The Book Plank

A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden To the Danes, he is  skraelingr ; to the English, he is  orcneas ; to the Irish, he is  fomoraig . He is Corpse-maker and Life-quencher, the Bringer of Night, the Son of the Wolf and Brother of the Serpent. He is Grimnir, and he is the last of his kind--the last in a long line of monsters who have plagued humanity since the Elder Days. Drawn from his lair by a thirst for vengeance against the Dane who slew his brother, Grimnir emerges into a world that's changed. A new faith has arisen. The Old Ways are dying, and their followers retreating into the shadows; even still, Grimnir's vengeance cannot be denied. Taking a young Christian hostage to be his guide, Grimnir embarks on a journey that takes him from the hinterlands of Denmark, where the wisdom of the ancient dwarves has given way to madness, to the war-torn heart of southern England, where the spirits of the land make violence on one another. And thence to the green shores of Ire...

Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill, Dreams and Shadows #1  There is another world than our own—one no closer than a kiss and one no further than our nightmares—where all the stuff of which dreams are made is real and magic is just a step away. But once you see that world, you will never be the same. Dreams and Shadows takes us beyond this veil. Once bold explorers and youthful denizens of this magical realm, Ewan is now an Austin musician who just met his dream girl, and Colby, meanwhile, cannot escape the consequences of an innocent wish. But while Ewan and Colby left the Limestone Kingdom as children, it has never forgotten them. And in a world where angels relax on rooftops, whiskey-swilling genies argue metaphysics with foul-mouthed wizards, and monsters in the shadows feed on fear, you can never outrun your fate. Who doesn't like a good fairy tale? I recently read Sarah Pinborough's Beauty and was taken by just how evocative a good fairy tale could be...

Blood Will Follow by Snorri Kristjansson, The Valhalla Saga #2 Ulfar Thormodsson and Audun Arngrimsson have won the battle for Stenvik, although at huge cost, for they have suffered much worse than heartbreak. They have lost the very thing that made them human: their mortality. While Ulfar heads home, looking for the place where he thinks he will be safe, Audun runs south. But both men are about to discover that they can not run away from themselves. King Olav might have been defeated outside the walls of Stenvik, but now Valgard leads him north, in search of the source of the Vikings’ power. All the while there are those who watch and wait, biding their time, for there are secrets yet to be discovered… As I have mentioned before 2013 saw a lot of great debuts and another one that really stood out was Swords of Good Men . A book that was different from the mainstream fantasy and featured an interesting storyline, blood battles and lets not forget plenty of Vikings. Snorri K...