Well, I know I’ve made similar announcements in the past about the direction of this blog, so I suppose it can’t hurt to do so again. 2016 was the last time there was anything resembling consistent posting here at the good old o' Stuff. Many of those posts were the books in the mail posts, which felt redundant after so many years and a bit showy off after a while.
I still post reviews very, very regularly at SFFWorld, with the majority of the books I review being sent to me by publishers specifically to be reviewed. I put on a slightly different hat when I’m reading a book for review purposes vs reading a book without the intention of reviewing. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the majority of those books, but there’s a slightly different sense of commitment.
Christmas 2021 Book Haul
That leads to what I intend to do here at the Blog o’ Stuff – post book thoughts. What a novel concept for this blog, right? Well, the books I intend to feature here will be books I haven’t received for review: books I’ve purchased on my own or books I’ve received as gifts. I’m not sure how regularly I’ll do this, because I’ve often gone 4 or 5 books in a row that are review books. That said, I have one post ready to go this week, a “review” of a book I recently finished that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I’ll leave you all with a photo collage of Dusty, the dog my wife and I welcomed into our home this past summer after Sully passed in the Spring. Dusty is a sweet, smart, silly, derpy dog who has her own Instagram, if you believe that: Dusty the Derp. Amazing how she can type with those paws, but she manages to post something about once per week. Dogs are the best.
In this week’s edition of Friday Round-Up I bring you new reviews of Robin Hobb and N.K. Jemisin. But first, a little announcement.
As some folks already know, I’ve been in a job predicament for a few years. Back in 2011, I was in a job/position I really enjoyed at a company for which I enjoyed working. Things were going well, in 2010 my group (of which I was the manager), far exceeded our goals for the program we had re-launched the previous year and everybody in the group received one-time bonuses for exceeding those goals. Then the company did some reorganization and as a result of “corporate restructuring,” I was squeezed out in February 2011. What helped to slightly soften the blow is that my supervisor (the Vice President of the group), left the company shortly after I was let go because he saw the writing on the wall.
A few months later, a very good friend of mine who works for A very large Telecommunications &Technology company helped me out big time. Some of the groups at the company where he worked were looking to bring in people (as contractors) to help build up a product line. So, for the past four years (which was only supposed to be a temporary stop) I’ve been working there in what is essentially a digital assembly line capacity. To be honest, it was pretty good money, but the job has very, very little in common with my Marketing & Marketing Proposals and Publishing background. That, plus the associated instability of being a contracted employee led me to continue my job search. About a year ago, the company brought me (and a handful of folks who began as contractors the same time I did) more fully into the fold, converting me from contractor to Term Employee (essentially a hybrid between Contractor and Full-Time Employee, but working directly from the company). As I said, all this time, I was still looking for a more stable (i.e. permanent and not contractor) position more closely aligned with my decade and a half of Marketing and/or Publishing experience.
After a slew of interviews over the years (many phone interviews, which led to some face-to-face interviews) with different companies, my search has ended and I will be starting on Monday August 18 doing work much more in line with my past experience (marketing proposals) for a very impressive company with great leader at its helm and a culture (based on the interviews I’ve had, research into the company and coming to realize a friend has a relative at the company) that will help me grow and further my career along a stable path. I’m very excited for this slight career reboot and cannot wait to join the new company on Monday. For more specifics on what that is and the company, I’ll be updating my LinkedIn profile to reflect the new position once I officially begin the new job.
One thing I've learned in my job searching the past few years compared to job searching even 8 to 10 years ago is that EVERYTHING is automated and it is challenging to level up in the process for one job and actually communicate with a human being rather than an automated interface.
Back to the SFF stuff, with my reviews of two highly anticipated Fantasy releases. Last week, I posted my review of the powerful, challenging, and stunning novel from N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season:
The narrative, is initially, very chaotic. Jemisin employs multiple character points of view, one for each chapter, give the feel of a dangerous world were nobody is safe. The novel is post-apocalyptic, but takes place on a secondary world. A world where the planet is extremely unstable, where magicians (Orogenes) with powers based on geology work with technology in the hopes of keeping the world, on a literal, tectonic level, stable.
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We are introduced to this world through the eyes of Essun, and damn does Jemisin get the emotional ball rolling very quickly. Upon returning home, she realizes her husband has brutally murdered their son. This shocking moment informs Essun’s tale. The other narrators, Damaya and Syenite/Syen, travel a road no less wrought with heartbreak and sorrow and undergo changes of their own over the course of their own narrative journeys, not unlike the geological cataclysms that strike their world. Jemisin marvelously portrayed women whose changes in demeanor, and person, mirror the global changes. Not only does the story come across through these three women’s eyes/voices, each of the three story threads is told in a different narrative voice, third person narrative for Syen and Damaya, while Essun’s story is told through the rare second person present, as if we the reader are Essun. As I said, there’s some chaotic elements in the story and the narrative reflects this chaos. It takes some acclimating, but is an ultimately very rewarding storytelling technique.
This week (Tuesday, the day of the book’s launch), I posted my review of perhaps my most anticipated 2015 Fantasy novel, Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Quest:
Fool’s Quest is the second installment of The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy, which itself is the most recent in a long line of stories set in Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings (three trilogies, a quartet, and now this in-progress trilogy for a total of 15 books up to now). To say Fool’s Quest might be a tough sell for new readers is an understatement. Much of the action is predicated on events that have transpired in previous volumes of this mega-series, and most importantly on the previous installment Fool’s Assassin. But…but…before I launch into my thoughts on this volume, I’ll preface it with this. If readers have any doubt that Robin Hobb is one of the finest writers in the Fantasy genre, then they haven’t read any of her work. From the beginnings of Assassin’s Apprentice in 1995 to this most recent novel, few can balance, character, prose, and story so well. So do yourself a favor, go read Assassin’s Apprentice (the novel that started it all) or Fool’s Assassin, the first novel in this new trilogy which does work well for new readers. (This preamble also provided ample spoiler space because talking at any length about Fool’s Quest is impossible without spoiling events of Fool’s Assassin).
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The sense of urgency in the novel is extremely heightened, despite the same reserved pace that made Fool’s Assassin such a joy to read and experience. Fool’s sense of urgency to strike back at his tormentors, combined with Fitz’s desperation to find his stolen daughter made for incredible tension. Fitz’s experience; however, makes him realize rushing into their situation will only be a detriment to their success. Robin Hobb balanced their tension with a quiet reserve during many of the court scenes and meetings that Fitz was obliged to experience very well, giving both frustration and hope. Hobb’s magnetic, captivating prose completely wrapped itself around me.
So, after a little about three years, I've rejiggered the blog again. I've kept the red but changed background to white and I've settled on this current look. For my eyes, this seems a cleaner and more professional look than what I had before. I believe this is the fifth layout change I've made since I started this blog back in 2004. In blog years, that makes me something like 83 years old
Along with the modified look and feel, I'll be posting more content here - more reviews rather than linking to them at SFFWorld, (though a decent number of reviews will be reposted older reviews from SFFWorld), some more interviews, and maybe some guest posts from authors and/or maybe some blogger/reviewers from the online genre community. Basically, I'm aiming for a more unified and singular location for my my reviews and ramblings
To close out the post, and for the hell of it, here's another picture of my dog Sully. Like me, she's looking forward to what the future will bring.
I’ve attended one author signing, George R.R. Martin’s signing for A Dance with Dragons, worked Book Expo America a couple of times and hamet and had Peter V. Brett and Myke Cole sign things for me at NY Comic-Con.
Rear: Me, Bob S, Brandon, Drew; Front: Phil, SaraJane, Harriet, Paul, and Ash
The Brandon Sanderson signing in the Philadelphia Library on February 19, 2013; however, was a bit different. I was one of the helpers, designated as a Memory Keeper whereby seven people in total helped to keep the line of fans (approximately 300-400) entertained; take photos of fans with Brandon and Harriet; and to help with the shuffling of books between Brandon and Harriet when the books were signed.
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? The event began for me at about 5:15 when I met three of the other seven Memory Keepers (Paul, Phil, and SaraJane) at the Library and proceeded to a nice restaurant close to the Library where we chatted over dinner. Paul, Phil, and Sara-Jane were as enthused as I was. Phil brought several pieces of memorabilia (Wheel of Time playing cards most of which have really great art although the rendition of Rand makes him look like the lead singer of a 1980s hair-metal band, a poster of one of the cards) which we exchanged over dinner.
As is often the case when people like us get together, the discussion strayed a bit and of course it landed on A Song of Ice and Fire and the Game of Thrones show on HBO as well as other authors we enjoyed. As dinner was winding down, Drew, the fifth Memory Keeper arrived. Me being a NJ Devils fan, I of course made sure I wore my NJ Devils hoodie and Drew, a fan of the rival Philadelphia Flyers, had kind words for me (i.e. not kind), but he then joined in with our discussion of A Memory of Light and similar reading tastes (George R.R. Martin, Terry Brooks, Joe Abercrombie and I kept mentioning Peter V. Brett and Myke Cole as authors they should be reading) and hashed out who are favorite WoT characters were. Discussion focused quite a bit on The Last Battle
Phil, Me, Paul & Sara Jane
Dinner concluded and we headed back to the library and donned our red Memory Keepers t-shirts, met up with the remaining Memory Keepers (Bob S. and Ash) and set about our tasks. Initially, we just sort of walked the line of people waiting to go into the auditorium in the library's basement. Phil took photos and helped to herd people into the auditorium, which was eventually filled with some folks standing in the rear. Prior to Brandon and Harriet arriving, I had the opportunity to speak with Joshua Bilmes and Jessie Cammack of JABberwocky Literary Agency, who represents Brandon as well as great authors like Peter V. Brett, Jack Campbell, Myke Cole, David Louis Edelman, Jim Hines, Elizabeth Moon, and T.C. McCarthy among many others. Memory Keeper Paul and I discussed with them some of their clients a. We also discussed the Composite Superman of an author Peter Brent Weeks and the event in general.
Brandon and Harriet arrived after their dinner with the library staff. Brandon apologized for his voice because he’d be sucking on cough drops because, well, he’s been touring and his throat was sore from all the talking at this late stage of the tour. He recounted the story of his introduction to The Wheel of Time and fantasy in general. Brandon told the story (which I’m sure he’s recounted at many of these signings and many interviews) of how Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly (a terrific novel recently re-released by Open Road Media in eBook) was gently forced upon him by his teacher named Mrs. Reader and Brandon was hooked on fantasy. Realizing he liked big books, he found The Eye of the World at his local comic/book/Magic store and was happy to finally have a series that was ‘his’ to share with his friends who were always sharing ‘their’ series with him. When Brandon mentioned submitting his novels for publication, the one novel he submitted directly to Tor rather than through his agent was his first published novel Elantris. Brandon recounted how he didn’t let Joshua (his agent) do his job and negotiate because he wanted to be published by Tor, specifically because they published The Wheel of Time. In 2005 Elantris was published.
Harriet joined in the storytelling when it came to the point where Brandon was offered the gig to finish writing the series
Two natural storytellers keeping the crowd entertained
Harriet also told of how she realized Brandon would be "The Guy" (or as I've sometimes thought, the proverbial Rand Al'Thor tapped on the shoulder by the creator to take up the tale). She also relayed her conversation with Tom Doherty, after being handed a printout of Brandon’s eulogy for Robert Jordan. Doherty was concerned that maybe Harriet didn’t connect with Brandon’s writing because Harriet fell asleep after reading a small portion of Mistborn: The Final Empire. Harriet said because she didn’t want to (a) correct everything in the book due to her Editor’s mindset or (b) throw the book across the room in frustration, she felt comfortable with the story he was telling. She also told Doherty, “Besides, I’m not hiring him to write a Mistborn novel, I’m hiring him to write a Wheel of Time novel.”
Harriet mentioned that when she called information for Provo, Utah, she was given Brandon Sanderson’s phone number, but the person with whom she spoke on the phone had no idea about what she was talking. As it turned out, another Brandon Sanderson lives in Provo, UT but he’s a professional wrestler. When she called Brandon, she told him he was on the short list and held up one finger for the audience. Brandon, after thinking about it, said yes. Again, he didn’t let Joshua do any negotiating, Brandon simply said yes.
Another humorous anecdote involved the many, many, many files Robert Jordan kept regarding The Wheel of Time. Brandon was determined to get a word count of all the notes so he assembled all the word documents into one file. If I recall correctly, Brandon mentioned the page count was at 32,000 pages in his final document when he clicked the word count button. Word stopped at (IIRC) 5 million words and it wasn’t done counting. Word and his PC summarily crashed.
The Q&A session then began, much of which involved questions about The Wheel of Time and Brandon’s experience working in it. He also noted that the second Stormlight Archivebook is tentatively set for the fall/November 2013, and he hopes he can make that date.
When a fan asked about the Outrigger novels and Prequels, Harriet answered “No.” After a moment of silence, she recounted that while Jim very much wanted the mainline Wheel of Time series to be finished, he didn’t want anybody making up things in his sandbox. Jordan’s extensive notes, dictated and written, were the framework for the final three novels while three sentences at most constitute the Outrigger and prequel novels.
When asked why Brandon didn’t write the second Stormlight novel between Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light he indicated writing The Way of Kings simultaneously with The Wheel of Time nearly drove him crazy. (Personal note, it is amazing that he produced two quality novels under that type of pressure.)
Brandon also indicated that he felt selfish about asking if he could create a new character or work with a character which was mostly his own creation for the books. Harriet immediately shushed him for hinting that he was selfish for thinking such a thing, then Brandon continued to tell of the creation of Androl, which allowed him to play with the magic in ways he’d hoped (fannishly) to explore (i.e. Portals). Harriet also provided Brandon with a folder about how leathermaking works in Randland which was perfectly timed to provide Androl with more depth as a character.
The Encyclopedia came up in the discussion as potentially publishing next year. Harriet indicated that this “wouldn’t be just another version of the Big White Book.” It would be an encyclopedia in the truest sense of the word and would likely include some of Jordan’s vast stores of notes. Once the manuscript is finished, it will go off to Tor and illustrating will begin. Unlike the rushed (to be kind) illustrations in the Big White Book, more time will be allowed for the illustrations. No illustrator name was given, so it wasn’t clear if they had one under contract already, if they would have only one illustrator for the entire volume, or if multiple illustrators would be commissioned. Personally, I can see both sides, having one artist’s vision for things in Randland would provide a unified vision versus the chance to see a lot of artists take on things in Randland.
A few more specific questions were asked about things like Asha’man, one person noted that he’d been with his wife for “five books,” another mentioned that she hadn’t read The Wheel of Time and was more of a Brandon Sanderson fan but started The Eye of the World once A Memory of Light published and was really enjoying it.
Questions were asked about the difference between editing Jordan and editing Brandon. Harriet responded that it worked well and Brandon’s insightful answer was that it was not as problematic as one might think. Specifically, Harriet knows more about the characters and world of The Wheel of Time than anybody in the world, so Brandon felt that freed him up a bit in order to flow through the story more easily. After the Q&A/Discussion concluded, everybody headed upstairs to the main foyer of the library for the signing.
Whoo boy.
A small portion of the line.
The line wended its way down a hall, around bookcases and finally outside of the library and around the side of the building. I believe approximately 400 people were on line at one point, with many of them holding onto their minimum 3 items. Brandon would sign only the final three Wheel of Time novels (and none of the ones he didn’t co-author), any of his own novels, and whatever assorted Wheel of Time miscellany (such as the poster one of the Memory Keepers brought). Harriet would sign and Wheel of Time novel or memorabilia and Ender’s Game which she edited. I did not know she edited that novel.
My role at this point was to take pictures of people with Brandon and/or Harriet on fan’s own cameras/devices. Point of information, the camera on the iPhone is FAR superior to the camera on Android devices. Phil was handling overall photo events, and Bob was handling the video. SaraJane sat between Brandon and Harriet preparing the books for Harriet after Brandon’s signature. Drew, Paul, and Ash helped to entertain the crowd/line with Wheel of Time trivia which resulted in people walking away with messenger bags and/or iPhone cases emblazoned with the WOT logo, author’s names and A Memory of Light. Towards the end as the line became more bunched up at the signing table, Paul stepped up and helped to take some photos.
Although I was taking some pictures during the signing, I was able to point my ears into some of the conversations between Brandon and the fans.
First and foremost, Brandon is an awesome person.
He first thanked people for coming, then asked if they had any questions for him. Never once did he rush anybody or shush them. For fans who mentioned they were writers themselves, he offered words of encouragement.
One great bit of information I overheard was the next Mistborn novel would be published in 2014. Brandon also mentioned (and I tried to filter this through all the other discussions circulating) that Hoid would be the main character (I think) of the trilogy or that Hoid would feature as the main character in another trilogy.
I also overheard Brandon say his least favorite Wheel of Time character was Cadsuane, I don’t think he is alone in that. Actually, for I fact I know he isn’t alone because she was probably my least favorite character as well.
One Russian fan brought a Russian edition of Mistborn: The Final Empire to be signed.
Another Bulgarian fan said the Bulgarian translations, which are recent, were done very well.
I spoke to Harriet about the covers in the series, remarking how she indicated when she saw Whelan’s cover for A Memory of Light she said “that is the Rand I have waited to see for twenty years.” Harriet then said how Whelan’s art, though his own style, she felt, was able to mesh with the sensibilities Sweet had always brought to his covers, in particular the landscapes. I asked her what her favorites of the covers were she immediately said The Eye of the World she thought another moment and said she liked The Shadow Rising.
After all the other folks had their books signed it was down to the library staff, Brandon, Harriet, Brandon’s agent Joshua and the seven Memory Keepers. Brandon graciously signed what we brought including my paperback copy of The Way of Kings which quotes my SFFWorld review and calls out my name (!!!).
Still chuffed to see my name in print like that! First time I'm called out by name.
I also had my hardcover copies of Mistborn: The Hero of Ages, A Memory of Light, and Towers of Midnight signed as well as The Alloy of Law signed for one of my wife’s colleagues and paperbacks of Mistborn: The Well of Ascension and Mistborn: The Hero of Ages signed for a friend who was unable to attend.
My SFFWorld review of The Well of Ascencion is on the back flap
So, a long night, but one of the best nights I’ve had as a fan and a reader. It was a blast meeting and chatting with Harriet and Brandon, as well as his agent Joshua and great to get to know some other Wheel of Time fans in real life. A big thanks to the folks at Tor books, Brandon, Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal and the folks at Dragonmount for making this night possible
So, as every fan of the genre knows, A Dance with Dragons published on Tuesday. What not many people do know is that it has already become the best selling fiction book of 2011. That's one of the the things George R. R. Martin told the assembled mass of about 1,000 fans at the book signing I attended with my brother-in-law and our friend last night at the Barnes & Noble Union Square in NYC. We arrived at about 2PM, so we were lucky enough to get seats though about 200-250 people were already seated by the time we arrived.
Mr. Martin also informed the crowd, some of whom claimed to have been waiting since 8 AM, of the 13 Emmy nominations Game of Thrones received, including Best Drama, Best Supporting actor for Peter Dinklage, Best director, Best Writing, as well as the other awards. He went on to talk a bit about the delay and indicated he wouldn't be making any promises about deliveries of future novels or adding notes in the back of books telling readers to expect the next book "in about a year." He also said, along these lines, he wants to keep the series to seven and is doing everything he can to stick with 7 books. He won't promise, but thinks it is possible although he reminded us that the series was originally a trilogy.
He spoke of the split between A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, how he thought he had a head start with 500 pages ready for Dance. As we all know, that wasn't quite the case as the final manuscript for Dance turned into 1500 pages with some of those original 500 pages scrapped.
Mr. Martin reminisced about one early signing for A Game of Thrones where the four people in the store walked out after he was announced. He likes signings like last nights just a little bit more than that first signing. Some of the other things he touched upon he'd said in previous interviews and talks, like Tyrion being his favorite character, though he loves all of his literary children, especially when writing that specific character.
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Mr. Martin voiced the frustration of taking six years to write the book and "some of you finished the goddamned book in one day!"
When asked what book he'd recently read that really blew him away he said Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey. He of course recused himself by admitting that Daniel Abraham, one half of the author, is a friend.
This was the first real author-specific book signing I attended and it was a bit different than I expected. The people around whom I was sitting, who indicated they were members of the Westeros forum, and I expected to see at least a few people decked out in costumes. What we did see on a lot of people were the shirts from the HBO shop. For my part, I wore the HODOR shirt I had made as part of the team theme my wife, brother-in-law and our friends wore about a month ago for WARRIOR DASH.
I'm the shouting fool with the black cap at the far right throwing up the Metal Horns
Quite a few people commented on my HODOR shirt and even Mr. Martin gave me a HODOR of approval just before signing the glorious tome.
All told, a great evening, despite the horrendous traffic on the NJ Turnpike Extension after exiting the Holland Tunnel.
Eleven years ago was the best and most important day of my life. It was the day I married my college sweetheart, best friend and soul-mate. These three qualities, as well as many other great qualities, were embodied in one beautiful, amazing woman. I still consider myself the luckiest guy in the world and know I am a better man for having her as my wife.
Just one review this time ‘round at SFFWorld and it happens to be mine.
But first ... About a week ago, this blog turned 6 years old. Hoooo-leeee crap. I wasn't sure what it would evolve into but I didn't imagine as a result of this and my work at SFFWorld that I would be getting so many books. When I first started, I was reading quite a few comic book blogs and only one or two of those folks are still blogging regularly. Or at least regularly with content that I continue to read.
I guess in blog years, 6 years makes me one of the crotchety old dudes. So stop speeding down my street and keep off my lawn! I moved to a new house, switched jobs about three times and got a dog in the time since I began this blog. A lot of newer blogs have cropped up and far surpassed the consistency and quality of content I post here. Folks like Adam, Aidan, Amanda, Andrew, Graeme, James, Jeff, Kristen, Liviu/Robert/Mihir/Cindy, The Mad Hatter, Mark, and Pat just to name a few.
Back to regularly scheduled programming, my latest review which is Clay and Susan Griffith’s first book in their Vampire Empire series, The Greyfriar:
The Vampire Empire is set in the year 2020, 150 years after Vampires have come out of hiding to wage war on humanity. The vampires have taken over a good portion of Europe and driven humans to the equatorial regions since vampires don’t deal well with warm weather. The novel begins when Princess Adele’s airship is taken down by vampires on the way to meeting her betrothed Senator Grant, a larger than life American who killed quite a few vampires over the course of the war. Although Adele is reluctant to marry this man, she realizes the marriage will unite the two human nations under one banner which would give humans a better chance at fighting the war against the Vampires. Fortunately for Adele and the hopes of humanity, the mysterious Greyfriar comes to save the day and rescues her from the vampires.
The authors smartly show both sides of the vampire-human war. While this doesn’t necessarily paint the vampires in any better a light, it doesn’t make them an unknowable evil. Through character conversations, the Griffiths reveal a backstory for the vampires that doesn’t differ entirely too much from the commonly accepted as the vampire myth with a few exceptions. For example, the aforementioned aversion to warm weather is a logical enhancement to the myth. However, what was interesting was the mention of vampire children, and vampire women birthing vampire babies. Clearly, there is something more to be told here of the origins of the vampires.
In the end, I enjohed the novel, but I couldn’t help but compare it to E.E. Knights Vampire Earth saga, which works for me more so than the Griffith’s efforts. At least one book into the series.
Also, that image above does NO justice to the physical book as foil stamping and 'real life' coloring compared to a jpeg, in this case, is worlds apart.
It’s been a while since I posted here, with vacation and another thing or two taking up my time. One of which was catch up at work after vacation and the other can be seen at the bottom of this post.
As for my latest review, it is of a modern classic of the genre. Or, at the very least, part of one of the modern classic Science Fiction series. That series is Iain M. Banks’s The Culture and the book is The Player of Games
As the title would indicate, Gurgeh is a renowned game player in the Culture and he is offered a chance to compete at what is considered a very complex game that defines a society not part of the Culture itself – the Azad. Azad is the name of the game and the society. The background here is that the Culture doesn’t make its presence known to planets or societies that don’t have sufficiently advanced technology, which happens to be the case with Azad. The Culture wishes to use Gurgeh to get a feel for the civilization of Azad and whether or not Azad is a threat or potential ally. Fluffing out that straightforward plot is the complexity of how Gurgeh was ‘recruited’ by the Culture to infiltrate Azad.
Mark/Hobbit asked, after I bounced him the review for a once-over before I posted it to SFFWorld, if I was less enthralled because the book was 20+ years old and was perhaps dated. I don’t think so, because I didn’t find the plot entirely enthralling and even the description didn’t light off all my bells before reading it. That said, what I’ve read of Banks I really enjoyed so I felt it necessary to read the book, and I want to make my way through the entire The Culture saga. Specifically, I do want to jump into Use of Weapons as I’ve heard/seen/read great things about the book.
As for the other reason my blogging and net life has been less active? We’ll the o’ Stuff household has grown a bit in the past week as we adopted a puppy last week. Her name is Sully, after the lead singer of our favorite band Godsmack. Yeah we know Sully of Godsmack is a man our dog is a girl, but she won’t know the difference. Her mother is Great Pyrenees and the rescue organization from whom we adopted her thinks the father was a Labrador Retriever. Of course, most places will default to the Lab since the breed is so loved and the most popular breed. Regardless, Sully is active, curious, very smart, fun, and can be a bit of a handful. Then again, she’s a puppy so that’s to be expected.
I'll still be posting links to SFFWorld reviews. I may continue my Books in the Mail posts, they are more time consuming to post than one would expect, so maybe I'll just add highlights of rather than the entire weekly haul. I hope my millions of readers like dogs, because I'll probably continue to post pictures of the crazy four-legged ball of fur.
Since Adam and Pat are doing it, among others, I figured I might as well do it, too with a couple of disclaimers. The tally is for all the books I’ve read (35), not just those I reviewed (20) and not all are 2010 books. 15 of the books are 2010 books and all the 2010 books (graphic novels excluded) I read were for review.
So click on the image or this link (or the word "victim" above) and learn a bit more about the man behind this particular blog. I know my millions and millions of readers have wanted to know.
Aside from being a Boston fan, Pete’s seems a good chap with a predilection for omnibuses. So, if you wan to know a little bit about me, head over to the interview on his blog.
Sometimes a book will arrive on my doorstep that seems out of my normal realm of reading tastes, slightly to the left or right of what I’d normally read. That was the case with Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert, which I received back in November, read in May and finally posted the review yesterday.
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and mysticism are the two main ingredients in Natasha Mostert’s Keeper of Light and Dust. The novel centers on two protagonists, Nick Duffy and Mia Lockhart who have known each other since they were children. Mia is a Keeper, almost like a guardian angel who has taken a number of fighters on the London circuit under her ‘protection” who also works as a tattoo artist. Nick is a MMA fighter on the London independent circuit, who as the story begins, is training for a fight that could earn him a championship. . . . While I enjoyed the meat, the middle of the novel, I felt the ending was something of a let down. Mostert built up the conflict between Mia and her antagonist very well – there was dramatic tension, and they never really came face to face until the novel’s conclusion.
I learned a valuable lesson this past weekend – wine can really creep up on you and punch you in the throat if you aren’t careful. Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff, wise woman that she is, tells me to stick to what I know – namely beer and whiskey. I think I’ll be following that advice for a long time to come.
Is it bad that in the second chapter of a book I started yesterday, I’m already annoyed by the protagonist? Especially when the novel is a first person-narrative? At this point, all I can think is that I’ve got this protagonist telling me her story for another 300+ pages, and I don't like her or her voice. I might have to set this book aside.
I generally try to make it through more than 25 pages of a book before giving up, but this protagonist makes me want to just hang up the proverbial phone on the conversation that this book is. I like to get a little deeper into a book before realizing it might not work for me – page 100 or 1/3 into the book are two pretty solid markers. With an ever-increasing pile of unread books; however, I suppose a stricter cut off point might be in order.
Now don’t get me wrong, I go into every book hoping I’ll enjoy it and wanting to make it to that last page. However, I’ll sometimes see how much more of the book in question I’ve got to read and compare that to all the other unread books I’ve got and I soon have to make a choice. I’ve already given up on one book this year, and very recently, so I’m reluctant to stop this soon into another book. Before that, the last book I completely stopped reading was back in March 2007, so maybe I'm due again?
2008 proved to be another year of good reading. All told, I read over 80 books in 2008, most of which were novels, a few collections/anthologies and a handful of graphic novels.
The majority of the books I read last year (50 out of84) were released in 2008, which is pretty much the percentage I’ve been hitting in past falling years. Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files continues to keep my interests very high. I made it through four of the novels, Dead Beat, Summer Knight, Death Masks, and Blood Rites as well as the novella Backup and the comic/graphic novel Welcome to the Jungle. Some may call these novels guilty pleasures, regardless, they are really entertaining reads. Most of the other non-2008 books I read were part of series that saw new volumes publish in 2008 or were reissues/compilations of earlier editions. On to the 2008 reads…
Rob Favorite Science Fiction Novel(s) Read in 2008
This was a dead tie between a new book for 2008, a genre classic, and a book I re-read this year. This year’s book was obviously Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.
Despite that analogy and the frightening overtones of the scope of this story, Doctorow provides a great balance and manages to keep the story upbeat throughout. He also gives the reader what amounts to a guide to security evasion and computer hacking. Since the book is told from Marcus’s first-person point-of-view, these passages are very readable and come across more of a conversation than anything else. Only a couple of these “conversational instructions” slowed the pace of the plot.
Doctorow’s novel is scary because it resonates so much with the real world; personal freedoms are sacrificed in order for our own “safety.” Doctorow evokes both Orwell and Philip K. Dick in the sense of paranoia, but Doctorow (obviously) brings a more modern sensibility to the fore. Doctorow has been at the forefront of electronic rights and in the science fiction genre. Aside from the aforementioned slow patches, the novel is note-perfect and I found it very difficult to put the book down. Entertaining, enlightening and eye-opening, Little Brother will only further reinforce Cory Doctorow’s presence as one of the visionaries of free speech advocacy and great storytelling in the 21st Century.
The classic is Robert A. Heinlein’s seminal Starship Troopers, which I reviewed here on the blog earlier in 2008. At the time I said:
One thing that surprised me as I was reading the book was how little action and science-fictiony stuff happens for the better part of the novel. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think the best science fiction novels, like this one, have an utterly human quality to them. Even if Johnny Rico serves as something of a mouthpiece for Heinlein (as some have said), the character comes across as genuinely human.
Honorable mention goes to Matthew Stover’s Heroes Die, which I read for the third time this past year (and yes it is science fiction although it also works as fantasy). His voice, particularly as Caine, is the most compelling fictional hero I’ve ever read in novel form.
Rob’s Favorite Fantasy Novel(s) Read in 2008
Caine Black Knife was not only my favorite Fantasy novel of 2008, it was my top novel overall. It was great to get back into Caine’s head and hear his voice narrate for me.
Back to Caine, though, because Stover really leaves the reader no choice in the matter, which is not a complaint by any means. Because the majority of the novel is told through Caine’s voice and reactions, we as the reader are not given any other option on who to believe or trust. Caine’s POV is the only one and as such, his voice flows and filters the narrative more smoothly than just about any first person narrator this side of Severian of the Guild. The difference here is Severian is explicitly an unreliable narrator, Caine seems more reliable. To paraphrase and sum up the themes of Stover’s work, Caine isn’t trying to sell us anything, he puts his faults and scars on the table for all to view. His voice is frank, direct, and a terrifically engaging one that comes across as, for lack of a more refined term, a very likeable and endearing asshole. Then again, I can say that because I’ve never been on the opposite end of Caine’s frustrations.
In addition to Caine’s internal dialogue informing the narrative and plot, his dialogue with other characters helps to move the plot along at a brisk pace. With multi-character dialogue comprising multiple pages, I was again reminded of Roger Zelazny. From what I recall, vast pages of his Amber novels are primarily dialogue between characters. Here, both Stover and Zelazny’s dialogue is somewhat terse in that the exchanges between characters is brief as each character takes their turn speaking to the other, but dense in how it conveys the individual scenes of the novel and the over-reaching plot as a whole. It is a nice trick to pull of when it works so well; but one of those easy looking things you get a sense aren’t that easy to refine.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Shadow of the Wind is one of the most powerful, haunting and beautifully written novels I have ever read. It defies genres and slips into fantasy mainly because of the wonderful Cemetery of Forgotten Books. The review has taken me a while to write because the novel was so powerful. I can’t recommend this novel enough.
It was a pretty solid year, but standing out for me was Brent Weeks and his Night Angel Trilogy. With very little (compared to Rothfuss and Lynch) prepublication Internet buzz, this trilogy swept in the final three months of the year and really generated a great deal of steam, particularly at SFFWorld. I still haven’t read the final book in the trilogy, but I did review The Way of Shadows and Shadows Edge.
Taylor Anderson also impressed me with the first two books (Destroyermen I: Into the Storm and Destroyermen II: Crusade) of his alternate history/crossover saga about a World War II Naval Destroyer swept into a world with intelligent lemurs and lizards.
Favorite Undiscovered/Overlook Gem of 2008
By undiscovered/overlooked, I mean an author and/or book(s) that have been on the shelves for a couple of years but didn’t receive that much attention from the reading circles in which I find myself. In other words, SFFWorld, my blogroll, and Westeros. This just might have to go to Joshua Palmatier whose Throne of Amenkor trilogy was finished in January 2008. Granted, I came to these books late in 2008, but the series is very entertaining and seemed to be drowned out when The Skewed Throne was published in 2006 by cries of Rotfhuss and Lynch.
Favorite Publisher of the Year
Newish publishers continue to make big splashes in the genre; Pyr is trucking along and ended the year with great news – they are bringing James Barclay’s Raven novels to the US. These are very solid heroic fantasy novels in the David Gemmell vein. Not to be outdone, Orbit Books has made a considerable impact since its US debut in 2007. Orbit has been bringing Iain M. Banks’s Culture novels back into print and ended their publishing year with Brent Weeks’s Night Angel Trilogy, publishing the three books in successive months. Tor keeps trucking along, as do the other major publishers (Roc/Ace, DAW, Harper/Eos, Del Rey, and BantamSpectra). Smaller presses are growing and their books are looking terrific – NightShade Books and Subterranean Press have produced great limited editions; solid anthologies; and important & well regarded reprints.
As for favorite, this is a tough one because many of the publishers published interesting books in 2008. Pyr has been impressing me a lot in the past few years, but slightly newer (at least in the US) is Orbit Books who has been publishing a very diverse group of authors and keeping a relatively updated Web presence has impressed me the most in 2008.
Favorite Short Story Collections/Anthologyies Read in 2008
John Joseph Adams released three anthologies, two of which I read and were outstanding. Both are reprint anthologies and will likely stand as benchmarks and seminal anthologies in the respective subgenres. Wastelands is an awesome anthology of apocalyptic proportions. Here’s what I said about it:
Post-apocalyptic stories have long been a popular subset of Science Fiction and Fantasy. From short stories to novels to movies to television shows, the milieu of a people trying to cope with a world after the collapse of civilization has proven fertile ground for writer’s and reader’s imaginations for many years. In this collection, John Joseph Adams, long time editor at the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction gathers some of the pre-eminent storytellers and their visions of a devastated world in this admirable collection. The introduction by John Joseph Adams sets the mood and tone for the collection, going into greater detail upon the subgenre. . . . With 85% of the stories working not just well, but extremely well for me, I can’t help but give this collection the highest recommendation. I think this will be a cornerstone for most reader’s shelves.
Like his Wastelands anthology respective to post-apocalyptic fiction, Adams has culled together a massive amount (34 in total) number of stories on Zombies. To call this volume anything other than must have would be selling it short, the stories range a great number of years and capture many unique voices on one of the seminal images and iconic characters of Horror fiction and is something I know I’ll be pulling down every Hallowe’en. This impressive, massive anthology would make a great gift to give by the light of the Jack o’ Lantern.
David Weber’s Worlds of Weber retrospective was pretty good, too and works (as it did for me) as a great introduction to his work.
Favorite Author Whose Work I Revisited
Jack McDevitt. I went through a spate a few years ago where I read a good four or five of his novels, but nothing since. In that time, he won an award and published a slew of new novels. Most recently was The Devil’s Eye. That was the only book I read from him last year, but it reminded me that I really need to catch up with those books he published in the past few years.
Jack McDevitt returns with an all new novel featuring Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath, the heroes of McDevitt’s 2006 Nebula Award Winning novel, Seeker. Though I’ve read a good portion of McDevitt’s output, The Devil’s Eye is the first book I’ve read by him in quite a while (having enjoyed most of his other novels, particularly Moonfall) and the first I’m reading to feature Benedict and Kolpath. Like the earlier Alex Benedict novels, The Devil’s Eye is a science fiction/mystery hybrid. The Alex Benedict novels are set approximately 10,000 years in our future, with humanity having spread across the galaxy encountering intelligent alien species. This other species, Ashyyur, is feared by humanity at large both for the tall appearance, lack of true speaking voice, and ability to read minds. Benedict is a dealer in archaeological antiquities, which serves to connect with the reader in that Benedict shows a predilection for 20th Century antiquities. The far-future setting also is quite recognizable as human, except on a galactic scale.
Most Disappointing Reads of 2008
Three books didn’t work for me that I had high hopes for when I began reading them last year. Each book disappointed me for different reasons, though.
Thunderer by Felix Gilman came out late enough in 2007 to really be considered a 2008 book, and it just didn’t work for me. I had relatively high hopes for it because people whose taste I often trust had good things to say about the book. The book wasn’t really bad, but it just didn’t click with me and may be one of those books I try at a later date.
Empress by Karen Miller was the other major reading disappointment of 2008 for me. The first, I don’t know, quarter of the book was pretty gripping. I was in synch with what Miller was trying to do in building up what amounts to an Evil Empress. The character, Hekat, was engaging. However, something really turned the bend for me in both the character of Hekat and the story itself. I began hating her, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a main character. That hate very quickly turned into outright annoyance, which spread from Hekat to the whole story.
Juggler of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner was disappointing, too. I really enjoyed, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed, Fleet of Worlds by the same duo. The sequel really missed the mark for me and didn’t capture what I enjoyed about the first one.
So what’s more a frustrating disappointing read? Expectations based on other’s recommendations, a book just losing everything that made it good for a small early portion, or a disappointing sequel not living up to its predecessor?
OK, I think I’ve covered it all, in terms of books read. I will, most likely, remember something a few days after posting this, though.
It’s a day late, but four years ago yesterday guitar god Dimebag Darrell Abbot was senselessly gunned down on stage doing what he loved most, playing guitar. I think about it every once and again, when Pantera or Damagepan (or Black Label Society’s In this River) comes up on my iPod or radio and it still pisses me off and saddens me. All Dime wanted to do was jam out, drink, and hang with his pals. So, light a candle, raise your drink and toast to the memory of one of the greatest Metal and Rock guitarists ever. I was lucky enough to see both Pantera and Damageplan live.
In this River by Black Label Society
Walk is probably Pantera’s most famous song, and rightly so. The main riff is so recognizable and just charges you up with adrenaline, it works when you’re in a good mood or when you’re pissed off.
However, Cemetary Gates might be my favorite song from Pantera, it’s got both a great slow side and a hard edge and the way Anselmo’s voice and Dime’s guitar “duel” at the end is just great.
In less somber news, I posted up my latest review last night, the second novel in Taylor Anderson's highly entertaining Destroyermen sequence, Crusade. While the two books haven’t been perfect, they’ve fit the bill as solid entertainment. With that in mind, here’s a brief glimpse of my review:
Once again, Anderson’s background as a military historian informs much of the narrative. Whereas the first novel, this was a bit of a speed bump in the story, Anderson managed to smooth that out and the narrative here in Crusade moved along at a better pace because of it. I was also pleasantly surprised at how well Anderson managed to maintain both the tension and plausibility of the evolving relationship between the Lemurians and Humans. What I hinted at earlier, the men’s anxieties, came to a well-handled head towards the middle of the book. Anderson, in his dedication, mentions Honor as an important thing to him and obviously, to the characters he’s created. This honor helped to keep the Lemurian-human relationship intact in the face of dishonorable human actions.
Over the weekend I finished Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, one of the most powerful and haunting novels I’ve ever read. The thing that amazed me, perhaps the most, about the novel is that the translation manages to hold such beautifully rendered language together. I don’t speak or read Spanish so I can’t compare the translation to the original, but there is a very magical quality to not just the story itself, but in how it was told. I’m going to let this one percolate a bit before I attempt to write a review.
Last but not least, 10 years ago today I asked my wife for her hand in marriage.
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.
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.
As the title implies, the two reviews I posted last night are both for books set in Jim Butcher entertaining and enormously popular Dresden Files. However, they are books off the main line of the novels.
The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle is the bound/graphic novel which is comprised of the 4-issue miniseries that graced comic shop shelves over the summer. I picked up both the single issues and received the bound version from the publisher. As my review indicates, I really enjoyed it and think it is a solid introduction to Harry Dresden’s world. I thought the art was pretty good and the story was engaging. The Dabels are going to be publishing comics adaptations of all the Dresden Files novels, starting with Storm Front.
The other Dresden Files offshoot I reviewed was Backup, a novelette coming out this month from the fine folks at Subterranean Press. I thought the story was good, even though Harry was a supporting character, and this length seems a great fit for smaller stories in Dresden Files.
Keeping with the spooky theme, Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff, my brother-in-law, his friend, and I went up to the Forest of Fear in Tuxedo NY over the weekend. It was basically a town carnival with a cool haunted slaughterhouse at its center. Of course since I’m the biggest person of our group, I got spooked the most when costumed people jumped from around corners and what not.
