Reviews :: Book Rating :: Books We Love :: Page 34

Since DUST OF DREAMS (Amazon) is coming to the US soon, we thought we would go back to the series’ roots to both introduce newcomers and invigorate the old-timers. GARDENS OF THE MOON by Steven Erikson (Amazon) is not a simple novel–in fact this novel has, arguably, the steepest learning curve of any fantasy novel to date. This review will be a tad longer than usual, but it deserves nothing less.

GARDENS OF THE MOON is the first tale in Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Currently we have eight novels released in the series (with the ninth out in the UK now–yeah, yeah, we are waiting for our import copy), three short stories, and two other novels written by Erikson’s co-creator of this vibrantly imagined world, Ian Cameron Esslemont. We tell you this so you will understand the investment of time, should you start this series. The best part of all of this? Erikson doesn’t make us wait half a decade between his encyclopedia-sized tomes (you know who we are talking about). A book a year is the pace Erikson has set, which is downright awesome.
Read the rest of this review »

Don’t worry. Despite having the word Twilight in the title, THE TWILIGHT HERALD (Amazon) is nothing like the book in our last review, TWILIGHT (EBR Review). This is Tom Lloyd‘s second entry in his Twilight Reign series, and it is much grander is scope and larger in size than the opening book, THE STORMCALLER (Amazon).

In a word (and you only need one from us): AWESOME.

Tom Lloyd is a newcomer, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have what it takes to blow us away with his story telling. He has managed to create a believable, original setting using the familiar fantasy tropes and bending or breaking them to his will. Populating his enormous, top-notch world is an exponentially growing list of characters, most of whom are distinct and interesting.
Read the rest of this review »

Welcome to another completely superior review by us guys here at Elitist Book Reviews. The chosen book this time around is THE BLADE ITSELF by Joe Abercrombie (Amazon).

THE BLADE ITSELF is a refreshing first novel in what we would call a dark fantasy trilogy. Abercrombie gives us a cast of characters that that have even more attitude than we do–no easy feat. Included in this cast we have a crippled torturer as a main character. Tell us, how often do we get to see a torturer as a main PoV in epic fantasy now days?

Awesome.
Read the rest of this review »

Dan Wells has crafted something extraordinary with his first novel, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER (Amazon). Our opinions are obviously superior to the rest, so you should believe us without question.

John Wayne Cleaver is the protagonist of the book, and as you find out very early on, he isn’t your average teenager. His troubles go much deeper than most, and are much more serious. You see, he worries that he might become a serial killer. He has all the tendencies of a sociopath, and he is very aware of how dangerous they are.
Read the rest of this review »