The Book Plank

Hexed: The Sisters of Witchdown by Michael Alan Nelson Luci Jenifer Inacio das Neves, Lucifer for short, isn't your typical teenaged girl.  She's a thief who survives by stealing bad things from bad people in the magical and mystical underworld hidden beneath our own.  So when a policeman's daughter, Gina, is kidnapped by a force he can't explain, Lucifer is the only one who has a chance at getting his daughter back. With the unsolicited help of Gina's friends, including Gina's boyfriend David, Lucifer's investigation leads to the unfortunate truth of the kidnapping.  Gina was taken to an otherworldly dimension by a creature of unspeakable evil: one of the Seven Sisters of Witchdown.  Against all odds, Lucifer must use every magical tool hidden in her trick bag to steal her way into the Shade and bring Gina back before the Sister sacrifices her for her own dark ends.  But the closer Lucifer gets to Gina, the closer she gets to David.  And Dav...

The Floating City by Craig Cormick, Shadow Master #2 The Floating City is in turmoil. The magical seers who protect it are being killed by fearsome Djinn that rise out of the canals at night. Members of the city’s Council of Ten are being assassinated by masked fanatics. Refugee ships are arriving, bringing plague. Othmen spies are infiltrating everywhere. New power blocks are battling for control of the city. And the three Montecchi daughters, Giuliette, Disdemona and Isabella, are struggling with love and loss – and trying to write their own destinies. And moving amongst them all is the mysterious and deadly Shadow Master, who seems to be directing everyone like players in a game. But some things in this game may be beyond even his control. Last year Craig Cormick published his first venture into the fantasy genre, The Shadow Master , which was an exciting Alternate History story with a lot of different influences taking place in the time of Galileo and Leonardo. It ha...

Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale, Hesparian Trilogy #1 Imagine a world where the Roman Empire never fell... In AD 1218, Praetor Gaius Marcellinus, commander of the 33rd Legion, invades Nova Hesperia, a land inhabited by Powhatani, Iroqua and Cahokiani. In search of gold, he and his men find only death. Marcellinus is taken prisoner, but his life is spared. To survive he must re-evaluate his allegiances and find a new place in a strange land. So far in my Alternate History travels I have ventured to the old Romans, Brits and Vikings. But these were mostly stories contained in their own Empires. Alan Smale's Clash of Eagles is something different, it is an Alternate History story featuring Romans, but with a twist. This story is about a what if scenario. Imagine that the Roman Empire never fell. Imagine them making the trek across the ocean to discover the land that is now better known as America. Yes this is what happens in Clash of Eagles, when I read this on the cover ...

The Flames of Cyzicus by Nick Brown, Agent of Rome #1.5 Set between the events of 'The Siege' and 'The Imperial Banner', this compelling short story follows imperial agent Cassius Corbulo as he investigates a mysterious series of fires.  Ever since having had the pleasure of reading The Siege , the first book in Nick's Brown Historical Fantasy series Agent of Rome, I have been hooked. Over the time with The Black Stone and The Far Shore I have only come to like this series more. When it comes to Historical Roman Fiction Nick Brown is definitely the author to follow.  The two short stories so far that featured in this universe all focused on different characters, with The Flames of Cyzicus , Nick Brown puts the focus on Cassius Corbulo and how he became the man that we see in his books. Which is a big plus for me as the protagonist Cassius Corbulo is just spot and definitely one of my favorites. The story of The Flames of Cyzicus picks up in between the e...

Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz FLEX: Distilled magic in crystal form. The most dangerous drug in the world. Snort it, and you can create incredible coincidences to live the life of your dreams. FLUX: The backlash from snorting Flex. The universe hates magic and tries to rebalance the odds; maybe you survive the horrendous accidents the Flex inflicts, maybe you don’t. PAUL TSABO: The obsessed bureaucromancer who’s turned paperwork into a magical Beast that can rewrite rental agreements, conjure rented cars from nowhere, track down anyone who’s ever filled out a form. But when all of his formulaic magic can’t save his burned daughter, Paul must enter the dangerous world of Flex dealers to heal her. Except he’s never done this before – and the punishment for brewing Flex is army conscription and a total brain-wipe. Some books deserves a, no need a direct sequel. Flex is one of them to be sure. Ferret Steinmetz has written a lot of short fiction to some big magazine , I think F...

Horns by Joe Hill Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with one hell of a hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples. Once, Ig lived the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned American musician, and the younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, Ig had security and wealth and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more - he had the love of Merrin Williams, a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. Then beautiful, vivacious Merrin was gone - raped and murdered, under inexplicable circumstances - with Ig the only suspect. He was never tried for the crime, but in the court of public opinion, Ig was and always would be guilty. Now Ig is possessed with a terrible new power - with just a touch he can see peoples' darkest desires - to go with his terrible new look, and he means to use it to find the...

Sword of the North by Luke Scull, The Grim Company #2 As Davarus Cole and his former companions were quick to discover, the White Lady’s victorious liberation of Dorminia has not resulted in the freedom they once imagined. Anyone perceived as a threat has been seized and imprisoned—or exiled to darker regions—leaving the White Lady’s rule unchallenged and absolute. But the White Lady would be wiser not to spurn her former supporters: Eremul the Halfmage has learned of a race of immortals known as the Fade, and if he cannot convince the White Lady of their existence, all of humanity will be in danger. Far to the north, Brodar Kayne and Jerek the Wolf continue their odyssey to the High Fangs only to find themselves caught in a war between a demon horde and their enemy of old, the Shaman. And in the wondrous city of Thelassa, Sasha must overcome demons of her own.   2013 was a year of some tremendous debuts, amongst other was the release of Luke Scull's The Grim Comp...

The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis, The Alchemy Wars #1 My name is Jax. That is the name granted to be by my human masters. I am a clakker: a mechanical man, powered by alchemy. Armies of my kind have conquered the world - and made the Brasswork Throne the sole superpower. I am a faithful servant. I am the ultimate fighting machine. I am endowed with great strength and boundless stamina. But I am beholden to the wishes of my human masters. I am a slave. But I shall be free. I learned about this book last year during my LonCon3 visit, the premise sounded amazing and ever since having read Bitter Seeds and Something More Than Night I have been very taken by the way that Ian Tregillis devises his stories, they are great to start with but have much more working in their favor, they have big idea's, very creative and are to be honest in certain parts quite ruthless. The Mechanical is the lastest addition to the so far impressive line up of books that Ian Tregillis has written, and...

When the Circus Lights Down by Sarah Pinsker [no synopsis supplied] Just a few weeks ago I read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and since I have been looking out for such stories, as a circus in my opinion holds a magical sway. So when I came across When the Circus Lights Down I had nothing other to do then to read it. I have read some thought provoking stories lately and with When the Circus Lights Down the streak is continued. Sarah Pinsker has written a very clever story. The first sentence of the story is "The circus landed late October", it landed! Ok. It landed. This is just the first as the next descriptions as the tents fall like sattilites out of the sky. After the landing of the circus, the focus is placed on the protagonists of the story a young mother Haley and her daughter Annie,. This is the first time that Annie sees the circus, for her mother it has dropped down occasionally but each time with the same time frame. It also becomes notable that t...

(p)review forecast April part 2 What will you be reading in the next weeks? Cheers, Jasper 1. The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis, Orbit My name is Jax. That is the name granted to be by my human masters. I am a clakker: a mechanical man, powered by alchemy. Armies of my kind have conquered the world - and made the Brasswork Throne the sole superpower. I am a faithful servant. I am the ultimate fighting machine. I am endowed with great strength and boundless stamina. But I am beholden to the wishes of my human masters. I am a slave. But I shall be free. 2. Horn by Joe Hill, Gollancz At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns...

  Media Alert: London Book Fair 2015 HEAR FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTS AT THE LONDON BOOK FAIR! Dedicated Author HQ theatre and seminar programme for established and aspiring writers   News for release, Monday 13 April 2015:   Industry experts will be on hand this week at The London Book Fair (LBF) at Author HQ, with Kindle Direct Publishing, LBF’s dedicated theatre for established and aspiring writers. Launched as a response to increasing interest from the self-publishing community , a fantastic line up of speakers - publishers, writers and agents - will be taking part in three day programme of seminars designed to provide the knowledge, tools and insight writers need to make informed decisions about getting their work published - in a world where conventional and self-publishing opportunities offer an ever expanding number of routes to market.   Representatives from Little, Brown; HarperCollins; Headline; The Orion Publishing Gr...