The Dragon's Nine Sons by Chris Roberson

I posted my review of Chris Roberson’s The Dragon’s Nine Sons a couple of days ago. This was the second novel I read by Roberson and enjoyed it almost as much. Good pacing, a good reveal of each of the main characters and a nifty alternate future history.

As I was stumbling across Chris's blog, I saw this picture that is a creepy and cool interpretation of an 80s icon.

Last, and most certainly not least the trailer for The Clone Wars is up at StarWars.com. I almost forgot about this coming out later in the summer, but this looks cool.

I've been posting quite a bit of Star Wars content lately, haven't I?

Books In the Mail (W/E 5/10)

Here’s the arrivals for last week: Where dates aren’t noted, the book is on shelves now.

Cosmos Incorporated by Maurce G.Dantec
Dantec is a prominent French science fiction writer whose work is now seeing release here in the US. His novel Babylon Babies is the inspiration for the Vin Diesel film Babylon A.D.

Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory
This is Gregory's debut novel publishes in August. This has a 1950s setting and from the back of the book, it sounds a bit like the Bill Paxton film Frailty, except the demons are real. This sound really interesting.

Orphanage and Orphan’s Destiny by Robert Buettner repackaged with a nice uniform treatment by Orbit books. I really enjoyed the first two books (titles link to my reviews) so as I said earlier, I was happy to see Orbit books continue the series when they took over for Warner Aspect.

Orphan’s Journey also arrived, which I’m looking forward to reading.

Queen’s Bastard by C.E. Murphy - In a world where religion has ripped apart the old order, Belinda Primrose is the queen’s secret weapon. The unacknowledged daughter of Lorraine, the first queen to sit on the Aulunian throne, Belinda has been trained as a spy since the age of twelve by her father, Lorraine’s lover and spymaster. Amid court intrigue and magic, loyalty and love can lead to more daring passions, as Belinda discovers that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
Sample Chapter

The Brass Bed by Jennifer Stevenson – Paranormal demonic romance. There are a lot of these out there.

Kull: Exile of Atlantis by Robert E. Howard illustrated by Justin Sweet (June from Subterranean)
Need I say more? This looks beautiful, and I’ve only got the advance. Everything about this book says own me. Kull is (unfortunately) best know by the movie which starred Kevin Sorbo in the titular role. However, Kull was "born" before Conan, having appeared in published stories before Conan, if I'm not mistaken. I'm really, REALLY looking forward to reading this one.

Summer Morning, Summer Night by Ray Bradbury (Fall from Subterranean)
In the course of this volume, readers will encounter a gallery of characters brought vividly to life by that indefinable Bradbury magic. Included among them are a pair of elderly sisters whose love potion carries an unexpected consequence; a lonely teacher who discovers love on Green Town's nocturnal streets; a ten-year-old girl who literally unearths the intended victim of a vicious crime; and an aging man who recreates his past with the aid of a loaf of pumpernickel bread.

Conversations in Hearts by John Crowley (September from Subterranean)
The award-winning author of Little, Big, Engine Summer, and the Aegypt novels has graced us with a touching novelette, Conversation Hearts.

The Demon and the City

I put up my review of The Demon and the City by Liz Williams. This is the second installment of her Detective Inspector Chen series, which I'm enjoying. I liked the first one a little more than this one, but still think the series is strong and has a great deal of potential.

A few years ago, I might have said that Epic Fantasy was my favorite subset of Speculative Fiction, but over the past year or so, I've been really gravitating to the Modern Day Wizard stories like Williams, Pratt and Butcher. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy Epic Fantasy, Near Future SF, Space Opera, etc, but as some of my posts recently may have suggested, the "Modern Day Sorcerer" is really working for me.

Mark/Hobbit posted his review of Stephenie Meyer's first "adult" novel, The Host, a couple of days ago, too.

Books In the Mail (W/E 5/3); Iron Man

Here's the list of books I recieved for review last week:

Invincible by Troy Denning
Star Wars Legacy of the Force Book 9
The series looks pretty good (as I said in my last post), but I've got some catching up to do. I think the writers and behind the scenes folks did an impressive job with the New World Order and I've heard the same type of positivity about these books.





The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow
This looks to be a new anthology of short fiction, in an increasingly impressive market of original anthologies. I still have Jonathan Strahan's Eclipse on my TBR pile. There are some impressive writers in this book - Jeffrey Ford, Elizabeth Bear, Paul McCauley and Kim Newman



Kilimanjaro: a Fable of Utopia by Mike Resnick (December Subterranean Press)
This is a follow-up to Resnick's watermark novel, Kirinyaga. I haven't read that particular book by Mike Resnick, but what I have read from him, I've enjoyed.

Those Who Went Remain There Still by Cherie Priest (December Subterranean Press)
This looks to be a southern ghost story involving Daniel Boone. I haven't read anything by Cherie Priest so this looks like a good opportunity to giver her a try.

Stonefather by Orson Scott Card (October Subterranean Press)
A novella set in Card's soon-to-be released Mithermages fantasy saga. I went through a pretty big OSC phase a few years ago and haven't read much by him since (I think) Shadow Puppets. This should be a good chance to get reacquainted with his work.


Mrs. Blog o' Stuff and I caught Iron Man over the weekend. I was never a big fan of Iron Man. If I have 20 Iron Man comics in my collection, then that's a lot. I always considered him a B-list Marvel character despite Marvel putting him at the forefrunt of their major storylines over the past few years.


The movie kicked ass. I loved it and didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did. Downey may be the most perfectly cast superhero this side of Christian Bale. Jeff Bridges was good as the slime-ball enemy. I've seen a lot of his movies but is really that big a guy? Maybe I will give some old Shellhead comics a try on my next visit to the comics shop.

Review & Bookish Catching up

Up went my latest review, The Ancient by R.A. Salvatore, a book I enjoyed more than I expected. I haven't read any of his other DemonWars novels, so this was an introduction that may lead me to more of the books. It was a bit predictable, but I've seem many comments from fans of Salvatore that the earlier books in the series are much better than this one. Still, I enjoyed it and the pages moved pretty swiftly. I read this not too long after Empress, and although Salvatore's novel is cliched like Miller's book, I thought the cliched aspects of Salvatore's novel weren't as overpowering. Essentially, The Ancient was cliched comfort fantasy done pretty well.

Don't forget to go out and pick up or order Little Brother, the book is in stores now and is the best book I've read this year. It just might the most important book of the year, too. I've praised the book since I finished reading it, but I can't help but really urge people to take a look at it. Robert of the Fantasy Book Critic liked it just about as much as I did. 

It's been too long, but I find myself being drawn back into the Star Wars Expanded Universe of novels. I've had the final book, The Unifying Force for almost three or four years now, residing on my version of Aidan's Pile o' Shame.* I really enjoyed most of The New Jedi Order novels and what I've been reading/hearing (specificlly from Jay Tomio, whose reading tastes have similar ranges to mine) about the Legacy of the Force is really good, too. Coincidentally, the final book of the Legacy of the Force, Invicible arrived yesterday from Del Rey the publisher is offering a free dowloadable version of the first book, Betrayal. As much as I want to read that novel, I've got a lot of catching up to do before I get to that book. My brother-in-law has been reading most of the Star Wars Expanded Universe and said The Dark Nest trilogy was pretty good too. Then again, he thought The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno was good, whereas I thought it very, very lacking especially since I've enjoyed other SW novels by Luceno.

* what us** about Aidan is his us of o' for of, something we** try do here at the Blog o' Stuff. I should start posting my weekly recievables a la the Hornswaggler.

**...of course by us I mean me.

Empress Review & SFFWorld goodness, Book Ramblings, Lost/Battlestar

I posted my review of Karen Miller’s Empress today. It started out fairly strong (if predictable), but by the end, the novel turned into the book I've disliked the most so far this year. Not all protagonists can or should be likeable, but when you hate the protagonist by the halfway point of the novel, it doesn’t make for a good reading experience. In addition, the novel itself was uneven, predictable, repetitive, and choppy.

I also posted an interview Pat and I conducted with Kay Kenyon. He’s had it posted on his blog for a bit now, and now it’s up at SFFWorld.

Owen (kater in the SFFWorld forums and one of the mods) posted a cool interview with Brandon Seifert creator of the independently online published Witch Doctor comic. The interview also has some great, great sample artwork.

My addiction to the Dresden Files keeps growing with each book*; I finished Summer Knight last week. I usually read two books at a time, one at work and the gym the other at home. I couldn’t be pulled away from Summer Knight.

Mark posted a stellar review of Richard Morgan’s forthcoming and anticipated Fantasy novel, The Steel Remains. My copy arrived not too long ago and I’ll be getting to it shortly. In the past year or so, I’ve received so many enticing books from various publishers I simply don’t know which book to read next, although I do have a very loose system. Some of the books are Advance copies while some are publication copies I’ve received, and it is really impossible to get to all of them.

*One of those advances is Backup, the Non-Harry Dresden novella being published in October by Subterranean Press with artwork by Mike Mignola**. I’ve still got the final installment of Greg Keyes awesome Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone on my plate, or what Aidan calls the Pile o' Shame, although my pile is a little different than Aidan's defintion. The pile includes collections from Wolfe, Swanwick, Steele, the first of Strahan’s Eclipse anthologies, all the Malazan books up to and including Reaper’s Gale, two of Paul S. Kemp’s Erevis Cale novels, two Culture novels from Iain M. Banks, Peter David’s forthcoming Tigerheart, Jeff Somers’ Digital Plague, the second Marla Mason novel by T.A. Pratt, the final novel in the Star Wars New Jedi Order megaseries, and a forthcoming novel from Greg Bear (City at the End of Time) that looks very interesting. I’ve read some of Bear’s work and enjoyed it, this looks like a good opportunity to “catch up” with him. This whole paragraph isn’t a complaint by any means, just a rambling.

Lost and Battlestar Galactica both continue to make me wish their hour-long episodes didn’t end so quickly. Although Lost didn’t give us any concrete answers this past Thursday, it was enticing and answers seem closer to the horizon. I know the creators really enjoy Stephen King’s work and this week’s episode seemed to hold some thematic similarities with The Dark Tower. I also think BKV’s handiwork was evident in this episode. Battlestar had some more good Baltar stuff with Roslin becoming more of a hardass. Both shows don't clearly paint their heroes - Ben Linus started out as a villain and now he looks like he might be the hero. Roslin seems to be thrust more and more into the antagonist light.

**which only fuels the question – What if Harry met Hellboy? That would be a very cool multimedia crossover, wouldn't it?

Little Brother Redux/Review

With one week before publication, I’ve posted my review of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. The quick and dirty is that Cory Doctorow may have written the quintessential Young Adult Science Novel of the early 21st Century. I loved the book and have been telling people who are willing to listen.


Here’s an excerpt from my review:

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 for the past few years, so the culmination of his background and those two authors proves for a great combination. ..... 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.

BSG was, again, pretty good although I have to admit to understanding the frustrations other characters are feeling towards Starbuck. I suppose that's part of the hook with her. I had a baaad feeling that one of the four "revealed" cylons would really go over to the Toaster side, but damn did Tory dive head first. Granted, Caly wasn't much of a screen presence in recent episodes (going back to last year) but her character and who she represents was pretty important. I know they can't cover the whole cast of characters each episode, but I don't think I'm the only one who thought Baltar's absence this past episode was a noticeable gap. All that aside, the show has me glued to the TV.

Worlds, Matter, Devils & Battlestar

Two reviews went up yesterday, both of books I very much enjoyed. A World Too Near is the second book of Kay Kenyon’s The Entire and the Rose – a universe spanning modern planetary romance. Although Kenyon already had an established reputation in the genre, this saga is looking to be a breakout saga having received a great deal of acclaim when the first book, Bright of the Sky was published a year ago. Overall, A World Too Near continues the already enjoyable saga and more importantly, whets the appetite for more.



The other book is Iain M. Banks’s latest Culture novel, Matter. This was my first Banks novel, and subsequently, my first Culture novel. I can understand why the books are highly regarded and really enjoyed this one. I will not lie and say parts of it reminded me a bit of Dune, and that I really dug the seamless blending of a Science Fictional setting with a bit of a Fantasy feel.

The Devils managed to stay alive last night in overtime. Granted the winning goal was something of a flukish goal, but a win is a win. That said, the Devils did a lot of things right; and broke some stumbling blocks they've had for a while against the Rangers, namely scoring and getting more than one goal.

Lastly, Battlestar Galactica was again very good. It didn’t blow me away in the same way that the season opener did, but the hour still went by entirely too fast. There was some interesting stuff between Baltar and Tory, while Starbuck’s crusade to bring Galactica back to Earth is proving to raise some thought-provoking questions.

Wastelands and Cylons

I posted up my review of Wastelands a terrific anthology edited by John Joseph Adams. I thought the collection was extremely well-rounded and looks to be a nice start to Adams’ career as an anthologist.

We also re-did the front page at SFFWorld over the weekend, highlight some good reviews and interviews.

Battlestar on Friday was very, VERY good. I thought it worked extremely well as a foundation for the final season and the space battle in the beginning was awesome. However, I think Scott Ian summed it a bit better. I’ve been a fan of Anthrax for many years, and knew Scott enjoyed the show, but him doing a blog for it is pretty cool.

I feel the same way about Battlestar that I do about Lost – I don’t want the hour that either show is on to end.

Little Brother

I just finished Cory Doctorow's newest/forthcoming novel, Little Brother, earlier tonight, and it just might be the best book I've read this year. Granted it is only April, but the book was fabulous and very thought-provoking. I'll be posting a review of this when the pub date gets closer, but this book should be on everybody's reading list for this year. It is that good and that thought provoking, one of those books that makes you look at the world around you and question that same world.

Also, BSG tomorrow at 10PM. I'm excited.

Waking from March

It’s been a while since I posted, Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff and I were hit last week with the worst colds we have ever had. Sleeping and clear breathing were just not options, let alone spending more than a half hour on my computer after a day in the office.

I put up my latest review, Peter F. Hamilton’s The Dreaming Void, which I really enjoyed. A lot of people were looking forward to this book and I doubt any of them will be disappointed. Epic and vast are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to describing Hamilton’s latest.

I’ve also got to mention that a couple of weeks ago, BantamSpectra published the US edition of John Meaney’s Bone Song, a book I reviewed when it was published by Gollancz about a year ago. After a few correspondences with the US editor, I’m really thinking of listening to this song once again. At the very least I can’t wait to read the sequel, Dark Blood when it publishes in about a year.

Baseball season is officially on and I’m really excited. I didn’t realize how many players switched teams in the off-season, so it should be another fun season. That is of course unless the Red Sox win it all again.

Book Review: Before They Are Hanged

Joe Aberrcombie’s Before They Are Hanged published recently, I finished reading it recently, and posted my review. I loved it and think Joe’s writing improved with the second book in his First Law Trilogy. How the full story will be told remains to be seen, but if the third volume manages to keep pace with The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged, then I (and other folks who’ve been following) will be in for a really doozy of a read. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past Joe to up the ante with third book, he just seems like that kind of guy.

Book Review-Starship: Mercenary & Writerly Quandary

Another Monday, another one of my book reviews goes up at SFFWorld. This time, it is the third book in Mike Resnick's Starship saga - Starship: Mercenary. On the whole I liked it, and thought it was an entertaining read, but have mild reservations.

I'm in a bit of a quandary with my writing right now - I'm torn between two projects. One is a novel I completed a couple of years ago and read and marked up after letting it sit for about a year. I know it needs work, but I really believe in the potential of the characters and the story. The book falls into the Urban Fantasy / Supernatural Fantasy subgenre.

The other writing project vying for my fictional writing attention is something I started a couple of months ago. I outlined the sucker, did some character biographiess, and set up some plot points I know I want to hit along the way. This one is much farther from completion, but I am hesitant to abandon it, even for just a week. I would best describe it as post-apocalyptic fantasy and I think (and hope) I'm doing some interesting things in the story.

The End of an Era

It's the end of an era, so to speak as my career as a Marketing / Business Development Editor / Specialist in the Engineering Consulting industry has come to a close. At least for now, the old adage of never say never is a truth in which I find myself believing. I spent just about five years in the industry through a strange set of circumstances and it is scary how quickly those five years flew in my life. I met some really interesting, strange, brilliant, eccentric , funny, kind, amazing, and wonderful people, some of whom, I hope to keep in touch with in the future. Some people who may be reading this know to whom I refer, whether an acquaintance or those reading it directly.

Now; however, I'm going back to the publishing industry. Essentially the rots of where I began my true professional career. There were many things I enjoyed about the publishing industry, and since I'm an admitted biblioholic, I'm thrilled to be going back to my roots. Granted, the last publishing job I had kind of chewed me up and spit me out, but the situation was completely different than what it is now. Since then, I've grown both emotionally and intellectually and am eager to face this next challenge in my life.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the new job is the next town over from where I live, cutting my commute by 2/3. This is great because it will allow me (hopefully) more time to devote to my writing.

Things You Probably Didn't Need To Know About Me

Things You Probably Didn't Need To Know About Me
Source: the source of all of my memes, the Hornswoggler, the great Antimucker!

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
Nothing, aside from the seats themselves.

2. When was the last time you threw up?
Probably about two years ago when I got really drunk on B&B, Jack Daniels, Rum, Beer and Vodka. I was stressed and decided I could drink all of the straight from the bottle.

3. What's your favorite curse word?
Fuck.

4. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
My wife, a co-worker, and probably the guy at Dunkin Donuts because he finally got my order correct.

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
Pulling into the parking lot at work, which is last time I will have done that for this job. Today is my last day here; I start a new job on Monday.

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Checking my work e-mail for the last time here.

7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now?
Probably saying goodbyes to people here who I like.

8. Have you ever been to a strip club?
Yes.

9. What is the last thing you said aloud?
“This fucking cell phone sucks!”

10. What is the best ice cream flavor?
Edy’s French Silk

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla Coffee.

12. What are you wearing right now?
Jeans, Green Polo Shirt.

13. What was the last thing you ate?
Bagel and cream cheese.

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
No, but I did get a free SoCo hat at the bar last night..

15. When was the last time you ran?
I can’t recall. If I need to get somewhere that fast, I’ll probably get in my car.

16. What's the last sporting event you watched?
NJ Devils game, as they beat the Maple Leafs. Damn Canadians and their improper plurals.

What happened to 17?
It doubled and became 34.

18. Who is the last person you emailed?
A colleague at SFFWorld asking him to look over a review I just finished writing.

19. Ever go camping?
No, I'm spoiled by the simple luxury of running water.

20. Do you have a tan?
No.

Ok, now what happened to 21, 22 & 23????
New Brunswick, New Brunswick/Linden, & Linden

24. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
I don’t drink soda.

25. What did your last IM say?
I haven’t IM’d in over five years, I couldn’t possibly say.

26. Are you someone's best friend?
Yes.

27. What are you doing tomorrow?
Writing, food shopping, and going to my Godson’s “Rock ‘n Roll” party.

28. Where is your mom right now?
At work dealing selling dental tools.

29. Look to your left, what do you see?
A shelf with engineering proposals.

30. What color is your watch?
Black Band white face with NJ Devils Log.

31. What do you think of when you think of Australia?
Kangaroos.

32. Would you consider plastic surgery?
No.

33. What is your birthstone?
The most boring birthstone of them all; the Topaz.

34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
Yes.

35.How many kids do you want?
Not sure.

36. Do you have a dog?
Not yet.

37. Last person you talked to on the phone?
My wife when my cell phone crapped out back in question #9..

38. Have you met anyone famous?
I’ve met a couple baseball players; however, the most famous person I probably met was Sebastian Bach former lead singer of Skid Row.

39. Any plans today?
Finish of my last day here at the “old job,” pick up some Guinness on the way home, eat pizza with Mrs. Blog ‘o Stuff and probably watch the NJ Devils game.

40. How many states have you lived in?
One

41. Ever go to college?
Just about every day for five years. (Rutgers University 1997)

42. Where are you right now?
My workstation/office/cubicle at work.

43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
Bills.

44. Last song listened to?
Clenching the Fists of Dissent by Machinehead.

46. Are you allergic to anything?
I was allergic to mosquito bites when I was a wee lad, but I think I got over that. Nothing else, well except maybe stupid people.

47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
My Godzilla Feet slippers.

48. Are you jealous of anyone?
Who isn’t?

50. Is anyone jealous of you?
The poor soul.

51. What time is it?
About that time.

52. Do any of your friends have children?
Just about all of them.

53. Do you eat healthy?
If I could eat steak every day I could, so no I don’t

54. What do you usually do during the day?
Work, write, eat sleep.

55. Do you hate anyone right now?
Not that I personally know.

56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
Hello. There, I just did.

58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
See question number 17.

59. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
We here in Jersey call it Great Adventure, but yes. At least once a year it seems, plus I had a season pass with some friends right after we were graduted from high school.

60. How did you get one of your scars?
I fell down some stairs when I was a wee lad, which explains the scar on my forehead. I tried to use a whip when I was a teenager and scarred my chin. (J/K)

RIP Gary Gygax

It has been many years since I've really played a good round of Dungeons & Dragons, aside from a recent attempt with my brother-in-law, but those rounds and adventures will always be a fond remembrance. Those rounds of dice rolling, character generation, and late night monster fighting helped to set me on my path to geekdom.

So it is with sadness that I mention the passing of Gary Gygax, the "father of the role-playing game."

Thundering Disappointment

What happens when you (by you I mean me) read a book that has a great advance buzz and you (I) have to write a review? Well, the review I posted today happens. The book in question is Felix Gilman’s Thunderer and it just did not work for me. I realize I’m probably the odd one out here, check out Robert’s (Fantasy Book Critic) glowing review, Jeff VanderMeer’s review or the discussion topics at SFFWorld and Westeros where most of the comments are praise.

I hemmed and hawed for a week or so before committing to writing the review. However, the publisher sent me the book, so I feel I had a responsibility to write and post the review.

SPOTLIGHT: Detective Wizards, Vampire Hunters, and Werewolves Oh My!

The wizard detective, the vampire hunter, the werewolf D.J, these are but three of the popular characters in one of increasingly popular subgenres of speculative fiction. Some call it supernatural fantasy, others urban horror, while others call it urban/dark fantasy. No matter what it is called, readers know what it is and have been gobbling up many of the titles over the past ten years or so as the this subgenre has exploded (yeah, next I’ll tell genre readers that the sun rises every day). Just check out this fairly extensive discussion at SFFWorld. For my part, I’ve read some of the authors but by no means have I read all of them, nor would I completely consider myself an expert on the subgenre. However, I am finding myself drawn to books of this ilk more strongly. Writers like China Miéville, and Charles de Lint wander into this territory, but they are not exactly the authors to whom I’m referring. What follows is just a brief overview of some of the writers/series.

Laurell K. Hamilton
When and why has the subgenre proven so successful? The character and set of books that kickstarted this trend would arguably be Laurel K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. These books were able to catch on to the genre-reading public in no small part because of the success of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and perhaps more so, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). Although the Anita Blake books may not have been the earliest in the latest trend, they have proven extremely popular. Vampires have always fascinated people and between Rice’s success in humanizing them and the strong, powerful female protagonist, Hamilton’s series is in retrospect a no brainer for success. Of the Anita Blake novels, I read the first four or five before being pulled away. Readers have criticized the later books for being little more than erotic fantasy with an overabundance of sex, but the early books are very good and are considered by some as a benchmark in this subgenre.

Jim Butcher
Another ingredient for the success of this subgenre probably has something to do with the presence of these creatures in the “modern/real” world and people possessing arcane abilities in modern society. Another highly popular example of this would be Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. Harry Dresden is the only practicing wizard listed in the Chicago yellow pages and as such, he is on retainer to the Chicago PD’s Special Investigations division. Cases involving werewolves, vampires, ghosts and other things that go bump in the night are his purvey and when the Police can’t wrap their heads around such a case, they call in Harry. I’ve only read three of these books but they could turn out to be a favorite series if the books continue to entertain me in the same fashion. The series is in the double digits with little sign of slowing down, so the good part is that there are plenty of books for me to read. The world Butcher has created for this milieu is incredibly detailed, and very well thought-out. He’s got the White Council, which is the governing body of the practice of magic, several Vampire Clans, a faerie world (Nevernever) two which Harry travels. A sure sign of the success of this series is that it started out in Mass Market Paperback and with the 5th or 6th book, jumped into Hardcover for the initial release of each book.

A short-lived series on the SciFi channel might have helped to raise the awareness of this already popular series (the first book, Storm Front, is probably in its 20th printing by now), but got the Axe. After a slow start, the series really gained momentum but the ratings apparently weren’t to SciFi’s liking, despite being somewhat comparable to those of Eureka and the abysmal Flash Gordon.
SFFWorld’s Hobbit reviewed many of the books in the series, beware spoilers though: (1) Storm Front (2) Fool Moon (3) Grave Peril (4) Summer Knight (5) Death Masks (6) Blood Rites

Glen Cook
Before Anita Blake and Jim Butcher; however, Glen Cook was writing a little series about Garrett (Glen Cook Wiki entry), a Private Investigator in a “Fantasyland” called TunFaire. I personally haven’t read the books, but one member of the SFFWorld forums whose opinion I can trust (KatG) consistently recommends this series. From what I’ve gathered, the series functions very much like a hard-boiled detective story with goblins, orcs, and wizards thrown in the mix. Based on my enjoyment of Cook’s Dread Empire and Black Company, I’ve really got to check out these books, of which there are already 11 books.

Carrie Vaughn
A werewolf in modern times should be able to fit in, shouldn’t she, especially if wizards and vampires can? Well, Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville is doing her best as a radio talk show host in the series that bears her name. The first book, Kitty and the Midnight Hour published in 2005 to some positive reviews, including my own review. The fourth book is out this year and the Science Fiction Book Club put the first three books under one cover in one of their popular omnibus editions. The subsequent books seem to follow the trend of pleasing readers.


Liz Williams
Liz Williams has a very strong series going with her Detective Inspector Chen novels. At least based on the first novel, the series seems to be working with a buddy-cop/police procedural template whilst mixing elements of magic and Chinese/Asian mythology. Night Shade Books is publishing this series, which is helping to make their already impressive list of authors even more impressive. Also, the first book Snake Agent was one of the launch titles for Night Shade’s Mass Market Paperback line. This is a very promising series as I said in my recent review of Snake Agent.


Tim Pratt
Tim Pratt (writing as T.A. Pratt) is two books into his Marla Mason series. I’ve only read a short story from that world, but what I saw I liked. The short story had a very Lovecraftian feel to it and I’ve got the first book, Blood Engines, on my To Buy pile. Here’s a nice review from Robert over at FantasyBookCritic.


Kim Harrison
Kim Harrison is another popular writer who seems to churn out a new book every year in her Rachel Morgan/The Hollows series. On the surface, the series blends elements of post-apocalyptic fiction with the “wizard detective,” or in this case, the “witch detective.” Morgan is similar to Harry in that she is an adjunct of sorts to the local law enforcement. I think the post-apocalyptic elements to this series sound interesting so I will eventually check out the books. My friend’s wife really digs this series, so I may just have to borrow the first book. Here is a recent discussion at SFFWorld.


Other authors worth mentioning include:
Kelley Armstrong – Women of Otherworld
Rachel Caine – Weather Warderns & Morganvilee Vampires
Simon Green – Nightside
Justin Gustainis – Quincey Morris Supernatural Investigation
Charlaine Harris – Sookie Stackhouse
Charlie Huston – Joe Pitt Casefiles (My review of Already Dead)
C.E. Murphy – The Walker Papers
Rob Thurman – series begun with Nightlife

Wikipedia helped me sort out a couple of things with this little article as did the folks in the SFFWorld forums, including the participants in the Supernatural Fantasy: Ghosts, Vampires, Werefolk and Wizards tread.

I was asked by John DeNardo, of SF Signal, to participate in one of their regular MIND MELD roundtable discussions. The subject for this go-round was Which SciFi Movie Ending Would You Change? As the introduction to the article states, I’m a “luminary.” Cool! I’ve been popping onto SF Signal on a daily basis for a while now as there is always something interesting in their great coverage of the genre.

Thanks to John and the folks at SF Signal for letting me join in the fun. My response is the last of the group, the title of the movie I chose lies hidden within this post. Well, sort of.

Me, a luminary!

Snake Agent

Another Monday, another book review posted. This time, it's the first of Liz Williams Detective Inspector Chen novels, Snake Agent. I liked to book a lot for many reasons; great pacing, interesting characters, a "fresh" (as in not often utilized) mythological backdrop. Williams hit a great chord with the book and it fits perfectly in the ever growing and popular subset of fantasy - the supernatural mystery. I've got more to say about this little subset, but that'll be for another post later in the week.

On another note, if somebody would have asked me before the show started whether or not I would keep tuning in every week to watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I would probably say no. It keeps drawing me back in every week though.

The Long-Awaited Dance is Covered

I miss the Youll covers on the first three books.

I just posted my review of Helix by Eric Brown, published last year by Solaris Books. This book seemingly fell under the radar, shame because it was a solidly entertaining novel. This is something of a minor travesty because Helix is a damned good book – Good Space Opera; a good study of characters; a novel of first contact; and a really cool “Big Dumb Object.” The short of it: another quality novel from Solaris Books. For the long of it, check out my review.

The rumors are true, a sequel to one of my favorite 1980s movies is in the works – The Lost Boys. Granted, this is about 15 years late, but the Coreys weren’t doing much else.

SFFWorld's Favorite 2007 Book

SFFWorld's favorite book from 2007 was...

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie.

Those who care can click HERE for the full results.

I just checked out the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I'm a bit non-plussed at the moment, I expected to be a little more wowed by Spielberg & Lucas; I expected to be even more charged up to see it. Oh, I'll be seeing it in theaters regardless.

Inching Towards Daylight

Anybody who knows my reading tastes knows I consider Matthew Woodring Stover's Acts of Caine one of the unsung great sequences in modern fantasy and science fiction. So, learning my lessons from the many amazon.com teases for A Dance with Dragons and A Feast for Crows, I tempered my enthusiasm when I saw Caine Black Knife on amazon.com with some historical perspective.

Well, that just changed because Mr. Stover made an encouragining annoucement on his blog yesterday. Woe is me, I guess I must re-read two of the my favorite books. Again.

Also, congratulations to LaGringa/The Swivet/Colleen!

The Connection has Been Bridged

My internet connection at home has been veeery shaky lately, I’ve had DSL for 3+ years where I’m at now and a couple of years in my previous residence. It just stopped working about a week ago, so I upgraded to cable internet. So far so good.

Right, in that time, I’ve been unable to post my review of Gregory Frost’s Shadowbridge. Fortunately, I did that last night. The book was pretty powerful and is one of those that has a lasting effect. That is, it stays with you long after you’ve put it down. The sequel/conclusion, Lord Tophet, publishes later this year.

I received a really nice looking book from Del Rey yesterday: Elric, the Stealer of Souls. Even though I’ve read the Elric stories in a couple of different books before, this collection (first of a series) looks to be the best of the bunch despite liking the White Wolf editions from a couple of years back. With a striking cover and interior art by John Picacio, this edition also sports an introduction by Alan Moore. Furthermore, there are some “historical” snapshots of Elric, such as magazine covers of Science Fantasy where the stories first appeared as well as the cover of one of the early editions of Stormbringer. Even if you already have one of the Elric collections, this is worth having.

Machine King

Last night, I posted my review of Andy Remic’s War Machine another title from Solaris Books’ firts season of books. While the book based on this book I wouldn’t quite consider Remic the “new master of f rock-hard military science fiction,” the book was still pretty enjoyable. I haven’t thoroughly read Military Science fiction as much as other subsets of Science Fiction so I can’t authoritatively rank War Machine against its peers and predecessors, but as I said, it was a solid novel. It provided some good action scenes, big ideas, and a nice mix of character focus and epic.

Stephen King has a new book out now, Duma Key. I haven’t read any King since The Dark Tower concluded, but he was the first real “adult” writer I read as a kid. Over the years, I’ve read the majority of his stuff, but two recent books really didn’t work for me Dreamcatcher and From a Buick 8, which I thought was one of, if not his worst book. However, The Talisman and The Stand both still stand as all time favorites. Whether I pick up Duma Key right now, I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll eventually get to it, but I still haven’t read Lisey’s Story either.

Cloverfield

Mrs. Blog 'o Stuff and I saw Cloverfield today. It was the biggest movie of the weekend, and if Lost didn't already do it, this film completely cemented J.J. Abrams as an A-List guy in Hollywood. Everybody who is interested in this film already knows the premise, a giant monster wreaks havoc in Manhattan. Unlike the predecessors of this particular sub-genre, the story is told by the people most affected by the attack - the people who live in NYC.

The writers/director/producer gave this move such a human feel. By introducing the characters the way they did, you built up an emotional attachment to them, you felt as if you knew them. That, plus all the viral marketing like the character myspace pages, gives the feeling that these people might be your friends.

It was pretty close to brilliant film making, from beginning to end. I want to see this movie again. I want to pick up on some of the clues that were peppered throughout, a trademark of J.J. Abrams' storytelling.

I'm only getting to the monster right now - the monster is and isn't important. Yes movie-goers want to see what the monster looks like. But like the characters from the "retrieved video camera," the important element that helps to build up the emotional tension is the characters themselves, and how they are affected by the monster.

Of course once the film ends and I sat through the credits (which anybody should do for this film), I wanted to know more about the monster's origins. What is it? From whence did it come? The movie works on a lot of levels, it pulls the heart strings with these characters, keeps you on the edge of your seat, and has you asking questions at film's end. It was a risky although proven successful method of film-making, see The Blair Witch. The night of the monster's "attack" isn't the only thing we see on the video, the video held something prior to the night of the monster attack. Two of the characters, Rob and Beth, spent a day together months prior to the Rob's going away part and those little snippits may (or may not) provide some hints, and more than anything, gives the characters more depth.

Go see the movie before you find out too much more about the monster and the plot.

Weekly Writerly Wrap

Some new things for authors whose work I like:

John Marco recently sold a YA Fantasy series, tentatively titled The Skylords, to DAW

Tad Williams relaunced a new official Web site

Patrick Rothfuss explains the delays to Wise Man's Fear. I've intimated before and I will again (as I did with GRRM), I would rather the author take some extra time to make the book better rather than rush to the end. It always bears out in the book

Jim Butcher is publishing a non-Harry Dresden novelette in the Dresden universe with Subterranean Press. Get this, Mike Mignola will be providing illustrations. Sounds like a can't miss to me.

I'm really trying some new approaches to writing with the new project I started - working off an outline, approaching chapter construction differently, and being more focused on the goals of each chapter and how that relates to the overall book/story. It feels right, so I need to get back to writing it.

SPOTLIGHT: Catching up with the Classics - Starship Troopers

So, here's the new "feature" at the Blog o' Stuff. Once a month (at the very least, I hope), I'll be taking a look at a classic book or novel from the Fantasy/Science Fiction genres. This will either be a book I haven't read in a while, or the case of in this installment's book Starship Troopers, a classic I have yet to read. How can I never have read this book? I just never got around to it, simple.

What I can I say about one of the most famous, acclaimed, influential, popular, and important Science Fiction books of all time and a Hugo winner, to boot? What can I add to all the words that have been extolled or exhorted in frustration? I don’t know, except for my opinion and my own response. Suffice it to say, it is virtually impossible to open up this book and read it for the first time without knowing about it, its reputation, or having some preconceived notions.

Much of the novel deals with Johnny Rico’s experiences in the Mobile Infantry and how he deals with the equivalent of boot camp in the future. Heinlein basically paints a picture of the life of one volunteer in what amounts to the Space Marines. Throughout, Rico’s thoughts about life, politics become shaped by his training, his superiors, his “drops,” and the battles in which he engages with the “Bugs.” He goes from one who is unsure of his thoughts to a man with strong-held convictions, and in this sense, the story works as a coming-of-age story.

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.

Another part of the story that surprised me was the nonchalance with which Rico reacts to the attack of the Bugs and the beginnings and of the Bug War. Despite Rico losing his mother and the momentary grief he experienced because of it, the attack and break out of the war are dealt with very matter-of-factly. I understand that Rico and his peers are training for war, but there didn’’t seem to be any kind of panic or any great swell of emotion when the Bugs attack Earth, or not as much as I would have expected.

I don’t know Heinlein’s writing well enough, but one item in particular struck me as very far sighted. Much of the novel, probably because it is in an unspecified future, has a timeless air about it. You get the sense that Heinlein was writing this both as a reaction to what he saw as well as a treatise as what he thought. One can also get the feeling that he wrote this book with the intention that it could ring true for many years to come, particularly the chapter where Rico describes something he takes for granted, what most people of that time take for granted, and something that has become a staple of the Military Science Fiction genre – Power Armor:

No need to describe what it looks like, since it has been pictured so often. Suited up, you look like a big steel gorilla, armed with gorilla-sized weapos. … But the suits are considerably stronger than a gorilla. If an M.I. in a suit swapped hugs with a gorilla, the gorilla would be dead, crushed; the M.I. and the suit wouldn’t be mussed. (Page 100 Ace mmpb)

That description says more in the words it doesn’t use than it does in anything else. It allows the reader to visualize something big and powerful; something iconic. It doesn’t rigidly define the thing and allows the thing to stand the test of time.

Although (as I said) I’ve never read the book before now, I do know of its reputation and influence, it arguably spawned the entire Military Science Fiction subgenre. Half of the authors of Baen Books were likely heavily influenced by Heinlein, and this book specifically. As I was reading through the book, I recalled some of the books I’ve read and realized how they were influenced by Starship Troopers – Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Mr. Scalzi admits to patterning his novel off Heinlein’s. Robert Buettner’s Orphanage* is a very similar story line (the alien enemies are Slugs, close enough to bugs for me), though a good book in its own right. Ender’s Game also has a strong similarity. The whole drop scene and group of Space Marines from the film Aliens were likely patterned after the Mobile Infantry. Look at any of the popular science fiction video games, many can trace their origins and influences back to this book.

Lastly, I have to believe Stanley Kubrick read Starship Troopers at some point in his life prior to making his war masterpiece, Full Metal Jacket. The depiction of boot camp is very similar and there is a point in both stories where they seem like two different novels/movies. As soon as Private Pyle blows off his head and Private Joker heads off to Viet Nam, it seems like a different film. Granted, Full Metal Jacket is an adapted screenplay so the source material may be structured this way, but Starship Troopers fits the mold, to a degree. The cut isn’t as drastic in Starship Troopers, but the tone of the book changes, at least in my internal reading voice, after Rico leaves.

Obviously, I can’t speak on how much the novel is “of its times” nor can I speak directly of how much validity there is that certain characters in the book are simply mouthpieces for Heinlein, I haven’t read all that much by him. What I can say is that the novel is very powerful and I agree with William Lexner’s sentiments – this is a must read and probably one of the five most important Science Fiction novels ever written. I’d go as far as to say one of the most important books written in the 20th Century considering it is on the reading list for three of the four US Military Academies.

I still haven’t seen the movie, and I’m not making any plans to watch or TiVo it. So, have I added anything to the discourse that has been going on about this book since its publication nearly 50 years ago**? Perhaps. If nothing else, it shows that the book is still effective to an experienced reader of the genre like myself.

In sum, I really enjoyed the book and am torn. On one hand, I feel I should have read it many years ago. On the other, I'm glad I just read it for the first time. I'm not sure what my next book will be for this "feature" but I certainly started it off with a bang.

* Buettner's next Jason Wander novel, Orphan's Destiny, publishes later this year through the new Orbit US imprint, which absorbed the WarnerAspect Science Fiction line. Good for Robert, the books are a lot of fun. The covers are redesigned and look very good, but I still like this original piece from Fred Gambino.

**I wouldn’t be surprised if some sort of fancy 50th anniversary edition of the novel will be published next year.

Pulling the Killswitch, Another Writing Project, Cloverfield

I skipped a week with posting a review, so here’s my latest – Killswitch by Joel Shepherd. This novel wraps up Cassandra Kresnov’s story, for now. Shepherd brought closure to the story but left it wide open enough for more stories, should he choose to return to Sandy’s world.

I started a new writing project this week, using some ideas that have been percolating for a few years. I’m approaching this one a bit differently – I prepared an outline and brief character sketches before actually writing the story. I wanted to get a good sense of what ingredients I was dealing with before I started cooking the stew, to borrow a metaphor. That said, I started the prologue last night with some of the outline still unfinished; I wanted to get a feel for my writing voice in this story, which I think/thought might help me put the finishing touches on the outline.

I’m also considering posting some of this stuff online, perhaps on a blog all itself. It worked for some authors and it would the first bunch of my fiction writing up for public consumption. I have to admit, it daunts me a bit, but I need to get over it. I will.

I’ve got something cooking as a regular feature here at the world famous Blog ‘o Stuff, which might go up this week.

The more I see of Cloverfield, the more I HAVE to see it.

2007: A Review of Rob's Readings

Well, everybody else is doing it, so why not me. Right? I’m of course referring to a brief summary of what books I liked best from my readings in 2007. Sure, I mentioned a few books in my contribution to the annual SFFWorld round up, but that was limited to only those books published in 2007. As is the case with most readers like myself, not all of my reading is comprised of books published in that specific year. Though in my personal ratings, no book I read last year received a “10,” quite a few received a “9.”

The best science fiction book I read last year was Robert Charles Wilson’s Hugo-award winning novel, Spin. As I said on the blog a few weeks ago:

On the whole, I really REALLY enjoyed this book. I thought it was an extremely human look at a near future where people were confronted with a technological event far beyond anything people in the world are capable of doing. I am not surprised it received the Hugo and think it will be considered a top SF book for a while. The ending was a little frustrating because I wanted to see what would happen next, but I also consider the ending to be appropriate.

The best collection, perhaps the best overall fantasy book I read last year was Jeffrey Ford’s The Empire of Ice Cream. The book contains award-winning stories, which is becoming par for the course with Mr. Ford’s collections. Here’ what I said back in Novermber:

I don’t know if this collection is better than his previous World Fantasy Award winning collection, The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant, but it isn’t any lesser a collection. What we have here is a writer unrestrained by bounds of genre and imagination. Jeffrey Ford’s writing has such an authenticity about it, you cannot help but trust that the stories he tells have a ring of truth to them. More importantly, you want to believe them as real and year for the next stories to be told.

Every year has it fair share of debut novelists, the three whose work most connected with me were Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box, Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself, and the “hot new star” Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind. I reviewed both of these for SFFWorld. Here’s a snippet from my review of Heart-Shaped Box:

Where the story transcends both the genre and just being a “good story” is how effectively Joe Hill puts forth the reality of Jude’s situation. One gets the sense that the story could be an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music after taking a very dark turn. Even though Jude is a living legend of an almost Ozzy Osbourne status, Hill paints a picture of a real man haunted by his past and current demons.

Here's a snippet of what I said about The Blade Itself when Pyr delivered the book to US readers:

I thought the novel started a bit slow, I was thinking all the hype surrounding the book upon its UK release last year was going to leave me disappointed. It has happened with other books in the past for me. Thankfully, Abercrombie’s story, and more convincingly, his characters pulled me into the story unheeded. ... Abercrombie is a damned frustrating writer. He writes so well and his story is so infectious it is difficult to stop reading and even thinking about the layers of his story and world.

From The Name of the Wind (which I was lucky enough to read before much of the hype took hold of the book):

Where will The Name of the Wind stand at year’s end and over the next few years in the genre? At least for this year, Rothfuss has set the bar very high for any other author publishing their first novel in 2007. As for where the book will stand in the years to come, it will likely stand as the start of one of the bright careers in fantasy fiction. Suffice it to say, the book is very good and has all the elements of greatness – characters with which the reader can empathize, a fascinating backdrop where these characters live, and the key ingredient: leaving the reader wanting for more. Since this is just the first book in a trilogy, that want will be met.

Though not a new author, I came across her work for the first time in 2007 and the book turned out to be the Science Fiction novel I enjoyed the most, Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon.

With a rich and vivid setting, peopled with believable and sympathetic characters and fascinating aliens, Kay Kenyon has launched an impressive saga with Bright of the Sky. My only criticism involves some of the scenes where the narratives point of view character switches from Quinn to those who interact with him in the Entire. The transitions aren’t entirely smooth and I found myself re-reading passages to be sure to whom the words were being attributed. These scenes were very few, but did jar the otherwise smooth and quick pace of the story. That said, Bright of the Sky, like the best novels opening a larger sequence, balances closure with open plot strands.

Scott Lynch’s second book was just as good as his first. This is not surprising because he made Locke Lamora and Jean pirates. I loved the dialogue and interplay betwixt the two and really liked the non-straightforward timeline Lynch used to tell the story in Red Seas Under Red Skies.

As sequels go, Red Seas Under Red Skies is fabulous and a more accomplished, more tightly written novel than its predecessor. Considering what a top notch job Lynch did with his debut, this is impressive. As importantly, Red Seas Under Red Skies doesn’t work so bad as an introduction to the Gentleman Bastards. I found myself smiling throughout most of the book, grinning at the dialogue, and riding right along with Jean and Locke on their pirate adventure. At its heart, Red Seas Under Red Skies is pure fun.

Even though I knew the events that form the backdrop of the book, Buster Olney’s The Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty was a superb book. Being a Yankees fan for the past 30+ years, I’ve followed the team through ups and downs, and none were more “up” than the championship run at the turn of the Century. Even knowing much of the outcome, Olney managed to keep my glued to every word on the page.

The Author I rediscovered in 2007 was Steven Erikson. I’m still slowly making my way through the Malazan Book of the Fallen, but the saga took hold of me fully in the summer of 2007 when I read the first two books whilst serving Jury Duty in May and June.

Another series I rediscovered, after breezing through much of it a few years ago, was Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series. Specifically, the latest book, Dzur, which I liked very much.Other books that stood out for me were Peter David’s Darkness of the Light, Tobias Buckell’s Ragamuffin, David Anthony Durham’s Acacia Book I, and the two books in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy.

I also read a couple of stinkers last year, David Keck’s In the Eye of Heaven. The book seems to be somewhat polarizing, I’m in the camp that didn’t care much for it. Gail Z. Martin’s The Summoner didn’t work for me either, I couldn’t even finish the book. I hate when that happens, but buy the halfway point, nothing worked for me and I felt it was a story I read many times before with more originality. Brian Ruckley’s Winterbirth didn’t work so well for me either, I just couldn’t find anything in the story about which to care. The book, coincidentally, is the January 2008 Fantasy Book Club of the Month at SFFWorld, others have reacted differently than I did. The most disappointing; however, was Robin Hobb’s Forest Mage. I love Hobb’s writing, but this story angered my like almost no other book I’ve read.

So that’s it, the brief summary of the highlights and lowlights of my 2007 readings.

Happy New Year

In what has become something of a Christmas/New Year’s tradition in the Blog o’ Stuff household I watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As much as I love the movies, and know how the story ends, all those fade to blacks at the end of Return of the King set one up to think the film has ended. To keep the Tolkien theme in mind, I read The Children of Húrin yesterday. The story reminded me of a Greek Tragedy, in both style and theme Tolkien employed to tell the story as well as the grandeur and power. Though I read it over a day or two, the story is still resonating with me.

Yesterday, aside from the first day of 2008, was also the first NHL Winter Classic. Even though I probably would have had a difficult time seeing the game from the stadium seats, it would have been very cool to be there. It was a solid game with an ending the NHL couldn’t have scripted any better, with the Kid scoring the winning goal in a shootout. I would love to see this become an annual tradition, with perhaps a game in New Yankees Stadium in 2009 or a game in Pittsburgh, or in RFK Stadium with some rotating teams. Maybe the previous Stanley Cup champion being involved in the game, though having the Anaheim Ducks as the host tem would kind of defeat the purpose.

The first day of 2008 was a busy day, as it turned out; I posted my latest review, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy edited by George Mann. I liked the majority of the stories and may pick up their New Book of Science Fiction. In addition, we jiggered up the front page of SFFWorld yesterday.