Where has the week gone? I’m just finishing The Ice-Princess by Camilla Läckberg before moving on to The Preacher and The Stone-Cutter so that I can get some interview questions prepared. I’m also reading Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh, which me dipping my toe into Urban Romance. She’s very readable. Will see how we go.
In other news I’m very excited that The Midnight Mayor is out next month. I loved A Madness of Angels and was lucky enough to interview Kate Griffin. I’m hoping to set up another interview for this book as well.
So apart from me having a mad moment and being told I’m mad for thinking about doing an online magazine and keeping up on the blog what else has been happening around the place?
link: Civilian Reader: “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms”, by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Considering it is the first in a trilogy, I was surprised by the ending, as it does a good job of closing the story. From the included interview at the back of the book, there are hints of where the story will go (sounds very intriguing), as the next novel will focus on the other, different strata of society. It is difficult to go deeper into the plot without spoiling the story and revelations sprinkled throughout the novel. Needless to say, this is a novel that brilliantly weaves the themes of revenge, patience, justice, love, and power into an original fantasy setting that will hook you until the end, and leave you wanting more.
and
link: Neth Space: Review: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Jemisin creates a wonderfully unique and rich world even if we only see and experience only a small part of it in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Book 1 of the Inheritance Trilogy. While it is the opening of a trilogy, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms stands well on its own. Subsequent books promise to show us more of the world as they are told from points of view other than Yeine in places other than Sky and Jemisin maintains that each will stand on its own equally as well.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms really is that good. What you waiting for?
link: Steampunk Superhero: Mann’s Ghosts of Manhattan — rob will review…
Ghosts of Manhattan is a brilliant hybrid of superhero/vigilante tale, film noir, and 1920s decadence. Mann submerges the reader in an alternative New York City where Art Deco buildings, jazz clubs, speakeasies, flappers, and gangsters meet cars powered by coal, dirigibles, holo-booths (a sort of retro-videophone technology), self-lighting cigarettes, and mammoth Tessla coils in such a naturalistic manner, one would be excused for forgetting the world wasn’t actually like this back then. He plays with cinematic, comics, and literary tropes such as ritualistic mob slaughters, the sexy female jazz singer with a shadowy past, the good cop tempted by the bad guys to corrupt his morals, and the seemingly lackadaisical, wealthy playboy who parties his life away to cushion his inner darkness–the latter is a clear homage to Jay Gatsby, complete with Long Island mansion–but imbues all of his characters and situations with three-dimensional complexity that belies the notion that this is simple pastiche. One comes to care about all the characters deeply, even the Ghost.
I’m looking forward to this one – the paperback is out in the UK on the 3rd of May. Woo hoo!
link: Stomping on Yeti: 25 Authors Worth Watching in 2010 and Beyond
Finally, I ended up with an excel workbook filled with more lists and tallies than I knew what to do with. Sorting by frequency I was able to establish a list of about 35 strong contenders. After a little bit more careful research, I eliminated a few based on the fact that they could be considered past the “up-and-coming” stage of their careers. In the end, I was able to reduce the list to 25 authors to worth watching.
Now this a great project for a blog to do. Some are already on my radar – Aliette de Bodard,Blake Charlton, Lavie Tidhar, N.K. Jemisin and Sam Sykes. Most of the others are new – does this mean I don’t have my finger on the pulse?
link: Unbound!: Uglies – Scott Westerfeld
The idea of a utopia created by erasing individuality is nothing new, but Westerfeld has managed a new and spectacularly shallow twist on it, which brings something fresh to play. Equally most of the plot is fairly predictable, but it’s well executed and the characters are easy to care for. Scott’s delivery is what makes this novel stand out. Clearly there is a point being made here but he avoids preaching to us and provides a good fun adventure which isn’t overwhelmed by angst and misery (yay).
We could definitely do with some more fun in the world, Glee anyone?
link: Fantasy Book News & Reviews: Quick Review: The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas
That’s pretty much all I can say about this one. If you are looking for a fast paced story, this novel will deliver. But if you also want characters you care about (either love or hate), or a new world with a deep history, like me, you might be disappointed. There are some original details here, like the Scales, but they are trampled by plotlines whose resolution you see coming a mile away. Sometimes you finish a book and you are filled with happiness because you loved it. Other times you hate a book because you thought it had such potential, but that potential wasn’t met. Or in cases like this..you finish a book and you just don’t care enough to get worked up.
Oh my! A bi-polar review then….
link: Fantasy Book Critic: “Geosynchron” by David L. Edelman (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)
Building on the events of Infoquake and Multireal and indeed closing the important threads left open there and having great endings for the main characters arcs, Geosynchron achieves a rare feat for a trilogy ending volume, namely it takes the series one level higher, beyond mundanity to true sense of wonder sf, so it finally plays on the level of the masters of modern sf like A. Reynolds and PF Hamilton, rather than the smaller – however technically accomplished – field of “smaller ball, mundane, one trick wonder” sf. An A+ and so far the best core-sf novel I’ve read in 2010.
Sigh, I really wish Solaris hadn’t stopped after just releasing Infoquake as I loved it.
link: Falcata Times: FANTASY REVIEW: Tomes of the Undergates – Sam Sykes
I’m not saying that you won’t get fun out of this and there will be a huge number of people who disagree with my view but personally, if I can’t get a handle on the characters and get to like them, then I find it almost impossible to love a tale.
This is one of this years most hyped novels and it didn’t seem to work for Falcata Times…
link: Sam Sykes » Release Date? More like Release Wait!
In two days, it’s February 18th. This is a significant date for a few reasons. It is the day when Pluto was discovered. It marks the first publication of Mark Twain in the United States. It is the day when the following people died: Johnny Paycheck, noted songwriter, Dale Earnhardt, noted race car driver and Martin Luther, noted religious leader/race car driver. It is also the date when Amazon.co.uk claims that Tome of the Undergates is being released. You’ll undoubtedly have both noticed the specific wording of that sentence and have undoubtedly come to the conclusion that I am not nearly as clever as I think I am for making that up, so I’ll just cut to the point.
Yeah trust Amazon to get it wrong - Tome of the Undergates is out on the 15th April in the UK
link: Paul’s Review: The Missing by Jane Casey | Bookgeeks
Perhaps thrillers, or murder mysteries at least, live a double life in the reader’s assessment. On the one hand, there’s the way the book reads, the way it’s paced, the narrative voice, the plot as it happens and unfolds. On the other hand, once the final page is turned, there’s the retrospective assessment, how satisfying, plausible, unexpected was the solution? A good thriller with a bad ending can be like eating a Quarter Pounder with Cheese Extra Value Meal: it’s great until the final mouthful, then you feel a bit funny for the rest of the day. The Missing really excels in the first instance, as a reading experience, but falls short of full marks in the second. The ending is a little too melodramatic, and jars a little with what has gone before. But by now it’s five in the morning, and time to go to bed.
Good enough to be reading until 5am?
link: My Favourite Books: The Lord of the Mountain by James Lovegrove
Heavy going for such a slender book for the younger folk but to be honest, Mr. Lovegrove pulls it off with aplomb. I am chomping at the bit for the other books, I want to find out the challenges Tom will face. Something’s gone awry and instead of battling the Lords of Pain in 15 years’ time, they’ve decided to challenge him now, fifteen years too early. This means that Tom has to get his head into the game much faster than he and his tutor, Dragon, anticpated. You realise that like all teenagers (and adults) Tom is good at putting things off: I’ll train harder tomorrow, I have plenty of time to do that as an adult or I’ll eat better food when I’m older and in the meantime I’ll enjoy junk food cos I like it.
I’m loving the cover.
When I heard about Christopher Golden’s all Zombie anthology The New Dead I knew it would be one not to miss as it is comprised of all original tales from the likes of Joe Hill, Max Brooks, Tim Lebbon, Mike Carey, Kelley Armstrong, David Wellington, Jon Maberry, and pretty much any other author you’d care to tackle the subject. The stories range from the heart-wrenching to the depraved and all types in between with nearly every style and perspective represented. There is even a story in tweet form from Joe Hill, which ends up being one of the creepiest in the lot. All in all this is a solid collection any Zombie fan shouldn’t miss. With that in mind I convinced 6 of the contributors to a fun interview about all things Zombies. Enjoy!
An amazing group interview!
link: Unbound!: Interview – Guy Adams
I recently reviewed The World House by Guy Adams (published by Angry Robot) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also rather enjoyed tormenting the poor neurotic author on twitter the night before the review went up. I enjoyed it so much in fact that I asked if he’d come and talk to us properly over on Un:Bound. He said yes and here it is.
Unbound!s review of The World House was enough to make me order a copy on the spot, actually it was a tweet but you get the point! Really looking forward to this one.
link: The Wertzone: Peter F. Hamilton update
Peter F. Hamilton has signed a new deal with Macmillan in the UK, since The Evolutionary Void (the third and final book in The Void Trilogy, due this September) marks the end of his previous contract. Hamilton is now scheduled to deliver a collection of short stories for publication in 2011, followed by a new stand-alone novel provisionally called Great North Road, which will not be connected to any of his existing series or books. A new trilogy, set entirely within the Void but on a different planet to the one featured in the trilogy, is also planned.
link: Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review: ‘Kitty’s House of Horrors’ – Carrie Vaughn (Gollancz)
‘Kitty’s House of Horrors’ is a tightly written tale that doesn’t hang around in it’s mission to get from A to B as quickly as possible. While I never got the impression that Kitty was in any real danger herself (which kind of took the sting out of things) Vaughn makes up for this by making the rest of the cast fair game for what’s lurking in the woods. Vaughn’s not afraid to draw a well rounded likeable character, have them get friendly with Kitty and then kill them off in any manner of ways. Like I said, I knew Kitty was going to make it through but I was surprised by the people who didn’t. There are a couple of shocks in store.
and
link: Adventures in Reading: Kitty’s House of Horrors, by Carrie Vaughn
Also, Carrie Vaughn continues to tease a larger storyline of a bigger supernatural conflict, one which Kitty may only be a small player in, whether she wants to or not. Vaughn has been slowly unspooling the nature of this threat while telling personal stories for Kitty. It is well done. Carrie Vaughn continues to impress and improve with her Kitty Norville novels. That there are three more planned is good news.
Kitty’s House of Horrors is Book 7 but looks like you can jump on like Graeme has.
link: Book Chick City – YA Fiction: Category or Genre?
Why do some call YA (Young Adult) a genre? To me it’s a category just like Adult Fiction, Children’s Fiction and Middle Grade Fiction. And just as in adult fiction you can have many different genres such as science fiction, fantasy, horror and romance etc, you can with YA fiction too. But I constantly see YA being categorised as a genre.
Good question and there are 38 comments exploring the issue!
link: Walker of Worlds: Cover Art | Veteran by Gavin Smith (Gollancz)
Here we go, the final cover for Veteran by Gavin Smith, coming out in June from Gollancz. Compared to the earlier one that has been about on the internet, I think this is ultimately a better and nicer cover. It’s simple and will appeal to more than just the hardcore sci-fi fans that the other would have. Here’s a sci-fi debut that I have high hopes for this year.
That is so much better! Very excited by this debut!
link: Why I Read Fantasy? or A Defense of Fantasy | Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
It’s always more scholarly when you have two titles for an article, although less so when you mention it. If you’re looking for a discourse on why Fantasy and Science Fiction should be recognized as literary works, you may want to look elsewhere. Not only am I unqualified to address such an issue, but what I wish to discuss is much more personal.
Sigh, it’s one of those pointless statement. I don’t see the need to explain or justify what you read. Shouldn’t sharing be enough that if we like something and explain why some other person might pic it up and try it?
link: Walker of Worlds: News | Night Shade Books to release the Sentients of Orion series
Some excellent news for any stateside readers and fans of intelligent and gripping space opera – Night Shade Books will be publishing the hugely enjoyable Sentients of Orion series by Marianne de Pierres during 2011
How good is that? Another series I bought because of Mark’s love of the series!
link: PETRONA: Horror in crime fiction
While scrolling through the (hundreds of) posts in my RSS reader the other day, my eyes idly passed by an article, I think it was on one of the Guardian blogs, that opined that the boundaries between crime fiction and horror are now so blurred that they are pretty much one and the same. I wanted to write a post disagreeing, of course, but I haven’t been able to track down the original article. So instead of disagreeing with the specific article, I’ll disagree with the premise.
Some nice examples in there and good exploration of ‘horror’ and crime.
And that’s a good ending I think.
Have a great Sunday.
Oh Gav, you do love me!! Thanks for the linkage.
In defense of my post.
When I wrote “In defense…” I really just wanted to make a joke about having two titles. I didn't actually ever defend anything, I was just posting about something I love to talk about, which I think blogging is all about. It also garnered quite a bit of discussion, both on Only the Best and my own blog.
Thanks for the nod in our direction. Take care, Gav.
It wasn't a dig honest – I'd just be so much happier if people weren't
judged on what they read. I'm all for Twilight and the rest if it gets
people reading.
No prob, and I didn't take it as a dig. I agree, reading is reading. My wife finally realizes why I read fantasy, which she just abhors.
Hey Gav! Nice round-up, enjoyed seeing some of what is going on in the blogosphere handily gathered up in one place. Hoping that if you do slow down the blogging in favour of the short stories, you will still do these round-ups for someone as lazy as myself :-p
I just have one gripe though: that review from the Falcata Times of the Sykes book. Not so much the fact you popped it in there, but the content of the review itself. Just for interest value I put it side by side with Adam Whitehead's review of same after having read the Falcata Times version. Now… sure, I accept that people might have the same views of certain parts, but these reviews are *suspiciously* similar. Now, I hope you know by now that I am not a person to be mean or cast aspersions, but I do feel a little as though the Falcata Times might have been just a little lazy with their review (characters wanting to kill each other, 200 page fight scene blah blah)! Just my humble opinion and I'd love to hear your thoughts