I was a little skeptical of this one at first, it seemed just a little too much like cheesy generic fantasy (which I totally love, mind you). I didn't give it the chance that it deserved and I hope that you all learn from my mistakes! Lamentation is an awesome, complex, multi-threaded, nuanced work of mind-bogglingly huge scope. I really mean it, you need to read this if you love fantasy.

*** March 2010 Newsletter Pick ***
The moment I saw this book I couldn't believe my eyes. Michael Ian Black, one of the funniest men to ever live, had written a book... for kids? Mind. Blown. It called to me, and who was I to deny that call? Inside is a monkey, despite the book being titled The Purple Kangaroo. But he isn't just any monkey. This monkey can read minds. He can even tell what you're thinking of! What are you thinking of? Well, a purple kangaroo of course. What else are you thinking of? Ask the monkey, he's the one who can read minds, not me!

*** February 2010 Newsletter Pick ***
I'm not usually one for detective stories, but this one grabbed me right away and pulled me along despite my protests against the genre. Charles Unwin is promoted to being a detective against his will, but he is not a detective, he is a clerk. It is obviously a mistake, but when he shows up to work someone else is at his desk and his boss is dead. Both surreal and absurd, the incredibly tight pacing and gripping narrative pulls the reader along with a mystifying relentlessness. The closest experience I can compare reading it to would be if you could somehow read a dream. If you're looking for a clever twist on hard-boiled noir, The Manual of Detection is for you.

Scar Night may be the best fantasy novel I've read in a very long time. Intriguing characters, a fascinating world history, and a compelling adventure to boot. Dill is the last archon of the Church of Ulcis. Relegated to little more than ornament and tradition, he is just a pale shadow of the righteous angels that his ancestors were. He is assigned Rachel as his overseer, to protect and teach him what he needs to know as a temple battle archon. However, for all her prowess within Spine order, Rachel is seen as a flawed creature for her passion and emotion. The city's other angel, Carnival is a relic of a time long past, now more monster than angel, she stalks the shadows of the city, coming out every Scar Night to take her due in souls.

How far would you go for love and revenge? Ivan Isaacs was an old west preacher until his childhood love was struck down by an unholy plague. Trading half of his soul to a rogue devil for the power to avenge his loss, he sets off on a bloody journey through the suddenly zombie filled wild west. This Korean comic demands reading!

It's been a long time since I've read such a compelling high
seas adventure. A ship the size of a small city, a young man who can understand any spoken language, a kung-fu princess (sorta), a tribe of pixie warriors, talking rats, a dire prophecy that will could end the world, and the sinister plot to bring it about is barely scratching the surface of what is inside this wonderful book. Really, I can't say enough good about it.

To me, this is the definitive cyberpunk novel. Practically dripping with style, this tale of a near-future America that is so outlandish and exaggerated that it makes complete sense.