STG's

A Dark Shade of Magic - by V.E.Schwab, is a fantasy book about magic and alternate realities. In it, the few remaining blood magicians travel between several Londons - Grey, Red and White. There was a black London, but now it is locked out. I like the idea of the use of magic. One thing that was a bit annoying is how the main "item" in the book had reflections of The One True Ring, as well as reminding me a bit of the green lanterns' ring power. Overall, pretty good.

Soda Pop Soldier, by Nick Cole, is an SF book with a big gaming component. The weird "Soda Pop" of the title is because in the near future, advertising rights are taken by winning virtual wars in a game, and the main character - PerfectQuestion - is a soldier for a cola company. There is another game in the book, however - a Black, illegal game, which PerfectQuestion is playing to get some extra money. Both games are interesting, although there are some slower scenes in the illegal one. The action was pretty good, and had plenty of good twists. The outside world was so interesting though (with space travel and colonies, a New New York over the old one, etc) I felt there was too little of in the book, though. Overall, recommended if you like books where a lot of the action happens in games.