Who’s opinion is the most valuable when you ask about fantasy books? It is hard to argue against the author at hand if you are asking about his book. But if you ask about fantasy in general who is the best person to ask? The answer to that question is that there is no one person to ask. However you can get an overall feel by asking around. I have gathered 6 individuals who have ties within the book and film industry .

Brenton, from Auckland, New Zealand is a Visual Effects Artist.
Tony Peters: Saskatchewan, Canada is a Children’s Mystery Book Author.
PhoenixFalls: LA, California (USA) was a lead bookseller in charge of ‘New Releases’ for Barnes and Nobles.
Robin Sullivan: Virginia (USA) is an editor and publisher who’s husband Michael is an author.
Medora: Ohio (USA) is a Young Adult Librarian who also writes reviews for another website.
Benjamin Kong: British Columbia, Canada is the proud owner of this website. Bestfantasybooks.com !  But his day job is being a Web Planner (Project Manager) for an online gaming company.

As you can see, the people I have interviewed are from a few different places around the world, have vastly different jobs yet their work will overlap. What will be so interesting about these interviews is the variety of answers they give. I was so amazed with the answers, they were so different in perspectives, some of the answers don’t agree with each other yet I found myself wanting to interview more people so I could get such answers as these!

Oh and who am I? My name is Enchanté (a.k.a. Jon Snow), I write reviews and articles for ‘Best Fantasy Books’ and my own blog. I am also from Auckland, New Zealand and my ties to the book industry? Watching school children devour books as their teacher.

Interview format: I will be listing the question followed by the answers. This way it is easier for you to compare answers. I will also comment on what I think about the answers at the end of each question. Also note that this post is very long because of the in depth answers that the interviewee’s gave. But it is worth reading everyone….trust me.

How long have you been reading fantasy and/or sci-fi?

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): Ever since I could read by myself
Tony Peters (Author): Since I was about seven or eight
PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): Since I was 10 or 11, so about a decade and a half.
Robin (Editor, Publisher): Since I was about 10-12, so 35 years
Medora (YA Librarian): Since I was in fourth grade
Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): Since I’ve been about 9

MyComments: Looks like everyone started at a very early age, this is perhaps the only similarity that everyone has in this interview (besides liking fantasy)

If you remember, which book or series got you into reading fantasy and/or scifi?

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): The first book was “Forest of Doom” book #03 of Ian Livingstone & Steve Jackson’s Fighting Fantasy given to me on my 7th birthday by my Nana I think. That series is responsible for my ‘must own the series’ fixation with books…
Tony Peters (Author): Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis
PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): My mom got me into reading the genre, as a punishment, believe it or not. I think I was late returning some library books and so my mom said as punishment she got to pick the next book I read. She gave me The Dragonriders of Pern, an omnibus edition of Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon. Needless to say, I was hooked.
Robin (Editor, Publisher): The Hobbit and a Wrinkle in Time followed closely by Narnia. 
Medora (YA Librarian): Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings
Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): The Hobbit. This was my first foray into the world of speculative fiction. As a kid, I become obsessed with it — reading it a good 5 times. From there I went on to Lord of the Rings.
MyComments: A lot of Tolkien, no surprise here.

If you don’t predominately read fantasy/scifi, can you name some fantasy/scifi books you have read?

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): Haha! It’s the only genre I read (other than VFX manuals!)
Tony Peters (Author): The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien), Graceling (Kristin Cashore), The Game of Sunken Places (M.T. Anderson)
Robin (Editor, Publisher): (Robin listed a lot of books, among them Narnia, Harry Potter, I Robot, Mistborn, Twilight, Stardust, The Name of the Wind)
Medora (YA Librarian): I read a variety of books, but mostly historical fiction. The fantasy/sci fi books I have read and liked very much include The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, A Great and Terrible Beauty (trilogy by Libba Bray - young adult), Starship Troopers, and King’s Wizard and Glass.

I personally think that fantasy has evolved a lot. Fantasy and scifi used to be all about the storyline and sometimes the characters suffer. These days it is more about characterization (GRRM) and World building (Erikson). Do you agree with this statement? How have these genres evolved over the years in your eyes?

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): Maybe it’s not the genre that is evolving but the writer and the reader. Early scifi (pre80s) had different writing styles but they also had different real-world experiences to draw upon. These days we have so much access to so much information that both the writer and the reader have vastly different expectations about what they want in story. A lot of the early books I read were definitely hero journey books, Gemmell is a classic for this, where no matter what hardship the hero endured you KNEW he was going to win out and scrape through. These days I look for writers who develop the world and characters a lot more and think that’s mainly about my reading tastes maturing and enjoying a well crafted story.

Tony Peters (Author): Fantasy is very much about world building, painting amazing pictures of scenic places. People are definitely concentrating more on developing their characters than they used to, which is great considering characters are very important to a strong novel.

PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): I’m incredibly glad for the increased focus on characterization, as strong characterization is what makes or breaks novels for me. However, I disagree about world-building; I think developing a complex alternate world has always been a characteristic of the genre. The world-building today may be more realistic (as in bowing more to current understanding of science or politics) but you can hardly say that Tolkein, with his myriad notes and songs, or Asimov, with his excerpts from the Encyclopedia Galactica, didn’t know how to build a complex world.

Robin (Editor, Publisher): There is no doubt there is some great fantasy out there nowadays where as in the past it was pretty limited and cookie cutter. There are still “themes” in many of them “orphans destined for greatness” and “ancient evils” but “how” they are being portrayed is new and fresh. On one hand something like Name of the Wind is an “orphan to greatness” story but the richness of the plot and characters makes it “so much more”. Same thing with Sanderson who again has ancient evils and orphans/mentors but great story telling has made them feel fresh.

Medora (YA Librarian): I think you would be right but I don’t believe it is genre specific. I think that most fiction has become character-focused and that has just been a reflection on the social focus on individuality. I believe strongly that fiction must be about the characters first, so I think this is a positive change - of course, the characters must come to life in an engaging environment, so authors have more of a challenge feeding both elements successfully.

Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): I’ve seen an incredible evolution in fantasy over the years. We started out with the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Several other writers, about 20 years or more ago, started writing similar (if bad copies) of Tolkien’s vision. We’ve really seen a shift from just black and white, sword and sorcery types of fantasy books to complicated fantasy where characters are purely grey. Many conventions have been flipped around — it seems to be a common thing these days, the take expected fantasy conventions and twist them around.

MyComments: Here is the first sign you can see the similar yet very diverse range of comments. I have never said that the older books did not have great characterization or world building but that authors in general these days focus a lot of their writing in these facets of fantasy/sci-fi.

What do you think of Young Adult (YA) books? They were always a steady sale but with the Harry Potter boom and recently the Twilight boom, they seem to be getting more and more attention. Is it a fad? Are there horrible authors out there just in it for the money?

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): I don’t think about them. Never read them, would like to say I never will but chances are I’ll end up reading Harry Potter to the kids as bedtime chapter stories!
Tony Peters (Author): I love YA novels, they are very interesting and quite often deal with issues that are important for young people to learn about and see that others are going through similar situations. YA books I think will always be popular, so no I don’t think it is a fad. Of course there are those who are only in it for the money in every genre. I won’t name names, but they are out there everywhere, somtimes it is easy to see, other times it is more difficult and unexpected.

PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): (Did not answer)

Robin (Editor, Publisher): I think YA has some of the best books out there. I think because some of the “adult” books spend too much time on world building – explaining everything in past history and long expositions, or lengthy description that really doesn’t engage or move the story. YA on the other hand is dealing with people with shorter attention spans so it is “tight and quick”. I also think they are showing a lot more “creativity” than mainstream adult titles. This by the way is not “new” if you go back the Hobbit, Narnia, and Wrinkle in Time these were all great YA offerings. Potter did more for getting kids to read than anything in recent history and they are still some of the best written, most imaginative books around. Twilight on the other hand has the same sort of mass appeal but overall the writing, characters and plot are very week and unoriginal. But if it gets kids reading, then I don’t see the harm (though many are concerned with some of the messages about relationships that it is sending.)

As for “horrible authors” in it for the money – that is ridiculous. The amount of writers that make a “living wage” is minuscule. The average advance is $2,000 - $5,000 and since most books don’t earn out the advance authors are being paid far less than minimum wage for their efforts. Combine that with the fact that it is nearly impossible to get published in the first place no one in their right mind goes into it thinking they will “get rich”. The “big money makers” – Meyers/Rowlings are SO VERY RARE that they are outliers. I don’t think there are any authors “in it for the money” all writers (good and bad) write because they “have to” it is something they would do if they never made a cent and the vast majority of the writers are in exactly that category – i.e. never making a cent.

Medora (YA Librarian): I think that adolescent readers always go for what speaks to them emotionally, and that would be characters who are dealing with the same emotional situations that the readers themselves are either going through or with which they can identify. The story itself and the writing even if it is wretched, as in both of your examples are secondary to characters the teens love. I don’t know if the authors are in it for the money or the fame, or to contribute to readership opportunities, but they are here to stay as long as they offer teens the characters who mean something to them. As long as the teens are reading something and finding strength through the characters, I think it’s not a problem - and hopefully, these readers will continue to read as they grow and find more sophisticated authors to challenge them.

Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): There are some very high quality YA fantasy books out there. Harry Potter is one example. I avoided these books for so long, but I finally broke down and read them a couple years ago. I have to say, I was impressed especially with how dark and serious it became in the later books. Certainly not “kids’ fantasy by the end of it. There are also some stunning works of “YA” fantasy, such as Garth Nix’s books and Phillip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass.

MyComments: Long story short, we all want YA to stay as long as it gets children to read whether they be bad or good books in our eyes. As to whether or not there are terrible authors in it for the money? Well on one hand we have an editor and publish saying that it is a load of rubbish that it is so hard to make money off books that there is no one in it for the money. Yet on the other side we have a published Author who disagrees otherwise. Who is right? They both can’t be…surely.

Harry Potter and Twilight are found in both the YA sections and the fantasy sections. In your opinion do you think they have gained more fans for the fantasy genre? If they haven’t why do you think this it?

Brenton (Visual Effects Artist): The fact they are YA is insignificant compared to the fact they were made into successful Blockbuster movies that were accessible to PG/PG-13 audiences. This helps to open the genre of fantasy/sci-fi to a whole new range of people, the fact that corresponds with them being in the YA section just makes them that much more accessible and acceptable.

Tony Peters (Author): I don’t think that any book in particular gets people into a specific genre, people are going to read what they want. Just because they enjoy one book or series in a genre, it does not mean that they will like others in that genre.

PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): I think that YA books in the fantasy and sci-fi genre do gain more YA fans for the genre, setting a strong base for the new generation of readers, but I have not yet observed them capturing a new adult readership for the genre. I wish they would.

Robin (Editor, Publisher): Actually I’ve only seen them in YA sections. I think there are a lot more adults reading YA than most would realize (see reasons stated above). I think that fantasy is an area where adults seek out YA books where other types (mysteries, memoirs etc) hardly any adults will read a YA title in those genres. The “fantastical” element transports young and old alike so the age is not such a big issue. I do think that a common dynamic might be. I bought this for my kids, and after hearing all the hype I decided to read it myself. Then they enjoyed it and go looking for “other fantasy” for future reads, so yes I think the HP and Twilight franchise is bringing more readers to fantasy as a whole. However, not the “old school” fantasy of long drawn out stories with too many names, too long of history, and hard to pronounce names. Those are quickly abandoned and the “next” book might just be back to the fantasy/YA section.

Medora (YA Librarian): I think they are fantasy, and I would not recommend them as science fiction. I do think there are more readers of fantasy because of these two series. Once the teens finish the series, or if they are waiting for the next installment (not the case in either situation any more, but it was at one time) they want more reading material of that nature to keep them busy while they wait. I have made booklists for those waiting, as they are very upset because there are only so many copies of Breaking Dawn in the library, and they are number 123 on the waitlist; it only makes sense to take advantage of the phenomenon and offer them similar and often better quality material.

Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): These books have definitely brought an influx of new fantasy readers. Fantasy is more popular than every these days with the LOTR movies followed by a list of other big fantasy movies. However, many of these readers don’t end up reading the more complicated fantasy, sticking instead to fantasy that is close to what they perceive as “fantasy.”

MyComments: I think the separation of children’s books and YA books has been a revelation for the younger readers. It has made looking for books easier and has made the job for the author to target their audience easier as well. The consensus here seems to be that fantasy does gain readers but they can easily lose them as well. The question remains, how does fantasy gain more readers and keep them?

The same question applies for movies. At any given time there will be multiple fantasy/sci-fi films in the top 10 box office yet there is a negative trend with fantasy and sci-fi books. Often there are zero fantasy/sci fi books in top 10 (excluding Potter and Twilight)

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): I think for a lot people it’s easier to track and follow the storyline for fantasy/sci-fi based themes in 100min+ movie than it is in verbose 1″ thick paperback that can follow multiple characters across multiple storylines.

Tony Peters (Author): People tend to enjoy painting their own pictures in their head, movies do not allow this, books do. Fantasy and sci-fi are very much about painting pictures, but often people find fantasy an sci-fi novels hard to believe.

PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): I think that perhaps sci-fi and fantasy movies appeal to different sort of people than sci-fi and fantasy novels. As discussed above, sci-fi and fantasy novels are becoming more and more about characterization and world-building, while sci-fi and fantasy movies are very much plot-driven, all action. That’s why they are almost always summer blockbusters, and why there are some classic novels that have never (to my knowledge) been filmed – say, Asimov’s Foundation novels. In fact, to expand my example, you’ll notice in the movie I, Robot, there’s very little from Asimov’s short stories other than the Laws of Robotics, instead, there is some silly, trumped up action plot. Additionally, I think movies in general take away from readership they may be good for individual novels by giving them greater attention and a new audience, but in general, the more people go to movies the less they will read, because there are simply far too many other pulls on our time.

Robin (Editor, Publisher): I think in general “fantasy” is growing in both films and books. They may not dominate the top 10 but there is still high readership. I do think that there have been more fantasy books in the top 10 in the last 10 years then anytime before. 1977-89: 4 out of 94. 1990-99: 8 out of 99. 2000-09: 8 out of 192. As you can see there are many more fantasy on NYT best selling list then there were in the past. So I think in general that both movies and books are benefiting from a greater acceptance of the “fantasy” genre.

Medora (YA Librarian): I think movies are a different animal altogether - quite a few fantasy and sci fi books take a great deal of effort to read, while of course, the film versions are easy to digest. That may account for this discrepancy.

Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): That’s an interesting connection Jon. I think it has to do with how people perceive entertainment these days. People want to be entertained with bangs and special effects. Fantasy and Science fiction films these days are all about wowing the crowd with wondrous special effects and amazing battles. This naturally grabs the attention of many people.

A book is a different experience, one that takes a good deal more patience to explore. Instead of seeing something, you have to imagine it. Many people these days don’t want to bother with this. I would say there isn’t necessarily a negative trend, there are fantasy books in the top ten. However, many of these are the usual suspects like Goodkind or brooks who have generated a mass following over the years due to the promotion of publishers.

MyComments: It just seems that in our busy world people don’t have time to read as much as they want to, and in some cases there are others that don’t even get time to read (Is Steve Jobs’ goal for having everyone read 50 books a year possible for the larger mass?). Movies help solves this problem (time). Not only is a movie faster to watch than a book to read, it is also cheaper to buy a movie ticket than to buy the book (sometimes even the DVD is cheaper). However, I think we are in denial if we don’t think there is a negative trend when you compare fantasy/sci-fi books to fantasy/sci-fi movies. Just look below

Top Lists of the last 5 years for movies and books that included fantasy or sci-fi in either category. (I got the movie lists from imdb and Robin provided the books top lists)

2005 movies: 5 out of 10 (Star Wars 3, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, HP: Goblet of Fire, War of the Worlds, Batman Begins)
2005 books: 2 out of 23 (Anansi Boys – Gaiman, Kinfe of Dreams – Jordon)
2006 movies: 4 out of 10 (Pirates of the Carribean, X-Men, 300, Superman Returns)
2006 books: 1 out of 19 (Phantom – Goodkind)
2007 movies: 5 out of 10 (Spiderman 3, Transformers, Pirates of the Carribean, HP: Order of the Phoenix, I am Legend)
2007 books: 1 out of 20 (Children of Hurin - Tolkien)
2008 movies: 5 out of 10 (The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Indiana Jones,  Hancock, Wall-E, Twilight)
2008 books: 2 out of 34 (Host – Meyer, Anathem – Stephenson)
2009 movies: 4 out of 10 (Star Trek, Wolverine, Watchmen, Terminator Salvation)
2009 books: 0 out of 12

You can clearly see here that every year for the past 5 years there have been 4 or 5 movies in the top 10 list. However to find a fantasy sci-fi book, you have to drop to around the top 20 to find just 1 fantasy.sci-fi book. And in the case of 2009…there are ZERO!

I recently did an article explaining the symbiotic relationship movies and books have on each other. Do you think that movies are good for a books reputation? If you had a choice would you allow movie companies to buy the rights to books? why?

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): Of course I do, I work in the VFX industry! LOL. Seriously though, Harry Potter was a hit before it became a movie, once it became a movie however it took on cult status that it just wouldn’t have achieved otherwise. Same with Twilight, a hit with female YA’s and emo’s, it gets turned into a movie and it’s cool to like vamps, hmmm… wonder if this affected Buffy box set sales? LOL.

Tony Peters (Author): Movies are not usually as good as a book. In some cases movies slaughter books, yet book sales still go up from movies. Movies sometimes do make people hate the book even before they even read it, which is why as an author, I would be very careful about who I sold the rights to. I would also want to be involved in the making of the movie to make sure that it went as I wanted it to. I do not wish to have book tarnished by a terrible movie.

PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): As I mentioned above, I think a movie can be good for that particular book, but I do not think that the movie industry in general is good for the book industry. But of course I would allow movie companies to buy the rights to books. I don’t know if I, personally, as an author, would want to sell the rights to my novel, but on principle I would defend that right.

Robin (Editor, Publisher): I think that movies are just another form of communication and story telling. So yes I agree that movies and books are symbiotic. I do think that movies are good for books and many times I hear people say that they need to read book xyz before the movie comes out so it increases sales before the release – plus a number of people will want to compare/contrast so many people will buy the book after seeing the movie. As for movie companies buying the rights for books – I think the bigger problem is them buying the rights and not doing anything with them. Many people “sit” on a right to a movie for years or even decades. IMO if they are going to make the movie – then go after the rights. But don’t buy them just to prevent others from making it.

Medora (YA Librarian): I know several authors - one I am working closely with right now who is terrified that he may be pushed into allowing film versions of his work. Once it is out of his hands, he says, it’s gone, but if viewers don’t like the films for any reason, they will still hold him responsible. I think the film/book connections must be viewed on a case by case basis. Sometimes the films are wonderful, and everyone is happy. Other times, readers are upset, but viewers who have never read the book are happy, and may even go to the book and read when they may not have read it without having seen the film first. Every situation is different, but of course, the author has no idea what will happen until the film is finished and viewers and readers have spoken.

Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): If it’s a fantastic book that is loved by many (such as A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin), I would like to see authors have more control over what goes on with the movie. Too many companies try and cash in on a book but it’s clear that it’s all about money; these movies often turn out soulless. Movies can be good for a book insofar as that they can promote the book. A movie invariably means more book sales. However, most of the fantasy movies don’t do justice to the books. The only exception I feel is Peter Jackson’s vision of LOTR’s.

MyComments: As book readers, we just don’t want to see the book we love get destroyed by a film. It really tugs at our hearts and we are bereft if there is nothing short of extraordinary.

In what direction would you like fantasy and/or scifi genre head in, in the future? Do we need to go back to focusing on the storyline rather than 400 pages of world building? Would you like fantasy and scifi to be as popular as romance novels?

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): I don’t really care whether the genre changes direction, or becomes as popular as romance. There are so many books out there I’m never going to read them all, some will be good, others bad. That’s the joy of picking up a book.

Tony Peters (Author): I think that storyline is equally as important and characters and world building, I think that the fantasy/sci-fi genre needs to find that balance. I could not see fantasy reaching equality with romance, people who read romance read it because of the airy, no thought story that is easy to read, fantasy does not have the same easy-to-read quality.

PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): For the genre to continue to produce books I love, I’d like to see it become more diverse, more men and woman writing female protagonists, more minorities (and not only Black people, but also Asians, Latinos, etc.), more people living alternate lifestyles (I’m thinking predominantly sexuality-wise, but heck, I’d even enjoy reading a fantasy novel from a vegan or a true anarchist), even more religious people writing in the genre. I’d love to see more blending with other genres of fiction – romance, mystery, westerns, whatever. I’d love to see it become more popular both with other genre readers (romance is one, but also mystery) and with the literary elite (hooray for the day a science fiction or fantasy novel wins a Pulitzer or Booker Award!). But even more than that, I’d love it to go in some brand new direction I can’t even fathom, because I do believe that the genre should never simply rework what has been done in the past its great strength is that it is always looking outward and forward, even when it’s reimagining our past.

Robin (Editor, Publisher): I like the direction fantasy is heading, there are a lot of very creative enjoyable reads. I think they have to appeal more to “mainstream” and books that are too “type cast” and “stereotypical” will not do well. The great books are one that tell a compelling story with well developed and rich characters. The fact that they happen to be set in a “fantasy’ world should be secondary. Personally the “bricks” seem to be a mainstay of the genre where authors feel that if it’s not 800 pages they have to keep putting words on the page until they reach the correct amount.  If the story you are telling takes 800 pages then do it.  But don’t “fill” it just to make the work longer.  As for fantasy/sci fi being as popular as romance novels – well to be honest I didn’t know they were popular.  I also think of them as “cheap” and “lacking substance”, so no I would not like to see the novels go this route just to gain readership.

Medora (YA Librarian): I think the focus should always be on characters first - but as you say, world building is very popular and I know many readers who are enchanted first by these worlds before they care about the characters who inhabit them. I think many sci fi/fantasy authors have as large a following as the popular romance authors, so I’m not concerned as far as popularity goes.

Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): I look forward to the continual emphasis on grey characters, strong world building, and unpredictable plots. Having said that, I don’t like a book that ONLY has grey characters. You need a few good and bad situations in there to draw a moral line by which to judge the world.

Using only 7 words, describe your ideal fantasy/scifi book. e.g. vampire, fast, funny, trilogy, sex, eternal war

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): Too hard, can’t do it 
Tony Peters (Author): Action, believable, strong characters, strong plot, descriptive
PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): Imaginative, eloquent, uplifting, with characters I love.
Robin (Editor, Publisher): Adventure, action, mystery, magic, character, creative, original
Medora (YA Librarian): psychological, drama, breathtaking, honest, real, descriptive, subtle
Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): epic, grey, brutal, dark, hero, evil, unpredictable

MyComments: I can’t argue with any of these! But Action and Unpredictable look to be strong features of everyone’s opinions.

Finally…any additional comments you would like to make regarding this interview or about the fantasy/scifi genre

Brenton (VisualEffectsArtist): Recently I was searching for information on ‘Dance With Dragons’ book 5 of the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. I’m rereading the series for the third time, hoping that Dance will be released this year. With no more information on Martins website, I started getting annoyed with him… until I found an interesting post on Neil Gaiman’s website/blog which quite nicely put my sense of entitlement in it’s place.

Tony Peters (Author): Thanks for the interview. I hope my answers were helpful. My book doesn’t really fall under fantasy, more of a mystery.

PhoenixFalls (Lead Bookseller): Nope. Hope this was helpful!

Robin (Editor, Publisher): I just wanted to thank you for asking my opinions and to say I’m very optimistic about the future of fantasy/sci-fi. Thanks again.

Medora (YA Librarian): Great questions - I am very curious as to the outcome of your survey/project.

Ben (Best Fantasy Books owner): Thanks for the questions Jon!

MyComments: After getting the link from Brenton, I read Gaiman’s post and it was such an enlightening read just like I hope this post would be to most of you readers.

My final comments are that although we as readers and lovers of fantasy/sci-fi have different opinions and tastes we also do have a lot of similarities. We want to see fantasy/sci-fi succeed and go and as far as it can. Be ever evolving and adapting making us think and wowing us with originality. We give our opinions and express our ideas about these genres because we care, we are passionate about these habits, loves, hobbits, obsessions. Can I see fantasy/sci-fi reaching a bigger audience? Simple answer yes. With technology and the popularity of ebook readers, iphones etc. it has made reading even more readily accessible (downloading an ebook from your kindle in a public toilet for example).

I Would like to thank Brenton, Tony, PhoenixFalls, Robin, Medora and Ben for their time, effort and thoughtful responses. I would also like to thank you, the readers out there that made it this far. There is a lot of information here to digest. Some of the answers are very profound and I am still re-reading them now and thinking about it. Why? Because I love books and I care.

Review written for Best Fantasy Books by Enchanté (a.k.a) Jon Snow from Sleeping With Books

Contest is now closed. Thanks to all who participated. The winners will be contacted by email today or tomorrow.

Got a new book giveaway contest for you guys — one that’s going to appeal to all you comic lovers Simon & Schuster is allowing me to give away 5 copies of their new hardcover, The Wolverine Files (valued at $40 USD). This is the raw, complete story of Wolverine, covering every aspect of his life, from his origins to his daily interaction with other members of the X-Men team.

The Wolverine Files is a gorgeous 160-page hardcover volume that leaves no part of Wolverine’s life left uninspected.  It was written by Mike W. Barr who has contributed to some of pop culture’s most enduring series, including Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Captain America, the Hulk, Batman and The Simpsons.

Folks, you don’t want to miss this one. Wolverine is one of the most popular comic book characters and the star of the new X-Men movie currently in the theatres. This book will be released May 26^th.

How to Enter

Here at Best Fantasy Books, I like to keep book contests simple, and this one is no different. Simply send me an email to bestfantasybooks@gmail.com with “Wolverine Book Contest” as the title. Include your name and shipping address in the body of your email. Simple, eh?

There’s a seperate contest for the same book for the best fantasy book forum members. If you want to participate in this (if your dedicated enough, you can win the book), check out the fantasy book forum thread about it.

I’ll be selecting the winners on Tuesday.

Publisher Book Description

The enclosed is a top secret compilation of all known facts about the mutant called Wolverine (a/k/a Logan, Weapon X, Patch, the Runt). This report, generated by the concerted effort of SHIELD agents, is intended for the eyes of SHIELD personnel only, and is not to be copied, distributed, disseminated, or in any other way leaked to the general public due to the delicate nature of the information herein. It details Wolverine’s origins, career, friends, allies, in all manner of specifics.

Be aware that representatives from Simon & Schuster publishing have been sniffing around, endeavoring to obtain this information through the Freedom of Information Act. We cannot begin to imagine the tremendous, even incalculable damage that would be sustained by both Wolverine and by our information-gathering forces should this report wind up for purchase in local bookstores. Let us hope such an event never comes to pass.

If you want more information about the book or to purchase it, check out Simon and Schuster’s official site; be sure to sign up for their newsletter to get more information about Simon and Schuster’s new book releases.

In the mean time, feast your eyes on these gorgeous images from the book!

So, Brandon Sanderson, author of the Elantris, the amazing Mistborn trilogy, and Robert Jordan’s soon-to-be-finished final Wheel of Time book (well, now a trilogy) is doing something quite unique: he’s giving away for FREE a FULL verison of his latest novel, War Breaker. Granted, the novel is in draft mode, but the final version will be available as a hardback in bookstores everywhere.

Download the book here.

Brandon Sanderson has become one of my favorite authors. I’m going to be modifying my Top Fantasy Novel list quite soon to add his Mistborn trilogy.

So get over there and download Sanderson’s newest book. This is a great (and unique) opportunity to get a not-yet-released high quality book for free. Sanderson is doing something new here by giving it away. I hope it works for him!

Speculative Fiction is fun, but not like it used to be!

Guest Post By JC De La Torre

Everywhere you look, speculative fiction is dominating the airwaves and inkwells. Star Trek and Wolverine own the box office, with Terminator and Harry Potter soon to follow. Spec Fic has even snuck into the rarefied air of the stuffy New York Times best seller list, first with Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series and then with Seth Grahame-Smith’s interesting re-imaging of Pride and Prejudice (with
zombies, no less). Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse is steaming up HBO, while Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian continues to capture young minds. TV shows like Supernatural, Terminator – the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Heroes and Fringe keep
speculative fiction in the forefront.

It truly is an amazing time to be a writer, reader, and watcher of speculative fiction. It feels almost as if Spec Fic has gone from geekdom to mainstream. When folks in Klingon uniforms or a forty-year
old man with a goatee dressed as Princess Leia were the only ones who cared when a new Star Trek/Star Wars or other sci-fi-fantasy movie was released, now it seems soccer moms want to go see Harry Potter and who didn’t want to see the new Star Trek?

Has it ever been this good? Sure – not only that, it’s been even better. In the 80’s-90’s Star Trek dominated both on the idiot box and the theaters. Star Wars was pre-Jar Jar, we were introduced to new concepts like Stargate, Highlander, and Legend. Orson Scott Card exploded on to the scene with Enders Game and Michael Crichton took us to Jurassic Park. We trembled with Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, laughed at Beetlejuice, and wept at ET (don’t act like you didn’t).

No, Speculative Fiction may be more mainstream but the quality just isn’t there. I can remember the first time I saw Highlander and the immortal Sean Connery belted out “Ya can’t drown ya fool! You’re
immortal!” I was instantly hooked. Even through the horrid sequels, I remained a loyal fan of the series. I loved the TV show and based one of my characters in my novel series, Rise of the Ancients on Connery (guess which one). Stephen King and Anne Rice captured my imagination, giving me scary places and viciously intoxicating vamps. I’ll freely devulge my admittance into the Buffyverse as a lover of the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff, Angel (I still watch the shows today). I was
a browncoat and was furious when Fox prematurely aborted Firefly (Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse was pitiful compared to his previous work). Every week I stepped through the Stargate with Richard Dean Anderson, wondering what amazing world they would discovery next and why the hell everyone in the universe spoke English except for the Goa’uld?

When a novel like Eragon can sell millions, you know that standards and the readership have changed. I call it the Harry Potter effect. Harry transcended sword and sorcery. He ripped past all the glass
ceiling that seemed to keep fantasy from going mainstream – even conquered the Christians bible thumpers who believed that he was the anti-christ. Now, more than ever, people who have never read
speculative fiction are picking up books. Its why everyone is writing vampire novels now. Twilight hit big…here comes all the copy cats….just like Harry spawned Artemis Fowl and Percy Jackson.

I wanted to write a vampire novel myself but when Meyer’s Twilight exploded I saw the mainstream flooded with bloodsuckers of every type, I elected to go a different route with my series. Bare with me as I self gloss a little – but I’m happy I did as I feel that while my work
seems to pull from some of the things I loved about the old Speculative fiction of the 80’s and 90’s, it was also vastly different from most stuff out there (even though it’s been compared to Dan
Brown, Neil Gaiman, and the Percy Jackson books – I don’t see the correlation). I really believe we need more of that in today’s speculative fiction. While Star Trek was fantastic, it was just a
rehash of themes we already were familiar with. Wolverine is comic book hero who’s been around for several decades. Terminator is a continuation of the 80’s. Twilight is just the teeny-bopper version of
the Vampire Lestat. Eragon is basically the combination of several different fantasy clichés. Where is the new stuff that expands our minds and challenges us to think out of the box? We find that – then yes, friend, Spec Fic will be at its zenith. Still…wasn’t Syler awesome as Spock? I digress. Tell us what you think - is there unique speculative fiction out there that hasn’t been discovered by the
masses that deserves mention?

JC De La Torre is the author of the Rise of the Ancients series, the latest, Rise of the Ancients – Annuna, is scheduled to be released on July 31st. Visit http://jcdelatorre.com for book trailers, reviews and more info.

Keeper Martin’s Tale — Officially the Worst Book I’ve Ever Read.

A few posts ago, I talked about the Amazon Fake Reviews issue. One of the posterboy’s of this new author-writing-fake-review phenomenon is Robert Stanek. A while ago I wrote an actual review of his terrible book, Keeper Martin’s Tale. Stanek got Amazon to take my review down — probably the only legit review out of his 300+ fake reviews. Oh the irony. Here is the review:

I had the dubious pleasure of reading Keeper Martin’s Tale a few months ago. My mouth still hurts where it hung constantly open for the entire duration of the book. A few choice words come to mind when ruminating on the experience. Appalling. Disgusting. Terrible. Ghastly. Horrific. Repulsive. Sordid. Vile. I could go on an on enumerating the list of synonyms for bad.

I’ll end it with this phrase: It was a pile of sh*t!

I’m not in the habit of attacking authors, but in this case, I feel the effort warranted. After all, Rob uses smarmy tactics to promote his books (fake Amazon reviews, fake Amazon lists, trashing other authors while recommending his own, etc).

Unquestionably, Stanek wins the worst-fantasy-writer-ever award. I never thought anyone would top Robert Newcomb in this category, but Stanek succeeds and succeeds with ease. This guy’s writing is a textbook example of what not to do when you write. How is it possibly that people actually buy this pile?

The prose in Keeper Martin’s Tale is abysmal, the plot boring, awkward, and the characters dull as a spoon. “Keeper Martin’s Tale” reads more like tenth grader’s first creative writing project than the expected professional type prose exhibited by publishable authors.

Simply put, the man cannot write, not a bit, not a ounce, not a scintilla, not a single atom. All those Amazon “reviews” equating “Keeper Martin’s Tale” (indeed all of the Ruin Mist series) as the Second Coming are complete fabrications.

After reading the book, I went back and read some of the “reviews” laughing so hard I almost broke a few ribs. Reviews like the following abound on Amazon:

“I’ll just add to the glowing reviews of this book. I have some (limited) negative feelings about this book like others do, but overall I think that it’s a unique book that’s well worth having. Does Robert Stanek know how to write??? Oh yeah!!! He’s very good at getting inside characters heads without being obvious about it. He’s very good at describing a fantasy world. He’s very good with dialog. The plot and pace is excellent. Okay, so I too am VERY jealous of anybody who can write such a great story. BUT HE’S EARNED HIS PLACE WITH THE GREATS OF FANTASY!!! He’s worked very hard for his success and he has the courage to pursue his dreams unlike 95% of the population (including myself). And NO I don’t belong to his Official Fan Club, but I’d probably join it, if he had one”

What a load of crap! Anyone who has actually read the book knows these are fake reviews! Lets deconstruct the “review”.

“Does Stanek know how to write??? Oh yeah???”

Ah, are we on the same planet? From what I’ve seen, Stanek couldn’t write a publishable paragraph to save his life.

“He’s very good at describing a fantasy world”

No. NO. AND NO! Stanek’s “descriptions” are appallingly bad. Geez, even dragonlance authors do a better job!

“The plot and pace is excellent”

Try Slow and plodding. After reading the book, I’m still asking myself, what was the plot?

“He’s very good with dialog”

Uh…not true. IN fact, the dialogue is stilted. No personality whatsoever. Want good, witty dialogue? Read Greg Keyes’s The Briar King. Now THAT man can write.

“BUT HE’S EARNED HIS PLACE WITH THE GREATS OF FANTASY!!! He’s worked very hard for his success and he has the courage to pursue his dreams unlike 95% of the population (including myself). And NO I don’t belong to his Official Fan Club, but I’d probably join it, if he had one[/I]”

SO much for objectivity in a review. Can we say FAKE REVIEW?

NO ONE with an once of sense would ever waste a breath of praise on Stanek’s drivel, much less post effusive reviews in the vein of “STENEK IS BETTER THAN JORDAN AND MARTIN” or “STANEK IS THE NEXT JORDAN.”

Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it by posting a few sample paragraphs from the book:

“Always more reminders of the things she should or should not do—her proper place, always her proper place. She knew all about the proper things, the proper mannerisms, the proper greetings, her proper duties, her proper place. She had even been taught, though only recently, the proper things to do to invite a man’s attention. She was to begin courting. But why? “

Blah, horrific. I wrote better than this in grade five. And one more painful passage to convince the skeptics:

“Seth returned to the room they shared then and did a thing he claimed not to understand. Galan was sitting on the edge of her bed, running a comb through her long hair. He sat beside her and the next thing he knew his lips were pressed against hers.
Immediately afterward, Seth fled the room and in his confused state of mind, said he knew of only one person he could turn to. Brother Liyan had been meditating in his private chambers and, without announcement, Seth burst into the room and in one great rush of thoughts explained all that had happened since he left the hall.”

Does this prose seem childish to you? It’s definitely not up to publishable standards. Or at least the ones I’m familiar with! The entire book is like this. Even worse, the book is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors.

STAY AWAY from this author! Though if you are in the mood for a good laugh, read it. The book’s so bad it’s almost funny. Robert Stanek’s Keeper Martin’s Tale is the WORST book I’ve ever read. I officially award it the BestFantasyBooks “Worst Book” award. Go post that on your reviews, Mr. Stanek.

For those of you not in the know, Beowulf is a 10th century old English poem that has been translated and adapted many times; from good text translations to terrible film adaptations. In the poem, Beowulf is a giant of a man descended of kings, yet king he is not. Because of his father’s deeds and his uncle’s jealousy he became an outcast and sent on a deadly mission that no one ever thought he would come back from. His mission was to kill the unstoppable ogre, Grendel.

R.Scot John’s very good version (that’s because it’s not a film) of the epic tale stays as true to the poem as possible. He starts off slow, introducing characters and a bit of history among the clans, but then Grendel is introduced and it is all on. In my own minds eye I could envision Grendel wrecking havoc, sundering the souls of men and feasting on their flesh. This is due to R.Scot’s ability to describe a scene, telling enough for you to form an image but not so much as to not let your imagination flow. I was personally amazed at the information this book presented. Turning a poem into a full blown novel is not easy and more than a little did R.Scot do when researching the tale of Beowulf. Any parts that he did change were very sensible, making it easier to read and overall added to the story well. The best change was the twist of Grendel’s father and the importance of Wiglaf.

What I liked most perhaps about the story of Beowulf is that he is human. While I was reading the book, I was always comparing Beowulf to other mythical heroes, Samson and Hercules being two that came to my mind quickly. Yet Beowulf was unto his own and I was glad they he wasn’t like them. I would not have liked to read about an all conquering hero, I like my hero’s flawed. He was young but too brash, had the strength of thirty men in his arms but unwise in the way of life.

Tempering the good with the bad I must say that a lack of a professional editor has hurt this book. From spelling mistakes, to misplaced names, to insufficient map detail has caused some annoyance while reading. A good editor should have solved these problems, but this is a learning curve fledgling authors often take (especially when low on capital).

Overall I was impressed by R.Scot’s work, more so when I visited his website fantasycastlebooks.com after finishing the book. The Saga of Beowulf is action packed and true to the heroic fantasy genre. I would really love to pick up some original work from R.Scot because this book only hints at his originality and the underlying ability he has for writing heroic fantasy.

Review written for Best Fantasy Books by Jon Snow, from Sleeping with Books.

So I thought I would address an issue that’s bothering me: Amazon (fake) reviews.

Most people who are thinking about buying a book head off to Amazon to read the reviews. Many of you do this and put little thought to the validity and source of the reviews. There is a dark side to the Amazon review system: it’s actively being gamed by both unscrupulous authors and publishers.

Never thought about that did you? The Amazon review system is vulnerable to anyone who wants to take advantage of it. Practically anyone can post a review on Amazon undery any pseudonym. The word on the street is that publishers pay marketing firms to “promote” their books on the web. One of these “promotional” tactics, probably the most effective book sale-wise, is to register a medley of fake personas and use them to pad the 5 Star review ratings of a book on Amazon. Yes, this takes some effort on the part of a person, but one or two people determined to give top ratings to a book can easily spend a couple days (or weeks) writing up fake reviews and posting the on Amazon. There are entire marketing teams out there that are dedicated to this. A publisher’s own marketing team might even do this.

Why would publishers and authors sell out their ethics to try and con people into buying books? Money, lads, it’s all about money. Success or failure can rest upon the Amazon rating. Now for big name authors, their books’ Amazon ratings may not matter so much – they have such a reputation and presence in bookstores that the average Joe will just buy the book off the shelve without doing research first. But new authors and authors who publish in smaller genres often earn their bread from the Amazon review system. A drop of a star can make a significant difference in the sales of the book. It should come as no surprise then that people will try and game the Amazon rating sytem to generate more money.

You can bet your mother and your first born child that many authors and even more publishers stoop to posting fake, glowing reviews. Can I directly proof this; no. Am I positive? Yes.

Why does Amazon allow this? Because they make a lot of money from this. Sales of books mean money in Amazon’s pocket. It’s kind of like eBay trying to stop seller of counterfeit items. With each sale of a fake purse, eBay get’s a commission. So why would they actually want to do something about stopping it? It’s taking money out of t heir pocket. Amazon, my readers, has even less reason than eBay, who is at least being sued by the companies affected by the fake products being sold. So Amazon is happy, the publishers making money from the fake reviews are happy, and the authors are probably happy as well, given that they benefit from the process. Do all authors write fake reviews? Probably not, but there are a lot that certainly do.

How To Protect Yourself From Fake Amazon Reviews
So if you are scoping the Amazon reviews and trying to make a buying decision, here are three things you can do to protect yourself.

1. Read the 3 STAR (and below) ratings.
More often than not, these are the real reviews, not publisher-paid fake review crap. These reviews often show the true substance of the book. ALWAYS take 5 star reviews with a grain of salt and then some. If you really want to be sure, take a look at what other reviews the review has written. If there are lots of different genres and books reviews, it’s probably a real review. One of the signatures of a fake review is that the “review” only has a couple other reviews (though they could have a lot of reviews if the persona is used on regular basis — say as a job), and the reviews are all about the same author’s books.

2. Look for the Cons
Usually these fake publisher reviews give a gushy 4-5 star rating. If there are no negative points listed, be very wary. Rarely is a book so perfect as that. If there are negative points listed, make sure the rating makes sense. Some fake reviews list a couple negative points as a matter of principle, just to make the review look genuine. You will also note that the language and style of some fake reviews look the same. That’s because they are often written by the same person. More on this below.

3. Search the Web for Blog Book Reviews
Type the name of the book + “review” in google. High profile genre book blogs will often show up with reviews of the book on em. Read a couple of these reviews. These reviews are often far more trust worthy than any review you’ll find on Amazon.

A Portrait of an Amazon Fake Review: Case Study

Now, it’s nice to talk about all this in theory, but let’s do a bit of a case study. Let me present to you the biggest online fake review scammer of them all: Robert Stanek (or Robert Stinkit as I like to call him). This guy has mastered to art of posting fake, glowing, smary reviews about his books. And he’s apparently made a great living off doing it. Robert Stanek is the worst writer in the fantasy genre. All his books are self-published, and they are utter and complete crap. But, if you look on Amazon, you will notice he has 300 + reviews with almost perfect 5 star ratings. Don’t believe me, check out Robert Stanek Fake Amazon Reviews

Let’s see some of these so called reviews from someone named Jodi F.:

My husband and I are both teachers and as a parent with boys in 5th and 6th grades, I found this an outstanding novel. You only have to read this to see why it is becoming one of the most beloved books of all time. The writing sings, the illustrations and the wealth of extras take your breath away and the story is as deep and rich as stories get. I doubt the author knew he had written something on par with Rowling’s Potter when he finished it but he certainly had to know he’d written something special. And this book is truly something special.

A look at other reviews she’s/he’s written show other 5 star reviews written about…you guessed it…Stanek’s other books.

Let’s look at one more review by someone named GrammaBonnie:

Since their first publication nearly a decade ago (2001 in ebook), Stanek’s Ruin Mist books have become some of the most beloved books of all time. There’s a reason for this: they are very well produced, very well written and gorgeously illustrated. I hold these books in as high regard as Lewis’s Narnia and Tolkien’s Hobbit.

When my oldest started to read fantasy, this was my first suggestion. I truly enjoyed reading the adult edition and my child was just as thrilled with this as I’d hoped. A magnificent world, populated with enduring characters awaits within the pages of this magnificent book and best of all this is just the start. Seven more books await and they’re all just as good.

The only way you could possibly be disappointed is if you don’t continue with the rest of the books. This does end in a cliffhanger after all, and it isn’t the first book ever written to do so either. Cliffhangers in life and fiction abound.

I’m thrilled to be able to share this book and hope my kids will share this book with theirs and theirs with theirs. Truly a joy to read, from an author who is among the most skilled I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Our favorite editions of these are the special illustrated. The next one is The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches II (Keeper Martin’s Tales, Book 2, Special Illustrated Edition). Don’t miss the sequel series In the Service of Dragons (In the Service of Dragons, Book 1). I also found Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ruin Mist: The Essential Reader’s Guide to be a fascinating read.

Now, notice the same overly effusive praise? In fact the language is very similar in tone and style. I’d be willing to be it’s written by the same person, probably the author himself, Robert Stanek. In fact, both reviews contain two phrases that are identical: “the most beloved books of all time.” A coinsidence? Nope.

Then we even get a list of, lo and behold, more books written by Stanek. A quick check on what other books our old granny has written reveal all her other reviews are written of…guess? Robert Stanek’s books.

Now take a look at an actual, real review — a review that gave the book its deserving 1 star:

I can’t understand why this book has such great reviews. I usually don’t write reviews, but I was so disappointed by this book, I felt I had too. Bad grammar, boring characters, jumps in the plot that make NO sense, and terrible formatting. The illustrations where not great either. The book is only 140 or so pages, and I have had to force myself through them. Save your money, don’t buy this book. There are MUCH better fantasy writers out there.

Don’t believe me still. Want a sample of a book, according the one of the fake reviewers here that is “truly something special”? Well here is an excerpt taken from the book:

“Always more reminders of the things she should or should not do—her proper place, always her proper place. She knew all about the proper things, the proper mannerisms, the proper greetings, her proper duties, her proper place. She had even been taught, though only recently, the proper things to do to invite a man’s attention. She was to begin courting. But why?”

My eyes are bleeding already and I’m about to have a proper fit…

“Seth returned to the room they shared then and did a thing he claimed not to understand. Galan was sitting on the edge of her bed, running a comb through her long hair. He sat beside her and the next thing he knew his lips were pressed against hers.
Immediately afterward, Seth fled the room and in his confused state of mind, said he knew of only one person he could turn to. Brother Liyan had been meditating in his private chambers and, without announcement, Seth burst into the room and in one great rush of thoughts explained all that had happened since he left the hall.”

There are even worse abominations of the English language present in the book. My three year old niece can write better then this. This book is truly something “special,” something especially bad!

So, be very very careful when using Amazon’s Review system to decide whether to buy a book or not. Look for other non-amazon reviews and always treat the Amazon reviews with more then a few grains of salt. For my next posting, I’ll going to post a review of Stanek’s book. It’s should be funny.

Rise of the Lich King, Book Giveaway
Hey Guys, Simon & Schuster are giving away 10 free copies of the new WOW novel “Arthas:Rise of the Lich King” through this website. Visit the myspace page for the book here.

How to Win one of these books?
Just send and email to bestfantasybooks@gmail.com with “WOW Contest” as the subject line. Please include your shipping address in the body of the email. Depending on the amount of emails I receive, I’ll either choose the first 10 people who email me or every 5th person to receive a free copy of the book. It can’t get any easier then that!

Simon and Schuster requested I include a link to their newsletter, so if you want to sign up for it, go here.

This contest will run for a couple days, depending on the response. So, if you want a free book valued at 25 bucks, make sure to email me! I’ll contact the winners in a couple days.

EDIT: Thanks to all who sent in an email. The 10 people have been notified of their win and the books will be shipped out to them. Look forward to more future contests from www.bestfantasybooks.com

Free Books, Heck Yea!

There’s a free book giveaway contest going on right now in the Best Fantasy Books Forums! I’m giving away 3 of the upcoming World of Warcraft books, Arthas: Rise of the Liche King, to the top 3 posters in the best fantasy forums from now (April 17th) until Monday (April 20th).

This is a great opportunity to to join our fantasy book forums — if you have not already — to get the lowdown on the best upcoming fantasy books, good fantasy book recommendations, etc.

So checkout the Fantasy Book Giveaway Contest thread for all the necessary details.

Our forum community is failry small now, so you have a great chance of winning one of the 3 free books. There will be another contest starting on Monday as well, so stay tuned.

EDIT: Thanks to all who participated. The three winnders have been notified and the books will be shipped out to them. Look forward to more future contests from www.bestfantasybooks.com

Review of The Magic Theif by Sarah Prineas

There are many children’s fantasy books seeking to take the throne recently abandoned by JK Rowling. One of these contenders is Sarah Prineas who has written an entertaining juvenile fantasy series. Her first effort is The Magic Thief, first book in her new trilogy.

The story revolves around a young thief Conn who pickpockets a magician’s magic stone. Normally, touching this stone (called a locus magicalicus) has fatal consequences. But Conn proves resistant to its effects. This interests the magician and lands Conn a job as the magician’s servant.

This magician Nevery proves to be an interesting character. Like the ex-thief Conn, the wizard is a disreputable figure, having been accused of murdering the Duchess of Wellmet. Nevery fled from the city to avoid a hanging. Now, 20 years later, returns to the town to investigate why the magic that powers the area is disappearing.

The relationship between Conn and Nevery, while predictable, is an interesting dynamic with Nevery trying to avoid becoming attached to his new servant, while Conn strives to prove himself worthy of becoming an actual apprentice. Conn makes bountiful use of his less-reputable skills during the course of the book. I don’t want to go into more plot detail, but rest assured that there are adventures enough to keep every child entertained.

The book is very easy to read for youngsters. Adults looking for a more “adult” storytelling mode may find the quick, almost choppy sentences that tell the story like it’s a dream annoying, but remember, this is a book strictly for age’s 9-12 range, not for adults. But even an adult can experience a great deal of pleasure curling up in chair with the children and reading the book out loud.

I have the hardback version and it’s beautiful. The vivid, gorgeous cover art really add a lot to overall “feel” of the book. The pages are quality onion skin and each chapter has a picture of the scene – something that can make a big difference for kids.

Summary
Overall I was quite impressed with Sarah Prineas book. The Magic Thief is an entertaining novel that vividly brings to life everything that children love in a story. I look forward to the sequels, and if The Magic Thief is any indication, I am confident Sarah Prineas will deliver a solidly entertaining story for kids. I have the sequel to the book, so expect a follow up review of it.