The Book Plank

Gemini Cell by Myke Cole, Shadow Ops #4 US Navy SEAL Jim Schweitzer is a consummate professional, a fierce warrior, and a hard man to kill. But when he sees something he was never meant to see on a covert mission gone bad, he finds himself—and his family—in the crosshairs. Nothing means more to Jim than protecting his loved ones, but when the enemy brings the battle to his front door, he is overwhelmed and taken down. It should be the end of the story. But Jim is raised from the dead by a sorcerer and recruited by a top secret unit dabbling in the occult, known only as the Gemini Cell. With powers he doesn’t understand, Jim is called back to duty—as the ultimate warrior. As he wrestles with a literal inner demon, Jim realizes his new superiors are determined to use him for their own ends and keep him in the dark—especially about the fates of his wife and son…   A few years back Myke Cole kicked off his Shadow Ops series with Control Point. If  you read my review of it, you...

Control Point by Myke Cole, Shadow Ops #1 Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer. Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze. Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military's Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one. The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down--and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he's ever known, and that his life isn't the only thing he's fighting for. I have had my eye on this book for a while now, a very very long time. Too be honest I have postponed reading the book because the intr...

Author interview Richard Ford Author bio: Richard Ford hails from Leeds but now resides in Wiltshire, in the first town on the Thames. His first novel, Kultus, was published in 2011. Herald of the Storm is his epic fantasy debut.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Richard, welcome over at The Book Plank and for taking your time to answer these few questions. BP: First off, could you give us a short introduction as to who Richard Ford is? What are your hobbies, likes/dislikes? RF: Richard Ford is a late thirty-something, occasionally beardy, always baldy writer of edgy yet amusing fantasy fiction. When I’m not gently weeping over a steaming laptop I can be found watching rugby of either code (Bath and Leeds are my teams of choice) or throwing heavy things around in the gym when my sciatica prone back allows. BP: Kultus was your debut book and Steelhaven is your latest series, when and where did you decide that you wa...

The Shattered Crown by Richard Ford, Steelhaven #2 Heroes must rise... The King is dead. His daughter, untested and alone, now wears the Steel Crown. And a vast horde is steadily carving a bloody road south, hell-bent on razing Steelhaven to the ground... or the city will fall. Before the city faces the terror that approaches, it must crush the danger already lurking within its walls. But will the cost of victory be as devastating as that of defeat? A short while ago I read Richard Ford's first book in the Steelhaven series, Herald of the Storm , this strong character driven book won me over from the start and got me quite eager for the sequel. Richard Ford managed to create an interesting "grimdark" fantasy setting and just as the title of the book, Richard Ford heralded a storm, a storm so powerful that only leaves one question remaining, will Steelhaven survive? Just a not up front, The Shattered Crown is one of those books that makes a reader like me exc...

Herald of the Storm by Richard Ford, Steelhaven #1 Welcome to Steelhaven... Under the reign of King Cael the Uniter, this vast cityport on the southern coast has for years been a symbol of strength, maintaining an uneasy peace throughout the Free States.  But now a long shadow hangs over the city, in the form of the dread Elharim warlord, Amon Tugha. When his herald infiltrates the city, looking to exploit its dangerous criminal underworld, and a terrible dark magick that has long been buried once again begins to rise, it could be the beginning of the end.   In the last few years the grimdark genre has been steadily on the rise slowly transforming the existing epic fantasy. Via a few authors I have gotten nicely acquainted with grimdark fantasy and have thoroughly enjoyed reading those stories. Herald of the Storm is Richard Ford's second book, where his debut Kultus was a steam-powered story, Herald of the Storm is a dark fantasy story, I haven't read Kultus b...

Author Interview with Jennifer Williams Once every time I come across a book that catches my eye and immediately skips the TBR pile for a next read and this is what The Copper Promise was. I read the synopsis and I developed this urge that I just had to read it asap. I am a sucker for a good epic adventure story and this is all featured in The Copper Promise , and much more lets not forget Gods in forms of dragons, flashy and powerful elemental magic, and a world that is about to see its doom. Fighting against the emerging threat is a band of most unlikely heroes. The Copper Promise is Jennifer Williams' debut, and with what she shows, a grande and interesting world, spot on characterization and to top it all off.. once action packed story! She is definitely on the right track! Author Bio:  Jennifer Williams is a fantasy writer and Xbox obsessive who spends much of her time frowning at notebooks in cafes and fiddling with maps of imaginary places. She is represente...

The Copper Promise by Jen Williams There are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel… Some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths. For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him … and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel looks like just another job. There’s the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they’re done. But sometimes there is truth in rumour. Soon this reckless trio will be the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart. And they’re not even getting paid. The Copper Promise is Jen Williams Epic Fantasy debut, when I ...