Just want to take a moment to remind you that Author, Friend, Guardian of Brooks Books and all-around hard worker Shawn Speakman has a brand new book Just want to take a moment to remind you that Author, Friend, Guardian of Brooks Books and all-around hard worker Shawn Speakman has a brand new book coming out January 25th. Having read it myself, I feel confident in suggesting you might be sorry to miss out on a first rate reading experience. THE TEMPERED STEEL OF ANTIQUITY GREY publishes later this month following many good reviews and reading experience, so if you need yet another fantasy to get through this winter, here is your chance to experience a good read. Giving a loud shout-out to Shawn!! -- Terry...more
Even though I am touching on familiar territory here, I want to recommend Lev Grossman’s fantasy trilogy - The Magicians, The Magician King and The MaEven though I am touching on familiar territory here, I want to recommend Lev Grossman’s fantasy trilogy - The Magicians, The Magician King and The Magician’s Land. This is very adult stuff and not for younger readers, but from mid teens upwards, it’s fine. It is such a well constructed and well written story I cannot say enough good things about it. As stories go, I admire this one greatly. It is one of those rare cases when I can say that this is a set of books I wish I had written. You would do well to give it a try....more
This month I am recommending the entire Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy which includes the aforementioned, Days of Blood and Starlight and Dreams oThis month I am recommending the entire Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy which includes the aforementioned, Days of Blood and Starlight and Dreams of Gods and Monsters. Been reading these books since they first started publishing. Laini Taylor is the author, and I knew about her from earlier work, but this is in my opinion the best storytelling she has done. Each book is a complex, captivating read. She is one of many young women writing fantasy, but for my money one of the two or three best out there. These are big books, so they require time and patience. But the effort is worth every minute you put into it. I look forward to whatever she writes next. ...more
I am tempted to suggest John Greene, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking For Alaska, two really wonderful YA books, but I am going to recommeI am tempted to suggest John Greene, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking For Alaska, two really wonderful YA books, but I am going to recommend Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, instead. This YA story of two very different teens who are brought together through riding to school each morning and other misadventures did a fabulous job of capturing teen life with all its angst and uncertainty. I loved this book, and at the end it made me cry. Books do that now and then, and I always think it’s a good thing when it happens. Shows you the author touched you in a way that made you care about the characters. This is not a fantasy; it is real life. But, gosh, how it brought back my own nerdy teen years and how perfectly told it felt....more
I’m not sure if I’ve recommended this author before or not, but the book I want to recommend this month is THE CONFABULIST by Steven Galloway. The firI’m not sure if I’ve recommended this author before or not, but the book I want to recommend this month is THE CONFABULIST by Steven Galloway. The first of his books I read was ASCENSION, and it had one of the most riveting opening chapters I have ever read. This new book is about the magician Houdini and the man who killed him. It is a twisted puzzler wrapped around the lives of the two man and many others, a love story for each, and the ways in which we view life when we want to remake it. This kept me reading all the way through. It does not have an opening chapter of the same power as ASCENSION, but the close will make you think twice about what you thought this book was about....more
This month's book recommendation: RAILSEA by China Mieville. Here is a truly original writer, someone who takes sentences and reinvents them. I love hThis month's book recommendation: RAILSEA by China Mieville. Here is a truly original writer, someone who takes sentences and reinvents them. I love how he says things. You have to focus because if you don't pay attention you will miss what he is getting at. But this mostly YA book is a retelling of MOBY DICK, and it is a resounding success. I just loved it. I've been a China fan since reading KRAKEN and CITY AND THE CITY among others. He can be a tough read, but no one ever said that good books were for sissies....more
This month's book recommendation is The Martian by Andy Weir. We read this book for our old booksellers and authors book club, and Judine and I were uThis month's book recommendation is The Martian by Andy Weir. We read this book for our old booksellers and authors book club, and Judine and I were unable to attend. This is the astronaut stranded on Mars story, a familiar concept to those of us who grew up in the 40s and 50s at the dawn of science fiction. But that does not mean you shouldn't read it. Indeed, you should. It was an exciting, insightful science based tale of how someone abandoned as dead could possibly live in such an inhospitable climate and survive. At times, it was a little over the top. At times, I got bogged down - or maybe buried - by all the scientific explanations for things. Even so, it kept me turning the pages to see what ingenious solution our hero would concoct to survive yet another impossible dilemma. Andy has a real life background in science and space, and a passion for his subject, so he gets the job done and done well. Give it a try. He's a first time author, and I want to see what he comes up with next....more
My recommendation this month goes to Jeff Vandermeer's "Annihilation." This is a book about a doomed expedition following on the heels of other expediMy recommendation this month goes to Jeff Vandermeer's "Annihilation." This is a book about a doomed expedition following on the heels of other expeditions into country that has proven to be all but impenetrable and which appears to change those who go into it. The writing is first rate. At times I was reminded of Ursula LeGuin. The author has that uncanny ability to see an issue from more than one side and to make a story that has little actual violence into a a thrilling page turner. This is the first in a trilogy, and the next comes out in May. Better get on this one before it does....more
This is odd for me, but I am going to recommend a book that isn't even out yet.
I read the ARC, and I was captivated enough to want to alert you to itsThis is odd for me, but I am going to recommend a book that isn't even out yet.
I read the ARC, and I was captivated enough to want to alert you to its publishing date in January 2014. The books is Red Rising by Pierce Brown. This is a first book by a new author. It has hints of Harry Potter and Hunger Games, but it is its own animal. And it is not YA. The writing is excellent and the story is better. This is one terrific fantasy book, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It is hard to tell you the plot other than to say it is about the oppressed overcoming the oppresser, about one man's quest for vengence leading him to a surprising resolution. Give it a try when it surfaces....more
Many of you may remember a movie called Winter's Bone, if only for the fact that it was Jennifer Lawrence's first big role. What you might not know isMany of you may remember a movie called Winter's Bone, if only for the fact that it was Jennifer Lawrence's first big role. What you might not know is that first it was a book by a writer named Daniel Woodrell. His latest book, just out, is called The Maid's Version. It is a story that centers on an explosion and fire at a dance hall that killed more than forty people and still resonates in the history of the town. The person responsible was never caught - but was perhaps known. A mystery, a series of character studies, an examination of a pivotal point in a history, the book is a wonder. I love Woodrell's language and his ability to reveal character. His story takes place in deeply rural country and he gets the feel of it just right. I like all his work, but I was moved by this latest....more
My book recommendation for this month is not "a" book recommendation, but a body of work. Like many writers, I want to pay tribute to Elmore Leonard, My book recommendation for this month is not "a" book recommendation, but a body of work. Like many writers, I want to pay tribute to Elmore Leonard, who recently passed away. He was for me the quintessential writer of quirky, engaging and thoroughly believable dialogue. When reading his books, I never much paid attention to the plots because I was too engaged in his characters. You got to know them in the course of a book, and you wanted to spend time with them. Even most bizarre, troublesome and sometimes evil characters were compelling enough that you wanted to know more. Never a wasted word, never a slow space in the telling of his books, he was one of a kind. I will miss him greatly. I recommend any of his books from his early westerns like Valez Is Coming and Hombre to his Raylan Givens novels in the present. If you've never read one, give him a try. If you had, read one anyway, if only to remember how good he was....more
My book recommendation for this month is Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain. This book is on everyone's short list for awards, and it desMy book recommendation for this month is Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain. This book is on everyone's short list for awards, and it deserves to be. Billy is a very young Iraqi war veteran home with member of his squad on a promotional tour following a horrific firefight in which a number of terrorists were killed. How Billy sees himself, his buddies and the larger world - both inside and outside of the way in which he has fought - will linger in your memory long after the book is finished. It is one of the best books I have ever read about the effects of war on combatants. It is wry, funny, sad and insightful. You cannot help but be moved by what you read....more
I'll give a shout out to James Dashner and his Maze Runner trilogy. This is young adult, but fantasy adventure of the highest order. Very exciting, veI'll give a shout out to James Dashner and his Maze Runner trilogy. This is young adult, but fantasy adventure of the highest order. Very exciting, very fast moving. There is a prequel and he has gone on to begin another series, but I'm not there yet. Try the first in the series - Maze Runner. His fully realized world of entrapment of kids is scary stuff....more
I am recommending a book by John Connelly, one of my favorite thriller writers. But this book is not of that series or even that ilk. It is a fantasy I am recommending a book by John Connelly, one of my favorite thriller writers. But this book is not of that series or even that ilk. It is a fantasy for young adults, except it is really for everyone in the way all good fairytale books are. The title is THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS. It is about a boy whose own life resembles a fairytale story and whose adventures involve retelling and re-imagining a whole raft of familiar fairytales. Because Connelly is such a good writer, the story draws you right in and holds you captive in the telling. But his imagination is hard at work, and you will be turning the pages to see what is going to happen next. Witches, knights, beasts of all kinds, Kings and Queens, and the book of lost things itself will move you in unexpected ways....more
How about a genuine treasure from out of the past. I just had the pleasure of meeting Ursula LeGuin at Get Lit (never had the chance before, oddly enoHow about a genuine treasure from out of the past. I just had the pleasure of meeting Ursula LeGuin at Get Lit (never had the chance before, oddly enough) and I was reminded how much I loved THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS. This is a thinking man's (and woman's) tale of political intrigue, treachery and duplicity. It makes you think in a way few stories do these days. The writing is deft and carefully constructed, and by the time you reach the end of the story you are genuinely moved by what has happened to the characters. I love everything she did, particularly in her early years, but this remains my favorite....more
This month I am recommending both PRINCE OF THORNS and KING OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence. They are two of three, with the third not yet published. I havThis month I am recommending both PRINCE OF THORNS and KING OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence. They are two of three, with the third not yet published. I have read the first and am halfway through the second. As a fantasy tale, Prince Jorg Ancraft's story is quite extraordinary. It begins when he is 13 and already a stone cold killer with a horrific past. This is a dangerous and risky protagonist for any author to put forth, but Lawrence does it with verve and confidence. It is like a train wreck from which you cannot look away. This is a story that you cannot put down. Every time I said to myself - and it was often - "Oh, he's not going to go there" or "he's not really going to do that," he did. A hard-edge tale of survival and conquest in a brutal medieval world well told and very compelling, it is different than anything I have ever read....more
This month I am recommending both PRINCE OF THORNS and KING OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence. They are two of three, with the third not yet published. I havThis month I am recommending both PRINCE OF THORNS and KING OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence. They are two of three, with the third not yet published. I have read the first and am halfway through the second. As a fantasy tale, Prince Jorg Ancraft's story is quite extraordinary. It begins when he is 13 and already a stone cold killer with a horrific past. This is a dangerous and risky protagonist for any author to put forth, but Lawrence does it with verve and confidence. It is like a train wreck from which you cannot look away. This is a story that you cannot put down. Every time I said to myself - and it was often - "Oh, he's not going to go there" or "he's not really going to do that," he did. A hard-edge tale of survival and conquest in a brutal medieval world well told and very compelling, it is different than anything I have ever read....more
This month, I am recommending Passenger by Andrew Smith, the sequel to The Marbury Lens, a book I read and loved a few years back.
Passenger is a hardThis month, I am recommending Passenger by Andrew Smith, the sequel to The Marbury Lens, a book I read and loved a few years back.
Passenger is a hard-edge young adult effort (which really doesn't feel very young adult at all, if you get past the fact that the main characters are kids) about a strange artifact that allows Jack, Conner, Ben and Griffin to shift from this world into the very terrifying alternative world of Marbury. It is grim and chilling, and the boys are constantly fighting for their lives and from some little understanding about Marbury and how everything seems to keep shifting.
I don't want to tell you much more about it; you should just read it and find out for yourselves. There is hard language and grown-up themes involved, if that is a problem for you, but the story is first rate. Smith reminds me a little in the form of his first person narrative of another young adult author I have recommended - Kevin Brooks (no relation)....more
Because I am swamped with finishing my next Shannara book (for 2014) and reading the galley proofs for Witch Wraith, I have not read a whole slew of fBecause I am swamped with finishing my next Shannara book (for 2014) and reading the galley proofs for Witch Wraith, I have not read a whole slew of fantasy books, both adult and young adult, that I am anxious to get to. Also, I am holding off on Shawn until I can get a running start! (Just kidding - I will review his book THE DARK THORN next month or the one after).
So let me recommend Jo Nesbo to you. Any of his books are wonderful, but I just finished The Leopard (probably #8 or so in his series), so I will comment on that. His books feature Harry Hole (pronounced 'Huule') as an inspector in a fictional Norwegian police force. Harry drinks too much and broods constantly, but he is a specialist on serial killers and is constantly being dragged back into new cases even when he wants out. His personal life is a mess, too. But the writing is first rate, the stories compelling, and the plot twists always catch me off guard. You might think about trying one. The Red Breast is the first in the set, but they can be read out of order....more
My book this time around is Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. Yellow Birds has been on everyone's best books of 2012 reading list, and it deserves to be. My book this time around is Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. Yellow Birds has been on everyone's best books of 2012 reading list, and it deserves to be. A riveting story of life in the ground war in Iraq, it details the lives of Bartlett, the narrator, and a soldier named Murph, whose mother has made Bartlett promise to bring her son home safe. It gives a clear, nerve-jangling picture of combat in a land where the goals and the enemy both are elusive. It is short; you can read it in one sitting. But you won't soon forget it....more
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