Top 10 Books I've Read This Year...

Note, this will not be a list of books that came out this year, but just the ones I have read. Sometimes you have to live up to your last name (Powers) and pick up books at the The Iliad.

But without further ado, here is THE LIST

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10: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Book 1 of the Gentleman Bastards trilogy. Review: Hnnnng

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9: Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. Review: One of the best revenge stories I've ever read, all set in the same world as the First Law Trilogy. Read it. I'm sure Mr. Abercrombie would appreciate more book sales.

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8: A Dance With Dragons by George RR Martin. Review: Words are wind, but where do whores go?

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7: A Fortress In Shadow by Glen Cook. Includes: The Fire in His Hands and With Mercy Towards None. Review: I have a soft spot for Glen Cook. His works are, in a word, amazing. And I can definetly see the influences from him in the works of Steven Erikson. (The character of Mocker reminds me of Malazan's Kruppe, for instance). Incredibly underrated author. Buy

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6: Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C Esslemont. Review: While not the best Malazan has to offer, I really enjoyed this tale. I won't lie, the name Kyle threw me off for awhile. Not as much as Richard in the Sword of Truth series, but whatever.

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5: King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, Book 2 of the Broken Empire. Review: Jorg is back! With Vikings and Fire Mages and an ending that left me grinning like an idiot at work.

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4: War Machine by Andy Remic. Review: Yes, its silly. Yes, its over the top. Yes, its the equivelant of an 80's cheesy action movie. But, you know what? I like cheesy 80's action movies.

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3: Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, Book 1 of the Broken Empire. Review: Holy shit. (Yes, I know there are two Mark Lawrence books on here...)

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2: The Black Company by Glen Cook. Review: Fantastic Military Fantasy by the master. Here we are introduced to Croaker, Goblin, One-Eye, Raven, and the rest of the gang.

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1: Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson. Review: What can I say? This is one of the best books I've ever read. Period. Right after the Bonehunters, it has been my favorite Malazan book, as well. (Note: I still have yet to read Dust of Dreams and the Crippled God- its just that the used bookstore I go to never has a copy, and Barnes and Noble usually does not, either :() It's an emotional rollercoaster. Enjoy.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS:

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The Vacant Throne: Book Two of the Band of Four by Ed Greenwood.
Cities of the Dead by Michael Paine
Shadows Linger by Glen Cook
The Demon Awakens by RA Salvatore.
The Temptation of Elminster by Ed Greenwood
The White Rose by Glen Cook
Shadow Games by Glen Cook
Stonewielder by Ian C Esslemont

Shannara

This was the first fantasy novel I ever read. My Uncle had left it at my Grandmother's house after coming home to visit, and I managed to convince her to let my eleven year old self borrow it. I devoured it. I loved it. It consumed me. In sixth grade I wrote a 300-page scrawled story that was so reminiscent to it, it was cringeworthy. (300 pages in the font of a sixth-grade isn't really that long), it was the book that got me into the fanstasy genre. Shea, Flick, and of course... Allanon. The Druid. The mysterious stranger, the quest giver. The opposite of Brona, the Warlock War.
It was another year or two until my grandfather gifted me a tattered copy of the Lord of the Rings. I loved it, but still thought Sword was better. Sword was mine. I didn't care that it was a rehash of EVERY SINGLE PLOT POINT of Tolkien's work. It was mine. It was fantastic.

It was everything I was looking for at eleven.
Terry Brooks made Lord of the Rings accessible, he brought Fantasy into the mainstream. Sorta. I was the weird kid at school, constantly reading, I'm sure a lot of you can relate. I picked up Elfstones, then Wishsong. Plowed through the Heritage series. And stopped.
Why did I stop?
Well, there were no books left in the series at that time.
That was the only reason.
And I had discovered other fantasy novels by that time. Ed Greenwood, and his delightful Elminster: The Making of a Mage caught my attention. God, was that good when I was thirteen.
The nostalgia for the Shannara series is still strong. Heady with it, I read First King of Shannara, years after I had wanted to. The making of Brona. Bremen, Allanon's father (only not really), the forging of the Sword. I could go on a rant here about how Brooks made the original Sword of Truth here, and call a certain author out, but I won't, because his first novel was fairly decent.) I still need to read the later books, but I'm afraid they won't have the same magic, give the same feelings of warmth I had experienced as a child. Honestly, it would be weird if they did, though I don't blame Terry Brooks for that. I'm the one that grew up, the one who's tastes changed from the Sword style to more of the Black Company, Broken Empire, and Malazan tastes I have now.
In fantasy, Malazan is the steak, Shannara is the hot dog. I like a good steak, but a hot dog sometimes hits the spot. Especially with sauerkraut and good mustard.

Shadow Games: The Black Company Goes South

Just look at that beautiful cover.
Look at it.
Look.

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We seven remained at the crossroads, watching the dust from the eastern way.Even irrepressible One-Eye and Goblin were striken by the finality of the hour. Otto's horse whickered. He closed her nostrils with one hand, patted her neck with the other, quieting her. It was time for contemplation, the final emotional milemark of an era.

And so begins the fourth chronicle of the Black Company. Seven down from hundreds, a company in search of its past. Now, its no secret that this is one of my favorite series, followed by the Dread Empire for works by Cook. I'm going to try to resist gushing about this particular tome, and highlight some of the better parts.

Croaker, the unreliable narrator is now Captain of the Company, and good for him. Lady, the quasi-villain from the first three books is along for the ride. Otto. Hagpop. Goblin and One-Eye, the sorcerers. Murgen, the youngest guy in the Company at twenty eight. The last of the Company, which was shattered at the battle of the Tower of Charm. And the Barrowlands.

Lady muttered some very unladylike sniggen snagen riddly rodden racklesnatzes under her breath..

Croaker's fanfictions about the Lady finally become reality, so good for the old man.

I have to run to the bookstore to get the next one, since they're pretty hard to find in brick and mortar stores.
Do yourself a favor, and read this. Read them all. Cook is being shadowed by other heavy hitters, and that's sad, considering he's been consistently releasing great content for as long as I've been alive. (30-odd years).

The Omnibus collections are great. Get them. They have them at Barnes & Noble. Or go to the small, used book stores, like I do. The Iliad is my go-to, and if you live anywhere near Los Angeles, I highly recommend them.
Yay! Books!

An Introduction

Well met, have a seat. Oh. You're sitting. Good.
We are here to discuss fantasy. Novels. Short stories. Movies. Music. Art. Comics. Shows. And the like.

Still here? Good. I like your style.
So, let us continue.

This blog will contain reviews, rants (imagine that, on the internet of all places), exerpts, random pictures, and maybe, just maybe, snippets of my own work. But not much. Because it's not as good as the things I'll be reviewing. Probably.

I'm a big fan of the 'gritty' military side of fantasy, not that I shy away from the farm boy-becomes-hero-saves-world-from-dark-lord type stuff. My favorite series so far have been the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson, and the Black Company by Glen Cook. Both fantastic series.

So, here we go. To adventure. And stuff.