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.