Huge Tor Giveaway!

One of the blogs I follow is Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist. This guy does an incredible job of keeping up with the world of fantasy and sci-fi fiction. He also frequently sponsors giveaways, no strings attached. If you’re interested in fantasy and sci-fi fiction, you might want to check this guy out.

Now, to give you the details promised in the headline above. Pat is offering on his website a huge prize pack being offered by Tor Books. To enter, visit Pat’s blog to get the details:
http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2009/12/tis-season-giveaway-tor-books.html

Here are the books in the pack:

- Signed copy of Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker
- Signed copy of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Final Empire
- Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson’s The Gathering Storm
- Three The Wheel of Time comics (Dabel Brothers)
- Steven Erikson’s Gardens of the Moon
- ARC of Steven Erikson’s Dust of Dreams
- Richard Matheson’s The Box
- Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker
- R. Scott Bakker’s Neuropath
- R.A. Salvatore’s The Ancient
- Glen Cook’s Chronicles of Black Company
- Glen Cook’s The Return of Black Company
- Glen Cook’s The Books of the South
- Charles de Lint’s Muse and Reverie
- John Brown’s Servant of a Dark God
- Ian Cameron Esslemont’s Night of Knives
- Kate Elliott’s Spirit Gate and Shadow Gate
- Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Bones of the Dragon
- L. E. Modesitt, jr.’s Imager
- L. E. Modesitt, jr.’s Imager’s Challenge

I recommend you stop by Pat’s blog and register for this prize pack. You may never see another one this big.

Offworld, By Robin Parrish (Part 3)

Robin Parrish

(Note: For a chance to win a copy of this intriguing science fiction novel, leave a comment at the bottom of this blog. I’ll draw a winner on Weds., Aug. 26.)

Although I really liked this book, I did find a few minor inconsistencies, such as people not being where they were supposed to be at the end of the book.

(SPOILER ALERT. If you don’t want to read the spoiler, skip this paragraph. If the people were returned to the place they disappeared from, there’s no way Owens’ family would have been at Rice University to greet him. Also, in retrospect, I think the ending was in some ways predictable. The story ended in the only place it could have in order to be tied up in a nice neat bow. But at least I didn’t have to worry about any loose ends that way. For some readers I know this is a critical ingredient to a good book, so they would be quite happy with the ending.)

Other themes in Offworld: There is definitely a theme in Offworld that focuses on the light–a blindingly bright beacon that beckons our heroes forward. They know somehow that it is only at the source of this light that the truth will be discovered. And so they struggle on toward the light in order to find the truth. The link was not made overtly, but it reminds me of our world where Christ is the Light. If we will race toward the Light, we will certainly find the truth there.

One other theme that I found particularly heartening centered on a reassurance that we are never alone. Throughout the book the characters find strength in each other again and again.

(BIG SPOILER HERE. If you don’t want to read the spoiler, skip this paragraph. In the end, Mae, the girl who never had a family, chooses to sacrifice herself for her friends, and finds as she crosses the border into eternity that she truly is not alone either.)

Overall, I found Offworld to be a mostly enjoyable read and I would not hesitate to read other books by Parrish. I like the pacing and easy flow of his writing style and his ability to keep the story moving forward rapidly without leaving me behind.

Who is Robin Parrish?

As a journalist, Robin Parrish covered pop culture and entertainment for 14 years. In addition, he has previously authored the recently published Dominion Trilogy (Relentless in 2006, Fearless in 2007, and Merciless in 2008). Parrish is a full-time writer residing in North Carolina with his wife and son. He reportedly is no stranger to pain–both emotional and chronic physical pain–experiences which bleed over into his writing in themes of the transitory nature of human existence. He professes to have been influenced by various speculative and SciFi television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, The X-Files, comic books like Spider-Man, Avengers, and Runaways, and movies and movie makers like Star Wars, Pixar Animation Studios, M. Night Shyamalan, Christopher Nolan, Bond, Bourne and others. Parrish is now working on two additional novels, scheduled to be published in the summers of 2010 and 2011.

(To see Part 1 of my review, click here. Part 2 is here.)

ADDENDUM: I would like to correct an error I made above in the first spoiler alert paragraph regarding Owens’ family. Please see Robin’s note in the comments below. I apologize for the misstatement.

To see what others have to say here are links to their blogs:
Brandon Barr, Jim Black, Justin Boyer, Keanan Brand, Gina Burgess, Canadianladybug, Melissa Carswell, Valerie Comer, Karri Compton, Amy Cruson, CSFF Blog Tour, Stacey Dale, D. G. D. Davidson, Jeff Draper, April Erwin, Karina Fabian, Linda Gilmore, Beth Goddard, Todd Michael Greene, Katie Hart, Ryan Heart, Becky Jesse, Cris Jesse, Jason Joyner, Julie, Carol Keen, Krystine Kercher, Dawn King, Melissa Meeks, Rebecca LuElla Miller, Mirtika, Eve Nielsen (posting later in the week), Nissa, John W. Otte, Lyn Perry, Steve Rice, Chawna Schroeder, James Somers, Speculative Faith, Stephanie, Rachel Starr Thomson, Steve Trower, Fred Warren, Elizabeth Williams

For more information on Offworld, see: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764206060

Robin Parrish’s Web site - http://www.robinparrish.com/

Robin Parrish’s Twitter blog - http://twitter.com/robinparrish

The winner of The Enclave is…

The winner of “The Enclave” by Karen Hancock is…

Sandy Litke

Thank you all for entering. Keep an eye open for my next giveaway.

Dragonforge, by James Maxey

Dragonforge is the second book in James Maxey’s Dragon Age trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, Bitterwood, and so I ordered Dragonforge. Before I read it, however, I was disappointed to find out the author is a self-proclaimed atheist. Regardless, I had ordered the book and decided to go ahead and read it.

I found Dragonforge (like its predecessor) to be well-written and very imaginative. The story is set in a world where dragons have ruled for thousands of years over mankind, unaware that mankind was once the dominant species. Dragonforge continues a human revolt that started in the first book. The story moved along well with a nice pace, good use of dialogue and vivid descriptions.

James Maxey is obviously familiar with Christian theology, even to the point of quoting scripture. However, his religious philosophy is also quite apparent in the pages of the book. Although I enjoyed the quality of the book, I found his underlying viewpoint to be rather dismal.

For more info on Dragonseed (the final volume in the trilogy to be released later this month), click on the link below:

[amazon-product text="Dragonseed: A Novel of Dragon Age" type="text"]1844167550[/amazon-product]

You Know You’re a Fantasy Nut When…

I saw this posted by Rebecca Miller at the Speculative Faith website, but it was originally posted by Ëarwen at her blog. I thought it was fun and deserved re-posting. Thanks, Ëarwin!