The Great Geek Manual

Book: The Gathering Storm
ISBN-13: 978-0765302304

Author: Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan
Series: Book 12 of The Wheel of Time
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Release: October 27, 2009
Length: 784 pages (Hardcover)

Rating: A+

Verdict

After years of waiting and worrying, fans will be relieved to discover that they will not be cheated out of a fitting end to the greatest fantasy epic of our generation. Sanderson has risen to the challenge of filling Robert Jordan’s shoes and produced one of the best books yet released in the Wheel of Times series.

Pros: Quicker pacing. Serious progress towards an ultimate conclusion. Manages to give most major characters face time. Some satisfying justice is finally doled out.

Cons: The mindf*** of wondering whether or not what you’re reading is as good as it would have been if Jordan had finished it himself. The almost painful desire to read the next book once you’ve finished this one.

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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Child Of An Ancient City” by Tad Williams at StarShip Sofa.
• Listen to “The Death of Blessed Terence Albert O’Brien” by C.P. Meehan.
• Listen to “Incubus” by Tim Pratt at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Infestation” by Garth Nix at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “The Man who Carved Skulls” by Richard Parks at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Something There Is” by Joe Nazare at Pseudopod.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction “Seven-Year Itch” by Joshua M. Reynolds at 52 Stitches.
• Six-Word Tales is an awesome blog featuring Illustrated Six Word Stories.

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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Carnival Park” by Greg Van Eekhout at Starship Sofa.
• Listen to “Come All Ye Faithful” by Robert J. Sawyer at Podcastle.
• Listen to “The Firemen’s Fairy” by Sandra McDonald at Podcastle.
• Listen to “Halloween In July” by Kevin Anderson at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Images of Anna” by Nancy Kress at Fantasy Magazine.
• Listen to “Little Ambushes” by Joanne Merriam at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “Sleepy Joe” by Marc Laidlaw at Escape Pod.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read “The Automatonist’s Assistant” by Luc Reid at Daily Cabal.
• Read “The Creek Didn’t Rise” by Melanie Brown at Powder Burn Flash.
• Read “Deus Ex Machina” by Graeme Reynolds at Flashes in the Dark.
• Read “Getting Rid of the Monsters” by Nancy Jane Moore at BookView Cafe.
• Read the flash fiction “My Girlfriend Leaves the Atmosphere” by Angi Becker Stevens at SmokeLong Quarterly.

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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to Accounting for Dragons at Eric James Stone at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Clockatrice” by Tanith Lee at Fantasy Magazine.
• Listen to “Feathertop” by Nathaniel Hawthorne at The Classic Tales Podcast.
• Listen to “Sleepy Joe” by Marc Laidlaw at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “Rapunzel” by Tanith Lee at PodCastle.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction Eating It Too by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• Read the flash fiction From the Book of Monsters: Yaramaz Turkish Carpets.
• Read the flash fiction Time Net by Duncan Shields at 365 Tomorrows.
• Read the micro-fiction Grown from Man to Dragon by Megan Arkenberg.
• Read the micro-fiction Predators and Parasites by Lori Titus at Flashes in the Dark.

More Links

• Free Speculative Fiction Online has posted a new batch of links.

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This may very well be the best book trailer that I’ve ever seen, and it blows my mind that it’s fan made. I wasn’t planning on it, but I may actually read this book now.

Source: theNonchalantNod

I just discovered a great site, DailyLit.com. It provides an RSS feed of audiobooks in five minute segments, so that you can easily work the sort of lengthy novels you can never find the time to read into your daily schedule. Their selection includes classic public domain texts like Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, but they also have a good number of fantasy, horror, and science fiction titles.

Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Fourth Person Singular” by Dale L. Sproule at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Lobos” by Shaun A. Saunders at Beam Me Up.
• Listen to “Ode To Katan Amano” by by Caitlin R. Kiernan.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction Canticles by K.C. Ball at Every Day Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Death Ex Machina” by Rod Drake at Powder Burns Flash.
• Read the microfiction comedy “Handy Tips for Detecting Interdimensional Travelers” by Luc Reid over at Daily Cabal.

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Book: Isis
ISBN-13: 978-1593155407

Author: Douglas Clegg
Series: Prequel to the Harrowing House Series
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Genre: Horror / Dark Fantasy
Release: September 29, 2009
Length: 128 pages (Hardcover)

Rating: B

Verdict

Isis is a beautifully illustrated novella perfect for a bit of late night Autumn reading.

Children of the eighties are likely to find that Douglas Clegg’s simple tale coupled with Glenn Chadbourne’s eerie illustrations evoke nostalgic memories of Alvin Schwartz and other childhood campfire favorites, while the book serves as a nice introduction to Clegg’s Harrow House series for fans of the gothic, who are sure to be drawn in by this case of The Secret Garden gone wrong.

Pros: Beautifully illustrated. Fairytale-like storytelling. Highly atmospheric.

Cons: It’s almost too short to justify selling individually. It’s ending is too open-ended.

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