The Realms Reviewed by Rob

The latest review went live on SFFWorld, Paul S. Kemp's Erevis Cale Trilogy. Paul popped into the SFFWorld forums a couple of times and his postings generated some interesting discussion. He and I got to e-mailing and I wound up reviewing the books. To be honest, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, since my only exposure to the Forgotten Realms was Salvatore's Drizzt books, which I enjoyed.

Kemp's books I enjoyed a bit more, his writing has a darker edge and the tone is slighty more tense. The story itself was enthralling and Kemp has me looking forward to his next set of books.
I do hopes all ye joined in the bottle of rum for today's e'er so special day, YO HO! I know I did, wearing an eye patch and bandana at work, AARGH-ing it up. Last year when the holiday rolled around, I was dared to talk and wear the get-up all day, even so far as to go in an speak to a Senior VP with the accent. I, of course, am not one to be dared lightly and received a nice bottle of Captain Morgan.

Robert Jordan's death is still having a strange affect on me, I didn't expect to be as moved by it as I have been. This is especially true since I've been known on minor occassions to poke fun at the Wheel of Time over at SFFWorld, and haven't been as into the books since Winter's Heart published. Seeing people's thoughts on his work and remmbering how much I enjoyed the books when I first read them is making me want to jump back into The Eye of the World. I remember when I first had jury duty nearly ten years ago and I was reading Path of Daggers at the time, how I struck up a conversation with one of my fellow jurors about Jordan's books. Earlier this year I was at a family thing and speaking with a cousin who I hadn't seen very much in recent years and the conversation, very surprisingly to me, turned to Robert Jordan. He was one of the last people I'd expected to have read the books.

Pat posted his thoughts, as have many others. I missed Ken's nice post, which echoes much of my thoughts and The Hornswoggler had a good, if different perspective.

On a somewhat unrelated note FantasyBookCritic is a pretty good blog.

The Wheel Turns...R.I.P. Robert Jordan

James Oliver Rigney, also known as Robert Jordan passed away yesterday. I’m just one of many blogs, fans, and news sites reporting this, but it is still worth mentioning here. His Wheel of Time is easily one of the most popular (if not the largest) multi-volume sagas in the genre and helped to make fantasy (and I’m sure by extension, Science Fiction) a more commercially viable genre in the nineties on through to today. For all the finger pointing at Jordan for his shortcomings as a storyteller, he was one of the great “gatekeepers” of the genre, and hopefully will be for many years. The Eye of the World, and to a lesser extent his Conan novels, are some of the first fantasy books people read, or fiction people read in general.

I can only relate my own experience with his writing, and how it helped to bring me back in a greater way to reading fantasy and science fiction. I’d always enjoyed reading; after all I was an English major in college. As I might have said, I cut my reading chops at a very young age on those Choose Your Own Adventure books as well as The Three Investigators, then I moved onto Stephen King somewhere just before middle school. That brought me a bunch of horror, basically whatever my parents had on the shelves. Then, I found Dungeons & Dragons as a game, and DragonLance as a story. Soon, though, college called and my “free-time” reading became something of the past.

As college wound down, my free reading time returned. One of the first books I recall buying was The Eye of the World; I saw something about this Wheel of Time series on one of those news shows the SciFi Channel once aired, Sci Fi Buzz hosted by Mike Jerrick. He and Jordan were discussing the Wheel of Time. The concept interested me; I liked the idea of resonating myths coming to life; a fantasy world that has echoes of our own. I recalled Jordan’s name when I visited Barnes & Noble some time later. I figured, what the heck, the book looks interesting. I was hooked, and I have to admit to still recalling some of the scenes from the first book pretty clearly even a decade later. When I joined the Science Fiction Book Club shortly thereafter, I wound up ordering the next two books and read though them fairly quickly. I didn’t want to have to wait to mail in my order the SFBC and then wait for them to deliver the next books, which would have been The Shadow Rising and The Fires of Heaven, so I bought one in paperback and the other as a discounted hardback.

I remember reading some of the scenes in Lord of Chaos long into the night and in general, those first five or six books of the Wheel of Time were some of the most fun and compelling reading experiences I had, at least up until that point. Despite how a couple of the later books in the series left me unsatisfied, The Wheel of Time will always have a special spot on my bookshelf. I’ve been wondering for a while now if the first books would hold up as well if I were to re-read them. I was considering going through them again once the final book was to be published. Perhaps, as David Gemmell’s widow did, Jordan’s widow can finish off the last volume. She was, after all, his editor.

Before The Eye of the World was published, Jordan published other novels, but he also lived a damned interesting life. He studied physics at the Citadel, he was a nuclear engineer, and fought in the Vietnam War where he received awards for his bravery in the war and settled into a house built in the late 18th Century. Not a shabby set of life experiences, if you ask me.

Robert Jordan, through his Wheel of Time, was an ambassador to the genre, welcoming new readers. Jordan has been compared to Tolkien, and say what you will, Jordan’s importance to the genre cannot be understated. George R. R. Martin has already posted a very nice remembrance of Jordan and a thanks, as have many others. The Wheel of Time helped to make fantasy a much larger genre, and brought in a large audience. As of yesterday, the genre has lost another giant and is a shade smaller.

For that, and the many hours of reading pleasure he brought to his fans, James Oliver Rigney will be missed. Death is never easy, even when you are given a set time to live. My condolences go out to his family, friends and many readers, including those who came together in life through his books.

Over at SFFWorld, we’ve got a thread recalling his work where our members are posting their thoughts and remembrances.

http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/rip-jim-rigney-robert-jordan-1948-2007.html
http://grrm.livejournal.com/21250.html
http://www.tor-forge.com/NewsArticle.aspx?articleId=574
http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=90
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/009381.html#009381
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jordan
http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2007/09/very-sad-news.html

Career Matchmaker

This is interesting, except I suck at my number 1 match. Oh well.

Instructions:
1. Go here: http://www.careercruising.com/default.asp
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
4. Post the top results.

1. Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator
2. Desktop Publisher
3. Fashion Designer
4. Costume Designer
5. Set Designer
6. Cook
7. Writer
8. Critic
9. Graphic Designer
10. Artist
11. Communications Specialist
12. Market Research Analyst
13. Translator
14. Computer Animator
15. Website Designer
16. Print Journalist
17. Medical Illustrator
18. Industrial Designer
19. Interior Designer
20. Animator
21. Baker
22. Special Effects Technician
23. Sign Maker
24. Plumber
25. Glazier

In some form or another, I've had rresponsiblities similar to 2, 7, 11, 12, 15, and I love to cook. But a freaking plumber? I'm not bad at dealing with plumbing issues in my house and nothing against the plumbing profession, but that doesn't fit with the rest. And a glass cutter? Wow.

Fire and Blood

Knacked from the Hornswoggler & Aidan. I can live with that, though I thought I would be a Stark.

Your Score: House Targaryen

63% Dominant, 63% Extroverted, 63% Trustworthy

Ancient. Noble. Passionate to the point of insanity. Transcending lesser beings, you are of House Targaryen.

You are a dominant personality—in fact, you are the most dominant of all eight house types. You will not suffer yourself to be ignored. You will not suffer yourself to be ruled. The phrase "I will not suffer myself to _____!" was practically made for you. You are willful, arrogant, and exceedingly dangerous to screw with. With a temper like yours, anyone stupid enough to saunter into your line of fire won’t soon forget their mistake.

You are also extroverted, which means that everyone in the world knows exactly what your intentions are. Unlike your cohorts (who hide behind smiles and courtesies and court politics), you think of it as your birthright to come riding in on an enormous dragon, breathing fire and fucking your siblings. Hey, what you lack in subtlty, you make up in style!

Finally, you are trustworthy. Your absurd amounts of power and borderline psychosis are not used unjustly. Unlike many, your general aims are just and true. You we bred for rule, and the fact that you cannot rest until you are doing so is not your fault. If you make up your mind, it becomes reality. Never one for empty threats or vainglorious lies, you can only speak the truth. And the truth is "fire and blood."

Representative characters include: Daenerys Stormborn, Rhaegar Targaryen, and Viserys Targaryen

Similar Houses: Baratheon, Lannister,and Tully

Opposite House: Frey

When playing the game of thrones, you play it to the death.

Link: The Song of Ice and Fire House Test written by Geeky_Stripper on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

A Feast of Books Continues

The latest review I’ve posted is today’s: Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman, the first book in her new Magister Trilogy. Ms. Friedman is no stranger to fantasy and science fiction readers, but this book seems to have flown under the radar since it published in February. Shame really, because Friedman is an excellent writer.

I suppose her writing will always hold a special spot on my shelf because her Coldfire Trilogy was what I read on the beach in Hawaii, and the plane to and from the Island State when Mrs. Blog ‘o Stuff tied the knot over seven years ago.

The only books I haven’t read by her are The Wildling and This Madness Season. I remember liking This Alien Shore quite a bit when I read it.

That’s the long of it. The short of it is that I really enjoyed Feast of Souls, check out my review.

Over the weekend, I watched Pan’s Labyrinth, which was sitting on my TiVO for a few weeks. It was dark, both in the fantastical elements and real elements. The costumes/creatures were great, the acting worked for me, and I just really enjoyed the movie.

I don't see much talk about The 4400, which happens to be a pretty entertaining show. Part X-Men, part, Heroes, part conspiracy. The only surprisng thing is that it is on USA and not SciFi.

Rutgers is 2-0 and the Yankees have a healthy lead in the wild card. Sports are looking good from my vantage point.

Ascension

Another Monday* and another new review up at SFFWorld by yours truly. This time it’s Mistborn: Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. I liked this one very much and can see why Tor is getting behind him in a big way. So far, he’s cranked out three books in three years, so he delivers regularly. More importantly he delivers quality in spades.

We also posted the David Anthony Durham interview I conducted alongside with Pat, Larry, and Ken. Pat posted a while ago, but SFFWorld put it up tonight. I read Durham’s Acacia Book I: War with the Mein earlier in the year and was really impressed with the book.

RU started off the season very nicely, beating the point spread. It was a bit “different,” shall I say, to see a completely packed stadium, as well as participating in crowd chants numerous times throughout the game. Granted, there were some games when I attended that had big crowds, but the atmosphere was odd: it felt like what a college football game should feel like. As one friend I ran into at the tailgate said, its kind of weird to see so many people at a Rutgers game wearing Rutgers attire.

If Rutgers want to maintain and/or move up, we need to see more of the same, in terms of offense. I was never a big proponent of teams running up the score; however, it seems to be an unfortunate means to an end of getting the top rankings.

*I know, sometimes I put up my new reviews on Tuesday.

Elves, Pandas, and Knights

I just posted my review of Gary Wassner’s latest GemQuest novel, The Revenge of the Elves. I continue to enjoy Gary’s writing and hope his audience increases with this book.

Although this is probably old news by now to the folks who read this blog as well as those on my side bar, but La Gringa is back to regular blogging. This is a good thing, especially with all daily genre updates she’s been doing.

Thursday Knight is Rutgers Football Kickoff and I’ll be in attendance. I haven’t been to too many games since I graduated, so this should be fun. With the team starting out in the Top 20 (#16) and Ray Rice as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate, it looks to be a great year. I don't recall expectations ever being so high for Rutgers; it is a weird place to be for this team, though one they will hopefully be in over the next big handful of years. Just a few years ago I had trouble finding Rutgers merchandise in stores and malls. Now it is everywhere. Regardless of how well the team ever did, there was never any excuse for not being able to find RU merchandise. Especially in the malls closest to the school. Enough of that bitching for now, the forthcoming season looks like it will be a ball.

SFFWorld Stuff & a Meme

A slew of new material has been posted to SFFWorld in the past few days. Hobbit posted reviews of Cowboy Angels by Paul McAuley and Steven Paul Davies’s The Prisoner Handbook. Art posted his (as always) thoughtful review of Queen of Candescence by Karl Schroeder. We also just posted the second half of Aidan Moher’s Changing of the Guard article.

I’ve got two reviews ready to go up to the Web site, after one last read through for later this week.

I saw Stardust last week and really enjoyed it. Althought the comparison was made by many reviewers/critics, I don’t think comparing it to The Princess Bride was fair, regardless of how fun, delightful, and entertaining Stardust was. It was easily my favorite movie so far this year, at least what I’ve seen in theaters. Was it perfect? No, but very few movies are perfect. If it was cut by maybe 10 minutes it would have been perfectly paced. That said, I would have like to see more of the ghostly brothers bickering, something I recall being more prevalent in the novel.

Found these over at Wistful Writings

What are you reading right now?
Dawn of Night by Paul S. Kemp, Hurricane Moon by Alexis Latner, and the latest issue of Realms of Fantasy. Kemp is entertaining, I just cracked open Gardner’s debut and the stories I’ve read in RoF so far are good.

Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?
I usually have a pretty good idea. Since Dawn of Night is a middle book in a trilogy, I’ll logically enough move onto Midnight’s Mask straight after DoN. The books are enjoyable so I’m not complaining. Once I finish Latner, I’ll probably grab a handful of books and ask Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff to pick from the bunch.

What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
Realms of Fantasy and a bunch of catalogues.

What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
You flip the coin: Heads it’s Wuthering Heights; tails it’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

What's the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
One book? That’s tough, since I recommend based off the personality to whom I’m recommending. Lately though, it’s been A Game of Thrones.

Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
I can’t say they do. Since I moved three years ago the only time I went to the library was for elections.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
As the saying goes, Mileage May Vary; however no one book stick out like a sore thumb more than any other.

Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you're on the computer? While you're driving?
Yes, no, TV, yes, occasionally and no.

When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Not really, although everybody in school knew I was a big Stephen King fan.

What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down? Half the night?
Maybe The Name of the Wind.

Dog Days of Summer

I haven’t felt inclined to post lately, obviously. Summer has been busy with work, work around the house and seeing friends on the weekends. For the first time in a few years, I went to Great Adventure earlier in the week. Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff and I met some family members there and had a pretty good time, despite the oppressive heat. Of course Kingda Ka was not running, but El Toro, the ginormous wooden coaster was. What an incredible ride.

All of this has left me with very little reading time over the past couple of weeks. The books I’ve been reading; however, have been good. Particularly Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Final Empire, the most recent book review I posted. I saw the buzz for Elantris (which will coincidentally be the SFFWorld Book Club Fantasy book for September) two years ago and actually won a hardcover of The Final Empire in one of Pat’s contests. When an ARC of the second book, The Well of Ascension, I cracked open The Final Empire. I was thoroughly impressed and the sequel is living up to the first book.

I’m also in the middle of Gary Wassner’s forthcoming GemQuest novel, The Revenge of the Elves. I’m about halfway through and enjoying this one very much, too. I’m hoping readers will discover Gary’s books soon, they deserve a wider audience.

I caught The Simpsons Movie last weekend with a couple of friends. It was entertaining and made me laugh more often than not, even if some of the jokes were far too telegraphed. Of course the funniest part of the whole film was the Spider-Pig sequence.

Rags, Harry and Jackhammers

I just posted my review of Tobias Buckell's Ragamuffin, a very entertaining space opera. Earlier today, Mrs. Blog o' Stuff and I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I was entertained for the most part, but thought the pacing was a little uneven. The film was a bit choppy during the beginning where too many events from the book were condensed (or seemingly ignored). The final wizard battle, while great to watch, came together without enough build up. I understand things will be cut from the book, but I don't see any reason why this film couldn't have been three hours in order to cover more of the plot elements from the book.

It has been a loud couple of days here at home, I had some minor construction done in my basement. I tell ya, nothing compares to the sound and feel of a jackhammer blasting away at your basement floor at 10:30 in the morining. The rain back in April really screwed me over and since then, water has become too good of a "friend" to my basement. So, over a five-to-six hour period yesterday, about 4.5 tons of concrete was removed from my basement so a drain system and sump pump could be installed. I will no sleep much better during rainy nights.

JTH-The Dark River

A couple of days ago, I posted my review of The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks. I liked it almost as much as The Traveler, the first book in the sequence, and on the whole, the novel did a great job of continuing the story, further developing the plot/world, and gearing me up for the final volume.

I finally finished Memories of Ice over the weekend. I really enjoyed it, but the book was like running a marathon. I felt tired and exhausted, but found it rewarding. I will be jumping back into House of Chains, but need a break from Malazan so I don’t over exhaust myself.

Breakaway and Movie Talk

As my little sidebar indicates, I posted a new review today - Joel Shepherd's Breakaway. Good, action-packed Science Fiction here.

I saw 1408 last weekend and thought it pretty good. I went in with middle-of-the road expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised. I grew up watching John Cusack movies, and I have liked almost everything I've seen with him. This was no exception. I, as anybody who reads this blog knows, like most of Stephen King's work, though I never read the original story which inspired the movie.

One or two spots spooked me, more out of surprise than anything. When did a telephone ringing become such frightening thing in movies, by the way? The movie got a little hokey towards the end, but I enjoyed it. What I particularly liked about the film was some of the ambiguity - the ending seemed as if it was open to viewer interpretation, as did Samuel, "Evil Fucking Room" Jackson's role. I say this mainly because Mrs. Blog O' Stuff and I had different reactions to both, or rather, different interpretations.

So, a good movie, but not one I would judge as a Must Have on DVD.

I am fighting very hard against my urge to see the Transformers movie. I grew up watching the cartoon and had a bunch of the toys, and like most boys my age, loved the movie, which was Orson Welles's last role. I also dislike nearly everything* I've seen from Michael Bay, almost walking out of Armageddon, so I won't be expecting much. Well, The Rock wasn't so bad. Then again, Transformers does seem like a movie that should be seen in theaters and Speilberg has his name attached to it, so that gives me a faint glimmer of hope.

As it is, I will be seeing the next Potter film, part of me wants to see Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but the film I'm most looking forward to seeing is Stardust. Despite it's crappy title, the trailers of Shoot 'Em Up have me intrigued - to see it when it hits cable.

Enough ranting for now, but I haven't been doing enough ranting here lately.

Do You Trust Me?

My review of Gradisil by Adam Roberts is now up at SFFWorld.

This is the latest critique on reviewers:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/06/widen_your_literary_universe_w.html

Red Seas

I posted my review of what thus far is my favorite book published this year: Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. Scott did everything right in this book, much in the same way The Lies of Locke Lamora had all the right elements. The main difference is that Scott’s writing and plotting are even tighter with one book under his belt. I was lucky enough to get an early look at the Gollancz-UK version of the book, but chances are I’ll wind up picking up the US edition as well since I’m something of a completist.

Zombies - Is it the End of the World?

Waking today presented no problem. Unfortunately, the remainder of the day wouldn’t be so easy. The following days would not begin so harmlessly, I’m sure. My wife had already left for work by the time I was fully conscious, I vaguely recall her peck on the cheek before she descended the stairs. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

By the time I got in my car and made the turn onto the highway, I knew the day would be a problem. Cars were at a dead halt on the road, many of them crashed into each other. Since it was late spring, I was driving with my windows down, which allowed the stench of death to waft into my car. Once you smell death, you know it when you smell it again. There was nothing I could do to get on the road, even the shoulder was jammed. My only hope was to turnaround and try driving the back roads.

As I was doing that, I needed to make a phone call. I dialed my wife’s speed-number on my cell phone and waited what seemed an eternity for her to answer. “You aren’t going to believe this,” she said before I could say anything.

“I might, I’ve just seen the highway at a complete dead stop.”

“Well, I know why. There is a Zombie Uprising.”

“Shit, I just knew life was going too well. They say one happens every hundred years or so, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, at least that’s what my Dad says. His Dad supposedly lived through the last uprising,” she responded. I remembered hearing the tales from her father on a couple of occasions, mostly after a random Zombie or two shambled in from the woods. Random Zombie sightings, while not exactly common, weren’t entirely rare, either.

“Try and get home, keep you cell phone turned on,” I said, hearing some strange grunting in the background. “I’m going home to get some helpers.”

She knew what I meant, the old baseball bat, the axe, sledgehammer and pickaxe. They worked well enough on the lone zombies that shambled around on occasion. “I’ll do what I can, but the Zombies are starting to flood everything. I’m only halfway to work. I love you.” She said.

“I love you, too.” We both ended the call. I felt so goddamned helpless knowing she might be stuck in a death trap with her brains enticing the Zombies.

Zombies have been a semi-regular occurrence for a few hundred years and for some reason, they rise in droves once a century. Not too dissimilar to the loud buzzing cicadas, except the Zombies flock in greater number, eat brains, and smell a lot worse. In all the Zombie movies, comics and cartoons one thing that can never be conveyed is their utter stench. After all, a Zombie is a corpse that eats people, so the smell is bound to be offensive.

The Zombie Uprising that followed the Revolutionary War nearly destroyed the world. Only through the assistance of the various Native American tribes were the early Americans able to fend of the Uprising. I would hate for it to be the end of the world, but these Zombies might just be smarter.

Getting back onto my street wasn’t the refuge I hoped; Zombies were marching down my street. Marching is a strong word, but they did seem to share an unheard tune as they walked in cadence. I shouldn’t have been too surprised; I lived on the same street as a large elementary school, so there were plenty of potential new Zombies ready for the making should the Uprisers make their way to the school. I drove my car head into a bunch of them and turned into my driveway.

If the fiction couldn’t capture the smell of Zombies, they certainly captured the speed, or lack thereof. I was able to grab my makeshift weapons, drop a few in the trunk and throw one on the passenger seat. It was then I noticed my neighbors had been Zombified. I really liked Janet and Kyle, but they were no longer themselves. I hacked at them and was about to turn back out of the driveway. Much as I hate to admit this, I would expect them to do the same if our situations were reversed.

For whatever reason, the Zombies I didn’t run over continued to trundle down my street, almost as if I wasn’t there. I wasn’t complaining, which brings me to this point. I don’t know who will be reading this, but I have to blog this like it is the end of the world. The Zombies are rising; grab anything you can– a shovel, a pickaxe, or a baseball bat and swing for the fences.

Wish me luck as I try to fend of the Undead and get to my wife so we can live through this Zombie Uprising. Let’s hope I can post back here tomorrow with some good news.

-Rob

zombies

Newest "New" Fantasy Author on the Block: D.A. Durham

My latest review, David Anthony Durham’s Acacia Book I: War with the Mein, is now up at SFFWorld.com. Like last year, this seems to be a strong year for opening novels for multi-volume sequences. Last year Scott Lynch, David Louis Edelman, and Sean Williams* all launched impressive sequences. This year has already seen Patrick Rotfhuss and now David Anthony Durham’s sequence launch. Both authors have been making the rounds with interviews on SF Web sites and blogs.

Patrick Rothfuss interviewed by me and Pat (of the Fantasy Hot List)
A Dribble of Ink interview with Patrick Rothfuss (Part 2)
A Dribble of Ink interview with David Anthony Durham
Fantasy Book Critic interview with David Anthony Durham
Fantasy Book Critic interview with Patrick Rothfuss
FantasyBookSpot.com interviews Patrick Rothfuss
FantasyBookSpot.com / Jay Tomio interviews David Anthony Durham
WOTMANIA’s OFBlog interview with Patrick Rothfuss

*Technically Sean Williams saga launched a couple of years ago, but 2006 was when it was published in the States.

Also, I know Joe Abercrombie was highly-touted last year, so I'm looking forward to reading The Blade Itself when Pyr publishes it later this year.

I've been hearing a lot of grumbling at night lately, and it has been getting louder over the past couple of days. I could swear I'm hearing the word brains, but I can't imagine why.

David's Darkness

I posted my review of Peter David's Darkness of the Light, the first book in his Hidden Earth saga. I've been a fan of Peter's for a while, so I was looking forward to reading this book. Set in a far-future earth, the book has a feel not too dissimilar to Jack Vance's Dying Earth. If not in style, than in setting and some of the humor.

Only one week remains in SFFWorld's contest to win an advance copy of the book.

On the Malzan front, I'm still making my way through Deadhouse Gates and still enjoying it. I don't want to rush through these books, since the series is both unfished and the US versions haven't caught up with the UK. But goddamn does Erikson make it tough to close the book.

Nine days remain until the Uprising. I am mentally preparing.

Bring on the Zombies!

48%

Mingle² - Free Online Dating


I'm joining the end of the world:

SFBC WTF?!?

It has been reported in various Web spots (Jonathan Strahan, SF Scope, Andrew Wheeler [see May 22 & 23 entries], Publishers Weekly, Locus [see May 24th news entry]) that the US Science Fiction Book Club is undergoing major changes.

One of which is the early retirement of Ellen Asher, who recently became the editor with the longest tenure of any genre editor. (Bittersweet congratulations, I suppose.)

Editor Andrew Wheeler has stated he will still have a job, but rumors are flowing. Jonathan Strahan's above-linked post encapsulates why this is troublesome to both the genre and publishing in general.

Certainly, losing highly respected and knowledgeable editors like Asher and Wheeler has got to be a bad thing for the industry, and any contraction of the SFBC, which has a history of providing access to economical editions of new science fiction and fantasy direct to readers that stretches back to 1953, would be enormously disappointing. (Strahan)

The only caveat I will add to the excerpted quote is this: The SFBC has been offering economical (and convenient to obtain) editions of classics of the genre(s) for as long as I can remember in addition to the new stuff.

I've been a member on and off for about ten years and thought they offered some wonderful things to members and would be annoyed if things with the club would change for the worse. Most recently, I’ve received some of their books to review for SFFWorld.com. Their omnibus volumes alone are what kept me coming back – at the time I bought it, there was no easier way to get The Compleat Dying Earth by Jack Vance. Quite frankly, the cover art by Brom was great, too and the SFBC version was around a couple of years before Tor did their Orb omnibus. I also discovered Sean Russel’s work through the nice River into Darkness duology-omnibus. Thanks to the SFBC, I was able to read all of the (then 5) books of Orson Scott Card’s Alvin Maker series.

In addition to those omnibus editions, they started creating original books too. One of which was the fantastic Black Seas of Infinity collection of Lovecraft stories compiled by Andrew Wheeler. Their recent original anthologies, like the World Fantasy Award winning The Fair Folk and the Best Short Novels series edited by the aforementioned Jonathan Strahan were also fantastic books, ones initially ONLY available through the club. Sure, online retailers such as amazon.com, half.com and countless others no offer readers the ability to find books they want. But that takes a little bit of work, which can be fun but ultimately more time consuming and frustrating than anything else.

However, the SFBC, especially under the guidance of Ellen Asher and Andrew Wheeler (while I was a member) had the wonderful convenience offering new and classic books and wonderful prices – the 5 for $.01 promotion to join pays for itself in spades.

It isn’t clear what exactly will be happening to the SFBC in the coming days, weeks and year(s). One thing; however, is abundantly clear: the club as it has been known and loved is an important institution to the genre and where MANY fans and professionals had their first major exposure to the genre. Just read the comments at Jonathan Strahan’s blog post here.

I joined at one point and got my (then future) brother-in-law to join so I could get some books as part of the “refer-a-friend” deal and he could enjoy the benefits of membership. A couple of years passed and my membership lapsed. It wasn’t long before I joined again through my brother-in-law so I could sort of repay him. My brother-in-law and I are ten years apart so I thought this was really cool way for us to connect.

Speaking as a person who was laid of by a publisher as part of “corporate restructuring” I can sympathize with the plain fact that it sucks – because all that passion and dedication to the job seem to be forgotten. Regardless of what happens, I wish both Ellen and Andrew the best in whatever the foreseeable future brings them.

It should also be pointed out that the SFBC Blog Andrew Wheeler has been managing has become THE place for virtuall ALL the daily goings-on in the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy: book happenings, movie happenings, news, reviews, interviews. Basically if it was happening in or tangentially related to SF, it was there. The fact that it hasn't been updated since Tuesday May 22nd is not a hopeful sign.

Win a copy of Peter David's "Darkness of the Light "

SFFWorld is pleased to offer one lucky winner the chance to take a look at Peter David's forthcoming novel, Darkness of the Light

Peter David, writer of stuff, including the Sir Apropos of Nothing series, the Knight Life series of books, numerous Star Trek novels, as well as virtually every major comic book character from Spider-Man to Wolverine to The Incredible Hulk to Superman to Aquaman will soon see the release his latest epic, Darkness of the Light.

Darkness of the Light is the opening novel of The Hidden Earth trilogy. From the Publisher's Web site:

The Damned World is home to twelve races, each of which has fought the others for survival for generations. What none of them knows is that they are all creatures of Earth, a world of legend. On Earth eleven of the twelve races were creatures of human myth or folklore.

All live in awe of the all-powerful Overseer, whose authority none dare challenge. A new spirit has arisen among those sick of war and tired of living in fear. Some believe that it is possible for the races to become allies instead of adversaries. With this new spirit has come a time of possibility, of change.

Jepp, a human woman and Karsen, a Bottom Feeder, have broken with tradition and cast their lots together. They seek the Orb of Light, with which they believe they can gain the power and release the Damned World from its chains of violence and ignorance. But they’re not alone, for everyone who knows about the Orb would kill to get it. If someone gets the Orb, things will change. These are, as the proverb warns, interesting times.

Click Here ( http://www.sffworld.com/news/335.html) to enter!

I just finished reading the book today and really enjoyed it very much.

Good luck to all entrants!