Looking back on an AWESOME Two Years!

Two years ago on this date I launched this blog with my review of Peter V Brett’s The Painted Man. 🙂 Can you bloody believe it?! Two years this blog’s been going… Man, sometimes I really think I’ve found a time machine in my head or something, because time has just sped by! Though, and I mean this, that time hasn’t been a waste at all;

Rather, I’ve been able to read some incredible books that I would never have read (books are damn expensive in South Africa), I’ve come into contact with plenty of wonderful people, including bloggers, people in publishing, people in marketing, authors and fellow fans. The blogosphere is an incredible place – one of the few places, in fact, where people remember their manners and where everyone really is part of one massive, far-reaching community (no joke there – my blog has been translated into Japanese, or Korean, of Mandarin, or something pictographically similar) and doesn’t just say so (like on a Facebook group).

The thing about blogging, and especially about running a book-review blog, is that we, all of us, do this -not because we think our opinions matter, or because we feel we owe it to the world, or some-such bullshit- because we love reading and we love books, and because we are basically trying to pin down and verbalize what exactly we love about the book we’ve read. Even though this blog has had 157062 visits since it launched (and so been visited by possibly thousands of people, I hope) it’s still a very personal experience; sure, it’s awesome when an author links to a review you’ve posted, and it’s awesome to get contacted by authors and publishers asking you to read a book, and even getting comments on posts is kickass, but I would still be doing this even though no-one visited the blog – my manager has told me that I’ve got more passion for books than anyone else at work, and that passion will keep me telling people about the books I’ve read and enjoyed even if the Internet implodes and disappears. Books have kept me sane (well, most of my friends wouldn’t agree with that, I s’pose) and have been the one constant companion that has joined me as I travelled the many paths I’ve travelled in my life, bathed in sunshine or lost in the dark. Practically every other reviewer out there will agree with me, I’m sure, and that’s one of the things that makes this labour of love so damn rewarding – knowing that, without a doubt, that you are sharing in something extremely damn cool and satisfying, and that it’ll never end. As long as we human beings utter the question, ‘Why?’, there will be stories that will try and get to the answer.

Anyway, I’ve gone off on a tangent, haven’t I? 🙂

Suffice it to say that I’m honoured to be part of such a wonderful community! If I’ve managed to make people think about the next book they want to pick up and get lost in, then that’s awesome; if I haven’t, then it’s not a problem. Either way, I’ve been exposed to books I wouldn’t have been able to afford and to authors I hadn’t yet discovered – huge WIN! 🙂

Here’s a breakdown of what I’ve done on the blog in these two years:

Books Reviewed:

The Painted man by Peter V Brett
Acacia by David Anthony Durham
Black Ships by Jo Graham
Star Wars: Legacy of the Force – Invinsible by Troy Denning
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Star Wars: Coruscant Nights – Jedi Twilight by Michael Reaves
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Graphic Novel by Haden Blackman
Star Wars: Death Star by Steve Perry and Michael Reaves
Star Wars: Coruscant Nights – Street of Shadows by Michael Reaves
The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney
Debatable Space by Philip Palmer
Incandescence by Greg Egan
Twelve by Jasper Kent (A quote from this review was printed in the inside cover of the paperback edition of Twelve 🙂 )
The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J Sullivan
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Star Wars: Republic Commando – Order 66 by Karen Traviss
Star Wars: Darth Bane – Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn
Watchmen Graphic Novel by Alan Moore
Star Wars: Coruscant Nights – Patterns of Force by Michael Reaves
The Modern World by Steph Swainston
Chronicles of the Raven – Dawnthief by James Barclay
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
Empress by Karen Miller
40 Years by Bernd Struben
Hand of Isis by Jo Graham
Starfinder by John Marco
Terminator: Salvation by Alan Dean Foster
Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
Nights of Villjamur by Mark C Newton
Avempartha by Michael J Sullivan
Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
Twisted Metal by Tony Ballentyne
Warhammer 40K Soul Drinkers – Chapter War by Ben Counter
Warhammer Time of Legends Heldenhammer by Graham McNeill
Warhammer 40K Assault on Black Reach by Nick Kyme
A Darkness Forged in Fire by Chris Evans
Rosemary & Rue by Seanan McGuire
The Riven Kingdom by Karen Miller
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi – Outcast by Aaron Allston
Uprising by Christopher Newman
The Wheel of Time Book 12 The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Angry Ghosts by F Allen Farnham
Storm Approaching by Brian Libby
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi – Omen by Christie Golden
The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman
Star Wars: Crosscurrent by Paul S Kemp
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi – Abyss by Troy Denning
Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard
Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber
Angel of Death by J Robert King
City of Ruin by Mark C Newton
Spellwright by Blake Charlton
Absorption by John Meaney
Suicidals Anonymous by J Robert King
The Desert Spear by Peter V Brett
The Exodus Gate by Stephen Zimmer
Kell’s Legend by Andy Remic
Tome of the Undergates by Sam Sykes
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Wymeweald – Returner’s Wealth by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
Original Sin by Allison Brennan
Nyphron Rising by Michael J Sullivan

Not as many as I would have liked to read, and plenty that I need to really get to (there’s plenty of Book Two’s in series that I have to get to!), but I’m pretty pleased anyway. 🙂

Interviews:
Peter V Brett
Ben Bova
David Anthony Durham
Jo Graham, here and here
Karen Miller
Peter F Hamilton
Christopher Paolini
Karen Traviss
Drew Karpyshyn
Russell Kirkpatrick
Terry Brooks
Jasper Kent
Kate Elliott
Philip Palmer
Brandon Sanderson
Shane Briant
Randur Estevu
Rumex Jeryd
Brynd Lathraea Adaol
Brian Libby
Paul S Kemp and John Jackson Miller

And I’ll definitely bring you more! 🙂

I’ve also hosted some booktrailers:

Hater by David Moody
Hunted by PC and Kristin Cast
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom
Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain
Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Born of Ice by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Burned by PC and Kristin Cast
Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Ancestor by Scott Siegler
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

And I’ve been allowed to read and record excerpts from two books:

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
The Emerald Storm by Michael J Sullivan

And I’ve also been lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to post excerpts of novels:

Hater by David Moody – Intro and Chapter One, Chapter Two
Storm Approaching by Brian Libby here and here
Shadowrise by Tad Williams
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

There’s more on the blog (but I don’t want to take up ALL your time) so click ‘Categories’ for the rest. 🙂

None of this, absolutely NONE of it, would have been possible without the awesome help from an absolute shitload of people – staff from many, many publishers, bloggers from both sides of the Atlantic, fellow fans and probably even booksellers; there are just too many people to name – you all know who you are and how much I appreciate your help 🙂 Every single one of you has helped me to keep this blog going and to keep me interested in keeping this blog going. 🙂 But the major THANK YOU has to be to the authors of the books that I’ve read, even before I started this blog – without all of you I would probably be working as a mechanic or something similar; you’ve enriched my life beyond measure. 🙂

So, here’s to the next two years – hell, let’s make that twenty-two, shall we? 🙂

Thanks, all of you! You all KICK ASS!

Be EPIC!