Books in the Mail (W/E 2012-06-09)

As is usual during the first week of the month, the following month’s books to be published by Ace/Roc and DAW arrive at my doorstep or in front of my garage where the nice UPS guy named Mike leaves them.

Iron Gray Sea (Destroyermen Book 7) by Taylor Anderson (Roc Hardcover 07/03/2012) – I’ve read and enjoyed the first trilogy (Into the Storm, Crusade, and Maelstrom) in the series and read the fourth one, Distant Thunders last year. I haven’t kept up with the series since then, but Mr. Anderson seems to be doing quite well with the series .

War has engulfed the other earth. With every hard-won victory and painful defeat, Matt Reddy and the Allies encounter more friends — and more diabolical enemies. Even in the arms of the woman he loves, there is little peace for Reddy. The vast sea and scope of the conflict has trapped him too far away to help on either front, but that doesn’t mean he and USS Walker can rest — and man and four-stacker must risk everything against a bigger ship.

Elsewhere, the long-awaited invasion of Grik “Indiaa” has begun, and the Human-Lemurian Alliance is pushing back against the twisted might of the Dominion. The diplomatic waters seethe with treachery and a final, terrible plot explodes in the Empire of New Britain Isles.

Existence by David Brin (Torc Hardcover 06/19/2012) – Brin is probably the biggest name author I’ve never read and this one looks quite interesting indeed. It should be one of THE SF novels of the year..

Bestselling, award-winning futurist David Brin returns to globe-spanning, high concept SF with Existence.

Gerald Livingston is an orbital garbage collector. For a hundred years, people have been abandoning things in space, and someone has to clean it up. But there’s something spinning a little bit higher than he expects, something that isn’t on the decades’ old orbital maps. An hour after he grabs it and brings it in, rumors fill Earth’s infomesh about an “alien artifact.”

Thrown into the maelstrom of worldwide shared experience, the Artifact is a game-changer. A message in a bottle; an alien capsule that wants to communicate. The world reacts as humans always do: with fear and hope and selfishness and love and violence. And insatiable curiosity.



Heaven’s War by David S. Goyer and Michael Casutt (Ace Hardcover 07/03/2012) – Exactly a year after the first in this series, Heaven’s Shadowpublishes, the second in the series hits bookshelves.

When it first appeared, the astronomers named the asteroid Keanu.

A Near Earth Object, from a distant constellation, it was headed directly toward our sun.

But when we went to meet it, it turned out to be far more than a huge rock hurtling through space...

The two teams of astronauts sent to explore Keanu discovered it is, in fact, a spacecraft, a giant ship with an alien crew. A ship that had headed to Earth with a mission and a message: Help Us. A brave new frontier beckons. But we are about to learn that it comes with a price...

Without warning, the aliens transport small groups of humans from the competing scientific communities of Houston, Texas and Bangalore, India to the vast interior habitats of Keanu. Their first challenge is to survive. Their second; to discover why The Architects—the unknown, unseen aliens controlling the asteroid—brought them there. And soon a third emerges: they must find a way to take control of Keanu.

Because the NEO is moving again—away from Earth. The Architects are headed home.


Citadels of the Lost (The Annals of Drakis #2) by Tracy Hickman (DAW, Mass Market Paperback 07/03/2012) –Second in Hickman’s solo series which seems to hit all the check-boxes for 1980s throwback Epic Fantasy.

The Rhonas Empire of elves is built upon a thirst for conquest, disdain for other races, and an appetite for hedonistic self-gratification. They have complete control of the Aether — the mystical substance that fuels their magic. One use of this Aether is to compel total obedience of the slaves drawn from the races they have defeated.

But there are legends that tell of a time when humans and other slave races were free and dragons flew the skies. And they speak of a hero who will return to lead an uprising against their masters: a human named Drakis.

When Aer magic, the magic of nature itself, is wielded by Jugar, a captive dwarf, it signals the start of a rebellion straight from legend. In the ensuing chaos, the former warrior-slave Drakis Sha-Timuran, with a small group of slaves, flees for his life and freedom — lured by a melody that conjures visions of dark wings, scales, and fire. Following the melody he alone can hear, Drakis stumbles on the truth behind the legends: the dragons are real!

Can they survive the dangers of this treacherous realm and bring the truth behind the legends to the army of rebellion?


Sky Dragons by Anne McCaffrey and Todd J. McCaffrey (Del Rey Hardcover 06/26/2012) – Right on schedule a new Dragonriders of Pern novel arrives (one day short of EXACTLY a year since the last installment) and this is the last installment that will feature the late Anne McCaffrey.

From the New York Times bestselling mother-and-son team of Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey comes the final installment in the riveting Pern saga that began with Todd’s solo novel, Dragonsblood. Now, with all of Pern imperiled by the aftereffects of a plague that killed scores of dragons and left the planet helpless against the fall of deadly Thread, the only hope for the future lies in the past.

There, on an unexplored island, a group of dragonriders led by Xhinna, a brave young woman who rides the blue dragon Tazith, must battle lethal Merows and voracious tunnel-snakes to build a safe home for themselves and the dragons, whose offspring will one day—if they survive—replenish Pern’s decimated dragon population. But as the first female rider of a blue dragon, and the first female Weyrleader in the history of Pern, Xhinna faces an uphill battle in winning the respect and loyalty of her peers . . . especially after an unforeseen tragedy leaves the struggling colony reeling from a shattering loss.

Amid the grieving, one girl, Jirana, blessed—or cursed—with the ability to foresee potential futures, will help Xhinna find a way forward. The answer lies in time . . . or, rather, in timing it: the awesome ability of the dragons to travel through time itself. But that power comes with risks, and by venturing further into the past, Xhinna may be jeopardizing the very future she has sworn to save.


Broken Blade (The Fallen Blade #2) by Kelly McCullough (AceMass Market Paperback 07/03/2012) –Second in a series which began last year and, oddly, like the Devon Monk title in this post, I never received the first book of each series so chances of me jumping into book two on either is very slim. That said, the first installment Broken Blade did receive some nice reviews.


From the "inventive, irreverent" (Green Man Review) author of Broken Blade comes a new Fallen Blade novel featuring Aral Kingslayer. Former temple assassin Aral Kingslayer has a price on his head and a mark on his soul. After his goddess was murdered, Aral found refuge in the shadow jack business, fixing problems for those on the fringes of Tien’s underworld. It’s a long step down from working for the Goddess of Justice, but it gives Aral and Triss—the living shadow who is his secret partner—a reason to get up in the morning.

When two women hit a rough spot in the tavern Aral uses for an office, he and Triss decide to lend a helping hand--only to find themselves in the middle of a three-way battle to find an artifact that just might be the key to preventing a war. And with so many factions on their trail, Aral and Triss are attracting a lot more attention than anyone featured on ten thousand wanted posters can afford…

Nightglass (A Pathfinder Tales novel) by Liane Merciel (Paizo Mass Market Paperback 07/03/2012) – I’ve seen good things about Merciel, PeterW in particular liked her writing and Ms. Merciel participated in one of SFFWorld’s Author Roundtables.

In the grim nation of Nidal, carefully chosen children are trained to practice dark magic, summoning forth creatures of horror and shadow for the greater glory of the Midnight Lord. Isiem is one such student, a promising young shadowcaster whose budding powers are the envy of his peers. Upon coming of age, he's dispatched on a diplomatic mission to the mountains of the Devil's Perch, where he's meant to assist the armies of devil-worshiping Cheliax in clearing out a tribe of monstrous winged humanoids. Yet as the body count rises and Isiem comes face to face with the people he's exterminating, lines begin to blur, and the shadowcaster must ask himself who the real monsters are...

From Liane Merciel, critically acclaimed author of The River King's Road and Heaven's Needle, comes a fantastical tale of darkness and redemption set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Tin Swift (The Age of Steam #2) by Devon Monk (Ace Hardcover 07/03/2012) –I read her debut Magic to the Bone in 2009 about a year after it published, and since then, Monk’s become a writing machine, churning out these two The Age of Steam novels as well as an additional 8 novels in the Allie Beckstrom.


In steam age America, men, monsters, machines and magic battle to claim the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, one man fights to hold on to his humanity—and his honor. . .

Life on the frontier is full of deceit and danger, but bounty hunter Cedar Hunt is a man whose word is his bond. Cursed with becoming a beast every full moon, Cedar once believed his destiny was to be alone. But now, Cedar finds himself saddled with a group of refugees, including the brother he once thought lost.

Keeping his companions alive is proving to be no easy task, in part because of the promise he made to the unpredictable Madder brothers—three miners who know the secret mechanisms of the Strange. To fulfill his pledge, Cedar must hunt a powerful weapon known as the Holder—a search that takes him deep into the savage underbelly of the young country and high into the killing glim-field skies defended by desperate men and deadly ships.

But the battles he faces are just a glimmer of a growing war stirring the country. To keep his word Cedar must navigate betrayal, lies, and treacherous alliances, risking everything to save the lives of those he has come to hold dear…

Doctor Who Shada: The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams by Gareth Roberts (Ace Hardcover 07/03/2012) –I like Doctor Who and I like Douglas Adams, though I’m not sure I’ll be getting to this one..


From the unique mind of Douglas Adams, legendary author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, comes Shada, a Doctor Who story scripted for the television series Doctor Who, but never produced—and now, transformed into an original novel...

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing Imagine how dangerous a LOT of knowledge is...

The Doctor's old friend and fellow Time Lord Professor Chronotis has retired to Cambridge University, where among the other doddering old professors nobody will notice if he lives for centuries. He took with him a few little souvenirs—harmless things really. But among them, carelessly, he took The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey. Even more carelessly, he has loaned this immensely powerful book to clueless graduate student Chris Parsons, who intends to use it to impress girls. The Worshipful and Ancient Law is among the most dangerous artifacts in the universe; it cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.

The hands of the sinister Time Lord Skagra are unquestionably the wrongest ones possible. Skagra is a sadist and an egomaniac, bent on universal domination. Having misguessed the state of fashion on Earth, he also wears terrible platform shoes. He is on his way to Cambridge. He wants the book. And he wants the Doctor...



Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues (White Trash Zombie #2by Diana Rowland (DAW Mass Market 7/05/2011)– Mystery + humor + horror + zombies = A new book (and potential series) from Diana Rowland.

Angel Crawford is finally starting to get used to life as a brain-eating zombie, but her problems are far from over. Her felony record is coming back to haunt her, more zombie hunters are popping up, and she’s beginning to wonder if her hunky cop-boyfriend is involved with the zombie mafia. Yeah, that’s right—the zombie mafia.

Throw in a secret lab and a lot of conspiracy, and Angel’s going to need all of her brainpower—and maybe a brain smoothie as well—in order to get through it without falling apart.


The Apocalypse Codex (A Laundry Files novel) by Charles Stross (Ace Hardcover 07/03/2012) – This is the third full Laundry novel, I read The Jennifer Morgue and Mark read/reviewed The Fuller Memorandum."


Bob Howard may be humanity’s last hope.
Start praying…

For outstanding heroism in the field (despite himself), computational demonologist Bob Howard is on the fast-track for promotion to management within The Laundry, the super-secret British government agency tasked with defending the realm from occult threats. Assigned to “External Assets,” Bob discovers the company—unofficially—employs freelance agents to deal with sensitive situations that may embarrass Queen and Country.

So when Ray Schiller—an American televangelist with the uncanny ability to miraculously heal the ill—becomes uncomfortably close to the Prime Minister, External Assets dispatches the brilliant, beautiful, and entirely unpredictable Persephone Hazard to infiltrate the Golden Promise Ministry and discover why the preacher is so interested in British politics. And it’s Bob’s job to make sure Persephone doesn’t cause an international incident.

But it’s a supernatural incident that Bob needs to worry about—a global threat even The Laundry may be unable to clean up

Newly Discovered Authors - First Half of 2012

This little post concerns itself with the authors I’ve discovered this year, read for the first time, and plan on reading more of in the future. I suppose there’s no quicker way to say it fully so there you go. Anyway, some of these writers are new to all of us, meaning their debut novels published this year, other authors have been published with books on the shelves (physical or virtual) for more than a year. I’ll do this thing alphabetically:

Rachel Aaron – I enjoyed the heck out of her The Legend of Eli Monpress omnibus, have the fourth in the series - The Spirt War - waiting to be read, and the fifth/final - Spirt’s End - set to publish later in 2012.

Saladin Ahmed – This entry is another debut author, at least in terms of novels, but I was so impressed with Throne of the Crescent Moon I’m quite eager to see where Saladin next takes Doctor Adoulla Makhslood and his companions.

Robert Jackson Bennett – I’m only part-way through The Troupe, his third novel and the first I’ve read, but it is connecting with my reading sensibilities VERY strongly. I get a bit of a King/Bradbury feel so far and I’ve seen nothing but good things about his other two novels The Company Man and Mr. Shivers.

Myke Cole – Shadow OPS: Control Point is his first novel and also the first in the Shadow OPS series and an extremely accomplished novel. Might be my favorite of the year at this point or very close to it. Two more books in this series are set to publish for Mr. Cole and I’ll be lining up to get them.

Larry Correia – I ordered the Monster Hunters omnibus from Baen for all of $6.00 and the first novel in it, Monster Hunter International is lots of fun. He’s trucking along with this series, releasing the fourth, Monster Hunter Legion in September plus he’s got to volumes of The Grimnoir Chronicles which is a Noir-ish alternate history urban fantasy.

Jeff Salyards – Another debut author whose Scourge of the Betrayer was a tight and impressive military fantasy novel. Not sure when the second is publishing, but looking forward to it.

Blue Remembered Earth - My Review at Tor.com

My most recent Tor.com post went live yesterday and it was a review of Alastair Reynolds's Blue Remembered Earth, the first installment of his Poseidon's Children saga:

So click on over and see what I thought of this familial romp through our Solar System.

Redshirts and Destiny Quest Reviewed at SFFWorld

I’ve got a review or two to mention today, as usual, one review is written by yours truly whilst Mark is the author of the other review.

Here…we….go….

John Scalzi’ is one of the most popular SF writers today, thanks in no small part to his great blog and of course his entertaining novels. Possibly his most anticipated is Redshirts which publishes today:

In Redshirts, Scalzi plays on one of the older tropes in science fiction, at least that of the expendable characters. The old trope that was codified by Star Trek (the original series) wherein Spock, Kirk, McCoy and a guy wearing a Federation issued Red shirt would land on the planet only for three of the four members of the away party to make it back to the U.S.S. Enterprise. This is par for the course since the Red shirted member of the away team is played by an unknown actor. Except when those characters are real people (or as real as fiction characters from a novel who are fictional characters on a TV Show can be) become ‘aware’ and realize the lesser crew members assigned to away parties are always dying. When Dahl and his companions encounter a man or ‘yeti’ as they call him, named Jenkins (think the mysterious Laszlo from the 1980s comedy gem Real Genius), they learn of the power of Narrative, and specifically the Narrative of a show called The Chronicles of the Intrepid. So yes, Scalzi is going for the whole meta-fiction thing here and for the most part, I felt it worked. No doubt Scalzi’s work on Stargate Universe aka SG:U (criminally cancelled far too early by the network once known as the SciFi Channel), informed a good deal of the inner workings of how a space-based science fiction television show works. The comparisons between SG:U and The Chronicles of the Intrepid end there because – even as Dahl and his fellow Redshirts note - The Chronicles of the Intrepid is written terribly and SG:U was terrific.

Mark takes a look at an interesting mix between game and novel, the first Destiny Quest installment by Michael J. Ward, The Legion of Shadow:

Here’s an unexpected surprise: a game book that’s both retro and forward looking.

From the start though, you pretty much know what you’re going to get: the cover shows a hooded, cloaked man, eyes aglow, stares at you with a horde of equally evil-looking warriors behind him. Around his left hand, a purple orb of glowing electricity, and in his right hand, an enormous staff, seething with arcane power.
…

For someone used to the Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy game books from the 1980’s, or Dungeon and Dragons role-playing, you’ve pretty much got the idea of what goes on here. You start as an outcast with no memory of your background or history. This allows you to develop new characteristics as you develop, becoming one of the archetypes mentioned earlier such as a rogue, a mage and a warrior, and realising your destiny. There are quests and sub-quests, demons and monsters, good guys and bad. Ultimately your aim is to defeat the bad guy and his various allies, determined to do you and the world harm. Along the way, the choices you make (or are determined by the throw of a die) affect where you go and what you do.

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

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

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

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

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

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:

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

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

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

This collection includes:

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

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

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



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


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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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





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

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


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

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

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

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

The Kings Blood and Tricked Reviewed at SFFWorld

Mark returns to the weekly Tuesday reviews-at-SFFWorld post, joining me in his usual spot.

You folks know the drill by now, I give a bit about each book, insert the cover image and link to the review.

Mark reviewed one of the most anticipated fantasy releases of the yea, The King’s Blood, the second novel in Daniel Abraham’s The Dagger and The Coin sequence:

 

After the set up of Book One, things here start to move into new positions. The Apostate is revealed (if it wasn’t already known) as a major character from Book One. Captain Marcus Wester is now at work in his new job, working with his friend Yardem Hane for Magistra Cithrin bel Sarcour and the Medean Bank in Porte Oliva. Cithrin herself is struggling with the restrictions she agreed to in order to keep her position in the Bank in Book One, now working under Pyk Usterhall, a stern notary from the Bank to ensure her transactions are in the traditions of the Medean.

…

Like an expert chess match, key pieces start to move into place this time around. Some of the actions the characters take are interesting and not what might be expected. The characters themselves become much more developed this time around. We learn more of Wester’s and Cithrin’s past, and we start to get more details of the dragons of the past. Geder in particular is, by turns, thoughtful, scholarly and violent as he reluctantly adjusts to his new position. Throughout the book there’s some life-changing decisions made, life-altering consequences and some major betrayals.

Kevin Hearne burst onto the scene last year with the first three installments of The Iron Druid Chronicles in successive months. The latest installment, Tricked, published in April and my review for it went up at SFFWorld today:

Once Atticus gets on with his new life, it isn’t long before the Native American trickster deity Coyote comes calling on the favor Atticus owes him for ‘killing’ him. It isn’t anything big for our favorite Druid, he just convince the Colorado earth elemental to make a gold mine for Coyote’s people. Of course more complications ensue over the course of the novel as a pair of skinwalkers, some of the nastier monsters of Coyote’s people. Atticus came to the attention of these skinwalkers thanks to Hel, the Norse god of the underworld and Loki’s offspring. Clearly, Atticus and company have their hands quite full.
…

While I breezed through the first three installments of The Iron Druid Chronicles, I felt the pacing was not as well balanced here in Tricked. There’s almost…just almost a sense that Hearne was trying to cover too many plot points in the novel. On the other hand, for a 350 page novel, the fact that he packed so much into so few pages was pretty impressive.

Tricked might even serve as a decent entry point for new readers since Atticus and his crew are indeed starting over after their ‘deaths.’ I get a sense that Hearne has big things in plan for Atticus and Tricked might just be an intake of breath compared to what is facing our Druid power trio down the road.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2012-05-26)

Only a few books arrived this previous week at the ‘o Stuff, but since it is Sunday, I tell you about them..



The Wanderers by Paula Brandon (Spectra Trade Paperback 07/31/2012) –Sequel / Third in the series to / of the series which began with The Traitor’s Daughter, which has been getting quite a nice buzz. Brandon is something of an open pseudonym for Paula Volsky and this trilogy seems to have no name.

Paula Brandon’s acclaimed fantasy trilogy comes to a triumphant conclusion in an unforgettable collision of magic, intrigue, and romance.

Time is running out. Falaste Rione is imprisoned, sentenced to death. And even though the magical balance of the Source is slipping and the fabric of reality itself has begun to tear, Jianna Belandor can think only of freeing the man she loves. But to do so, she must join a revolution she once despised—and risk reunion with a husband she has ample reason to fear.

Meanwhile, undead creatures terrorize the land, slaves of the Overmind—a relentless consciousness determined to bring everything that lives under its sway. All that stands in the way is a motley group of arcanists whose combined powers will barely suffice to restore balance to the Source. But when Jianna’s father, the Magnifico Aureste Belandor, murders one of them, the group begins to fracture under the pressures of suspicion and mutual hatred. Now humanity’s hope rests with an unexpected soul: a misanthropic hermit whose next move may turn the tide and save the world.


Nebula Awards Showcase 12 : edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel (Pyr Trade Paperback 05/22/2012) – Nice to see the fine folks at PYR get in on the annual best-of anthology scene with this venerable annual volume.

The latest volume of the prestigious anthology series

The Nebula Awards Showcase volumes, which have been published since 1966, collect the year's Nebula Award-nominated and winning stories and poems, as voted on by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. This year's volume includes the winners of the Andre Norton, Dwarf Star, Rhysling, and Solstice Awards, as well as the Nebula winners, and features:

"How Interesting: A Tiny Man" by
Harlan Ellison

"Ponies" by
Kij Johnson

"That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made" by
Eric James Stone

"The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window by
Rachel Swirsky

an excerpt from
"Blackout / All Clear" by
Connie Willis

and an excerpt from the Andre Norton Award-winning
"I Shall Wear Midnight" by
Terry Pratchett

with additional stories and poems by Chris Barzak, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-Mohtar, Kendall Evans and Samantha Henderson, Howard Hendrix, Geoff Landis, Shweta Narayan, Ann K. Schwader, James Tiptree, Jr., and Adam Troy-Castro and a cover by Solstice Award-winner Michael Whelan.




Silvers by Rhiannon Held (Tor, Trade Paperback 06/05/2012) – Debut Urban Fantasy novel, and launch of a yet unnamed series, that promises a new take on Werewolves.

Andrew Dare is a werewolf. He’s the enforcer for the Roanoke pack, and responsible for capturing or killing any Were intruders in Roanoke’s territory. But the lone Were he’s tracking doesn’t smell or act like anyone he’s ever encountered. And when he catches her, it doesn’t get any better. She’s beautiful, she’s crazy, and someone has tortured her by injecting silver into her veins. She says her name is Silver, and that she’s lost her wild self and can’t shift any more.

The packs in North America have a live-and-let-live attitude, and try not to overlap with each other. But Silver represents a terrible threat to every Were on the continent.

Andrew and Silver will join forces to track down this menace while discovering their own power and their passion for each other.

Judgment at Proteus (Quadrail #5) by Timothy Zahn (Tor, Hardcover 06/05/2012) – This is the fifth and concluding volume in Zahn’s space opera series Quadrail, which began with Night Train to Rigel.

The climactic novel of the star-spanning Quadrail space opera

In Timothy Zahn's Judgment at Proteus, the Quadrail that connects the twelve civilizations of our galaxy has been the flashpoint of a battle for dominance fought mostly unnoticed by humankind. But Frank Compton of Earth, aided by the enigmatic woman Bayta, has fought on the front lines, using every bit of his human ingenuity and secret agent skills to outwit the Modhri, a group intelligence that would control the minds of every sentient being it can touch.

Following a trail of deception and death to Proteus Station, Compton has discovered a conspiracy that threatens all life in the galaxy: the Shonkla’raa, an ancient enemy thought to be long dead, is rising again. So serious is the danger that the Modhri, the enemy of his enemy, may now be his friend, as the burgeoning threat of a race of invincible soldiers emerges.

If Compton and Bayta can’t stop them, the Shonkla’raa will decimate all who oppose them, destroying the Quadrail and billions of lives throughout the galaxy.

Blackout (Newsflesh #3) by Mira Grant - Review

Only one review to link to here at the o’ Stuff but the book is one I placed very highly on my 2012 list of anticipated releases. Chances are, if you follow me on twitter (@RobHBedford) and if you don’t you should be, you’ve seen me tweeting about it - Blackout, the conclusion to Mira Grant’s Newsflesh Trilolgy:

So, structurally we’ve got our map laid out, the path Grant takes continues to be filled with conspiracy and subterfuge with a little less on the political game inasmuch as the politicians themselves don’t take to the page until the latter portions of the novel. This isn’t to say the game of politics isn’t present, because it very much is and drives the plot of the novel. Much of the politics involves the power play of control between the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and the EIS (Epidemic Intelligence Service), specifically the information about the Kellis-Amberle virus and the potential for a cure.

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So, how does Blackout hold up to the promises laid out in its predecessor volumes? From my reading perspective very well, Grant brings more Applied Phlebotinum to the table in the form of the clones and how Shaun’s immunity came to be. If Grant were a lesser writer, these elements could derail the novel, but thankfully, she’s quite brilliant at explaining these things in a plausible fashion which is balanced by the overall powerfully addictive narrative.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2012-05-19)

After a fairly large batch of arrivals last week, it was nice to have a bit of a respite this week, though that doesn’t necessarily infer the quality of what I received this past week is any lesser.


King of Thorns (Book Two of The Broken Empire) by Mark Lawrence (Hardcover 08/07/2012 Ace) – I was extremely impressed with the first in this series, Prince of Thorns which I also thought was the best debut published in 2011, so yeah, I’m looking forward to reading this one.

In Book One of the Broken Empire, Mark Lawrence brought to life the “morbidly gripping”* (Publishers Weekly) story of a boy in search of power and vengeance. Now, in King of Thorns, that boy’s journey into manhood takes him to the dark depths waiting within his soul…

The boy who would be King has gained the throne...

Prince Honorious Jorg Ancrath vowed when he was nine to avenge his slaughtered mother and brother—and punish his father for not doing so. When he was fifteen, he began to fulfill that vow. Now he is eighteen—and he must hold on by strength of arms to what he took by torture and treachery.

King Jorg is a man haunted: by the ghost of a young boy, by a mysterious copper box, by his desire for the woman who rides with his enemy. Plagued by nightmares of the atrocities he committed, and of the atrocities committed against him when he was a child, he is filled with rage. And even as his need for revenge continues to consume him, twenty thousand men march toward the gates of his castle. His enemy is far stronger than him. Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight.

But he has found, in a chamber hidden beneath the castle, ancient and long-lost artifacts. Some might call them magic. Jorg is not certain—all he knows is that the secrets they hold can be put to terrible use in the coming battle...



Princeps (Imager Portfolio) by (L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (Tor Hardcover 05/22/2012) – The writing machine that is a man releases another (fifth overall) in this series and sequel to last August’s Scholar

The thrilling follow-up to Scholar—in which, after discovering a coup attempt and preventing a bloody civil war, Quaeryt was appointed princeps of Tilbor—begins a new episode in the young Imager's life. Now second only to the governor, and still hiding his powers as an Imager, Quaeryt is enjoying his new position, as well as his marriage to Lord Bhayar’s youngest sister, Vaelora, when a volcanic eruption devastates the old capital of Telaryn. He and his wife are dispatched to Extela, Telaryn’s capitol city, to replace the governor killed in the eruption. Quaeryt and Vaelora must restore order to a city filled with chaos and corruption, and do so quickly. The regiment under his command must soon depart to bolster Telaryn’s border defenses against a neighboring ruler who sees the volcanic devastation as an opportunity for invasion and conquest.


The Iron Wyrm Affair (The First of the The Bannon and Clare Affairs) by Lilith Saintcrow (Orbit Books Trade Paperback / eBook 05/22/2012) – Lilith Saintcrow has written two series for Orbit to great success, plus many young adult novels. This is the launch of a steampunk mystery series that would seem to appeal to readers of Mark Hodder’s Adventures of Burton and Swineburne.


Emma Bannon, forensic sorceress in the service of the Empire, has a mission: to protect Archibald Clare, a failed, unregistered mentath. His skills of deduction are legendary, and her own sorcery is not inconsiderable. It doesn't help much that they barely tolerate each other, or that Bannon's Shield, Mikal, might just be a traitor himself. Or that the conspiracy killing registered mentaths and sorcerers alike will just as likely kill them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen.

In an alternate London where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare now face hostility, treason, cannon fire, black sorcery, and the problem of reliably finding hansom cabs.

The game is afoot..

The Rob and Mark Show continues, but it converges with the continuing Jack Campbell show as one of my reviews is of Campbell’s latest installment in The Lost Fleet saga.

You folks know the drill by now, I give a bit about each book, insert the cover image and link to the review.

Mark’s review is one of those scientific examinations of a fictional world. In this case, Stephen Baxter is the author and the book is The Science of Avatar:

Mixing scientific facts with space exploration history, extrapolated to the Avatar universe and using the odd sprinkling of SF fiction to illustrate its points, this is a surprisingly entertaining book.

Though I’m not convinced that the target readership is big enough to make this book a best seller (but what do I know?), for fans of the film who want to look at the background behind the film using real science, this will be an interesting read.

Though there is science here, and that may initially put some readers off, it is written in such an accessible way that the book rarely lectures and mainly entertains. Thirty five short chapters mean that a topic or idea rarely becomes boring. Eight pages of colour images from the production drawings of the film help readers in understanding, or perhaps just reminding, what the spaceships, machinery and characters of the film look like.

As I said, the running theme here at the blog lately seems to be Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet so I’ll close out this little spate of posts with my review of the second installment of the sequel series Beyond the Frontier Invincible:

Jack Campbell has been writing novels following the exploits of John “Black Jack” Geary and the Lost Fleet for well over a decade. Invincible is the second installment of the sequel series, Beyond the Frontier and the eighth novel in the sequence as a whole. With all that said, is it possible for such a well-established series to surprise readers and shuffle its well-established status quo? Campbell answers that question with a resounding yes in Invincible.
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What drove the story the most for me; however, was the introduction of the two new alien races. In a universe – prior to this installment – Campbell only hinted at possible aliens in the form of the mysterious ‘enigmas,’ but with the introduction of two additional alien races, the status quo has changed drastically. Perhaps readers who have been following the series through the previous seven books feel introducing these aliens may have taken too long, but the impact was still not lost on this reader. The aliens themselves, at least the manner in which they are described on one hand, seems a bit trite but on the other, the characters can only identify these alien species in comparison to creatures/animals they know and with which they are familiar. Like much of Campbell’s novel, this element danced a fine line between being hokey and believable, but in the long run, worked for me.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2012-05-12)

It’s about time I did the whole preface to the Books in the Mail post, so here goes….

As a reviewer for SFFWorld and maybe because of this blog, I receive a lot of books for review from various publishers. Since I can't possibly read everything that arrives, I figure the least I can do (like some of my fellow bloggers) is mention the books I receive for review on the blog to at least acknowledge the books even if I don't read them.

Some publishers are on a very predictable schedule of releases, making this blog post fairly easy to compose. For example, the fine folks at Del Rey/Spectra publish quite a few books per month, in mass market paperback, trade paperback and hardcover. Most often, they send their books about a month prior to the actual publication date.

Sometimes I get one or two books, other weeks I'll get nearly a dozen books. Some weeks, I’ll receive a finished (i.e. the version people see on bookshelves) copy of a book for which I received an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) weeks or months prior to the actual publication of the book. Sometimes I'll want to read everything that arrives, other weeks, the books immediately go into the "I'll never read this book" pile, while still others go into the nebulous "maybe-I'll-read-it-category." More often than not, it is a mix of books that appeal to me at different levels (i.e. from "this book holds ZERO appeal for me" to "I cannot WAIT to read this book yesterday"). Have a guess in the comments about which book fits my reading labels “I’ll Never Read…” “Zero Appeal” or “cannot wait” "maybe I'll get to it later" and so forth...


Blackwood by Gwenda Bond (Strange Chemistry, Paperback 09/04/2012) – Gwenda’s been blogging and writing about the genre for quite a while now, this is her debut novel and one of the launch titles for Strange Chemistry, the new YA imprint of Angry Robot Books, so no pressure, right? Right. The premise sounds interesting as I’ve have a bit of a fascination for the lost Roanoke colony.


On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island's most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can't dodge is each other.

Blackwood is a dark, witty coming of age story that combines America's oldest mystery with a thoroughly contemporary romance.

Undead and Unstable (The Undead Series - Betsy #11 #10) by MaryJanice Davidson (Berkeley, Hardcover 06/05/2012) – The continuing humorous adventures of Betsy the vampire.


“If you’re fans of Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake, don’t miss Betsy Taylor. She rocks” (The Best Reviews)—and she’s back once again as a vampire queen who finds herself an unlucky (but fashionable) passenger on the road to damnation…

Betsy’s heartbroken over her friend Marc’s death, but at least his sacrifice should change the future—her future­—for the better. But it’s not as if Betsy’s next few hundred years will be perfect. After all, her half-sister Laura is the AntiChrist, Laura’s mother is Satan, and family gatherings will always be more than a little awkward.

What’s really bothering Betsy is that ever since she and Laura returned from visiting her mom in Hell, Laura’s been acting increasingly peculiar. Maybe it’s Laura’s new job offer: as Satan’s replacement down under. Unfortunately, the position comes at a damnable price: killing Betsy, her own flesh-and-blood.

Over Betsy’s dead body. And for that matter Marc’s, too, since he’s not quite as buried as everyone thought. Now a war has been waged—one that’s going to take sibling rivalry to a whole new level, and a dimension where only one sister can survive.

Orb Sceptre Throne (A Novel of the Malazan Empire ) by Ian Cameron Esslemont (Tor Trade Paperback 05/22/2012) – I’m a big fan of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, though of Esslemont’s contributions, I’ve only read Night of Knives and from Erikson up to Reaper’s Gale. So yeah, I’ve got some catching up to do with this series:

The epic new chapter in the history of Malaz—the new epic fantasy from Steven Erikson's friend and co-creator of this extraordinary and exciting imagined world.

Darujhistan, city of dreams, city of blue flames, is peaceful at last; its citizens free to return to politicking, bickering, trading and, above all, enjoying the good things in life. Yet there are those who will not allow the past to remain buried. A scholar digging in the plains stumbles across an ancient sealed vault. The merchant Humble Measure schemes to drive out the remaining Malazan invaders. And the surviving agents of a long-lost power are stirring, for they sense change and so, opportunity. While, as ever at the centre of everything, a thief in a red waistcoat and of rotund proportions walks the streets, juggling in one hand custard pastries, and in the other the fate of the city itself.

Casket of Souls (Nightrunner, Book 6) by Lynn Flewelling (Bantam Mass Market 05/29/2012)– I read a couple of Flewelling’s novles, The Bone Doll’s Twin was the SFFWorld Fantasy Book Club selection back in June 2003. I’ve always meant to go back and finish reading the series, but well, that’s how things go.

The Nightrunners are back in this gripping novel full of Lynn Flewelling’s trademark action, intrigue, and richly imagined characters.

More than the dissolute noblemen they appear to be, Alec and Seregil are skillful spies, dedicated to serving queen and country. But when they stumble across evidence of a plot pitting Queen Phoria against Princess Klia, the two Nightrunners will find their loyalties torn as never before. Even at the best of times, the royal court at Rhíminee is a serpents’ nest of intrigue, but with the war against Plenimar going badly, treason simmers just below the surface.

And that’s not all that poses a threat: A mysterious plague is spreading through the crowded streets of the city, striking young and old alike. Now, as panic mounts and the body count rises, hidden secrets emerge. And as Seregil and Alec are about to learn, conspiracies and plagues have one thing in common: The cure can be as deadly as the disease.

Blackout (Newsflesh Trilogy #3) by Mira Grant (Orbit Tall Paperback 05/22/2012) – FEED blew me away and Deadline lived up to the promise laid out in the first book. This is one of my top 2 or 3 anticipated releases of 2012 so I’ve got high hopes.

Rise up while you can. -Georgia Mason

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn't end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. The uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Now, the year is 2041, and the investigation that began with the election of President Ryman is much bigger than anyone had assumed. With too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, the surviving staff of After the End Times must face mad scientists, zombie bears, rogue government agencies-and if there's one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it's this:

Things can always get worse.

BLACKOUT is the conclusion to the epic trilogy that began in the Hugo-nominated FEED and the sequel, DEADLINE.

The Mandel Files, Volume 2 - The Nano Flower by Peter F. Hamilton. (Del Rey Trade Paperback 05/29/2012) – This brings Hamilton’s take on the psychic detective to close, with the third novel in the Greg Mandel trilogy.

Peter F. Hamilton’s groundbreaking Mandel Files series concludes with The Nano Flower, a tour de force of unbridled imagination and cutting-edge scientific speculation.

Greg Mandel is a psychic detective whose skills have been augmented by powerful but dangerous biotechnology. Those abilities have won him success and almost killed him many times over. Little wonder that he has settled down to the life of a gentleman farmer.

But Greg’s former employer, the mighty tech company Event Horizon, needs him once more. After Royan, hacker-genius and husband to company owner Julia Evans, mysteriously vanishes, a business rival suddenly boasts an incredible new technology. Has Royan been kidnapped and forced to work for his captors, or is the truth far stranger? The answer may lie in a gift of flowers received by Julia—flowers with DNA like nothing on Earth. Greg already has his hands full with corporate killers and other unsavory characters. Is he going to have to add aliens to the list?

The Greg Mandel trilogy—which also includes Mindstar Rising and A Quantum Murder, available in Volume 1—set a new standard for science fiction when it first appeared in the 1990s. The Nano Flower is every bit as gripping today—and even more timely.

The Twelfth Enchantment by David Liss (Ballantine Trade Paperback 05/29/2012) – Liss has penned quite a few novels of historical fiction, this seems to be the first one which is infused with bits of fantasy

Lucy Derrick is a young woman of good breeding and poor finances. After the death of her beloved father, she becomes the unwanted boarder of her tyrannical uncle, fending off marriage to a local mill owner. But just as she is resigned to a life of misery, a handsome stranger—the poet and notorious rake Lord Byron—arrives at her house, stricken by what seems to be a curse, and with a cryptic message for Lucy.

With England on the cusp of revolution, Lucy inexplicably finds herself awakened to a world where magic and mortals collide, and the forces of ancient nature and modern progress are at war for the soul of England . . . and the world. The key to victory may be connected to a cryptic volume whose powers of enchantment are unbounded. Now, challenged by ruthless enemies with ancient powers at their command, Lucy must harness newfound mystical skills to preserve humanity’s future. And enthralled by two exceptional men with designs on her heart, she must master her own desires to claim the destiny she deserves.

Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more.



Blue Remembered Earth (Poseidon’s Children #1) by Alastair Reynolds (Ace Hardcover Paperback 06/05/2012) – Reynolds is, arguably one of the top selling and most acclaimed SF writers currently publishing today. I’d be on the side of the argument that would say “Yes indeed.” This is the launch of a new series for him that is already garnering a fair amount of praise.

With his critically acclaimed Revelation Space novels, Alastair Reynolds confirmed “his place among the leaders of the hard-science space opera renaissance.” (Publishers Weekly) With Blue Remembered Earth, the award-winning author begins a new epic, tracing generations of one family across more than ten thousand years of future history—into interstellar space and the dawn of galactic society…

One hundred and fifty years from now, Africa has become the world’s dominant technological and economic power. Crime, war, disease and poverty have been eliminated. The Moon and Mars are settled, and colonies stretch all the way out to the edge of the solar system. And Ocular, the largest scientific instrument in history, is about to make an epochal discovery…

Geoffrey Akinya wants only one thing: to be left in peace, so that he can continue his long-running studies into the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But Geoffrey’s family, who control the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans for him. After the death of his grandmother Eunice—the erstwhile space explorer and entrepreneur—something awkward has come to light on the Moon, so Geoffrey is dispatched there to ensure the family name remains untarnished. But the secrets Eunice died with are about to be revealed—secrets that could change everything...or tear this near utopia apart.

Jack Campbell Interview, Part the Second

I posted the second half of my interview with Military SF author Jack Campbell yesterday.  I also finished Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier Invincible on Tuesday and liked it very much, near the top of my favorite SF reads so far this year.  Without further ado, here's the link and a bit from the interview:

With the mythic feel you’ve injected into The Lost Fleet do you see yourself ever turning your pen to fantasy or is Military SF where you’ll be spending the forseeable future?

I have done a few fantasy stories. "Highland Reel" was recently accepted for the upcoming anthology Rip Off! edited by Gardner Dozois. "Mightier Than the Sword" was in the anthology Turn the Other Chick, and I've done a variety of short fiction in other magazines, especially Analog. Many of those stories have involved time travel of one sort of another, like my last story in Analog ("Betty Knox and Dictionary Jones in the Mystery of the Missing Teenage Anachronisms").

I also have a series ready to go that I call "steampunk with dragons." The Dragons of Dorcastle is SF, but with a fantasy feel in many ways. That series let me play with horse cavalry, steam locomotives, sailing ships and (yes) dragons. I just need a publisher to snap it up. One of the odd things in that respect is that I believe that readers are interested in seeing different things from a writer they enjoy, but publishers tend to want an author to keep doing the same thing that worked last time. I just need to convince a publisher that I really do know what I'm doing when it comes to writing stories.

This Tuesday, I review a stunning debut and Mark takes a look at a classic reissue.

Night Shade has published some great new writers/debut novels over the past year and a half. The latest one I read is Jeff Salyards’s Scourge of the Betrayer, the first novel in his Bloodsounder’s Arc trilogy:

The protagonist and narrator of the story is Arki (short for Arkamondos) the scribe (embedded journalist) responsible recounting Syldoon military campaign led by Captain Braylor Killcoin. Arki is a bit hesitant about joining a military campaign, though he does wish to see more of the world. As the story progresses, the reader learns more about the Syldoons, Braylor and the realities of how much orders are followed when a military troop is a far distance from those superiors – in this case the Emperor – who issued the orders.

The plot is fairly linear as Braylor and his men journey across the land sowing discord and getting in and out of trouble with other lawmakers of the land. Salyards doesn’t offer up very much information about the world in which the novel takes place, but I found this to be very effective. With Arki providing the first person narration of the novel, why would he transcribe in great detail the history and culture of a world which the audience of his war notes would already know? Some may consider this a cheat for a new fantasy writer, but from my perspective, this allows the weight of Arki’s words, experience, and most importantly, his interaction with Captain Killcoin have the necessary weight of the narrative.

In his quest to read EVERY classic SF novel reissued in 2012, Mark reads and reviews is Odd John by Olaf Stapledon and the book:

Odd John is a tale of a ‘superman’: John Wainwright, an Englishman who claims to be the forerunner of a new species, homo superior. Told by his friend and butler-type, nicknamed Fido, it is the tale of how John grew up, became an adult and ultimately the consequences of his superior status.
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The tone of the book is one of superiority and condescension and this is shown by an uncomfortably sneering tone throughout. Nevertheless, John has a tale to tell, and despite being an unsympathetic host recounts his past and his present views on the world.

Though John has clear views on the world, it is also apparent that his views are flawed. His thinking on religion is basically that it has no place in the world, and his relationship with his mother is quite shocking to human morals even today. It is clear that John operates on different rules to the majority of the human race.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2012-05-06)

An eclectic mix of books arrived this week, some debut authors, some familiar names, some familiar publishers and a couple from a new Northwestern publisher.


Seed by Ania Ahlborn (47 North Trade Paperback / eBook 07/07/2012) – Another reissue for the folks at 47North, this time of a previously self-published Horror novel.


With nothing but the clothes on his back—and something horrific snapping at his heels—Jack Winter fled his rural Georgia home when he was still just a boy. Watching the world he knew vanish in a trucker’s rearview mirror, he thought he was leaving an unspeakable nightmare behind forever. But years later, the bright new future he’s built suddenly turns pitch black, as something fiendishly familiar looms dead ahead.

When Jack, his wife Aimee, and their two small children survive a violent car crash, it seems like a miracle. But Jack knows what he saw on the road that night, and it wasn’t divine intervention. The profound evil from his past won’t let them die…at least not quickly. It’s back, and it’s hungry; ready to make Jack pay for running, to work its malignant magic on his angelic youngest daughter, and to whisper a chilling promise: I’ve always been here, and I’ll never leave.

Country comfort is no match for spine-tingling Southern gothic suspense in Ania Ahlborn’s tale of an ordinary man with a demon on his back. Seed plants its page-turning terror deep in your soul, and lets it grow wild.

Spellcrossed by Barbara Ashford (DAW Mass Market Paperback 06/05/2012) –Sequel to Ashford’s debut novel Spellcast, which mixes magic and theater.

It's not easy losing the magic in your life...

But that's what allowed Maggie Graham to take the first step toward her new life as the executive director of the Crossroads Theatre.

As a hectic new season of summer stock begins, Maggie has to balance the demands of her interfering board president and the needs of a company of actors that includes bewildered amateurs, disdainful professionals, a horde of children, and an arthritic dog.

While Maggie yearns to give her cast members the kind of healing she found at the Crossroads, she recognizes that magic must take a back seat to ticket sales - and Rowan Mackenzie must be consigned to the past.

But magic is hard to banish from the old white barn where the unexpected is as time-honored a tradition as the curtain call. Memories lurk like ghosts in the shadowy wings. And when the tangled spells of Maggie's past turn her life upside down, it will take more than magic to ensure the happy-ever-after ending she longs for…


The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of the Flying City by Jared Axelrod and Steve Walker (Tor Hardcover 05/08/2012) – Steampunk illustrated storytelling in the tradition of the Foglio’s Girl Genius

If you’re visiting the flying city of Amperstam without the latest printing of The Lurker’s Guide, you might as well be lost. This one-sheet is written, edited, and printed by Ashe, a girl raised on the streets of the flying city, and is dedicated to revealing its hidden treasures and deepest secrets—including many that the overcontrolling government doesn’t want anyone to know. The stakes are raised when Ashe accidentally uncovers the horror of exactly how Amperstam travels among the skies and garners the attention of those who would rather that secret be kept in the hands of the city’s powerful leaders.

Soon Ashe is on the run from thugs and assassins, faced with the choice of imperiling her life just to keep publishing, or giving in to the suggestion of a rich patron that she trade in her voice and identity for a quiet, comfortable life. It’s a war of confusion for Ashe, but one thing is very clear: just because you live in a flying city, you can’t always keep your head in the clouds.



Unnatural Issue (Elemental Masters #7) by Mercedes Lackey (DAW Mass Market Paperback 06/05/2012) – Seventh novel in Lackey’s Elemental series


Unnatural Issue is the seventh book in the Elemental Masters series. It will feature Lord Peter Almsley, from The Serpent's Shadow.

Richard Whitestone is an Elemental Earth Master. Blaming himself for the death of his beloved wife during childbirth, he has sworn never to set eyes on his daughter, Susanne. But when he finally sees her, a dark plan takes shape in his twisted mind- to use his daughter's body to bring back the spirit of his long-dead wife.


Railsea by China Miéville (Del Rey, Hardcover 04/15/2012) – Miéville’s first Young Adult novel since the terrific Un Lun Dun .

Playful and clever, this is the new gloriously imagined novel from China Miéville

On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt.

The giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one’s death and the other’s glory are extraordinary. But no matter how spectacular it is, travelling the endless rails of the railsea, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life. Even if his philosophy-seeking captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-coloured mole she’s been chasing – ever since it took her arm all those years ago.

When they come across a wrecked train, at first it's a welcome distraction. But the impossible salvage Sham finds in the derelict leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides: by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage-scrabblers.

And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.


Dopplegangster (Esther Diamond #1) by Laura Resnick (DAW, Mass Market Paperback 06/05/2012) –This is a reissue of the first novel Resnick’s popular Urban Fantasy, which was previously issued with another publisher.

I'm not a heroine--I just play one. Along with psychotics, vamps, housewives and hookers. As my agent is fond of pointing out, there are more actors in New York than there are people in most other cities. Translation: beggars can't be choosers.

This explains how I wound up prancing around stage half naked the night Golly Gee--the female lead in the off-Broadway show "Sorceror!"--disappeared into thin air. Literally.

Now other performers are also vanishing, and a mysterious stranger is warning me: There is evil among us.

But the producers want me to take over Golly's part.

Looks as if I'm going to need a little magical help if I want to keep my starring role....

Scourge of the Betrayer (Bloodsounder’s Arc Book One) by Jeff Salyards (Night Shade Books Hardcover 5/01/2012) – I’ve already seen some very positive things about Jeff’s debut, including favorable comparisons to Joe Abercrombie and Glen Cook. My review for the book goes up Sunday and the short of it is that I was VERY impressed.

Many tales are told of the Syldoon Empire and its fearsome soldiers, who are known throughout the world for their treachery and atrocities. Some say that the Syldoon eat virgins and babies-or perhaps their own mothers. Arkamondos, a bookish young scribe, suspects that the Syldoon's dire reputation may have grown in the retelling, but he's about to find out for himself. Hired to chronicle the exploits of a band of rugged Syldoon warriors, Arki finds himself both frightened and fascinated by the men's enigmatic leader, Captain Braylar Killcoin. A secretive, mercurial figure haunted by the memories of those he's killed with his deadly flail, Braylar has already disposed of at least one impertinent scribe . . . and Arki might be next. Archiving the mundane doings of millers and merchants was tedious, but at least it was safe. As Arki heads off on a mysterious mission into parts unknown, in the company of the coarse, bloody-minded Syldoon, he is promised a chance to finally record an historic adventure well worth the telling, but first he must survive the experience! A gripping military fantasy in the tradition of Glen Cook, Scourge of the Betrayer explores the brutal politics of Empire-and the searing impact of violence and dark magic on a man's soul.

Jack Campbell Interview, Part 1

Jack Campbell is the subject of my latest interview to be posted at SFFWorld.  Jack provided some of the best and most detailed responses to any set of interview questions I've generated. His responses were so through I had to cut the interview in half, posting the first half today, and the second half next week.  I have to thank Ace's publicist extraordinaire Brady McReynolds for helping to facilitate this interview.  Here's a snippet:

When I initially reviewed Lost Fleet: Dauntless, I pondered the name switch. What made you adopt Jack Campbell as your pen name, aside from the AI software overlords who control book selling and distribution? (I thought perhaps homage to Joseph Campbell since your stories focus on a Heroic Ideal, while commenters suggested legendary editor John Campbell).

I do admire both Joseph Campbell and John Campbell, but the source of Jack Campbell was a bit closer to home. Part of my ancestry is Scottish, specifically Campbell, so that's where the last name came from. I knew it would resonate in the field as well having a family connection. Jack is the name of my father and the name of my eldest son, so that's a dual tribute. I don't mind at all the implied tributes to Joseph Campbell and John W. Campbell which are a bonus of sorts. But the name Jack Campbell comes mostly from my own ancestry and family, which I guess is sort of appropriate given the importance of ancestors to the people in The Lost Fleet.

Cashore and Lovegrove Reviews at SFFWorld

The theme of this week’s reviews is catch-up and your reviewers are Mark and me.


Mark catches up with the second book in a series just as book three is set to publish. The author of these books is Kristin Cashore and the book is Fire:

Like Graceling before it, Fire is the tale of a young girl, the titular Fire, who is a Graceling: that is, someone who has been born with a special power that enhances the typical capability of a normal human being. Fire’s skill (shown by her rainbow-coloured hair) is the ability to manipulate other people’s thoughts and persuade them to do their bidding. (In another galaxy, some would call it a Jedi-mind-trick.) Living in the Dells, she is initially quite reticent to use such skills, especially against her friends and those who protect her. It also doesn’t help that, as a consequence of her Grace, others are desperate to give her their attention. She has a relationship with her life-long friend Archer, who is fiercely protective of her.
…

What impressed me more this time was that although we have clear heroes and villains in Fire, the outcomes are less predictable here. We see a much bigger view of the world first seen in Graceling, and the importance of ‘monsters’, as mutant creatures who love a bit of human flesh is developed nicely. Whereas Graceling mentioned these monsters on the other side of the world it was mainly focused on the effect of the Grace on Katsa and those affected by her, here we see a wider picture of their world as Fire deals with a harsher environment and the political and social machinations that such a society has. There’s also a lot more sexual content here, though not explicit.

A little behind on my book reviews so I dug out one from the archives which was previously posted elsewhere teh intarwebs but is no longer anywhere. With James Lovegrove recently publishing The Age of Aztec, the fourth in his Pantheon sequence, (and me not having read it yet), I figured a good candidate for expanding is my review of book three in the series, The Age of Odin:

The Norse gods are real, and they are preparing for Ragnarok in the 21st Century by enlisting ex-soldiers into their army through the Valhalla project. … The Age of Odin, by British author James Lovegrove, takes this idea and runs with it full tilt. When Gideon “Gid” Dixon, a retired soldier who realizes the only thing in his life which gave him happiness and success was fighting, is enticed by the aforementioned Valhalla project, he cannot pass up the opportunity to join. Gid has a hard time believing the big man in charge of the Valhalla project is actually the Allfather of Norse Myth, Odin. Odin is preparing for the fated final battle, and as Gid joins Odin’s forces, he brawls with and fights alongside Thor, becomes enamored with Freya, is healed by Odin’s wife Frigga and learns of the treacherous deeds of Loki.

…

The villain of the piece is, of course, Loki. This should be no surprise as Loki, the trickster and half-brother of Thor, is often cast as the villain in Norse-infused stories, especially those published by Marvel Comics. I also really liked Lovegrove’s characterization of Odin, who at times was quite distant from the action.