Books on the List
Yaawn!!
That has been my predominant waking state for like the past few days. and I been zombie-walking through so many books and movies that I thought I should be keeping a count.
So what have I been reading for the past few days?
I recently finished the decisively intriguing debut that rocked our world (ahem, meaning that of the SFF fans) in 2012 - a brutal, hard-hitting slim low-fantasy called Scourge of the Betrayer for which the sequel is just about to hit the stands. Jeff Salyards is a remarkable man. I loved the book but I felt the book with it's super-tight focus on this mysterious group of superbly trained soldiers led by this enigmatic captain called Braylar Killcoin ( I thought the name was such a hoot. KillCoin. I will kill for coin. I am KillCoin the mercenary?) slightly underwhelms - an inward focus, a naive scribe kept in the dark who forms our narrator and some gory bloodletting accompanied by Joe Abercrombiesque cussing and hints about a dark forbidding world the action takes place in. What is there not to love? Watch our for the review.
Today morning I picked up my love for graphic novels a bit. That Yellow Bastard, Sin City Vol.4 is easily the most hard-hitting story I've read in sometime. Riveting, glorious b/w drawings and an experiment in yellow, a story that socks you right between your eyes and rips open your soul. Just what the doctor ordered. A noir story drenched in red and yellow....woohooo!!
So whats on the anvil ?
I got two of the MOST anticipated books on my next-reads.
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. His first YA-foray. Vikings, Backstabbings, Intrigue. Vintage Abercrombie. And I just stumbled onto the first big twist. and It is BLOWING my mind away.
Sworn in Steel.(Tales of the Kin # 2) One of the most enjoyable reads for me this year was Douglas Hulick's debut, Among Thieves. It was superbly timed coz now he's got the second book in the immensely enjoyable series out, Sworn in Steel. Can't wait to find out what happens to Drothe now that he's among the Big Cats.
Emperor's Blades. Brian Staveley. Classic Fantasy fare. But rip-roaring fun. The usual elements mixed up here but delivered with some choicest lip-smacking new additions: the way-too cool fantasy-zen concepts of the Blank God, the giant black bird-ops and the brutal military training and political court-room intrigues - is a fantasy fan's comfort fare made with some zingy masala added to it.
Started some more - slowly picking up on them though. Tried another YA-Fantasy, Assassin's Curse by CAssandra Clarke. Decent writing, tale's not picked up speed but surprisingly I find that I am already one-fourth done with the tale. More of a "tale-I-will-read-on-my-4.3 inch Phone Screen-while-I'm-waiting in the car- kinda book. Not my mainstream reading for sure.
Haven't yet got back to Blades of the Old Empire by Anna Kashina. Reading her interview promised some good old-fashioned swashbuckling sword and sorcery but am yet to be hooked in.
That has been my predominant waking state for like the past few days. and I been zombie-walking through so many books and movies that I thought I should be keeping a count.
So what have I been reading for the past few days?
I recently finished the decisively intriguing debut that rocked our world (ahem, meaning that of the SFF fans) in 2012 - a brutal, hard-hitting slim low-fantasy called Scourge of the Betrayer for which the sequel is just about to hit the stands. Jeff Salyards is a remarkable man. I loved the book but I felt the book with it's super-tight focus on this mysterious group of superbly trained soldiers led by this enigmatic captain called Braylar Killcoin ( I thought the name was such a hoot. KillCoin. I will kill for coin. I am KillCoin the mercenary?) slightly underwhelms - an inward focus, a naive scribe kept in the dark who forms our narrator and some gory bloodletting accompanied by Joe Abercrombiesque cussing and hints about a dark forbidding world the action takes place in. What is there not to love? Watch our for the review.
Today morning I picked up my love for graphic novels a bit. That Yellow Bastard, Sin City Vol.4 is easily the most hard-hitting story I've read in sometime. Riveting, glorious b/w drawings and an experiment in yellow, a story that socks you right between your eyes and rips open your soul. Just what the doctor ordered. A noir story drenched in red and yellow....woohooo!!
So whats on the anvil ?
I got two of the MOST anticipated books on my next-reads.
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. His first YA-foray. Vikings, Backstabbings, Intrigue. Vintage Abercrombie. And I just stumbled onto the first big twist. and It is BLOWING my mind away.
Sworn in Steel.(Tales of the Kin # 2) One of the most enjoyable reads for me this year was Douglas Hulick's debut, Among Thieves. It was superbly timed coz now he's got the second book in the immensely enjoyable series out, Sworn in Steel. Can't wait to find out what happens to Drothe now that he's among the Big Cats.
Emperor's Blades. Brian Staveley. Classic Fantasy fare. But rip-roaring fun. The usual elements mixed up here but delivered with some choicest lip-smacking new additions: the way-too cool fantasy-zen concepts of the Blank God, the giant black bird-ops and the brutal military training and political court-room intrigues - is a fantasy fan's comfort fare made with some zingy masala added to it.
Started some more - slowly picking up on them though. Tried another YA-Fantasy, Assassin's Curse by CAssandra Clarke. Decent writing, tale's not picked up speed but surprisingly I find that I am already one-fourth done with the tale. More of a "tale-I-will-read-on-my-4.3 inch Phone Screen-while-I'm-waiting in the car- kinda book. Not my mainstream reading for sure.
Haven't yet got back to Blades of the Old Empire by Anna Kashina. Reading her interview promised some good old-fashioned swashbuckling sword and sorcery but am yet to be hooked in.
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