Mogsy's Book Haul

Wolfhound Century - I'm actually not sure how this book has slipped my interest for so long, but it wasn't until the recent release of the sequel that I finally started looking at the reviews and damn it just sounds so interesting. So excited that I won book one in a giveaway!

World of Trouble - The Last Policeman series is simply awesome and totally underrated. It's about a policeman who is determined to do his job to the very last second even as a killer asteroid is hurtling towards earth threatening to destroy all life in just a few months. I received the ARC of this third and last book of the trilogy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program and something tells me it's going to be explosive.

Veil of the Deserters - earlier this month I read and enjoyed Scourge of the Betrayer and was delighted when I got offered the exciting opportunity to review an ARC of the sequel. My thanks to Night Shade Books and Jeff Salyards! I loved the first book and I've heard the second is even better, so I'm super psyched.

Thief's Magic - thus far the only Trudi Canavan book that I have under my belt is the first book of her Black Magician trilogy, and I know she has at least one other trilogy and a few other works that are based in that world. At first, I thought that was the case with Thief's Magic as well, but apparently it's a completely new start to a new story, and so I couldn't resist checking it out. My thanks to Orbit Books!

The Shadow Throne - last but not least, I am over the moon about this ARC of the sequel to The Thousand Names. Even though it's not releasing for a few months yet, I couldn't help it, I dug in right away.

Half a King - I actually got this from Netgalley last week along with what seems like half the spec fic blogosphere, but I'd prepared my last book haul post early in preparation for a weekend trip so it didn't make it in. Something tells me it's going to be my last eARC from NG for a while, at least until I finish reviewing some of my current requests. I just really couldn't resist this one though.

The Remaining and Malice - this week I also have audiobooks in the digital pile. I got some Audible coupon codes a few days ago, so what did I do? Decided to put them towards a couple Orbit audiobooks, of course.

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire - so is anyone else excited about Dragon Age: Inquisition? Earlier this week the October release date was announced along with a sweet new gameplay trailer. The original plan was to read this one right before DA:I to get myself pumped up, but I'll probably crack before then. Regardless, I probably could have waited to buy this book, but I was still soaring rather high on the news and grabbed the Kindle version to go with the others. It's the first DA novel not written by David Gaider, but Patrick Weekes is an awesome writer too.

Mogsy's February Challenge: Review Copy Cleanup

Thanks to word of mouth, I discovered Review Copy Cleanup 4.0 over at Vicky's Books, Biscuits and Tea. I desperately need something like this! My to-review books have been piling up lately and I was going to make it a goal to polish off a bunch this month anyway, so this could not have come at a more opportune time.

Anyway, what is this challenge, you ask? Pretty much what the title says. If you find you're in the same boat, you should definitely check it out! There's more information and guidelines at the link above.

And now, since it's the first day of February, I might as well get organized and started right away. Don't you love lists? I love lists!

Here's what I'll be reading this month for RCC:

Twelve by Jasper Kent
The Tower Broken by Mazarkis Williams

Cemetery Girl by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden

Only the Good Die Young by Chris Marie Green

Astra by Naomi Foyle
The Waking Engine by David Edison

Blades of the Old Empire by Anna Kashina

Banished by Liz de Jager

Honor Among Thieves by James S.A. Corey

The Barrow by Mark Smylie

Blood and Iron by Jon Sprunk

Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell

The Detainee by Peter Liney

Talus and the Frozen King by Graham Edwards

Lockstep by Karl Schroeder

Er, I think that's enough for now, especially seeing as there are a few hefty books in there. No pressure, right? *wink*

Wish me luck!

Mogsy's Book Haul

As you may know, NaNoWriMo kicked off this Friday, and in anticipation that the writing frenzy will be in full swing, I've slowly reined in on the new book additions in preparation for November. I'll still be writing reviews, but I did want to make sure I'll have enough time to devote to completing my NaNo goals again this year, and as such this could be my last regular book haul until this crazy month is over. We'll see! For now I want to feature the following review copies that came to me over the last couple of weeks, as well as a few other new arrivals.

Copperhead - a surprise arrival from Tor, and it was like they read my mind. Copperhead is actually the sequel to Ironskin, which had caught my eye ever since it was nominated for the 2012 Nebula Awards. This book actually shifts its focus to a new character, so I took this as the perfect opportunity to jump on board. I'm glad I did, and my review can attest to that!

The Falconer - I was first drawn to this book by its stunning cover, and when Gollancz Geeks sent out an email offering copies in a giveaway, I was fortunate enough to snag one. Featuring historical Scotland and a fiery heroine fighting Fae, I found this one to be a lot of fun. Be sure to keep an eye out for the review in the coming weeks.

False Covenant - the first book of the Widdershins Adventures series Thief's Covenant was a delight. With the third book coming out in December, I figure I had better catch up with the second book! With much thanks to Pyr for helping me out with that.

The God Tattoo - speaking of Pyr, here's another surprise arrival, described as a short story collection from the world of the Twilight Reign books. I don't do short story collections and anthologies often, but this seems like a good way to discover a new series! 

Starhawk - Jack McDevitt has been writing books for a long time, but I've not actually read any of his books. So many of my friends have had nothing but good things to say about The Academy series, and so I couldn't help but jump on Starhawk, described as a prequel featuring the first adventure of the character Priscilla Hutchins.

The Iron Wolves - Andy Remic's previous Clockwork Vampire Chronicles earned the nickname of “the Tarantino of epic fantasy”, according to a post I read on Angry Robot's site about this book, and so how could I resist? I love gritty heroes, hectic battles, and crazy plot twists, which this book promises in spades!

And now even more...

The Abominable - I loved Dan Simmons' The Terror. LOVED IT. So when I saw he had a book called The Abominable coming out that had the same kind of historical-horror vibe to it, I knew I had to read it. I picked this up the week it came out.

Memories of Empire and Shinigami - I still remember the first thought I had after reading The Thousand Names by Django Wexler, and it was "Damn, I need to check out more of this author's work." Unfortunately, his older books are quite hard to find, and I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to get my hands on both of these. So happy!

Fortune's Pawn - and eARC I received because I very much enjoyed Rachel Aaron's The Spirit Thief earlier this year, and I was curious about her new science fiction novel, with her writing as Rachel Bach.

The Cormorant - you have no idea how long I've been waiting for the day for this book to go up on NetGalley. As soon as I saw it up, I requested it. Can't wait to revisit Miriam Black in this third book of the series.

Mogsy's Book Haul

Thank goodness the influx of incredible ebook deals seems to have tapered off, or else I don't know how much more my TBR pile can take. After the explosion of my last Book Haul, I promised I would show more restraint...still, there were one or two good deals that I couldn't resist. But more on that later; for this time, most of my new arrivals are from the wonderful publishers I've gotten in touch with, and you should really check out their books! Here are this fortnight's epic book loots, the physical pile first:
 

The Rift Walker and The Kingmakers - after I reviewed The Greyfriar, Pyr sent over the next two books in the Vampire Empire trilogy, which was swell because I'm loving this series! You can already read my review for The Rift Walker, because I couldn't wait one more second to devour it.

Thief's Covenant - also sent was something to whet my appetite for YA fantasy fiction. A very fun novel about a thief named Widdershins, and I've just finished reading this one, actually. Keep an eye out for my review, coming soon!

A Guile of Dragons - described as darkly humorous, I was told this one's actually the first book of a prequel trilogy to Enge's Morlock Ambrosius books. Sounds like something right up my alley, I can't wait to get to this.

Mayhem - I recently got in touch with Jo Fletcher Books, the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror imprint of Quercus. They may be new-ish, but already JFB has published a lot of great titles. Mayhem was one I'd wanted to read for a while, and I was not disappointed. Easily one of the best, most exceptional books I've read this year.

Autumn Bones - huge fan of Jacqueline Carey here, and her Kushiel trilogy featuring Phedre will forever and ever be a favorite of mine. So I was intrigued when I got word she would be writing an Urban Fantasy series called Agent of Hel. I found I very much enjoyed the first book Dark Currents, and Autumn Bones is the second book Roc sent my way. This one is going to be fun, I can tell!

23 Years on Fire - an unsolicited arrival and an unexpectedly pleasant surprise! Out of curiosity, I'd picked it up to read the first few chapters and ended up finishing it soon after that. I haven't read enough military sci-fi to know how I feel about the genre yet, but this book makes me optimistic. Review will be coming up in a few days, so look out for that.

The digital pile:

Pantomime - I really wanted to get this book when Strange Chemistry discounted a bunch of their ebooks for their first birthday celebration last month, but for some reason this title was the only one not showing up on Amazon with the sale price. It finally did, and you can bet I jumped on it! It's still for $1.99 as far as I know, but grab it quick, because I don't know for how much longer!

Infinity Blade: Redemption - who am I kidding, how can I ever turn down anything Brandon Sanderson does, even when it's a novella based on an iOS game I've never played? I've read the first one (Infinity Blade: Awakening) after all, and with this for $2.99, heck yeah I'll bite.

Ancillary Justice - been seeing a lot of good stuff about this book already, and I have a feeling this one is going to be BIG. So when I saw it up on NetGalley, I couldn't help myself.

Ex-Purgatory - also couldn't help myself. Loved the first three books of the Ex-Heroes series by Peter Clines and I'm sure I'm gonna love reviewing this fourth book as well.