The first "Bastard Reaction" (just made that up, might keep using it) of this blog will go towards Blake Charlton's Spellwright, first in the Spellwright series. First of all, I really enjoyed the book and secondly, he was the first author to add me on twitter
The book was a very easy read with a prose that was easy to follow. You might stumble a bit when spells are performed in the book or explained as it's not a easy magic system to get into, but I found it to be fairly unique and very fun nonetheless. The pace was well balanced I thought, though once again the magic system description and explanation hindered it a times. Young Adult readers and Adults alike should be able to find something to enjoy here as there a good mixture of lightness and darkness without going over the top in graphic violence. There are some good twists in here, some which came unexpected to me, and the book is filled with likable characters.
The book cover the US published version by TOR is quite awesome, which can be seen above. The mass paperback version will come with the same cover and it's coming out in a couple of days in August 2, 2011.
Where to buy Spellwright:
Spellwright Hardcover on The Book Depository
Spellwright Mass Paperback on The Book Depository
Spellbound the second book in the Spellwright series and it's due out in the US in September 13, 2011. Early reaction has been quite positive from what I can see. It has a good cover also, but I like the first one better:
Where to buy Spellbound:
Spellbound Hardcover on The Book Depository
I myself have it pre-ordered on Borders, but considering the store's imminent death, I'm not sure if I'll be getting it. So I'll have to wait and see.
Get more info by visiting the author's site/blog:
http://www.blakecharlton.com/
http://www.blakecharlton.com/blog/
Also you can find discussion of this book and series over at SFFWorld in this thread.
Your reaction has led me to download the Kindle sample to give it a shot. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHopefully you think enough of it to give it a chance. I'm not a fan of doing general recommendations, as I don't know what are your particular likes I don't know if this would be a book for you. But a sample never hurts to see for yourself.
ReplyDeleteI think the tricky part in all of this is the magic system. But if the magic details become too complex or hard to follow you can as easily continue reading and not miss much of it as long as you understand the general rules of the system and overall what is going on.