Joe Abercrombie, Half a King

Joe Abercrombie, Half a King. The classic good younger brother story. Second son of a king inherits throne though he has training in books not war -yet he must avenge his father's death and his own betrayal. Standard but solid, clearly for production of a fantasy series.

Lev Grossman, The Magicians and The Magician King

Lev Grossman, The Magicians and The Magician King. Harry Potter and his friends go to Narnia in college. Better than you'd expect, and fun to read. The rare sequel that is better than the first, partly because there is an actual female character rather than stage prop, if she is a bit flat - so are the rest of them.

More light reading

Been reading some fun stuff between the cracks lately. E.L Konigsburg, The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place. A cute story about a girl's relationship with her elderly uncles and the giant scrap metal towers they built in their back yard. George R.R. Martin, Tuf Voyaging. A portly cat loving intergalactic trader acquires god-like powers. Daniel Pinkwater, The Afterlife Diet. Heaven for chubby people and diet book scams.