Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
Publishing date: September 26th 2006
Rating: 9 Pages: 384

First off before I start this review let me say that I may be a bit biased on Gaiman, since he's my favorite author period.

Back 1998 Gaiman published a collection of short stories called Smoke & Mirrors. Published mainly for the hardcore fans, since short story collections usually don't sell very well for an author. Much to Gaiman's surprise S&M did really well. And continues to do really well even now 8 years later. Which brings us to Fragile Things, Gaimans first short story collection since S&M. And like S&M Fragile Things is poised to have a long life. Gaiman in my opinion is one of the masters of the Short Story. Much like Harlan Ellison & Kelly LInk, Gaiman has the ability to shove a lot into just a few pages.

This collection includes several short stories, a few poems, and a novella. Many of which are some of Gaiman's best.

One story crossbreeds a Sherlock Holmes story with a Lovecraftian story with magnificent results. Another finds the months of the year sitting around a campfire telling stories. Instructions is a poems that's exactly that, instructions of what to do if you find yourself in the land of Faerie. Bitter Grounds looks at the coffee girls legend from New Orleans. The Problem of Susan looks at what could have happened to Susan from the Narnia books. And the book's endspiece, The Monarch Of The Glen follows the futher adventures of Shadow, the main character from Gaiman's novel American Gods. And my personal favorite is Harlequin Valentine. A story that plays beautifully with the old Harlequin legend.

Overall this is a strong collection that can serve as an introduction to Gaiman for new fans. Or can be a nice treat for established fans.

Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks

Armageddon's Children: by Terry Brooks
Publication date: August 29th 2006
Rating: 8 1/4 Pages: 384

Terry Brooks is has three series that he's written over the years. His most popular ones are the Shannara books, which are traditional fantasy novels. And another series he has is "The Word & Void" series, which takes place in the modern day, and is a dark urban fantasy series. Brooks has long hinted that the two series are linked. That The Word & Void books are the past history of the Shannara books. And that brings me to the new book. Armageddon's Children is the first book of a new series that begins to string together his two previous series.
This book picks up about 80 years beyond the events of the last book in the "Word & Void" series, Angel Fire East. The world we know has descended into chaos. Anarchy is the norm. Cities are in ruin. And what's left of humanity, are huddled together in walled encampments in a few key cities.
The action revolves around four main story lines. The first one follows Logan Tom. Logan is one of the last Knight of the Word. A Knight of the Word is an agent of the Word. IN this story, since the dawn of time The Word & the Void have struggled for supremacy. An ancient battle between Good & Evil. During the time setting of this story, The Void has the upper hand. And the balance has been shifted towards evil. Plagues have killed thousands. Mutants have begun to emerge from the shadows. And Demons roam the land making slaves of what's left of humanity. Raiding & destroying what's left of the cities.
Logan is sent on a mission by Two Bears, a Native American who is an agent of good, to find a being of immense power that has gone into seclusion since the events of Angel Fire East. Anyone who's read AFE, will remember the Gypsy Morph.
The next group of characters we're introduced to are The Ghosts. The Ghosts are a group of street kids who live on the fringe of what was once Seattle. The Ghosts are lead by the oldest child, Hawk. The Ghosts manage to barely scrape out an existence and survive in the wastes that were once a great city. There is an encampment of of survivors within the city, but they stay behind walls & shun any outsiders.
The city for the Ghosts is starting to become to dangerous to stay in. And Hawk is torn between keeping the Ghosts in the city, or trying to lead them out into the wilderness where they might be safer. But water & supplies are getting harder & harder to find. So he's not sure which would be the best. One day the Ghosts are attacked & their Guard dog Cheney is mortally injured. Hawk is nearly inseparable with Cheney & this weighs heavily upon him. IN the night when he's distraught, Hawk finds, to his surprise, that he's magically able to heal Cheney. Is Hawk more than meets the eye?
The next character we meet is Angel Perez. Angel is also a Knight of the Word. She travels from city to city trying warn who she can about the Demons that are slowly destroying any cities they come across. Angel has also been sent on a mission to find an ancient talisman of power, the Elfstone.
Now since this book is only the beginning of at least a trilogy, these different story-lines only begin to come together. And in typical fashion as of late Brooks leaves you wanting more. There is also another smaller story-line that follows a group of Elves who are also looking for the Elfstone. Overall this is a strong debut for this series & like I said Brooks definitely leaves you wanting. And I'm really interested to see where this story goes.