Ubiquitous Absence

Review: Heaven's Needle

2011-05-11T13:00:00.004-04:00

Heaven's Needle, by Liane Merciel
Mass Market Paperback: 473 pages
Publisher: Pocket Star Books (Simon & Schuster), ©2011
ISBN: 978-1-4391-5916-3
Copy: Purchased

Blurb: Unaware of the danger, two inexperienced Illuminers set out for the village of Carden Vale, at the foot of Duradh Mal, to minister to the people. The warrior Asharre, her face scarred with runes, her heart scarred by loss, is assigned to protect the young clerics. But in Carden Vale they find unspeakable horrors - the first hint of a terrifying ghost story come true.

The Sun Knight Kelland has been set free by the woman he loves, the archer Bitharn, but at the cost of undertaking a mission only he can fulfill. Joined by a Thornlord steeped in the magic of pain, they too make their way to Duradh Mal. There lies the truth behind the rumors of the dead come back to life, flesh ripped from bones, and creatures destroying themselves in a violent frenzy. And if Kelland cannot contain the black magic that has been unleased after six hundred years, an entire world will fall victim to a Mad God's malevolent plague...

Liane Merciel released a well-crafted debut effort (The River Kings' Road) a little over a year ago, also reviewed here. It was a fine effort, in fact an effort that left an indelible imprint which served as a reminder to acquire and read her next work as quickly as reasonably possible. After having just completed the final, and stunning, of four hundred and seventy-three pages, I am rather relieved. Perhaps a fear of the worst prevailed as the approach to this work, but happily it can be said that Merciel suffered no sophmore jinx. Heaven's Needle is everything one might have hoped for, and certainly everything Merciel promised it would be.

In Heaven's Needle, Merciel brings back a couple of characters from the first book, Kelland and Bitharn, and a host of new characters. The new characters include a Thornlord of Ang'arta, a sigrir warrior woman of the far northern seas, some novices of Celestia, some tragic, if ethically challenged, victims and a Mad God. Based upon the ending of the first book, and the SBR interview with Merciel, it was expected that the next novel of Ithelas was due to take a darker turn - and it sure did that.

Kelland and Bitharn are agents of Celestia. Referred to as the Bright Lady, she is the goddess of sunlight, healing, love and, generally speaking, all things good. While the story briefly introduces many of the gods of this world, only three play a major role. Celestia, Maol and Kliasta. Kliasta, referred to as the Pale Maiden, rules over things such as pain and agony. Maol, the Mad God, is equal parts plague, madness and stomach-pumping vileness.

Kelland and Bitharn join forces with the Thornlord Malentir, a follower of Kliasta and under more ordinary conditions a natural enemy. This unlikeliest of alliances is bound for Duradh Mal, a once powerful fortress now utterly dead, abandoned and corrupt many centuries later. Another party is also involved in the region. From this other party is a character with a great background story, Asharre. Asharre is a sigrir from the North and she has become rather grim of late, and for very good reason. Nothing further will be said of Asharre, other than Merciel has another top-shelf character to work with in the Ithelas world.

The element of horror involved in Heaven's Needle is well rendered. The sense of madness infecting the victims of the Mad God is gut churning and wretched. The loss of connection to reality and the seduction, by confusion, of the individual's free-will is horrifying. As if the things suffered by the victims weren't bad enough, what the victims do to themselves is even worse. As the protagonists reach points of confrontation with evil and madness, the reader may be inclined to put the book down to avoid soul abrasion. It is herein attested to that you will just pick it right back up to find out what happened and if any of it will be permanent or irrevocable.

Stepping back to take in the wider view presented by the totality of the two books, one might be reminded of World War II. Specifically in the context of how several different things must contemporarily occur in order for something so horrifying to take place on such a horrifying scale. These first novels of Ithelas seem to be the staging groundwork for a much larger conflict which lightly percolates beneath the surface...for now.

Heaven's Needle is an excellent work for Merciel. In this particular opinion, Merciel has created something that will certainly be followed, as well as having created a fan. I would like more Ithelas, however I would like it right now...please.

Highly Recommended

On Sabbatical...kinda

2011-05-09T20:37:00.003-04:00

I have been away as a result of numerous things. Alongside the minutiae of the day-to-day, I have since begun school full-time, as well as work full-time. I am working on a master's degree to brighten my horizons in the "new economy." Also, there is going to be another addition to the family in mid-July. Thus, I have been a scrambling fool with increasingly less time to accomplish things.

I think I may have finally acclimated to the pace, however. Though my amount of reading time has significantly decreased, I hope to be able to bring forth a couple of reviews each month. Per usual, my review will also appear at Speculative Book Review. In a not so usual turn of events, my reviews may begin to appear elsewhere also, but we shall have to see.

By the beginning of spring, in 2012, I hope to be tearing it up all over the place.

Review: Against All Things Ending

2010-10-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

Against All Things Ending, by Stephen R. Donaldson
Paperback: 575 pages (uncorrected proof ARC)
Publisher: Putnam, ©2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-15678-6
Copy: provided by Putnam

Blurb: Thomas Covenant is alive again, restored to his mortal body by the unimaginable combined force of his own white gold ring, Linden Avery's Staff of Law, and the ancient dagger called High Lord Loric's krill. His resurrection is Linden's defiant act of love, despite warnings from mortals and immortals that unleashing this much power would destroy the world. She brought his spirit back from its prison in the Arch of Time, and revived his slain body, so that Covenant lies whole on the cool grass, and the world seems at peace. But the truth is inescapable: The thunderclap of power has awakened the Worm of the World's End, and all of them, and the Land itself, are forfeit to its devouring. If they have any chance to save the Land, it will come from unlikely sources - including the mysterious boy Jeremiah, Linden's adopted son, whose secrets are only beginning to come to light.

While this review won't be seeing the light of day until the release date of Against All Things Ending, it must be composed now (i.e. 8/14/2010), lest all that swirls in my mind be lost in the interim.

Any of Donaldson's multiple Chronicles of Thomas Covenant can be characterised as being garbed in the viscera of human emotion. The tale brings the reader into such intimate acquaintance with loss, sorrow, rage, self-doubt, self-loathing, self-condemnation and, ultimately, despair, that the sensation of drowning amidst one's own stunned silence prevails. The same is true with Against All Things Ending.

Donaldson's use of archaic terms throughout the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are well known. Aside from driving the reader to the dictionary, the terms used also provide a meaning unattainable with more modern equivalents. Donaldson also employs a dynamic use of simile. In fact, the only element to Donaldson's style that has ever failed to satisfy, and it is a recurring one, is excessive description during periods of travel which undermines the overall sense of the novel's pace.

The tale unfolds through five main, and sequential, acts. In labelling them, according to their setting, they are: Andelain, Gravin Threndor (Mount Thunder), the Spoiled Plains (where the group splits), Muirwin Delenoth (a region south of Kurash Qwellinir, i.e. the Shattered Hills, which ring Foul's Creche - Avery's party) and Ridjeck Thome (the proper name for Foul's Creche - Covenant's party). Those who love and defend the Land are confronted by numerous enemies and an impending apocalypse. Throughout this tale, lives are lost, choices are made and consequences are borne, willingly or not.

Throughout, Linden Avery and Thomas Covenant are their typical selves. Surely, there has been some dislike of the two characters over time. However, it seems most likely that the antipathy for the characters stems from the characters' penchant for: 1) unintentional destruction and damage, 2) subsequent self-doubt and loathing and, 3) the emotional or mental paralysis suffered by the character, consequently. Such circumstances can be disheartening and drive one to look away when descried in another. Perhaps because it brings on a disturbing sense of discomfort - reminding us of similar events we have suffered. No sane person wants to go there ever again.

And, so, there are many who criticize Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant as being rather bleak. The works are are not intrinsically so as the author has demonstrated throughout why nothing is "too bleak." Ranyhyn are still Ranyhyn - noble. Giants are still Giants - cheerful and faithful. Haruchai are still Haruchai - ready and able. For all of the dreariness a reader may encounter in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the author does provide, in extremely subtle ways, salvific relief.

By way of example, Linden Avery has a conversation with Stave, a Haruchai by birth and former Master. Linden asks why the Masters distrust her as though she were a second Kevin Landwaster. She asks what is so similar between the two of them. Stave responds by saying, "If." Linden asks for elaboration and gets it - in spades.

"If, Chosen. That you share with High Lord Kevin Landwaster, who is now forgiven by his sires. If.

Summoned to a parley with or concerning the Demondim, if he had not sent his friends and fellow Lords in his stead. Concerned and grieving for your son, if you had heeded Anele's desire for the Sunstone. You believe that you might have acted otherwise, and that you are culpable for your failure to do so. Thus you open your heart to despair, as High Lord Kevin did also."

Stave continues,

"Chosen, you have rightly charged the Masters with arrogance. They have deemed themselves wise enough, and worthy, to prejudge the use which the folk of the Land would make of their knowledge. After his own fashion, Kevin Landwaster was similarly arrogant. In his damning if, he neglected to consider that his friends and fellow Lords selected their own path. He commanded none of these to assume his place. Indeed, many among the Council valued his wisdom when he declined to hazard his own vast lore and the Staff of Law in a perilous vesture [perhaps author meant 'venture']. Yet those voices he did not hear. Arrogating to himself responsibility for the fate of those who fell, he demeaned them - and failed to perceive Corruption clearly. Faulting himself for error rather than Corruption for treachery, he was self-misled to the Ritual of Desecration, and could not turn aside.

So it is with you."

In an attempt to drive the point home, inexorably, Stave concludes his comparison of Linden Avery to Kevin Landwaster:

...you demean all who stand with you by believing that there can be no other fault than yours, and that no fault of yours can be condoned. Doing so, 'You tread paths prepared for you by Fangthane's malice,' as Manethrall Mahrtiir has said. Thus you emulate High Lord Kevin.

In your present state, Chosen, Desecration lies ahead of you. It does not crowd at your back.

Avery, as is her wont, has assumed "the weight of the world" upon herself. Stave explains that Avery has, at her side, Ranyhyn, Giants and Haruchai that are ready, willing and able. Stave asserts that it is futile, and the road to despair, for Avery to assume total responsibility for defending the Land and battling it's enemies. It is in this way, that Stave provides 'salvific relief' - by emphasizing that no one need necessarily be alone with their burdens.

Since the 1980's, I have read and enjoyed the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Within, there lies a deep, rich and well disguised symbolism that is extremely relevant to the conduct and endurance of an individual life. They are stories that offer the reader maimed and loathsome lepers, both literally and figuratively, which demonstrate the virtues of perseverance and resolve, while disdaining apathy, self-abasement and despair. It boldly and confidently delivers the message that nothing, and no one, is irredeemable or unforgivable.

Against All Things Ending, as with any other Chronicle of Thomas Covenant, does more than merely entertain. It is a story which explores the width, breadth and depth of the concept of free-will, especially how to recognize it's pitfalls and gracefully accept it's consequences.

Must Read

Review: The Grave Thief, by Tom Lloyd

2010-10-16T17:08:00.005-04:00

The Grave Thief, by Tom Lloyd
Format: Paperback, 490 pages
Publisher: Pyr, ©2009
ISBN: 978-1-59102-780-5
Series: The Twilight Reign - Book 3
Copy: out of pocket

Back of book: FOR ISAK, THE TIME FOR HEARTLESS DECISIONS AND RUTHLESS ACTION HAS COME IF HE IS TO SAVE THE LAND FROM ITS OPPRESSORS...

Scree has been wiped from the face of the Land in a brutal demonstration of intent. While those responsible scatter to work on the next step in their plan, the stakes are raised - all the way to the heavens - as the Gods themselves enter the fray. Returning home to a nation divided by fantaicism, Lord Isak is haunted both by the consequences of his actions in Scree and by visions of his own impending death. As the full extent of Azaer's schemes becomes clearer, he realizes prophecy and zealotry must play their part in his battle plans if there is to be any chance of surviving the coming years. As a white-eye, Isak has had to embrace the darker parts of his own soul, but now the savage religious fervor sweeping his nation must also be accepted and turned to purpose, in the name of survival. With the battle lines vague and allegiances uncertain, the time for heartless decisions and ruthless action has come. Two figures oppose Isak and his allies: the greatest warrior in history, who dreams of empire and Godhood, and a newborn baby whose dreams have no limit.

In this third installment to The Twilight Reign series, Lloyd has hit full stride. Each major element of his story crafting has distinctly tightened up.

Previously, the cavalier approach to dialogue and/or character interaction kept the reader at arm's length when reading through more dramatic stretches of story. It did not 'read' consistently with the rest of the tale. The Grave Thief is more adept at drawing the reader into the dramatic, with credibility, than the previous two books were. Otherwise, Lloyd's style remains the same - which is more than adequate.

While there are no new characters of note, the characters within the story each take on a level of gravity, or relevance, not previously possessed. To be sure, principle characters to the story have not diminished in their relevance, but the more peripheral characters have each noticably developed significant depth and relevance to the story on the whole.

Following the collapse of the city of Scree, in The Twilight Herald, all contending factions are drawn to the twists of fate in the Circle City. A city of merchants and commerce, it is, largely, devoid of the militant strength to defend itself in the face of the moves and counter moves of the Vukotic family, Lord Styrax of the Menin nation, the shadow - Azaer, King Emin's Brotherhood, the Farlan nation - led by Lord Isak - and the gods themselves.

While The Grave Thief does not answer as many questions as hoped for, it certainly did induce a great deal of anticipation regarding the next book in the series (thankfully, it came out 2 days after completing the read of this one). To say that The Grave Thief ended on a cliff hanger would be an extreme understatement. As a recommendation, I would suggest having book four - The Ragged Man - on hand prior to finishing The Grave Thief.

In summary, Lloyd and his series continue to improve on a good thing with each successive installment.

Highly Recommended

Book Challenge Review: A Shadow on the Glass

2010-09-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

A Shadow on the Glass, by Ian Irvine
Format: paperback
Publisher: Aspect (Warner Bros.), ©1998
ISBN: 0-446-60984-6
Copy: Out of pocket

From the back cover:
THE TALE OF THE FORBIDDING
In ancient times the Way Between the Worlds was shattered, leaving bands of Aachim, Faellem, and Charon trapped with the old humans of Santhenar. Now Llian, a Chronicler of the Great Tales, uncovers a 3,000-year-old secret too deadly to be revealed - while Karan, a young sensitive, is compelled by honor to undertake a perilous mission. Neither can imagine they will soon meet as hunted fugitives, snared in the machinations of immortals, the vengeance of warlords, and the magics of powerful mancers. For the swelling deluge of a millennial war is rising, terrible as a tsunami, ready to cast torrents of sorcery and devastation across the land...

From 1998, this is Irvine's debut, and it shows. The first third to half of the book leaves one with the impression that the author had a vast, massive idea in mind, but didn't know how or where to begin. The means by which the various characters encounter, or know of, each other seems rather contrived. In other words, it read as though the author were 'trying too hard.'

Early segments of dialogue were very strained and incongruous to extant circumstances, and read very awkwardly. Characters, who barely knew each other, would heatedly argue as though they had known each other for many years one moment, and then immediately apologize - returning to the semi-formal, rather polite, dialogue usually employed between relative strangers.

The plot consisted, mainly, of perpetual peril. Our main characters, Llian (bard, of the spoken word variety) and Karan (a sensitive empath, who can affect others with her emotive feedback) escape peril, become assailed and/or captured, nearly come to permanent harm and escape again throughout the tale. It is an element to fiction that certainly works, but not if there is nothing else within the tale with which to contrast it.

The tale does have a long, shadowed past, however. Indeed, one of the key plot points is that Llian has, in his research, discovered a 3,000 year old secret. It appears that the key story in the history of the world, at the pinnacle of the last age, is something which has been misrepresented for three millenia. This particular element kept my interest throughout the tale, as each person, race and locale had some relevance to the distant past. As a result of the history revealed thus far in this debut, it is clear there is a great deal more to be known - not only to the reader, but key characters as well. It is this aspect alone that convinces me to continue onward into the next book of this series, at some future date.

Fair

Book Challenge

2010-09-05T22:41:00.003-04:00

Alright, so I am now back from holiday (i.e. spent the past week in Maui) and realized I forgot to post about this myself. So I'm chipping this in from over at Speculative Book Review.

Not long ago Seak from Seak's Stamp of Approval and Only the Best Sci Fi/Fantasy gave [me] and [Tyson] the ultimatum to read a novel by an author we have never heard of or by the cover alone. [Ty] and I are not ones to shy away from a challenge so we took it upon ourselves to each find a book that would fit the criteria for Seak's trial.

While [my] choice was a lot older and mysterious compared to [Ty's], [I] also had the benefit many exceptional used bookstores that [I] could peruse to find [my] choice.

Shadows on the Glass by Ian Irvine

An ancient war closed the Way between the Worlds, leaving the four human races of Aachim, Faellem, Charon, and Santhenar to inhabit a single realm. Thousands of years later, Llian the Chronicler discovers an ancient and dangerous secret, while a young woman gifted with magic embarks on a search for a powerful artifact. Irvine's series opener promises a grand-scale epic fantasy that features a pair of unusual heroes and a complex world rich in history and variety.

[I] picked th[is] novel due to the fact that there were runes running along the edge of the cover. (Mmmm, runes. Milk please)

The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke

Shale is the lowest of the low-an outcast from a poor village in the heart of the desert. In the desert water is life, and currency, and Shale has none. But he has a secret. It's the one thing that keeps him alive and may save all the cities of the Quartern in the days to come. If it doesn't get him killed first...

Terelle is a slave fleeing a life as a courtesan. She finds shelter in the home of an elderly painter but as she learns the strange and powerful secrets of his art she fears she may have traded a life of servitude for something far more perilous...

The Stormlord is dying in his tower and there is no one, by accident or design, to take his place. He brings the rain from the distant seas to his people. Without a Stormlord, the cities of the Quartern will wither and die.

Their civilization is at the brink of disaster. If Shale and Terelle can find a way to save themselves, they may just save them all. Water is life and the wells are running dry...

[Ty] picked this one because [his] mom sent it to [him] thinking that [he] would enjoy it.

Seak's choice is also a good one.....

Flight to the Savage Empire by Jean Lorrah and Winston Howlett

"Bloodlust! In the Aventine Empire, gladiator games still slake the multitudes' undying thirst for blood. Magister Astra hated the games - with her telepathic powers, she felt the warriors' agonies as her own. But the Master had once again sent her there to tend the wounded: it was a punishment - but for what? Even her strongest Reading couldn't tell her. Not until an unexpected death and an exotic, mind-bending drug brought her into the path of the ex-slave warrior Zanos did Astra begin to understand the web of deceit, greed, and vengeance that would send them both in a desperate - Flight To the Savage Empire."

In the coming days and possibly weeks we will be posting our reviews of the challenge issued by Seak and Seak himself will be posting his review.

Since all three of us have gone out on a limb we now are challenging our readers to go out there and find a book from an author you have never heard of or have heard of but know virtually nothing about them and give that author a chance. You just might find a new series to read and at the very worst you have something to complain about to your friends and families. Best of luck and good hunting

Also, if you have not stopped by and checked out these other great sites, please do and check out the books they chose for the Book Challenge:

Simcha @ SFF Chat

Melissa @ My World...in words and pages

Amanda @ Floor to Ceiling Books

Seak @ The Stamp and Only the Best Sci-Fi

Ryan @ Battle Hymns

and, of course, Ty @ State of Review and one of my nefarious partners in crime at Speculative Book Review

So go ahead, judge a book by it's cover and read the thing. Then let us know whether you found a 'diamond-in-the-rough' or a dead-mound-in-the-rot. Incidentally, Keeper Martin's Tale has recently been reviewed and is, thus, ineligible. =)

Review: The Twilight Herald, by Tom Lloyd

2010-09-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

The Twilight Herald, by Tom Lloyd
Format: Paperback, 503
Publisher: Pyr, ©2009
ISBN: 978-1-59102-733-1
Series: The Twilight Reign - Book 2
Copy: out of pocket

Back of the book: Lord Bahl is dead and the young white-eye, Isak, stands in his place; less than a year after being plucked from obscurity and poverty, the charismatic new Lord of the Farlan finds himself unprepared to deal with the attempt on his life that now spells war, and the possibility of rebellion waiting for him at home.

Now the eyes of the Land turn to the minor city of Scree, which could soon be obliterated as the new Lord of the Farlan flexes his powers. Scree is suffering under an unnatural summer drought and is surrounded by volatile mercenary armies that may be its only salvation.

This is a strange sanctuary for a fugitive abbot to flee to, but he is only the first of many to be drawn there. Kings and princes, lords and monsters - all walk the sun-scorched streets.

As elite soldiers clash after dark and actors perform cruel and subversive plays that work their way into the hearts of the audience, the city begins to tear itself apart - yet even chaos can be scripted.

There is a malevolent will at work in Scree, one that has a lesson for the entire Land: nations can be manipulated, prophecies perverted, and Gods denied.

Nothing lies beyond the reach of a shadow, and no matter how great a man's power, there are some things he cannot be protected from.

After having truly enjoyed book one, a better than average debut, book two is as much a pleasant surprise as the first was. The Twilight Herald expanded, in many ways, upon the foundations established in The Stormcaller.

The voice and narrative of the tale remains third-person, as much such tales are and Lloyd's style remains relaxed, if not cavalier. The down side to that is that it becomes difficult to take the darker and more brooding elements seriously.

That having been said, the cast of characters grows mildly, while the book's POVs expand heavily. The various regions, plot lines, characters and agendas reveals a surprising jump in scope. If you like, think of it as Lalazan - Malazan's little brother.

After book one, the reader should be readily familiar with Isak, a young, white-eyed wagon rat, elevated by the Gods to the position of Krann among the Farland nation. A white-eye (stronger, larger, greater longevity, powerful instrinsic and instinctive magical ability) cannot viability interbreed with your garden variety human being, although they are created by garden variety human beings, although the occurence is rare enough. Unfortunately, a white-eyed child spells death for the mother as they are physically large enough to kill the woman in labor. The various gods of Lloyd's realm select young white-eye candidates to become heir to the throne (i.e. Krann), while the current ruler reigns. Book one is exclusively about Isak, the Krann of Farland. At the end of book one, Isak becomes Lord of the Farlan and it is here that book two begins.

However, book two reveals to us the white-eye leader of the south - Kastan Styrax. White-eyes can, however, produce viable offspring among themselves. Styrax has a son of his own who serves as his Krann. Styrax is an experienced ruler, conqueror and planner. Styrax has long planned, flawlessly it would seem, for all he now attempts. While he appears equal to any task, someone or something has taken great pains, of colossal effort, to possess his son. Can the brutal Styrax save his son? If so, will it be worth having saved whatever creature remains as his son?

Morgien, the 'man of many spirits,' knows more than is revealed. Having invited many other souls in to share existence with his own, Morgien has come to understand many things others dare not inquire after, including the true nature of possession.

Zhia Vukotic has seen it all, literally. Having been doomed by the Gods, along with her brothers, to walk the earth without aging, yet being perpetually held sane and overpoweringly sympathetic to the suffering of mortals. It is a curse that burns, literally as well as figuratively - the Vukotics are vampires. Zhia remembers a time when she was mortal and loved. She was the consort to the last true king and, coincidentally, most powerful ruler to have ever lived.

King Emin of Narkang, rules a region of half-breeds cast off by the tribes of men, fashions many things of his own - his kingdom being perhaps the easiest. The King of Narkang has already acquired knowledge of things deeper than most dare and, yet still, delves ever deeper.

The ghost of the last true king, Aryn Bwr, is anything but peaceful. In an age where the stories about the savage, brutal and barbaric elves streaming forth from the Wastes are treated like poorly aged fiction, the ghost of their most fierce member, the last true king, wanders aimlessly while once again seeking power.

And what of the gods who have placed all of this into motion several millenia ago? They are in hiding, or so it would appear. What should happen to the gods if their believers are turned? Will they only become a shortened scream that has no voice? Azaer, a shadow worshipped by some, certainly thinks so and means to find out. And so a cult of the shadow grows, quietly and slowly, in power. In fact, many thousands of years ago, it is said that a shadow spoke to Aryn Bwr and handed him twelve weapons of power. In those days - the days of the Great Wars - gods died, or so the legends say. In fact, the legends say gods died horribly.

The significant, but measured increase in backstory, characters and plot threads truly adds weight to this series. Thus far, each book has had a naturally resolved ending. However, each ending seems to remind the reader that winning numerous battles is no guarantee of winning the war or enjoying the victory if you did.

As of this review (typed on 8/26/2010), the fourth book - The Ragged Man - has just been released. It is a read that is eagerly anticipated.

Highly Recommended

Review: The Stormcaller

2010-08-21T02:00:00.001-04:00

The Stormcaller, by Tom Lloyd
Paperback: 449 pages
Publisher: Pyr, ©2008
ISBN: 978-1-59102-693-8
Copy: Out of pocket

From the back of the book: In a land ruled by prophecy and the whims of Gods, a young man finds himself at the heart of a war he barely understands, wielding powers he may never be able to control.

Isak is a white-eye, born bigger, more charismatic, and more powerful than normal men...but with that power comes an unpredictable temper and an inner rage he cannot always hide. Brought up as a wagon-brat, feared and despised by those around him, he dreams of a place in the army and a chance to live his own life. But when the call comes, it isn't to be a soldier, for the Gods have other plans for the intemperate teenager: Isak has been chosen as heir-elect to the brooding Lord Bahl, the white-eye Lord of the Farlan.

The white-eyes were created by the Gods to bring order out of chaos, for their magnetic charm and formidable strength make them natural leaders of men. Lord Bahl is typical of the breed: he inspires and oppresses those around him in equal measure. He can be brusque and impatient, a difficult mentor for a boy every bit as volatile as he is.

But now is the time for revenge, and for the forging of empires. With mounting envy and malice, the men who would themselves be kings watch Isak, chosen by Gods as flawed as the humans who serve them, as he is shaped and molded to fulfill the prophecies that circle him like scavenger birds. Divine fury and mortal strife are about to spill over and paint the world with blood.

The Stormcaller is the first book in a powerful new series that combines inspired world building, epoch-shattering battles, and high emotion to dazzling effect.

Well, that's more than a mere blurb, but it does pretty much cover the main plot points. And a fine plot it is. While the info dump/assimilation quotient goes above average here, there is a Dramatis Personae at the end of the book for the reader to untangle all of the various personages walking through the storyline, as though it were a subway station. The faction tracking portion of keeping the plot straight was a bit difficult due the double-edged sword of: 1) info dump and, 2) lack of information on things that will probably be revealed in later installments. Other than the aforementioned potential snags, the plot of the story is engaging. The story elements of the setting (or world-building, whatever) have a nice mix of the imaginative and the "tried and true."

The characters really work for this tale. One could conceivably describe the characters as Eddings-esque (as a categorization not necessarily a criticism), but it would be more fair to describe them as being withheld from unnecessary over-complication and, yet, still vibrant. Each character carries a key emotive role, for the reader, and it worked in this instance.

The tale is third-person in nature, even during several key dreamscape sequences. One gets the sense that the author was attempting to veer away from the third-person during the dreamscape sequences, but didn't completely commit to doing so.

Overall, a very fun read and debut. One which shapes and stores an expectation for the next book in the series.

Highly Recommended

...and another...

2010-08-18T20:31:00.003-04:00

I collect blog roll additions like they were free signed first editions. In the case of Dazed Rambling, I should've found it sooner as this is James/Winter, who is one of us.

What do I mean by that, you may wonder? Wonder no more, perplexed one. We who blog on sf&f tend to find ourselves in similar corners of the universe. There is, in fact, a singular planet which draws/creates many such bloggers. It is the planet SFFWorld and we are it's predominant life-form, if I do say so myself. ;-)

So head on over and visit James' place - just don't pet the Grrthalian, it's not what it appears to be.

Nevermind, you'll know it when you see it...or when you're missing an arm.

Review: Shadow's Son

2010-08-14T02:00:00.005-04:00

Shadow's Son, by Jon Sprunk
Paperback: 278 pages
Publisher: Pyr, ©2010
ISBN: 978-1-61614-201-8
Copy: Out of pocket

From the back cover: In the holy city of Othir, treachery and corruption lurk at the end of every street, just the place for a freelance assassin with no loyalties and few scruples. Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade, but when a routine job goes south, he is thrust into the middle of an insidious plot. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and sorcery from the Other Side, his only allies are Josephine, the socialite daughter of his last target, and Kit, a guardian spirit no one else can see. In this fight for his life, Caim only trusts his knives and his instincts, but they won't be enough when his quest for justice leads him from Othir's hazardous back alleys to its shining corridors of power. To unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the empire, he must clam his birthright as the Shadow's Son...

This work was certainly a quick read, without any slow portions. It's a rather straightforward tale of an assassin, Caim, who struggles with elements of his past. Elements he clearly does not fully understand. Some such elements arrive in the present and, consequently, threaten any possibility of a future. Caim spends the majority of the tale playing catch-up to others' agendas. Agendas which have no spare room for Caim to continue consuming oxygen.

Our protagonist, while very skilled, does have another layer. He has some ethereal connection to the realm of shadows. This connection manifests on occasions where Caim is intensely afraid or angry. His lack of direct control of this connection causes some complications. When active, Caim's connection to the realm of shadows allows him to be completely unobserved - possibly even invisible. As the tale unfolds, the reader becomes aware that this connection may do more than Caim suspects.

The tale also gives us a couple of other main characters to this tale, in the form of a love interest and side-kick. Josephine, the love interest, is introduced to the reader as something of a naive, bubble-headed socialite. Events unfold abruptly which carve the innocence completely off of her. Kit, Caim's side-kick, is an ethereal being that has been with Caim since he can remember. Even Caim has no idea what Kit really is, and where she goes when she whimsically vanishes, either because of boredom or in a fit of pique. In fact, even when present, Caim is the only person capable of seeing Kit. Sprunk's characters are not overly complex, but are well rendered for their roles in the tale.

Sprunk's tale is composed, and reads, from your garden variety third-person limited omniscient perspective. Of particular note, is Sprunk's plot. While Sprunk hints and foreshadows a great deal about the realm of shadows, the nature of Caim's companion, Kit, and Caim's past, it is not done in the sort of glaring, over-the-top, super-charged fashion that is becoming increasingly common (not necessarily a "bad" thing - simply a different approach). Sprunk is very measured and deliberate with the doling out of content in his debut. Indeed, there is the sense that Sprunk will have his readers returning for further episodes (I'm reminded of Kung Fu and The Incredible Hulk - of 1970's American television) of Caim - the Shadow's Son.

In summary, Shadow's Son is a fair debut effort. It does not burden the reader with massive assimilation workloads (e.g. cast of characters, innumerable political intrigues, geography, magic system) and maintains the reader's attention throughout. While the tale was, in a sense, simplistic, only the tip of the iceberg has been exposed thus far. Sprunk has a great deal of room in which to expand and elaborate on Caim, his world and his story.

Fair to Recommended

Spacing out...

2010-08-11T12:04:00.004-04:00

...is merely another symptom of my condition (i.e. ubiquitously absent cognition). Anyway, I announced a blog roll addition the other day and was soooooo fixated upon finding a cool picture to go with it, I forgot to announce the other blogroll addition I have recently added, Bookworm Blues.

Sarah, the force behind Bookworm Blues, has plenty of reviews already - and they are well worth checking into. Of note, Sarah has reviewed many of the 'big hits.' If there is a book you've been considering, because of it's buzz, do yourself a favor and make sure to see if Sarah has reviewed it.

Review: The Escapement

2010-08-07T13:00:00.002-04:00

The Escapement, by K.J. Parker
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Orbit, ©2007
ISBN 10: 0-316-00340-9
ISBN 13: 978-0-316-00340-7
Copy: Out of pocket

From the back of the book: The engineer Ziani Vaatzes engineered a war to be reunited with his family. The deaths were regrettable, but he had no choice.

Duke Valens dragged his people into the war to save the life of one woman -- a woman whose husband he then killed. He regrets the evil he's done, but he, equally, had no choice.

Secretary Psellus never wanted to rule the Republic or fight a desperate siege for its survival. As a man of considerable intelligence, however, he knows that he has a role to play -- and little choice but to accept it.

With The Escapement, K.J. Parker brings the Engineer trilogy to a close. The climax that has built thus far, explodes (literally) before the gates of Mezentia. The result, while not necessarily expected or anticipated, is in keeping with the style Parker has set thus far. In that sense, the ending seemed symmetrical and orderly, while also being bittersweet -- probably more bitter than sweet.

The destruction brought about by love and duty is a dominating theme throughout. In that sense, each character defines their circumstances as, "having had no choice." While I found the characters' reasoning, positions and definitions unpersuasive, it remained consistent, coherent and self-contained.

Truly, there is a malaise that underlies the characters, theme and totality of the tale. I wouldn't necessarily link it to the concept of 'depressing' proper, but would attempt to pin it down as "dysthymia, secondary to PTSD."

One item that was very noticeable to me was that the cultures within the tale had a near-total absence of any spirituality. There were no priesthoods, deities or religions, which seemed rather unusual since nearly every culture among our species has something to that effect. Within the trilogy, such things are briefly addressed by stating that certain cultures (i.e. Mezentine, Vadanai) used to have such things. I don't recall where they went, but it was treated as a vestigial element of the culture that had long since fallen away.

Without interviewing the author on the matter, it isn't likely to be discovered if the temperamental, and spiritual, apathy was a part of the plot design, or if it was the subtle influence of the author's own experiences/worldview. It does make me wonder, as though I were plagued with an inexorable itch, what the person behind the K.J. Parker pseudonym is really like.

Either way, the Engineer trilogy was a wonderfully composed and executed trilogy, which has convinced me to go forth and acquire every other work by K.J. Parker that I can find. Based upon the Engineer trilogy alone, Parker deserves a larger profile than he/she (frackin' pseudonyms!) currently has.

Highly Recommended

In the mail

2010-08-04T20:55:00.002-04:00

Hold up. You other books are riding shotgun now. Donaldson's Against All Things Ending arrived in today's mail. A review will be available upon release.

More Brent Weeks goodness

2010-08-03T12:16:00.005-04:00

John Ottinger III has, in collaboration with Orbit books, an exclusive video interview with Brent Weeks, just ahead of the release of The Black Prism.

Also, Orbit books has, in their August 2010 newsletter, made the first three chapters of The Black Prism available to read. Enjoy!!

Brent Weeks meme

2010-07-30T22:44:00.006-04:00

Bah, I got sucked into another meme. This time, it's Liviu's fault. I saw his post that had his meme result up and went over to Weeks' site to give it a go.

I'm a yellow magic drafter!

Take the quiz at Brent Weeks.com

Swann interviewed....by Scalzi

2010-07-30T16:40:00.004-04:00

Let's say you've written a fairly well received work of speculative fiction. A stand-alone work of speculative fiction. What do you do if the publisher wants a follow-up work written? It's in interesting question, but largely because it's not a theoretical one. This actually happened to author S.A. Swann.

Swann explains how he handled the conundrum in a recent interview. An interview by fellow author, Jon Scalzi, no less. Head on over and enjoy yourself.

Review: Evil for Evil

2010-07-30T01:00:00.001-04:00

Evil for Evil, by K.J. Parker
Paperback: 684 pages
Publisher: Orbit, ©2006
ISBN 10: 0-316-00339-5
ISBN 13: 978-0-316-00339-5
Copy: Out of pocket

From the back cover: CIVITAS VADANIS is in trouble. The Mezentines have declared war, and the Mezentines are very focused on their goals when it comes to killing.

DUKE VALENS, of Civitas Vadanis, has a dilemma. He knows that his city cannot withstand the invading army; yet its walls are his sole defense against the Mezentines. Perhaps the only way to save his people is to flee, but that will not be easy either.

ZIANI VAATZES, an engineer exiled by the Mezentines for his abominable creations, has already proven that he can defend a city. But Ziani Vaatzes has his own concerns, and the fate of Civitas Vadanis may not be one of them.

The war upon Civitas Eremiae, by Mezentia, is all but complete. The ultimate goal of which, however, has not been achieved. Several of the individuals marked for death, by Mezentia, have survived. As a result, Mezentia's eye turns to Civitas Vadanis and it's remarkable amount of native wealth, in the form of silver mines. It won't be long before Mezentia manufactures a pretext upon which to make Civitas Vadanis the next target of the war.

In fact, who can hope to be safe from Mezentia. Indeed, the only thing they seem to fear are the vast, innumerable hoard of Cure Hardy beyond the desert. The Aram Chantat tribe alone numbers over one million. The only solace for Mezentia is that there is no easy path across the desert. If there were, or one was discovered, Mezentia would be facing what would amount to certain annhiliation, a fact Ziani Vaatzes is poignantly aware of and hopes to exploit.

And then, a most unique political alliance is proposed. Among all these machinations, Ziani Vaatzes continues to poke, file, trim, shave, thread, calibrate and nudge events into an alignment most suited to his own ends. Indeed, Parker's core message is that, for love, a human being will do anything. It is the direct by-product of this dynamic that gives humanity it's notions of "good" and "evil." While I may not agree, you can certainly see that Parker has an extremely coherent and salient point.

The characters are much the same: the Eremian Duke Orsea and his wife, the Duchess Veratriz; the Eremian Duke's former chief of staff, Miel Ducas; the Vadanai Duke Valens; the exiled Mezentian engineer, Ziani Vaatzes; and the Mezentian bureaucrat Lucao Psellus, who is slowly unwinding, and understanding, several intricately laid webs. The only new character installment of note is the unusual and bizarre, Gace Daurenja. What Vaatzes does for the story, Daurenja does to Vaatzes. Daurenja is able to twist and mold Vaatzes to fit his own agenda. As each man vies to incorporate the other into their plan, which one will come to a complete understanding, thus mastering, the other first? It would seem the outcome is overwhelmingly dependent upon the answer.

The more I read this trilogy, the more difficulty I have in pinning down a definitive description of Parker's style. It reads like a hybridization of the third-person voice and narrative, interwoven with first-person thoughts cavalierly tossed onto the page. I really, really like it - with one minor exception.

With perhaps 150 pages to go in the book, I became mildly aware of an acute irritation I was developing toward some of the characters. In stopping to analyze precisely why and what, I realized it wasn't the characters, but a particular theme beginning to be espoused by multiple characters. It was the theme that concepts such as duty and love are the true motile power for other concepts - like good, evil, creativity and destruction. Apparently, love makes the world go round. Some of the characters began to bemoan their individual circumstances because love, duty, or both, had 'done them wrong.' The Self-Pitysburg Address was tolerable once, but after reading it from Orsea, Ducas, Veratriz and Valens, it went from being old to an irritant rather quickly.

All in all, however, this is the strongest 'middle book' to a trilogy that I have yet read. K.J. Parker has, with this book, lived up to the standards set for me in the previous one, and I now look forward to getting my hands on all-things-K.J. Parker that I can find.

Highly Recommended to Must Read

Ian Cameron Esslemont's Stonewielder: Prologue

2010-07-26T09:18:00.008-04:00

The prologue to Ian C. Esslemont's Stonewielder: A Novel of the Malazan Empire has just been posted online at SFFWorld, with permission from Transworld. Follow this link to view for yourself.

The current plan, by Bantam Press, is to publish in hardcover on November 25, 2010. This excerpt is of uncorrected pages, but should be all the taste one requires to begin the anxious wait for Esslemont's next contribution to the MalazVerse.

Contract News

2010-07-23T12:25:00.005-04:00

Dave Brendon, a short while ago, reported that Stephen Deas has recently signed a 4-book deal with Gollancz.

Follow the link on over to Dave's and read up on the deal, which will bridge his current series -- which began with The Adamantine Palace -- with his up-coming YA series, through a third intermediary series. Phew, series and series and series. Congratulations to Stephen and his family.

Review: The Left Hand of God

2010-07-22T04:00:00.002-04:00

The Left Hand of God, by Paul Hoffman

Hardcover: 372 pages

ISBN 10: 0-525-95131-5

ISBN 13: 978-0-525-95131-5

Copy: Penguin Group publicists

From inside the dust cover: In the Redeemer Sanctuary, the stronghold of a secretive sect of warrior monks, torture and death await the unsuccessful or disobedient. Raised by the Redeemers from early childhood like hundreds of other young captives, Thomas Cale has known only deprivation, punishment, and grueling training. He doesn't know that another world exists outside the fortress walls or even that secrets he can't imagine lurk behind the Sanctuary's many forbidden doorways. He doesn't know that his master Lord Bosco and the Sanctuary's Redeemers have been preparing for a holy war for centuries -- a holy war that is now imminent. And Cale doesn't know that he's been noticed and quietly cultivated.

And then, Cale decides to open a door.

It's a door that leads to one of the Redeemers' darkest secrets and a choice that is really no choice at all: certain death or daring escape. Adrift in the wider world for the first time in his young life, Cale soon finds himself in Memphis, the capital of culture -- and the den of Sin. It's there that Cale discovers his prodigious gift: violence. And he discovers that, after years of abuse at the hands of the Redeemers, his embittered heart is still capable of loving -- and breaking.

But the Redeemers won't accept the defection of their special subject without a fight. As the clash of civilizations that has been looming for thousands of years draws near, a world where the faithful are as brutal as the sinful looks to young Cale to decide its fate.

When I received this book in the mail, I wasn't sure what to think. There had been a fair amount of hype concerning the book, and some reviews that seemed to indicate that the amount of hype received was, perhaps, too generous. I'm glad I am fairly removed from that time -- the time of the original release -- because I can now look on the book fairly.

First, Hoffman opens the book with a great line -

"Listen. The Sanctuary of the Redeemers on Shotover Scarp is named after a damned lie, for there is no redemption that goes on there and less sanctuary."

Yeah, it has some grim aspects to it. While there are a couple of POVs in the book, the lion's share of the reading follows Cale. The reader trails along with Cale, and friends, from the fretful and angst-ridden drudgery in the Sanctuary, to the daring escape across the Scablands and their rise through the society of Memphis, the most relevant city of the region. It is a slow process of revelation by which we discover what the true nature of the boys' lives, in the Sanctuary, was like and to what purposes they existed.

In Memphis, the reader bears witness to Thomas Cale's discovery of love. Like all young boys and girls, Cale also discovers love's twin - the pain of a broken heart. The reader follows these things through a standard third-person, limited, approach with some sprinkling of first-person insights, offered through the ponderings of Cale.

Indeed, the most developed character we see is Cale. The rest of the cast seem richly developed, perhaps because they conform to conventional expectations of them. People have read, and viewed, such characters before and, thus, familiarity brings the reader closer to an easy understanding of the characters than might have been otherwise.

A pet peeve of mine is the search for something "new" or "innovative" in a piece of fiction that, if not properly satisfied, must render a judgement of bad, poor or "m'eh" to a work. Seriously, "there is nothing new under the sun." Such innovation is an extreme rarity, so I prefer to simply work with what we have. All this having been said, Hoffman takes great handfuls of the familiar, and makes it work rather well.

Is the book worthy of all it's early hype? I have no idea. It is, however, worth reading.

Recommended

Review: Devices and Desires

2010-07-17T07:00:00.003-04:00

Devices and Desires, by K.J. Parker
Format: P.O.U.S's (Paperbacks of unusual size)
Publisher: Orbit, ©2005
ISBN-10: 0-316-00338-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-316-00338-7
Copy: out of pocket

From the back cover: When an engineer is sentenced to death for a petty transgression of guild law, he flees the city, leaving behind his wife and daughter. Forced into exile, he seeks a terrible vengeance -- one that will leave a trail of death and destruction in its wake. But he will not be able to achieve this by himself. He must draw up his plans using the blood of others...

This is the extraordinary tale of a man who engineers a war to be reunited with his family.

I have seen and read a great deal on K.J. Parker throughout the blogosphere. As a result, I became rather circumspect, due to the nature of the differing reactions. Regular readers/bloggers of sf&f liked Parker, while casual readers/forum posters seemed only mildly moved, at best. I jumped to the conclusion that it was "an elite thing," thus I wouldn't be interested. I was most definitely wrong.

This glorious find, for me, occurred one evening as I took my birthday gift card (Books-a-Million) to the closest store in town. I was there, primarily, looking for Ranger's Apprentice books I could hold onto for my son one day (I'm certainly hoping he'll become a reader). I found one such book and then, with plenty of gift card value remaining, began searching the sf&f section. I found the entire Engineer's trilogy sitting there -- staring at me. It was simply time for me to give Parker a try.

This story follows the actions of an engineer, and fugitive from justice, of an industrial, regional power as he lays a proactive strategy to bring about a war that will return him to his wife and daughter. The engineer, Ziani Vaatzes, uses his keen mechanical insight, and native intelligence, to pre-arrange a course of events that leaves the Guilds, as well as rivaling, next-door aristocracies reacting in a most flat-footed manner. The realization that there has been a set-up, or 'long game' if you will, usually comes after ruination, while a very few seem to know precisely what is taking place -- waiting for their proper moment to assert themselves, and achieve their own ends.

There are no heroes or villains in such a tale. The intrigue is non-stop and most of the characters involved are surprisingly unaware of the stakes involved. In the end, it felt like a combination of the character driven dramas of Tad Williams and the tantalizing and pivotal plot points dangled just beyond the reader's reach, common in works by R. Scott Bakker. There are no epic scale battles, no quest objects, no magic system, no mythical creatures and no dark overlord. There is a lot of engineering though. Parker takes the reader on an adventure that could be described as historical science fiction. Science fiction, traditionally, takes its reader into a futuristic setting, imagining what technology will be able to do one day. Parker takes science fiction, and the reader, retro. The reader follows learning how to improvise mills, lathes and cams and the author makes it all more interesting than I'm sure the topic truly is.

Parker writes in a third-person quasi-limited approach. That is to say that the author drops occasional subtle hints which leave the reader speculating about impending, foreshadowed and massive plot shifts upcoming in the tale. If all such Parker works are like this, I will have found another favorite author to watch.

There is simply no other way to say it, K.J. Parker, in Devices and Desires, hauls the reader through the pages.

Highly Recommended to Must Read

Free Reading: The Choir Boats

2010-07-16T13:14:00.006-04:00

The Choir Boats is a debut, fantasy novel by Daniel Rabuzzi and is available, for free, during the month of July. It is DRM free, thus perusable on any device compatible with PDFs.

The Choir Boats explores issues of race, gender, sin, and salvation, and includes a mysterious letter, knuckledogs, carkodrillos, smilax root, goat stew, and one very fierce golden cat.

One early review described it as, "Gulliver's Travels crossed with The Golden Compass and a dollop of Pride and Prejudice." Another stated that The Choir Boats is, "a muscular, Napoleonic-era fantasy that, like Philip Pullman's Dark Materials series, will appeal to both adult and young adult readers."

The Choir Boats is featured as Wowio's July Book of the Month. It has also been selected by January Magazine as a Top Ten YA Novel for 2009.

Rhone, by John Karr

2010-07-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

I have a joint review up, with Tyson, over at Speculative Book Review, on Rhone. If you're a fan of the "old style" sword and sorcery (think Howard), then this would be worth reading for the induced sense of nostalgia alone.

Review: The Last Princess and the Cup of Immortality

2010-07-11T20:54:00.007-04:00

The Last Princess and the Cup of Immortality, by D.R. Whitney
Format: Trade paperback; 368 pages
Publisher: Avilon Press
ISBN: 978-0-9822508-0-8
Copy: provided by author

From the back cover: When Vivienne Le Faye, a sixteen-year old, with intuitive powers inherits a priceless family amulet, she becomes an instant target.

Unaware of her noble heritage, she only knows that a strange family CURSE haunts her. And when DANGER suddenly threatens her, a mysterious boy with blazing golden eyes appears out-of-nowhere to protect her.

Convinced he's real and positive she has fallen in love with him, Vivienne bravely follows her 'gift of sight' to England where her Amulet allows her passage through a Portal of Mists. There, in a mystical world of witchery and magic where many perils await her, she discovers he is an Immortal and she is the last Princess of the Misty Isle, destined to become the next Lady of the Lake.

Called to fulfill her birthright and armed with her new gifts, of spell craft and war craft, together they must confront a terrifying enemy, so that she can save their magical world and allow the Misty Isle to rise again.

For me, a rare thing occurred with reading this first book of The Goddess Prophecies - I was unable to finish the book, something which hasn't happened for thirteen years (I distinctly remember the last such occasion). I made it to page 242 of 368. While my reading speed is definitely better than average, those 242 pages took me forever. After reading ten pages, I had to stop and move on to doing something else. Ultimately, it had taken so much time, that I could no longer proceed.

Through those 242 pages, I encountered a tale based upon a unique mix of Arthurian legend, Celtic mythology and mysticism, Gaia- or earth-based magic and a theme of female empowerment. All in all, not a bad mix to go with. Unfortunately, for me, it read like a work written by Dan Brown to an audience of twelve-year olds.

As my mind fluttered away from what I was reading, memories of the distant past drew me along. Reminiscences of early reading came up, snippets of the Hardy Boys novels my father used to buy for me, or the copies of The Three Investigators that I had signed out from the elementary school library as a child. Undoubtedly, had I read this book at that long ago time, I would have enjoyed it greatly. Currently, I no longer possess the requisite capabilities in the realm of suspension of disbelief - at least on the scale necessary to overlook rather implausible story elements.

For example, while our protagonist is making her way from Philadelphia to New York, to catch a plane to England, she realizes she is in need of some muscle to help cover her. She calls her former master at the New York chapter house of the "Martial Arts Academy" to acquire some help. Incidentally, our sixteen-year old protagonist is an Olympic calibre black belt in her own right. This sixteen-year old has also been emancipated by her grandmother and is living on her own, at school, in New York City. This sixteen-year old also happens to be far more certain and secure than the majority of all the adults I've ever encountered.

I just couldn't finish. Well, I still think that, as a twelve-year old, I would've had great fun with it - especially the cover art.

D.N.F.

Review - Return of the Crimson Guard

2010-07-10T18:41:00.003-04:00

Return of the Crimson Guard, by Ian C. Esslemont
Format: Hardcover; 702 pages
Publisher:Tor, ©2008
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2370-5
Copy: Out of pocket

From inside the dust cover: The return of the mercenary company the Crimson Guard could not have come at a worse time for a Malazan Empire exhausted by warfare and weakened by betrayals and rivalries. Indeed, there are those who wonder whether the Empress Laseen might not be losing her grip on power as she faces increasing unrest as conquered kingdoms and principalities sense freedom once more.

Into the seething cauldron of Quon Tali - the Empire's heartland - marches the Guard. With their return comes the memory of the Empire - and yet all is not well with the Guard itself. Elements within its elite, the Avowed, have set their sights on far greater power. There are ancient entities who also seek to further their own arcane ends. And what of the swordsman called Traveller who, with his companion Ereko, has gone in search of a confrontation from which none have ever returned?

As the Guard prepares to wage war, Laseen's own generals and mages, the "Old Hands," grow impatient with what they see as her mismanagement of the Empire. But could Laseen have outwitted them all? Could she be using the uprisings to draw out and finally eliminate these last irksome survivors from the days of her illustrious predecessor, Kellanved?

My first trip down Esslemont Lane, in the Malazan world, was good enough. I know, it sounds like the kiss of death. Seriously, I liked Night of Knives well enough, but not nearly as much as previous Malazan offerings. Return of the Crimson Guard, however, is quite fine indeed.

The style employed, whether it's Esslemont or Erikson, is something of a third-person limited-omnisicient. C'mon, I know it's rather oxymoronic, but bear with me here. The story regularly offers subtle hints and characters nod their heads knowingly, even when the reader is struggling to uncover the point/mystery involved. I'm sure that there are Malaz-oid fanboys (complete with self-drawn maps, timelines, etc.) out there who can, speculatively, tie together all of the hints nicely. I, on the other hand, sit in blissful suspense through each new offering in the Malazan world because I expect the answers will fall into my lap, in the end.

This story follows an implosion, seemingly, of the empire. The empress is forced to make alliances and betrayals, which seem to be pivotal to survival when faced with the empire's arch-nemesis, the Crimson Guard. The Crimson Guard aren't having an easy time of it either, as there appears to be no dearth of covert manipulations employed to advance the agendas of internal factions in their corner as well.

Into this possible implosion come several parties. There are a group of exiled and imprisoned mages from the Seven Cities otataral mines - that end up en route to Quon Tali. There is the enigmatic Traveller, with his companion Ereko - bound in a similar direction, complete with tag-alongs from a parallel plot line. When combined with the Crimson Guard, en route to Quon Tali, the locals who are uprising in hopes of independence once more and, let's not forget, the empire itself, you get quite the stew.

This is my segue into the reason I love all things Malazan, so much. Scope. As in an extraordinarly ambitious and over-the-top scope. When you consider the variety of races, locations, mortals, deities, demi-deities, warrens, etc., it's almost numbing - oh, but I just love it (right down to the cover art - seriously, just look at that). Return of the Crimson Guard, among a couple of other works written within the Malazan world, perfectly epitomizes this.

I will readily admit it - I'm a fan of big, fat fantasy series (BFF). Generally speaking, I like them all. However, the Malazan world is, and has been for some time now, the best (ok, my favorite). Esslemont's Return of the Crimson Guard only further cements my opinion on the matter.

Highly Recommended

Dante's Journey & J.C. Marino

2010-07-05T18:41:00.004-04:00

Dante's Journey, by J.C. Marino
Trade Paperback: 366 pages
Publisher: Star Publish, ©2010
ISBN: 978-1-935188-09-4
Copy: provided by author

I finished Marino's book some time ago, but since it was the prototype test subject for the 'Round Table' feature at Speculative Book Review, I've waited until now to put anything down here about it. To see how I weighed in on the story, follow the prototype test subject link.

I liked the story well enough, but from what I have run into in our first 'Round Table' exercise at SBR, I would say that most will like it more than I did. Also, the author is a particularly decent fellow and a pleasure to interact with. In fact, there was a subsequent interview with Marino at SBR, thanks to Tyson.

While I would rate Dante's Journey as "Recommended", I would also call Marino an author to keep an eye on with future books.

An aside: It's been some time since I've been able to swing through the internet, and this stop is the exception rather than the rule. Work life has made of itself a larger priority that it, perhaps, ought to be. I hope to rectify the matter sooner, rather than later.

In the meantime, my rate of reading has been suffering as well. Other than Marino's work, I have also read Return of the Crimson Guard, by Ian C. Esslemont; Rhone by John Karr; Field of Fire, by Jon Connington; The Left Hand of God, by Paul Hoffman; 242 of 368 pages of The Last Princess and the Cup of Immortality, by D.R. Whitney (D.N.F. - a once every dozen years rarity for me) and Devices and Desires, by K.J. Parker. I will have something to post for some of these books here, but a little something to post for all of them over at SBR.

I was struck soundly enough by Parker's Devices and Desires to immediately pick up the second book of the Engineer's trilogy, Evil for Evil.

YA Review

2010-04-26T15:53:00.004-04:00

I have been reading several books off my traditional beaten path of late. One that I did recently finish, and does have a home in the realm of fantasy fiction, is Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword. When I first began combing through the threads on SFFWorld, looking for books to place on a wish list, this book came up. After looking it over I was intrigued, despite the YA label. I do not dislike YA, it just isn't something that I can connect with anymore. If you are looking for a good, age appropriate YA tale, this is a great candidate. I posted a review of this work over at Speculative Book Review.

David Gemmell Legend Award

2010-04-14T17:01:00.009-04:00

Somewhere around here, I have previously written about the David Gemmell Legend Award and why I like it. Well, its that time of year again. As previously noted, the short list is up, so go and vote. I'll drop you a hint...I voted for the author that should have won last year.

Anyway, Jeff and James discuss the pros and cons surrounding the DGLA. So check out James' post and then stop by and read Jeff's rebuttal. Great guys and good points, but I just want to see Abercrombie swinging a life-size replica of Snaga around an elegant environment like some kind of wild drunkard (although he could be the real thing - you never know).

ETA: After I finished posting this yesterday, there were a couple of additional developments. Gav, after having read James' post, also had a rebuttal. Last, but certainly not least, Larry circumnavigated the topic in a far more broad, if not peripheral, fashion.

More Williams

2010-04-07T13:37:00.004-04:00

Read The Burning Man last weekend. It is a short story by Tad Williams in the Legends anthology (Tor, ©1998, edited by Silverberg). It is a tragic tale told by an elderly woman reminiscing over a pivotal event from her life.

In light of recently finishing Shadowrise, it was very interesting to go back and read something that was new to me, but from the author's past. I would say that I detect a difference, within the story, from more recent Williams fare, but wonder if that's only because I know there is a separation of, roughly, a decade.

Regardless, that story alone made the anthology well worth the purchase, even though I originally purchased it to read through everything I could find regarding Silverberg's Majipoor series.

The finalists are...

2010-04-04T20:15:00.003-04:00

I'm going to say go ahead and view this on full screen, otherwise it's difficult to read. Just click on the button with four oblique arrows at the bottom-right.

PSA - DGLA

2010-04-02T13:47:00.005-04:00

That's right, we've a Public Service Announcement regarding the David Gemmell Legend Awards. I received the email this very day and it states:

Just to let you know that the Shortlists for the Morningstar, Ravenheart & Legend will be announced via video podcast ON THE DGLA WEBSITE on Easter Sunday!

That's right, you, our great, supportive Members will get the scoop FIRST! Cos we luv ya! ;-)

When it comes to covering the awards beat, this is the only one that comes up on my radar, for reasons previously stated somewhere around here.

All hands, stand by for short list announcements.

On-line book store launches

2010-04-01T18:33:00.006-04:00

While exercising my world-renowned productivity (i.e. screwing around) over at the SFFWorld forums, I received a private message about a month ago. Josh (aka, werewolv2) asked me if I could put a little something together for his store's launch on April Fool's. Hey, if somebody has the stones to ask me a favor, and I have the time and resources to perform it, then I definitely have the stones to agree to it.

W & D Books, the name of Josh and his family's store, is running an offer through the 20th that will be quite the nice surprise for some lucky sod. You'll have to check his site for qualifying details, but orders placed will automatically enter the customer in a drawing. The winner will receive an ARC of either The Devil in Green, by Mark Chadbourn, or Blood of the Mantis, by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Better still, shipping starts at 99¢. W & D Books runs their point-of-sale through PayPal.

Seriously, if you don't like the heavy-handedness of Amazon, stop by the site of a true book fan, and his family, trying to blaze their own trail in life. It may not be The Book Depository yet, but remember that you read about it here, because I'm betting it's here to stay.

My Favorites

2010-03-28T22:17:00.006-04:00

Among the authors/series that are my personal favorites, Donaldson and his Chronicles of Thomas Covenant come in right behind Tad Williams. Thus, thanks to Patrick St-Denis, take a look at this - the next, and penultimate, installment to The Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

Amazon has the release listed for October 19th this fall, although those dates cannot be relied upon. I pre-ordered A Dance with Dragons over two years ago, based on Amazon's dates. Yeah,...I know.

Tad Williams - The Interview

2010-03-26T23:54:00.004-04:00

That's right. It wasn't a typo. Alright, for you maybe not such a big deal. However, I got to interview my favorite living author. So, each of you, pick your favorite author/artist/musician/whatever and consider exchanging correspondece with them. Damn cool is right!

The interview has just gone up over at Speculative Book Review. Love it.

Review - Shadowrise

2010-03-25T03:26:00.005-04:00

Just put the review of Shadowrise up at Speculative Book Review. There will soon be even more Shadowrise related fun.

While you're there, check out Tyson's review of The Emerald Storm, by Michael J. Sullivan and Victoria's review of The Spirit Lens, by Carol Berg.

It's on like Don Juan, baby!

2010-03-23T06:34:00.008-04:00

Ok, people. We're going live. Specifically, Tyson (of State of Review), Yagiz (of Between Two Books), Cara (murf61, up on Posterous), Victoria (of the Great White North, :D) and myself (of Asshattedness). We are up with a collaborative endeavor titled Speculative Book Review. For now, it will be hosted on blogger. In fact, there are already a couple of reviews up. With a bit of luck, I'll have something up on it by Thursday.

We hope to have plenty of reviews, interviews, round table discussions on certain books, some guest posts and upcoming cover art. Special thanks to folks like Ken, Rob, Pat, Aidan, Bryce, Alec, ediFanoB, Adam and Mark Yon who, without knowing it, encouraged me to go at this a bit more seriously. Oh, I'll still be around here as often as ever (i.e. intermittently-to-not much). It's just that, while here, I'll be going far LESS seriously and much more extemporaneously. Maybe I'll use this to really get some writing done. You know, put up a few scenes so people can take a few kicks at me.

I'm kickin' like a chicken, baby! Feelin' like Terry Tate. WHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

St. Patrick's (Rothfuss) Day

2010-03-17T23:39:00.006-04:00

I'm about as runned-down as I have been in years. However, when Patrick Rothfuss comes to town, you've just got to "man up." There was seating for 125 and it was packed. As a result, Pat was limited in his flexibility to take pictures with people. I got some pictures, most of which came out terribly, damn it.

In terms of format, it was as loose as possible with so many people. Pat spent a lot of time fielding questions from the crowd. He talked about his experiences vis-a-vis Jim Butcher, which was funny to hear him tell. Pat also spoke about precisely how much work writing really is. Specifically, how writing his story can be credited to backside-to-chair time, as opposed to the beneficence of a mystical muse.

In between questions, he read three different things he had written. One was a recounting of what St. Patrick's Day meant to him as a child, a very moving story. It revolved around being a summer birthday child during the school year. Specifically, how children brought treats to school on their birthday and were "cool," for at least that day. Having a summertime birthday, however, seemed to quash that opportunity for the young Rothfuss. At least until his mother made green covered sugar cookies for him to take to class on St. Patrick's Day. The second reading was from an advise column he used to write. Hey, what do you expect from an advice column anyway? The article in particular discussed, albeit with a metric ton of pun and innuendo, the unnecessary circumsion of male infants. "It" (the new Rothfuss euphemism for a distinctly male appendage) was downright hilarious. In fact, the whole evening was either deeply interesting, as one saw the reflections Rothfuss experienced surface before them, or brutally comical, with the intelligence and eloquence that was sheer Rothfuss.

Before signing, he capped it off with a brief excerpt from the prologue to The Wise Man's Fear. I'd describe it to you, but...no. You'll just have to wait. Wish you were there.

The funniest moment of the evening, in my opinion, was seeing the shirt Pat was wearing. It had been especially designed and had the words "Reavers ate my first child" on the front. He then presented Baby Oot and Sarah. Baby Oot had an identical t-shirt on that read "Reavers ate my older brother."

Go Cats, Go!

2010-03-14T22:21:00.004-04:00

Hey, just because I currently live in Kentucky doesn't mean I'm cheering for those Cats. No, no, no, my friends. I'm cheering for my Cats - The University of Vermont Catamounts, Champions of the America East Conference. For the first time since 2005 we're back in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It'll be great to see how they fare.

Otherwise, I have, this very evening, finally finished Tad Williams' Shadowrise. In case you did not know it, I am a Williams fan and have been since removing a shiny new HC copy of The Dragonbone Chair from a shelf in Waldenbooks to purchase in '90. His work has the gravity of something ancient and relevant. His stories are nothing short of masterful. Williams' works are not chockfull of the mile-a-minute blood, gore, magic and chaotic mayhem that many works of the genre are, and have to be to pick up readers, who praise such works by word of mouth through their D&D circles (no RPGers were harmed in the making of this post). They don't need to be. Williams' works are something for a mantlepiece, kept well beyond the reach of the grasping, grubby fingers of the mildly curious.

More on Shadowrise (i.e. review) and Williams soon.

Road trip

2010-03-07T23:43:00.005-05:00

Ah, after the first big anniversary, Ubiquitous Absence is takin' its act on the road, baby. Where to? Not far. Just down the road about an hour to Lexington, KY. There to stop by and see Patrick Rothfuss...on March 17th...St. Patrick's Day. Hey, it is what it is.

On his blog, Rothfuss lists the impromptu itinerary. We'll see if pics are doable.

Later skater

Upcoming Interviews

2010-03-06T23:00:00.004-05:00

Lately, I have been working on a couple of interviews, among other things. Both are with authors sporting new releases this month. The real news about that is where those interviews will be posted. That's right, they won't be posted here. I will post and link to them here, though.

Ah, I can't tell you where they will be posted yet, as knowledge of the location requires top secret clearance. The location is, in fact, under construction. Updates are forthcoming, as they develop.

There is a least one person "in the know" now, but he's trusted and would've been involved, had we been quicker with the concept.

Happy Birthday

2010-02-28T19:58:00.003-05:00

Today marks the one year anniversary of Ubiquitous Absence. I would not have bet on it surviving this long. It is the sort of endeavor that I could have easily dismissed due to lack of substantive yield. However, it has been more fun than I would have imagined, and that is the only real goal.

Coincidentally, cousin Harry published a post reviewing us today over at Temple Library Reviews.

Review - Conqueror's Moon

2010-02-27T22:15:00.008-05:00

Conqueror’s Moon
by Julian May
Ace, 2004
copy provided by me (♫ a name I call myself, fah – a long, long way to run♫)
ISBN-10: 0-441-01132-2

I am rather surprised that this book, and series, has as low a profile as it seems to. I picked up on this series through sheer happenstance while reading an old post, in an obscure thread, from years ago, on SFFWorld. As you can see, the book has rather fine cover art. The dust cover bears testimonials from Jean Auel (on front) and Fritz Lieber (on back). Given the date of copyright and printing, to give nothing of the story away, it would be fair to say it was influenced by Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy. In fact, if Conqueror’s Moon is any indicator of the remainder of the series, May’s Boreal Moon trilogy may be every bit as good as the Farseer trilogy.

My Summary: Centuries ago, Bazekoy, Emperor of the World, sailed north from the continent, across the Boreal Sea, to High Blenholme Isle. There, to tame and conquer its wildness. Replete with fae creatures (including spunkies, green men, salka, etc.) and different forces of magic, it can only be conquered in the basest sense. Down through the ages, fae creatures and ethereal forces survive and remain bound to, or by, none. As with all empires, Bazekoy’s slowly withered and failed. Now, the Prince Heritor of Cathra, Conrig Wincantor, seeks to revive Bazekoy’s empire. First, by uniting the four separate kingdoms of Blenholme Isle under the Act of Sovereignty, ruled by Cathra.

Conrig, and many close to him, all harbor their own personal secrets. Alliances twist and turn, as Cathra moves against its neighboring kingdom, Didion. While temporal powers scheme their political machinations, ethereal powers play their own capricious games. While Conrig’s liegemen are all eager for conquest, many are alarmed by his recruiting of practitioners of the wilder form of magic, the sigil stones employing the Beaconfolk, also known as the Great Lights, or the Coldlight Army. Those of the Coldlight Army are clearly interested in mortal affairs, from a sense of mere amusement. It is an amusement that can be fatally whimsical at times. Their capabilities, behaviors and nature, as the author reveals it (very limitedly), would lead the reader to conclude that the Coldlight Army is a continuum of demigods. It is said that entering bargains with the Beaconfolk can only lead to losing one’s soul. Conrig Wincantor, flirting with any potential ally, or force capable of serving his ends, seems certain to find out.

My Take: This is the opening book in an alternate world, epic fantasy fiction series. It is set in the usual European feudal mold. The military level of technology includes mounted calvary and medieval style arms. The navies do use guns of a sort to fire “tarnblaze” shells – a sulphurous and highly incendiary concoction that, when burning, cannot be extinguished, even by magical means.

May’s characters are better than average. A point of contention here is that her male characters seem to be one-dimensional, and base at that. The female characters are all rather well realized.

May’s story unfolds using two styles. The prologue is told from the first-person perspective of Snudge, one of the tale’s main characters. In the time of the prologue, Snudge is in advanced old age (~80 years old), living in exile on the continent and is chronicling the story of Blenholme Isle during the years of his life – an undertaking that may incur fatal, political consequences. The main body of the story is a third-person narrative from several major and minor POVs (no less than eight). A difficulty with 20th century western civilization figures of speech (e.g. "sitting on the sidelines") arose which was annoying, if rare.

This particular approach is one parallel to Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy. The character Snudge is, loosely, similar to FitzChivalry Farseer. There are several other, smaller and less relevant, similarities to be found.

To be clear, Farseer may have been a contributing influence, but in no way would one be reasonable in saying May has “ripped off” Hobb. The tale has enough within it, unique unto itself, to categorize such comparisons as broad and superficial generalities.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Next: Ironcrown Moon, book 2 of Julian May’s Boreal Moon trilogy.

Review - Demonstorm

2010-02-21T19:44:00.004-05:00

Demonstorm
by James Barclay
Gollancz, 2008
copy provided by the son of my son's grandfather
ISBN-13: 978-0-575-08276-2

I was very excited to get through Demonstorm. The setting and characters are all familiar to readers of Barclay’s Raven series. The story was the best yet.

My Summary: Xetesk has perpetrated the unpardonable by implementing their ‘nuclear option.’ Unfortunately for Xetesk, and everyone else in their dimension, the dragon dimension of Beshara and the dimension inhabited by the peacefully resting dead, it backfires. Badly. Colleges of magic come under constant siege. The remaining population of eastern Balaia is ranched by the invaders. The Raven, and friends, devise a strategy to defeat this enemy. A strategy that involves the highest sacrifice.

My Take: The Raven discover that all of life, as they are aware of it, faces two possible outcomes: 1) victory and survival or, 2) defeat, followed by enslavement and extinction. The enemy involved in this fight unites every faction, as they each face their collective end. It’s barely enough.

The body count from Demonstorm dwarfs every previous book in the series. The population of Balaia, after the previous 10-15 years worth of struggle and war, has got to have been dramatically reduced. In this book alone, the four colleges of magic are reduced to tatters. One college, it is revealed halfway through the book, has only four mages remaining!

The ending of the book doesn’t spare the reader, or the characters involved. The last couple of chapters could have fleshed out the ending for more effect, however. The story sort of slid through the trauma suffered by those few that survived. The story has a natural ending, but does leave the door somewhat ajar for Balaia to be revisited.

For what it’s worth, over the past three books in the Raven, Barclay has displayed a strong ability to end a story, with enough of a future to unfold to revisit the realm. Barclay has managed to revisit Balaia, thus far, without resorting to flimsy or unbelievable storylines.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Next: I still have Ravensoul and Lightstealer to read, but I’m moving off to something else. I have an author I want to read who hasn’t had a lot of discussion in areas I search for recommendations. I had one recommendation for her, bought the trilogy, and haven’t seen a lot since. So, I’m moving on to Conqueror’s Moon by Julian May.

Ooh, another one

2010-02-18T10:20:00.003-05:00

For the Blogroll, I picked up The James Review. I collect stuff like a wayward crow homing in on the shiny object. The Blogroll is no exception I suppose, but I have to have it. I need it.

James M. Toburen does book reviews rather well. James is also reviewing a lot of newer releases, particularly the ones we all hear about, but may not yet have. Definitely a site to watch for.

Review - Shadowheart

2010-02-17T19:00:00.005-05:00

Shadowheart
by James Barclay
Gollancz, 2003
copy provided by your friendly neighborhood El Guapissimmo (i.e. me)
ISBN-13: 978-0-575-08280-9

I was concerned with Elfsorrow being a step up from the previous three Raven books. My concern centered on Shadowheart being able to follow in the path of Elfsorrow and being, inevitably, compared to it. I can safely say that I had nothing to worry about. Shadowheart is as good as Elfsorrow, and even goes one better.

Story Summary: The underlying tension between the four colleges of magic finally reaches critical mass and the intrigue goes overt, spilling out into total war. Xetesk, in its bid for continental, if not total, dominion sees its first order of business as being the destruction of Julatsa, a college of magic left all but desolate in the wake of the Wesmen wars. Julatsa, already severely diminished, must survive Xeteskian aggression, as well as raising the buried Heart of Julatsan magic.

Like a moth to flame, such a destabilizing conflict will attract the presence of the Raven. The colleges of Lystern and Dordover debate the custody of the Raven’s practitioner of the One magic, once: 1) the remainder of the Raven have been successfully incarcerated and, 2) Julatsa is destroyed by Xetesk, leaving a battered Xetesk ripe for destruction by the Dordovan-Lysternan alliance. A tired and weakening dragon, responsible for the greatest of all dragon broods, gets no younger while enduring his debilitating exile in Balaia. If all of this isn’t bad enough, beyond the mass grave of Black Wings at Understone, a power in the western portion of the continent is reviving. A power dedicated to a Balaian continent free of the magic, or rule, of the easterners. A power that begins taking an abiding interest in a total war where mages remain committed to killing each other.

In daring to overtly pursue the dominion of Balaian magic, and thereby Balaia itself, Xetesk has effectively gone “all-in.” There will be no sympathy for the college that opened the door for such continental wide destruction. Knowing that they will be given no quarter if turned by an alliance, Xetesk stands ready to perpetrate the unpardonable.

My take: The setting is familiar to readers of the Raven, no surprises here. The same goes for the characters of this story. The story itself follows a pace of terminal velocity. Indeed, at the time of this writing, I have already proceeded into Demonstorm and am approximately 100p from finishing that. I’ve read everything by Barclay now, except for his novellas (one of which I have and will read soon) and Ravensoul. I am confident and certain in maintaining that Elfsorrow-Shadowheart-Demonstorm is Barclay at his best.

The ending here is of a more natural variety. That is to say that there are no cliff-hangers and one could comfortably stop here, if they wanted to walk away from Balaia and believe that the Raven ride off into the sunset, retire to the islands and exhaust their 401k plans, suddenly and miraculously gigantic, on rum and extraordinarily amicable island women (my doctor told me about this, I'm projecting again). Unfortunately, such a reader wouldn’t have the opportunity to discover what havoc Xetesk’s ‘nuclear option’ may yet bring.

Verdict: Highly recommended

New Blog Contributor

2010-02-17T18:21:00.004-05:00

DominicWilliam explaining the finer points of the illustration art in his latest ARC. How in the world does a six-month old receive more ARCs than I do? This is sick.

Extra contributors on a blog? There's been talk about the topic, and other associated generalities, around the sf&f blogosphere. Only the Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy, ahead of the discussion curve, merely picked up Bryce Lee (masterfully done). Gav, at NextRead, considers the matter. Larry, over at OF Blog of the Fallen, decided to take the matter in the direction of community-based, geometric asexuality...or something to that effect.

My take on the issue? As they say in that region south of Canada, and between the Champlain and Connecticut River valleys, "Hard sayin', not knowin'." No, I definitely have something relevant on that topic, but...not...just...yet. Sooner rather than later, I should think.

For Seak's Sake

2010-02-06T21:16:00.007-05:00

Does that guy ever come up with a bad idea? Seriously, after checking his most recent post re: messy index sidebars, I stopped to take a look. Ok, kinda messy. So, here it is - reviews filed by author name.

ETA: 02/17/2010 - I change/revise ratings as I feel like it. I'm capricious, whimsical and reserve the right to be inconsistent as all hell. I am an empire of one!

ETA: 02/18/2010 - I've created a separate page (top of left column) for the Reviews' File.

Review - The Price of Spring

2010-02-04T22:36:00.005-05:00

The Price of Spring
by Daniel Abraham
Tor, 2009
copy provided by my gainful employment
ISBN: 978-0-7653-1343-0

It is with a heavy heart I wander in here to make this review. Daniel Abraham is a great storyteller and author. The first three books of the Long Price Quartet illustrate this. In fact, I had all but crowned Abraham’s series into my own ‘all-time’ favorites (i.e. LotR, Silmarillion, First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and Memory, Sorrow & Thorn). I’m not sure you can possibly imagine how crushed I was when The Price of Spring bombed.

In The Price of Spring, we return to several characters we’ve seen before, notably Otah Machi and Maati Vaupathai. In the final book of this series, Galt and the cities of the Khaiate (now the Third Empire), will suffer the loss of their entire cultures if they can’t set aside their differences, make concessions and unite, as two dying peoples. The women of the Third Empire, and the men of Galt, are relegated to a fate of living historical monuments; the last of their kind. Worse yet, unknown to the emperor, there are clandestine plans to, once more, bind an andat. In this day and age, there is no Dai-kvo, no authority to guide and govern the binding, or use of, an andat. Since the emperor turned his back on tradition, and his people, a new poet is likely to indulge vengeance against Galt and let the emperor be damned.

To be sure, my opinion of this work is a minority, dissenting opinion. And so, I run the risk of being marginalized as a result. I suppose I can only hope that a portion of those criticizing other bloggers for never posting a negative review will stand in for my defense. My criticism of this book, as a stink-bomb, has to do with how it ends and the road it takes to get there. Therefore, my elaboration upon those points will, unavoidably, contain spoilers. If you’re considering reading the series or have read some of the series and wish to continue DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER AS THE TALE WILL BE SPOILED FOR YOU.

My criticism has to do with the treatment of two pivotal characters in this tale, and the ending of the book and, consequently, series.

First, the two pivotal characters I’m talking about are Maati Vaupathai and Otah Machi. At the end of An Autumn War, Otah Machi is made emperor over all the cities of the Khaiem. Conversely, Maati Vaupathai is an outcast and utter pariah. The Price of Spring follows the unfolding of these two lives, under these two different sets of circumstances, in their elderly years.

Otah Machi is portrayed as the suffering leader, born to these times, with the requisite wisdom to steer through such harrowing events while enacting wide ranging cultural changes, all for the better. Maati Vaupathai is the throwback to an era of hubristic naiveté and arrogance where the powerful thoughtlessly wielded the andat with no consideration of the consequences. I found it rather heavy-handed.

This touches upon a colossal pet peeve of mine: the viewing of the past through the lenses of the present in levying judgment. Let me be clear before I get too far into this: I agree with all of the choices Otah Machi made and would have made them myself, but for different reasons. I saw the cultural changes as necessary for survival. Otah Machi, as presented in the story, comes off belligerently proud of being iconoclastic. Iconoclasm has no intrinsic virtue. Iconoclasm, as an end unto itself, cannot even have virtue extrinsically credited to it. Iconoclasm, I posit, is only the outward, physical manifestation of immaturity, impatience, petulance and a sorrowful lack of respect, experience and/or wisdom. The treatment of the past with such contempt is….contemptible. Just imagine the blood, sweat, tears, sorrows, achievements, losses, victories, sufferings, joys and accomplishments of your own life being marginalized by someone not yet born and who wasn’t even there. Piss on the past and suffer your own experiences to be grist for some future mill. It may sound like a rant, but my passion for history (my undergraduate degree), good history, as in a discipline to be reverentially practiced with skill, is that deep. Thus the notion of iconoclasm, and its practitioners, is worth less than nothing to me.

What’s so bad about the ending? Nothing, if you like your endings Pollyannaish. The emperor dies of old age. His son, married to the daughter of a leading house of Galt, becomes the next emperor. All of the women in the empire are healed. All of the men in Galt are healed. Both cultures learn to be tolerant of each other and extraordinarily valuable lessons in wisdom are learned. Sure, there are those who aren’t on-board with the emperor’s designs, but they are clearly conspiring in the shadows and no match for the insight, wisdom and intelligence of the reigning powers to unmake such progress, or so the author has made them. All of the unwise, if not ignorant, sins of the past (i.e. andats) have been forever cast off. It’s unadulterated, overly-simplistic, wish-fulfillment. It wouldn’t be such a snag for me if it had occurred in a series that hadn’t been bordering on profound greatness.

For Otah, there is (or is at least meant to be) a touching scene where Danat reads through all of his father’s correspondence to his mother, written after his mother’s passing. Danat keeps the letters and, in the end, is the one to touch the torch to his father’s pyre. Otach Machi – a great man for a tough time. Ugh and puke, there should be a yellow flag for a fifteen yard penalty and loss of down in there somewhere.

By contrast, Maati Vaupathai loses his only child (technically, a biological son of the emperor who never really cared). Maati loses Liat, his lover, not once but twice. His final years of life are spent on the run as an outlaw, pariah and, finally, a prisoner. Maati lost everything one person can lose, all in the pursuit of serving others and doing what his conscience demanded was right. More often than not, doing what Otah Machi commanded him to. Maati was, without a doubt, a bitter old man at the end, but wear that suit for a week and tell me how it fits. Maati’s final scene? The petulant, doddering, aged man-child of an emperor, by order, has Maati removed from his cell (but it’s a very, very nice cell) and brought up to some parapet where he and the emperor look out over the city on Candles’ Night. The surly, but suitably ashamed and disgraced former poet looks to the gregarious and gracious (tongue in cheek here, c’mon, get it) emperor and says, “Thank you.” I’m not kidding. I’m not making this up.

It’s been several days since I completed reading this book and I still don’t believe it. I was 75% of the way to reading one of the best series ever.

Verdict: Poor to Fair

What's goin' down in PW-town

2010-02-03T21:19:00.003-05:00

There are some very interesting things afoot.

First, Bryce Lee, AKA Seak of The Stamp, will be contributing on a weekly basis over at Only the Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Bryce is remarkably friendly, funny and upbeat. All of which are personality traits that are difficult to display on the internet. Congratulations to OtB SF&F and Bryce.

Second, Magemanda, of Floor to Ceiling Books, has a riotous interview with Sam Sykes, debut author of Tome of the Undergates.

Third, I'm procrastinating. I've finished Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet. I've even mentally composed the interview of the final installment, The Price of Spring. I just can't bring myself to type it up yet. I'm in completely uncharted territory with my view of this book, and the entire series as a result. Not necessarily a good thing.

If I can face the task tomorrow, I'll see you then. I'm off to hit up the DVR for the two hours worth of season premiere I have waiting for me from Lost.

Review - An Autumn War

2010-01-30T22:54:00.006-05:00

An Autumn War
by Daniel Abraham
Tor, 2008
Copy provided by yours truly
ISBN: 978-0-7653-1342-3

As I write this, I've already begun The Long Price of Spring. I couldn't help myself. Even though I felt convicted to stop and write the review for An Autumn War, I had to find where the story was going. An Autumn War is the third book of Daniel Abraham's The Long Price quartet. The story is set, roughly, fifteen years after the events of A Betrayal in Winter.

Otah has been an unorthodox Khai for the city of Machi. A fact not appreciated by many. Also, the Galts are muddying the waters all over again. An ambitious and relentless general of the Galts has two things that may neutralize all of the Khaiate's andats. Without them, there will be nothing to stop an invasion of trained and professional fighting forces waiting to sack the wealthiest cities in the world.

What irked me: Upon completion, I was a bit pissed. It was over a particular conversation surrounding an event in the book that seemed to be significantly weighted, to me. The Galtic general orders a mercenary captain to kill a man, that was used as a tool by the Galtic forces, in order to prove his loyalty. The mercenary captain does so and leaves. The general's closest advisor remains unconvinced. When the general asks why, the advisor states, "Seemed like he might be trying to keep the poor bastard from saying something."

That stuck with me throughout the remainder of the story. The general's advisor was dead on the money about the mercenary captain throughout the entirety of the story, and so I expected it here as well. I spent over half the story waiting for the other shoe to drop. I kept waiting for the 'big reveal' about what "the poor bastard" had told the mercenary captain. I was sucked into believing it was some particular knowledge that would factor greatly in the ending of this book. It never materialized or showed up. Maybe I've nothing to blame but my own intuition.

What I liked: Absolutely everything else. As before, Abraham continues with several of the same characters we've seen through three books now. We started with some as children, and others as teen-agers. We pick up a few more here. The main characters are well into middle age here, most with children of their own.

There are still none of the usual suspects one would find in your garden variety BFFF series (i.e. no quest object, no magical/all-powerful artifact, no deus ex machina). The characterization is flawless. The trail Abraham leaves for the reader, following along with each character's wandering thoughts, is amazing. In reading his story, you actually live the character's life; revelling in triumph and suffering as they do.

Even with my one complaint withstanding, this was more of the same: phenomenal. Especially the ending. It was splendidly horrific, brutal, just and final. It was an ending to take every last ounce of fight out of you and leave you sitting on the porch step beneath the mental fatigue and ache of vain pondering. Thus, I cracked open The Price of Spring immediately. I can't even begin to speculate where Abraham will go from here, but the needle on the expect-o-meter is pegged and ready to break its spring.

Verdict: Seriously?! What are you waiting for? This is as Must Read as it gets.

From the World of Paksenarrion

2010-01-27T00:52:00.009-05:00

I loved The Deed of Paksenarrion. Indeed, it was an omnibus edition that epitomized all things goodness. Well, as many of you already know, the world of Paksenarrion is being revisited and the next book to explore that realm, Oath of Fealty, will be out in a few months.

Can't wait? Mmmm, don't have to. You can go to Elizabeth Moon's Paksworld Blog and get a sneak peek. C'mon, getchoo some sneaky-peeky.

Review - Shadow & Betrayal

2010-01-24T20:44:00.012-05:00

The Long Price: Shadow & Betrayal
by Daniel Abraham
SFBC, 2007
Copy provided by, and all thanks to, me
ISBN: 978-0-7394-8915-4

Last night, I finished the Science fiction Book Club omnibus edition titled Shadow & Betrayal, by Daniel Abraham. This is the finest introduction to an author, in sf&f, since I read The Dragonbone Chair, in the early months of 1989.

The blurbs for each tale in the omnibus are as follows:

A Shadow in Summer
The city-state of Saraykeht dominates the Summer Cities. Its wealth is beyond measure; its port is open to all the merchants of the world, and its ruler commands forces to rival the Gods. Blissfully ignorant of the powers that fuel their prosperity, the people live secure in the knowledge that their city is a bastion of peace and progress in a harsh world.

Yet Saraykeht is poised on the knife-edge of disaster.

At the heart of the city's influence are the poet-sorcerer Heshai and the captive spirit, or andat, whom he controls. A man faced with constant reminders of his responsibilities-and failures-Heshai is the linchpin and the most vulnerable point in Saraykeht's greatness.

Far to the west, the armies of Galt have conquered many lands. To take Saraykeht, they must first undermine the trade upon which its prosperity is based. Now a plot is afoot to release the andat from Heshai's control. If it succeeds, the city will be left vulnerable to its conquering armies.

Just four protectors stand alone against the menace. But the Galts are not the greatest threat they face...

A Betrayal in Winter

As a boy, Otah was exiled from his family, which rules the city-state of Machi. Decades later, he has witnessed and been part of world-changing events. Yet, he has never returned to his childhood home. Now his father, the reigning Khai, is dying, and Otah's eldest brother, Biitrah, has been assassinated. Otah realizes that he must go home, for reasons not even he understands.

Tradition dictates that the sons of a dying Khai must fall upon each other until only one remains to succeed his father. But something even worse is occurring. The Galts have allied with someone in Machi to bring down the ruling house. Otah himself is caught and accused, the long-missing brother with an all-too-obvious motive for murder.

Crafted with subtle richness and storytelling skill, The Long Price: Shadow and Betrayal is a masterful drama filled with unique magic, Machiavellian politics, compelling characters and, behind it all, the machinations of an ambitious, bloodthirsty empire.

What I didn't like: There was an irksome instance of inconsistency within the story. In A Shadow in Summer the poet for Saraykeht is instructed by the Khai of the city to keep his andat locked away in a cage, unless absolutely necessary for purposes of its work. The poet goes along with the confinement for a short time, but then gives his andat free reign again. Abraham offers a rationale for why the andat's incarceration is debilitating to the poet, but it doesn't address the certainty of the command given by the Khai concerning the andat. The release of the andat is not done discreetly and I would expect the Khai to have heard of it and strictly addressed the poet. This doesn't happen. The freedom enjoyed by the andat becomes pivotal to events that then unravel for the remainder of the story.

In A Betrayal in Winter, we learn that the Khai cannot control the poets. In fact, the head of the order, the Dai'kvo, is the ultimate authority the poets are charged with obeying. I suppose this would have covered the inconsistency I observed earlier, but why not elaborate upon that in A Shadow in Summer?

I've gone on at some length about this, but in truth, I find it to be a small and minor annoyance. That is because the characters, drama and total exposure of the complete range of human emotion is the closest thing there is to a free pass for authorial error.

What I liked: Abraham's story does so much, and does it without any of the usual suspects. There is no quest object. There is no prophecy guiding every step of the protagonist(s). All the characters have 'warts' on display. There are no mythological creatures, demi-gods or world saving causes against all odds. Even the magic system employed is used to illustrate the reality of one's own inner conflict. What Abraham does do, is create characters that seem as real as you or I. Abraham then has them encounter myriad, subtle victories and defeats. With well crafted, consistent, credible characters an author can, seemingly, do anything. That's the impression Abraham has left me with.

Characterization, characterization, characterization. With it done as well as humanly possible, all else is trivial because it will make the story excellent regardless of any other flaws. Should the remaining two books of this series maintain the level displayed in the first two, I will be placing my works of Abraham with my other All-Time favorites, which include Tolkien, Donaldson and Tad Williams.

Verdict: Must Read, and potential All-Time favorite

Donaldson again?

2010-01-21T23:44:00.007-05:00

Yes, Donaldson again. This is as good a place as any to tout my personal favorites. Anyway, William Springer, from the Kevin's Watch boards, put together this trailer for Against All Things Ending.

Enjoy.

Things 'n Stuff

2010-01-19T11:49:00.009-05:00

I've added a couple of links on the blogroll. Recently, I had the good fortune to correspond, briefly, with N. R. Alexander about his blog. Its quite nice and worth the view. Since I rarely view blogs other than Graeme's (you had to be there), I saw his update and was stunned to realize I've not yet put up The Yeti. My mistake. Also, thanks to Graeme, via Aidan, I took a look at Amanda's Floor to Ceiling Books, another nice blog. So, they're up: all three.

That took me into a side project I've been meaning to work on. I've noticed that some of my links to author's sites/blogs/whatever were less than effective in directing someone to anything of true interest about the author. I've gone through and sanitized those. I have to thank Ken for actually spurring me into doing that with his find on the new Stover link. In going through those, however, I found a note of interest on Donaldson's site, dated 05 JAN 2010.

Both my US and my UK editors have officially indicated that AATE meets with their approval. They are now surrendering the text to the machinery that produces books (starting with copyeditors), working with artists and art departments for cover designs, and planning for publication in October 2010 (specific dates yet to be determined). They are also adjusting to my announcement that I will NOT do an author tour for this book. Author tours take too much out of me, and I need my very best for "The Last Dark".

My webmaster and I (but mostly my webmaster) are working on a "trailer" for AATE. We should have one ready before too much longer. And when I receive permission from my editors to do so, I'll post the first chapter (as I've done with the previous two books). Other news as it develops.

Review - Elfsorrow

2010-01-17T22:21:00.007-05:00

Elfsorrow
by James Barclay
Gollancz, 2008
Copy provided by my wallet
ISBN: 978-0-57508-2-779

I just finished Elfsorrow this evening. It certainly got me out of the doldrums from having finished Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. It also left me heart-broken. Don't bother looking for clarification on that point, it would involve spoiling the tale for you.

Blurb: The rivalry between the four colleges of magic has brought misery and war to Balaia. But through it all the Elves have lived their ancient, secret lives. From their homeland in the southern continent of Calaius they have watched human dynasties come and go, aloof and untouched. Until now. Suddenly, elves are dying in their thousands, seemingly struck down at random.

The elven mage Ilkar is uniquely placed to find the cause of this plague and put an end to it. For Ilkar is one of The Raven: a tiny mercenary band of warriors and mages, bound together by a vow stronger than blood. Over many years their prowess has become legendary. But even heroes, like elves, are mortal...

In summarizing the tale, The Raven are, once more, placed amidst a difficult challenge, under the most crucial of circumstances. An ancient elven temple is desecrated, inhibiting the natural harmony of existence intrinsic to the elven world. As a result, elves begin dying in huge numbers. Numerous factions, some familiar from previous tales and some completely new, struggle for their various interests, with The Raven trapped in the middle.

What I liked: First, there is tons of action. With these stories, Barclay usually does offer a fair amount of action. Elfsorrow ups the ante considerably, however.

The view into the elven world, in general, and the character Ilkar, specifically, was a hook that kept the pace of reading moving well.

The southern continent of Calaius, ancient home of the elven race, appears to be one massive rainforest. The rainforest is a forbidding environment. The weather is relentless and the various species of flora and fauna are merciless. With the specter of predation, poison or infection lingering behind every shadow, survival is challenging under the best of circumstances.

The rainforest is policed by different groups of elven warrior-priests. One such group, the Al-Arynaar, is composed of dedicates whose calling is to defend the temple. The policing of the rainforest is performed by free ranging groups. These are the TaiGethen and the ClawBound. The TaiGethen are individual cells of three elves, one of which is the cell's leader. They seem a mix between Special Forces and Shao-lin monks. The ClawBound are singular elves who are telepathically linked with a single black panther from the forest. The death of either in this pairing seems to be fatal for both.

The reader is treated to a visit in the home village of Ilkar. There, we find that Ilkar, as an elf, may have shirked a duty his culture expected of him. We discover a bit of backstory concerning his parents and what members of his family still survive. In all fairness, Ilkar always seemed to be a cardboard character there to fill a necessary role. By the end of Elfsorrow, I'll never be able to dismiss, or forget, Ilkar again.

Picking some nits: You know, I still don't like Erienne or Denser all that much. So much of the suffering, death and destruction on Balaia, and Calaius for that matter, is directly traceable to Denser and/or Erienne. Each has been so self absorbed from the very first, that I'm stunned they seem to suffer so little guilt while bemoaning their own pain and heartache.

Furthermore, I 'get' that we're supposed to dislike the Black Wings, particularly Selik. However, the man has a point. Granted, like any would-be megalomanic, he uses a legitimate point to further illegitimate ends. It still doesn't address the carnage, suffering and destruction brought upon the 'little people' of the world.

Clearly, one would eventually expect to have some attempt at a regulatory, or governing body, imposed upon the colleges of magic. It seems implausible, because of another glaring implausibility: there is no central, political authority. Whether it is a monarchy, an empire, a republic, or what have you, one would expect a central, governing entity. The complete absence of one in the Raven stories has always been a point that stretched credibility, to what degree each reader must judge for themselves.

Overall: I loved this book and fully expected to go straight into Shadowheart. As a result of the ending to this book, I can't do it. The end involves some heart break and so I'm moving on to Daniel Abraham. I'll be reading my SFBC, two-book omnibus copy, titled Shadow & Betrayal. This comprises the first two stories in The Long Price quartet.

Verdict: Highly recommended.

Contest Winner

2010-01-11T08:20:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to Merrick Smith of Sussex, WI for winning the collaborative giveway between Ubiquitous Absence, Seak's Stamp of Approval and State of Review.

Fantasy Fiction Debut

2010-01-10T15:23:00.005-05:00

The River King's Road: A Novel of Ithelas
by Liane Merciel
Gallery Books, 2010
Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 978-1-4391-5911-8

Earlier today, I finished the ARC of The River Kings’ Road: A Novel of Ithelas, by Liane Merciel. This is an alternate world, epic fantasy fiction, debut novel. I happen to like alternate world, epic fantasy fiction a great deal. There is a lot of alternate world, epic fantasy fiction out there and some of it has been bland or poor.

This was neither. Merciel has a work that is reminiscent of Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy, minus the super-powered artifacts and characters. The scope of this debut is regional in nature, but does seem to have implications and foreshadowing of a much wider conflict. As such, the cast of characters was specific to this tale and not as large as Weeks’ overall cast, but this too may change as the scope of the conflict expands. Merciel uses multiple POVs from compelling characters spanning the entire spectrum of good, evil and inner-conflict personalities.

One of Merciel’s POV characters leaves the reader with a cliff hanger. It is the dynamic involved in this character’s absence that will have the series expanding in scope later on, I expect.

Merciel’s characters are compelling and her tale grips the reader. I found this to be a highly enjoyable read.

Verdict: Highly recommended

The Book of the New Sun

2010-01-09T20:55:00.013-05:00

What can I say? I will not presume to critique, what for me was an instant classic in, Gene Wolfe’s omnibus edition of The Book of the New Sun. I can only give impressions.

First, it feels ephemeral, nearly dream-like. The unfolding of the events transcends the surreal, or unreal, and is truly fantastic. In many ways, Wolfe has taken the classic coming of age story and given it such a makeover, that it is nearly impossible to recognize as such. I don’t believe that I can ever approach a fantasy story and expect an innovation to that classic theme to surpass what Wolfe has written.

I was off-balance throughout the entire story. This is largely because I was expecting to find, at the end of the tale, I was an eyewitness to the delusions of an unstable mind. I half expected to have the story end with the reader finally learning that Severian was a patient at a sanitarium.

Any further reading may expose one to spoilers.

In the final book, The Citadel of the Autarch, Severian was a patient in a lazaret, just behind the front lines of the major war taking place alluded to throughout the entire tale. While there, he agrees to judge the best of several different tales. Ultimately, four tales are told. I was disappointed by the fact that Severian never addresses which tale was best and why. To be sure, each of the four tales told had merit as being stories with a message, or moral, to them.

Though Severian dealt very honorably with Dorcas in the end, I had hoped that he would actually speak with her and say to her the things he never had. It is also rather creepy to contemplate that he was her grandson. The author alludes to this during a conversation that takes place when Severian returns to the inn near the Sanguinary Fields to find Ouen.

The Book of the New Sun is a classic. I can think of less than ten works I would be willing to classify as such. It was a true treat to read such a work for the first time. Now, it will be difficult to go on reading something for a little while, since few if anything can measure up and I wouldn’t want to subconsciously be comparing the next read to Wolfe’s masterpiece.

Verdict: Must-read and All-time Classic

C.S. Friedman News

2010-01-08T14:15:00.007-05:00

Ever since the Christmas vacation, I've been watching C.S. Friedman's page like a hawk. On it, she has this:

COLDFIRE SUPRISE COMING!
No, it's not a new novel...but it's very cool nonetheless, and it will be announced here sometime in December. Stay tuned for more details!

I've been hitting that page like a punching dummy to discover the surprise. Unable to resist any longer, I emailed Ms. Friedman to ask if she would drop even a smidge of a hint. She did!! She responded saying,

There will eventually be a short story, having to do with the origins of some things in trilogy. It's quite exciting. Unfortunately, it is also quite behind schedule, so at this point I am not quite sure when or where it will appear. You can watch the page for that!

Nice! A little more Coldfire never hurt anybody.

Author Laura Bynum

2009-12-31T19:15:00.004-05:00

I recently finished reading a debut novel, Veracity, by Laura Bynum. Classified as science fiction, or dystopian, it was disturbing in its portrayal of a future where government takes total advantage of society's every little abdication to wholly consume it. The government's new version of society revolves around complete, around-the-clock control of entire citizenry. The most alarming aspect of Bynum's story is that, regardless of your political affiliation, anyone could see how easily freedom could fall.

I was glad to get the opportunity to review Laura Bynum, but I was unprepared for how compelling her personal story and thought process is. It was a great interview, I only wish I could claim any relevant amount of responsibility for it.

PW: Will you please give a summary of your journey from hopeful writer to the publication of Veracity?

Bynum: I knew as a kid that I wanted to write but I put it off until I was well-entrenched in a corporate life I didn’t want, and until my creative self had nearly starved to death. Why? Partly because I was terrified that I wouldn’t be as good as I’d imagined myself to be, and partly because I needed that paycheck. We had kids and a mortgage. Writing was a decision that took me a long time to make as, by the time I’d rallied up the courage to do what I was meant to do, it wasn’t just me anymore. But a few things were happening in the world that finally pushed me to go down that lesser trod path. Much of the idea for Veracity came from the fallout of the 9/11 tragedy. The quick exchange of freedom for security concerned me, but even more so, the lack of discourse that went along with it. I was mostly concerned about the lack of critical thinking; of so few of us knowing why we believed what we believed, and that sort of thing. So, armed with an early version of Veracity, I signed up for the Maui Writer’s Conference (the biggest and the best according to my research) and entered Veracity into the Rupert Hughes Literary Contest. The first night of the conference, the announcer provided an anxious audience the identities of the ten finalists and, to my huge surprise, my name was one of them. The second night, I was one of the five semi-finalists. The last night, the gentleman at the podium, John Tullius, a founder of the event, said instead of providing the author and title of the winning submission, he would read a few paragraphs. It took me about three sentences before I realized he was reading from my book. From Veracity. It was surreal. As a consequence, I was offered agent representation from two houses (I chose the Writer’s House in NYC). The rest of this journey was a little more convoluted. After turning forty, I went in for my first annual mammogram. On the day of a subsequent biopsy, I received a bid from Simon and Schuster’s Pocket. A few days later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and signed a contract with Simon and Schuster. The publishing-leg of editing was done while having radiation and recovering from the fallout of a few complications, and, on the truly final day of edits - the proofreading round - my grandmother passed; it was her farm that served as the backdrop for Harper’s breaking place. It has been a circuitous, difficult, beautiful journey to publication.

PW: What, if any, works and/or authors have influenced you toward the creation of Veracity?

Bynum: There are so many authors who’ve influenced me, it’s hard to narrow them down. But, that having been said, here are some of the authors whose stories were like individual Masters Classes on writing: John Steinbeck, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Elizabeth Strout, Salman Rushdie, C.S. Lewis, Dan Simmons, Tom Wolfe and so very many more.

PW: I found myself disturbed by the story, because it seemed all too plausible. Would you say that Veracity is simply a story, or is it more of a warning/wake-up call?

Bynum: I know this is going to sound Capra-esque, but I truly believe there is no crisis that can’t be averted with one-part sound critical thinking and one-part good-will. There was a trifecta of things that inspired me to write Veracity: the series of political events that occurred after 9/11 (wherein we willfully and somewhat easily gave away many of our constitutional rights in exchange for a sense of security); the absence of public discourse about this giveaway of our constitutional rights; and the sudden and terrifying realization that, if we don’t change the course of things regarding the way we communicate and ingest media, my daughters may never experience unbiased reporting in their adult years. They may never again be provided news without the color of agenda and the filler of prognostication. Twenty years ago, when I was a freshman in college, I took a course in journalism and nearly failed for using too many adjectives in an article! I am not asserting that we should put a halt to anything as I don’t believe in censorship. If we’re taught how to tell the difference between fact and opinion, we don’t need to. We won’t be so easily led to someone else’s conclusions, opinions, prejudices, product choices, political views, spiritual preferences, etc. We will have formed our ideas about the world and all things in it with a critical and emotionally staid eye and will truly own our own thoughts, and be - and stay - truly free.

PW: I searched the story as vigorously as I could for a ‘slant’ and found none, or instances where I could envision people supposing you to be either Democrat or Republican. For someone as educated as yourself, and thus thoughtful and opinionated, how were you able to keep your story so completely sanitized of the strong, even tribal, influences of political identification most of us in the US seem to carry these days?

Bynum: I have to take a sentence or two to say thank you for that observation. That’s just about the highest compliment I’ve been paid regarding Veracity. I believe extreme partisanship is what’s keeping us from coming to the table to talk, to exchange ideas, to get healthy and stay that way, and so forth. That’s not to say I don’t have any affiliations, I most certainly do. (I don’t believe in down-the-line party voting but have, to date, always voted for the democrat; I believe we must fight for homosexual rights; I believe in God and Jesus and Buddha and take great exception to a lot of what Paul has to say, etc.) But Veracity is a story that really didn’t need to be sanitized from me and my beliefs because it’s about thinking critically and really listening to and respecting each other enough to allow for this process; I believe that theory has been woven into my style of writing, and my choice of language all on its own. All of this is a long way of saying - to paraphrase one of my favorite quotes from Veracity - there is no them, there’s only an us. If we can start thinking this way, so many walls will come down.

PW: I really liked the ending to the story, because of how it affirmed the desire of the human spirit to be free, no matter the cost. Do you think America’s national psychology, if there is such a thing, could countenance, suffer or succumb to the degeneration that creates a Confederation of the Willing?

Bynum: Unfortunately, I do. History has shown us at least two cultural/societal responses that are endemic to this kind of degeneration. One, we will do almost anything to feel safe. And two, once a position has been deemed ‘normal’, no matter how insane, self-defeating, or fatal, it’s often adopted as gospel, and no questioning of this new breed of normal is tolerated or one is called such terms as ‘unpatriotic’, etc. Until we own our own truth, the ‘truths’ doled out to us by those who stand to benefit from such false currency can buy our thoughts and our actions. As the phoneme is to the word, as the word is to the sentence, I believe language is to freedom. If we actually listen to what is being said, we will be ever at the ready, and prepared to guard against such a stealthy theft.

PW: Contractual obligations obviously withstanding, will you give as much of a sneak peak or teaser as you can on your pending work(s)?

Bynum: My second novel is a love story - a sort of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, but with a twist. As with Veracity, this novel is also very much about communication but on more of an inter-personal level. Specifically, with how often proximity has nothing to do with closeness and how sometimes the greatest loneliness can be experienced in the company of our significant other and, the greatest fulfillment, in their absence.

Spotlight, on a Tuesday?! The Interviewer is interviewed.

2009-12-29T13:00:00.011-05:00

Well, lookey what we got here. An interview of Harry Markov. In all fairness, this should've been posted on Sunday night, but an observational error on my part got us delayed. I wanted this in 2009, so here it is.

You have, in all likelihood, read Harry's various interviews over the past year or so. Harry does an excellent job in bringing us views into many of the personalities around sf&f, be they bloggers, authors or what have you. As a result, I've wondered from time to time, "Who is Harry Markov?" You're about to find out.

Harry and I have actually had plenty of decent, if brief, conversations when time permits. Recently, I asked him for an interview and he graciously agreed. Ladies and gentlemen, I present Harry Markov.

PW: 1. Please give as brief a sketch as possible of the life of Harry Markov.

Harry: Man, you couldn’t have asked for a more boring answer. I am pretty sure that there is scientific research out there trying to find the answer to which is more boring: watching paint dry or my life. So far, paint has the upswing, but you might see me steal the winning spot at the end.

Seriously though, there is not much going on in my life. I am unemployed at the moment [though hopefully that will change] and I’m a university student, second year, economics. I enjoy private gatherings with friends, because Bulgarian clubs feature some nasty music genre that I need to be drunk to barely tolerate it. Ultimately I am a total recluse with an ongoing relationship with my computer, though I cheat on it with literature as frequently as possible. Now you also know I am a man-slut as well.

People often ask the silly question: What animal describes you best? I say the sloth, I mean it and I am damn proud of it.

PW: When, and by what, was your attention captured so thoroughly by sf&f?

Harry: Being a 90’s child defined me as a TV brat. Anything that had moving pictures and sound was enough for me to watch. Even though I had no clue what the characters were talking about, I would watch English and German cartoons until I discovered German translated anime for kids. As far as I remember, I was a fan of Digimon until I was fifteen [way mature, I know] and the concept of having shape shifting and evolving monster familiars seemed the coolest thing in the universe, until I watched an episode of the animated series the X-Men, which finally sealed the deal that I was going to be a weirdo. It quickly caught on with the kids I conversed with.

PW: What inspired you to begin blogging and reviewing?

Harry: The short answer: Rachel Vincent and then Robert from the Fantasy Book Critic.

The long answer: Way back in January 2008 [after New Year’s Eve to be precise, should historical accuracy be of importance], I had stumbled across a mystifying torrent file with books that seemed to be fantasy, but weren’t quite typical. These odd books, as I learned later via my good friend Wikipedia, were called urban fantasy. I read, loved and had to learn more, so I googled Rachel Vincent and discovered her blog. It was awesome. Add the old ‘monkey see monkey do’ principle and I had my own blog about my journey as a struggling writer.

The reviews came a bit later, when I discovered Fantasy Book Critic, who happened to let it slip that reviewers got free books in exchange for reviews. Yes, I started reviewing, because I wanted free books, but the fact is that the only books bookstores sell as fantasy are from Jordan, Hobb, Martin and, as a more modern tale, King and Gaiman. No diversity whatsoever and I desperately needed a way to get the books I wanted from overseas or I would perish. [Yes, I am that dramatic] There are also the more un-materialistic aspects: connect, broaden horizons, develop a critical eye for my own fiction, feel the market.

PW: Parents say that they have no favorites. If you did have a favorite, tell us about your most favorite interview.

Harry: You have no right asking me that question. Making me think hard now, will you? In all honesty I can’t answer. I have interviewed authors, artists and reviewers. Whoever I did ask to answer my questions got the invitation for a reason. Not to say that I am so special and everybody should be honored to sit on my virtual chair. I wanted to know something; I asked and got the answers. That is all. It’s true that I have some that I enjoy a bit more than others, because I admired the people in the first place, while with others the Q&A sessions were a sort of introductory gauging of the person. I am a nosy bastard in the first place, so asking questions is how I roll.

PW: Listmania affects many of us in sf&f. In that context, can you list your top five works from 2009?

Harry: Are you seriously making me think hard on remembering my favorite reads and then rank them? Look, buddy, I don’t like how you treat me here. If I knew I had to give so many concrete examples, I would have had my memory pills. I am really bad at remembering things, but here goes:

Slights by Kaaron Warren [’cause it scared the shit out of me that I may know/become such a twisted person]

Flesh and Fire by L.A Gilman [’cause it spoke to the wine lover inside me and also had a very fresh, elegant and sophisticated magic system, which was used by a character I cared for.]

Scar Night by Allan Campbell [’cause it was plain awesome in the character and world building department and who wouldn’t want the angels to be enslaving bastards]

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami [’cause I think I would read this novel several times before my death and still discover a new aspect to it, while having just scratched the surface.]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman [I haven’t even finished this and I am completely in awe and swallowed by the story. The man knows his craft]

PW: Now, can you list the most anticipated works from 2010 you are waiting for?

Harry: Spellwright by Blake Charlton [’cause he is a chatty guy and talks to me, but he also sounds really erudite in interviews]

Tome of the Undergates by Sam Sykes [’cause he seems like a badass and I love that]

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce [’cause I also imagined Little Red Riding Hood as a werewolf hunter, but mine is also a hooker wielding a chainsaw]

Walking the Tree Kaaron Warren [’cause I think I am a devoted fan already and the concept for this novel is super sweet]

Again I wouldn’t mind the whole catalogues of every major English publisher, but I don’t think I can manage.

PW: Ah lists, here we go. If you had only three chances to check for a book review, prior to laying money down, which three sites do you check?

Harry: Fantasy Book Critic, Stainless Steel Droppings and Graeme’s Fantasy Book Reviews [although that last spot can be interchanged with other blogs I visit regularly aka the Book Smugglers, Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews, OF Blog of the Fallen etc. etc.]

PW: There has been an abundance of discussion of late concerning a death, or at least slow demise, of science fiction. What is your take on the debate?

Harry: I’m no authority on anything, especially science fiction. Apart from Ursula Le Guin and some Scalzi I am vastly unread in the genre, so my opinion is perhaps unsubstantial. That being said I have to agree with what Newton says about it fading [because genres can’t die] and he doesn’t mean as influence, but from a book seller’s point of view, given all the criteria such as sales, upcoming releases and new authors on the horizon opposed to the same criteria observed in fantasy as a genre.

As far as literature goes science fiction is waning [again not dying], but for that matter it is going mainstream on the big and silver screen with hit movies such as Star Trek and Avatar and then TV series like 4400, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Flash Forward and the Andromeda Strain. It’s up to literature to catch up with the movies and everybody will be happy.

PW: Do you, personally, hope to publish? If so, what’s the story you’re burning to write?

Harry: I am a writer first and a reviewer second, so yeah I hope to publish. I am a long way from getting a debut out, but I am getting there with one manuscript at a time. It’s my vocation and I can’t not write, so there goes that.

A story, eh? I am not a one trick pony, man. You should have typed ‘stories’ as I have an abundance to tell and they are diverse in characters, plots and situations, but the theme is there. I want to tell stories about good people that suffer enough to become hardened and cruel, and in their quest to fulfill their purpose almost become the things they fight against and I am sure that it’s not that compelling for readers, but I am interested in this form of metamorphosis, tarnishing the innocence and kindness as a matter of survival. Then again I also want to write about the serial killers, poisoners, arsonists and evil scientists and give them a point of view. Whether it happens or not, on a professional level, time will tell, but it’s what makes me tick. I’m genuinely attracted to urban fantasy and its different nuances from kickass heroines to more bizarre stories; traditional fantasy, steampunk and horror.

PW: One of my favorite listmania/hypothetical scenarios is the “stranded on an island.” So, if you were stranded on an island, which author/series do you pick to have with you?

Harry: Easy. I’ll pick The Wheel of Time. It is a humongous series and each book is thick as my head, so I will be having a lot to read while I stay on my desert island. I’ve to read the man, though I don’t think I would be able to unless I am on a stranded island.

PW: 11. Harry, its great conversing back and forth with you as we’ve done from time to time. In the spirit of enjoying your company, please go free-style and write/discuss whatever is currently closest to your heart.

Harry: I am in the mood to talk about life, really. It’s December, an introspective time of the year for all the obvious reasons and, whether I wish to do it or not, I evaluate what I have done with my life in the year, what I did solely for me and what I plan to do. I survived 2009, which was the toughest year in my life, learned a few life lessons and laughed out loud when everything was about to crash around me and, trust me, there were more than a few occasions when this was about to happen. Despite everything, I held to my anchors in life: my friends, my writing and my blogs [I am not including the family, because as much as they have been a support, they also featured as part of the problem] and I pushed on.

As the New Year prepares to dawn, I look forward and hope to see my writing published in respectable venues, elevate my reviewing and blog, meet new people and become a freelance writer [though to be quite frank, I have not the barest clue about how to do that one, even if a chance has already come up].

Yes, I’m being a bit up close and personal, but I’m among my people and I don’t have anything that shocking to hide in the first place.

Veracity Review

2009-12-28T20:51:00.008-05:00

Veracity (HC)
by Laura Bynum
Pocket Books, 2010
Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 978-1-4391-2334-8

Summary: The protagonist, Harper Adams, is a citizen controlled like all the rest. Unlike the rest, she has precognitive abilities. These abilities, like all else of value, are exploited by the State. Harper is used by the highly centralized government as a 'monitor' to analyze potential traitors to the State. After watching numerous horrific episodes of citizen seizure and what passes for law enforcement/punishment, Harper decides to run.

In running, a citizen attempts to go 'off-line.' Citizens are tracked by means of a 'slate,' a medically implanted device. The fully inserted portion encircles the jugular vein in order to discourage removal or modification. The external portion, along one's throat, acts as a transceiver. The slate monitors the location, medical condition and speech of a citizen. A vast and broad number of words have been 'red-listed.' Speaking a red word will have one's slate delivering a shock to the speech violator. A citizen on the run will induce the slate by speaking red words in order to have it short circuit. As one might expect, this is very painful, but leaves the person off-line.

A vast number of off-line individuals have formed pockets of resistance in remote locations. The government, aware of these rogue groups has developed a means to end all resistance and implementation is only a matter of time.

My take: It was 1987 all over again. I was in the eleventh grade and Mr. Greenwald was putting us through our paces in the Dystopian Fiction Literature class I'd signed up for. We were reading Orwell's 1984, Huxley's Brave New World and Zamyatin's We.

Bynum's Veracity is in keeping with that previous list. While it may get categorized as sci-fi, or dystopian, one might as well consider it horror, because it is only too plausible and truly frightening. The story creates a great deal of tension for the reader by showing the suffering and sacrifices of the protagonist, and others, that are made to merely survive beneath asphyxiating oppression. I particularly liked the ending however, as it reaffirmed the human spirit to be free, especially in a location like America where the national psychology is not one that lends itself well to heavy-handed governmental control.

Nagging Drawback: The final action sequence of the story seemed rather muddled. As I tried to picture the events unfolding in my mind's eye, I got turned around and lost all track of the surroundings including sense of direction and the position of the people involved.

Verdict: Recommended
=========================================================

Incidentally, here's where I commit one of my classic acts of whim and caprice. Reading and reviewing this book, has been the final nail in the coffin for giving numerical ratings, at least for me. As I've been anticipating for quite some time, I found it impossible to use an arbitrary metric to rate the book, in light of books I had previously rated. I've changed the rating process and the new methodology is defined at the top of the main blog page.

Get out the Vote

2009-12-26T20:12:00.008-05:00

The polls have opened and let the voting begin! I'm talking about the David Gemmell Legend Award. The Morningstar Award will be given, for the first time, this year. It is for the "Best Newcomer." There will also be a Ravenheart Award (not open for voting yet), which will be awarded to "the best fantasy jacket artist."

These are great awards for two reasons. First, it is a set of awards where fantasy no longer has to play little step-brother to science fiction. Second, these awards are granted at the mercy of the fans. The "powers that be" can slap each other on the back and say what they will, but these awards come from the people who actually pay money for books (i.e. make the entire industry an industry).

Follow the link below for the list of nominees in each category.

Legend nominees:

Nights of Villajamur - Mark Charan Newton (Tor UK)
Shadow Magic - Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett (Spectra)
Green - Jay Lake (Tor US)
Crucible of the Dragon God - Mike Wild (Abaddon)
Blood of Ambrose - James Enge (PYR)
By the Mountain Bound - Elizabeth Bear (Tor US)
Dust of Dreams - Steve Erikson (Transworld)
Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz & Orbit US)
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart - Jesse Bullington (Orbit)
Midwinter - Matthew Sturges (PYR)
Kings and Assassins - Lane Robins (Del Rey)
Chronicles of the Xandim - Maggie Furey (Gollancz)
The Silver Mage - Katharine Kerr (Voyager)
The Dwarves - Markus Heitz (Orbit)
The Other Lands - David Anthony Durham (Transworld)
Bones of the Dragon - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Tor US)
The Island - Tim Lebbon (Spectra)
The Laurentine Spy - Emily Gee (Solaris)
Tyrant’s Blood - Fiona McIntosh (Voyager)
Canticle - Ken Scholes (Tor US)
Blood of the Mantis - Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK)
Archwizard - Ed Greenwood (Solaris)
Reiksguard - Richard Williams (The Black Library)
God of Clocks - Alan Campbell (Tor UK)
The Judging Eye - R. Scott Bakker (Orbit)
Kell's Legend - Andy Remic (Angry Robot)
The Adamantine Palace - Stephen Deas (Gollancz)
Imager's Challenge - L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (Tor US)
Night's Haunting - Matthew Sprange (Abaddon)
Servant of a Dark God - John Brown (Tor US)
Shamanslayer - Nathan Long (The Black Library)
The Drowning City - Amanda Downum (Orbit)
Rides a Dread Legion - Raymond E Feist (Voyager)
Empire - Graham McNeill (The Black Library)
Pretender's Crown - C.E. Murphy (Del Rey)
Imager - L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (Tor US)
Dragonseed - James Maxey (Solaris)
Fire - Kristin Cashore (Gollancz)
Irons in the Fire - Juliet E. McKenna (Solaris)
Magician's Apprentice - Trudi Canavan (Orbit)
White Star - Beth Vaughan (Gollancz)
Retribution Falls - Chris Wooding (Gollancz)
The Phoenix Transformed - Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory (Tor US)
The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (Tor US)
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson (Tor US)
Lamentation - Ken Scholes (Tor US)
The Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb (Voyager)
The Lord of Silence - Mark Chadbourn (Solaris)
The Cardinals’ Blades - Pierre Pevel (Gollancz)
The Rats and the Ruling Sea - Robert V.S. Redick (Gollancz)
Destroyer of Worlds - Mark Chadbourn (Gollancz)
Chaosbound - David Farland (Tor US)
Heart's Blood - Juliet Marillier (Tor UK)
The Prodigal Mage - Karen Miller (Orbit)
The Dame - R. A. Salvatore (Tor US)
The Edge of the World - Kevin J. Anderson (Orbit)
The Rise of the Iron Moon - Stephen Hunt (Voyager)
Dark Haven - Gail Z. Martin (Solaris)

Morningstar Nominees:

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart - Jesse Bullington (Orbit)
Lamentation - Ken Scholes (Tor US)
The Dwarves - Markus Heitz (Orbit)
The Adamantine Palace - Stephen Deas (Gollancz)
Blood of Ambrose - James Enge (PYR)
The Drowning City - Amanda Downum (Orbit)
The Cardinals’ Blades - Pierre Pevel (Gollancz)
Servant of a Dark God - John Brown (Tor US)
Midwinter - Matthew Sturges (PYR)

Ravenheart Nominees:

PYR
DOMINIC HARMAN for the cover of Blood of Ambrose
CHRIS MCGRATH for the cover of Midwinter
TODD LOCKWOOD for the cover of The Twilight Herald

VOYAGER
DOMINIC FORBES for the cover of Rides a Dread Legion
JACKIE MORRIS and DOMINIC FORBES for the cover of The Dragon Keeper
GEOFF TAYLOR and DOMINIC FORBES for the cover of The Silver Mage
MAX SCHINDLER and LEE MOTLEY for the cover of The Rise of the Iron Moon
NICK SHAH for the cover of Tyrants Blood

ABADDON
GREG STAPLES for the cover of Night's Haunting
MARK HARRISON for the cover of Crucible of the Dragon God

SOLARIS
JOHN PICACIO for the cover of The Lord of Silence
LARRY ROSTANT for the cover of The Laurentine Spy
JON SULLIVAN for the cover of Archwizard
MICHAEL KORMARCK for the cover of Dark Haven
MICHAEL KORMARCK for the cover of Dragonseed
DAVID PALUMBO for the cover of Irons in the Fire

THE BLACK LIBRARY
JON SULLIVAN for the cover of Empire
CLINT LANGLEY for the cover of Reiksguard
CLINT LANGLEY for the cover of Iron Company
CLINT LANGLEY for the cover of The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade Volume Two

GOLLANCZ
DOMINIC HARMAN and SIDONIE BERESFORD-BROWNE for The Adamantine Palace
DIDIER GRAFFET, DAVE SENIOR and LAURA BRETT for Best Served Cold
STEPHAN MARTINIERE and NICK MAY for Retribution Falls
LARRY ROSTANT and LOULOU CLARKE for Fire
JON SULLIVAN and SUE MICHNIEWICZ for The Cardinals’ Blades
LARRY ROSTANT and LOULOU CLARKE for Graceling
GHOST for Heritage of the Xandim
KEEVIL DESIGN for White Star
SUE MICHNIEWICZ for Destroyer of Worlds
EDWARD MILLER and NICK MAY for The Rats and the Ruling Sea
SAM GREEN and JAMES JONES for The Final Empire
SAM GREEN and JAMES JONES for The Well of Ascension
CHRIS MCGRATH and LAURA BRETT for The Blade Itself
RICH CARR for Orcs Bad Blood 2
LARRY ROSTANT and LAURA BRETT for The Steel Remains

TOR (UK)
DOMINIC HARMAN for the cover of God Of Clocks
JON SULLIVAN for the cover of Dragonfly Falling
JON SULLIVAN for the cover of Blood of the Mantis

TOR (US)
MICHEAL KORMACK for the cover of Bones of the Dragon
DANIEL DOS SANTOS for the cover of Green

ORBIT (UK & US)
LEE GIBBONS for the cover of Furies of Calderon
LEE GIBBONS for the cover of The Edge of the World
BOB LEE for the cover of The Dwarves
LARRY ROSTANT for the cover of The Drowning City

* Artist nom to follow for the Brothers Grossbart

New Arrivals

2009-12-24T16:40:00.009-05:00

Thanks to publicist Sarah Reidy at Simon & Schuster, I've just received a book and an ARC.

The book in question is Veracity by Laura Bynum. The dustcover displays testimonials from Greg Bear, Elizabeth Moon, Jeff Carlson and Larry Beinhart.

The ARC is Liane Merciel's The River Kings' Road: A Novel of Ithelas. On its front cover, the ARC bares a testimonial from L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Veracity
Laura Bynum
Pocket Books, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4391-2334-8

Blurb: In the tradition of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Laura Bynum has written an astonishing debut novel, a bold and incendiary vision of a chilling, all-too-plausible future in which speech is a weapon and security comes at the highest price of all.

Harper Adams was six years old in 2012 when an act of viral terrorism wiped out one half of the country's population. Out of the ashes rose a new government, the Confederation of the Willing, dedicated to maintaining order at any cost. The populace is controlled via government-sanctioned sex and drugs, a brutal police force known as the Blue Coats, and a device called the slate, a mandatory implant that monitors every word a person speaks. To utter a Red Listed, forbidden word is to risk physical punishment or even death.

But there are those who resist. Guided by the fabled "Book of Noah," they are determined to shake the people from their apathy and ignorance, and are prepared to start a war in the name of freedom. The newest member of this resistance is Harper - a woman driven by memories of a daughter lost, a daughter whose very name was erased by the Red List. And she possesses a power that could make her the underground warriors' ultimate weapon - or the instrument of their destruction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The River Kings' Road
Liane Merciel
Gallery Books, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4391-5911-8

Blurb: In the tradition of Robin Hobb and Greg Keyes comes a stunning epic adventure from a thrilling new voice in fantasy. Liane Merciel's The River Kings' Road takes us to a world of bitter enmity between kingdoms, divided loyalties between comrades, and an insidious magic that destroys everything it touches...

A fragile period of peace between the eternally warring kingdoms of Oakharn and Langmyr is shattered when a surprise massacre fueled by bloodmagic ravages the Langmyrne border village of Willowfield, killing its inhabitants - including a visiting Oakharne lord and his family - and leaving behind a scene so grisly that even the carrion eaters avoid its desecrated earth. But the dead lord's infant heir has survived the carnage - a discovery that entwines the destinies of Brys Tarnell, a mercenary who rescues the helpless and ailing babe, and who enlists a Langmyrne peasant - a young mother herself - to nourish and nuture the child of her enemies as they travel a dark, perilous road...Odosse, the peasant woman whose only weapons are wit, courage, and her fierce maternal love - and who risks everything she holds dear to protect her new charge...Sir Kelland, a divinely blessed Knight of the Sun called upon to unmask the architects behind the slaughter and avert war between ancestral enemies...Bitharn, Kelland's companion on his journey who conceals her lifelong love for the Knight behind her flawless archery skills and whose feelings may ultimately be Kelland's undoing...and Leferic, an Oakharne lord's bitter youngest son whose dark ambitions fuel the most horrific acts of violence. As one infant's life hangs in the balance, so too does the fate of thousands - while deep in the forest, a Maimed Witch practices an evil bloodmagic that could doom them all...

What is he doing?!

2009-12-24T14:56:00.008-05:00

I completed Michael A. Stackpole's Talion: Revenant this morning. What is Stackpole doing? Granted, I've never read anything by him before, but this particular world and story was entertaining enough to have been, long since, revisited. I looked around on sf&f sites and wikipedia and found...nothing. Surprising, because it was quite fun.

Talion: Revenant (mmpb)
Michael A. Stackpole
Bantam Spectra, 1997
ISBN: 0-553-57656-9

Book Blurb: Justices - the select of the Talion, endowed with fearsome magick and lethal martial skills - roam the Shattered Empire, crushing the lawless and championing the oppressed. Their word is law and their judgement binding on the highborn and low.

Nolan is a Justice born in what once was the free nation of Sinjaria. Orphaned in the war of conquest with the nation of Hamis, he traveled to far Talianna and secured the right to become a Justice. Now, years later, the Master of all Talions has a dangerous assignment for Nolan: he is to guard the life of the king who destroyed Sinjaria and slaughtered his family. Alone, Nolan ventures into the political maelstrom that is the court of Hamis to stop an assassin even his Masters think cannot be slain...

Fair Warning: This story has the single POV of the protagonist. The story follows alternating chapters of present circumstances and past pivotal experiences. As the story unfolds, the reader becomes familiar with how the protagonist came to be who and what he is. For me, the protagonist was similar to (although written well before) Carol Berg's protagonist from the Rai-kirah series. The story can be described as cliched, or formulaic, but Stackpole does this well.

I disliked the story of the protagonist's love interest. It seems to me, she is a character whose tale is whimsically generated in order for her to be the tool of plot advancement the author needs her to be. I am being intentionally vague here, because I don't wish to spoil her description, what happens to her or what she means to the story's conclusion for future readers.

I also disliked how the story abandons the main plot from the first half of the book. The protagonist is, essentially, a medieval cop, prosecutor and judge all roled into the title of "Justice." The protagonist's quest is to bring a bandit who regularly recruits violent and sociopathic men to his gang, for the purposes of tyrannizing the countryside. After this main plot is abandoned, the bandit plays a minor role in helping the protagonist, essentially being demoted to plot advancement device. One can see how certain things were left dangling by the author, in order to later return to this world and expand upon them in other novels. I'm surprised that the author has not returned to this world in 25 years.

What I liked: Primarily, I liked the setting created by Stackpole. The Shattered Empire is a world in decline, as is the case with the crumbling of a broad and vast empire. Various nation-states have emerged to take on lives of their own. The Talions, the sole surviving legacy of the Empire, are a military and para-military organization that exists to maintain political stability and prevent the genesis of vast, territorial wars. This ultimately creates a need for covert conspiracies by those grasping for power, which becomes the main plot of the second half of the story.

I also liked the characters created by Stackpole. As previously mentioned, I did not like how they were always used, but the characters were well considered.

Ultimately, I liked resolutions to certain plot threads. Do the 'good guys' win? Yeah, but as with all things in life, there is a price to be paid. Was the cost of victory too high? That's entirely subjective. It's one of the truly glorious things about humanity. Each of us could read the tale and say either, "I could live with that," or, "Better him than me."

Meanwhile: I'm still reading Wolfe. I've finished Claw of the Conciliator and am into Sword of the Lictor in Severian of the Guild, Wolfe's omnibus edition of Book of the the New Sun.

Tripping the light fantastic

2009-12-22T16:17:00.003-05:00

Well, it appears creatures of a fantastic nature are beginning to invade our everyday world. In the American south, evidence of a leprechaun presence has been chronicled. The following news story comes from Mobile, Alabama. All I can really say about the matter is that the amateur sketch of the leprechaun is, now, an all-time, top-ten favorite.

'Tis the Season

2009-12-15T19:39:00.008-05:00

Seak's Stamp of Approval, Ubiquitous Absence, and State of Review are proud to announce their first book giveaway.

We all feel that some of our holiday gifts were not quite what we hoped to receive. So, we are offering one novel from the list below to one lucky winner. You have three chances to win by emailing each of our blogsite emails. This contest will begin December 15, 2009 and the winner will be announced on January 10, 2010. Sorry, but this is limited to those in the U.S. only.

First, send an email to each of the blog emails (replace with regular at and dot symbols) -

seaklos (AT) gmail (DOT) com
PeterWilliam (AT) gmx (DOT) com
stateofreview (AT) gmail (DOT) com

Second, your email must contain your full mailing address (that's snail mail) otherwise your message will be deleted.

Lastly, multiple entries (to individual blog addresses) will disqualify whoever sends them. Please include your screen name and the message boards you are frequently using.

Good luck and happy holidays from us at Ubiquitous Absence, Seak's Stamp of Approval and State of Review.

Emotional Evisceration

2009-12-14T20:49:00.005-05:00

Yikes! I watched the finale to season 4 of Dexter last night. I will, of course, avoid announcing spoilers here, but the final scene was an absolute nightmare. This is clearly the best, if also the most disturbing, television programming known to me. John Lithgow's portrayal of the Trinity Killer is certainly award worthy, but Michael C. Hall's role of Dexter is still compelling, after four seasons. I watched only the portion of the Hall/Lithgow interview played after the finale episode, but the whole thing is available over on Showtime's site. I regularly follow the Wertzone and was stunned when Adam once told me that he hadn't watched the Dexter series yet. Adam is, generally speaking, one of the world's best locations to discover great entertainment, be it books, games, film or television. I would strongly recommend watching each season on DVD, however. Waiting for each successive episode is a torture unto itself.

Meanwhile, I'm still reading Wolfe and Stackpole, but progress is slow. Part of the delay is that I've been working on compiling an outline for a novel length work of fiction, based on some advise given by Elizabeth Moon who has been posting regularly over at SFFWorld lately. I'm also working on exercising writing skills by participating in a monthly flash fiction contest. With the holidays coming and going, let's hope normal posting activity resumes in a couple of weeks.

Excuses

2009-11-30T15:22:00.005-05:00

Not much posting taking place around here lately. I have several excuses and self-justifications. Seriously. Well, not really.

In reading, I'm a good way into book 2 of the Gene Wolfe omnibus, Severian of the Guild. Thus far, I'm enjoying the read very much. The perspective, Severian's, is a great vantage point for this tale. That having been said, I don't think I like the 'undependable narrator.' It reminds me a great deal of a movie I saw years ago. Back in 1990, I was stationed on a US Army base in San Antonio, TX (Fort Sam Houston). We went to see a movie, on base, called Jacob's Ladder. Very discombobulating and tension inducing. I get that same sense of feverish hallucination while reading this story. How I can like it and not like it at the same time isn't something I can explain - it just is. We'll see if I can articulate the sensation any better once I've finished the book.

Ok, excuse time. I'm trying to be more conscientious about writing. I've spent months and months of not putting butt to chair. It's time to get cracking. I don't plan to post any less. In fact, this should have me more in the rhythym to write and bring lucid (ok, semi-lucid) thoughts here. I'm going over my chapter one, again, even though chapter two is half-born and begging to be tied off. Chapter two has gone over-long and may have to be chapters 2, 3 and 4. I'll bring chapter one by here, eventually. First, after I clean it up, I need to find a writing partner, or an online 'workshop' where I can get this read and receive some feedback. So, what's in this excuse to slow down posting, you ask? Excellent, and insightful, question. I've been rearranging the Man-Cave. I've gone back to find some reference works that had been languishing in a cardboard box for quite some time. This weekend, I found the reference works, some old scribbled notes and some writings that I'd nearly forgotten about. Now that I've found the missing items my subconscious was niggling away at, it's time to get down to it.

Cross your fingers. I may have an interview for Sunday Night Spotlight coming up soon. The questions are away and I am now awaiting the response. Who is it? At this time of year, such spoilers would be a big no-no, so you'll just have to wait.

Bad news, good news and interviews - John D. Brown

2009-11-21T18:17:00.010-05:00

Well, the bad news is that reading is slow going with the intensity of work-life and home-life, so there won't be a book review for a little while yet. Also, I've nothing for a Spotlight this Sunday night. The good news is that I have finished the massive work project for this year and can return to some enjoyable leisure activities again. Which is the segue to the other piece of good news - an interview.

Recently, thanks to Alex Koritz, I was granted a review copy of Servant of a Dark God and interview access to it's author, John D. Brown. I found Mr. Brown to be a very thoughtful man, perhaps best described using words like reflective and introspective. More than that, Brown seems to be a comfortably confident individual - the kind of presence to immediately put one at ease. Read on and see what I mean.

PW: I noted the juxtaposition in the story between free will and compulsion. Will you give your own view of the comparison and contrast between the two?

John D. Brown: Peter, first of all, thanks. I'm so happy to appear on Ubiquitous Absence. I will also say that you're the first to note this aspect of free will in the story. It's a subject fraught with drama and danger, and will become more important in books two and three. I find it fascinating. On the other hand, I never write with the intent of fictionalizing a philosophy ala Ayn Rand or Terri Goodkind. There's nothing wrong with doing that. Such an approach has obviously produced great stories. It's just not how I do it.

Having made that disclaimer, I will say that there are many ways in which people are "compelled." You can physically force them against their will. You can physically juice them so that their will is subjugated to various drives. This is how crack and meth work. You can work on genetic influence. Or you can frame a situation, work on beliefs and attention, so that one course of action cries out to be followed. Yet, in all of this, I believe humans still have moments of choice. And that's the drama, when you have to make choices under such pressures, in ethically complex situations, with incomplete information. Or where you have to choose to compel. And what do you do when you see the results of that choice? All of this draws me, and so it shows up in this tale.

PW: It seemed, to me, that your debut work was strictly contained to the particular events therein. That is to say, I got the impression that it was a ‘set-up’ work designed to acclimate the reader to your world, its culture and its people and avoid information overload. Will you correct or affirm that impression and explain how the debut effort will relate to future installments?

John D. Brown: It's an interesting question. There is, of course, some acclimation that needs to happen in the first book of any series. And it's true I wanted to avoid overload. But the primary goal was not to set up the real story or build background. I knew when I began this book that I wanted it to tell a whole story. I wanted it to be a thrill all by itself.

Of course, I knew I had to raise some questions in the reader's mind at the end to propel them into book two. But I wanted them to feel satisfied—no cliff-hangers. I wanted them to have had a thrilling journey. I really think Star Wars, the first movie, is an excellent example of this effect. You set up a problem (save the princess), complicate it (holy crap, death star!), then solve it (blow it up). But then you also show Darth Vader wheeling out in space, escaping the devastation, and the viewers know that bad boy is coming back. So you feel satisfaction as well as some anticipation. That's what I wanted to do in my own way.

Now another part of this is that the story is told from the point of view of the people who don't really know what's going on. The truth of what's really going on is buried deep. So the book is also limited because my characters are still discovering the truth. They'll discover more in book two. Then I have some humdingers waiting in book three.

So this definitely sets up books two and three--it was plotted and written to be three books. But it was also meant to be its own tale.

PW: Concerning the Dark God series, how many books do you envision it encompassing?

John D. Brown: As I indicated, this story is a three-book series. My editors specifically wanted to avoid using the term "trilogy" just in case we decided to write other stories in this world. But this story with Talen, Sugar, etc. will end in three books. One of my goals with this debut was to write something epic, something that the reader could sink teeth into, but also something they could finish. I like stories that don't take twenty years of real time to conclude.

PW: Looking at your debut book, I can only conclude you’ve been living right. Seriously, how does a debut fantasy novelist get Swanland cover art?

John D. Brown: By sacrificing seven hundred goats to the volcano gods. You have to travel to Hawaii where Swanland lives, but that's the price.

Actually, I'm glad you share my appreciation of Swanland. He's an amazing artist. We luvs him, Precious. I actually had no say in the artist or subject matter of the cover. I was so pleased when I found out he’d been commissioned. With someone like Swanland you know you're in good hands. The neat thing is that not only did he read my book, but he told me he actually enjoyed it! So the fan boy in me was thrilled.

PW: I’ve seen it written that magic is fantasy’s substitute for sci-fi’s technology. Your debut flaunts that assumption and incorporates magic into the cultural faith. Due to the power held in such knowledge, it then became a contentious political point. Will you detail your development of this cultural point/”magic system?”

John D. Brown: I don't want to give too much away, but as you noted, it all revolves around power and the keeping of it. Magic is indeed like technology in that it allows you to do things you couldn't otherwise. Things beyond your own physical power. So how do you keep your enemies at bay? You can smash them head on. Crush them. You can make the cost of coming against you so terrible they elect not to do it. But another way is to steal their base of power, steal their knowledge. Wipe it out. And then make seeking it so abhorrent that they never threaten you again. So when humans are being ranched, well, what would the overseers do? My answer was all of the above.

PW: What is the current status of the follow up works in the Dark God series?

John D. Brown: Right now I'm working on the third draft of book two. The first draft was exceedingly rough. But this one is shaping up very nicely. I've got a lot of stuff in it that has just got me excited. As for book three, I know how it ends, know a few key scenes and have the bones of an outline.

PW: Do you have any other projects in the hopper for your post-Dark God days and may we have a teaser?

John D. Brown: I do. There's another epic fantasy series that's structured in a more episodic manner. There's a thriller about a man who went to jail for bank robbery, reformed, but gets dragged back into crime. And maybe a young adult. I don't know exactly which will be next. Or if it will be something else. I know career wise that I should keep it in the same genre. But we'll see. Sometimes I've found I need to do something different to recharge me. But they're all cooking in the story stew.

PW: I’ve been to your site and read about your journey to this point. What was it that put you ‘over the top’ in terms of confidence and kept you from the fate of so many would-be writers?

John D. Brown: I think most writers have doubts long into their careers. For example, I've read a few Sue Grafton interviews where she shares from her writing journal. There are moments when writing her novels when she thinks she's writing drivel and has seemingly no confidence at all. And then she pushes on, finishes, and sells to hundreds of thousands of happy readers. I've heard other authors, big names, do and feel the same thing.

Of course, it does help to get a sale or two to provide yourself evidence that you can write something people enjoy. Selling my short stories did this for me. On the other hand, sometimes you read something, professionally published, that's so bad you know can do better. But I think the most important thing is not to focus on obtaining confidence.

You might be having distorted thoughts. If so, then you need to work on that. I'm not talking positive mental attitude. I'm talking cognitive therapy, David Burns and his book Feeling Good. That stuff is the real deal. And I can’t tell you how many writers it affects. Every conference I go to I hear the distortions over and over.

But if you're thinking right, then the most important thing is work. Butt-in-chair work. Not drudgery. Although sometimes it might be. But joyful work. Work finishes product. Work brings insight. Work develops skill. Part of that work will lead you to seek out others who are working just as hard as you. And you'll grow together. Confidence will come as a by-product of work.

I struggled for years to figure out what made stories tick and how to write them. But I kept going. And because I kept working I finally burst through the things that were holding me back. Work is the key. Smart, hard work.

That doesn't mean every writer can become a best seller (alas). But work is the only way to develop the skills to their maximum level.
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Once again, all thanks to Alex Koritz, John D. Brown and Tor-Forge for this opportunity. It's always very interesting to get the take of the author upon the story you've just consumed.

For now, here at Ubiquitous Absence, it's back to the reading of Gene Wolfe's Severian of the Guild - the omnibus edition of Book of the New Sun.

The end of the tunnel

2009-11-16T22:56:00.005-05:00

There's light out there! By this time next week, I should be enjoying a return to a 'normal' schedule. The massive yearly project that is my main reason for employment is coming due this Thursday. Once that's out of the way, I will sleep for somewhere between 1.9 and 2.72 days (man, I'm fairly punchy now). After that, I will be able to post on a respectable level at Ubiquitous Absence, rather than merely being ubiquitously absent.

I do have two interviews coming back to me any day now, so we'll see what we have when they're in. My current reading selection, Severian of the Guild, Gene Wolfe's omnibus edition of his Book of the New Sun story, is slow going only because of minimal time. What I've read so far (~150p) has me excited to continue, however. Gene Wolfe is clearly an author that is going to become a favorite.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for something truly interesting, check out the thorough look at the history of the D&D worlds (Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms) Adam has put together over at The Wertzone. Or, go visit Grasping for the Wind, where I recently participated in the worst ending survey.

Sunday Night Spotlight - Into the Wild Blue Yon-der

2009-11-08T22:08:00.009-05:00

Tonight, we get to sit down with one of the bigger sf&f fans you may never have heard of; Mark Yon. Mark is the administrator, known as Hobbit, over at SFFWorld. In describing Mark, the word kind comes to mind, but its more than just that. Mark has the same enthusiasm that he had the first time he came across sf&f. The same enthusiasm we all had at one time or another. Mark's enthusiasm is infectious, however. Classy and never gratuitously contentious, Mark displays (as much as one can on the internet) the kind of personality that I'm dying to meet in person one day.

If you get the chance, do yourself a favor and register on the SFFWorld forum boards and engage Mark in a conversation or two. Or, just read his book reviews and blog posts at SFFWorld.

The only part of the interview that I regret, was the loss of top-secret photos I had managed to obtain. I had complete 360° external and internal photos of Hobbit Towers, but was stopped by security on my way out and had the camera confiscated. Mark told me it would happen, but you've just gotta try. Ah well.

PW: What was your first encounter with sf&f?

Mark: That goes back a long way, Peter! I’m now realizing, with horror, that it would be about 40 years ago. When I was aged about 3 or 4 I used to watch a ‘60’s TV series here in the UK called Thunderbirds. It was a puppet show created by Gerry Anderson. I wouldn’t miss an episode, evidently. One of my earliest childhood memories is about being sat in a highchair, [having] my tea and watching it on TV.

The consequence of that was that I learned to read with the TV series. There was an accompanying comic called TV21 that had stories and comic strips in it based around the Gerry Anderson TV series and set 100 years in the future. I’ve been told I spent a lot of my early reading time working out words from those magazines.

In terms of ‘proper’ reading, I was a fan of mainly SF first, no doubt as a consequence of what I’ve mentioned already. There were some short stories along the way, mostly in books borrowed from my small local library, who struggled to keep up with my interest. There were lots of books related to the TV series I watched – Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Doctor Who - but my first ‘proper’ buy was a second-hand copy of Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein. I’ve still got it! After that, there was no stopping me. Mainly it was whatever I could borrow from my local library, as we couldn’t afford too many books. At that stage, it was mostly Arthur C Clarke and whatever Asimov and Heinlein I could get my hands on, which was pretty much what my library had. That, and authors such as John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids) and good old HG Wells (War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man and so on.) There wasn’t much choice, but I rabidly read whatever I could get.

Later this developed into Fantasy books as well. The usual culprits here, depending on what I could find: The Hobbit (surprisingly!), and then in the late 70’s and early 80’s, more Tolkien, Michael Moorcock (Elric and Corum especially), Stephen Donaldson, Terry Brooks, Raymond Feist, David Gemmell.

Loved a good creepy ghost story too, mainly from the Fontana Ghost Book series for children or, if I could get them and read them without others knowing, the adult Pan Books of Horror. It was about this time I first discovered Ray Bradbury, I think, but also Nigel Kneale, Bram Stoker, the Charles Dickens ghost stories, the Conan Doyle adventures, both the Professor Challenger tales and his ghost stories, as well as Sherlock Holmes.

PW: Everyone loves a list. Give us a list, ~5 or so, of books/authors/series/periodicals/anthologies, or whatever, that would epitomize your love of sf&f.

Mark: There are so many, and they change from week to week and day to day. There are some that I love to reread, though. I’m sure there’ll be something really obvious I’ll miss here, but I’ll give it a go.

1. My first choice is a bit of a cheat. I have a complete Arthur C Clarke story collection I love to dip into. It’s a very large book! 2001 was the first novel I read, borrowed from school, but I read the rest of his books as soon as I could get them. My favourite is usually The City and the Stars.

2. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. I’m fortunate enough to have a signed copy of this one now. These were the first SF books I borrowed off my dad. They had lovely Chris Foss covers that made up one picture if you put the book covers in order.

3. M.R. James Collected Stories: I actually have a lot of copies of this one, in various editions. Like Lovecraft, there’s a strange style there that really shouldn’t work, but does. There’s something about old artefacts, academia, old large houses and that indefinable presence of something there but not seen. See also Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury.

None of the above can really be quoted as the best examples of the genre in terms of style or characterization, but if I had to pick out common criteria, there’s often a certain atmosphere there, or an engaging enthusiasm in a style that at some time I have really appreciated. I will be the first to admit that some of them have dated!

4. Of more recent authors, then here’s another obvious choice: George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. I think many know that I was reading GRRM’s work before Song of Ice and Fire, and there’s a lot there I love: Fevre Dream, Tuf Voyaging. But this series is my favourite (so far), even with its delays and annoyances!

5. And I guess I wouldn’t get away without mentioning Mary Gentle’s ASH: A Secret History, which became a regularly mentioned recommendation by me at SFFWorld. It was a book that was one of those unexpected surprises, and so not what I was expecting when I started it. It’s also something I wouldn’t have said was something that I would normally appreciate. It is a book I can read and reread, as well as being a good, big, meaty SF/Fantasy novel. The ideas within it are quite awesome, the ending still baffling.

As for anthologies: I find any of the David Hartwell monster anthologies are usually great: their range and their knowledgeable commentary usually win me over, even when I don’t agree with everything said! See Hard SF Renaissance, the Space Opera one, The Dark Descent. Again, all BIG reads!

I do find that the more I read, the more authors I appreciate. One of the things I love about SF and Fantasy is the fact that it covers such a wide range, from the exploration of inner and outer space to dragons, ghosts and vampires and everything in-between. At the moment I will read anything from (in no order at all!) Tad Williams, Tim Powers, Dan Simmons, Poul Anderson, Robin Hobb, Steven Erikson (though I am way behind on those!), Joe Abercrombie, Richard Morgan, James Barclay, Jasper Fforde, Lois McMaster Bujold, Connie Willis, Joe Haldeman, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance… the list is always expanding.

I love the ‘old stuff’, but one of the most fun things I find about what we do is finding those new authors when they come along – Joe Abercrombie and Mark Charan Newton are two recent examples for me.

And I’m sure when I finish typing this there will be other really obvious authors I will remember but haven’t mentioned!

PW: Some people blog, edit, hope to publish, etc. You are the Admin for SFFWorld. Do you anticipate, or hope, your involvement in sf&f taking you down different paths in the future?

Mark: It’s a good question, that one, Pete. I’ve been asked a few times whether I’m also a writer or even someone hoping to get published. I must admit that, although it’s best to never say never, I am, always have, hopefully always will be, a fan who likes reading. Frankly, if I spent time writing, I couldn’t be reading, nor doing the things I do at SFFWorld.

There’s also another reason; and that is that the more I meet writers, publishers and so on, the more I realize how difficult it is to do those things well. I am still in awe of writers and how they shape words for a living. I was a little reluctant to review books for a long time, despite a few hints that perhaps I should. Now that I do though, I actually love it.

But it is a hobby, done in my spare time. So, for the time being, I prefer to spend my spare time reading and reviewing at SFFWorld. Having said that, I have enjoyed beta-reading books before they’re published, though, so you never know. As I said, it’s perhaps better to never say never.

PW: How did you come to be involved at SFFWorld?

Mark: A very happy accident. Like many people, I found the website by chance on a Search (I think this was before I started using Google!), when I first got the Internet at home in about 2000/2001. Lurked for quite a long while, finally plucked up courage to join in, found I really liked the site. I became a member and in time volunteered to help. I was then asked to become a Staff member. I have always been grateful to Dag, the owner, and the staff who agreed to my joining, for that opportunity.

PW: What is the best memory you will take away from being a fan of sf&f, or of your involvement at SFFWorld?

Mark: I’m very lucky to say there are so many wonderful memories, in both of those. Talking to, or meeting authors, is something I love, and something I never thought I’d be able to do when younger. Reading those tales of places beyond my own experience was a formative experience. To one day meet those heroes, and also find that they are really nice people on the whole, has been an astonishing experience. SFFWorld has helped me do that, and at the risk of going all gushy, it is something I’ll be forever grateful for.

It is perhaps a little unfair to mention specific people. But George RR Martin, Joe Haldeman, Neil Gaiman, and Steven Erikson are all wonderful people to talk to. But so are many, many others.

As far as the website goes, it was, and still is, the people that make my day. Even now I get a major thrill just from being able to help people out, share common interests, talk books, swap ideas and theories about what we’ve read, or be just plain daft with such a brilliant group of passionate, intelligent, thoughtful and knowledgeable people in all walks of life. In fact, to be able to communicate to people in different continents still amazes me after a decade of doing so.

One last, slightly personal (and very biased!) addition to that. It also helps that I think that the staff at SFFWorld are great. I’m not just saying that, though admittedly it is difficult to prove. I’ll just say that if I didn’t like them, I wouldn’t spend my time there. The hours they spend on the site doing all those things that they do, often behind the scenes and often unnoticed by those who are not staff… I’m always very grateful. Being part of that team is something I appreciate, even when things are not as nice as we like them to be.

PW: In the context of sf&f, what’s the funniest story you have to relate to readers here?

Mark: I’m never quite sure whether these tales work when separated from their original context. I’m also usually aware that, whilst they may be side-splitting to those present, they may not actually be funny to other people. However, the time at the WorldCon in Glasgow in 2005, when I found myself sat (by accident!) where George RR Martin sent people out to find cooked haggis in the very early hours of the morning was a sight to see. Not to mention the knighting of those brave men and women who survived the quest through late night Glasgow by George afterwards. If you ever get the chance to do so (he does it at every WorldCon he goes to, I gather), it is worth watching!

The other stories tend to blur with the passing of time and alcohol….

PW: As you look across the sf&f landscape (e.g. authors, publishers, bloggers, forum boards) what is your assessment of the “state of the nation?”

Mark: I still find it very strange to realize that SFFWorld and I are now ‘part of the nation’. We are now evidently regarded as part of the cultural furniture, and yes, I’m surprised that there’s not as many places out there that have kept going as we have done.

However, the growth of the genres, the arrival of the bloggers and twitterers, and the acceptance of what I’ve been reading for years as ‘weird stuff’ now as ‘mainstream’ are all magnificent things to behold. Anything that promotes enthusiasm and interest in what I like myself can only be a good thing. And the new writers on the ‘Net are generally a great bunch.

Despite all of the current difficulties of economic recession and rapid social change, I am impressed that the power of the imagination to engage and entertain endures.

PW: As a kid, I always wanted to tour the Bat-Cave with Batman. Give us, if you will, a tour of Hobbit Towers.

Mark: Where to start? Well, on the outside it looks fairly ordinary. However, like the Tardis of a certain doctor, Hobbit Towers is surprisingly bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. It has to be, to hold the many books it contains within its vaults, along its corridors and stairs. It exists across many planes of the multi-verse, at different times and in different places. Visitors have been known to get lost in the multitudinous volumes that exist in the Hobbit Library and vaults. In the Tower’s lower depths we have a dungeon, where all those dangerous (or dangerously bad!) books are kept. There’s also an area where the Hounds of Hobbit prowl, forever looking for their next victim. The Tower Gardens are usually watched over by Fred, the stone House mascot, who watches the house’s surroundings from his pillar, and a usually sleeping dragon on the patio. From the higher reaches of the Towers we have extensive views across the English Midlands, from the Sherwood Forest to Narnia. But I think the most fun about Hobbit Towers are all those dark and forgotten corners where things may, or may not, happen to be.

PW: Would you describe your most intriguing encounter with an author?

Mark: I’m pleased to say that most of the authors I’ve had the fortune to meet have been wonderful. Interviewing Terry Brooks as a Guest of Honour at FantasyCon in 2007 was quite an experience. Terry was a most entertaining and genial raconteur. Keeping up with the intellectual hurricane that is Hal Duncan was quite an experience as well!

PW: What would be your boldest prediction for sf&f in 2010, and beyond?

Mark: I’m quite tempted to say that my boldest prediction will be the completion of George RR Martin’s Dance With Dragons!

Or how about that 2010 will be year of acceptance by some authors, (mentioning no names, but let’s say authors such as M*rgaret Atw**d), that actually SF/Fantasy have as much value as some of those other good and proper works elsewhere.

And then there’s the discovery of that black monolith near Europa…..

I do think that SF will continue to grow in strength and develop in quality, as it has done in recent years. Fantasy will continue its domination and hack its way through the opposition. Urban fantasy will be replaced in people’s favour by whimsical tales of surrealist quality. Or perhaps not.

Thanks, Pete, for the opportunity to chat.
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Next Up: I am still reading Gene Wolfe's omnibus edition of Book of the New Sun, titled Severian of the Guild. I am also in the midst of constructing a question set for an author who has agreed to be interviewed. May you all have a great week!

The eyes have it

2009-11-07T13:51:00.003-05:00

I recently found out that my old workplace (The Stanford Eye Laser Center, Palo Alto, CA - ca. 2001-2007) was up on YouTube. It's fun to watch and see Dr. Manche again. A stellar guy and probably top 5 among the planet's corneal specialists. Not that I'm biased, mind you. ;)

Review of a debut

2009-11-05T21:36:00.011-05:00

This book was provided courtesy of Tor publishing

Lately I've been burning the candle at both ends, leaving certain elements of life to suffer. Ach, such is the burden of prioritization. Anyway, I finished John D. Brown's debut novel, Servant of a Dark God, on Sunday night. I should have had the review up last night, but had nothing left in the tank.

This is more than a debut novel. This was a launch. Fans of video games will know what I'm talking about here. Seriously, a heretofore unknown quantity (i.e. John Brown) gets Swanland cover art, Tor Forge, testimonials from Brandon Sanderson, Ken Scholes, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., David Drake, Kage Baker and David Farland, a publicity campaign that hits all the right blogs and, then, manages to even find Ubiquitous Absence? Somebody is seriously sold on Brown. Incidentally, so am I. With clarification on that coming later, let's first look at the story.

Summary: In Brown's novel, you have a protagonist who, at first glance, is yet another installment of the coming-of-age story. Okay, now look a little deeper. This young man (Talen) is as conflicted as you could want. Talen's father is a Koramite (a race of people who are, clearly, second class citizens) while his mother is Mokkadian (the dominant race within the tale). Talen spends his early years making an attempt at respectability by seeking acceptance into the Shoka clan from which his mother is from. Talen has a connection in that his maternal uncle is a man of some reputation within the clan. Beyond that, however, Talen is, largely, dismissed as the "half-breed." Talen views the Koramites, from which his father descends, as a people who constantly provoke the oppression which they endure. Talen walks across the knife's edge of an identity struggle between the two halves of his lineage and endures periods of hatred for both sides. Ultimately, Talen must choose which heritage to follow and learn to live with the consequences.

Analysis: I've heard, often enough, that fantasy uses magic as science fiction uses technology. While I get that, I dismiss it because it will lead people into expecting a formulaic approach. The magic within Servant of a Dark God is not a substitute for technology. It is a fusion of politics and religion. Each person is, nominally, capable of calling upon the "Fire of their Days." While this is so, the overwhelming majority would never even suspect it. The knowledge of such truth turns out to be a closely guarded secret by the current theo-political heirarchy. In an effort to protect their monopoly upon such knowledge, the established clergy have long since initiated a pre-emptive anti-campaign. This campaign works against such knowledge coming out by inculcating society to view those outside the established heirarchy, with such power/ability as heretics and abominations. The term used as a slur against such a person is sleth. The activity of engaging in such non-sanctioned secrets is slethery. Clearly, Brown has used elements from our (i.e. humanity's) own world, history and cultures.

I saw other such parallels. Given the map at the beginning of the book and the nature of the races present in the clan lands of Whitecliff, one is reminded of early American colonialism (sans black powder). The type of racism once prevalent in the American past, is seen within elements of this story. For instance, at the gate entering the city of Whitecliff, Koramite men are made to strip naked by the city guards to be "inspected" with neighborhood women, children and others looking on.

I most liked Brown's laissez-faire approach to the reader. Brown doesn't hold you by the hand and connect all of the dots for you. While the plot progression is more intuitive than not, this book is as deep as you want it to be. That is to say, within Servant of a Dark God you will find as much depth as you care to. I tend to prefer depth of ideas and look for them, which is good because Brown does not offer it up with a cold glass of milk. Within the story, different characters' tales will confront you with the oft pondered conundrum of compulsion and choice. Is compulsion the theft of choice? Is compulsion only an ugly and clumsy attempt to influence choice? Can free will, exercised, trump compulsion, the divine or fate? This is only one such example.

The feel that often comes with the middle book in a trilogy, is something of the feel I got here. It's the laying of groundwork for a much larger endeavor. It's the preparation undertaken in order to unleash the storm. I get that sense from this debut. The story was left such that Brown can, now, turn the entire world upside down, if he so chooses. While the book could just as easily be a stand alone, the natural progression of events can be expected to bring either a mass culling, a reformation/revolution or even a chance of a rally against the immortal.

The Bad: Let me begin by saying, some of these items I do not necessarily find "bad" but want to send out a warning knowing readers differ on many story elements.

First, let's pick some nits. I suspect that the map is not to scale. This may merely be me expecting the land mass to be analagous to North America's east coast. I also hit a couple of reading snags (i.e. typos, I think) which stopped me from time to time. This is the kind of thing you expect proof reading to knock out. I can remember six particular ones off the top of my head.

My more substantive criticisms concern logic errors and suspending disbelief. In one scene, the protagonist is fitted with a talisman around his forearm, so that his sleeve will cover it from plain sight, since this talisman would be an open advertisement of slethery. At the city gates, however, when forced to strip completely naked in order to enter and conduct business, the story treats the protagonist as if the talisman was never there. That talisman would have attracted, especially from the guards, every last ounce of unwanted attention. It just wasn't there! Later, we come to discover the age of one prominent character as being nearly 90 years old, while appearing to be 4 to 5 decades younger. How does he hide that? Seriously, in an era and culture where one is dependent upon his word and reputation, how does one rise in prominence when you've got to hide precisely what you are and how long you've been around?

There are also pacing elements some readers may not like. It goes from intense action, to pondering, to intense action again from chapter to chapter. In that sense, some readers will find it jolting. The areas of intense action also seem to be extended, anywhere from a paragraph to a page-and-a-half, too long. It makes me feel somewhat tense by the time a climactic moment arrives and I don't do tense.

Verdict: This book is a sleeper. It is good, but probably won't be recognized for how good it is until the succeeding books in his series come out. I expect great things for the remainder of Brown's series, as well as his future projects. This is as well rounded a debut as I've yet seen and proposed sequels are "must buys" for me.

Next Up: I have an exceptional interview for this coming Sunday Night. In fact, it might be too good. I don't you if you've deserved it. Have you been extra good this week? Okay, we'll do it. Stop by for an interview with one of the greatest sf&f fans that too many people have not yet heard of.

Also, back to reading Gene Wolfe's Severian of the Guild.

Things & Stuff

2009-10-31T12:50:00.005-04:00

There are things and stuff going on. Lately, I've been going back and forth with a couple of other bloggers. Harry, over at Temple Library Reviews, put together a Halloween special of bloggers' favorite scary stories. Harry and I go back and forth with conversations and my blog has done, at least, this one favor for me - bringing along someone very interesting to talk to. I've also gone back and forth with 'The Otter', over at his blog. It, too, is a great site. John (AKA, The Otter) is putting together a group of bloggers' favorite book endings. While mine may seem an 'easy' pick, my explanation will hopefully clarify.

Otherwise, I received my first publisher's edition of a book for review. In this instance, I have shelved what I was reading in order to give this book full attention. It was nice to be noticed, so I'll give the book the complete dissection. Initially, I was nervous that I would dislike it and end up having to write up a bad review for it. Currently, I purchase all of my own books, which I thoroughly vet and examine long before committing actual money. In this case, the book (Servant of a Dark God, by John Brown) is a total unknown element for me. Luckily, at ~150p in, it is going rather well. We'll see what we really have once I've finished.

It's that time of year again, so let me scare you with this: PUMPKIN-HEAD (AKA, Milk-Beard, the Pirate).

Fully Completely

2009-10-26T21:15:00.007-04:00

Getting ready to queue up the latest DVRed episode of my new favorite television show, Dexter and started thinking. I see mood indicators on some authors' live journals (notably GRRM) and thought, "Hey, that's kinda neat." Well I'm going to do it with a little YouTube video. Getting ready to watch this show has me in mind of my all-time favorite musical act - The Tragically Hip (specifically, Locked in the Trunk of a Car). I recall, many a moon ago, standing about in Memorial Auditorium (Burlington, VT) and listening to Gordon Downie make the comment, "you odd, hill people." Oh yeah, baby, je sais beaucoup odd hill people. N'est-ce pas?

Review - Dave Duncan

2009-10-24T18:28:00.008-04:00

Okay, just finished Duncan's second book in the Seventh Sword series. We pick up with the protagonist, and his 'fellowship', the day after the end of the first book. The entirety of the book takes place on, or beside, the flow of the mystical River that is symbolic of the Goddess worshipped by the peoples living near it. In this second book, we begin to encounter 'sorcerers', or peoples who have descended from the mountains to challenge the swordsman caste for local supremacy, town by town and village by village. Recently, every clash between sorcerers and swordsmen has resulted in total domination by sorcerers. By the end of this book, you will discover why. I would say that most will discover why half to three-quarters of the way in, since the answer is rather intuitive and the author does a fair amount to lead the reader into the conclusion, well ahead of the protagonist.

The Bad: 1.) Although I liked this book, many may dislike the amount of action, of which it is short on. Think Sherlock Holmes. Intellectually intriguing and teasing, but not a candidate for a blockbuster film laden down with huge, explosive moments. 2.) Though it is short and not belabored, there is some repetition. An obvious point explained, when I have long since gotten the gist of the matter, kills my reading appetite and I have to go and do something else.

The Good: 1.) The solving of the mysterious plot lines. I can't get too specific without hitting spoilers. In this case, I will only say that the above average mixture of observation and thoughtfulness will have the reader patting themselves on the back for their keen sense of intuitiveness. 2.) The development of Nanji is subtle, but very appreciated by this reader. This is the course I would have expected Nanji's development to take, considering he is regularly exposed to Wallie Smith. 3.) The Sapphire and her crew. It is slow to develop, but I have come to love the crew of the Sapphire by the end of the book. 4.) The honorable Honakura. Easily my most favorite character in this series. Imagine the combination of Yoda and Grumpy Old Men. I'm telling you, it works.

Next Up: I'm still working on question sets, so no Sunday Night Spotlight this week. As far as reading goes, I'm itching for a book with a strong hook. I will in all likelihood forgo finishing this trilogy, for now, in favor of something heavy. I'm thinking of Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind or Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. We'll see.

Tired

2009-10-23T12:32:00.008-04:00

Man, am I tired. With a 2½-month old doing his thing and six medical office building budgets coming down on me, I'm beat, but finally caught up. I've only got ~50p remaining in book two of Dave Duncan's Seventh Sword series and then I'll have a review up. I'm also working on a couple different question sets for the Sunday Night Spotlight.

Otherwise, I recently became a bit more aware of a particular author. My interest became piqued and I looked a little deeper into the author's bibliography, while reading trusted sites for reviews of his work. I stop and wonder, "How do I miss out on this?" The only answer I can arrive at, was that there is insufficient "buzz" about this author to draw my attention.

On his own blog, S. A. Swann has this recent blog title, "My cover can kick your cover's ass."

I love the sense of humor. So, I start looking around and, guess what? There are plenty of reviews out there, from reviewers I trust, and I still couldn't say that I had read any Swann. For instance, Swann's latest book had some fairly decent reviews from Paul and Graeme. Swann has also received a nice review from Rob for Prophets.

Swann has even been up on the radar over at Fantasy Literature and the Hotlist. I was suprised to read, from Pat's entry, that GRR Martin had given the book a testimonial. I doubt GRRM would do that, just for the asking. People can say what they want to about Pat, but there is no debating he is the most viewed SF&F blogger on the web. If Swann is coming up for reading consideration during Pat's extraordinarily limited amount of leisure time, then it must be better than average.

Well, my head is coming out of the sand and I shall be acquiring some Swann material. Anyone visiting this have any familiarity with Swann's work, either SF or Fant Lit? Let me know and give a quick summary and opinion.

A Fine Blend

2009-10-10T21:08:00.007-04:00

I finished reading Dave Duncan's The Reluctant Swordsman moments ago. Coming in at just under 300 pages, it is a quick read. The story is constructed around it's protagonist, a man who has transmigrated from his own dying corpse, on Earth, into the body of a dead man in a secondary world. Through the course of the story, the protagonist realizes that his own values, morals and opinions have less place in this world than the one from which he came. His values clearly clash with the prevailing culture and, from time to time, nearly cost him his life. While he begins to learn how to exist in this world, without utterly betraying his conscience, he begins to be effected while concurrently making an impact.

The Bad: I'm not sure I found anything bad at all. The story, characters, theme, action and other various sundries were fine. That all having been said, there was something that kept it from being truly great. I would say that it is the immediate locale within which this first book takes place. The reader gets one town, with temple and jail, for the entire tale.

The Good: The characters and storyline were above average. The truly noteworthy item was the depth and breadth of knowledge of the author. Without knowing such things myself, I might have skipped right over it. However, it is clear to me that Duncan is well versed in many matters. Given the exploration of the mysteries of faith by the protagonist, I would guess that the author is Catholic. Now, whether or not I would be right, it's clear to me that Duncan has, at least, had some formal, spiritual exposure. Also, I would guess that the author is well versed in Asian history. The story reads like an amalgam of Confucian legalism/meritocracy and Japanese bushido. As a student of history, I truly enjoyed the protagonist's dilemma regarding his rose-tinted, twentieth-century glasses view of society and culture. I often find people's historical arrogance/ignorance astounding (e.g. the currently PC vilification of historical figures - Christopher Columbus, et. al.). I am very interested to see what becomes of the protagonist and this part of the storyline as it proceeds.

Next Up: There is no Spotlight this week. I'm going to remain within Duncan's Seventh Sword series and read book two, The Coming of Wisdom.

Scope of work

2009-10-07T08:18:00.003-04:00

The political sprawl continues, here in the US. Now, the federal government is concerning itself with book blogs. Yes, book blogs. Uncle Sam wants to make sure he's getting his piece of the action here. Monitor, regulate, tax and do it again. This time, it's the Federal Trade Commission.

I'm not even bothering with the details, because I succumb to the temptation to get real negative all too easily where the federal government is involved (i.e. intrudes). Seriously, if the FTC really needs to go here, in this economy, then the money grubbing and power hungry nature of government is transparently obvious. With these clowns, I'm very minimalist. Less is more, baby. However, hit all the bases if you're looking to iron it out.

Now under FTC regulation, by Ken at Neth Space

Federal Trading Commission: Aims for a head shot. Should bloggers beware?, by Harry at Temple Library Reviews

About that FTC guides update that has some in a tizzy, by Larry at OF Blog of the Fallen

FTC Will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies, by The Mad Hatter at The Mad Hatter's Book Shelf & Book Review

FTC to Monitor Bloggers?, by Tia Nevitt at Fantasy Debut

Yet Another Post on the New FTC Guidelines, by Kristen at Fantasy Cafe

Smugglers Ponderings: On the FTC Guidelines & The Book Smugglers, by The Book Smugglers

Spotlight o' Sunday Night

2009-10-04T14:54:00.007-04:00

Recently, I managed to convince Rob Bedford, of Rob's Blog o' Stuff and moderator at SFFWorld forums to stop in for an interview.

Rob, aside from putting together tons of stuff for his own blog, completes plenty of reviews for SFFWorld and helps to moderate the forums. So, we made a beneficial trade - he promised to stop by and I promised to no longer raise dead threads (the "necro-thread"), as well as relenting from creating unnecessarily redundant threads.

PW: What was it, in sf&f, that captured your interest and catalyzed your activity?

Rob: I’ve been a geek since a young lad, growing up watching Saturday morning cartoons like Super Friends and Godzilla (the cartoon from the late 70s/80s as well as the movies), and the Superman and Star Wars movies . From there, I was led to comics, which coincided with my early RPG days, playing Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as it was known then – the first edition that came as a boxed set of books. D&D led me to the DragonLance books, my parents were big Stephen King and Robert McCammom fans, which got me interested in horror. So really there was never any hope for me.

PW: Please tell us the origins story of the Blog ‘o Stuff.

Rob: Well, I saw a lot of people blogging in the early 00s. At the time, I followed a few comics and SFF bloggers regularly and thought, shit, if these clowns can go on and on about what they like to read and watch so can I. It also helped that I had involvement at SFFWorld. In a sense, the blog was an extra outlet and place to link my SFFWorld reviews and interviews.

PW: I’ve seen that you are extremely involved in SFFWorld. How did this come about and what is your role/duties there?

Rob: I’ve been a member of the forums for nearly a decade, which in intarweb years is like a century and a half. When I first joined, it was relatively small and I was one of the more vocal people in the forums. The site owner, Dag Rambruat, asked if I wanted to help out with some behind the scenes stuff like moderating the forums. I said sure, and that eventually lead to reviewing books. So in the end, I really owe a great deal of where I am and what I’ve done on line and in the genre to Dag. Dag’s a generous, smart and all-around good guy.

PW: How were you hooked by comics and what keeps you there?

Rob: See answer #1, I liked the Super Friends, as well as Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and wanted to find out about the superheroes. When I got really serious about reading and collecting comics, DC Comics was in the middle of their first major crossover/universe reset, Crisis on Infinite Earths. Soon after that, all the major icons were re-booted, Superman had The Man of Steel origin by John Byrne, Flash was re-launched, so it was an exciting time. Round the time I was in college, I was drawn back in by the Death of Superman and kept in the world of comics by that and a lot of cool Vertigo stuff like Preacher and Sandman.

PW: In your various activities throughout the sf&f landscape, what was your best day ever?

Rob: Either having Neil Gaiman link to my blog or having my interview with John Twelve Hawks continue to be linked and quoted on Wikipedia and other online resources. I was one of the first people (maybe even the first) to interview JTH.

PW: By that same token, what was your worst day ever?

Rob: I don’t know probably being called out once or twice on the depth and quality of one of my reviews by a person from whom I didn’t expect. And the review in question I felt was, at the time, a pretty strong review. The review was of the first book in a series a bulk of the review was quoted on book 2 of the series.

PW: In your travels across the sf&f-scape, what’s the funniest story you have to tell?

Rob: Hmm…maybe seeing the guys on The Big Bang Theory playing the Talisman board game I played for years. Coincidentally, the version they were playing was the newer version I’d recently received for Christmas. For the uninitiated, I highly recommend this game – it will take a few hours of your time but if you’re in the mood for some fantasy gaming, it’s worth it.

PW: Since we all know frustration and have competing priorities for our time, what keeps you involved at your blog and sffworld?

Rob: I really, really am a biblioholic and I like to share my disease with others. Is that too sick? Honestly, I just really enjoy talking about the books I like to read, finding new authors to read, and showing off my knowledge just a little bit. If I can steer a person from reading Terry Goodkind to reading somebody like Matthew Stover, George R.R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, R. Scott Bakker, Glen Cook, Stephen R. Donaldson, Gary Wassner, James Barclay, or Steven Brust then I think I’ve helped to make the world a better place.

PW: In your analysis, what is the state of the sf&f-scape (i.e. publishing, blogosphere, movies, et. al.)?

Rob: Good. Very Good. It seems more genre books are being published and a lot of what I read was good. Publishing is seeing a shift every year from physical books to virtual books (POD and eBooks) – I should know, I’m kind of in that business, so there are more venues for not only new authors, but for keeping classics and favorites available. Look at Baen – they have a crapload of stuff available online. POD really is the way to go for keeping things in print that have a consistent demand.

Blogosphere – everybody has a blog now it seems, so opinions are being shared. This is a good thing – publishers are beginning to pay attention to bloggers (i.e. their readers, fans and maybe even potential future authors).

Movies – One of the best reviewed movies of the year was District 9 – an SF movie. The most anticipated film of the year is and SF movie – Avatar. ‘nuff said.

PW: What is your boldest prediction for sf&f in 2010?

Rob: A new Science Fiction writer will generate the same amount of buzz that Scott Lynch, Patrick Rothfuss, and Peter Brett did for fantasy. At least I hope that happens because while SF is strong, I’d love to see somebody generate the buzz those guys did. Al Reynolds is hugely popular in the UK and I’d love to see that be mirrored here in the US.

PW: Will the Devils contend for the Cup this season?

Rob: Hah! You do know me pretty well, or is it just my avatar? Seriously, I think they’ll be in contention just like they are every year. Gionta was a big loss and a disheartening one for me since he really left everything out on the ice. Much as I liked Madden, I think maybe a change of pace will be good in that end for the Devils. Despite these two losses and a few other more minor losses, they made the two most important signings – Oduya who I’ve come to affectionately call ManBearPig and Zajac. Lou is one of the top 3 GMs in any sport and he always knows what he’s doing, so in the end I’ll miss Gionta, but have faith that the Devils will do fine – as long as they don’t blow it with 2 minutes remaining. The Flyers will probably be their toughest competitor in the East with the additions they’ve made and I expect Chicago to win the West. So, I think we might be looking at a Blackhawks-Devils Finals in the summer of 2010.
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Well, I hope my Bruins can put some kind of improvement on the decent turn-around season they had last year, and keep the Devils at home during the April - June stretch when the greatest hockey players in the world contend for Lord Stanley's Cup. Otherwise, Rob is a great guy. Seriously, Rob has great reviews, as well as tips and hints into what is transpiring behind the sf&f curtain.

Stop by the Blog o' Stuff or SFFWorld and check in with Rob.

Dust of Dreams winner

2009-10-03T16:33:00.008-04:00

Bryce Lee (Seak on sffworld forums) of Laramie, WY (USA) is the winner for Steven Erikson's Dust of Dreams for the Ubiquitous-Absence review challenge. Bryce correctly found and emailed the link from my review, posted on Harry Markov's Temple Library Reviews.

Tomorrow is Sunday night and the Spotlight will be on. The Ubiquitously Absent caravan will be blogcasting from New Jersey and ♫we're halfway there...oh-oohhhh♫.

The Raven heats up

2009-09-28T22:24:00.008-04:00

The third book of James Barclay's Raven series picks up five years after the end of the second book. Each character's life has followed natural progression lines since last we read of them. Early on, events unfold which spur Denser to seek out the former members of the now inactive Raven. In the finest traditions of comraderie, solidarity and esprit de corps, the members of the Raven incrementally reunite on a southerly passage across the continent before taking to the sea. Upon the ocean, they seek a place of legend and myth - the respository of the few remaining mages practicing the One magic.

Where the first book is the introduction to the characters, this book brings to the reader familiar faces. Where the second book is an over-long exercise in detailing several POVs over the same weeks long period, this book hits with several major events for our intrepid mercenaries to confront, endure and survive.

[CLICK TO READ MORE @ YOUR OWN RISK - SPOILER ALERT!!!]

The Bad: Like the previous two books, the pacing can be rather jolting. Certain areas go over-long and feel padded and laborious. Also, considering the transpiration of events thus far, I am unable to connect, and empathize, with Erienne and Denser. Even with the death of their small child, Lyanna, I was more interested to find out what would happen to Hirad, The Unknown, Thraun and the Kaan.

My ambivalence toward Erienne stems largely from her total lack of reaction to the death of her first husband, who - I might add - was responsible for commissioning her rescue mission by the group Will and Thraun were originally contracted with. Erienne has all kinds of feelings for her slain twins, her new husband - Denser, and her daughter Lyanna. When it comes to her reactions vis-a-vis her first husband - Alun - nothing. Did I imagine this character? It hammers on the believability of the Erienne's character. Denser, from the very first, has been the catalyst for nearly all of the trouble encountered on Balaia, at least by the Raven. With his reach chronically exceeding his grasp, Denser is the kind of team member I could live without. More irksome still, the reader is left with absolutely no resolution to the crises being suffered by my personal favorites, Thraun and the Kaan.

The Good: It's the Raven, fool! I find in the pages of Nightchild an indescribable quality that draws this reader deeper into the story. The lives of Ilkar, Hirad, the Unknown Warrior, Thraun and the Kaan connect solidly. The story has a particularly unsavory antagonist in the form of Selik, titular head of the resurrected Black Wings which is a sanctimonius and pseudo-pious group devoted to the destruction of magic's influence and it's practitioners. This reader was waiting, tensely, for this individual to be throttled but, alas, Selik too has an end that is unresolved in this tale.

Barclay is at his best when writing action sequences or tension loaded plot developments. It's the spaces in between that trip him up. To be fair, these are his earlier works and I continue to remain very interested in tracking the development of his writing throughout the remaining course of the Raven series.

Rate: 8.5/10

Next Up: I'm experiencing a bit of Raven fatigue and have decided to give myself a breather on the remainder of that series. I've taken down from the shelf The Reluctant Swordsman, book one of Dave Duncan's The Seventh Sword series.

Floating around

2009-09-27T19:39:00.006-04:00

No spotlight tonight, folks. Now, now, don't get too upset. Some truly interesting sf&f people will be stopping in for the Sunday Night fun over the next couple of weeks.

I should have a review of Nightchild up tomorrow evening. As you may or may not have noticed, I have given a review grade to Glen Cook's The Swordbearer. So, where's the review? Ah-hah!! That is the question. The review for The Swordbearer will be out in the sf&f blogosphere somewhere this week.

To make this kind of fun, I will personally purchase, and mail to you, a brand spanking new hard cover copy of one of the favorites I'm eye-balling at the moment: Steven Erikson's Dust of Dreams.

The rules are simple. I'll ship anywhere Amazon/U.S. does (because I'll direct ship it to you) and you need to be above reproach. Huh? WTH did he say? That's right. I know some of you already know where the review is going up, so no cheating - even though I love the Patriots (In Bill We Trust).

So, should you be the first to find my review of Glen Cook's The Swordbearer, email me the link, and your snail mail address at PeterWilliam-AT-gmx-DOT-com (use the regular "at" and "dot" symbols). Entry deadline is 9 PM, Eastern Standard Time on Friday, October 2nd.

"There can be only one."

It's that time of year

2009-09-19T12:19:00.005-04:00

My blog content will undoubtedly be sparse during the autumn/early winter season (in the US we're talking September through January). Aside from a change in jobs, and a newborn, I am transfixed by football (American style). Saturdays are all about college football (I'm watching University of Louisville v. University of Kentucky while typing). Sundays are all about pro football (we're talking about Patriots football, as I grew up in a particular New England state).

There will not be an interview this Sunday Night. However, I do have more than one person who has agreed to give an interview. Currently I am constructing question sets for these individuals to answer at their leisure.

I continue to read James Barclay's Nightchild and can say, thus far (i.e. ~200p.), I like it more than the previous two entries in the Raven series. I am also starting The Swordbearer, by Glen Cook for an as yet undisclosed purpose. Oh, I'll tell you, when the time is right.

Sunday Night Spotlight - The Wertzone

2009-09-13T20:01:00.013-04:00

In exchanging posts through forum boards, I have come to realize that the sf&f community has an encyclopedia - Adam Whitehead. I have seen challengers come and go, but one thing I have yet to see, is someone challenging Adam to the facts of a matter and come out on top. It's Sunday Night Spotlight and we're in The Wertzone.

PW: Recently, wotmania shut down. In previous interviews Pat (Fantasy Hotlist) and Ken (Neth Space) spoke about the “early days.” Can you give those of us in the second generation of sf&f online a summary of wotmania and those early days? What was the attraction that drew so many there?

Adam: Well, I was just a lurker for most of those early days and didn’t start posting there until 2005, although I’d visited on and off since its founding. As the first forum I frequented I remember it being a very optimistic and friendly place at the start. This was before the Wheel of Time series veered heavily off-course with the later books, Steven Erikson and Scott Bakker were still years away from releasing their first books and even George RR Martin only had one Song of Ice and Fire book out. Back in those days (starts smoking pipe) Wheel of Time was widely regarded as the best epic fantasy series out there, despite grumblings over the length even back then with ‘just’ eight books out. There was an awful lot of enthusiasm and energy running around. When the books started going off the rails a bit more, that energy got transferred to the new ‘Other Fantasy’ department, where people like Ken and Larry did an excellent job of promoting other authors and getting people fired up about other books. It was a very interesting and enjoyable community back in those days.

Unfortunately, the attitude of some of the people running Wotmania over on the overall site design/administration side meant that the Other Fantasy section never fulfilled its potential (in particular with regards to getting authors involved in the community), despite sterling work by the mods, and a lot of other websites like Westeros and SFFWorld leapfrogged it. After that we saw Wotmania start to deflate, and a lot of people started posting elsewhere.

PW: Can you relate the origins tale of The Wertzone?

Adam: Although I was not on the Internet regularly prior to 2005, I’d been posting reviews to Amazon for some time prior to that and been writing reviews and articles for my own amusement for some time. After going online and seeing the work people like Pat and Stego (who ran the much-missed ‘I Hope I Didn’t Give Away the Ending’ blog) were doing, the blog seemed like a natural evolution of stuff I’d already been doing for a number of years and getting some feedback on it.

PW: I regularly follow The Wertzone, specifically the reviews on books, games, movies and television series. Can you give your number one, all-time top recommendation for each category?

Adam: That’s a tall order. For TV, if we’re talking non-genre I’d say The Wire. If we’re talking about something SF-related, then Spaced, which is a fantastic and very funny examination of geek culture. More people also need to watch the 1998 vampire mini-series Ultraviolet, which is superb.

In film my favourite SF movies are depressingly obvious choices like The Empire Strikes Back and Aliens, but among more recent movies I think Danny Boyle’s Sunshine definitely didn’t get the attention it deserves. Best SF imagery and music since Blade Runner.

Computer games are also very difficult. I’m replaying Far Cry at the moment which has fantastic replayability, whilst for sheer nerve-shredding tension, every SF fan needs to play Freespace 2 at least once. If you put a gun to my head and demanded on answer, it would have to be Planescape: Torment just for its tremendous depth of story and character. Probably the closest computer games have gotten to the status of literature.

As for books, that’s completely impossible but Hamilton’s Reality Dysfunction, Pratchett’s Small Gods, Christopher Priest’s The Separation and Martin’s Storm of Swords have to be contenders.

PW: What was your greatest personal moment behind the curtains at The Wertzone?

Adam: Probably getting an email out of the blue in early 2007 from Simon Spanton at Gollancz asking me if I wanted some free review copies (after a recommendation from Pat, so many thanks to Pat for that). Up until that point, I hadn’t imagined anyone was paying any attention to the blog. After that it would be going to a publisher’s party and finding a lot of people there actually had read the blog. Finally, the day Neil Gaiman left a comment on the blog was pretty impressive as well.

PW: What is the most comedic tale you have to relate from The Wertzone?

Adam: Getting The Name of the Wind, which I’d given an early positive review to, signed by Pat Rothfuss, and then getting an immense bear-hug. The photo of that from the blog has gone round the houses a few times, I can tell you.

PW: Have you ever been frustrated enough to entertain the temptation to walk away from The Wertzone? What keeps you coming back?

Adam: The frustration usually comes from the cyclical nature of arguments on the Internet. No sooner does one argument die down then it seems to flare up again. The two particularly annoying contenders on that score this year have been the debates on Martin’s handling of A Dance with Dragons and Sanderson writing the final Wheel of Time book(s). There’s only so many times you can read the same ridiculous and ill-informed comments by people too lazy to do a Google or Wikipedia check on the situation before wanting to switch off your computer and never turn it on again.

However, that’s more the Internet in general than the blog in particular. There are months when I haven’t got much to say, when I’m reading a lot less and am pursuing things not related to the blog, and then there are months where there’s lots going on, lots of books to read and lots of exciting news to relate. So the number of entries per month might dip up and down, but I’ve never been tempted to ditch the whole thing altogether. In general what keeps me coming back is people’s enthusiasm and passion for the genre.

PW: I’ve seen you around in other online locales (e.g. sffworld and westeros). What trends do you see going forward for the online sf&f community?

Adam: E-books are clearly going to become a bigger and bigger part of people’s reading patterns, with perhaps disastrous consequences for bricks-and-mortar bookstores. That’s going to be a major issue a few years down the road. For the community itself, I think we’re going to see increased fragmentation. SF&F is no longer an isolated, ‘niche’ pursuit and with more and more books being sold in their millions, I think we’re going to see the epic fantasy, hard SF, space opera, steampunk, magic realist, New Weird, urban fantasy, alt-history, paranormal horror, young adult and other subgenres start to pull away from one another much as SF&F has already done from the mainstream. We’re already seeing that on some blogs and review sites where people seem to only be interested in one type of books and nothing else, which I think is a crying shame.

PW: How about the sf&f blogosphere? What trends or patterns do you see developing out there?

Adam: The blogosphere is already starting to fragment in the manner I cited above, which is, to my mind, not a healthy development. Having blogs that review nothing but say, urban fantasy is limiting your appeal, especially a few years down the line when something else comes along and urban fantasy suddenly drops out of favour. I think embracing a wider range of books from the start is a better way to go.

Another worrying trend, one that’s been brought up several times recently, is the number of blogs (particularly newer ones) which you fire up and are immediately greeted by a monolithic block of competitions (or announcements of winners from other competitions), with the actual content buried deep under a wall of marketing. I’m not a fan of that at all. I also strongly believe that if you are offering a competition to win a product, then you are endorsing that product, which in the recent case of the number of blogs offering copies of the Winds of Dune book (although the bloggers cheerfully admit to loathing the new Dune cash-in books) seems to be hypocritical.

PW: Regarding games, do you forsee any future installments to the Dark Forces or Knights of the Old Republic Star Wars franchises?

Adam: LucasArts are under new management and seem to have a long-term strategy for a return to the game genres that made them great in the first place. They’ve already strongly hinted that they will be looking at a return to the adventure genre – although the lower development costs involved in adventure gaming versus say a 3D action game I suspect are more of an attraction there – and I suspect it won’t be long before they start looking at new shooters in the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight vein. I suspect that any new games in that vein will be a new franchise using a new name and probably not involve the characters from that series, but you never know.

PW: If you will, please give your boldest prediction for sf&f for 2010.

Adam: Depending on how everything falls out, 2010-11 will be the big years for A Song of Ice and Fire. A new book in the series, a new Dunk ‘n’ Egg prequel novella and, towards the end of that period, the new companion book and of course the TV series (which I suspect will debut in early 2011) will take the book series to a new level of popularity and success. Based on what I’ve read so far (the four preview chapters and a number of sample chapters read out at conventions), A Dance with Dragons looks like being a substantially better book than the previous one in the series, and I think will win back some wavering readers.

My other, considerably less bold, predictions are that fans are going to be extremely divided by both Steven Erikson’s The Crippled God, the long-awaited conclusion to his Malazan series, and by Brandon Sanderson’s The Gathering Storm and its successor, which will be out in late 2010. The deep divisions in the fan community we’ve already seen forming over a single sample chapter I suspect will be further increased by the books themselves, and an awful lot of genre internet chatter is going to be about that subject in the coming year.
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All thanks to The Wertzone's creator, Adam Whitehead for stopping by and being interviewed. I promise that I'm still reading James Barclay's Nightchild, although at a much slower than usual pace. There will be a review........eventually.

To rate, or not to rate

2009-09-08T21:58:00.005-04:00

It's a discussion I've seen flown around from time to time. In this particular iteration, heavy language was flowing from the outset. In lieu of a recap, I'll give the quick link rapid fire version. Harry Markov, of Temple Library Reviews, has a regular Sunday column called, Reviewer Time, where he reviews bloggers from the genre.

As an aside, yes thanks for mentioning it, I feel somewhat stupid putting my Sunday Night Spotlight on....Sunday. I was aware of Harry's interviews, just not that they were on Sunday. Yeah, yeah, can it!

Anyway, Harry interviews Paul Stotts of Blood of the Muse. In explaining why he rates books as he does, Paul drops a comment some took exception to. James, from Speculative Horizons, had a response to Paul's comment. Jeff, from Fantasy Books News & Reviews, had a response to Paul's comment. Joe Sherry, of Adventures in Reading, had a response, to Paul's comment. Larry, from OF Blog of the Fallen, had a double-barreled response to Paul's comment.

I disagree with Paul's careless comment, but I also rate. For instance, the recent ruckus surrounding a live journal post by author John C. Wright was given a category five status - the most powerful fecal maelstrom category within this genre's blogosphere. How do I get to determine this? Easy: 1.) it is quantifiable by post traffic and 2.) I am a world-reknowned literary sociometeorologist, or occasionally play one on tv. Paul's comment during the interview has reached category two status.

All joking aside, why would I rate. It's easy, simple and lazy. So, why do I bother reviewing? It's more complete, thorough and is the due diligence required because I do call myself a reviewer. So, why do I offer both? I do so because I imagine that there are readers who would prefer one or the other and I want to be accessible to both. To be sure, rating does present all kinds of problems.

Once I rate a book, I sometimes look at previous ratings and realize I want to revamp them. So, I do revamp them. Are the ratings reliable? Sure, 'til I change them. In the grand scheme of things, all of the ratings I've given have been fairly decent scores. Am I puckering up to shine the backsides of the publishing world? No, I buy all the books I read and since I'm shelling out, I make sure I'm getting some value for the book. I've not the kind of blog that is recognizable enough to be receiving advance, or review, copies yet - give it a couple years.

The entire discussion has made me realize that I will probably get away from rating the books I read and review. Until such a time comes, this is how the ubiquitously absent will roll, know what I'm sayin'. Hey, "it is what it is" and if someone wanted to flame or troll me on it, I would simply offer a cordial invitation to them to play "Hide the Suppository" with their comments. It might not work for all, but I have an extraordinarily low blood pressure and two unbroken middle fingers. :-D