New

Confessor (Sword of Truth #11)
Terry Goodkind

During high school, I had plenty of free time on my hands. One day I was so bored that I grabbed my brother’s neglected copy of Terry Goodkind's Wizards First Rule (Pb $19.99) and stumbled headlong into a fantasy epic, the likes of which I had not seen since Raymond E Feist's Magician (Pb $24.99).
Absorbed by the humanity of the characters, the vast scope of the world, the visceral intimacy of the scenes of battle, I tore through the series as might one of Goodkind's own underworld beasties - and I have the worse-for-wear paperbacks to prove it. But then I hit a roadblock. At my local bookshop, I was informed that book five was yet to be published! And so began the long wait, slowly absorbing each book as it was released, re-reading the series multiple times over, until...
It has been 14 years since we started our journey with Richard Cypher and Kahlan Amnell, but now that journey has finished. Confessor, the third book of the Chainfire Trilogy and the eleventh and final book of the Sword of Truth is the long awaited climactic ending of this epic series.
Terry Goodkind does the seemingly impossible. The complexities and loose ends of the ten preceding novels are all neatly tied up and, although Confessor leaves room for expansion in the future, the story is by no means incomplete... (I'm looking at you, Lord of the Rings!)
Trying to summarise, without spoilers, this final book in the series is quite difficult, so if you absolutely do not want to know what awaits you, I recommend you stop reading now.
Whilst the evil Emperor Jagang's forces continue to bear down inexorably on the last remaining obstacle in their path to complete the conquest of the known world, our heroes are caught within their midst. Richard's allies do their best to deal with their converging problems without his leadership, but all relies on Richard finding a way to counteract an evil magic set into motion in the novel Chainfire (Pb $21.99).
Confessor is rife with references to the previous novels. In particular, many events tie directly to Wizards First Rule, giving a fantastic sense of 'coming full circle'. Some may feel that this novel flies by far too quickly, but I am sure this is an effect of the excitement inherent in seeing such a well constructed piece of art nearing completion.
If you have been following the series, you will no doubt enjoy this last instalment. If you are new to the Sword of Truth, or are thinking about picking it up, then what are you waiting for? - Matt

Classic

Cordelia's Honor (Vor #1 & #2)
Lois McMaster Bujold

This is an omnibus of the first two Vor books (Shards of Honor and Barrayar) in chronological order. With the release of a reference book on the series and the author working on a new novel, I got all nostalgic and, even though I really don’t have the luxury of re-reading stuff, I had to start the series again.
Set in the far future, Captain Cordelia Naismith is the commander of a survey team for the Betan Expeditionary Force. She comes from an extremely liberal planet. On an expedition, she and one other crew member are the sole survivors of an attack by a group of Barrayarans, an extremely conservative, militaristic, patriarchal society that has only just come out of a long period of isolation. The Barrayaran captain, Aral Vorkosigan (Vor is the prefix given to the elite ruling class), also universally known as the ‘Butcher of Komarr’, has been left behind on the planet, a victim of mutiny. Cordelia is captured by Aral, but the two make a deal that they will work together to get themselves off the planet and, in the process they fall in love. They succeed, but even bigger problems await them as they get to Aral’s ship and Cordelia makes it back to Beta Colony. She is later forced to leave Beta and escapes to Barrayar, where she and Aral, now retired, marry. Their quiet life doesn’t last long, as the Emperor is dying and names Aral the Regent for the six-year-old Prince. Attempts on their lives begin, one of which results in Cordelia, now pregnant, being exposed to a gas attack, the cure for which has a negative effect on her growing foetus. In the midst of dealing with their baby being gestated in a uterine replicator and undergoing experimental treatments to reverse the damage done, the couple have to deal with a plot to overthrow the Regent and Prince.
The Vor series, and this book in particular, is an obvious starting point in one of the best space operas around. The author excels at developing and fleshing out her characters. Even the supporting characters have depth. Whilst I never forget how much I love the character of Miles, I’d forgotten how cool and tough Cordelia is. She would have to be my favourite science fiction heroine.

New

Storm Dragon
James Wyatt

The Prophecies were old when humans first began to forge their civilisation. Said to give meaning to the past, guidance to the present and to predict the future – a future of the world’s remaking – a future in which Gaven d’Lyrander has unwillingly become the most important player.
Scion to one of the great Dragonmark Houses, whose heirs have the chance to manifest a dragon-like birthmark of great power at puberty, Gaven spent most of his time exploring dark caves looking for valuable dragonshards in the depths of the earth. But in one dragonshard he found more then he or his House were looking for and it invaded his mind, filling him with the most intimate knowledge of the Prophecies a human had ever held. His resulting delirium escalated to all-out madness, and his ravings lead to exile from his House and a life sentence in the island prison of Dreadhold, where he manifested the highest and rarest potential of all Dragonmark Houses, a Siberys Mark.
While Gaven is all but lost in his own mind, a daring rescue springs both himself and his cell neighbour out to a higher calling. Now on the run, the verses of the Prophecies begin to find fulfilment and sanity begins to reclaim its hold on Gaven’s mind. Now he must try to make sense of the visions that plague him waking and sleeping, and figure out the true intentions of his so called ‘rescuers’. For Haldren, a general from the Last War and Gaven’s former inmate, has joined forces with a Dragon who wishes to use the draconic prophecy to attain godhood.
The world of Eberron has been overlooked by most as just another generic medieval fantasy world made for players of Dungeons & Dragons. This is unfortunate because I have found it is much more than that. Eberron is a world that pushes the boundaries of the traditional settings that its sibling Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms tend to embrace. In this world, a world almost bordering on ‘steam-punk’, arcane magic has been applied like science and massive, towering cities defy gravity and elemental-powered airships cross the skies. Its history has been marked by extra-planar incursions, some of which have caused massive devastation and others that are as accepted and as frequent as the seasons. The books explore vibrant, diverse cultures that are scarred by a cataclysmic ‘Last War’ and united in a commitment to keep history from repeating itself, while various organisations and Great Houses look to the ruins of Goblin and Giant empires for powerful secrets and forgotten magic, and one of the greatest mysteries of the world are the Draconic Prophecies.
The books carry a contemporary, yet distinctly fantasy, feel to them and are packed with adventure and mysticism that is the hallmark of entertaining and fast-paced writing. I really enjoyed this book and am slowly exploring others. – Mark

Classic

The Witching Hour
Mayfair Witches #1
Anne Rice

Neurosurgeon Rowan Mayfair unknowingly comes from an ancient family of witches (going back generations) whom have been both protected and haunted by an almost god-like figure named Lasher. Each generation, one witch takes Lasher’s powers and they either thrive or are driven insane, depending on whether they are in control of Lasher, or he is in control of them. Rowan’s mother was one of these witches and she is catatonic because of her madness. For her own protection, as a small child Rowan was taken from the tight knit family group in New Orleans, adopted out and made a life of her own in San Francisco. Rowan feels she has a special gift to heal patients at an almost cellular level, but after some of those patients died she worries that she also brings death. Then, when she is out sailing she rescues a drowning man, Michael Curry. They return to their own lives, but Michael is a changed man – he has a psychic power now that he didn’t have before. He withdraws from everything, hiding in his home until one day he is given a file that is essentially the history of the Mayfair family by the current head of a secret organisation called the Talamasca who observe and record them. He is told that Rowan is the current heir of the family, but that she is completely unaware of this. Haunted by dreams and half memories he heads to his hometown of New Orleans, eventually finds Rowan, and their romance begins. Rowan is the strongest Mayfair witch to have been born (due basically to selective breeding and incest) and with the death of her mother she is supposed to be the next link with Lasher – who wants physical form and has special plans for her. Their meeting was no coincidence and Michael is required for Lasher’s plans to come to fruitition.
This is a big, chunky book and will be something that you either love or hate. Rice’s almost biblical “and X begat X who begat X…”, working her way through the generations and history of the Mayfair witches can be a bit plodding at times, but I just loved the history of this unusual family. There are a lot of characters and Rice is quite descriptive, which I can sometimes have a bit of a problem with, but I had such a feeling of being in New Orleans (or the plantations or wherever the current witch was living), the old houses, the carnival – it was fantastic. In this case, I’d call the writing rich. The story jumps around it the family timeline and some of the story threads don’t meet until later in the book (or in later books), but I just felt compelled to read. This is an almost epic historical/horror novel and it had me from the beginning. - Steph

New

The Dreaming Void
Peter F. Hamilton

The Dreaming Void is the first novel in Peter F Hamilton's new epic space opera series. Offering something old and something new, Hamilton returns to the world of the Commonwealth which he started in the books Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained whilst expanding his repertoire in an interesting and entertaining sub-plot.
Thousands of years have passed since the devastating Starflyer War ended. The Commonwealth (a human hegemony) has recovered and continued its expansion across the universe with many more planets being colonised and alien species discovered. One of the more important discoveries that the Commonwealth has made is a blackhole-esque object known as the Void. According to the information gathered by the Raiel, an ancient and wise alien species, the Void is in fact an artificial object which has been expanding at an alarming rate. Its origins and its purpose are unknown, but it is clear that the Void is something the galaxy can do without. The Commonwealth is desperate to halt the Void's expansion as it will destroy the universe if it continues. Currently, the Void's expansion has been temporarily stabilised before a more permanent solution can be found. A group that shares the Commonwealth's interest in the Void, but not its concerns, is the Living Dream. A religious cult, the Living Dream believes that its enigmatic leader Inigo has entered the Void to make contact with the inhabitants within. Before his disappearance, Inigo broadcasted his ‘dreams' over a universal network, dreams which depicted the lives of the Void's inhabitants. Followers of the Living Dream are keen to embark on a pilgrimage into the Void to join their leader and the utopia-like world that has been seen in the dreams. As preparations begin for the pilgrimage, the Commonwealth has to decide how to stop the pilgrimage, as such mass interaction with the Void will trigger a dangerous and unstoppable expansion of the Void.
Another figure who is interested in tracking down Inigo is Aaron. Aaron suffers from amnesia, but his current possessions, genetically-boosted body and flashbacks hint at a past life where he was a secret agent. Along with an unexplainable need to find Inigo and the more pressing concern of having people trying to kill him, Aaron hopes that Inigo has the answers to his past and the keys to his future.
One interesting sub-plot is the story of Edeard. An inhabitant of the Void, Edeard resides in a fantasy-esque world which is unaware of the highly advanced world outside the Void. Through Inigo's dreams, we follow Edeard's journey as he trains to be a city guard and developing his immense telekinetic and psychic powers. This fantasy sub-plot is one of the highlights of the novel and shows the author's continuing development as a writer.
It's great to return to the world of the Commonwealth, as there are countless things for Hamilton to explore. In Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, the Commonwealth was an already well-developed world, but Hamilton continues to improve on it with new characters and ideas. Old characters such as Paula Myo (one of the most interesting characters that Hamilton has ever created), the genetically developed ‘perfect cop' returns to join the madness of tracking Inigo. However, readers who have not read the previous two books should not have any problems with The Dreaming Void.

Classic

Keeping it Real
Justina Robson

A Quantum bomb exploded in 2015 on earth... and everything changed.
Nobody knew about the other parallel universes, until it was too late. And now the different dimension that are separated by the thin veil of reality are merging and new realities are starting to emerge, and agencies are cataloging.
Special agent Lila Black used to think herself pretty, successful, and escaped from her hometown and a life that was going nowhere ... fast. She joined the attache of the Government Embassy to the Elven realm, while also being on secret assignment to collect information, an assignment which led to the Elves torturing her with magic. Left barely alive, she was.... rebuilt.
Lila is now a Cyborg, part machine, part woman... mostly machine and, as she likes to describe herself - all attitude!
There are parts and processes happening in the machinery that even she is unaware of, and everybody is listening in, even to her private thoughts. She is a walking arsenal of potential death and destruction... and looking hot. She has AI controls and safeguards that can drop in program without her control. She has no idea any more where she ends and the tech begins. But being bought and owned by the Agency has its own problems too. So her decisions regarding her life are now limited and getting more out of her control with every new realisation about her predicament. Life, even half life... is becoming problematic.
This was the first cyberpunk novel that I really enjoyed. It was such a thrill to read and to be cliched, I couldn’t put it down and used any excuse to escape back into it.
Robson’s characterisation of the races is very believable and her skill in creating believable worlds, by blending what we think we know with what she paints for us in her words, leaves you wanting to know more, teasing tasters that kept me asking more questions with every answer.
The tech-talk is fabulous and kept me fascinated, much akin to anime/manga work like Ghost in a Shell and Appleseed. And all the fantasy delving into racial traits is like a fresh walk through the Plainscape series from TSR, with the impossible, but highly believable, interactions in what we think is the real world. It is so like here and now... with a twist. The way she writes is just so captivating that it’s a pity I read her work faster than she can get the next one on the shelves! - CM

New

The Riven Kingdom (Godspeaker Trilogy #2)
Karen Miller
In Miller's Empress of Mijak we readers were thrust into the brutal and unforgiving sands of Mijak, through the eyes of Hekat, a peasant who became a slave, a slave who became a warrior, a warrior who married a warlord and became the Empress. If you have read Empress, you ought to examine the cover of The Riven Kingdom and see if there's something very familiar about a certain man...
In The Riven Kingdom, readers are introduced to a powerful, but vulnerable, island kingdom called Ethrea. It is a peaceful and wealthy monarchy ruled by King Eberg, who is dying and has no male sons to carry on his bloodline. He has a daughter though, Rhian, proud, strong and noble, who will not be forced to do as the Church commands. At the same time, a broken man is being nursed back to health and, across the ocean, a vicious army is amassing and preparing to destroy or conquer everything in its path.
Miller carefully intertwines the Church and State, creating a volatile political situation which mirrors our own world's blurred lines of morality. She also makes subtle social commentary in contrasting the resolute faith of the ‘peasants' of Mijak against the machinations of the Church in Ethrea. The devotion of the savage people of Muijak gives them strength as a people, and every action they make is for the glory of God. The Church of Ethrea is a political and social vehicle of power for the stability of the nation.
Despite creating two lands utterly different from each other, Miller skilfully reveals how the face of evil can lurk behind many different masks. The writing has a compelling edge and Miller again demonstrates her knack for character's dialogue contrasted against their inner thoughts. Also she has created an utterly lovable character in Dexterity Jones, a recently widowed toy-maker, who is ‘haunted' by his dead wife, Hattie. He still loves her dearly and she serves him as sort of spirit guide. It is a testament to the author's skill in characterisation that Jones' portions of the story are such a pleasure to read.
There's just something about Miller's writing that is very appealing and easy to read. Once it was in my hand, the chapters of Empress of Mijak just flew by, so I was compelled to read the next one to find out what would happen. Hekat has become more unstable, dangerous and even more madly ambitious, convinced she sits in the God's Eye and that she should rule the world. Those who haven't tried Empress should not simply skip to The Riven Kingdom, as you would be depriving yourself of the savagery and grandeur of that story. I am very much looking forward to immersing myself in Hammer of God, the third instalment in this excellent series.
Sofia

Classic

Market Forces
Richard Morgan
If you think about it, most of the speculated visions of our future in science fiction are often bleak or feature dystopic societies. Richard Morgan is one of the main culprits and all of his novels should come with a bottle of hard liquor: there is a need to down a stiff drink after reading Morgan's speculations of a hard future. In Market Forces, Morgan takes us to a not-too-distant future, where global corporations have become intensely bloody, and road rage has become the norm.
In 2049, major corporations have moved into the lucrative field of conflict investment. Financial support is given to groups or parties who plan to overthrow a government and the corporations receive a percentage of a state's GDP when the new government is successful.
Such greed has meant that the divide between the rich and the poor has never been greater. Whilst the poor are living in segregated ghettos, the rich are living it up and zooming around on empty motorways (due to insanely high fuel prices). The motorways are also the place where bids between rival companies are made for contracts: instead of having the best sales pitch, rival executives duel it out to the death in their modified European cars to win the contract.
Chris Faulkner is the new star at Shorn Associates. Having grown up literally on the wrong side of the tracks, Faulkner is desperate not to return to where he came from and will do anything to hold on to his new-found wealth and power. As Faulkner begins contract renewal negotiations with an ageing Colombian dictator, Faulkner must be ruthless to ensure that the deal is sealed and, more importantly, that he stays alive.
Full of faults and offered a chance at redemption, Faulkner is your classic anti-hero. But does Faulkner want redemption or is he addicted to living life on the insane edge? As the business side of work becomes more ruthless and cutthroat, and his relationship with his wife and loved ones suffers, we see Faulkner's soul slowly being destroyed.
For all the politics and social commentary that Morgan throws around (a reading list is given in the novel), the story actually flows at a breakneck pace. It is a credit to Morgan's writing style that he can comment on the greed of global corporations and mix it in with Mad Max-esque ultra-violence without any clashes in style or pace. The tone of the novel is over the top - ultra-violence, insanely greedy suits and pitch-black bleakness for the majority creates a safe distance between fact and fiction. However, it is easy to imagine society getting out of hand quickly and playing out like Morgan speculates here.