Fantasy Book Critic: Fantasy Book Critic’s 2008 Review/2009 Preview

2008 FAVORITES:

“The Traitor” by Michael Cisco. Possibly the best book I've read in a while. Mind-blowing and amazing.

“The Mount” by Carol Emshwiller. Gentle, hilarious, and yet ruthless. What happens after aliens invaded and taken over? Well, this. (I reviewed the first two at VanderMeer's blog).

“In the Cities of Coin and Spice” by Catherynne M. Valente. The second part of her super-mythic Orphan Tales, really intricate and clever and mindblowing.

“The Explosionist” by Jenny Davidson. Extremely clever YA with a wonderful alternate history setting, a compelling protagonist and a strong steampunkish sensibility.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2009:

“The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart” by Jesse Bullington. UK Release Date: September 3, 2009. Published by Orbit Books. I read an excerpt from this on Jeff VanderMeer's blog and I cannot wait for the actual book.

“Johannes Cabal the Necromancer” by Jonathan L. Howard. UK Release Date: June 11, 2009. Published by Headline. US Release Date: July 7, 2009. Published by Doubleday. A few Johannes Cabal stories were published in HP Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror and I am very excited about the novel.

“Palimpsest” by Catherynne M. Valente. Release Date: February 24, 2009. Published by Bantam Spectra. I am a huge Valente fan, and “Palimpsest” promises to be something truly amazing. It is based on a short story she kindly sent for “Paper Cities”, and I heard her read bits from the novel at SalonCon this year. This promises to be a standout of the year.

I also blurbed a novella by Paul Jessup, “Open Your Eyes”, upcoming from Apex Publications. A very visual book, with compelling and haunting imagery.

ON THE HORIZON FOR EKATERINA SEDIA:

My next book, “The House of Discarded Dreams”, is coming out in July 2009 (Prime Books). It's all about Jersey shore, immigration, colonialism and horseshoe crabs. I am very excited about this book, because it is something quite different from what I've written before it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born and raised in Russia, Ekaterina Sedia currently lives in the United States and is the author of over forty short stories (sold to Analog, Jim Baen’s Universe, Fantasy Magazine, etc), poetry and three novels—“According To Crow”, the critically-acclaimed “The Secret History of Moscow”, and “The Alchemy of Stone” (Reviewed HERE). She also edited the “Paper Cities” anthology (Reviewed HERE). For more information, please visit the author’s Official Website.

NOTE: For more author responses, please visit Fantasy Book Critic's 2008 Review/2009 Preview index HERE.