Well since the last update it's been a more or less the same as it always is – more reviews with some discussion thrown in here and there.

This month there were only two reviews. The first is Keeping it Real by Justina Robson – my feelings were mixed about this one, though overall it's still good. The other review is The Last Colony by John Scalzi which I reviewed for FantasyBookSpot – this one all about good, entertaining sci-fi as I've come to expect from Scalzi. I've also finished Brasyl by Ian McDonald – the review should come out next week for the new e-zine, Scalpel.

There were more cover art ramblings – some by others which I talk about here, and more by myself. This round I covered a few contemporary covers and also weighed in an opinion for a newly released cover that is just horrible.

This post covers a bit about review theory and what reviews are, should be and how they are good. A couple of the usual suspects in these sort of circles, Gabe Chouinard and Jonathan McCalmont, are starting their own e-zine, Scalpel. They've coined the term 'street-level criticism' and are looking for takers – I'll try my hand and see if it gets bitten.

The Once Upon a Time Challenge has been leveled – lots of good stuff there.

An interesting discussion on differences.

A misguided rant leads to the scourge of International Pixel-Stained Technopeasants.

Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson is finally upon us and I do a bit of fan-boy raving about Erikson's landmark series.

That's about it for this round of updates. This month I look forward to reading Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch and Acacia by David Anthony Durham.

March was a pretty busy month with quite a few posts, including 5 new reviews and a number of posts.

Reviews included Sagramanda by Alan Dean Foster, which is a good but not great sci-fi thriller set in India. I also reviewed the audio version of The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi. Next up was The Dragon and the Unicorn by A.A. Attanasio, which I didn't like at all (my lowest scoring review to date). Bone Song by John Meaney is only out in the UK at the moment, but is a great book - think Dirty Harry set in a city dreamed up by the bastard love-child of Jeff VanderMeer and China Mieville - good stuff. I finished up with Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett - Thai noir - excellent book.

In other happenings, Neth Space had it's 10,000th visitor in early March. Maybe not huge milestone, but one I was happy to reach none-the-less.

The buzz surrounding Patrick Rothfuss and The Name of the Wind keeps growning (and I kept right in thick of it all) - I posted an interview with him at FantasyBookSpot.

And finally I added another installment to my 'Tale of Two Covers' discussion series on cover art where I talk about the US and UK versions of Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (I don't really like either, but one is a little better). And a plea to publishers and bulk book buyers to stop relying so much on cover art.

Well, I don't post over here too often, but I have decided that I'll do periodic updates of what's been going on at my main blog site. Since it's still relatively early in the year, I'll use the beginning of 2007 as my cutoff.

I've posted several reviews since the beginning of '07 - some have been out a while and others are new or upcoming releases.

Books that have been out for a while:

Vellum by Hal Duncan - simply one of the best books I've read in a while. It's not an easy read, but it's well worth the effort.

Smoking Poppy by Graham Joyce - a decent read - not really SFF, but quite worthwhile.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - Yes, it lives up to the hype. An all-around fun book.

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi - Another example of what I've come to expect - good, fun, fast-reading.

I've had the opportunity to read several new and upcoming releases.

Fast Forward 1 by Lou Anders (ed.) - a really decent unthemed sci-fi anthology.

The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson - a compelling read and decent first-time effort.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - This epic fantasy debut is the real deal. The hype is building, and it is deserved - we'll be hearing about Rothfuss a lot in the future.

Well, I've gotten myself involved in a few discussions. A few words by M. John Harrison on worldbuilding escalated into quite a discussion on many blogs and message boards. I chimed in here and here and include a number of interesting links.

It seems I've become quite the blogger about cover art. First I wonder if publishers are getting it, then I figured out that cover art doesn't matter so much to me. I also compared and contrasted two covers in what may be the first in a series of posts.

And finally, a bit about independent book sellers and Harry Potter, why I hate making lists, I'm not happy that George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is going to be an HBO series, and an author's post about hardbacks.