Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone!

Today, here in America, is Thanksgiving, which means lots of food and fellowship! Because today is a holiday, and the rest of the weekend looks like it'll be busy with family and friends, I wanted to make a quick post and wish everyone here in America a Happy Thanksgiving!

While here, I figured I'd also make a quick list of all the things that are going to be happening around here in the next few weeks. So, without further delay, here it is:

• Our next podcast, will be for the reviews of Orbit's first round of ARCs which we received a month or so ago, which include: Red Claw by Philip Palmer and Soulless by Gail Carriger.
• After that, look for another book review podcast for John Ringo's The Last Centurion.
• Then, if all things go as well as expected, we will be doing an author interview with a brand new fantasy author, John Brown, who's new book Servant of a Dark God just hit shelves in mid October.
• Also, expect a boat load of individual book reviews, which will begin, hopefully, sometime next week, so keep your eyes and ears peeled folks!
• And finally, we have the second round of ARCs which just dropped in the mail to us not so long ago, so, look for individual book reviews for the first couple of books in each series, and then a final podcast for the last titles to wrap things up. This will include: Full Circle, the final book in the Castings Trilogy by Pamela Freeman, Flesh Circus, which is the newest title in Lilith Saintcrow's Jill Kismet series, and last but not least: Book three in Russell Kirkpatrick's 'Broken Man' Series, Beyond the Wall of Time.

That's it for now, so to our ever faithful viewers, hang on tight, and be patient with us, as we try and climb the mountain that is non as Mount-to-be-read. Until then...

Happy Thanksgiving!

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Podcast #7: Book Review for Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

Title: Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

Author: Troy Denning
Publisher: Del Rey/ Lucas Books
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9780345509185

Following a trail of clues across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo’s dark downfall and to win redemption for the Jedi Order. Sojourning among the mysterious Aing-Tii monks has left Luke and his son Ben with no real answers, only the suspicion that the revelations they seek lie in the forbidden reaches of the distant Maw Cluster. There, hidden from the galaxy in a labyrinth of black holes, dwell the Mind Walkers: those whose power to transcend their bodies and be one with the Force is as seductive and intoxicating as it is potentially fatal. But it may be Luke’s only path to the truth.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, the war of wills between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating. Outraged over the carbonite freezing of young Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn after their inexplicable mental breakdowns, the Jedi are determined to defy Daala’s martial tactics, override Council Master Kenth Hamner’s wavering leadership, and deal on their own terms with the epidemic of madness preying on their ranks. As Han and Leia Solo, along with their daughter Jaina, join the fight to protect more stricken Knights from arrest, Jedi healers race to find a cure for the rapidly spreading affliction. But none of them realize the blaster barrel is already swinging in their direction–and Chief Daala is about to pull the trigger.

Nor do Luke and Ben, deep in the Maw Cluster and pushing their Force abilities beyond known limits, realize how close they are–to the Sith strike squad bent on exterminating the Skywalkers, to a nexus of dark-side energy unprecedented in its power and its hunger, and to an explosive confrontation between opposing wielders of the Force from which only one Master–good or evil–can emerge alive.

~From the Cover Flap

Podcast #7: Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

You can buy it from these fine retailers: Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.com

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Podcast #6: Interview #3: James Enge

James Enge's fiction has appeared in Black Gate, Flashing Swords, and everydayfiction.com. He is an instructor of classical languages at a Midwestern university. He is the author of two new major works from Pyr Publishing: Blood of Ambrose and This Crooked Way.

Blood of Ambrose

Behind the king's life stands the menacing Protector, and beyond him lies the Protector's Shadow...

Centuries after the death of Uthar the Great, the throne of the Ontilian Empire lies vacant. The late emperor's brother-in-law and murderer, Lord Urdhven, appoints himself Protector to his nephew, young King Lathmar VII and sets out to kill anyone who stands between himself and mastery of the empire, including (if he can manage it) the king himself and his ancient but still formidable ancestress, Ambrosia Viviana.

When Ambrosia is accused of witchcraft and put to trial by combat, she is forced to play her trump card and call on her brother, Morlock Ambrosius—stateless person, master of all magical makers, deadly swordsman, and hopeless drunk.

As ministers of the king, they carry on the battle, magical and mundane, against the Protector and his shadowy patron. But all their struggles will be wasted unless the young king finds the strength to rule in his own right and his own name.

This Crooked Way

Travelling alone in the depths of winter, Morlock Ambrosius (bitterly dry drunk, master of all magical makers, wandering swordsman, and son of Merlin Ambrosius and Nimue Viviana) is attacked by an unknown enemy.

To unmask his enemy and end the attacks he must travel a long crooked way through the world: past the soul-eating Boneless One, past a subtle and treacherous master of golems, past the dragon-taming Khroi, past the predatory cities of Sarkunden and Aflraun, past the demons and dark gnomes of the northern woods.

Soon he will find that his enemy wears a familiar face, and that the duel he has stumbled into will threaten more lives than his own, leaving nations shattered in its chaotic wake.

And at the end of his long road waits the death of a legend.

Podcast Interview #3: James Enge

Enjoy!

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Podcast #5: Interview #2: Dave Freer/ Save the Dragons

Dave Freer is an about to be Australian author (he's emigrating from South Africa) with a family and menagerie (indistinguishable in many ways) and the normal personal zone of chaos that follows him because it loves him and needs to show it cares. He is the author or co-author (with Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint) of 10 novels, (with the 11th, DRAGON'S RING, due out in October). He also falls off cliffs (he's a rock climber) and nearly drowns himself (dives for spiny lobster) with monotonous regularity, which proves that really his books are written by his Old English Sheepdog, because no-one who is that repetitively dumb could write or even spell. Mind you, the spelling is suspect... Once upon a time he was an Ichthyologist, and he claims the strain of spelling that right unhinged his mind.

You can find out more about him, his move, his beasts and website and blogs at http://savethedragons.nu/ - his story-tellers bowl website to help raise money to move the menagerie!

Dragon's Ring

Tasmarin is a place of dragons, a plane cut off from all other worlds, where dragons can be dragons and humans can be dinner. It's a place of islands, forests, mountains and wild oceans, filled with magical denizens. Fionn -- the black dragon -- calmly tells anyone who will listen that he's going to destroy the place. Of course he's a joker, a troublemaker and a dragon of no fixed abode. No one ever believes him. He's dead serious. Others strive to refresh the magics that built the place. To do so they need the combined magics of all the intelligent species, to renew the ancient mage, and dragons systematically eliminated those centuries ago. Their augury has revealed that there is one, and they seek her desperately. Unfortunately, she's fallen in with Fionn, who really doesn't want them to succeed. He has his own reasons and dark designs. The part he hadn't worked out is that she will affect his plans too. Chaos, roguery, heroism theft, love, kidnapping, magic and war follow. And more chaos.

And once again, because Baen Publishing is just so damn cool, they're offering the first nine chapters for your reading pleasure, for free. Dragon's Ring

Podcast Interview #2: Dave Freer

And finally, for those of you who choose not to listen to the full interview, here's how The Sci-Fi Guys plan on helping Dave out: For each new member we receive on the site, we'll donate a dollar to Save The Dragons. . Each new member then, is added to a hat. When we get word from Dave that Save The Dragons is going to the printer, we'll draw names of the people who have joined the website, for a free chance to win a signed, personalized copy of the book in hardcover. If we reach 100 new members before the end of September, we'll donate another 25 dollars, and another chance for folks to win another signed copy of the book.

So, please join the site, and send us your names and e-mail adresses and we'll throw your names in the hat! E-mail us at: scifiguysbookreview@gmail.com

Enjoy!

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Podcast #4: Interview #1: Larry Correia

Larry Correia is hopelessly addicted to two things: guns and B-horror movies. He lists his occupations: gun dealer, firearms instructor, accountant, and writer, and was until recently part owner of a company specializing in firearms and movie props. He shoots competitively and is a certified concealed weapons instructor. Larry resides in Utah with his very patient wife and family. He has also designed a special patch for the agents of Monster Hunter International, Inc. As he puts it, "If you don't look good while you're killing stuff, then you're not really a monster hunter."

Monster Hunter International

Troubled by vampires or werewolves?

MHI will solve your problems
through superior firepower!

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.

It turns out that Monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

Business is good...

Welcome to Monster Hunter International.


Baen, being the awesome publishing company that they are, is currently offering the first seven chapters of M.H.I. to read, for free. Monster Hunter International

Podcast Interview #1: Larry Correia

Enjoy!

~ The Sci-Fi Guys

Podcast #3: Book Review for The Strain

Title: The Strain
Author(s) Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 401
ISBN: 9780061558238

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All Window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing...

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampire virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city -- a city that includes his wife and son -- before it is too late.

~ From the Cover of the Flap

Podcast #3: The Strain

You can buy it from these fine retailers: Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com

Hope you enjoy!

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Unveiling for the Twelfth Book in Jim Butcher's Dresden Series: Changes

Here's the newest Chris McGrath cover for Jim Butcher's Dresden series. Absolutely fabulous! It has tentative publishing date of April 6th, 2010.

Butcher has mentioned in the past that the majority of Changes will be taking place outside the greater Chicago area. And for those of you with a critical eye and are already analyzing this cover, then you probably already have a good idea of what this newest book will be about.

Here's my stab at what the twelfth book might possibly be about: considering the pyramid in the background, I'd put the new location outside of America -- more specifically in South America; down in Susan's neck of the woods (no pun intended).

What do you think it'll be about? Leave a comment in the comment section, and I'll try respond.

~Rodney

Podcast #2: Book Review for Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Omen

Title: Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Omen
Author: Christie Golden
Publisher: Del Rey/ Lucas Books
Pages: 236
ISBN: 9780345509123

The Jedi Order is in crisis. The late Jacen Solo's shocking transformation into murderous Sith Lord Caedus has cast a damning pall over those who wield the Force for good: Two Jedi Knights have succumbed to an inexplicable and dangerous psychosis, criminal charges have driven Luke Skywalker into self-imposed exile, and power-hungry Chief of State Natasi Daala is exploiting anti-Jedi sentiment to undermine the Order's influence within the Galactic Alliance.

Forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is on a desperate mission to uncover the truth behind Jacen's fall to the dark side -- and to learn what's turning peaceful Jedi into raving lunatics. But finding answers will mean venturing into the mind-bending space of the Kathol Rift and bargaining with an alien species as likely to destroy outsiders as deal with them. Still, there is no other choice and no time to lose, as the catastrophic events on Coruscant continue to escalate. Stricken by the same violent dementia that infected her brother, Valin, Jedi Knight Jysella Horn faces an equally grim fate after her capture by Natasi Daala's police. And when Han and Leia Solo narrowly foil another deranged Jedi bent on deadly destruction, even acting Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner appears willing to bow to Daala's iron will - at the expense of the Jedi Order.

But an even greater threat is looming. Millennia in the past, a Sith starship crashed on an unknown low-tech planet, leaving the survivors stranded. Over the generations, their numbers have grown, the ways of the dark side have been nurtured, and the time is fast approaching when this lost tribe of Sith will once more take the stars and reclaim their legendary destiny as rulers of the galaxy. Only one thing stands in their way, a name whispered to them through the Force: Skywalker.

~ From the Cover Flap

Podcast #2: Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Omen

A few places you can find this great book: Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com

~The Sci-Fi-Guys

Podcast #1: Book Review for Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast

Title: Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast
Author: Aaron Allston
Publisher: Del Rey/ Lucas Books
Pages: 302
ISBN: 9780345509062

After a violent civil war and the devastation wrought by the now-fallen Darth Caedus, the Galactic Alliance is in crisis-and in need. From all corners, politicians, power brokers and military leaders converge on Coruscant for a crucial summit to restore order, negotiate differences, and determine the future of their unified worlds. But even more critical, and far more uncertain, is the future of the Jedi.

In a shocking move, Chief of State Natasi Daala orders the arrest of Luke Skywalker for failing to prevent Jacen Solo's turn to the dark side and his subsequent reign of terror as a Sith Lord. But it's only the first blow in an anti-Jedi backlash fueled by a hostile government and suspicious public. When Jedi Knight Valin Horn, scion of a politically influential family, suffers a mysterious psychotic break and becomes a dangerous fugitive, the Jedi become the target of a media-driven witch hunt. Facing conviction on the damning charges, Luke must strike a bargain with the calculating Daala: his freedom in exchange for his exile from Coruscant and from the Jedi Order.

Though forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is determined to keep history from being repeated. with his son, Ben at his side, Luke sets out to unravel the shocking truth behind Jacen Solo's corruption and downfall. But the secrets he uncovers among the enigmatic Force mystics of the distant world Dorin, may bring his quest- and life as he knows it- to a sudden end. And all the while, another Jedi Knight, consumed by the same madness as Valin Horn, is headed for Coruscant on a fearsome mission that could doom the Jedi Order... and devastate the entire galaxy.

~ From the Cover Flap

Podcast Review #1: Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast

You can buy it from these fine retailers: BarnesandNoble.com & Amazon.com

Hope you enjoy!

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Podcast #0

After figuring out all the finite details of starting our own podcast, we have finally figured out how to post an actual podcast on the site. So, without any further ado, here it is. Enjoy!

Sci-Fi Guys Book Review Podcast #0

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Starting Up

Hello and thank you if you are already visiting our blog. We are sorry that there arn't any reviews up yet, but we hope to have one up within the next week. Thanks for visiting and hope to see you again.