George R. R. Martin "A Dance with Dragons"

The paperback edition of the latest installment of Martin's Ice and Fire sage is split into two volumes but each has more than 700 pages so I didn't feel too cheated at having to shell out for both.

Ice and Fire continues to enthrall me, even though Martin shares the late Robert Jordan's view that you should never tell a tale in 10 words when you could use 10,000. Martin's characterisation remains strong as always. The main protagonists of Dragons are Daenerys Targaryen, John Snow and Tyrion Lannister. Daenerys's fledgling empire in the East seems to be coming apart due to her unwillingness to act despotically. John Snow is desperately trying to strengthen the Night's Watch and enlist any allies he can get for the forthcoming battle against the terifying ceatures (the "Others") who live beyond he wall. Tyrion contiues to be my favourite character in the series even though his fortunes are much diminished.  Now he is heading for a meeting with Daenerys in the East and his cunning would be the perfect foil for her compassion but knowing Martin he will kill off one or other of them before they even get to meet. 

Sadly I have yet to see any episodes of the Game of Thrones televisd series because Sky have an exclusive license and I use a different cable provider.

George R.R. Martin: Deamsongs Volume II

The second volume in this retrospective from the creator of Ice and Fire. This is just as good a read as the first volume although for different reasons. In the first volume I found the retrospective bits more entertaining than the stories. In this volume, perhaps reflecting Martin's developing craft as an author the stories are much stronger and the retrospective bits are more forgettable. For fans of Ice and Fire who missed Robert Silverberg's Legends collection this volume gives a second chance to read the Ice and Fire prequel "The Hedge Knight".

Older Instant Book Reviews

• Conn Iggulden, Lords of the Bow: Second book in Iggulden's "Conqueror" saga about Ghengis Khan. This is probably a great read but I struggled to get over how utterly dislikeable Ghengisk and his Mongol horde are.
• Gary Gibson: Stealing Light: Start of clever space opera series by a new to the scene Scottish SF writer. The central theme of the novel revolves around a simple premise that has profound implications. Good Stuff.
• J V Jones, The Bakers Boy: Volume 1 of series. Plot is pretty standard fasntasy fare involving lowly kitchen boy's lonely journey to become (no doubt) saviour of the universe. Nevertheless entertaining escapism.
• Kevin J. Anderson: The ashes of the Worlds: Book 7 in the extraordinarily good Seven Suns Saga. Sadly weak but at least it ties up all loose ends albeit sometimes unconvincingly. Made essential by the quality of the first six books.
• George R. R. Martin Dream Songs (bk 1): A Retrospective from the creator of Ice and Fire. Stories range from so so to excellent. Authors commentary though is first rate.
• Demon of the Air by Simon Levack: Detective Story set in Montezuma's Mexico. So so.
• Figure of Hate: Bernard Knight. Medieval Detective Story. Entertaining.
• Blood River by Tim Butcher: True Story of Journalists Journey down the Congo. Gripping but depressing.
• Metal Swarm by Kevin Anderson: Latest in series. Great.
• The Dreaming Void by Peter Hamilton: New Sequence from creator of Night's Daw. SLow to get started but picks up towards the end.