Alright, so I've finished
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. And boy was it ever a good read. My only complaint was that there was too much swearing. I know people think it's more 'realistic', but honestly, what's realistic about an old bald, bearded wizard mouthing off? Can you picture Gandolf asking what the S**t is wrong with kids nowadays? I can't. And really, the excessive use made the scenes where it would have added to the effect paler by comparison. Consider the lack of effect the one swear word in book 7 of Harry Potter would have had if we'd seen that character (or indeed any characters) swear excessively in that or earlier books. The line works so well that my roommate almost fell off the couch when she read it.
Still, if you want a phenomenal read, with gritty realism concerning magic, barbarian living and war (not to mention some delightfully hateful characters) than definitely pick up this book.
Violette Malan has crafted another marvelous novel. This one (as opposed to Mirror Prince, her first) takes place entirely in a fantasy world. Dhulyn Wolfshead is a mercenary brother, Partnered to Parno Lionsmane, and a Marked Seer. Their story is captivating (I had trouble putting the book down to go to sleep and ended up reading a few extra hours). The country they travel through in this book is being turned against the Marked, persecuting and casting them out much the way the Nazi's did to the Jews before WWII. What makes the novel stand out, is that the propaganda is so well written you almost believe the priests that the Marked are evil, before being pulled back from the hysteria and seeing it for what it is. Misapplied logic. The ending is very satisfying, making you wonder how you missed predicting it.
The movie has been dubbed the new Princess Bride. As someone who's read the story, I couldn't understand how this could be. The story is not at all humourous. It's about a young man who decides he will prove his love to a rather haughty young lady by bringing her a fallen star. Yet, the movie achieves a sort of delightfully evil slant that makes you laugh while at the same time makes you wonder if you really should be laughing. In other words, it's very British. 
rying shame). 
My current book is the Blade Itself, due out in September from Pyr books. I'm only a few chapters in so far, but the book is wonderful. (In a scary, twisted sort of way - you'll understand that when you read the book.)
