Down the Stacks #44: Mistborn

A belated Happy 2017 to you.  We’re going to kick this year of Down the Stacks off with, big surprise, a Brandon Sanderson book.  Specifically, I’m going to be reviewing a trilogy I should have done much sooner than this: the original Mistborn trilogy, also known as the The Final Empire or Mistborn era one.  Mistborn was Sanderson’s second published novel, following the stand-alone Elantris (that’s also on my to-do list), and the one that helped make the whole Cosmere a viable publishing project.

Down the Stacks #43: Arcanum Unbounded

It is Brandon Sanderson time once more here on Down the Stacks.  This week’s selection is from the Cosmere, but in a much more general sense than any other book.  Arcanum Unbounded is a new anthology collection that brings together a number of short Cosmere tales that have been previously published in many disparate places.  It’s more than just a simple anthology though: this new Arcanum provides never before seen glimpses into the works of a significant player in the Cosmere’s background narrative.

Down the Stacks #42: The Aeronaut's Windlass

This week on Down the Stacks, we return to a favorite author of mine: Jim Butcher.  This masterful and entertaining writer of the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera has recently launched a new series called the Cinder Spires.  The Aeronaut's Windlass is the first entry, and it has all the hallmarks of Butcher’s style: smart and snarky characters, a solid and fascinating world, and the promise of deep and complex plots.

Read on for more details.

Down the Stacks #41: Emerald Sea

This week on Down the Stacks, I owe John Ringo a bit of an apology.  After slogging through There Will be Dragons, I was dubious about the rest of the series.  When the I went to the library to pick out my next set of books, however, I decided to give “Council Wars”another go and checked out Emerald Sea.  It is a vast improvement.

Down the Stacks #40: Promise of the Wolves

This week on Down the Stacks, we have a selection that’s a bit lighter than recent fare:  Promise of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst.

Down the Stacks #39: Daughter of the Forest

This week on Down the Stacks, we’re slipping into the realm of fairy tales while keeping one foot solidly in reality.  In ancient Ireland, near but not quite part of the clash between Christianity and Druidism, is The Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.

Down the Stacks #38: There Will Be Dragons

This week on Down the Stacks, We’ll be looking at an interesting spin on science fiction and fantasy with There Will Be Dragons by John Ringo.

Down the Stacks #37: A Study in Sable

Normally, I try not to spotlight the same author multiple times in a row on Down the Stacks, but when I went to return Home from the Sea to the library I saw this week’s book, A Study in Sable, by Mercedes Lackey, on the New Books display and I couldn’t resist.

Down the Stacks #36: Home from the Sea

It’s time for a Mercedes Lackey book again here on Down the Stacks.  Unlike my previous reviews of Lackey novels, I’ll be focusing on one particular book rather than just providing an overview of an entire series.  This week’s selection, Home from the Sea comes from the “Elemental Masters” series, which is set in the early 20th century, primarily in England, and contains loosely connected tales of mages hidden among every level of society and can command one of the four classical elements - Fire, Water, Earth, and Air - along with a host of hidden Elemental and airy creatures.  Each Elemental Masters book can stand alone, but a couple of sub-series involving recurring characters have emerged, and Home from the Sea belong to one of those.

Down the stacks #35: The Arrivals

This week on Down the Stacks, we’re looking at a fantasy-Western that doesn’t take many risks: The Arrivals, by Melissa Marr.

Down the Stacks #34: Shadow's Son

This week on Down the Stacks, we have a classic mix of Fantasy elements in Jon Sprunk’s Shadow’s Son.  

Down the Stacks #32: The Desert of Souls

This week on Down the Stacks, we’ll be looking at The Desert of Souls, a story by Howard Andrew Jones that would not be out of place among the 1001 Arabian Nights.

Down the Stacks #31: Unholy Ghosts

This week on Down the Stacks, we’ll be hitting up a dark, urban fantasy set in an alternate history plagued by the undead and desperately short on optimism: Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane.

Down the Stacks #30: The Dresden Files

This week, for the thirtieth entry of Down the Stacks, I will be looking at one of my top favorite series: The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.  I’ve previously looked at another o butcher’s projects, The Codex Alera, but The Dresden Files is a completely different beast.  Dresden is bigger, longer, and a bit darker than Alera, and it’s the series that Butcher has put the majority of his lie into.  The Dresden Files is a supernatural mystery series set in a world where just about any myth and fairy tale is true or has a kernel of truth to it.

Down the Stacks #29: Carousel Tides

This week on Down the Stacks, we have an interesting modern-day folktale.  In Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee, a coastal Maine tourist town hides a world of faeries, magic, and otherworldly politics.  The result is good, but the execution is a bit… unusual for my tastes.  Read on as I try to explain.

Down the Stacks #28: 1632

This week on Down the Stacks, we’re going back in time and rewriting history, courtesy of Eric Flint.  Flint is a contemporary author who collaborates frequently with David Weber on a spin-off series to Honor Harrington, and Weber had returned to favor by co-authoring books in Flint’s own long-running project, which is the subject of this week’s review.  1632 is an action- and romance-packed romp through the Thirty-years War, blue-collar American-style.

Down the Stacks #27: Heralds of Valdemar

The week on Down the Stacks, we return to an author which - when this project began - I thought I’d have written about more by now: Mercedes Lackey.  Lackey has been writing consistently since the 1980s, with at least a dozen distinct series to her name, but this marks only the second time I’ve looked into one of her projects.  Like the last time, my focus this week is on one of Lackey’s major projects, and easily her biggest and longest-running: the Heralds of Valdemar.

Down the Stacks #26: The Alloy of Law

It’s Brandon Sanderson time once more here on Down the Stacks.  I just can’t stay away from the man’s genius for worldbuilding and characters.  This week’s sample from the Cosmere is The Alloy of Law, first entry in Sanderson’s second series set on the world of Scadriel, home of the Mistborn trilogy that put Sanderson on the map.  Alloy is set three centuries after Mistborn, so what spoilers the book contains for the original trilogy are hidden under the veneer of legend and quasi-religious titles for Mistborn’s major players.  For the sake of those who haven’t read Mistborn yet, I’ll avoid mentioning the original trilogy as much as possible while setting the stage.

If you’re still willing, read on ahead.

Down the Stacks #25: The Finest Creation

There are two big challenges that face any writer of fiction.  The first challenge is coming up with an interesting concept - whether it be speculation about future technologies, a world or society built on an atypical cultural foundation, or simply a kind of creature or magic.  The second challenge is using that concept in a way that helps drive a narrative and make one’s story stand out from the crowd.  It is deeply disappointing to find a book that appears to have met the first challenge, but fails to carry through on the second.  This week’s selection for Down the Stacks is a trilogy by Jean Rabe: The Finest Trilogy, which, sadly, does not quite lie up to its lofty title.

Down the Stacks #24: Skulduggery Pleasant

This week on Down the Stacks, I’ve returned to the Young Adult section of the library to pick up an action-packed, hilarious, and fearlessly dark little fantasy series called Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy.  It’s got magic, mystery, sarcasm and dry humor, and a smattering of eldritch horror.  Come, check it out.