Fantasy Book Critic has posted Cindy’s Top 2009 Book List. James Barclay comes in at number five with the entire Chronicles of the Raven series of Dawnthief,
Meanwhile SFFWorld has posted their SF Review of 2009 and their Fantasy Review of 2009. Ian McDonald’s Cyberabad Days,
Keep ’em coming!
Even Even More Best of 2009 Read More »
Age
The Man Behind the Magic Read More »
Robert William Berg has written a very articulate analysis of Mark Chadbourn’s Age of Misrule trilogy (World’s End,
What Chadbourn has done is take the framework of The Lord of the Rings and set a similar quest in modern day Britain. Tolkien’s work was a celebration of Celtic and British mythology. He was attempting, in the manner of an archeologist/historian to create a credible retelling and homage of his homeland’s mythology, through intricate, meticulous research. Chadbourn’s series springs from a similar impulse, but instead of reinvisioning the past, he lifts the mythology, wholecloth, and drops it into the present. The Lord of the Rings is, ultimately, the tale of how magic gradually began to leave the everyday world. Age of Misrule is the tale of how it returned. And there is no better setting than Britain, which seems to be one of the few places in the world that not only still has a rich mythological tradition but still has areas that have been all but untouched by the modern day, where one can travel an hour away from a modern, bustling city and find oneself at a medieval castle or abbey or even Stonehenge.
I told Mark he has to take me on a walking tour one day, but only if he can guarantee we won’t return and find 100 years have magically passed…
A Whole New World… Read More »
The Scriptorium is a great site for interesting fonts, but I didn’t expect it would be a great site for a book review! But they spotted our use of their most excellent, most unusual font, Valdemar, on the cover of Mark Chadbourn’s World’s End (Age of Misrule Book One)
The overall result is excellent, and it’s just the kind of book Valdemar was designed for. I also quite like the cover art by John Picacio, which is surprisingly conceptually reminiscent of the cover Howard David Johnson did for my Ysgarth RPG.
As to the book itself, I’m happy they think it lives up to its cover:
World’s End is quite an engaging read. It’s well written and fast-moving, thematically reminiscent of some of the work of Robert Holdstock or Neil Gaiman, but much more commerically written for broad audience appeal.
Thanks guys! That’s a great quote! Keep up the good work that makes our work good! As you says, “A good read with a great font as part of a really appealing cover design. What more could you ask for?”
Valdemar Font in Age of Misrule Read More »
The eternal conflict between the Light and Dark once again blackens the skies and blights the land. On one side stand the Tuatha de Danaan, golden-skinned and beautiful, filled with all the might of angels. On the other are the Fomorii, monstrous devils hell-bent on destroying all human existence. And in the middle are the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, determined to use the strange power that binds them to the land in a last, desperate attempt to save the human race. Church, Ruth, Ryan, Laura and Shavi have joined forces with Tom, a hero from the mists of time, to wage a guerrilla war against the iron rule of the gods. But they didn’t count on things going from bad to worse …this is the stunning continuation of a powerful fantasy saga by one of Britain’s most acclaimed young writers.
For Your Viewing Pleasure: Mark Chadbourn’s Darkest Hour Read More »
Significantly revised from the earlier, catalog version, here is the final cover image:
Well?
For Your Viewing Pleasure: Darkest Hour Read More »
