Books in the Mail (2010/11/07)

t was pretty big week here at the o’ Stuff household for review book arrivals.

Alien Tango (Kitty Kat: Alien Super-Being Exterminator Book 2) by Gini Koch (DAW Mass Market Paperback 12/7/2010)

It's been five months since marketing manager Katherine "Kitty" Katt started working with the aliens from Alpha Centauri, and she and Jeff Martini are getting closer. But when an experimental spacecraft is mysteriously returned to the Kennedy Space Center, Kitty and the rest of her team are called in to investigate. Now the team must survive murderous attacks, remove a space entity from a group of astronauts, and avoid an unhinged woman with a serious crush on Kitty's high school boyfriend. And that's all before evil masterminds decide Kitty's extermination is vital.

The Wolf Age (Morlock the Maker #3) by James Enge (Pyr Trade Paperback 10/22/2010) – I read the first Morlock novel, The Blood of Ambrose, which didn’t completely work for me at the time, but I thought Enge was somebody who I’d want to try again. Even thought this is one of those popular "hooded figure" covers, I like it quite a bit.


"Spear-age, sword-age:
shields are shattered.
Wind-age, wolf-age:
before the world founders
no man will show mercy to another."

Wuruyaaria: city of werewolves, whose raiders range over the dying northlands, capturing human beings for slaves or meat. Wuruyaaria: where a lone immortal maker wages a secret war against the Strange Gods of the Coranians. Wuruyaaria: a democracy where some are more equal than others, and a faction of outcast werewolves is determined to change the balance of power in a long, bloody election year.

Their plans are laid; the challenges known; the risks accepted. But all schemes will shatter in the clash between two threats few had foreseen and none had fully understood: a monster from the north on a mission to poison the world, and a stranger from the south named Morlock Ambrosius.

The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire Book 1) by Clay & Susan Griffith (Pyr Trade Paperback 11/08/2010) – I’ll be posting a review of this one in a week or so, but the short of it was I enjoyed the book despite its predictability. Here’s the back cover copy:

In the year 1870, a horrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world. Millions of humans were killed outright. Millions more died of disease and famine due to the havoc that followed. Within two years, once-great cities were shrouded by the gray empire of the vampire clans. Human refugees fled south to the tropics because vampires could not tolerate the constant heat there. They brought technology and a feverish drive to reestablish their shattered societies of steam and iron amid the mosques of Alexandria, the torrid quietude of Panama, or the green temples of Malaya.

It is now 2020 and a bloody reckoning is coming.

Princess Adele is heir to the Empire of Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire. She is quick with her wit as well as with a sword or gun. She is eager for an adventure before she settles into a life of duty and political marriage to a man she does not know. But her quest turns black when she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan. Her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious hero who fights the vampires from deep within their territory. Their dangerous relationship plays out against an approaching war to the death between humankind and the vampire clans.

Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar is the first book in a trilogy of high adventure and alternate history. Combining rousing pulp action with steampunk style, Vampire Empire brings epic political themes to life within a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.


> Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures by Robert E. Howard (Del Rey Trade Paperback 01/25/2011) – Del Rey is making every effort to ensure ALL of Howard’s fiction is in print, this is their latest offering.

The immortal legacy of Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian, continues with this latest compendium of Howard’s fiction and poetry. These adventures, set in medieval-era Europe and the Near East, are among the most gripping Howard ever wrote, full of pageantry, romance, and battle scenes worthy of Tolstoy himself. Most of all, they feature some of Howard’s most unusual and memorable characters, including Cormac FitzGeoffrey, a half-Irish, half-Norman man of war who follows Richard the Lion-hearted to twelfth-century Palestine—or, as it was known to the Crusaders, Outremer; Diego de Guzman, a Spaniard who visits Cairo in the guise of a Muslim on a mission of revenge; and the legendary sword woman Dark Agnès, who, faced with an arranged marriage to a brutal husband in sixteenth-century France, cuts the ceremony short with a dagger thrust and flees to forge a new identity on the battlefield.

Lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist John Watkiss and featuring miscellanea, informative essays, and a fascinating introduction by acclaimed historical author Scott Oden, Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures is a must-have for every fan of Robert E. Howard, who, in a career spanning just twelve years, won a place in the pantheon of great American writers.

The Warlord's Legacy (Corvis Rebaine Book 2) by Ari Marmell (Bantam Spectra Mass Market Hardcover 01/25/2011) – The first novel in this series, The Conqueror’s Shadow, caught me by surprise early last year. I enjoyed the novel a lot more than I expected I would so the sequel is quite welcome:

Corvis Rebaine, the Terror of the East, a man as quick with a quip as he is with a blade, returns in this highly anticipated sequel to Ari Marmell’s acclaimed The Conqueror’s Shadow, a debut hailed for its refreshing take on dark fantasy and surprising flashes of sharp, sarcastic wit. Now Marmell raises the stakes in a story that has all the humor and excitement of its predecessor, plus a terrifying new villain so evil that he may well be a match for Rebaine himself.

For let’s not forget how Corvis Rebaine came by the charming nickname “Terror of the East.” Certainly no one else has forgotten. Corvis Rebaine is no hero. In his trademark suit of black armor and skull-like helm, armed with a demon-forged axe, in command of a demonic slave, and with allies that include a bloodthirsty ogre, Rebaine has twice brought death and destruction to Imphallion in pursuit of a better, more equitable and just society. If he had to kill countless innocents in order to achieve that dream, so be it.

At least that was the old Rebaine. Before he slew the mad warlord Audriss. Before he banished the demon Khanda. Before he lost his wife and children, who could not forgive or forget his violent crimes. Now, years later, Rebaine lives in a distant city, under a false name, a member of one of the Guilds he despises, trying to achieve change nonviolently, from within the power structure.

Not even when the neighboring nation of Cephira invades Imphallion and the bickering Guilds prove unable to respond does Rebaine return to his old habits of slaughter. But someone else does. Someone wearing Rebaine’s black armor and bearing what appears to be his axe. Someone who is, if anything, even less careful of human life than Rebaine was.

Now Baron Jassion, Rebaine’s old nemesis, is hunting him once more, aided by a mysterious sorcerer named Kaleb, whose powers and secrets make him a more dangerous enemy than Rebaine has ever known. Even worse, accompanying them is a young woman who hates Corvis Rebaine perhaps more than anyone else: his own daughter, Mellorin. Suddenly Rebaine seems to have no choice. To clear his name, to protect his country, and to reconcile with his family, must he once again become the Terror of the East?


Wicked City: The Scarlet Clan (Wicked City) by Hideyuki Kikuchi (Tor Seven Seas Mass Market Paperback 11/09/2010) – Kikuchi is a big name in Japan and is more famously known for the popular anime and manga Vampire Hunter D.

The child conceived by the mortal Taki and the demoness Makie, fellow Black Guard agents whose job it is to preserve the peace between human and demonkind, is about to be born. Many see the upcoming birth as a sign of hope that the child will bring together the demon and human worlds in a new era of lasting peace. For the Shu family, however, which thrives on chaos and destruction, this is the last thing they desire.

The infamous demon mob, silent for thousands of years, will stop at nothing to prevent this child from entering the world. With magic snake handlers and fire-spitting demons at their beck and call, the Shus throw everything they have at Taki and the Black Guard in order to stop an event that has been predicted for centuries

The Barsoom Project (Dream Park #2)by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes (Tor Trade Paperback 11/22/2010) Sequel to the author’s popular Locus-nominated novel Dream Park:
Nothing is what it seems at Dream Park, the state-of-the-art amusement park of the future, where customers live out the adventures of a lifetime. What nobody counts on are double agents and live ammunition in the place where dreams and death come true.

Thirteen Years Later (The Danilov Quintet #2) by Jasper Kent (Bantam Spectra, Trade Paperback 02/07/2011) – The venerable Hobbit has reviewed this one for SFFWorld earlier in the year and is a big fan of the writer. He and Pat (he of the Fantasy Hotlist) conducted an interview with Mr. Kent about a month ago. Here’s the back cover copy of the book:


Aleksandr made a silent promise to the Lord. God would deliver him – would deliver Russia – and he would make Russia into the country that the Almighty wanted it to be. He would be delivered from "the pestilence that walketh in darkness ... " and "the destruction that wasteth at noonday ... the terror by night..."

1825, Europe – and Russia – have been at peace for ten years. Bonaparte is long dead and the threat of invasion is no more. For Colonel Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov, life is peaceful. Not only have the French been defeated but so have the twelve monstrous creatures he once fought alongside, and then against, ten or more years ago. His duty is still to serve and to protect his tsar, Aleksandr the First, but now the enemy is human.

However the Tsar knows that he can never be at peace. Of course, he is aware of the uprising fermenting within the Russian army – among his supposedly loyal officers. No, what troubles him is something that threatens to bring damnation down upon him, his family, and his country. The Tsar has been reminded of a promise: a promise born of blood, a promise that was broken a hundred years before.

Now the one who was betrayed by the Romanovs has returned to exact revenge for what has been denied him. And for Aleksei, knowing this chills his very soul. For it seems the vile pestilence that once threatened all he believed in and all he held dear has returned, thirteen years later…

Love and Rockets by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes (Daw Mass Market Paperback 12/7/2010) – The monthly-themed DAW anthology is about romance in space and has an introduction by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Space...the final frontier. Or is it? Many say there's no frontier more forbidding than a romantic relationship between a man and a woman. But what if one's a human, and the other's an alien? Here is an original collection of space opera stories where authors take love (unrequited or not), on a spaceship, space station, or planetary colony, and add enough drama, confusion and mayhem to ensure that the path to true love-or short-term infatuation-is seldom free of obstacles.

Reviews-Aaron, Barclay, Leiber, Newton

Another batch of reviews have appeared at SFFWorld over the past few days, two from Mark, one from me, and one from Art.

I’ll lead of with Mark’s review of the latest novel from James Barclay’s Elves: Once Walked with Gods:

For the uninitiated, the mere mention of the word ‘elves’ may bring up thoughts and images of Tolkien’s Legolas and a calm peaceful, thoughtful people. However, I won’t deceive people here. Frankly, James’ guerrilla group Elves, the TaiGethren, would have Legolas and his band of merry men and women for breakfast. Underneath the initial seemingly passive culture there are vicious, savage and downright nasty characters. And they are angry.
…
As you might expect from James, the tale is presented with speed and with precision – no bloated account, this one – and there’s enough conspiratorial double dealing to keep the reader happy. And as previous readers might expect, James’ action scenes, of which there are many, are also very well done, fast moving and vivid. Elves are not afraid to use their nails and teeth when needed in combat!

My review, is of a book that received great acclaim upon its initial publication in the UK in 2009 - Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton:

Throughout the majority of the story, Newton straddles the line between genre tropes – from the murder mystery, to the sense of magic and non-human creatures, to lost technology, to royal families – it is pretty clear Newton had fun making this tasty stew of a novel. Like Vance and Wolfe before him, Newton uses the far future setting to great effect, blurring the lines between science and magic so much that they could be one and the same. The strange non-human creatures, which include garudas, winged birdmen who act as sentries for Villjamur; the aforementioned rumels, which seem to be a lizard-like people; and the Dawnir, seemingly godlike in their possession of all technological and arcane knowledge, serve to further give the story a sense of weird, fantastical otherworldliness.

Art ‘s review is of a classic book by a genre legend, Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber

Fritz Leiber wrote a book called Our Lady of Darkness in 1978 (it would go on to win the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel that year), and in 2010 Tor has reprinted it in trade paperback (it's also available as an ebook). It could be categorized under a variety of genres, including mystery, thriller, horror, dark fantasy and urban fantasy, but here is another category, one that is very close to my heart: it is a book about books.

Our Lady of Darkness is a gripping mystery filled with darkly fantastic elements, but what I love most about this book is how it serves as a tribute to the rich literary heritage of both the city of San Francisco – a mist-swirled "megapolis" rendered in a gothic beauty reminiscent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's London – and the horror fiction of Bierce, Smith, M.R. James, Arthur Machen, and H.P. Lovecraft, whose works are invoked as frames of reference throughout the novel.

Mark’s other review is of a debut novel, The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron

What is the winner for me here is the tale’s engaging tone. It’s light, fun and not particularly deep nor dark. It plays with the genre in a style that was reminiscent to me of early David Eddings. For many, that’ll be recommendation enough.

To the tale, then. Eli Monpress is an Errol Flynn type hero, a swordsman, renegade wizard and thief with the ability to talk to inanimate objects (that have once lived) and persuade them to do his bidding. This leads to his undoing at the beginning of the tale, but he manages to escape Allaze Prison faster than you can say ‘With one bound, he was free!’ Now rather bereft of funds, he then apparently kidnaps and holds for ransom Henrith, the King of Mellinor.

Books in the Mail (2010-10-30)

Back to the old format this week, what the hell.

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie (Orbit Hardcover 02/14/2010) – I’m a big fan of Joe Abercrombie and this will be one of the highlight releases of 2011, but I’ll likely read it before then \.


War: where the blood and dirt of the battlefield hide the dark deeds committed in the name of glory. THE HEROES is about violence and ambition, gruesome deaths and betrayals; and the brutal truth that no plan survives contact with the enemy. The characters are the stars, as ever, and the message is dark: when it comes to war, there are no heroes...

Meet THE HEROES.

Curnden Craw: a ruthless fighter who wants nothing more than to see his crew survive.

Prince Calder: a liar and a coward, he will regain his crown by any means necessary.

Bremer dan Gorst: a master swordsman, a failed bodyguard, his honor will be restored - in the blood of his enemies.

Over three days, their fates will be sealed..

Echo City by Tim Lebbon (Bantam Spectra Mass Market Paperback 11/03/2009) – I’ve seen favorable things about Lebbon’s work, Hobbit of SFFWorld is a pretty big fan and this might be the Lebbon book I finally try..

Surrounded by a vast, poisonous desert, Echo City is built upon the graveyard of its own past. Most inhabitants believe that their city and its subterranean Echoes are the whole of the world, but there are a few dissenters. Peer Nadawa is a political exile, forced to live with criminals in a ruinous slum. Gorham, once her lover, leads a ragtag band of rebels against the ruling theocracy. Nophel, a servant of that theocracy, dreams of revenge from his perch atop the city’s tallest spire. And beneath the city, a woman called Nadielle conducts macabre experiments in genetic manipulation using a science indistinguishable from sorcery. They believe there is something more beyond the endless desert . . . but what?

It is only when a stranger arrives from out of the wastes that things begin to change. Frail and amnesiac, he holds the key to a new beginning for Echo City—or perhaps to its end, for he is not the only new arrival. From the depths beneath Echo City, something ancient and deadly is rising. Now Peer, Gorham, Nophel, and Nadielle msut test the limits of love and loyalty, courage and compassion, as they struggle to save a city collapsing under the weight of its own history.



Empress of Eternity by L.E. Modesitt, Jr (Tor Mass Market Paperback 10/27/2010) – I think this is like the 48th book Modesitt published this year

In the far future, an indestructible and massive canal more than 2,000 miles long spans the mid-continent of Earth. Nothing can mar it, move it, or affect it in any fashion. At its western end, where it meets the sea, is an equally indestructible structure comprising three levels of seemingly empty chambers.

Scientists from three different civilizations, separated in time by hundreds of thousands of years, are investigating the canal. In the most distant of these civilizations, religious rebellion is brewing. A plot is hatched to overthrow the world government of the Vanir, using a weapon that can destroy anything-except the canal. If used at full power it might literally unravel the universe and destroy all life forever. The lives and fates of all three civilizations become intertwined as the forces behind the canal react to the threat, and all three teams of scientists find their lives changed beyond belief.

Trio of Sorcery by edited by Mercedes Lackey (Tor Hardcover 11/09/2010) – Three novellas by the prolific author about, you guessed it, Sorcery.
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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mercedes Lackey presents three exciting short urban fantasy novels featuring three resourceful heroines and three different takes on the modern world and on magics both modern and ancient.

Arcanum 101: Diana Tregarde, practicing witch, romance novelist, Guardian of the Earth. Studying at Harvard, Diana is approached by Joe O’Brian, a young cop who has already seen more than one unusual thing during his budding career. The distraught mother of a kidnap victim is taking advice from a “psychic” and interfering in the police investigation. Will Diana prove that the psychic is a fake? Unfortunately, the psychic is not a fake, but a very wicked witch—and the child’s kidnapper.

Drums: Jennifer Talldeer, shaman, private investigator, member of the Osage tribe. Most of Jennie’s work is regular PI stuff, but Nathan Begay brings her a problem she’s never seen before. His girlfriend, Caroline, is Chickasaw to his Navaho, but that’s not the problem. Somehow, Caroline has attracted the attention of an angry Osage ghost. Thwarted in love while alive, the ghost has chosen Caroline to be his bride in death.

Ghost in the Machine: Ellen McBridge: computer programmer extraordinaire, techno-shaman. The programmers and players of a new MMORPG find that the game’s “boss,” a wendigo, is “killing” everyone—even the programmers’ characters with their god-like powers. A brilliant debugger, Ellen discoveres that the massive computing power of the game’s servers have created a breach between the supernatural world and our own. This wendigo isn’t a bit of code, it’s the real thing . . . and it’s on the brink of breaking out of the computers and into the real world.


The Griffin’s Flight (The Fallen Moon #2) by K.J. Taylor (Ace Mass Market Paperback) – Second in a trilogy of books originally published in the author’s native Australia.

Although he was once chosen as a griffin's companion, Arren Cardockson was reviled, betrayed, and ultimately killed. Brought back to life by a power beyond his understanding, Arren flees for the frozen sanctuary of the North. With the man-eating griffin Skandar by his side, and an entire country hunting him, Arren has little hope of reaching the place of his ancestry and of lifting his curse. But then he comes across a wild woman who may hold the key to making his lifeless heart beat once more.

SPOTLIGHT: Hallowe'en Reading - Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge

Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest has been on my radar for a couple of years now having won the Bram Stoker award and receiving mentions by SFFWorld's resident Horror Expert Randy. M. The book was published first in limited edition by specialty horror press Cemetery Dance then by Tor with that terrific Jon Foster cover.

Small towns are often the settings for some of the best horror stories. Dark secrets add to the mix, and the sense of everybody knowing everybody, is the tip of the iceberg. In Norman Partridge’s Dark Harvest, these elements set the tension for the annual Hallowe’en night event where young boys try to catch the October Boy. Penned up and unfed by their families in the days leading up to Hallowe’en, these boys are released into the town to chase and take down the October Boy. In a sense, this is reminiscent of the mythical Wild Hunt. The boy who takes down the Pumpkin-headed monstrosity gets to leave the dead end town and his family is showered with prizes.

See, nobody ever leaves this unnamed town. Ever. Taking down the October Boy is the only chance anybody has of leaving and Hallowe'en and the hunt for the Boy is the focal point for this small town which has had wonderful crops as long as anybody can remember. Just like young men have been chasing the October Boy for as long as anybody can remember.

Our point-character is Pete McCormick. He’s got father issues, and is determined to win and leave the past and the down behind. We know Pete, or so the narrator tells us, and we do get to know Pete. Pete gets to know more about the October Boy than most other boys who hunt ol’ Hacksaw face, another nickname for the walking Jack O' Lantern.

With a flaming pumpkin-head, the October Boy is that iconic Hallowe’en image personified. That coupled with the evocative fall nights having turned from summer and the bristling cornfields adds to the ghostly, iconic resonance in which Partridge steeps his novel.

Partridge does something interesting with the voice used in the novel, switching from third person omniscient to second person conversational. It works very well on a number of levels, not the least of which is to put the reader into the heart of the story, to feel almost a participant who knows the players. This is an extremely effective way to make the novel all the more intimate.

What turns this novel from something of a typical and straightforward story to a more layered narrative is a little trick Partridge plays about halfway through the novel. The narrative lead me to believe the story was about one character, but Partridge very skillfully, and quickly, turns the story on its rear, and makes it more than just one boy’s wish to escape.

Partridge depicts the teens very well here, they aren’t whiney and are on par (wait for it) with Stephen King’s depictions of the Losers from IT and the kids from his short novel The Body. Sorry, but it is pretty tough not to compare a youthful protagonists in horror novel to Stephen King.

In the end, the imagery is powerful, the themes of youth awakening and small town dark secrets familiar, and the narrative pull thrillingly addictive. The fact that the town is never named and little background is given about the events leading up to those events that take place in the novel, gives the novel a greater sense of mythic resonance. I think it’s pretty fair to say that Norman Partridge has crafted one of those novels readers will return to in future Hallowe’en readings – in other words an iconic novel.

Highly recommended

Books in the Mail (W/E 10/24/2010)

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch; Firedrake by Nick Kyme; Warrior Priest by Darius Hinks; Wulfrik by C.L. Werner; The Dark Griffin by K.J. Taylor; The Remembering by Steve Cash; The Human Blend by Alan Dean Forster; The King of the Crags by Stephen Deas; March in Country (a Vampire Earth) by E.E. Knight; The Emperor’s Finest by Sandy Mitchell; Shadowheart by Tad Williams (concluding of what seems to be an overlooked fantasy series by a brand name); and Vietnamerica by GB Tran.

Books in the Mail (w/e 10/16/2010)

Kris Longknife: Redoubtable by Mike Shepherd; The Silver Mage (final Deverry novel) by Katherine Kerr; The Clone Empire by Steven L. Kent; Gilded Latten Bones (A Garrett P.I. novel) by Glen Cook; Shotgun Sorceress by Lucy A. Snyder; Wolfsbane by Patrica Briggs; Trolls in the Hamptons by Celia Jerome; Stone Rabbit by Eric Craddock; Surface Detail (a Culture novel) by Iain M. Banks; Echo (an Alex Benedict novel) by Jack McDevitt; The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valentine; Agatha H. and the Airship City (a Girl Genius novel) by Phil and Kaja Foglio; Shadowrise (Shadowmarch #3) by Tad Williams; and Catacombs (A Tale of the Barque Cats) by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

For my loyal readers, please post in the comments, if you so choose, the 2 books you think I’m most likely to read and the 2 books you think I’m least likely to read.

The Desert Spear, Horror, H.G. Wells, and Sully

It’s been a while since I showed off my pooch, so here she is:

We’ve posted some new reviews at SFFWorld in recent days, including review of one of the more anticipated installments of a newish multi-volume fantasy saga, Peter V. Brett’s The Desert Spear:

When I read The Warded Man last year, I was thoroughly impressed with Peter V. Brett’s storytelling ability and how assured his voice as a writer was. I ranked the book in my top five reads of 2009 and it was easily the best debut I read in 2009. In other words, Mr. Brett set the bar pretty high for himself, and perhaps unsure of whether or not The Desert Spear could live up to the promise of The Warded Man, I did not read The Desert Spear immediately upon the book’s publication. I shouldn’t have hesitated because Brett follows his superb debut with a novel that is at least the equal of its predecessor in The Desert Spear and in other cases, improves upon the foundation he initially laid.

As with the first volume, Brett handles the world-building aspect very well. The details are not overwrought and come through the characters themselves, giving the world a more rich and vibrant feel. We see more of civilization with the people of Krasnia and just how divergent people have become as they’ve effectively lost the ability to live at night.

Mark has reviewed a couple of classics which have recently been re-issued. With Hallowe’en just around the corner, his review of The Pan Book of Horror Stories by Herbert van Thal is quite timely:

So: in this reissue, with a new introduction by Johnny Mains, we have a new edition of a book that otherwise stays the same, even down to the original cover of a black cat’s face on a black background (related to the Bram Stoker tale in the book) and the 3’6 price label in the bottom right corner of the cover.

We have twenty-two tales, from some familiar names – as well as the aforementioned Bram Stoker, there’s also Jack Finney, Nigel Kneale, C.S. Forester, and Seabury Quinn – to others which are less so these days – Hester Holland, L.P. Hartley, Hamilton Macallister, anyone?

The subject of Mark’s other review is The Food of the Gods by H.G. Wells:

For a book that is over a hundred years old, this book (as mentioned in the new introduction by Adam Roberts) is surprisingly relevant in these days of Frankenstein foods and genetic modification. The corrupt politician, the restrictions of a hierarchical class society, bureaucratic ineptitude, the gullibility of the masses and the influence of the media are surprisingly apt keystones, not just for the 20th but also for the 21st century. In this study of ‘Man versus Science’, though the technology in Wells’ tale may be different, the social consequences are both appropriate and thought-provoking. Wells manages to show the consequences of scientific progress, whilst warning of corruptible politicians and evoking the inequality of slavery.

Books in the Mail (W/E 10/09/2010)

Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber; When Wicked Craves by J.R. Beck; Dreamfever by Karen Marie Morning; Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi; Star's End (Book Three of The Starfishers Trilogy) by Glen Cook; Twelve by Jasper Kent; Betrayer of Worlds (Ringworld Prequel) by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner; and X'ed Out by Charles Burns.

Books in the Mail (W/E 10/02/2010)

Odd is on Your Side by Dean Koontz, Fred Van Lente, and Queenie Chan; Siren Song by Cat Adams; All Clear by Connie Willis; and Salute the Dark (Shadows of the Apt) by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott

We’ve got a couple of new reviews at SFFWorld, which happen to be of the same boo. Mark and I both read and reviewed Cold Magic, the first in Kate Elliott’s Spiritwalker trilogy.




First up is Mark’s review:

After an initial setting up of the characters and their world, things change with rather undue haste. As a coming-of-age novel we find events suddenly alter. As Cat nears her twentieth birthday (her coming of age date), she is summarily married (in a matter of minutes!) as part of an ancient blood pact agreement to Andevai, a member of the Four Moons House, one of a group of Mage Houses who seem to run things.

...

As you might expect from her previous novels, Kate writes an increasingly engrossing tale with strong (if a little caricaturist) characters and great settings. There’s action and romance, built on solid plot foundations. It’s like a nice warm bath after vigorous exercise on a cold day – you know what to expect, the tale follows logical paths and there are not too many nasty shocks lurking around the corner. Consequently the pages turn nicely.

Now here's part of my review::

Set in a world similar to our own during the 19th Century, magic is real and conflicts with science in many ways, while the world is experiencing something of an ice age. The history of the world is different as well; Rome held its power far longer than in our world and Carthaginian Empire ruled under women, Europe is more fractured with nation-states comprising the majority of the diversity. The magic is infused in this alternate Europe by – Cold Mages – the descendents of Druids Africans who left the Dark Continent for Europe many years previous to the events of the novel. Britain, as a result of the cold temperatures, is locked with North America which is populated by Trolls who ally themselves with the humans who oppose those in power.

One of my primary issues with the novel was the limitations naturally inherit with a first-person novel. That is, the entirety of the story is told through the protagonist’s eyes and voice. At times, this seemed a rather limiting factor in the story Elliott was trying to tell. Cat, for a number of consecutive scenes it seemed, found herself either in the shadows where an plot-important discussion was being held, or she happened to be just outside the door of where another equally important interaction between supporting characters was being held.

In addition, Mark and Pat (he of the Fantasy Hotlist) interviewed Jasper Kent. Guess at Pat’s questions and guess at Mark’s question.

Books in the Mail (W/E 09/25/2010)

Out of the Dark by David Weber (I read and loved the short story from Warriors which was expanded into this novel); Farlander by Col Buchanan; Tome of the Undergates by Sam Sykes; Twilight Forever Rising by Lena Medyan; Vortex (Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi, Book 6) by Troy Denning; and Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber.

MEME | Finish the Thought With a Title

Courtesy of The Mad Hatter...

Complete the following sentences with book titles that you have read this year. Put the author of the book in parenthesis.

I am: The Stuff of Legend (Mike Raicht, Brian Smith & Charles Paul Wilson III)
I will never be: By Heresies Distressed (David Weber)
I fear: Neverland(Douglas Clegg)
My best friend is: The Dragon Reborn (Robert Jordan)
What’s the weather like? Cold Magic (Kate Elliott)
Best Advice: No Doors, No Windows (Joe Schreiber)
I’ve never been to: Elegy Beach (Steven R. Boyett)
Favorite form of transport: Jump Gate Twist (Mark L. Van Name)
I’ll never fit in at: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (N.K. Jemisin)
How I’d like to die: With the Old Breed (E.B. Sledge)
You and your friends are: Warriors (edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozios)
Thought for the day: Bitter Seeds (Ian Tregillis)
Your soul’s present condition: Earth Ascendant (Sean Williams)

Books in the Mail (W/E 09/18/2010)

Above are the books I received from Black Library this week: Blood Pact (Gaunt's Ghosts) by Dan Abnett; Zombie Slayer (Felix & Gotrex) by Nathan Long; Ciaphus Cain: Hero of the Imperium by Nathan Long; and Sabbat Worlds (Warhammer 40K anthology) edited by Dan Abnett

Silent Army by James Knapp; Double Cross by Carolyn Crane; Memories of Envy by Barb Hendee; The House on Dunrow Street by Galen Backett; Bones of Empire by William C. Dietz; Book of the Living Dead edited by John Richard Stephens; The Force Unleashed IIby Sean Williams; and Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks.

After a hectic weekend of running around, going to a wedding and finishing my second 5K on Sunday (in 3.5 minutes less than my previous 5K), I think this picture of my now 40+ pound puppy sums up how I feel:

Books in the Mail (2010-09-11)

Masques by Patricia Briggs; Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith; Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey; The Magickers Chronicles: Volume Two by Emily Drake; The Exile (GN) by Diana Gabaldon and Hoang Nguyen; Dracula by Braham Stroker; Dracula: The Un-Dead by Dacre Stoke; and The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder.

Guess which of these books I'm most likely to read, in the comments.

Jump Gate Twist Mark L. Van Name @ SSF Book Review

I hadn’t realized until just now, but my latest Sacramento Book Review /San Francisco Book Review was posted a couple of weeks ago. The book I reviewed is Jump Gate Twist, which is an omnibus of the first two novels in the Jon and Lobo series by Mark L. Van Name.

I really enjoyed this book, and the novels/stories contained within, a great deal. A fine example of entertaining, engaging adventure SF on a wide galactic canvas, mixed with slight hints of Space Opera & Military SF. I’ll be following this series as long as Van Name is writing it.




Go check out my review.

Books in the Mail (W/E 09/04/2010)

The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten by Harrison Geillor; How to Live in a Science Fictional World by Charles Yu; The Living Dead 2 edited by John Joseph Adams; Zendegi by Greg Egan; Esperanza by Trish J. MacGregor; and Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay (TPB reissue, not pictured, to go along with the TPB reissue of Kay's Sailing to Sarantium as a matching set for The Sarantine Mosaic).

The Way of Kings, Runestaff, and Dresden

I’m highlighting three reviews in this, my first review post in a few weeks. Considering the length of the (1,000+) book for which I posted the review, the continuing time (and fun time at that) of raising/training a puppy, and how busy work has been for me, I hope my millions and millions of fans will give me a slide. How about a new picture of said puppy?



Back to the business of book reviews – first up is my review of one of the most hyped novels of the yearThe Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I’ve been a fan of Sanderson ever since reading Mistborn: The Final Empire so I’ve really been looking forward to this one.

Sanderson’s tale focuses this epic tale on three primary characters – Shallan, a young woman apprenticed to a heretical scholar; Dalinar, an old revered soldier in the army of Alethi also known as the Blackthorn who is either going crazy or having prophetic visions; and Kaladin, a former soldier turned slave laborer who is a Bridgeman-one of an expendable crew of men who move bridges for the armies of Roshar to march over the chasms on the Shattered Plain. Through the eyes and actions of these three people, Sanderson reveals a world with incredible depth on the brink of a major paradigm shift.

The physical book is just as impressive as the story told between its covers. Those cover are adorned with a beautiful and instant classic Michael Whelan painting. Icons emblazon each chapter, ‘historical’ illustrations are provided at intervals, while some of Shallan’s illustrations are used to illustrate other pages. The endpapers utilize a powerful color palette with superbly rendered maps. In short, the physical book itself is just as stunning as the story Sanderson tells.

Art has continued his read through of Michael Moorcock’s History of the Runestaff (aka Hawkmoon) with the third book, The Sword of Dawn.

Like the first two books in the series, The Sword of the Dawn is classic sword and sorcery, filled with weird magics and technologies, nonstop action, almost superhuman feats of bravery, and a sizeable body count. Hawkmoon and D'Averc are a dynamic duo with a repartee reminiscent of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and like the golden age of pulp magazine adventures, the heroes' exploits are episodic in form, as each time they escape or overcome one strange and terrible peril they find themselves face to face with a new one. Yet as the Warrior in Jet and Gold so often reminds him, Hawkmoon serves the Runestaff, even though in the thick of adventure he may not realize it – and even though he may not want to serve it. Thus beneath the surface of a rollicking adventure is a narrative epic in scope.

Mark reviewed another installment of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files Turn Coat

As events unfold, the circle broadens in this one. We start to see things from a more global perspective as Harry goes to the scene of a murdered Warden at the White Council’s headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. There we get some idea of how the headquarters works, as well as more of an impression that magic is not just centered in Chicago or the US but as a global magic network.

This is also shown by the brief mention of the Paranet, which maintains a global network between wizards and witches. (As an aside, it is odd to think how little the Internet was available to the general public when the series started in 2000.)


We also have unlikely allies who end up fighting together in order to deal with a problem that could affect them all.

Books in the Mail (W/E 08/21/2010)

Noise by Darin Bradley; The Cardinal's Blades by Pierre Pevel; Cold Magic by Kate Elliott (I read most of her Crown of Stars series and really enjoyed it, and this looks very interesting, too); Stars and Gods by Larry Niven; The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, (which I'm reading right now and really enjoying even if it has been taking me a while); in the background is Game of Cages by Harry Connolly and Hunt for Voldorius by Andy Hoare.

Books in the Mail (W/E 08/14/2010)

Fear the Alien edited by Christian Dunn; Temple of the Serpent by C.L. Werner; Elfsorrow and Shadowheart by James Barclay (I was chuffed to see my name in the acknowledgments!); Factotum by D.M. Cornish (I read the first, have the the third, need the second but I'd like to revisit the books), Sailing to Sarantium (re-issue) by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Last Page by Anthony Huso (I'm really looking forward to this one); and Prospero in Hell by L. Jagi Lamplighter.

Books in the Mail (W/E 08/07/2010)

Sully, my three-and-a-half month old Great Pyrenees and the-rescue-organization-says-Lab-but-we-think-Pointer/Hunting-Dog puppy, asleep after helping with yard work, with this week's arrivals:

The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton (I received the ARC back in May), which I'll likely get to this month; Atlantis and Other Stories by Harry Turtledove; The Ragged Man by Tom Lloyd; and The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind, in one of those awkward and annoying 'tall' paperbacks.