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Vampires are hard pressed to be new and exciting. Where Dracula is outdated, Stainless is cutting edge. Where Todd Grimson is subtle and poetic, Anne Rice would be overtly heavy handed. Where this book shines, so would characters from Poppy Z Brite’s “Exquisite Corpse”. This book is not for all readers, it is dark. sexual (often disturbingly), and not handed to readers on a platter. This book is not so much a Vampire novel as it is a highly readable analysis of human tragedy. Originally published in 1996, Grimson’s Stainless is a jewel in the vamp genre that appears to have been overlooked as a just another piece of pretty glass. It seems to have aged perfectly, coming back into print with a fist-full of mid-1990′s authenticity; Where characters still listen to tape cassettes along side compact discs, and Godflesh is still an industrial/metal band whose name is recognized. Because of the time-capsule effect and the concise wording, this book really shines as something different ...

I got an email yesterday from Johnny Shaw stating “I wrote a foul-mouthed piece of writing advice over [here] that I think you might dig. ” It is all about keywords my friends.. “Foul mouthed” grabbed my attention and dragged me to the site for perusal. The article is about authors self censoring, and pushing the envelope regarding their style. I am all about good advice presented in an entertaining manner. Cant beat it. Click here to read Shaw’s article – On a more general Note, I was not familiar with the site Criminal Complex. Seems like a pretty good site over all. Comics Books Movies… Basic geeky goodness abounds. I suggest adding it to RSS, should be someplace i will hit up a couple times a week if their content continues to be solid. I ran across a review of FATALE .. which I have been itching to read. Nothing sells me on a site faster than a good review of something want but have not been able to afford. I read about FATALE previously on Criminal Element back in October . ...

I want to start by stating that initially, I had a lot of concerns when reading this book. It took some getting used to the First Person Limited POV. Differentiating between what would normally have been standard description and the internal monologue of the POV was tough. But it fell into place after a while and I grew to like it. Others reading this may have similar experiences, but I would like to point out it is worth spending the time to get used to the POV. With that stated, I really enjoyed this book. Orchid Island is a hot-mess of plot line. It appears to be right in the middle of a severe societal upheaval tied to a mysterious infection (read: zombies). The novel’s namesake, Orchid, is pretty well versed in survival. She is trained in varied martial arts, and works in the general field of “Security”. More specifically, she has found niche employment preying on unsuspecting Billionaires, worming her way into their lives and manipulating them toward products/services ...

The Ice Dragon is a nice companion story to the standard Song of Ice and Fire world. First published as a short story in a compendium titled Dragons of Light, this 1980′s tale was given a new treatment in the 2006 Tor rerelease. Featuring illustrations by Yvonne Gilbert, The Ice Dragon is the story of a young girl born in the winter of the cold north. She is emotionless and awkward. Her skin is as cold as her personality. She is very reminiscent of a wight from the core series, but alive and obviously human. She is frequently and secretly visited by an ice dragon, whose breath can freeze and kill in seconds, and who cannot be tamed or touched by humans.. Except for her. Martin fans should take thirty minutes out to read this. It occurs in the years before the ice and fire series, and there is no mention of the ruling families or even of a wall to the north.. So how far in the past I couldn’t say, but far enough that there are armies of dragon riders in the war. ...