NextRead

I’m taking a few days off tweeting, blogging and the book-o-sphere. Need a recharge. Will be back at the weekend with some reviews, new books and stuff.

Keep reading.

Tags: Hiatus

Sunday Mornings is my catchup time for other blog – which usually means that I’ve missed taking active part in some interesting comments but gives me chance to have a good look over everything. So here are a few posts that are the from the last week of so that I thought you might like:

marcusgipps: Thicker Than Water, by Mike Carey – more thoughts on Mike Carey’s take on Urban Fantasy

marcusgipps: The Gay Divorcee, by Paul Burston – only because it’s the first time I’ve seen reference to ‘gay chick lit’

marcusgipps: The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan – another book I’m not the target audience for but it’s interesting to see what YA are reading. I wonder what affect that’s going to have on the future of adult titles?

marcusgipps: The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood – I’ve read two Margaret Atwood’s so far. Need to read a third. Could this be it?

Walker of Worlds: Book Haul 27/06/09 – just to prove that book bloggers do read books. I’ve actually bought all of these except Retribution Falls, which I will get in ebook form when it’s pb priced (or maybe beg a copy off Gollancz?). I didn’t like Consider Philabas -I have The Algebrast to try him again, Big Jim Buthcher fan and yet to read the other two.

Fantasy Book Critic: “Jasmyn” by Alex Bell (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu) – I have to say that I’ve tried this one and it wasn’t for me. You’ll have to ask me if you want to know why

Fantasy Book Critic: “Lord of Silence” by Mark Chadbourn (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo) – going to London to Forbidden Planet to see ‘my favourite fantasy writer ever in the world’ on the 9th July. I’m going to get this read by then. I’m wondering how it’s going to differ from what I’ve read before?

Speculative Horizons: Blood of Elves extract and Gemmell Award photos – Interesting choice for the Gemmell – shame it was from public vote. Ordered it. Will see how I get on

Primal by Robin Baker | Highlander’s Book Reviews – going to try this one. Hmmm not sure. But you can only try?

Merlin’s Wood by Robert Holdstock | Highlander’s Book Reviews – I’ve been hearing a lot about Mythago Wood – so may have to try it first.

Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review: ‘Retribution Falls’ – Chris Wooding (Gollancz) – another mention of Retribution Falls – it’s one of those books where I’m not sure if it’s really me but if I keep hearing about it I want to know what I’m missing.

Falcata Times: SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Stone – Adam Roberts – This is one of my favourite ever sci-fi stories- the narrator does an amazing job all the way until the end. Brilliant

Falcata Times: FANTASY REVIEW: The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic: Anniversary Edition – Terry Pratchett – I’ve got all Terry’s books and I saw this the other day. The illustrations are amazing. If only it was one of the Terry books I actually reread – I do reread a few of them

Jennie’s Review: Johannes Cabal: the Necromancer, by Jonathan L. Howard | Bookgeeks – this is one of the books you just have to try. Look for a review soon.

Simon P’s Review: Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears | Bookgeeks – The opening of An Instance of the Fingerpost bored me to tears. Nothing worthwhile happened. The setting and the language were fine. Again one of those writers that you hear good stuff from so I’m wondering if it’s me.

Simon A’s Review: Fall of Thanes, by Brian Ruckley | Bookgeeks – another reminder that after reading the first in the series it’s worth reading the other two!

Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist: Fall of Thanes – and other and it’s a review on the Hotlist. Shocking!

A Dribble of Ink » Blog Archive » Review | Blood of Ambrose by James Enge – just to show that we can do negative reviews.

An Interview with Jo Graham « Davebrendon’s Fantasy & Sci-Fi Weblog – must admit that this series is one that isn’t for me. Not enough magic! But it might temp you.

More info on The Magicians by Lev Grossman ~ Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf & Book Review – more links and stuff for this book.

Speculative Fiction Junkie: Book I Couldn’t Finish – The Glister – and to show that people are allowed not to finish books.

That’ll do you and me for now I think.

I’m addicted to books. I am. You’d only have to see how many books I took with me when I arrived in Uni to see that I had a ‘problem’ then and I still have a problem now.

After I got bitten by the bug, that is after I started finishing books and not half reading them and putting them down. I think that’s because I was choosing books that didn’t grab me in the slightest and I thought that you should finish every book you start as it’s you that has the problem and it’s nothing to do with the book.

Which is true if you think that by finishing a book you’ll be a better person. You won’t BTW. You’ll just be a frustrated reader. And it might put you off if you read the next Booker Prize winner or such prize because you think that’s what reading is all about. Not knocking the Booker though it’s rare that my kind of books get put on it.

I’ve been reading long enough to know my own tastes and know how far I can realistically stretch them so no matter how many reviews the next Jane Green gets and how many people say how wonderful it is I’m highly unlikely to want to read it. Chick-Lit just isn’t my thing. Neither is the Twilight-esque death-love-thing that is hitting the YA scene. I have tried those but that’s more because I loved Anne Rice as a teenager.

Anyway, bloggers and selling. There has been an interesting discussion about John Self and his blog and sales of a book he’s been championing – Colony by Hugo Wilcken. Not many copies it seems and I don’t think it matters in the slightest as those that liked the idea of the book would have bought it.

Someone on Twitter, now sure who, said the bloggers are more hand-sellers and are taking over the roll of booksellers in bookshops. That might not be 100% right but I do now buy a lot of my books after reading them on blogs. Not just reviews but mentions of new releases, cover p0rn, people showing off what they’ve had in the mail, what authors signings they been to.. to name but a few things.

Those things can also be a turn off. Mostly reviews can be a turn off and I’m not talking negative reviews. Just being honest and open. Because I want to read things like Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold but then reading the very positive reviews I think that’s not going to be fun – gritty fantasy – it’s just not the fantasy I like. I’ve got The Blade Itself and we’ll see if I like him. I might be wrong

So what am I saying – yes trust us but challenge us – don’t take our word for it – if it really isn’t your thing no matter how many reviews you read you probably won’t like it. But if it is your thing or at least raises an interest please please give it a go and then tell us if you liked it or not.

Is that just me that gets swayed by my fellow reviewers? What have you read that you wouldn’t if it wasn’t for a blog?

I’m mostly in the Love it camp. But then again, I’m a fan of cool minimalist art like this

link: A Dribble of Ink » Blog Archive » Cover Art | The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (UK Edition)

I’m a little late i sharing this one I know but I think it’s stunning.

I’ve been hearing lots of thing about Mistborn and have been wondering when it was coming to the UK. It’s out 8 October 2009 so a bit of time yet!

Thanks to Aiden. Hope you don’t mind me nabbing it!

Today’s great discussion in certain corners of the blogosphere is about the nature of blogging. It’s actually in the air from publishers as well as bloggers.

I think blogging is partly about self expression ad partly about being a part of a community. It’s easy to get discouraged writing into the void.
Jonathan M

link: OF Blog of the Fallen: When do you ever stop whoring yourself out?

I don’t want to delve the use of competitions and other promotions. There is a good debate for those interested in the link above or a more personal reflection of the points raised on A Dribble of Ink:

Early on, when I was just setting out to create A Dribble of Ink, I wanted to be a creator of content, rather than a puller of content. I was determined to get people to read my blog because they loved me and my take on the world of Speculative Fiction. It started off great, of course, but it quickly became clear that there was so much more out there that I was interested in, wanted to pass on to my readers, but didn’t really leave much room for my own personal interpretation

link: A Dribble of Ink » Blog Archive » Article | Where’d the Enthusiasm Go?

I called this post, ‘Personal Journeys in Reading‘ as that’s what I started out doing. Now how is that reading shaped? That’s the dilemma. I’ll readily admit that my reading choices are swayed heavily by what’s received through the door.

This isn’t a bad thing in the slightest. I’m enjoying it. I get to experience authors I already know and like and old but new to me and new new authors that are on their first or second novels. It’s a challenging mix and what you get to see here is the ones that I’ve finished. Now as I tend to be books I’ve enjoyed as I can’t read books I don’t it’s up to you if they are your sort of books.

I’ve been thinking of taking the John Self approach to blogging but having nothing but reviews for me probably won’t work as I like the book p0rn, and cover p0rn posts.

I probably won’t feature any link-round-ups or pure promotional pots for a while. I’m getting more personal value from reading and reviewing. And I want to spend more time getting in touch with authors – and I’ve got a few that I really need to get back in touch with.

So it’s freeing up time but also de-cluttering the high number of books that are mentioned on this blog. I already filter by my personal taste. All books here I really want to try but I’m conscious that me going ‘oooh look pretty’ might not be the most handy selection tool.

Before I bore you to tears. I’d better say something about how I choose. Well the books I like are evident if you look back a few pages. I’ve selected my next 8 or so books – though they are subject to change so I’m not going to list them. The choice is simple. I like that. I need to read some sci-fi, fantasy, crime, other, and this one fits the bill. As not to show preference to one publisher or another I do try and choose books from different ones from one book to another.

Suffix to say that I’m hoping you’ll get to know a bit about me and the books I’ve read over the next 8 posts of so.

Enough about me. How is your own journey going? Going round in circles? Travelling without a map? Or do you know exactly what you’re reading and why?

Who said sci-fi was dead:

As banks struggle and businesses collapse, the science fiction writer Alastair Reynolds is making his own contribution to the flagging UK economy, signing an unprecedented ten-book deal with Gollancz worth £1m.

link: Science fiction author lands £1m book deal | Books | guardian.co.uk

It’s not the amount of money that’s exciting. it’s the fact that he’s going to be bringing out one book a year for the next 10 years. Which as impossible as it might sound. He’s had 11 books published since 2000.

I’ve read Revelation Space and I think it’s probably time to dust down the copy of Chasm City.

The Affinity Bridge by George Mann
Published by Snowbooks and Out Now

There are a few things going on with The Affinity Bridge. It’s a page-turner, a detective story, it features Queen Victoria, it has spies, and it’s steampunk to name but a few of them. It’s quite a pot that George Mann is throwing ideas into.

It could be a mess and a bad pastiche of steampunk-Colan-Doyle-style as it does draw heavily from the idea of gentlemen detectives and the troubles of the upper-classes.  But Mann has made it work. I was totally absorbed into his creation.

Simply he’s put his own stamp on everything.  The streampunk is understated but integral. Foremost, this is a detective novel and Newbury and Hobbes have a mystery to solve. Actually two mysteries but the first, the death of peasants is overtaken by the crash of an airship, a case that is of far more important to the Crown.

Mann challenges the thinking of the time with Sir Maurice Newbury’s assistant, Miss Veronica Hobbes. Hobbes is in striking difference to his secretary Miss Coulthard, who is unable to function after the disappearance of her brother, which she suspects is at the hands of revenants who are stalking to the poorer areas of London. Hobbes on the other hand doesn’t think twice about hitching up her skirt and kicking the odd door from its hinges.

Mann grabs you by the scruff of the neck and throws you into his version of Victorian London, though I’m not taking any guesses at what year it is or how long Queen Victoria has been on the thrown and you’ll know why when you first meet her. He keeps the plot flying along. Newbury and Hobbes are fascinating in their own right but combined with the story Mann makes this a book that’s hard to put down and a world that’s hard to leave.

That isn’t to stay that it doesn’t have some weaknesses. There are a few action sequences, which are mostly well done but you get the feeling that Mann is enjoying himself too much in some places and that could they could have been cut down a little. I’m glad they are in there as they make for a nice change of tone from the politeness that Newbury usually exhibits.

There are a few words and phrases that jar every now and again and this is more to do with how well Mann captures the language of the time that when they get repeated you notice.  But the banter and the dialogue is first rate.

Newbury is a gentlemen spy so his nemesis is a gentlemen of sorts. And the cat and mouse game that they play is teasing and fun. You can’t take this tale too seriously though the main characters have strong emotional connections and they have a believable fondness for each other. Mann has given The Affinity Bridge a strong central core and one that can grow and be explored in the next and subsequent books.

And there a few tip bits thrown into this one. Hints at what could happen in the future and what has happened in the past especially from the last scene. Now that was a surprise.

I’m greatly looking forward to seeing the next Newbury and Hobbes adventure, The Osiris Ritual, and I’m hoping that we’ll get to see more of Newbury’s interests in the Dark Arts and what secrets he’s able to tap into.

Highly Recommended

Additional:

I was lucky enough to receive a limited edition signed copy 53/500, which comes with bonus tale: The Hambilton Affair.

It’s a Hobbes-less tale where Newbury recounts an earlier investigation to his friend and Chief Inspector, Sir Charles Bainbridge. It’s a strange little tale of the search for a missing wife and when she’s found it shows that Mann is keen to explore this science in these tales.

It shows as well as that there is room for both a longer and shorter investigations. It will be interesting to see if Mann is able to write enough to come out with a short story collection? I’d buy it.

Bonus:

I’ve just found, but not yet read, another Newbury and Hobbes short story The Shattered Teacup

Tags: Snowbooks

Ok, so it’s not available until the end of June but the launch of the COOL-ER ereader in the UK has me excited. Not only is it £189.99, comparable to the Sony Reader 505 which sells for £199 in Waterstones £179.99 in WHSMITHs with £10 voucher, but also it comes in a choice of 8 colours:

• Ruby
• Blue Sky
• Hot Pink
• Vivid Violet `
• Cool Pink
• Racing Green
• Black Jack
• Silver Shine

That though isn’t really why I’m excited. I’m excited as the competition is hotting up for both hardware and the books that go on them.

The COOL-ER supports EPUB including DRM. So ebooks purchased from Waterstones, Borders and WHSmith’s online stores will work. And you can also buy books from COOLERBOOKS.com

COOLERBOOKS.com is the first online eBook store dedicated to providing readers easy, affordable and instant access to more than 750,000 books, from today’s bestsellers to the classics of yesteryear. Books are not limited to only COOL-ER usage, and readers can search for books according to the e-reader that they own.

It’s a US site so I’m not sure what the restrictions are on International purchases.

COOL-ER is an international product though:

COOL-ER is the one reader that supports eBooks in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Russian, and Traditional & Simplified Chinese. How’s that for thorough?

How much does it cost?

• $249 (US)

• £189, including VAT

• €219, including VAT

I’m trying to get my hands on one to try it out asap.  It has a few features that I want to try like the 8 levels of zoom, it’s native mac support, 3hrs charge and 8,000 page turns.

Tags: ebook, ebooks, ereaders

I want to see if I can send a pic post or two from my iPhone

A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Carey in Forbidden Planet in London. At the same time as getting my edition of The Devil You Know signed. I thought it would be an a good idea to get a copy of Thicker Than Water signed as a competition prize and give it away after I’d reviewed the book.

Well it took me a little longer than I thought it would to get to the review up but now I have here’s the competition.

Prize: One signed copy of Thicker Than Water
Entry: Leave a comment on this blog post saying something like ‘I’d love to win’ or similar.
Closing Date: Midnight 23rd June GMT
UK only (I’m paying postage this time)

I’ll email the randomly chosen winner and announce them here after the closing date.

Good luck everyone.