"The Blood King" by Gail Z. Martin

Author: Gail Z. Martin
Title: "The Blood King"
Pages: 624
Publisher: Solaris
Misc: Gail's Blog

Around the blogosphere people encounter posts about books reviewers couldn’t finish at all, couldn’t get into at all or almost could have burned them. All of this leading to negative reviews. Now I am somewhere halfway to this predicament. “The Blood King”, the second installment in the Necromancer Chronicles by Gail Z. Martin, left me with controversial perceptions in spite of my efforts to enjoy the concepts I have been eager to see developed in the genre.

“The Blood King” follows the cast from “The Necromancer” in their preparations and obstacles along their mission to prevent the rise of the Obsidian King, which equals the Christian apocalypse. Martris Drake has limited time before the Hawthorne Moon to rediscover the lessons in magic taught by his grandmother and prevent the Obsidian King from rising. In order to show himself worthy he is to pass numerous tests provided by the Sisterhood, which decided to drop neutrality. However nothing goes smoothly or according to plan since Foor Arontala has infiltrated the Sisterhood, the Blood Council and Principality Court. Traps and assassinations ensue, but those don’t deter the heroes from building a resistance from inside Margolan and gather allies from the living, dead and undead.

As promised by Martin, “The Blood King” picks up the pace dramatically in comparison with “The Necromancer”. Scenery and situations change from page to page and involve monster infested rivers, rescue missions in enemy territory, magical warfare and sieges, ambushes, spells gone wrong, boat villages and a brothel. Each hurdle brings a new piece of the world such as the new breed of enemy soldiers deprived of their humanity and turned into berserk killing machines; the elemental spirits used as an offensive weapon; the history of the Blood Council, the organization in charge of the vayash moru. So far the influence of sword & sorcery is very heavy, but Martin pulls a great world building feat with explanations and celebrations of the Godess’ aspects in geographical terms. Among all of this abundance the readers are offered the background stories of Ban Soterius and Carroway the Bard, who so far have been away from the limelight.

So where is the problem, if everything is great? And my answer is the characters, the number of characters involved in the story to be correct. From my interaction with avid readers, reviewers and authors so far, the majority of readers pay attention to characters. And fabrication of people from scratch with their background, beliefs, faults, regrets, virtues and talents is a responsible and difficult task. As far as my experience goes, most books I have read went for smaller roisters. Martin on the other hand features a core cast of nine major characters and a number of around twenty something minor or episodic characters. Although there is nothing wrong with this, the ladder has been lifted higher and the possibilities to go wrong are greater than with a smaller cast. Juggling view points, telling a story involving a lot of participants and at the same breathing in these characters life is hard to coordinate and in my opinion deserve a lot more pages.

The idea behind The Necromancer Chronicles is to create illustrate a story so grand, unseen and out of proportion in the traditional fantasy genre. However the results are rather less impressive. Martin doesn’t want to leave any character unexplored and amidst all this switching from viewpoint to viewpoint I feel like only the surface has been scratched, when so much more can be extracted from the initial idea. The changes, growth and evolution that should seep in with time in their actions have to be pointed out during the dynamics of the story. The same goes to their past. I enjoy, when clues of who they were and what they conceal, are placed along the way. Something space didn’t allow. It’s a real shame, because Martin has much to offer with her project. However I understand the need to fit into a number of novels, set by her contract. Otherwise I would have loved to see her ideas develop into a massive saga in great details on everything.

So yes, now you understand , why I feel clueless on how to label the novel. For me it was a bittersweet, controversial experience.

Top 10 Sexiest Vampires + More!

So, while I have been tweaking mind altering questions for possible interviews, I received a very interesting e-mail from AskMen.com about top ten of the sexiest vampires ever to air on the big screen. I had no clue there were so many blood sucking seductresses around, if you had no idea either then enlighten yourself via this link: TOP 10 SEXIEST VAMPIRES EVER. (Credit goes as promised to AskMen.com! Thank you Johnny! Been a pleasure.)

In other worldwide news concerning the publishing world:

The unstoppable writing machine Richelle Mead knows how to entertain her fans and still manage to make them think, spoil them and have a laugh. This is demonstrated through her newest contest. Go and take a look.

Stacia Kane has no shame into showing edited scenes, which haven’t been polished to perfection. If you have no clue how a novel is doing in the middle stages, then make a stop. So far she is up to installment SIX.

Last but not least, newly contracted by none other but Miriam Kriss herself, the urban fantasy dream maker, Karen Mahoney has landed her first professional writing gig with a short story feautured in the new “Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance”.

"Claimed by Shadow" by Karen Chance

Title: "Claimed by Shadow"
Author: Karen Chance
Pages: 374
Publisher: Roc

“Claimed by Shadow” by Karen Chance is by far one of the strongest titles in the urban fantasy genre or perhaps the paranormal romance. I didn’t quite catch how people labeled the Cassandra Palmer series. To include a synopsis for a novel, whose pace threatens to break the sound barrier, is a bit of a challenge. The innocent 374 pages long novel manages to pull off a marathon through all kinds of hellish situations and sceneries such as Las Vegas casino under siege, magical tattoo parlor, 19^th century England and a different realm.

“Touch the Dark”, first installment in the series, left Cassandra on the hunt for Antonio, the vampire, who raised her in his court. Unfortunately she is on the run from the American Vampire Senate itself; the Circle (mages organization) and Rasputin, who has coupled with the homicidal and careerist clairvoyant Myra. In between maneuvering around these fractions to stay alive and get the information she needs, Cassandra has to deal with the power of the Pythia, which acts on its own sending her back through time. On her list are included dealing with her ghost in a necklace Billy, convincing bounty hunter mage Pritkin she is not evil and babysitting ancient Greek demigods.

I personally don’t mind dynamics and diversity in sense of speedy changes in situations, introductions of new characters, ideas, magic and mythology. However the tricky thing to vacuum so much action in one book no matter the length is that it can backfire. My main issue was that I couldn’t quite follow the line of thought after I have paused for the day. There is too much happening to remember it all, no matter how thrilling and ingenious it was. The next problem appears actually getting tired from reading. Cassandra Palmer goes through several days on the run and around the middle, when another monster decides to attack her, I really started asking myself how is it plausible for Cassandra to physically operate. Good thing Karen Chance caught on the same issue as well and knocked her out along the way, while Cassandra admitted that her body was not functioning properly.

But getting around those problems is easy and beyond that we see the greatness of Chance’s work. The angle I enjoyed most so far has been the constant exposure to the paranormal world and every page brings a new creature, spell or myth to the pile. Every author can do it, true, but Chance adds her own flavor to what she includes from the world culture. I particularly enjoyed her portrayal of the incubus, which doesn’t actually own a body of its own, but has to possess a human body with natural charms. Then again come my favorites for this book, the Graeae – the three old women with one eye and tooth shared between themselves in Greek mythology, who protected Medusa’s island. Quite the cast of celebrities also airs in this novel starting with Rasputin, Vlad Dracula, Bram Stoker and a hint that perhaps Merlin will make an appearance in next installments.

Karen Chance has gathered the best from Greek, Norse mythologies, the stories told during the Middle Ages and even modern myths. Cassandra has her hands on an arsenal of weapons, which catch the reader’s attention and leave him/her imagining what the possibilities for mass destruction might be. I know I have. The spotlight however is taken by the Pythia’s power, the most potent clairvoyant gift. As it happens the gift chooses its next inline initiate and Cassandra happens to be it. I am thrilled with what Chance has done with such a passive power such as clairvoyance, giving it importance, hiercharchy, which dates back to the Delphi oracles.

All in all, you won’t make a mistake with this series and every book gets better and better. This reviewer was a very happy camper with this novel in his hands.

Winner of "Rogue" + Updates

The end of the major hiatus has arrived finally and I am back online with the activity on all my blogs. Summer jobs in tourism know how to push you to exhaustion. Vacation time has finally occured for me to resume reviewing, writing and all that jazz.

But first let me announce the winner of the giveaway, which started eons ago and ended September 31st. The prize was a hot novel to make everybody purr aka "Rogue" by Rachel Vincent and the lucky person with a free ticket to kitty heaven is Marg, who commented on the "Urban Fantasy Land" post. Hurray for Marg!!!

As my newest comeback I have some reviews in the bag, interviews in the making, a special weekly themed post under construction and a themed week on the go. Stay tuned and if you are lucky I may leak on other blogs as well.

Hellboy: Seed of Destruction

Title: Hellboy, Vol.1 Seeds of Destruction
Author: Mike Mignola & John Byrne
Pages: 128
Publisher: Dark Horse

With Hellboy 2: The Golden Army released and considering my fascination with the story and characters, the universe has decided to grant me the pleasure of reading the first volumes of the comic book series. Carl V. from "Stainless Steel Droppings" has been generous enough to send me these with no strings attached. To understand why I am so behind on my comic book readings I would have to explain that in Eastern Europe the comic book market is in its developing stages and the best you can get are Spiderman, Spawn and the Avengers, which I have spotted after their initial issues and would be senseless to collect.

There are certain aspects of the series, which set it apart from the other superhero comic books and for me the biggest is the art. Mike Mignola is an entity of different proportions. At first the rough, edgy, murky designs for his characters left me a bit skeptical since Michael Turner has been most influential for me. My major passion lay with human bodies driven to perfection, clean lines, visible details and bright colors. What Mike Mignola does is on the polar side. Illustrations resemble dark visions through a murky looking glass. Characters usually come as rough outlines of people with no constant shapes or details. It all depends on the angle and on the shading, of which Mignola seems fond. Tones are usually dark and the constant shadowing creates a macabre atmosphere. In one word the desired effect is gritty and that what it is. From another aspect I love how the style is in sync with the spirit of the world and characters. Hellboy and his crew are the weirdoes of superhero mythos. They aren’t perfect. They have their flaws. Some are even from a different species. To top it off they have to fight the paranormal world and not often is everything neat and clean.

”Seed of Destruction” revolves around a polar expedition, which brought the death to Professor Trevor Bruttenholm aka Hellboy’s father by a humanoid frog creature. The team from B.P.R.D (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) pays a visit to the birth house of the Cavendish boys, who have been participants in the expedition. The house, which slowly sinks into the surrounding waters of the lake around it, has been rumored to suffer from a curse, since all the men in the family have died trying to reach the top of the world never to return.

Mystery shrouds the family history and Lady Emma Cavendish seems a bit too secretive, but soon violence replaces the Q&A of the team. Liz Sherman becomes the catalyst and infinite energy supply for a mad sorcerer, who plans to awaken “The Seven”, bound gods in an other dimension to bring destruction to Earth. Abe Sapien has an encounter with a long lost ancestor from the Cavendish family, while exploring the lower sunken levels of the house. All the while Hellboy has encountered another amphibian like monster, who turned out to be one of the expedition participants. The danger of an apocalypse is quite near and in between, interesting tidbits about Hellboy’s origins and mission on Earth are revealed. If anyone has watched the first movie, then they will recognize the plot line, on which it was based.

The issue features a retrospect into the last stages of WW2 prior to Hitler’s downfall and the summoning of Hellboy. Bonus pages come in the form of the first sketches developing Hellboy as a character and the first arcs he has appeared ever. The preword by Mike Mignola is also something interesting to behold as the points raised in defending comic book art style and its popularization, becoming a popular style with its techniques used in other fields as well. Not to mention that this volume won two awards in 1995 for “Best Writer/Artist” for Mike Mignola and “Best Graphic Album: Reprint”.

News and Links brought to you by the opposite of speed of Light

Yes, it has been a great lack of updates these days and I can only blame my weak psyche, which gets so easily fried by the hardships from a seven hour day job six days a week. My brain simply can't cope with the responsibilities of it and finishing a novel at the same and trying to read and review or do any kind of another activity. I need a serious update.

A long while ago I was asked by Stephen Hunt, author of "The Court of the Air" and "The Kingdom beyond the Waves", to announce the creation of his own social web for science fiction and fantasy fans, who would like to hang together on the web. Those websites are like Myspace and FaceBook, but with the marvelous fantasy twist I need. So behold the might and new HIVEMIND. It's pretty much useless mentioning it now, since the whole site has taken on the much needed life of its own. Hah! But still, if you are interested and plan to stay find me there. I go under DayDream with the same picture. Predictable, yes?

Aiden Moher over at "A Dribble of Ink" posted a really interesting "Movie Based on Novels" meme and for intance I had no idea that some of the movies were indeed based on novels or vice versa. Such poor culture. To continue the movie topic he talks about an eventual movie adaptation of Wheel of Time.

At "Blood of the Muse" you can participate at a "The Court of the Air" hard cover giveaway. And the treat is that, if you blog and spread the word around the web, you get to have a second entry, doubling your chance to snatch away the title. I also would recommend to spend some time around his blog and read the intriguing comic book review "Locke & Key".

Notable reviews by Kimberly at "Darque Reviews" are 1) "Jinx" by Jennifer Estep, 2) "Legacy" by Jeanne C. Stein, 3) "Ghostgirl" by Tanya Hurley. Yes, the paranormal and urban fantasy diva continues to overheat her blog with posts and it's complete madness to try and follow. I can only hope to ever reach a fraction of her reading speed.

SQT at the "Fantasy & Sci-fi Lovin' Book Reviews" or FSLBR, because it's just so much easier to type down, is hosting a special anthology giveaway, which ends at August 19th, so and win either "Enchantment Place" story collection or "The Dimension Next Door" anthology. Go get them!

Liviu at "Fantasy Book Critic" reviews "Shadow of the Antlered Bird", which I find most intriguing. Who knew such a shorty could manufacture a very good stody. Length isn't all it would seem.

Graeme at "Graeme's Fantasy Book Reviews" has the nerve to announce a whole week of book giveaways promising fantasy, urban fantasy and possibly sci-fi. How can you pass this up?

Oh and I fear that my eyes will allow no more digging for the day. They feel like the victims of a bio weapon for pain!! Be happy and read as many books as possible.

The Reviewers

So, after a great deal of consideration I decided to get rid of the lengthy link lists on the side and provide seperate pages for the reviewers and to avoid assembling the whole thing from scratch I copy pasted John's wonderful Book Reviewer Linkup Meme. It was about time I posted this one as well. :)

HUGE LIST OF BOOK REVIEWERS AFTER JUMP

7 Foot Shelves
The Accidental Bard
A Boy Goes on a Journey
A Dribble Of Ink
A Hoyden’s Look at Literature
Adventures in Reading
The Agony Column
Andromeda Spaceways
The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.
Ask Daphne
aurealisXpress
Australia Specfic in Focus
Author 2 Author
Barbara Martin
Bees (and Books) on the Knob
Bibliophile Stalker
Bibliosnark
BillWardWriter.com
The Billion Light-Year Bookshelf
Bitten by Books
The Black Library Blog
Blog, Jvstin Style
Blood of the Muse
The Book Bind
Bookgeeks
Bookslut
The Book Smugglers
Bookspotcentral
The Book Swede
Bookrastination
Breeni Books
Cheaper Ironies [pro columnist]
Cheryl’s Musings
Critical Mass
The Crotchety Old Fan
Damien G. Walter
Danger Gal
Dark Wolf Fantasy Reviews
Darque Reviews
Dave Brendon’s Fantasy and Sci-Fi Weblog
Dear Author
The Deckled Edge
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
The Discriminating Fangirl
Dusk Before the Dawn
Enter the Octopus
Eve’s Alexandria
Fantastic Reviews
Fantastic Reviews Blog
Fantasy Book Critic
Fantasy Cafe
Fantasy Debut
Fantasy Book Reviews and News
Fantasy and Sci-fi Lovin’ Blog
Feminist SF – The Blog!
The Fix
The Foghorn Review
Frances Writes
From a Sci-Fi Standpoint
Fruitless Recursion
The Galaxy Express
Galleycat
The Gamer Rat
Genre Reviews
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review
Grasping for the Wind
The Green Man Review
Hasenpfeffer
Highlander’s Book Reviews
Horrorscope
The Hub Magazine
Hyperpat’s Hyper Day
Ink and Keys
io9
Jumpdrives and Cantrips
Lair of the Undead Rat
League of Reluctant Adults
The Lensman’s Children
Literary Escapism
Michele Lee’s Book Love
The Mistress of Ancient Revelry
MIT Science Fiction Society
Monster Librarian
More Words, Deeper Hole
Mostly Harmless Books
My Favourite Books
Neth Space
The New Book Review
NextRead
OF Blog of the Fallen
The Old Bat’s Belfry
Outside of a Dog
Paranormality
Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist
Piaw’s Blog
Post-Weird Thoughts
Publisher’s Weekly
Reading the Leaves
Realms of Speculative Fiction
Reviewer X
The Road Not Taken
Rob’s Blog o’ Stuff
Robots and Vamps
Sandstorm Reviews
ScifiChick
Sci Fi Wire
SciFiGuy
Sci-Fi Fan Letter
Sci-Fi Songs [Musical Reviews]
The Sequential Rat
Severian’s Fantastic Worlds
SF Diplomat
SF Gospel
SFReader.com
SF Reviews.net
SF Revu
SF Signal
SF Site
SFF World’s Book Reviews
Silver Reviews
The Specusphere
Spinebreakers
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Speculative Fiction
Speculative Fiction Junkie
Speculative Horizons
Spiral Galaxy Reviews
Spontaneous Derivation
Sporadic Book Reviews
Stella Matutina
The Sudden Curve
The Sword Review
Tangent Online
Tehani Wessely
Tor.com [also a publisher]
True Science Fiction
Un:Bound
Urban Fantasy Land
Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic
Variety SF
Walker of Worlds
Wanderings
Wands and Worlds
The Wertzone
With Intent to Commit Horror
WJ Fantasy Reviews
The World in a Satin Bag
WriteBlack
Young Adult Science Fiction

Foreign Language (other than English)

Cititor SF [Romanian, but with English Translation]

Elbakin.net [French]

Foundation of Krantas [Chinese (traditional)]

The SF Commonwealth Office in Taiwan [Chinese (traditional) with some English essays]

Yenchin’s Lair [Chinese (traditional)]

Interstellar [Danish]

Ommadawn.dk [Danish]

Scifisiden [Danish]

Aguarras [Brazilian, Portuguese]

Fernando Trevisan [Brazilian, Portuguese]

Human 2.0 [Brazilian, Portuguese]

Life and Times of a Talkative Bookworm [Brazilian, Porteguese]

Ponto De Convergencia [Brazilian, Portuguese]

pós-estranho [Brazilian, Portuguese]

Skavis [Brazilian, Portuguese]

Fantasy Seiten [German, Deustche]

Fantasy Buch [German, Deustche]

Literaturschock [German, Deustche]

Welt der fantasy [German, Deustche]

Bibliotheka Phantastika [German, Deustche]

SF Basar [German, Deustche]

Phantastick News [German, Deustche]

X-zine [German, Deustche]

Buchwum [German, Deustche]

Phantastick Couch [German, Deustche]

Wetterspitze [German, Deustche]

Fantasy News [German, Deustche]

Fantasy Faszination [German, Deustche]

Fantasy Guide [German, Deustche]

Zwergen Reich [German, Deustche]

Fiction Fantasy [German, Deustche]