Joshua Palmatier

Time for the last book discussion of the July book releases, Tad Williams' Happy Hour in Hell, the second Bobby Dollar novel. Here's the new cover and cover copy! Who's read this one already? What did you think?





Cover Copy: I've been told to go to Hell more times than I can count. But this time I'm actually going.

My name’s Bobby Dollar, sometimes known as Doloriel, and of course, Hell isn’t a great place for someone like me--I’m an angel. They don’t like my kind down there, not even the slightly fallen variety. But they have my girlfriend, who happens to be a beautiful demon named Casimira, Countess of Cold Hands. Why does an angel have a demon girlfriend? Well, certainly not because it helps my career.

She’s being held hostage by one of the nastiest, most powerful demons in all of the netherworld--Eligor, Grand Duke of Hell. He already hates me, and he’d like nothing better than to get his hands on me and rip my immortal soul right out of my borrowed but oh-so-mortal body.

But wait, it gets better! Not only do I have to sneak into Hell, make my way across thousands of miles of terror and suffering to reach Pandemonium, capital of the fiery depths, but then I have to steal Caz right out from under Eligor’s burning eyes and smuggle her out again, past demon soldiers, hellhounds, and all the murderous creatures imprisoned there for eternity. And even if I somehow manage to escape Hell, I’m also being stalked by an undead psychopath named Smyler who’s been following me for weeks. Oh, and did I mention that he can’t be killed?

So if I somehow survive Hell, elude the Grand Duke and all his hideous minions and make it back to the real world, I’ll still be the most hunted soul in Creation. But at least I’ll have Caz. Gotta have something to look forward to, right?

So just pour me that damn drink, will you? I’ve got somewhere to go.

OK, I FINALLY got my DAW Books for February in the mail, so it's time for the first book discussion for the February books! The hardcover release this month is Jennifer Roberson's Sword-Bound, the seventh book in the Sword-Dancer saga. If you haven't read this series yet, you can catch up by getting the omnibus editions of the first six books in the series. I haven't read any of Jennifer Roberson's books, although I have read her contribution to the collaborative novel The Golden Key and loved it. What about you guys? Who's been waiting for Jennifer to return to this universe? Which book in the series if your favorite so far?





The South was Tiger's home. Left as a infant to die in the desert, his real origins were unknown. Slaying a deadly sandtiger won him his freedom from the tribe that had enslaved him, and he joined the elite brotherhood of Southron sword-dancers. Trained at the great Southron school of Alimat, Tiger swore a lifelong oath to abide by their code of honor, or die.

Del was a woman of the North. She had seen her family brutally murdered and her youngest brother carried away to the South to be sold into slavery. Motivated by revenge, she studied with the greatest of Northern sword masters and became the most deadly sword-singer in the North.

Together these two legendary fighters had forged an unlikely partnership of equals, sharing adventures, danger, and eventually love. But when Tiger forfeited an important dance to rescue Del, he broke his sworn code of honor--and his sentence was death.

Fugitives from both the North and the South, Tiger and Del fled to the distant island of Skandi. But this island nation was not to be the sanctuary they sought. Abducted by priest-mages, altered in mind and body, Tiger was forced to acknowledge that he possessed his own special brand of magic. A personal magic that carried a heavy price: madness and early death.

But Tiger and Del were never without resources, and though Tiger's long-dormant power began to manifest, they managed to escape. Desperate to rid himself of the magic that promised to sap his sanity and shorten his life, he performed a ritual to transfer his powers into his sword, then smashed his weapon, thus freeing himself.

However Tiger is still an outcast from the brotherhood of sword-dancers for breaking the oaths and honor codes of Alimat, and now his deadly brethren seek to kill him . . . all but one, a young man, Neesha, Tiger's grown son.

Finally, Tiger, Del, and Neesha find safety in the remote canyon where Tiger smashed his sword, and just in time--for Del is pregnant. In the relative safety of this secluded desert canyon, Tiger and Del settle to raise their child, a girl they name Sula, and train all those who manage to find them, thus forming their own school of sword-dancing. Now, two years later, Tiger and Del enjoy a settled, if somewhat less exciting, life raising their daughter and training Tiger's son and other students. But the manhunt for Tiger has not ended, and to add to the threats, an old enemy, Umir the Ruthless, has offered a substantial bounty for anyone bringing Tiger to him alive. For Umir possesses a powerful grimoire--a book of spells that Tiger locked by magic--and he is determined to use any means at his disposal to force Tiger to unlock this deadly book.

The book discussion for Irene Radford's Thistle Down, a new contemporary fantasy, is now up at the DAW Books blog, dawbooks. Stop on by and let everyone know what you think of the book, and or Irene Radford's other novels!

New book discussion for Kristen Britain's Blackveil over at the dawbooks community! Stop on by and let everyone know what you think of the book and the series so far!