The 2015 Six Pack of My Favorite 2015 SFF Books So Far (+ a Shot from 2014)

We are in the first full week of July 2015 which means we’ve passed the half-way point of 2015. Therefore, subsequently, ergo, here is my mid-year six pack – the six books published between January 2015 and June 2015 I enjoyed the most, in alphabetical order by author’s last name (plus one more at the end published in 2014) with an excerpt of my review, which is linked via the book title.

The Skull Throne (Book Four of The Demon Cycle) by Peter V. Brett

At this point, I don’t think it would be spoiling the story too much to say that Arlen and Jardir survived their tumble off the cliff, because Arlen realized it would be illogical to reduce any kind of chances humanity has at defeating the Demons, even if the methods Jardir and his people practice are less than savory. Arlen and Jardir exchange diatribes about their methods, but agree to face the larger threat. Meanwhile, the people who watched them fall to their seeming deaths are left thinking the two “Deliverers” have perished…except Renna who was a participant in Arlen’s scheme to keep both men alive. Their goal: to trap a Mind Demon and enter the Core to take the fight to the Queen of Demons. The characters disperse and we follow three main threads: Inevera, Abban and the Krasians as they attempt to keep the Skull Throne occupied and further their campaign against the “Greenlanders” of Thesa, the Thesians dealing with the Krasian threat with attempts to unite featuring characters Rojer, Renna, Leesha, Gared and those folk; and of course Arlen and Jardir preparing themselves for entry into The Core.
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pride may be one of the characteristics or traits that does in many of the characters and can be seen as the greatest flaw a person can have in this world. Rojer, Jardir, Jayan (among others) all exhibit a great deal of hubris and pride. Some of them overcome that and don’t let the hubris consume them, but when that hubris so strongly defines an individual character here, it tends to be a fatalistic flaw. Leesha was quite prideful in her journey through to The Skull Throne, but in this third volume, her pride seems to have been quelled and as a result, she is a stronger character.

Gemini Cell by Myke Cole (A Shadow OPS novel) 

Gemini Cell is Myke’s fourth novel and is set in the same milieu as his previous three Shadow OPS novels, but is completely separate from those novels in terms of characters, timeframe, and storyline. In other words, this is the perfect entry point for new readers. In it, Myke introduces readers to Jim Schweitzer, a Navy SEAL, husband, and father. Like many soldiers/operators, he is torn between his military life and his family life. His wife Sarah is an artist and her career is beginning to flourish. As the novel starts, Sarah is having a major exhibition of her work and unfortunately, Jim is called away in the middle of the exhibition by the Navy for an emergency mission.
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Jim wakes up or rather he is brought back from the dead by a sorcerer and learns he is not alone in his own head and body. His unlife in his undead body share space with an ancient jinn named Ninip. Jim is informed that death has not severed his service to the Navy and he is “transferred” into Gemini Cell with Gemini referring, of course, to the twin souls of Jim and Ninip inhabiting Jim’s zombie body. As Jim soon learns, sharing a body with an angry jinn is a challenging task on top of adjusting to being undead and having been told his wife and son were murdered when he was killed. Jim’s spirit and Ninip’s spirit constantly struggle for control of Jim’s body, when in stasis, training or one of the missions he is sent to accomplish. Ninip is angry, seeks blood death and vengeance while Jim tries to calm the spirit. 

The Grace of Kings (Book 1 of The Dandelion Dynasty) by Ken Liu

Set in the Dara archipelago (an imagined world with a Asian resonances), the Emperor Mapidéré has united the many islands under one banner. Immediately, in my mind, a flag arose. This could be seen as an endgame, for an epic fantasy novel/saga – the uniting of kingdoms by an ambitious ruler. But this is where Liu launches his story, at the apex of one ruler’s conquering goals as viewed by a trickster with lofty aspirations and an orphan seeking revenge. This trickster is a young boy who often gets into trouble, would rather frolic than read, but whose mother continually holds out hope that he’ll eventually “get it” and stop his tomfoolery. This is Kuni Garu, one of the primary protagonists of the novel. We see much of the action of the narrative through his point of view, we see him grow into manhood, become a husband, father, and unlikely leader of men. Kuni joins a street gang, has many adventures until he finally appoints himself Duke Garu and grows a legion of followers who pledge themselves to him. As Kuni climbs the social strata and makes a name for himself, he falls for a woman named Jia, the woman who becomes his first wife.


There’s been a fair amount of criticism about the lack of female characters in this novel, itself just the first part of a trilogy. (This raises the question, I suppose, of how to review one novel in a series, which is a large chapter in a much larger story.) While I can understand that frustration – to a point – it seems to me in order to showcase an element that might be underrepresented, one must first illustrate that deficiency. In other words, such a criticism in my mind is slightly off the mark, because it seems to me the point of what Liu did with the gender imbalance in the first half is to present a problem to be fixed. A broken or unwhole thing can better be amended or repaired when it is viewed wholly.

The Autumn Republic (Book Thee of The Powder Mage Trilogy) by Brian McClellan 
An excerpt of my yet-to-be posted review (though I finished the book the last week of June)

One great thing that struck me as I was blazing through the pages is what a great job McClellan did with finishing off The Powder Mage Trilogy in The Autumn Republic. There was a great crescendo of tension as not only the elements of this novel came together, but the themes and character arcs of the whole trilogy came together towards conclusion. As great as McClellan did in crafting believable characters, his pacing was probably the strongest element of The Autumn Republic. I was continually impressed with Brian’s an expert handle on how he wants to conclude the story of Tamas and Taniel and his restraint in not rushing towards it unrestrained, while still maintaining that fantastic pace.

The character of Nila really comes into her own as her character develops throughout the novel from the minor character we met initially in A Promise of Blood to how integral she is here in the finale. Events could not have played out as they if Nila didn’t take the active role she did.

The Red by Linda Nagata (A Red novel)

Lieutenant James Shelley is in charge of a Linked Combat Squad (LCS), who has dubbed him King David because of his premonitions which have often saved some, or all of them, from defeat or death. In this near future (probably about Twenty Minutes into the Future) members of the military wear skull caps on their heads which connect them to a cloud network. The military answers more to defense contractors than the government. The skull caps worn by the squad members also, via the cloud and their network administrator (for lack of a better term), control their emotions to ensure a more cool and calculated demeanor in the field. Ironically enough, Shelly was a war protestor and in lieu of serving out a jail sentence, he agreed to join the military. He excelled and eventually Shelly’s premonitions become more powerful, but he sustains a very damaging combat injury in the first third of the novel. What provides Shelly with these premonitions is something he dubs “The Red;” but is it malevolent, benign, or benevolent or more likely, an unknowable wild card?
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There’s also a nice metafictional element to the novel. You see, Shelley’s exploits are being broadcast for entertainment consumption, initially, without his knowledge. The public comes to know him and revere him as a hero. As such, the novel itself is broken into three sections, or Episodes, reflecting the exploits of Shelley’s LCS which are broadcast as entertainments. By novel’s end, or the end of three “episodes,” Shelley is transformed from the man we first met, he has accomplished some missions and Nagata has told a fabulous story.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Agnieszka lives in a small village protected by the wizard known as the Dragon. Every decade or so, the Dragon comes down from his tower and hand-picks a young girl from the village to come live with him for a decade. Very little is known about what occurs between the two during that time save the woman leaves the tower a practitioner of magic herself and seemingly is no longer connected to her home-village. Nieshka thinks her best friend Kasia will be chosen by the Dragon as the time approaches for his ten-year visit. Much to her surprise (but not to any genre reader, I suppose especially because the tale is told through Agnieszka’s first person voice) Agnieszka is chosen and brought to the wizard’s tower.

Agnieszka is not the most agreeable of the Dragon’s students. She constantly challenges his authority, seeks alternate methods for practicing the magical arts and generally acts in a defiant manner. Superficially, that could make for an annoying character, but I was enthralled with Nishka and her plight. Novik did a marvelous job of building empathy and sympathy for her through nearly every twist and turn of the plot. On the other hand, the Dragon was a man who showed little patience for Agnieska through many of their interactions, but who wielded great power.

The honorable mentions is Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven (published last year) which very quickly jumped up my all time favorite list.

As George R.R. Martin proclaimed when he stated that Station Eleven was his favorite book from 2014, it is a book that shouldn’t work. The structure is not linear, it veers all over the place and doesn’t make itself immediately clear how everything is connected. That perceived barrier is what makes this such a strong and powerful novel because Mandel so skillfully weaves these narratives and left me at each seeming halting of a specific narrative wanting so much more. So I continued with the “new” narrative in the hopes of coming to a connection point between the seemingly separate narratives only to be fully engrossed in that “new” narrative. Or, in other words, I was wrapped up in what was happening to Kirsten only for Mandel to switch over to a narrative featuring Leander’s first wife Miranda and found myself equally enwrapped in her story.

The famous actor Arthur Leander, after years as a Hollywood leading man and box office draw, returns to the stage for a production of King Lear in Toronto. When he dies on stage, the story unfolds in many directions. We learn about Jeevan Chaudhary, the medic who rushes from the audience to the stage to check on the actor. We meet Kirsten Ramonde, the young actress (8 years old) cast as one of Lear’s daughters for this unique performance as. Their narratives spin directly following Leander’s death as civilization collapses (Jeevan) and a decade-and-a-half after the population has dwindled (Kirsten). Mandel also focuses her lens on Leander’s first wife, Miranda and his best friend Clark Thompson.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2015-04-25)

Only a few books this week, but one is a book I didn't realize how much I wanted to read until it landed on my doorstop. The other reminded me I hadn't read its predecessor.



The Great Bazaar & Brayan’s Gold by Peter Brett (Tachyon Publications 07/15/2015) – I think I’ve demonstrated that I’m a big fan of Brett’s work and his Demon Cycle novels. These ‘sidequel’ novellas are becoming a nice thing in the genre, Kevin Hearne, James S.A. Corey among others are doing them with more frequency. These two were originally published in limited edition from Subterranean Press and are now available more widely.

From the dangerous world of the Demon Cycle comes the early adventures of Arlen, Peter V. Brett’s quintessential fantasy hero. These exciting origin tales follow Arlen as he learns to navigate a world where the elemental forces of evil conjure themselves from the earth each night.

Humanity has barely survived a demonic onslaught by using magical wards that protect their cities and homes. Only a handful of mercenaries and explorers risk traveling after the sun sets. Arlen, seeking adventure and fortune, is barely protected by the warded armor upon which he has inscribed intricate defensive runes. From a journey ferrying a wagonload of dynamite to a mountain stronghold, to a dangerous mission to recover desert treasures, Arlen faces friends and enemies with a strong arm and a cunning wit.



Tide of Shadows and Other Stories by Aidan Moher (A Dribble of Ink 05/04/2015) – I’ve known Aidan for quite some time; he and I have been online pals for many years trading comments on each other’s blogs and twitter. His blog rightly won him a Hugo last year and this is first fiction collection.

From Aidan Moher—Hugo Award-winning editor of A Dribble of Ink—comes Tide of Shadows and Other Stories, a collection of five science fiction and fantasy stories spanning adventure, comic whimsy, and powerful drama—from a star-faring military science fiction tale of love and sacrifice, to a romp through the dragon-infested Kingdom of Copperkettle Vale.

“A Night for Spirits and Snowflakes” is the story of a young man reliving the last moments of his fellow soldiers’ lives; “The Girl with Wings of Iron and Down” tells the tale of a broken family and a girl with mechanical wings; “Of Parnassus and Princes, Damsels and Dragons” introduces a typical prince, princess, and dragon—and a not-so-typical love triangle; “The Colour of the Sky on the Day the World Ended” follows a girl and her ghost dog as they search for a bright light in the darkness; and “Tide of Shadows” is about a soldier and his lover, a mother, and planetwide genocide.


Queen of Fire (Raven’s Shadow Book Two) by Anthony Ryan (Ace Hardcover 07/07/2015) – Third novel in Anthony’s series, the first of which was his debut Blood Song which blew me away a couple of years ago. I’ve had book two, Tower Lord on Mount Toberead since last year. With the arrival of this ARC, I jumped into it.

“ In the thrilling conclusion to the “deftly and originally executed” (Booklist) New York Times bestselling trilogy, Vaelin Al Sorna must help his Queen reclaim her Realm. Only his enemy has a dangerous new collaborator, one with powers darker than Vaelin has ever encountered…”

“The Ally is there, but only ever as a shadow, unexplained catastrophe or murder committed at the behest of a dark vengeful spirit. Sorting truth from myth is often a fruitless task.”

After fighting back from the brink of death, Queen Lyrna is determined to repel the invading Volarian army and regain the independence of the Unified Realm. Except, to accomplish her goals, she must do more than rally her loyal supporters. She must align herself with forces she once found repugnant—those who possess the strange and varied gifts of the Dark—and take the war to her enemy’s doorstep.

Victory rests on the shoulders of Vaelin Al Sorna, now named Battle Lord of the Realm. However, his path is riddled with difficulties. For the Volarian enemy has a new weapon on their side, one that Vaelin must destroy if the Realm is to prevail—a mysterious Ally with the ability to grant unnaturally long life to her servants. And defeating one who cannot be killed is a nearly impossible feat, especially when Vaelin’s blood-song, the mystical power which has made him the epic fighter he is, has gone ominously silent…

Zer0es by Chuck Wendig (Harper Voyager 08/18/2015) – Chuck is one of the smartest, hardest working writers in SFF and this is his first Hardcover (exclusive) novel. I don’t know that I’ll be able to wait until later in the summer to dive into this one.

An exhilarating thrill-ride through the underbelly of cyber espionage in the vein of David Ignatius’s The Director and the television series Leverage, CSI: Cyber, and Person of Interest, which follows five iconoclastic hackers who are coerced into serving the U.S. government.

An Anonymous-style rabble rouser, an Arab spring hactivist, a black-hat hacker, an old-school cipherpunk, and an online troll are each offered a choice: go to prison or help protect the United States, putting their brains and skills to work for the government for one year.

But being a white-hat doesn’t always mean you work for the good guys. The would-be cyberspies discover that behind the scenes lurks a sinister NSA program, an artificial intelligence code-named Typhon, that has origins and an evolution both dangerous and disturbing. And if it’s not brought down, will soon be uncontrollable.

Can the hackers escape their federal watchers and confront Typhon and its mysterious creator? And what does the government really want them to do? If they decide to turn the tables, will their own secrets be exposed—and their lives erased like lines of bad code?

Combining the scientific-based, propulsive narrative style of Michael Crichton with the eerie atmosphere and conspiracy themes of The X-Files and the imaginative, speculative edge of Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, Zer0es explores our deep-seated fears about government surveillance and hacking in an inventive fast-paced novel sure to earn Chuck Wendig the widespread acclaim he deserves.

Friday Round-Up: Peter V. Brett, Myke Cole, and Me at SFFWorld

A couple of new reviews over the past couple of weeks at SFFWorld, and the reviews happen to be of books by writers who are best friends.

On the day the book was released, I posted my review of Peter V. Brett’s The Skull Throne, the fourth installment of his Demon Cycle series, which I’ve been enjoying a great deal. This is his strongest novel yet:

We see why The Skull Throne is titled as such; Jardir’s seeming death leaves the Throne of Krasia quite empty with many people vying to keep it warm in his absence, chief among those are his many children. Here we see the land of Everam’s Bounty, which is what the Krasian’s have renamed the land they’ve conquered and is their base of operations in the Greenlands. Although Jardir’s relatives may be the players vying for the throne, the returning Inevara and Abban are the puppet masters pulling the strings. Chief among the players are Asome and Jayan, two of Jardir’s sons; both of whom are headstrong and in the case of Jayan, to a fatalistic and nearly cartoonish degree. In fact, I’d even say that Jayan is a more dangerously immature than a certain young royal of King’s Landing. Jayan takes no advice and sees nearly every action as a slight to him and he responds to even the most minor slight with the equivalent of Scorched Earth Policy.

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Another character who continues to grab my attention is Abban, the handicapped advisor to Jardir and Inevera. What he lacks in physical prowess, he more than compensates for in mental craftiness. Although I might not want to associate with such a character in real life, as a character he is a delight to read. Though the easy comparison is to Tyrion, I found much more in common with Mocker from Glen Cook’s Dread Empire series or Kruppe from Erikson & Esslemont’s Malazan novels.

Most recently (earlier this week), I posted my review of Myke Cole’s Gemini Cell, set in his Shadow OPS milieu but not connected to the original three books by anything other than the same world. Like Peter’s book above, Gemini Cell is Myke’s best published book:

… this is the perfect entry point for new readers. In it, Myke introduces readers to Jim Schweitzer, a Navy SEAL, husband, and father. Like many soldiers/operators, he is torn between his military life and his family life. His wife Sarah is an artist and her career is beginning to flourish. As the novel starts, Sarah is having a major exhibition of her work and unfortunately, Jim is called away in the middle of the exhibition by the Navy for an emergency mission.

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Gemini Cell is rewarding for both new readers interested in sampling Myke’s novels and readers who have followed the exploits of the Supernatural Operations Corps through the first three Shadow OPS novels. A glimpse into the early days is a fascinating thing as the military is barely understanding the magic they are trying to exploit as part of its toolset. New readers can see things at the foundation of the milieu while readers like myself can see that beginning and realize how relatively far the military has come in exploiting magic.

Also last week, I was interviewed by Nila White, one of the moderators of SFFWorld and the editor of the SFFWorld anthologies. We've been doing a series of interviews with forum members and behind-the-scenes folks and my turn was last week.

Peter Brett's Demon Cycle - Preparing for The Skull Throne

One of the Epic Fantasy novels I’ve been looking forward to reading the most this year (2015) is Peter V. Brett’s The Skull Throne, the fourth installment of his Demon Cycle series.* I don’t think I’m the only reader excited for The Skull Throne, a good indicator of this is the fact that the third book The Daylight War hit the New York Times Bestseller list. With about two years since publication of The Daylight War, what follows is a bit of a recap / primer for The Skull Throne cribbed from the three reviews I’ve written of each book in the series.

Obviously, beware of spoilers.

A bit on the set-up of the world as an additional spoiler buffer...

Brett has indicated he’s a fan of Terry Brooks and much of that comes through in these books. Though I haven’t read the entirety of Brooks’ output, I’ve often likened these books to Terry Brooks’ Shannara series with more of an edge; more of a bite and maturity. The feel is almost like the Old West or even the Dust Bowl – these people eke out a meager living getting through their daily tasks and closing up the proverbial shop at night to hide behind the wards that keep away the Corelings, as the demons are referred to by the characters we initially meet in novels . In some horrific instances, the corelings manage to break through the wards and kill, burn, and destroy towns. The small isolated villages comprise the majority of human society we are first introduced to and there is a degradation to a level of technology equal to medieval. I also found a parallel tow the world of Stephen King’s Dark Tower – in many ways, the aura of a technological breakdown and even the Old West feel permeates Brett’s world. In many post-apocalyptic stories, and a case can be made for The Demon Cycle as a post-apocalyptic story, the trigger event marginalizing human society becomes window-dressing as Brett’s story progresses and the human drama and societal conflict takes center stage. Perhaps most popular current example of a human conflict against an apocalyptic backdrop is The Walking Dead (in both comic and TV format) where the threats take a backseat to the human drama. Enough set up for the world….on to the books.

Published in 2009 (wow, time flies), The Warded Man (or The Painted Man as it is known outside the US) is Brett’s debut and was for me a great mix of traditional Epic Fantasy, with definite touches of newer elements. Although the low-tech setting is familiar (almost Links to TVTropes, click at your own risk) in Epic Fantasy, there’s an early sense that things in this world are a bit different than we’ve read before. The world in which this novel takes place would best be described as harsh and unforgiving. People live in small towns in fear of the night, for as the sun sets, demons rise from the earth to wreak havoc. It is in this harsh desolate setting that Brett introduces the main character of Arlen Bales.

Del Rey thankfully
abandoned this design 

Cover art by
Larry Rostant

Arlen’s family is torn apart by a savage demon attack and as a result, Arlen is forever changed. Rejecting his father’s cowardice in the face of his mother’s death, Arlen flees his village in the hopes of becoming a Messenger – those men with the honed skills and tools necessary to brave the more than a day travel’s worth of distance between villages to deliver goods and messages. In many ways, The Warded Man is Arlen’s journey from country bumpkin to man of the world. While Arlen’s story comprises a majority of the novel, Brett follows two other characters profoundly affected by demon attacks. Leesha is a young woman in another equally desolate and isolated village. Living under the strict rule of her whorish mother, Leesha wishes to escape the life she has and vows to be the polar opposite of her mother when she becomes an adult. As a result of all the pain and suffering she sees, Leesha’s goal in life is to become a healer, to help those wounded by corelings. Our third hero is the jongleur (minstrel), Rojer who is ‘adopted’ by a popular bard/jongleur at a very young age after his family is killed by corelings. He dreams of becoming a renowned musician and entertainer.

In both Leesha and Arlen, Brett gives us characters motivated to become the antithesis of their same sex parents; Arlen rejecting his dad and Leesha rejecting her mom. To an extent, Rojer even seeks to differentiate himself from his own mentor, who eventually becomes a drunk and is held in low respect from his peers. This theme of familial rejection is in contrast to one of the over-riding themes of Arlen’s journey, embrace of the past. Arlen is driven to seek out what hurts the demons. The hinted at past of this world, passed down both orally and literally, infers that 3,000 years in the past, man lived in a highly technological society only to be thrown off its throne of dominance by the demon uprising. Man slowly recovered only to be thrown into the decimated state we see in the novel 300 years prior to the opening of the novel. There’s a continual fluctuation from character to character on either embracing the now – that is merely defending against the corelings and looking to the past – when man stood on (at least) equal footing with the corelings and to take a proactive role in ridding the world of demons.

Renna fighting a wood demon © Lauren K.Cannon

Story elements and character types will be immediately recognizable in Brett’s novel – youthful protagonists with parental issues and an overreaching struggle of humanity against a perceived evil. The thing with this book and Brett’s skill at weaving everything together is that despite recognizing some of the clichés with which he flavors the story, it all works in a way that makes such tropes a blip on the radar. In fact, it allowed me as the reader to revel in those tropes and see how Brett twists them to his own designs.

Brett follows his debut with a novel that is at least the equal of its predecessor in The Desert Spear and in other cases, improves upon the foundation he initially laid. In the early section of the novel, Brett follows a similar path in The Desert Spear to the one he followed in The Warded/Painted Man; that is, a large part of the novel can be considered a coming-of-age tale. Whereas the previous novel focused on Arlen’s growth into a destroyer of demons, The Desert Spear focuses on Jardir from the nation of Krasia who endures a harsh life as he grows to assume the role of leadership amongst his people. Jardir’s people inflict their harshness on themselves as a reaction to the nightly demon attacks. They take the fight to the corelings and go through extensive, violent rituals (both in secret and in the open) to prepare themselves for fighting the night-time monsters.

Despite the structural parallels between Jardir’s “origin story” and Arlen’s “origin story,” Brett manages to make Jardir’s story just as enthralling and perhaps even more tension with the added pressure of coming to power amidst a group of older bullies. Part of why Jardir’s story works so well is the supporting cast surrounding him – his friend Abban; his seer wife Inevara; as well as those young men who bullied him only to turn around and serve Jardir as he rises to power and anoints himself the Deliverer – the prophesized saviour.

Cover art by Larry Rostant

One thing about Brett’s depiction of the desert dwelling Krasians is that despite their harsh ways and questionable acts, he doesn’t paint them as evil people. Jardir could be a character that one could easily hate, but Brett gives him a sense of compassion that balances his outward arrogance and the incredibly unforgiving environment in which he was raised. In an interesting move, Brett retells a crucial encounter from the first book from Jardir’s point-of-view – and seeing this scene in a different light gives Jardir a greater sense of humanity and casts him a bit more sympathetically.

More is revealed about the demons/corelings in The Desert Spear, that they are more than merely monsters with very little intelligence and were akin to a force of nature. The scope of world-building widens; the details are not overwrought and come through the characters themselves, giving the world a more rich and vibrant feel. We see more of civilization with the people of Krasia and just how divergent people have become as they’ve effectively lost the ability to live at night.

With The Daylight War, we follow the “origin story” of another character, Inevera, Jardir’s First Wife. While the demons are most definitely a present challenge and threat by the third volume of the story, the character’s struggles against each other is what drives the story as competing ideologies and beliefs define character’s reaction to the threats. Inevera’s “origin story” is intertwined with the current conflicts, namely the looming threat of Waning when the position of the moon gives rise to a greater number of demons in the night. This time the ‘secret origin’ of Inevera’s past, her growth as a sorceress-priestess and eventual self-maneuvered union with Jardir parallels and directly relates to the ‘current’ action of the novel. While Brett has worked within the same framework of the story for the first three volumes (Arlen and to a lesser extent Renna, Rojer, and Leesha in The Warded Man and Jardir and Abban in The Desert Spear), for me, this parallel storytelling allows for ample dramatic tension on multiple levels.

Cover art by Larry Rostant

The mythology/world-building behind the demons hinted in the previous volume is revealed slightly more here in The Daylight War. Brett peppers in chapter passages from the POV of the demons, providing readers with a glimpse of their society and race as a whole. While the demons are still very present in The Daylight War, humanity’s remnants need to get their collective heads together before the demon threat can effectively be vanquished.

The characters of Rojer and his two wives Amanavah and Kikvah; Leesha; and Inevera become caught up in the ideological clashes between the two cultures. Rojer becomes even more closely entangled with the Krasian people. Leesha has a very intense sexual relationship with Jardir, so much that Jardir wishes to marry her; and Inevera continually pushes Jardir to ensure Arlen is dead so that he may without doubt be appointed the Deliverer. Rojer also comes more into his power with his music. Renna also takes more of an active role in The Daylight War both with her own grown powers and in her relationship with Arlen. …and Abban, what to say about Abban. He is a man who knows his limitations, but is extremely crafty, mischievous and at times devious. It is never 100% clear what his motivations are. 

Brett’s three Demon Cycle novels thus far have showcased humanity and its most extreme reactions to the demon apocalypse which took place before the start of the series. Violence, sex, violent sex, attitudes towards fear, destiny, and greed are all amped to eleven in The Daylight War.

To say that The Daylight War found the characters on a cliff at the end of the story is both a metaphor and a what actually happened. It may frustrate and anger some, but regardless, I admire Peter’s gumption in not shying away from what – at this point – seems to be an ending to this novel that best suits the overall story he’s telling in The Demon Cycle. That leaves readers as we enter The Skull Throne on the proverbial cliff with Leesha, Renna, Rojer, his wives Amanavah [Jardir’s First Daughter] and Kikvah [cousin to Amanavah]; Inevera (Jardir’s First Wife), Abban, having just watched Jardir and Arlen fall over the cliff.

I’ll also note that there is a fairly helpful wiki for this series: 

http://thedemoncycle.wikia.com/wiki/The_Demon_Cycle_Wiki

*I was in the middle of reading The Skull Throne while I was writing this post and finished it the night before posting this.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2015-01-31)

Four books this week, two of which I called out at the end of 2014 as books high on my anticipated 2015 books list.

The Skull Throne by Peter Brett (Del Rey 03/31/2015) – I have really enjoyed the three books Peat has published in the Demon Cycle series for its mix of old school high fantasy with some more modern sensibility (The Painted Man, The Desert Spear, and The Daylight War).

Following up on the internationally bestselling The Warded Man, The Desert Spear, and The Daylight War, Peter V. Brett continues his critically acclaimed epic fantasy Demon Cycle series that will appeal to fans of Terry Brooks, George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan.

Peter V. Brett has quickly established himself as one of the most successful new fantasy writers working today. Readers have embraced his world and his characters with a fervor, and his third and most recent novel hit the New York Times bestseller list in hardcover. Now he continues his epic series in grand style, offering the continuing stories of all the POV characters we have come to know and love, as well as adding several new ones into the mix.

Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson (Tor 02/10/2015) – A quirky urban fantasy debut from Henderson, Winner of the 2014 Golden Pen grand prize for Writers of the Future, “a writer to watch.”

Writers of the Future grand prize winner Randy Henderson presents a dark and quirky debut in Finn Fancy Necromancy.

Finn Gramaraye was framed for the crime of dark necromancy at the age of 15, and exiled to the Other Realm for twenty five years. But now that he’s free, someone—probably the same someone—is trying to get him sent back. Finn has only a few days to discover who is so desperate to keep him out of the mortal world, and find evidence to prove it to the Arcane Enforcers. They are going to be very hard to convince, since he’s already been convicted of trying to kill someone with dark magic.

But Finn has his family: His brother Mort who is running the family necrotorium business now, his brother Pete who believes he’s a werewolf, though he is not, and his sister Samantha who is, unfortunately, allergic to magic. And he’s got Zeke, a fellow exile and former enforcer, who doesn’t really believe in Finn’s innocence but is willing to follow along in hopes of getting his old job back.

Old Venus by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (Del Rey 03/03/2015) – A thematic sequel-of-sorts to this duo’s Old Mars anthology, which I reviewed back in 2013 for Tor.com.

Sixteen all-new stories by science fiction’s top talents, collected by bestselling author George R. R. Martin and multiple-award-winning editor Gardner Dozois

From pulp adventures such as Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Carson of Venus to classic short stories such as Ray Bradbury’s “The Long Rain” to visionary novels such as C. S. Lewis’s Perelandra, the planet Venus has loomed almost as large in the imaginations of science fiction writers as Earth’s next-nearest neighbor, Mars. But while the Red Planet conjured up in Golden Age science fiction stories was a place of vast deserts and ruined cities, bright blue Venus was its polar opposite: a steamy, swampy jungle world with strange creatures lurking amidst the dripping vegetation. Alas, just as the last century’s space probes exploded our dreams of Mars, so, too, did they shatter our romantic visions of Venus, revealing, instead of a lush paradise, a hellish world inimical to all life.

But don’t despair! This new anthology of sixteen original stories by some of science fiction’s best writers—edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois—turns back the clock to that more innocent time, before the hard-won knowledge of science vanquished the infinite possibilities of the imagination.

Join our cast of award-winning contributors—including Elizabeth Bear, David Brin, Joe Haldeman, Gwyneth Jones, Mike Resnick, Eleanor Arnason, Allen M. Steele, and more—as we travel back in time to a planet that never was but should have been: a young, rain-drenched world of fabulous monsters and seductive mysteries.

FEATURING ALL-NEW STORIES BY

Eleanor Arnason • Elizabeth Bear • David Brin • Tobias S. Buckell • Michael Cassutt • Joe Haldeman • Matthew Hughes • Gwyneth Jones • Joe R. Lansdale • Stephen Leigh • Paul McAuley • Ian McDonald • Garth Nix • Mike Resnick • Allen M. Steele • Lavie Tidhar

And an Introduction by Gardner Dozois

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey 06/30/2015) – I thoroughly enjoyed the first few books (His Majesty’s Dragon) of Novik’s Temeraire series by admittedly, my interest waned as the series continued. This is a fresh new world and looks to be a modern twist on a Fairy Tale.

Naomi Novik, author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Temeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale.

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

Anticipated Reading: A Baker's Dozen of Books for 2015

In the past, I’ve lumped in a list of forthcoming books publishing in the calendar year with my wrap up of the previous years. This time around, I decided to go with a post of its own to highlight some books I am looking forward to reading. Of course I give the caveat that reading plans are far from things set in stone by any biblioholic like myself. Furthermore, I am not including books I don’t have yet like Elizabeth Bear’s Karen Memory or Dave Bara’s Impulse which I already have in ARC form and will be reviewing in time for the publication dates of those books.

Without further ado here’s a baker’s dozen worth of books publishing in 2015 I look forward to reading…

Gemini Cell by Myke Cole (Ace January 2015) – I loved the first three books in his Shadow OPS series (Control Point, Fortress Frontier, Breach Zone) which formed a loose trilogy. This one takes a step back in the action to the days of the Great Reawakening; essentially the foundational time for the milieu.

Myke Cole continues to blow the military fantasy genre wide open with an all-new epic adventure in his highly acclaimed Shadow Ops universe—set in the early days of the Great Reawakening, when magic first returns to the world and order begins to unravel…

US Navy SEAL Jim Schweitzer is a consummate professional, a fierce warrior, and a hard man to kill. But when he sees something he was never meant to see on a covert mission gone bad, he finds himself—and his family—in the crosshairs. Nothing means more to Jim than protecting his loved ones, but when the enemy brings the battle to his front door, he is overwhelmed and taken down.

That should be the end of the story. But Jim is raised from the dead by a sorcerer and recruited by a top secret unit dabbling in the occult, known only as the Gemini Cell. With powers he doesn’t understand, Jim is called back to duty—as the ultimate warrior. As he wrestles with a literal inner demon, Jim realizes his new superiors are determined to use him for their own ends and keep him in the dark—especially about the fates of his wife and son

The Skull Throne by Peter Brett (Del Rey March 2015) – I have really enjoyed the three books Peat has published in the Demon Cycle series for its mix of old school high fantasy with some more modern sensibility (The Painted Man, The Desert Spear, and The Daylight War).

Following up on the internationally bestselling The Warded Man, The Desert Spear, and The Daylight War, Peter V. Brett continues his critically acclaimed epic fantasy Demon Cycle series that will appeal to fans of Terry Brooks, George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan.

Peter V. Brett has quickly established himself as one of the most successful new fantasy writers working today. Readers have embraced his world and his characters with a fervor, and his third and most recent novel hit the New York Times bestseller list in hardcover. Now he continues his epic series in grand style, offering the continuing stories of all the POV characters we have come to know and love, as well as adding several new ones into the mix.

Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley (Tor January 2015) – I was a little late to the game on Staveley’s debut, The Emperor’s Blades, which I thoroughly enjoyed and what I’ve heard about what happens in this one has me very excited to dive into it.

Brian Staveley's Providence of Fire, the second novel in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, a gripping new epic fantasy series.

The conspiracy to destroy the ruling family of the Annurian Empire is far from over.

Having learned the identity of her father's assassin, Adare flees the Dawn Palace in search of allies to challenge the coup against her family. Few trust her, but when she is believed to be touched by Intarra, patron goddess of the empire, the people rally to help her retake the capital city. As armies prepare to clash, the threat of invasion from barbarian hordes compels the rival forces to unite against their common enemy.

Unknown to Adare, her brother Valyn, renegade member of the empire's most elite fighting force, has allied with the invading nomads. The terrible choices each of them has made may make war between them inevitable.

Between Valyn and Adare is their brother Kaden, rightful heir to the Unhewn Throne, who has infiltrated the Annurian capital with the help of two strange companions. The knowledge they possess of the secret history that shapes these events could save Annur or destroy it.

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (Saga Press July 2015) – I realize this was published in the UK a while back, but the Wizard helming SAGA PRESS Joe Monti is making this one available to US readers. 

It’s up to a famous rapper, a biologist, and a rogue soldier to handle humanity’s first contact with an alien ambassador—and prevent mass extinction—in this novel that blends magical realism with high-stakes action.

After word gets out on the Internet that aliens have landed in the waters outside of the world’s fifth most populous city, chaos ensues. Soon the military, religious leaders, thieves, and crackpots are trying to control the message on YouTube and on the streets. Meanwhile, the earth’s political superpowers are considering a preemptive nuclear launch to eradicate the intruders. All that stands between 17 million anarchic residents and death is an alien ambassador, a biologist, a rapper, a soldier, and a myth that may be the size of a giant spider, or a god revealed.

Cold Iron by Stina Leicht (Saga Press June 2015) – Another book in the Saga Press launch as part of Joe Monti’s plan to take over the SFF publishing world. I missed out on Stina’s series from Nightshade, so I’m very much looking forward to this one.

Fraternal twins Nels and Suvi move beyond their royal heritage and into military and magical dominion in this flintlock epic fantasy debut from a two-time Campbell Award finalist.

Prince Nels is the scholarly runt of the ancient Kainen royal family of Eledore, disregarded as flawed by the king and many others. Only Suvi, his fraternal twin sister, supports him. When Nels is ambushed by an Acrasian scouting party, he does the forbidden for a member of the ruling family: He picks up a fallen sword and defends himself.

Disowned and dismissed to the military, Nels establishes himself as a leader as Eledore begins to shatter under the attack of the Acrasians, who the Kainen had previously dismissed as barbarians. But Nels knows differently, and with the aid of Suvi, who has allied with pirates, he mounts a military offensive with sword, canon, and what little magic is left in the world.

The Hellsblood Bride by Chuck Wendig (Angry Robot March 2015) - I loved the first Mookie Pearl novel, The Blue Blazes. Of it, I said, “It may be reductive to do the whole combine-and-compare thing, but think one part Hellboy, one part Mathew Stover, one part Big Trouble in Little China, and throw in a dash of The Sopranos, the film The Wrestler and pulp sensibilities, and you might have an idea of what a great stew of fun this novel really is.” Also, just look at that awesome cover, right?

Yes, we’re going back deep underground for another twelve rounds with Mookie Pearl.

Father, barkeep, former Mafioso, ruler of his subterranean crime-kingdom. The Organization is back, and they’ll do anything to get Mookie on board, but Mookie has gone legit, and it’s taking every ounce of effort for him to keep his new bar from crashing and burning.

To top it all, his daughter is missing, and when Nora’s not in plain sight, that’s usually a sign of bad things to come! On one hand, the Organization. On the other, Nora.

Why can’t Family ever be easy..?

Nemesis Game by James S.A. Corey (Orbit Books June 2015) - The Expanse is consistently my favorite space-based science fiction series, with each book landing on my top reads of the year. Cibola Burn was a bit of a game changer for the series – in a good way for a series that was already quite good.

The fifth novel in James S.A. Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series--now being produced for television by the SyFy Channel!

A thousand worlds have opened, and the greatest land rush in human history has begun. As wave after wave of colonists leave, the power structures of the old solar system begin to buckle.

Ships are disappearing without a trace. Private armies are being secretly formed. The sole remaining protomolecule sample is stolen. Terrorist attacks previously considered impossible bring the inner planets to their knees. The sins of the past are returning to exact a terrible price.

And as a new human order is struggling to be born in blood and fire, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante must struggle to survive and get back to the only home they have left.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey June 2015) – I thoroughly enjoyed the first few books (His Majesty’s Dragon) of Novik’s Temeraire series by admittedly, my interest waned as the series continued. This is a fresh new world and looks to be a modern twist on a Fair Tale.

Naomi Novik, author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Temeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale.

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

Empire Ascendant by Kameron Hurley (Angry Robot October 2015) – I don’t know much about what will be happening in the second book of Hurley’s Worldbreaker saga, but all I need to know is that it is the second book in the series and follow-up to The Mirror Empire.

The Spider’s War by Daniel Abraham (Orbit Books June 2015) – The concluding volume of the fantastic Dagger and the Coin series. - The epic conclusion to The Dagger and The Coin series, perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin.

Lord Regent Geder Palliako's great war has spilled across the world, nation after nation falling before the ancient priesthood and weapon of dragons. But even as conquest follows conquest, the final victory retreats before him like a mirage. Schism and revolt begin to erode the foundations of the empire, and the great conquest threatens to collapse into a permanent war of all against all.

In Carse, with armies on all borders, Cithrin bel Sarcour, Marcus Wester, and Clara Kalliam are faced with the impossible task of bringing a lasting peace to the world. Their tools: traitors high in the imperial army, the last survivor of the dragon empire, and a financial scheme that is either a revolution or the greatest fraud in the history of the world.

Fool’s Quest (Fitz and the Fool Trilogy #2) by Robin Hobb (Del Rey August 2015) – Considering Fool’s Assassin was the most enjoyable reading experience I had in 2014, this one is very, VERY high on my anticipation list.

Ranking alongside George R. R. Martin as a groundbreaking master of fantasy, New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb delivers the second book in her long-awaited Fitz and the Fool trilogy. After a devastating confrontation, FitzChivalry Farseer is out for blood—and who better to wreak havoc than a highly trained former royal assassin?

The Black Wolves by Kate Elliott (Orbit Books July 2015) – A new series from Elliott who writes some of the strongest opening volumes in fantasy.

SOME CHOICES CAN NEVER BE UNDONE.

He lost his honor long ago.

Captain Kellas was lauded as the king's most faithful servant until the day he failed in his duty. Dismissed from service, his elite regiment disbanded, he left the royal palace and took up another life.

Now a battle brews within the palace that threatens to reveal deadly secrets and spill over into open war. The king needs a loyal soldier to protect him.

Can a disgraced man ever be trusted? 

The Prince of Valor by Django Wexler (Roc July 2015) – I read the first two Shadow Campaigns novels last year and thought The Shadow Throne was awesome.

In the latest Shadow Campaigns novel, Django Wexler continues his "epic fantasy of military might and magical conflict" following The Shadow Throne and The Thousand Names, as the realm of Vordan faces imminent threats from without and within.

In the wake of the King’s death, war has come to Vordan.

The Deputies-General has precarious control of the city, but it is led by a zealot who sees traitors in every shadow. Executions have become a grim public spectacle. The new queen, Raesinia Orboan, finds herself nearly powerless as the government tightens its grip and assassins threaten her life. But she did not help free the country from one sort of tyranny to see it fall into another. Placing her trust with the steadfast soldier Marcus D’Ivoire, she sets out to turn the tide of history.

As the hidden hand of the Sworn Church brings all the powers of the continent to war against Vordan, the enigmatic and brilliant general Janus bet Vhalnich offers a path to victory. Winter Ihernglass, newly promoted to command a regiment, has reunited with her lover and her friends, only to face the prospect of leading them into bloody battle.

And the enemy is not just armed with muskets and cannon. Dark priests of an ancient order, wielding forbidden magic, have infiltrated Vordan to stop Janus by whatever means necessary...

                                                                                                                                                       

It seems the past few years I’ve gone and done a re-read of a series or a re-read/catch-up of a series. Last year it was Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams, the year before that, David Anthony Durham’s Acacia, and the year before that it was Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet and for a couple of years before that I re-read & caught up with The Wheel of Time and as a refresher for A Dance of Dragons and Game of Thrones premiering on HBO, I re-read A Song of Ice and Fire.

In 2015, the series that most likely will fall into this category is Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars series. As I intimated above, I loved the first book King’s Dragon when I first read it years ago and enjoyed each subsequent volume of the series but, as I’ve written previously, the onslaught of review books over the years kept pushing this series away from my grasp. 

So as of this post, I’ve given myself 20 books to read next year, which will account for about 1/3 of what I’ll likely read.

I’ll close out by saying that I am also VERY much looking forward to Saga Press entering the genre marketplace. 

Strike that, a final postscript: my primary source Locus Online’s Forthcoming books so a couple of books I might otherwise include in this post aren’t on Locus’s list (i.e. Joe Hill’s The Fireman and Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Blades don’t have US dates listed)

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.