Matthew Hunter

This, the Second Book of Murgen, continues to make use of Smoke’s unusual talents to provide a broad perspective to the Annalist’s recording of events following the end of the Dejagore siege. With the Black Company reunited with its Captain in Taglios, the time for the invasion of the Shadowlands has come, and preparations are moving rapidly. The intrigue is moving rapidly as well, for the Black Company has a long memory for betrayal, and the rulers of Taglios are beginning to think that their allies may just be worse than their enemies.

Hellsing is a fairly unique take on the vampire mythos in anime. The art is done in an unusual style, more abstract than I would normally prefer, and somewhat repetitive. The characters are intriguing if occasionally hackneyed. Although it’s hard to pack much plot into individual episodes, due to time constraints and the need for cool visuals, there is a metaplot that develops throughout the episodes that looks to be going somewhere interesting.

The fantasy genre is notorious for its cliches. The same elements that make up a compelling tale, as expressed in The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, occur again and again. Fans continue to embrace them tirelessly, because as any fan of the genre knows, it’s the details that matter. It’s not where you’re going, but how you get there, and what happens to you on the way. Tad William’s Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy is a perfect example of that basic principle.

A killer stalks the streets of Toronto. It kills by night; it drains its victims of blood. The papers scream vampire. But Vicki Nelson, ex-cop turned private investigator, doesn’t believe in vampires. At least, not unless someone’s willing to pay her to believe in them – and it can’t hurt to have one more person on the case, even if the killer turns out to be human. Somehow, though, in a fantasy novel it never does…

Continuing the Chronicles of the Black Company, The Silver Spike tells the tale of events following the climatic clash in The White Rose. In the aftermath of that battle, the surviving core of the Black Company went one way, and the supports of the White Rose another.. leaving the soul of the Dominator imprisoned in a silver spike, buried deep in the heartwood of a sapling demigod. But evil calls to evil, and what man’s soul is immune to the temptations of wealth and power?

The Hedge Knight builds on Martin’s short story in the Legends anthology about Dunk and Egg. It collects the six-issue comic series into a single graphic novel. If you missed the comics, this is a good way to catch up. The events substantially predate those in the Song of Ice and Fire series, however, and appears to be independent – that is, no information that is necessary to understand the series is presented in the graphic novel, and vice versa.

In his second novel of the Tales of the Otori, Lian Hearn takes the story that could have ended after Across the Nightingale Floor and begins to explore the ramifications of the character’s choices. Lady Kaede, now free of the immediate prospect of marriage thanks to the death of Otori Shigeru, begins to grasp the reins of power for herself. Lord Otori Takeo, meanwhile, must fulfill his promise to the Tribe by entering their way of life and giving up his Otori inheritance.

Fevre Dream is an eloquent and retrospective novel, taking as its setting the Mississippi steamboats and the decadence that characterized the city of New Orleans, and adding a dose of the supernatural that fits right in with the rest. The title is derived from the christening of the steamboat by the same name, the magnificent creation of the owner of a shipping firm fallen on hard times and a mysterious foreign benefactor.

The story of Tarma and Kathry, shin’a’in swordsworn and white-winds mage, begins as a short story published in a collection. After two or three stories, the characters made it into a full-fledged novel set slightly before the events in the Arrows of the Queen trilogy. Although this book successfully stands alone, readers will want to read the sequel Oathbreakers, and may also be interested in Oathblood (which collects the short stories concerning the two main characters into a single volume).

Thief of Lives is an unusual combination of mythology. The traditional pseudo-medieval fantasy setting, with elves and (presumably) dwarves, contrasts sharply with the primary focus of the characters: killing vampires. Or rather, exploiting the ignorance of the people who believe in vampires, because two snake-oil salesmen can make a good living getting rid of things that don’t really exist. This book follows up on the first, which revealed to the protagonists that their mythical enemy actually existed, with an exploration of the stereotypically dark and mysterious past.