Blood of the Fold - Terry Goodkind - The Sword of Truth

In book 3 of the Sword of Truth series we see Richard Rahl continue to discover more and more about himself, his history , his power and his future.  Because of his actions in book 2,  the New World is now unprotected from the dangers of the Old World. The story move forward nicely and is an interesting read.  One problem with this book that seems to be an issue with Goodkinds style, is he constantly repeats what has happened in previous scenes and from previous books as if the reader is new to the series and hasn't read the prior books.  I suppose this may happen, but for us that plow through the series it gets old going over the same stuff over and over again.  Looking past that however, this is a good book.  7/10

The Domino Men - Jonathan Barnes

Henry Lamb is a file clerk in a typical office building, hiding from a brief career as a child star on the BBC and his not-so-funny-but-often-repeated punch line, "don't blame me, blame Grandpa." He finds himself conscripted into the Directorate and an age-old fight against the royal Windsor family, the latter of which is seeking to bring Leviathan into being. I was pleased to see the Prefects return from Barnes' "Somnambulist," as I enjoyed their wit and (deadly) practical jokes. This book actually just came out in the U.K. and isn't scheduled for release in the U.S. until 2009 (but Amazon UK will ship it). Those readers that enjoy Terry Pratchett or Christopher Moore will enjoy this book!

Chasing the Dead - Joe Schreiber

Yep you've seen this one here before.  Todd wrote about this a couple months ago.  It looked interesting enough I thought I would pick it up myself.  While I'm in the process of reading a large series (Goodkind's Sword of Truth), I like to take a break in between every couple books for a quick diversion.  This fit perfectly.  Nice quick read, just a couple hours worth spread out over the weekend.  Todd gives a nice synopsis of the plot so I won't repeat it here.  Throughout the novel, I thought I had read this somewhere before.  At one point I thought of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies.  As Todd mentioned, Sleepy Hollow came to mind a few times.  I thought also of a Dean Koontz novel that I can't recall the name of at the moment.  But despite these similarities, Schreiber was able to string together an interesting read that combined all these ideas.  While it didn't break new ground, it definitely held my interest.  Now back to Goodkind.  8/10

The Law of Second Chances - James Sheehan

I sometimes have difficulty criticizing a book, as anyone that has taken the time to put down 60,000 words demands some respect. Based on the dust jacket, I bought this book, but was quickly weary of the never-ending flashback to the main character's youth and a plot that was never really reached until halfway through its pages. Tobin is a retired lawyer that has taken up a criminal case for the son of an old friend, and it wouldn't be much of a story is there wasn't some type of conspiracy in the background. The plot never really grabbed me - I never believed that it could happen as written. Too much of this story seems to exist only to help the plot along, and I was extremely disappointed by the appearance of a young woman in Tobin's life (spoiler alert - yes - Molly is exactly who you think she is). I wasn't captivated by this story at all - just too much of it was the basic legal fiction outline, and the balance just didn't click for me.

Stone of Tears - Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth

Book 2 in this series starts immediately after the ending of book 1.  We begin to see the relationship between Richard and Kahlan grow even further and even more complex throughout this book and the book focuses on the two characters trials and seperation from one another.  Richard becomes more cold (and if I recall he continues to grow more cold and distant throughout the series), but this fits in with his roll as a war wizard (as well as a bit of an unstable emotions -- Richard really needs to take some anger management classes). Overall the book was good and continues the story along nicely.  While a second book never has complete resolutions, they should have some on some minor plot points....this one does, but it seems that things were wrapped up simply because of page count.  While I hate to say this on an 11 book series, there are many points in this book that I think could have been expanded on and ideas and thoughts delved into a bit deeper.  Having said that, a very well written book and still pretty quick read.  8/10

Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie

I had intended to delay reading this, as it is the last in the trilogy and I was hoping to force myself into a bit of restraint. It is, unfortunately, like knowing there's a bag of chips and telling yourself that an apple's healthier... This is the best fantasy series that I have ever read, and at times transcends the limitations that the genre label sometimes casts. See "Before They Are Hanged" for a review of the characters, and prepare for things to get very dark in this volume! There is a race for the throne, and the usual politicking ensues, but Bayaz has a surprise candidate in mind. In the meantime, Ferro finds her purpose, and a few characters are exposed as being other that what they seem (and that's part of what makes this a great series). Logan Ninefingers is a significant character is this book, and not always for good reasons. I loved this book, and am sorry to see the series end!