Share on Twitter The magic returns (or comes into being) to our technological modern day world is not a new idea in fantasy. Rachel Pollack’s Unquestionable Fire. The novels of Alyx Dellamonica. The roleplaying games Shadowrun and GURPS: Technomancer hypothesize what would happen if magic erupted into the modern world. Other novels and stories [...]
Share on Twitter When last we left Liam Kelly, the slow revelation of who and what he was had left him if not in a happy place, at least a relatively stable place. True, he had lost much in discovering his true heritage, lost his wife, lost friends, lost (or should we say, walked [...]
Share on TwitterMass Market Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: Roc; Original edition (April 3, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0451464486 Official Description: Allison Beckstrom’s talent for tracking spells has put her up against some of the darkest elements in the world of magic. But she’s never faced anything like this. Magic itself has been poisoned, and Allie’s [...]
Share on Twitter When I picked up American Gods by Neil Gaiman, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew only two things: 1.) It was cited as a genre classic and 2.) the podcast, Writing Excuses, mentioned a scene from the book where a god burned his fingers on a hot apple pie. And [...]
Share on Twitter I am going to start this review off on a note and structure rather different than other book reviews of mine you’ve read of mine at the Functional Nerds and say this right up front: Prince of Thorns, a debut fantasy novel by Mark Lawrence, is a contentious novel with a [...]
Share on TwitterMass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (February 28, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007294 Official Description: Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex’s own powers aren’t as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing [...]
Share on Twitter Thomas Marcinko’s new anthology, Astronauts and Heretics, treats the reader to seven highly entertaining and imaginative stories. The first story, Faith in a Higher Power, tells of a world where super powers are strictly regulated and many treat their ‘gifts’ as an addiction. Despite this, the tale is playful and upbeat. Next [...]
Share on Twitter Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (February 28, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007286 Official Description: All Calliope Reaper-Jones ever wanted out of life was a fabulous job in New York City and a really hot boyfriend. But now, she’s the brand-new President of Death, Inc. With the Board of [...]
Share on Twitter Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (February 28, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007332 Official Description: Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago’s dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Agent of Death Madeline Black’s exasperating boss wants her to figure out why. And while work is bad enough, [...]
Share on Twitter Orson Scott Card‘s second book in the Ender series, Speaker for the Dead, takes place years after humanity’s war against the alien ‘buggers.’ Ender Wiggins, the former child hero of the Bugger Wars, has spent twenty years traveling from world to world, speaking for the dead – telling the truth about the [...]
Share on TwitterLast May, I read The Winds of Khalakovo, and reviewed it here at the Functional Nerds. The Winds of Khalakovo is a secondary fantasy novel borrowing from cultures not usually invoked in fantasy–Tsarist Russia and ancient Persia. Throw in a pair of very different magic systems, very non standard cultural issues of duty [...]
Share on Twitter Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (March 27, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007375 Official Description: When homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis sees a photo of Seth Benjamin on a police bulletin, she knows that Heaven’s plan to halt Armageddon has gone terribly wrong. As the only mortal who knows of [...]
Share on Twitter Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Night Shade Books (January 10, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1597803294 Official Description: At long last, the conclusion to Glen Cook”s Dread Empire saga has arrived! King Bragi Ragnarson is a prisoner, shamed, nameless, and held captive by Lord Shih-kaa and the Empress Mist at the heart of the [...]
Share on Twitter Paperback: 480 pages Publisher: Prime Books (November 22, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 1607013045 Official Description: Lightspeed (www.lightspeedmagazine.com) is the critically-acclaimed, online science fiction magazine edited by bestselling anthologist John Joseph Adams. Lightspeed publishes all types of science fiction, from near-future, sociological soft sf, to far-future, star-spanning hard sf, and anything and everything [...]
Share on TwitterAirships! Secretive assassin-monks! Fanatic cults! The world at stake! Don’t let the airship on the dustjacket fool you, this isn’t your expected steampunk novel. Ash is pursuing an official vendetta. He is a member of the Roshun, a secretive order providing protection services through the use of living ‘seals’ that die with their [...]
Share on Twitter Paperback: 376 pages Publisher: Night Shade Books; First Edition edition (January 3, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1597803901 Official Description: Moby Dick meets Duel in John Love”s debut novel of Space Opera and Military Science Fiction! Faith is the name humanity has given to the unknown, seemingly invincible alien ship that has begun [...]
Share on Twitter Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: Night Shade Books (January 3, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1597803324 Official Description: Moon, once a solitary wanderer, has become consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud court. Together, they travel with their people on a pair of flying ships in hopes of finding a new home [...]
Share on Twitter Hardcover: 448 pages Publisher: Roc Hardcover; 1 edition (January 3, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0451464354 Official Description: Magiere and Leesil must rescue Wynn Hygeort from her captivity in the Guild of Sagecraft. But Wynn doesn’t want to give up access to the ancient scrolls that may help them locate the last of [...]
Share on Twitter Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Roc Hardcover (February 7, 2012) ISBN-10: 0451464370 Available: February 7, 2012 Official Description: Having survived Jehal’s betrayal, former Queen Zafir is determined to take back control of the kingdom. To that end, she seizes Jehal’s wife and son as hostages. Desperate to save his queen and his heir, [...]
Share on Twitter The Providence Rider by Robert McCammon Available: May 2012 ISBN: 978-1-59606-466-9 Length: 416 pages Publisher: Subterranean Press From the Subterranean Press website: The Providence Rider is the fourth standalone installment in the extraordinary series of historical thrillers featuring Matthew Corbett, professional problem solver. The narrative begins in the winter of 1703, with [...]
Share on Twitter Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages Publisher: Roc Trade; 1 edition (January 3, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0451464346 Official Description: Dante the necromancer is the most reviled man in Sabria, indicted by for crimes against the living and the dead. He salves bitterness with a magical puzzle – a desperate soldier’s dream of [...]
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