Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Leaning Pile of Books

This was a very good week for new books as I'm very interested in all the books that showed up and one is a definite must read since I already read the first book and loved it.



The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

The Black Prism
is the first book in the Lightbringer series and will be released in hardcover on August 25. The first three chapters can be read online and there is also going to be a book tour that covers some of the western US as well as Texas and Florida.

I liked the first book in the Night Angel trilogy by Weeks (although not quite enough to read the next two immediately as I haven't even gotten them to add to the giant to-read pile yet). This one sounds very compelling - the description has me pretty intrigued since just the first paragraph makes me ask so many questions that I would like to know the answers to:

Gavin Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. But Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: Five years to achieve five impossible goals.

But when Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.





Lord of the White Hell: Book Two by Ginn Hale

Lord of the White Hell: Book One will be released later this month on August 15, and this second half of the story will be published one month later on September 15. I read book one a couple of weeks ago and loved it (enough that I want to buy the final version since I have the ARC) so I really cannot wait to read the rest of it. The review for part one is in progress now so I can put it up right around the release date.

Kiram fought his family and Cadeleonian bigots to remain in the Sagrada Academy to prove himself as a mechanist and to dispel the deadly shadow curse that threatens to destroy his upperclassman, Javier Tornesal. But when his efforts provoke retaliation, Kiram's family and home are endangered. Both Kiram and Javier risk everything in a desperate gambit to combat the curse. But they never imagined their battle with come so soon, or that it would be lead by the one person they trust most of all.






Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison

This is a rarity for a review copy - it is is not a book that just came out or is coming out soon. It was originally published in 1952 and this particular edition is 5 years old. It sounds like a delightful fairy tale and sometime when I'm closer to caught up on reviews I'll have to read it (it shouldn't take that long to read - it's fairly short). Oh yes, and the endorsement on the book by Ursula K. Le Guin doesn't hurt, either.

A young woman is transformed by a magical journey from the dark ages to modern times, from brooding medieval forests to bustling Constantinople. Halla is turned out of her father’s castle by her new stepmother. Her nurse transforms herself into a bear to look after Halla. This is just the first of the wondrous and natural changes in Naomi Mitchison’s magical 1952 novel. Travel Light will appeal to fans of the Harry Potter series and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, as well as to readers of Ursula K. Leguin and T.H. White.

5 comments:

orannia said...

Oh, I do like the sound of The Black Prism and I want The Lord of the White Hell books...although I'm trying to be patient :)

Dawson Walton said...

Both sound great looks like I will be going shopping. Maybe you can read mine sometime should be out by the end of October Dawson author Dreams

Anonymous said...

I'm ridiculously excited for The Black Prisim.

I will also say, in regards of the Nightangel trilogy, it gets better after the first book. I, quite honestly, had to pull myself through book 1. Book 2 was the best in the series, in my opinion.

Benjamin said...

I passed on Week's Night Angel books based on the really mixed reactions to it. Black Prism does sound somewhat interesting and I plan to check it out in the bookstore at least.

Kristen said...

Orannia - Being patient is hard, I know. :) At least you will be getting both of the Lord of the White Hell books at once. When I finished book one, I wished I'd waited a little longer so I could immediately start book 2. It will probably be worth the wait to be able to read them back to back.

Dawson - Thanks for the info.

Sarah - The Black Prism does sound very interesting. Thanks for the information on the Nightangel trilogy, too - if book 2 is better, I might have to check it out sometime. It was one of those books that I wasn't wowed by but liked well enough while I was reading it. I added the next two books to my wish list after that, but as time went by, I've found myself caring less about finishing the series and recently removed them from my wish list - largely due to the vast number of books I'd prefer to read instead.

Benjamin - The Black Prism does seem intriguing. But then, I tend to like books that deal with power.