2009 Reading Year in Review

I read a lot of books in 2009. I read 82 books, which includes graphic novels (10) but not the many single-issue comics I’ve read. This is down only 2 books from 2008, which is a blip, I should say.

In 2009, I posted 56 reviews to SFFWorld and one new one to the Sacramento Book Review /San Francisco Book Review.

I’d say that’s a pretty decent number of reviews. Having said that, in the coming year, I’ll be cutting back on the number of reviews I post. Since I started getting review books from publishers, a lot of books have been piling up. Not only those I’ve received for review, but the books that I’ve purchased and others that have been put aside in favor of the review books. I also want to do a Wheel of Time re-read/catch up and the same for Glen Cook’s Black Company. One or both of those may be an ongoing feature here on the blog. Or, since SFFWorld doesn’t have any *official* reviews for any of the Wheel of Time books, I may just post reviews of the books there. Plus I want to catch up with other series (for example David Weber’s Safehold, Ian M. Banks’s Culture, Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Codex Alera) and now that some series are complete (Daniel Abraham’s Long Price and Sean Williams’s Astrolopolis to name only two), I want to get through them too.

One of my personal ‘reading goals’ for 2009 was to read more books by women, which I did more than doubling the number of women-authored books I read 2008. That’s 12.5 in 2009 (one of the books was The Dragons of Ordinary Farm co-authored by Deborah Beale) vs 5 in 2008.

54 of the 82 books I read were published in 2009, roughly 2/3. Breaking down the genres, 26 could be considered SF, 32 Fantasy, 6 Horror (and a few of the books could fit in two (The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbartcould be considered both fantasy and horror or all three like Gregory’s The Devil’s Alphabet) and 5 short story collections/anthologies.

All that said, on to the categories for the 2009 … Robloggies? ManBearPiggies? Stuffies? I don’t know! This isn’t a typical top 10 or 12 or anything, but whatever you want to call them, here are some categories for what I read in 2009 and what I put at the top of those categories.

Rob Favorite Science Fiction Novel(s) Read in 2009

This year I rediscovered Alastair Reynolds, first with Pushing Ice then with what amounted to one of my favorite SF novels of 2009 House of Suns.

Since this is an Alastair Reynolds novel, one would expect some big-ideas and one would not be let down. Set millions of years in the future, ample time has passed in the galaxy for humanity to evolve and join the greater universal civilization. And what a civilization it is. Some scenes worked really well to show off a grittiness of the future, that there are still scrupulous creatures willing to make a hazy deal. Conversely, the ideals of love haven’t changed too much – certain love is embraced and other love is shunned and looked down upon. On the other, the great leaps of time that take place in Reynolds human history as well as the characters lives showcases how far humanity has evolved in this novel.

The sheer scale of intelligent civilization in this universe is mind-boggling. Perhaps most fascinating are the Machine People and the Machines who preceded them thousands of years before the events in even Abigail Gentian’s time. On the other hand, that sense of time, that tens of thousands of years can pass so effortlessly in these characters lives really adds to the sense of wonder for which Reynolds is so well known. These themes are handled with an expert’s care in Reynolds’s assured storytelling ability.

Another book at the top of my SF list for 2009 has a very strong alternate history vibe, with a bits of post-apocalyptic fiction and steampunk thrown into the mix, even though it is set about a hundred years in the future, Robert Charles Wilson’s Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America:

The tone is very comfortable and Wilson’s prose is just wonderful to read and digest. The comfortable to which I’m referring is the tone is inasmuch as we the reader, through Adam’s positioning of words, know who Julian Comstock really is. Essentially, the feel of the novel is that we are taking a peek behind the curtain at how the real events transpired around a legendary and historical figure.

…

It isn’t through info dumps or anything obtrusive that the reader learns about the world at large, technology like cars and travel to the moon are viewed as nearly magical things of the past or fallacies of fantasy outright banished from collective thought. Wilson also manages to conjure the reality of the future world and layer the details very well through the characters thoughts, actions, and words. Furthermore, by just touching on some of the details rather than flat out explaining them, Wilson lends a credibility to 22nd Century America which gives a deeper sense of resonance. Credibility and believability in this world is also conjured through Adam Hazzard’s footnotes sprinkled throughout the novel.

I couldn’t get through a top 2009 list without mentioning Peter F. Hamilton’s The Temporal Void, the middle book of a rollicking, over-the-top-in-the-best-way Space Opera trilogy.

The Temporal Void really is two intertwined novels under one cover – the Waterwalker storyline which takes place in the Void and the effect of the expanding Void and Living Dream movement outside of the Void could conceivably stand on their own as two separate books. Both ‘novels’ are compelling, with the Edeard story being slightly more so. However, considering the book (at least in US ARC form) is large enough to stop a rhino in its tracks, the read was quick and engaging thanks to the best pacing I’ve read from Hamilton. (Admittedly, I’ve yet to complete what many consider his landmark work – The Night's Dawn Trilogy). The link between the Waterwalker’s world and the Commonwealth seem tangential at first, but Hamilton hints at connections between the two throughout with further hints of a more concrete connection perhaps to be revealed in the concluding volume, The Evolutionary Void.

In a book packed with great storytelling, flaws are minor but existent. Perhaps the greatest flaw is in Edeard the Waterwalker himself. Throughout his storyline, he manages to triumph over every defeat. Reading those scenes proved exciting, but as the final chapters of the Waterwalker storyline came and went, some of the dramatic tension was lost. Despite his youth and initial lack of experience with his telekinetic powers, he still defeated all of his enemies. Theconclusion to Edeard’s story was both revelatory and powerful. I’m also hopeful that Hamilton will reveal more of Edeard and the Void’s true nature so as to better explain why Edeard overcame every obstacle. I also trust enough in Hamilton’s storytelling abilities to anticipate a solid (if at times protracted) conclusion and revelation of the connection between the Void and the outer galaxy.

Rob’s Favorite Fantasy Novel(s) Read in 2009

Again I’m torn between two books and each time I think to myself, ‘yeah, that’s the best fantasy novel I read this year’ I then think about the other one. The first of those two is Lev Grossman’s The Magicians.

Grossman’s writing is subtle and relaxed on the whole, but like the sex scene between the two male students I mentioned earlier, he will throw a sucker punch in the midst of otherwise well-flowing narrative. In two cases, this comes in the form of Penny, one scene of which is literally a sucker punch from Penny to Quentin. Another scene (not with Penny) involves a standard lecture, with Quentin being bored (as most students tend to get during college lectures) when suddenly the Beast appears shocking everyone including the instructor and killing a student. These “sucker-punch” scenes occur even more explicitly once the Physical Kids finally arrive in Fillory. Grossman shows how magic might work in the real world in an effective manner, with possibly terrifying implications. Perhaps the strongest parallel I can draw here is how well Alan Moore / Dave Gibbons showed the effects of superheroes in the real world in their landmark graphic novel Watchmen. In this sense, Grossman illustrates just how unsafe magic could be, especially in the unpracticed hands of young college students, and even older students and thos who graduated – perhaps the axiom a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing applies. Gone is the safe illusion of magic as Quentin and his friends soon realize. Just like Watchmen, The Magicians is a work I can see myself returning to multiple times in the future

That other book, is R. Scott Bakker’s return to Eärwa, The Judging Eye, which is the latest entry in his über-saga, The Second Apocalypse:

There are no absolutes in Bakker’s fictional world, or rather once something is thought of as an absolute, something or someone thrusts that absolute into the fire both illuminating and destroying what could be considered absolute. Take Sorweel again - his hatred for Kellhus is thrown asunder once Kellhus appears. The dichotomy of conflicting absolutes drives much of the fiction and can be seen in the mirrored journeys of Achamanian and the Skin Eaters and the march of the Great Ordeal. Both are striving towards what they see as the greater good, although part of what fuels Achamanian is his hatred of Kellhus. Whereas the Great Ordeal is marching in the name of good against an accepted evil, Akka’s march in the depths of darkness may eventually illuminate the true nature of Kellhus. The Great Ordeal is an army of knights and order, Akka’s march is basically a mish-mash of chaos and those on the fringes of society.

While The Judging Eye is “just the opening” of a greater story, Bakker does bring the storyline to a satisfactory stopping point. As a relatively slim volume of just over 400 pages of story, the book is somewhat small compared to other Epic Fantasies. What Bakker’s done in those 400 pages is crafted the best novel of the year, and one that hints at greater things to come. As the characters who seemingly know Kellhus the most intimately come to question much about the God who was once a man, the reader can only do the same. Is he a savior of the world, preventer of the Second Apocalypse or is he the destroyer and igniter of the Second Apocalypse. Bakker is not one to give absolute answers, but the novel gives many things to consider about unconditional perceptions.

Rob's Favorite Debut(s) of 2009

Two of the three strongest debuts for me were both published by Orbit Books. The first was a book that kind took me by surprise, Kate Griffin’s Madness of Angels which I thought “epitomizes more of an earlier (think 80s & early 90s) definition of Urban Fantasy - street magician/sorcerer, magical monsters made of trash, the Bag Lady as a prophetess/seer. No vampire fighting chicks in leather to be seen here (and that isn't a slight), just the magic of life.”
The other debut from Orbit that really impressed me was The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, which I thought that if “readers can handle Hegel and Manfried as protagonists , they will be rewarded with an ultimately rich and entertaining reading experience, that is especially more impressive since it is the author’s first novel.”
My favorite debut of the year; however, was Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man, the first in a series. Not only was this book one of my top debut novels, it was one of my top reads for the entire year. This is a very promising start to a series and a writer’s career:

The small isolated villages comprise the majority of human society in this novel and while I wouldn’t say it isn’t exactly a medieval setting it is a degradation to a level of technology equal to medieval. In some ways, a minor parallel can be drawn to Terry Brooks’s Shannara series in that the world of 3,000 years prior to the novel could possibly be our own world. A stronger parallel that resonated with me is 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. The harshness and unconnected pools of humanity that flavor Brett’s world also remind me of King’s opus. Other things like the name Rojer, a phonetic cousin to Roger, and much of the language bears potential fruit for a phonetically similar past as “our” world. Brett does well to only hint at such things, giving readers questions to ponder as we wait for The Desert Spear, the second volume of the as-yet untitled series.

Some readers may be put-off by the youthful protagonists and straightforward writing at the beginning would do well to soldier on towards the end. Brett’s evolution of style subtly matches the evolution of the story itself.

Favorite Multi-Genre/Non-Genre Books of 2009

These two books fit more than one genre, but both really stood out to me as engrossing, solid reads that really deserve to be called out in some fashion.

Dan Simmons’s Drood, easily falls into this category with elements of horror, Victorian literature, possible fantasy, and an unreliable narrator. I’ve read quite a few of his books and regard them all very highly. As for Drood, I read it early in the year and loved it, considering it a masterpiece:

The feel of the novel is rich and exquisitely evokes Victorian London. Since I can’t really travel back in time to check on Simmon’s veracity in his ability to evoke the time and place, I can only go with my gut and it tells me Simmons hit the mark in this respect. In that sense, the novel’s haunted feel is only strengthened by the time and place – an era of gaslights, trains and a world at the cusp of vast technological change. The London of Drood, especially the London nights, is very much hidden in shadows with smoke ‘round the corner and hints of danger and otherworldy Underworlds.

Both Collins and Dickens take mythic journeys in this novel, most notably to the Underworld of London. A vast cavern of tunnels underneath the great city where day laborers live in abject poverty and opium dens are visited by men of society, including Collins. It is a dangerous place, a place where vagrants live, where "lost boys" roam the catacombs, and where the dark figure of Drood and his two steersmen usher Dickens on a gondola to the deepest recesses of Underworld. The mythic parallels to Charon, and more explicitly, the Egyptian god of the dead, Anubis are evocative and resonant in their power. Here again, Collins’s role as Unreliable Narrator comes into play, if not during these scenes as much as they do later upon reflection of the events.

I finished The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory late in the year and I was almost equally wowed. In it Gregory mixes up a lot of things – horror, science fiction, fantasy, to name just three:

Pax also has a difficult time reconciling with his father, whose small flashes of sanity in his dark and horrific life almost string Pax along for what could be an unrewarding ride. Gregory set up the three offshoots, charlies, argos, and betas, as distinct societal groups within Switchcreek. Lording over everything is the outwardly charming and matronly Aunt Rhoda who, in the intervening 15 years since Pax left Switchcreek, has become mayor. At times she is very supportive of Pax in welcoming him back to Switchcreek. Other times, when Pax wishes to get his father back home and out of the halfway/healing home, she vehemently, but very politely, tells him he should let things be as they are. In many ways, Aunt Rhoda reminded me of the character Frau Totenkinder from Bill Willingham’s superb comic book series Fables – on the surface warm and welcoming, but beneath the surface lies a depth and cunning.

One element of the book that slowly comes to light is how the majority of the characters who hold power are women. Aunt Rhoda, arguably the most powerful character in the novel, is of course a woman. The top doctor in town is a woman. The specter of Jo Lynn, who to me seemed the smartest character in the novel even in death, is a woman. There’s another play with gender since Pax becomes as dependent on his father’s vintage as a child is on his/her mother’s milk.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy could easily fall into this category. Granted it was published a few years ago, but I didn't get to it until this year. Although it published as a literature and fiction novel, the post-apocalyptic setting thrusts it right into Science Fiction. This was one of the best books I have ever read. Moving, powerful, and remarkable.

MVP Author of 2009

Quite a few authors managed to have multiple books on the shelves in 2009, but few had the impact and reach of who I’ve dubbed the MVP author of 2009:

Brandon Sanderson

He only published three novels and helped to revive The Wheel of Time, the defining Fantasy Saga of this generation. His solo fantasy novel, Warbreaker was a solid follow-up to his superb Mistborn trilogy and a top 10 book for me in 2009

So, after a successful trilogy, Brandon Sanderson has given readers a done-in-one (for now, at least) Epic Fantasy novel that is engaging, entertaining, and like his Mistborn trilogy, gives a new lens with which to view familiar elements of a pleasing story. If I can level any negative criticism at the novel it is that once Vivenna leaves her homeland of Idris, it is only spoken of as a place to keep out of war. Considering Vivenna is the only remaining princess after Siri is sent off to be married, I was expecting her father or a group of men from Idris to come into Hallendren in search for Vivenna. This never happened and seemed odd that a King wouldn’t search out for a runaway princess especially when that princess is his daughter. On the whole, this aspect wasn’t a detriment to my enjoyment of the novel, but it itched at my brain a bit. In many ways, the story initially has a faery-tale feel to it, with a royal daughter’s marriage binding two kingdoms. What unfolds from that simple premise is well-wrought, intelligent, and at times, surprising – one might say a conspiracy novel with hints of slight hints 1984 wrapped in a wonderful fantasy package.

He published the third book in his popular Alcatraz series.

Didn’t he publish something else though? Oh yeah, the little book that toppled the Mighty Dan Brown from the #1 spot on the NY Times Bestseller list. To say that The Gathering Storm sparked some life in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga is like saying The Flash can run somewhat fast and the New York Yankees are a relatively successful sports franchise. Though I’ve yet to read it (see above for my Wheel of Time re-read/catch-up nod), the book has been nearly universally praised by many, many, people.

Favorite ‘New To Me’ Author(s) of 2009

These are books or authors that have been publishing/published for quite some time, but for whatever reason, I only managed to get to them this past year.

In no particular order:

S. Andrew Swann – I read two books by him in 2009 and though very highly of both of them. One of those books was the Space Opera Prophets and the other was the Werewolf/Historical Fantasy/Romance Wolfbreed. I’ll be following those two series and I plan to read the books that precede Prophets, plus I have the omnibus/duology Dragons and Dwarves awaiting a read.

Based on the two books I did read by Swann, he flows very well between the related subsets of Speculative Fiction. Taking a look at his bibliography would bear this out - Space Opera, Mystery, Thriller, Historical Fantasy, Urban Fantasy.








David Weber - I read his retrospective anthology Worlds of Weber in 2008 and in the Fall of this past year, I picked up Off Armageddon’s Reef the highly enjoyable opening novel of his Safehold series. Since Santa brought the second and third books in the series, with a fourth one publishing in 2010, I’ve got a nice chunk of reading ahead of me in this promising series. I also may go back to his Honorverse novels.

Warhammer/ Warhammer 40,000 - I know this franchise has been around for a while, but I read a couple of the books this past year and have a slew on the plate to review. So far, I’ve enjoyed what I read quite a bit and can really see why the universe appeals to so many people

Most Disappointing Reads of 2009

Three books for which I had high hopes didn’t work for me that I had high hopes for when I began reading them last in 2009. Each book disappointed me for different reasons, though.

The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley is a book I looked forward to a great deal since Mark enjoyed it and I was in the mood for a good solid space opera. I didn’t get that with this book. What I got was more of a mystery with not nearly as much space opera goodies as I hoped to read.

How to Make Friends with Demons by Graham Joyce was another major reading disappointment of 2009 for me. I just couldn’t attach myself to the story enough to care. This is really a shame because everything up to this point I read by Joyce I enjoyed a great deal. I’ll chalk this up to a case of the wrong book at the wrong time.

Soulless by Gail Carriger was quite disappointing, too. The premise sounded fairly interesting – Steampunk meets Vampires, but the protagonist really wore on me after a while: By this point, it would seem that I enjoyed the novel. I did – up to the first 80-100 pages, which worked well for me. I was enjoying the way Carriger revealed her supernatural world and I liked the characters of Lord Maccoon, Alexia, and Lord Akeldama. Unfortunately, the immediacy of the opening of the novel and the charm of the characters began to wear off as the novel progressed, especially the prattling between Alexia and her friend Miss Ivy Hisselpenny, a constant wearer of ugly hats. I also found Alexia’s and Maccon’s back and forth to lack the pull when they first began their romance in the novel. Lastly, I felt browbeat by a lot of the repetitive aspects of the novel, the continual reference to Hisselpenny’s ugly hats, and the even more derogatory slant of Alexia’s Italian heritage which seemed to be pointed out every five pages, to the point where I started to say to myself, "OK, I get it, she’s half Italian and that’s not a good thing."

Favorite Author Whose Work I Revisited in 2009

Robert J. Sawyer, with WWW: Wake is what puts him in this category.

I read a handful of his novels years ago but never managed to return to them and in that time he’s published over a half-dozen books and won some awards. This WWW trilogy is quite promising.

Elizabeth Moon & SFFWorld

Over the course of the past near-decade at SFFWorld, particularly in my role as moderator/administrator of the SFFWorld forums, I’ve seen a fair number of published authors participate. It always pretty neat

James Barclay (author of the awesome Raven series of books, the first trilogy of which recently hit US shores thanks to Pyr is a regular participant and moderator, R.A. Salvatore was participating for a while, Jim Butcher dropped in once, Jeff VanderMeer stopped by during our Book Club discussion of Veniss Underground, and perhaps most recently Brandon Sanderson (posting as EUOL).

Heck, we host official author forums for R. Scott Bakker, Alison Croggon, Gary Wassner, Kevin Radthorne, and Matthew Stover

This all brings me to the latest top-name author to become a member of SFFWorld forums, Elizabeth Moon. Mrs. Moon has gone full gusto since joining, providing some great writing advice and discussing both her SF work and her Paksenarrion saga with our members, as well as Science Fiction in general.

She’s got a major release coming out early 2010, the next of her Paksenarrion saga, Oath of Fealty.


In addition, she’s written some popular and acclaimed Science Fiction:
Vatta’s War, Serrano Legacy and the Nebula Award winning Speed of the Dark



So, after reading some of her posts and interacting with Mrs. Moon, I'm very inclined to jump into some of the books she's written. I will likely start with Oath of Fealty, an ARC of which I received a few of weeks ago, and hope to get the omnibus of The Deed of Paksenarrion for Christmas, then I might jump into some of the Heris Serrano books.

Bakker's The Judging Eye Reviewed and Miscellanea

R. Scott Bakker gets the treatment this week on review Monday/Tuesday. Ever since I first read The Darkness that Comes Before, I’ve been a huge fan of Scott’s writing and I feel he is on a very short list of writers who are taking the fantasy genre in a stark and wonderful direction. For whatever reason, I was a little slow in getting to his latest, The Judging Eye. I finally read it recently and posted the review last night:

There are no absolutes in Bakker’s fictional world, or rather once something is thought of as an absolute, something or someone thrusts that absolute into the fire both illuminating and destroying what could be considered absolute. Take Sorweel again - his hatred for Kellhus is thrown asunder once Kellhus appears. The dichotomy of conflicting absolutes drives much of the fiction and can be seen in the mirrored journeys of Achamanian and the Skin Eaters and the march of the Great Ordeal. Both are striving towards what they see as the greater good, although part of what fuels Achamanian is his hatred of Kellhus. Whereas the Great Ordeal is marching in the name of good against an accepted evil, Akka’s march in the depths of darkness may eventually illuminate the true nature of Kellhus. The Great Ordeal is an army of knights and order, Akka’s march is basically a mish-mash of chaos and those on the fringes of society.

While I’m probably one of the last folks on the genre intarwebs to post it what the hell: the shortlist for The David Gemmell Awards was announced (included below are the links to those I reviewed):

Joe Abercrombie – Last Argument of Kings (Gollancz/Pyr)

Juliet Marillier– Heir to Sevenwaters (Tor UK)

Brandon Sanderson - The Hero of Ages (Tor US)

Andrzej Sapkowski - Blood of Elves (Gollancz)

Brent Weeks - The Way of Shadows (Orbit)

This award is fan voted, similar to the Locus award, although the focus here is mainly on epic fantasy. As the links above point out, I read three of the books, although I have read books by the other two authors. I will likely be voting for Joe Abercrombie’s Last Argument of Kings which was one of my top reads for last year. Much as I loved The Hero of Ages Joe’s book just nudged it out.

Sadly, Harry Kalas, Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster and voice of the NFL since 1975 passed away yesterday. Anybody who has an interest in Baseball or even a passing interest in the NFL knows Kalas’s deep voice. He actually died in the booth just before calling a Phillies game. Is it poetic or sad to die while doing the job you loved in life? Either way, his voice will be missed.

Lastly, to end on an up note, I hadn’t realized it but thanks to Adam, Steven Erikson’s Malazan saga is officially 10 years old. That is, the first book, Gardens of the Moon published in 1999. It’s been almost a year since I read The Bonehunters, so I need to do a little bit of catching up.

Wings of Wrath - Reviewed

C.S. Friedman is a writer who will always have a special spot in my heart. After all, on the plane to and from Hawai’i for my honeymoon, I read her wonderful Coldfire Trilogy. Everything else I’ve read by her was engaging, moving and enjoyable. The same can be said for Wings of Wrath, her latest novel, the review of which I posted last night:

One of the things that stood out to me in this volume (and a trend I’m noticing in a lot of the stronger fantasy writers such as C.S. Friedman) is that this second book doesn’t simply tread ground and hold things at a status quo for the eventual final volume. Certain plot elements gain closure, while others continue to set up for an eventual clash that I for one hope to see occur in the final volume.

An element I’ve enjoyed in all of Ms. Friedman’s novels is her ability to give weight to both sides of a conflict. In Feast of Souls, the Souleaters were monsters out of legend associated with only death and destruction. Here in Wings of Wrath, more background is given to these creatures and their history, which gives the beginning hints of a rational perspective to their existence. A Great Secret may lie at the heart of what they are (perhaps not unlike the world of Erna in her (Coldfire Trilogy) but the hints of such a secret may just be teases of What Could Be rather than What Is.

That will be all for today, except to say that I am enthralled by The Judging Eye.

Books in the Mail (W/E 03/21/2009)

The weekly flow of books continues with some good stuff. I’ve already started one book that arrived.

Blue Diablo: (Corine Solomon #1) by Ann Aguirre (Roc Mass Market Paperback 04/07/2009) – Although Ann Aguirre has published a handful of novels at this point, Blue Diablo is the launch of a new series that is in the ubiquitous “Urban Fantasy” sub genre.

Corine Solomon is a handler—when she touches an object she instantly knows its history and its future. Using her ability, she can find the missing—which is why people never stop trying to find her. Like her ex-boyfriend Chance, who needs Corine's gift to find someone dear to them both. But the search proves dangerous as it leads them into a strange world of demons and sorcerers, ghosts and witchcraft, zombies—and black magic...

The Judging Eye: (The Aspect-Emperor Book One) by R. Scott Bakker (Overlook Press Hardcover February 2009). – Bakker’s Prince of Nothing trilogy is a defining fantasy saga of the early 21st Century and I was lucky enough to read the first one, The Darkness that Comes Before very early on in 2003 and it blew me away like few other debut novels I’d ever read before or since. Not long thereafter, I interviewed Scott and I’ve enjoyed each volume in The Prince of Nothing just as much (The Warrior-Prophet and The Thousandfold Thought). I’m already 130+ pages into it and I have a tough time putting it down.

The Darkness that Comes Before, The Warrior-Prophet and The Thousandfold Thought--collectively the Prince of Nothing Saga--were R. Scott Bakker's magnificent debut into the upper echelon of epic fantasy. In those three books, Bakker created a world that was at once a triumph of the fantastic and an historical epic as real as any that came before.

Widely praised by reviewers and a growing body of fans, Bakker has already established the reputation as one of the smartest writers in the fantasy genre--a writer in the line stretching from Homer to Peake to Tolkein. Now he returns to The Prince of Nothing with the long awaited The Judging Eye, the first book in an all-new series. Set twenty years after the end of The Thousandfold Thought, Bakker reintroduces us to a world that is at once familiar but also very different than the one readers thought they knew. Delving even further into his richly imagined universe of myth, violence, and sorcery, and fully remolding the fantasy genre to broaden the scope of intricacy and meaning, R. Scott Bakker has once again written a fantasy novel that defies all expectations and rewards the reader with an experience unlike any to be had in the canon of today's literature.

Mystery of Grace by Charles De Lint (Tor Hardcover 03/24/2009) – Charles de Lint was writing Urban Fantasy before the label/subgenre was taken over by vampire hunters, werewolves and wizards for hire. One of the best fantasy novels I read was his The Little Country, and I’ve read some of his short stories and a couple of novels, which were all good. This is a rarity for de Lint – a ‘mythic’ novel set outside of his popular Newford universe.

On the Day of the Dead, the Solona Music Hall is jumping. That's where Altagracia Quintero meets John Burns, just two weeks too late.

Altagracia – her friends call her Grace – has a tattoo of Nuestra Señora de Altagracia on her shoulder, she's got a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg, and she has grease worked so deep into her hands that it'll never wash out. Grace works at Sanchez Motorworks, customizing hot rods. Finding the line in a classic car is her calling.

Now Grace has to find the line in her own life. A few blocks around the Alverson Arms is all her world -- from the little grocery store where she buys beans, tamales, and cigarettes (“cigarettes can kill you,” they tell her, but she smokes them anyway) to the record shop, to the library where Henry, a black man confined to a wheelchair, researches the mystery of life in death – but she’s got unfinished business keeping her close to home.

Grace loves John, and John loves her, and that would be wonderful, except that John, like Grace, has unfinished business – he’s haunted by the childhood death of his younger brother. He's never stopped feeling responsible. Like Grace in her way, John is an artist, and before their relationship can find its resolution, the two of them will have to teach each other about life and love, about hot rods and Elvis Presley, and about why it's necessary to let some things go.


Other Earths edited by Nick Gevers and Jay Lake (DAW Mass Market Paperback 04/07/2009) – This is DAW’s monthly themed anthology proving once again that short fiction really isn’t dead. I’ve never really had more than a passing interest in Alternate History, but the writers in this anthology do interest me a great deal: Jeff VanderMeer, Gene Wolfe, Alastair Reynolds, and Robert Charles Wilson.

What if Lincoln never became president, and the Civil War never took place? What if Columbus never discovered America, and the Inca developed a massive, technologically advanced empire? What if magic was real and a half-faerie queen ruled England? What if an author discovered a book written by an alternate version of himself?

These are just some of the possible pathways that readers can take to explore the Other Earths that may be waiting just one page away.


The Burning Skies (Book #2 of Autumn Rain) by David J. Williams (Bantam Spectra Trade Paperback 05/19/2009) – Mark/Hobbit read and enjoyed the first novel (The Mirrored Heavens), which was also the author’s debut novel last year.

Autumn Rain’s plan to nail the president at the secret summit conference he’s holding with the Eurasian leadership.


Ballistic Babes ( Zach Johnson, P.I. Omnibus #2) by John Zakour and Lawrence Ganem – (DAW Mass Market Paperback 04/07/2009) – This book is another great instance of DAW keeping an author’s backlist easily available and affordable. These are the 3rd and 4th novels set in a far future about the last human Private Investigator.
Two beauties. One volume. An omnibus edition of The Radioactive Redhead and The Frost-Haired Vixen

Double your pleasure, double the laughs with this omnibus edition featuring Zachary Nixon Johnson, the last freelance P.I. on Earth. It's 2057, and Zach is partnered with an experimental A.I. named HARV . In what is both an homage to and a parody of the great heyday of pulp fiction, they solve cases involving androids, future tech wizards, and of course, the occasional nuclear-powered, genocidal fembot.

The Devil's Eye Reviewed, Gaiman-Batman, and Me

Jack McDevitt, through the fine publishing imprint Ace Books, just released a new book a couple of weeks ago. I read it, reviewed it, and posted said review to SFFWorld yesterday. I went through a spate of McDevitt’s novels a few years back and enjoyed them quite a bit, so was happy to tackle this latest one for SFFWorld. Reading The Devil's Eye reminded me how much I enjoy McDevitt's books and that I've got some catching up to do. As if I don't have enough to read.

Here’s a snapshot of my review:

The action starts when Vicki Greene, a popular horror writer of the era pleads for Benedict to help her, leaving only a cryptic message as his primary clue: “God help me, they are all dead.” Alex is intrigued, though he is relatively unfamiliar with Greene’s work, his partner Chase is and they take the job. With very few clues by which to guide them, Alex and Chase embark on a mystery that spans the galaxy and whose roots have dire ramifications for a planet with both humans and Ashyyur.

McDevitt unravels, or rather the fact that he deftly weaves a number of plot elements together keeps his skilled hand hidden, multiple plot strands throughout the novel rather seamlessly. As such, The Devil’s Eye works on many levels – mystery, conspiracy story, galactic travelogue, alien/human relations, adventure novel, horror novel, character study. Dramatic tension and sense of wonder played off each other quite well. In fact, each element serves the other in the novel very effectively, much like familiar people/characters effectively play off of each other’s personalities.

Speaking of British Comic Book writers, happy birthday to Alan Moore!

Lastly, I did something over the weekend I’d been bugging myself to do for a while. I joined the Online Writing Workshop for SF, Fantasy & Horror (formerly hosted/sponsored by Del Rey) and submitted the first couple chapters of the novel I’ve been working on for the past couple of years. Some respected and popular authors have come out of the workshop: Joshua Palmatier (The Skewed Throne); Sarah Prineas (The Magic Thief); Chris Evans (A Darkness Forged in Fire); Elizabeth Bear and a personal favorite of mine (R.) Scott Bakker so I fell like I’m on the right track by joining the workshop.

Neuropath by Scott Bakker

The frontpage of SFFWorld was just rejiggered, with the lead item being the tag-team review Mark/Hobbit and I did for Scott Bakker's intense and scary Neuropath.

Here's a snippet:

With Neuropath Scott turns to a contemporary thriller, a CSI-style novel with an SF edge. And from his previous work, as you might expect, it is a stylish, taut, intellectual treatise on the misuse of science and its consequences. As he says in his afterword, (page 302) ‘I wanted Neuropath to be a thriller, one that strives intellectually as well as viscerally disturbing…’

It is also very, very scary.

The story is mainly written from the perspective of Tom Bible, a psychologist and university instructor coping with the divorce from his wife Nora and the pain and difficulty of limited visitations with his children. Much to Tom’s his surprise, his friend Neil Cassidy shows up one night to catch up and reignite their ongoing debate, or rather Argument. This Argument has been a highlight of their friendship for many years and the crux of it is whether or not we have choices in what we do. At the outset, Tom thinks this visit from Neil is just a friendly, if oddly timed, hang-out session. Tom soon learns the meeting is not what he thought it was, a theme that Bakker returns to throughout the novel.

Kull Review and Malzan Thoughts

I posted up my review of Kull: Exile of Atlantis by Robert E. Howard a short while ago. This was my first exposure to Howard's Kull stories and I enjoyed them, even if some of what was in the book consisted of fragments and unfinished tales. The book itself, and I only have the ARC, is a really nice volume. A very evocative cover by Justin Sweet, with color plates at the end of the book make for a book that was made with a great attention to detail and care. Again, this is only the ARC, so I can imagine how great the final product will look.

I'm focusing all my reading right now on The Bonehunters, something that seems to happen whenever I dive into The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I plow through a good chunk of the book at each reading session, but at 1200+ pages this book will take me a while. I enjoy the story and immersing myself in Erikson's world with each volume I read, so I don't mind too much even though I'm usually reading two books at a time. More often than not, I read Book 1 at work on my lunch and Book 2 while at the gym on the cardio machines and at home. However, with The Bonehunters I especially don't want to pull away from Malazan, so The Bonehunters is essentially Book 1 and Book 2 at the moment. I'm really enjoying the book, especially the scenes with Icarium and Karsa. From what I've seen, most fans of Malazan enjoyed Memories of Ice the most, but so far I think House of Chains was the book I enjoyed the most. Not that I didn't enjoy Memories of Ice, because I did, but I think Karsa is the character I find the most fascinating so far, and to a lesser extent Kruppe.

I finished Neuropath about a week or so ago, but I'm finalizing a review with Mark from SFFWorld. We decided to try something different with this book and give it a two-pronged review. That will probably go up at SFFWorld this week, too, we just want to put a couple of finishing touches on it.

Linkdump Friday

Happy Birthday Pyr!

I counted up the votes for SFFWorld's Favorite book of 2005 and the winner is R. Scott Bakker's The Warrior-Prophet.

I'm sure most of the people who read this thing have seen the big hub-bub and controversy the new idiot Science Fiction reviewer for the New York Times has caused. My take - I wouldn't be too surprised if what he said was calculated to ilicit the reaction we are seeing across SF spheres.

I've just rediscovered Steve Savile's Web site and blog. Steve hangs out at SFFWorld's forums, with a forum of his own. This looks like a big year for him, publication-wise, with a vampire trilogy set in the popular Warhammer 40,000 series with Inheritance.

Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology co-edited with Alethea Kontis, is publishing in May. I've got an advanced copy, and it looks very impressive.

Bakker Review & NaNoWriMo

I’ve posted my review of R. Scott Bakker’s The Thousandfold Thought. My god was this a great book, I really need to re-read the entire trilogy at some point in the not-too-distant future. This book, and whole series, was extremely compelling and will cast a long shadow for many years in the Epic Fantasy genre.

NaNoWriMo is underway and as of last night, I've got about 2200 of the 50K words we are all all working towards. However, when I attempted to continue my W.I.P. last night, the file on my floppy would not open. I usually save the file of whatever I'm writing on the hard drive as well. Unfortunately the version on the hard drive was missing a decent portion of what I’d written the day before, Wednesday. As things turned out, last night in attempting to re-write the portoin that went missing, my protagonist, Larry, developed a better relationship with his friend’s wife. In my fervor to replace what was lost, the story became stronger. That my friends, is turning a bad situation into a good one, and something I’ve seen/heard other writers do with scenes they mysteriously lost.

This past week Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff and I had our house vinyl sided, and the contractor did an absolutely fantastic job. I’d provide a link, but he doesn’t have a Web site and I don’t think it likely anybody else reading my blog actually lives in New Jersey and needs work done on their house. It almost like having a new house, and we couldn't be happier. The neighbor two doors down was so impressed with the craftsmanship of their work that she called them Wednesday to set up an appointment for an appraisal to get work done on her house.

I’m wishing I could have gone out to Madison, Wisconsin for this year’s World Fantasy Convention, a bunch of my pals from SFFWorld and Frameshift are there right now mingling. Oh bother, perhaps I can make it in two years when it is in Binghmaton, which I can get to by car.

Sadly, Keith Parkinson passed away earlier in the week. I always liked his artwork, particularly his covers to Terry Brooks’ Shannara books. The quality of Parkinson’s art was superior to the words inside the book, however. Parkinson’s wonderful art was also the primary basis for the Everquest game. RIP.

Lastly, speaking of Terry Brooks, there is an “Interesting” discussion about Terry Brooks and the Fantasy genre at Nightshade books, of all places (via The Slush God)

Baseball, Throning, Comic-ing, & Bakking

I guess this big post makes up for a week's absence here at 'o Stuff.

Finished up my re-read of A Game of Thrones last night, and my god, I didn't realize how powerful this book really was. I say this because I didn't realize how many of the scenes really remained strongly ingrained in my memory, even almost 10 years after originally reading it. Scenes like the Stark's discovery of the Direwolves, Bran's initial enncounter with Jaime and Cersei, everytime Tyrion speaks, his interactions with Jon and the powerful, spectacular ending with Daenerys. I don't think I'm reinventing the wheel by saying this, but A Game of Thrones is such a sprawling epic, constructed so tightly by Martin. I also forgot how much happens in this book. One aspect of the novel that affected me more on this reading was the overall sense of nihlism. From the beginning, everything in the story seems to build towards a crumbling, destructive end of what has been the norm for many years. Nothing good happens to anybody in this book, and Martin makes this spiraling chaos so goddamned entertaining.

With both the Yankees and Cardinals not in the World Series, I may not even watch. Sure it is a compelling series, the Sox haven't won in almost 90 years and this is the first trip for the Astros, but as I said last week, Fox does everything to make watching baseball all but unwatchable.

After reading Infinite Crisis last Thursday, I've become more excited about comics again. Not that I wasn't enjoying them lately, but this issue really re-invigorated my passion and interest in reading and acquiring comics. Which is ironic or timely, because something very odd happened last week. Since moving into the new house, I've somewhat reoganized my comic books. Rather than have them in stacked on top of each other, we bought two stackable shelving-units. The packaged stated the shelves could hold up to 500 pounds. No problem, I put a few long boxes, each long box holds between 250 & 300 comics and I had 12 long boxes all together. I know they are heavy, but I didn't think combined all 12 would be five hundred pounds, so I figured things would be ok. I also bought these really great new plastic boxes and wanted to transfer from the decaying, old cardboard boxes into the new corrugated plastic boxes. I figured they were about half the size of the long boxes, so I bought 25 of the plastic boxes.

Well, the reorganization project was set in motion a bit earlier than I anticipated. Last Monday into Tuesday evening, at about 2:30AM I hear a loud bang, which woke up my wife and I. I've only been in this house since July, so I'm till growing accustomed to the noises in the neighborhood, but this was really strange. So, groggily I grabbed a baseball bat and skulked through my house, down to the basement. I opened the door and what do I see? One of my two comic shelving units tipped over. Apparently it fell over and the sticker stating it could hold 500 pounds was bullshit. So there I was 2:30AM beginning my comic book reorganization project. The 12 long cardboard long boxes turned out to be more than 25 short boxes, so I have to buy more of the plastic boxes. I only picked up the stuff off the floor, and thankfully none were really damaged. But damn, 15-17 years on and off comic book collecting really adds up.

Two nights ago, another sound woke Mrs. Blog o' Stuff and I from a deep slumber at about the same time. No, no, the comics didn't tip over again, this time it was gunshots! Right, I lived in New Brunswick, NJ for a couple of years - not exactly the most peaceful city, and I never heard gunshots. I move to farmlands, right around the corner from two farms and I hear gunshots, which I find quite ironic. Apparently, a deer was run down in the road and the police came and mercy-killed the deer, which is the right thing to do. But still, at 2AM, it is a bit jarring.

Lucky me! Scott Bakker sent me an ARC of The Thousandfold Thought, which arrived yesterday. This is the concluding volume to his stupendous Prince of Nothing trilogy, but most people who read my blog already know this. This book is/was right at the top of my anticipated read list, so I am excited and read the "what has gone before" this morning. I really like when authors do this in their multi-volume sagas, it such a big help in triggering the memories of the previous books. Going between GRRM's saga and Scott's saga should prove a definite glut of reading enjoyment in the very near future.

And lastly, I joined http://www.nanowrimo.org/ last night. I am putting the current novel I'm working on on-hold and starting fresh for nanowrimo, with an idea that's been boiling and clanking around my head for a couple of years. 50,000 words in one month should prove very challenging with work and the responsibilities of a new house, but I'm looking forward to it.

Sith!

Pretty, ain't it? Hits the stands in May. Here is the reluanched web page of the author:
http://mattstover.blogspot.com/

I’ve had this goddamned cold for almost two-and-a-half weeks, and to quote Indiana from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, “I’ve got the sniffles!” Started taking some Cold-Eeze, which is helping, but not as much as I’d like.

I knew, as is almost always the case when I compile any kind of list, there would be something I was bound to forget. Two additional books I’m looking forward to this year by E.E. Knight are two more books in his Tales of the Vampire Earth: Tale of the Thunderbolt (03/05) and Valentine Rising (12/05). I mentioned Mr. Knight and how I enjoyed his work in a post back in December.

Things are always evolving over at SFFWorld, we are hosting official author forums for the following FSF writers:
Alison Croggon a well respected writer already published to a good deal of acclaim in the UK and Australia, she makes her US debut with Naming: The First Book of Pellinor in May
Gary Wassner, author of the GemQuest trilogy, out next month from Windstorm
Kevin Radthorne author of the Road to Kotaishi
Richard Tuttle
Samit Basu, a respected author published by Penguin India
R. Scott Bakker, author of The Darkness that Comes Before and The Warrior-Prophet
Steve Savile, runner-up for the British Fantasy Award and was included in the 2003 L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future anthology

And oh yeah, how could I forget? We are also hosting the official forums of Matthew Stover, author of the novelization of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Matt, thanks to Gabe, has also begun blogging again, at what amounts to his official Web site: http://mattstover.blogspot.com/ Matt is the author of, easily, two of my top 10, and maybe my top 5 favorite novels of all time: Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle.

Muppet Terror

Current Terror Alert Level

From Scott, because who really doesn't love Muppets?

Here's the list of books I hope to get/read from this year's releases. Hell, if I get to at least half of them, I'll be happy. I usually play catch-up and read stuff from previous years and manage not to get to all of the current year's releases

Justina Robson Natural History (01/05)

Matthew Stover's Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (04/05)
Karin Lowachee Cagebird (04/05)

John Marco Sword of Angels (05/05)
Robert E. Howard Bran Mak Morn: The Last King [reprint] (05/05)

Michael Moorcock The White Wolf's Son (6/05)
Dan Simmons Olympos (06/05)
James Barclay The Cry of the Newborn(08/05)
Greg Keyes The Blood Knight (08/05)
Jacqueline Carey Godslayer (8/05)
Jeffrey Ford's The Girl in the Glass (08/05)
Christopher Paolini Eldest (08/05)
Gene Wolfe Starwater Strains (08/05)

Robin Hobb Shaman's Crossing (9/05)
Philip Pullman The Scarecrow and his Servant (09/05)

R. Scott Bakker The Thousandfold Thought (10/05)

Karen Traviss The World Before (11/05)

Matthew Stover Caine Black Knife (hopefully late '05)
George R. R. Martin A Feast for Crows (??/??)

Narnia, Here I Come! R.I.P. Eisner

You're The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

by C.S. Lewis

You were just looking for some decent clothes when everything changed quite dramatically. For the better or for the worse, it is still hard to tell. Now it seems like winter will never end and you feel cursed. Soon there will be an epic struggle between two forces in your life and you are very concerned about a betrayal that could turn the balance. If this makes it sound like you're re-enacting Christian theological events, that may or may not be coincidence. When in doubt, put your trust in zoo animals.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Via Gabe & Luke.

I definitely can think of worse books. I read this series for the first time a few years ago and really enjoyed them. The novelization of the above comes out this coming Christmas, and as it is a relatively short novel, I'll probably re-read it..

Though I haven’t read anything by the man, it is worth noting the passing of Will Eisner (NY TIMES, Newsarama). When a guy nearly every comic creator (Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Evanier, Frank Miller, just to name a few) points to as influential, and he was, it is hard to argue. Eisner was writing and drawing BEFORE Bob Kane and up until his death. Eisner created the term and form of the Graphic Novel. The guy has the most prestigous award in the Comic Book Industry named after him.

On the good side of things, the Batman news continues to be Very Good – The New York Times reports Frank Miller will be writing All-Star Batman (via Franklin's Findings). Newsarama also has a nice page dedicated to the annoucement, with a couple of pieces of artwork from Jim Lee, announced weeks ago to be the artist on this title. See my post from Mid-December about the goodies DC is releasing in anticpation of Batman Begins.

Dammit dammit dammit! I knew I neglected one book on My Favorite novels s of 2004 post – The Warrior-Prophet by R. Scott Bakker. Here's a blurb from my Official SFFWorld Review of the book:

The second novel in R. Scott Bakker’s The Prince of Nothing saga continues to push the envelope in terms of complexity and tension. The Holy War begun in The Darkness that Comes Before continues to sweep the world of Eärwa. The following of Anusûrimbor Kellhus, the titular Warrior Prophet, grows, just as the opposition to what he represents, grows in size. Kellhus is a conundrum, part Christ-figure, part Buddha-figure, some feel he is a harbinger of the impending doom set to sweep the world, others feel he is the savior who will prevent the destruction of the world.

Scott is a cool, super-smart guy and is probably mourning the loss of the NHL season like I am. I reviewed the Canadian edition of The Darkness that Comes Before, and when it was published in the US by Overlook Press, the following blurb from my Official SFFWorld review adorned the back cover:

"I jokingly hesitate to truly call this a work of fantasy considering how absolutely convincing this novel reads as a historical account... Bakker… clamps his hand over yours and simply does not let go… Amid the cluttered shelves of the Epic Fantasy genre, Bakker is a name that stands out amongst, not just the new writers in the crowd, but established and recognized names."

All self-promoting aside, this guy really knows how to write and create stories and worlds. While not a Tolkien imitator, Mr. Bakker has taken the spirit of storytelling and world-building Tolkien invested in LOTR and run with the ball.

Sometimes, the blog just writes itself.

GRRM, comics, weekly awards

George R. R. Martin posted an excerpt from A Feast for Crows yesterday, in I guess, hopes of keeping his fans from e-mailing him and threatening him about the delays of the book. Many of his readers are discontent with the long wait since the last book, A Sword of Storms. Granted, the man has taken longer to publish the book than he initially planned, but so what. What I’ve read of his work leaves me with every confidence that the wait will be worth it. It’s not like there aren’t other good writers publishing today, just take a look at my sidebar.

One of the hottest topics in the SFFWorld forums lately was initiated by Mr. Martin’s posting of his political thoughts after the election. The thrust of the thread/argument initially was whether or not readers should allow an author’s political views to deter them from reading said author’s work. In the case of Mr. Martin, if you don’t agree with his views on the election, should you continue reading his work? While the topic has wandered a bit, it has been a fairly healthy debate with a few well-known authors posting their thoughts (R.A. Salvatore, Matt Stover and R. Scott Bakker).

Where do I stand on the subject? It is not always easy to separate the artist from the art he or she creates. Their political views, something essentially helping to shape who they are, by definition is going to flavor their writing in some respect. However, I think I can usually separate the two and read the story on its own merits, but knowing the background of the writer can sometimes creep up. If the story is strong enough, if the plot is crafted well enough, if the characters act plausibly, then ultimately, I can read and enjoy the story.

Tomorrow at the comic-shop, I’ll be picking up the following:

Conan #10
Ex Machina #6
JLA #108
Superman/Batman #14
Wonder Woman #210
Fantastic Four #520

Superman/Batman will have art by Carlos Pacheco, who did a fabulous job on Arrowsmith and some JSA stuff. Senor Pacheco is going to be the regular artist on the Green Lantern ongoing, once GL: Rebirth finishes up. Other than that, all pretty solid looking stuff.

This week’s writer of the week is the great pulp-writer, Robert E. Howard. Howard helped birth the sub-genre of Heroic Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery. REH created, arguably, one of the most recognizable and storied icons in ALL of AMERICAN Literature – Conan the Barbarian. Next week, Del Rey books is publishing The Bloody Crown of Conan, the second volume of Del Rey’s reissues of the Conan Wandering Star volumes and the third Robert E. Howard reprint in the past year-and-a-half. Earlier this year, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane published, and I believe and hope, Del Rey plans on publishing most of REH’s stuff, I’m particularly looking forward to reading Bran Mok Man. The 10th issue of Dark Horse’s Conan series publishes this week. Kurt Busiek is scripting great stories and Cary Nord is creating some great looking art, all told is this is very faithful to the spirit of the REH originals.

My beer of the week is from America’s oldest brewery: Yuengling Lager. This is my favorite every-day beer, it is refreshing crisp and goes down great with a burger, a slice of pizza or while bowling.

Hopefully tonight's Smallville will not be paint by numbers.