LOLpics

You haven't been cruising the internet extensively enough if you haven't come across LOLcats. I happen to check a LOLcat website every couple of days, so when a conversation with Eric from Short Exact and Transbay turned to LOLbooks, we couldn't resist having a go at making our own fantasy-themed LOLpictures.

"The Elves of Cintra" by Terry Brooks

(This review also includes the prequel, Armageddon's Children--I read both books back to back and the story flows so well that it's hard to distinguish where one book ends and the other begins, so no spoilers for either!) I didn’t rush out to buy Armageddon’s Children when it first came out for the simple reason that I wanted to wait until the entire trilogy was released. There aren’t many books I will do this for, but Terry Brooks’ “The Word and the Void” series is one of them. For those of you who may not be aware yet, the “Genesis of Shannara” is a trilogy written to link two of Terry’s best series together. Set after the events “Angel Fire East” and before the world of the Four Lands, Armageddon’s Children and Elves of Cintra follow the journeys undertaken by two Knights of the Word in a post-apocalyptic world. To some the premise of linking the two series together (rather than writing a straight sequel to the original Word and Void) may seem like a bit of a contradiction for an author who usually prefers to let his readers fill in the blanks. However, any misgivings are sure to disappear just a few pages into Armageddon’s Children. Any worries or disappointments at Terry’s latest works like Straken are sure to fade, as it is soon delightfully obvious that he is back on top form. Despite Brooks’ entertaining Shannara and Landover series, Word and Void is where he really shines. This new series is a lot bleaker than the original trilogy, as the future foreseen in them has come to pass. Arthurian themes have diminished considerably, replaced instead with Messianic themes and references to Exodus (which were quite painful to read, I must admit)—not particularly disappointing, but not exactly subtle. Subtlety is also lacking with just about any reference to things relating to Shannara. Small things that could easily be picked up by regular Brooks readers seemed to have been signposted in huge fluorescent letters. Don’t expect Lynch-like subtlety from Elves of Cintra or Armageddon's Children. Most of the characters aren’t generally likeable, but they are interesting in their own ways. Every character has an event in their background that has shaped them dramatically, and breaks are often taken to explore relevant characters’ backgrounds through passages bearing some resemblance to “dream sequences” the Knights of the Word experience. But it’s not even the characterization that places this book above par. It’s the action and the tension—there’s a constant “all or nothing” approach to the situations all the characters are facing. Things I’ve been wondering in my fanboy-like of moments are acted out; questions that have been tossed about by fans for years have been addressed and at times it feels like an adrenaline shot. Rationale: It was very hard to pinpoint exact things that made Elves of Cintra and its predecessor such a great read, but that is probably because even as a reviewer my mind was drawn away from the artifice and into the story. Score: Highly Recommended It’s important to stress at this moment, that Armageddon’s Children is a book anyone can pick up and enjoy, with no prior knowledge of Terry’s other works. Paperbacks of Armageddon’s Children are now available, and Elves of Cintra is released in the United States and Canada on the 28th of August.

Yet another how to

There seems to be quite a number of "How To Write a Fantasy Novel" guides out there on the web, most of which seem to be written by disgruntled fans or people who look down on fantasy. It's hard to pinpoint who actually writes these things because they use such generic stereotypes that it could be someone who's never touched speculative fiction in their life. Anyway, here's another one for your amusement!

No artificial Flavourings

"Bookie Monster-- Now 100% Brian Ruckley interview free!" I'm in a strange and distracted mood, having been so all weekend. I've been trying to sort out where to live for the duration of next year (moving out in September) and it's been nothing but a challenge so far. There was no Review on Sunday due to an early review of "Power Play"-- I hope you all enjoyed the interview with Joseph Finder, I know it was enjoyable for me! Things to look forward to on Bookie Monster over the next week or two: The Review of "Elves of Cintra" by Terry Brooks My Thoughts on "Winterbirth" by Brian Ruckley "Red Seas under Red Skies"-- A Hit or a Miss? I hope you'll be Joining me!

"Power Play" by Joseph Finder

Joseph Finder’s “Power Play” is a fast-paced and involving corporate thriller, which seized me in its jaws and refused to relent until the final page. I’ll admit I had my doubts…that the story would unfold predictably and be cliché-ridden (can anyone really blame me? The most entertaining thriller I’ve come across so far is Michael Jackson’s), however it soon veered comfortably in an unexpected direction. Landry, a junior executive at an aerospace company, is invited to the high-powered company retreat. By no rights should he be there, but he’s the only one who can provide an honest appraisal as to why a commercial plane recently crashed. Written from Landry’s perspective, the tension continues to mount as the group is left without means of communication to the outside world. The “Man with a troubled past” individual has become overused these days, but Joe’s dusted it down—and for the duration of the story, it’s as if he’s the first to have written this type of character. The pacing—a crucial part of any thriller—is handled meticulously. It rises smoothly, so it takes a while to realise that you’re actually holding your breaths in a little longer each chapter. Hand-in-hand with pacing comes length. I would’ve loved a slightly longer book, with a few more chapters to speed through—but this is a sign of great writing rather than a legitimate complaint. Any more and the pacing would be shot, any more and the story would drag. Joe’s got a gift. Joe knows when to stop writing. Score: Recommended. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a book to read poolside on a short vacation, or on a long-haul flight (it’ll keep the blood circulating, that’s for sure!) Rationale: A brilliant blend of office politics, plane crash conspiracies and gunplay—skip it and regret it. "Power Play" is available in the US from August 21st.

David Anthony Durham's Forum

David Anthony Durham's website and forum has been up and running for weeks! Where the heck have you been? Sign up now and find out 10 things to do with an Antok! Incidentally, it might be worth your while to check his latest blog post, relating to "colour blindness" in reading choices

Interview with Joseph Finder

The New York Times Best-selling author recently took a couple of minutes of his hectic schedule to do a small interview for Bookie Monster. Let's save the formalities for later, and jump straight into it! ~~~~~~~~~~~ Bookie Monster: "Power Play", your new novel, centers on employees of an aerospace company--was there any particular reason you chose this type of company above any other? Joe Finder: I was fascinated by a business that is so global and so huge, where the stakes are so high, the money is so big, and the products themselves inherently fascinating. The Technology fascinates me: how does a plane stay up in the sky, and what further improvements can be made to that? There is also a kind of "Boy's Club" culture in a lot of these companies. I wanted to set the story in an industry where a female CEO would clash with the entrenched culture. One of those industries is Aerospace. BM: You're beginning the tour for your new novel on the 21st, as a seasoned traveler have you had any bad airport experiences? Joe Finder: Constantly, last night I was delayed for 2 hours in an airport. Given how much I travel for research and promoting books, I am always in airports-- and it's almost always an unpleasant experience. BM: Do you have any favourite thrillers--both on screen and on the page-- and how have they influenced you? Joe Finder: I love thrillers, both in film and in print. I just saw the film version of "The Bourne Ultimatum" and it is unbelievable--it's like the third act of a great book: non-stop action and tension. Other films I love are "In the Line of Fire", "Day of the Jackal" and "Marathon Man". I love "Marathon Man" and "Day of the Jackal" as novels too. Other books that influenced me would include "The Bourne Identity" and Ira Levin's books "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Boys from Brazil". Those are just the ones that jump to mind, given enough time I could name dozens! BM: You have quite an active presence on networking websites like myspace and facebook--how has the internet affected your publicizing? How about your writing itself? Joe Finder: The internet has made it just about unnecessary for me to hire researchers any more, because it is so easy to find information and experts online. On the other hand that bouncing e-mail icon breaks my concentration, so I can't be online when I'm writing. In terms of publicity, the internet is a whole world that remains almost untapped. Newspapers are dying; TV ads for books are ineffectual; radio is becoming increasingly expensive while the number of listeners is dwindling. The internet is pretty much free and it's a great place to introduce people to your books. SO many blogs, so many websites...they're more and more important. BM: You mentioned that Newspapers are dying--but what about books? Publishers are begin to release fewer books each year, instead focusing on titles with big names attached--does this worry you, despite your "Big Name" status? Joe Finder: I think it's worse in the UK than it is here. Objectively, more books are being sold now than 30 or 40 years ago, but fewer people are reading more books. Some people just watch TV, or just go to the movies. It is true, particularly in the UK, that some publishers are focusing on authors who are commodities--but that raises the question: how do you bring in new blood? Far too often the Big Names start to coast, so this is actually a bad business model in the long run. It's not good business and it's not good for creativity. BM: Thank you for your time, Joe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joe Finder is a best-selling author of thrillers such as "Company Man" and "Killer Instinct"--for more information, visit Joe's website. The exciting new novel, "Power Play" is released on August 21st--a review will be posted in a couple of days.

For aspiring Fantasy Novelists

Relating to the previous post, I found a website that has a list of questions to prevent you writing an instant cliche: Click here Just a quick comment though, some of the questions are unfair.....if anyone took this seriously, very few fantasy books would have been published in the last 50 odd years!

"The Blade Itself" by Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself has been lying in my desk draw for several weeks now, and I could honestly say I could slap myself for not reading it straight away. “Why?” I hear you ask! It’s quite simple. It is one of the most entertaining books I have read in the past year! Now that’s quite a claim isn’t it? The Blade Itself is incredibly easy to read—although that’s not to say it’s simplistic, far from it. Joe’s focus is mainly on the story and the characters, rather than wielding the stereotypical “World-building Sledgehammer” that is now associated with the fantasy genre. It is very refreshing to focus on the characters and story, without being overwhelmed by details on a world’s current affairs and history dragging back hundreds of years! This means that I was confused as to what the world really “looked like”, compounded by the lack of map. But as Joe himself has said—the characters don’t have maps, so why should the reader have the luxury? I’m usually as wary about anti-heroes as I am about selfless, perfect heroes (a la Superman and Flash Gordon)… but the characters of Logen Nine-fingers and Inquisitor Glokta were excellently written. Not villainous but definitely not heroic, one with a fractured mind, the other with a fractured body, they are fantastic protagonists and fascinating to read. Despite Joe’s flaunting of superfluous fantasy ritual like heavy world-building and map-making, he’s paid a lot of attention to detail. My two favourite points were actual language barriers between key characters—something not written accurately in most novels, if at all. The other was the shift in viewpoint of what city looks like, from both a nobleman’s perspective and a person who has never entered “civilization” before. I was truly impressed. Pointless and boring things like travel have been condensed or eliminated, skipping ahead to the next character development opportunity or plot-advancing situation. It’s as if Joe actively sat down (I know! It’s an oxymoron!) and thought about all the pointless annoying additions to the fantasy genre then decided to trim them from the story he’s weaving. Score: Highly Recommended Rationale: This is the new, streamlined face of modern fantasy. Deal with it. *As an aside, the cover is also innovative-- it feels ridged and slightly dotty. It almost "wakes up" your fingers as you're reading!

Important Notice

Whoever is hiding my books--Cease and Desist. You have until 12pm tomorrow to return the 3 books you took, and my notepad.