When I joined the Drifting Isle collaboration, I gave myself one rule: Say yes, unless you absolutely must say no. This led me in writerly directions I did not want to go--and ultimately led to one of my most enjoyable writing experiences ever.
Joseph Robert Lewis put the project together and came up with how we were going to make decisions. He'd pick a topic--say, what genre we were going to write, since we started with the blankest of slates--give two or three suggestions of his own and ask us for ours. We'd vote on our top two, whittle the list down from that, and then vote again.
The genre vote ended with steampunk fantasy. On the surface, steampunk would seem to be right up my alley. My favorite books and authors either write about the 19th century or wrote during the 19th century: Jane Austen, Anthony Trollope, Patrick O'Brian, Georgette Heyer, Charles Dickens, and so on. My own work is set in the 19th century or in a world very much like it. I'm fond of saying I can't escape the 19th century no matter what I do. At heart I am a Victorian. Well, a Victorian who cherishes her voting rights. And her right to own property. And her right to--you get the idea.
But I've never written steampunk, and I've never wanted to. I like reading some of it; I've really enjoyed Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series, for example. But it's not my favorite thing to read and, thus, not my favorite thing to write. Nevertheless, I sighed and said yes.
Next we voted on magical elements. We came up with talking birds (really?), a floating island (better), music magic (eh, okay), lightcrystals...and a machine god. The latter was Joe's idea. What the heck is a machine god? I dunno, said Joe, but I like the sound of it! I didn't. At all. But I sighed at the keyboard again, said, oh all right, and went on. We batted around ideas for the various elements and the stories began to take shape, but we still didn't know what the machine god was or where it fit in. Finally someone said, well, who here writes about religion, anyone? Like a dope I said, me!
Joseph Robert Lewis put the project together and came up with how we were going to make decisions. He'd pick a topic--say, what genre we were going to write, since we started with the blankest of slates--give two or three suggestions of his own and ask us for ours. We'd vote on our top two, whittle the list down from that, and then vote again.
The genre vote ended with steampunk fantasy. On the surface, steampunk would seem to be right up my alley. My favorite books and authors either write about the 19th century or wrote during the 19th century: Jane Austen, Anthony Trollope, Patrick O'Brian, Georgette Heyer, Charles Dickens, and so on. My own work is set in the 19th century or in a world very much like it. I'm fond of saying I can't escape the 19th century no matter what I do. At heart I am a Victorian. Well, a Victorian who cherishes her voting rights. And her right to own property. And her right to--you get the idea.
But I've never written steampunk, and I've never wanted to. I like reading some of it; I've really enjoyed Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series, for example. But it's not my favorite thing to read and, thus, not my favorite thing to write. Nevertheless, I sighed and said yes.
Next we voted on magical elements. We came up with talking birds (really?), a floating island (better), music magic (eh, okay), lightcrystals...and a machine god. The latter was Joe's idea. What the heck is a machine god? I dunno, said Joe, but I like the sound of it! I didn't. At all. But I sighed at the keyboard again, said, oh all right, and went on. We batted around ideas for the various elements and the stories began to take shape, but we still didn't know what the machine god was or where it fit in. Finally someone said, well, who here writes about religion, anyone? Like a dope I said, me!
My main series "An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom" has a very detailed religious system, complete with casual prayers, holidays, myths both formal and folkloric, agnostics and atheists. Religion is a major component.
Great! everyone said. You can figure out the machine god! Aargh, said I. But I bit my lip, squared my shoulders and said yes.
The more I worked on what the machine god was, how it came to be, and how it fit into the world of the Drifting Isle, the more I was drawn to it. I began to enjoy myself, even.
Who from our steampunk city would be likely to deal with such an unexpected being, for we'd decided the machine god belonged on the island. An academic, obviously. Who was my academic? An outsider. Let's bring him to the city from far away, and let's make him sad and bitter about something. Two of my friends had just had political skirmishes in the hallowed halls of academia, and I drew on their experiences. So was born Professor Oladel Adewole, polyglot, coffee lover and discoverer of the Machine God.
What--or who--is the Machine God itself? You're going to have to read to find out, but Joe was right; it's pretty cool. And I would never have written anything remotely like this without the Drifting Isle collaborators, and the determination to say yes.
Great! everyone said. You can figure out the machine god! Aargh, said I. But I bit my lip, squared my shoulders and said yes.
The more I worked on what the machine god was, how it came to be, and how it fit into the world of the Drifting Isle, the more I was drawn to it. I began to enjoy myself, even.
Who from our steampunk city would be likely to deal with such an unexpected being, for we'd decided the machine god belonged on the island. An academic, obviously. Who was my academic? An outsider. Let's bring him to the city from far away, and let's make him sad and bitter about something. Two of my friends had just had political skirmishes in the hallowed halls of academia, and I drew on their experiences. So was born Professor Oladel Adewole, polyglot, coffee lover and discoverer of the Machine God.
What--or who--is the Machine God itself? You're going to have to read to find out, but Joe was right; it's pretty cool. And I would never have written anything remotely like this without the Drifting Isle collaborators, and the determination to say yes.
Order Black Mercury HERE
Order The Kaiser Affair HERE
Order The Machine God HERE
Read FBC's Review of Lovers And Beloveds
Read The Drifting Isle Chronicles - A new way to tell new stories ( A guest post by Joseph R. Lewis)
AUTHOR INFORMATION: MeiLin Miranda came back from the dead to write books. In 2006, she suffered a cardiac arrest and realized it was high time to get on with writing fiction after 30-plus years of professional nonfiction writing. Her main series is the fantasy epic saga An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom, and she is a co-creator of the shared steampunk fantasy series The Drifting Isle Chronicles. Her influences include Ursula K. LeGuin, Anthony Trollope, Jane Austen, Patrick O'Brian, Georgette Heyer, MFK Fisher and Neil Gaiman.
She can't seem to get away from writing stories set in the 19th century (or something like it) no matter what she does. MeiLin lives in Portland, OR with a husband, two kids, two cats, a floppy dog and far, far too much yarn.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2013
GUEST POST: The Drifting Isle Chronicles - A new way to tell new stories by Joseph R. Lewis
This will be the first of the four guest posts in regards to the Drifting Isle Chronicles. First up is an introductory post about the series inception and the bizarre world within by Joseph Robert Lewis followed tomorrow by Meilin Miranda talking about one of the main mystery and then by Charlotte English and rounded up again by Joseph as he talks specifically about his book. There'll be a joint interview with all of them upcoming as well as reviews of all the three books of this intriguing series. Melissa will be reviewing The Kaiser Affair over at My World In Words And Pages, while Qwill will be turning her critical eye towards Black Mercury over at The Qwillery and lastly I'll be focussing on The Machine God. All three reviews will be posted in the next week and so now onto Joe's guest Post.
INTRODUCTION: In 2012, I was looking over my wish list of projects that I wanted to do, and I decided to try one of them right then and there. A collaborative project. A shared world. I asked the Internet if there were any other writers who wanted to join me in writing a new series of novels, and many answered Yes.
So I began this project. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing, but that was okay. I rarely do.
THE IDEA
The idea was simple. We would design an original fantasy world together and then each write one novel, exploring the same place and the same events from different perspectives. And hopefully, we'd be able to publish a whole new series all at once, and everyone would benefit from everyone else's support.
By setting our stories at the same time, no one would have the benefit of publishing Book #1 and no one would be saddled with Book #5. And by allowing everyone to retain full rights to their own work, everyone stood to benefit equally from the success of the project. Even if the team failed somehow, each individual would still have their own book to publish as a standalone, so it wouldn't be a total loss. Everyone was excited about the possibilities, so we got started.
For several weeks, my new friends and I worked long hours, first on email and then on a private wiki site, to invent an original fantasy world. We brainstormed, we made lists, we argued, and we voted, and we voted again. As the team manager, I tried very hard to make sure that everyone had a say, that every idea had a fair shake, and that everyone's fingerprints ended up on the final product.
Personally, I was hoping we'd have some elves and dragons because I've never written that sort of high fantasy before. But alas, it was not to be. The two emerging genres were arcane magic and steampunk, and the critical event that would set our stories in motion would be the discovery of a foreign land high above the clouds.
In less than two months we had a very complex world in which to play. We had magical forces, strange creatures, bizarre devices, secret societies, and a surprising number of government officials (which are needed in a large city, apparently). Not everyone was thrilled with the outcomes of every vote (and there were a lot of votes), but we all chose to see those decisions as personal writing challenges to step outside our comfort zones and push our craft in new directions.
So I began this project. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing, but that was okay. I rarely do.
THE IDEA
The idea was simple. We would design an original fantasy world together and then each write one novel, exploring the same place and the same events from different perspectives. And hopefully, we'd be able to publish a whole new series all at once, and everyone would benefit from everyone else's support.
By setting our stories at the same time, no one would have the benefit of publishing Book #1 and no one would be saddled with Book #5. And by allowing everyone to retain full rights to their own work, everyone stood to benefit equally from the success of the project. Even if the team failed somehow, each individual would still have their own book to publish as a standalone, so it wouldn't be a total loss. Everyone was excited about the possibilities, so we got started.
For several weeks, my new friends and I worked long hours, first on email and then on a private wiki site, to invent an original fantasy world. We brainstormed, we made lists, we argued, and we voted, and we voted again. As the team manager, I tried very hard to make sure that everyone had a say, that every idea had a fair shake, and that everyone's fingerprints ended up on the final product.
Personally, I was hoping we'd have some elves and dragons because I've never written that sort of high fantasy before. But alas, it was not to be. The two emerging genres were arcane magic and steampunk, and the critical event that would set our stories in motion would be the discovery of a foreign land high above the clouds.
In less than two months we had a very complex world in which to play. We had magical forces, strange creatures, bizarre devices, secret societies, and a surprising number of government officials (which are needed in a large city, apparently). Not everyone was thrilled with the outcomes of every vote (and there were a lot of votes), but we all chose to see those decisions as personal writing challenges to step outside our comfort zones and push our craft in new directions.
THE WORK
So then we all started writing our own books in this new world, in this steampunk city with a magic island flying above it, full of talking birds and invisible assassins. I personally wrote a crime thriller, something I was very comfortable doing, and I sent my detectives running through every nook and cranny of this world to give my readers a glimpse of everything that my fellow writers were working on. I wanted my book to be fun, and also to tease the other books, to be the extra glue that bound them all together.
It wasn't an entirely smooth process. Months passed. People got sick. Babies were born. Day jobs changed. Other books were published (I wrote and published the entire Zelda Pryce trilogy during this project). Artists were replaced. Deadlines slipped. A writer regretfully bowed out. But we all stayed in touch like clockwork. We kept asking questions and dreaming up ideas, and working hard.
I found the project to be very easy on some days and very difficult on others. To some extent, it was just like writing any other book. I referred to our notes, I made things up, and I had fun. But at one point I had to pause for whole months to wait for others to invent content for me to play with, and there were countless emails to discuss tiny details, the sorts of things a single writer could easily resolve in just a few seconds but with a team, these things take more time.
Originally, we had hoped to publish the series before Christmas of 2012. We missed that mark by a hair. Or four months, however you prefer to count it. But we stuck it out and we reached the finish line.
So then we all started writing our own books in this new world, in this steampunk city with a magic island flying above it, full of talking birds and invisible assassins. I personally wrote a crime thriller, something I was very comfortable doing, and I sent my detectives running through every nook and cranny of this world to give my readers a glimpse of everything that my fellow writers were working on. I wanted my book to be fun, and also to tease the other books, to be the extra glue that bound them all together.
It wasn't an entirely smooth process. Months passed. People got sick. Babies were born. Day jobs changed. Other books were published (I wrote and published the entire Zelda Pryce trilogy during this project). Artists were replaced. Deadlines slipped. A writer regretfully bowed out. But we all stayed in touch like clockwork. We kept asking questions and dreaming up ideas, and working hard.
I found the project to be very easy on some days and very difficult on others. To some extent, it was just like writing any other book. I referred to our notes, I made things up, and I had fun. But at one point I had to pause for whole months to wait for others to invent content for me to play with, and there were countless emails to discuss tiny details, the sorts of things a single writer could easily resolve in just a few seconds but with a team, these things take more time.
Originally, we had hoped to publish the series before Christmas of 2012. We missed that mark by a hair. Or four months, however you prefer to count it. But we stuck it out and we reached the finish line.
THE RESULT
Over a year after we started, we find ourselves here. We began with five writers and a goal of five novels. We now have four writers and three novels, with the fourth novel still in progress. But we are proud of our work and excited about the future. Not only did we achieve our goal of being the first independent team of authors to write and publish an original series of novels simultaneously, but we have also pioneered a new model for collaborative writing and publishing that others can use and explore as well.
So today I am very pleased to present fantasy readers with the inaugural trilogy of books in the Drifting Isle Chronicles: Black Mercury by Charlotte E. English, The Kaiser Affair by Joseph Robert Lewis, and The Machine God by MeiLin Miranda. Later this year, we will also release Starcaster by Kat Parrish, and in 2014 there will be several more novels (including a detective sequel from me!). These books were all written by different people, and they tell very different stories about different characters, but they are all woven together in the same place, around the same events and ideas. It's new. It's different. And we think it's pretty cool. But that's all just for our readers. What about our fellow writers?
Over a year after we started, we find ourselves here. We began with five writers and a goal of five novels. We now have four writers and three novels, with the fourth novel still in progress. But we are proud of our work and excited about the future. Not only did we achieve our goal of being the first independent team of authors to write and publish an original series of novels simultaneously, but we have also pioneered a new model for collaborative writing and publishing that others can use and explore as well.
So today I am very pleased to present fantasy readers with the inaugural trilogy of books in the Drifting Isle Chronicles: Black Mercury by Charlotte E. English, The Kaiser Affair by Joseph Robert Lewis, and The Machine God by MeiLin Miranda. Later this year, we will also release Starcaster by Kat Parrish, and in 2014 there will be several more novels (including a detective sequel from me!). These books were all written by different people, and they tell very different stories about different characters, but they are all woven together in the same place, around the same events and ideas. It's new. It's different. And we think it's pretty cool. But that's all just for our readers. What about our fellow writers?
THE FUTURE
The Drifting Isle Chronicles began as a shared world, one that was shared between just five writers in private. But no longer. Now, the Drifting Isle world is open to the public. We, the Founding Chroniclers, are now accepting submissions from authors who would like to be a part of this ground-breaking experiment in fantasy writing, global collaboration, and independent publishing.
We are inviting writers to submit proposals for new Drifting Isle novels, and by following a simple collaborative process with us, it is now possible for anyone to become an official Chronicler, to publish their own book as a part of the Drifting Isle canon. We want this series to grow. We want it to become a chorus of diverse voices, telling new stories in new ways, and all woven together in one fantastical tapestry.
We hope that other writers will help us to explore the past and future of our steampunk city and flying island, and go beyond the borders to distant lands where other stranger mysteries await our readers. And of course we hope our readers will find this world and this project as fascinating, and as fun, as we do.
LINKS
Readers! Visit the series homepage: The Drifting Isle Chronicles
Writers! Download the submission guidelines: The Chronicler's Guide [PDF]
The Drifting Isle Chronicles began as a shared world, one that was shared between just five writers in private. But no longer. Now, the Drifting Isle world is open to the public. We, the Founding Chroniclers, are now accepting submissions from authors who would like to be a part of this ground-breaking experiment in fantasy writing, global collaboration, and independent publishing.
We are inviting writers to submit proposals for new Drifting Isle novels, and by following a simple collaborative process with us, it is now possible for anyone to become an official Chronicler, to publish their own book as a part of the Drifting Isle canon. We want this series to grow. We want it to become a chorus of diverse voices, telling new stories in new ways, and all woven together in one fantastical tapestry.
We hope that other writers will help us to explore the past and future of our steampunk city and flying island, and go beyond the borders to distant lands where other stranger mysteries await our readers. And of course we hope our readers will find this world and this project as fascinating, and as fun, as we do.
LINKS
Readers! Visit the series homepage: The Drifting Isle Chronicles
Writers! Download the submission guidelines: The Chronicler's Guide [PDF]
Official Author Website
Official Drifting Isle Chronicles Website
Order Black Mercury HERE
Order The Kaiser Affair HERE
Order The Machine God HERE
Read FBC's Review of Omar The Immortal
Read FBC’s Review of Zelda Pryce: The Razor’s Edge
Read FBC’s Review of Zelda Pryce: The Clockwork Girl
Read FBC’s Interview with Joseph Robert Lewis
Official Drifting Isle Chronicles Website
Order Black Mercury HERE
Order The Kaiser Affair HERE
Order The Machine God HERE
Read FBC's Review of Omar The Immortal
Read FBC’s Review of Zelda Pryce: The Razor’s Edge
Read FBC’s Review of Zelda Pryce: The Clockwork Girl
Read FBC’s Interview with Joseph Robert Lewis
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Joseph Robert Lewis was curious about world mythology since a tender age and so he then decided to write stories in which history, mythology, and fantasy would collide in unpredictable ways. He also likes writing about heroines that his daughters can respect and admire. Joe was born in Annapolis and went to the University of Maryland to study ancient novels, morality plays, and Viking poetry. He graduated with a degree in English Literature and currently lives in Maryland with his family, a needy cat, and a zombie fish.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Cave & Julia, Kindle Single from M. John Harrison (with comments by Liviu Suciu)
“That whole year, and to a lesser extent the year after, bodies were
washed up all along that part of the coast, some whole, some in pieces …
In the south of Autotelia, especially, it was a bad year for bodies;
but the body of the vanished brother didn’t show up among them. Passive
and silent, full of some incommunicable anger, the sister attempted
suicide, spent time in institutions; then, her work suddenly becoming
popular, left the country for a new life on our side of things.”
When
Cave meets Julia, he finds himself sucked into her strange alienated
history of loss and sacrifice. “Cave & Julia” is a love story set
between our world and Autotelia.
Cave & Julia is a Kindle Single from M. John Harrison that can be ordered HERE (US) or HERE (UK) and which I have just found about by pure chance (and of course bought it on the spot), so I decided it to give it a quick mention here. Just beautiful prose where each word counts. The author talks more about it and upcoming releases of his work HERE.
The earlier story, In Autotelia, is available in the Arc 1.1 magazine which contains quite a few goodies for that matter like an excerpt from the upcoming Margaret Atwood trilogy ending Maddaddam, short stories by S. Baxter, H. Rajaniemi and A Reynolds and non-fiction from a stellar cast including C. Mieville and A. Roberts.
"Part love story, part historical epic, part tragedy, The House of Special Purpose
illuminates an empire at the end of its reign. Eighty-year-old Georgy
Jachmenev is haunted by his past—a past of death, suffering, and scandal
that will stay with him until the end of his days. Living in England
with his beloved wife, Zoya, Georgy prepares to make one final journey
back to the Russia he once knew and loved, the Russia that both
destroyed and defined him. As Georgy remembers days gone by, we are
transported to St. Petersburg, to the Winter Palace of the czar, in the
early twentieth century—a time of change, threat, and bloody revolution.
As Georgy overturns the most painful stone of all, we uncover the story
of the house of special purpose."
The House of Special Purpose is an unexpectedly compelling read that mixes well trodden ground - last days of the Tsarist Regime, Rasputin, the murder of Nicholas II the last Tsar and his family - with a well thought narrative structure that presents snippets from the future life of two survivors of the times.
The novel is narrated by Georgy Jachmenev, son of a muzhik from an imperial estate who distinguishes himself by saving the life of an Imperial Duke and gets appointed as bodyguard to the Tsar and his family, in particular to the young, sick and fragile Tsarevich Aleksei.
In the present of the storyline in 1981, 80+ year old Georgy is living in London after a lifetime of work for the British Museum and he is attending his lifelong partner and wife of 60+ years, Zoya who is terminally ill of cancer, while being consoled by his grandson who is his single surviving relative.
The narration goes back in time in flashes and snippets of the important moments in the life of the couple as well as forward in time from Georgy's birth to his becoming a member of the Tsar's Guard and finally to his illicit love affair with the youngest of the Tsar's daughters, Grand Duchess Anastasia to whom he have sworn eternal fidelity; and of course the question occurs, who is Zoya?
While we get an early answer that they had met on a three day nightmarish train ride from Siberia in 1918 escaping from the Bolsheviks, things are slowly revealed...
Excellent writing and a book that I opened it more to take a look at than seriously expecting to actually read it but that I could not really put it down after I started it; emotional, haunting and with two great characters who survive the wreck of an era and make themselves a life in exile while still being followed by the brutal past.
Highly recommended.
Friday, April 5, 2013
On The Highly Expected Series Debuts of 2013, Django Wexler, Brian McClellan, Anthony Ryan, Paul Witcover and David Walton (with comments by Liviu Suciu)
As noted a few times across the years, I am a strong believer in "feedback" on my posts and the claims contained in such so for example I have just recently updated the earlier post about Aethernet Magazine with an actual quick review of its contents. So on looking back at my Highly Awaited Books of 2013 post, I realized that while I have already read only about 1/3 of the books in the main part - all excellent except for the disappointing River of Stars - I actually have read 4 of the 5 series debuts mentioned in the second part of the post and the 5th, Antoine Rouaud's The Book and the Sword volume 1 Path of Anger seems to have been considerably delayed afaik.
So time to talk a little about the 4 books mentioned there, though I would also add that there is one more debut in 2013 - at least as major publishing goes - namely Anthony Ryan's awesome Blood Song, but that for me is a 2012 novel in its original independent publishing and I covered it quite a lot so far as a top 5 sff of 2012 etc.
I reviewed Quintessence by David Walton not long ago and while it did not quite make my top 25 as it did not quite transcend its cliched characters and the general "adventure sff" feel, I still highly recommended it for its extreme inventiveness.
Paul Witcover's The Emperor of All Things was pretty disappointing as the swashbuckler part lacks panache and the "London with supernatural" part is overall boring for someone who is not a fan of such; Lavie Tidhar's The Bookman series covers similar background in way better fashion.
Promise of Blood, Brian McClellan's gunpowder magic debut was awesome - and the chorus of agreement on that seems to be increasing as more people are reading it with the publication date coming up soon. I hope to have a full review in 10 days or so, but my Goodreads thoughts explain why it is a top 25 novel of the year for me.
To my considerable surprise, the one novel on the list I was least sure about, The Thousand Names by Django Wexler turned out to be the best of the four despite its more conventional "military epic fantasy with some magic" blurb. A July release so definitely quite a while until the release to the world at large, but mark your calendar as you would want to try this one since it is a very impressive and very polished series debut that covers everything
one wants in an epic fantasy, while I expect the series to go far.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Introducing Aethernet Magazine - Serial Fiction with Novels by Chris Beckett, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Several Other Well Known Authors (with comments and a review of issue 1 by Liviu Suciu)
A few months ago I have heard on Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt site about the new online magazine Aethernet which is geared towards serialized fiction rather than short stories and where the author of the hugely favorite Apt series (now with 8/10 books out and #9 tbp August) is publishing his novel Spiderlight.
As mentioned in a recent post, Chris Beckett has also announced that Gela's Ring, his (two centuries later) sequel to the wonderful Dark Eden will be first serialized here (with book publication in 2014) so the magazine became a buy on publication.
As the math of subscription (20 pounds or about $31 at current exchange) versus single issue (3.09 pounds on Amazon.uk and $5 on Amazon.com) works decisively in favor of the subscription - especially considering the nature of Aethernet as serial fiction rather than hit-or-miss short story magazine - going direct was the clear choice and everything worked out pretty smoothly with the first issue showing in my inbox a few days ago, in all 3 main formats - epub, mobi and pdf.
I will include below the table of contents and the upcoming highlights and of course I recommend checking the Aethernet website for much more, while if you are a fan of any of the authors below or if you want to try stuff that announces itself as great sff, I strongly recommended getting the magazine too!
Update April 5: I finished reading the first issue and I quite enjoyed it so I am looking forward to the next one; the clear piece of resistance of the magazine and the one clearly superior novel here is Gela's Ring, which gets to the interesting part and skips too much set-up with only a quick reminder about the events in Dark Eden of a couple centuries ago.
Spiderlight is a mostly tongue-in-cheek take on classic Sword and Sorcery and as is written by A. Tchaikovsky, I enjoyed it for what it is but so far it is quite light sff.
Murder of the Heart is a first person narration from the sister of a recently dead girl, whose ghost warns her about the charismatic and successful writer former fiancee (of the now ghost girl). Something different from Philip Palmer who has written mostly variants of space opera and planetary adventure so far and while the story is something seen tons of times, I kind of like the writing so far.
The Smallest of Things by Ian Whates seems to be the old cliche - supernatural detective story in London - but it was interesting in a small dose.
The Ties that Bind by Juliet McKenna is set in a secondary pre industrial world and concerns a young woman married into a richer trader family whose husband is presumed dead; this actually has the greatest potential of the rest of the novels outside Gela's Ring so far but the piece in the first issue was mostly set-up.
As befits serial fiction all the pieces above end at "hook" points, mostly of the "and now..." version and that is quite an attractive quality of serialization in my opinion...
In addition there is a short non-fiction piece by Eric Brown, presenting a prolific but not that well known author, Rupert Croft-Cooke, piece that is quite interesting and for once complete in itself.
Overall, a very strong beginning and I expect to read issue 2 the moment it pops in my inbox in a month or so.
Table of Contents:
"Editorial
Gela’s Ring Part I: The Fiery Light by Chris Beckett
Prelude: The Tree of Drowned Men
(Chapter 1)
(Chapter 2)
The Ties that Bind by Juliet E McKenna
The Smallest of Things by Ian Whates
Non Fiction: Serial Inspirations by Eric Brown
Rupert Croft-Cooke: the Enigma Behind the Memoirs
Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Mirkwood Blues
Murder of the Heart by Philip Palmer
Part One
Coming up:
Starting next issue:
Cosmopolitan Predators! by Tony Ballantyne
Still to come:
Stories by Eric Brown, Keith Brooke and others..."
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Very Sad News about Iain M. Banks, the Greatest SF Writer of Our Time (with comments by Liviu Suciu)
While I saw the news about Mr. Banks' terminal cancer on sffworld early in the morning, I could not find myself writing a little about it until now as I am of the strong belief that in such moments, words do not really help...
Anyway, I want just to note that since I have discovered his work in the early 90's, his sf books have always been huge asap's and for the several years since I started keeping records, Transition was my top sf, sff and #3 overall in 2009, Surface Detail was my top all around book (and so obviously top sf and sff) in 2010 and The Hydrogen Sonata was my top sf, #2 sff and #4 overall in 2012.
Also his works featured prominently in various editorial pieces done here about Best Opening Lines, Interesting Covers, Memorable Fictional Characters Ladies and Men...
I also rate the quartet: Use of Weapons, Consider Phlebas, Against a Dark Background (standalone non-Culture but with the strongest Banksian characters outside the previous 2) and The Player of Games as my top four sf books of all time, reading (from) them uncountably many times across the years, while on my list of all time favorites (where I use the rule "one author, one spot"), Use of Weapons at #7 is the highest ranked sff book.
For more, you can check the Guardian or USA Today pieces and of course the original announcement by Iain Banks himself.
Again words cannot convey how shocking and depressing this announcement has been...
Fantasy Book Critic will soon be reviewing Ill-Made Knight, the new historical fiction title by Christian Cameron and in support of its August 1, 2013 UK publication. Orion Books and Fantasy Book Critic are giving away FIVE SIGNED COPIES (bound proofs) of “Ill-Made Knight” to five Lucky winners!!!
To enter, please send an email to fbcgiveaway@gmail.com with your Name, Mailing Address, and the subject: IMK. Giveaway has ended. Thank you for entering and Good Luck!
GIVEAWAY RULES:
1) Open To UK Residents ONLY
2) Only One Entry Per Household (Multiple Entries Will Be Disqualified)
3) Must Enter Valid Email Address, Mailing Address + Name
4) No Purchase Necessary
5) Giveaway has ENDED
6) Winners Will Be Randomly Selected and Notified By Email
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OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: William Gold comes into the world as his family slides down the social ladder. His head filled with tales of chivalry, instead he is branded a thief, and must make do with being squire to his childhood friend Sir Robert, a knight determined to make a name for himself as a man at arms in France. While William himself slowly acquires the skills of knightly combat, he remains an outsider - until the Battle of Poitiers when Sir Robert is cut down by the greatest knight of the age, Sir Geoffry de Charny, and William, his lowly squire, revenges him.
But with his own knight dead, no honour acrrues to William for this feat of arms, and he is forced to become a mercenary. Scavenging a mis-matched set of armour from the knightly corpses, he joins one of the mercenary companies now set to pillage a defenceless France, and so begins a bloody career that sees William joining forces with the infamous Sir John Hawkwood and immersing himself in a treacherous clandestine war among the Italian city states. But paradoxically it is there, among the spies, assassins and hired killers serving their ruthless masters, that William finally discovers the true meaning of chivalry - and his destiny as a knight.
To enter, please send an email to fbcgiveaway@gmail.com with your Name, Mailing Address, and the subject: IMK. Giveaway has ended. Thank you for entering and Good Luck!
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2) Only One Entry Per Household (Multiple Entries Will Be Disqualified)
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4) No Purchase Necessary
5) Giveaway has ENDED
6) Winners Will Be Randomly Selected and Notified By Email
7) Personal Information Will Only Be Used In Mailing Out the Prizes to the Winners
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: William Gold comes into the world as his family slides down the social ladder. His head filled with tales of chivalry, instead he is branded a thief, and must make do with being squire to his childhood friend Sir Robert, a knight determined to make a name for himself as a man at arms in France. While William himself slowly acquires the skills of knightly combat, he remains an outsider - until the Battle of Poitiers when Sir Robert is cut down by the greatest knight of the age, Sir Geoffry de Charny, and William, his lowly squire, revenges him.
But with his own knight dead, no honour acrrues to William for this feat of arms, and he is forced to become a mercenary. Scavenging a mis-matched set of armour from the knightly corpses, he joins one of the mercenary companies now set to pillage a defenceless France, and so begins a bloody career that sees William joining forces with the infamous Sir John Hawkwood and immersing himself in a treacherous clandestine war among the Italian city states. But paradoxically it is there, among the spies, assassins and hired killers serving their ruthless masters, that William finally discovers the true meaning of chivalry - and his destiny as a knight.
Order
“Dark Currents” HERE
Read
An Excerpt HERE
Dark Currents (Published October 2, 2012 by Roc) is the start of
Jacqueline Carey's new urban fantasy
series, Agent of Hel. (That's Hel
the Norse goddess, mind you, not the infernal dimension.) Carey is most famous for the Kushiel's
Legacy series, but she's got several others out there. Her website says
there are two forthcoming books in this new series, so we've probably got a
trilogy on our hands.
Our
protagonist, Daisy, is hell-spawn
(yes, the infernal kind this time) courtesy of an accident with an ouija board.
However, she doesn't have any fancy powers. She knows how the eldritch
community works, she's sensitive to the seven deadlies, and she's got a tail.
She could have all the power she
wanted, if she invited her demonic father to Earth and started the apocalypse.
However, despite all his tempting, she hasn't — yet. Daisy lives in Hel's territory
on earth and works as Hel's liaison
between the eldritch and human communities.
In
terms of world-building, the setting is a catch-all for mythology. Any mythos
could be real, somewhere, and none are more prominent than any others. Hel may be head goddess in Daisy's small town, but there are
fairies, vampires, trolls, werewolves, ghouls, and mermaids; there are tarot
and runic readings. Happily for me, although vampires are a major player in
town, they aren't in this book: instead, Carey
focuses more on ghouls. Her interpretation is interesting, like vampires that
feed on emotions instead of blood, and it's pretty cool. It's also incredibly
relevant to some of the problems Daisy deals
with by virtue of being hell-spawn.
The
story does follow the now classic urban fantasy set-up of our protagonist
investigating a murder. Daisy is
with the police department in a semi-official capacity, but she isn't actually
a detective; since she isn't the lead on the investigation, Carey gets to skip on most of the
police procedural details.
I
appreciated that there was no clear love interest. By the end of the book, Daisy is sort of interested in three
different people who may or may not be romantically interested in her. I like
this because it felt real: she has no idea what's going on with any of them,
and the book isn't obviously pushing her into a relationship with any or all of
them.
I
also really liked all the other subplots in this book. There's an investigation
going on, but life doesn't stop: her best friend still has family problems, Daisy still visits her mother, and she
interacts with people from earlier in her life who don't have any bearing on
the investigation. Daisy had
relationships with people in town that suggested a lot about her character and
gave her more of a sense of history, as well as fleshing out the world. I point
this out because too many stories have a token friend or family member that is
the “normal” person in the protagonist's life, and I think Carey avoided that problem neatly and made her solution help her
besides.
In
the end, it was obvious that none of Daisy's
contacts, physical strength, or investigative acumen were going to save
her, and Carey sneakily spent the
whole book ensuring that she had exactly what she needed to be a true hero.
The
trappings may be familiar to urban fantasy readers, but I think Jacqueline Carey is doing something special
with Dark Currents. The fantastic is
the dressing to tackle serious, “mundane” issues, and it makes for a compelling
read.
Labels:
Official Author Website
Order the book HERE
Read the prologue and first chapter HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic Interview with Peter Clines
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Ex-Patriots
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Junkie Quatrain
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of 14
INTRODUCTION: In the last three years, Peter Clines has gone from a small time author who was published by zombie specialist publishers Permuted Press to a guy whose wonderful books were bought over by a big time publisher. I had previously blogged about these things over here and here. Suffice to say I’m extremely glad that Peter has taken this step.
Previously when I reviewed the book, I quite loved it and so when I got a chance to read the new edition, I was very much looking forward to it. This edition basically has the same story line with almost very little differences. There are of course some editing changes that help the story and which are to be expected. Overall though I would say that these differences are very minor ones.
When I re-read the story I found it to be as mesmerizing a read when I first read it nearly two years ago and so I would like to present my review from 2011 as I think it covers all the salient features of the book that made it feature so high in my 2011 year end list. I've made some changes in my review as well to reflect the new edition. So go ahead and be sure to pick up the "mainstream" debut of this terrific book!
***********************************************************************
Original 2011 Review of Ex-Heroes:
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Peter Clines was born and brought up in Maine, he moved to California when he grew up and worked in Hollywood for a number of years. He has also been a prop master for several movies and TV shows. He has written reviews for the Cinema Blend website as well as for the Creative Screenwriting magazine. He has previously interviewed many famous film personas such as Frank Darabont, Paul Haggis, Kevin Smith, George Romero, Akiva Goldsman, David Goyer, Mark Herman, Nora Ephron and many others. He lives in Southern California and this was his debut.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Stealth. Gorgon. Regenerator. Cerberus. Zzzap. The Mighty Dragon. They were heroes, using their superhuman abilities to make Los Angeles a better place. Then the plague of living death spread around the globe. Billions died, civilization fell, and the city of angels was left a desolate zombie wasteland.
Now, a year later, the Mighty Dragon and his companions protect a last few thousand survivors in their film-studio-turned-fortress, the Mount. Scarred and traumatized by the horrors they’ve endured, the heroes fight the armies of ravenous ex-humans at their citadel’s gates, lead teams out to scavenge for supplies—and struggle to be the symbols of strength and hope the survivors so desperately need.
But the hungry ex-humans aren’t the only threats the heroes face. Former allies, their powers and psyches hideously twisted, lurk in the city’s ruins. And just a few miles away, another group is slowly amassing power . . . led by an enemy with the most terrifying ability of all.
FORMAT/INFO: Ex-Heroes is 312 pages long divided over a prologue, twenty-seven numbered/titled chapters, and an epilogue. All chapters are either divided into “Then” or “Now” sections. Narration is in the first-person for all “Then” chapters and in third person for all the “Now” sections. The POV's both first person and third person are via Stealth, Gorgon, Cairax, Regenerator, Cerberus, Zzzap, The Mighty Dragon, Lady Bee, Banzai, St. George and a few minor characters. Ex-Heroes is self-contained and is the first book in the Ex-Heroes series.
Ex-Heroes was previously published on February 25, 2010 in the paperback and e-book format via Permuted press. It was re-released in paperback and e-book format on February 26, 2013 via Broadway Paperbacks (Crown Publishing) in the US. Del Rey UK will be releasing it paperback form on July 11, 2013 while it has already been released as an e-book on March 29, 2013. US Cover art is provided by Jonathan Bartlett.
CLASSIFICATION: Mixing zombies with superheroes in a desolate Los Angeles. Peter Clines’ world of Ex-Heroes can be best summed up as George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead meets David Gemmell’s Legend meets The X-Men.
Order the book HERE
Read the prologue and first chapter HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic Interview with Peter Clines
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Ex-Patriots
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Junkie Quatrain
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of 14
INTRODUCTION: In the last three years, Peter Clines has gone from a small time author who was published by zombie specialist publishers Permuted Press to a guy whose wonderful books were bought over by a big time publisher. I had previously blogged about these things over here and here. Suffice to say I’m extremely glad that Peter has taken this step.
Previously when I reviewed the book, I quite loved it and so when I got a chance to read the new edition, I was very much looking forward to it. This edition basically has the same story line with almost very little differences. There are of course some editing changes that help the story and which are to be expected. Overall though I would say that these differences are very minor ones.
When I re-read the story I found it to be as mesmerizing a read when I first read it nearly two years ago and so I would like to present my review from 2011 as I think it covers all the salient features of the book that made it feature so high in my 2011 year end list. I've made some changes in my review as well to reflect the new edition. So go ahead and be sure to pick up the "mainstream" debut of this terrific book!
***********************************************************************
Original 2011 Review of Ex-Heroes:
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Peter Clines was born and brought up in Maine, he moved to California when he grew up and worked in Hollywood for a number of years. He has also been a prop master for several movies and TV shows. He has written reviews for the Cinema Blend website as well as for the Creative Screenwriting magazine. He has previously interviewed many famous film personas such as Frank Darabont, Paul Haggis, Kevin Smith, George Romero, Akiva Goldsman, David Goyer, Mark Herman, Nora Ephron and many others. He lives in Southern California and this was his debut.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Stealth. Gorgon. Regenerator. Cerberus. Zzzap. The Mighty Dragon. They were heroes, using their superhuman abilities to make Los Angeles a better place. Then the plague of living death spread around the globe. Billions died, civilization fell, and the city of angels was left a desolate zombie wasteland.
Now, a year later, the Mighty Dragon and his companions protect a last few thousand survivors in their film-studio-turned-fortress, the Mount. Scarred and traumatized by the horrors they’ve endured, the heroes fight the armies of ravenous ex-humans at their citadel’s gates, lead teams out to scavenge for supplies—and struggle to be the symbols of strength and hope the survivors so desperately need.
But the hungry ex-humans aren’t the only threats the heroes face. Former allies, their powers and psyches hideously twisted, lurk in the city’s ruins. And just a few miles away, another group is slowly amassing power . . . led by an enemy with the most terrifying ability of all.
FORMAT/INFO: Ex-Heroes is 312 pages long divided over a prologue, twenty-seven numbered/titled chapters, and an epilogue. All chapters are either divided into “Then” or “Now” sections. Narration is in the first-person for all “Then” chapters and in third person for all the “Now” sections. The POV's both first person and third person are via Stealth, Gorgon, Cairax, Regenerator, Cerberus, Zzzap, The Mighty Dragon, Lady Bee, Banzai, St. George and a few minor characters. Ex-Heroes is self-contained and is the first book in the Ex-Heroes series.
Ex-Heroes was previously published on February 25, 2010 in the paperback and e-book format via Permuted press. It was re-released in paperback and e-book format on February 26, 2013 via Broadway Paperbacks (Crown Publishing) in the US. Del Rey UK will be releasing it paperback form on July 11, 2013 while it has already been released as an e-book on March 29, 2013. US Cover art is provided by Jonathan Bartlett.
CLASSIFICATION: Mixing zombies with superheroes in a desolate Los Angeles. Peter Clines’ world of Ex-Heroes can be best summed up as George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead meets David Gemmell’s Legend meets The X-Men.
ANALYSIS: I had been noticing Ex-Heroes since last year (2010) but it kind of got lost in my “Books-to-be-checked” list. However Amazon’s recommendations made sure that it was never really out of my mind, as it always used to pop up every now and then. After the release of Ex-Patriots the sequel to this book, I contacted the publisher (Permuted Press) for review copies and they graciously sent both the books over promptly. I was hugely excited to see that the story was focusing on superheroes coupled with zombies and I was hoping that it would not disappoint.
The author has quite cleverly divided the book into the past “then” and present “now” sections and thereby maintaining the tension in the story while going forward as well giving us the crucial back story. The “now” begins in the current where a sizeable portion of humanity is holed up in Paramount Studios which has now been renamed “The Mount”. The humans within are surviving from the horror outside wherein zombies freely roam and look for fresh human meat, the zombies in this world are called “Exes” as in Ex-humans. The human population though has an upper hand with the super heroes who are protecting them.
Stealth, Gorgon, Regenerator, Cerberus, Zzzap, Lady Bee, St. George and a few others have shepherded humanity and are doing their best defeat the zombies while also searching for a cure. The “then” sections focus on each superhero separately and we are given a clear look into their beginnings, this leads to a very precise picture about each of them while differentiating their personas in the reader’s minds. The story then begins as the heroes forage on almost a daily basis and try to retrieve as many tangible goods as they can with a few normal volunteers however they have been noticing that some one is competing with them and also leaving booby traps which creates further problems. The story then escalates as the people of the Mount find out who it is that has been hindering their survival and what do they want which leads to the question “what will they do to survive?”
I completely loved this book and while it was a debut book, it didn’t feel so at all. With a very clever but not wholly original premise, the author unleashes a very exciting story, which grabs the reader’s attention and then proceeds to charm the reader in a variety of ways. Firstly the plot is a great one as the story begins with a scenario that should appeal to most zombie/apocalypse enthusiasts. From then on the author keeps the story moving forward with some great twists as well as the past recollections of each superhero. This tactic keeps the twin story strands; the past and the present constantly entwined while delivering the clues about the enemy and also illuminating the mistakes of the past. I was thrilled with the way the story was presented and how in the end the author managed to pull it off by coalescing all the threads and resolving all the questions arising in the readers minds.
The author has also aced the characterization department as we are given access to many characters and all of them have vastly different personalities and agendas. This was what differentiated the characters from being comic book clones. And even though most of heroes have their own issues a la the X-men, the author has conveniently provided the back stories which clue the reader in to these issues. Another tremendously exciting point was the humor which is present in all forms through out the story, from the black humor laced conversations to the celebrity zombie hunts; the author manages to make the darkness of the situation a little lighter. There also tons of references to various comic book characters, movies, SFF shows, books etc. making it an interesting read in addition to all the previous plus points.
Lastly this book’s climax draws parallels with David Gemmell’s classic debut Legend, in the sense, the reader gets a sense of claustrophobia as the holed up survivors try to defeat an enemy who has massive strength in numbers while also facing problems from within. Granted that David Gemmell’s book was built on that single premise whereas over here the book’s climax is a one long drawn out fight, which will have the readers flipping pages to see who survives & who doesn’t and what is the final outcome. For me I got that overall Legend-like vibe and kudos to the author for making the climax that much exciting. I really loved this book for all of its good points which made it such a fun read, however the parts combined together make it an excellent book all together.
I would have point that I really couldn’t find any deficiencies or things to nitpick. One can point out that the author utilizes various tropes among the superheroes like the all invincible hero with the heart of gold, the secretive hero who stays alone even among the hero ken, etc. But with all the tropes being utilized Peter has still managed to put his own spin to these characters and the story thereby making it his own and one which can stand all amongst other wonderful debuts. After all almost all SFF novels utilize tropes in one form or the other and it is up to the writer to make them seem seamless within the confines of the plot. To his credit Peter Clines passes with flying colors in his debut by giving the readers a tale that they can cherish for a long time to come.
CONCLUSION: An excellent debut that spans many sub-genres and has a little bit of everything to satisfy most of its readers. Ex-Heroes is a standout debut in the superhero and zombie genre. Simply put I was completely floored by this book’s ingenuity and charm; I definitely hope that Hollywood never ruins this one by making it into a movie. Heartily recommended for all fantasy, thriller, horror fans who would want to read a book which best exemplifies the real meaning of a page-turner. Peter Clines’ debut easily makes him the most under-appreciated author of 2010 and now I can’t wait to read what he has done next in Ex-Patriots.
The author has quite cleverly divided the book into the past “then” and present “now” sections and thereby maintaining the tension in the story while going forward as well giving us the crucial back story. The “now” begins in the current where a sizeable portion of humanity is holed up in Paramount Studios which has now been renamed “The Mount”. The humans within are surviving from the horror outside wherein zombies freely roam and look for fresh human meat, the zombies in this world are called “Exes” as in Ex-humans. The human population though has an upper hand with the super heroes who are protecting them.
Stealth, Gorgon, Regenerator, Cerberus, Zzzap, Lady Bee, St. George and a few others have shepherded humanity and are doing their best defeat the zombies while also searching for a cure. The “then” sections focus on each superhero separately and we are given a clear look into their beginnings, this leads to a very precise picture about each of them while differentiating their personas in the reader’s minds. The story then begins as the heroes forage on almost a daily basis and try to retrieve as many tangible goods as they can with a few normal volunteers however they have been noticing that some one is competing with them and also leaving booby traps which creates further problems. The story then escalates as the people of the Mount find out who it is that has been hindering their survival and what do they want which leads to the question “what will they do to survive?”
I completely loved this book and while it was a debut book, it didn’t feel so at all. With a very clever but not wholly original premise, the author unleashes a very exciting story, which grabs the reader’s attention and then proceeds to charm the reader in a variety of ways. Firstly the plot is a great one as the story begins with a scenario that should appeal to most zombie/apocalypse enthusiasts. From then on the author keeps the story moving forward with some great twists as well as the past recollections of each superhero. This tactic keeps the twin story strands; the past and the present constantly entwined while delivering the clues about the enemy and also illuminating the mistakes of the past. I was thrilled with the way the story was presented and how in the end the author managed to pull it off by coalescing all the threads and resolving all the questions arising in the readers minds.
The author has also aced the characterization department as we are given access to many characters and all of them have vastly different personalities and agendas. This was what differentiated the characters from being comic book clones. And even though most of heroes have their own issues a la the X-men, the author has conveniently provided the back stories which clue the reader in to these issues. Another tremendously exciting point was the humor which is present in all forms through out the story, from the black humor laced conversations to the celebrity zombie hunts; the author manages to make the darkness of the situation a little lighter. There also tons of references to various comic book characters, movies, SFF shows, books etc. making it an interesting read in addition to all the previous plus points.
Lastly this book’s climax draws parallels with David Gemmell’s classic debut Legend, in the sense, the reader gets a sense of claustrophobia as the holed up survivors try to defeat an enemy who has massive strength in numbers while also facing problems from within. Granted that David Gemmell’s book was built on that single premise whereas over here the book’s climax is a one long drawn out fight, which will have the readers flipping pages to see who survives & who doesn’t and what is the final outcome. For me I got that overall Legend-like vibe and kudos to the author for making the climax that much exciting. I really loved this book for all of its good points which made it such a fun read, however the parts combined together make it an excellent book all together.
I would have point that I really couldn’t find any deficiencies or things to nitpick. One can point out that the author utilizes various tropes among the superheroes like the all invincible hero with the heart of gold, the secretive hero who stays alone even among the hero ken, etc. But with all the tropes being utilized Peter has still managed to put his own spin to these characters and the story thereby making it his own and one which can stand all amongst other wonderful debuts. After all almost all SFF novels utilize tropes in one form or the other and it is up to the writer to make them seem seamless within the confines of the plot. To his credit Peter Clines passes with flying colors in his debut by giving the readers a tale that they can cherish for a long time to come.
CONCLUSION: An excellent debut that spans many sub-genres and has a little bit of everything to satisfy most of its readers. Ex-Heroes is a standout debut in the superhero and zombie genre. Simply put I was completely floored by this book’s ingenuity and charm; I definitely hope that Hollywood never ruins this one by making it into a movie. Heartily recommended for all fantasy, thriller, horror fans who would want to read a book which best exemplifies the real meaning of a page-turner. Peter Clines’ debut easily makes him the most under-appreciated author of 2010 and now I can’t wait to read what he has done next in Ex-Patriots.
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