REVIEW: The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson

The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson
Publishing Information: 2006 (first publishing) 2008 (current edition)
Publisher: Tor Fantasy, Mass-Market Paperback, 1211 pgs
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-4883-8
Series: Malazan Book of the Fallen #6 (of 10)
Reviewer: Andy
Copy: Out of Pocket

Synopsis: (from back cover): The Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. Sha'ik is dead. One last rebel force remains, holed up in the city of Y'Ghatan under the fanatical common of Leoman of the Flails. The prospect of laying siege to this ancient fortress makes the battle-weary Malazan Fourteenth Army uneasy. For it was here that the Empire's greatest champion, Dassem Ultor, was slain and a tide of Malazan blood spilled. A place of foreboding, its smell is of death.

But elsewhere, agents of a far greater conflict have made their opening moves. The Crippled God has been granted a place in the pantheon; a schism threatens and sides must be chosen. Whatever each god decides, the ground rules have changed irrevocably, terrifyingly, and the first blood spilled will be in the mortal world.

A world in which a host of characters, familiar and new, including Heboric Ghost Hands; the possessed Apsalar; Cutter, once a thief and now a killer; the warrior Karsa Orlong; and the two ancient wanderers Icarium and Mappo, each searching for such a fate as they might fashion with their own hands, guided by their own will. If only the gods would leave them alone, but now that knives have been unsheathed, the gods are disinclined to be kind. There shall be war, war in the heavens. And the prize? Nothing less than existence itself…..

Having completed five of Erikson's colossal Malazan books to this point, I knew what I was getting into: epic battles, a very large dose of magic, and plenty of head-scratching. When Erikson writes, he prefers to be oblique and mysterious. There are many scenes where instead of simply naming which character is part of the action, Erikson prefers to leave that characters name mysterious, in order to make you guess who it is. Other times, characters perform completely unintuitive actions, often in supernatural ways in which the rules haven't been fully explained, while hundreds of characters and plotlines are all becoming blurred in a dull fog in the reader's mind….

Okay - maybe that is simply my experience when reading the series. But what can I say? I masochistically keep reading this series because its epic and enormous in vision - so much that I can't look away. I am simply hypnotized by the detail and enormity of the Malazan world while I'm trying to hush the fear in the back of my mind that Erikson is making it all up as he goes along…..

The Bonehunters, however, is a book that restored some faith in the overall direction of this series. Where many characters have been separated by thousands of miles and oceans, there have been more convergences in this installment. The overall storyline is starting to take shape here - emerging into what looks like a final battle. In this book, characters mention a cataclysmic war among the gods that will take place. We finally begin to understand the motives of some gods as they ally with the Crippled God, while other gods stand in opposition.

But, where other books in the series could stand alone and deliver a conflict, climax and resolution, the structure of the Bonehunters seems a bit scattered. This was probably necessary - Erikson needed to transport many of his characters to get them in the right places while forming alliances and rivalries for what will become a final battle. The book seem transitional in that sense. However, in this this book it is at last becoming more clear which side many of the characters will be on for that battle.

My advice: Don't begin this series unless you like puzzles and you are up for a major project with plenty of time on your hands. There are so many RAFO's (read on and find outs) in this series, Erikson is asking you to have enormous faith in him as an author to resolve all these questions. However, if you are up for that sort of thing you are in for a wild ride. While this particular book doesn't live up to the highlights of the series like Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice or Midnight Tides, it has has indicated that the series is finding some direction. Instead of introducing forty more new characters Erikson has found some paths for the ones he already has, and as a reluctant fan of Malazan, it has me optimistic…..


Plot……….6/10

Characters………8/10

Style………..8/10

Overall……….7.5/10

Game of Thrones Gets Casting News

Accoding to Den of Geek. The Doctor may be coming to HBO's epic. As Stannis Baratheon. Add to the news that Natalie Dormer is already signed on to star in the second season. Things are starting to warm up and it hasn't even been a month since it left the airwaves.

New "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" Novel by Paul Kearney

I just heard from Adam (The Wertzone) that Paul Kearney is writing a Spartacus: Blood and Sand novel.

A quick Web search reveals that Amazon's Kindle Store has already had an entry for the e-book version, simply entitled Spartacus Novel: #2. The publisher is Titan Books and the publishing date is March 6, 2012.

Paul Kearney is a very talented author (one of my favourites) and I think the setting of Spartacus would fit very well his style. The recent success Kearney has enjoyed with his The Ten Thousand and Corvus proves this very well.

After hearing such a news, I just rub my hands and wait for the book to be published.

The Rocketeer Short

It looks great and it's not by Pixar.

The Rocketeer 20th anniversary from John Banana on Vimeo.

REVIEW: Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
Publishing Information: 2001 (first publishing) 2001 (current edition)
Publisher: Roc Fantasy, Mass-Market Paperback, 405 pgs
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-45812-4
Series: The Dresden Files #2
Reviewer: Andy
Copy: Out of Pocket

Synopsis: (from back cover): Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work --magical or mundane.But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses - and the first two don't count.

Merely from reading the title and the back cover, the concept of this second installment of the Dresden series should be obvious: it concerns werewolves. This is established so early in the book, that it can't possibly be construed as a spoiler. So, I'll just come out with it early. Harry Dresden has werewolves to contend with in this book.

Butcher gives an intriguing look at the werewolf lore in the Dresden universe - he gives a rundown of four different species of werewolves that Harry Dresden could be dealing with, explained from the mouth of Bob, the sex-crazed talking skull. Establishing these details make the plot somewhat more interesting than an ordinary werewolf story, as much of the mystery surrounds not only the identity of a werewolf, but exactly what sort of werewolf we are dealing with.

The plot addresses certain story-lines begun in the first book. Dresden continues his relationship with the paranormal reporter Susan Rodriguez, and must once again not only contend with Chicago's finest but keep the evil forces from the netherworld at bay as well. However, this series is still struggling to establish some unity between the first two books. There has yet to be anything that resembles an overarching story arc, although the existence prime antagonist has been hinted at. Not to mention, Harry's issues with the meddling Wizarding council seem to have been put on hold, a promising storyline that had begun in the first book.

After this book, I am still waiting for this series to really engage me. The mystery in this book was a bit more complex, containing more suspects and red herrings, and the werewolf lore was somewhat appealing, but there are still no series-wide plot elements that make me want to run out to read the next book. It was a pleasant enough light-read, but I'm still waiting for Butcher to really impress me and elevate this series to the next level.

Plot……….6.5/10

Characters………6/10

Style………..5.5/10

Overall……….6/10

At the Mountains of Madness Short

The action doesn't start until past the 11 minute mark, that's when things take a dark turn. But with Del Toro not being able to direct the film he wants to direct, this may be our best alternative.

Gaiman Speaks About Plans for the New HBO Series American Gods

All the buzz for the past week or two has been about HBO's plans for the 6 season TV series adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods. With the success of HBO's Game of Thrones, Hollywood is finally noticing that speculative fiction is ripe with material. Gaiman on his website and in an interview has stated that the series will not be a strict adaptation of the novel like Game of Thrones, but will take some interesting divergences from the novel to keep fans on their toes.

Here is some speculation about casting from Houston press.

A video with Gaiman discussing the new series can be found here.

This is great news but I'm still waiting for a Sandman adaptation......