DreamDark: Silksinger - Laini Taylor, 2009, G.P. Putnam's Sons. Review by Kevin Gerard
Kevin is the author of Conor and the Crossworlds, a fantasy series for young adults.

Laini Taylor has a bright future; I was so captivated by this story I just had to express my sincere appreciation for her contribution to children's literature. I can tell she puts quite a bit of energy into creating a host of little extras for her readers, and she's quite good at it.

It's probably unfair to introduce Brandon Sanderson as "the writer to finish Wheel of Time saga", since he has published his own books before WoT (Mistborn), but the reality is for now, that's what he's famous for. Right now. The Way of Kings is the first of 10-part epic fantasy series Sanderson plans on writing along with the last tomes of Wheel of Time.

The Way of Kings will be released soon enough on August 31, 2010. If you want to give it a try now, kind folk at Tor (the publisher) along with Aidan from A Dribble of Ink, have made it possible. Take a look at the pre-released fragments of the novel: first 50 pages and chapters 9 & 11.

Oh, by the way, I think the cover of the book is one of the best I've seen in a long time.

Often compared to Tolkien's Middle-earth or Lewis's Narnia, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea is a stunning fantasy world that grabs quickly at our hearts, pulling us deeply into its imaginary realms. Four books (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu) tell the whole Earthsea cycle - a tale about a reckless, awkward boy named Sparrowhawk who becomes a wizard's apprentice.

The first time I've read Wizard of the Earthsea I was maybe 10, a boy who was just getting into this strange world of magic and fantasy. It could have very well been my first contact with fantasy. And a great first contact it was because now, more than 20 years later I'm still passionate about it.

Foundling - Author: D. M. Cornish - 312 pp. (an extensive 120 page glossary with appendices - called an Explicarium - follows the story) Review by Kevin Gerard
Kevin is the author of Conor and the Crossworlds, a fantasy series for young adults.

This novel is beautifully constructed. D. M. Cornish is extremely talented, a true artist in many respects. The prose is meticulously crafted, the illustrations powerful, and I could tell the author identified deeply with his character and story. I recommend this novel without reservation.

What a stubborn child. My son still refuses to part with his mom, making me jump up at work every time my wife calls me. Yes, he is still not born. In the meantime world goes on, and from lack of anything better to write about (ok, from lack of time to do proper research on anything more interesting) I give you some free reading: Kelly Meding's "Three Days to Dead".

They'll never see her coming...

When Evangeline Stone wakes up naked and bruised on a cold slab at the morgue - in a stranger's body, with no memory of who she is and how she got there - her troubles are only just beginning. Before that night she and the two other members of her Triad were the city's star bounty hunters, mercilessly cleansing the city of the murderous creatures living in the shadows, from vampires to shape-shifters to trolls. Then something terrible happened that not only cost all three of them their lives but also convinced the city's other Hunters that Evy was a traitor and she can't even remember what it was.

Now she's a fugitive, piecing together her memory, trying to deal some serious justice - and discovering that she has only three days to solve her own murder before the reincarnation spell wears off. Because in three days Evy will die again - but this time there's no second chance...

You can download Three Days to Dead from Suvudu Free Library.

The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate - Author: Michael P. Spradlin - 230 pp. Review by Kevin Gerard.
Kevin is the author of Conor and the Crossworlds, a fantasy series for young adults.

Trail of Fate is even better than the first book - Keeper of the Grail. The writing seemed much tighter, the story moved along briskly with a great deal of action, and the main characters' personalities started to emerge as the chapters flew by.

The book opens as Tristan, the squire of Sir Thomas of the Knights Templar, finds himself aboard an ill-equipped craft in turbulent seas. The storm is so violent he is tossed overboard with the Holy Grail in tow. He comes to learn a short time later that his companions were also ditched into the sea when the boat disintegrated amidst the huge swells.

DreamDark: Blackbringer - Laini Taylor, 2007, Firebird Fantasy Press. Review by Kevin Gerard

Laini Taylor is a genuine wordsmith. I love picking up a book and within a few pages realizing the rest of the prose will be a joy to read. Her descriptions of characters, places, and action are wonderfully constructed. I rarely had to "read" the story. The sentence structure flowed so smoothly I just sat back and let the characters dance inside my head. I could also tell that Ms. Taylor's story originated from deep within her heart, or more to the point, her infinite soul. These are the most rewarding stories I believe, for author and reader, the tales an author has waited his or her whole life to tell.

Brandon Sanderson is a name known to all Wheel of Time fans, however not all who heard about him know that continuing Robert Jordan's masterpiece was not the beginning of his career. Brandon was chosen *because* he already was a great writer and Robert trusted him enough to let him finish the work of his life.

Before getting involved with The Wheel of Time Brandon Sanderson wrote a fantasy trilogy called Mistborn (The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages). The main character in Mistborn is Vin, a 16-year-old thief on the streets of Luthadel, the capital city of the Final Empire. The story follows her life as she comes into her own as one of the Mistborn, people who can use ingested metal particles to enhance their abilities, both mental and physical.

The books received great reviews from both readers and writers. In fact, the first book was recommended by Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy). Mistborn is also recommended by Fantasy Fan readers on our Fantasy book recommendations page.

You can read more about Brandon on his website at www.brandonsanderson.com. If you're interested in Brandon's Mistborn series you can get a free taste at Amazon, where you will find the first chapter of The Final Empire, first book in the series.

There are many fantasy and sci-fi conventions across the world and then there is Dragon*Con. First launched in 1987 Dragon Con has to be the biggest SFF convention in US if not in the whole world. Each year DC attracts more and more visitors, who by now are counted in tens of thousands. Each year there are contests, shows, performances, sales and hundreds and thousands of people simply having fun. This year is no different.

Dragon*Con 2010 is still more than half a year away but it already has a number of prominent guests confirmed, including two of the StarTrek: The Next Generation stars: Jonathan Frakes (William Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Diana Troy), as well as two Twilight actors: Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen) and Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen). Did I not mention that a chance to meet the stars was one of the perks of visiting the convention? :-)

Dragon*Con 2010 will be held Labor Day weekend (September 3 - September 6, 2010) in Atlanta, GA. To learn more about the convention and to sign up go to Dragon*Con website.

The world is waking up from the end-of-decade party, time to start living in the new year 2010. It seems like a good time to take a look at what's hot in this new year in the fantasy books department! Take a look at Amazon's Fantasy bestseller list. The list is updated hourly, so don't worry if you're seeing different books or different order.

  1. Wit'ch Fire by James Clemens
  2. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
  3. Once Bitten by Kalayna Price
  4. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
  5. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Looking at that list I can't help to notice that it has been overtaken by vampires. Teenage vampires in particular. I'll leave you for now and go to ponder this fact.

I mean, where did the dragons go?

In June last year I noticed a marvelous cover for a book not released yet. I liked it so much, that I posted this article: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms cover. Today, during my usual blog crawl I stumbled upon this post by Aidan.

After following Aidan's link to Jemisin's website I've found not only two sample chapters, but also first ratings (Top Pick!) for the book. Looks like one of the candidates for best books of 2010! :-)

Take a look at the synopsis below and if you want to find the sample chapters, they're here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2.

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.

With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate - and gods and mortals - are bound inseparably together.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is going to be released on February 25, 2010 . You can pre-order it today, on Amazon.

After receiving a very strong feedback on the Best Fantasy Books of the Decade list I decided to clearly specify the criteria for Best Fantasy Books of 2009. This time the choice is not based on anyone's Top/Popular/Bestseller List. Following list was compiled based on the reviews and general community reception of the books.

First two positions are books long awaited and not disappointing (the two are equally important, there were many awaited fantasy books, that turned out to be less appealing than expected). Number three is the best fantasy debut and warmest welcome for a new writer I have ever seen. That says a lot about a book. Both number four and five constantly show up on my fantasy radar when new blogger discovers them and gives his own shining review. Here it is, Fantasy Fan's top 5:

  1. The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
  2. Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
  3. The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
  4. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
  5. The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham

You can certainly argue the order, everyone has their own taste in reading, but each of the listed books was received very well by wide fantasy community along with becoming a bestseller (although that was not the part of the criteria). In short, you can't go wrong with those five if you're looking for quality fantasy reading. :-)

First day of the 2010 year seems like a good moment to look back at the greatest fantasy books of the past decade. As I mentioned many times before, Fantasy genre is blooming recently, conquering hearts of more and more readers. Among many series that rose and continued in the "00" decade two stand out as unquestionable leaders.

First one is Rowling's Harry Potter series, seven books about a young student wizard. The final installment of Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) sold 8.3 million copies in the USA in its first 24 hours of release, making it the fastest-selling book of all time.

Second series undeniably ruling the fantasy market was Stephanie Mayer's Twilight, a vampire-romance novel aimed not unlike Harry Potter, at Young Adults. First book in the series became an instant bestseller, debuting at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list within a month of its release and later peaking at #1.

Those two series combined have entirely taken over the "USA TODAY TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE 2000S" list. The only book outside of the genre to make it to the list is The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Take a look at the list below, or if you don't believe me (I couldn't believe it myself!), take a look at the source.

1. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
2. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
4. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling
6. Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
9. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
10. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling

The world doesn't revolve around Harry Potter and Twilight alone though, so stay tuned for the best fantasy books of 2009! Coming soon on Fantasy Fan. :-)

Seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow always thought faeries were just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery. He's a changeling - a mortal taken as an infant and raised among Faerie - and within short order he's turned Kelley's heart inside out and her life upside down.

Lesley Livingston's "Wondrous Strange" is another book reviewed by our member, Mel McKenzie. Enjoy!

Wondrous Strange

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston is a book about Faeries and their world, which is new for me. Of all the mythical creatures, vampires have always been high on my list of favorites, because the vampire?s mystery appeals to me. On the opposite end of my fascination are zombies. But, somewhere above zombies, in the center, are the apathetic creatures, and this is where you?ll likely find the faerie. Unlike the zombies that irritated me, the faeries simply didn't register on my radar, not until I decided to give Wondrous Strange a chance.

Comic-Con 2009 may be long gone, but people are still talking about it. Mark from Strange Horizons recently posted interesting article, which among many things, covers various panels which were held there. The one in particular I'm referring to is a Fantasy and Writing panel, where hosts along with guests were trying to define the difference between "epic fantasy" and "urban", and "closed" or "open" worlds that incorporate magic, as well as some general thoughts on villains, heroes, and adaptations. You can find the full article here.

In case you didn't know, Strange Horizons, is a hugo-award nominated online sci-fi/fantasy magazine.

As hard it is to believe, it's that time of the year already. Christmas shopping extravaganza is starting, better hurry with your Santa lists if you want to make it before December 24th! To help you with this task Fantasy Fan brings you a list of most interesting fantasy items of 2009! Take a look below and see if there is anything you (or your family members) would like to find under the tree this year.

Lets start the list with obvious choice: Books

It was a very good year for fantasy books. Not only we got our hands on piles and piles of great new novels and series, but we were finally able to follow the story of some of the biggest fantasy saga's in the history of genre. Take a look yourselves:

A tale of vengeance, true love, and cannibalism. Sounds interesting? That's a tag line of fantasy novel "A Nameless Witch" by A. Lee Martinez (Gil?s All Fright Diner, In the Company of Ogres). Mel McKenzie had an opportunity to read the book and having done that, write the review, which you can read below. And if instead of the review you'd prefer a peak into what book has to offer, you can read the first chapter on Amazon.

A Nameless Witch review by Mel McKenzie

A. Lee Martinez is good at writing comical fantasy (see Gil?s All Night Diner). Martinez has a way of removing the fear from otherwise ghastly characters and turning them into clumsy yet interesting protagonists. In A Nameless Witch, Martinez takes all the stereotypes of witches and flip them to create his nameless heroine (hint: title of book). The nameless lass, cursed to be an undead since before she was born (she just happens the be the sixth child and thus the reluctant benefactor of a dark wizard?s (Nasty Larry) curse on her family). She lives in the basement of her parents? home feeding on raw meat (an aspect of the curse) until, at age 18, she is sold to an old witch she calls Ghastly Edna. Ghastly Edna teaches her the art of witchcraft until one day Ghastly Edna is killed; soon after, the nameless witch, with the help of wisdom from Edna?s corpse, sets out on a life quest. With her are the things she has inherited from Ghastly Edna?a rude demonic duck named Newt (witch?s familiar) and a broom that later calls itself Penelope, but also Gwurm, a troll she rescued.

For those of you who missed our first review of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series, here is another one, submitted by MMK, another fan of the books. Just to refresh your memory, Anne Bishop's critically-acclaimed Black Jewels Trilogy is the saga of a young but still-innocent Queen more powerful than even the High Lord of Hell-and the three sworn enemies determined to win her and gain a prize that could be terrible beyond imagining...

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I am completing my second reading of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series. I find I am more in love with it the second time around. The series of eight books, including the central trilogy(Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness), follows the girl who would become WITCH (ruler of the realms--Kaeleer-Terrielle and Hell), Jaenelle Angelline and her sworn protectors--Lucivar Yaslana, the Eyrien warlord prince, his half-brother Daemon Sadi, also a warlord prince and their father Saetan SaDiablo, the High Lord of Hell. Anne Bishop has created a witchly world where magic is chanelled through jewels--the strongest being the black jewel and the weakest being the white jewel with many colors between them including opal, the dividing color between strong and weak jewels. The humans in the story are divided between the Blood--those with powers who wear jewels and landens, those who don't wear jewels and have no power at all.

For those of you unfamiliar with Jim Butcher, he's the author of highly popular series about a detective-mage (or a mage-detective) Harry Dresden, The Dresden Files, as well as another fantasy series called Codex of Alera. You can read the review of two first books of the series here: Furies of Calderon & Academ?s Fury. Haven't heard of it? Here's a sneak peak:

In the realm of Alera, where people bond with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal - fifteen-year-old Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. But when his homeland erupts in chaos - when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies - Tavi's simple courage will turn the tides of war.

The reason I'm writing about Codex of Alera right now is because Jim posted a fan made map of the realm of Alera. You can download it in a variety of sizes from his website www.Jim-Butcher.com.

With all the Young Adult reviews coming in I might have to start a Kids section of Fantasy Fan soon! Kevin Gerard (Conor and the Crossworlds) brings us today another review of maybe not a classic fantasy, but definitely a kids fiction book. And a good one at that. Here it is:

Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom - Author: Tim Byrd

I became a kid again after reading three pages of this story. When we were young, all of us watched the biggest cartoon show on television - Johnny Quest. Johnny traveled the world with his father, Dr. Benton Quest, a guy who knew everything, could make anything, and never settled for failure.

Some time ago I wrote about Scott Lynch and his The Gentleman Bastard Sequence (see Red Seas Under Red Skies). Second book in the series, The Republic of Thieves, is coming out in June 2010 (June 6th to be exact).

If you can't wait that long and want a sneak peak at the book, head on to Scott's website at ScottLynch.us. You can also preorder the book today on Amazon.com.

Oh, and feel free to drool over the cover! ;-)

Kevin Gerard, the author of Conor and the Crossworlds, a fantasy series for young adults, from time to time makes a guest appearance on Fantasy Fan. His first article here was about becoming a sci-fi / fantasy writer. Today he reviews another book for Young Adults, The Youngest Templar, by Michael Spradlin.

The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail Book 1

I would definitely recommend this novel, the first book in The Youngest Templar series. The story contains all of the vital elements of Campbell?s thesis regarding the Hero with a Thousand Faces. It focuses on Tristan, who is a capable young man, a mentor, a challenge, disaster and triumph. The writing was crisp throughout the book, save a few passages where the pace fell off just a bit.

Not too long ago we wrote about Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars, a true story of behind "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Frank has kindly agreed to answer few questions about his career, his books and plans for the future.

So if you're a fan of The Looking Glass Wars and would like to find out more how it came to be, read on!

Not too long ago we wrote about a new fantasy anthology, Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery, which will cotain works of many great writers (Erikson, Cook, Lebbon, Wolfe to name a few). The book is scheduled for release in US on June 22, 2010.

As for the cover (see the image on the right), I hope it's not final yet. The art lacks detail and looks like it's simply not finished.

You can preorder the anthology on Amazon.com today by following this link.

Stephen King is an American writer probably best known for his Dark Tower books. The hugely successful series incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror and western elements. Three of the seven novels that make up the series have been nominated for prestigious Locus Award. The last book, sharing the name of the cycle ("The Dark Tower") received British Fantasy Award in 2005.

Recently Stephen King surprised his fans by the announcement that he would be returning to the Dark Tower world. He's going to write either a new novel or a collection of interwoven short stories that take place between the events of "Wizard & Glass" and "Wolves of the Calla". The working title of the new book is going to be "The Wind Through the Keyhole".

Not surprisingly this announcement divided fans. While some are thrilled with the prospect of new Dark Tower book, some can't help but wonder if the series is going to become another Wheel of Time which refuses to end. Personally I don't mind seeing a compilation of stories, but another novel would in my eyes rob the Dark Tower of one of the most important features of a good story: ending.

Find out more about the Dark Tower and other books by Stephen King on his website: www.StephenKing.com .