Tag Archives: Brian McClellan

2014 David Gemmell Award Winners Announced

The winners of the 2014 David Gemmell Awards have been announced.

The top prize, the Legend Award for best fantasy novel, went to Mark Lawrence for Emperor of Thorns. The Morningstar Award for best debut novel was for Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan (reviewed here). And the Ravenheart Award for best cover art went to Jason Chan for Emperor of Thorns.

Adventures Fantastic would like to congratulate all the nominees and especially the winners. More detail can be found at the David Gemmell Awards page.

And Now the Award Shortlist You’ve All Been Waiting For

Gemmell Award Nominees

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I’ve been reading for some reviews that won’t go up for a couple of weeks plus trying to finish George MacDonald’s Lilith, which is my next Ballantine Adult Fantasy post for Black Gate, I’ve not put much up.

Part of the problem is I’ve gotten into the habit of reading more than one book at a time, something I’ve only been doing over the last 6 months. I’m not sure how I got into the habit, but it’s got to stop. It feels like it takes forever to finish anything.

What’s this got to do with the Gemmell Awards? Well the nominated I title I requested for review arrived today. That would be The Path of Anger by Antoine Rouaud. I’m really looking forward to reading it.

I’ve just started Talus and the Frozen King by Graham Edwards. It’s a bronze age murder mystery. I may put it aside for a day or so to focus on the Gemmell Awards.

I’ve got several titles that are on this year’s ballot sitting on the shelf. These include The Grim Company (Luke Scull), Herald of the Storm (Richard Ford), Black Sun Light My Way (Jo Spurrier, whose debut novel Winter Be my Shield was one of my favorite reads last year), and The Republic of Thieves (Scott Lynch). Plus another of my favorites, Promise of Blood (Brian McClellan) was reviewed here recently.

The ballot closes on April 13, so I’m not sure how many of these I’ll be able to finish. I should be able to finish The Path of Anger at the very least and will try to finish Black Sun Light My Way. I’ll put a post a brief review at the Gemmell Awards and a more in depth review here. And while I won’t finish all of them in time to post a review on the Gemmell Awards site, I’ll review all the ones listed above sometime in the next few months.

2013: An Assessment – Individual Authors and Titles

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This is the second part of my assessment of 2013. The first looked at publishers. Here I’ll feature some authors and/or individual titles that I thought were standouts. Links for books will be to my reviews (the reviews will have links to buy if you’re interested.) Since I’ve been doing a weekly post at Amazing Stories, with only one week missed, I’ll be including some of the titles I reviewed there in this list.

As with the publishers, these are in alphabetical order. I’m probably overlooking someone or a particular book. I apologize in advance. This list consists of titles and authors I read in 2013 and isn’t intended to be inclusive. Feel free to share your suggestions in the comments. Again, I’m including mystery, crime, and science fiction as well as fantasy. Continue reading →

2013: An Assessment – Publishers

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As I promised in yesterday’s State of the Blogs post, here’s my summary of what I read this past year. I’m going to include both publishers and individual works that I thought were standouts, but due to length, I’m going to break the post in two. The list of year’s best authors and titles is here. Many of them are published by the publishers listed below.

I’m going to restrict this list to imprints that have distribution in the major chains. That means no small presses. Small presses tend to focus on reprints or collectible editions that are often priced for the collectors market.

Also, I’m going to list some science fiction and crime/noir titles and publishers as well. I’ve not read enough in those fields this past year to justify a separate post on Futures or Gumshoes. I plan for 2014 to be different on that point. Details in tomorrow’s post.

We’ll start with publishers, in alphabetical order (For publishers with more than one imprint, the imprint I read the most will be listed first.): Continue reading →

Promise of Blood is a Promising Debut

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Promise of Blood
Brian McClellan
Orbit Books
hardcover $23.99
ebook Kindle $1.99 Nook $2.00

Yes, I know this one has been out since last spring. I’m behind, okay? Don’t try to tell me you’re current on your TBR pile, ‘cuz we both know better.

Anyway, if you like military fantasy set in an Industrial Revolution type setting, with lots of action, intrigue, guillotines, and not a few surprises, then this a book for you. I mean, just look at the cover. I saw it and was immediately hooked.

Field Marshall Tamas has lead a coup against the king of Adro. The king was going to sign a treaty basically enslaving Adro to the neighboring kingdom of Kez. He says he’s done it for the people, and unlike most military takeovers, he’s on the level. He’s got a group of civilians in on the plot with him to help him rule.

Tamas is a powder mage, a sorcerer whose powers are limited to guns and gunpowder. They are natural enemies of ordinary sorcerers, called Privileged. Tamas slaughters the king’s cabal of sorcerers, but before they die they each warn him about breaking Kresimir’s Promise. Continue reading →