Like September, October is another big month for book releases. Here are a few of the ones about which I am most excited. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard – The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan. This, along with Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Quest and Marissa Meyer’s Winter are among my most anticipated books of the later half of 2015. For those of you who don’t know, Sword of Summer is the start of a new series by the author of the Percy Jackson series which, this time, focusses on Norse mythology. Riordan’s books are always funny, engaging and exciting and I have no reason to suspect this one will be any different. Knowing what I know of the Norse pantheon, the opportunities for high jinx seem limitless. Sword of Summer will be released on October 6th and I have it preordered in both Kindle and Audible versions. Also on October 6th Brandon Sanderson is releasing another book. Dang, that guy is prolific. Does he actually sleep? This month it’s the turn of Shadows of Self, the sequel to his Alloy of Law, a steampunkesque novel set in his Mistborn world. I love the world Sanderson created in…
This last couple of weeks I’ve read some great and some not so great books. Here they are. [book-info] Now sci-fi isn’t my usual fare, especially where there is more emphasis on the science than the fiction, but The Martian has been getting so much buzz lately that I decided to check it out. Within a few minutes of listening I was hooked by Watney’s situation; abandoned on Mars, has to use his ingenuity to survive in an inhospitable environment until rescue can come. Written as it is in a first-person journalistic style this is a perfect book for the audiobook medium, and R.C. Bray did a wonderful job of bringing Mark to life. Mark is a very witty and engaging protagonist and it is very easy to root for him. Weir did a fantastic job of explaining the various challenges Mark encounters and his solutions in a way that was easily comprehensible to someone like me who is not science minded. The story of Mark’s plight and his attempts to secure his rescue was very appealing on a human level. I gave The Martian five stars out of five. [book-info number=1] I picked up Agatha Raisin and the Quiche…
Harry Potter with a twist continues in The Copper Gauntlet, the second book in The Magisterium series from Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. As I mentioned in my review of book one, The Iron Trial, it is impossible to read The Magisterium and not think of Harry Potter. In this case, imagine that Harry has learned about his Horcrux situation right at the beginning of his academic studies and that Neville has been acclaimed as the Chosen One, able to defeat Voldemort. This gives Call a far more nuanced outlook than Harry, especially at an equivalent age (Chamber of Secrets era.) which makes him, to me, a more interesting character. Don’t get me wrong; I love Harry. However, in the early books at least, he sees things very much as black or white, good or evil. Not so Call. The connections are too numerous to be accidental. This time around they are more subtle, but still present. We have an antagonist whose main objective is to conquer Death itself. His nickname is “The Enemy of Death.” Voldemort, anyone? Fair enough, it is a fairly common trope, but combine it with magic school and you have Harry Potter. Another theme common…