Steven Brust - Vlad Taltos

Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (hungarian descent) is best known for his novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos.

There are currently 13 novels in the series although 19 are planned. In chronological order:

1. Taltos (1988)

2. Dragon (1998)
3. Yendi (1984)
4. Tiassa, section 1 (2011)
5. Jhereg (1983)
6. Teckla (1987)
7. Phoenix (1990)
8. Jhegaala (2008)
9. Athyra (1993)
10. Orca (1996)
11. Issola (2001)
12. Dzur (2006)
13. Tiassa, section 2 (2011)
14. Iorich (2010)
15. Tiassa, section 3 (2011)

The books are set on another planet (apparently) inhabited by dragaerans, who were created when the Jenoine (powerful race of extradimensial creatures) magically crossbred humans with various animals. Dragaerans average seven feet tall, with slender builds and very little muscular definition. They cannot grow beards and have very little body hair. Their lifespans are greatly enhanced, spanning several thousand years. They consider themselves "humans", but are called "Dragaerans" by Easterners who live in the Empire. In other lands, Easterners call them "elfs" or "faeries".

Magic exists in many forms: sorcery (gathering power from Chaos); pre-sorcery (sorcery that doesn't draw its power from the Imperial Orbit); elder sorcery (old and dangerous, presently outlawed). Witchcraft, used by men (although dragaerans consider themselves to be men and men to be sub-men) that use complex rituals to draw phisical energy.

The Great Houses are as follows (in order of their precedence in the cycle), with their two primary representative characteristics:

by ~Silversaff

* Phoenix—Decadence and Rebirth
* Dragon—War and Conquest
* Lyorn—Tradition and Duty

by ~samekh-mem

* Tiassa—Catalyst and Inspiration

by Katherine J. Grantham.

* Hawk—Observation and Inspiration
* Dzur—Heroism and Honor

* Issola—Courtliness and Surprise

by Katherine J. Grantham.

* Tsalmoth—Unpredictability and Tenacity
* Vallista—Creation and Destruction
* Jhereg—Greed and Corruption

by Katherine J. Grantham.

* Iorich—Justice and Retribution
* Chreotha—Forethought and Ensnarement
* Yendi—Subtlety and Misdirection
* Orca—Brutality and Mercantilism

by Katherine J. Grantham.

* Teckla—Cowardice and Fertility
* Jhegaala—Metamorphosis and Endurance
* Athyra—Magic and Philosophy

From http://blogs.elcorreo.com/bardsong/2009/10/25/la-saga-vlad-taltos-i-introduccion

Vladimir Taltos is an Easterner who inherits a small peerage of the house of Jhereg and decides to make his own mark on  dragaeran society, for which he has no hesitation in leaving a trail of corpses in its wake as he makes his way to the top of the house of Jhereg. To achieve this he has only his skill with the sword, his skill in the art of witchcraft and a small flying scavenger and sharp tongued reptile called Loiosh. He began his career as a simple thug but as the books progresse he is more and more compared to Mario, the most famous and feared assasssin throughout the empire. Of course not everything is as simple as it seems and during the Vlad novels, although he begins his career as a cold murderer, he will face great moral issues that will make him rethink his way of life ... (and I much prefer him when he's a cold hearted son of a bitch than later when he grows a concience out of love but... )

Dance with Dragons Download PDF

17/07/2011 The link didn't work, now it does. Apologies. 
18/12/2011 It seems the link doesn't work anymore. If you leave me an e-mail address in a comment I'll send it to you ASAP. 

I've found this link :http://www.taringa.net/posts/arte/11573747/A-dance-with-dragons-_ingles_-__MOBI-y-PDF_-_MU_.html, downloaded and tested the pdf file myself. For those who don't speak spanish you have to click the link after the sentence:Aqui para descargarlo en PDF ....here the link....

You'll be redirected to MediaUpload and there you'll see a counter that goes from 44 seconds down and you'll have to wait till it reaches zero and a grey button saying "Descarga normal" appears under the orange one that says "Descarga premium", "Descarga" meaning "Download" in Spanish.

Please check what copyright laws apply in your respective countries before you download the book and proceed accordingly. I'm assuming here that a backup copy is allowed everywhere and that what you want this pdf for. 

You can also download it here. Just look for megaupload at the end of the (spanish) post. 

Dance with dragons is here (almost)

This title will be auto-delivered to your Kindle on July 12,2011. In two weeks! In just over two weeks I'll begin to tell you how the saga continues, and you'll be reading about the hardships and miseries of our favourite characters and, yes, I know which is yours:

Cersei Lannister

Roger Zelazny - The Chronicles of Amber

 
1. The Corwin Cycle

1.1 Nine Princes in Amber (1970)

Corwin has escaped the dungeons of Amber, where he was imprisoned by his hated brother Eric, who had seized the throne of Amber. All of Corwin's siblings believe that guns cannot function in Amber, as gunpowder is inert there. But Corwin has secret knowledge: in the shadow world of Avalon, where he once ruled, there exists a jeweler's rouge that will function in Amber as gunpowder should. Corwin plans to raise a legion of shadow soldiers, and arm them with automatic rifles from the shadow world Earth. While gathering these forces Corwin discovers a more sinister problem growing among the shadows. He meets Dara, a woman claiming to be his great, grand niece, and later discovers a threat to Amber; a black road which runs across universes from the Courts of Chaos to Amber. With his newly-trained army, Corwin marches on Castle Amber only to find it already under siege. Eric is mortally wounded and passes the Jewel of Judgment to Corwin, making Corwin Regent. The immediate danger passes, but Dara threatens greater peril after walking the pattern and revealing herself to be a creature of the Courts of Chaos, intent on destroying both Amber and the Shadows.
 

1.2 The Guns of Avalon (1972)

1.3 Sign of the Unicorn (1975)

1.4 The Hand of Oberon (1976)

1.5 The Courts of Chaos (1978)

2 The Merlin Cycle

2.1 Trumps of Doom (1985)

 

2.2 Blood of Amber (1986)

2.3 Sign of Chaos (1987)

2.4 Knight of Shadows (1989)

  2.5 Prince of Chaos (1991)

This is great fantasy of huge imagination and complex characters:

Corwin: (all trumps by ~madnesslab): Corwin is a son of Oberon, prince of Amber. The lead of the story, it is told from his viewpoint.

Benedict: The undisputed weapon master of Amber. Benedict is the oldest living son of Oberon.

Bleys: Son of Oberon, prince of Amber.
One of the three most attentive students of Dworkin. Bleys is the weakest in magic compared to Brand and Fiona and is more inclined towards the use of force.

Brand: Son of Oberon, prince of Amber.
The villain of the story, the prince who went beyond desiring the crown.

Caine: Son of Oberon and Faiella, prince of Amber.
An aloof guy, Caine loved the sea. He was known to be closest to Julian.

Deirdre
Daughter of Oberon and Faiella.
Deirdre has never concerned herself with the Family Game. She was closer to Corwin than her other siblings.

 

....
you can found much more about the characters here and the rest of the trumps South Part Style here

Simon R.Green: Nightside

Enter the nightside, where it's always 3 a.m. ...

Nightside series:
01. Something from the Nightside (2003)
02. Agents of Light and Darkness (2003)
03. Nightingale's Lament (2004)
04. Hex and the City (2005)
05. Paths Not Taken (2005)
06. Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth (2006)
07. Hell to Pay (2006)
08. The Unnatural Inquirer (2008)
09. Just Another Judgement Day (2009)
10. The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny (2010)
11. A Hard Day's Knight (2011)

German Editions

Setting

The series takes place in a fictional inner city area of London called "The Nightside". Elements of fantasy, science fiction and the supernatural all feature heavily in both the Nightside itself and its inhabitants.

Indicated by its name, the Nightside experiences perpetual night ("it's always 3am"). The Nightside itself is contained within London, yet is larger than London by a significant measure. Though access to the Nightside is hidden, it does experience a steady stream of tourists from the "normal" world.

The main character, John Taylor, describes the Nightside "as a place where dreams come true and nightmares come alive. Where one can buy anything, often at the price of your soul... or someone else's. Where the music never stops and the fun never ends". Numerous seemingly impossible services or goods are available-often quite commonly-in the Nightside; examples include stores selling albums from alternative time-lines (e.g. a live Mama Cass concert from 2003), a business where customers pay to be possessed for a brief period of time "just for the kick of it," and a drug called Revert which causes users to temporarily devolve into a biological ancestor (e.g. a Neanderthal).

A recurring feature in the Nightside is the appearance of "Timeslips", locations where the Nightside has collided with another part of space and/or time, and sometimes with a completely separate, alternate timeline as well. A number of characters identified within the series are "refugees" displaced by Timeslips. The appearance of Timeslips is largely unpredictable, though in some cases Timeslips have been predicted or even deliberately created.

The Nightside is overseen by The Authorities, a committee whose members are largely unknown which makes rules, policy, and decisions concerning what is allowed to happen within the realm. The Authorities' decisions are enforced by their Agent (or "The Man"), who among other equipment and abilities is given The Voice, a way of issuing vocal commands which no human can refuse. At the beginning of the first book this position is held by Walker.

Nightside - Jessica Sorrow

by ~sithwitch13

Suzie Shooter aka Shotgun Suzie aka Dear God It's Her Run!

by ~blazewu

Dead Boy

by =neekko

Jim Butcher : Dresden Files

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a very particular kind of private investigator. As a matter of fact he's the only one listing in the phone book under "Wizards". Although considered among his colleagues as a magical "thug" and accused of lacking fine control of his power, he's one of the strongest living wizards in terms of pure magical strength. Despite his traditional magic weapons (leather duster, rune staff, blasting rod, shield bracelet, silver ring and silver pentacle amulet) Harry has also been known to carry around many firearms such as a .38 revolver, a .357 and most recently a .44 revolver and a sawed-off shotgun for those times when 'magic just doesn't cut it'.

Amazing variety of rune staffs. Which of them you thing Harry would choose?

He lives in a basement with his principal associate, Bob, a spirit of knowledge -the equivalent of a magical encyclopedia- living in a skull, and a Foo Dog called Mouse possesed of quasi-human intelligence and able to detect supernatural evil.



Complementing Mouse is Harry's crew of loyal, pizza-bribed pixies, serving as scouts and spies and informers...and keeping the mice out of his home, under the leadership of the empowered pixie Major General Toot-toot.

Harry is a member of the White Council as a full Wizard, and has also been drafted into the Wardens, the combat-capable members of the Council, after their losses fighting the Red Court (the seat of vampiric power, the bad guys)


Last and most formidable of his particular circle of magical associates is his Fairy Godmother, the Leanan Sidhe. Considered the second most powerful member of the Winter Court, she has been tasked with protecting Harry and takes the job very seriously. You'll have to get acquainted to Winter and Summer fairies if you want to know why on earth did Harry get appointed Winter Knight or why his mother Margaret Gwendolyn LaFey bequeathed him a half brother, Thomas, who happens to be a White Court vampire, one who doesn't delight in blood but in the sickly submission that his sex appeal raises in his victims.

This is the complete series of books published so far with Harry as the protagonist:

Storm Front	Fool Moon	Grave Peril	Summer Knight
Death Masks	Blood Rites	Dead Beat	Proven Guilty
White Night	Small Favor	Turn Coat	Changes
Side Jobs (short stories)	Ghost Story

As Martina E. Balint says in Amazon Customers Review: Harry Dresden, the series' protagonist, is everything that's great about the hardboiled anti-hero, with a twist: He's a wizard trying to make a living working practical magic in a modern world that's foolishly rejected the supernatural in favor of science and technology. Part average guy, part renaissance man, Harry's got a dark side, a wicked sense of humor and a deeply rooted, personal code of honor that drives him to risk everything to fight the supernatural forces preying on his clients, an attitude that puts him at constant, dangerous odds with both the bad guys and the authorities alike.

Jim Butcher is himself a curious character: a martial arts enthusiast with fifteen years of experience in various styles including Ryukyu Kempo, Tae Kwan Do, Gojo Shorei Ryu, and a sprinkling of Kung Fu. He is a skilled rider and has worked as a summer camp horse wrangler and performed in front of large audiences in both drill riding and stunt riding exhibitions.
He  also enjoys fencing, singing, bad science fiction movies and live-action gaming. He lives in Missouri with his wife, son, and a vicious guard dog. Butcher goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990's when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.