Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Greg Hersom


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The Curse of the Mistwraith: Astounding depth

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

The Curse of the Mistwraith took me completely by surprise. Based on (obviously mistaken) assumptions, I expected something completely different — epic fantasy, yes, but nothing even close to the gorgeous prose and astounding depth I found in this novel.

The plot of this story is hard to summarize, partly because there are so many twists and turns that it’s almost impossible not to run into spoiler territory very quickly. Two half-brothers, Arithon and Lysaer, are on opposite sides of a conflict that spans generations.


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Norse Code: Greg van Eekhout’s debut is impressive!

Norse Code by Greg van Eekhout

Stop. Look closely. Look beyond the typically stylish urban fantasy cover (the one with the nicely built young woman holding her weapon of choice with an air of defiant competence). Look beyond the title that’s both serious and punny. Inside, through pages inked with the shadows of ravens, you’ll watch the long-foretold cataclysm of Ragnarok as it rolls in a relentless wave from the dry, gray plains of Hel to… the dry, black asphalt of a California parking lot. And if you’re partial to Norse mythology or urban tales driven by fascinating characters and laser-crisp writing,


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The Stormcaller: Time and effort required, but strikes a primal chord

The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd

The Land is a world where Gods rule supreme. The time of the prophecies has come and old rebellions against the gods have resurfaced, including conflicts with nature itself. The tribes of man, and other species, must scramble and conspire to be on the winning side. Into this dark time, a white-eye (a god-created superhuman) named Isak has ascended and he may be mankind’s last hope or final doom.

For a relatively small page-count, there are way too many characters to keep up with. I realize that many were only introduced to play a bigger role in the following books but I’m afraid I’ll probably forget them by then.


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Blood of Ambrose: Seamlessly blends epic fantasy and sword & sorcery

Blood of Ambrose by James Enge

“The King was screaming in the throne room when the Protector’s Men arrived” — and with good reason. The King, Lathmar, is about twelve years old when his “Protector,” Urdhven, decides to seize the throne. Urdhven captures Lathmar and his many-times-great-grandmother, Ambrosia Viviana (a daughter of Merlin — apparently the Merlin of Arthurian legend — who’s therefore exceptionally long-lived), but not before they send word to Ambrosia’s brother, the infamous Morlock Ambrosius. Together, Lathmar, Ambrosia, Morlock, and Morlock’s dwarven apprentice plot and battle to preserve Lathmar’s rule,


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Matthias Thulmann: Witch Hunter

Matthias Thulmann: Witch Hunter by C.L. Werner

I’m not into RPG’s. So I’m not always comfortable with an RPG-based book. But I’ve been to Warhammer’s Old World before — I‘ve read Fell Cargo, and a couple of Dark Blade books. And I do like the main concept of  the Warhammer storyline — a medieval world on the brink of apocalypse where a dark empire, ruled by the descendant of a god, is mankind’s only hope against the hordes of Chaos.


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Midwinter: Strange hodgepodge

Midwinter by Matthew Sturges

I was attracted to Midwinter because of the gorgeous cover art (by Chris McGrath) and the publisher’s blurb. This sounds like my kind of story. Unfortunately, this novel didn’t deliver what I was looking for, but it had so much potential that I hold out hope for future efforts from Matthew Sturges.

Midwinter starts out well. The prose is pleasant — perfectly readable and without any pretensions. Usually this is the first place an author will lose me,


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The Fires of Heaven: Amazingly little happens

The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan

For being such a long book (nearly 1000 pages in my trade paperback copy), amazingly little happens in The Fires of Heaven, and this is why so many readers have abandoned this otherwise interesting story. Approximately the first third of the novel contains so much recap and repetition that, if I’d had “my hair in a proper braid,” I would have been yanking it as often as Nynaeve does.

The formula for the first 100 pages or so goes something like this:  One or two lines of dialogue,


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Last Argument of Kings: No redemption

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

Say one thing for Kat Hooper, say she’s a weak-minded sucker.

She really enjoyed the first two books of Joe Abercrombie’s THE FIRST LAW trilogy. This story was original, had a unique style, fascinating characters, and a darkly cynical vibe. She liked it. It was fresh. But she was kind of hoping, even daring to expect, that the last book, Last Argument of Kings (2007), might have an ending that was, if not perhaps exactly happy, at least somewhat satisfying.


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The Way of Shadows: Still in the rough draft stage

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

In the back-alley slums of Cenaria, a guild rat named Azoth hopes to survive by becoming the apprentice of Durzo Blint, who is the best of the wetboys — the most elite of assassins. To do this he must unquestioningly follow Durzo’s every command, accept that life — anyone’s life — is worthless, and forget everyone he knew in his old life. He must become Kylar Stern: gentleman by day, stone-cold killer by night. Though Azoth doesn’t know it, as Kylar he is destined for much bigger things.


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The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure

The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure

I read and have read a lot of anthologies. They’re great for “in-between-books-reading” and are perfect when you just want a story that you can start and finish in one sitting. Anthologies are also a great source for sampling different writers.

Jason M Waltz did a great job of picking out the stories to use for The Return of the Sword. Except for only one or two stories (even the ones that weren’t particularly something to my personal taste) I found these to be very well and interestingly written.


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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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