Finished The Winds of Khalakovo finally! Seemed to go on for ever...

Hrm I've still got three days until The Slab comes out, so i'll give The Hammer and the Blade by Paul Kemp a try. He's a Forgotten Realms author but this book is being put out by Angry Robot. Sword and Sorcery apparently. Here's hoping I don't regret it.

I completed Anne Lyle's The Alchemist of Souls. It was a promising debut and I will read the next one, because she baited the hook really well. For all of it's 500+ page length it was still a quick and easy read. The characters didn't really connect with me, though. Like I said it's good enough for me to continue, but wouldn't make any best of lists for me. I'm reading Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood and I really wish I'd read this years ago before Charles DeLint put me off this type of work (I'm actually rethinking my opinion about him, too), because it's highly entertaining and very well written.

::In my best Pauline Hanson voice:: Please explain!

The Hammer and the Bladeis coming along nicely. Everything that the Ryria Revelations did wrong is done right in this(for me).

DeLint also wrote what is generally described as Celtic or mythic fantasy. He had a book called Greenmantle, which from memory kind of skirted around the issue at the heart of it, without ever actually revealing anything. Having said all that about DeLint he had a great entry into the most recent Borderlands collection which made me think I may have to look at some of his more recent work) Holdstock basically started this type of fantasy with Mythago Wood (which he later expanded into a series, but Mythago Wood was completely self contained and I don't feel the need to read on), only Holdstock paced it much better and revealed things without totally spoiling the mystery. He doesn't use particularly complex or literary language, but still manages to make it all very atmospheric, I could smell the forest and feel the chill. Mythago Wood fully deserves it's accolades. I'm now reading The Mirage by Matt Ruff, I'm not sure how you'd classify it, it's kind of SF, alternate reality, contemporary thriller all rolled into one. The basic premise turns 9/11 on it's head, placing the Arabs as the ones who were attacked, and the Americans as the perpetrators of the attack. Very cleverly done.

The Mirage was really good, I rate it down a touch because of the ending, which didn't quite fit with the rest of the book, but it's definitely one of the better books I've read this year. I've moved onto The Conan Chronicles which is a collection of Howard's Conan stories.

Finished The Hammer and the Blade. Quick fun read. Much in the vein of the Ryria Revelations but better written. Egil and Nix are a likeable duo.

Started The Slab, Karen Traviss's final Gears of War Book. I love it when I can just slide back into reading a series with ease.

Will be interested on how you rate Howard's Conan stories. I've only read Jordan's Conan stuff.

I'm about 150 pages into The Conan Chronicles. I haven't read much other Conan (only the comics I think), and this is my first experience with Howard. I've read a few of his imitators and they were okay, but so far Howard is the best. Conan's way too alpha male for me and the sexism just radiates off the page, but he's a decent enough writer.

The Conan Chronicles are done. It wasn't a bad read, although the stories became rather similar. They were usually set up without Conan, then the mighty thewed Cimmerian comes on the scene, beats the living daylights out of anyone or thing that stands in his way, wins the admiration of whatever random woman is in the story, and then strides off into the sunset. I can see why they worked during the days of the pulps, though. We do owe Howard a debt for really kicking the S&S genre off and leaving something for other authors to work with and improve upon.
I'm reading The King's Blood, Abraham's follow up to The Dragon's Path and at 60 pages in it's looking very good. I really like Cithrin.

Lucky sod. I'm waiting for the US Kindle release which isn't until Wednesday. Only problem is Blackout is out the same day! Which do I read first?? I'm leaning towards Zombies seems it's the last book.

Blackout is actually the final book in the Newsflesh trilogy. Seanan is currently working on a new duology as Mira Grant. If I were you I'd go for Blackout first, partially because something written by Seanan McGuire will ALWAYS take precedence for me, but also because it does complete the trilogy, and The King's Blood is the second book in a projected 5 book series, so one will give you closure, and the other will make you wait a year or so. The King's Blood is quite good, though. You should enjoy it when you get around to it, Chris.