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Reviews

Reviews

by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer - Art, History, Nonfiction

From one of the most iconic game brands in the world, this official DUNGEONS & DRAGONS illustrated history provides an unprecedented look at the visual evolution of the brand, showing its continued influence on the worlds of pop culture and fantasy. Inside the book, you’ll find more than 700 pieces of artwork --- from each edition of the core role-playing books, supplements and adventures; as well as Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels; decades of Dragon and Dungeon magazines; and classic advertisements and merchandise; plus never-before-seen sketches, large-format canvases, rare photographs, one-of-a-kind drafts and more from the now-famous designers and artists associated with "Dungeons & Dragons."

written by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien and illustrated by Alan Lee - Fantasy, Fiction

In the Tale of THE FALL OF GONDOLIN are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar: he is called the Lord of Waters, of all seas, lakes and rivers under the sky. But he works in secret in Middle-earth to support the Noldor, the kindred of the Elves among whom were numbered Húrin and Túrin Turambar. Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable.

by Brandon Sanderson - Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction

Dalinar Kholin’s Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar’s blood-soaked past and stand together --- and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past --- even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilization.

by Stephen R. Donaldson - Fantasy, Fiction

For centuries, the realms of Belleger and Amika have been at war, with sorcerers from both sides harnessing the Decimates to rain blood and pain upon their enemy. But somehow, in some way, the Amikans have discovered and invoked a seventh Decimate, one that strips all lesser sorcery of its power. And now the Bellegerins stand defenseless. Prince Bifalt, eldest son of the Bellegerin King, would like to see the world wiped free of sorcerers. It is he who is charged with finding the repository of all of their knowledge, to locate the book of the seventh Decimate --- and reverse the fate of his land. But the legendary library, which may or may not exist, lies beyond an unforgiving desert and treacherous mountains --- and beyond the borders of his own experience.

by Peter V. Brett - Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction

Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat. Jardir, armed with magically warded weapons, called himself the Deliverer, a figure prophesied to unite humanity and lead them to triumph in Sharak Ka --- the final war against demonkind. But in their efforts to bring the war to the demons, Arlen and Jardir have set something in motion that may prove the end of everything they hold dear --- a swarm. Now the war is at hand, and humanity cannot hope to win it unless Arlen and Jardir can bend a captured demon prince to their will and force the devious creature to lead them to the Core, where the Mother of Demons breeds an inexhaustible army.

by Orson Scott Card - Fiction, Science Fiction

Ender Wiggin won the Third Formic war, ending the alien threat to Earth. Afterwards, all the terraformed Formic worlds were open to settlement by humans, and the International Fleet became the arm of the Ministry of Colonization, run by Hirum Graff. MinCol now runs Fleet School on the old Battle School station, and still recruits very smart kids to train as leaders of colony ships, and colonies. Dabeet Ochoa is a very smart kid. Top of his class in every school. But he doesn’t think he has a chance at Fleet School, because he has no connections to the Fleet. That he knows of. At least until the day that Colonel Graff arrives at his school for an interview.

by Stephen Baxter - Adventure, Fiction, Science Fiction

It has been 14 years since the Martian invasion. Our technology has taken great leaps forward, thanks to machinery looted from abandoned war-machines and capsules. So when the signs of launches on Mars are seen, there seems little reason to worry. Unless you listen to one man: Walter Jenkins, the narrator of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. He is sure that the Martians have learned from their defeat, adapted their methods, and now pose a greater threat than ever before. He is right. Thrust into the chaos of a new worldwide invasion, journalist Julie Elphinstone --- Walter Jenkins' sister-in-law --- struggles to survive the war, report on it, and plan a desperate effort that will be humanity’s last chance at survival.

by Terry Brooks - Fantasy, Fiction

The Four Lands has been at peace for generations, but now a mysterious army of invaders is cutting a bloody swathe across a remote region of the land. No one knows who they are, where they come from, or what they are after --- and most seem content to ignore these disturbing events. The only people who sense a greater, growing threat and wish to uncover the truth are society’s outcasts: an exiled high Druid, a conflicted warrior, a teenage girl struggling to master a prodigious magic…and a scrappy young orphan, improbably named Shea Ohmsford.

written by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien, with illustrations by Alan Lee - Fantasy, Fiction

The epic tale of Beren and Lúthien became an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of J.R.R. Tolkien’s First Age of the World. Always key to the story is the fate that shadowed their love: Beren was a mortal man, Lúthien an immortal Elf. Her father, a great Elvish lord, imposed on Beren an impossible task before he might wed Lúthien: to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, of a Silmaril. Painstakingly restored from Tolkien’s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a continuous and stand-alone story, BEREN AND LÚTHIEN reunites fans of THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS with Elves and Men, along with the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

by Jeff Shaara - Fiction, Historical Fiction

The North Korean army invades South Korea in June 1950, intent on uniting the country under Communist rule. In response, the United States mobilizes a force to defend the overmatched South Korean troops, and together they drive the North Koreans back to their border with China. But several hundred thousand Chinese troops have entered Korea, laying massive traps for the Allies. In November 1950, the Chinese spring those traps. Allied forces, already battling stunningly cold weather, find themselves caught completely off guard as the Chinese advance around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. A force that once stood on the precipice of victory now finds itself on the brink of annihilation.