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Permalink Reply by Greyweather on January 25, 2011 at 2:11

I hate for the first reply to be negative, but at the moment it is all I have to contribute.

Thus far I have only read one nominee, Huso's The Last Page, and I will not be voting for it.  Frankly, it was a mess; not so much bad as sloppy.  Above average ideas with a below average execution.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Whitehead on March 10, 2011 at 10:04

Northern Irish fantasy author Paul Kearney is, for my money, the closest author we now have in spirit and talent to David Gemmell. Like DG, Paul writes economic, fast-paced action stories which have a strong moral centre and great atmosphere. He's perhaps a tad more cynical than DG, though not as nihilistic as some other authors. He also has terrific, well-realised characters, great worldbuilding skills and a tremendous ability to write battles. He is, without hesitation, the finest realiser of battles in epic fantasy working today.

 

In 2010 he had a new novel released, Corvus, the sequel to his excllent Ten Thousand. Whilst the first book recounted the Xenophon by Anabasis into a fantasy world, the sequel takes its inspiration more from Philip II's conquest of Macedonia and Greece, and the rise of his son Alexander. However, Corvus is less slavishly reliant on the history than the preceding book and Paul throws in some great surprises. At its centre is the character of Rictus and the battle he wages in his soul as his cynicism over idealism and military adventurism gives rise to hope that Corvus can unite the Macht as a single nation and end the bloodletting. His adversaries are as superbly-realised, the sieges and battles without equal in the modern field and the story unfolds with pace and verve. Paul also had his earlier, five-volume Monarchies of God sequence reissued in two omnibus editions. A vast secondary world epic packed into a modest page count, Monarchies features cannons, gunpowder, werewolves (not the Twilight, thankfully) and huge battles on land and sea, with a finely-laced sense of tragedy unfolding as well.

 

Also worth seeking out is one of Paul's earlier books, A Different Kingdom, in which a young boy growing up in Northern Ireland discovers a gateway to another world and forges a connection to it which haunts him for the rest of his life. An Irish Mythago Wood, it's a rich and different type of fantasy.

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Permalink Reply by drosdelnoch on March 10, 2011 at 16:21

Thanks for you pov Adam, well put and a great way to raise the banner of support for him.

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Permalink Reply by Iron Cow on March 19, 2011 at 13:31

I'm concerned at the touting for votes from Black Library and encouraging GW fans to vote for their one nominated book. Other publishers seem to have a selection of titles up for voting and play the game. Black Library seem to be going for the win based on mobilising their fans, rather than whether the book is any good or not. BL do some good books, but this practice by them dilutes the value and prestige of the award if they win again (I don't know of they did this last year).

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Permalink Reply by drosdelnoch on March 19, 2011 at 16:03

Hi Iron Cow,

A lot of the publishers do send out mails for the next round of voting, they like to see who the fans pick from them and then when the second round is announced send out updates to people on thier lists letting them know which titles are available to vote for.

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Permalink Reply by JOE CRAWFORD on March 21, 2011 at 18:36

Hi Adam, For my money Joe Abercrombie is the man currently. I know i dissed his title last year due to large amount of profanity but this time i stuck it out and actually purchased The Heroes. Very entertaining and not quite so nasty. I am enjoying it immensely!

joe

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Mahon on March 28, 2011 at 0:08

I have to say I'm really keen on James Barclay's 'Elves: Once Walked with Gods'. I read it as soon as it came out, having really enjoyed several of James's earlier books, and I thought he surpassed himself. His version of elf culture is really well thought through, but quite different from the usual Tolkien-inspired versions. His elves are split into a number of different 'tribes' (for want of a better word), who have very different approaches to life. The most militaristic are, however, extremely violent, whilst simultaneously very honourable - almost like Elvish ninjas! Anyway, the book itself is a great read, and it really made me eager to see what happens in the next volume of what is, I think, a projected trilogy.

Cheers, Patrick.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew O'Connor on March 30, 2011 at 14:51

This will sound a bit thick of me, but how do we vote?

As an aside I'll be looking to go for Robin Hobb, 'Dragon Haven' and Darius Hinks, 'Warrior Priest'.

Hobb, in general, writes great and slow burning fantasy stories which revolve and develop from well-developed characters. 'Dragon Haven' is an excellent example of this.

Darius Hinks was a surprise. I had the pleasure of talking to him at a convention recently, while sorting out books for a signing. After a genuinely pleasant conversation, I decided to pick up 'Warrior Priest' to see if he can walk the walk as it were. 'Warrior King' was a great mix of classic fanatasy stuff. He didn't do anything controversial, but maintained a strong plot, some great characters (and an *expletive* of a villain) with a harsh twist at the end.

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Permalink Reply by drosdelnoch on March 31, 2011 at 14:46

Run your mouse over the various options at the top, a drop down in red will appear.  Click on that and it will take you to the voting page.  Where you select the title you want and click the vote button.

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Permalink Reply by fransulo on April 7, 2011 at 2:14

Hi

I’ve voted for R.A. Salvatore The Bear even though I haven’t read the book yet, and I must stress the have part as I definitely will. This is the 4^TH Book in The Saga of the First King based in the fictional world of Corona.

            Mr Salvatore is probably one of the best fantasy writers I have read so that’s why he gets my vote. He’s basically the reason why I got into Fantasy. He’s most famous for the Demon Wars Saga also based in Corona and his Forgotten Realms novels.  If you enjoy descriptive, intricate battle scenes whether it’s between two foes or two armies R.A. Salvatore is the author for you. Along with the wonderful colourful characters and subplots within subplots that every novel of his contains that I have read so far (31 and counting). I couldn’t recommend him more.

 

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