and because it isn't all doom and gloom...

i probably owe my life - as i know it in the present - to these books. mostly to that one in the front, the brothers' war, exceptionally writen by jeff grubb. i read it in the first year of highschool, around seven, eight years ago, and it's still my favourite book ever. even though in the meanwhile i've read tolkien, pullman or vinge - our favourite books are not necessarily the better, rather those who can tell us more than the story writen in its lines, page after page. by the time, i was introduced into the world of magic: the gathering - quite an interesting game, which sadly i have no time or money to play anymore. and as i dwelved deep into the game's mechanics and the wonderful card artwork, i became curious about its backstory. a friend of mine, my "magic teacher", lend me the book. by that time, it took me a fair amount of time to read it, as my english was not that great. but it was worth the time, it was worth every single word i had to look into the dictionary (and there were many, believe me). and then, bowed by that remarkable story, my interest in science fiction and fantasy words grew. also, as i got more magic: the gathering books, my english improved quite a lot, and if today i can write this blog in english, i can thank jeff grubb, j. robert king, lynn abbey and other writers of these fantastic universe created by wizards (the company and not real mages, mind you). being unemployed brings joys like these. even though i still have no money to play *cough cough*, i have plenty of time to re-read some of the most fascinatng books i've ever read. if i ever became a sf&f writer on my own account, i hope i can meet jeff grubb to thank him personally.

the other books in the picture are the sequels of the brothers' war in the artifacts cycle: planeswalker, by lynn abbey, time streams, by j. robert king, and bloodlines, by loren l. coleman. price is a bargain - around seven euros each.