Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Roc; Original edition (April 3, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0451464494 Official Description: The power swelled inside me, burning, hurting, but I let it center me. Pain means I’m still here, fighting. I envisioned it swelling in my hand in a seething rush, gathering, gathering, and then I sent it […]
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (March 27, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007383 Official Description: For three years, Miranda Grey-Solomon has kept her role as Vampire Queen of the South separate from her Grammy-winning music career. But now, her dual lives are starting to collide, threatening everything Miranda and David, her Prime, […]
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Roc; Original edition (March 6, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0451464443 Official Description: Half-human/half-monster Cal Leandros knows that family is a pain. But now that pain belongs to his half-brother, Niko. Niko’s shady father is in town, and he needs a big favor. Even worse is the reunion being held […]
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 while I admit […]
A few years ago, Matt Dukes Jordan compiled Wierdo Deluxe to showcase today’s leading lowbrow and pop surrealist artists. With Weirdo Noir, he crawls into the cracks of the lowbrow genre to harvest some of the darker Gothic* works contained therein. Jordan’s introductory essay is a glimpse into the human obsession with what goes bump […]
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 mostly unsympathetic sociopathic […]
Mass 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 the possible […]
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 comes Whiter Teeth, […]
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 Death breathing down […]
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, Maddy has a […]
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 lives of those […]
Today on the Booze Nerd, I want to talk about another spirit that, like Absinthe, has an aura of mystery and myth surrounding it: mezcal. The first I heard about this “Mexican moonshine” was whispered promises of potency and the mystical visions that eating the worm at the bottom of the bottle would bring. Even […]
Last 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 and honor, […]
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 Seth’s true nature, […]
A good friend of mine here in Vermont, Blackwell Hird, has just launched his first kickstarter campaign to build and release a dedicated tablet game of interstellar war. He’s a recent graduate from the Vancouver Film School for Game design and after graduating, he’s been let down by the current offerings when it comes to […]
The Snow Queen’s Shadow, by Jim C. Hines, turns the fairy tale protagonists of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White into kick-ass heroines. Each princess draws her strength from a classic element of her original tale. Talia – Sleeping Beauty – is a deadly warrior who uses her fairy blessed reflexes and strength to combat […]
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 Dread Empire. Far […]
ShadowBytes is a new webcomic from Patrick Hester and Clifton Hill. New episodes appear every Tuesday and Thursdays on the Webcomic website.
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 in between. Each […]
DOCTOR WHO, the classic British scifi television series, recently celebrated 48 years since its first episode. I recently re-read Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who By The Women Who Love It and it got me thinking about what makes Doctor Who so special, and what makes MY Doctor Who experience into something […]
Airships! 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 owner. They […]
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