Merry Christmas from Jim Butcher… and EBR
First, MERRY CHRISTMAS from EBR!
Second, most of you should have already found this, but for those of you that haven’t, Jim Butcher has put up a new Christmas-related short story in the Dresden Universe, and it is bang-up fantastalicious. Before you go running off to read it though, you should know that it contains MASSIVE spoilers for the events in Changes and Cold Days. If you haven’t read those yet, what are you thinking? Go read all of them right now (EBR Archive).
For the rest of you, you should probably be told that this story happens after PEACE TALKS, which you might immediately realize hasn’t been released yet. Rest assured that Jim doesn’t spoil anything about a book that he hasn’t released yet. Please. However, he did tease us for what is going to happen and quite masterfully at that.
Also, you might notice that the link to the story (which I still haven’t given you — heh, heh, heh…) automagically forwards you […]Read the rest of this post »
The Final Six
It’s the end of the world as we know it. The effects of global warming are claiming city after city and millions of lives have been lost. Nope, it’s not the front page of the newspaper. It’s the plot of THE FINAL SIX (Amazon) by Alexandra Monir.
Looking to escape an increasingly devastated earth, the international community selects Europa as a site for future colonization. And who better to colonize a distant moon and save humanity than six teenagers?
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Kill All Angels
I think I can safely admit that I wasn’t even planning on reading this book when it first showed up in the mail. I hadn’t been particularly enamored with either the first or second books in the series, I had no idea where this third book might go that could possibly change that opinion, and the cover was so blaringly pink that the thing gave me a headache every time I looked at it. But it was a quick read (which I needed), and the cover was removable (thankfully), and… my experience with its pages was exactly what I expected it to be: a jumbled conglomeration of “What in the world did I just read?” Ever had one of those? For your sake, I hope not. Still, as the saying goes, “In for a penny, in for a pound,” and so I decided to finish this series off with one last monumental push.
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Vanessa’s Top Ten
Posting my Top Ten cuz people have asked and, yes, they are listed in a particular order (however they’re subject to change should something better come along)–my favorite is listed first, because I’m not mean. I’m also not going to claim that any of these are The Best Books Anyone Should Read, but if you agree with my reviews, you would probably enjoy these, too.
The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel
If you’ve never read the original Washington Irving short “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” you should (it’s easy to find a free version online…but be sure to have a dictionary on hand, it’s not necessarily an easy read). You’ve probably seen the silly Disney cartoon, but the original story has an ambiance and mystery about it that is enhanced by its brevity and style. Alyssa Palombo attempts to re-tell this American classic in her recent THE SPELLBOOK OF KATRINA VAN TASSEL, while retaining the setting details and characters, but giving it a modern twist.Read the rest of this review »
Record of a Spaceborn Few
Science fiction is not known for being gentle. Technical? Yes. Explosive? Often. Operatic? You betcha.
RECORD OF A SPACEBORN FEW eschews explosions in favor of internal drama. Like the rest of Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers Series (Amazon), this quiet story explores what it means to be a part of a family, a crew, a community, a species–this time through the fate of the Exodan fleet.
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Vallista
VALLISTA is a weird story, and Vlad Taltos, Steven Brust’s long running, on-the-run ex-gangster fantasy series, embodies the series’ increasing strangeness. The novel focuses predominantly on everyone’s favorite time and worlds-travelling stealth hi-byer, Devera. While Devara drags her Uncle Vlad into a search to help her escape her predicament (it makes sense as you read), Vlad soon finds himself in a strange manor where rooms lead nowhere, the patrons and denizens are a lot of miserable secrets and wretched histories, and a monster stalks the halls. The House itself, which is alive and delightfully a character with its own soul and history, takes the center stage.Read the rest of this review »
The Consuming Fire
Tell you what, the more I read of this guy’s stuff, the more I like him. Still haven’t gotten to the Old Man’s War books, but the LOCK IN series (EBR Archive) has been really good, and this one is also shaping up to be some serious goodness. When I got this one in the mail, I failed to realize though that we had already reviewed the first book, THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE (EBR Review, thanks be to Shawn), so I tackled that one first. Was awesome. In fact, I think I liked that one considerably more than he did. Likely would have read it anyways, as I have issues with reading middle-series books without first reading those that have come before. This can sometimes cause headaches for my EBR TBR pile, but as Popeye would say, “I yam what I yam.” I was also extremely happy to find that this book absolutely doesn’t fall into anything like second-book syndrome and was oodles of good fun.
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Giveaway: Book Bundle
***Updated 11/27/18. This giveaway is closed! Thanks to the many people who entered! The winner of our giveaway is Jennifer from Magnolia, Texas. Your box will be on its way soon!***
Vanessa has been cleaning out her EBR shelves and discovered too many duplicates she doesn’t know what to do with. So one of our lucky EBR readers will win an entire box full of books (similar to the kind of box our talented reviewers usually get from her). This box contains:
THE MIDNIGHT FRONT by David Mack
THE SPIDER’S WAR by Daniel Abraham
TRIAL BY TREASON by Dave Duncan
CITY OF LIES by Sam Hawke
BLADE AND BONE by Jon Sprunk
Yes, one winner will receive all of these books to do with as they wish, whether to give as Christmas gifts or keep for themselves!
To enter this giveaway:
1. Email us at elitistbookreviews@gmail.com
2. Include the following on the subject line: BOOK BUNDLE GIVEAWAY
3. In the body of the email include your name and mailing address. This giveaway is only available […]Read the rest of this post »
The Empty Grave
Arriving at the final book of the Lockwood & Co series, THE EMPTY GRAVE, leaves me with mixed emotions: so happy to see our gang of heroes find the answers they’re looking for, but also sad to see this fantastic series come to an end. Over this series we’ve watched as Lockwood, Lucy, and George have navigated the dangerous and mystifying world of ghosts and ghost hunting. They may only be kids, but this small and independent company has uncovered secrets small and large, fought dangerous ghosts, and dealt with the frustrating politics of being the little guy in a big industry.
Now we get to see the fruition of all their hard work. THE EMPTY GRAVE ends the series in a way that won’t let you down.Read the rest of this review »
