Golden Anvil

 Well, there was a long break there where I wasn't able to post the books I was finishing on the website, but I've had a decent amount of spare time for reading, so I finished a whole stack of books. I'm not going to review them all, but I will at least stick them in the list. I will at least make a couple comments though...

Peter and the Star Catachers - I enjoyed this a lot. It's fast written, and fun to read. Optiker, I know you liked this one. It's actually the first of a series with three other books so far... http://www.librarything.com/series/Starcatchers

The Adventures of Florin and Lorenzo - An omnibus edition of three books in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. It was kind of hit and miss. One of the stories I really enjoyed. Another was decent, and the third was just OK. Not bad on the whole.

Blackhearts is an omnibus edition of the books Valnir's Bane, The Broken Lance, and Tainted Blood, plus two additional shorts stories, one of which forms a prelude to the first novel, and the other of which fills the gap between the first and second novels. The author is Nathan Long, who took over the Felix and Gotrek series from the original author. I was a fan of his writing there, so when I saw this omnibus available used, I jumped at the chance to check out more of his work. Normally I review omnibus editions separately, but this one really holds together well as a single extended novel.

While on vacation I finished up three books. In order to make sure that I actually get these reviewed and onto my list, I think I'll just do quick review of all three of them together.

Excession by Iain M. Banks - I really enjoyed the last book I read by this author, so I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, it really didn't grip me like the other one did. The story was kind of slow moving, and there were a number of parts that were overly confusing. I'll give this author another chance, and see what happens.

The White Rose is the third book in the Black Company series by Glen Cook. I usually try not to read too many books back to back in the same series in order to avoid burnout, but I have the first three books in this series in omnibus form, so I wanted to complete them together.

In this book, the black company has left the service of the evil faction (fleeing for their lives), and finds themselves allied with the good faction. However, the greater evil is stirring, and appears to be breaking free from his prison. The main characters are desperately trying to find some leverage to use against the greater evil before he escapes.

 Shadows Linger is the second book in the Black Company series by Glen Cook. It's actually a pretty old series. This particular book was written in 1984. The series is a fantasy story about a mercenary company. The story can be somewhat grim at times, and the company does not always find itself fighting on the good side of things.

This particular book swaps back and forth between an inn owner who begins to get caught up in the side business of selling bodies to what seems to be some evil creatures with an unknown purpose and the people who are generally the main characters in the company who are (under orders of their employer) attempting to figure out what is happening and stop the evil creatures. Wrapped up in it all is a man who left the company in the first book in order to protect a girl who seemed destined to overthrow the great evil in the world.

 Storm Front is the first book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. They've actually been producing a TV show based on this series. I watched a couple episodes, and enjoyed them, so I've been keeping my eye out for a used copy of the first book in this series for quite some time.

The series is set in modern day Chicago, and the main character is a wizard who works as a private investigator and occasionally contracts to the police department. The setting is not one where magic is seen as real by the general population, so most people in the book are dubious of Harry's (the main character) talents.

Metal Swarm is the sixth book in the Saga of the Seven Suns series by Kevin J. Anderson. This particular author seems to specialize in epic space opera, and this series is certainly no exception. The action in the series switches back and forth in viewpoint between a sizeable number of main characters as humanity is threatened by a variety of incomprehensible alien races.

The previous book in this series saw the end of what seemed to be the major threat in the galaxy, but this book sees that threat replaced by another one. Happily, this transition was handled quite smoothly, retaining the sense that it's all a single ongoing story rather than part 2 of a greater series. The book ends with things looking quite poor for the good guys, and with only one book left until the end of the series, I'm sure that last book will be quite action packed.

The Gift is the second book in a series by Christian author Bryan M. Litfin. I received the book for free as a part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program on the condition that I review the book after reading it.

As with the first book, I was not super impressed. The plot and concepts of the story itself are actually fairly good, but unfortunately the author does not really do a great job in presenting that story. The characters feel a little forced and over-dramatic in dialogue and reactions. Modern concepts and ideas also seem to creep in to what is supposed to be a post-apocalyptic society hundreds of years in our future. It's just not particularly convincing. That's actually too bad, because it feels like the idea could have been masterfully pulled off by a more skilled writer.

23rd Slate, 252 (mid-spring) - Last time I wrote, 19 new dwarves had arrived to join our fortress. After some thought and having carefully interviewed the new arrivals to determine their skill sets, I finally set up a 4 dwarf military with MoMark as the commander (he seemed the most intimidating of the lot). AnnaLee, James, and Michele are the other members. All of the four have a little bit of prior military experience, and no other particularly vital skills. I converted the old dormitory to a barracks in order to house the squad (they named themselves The Tapered Flags), and provide a place where they can practice their fighting skills. I'll probably make a few wooden weapons that they can use to practice with. That should cut down on injuries during training.

Oath of Gold is the third and final book in The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. This book features the main character recovering from the bad events at the end of the last book, discovering her new place in life, and then taking part in an important quest.

I definitely enjoyed this book more than the second one. It made a very strong ending to the series, wrapping things up while still leaving the reader with the sense that the main character's life was not yet over. The main character grows and changes a lot in this book, and that process is interesting and well presented. She ends up involved in things that are way beyond what she ever imagined, but the entire process of reaching that point is plausible.