The Book Plank

With 2012 running on its last few days and we over at Fantasy Book Review have a planned break starting this 15th of December. I finally got some time to reflect back on this year and what I have read so far. I must admit that in the first half of the year I did not have that many review books and the season turning into summer my too be read pile started growing and it still is growing weekly. I tweeted on the 28th of September that I hit the 50 reviews for Fantasy Book Review... and last week I hit the 100th one, people at work call me insane.. Well maybe on some level they are correct, but to defend my own honor, there are so many interesting books out there and each month more and more are coming out that often catch my eye. I do love to read and get lost in a good book :-). Added to this is that I am pleased that I have had the change to read some awesome novels, and not only published by the big publisher but also those daring self published authors who took a chance and got thei...

Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage “sci-philes” who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever. As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer’s scent. Fortunately, they are now more than friends they’re a pack. They are Virals. Kathy Reichs is well known for writing the hit TV series Bones and for the adult forensic series “Temperance Brennan” on which the TV series Bones is based upon. Virals is the introduction of Kathy Reichs into the Young Adult ra...

The eastern seaboard of the USA is experiencing the worst winter weather in living memory, and John Redlaw is in the cold white thick of it. He’s come to America to investigate a series of vicious attacks on vampire immigrants – targeted kills that can’t simply be the work of amateur vigilantes. Dogging his footsteps is Tina “Tick” Checkley, a wannabe TV journalist with an eye on the big time. The conspiracy Redlaw uncovers could give Tina the career break she’s been looking for. It could also spell death for Redlaw… Redeye, the second book in the Redlaw series, follows up on the events in Redlaw, the first book of the series. I really had a great time reading Redlaw, especially due to the fact that James Lovegrove introduced a great main character John Redlaw, a SHADE officer past his prime but badass nonetheless. Though there was a pretty solid ending of Redlaw, James Lovegrove managed to get off to an interesting start in Redlaw: Redeye and proved again that his Redlaw series is...

Evildoers beware! Retribution is at hand, thanks to Britain’s best-kept secret agents. Certainly no strangers to peculiar occurrences, agents Wellington Books and Eliza Braun are nonetheless stunned to observe a fellow passenger aboard Britain’s latest hypersteam train suddenly vanish in a dazzling bolt of lightning. They soon discover this is not the only such disappearance… with each case going inexplicably unexamined by the Crown. The fate of England is once again in the hands of an ingenious archivist paired with a beautiful, fearless lady of adventure. And though their foe be fiendishly clever, so then is Mr. Books… and Miss Braun still has a number of useful and unusual devices hidden beneath her petticoats. The Janus Affair is the second book in the A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series written by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris. The book was released in the summer of this year and follows up on the events of  Phoenix Rising . After my introduction in Phoenix ...

To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters – never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight. As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City – whatever the cost? City of Glass is the third volume in the popular Mortal Instruments series...

The Covenant has collapsed after a long, brutal war that saw billions slaughtered on Earth and her colonies. For the first time in decades, however, peace finally seems possible. But though the fighting’s stopped, the war is far from over: it’s just gone underground. The UNSC’s feared and secretive Office of Naval Intelligence recruits Kilo-Five, a team of ODSTs, a Spartan, and a diabolical AI to accelerate the Sangheili insurrection. Meanwhile, the Arbiter, the defector turned leader of a broken Covenant, struggles to stave off civil war among his divided people. Across the galaxy, a woman thought to have died on Reach is actually very much alive. Chief scientist Dr. Catherine Halsey broke every law in the book to create the Spartans, and now she’s broken some more to save them. Marooned with Chief Mendez and a Spartan team in a Forerunner slipspace bubble hidden in the destroyed planet Onyx, she finds that the shield world has been guarding an ancient secret – a treasure trove of...

The year is 1939. Raybould Marsh and other members of British Intelligence have gathered to watch a damaged reel of film in a darkened room. It appears to show German troops walking through walls, bursting into flames and hurling tanks into the air from afar. If the British are to believe their eyes, a twisted Nazi scientist has been endowing German troops with unnatural, unstoppable powers. And Raybould will be forced to resort to dark methods to hold the impending invasion at bay. But dealing with the occult exacts a price. And that price must be paid in blood. Bitter Seeds is the debut book of Ian Tregillis and the first in the Milkweed Triptych, a to be written trilogy with “The Coldest War” and “Necessary Evil” to be released in the UK soon. Bitter Seeds was first published in 2010, and sadly missed my attention, but looking for interesting titles I came across Bitter Seeds and as soon I finished the synopsis I knew this was a book for me. The English warloc...

With the Review Round-up  posts I try to capture the best books that I have read those months. Since I read about 20 books minimum each month and in the majority of the cases there are many books that I really enjoyed. But I am trying to narrow this down to a top 5 books for each month that are not per se my most highest rated books but they can also be extraordinary books of self published authors where they dare to engage into new idea's. Looking back at the genres that I read in November it again spans out over a many different genres: Steampunk, Epic, Sci-Fi, Urban, Young Adult, Horror, Historical Fiction. I had the chance to pick up one of the most unexpected  My top 5 of the November books are (not in this order): 1. Blood and Feathers (Solaris)  by Lou Morgan 2. The Falling Machine (Pyr)  by Andrew P. Mayer 3. Babylon Steel by (Solaris)  Gaie Sebold 4. Tomorrow the Killing  (Hodder and Stoughton)  by Daniel Polansky 5.  Phoenix Risin...

Alice isn’t having the best of days: she got rained on, missed her bus, was late for work. When two angels arrive, claiming her life so far is a lie, it turns epic, grand scale worse. The war between the angels and the Fallen is escalating; an age-old balance is tipping, and innocent civilians are getting caught in the cross-fire. The angels must act to restore the balance – or risk the Fallen taking control. Forever. Hunted by the Fallen and guided by Mallory – a disgraced angel with a drinking problem – Alice will learn the truth about her own history… And why the angels want to send her to Hell. What do the Fallen want from her? How does Mallory know so much about her past? What is it the angels are hiding – and can she trust either side? Caught between the power plays of the angels and Lucifer himself, it isn’t just Hell’s demons that Alice will have to defeat… Blood and Feathers is the first novel by Lou Morgan. It is, as you might have guessed from the synopsis, a book ...

The time is 1882. With the Gunfight at the O. K. Corral and the battle with the thing that used to be Johnny Ringo behind him (see The Buntline Special ), the consumptive Doc Holliday makes his way to Deadwood, Colorado, with Kate Elder, where he plans to spend the rest of his brief life, finally moving into the luxurious facility that specializes in his disease. But one night he gets a little too drunk – hardly a novelty for him – and loses everything he has at the gaming table. He realizes that he needs to replenish his bankroll, and quickly, so that he can live out his days in comfort under medical care. He considers his options and hits upon the one most likely to produce income in a hurry: he’ll use his skill as a shootist and turn bounty hunter. The biggest reward is for the death of the young, twenty-year-old desperado known as Billy the Kid. It’s clear from the odds the Kid has faced and beaten, his miraculous escape from prison, and his friendship with the Indian tribes o...