Feed Your Interest

And with December, comes our list of new books!

For the record, we DON’T have these books yet. These are what we are expecting to arrive sometimes in December.
If you did want something, let us know, or place an order through the store, we’ll let you know the moment it comes in.

If you wanted something specifically as a X’mas present for a friend or family member (or from a friend or family member), again, let us know early so we can ensure that we’ll have it ready for you (or them).

Cheers!

So. Who plays World of Warcraft? Or at least heard of it?

Might be faster to ask who hasn’t heard of it.

Regardless, where we come in, is the fact that there is tons and tons and tons of lore that stretches from when the orcs first met the humans, all the way to know when the Alliance and the Horde have travelled in an uneasy truce to Northrend to meet the Lich King…

STILL sounds like gobblydekook to you?

Let’s put it this way…
If you play the game, you should *absolutely* read these background stories. It’d tell you about how the Dark Portal came to be. About the Dragon Aspects and the reasons for their existence. All in a much much richer and more imaginative manner than the game could ever do…

The basic story here is… “We’ve got Warcraft!”.

Tides of Darkness
This recounts the story that was told in the game “Warcraft II” (aka WC2).
While Beyond the Dark Portal tells the story of the expansion to WC2.
There is a fair amount of stuff here, including how the Outland became the shattered piece of living rock that it is at the moment, and it also puts into perspectives the reasons for why the Alliance are “mildly” upset with the Horde…
bear in mind that the Horde as it currently stands, has been around for a lot shorter of time than the Alliance, and you know what they say about people with long memories…

War of the Ancients
This is an omnibus containing the complete trilogy of the War of the Ancients. I’d say that it takes place after the events of WC3 and the battle for mt hyjal… But that’s a lie because it doesn’t really take place then. It starts off *after* that at least, but it doesn’t really take place then.
This is an awesome look at the Dragon Aspects as they were millennia ago. More importantly, this talks about the first invasion of the Burning Legion, the sundering that shook the high elves such that they were never recover again, and the events leading up to Queen Azshara’s change in “policies”…
Ever wondered how the naga came about and why they do what they do? Read this.

Warcraft Archive
I think this was the first omnibus of warcraft books.
Contained within are

• Day of the Dragon - in which Rhonin (yes of Kirin Tor fame) enters Khaz Modan to seek the truth behind the Red Dragonflight’s change in loyalties…
• Lord of the Clans - After the events of Thrall’s escape from Durnhold Keep, and before the prolog of WC3, what exactly had Thrall been doing…? This shows how he came into his shamanistic powers, and more importantly, the events that drove him and shape him so that he is now the leader of the Horde!
• The Last Guardian - Everybody who has played BC knows about Karazhan… For those of you who haven’t, it was the home place of Medivh, the Last Guardian of Azeroth. Charged with great magical powers to protect Azeroth from the Burning Legiong, Medivh’s life was played out as a tragedy, culminating in a betrayal of all he and his line stood for. if you’ve ever wondered about the original tenant of Karazhan, and why his name is spoken in such hushed whispers of fear and awe, this is the way to go
• Of Blood & Honor - (Yes, I know it’s spelled with a “u”.) Tirion Fordring, who has made such a large reappearance in Wrath of the Lich King, wasn’t always a paladin that understood that life doesn’t lie in absolute black and white. Once every bit as ardent and fanatical as the rest of his brethren, his perceptions of good and evil were irreversibly altered when he came face to face with the “vile and corrupt” orcs… Yet another book of a major WoW character that is well worth reading

Rise of the Horde
The orcs used to be fairly nice people. Green, maybe even pebbly, and definitely mildly toothy… but as Kermit says “it’s not easy being green!”
Point is, they were the sort of people you might invite over for tea with your grandma as long as your grandma didn’t mind company that comes from a different generation as she is from (believe me, that’s how she felt about your school friends ‘oh my, they are such *nice* boys, but they wear such strange alien and AWFUL clothing!!!’).
Then the Burning Legion and Kil’jaeden came along and corrupted them with fel magic…

Cycle of Hatred
I’ve got this theory (to be fair, it’s not just me, and I definitely wasn’t the first to voice it either) that Jaina & Thrall have something going on. yes, yes, I know, inter-species and all… but hey! if it’s all in the name of better diplomatic relations, why not?
*eh-hem*
Jaina Proudmoore wants peace between the Alliance and the Horde, and the fact is, it is only through her sheer magical power, political deftness and knowledge that the first truce between the two factions was forged, and part of the reason why it continues to this day.
See how it all begins…

Warcraft: The art of the Trading Card Game
Don’t look at me…
I think it’s weird as well to have an art book for the trading card game. it’s a bit like having a brush to brush your toothbrush that brushes your teeth…
but there you go… Blizzard’s making a gazillion million dollars and i’m not.
I imagine collectors will like this…

That said, if you DID want this for your collection, or as a present, let us know ASAP, because we’ll need to order it in for you. No, we don’t charge extra.

Lo’Gosh #1
Some of you have been to Stormwind and met the new King (I hope you have at any rate…). If you’ve ever wondered about why he suddenly went and displaced the gorgeous Katrana Prestor, here’s the beginning of that tale.

So there you go. lots of Warcraft books. As I said before, if you play the games, the books are well worth reading. If you don’t… I’d say War of the Ancients is worth reading simply as an epic fantasy.

happy levelling!

I sometimes wonder if writing in Internet lingo affects my credibility as a reader.

Ah well, too late now.

Books! We got more!
As always, give us a call if you wanted us to put any aside for you.

Mechanicum
It’s the 9th book in the Horus Heresy. All I know is that Warhammer 40k fans are loving this stuff.

Perfect Circle

Succubus takes Manhattan
Delightful fun, I think a customer described the first book as. All I know is that people who read the first (Succubus in the City) have been asking about the arrival of the second. So presumably they liked it.

Black Magic Woman

Night of the Dragon
Another World of Warcraft book. The franchise is doing well, and the lore has always been interesting! Worth reading if you’re playing the game.

After finishing Temporal Void, I just had to go back and re-read some of Hamilton’s other stuff. Have I mentioned how stunningly-crafted his stories are?
They are filled with epic ensembles of characters that strangely do not blur into one… They maintain very distinct, very unique characters that continue to develop through out the books. And eventually events will bring them all together, leaving you (well, me at least) with this sense of having travelled through the galaxy’s most amazing social revolutions…
After which I realize I’ve just finished another one of Hamilton’s books and now need to wait for him to stop slacking around and to deliver the next…

Fallen Dragon is unique amongst his books thus far as it is a stand-alone. There are no prequels, there are no sequels (yet and not likely ever). While some lament this as being indicative of a lack of his customary depth, I say “hey, at least you don’t have to wait for the next book!”

And the idea that it is lacking in depth and scope is one that is flawed anyway. The events of the book span from Earth to Thallspring. A colonized planet many light-years away, and one that has been the target of the most recent asset realization of the ZB Corporation…

Asset Realization is interesting.
The basic idea is that colonies cost a *lot* of money to get started and to get going. And that doesn’t include the cost of space travel, which in itself is also a very significant amount. It is for this reason that the majority of corporations have actually stopped investing in colonization entirely. It costs a lot, and due to the distances involved, there is no way for the corporations to profitably invest more time and finances to realize a profit. Ultimately, that investment (and the colony’s debt to the corporation) are written off as a loss on the corporation’s books…

Long term, what the corporations do instead, is 10-20 years down the road, when the colony has itself up and running, is self-sustaining and using its own resources to manufacture finished products, it sends its fleet and military forces to the colony, and claim a large portion of those finished products as a portion of its assets.
Since there was no cost to the corporation in creating those products, their spacefleet and military already existed, every single one of those products has a zero manufacturing cost, and all sales of the products are immediately profitable.

The side effect of course, is that in the midst of that realization, they tend to piss off the populance, they tend to wreck economic havoc with the colony planet, and they tend to get innocent people hurt.

The main character is a fairly nice guy by the name of Lawrence Newton who happens to be the squad leader in the military force that is sent into Thallspring to maintain law and order during the realization.

The narration takes a slightly round-about view of events. Showing the events as they are occurring “now” on Earth and on Thallspring, as well as showing the events that led Lawrence to his current occupation and state of mind.
And yes, there *are* other equally interesting characters through the book, not the least being a girl whose DNA has been rewritten to make her more than human, and a guy who is a product of a long line of on-going genetic experiments back on Earth…

It’s one of my favourite books by Hamilton, and I’d whole-heartedly recommend it to any reader of the sci-fi genre.

We just got some new books in that we know some people have been looking forwards to.

Intrepid by Joel Shepherd. It’s the 6th book in the Kris Longknife series.

The other is The Clone Elite by Steven kent.

If you enjoyed your sci-fi with big guns, explosive action and fast-thinking, quick-acting, beyond-amazing soldiers, this is the genre to pick up!

I just realised as I was writing this, that both books I’d just finished reading were filled with assassins. One a babe, and the other a dude.

Cally’s War
One of John Ringo’s spin-offs from his Posleen war series. This one actually takes place years after the war has ended (now you know who wins!! ;)), on an Earth that is at relative peace with the aliens that inhabit it and help rule it. All behind the scenes of course.

Our heroine is an assassin. Brought up that way, trained and mentally conditioned that way. She is freaking scary. In the opening scenes, we meet a guy that absolutely scared me. He’s brutal, he’s evil, he’s suspicious, and he’s really really really fond of torturing girls…
Cally of course, eventually goes up against him, takes everything he can throw at her, and then beats the crap out of him before going home for a nice bubble bath and sleep.
Cally rocks.

The main event is mostly interesting and fast moving. There are bits where the pace suddenly drops, or the focus switches entirely to a different character entirely. It can be a little jarring… But what the heck, John Ringo’s not known for an awesome literary skill. He’s better known for explosive, nail-biting action books that are a thorough joy to read…
The backdrop to the main event however, is quite very interesting. There’s a powerplay going on in the back ground that will obviously be played out in later books. Don’t get me wrong, this is a self-contained book. But you can tell that there is an over-arching strategy for the humans to get rid of those annoying aliens that are attempting to manipulate the events of Earth…

All in all, quite really actiony fun!

The other one was Way of Shadows.
This was the one I was whinging about not having been able to read because people kept stealing my last copy before I was able to get to it…
It’s good! It really really is. It’s got some of those good old stereotypes that you’d expect. Apprentice assassin from the streets, master assassin imparting all his knowledge before he permanently retires from the scene.
But built up on top of that is very skilled story writing, well-paced action, hopes and dreams and the shattering of them…

So there you go! More great books to read!

Ok, so now I have read Temporal Void.

Actually, I read it a fair few days ago as a way to procrastinate. The problem with reading a book like that to procrastinate, is that that “10 minutes - just a few pages” tends to turn into “10 hours - one book later…”. How time flies when you’re stuck in the temporal void! hahahaha… (Sorry, I couldn’t resist…)

It was good. I loved it. It was a lot more focused on Edeard and his events in the Void, but to a certain degree, that was an expected move on Hamilton’s part. Afterall, it *is* the second book in the trilogy, so you would expect it to set things up for the grand finale. Yes, it was a stronger second book than Neutronium Alchemist. Tighter told, the meanderings were less aimless. Yes, I know it’s a bit strange a thing to say since we can’t tell how useful the events of the second book were until we’ve read the 3rd… But you also get a sense that there is a point and a reason to everything.

The raw strength and power of the Waterwalker is really brought to reality in this book. There are moments where it seems like the whole deus ex machina resolution he had in The Naked God might make a reappearance, but then the costs of Edeard’s reality bending is shown, and you wonder if it is right and worth it.

The problem with trying to comment on a book is always “how much to give away”… Paula’s still running around playing (super) detective, Ozzie’s still out there trying to find the Second Dreamer, Kazimir’s going crazy trying to prevent the aliens - who understandably blame the humans for the devourament phase - from attacking the humans - who themselves are trying to blow each other up in an effort to enter the Void. Troblum is unbelievably still alive and running free. And the Second Dreamer is off in her own little world…

If you liked the first book, this 2nd part of the trilogy continues to deliver the amazing depth and breadth of epic sci-fi that you’d expect from Hamilton. ie: go read it.

These just arrived!

There are a LOT of people who know the story of “The Wizard of Oz”. Not that many have read it. And only a very small number of people know that there are MORE “Oz” stories… 15 Oz Stories, to be exact…
A compilation of all 15 Oz stories, this is great for people who have never read the books, are just interested in the land of Oz, for people who wonder why Dorothy was allowed to get away with murder, for kids… Just anybody who enjoyed the Dorothy & The Wizard of Oz!

Deryni Rising - Katherine Kurtz
This is a reprint of Katherine Kurtz’s first book in the series. Long out of print, now an entire new generation can enjoy the magic and splendour of her fantasy series!

Radio Freefall - Matthew Jarpe
This book just sounds unbelievably weird… (in a good way)

Shadow’s Edge - Brent Weeks
This is the second book in the Night Angels trilogy… In one of those awesome departures from tradition, the 3rd and last book of the trilogy is being released next month! No long waits for never-ending series!!!!
On a more “how good is this book” related note, customers have been enjoying Way of Shadows and giving it high praise, so presumably it’s a good read.
One day people will stop stealing the copy I’ve put aside for myself and I’ll be able to read it…

Bloodring
The first book in a “possible tech/magic future” world, I’ve had customers asking for this for the last 2 months before it was released. So somebody somewhere has been saying interesting things about it.

Apart from those new ones that come to mind, there are a few other restocks that we got, including The Founding (this is a Gaunt’s Ghosts omnibus, and is worth reading if you want some military reading), Family Trade, Cally’s War…

Part of my reason for reading Swallowing Darkness was because of the rumours that it was the last book in the series.

Basically the first thought running through my head was “Laurell K Hamilton is going to FINISH a SERIES?!??!!??”.
I was SHOCKED! This is the woman who has given us countless Anita Blake books (Guilty Pleasures - Anita Blake #1), a series that was kick-butt necromatic fun for the first 9 (or so) books, before degenerating into badly written, euphemism driven porn that *everybody* just wishes would finish, but will never ever do…

Back to the book under discussion…
I’ve just finished it, and it certainly does seem like an end to the series. Let’s just say that I’d be very disappointed if there’s another. There are things left unanswered, events that I would have like to have seen, but I also think I’m fairly happy not having actually gotten those. Complete closure is mildly annoying when you really think about what it means.

Did I enjoy it? Yes, yes I did…
This sounds a bit weird, but I didn’t have serious problems with the amount of sex in this Merry Gentry series. For one thing, it was honest… Right from A Kiss of Shadows onwards, Merry was stated to be descended from a goddess of fertility, it was well stated that sex was a weapon that the Faerie of the court she was exiled from used on a regular basis… None of this “Hey everybody! I’m a powerful necromancer who raises dead people and uses them to tear “innocent” old ladies to bits and pieces… NOT! I’m actually a succubus who will sleep with every man, vampire and were-creature that happens to be close to me!!!”
There’s no unexpected, (and undesired) sudden 270 degree twists in direction and character development… (Ok, granted character development isn’t particularly high on the list anyway, but that’s not the point…)

And oh, the vampire machinations of Jean Claude, the vampire council, etc, have got nothing on the political maneuvering of the Sidhe… And the magic that they live in is very *very* well described.

Back to the book…
There’s no gratuitous sex for the sake of it. Well, there was this one small scene where I was a little “huh?! that’s a little unexpected…”, but it kinda made sense. A bit. And it was a small scene.

The events were major, massive changes that made sense taken in the context of the whole series. Some of the characters, Mistral as an example, were fairly shallow in terms of how they were used in the story, but the main characters were well-represented. Kitto surprised me in A Lick of Frost, and while he didn’t make an appearance in “Swallowing Darkness”, his close relationship with Merry was made evident by her bodyguards’ surprising actions. Sholto grows in his role of King and matures in his role of Merry’s lover and ally. Andias’ twin roles of mother and queen are brought into conflict…

I’m not too sure what else to say about this (seemingly and hopefully) final book in the Meredith Gentry series. I did enjoy it: the faerie politics, the magic, the mild levels of sex, they worked well together to form what I feel is an appropriate and strong finish to a series that I mostly enjoyed.

Michael Crichton died to cancer on November 4th, 2008.
He was an awesome author responsible for bringing us Jurassic Park, Sphere, Disclosure, and other brilliant contemporary sci-fi books. His writing always posed interesting ideas, cool scenarios and great adventure.
I’ll miss having his new books, and I’ll continue to reread his old.
May he rest in peace.