Ah, another advance review of Last Argument of Kings from a lucky receiver of an ARC. This time it’s from Susi at Sandstorm Reviews, another long-established and much-respected source for all things genre. It goes a little something like this:
“Each book in this trilogy has shown a distinct improvement, and with this fantastic concluding volume, I’d even go as far as to say it’s become one of my favourite series.”
Well, that’s nice to hear. Anything else?
“There’s a lot more action in this one than either of the previous two. I normally find blow-by-blow battle scenes pretty boring, but these are so engagingly written that it’s hard to look away … There are some unexpected promotions, unexpected betrayals and unexpected deaths, and overall there are plenty of fantasy conventions beaten bloody and sent packing.”
Excellent, I do like to kick those conventions where the sun don’t shine. But there’s more?
“the trilogy as a whole has crept gradually away from the standard fantasy template and gained a very unique feel … I can assure you that it’s even better than the previous two, and well worth the wait.”
Nine and a Half out of Ten, I’ll have you know.
Just who’s a guy got to sleep with to get Ten around here?
8 comments so far
Well, my whistle is definitely wet!
Sounds like there is plenty of hard, fast and dirty!
Te He He
And at least your taste in potential sleeping partners is improving….
Hi Joe
I just spotted The Last Argument of Kings up for grabs on Ebay. It is at £8.50 with 2 days bidding to go.
I must admit I am tempted but I think I would rather win and cherish my copy (I wouldn’t dream of ebaying it) or wait til March.
Or would I……Hmmmmmm. Dammit, such temptation and I am so weak willed!
Stay strong Moon…stay strong!
I just noticed on the front cover it states quite clearly that it is an ‘uncorrected book proof, not for resale’ are they allowed to ebay it?
I saw it on eBay too and was trying to get my mitts on it, went for something like £50 in the end! Joe any ideas where I can get a copy to review from? Tried emailing your publishers but didn’t get any kind of reply 🙁
Moonwitch,
Yes, not for resale is very definitely a stipulation with proofs, but as with so much in life, the publishers turn a blind eye to the thriving e-bay trade, because as far as they’re concerned it’s all part of the publicity. Proofs, especially signed ones, tend to be very popular with collectors, as they’re sometimes seen as even more exclusive than 1st/1st hardbacks, though in fact the print runs of proofs are often longer than those of a hardback edition. I see signed proofs of The Blade Itself from time to time for well over £100 (though I doubt anyone gets that sort of money for them.)
Toydestroyer,
I guess the question is – who would you be reviewing it for?
Good point Joe. Wish I could say I would be reviewing it for The Times or some other highly regarded publication, but it would be for my website/blog. Being small time at the moment its almost impossible to get any kind of exclusives (advanced screenings of TV shows, films, insider news, books and the like). So enjoying the series so far thought I’d try some direct scrounging instead lol.