Nov 18 2012

Your Pick for Nik! – December’s Pick!

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite book in the feature: Your Pick for Nik!

“Warbreaker” by Brandon Sanderson is currently in the lead, but there’s still plenty of time to make your vote count!

You have until 10:00 pm (MST) on November 20th to make your selection. I will be revealing the winning book shortly after!

If you’re new to my page, here’s how it works:

Your Pick for Nik! a book club where I turn over control of my reading list to you!

Each month, I will nominate 5 to 10 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 first, or – and this is my favorite part – you can read it along with me!

Just click on the link below to view my 10 nominees for December. Simply vote for your favorite, and let the best book win! On Tuesday the 20th, I’ll announce the winner. Come the end of the month, I will post a thorough review of the chosen title – and hopefully find out what you thought of it as well!

December Nominations!

Nov 16 2012

Your Pick for Nik! – December Nominations!

Even though we’re only partway through the timeline for November’s Selection (“Partials” by Dan Wells) I decided to post the nominations for December a bit early to give everyone plenty of time to pick it up (Especially since many of you have already finished this month’s book).

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 December. Simply vote for your favorite, and let the best book win! At 10:00 pm (MST) on Tuesday the 20th I will announce the winner. Come the end of December, 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!

December’s Nominations:

Title: Green

Author: Jay Lake

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.

Title: Wayfarer Redemption

Author: Sara Douglass

Overview: All Acharites believe the end is near. One young woman, Faraday, betrothed of Duke Borneheld, learns that all she has been told about her people’s history is untrue. While fleeing to safety from the dangerous land, Faraday, rides with Axis, legendary leader of the Axe-Wielders-and hated half-brother of Borneheld-and a man Faraday secretly loves although it would be death to admit it. She embarks on a journey, which will change her life forever, in search of the true nature of her people. (This will be a much-desired reread for me – I loved this series!)

Title: Stardoc

Author: S.L. Viehl

Overview: Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil leaves Earth and accepts a position as a physician at Kevarzanga-2’s FreeClinic. Her surgical skills are desperately needed on a hostile frontier world with over 200 sentient species–and her understanding of alien physiology is nothing short of miraculous. But the truth behind her expertise is a secret which, if discovered, could have disastrous consequences between human and alien relations…

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Overview: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

Title: The Outstretched Shadow

Author: Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Overview: Kellen Tavadon, son of the Arch-Mage Lycaelon, thought he knew the way the world worked. His father, leading the wise and benevolent Council of Mages, protected and guided the citizens of the Golden City of the Bells. Young Mages in training memorized the intricate details of High Magick and aspired to seats on the council. Then he found the forbidden Books of Wild Magic – or did they find him? The three slim volumes woke Kellen to the wide world outside the City’s isolating walls… (It goes on, but you get the drift).

Title: Spider’s Bite

Author: Jennifer Estep

Overview: After Gin’s family was murdered by a Fire elemental when she was thirteen, she lived on the streets and eventually became an assassin to survive. Now, Gin is given an assignment by her handler to rub out an Ashland businessman, but it turns out to be a trap. After Gin’s handler is brutally murdered, she teams up with the sexy detective investigating the case to figure out who double-crossed her and why. Only one thing is for sure —Gin has no qualms about killing her way to the top of the conspiracy.

Title: Den of Thieves

Author: David Chandler

Overview: Born and raised in the squalid depths of the Free City of Ness, Malden became a thief by necessity. Now he must pay a fortune to join the criminal operation of Cutbill, lord of the underworld—and one does not refuse the master . . . and live. The coronet of the Burgrave would fulfill Malden’s obligations, though it is guarded by hungry demons that would tear the soul from any interloper. But the desperate endeavor leads to a more terrible destiny, as Malden, an outlaw knight, and an ensorcelled lady must face the most terrifying evil in the land.

Title: Imager

Author: L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Overview: Although Rhennthyl is the son of a leading wool merchant, he has spent years becoming a journeyman painter. With his skill and diligence, Rhenn stands to be considered for the status of master artisan. Then, his entire life is transformed when his master patron is killed in a flash fire, and Rhenn discovers he is an imager—one of the few in the entire world who can visualize things and make them real. He must leave his family and join the Collegium of Imagisle. Imagers live separately from the rest of society because of their abilities (they can do accidental magic even while asleep), and because they are both feared and vulnerable. In this new life, Rhenn discovers that all too many of the “truths” he knew were nothing of the sort. Every day brings a new threat to his life.

Title: Foreginer

Author: C.J. Cherryh

Overview: Foreigner begins an epic tale of the survivors of a lost spacecraft who crash-land on a planet inhabited by a hostile, sentient alien race. From its beginnings as a human-alien story of first contact, the Foreigner series has become a true science fiction odyssey, following a civilization from the age of steam through early space flight to confrontations with other alien species in distant sectors of space. It is the masterwork of a truly remarkable author.

Title: Warbreaker

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Overview: Warbreaker is the story of two sisters who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery; and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.

*All summaries taken from BN.com

Nov 15 2012

Coming Soon: Kalimpura by Jay Lake!

Title: Kalimpura

Series: Green #3

Author: Jay Lake

Release Date: January 29, 2013

I’ve heard millions of times that you can’t judge a book by its cover… I totally threw that out the window with this series. I bought book #1 (Green) totally because of its gorgeous cover, but have yet to read it. I am hoping it gets chosen in December’s Your Pick for Nik! book club (nominations including this series will be posted sometime next week). In any case, the plot sounds fascinating and I hope it lives up to my expectations. Has anybody out there read it yet? It is worth reading?

Nov 14 2012

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The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas

Title: The Adamantine Palace

Author: Stephen Deas

Series: Memory of Flames #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: N/A

The Overview: The Adamantine Palace lies at the centre of an empire that grew out of ashes. Once dragons ruled the world and man was little more than prey. Then a way of subduing the dragons through alchemy was discovered and now the dragons are bred to be little more than mounts for knights and highly valued tokens in the diplomatic power-players that underpin the rule of the competing aristocratic houses. The Empire has grown fat. And now one man wants it for himself. A man prepared to poison the king just as he has poisoned his own father. A man prepared to murder his lover and bed her daughter. A man fit to be king? But uknown to him there are flames on the way. A single dragon has gone missing. And even one dragon on the loose, unsubdued, returned to its full intelligence, its full fury, could spell disaster for the Empire. But because of the actions of one unscrupulous mercenary the rivals for the throne could soon be facing hundreds of dragons …Stephen Deas has written a fast moving and action-fuelled fantasy laced with irony, a razor sharp way with characters, dialogue to die for and dragons to die by.

The Review:

Unfortunately, this was a book I didn’t finish, which bums me out because I’d been looking forward to reading it since I first laid eyes on it. I don’t usually write reviews for the books I didn’t care for, preferring instead to focus on the recommend-worthy titles. I decided to make an exception in this case because I believe there are a few people out there who would enjoy this book a lot more than I did.

‘The Adamantine Palace” was difficult for me to walk away from, as the storyline was actually quite interesting – it kept me trying for about 100 pages. I liked the world, I liked the plot, and I liked the dragons. What I didn’t care for was the writing style. There were times where it was just underdeveloped enough that it read like a draft rather than a finished product. The dialogue was also a bit weak. Everybody spoke with the same voice and there was little variation in tone. It was unfortunate because it made interesting characters come across one-note.

I’ve been in the book business long enough to know that just because I don’t care for a title doesn’t mean others wont. If you might be one of those people, the digital world we live in makes it easy for you to find out. Just go to www.bn.com and download a digital sample. After reading the first few pages, you’ll know if it works for you or not.

Other dragon books you might like:

“Dragon Weather” by Lawrence Watt-Evans
“Joust” by Mercedes Lackey
“Dragon Champion” by E.E. Knight
“The Last Dragonlord” by Joanne Bertin
“Dragonflight” by Anne McCaffrey

by Niki Hawkes

Nov 13 2012

Coming Soon: Imager’s Battalion by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Title: Imager’s Battalion

Author: L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Series: Imager’s Portfolio #6

Release Date: January 22, 2013

Imagers are people who can envision something and make it real – an overall concept that sounds fascinating. Modesitt is a well-sustained author who tends to sit below my radar, as I found him a bit long-winded (I read “Soprano Sorceress” series). This new one intrigues me enough give him another try. Are there any Modesitt fans out there? Is this a series you consider worth reading?

Nov 12 2012

Niki’s Best Book Bulletin: Fantasy!

#1 Daughter of the Empire

Series: Kelewan Empire

Authors: Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

Told from the persepctive of a woman in the Tsurani homeworld of Kelewan, this is a brillaint expansion on a facinating peoples referred to in Feist’s Riftwar saga. I loved every moment, disappearing for two days as I devoured all three books in the trilogy. Everything from the characters to the highly memorable world-buidling had me hooked from start to finish. I loved them so much, that no book has managed to stack up since. Read full review

#2 Dragon Weather

Series: Obsidian Chronicles

Author: Lawrence Watt-Evans

You might recognize this from my Dragon Bulletin, as it’s still one of the best books I’ve read in the entire genre. Adrian was only 11 when a dragon destroyed his village, killing everyone but him. Left alone and defenseless, he is soon captured and sold into slavery, sent to work the mines of the Lord Dragon. As Adrian grows through the story, he seeks vengeance on those who wronged him. I have to say I loved every moment of this trilogy – so much so that I bought them in hardcover. Watt-Evans is an excellent writer. He has a way of drawing you in, making every moment is engaging and entertaining. Not only is it an amazing dragon book, it just plain good fantasy!

#4 Magician: Apprentice

Series: The Riftwar Saga

Author: Raymond E. Feist

This is a story about a young orphaned boy named Pug who is chosen as the apprentice to Master Kulgan, a magician. When invaders from another world threaten the kingdom, Pug finds himself swept up on an epic adventure that will take him to places he never could’ve imagined. As the long-time favorite of my family, “Magician: Apprentice” is the book that first inspired my love of the genre. I’ve gone through hundreds of books since then, and it is still one of the best novels I’ve ever read. It’s got all of the elements I loved about the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it is written in a much more vibrant and story-driven manner. I highly recommend it for both hard-core fantasy fans and those hoping to give the genre a try. You wont be disappointed. Read full review

#4 Heart of Myrial

Series: The Shadowleague

Author: Maggie Furey

Myrial is a world divided by magical walls, giving each species within it an isolated sanctuary. Dark powers have been unleashed in the land, and the worst is about to happen. Hurling towards apocalypse, the walls are beginning to crumble, and only a select few from a secret society of guardians can stop it. I have read so many fantasy books that, after a while, they all start to sound the same. What Furey does is give you dynamic and interesting characters, a unique and fascinating world, and a cleverly woven plot to make for one of the best books out there. Despite my best efforts, she is still relatively unheard-of, and that is a shame. Her novels rival and beat some of the most well-known books in the genre. I LOVED this trilogy.

#5 The Name of the Wind

Series: Kingkiller Chronicles

Author: Patrick Rothfuss

Kvothe is a young man with an impossible task: locating the men that killed his family – beings that supposedly don’t exist. In this seemingly never-ending search for justice, he manages to work his way to become the most notorious magician his world has ever seen. There is not a single thing I didn’t like about this book. In fact, the only reason it’s not higher on the list is that I’ve only just discovered it. The characters come alive, and are much more than words on a page, the story is beautifully written, bringing the story to life without being overdone, and the plot is one of the most well-woven that I’ve ever read. I am dying for the final book, that’s all I’m saying. Read full Review

#6 Joust

Series: Dragon Jousters

Author: Mercedes Lackey

Also a duplicate from my Dragon Bulletin, Vetch is a young slave who yearns to become a jouster – a warrior who rides a dragon into battle. Sold into a house of riders, he soon finds himself caring for the great beasts. It isn’t long before he gets the idea to raise one in secret… This is by-far my favorite Mercedes Lackey series, and she’s got a lot to choose from. Oddly, I love books that teach you things. After reading “Joust” I felt like I knew a lot more about how to care for and train dragons (useless knowledge, I realize, but filled with awesomeness nonetheless). This was one of the most fun books to read – I loved it!

#7 First Truth

Series: Truth

Author: Dawn Cook (aka Kim Harrison)

Despite her father’s best efforts, Alyssa didn’t believe in magic. Not even when it compelled her to journey to the Hold, a fortress hidden in the wilderness where students come to learn the craft. Finding it almost abandoned, Alyssa works with some trusted companions to save it from destruction and finds the courage to embrace her father’s legacy. I’ll be the first to admit that nothing particularily epic happens in this series, but that didn’t diminish my love for it in the least. The love story element has always been one of my favorites, but that’s not even the best part. There is such a momentum built up throughout the series that by the time I made it to the final book, I was up all night finding out what happens. Read full review

#8 Homeland

Series: Legend of Drizzt

Author: R.A. Salvatore

“Homeland’ is not just the first of an amazing trilogy, but is also the beginning of the brilliant “Legend of Drizzt” saga. A well-rounded prequel, it takes you deep into the kingdom of Menzoberranzan where dark elves rule with unabashed cruelty. Among them dwells Drizzt, an anomaly with honor and compassion who yearns for a different life. A tad slow to start, the story soon launches to become one of the most epic fantasy adventures in the genre. I’ve read this first trilogy several times, and find new things to appreciate about it each time I do. One of the best characters in fantasy history, Drizzt will always keep you wanting more! Read full review

#9 Wayfarer Redemption

Series: Wayfarer Redemption

Author: Sara Douglass

A heroic story about a woman who defies all odds to learn the true nature of her people. She unveils a secret in the process that might save the world from ultimate destruction at the hands of an evil lord and his terrifying ice demons. I’m still reeling from this series years later, and am biding my time until I can get back and read it again. So so memorable, and the characters and plot are amazing. It is such a well-rounded series that I think it deserves a lot more attention than it’s gotten. I would love to see this one made into a film.

#10 Kushiel’s Dart

Series: Kushiel’s Legacy

Author: Jacqueline Carey

Submission was never so powerful… following the story of Phedre no Delaunay, this book will take you on one heck of a adventure. Filled with intrigue, history, love, and passion, this is one of the most unique books you’ll ever read. I’ll be the first to admit that I hate politics, but reading about them in this format was actually quite entertaining. I remember tiny details about this book, and the characters really resonated with me. Definitely an excellent historical/romantic/fantasy fusion.

Honorable Mentions! (Because what book lover doesn’t experience turmoil when trying to narrow down their favorites?)

HM#1 Aware

Series: Isles of Glory

Author: Glenda Larke

Facing the struggles of a female half-breed, Blaze is the ultimate minority in this world. She is also an aware – a gifted person who senses magic. She uses this talent to hunt down dark sorcerers, hoping to earn a place in an unforgiving society. My favorite element of this series was the phenomenal world-building. I love the totoal escape Larke provides, and have found all of her works to be totally transporting. Because of this, she has become one of my all-time favorite authors! Her “Stormlord” series easily makes it into the top 20.

HM#2 Wizard’s First Rule

Series: Sword of Truth

Author: Terry Goodkind

This is a story about a young woodsman named Richard who journeys across the boundary separating his home from the magic-infested land beyond. Destined for a role which he’s not yet ready for, he relies on the wit and wisdom of his companions to help him defeat the evil Darken Rahl. The second and third time I read this book, even I had to admit it was a bit wordy. The first time around, I was so absorbed in the story that I didn’t notice or care – it was an incredibly gripping story. It also has my all-time favorite female character: Kahlen.

HM#3 Thief’s Gamble

Series: Tales of Einarinn

Author: Juliet E. McKenna

Searching for an important artifact, Livak is a young scholar who sets out with an almost-mage and a wizard to track them down. Faced with many obstacles to their quest, she takes a gamble that just might prove to be the worst decision she’s ever made… or best. I really appreciate the characters, the adventure, and the world-building in this series. McKenna takes you all over this land in a way that I found totally entertaining.

HM#4 Mistborn

Series: Mistborn

Author: Brandon Sanderson

In a world where metals are the source of power, an unlikely cast of miscreants just might have what it takes to save the world. One of the most excellent cast of characters in any fantasy novel I’ve read, each one was dynamic and interesting. To top that off, the magic system was also original, and the plot was a complex and fascinating culmination of events that I am still reeling from. Loved it!

These are my favorites, now what about YOU? What books make the top of your fantasy list?

by Niki Hawkes