Final Nebula Ballot: 2008

I pulled this from Scalzi's website and I'm trying to find this on the SFWA's website

THE 2008 NEBULA AWARDS BALLOT

Novels
Odyssey - Jack McDevitt
The Accidental Time Machine - Joe Haldeman
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union - Michael Chabon
The New Moon’s Arms - Nalo Hopkinson
Ragamuffin - Tobias Buckell

Novellas
“Kiosk” - Bruce Sterling (F&SF, Jan07)
“Memorare” - Gene Wolfe (F&SF, Apr07)
“Awakening” - Judith Berman (Black Gate 10, Spr07)
“Stars Seen Through Stone” - Lucius Shepard (F&SF, Jul07)
“The Helper and His Hero” - Matt Hughes (F&SF, Feb07 & Mar07)
“Fountain of Age” - Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, Jul07)

Novelettes
“The Fiddler of Bayou Teche” - Delia Sherman (Coyote Road, Jul07)
“Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter” - Geoff Ryman (F&SF, Nov06)
“The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs Of North Park After the Change” - Kij Johnson (Coyote Road, Jul07)
“Safeguard” - Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, Jan07)
“The Children’s Crusade” - Robin Wayne Bailey (Heroes in Training, Sep07)
“The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” - Ted Chiang (F&SF, Sep07)
“Child, Maiden, Mother, Crone” - Terry Bramlett (Jim Baen’s Universe 7, June 2007)

Short Stories
“Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse” - Andy Duncan (Eclipse 1, Oct07)
“Titanium Mike Saves the Day” - David D. Levine (F&SF, Apr07)
“Captive Girl” - Jennifer Pelland (Helix, Oct06)
“Always” - Karen Joy Fowler (Asimov’s, May07)
“Pride” - Mary Turzillo (Fast Forward 1, February 2007)
“The Story of Love” - Vera Nazarian (Salt of the Air, Sep06)


I will link the rest of the stories when they are available and then I'll start discussing each category as I read the stories.

Initial thought: Fantasy and Science Fiction had a very good year.
Second thought: I really wish Mary Robinette Kowal was nominated for "For Solo Cello, op. 12", but it shouldn't come as a surprise that I am a fan of her's.

Kitty and the Silver Bullet, by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty and the Silver Bullet
Carrie Vaughn
2008


Now with her fourth offering Carrie Vaughn is about to bring Kitty Norville full circle. Once a timid and abused werewolf who was exiled from her hometown of Denver for standing up for herself; Kitty Norville is a successful radio host who (over the course of the last three books) has found herself some confidence and a way to live. Now Kitty’s mother is sick and Kitty must return to Denver. Denver means facing her former pack leader Carl.

What follows is a novel showing the transformation of Kitty Norville in the face of threats to her life and her family. What follows is Carrie Vaughn telling a damn good story while never once relenting and letting her characters off the hook. All of Vaughn’s characters pay for their actions and nothing is as simple as a “yes” or “no” decision. There are consequences to coming back to Denver, and not all of them involve werewolves. There are consequences for Kitty’s behavior towards her family, for having left Denver in the first place, for her romantic relationship with Ben, for Cormac being in prison, for standing up to Carl in the first place, for involving the police way back in the first book.

One thing is perfectly clear. The actions in Kitty and the Silver Bullet will have consequences in the next book and again they won’t be simple solutions. Carrie Vaughn has put Kitty in a very different place by the end of this book and while it feels like an ending (on one hand), it is only a beginning and Vaughn is sure to complicate Kitty’s life again.

I’ll be along for the ride.

Mad Gods

The Book Swede reviews the new Feist: Wrath of a Mad God and I am as hopeful for this book as I have been for any Feist in the last decade. I really hope Chris is right, and that Feist nails the ending.

Emma Bull and Shadow Unit

I think Emma Bull just found herself another fan. I had the chance to read the first full Shadow Unit episode today, Bull’s “Breathe” and it is everything I hoped it would be and more.

The teasers over the last couple of months gave clues to the various characters but here Bull sets everything up, defines some of the terminology, more fully introduces the characters, builds a mystery as to this “host”, and all together tells a damn fine story.

Flat out – “Breathe” is a good story and a *great* introduction to Shadow Unit. It whets the appetite.

Ouch!

The SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) has its yearly elections coming up and apparently Andrew Burt is running for President of the SFWA. Burt, for those not aware, was involved in a couple of copyright "scandals" (for lack of a better word) last year.

John Scalzi has a finely written rant / screed / informational post about why, exactly, Mr. Burt should not be elected and why it would be at best counter productive for the SFWA to elect Mr. Burt.

Shadow Unit

Shadow Unit has its premiere "episode" tonight. The episode, titled "Breathe", is written by Emma Bull.

After weeks and months of anticipation, Shadow Unit has arrived.

The Merchants' War, by Charles Stross

The Merchants’ War
Charles Stross
Tor: 2007

I want to start out by saying that pretty much everything that Jonathan McCalmont said in his review of The Merchants’ War is spot on – starting when he states “In effect, this reset the series.” What McCalmont is referring to is the ending to the previous volume The Clan Corporate where the King, Egon “The Pervert” attacks a party for the unwilling engagement of Miriam Beckstein (our world walking heroine) and Egon’s brother, “The Idiot” and kills most everybody in attendance. Miriam escaped, as did a few others, but this was near wholesale slaughter. What this does, as McCalmont points out, is change the focus of the forthcoming novels. No longer is Miriam following the path from A to B that was laid out in The Hidden Family. Instead Miriam is on the run in one world, Egon and the Clan are each plotting in another world, the DEA and the FBI are working to attack the Clan’s drug trade in OUR world, and oh yeah, a FOURTH world has just been discovered. The game has changed.

One thing that I disagree with McCalmont about is that Stross has written a much more action packed adventurous novel which begins to get away from the heavy idea driven conversations which attempt to explain what just happened. Not so. The plot explaining info dumps of conversation are still there, but what Stross has added to the conversation (and to the novel) is a bit more tech speak and a bit more spy-speak. Like his Bob Howard novels (The Atrocity Archives, The Jennifer Morgue) we are now graced with special operation codenames of GREENSLEEVES and the like. In all caps. Sometimes multiple codenames to a page. While this was vital to the Bob Howard novels, I feel that Stross has turned a corner and moved from what was predominately a fantasy of technology clash with world-walking between different versions of the world, and shifted to a combination run of the technology minded, espionage minded novels of his earlier work. A move closer to the Bob Howard novels is not a bad thing, but if this shifts too hard to earlier work like Accelerando and Singularity Sky, as praised as those novels are, I can’t help but feel that is a step in the wrong direction as I found those novels much less accessible and more frustrating to attempt to read. What is happening is that The Merchants’ War is providing a hint that things well be LESS fun in the future, and not MORE fun. For the reader. Bad stuff happens to the characters all the time.

My initial take on the overall series of The Merchant Princes is that Stross is pulling off a record like Fred Saberhagen did pitching for the Kansas City Royals in the 80’s. Every other book is good. I was turned off quite early in The Family Trade and while the pacing was swift and easy, the novel was a big let down for me. For some reason I still picked up the second book, The Hidden Family, and stranger still – I liked it. A lot. So I read The Clan Corporate and it suffered from what McCalmont pointed out earlier in his review: Miriam spent nearly the entire novel unable to act and the novel was claustrophobic (this may be McCalmont’s term) with little of the adventure of the first two novels. The Merchants’ War was a step back in the right direction and was a novel which left me wanting more and wanting to know more...but I don’t think it was nearly as good as it could have been. The series IS going in a more Science Fiction sort of way and technology is becoming MORE important, but I suspect that Stross’s writing is going to reflect this and that there will be a more insular feel to Book 5, that we are going to get more shop talk and less shop work. Based on my theory the book won’t be that good ANYWAY, but despite how interested I am in how Stross is going to put things together and how things will work out, I am fearful that he will take the series in a more technological Geek-Speak which will not serve the story.

The bottom line is that I am drawn to The Merchant Princes like a junkie to crack. I know it’s not good for me, and I know that ultimately the work isn’t as satisfying as I want it to be, and as I other people tell me it is. And yet, The Merchant Princes (in general) and The Merchants’ War (in specific) are highly readable, usually entertaining works of fiction.

Wings to the Kingdom, by Cherie Priest

Wings to the Kingdom
Cherie Priest
Tor: 2006

In Cherie Priest’s debut novel Four and Twenty Blackbirds Eden Moore encountered and confronted the ghosts of her past. Literally. Eden is one of a gifted few who can see ghosts. Eden wishes to keep a low profile, but word gets outs and things happen (as things generally do). Eden lives in Chattanooga and there are urban legends about a local Civil War battlefield, not about regular ghosts but about some sort of guardian known as Green Eyes.

Where there were once only rumors and legends of Green Eyes on the Chickamauga battlefield visitors are now seeing ghosts and they point off in the distance to something nobody can see. The city of Chattanooga has brought in two celebrity paranormal investigators to get to the bottom of the ghost sightings, but some people wish Eden to get involved.

There are ties to the family issues from Four and Twenty, but Wings to the Kingdom is a much less personal story for Eden but rather one where she just wants to know what is going on at Chickamauga and about Green Eyes.

There may be some carry-over from Four and Twenty Blackbirds, but Cherie Priest has done another excellent job in creating for her readers a sense of Chattanooga. Because the location is so vivid, and the battlefield so fog covered eerie, Wings to the Kingdom carries atmosphere into the actual narrative. Cherie Priest builds the mystery of why the ghosts are appearing at the Chickamauga battlefield, the threats to citizens visiting the park (or sneaking into the park), Eden’s reluctance to get involved in something and raise her public profile, Eden’s family relationships, the mystery and legend of Green Eyes, and other paranormal investigators. Priest wraps everything together, though not in a neat little package where everything is explained and resolved. The result is a novel improved over her debut. Wings to the Kingdom is better than the already excellent Four and Twenty Blackbirds and should pretty well cement Cherie Priest’s status as an author to watch.

Birthright: The Book of Man, by Mike Resnick

Birthright: The Book of Man
Mike Resnick
1982


Mike Resnick’s second published book in the Birthright Universe chronicles the sum of humanity’s future history of space exploration, contact with alien races, galactic conquest, and decline as the pre-eminent species across the galaxy. Birthright: The Book of Man (1982) spans thousands of years and is broken up into sections covering different aspects of Man’s empire. The galactic government of Man begins with a Republic and over time changes to Democracy, Oligarchy, Monarchy, and Anarchy. Each section has several chapters (or stories), which illustrates the changing relationship of Man versus the Galaxy.

From “The Cartographers” (the power of those who map the galaxy) to “The Olympians” (a sect of Man demonstrating physical superiority) to “The Priests”, Birthright: The Book of Man taken as a whole is a fascinating set up of a species history and provides the backdrop for Resnick’s later fiction. Much of Resnick’s subsequent novels (Ivory, the Starship series, The Widowmaker, Paradise, etc) take place in the various eras introduced here.

Because I have enjoyed pretty much everything I have read from Resnick and because Resnick has such an easy flow to his writing I have to say that Birthright: The Book of Man is something worth checking out. Less a mosaic novel and more a linked short story collection the use of the short story to explore the changing political situation of humanity in relation to itself and to thousands of alien races, Birthright is an interesting and novel (in the other use of the word) concept, and one which is successful in building a setting in which Resnick can place any number of novels and stories.

Carrie Vaughn on Getting Published

Carrie Vaughn has an interesting post on how she got published and all the work none of us see when she wrote four previous novels and fifteen years?

I always like reading about this.

Quick Takes: Mike Resnick, Oliver LaFarge

The Widowmaker, by Mike Resnick: A aged, disease ridden bounty hunter is near death. A clone is made of him from DNA sampled when he was a young man of 24, before he became sick but before he became experienced. The clone is to take a job which should pay for additional cryo storage for the bounty hunter until a cure can be found. The clone of Jefferson Nighthawk, the Widowmaker, is trained up as much as possible and sent on his way. The clone, however, has his own ideas of who he is and who he wants to be. The Widowmaker is the story of the clone and is told in typical Resnick fast paced style with some interesting side characters along for the ride. Unlike some of Resnick’s other work, for some reason The Widowmaker doesn’t have quite the free flowing kick that his Starship series does, or that some of his earlier novels do. The Widowmaker still has a good emotional wallop to throw at readers, but it is difficult to get emotionally invested with the cloned Nighthawk. That said, at only 300 pages there is little that is truly wrong with The Widowmaker. It is a perfectly average, acceptable, entertaining SF novel. Resnick has done better, though.


Laughing Boy, by Oliver LaFarge: As I have chipped my way through winners of the Pulitzer Price for Fiction (or, for The Novel as it was once labeled), I have found that the earliest winners are the ones I struggle the most with. Not because they are lesser works, but because generally the novels focus on class, and elite society, and the placement of people within that society. That subject almost without exception bores me to tears. Literally, tears. I cry when I read society novels, they are that uninteresting. Which brings me to Laughing Boy. Nothing like those society novels. Laughing Boy is set almost exclusively in Native American culture and tribes, with a native protagonist (title character). Laughing Boy allows himself to be an outsider to his family and tribe when he marries a woman with a bad reputation and who has lived with the white people. I can see how Laughing Boy could have potentially inspired later generations of native writers and white writers who want to deal with the subject (I don’t know if La Farge was Native or not, though like Julia Peterkin, my guess is that he was white). Laughing Boy gets down into Native culture, language, identity, and perception of different tribes and of the whites. I believe this is set pre-Civil War (possibly Post, but it’s in that general timeframe). Because of the subject, Laughing Boy is a refreshing change from all those white upper crusty novels populating the list of the early Pulitzer winners.

Unfinished Books: January 2008

I’ve decided to do something a little bit different. Each month I plan to list out the books I started but, for whatever reason, declined to finish. The experience of reading a book is more than simply the text of the page and how the author presents the story. The experience is also about who the reader is and what the reader brings to the book. More than simply the reader’s previous reading experience and personal preferences, when the reader gets a hold of the book has a lot to do with the enjoyment of, and the appreciation of a book.


The Darkness that Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker: I don’t know if it was the odd names, or the fact that over the course of the first two hundred pages I had no sense of the story, but I renewed this book all three times allowed (9 weeks checked out from the library), checked the book out again, renewed the book twice more (6 weeks) and over the course of just shy of 4 months I had to force myself to pick up the book and force myself to even read 200 pages. I probably would not have read even that many if I did not have an oil change and have to wait at the dealership. I know this is a well regarded book and series, and one I hoped would be the next big fantasy series I would get into, but I’m not sure I care enough to try again anytime in the next two years.

Dreadful Skin - Cherie Priest: This is the one book of the three which I started out enjoying and was engaged during the first thirty pages. Dreadful Skin was something I wanted to read and wanted to enjoy, and for the first thirty pages I did. But then things were busy and when I picked up the book again I couldn’t find that thread which pulled me through those first character introductions. In a sense this is the biggest disappointment of January for me because I loved Cherie Priest’s first novel (Four and Twenty Blackbirds) and I just finished her second (Wings to the Kingdom) and it was even better, but Dreadful Skin suffered from the timing of when I tried to read it. I felt overwhelmed because I had too many books on my pile at home, and I had to stay later at work and I had to work too hard to get into Dreadful Skin. I’m convinced this is a flaw with me, as a reader, at the time I tried to read the book, and not with Dreadful Skin itself. I will definitely give this book another chance later this year.

Firestarter - Stephen King: I will NOT give Firestarter another chance. As bad as King’s novel Blaze was, Firestarter was worse. Firestarter was intended to be a highly professional piece of work (where Blaze was a trunk story published more as a historical document and where the profits went to charity), and though the novel is intended (I think) to be psychological, the pacing of the novel was turgid. I want to read all of King’s fiction, but I gave this a fair shake. It was boring (or maybe I am boring, but I was bored by the action in the novel), and for a reasonably short novel King took a long time to develop plotlines, and then when things come together everything falls apart. Right when I should care the most (the father and daughter and captured, hospitalized, and separated), I cared the least. I’m done with you, Firestarter.

John Scalzi on Zoe's Tale

John Scalzi has finished Zoe's Tale and has posted his thoughts on writing the novel, including what he was trying to do (find the voice of a 16 year old girl) and the challenges of doing it.

Even though the book take place in the Old Man’s War universe and in parallel time to TLC, the goal in the writing — as is the goal for each of the books I write — is to make it able to stand alone; that is, write it so that you don’t have to have read any of the previous OMW series books. At the same time, I have to make sure that the people who have read the previous books don’t get bored with me doing setup for the new readers. - John Scalzi

The Old Man's War novels have been consistently good and consistently interesting, so while Scalzi is changing things up with the the introduction of Zoe as a primary character AND the fact that the novel takes place at the same time as The Last Colony, I have no reason not to trust Scalzi to do a good job. I've read five of his novels and have not been disappointed.

Locus: 2007 Recommended Reading List

Locus has posted its 2007 Recommended Reading List and there are some damn fine novels and stories on this list.

I haven't read too many of the novels, but quite a few were already on my reading list and I even own a few which I haven't read. I'll enjoy chipping away at some of these, and I think Emma Bull's novel Territory is going to have to get moved to the top of the list soon. I've heard nothing but goodness about it, and I'm loving her brainchild Shadow Unit, so what's keeping me?

January 2008 Reading

1. Dreamsongs: Volume 1 - George R. R. Martin
2. New Amsterdam - Elizabeth Bear
3. Black Projects, White Knights - Kage Baker
4. Jokers Wild - George R. R. Martin (editor)
5. Wastelands - John Joseph Adams (editor)
6. The Naked God: Faith - Peter F. Hamilton
7. Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key - Kage Baker
8. Blade of Tyshalle - Matthew Stover
9. The Widowmaker - Mike Resnick
10. Laughing Boy - Oliver La Farge
11. Force Heretic: Remnant - Sean Williams and Shane Dix

(above links are to the reviews)

Because I counted Dreamsongs as part of my Best of 2007 lists, I will not count it here in a “Best of the Month”, but suffice it to say that George Martin’s career retrospective is something special, and something worth reading for all fans of the genre.


Book of the Month:
Blade of Tyshalle. Stover really twisted things up because the incredible physical presence of Caine was taken away and at the end of the last book he was left crippled, and yet, the change of how Caine *can* respond and has to respond to the new issues in his life and both the regular world as well as the Overworld...it is compelling. Caine is bad a—even as a broken man.

Worst Book of the Month:
None. I did not read anything “bad” in January. The closest to “Worst Book” is my choice for “Disappointment”, but it really isn’t a Worst Book.

Pleasant Surprise of the Month:
None. Nothing here exceeded my expectations

Disappointment of the Month:
Black Projects, White Knights. The collection isn’t bad, per se, but my expectations were high and they were not met. The Company stories did not live up the pedigree of the Company novels

Collection / Anthology of the Month:
Wastelands. I really dug this anthology of humans surviving in the ashes of society’s collapse.

Pulitzer Prize Winning Novel of the Month:
Laughing Boy. This is the sort of early Pulitzer novel I want to read. It’s about Native American culture and has nothing to do with “class” and “society” and the “cultural elite” in the sense of those novels about the wealthy are about those things. I have this deep seated disgust with “society” novels, so the agrarian and Native themed novels from the early Pulitzer winners are the ones I key into...like this one.

Weird Tales #345

After a long break in reading short stories and especially from reading magazines which I have paid for, I knocked my way through Issue #345 of Weird Tales. This is the second issue from WT I have read.


“Fugue”, by Rae Dawn Carson: The title itself made me leery of the story. It would touch on music, and musical stories tend to feel forced (to me). But “Fugue” is the story of a prisoner focused on staying quiet, staying alive. The prisoner learns of a new prisoner in the next cell over and tries to keep her quiet, but the despair of the story starts changing to hope we learn more of the music mages and why they are feared. Surprisingly good, but that has been my impression of most of the Weird Tales stories – I don’t expect much going in and I have been pleasantly surprised nearly every time.

“Bagged Lunch”, Patrice E. Sarath: The ending to “Bagged Lunch” is a bit of a let down, but up until that point this is a fascinating story and outside of the Kitty Norville story, it would be my favorite in the issue. There is a thief in an office lunch room, he steals 1 lunch a day but not every day. He has a badge, but is not an employee. Nobody sees him do it, though it gets caught on camera and the thief grins up at the camera. I love the idea, I love most of the execution, and then by the end when things are explained, that’s when Patrice Sarath loses me. Up until that point, though – good stuff.

“Tom Edison and His Telegraphic Harpoon”, by Jay Lake: Jay Lake brings so much that I should love to the table with this story. We have some alternate history with a young Thomas Edison fighting an angel from heaven (though, perhaps not heaven, it is nephalim, not seraphim), using electricity and science to expand America to the West, and as one can guess from the title – using a harpoon gun to get things done. And yet, I was bogged down a bit by the story. I’m not sure if it was the period detail, or the slow pacing until we got to the actual fight, or just that for whatever reason the story did not work for me. There was something here that just put me off, and I have enjoyed some of Lake’s other short fiction (and I have a copy of his novel Mainspring sitting on my bookshelf which I am still interested in reading, so it’s not Lake himself). Dunno.

“Kitty’s Zombie New Year”, by Carrie Vaughn: I have no complaints when I am gifted with a new Kitty Norville story, this time at a New Year’s Eve Party in Denver where a zombie is discovered on the doorstep. The fact that Kitty is a werewolf doesn’t have a blessed thing to do with this story, and I only mention it because, well, it is still character defining and part of the series of novels Carrie Vaughn has written. Basically, I like this one. It’s Carrie Vaughn, and it’s Kitty.

“In the Company of Women”, by Marcie Tentchoff & Mikal Trimm: The shortest story in this issue was an oddity of a man with certain skills digging up the corpse of a woman he once loved and talking to the disembodied spirit of his grandmother via her skull. A very odd story, but disturbingly weird and satisfying at the same time. “In the Company of Women” did not need to be any longer than it was.

“Strawberry Thief”, by Ian Creasey: This is the only story in this issue I did not / would not finish. It started with something about being the Queen of Elfland and I lost interest not long after that. “Strawberry Thief” was also the longest story in the issue and after a page of this text I could not imagine reading two more pages, let along 28 more pages. I don’t even have a specific criticism, just that I lost all interest in “Strawberry Thief” very quickly.

negative reviews

David Anthony Durham offers up a little negative review quiz where the four books being harshly criticized are popular and acclaimed novels.

My favorite review?

Anyways, I sure hope he doesn't plan on writing anything else. I read this book, initially, in the author's native bulgarian language...and it was even worse!

Just wait until you see what book THAT is.

Minnesota Book Awards 2008

The Nominees for the Minnesota Book Awards have been announced, and I don’t know if this is final nominee list, the Long List, or the Super Long List, but there are quite a few nominees in each category.

Alison McGhee picked up a nomination for Young Adult Literature for her novel Falling Boy. McGhee has won four previous Minnesota Book Awards (1 for Children’s Book, 1 for Young Adult, 2 for Novel), with an additional two nominations.

In my literary greed, I’d like to see fewer picture books and more adult novels (or at least young adult, because All Rivers Flow to the Sea is as good as anything out there). But that’s just me.

Asimov's: March (?) 2008

The March 2008 issue of Asimov’s arrived yesterday afternoon. March? Really. I know this isn’t new to long time subscribers, but I don’t know what I think about issues being mailed out quite so far in advance of the month in which it is supposed be for.

I should really start reading my Asimov’s, but now I’m even farther behind. But! I may crack open this one first because there is a story by Elizabeth Bear: “Shoggoths in Bloom”.

Also in the issue is Cat Rambo’s first sale to Asimov’s.

And why won't they update the website to get the current issue up? They're two behind now. *grumble*

Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key, by Kage Baker

Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key
Kage Baker
Subterranean Press: 2008

Taking a step away from the Company, Kage Baker takes a crack at a pirate novel and gives us her spin on piracy and a quest for buried treasure. Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key is a short novel rife with adventure, mystery, the supernatural, piracy, a damsel who may or may not be in distress, and the search for hidden treasure. The only thing missing is a treasure map with a big X on it.

John James is ready to leave a life of piracy behind. After risking his life and seeing friends killed he returns home with only 50 pounds. He wants to set up a blacksmith’s shop and the 50 pounds will be just enough, but he first must give a lady a letter from her now dead beau, his now dead friend. Rather than being the end of John’s adventures, this is the beginning to the next for the letter contains instructions on how to find a great deal of money he had buried. Mrs. Waverly offers to split the money with John if he will only help her.

What follows is a lean, fast paced story where each chapter brings the reader something new. Baker deftly advances the story while giving us greater details about the characters, a bit of romance and mystery, a bit of the supernatural, a bit of piracy and high adventure on the seas, and a bit of everything I might wish from a slim pirate novel.

Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key shows off Kage Baker’s range. She isn’t all about The Company (as great as that series is), and that while this novel is a bit of a period piece (set pre-Civil War), it moves as deftly as any modern tale of adventure. The simple path from A to B is not taken and Baker throws new perils and detours into the path of John James and the lady. I hesitate to use the word “rollicking”, but at times Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key does, indeed, rollick.


Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key will be published in April 2008

Reading Copy provided courtesy of Subterranean Press

William Shunn's Nebula Story: Not of this Fold

John Klima, editor / publisher of Electric Velocipede and of William Shunn’s chapbook has posted the Nebula nominated story “Not of this Fold”. (Note - PDF, *grumble*)

Again, may I state my appreciation for publishers who allow stories nominated for major awards to be freely available? I can’t think of better publicity for the magazines / zines / authors than getting the chance to read the major award nominated stories.

This also reminds me that I want to place an order for this chapbook in the near future.

Shadow Unit Goodness

Everyone reading Shadow Unit? Until the official "episodes" start in mid-February we have been given 5 teasers so far and three easter eggs (that I'm aware of). Think of Shadow Unit as the new tv show that won't be strike shortened, the one with a secret FBI Unit investigating "anomalous" crimes.

I rather like the Paine Lake teaser.

Teaser 1 (Intro)
Teaser 2 (Paine Lake)
Teaser 3 (Hafidha)
Teaser 4 (Madeline Frost)

Teaser 5 is currently on the front page of Shadow Unit and will be until this Thursday night (new updates on Thursday and Sunday PM)

Hidden on the pages are Easter Eggs, like DVD bonus content. I've found three so far.

Easter Egg 1
Easter Egg 2
Easter Egg 3

The creators of Shadow Unit (Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly) have also created livejournals for various characters. I'm aware of three right now. There is no fourth wall, the LJ's are written from the perspective of the characters and, in general, they are like your average person's LJ with the occasional tidbit thrown in that I let people at the Message Board dissect.

LJ's
Daphne Worth
Charles Villette
Hafidha Gates

The kicker of the LJ's is that they'll link to real people and non-Shadow Unit LJ's. Like I said, no fourth wall. The characters aren't characters here, they're people too.

Shadow Unit can be, potentially, a fully immerse environment and I'm very excited about it. I am most looking forward to the actual episodes (first one written by Emma Bull, second by Elizabeth Bear) when we get deeper into the stories and content and not just the interesting, but short and incomplete teasers.

Conventions

So, I would like to go to one of the two Twin Cities SFF conventions which I am aware of: CONvergence or Minicon. I’ve never been to a con before and I’m curious what the scene is all about and how it all works. I think the one in the summer would be better, rather than the Easter-Con.

I knew the big’uns like WorldCon, and Comic-con (or whatever the hell it’s called) were expensive, but I didn’t realize that our little Minnesota conventions were so damn pricy. $65 at the door? Must be out of your mind!

Maybe in 2009 or 2010 if I’m still interested in going. That’s a lot of money to spend on something I have no idea if I would possibly enjoy or find worthwhile. I don’t quite have that in the budget, I’d rather go to the Penumbra or to a couple of movies with my wife than to buy a solo pass for $65, at least this year.

Yikes!

Maybe if Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, Charles Stross, David Anthony Durham or a handful of other authors I would really love to listen to speak were announced for either con I might be more willing to spring for it.

Need a Break from the King

From December 2006 through January 2008 I have read 17 books written by Stephen King. I think I need a break. I am reading (and will finish) Firestarter and I haven’t quite figured out if I am simply burnt out on King or if Firestarter just isn’t any good. I am leaning towards Firestarter not being very good, but these little King tics of aside comments in parenthesis and King hitting dialect of how people talk complete with stupid little phrasing – the tics are pulling me out of the story.

I originally planned to reserve Danse Macabre and Cujo as soon as I finished Firestarter so that I’ll have finished all of King’s work published before The Gunslinger. I want to read each volume of The Dark Tower having read everything that came before so I can better appreciate how King works his worlds into Dark Tower.

I just need a break. The novels are style is starting to run together. Hopefully this is just because some of the more recent reads of mine like Firestarter, Blaze, and The Colorado Kid just aren’t that good and not that I really am wearing out on King. We’ll see.

Asimov's Preliminary Nebula Nominees!

One thing I appreciate about the SFF magazines is that for the major awards (Hugo and Nebula, not so much World Fantasy), the nominated stories will be posted for free online so everyone has a chance to see what the best of the best are. Even the print zines do this. Fantasy and Science Fiction already has their nominees for the Nebula up and today I found that Asimov’s has posted theirs. And this is only the preliminary ballot.

Novella
Fountain of Age, by Nancy Kress

Novelette
Safeguard, by Nancy Kress
A Flight of Numbers Fantastique Strange, by Beth Bernobich
Alistair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders, by Mike Resnick

Short Story
Always, by Karen Joy Fowler


I am surprised that Analog has not posted their story, considering it would be only one story they would be giving away to the public. Same goes to Realms of Fantasy.

Quick Takes: Elizabeth Bear, Kage Baker, George R. R. Martin

New Amsterdam, by Elizabeth Bear: New Amsterdam is something of a mosaic novel. Bear links several stories together so that each story builds where the previous one left off and enriches the overall experience, but each story is complete itself. Together, the stories of New Amsterdam feel more like chapters than separate entities. New Amsterdam opens in the late 1800’s with a story of a man making his way via dirigible from the old world of Europe to the new world of America, only this is an America which is still an English colony, where New York is still New Amsterdam, and magic and vampires are real. The choicest detail I found was that magic was as much a science as anything else and a character is a noted ThD (Doctor of Thaumoturgy). There is a formality to the language, or the storytelling, as if Bear was placing the novel in a tradition of a late 1800’s story. This is difficult for me to explain, but a feeling I had. Meanwhile we are introduced to the vampire and private detective Sebastian, and to the Crown Investigator Irene Garrett. Together they make a fascinating pair as they investigate various supernatural crimes with ties to the local government of New Amsterdam (initially). New Amsterdam required a bit more work to read than the average Elizabeth Bear novel (not that Bear’s novels are even remotely average), but this is due to the formality of the prose rather than the content of the stories. Interesting distinction, and while I would like to read more about Sebastian and Irene Garret, I think I would rather read about them on a per story basis, rather than a book.



Black Projects, White Knights, by Kage Baker: As much as I loved the four Company novels I have read from Kage Baker, and as high as my expectations were going into this collection of Company short stories, I was disappointed. Familiar faces flitted in and out of the stories, from Joseph and Lewis, to Kalugin, to Mendoza. Perhaps because these stories were tied to the Company milieu I expected Baker’s Company short fiction to expand our understanding of the characters, their situations, and the overall landscape. Outside of the Alec Checkerfield stories, I do not believe the stories did so (though the story of Lewis excavating a tomb was superb). I suspect that what I brought to the stories is what hampered my enjoyment of them. I was unable to read the stories as discrete piece of fiction, and because of the inherent tie to The Company, most disappointed. I am quite sure that some feel Baker’s Company short fiction is superior to her novels, but based on this first collection I cannot agree.



Wild Cards: Jokers Wild, by George R. R. Martin (editor): This third entry of the Wild Cards series brings the final showdown of Fortunado, Dr. Tachyon, and The Astromoner. Like the previous two volumes Jokers Wild is a mosaic novel. Unlike the previous two volumes Jokers Wild is a straight out novel rather than a series of interlocking short stories. Jokers Wild is still written by a team of writers and edited by George R. R. Martin, but there is a greater flow to the story here because there is one main storyline running through the entire novel rather than having various short stories jump around. This has made Jokers Wild a stronger work than the first two and a far smoother reading experience. Here we get to follow particular characters over the course of the novel and while it is difficult to remember who some characters who were only referenced earlier are, the characters who take center stage here really get to shine. In particular, that woman (Jennifer) who can phase through solid matter, and Spector (the one who can bring death by looking in your eyes) especially stand out. The main selling point of the Wild Cards series (besides the talent involved) is that this is a superhero story where the heroes are real people with real problems and the same varying shades of morality that the rest of humanity has. It is also interesting seeing the changes wrought after the Wild Cards virus was loosed.

Wastelands, by John Joseph Adams (editor)

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse
John Joseph Adams (editor)
Night Shade Books: 2007

What is in a name? A title? Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse suggests that the anthology will cover stories directly dealing with various versions of the apocalypse, the end of the world. That is not quite what this Wastelands anthology is about, though. The original title Wastelands: Stories of Life After Apocalypse was a bit more apt in describing the content of this anthology. The stories collected here by editor John Joseph Adams are not about the apocalypse, but rather about life after apocalypse. The wastelands made of our world is not the primary point of any individual story, but rather the survival of the species told in small human stories. In that sense the majority of the stories here are filled with beauty and not just the desolation of the landscape.

What is most remarkable about Wastelands is just how varied stories about living after the destruction of civilization is. Take Octavia E. Butler's Hugo Award winning "Speech Sounds", a story where humanity has lost the power of speech and must find other ways to communicate and society has broken down. Telling the story from the perspective of a woman named Rye, Octavia Butler is able to really give the reader a sense of the terror a woman may feel in such a situation and the emptiness of that life, of the snap anger and body language required to get by, and the barest hint of hope. "Speech Sounds" has been anthologized before, but is a truly outstanding story.

The range of stories collected in Wastelands runs the gamut from "Bread and Bombs" by M. Rickert, a post 9/11 story with kids feeling the fear of their parents, to the future history of "Dark, Dark Are the Tunnels" by George R. R. Martin, a post nuclear holocaust story with the remants of humanity living deep under ground, or Paolo Bacigalupi's "The People of Sand and Slag" where humanity is barely recognizable and a dog reminds the survivors of what life must have been like before, and filled with sadness of the setting and situation. Bacigalupi's story is especially surprising to me because of how negatively I reacted to his story "Yellow Card Man", but "The People of Sand and Slag" is a heartbreaking, beautiful, and painful story.

Other standout stories in Wastelands include Cory Doctorow's "When Sysadmins Ruled the World", "Artie's Angels" by Catherine Wells, and most surprisingly, the anti-Rapture and anti-religion "Judgment Passed" by Jerry Oltion. A spacecrew who were away from Earth return to find that Christ had returned and the Rapture occurred. I had expected that Oltion's anti-Rapture theme would overwhelm the story, but Oltion was very thoughtful and the way he had the characters respond seemed reasonable and plausible.

There are stories in the Wastelands anthology which did not quite work. Gene Wolfe's "Mute" is about as inscrutable as one would expect and despite Neil Gaiman's insistence on Wolfe improving with re-reading, "Mute" fails to connect. "Still Life With Apocalypse" and "Episode Seven" both did not seem to tell a coherent story.

"Episode Seven" is notable because John Langan was inspired to write the story in response, partly, by Dave Bailey's "The End of the World As We Know It", a very different story of "post-apocalyptic" fiction. In this story the survivor has a passive response to the end of the world, drowning it in alcohol rather than fighting actively for survival. Outstanding story, one of the best in the anthology.

Also notable are Elizabeth Bear's driven "And the Deep Blue Sea" and Neal Barrett Jr's "Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus".

The bottom line is that collectively the stories John Joseph Adams has put together here in Wastelands shows off the range of the post-apocalyptic sub-genre of fiction. Wastelands is an excellent anthology of short fiction and one that would easily fit on any collector's shelves. There are far more standout stories than there are misses, and even that is subjective.

Post-Apocalyptic fiction is a favorite sub-genre of mine, and getting the chance to see just how wide ranging the genre can be is a treat. As a bonus, Adams includes a bibliography at the end of the anthology of other prominent post-apocalyptic novels and short stories.


Reading copy provided courtesy of Night Shade Books.

2008 Golden Gryphon Titles

2008 Titles!

Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories by Nancy Kress (May 2008)
The Wreck of the Godspeed and Other Stories by James Patrick Kelly (August 2008)
Harvest of Changelings by Warren Rochelle (September 2008), softcover reprint
Budayeen Nights by George Alec Effinger (September 2008), softcover reprint

Jeffrey Ford — The Well-Built City Trilogy
Book 1: The Physiognomy
Book 2: Memoranda
Book 3: The Beyond
(October/November 2008), softcover reprints

From the Golden Gryphon Press website.

Also, I see in their “Future History” section a new title from M. Rickert: Holiday. Publication date TBD. Hmm.

Heinlein: Job

Turns out I have read something by Robert A. Heinlein. Didn’t think I had. Job. I found this back in high school, thought the concept was interesting, read it, enjoyed it mostly, and never gave it or the author a second thought.

When I was in the bookstore last week and picked up the 2 Bear novels and 1 Jo Walton, I was browsing the Heinlein and saw that very same book I read back in high school. Now I’m at the point where I wished I had read more Heinlein and am starting with Starship Troopers (the movie is delightful shlocky violent fun), but I wished I knew of Heinlein at the time and was able to pick up at least his juveniles. I wonder how that would have affected my future reading.

Preliminary Nebula Ballot: F&SF stories available online

John Joseph Adams provides a link to the 7 stories from Fantasy and Science Fiction nominated for the Nebula. Adams mentions they will only be up a limited time, so it's time to check them out!

We've got fiction from Gene Wolfe, Ted Chiang, and Lucius Shepard, among others.

I'll have to check these out. I've read Ted Chiang's story previously, and Geoff Ryman's story, but the other five are new to me.

Shelving Jo Walton

I check my library system’s website almost daily to see about updates on forthcoming books being entered into the system. I want to get that early reserve on the new (insert author’s name here) book. The 1/10 update has Jo Walton’s Ha’Penny listed as General Fiction rather than SFF.

Let’s see, I picked up Farthing in the SFF section of my bookstore, Walton has been published by TOR, she has won the Campbell for Best New Writer (2002), and Ha’Penny is a follow up to Farthing.

My guess is that because Ha’Penny is listed as being published by St. Martin’s Press, it automatically got shelved in General Fiction. But then it isn’t like Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America was shelved in SFF either. Or George Orwell, or Huxley, or...

Preliminary Nebula Ballot 2008

Thanks to Mary Robinette Kowal for this link.

According to Mary, the writers in the SFWA will select the top 5 in each category and that will be the final ballot for the Nebulas.

I have left the scripts and the “Norton” award off this list.

Novels (13)
Ragamuffin, by Tobias Buckell (Tor, June 2007)
The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, May 2007)
Species Imperative #3: Regeneration, by Julie E. Czerneda (DAW, May 2006)
Vellum: The Book of All Hours, by Hal Duncan (Del Rey, April 2006)
The Accidental Time Machine, by Joe Haldeman (Ace, August 2007)
The New Moon's Arms, by Nalo Hopkinson (Warner Books, February 2007)
Mainspring, by Jay Lake (Tor, June 2007)
Odyssey, by Jack McDevitt (Ace, November 2006)
The Outback Stars, by Sandra McDonald (Tor, May 2007)
Strange Robby, by Selina Rosen (Meisha Merlin Publishing, July 2006)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic Press, July 2007)
Rollback, by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor book, April 2007)
Blindsight, by Peter Watts (Tor, October 2006)


Novellas (5)
"The Helper and His Hero," by Matt Hughes (F&SF, Mar07 (Feb07 & Mar07))
"Fountain of Age," by Nancy Kress (Asimov's, Jul07)
"Stars Seen Through Stone," by Lucius Shepard (F&SF, Jul07)
"Kiosk," by Bruce Sterling (F&SF, Jan07)
"Memorare," by Gene Wolfe (F&SF, Apr07)

Novelettes (13)
"The Children's Crusade," by Robin Wayne Bailey
(Heroes in Training, Martin H. Greenberg and Jim C. Hines, Ed., DAW, Sep07)
"A Flight of Numbers Fantastique Strange," by Beth Bernobich (Asimov's, Jun06)
"Things That Aren't," by Michael A. Burstein and Robert Greenberger (Analog, Apr07)
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," by Ted Chiang (F&SF, Sep07)
"Sister of the Hedge," by Jim C. Hines (Realms of Fantasy, Jun06)
"The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs Of North Park After the Change," by Kij
(Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)
"The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom," by Andrea Kail (Writers of the Future Volume 23, Algis Budrys, Ed., Galaxy Press, Sep07)
"Safeguard," by Nancy Kress (Asimov's, Jan07)
"Alastair Baffle's Emporium of Wonders," by Mike Resnick (Asimov's, Jan08)
"Tonino and the Incubus," by Peg Robinson (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue -- #2))
"Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter," by Geoff Ryman (F&SF, Nov06)
"The Fiddler of Bayou Teche," by Delia Sherman (Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)
"Not of this Fold," by William Shunn (An Alternate History of the 21st Century, Spilt Milk Press, Sep07)

Short Stories (7)
"Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse," by Andy Duncan (Eclipse 1: New Science Fiction And Fantasy, Jonathan Strahan, Ed., Night Shade Books, Oct07)
"The Padre, the Rabbi, and the Devil His Own Self," by Melanie Fletcher (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue -- #2))
"Always," by Karen Joy Fowler (Asimov's, May07 (apr/may07 issue))
"For Solo Cello, op. 12," by Mary Robinette Kowal (Cosmos, Mar07 (Feb/Mar07))
"Titanium Mike Saves the Day," by David D. Levine (F&SF, Apr07)
"The Story of Love," by Vera Nazarian (Salt of the Air, Prime Books, Sep06)
"Captive Girl," by Jennifer Pelland (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue -- #2))


When the final ballot of 5's are announced I'll post that, try to provide links (when available), and discuss the nominees I have read.

Patrick Rothfuss NOT eligible for Campbell?

Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind, may not be eligible for the John W Campbell award for Best Writer. (info cribbed from Joe Abercrombie and David Louis Edelman)

This is news because I had expected this year's Campbell Award to be between Patrick Rothfuss and Scott Lynch, with some Joe Abercrombie and perhaps David Louis Edelman thrown in.

From Abercrombie's post:

It would appear that, regrettably, Patrick Rothfuss isn't elligible because of some short fiction published way back when (Yes! Yes! Fist Pump!)

Now, I found an interview where Rothfuss reveals that he hasn't published short fiction before, but his webpage does reveal that he won the Writers of the Future contest in 2002 with a short story that was really an excerpt from the book which would be come The Name of the Wind.

Confused? Me, too.

Here's where it gets easy. Edelman linked this page about the Campbell. Follow over to the eligibility rules here.

To qualify for the award a writer must have published in the last two years in a qualifying market. Publishing includes short fiction (so, should I sell to Strange Horizons I'm eligible) and in 2002, that winning story which constitutes the entirety of Rothfuss's short fiction output? It was published in the Writers of the Future Anthology: Volume 18.

Which means that Rothfuss was eligible for the Campbell in 2003 and 2004. Before anyone else had heard of him or The Name of the Wind.

What does this mean? That Lynch / Rothfuss scrap fight for the award? It ain't happening.

My Lineup (based on name recognition and actually reading some of the work:
Scott Lynch
Joe Abercrombie
David Louis Edelman
Mary Robinette Kowal
Alex Bledsoe

Lynch doesn't need the bump, so I'll give it to Kowal over Bledsoe. Haven't read Abercrombie or Edelman (makes things unfair, huh?)

Dreamsongs: Volume 1 - Final Thoughts

I have written about the first two thirds of Dreamsongs: Volume 1 with the posts linked in this sentence, then things got busy and even though I continued to read the collection I did not have the opportunity to write about it.

By this time the story of “The Stone City” has pretty well escaped my memory, so I don’t believe it could be something I would recommend. “Bitterblooms” was an odd ice story on some far away planet which ends up mixing a little bit of Arthurian legend into it. Martin was not very successful in engaging my interest with “Bitterblooms”, but one thing I have come to appreciate reading these 700 pages is that his imagination is second to none. Martin is able to create these alien worlds and cultures, and human cultures set in the stars, and make them believable, comprehensible, but utterly alien to what we know. Tis a gift. This leads into “The Way of Cross and Dragon”, an imaginative wondering of what our Earth religions would be like if stretched out thousands of years and to the stars. “The Way of Cross and Dragon” is about heresy, lies, truth, expectation, dogma, and features one of three “true” Catholic churches attempting to stamp out a heresy. Fascinating story.

Section Four: Swords of Turtle Castle. Here Martin brings us back into fantasy settings, though on a smaller scale than his epic A Song of Ice and Fire. Strangely, and sadly, perhaps, this was a somewhat underwhelming section. Martin does large scale fantasy extremely well, and “The Ice Dragon” was a solid and sad story which featured a dragon actually made of ice, breathing ice, harmed by heat (video games following this story thank you, Mr. Martin), but neither “The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr” nor “In the Lost Lands” really stood out. Like “The Stone City”, I really could not say what “In the Lost Lands” was about.

Section Five: Hybrids and Horrors. This is where Martin truly shines, with the blend of fantasy and horror, or science fiction and horror. Pretty much whenever Martin is blending genres to tell the best story possible, that’s when he’s really hitting something special. We open with “Meathouse Man”, a story which in the intro Martin mentions that he had a difficult time placing. No surprise. It’s a tough story to take, but it’s a damn good one, too. One of the best in the collection (if not for “Sandkings”, I might call it the single best story here). Definitely not a family friendly story. The story features sex, depravity, and a bleak future where animated corpses are used for work and pleasure. “Remembering Melody” is yet another heartbreaker of a story (is there another kind in this collection?), something of a ghost story, and while not quite as good as the other stories in this section, it will stand up against the earlier work in the collection.

“Sandkings.” Forget the two hour episode from The Outer Limits. It got the gist of the story, but not the heart. The story is set on some far away planet (aren’t they all?), I think, but that doesn’t matter. What matter is we have a rich, eccentric man who likes exotic pets. At a store he had never seen before (isn’t it always?) the man is offered these insect like, but highly intelligent (they War on each other!) creatures called Sandkings. They build castles and can come to worship the owner like a god, engraving his or her face on their castles while they war. Because the man doesn’t just let the sandkings do their own thing in a smaller container, soon they grow and things get out of hand. This is a wonderful, amazing story that easily has to rank among Martin’s best (or anybody else’s for that matter). Martin’s descriptions of how everything spirals out control is a pure pleasure to read, as is the description of the sandkings and how they change over the course of the story. About that 2 hour episode – I watched it after I read “Sandkings” and I was very disappointed. Seemed like too much was added as fluff / chaff to the story. I know the screenplay was written by Melinda Snodgrass and she has collaborated with Martin in the Wild Cards shared universe (and still does), so I can’t imagine he was mad about the result, but the story is so far superior to not even be funny.

“Nightflyers” is another award winner set almost entirely on a starship. The passengers can’t see the pilot, he spies on them, and there is a good deal of tension and intrigue, but no matter how lauded the story has been I thought this was one of the weaker (in terms of what I enjoy) of the set. Maybe it is the fact that “Nightflyers” came immediately after “Sandkings” and in comparison did not hold up.

“The Monkey Treatment” and “The Pear-Shaped Man” are two stories which feel like Stephen King stories. “The Monkey Treatment” has shades of “Quitters, Inc”, only rather than smoking cessation Martin deals with weight loss. Creepy story, especially when you really think about what it entails. The desperation of the protagonist really comes across. “The Pear-Shaped Man” deals with that creepy guy who lives nearby. He is shaped like a pear, eats too many cheetos, and has a certain odor about him. What if he scares you, but nobody else understands and you can’t explain? What if there might actually be something to be scared about?

Dreamsongs: Volume 1 is an outstanding collection of short fiction and one that should be on the shelf of any fan of the fiction of George R. R. Martin. It shows the man’s range and his early work and even the earliest stuff is pretty good. And then there is “Sandkings.”

Volume 2 will pick up with Section Six, as Dreamsongs was originally published in 2003 by Subterranean Press as the one volume GRRM: A RRetrospective.

Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie cracks my shit up. His railing against anything short of perfection in reviews of his work have been damn near classic (uh oh!) and this latest mini tirade is even better.

As I have not had the chance to read The Blade Itself, I have not yet felt the ire of Abercrombie. However, I have called his railings only damn near classic, so one can hope.

If he writes fiction anything like he blogs, I am sure to LOVE it.

Interesting note: Patrick Rothfuss was thought to be the big name on the ballot for the Campbell award at this year’s Worldcon. Abercrombie spills the beans that Rothfuss’s earlier short fiction publication has made him ineligible for Best New Writer. Innnnteresting.

Shadow Unit

From the collective minds of Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, Emma Bull, and Will Shetterly comes an online collaborative work called Shadow Unit.

From Bear’s posting:

The brainchild of the amazing coffeeem (Emma Bull), Shadow Unit is, more or less, the website for a serial drama in internet form. Or possibly it's a fan site for a TV show that doesn't exist.

Over the next couple of months, the site will be updated on a weekly or biweekly basis with new information, vignettes, character sketches, character bios, a community message board, and other exciting things.

And starting in mid-February, there will be a series of novellas and novellettes, and one complete novel. Approximately one story every two weeks for sixteen weeks (though we are still tweaking the schedule), comprising the first season (of hopefully many) of a television show that doesn't exist.

Some of the content will be free. Some will be by subscription. (Subscriptions will be extremely reasonable.) There will be DVD extras, deleted scenes, background information, character-based digressions, and I dunno what all else.

(I hope it is okay I copied this much from Bear's livejournal)

I had to chance to read the opening posting on Shadow Unit and I'm very intrigued. Considering the collective talent involved, I am very excited for this. Not sure how much the very reasonable subscription fee will be for the extra content, but right now I'm on board.

I’ve been aware of this project for a while now, but Shadow Unit’s homepage was pretty well blank for a while and I wasn’t sure what this all meant other than Bear calling it “secrit project” and seeing it linked from time to time.

Should be interesting.

more new books

With two $10 gift cards to Barnes and Nobles in hand I ventured out into to the store with wild shelves of untamed, unowned books and chose three likely novels.

Dust, by Elizabeth Bear
Farthing, by Jo Walton
Undertow, by Elizabeth Bear

This is my Elizabeth Bear excitement alarm going off. I was all set to get three Bear novels, the third being Carnival, when I decided that maaaaaybe I should support another author too. I've heard good things about Farthing so picked it up instead. Sorry, eBear.

I almost picked up a Heinlein, too, but didn't.

And, in conclusion, if anyone who reads this blog has not picked up anything by Elizabeth Bear...I can do no more to convince you (pssst! Go read Blood and Iron!)

christmas bounty, and stuff

Sure, it's a week or so late, but I got some great books for Christmas this year and would like to share.

Run - Ann Patchett: I've loved her earlier work (A Patron Saint of Liars and Bel Canto especially) and this was a great opportunity to read her newest novel.

Bowerman and the Men of Oregon - Kenny Moore: A biography of Bill Bowerman, legendary Oregon track and cross country coach. He coached Steve Prefontaine, among others. Oh, yeah, and he helped design the shoes that would eventually form the foundation of a little company called Nike.

Schulz and Peanuts - David Michaelis: I'm still enamored with the Peanuts comics after all these years, and I read a Schulz bio when I was in high school. Supposedly this is a much more in depth bio and paints Schulz is a partly unfavorable light (read: human light, warts and all).

Fledgling - Octavia Butler: Butler is one of my favorite authors and I am starting to collect her work. This vampire novel is her final novel.

Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler: This first of a two book post-apocalyptic series. Apparently writer's block kept her from writing a third. I would love a collection of Butler's notes, if they were detailed and available (or if they existed), but I don't think it would sell well enough to be published.

Not too shabby, huh? And I have $20 in Barnes and Nobles gift cards, which might allow me to pick up a small stack of Elizabeth Bear mass market pb's, if they are all in stock at the same time.

Nick Mamatas Sale - Move Underground

Over on his Livejournal, Nick Mamatas has announced a sale of his novel Move Underground. $5 covers the book, shipping, and even a signature somewhere in the book. I'm sure copies are limited, but what a deal!

The complete text of Move Underground is available online at the book's website (linked above), but there is just something about holding the book in your hand, but check out a chapter or two and if it's good, why not order a book for $5?

I've only read his short story "Who Put the Bomp?", but I have heard nothing but good things about Mamatas' novel length fiction. For $5, it's worth a try. I ordered one.

December 2007 Reading

Here is my final reading list for 2007, linked up with the reviews written for these books.

1. Destiny's Way - Walter Jon Williams
2. Scarlet Sister Mary - Julia Peterkin
3. The Graveyard Game - Kage Baker
4. Naked Economics - Charles Wheelan
5. Sung in Blood - Glen Cook
6. The Sandman: The Doll's House - Neil Gaiman
7. The Bonehunters - Steven Erikson
8. The Natural Ordermage - L. E. Modesitt, Jr
9. Death Star - Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
10. She is the Darkness - Glen Cook
11. Republic Commando: True Colors - Karen Traviss
12. The Sword-edged Blonde - Alex Bledsoe
13. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home - Joss Whedon


The Long Way Home is Book Number 226 for the year. I have a difficult time imagining I will ever read this many books in a single year again. Doesn't even make sense.

It appears I missed reviewing Republic Commando: True Colors. Here's a quicky: It's really damn good. Traviss gives us a very tight perspective on elite clone troopers during the Clone Wars and it is a bleak vision, but Traviss is one hell of a storyteller and I have never been disappointed with one of her novels.


Book of the Month: The Sword-edged Blonde – Even non fantasy readers should enjoy this one.

Worst Book of the Month: Death Star – I may not have expected greatness, but Reaves and Perry have individually written good Star Wars, and together they wrote the Medstar duology, but this was baaaaaad.

Pleasant Surprise of the Month: The Long Way Home – Not that I expected this first trade paper of Buffy Season Eight to suck, per se, but I did not expect it would feel just like the show. Certain aspects may be a bit more graphic than would be aired on television, and the television budget would have to be higher to cover this detail, but The Long Way home is a great continuation of the show. This counts as my mini-review.

Disappointment of the Month: Sung in Blood – The best thing about the book is Glen Cook’s name on the cover. I had hoped for so much more.

The Rest of the Year in Reading and Reviews
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

A Dance with Dragons update and sample chapter

George R. R. Martin has posted a new sample chapter from A Dance with Dragons. Previously he had been rotating a Tyrion and Daenerys chapter. Now we have a Jon Snow POV chapter to enjoy. Unlike many others I have been avoiding the sample chapters because I want to get the full reading experience when I can get the book in my grubby little hands, but that's just me.

Martin has also posted a status update for the book, probably the last one until the book is finished. Martin mentions that there is a new POV character. A character which has never had a POV chapter and was featured in the first set of Ice and Fire miniatures.

Does anyone know if there was a miniature made of Hodor? That’s all I’m sayin.

The real news is that Martin believes a Fall 2008 publication is realistic pending completion / delivery by Summer 2008.

He then closes with a suggestion to check out Hunter’s Run and Inside Straight. Already in my plans, even though I’m only on Jokers Wild (Wild Cards Book 3). I want to check out the new one before 2012 (by which time there may be another dozen new WC books out, for all I know), and Hunter’s Run is a planned read. As is Dreamsongs: Volume 2, The Armageddon Rag, and Windhaven.

What else ya got?

John Scalzi in 2008

John Scalzi, Fun-to-Read-SF-Auteur-Something-or-Another, has posted a list of what he has coming out in 2008 as well as what he is working on in 2008. The highlights:

Coming Out
Zoe’s Tale: August 2008
The Rough Guide to the Universe, Second Edition: Springish.
Old Man’s War Short Story: Somewhen



Working On:
Two novels (including the sequel to The Android’s Dream), and two novellas

Busy man. Can’t wait to read all this. I am especially interested in the novellas, just because they would be something entirely new (one would even be a fantasy story). My hope is that they would be actual stories with a narrative arc and not pieces like "Alien Animal Encounters" which as fun as it was, does not do much with characters or narrative.

The Sword-edged Blonde, by Alex Bledsoe

The Sword-edged Blonde
Alex Bledsoe
Night Shade Books: 2007

Private Investigator Eddie LaCrosse takes a case: Find the missing princess. Her father, the king, will pay good gold to ensure that her honor is preserved, no matter that she may well have run off with the hoodlums herself. The case is simple, but the case is only the beginning. Eddie LaCrosse finds himself pulled from the easy gold and into a case which stretches into his own past, a past which Eddie has avoided for nearly twenty years.

The Sword-edged Blonde is a cross-genre novel, mixing high fantasy with the hardboiled detective novel. Eddie LaCrosse would find himself very comfortable in the worlds of Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, except for the fact that Eddie swings a Fireblade Warrior three foot sword rather than carrying a gun. The world-weary attitude, wise-cracking, extreme confidence, and deeply personal moral code, Eddie LaCrosse has it all.

This is what makes The Sword-edged Blonde such a blast to read. Alex Bledsoe gives the reader something not commonly found in fantasy (Glen Cook's Garret PI notwithstanding): that blend of fantasy and mystery. The Sword-edged Blonde just happens to be set in a low technology, medieval setting. It does not have to be. The setting gives an air of freshness to the story, though, and combined with Bledsoe's sure hand at creating the character and the mystery The Sword-edged Blonde is a winner! If a book can be feisty, this one is.

Alex Bledsoe is able to draw the reader in with that gruff "hardboiled" dialog and characterization of Eddie LaCrosse, but he keeps the reader gripped with the mix of the investigation and LaCrosse's backstory. The backstory is absolutely essential to the mystery.

Bottom line, The Sword-edged Blonde works and earned a place on my Best of 2007 list. No kidding, it's the real deal.

On his website, Alex Bledsoe mentions that there is another Eddie LaCrosse novel tentatively scheduled for 2008. If Bledsoe can hold the quality from The Sword-edged Blonde he should have a series which will well deserve popularity and sales.


Reading copy provided courtesy of Night Shade Books.


Alex Bledsoe's website has an Eddie LaCrosse short story, "Things That Flit". I have not read this story, but it is worth pointing out because the novel is just that damn good that I need to read more Eddie LaCrosse.

The Best of 2007: What Other People Think

I have a small variety of 2007 lists, from the Best Books Published, my Best Reads, the Worst Books, and the nine Author Discoveries of the year. But, I am just a small corner of the world and I have read a variety of other opinions.

Here are some links to those other opinions.

Asking the Wrong Questions
A Variety of Words
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Fantasy Book Critic
Fantasy Debut
Grasping for the Wind
The Gravel Pit
Jay Tomio: The Bodhisattva
OF Blog of the Fallen
Neth Space
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
SF Signal
SFF World's Annual Review
Stainless Steel Droppings
The Wertzone


Link help from The Gravel Pit, Stainless Steel Droppings, and SF Signal.