we should give his novel from last year, THE SORCERER’S HOUSE (Amazon) a read. It didn’t end up nominated, but we are nevertheless glad we picked this one up. Wolfe has the ability to write the absolute best, or the completely mediocre. Thankfully THE SORCERER’S HOUSE is one of those novels that instantly grabs you, and remains weird and entertaining from start to finish.
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THE QUANTUM THIEF (Amazon), by Hannu Rajaniemi, is a Hard SF book packed with ideas, twists and turns. It is difficult. It is confusing. I don’t think I understood the whole thing. I also loved every minute of it.
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Honestly this novel was extremely difficult for me to rate. There was a whole lot of this book that I absolutely loved. Aaaaand a bundle of stuff that completely annoyed me. Thus, the experience ended up being akin to approaching an uber-hot blonde that doesn’t shave her armpits or brush her teeth: you just can’t tell you won’t like it until you get close enough. So, did I like it? Mostly. However, let me elucidate.

WOLFSANGEL (Amazon) is MD Lachlan’s first foray into fantasy, though it’s fairly difficult to tell. Herein he gives us a story that is quite character-centric, with great world building, awesome atmosphere, magical interlopers, twisted plot–the works. Norse mythology plays a central role to the world, but the story feels fresh and new despite the fact. There is so much here to like and Lachlan gives it to us in large measure.
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Mercy’s life changed when she moved to tri-cities Washington. Since then she’s had run-ins with vampires and demons, lived next door to the a werewolf pack’s Alpha, collected a fae artifact or two along the way–and has risked her life several times to help her friends. But now, in RIVER MARKED (Amazon), we get to see something a little more personal about Mercy: her Native American heritage.

Mercy is engaged to marry Adam Hauptman, Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf back. She may not be a werewolf, herself, but Mercy can hold her own. She’s a ‘walker’, a shape-shifter who can become a coyote–an ability she inherited from her Native American father, and which has served her well in the past when she’s had to fight the vampires and fae she inevitably comes in contact with.
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Honestly I don’t know how anyone has reviewed this book. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read quite a few reviews of Patrick Rothfuss‘s THE WISE MAN’S FEAR (Amazon). They were intelligent, well written and made me want to read the book even more. I just didn’t know how I was going to be able to write one.

Why?

Because the book isn’t done. I can certainly say, “Wow, that’s a heck of a start!” THE NAME OF THE WIND, the first book in The Kingkiller Chronicles, certainly was. I can say, “Geez, the second third of that book was really interesting and had some beautiful language. I can’t wait to see what happens at the end!” And THE WISE MAN’S FEAR is easily all of that. My problem is I’m a little afraid at this point. Does Patrick Rothfuss know how to finish this extremely well-told tale? I don’t know. He hasn’t done it yet.
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And alas, we come to the end of the tale. We’ve run the gamut, the bell has tolled, and the last of Hawkmoon’s adventures have passed by our eyes. The pages have flown so fast.

HAWKMOON: THE RUNESTAFF (Amazon) is the fourth and final book of the Hawkmoon series by Michael Moorcock that Tor has been giving an upgrade and reprint to over the last year or so. These books hearken us back to the old days of classic fantasy fiction when the heroes were gallant gentlemen and their foes nefarious men of wickedness. Honor and virtue always triumphed over evil, and it was seeing how it would all play out this time around that always drew the readers in droves.
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Subterranean Press is our favorite small publisher here at EBR. They never disappoint when it comes to providing us with great books. Awesome covers, solid construction, and stories from amazing authors. It says something about both a publisher and an author when a 100-page novella can be sold for $25 and not a word of complaint be raised by its purchasers. This book is one of those.
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As you know, we try to keep our eyes on the UK Fantasy market. It’s how we discovered guys like Chris Wooding, James Barclay and George Mann. One of the novels we watched for months was Col Buchanan‘s FARLANDER (Amazon). We can’t even tell you how many times we nearly imported this one. Then Tor picked it up here in the US and saved us the import expense.
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