Christine, the princess and heir to the real world of Chrysanthe, is kidnapped as a small child by a powerful magician and exiled in a Made World that is a version of our present reality. In exile, supervised by her strict “uncle” (actually a wizard in disguise), she undergoes bogus memory recovery therapy, through which she is forced to remember childhood rape and abuse by her parents and others. She is terribly stunted emotionally by this terrifying plot, but at seventeen discovers it is all a lie. Christine escapes with a rescuer, Sir Quentin, a knight from Chrysanthe, in a thrilling chase across realities.

Once home, the magical standoff caused by her exile is broken, and a war begins, in spite of the best efforts of her father, the king, and his wizard, Melogian. And that war, which takes up nearly the last third of the work, is a marvel of magical invention and terror, a battle between good and evil forces that resounds with echoes of the great battles of fantasy literature.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

• Giveaway: Episodes of Girl Genius, the multiple award-winning steampunk webcomic series by Phil and Kaja Foglio, have been collected into an omnibus Volume 1: Agatha Awakens and five copies are being given away. Here’s a link. Deadline is March 23.
• io9 has posted its March guide to science fiction and fantasy movies, TV series, books, conventions and author appearances. Here’s anything you wanted to know about SFF happenings this month.
• Are you an SFF desktop wallpaper junkie? Tor has posted free wallpaper showing the ebook art for The Great Hunt, Book 2 of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.
• Tor has released a free mini ebook anthology containing a few of their favorite short stories from 2011. Of course you can read them on the website, but if you prefer, you can get a copy for your favorite e-reader.
• Here’s some very geeky news. Researchers from the University of Sydney have run some numbers regarding the effects of faster-than-light space travel and have come up with some very disturbing conclusions. It seems that warp speed travel could have the unfortunate effect of completely obliterating anyone or anything at the travelers’ destination once they arrived. Nothing like blowing up your welcoming party. Ouch.
• On a lighter side, you can get your Han Solo carbonite crayons here. Yes, that’s right. An image of a frozen Han Solo is available in eight cheerful colors for only $4. If you prefer, you can get crayons of Yoda, R2D2, or horror of horrors, Darth Vader’s head. That’s just not right.
• How about the new Avengers movie? For those of you who can’t wait, a new official trailer is now available. Looks like fun to me. What do you think?
• And finally, I have a fun video clip for you. It’s really kind of a time capsule, actually. I came across a 30-second commercial for the “new” Star Wars lightsaber by Kenner. It’s…um…inflatable. Balloons not included.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How about you guys? Did you find anything fun I missed? I’d love to see it. Just click on the comments bubble at the top right of this post.

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

• I stumbled across http://www.thetatteredscroll.com this week. There you can find many current fantasy ebook deals, including two RA Salvatore ebooks currently priced at $4.99 (that’s $3 off the usual digital price). It’s nice to have someone willing to go through what’s out there and find the cream of the crop.
• http://www.starwarsuncut.com/ has released a remake of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, comprised entirely of 15-second fan clips. I watched a few minutes and have to shake my head at the originality of some of the submissions.
• I love beautiful artwork. Naomi Novik has posted a beautiful piece of fan art by Daniel Govar, a dragon based on her Temeraire series.
• MIT unveiled In Europe the Hiriko electric car, a windshield mounted car that folds up to take up one-third the parking space of an average size car. A pilot program for the little sci-fi looking buggy is set to begin next year.
• I see Steven Spielberg is considering creating a Moses epic for Warner Bros. Will it going to be more fantasy or faith? I guess we’ll see.
• Last year, Tor Forge gave away copies of Templar One (EVE, #2) by Tony Gonzales. Well, they’re at it again. Five copies are available on Goodreads. Deadline is February 24, 2012. (The book is based on the MMORPG game, http://www.eveonline.com/) For a peek at the action-packed trailer for the game see the publisher’s book page.
• Here’s one that cracked me up: The 10 most undignified deaths in SFF, according to the Facebook followers of io9.com.
• Care to contribute to one man’s attempt to list the family tree of every character in Lord of the Rings? http://www.lotrproject.com/. I wish him luck.
• Giveaway: To kick off the Year of the Dragon, Tor is giving away four copies of the Wheel of Time prequel, New Spring: The Graphic Novel by Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon, and Mike S. Miller. Speaking of WOT, the publisher is also offering 10 copies of the first book in the series, The Eye of the World. The deadline for both is February 24, 2012.
• Giveaway: Another offering by Tor on Goodreads — The Stolen Throne by David Gaider, the prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, the role-playing video game from Bioware. Deadline is February 24, 2012.
• Here’s some geek news: University of Washington researchers have created a game, Foldit, where players can decode and create protein shapes to help scientists learn how proteins work and help with drug research for HIV and Alzheimer’s cures. Gamers, go forth and save the world! More on this story on CNET.
• Minecraft and Zelda unite! Here’s a video showing the Hyrule Temple built in Minecraft. Now that must have taken quite some time.
• Want to up your geek-cred points a tiny bit? Tell people you know where to find the video showing the Lego Man in Space, footage shot by 17-year-olds Matthew Ho and Asad Muhammad using a weather balloon and makeshift Styrofoam spacecraft to send a Lego man 15 miles up into the stratosphere. To make it easy, here you go:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I think that’ll do it for now. Have a great weekend, everyone! If I missed any good links, leave a note in the comments. I love to hear from you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

If you have trouble bringing up the page, here’s the direct link:
http://implausibleblog.com/2011/10/30/euro-cosplay-championships-2011/

What about you? Do you have a favorite costume? I’d love to hear about it. Just leave a note below — and a link if you wish.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nonetheless, when I did come across the book, I nabbed a copy and stuck it on top of my stack. After finishing a couple of other books I had promised to check out for a few people, I finally got my hands on it and settled down in a corner for a new adventure. The book didn’t look too big so I figured it wouldn’t take me very long to read it. But after a couple of days I found I wasn’t quite halfway done and got to thinking “This book is longer than I thought.” I thumbed to the back and found that while it’s not as thick as some of Tor’s other doorstop books (which I love, by the way), it’s actually 687 pages and according to my unofficial estimates, I figure it’s somewhere upwards of 320,000 words. Now that’s a respectable book. Anyone who can write a book that long and get it published by Tor definitely has my respect.

As you probably saw in the headline, there were parts of this book that reminded me of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. (If you’re curious, you can find anything you want to know about the Wheel of Time series at one of the premier fan sites: http://www.dragonmount.com/.) In particular, The Unremembered opens with Tahn, a backwoods young archer forced to flee inhuman creatures invading his village by being led away by a mysterious, competent warrior into who-knows-where. While the plot follows the type of storyline laid out by Jordan, Orullian does a good job of developing believable characters, each with a separate set of complications to deal with. The villains are real and the book opens with immediate conflict — oh, and by the way, if you’re one of those people who usually skips the prologue, don’t. You’ll be sorry — and probably will be quite lost as the story develops.

If you’ve read many of my reviews, you’ve probably seen by now that I try very hard not to give any spoilers. That’s a real pet peeve of mine so I won’t go too far into the plot. I’ll just let you read what the publisher wants you to know beforehand. Here’s the official blurb:

The gods, makers of worlds, seek to create balance — between matter and energy; and between mortals who strive toward the transcendent and the natural perils they must tame or overcome. But one of the gods fashions a world filled with helllish creatures far too powerful to allow balance; he is condemned to live for eternity with his most hateful creatures in that world’s distant Bourne, restrained by a magical veil kept vital by the power of song.

Millennia pass, awareness of the hidden danger fades to legend, and both song and veil weaken. The most remote cities are laid waste by fell, nightmarish troops escaped from the Bourne. Some people dismiss the attacks as mere rumor. Instead of standing against the real threat, they persecute those with the knowledge, magic, and power to fight these abominations, denying the inevitability of war and annihilation. And the evil from the Bourne swells…

The troubles of the world seem far from the Hollows, where Tahn Junell struggles to remember his lost childhood and to understand words he feels compelled to utter each time he draws his bow. Trouble arrives when two strangers appear — an enigmatic man wearing the sigil of the feared Order of Sheason and a beautiful woman of the legendary Far. They’ve come to take Tahn, his sister, and his two best friends on a dangerous, secret journey. Tahn knows neither why nor where they will go. He knows only that terrible forces have been unleashed upon mankind and he has been called to stand up and face that which most daunts him — his own forgotten secrets and the darkness that would destroy him and his world.

I found The Unremembered to be a good debut epic fantasy novel and look forward to seeing how Orullian grows as a writer. When book two in the series comes out, it too will go on my TBR stack.

I give The Unremembered 4 out of 5 stars. For more info, here are my affiliate links: Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

You can find author Peter Orullian at http://www.orullian.com 

The Unremembered, Book 1 of The Vault of Heaven, by Peter Orullian
Publisher: Tor Books, April 2011
ISBN-10: 0765325713

Are you a fan of epic fantasy? I’d love to know who your favorite authors are. Leave a comment below and let us know! Maybe we’ll find someone new to put on our shelves.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The book centers around Tipper, a young emerlindian woman who has been trying to manage her family’s estate in her father’s absence. Unfortunately, she has no idea where her father went when he disappeared years earlier. In addition, her mother has become confused and befuddled as she has gotten older, thus leaving Tipper even more alone. Fortunately, she has Beccaroon to rely on, a giant parrot her father asked to watch over her if something should happen to him.

To make ends meet in her father’s absence, Tipper has been selling off her father’s artwork without realizing her actions have placed the world at risk of collapse. The only way disaster can be averted is to reunite some of the statues. But Tipper cannot brave the trip alone and a group of companions is formed to undertake the quest.

As this is Day 1 of the three-day Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour, I will continue my review of The Vanishing Sculptor tomorrow. Let’s see what the others have to say:

Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Rachel Briard
Karri Compton
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Linda Gilmore
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Eve Nielsen (posting later in the week)
Nissa
John W. Otte
Lyn Perry
Crista Richey
Cheryl Russell
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Elizabeth Williams
KM Wilsher

For more info on The Vanishing Sculptor, see: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400073391

Information on the author:
Donita Paul’s Web site – http://www.donitakpaul.com/
Donita Paul’s blog – http://dragonbloggin.blogspot.com/

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

So far, the video section includes interviews with several authors such as Troy Denning, Aaron Allston, Dan Wallace, and Christie Golden, as well as interviews from ComicCon and movie actors such as Hugh Jackman.

In addition, Suvudu has posted for free download several full-length novels. Here are the titles just posted for August:

- The Briar King: Book One of the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, By Grey Keyes
- King’s Property: Book One of the Queen of the Orcs Trilogy, By Morgan Howell
- The Brass Bed, By Jennifer Stevenson

Books that were posted previously include:

- Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith: Skyborn, By John Jackson Miller
- Darkfever, By Karen Marie Moning
- Manifold: Time, By Stephen Baxter
- Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice, By John Jackson Miller
- Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold!, By Terry Brooks
- For Love of Mother-Not, By Alan Dean Foster
- Weapons of Choice, By John Birmingham
- Elric: The Stealer of Souls, By Michael Moorcock
- Kiss of Midnight, By Lara Adrian
- Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Dramatis Personae

The books are available in pdf, Kindle, Sony Reader, and Scribd.com formats.

Here’s the link: http://www.suvudu.com

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Lord Protector's Daughter

A lot of press surrounded the release of The Lord Protector’s Daughter by L.E. Modesitt, Jr., a few months ago, so I decided to give away a copy. To be entered in the drawing, leave a comment after this post. Make sure to include your email address so I can contact the winner. (You might want to disguise your email address to protect against spam robots, for instance, dona [at] fantasyandfaith dot com. Here’s the publisher’s info on the book:

The Lord-Protector’s Daughter is a standalone fantasy novel that takes place in Tempre, the capital city of Lanachrona on Corus, the world of Modesitt’s Corean Chronicles.

Mykella, the eldest daughter of the Lord-Protector of Lanachrona, discovers that someone is diverting significant sums of money from her father’s treasury. One of the ancient soarers appears to Mykella, telling her that she must go to the antique stone Table in the cellars of the Palace and find her Talent in order to save her land and her world.

From there, matters become more perilous. There are attempts to remove Mykella and her sisters from Tempre by marrying them off to lords in neighboring lands, and fatal and near fatal accidents occur to members of her family and trusted retainers. While Mykella develops a solid idea of who stands behind it all, every attempted solution is used to discredit her. How can she save their father and land?

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Shameless plug: To purchase Fablehaven, you can connect to the Amazon store by clicking on the book’s cover above. If you buy through this Amazon link, I will receive a small percentage commission.

If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to my blog and receive future posts via email by clicking here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”