January 2016 Reading: Bennett, Elliott, Bear, Kemp, Correia, & Lyle

January has ended and I read a handful of books during the months. I reviewed Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Blades, the second installment of his soon-to-be landmark Divine Cities epic fantasy series.

As for what I haven’t reviewed, at the start of the year I began my long anticipated re-read (books 1-4) and finish off Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars series with the Nebula nominated first book in the series King’s Dragon. In short, I loved the book, and have much more to say on it. I am thinking of doing a write up of the series as I re-read books 1-4 and as it looks now, I may be doing one book per month. I really like the feel of this world and was pulled along.  I am very excited to continue with this series, the next of which is Prince of Dogs. 

After finishing off King’s Dragon, I dove into Elizabeth Bear’s Dust, a very fascinating take on the generational starship story. Bear always brings a wonderful voice to whatever she writes and this novel from a few years ago (2008) is no exception. It felt as much like a fantasy story with the religion that grew out of long years on the ship.

Although I began listening to the book at the end of December (my audible credit becomes available to me on the 24th of each month), Paul S. Kemp’s thrilling Star Wars novel Lords of the Sith (as read by with gusto and pacing by Jonathan Davis) accompanied me on my commute to and from work and other drives for the first couple weeks of the month. 

I think Kemp did a fine job with Vader and his relationship to Palpatine. This story takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, so Vader isn’t quite the feared monster in black he is when we first “meet” him on screen. I’d be pleased if Rogue One took some cues from this novel. There's still some lingering Anakin in Darth Vader in this story.

Although I haven't read every (or even half) of the Star Wars novels out there, I think the only other writer who capture Vader better was Matthew Stover in his novelization of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Next up was Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter: Alpha. I bought the omnibus o the first three Monster Hunter novels a couple of years ago for a steal at $6. Larry switched things up for the third installment of the Monster Hunter series, focusing on Earl Shackelford (as opposed to Owen Pitt) and switching to an omniscient third person narrative voice rather than Owen’s first person perspective. This was a helluva a lot of fun, so much so that before I even finished reading Monster Hunter: Alpha I bought Monster Hunter: Legion. I would really like to read more novels focused on Earl, maybe some of his earlier adventures. I was also lucky enough to snag a signed copy of

The next audio book I gave a try was/is Anne Lyle’s The Alchemist of Souls, her debut and the first installment of her Night’s Mask trilogy. Michael Page does a very good job with the narration, I like the variety of voices and inflections he brings to the story. The setting is great, but for reasons I can’t fully explain, the story isn’t completely holding my attention. It is by no means bad, but I think I’m going to take a break from it at the moment.

As the month ends, I’m in the middle of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising. Del Rey was giving away copies of this at New York Comic Con this past October (2015). I’ve seen so many great things about the book and for the most part, the book is crafted quite well. A good story, good setting, but I really feel like I’ve read this one before. I finished the book on Friday and wasn't too impressed with the book altogether.  It really felt like The Hunger Games with a male protagonist along with a dash of The Departed. 

Lastly, I began slowly poring over the pages of Volume III of The Annotated Sandman. This is a beast of a book. Leslie Klinger (who did fantastic work on the previous two volumes as well as an Annotated Dracula and volume of HP Lovecraft I own) continues to add layers and depth, from a storytelling perspective, to one of the deepest and richest stories any medium has seen.

New York Comic Con 2014 - Day Two - Saturday

Day two of New York Comic Con in 2014 for me was Saturday and I admit to being slightly apprehensive about Saturday at the Javits Center. Last year, I attended only on Friday but the year before (2012) Leslie and I went on Saturday and the convention was mobbed and over-crowded. I suspect, at least partially, it felt that way because I knew I was attending only one day and felt it imperative to get to EVERYTHING in that condensed window. This year; however, I followed my wife’s advice as we took a leisurely stroll up and down the aisles of the entire convention floor. When we first arrived, we attended the panel for FX’s The League on the main Stage on the bottom floor. Neither of us watches the show; but two of the stars – Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas – run a podcast we both like called How Did this Get Made? in which the panelists picks apart crappy or craptacular films. After a forthcoming episode was screened at the panel 1) we realized the show probably isn’t for us and 2) the panel was worth sitting through to hear Mantzoukas riff on the audience.

From there we went up and looked through the DC Entertainment booth which was highlighting Batman’s 75th Anniversary. There was also some gameplay footage of a new game - Infinite Crisis which looks like it could be fun. After the bat-visit, we proceeded to take our time walking up and down the aisles of the main floor. The first booth we hit was Obscura, the booth representing the store/show from the Science Channel show Oddities (a show my wife enjoys and one of the few reality programs I can tolerate). We chatted with proprietor Evan for a bit and Leslie purchased the book, The Morbid Anatomy Anthology they were selling which featured an essay from Evan. Leslie and I chatted with a few of the independent authors along our journey, purchased a couple of books and generally just absorbed everything.

I drifted through Publisher’s row again and made small talk with Ardi from Tor (and snagged a copy of Max Gladstone’s Three Parts Dead) as well as the folks at the Penguin, Hachette/Orbit and Random House booths. My wife was purchasing the puzzle of a novel S (the novel conceived by J.J. Abrams and written by Doug Dorst) and tugged on my shoulder at the Hachette booth. As it turns out, while she was making her purchase (and getting a couple of free ARCs with the purchase), a gentleman was looking at Leviathan Wakes and was likely asking about it. She said to him, that he should talk to me about out and I basically made him buy it. I guess my description of how great the book is worked on him.

Then we arrived at the BOOM! booth, saw a small gathering and realized Brian and Wendy Froud were signing things, particularly some commemorative editions of The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and The Storyteller. The Frouds, as in the creative forces behind some of the most iconic fantasy imagery of the past 30 or so years, including a film very near and dear to both our hearts: The Dark Crystal. Even better, while Leslie was getting her book signed by the Frouds, a woman next to us began chatting, in a very familiar manner, with the Frouds. We came to realize she was Cheryl Henson, one of Jim Henson’s daughters. I loved The Muppets growing up and most of the Henson productions, but my wife’s love for the Henson creative empire is far more expansive than mine. She couldn’t stop thanking Cheryl Henson for all the wonderful things her family’s company has created and done for people. Leslie may have even offered to work for any Henson company in any capacity, even if it mean just retrieving cloth from the warehouse to make Muppets. That might have been one of my favorite moments of NYCC, having Leslie meet somebody who meant so much to her as a child

Up and down the aisles we traversed, spotting art and assorted geekery ephemera. When we arrived at Neal Adams’s booth, I was tempted to purchase either a book for him to sign or a Batman print for him to sign, but I’ve still got some other geekish art pieces yet unhung in my house. Up and down, up and down…hit the Baen Books booth and snagged a copy of Larry Correia’s Hard Magic. I really enjoy his Monster Hunter books and wanted to give this other series a shot. Larry was going to be there later on, so I stopped by to have him sign Hard Magic and he was kind enough to give me a hardcover of Monster Hunter Nemesis before signing it. I know Larry’s got a rather…vocal online presence, but the few minutes he and I chatted he could not have been nicer. I was also hoping to get a copy of Charles Gannon’s Fire with Fire signed, but I missed his signing time. Jim Minz, who was running the booth, was kind enough to hand me a copy of the second book in that series, Trial by Fire.

The two Correias and Mike Underwood's book are signed by the authors

Immediately thereafter was the signing for Mike Underwood’s Shield and Crocus at the 47North booth, which was just around the corner from Baen. I was online and having a conversation with a couple of people about Mike’s books when I realized, well rather, we both realized, we knew each other via twitter. I was chatting with none other than Sally of the excellent Qwillery blog. After hearing her schedule and what she was planning for her NYCC trip for the blog, I am even more impressed with her blog. We had Mike sign our books and then Sally and I started chatting with my wife when we spotted the mighty Shecky on line for Mike’s signature. I’d known Shecky for a while and met him in person at a recent Tor.com event (where I also chatted with Mike Underwood), but this was the first time I met Sally. The four of us then spoke for a bit until we realized the hour and how much at that point in the day, we all just wanted to go home.

Both times (Friday and Saturday) I strolled over to the Topatco booth Cecil Baldwin, the voice of Night Vale Radio was finishing up a signing. This just got me to thinking, it would have made sense for their booth to be very near the Obscura booth.

Anyway, that was Day 2 of New York Comic Con 2014 for me.

Your Opinion is Wrong, Mine is Correct

Or alternatively, opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. (Thanks for that one Dad!)

Here’s something you don’t see from me too often on the blog, something of an opinion piece about a genre kerfuffle.Specifically, the latest SFF internet kerfuffle is between Larry Correia  and Jim Hines ((Larry’s first post, Jim’s rebuttal to Larry, and Larry's rebuttal to Jim’s rebuttal), two authors whose work I’ve enjoyed in the past. Their “kerfuffle” was set off by Alex Dally MacFarlane’s Post-Binary Gender in SF: Introduction post/article at Tor.com. 

(Full disclosure: as anybody who has been visiting my blog knows, I write for Tor.com and they pay me for that writing).

Now my point here is not to advocate the position of any of those individuals as I see validity in some of the points those individuals make (and quite frankly, I didn't read any of those posts completely but this is a general statement kind of post I'm making). It seems every week a new battle rages about who holds the more correct opinion and when those opinions become divisive, people from the camp A call for the heads of those in Camp B.

What usually happens in these kerfuffle? Specifically here, Larry’s fans flock to his blog supporting him and Jim’s fans flock to his blog supporting him. Are opinions ever changed in these kerfuffles? I really don’t know, but I’m going to guess the opinion conversion rate to be somewhere in the 1% to 3% range. On the other hand, these kerfuffles to help to elevate the various mindsets of the folks who write and enjoy the genre. Sometimes, the two figureheads leading the argument come together for a good cause.  Maybe that will happen here, I don't know.

I’ve also noticed that whenever people express an opinion, those people are often held up as criminals and should be taken to task, and in this case with the writer(s), to the point of their publisher severing ties with the writer.

What? Really? This is something I cannot comprehend. Granted, there is a lot I can’t comprehend, but this is a big one. People are allowed to have opinions, and in any walk of life (writers, comedian, athletes), those opinions can to be large and often divisive. Should people be held accountable for their opinions? To an extent, I suppose.  But it isn't like people are calling for murder or defending criminal thoughts and activities.

When somebody, let’s call them Coffee, is offended by something Tea says, Coffee wants to see Tea stripped of their right to speak, earn a living, and basically exist. Sure words can be hurtful, but when Tea is excoriated and treated like a criminal for expressing an opinion, it just blows my mind. What is more baffling is that often, it is people who are in walk of life where freedom of speech and expression (and by extension, opinion) is a major part of their walk of life, wish to silence the dissenting opinions. 

To me, this is summed up as follows: You can have your own opinion so long as it lines up with my opinion. It happened when Seth MacFarlane hosted the Oscars and I saw twitter explode with writers just one or two steps removed from calling for his head for telling jokes, some of them funny, some of them in poor taste, some of them just bad. If writers want to be all inclusive about featuring any subject in their fiction, why should any subject be up for being joked about?

I could go off on a tangent and how this relates to sports and athletes, but I think I'll limit this to writers and (briefly) comedians. 

It is with all of that, that I conclude with a quote and link to my pal (and fellow SF Signal contributor) Sarah’s more hopeful, upbeat post:

Hey Fans, You’re Doing It Wrong.

Discussion fosters progress, and I think these discussions that are happening are important. The genre is changing; it is impossible to deny that. Some people will embrace change, and some will reject it. That’s human nature. However, once we start focusing on what divides us rather than unites us, we start losing our way as a genre. 

But as I said in the beginning, this is just an opinion and like everybody else, I have one.

(I’ve also been called an asshole before, so there you go)

SFFWorld Review Round-up: Lawrence, Bond, Correia, and Leckie

It has been a while since I rounded up my reviews at SFFWorld, so here goes, starting with the "oldest" and finishing with the most recent review.

Mark Lawrence brought The Broken Empire, the story of his dark, cynical, and tortured protagonist Jorg to a close with Emperor of Thorns, cementing himself as a Important writer of fantasy in the early 21st Century.  This is a series that I loved and one that demands a second reading.

Going into the finale of a trilogy, the reader has certain expectations, certain hopes, and certain story beats they’d like the writer to hit. In many respects, the story and character of Jorg fight against expectations. In the previous volumes, Jorg has committed heinous acts and while he continues his misbehaving ways in Emperor of Thorns, in the “current” timeline of the novel he is more insightful of his past actions. Part of that is the result of the pending birth of his child, for one of Jorg’s greatest concerns in the narrative is not being a callous, heartless parent to his child like his father was to him. An older Jorg now reflects on how he should be proactively unlike his father rather than react to how his father treated him. Subsequently, this older Jorg has a goal that is greater than himself, extending even beyond the safety of his wife and child.

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While Jorg’s journey to become Emperor could be considered the ‘skeleton’ of the novel, the muscles and support could be considered the backstory of the world. Details such as the Data Ghosts, the Builders and other elements that hint at the world before it was ‘broken’ become more prominent. The fact that these novels take place in a Post-Apocalyptic landscape of our future is no longer much of a secret to readers and Jorg’s exploration of ancient ruins become conjure familiar images. Through that, a dark sense of dread simmers off the page. Some of the dark depths to which Jorg delves are quite evocative to the point I’d like to see Lawrence try his pen with a full out horror story.

Gwenda Bond's second novel, The Woken Gods, published in the beginning of September and I liked it though not quite as much as I enjoyed her debut. Still, a solid novel from a very smart writer.

Soon enough, while venturing with her friends, Kyra enters a museum and draws the attention of two of the trickster gods; one who warns her and the other who threatens her. Fortunately for Kyra and her friends Tam and Bree, emissaries from the Society of the Sun, the human governing body which oversees much of the deities’ activities, steps in to prevent any problems from exacerbating. One of these emissaries, Osborne “Oz” Spencer takes a liking to her. Kyra hates to admit it to herself, but she also feels an

What ensues mixes a thriller plot with government conspiracy and a dash of family drama in a stew of mythology. For the most, these elements come together well and each feeds off and into the other elements very well. The government is tied up with Kyra’s family, the government is tied up with the gods, and Kyra seeks to both escape and save both. Sounds quite twisty-turny, but it was pretty solid mix of elements for my reading tastes.

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Bond does a lot of things well in her second novel. Her pacing is as brisk and frenetic as in her previous novel and her characters, particularly the protagonist Kyra, is far more than simply the “plucky, clever girl.” Kyra’s emotions come across very well; her urge to help her father, the conflict she feels over Oz, and the fear she has for her friends. I empathized and believed in her as a character and felt for her plight. She takes the full spotlight.

I started reading Larry Correia's Monster Hunter series last year and I recently caught up with the second in the series, Monster Hunter Vendetta, which I thought was a blast:

Correia’s over-the-top ultra-violent style makes for a quickly paced novel. Since the government endorsed Monster Control Bureau has much to say in things involving monsters on US soil, they have made it their responsibility to ensure Owen is not abducted by the Necromancer, who happens to know very intricate details about Monster Hunter International. Not only does the Necromancer want a measure of revenge against Owen for thwarting his masters, the Old Ones (as depicted in Monster Hunter International), but because Owen is special. He is a once in era person who can be a key to the Old Ones entry and destruction of our reality. Further complicating matters for Owen, and all of the team of Monster Hunter International, is that the Necromancer hints of traitor in the ranks.

I also enjoyed the deeper exploration of the Old Ones (though Correia hasn’t fully mined this, I think) and more of the history of Monster Hunter International. In other words, I like the mythology for this world Correia has thus far built in the two novels. Granted, he’s using some ready-made ingredients with the Old Ones clear homages to the Lovecraft/Cthulhu mythos and the familiar element of a secret black ops paramilitary force fighting against the things normal people would not believe existed.

My most recent review and it is a contrarian review at that.  My twitter stream, at least those who read SFF like me, have been raving about this book for weeks.  For me, it just didn't work.  The book...Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie:

 

Leckie has an inventive point of view and injects a lot of originality into the novel. There’s interesting things to ponder in terms of evolution, singularity and machine intelligence in a far future. Breq is far from a reliable narrator and her past selves aren’t fully able to resolve themselves and their memories as she progresses through the present. The system of Justices and planetary colonization seems like it could be fodder for a great many stories. Although Leckie isn’t the first to posit intelligent, thinking star ships in a Space Opera setting, her execution and foundation from which the story flows is something she makes her own, it feels fresh.

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The shifts between the past narrative and the present proved problematic, it wasn’t a smooth transition for me and I found myself having to re-read back a bit in some cases to get a better understanding of the timeframe in which the story lens was focusing at that time. Although the opening grabbed me, as the story progressed, the narrative and the character’s plight failed to significantly hold my attention.

SFFWorld Reviewers' Top SF, Fantasy, & Horror of 2012

As we do every year at SFFWorld, Mark and I took a look back at what we read and reviewed at SFFWorld. This year, we pulled in KatG, who serves as one of the moderators, and Nila (N.E.) White (aka tmso) who moderates, writes reviews for us and makes sure the folks in the writing forum play nice with each other.

Part 1 covers Fantasy and Horror

April saw a slew of Fantasy novels reviewed. Rob reviewed The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp, his first non-shared world/media tie-in which is a great example of modern Sword and Sorcery, as well as Elizabeth Bear’s ‘first true venture into Epic Fantasy’, Range of Ghosts. Mark read Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle and Fire by Kristin Cashore, occasional reviewer Kathryn read Forged in Fire by J.A. Pitts and Nila reviewed the third Mike Shevdon novel, Strangeness and Charm. Rob’s favorite in April was his much anticipated Caine's Law by Matthew Woodring Stover

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For the start of June SFFWorld went old-school, with the review of a game-book, Destiny Quest: The Legion of Shadow by Michael J. Ward. Mark found it quite fun. He also reviewed the UK re-release of George R.R. Martin’s Armageddon Rag, expanding on a short review he wrote for The Fortean Times. Rob enjoyed the fast-paced mayhem of Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia, and the Young Adult tale Thief's Covenant by Ari Marmell, but his favourite of the month (and of the year) was The Troupe by Robert Jackson Bennett, a Bradbury-esque tale of strange goings-on in a circus troupe.

Part 2 covers Science Fiction

January started strongly for Space Opera, with Alastair Reynolds’ Blue Remembered Earth which Mark reviewed. Rob reviewed The Recollection by Gareth L. Powell. We also reviewed something we should do more of at SFFWorld, an audio drama, when occasional reviewer Kathryn Ryan reviewed a Ciaphas Cain story Dead in the Water by Sandy Mitchell. Mark reviewed a superhero reimagining with Empire State by Adam Christopher and an old-fashioned duo of future-colony tales, Tau Ceti by Kevin Anderson and Steven Savile. Elsewhere, Paul Mc Auley’s In the Mouth of the Whale was another Space Opera liked by readers, as too Chris Beckett’s alien planet tale Dark Eden, though Mark was not as impressed. Lavie Tidhar’s Osama was published this month, with an audacious meta-fiction premise and was generally well liked, winning the World Fantasy Award for 2012 later in the year.

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Just as impressive in June was David Brin’s Existence, which Rob loved for its big, bold ideas and complex plot, saying ‘Brin achieved an excellent gestalt of character, big ideas, and narrative energy.’ We also had the US release of John Scalzi’s Redshirts, a book Rob recommended because it ‘succeeded in making me laugh a great deal and had the all-important powerful pull to keep reading to find out what happens next.’ Mark also reviewed the book on its UK release in December.

Ghosts and Monsters - Two SFFWorld Reviews

Your weekly dose of the Mark and Rob show is brought to you by books published by Baen and Jo Fletcher Books.

Mark, SFFWorld’s resident genre historian, dove into a massive tome of ghost stories from the late, great M.R. James Curious Warnings: The Great Ghost Stories of M.R. James:

I must admit that, for me, it is that uniqueness that makes M.R. one of my favourite ghost story writers. Nothing works quite as well for me at Halloween as I dip into my collections of his original published stories. Originally written as rough notes for his reading aloud to choristers at King’s College, Cambridge, they were evidently a highlight of the Christmas festivities.

There are many editions out there, including the recent Collected Ghost Stories by the Oxford University Press in October 2011. I have five of my own, all slightly different. So why look at another new collection?
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More excitingly, this edition includes Living Night, a two page poem, and more than a dozen other rarer story fragments, including James’s only novel, The Five Jars (1920) a tale written possibly for, but felt to be too scary for, children in 1920. Some of the other extras here – Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb, Merfield House for example - are the only remaining fragments of the writing, a tantalising glimpse of some of James’ unfinished material. To be frank, the additions are interesting but not essential and Five Jars is a slim novel, but they are worth a read and do give the reader a better idea of James’ canon.

Sometimes an author or his/her books start making the rounds in the intarwebs and you dismiss it for whatever reason. Then people start saying things about it that you find intriguing and subsequently, the book(s) may go on sale for a price you can’t pass. Such is the case with Larry Correia and Monster Hunter International:

Owen learns that monsters are real and not only does the government have a secretive division dedicated to eradicating monsters and keeping their existence hidden from the public, but a paramilitary organization – Monster Hunter International (MHI) – wants to recruit Owen into its ranks. When he next meets his new employers, he is greeted by Earl and Julie Shackelford, one of the members of the family who founded Monster Hunters International. Of course Julie is stunningly gorgeous, loves guns as much as Owen does and is basically his dream woman come to life. Soon enough Correia* …rather Pitt joins MHI and goes through the typical training regiment the protagonist of military fiction needs to under go in order to become a Full Fledged Member.

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In today’s genre landscape, werewolves, vampires, and demons are made out to be sexy creatures of seduction who can offer dark fantasies of lust. Not so in Correia’s world, these creatures are the monsters that scared us as kids, the creatures that gave us nightmares from B-movies and the bad guys we wanted to avoid having devour us. Here, the members of Monster Hunter International meet these creatures head on with shotguns, grenade launchers and all sort of (meticulously overly detailed) weaponry to protect the innocent.

Newly Discovered Authors - First Half of 2012

This little post concerns itself with the authors I’ve discovered this year, read for the first time, and plan on reading more of in the future. I suppose there’s no quicker way to say it fully so there you go. Anyway, some of these writers are new to all of us, meaning their debut novels published this year, other authors have been published with books on the shelves (physical or virtual) for more than a year. I’ll do this thing alphabetically:

Rachel Aaron – I enjoyed the heck out of her The Legend of Eli Monpress omnibus, have the fourth in the series - The Spirt War - waiting to be read, and the fifth/final - Spirt’s End - set to publish later in 2012.

Saladin Ahmed – This entry is another debut author, at least in terms of novels, but I was so impressed with Throne of the Crescent Moon I’m quite eager to see where Saladin next takes Doctor Adoulla Makhslood and his companions.

Robert Jackson Bennett – I’m only part-way through The Troupe, his third novel and the first I’ve read, but it is connecting with my reading sensibilities VERY strongly. I get a bit of a King/Bradbury feel so far and I’ve seen nothing but good things about his other two novels The Company Man and Mr. Shivers.

Myke Cole – Shadow OPS: Control Point is his first novel and also the first in the Shadow OPS series and an extremely accomplished novel. Might be my favorite of the year at this point or very close to it. Two more books in this series are set to publish for Mr. Cole and I’ll be lining up to get them.

Larry Correia – I ordered the Monster Hunters omnibus from Baen for all of $6.00 and the first novel in it, Monster Hunter International is lots of fun. He’s trucking along with this series, releasing the fourth, Monster Hunter Legion in September plus he’s got to volumes of The Grimnoir Chronicles which is a Noir-ish alternate history urban fantasy.

Jeff Salyards – Another debut author whose Scourge of the Betrayer was a tight and impressive military fantasy novel. Not sure when the second is publishing, but looking forward to it.