More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Kate Eliottt's King's Dragon for only 2.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

Set in an alternate Europe where bloody conflicts rage, the first book of the Crown of Stars epic fantasy series chronicles a world-shaking conflict for the survival of humanity.

It begins with civil war....

For though King Henry still holds the crown of Wendar, his reign has long been contested by his sister Sabella. There are many eager to flock to her banner, and there are ways to make even the most unwilling lord into a weapon pointed at the heart of Henry’s realm.

Torn by internal strife, Wendar also faces deadly raids from the north by an inhuman race, the Eika. And now terrifying portents are being seen; old ruins restored to life under the light of the full moon and peopled by the long-vanished Lost Ones; dark spirits walking the land in broad daylight.

And suddenly two innocents are about to be thrust into the middle of the conflict.

Liath, who has spent her early years fleeing from unknown enemies, is a young woman with the power to change the course of history if she can only learn to master her fear and seize what is rightfully hers.

While Alain, a young man who may find his future in a vision granted by the Lady of Battles, must first unravel the mystery of who he is—whether the bastard son of a noble father, the half-breed child of an elfin lord, the unwanted get of a whore, or the heir to a proud and ancient lineage. For only when he discovers the truth can he accept the destiny for which he was born.

Liath and Alain, each trapped in a personal struggle for survival, both helplessly being drawn into a far greater battle, a war in which sorcery not swords will determine the final outcome, and the land itself may be irrevocably reshaped by the forces unleashed....

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Mark Lawrence's Prince of Fools for only 2.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

The Red Queen is old but the kings of the Broken Empire dread her like no other. For all her reign, she has fought the long war, contested in secret, against the powers that stand behind nations, for higher stakes than land or gold. Her greatest weapon is The Silent Sister—unseen by most and unspoken of by all.

The Red Queen’s grandson, Prince Jalan Kendeth—drinker, gambler, seducer of women—is one who can see The Silent Sister. Tenth in line for the throne and content with his role as a minor royal, he pretends that the hideous crone is not there. But war is coming. Witnesses claim an undead army is on the march, and the Red Queen has called on her family to defend the realm. Jal thinks it’s all a rumor—nothing that will affect him—but he is wrong.

After escaping a death trap set by the Silent Sister, Jal finds his fate magically intertwined with a fierce Norse warrior. As the two undertake a journey across the Empire to undo the spell, encountering grave dangers, willing women, and an upstart prince named Jorg Ancrath along the way, Jalan gradually catches a glimmer of the truth: he and the Norseman are but pieces in a game, part of a series of moves in the long war—and the Red Queen controls the board.

The Freeze-Frame Revolution

At first I believed that The Freeze-Frame Revolution was an omnibus comprised of all the Sunflower Cycle short fiction pieces, yet I soon realized that it wasn't the case. Nothing to worry about, as this novella was meant to work as a stand-alone and it does work perfectly well at that.

Still, had I known I would have read what came before and will certainly do it sooner rather than later given the quality of Peter Watts' latest work. The rest of the cycle includes The Island, which won the Hugo Award for best novelette in 2010, Hotshot, and Giants, all of which can be read for free on the author's website.

The Freeze-Frame Revolution marks the triumphal return of Peter Watts. Best known for his hard science fiction novels and stories, this new novella could well be the author's most accessible work to date. I've always claimed that Blindsight was the best novel to read for any SFF fans who wanted to give Watts a shot. But now it's obvious that The Freeze-Frame Revolution is the way to go.

Here's the blurb:

She believed in the mission with all her heart.

But that was sixty million years ago.

How do you stage a mutiny when you're only awake one day in a million? How do you conspire when your tiny handful of potential allies changes with each shift? How do you engage an enemy that never sleeps, that sees through your eyes and hears through your ears and relentlessly, honestly, only wants what best for you?

Sunday Ahzmundin is about to find out.

I was hooked by the premise from the get-go. The crew of the starship Eriophora spent the last 65 million years building a web of wormholes gates throughout space in order to make interstellar travel for human expansion more accessible. Every few millennia or so, a team is selected and awakened from among its 30,000-plus population by the ship's AI to assist in the logistics of gate construction. But how can one stage a mutiny during such short periods of wakefulness? This is what The Freeze-Frame Revolution is all about. It's hard scifi, no doubt about it, with a vast scope as enormous as the universe itself. And yet, Peter Watts managed to "dumb" everything down in a way that will satisfy any speculative fiction readers out there. Themes such as identity, alienation, the nature of self and consciousness, the persistence of time, and the worth of existence are explored throughout the vignettes which comprise this novella. It may sound heavy, and at times it was just that. But the narrative is imbued with the author's dark wit and humor, which made this book a pleasure to read.

Eriophora and its mission is overseen by Chimp, an artificial intelligence built with a lower synapse count to supposedly maintain it at a relatively human-level mental capacity. Sunday Ahzmundin is the main character and the narrator of this tale, and hers is the only perspective of this novella. As Chimp's favorite, she finds herself awakened more often than any other crewmember. To a certain extent over the millennia, Sunday has come to consider the AI as some sort of friend. Being part of more gate-building missions than most, she has also gotten to know more people from the many tribes that comprise the ship's population. This allowed Sunday to perceive the first seeds of mutiny and watch them grow, as certain crewmembers start to question whether or not the Chimp can be trusted. But how can anyone possibly stage a coup against an AI that can see and hear everything, when the allies have no idea who or how many of their fellow mutineers will be awakened by the Chimp at any given time, and at intervals which can span countless ages?

Weighing in at only 192 pages, The Freeze-Frame Revolution doesn't suffer from any pacing issues. I went through it in only two sittings during my roadtrip around Gaspésie. It doesn't happen often when I review books, but I wish this work had been longer. Yes, it was that good! Thankfully, there are three more Sunflower Cycle short fiction pieces that I can sink my teeth into on the author's website.

In my humble opinion, this novella showcases a Peter Watts writing at the top of his game, recounting a story that should please hard science fiction aficionados and SFF newbies alike. This is the author's most accessible work thus far, making it the perfect jumping point for any readers who have yet to give Watts a go.

The Freeze-Frame Revolution is quite a treat! Definitely one of the speculative fiction titles to read in 2018.

Highly recommended.

The final verdict: 8.5/10

For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

Today only, on the other side of the pond, you can get your hands on the digital editions of eight Brandon Sanderson novels for only £0.99 each. Just follow this link.

Discounted titles include:

The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Oathbringer
The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
The Bands of Mourning
Shadows of Self

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (July 23rd)

In hardcover:

Stephen King's The Outsider maintains its position at number 4.

Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver debuts at number 8. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

In paperback:

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale maintains its position at number 5 (trade paperback). For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan for only 1.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan -- poet, diplomat, soldier -- until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever.

Meanwhile, in the north, the conquered Jaddites' most celebrated -- and feared -- military leader, Rodrigo Belmonte, driven into exile, leads his mercenary company south.

In the dangerous lands of Al-Rassan, these two men from different worlds meet and serve -- for a time -- the same master. Sharing their interwoven fate -- and increasingly torn by her feelings -- is Jehane, the accomplished court physician, whose own skills play an increasing role as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond.

Hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, The Lions of Al-Rassan is both a brilliant adventure and a deeply compelling story of love, divided loyalties, and what happens to men and women when hardening beliefs begin to remake -- or destroy -- a world.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

 

You can now download Brian Lee Durfee's The Forgetting Moon for only 1.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

A massive army on the brink of conquest looms large in a world where prophecies are lies, magic is believed in but never seen, and hope is where you least expect to find it.

Welcome to the Five Isles, where war has come in the name of the invading army of Sør Sevier, a merciless host driven by the prophetic fervor of the Angel Prince, Aeros, toward the last unconquered kingdom of Gul Kana. Yet Gault, one of the elite Knights Archaic of Sør Sevier, is growing disillusioned by the crusade he is at the vanguard of just as it embarks on his Lord Aeros’ greatest triumph.

While the eldest son of the fallen king of Gul Kana now reigns in ever increasing paranoid isolationism, his two sisters seek their own paths. Jondralyn, the older sister, renowned for her beauty, only desires to prove her worth as a warrior, while Tala, the younger sister, has uncovered a secret that may not only destroy her family but the entire kingdom. Then there's Hawkwood, the assassin sent to kill Jondralyn who has instead fallen in love with her and trains her in his deadly art. All are led further into dangerous conspiracies within the court.

And hidden at the edge of Gul Kana is Nail, the orphan taken by the enigmatic Shawcroft to the remote whaling village of Gallows Haven, a young man who may hold the link to the salvation of the entire Five Isles.

You may think you know this story, but everyone is not who they seem, nor do they fit the roles you expect. Durfee has created an epic fantasy full of hope in a world based on lies.

Jacqueline Carey contest winner!

This lucky gal will get her hands on a copy of Jacqueline Carey's Starless! For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

The winner is:

- Danielle Tucker, from Austin, Texas, USA

Many thanks to all the participants!

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Dangerous Women, an anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, for only 2.99$ here. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

All new and original to this volume, the 21 stories in Dangerous Women include work by twelve New York Times bestsellers, and seven stories set in the authors' bestselling continuities-including a new "Outlander" story by Diana Gabaldon, a tale of Harry Dresden's world by Jim Butcher, a story from Lev Grossman set in the world of The Magicians, and a 35,000-word novella by George R. R. Martin about the Dance of the Dragons, the vast civil war that tore Westeros apart nearly two centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones.

Also included are original stories of dangerous women--heroines and villains alike--by Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lawrence Block, Carrie Vaughn, S. M. Stirling, Sharon Kay Penman, and many others.

Writes Gardner Dozois in his Introduction, "Here you'll find no hapless victims who stand by whimpering in dread while the male hero fights the monster or clashes swords with the villain, and if you want to tie these women to the railroad tracks, you'll find you have a real fight on your hands. Instead, you will find sword-wielding women warriors, intrepid women fighter pilots and far-ranging spacewomen, deadly female serial killers, formidable female superheroes, sly and seductive femmes fatale, female wizards, hard-living Bad Girls, female bandits and rebels, embattled survivors in Post-Apocalyptic futures, female Private Investigators, stern female hanging judges, haughty queens who rule nations and whose jealousies and ambitions send thousands to grisly deaths, daring dragonriders, and many more."

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Neal Stephenson's classic, Snow Crash, for only 1.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

One of Time’s 100 best English-language novels • A mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous—you’ll recognize it immediately.

Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison—a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age.

In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Paul Kearney's The Way to Babylon for only 2.99$ here. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

Michael Riven—a successful author and former soldier—has fallen off a mountain. Broken in both body and mind, racked with guilt and loss by the death of his wife Jenny, he withdraws into himself in the rural hospital where he painfully recovers. His readers are desperate to know what will happen next in the fantasy world of his stories, but neither writing, nor living, are of interest to him anymore. But there are others seeking the scribe out. Men of Minginish have begun a quest to rescue their blighted homeland, and have come between worlds. Riven will be asked to travel to a land both familiar and terrifying, which he once thought his own creation. The author must take up the companions of his stories—grim Bicker, fierce Ratagan and sly Murtach—and find a way to mend what was sundered.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Iain M. Banks' Consider Phlebas for only 2.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.

Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (July 16th)

In hardcover:

Stephen King's The Outsider is down one position, ending the week at number 4.

In paperback:

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale is down two spots, finishing the week at number 5 (trade paperback). For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Win a copy of Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne's KILL THE FARM BOY

I'm giving away my copy of Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne’s Kill the Farm Boy, courtesy of the folks at DelRey. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Here's the blurb:

In an irreverent new series in the tradition of Terry Pratchett novels and The Princess Bride, the New York Times bestselling authors of the Iron Druid Chronicles and Star Wars: Phasma reinvent fantasy, fairy tales, and floridly written feast scenes.

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born . . . and so begins every fairy tale ever told.

This is not that fairy tale.

There is a Chosen One, but he is unlike any One who has ever been Chosened.

And there is a faraway kingdom, but you have never been to a magical world quite like the land of Pell.

There, a plucky farm boy will find more than he’s bargained for on his quest to awaken the sleeping princess in her cursed tower. First there’s the Dark Lord who wishes for the boy’s untimely death . . . and also very fine cheese. Then there’s a bard without a song in her heart but with a very adorable and fuzzy tail, an assassin who fears not the night but is terrified of chickens, and a mighty fighter more frightened of her sword than of her chain-mail bikini. This journey will lead to sinister umlauts, a trash-talking goat, the Dread Necromancer Steve, and a strange and wondrous journey to the most peculiar “happily ever after” that ever once-upon-a-timed.

The rules are the same as usual. You need to send an email at reviews@(no-spam)gryphonwood.net with the header "FARM BOY." Remember to remove the "no spam" thingy.

Second, your email must contain your full mailing address (that's snail mail!), otherwise your message will be deleted.

Lastly, multiple entries will disqualify whoever sends them. And please include your screen name and the message boards that you frequent using it, if you do hang out on a particular MB.

Good luck to all the participants!

Robert Jackson Bennett contest winner!

This lucky winner will get his hands on my advance reading copy of Robert Jackson Bennett's Foundryside! For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

The winner is:

- Craig Fairchild, from Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Many thanks to all the participants!

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Peter V. Brett's The Warded Man for only 1.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity.

For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download R. F. Kuang's The Poppy War, which many consider the fantasy debut of 2018, for only 2.99$ here. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

A "Best of May" Science Fiction and Fantasy pick by Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Audible, The Verge, SyFy Wire, and Kirkus.

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Richard Morgan's excellent Altered Carbon for only 2.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW AN EXCITING NEW SERIES FROM NETFLIX • The shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning in this “tour de force of genre-bending, a brilliantly realized exercise in science fiction.”—The New York Times Book Review.

In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation for only 3.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding—but it's the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

Ravencry (600th review)

Despite its flaws, I felt that Ed McDonald's Blackwing was a promising debut. The kind of novel Joe Abercrombie and Glen Cook would come up with if they ever teamed up to collaborate on something. And the exciting endgame and rousing finale made it impossible for me not to immediately jump into the sequel, Ravencry.

And though this second installment showed marked improvement regarding certain aspects, it did suffer from some of the same shortcomings that plagued its predecessor. Still, McDonald tells a compelling story and I'm curious to see where he'll take his readers next. Having said that, I'm persuaded that the third volume will either make or break this series. The author will need to elevate his game if he is to take his place among the best grimdark writers out there.

Here's the blurb:

For Ryhalt Galharrow, working for Crowfoot as a Blackwing captain is about as bad as it gets - especially when his orders are garbled, or incoherent, or impossible to carry out.

The Deep Kings are hurling fire from the sky, a ghost in the light known only as the Bright Lady had begun to manifest in visions across the city, and the cult that worship her grasp for power while the city burns around them.

Galharrow may not be able to do much about the cult - or about strange orders from the Nameless - but when Crowfoot's arcane vault is breached and an object of terrible power is stolen, he's propelled into a race against time to recover it. Only to do that, he needs answers, and finding them means travelling into nightmare: to the very heart of the Misery.

RAVENCRY is the second book in the Raven's Mark series, continuing the story that began with the award winning epic fantasy BLACKWING.

The worldbuilding was once more my favorite facet of this work. As I mentioned in my review of Blackwing, I love the concept behind the Misery, a dangerous post-apocalyptic wasteland where reality itself unraveled when a magical weapon detonated. And this time around, McDonald took Galharrow to the very heart of it. All the way to the Endless Devoid, the epicenter of the Misery. The place where the Heart of the Void created a fault line in existence. That portion of the plot was awesome. And the Misery's taint changed Galharrow in a profound way. More than we saw in this novel, methinks. The Bright Order, the High Witnesses, and their ultimate creation, the Grandspire, would have benefited from more depth, however. Especially given their importance in the main arc of the plot.

In my review of the first volume, I bemoaned the fact that Ed McDonald came up with lots of interesting concepts and ideas, yet sadly he played his cards very close to his chest and did not elaborate a whole lot on them. Well, I'm glad to report that the author wasn't as parsimonious regarding information in this sequel. He still doesn't reveal much, yet we do learn more about Crowfoot and the other Nameless, the Deep Kings and their objective, the Darlings, and more. We finally discovered some things about the world at large, and the conflict that opposes the Nameless and the Deep Kings. Still, nothing that explained why what is occurring at what appears to be the ass end of the world was of capital importance. Once again, the bulk of the action takes place in and around the Misery and the city of Valengrad.

Ravencry features the first person narrative of Captain Galharrow. A battle-hardened veteran whose past nearly unmade him, his perspective once again made for a captivating read. One the one hand, he remains a kick-ass, no-nonsense kind of officer, so not always the most likeable of fellows. But on the other, he is also a broken man who continues to drink himself into a stupor so he won't dream about his past and fall from grace. And, perhaps more importantly, so he won't dream about Ezabeth Tanza. The pain of losing her remains too acute for him to think that there is any truth to the myth of the Bright Lady. It took a while to get used to his idiosyncrasies in Blackwing, but now it's impossible for me not to root for the poor guy. McDonald made an effort to humanize Galharrow in this sequel, and his relationships with Valiya and Amaira, a woman and an orphan girl now working for Blackwing, were particularly touching at times. Bringing himself to care for other people is not easy for the main protagonist, for it makes him vulnerable. Galharrow showed some character growth in Ravencry, which definitely raised the bar a few notches. Other than Valiya and Amaira, the supporting cast consisted of a number of familiar faces, chief among them Tnota and Nenn. Maldon, the former Spinner now trapped in the body of a child, was great. And it was obvious that Saravor the Fixer would return, but I did not expect him to play such a big role in this second volume. It is now evident that Ed McDonald has a knack for creating engaging protagonists. Which bodes well for things to come, no question about it.

As was the case with its predecessor, the pace of Ravencry can be uneven. At times, the rhythm can be quite sluggish, and then it's balls-to-the-wall action. These pacing issues don't take much away from the overall reading experience, but they can be off-putting. Say one thing about Ed McDonald, say he knows how to close the show with style! Once again, the endgame was thrilling and led to a rousing finale which packed a surprisingly powerful emotional punch.

McDonald now has two quality grimdark yarns under his belt. Yet he needs to up his game and bring the Raven Mark's series to another level. There have been glimpses of a bigger, more ambitious story arc. But we now need more than just tantalizing hints. The author needs to step to the plate and deliver. As I said before, the talent and the potential are definitely there. It's up to McDonald to bring it on.

Will he be the next Joe Abercrombie? Or will he just be next? Time will tell. . .

The final verdict: 7.5/10

For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe