Author on author!

It's always great to get a good review. I've had quite a few and it doesn't get old.

One of the few book-related things that is even better than a good review is a good review from an author whose work you admire.

Reviewing oneself should be discouraged, but in place of that I have a 'review' of Prince of Thorns on Goodreads that links the Goodreads reviews I've had from Robin Hobb, Terry Brooks, Rick Riordan, and Peter Brett.

Check it out!

Robin Hobb took me by suprise when providing some kind words for the front of Prince of Thorns. At that point I had just finished my 10th Hobb book and was (still am) a huge fan of her work. When you've been absorbed in somebody else's world and (as a writer) constantly amazed at the quality (thinking 'I couldn't do that') it's great to get: "This is an absolutely stunning book. I still don’t know how he managed to write such a dark tale with such a dislikeable protagonist that still kept me turning page after page after page. Absolutely riveting read." 

Peter Brett was another author who by chance (and the odds were against it since I'd read rather few fantasy books in the decade before writing Prince of Thorns) had become a favourite of mine just before he read and liked Prince of Thorns. My sons shoved his book at me, and I owe them!

In 1979 a very bored boy discovered a fantasy book that had been left in a hotel room on a Greek island and was on sale in the foyer. The book was The Sword of Shannara... and I fished out my drachmas and bought it. Loved the hell out of it. So it was very surreal to find 34 years later Terry Brooks had reviewed me!

Myke Cole isn't yet a NYT bestseller, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he makes it onto that list in due course. Myke has the distinction of being one of the vanishingly small number of authors I've actually met and also the only author whose book carries my blurb! I loved Control Point. Fortress Frontier was even better. And I'm reading Breach Zone (the third book) in draft form... and it's the best so far.

Rick Riordan is probably the most famous and big selling author to ever review me. Sadly I've not read his work. I'm not a fan of Young Adult fiction (not being one) but I do hope to try out some of his other novels.

Courtney Schafer's debut 'The Whitefire Crossing' was a great read and I'm part way through the follow-up, The Tainted City, which I'm enjoying even more.

Teresa Frohock's debut 'Miserere' surprised me in good ways (and icky ways) and I'm waiting impatiently for more of her novels to hit the shelves.

I've also had the pleasure of being 'blurbed' by Conn Iggulden (who I've not yet read) and Robert VS Reddick (who I have!)