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Book Discussion: "Alien in the House" by Gini Koch [May. 23rd, 2013|09:31 am]

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This is the first book discussion for the May DAW releases! And it's the seventh book in Gini Koch's Alien series, Alien in the House. I'm now only two books behind on this series, but hope to catch up this summer. How about you guys? Who's read this one? What did you think? Excited about Alien Research coming in December?





Cover Copy: Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini have learned the ins and outs of Washington politics, not to mention how to prevail in intergalactic war and foil dangerous plots. But, in the aftermath of Operation Destruction, the Gower girls' powers are burned out, the entire A-C population has been "outed" as the aliens living on Earth that they are, and, worst of all, ACE is nowhere to be found.

Then murder and mayhem are served up at an important dinner party at the American Centaurion Embassy, and when the dust settled, Alpha Team and the Diplomatic Corps have more problems than just a dead Congressman.

Is there a single criminal mastermind--or multiple enemies--behind all the conspiracies that want Kitty dead and the A-Cs gone or co-opted to become the War Division?

The return of the best assassins in the business, the reappearance of two individuals long-presumed dead, Agent Malcolm Buchanan felled by something no one can identify or cure, and new technology that can block even the most powerful empathy on Earth . . . all this means the game's officially afoot. Then Vance Beaumont comes to Kitty with a wild theory that someone is systematically killing off the House of Representatives. . . .

It's up to Kitty and the rest of the gang to find out what's really going on and why. But will they be able to stop the killer or killers before the rest of the U.S. House of Representatives become casualties? And will the replacement Representative for New Mexico's 2nd District, who happens to be Jeff Martini, be the next to die?
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Book Discussion: "Wise Man's Fear" by Patrick Rothfuss [May. 22nd, 2013|09:31 am]

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Our last book discussion for the April releases is the mass market version of the number one New York Times bestselling novel--The Wise Man's Fear, the second book (Day Two) in the Kingkiller Chronicle. I'm sure no one needs a heavy-duty introduction to this author or series, so who here has managed to read this gigantic tome already? What did you think of it? Was it worth the wait? Better than the first book? As usual, here's the cover art and the description:





"There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man."

My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of a hero told from his own point of view--a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in The Wise Man's Fear, Day Two of The Kingkiller Chronicle, an escalating rivalry with a powerful member of the nobility forces Kvothe to leave the University and seek his fortune abroad. Adrift, penniless, and alone, he travels to Vintas, where he quickly becomes entangled in the politics of courtly society. While attempting to curry favor with a powerful noble, Kvothe uncovers an assassination attempt, comes into conflict with a rival arcanist, and leads a group of mercenaries into the wild, in an attempt to solve the mystery of who (or what) is waylaying travelers on the King's road.

All the while, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, is forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived . . . until Kvothe.

In The Wise Man's Fear, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.
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Book Discussion: "Banner of the Damned" by Sherwood Smith [May. 21st, 2013|09:48 am]

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I have not forgotten about the book discussions or the DAW Books unofficial blog. I have actually been attempting to post this for the past week, but I kept getting errors on the LJ pages at some point during the process. But in any case, here it is, the book discussion for the paperback release of Sherwood Smith's Banner of the Damned, which is part of the Inda universe. As usual, here's the cover and cover copy. Has anyone here read it? What did you think?





Cover Copy:

The scribes have three rules:
First Rule: do not interfere.
Second Rule: keep The Peace.
Third Rule: tell the truth as we see it.

I can see your ironic faces, those of my judges who know that I began life as a scribe. This, my defense testimony, shall show how I tried not to interfere, that I meant to keep The Peace; and I will reveal the means that enables me to tell the absolute truth.

I will being with the first important day of my life, just before the Hour of Daybreak, the spring I turned fourteen.

So begins the story of Emras, trained as a scribe in Colend four hundred years after the era of Inda Algara-Vayir, known as "Elgar the Fox." Emras is the most industrious and diligent of students, not inclined to frivolity or intemperance of any kind. She wants nothing more than to become royal scribe for the beautiful, popular Princess Lasva, justly famed across the continent for her grace and style. And Emras gets her wish, for she is the top student in her class.

But once Emras is Princess Lasva's royal scribe, life becomes complicated in ways Emras could never have foreseen. For though Emras adores the princess, who is as intelligent and kind as she is beautiful, her position at the height of Colend's subtle, complex court as Lasva's confidant and ally is far more convoluted than Emras had anticipated.

Among the flocks of royal suitors vying for Lasva's hand in marriage are two men who no one, not even the princess' sister Queen Hatahra of Colend, has expected. The first is King Jurac of the despised Chwahir, and the second is Prince Ivandred of Marloven Hesea on the far western side of the continent. The Colendi and the Chwahir have long been enemies, and Marlovens are considered barbaric and primitive by the elegant, cultured nobility of Colend.

But when Lasva is abducted, it is Ivandred who comes to her rescue, for his remarkable martial abilities harken back to his world famous forebear--Inda the Fox.

Lasva marries her savior, now Colend's newest ally, but before they leave for the distant west, Queen Hatahra takes Emras aside and charges her with a secret mission. Emras is to search in her new home for signs of the evil magical influence of Norsunder--a mysterious realm once thought legendary, but now known to be real. The queen has heard dire rumors of the Marloven mages and fears not only for her sister, but for the world.

Emras knows nothing of magic, and the Colendi mages she consults are unwilling to teach her, saying she must go through proper channels and attend the official school. But once in Marloven Hesea, Emras finds a knowledgeable and willing tutor, and while Ivandred is conducting brilliant military campaigns, with Lasva adding style and subtlety to military negotiations, Emras is delving deep into the history and practice of magic. But she does not realize the risks she's taking and the danger she's exposing herself to.

So why is she on trial? What is she accused of? Emras was acting on express orders from her queen, so why the need for a long defense? And is marloven Hesea truly in league with Norsunder?
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New Releases: May 2013 [May. 3rd, 2013|08:02 am]

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Time for the new book releases for May 2013 from DAW! We've got three releases this month: the new Gini Koch Alien novel, an omnibus edition of some books by Stephen Leigh, and the paperback release of Michelle Sagara's Silence! Here are the cover blurbs and cover art for all of them. Which ones are you dying to get your hands on?

First up is the latest Gini Koch novel, Alien in the House, the seventh in the Alien series.





Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini have learned the ins and outs of Washington politics, not to mention how to prevail in intergalactic war and foil any variety of dangerous conspiracies. So when the newly elected Representative from New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District dies under mysterious circumstances while at the Centaurion Embassy, it’s up to Kitty and the rest of the Diplomatic Corps to find out how and why and stop the killer, before the rest of the U.S. House of Representatives become casualties, particularly the replacement Representative for New Mexico’s 2nd District--Jeff Martini.

********************

Next up is the omnibus release of Stephen Leigh's Assassins' Dawn, which includes the three novels Slow Fall to Dawn, Dance of the Hag, and A Quiet of Stone.





Neweden is a world whose gods are death and fate, and it’s here that the Hoorka have arisen: a guild of assassins, whose single law is that the victim must always retain a tiny but finite chance of escape. If the victim can survive until dawn, they may go free. But the rich and powerful don’t care to have their will thwarted, and so the Hoorka must deal with the consequences of their own ethics. Gyll, the leader of the Hoorka, also has dreams of taking the guild offworld into the growing society of the Alliance, which is trying to reconstruct a shattered, worlds-spanning empire. Is that dream a genuine possibility, or will exposure to other cultures doom the Hoorka entirely? Gyll must confront internal struggles within his own people, the dangerous politics of Neweden, and the twinned threat and promise of the Alliance. The Hag of Death dances around them, mockingly. Can the Hoorka survive to see the dawn of their own success, an Assassins’ Dawn?

************************

And the final book release this month is the paperback for Michelle Sagara's Silence.





It began in the graveyard . . .

Ever since her boyfriend Nathan had died in a tragic accident, Emma had been coming to the graveyard at night. During the day she went through the motions at her prep school, in class, with her friends, but that’s all it was. For Emma, life had stopped with Nathan’s death. But tonight was different. Tonight Emma and her dog were not alone in the cemetery. There were two others there--Eric, who had just started at her school, and an ancient woman who looked as though she were made of rags. And when they saw Emma there, the old woman reached out to her with a grip as chilling as death. . . .

Emma was not quite like others teenagers. It was true that other girls had experienced grief. Other girls had also lost their fathers, or had their boyfriends die in a senseless accident. But though she hadn’t known it till that night in the graveyard, unlike those other girls, she could see, touch, and speak with the dead. In fact, Emma could draw upon the essence of the dead to work magic. That was what Necromancers did. But Emma had no desire to be a Necromancer. She just wanted to help the ghosts who walked the streets of Toronto, unable to escape from the land of the living. And that was just as well, because had she chosen the path of the Necromancer, Eric would have had to kill her.

Instead, Eric and his fellow Necromancer hunter Chase found themselves violating every rule they were sworn to follow, becoming part of Emma’s group, helping her to stand against those who preyed upon the dead. But whether Emma and her friends could survive such a battle was anyone’s guess. And whether Emma could learn to use the magic of the dead against her enemies without herself falling victim to the lure of such power remained to be seen. Eric seemed to think she could, and her living friends would never abandon her. But only time would tell what Emma’s true destiny was. . . .

************************

And those are DAW's new releases for May! I've already got my copies! How about you?
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Book Review: "Alien Diplomacy" by Gini Koch [Apr. 26th, 2013|09:59 am]

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I really enjoyed this book in the Alien series, more than the last few. This one had a little more focus for me, and the plot was a little less chaotic and the people easier to follow, which is a good thing. It was still a fast-paced, convoluted, wild story like the others . . . just more fun than the others because it was just that tiny bit calmer.





The main premise is that Martini and Kitty have now become the Alien diplomats, moving to DC where they are out to protect the rights of American Centaurians at the political level, leaving the fighting of supermonsters to others. Kitty is forced to take diplomacy classes, while the others struggle to fit in. But of course, no sooner do they reach DC than someone tries to kill Kitty . . . or are they really after her daughter? Or perhaps they're after Mr. Joel Oliver, their favorite paparazzi? Things move quickly from exploding limos to a connection to the recent rumors of supersoldiers being created down in Paraguay (mentioned in previous books) and some kind of assassination attempt to be made at the President's next big ball. Only no matter Kitty and Martini do, they can't seem to find out who the target is--whether it's Kitty, their daughter, or any one of the high-powered politicos who will be at the party, including the president himself. The race is on see if they can unravel the evil-doers plot before everything goes boom.

As I said, I enjoyed this book more than the past few in this series, mostly because the plot was less chaotic than the others, so a little easier to follow, and because the book was more focused. There were tons of people, but we weren't bouncing back and forth between them, so it was easier to keep track of everyone and remember who they all were. I really think it just came down to the focus--there was one main thread with mentions of a few tangential plots. Part of the reason this focus worked is because, unlike the previous books, the group was investigating an assassination. They were working off of something they knew was going to happen. In the past, they were always simply reacting to things and trying to catch up. Here, they knew what was going to happen, they just had to figure out who, what, why, and when. I also think the book worked better because it took some dangling plot threads we'd heard about in previous books and tied them together, so some of the chaos was resolved. So instead of making things more and more complicated by introducing more and more threads, this book took some of those and closed them off. So it felt like the book had better resolution.

At the same time, it was still the fast-paced rollercoaster ride of fun, humor, action, and sex that you expect from a Gini Koch novel. It's over-the-top antics with nice touches of humanity threaded throughout and the story itself evolves from book to book. The world changes, rather than having everyone back to normal and the status quo at the end, as happens in many urban fantasy series of this sort. I continue to enjoy the series and intend to read the next book from Gini Koch.
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Book Discussion: "The Forever Knight" by John Marco [Apr. 26th, 2013|08:30 am]

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The next book discussion for April is for the hardcover release of John Marco's The Forever Knight, a book of The Bronze Knight. I haven't read the previous Bronze Knight books, although I did run out and buy them. I'm certain there are avid fans out there who were dying to get there hands on another book in this universe. So what did you think?





Cover Copy: Lukien was once the Bronze Knight of Liiria, close companion and champion to King Akeela, and commander of his king's Royal Chargers. Tall, golden-haired, and handsome as a god, he never knew defeat, and was beloved by the people he protected. But that had been long ago: before he betrayed his king and closest friend by falling in love with the one woman who was forbidden to him--the king's wife, Cassandra. This illicit love tore apart the foundations of Lukien's world, causing war, madness, and death. But it also opened Lukien's eyes to a force previously unknown to him--the power of magic.

In his ill-fated attempts to save his dying love, his now-mad king, and his fragmenting country, Lukien discovered a hidden fortress deep in the southern desert. In this fortress, called Grimhold, all who lived were protected by Akari--spirits of long-dead magicians. The magic the Akari imparted was unique to each person: a hunchback was gifted with the strength of ten men, an albino boy with the ability to vanish, a blind girl could see through the eyes of her Akari spirit patron. But ultimately even this remarkable discovery could not save his country, his king, or his love.

now Lukien was a broken man, held together only by his own Akari spirit protector, a long-dead magician named Malator, who resided in the magical Sword of Angels that Lukien wore. War-weary and brokenhearted, Lukien wished only for the release of death, which he believed would reunite him with his beloved Cassandra. Instead he was given a new commission: to protect the occupants of Grimhold and Jador, the nearby desert city. And Malator had given Lukien the one thing he wanted least of all: unending life.

But though the world still teemed with war, Grimhold and Jador were unchallenged, and thus did not need protection. Why would the Akari grant immortality to a man with no cause?
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Book Discussion: "Protector" by C.J. Cherryh [Apr. 22nd, 2013|03:49 pm]

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Time to get busy with the book discussions for April! (I've been sick.) The first up is for C.J. Cherryh's latest Foreigner novel, Protector. This is the fourteenth book in the series. Who here's read it already? What did you think?





Cover Copy: Civil war on the world of the atevi is finally over. Even the complex shifts of power that inevitably follow any war are mostly sorted out. Bren Cameron, brilliant human diplomat allied with the dominant Western Association, has finally returned to the capital from the southern coast, where he negotiated a daring redistribution of the atevi legislature--one that grants certain of the remaining rebel provinces political stature. But Bren's official duties have undergone a critical change.

Since the War of the Landing, hundreds of years before, when the atevi nearly eradicated the humans on their planet and exiled those who survived to the island of Mopheira, Bren's post had been held by solitary translators between the endangered, but technologically advanced, human society and the atevi of the mainland. But in the years that Bren has held that position, the world has changed.

Humans and atevi now interface daily on a shared space station and have traveled to the stars together. But rather than becoming extraneous, Bren's stature in the atevi world has only increased. He still wears the white ribbon that represents his office, but now he performs the duties of that office in the ancient manner originally intended, objectively negotiating between atevi adversaries. It was in this capacity that he had achieved a reformation of congress that ended the bloodshed of civil war.

Now, back in his old apartments in the capital, Bren has settled into the home he knew prior to the war. But life at the atevi court is never easy. Though his position has changed, Bren's political affiliations remain--he is still allied with Tabini-aiji, head of the Western Association. And Bren has also developed a close relatinoship with Tabini's young son Cajeiri, who was with Bren in space.

Cajeiri is within a few days of his fortunate ninth birthday, and his father has firmly promised that his son's young human associates from the space station can come down to the planet for his birthday celebration.

But things are not going well within the aiji's own household. For Tabini's political marriage seems to be splintering, and Cajeiri's mother may be less than trustworthy.

Can Bren protect Cajeiri and the unsuspecting human children who are to be his guests in an atevi household that is on the brink of political explosion?
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Book Discussion: "Intruder" by C.J. Cherryh [Apr. 19th, 2013|10:08 am]

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Time for the last book discussion of the March releases, Intruder by C.J. Cherryh! This is, of course, part of her Foreigner series, book thirteen I believe. I would have gotten to this sooner, but I've been horrendously sick and the book discussion posts have sort of fallen by the wayside. Still sick, but I need to catch up. Who here has read this book already? What did you think of it? How does it compare to the rest of the series so far?





Cover Copy: Civil war on the world of the atevi seems to be over, but diplomatic disputes and political infighting continue unabated. Bren Cameron, brilliant human diplomat allied with the dominant Western Association, has just returned to the capital from his country home on the coast. But his sojourn was anything but restful. Attacked by rebel forces hoping to kill not only him, but also Ilisidi, the grandmother, and Cajieri, the young son, of Tabini-aiji, the powerful head of the Western Association, Bren and his resourceful associates have had a small war of their own to contend with. And this small war has ended with a daring proposition: that their longtime enemy Machigi, having been double-crossed by his allies and approached by Ilisidi with an offer of alliance, will sign a trade agreement with her Eastern district--a situation which has upset both the rebels and the loyal north.

But Bren's accustomed role as negotiator for Tabini, Ilisidi, and their associates has suddenly changed radically--for Machigi, to Bren's utter shock, has evoked an ancient law. Bren wears the white ribbon that for the last few centuries has identified the single official human-atevi negotiator. But before humans landed, this white ribbon represented a specialized negotiator between atevi adversaries--a mediator who agreed to represent both sides with equal loyalty. These ancient mediators frequently ended up dead.

Now back in the capital, Bren finds that things are even more complicated than they previously were. He has now been put in the precarious position of representing both Ilisidi and Machigi to the congress, and is becoming embroiled with both conservative and liberal factions. Meanwhile, Tabini-aiji is enraged to have lost the personal negotiator who has been his associate for decades, and is also jealous of any other party who stands to influence his young son.

But there are even more dangerous things afoot, for Bren's bodyguard has warned him there is a crisis inside the immensely dangerous Assassins Guild, and that the recent dustup with the Shadow Guild, a rebellious faction within the Assassins, may be only the beginning.
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Book Discussion: "The Books of Barakhai" by Mickey Zucker Reichert [Apr. 10th, 2013|04:39 pm]

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We still have some March book discussions to cover before we get to the April books, so next up is Mickey Zucker Reichert's omnibus edition called The Books of Barakhai, which include the two novels The Beasts of Barakhai and The Lost Dragons of Barakhai. I did not get these books when they first came out (I don't even remember seeing them), so I only have the omnibus edition. How about you guys? Anyone read these two books? What did you think?





Cover Copy: Benton Collins was a graduate student working in the bio lab to earn his way to his degree. When a white lab rat somehow managed to escape its cage, Ben found himself chasing the rat into a storeroom that would ultimately lead him through a secret gateway into the realm called Barakhai. And in Barakhai, Ben's life would be forever changed, for this was a place peopled by inadvertent shapeshifters, humans forced to spend half their day--or night--in animal form.

Not everyone was happy with the life in Barakhai, a life where the general population was ruled by those few humans of royal blood, all of whom remained in their human form and were virtual dictators.

Ben, by virtue of being born on Earth, was not a shapeshifter either. And a rebel named Zylas hoped that Ben could become the instrument to turn Barakhai around. So Zylas and his comrade rescued Ben from certain death.

But if Ben agreed to join their cause, would he ever be allowed to return to his own world again?
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New Releases: April 2013 [Apr. 1st, 2013|04:23 pm]

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Happy April Fools! But no fooling here. It's time for the new releases for April from DAW Books! We have new C.J. Cherryh, new John Marco, and paperback releases from Sherwood Smith and Patrick Rothfuss. So without further ado . . .

First up is the hardcover release of the next Foreigner novel from C.J. Cherryh called Protector, this fourteenth book in the series. As usual the cover art and quick blurb about the book.





It's coming up on Cajeiri's birthday. The boy has been promised he can have the young human children he knew from his voyage sent down from the space station for a two week stay.

But there's far a darker business going on in the background--a major split compromising the Assassins' Guild, which furnishes security and law enforcement to the whole continent. Tabini's consort's own father has been barred from court, and may be involved in a new conspiracy against him.

For safety reasons, Tabini wants Bren and Ilisidi to take charge of Cajeiri, and protect him and his young guests. They themselves are very likely targets of whatever's going on, no question of it. So is Cajeiri. But having the targets separated and contained is an advantage.

It's Bren's responsibility to entertain the guests, keep the security problem secret...and let a lonely eight-year-old prince reestablish his controversial relationship with the only other children he's ever met...inside the best security they can manage.

**********************

We have a second hardcover release this month as well, John Marco's The Forever Knight, the first book in his new Bronze Knight series.





Lukien is the Bronze Knight, beloved by his kingdom and renowned in battle throughout his world. After betraying his king and losing his beloved, he wishes only for death, but rather than die, Lukien is given a chance for redemption: to be the protector of the Inhumans—those fragile mortals who live deep in the desert, far from the prying eyes of their world. These remarkable individuals have been granted magical powers in exchange for the hardships and handicaps life has handed them. And Lukien, now immortal himself, must be their champion. But how can one man, even an immortal warrior, protect hundreds from a world of potential enemies?

**********************

Next we have the paperback release of Patrick Rothfuss' second novel The Wise Man's Fear, the second book in his Kingkiller Chronicles.





“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of a hero told from his own point of view—a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in The Wise Man’s Fear, Day Two of The Kingkiller Chronicle, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

***********************

And lastly, we have the paperback release of Sherwood Smith's Banner of the Damned, part of the Inda universe.





Emras, a scribe assigned to the intelligent and beautiful Princess Lasva of Colend, is on trial. But why? Emras had accompanied Lasva to the barbaric, martial land of Marloven Hesea years before so Lasva could join her betrothed, a Marloven prince. But before Emras left Colend, she was charged with a secret mission from her queen: to monitor her new home for signs of the insidious and dangerous influence of Norsunder—a magical land once thought to be legend, but now known to exist.

What went wrong? If Emras was acting on orders from her queen, why is she on trial now?

********************************

And those are the April releases from DAW! Sally forth and find them at your local bookstore, and then report back here on what you thought of them. Which ones are you dying to get your hands on?
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