The Book Plank

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...

The Journey into Malaz by Ian C. Esslemont The question of the journey of the Malazan Empire up to now is of course impossible to answer in any short form.  However, I suppose I could trace out a few ideas that Steve and I pursued, or hoped we’d managed to pursue.  Of course we both grew up on fantasy literature.  We love the genre; and as fans and budding writers and scholars of literature, we hoped to contribute to it, while, at the same time, providing something new – or at least different.  So, in sculpting our material (consciously and unconsciously), we decided to take from the extant fantasy genre the elements we enjoyed, while at the same time excising those elements we wished to leave behind (such as moral absolutes).  Then, we looked at other genres for models or other desirable elements, and we ended up importing aspects of war fiction, historical fiction, so-called ‘realism’, hard-boiled detective fiction, noir, ancient classical fiction...

Media Alert: The Fisher of Bones In The Fisher of Bones a tiny band of prophet-led outcasts, are guided by tablets and lured by the promise land. This time, however, the tablets are incomprehensible to most believers, and the original prophet dies with no promised land in sight. His heir, a resentful daughter (named Ducky, and then Fisher), cannot deny the sudden alteration of her vision and the cacophony of otherworldly voices that descend upon her as her father dies. Faith is for others; she has duty and marching orders. Their journey is almost at an end, but now, without the Prophet, Fisher must find a way to guide them to the place they will call Home. Through blood and through sand, against the will of her own flock, against the horrors that haunt the darkness, only she can bring her people Home. The Prophet is dead. Long live the Prophetess. This serial is written by Sarah Gailey. Hugo and Campbell award finalist Gailey is an internationally-published fiction and...

The Blind by AF Brady Sam James has spent years carefully crafting her reputation as the best psychologist at Typhlos, Manhattan's most challenging psychiatric institution. She boasts the highest success rates with the most disturbed patients, believing if she can't save herself, she'll save someone else. It's this savior complex that serves her well in helping patients battle their inner demons, though it leads Sam down some dark paths and opens her eyes to her own mental turmoil. When Richard, a mysterious patient no other therapist wants to treat, is admitted to Typhlos, Sam is determined to unlock his secrets and his psyche. What she can't figure out is why does Richard appear to be so completely normal in a hospital filled with madness? And what, really, is he doing at the institution? As Sam gets pulled into Richard's twisted past, she can't help but analyze her own life, and what she discovers terrifies her. And so the mind games begin. ...

Inferno Squad by Christie Golden After the humiliating theft of the Death Star plans and the resulting destruction of the battle station, the Empire is on the defensive. In response to this stunning defeat, the Imperial Navy has authorized the formation of an elite team of soldiers, known as Inferno Squad. Their mission: infiltrate and eliminate the remnants of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. Following the death of their leader, the Partisans have carried on his extremist legacy, determined to thwart the Empire—no matter what the cost. Now, Inferno Squad must prove their status as the best of the best and take down the Partisans from within. But as the danger intensifies and the threat of discovery grows, how far will Inferno Squad go to ensure the safety of the Empire? It has been a while since I read a Star Wars book, one of the last ones must have been Catalyst. Anyhow. Star Wars books are hot at the moment with the new movies coming out in a rapid pace. The great thing about thes...

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...