The Bodhisattva

*opens window looks out into the swamp and asks Ben, “you didn’t even change his last name?”*

Okay folks, a weekly round-up all things bookspot! A rather busy week from our contributors as we continue the countdown to our site redesign and Heliotrope’s redesign as well!

-Exclusives:

- This week we were able to snag an excerpt from Daniel Abraham’s An Autumn War, the third book in his Long Price Quartet published by Tor. I reviewed the first book, A Shadow in Summer awhile back ago and also interviewed Abraham then as well. In my mind this third book really came back up, as while I enjoyed the first novel, the second really reverted into something I’d expect from lesser writers in epic fantasy that Abraham’s displayed he was substantially better than with his debut. Back on track.

More exclusives this week (possibly today!).

-Reviews:

- Trinu reviews Midnight Never Come from Marie Brennan.

“Marie Brennan’s historical fantasy is both well-structured and tightly plotted. Furthermore, the basic premise of using a faerie queen as a dark mirror to Elizabeth I’s public persona is not only intriguing but also supported by the Elizabethan mindset. “Midnight Never Come” offers an enjoyable reading experience, but the great potential of the premise is, however, never truely fulfilled.”

Trinu also reviews Mary Gentle’s Ash

“Mary Gentle’s brick of a novel offers an intense and deeply rewarding experience. Set in a slightly alternate version of 15th century Europe, Gentle presents the reader with a highly entertaining adventure that also explores the intertwining of myth, history and fiction in a manner that transcends genre. It is a modern masterpiece of historical fiction!”

- Amber drops a goose egg on Polly Frost’s Deep Inside.

“After glancing again at some of the tales, I realized that there were several common factors in each (at least in the first few paragraphs in each), and that they reminded me of the glut of reality shows on TV, which made them just tasteless and uninteresting.”

She also reviews W.L. Hoffman’s First Mother’s Fire.

“Ken’s goal is to stop the corruption of this new land, restore it’s magic and while he is there, to cease the enslavement of humans. Easy right? How he is supposed to do that with the little bit of knowledge he is given is what the reader is determined to find out.”

Author showed some class though.

- Val commits blasphemy against C.L. Moore taking a look at her Black God’s Kiss.

- Trina takes a look at Vampyres of Hollywood by Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott.

- Lifeinmoments reviews Mike Carey’s (who writes some damn good comics) The Devil You Know.

“what works for the X-Men may not work for a whole new world with dwindling readers in altogether competitive book market”

- Maria, Maria checks up on Mike Resnick’s Stalking the Vampire.

There were many veiled references to tropes, literary styles and names; a well-read person could enjoy an intellectual journey trying to figure out all the references and “inside” jokes. In some ways this book reminded me of Donna Moore’s “Go to Helena Handbasket.”

- We welcome a new reviewer to the ‘bookspot fam - Stuart from Down Under! Stuart gives us the low down on Jennifer Fallon’s The Immortal Prince.

“Fallon is not just a very good Australian fantasy writer, she is simply a very good fantasy writer. ‘The Immortal Prince’ is highly recommended to all fans of the genre.”

- Last and certainly least I put up a review of VALIANT’s Harbinger: The Beginning.

“Unique in that it was counter-revolutionary in an era of revolution in the field. That it lost - its loss - remains the most unfortunate an occurrence in the industry over the last 15 years.”

One of my favorites ever right there.

-Contests:

Lots of stuff going on here and a bit my fault with scheduling but no real harm and it’s good for ‘bookspoters!

- New this week, I announced a chance to win signed copies of Gregory Frost’s Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet. The latter is recently released and closes out Frost’s first arc in the Shadowbridge setting, both are published by Del Rey.

- Also new this week I announced an opportunity for two people to win signed copies of Steven Erikson’s Toll the Hounds. This is his latest book in his Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

Along with that a remember our chance for 10 people to win a copy of Ian Cameron Esslemont’s Return of the Crimson Guard is still active!

- We also still opportunity for a signed copy of Steven Brust’s latest Jhegaala (last day to enter is today).

-Flow Walking:

Well, we are still (though I got an ominous pm from Damon today, will find out details later - damn timezones) hopefully on schedule for the remodel or you are going to see one pissed off Bodhisattva. The birdies tell me the new Heliotrope layout is on fire.

What’s coming up from me? Some review stuff, I have an interview Brian and I conducted with James Blaylock done. I have been working on a new feature for FBS readers that will debut with our site redesign that will just be awesome, and  I have a DVD being sent to me I have to review (because we are multi-media now with the hook-up, baby) on some sort of schedule.

*closes window*