This post is from the Archive and originally appeared on March 4, 2008 as part of a compilation.

An SFFWorld Favorite for 2007, Renegade's Magic concludes the story of Nevare Burvelle who is fated to become a Soldier Son in his king's army. Life takes some unexpected turns, however, as Nevare is called to a different destiny. Drawn by magic to the frontier, where his king is waging war against the Specks, Nevare finally succumbs to the forces taken control of him and, instead of fighting his king's enemies, he joins them. Thus begins Renegade's Magic.

Renegade's Magic is a continuation in excellence--excellent storytelling, excellent prose, excellent characters. Hobb has created a world that transcends the classic good vs. evil model, where everyone has the potential for either. If there is any weakness at all in this trilogy it's that, in the end, no one is really "evil". Characters may do despicable things, but, once we understand their vi... [More]

This post is from the Archive and originally appeared on March 4, 2008 as part of a compilation.

Forest Mage is the second novel in Robin Hobb's Soldier Son Trilogy. Other books in the series include Shaman's Crossing and Renegade's Magic.

The cover for this book is important because, more than any other cover I've seen for this series, this cover symbolizes what the Soldier Son Trilogy is all about. You have a man--a cavalry soldier--sword drawn, facing the mists of the forest and the ominous mountains beyond. There is fire, carnage, and an overwhelming feeling that something is out there. Is it coming? Is it waiting for our cavalryman's charge? We don't know, but clearly the man senses the danger he's in else his sword would not be drawn.

The soldier, of course, represents Nevare. I say "represents" because Nevare never becomes that man--that soldier--shown on the cover. Something happens to him, something that was begun in... [More]

This post is from the Archive and originally appeared on March 4, 2008 as part of a compilation.

Shaman's Crossing is the first novel in Robin Hobb's Soldier Son Trilogy. Other books in the series include Forest Mage and Renegade's Magic.

Shaman's Crossing is where we are introduced to our hero, Nevare Burvelle, second son of a second son, fated because of his birth order to become a soldier in his king's cavalla (cavalry). Much of this novel deals with Nevare's childhood: how his father initiates him into his birth-fate, begins to meld him into the man he must one day become, and, finally, sends him off to the King's Academy where he will learn the business of soldiering. Along the way, Nevare becomes entangled in a web that neither he nor the reader will fully understand until events unfold in Renegade's Magic.

I found Shaman's Crossing fully engaging. Many others did not agree with me. Nevare's early years on his family's ... [More]

I received Murder in the Boughs by Jamie Sedgwick from the author via a GoodReads giveaway. Murder in the Boughs is a standalone novel and, unfortunately from what I could tell, the only "Hank Mossberg, Private Ogre" novel Mr. Sedgwick has written. Mr. Sedgwick has a number of other novels to choose from, however, many of which have caught my eye and found their way onto my Amazon Wish List.

Murder in the Boughs is a detective novel of the hard-boiled variety. Hank Mossberg is Sedgwick's Mike Hammer or Phillip Marlowe (my personal favorite), except for the fact that he's an ogre who walks a line between the "real" world and the hidden one, where fae exist. The fae of Sedgwick's world are more human-like than you might expect, though. They are thugs, hitmen, crime bosses, nurses, policemen, drug pushers (and abusers), and, of course, detectives.

Hank Mossberg is unique in more ways than one. Not only is he the last of his kind, but he's also the Steward, a position ... [More]

I think everyone who loves books has an inaugural series in their background that opened their eyes to a wider world of reading possibilities. For me, that series was Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain. If you want to read a quick history of Lloyd Alexander, check out this post. It's nicely done.

I've had this series on my re-read list for a long time now. At one point, I owned all five books in the series; somewhere between the age of 10 (when the editions I own were published and presumably about when I first read them) and 40 (my current age), 2 of those books were lost. I still have books 3, 4, 5, and remedied the missing novels with a couple of quick purchases from Amazon's used book section.

I don't know if I'll post formal reviews of each book; I've slowed my reviewing so I can focus on other things. But I might post some thoughts once I'm done with the series. The difficult thing about re-reading such a formative work is that my e... [More]

I'm taking LibraryThing's 50 Book Reading Challenge for 2010. This is my 41st read of the 50.

Honour of the Grave by Robin Laws is another book that didn't do it for me. Unlike the last couple of books that I gave up on fairly early on, though, this one had me until one of the characters did something that I felt was completely out of character. Unfortunately, this event was jarring enough that I had to put this one down.

This novel is part of the Warhammer series of novels. I haven't read enough of them to know what order this might fit into or if there is any order to them at all, but the novel seems to stand alone. This is actually the second Warhammer novel I've reviewed.

So where did Honour of the Grave go wrong? It's when Angelika, who is a grave robber by trade, betrays her very nature by saving a young noble whom she knows will be killed once she hands him over to his rival brothers. Rather than taking the bounty, leaving the lad to his f... [More]

Now that I own an eReader and thus a viable way to read eBooks without having to print them, I plan to read and review each of the featured Tor.com giveaways. This is the 13th of those reviews.

I'm taking LibraryThing's 50 Book Reading Challenge for 2010. This is my 40th read of the 50.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about Starfish by Peter Watts just didn't do it for me. Perhaps it was the flat characters. Or the proliferation of dialog with little descriptive text or explanation as to what's going on. Or maybe it was the droll story development. Whatever the case, I didn't get very far in when I started to feel thoroughly unenthused about going on. I've found through personal experience that when I'm not excited about reading a book that it then becomes a chore or requirement that I continue reading. In my younger days I would accept this but soldier on anyway. Nowadays, my time is too valuable; there are too many good books out there to spend time on one I have to fo... [More]