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

2008 FAVORITES:

This was my year for discovering graphic novels—so I read V for Vendetta, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes and the first Hellboy collection for the first time. Classics, all, and more satisfying than many of the more recent ones I also read. What led me to graphic novels was Shaun Tan’s “The Arrival”, which gets my nod for the best book I saw all year. I think it’s a work of genius and if you haven’t seen it yet go and grab yourself a copy.

Because I was working on the last book in the Castings Trilogy this year, I didn’t read much fantasy, as I find reading other people’s work interferes with my thought processes too much. I stuck to crime fiction, mostly light stuff. But I also read some paranormal works—irritating as hell, mostly, but I liked Narelle Harris’ “The Opposite of Life” which has the only daggy vampire in the genre. (Does ‘daggy’ translate? It means completely uncool but in an endearing kind of way.) As for SF, Marianne de Pierres’ Sentients of Orion series (Dark Space is the first book) is a welcome return to real, big canvas science fiction, with interesting characters and a blistering pace.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2009:

(I have to admit that these are mostly by friends, which is how I know they’re coming)

1) “Leviathan” by Scott Westerfeld. Release Date: September 22, 2009. Published by Simon & Schuster.
2) “Juggernaut” by Richard Harland.
3) “Mirror Space” by Marianne de Pierres. UK Release Date: November 5, 2009. Published by Orbit UK.
4) “The Puzzle Ring” by Kate Forsyth. UK Release Date: June 1, 2009. Published by Scholastic.
5) “Hammer of God” by Karen Miller. US/UK Release Date: January 5, 2009/January 15, 2009. Published by Orbit.

P.S. For Tansy Rayner Roberts’ fans, she has a crime novel, “Café de Femmes”, coming out this year, too.

ON THE HORIZON FOR PAMELA FREEMAN:

“Full Circle”, Book Three in The Castings Trilogy, comes out in Australia in September, and October/November in the UK and US. “Victor’s Challenge”, a children’s fantasy, comes out in Australia in February and the UK in April/May. This is the sequel to “Victor’s Quest”, which has been my most popular and awarded book, so I’m nervous about it.

I will be writing at least two new books: 1) A stand-alone book set in the universe of the Castings Trilogy, but it is NOT the fourth book in the trilogy! It takes place a generation after the events in “Full Circle” and very few characters cross over. 2) Another Victor book and maybe 3) a children’s fantasy series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Pamela Freeman is an award-winning writer of children and young adult fiction. She has a doctorate of creative arts from the University of Technology (Sydney, Australia) where she also lectured in creative writing. The Castings Trilogy is her first series for adults. For more information, please visit the author’s Official Website and the Official Castings Trilogy Website.

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