A while back I began my rather lengthy and unplanned sabbatical, from blogging. Well to be honest from writing and reading. Originally I thought just needed a small mental break, after all, I had just broken my mind, or at least cracked it slightly...

The Hidden Masters of Marandur is the sequel to The Dragons of Dorcastle and I was eager to finally be able to return to the world that Jack Campbell created. In the first book he crafted a world, yet barely scratched its history, that was engaging and pulled me into the story...

I remember when I was first introduced to Brandon Sanderson’s work, I was wondering around a Barns & Nobel, and I saw one of his books from the Mistborn trilogy. And I was hooked on his writing from the first word. He has always been very good at building a word and filling it with wonderful characters...

Growing up I was always a fan of Greek mythology; and, since Roman mythology is essentially a variation of Greek, I loved it too. It was not the surviving myths (stories) that addicted me to the subject. It had been the concept of gods and demigods that seared the topic into my mind. During my college days, I took a course in Greek Mythology...

What is it about reading that is so important? Growing up, I never thought twice about my choice to sit in front of a television and just watch whatever was on. The cartoons and shows were exciting and as an easily impressed youngster the “storylines” they presented captured my fleeting attention and did not make me think too hard. It was a perfect way to be entertained, at least my younger self-thought so...

One of the most enjoyable ways I’ve found to relax is to read or listen to books depending on the situation. Unfortunately a while ago I was unable to do as much reading as I’ve wanted to. But that particular hectic time of my life had ebbed so when it passed I threw myself back into the wonderful habit that I want to deepen every day...

What is the first thing that pops into you mind when you hear the word librarians? I’m sure it is close to someone who works in an antiquated building full of books. They offer aid to people who are in search of a specific book and are quick to collect the fines when you’re late returning on of their books. But either of those ideas is so very far from evil...

It’s been almost a year and a half since my last post. And it’s been a crazy time for me, a lot has been going on in my life recently. But now that it’s calming down a little I’m back and with my return I’m bringing my first published novel with me, Dead Man’s Hand...

My first exposure to Brandon Sanderson’s writing was his Mistborn trilogy. Which was so well written and such a unique story that I searched out his writing. During this search I came across his first published work, Elantris, and I immediately added it to my library. The book may have sat on my digital bookshelf for a while before I read it, but that was only because I had so much other reading to do...

Could I have discussed The Peacekeeper Wars mini-series with Farscape? Probably. They feature the same characters with the same past but there is a more foreboding atmosphere to the special that did not exist in the main show. This two hour special most likely would have formed the basis for the shows fifth season had it not been canceled...

There are very few authors that spur me to purchase their books on the day they are released. One author, well at this point the only author that I will do this for, is Brandon Sanderson. Whenever I see one of his novels, novellas or short stories I immediately have a strong desire to place my hard earned money into his pocket. He is a phenomenal author; in every story of his that I have read he manages to place me into the worlds he creates...

Sorry for the rant. But what is the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the words ‘The Washington Redskins’? I would think that, for most people, it would be the professional football team that plays in Landover, Maryland, while calling Washington DC their home. But after reading over a dozen articles that say the name is racist, I began to wonder if that was the only thing that pops into people’s minds...

When it comes to audio books, I have only one destination, audible.com. They have an incredible collection of books to choose from. And since they are an Amazon company there are some very nice tie-ins with their Kindle platform. However, when it comes to the book’s narrator these tie-ins are not all that relevant. More than likely people who do not routinely listen to audio books will assume that a fantastic book will make a fantastic audio performance...

Clean was written by Alex Hughes and centers around an unnamed powerful telepath. He had been very influential in the Guild, an autonomous group of telepaths, prior to the start of the book. Fortunately for his development he has a pretty serious flaw, he is an addict. Over the course of the novel we discover that his drug was originally an experiment by the Guild. However, just because he was an addict was not the cause for his washing out of the Guild...

What is the first thing you think of when someone mentions the Kindle? Me, I think of Amazon’s first generation electronic reader (e-reader), and then I quickly run through the newer models. Amazon changed more than just how books were read with their Kindle platform; they changed how books are brought to the reader...