Friday Round-Up: Czerneda, Gladstone, Brennan, SF Signal & SFFWorld

I didn't realize I lapsed so much in these round up posts. I've posted & participated in quite a few things since I last gathered my contributions in one blog post.

A couple of Fridays ago, my December Completist column posted to SF Signal, featuring Species Imperative by Julie Czerneda, an omnibus of her series of the same name comprised of Survival, Migration, and Regeneration.

The star of the trilogy, of course, is Mac. She is one of the most plausible and believable scientist protagonists I’ve come across in Hard Science Fiction. Make no mistake about Species Imperative being Hard SF, just because it features Biology rather than Quantum Physics or the science behind space travel as its feature science, Czerneda applies no less a rigorous approach to the science/biology in the novel through Mac. Her deductive reasoning, how Mac infers things about the Dhyrn’s homeworld, her conclusions about the relationship between the Dhryn and the Ro are all logical scientific reasonings. Most importantly because these are novels, Czerneda makes for great dramatic tension and narrative pull with Mac.

There’s a tradition of Science Fiction wherein the scientist is hero, gallantly (and often flawlessly) solving the problems raised by a story or novel’s plot. That tradition also tends to gender-default to male characters. Czerneda goes the other direction and gives readers a flawed well-rounded character at the height of her chosen vocation who is a woman. In Mac, she’s given readers one of the more engaging scientist-heroes in the genre, and just an admirable character as a whole.

A couple of weeks ago, my review of Max Gladstone's wonderful debut, Three Parts Dead, was posted to SFFWorld. I love the milieu and Max is one of the smartest writers I've encountered in the genre. Met him at a couple of Tor.com events and he comes across just as nice and cool as he is a good writer. Not a bad combo.

There’s a great balance in the characters who comprise the main cast; our protagonist is female, as is her boss. Another supporting character, Cat, has a strong character arc that parallels and intertwines with the main plot. These women have power in this world, or are the most forthcoming in their quest to gain a foothold with it. Despite the church’s power being represented by a man, Elayne exhibits no qualms about dealing with him and these people if not on an equal level, then a level on which she has a moral high ground. What makes these women such great characters, especially Tara and Elayne, is that they have agency of their own and are not defined by their relationship to men in the novel. Granted, Tara’s relationship with her former professor at college is an integral element in the novel, but it isn’t the only defining aspect of who she is. Cat, on the other hand, is a bit of a dependent character, but that dependency is not intertwined with her gender. She is, in essence, an addict.

In many ways, the world Gladstone has created reminds me of the cityscapes of China Miéville’s New Crobuzon (Perdido Street Station and The Scar), in large part, because of the mix of arcane, eldritch darkness and non-human races set primarily in a city.

Over the past week at SFFWorld, Mark Yon has been posting the Best of Year thoughts from him, Mark Chitty, and Nila White:

• SFFWorld Best of 2014: Part 1 – Fantasy & Horror
• SFFWorld Best of 2014: Part 2 – Science Fiction
• SFFWorld Best of 2014: Part 3 – Genre Film & TV

Speaking of Best of 2014, I was asked to mention a few books in Tor.com's Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2014.

Last week, I was on the SF Signal Podcast (Episode 273): The Best SF&F Book, TV Show, Movie, Comic Book, Game or other thing you consumed in 2014. Host Patrick Hester talked to Sarah Chorn, Jeff Patterson, Django Wexler, John Stevens, Fred Kiesche, and me.

This past week at SFFWorld, my review of ML Brennan's debut novel Generation V was posted. I've read my fair share of Vampire novels and enjoyed this one, which was a good start to the series (which either goes by Generation V or American Vampire):

Brennan, through Fort, has a rather snarky modern prose which is perfectly contrasted against the mannered and high-society aura surrounding his family: mother Madeline, brother Chivalry, and his sister Prudence. Through much of the novel, at least the first third and what felt like a significant part of the middle third, Fort is very much a doormat. He lets his roommates walk all over him, (the most current roommate owes him a few months worth of rent), his ‘girl-friend,’ (who slept with the aforementioned roommate) has different ideas of what their relationship should be, and his over-bearing boss doesn’t exactly have an open door policy. While being a bit of a pushover for his older, more powerful vampire brother can be understandable, added to the other characters who trampled over Fort, I was more frustrated with Fort’s lack of backbone and ability to assert himself against the people who are pushing him down. In my head, I kept thinking that he needed to stand up for himself.

SFFWorld/SF Signal Link Round-up: Mind Meld, ML Brennan Interview, and Reviews of Erin Lindsey and Joe Hill

Not much posting here at the good ol’ blog the last couple of weeks aside from the weekly books in the mail posts. Work has been taking my attention and writing reviews and other posts have taken other parts of my attention. Other posts? Yeah, quite a few posts and reviews I wrote went live over the past week, let’s have a look shall we?

The thing I had the most fun doing, in terms of my genre writing, over the past week or two was my October Mind Meld for SF Signal. This was my fifth mind meld and probably the most successful, in terms of participants (12!) and responses. Participants included Richard Auffrey, ML Brennan, Adam Callaway, Kristin Centorcelli, Teresea Frohock, Jaym Gates, Tim Marquitz, Seanan McGuire, Cesar Torres, Ellen B. Wright, Mercedes M. Yardley, and Mark Yon. I asked them this question:

Which novel / writer / movie, that wasn’t specifically a horror novel/writer/movie, spooked you the most?

For this week’s panelists, a double-edged question was asked about a writer/book who/that evoked that emotion of fear. Not a horror writer/novel (for example not Stephen King), but perhaps an Epic Fantasy Novel, Science Fiction story, or Military novel where you found parts of it scary/creepy. To the point you might think to yourself, “I’d love to see a straight-out horror novel from this writer!”

Speaking of ML, Brennan, I posted a great interview with ML Brennan to SFFWorld, author of the Generation V novels. I’ve got the first and third and I hope to get to them soon.

Last week, I posted two reviews to SFFWorld. One was Erin Lindsey’s The Bloodbound the third novel by her (the other two she wrote as E.L. Tettensor), but the first under the Erin Lindsey name. I liked this one very much and hope to see more about these characters.

The majority of the novel is told from Alix’s point of view, with some scenes through her King’s eyes. Alix comes across as an honest, almost-too-good-for-her-own-good protagonist torn between duty and passion. She finds her passion and romantic feelings for her closest companion Liam growing, so she acts upon it. The thing that throws a monkey-wrench into their relationship is the king himself. Rather, Alix acting as headstrong as ever; she goes against the orders of her superior Allan Green and breaks formation to save the King’s life. He wakes to find Alix draped over her. That physical interaction leads to more emotional interaction between the two.

As a couple of reviewers pointed out, there’s a strong similarity to Elizabeth Moon’s Paksenarrion novels. One, this is a good thing because I enjoy Elizabeth Moon’s writing very much. Two, this shouldn’t be a surprise when one realizes they share the same agent.*

On Friday, as part of my sort-of-series of Halloween readings, I posted a review of Joe Hill’s Horns, a dark novel that just helped to cement Joe’s status as a top tier writer for me. At this point, I’m not sure how objective I can be about his writing.

Of the stories, novels, and comics Joe Hill has written in his relatively short career, perhaps the least likely to make it to the screen first is his second novel, Horns. This isn’t a comment on the quality of the novel (because it is an excellent dark fantastic tale), but rather the premise that launches the plot as well as the nonlinear fashion of the novel. First, let’s get that premise out of the way. About a year after his girlfriend Merrin is raped and murdered, Ig Perrish wakes one morning with horns sprouting out of his head. The horns grant him a power not many people would like: people are compelled to speak their darkest truths to him and compelled to act upon his direction.

Joe keeps a strong vein of hopefulness in the narrative. Horns in narrative approach reminded me a great deal of the landmark Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons graphic novel Watchmen. Both stories have a core of a murder mystery, with the murder victim dead prior to the “present” of the novel. As such, those murdered characters (The Comedian in Watchmen and Merrin here in Horns) are a large cloud over the narrative whose past is revealed through flashbacks.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2014-10-11)

Four books this week; two arrived on Monday, two arrived on Friday.

Generation V by M.L. Brennan (Roc Mass Market Paperback 05/07/2013) – Brennan’s debut and launch book for the series of the same name. Brennan has gained some very solid reviews for this vampire/urban fantasy since it published late last year so I’ve been intrigued by the book and was happy to get a copy when Nita, Ace/Roc/Daw publicist extraordinaire asked if I’d like to receive a copy. A review with ML will likely go up to SFFWorld in the next couple/few weeks.

Fortitude Scott’s life is a mess. A degree in film theory has left him with zero marketable skills, his job revolves around pouring coffee, his roommate hasn’t paid rent in four months, and he’s also a vampire. Well, sort of. He’s still mostly human.

But when a new vampire comes into his family’s territory and young girls start going missing, Fort can’t ignore his heritage anymore. His mother and his older, stronger siblings think he’s crazy for wanting to get involved. So it’s up to Fort to take action, with the assistance of Suzume Hollis, a dangerous and sexy shape-shifter. Fort is determined to find a way to outsmart the deadly vamp, even if he isn’t quite sure how.

But without having matured into full vampirehood and with Suzume ready to split if things get too risky, Fort’s rescue mission might just kill him.

Hawk (Vlad Taltos #14) by Steven Brust (Tor, Hardcover 10/07/2014) – I really enjoy Brust’s Taltos novels, as I’ve mentioned recently and I hope to catch up with them, or at least get closer to being caught up, in the more-near-than-far future.

Years ago, Vlad Taltos came to make his way as a human amidst the impossibly tall, fantastically long-lived natives of the Dragaeran Empire. He joined the Jhereg, the Dragaeran House (of which there are seventeen) that handles the Empire’s vices: gambling, rackets, organized crime. He became a professional assassin. He was good at it.

But that was then, before Vlad and the Jhereg became mortal enemies.

For years, Vlad has run from one end of the Empire to the other, avoiding the Jhereg assassins who pursue him. Now, finally, he’s back in the imperial capital where his family and friends are. He means to stay there this time. Whatever happens. And whatever it takes.

Advanced Class Guide (A Pathfinder Campaign Supplement) edited by James L. Sutter (Paizo Hardcover 09/02/2014) – The fine folks at Paize keep churning out these great RPG books.

A New Breed of Hero

Adventure like never before with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide! Explore new heights of heroism with 10 new base classes, each with 20 levels of amazing abilities. Incredible powers also await existing characters, with more than a hundred new archetypes and class options. Prepare characters for their most legendary adventure ever with massive selections of never-before-seen spells, magic items, and more!

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 15 years of system development and an open playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide includes:

• Ten new base classes—the magic-twisting arcanist, the ferocious bloodrager, the cunning investigator, the daring swashbuckler, the formidable warpriest, and others.
• Variant class abilities and thematic archetypes for all 29 base classes, such as the counterfeit mage and the mutagenic mauler.
• Nearly a hundred new feats for characters of all classes, including style feats, teamwork feats like Coordinated Shot, and more.
• Hundreds of new spells and magic items, such as feast on fear and skullcrusher gauntlets.
• An entire armory of amazing equipment, from vital new adventuring gear to deadly alchemical weapons.

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

Sleeping Late on Judgment Day (Bobby Dollar #3) by Tad Williams (DAW Hardcover 09/02/2014) – I am a big Tad Williams fan (as anybody who has read my blog knows) and I really like this series. This is the last Bobby Dollar novel for now, I hope Tad returns to this angel.

Where does an angel go when he's been to Hell and back?

Renegade angel Bobby Dollar does not have an easy afterlife. After surviving the myriad gruesome dangers Hell oh-so-kindly offered him, Bobby has returned empty-handed – his demon girlfriend Casmira, the Countess of Cold Hands, is still in the clutches of Eligor, Grand Duke of Hell. Some hell of a rescue.

Forced to admit his failure, Bobby ends up back at his job as an angel advocate. That is, until Walter, an old angel friend whom Bobby never thought he’d see again, shows up at the local bar. The last time he saw Walter was in Hell, when Walter had tried to warn him about one of Bobby’s angel superiors. But now Walter can’t remember anything, and Bobby doesn’t know whom to trust.

Turns out that there's corruption hidden within the higher ranks of Heaven and Hell, but the only proof Bobby has is a single feather. Before he knows it, he’s in the High Hall of Heavenly Judgement – no longer a bastion for the moral high ground, if it ever was, but instead just another rigged system – on trial for his immortal soul...

Sleeping Late on Judgement Day is the third installment of Tad Williams' urban fantasy Bobby Dollar series!

Books in the Mail (W/E 2014-09-20)

This is where I post about the review books which arrived on my front porch / in my mail box / in front of my garage / on my kindle the previous week.

Tainted Blood: A Generation V Novel by M.L. Brennan (Roc Mass Market Paperback 11/04/2014) – Brennan’s third novel in this vampire series comes just over a year after the first one. Not a bad schedule. 

In the third Generation V novel, Fortitude Scott proves that working with family can be deadly…

Former film student Fortitude Scott is finally gainfully employed. Unfortunately, said employment happens to be with a group of sociopathic vampires—his family. And as much as Fort is loath to get too deep into the family business, when his brother, Chivalry, is temporarily unable to run the territory, it’s up to Fort to keep things under control.

So when the leader of a powerful faction of shifters turns up murdered, Fort finds himself tracking down a killer while navigating dangerous rivalries, longtime grudges, and hidden agendas. Even with the help of his foxy kitsune sidekick, Suzume, he’ll need to pull out all the stops to hunt for the paranormal assassin.

But as he calls on fairies, witches, and ghouls for help, he discovers that the problem is much bigger than a single dead werebear. The supernatural community is preparing for a massive shift in power within the Scott family leadership—and Fort has landed right in the middle of the gathering storm.…

Scarlet Tides (The Moontide Quartet #2) by David Hair (Jo Fletcher Books Hardcover 10/07/2014) – Sequel to the well-received Mage’s Blood publishing a year and a month after the first book. This is the final version of the ARC I received earlier in the year.

The Moontide has come, and a scarlet tide of Rondian legions is flooding into the East, slaughtering and pillaging in the name of Emperor Constant. But the Scytale of Corineus, the source of ultimate magical power, has slipped through the emperor’s fingers. His ruthless Inquisitors are desperately seeking the artefact, before it falls into the hands of those who would bring down the Empire.

But there are some who have pledged to end the cycle of war and restore peace to Urte. They are the unlikeliest of heroes: a failed mage, a gypsy and a lowly market-girl

As East and West clash more violently than ever before, Urte will discover that love, loyalty and truth can be forged into weapons as deadly as swords and magic.