The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (DAW Books)

On my night table at the moment is The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. It's the first installment of The Kingkiller Chronicles, with the second book of the fantasy trilogy due out in August. The protagonist is Kvothe (pronounced "Quothe"), and we first meet him as the owner of a middle-of-nowhere tavern. He is, it transpires, a legend, trying to live out his days quietly. Tracked down by a historian, he reluctantly agrees to tell his story, and the bulk of the novel then consists of his narration, beginning with his childhood as part of family of travelling players, and moving to his life at University, now a student Arcanist of precocious talent.

My bare-bones synopsis here cannot possibly do justice to the richness of Rothfuss' novel. His world-building is meticulous, with every detail in place, from the monetary system to the names of the days of the ten-day week, and he unveils this bustling, living, breathing world so naturally to the reader that one's first encounter with it feels like a journey home. His prose, meanwhile, is elegant and literate without being pretentious, and his storytelling moving and grave without forgetting to be funny. The book is a triumph, and the wait for the next two volumes is going to be a long one.

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A Dance With Dragons$38.00 add to cart

The book fantasy fans have been waiting over five years for...will be on our shelves July 12th, 2011.

Author George R.R. Martin had this to say on his website:

Yes, I know. You've all seen publication dates before: dates in 2007, 2008, 2009. None of those were ever hard dates, however. Most of them... well, call it wishful thinking, boundless optimism, cockeyed dreams, honest mistakes, whatever you like.

This date is different. This date is real.

Barring tsunamis, general strikes, world wars, or asteroid strikes, you will have the novel in your hands on July 12. I hope you like it.

(For what it's worth, the book's a monster. Think A Storm of Swords.)

The dragons are coming. Prepare to dance.

And hey... thanks for waiting.

 

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A Book of Tongues$16.95 add to cart

The Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in Horror have announced their shortlists in all categories. The Stokers are awarded for Superior Achievement rather than "best of year" and its rules are deliberately designed to make ties probable. Gemma Files is the lone Canadian represented in the novel categories for A Book of Tongues (reviewed here).

Winners will be announced at the Stoker Weekend in Long Island NY, June 16-19, 2011.

The nominees for Superior Achievement in a Novel:

• Horns by Joe Hill
• Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
• Dead Love by Linda Watanabe McFerrin
• Apocalypse of the Dead by Joe McKinney
• Dweller by Jeff Strand
• A Dark Matter by Peter Straub

The Nominees for Superior Achievement in a First Novel:

• Black and Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge
• A Book of Tongues by Gemma Files
• Castle of Los Angeles by Lisa Morton
• Spellbent by Lucy A. Snyder

A list of the complete final ballot.

 

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Song of the Sword$12.95 add to cart

If you think you know Arthur, Merlin and the Lady of the Lake guess again. Ariane is a troubled teen, starting a new life with her aunt in Regina. A new school would be hard enough, but learning you're a descendant of the Lady of the Lake too?

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