Horns: New Joe Hill Novel

For those wondering when Joe Hill's second novel was going to come out, I have an answer for you: February.

Actually, Hill has the answer.

It's called Horns.

I don't know anything else about the, but everything I've read from Hill has been quite excellent, and after Heart-Shaped Box I've been eagerly anticipating.

Gunpowder, by Joe Hill

Gunpowder
Joe Hill
PS Publishing: 2008

Joe Hill introduces readers to a group of children seen through the eyes of a woman named Elaine. They call her Mom, but she’s not really.

Jake had made grass grow where grass could not grow, could never grow. In the acre of sand before her, the world was no longer as it should be, as it had always been, but as Jake wanted it. Reality was a manuscript, recorded in rocks, gasses, DNA. Jake had just rewritten a few lines.

Right from the start, before we know anything else about the boys or the setting, we know that at least one of the boys is some sort of savant who can do amazing things. What we learn later is that each of the boys, except Charley, has some sort of special psi power that lets them change the world. Gunpowder develops our understanding of the complex situation the boys and Elaine are in.

This is straight science fiction. Distant world, psi-powers, terraforming, and starships. Except, these are children with all the power, children developed to have terrible powers available to use, to shape a planet. Yes, it spoils nothing to say that those initial plans go awry. Plans must. The boys aren’t perfect, they aren’t angels (or demons). They are kids with remarkable power. Elaine is assigned to them, but loves them and they love her. It’s that love, naturally, that is the cause of all the pain that is to come.

What works here is that Joe Hill builds to a natural confrontation, and then twists it all to go not where we might expect, but in a direction that suddenly feel organic and natural and right – and brutal. Gunpowder has a tough ending that very much works, and one which raises the question of what happens next.

Oh - if you weren't sure - I liked it and I wanted more of it.


Joe Hill suggests there may be more novellas connecting to this one in the future. I welcome it.

Also, feel free to check out Ziv Wities’ review over at the Fix. He does a much better job with the review.

Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill

Heart-Shaped Box
Joe Hill
2007


With his debut novel, Joe Hill has crafted an honestly scary story that begins with an aging rock star named Jude responding to an internet offer to purchase a ghost which has been put up for bid at an auction website (not eBay). When the ghost begins to actively haunt Jude we are thrust into a wild and scary story dealing with Jude’s response to the haunting and his need to get rid of the ghost messing with Jude and his girlfriend.

The descriptions of ghosts in Heart-Shaped Box has a bit of a Japanese horror feel to it (consider The Ring or The Grudge), and this otherwordly creepiness is what is more effective. The reader can feel a chill when Jude is haunted. There are short scenes that feel like the trailers to horror movies when something flashes in and out of view, and that’s what Hill gets across here. The fear and the alien-ness of the haunt. This is no case for TAPS.

While Joe Hill was acclaimed for his short fiction before this, Heart-Shaped Box was his first foray into novel length fiction and he proves more than capable. The storytelling is straightforward and Hill lays his cards on the table from the start. He reveals what is necessary when it is necessary, creates believable characters, and delivers the scary. A reader could not ask for more, and Hill should only get better which each subsequent novel.

Not to stress Joe Hill’s literary heritage, but he has delivered a much stronger debut novel than his father did (Stephen King – Carrie) and this bodes will for his career. Joe Hill is his own writer, though, and the choice not go with the last name of King while writing in the same genre only serves to emphasize this more. Joe Hill is his own writer with his own voice, and from the looks of Heart-Shaped Box, it is a damn strong one. He can stand on his own, and does so. He’s got me hooked.

200

Last night I finished the 200th book I have read so far this year. Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill. That’s one scary, scary book. It is scary in ways that Stephen King seldom has been, and touches on some of that other worldy creepiness of some of the recent imported Japanese horror flicks. It’s one hell of a debut novel.

I may reach 225 books on the year, but I think 250 is out of reach.

This Just In: 20th Century Ghosts

Thanks a contest run by Fantasy Book Critic I received a copy of 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill.

Excitement! This will be a good Joe Hill month. I also have Heart-Shaped Box out from the library.

Forthcoming Fiction from September to December 2007

I'm flat out stealing this idea from Andy Wolverton's recent post where he listed out a few books coming out in the near future. From the Locus listing of Forthcoming Books, here's what has my interest in the last four months of the year.


September:
The Elves of the Cintra, by Terry Brooks (Del Rey)
The Bonehunters, by Steven Erikson (Tor)
The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie (Pyr)


October:
20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill (Harpercollins)
The Empire of Ivory, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
The Merchants War, by Charles Stross (Tor)


November:
Gentlemen of the Road, by Michael Chabon (Del Rey)


December:
Not a blessed thing.



Interestingly enough, Terry Goodkind's Confessor is not listed on Locus and near as I can tell still has a sale date of November 13. I would like to see how Goodkind closes The Sword of Truth out. Also missing is Mike Resnick's Starship: Mercenary from Pyr in December. Highly anticipated.