Cover Art: Ashes of Candesce by Karl Schroeder

I know! We shouldn't judge a book by its cover. However, some cover arts are so exceptionally impressive that I can't help but buying a copy of the book in question immediately.

This is the case with the cover art of Karl Schroeder's next Virga novel, Ashes of Candesce. What an amazing cover! Stephan Martiniere is the talent who created it and I invite you to check the on-line gallery of his amazing work.

Ashes of Candesce is the award-winning Canadian author Karl Schroeder's new book in his Virga series. It follows Sun of Suns (2006), Queen of Candesce (2007), Pirate Sun (2008) and The Sunless Countries (2009). The first two books are also published in a single volume called Virga: Cities of the Air (2010).

HBO's "Game of Thrones" And Its 2nd Season

Just like many other fantasy fans I eagerly sat in front of my TV and watched the first episode of HBO's Game of Thrones. I had to pause regularly to give my wife some background information about the characters and the setting.

I thought the setting was pretty well realized. Winterfell gave the impression that HBO spent enough money to make the setting look nice. I really liked the way the Wall and the North in general looked.

I also liked the casting. I thought the characters were pretty well chosen. There was nothing major that surprised me. I can even say that the few characters who I really wanted to punch in the face while I was reading the book looked like they could do with a few punches too.

I guess, for someone who read and who really thinks very highly of G.R.R. Martin's book, it is impossible not to compare the TV show with the book. That's the reason why I'm relying on my wife's reaction to say that HBO's Game of Thrones seemed to display the potential to be a very successful show. I wasn't surprised at all when I heard the news that they were going to start to film the second season.

Excerpt: The Unremembered by Peter Orullian

Peter Orullian's The Unremembered is without a doubt one of this year's most popular debut novels. I haven't read it yet but it's hard to resist this amazing cover by Kekai Kotaki so I'll end up ordering my copy soon. In the meantime, Tor.com has generously shared with us an excerpt from The Unremembered.

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 hellish creatures far too powerful to allow balance; he is condemned to live for eternity with his most hateful creations 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. And 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—an enigmatic man wearing the sigil of the feared Order of Sheason and a beautiful woman of the legendary Far—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.

Free Reading - The Lunatics by Kim Stanley Robinson

You can read Kim Stanley Robinson's dystopian SF tale The Lunatics on Tor.com.

At the end of the nineteenth century, coal mining had become one of the biggest, meanest industries in the United States. Unhealthy working conditions and a reliance on child labor caused accidents and blackened men’s lungs. Crooked business practices like debt bondage and wage-cheating were just part of the misery. But it was dangerous to stand up against the mining companies. Miners didn’t just face losing their jobs—their lives were often at stake, as mining companies fought against unionizing with violence.

The coal miners’ struggles for better conditions were captured in photos and songs that have become a warning for the workers of the world. But in the future, miners might not be so lucky.

What could be worse than working deep beneath the ground, never seeing the light of day? What could be worse than knowing the money in your paycheck was a token worthless outside the company’s store?

[“The Lunatics”] gives us a vision of a mine worse than anything in Pennsylvania. Powered by slavery and jump-started by torment, this mine might as well be hell. - John Joseph Adams

Seventh Star Press e-Book Campaign

In a new campaign, Lexington (KY)-based speculative fiction publisher Seventh Star Press allows you to purchase some of their e-books in a very affordable price, $1.99 to be more precise.

Here's the official press release:

Try a Seventh Star Press Title for Just Two Dollars!

What is your favorite flavor of fantasy? Do you like character-driven YA Fantasy? Do you like heroic fantasy with loads of action? Do you like epic fantasy with a wide cast of characters, lands, and lore? How about epic scale urban fantasy?


To celebrate the launch week of Jackie Gamber's Redheart, we're announcing a very special sale. The good news is that we've got a title in each of the above areas of fantasy, so that you can try Seventh Star Press eBooks out in this special sale that will be running through Mid-June. Only $1.99 for Redheart, Thrall, Crown of Vengeance, and The Exodus Gate.

What are you waiting for? Just two bucks and you'll be on a grand adventure. Find out what readers around the world are discovering...there's a growing constellation of quality titles at Seventh Star Press!

All eBook titles include the Matthew Perry illustrations that are in the print editions.

Visit the following page for further information and direct links to eBook titles:
http://www.seventhstarpress.com/documents/ebooks.html

Believe in Angels!

Usually, I don't blog about movies but I couldn't help it when I heard about my all-time-favorite movie's reboot.

According to the news, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, the director of 28 Weeks Later, will be directing the new The Crow, which will be focusing on Eric Draven originally played by Brandon Lee.

Even though I stubbornly think that no movie would have the same effect on me, I welcome any attempt to keep this amazing movie's memory alive. I wish Fresnadillo all the best with this undertaking and I sincerely hope that the result will be great.

Excerpt from After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

Tor.com published a generous excerpt from Carrie Vaughn's After the Golden Age. The same day, BookYurt published an interview with the author on her new book.

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; (12 April 2011)
ISBN-10: 0765325551
ISBN-13: 978-0765325556

It’s not easy being a superhero’s daughter. The only daughter of Captain Olympus and Spark, the world’s greatest champions, Celia West has no powers of her own, and the most exciting thing she’s ever done is win a silver medal in a high school swim meet. Meanwhile, she’s the favorite hostage of every crime boss and super-villain in Commerce City. She doesn’t have a codename, but if she did, it would probably be Bait Girl, the Captive Wonder.

Celia has worked hard to create a life for herself beyond the shadow of their capes. But when her parents’ arch-enemy, the Destructor, faces justice in the “Trial of the Century,” Celia finds herself sucked back into the more-than-mortal world of Captain Olympus–and forced to confront a secret that she hoped would stay buried forever ...

Received An Early Copy of A Dance With Dragons - Review Coming Soon

I consider myself very lucky because this morning I received an early copy of George R. R. Martin's most anticipated A Dance With Dragons. The manuscript looks huge but I took a day off work to read it immediately. So I'm hoping to review it very soon.

Here's a picture of me with the manuscript!