I approached this story with some trepidation. Sure, I’d heard the warnings, I knew George R. R. Martin had a tendency to murder his darlings as they say. That’s hard for me. When I read fantasy, I love getting to know characters and rooting for them. I’ll be honest, I was nervous.

Now that that’s out of the way. Don’t listen to anyone else who expresses this concern! Trust me, just read it anyway. It is a breathtaking story with an enormous scope of the world. The imagery is some of the best I’ve read in years. A wide berth of cultures, races, and languages; and all very well executed.

He does kill characters, rather a lot of them, in fact. If you have even a slight love of history though, you will still love this book. It feels like a real story, magic doesn’t save the day, and betrayal knows no bounds. But there are many other characters, and all are just as worth getting to know. Even when you hate them, and you will.

As the title suggests, the series starts with a kingdom that has had peace for some time; one on the verge of disaster. The King of the realm has grown soft, fat and happy as they say. In the world of politics though, softness looks weak, and Kings have many rivals. The book very much is a game of thrones. Martin’s writing will have you both cheering and snearing with equal intensity. I was drawn into the world right from the start. I highly recommend this book.

Brandon Sanderson is quickly making his way to the table of fantasy greats. In many ways, he is also the epitome of everything we writers want to be. Not only has he already written over a dozen books–he had written almost all of them before he even sold his first. I meant to write this weeks ago, but it kept getting put off.

The entire Mistborn trilogy was fun and fast paced, this book was in particular. Sanderson wasn’t afraid of making some chapters very short, if it was enough to tell to the story. This made for a book that keeps you flipping chapter after chapter.

It’s well known that Sanderson is a religious man, really comes through in this final part of the series. Not that he is throwing his beliefs onto the reader, it is subtle and it is meaningful, and it is in no way imposing. The ending is perfect for this series. I won’t give away any spoilers, so don’t worry. I was very happy to see that many minor characters got their moment in the sun in this book though.

If you like high fantasy, you might as well start reading Brandon Sanderson. I think he will be around for a long time. His voice is unique and his grasp of the genre just gets better with each book. I look forward to his first epic series, which he just sold to Tor.

To me the Wheel of Time is not just another series. It is the series, what fantasy has come to mean to me over the last few years. I have seen no other series that has such well developed characters and world.

When Robert Jordan died in 2007 I, like so many fans, was saddened. What we all feared was coming, had come. Mr. Jordan was far from done writing. He already had planned out other books set in the same world. What was to come of this world we all loved so much? What would happen to Rand and his friends?

Well, obviously they answered these questions. And what a choice, Brandon Sanderson truly understands this world. He loves these characters. There is no other way to put it.

The Gathering Storm easily ranks among the Wheel of Time greats. It isn’t surprising really, it is the beginning of the end. Jordan spent 11 books building up to this point. Some think he went too far in that build-up, but I disagree. It is because of that story that this ending will mean so much to me. I care about each character and want to know what will happen to them, who will survive, and who is secretly allied with the shadow; you’ll find some of all these things in this book.

As for writing, the book is different than Robert Jordan. Sanderson never said that it wouldn’t be. He writes in a more common style today in fantasy. Quickly moving, switching characters faster than Jordan would have. This doesn’t make it less enjoyable, in fact I could see many fans who lost track of the series enjoying this new fast-paced writing style.

My love of this story keeps me from being able to write any sort of critical review. I knew I would love it, and I wasn’t disappointed. I think any writer should read this series, if only to discover how truly deep your characters can be.

One thing I got to a lot these last couple weeks is read. I finished a couple books, so expect more reviews than just this one.

It is no hidden fact that Neil Gaiman is a terrific author. The man has so many books out that you rarely find someone who hasn’t at least heard of one. He’s written some of my more recent favorites in the Fantasy genre. Stardust is my favorite. I also like that he writes to audiences of all ages. That is something that reaches out to me because I do the same thing.

Coraline only took a day or two for me to get through. That is partly because it is a short book, but also because it was really interesting. The protagonist is, obviously, named Coraline. She is a young girl who has to go back to school in one week. She wants to use that time to explore a new house that her family moved to. As she does, she comes to realize the house is hiding secrets that put them all in danger.

Gaiman proves again what a great story teller he is in this book. Each chapter jumps quickly from interesting scene to interesting scene. His side characters kept me laughing the entire book. The old man with the mouse circus is fantastic. Much like Peter Pan, Gaiman uses an alternate reality where characters you know become something else entirely.

I would definitely recommend this book. While it is aimed at children, I’m sure most adults would enjoy the natural flow of this book.

Today I went with my mom and nephew to see Harry Potter 6. It made me realize that I had never written about reading the 7th book. My cousin got married on Saturday (hopefully will have pics soon) so we went down to Austin for the weekend. On Saturday, my nephew stayed with us at my mom’s house so we could all go to the movie. I always wish I can see them more often, so we’re going to try to. He said he’d come stay at our house for a few days toward the middle of the month. One last outing before going back to school. Unfortunately, business cut the trip shorter than I wanted. I didn’t get to visit a bunch of friends that I was looking forward to seeing. Hopefully we can go back soon.

On to Harry Potter…

I liked this book, easily the best in the series. I’ve said it before, but I found the series hard to read in the beginning. Mostly because they were just too young for me. The books certainly improved as the series went along as well. The ending was fantastic. I like getting to the end of a series, there is always an excitement for that final scene and what it will be.

This series ended perfectly. The whole time you read you are shown again and again that Harry isn’t necessarily stronger than anyone else. Or more skilled. Instead, he just has a true heart and an honest intent. I think the ending of the series suits this perfectly. I would go to more depth, but hey, there are always people who haven’t read it yet.

Overall I would suggest the series. If you can’t get into the first book you might watch the first four movies and then read the last three books. Sounds strange to say that, but I think some people might never get to the end because of those first books.

This book was a lot of fun to read. I love the historical references. Like my own latest book, it is a tale of a what-if in America’s history. Though it is set some time before mine takes place — closer to the Revolutionary War. The magic in the book is wonderfully done as Alvin tries to discover his own abilities.

This series, titled THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER, follows a community surrounding young Alvin, a seventh son of a seventh son. If you know anything about native american (I believe) legends, this child is fortold to be very special. Young Alvin has a tough life, a dark force has set it upon himself to destroy the child, and a force of good has decided to protect him.

I think the best parts of the book come when you are introduced to the myserious traveler and story-teller. In a way he comes to help guide the boy and though he doesn’t understand it, he tries to teach him about the powers he has. The man carries a book with quotes written from American icons such as Ben Franklin, Tom Jefferson, and more. He describes Franklin as an old wizard. It’s great.

If you are looking for a fun and quick read (it wasn’t very long), I would highly suggest this book. I’m eager to continue to the next book, if it ever arrives in the mail! I’ve picked up Harry Potter #7 to tide me over.

First things first, happy birthday to me! What a good day.

First I got up and went a fantastic job interview. On the way I got into a really long conversation with my sister in Houston about education and her kids; it was fitting on the way to an interview at a school.  It was great to talk to her, we are always so busy we lose touch from time to time. The job interview was a lot of fun. (how often do you get to say that…) The Vice-President of Continuing Education (what a mouth full) couldn’t have been nicer. And she was very impressed with me, that was a nice bonus. She didn’t have any problem at all looking over my resume and asking me if I would like to not only work with kids for her Summer program, but if I wanted to be one of her teachers. She said most people with no experience want to start with being assistant teachers, so I felt honored when she asked if I would be interested in teaching by myself. And of course I had no problem reaching higher and accepting the offer! The subject? I get to teach Web Design to seventh, eighth, and ninth graders (I think). It sounds like a lot of fun, and I have already started thinking of my lesson plan (which has to be approved).

Then, I got home to a blog post about myself from my wife. Ah, to be in the public eye. But I want to be a successful writer, self-promotion and visibility online is one major aspect of that. She bought me an awesome tie for my birthday, so the post was also to show that.  The Etsy shop that she bought it from, Toybreaker, makes very cool ties.

Then more fun when two of my Amazon orders came. Those technically were Christmas presents, but because of the day I will pretend they were birthday, thanks Mom! I found an old friend on facebook recently and she suggested a book, that’s how I remembered I had a lot of the gift card still, so I guess thanks Nat too! I got that book, and about 5 more.

Which leads to the conclusion, my latest reading. I haven’t gotten to do nearly enough lately. This book, THE SUCCESSFUL NOVELIST, by David Morrell was hands down the best book on writing that I have read. Instead of telling how to write, he shows you mistakes and lessons of a long and very successful career. To those who do not know, Morrell (FIRST BLOOD–RAMBO, FRATERNITY OF THE STONE) writes mostly espionage. His books are great, I would highly recommend them. The book probably would seem crushing to some idealists. It’s very blunt about exactly how hard it is to be a writer professionally. It also stamps out silly hopes of exactly what fame means. My favorite example was the major book warehouse he visited where they decide the top-20 books section. The man choosing picked his tops because he thought the colors of the covers looked good together… you just gotta love that. In all, I would highly recommend the book to all aspiring authors.

The title is dedicated to my wife, who loves Alliteration. Thanks for the great Bday!

We had a great holiday. It actually ended only today.  We have been out of the state since the 23rd, and I have to say it feels great to be home. Of course, there were errands galore to attend to when we got here..but those are done and I have had plenty of rest.

Some may have noticed, all of the past posts have disappeared from the blog.  Well, as a Xmas present to myself, I upgraded this website to a dedicated hosting server.  I could have backed up the old posts and loaded them up, but I thought it would be more fun to just start everything over. Finishing my Young Adult novel has given me an enthusiastic boost.  And this feels like a new beginning for me, I like it!

On the trip I managed to finish two books:

Brandon Sanderson’s The Final Empire, book two of the Mistborn trilogy

I am increasingly more impressed with Sanderson’s work. Like many people, I found him because he was Harriet’s (wife of the late author of the Wheel of Time) choice to write the end of that series. Anybody who’s read his interviews and his blog know well what the series meant to him and it can be seen in his writing. I would recommend the series to anyone interested in the High Fantasy genre. Take special note of his magic systems. In all his works they are new and very interesting.

Emma Bull’s War For the Oaks
This book was simply amazing. The most interesting thing about it was how very similar it is the novel I just finished writing! The only major difference is that mine takes place about 100 years before this one does. Bull’s language and imagery make this one that you won’t want to miss.