Tag Archives: fantasy books

Dec 27 2012

Your Pick for Nik! – January Nominations!

As we’re only a few days away from closing out this month’s selection (Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, 12/30) I figured it would be a good time to reveal next month’s nominations!

For those of you new to this feature, Your Pick for Nik! is a monthly book club where I turn over control of my reading list to you!

Here’s how it works: I will nominate titles from my TBR list and YOU will choose which one gets featured. It can be one you’ve already read and want to discuss, one you want to read but wish to see my feedback on first, or – and this is my favorite part – you can read it along with me!

Depicted below are my 10 nominees* for January. Simply vote for your favorite, and let the best book win! At 10:00 pm (MST) on Saturday the 29th I will announce the winner. Come the end of January, I will post a thorough review of the chosen title – and hopefully find out what you thought of it as well!

To cast your vote, just leave a comment indicating your chosen title – and may the best book win!

January’s Nominations:

22Title: Falling Kingdoms

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Overview: In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power—brutally transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined: Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct. Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making. Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield. Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword… The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

9780441016945_p0_v1_s260x420Title: Death’s Daughter

Author: Amber Benson

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Overview: Calliope Reaper-Jones so just wanted a normal life: buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from Craig’s List, web-surfing for organic dim-sum for her boss… But when her father—who happens to be Death himself—is kidnapped, and the Devil’s Protege embarks on a hostile takeover of the family business, Death, Inc., Callie returns home to assume the CEO mantle— only to discover she must complete three nearly impossible tasks in the realm of the afterlife first.

112Title: Mistress of Dragons

Author: Margaret Weis

Genre: Fantasy

Overview: Welcome to the Dragonvarld… In Mistress of Dragons we are introduced to a world where political deception, greed, and avarice have lead to a violation of the “hands off” policy of the Parliament of Dragons concerning the affairs of men. Indeed that violation threatens more than policy and order it threatens the freedoms and survival of the entire human race.

113Title: Touched by an Alien

Author: Gini Koch

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Overview: How can a sexy marketing manager join forces with an Alpha Centauri male in Armani to save the planet-using hairspray, a Mont Blanc pen, and rock n’ roll? Easy… She’s Touched by an Alien Marketing manager Katherine “Kitty” Katt steps into the middle of what appears to be a domestic dispute turned ugly. And it only gets uglier when the man turns into a winged monster, straight out of a grade-Z horror movie, and goes on a killing spree. Though Kitty should probably run away, she springs into action to take the monster down. In the middle of the chaos a handsome hunk named Jeff Martini appears, sent by the “agency” to perform crowd control. He’s Kitty’s kind of guy, no matter what planet he’s from. And from now on, for Kitty, things are going to be sexy, dangerous, wild, and out of this world.

114Title: Eve & Adam

Authors: Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Overview: In the beginning, there was an apple – And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal. Just when Eve thinks she will die – not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy. Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect . . . won’t he?

116Title: Holder of Lightning

Author: S.L. Farrell

Genre: Fantasy

Overview: Seventeen-year-old Jenna had led a peaceful life, herding sheep and tending crops, until the night she picked up a small but strangely alluring stone that would change her entire future. For what she held in her hand was Lámh Shábhála, the master stone of legend which could reawaken all the other stones of power and bring magic back to the world. And there were many among the nobility who would risk anything, including murder, to claim Lámh Shábhála for themselves.

115Title: Dragonmaster

Author: Chris Bunch

Genre: Fantasy

Overview: Young Hal Kailas is a runaway and a pauper, living hand-to-mouth in a kingdom where peace is by no means certain. But Hal has a dream. In his even younger days, he had the awesome experience of bonding with a young dragon-and the memory of the beast’s great strength and power consumes his every thought.When war finally comes, the most daring and ruthless of men will ride these fearsome dragons-monstrous weapons of war that rule the sky. Few men are strong enough to bend a dragon’s will, but Hal, who has reason to think he may be one of them, will prove to be the greatest Dragon Master of them all.

greenTitle: Green

Author: Jay Lake

Genre: Fantasy

Overview: Her exquisite beauty and brilliant mind were not enough to free her from captivity. That took her skills with a knife, plus the power of a goddess. Born in poverty, in a dusty village under the equatorial sun. She does not remember her mother, nor her own name—her earliest clear memory is of the day her father sold her to the tall pale man. In the Court of the Pomegranate Tree, where she was taught the ways of a courtesan…and the skills of an assassin…she was named Emerald, the precious jewel of the Undying Duke’s collection of beauties. She calls herself Green.

1111Title: Wither

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Genre: Teen Fiction

Overview: What if you knew exactly when you’d die? By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males born with a lifespan of 25 years, and females a lifespan of 20 years—leaving the world in a state of panic. Geneticists seek a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

foreignerTitle: Foreigner

Author: C.J. Cherryh

Genre: Science Fiction

Overview: A mesmerizing new tale by the bestselling author of Serpent’s Reach. In the 300 years since humans lost the war to the alien atevi, humanity has traded advanced technology for peace and a remote island refuge. Then the sole human allowed to enter into atevi society is marked for an assassin’s bullet.

*Overviews taken from bn.com
Dec 21 2012

Coming Soon: Bloodfire Quest

Mar 19..Title: Bloodfire Quest

Series: The Dark Legacy of Shannara #2

Author: Terry Brooks

Release Date: March 12, 2013

Of all the major fantasy authors I try to keep up with I have probably fallen the farthest behind with Terry Brooks. His stories are alway highly entertaining and epic and I feel like he does a great job channeling the feel of “The Lord of the Rings” while still keeping things exciting. I look forward to catching up, but for all you eagerly waiting for the next book: only three months to go! :)

Dec 9 2012

Book Releases: 12/10 – 12/14

I don’t know what possessed me to create a new releases feature during the slowest time of year. December is the month where publishers focus all their resources on meeting the incredibly high demand of holiday shoppers. Understandably so, as book retailers make a huge chunk of their yearly income within this short season.

In any case, I did manage to find a few noteworthy titles out this week. Enjoy!

bonesTitle: The Bones of the Old Ones

Author: Howard Andrew Jones

Series: Desert of Souls #2

Overview: As a snowfall blankets 8th century Mosul, a Persian noblewoman arrives at the home of the scholar Dabir and his friend the swordsman Captain Asim. Najya has escaped from a dangerous cabal that has ensorcelled her to track down ancient magical tools of tremendous power, the bones of the old ones. To stop the cabal and save Najya, Dabir and Asim venture into the worst winter in human memory, hunted by a shape-changing assassin. The stalwart Asim is drawn irresistibly toward the beautiful Persian even as Dabir realizes she may be far more dangerous a threat than anyone who pursues them, for her enchantment worsens with the winter. As their opposition grows, Dabir and Asim have no choice but to ally with their deadliest enemy, the treacherous Greek necromancer, Lydia. But even if they can trust one another long enough to escape their foes, it may be too late for Najya, whose soul is bound up with a vengeful spirit intent on sheathing the world in ice for a thousand years…

2Title: Two Graves

Authors: Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Series: Special Agent Pendergast #12

Overview: For twelve years, he believed she died in an accident. Then, he was told she’d been murdered. Now, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast discovers that his beloved wife Helen is alive. But their reunion is cut short when Helen is brazenly abducted before his eyes. And Pendergast is forced to embark on a furious cross-country chase to rescue her. But all this turns out to be mere prologue to a far larger plot: one that unleashes a chillingly-almost supernaturally-adept serial killer on New York City. And Helen has one more surprise in store for Pendergast: a piece of their shared past that makes him the one man most suited to hunting down the killer. His pursuit of the murderer will take Pendergast deep into the trackless forests of South America, to a hidden place where the evil that has blighted both his and Helen’s lives lies in wait . . . a place where he will learn all too well the truth of the ancient proverb: Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.\.

2.1Title: Opal
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Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
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Series: Lux #3
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Overview: No one is like Daemon Black. When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well… There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on. But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love. After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different… And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever. Together we’re stronger… and they know it.

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22Title: Falling Kingdoms
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Author: Morgan Rhodes
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Series: Falling Kingdoms #1
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Overview: In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power—brutally transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined. The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?
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23Title: Princess of the Silver Woods
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Author: Jessica Day George
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Series: Twelve Dancing Princesses #3
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Overview: When Petunia, the youngest of King Gregor’s twelve dancing daughters, is invited to visit an elderly friend in the neighboring country of Westfalin, she welcomes the change of scenery. But in order to reach Westfalin, Petunia must pass through a forest where strange two-legged wolves are rumored to exist. Wolves intent on redistributing the wealth of the noble citizens who have entered their territory. But the bandit-wolves prove more rakishly handsome than truly dangerous, and it’s not until Petunia reaches her destination that she realizes the kindly grandmother she has been summoned to visit is really an enemy bent on restoring an age-old curse. The stories of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood get a twist as Petunia and her many sisters take on bandits, grannies, and the new King Under Stone to end their family curse once and for all.
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24Title: Foretold
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Author: Jana Oliver
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Series: Demon Trappers #4
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Overview: In the fourth Demon Trappers novel, Riley faces the final battle for humanity and Beck’s heart—and Hell is the least of her problems. Now that Riley’s managed to (just barely) fend off Armageddon, everything’s changed. Well . . . most things. After their passionate kiss before the big battle in the cemetery, Beck is back to treating her like a little girl, as if nothing ever happened. While she’d love to just tell him off and move on, Riley vowed to take care of Beck the way he’s taken care of her since her father’s death—but she’s about to get a whole lot more than she bargained for. When she’s commissioned to go with Beck to his hometown and help him care for his dying mother, they stumble too close to a dark and murderous secret, one that Beck fears will drive Riley away from him forever. As chaos breaks loose, Riley may be Beck’s only hope for redemption . . . and survival. Meanwhile, up in Atlanta, it’s quickly becoming clear that Heaven may have won a battle, but the war is far from over. Riley and Beck face a stormy future, as Lucifer’s ex-right-hand-man, Sartael, proves himself to be more resilient than anyone thought. He has Atlanta in his grip and is about to begin a brutal war with the prince of Hell. As the seconds tick down toward a final confrontation, it’s up to Riley and the man she loves to finally defeat their old enemy, or lose everything they’ve fought for.
Dec 9 2012
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Book Review: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Title: The Eye the World

Author: Robert Jordan

Series: Wheel of Time #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

The Review:

I would like to start out by saying: don’t let my conservative rating scare you off from this series. At least 75% of customers I talk to about fantasy rank this series in their top 3, if not their #1. I am definitely the minority here, as the book didn’t even make my top 20.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a classic that deserves its place as one of the all-time fantasy greats, it just happened to have some elements that I personally didn’t care for. As the beginning of an epic quest not unlike that of Tolkien, I found it a bit long-winded. Not boring, mind you, as there were several highly developed and exciting characters (who were frankly the biggest reasons why I’m tempted to read the second book). The magic system and overall measure of time were also highly original and interesting, even though we didn’t get to learn much about them.

No, what the book lacked is that sense of excitement I usually feel while reading a great fantasy novel. I believe this is due to poor pacing decisions rather than any issues with the plot. It was just too slow-moving with too many senseless encounters. There also wasn’t much of an arc, lacking the sort of emotional highs and lows that usually go along with good storytelling. I definitely would’ve appreciated more time spent on the climax of the book rather than endless chapters of the characters meeting one fat innkeeper after another. I guess I just missed that emotional payoff – I suppose I’ll have to evaluate the series as a whole for that kind of reaction.

Overall, I respect this author a great deal, as I believe he has done wonders for the fantasy genre by inspiring new authors every day. There are just too many out there that I enjoyed more.

Other books I liked better (in a particular order):

by Niki Hawkes

Dec 6 2012

Coming Soon: A Turn of Light

Mar 5..Title: A Turn of Light

Author: Julie E. Czerneda

Release Date: March 5, 2013

Czerneda is by far my favorite science fiction writer and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that she’s finally got a fantasy novel in the works. Here’s the cool part: she’s making it available to read early on her website!!! Everything written by this woman is golden, so if you haven’t picked her up yet, you are seriously missing out!

Here are some other excellent works from this author:

1.1Web Shifters

They are the last survivors of their race, beings who live on and communicate through energy, who are capable of assuming the shape of any other species. When their youngest member is assigned to a world considered safe to explore, she is captured by the natives. To escape, she must violate the most important rule of her kind, and reveal the existence of her species to a fellow prisoner–a human being. Now her race is in danger of extinction, for even if the human does not betray her, the Enemy who has long searched for her people may finally discover their location….

1.2Species Imperative

Brymn was an archaeologist, and much of his research had focused on a region of space known as the Chasm, a part of the universe that was literally dead, all of its worlds empty of any life-forms, though traces existed of the civilizations that must once have flourished in the region. Brymn had sought out Mac because she was a biologist — a discipline strictly forbidden among his own people — and he felt that through her expertise she might be able to help him discover what had created the Chasm. But Mac had little interest in alien races and in studies that ranged beyond Earth, and as politely as she was capable of, she tried to make it clear that she was unwilling to abandon her own work.

However, the decision was soon taken out of her hands when a mysterious and devastating attack on the Base resulted in the abduction of Emily, and forced Mac to flee for her life with Brymn and the Earth special agents who were escorting him. Suddenly, it appeared that Earth itself might be under attack by the legendary race the Ohryn called the Ro, the beings they thought might be the destructive force behind the Chasm. Cut off from everything and everyone she knew, Mac found herself in grave danger and charged with the responsibility of learning everything she could that might possibly aid Earth in protecting the human race from extinction…
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1.4Trade Pact Universe
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The tenth anniversary edition of Julie Czerneda’s debut science fiction novel, the story of a woman on the run, from the law, her own people, and an unknown pursuer. Her memory taken from her by a stasis block, Sira must stay free long enough to regain her identity and the full use of her telepathic powers-for failure may cost not only her own future but that of her entire race.
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This prequel to The Trade Pact Universe series begins in a time before the Clan had learned how to manipulate the M’hir to travel between worlds. Aliens have begun to explore the world of Cersi, upsetting the delicate balance between the Clan and the two other powerful races who coexist by set rules. And one young woman is on the verge of finding the forbidden secret of the M’hir? a discovery that could prove the salvation or ruin of her entire species.
Dec 4 2012

Coming Soon: The Last Threshold

Mar 5.Title: The Last Threshold

Series: Neverwinter Saga #4

Author: R.A. Salvatore

Release Date: March 5, 2013

As mentioned in my review of “Homeland“, R.A. Salvatore is one of my favorite authors in the fantasy genre. One of the best things about him is his ability to deliver one great book after another and “The Last Threshold” should be no different. If you haven’t picked up a Drizzt book, you are sorely missing out!