Fantasy Book News

The cover for Gail Z. Martin’s The Sworn was released this week, and we’ve got a great mix of reviews, from Terry Brooks’ latest to a pair of Adrian Tchaikovsky novels, to the Swords and Dark Magic compilation. We’ve also located an interview with George R.R. Martin’s editor who discusses her work on A Clash of Kings. Topping off this week is our first mention of eReaders in the fantasy blogosphere, and it comes in the form of Ray Kurzweil offering a solution to books that get mangled by current eReader software.

• Review: Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks @ A Dribble of Ink
• Review: Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison @ Fantasy Literature
• Review: Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky @ SFF World
• Review: Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky @ The Mad Hatter’s
• Review: Swords and Dark Magic by Various @ Sci-Fi Lovin’ News & Reviews
• Review: The Map of All Things by Kevin J. Anderson @ Fantasy Book Critic
• Review: Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton @ Grasping for the Wind
• Release: The Sworn by Gail Z. Martin @ 1888 Press Releases
• Cover: The Sworn by Gail Z. Martin @ Orbit
• Interview: Anne Groell discusses working on A Clash of Kings @ Suvudu
• Interview: Karen Miller @ Angela Slatter
• Film: Weta Workshop to bring The Wind in the Willows back to life @ Fantasy Book Review
• Book Tech: Ray Kurzweil introduces eReader software set to trump all @ The New York Times

We’ve got a boatload of reviews this week, covering everything from more recent titles like The Gathering Storm and Dragon Keeper to young classics such as A Storm of Swords, The Hero of Ages and The Lies of Locke Lamora. The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd also looks promising, having potentially been looked over in a year when other authors like Scott Lynch were making their big debuts. The Dragon Page recently intervieweed Gail Z. Martin, and Ursula K. Le Guin continues to fight for her rights against Google. We cap off a stellar week with news of an inmate in Wisconsin being prohibited from playing D&D in prison. What will inmates want next, a renaissance festival on prison grounds?

• Review: The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham @ Fantasy Book News & Reviews
• Review: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin @ The Wertzone
• Review: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson @ Unbound
• Review: Arms-Commander by L.E. Modesitt Jr. @ Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist
• Review: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson @ A Fantasy Reader
• Review: The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd @ Only the Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
• Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch @ Intelli-Gent Reviews
• Review: Nightchild by James Barclay @ Fantasy Book News & Reviews
• Review: City of Torment by Bruce R. Cordell @ Fantasy Book Critic
• Review: Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb @ SuperFastReader
• Interview: George R.R. Martin @ Suvudu
• Interview: Gail Z. Martin @ The Dragon Page
• News: Ursula K. Le Guin vs Google @ CBC News
• News: Inmate loses appeal to play Dungeons & Dragons @ NYDailyNews.com

After checking out the “Proof that Every Fantasy Book Cover Must Contain a Sword” post over at io9, I opened it up on my iPod Touch and went over to my bookshelf for comparison.  I definitely had a few laughs, as not only is the chart true, but some of the categories, like “Completely dark cover of meaninglessness” are hilarious.

One thing that immediately jumped out at me was that there seems to be a recent trend that Orbit Books did not include in their fantasy book cover analysis.  It seems that everywhere I turn I’m seeing new fantasy books come out with “mysterious hooded figures” on the cover, or at least “mysterious cloaked figures”.  Below are some samples of what I mean.

What do you think caused this trend?  The popularity of video games like Assassin’s Creed?  The element that this type of cover adds that blends the fantasy/urban fantasy genres?  Either way, we’re inundated.