Friday Round Up McKillip, Cato, and Valentine

A few new things over the past couple of weeks from me SF Signal and SFFWorld from me. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Last week I posted my review of an super debut novel, Beth Cato’s The Clockwork Dagger

I couldn’t have been more pleased with The Clockwork Dagger. I was especially pleased that Beth Cato set the story in a secondary world, rather than an alternate past, which I think gave her much more room to breathe with the characters, setting and overall story. The setting of a secondary world, the supernatural elements, as well as Octavia’s stature as an orphan and the aforementioned hidden princess, give this steampunk novel a heavy and enticing dose of epic fantasy.

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Cato did a spectacular job introducing Octavia in the first chapter; we see her motivations, who she thinks she is; her powers of healing; it adds up to a wonderful foundation/launch-pad for the novel and I was immediately in Octavia’s corner rooting for her and hanging in the background of her story to watch follow her journey. She is an empowered, engaging, progressive, proactive, take-no-shit character who has a great deal of agency even in her more dire circumstances. In short, Octavia is defined by herself in all the important ways and is just a fun character to follow.

My March Completest column was posted to SF Signal, which shines the spotlight on Patricia McKillip’s Riddle-Master Trilogy:

The trilogy is one of those “foundational” fantasy series; a lot of people who have been genre readers for much of their life have read it early in their lives and point to it as one that helped to put them or keep them on the road known as the fantasy genre. The three books in the series are The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976), Heir of Sea and Fire (1977), and Harpist in the Wind (1979).

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The story has some superficial elements/tropes closely associated with the genre like a secondary world, coming of age/Bildungsroman story, a hidden heir, as well as wizards, magic and strange/fantastical creatures. While those fantastical elements are the set dressings which draw the reader into the story, what makes the series so special is McKillip’s elegant, lovely and evocative prose that makes for a wonderful ‘conversation’ between reader and writer. Although the magical elements are ever present, McKillip is able to evoke these elements in such a way that they simply are a part of the world Morgon and Raederle inhabit.

Like many of the best fantasies, McKillip has provided a wonderful backdrop of history and a deep world these characters populate. There’s a great rd to the wizards of the world as well as the races which populate the many lands, including the long gone “Earth Masters.” Just the name alone – Earth Masters – is a great conjuration to spark the imagination. What works best is the amount of detail she provides. The reader isn’t overburdened by infodumps, rather, history is revealed in pieces throughout the narrative. As I indicated above, this rich world comes through as a conversation, between the reader and the narrative. It allows the reader to connect with the world and become something of an active participant in the story.

Earlier this week, I posted my review of one Saga Press’s launch titles, Persona by Genevieve Valentine:

Valentine intersperses the fast paced thriller narrative with flashbacks of Suyana’s past which led her to where we first met her in the beginning of the novel. When Suyana attempts to evade Daniel who reluctantly brings her to at the hospital to tend to her injuries she realizes he’s not going anywhere. So, she takes him underground when her handler falsely and very publicly reveals Suyana has been kidnapped. There’s no turning back at that point and Valentine manages to reveal multiple layers while keeping a frenetic pace. However, there were times the transition from present to flashback and flashback to present felt a bit jarring to me and it took flipping back a page or two for me to regain my footing in the story.

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Persona has thin genre ties so readers should be more prepared for a political thriller with some near future elements. By no means is this a slight, because Persona is very effective as a thriller. The Twenty Minutes from Now setting and great characters very much reminded me of Tobias Buckell’s Arctic Rising. Of course, Valentine’s novel is doing some things differently and has some different goals, but the two novels could easily sit side by side as examples of science fiction crossing into the thriller novel.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2015-02-28)

Just a few books this week, but two of them are the first I've received from the imprint (Harper Voyager)

The Crow of Connemara by Stephen Leigh (DAW Hardcover 03/03/2015)– The latest novel from the extremely prolific Leigh (who also writes under the pen name S.L. Farrell) is a Celtic fantasy which is seemingly one of those rare beasts in fantasy – a standalone novel.

The Crow of Connemara is a contemporary Celtic fantasy set primarily in Ireland. Picking up threads from ancient Irish mythology and folktales, this story is fantasy, drama, and tragic romance all at once, a tale caught in the dark places where the world of ancient myth intersects our own, where old ways and old beliefs struggle not to be overwhelmed by the modern world.

Colin Doyle is third generation Irish-American musician, whose interest is traditional Irish music. Maeve Gallagher is an Oileánach, an 'Islander' on Ireland's west coast, outcaststreated with suspicion and disdain by the locals, who think them responsible for wild and strange happenings in the area. Colin's and Maeve's lives will soon intersect and intertwine. Colin will discover that Maeve has been involved with his family for far longer than seems possible, and Maeve will have to make a life-or-death choice in order to achieve what she wants for her people.

The Clockwork Dagger (The Clockwork Dagger Book One) by Beth Cato (Harper Voyager Trade Paperback 09/16/2014)– Cato’s debut is a steampunk fantasy which received some positive buzz when it published late last year. So when the author’s/publisher’s publicist asked if I was interested in reviewing the second book, I asked if she could include this one so I could catch up. The first chapter is up for perusal at Tor.com.

Full of magic, mystery, and romance, an enchanting steampunk fantasy debut in the bestselling vein of Trudi Canavan and Gail Carriger.

Orphaned as a child, Octavia Leander was doomed to grow up on the streets until Miss Percival saved her and taught her to become a medician. Gifted with incredible powers, the young healer is about to embark on her first mission, visiting suffering cities in the far reaches of the war-scarred realm. But the airship on which she is traveling is plagued by a series of strange and disturbing occurrences, including murder, and Octavia herself is threatened.

Suddenly, she is caught up in a flurry of intrigue: the dashingly attractive steward may be one of the infamous Clockwork Daggers—the Queen’s spies and assassins—and her cabin-mate harbors disturbing secrets. But the danger is only beginning, for Octavia discovers that the deadly conspiracy aboard the airship may reach the crown itself.

The Clockwork Crown (The Clockwork Dagger Book Two) by Beth Cato (Harper Voyager Trade Paperback 06/09/2015)– Sequel to Cato’s debut and the second half of the duology.

Rich in atmosphere, imagination, and fun, the action-packed, magic-filled sequel to The Clockwork Dagger is an enchanting steampunk fantasy, evocative of the works of Trudi Canavan and Gail Carriger.

Narrowly surviving assassination and capture, Octavia Leander, a powerful magical healer, is on the run with handsome Alonzo Garrett, the Clockwork Dagger who forfeited his career with the Queen’s secret society of spies and killers—and possibly his life—to save her. Now, they are on a dangerous quest to find safety and answers: Why is Octavia so powerful? Why does she seem to be undergoing a transformation unlike any witnessed for hundreds of years?

The truth may rest with the source of her mysterious healing power—the Lady’s Tree. But the tree lies somewhere in a rough, inhospitable territory known as the Waste. Eons ago, this land was made barren and uninhabitable by an evil spell, until a few hardy souls dared to return over the last century. For years, the Waste has waged a bloody battle against the royal court to win its independence—and they need Octavia’s powers to succeed.

Joined by unlikely allies, including a menagerie of gremlin companions, she must evade killers and Clockwork Daggers on a dangerous journey through a world on the brink of deadly civil war..

Persona by Genevieve Valentine (Saga Press Hardcover 03/10/2015) – This is one of Saga’s launch titles. Valentine has built a solid reputation in the genre and as writer of DC Comics’ Catwoman. The physical book really catches the eye.

In a world where diplomacy has become celebrity, a young ambassador survives an assassination attempt and must join with an undercover paparazzo in a race to save her life, spin the story, and secure the future of her young country in this near-future political thriller from the acclaimed author of Mechanique and The Girls at Kingfisher Club.

Suyana Sapaki is a failure in the International Assembly. She’s not charming on camera, which is crucial for a Face: public image is 90 percent of diplomacy, they tell you right from the beginning. The United Amazonian Rainforest Confederation has been the site of scandal, so she’s short on allies. It’s a system designed to make you useless, but she’s fighting. People back home trust her, and she has a country to save – one way or the other.

Daniel Park fled home to become a snap, because joining the last of the free press sounded noble before he was broke. On a hunch, he’s picked C-lister Suyana Sapaki for his first outing; he thinks she’s hiding something that’s worth money to the right people, if he catches it on camera.

Like her assassination attempt.

On the run from someone who wants her dead, shadowed by someone she can’t trust, Suyana will risk everything – everyone – to save her diplomatic dies; it’s her only chance to control the future of her people, and she has promises to keep. The Assembly’s declared her persona non grata.

That’s what they think.