I’ve read a fair amount of words on the Internet this past week, and thought to myself, ‘Hey, I know, I better share them with the rest of you, too!’ So without further ado, here they are:

Why Angry Librarians Are Going to War With Publishers Over E-Books

Hint: It’s because big publishers, in this case Macmillian, are working hard on shafting them over:

In July, Macmillan announced that come November, the company will only allow libraries to purchase a single copy of its new titles for the first eight weeks of their release—and that’s one copy whether it’s the New York Public Library or a small-town operation that’s barely moved on from its card catalog. This has sparked an appropriately quiet revolt. Librarians and their allies quickly denounced the decision when it came down, and now the American Library Association is escalating the protest by enlisting the public to stand with libraries by signing an online petition with a populist call against such restrictive practices. (The association announced the petition Wednesday at Digital Book World, an industry conference in Nashville, Tennessee.) What’s unclear is whether the association can get the public to understand a byzantine-seeming dispute over electronic files and the right to download them.

In a July memo addressed to Macmillan authors, illustrators, and agents, the company’s CEO John Sargent cited the “growing fears that library lending was cannibalizing sales” as a reason for embargoing libraries from purchasing more than one copy of new books during their first eight weeks on sale. “It seems that given a choice between a purchase of an ebook for $12.99 or a frictionless lend for free, the American ebook reader is starting to lean heavily toward free,” he claimed.

I cannot begin to describe how much I loathe this short-sighted, bottom line, profits first-inspired way of thinking. Libraries are a pillar of free education and an immensely important source of “equitable access to information for everybody”, in the words of Alan Inouye, the senior director for public policy and government relations at the ALA. How this plays out, I cannot say — but I’m happy to spread the word for something that seems intended to hurt libraries’ standing with library-goers.

Grimdark Magazine’s Review of “Wraith Knight” by C. T. Phipps

This one sounds like a fun read:

Wraith Knight, by C.T. Phipps, asks a Tolkien-inspired what-if: After Sauron fell, what would an out-of-work Nazgul do with the rest of its eternal lifespan? In this book, readers follow Jacob Riverson, an undead warrior in similar straits coping with his recent emancipation and newfound free will after the downfall of his own dark lord, the King Below.

I know C. T. Phipps from booknest.eu, where he’s a fellow reviewer — but I have yet to read one of his works. This one might just persuade me to carve out a few hours and give Charles’ writing chops a chance!

Members of TheWriteReads Did a Blog Tour of “A Different Time”

I was part of it, but my review is one of dozens upon dozens of excellent reviews that present very different takes from my own! A personal favourite of mine is the review posted by “An Angry Old Man Reviews Books”. His short, concise reviews always force a chuckle out of me.

Rob J. Hayes reviewed “The Sword of Kaigen”

…And he came to some of the same conclusions that I did!

We’ll start this review proper with a little comparison. The Sword of Kaigen is Avatar the Last Airbender meets Robin Hobb. Sounds a bit strange on the surface, but it really does fit. The world ML Wang has created is a place where there are nations around the world each with their own affinity for an element, and their own powers to control those elements. Delving a bit deeper, certain families within each nation have specific and powerful bloodline powers. As an example, the Matsuda family are water theonites and their bloodline ability is the power to create a whispering blade; a blade of ice that can cut through anything. For those of you who like a bit of anime, you can likely already see a few similarities to a certain ninja story.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – you owe it to yourself to read this standalone. Almost everyone I know has unreservedly loved The Sword of Kaigen, and for good reason. Give it a shot, you won’t regret it!

Thanks for joining me this week! I loved reading all of these, and I hope you will, too!