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I feel blessed. I couldn’t have been more happy to see some potential goodness like this story show up in the mailbox to help me out of the funk that most of my last few reads have left floating around in my head. What better to help me out than a novella from one of my favorite authors? Although, I was kind of surprised to find yet another novella coming from Mr. Parker. It seems as though, despite all evidence to the contrary that such a sales model doesn’t typically work, at least one author has figured out how make a goodly number of sales with fiction that is short of novel length. Hmm. Go figure. A sign of good things to come? Hopefully, my friends. Hopefully. 🙂
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It always feels good writing a review for a Mark Lawrence novel. He is a terrific writer who is constantly improving his craft. THE LIAR’S KEY (Amazon) is no exception. It’s Lawrence’s longest novel, but it is easily his best yet.

THE LIAR’S KEY takes place shortly after PRINCE OF FOOLS (EBR Review), with Jalan Kendeth and Snorri ver Snagason in possession of Loki’s Key. This key can unlock any door, according to myth. But for Snorri, he is set on opening the door to death to find and rescue his dead family. Meanwhile Jalan is… busy being Jalan.

Jalan Kendeth. Prince. Playboy. Berserker. Coward. Seeing all these defining aspects of his character was a complete joy. I still can’t help but compare Jalan to the Jorg from the Broken Empire Trilogy. The contrast couldn’t be stronger, and it makes the Red Queen’s War Trilogy, in my opinion, so much the richer.Read the rest of this review »

I vividly remember reading a review of THE DRAGON’S PATH when it was first released, and the reviewer was complaining about the lackluster magic system that “sounded a whole lot like ‘those aren’t the droids you’re looking for'”. At the time, I wanted to berate him for suggesting that a Daniel Abraham book would contain a magic system as benign as something like that. Although, given the facts available at the time, I wouldn’t have been able to provide him with anything definitive that said his opinion was wrong. It was only that there absolutely WAS more to the magic system, and I KNEW it. After reading this penultimate volume of the series, I could now provide him with some great examples of why his opinion isn’t true. In much the same way that there were no dragons in that first volume and now we’ve finally got one. Yes, there is one, and if that’s a spoiler to anyone at this point, then you’re even further behind in finding this brilliant series than I am in finally writing this review. Although, my review is just in time for the lead up to the final novel in the series. So, lemme prattle on for a bit and hopefully whet your whistle for that one, if I may.
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Before Ken Liu wrote novels like THE GRACE OF KINGS (EBR Review), he wrote short stories, several of which won notable awards. THE PAPER MENAGERIE AND OTHER STORIES is a compilation of not only his award-winning shorts, but also some of his own favorites, including one not previously published.

They are stories filled with emotion, creativity, and beautiful prose. And all will require a degree of contemplation–these are not simple stories, as they are filled with multiple layers of character, situation, and setting. Each is worth thinking about what Liu is trying to say. It’s these very qualities that makes this anthology worth reading.
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I’m kind of a late-comer to the whole Jim Butcher Bandwagon. I tried his first book of the Codex Alera series and wasn’t all that impressed. A few years later I read STORM FRONT and thought it was decent, but nothing to crow about. Perhaps preemptive, yes, but I think I’ve mentioned my tolerance level for good story somewhere. Then fairly recently, I knocked out books two and three of the Dresden series because people would just not shut up about them… and I haven’t been able to get enough of that series ever since; cramming another book in whenever I can. I’m about halfway to caught up with it right now. I’ve been telling myself for more than a few months now that I needed to pick up this new series, because seriously how could it not be awesome? So,when I found it on audio book laying around at my local library, I checked to be sure we hadn’t already reviewed it and then snatched it up. Really glad that I did.
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I had THE BOY WITH THE PORCELAIN BLADE (Amazon) in my Amazon.com cart forever. Several months. So of course, I had it ordered and bought it from a local Barnes and Noble. I’m a pretty fast reader, and THE BOY is not a very long book at all. I knocked it out in about an hour and a half, including rereading a few chapters.
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Some of the main drives, I believe, of the Science Fiction genre are to instill in the reader a sense of awe and wonder and introduce the idea of the ubiquitous question: What if? Sadly, I have to admit that I’ve never really had that experience in my reading of Science Fiction. There are times, however, when I take the opportunity to stop and just stare up into the starry night sky. It is during those times that I have absolutely felt that sense of awe and wonder and have begun to speculate just what might be up there amidst the stars and planets and vast, sprawling majesty of the universe around us. I’ve always wanted that same experience when reading a good Science Fiction book. I just haven’t ever gotten it. Until Alastair Reynolds wrote this book and gave me one.
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I read this book a few weeks ago, but wanted to give it a bit of time to settle. I mean, was it really that good? I found myself comparing it to one of the greatest of American novels, and I hesitated. Will the seemingly unforgettable characters stick with me, even in the cloud of life and more reading and all? The answer is: yes! If anything, many characters and scenes from BLACK BOTTLE MAN (Amazon) are even more vivid now than the day I read it, and I consumed this little masterpiece in one sitting. Bravo, Craig Russell. I hope there is much more to come.

The synopsis from Amazon.com is so good, I copy it here:

Forced to move every twelve days, what would happen to your life?
It’s 1927. Rembrandt is the only child in the tiny community of Three Farms and his two aunts grow desperate for babies of their own. Hope and Hell arrive in a mysterious black bottle, and on a moonless night a dark spell is cast. Soon after, a man wearing black top-coat, and a ‘glad-ta-meet-ya’ smile comes to visit. The devil seeks payment, and a dangerous wager is made. Until they can defeat him, Rembrandt, Pa, and Uncle Thompson must embark on the journey of their lives, for if they stay in one place for more than twelve days terrible things happen. But where and when will they find a champion capable of defeating the Black Bottle Man?
Time ticks.
Lives change.
Every twelve days.
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It feels like just yesterday I was writing my review for SHADOWS OF SELF (EBR Review).  In fact, it’s only been 4 months. That’s basically yesterday.

I wasn’t too kind on that installation of the book, but having now read BANDS OF MOURNING, I see now why SHADOWS suffered in my review. It’s because BANDS was the book I really wanted to read.
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At the time I had no idea how it might be possible, but when I got the email saying that this book was headed my way I was totally taken by surprise. As soon as I got it, I barreled through its pages, loving every minute and was completely impressed when I got to the end. Then, as I sat down to write this review, I casually glanced at the publication date of the first book in this series, THE MECHANICAL, and realized why the follow-up hadn’t even been on my radar: the first book was published in March of this year. Whoa. Then I got to be super impressed because not only had this book really entertained me, but it had been released a paltry nine months after its predecessor.
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