The Book Plank

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher My name's Griz. My childhood wasn't like yours. I've never had friends, and in my whole life I've not met enough people to play a game of football. My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, but we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs. Then the thief came. There may be no law left except what you make of it. But if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you. Because if we aren't loyal to the things we love, what's the point? ------------------------------- So, yes, where to begin. When I got A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World I quickly removed the jacket as I did not want to read any of the quotes on the cover. I also just found out after finishing the book that C.A. Fletcher is the synonym of Charlie Fletcher who for me is better known for the Oversight series a fantasy series brimming with magic. For others, h...

The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan, The Black Iron Legacy #1 A group of three young thieves are pulled into a centuries old magical war between ancient beings, mages, and humanity in this wildly original debut epic fantasy. The city has always been. The city must finally end. When three thieves - an orphan, a ghoul, and a cursed man - are betrayed by the master of the thieves guild, their quest for revenge uncovers dark truths about their city and exposes a dangerous conspiracy, the seeds of which were sown long before they were born. Cari is a drifter whose past and future are darker than she can know. Rat is a Ghoul, whose people haunt the city's underworld. Spar is a Stone Man, subject to a terrible disease that is slowly petrifying his flesh. Chance has brought them together, but their friendship could be all that stands in the way of total armageddon.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...

Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames, The Band #2 Live fast, die young. Tam Hashford is tired of working at her local pub, slinging drinks for world-famous mercenaries and listening to the bards sing of adventure and glory in the world beyond her sleepy hometown. When the biggest mercenary band of all rolls into town, led by the infamous Bloody Rose, Tam jumps at the chance to sign on as their bard. It's adventure she wants - and adventure she gets as the crew embark on a quest that will end in one of two ways: glory or death. It's time to take a walk on the wyld side. Last year saw the release of Kings of the Wyld, the first book in "the Band" series by Nicholas Eames. This book caught me by surprise. Kings of the Wyld of filled with a lot of cool ideas that came to full fruition with Nicholas' perfect execution.  The events of Bloody Rose pick up a few years later after Kings of the Wyld. Though the title says Bloody Rose, the main pr...

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett, Founders #1  Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle.  But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.  Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.  To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marsh...

Book Review: The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn.  Ardor Benn is no ordinary thief. Rakish, ambitious, and master of wildly complex heists, he styles himself a Ruse Artist Extraordinaire. When a priest hires him for the most daring ruse yet, Ardor knows he'll need more than quick wit and sleight of hand. Assembling a dream team of forgers, disguisers, schemers, and thieves, he sets out to steal from the most powerful king the realm has ever known. But it soon becomes clear there's more at stake than fame and glory -Ard and his team might just be the last hope for human civilization.   There are a few titles that come out every now and then that catch me by the title. Having been away from the book review for quite some time I actually haven't looked into books that I wanted to read. Being a father of two young kids takes quite the time away from you. Anyway. Titles. They should draw you in and if the title of this book doesn't do it, I dont know what will work for you...

Deadhouse Landing by Ian C. Esslemont, Path to Ascendancy #2 After the disappointments of Li Heng, Dancer and Kellanved wash up on a small insignificant island named Malaz. Immediately, of course, Kellanved plans to take it over. To do so they join forces with a small band of Napans who have fled a civil war on their own home island. The plan, however, soon goes awry as Kellanved develops a strange and dangerous fascination for a mysterious ancient structure found on the island. The chaos in the region extends to the metaphysical planes also as a young priest of D'rek starts to question the rot at the heart of the worship of the god of decay. And back in Li Heng, Dassem, now the proclaimed Sword of Hood, finds himself being blamed for a plague which leads him to a crisis of faith - and searching for answers. During all this, war with the neighbouring island of Nap threatens, recruited allies wonder at Kellanved’s sanity, and powerful entities take more of an inter...

Age of Assassins by RJ Parker, The  Wounded Kingdom #1 Girton Club-foot, apprentice to the land's best assassin, still has much to learn about the art of taking lives. But his latest mission tasks him and his master with a far more difficult challenge: to  save  a life. Someone, or many someones, is trying to kill the heir to the throne, and it is up to Girton and his master to uncover the traitor and prevent the prince's murder.  In a kingdom on the brink of civil war and a castle thick with lies Girton finds friends he never expected, responsibilities he never wanted, and a conspiracy that could destroy an entire kingdom. Age of Assassins  came as a surprise for me, this book wasn't on my radar. Assassins are hands down cool. The stealthy kind of killers that leave no trace... My first introduction to reading about assassins in a series was by Brent Weeks with The Way of the Shadows, which was a remarkable experience. And which was also publis...

The Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom Holt When the Supreme Being and his son decide that being supreme isn't for them any more, it's inevitable that things get a bit of a shake-up. It soon becomes apparent that our new owners, the Venturi brothers, have a very different perspective on all sorts of things. Take Good and Evil, for example. For them, it's an outdated concept that never worked particularly well in the first place. Unfortunately, the sudden disappearance of right and wrong, while welcomed by some, raises certain concerns amongst those still attached to the previous team's management style. In particular, there's one of the old gods who didn't move out with the others. A reclusive chap, he lives somewhere up north, and only a handful even believe in him. But he's watching. And he really does need to know if you've been naughty or nice. For me Tom Holt is one of the funniest writers out there. Ever si...

Heart of Stone by Ben Galley Merciless. Murderer. Monster. He has been called many names in his time. Built for war and nothing else, he has witnessed every shade of violence humans know, and he has wrought his own masterpieces with their colours. He cared once, perhaps, but far too long ago. He is bound to his task, dead to the chaos he wreaks for his masters. Now, he has a new master to serve and a new war to endure. In the far reaches of the Realm, Hartlund tears itself in two over coin and crown. This time he will fight for a boy king and a general bent on victory. Beneath it all he longs for change. For something to surprise him. For an end to this cycle of warfare. Every fighter has a last fight. Even one made of stone.     The last book I read by Ben Galley was Bloodrush an west ern inspired story. A wild one to say the least! Anyway this February I received an email if I was interested to read his latest book, Heart of Stone . How can I deny a story of a go...

Author Interview with Nick Eames About the author: Nicholas Eames was born to parents of infinite patience and unstinting support in Wingham, Ontario. Though he attended college for theatre arts, he gave up acting to pursue the infinitely more attainable profession of “epic fantasy novelist.” Kings of the Wyld is his first novel. Nicholas loves black coffee, neat whiskey, the month of October, and video games. He currently lives in Ontario, Canada, and is very probably writing at this moment. BP: First off welcome to The Book Plank Nicholas! Can you tell us a bit of who Nicholas Eames is? What are your likes, dislikes and hobbies? NE:  Hi! Thanks for having me.  Nicholas Eames, huh? He’s a big fan of scotch, he likes his coffee black, and he loves the Ottawa Senators like a beaver loves wood (the Senators are a hockey team, in case you DON’T live in Canada, and beavers are…actually, nevermind—you wouldn’t believe me if I told you). As for hobbies: reading, writing, a...