The Book Plank

The Shadow Master by Craig Cormick, The Shadow Master #1 In a land riven with plague, inside the infamous Walled City, two families vie for control: the Medicis with their genius inventor Leonardo; the Lorraines with Galileo, the most brilliant alchemist of his generation. And when two star-crossed lovers, one from either house, threaten the status quo, a third, shadowy power – one that forever seems a step ahead of all of the familial warring – plots and schemes, and bides its time, ready for the moment to attack... Assassination; ancient, impossible machines; torture and infamy – just another typical day in paradise. When I was presented with a list of books that Angry Robot was publishing, I was immediately drawn by the cover of the book, doesn't that catch everyone's appeal? Reading the synopsis of The Shadow Master completely won me over, I like reading historical fantasy, especially set in the era of two of the greatest scientists ever. Leonardo and Galileo. ...

Short Fiction Friday: The Angelus Guns by Max Gladstone During a celestial civil war, an angel-like soldier searches for her missing brother.  If you now say the name Max Gladstone to people, they will immediately respond with Craft Sequence or one of the titles of his books. In the last few years max Gladstone has, for me, really put himself on the bookmap with his Craft Sequence, they are terrific reads and give a refreshing air to the current fantasy books. I was looking for short stories set in this series but couldn't find any instead I stumbled upon the single short story that I could find from him, The Angelus Guns and as you can see from the top, it has a very short introduction. It is often with only a single sentence that it proves to be less is more and by this it really piqued my interest. A celestial war and angel-like soldier. The Angelus Guns is quite something different from his Craft Sequence, written with a different style and of course theme. But as a short ...

The Relic Guild by Edward Cox Magic caused the war. Magic is forbidden. Magic will save us. It was said the Labyrinth had once been the great meeting place, a sprawling city at the heart of an endless maze where a million humans hosted the Houses of the Aelfir. The Aelfir who had brought trade and riches, and a future full of promise. But when the Thaumaturgists, overlords of human and Aelfir alike, went to war, everything was ruined and the Labyrinth became an abandoned forbidden zone, where humans were trapped behind boundary walls a hundred feet high. Now the Aelfir are a distant memory and the Thaumaturgists have faded into myth. Young Clara struggles to survive in a dangerous and dysfunctional city, where eyes are keen, nights are long, and the use of magic is punishable by death. She hides in the shadows, fearful that someone will discover she is touched by magic. She knows her days are numbered. But when a strange man named Fabian Moor returns to the Labyrinth,...

Author interview with Ian C. Esslemont author bio: Ian Cameron Esslemont was born in 1962 in Winnipeg, Canada. He has a degree in Creative Writing, studied and worked as an archaeologist, travelled extensively in South East Asia, and lived in Thailand and Japan for several years. He now lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, with his wife and children and is currently working on his PhD in English Literature. Ian C. Esslemont and Steven Erikson co-created the Malazan world in 1982 as a backdrop for role-playing games. In 1991 they collaborated on a feature film script set in the same world, entitled Gardens of the Moon. When the script did not sell, Erikson greatly expanded the story and turned it into a novel.   --------------- Hi Ian, Welcome over to the Book Plank and for taking your time to answer these few questions for us. BP: First off, could you give us a short introduction as to who Ian C. Esslemont is? What are you hobbies, likes and disli...

Created, the Destroyer by Warren Murphy and Richard Ben Sapir, The Destroyer #1 Sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit, ex-cop Remo Williams is rescued from the electric chair at the eleventh hour and recruited by a secret government organisation named CURE. From this moment, he ceases to officially exist. From now on, he will be an assassin, targeting criminals who are beyond the law. Remo's trainer is a grouchy old Korean named Chiun, whose mastery of the terrifyingly powerful martial art of Sinanju makes him the deadliest man alive. Together Remo and Chiun set forth on their epic, impossible mission to vanquish every enemy of democracy - every bad guy who thinks they can escape justice. This is a new era in man's fight against the forces of evil. This is the time of the Destroyer. Last month I send out a media alert with an upcoming blog tour featuring this book, Created, The Destroyer . The Destroyer series was originally publis...

Extinction Game by Gary Gibson When your life is based on lies, how do you hunt down the truth? Jerry Beche should be dead. Instead, he's rescued from a desolate Earth where he was the last man alive. He's then trained for the toughest conditions imaginable and placed with a crack team of specialists. Every one of them is a survivor, as each withstood the violent ending of their own alternate Earth. And their new specialism? To retrieve weapons and data in missions to other apocalyptic worlds. But what is 'the Authority', the shadowy organization that rescued Beche and his fellow survivors? How does it access other timelines? And why does it need these instruments of death? As Jerry struggles to obey his new masters, he begins to distrust his new companions. A strange bunch, their motivations are less than clear, and accidents start plaguing their missions. Jerry suspects the Authority is feeding them lies, and team members are spying on him. As a dangero...

 Media Alert: Blackguards the anthology I recently developed quite the taste for anthologies, I read a few great ones and while I was just browsing for new ones I came across Blackguards , and just the names alone that feature in this book are quite something. Some of the very best fantasy writers have donated their stories. The expected publication date is around the 15th of December. I definitely know what I will be asking from Santa!  So which stories will feature in the anthology? Here is the list: CAROL BERG , " Seeds "   RICHARD LEE BYERS , " Troll Trouble "  DAVID DALGLISH , " Take You Home "  JAMES ENGE , " Thieves at the Gate "  JOHN GWYNNE , " Better to Live than to Die "  LIAN HEARN , " His Kikuta Hands "  S NORRI KRISTJANSSON , " A Kingdom and a Horse "  JOSEPH LALLO , " Seeking the Shadow "  MARK LAWRENCE , " The Secret "  TIM MARQUITZ , " A T...