Don’t worry I still plan on my look at hardboiled detective fiction (in I read The Simple Art of Murder this weekend) but I think I’m going to take it slower then my other “projects.” In the meantime I’m going to work through a backlog of fiction that has slipped through the cracks of my themed reading of late. I have at least three books I really want to read but just haven’t had a chance to open up yet. So in January look for reviews of:
Nyphron Rising: the third book in the excellent Riyria Revelations series by Michael J Sullivan.
PUPPET IS CROWNED. THE TRUE HEIR REMAINS HIDDEN. A ROGUE’S SECRET COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.
War has come to Melengar. To save her kingdom, Princess Arista runs a desperate gamble when she defies her brother and hires Royce and Hadrian for a dangerous mission. As the power of the Nyphron Empire grows, so does Royce’s suspicion that the wizard Esrahaddon is using the thieves as pawns in his own game. To find the truth, he must unravel the secret of Hadrian’s past–what he discovers could change the future for all of Elan.
The Rookie: Scott Sigler’s Blood Bowl-esque space football novel. I gave it as a gift to my cousin’s husband for Christmas despite having not had a chance to read my copy.
Set in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, THE ROOKIE is a story that combines the intense gridiron action of “Any Given Sunday” with the space opera style of “Star Wars” and the criminal underworld of “The Godfather.”
Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.
Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he’ll wind up just another stat in the column marked “killed on the field.”
Arms-Commander: I haven’t read many Recluse books. Only one in fact when in youth I was lured by a Darrel K. Sweet cover thanks to my infatuation with a certain other series. I remember liking it, but little beyond that. The blurb makes it sound like it’ll be new reader friendly. We’ll see about that!
Arms-Commander takes place ten years after the end of The Chaos Balance and tells the story of the legendary Saryn. The keep of Westwind, in the cold mountainous heights called the Roof of the World, is facing attack by the adjoining land of Gallos. Arthanos, son and heir to the ailing Prefect of Gallos, wishes to destroy Westwind because the idea of a land where women rule is total anathema to him.
Saryn, Arms-Commander of Westwind, is dispatched to a neighboring land, Lornth, to seek support against the Gallosians. In the background, the trading council of Suthya is secretly and informally allied with Gallos against Westwind and begins to bribe lord-holders in Lornth to foment rebellion and civil war. They hope to create such turmoil in Lornth that the weakened land will fall to Suthya. But Zeldyan, regent of Lornth, has problems in her family. To secure Zeldyan’s aid, Saryn must pledge her personal support—and any Westwind guard forces she can raise—to the defense of Zeldyan and her son. The fate of four lands, including Westwind, rests on Saryn’s actions.
I’m also just about done with First Lord’s Fury by Jim Butcher. As before keep an eye out for my final reviews in my Space Opera selections. Of course I’ll start working my way through hardboiled detective fiction starting with Chandler’s The Long Goodbye and Spillane’s I, the Jury, I might sit on the reviews until February however but we’ll see.
King of the Nerds!!! 