• DC Comics and Amazon made a deal that makes DC digital graphic novels available exclusively on the new Kindle Fire tablet.
• 22 of the geekiest Star Wars Lego sets.
• Giveaway: The Ranting Dragon is giving away three ARCs of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Alloy of Law, compliments of Tor Books. Deadline is October 4, 2011.
• Amazon and library e-book vendor OverDrive made a deal to allow library lending via the Kindle.
• Secret Cold War spy satellite program declassified, with the actual satellites being put on display for one day.
• The fossilized remains of a spiky newborn dinosaur was found in DC. The little guy was only five inches long. Aw…

That’s about it this week. Have a good weekend!

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.”

Artificial intelligence gone wrong — that’s the basis of this faith-based sci-fi thriller.

Abigail Caldwell, a missionary daughter raised in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, flees her home for the first time to get medical help for her dying village besieged by a strange disease. But helps comes too late and at the age of 34, she travels to the United States for the first time, only to find that Christianity is now a dead religion there. And yet, she feels it her calling to renew America’s faith in God.

Complicating matters is an artificial intelligence expert who has found a way to download the human brain into a silicon form, thus ensuring the person virtual immortality. The big question is whether a person loses their spirit when they lose their biological brain.

Historian Creighton Daniels finds himself pulled with Abby into a race of life or death when they begin to question the methods and goals of the men behind the artificial intelligence technology.

In The Last Christian, author David Gregory employs an interesting technique of presenting both first- and third-person points of view. While most first-person books I’ve read are told completely in that person’s voice, this book varies from that model. Instead, we get an interesting blend of a story told from a third-person point of view, with the exception of Creighton Daniels, whose story is told directly from his point of view.

This technique works well in The Last Christian, allowing the reader to see the story from the outside. Somehow, though, the author does a good job of letting us also see inside the mind of one of the major characters — and what a mind it is.

The Last Christian is unapologetically a Christian novel. Through its pages, the author spells out in no uncertain terms what one must do to be a true believer in Jesus Christ. In addition, a second aspect of the book’s Christian themes revolves around the need for those who are already believers to examine their own walk with God, to determine for themselves who is in charge of their faith. Does the Christian believe they must try to be the best Christian they can, to take up the responsibility to perform the best they can, to help God spread the gospel?

At first blush, this doesn’t sound wrong, but when this philosophy is held up against one that places God in charge (not the person, but God), it falls flat. I believe what the author is trying to say is: (1) all mankind is in need of a Savior, and (2) that Savior, Jesus Christ, wants to give us life, wants us to rest in him, to trust him to guide us rather than take that task upon ourselves. As Christ himself said, “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:30)

The Last Christian by David Gregory
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Date: May 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1400074976
Paperback, 416 pages
List Price: $14.99

Fore more information, here is my Amazon affiliate link: The Last Christian

David Gregory’s Website: http://www.davidgregorybooks.com

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review purposes.

Note added 1/31/11: This contest is now closed. A winner has been chosen.

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.”

Starting today, Amazon is offering my first novel, Relentless (Book One of the Dominion Trilogy), as a free ebook. That’s right, Relentless is now a 100% free download, no strings, no hidden charges.

What’s more, the ebook prices for Fearless and Merciless, Books Two and Three of the trilogy, have been slashed down to $5.49. It’s all part of a special promotion my publisher convinced Amazon to run for my ebooks, so those who’ve never read the Dominion Trilogy can give it a try.

The promotion will run for a limited time only — unless it’s a hit, which would cause Amazon to keep it going longer than initially planned, possibly even indefinitely. And no, you don’t have to have a Kindle ereader to readRelentless. Amazon has free software available to download for every computer, laptop, smartphone, and tablet device there is, that makes it possible to download ebooks on any device you own.

Interested in more info about the book? Here’s the blurb:

Grant Borrows’ life has just taken a drastic left turn. There’s another man in the world wearing his face and living his life. What’s more, the man he sees in the mirror is a stranger.

Somehow, he’s been Shifted — his whole life fundamentally altered, in the space of a single breath. But the changes don’t stop at skin-level. Inexplicably, he’s able to affect objects around him by simply thinking about them. And as he soon learns, he’s become the central figure in a vast web of intrigue that stretches from an underground global conspiracy to a prophecy dating back over seven thousand years, that tells of his coming. Enemies and allies find him at every turn, but one thing they all learn very quickly is that you don’t want to push Grant Borrows too far…

Can destiny be undone?

The players are ready. The game is in motion. And the pace is Relentless.

In the allegorical tradition of Tolkien and Lewis comes a powerful new myth for a new generation.

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.”

To see my review of Venom and Song, click here. To see what the other CSFF Bloggers have to say, click on the links in the sidebar to the right.

(Note added on 10/10/10: This contest is now closed. A winner has been chosen.)

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 was thinking about this and looking through my bookshelf at the books I haven’t read yet and decided I really need to make some space on my shelf. In fact, my husband heartily agrees. He he.

And so…to celebrate the beginning of summer, I am giving away two books from my personal collection, the first two books in the Psalms of Isaak series by Ken Scholes: Lamentation (Book 1) and Canticle (Book 2). Here are the official blurbs from the publisher (Tor):

Lamentation: An ancient weapon has completely destroyed the city of Windwir. From many miles away, Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses, sees the horrifying column of smoke rising.  He knows that war is coming to the Named Lands.

Nearer to the Devastation, a young apprentice is the only survivor of the city – he sat waiting for his father outside the walls, and was transformed as he watched everyone he knew die in an instant.

Soon all the Kingdoms of the Named Lands will be at each others’ throats, as alliances are challenged and hidden plots are uncovered.

This first novel from an award-winning short fiction writer will take readers away to a new world – an Earth so far in the distant future that our time is not even a memory; a world where magick is commonplace and great areas of the planet are impassable wastes. But human nature hasn’t changed through the ages: War and faith and love still move princes and nations.

Canticle: Come back to the Named Lands in this sequel to Ken Scholes novel Lamentation.

It is nine months after the end of the previous book.  Many noble allies have come to the Ninefold Forest for a Feast in honor of General Rudolfo’s  first-born child.  Jin Li Tam, his wife and mother of his heir, lies in childbed.

As the feast begins, the doors of the hall fly open and invisible assassins begin attacking.   All of Rudolfo’s noble guests are slain, including Hanric, the Marsh Queen’s Shadow.  And on the Keeper’s Gate, which guards the Named Lands from the Churning Waste, a strange figure appears, with a message for Petronus, the Hidden Pope.

To enter the drawing, send a email to: contests@(no-spam)fantasyandfaith.com. Make sure to remove “(no-spam)” before you send the email. Please include your physical address so I know where to send the books if you win. (U.S. addresses only, please.)

One more thing. If you want more than one chance to win, tell a friend. If they enter the contest, have them include your name in their email and you will be entered again–another entry for every friend who signs up. You must enter by midnight, Sunday, June 27. Good luck!

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 Prizes: There will be a total of five (5) prizes awarded: one (1) Grand Prize Winner and four (4) Consolation Prize Winners. Want to see what each will receive? Here’s the breakdown:

• Grand Prize
  • One (1) signed edition of The Practical Guide to Faeries
  • One (1) copy of The Fairies Art Studio
  • One (1) signed copy ofGodmother by Carolyn Turgeon
  • One (1) Advanced Reader Copy of Truthseeker by C.E. Murphy
• Consolation Prize(s)
  • One (1) Advanced Reader Copy of Truthseeker by C.E. Murphy

Timeframe: Monday, May 24 – Monday, May 31 2010

Note: Sweepstakes end on 11:59 PM EDT (U.S.), on May 31. All entries received thereafter will not be entered. Though we love all of our readers equally, this sweepstakes is only open to United States residents.

To check it out, go to 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.”

I just became aware today that you can download free from Amazon Karen Hancock’s Light of Eidon, Book 1 in her Legends of the Guardian King series. This book is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars on the Amazon reader reviews–a rating it surely deserves.

I read this sometime back and enjoyed it so much I had to run out and buy the second volume, which was the only other volume available at the time. Then I snapped up the next two volumes when they were published as well. Light of Eidon was published in 2003 and won a Christy award that same year. If you’re a fantasy of Christian fantasy, I strongly encourage you to read this first volume of the series and then pick up the next three volumes as well. I think you’ll like it.

Ok. Enough about me. Here’s the official blurb with a link to the Amazon store where you can download the e-book to read on you Mac, PC, Kindle and Nook (or any smartphone that will accept those applications, such as Blackberry and iPhone). You can also click on the image of the cover above to get to the Amazon Kindle store.

Eldrin has devoted the last eight years of his life toward making himself worthy to touch and tend the Sacred Flames of Eidon, and he expects to be blessed for his sacrifices. However, on the eve of taking the vows that will irrevocably separate him from his previous life as Abramm Kalladorne, fifth son of the king of Kiriath, he is betrayed by his spiritual mentor and sold into slavery by his own family.

Soon Abramm is swept along by the winds of a new destiny as his successes in the gladiatorial games transform him into a hero around whom the oppressed masses can rally, and he discovers his suffering has molded him into something greater than he ever thought possible–to serve a purpose he never imagined.

You can get more info from the Amazon Kindle store here.
The author’s website: Karen Hancock

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.”

Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist

Should you choose to enter, good luck!

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.”

Angelology

The publisher was kind enough to provide me with a review copy, which I finished reading a few days ago. I found the book to be well-written with a unique premise and believable, well-developed characters. While I thought early on I had figured out where the story was going, the author twisted the plot in just the right places to keep me guessing and reading for hours.

Angelology was just released March 9 and, thanks to Viking, I have a copy up for grabs. To enter, send a email to contests@[nospam]fantasyandfaith.com with the header “Angelology.” I’m trying to keep my email box from filling up with spam, so when you send your email, make sure to remove “[nospam]” from the address shown above. Make sure to include a snail-mail address in your email.

Here’s an excerpt from Angelology:

St. Rose Convent, Hudson River Valley, Milton, New York
December 23, 1999, 4:45

Evangeline woke before the sun came up, when the fourth floor was silent and dark. Quiet, so as not to wake the sisters who had prayed through the night, she gathered her shoes, stockings, and skirt in her arms and walked barefoot to the communal lavatory. She dressed quickly, half asleep, without looking in the mirror. From a sliver of bathroom window, she surveyed the convent grounds, covered in a predawn haze. A vast snowy courtyard stretched to the water’s edge, where a scrim of barren trees limned the Hudson. St. Rose Convent perched precariously close to the river, so close that in daylight there seemed to be two convents—one on land and one wavering lightly upon the water, the first folding out into the ext, an illusion broken in summer by barges and in winter by teeth of ice.  Evangeline watched the river flow by, a wide strip of black against the pure white snow. Soon morning would gild the water with sunlight.

Bending before the porcelain sink, Evangeline splashed cold water over her face, dispelling the remnants of a dream. She could not recall the dream, only the impression it made upon her—a wash of foreboding that left a pall over her thoughts, a sensation of loneliness and confusion she could not explain. Half asleep, she peeled away her heavy flannel night shift and, feeling the chill of the bathroom, shivered. Standing in her white cotton briefs and cotton undershirt (standard garments ordered in bulk and distributed biyearly to all the sisters at St. Rose), she looked at herself with an appraising, analytic eye—the thin arms and legs, the fl at stomach, the tousled brown hair, the golden pendant resting upon her breastbone. The reflection floating on the glass before her was that of a sleepy young woman.

Evangeline shivered again from the cool air and turned to her clothing. She owned five identical knee-length black skirts, seven black turtlenecks for the winter months, seven black short-sleeved cotton button-up shirts for the summer, one black wool sweater, fifteen pairs of white cotton underwear, and innumerable black nylon stockings: nothing more and nothing less than what was necessary. She pulled on a turtleneck and fitted a bandeau over her hair, pressing it firmly against her forehead before clipping on a black veil. She stepped into a pair of nylons and a wool skirt, buttoning, zipping, and straightening the wrinkles in one quick, unconscious gesture. In a matter of seconds, her private self disappeared and she became Sister Evangeline, Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration. With her rosary in hand, the metamorphosis was complete. She placed her nightgown in the bin at the far end of the lavatory and prepared to face the day.

Sister Evangeline had observed the 5:00 a.m. prayer hour each morning for the past half decade, since completing her formation and taking vows at eighteen years of age. She had lived at St. Rose Convent since her twelfth year, however, and knew the convent as intimately as one knows the temperament of a beloved friend. She had her morning route through the compound down to a science. As she rounded each floor, her fingers traced the wooden balustrades, her shoes skimming the landings. The convent was always empty at that hour, blue-shadowed and sepulchral, but after sunrise St. Rose would swarm with life, a beehive of work and devotion, each room glistening with sacred activity and prayer. The silence would soon abate—the staircases, the community rooms, the library, the communal cafeteria, and the dozens of closet-size bedchambers would soon be alive with sisters.

Down three flights of stairs she ran. She could get to the chapel with her eyes closed.

Reaching the first floor, Sister Evangeline walked into the imposing central hallway, the spine of St. Rose Convent. Along the walls hung framed portraits of long-dead abbesses, distinguished sisters, and the various incarnations of the convent building itself. Hundreds of women stared from the frames, reminding every sister who passed by on her way to prayer that she was part of an ancient and noble matriarchy where all women—both the living and the dead—were woven together in a single common mission.

Although she knew she risked being late, Sister Evangeline paused at the center of the hallway. Here, the image of Rose of Viterbo, the saint after whom the convent had been named, hung in a gilt frame, her tiny hands folded in prayer, an evanescent nimbus of light glowing about her head.  St. Rose’s life had been short. Just after her third birthday, angels began to whisper to her, urging her to speak their message to all who would listen.

Rose complied, earning her sainthood as a young woman, when, after preaching the goodness of God and His angels to a heathen village, she was condemned to die a witch. The townspeople bound her to a stake and lit a fire. To the great consternation of the crowd, Rose did not burn but stood in skeins of flame for three hours, conversing with angels as the fire licked her body. Some believed that angels wrapped themselves about the girl, covering her in a clear, protective armor. Eventually she died in the flames, but the miraculous intervention left her body inviolable. St. Rose’s incorrupt corpse was paraded through the streets of Viterbo hundreds of years after her death, not the slightest mark of her ordeal evident upon the adolescent body.

Remembering the hour, Sister Evangeline turned from the portrait. She walked to the end of the hallway, where a great wooden portal carved with scenes of the Annunciation separated the convent from the church. On one side of the boundary, Sister Evangeline stood in the simplicity of the convent; on the other rose the majestic church. She heard the sound of her footsteps sharpen as she left carpeting for a pale roseate marble veined with green. The movement across the threshold took just one step, but the difference was immense. The air grew heavy with incense; the light saturated blue from the stained glass. White plaster walls gave way to great sheets of stone. The ceiling soared. The eye adjusted to the golden abundance of Neo-Rococo. As she left the convent, Evangeline’s earthly commitments of community and charity fell away and she entered the sphere of the divine: God, Mary, and the angels.

In the beginning years of her time at St. Rose, the number of angelic images in Maria Angelorum Church struck Evangeline as excessive. As a girl she’d found them overwhelming, too ever-present and overwrought. The creatures filled every crook and crevice of the church, leaving little room for much else. Seraphim ringed the central dome; marble archangels held the corners of the altar. The columns were inlaid with golden halos, trumpets, harps, and tiny wings; carved visages of putti stared from the pew ends, hypnotizing and compact as fruit bats. Although she understood that the opulence was meant as an offering to the Lord, a symbol of their devotion, Evangeline secretly preferred the plain functionality of the convent. During her formation she felt critical of the founding sisters, wondering why they had not used such wealth for better purposes. But, like so much else, her objections and preferences had shifted after she took the habit, as if the clothing ceremony itself caused her to melt ever so slightly and take a new, more uniform shape. After five years as a professed sister, the girl she had been had nearly faded away.

(Reprinted by arrangement with Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., from Angelology by Danielle Trussoni. Copyright © 2010 by Danielle Trussoni.)

For more information, you can visit the website at http://www.angelologist.com. There you will find all kinds of stuff, including more excerpts and an audiobook sample. For an Amazon link, click on the picture of the book cover above.

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.”

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.

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.”