Posts tagged with "Friends of Ours" :: Page 3

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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WARBOUND (Amazon) is the third entry in New York Times Bestselling Author, Larry Correia’s urban fantasy epic, Grimnoir Chronicles. Though Larry has suggested the possibility of future books set in the Grimnoirverse, WARBOUND wraps up the particular story arc began with HARD MAGIC (EBR Review), an all-time favorite of mine. This is the first time Larry has concluded a series, and so I greeted WARBOUND with much excitement and a degree of reservation. As Larry’s fans are well aware, this man knows how to kick off a series with flair – but would he be able to end one in a similar fashion?
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I feel bad. I received an ARC of PROMISE OF BLOOD by Brian McClellan (Amazon) several months ago and quickly devoured it. I had every intention of having a review ready to go when the book came out…and then it didn’t happen. The problem was I wanted to write something witty and fun about the book but all I kept coming up with was…. I liked it. I liked it a lot. And that’s really understating it because I really, really did like it. After finishing McClellan’s debut I looked him up to check out news for the next book. I looked on Amazon to see what was going on. I even checked on Orbit’s blog to see if there was any news about the series. It was a dang good book. I just felt that I should do something more with the review than just, “Yeah, I really liked it.”
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Oh man. I don’t even hardly know where to begin. It seems like only yesterday that Pyr’s Lou Anders was talking up this new series he had acquired. It all started with Tom Lloyd‘s THE STORMCALLER, and Lou Anders was telling everyone who would listen that it was the start of a series that would please all those rabid Steven Erikson fans. Being one of those Erikson fans myself, I was intrigued. I personally picked it up based solely on Anders’ description.

Fast-forward several years later, and here we are with the fifth and final novel in The Twilight Reign. THE DUSK WATCHMAN (Amazon). I had the privilege of reading this novel quite a while ago, and it’s been absolute agony not having anyone to talk with about it. I was going to wait for the US release of the novel to write up this review, but I just can’t do it. Not enough willpower.

I’m just too dang excited to tell you what I think of this novel, and the series as a whole.
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It’s that time of the year again folks. That magical time signaling the announcement of another book release from the reigning champion of urban fantasy. May I humbly present to you MONSTER HUNTER LEGION (Amazon), fourth book of the New York Times Best-Selling series written by pulp fiction juggernaut Larry Correia.

Disclaimer: Larry Correia is my favorite author. I am a Monster Hunter/Grimnoir Chronicles fanboy. This does not, however, mean that I will ever give Larry a free pass when it comes to a review. I am a critic first and foremost and I do not believe in coddling authors. That said, MONSTER HUNTER LEGION is Larry’s most flawless book to date. Not my favorite of his novels, mind you, but certainly the most complete and substantial.
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When I want to treat myself to a good book, or when I desperately need to forget a terrible novel that makes me want to give up on literature entirely, I find that I turn to a very, very small selection of authors.

James Barclay is pretty close to the top of that list.

You see, I know that when I pick up a Barclay novel, I won’t be disappointed. Reading Barclay is like having your favorite steak, cooked to perfection. The first book in his Elves Trilogy, ONCE WALKED WITH GODS (Amazon), is the kind of book where I can forget I’m a critic. I just get to sit down, dig in, and enjoy the hell out of it.
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Dan Wells has had quite the run. The John Cleaver series — starting with I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER (EBR Review) — was a fantastic blend of Horror and Fantasy with a YA tone (although it wasn’t really marketed as YA in the US). His novel PARTIALS (EBR Review) has been getting some really strong reviews. So I was pretty excited when I got my hands on an ARC of his latest work, THE HOLLOW CITY (Amazon).

I’d heard him describe the basics: a story told from the point of view of a paranoid schizophrenic, Michael Shipman. A man who literally can’t tell what’s fantasy and what’s reality. He’s seeing faceless men, and is convinced they’re trying to kill him. But no one else can see them, and he hasn’t been taking his medication in months. To make things worse, there’s been a serial killer at work in the area. Someone’s been killing people and essentially destroying their faces, and Michael is a prime suspect.
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I don’t often read YA, but when I do, I read Dan Wells. His writing is just so accessible to younger and older readers alike. So when he approached me a year ago about reading a draft of his newest novel, a dystopian SF titled PARTIALS (Amazon), I jumped at the chance.
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James Barclay. You know the name. You know that his Raven novels made him one of my favorite authors. If you live in the US, finally getting his novels has been a welcome breath of fresh air. That’s all great and dandy, but there is something we in the US are missing that our UK buddies still have exclusive.

The Ascendants of Estorea.
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If you are a fan of Larry Correia‘s work, you’ve had a sweet year. MONSTER HUNTER ALPHA (EBR Review). DEAD SIX (EBR Review). HARD MAGIC (EBR Review). Yeah… that’s some good reading. You know from my reviews that I have liked all of these books. But of all of them, HARD MAGIC is the one that grabbed my attention. It marked the start of a terrific Alternate History Urban Fantasy Dieselpunk Science Fiction Fantasy novel. For the sake of having a usable category, I call it Urban Fantasy.

Anyway…
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