Books in the Mail (W/E 2016-04-09)

The first full week of April brings unseasonably cold weather in New Jersey and these books to my doorstep.

Breath of Earth by Bet Cato (Harper Voyager Trade Paperback 08/23/2016)– Cato steps away from her Steampunk series for this new alternate history.

After the earth’s power under her city is suddenly left unprotected, a young geomancer must rely on her unique magic to survive in this fresh fantasy standalone from the author of the acclaimed The Clockwork Dagger.

In an alternate 1906, the United States and Japan have forged a powerful confederation— the Unified Pacific—in an attempt to dominate the world. Their first target is a vulnerable China. In San Francisco, headstrong secretary Ingrid Carmichael is assisting a group of powerful geomancer wardens who have no idea of the depth of her own talent—or that she is the only woman to possess such skills.

When assassins kill the wardens, Ingrid and her mentor are protected by her incredible magic. But the pair is far from safe. Without its full force of guardian geomancers, the city is on the brink of a cataclysmic earthquake that will expose the earth’s power to masterminds determined to control the energy for their own dark ends. The danger escalates when Chinese refugees, preparing to fight the encroaching American and Japanese forces, fracture the uneasy alliance between the Pacific allies, transforming San Francisco into a veritable powder keg. And the slightest tremor will set it off. . . .

Forced on the run, Ingrid makes some shocking discoveries about herself. Her already considerable magic has grown even more fearsome . . . and she may be the fulcrum on which the balance of world power rests.

Fall of Light (The Kharkanas Trilogy) by Steven Erikson (Tor Hardcover 04/26/2016) – I stalled on the 7th book of the main Malazan saga and couldn’t finish the first in this trilogy, Forge of Darkness but I did enjoy those first 7 Malazan books

Steven Erikson returns to the Malazan world with the second book in a dark and revelatory new epic fantasy trilogy, one that takes place a millennium before the events in his New York Times bestselling Malazan Book of the Fallen. Fall of Light continues to tell the tragic story of the downfall of an ancient realm, a story begun in the critically acclaimed Forge of Darkness.

It's a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, the realm of Darkness, where Mother Dark reigns. But this ancient land was once home to many a power... and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners' great hero, Vatha Urusander, is being promoted by his followers to take Mother Dark's hand in marriage, but her Consort, Lord Draconus, stands in the way of such ambitions. The impending clash sends fissures throughout the realm. As rumors of civil war burn through the masses, an ancient power emerges from the long dead seas. Caught in the middle of it all are the First Sons of Darkness, Anomander, Andarist, and Silchas Ruin of the Purake Hold...

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Tor Hardcover 04/26/2016) – The English language debut of the bestselling Dutch novel, Hex, from Thomas Olde Heuvelt--a Hugo and World Fantasy award nominated talent to watch

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay 'til death. Whoever settles, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a seventeenth century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters homes at will. She stands next to children's bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened or the consequences will be too terrible to bear.

The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town's teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting. But, in so doing, they send the town spiraling into dark, medieval practices of the distant past.

This chilling novel heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in mainstream horror and dark fantasy.

Sleeping Giants (The Themis Files Book One) by Sylvain Neuvel (Harper Voyager Hardcover Paperback 04/26/2015) – An impressive looking debut and the launch of a series for Neuvel. This is the final copy of the ARC I received earlier in the year.

A page-turning debut in the tradition of Michael Crichton, World War Z, and The Martian, Sleeping Giants is a thriller fueled by an earthshaking mystery—and a fight to control a gargantuan power.

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

Books in the Mail (W/E 2014-07-26)

Small batch of arrivals this week. I suspect many of the folks who normally would send me stuff are heavily involved in San Diego Comic Con...

Willful Child by Steven Erikson (Tor Hardcover 11/04/2014) – Erikson changes tune here with is first Science Fiction novel, which has a Space Opera/Military SF feel.

From the New York Times Bestselling author Steven Erikson comes a new SF novel of devil-may-care, near calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through the infinite vastness of interstellar space.

These are the voyages of the starship A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms, to boldly blow the...

And so we join the not-terribly-bright but exceedingly cock-sure Captain Hadrian Sawback and his motley crew on board the Starship Willful Child for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through ‘the infinite vastness of interstellar space.’

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence has taken his lifelong passion for Star Trek and transformed it into a smart, inventive, and hugely entertaining spoof on the whole mankind-exploring-space-for-the-good-of-all-species-but-trashing-stuff-with-a-lot-of-high-tech-gadgets-along-the-way, overblown adventure. The result is an SF novel that deftly parodies the genre while also paying fond homage to it.

Assail (A Novel of the Malazan Empire) by Ian Cameron Esslemont (Tor Hardcover 05/21/2013) – I’ve only read Night of Knives in this second Malazan sequence, so I’ve got some catching up to do with ICE’s brand of Malazan stories. Mark Yon and I interviewed with him up at the SFFWorld last year.

Tens of thousands of years of ice is melting, and the land of Assail, long a byword for menace and inaccessibility, is at last yielding its secrets. Tales of gold discovered in the region’s north circulate in every waterfront dive and sailor’s tavern, and now countless adventurers and fortune-seekers have set sail in search of riches.

Into this turmoil ventures the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard. Not drawn by contract, but by the promise of answers: answers to mysteries that Shimmer, second in command, wonders should even be sought.

Arriving also, part of an uneasy alliance of Malazan fortune-hunters and Letherii soldiery, comes the bard Fisher kel Tath. And with him is a Tiste Andii who was found washed ashore and cannot remember his past life, yet who commands far more power than he really should. Also venturing north is said to be a mighty champion, a man who once fought for the Malazans, the bearer of a sword that slays gods: Whiteblade.

And lastly, far to the south, a woman guards the shore awaiting both her allies and her enemies. Silverfox, newly incarnated Summoner of the undying army of the T’lan Imass, will do anything to stop the renewal of an ages-old crusade that could lay waste to the entire continent and beyond.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2014-04-12)

Three books this week, one of which is a great sourcebook for the Pathfinder RPG...have a look, won't you?

The Wurms of Blearmouth (A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach) by Steven Erikson (Tor Hardcover 07/08/2014) – This is the fifth novella featuring Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. The most recent Malazan novel I read (Forge of Darkness ) didn’t quite work for me and I’m still three books short of completing a read of the main sequence.

A new novella from New York Times bestselling author Steven Erikson, set in the world of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, The Wurms of Blearmouth.

Tyranny comes in many guises, and tyrants thrive in palaces and one-room hovels, in back alleys and playgrounds. Tyrants abound on the verges of civilization, where disorder frays the rule of civil conduct and propriety surrenders to brutal imposition. Millions are made to kneel and yet more millions die horrible deaths in a welter of suffering and misery.

But leave all that behind and plunge into escapist fantasy of the most irrelevant kind, and in the ragged wake of the tale told in Lees of Laughter’s End, those most civil adventurers, Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, along with their suitably phlegmatic manservant, Emancipor Reese, make gentle landing upon a peaceful beach, beneath a quaint village at the foot of a majestic castle. There they make acquaintance with the soft-hearted and generous folk of Spendrugle, which lies at the mouth of the Blear River and falls under the benign rule of the Lord of Wurms in his lovely keep.

Make welcome, then, to Spendrugle’s memorable residents, including the man who should have stayed dead, the woman whose prayers should never have been answered, the tax collector everyone ignores, the ex-husband town militiaman who never married, the beachcomber who lives in his own beard, the now singular lizard cat who used to be plural, and the girl who likes to pee in your lap. And of course, hovering over all, the denizen of the castle keep, Lord—Ah, but there lies this tale.

Promise of Blood (Book Two of The Powder Mage Trilogy) by Brian McClellan (Orbit Hardcover / eBook 05/06/2014) – Second book in the series, the first of which I thought was the best fantasy debut novel I read last year.

When invasion looms, but the threats are closer to home…Who will lead the charge?

Tamas’ invasion of Kez ends in disaster when a Kez counter-offensive leaves him cut off behind enemy lines with only a fraction of his army, no supplies, and no hope of reinforcements. Drastically outnumbered and pursued by the enemy’s best, he must lead his men on a reckless march through northern Kez to safety, and back over the mountains so that he can defend his country from an angry god, Kresimir.

In Adro, Inspector Adamat only wants to rescue his wife. To do so he must track down and confront the evil Lord Vetas. He has questions for Vetas concerning his enigmatic master, but the answers might lead to more questions.

Tamas’ generals bicker among themselves, the brigades lose ground every day beneath the Kez onslaught, and Kresimir wants the head of the man who shot him in the eye. With Tamas and his powder cabal presumed dead, Taniel Two-shot finds himself as the last line of defense against Kresimir’s advancing army.

Inner Sea Gods (A Pathfinder Campaign Setting) edited by James L. Sutter (Paizo Hardcover 04/30/2014) – These Pathfinder RPG hardcover books are beautiful looking and chock full of monsters and magic. I’ve been s-l-o-w-l-y incorporating elements of the world into the gaming group I’m part of, though I wish we could play more often.

Unleash the Power of the Gods!
Through the miracles of priests and the weapons of crusaders, the deities of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game command unrivaled influence over the lands of the Inner Sea. Tap into their incredible might with Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods! Inside you’ll discover the deepest secrets of an entire pantheon of incomparable beings, claim relics suited to both sinners and saints, and wield immortal might as a character of any background, race, or class. No longer does the favor of the gods belong to clerics, paladins, and other divine spellcasters alone—choose your faith and make holy power your own!
This volume expands upon the world and religions detailed in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide. Inside this tome of mysteries, you’ll find:

• Massive articles on the most powerful deities of the Pathfinder campaign setting, revealing everything you need to know about the gods and their followers, temples, adventurers, holy days, otherworldly realms, divine minions, and more! 
• Details on nearly 300 deities from across the Inner Sea region and beyond.
• New prestige classes to imbue you with the power of the gods! What’s more, each of these three classes is uniquely customized to make worshipers of all 20 core gods mechanically distinct from each other—that’s 60 different prestige class variations!
• Tons of new feats to help optimize your character and make you a champion of the church.
• More than 140 magic items tailored to religious characters of all classes! Unleash righteous wrath or spread divine corruption with sacred armor, weapons, altars, holy symbols, and other relics for every faith.
• A library of spells and subdomains to help your caster sow destruction, spread divine love, or remake reality in your god’s name! 
• Character traits to help you get the most out of your character’s beliefs and backstory. 
• Dozens of monsters, including high-level heralds and divine servitors for Pathfinder’s most prominent deities.
  

Swept Away by the Tide - Backburner Books/Series

One thing I think people like myself who read review books regularly experience is that the more we read, the more we want to read. Despite Sturgeon's Law, there are indeed a fairly high percentage of good books being published.  At least from what I've been reading in the SFF realm of things.  To that point, keeping up with the new releases from popular authors and the hot and flashy debut authors can be a challenge. As my blog, review activity at SFFWorld and the SFFWorld Blog, as well as recent reviews at Tor.com, attest, I read a lot. I read, on average, about a book per week.  In more realistic numbers, take that "about one per week" to its annual conclusion, I've been averaging reading between 60 and 70 books read per year.  Even with that number, I feel like don't get to all the books I'd like to read.

One side effect is that focusing more on the newer releases of a given year means that a fair number of series I enjoy and have read over the years have tended to fall by the wayside. This is unfortunate, because at one point I enjoyed the authors a great deal. The evidence of my enjoyment of these books & series can be seen in the positive reviews I've posted to SFFWorld, discussions I've had in the SFFWorld forums,  or the posts I've made about those books/series/authors here on my blog.

Some of these series I feel guilty for not continuing because I did enjoy the books in the series; I want to support authors who have connected with me and entertained me. On the other hand, I’m curious if my lack of finishing them/continuing on with the series speaks to the quality of the series and my overall enjoyment of them rather than the annual, continuing tidal wave of new releases pushing them into more unreachable slopes of Mount Toberead. 

In the summaries of the series below, I assess my enjoyment of the books in the series and determine if I will (ever) forge ahead with those series. The reasons will be a mix of both of these eventual outcomes, because for some of these series, I will catch up with them and others the chances of that happening aren’t quite as good.

A last bit of preamble, these are series in which I’ve ventured fairly significantly. At the very least more than one book/the first book, none of these series “falloffs” involve me just not reading the final book, nor will any of the series be those where I’ve totally given up on the series, nor will these be series I am plodding forth (Dresden Files, Vorkosigan Series, etc). So, without further ado, here are the books/series that were swept away by the tide of review/current year releases.

Wess’har by Karen Traviss

I really enjoyed the first three installments of this Military SF series for a lot of reasons. From reading the first three novels, I felt Traviss had great POV characters, interesting alien cultures and overall, just entertaining stories.

Proof is in the pudding: My reviews of City of Pearl and the sequel Crossing the Line.  Books remaining to be read: Matriarch, Ally and Judge.

Chance of returning to this series? I'd say dead even at 50% mainly because I’ve gone 50% through them, they are relatively short and I recall them being fairly quick reads.

Side note, Traviss has a new novel, Going Gray, publishing in 2014 seemingly unrelated.

Marla Mason by Tim Pratt

I first read about Marla in The Solaris Book of New Fantasy edited by George Mann (2007) and was very intrigued.  I read the first two books back to back.

Proof is in the pudding: My reviews of enjoyed the first three novels Blood Engines and Poison Sleep. I’ve had a copy of the third book Dead Reign on Mount Toberead for nearly five years in what is one of the books I’ve had for the longest amount of time. Since reading the second book, I’ve noticed that Pratt has been self-publishing these books, including (I think) at least one of them through Kickstarter.

Chance of returning to this series - Better than 50%, I’ve got the third book and loved the world Pratt created around Marla, particularly the Lovecraftian feel. The nature of Urban Fantasy novels such as these seems more conducive to being read as standalone and might work with such a time lapse. 

Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont

Yeah, this is a big one, right? I’ve read the first seven by Erikson (up to Reaper's Gale) and Esslemont’s first. For the most part, I enjoyed them a great deal, but reading Forge of Darkness last year really soured me on attempting to finish out either the mainline series by Erikson or the books Esslemont’s been writing. I've also seen less than positive response to the series' conclusion.

Proof in the pudding: My blog post and reaction to The Bonehunters (also here) and my review of Night of Knives. It has now been 5 years since I last read a mainline Malazan novel and I’m concerned about the challenge of remembering past elements of the series were I to pick up book eight, Toll the Hounds.

Chance of returning to this series - Less than 50%. Even though I have the final three books in physical form, they are huge books and as I’ve said, Forge of Darkness was such a difficult book for me to read.

Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott

I loved the first four King’s Dragon, Prince of Dogs, The Burning Stone, and Child of Flame, giving them (in my personal spreadsheet/reading log) scores ranging from 7 to 8.5, but this series really suffered from the Wave of Review books/reviewing.  My concern with this series, even more so than Malazan is just how much I likely have forgotten since reading Child of Flame back in 2003. Also, these books tend to be on the doorstopper side of the fence. I loved the worldbuilding in these books, but my other concern is how much my enjoyment dipped on her recent series Spiritwalker, enjoying the first Cold Magic but not quite so much with Cold Fire, book 2 to the point that I didn’t and don’t plan on reading the final installment. 

Proof in the Pudding: No reviews on this series as I read through the first four before I started writing book reviews for SFFWorld.

Chance of returning to this series - I’d say dead even at 50% because so much of the feel of these books still rumbles around in my head and I am more than 50% through the series, with only 3 of the remaining 7 books yet to be read.

Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust

I had been catching up with this series through each of the omnibus editions released The Book of Jhereg, The Book of Taltos, The Book of Athyra, and Dragon & Issola (one of many, many great Science Fiction Book Club Omnibus editions that make SFBC worth joining, quitting, and rejoining) and up to Dzur. 

Proof in the pudding: No reviews except for, like The Bonehunters, a blog post professing my enjoyment of the book and series as a whole.

Chance of returning to this series - This is probably the series I’m most likely to pick up again as the Taltos books, of those mentioned in this post, are the books I’ve enjoyed the most. I’ve read 10 of the 13 books published and only have three to read to be caught up, or four if you count the forthcoming Hawk publishing in 2014. I also happen to own book 11, Jhegaala, so if Tor decides to omnibify books 12 and 13 Iorich and Tiassa, my decision to jump back into the world of Vlad Taltos would be even easier to make.

So, am I the only reader/blogger/reviewer who has experienced this Sweeping/Backburner effect?

Book in the Mail (W/E 2013-06-22)

Just one book this week and it comes from the fine folks at Tor


This River Awakens by Steven Erikson (Tor Trade Paperback 07/09/2013) – Trade reissue of Erikson’s very first novel originally written under the name Steve Lundin


In the spring of 1971, Owen Brand and his family move to the riverside town of Middlecross in a renewed attempt to escape poverty. For twelve-year-old Owen, it's the opportunity for a new life and an end to his family's isolation. He quickly falls in with a gang of three local boys and forms a strong bond with Jennifer, the rebellious daughter of a violent, alcoholic father. As summer brings release from school, two figures preside over the boys' activities: Walter Gribbs, a benign old watchman at the yacht club, and Hodgson Fisk, a vindictive farmer tormented by his past. Then the boys stumble on a body washed up on the riverbank—a discovery whose reverberations will result, as the year comes full circle, in a cataclysm that envelops them all….

Books in the Mail (W/E 06/02/2012)

Another week of releases here at the ‘o Stuff, much of which is brought to you be the fine folks at Tor

Destroyer of Worlds (Kingdom of the Serpent #3) by Mark Chadbourn (Pyr Trade Paperback 05/22/2012) – Not only is this the concluding volume of the Kingdom of the Serpent trilogy, but it closes out the trilogy of trilogies started way back with World’s End, which was the first in the Age of Misrule trilogy.

A quest of epic reach spans the globe under the mythologies of five great cultures

It is the beginning of the end... the end of the axe-age, the sword-age, leading to the passing of gods and men from the universe. As all the ancient prophecies fall into place, the final battle rages, on Earth, across Faerie, and into the Land of the Dead. Jack Churchill, Champion of Existence, must lead the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons in a last, desperate assault on the Fortress of the Enemy to confront the ultimate incarnation of destruction: the Burning Man. It is humanity's only chance to avert the coming extinction. At his back is an army of gods culled from the world's great mythologies—Greek, Norse, Chinese, Aztec, and more. But will even that be enough? Driven to the brink by betrayal, sacrifice, and death, his allies fear Jack may instead bring about the very devastation he is trying to prevent.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:

"This is the final book in a trilogy of trilogies from an author whose work has redefined the boundaries of dark fantasy. The colossal story has never been less than fascinating and at times easily rivaled the most riveting, original work of the genre." —SF Site

An immense work of scope and majesty. What appeals about the book is the author's ability to deal in myth and to apply it to a modern story.... The story is gripping, the characters involving, and the main villain is a nasty piece of work. An excellent effort from a very exciting author. One thing is certain: the future of fantasy is safe in the hands of Mark Chadbourn." —The Specusphere

The Devil Delivered and Other Tales by Steven Erikson (Tor Hardcover 06/19/2012) – Three non-Malazan stories from Erikson. I read Fishing with Grandma Matchie and really enjoyed it.

This collection includes:

“The Devil Delivered”: In the breakaway Lakota Nation, in the heart of a land blistered beneath an ozone hole the size of the Great Plains of North America, a lone anthropologist wanders the deadlands, recording observations that threaten to bring the world’s powers to their knees.

“Revolvo”: In the fictitious country of Canada, the arts scene is ruled by technocrats who thrive in a secret, nepotistic society of granting agencies, bursaries, and peer review boards, all designed to permit self-proclaimed artists to survive without an audience.

“Fishing with Grandma Matchie”: A children’s story of a boy tasked with a writing assignment becomes a stunning fantastical journey with his tale-spinning grandmother.



Kop Killer by Warren Hammond (Tor Hardcover 06/05/2012) – The third installment in Hammond’s future Dickian sf mystery hybrid.


KOP Killer, a darkly dystopian science fiction thriller from Warren Hammond

Juno Mozambe once had a life. That was when he was a dirty cop, married to a woman who suffered such profound abuse that she murdered her vile, drug kingpin father. Juno loved his wife and did his best to help her survive her guilt, her drug habit, and her desire to end her life on the dead-end planet of Lagarto.

When she died, however, Juno’s life went downhill. And then his first partner, the corrupt chief of the Koba Office of Police, was murdered. The man responsible, Emil Mota, is using the KOP for his personal gain. Juno has been laying low, but now he’s ready to do whatever it takes to take down the bastard.

Rather than working from inside the system, he’s decided that the only way to take down the KOP is to create an independent base of power. So he gets involved with a team of dirty cops and starts working as a rent-a-thug for a whorehouse that needs protection.

Juno’s last partner knows that his risky plan has a purpose, but she’s that rarest of creatures on the hothouse planet of Lagarto: an honest cop. She can’t help him.

When Juno discovers a series of profoundly twisted murders, he faces a bleak possibility: in his desperate quest for vengeance against the man who targeted him for death, Juno may have placed himself beyond any hope of redemption....



Black Bottle by Anthony Huso (Tor Hardcover 08/21/2012) – This is the sequel to (and second half of the duology began with) The Last Page

Tabloids sold in the Duchy of Stonehold claim that the High King, Caliph Howl, has been raised from the dead. His consort, Sena Iilool, both blamed and celebrated for this act, finds that a macabre cult has sprung up around her.

As this news spreads, Stonehold—long considered unimportant—comes to the attention of the emperors in the southern countries. They have learned that the seed of Sena’s immense power lies in an occult book, and they are eager to claim it for their own.

Desparate to protect his people from the southern threat, Caliph is drawn into a summit of the world’s leaders despite the knowledge that it is a trap. As Sena’s bizarre actions threaten to unravel the summit, Caliph watches her slip through his fingers into madness.

But is it really madness? Sena is playing a dangerous game of strategy and deceit as she attempts to outwit a force that has spent millennia preparing for this day. Caliph is the only connection left to her former life, but it’s his blood that Sena needs to see her plans through to their explosive finish.

Dark and rich, epic in scope, Anthony Huso has crafted a fantasy like no other, teeming with unthinkable horrors and stylish wonders.





Song of the Serpent (A Pathfinder Tales novel) by Tim Pratt (Paizo Mass Market Paperback 04/25/2012) – I now have three Pathfinder novels and I do intend to read at least one of them to sample the world. Pratt’s a writer whose work, specifically his Marla Mason novels, I’ve enjoyed.

Once a student of alchemy with the dark scholars of the Technic League, Alaeron fled their arcane order when his conscience got the better of him, taking with him a few strange devices of unknown function. Now in hiding in a distant city, he's happy to use his skills creating minor potions and wonders - at least until the back-alley rescue of an adventurer named Jaya lands him in trouble with a powerful crime lord. In order to keep their heads, Alaeron and Jaya must travel across wide seas and steaming jungles in search of a wrecked flying city and the magical artifacts that can buy their freedom. Yet the Technic League hasn't forgotten Alaeron's betrayal, and an assassin armed with alien weaponry is hot on their trail... From Hugo Award-winner Tim Pratt comes a new fantastical adventure set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.


Redshirts by John Scalzi (Tor Hardcover 06/05/2011) – Scalzi is having fun again, this time playing with the time-honored “Redshirt trope” which originated on Star Trek. This sounds like fun stuff indeed. I finished this book up last week and enjoyed, my review goes up on Tuesday which is publication day.

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2011-03-19)

Back to a big batch this week, with some really nice looking stuff from Night Shade Books

The Winds of Khalakovo (The Lays of Anuskaya Book One) by Bradley P. Beaulieu (Night Shade Books Trade Paperback 04/05/2011) – Beaulieu’s novel-writing career launches with this book, itself the first in a series. What a gorgeous cover, which looks to have a good story inside:

Among inhospitable and unforgiving seas stands Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands, its prominent eyrie stretching a thousand feet into the sky. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo's eyrie stands at the crossroads of world trade. But all is not well in Khalakovo. Conflict has erupted between the ruling Landed, the indigenous Aramahn, and the fanatical Maharraht, and a wasting disease has grown rampant over the past decade. Now, Khalakovo is to play host to the Nine Dukes, a meeting which will weigh heavily upon Khalakovo's future.
When an elemental spirit attacks an incoming windship, murdering the Grand Duke and his retinue, Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, is tasked with finding the child prodigy believed to be behind the summoning. However, Nikandr discovers that the boy is an autistic savant who may hold the key to lifting the blight that has been sweeping the islands. Can the Dukes, thirsty for revenge, be held at bay? Can Khalakovo be saved? The elusive answer drifts upon the Winds of Khalakovo...

Betrayer (Foreigner #12) by C. J. Cherryh (DAW Hardcover 05/04/2010) – If nothing else, Cherryh maintains an impressive schedule of output, this is the 12th in the series for which I received the 11th exactly a year ago.

The twelfth book in Hugo Award winner C.J. Cherryh's epic Foreigner series.

The civil war among the alien atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri his son and heir, and his human paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to the Bujavid, their seat of power.

But factions that remain loyal to the opposition are still present, and the danger these rebels pose is far from over.

A Matter of Time by Glen Cook (Night Shade Books Trade Paperback 04/05/2011) – As I’ve previously noted, Night Shade is continuing to do a superb job of reissuing Glen Cook’s backlist and keeping a solid “branding” to all of the books. Of special note to me on this book is the cover blurb, which is from my review of Cook’s Darkwar.

May 1975. St. Louis. In a snow-swept street, a cop finds the body of a man who died fifty years ago. It's still warm. July 1866, Lidice, Bohemia: A teenage girl calmly watches her parents die as another being takes control of her body. August 2058, Prague: Three political rebels flee in to the past, taking with them a terrible secret. As past, present, and future collide, one man holds the key to the puzzle. And if he doesn't fit it together, the world he knows will fall to pieces. It's just A Matter of Time!

The Crippled God (Malazan Book of the Fallen #10) by Mark Chadbourn (Tor Trade Paperback 03/01/2011) – As I said when I posted last week about this book hitting the NY Times Bestseller list: ‘I'm a few books behind in my reading of the series, but I do enjoy The Malazan Book of the Fallen a great deal. I received a note from Tor books telling me the following. Now I have the final three books, no excuses not to finish up the books right? Well, except for all these other books I keep receiving. Anyway, Owen reviewed the book a couple of weeks ago and liked it a lot

Savaged by the K’Chain Nah’Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods – if her own troops don’t kill her first.

Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal.

In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall, and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects.

Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will rise as a force of devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world.

Element Zero (Revivors #3) by James Knapp (Rpc Mass Market Paperback 04/02/2011) – The first in this series State of Decaypublished about a year ago and I finally caught up with it earlier this year and thought it pretty interesting..


Technologically reanimated corpses are frontline soldiers engaged in a neverending war. Agent Nico Wachalowski uncovered a conspiracy that allowed Samuel Fawkes, the scientist who created them, to control them beyond the grave. And now Fawkes has infected untold thousands with new technology, creating an undetectable army that will obey his every command-a living army that just might represent the future of humanity...

Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh Trade Paperback 04/19/2011 Night Shade Books) – Yet another interesting looking debut novel from Night Shade.

What happens when resources become scarce and society starts to crumble? As the competition for resources pulls America's previously stable society apart, the "New Normal" is a Soft Apocalypse. This is how our world ends; with a whimper instead of a bang.
New social structures and tribal connections spring up across America, as the previous social structures begin to dissolve. Soft apocalypse follows the journey across the South East of a tribe of formerly middle class Americans as they struggle to find a place for themselves and their children in a new, dangerous world that still carries the ghostly echoes of their previous lives.

The Shining City: (Book 3 of the Warriors of Estavia by Fiona Patton (DAQ Trade Paperback 04/05/2011) - The concluding volume in Patton’s trilogy:

"Expert world builder"* Fiona Patton concludes The Warriors of Estavia saga. *Midwest Book Review

With the three children of prophecy-the seers Spar and Graize, and the warrior Brax-now grown, and the young God Hisar ready to stake his claim to a place in the pantheon of Anavatan, a time of chaos and change is fast approaching. For only if sworn enemies Spar and Graize can come together as Hisar's priests will the God stand any chance of surviving the coming battles with both the hungry spirits seeking to devour him, and the war with the mortal invasion fleet, which is even now sailing for Anavatan.

Eureka: Road Less Traveled by Cris Ramsay (Ace, Mass Market Paperback 04/1/2011) – My wife and I are big fans of the show, but I haven’t read any of the novels based on the show, of which this is the third. Ramsay is the house name Ace is using for these books.


A Global Dynamics researcher has a breakthrough on her project visualizing another dimension. And since GD's experiments have a bad tendency to affect the entire town, Sheriff Jack Carter heads over to check it out. What he sees blows him away. The project has revealed a parallel universe, complete with another Eureka-one in which Carter doesn't exist! But as the two worlds begin to bleed into each other and residents confront their alternate selves, Carter may be the one man who can keep both Eurekas from being destroyed.

WWW: Wonder (WWW #3) by Robert J. Sawyer (Ace Hardcover 04/06/2010) – I read the first two in the trilogy (WWW: Wake and WWW: Watch); first book was good, second was good too, but a sense of padding began to creep into the narrative for me. Regardless, I’ll be reading this one to see how Sawyer resolves it:

"A writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation" (New York Times) concludes his mindbending trilogy.

Webmind-the vast consciousness that spontaneously emerged from the infrastructure of the World Wide Web-has proven its worth to humanity by aiding in everything from curing cancer to easing international tensions. But the brass at the Pentagon see Webmind as a threat that needs to be eliminated.

Caitlin Decter-the once-blind sixteen-year-old math genius who discovered, and bonded with, Webmind-wants desperately to protect her friend. And if she doesn't act, everything-Webmind included-may come crashing down.

Black Halo (The Aeons' Gate #2) by Sam Sykes (Pyr, Trade Paperback Paperback 03/22/2011) – Second novel in Sykes’ buzzworthy series.


THE TOME OF THE UNDERGATES HAS BEEN RECOVERED...

...and the gates of hell remain closed. Lenk and his five companions set sail to bring the accursed relic away from the demonic reach of Ulbecetonth, the Kraken Queen. But after weeks at sea, tensions amidst the adventurers are rising. Their troubles are only beginning when their ship crashes upon an island made of the bones left behind from a war long dead.

And it appears that bloodthirsty alien warrior women, fanatical beasts from the deep, and heretic-hunting wizards are the least of their concerns. Haunted by their pasts, plagued by their gods, tormented by their own people, and gripped by madness personal and peculiar, their greatest foes may yet be themselves.

The reach of Ulbecetonth is longer than hell can hold.


Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (Tor, Hardcover 03/29/2011) – Valente is very prolific, having published over half-dozen novels in the past 5 years. This is her latest.

Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century.

Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.

The Wise Man's Fear #1 on NY Times Bestseller List

Via DAW's twitter, The Wise Man's Fear will be debuting on the NY Times Bestseller list at #1, likely for the March 20th list. A very impressive feat for any author's second novel, let alone a fantasy author. Congratulations to Patrick Rothfuss and the fine folks at DAW. Between this, Erikson finally reaching the main list, The Game of Thrones HBO show in a little over a month and the bound-to-be #1 NY Times Bestseller A Dance with Dragons, 2011 is turning out to be a very good year for fantasy breaking into the 'mainstream' beyond Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

Erikson Cracks NY Times Bestseller List

I'm a few books behind in my reading of the series, but I do enjoy The Malazan Book of the Fallen a great deal. I received a note from Tor books telling me the following:

The Crippled God, the tenth and final novel in his long-running Malazan Book of the Fallen series, will debut (at #12) on the printed bestseller list in the March 20, 2011 edition of the New York Times. It's been a long, LONG time coming, and couldn't happen to a more deserving author.

Steven's first novel, Gardens of the Moon, came out in 1999 to much fanfare…and flopped. We spent the next ten years and eight novels telling everybody and anybody who would listen that this was THE fantasy series to be reading, the best that no one knew about. The depth and breadth of its world, characters and cultures, its heartbreaking yet addictive story, and the level of pathos and philosophy embedded into every narrative layer is staggering. Erikson's core fans knew; so many of our top-selling authors kept telling us, he's the guy who deserves it more; yet it was on us to convince everyone else.

Then last fall, Steven's ninth novel, Dust of Dreams, finally squeaked its way onto the NYT extended bestseller list, claiming the last spot at #35…and it was just this afternoon that we learned that the tenth and final novel in his Magnus opus will get the due he so richly deserves.

So congratulations to Steven Erikson; congratulations to Eric Raab, Steven's editor here in the states; and congratulations to the thousands of hardcore Malaz fans, who were right all along, and kept telling us and everyone else!!

The Crippled God reviewed at SFFWorld

Two reviews this week, one from me and one from Owen. I’ll start off with Owen’s since the book he’s up-to-date with the series and was able to review the final book in Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence, The Crippled God. I’ve got two books to read before I get to that one, but Owen’s review is fair and balanced:

As with the format of most of the Malazan novels, TCG is a slow building story as the pieces move towards convergence one last time. In the first half of the book the storyline with arguably the quickest progression is the Shake as they stand once more upon the Shore and dispense their duty. This is the most compelling of the threads that seemed to be randomly introduced over the course of the last few books, being in turns both brutal and emotional, if a little unlikely, leading to a compelling resolution that creates intriguing options for the realm of Darkness. Definitely one of the high points of the book from an unexpected quarter.

In the second half we are swept towards Kolanse from a variety of directions as the various threads hit their marks, before plunging into the maelstrom (no pun intended) at the heart of the story. Perhaps most surprising about this plunge though is the inevitability of the conclusion. To a long time reader there are no real surprises and disappointingly the enemy at the end is not half as terrifying as we'd been led to believe. Nor are they the ones we originally signed up to fight.

I reviewed the most recent (as of this blog post) novel from an author I’d been wanting to sample for a while, Tim Lebbon. Mark at SFFWorld is a big fan of Tim’s work so I had some expectations, which were mostly met. Anyway, here’s the review of Echo City:

Echo City itself is a living character. Its highest peaks soar to the upper reaches of the sky; the depths of its sewers delve deeply into the earth, as its many levels are built upon each other. There are Bellowers, large mouths that transport people through the depths of Echo City. At this point, I can draw some comparison. Perhaps because Miyazaki’s Spirited Away was being shown on television shortly after I finished the book, I was able to see some similarities – the strange creatures, the class structure, and the potential sinister nature of the city. Echo City also has shades of Mieville’s New Crobuzon, as well as the dark horrific city of Jeff VanderMeer’s Veniss Underground. As previously mentioned, Lebbon owes a debt to Mary Shelley for his Bakers, who seem to be spiritual successors to her most famous Doctor.
…
The plot is fairly linear, but the pull of the narrative, when it veers from the fascinating descriptions of the weird, fantastical creepiness of Echo City, did not grip as strongly. The most interesting plot point is the mystery surrounding Rufus’s origin, as well as the plot thread involving Rufus’s disappearance in Echo City.

Books in the Mail (W/E 01/31/2010)

An interesting mix this week, including one Science Fiction novel I’ve been really looking forward to reading.

Shadowline Volume One of The Starfishers Trilogy by Glen Cook (Night Shade Books, Trade Paperback 01/19/2010) – Night Shade continues to re-issue program Glen Cook’s backlist in these attractive trade paperbacks. I’ve a feeling I’ll be reading quite a bit of Glen Cook this year and since I’ve hankering for SF with a Space Opera feel.

The vendetta in space had started centuries before "Mouse" Storm was born with his grandfather's raid on the planet Prefactlas, the blood bath that freed the human slaves from their Sangaree masters. But one Sangaree survived - the young Norborn heir, the man who swore vengeance on the Storm family and their soldiers, in a carefully mapped plot that would take generations to fulfill. Now Mouse's father Gneaus must fight for an El Dorado of wealth on the burning half of the planet Blackworld. As the great private armies of all space clash on the narrow Shadowline that divides inferno from life-sheltering shade, Gneaus' half- brother Michael plays his traitorous games, and a man called Death pulls the deadly strings that threaten to entrap them all - as the Starfishers Trilogy begins.


Tails of Wonder and Imagination by Ellen Datlow (Night Shade Books Trade Paperback 2/16/2010) – Ellen Datlow is a legendary editor and this volume contains 40 stories about cats from an impressive .

What is it about the cat that captivates the creative imagination? No other creature has inspired so many authors to take pen to page. Mystery, horror, science fiction, and fantasy stories have all been written about cats.

From legendary editor Ellen Datlow comes Tails of Wonder and Imagination, showcasing forty cat tales by some of today's most popular authors. With uncollected stories by Stephen King, Carol Emshwiller, Tanith Lee, Peter S. Beagle, Elizabeth Hand, Dennis Danvers, and Theodora Goss and a previously unpublished story by Susanna Clarke, plus feline-centric fiction by Kelly Link, George R. R. Martin, Lucius Shepard, Joyce Carol Oates, Graham Joyce, Catherynne M. Valente, Michael Marshall Smith, and many others.

Tails of Wonder and Imagination features more than 200,000 words of stories in which cats are heroes and stories in which they're villains; tales of domestic cats, tigers, lions, mythical part-cat beings, people transformed into cats, cats transformed into people. And yes, even a few cute cats.


Dust of Dreams (A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen) by Steven Erikson (Tor Hardcover 01/26/2010) – I received a copy of this from the UK publisher mid-September, this is the Tor version. As I said then, Owen (aka kater) reviewed Dust of Dreams for SFFWorld.

In war everyone loses. This brutal truth can be seen in the eyes of every soldier in every world…

In Letherii, the exiled Malazan army commanded by Adjunct Tavore begins its march into the eastern Wastelands, to fight for an unknown cause against an enemy it has never seen.

And in these same Wastelands, others gather to confront their destinies. The warlike Barghast, thwarted in their vengeance against the Tiste Edur, seek new enemies beyond the border and Onos Toolan, once immortal T’lan Imass now mortal commander of the White Face clan, faces insurrection. To the south, the Perish Grey Helms parlay passage through the treacherous kingdom of Bolkando. Their intention is to rendezvous with the Bonehunters but their vow of allegiance to the Malazans will be sorely tested. And ancient enclaves of an Elder Race are in search of salvation—not among their own kind, but among humans—as an old enemy draws ever closer to the last surviving bastion of the K’Chain Che’Malle.

So this last great army of the Malazan Empire is resolved to make one final defiant, heroic stand in the name of redemption. But can deeds be heroic when there is no one to witness them? And can that which is not witnessed forever change the world? Destines are rarely simple, truths never clear but one certainty is that time is on no one’s side. For the Deck of Dragons has been read, unleashing a dread power that none can comprehend…

In a faraway land and beneath indifferent skies, the final chapter of ‘The Malazan Book of the Fallen’ hasbegun…

Geosynchron (Book Three of The Jump 225 Trilogy #1) by David Louis Edelman (Pyr Trade Paperback 02/02/2009) – I really enjoyed the first two novels in Edelman’s debut trilogy (Infoquake and Multireal) so I was really looking forward t reading this book in the hopes that Mr. Edelman does deliver on the promises of the first two books.
DAVID LOUIS EDELMAN'S BUSINESS SCIENCE FICTION SAGA THAT BEGAN WITH INFOQUAKE AND MULTIREAL COMES TO A STUNNING CONCLUSION WITH GEOSYNCHRON, THE LAST BOOK OF THE JUMP 225 TRILOGY.

The Defense and Wellness Council is enmeshed in full-scale civil war between Len Borda and the mysterious Magan Kai Lee. Quell has escaped from prison and is stirring up rebellion in the Islands with the aid of a brash young leader named Josiah. Jara and the apprentices of the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp still find themselves fighting off legal attacks from their competitors and from Margaret Surina's unscrupulous heirs — even though MultiReal has completely vanished.

The quest for the truth will lead to the edges of civilization, from the tumultuous society of the Pacific Islands to the lawless orbital colony of 49th Heaven; and through the deeps of time, from the hidden agenda of the Surina family to the real truth behind the Autonomous Revolt that devastated humanity hundreds of years ago.

Meanwhile, Natch has awakened in a windowless prison with nothing but a haze of memory to clue him in as to how he got there. He's still receiving strange hallucinatory messages from Margaret Surina and the nature of reality is buckling all around him. When the smoke clears, Natch must make the ultimate decision — whether to save a world that has scorned and discarded him, or to save the only person he has ever loved: himself.

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (Roc, Hardcover 04/27/2010) – Kay is a magnificent writer, I’ve read about 1/3 to ½ of what he’s written and I wasn’t disappointed by any of it. This will be his first novel since the World Fantasy Award winning Ysabel

Shen Tai is the son of a general who led the forces of imperial Kitai in the empire’s last great war against its western enemies, twenty years before. Forty thousand men, on both sides, were slain by a remote mountain lake. General Shen Gao himself has died recently, having spoken to his son in later years about his sadness in the matter of this terrible battle.

To honour his father’s memory, Tai spends two years in official mourning alone at the battle site by the blue waters of Kuala Nor. Each day he digs graves in hard ground to bury the bones of the dead. At night he can hear the ghosts moan and stir, terrifying voices of anger and lament. Sometimes he realizes that a given voice has ceased its crying, and he knows that is one he has laid to rest.

The dead by the lake are equally Kitan and their Taguran foes; there is no way to tell the bones apart, and he buries them all with honour.

It is during a routine supply visit led by a Taguran officer who has reluctantly come to befriend him that Tai learns that others, much more powerful, have taken note of his vigil. The White Jade Princess Cheng-wan, 17th daughter of the Emperor of Kitai, presents him with two hundred and fifty Sardian horses. They are being given in royal recognition of his courage and piety, and the honour he has done the dead.

You gave a man one of the famed Sardian horses to reward him greatly. You gave him four or five to exalt him above his fellows, propel him towards rank, and earn him jealousy, possibly mortal jealousy. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor.

Tai is in deep waters. He needs to get himself back to court and his own emperor, alive. Riding the first of the Sardian horses, and bringing news of the rest, he starts east towards the glittering, dangerous capital of Kitai, and the Ta-Ming Palace – and gathers his wits for a return from solitude by a mountain lake to his own forever-altered life.



The Extra by Michael Shea (Tor, Hardcover 02/02/2010) – Shea won the World Fantasy Award in 1983 and this is quite a different book.

Books and films have skewered Hollywood's excesses, but none has ever portrayed one man's crazy vision of the future of big action/adventure films asThe Extra does. As over-the-top as Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles, as savagely dark as Robert Altman's The Player, and more violent than Rollerball, this is the story of the ultimate, so-insane-it-could-only-happen-in-Hollywood formula for success, a brave new way to bring the ultimate in excitement to the silver screen. Producer Val Margolian has found the motherlode of box-office gold with his new "live-death" films whose villains are extremely sophisticated, electronically controlled mechanical monsters. To give these live-action disaster films greater realism, he employs huge casts of extras, in addition to the stars. The large number of extras is important, because very few of them will survive the shoot.

It's all perfectly legal, with training for the extras and long, detailed contracts indemnifying the film company against liability for the extras' injury or death. But why would anyone be crazy enough to risk his or her life to be an extra in such a potentially deadly situation?

The extras do it because if they survive they'll be paid handsomely, and they can make even more if they destroy any of the animatronic monsters trying to stomp, chew, fry, or otherwise kill them. If they earn enough, they can move out of the Zoo--the vast slum that most of L.A. has become. They're fighting for a chance at a reasonable life. But first, they have to survive . . .

Books in the Mail (W/E 09/20/2009)

I get a lot of books for review on a weekly (and sometimes a daily) basis. Unfortunately, I’m not a speed reader and can’t read everything that arrives in my mailbox/in front of my garage/on my front step. This weekly post of arrivals is my effort to at least point out what comes in and not ignore it.

And Another Thing... (Book #6 in The Hithchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy) by Eoin Colfer (Hyperion Trade Paperback 10/11/2009) – I have a deep affection for the first 4 or 5 books in the trilogy and have read them each a couple of times. My wife loves the books, too. There seems to be some positivity surrounding this continuation of a deceased author’s defining work, quite the opposite of what’s happening with the Dune books.

An Englishman's continuing search through space and time for a decent cup of tea . .

Arthur Dent's accidental association with that wholly remarkable book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, has not been entirely without incident.

Arthur has travelled the length breadth and depth of known, and unknown, space. He has stumbled forwards and backwards through time. He has been blown up, reassembled, cruelly imprisoned, horribly released, and colorfully insulted more than is strictly necessary. And of course Arthur Dent has comprehensively failed to grasp the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

Arthur has finally made it home to Earth, but that does not mean he has escaped his fate.

Arthur's chances of getting his hands on a decent cuppa have evaporated rapidly along with all the world's oceans. For no sooner has he touched down on the planet Earth than he finds out that it is about to be blown up . . . ..again.

And Another Thing . . . is the rather unexpected, but very welcome, sixth installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It features a pantheon of unemployed gods, everyone's favorite renegade Galactic President, a lovestruck green alien, an irritating computer, and at least one very large slab of cheese.

Dust of Dreams (A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen) by Steven Erikson (Bantam/Transworld Hardcover 08/18/2009) – This was a nice surprise in my mailbox! I just finished Reaper’s Gale about a week and a half ago so I’m still a book away from getting to this. However, as l mentioned in that post, Owen (aka kater) reviewed Dust of Dreams for SFFWorld:

You know the drill by now, this is the ninth Malazan book written by Steven Erikson, the twelfth overall, and if you haven’t read the rest you’re beyond help.

That being said, sturdy companion, if you’re at this point of your own free will – the end is nigh. This epic, compelling and indeed, at times, maddening series is but one weighty tome away from conclusion. But do we go there armed with answers or too many questions? Unfortunately it is heavily the latter.

The first and most interesting answer (it ISN’T a spoiler don’t worry) is that Dust of Dreams is in fact the end. It seems that so large is the final chapter of Erikson’s masterpiece, which he explains in the foreword, that it needed to be split into two.

My Dead Body (Joe Pitt Casebook #5) by Charlie Huston (Del Rey Paperback 10/13/2009) – I read and really enjoyed the first Joe Pitt Casebook, Already Dead, andI interviewed Charlie a couple of years ago after the first Joe Pitt Casebook. Now that the series is finished, maybe I’ll finally catch up with all of them.


NOBODY LIVES FOREVER. NOT EVEN A VAMPYRE.

Just ask Joe Pitt. After exposing the secret source of blood for half of Manhattan’s Vampyres, he’s definitely a dead man walking. He’s been a punching bag and a bullet magnet for every Vampyre Clan in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, not to mention a private eye, an enforcer, an exile, and a vigilante, but now he’s just a target with legs.

For a year he’s sloshed around the subway tunnels and sewers, tapping the veins of the lost, while above ground a Vampyre civil war threatens to drag the Clans into the sunlight once and for all. What’s it gonna take to dig him up? Just the search for a missing girl who’s carrying a baby that just might be the destiny of Vampyre-kind. Not that Joe cares all that much about destiny and such. What he cares about is that his ex-girl Evie wants him to take the gig. What’s the risk? Another turn playing pigeon in a shooting gallery. What’s the reward? Maybe one shot of his own. What’s he aiming for? Nothing much. Just all the evil at the heart of his world.

Prince of Storms (Book Four of The Entire and the Rose) by Kay Kenyon (Tor Hardcover 01/15/2010) – I read all three books in this series Bright of the Sky, A World too Near, and City Without End) as each was released and thoroughly enjoyed them. This series is captivating and entertaining.:

Finally in control of the Ascendancy, Titus Quinn has styled himself Regent of the Entire. But his command is fragile. He rules an empire with a technology beyond human understanding; spies lurk in the ancient Magisterium; the Tarig overlords are hamstrung but still malevolent. Worse, his daughter Sen Ni opposes him for control, believing the Earth and its Rose universe must die to sustain the failing Entire. She is aided by one of the mystical pilots of the River Nigh, the space-time transport system. This navitar, alone among all others, can alter future events. He retires into a crystal chamber in the Nigh to weave reality and pit his enemies against each other.

Taking advantage of these chaotic times, the great foe of the Long War, the Jinda ceb Horat, create a settlement in the Entire. Masters of supreme technology, they maintain a lofty distance from the Entire's struggle. They agree, however, that the Tarig must return to the fiery Heart of their origins. With the banishment immanent, some Tarig lords rebel, fleeing to hound the edges of Quinn's reign.

Meanwhile, Quinn's wife Anzi becomes a hostage and penitent among the Jinda ceb, undergoing alterations that expose their secrets, but may estrange her from her husband. As Quinn moves toward a confrontation with the dark navitar, he learns that the stakes of the conflict go far beyond the Rose versus the Entire—extending to a breathtaking dominance. The navitar commands forces that lie at the heart of the Entire's geo-cosmology, and will use them to alter the calculus of power. As the navitar's plan approaches consummation, Quinn, Sen Ni, and Anzi are swept up in forces that will leave them forever changed.

In this rousing finale to Kenyon's celebrated quartet, Titus Quinn meets an inevitable destiny, forced at last to make the unthinkable choice for or against the dictates of his heart, for or against the beloved land.

Starship Flagship (Book Five of the Starship Series) by Mike Resnick (Pyr, Hardcover December 2009) –I’ve read the first three books (Starship: Mutiny, Starship: Pirate, Starship: Mercenary) in the series and really enjoyed them, and have had the fourth bookStarship Rebel on the to read pile since receiving it last year. With the concluding two volumes I’ll probably read them back-to-back.

The date is 1970 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now, and the Republic, created by the human race but not yet dominated by it, finds itself in an all-out war against the Teroni Federation, an alliance of races that resent Man's growing military and economic power.

The rebel starship, the Theodore Roosevelt, under the command of Wilson Cole, is preparing to lead Cole's ragtag armada into the Republic, even though he is outnumbered thousands to one. Cole is convinced that the government has become an arrogant and unfeeling political entity and must be overthrown.

The trick is to avoid armed conflict with the vast array of ships, numbering in the millions, in the Republic's Navy. For a time Cole's forces strike from cover and race off to safety, but he soon sees that is no way to conquer the mightiest political and military machine in the history of the galaxy. He realizes that he must reach Deluros VIII, the headquarters world of the Republic (and of the race of Man), in order to have any effect on the government at all—but Deluros VIII is the best-protected world in the Republic.

But a new threat looms on the horizon. Cole, the Valkyrie, David Copperfield, Sharon Blacksmith, Jacovic, and the rest of the crew of the Teddy R face their greatest challenge yet, and the outcome will determine the fate of the entire galaxy.

Dust, Night, and Gale - Reviews and Thoughts on Three Malazan Novels

It has been Malazan this and Malazan that the past handful of days. Yesterday, Owen posted his insightful review of the penultimate volume in the über-saga, Dust of Dreams

Thus the end begins oddly in places new - such as the fortress of an insane K’chain Che’malle matron, following a line of malnourished and tortured children out of a dark place infected by the Crippled God - and old, the court of blanket-wearing sovereign Tehol the Only. At the court of the king where an Elder God does all the work, we are surprisingly offered a few clear answers. Of the connection between warrens and decks, gods and mortals, between the things we have suspected and the little we know to this point. For its honesty; where whence there was only subterfuge and shadows, it is all the more refreshing. Don’t get used to it.

Dust of Dreams is not like the other books. It starts fast, the disparate fragments of places not yet seen and characters not yet met in the prologue give way to one of the most tense and exciting scenes in the series. Old favourites and new wards face a reading of the Deck of Dragons like no other and isn’t everybody just happy to be a part of it. Plans are laid, the board is set and the shocks have only just begun.

For my part(s), my review of Night of Knives, the first novel entry of co-creator Ian Cameron Esslemont. I thought the book was enjoyable and as a novel-length prologue to the entire series, quite effective.

One of the things that stuck with me is how little page time the three most powerful characters get in the novel. Granted, Laseen doesn’t get much play in the series books written by Erikson, either. Here, she is known as Surly and is the third most powerful person in the Malazan Empire, just under the Emperor and Dancer. Esslemont makes it pretty clear that Dancer and Kellenvad have things much loftier than ruling an empire on their mind. All told, the events of the novel take place in a 24-hour period and Esslement really maintains a frantic tense, pacing throughout the novel.

Lastly, I finished Reaper’s Gale over the weekend and thought it another solid entry in Erikson/Esslemont’s enormous world. Like most of the Malazan novels Erikson has authored, this one was both exhausting and rewarding. I won’t go into a full review here, but I’ll say that I thought the insanity and chaos inherit in the character of Rhulad Sengar paralleld some of the chaos of the series itself.




I also liked just about all the scenes involving Tehol Beddict and his ‘manservant’ Bugg, especially knowing Bugg’s true nature. Icarium was once again an imposing character, but didn’t do quite as much here. Karsa Orlong continues to be one of my favorite characters in the series, if for nothing else because of how his sheer force of will comes across so well on the page. Despite being a violent, sadistic giant, I was still rooting for Karsa. It was nice to see Quick Ben again, and his true power came across subtly, I thought. His speech patterns and interactions with Hedge were a lot fun. My only negative for both Ben and Karsa is that I would have liked to see more of both in this volume. In Ben’s case, his power and

Throughout, Erikson’s (and maybe by proxy Laseen’s) full plan comes to light through Ben and his travels in the warrens as well as the Malazan fleet that arrives in the Letherii Empire.

The pacing was a bit uneven, but that may not be surprising in a book with a page count well over 800 (in US edition and at 900 in the UK edition). At around the 3/4 mark of the book (page 700 or so in the edition I was reading) ,the pacing seemed to come to a halt and I felt as if I was forcing myself to read the book. Fortunately, about 50 or so pages later the pacing picked up again, which led to a satisfying conclusion.

In short, with each book, Steven Erikson / Ian Cameron Esslemont’s Malazan series climbs up the chart of my favorite fantasy series. The books are often chaotic, but that adds to the good ol’ sense-of-wonder and Holy Shit aspect of the series.