Watch this Space!

Yes, this blog is still alive!

However, I seem to have gone on something of a hiatus at the o' Stuff again. Work life has been extremely busy since the summer. Most people who read me here know I review over at SFFWorld and it has been quite busy over there, too.  October is always busy with New York Comic Con (Interviews with Jim Butcher, Delilah Dawson, and Christina Henry plus a Horror Panel recap) as well our annual Countdown to Halloween focusing on horror. Five book reviews in October for me! 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered by Sadie Hartmann,  The September House by Carissa Orlando, The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan, Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, and Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward. 

Acquisitions from NY Comic Con 2023

Anyway, I'll be posting a new review here this week (there's a hint in the picture above). I'll be posting a reading year in review, too.

October 2022 Reading Round Up

October, shockingly, was all about horror. Well, the books I read, at least. The first weekend in October was New York Comic Con and it was the fist time since 2019 I was able to attend. They limited the press passes in 2021 and it wasn’t held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. One of the books I’ve already read, but you can click over to these three posts at SFFWorld to read my recaps of my time during the convention:

• New York Comic Con 2022 Panel Recap: Authors on the Best Advice They Ever Got 
• New York Comic Con 2022 Panel Recap: Spooks, Shivers, and Shrieks: Horror 
• New York Comic Con 2022: Wrap Up!

As I said above, every book I read in the month of October either had some horror flavors or was flat out horror. Three of those books were review books part of the annual “Countdown to Hallowe’en” series we do at SFFWorld

Little Eve by Catriona Ward 

Little Eve touches many topics in its slim, but potent length. There’s the concept of “grooming,” psychological manipulation, cults, animal cruelty, and of course child abuse (both mental and physical). Although this is a fictional tale set nearly a century prior to today, the games Uncle plays with his family are frighteningly real and are very much cultish in nature.

Leech by Hiron Ennes 

Hines manages to generate a wonderful atmosphere in the novel, there are hints of things familiar in the genre, but mixed up in a way that feels quite refreshing. With a creepy mine, there’s some definite horror vibes of the dark dwellers flavor of the genre and even something of an old west feel…In addition to The Thing, I also felt a sense of resonance with some of Jeff VanderMeer’s weird horror fiction and in the way the Institute “helps” humanity, I couldn’t help thinking of Octavia Butler’s Dawn and Lilith’s Brood/Xenogenesis books. Like I said, some familiar echoes that when fully projected are a story of its own.

Lute by Jennifer Marie Thorn 

What I found as unnerving as the black cloud over “The Day” was the affect it had on Nina’s relationship with her husband Lord Hugh. He initially seems quite stable, but as Nina begins to stray from the home as the “Day” draws ever closer, he seems to unravel. As it turns out, Nina is a quick learner and the true impact and import of “The Day” begins to settle into her mind, she understand what it means to be a resident of Lute and somehow begins to find herself more resolute.

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Compulsive…that’s the word that comes to mind when I think of this novel. Gibson has lovely prose and the tale is told with both auras of relaxed prose as well as elements of urgency, but through it all, the narrative of Constanta’s confessional is powerfully compulsive, which is why I read this book in only a couple of days. Her tale is gripping and you want to see her overcome her abuser.

Of the non-SFFWorld review books, let’s start with Ronald Malfi’s Black Mouth, which is the first novel I’ve read by the author. I’ve been seeing good things about his work for the past couple of years (Come with Me in particular), but this one’s description grabbed me for its very superficial similarity to books like King’s IT and Dan Simmons’s Summer of Night - friends reunite in their hometown to take down a monster they thought was gone. Those similarities, as I noted, are just superficial. Malfi’s tale is a little more confined, in that there are fewer characters and much more despair surrounds the characters; protagonist Jamie Warren is an alcoholic struggling with his addiction; his mother is a junkie who killed herself, thus brining Jamie back to Sutton’s Quay, VA. His disabled brother was found wandering. Dennis’s other friends Mia and Clay have their own demons, but they were very close friends when they were kids, but haven’t seen each other in years, since an eerie man known only as the Magician touched their lives. Malfi excels with his characters and building a sense of creepiness, between the Magician and the haunted region of Black Mouth itself.

He tells the tale in intertwining chapters that focus on the present and past when Jamie and his crew initially encounter the Magician. Malfi has a very deliberate pace and that pace works perfectly in Black Mouth to build up empathy for all the characters, the horrific nature of the Magician, the unsettling nature of Black Mouth itself, and how the tension builds towards the conclusion.

Black Mouth is one of my favorite novels of the year and I’m looking forward to reading more from Malfi in the future.

One of the books I picked up at New York Comic Con was Clay McLeod Chapman’s Ghost Eaters, which he then signed. I’ve read two of his books so far (The Remaking and Whisper Down the Lane) and enjoyed both and shared both with my wife to read. This one focuses on a drug called Ghost that allows the people who consume it to see dead people, or ghosts. Thinking about seeing dead loved ones might bring a swell of positive emotion to your heart…Clay goes the opposite direction. 

I won’t spoil what that means, but damn. The story focus on Erin and her toxic ex-boyfriend Silas. She keeps trying to get away from him and his addictions, but she finds it difficult. He eventually turns up dead of an overdose. Erin can’t hold on, she always feared he may wind up dead, but it actually happened and she has difficulty dealing with it. Then she learns about the aforementioned drug called Ghost. There’s an escalating creep factor that sets it apart. Chapman’s characters seem genuine and are empathetic and not since Jeff VanderMeer have mushrooms been so very creepy. 

The other non-SFFWorld review book I read was Nick Cutter’s Little Heaven, which I was looking forward to reading after The Troop earlier in the year because I enjoyed it so much. I can’t say I felt the same way about Little Heaven. The book started off fine, I was into it. But it just turned into a slog as it felt everything was happening at a glacial pace.

The audiobook I read (and have yet to finish) took up all of October, but it was a re-read, Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers, which I reviewed back in 2019 for SFFWorld when it published. The book was released before the COVID-19 Pandemic, but damn if Wendig’s story wasn’t prescient for what we’ve experienced the last few years. Seems more horrific in hindsight than it did at the time. Here’s some of what I said back in 2019: 

In short, between the potent politics, graphic nature, and embracing of the tropes, Wending doesn’t shy away from ANYTHING in Wanderers. As a writer, Chuck is far from a shy person, as people who follow him online and in fiction already know. I’ve read a few of Chuck Wendig’s novels and I see some pieces of those works, here, except maybe a little more refined an in your face. Wanderers is a magnum opus for him, it seems like a work of fiction he’s been working towards, and is a powerful achievement ...  Wendig has shown himself at the very least an equal storyteller/writer of the Epic Apocalypse with Wanderers. For me, it is an instant classic, an immediate Modern Masterpiece of the genre, and will probably be my favorite 2019 novel, and a book I will hold very high in my pantheon for years to come.

I’ll close out with my bookstack from New York Comic-Con 2022.

New York Comic Con 2014 - Day Three - Sunday

My last day of NYCC 2014 was spent roaming the convention mostly by myself. I’d wandered with my brother-in-law on Friday and Leslie on Saturday so I had a pretty good lay of the land. The big thing; however, was Leslie was there, helping to staff the booth of our friends’ comic book shoppe. The only minor monkey wrench this threw in our plans is the timing of everything. We couldn’t both leave at 7:00 A.M. and stay until the convention closed because of Sully. We felt bad enough leaving her for a “workday’s” amount of time on Saturday, so we certainly didn’t want to leave her alone for (potentially) upwards of 12 hours on Sunday. So, she left early and drove in with a few guys from the comic shoppe and I drove in later, arriving around 11:30 AM.

The first thing I did was head down to the Dark Circle Comics panel. Novel concept, attending a comic book panel at New York Comic Con, right? What drew me to this panel was the fact that Chuck Wendig is writing one of the books - The Shield - as part of the rebranding of the superhero line of comics from Archie Comics, or as some long-time comic book fans and readers know them the MLJ superheroes. I recall various attempts to bring these characters into the spotlight over the past few decades I’ve been reading comics. There was the Impact Comics line in the mid-90s which was spear-headed by DC Comics and Archie recently reinvigorated the characters through the Red Circle branding. Launching (or in this case re-launching) a new superhero, let alone an entire superhero universe, is a bold move in today’s market. Going back twenty-plus years again, the Malibu line was fairly successful launch until the implosion of the 90s (thanks Death of Superman). Hell, there was even an animated series based on the Ultraverse. But let’s skip ahead to now, shall we?

I think the Archie folks, with Alex Segura spear-heading this thing, are taking an interesting approach. They are using some familiar characters with a level of recognition by long-time readers while also reimagining the characters with modern sensibilities so readers unfamiliar with the past of those characters can pick up and read the comics right at launch. To a much lesser extent, I’d say this approach is almost…almost like DC re-launching their superheroes in the Silver Age with the first appearance of the Barry Allen Flash. The Dark Circle brand is starting with three characters: The Fox, The Black Hood, and The Shield. These three comics are being pitched as a mix of superheroes and, respectively, adventure, crime, and superhero adventure. The creators on the panel, Duane Swierczynksi, Chuck Wendig, and Dean Haspiel, exhibited a great deal of enthusiasm for their plans for these books. When time for questions came, I asked about the characters meeting each other then immediately doing the typical superhero thing of “punching each other in the face before realizing they are alliees” which brought some laughter. Alex said the characters will definitely be aware of each other. I later asked about how Alex and the others responsible for the launch came up with the books/characters; who would be re-launched and if specific creators were on their list and who would be part of the second wave. I wasn’t able to get an idea of who the next wave would include, though Alex did indicate one of the next characters would be a surprise. I also realized Mike Underwood was sitting in a couple of rows in front of me because he asked a question about female characters and female creators. Alex said they were very cognizant of such things and want the right story and character, not to just push out a female character or creator without forethought.

Based attending that panel, I’ll be adding all three titles to my pull-list once at my local comic shoppe.

Patrick Rothfuss, Seth Fishman, Cindy Williams Chima, Gail Z. Martin,
Garth Nix, Robin Hob and moderator David Peterson

In that very same room immediately following the Dark Circle Panel was the “How Game of Thrones Changed Fantasy…or Did it?” panel, with authors Patrick Rothfuss, Robin Hobb, Cindy Williams Chima, Garth Nix, Gail Z. Martin, and Seth Fishman, and moderated by David Peterson whom Mark interviewed for SFFWorld a little over a year ago. So, while I was in the back for the Dark Circle Panel and was even standing at one point, I moved up to the second row for the GOT panel and sat next to a very pretty Daenerys Targaryen with one of the dragons on her shoulder. Mike Underwood and Garrett came forward to chat with Chuck and I before the panel began. When moderator David asked the panel who they thought would be sitting on the Iron Throne at the end of the series, the young girl stood to a rousing applause and laughter.

Each of the authors brought an interesting perspective to the panel; Robin Hobb’s Farseer books, the first of which Assassin’s Apprentice published shortly before A Game of Thrones published and Garth Nix was publishing before A Game of Thrones published, too. Cindy Williams (I think) noted she was reading George before A Song of Ice and Fire citing Tuf Voyaging. I cheered for that (and I think I was the only one). Cindy later specifically said she began writing because of reading A Game of Thrones. Patrick; however, was the most vocal of the panelists and damn can he get an audience in the palm of his very large hand. One very good point he made was the distinction between the books of A Song of Ice and Fire and the television show A Game of Thrones. To highlight this point, a fair number of people in the room (including the Daenerys sitting next to me) didn’t read the books, nor were they aware of who the authors on the panel were.

Patrick pointed out how Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire now triangulated Fantasy allowing for greater reference points for the genre. Whereas prior to GOT/ASOIAF, there was mainly the two point line of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings to use as short hand for describing / recommending Fantasy, GOT became a third point off the line forming a triangle, widening the scope of what people are willing to embrace in fantasy. To the point of “Yeah I write/want to read a story that’s a little bit GOT and Harry Potter. Fantasy can be more than just HP or LOTR.” (And it can also be much more than GOT, for that matter.)

Another point made was that more time elapsed between book 3 and 4 in Garth Nix’s Abhorsen books. It was downplayed a bit because Garth had written so much in the intervening years. On the other hand, Gail Z. Martin had a much more regular schedule, or you can say another way, she’s a writing machine. She mentioned 3 current series she’s writing with a book in each publishing over the next year.

Shecky, me, and Garrett

After the panel was the signing for these authors, the line was the longest line on which I stood. There again I crossed paths with Shecky and Garrett, so this time we finally snapped some photos of each other. A significant portion of the people on line were waiting solely for Garth Nix, so the line was broken apart to help those folks. Once I got in the cordoned off line, I was bumped ahead of others to get my Robin Hobb books signed since the folks in front of me weren’t waiting for Robin Hobb. I was a little tongue tied because Robin’s books, especially her books about Fitzchivalry Farseer, are so high on my bookshelf of favorites. I asked of all the deaths she’s written if the death of Nighteyes was the toughest and she said it was. She referenced the scene in Romancing the Stone where Kathleen Turner’s character (a writer) was weeping as she was typing a scene.

Me and Pat Rothfuss

I also had a couple of more books to be signed by Patrick Rothfuss. One of which was for my wife’s colleague who is big fan of Patrick’s work. I had a nice little moment when I thunked down my Advance Reader Copy of Wise Man’s Fear for Patrick to sign. He softly and clorfully asked, How I got one of those? He then said I could sell this for a couple of grand, if I so chose. I mean, I realized there weren’t many of them because the ARC was number 227 out of 227, but it was very cool to surprise the author of the book being signed in such a fashion. Similarly, two years ago presenting Peter Brett with an ARC of Brayan’s Gold elicited a similar, if more tame response. Suffice it to say, I may have gloated just a bit about Patrick’s reaction.

I later discovered, when I traipsed through the Penguin booth, that one of the many great Penguin staffers was corralling the line and doing a fantastic job of keeping the signing line moving and people ready for their books to be signed. All in all, I’d say Penguin, the Ace / DAW / Roc imprints, had the best book publisher booth at the convention. There were ticketed signings throughout the weekend (most publishers had signings, but none quite as many as Penguin’s three-headed SF imprint), Penguin seemed to have the most give-aways (I told my brother-in-law to snag the mmpb of Anthony Ryan’s Blood Song), I grabbed Daniel José Older’s Half Resurrection Blues which was a Comic-Con exclusive in addition to the Sniegowski and Strout books I mentioned snagging and having signed on Friday.

Me and Chuck Wendig

After having my Hobb and Rotfhusses* signed, I just wandered the convention for a while and thumbed through comics at various vendors searching for some back issues I’d had on my mind for a while. Some old Flash or Batman issues, perhaps. Also, as I indicated at the top of this post, this is an actual Comic Book convention, I thought I would be remiss if I didn’t snag some comics. The aimless wandering came a brief halt at 4PM when the folks from the Dark Circle comics panel were signing things at the Archie Comics booth, including the free poster with the three characters being re-launched. I also had Chuck sign my ARC of Under the Empyrian Sky (since I have electronic copies of most of his work). Chuck also was kind enough to take a photo with me.

*Doesn't Hobb and Rothfuss sound like a Victorian, British law firm?

More wandering after that as I wound up at the booth Leslie was helping to staff. I rifled through some back issues and found what I was hoping to find: the five issue series from 1973 based on Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories: Sword of Sorcery. I also finally snagged a copy of a book at another booth for 50% off X-MEN: Days of Future Past which I’d never read. I know, I know, that’s one of my geek admissions. My excuse is that I was a DC Comics guy for the majority of my comic book reading life. I also forgot to mention on Friday, I picked up the first trade of a series at least half of the comic book readers my twitter stream have been raving about Rat Queens.

As the show closed, all the booths were shouting last minute deals. Boy is the Javits Center very … adamant about closing the show on time to the point that convention employees were not permitting people to walk past certain points, dimming the lights and shouting over a bullhorn that the convention was closed. So, the show closed and I helped box up some of the unsold items at the JC Comics booth before Leslie and I were on our way home after a marvelous weekend at New York Comic Con 2014.

All that said, the most surprising thing is just how damned crowded the convention was on Sunday. I realize it was “Kids’ Day” but it was crazier than Saturday was this year, something I would not have predicted. This also makes me happy that I took the opportunity on Saturday to be more leisurely with our approach to walking the floor in addition to sitting in on two panels on Sunday.

New York Comic Con 2014 - Day One - Friday

New York Comic-Con 2014 is marks the third time I’ve attended the convention, and the second year in a row I’ve attended with press pass. This year, 2014, is also the first year wherein I’ve attended three days. The owners of the comic shoppe where I get my stash have been friends with my wife’s family for quite a while; Leslie’s mother worked with the owner’s father. So Leslie helped staff their double booth on Sunday and as such, she was given an exhibitor pass so she went with me on Saturday, worked the booth on Sunday, and she let her brother use the exhibitor pass so he could go with me on Friday.

So wow, this event seems to grow each year but I was surprised Friday, in terms of the crowds and the fact that there was cool air blowing through. So, he (Mike) and I walked the hall a little bit in the morning when we arrived before the Geek Geek Revolution panel I wanted to attend. Mike is much more into video games than I am, so he checked out their booths and some other things while I headed down to the back of the Javits Center for the GGR panel. Waiting on line for it, I saw Jennie Ivins and the man known on twitter as SheckyX, so we chatted as we entered the panel and they both introduced me to Garrett from Ranting Dragon. Big thanks to Jennie for securing a few seats for us in one of the first couple of rows.

The Geek Geek Revolution panel was essentially a geek trivia challenge and featured John Scalzi, Peter V. Brett, Amber Benson, Maureen Johnson, Lou Anders, and M.D. Payne. The panel was moderated by Patrick Rothfuss. Amber and Maureen set Scalzi in their sights, but when Amber didn’t raise her hand before Scalzi on the Buffy questions, the winner was pretty much set from there. Should Rothfuss ever decided to foolishly give up his writing career, he'd be a great game show host. Damn can that man project his voice.

Afterwards, I got a few books signed, including The Daylight War by Peter and my ARC of Name of the Wind by Patrick.

After that, I headed up to the publisher’s area and chatted with some of the fine folks who help to make the books I read and love. I stopped by HarperCollins’s booth and was chatting with their new editor, David Pomerico about a few books coming out from them in the nearish future (Dave was particularly excited about his first signing for HC and it does sound quite good). We got to talking about cover art, how Richard Anderson does great work and seems to be in very high demand when Kameron Hurley’s agent dropped in the booth. Kameron’s agent also handles Brian Staveley; both Brian and Kameron’s books have cover art by Anderson and I had to tell Kameron’s agent how fucking awesome The Mirror Empire was.

After that, I headed to the Penguin booth where I was able to snag a copy of Daniel José Older’s Half Resurrection Blues. I chatted with the great Colleen Lindsay for a bit and told her she needs to write a book about Mugsy. Iwas also able to snag a copy of Anton Strout’s Alchemystic and Tom Sniegowski’s A Kiss Before Apocalyps to have them signed by the authors. (I've been wanting to read Alchemystic for a while since I've become a big fan of the Disney cartoon Gargoyles.) The Tor and Hachette booths were near them too, so I caught up with Ardi (Tor’s awesome publicist) and Ellen (Orbit’s sorceress publicist).

All in all, a lot of walking during Friday, but a day well spent.