NextRead

Today has been a day of lists. Like the list of books for June that I’m still sorting out. If the Fantasy Book Critic is anything to go by it could be quite mammoth so have I feeling that I might have to be quite brutal and cut out one or two um-and-ah books.

SF Signal has a list of Best American Fantasy 2008 and 2008 Locus Awards. From the Locus Awards I like the interesting selection of novels:

SF NOVEL: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)
FANTASY NOVEL: Making Money by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK; HarperCollins)
YOUNG ADULT BOOK: Un Lun Dun by China Miéville (Ballantine Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
FIRST NOVEL: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (Morrow; Gollancz)

I loved Un Lun Dun. I’m looking forward to finally reading Heart-Shaped Box after one if it’s characters made Neil Gaiman’s Top Ten Monsters. I’m not holding out much hope for The Yiddish Policemen’s Union and I will read Pratchett, sometime.

Entertainment Weekly has 100 New Classics: Books from 1983 to 2008, so the last 25 years.I’ve selected some for comment.

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006) Must read this one or watch the film.
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000) Not actually the best Harry Potter…
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997) I want to read more Murakami… I’ve almost got the short story about a Giant Frog and Tokoyo in one of his short story collections.
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000) I can’t seem to find Dave Eggers that exciting…
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986) Loved this one. Everyone should read it.
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005) I bought it on a whim. In no rush.
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998) I’ve forgotten how many times I’ve read this. A genuinely funny book is very rare!
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000) one of the best books on writing ever!
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004) interesting choice. I liked it a lot but not sure if should make the 100
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000) I hated the first book of this series! I really don’t get the appeal!!
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996) Not a novel but ok
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004) I found this one a real mess and didn’t do anything for me.
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003) A wonderful insight into the world.
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003) Pure escapism.

Aiden at A Dribble of Ink points me to SFX’s Top 100 Sci-Fi Authors…

Things like this are always a strange beast as they rarely line up with my idea of who to include and where to place them and how can you honestly place them if you haven’t read every thing author?

Right back to making a choice of books for June and maybe actually start Julys??

Tags: reading lists

I must admit that at the moment this looks like it could be my literary book of the year. It might be the only literary book I’ve read so far, I could be wrong about that, but it’s going to be hard to beat.

At an English Boys Private School children are going missing, they are dreaming and then disapearing but no one knows where they’ve gone. Miller mixes in war, fantasy, violence and emotion into what is turning into a clever read. Though I’m reserving judgement until I’ve finished the second half.

Things I like so far are the narrative voice and way that Miller is telling his story. It wasn’t what I was expecting and it’s not going in the direction I thought it would. The focus has shifted from Timothy, the focus for the first section, to his father. Each is building a picture from different angles. I’m looking forward to how he’s going to mix them all together. The voice as in the tone and style is very accomplished that I’m surprised that this is a debut as it is confident as a pro.

Fingers crossed for the second half.

Tags: debut, first thoughts

This is always a hard choice for me. On the one hand I have books that have one the shelves for ages(read years) that I should give time to and then there is the pile of new releases that are shouting at me we’re new read me now! And usually I try and balance personal reading with review copies from publishers. The problem comes when I just can’t settle and pick a book. I think about it, put it down, read a couple of pages and then move on to the next one.

Reading for me has a lot to do with mood. Do I want to read something comforting by a writer I know or read something new that I might not like. Added to that is when my inner editor is front and centre and it takes quite a lot to impress him.

For example I’ve picked and put down two books that I’ve had sitting in the pile for a little bit. My problem is that that my inner editor is shouting and screaming as I read. “Show not tell! Show not tell!” I think I’m a bit of a snob. So this leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. Should I struggle and hope it’s a phase and that I won’t end up hating every second. Or should I move on?

I usually choose move on as I’m not enjoying it. Quality of writing I think is important for me even if I’m reading a genre that isn’t considered literary, which isn’t a fair comment to make as I’ve read more quality writing in genre fiction that I have in the literary books. Though I’ve also read some of the worse writing in genre titles as well.

Anyway, I’m hoping to find something I’ll like soon. Currently I’m trying Andrew Martin’s The Necropolis Railway. Fingers crossed.

Tags: reading

Now I’m moving to all the posts that are scarcely piling up in my RSS reader (NetNewsWire or FeedDemon depending if I’m on the mac or the PC). So what follows is probably in the order in which it appears in the list. Though I’m skipping all the art related blogs I like (though if you are interested visit 638ways.co.uk).

Kicking off with the Hugo Awards 2008 shortlist. I’m going to to stick to the Best Novel Category as I’ve not been keeping track on what shorter fiction has been around. I guess the other nominees would be a good place to start. Anyway the nominations for Best Novel are:

• The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)
• Brasyl by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
• Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor; Analog Oct. 2006-Jan/Feb. 2007)
• The Last Colony by John Scalzi (Tor)
• Halting State by Charles Stross (Ace)

John Scalzi only came to my attention recently when The Ghost Brigades arrived in the post. Then Tor released Old Man’s War as an e-book as part of their current promotion and now the third book in the sequence is a nominee. So I might be cracking open The Ghost Bridges sooner than I thought. I’ve never read any Robert J. Sawyer and I can’t remember hearing about Rollback which seems to concern receiving alien messages. Halting State has been getting dust for far too long and the other two I may or may not pick up in paperback as I’ve read some fabulous reviews of both. Chadon has the slight edge as he’s a crossover writer appealing to be both literary and genre fans.

Via SF Signal (thanks) I’m sticking with award winners. This time the British Science Fiction Assocication Awards where Gollancz’s Brasyl by Ian McDonald just won Best Novel.

Swinging back to Charles Stross as SF Signal has a review of Glasshouse and says, ‘I’d have to say that Glasshouse is one of the best books I’ve read this year’. Sounds like they enjoyed it. And they’ve also dipped into Halting State saying, ‘The first thing you’ll notice when reading Halting State is that the entire book is written in the second person. This can be rather odd, as Stross changes characters every chapter and ‘you’ change gender frequently.’ Which is one of the reasons I’ve been putting off reading it,

Via UK SF Book News we’re back to awards as Nova Swing by M. John Harrison won the Philip K. Dick Award.

I’m skipping on OF Blog of the Fallen for a minute as there is a mass debate (no rude jokes please) on the nature of reviewing and it’s not something I can skim read.

Dovegreyreader reminds me often that there is more than genre fictions out there and she’s made a wonderful small post about short-stories thanks to a pile of books from small press publisher Salt.

Skimming past Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist Post entitled, I’m the EasyJet or Southwest Airlines of SFF book reviewing!;-) , I’m moving on to the review of The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia. I’d like to read more books that make places characters. Phil Rickman does it in his Merrily Waktins series and Neil Gaiman has certainly done it, as has China Meiville. So it’s good to see Moscow getting explored. The final verdict off Pat, ‘Do yourself a favor and read this one!’ So I will.

If I was braver I’d probably read Neuropath by Scott Baker, but I’m not. Especially after reading this bit in Pat’s review, ‘Tom is caught in a terrifying downward spiral as Neil kidnaps and mutilates people with a connection to him. He manipulates their brains, leaving them altered in ways that will shock some people’. But if you’re brave enough check out the rest of the review.

Tia over at Fantasy Debut is Looking for that Sense of Wonder and after reading her post I tend to agree. Though Mark Chadbourn (yep him again) does quite often make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

John Self over at The Asylum reminds me that I really should delve into the depths of the classic and previously published and he as a few words on reissued classics when he looks at The Assistant by Robert Walser.

Tia reminded me and Robert reviewed, Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry (though its UK release isn’t until the 14 June 2008) so I’m hoping I don’t forget about by then.

Next on the list is Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review who, as it happens, has just celebrated one year in blogging and may he have many many more - as long as he doesn’t get crushed to death by a falling stack of review copies first.

Graeme’s also happened to review Happy Hour of the Damned saying, ‘It’s an irreverent and fun read that has got me waiting impatiently for the sequel ‘Road Trip of the Living Dead’’. As an aside I’m also reading Cell, which is a Stephen King take on zombies or so it seems from the first few gruesome but intriguing pages. Speaking of zombie he also managed to see Diary of the Dead which has disappeared from my local cinemas faster than £50 note on a pavement.

Hallelujah, I know now what The Name of the Wind is actually about. The whole thing is making a bit more sent thanks to Graeme’s enlightening synopsis.

The bouncy Book Swede, Chris, has reviewed Procession of the Dead by D.B. Shan. He seems to come to the conclusion that it’s good but not great due to a couple of flaws in both characterisation and exposition. Still sounds worth reading.

Kimbofo at Reading Matters has a review of The Ghost by Robert Harris. Robert Harris is one of those writers that you feel you ought to read but seems a little bit too big to actually do it. It seems that The Ghost is a good one to read and has erased any doubts that Robert Harris is a writer for her.

My film of the year last year had to be the magical Stardust based on the illustrated story, now novel, by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. So it’s good to see that Katie’s Reading enjoyed the original novel and recommends reading both the book and seeing the film in any order you like.

Daren at The Genre Files has a couple of recommended reads. Being connected Darren managed to get hold of a copy of Richard Morgan’s The Steel Remains, something us mere mortals have to wait until August to read. But by the sounds of it Morgan’s first fantasy novel after some very successful sci-fi novels will be well worth the wait. It’s a very thorough review and worth reading. The interesting point for me was. ‘The Steel Remains is one of the darkest, most intense epic fantasy novels I’ve read to-date. I also think it’s a fantasy novel that doesn’t so much transcend as extend the genre, into the sort of thematic territory that the majority of fantasy writers wouldn’t even consider going anywhere near.’ He also has good words for the debut Black Ships by Jo Graham. Which is reassuring after reading Robert’s review. It was also released under the Librarything Early Reviewer programme. Not that I can get into the Librarything thing but it seems to be working as Black Ships also has a review by an Librarything early reviewer Fyrefly.

booklit reminds me that there is still an Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction.

In my last post I mentioned that covers are slowly going more painterly and Grimspace by Anne Aguirre falls into that category and according to Grasping for the Wind it also falls into ‘pure entertainment’.

I think that just about covers it. In part 3 I’ll be catching up with other stuff. And maybe wade into the review thing that’s in the air.

There’s more. To be honest there is always more. But these look like good reads. I’ve got some and some are waiting on my Amazon.co.uk wishlist.

If is a current theme in my reading it has to be life and death and how to avoid dying. In The Dreaming Void they have several ways of avoiding it from digitising themselves, using bionic enhancements to genetic resequencing. The Electric Church offers the chance salvation set in a world that has enforced Unification tearing down national border and governments though everything may not be as it seems. This looks like a promising debut. Jeff Somers is interviewed here and The Electric Church already has reviews in The Guardian, and Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist plus there’ll be a review in this parish soonish thanks to Orbit.

Speaking of living forever The Waking is a debut thriller where Dr Nate Sheehan is brought back to life sixty four years after his murder in a body from a mysterious donor. A journalist blows the cover on this sensational story which threatens to explose the identity of the donor and unravel the truth behind Sheehan’s murder. It has a great quote from Mo Hayder - ‘Riveting. Think Tess Gerritsen meets Philip K. Dick.’ It also just a great review in SFX. Look for a review here soon thanks to Pan.

There are a few more debuts to mention.

Heart Sick by Chelsea Cain come to my attention via Fantasy Book Critic. And it does sound a little too dark for me so I’m apprehensive about reading it. I’m a fan of crime fiction with pre-Blow Fly Cornwell, and John Connolly a couple of my faves. Though they seem tame compared to the promise here. Getchen Lowell inflicted ten days of psychological and physical torture on the detective who was hunting her before handing herself in. Two years later the same detective needs Lowell’s help to catch killer. Very Silence of the Lambs. They’re be a review of this too. Thanks to Pan again.

Back to fantasy with The Name of the Wind. This debut by Patrick Rothfuss has just won a Quill Book Award in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror category. Not a bad start to a career. There’s a review again on Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist. Aidan Moher seems to be his biggest fan with lots and lots of related posts on his blog including an interview. Part one is here. His review says:

“Fans of typical High Fantasy full of sword fighting, action, huge battles and liberal use of magic may be disappointed in The Name of the Wind, but those looking for a deep, character driven look into the early days of a legend in the making, will find something to be excited about.”

Though part of me is wondering how many starts to new fantasy sequences can one reader take?

I saw a review this morning that had me almost driving to Borders at lightning speed. It was for Something Borrowed by Paul Magrs. It has a fun slightly retro cover. This seems like a sequel to Never the Bride. At least I hope it is otherwise I’ve ordered the wrong one. What got so excited? I’m just going to share the blurb:

“Brenda has had a long and eventful life and she has come to Whitby to run a B&B in search of some peace and quiet. She and her best friend Effie like nothing better than going out for tea at the Walrus and the Carpenter or dinner at Cod Almighty and keeping their eyes open for any of the mysterious goings on in town. And what with satanic beauty salons, more than illegal aliens, roving psychic investigators and the frankly terrifying owner of the Christmas Hotel there are no shortage of nefarious shenanigans to keep them interested. But the oddest thing in Whitby may well be Brenda herself. With her terrible scars, her strange lack of a surname or the fact that she takes two different shoe sizes, Brenda should have known that people as, well, unique as she is, just aren’t destined for a quiet life.”

I know that it’s the execution that makes things work but oh my there is a lot of promise here. The other point is that I want to know how it compares to a novel-in-progress my mate has been writing about a place, Westwell, which has some similar strange things going on. On a slow boat from Amazon.

Here is another series that’s picking up massive speed and due to a recent cover revamp I’m getting swung towards it though ships and dragons aren’t really my thing. Temeraire by debut writer Naomi Novik has just won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer for best new science fiction writer of 2006. And there are three more available for you to tuck into right now. If you’re quick you can also win a set here if you live in North America.

Speaking of award winners another debut that has been making waves is out in paperback in the UK this week. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn won the CWA New Blood Fiction Dagger 2007 a prize that The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam probably should have been up for.

The Judges’ comments:

‘This was a novel characterized by its vivid and poetic writing. A superb sense of character with an imaginative treatment of the reasons for and the problems of self-harm.’

There is also a quote from Stephen King on the cover. Looking like she’s an author to watch. On a slow boat from Amazon.

And finally we have The Jennifer Morgue by the prolific Charles Stross. I love the description on its Wiki page ‘The stories are Lovecraftian spy thrillers involving a secret British intelligence agency known as “The Laundry”, which deals with occult events and technology.‘ I loved The Atrocity Archives and I have high hopes for the next episodes. Look for review thanks to Orbit.

There’s more but those will do for now.

Tags: reading lists

Edit: Well I got John’s list totally wrong (thanks for the headsup) so I’m re-writing this post.

Actually we have three. The two that I’d be more inclined to trust and the ‘real’ shortlist. Book prizes are a wonderful way of narrowing down the vast number of books published each year and highlighting some of the reading options but when it comes to the winners (depending on how it’s judged) I’m not always convinced that it’s the hottest book that we get - rather the korma that everyone can stomach. Am I being too unfair?

Anyway, there seems to be some consensus amongst our judges though only the Bookerthon judges chose from the debuts. Neither chose The Reluctant Fundamentalist or On Chesil Beach so you can bet that one of them is going to win and I’m betting on McEwan! Kidding.

John Self’s Shortlist
Nicola Barker, Darkmans
Peter Ho Davies, The Welsh Girl
Anne Enright, The Gathering
Tan Twan Eng, The Gift of Rain
Lloyd Jones, Mister Pip
Indra Sinha, Animal’s People

Dovegreyreader’s Shortlist
Darkmans by Nicola Barker
The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies
Self Help by Edward Docx
The Gathering by Anne Enright
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
Animal’s People by Indra Sinha

The Actual Shortlist
Lloyd Jones - Mister Pip
Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach
Nicola Barker - Darkmans
Mohsin Hamid - The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Anne Enright - The Gathering
Indra Sinha - Animal’s People

Not having read a single one of them I couldn’t possibly make any sort of sensible prediction of the winner but my gut feeling is Darkmans should win.

It does go to show that you can’t really tell what books you’re going to like until you’ve actually read them.

Tags: reading lists

Title: The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam
Author: Chris Ewan
Publisher: Long Barn Books
Published: 2007
Price: 12.99
Bookshelf

I’ve been meaning to get my hands on this book for quite some time. Any book that can survive the fire of Susan Hill has got to be good, right? Yes, definitely. Is it a big blockbusting bestseller? Not really and I don’t think it’s meant to be.

Charlie Howard writes crime novels about a career thief; a career he also dabbles in from time to time. So when someone asks him to steal two monkey figurines he can’t turn it down can he?

Chirs Ewan has created a wonderfully entertaining character in Charlie Howard. He has an English whit and good manners for someone who breaks into houses for a living. And in any detective novel a good main character is a must. The other essential is a mystery and Ewan’s storytelling is compelling and compulsive.

It’s not a blockbuster thank god as there are no big car chases, fire-fighting shootouts, or explosions. Instead he’s built a complex tale from a few simple building blocks with enough false bait to keep you hooked even when you find out you’ve been pulling on the wrong line for quie some time. It harks back to tales where it’s brains that count like the tales of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Colon Doyle and the detective stories of Agatha Christie.

I’d usually be wary of a writer writing about a character who writes but in this case it allows some interesting conversations and some insight into both the main character and the unfolding events. Ewan also manages to capture the spirit of Amsterdam making the city a vital character of the story.

I’d whole heartedly recommend this book for anyone who loves detective stories with a definite English twist and for anyone who loves a great read I’d say you should buy this too. There is loads of potential for a sequel and I personally hope it’s not going to take too long to come. I guess the only to make sure there is is for enough people to go out and buy this book first. What you waiting for?

Tags: 10/10, Bookshelf

I’m not very good at waiting and patience is never something I’m good at. So I’m wondering how long do you wait before assuming that you’re never going to get a response to that email you’ve sent? I waited a week then sent a follow-up and still nothing. It’s just very disappointing to think that someone has just deleted you or ignored you completely. Then on the other hand you have lovely people that respond excellently, which kind of makes up for it. Anyway I think that’s going to burn away for quite a while.

Susan Hill is back on the blog and talking about the new Vintage Classics. I choose classics more on the quality of the type usually making sure it’s been redone in a clean print rather than the ones that look like they’ve bled into the page.

I’ve been making embarrassingly slow progress reading From a Buick 8 I will finish but it all seems written in first gear. I’m hoping that there is going to be big lightening show in the end…and don’t spoil it for me ;). I want to finish it so I can read my next non-review copy book. I’m trying to have one review copy and one non-review book on the go at the end same time.

I’m just about to start back on sci-fi with Dreaming the Void. It’s been getting some good reviews and it only 600 pages (gulp)

I had a “bugger it” moment in Borders last week and spent money I really don’t have and bought a copy of The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam (a debut from Long Barn Books), Odd Thomas, which I’ve constantly failed to get off ReaditSwapit.co.uk, and finally The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, which had an excellent review in Deathray and is another debut.

The lovely people at Ebury Press sent me a copy of the debut novel by Julian Clary, Muder Most Fab. I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m afraid I didn’t get past the first 20 pages of Garden Spells a debut by Sarah Addison Allen. I might have been reading a little too far outside my comfort zone.

Otherwise I’ve been doing a typsetting and cover design job that I’ll probably announce properly when it’s done. I’ve got a blog about that sort of thing that you can find here. If you know anyone in need of that sort of thing be sure to send them my way.

More soon

Tags: Magazines, reading lists, Scf-Fi

…and what do you mean you’ve only heard of one of them:

• Darkmans by Nicola Barker (4th Estate)
• Self Help by Edward Docx (Picador)
• The Gift Of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Myrmidon)
• The Gathering by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
• The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies (Sceptre)
• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
• Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (Viking)
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
• What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn (Tindal Street)
• Consolation by Michael Redhill (William Heinemann)
• Animal’s People by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster)
• Winnie & Wolf by A.N.Wilson (Hutchinson)

Ok, I’ve heard of two not that it makes it much better.

Interestingly, there are four debuts:

• The Gift Of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Myrmidon)
• The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies (Sceptre)
• What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn (Tindal Street)
• Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (Viking)

And somewhat surprisingly three of them are by smaller presses. Might be worth a closer look. Luckily John Self and dovegreyreader are on a Man Booker Read-a-thon so they’ll sort the wheat from the chaff!

Tags: reading lists

Crime Writers’ Association: front page
Newcomer Gillian Flynn achieved a remarkable success, with Sharp Objects (published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson) winning both the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the New Blood Dagger. She was also shortlisted for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger. It is a tribute to the broad appeal of her book that it was singled out by three separate panels of judges, acting independently.

I mentioned the Daggers last month  and this years winner has shot up my to read list as soon as it’s in paperback. It must have something exceptional to win the hearts of so many critical people. Either that it has some subliminal advertising contained in the text. Anyway, I want to read it!