So this promises to answer the questions about The Comedian's button and how that ties into Rebirth.   The problem?  I haven't read Rebirth.   (Which, yes, there was Batman: Rebirth, Rebirth was what this whole retcon was named, and there was an issue simply called Rebirth.)   So I do feel slightly out of the loop and I'm kinda itching to get Rebirth to see what's what, and how The Watchmen, and that whole alternate universe DC world, ties into this event, and what's happened to these characters and those apparently missing ten years.   I haven't quite picked it up yet, though. 

 

When Reverse Flash hits up the Batcave, Batman has to hold the villain off until Flash gets there.   (He'd been trying to figure out the button mystery and had called Flash over; in the middle of a fight already, Flash promises to get there in one minute.)

 

Except... something happen.  Reverse Flash claims to see God, although given that he's gone into the Watchmen-verse, people are guessing he saw Doctor Manhattan.   This continues in The Flash, which I don't read regularly.  I don't reward companies who do these kind of crossovers, because they're hoping to get me to buy another title, and penalizing me if I don't invest in another title.   Seeing as I read Batman for the author, I have no interest in picking up Flash as a pull, so I refused to buy Flash 21.   We'll see how the next Batman goes...

 

Warning: The following synopsis does contain some spoilers for the first book, The Lure of Fools. So, if you haven't read the first book yet, you might want to read my review of it =).

 

Adventure is the lure of fools, and excitement glamour to the gullible. The siren song of the world is as music to the wanderer’s feet, but that dance leads only to the soul less grave…

 

Kairah lies unconscious and upon the threshold of death, but her dire state has awakened her oracle heritage and she sees in vision a land stripped of all life. But is what she seeing the past, or the future?

 

Ezra, having learned that his nephew, Jekaran, has bonded the sword of the Invincible Shadow, is forced to return to the Rikujo crime syndicate for help in rescuing Jek from the custody of the king, who plans to execute him in order to take the sword for himself. But can he convince some of the most dangerous brigands in Shaelar that he is still the ruthless and cunning Argentus?

 

Using his illusory spell-craft, Jenoc has infiltrated the King of Aiestal’s court, and is on the brink of igniting another talis war; one that will cause humanity to wipe each other off the face of Shaelar. But when Kairah is brought to the king unconscious, he has to work quickly to set his plans in motion before she wakes and reveals him.

All the while The Eater draws ever closer…

 

Find Online: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

 

 

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book so I could participate in this blog review tour!

 

This second book starts in much the same way as the first. The Eater, the wood-killing, life-sucking monster I described earlier is back in the first chapter, and I was starting to get a little worried. Will there once again only be information about it in the first chapter, while it sounds so interesting? Luckily, this time the story is more about the Eater, though more is definitely still to come as the Eater comes ever closer. 

 

At the same time the main story picks up right were it was left in the first book. All the characters make another performance, while some (start) show(ing) their true colours. The groups fall apart but still this isn't the most original fantasy series I'm reading. Is that a problem? Not necessarily, since sometimes when it reads good, it doesn't need to be groundbreakingly new.

 

The magic was still very interesting, but at times it felt as a simple solution so solve a lot of the problems that were encountered. I would like to know more about the rules of this Apeiron and the Talis and how everything fits together. I think it could be really interesting to learn more about it.

 

All in all, I enjoyed this second novel a little bit more than the first one, since after they split up it gets a bit more original, or so it felt to me. And I'm looking forward to the next book. These are nice snackbooks!

 

The Soulless Grave is the second book of The Age of the Infinite. The first book is The Lure of Fools.

 

 

About Jason King

For years Jason King publicly proclaimed his identity as “the chosen one,” but medication and a stint in a minimum security health and wellness facility convinced him that was not the case. In order to cope with his greatly diminished role in society, he devoted his free time to making up stories.

Born in Salt Lake City Utah, Jason grew up on a steady diet of anime, science fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, JRPG’s, and chocolate cake donuts. Stockholm syndrome gave him his beautiful wife, and the stork (according to his understanding) gave him his four wonderful children.

Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in I.T. Management and is currently the Internet Marketing Manager for a local bookstore chain, but he has sworn by Grabthar’s hammer that he will one day quit his “9 to 5″ and write full-time. He is also a proud “anonymous” member of the Space Balrogs comedy troupe, and he speaks fluent Labrador.

“Adventure is the lure of fools, and excitement glamour to the gullible. The siren song of the world is as music to the wanderer’s feet, but that dance leads only to the soul-less grave.”

 

Completely ignoring the words quoted above, Jekeran takes the magic sword from his uncle and sets out on an adventure that may turn so big it might just save all humans.

 

Admittedly, this was not the most original fantasy I've read last year, but I still enjoyed reading it. The magic had some nice twists to it (mostly in the fey-land though) and the talises (not sure if the correct plural) added something extra, though I still don't really know how it works exactly and I having a nagging feel I should be careful, because they could easily be used as an easy plot device.

 

I was a bit disappointed however that after the first chapter, which really suck me into the story (which seldom happens to me after only reading a few pages), the wood-killing, life-sucking 'human' representation of Death is completely neglected for the rest of the story. Okay, there are a few mentions of 'something' that's going on in the East but I wanted more of that story line (for it seemed more interesting than the quest). Kept waiting for something to happen with it, then realized that it's probably something that will be important in one of the next books. Just that makes me want to read the next book.

 

Besides, it was a fun and quick read, although the main story line was not that original.

 

The Lure of Fools is the first book in The Age of The Infinite. The second book is called The Soulless Grave

 

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Valcoria - My favorite fantasy book of 2011". I took longer than usual to finish this book but I must say I have just become Jason King's #1 fan. I loved Valcoria. The plot, the action scene, the interaction between the characters; the flow of the story, the treason & adventure, is what makes Valcoria a great story. I am looking forward to reading more of his work.

I have to admit my bad on this one. I’ve had it FOREVER and had it on a shelf and promptly forgot about it. Yeesh. Bad on me. My goal is to not leave books that long, especially ones that the author took the time to send me, so my very sincere apologies to Jason King.

I think the story has loads of potential, as does King as an author. I enjoyed the premise quite a lot, which is that the land has a new leader, who is apparently hell-bent on ruining his country. Not a very smart guy, trying to ruin everything he’s worked to gain… Poor guy though. He’s just in the clutches of someone even worse and he doesn’t know it.

I though the characters were quite well-done and for the most part, people that were relatable. Plot-wise, it was a little slow in parts, but that’s not generally a huge deal. Some stories need a little slow in there.

I did have a little trouble following sometimes. The POV changed a lot, and you know how I really don’t like that all that much. It can be done superbly (Under the Never Sky, for example), but I didn’t think this one quite met the mark.

For being a self-published book, Valcoria was remarkably free of errors and things that normally make me run screaming. From what I understand, Jason’s wife does his editing. She deserves a prize, because she’s done a fantastic job. Kudos, Mrs. King!

Overall, while I enjoyed the story, the alternating POV was a little too much for me. I’m giving this one a ‘Hmmm’ rating.