DreamDark: Silksinger - Laini Taylor, 2009, G.P. Putnam's Sons. Review by Kevin Gerard
Kevin is the author of Conor and the Crossworlds, a fantasy series for young adults.

Laini Taylor has a bright future; I was so captivated by this story I just had to express my sincere appreciation for her contribution to children's literature. I can tell she puts quite a bit of energy into creating a host of little extras for her readers, and she's quite good at it.

It's probably unfair to introduce Brandon Sanderson as "the writer to finish Wheel of Time saga", since he has published his own books before WoT (Mistborn), but the reality is for now, that's what he's famous for. Right now. The Way of Kings is the first of 10-part epic fantasy series Sanderson plans on writing along with the last tomes of Wheel of Time.

The Way of Kings will be released soon enough on August 31, 2010. If you want to give it a try now, kind folk at Tor (the publisher) along with Aidan from A Dribble of Ink, have made it possible. Take a look at the pre-released fragments of the novel: first 50 pages and chapters 9 & 11.

Oh, by the way, I think the cover of the book is one of the best I've seen in a long time.

After logistic issues with dispatching 2009 Song of Ice and Fire calendar George threatened that there will be no more SoIaF calendars. Luckily he changed his mind and lo behold! Song of Ice and Fire calendar 2011 is already shipping! We might have it ready for New Year (something rare for me, I usually get my calendars somewhere mid year...)

New calendar features art created by Ted Nashmit (www.TedNasmith.com), famous for his illustrations for Tolkien books. And while I preferred photo-realism of Michael Komarck, who supplied art for the 2009 calendar, this new calendar, according to George himself, has "stunning" images as well, so if you live your life by the calendar and you live Song of Ice and Fire, this is a must have for you.

You can order it on Amazon today, just click here.

I have been away for a while haven't I? The holidays took me out for a bit longer than I expected. I'm back though and with some interesting news as well! According to Hollywood Reporter HBO confirmed: "Game of Thrones" will indeed premiere next spring!

This is a great news, especially coming from a reliable source. Thousands of fans across the world are looking forward to this TV series. Excellent story (based on George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire) combined with HBO's skill in making great TV (Deadwood anyone?) has to add up to a really epic show.

You can read original article on Hollywood Reporter website and if you're intrigued and have not seen it before, here's the Game of Thrones Trailer.

Even though new Discowrld novel is about to be released soon (September 2nd if you believe Wikipedia or 28th if you believe Amazon) there is surprisingly little known about the book. We know it's going to be another Young Adult novel following Tiffany Aching and a little bit of info from the blurb:

Tiffany Aching, the young witch from The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith is back in a new adventure featuring Discworld characters both familiar to fans (like Granny Weatherwax) and new (meet Wee Mad Arthur, the Nac Mac Feegle on the City Watch). Oh, and there's a shambles, a twist through time, a Cunning Man - and a Giant Man of chalk.

If you're fan of Tiffany or feel that you just have to own every single Discworld novel, you can preorder the book today on Amazon.com .

It's probably not a big gamble to say that the last two Harry Potter movies are going to be smashing hits destined to set new records in highest grossing rankings. This epic ending to bestselling fantasy saga, that movie producers decided it needed two movies instead of one, is claimed to be "The motion picture event of a generation". This may very well be true.

And for the taste of things to come we get to see a brand new trailer to the two part ending story of Harry Potter. Take a look below at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Trailer!

For those of you who have not seen it yet, final draft of the cover for Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time book 13) is out. Adam from The Wertzone posted it on his blog few weeks ago. I just encountered it on my long overdue fantasy news hunt.

The cover holds the style of previous Wheel of Time covers which is not necessarily a complement, but it's not as bad as it could have been, so I guess I can't complain. I'm really curious how the UK cover will look like, since European covers have a tendency to blow US covers out of the water.

As for the book itself, here is what Adam had to say:
The book is currently due for publication in late October in the UK and US, assuming Brandon Sanderson can complete the final draft by mid-August.

You can pre-order the book today on Amazon.com .

The Winter is Coming! Hollywood Reporter posted a first trailer to the long awaited adaptation of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire saga, a TV series "Game of Thrones". You can read more about the show and it's cast here.

The trailer doesn't reveal much (and even that it's an understatement as it's just over 20 seconds long and contains mostly flashes of scenes), however it's here and it's a sign that things are moving forward. Even though Hollywood Reporter claims that the show's production start date was pushed back to July 26, with a spring or early summer premiere next year likely. You can watch the trailer below:

Often compared to Tolkien's Middle-earth or Lewis's Narnia, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea is a stunning fantasy world that grabs quickly at our hearts, pulling us deeply into its imaginary realms. Four books (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu) tell the whole Earthsea cycle - a tale about a reckless, awkward boy named Sparrowhawk who becomes a wizard's apprentice.

The first time I've read Wizard of the Earthsea I was maybe 10, a boy who was just getting into this strange world of magic and fantasy. It could have very well been my first contact with fantasy. And a great first contact it was because now, more than 20 years later I'm still passionate about it.

Looks like there are black clouds gathering over the production of the Hobbit movies. On May 30th Guillermo Del Toro announced that he is no longer directing the two movies based on J.R.R Tolkien's "The Hobbit". The reason behind stepping down was supposedly that Guillermo just didn't feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years. reports TheOneRing.net . New director of the two Hobbit movies has not been announced yet.

Not being a fan of Del Toro I'm rather pleased with the news and I'm crossing fingers that new director (could it be Jackson?) will do a better job. Peter Jackson (director of the LOTR trilogy) claims to not want to be the director for Hobbit, but maybe he'll change his mind after Del Toro's departure? We'll just have to wait and see.

Third adaptation of a Discworld novel produced by Sky is finally coming to our screens. Going Postal is the story of arch-swindler Moist Von Lipwig and the beautiful, vengeful Adora Belle Dearheart. A life long traveling con-artist, Lipwigs crimes finally catch up with him in the town of Ankh-Morpork. Faced with death by hanging, Lipwig is spared by Lord Vetinari, who sees him as the perfect man for the role of Postmaster in the decrepit Ankh-Morpork post office.

For those of you who don't have the Sky, and I do feel sorry for you, here's a taste of things to come, Going Postal trailer. For everyone else, don't forget to turn on your TV sets (or set your Sky for record) tomorrow, Sunday May 30th at 6pm (part 1) and the next day, Monday May 31st at 6pm (part 2).

In his latest newsletter sent out today Christopher Paolini confirms that he is working on a book four, however there is still no official name for it (he's referring to it simply as Book Four) and no release date. Additionally, Christopher says that the book is getting bigger than he originally anticipated and we know what this means. More waiting.

For those of you who enjoy riddles, Christopher threw a hint on another piece of the 4th book containing a one-sided game of knucklebones, an evil assassin, bags of flour, a water-born battering ram, streets lined with lead, a knife in the back, and the death of a character. Intrigued?

Take a look below if you want to read entire newsletter.

The last part of Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams, Shadowheart will be released on November 2, 2010. And just like the previous book (which was supposed to be the last, but has grown too big) it has an amazing cover. Take a look at the Shadowrise cover as well.

There's still few months until the book is published, but you can pre-order it already and save few bucks as well. Amazon offers Shadowheart 34% off. You can pre-order it here.

Looks like the highly anticipated ending to Malazan Book of the Fallen series, "The Crippled God", is going to arrive later than we had hoped for! Pat (Pat's Fantasy Hotlist) found out unoficially that the book has officially been pushed back to January 2011. Take a look at his post on Westeros forum.

While this is not a good news, I wouldn't consider it strictly a bad news as well. Keep in mind that this is the final chapter of an epic story, a book that no Malazan fan would want to be a disappointment. Few months of waiting is a small price to pay for a book worthy of the saga. And in the meantime, take a look at a bit of info we posted about The Crippled God few months ago.

Christopher Paolini has still not come up with a title or estimated release date of the next book in his Inheritance series (this has to be the most common question asked on Fantasy Fan), however he *is* working on it. And here is the proof, a book fragment of the incoming Eragon book 4, chapter 4 called "King Cat".

The chapter has been released in the paperback edition of the third book, Brisingr.

There are many rumors circling around the idea of Hobbit movies. Peter Jackson, executive-producer of the movies, recently mentioned to MovieFone.com few facts about the production.

What Peter said about the Hobbit:
It's not really been delayed, because we've never announced the date. But there's so much interest that people -- newspapers and magazines, of their own account, say, ah, it's likely to film in May, it's likely to film in June, it's likely to film in September. People make this stuff up. And then if it's not filming in June, you get a story saying, "'The Hobbit's' been delayed." But it's never actually been announced.

Foundling - Author: D. M. Cornish - 312 pp. (an extensive 120 page glossary with appendices - called an Explicarium - follows the story) Review by Kevin Gerard
Kevin is the author of Conor and the Crossworlds, a fantasy series for young adults.

This novel is beautifully constructed. D. M. Cornish is extremely talented, a true artist in many respects. The prose is meticulously crafted, the illustrations powerful, and I could tell the author identified deeply with his character and story. I recommend this novel without reservation.

Today, with heavy heart I've marked almost 1,000 posts in my RSS feed "as read". Who knows what great fantasy news were there. I don't. I knew though that there is no chance in hell that I'll be able to read through the backlog. The most I can hope for is that I'll be able to stay up to date with everything new that comes into my mailbox. Being a parent really takes a lot of time, that's all I'll say. :-)

I'm not here though to complain about parenting, quite the contrary, I'm enjoying it very much! I do want to share some fantasy related news (well, not really news, since it's not very new since it premiered on 26 March 2010, but still could be interesting to some of you). I'm talking here about an animated movie "How to Train Your Dragon". I haven't seen it yet, but trailer is very promising and everything I've heard so far about the movie really wants me to watch it. Take a look at the trailer below!

I have good news and bad news. I'll go with bad first and get it out of the way. Going Postal will not air on Easter 2010 as it was originally planed. Discworld Monthly reports that it is now looking more likely to be broadcast at the end of May 2010. Pity, it would have been great to spend another Easter watching a Discworld Movie. I was already getting used to it. :-)

Now on to the good news! Sky1 posted an exclusive trailer for the movie (to make up for the fact that it's not coming in on time I guess). You can watch it here. The movie, in my humble opinion, looks even better than the two first adaptations!

One of the most anticipated games of this year has just made an official appearance. I'm saying official, because few months ago we already wrote about leaked video presenting features of the game. Today though we're talking official trailer and in-game cinematic.

For those of you unfamiliar with the world of Witcher, it was created by Polish writer, Andrzej Sapkowski, who set a number of short stories and a five book saga in it. Short stories as well as saga follow the character of Geralt, magically mutated monster-killer: the Witcher.

First Witcher game was a smashing success. The combination of RPG elements, unique alchemy and fight system topped with morally ambiguous world (and some nudity) placed Witcher among best RPG games to date. Thousands of gamers were anxiously waiting for news about the follow up. And now it's here! Take a look at the trailer below and visit Gamespot website to see exclusive in-game cinematic.

With second season of Legend of the Seeker nearing end I thought it would be good to take another look at this fantasy TV series. Let me remind those of you who have not read the review of the LotS we have posted a year ago (read it here), Legend of the Seeker is a TV series based on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind, produced by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, two stars behind the legendary fantasy series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess".

Being a fan of the show I was thrilled when I was contacted by Craig Horner's (actor playing the leading role: Richard "The Seeker" Cypher) publicist with a question if I would like to interview him for Fantasy Fan. Needless to say I agreed and after few days of planning (13 hour time difference makes things difficult) I was able to have a chat with him. Here it is then, Fantasy Fan's interview with Craig Horner.

Can't imagine a better news to come back with after my paternity break. According to The Live Feed, first season of adaptation of Game of Thrones (first book of Song of Ice and Fire saga by George R.R. Martin) has been green-lighted by the producer: HBO. It doesn't come as a big surprise, we have all been expecting it - SoIaF is a great story, excellent cast was picked for the series and George's involvement in the project pretty much adds up to success.

Now it's official though. Nine episodes plus the pilot have been ordered. Production will begin in Belfast this June, which hopefully we'll get to see later this year. Read original article here.

SoIaF fans, rejoice!

What a stubborn child. My son still refuses to part with his mom, making me jump up at work every time my wife calls me. Yes, he is still not born. In the meantime world goes on, and from lack of anything better to write about (ok, from lack of time to do proper research on anything more interesting) I give you some free reading: Kelly Meding's "Three Days to Dead".

They'll never see her coming...

When Evangeline Stone wakes up naked and bruised on a cold slab at the morgue - in a stranger's body, with no memory of who she is and how she got there - her troubles are only just beginning. Before that night she and the two other members of her Triad were the city's star bounty hunters, mercilessly cleansing the city of the murderous creatures living in the shadows, from vampires to shape-shifters to trolls. Then something terrible happened that not only cost all three of them their lives but also convinced the city's other Hunters that Evy was a traitor and she can't even remember what it was.

Now she's a fugitive, piecing together her memory, trying to deal some serious justice - and discovering that she has only three days to solve her own murder before the reincarnation spell wears off. Because in three days Evy will die again - but this time there's no second chance...

You can download Three Days to Dead from Suvudu Free Library.

The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate - Author: Michael P. Spradlin - 230 pp. Review by Kevin Gerard.
Kevin is the author of Conor and the Crossworlds, a fantasy series for young adults.

Trail of Fate is even better than the first book - Keeper of the Grail. The writing seemed much tighter, the story moved along briskly with a great deal of action, and the main characters' personalities started to emerge as the chapters flew by.

The book opens as Tristan, the squire of Sir Thomas of the Knights Templar, finds himself aboard an ill-equipped craft in turbulent seas. The storm is so violent he is tossed overboard with the Holy Grail in tow. He comes to learn a short time later that his companions were also ditched into the sea when the boat disintegrated amidst the huge swells.

This does not come as surprise. After amazing success of James Cameron's Avatar (read Fantasy Fan review here) other big studio's are jumping in on the 3D train. The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog posted information regarding upcoming Harry Potter movies. Apparently both parts of the Harry Potter saga ending will be made in 3D technology.

"Early 3D-conversion tests on Warners' remake of 'Clash of the Titans' have gone so well that -- combined with boosted enthusiasm for 3D in the wake of the 'Avatar' tsunami -- the Burbank studio has decided to release not only 'Titans' but also the two-part 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' in 3D."

The information is not confirmed yet, but I find it highly believable. It looks like 3D technology is here to stay with new movies being released and ported to 3D ("Clash of the Titans" will be a 3D production as well). On top of that, TV manufacturers already started a race towards mass producing 3D ready displays. It's only a matter of time when it's going to become a new standard.

You can read the original Heat Vision Blog here.