Everything that makes for a great heroic fantasy is within the pages of this book: cool battles (but what do you expect from dwarves?), political intrigue, and believable characters that will grow on you as the story progresses. If you haven’t read the first two books (The Brotherhood of Dwarves and Red Skies at Dawn), you might want to do so before picking up this one; however, reading the third book without reading the first two didn’t leave me lost. Adams lets you know enough of what went on before for you to be able to pick up on the important parts of the prior novels, and all without needing a prologue.

It takes a couple chapters before Adams gets to the main plot of the story, but those parts are clearly bridges connecting the second novel to this one, and allows new readers to get to know the main characters if they hadn’t read the last two.  And once I was acquainted with the characters, the rest of the story became quite enjoyable to read. It also left me wanting to get the first two novels and anticipate the next one so I can read the entire series. Adams has crafted a detailed world that feels fresh and new despite using the (alleged) cliché of stock fantasy races like elves, dwarves, ogres, and orcs. He succeeds in this by making each character a unique individual instead of relying on stereotypes.

All in all, while not an epic masterpiece it is still a fun read, and The Fall of Dokhun is worth adding to your list of books to read.

Best to read while listening to:  the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings, and Viking Metal of course! Amon Amarth and TÝR rule!

Professor Geoffrey Burke and his team of Parapsychology students search for evidence to irrefutably prove that the Woodfield Theater is haunted. But they discover more than just ghosts as an ancient demon take notice of one of the professor’s students, Kim. Not only can she see and hear spirits, she also has a special ability that threatens the demon’s power over the souls in the theater.

West breathes depth and life into every character: living, dead, and demonic. You care for what happens to them, unlike in, oh say, the Saw films where you could care less if the heartless morons get torn into itsy bitsy pieces. In Cinema of Shadows, you even feel for some of the antagonists (well, except for the demon, obviously). But more importantly, the ending wasn’t predictable, and characters that I expected would die didn’t.

If you like ghost stories or even just horror stories in general, you’ll love Cinema of Shadows.

Best to read while listening to: anything from Midnight Syndicate, Rob Zombie, Slayer, Tiamat, or Marilyn Manson.

Pssst! You’ll find it here: http://fandomfest.com/blogs/scott-sandridge

Yes. Superheroes are insane. Very insane.

Wolverine and the Hulk are classic examples of two individuals with very severe anger management problems. Wolverine has a bad habit of going berserk, and has even attacked his own friends before. And the Hulk, well….

If a person without superpowers acted like that, they’d be in prison. But what would a cop do to Wolverine or the Hulk? Stand in their way and shout stop or I’ll shoot? Hardly.

And what about Daredevil? A blind man fighting crime, how insane is that? And it’s worse. Daredevil is so convinced that everyone he tries to prosecute is guilty that even if he loses the case (and when has he ever won a case? He must be the worst lawyer in all of human history), he will hunt that “criminal” down and beat the shit out of him. Now what do you suppose Daredevil would do if he lost a prosecution case against an 84-year-old woman in a wheelchair? Go beat her up, of course! “She’s not what she seems! It’s all a disguise! And I can prove it! look at all the blood! How can Grandma bleed that much??!!”

And yes, even Spider-man is a loony tune. He goes on and on and on about how with great power comes great responsibility, and yet he’s constantly complaining about having to drop what he’s doing to go save some damsel in distres. ‘Cause gosh darn it! Now he’s late for his date with a girl whose name is synonymous with weed! Narcissist? Closet pot-smoker?

Thor. Talk about a man with a god complex….

And let’s not forget Reed Richards. All his condemning of Dr. Doom is like the pot calling the kettle black. What’s so different about them, really (other than Dr. Doom looks a whole lot cooler)? They’re both mad scientists. They’re both obsessed with their research to the point where they often neglect everyone else around them. Okay, okay, Dr. Doom is a tyrant dictator ruling over a country and probably drowns cute little kittens for fun. But let’s face it, the only reason Richards isn’t drowning those kittens along with him is because the bad PR would hurt his company’s bottom line. And so, he gets his rocks off by beating up on Dr. Doom instead, ’cause being a hero is profitable!

And you know who else profits off beating up poor defenseless “villains”? Batman, that’s who! This guy is obsessed with hunting down mentally deranged people, beating the crap out of them, and dragging them to Arkam Asylum. Why always Arkam Asylum? Surely there’s other asylums in the city, possibly some that are much closer to where he beat the poor crazy guy in the jester costume up, but yet he always takes them to Arkum. It ain’t no coincidence he’s a billionaire “philanthropist” who just so happens to dress up in a bat costume to beat up other crazies in costumes and always, always, drags them kicking and screaming to the exact same asylum. He’s getting kickbacks for it! Duh! Why else do all those insane costumed “criminals” keep breaking out of the place so easily!

And this is why I always root for the supervillains. They might be insane megalomaniacs, and evil to the core, but at least they’re honest about it!

Toodledoo!

With Thrall, Shrewsbury delivers a grim and gritty Sword & Sorcery tale, one that is more than just a straightforward hack n’ slash. Not that there’s no hacking and slashing, there’s actually plenty. But you’ll also find deep characterization and moral quandaries. This is no happy campy “good vs. evil” story, more like badass vs. badass vs. undead badass vs. even more evil badass while vs. each other. If you’re a fan of Conan, Red Sonja, or Fafhrd then will love Gorias.

Best to read while listening to: the soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian. Duh! Also, Slayer.

Benedict gets kidnapped and tortured for information by the government, Gregory leads an armed resistance against the hijacked UCAS, and Friedrich partakes a quest into the Abyss in search of Erishkigal. And all as martial law gets declared on the UCAS, the Abundant Harvest virus is unleashed onto the world, and war is declared between the UCAS and Mandaria.

You’ll find twists and turns galore as Zimmer continues his epic saga. And his descriptions of the Abyss is just as vivid, detailed, and (darkly) fascinating as Purgatarion—drawing from myths from many diverse cultures. The third installment is just as much a page turner as the second was.

Also, Erishkigal FTW!

Best to read while listening to: Epica, Nightwish, Metallica, Megadeth…and maybe some Enya for the Abyss scenes just to mess with your head even further (hehehehe). Just kidding. Enya works for Purgatarion. Midnight Syndicate is perfect for the Abyss scenes.

The setting is like a paralell modern day world. A very familiar world where mostly the names have changed: the UCAS=USA, Grand Charter=Constitution, Yorvik–you get the picture. Although I’m not exactly sure about the small town Godwinton…. (Godwin’s Law?)

The shapeshifting An-Ki are now divided into three clans and despite crossing time and space to escape the global flood and find themselves in a time period they know nothing about, they still find themselves pursued by their ancient Nephilim enemy that managed to cross the Gate as well. Fortunately, they now have help, in the form of a new order of Avatars known as the Watchers.

However, in the spirit world, Beleth leads an army of nasties out of the Abyss and invades Purgatarion in what is quite possibly the most epic and imaginative battle I have ever read in any fantasy novel. Heck, you even get to root for spiders (for once).

All this while Dagian Underwood, Jovan, and the rest of the conspirators (a mixed bag of human and Dark Avatars) continue their march toward a one world government with the revealing of Living ID, along with a federal assault on a home in Godwinton reminiscent of real world events such as Waco and the Brown residence.

The second book reveals many mysteries as Benedict Darwin and the gang continues to find themselves caught up in a conflict so big that no single world can contain it. It contains a large cast of characters, yet Zimmer manages to keep the pace going while still giving each chracter’s proper time in the spotlight. If anything, The Storm Guardians, is a promising continuation to the saga.

Best to read while listening to: Anything from Rob Zombie (no joke). Also, there’s a new band called the Sons of Liberty….

Not every song, however, is macabre and spine-tingling. “Dr. Atmore’s Elixirs of Good Humor and Fortification,” for example, sounded like it would fit well in a Final Fantasy VI remake, possibly involving something to do with Kefka or maybe the Mage Tower. Also, of the 25 songs on the CD, many are very short (there’s even one that’s only 36 seconds). But overall, the CD is a nice variety of “wonders both fantastic and macabre” and will keep you listening from start to finish.

Once again, Midnight Syndicate delivers.

Best to listen to while reading: anything in the Horror or Dark Fantasy genres–specifically something involving carnivals or clowns….

Mind Game

Copple maintains a fast pace, keeping the action going, and provides unexpected but logical plot twists throughout. Even the dialogue feels real for characters of such a young age, in contrast to how some YA novels can be. You will root for the heroes, boo the main villain, and even feel bad for the other villains. He also manages to tackle very adult topics in a manner that keeps it suitable for a YA novel. Overall, Copple delivers.

While there are definitely some moralistic themes to the story, the themes are where they should be: in the background. Primarily written for entertainment, the themes become an extra topping on the pizza.

If you enjoyed Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, then you will enjoy R.L. Copple’s Mind Game.

Best to read while listening to:  the soundtracks to Star Wars and Goonies comes to mind.