The Book Plank

Yearly Review Round up 2014 Over the last week I have posted my favorite books of 2014, below you can find the complete list of all the books that I have nominated. I read a lot of good books and hope that 2015 will see the same! Many festive cheers, Jasper Best Books   - The Emperor's Blade by Brian Stavely, Tor - Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence , HarperVoyager/AceRoc - Lock in by John Scalzi, Gollancz - Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone, Tor - The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North , Orbit  Best Debut - The Emperor's Blade by Brian Stavely, Tor - The Incorruptibles by John Hornor Jacobs, Gollancz - The Boy With the Porcelain Blade by Den Patrick , Gollancz - A Kill in the Morning by Graeme Shimmin, Bantam Press - Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell, Jo Fletcher Best Epic Fantasy - Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence , HarperVoyager - Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson, Bantam Press/Tor - Blood Will Follow by Snorri K...

Best Books of 2014 So it has finally come down to the list of lists. The Best Books of 2014. I read many different kind of books this year, all my friends and family said I read way to much... and I always reply with: there is always more to read! It was really hard to make this final list, in many different subgenre I read some ace books. After a lot of contemplation I have made this final list.  Just as last year where Emperor of Thorns made the list as well, Mark Lawrence once again made it on my yearly favorites list. Prince of Fools , the first book in The Red Queen's War was released this summer and with this book Mark Lawrence proofs that he is far from a one time success with his The Broken Empire series. Prince of Fools takes place within the same universe of his first series but focuses on a completely different protagonist Jalan. The Broken Empire gave the gritty grimdark setting and a dark protagonist, in Prince of Fools, Mark Lawrence shows the story is a ...

Best Epic Fantasy When you tell that you are a big fantasy reader people always ask me if I like Lord of the Rings, I say yes. But from this question you can see that a lot of people automatically associate the fantasy genre with Epic Fantasy. In essence Epic Fantasy has rules and regulations and is a genre that many authors have ventured into, with good and sadly sometimes also bad results. However the current books that are published in this genre all have something interesting working for them. They are and aren't comparable to Lord of the Ring, yes that have the same elements but the writing style is much more from our time. The authors below are helping to breath new air into this age old genre. Mark Lawrence's Prince of Fools , is the sort of continuation sort of not continuation of his The Broken Empire series which he finished last year, creating a new protagonist that is flawed and an cowered, but taking place in the Jorg era, his writing style is super. Forge of Da...

Best Science Fiction The future is closer than you think. Are there boundaries? Where is our world going too? Will there be a technology rush or will we succumb to our own inventions, will robots or AI take over for good? These are some of the aspects that are discussed in Science Fiction, but of course with every subgenre there is always more. What I like most about Science Fiction are the daring stories, stories that closely resemble our own reality and where authors have introduced several scenarios of possible futures. When author take examples of our current technology and translate them into possible happenings I think that the whole setting comes even more to justice as I then I always think the question just what if? David Ramirez's The Forever Watch is a very interesting start, imagine a ship that seeks new planet to live on. In the depths of this spaceship much more is going on than what meets the normal unsuspected eye. Its a powerful and evocative story with a hauntin...

PAN MACMILLAN BUYS NEW TRILOGY IN THE TRADITION OF JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL   Pan Macmillan is delighted to report the acquisition of Sorcerer to the Crown by debut novelist Zen Cho. Senior Commissioning editor Bella Pagan bought UK and Commonwealth rights in this novel and two others by Cho from Penguin US. And this book generated a great deal of excitement, with auctions on both sides of the Atlantic. Zen Cho’s creation is an irresistible combination of Georgette Heyer and Susanna Clarke, with a pinch of fairyland in a brilliantly-drawn Regency London setting. With the BBC TV series of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell due in 2015, enthusiasm for this type of fiction will be running high. In the novel, Cho draws us in with charismatic protagonists and sparkling plotting. Here Zacharias Wythe is England's first African Sorcerer Royal. But a faction schemes to remove him from his position by fair means or foul. He must also contend with the Fairy Court refusi...