**INCREDIBLE** Book Trailer – Black Feathers by Joseph D’Lacey

Got this from the awesome folks over at Angry Robot Books – the book was an awesome read (reviewed here), and this book trailer is a thing of beauty!

<a href="http://vimeo.com/63401644">BLACK FEATHERS MASTER NEW H264</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/horrodandharris">HORROD AND HARRIS</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>

To order your copies, click here for Amazon US, here for Amazon UK, and here if you’re in South Africa. 🙂 Check out Joseph’s site here!

Until Friday, when I’ll be posting my review of Lauren Beukes’ ‘The Shining Girls’,

Be EPIC!

(sorry about the code-stuff at the bottom of the vid – no idea how to remove it!)

 

Angry Robot Review: Black Feathers (Volume One of The Black Dawn) by Joseph D’Lacey

Ever since I had the opportunity to read Meat, the occasion of being able to get a new Joseph D’Lacey story and read it has excited and intrigued me. Meat was shocking, searing, and true in a way very few novels have ever achieved (read my review here), and now that I think about it, perhaps Stephen King had so many words in his mind after reading Meat that ‘rocks’ seemed the best word to encapsulate them all. Why? Well, Joseph does plenty right in ever story he writes, and Black Feathers (incoming from Angry Robot Books) was yet another example of his versatility and understanding of what it means to be human.

The story focuses on two characters, Gordon Black and Megan Maurice, who live in different eras and cultures.

Gordon lives in a world that we, at first, understand; it is our world, with its electricity and cars and skyscrapers and cellphones and internet. But Gordon’s birth is an event that echoes up and outwards, into the future in which Megan lives. Megan is chosen to take the first steps on a path that might lead her to being a Keeper, the history- and memory-keepers of the land and its people. Connecting them is a force (perhaps of good, perhaps of evil) called The Crowman, and in the world of the Bright Day (an era of peace after the terrible, destroying events of the Black Dawn), Megan feels the call to find The Crowman. As does Gordon. How they do this is the story of Black Feathers.

From the get-go Joseph layered the story in mystery – we are introduced to Gordon’s father, sisters and mother, who each have their own role to play in Gordon’s story; we witness the strange circumstances of his birth (leading to his father’s reactions and, much later, an important event in Megan’s life), and we begin to understand that Gordon’s world, our world, is changing. Perhaps not for the better.

As Gordon grows and matures he keeps a diary (my eyes only), in which he records thoughts that most people, including his family, might think evidence of insanity, thoughts and recollections and memories of dreams, of hearing a voice not his own in his mind, of his peculiar almost-need to collect corvid feathers, of his burgeoning fear and bewilderment at the events beginning to overtake the world (the fall of everything, to be replaced –should they succeed- by a group bent on dominating everyone and everything), of constantly wondering whether he is insane… He’s just a young boy, not yet a teenager, and he has to deal with all of this. Chapter after chapter Gordon grew, and succeeded, and failed – he is, to my mind, the kind of character that many, many readers will be able to identify with. He has crippling moments of doubt, surges of almost overwhelming exhaustion and sadness; like many people, he knows that to ask questions is to be hurt, yet he knows that without knowledge or pain, nothing can ever be learned or understood. Indeed, he had to face more in his fourteen, fifteen years than most people face in the entire span of their lives. As a character he was mesmerizing and a joy to discover, written with a depth of emotion and empathy by Joseph that helped me to truly inhabit Gordon’s ‘skin’.

Megan was also beautifully written – her world is changed irrevocably on a day that she goes into a forest near her home, and from that moment on hers is a journey of discovery and self. Through her we discover how drastically life has changed since the Black Dawn and how those changes affected humanity and everything we did and thought we stood for and believed in. Megan is constantly curious and possessed of a beautiful strength, the kind of character that slips quietly in and watches you reading from across the room. Like Gordon, though, she is forced into a world she’s only heard whispers about and doesn’t understand at all, and her journey to knowledge lost nothing even as Joseph used her to explain more about the world as it was after the Black Dawn. The balance between world-building and characterization in this novel –especially as regards Megan- was expertly handled, with neither suffering at the other’s expense. Instead, both seemed to add to the other – which was very important, since the people and the land (both during the Black Dawn and the Bright Day) are inextricably linked.

As can be expected from Joseph’s work, there are moments of horror, moments of wide-eyed disbelief, moments of laughter and tears and silence pregnant with either peace or rage. He managed to handle everything beautifully and with respect, making both his characters and the world they inhabit come alive. One of Joseph’s undeniable strengths as a storyteller is the ability to remember and use the small things – those moments that have nothing to do with advancing the plot and yet have everything to do with advancing the plot, because without those small moments the world and the characters wouldn’t ring true.

But be warned – there are some scenes that may make you flinch, despite the knowledge that these aren’t real people or real situations, and I guess that’s the mark of a truly good storyteller: making you feel. Black Feathers is a post-apocalyptic urban-fantasy journey-of-discovery horror and much more that doesn’t fall into a category of any kind. I loved this book and I’m so glad that it’s the first of two – kudos to Angry Robot for sending me Joseph D’Lacey’s best story to date, and massive thanks to Joseph for writing it. I’m definitely coming back for more!

9 / 10

To pre-order your copies of Black Feathers, click here for Amazon US (26 March), here for Amazon UK (4 April), and here for South Africa. Please do check out Joseph’s site here, which will give you links and info for his other novels, collections and novellas.

Huge thanks to Darren Turpin at Angry Robot for posting this ARC all the way to South Africa! Head over to Angry Robot Books and check out their extensive and brilliant catalogue – if you don’t find something there to interest you, you’re probably a rock. Seriously. 😉

Until next time,
Be EPIC!

 

Angry Robot Books: Catching Up with the News!

Hey Guys and Girls,

It’s been a while since I posted anything about Angry Robot Books on the blog and now’s the time to do it; there’s plenty that’s been happening and plenty still to come, so let’s get to it!

First off, Angry Robot books posted the covers of all their books coming out from January to June 2011 – each and every one of them is awesome, featuring skinned vampires, soldiers, Vegas, sloths and storks, and much, much more – check out all the covers here.

 

Next up, an Angry Robot title was chosen as as SFBook of the Year (2010) over at SFFBook; a damn fine achievement for the publisher and the author! 🙂 Congrats to both! 🙂

 

Next up, on the 7th of January these two books became available in the UK – I’ve got copies of both and I’ve been anticipating them for a while (since the first AR novels by both authors were absolutely awesome); look out for reviews coming up. 🙂

 

On the 10th of January, Angry Robot signed a new author to join their already excellent lists – this author‘s second novel (coming from Orbit) is on it’s way to South Africa in March and the first title, Death Most Definite, is already available. 🙂 Massive congrats, Trent!

 

Next up, Hugos are on the way and we all know what that means – narrowing down the choices that will be voted upon to win the prestigeous award! This post spells out which Angry Robot titles are elligable along with the cover artists and studios that created the covers for the various books.

 

On the 12th, Angry Robot announced a new family-member! 🙂 What a lucky bastard, huh? 😉 Congrats to him!

 

And finally, today you can head over to Angry Robot and read some sample chapters of both Thomas Blackthorne’s Point and Maurice Broaddus’ King’s Justice – just the thing to get you really thinking about what to buy when you go book-shopping tomorrow! 🙂

Remember, Angry Robot is *the* publisher of excellent SF / F / and WTF – if you want your fiction to be strange, beautiful and definitely not the normal cookie-cutter stuff, you couldn’t make a better choice than checking out their website; you’ll be able to find info on all their authors (which include South Africa’s own Lauren Beukes), the titles available, and much more to give you the best information you need to make you choice. 🙂

 

Be EPIC!

 

The Angry Robot Short Story Store

Still haven’t tried any of the titles available from Angry Robot? Well, now you don’t have an excuse! 🙂 Here are the details:

PRESS RELEASE
22nd November 2010 ~ For Immediate Release

ANGRY ROBOT ANNOUNCES DIGITAL SHORT STORY STORE

On December 1st 2010, Angry Robot will be launching “Nano Editions”. Exclusive to the publisher’s own webstore at angryrobotstore.com, Nanos are digital short stories by Angry Robot novelists, sold at sensible prices in ePub format, ready to load onto the world’s most popular eBook readers.

Most Nanos will be in the 5,000 – 15,000 word range. Shorter works than that will be automatically bundled with another story to ensure value for money.

Talking of which – stories will cost just 59p each (approximately US $0.95). Readers can bundle a collection of any 10 by any combination of authors, for only £3.49 (US$5.59). The files will be DRM-free and available worldwide. If demand for the stories takes off, AR plan to also sell them via eBook retailers.

Angry Robot Editor Lee Harris said, “Publishing is changing, but our role as publishers remains the same – to find cool stories and bring them to readers. This is another step in Angry Robot’s ongoing plan to embrace the new opportunities digital formats provide – and an excellent way for readers to sample unfamiliar authors, without breaking the bank.”

Authors included in the Nanos series include multi-million-selling novelist Dan Abnett and award-winning short fiction authors Kaaron Warren and Aliette de Bodard, along with many others. We will have at least 30 Nanos available for the December 1st launch, with more added at regular intervals.

Lee Harris
Editor, Angry Robot

Awesome stuff, huh? 🙂 Here’s the news on Angry Robot’s website, and here’s the link you need to follow – the Angry Robot Store. Plenty more available there, so do have a look around. 🙂

Be EPIC!

 

Angry Robot News: Jo Anderton Signed for Minimum of Two Novels

Check out the details below – Jo’s ‘Veiled Worlds’ novels sound great and are sure to generate a massive following for her. 🙂 Angry Robot sure knows how to walk that cutting-edge line as if it was a wide highway. 🙂

PRESS RELEASE:

Angry Robot signs debut novelist for a Manga-inspired science fantasy epic

New Australian author Jo Anderton has signed with genre masterminds Angry Robot for at least two novels in her Veiled Worlds series. The worldwide deal, covering physical books and eBooks, was done by agent Anni Haig-Smith and Angry Robot’s publishing director, Marc Gascoigne. Debris will be published in the autumn of 2011, with direct sequel Suited to follow in 2012.

Series opener Debris introduces us to Tanyana, leader of a energy-harvesting team. Following an accident, she’s dismayed to be demoted to little more than a garbage collector, but it soon becomes obvious she’s been manipulated into that role by the faceless faction she calls the Puppet Men, to uncover a world-shattering secret.

Angry Robot’s man with the cheque book Marc Gascoigne said, “With the ever-increasing popularity of Japanese and Korean anime, manga and computer games, it’s been surprising that there hasn’t been more SF and fantasy showing its influence. Debris’s mix of SF and fantasy themes, exotic future-medieval settings, Dune-esque warring factions, and a fabulous kick-ass heroine is exactly the sort of on-trend science fiction Angry Robot was set up to publish. We’re damned pleased to have Jo on board.”

Jo added, “I’ve been reading Angry Robot books since their first giant, metallic steps and absolutely loving them. Debris started out as an idea about a magical version of the industrial revolution and a scarred garbage collector who saves the world, but still has to pay her rent. Add a few motley companions, a pinch of probably-misinterpreted quantum physics, and far too much time spent in front of various Final Fantasy video games. I’m thrilled my books have found a home at Angry Robot.”

Sounds damn cool! I’m very interested to see how a manga-inspired story mixes with hard SF, and there’s no doubt that we can expect kickass cover art, too. 🙂

Be EPIC!

 

Angry Robot Launched Today in the USA and Canada!

Cue the drums and fanfare! One of the best SF / F / WTF publishers in the industry launched across the great pond today. 🙂

Here are the titles that you can pick up in your closest bookstore (and if you can’t, give’em hell!):

Kell’s Legend by Andy Remic
Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon
Slights by Kaaron Warren
Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero by Dan Abnett
Winter Song by Colin Harvey

Click the title-links for the reviews I’ve already posted, and click the author-links for the book-pages over at Angry Robot. There are also plenty of other reviews – check out this link. 🙂

Got an eBook Reader? Check out this link for all the details you’ll need and don’t forget to check out the official Angry Robot Store.

The guys have also launched an awesome competition – follow this link for the details;

And while you’re at it, ‘Like’ Angry Robot on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter – there’s plenty more awesomeness coming from them: in October, you can look forward to the following titles –

Angel of Death by J Robert King
The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar
The Crown of the Blood by Gav Thorpe
Edge by Thomas Blackthorne (John Meaney)
King Maker by Maurice Broaddus
Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner

Hope you all in the US and Canada are ready! Awesome times ahead! 🙂

Be EPIC!

 

Lauren Beukes Launches Zoo City in the UK – Starting Tonight!

Yep, that’s right folks, Lauren is probably in the UK as I’m typing this. 🙂 She’ll be appearing at three separate events where you can go check her out – be sure to take your copies of Moxyland along with you, I’m sure she won’t mind signing them (she signed my two copies of Moxyland, one ARC and one SA edition, and she also signed my copy of Zoo City, at a launch earlier last month). 🙂

Here are the details:

Lauren will be appearing TONIGHT at The Antelope Tavern (hehehe weird but cool name, can’t imagine the people inside bounding around energetically, though) as a special guest of the British Science Fiction Association; she’ll be reading from Zoo City -and Lauren does awesome readings, let me tell you- as well as answering some questions about her work afterwards. Oh, and keep an eye out for some other Angry Robot surprises bounding around The Antelope Tavern… 😉 Oh, and you don’t have to be a member of the BSFA to attend, how awesome is that?!

Tomorrow is the big event: Lauren will be launching Zoo City at Forbidden Planet’s Megastore from 6PM to 7PM, so be sure to get there early to avoid queuing (or get there early to get your queuing done, er, early 😉 ). Forbidden Planet have also teamed up with Angry Robot to bring you a first-of-its-kind exclusive offer: 100 (no more, no less) LIMITED EDITION HARDCOVER copies of Zoo City have been made available – so if you can’t wait until September to get your copy of Zoo City, you’d better follow this link and buy a copy before they’re all gone! Would absolutely love me one of those, but I’m not as lucky as you all in the UK. 🙂

But that’s not all – you’ll get one final opportunity to meet Lauren: she’ll be a guest of the British Fantasy Society‘s first Open Night (technically, Open Afternoon) on the 31st of July – check out the link for the details.

So there we have it, folks! Three opportunities to meet one of the most exciting authors writing today – Lauren’s an awesome lady and her novels are kickass (Moxyland reviewed here, Zoo City reviewed here) and she’ll probably be taking the UK by storm. 🙂 Enjoy the events!

If you can’t make it to these events, have no fear – you can still order copies of Zoo City from Forbidden Planet (hopefully they’ll have some left!) and have it signed by Lauren, otherwise, order Zoo City here and Moxyland here.

Be EPIC!

 

Review: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

I used to live in Hillbrow, the section of Jo’burg in which much of Zoo City is set, but I was too young at that time to really remember it. We lived there, though, and I’m told it was a wonderful place to live. Now, though, and for the last couple of decades, at least, Hillbrow has become a complete and utter hell-hole. Stories of old ladies on pension being mugged repeatedly, and here I’m talking six or seven times in as many weeks; stories of entire appliances being thrown from windows during New Year’s Eve celebrations; stories that would make you wince and shake your head and tell the person who’s telling you these stories to just stop.

As a South African living about an hour from Hillbrow, I’m practically inured to Hillbrow-stories – as South Africans we’ve heard it all before, and many, many, many times. It’s like having to drive down a road on which a sewerage-plant is located, every day – at first the stench is crazy-bad and you’re damn sure that it clings to your clothes, but after a while the stench becomes a scent and then even that scent disappears. It is a curse of being human that you become used to everything.

Zoo City is, in some ways, a strident wake-up call. A shout from every rooftop, megaphones included. It’s the kind of book that draws attention to that which needs to be acknowledged and stopped while, at the same time, showing you that there is beauty and magic in everything and that you just need to allow yourself to look.

Zoo City focuses on Zinzi December; she struggles to make ends meet by finding lost things for people and also by dreaming up scams that end up fleecing the unfortunate, naive victim out of their money. It was wonderful getting to know Zinzi, even the not-so-nice and exploitative sides of her personality; sometimes I found myself shaking my head at her stupidity and practically consistent desire to get herself into difficult situations, but I also also learned to admire her for her ability to pick herself up and keep on going, even when everything around her was falling to pieces. I found her to be the kind of character that kept me interested and curious – Lauren lets Zinzi reveal herself, so that as the story progresses you get to know different aspects of her personality; just like what would happen during a long friendship or relationship with someone. I wouldn’t mind reading more tales that star Zinzi – she’s definitely a fresh, bold and tenacious girl! 🙂

But Lauren peoples Zoo City with plenty of other characters, from the star-producer Odi to Zinzi’s boyfriend, Benoit as well as a host of others – twins who are taking the SA music scene by storm, Zinzi’s contacts and friends from a previous life, and plenty of awesome animals – especially Sloth, the best of the lot. 🙂

Lauren also does some incredible world-building in this book, as she did in Moxyland; this is the Jo’burg that everyone knows (at least, those of us who have been there) but it’s also a new, darker Jo’burg that seethes with shadows and tension and yes, even beauty. I got the same feeling from Lauren’s Jo’burg as what I got from Kate Griffin’s London (from A Madness of Angels) – it’s familiar and exotic and beautiful, even though it seethes with danger, cruelty and chaos, and even though I’d probably see my ass if I ever went to Lauren’s Jo’burg, I’d still love to go. 🙂

I’m not going to say anything about the Urban-Fantasyish aspects of Zoo City – discovering that for yourself is one of the great things about this book. Suffice it to say that the magic (and there is magic) is pretty damn awesome and always interesting – the entire culture that has taken hold because of this magic and its effects is easily one of the stars of the novel. 🙂

The novel is also peppered with articles that lend it a refreshing authenticity – everything from supposed psychology of Zoo’s to glimpses of Zoo’s across the world. And no, I don’t mean animals-in-cages Zoo’s. 😉

Zoo City is an excellent example of what South African writers can achieve if they want to write stories set in South Africa; you really can give it our very particular flavour while telling the kind of tale you want to without having to focus on the evils of Apartheid or HIV / AIDS as a story-telling vehicle; one of the many things that Zoo City proves is that South Africa definitely has authors that’ll get you to sit up and take notice (while learning about our country), and Lauren Beukes is one of the authors at the forefront of showing this to the world. I have no doubt that readers in the UK and US will be intoxicated and astonished by this novel and that its characters events will remain with them for some time. That I hope that South African readers embrace this novel doesn’t need to be said – it’s just a matter of time. 🙂

8 / 10

To order your copies of Zoo City, click here (Exclusive Books); Zoo City will be available in the UK in September (from Angry Robot Books), but if you’d like to devour it before then (and who in the UK wouldn’t?!) then check out the info here – Lauren will be launching Zoo City at Forbidden Planet and you’ll be able to get yourself a limited edition hardcover. 🙂 Pre-order your copies here (Amazon UK) and head over to Lauren’s site here and her blog over at Book SA here.

Be EPIC!

P.S. Don’t just take my word that Zoo City is awesome – you can also read a review by Lood Du Plessis, one of my good friends, over at the Exclusive Books’ website. 🙂

 

Book Deals Galore!

Some great news for you all from Angry Robot Books and John Jarrold:

John was very happy to report new deals for two authors; here are the details:

PRESS RELEASE – SEVERN HOUSE ACQUIRE HORROR NOVELS FROM CHAZ BRENCHLEY

Kate Lyall Grant, commissioning editor at Severn House, has acquired two horror novels from Chaz Brenchley.

The novels are centred around a strange country house in the north of England that affects everyone who comes into contact with it – some for good, some for ill – in different time periods. The first book, provisionally titled HOUSE OF DOORS, will be set during the Second World War.

Kate Lyall Grant said: : “I am thrilled to be reunited with Chaz Brenchley whom I first came across at Hodder and who, I think, is one of the most talented – and underrated – British horror/fantasy novelists writing today. I’m delighted too to be able to celebrate my first deal with my former S&S colleague, John Jarrold.”

The agent was John Jarrold, and the deal was for World English Language rights. The first book is due for publication in September 2011.

And here are the details of a 3-book deal for Hannu Rajaniemi:

PRESS RELEASE – THREE-BOOK US RIGHTS DEAL FOR FINNISH SF WRITER

Susan Howe, Rights Director at Orion, has sold US rights in three novels by Finnish science fiction novelist, resident in Scotland, Hannu Rajaniemi to Patrick Nielsen Hayden of Tor pre-emptively, in a significant deal.

World rights in Hannu’s debut novel, THE QUANTUM THIEF, plus two further books were acquired pre-emptively by Simon Spanton of Gollancz (who publish in September 2010) from agent John Jarrold for a high five-figure sum in pounds sterling, on the basis of one chapter, in 2008. Tor will publish in hardback in May 2011.

‘I’ve known Patrick for twenty-five years and his team at Tor will do a marvellous job – Hannu and I couldn’t be happier,’ said John Jarrold.

Great news on both counts!

And here are the details of Angry Robot Books‘ first author-signing since it was announced since the news that they’ve gone independent:

JUSTIN GUSTAINIS JOINS THE ROBOT HORDE

We are delighted to announce our latest signing, bringing a stunning series of books set in the harassed police department of a city full of vampires and werewolves.

Angry Robot has signed urban fantasy author Justin Gustainis for a new series set in Scranton, Philadelphia, in a world where supernatural beings are part of everyday life. Stan Markowski is a Detective Sergeant on theScranton PD’s Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit. As Stan puts it in the first book, Hard Spell: “When a vampire puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that’s when they call me. My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge.”

Justin Gustainis said, “I’m tremendously pleased to be associated with one of the most dynamic publishers in speculative fiction today, and I look forward to selling enough books to put a smile on that robot’s face.”

The first title in this sensational series, Hard Spell, will be published by Angry Robot in spring 2011, in both the UK and USA.

Very cool news! For all those doubters out there, this should prove that Angry Robot Books is in great hands! 🙂

Be EPIC!

 

Angry Robot Review: Kell’s Legend: Book One of The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles by Andy Remic

This has to be one of the funnest and most relentless books I’ve read in a while! 🙂

Kell’s Legend follows the story of Kell, a grisly and grisled old warrior who wants nothing more than to forget the old days of blood and death and relax, but is pulled into a massive conflict when forces from the Silva Valley, a place beyond the terrifying Black Pike Mountains, invade.

The characters, action and setting all combine to make this one of those novels you’ll want to talk about with your friends – you’ll probably be saying stuff like, “That dude has the coolest axe I’ve ever read about!” or “The action in this thing is insane!” or even “Wait until you meet the Vachine and their cankers!”

Character-wise, Kell’s Legend is people with many outstanding, larger-than-life characters, the two most interesting (in my opinion) of which were Kell himself and Anukis.

Kell has what seems to be a long, blood-soaked history and Andy hints at just enough to give Kell a real depth and emotional resonance – even though he’s a very sarcastic, grumpy and says-it-like-it-is old guy. His chapters are fun and fast and brutal – there’s always plenty of humor and plenty of blood backed by great pace.

Anukis is also an extremely interesting character – she’s feisty, also stubborn as hell, a relentless and brutal fighter but also sensitive and naive, a blending which endeared me to her right from the beginning.

In the novel you’ll also meet Saark and Nienna, General Graal and the Harvesters and a host of supporting cast;

Saark is hilarious, the epitome of a one-track-mind man who is as dangerous as he is entertaining, and his scenes with Kell are excellent – the dialogue between the two is witty and acerbic and thoroughly entertaining. 🙂

Nienna could have used a bit more, as it seemed to me that the only real reason that she was in the tale was to give Kell a concrete reason to keep on fighting but I’m sure that Andy has got plenty in store for her and that she’ll probably end up stealing the spotlight in the next novel – her journey from an exuberant student to a practically world-weary witness of conflict and death was cool to witness, though. 🙂

General Graal is one sick puppy but makes an awesome bad guy, and the Harvesters are just plain chilling, while the cankers are an incredibly cool – nah, I think I’ll shut my mouth and not tell you too much about these characters and creatures. 🙂 I digged them, and they’re definitely some of the more inventive badasses I’ve met in a novel. 🙂

Moving on to the worldbuilding, Andy has created a world that, even though it seems to have faint echoes of our own, is interesting and unique, especially the world of the Vachine. Andy’s descriptions are succinct and evocative with just the right amount of imagery, and there was no info-dumping to get bored with.

The most interesting aspect for me of Kell’s Legend was the style that the tale was told in – at first I was a bit put off and had to grow used to the drama and sometimes-outlandish manner that the characters spoke and though with, but I came to realize that it was, in fact, perfect; after all, we’re reading Kell’s Legend, and the story is told much the same a story would be told while sitting around a campfire with all the drama and over-the-top-ness that makes telling such stories fun and hearing them told even better. 🙂

All in all, Kell’s Legend was awesome – a fun, hectically fast-paced and brutally action-packed novel with plenty of awesome characters and inventive worldbuilding. If you’re a fan of colourful characters, plenty of blood and gore, and an interesting and memorable take on a phenomenon that you may have had your fill of already (cryptic, I know, but I don’t want to spoil it), then this book is definitely for you and is guaranteed to keep you up late, flinching, cheering and fevered. 🙂 I’m definitely looking forward to being ‘bliksemed’ by Soul Stealers!

9 / 10

My review of the second Clockwork Vampire Chronicles novel, Soul Stealers, will be up closer to the September release date. 🙂 Head on over to Andy’s official web-home here, check out his Angry Robot page here, and order your copies of Kell’s Legend here (Amazon UK) and here (for SA readers).

And here’s the cover for Book Two, Soul Stealers:

If you haven’t yet read Andy’s work (Kell’s Legend was my first), then here are the Exclusive Books links you’ll need to order his backlist (for SA readers):

Warhead, Quake, Hardcore, War Machine, Biohell.

Be EPIC!