The Hunter from the Woods
When I first read Robert McCammon’s THE WOLF’S HOUR (EBR Review), I was blown away. It was a Horror novel mixed with a Spy Thriller, and all I wanted was to read more about McCammon’s signature character, Michael Gallatin. In THE WOLF’S HOUR, we learned about his mission into Germany during the height of WWII, while at the same time learning how Gallatin became a werewolf. It was all fascinating stuff, but I knew there had to be more. It wasn’t unlike reading THE BOURNE IDENTITY (Amazon) and knowing that there were countless stories untold.
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Swords of Exodus
Been a long time! Miss me? Of course you did, what a stupid question. Well a new Larry Correia book is out and you couldn’t expect me to pass up an opportunity to read/review it now could you? Another stupid question – I’m Correia’s biggest fan. But, of all Larry’s books DEAD SIX (EBR Review) has probably been the one I’ve liked the least. That’s not to say that DEAD SIX is a bad book, but I didn’t consider it up to Larry’s standards. It was fun and action-packed but the writing was a little rough around the edges, the collaboration between Correia and Kupari wasn’t seamless, I wasn’t sold on the characters, and I couldn’t find any merit in either of the romantic relationships. That said, I wasn’t discounting the series as the second half of the novel runs a whole lot smoother than the first. I’m quite pleased to say that SWORDS OF EXODUS by Larry Correia and Mike Kupari (Amazon) is infinitely better.
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Neverland’s Library – Kickstarter
Update: Well, this project fell apart on Kickstarter, which is a huge bummer. I even offered to help out to keep it afloat, but I never got a response. The bright side is that everyone who contributed got their money back, and the project got saved by Ragnarok Publications. Those guys are awesome, and saved this amazing anthology from disappearing forever.
Pandemonium
There was a canyon where I lived in Utah with a species of flowers that grew on both sides of the canyon, and over time the ones on the south vs. the north sides diverged in their taxonomy. This happened over a matter of decades, the main culprit being how much light they got. PANDEMONIUM by Warren Fehy (Amazon) takes that concept to the depths of the Earth: completely separated from the surface and its influence for millions of years, how would subterranean species evolve?
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The Lost Prince
Every so often I run through the list of books I’ve recently read and try to find follow-ups to those I liked. The sequel to Edward Lazellari’s debut novel, AWAKENINGS (EBR Review), was one that pestered me for what seemed a very long time. I kept looking for something but never saw any news about a sequel. And then Steve plopped it in my lap, and I was absolutely floored when I realized that it has been less than a year since the debut. In all fairness, having a newbie author get a 500+ page fantasy novel out within a year is actually, in my opinion, quite decent. I guess some part of me was just really looking forward to this one.
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The Suprise Attack of Jabba the Puppet
I’m the mother of two boys: 10 and 9 years old. One is an avid reader and one isn’t, but I read as part of their bedtime ritual and search far and wide to find books all of us will enjoy.
Enter Tom Angleberger’s Origami Yoda series. The man is a genius: middle grade kids, a mystery, Star Wars, and origami? There’s something in there for everyone. Oh, and they’re hysterical.
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The Night Circus
I’m not usually a proponent of breaking the rules, but very occasionally allow myself an indulgence. When I first picked this book up, I knew I was asking for trouble. My wife actually accused me of choosing it because I wanted something to pick to pieces, and that might have been slightly true. But only a little. It’s more likely that I chose it because occasionally I’m just a glutton for punishment.
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Red Seas Under Red Skies
When you first novel is THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA (EBR Review), you’ve made things very difficult on yourself. Scott Lynch’s first novel was incredible. So incredible that it set the expectations for RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES (Amazon) incredibly high. I remember reading RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES and feeling a bit disappointed. Why? Because it wasn’t the best novel ever, of course. How could I expect anything less after reading the first novel? It wasn’t fair, and now that I’ve finished a re-read, I have a much better point of view on the novel than I did originally.
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Impossible Monsters
I love Horror novels. I absolutely love them. I love when an author can terrify me with things that prey on the most basic fears we feel as humans. A great story teller can spin a tale in which I’m scared to look at the next page, and yet I’m equally thrilled to do just that. I also love the unexplained, and it is in short fiction that the unexplained aspect of Horror really shines. If you want great Horror short fiction, the place to look right now, in my opinion, is either with Subterranean Press or with Tachyon Publications. For this review, I want to draw the attention of every reader to IMPOSSIBLE MONSTERS (Amazon), which is edited by Kasey Lansdale.
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The Lies of Locke Lamora
I know, I know. The book is old. You already know I love it. But here’s the thing, THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES (Amazon) is finally about to be released. Before I jumped into Scott Lynch’s newest, I needed to go back and revisit both THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA (Amazon) and RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES (Amazon). So I’m taking the opportunity to share my thoughts with all of you discerning readers. Think of this as a re-read review.
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