The Phoenix Crisis - Richard L. Sanders

RATING: FIVE STARS

With his ship in tatters and his crew worked to the brink of exhaustion, Lieutenant Commander Calvin Cross is forced to make a difficult choice as the Nighthawk limps through alteredspace. Does he do as asked and rendezvous with Raiden, his scrupulous contact in the Organisation responsible for resisting the elusive Phoenix Ring, or does he meet with Princess Kalila Akira as his duty to the Empire demands? Both have requested that he meets with them urgently and both claim that the fate of the Empire is in their hands alone.

But even as Calvin struggles to decide, he knows that he doesn't have much time. The situation on Renora is worsening by the day and the death toll is rapidly climbing into the millions as its people starve and rebel against the King’s relief troops, blaming them for the situation befalling them. Calvin knows that the conflict is all part of the Phoenix Ring’s grand scheme to destabilise the throne however, which, as a human terrorist attack on a Rotham world causes interstellar outrage, could prove the downfall of the Empire as it needs a strong king now more than it ever has.

Written with pages packed full of action and intrigue, The Phoenix Crisis is Richard L. Sanders’ best novel yet and is certainly the best instalment of The Phoenix Conspiracy series to date. It is exciting right from the off and Sanders does a great job in describing the seriousness of the conspiracy that Calvin is so desperately trying to expose, which adds an urgency to the book knowing that so many lives are at stake just for a small number of peoples’ political gain.

I would certainly recommend reading The Phoenix Crisis to any fan of science fiction then, and would recommend that you give the overall series a go if you haven’t already (beginning with The Phoenix Conspiracy).

'The World of Ice and Fire' release date

Although the next instalment of A Song of Ice and Fire doesn't look to be finished any time soon, George R. R. Martin does have some good news for us and on the 29th October 2013, The World of Ice and Fire is set to be released.

The book, which is written by Martin along with the help of Elio M. Garcia and Linda Antonsson from westeros.org, is an account of the official history behind ASoIaF and describes the first Dance of Dragons - a fratricidal civil war between King Aegon II Targaryen and his half-sister, Rhaenyra.

Martin has announced that he is writing the book, which will also describe a rich and detailed history of Westeros in general, through the eyes of several POV characters just as he does in the rest of ASoIaF. These characters are known to be a variety of maesters, since using their educated viewpoints will allow Martin to have a greater level of creative freedom to tell the nation's expectedly bloody history through multiple and custom viewpoints.

Although announcing The World of Ice and Fire's release date isn't quite as exciting as announcing the one for The Winds of Winter will be, the book certainly looks intriguing and is already on my 'to read' list - promising to sate my appetite for ASoIaF at least for the time being. Martin has said that the book has "turned into a monster" and I expect that it will undoubtedly prove to be an invaluable companion for any 'hard core' fan of the series, much like J. R. R. Tolkien's Silmarillion is for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Sword of Truth - Brian D. Anderson

RATING: FIVE STARS

The Sword of Truth is the remarkable first novel of The Godling Chronicles, a high fantasy series that speaks of a ravaged world as it slowly recovers from a brutal war between elves and humans that nearly tore it apart. 

It is a world in which the nation of the elves has been scattered and broken, leaving the once proud race on its knees. And even as their civilisation collapsed, the domain of man expanded, pushing them further and further into the fringes of the world. As a result of this, fear and hatred is rife between the two races who, so long as they stand apart, cannot hope to resist the Dark Knight - a evil dictator that has sealed the gateway to Heaven and so severed the gods' connection to Earth. 

In the turmoil of their hardening lives, Gewey Stedding is plucked from his simple life as a farmer and is forced to flee his home alongside the mysterious Lee Starfinder, a powerful demi-god born of a mortal woman and Saraf, the God of the Sea. Unsure of why he must leave his childhood home of Sharpstone, Gewey quickly discovers that he is much more than just a man and that he has unnatural powers that he would rather not learn how to control. 

However, Gewey quickly understands that he might not be able to ignore his powers for long. He is destined to confront the Dark Knight and is uncomfortably aware that the freedom of the souls of Earth weigh heavily on his shoulders. So Gewey must embrace new powers and learn how use them as he journeys on a path that is fraught with danger and filled with the nefarious agents of the Dark Knight - foes that will stop at nothing to corrupt or kill him. 

Fortunately for Gewey, not everyone he meets seeks to harm him and he quickly makes friends and allies to forge a blasphemous group that unites the nations of man and elves in a manner that has not been seen since before the Great War. 

The Good 

The Sword of Truth is generally very well written and is set in a highly developed world that has interesting cultures and a unique history. These attributes help to add a depth to the book that makes Brian D. Anderson's 'world' more plausible than it would have been otherwise and sets the events of the story into an rich, understandable context. 

Furthermore, Anderson has invested a lot of time in developing the different religions of humans and elves. This adds an essential backbone to the story as the gods feature prominently in the world's history - both in the instigations of the Great War and in those of the current 'real time' issues. 

And despite spending the time to describe his world fully, Anderson doesn't overload the information all at once like many authors do. This, as well as preventing the book from becoming dull, allows him to maintain the pace of the story, meaning that The Sword of Truth is packed with action and adventure that its characters respond to in a reasonably realistic manner. 

The Bad 

In all honesty I have very little criticism of The Sword of Truth. The main problem that I had with it however, which is a pretentious one at that, is with poor editing that missed several discrepancies in the spelling of the name of one of the minor characters. The character, called Broin (with an acute accent on the 'i'), often appears as Brion, which leads me to believe that Anderson changed its spelling at some point after his first draft and missed many of the times the name appeared in the text. Unfortunately, I think that this adds a somewhat 'tacky' and unprofessional feel to an otherwise superb book. 

My Thoughts 

Although The Sword of Truth did contain a few minor editorial errors, it is well written as a whole and makes for an exciting and enjoyable read. In fact, the few mistakes that I found in it had no impact on my enjoyment of the story whatsoever and I am looking forward to reading Of Gods and Elves, the second instalment of The Godling Chronicles.

Awakening - Randolph Lalonde

RATING: FOUR STARS

Awakening is the third instalment of Randolph Lalonde's stunning space opera, Spinward Fringe, and follows on directly from where its predecessor tailed off to continue Captain Jake Valance's search for his long-lost daughter, Alice.

After making the decision that living the life of a mercenary and contracted debt collector won't be enough to help him find his daughter and unveil his forgotten past, Captain Valance follows through with his plan to take up privateering again and sides with a powerful solar system in its war against Reagent Galactic; ensuring that they use their intelligence network to search for Alice as part of his pay while he runs riot with his crew aboard the Samson. 

My Thoughts 

Awakening is an exciting read right from the off and Lalonde manages to maintain the pace of the story throughout the book - making it extremely difficult to put down! Furthermore, Lalonde adds a sense of sentimentality to the story that I really liked by including chapters based around characters from the previous books, adding deep side-stories of their lives and how the loss of Jacob Valent, the captain of the First Light, has effected them. 

After reading Awakening then, I would say that it fits in nicely with the previous Spinward Fringe stories. It is innovative and packed full of the imaginative technology and real-life workings that I have come to expect from the series - meaning that it is still the best and most exciting space opera that I've read to date!