another list of books...

I like lists. I could make a list of pretty much anything and be happy. In my younger days (I’m staggeringly old now) I made lists of favorite songs, bands, baseball players, wrestlers, books, movies, food, etc. Anything, really. Recently I’ve been thinking about making a list of the books I would like to read. This would be different than my list from a couple months ago of the 2008 publications I am looking forward to. This list won’t include the three Elizabeth Bear novels coming out later this year (or Dust, published in January), George R. R. Martin, Scott Lynch, Raymond Feist, Terry Brooks, or any other “major” author who has a publication scheduled sometime in the next 12 months. Rather, this list is going to be of the books which sometimes are a bit overlooked. This is subjective, of course, because the book that I don’t talk about often may be the book that someone else can’t stop talking about. I imagine that most people reading this list will have read (or heard of) some of these books, but this is some of what I’d like to read this year (or next).


Unwelcome Bodies, by Jennifer Pelland. The first (and only) Pelland story I have read is her Nebula Nominated story “Captive Girl” and I was impressed enough that I want to read more of Pelland’s work. While I know that she has several stories available on her website, I would rather hold her debut collection Unwelcome Bodies in my hands. It’s just the kind of reader I am. Once we get past the “major” releases of 2008, I find myself thinking more about buying a copy of Unwelcome Bodies if I have the available funds. Given that I don’t buy many books, I think it says something that I’m even considering spending money on this.

Caine Black Knife, by Matthew Stover. Heroes Die and The Blade of Tyshalle are two criminally overlooked and under recognized novels, and even though Stover is -also- a popular Star Wars author (he’s one of the best), I’m not sure his original fiction gets noticed the way I think it should. This third novel following Hari Michaelson will be a must read the moment it is published. Stover’s blend of fantasy, science fiction, violence, and balls to the wall writing is not to be missed. Stover is likely not for everybody, but fans of the genre (and fans of hard edged writing) should give Stover a shot. Think a darker-toned Scott Lynch.

Territory, by Emma Bull. This is an acclaimed release of 2007, but I know Emma Bull first as the creator and co-writer of Shadow Unit. Because of how much I love Shadow Unit and that Bull’s work there is quite strong, now I want to read some of her novels. I suspect Territory is the place to start.

Soldiers Live, by Glen Cook. It may be unfair to have Soldiers Live on this list because I know I will read the book this year. It is the final Black Company novel. After the goodness of Water Sleeps, my interest in Glen Cook and The Black Company has been revitalized. I just wanted to use this spot to throw a little bit more attention at Glen Cook and The Black Company.

Shadow Matrix, by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Darkover series. Looking back, the writing isn’t that strong, but I have enjoyed the culture clash blend of low tech fantasy with a technologically advanced science fiction society. I have only two Darkover novels left that to read that were at all penned by Bradley and I believe this one was at the most only partially written by Bradley. Still. If there is such a thing as a guilty pleasure in SFF, Darkover is mine.

Fathom, by Cherie Priest. No clue what this is about, but I love her Eden Moore books and I don’t see nearly enough people talking about Cherie Priest. Myself included, I suppose. This is one of two novels published by Priest this year. The other is a more limited edition from Subterranean Press (Those Who Went Remain There Still)

AI War, by Daniel Keys Moran. I first read The Long Run years ago back in high school and the book hit me at just the right time. The story of Trent the Uncatchable was exciting, dangerous, fresh, and fun. But this was the Second book in the Continuing Time sequence. It took me several years to find the first book, Emerald Eyes, and I was very disappointed. It was a rough effort. But then, I found the third book, The Last Dancer, last year and was pleasantly surprised. While not quite hitting me like The Long Run did, Moran kept me glued to the page all the way through. The AI War is forthcoming sometime in the next year or so. I think...and I hope. It's going to be published, right?

Windhaven, by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle. I’ve read every other novel length work Martin has published, so this is a good time to finish up his longer fiction before I go hunt down all of his short story collections so I can get a hold of the stories not published in Dreamsongs. I finished The Armageddon Rag last week and seriously, the man range is breathtaking.



I don't have anything to say about the below books because I don't know anything about them, but I've heard some goodness about the titles. Just don't know anything about the content.

Grey, by Jon Armstrong
Raw Shark Texts, by Steven Hall
The Secret History of Moscow, by Ekaterina Sedia

Quick Takes: Sheila Williams, Daniel Keys Moran, Matthew Stover

Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine: 30th Anniversary Anthology, by Sheila Williams (editor): This is one impressive anthology! That’s how I’ll start out my little blurb / whatever about the 30 year anthology from Asimov’s. Generally if I find myself enjoying at least half the stories in a collection or anthology I feel good about it. Lou Anders and his Fast Forward 1 was a shot in the arm with how good an original anthology could be. But this 30 year retrospective from Asimov’s Science Fiction, with stories covering all stages of the magazines growth – this is a doozy! There are Hugo winners galore, but it isn’t just a reprint of award winners. Many Hugo winners are left off, and to keep the length down Sheila Williams did not go with the longer novellas for this anthology. But from John Varley’s opening “Air Raid” through Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds”, work by Mike Resnick, the ubiquitous “Lobsters” by Charles Stross (seems I can’t go anywhere without tripping over this story), newer work by Kelly Link and Robert Reed (which would be the two of the three stories I had previously read and the two stories I did not care for) – this, if anything ever is, a Must Read anthology of science fiction. There is fiction from Isaac Asimov, Ursula LeGuin, Jonathan Lethem, Lucius Shepard, Kim Stanley Robinson, Stephen Baxter, Connie Willis and more. Give Lou Anders another thirty years and he should be able to come up with an anthology to match this one, but until then, go with this 30th Year Anthology from Asimov’s Science Fiction. Outstanding stories here, and the less impressive stories are merely good and quite fine on their own.



The Last Dancer, by Daniel Keys Moran: After having this book on my reading list since 2005 and having had a desire to read it for almost a decade more than that, I found The Last Dancer was available free online. Finally. This is the third volume of the Continuing Time series begun with the disappointing Emerald Eyes and continuing with The Long Run. It was The Long Run which I had read first, and which sucked me into this odd techno future of web dancers, AI, and a story of a man called “Trent the Uncatchable”. Parts of the story are hokey and clunky (most often character names...it shows, at times, that Moran created this world when he was a teenager), but generally The Long Run was a fast paced fun ride of a novel. Where the first book was about the entire Castanaveres family, and the second was about Trent, this third volume focuses mostly on Denise Castanaveres, one of the two living Castanaveres telepaths (Trent, though her brother, is not a telepath...just uncatchable). Denise hires herself out as a bodyguard to a politician she can mostly believe in (her personal moral code is central to the novel), and finds herself involved in a millennia old war between super humans. It is with The Last Dancer that the reader gets a hint of the scope of Continuing Time. There is a section nearly two thirds of the way through the book that Moran takes the focus off of Denise and tells the story of another set of characters only to return to Denise for the conclusion. This was off putting at first, but I was able to settle back in to the story. I can’t say that The Last Dancer is an outstanding work of fiction, but there is a good sense of adventure and fun (though everything is quite serious), and the reemergence of Trent in this volume is a treat, though even Trent is mostly serious. What I can say is that I enjoyed reading The Last Dancer and look forward to The AI War, which Moran is currently working on.



Traitor, by Matthew Stover: When I read Shatterpoint, the Clone Wars novel dealing with Mace Windu (aka Sam Jackson), I was impressed. That was a work of Star Wars fiction which really got to the darkness of the human soul in war time. The novel was a fine line of the Light vs Dark Side of the Force and Matthew Stover became a name for me to watch. I later read his novel Heroes Die, and it was clear that Stover can right some seriously badass fiction. Stover’s Traitor was one of the volumes of the New Jedi Order I was most looking forward to reading. Where other New Jedi Order authors were broadening the scope of this 19 book mini series, Stover delivered a deeply personal story. Jacen Solo had been missing and presumed dead for the last several volumes since his brother Anakin Solo was killed by the Vong. Because he was never shown to be clearly dead the reader’s assumption is that he was alive, just captured and shut off from the Force. Traitor is Jacen’s story and it keeps tight focus on Jacen and his captors, in particular the mysterious being Vergere. Jacen is imprisoned and tortured while Vergere teaches Jacen her version of the Force and life in general. It is a warped, twisted view that does not jive with everything Jacen has previously been taught, but there is a certain amount of consistency to it, too. Is Vergere teaching Jacen to betray the Jedi and the Galaxy? Does Vergere have another agenda? Whom does she serve, and what will Jacen believe? Traitor does not offer simple answers or a simple story, but thus far in the New Jedi Order it is easily the strongest story, for all the darkness. It is a personal story. It is one of the best Star Wars has to offer.

Daniel Keys Moran!

Last night I was browsing Matthew Stover's blog in the hopes of finding some new information regarding either Caine Black Knife or Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. Alas, the last post was June 30th, which I have read a couple of times since it was posted. I vaguely remembered the mention that Stover sent Daniel Keys Moran a copy of Caine Black Knife.

I browsed the comments and Moran posted a response to Stover's entry...and it mentioned a blog of his own. I found Moran's blog via his Blogger profile and I also discovered that Moran is writing again! This post mentions that has at least half of The AI War finished. This post has more info.

Sometime during my teenage years I read Moran's second entry in the Continuing Time series The Long Run. I loved it. It was fun, exciting, and at the time exactly what I was looking for. I don't know where the book came from, I just know it was in a box of books I had. Perhaps my mother found it at a garage sale. I knew it was the second of three books in the series. The character of Trent the Uncatchable was permanently branded in my imagination.

It took years before I finally tracked down a copy of the first volume, Emerald Eyes, and I am not sure I could have been more disappointed. The book was to introduce the Castanaveres telepaths and set the stage for how Trent and Denise came to be in their later situations and the war of the govermnent against the telepaths. But, it lacked pretty much all of the later fun and action and fast paced goodness of The Long Run.

Since I read Emerald Eyes I have been looking for the third entry: The Last Dancer. I have been unsuccessful and because of the hit or miss nature (and how badly the miss was, despite how good the hit) I was unwilling to purchase even a used copy. My library system has been unable to locate a copy and I have a good library system.

When I found Moran's blog I found the books. Moran has the complete text of four of his novels, several stories, and a couple of scripts available here.

So...I will read The Last Dancer, possibly The Armageddon Blues and I will be ready for whenever Moran does publish The AI War. It's been a long time coming, probably moreso for Moran than for me, but it has been a long time since I read The Long Run and I've been looking for the rest for at least fifteen years. It is a mark of the book's impact on me that I still remember it so vividly so many years later.

I don't know how well the novel would hold up today, but I hope it does, because I found The Long Run to be engrossing at the time of my first read fifteen years ago as a teenager, and even in subsequent rereads.