Category: Masks

School Library Journal says Masks encapsulates “the best features of a good teen title”

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School Library Journal gives a good review to Masks. Kathy Kirchoefer of Henderson County Public Library in North Carolina writes: “Encapsulating the best features of a good teen title, Masks is sure to resonate with readers…With an intriguing setting and a suspenseful story line that will hook readers, Masks is the first of a promising …

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Masks a Locus Magazine “New and Notable” book

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Locus Magazine, the leading news magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field, named Masks one of the “New and Notable Books” for January 2014: “A young woman’s masking is supposed to confirm her as a Gifted magic uses, but instead sends her to slave in the mines in this powerful fantasy novel, the first …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2014/01/masks-a-locus-magazine-new-and-notable-book/

Masks makes Sci-Fi Chick’s list of the best of 2013

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I was very pleased to see Masks on Sci-Fi Chick’s list of the Best of 2013. In her review, she wrote: “Masks is a fresh and original take on a coming of age story. Fantasy fans will want to check this one out. I loved the concept of the masks that hide everyone’s faces, yet …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2014/01/masks-makes-sci-fi-chicks-list-of-the-best-of-2013/

YA or not YA? Qwillery review of Masks hits on a salient point

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I haven’t been posting about all the reviews Masks has been getting because there have been quite a lot of them–more than I’m used to, and a function, I think, of this being my first hardcover release and getting some early favorable attention from the likes of Publishers Weekly and RT Book Reviews. There’s also …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2013/12/ya-or-not-ya-qwillery-review-of-masks-hits-on-a-salient-point/

Masks named to Fantasy Faction’s list of best fantasy novels of 2013

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This is nice: Masks has been named to Fantasy Faction’s list of the top 25 fantasy novels of 2013. And I get compared to Garth Nix, which is an honour anytime. Marc Aplin writes: Masks is a book that took me by complete surprise. Not since the likes of Lirael or Sabriel have I enjoyed …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2013/12/masks-named-to-fantasy-factions-list-of-best-fantasy-novels-of-2013/

Good review for Masks in Locus Magazine

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Locus Magazine, the news magazine of the science fiction/fantasy field, has a good review of Masks in its December issue. The review isn’t online, but Faren Miller begins: “Masks, first in a fantasy series by E.C. Blake…chronicles the trials of a Gifted though largely untrained teenage heroine in an exotic, perilous world of magic, after …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2013/12/good-review-for-masks-in-locus-magazine/

Ten autographed copies of Masks on sale for charity at Patrick Rothfuss’s website

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The estimable Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times-bestselling author of the amazing fantasies The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear, with whom I share the honor of being published by DAW Books, has a long history of selling signed books and other artifacts through his website to raise money for charity. Right now, …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2013/11/ten-autographed-copies-of-masks-on-sale-for-charity-at-patrick-rothfusss-website/

RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Best Fantasy Novel nominee interviews

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I was thrilled when Masks was named one of the finalists for the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Fantasy Novel, alongside some tough competition (Paul Cornell, London Falling; Kate Elliott, Cold Steel; Mary Robinette Kowal, Without A Summer, and Stella Gemmell, The City. The RT Book Reviews blog posted the mini-interviews it did …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2013/11/rt-book-reviews-reviewers-choice-best-fantasy-novel-nominee-interviews/

First book in my other fantasy series now available for pre-order

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It’s not a huge secret (see the link Other Novels–not to mention the Publishers Weekly review of Masks) that E.C. Blake is not the only name under which I write, and under that other name (Edward Willett)  I also have a fantasy series about to get underway. The Shards of Excalibur is a five-book YA …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2013/11/first-book-in-my-other-fantasy-series-now-available-for-pre-order/

“A good book that will appeal to fans of young adult fantasy”

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Bookworm Blues says of Masks: “The magic and world is rather fascinating and well done…There’s a hint of romance and the possibility of a love triangle in future books, which is all very young adult, but it’s balanced by the world and the magic, which have a very adult feel to them. This makes Masks, …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ecblake.com/2013/11/a-good-book-that-will-appeal-to-fans-of-young-adult-fantasy/