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 Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence, The Red Queen's War #2 The eyes of the mighty are on the North. Loki’s key has been found and lies in the hands of a feckless prince and a broken warrior. Winter has locked Prince Jalan Kendeth far from the luxury of his southern palace. The North may be home to Viking Snorri ver Snagason but he is just as eager to leave. However, even men who hold a key that can open any door must wait for the thaw. As the ice unlocks its jaws the Dead King moves to claim what was so nearly his. But there are other players in this game, other hands reaching for Loki’s key. Jalan wants only to return to the wine and women of the south, but Snorri has a different and terrifying goal. The warrior aims to find the very door into death and throw it wide. Snorri ver Snagason will challenge all of Hell if that’s what it takes to bring his wife and children back into the living world. He has found the key – now all he needs is to find the door. But pawns a...

The Vagrant by Peter Newman The Vagrant is his name. He has no other. Friendless and alone he walks across a desolate, war-torn landscape, carrying nothing but a kit-bag, a legendary sword and a baby. His purpose is to reach the Shining City, last bastion of the human race, and deliver the sword, the only weapon that may make a difference in the ongoing war. But the Shining City is far away and the world is a very dangerous place. The Vagrant received a lot of media attention being a massive debut for Peter Newman. Of course this book hadn't escaped my attention and the good folk over at Harper Voyager kindly send me a copy to review.  What first got me fired up for The Vagrant was the very brief synopsis with a lot of promise, I encountered something similar a few years back with Jay Posey's Three . Also an post-apocalytic story with a less is more synopsis. Secondaly the cover allured so much to me, a guy with a sword and a baby... What is going on? Does Peter New...

 The Exodus Towers by Jason M. Hough, Dire Earth Cycle #2 When the second elevator makes landfall in Belem, Brazil, a cluster of mysterious black towers appears at its base. Skyler Luiken and his crew soon learn that the alien inhibit the deadly virus and establish a new colony. But when he encounters a crashed Builder ship outside the safe zone, Skyler makes a horrifying discovery: the infected are mutating.  As militants seize control of the fledgling colony in Belem, and power struggles above and below the Darwin Elevator threaten to destroy it, Dr. Tania Sharma races to predict the next Builder event. Will the last human outpost on Earth survive to see it? In August I read The Darwin Elevator, the first book in the Dire Earth Cycle and it brought me to the edge of my seat. In The Darwin Elevator you were introduced to a destroyed Earth, the Builders set an alien device right smack in the middle of Darwin, Australia. An elevator that reaches in to space....

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell, Reapers #1 Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free. For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks. Apocalyptic stories have always been a type of story that I have been particularly drawn to. And I found that The Reapers are the Angels fits r...

The Middle Earth by David Wingrove, Chung Kuo Recast #3 IMMOVABLE PEACE The year is 2196. The great Empire of Ice, Chung Kuo, has finally been shaken after more than a century of peace enforced by brutal tyranny. The Minister of the Edict - an official responsible for licensing all technology that could lead to Change - has been assassinated. The seven ruling T'ang struggle to maintain Stasis, even as their mile-high, continent-spanning cities descend into chaos. IRRESISTIBLE CHAOS Amid the chaos, the rebels responsible for the assassination seize the opportunity to effect Change. But the assassination was orchestrated by those far closer to the ruling power and this betrayal, the first of many, will lead them all into the world-shattering War of Two Directions. WAR IS COMING... The Middle Earth is the original first book of the Chung Kuo series, but makes up the third book in the Chung Kuo Recast series, the rewritten version of the original one.  The ...