Fantasy Book News

Four reviews kick off our fantasy blogosphere roundup this week, with reviews of books by Tad Williams, Joe Abercrombie, Ian C. Esslemont and Seressia Glass.  Following this is the fantastic news that HBO has approved A Game of Thrones, so we’ll be seeing something more than a static image soon. A few covers were released this week, for Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings, and Brent Weeks’ The Black Prism. Check out the interview with Brandon for his comments on his new series. I’m not sure I’m into the new photo realistic cover as exhibited on Weeks’ novel; we’ll have to keep an eye on this and see if it becomes a trend. And last but not least, some sort of explanation as to why Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter made the Amazon top 5 yesterday.

• Review: Shadowrise by Tad Williams @ BookGeeks
• Review: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie @Peter V Brett
• Review: Night of Knives by Ian C. Esslemont @ BSC Review
• Review: Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass @ SciFi & Fantasy Lovin’ News & Reviews
• News: BO greenlights A Game of Thrones @ Airlock Alpha
• News: Terry Brooks sells three more Shannara books @ GalleyCat
• Interview: Brandon Sanderson discusses The Way of Kings @ Suvudu
• Covers: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson @ Tor
• Covers: The Black Prism by Brent Weeks @ Orbit
• Background: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter @ Thaindian News

Check out a Thanksgiving-sized helping of fantasy book reviews this week, including a pair on The Magicians by Lev Grossman, Pat’s review of The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, and reviews of books by David Anthony Durham, Terry Brooks, and more.

We’ve also got news on The Dark Tower film project, Choose Your Own Adventure books make it to Kindle publication, and I give my take on the worst ending in fantasy books over at Grasping for the Wind.

• Review: The Magicians by Lev Grossman @ Bird-brained Book Blog
• Review: The Magicians by Lev Grossman @ Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin’ News & Reviews
• Review: Servant of a Dark God by John Brown @ Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin’ News & Reviews
• Review: The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb @ Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist
• Review: The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham @ King of the Nerds
• Review: A Princess of Landover by Terry Brooks @ Drying Ink
• News: Choose Your Own Adventure books now available on Kindle @ Fantasy Book News & Reviews
• The Worst Endings in Fantasy/Sci-Fi @ Grasping for the Wind
• Dissed: Industry producer/directors turn down The Dark Tower project @ movie-moron.com

Wow, the DragonCon hangover must have been a ripe one. The fantasy blogosphere has been fairly calm this past week, with only two reviews and some commentary worth noting:

• Review: Mistborn @ Keeping the Door
• Review: The Dragonbone Chair @ SFFWorld.com
• Commentary: Terry Brooks on A Princess of Landover @ Orbit

I’m about to start Mistborn, so I’m saving the above review for after I finished.  Its supposedly fantastic.

Luckily, in this lull, we’ve got three new webisodes of The Guild to pass the time.  Yee-haw!

The Guild: Season 3, Episode 1

The Guild: Season 3, Episode 2

The Guild: Season 3, Episode 3

With the Best Served Cold wave subsiding, we’ve got a variety of news in the fantasy blogosphere this week, stretching all the way to the world of graphic novels.

• Comment: Terry Brooks on The Gypsy Morph @ Orbitbooks.net
• Interview: Ursula K. Le Guin on The Left Hand of Darkness @ The New Yorker
• Review: Downshadow @ Grasping for the Wind
• Review: Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman @ Fantasy Book Review
• Interview: Tad Williams @ Locus Online
• And last but not least, a video interview with Joe Abercrombie:

Robin Hobb is nudged out of first this week by a vampire series, and Breaking Dawn moves up to sandwich Assassin’s Apprentice for the top 3 Amazon fantasy bestsellers. Vampires currently own 40% of the Amazon top 5:

1. Sookie Stackhouse, Books 1-7 by Charlaine Harris
2. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
3. Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) by Stephenie Meyer
4. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
5. Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold! by Terry Brooks

Is it time that vampire books be considered the fantasy fad of 2009?

Here’s Amazon’s top 5 individual fantasy bestseller novels as of this fine 4th of July holiday:

1. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
2. Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold! by Terry Brooks
3. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
4. Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) by Stephenie Meyer
5. Weapons of Choice (Axis of Time, Book 1) by John Birmingham

Everyone enjoy the long holiday weekend!