Book Received: Elementari Rising

On February 26, 2014, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Paperback: 374 pages Publisher: Pink Narcissus Press (September 17, 2013) ISBN-10: 1939056039 Official Description: Winter is a predator, taking villages one at a time, leaving the people either dead or half mad. For thousands of years, the Elementarí-spirits of the elements- have slept peacefully under the watchful eye of the Terakhein, a guardian tribe that […]

Book Review: The Dharma of Star Wars by Matthew Bortolin

On February 24, 2014, in Book Review, Cathy Russell, by Catherine Russell

The Dharma of Star Wars by Matthew Bortolin is a simple, fun introduction to the basic tenets of Buddhism. By using examples from the Star Wars saga, Bortolin illustrates how Buddhism addresses the cause of suffering, and how to transcend that suffering by cultivating mindfulness and recognizing our part in the greater whole of reality. […]

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Book Review: Raygun Chronicles – Space Opera for a New Age (anthology) edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

On January 20, 2014, in Book Review, Cathy Russell, by Catherine Russell

The anthology, Raygun Chronicles, from Every Day Publishing showcases many of the genre stories that were featured in the “short lived zine” called Raygun Revival. In the words of editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt, “the kinds of stories that made us fall in love with science fiction and space opera.” With an engaging introduction from the […]

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Book Review: A Guile of Dragons by James Enge

On January 15, 2014, in Book Review, Paul Weimer, by Paul Weimer

A Guile of Dragons starts at the very beginning of Morlock Ambrosius’s life, in King Arthur’s Court. A betrayal and capture winds up dragging the parents of Morlock, Merlin (*that* Merlin) and his pregnant mistress Nimue across the Sea of Worlds to the Wardlands, Merlin’s home plane. (A nice touch to Amber and Moorcock).  Our […]

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Book Review: Codex Born (Magic Ex Libris: Book Two) by Jim C. Hines

On November 20, 2013, in Book Review, Cathy Russell, by Catherine Russell

In Codex Born by Jim C. Hines, the hero and heroines from Libriomancer must face an old enemy in a powerful new form. When Johannes Gutenberg began mass printing books five hundred years ago, he made their inner magic accessible to certain people with magical abilities. Libriomancers, such as Gutenberg, could tap into the collective […]

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Outlining for NaNoWriMo, Part 1/3

On November 18, 2013, in Guest Post, by James Holder

As I write this, November draws nigh! Aspiring writers everywhere stock up on Starbucks gift cards, replacement keyboards, and that most renewable of resources, their own unrelenting anxiety about what to write for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. For the last few years, I’ve taken on the annual challenge of writing 50,000 words of […]

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Book Received: The One-Eyed Man

On October 3, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Tor Books; 1 edition (September 17, 2013) ISBN-10: 0765335441 Official Description: The colony world of Stittara is no ordinary planet. For the interstellar Unity of the Ceylesian Arm, Stittara is the primary source of anagathics: drugs that have more than doubled the human life span. But the ecological balance that makes […]

Episode 163 – With Douglas Lain

On October 1, 2013, in Uncategorized, by Patrick Hester

In the 163rd episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Douglas Lain, author of the new book, Billy Moon, out from TOR. About Douglas Lain: Lain is the producer and host of the weekly podcast Diet Soap, which features insightful guests discussing a wide range of topics, including philosophy, mysticism, […]

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Book Received: Billy Moon

On September 30, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (August 27, 2013) ISBN-10: 0765321726 Official Description: In Douglas Lain’s debut novel set during the turbulent year of 1968, Christopher Robin Milne, the inspiration for his father’s fictional creation, struggles to emerge from a manufactured life, in a story of hope and transcendence. Billy Moon was […]

Story Types

On September 27, 2013, in JT Evans, RP Nerd, by JT Evans

There are as many plots in role playing as there are in genre fiction. They all boil down to “man in conflict,” but there are many different flavors of “man” and an equally high number of flavors of “conflict.” If I were to attempt to describe every nuanced type of story available to role players, […]

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Book Review: Mary Robinette Kowal’s Shades of Milk and Honey

On September 25, 2013, in Book Review, Paul Weimer, by Paul Weimer

Mary Robinette Kowal’s Shades of Milk and Honey has been glibly described as “Jane Austen with Magic”. This shortchanges the depth of worldbuilding and characterization to be found in Kowal’s work. It captures a 19th century very much like our own with a depth that is recognizable to any author writing in or of the […]

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Book Received: Isaac Asimov’s I Robot: To Obey

On September 23, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Roc Hardcover (September 3, 2013) ISBN-10: 0451417313 Official Description: 2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 2036: Robotic technology has evolved into the realm of self-aware, sentient mechanical entities. But even as humanity contends with […]

Book Received: The Given Sacrifice: A Novel of the Change (Change Series)

On September 19, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Roc Hardcover (September 3, 2013) ISBN-10: 0451417313 Official Description: Rudi Mackenzie has won the battle that expelled the enemy from the new High Kingdom of Montival. Now he must free the people who live in the state once known as Idaho from occupation by the legions of the Church Universal and […]

Book Received: The Last President (A Novel of Daybreak)

On September 18, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Ace Hardcover (September 3, 2013) ISBN-10: 1937007154 Official Description: For more than a year, Heather O’Grainne and her small band of heroes, operating out of Pueblo, Colorado, have struggled to pull the United States back together after it shattered under the impact of the event known as Daybreak. Now they are […]

Book Received: Chosen (Alex Verus)

On September 16, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Ace (August 27, 2013) ISBN-10: 0425264920 Official Description: THE NEW ALEX VERUS NOVEL I don’t publicly advertise that I’m a mage, but I don’t exactly hide it either, and one of the odd things I’ve learnt over the years is just how much you can get away with if […]

Book Review: William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher

On September 13, 2013, in Book Review, Cathy Russell, by Catherine Russell

Ian Doescher’s new book, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, combines the grandeur and sweep of everyone’s favorite space opera with the linguistic style and formatting of the Bard’s greatest plays. References to both Shakespeare and the Star Wars saga have become so commonplace in popular culture that readers should have little trouble picking up at least […]

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Book Received: Perdition (The Dred Chronicles)

On September 12, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Ace (August 27, 2013) ISBN-10: 0425258114 Official Description: WELCOME TO HELL The prison ship Perdition, a floating city where the Conglomerate’s most dangerous criminals are confined for life, orbits endlessly around a barren asteroid. Life inside is even more bleak. Hailed as the Dread Queen, inmate Dresdemona “Dred” Devos […]

Book Received: Spirits From Beyond (A Ghost Finders Novel)

On September 11, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Ace (August 27, 2013) ISBN-10: 0425259935 Official Description: THE NEW GHOST FINDER NOVEL from the bestselling author of the Nightside and Secret Histories series… Meet the operatives of the Carnacki Institute—JC Chance: the team leader, brave, charming, and almost unbearably arrogant; Melody Chambers: the science geek who keeps the […]

Book Received: Pathfinder Tales: King of Chaos

On September 9, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Paizo Publishing, LLC. (September 10, 2013) ISBN-10: 1601255586 Official Description: After a century of imprisonment, demons have broken free of the wardstones surrounding the Worldwound. As fiends flood south into civilized lands, Count Varian Jeggare and his hellspawn bodyguard Radovan must search through the ruins of a fallen nation for the […]

Book Review: To the 5th Power by Shirin Dubbin

On September 6, 2013, in Book Review, Cathy Russell, by Catherine Russell

In Shirin Dubbin‘s To the 5th Power, Zola, formerly known as superhero Watcher, must face three villainous fans while coming to terms with her own psychological trauma and regret. Three years earlier, Zola had retreated from superhero life after witnessing the brutal murder of her sidekick. Though emotionally broken and vulnerable, she’s forced to face […]

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Book Received: Heaven’s Fall (Heaven’s Shadow)

On September 5, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: Ace Hardcover (August 6, 2013) ISBN-10: 0441020933 Official Description: Mankind’s first contact with extraterrestrial life led to an incredible revelation. Their last may lead them to extinction. Twenty years have passed since the mysterious Near-Earth Object nicknamed Keanu appeared in the night sky and transported an assortment of humans from all […]

Book Received: The Shadow of the Soul: The Forgotten Gods: Book Two (The Forgotten Gods Trilogy)

On September 4, 2013, in Books Received, by Patrick Hester

Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Ace Trade; Reprint edition (August 6, 2013) ISBN-10: 0425258483 Official Description: The author of the “diabolically clever”* A Matter of Blood returns with another gritty supernatural thriller featuring hard-boiled homicide detective Cass Jones… A devastating terrorist attack has crippled London. To find a perpetrator who is more than human, Special Branch […]

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