tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28942207045405152182023-11-16T07:05:02.218+00:00Wilder's Book ReviewSFF Genre Blog for Readers, Writers and everyone stuck in the in-between.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-88088210389089363322013-07-15T15:27:00.000+01:002013-07-15T15:27:56.576+01:00Wilder's Book Review 2.0 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Doug</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-21807887621343291542013-07-12T15:02:00.000+01:002013-07-12T15:02:28.955+01:00Interview with Django Wexler <div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">I'm in the middle of reading Django Wexler's debut novel, <i>The Thousand Names</i>, right now and am extremely impressed so far. My review will be up in the next week or so, but for now, enjoy this interview with the man himself. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi
Django, welcome to Wilder’s Book Review! And a big congrats on the
publication of your debut novel, <i>The Thousand Names</i>!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks
so much! I’m very excited.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So,
first up, give us three words that best describe <i>The Thousand Names</i>.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hmm.
I’ll go with “military”, “muskets”, and “magic”,
because it’s nicely alliterative!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can
you give us a little more detail on the series the novel belongs to?
How long will it be and what was your ultimate inspiration and
motivation behind writing it?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
series, <i>The
Shadow Campaigns</i>,
will be five books in total. It got started when I first began
getting into military history and read a really excellent book about
the Napoleonic wars. I thought, “Man, I want to do <i>that</i>!”
So originally, it was supposed to be a fantasy retelling of the
career of Napoleon, but as I added stuff it diverged pretty wildly
from that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
wrote about this in a little more depth over at the Del Rey UK site:
<a href="http://www.delreyuk.com/" target="_blank">http://www.delreyuk.com/</a> </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much
has been said about this being one of a few debut novels in 2013 that
have started a new wave of epic fantasy with settings that feature
fantasy worlds based in post-industrial societies. Was this always a
particular focus you had when planning <i>The Thousand Names</i>, or did the
setting grow more organically in the writing?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well,
for me, the setting came with the basic idea of the books -- if I was
going to do the life of Napoleon, I need the Napoleonic trappings,
with muskets and cannon and cavalry charges and so on. But after
George R. R. Martin’s <i>A
Song of Ice and Fire</i>,
I got really excited about the idea of a “realistic” fantasy
world drawing heavily on actual history (as his does) and I
definitely didn’t want to just do the usual knights-and-castles
setup.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The
idea of an epic fantasy world which has moved on from swords, knights
and medieval values is one which, I think, has serious potential for
authors when telling some of these vast fantasy stories.
Post-Industrial fantasy aside, it seems to me that even eras such as
early-modern Europe and the Renaissance are ripe for fantasy authors
right now, looking for a slightly different take on epic fantasy
settings. Would you agree, or is there still plenty of room for more
medieval-based fantasy? </b>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
has always seemed a little weird to me that with all of history to
choose from, so many fantasy authors model their secondary worlds on
a pretty narrow slice of time and space -- basically Western Europe
in the 13<sup>th</sup>
or 14<sup>th</sup>
centuries. (Or, more accurately, that time and place as filtered
through Mallory, Tolkien, and Gygax.)
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even
without leaving Europe, there’s a huge amount of variety to be had
-- I’d love to see a world based on Byzantium in the 1200s, or
Swiss republics during their heyday -- and that’s not even counting
<i>the
entire rest of the world</i>.
So I think authors are realizing there’s a lot of rich veins for
world-building and mythology out there that have barely been tapped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’d
be unfair of me to represent it as something that’s just starting
now, though. It’s been a steady undercurrent in fantasy throughout
the years (check out the works of KJ Parker, Ellen Kushner’s
<i>Swordspoint</i>,
Elizabeth Bear’s <i>Range
of Ghosts</i>,
Guy Gavriel Kay’s <i>Under
Heaven</i>,
etc) that’s just getting a lot more attention. But I hope the
trend continues -- as a history buff, this is the kind of thing I
love to read!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
<i>The Thousand Names</i> you focus particularly on two main point-of-view
characters. For such a large epic fantasy story, was this a stylistic
choice, to narrow down the focus, or are you likely to broaden the
POV cast in later books?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
general, I like to keep the number of points of view down to a
minimum, because I think every page the reader spends with a
particular point of view helps build sympathy and depth for that
character. Spreading the narrative too thin can really hurt the
character development, and over the course of a series lead to a kind
of narrative fragmentation. (Because we want to know what happens to
everybody we care about, but there isn’t a good reason for them all
to stay together, so the story wanders all over the place.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
<i>The
Thousand Names</i>
I knew I needed at least two POVs -- one to hang around with Janus
and help talk about command decisions, and another “in the ranks”
to show what things were like looking up from the bottom. I toyed
with including another one, but ultimately, with a few short
interludes from side characters, I thought I could get away without
it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
second book, <i>The
Shadow Throne</i>,
will introduce the POV of Raesinia Orboan, Princess Royal of Vordan
and heir to the throne. (And bearer of a nasty magical secret.) But
I think that should be it for the series -- if things go as planned,
I shouldn’t need any more in books three, four, or five.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My post last Monday at Anne Lyle's blog talks a bit about POV, and why it can be a
mistake to spread it too widely. See it <a href="http://www.annelyle.com/blog/book-reviews/guest-post-django-wexler-on-point-of-view/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What
were some of your main genre influences in writing the series? </b>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">George
R. R. Martin’s <i>A
Song of Ice and Fire</i>
was a big one, as I said. I loved how he put a little</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> bit of the
grit back into fantasy, brought it a little closer to its historical
models, and I have always wanted to do something similar. S. M.
Stirling and David Drake’s series <i>The
General</i>
gave me the initial idea of taking the framework of historical events
as the basis for a story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m
a big fan of how Joe Abercrombie does his battles and fighting in the
<i>First
Law</i>
series, and a bit of that definitely made it in. A lot of the magic
and more fantastical elements were influenced by Steven Erikson’s
<i>The
Malazan Book of the Fallen</i>,
with its gigantic, ambitious world and very slow build-up. In
particular, I love the way he gets you into the story but only hints
at the ultimate very quietly; I’m definitely hoping to achieve
something similar with <i>The
Shadow Campaigns</i>.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You’re
quite heavily into the study of history. What were some of the
particular eras of research you looked into for <i>The Thousand Names</i>?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
lot of my ‘research’ never really felt like research, because
it’s just the sort of thing I read for fun anyway. <i>The
Thousand Names</i>
is rooted pretty closely in the period of the Napoleonic Wars, from
around 1790-1815. So I obviously read a lot about the French
Revolution and the wars that followed.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
particular, I’m always on the lookout for books that bring together
first-hand accounts to give a soldier’s eye view of things. It’s
(relatively) easy to grasp the higher levels of a campaign, but
finding out what it was actually <i>like</i>
to be on the ground is surprisingly difficult.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
nice thing about fantasy is that you don’t have an obligation to be
100% accurate. An actual historian reads a neat story or telling
detail and has to go look at other evidence to see if it’s true or
not; as a novelist, I can just say, “That sounds great, let’s go
with it!” I grabbed pieces from quite a few sources outside the
period proper (from the American Civil War, for example) and fit them
together, hopefully without introducing too many anachronisms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>When
did you decide you wanted to become an author, and can you tell us a
little about your first attempts? </b>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
knew that I <i>liked</i>
writing by about the end of high school. (Before that, my creative
efforts were mostly limited to RPGs, as detailed <a href="http://www.powells.com/blog/original-essays/how-i-became-a-gamer-and-a-writer-by-django-wexler/" target="_blank">here</a>) I tried my hand at short stories and sent a few to SF magazines,
but never really got anywhere with it. Then I drifted into
fan-fiction for a while and ended up writing some really long pieces.
Around my junior year of college, after three novel-length fan-fics,
I decided I was going to write something that I could potentially
sell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
still wasn’t planning to be a full-time author, at least not until
the distant future. The book I wrote was called <i>Memories
of Empire</i>,
which I sold to a small publisher called Medallion Press. I wrote
one more for them, <i>Shinigami</i>,
but between them they only sold a few thousand copies total. The
next book I wrote, <i>Gaze
Into Shadow</i>,
was part of an absurdly over-ambitious fantasy project, intended as
Book One of Seven Million, and I never managed to do anything with
it.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After
messing around with that for a while, I ended up putting it aside and
starting a fresh project with the explicit goal of getting an agent
and a “big” publisher -- that ended up being <i>The
Thousand Names</i>,
though it took a while to get it there.</span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What
kind of writer are you? Do you plot down to the last detail, or just
start writing and see where the words take you? </b>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
used to be very much a “discovery” writer and hated outlines, but
a couple of years ago I had something like a conversion experience.
My agent said that before he could sell <i>The
Thousand Names</i>,
he needed outlines for the rest of the series, so the publisher could
see that I knew what I was doing. Over the course of about a month,
with much grumbling, I wrote four outlines, and somewhere along the
way I came to appreciate how amazingly helpful the process was. When
the time actually came to write book two, it was <i>so
much easier</i>
because I didn’t keep running into blind alleys.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
still don’t plot out <i>everything</i>,
especially character development. A lot of that arises naturally from
the twists and turns of dialogue, and I don’t want it to seem
forced. My outlines are pretty flexible, too, and sometimes the
finished product only resembles the plan in broad strokes. I’m
still very much working on my process, so in a couple of years I’m
sure I’ll have learned a lot more about it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2k4jwQZAjS4ZEI9qfFcs6OtbIfPw8_HuAjBfxytVHf9h1_vybqD2pOLo3_HmSaExWbTOi800ICr6t834OzelbeVOz1nB2Gkk-VYjiOrJ3tY5YVwhbtyTfWivUYZS-Uz6nRoF03C7WSI/s1600/9780803739758_Forb1A0493D7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2k4jwQZAjS4ZEI9qfFcs6OtbIfPw8_HuAjBfxytVHf9h1_vybqD2pOLo3_HmSaExWbTOi800ICr6t834OzelbeVOz1nB2Gkk-VYjiOrJ3tY5YVwhbtyTfWivUYZS-Uz6nRoF03C7WSI/s320/9780803739758_Forb1A0493D7.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What’s
next in the pipeline for you Django? Is it Book Two of <i>The Shadow
Campaigns</i>, or is there anything else to come in between?</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
really is a pipeline -- there’s a <i>long</i>
stretch of time between when I finished <i>The
Thousand Names</i>
(in this case, in fall of 2011) and the final release. While I was
waiting to see if it sold, I decided I wanted to write something a
little lighter and simpler, which turned out to be a children’s
fantasy. (I have no idea how to write a children’s fantasy. It’s
just the same writing I always do, without sex, gore, or swearing.)
Long story short, my agent sold that one as well, and it comes out in
April 2014 as <i>The
Forbidden Library</i>,
beginning another five-book series. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After
that I started work on <i>The
Shadow Campaigns</i> Book Two, now called <i>The
Shadow Throne</i>,
and finished a first draft of that around summer of 2012. Then I did
the second <i>Forbidden
Library</i>
book (which still doesn’t have a title), a novella (which is still
searching for a home) and <i>Shadow
Campaigns</i>
short story (which ended up on io9 as <i><a href="http://io9.com/the-coolest-fantasy-story-youll-read-this-week-514117561" target="_blank">ThePenitent Damned</a></i> ).
Now, finally, I’m back to work on <i>The
Shadow Throne</i>,
which needs to go through rewrites and editing over the summer so we can
get it ready for (hopefully) a release next year.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What’s
something the people reading this interview might be surprised to
learn about Django Wexler?</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
<i>lot</i>
of people have been surprised to hear that Django Wexler isn’t a
pen name. I’m named after Django Reinhardt, a famous jazz
guitarist. Other than that, though, I’m an almost archetypical
SFF/software geek -- computer games, D&D, anime, cats.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And,
finally, what are you reading right now?</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2894220704540515218" name="_GoBack"></a>I
tend to have several books going at once, usually one fiction, one
non-fiction, and one audio. At the moment, I’m reading Daniel
Abraham’s <i>A
Shadow in Summer</i>,
which was recommend to me by Aidan over at A Dribble of Ink and which
I’m really enjoying. Non-fiction-wise, I’ve got Rick Atkinson’s
<i>An
Army At Dawn</i>,
about the Allied invasion of North Africa in WWII. And on my MP3 I
have Joe Hill’s <i>NOS4A2</i>,
which is <i>fantastic</i>
even if I have no idea where he’s going with it.</span></div>
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</span></div>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Thanks
Django! </b>
</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Django Wexler</strong><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7Z8apS11dW8hrCL4qiSwxQDmPTeKx2lmgVp3VwCKkpcHabS5BqaJJbSwze_hSoOJNJglgEzXkE8OGWbDSz7N6g1dHR2PVzbJbE3gAlGVxVOfM8yg_RIE9ixN17dKaqEvkskH04tnw4Y/s1600/Django-1-225x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7Z8apS11dW8hrCL4qiSwxQDmPTeKx2lmgVp3VwCKkpcHabS5BqaJJbSwze_hSoOJNJglgEzXkE8OGWbDSz7N6g1dHR2PVzbJbE3gAlGVxVOfM8yg_RIE9ixN17dKaqEvkskH04tnw4Y/s1600/Django-1-225x300.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">degrees in <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">creative writing and </span><nobr style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">computer science</nobr><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">, and worked for the university in artificial intelligence research. Eventually he migrated to Microsoft in Seattle, where he now lives with two cats and a teetering mountain of books. When not planning Shadow Campaigns, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts.</span></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Thousand Names is Django Wexler's first novel, and is available <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Thousand-Names-Shadow-Campaign/dp/0091949890/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373555471&sr=8-1&keywords=django+wexler" target="_blank">now</a>. You can find him at his website, <a href="http://djangowexler.com/">DjangoWexler.com</a> or follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/DjangoWexler" target="_blank">@DjangoWexler</a>. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-77916608442592505932013-07-10T17:48:00.000+01:002013-07-10T17:48:06.203+01:00Most Anticipated Releases For The Rest of 2013 (Doug's Picks) <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sometimes find as a reader in the genre that I'm a bit behind on new releases, or that they often spring out at me from nowhere. So now that the blog is taking off somewhat, I thought it would be worth having a post to talk about the releases (Big and Small) in the genre that I'm really looking forward to in the second half of 2013. Hopefully there might be a few here that you can add to your own lists! Alex will be along later in the week with his own list, but for now - here's mine:</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Thousand Names by Django Wexler </span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the desert colony of Khandar, a dark and mysterious magic, hidden for centuries, is about to emerge from darkness.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marcus d'Ivoire, senior captain of the Vordanai Colonials, is resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost, when a rebellion leaves him in charge of a demoralised force in a broken down fortress.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter Ihernglass, fleeing her past and masquerading as a man, just wants to go unnoticed. Finding herself promoted to a command, she must rise to the challenge and fight impossible odds to survive.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Their fates rest in the hands of an enigmatic new Colonel, sent to restore order while following his own mysterious agenda into the realm of the supernatural.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Thousand Names has just been released worldwide, and I'm actually reading it now. One of the big releases in epic fantasy this year, and along with Brian Mclellan's Promise of Blood, one of a new wave in so-called "Flintlock Fantasy". I'm not sure what I think of the labelling of yet another subgenre, but it's certainly shaping up to be a good read. I'll have that review up soon, and an interview with Django at the end of this week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: Out now.</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blood Song by Anthony Ryan</span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have fought battles that left more than a hundred corpses on the ground, and not a word of it has ever been set down. The Order fights, but often it fights in shadow, without glory or <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Song-Book-Ravens-Shadow/dp/0356502465/ref=pd_sim_b_1#" id="FALINK_2_0_1" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">reward</a></nobr>. We have no banners.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vaelin Al Sorna's life changes for ever the day his father abandons him at the gates of the Sixth Order, a secretive military arm of the Faith. Together with his fellow initiates, Vaelin undertakes a brutal training regime - where the price of failure is often death. Under the tutelage of the Order's masters, he learns how to forge a blade, survive the wilds and kill a man quickly and quietly.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now his new skills will be put to the test. War is coming. Vaelin is the Sixth Order's deadliest weapon and the Realm's only hope. He must draw upon the very essence of his strength and cunning if he is to survive the coming conflict. Yet as the world teeters on the edge of chaos, Vaelin will learn that the truth can cut deeper than any sword.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another recent release and one with a bit of a backstory behind it. Originally self-published, this one was seriously acclaimed before Orbit snapped it up. Very excited to see what all the fuss is about, and it certainly sounds like a proper, big-as-hell epic fantasy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: Out now. </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence</span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lawrence brings his highly acclaimed epic fantasy series – The Broken Empire – to its devastating conclusion.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The path to the throne is broken – only the broken can walk it</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The world is cracked and time has run through, leaving us clutching at the end days. These are the days that have waited for us all our lives. These are my days. I will stand before the Hundred and they will listen. I will take the throne no matter who stands against me, living or dead, and if I must be the last emperor then I will make of it such an ending.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is where the wise man turns away. This is where the holy kneel and call on God. These are the last miles, my brothers. Don't look to me to save you. Run if you have the wit. <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emperor-Thorns-Broken-Empire-Book/dp/0007439067/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373467979&sr=8-1&keywords=emperor+of+thorns#" id="FALINK_1_0_0" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">Pray</a></nobr> if you have the soul. Stand your ground if courage is yours. But don't follow me.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Follow me, and I will break your heart.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final part in Mark Lawrence's acclaimed Broken Empire trilogy; a deep, disturbing character study into one of the darkest creations in recent genre history. Fans of this series are eagerly awaiting this one. I'll be reviewing the entire series come August. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 1st August 2013 </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock</span></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6K3ZjXrUNICkFv1m-MEsF_31LDHiBYpNbazwzX0kHqxZgvkbaP94bf7DgvQzlHpbBr8Z-pyoprZui-Vt0hMH8TKo-cZ9H6DUPYvcXVc31s-9jzBGrl2eH0eeOj7cZqyYIoY9y1Ivet8/s1600/Glass_Republic_JK.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6K3ZjXrUNICkFv1m-MEsF_31LDHiBYpNbazwzX0kHqxZgvkbaP94bf7DgvQzlHpbBr8Z-pyoprZui-Vt0hMH8TKo-cZ9H6DUPYvcXVc31s-9jzBGrl2eH0eeOj7cZqyYIoY9y1Ivet8/s320/Glass_Republic_JK.png" width="207" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pen's life is all about secrets: the secret of the city's spirits, deities and monsters her best friend Beth discovered, living just beyond the notice of modern Londoners; the secret of how she got the intricate scars that disfigure her so cruelly - and the most closely guarded secret of all: Parva, her mirror-sister, forged from her reflections in a school <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Glass-Republic-Skyscraper-Throne/dp/1780870108/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373469298&sr=8-1&keywords=the+glass+republic#" id="FALINK_3_0_2" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">bathroom mirror</a></nobr>. Pen's reflected twin is the only girl who really understands her.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then Parva is abducted and Pen makes a terrible bargain for the means to track her down. In London-Under-Glass, looks are currency, and Pen's scars make her a rare and valuable commodity. But some in the reflected city will do anything to keep Pen from the secret of what happened to the sister who shared her face.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Book two in Tom Pollock's critically acclaimed Skyscraper Throne series. I haven't had the chance to read The City's Son yet, but I will be doing so as soon as possible. There's quite a buzz around Tom's series and it sounds like the kind of weird urban fantasy I enjoy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 1st August 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Crown Tower/The Rose and The Thorn by Michael J. Sullivan </span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two men who hate each other. One impossible mission. A legend in the making.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hadrian, a warrior with nothing to fight for, is paired with Royce, a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm's most prized possessions. But it isn't gold or jewels that their employer is after, and if he can only keep them from killing each other, they might just get him his prize.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two thieves want answers. Riyria is born.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more than a year, Royce Melborn has tried to forget Gwen DeLancy, the woman who saved him and his partner Hadrian Blackwater when all other doors were closed against them. Unable to stay away any longer, they return to Medford to a very different reception - she refuses to see them.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once more she is shielding them, this time from the powerful noble who abused her. She was right to suspect Royce wouldn't care about rank and privilege or fear any repercussions from reprisal. What she didn't realise is what he was capable of - until now.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyone who follows my blog will know what a big fan I am of Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria Revelations series. There's something so easily readable and familiar about them, but they still manage to be clever and well-layered books. Classic fantasy brought up-to-date and a pair of cracking lead characters. I really can't wait for these two books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: The Crown Tower - 6th August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The Rose and The Thorn - 17th September 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Swords of Good Men by Snorri Kristjansson</span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To Ulfar Thormodsson, the Viking town of Stenvik is the penultimate stop on a long journey in this riveting adventure of clashing Viking powers. Tasked with looking after his cousin after disgracing his father, he has traveled the world and now only wants to go <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swords-Good-Men-Valhalla-Saga/dp/1623650747/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373470338&sr=1-1&keywords=swords+of+good+men#" id="FALINK_3_0_2" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">home</a></nobr>.<br /><br />Stenvik is different: it contains the beautiful and tragic Lilja, who immediately captures Ulfar’s heart-–but Stenvik is also home to some very deadly men, who could break Ulfar in an instant.<br /><br />King Olav is marching on Stenvik from the East, determined to bring the White Christ to the masses at the point of his sword, and a host of bloodthirsty raiders led by a mysterious woman are sailing from the north.<br /><br />But Ulfar is about to learn that his enemies are not all outside the walls.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, a sort-of...viking epic fantasy? I'm not entirely sure how far into the realm of fantasy this goes, and how much of a historical background it has, but it certainly sounds like an interesting read from the ever-dependable Jo Fletcher Books. Something a bit different maybe - look for a review of this one very soon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 1st August 2013</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three by Jay Posey</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The world has collapsed, and there are no heroes any more.</span></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">But when a lone gunman reluctantly accepts the mantel of protector to a young boy and his dying mother against the forces that pursue them, a hero may yet arise.</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ahh Angry Robot. We can always depend on Angry Robot to give us something different, and it looks to have done just that with Three. Seemingly a sort-of...SF/Fantasy/Post-Apocalyptic hybrid. I've no idea what it's going to be like, but I'm excited to read it. Review soon.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 1st August 2013</span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Black Guard by A.J. Smith </span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Duke of Canarn is dead, executed by the King's decree. The city lies in chaos, its people starving, sickening, and tyrannized by the ongoing presence of the King's mercenary army. But still hope remains: the Duke's children, the Lord Bromvy and Lady Bronwyn, have escaped their father's fate.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Separated by enemy territory, hunted by the warrior clerics of the One God, Bromvy undertakes to win back the city with the help of the secretive outcasts of the Darkwald forest, the Dokkalfar. The Lady Bronwyn makes for the sanctuary of the Grass Sea and the warriors of Ranen with the mass of the King's forces at her heels. And in the mountainous region of Fjorlan, the High Thain Algenon Teardrop launches his Dragon Fleet against the Red Army. Brother wars against brother in this, the epic first volume of the long war.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one sounds like it could be a lot like A Game of Thrones, but with more magic. Certainly going by the blurb and that cover, it's being marketed towards that crowd. I like the sound of it from the blurb, but I hope it has a bit of originality about it at the same time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: eBook out now, Hardback out 1st August 2013.</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apocalypse Now Now by Charlie Human</span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'I don't even know how to describe reading this book, so just look at my wide eyes and my silently mumbling mouth and take my shell-shock as a good sign that you need to read this book right now.' Chuck Wendig</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b>Baxter Zevcenko's life is pretty sweet. As the 16-year-old kingpin of the Spider, his smut-peddling schoolyard syndicate, he's making a name for himself as an up-and-coming <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apocalypse-Now-Charlie-Human/dp/1780891318/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373470987&sr=1-1&keywords=apocalypse+now+now#" id="FALINK_3_0_2" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">entrepreneur</a></nobr>. Profits are on the rise, the other gangs are staying out of his business, and he's going out with Esme, the girl of his dreams.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when Esme gets kidnapped, and all the clues point towards strange forces at work, things start to get seriously weird. The only man drunk enough to help is a bearded, booze-soaked, supernatural bounty hunter that goes by the name of Jackson 'Jackie' Ronin.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plunged into the increasingly bizarre landscape of Cape Town's supernatural underworld, Baxter and Ronin team up to save Esme. On a journey that takes them through the realms of impossibility, they must face every conceivable nightmare to get her back, including the odd brush with the Apocalypse.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I dunno if this one is still a bit under-the-radar, but man alive - I want, nae NEED this book in my life. Seriously - is there any genre fan out there who doesn't want to read this? With a blurb that utterly bonkers and yet another eye-popping Joey Hi-Fi cover...I can't wait.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 8th August 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">War-Fighting Manuals by Den Patrick</span></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMlJhoi-MRT85se1usUMQNmTbyKggJK_dznCNOqu24rShikDhmN1Wr28t23swjQXR_eJSrbiHmhFQKJpLsWzxhjMEbqKeJEDreRMO3vwY4-qnYQQrb5iWYU3YWvUYNlhM__LaF6ycPUU/s1600/51zBUB-qXyL._.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMlJhoi-MRT85se1usUMQNmTbyKggJK_dznCNOqu24rShikDhmN1Wr28t23swjQXR_eJSrbiHmhFQKJpLsWzxhjMEbqKeJEDreRMO3vwY4-qnYQQrb5iWYU3YWvUYNlhM__LaF6ycPUU/s320/51zBUB-qXyL._.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Written in the form of a soldier's manual on strategy, tactics and weapons THE ORCS WAR-FIGHTING MANUAL is an innovative and fun way for readers and gamers to add colour and excitement to their knowledge of fantasy's premier villains.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Translated from the original Orcish the book contains details on Orc strengths and weakness, key tactics, survival and field tips and accounts of notorious battles from Orc history as well as key tips on defeating Elves and Dwarves. Puny humans are not considered worth discussing.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With companion volumes for Elves and Dwarves, gaming and comics writer Den Patrick builds up his very own fantasy world and tells its history in a unique and entertaining way.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Illustrated throughout and comes complete with battle and formation maps.</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2lB9UGXeO29_DpyPKaIr1wURFoQ5xXih-lfAOHRXrqgEGyeFXiuURNlCAzfjjiyj5hJIkKccsYcOy1zSfyC5UltTFij-D-ZfCH_kaN8tcn3LGAv93oEu7v3U0ul-bgdlcoVXra_4xcs/s1600/combine_images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2lB9UGXeO29_DpyPKaIr1wURFoQ5xXih-lfAOHRXrqgEGyeFXiuURNlCAzfjjiyj5hJIkKccsYcOy1zSfyC5UltTFij-D-ZfCH_kaN8tcn3LGAv93oEu7v3U0ul-bgdlcoVXra_4xcs/s320/combine_images.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Up and coming Gollancz author Den Patrick has his first offering out this year, and it (they) comes in the form of some satirical "war manuals" from the sides of the orcs, elves and dwarves. Expect to see more from Den next year, but for now I'm looking forward to seeing his particular brand of humour unleashed in a classic fantasy setting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: Orcs - 15th August 2013; Elves - 19th September 2013; Dwarves - 17th October 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ace of Skulls by Chris Wooding</span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All good things come to an end. And this is it: the last stand of the Ketty Jay and her intrepid crew.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They've been shot down, set up, double-crossed and ripped off. They've stolen priceless treasures, destroyed a ten-thousand-year-old Azryx city and sort-of-accidentally blew up the son of the Archduke. Now they've gone and started a civil war. This time, they're really in trouble.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Vardia descends into chaos, Captain Frey is doing his best to keep his crew out of it. He's got his mind on other things, not least the fate of Trinica Dracken. But wars have a way of dragging people in, and sooner or later they're going to have to pick a side. It's a choice they'll be staking their lives on. Cities fall and daemons rise. Old secrets are uncovered and new threats revealed.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the smoke clears, who will be left standing?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another series that ends this year, and one I'll be very sorry to see go. If you haven't read the Tales of the Ketty Jay yet, do yourself a favour and go buy Retribution Falls. Superb series, and The Ace of Skulls can't come fast enough. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 19th September 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson</span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And David wants in. He wants Steelheart - the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning - and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's no real secret I'm not the biggest Brandon Sanderson fan. I'm by no means a detractor, but what I have read is generally not as phenomenal as so many seem to claim it is. But I'm quite excited to read Steelheart. I think it sounds quite different from Sanderson's usual stuff. Legion was the best thing I've probably read of Sanderson's original fiction, and this being a return to urban fantasy (of a sort) bodes well I think. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 26th September 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seven Forges by A.J. Moore </span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The people of Fellein have lived with legends for many centuries. To their far north, the Blasted Lands, a legacy of an ancient time of cataclysm, are vast, desolate and impassable, but that doesn't stop the occasional expedition into their fringes in search of any trace of the ancients who once lived there - and oft-rumoured riches. Captain Merros Dulver is the first in many lifetimes to find a path beyond the great mountains known as the Seven Forges and<nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Forges-James-Moore/dp/0857663828/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373472178&sr=1-1&keywords=seven+forges#" id="FALINK_3_0_2" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">encounter</a></nobr>, at last, the half forgotten race who live there. And it would appear that they were expecting him. As he returns home, bringing an entourage of the strangers with him, he starts to wonder whether his discovery has been such a good thing. For the gods of this lost race are the gods of war, and their memories of that far-off cataclysm have not faded.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, it sounds like typical fantasy fare, what with half-forgotten races, northern mountain passes and lost gods, but it's actually pretty rare to see something like this come from Angry Robot, so my expectations are quite high. Definitely a debut I'm anticipating. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 3rd October 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drakenfeld by Mark Charan Newton</span></u></b></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I am Lucan Drakenfeld, second son of Calludian, Officer of the Sun Chamber and keeper of the peace. Sometimes people get in the way of that ambition…”</span></em></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The monarchies of the Royal Vispasian Union have been bound together for two hundred years by laws maintained and enforced by the powerful Sun Chamber. As a result, nations have flourished but corruption, deprivation and murder will always find a way to thrive.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Receiving news of his father’s death Sun Chamber Officer Lucan Drakenfeld is recalled home to the ancient city of Tryum and rapidly embroiled in a mystifying case. The King’s sister has been found brutally murdered – her beaten and bloody body discovered in a locked temple. With rumours of dark spirits and political assassination, Drakenfeld has his work cut out for him trying to separate superstition from certainty. His determination to find the killer quickly makes him a target as the underworld gangs of Tryum focus on this new threat to their power.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Embarking on the biggest and most complex investigation of his career, Drakenfeld soon realises the evidence is leading him towards a motive that could ultimately bring darkness to the whole continent. The fate of the nations is in his hands.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't read anything from Mark Charan Newton yet, but this just sounds fantastic. A completely fresh sounding fantasy, with a setting genuinely original in the genre. Can't wait to try it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 10th October 2013 </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch</span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After their adventures on the high seas, Locke and Jean are brought back to earth with a thump. Jean is mourning the loss of his lover and Locke must live with the fallout of crossing the all-powerful magical assassins, the <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Republic-Thieves-Gollancz-Scott-Lynch/dp/0575077018/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373472705&sr=1-1&keywords=the+republic+of+thieves#" id="FALINK_2_0_1" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">Bonds</a></nobr>Magi.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a fallout that will pit both men against Locke's own long lost love. Sabetha is Locke's childhood sweetheart, the love of Locke's life and now it is time for them to meet again. Employed on different sides of a vicious dispute between factions of the Bonds, Sabetha has just one goal - to destroy Locke for ever.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Gentleman Bastard sequence has become a literary sensation in fantasy circles and now, with the third book, Scott Lynch is set to seal that success.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's not much I can say about this one that hasn't already been said. We're all eagerly awaiting it, it's finally out this year. Yup - this is the big one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 10th October 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Prince of Lies by Anne Lyle</span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elizabethan spy Mal Catlyn has everything he ever wanted – his twin brother Sandy restored to health, his family estate reclaimed and a son to inherit it – but his work is far from over. The renegade skraylings, the guisers, are still plotting – their leader, Jathekkil, has reincarnated as the young Prince Henry Tudor. But while he is still young, Mal has a slim chance of eliminating his enemies whilst they are at their weakest.<br /><br />With Sandy’s help, Mal learns to harness his own <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prince-Lies-Anne-Lyle/dp/0857662813/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373472798&sr=1-1&keywords=the+prince+of+lies#" id="FALINK_3_0_2" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">magic</a></nobr> in the fight against the guisers, but it may be too late to save England. Schemes set in motion decades ago are at last coming to fruition, and the <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prince-Lies-Anne-Lyle/dp/0857662813/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373472798&sr=1-1&keywords=the+prince+of+lies#" id="FALINK_2_0_1" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">barrier</a></nobr> between the dreamlands and the waking world is wearing thin…</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another release, another conclusion. The final part in Anne Lyle's superb Night's Masque trilogy - and Elizabethan Fantasy that's been one of the most original reads I've had in the genre over the last couple of years. Really looking forward to this one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 29th October 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough</span></u></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tonight is a special, terrible night.</span></i></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A woman sits at her father's bedside watching the clock tick away the last hours of his life. Her brothers and sisters - all traumatised in their own ways, their <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Language-Dying-Sarah-Pinborough/dp/178206754X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373472954&sr=1-2&keywords=the+language+of+dying#" id="FALINK_2_0_1" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">bonds</a></nobr> fragile - have been there for the past week, but now she is alone.<b>And that's always when it comes.</b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the clock ticks in the darkness, she can only wait for it to find her...</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm starting to lose count of how many books Sarah Pinborough plans to release in 2013, but this one certainly sounds like an absolute must-read. I'm not sure what it's even really about, but with that blurb from Neil Gaiman and an absolutely jaw-dropping cover, it's one to look out for come Christmas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 5th December 2013</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Abominable by Dan Simmons </span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June 1924. On the brutal North East Ridge of Mount <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abominable-Dan-Simmons/dp/0751548707/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373473153&sr=1-1&keywords=the+abominable#" id="FALINK_2_0_1" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">Everest</a></nobr>, famous adventurers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine vanish into the snow-whipped night.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Daredevil explorer Richard Deacon devises a plan to follow in the men's footsteps, accompanied only by two friends. Off piste and with no support team, the three men strike for Everest's peak and the most vicious climate on earth.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the winds rise and the temperature and oxygen levels drop, Deacon and his companions hear howls in the distance. Some dark creature is tracking them up the mountain, sending them scrabbling blindly into Everest's dangerous heights to escape it.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soon they will discover what happened to Mallory's crew - but can they escape the same hideous fate?</span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A gripping thriller by a master of the genre, The Abominable blends historical fact with spine-tingling drama - this is one of the most chilling and unforgettable novels you will ever read.</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm cheating a little with this one as it's technically not out in Hardback until 2014 (it <i>just</i> creeps in), but I can't wait to read it. Simmons is always worth a look and this just sounds incredible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: 2nd January 2014 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett</u></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No synopsis as yet for this, the 40th Discworld novel, but a new Discworld book is always a reason to celebrate, and from what we can glean from the sparse info released so far, Raising Steam sounds like it could be a cracker. Discworld's first steam train, the possible return of Moist Von Lipwig, or even a brand new major character - sounds like a lot of fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released: November 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">---------------------------------------------</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that's my (by no means comprehensive) list of anticipated releases for the latter half of 2013. There's not really very much sci-fi on my list, which is disappointing, but hopefully a few of these will be added to your lists aswell. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please let me know what I missed and comment with any other big releases you just can't wait to get your hands on!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-2056474797784066272013-07-08T16:10:00.000+01:002013-07-08T16:10:49.659+01:00Interview with Francis Knight plus GIVEAWAY! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAT-NoPrDWMNeZjOnGvUr5TqsjwWgeRGo1tnHo2qjGx70A3glvTushXI_O3Yuj16UdBZYT_6VaouXiTkQoR-qlEj_C0-_RQhGDxREK9CPiipX0JsF7dt_99x1dvmQg5kF2Y9IQAavsSI/s1600/biopic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAT-NoPrDWMNeZjOnGvUr5TqsjwWgeRGo1tnHo2qjGx70A3glvTushXI_O3Yuj16UdBZYT_6VaouXiTkQoR-qlEj_C0-_RQhGDxREK9CPiipX0JsF7dt_99x1dvmQg5kF2Y9IQAavsSI/s1600/biopic.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Francis Knight was born and lives in Sussex, England. When not living in her own head, she</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">enjoys SF&F geekery, WWE geekery, teaching her children Monty Python quotes, and boldly going and seeking out new civilizations.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hi
Francis, and welcome to Wilder’s Book Review! </b>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks
for having me!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Congratulations
on the publication of Fade to Black and Before the Fall, both this
year. And the third part of the trilogy is out later in the year,
right?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks,
and yes, it’s out in November.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So,
first up, give us three words that best describe the Rojan Dizon
trilogy.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twisted,
cynical, hopeful (if you’d allow me a short sentence, a dark and
twisted kind of hope would be it!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Can
you give us a little more detail on the series and maybe a little
insight into Book 2, Before the Fall?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
can try without spoilers. Rojan, the MC, starts as a man who is
isolated inside himself in a cramped and teeming city. He’s cynical
about everything and everyone, and about no one more than himself. He
learns a lot during the series thanks to the events he’s caught up
in. Without giving too much away, at the end of Fade to Black Rojan
has managed to upset just about everyone and screw the city. In
Before the Fall he has to try to make things right, while at the same
time dealing with a series of grisly murders that look set to tear
the city, and his life, apart.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What
was the initial idea behind the Pain Mage trilogy and your motivation
for writing it? </b>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Initially
it was an antidote to the romance I write under my own name. I wanted
to write about a character who would, to be fair and putting it
mildly, not fit into a romance story. Someone not a hero. I wanted to
write about a man who wasn’t especially nice, but who even so could
discover the good in himself. “None
is so good he lacks all fault, <em><span style="font-style: normal;">none
so wretched</span></em>
he lacks all virtue” is a quote from the Havamal (sayings of Odin)
and it’s a phrase that, as a writer, I find very interesting. Could
I make someone whose views are so opposed to mine not only
interesting, but in some small way sympathetic? That was where it
started, though originally it was supposed to be dystopian future.
Until my writers group (quite rightly) pointed out I’m horrible at
inventing future tech. So I thought of a dark fantasy, and a little
scene from Thomas Covenant came to mind, about a healer who could
only heal if she took the injury onto herself – a magic you <i>really</i>
don’t want to use. The personal quandary of that – of having
power but being afraid to use it – became a <i>very</i>
interesting thing to explore.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The
city of Mahala is a central focus point of the series. Was their a
particular reason for that, or was it just the natural reason for the
setting?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not
a special reason, no. I don’t plan much, and even less in Fade to
Black. I wanted to explore the differences in social stratas, how
they interconnect etc and going out of the city would have diffused
that. Basically I was having fun where I was so I didn’t want to
stop….</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I’ve
seen the books referred to as “Urban Fantasy”, “Noir Fantasy”
and “Painpunk” – what would you categorise the books as? </b>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
pitched it as fantasy noir, which I think fits it best. It’s not
really urban fantasy (it’s not on Earth,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMWWZMZpbr5hO6c9soCELbqp2W5oc1GTY5yFFQVEvGRkWHNMqJWDyCOMUcWrWs40_F-vnGBz8c-hLCOoetukGv8BoKZQRMz5BWB7uTtu2R_fzsUvvgvAYTepmBWfsYtyrp9_Vd_Rah2ZM/s1600/KnightF-RD2-BeforeTheFall_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMWWZMZpbr5hO6c9soCELbqp2W5oc1GTY5yFFQVEvGRkWHNMqJWDyCOMUcWrWs40_F-vnGBz8c-hLCOoetukGv8BoKZQRMz5BWB7uTtu2R_fzsUvvgvAYTepmBWfsYtyrp9_Vd_Rah2ZM/s320/KnightF-RD2-BeforeTheFall_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg" width="207" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and UF pretty much is, or
much of what we usually call epic would be UF!), but I quite like
painpunk. I did think of magepunk for a while, but noir really nails
it, I think.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The
focus is firmly on Rojan Dizon in these books – was he just a
character who jumped out at you while planning, or did he develop
more organically? </b>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
I say, I don’t plan. I had an idea for a particular kind of guy,
doing a thing (the first scene) and just…went from there. Rojan was
one of those rare gifts – a character who turned up almost fully
formed. He was cynical and snarky and all the rest right from the
off. I have no idea where he came from, but he was great fun to
write!</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Are
we likely to see much of the world outside of Mahala later in the
series?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh,
I couldn’t possibly say without spoilering! OK, Rojan does in fact
make it Outside. That’s as far as I’m willing to go. I do have
plans for other stories in other cities in the same world though.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What
were some of your main influences in writing the series? </b>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
think atmosphere, the sort of feel I wanted to create was a big one.
Bladerunner, Sin City, the Crow….they all were in the back of my
mind for tone. Other than that, just your general mish mash of stuff
I like.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The
full trilogy will be out within the span of one year. Was there any
particular reason for this decision, or are you just a
lightning-quick writer?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They
were supposed to be spread a little further apart originally. Orbit
have had good results with releasing books close together (I don’t
know about you, but if I wait too long for a second book I may forget
I want it!) but I am a pretty quick writer, luckily, so the pub dates
took that into account. Obviously, I was an unknown quantity when I
signed, so they couldn’t know whether I’d be able to turn in a
decent book in X months (or how I’d take editorial comments!) Once
I’d turned in number two and had a provisional estimate for number
three, things got shuffled. I think the edited and all but finished
number three was handed in the same week number one released.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfN2os7Regh2YHAFWIuYhrNuxB2ToJADyCZel-jpLukgT9ZjuIz0ld95G24RdxIidJ4R1TgsalAsULNGi7qRsDGJTZUS2oBVoJR2WIgtZhk9kqrhGDw-GSrLkhpIb2JxZWlkY7pWcFPc/s1600/0316217743.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SL400_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfN2os7Regh2YHAFWIuYhrNuxB2ToJADyCZel-jpLukgT9ZjuIz0ld95G24RdxIidJ4R1TgsalAsULNGi7qRsDGJTZUS2oBVoJR2WIgtZhk9kqrhGDw-GSrLkhpIb2JxZWlkY7pWcFPc/s320/0316217743.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SL400_.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>When
did you decide you wanted to become an author, and can you tell us a
little about your first attempts? </b>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
was struck down with ME about ten years ago. Unable to do much at all
without having a lie down afterwards (even the washing up left me
wiped) I was left with daytime telly, or the PC. I turned to the PC
when I realised I was dreaming about breaking the telly in
frustration. As I’d DM’d in pen and paper RPGs for years, I had a
few character arcs in my head and decided to try writing them out.
Then I got hooked. I had to give up for three years or so when the ME
got so bad I couldn’t even write – my brain felt like I was
thinking through treacle much of the time – and then came back to
it as I started to recover. I pootled for a bit, and sucked a <i>very</i>
great deal for a time, and then a couple of friends said, hey, you
should get these published. So I decided to take it seriously
in…er…October 2007. I made my first novel sale (romance, a genre
I had no idea I was writing!) to a small press 6 months later. The
next few years were a massive learning curve, aided by my romance
editor who taught me more than I care to admit. I kind of cringe at
my early efforts to be honest, but the last three romances…yeah, I
stand by them, and all of them taught me something about the most
important thing; how <i>I</i>
write, how <i>I</i>
construct a story. Because every writer is different. So is every
book.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What
kind of writer are you? Do you plot down to the last detail, or just
start writing and see where the words take you? Do you have any
particular writerly ticks, like specific places you work or colour of
M&M? </b>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
don’t plan if I can help it! I start with A Character in A place,
and perhaps An Idea and the gist of the atmosphere I want and how it
will end (usually at the start I say “and then everything
explodes!” though this changes as I write the story). If I plan, it
messes with my head too much. I tried it once…book ended up a
different genre to what I’d planned! My only tic is perhaps I don’t
have one. Except I must have tea. Lots and lots of tea.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What’s
next in the pipeline for you Francis? Are you likely to keep writing
in Rojan’s world, or have you something else planned?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
have a few plans up my sleeve for a later date with regard to Rojan’s
world – not in Mahala perhaps (though I’ve got an idea or two).
I’m writing something quite different at the moment – I like to
make each new work a challenge, do something new – but I can’t
tell you about it. Or I’d have to kill you.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What’s
something the people reading this interview might be surprised to
learn about Francis Knight?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh,
take your pick. I once punched a policeman and didn’t get arrested
for it, though I kind of have an ambition to get arrested, just to
say I’ve experienced it. I’ve got three tattoos, two dragons and
the Rohirrim flag. I spent many a year as a biker (Still am at heart,
but kids will put the kibosh on rallies and pregnancy is not
conducive to riding etc!). If you’ve read Fade to Black you might
be surprised to know I am not an atheist and I harbour no ill will to
any deities. I have a heart shaped birthmark on my leg…</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And,
finally, what are you reading right now?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crowbone,
by Robert Low. I love his Viking books (the Oathsworn series),
written in a voice that sounds just like you’d imagine a Viking
telling the tale by a fire.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Thanks
Francis! </b>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks
for having me!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You can find Francis online at her website, <a href="http://francisknightbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">Knight's Noir</a> or on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/Knight_Francis" target="_blank">@Knight_Francis</a>.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEResRJ_QAPJY03KSp1NQTAw-SpjWoSoCoOy0I6dCivWVLjR4RcfteWjS-5-klXpnLf9xoza5XowHdmXx73HyiojTlMjH-wp9KeYo7QJsnrfZZImdTZAq9kZbElMNrPDA_wvTmXoIE4KE/s1600/combine_images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEResRJ_QAPJY03KSp1NQTAw-SpjWoSoCoOy0I6dCivWVLjR4RcfteWjS-5-klXpnLf9xoza5XowHdmXx73HyiojTlMjH-wp9KeYo7QJsnrfZZImdTZAq9kZbElMNrPDA_wvTmXoIE4KE/s400/combine_images.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And to go with the interview we have a GIVEAWAY! You can win a copy of BOTH Fade to Black AND Before The Fall by answering the following simple question in the comments:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What's the greatest city in fantasy?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winner will be selected at random a week today (Monday 15th July 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><u>This is an International Giveaway!</u> </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><strong>Remember to leave either your email address or Twitter username in your comment, otherwise I won't be able to get in touch with you and the prize will go to someone else.</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Good luck! </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-81762209117105068612013-07-03T14:52:00.000+01:002013-07-03T14:52:18.146+01:00NOS4R2 by Joe Hill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu7KvDWStpQ2iQgzwq6JNoWgbUC1APfJtfHA_nCZcYTcwqmV-zvKXko4xvwMjluDdWIPtlICVIGypkrYxVmn3j1up907xNehefvfNA888TdwssBan0uOFcS86DF1q6T7Yip69l-BgwdvI/s1024/Nos4r2-Joe-Hill-Gollancz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu7KvDWStpQ2iQgzwq6JNoWgbUC1APfJtfHA_nCZcYTcwqmV-zvKXko4xvwMjluDdWIPtlICVIGypkrYxVmn3j1up907xNehefvfNA888TdwssBan0uOFcS86DF1q6T7Yip69l-BgwdvI/s400/Nos4r2-Joe-Hill-Gollancz.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">NOS4R2 is published as NOS4A2 in the US. Gollancz publish it in the UK, while Orbit publish it in the US.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This review was originally posted on <a href="http://fantasy-faction.com/2013/nos4r2-by-joe-hill" target="_blank">Fantasy Faction</a> on June 28th 2013. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to Jon Weir from Gollancz for the Advanced Reading Copy.</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Come on down to
Christmasland, where Charlie Manx is waiting; candy cane in one hand, bloody
hammer in the other. NOS4R2 sees fantasy-horror whizz Joe Hill take on his
biggest work yet – a novel that explores ideas of childhood loneliness,
addiction, anger, depression and classic cars with a distinctive, psychotic
twist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vic McQueen has a very
special gift. She can find anything she wants. A quick bike ride through the
Shorter Way Bridge and she’ll come out wherever she needs to be. Charlie Manx
has been doing something similar for years. Many years. Except his goals aren’t
nearly as innocent as Vic’s. Charlie likes to take kids for rides in his
Rolls-Royce Wraith – he takes them to Christmasland. A place of Charlie’s own
making. Somewhere children will be forever young. Forever innocent. Forever
happy. And it keeps Charlie happy too. But when Charlie meets his match with a
teenage Vic McQueen, it starts a feud that travels along the years, until Vic’s
own son becomes Charlie’s next passenger to Christmasland. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYEPF48ZYXEHrRDCji07MZ5REuj9_Zcq35UD_QquaolgoCbIX6wCy2Tlz35yxxrUSGQOOtdC_is-ltZum9ffGbZdAC3uFUOF00QQD3i_wLGVmKuu_8HRPxFz2CU0DZDYEK7WsPQGGj50/s328/NOS4A2_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYEPF48ZYXEHrRDCji07MZ5REuj9_Zcq35UD_QquaolgoCbIX6wCy2Tlz35yxxrUSGQOOtdC_is-ltZum9ffGbZdAC3uFUOF00QQD3i_wLGVmKuu_8HRPxFz2CU0DZDYEK7WsPQGGj50/s320/NOS4A2_cover.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOS4R2 is the best horror
novel I’ve read in the last couple of years and the best I’ve ever read from
Joe Hill. Where Horns was a sometimes brutal, always dark and twisted ride
through the heart of desire, NOS4R2 is a sprawling beast that travels along a
timeline like the car of its title: there’s a destination in mind, but detours
are likely. Hill’s experimental use of structure in NOS4R2 is something which
could have been awkward and stilted in the hands of a lesser writer, but this
is really superb stuff. Nothing is ever truly as it seems as Hill plays with
the idea of place and time constantly; showing the reader pieces of the story
from one side, and completing the scene from the other. It’s a daring move, but
Hill manages to use it in such a way that NOS4R2 is always moving at a brisk
pace, the plot consistently barrelling forward – and for a novel of well over
700 pages, it’s a testament to his skill. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The characters in NOS4R2 are
at the absolute heart of the book. Hill has managed to create such
fully-fleshed out protagonists and villains that it’s not a stretch to imagine
them living their lives outside of the pages. In the first half of the novel,
the timeline jumps regularly, but we’re never left at a loose end when it
returns to each character. In Vic McQueen in particular, Hill has created a
heroine that embodies everything which would exist in a real person who finds
themselves in such a bizarre and horrifying situation – she’s got all the traits
of reality, flaws and all. In Charlie Manx, Hill has created a villain that
embodies a particular brand of evil – someone who firmly believes that the
cruelty he lives for is necessary, good work. It makes him a terrifying
antagonist and a character we’re never certain around. The novel is also
littered with a host of side characters who feel equally as rounded; each with
differing levels of importance to play in the story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would be equally as
relevant to label NOS4R2 a fantasy or a thriller as much as it is a horror.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeZlXuzEgHkuXvVBuMN_jFYCyXuzquYT-KEo0LgJXTHUlcxXb-OgWZhcYUBbv1O5uWnr1vuVG0RvJDe335qmP2xUSYmRWHxeB7hdYFcC-6SzlXUywGu_fdbJh3G4Ed4W3RMIR1hdoRl8/s371/481218_497139133679412_463805033_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeZlXuzEgHkuXvVBuMN_jFYCyXuzquYT-KEo0LgJXTHUlcxXb-OgWZhcYUBbv1O5uWnr1vuVG0RvJDe335qmP2xUSYmRWHxeB7hdYFcC-6SzlXUywGu_fdbJh3G4Ed4W3RMIR1hdoRl8/s320/481218_497139133679412_463805033_n.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The
horror elements are definitely there, but not necessarily terror-inducing.
They’re more of a sinister, creepy element to the thrilling plot Hill has
managed to cook up. There are also a few references to other Joe Hill novels,
as well as his comic series, Locke and Key. (And for those eagle-eyed enough to
spot them, there are a few references to the works of Hill’s father, Stephen
King) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOS4R2 is a fantasy-horror
novel that sees Joe Hill reach a literary level which not only sees him on par
with the best works by other major horror authors, but in many ways transcends
them. It’s a fine work that I’d urge any fan of horror, fantasy or thrillers to
pick up. Where Horns was more of a slow-burning, single character-focused tale,
NOS4R2 is epic horror at its finest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pick it up, give it a go and
travel to Christmasland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HO. HO. HO. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-12444976273656469032013-07-02T09:00:00.000+01:002013-07-02T09:00:11.499+01:00A Discourse in Steel by Paul S. Kemp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The second book in the Tales of
Egil and Nix series, published by Angry Robot</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Egil and Nix have retired, as
they always said they would. No, really – they have! No more sword and
hammer-play for them!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when two recent acquaintances
come calling for help, our hapless heroes find themselves up against the might
of the entire Thieves Guild.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And when kidnapping the leader of
the most powerful guild in the land seems like the best course of action, you
know you’re in over your head.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First off, I’ve not read the
first book in this series. Happily, it turns out that this works just as well
as a standalone as it does part of a series. There are no lingering plot lines
that you need to know about to enjoy it and the story is all wrapped up by the
end! Having said that, I enjoyed this so much that I’ve bought the first one
anyway!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We join the titular heroes Egil
and Nix as they plunge head first and fists swinging into one life threatening
situation after another. A young woman, Rose, becomes embroiled in Thieves
Guild business after their leader is murdered. The Guild wants to silence her,
but she and her sister are under Egil and Nix’s protection. When an attempt on
her life is made at their home endangering everyone, well, that’s an insult
that can’t be tolerated.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right from the start the
chemistry between Egil and Nix is brilliant. The dialogue is so witty and
clever that you genuinely feel like the pair are true friends who have suffered
and laughed together for years. They’re damn funny too! Do you have a friend or
sibling where your main method of communication is mutual insults? They’re like
that; trading quips and putdowns until one grudgingly but honourably concedes
the point.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t get me wrong, this is a
dark book. The themes that are explored and the situations that the characters
find themselves in are bleak and morose. What’s refreshing about this book though
is that, in a genre full of ‘grimdark’ (whatever your understanding of that
subgenre maybe) where characters are put through the mill time and time again
with unrelenting pain and suffering, Paul S. Kemp is still able to make you
laugh out loud. It brings a nice relief from the tension and helps to broaden
the characters nicely.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It isn’t a complex plot, though there
is the promise of things becoming very complicated soon, but my only issue with
the book is that once or twice I found a coincidence or course of events that
just seemed a little <i>easy.</i> But really
that’s it.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The action sequences are great,
swords and sorcery are utilised to the best effect and both seem natural to the
characters. I tore through this book in less than a day and I’m positive that
you would love it to. I’m really happy to have found a pair of ne’er-do-wells
that are engaging, funny and enigmatic, and that I can look forward to joining
them on their adventures again.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><em>About the reviewer:</em></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><em>Alex can be found in the rolling hills of Oxfordshire, splitting his time unevenly between fighting crime and raising two little boys (which is surprisingly similar). When he does find a spare moment he crams it full of fantasy or basketball, and due to rapidly ageing knees it's mostly fantasy these days. He's trying to learn the writing craft through sheer bloody mindedness and dreams of the day he has to do nothing else. If you're so inclined you can watch him stalk writers on Twitter - @shep5377</em></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-73051215985256481842013-06-14T15:22:00.003+01:002013-06-14T15:22:47.786+01:00The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi <div class="Standard" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUr8u-5olrtJ-GnnUFhu1OgQSn0pBVlG3XKGvtsqv3gtukJItBQCOtBFHC95Sb_NhIGOm2bsdcgBF18R9LGrz_ucuHwlGqx277fuLSGj-0i7FnJTUTh0hbY0WFwpHvB7w1iO0aBN-qtmc/s1600/wglg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUr8u-5olrtJ-GnnUFhu1OgQSn0pBVlG3XKGvtsqv3gtukJItBQCOtBFHC95Sb_NhIGOm2bsdcgBF18R9LGrz_ucuHwlGqx277fuLSGj-0i7FnJTUTh0hbY0WFwpHvB7w1iO0aBN-qtmc/s320/wglg.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's calorie representative in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, he combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs long thought to be extinct. There he meets the windup girl - the beautiful and enigmatic Emiko - now abandoned to the slums. She is one of the New People, bred to suit the whims of the rich. Engineered as slaves, soldiers and toys, they are the new underclass in a chilling near future where oil has run out, calorie companies dominate nations and bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as Lake becomes increasingly obsessed with Emiko, conspiracies breed in the heat and political tensions threaten to spiral out of control. Businessmen and ministry officials, wealthy foreigners and landless refugees all have their own agendas. But no one anticipates the devastating influence of the Windup Girl.</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not a nice future
Bacigalupi's biopunk story takes place in and it's not an easy book to read.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me explain the second
point first. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Windup Girl</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> is told from the viewpoints of four to five main
characters, all deeply scarred from things in their pasts. Most of these
characters aren't really likable and have their own selfish agendas, often
contrary to those of the other characters. Somehow you still cheer for most of
them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having so many viewpoints to
introduce and develop makes this a very slow story to start. It practically
needs the whole book to gain momentum. So if you are looking for a lot of
physical action and usually enjoy fast paced books, you won't last long with
this one. In addition to that the book is written in present tense, which has
the tendency to throw me off from time to time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What keeps you in is the
extremely well built and detailed world Bacigalupi has created. It's a
dystopian future where nearly everything we should be concerned about right now
<i>went wrong</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The climate changed and the
sea level rose high enough to drown most coastal cities. Bangkok, the setting
of this book, is protected by huge dams and a pump system from the ever
threatening ocean. </span>There are next to no fossil
fuels left and humanity has reverted to other, quite ineffective forms of
energy. Spring-power (like in windup toys) for storing energy, treadles for
computers, genetically modified elephant like creatures called Megadonts for
powering factories, and so on. If there was an explanation why they didn't use
solar power or wind energy (besides using clippers), I missed it.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Huge agri-corporations, in
everything but the name like Monsanto, have meddled a bit too much with nature,
more or less accidentally releasing new plants, animals and plagues which
completely messed up the food chains and the ecosystem of the whole planet.
Only a fracture of normal plants and animals are left and humanity has to be
really inventive to feed itself. Those agri-corporations control the whole food
market, keeping everybody dependent on their food and making calories the only
currency that counts. Wars are waged for precious seeds and Thailand, which
managed to stay independent because of a policy of isolation and their seed
bank, one of the only ones left in the world, are targeted by everybody.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Windup Girl</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> is full of political maneuvering and intrigue, where
violence and sex are two popular ways to gain or exercise power. Both the
violence and the sex, which is mostly violent and abusive too, are vivid and
sometimes a bit more detailed than I would have liked. Especially Emiko, the
Windup Girl the book is named after, has to endure a lot in a city that sees
her as an abomination and not a human being. Cast aside like a toy and with a
modified extra-smooth skin that is incompatible with the tropic heat of
Thailand she has to sell her body and her dignity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Especially this aspect of the
story reads like an homage to Philip K. Dick's <a href="" name="bookTitle"></a><i>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,</i>
the book which became the movie <i>Blade
Runner</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">In Bacigalupi's novel you are
wondering all the time how it will end. All characters are on opposing sides,
with goals so different to each other that you don't even know how you want
this book to end. </span>I'll promise that the twist
is so surprising that you won't manage to foresee it. <i>The Windup Girl</i> is a complex book, which it needs to be to tell its
story adequately. It is a book worth your time – while trying to convince you
otherwise along the way. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #00000a;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="DE" style="background-color: white;">---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00000a;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="DE" style="background-color: white;"><o:p><i>About the Reviewer:</i> <span style="color: black;">When Christian Abresch was fifteen, he stayed home to write a fantasy book instead of going with his parents and brother on vacation. More fantasy novels, poems and short stories followed in the years to come and since each was less crappy than the one before he hopes to get published someday. To keep his fingers on the pulse of fantasy, he loves browsing Fantasy-Faction with its articles, reviews and forums even though it caused an unnatural growing of his TBR, which worries him. Christian lives with his girlfriend and an imaginary cat in Berlin. Follow him on twitter: @xiaiswriting</span></o:p></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-12122820577364347542013-06-12T15:18:00.003+01:002013-06-12T15:18:57.350+01:00The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHJNheQbNKoSzC41FqHmiun1Xl9SrebZaIlzNmNYurQo5WSToxVixkXwP8gZ-kY2MqmD9l1-sXlnbsKEnKbj4bl6uF_cBzBfJknEh0rI9K75rf1Mia-nBA3ojsDIcMaO2fdIx9b5AutY/s1600/Rithmatist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHJNheQbNKoSzC41FqHmiun1Xl9SrebZaIlzNmNYurQo5WSToxVixkXwP8gZ-kY2MqmD9l1-sXlnbsKEnKbj4bl6uF_cBzBfJknEh0rI9K75rf1Mia-nBA3ojsDIcMaO2fdIx9b5AutY/s320/Rithmatist.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">The Rithmatist</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> is Brandon Sanderson's
newest YA book. Newest only in terms of publishing since he wrote it six or
seven years ago. But then a tiny side project, aka finishing Robert Jordan's <i>Wheel of Time</i> series, got in the way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With
<i>The Rithmatist</i> Sanderson has written
an alternative world “gearpunk” detective story filled with a typical
Sanderson-style, intricately crafted, unique and incredibly detailed magic
system I'm used to expecting these from his books and, so far, haven't been
disappointed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is
it a typical Sanderson novel? I haven't read his Alcatraz books, but <i>The Rithmatist</i> certainly isn't a novel
like <i>Elantris, Warbreaker, Mistborn</i>
or <i>The Way of Kings</i>. We have the
unique magic system, but the events don’t happen on the same epic scale his
high fantasy books do. If I had to compare it to another of Sanderson's works,
it's closest to his novella Legion. In both books we get an unlikely set of
characters who work together to solve a crime.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Rithmatics”,
as the magic system is called, is chalk and geometry based, which gives the
reader the benefit that in addition to it being well-described, the book offers
numerous drawings and sketches showing exactly how it works between the
chapters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's
the beginning of the 20th century and instead of automobiles and fossil fuel we
get springrail trains, coaches with clockwork engines and automatic,
clockwork-powered horses. The events of the book take place mostly on the
campus of the Armedicus University on the island of New Britannia, one of the
50+ isles the United Isles of America consist of.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Armedicus
is one of only a few academies where, in addition to all the normal students,
Rithmatists are taught. This is an immensely important thing, since Rithmatics
is the only reason humans where able to populate the previously uninhabited
United Isles at all. And to hold them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
Rithmatist possesses the ability to use chalk to draw geometric lines and 2D
creatures that will ward, protect or attack other chalk drawings and even
humans. While Rithmatists often duel for fun, to settle arguments or just to
hone their skills, there is a more serious reason for their work. The ominous
Tower of Nebrask, located in the middle of the United Isles, is a sinister
place spawning wild chalklings, chalk-drawn monsters, which are a permanent
threat to all of America.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
story evolves around Joel, a normal student on the campus who's biggest (and
only) hobby is Rithmatics. Only he isn't a Rithmatist and his chalk drawings
will never come to life. When Rithmatic students start to disappear from their
homes, leaving chalk drawings and blood, his usually boring summer holiday is
bound to become a lot more interesting. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's
easy to relate to Joel, who is intelligent and friendly but because of his
poverty an outsider nevertheless. He doesn't have friends, something he shares
with the eccentric girl Melody, the worst Rithmatics student on campus. The
interaction of those two is comedic and the way Sanderson makes them become
friends is funny, heartwarming and authentic. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One
of the few weak points of <i>The Rithmatist</i>
was, at least for me, that it didn't evoke strong emotions. It's certainly
gripping, but I don't remember laughing out loud or secretly wiping some tears
from my eyes. If you love books where characters are severely punished for
making bad decisions, you'll be disappointed too (but knowing his main
characters, that's probably something that'll change).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
is a lot going on in this world and Sanderson manages to make it a colorful and
real-feeling place (Europe conquered by Asia a long time ago? All Scots
displaced and living in American diaspora?) which you dearly want him to
explore more. Add an ending that only resolves the main plot line but not all plot
lines and you get a book where you're glad that it had the three magic words in
the end. <i>To be continued.</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00000a;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="DE">---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00000a;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="DE"><o:p><i>About the Reviewer:</i> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Christian Abresch was fifteen, he stayed home to write a fantasy book instead of going with his parents and brother on vacation. More fantasy novels, poems and short stories followed in the years to come and since each was less crappy than the one before he hopes to get published someday. To keep his fingers on the pulse of fantasy, he loves browsing Fantasy-Faction with its articles, reviews and forums even though it caused an unnatural growing of his TBR, which worries him. Christian lives with his girlfriend and an imaginary cat in Berlin. Follow him on twitter: @xiaiswriting.</span></o:p></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-21444630055048074162013-06-09T11:30:00.000+01:002013-06-09T11:30:04.481+01:00Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3hqezpABNPTRuKjVmQzwNwOtovPOgXfAM9Hi2n-d2tkZKrggvJfeFlUUWt7vFk-Gq77eUjMKkqgOm-2tkgMcWzwZlSzQRy8BJKI28W9H1haWHpavXVolXqAp4-0YzBmqoI3sasKYT1c/s1600/Gardens+of+the+Moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3hqezpABNPTRuKjVmQzwNwOtovPOgXfAM9Hi2n-d2tkZKrggvJfeFlUUWt7vFk-Gq77eUjMKkqgOm-2tkgMcWzwZlSzQRy8BJKI28W9H1haWHpavXVolXqAp4-0YzBmqoI3sasKYT1c/s400/Gardens+of+the+Moon.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Malazan Empire simmers
with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody
confrontations. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn
for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread
Claw assassins.<br />
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For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail,
surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale
should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free
Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen
turns her predatory gaze.<br />
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However, it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game.
Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to
play their hand . . .</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been planning a review
of this one for a <i>long</i> time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everything you’ve already
heard about <i>Gardens of the Moon</i> and the wider series it
belongs to, <i>The Malazan Book of the Fallen</i>, is pretty much true.
It’s complex (oh my, is it complex), it’s vast in scope (a cast of thousands, a
history that scales millennia and magic systems that make your brain hurt) and
this first book really is a difficult beast. Steven Erikson drops you head
first into a plot which has been ongoing for centuries. Unlike so many of his
epic fantasy contemporaries, we don’t begin the series with a farmboy who sets
off on a quest to save the world or one great evil that needs to be vanquished.
Instead, Erikson decides to throw the reader into the middle of a vast plot
that has spanned centuries on either side, with a whole host of characters on
every side of the conflict, a series of magic systems which are never explained
in great detail, and he even throws in some Gods for good measure. Oh, and some
of the characters might actually be Gods, or the Gods may become characters, or
Gods are linked to magic, and warrens, and, and…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All very confusing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_uDzgnaYyYFp8RB57gCFHQ_QOneHNyIhbbhyphenhyphenQk-4Ow7kI2DR_HazO3OXGU8u-N6PZyEAFKcxrDD9no_38Q86FgticXS59srYFjTcSz6namZEej4fz3pjssIuX-6W9Pgb1ZuVJowMkqk/s1600/tumblr_ma7p1yVcso1qgld4m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_uDzgnaYyYFp8RB57gCFHQ_QOneHNyIhbbhyphenhyphenQk-4Ow7kI2DR_HazO3OXGU8u-N6PZyEAFKcxrDD9no_38Q86FgticXS59srYFjTcSz6namZEej4fz3pjssIuX-6W9Pgb1ZuVJowMkqk/s400/tumblr_ma7p1yVcso1qgld4m.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first 200 pages of <i>Gardens
of the Moon</i> feel a lot like attempting to read an epic fantasy series
from the middle. It’s a bit like picking up <i>A Storm of Swords</i> first,
or <i>The Fires of Heaven</i> – and having no prior knowledge of the
series up to that point. Erikson’s choice of throwing you into the midst is
what typically alienates the majority of readers to this series. It nearly did
to me. But I persevered through all the point-of-view changes, endlessly
confusing magic systems, different factions, floating mountains, Gods and
Ascendants, and bizarre goings-on to which I had no real clue. I persevered
because so many people rate this series so highly. It’s so often mentioned in
the same breath as <i>A Song of Ice and Fire</i> and <i>The
Wheel of Time</i> as one of the premiere epic fantasy behemoths, and even
further than that – many rate it even higher.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, the big question is:
why? <i>[Edit: Yes, I mentioned floating mountains above – what of it?]</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why, if it’s so obviously
confusing and awkward to get a grasp of, would you keep reading? Well, after
that 200 pages point, something happens. Not something that jumps into the
story to explain everything that’s preceded it, but rather it all starts to
just <i>click.</i> The magic system isn’t so
much explained as put into very practical and very game-changing use; the
floating mountain becomes involved; and most importantly, the characters
suddenly become worth <i>investing </i>in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether it’s Ganoes Paran,
the de-facto “hero” of the story (to start with), Tattersail the kick-ass mage
and her grand schemes, Anomander Rake and his ridiculously cool…well,
everything or Whiskeyjack and his band of Bridgeburners – these characters take
on the whole confusing (up to this point) jumble of <i>Gardens of the Moon </i>and run with it. Their storylines start to
converge and the plot becomes much clearer. Around a third of the way through
the book I was completely invested in every character’s story and constantly
trying to piece together every piece of information I could. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Erikson’s style of “events and
characters first, information second” becomes something which begins to
delight, in the way that LOST used to do on TV. Piecing together all the parts
of this vast puzzle becomes part of the fun – clearly a deliberate, if arguably
dangerous (going on that befuddling first 200 pages) ploy on the part of the
author. It’s clear by the end of <i>Gardens
of the Moon</i> that <i>The Malazan Book of
The Fallen</i> is an epic fantasy with layers and layers to strip away; mystery
upon mystery, but Erikson keeps the reader entertained with a thrilling plot
and a stunning climax, bringing together all of his individual threads to make
a novel which is unputdownable, where once it was a genuine question of whether
or not I would keep reading.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <i>Gardens of the Moon</i>, Steven Erikson throws the reader in the
deep-end with little to no time to learn how to swim in his epic cocktail of
magic, war and a cast of thousands. It’s an awkward start and not everyone will
wish to plough through the first couple of hundred pages to get to the good
stuff. Maybe it was a mistake for
Erikson to structure his first Malazan novel in such a way, but with a world
and story as complex as this, it would have been difficult to begin the story
differently. Besides, this is a tale which takes place across 10 books (plus 3
prequels, 5 novels by Ian Cameron Esslemont, several novellas and possibly
more) – if you’re going to invest the time in a story this big, be prepared for
moments of confusion as you get to grips with the sheer vastness of the Malazan
story. But this sort of thing isn’t for everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those readers are missing
out. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-52578667253963791042013-06-05T15:07:00.003+01:002013-06-05T15:07:55.215+01:00Double Review: Legion and The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf3DDZiGMjDpWnSBe9mUe7C5hv7TPKOzDCa9bhKCX0PaFkElExlPngqwJ3myvWGlKDlOtaoaaTd0RW5CWtmFRwaP7dAvmu9q5V_ZwYLqEV4IhyWEYEkesmIeSWqAD1hyphenhyphendjFOgshkgfmOU/s1600/sanderson-big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf3DDZiGMjDpWnSBe9mUe7C5hv7TPKOzDCa9bhKCX0PaFkElExlPngqwJ3myvWGlKDlOtaoaaTd0RW5CWtmFRwaP7dAvmu9q5V_ZwYLqEV4IhyWEYEkesmIeSWqAD1hyphenhyphendjFOgshkgfmOU/s400/sanderson-big.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does a man
known for his 400,000 word behemoths contain himself to a mere novella? How
does he condense his runaway mind into a fraction of the size? In this dual
review I’ll take a look at his two novellas to try and figure out how he
managed it, and if he was successful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJQRKT5AGLN8K1QenSWaRAItRo9yP8_K3_iyVoEyITpWydf5QgPIefWjkuihfrlf2c_G2P3YCBF4UxyVjeqjjhqQr644J-60XQ5PwFr1OVoBs6z_bFTya73YhOBDZXYJYuVxnFbmbFsA/s1600/pib6d7ae7a2e2e7741@large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJQRKT5AGLN8K1QenSWaRAItRo9yP8_K3_iyVoEyITpWydf5QgPIefWjkuihfrlf2c_G2P3YCBF4UxyVjeqjjhqQr644J-60XQ5PwFr1OVoBs6z_bFTya73YhOBDZXYJYuVxnFbmbFsA/s320/pib6d7ae7a2e2e7741@large.jpg" width="216" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shai is a Forger, a
foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its
history with skillful magic. Though condemned to death after trying to steal
the emperor's sceptre, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Despite
the fact that her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her
captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost
dead from the attack of assassins.<br />
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Skillfully deducing the machinations of her captors, Shai needs a perfect plan
to escape. The fate of the empire lies in one impossible task. Is it possible
to create a forgery of a soul so convincing that it is better than the soul
itself?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, if the Hugo
nominations are anything to go by, then <i>The
Emperor’s Soul </i>certainly was. I know this will come as a shock, but it had
a very cool, new magic system. It had all the laws and boundaries that we’ve
come to expect from Sanderson, and as cool and interesting as it is this was my
main problem with the story. At times it read like an instruction manual in
Forgery with little practical application of the magic. The story wouldn’t have
suffered, indeed it may have benefited, if some of the details of the magic
were omitted and the reader was left to fill in the blanks. I realise that
anyone who’s read any of Sanderson’s novels will be chortling to themselves
thinking “Silly reviewer type person, that isn’t possible for our Brandon,” but
that is <i>exactly</i> what he did with <i>Legion</i>. Sure, he explains it well, but
he doesn’t go into his normal amount of detail and there is enough grey around
the edges for you to imagine what else could be possible. This may be because
there isn’t a magic system which he has created, but a mental illness that
cannot be as rigid or rule-bound as he would like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stephen Leeds, AKA
'Legion', is a man whose unique mental condition allows him to generate a
multitude of personae: hallucinatory entities with a wide variety of personal
characteristics and a vast array of highly specialised skills. As the story
begins, Leeds and his 'aspects' are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal
Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our
understanding of human history and change the very structure of society.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found Legion to
be a much tighter, more enjoyable read. It was quite funny in some places, and
the idea of the various aspects (the hallucinations, if you will) was really
good. The pace is spot on, going from witty introduction, establishing the plot
to the culmination. There wasn’t any wasted effort and the different segments
each had the right amount or time spent on them. In <i>The Emperor’s Soul, </i>the introduction is over fairly quickly and
then the main character is just in one room for the majority of the story. All
the tension and danger comes from her thoughts and introspection and she is
never really at risk until the end, which is rather abrupt and overly happy. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, what does this
tell us (me)? Well, I think it shows that Sanderson is epic fantasy through and</span></div>
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through. To do his version of magic, to follow his magic system rules, needs
much more space and time, and above all, a higher word count. The story of <i>The Emperor's</i> <i>Soul </i>relied on the magic system for its
motivation and its theme and, for me, it got bound up on that. <i>Legion, </i>without a magic system, had time
to concentrate on the story and humour and was stronger for it. I don’t think
it a coincidence that <i>The Emperor's Soul </i>is the
longer of the two novellas. For the record, I am a massive fan of Sanderson’s
magic systems, particularly Allomancy (Mistborn), and I love the detail that he gives us.
I just think you need time to drip feed it in.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fans of Sanderson
will gobble both of these up, and rightly so. Both are very enjoyable and
obviously quick reads. There are Easter eggs in <i>The Emperor's</i> <i>Soul </i>which relate to his Cosmere so and it is set in the same world
as <i>Elantris, </i>which I enjoyed very
much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would really like
to read more of <i>Legion, </i>and I think
it is in Sanderson’s plans to write more of them so I am eagerly anticipating
their release. If this was the last we read of Shai and the Forgers I wouldn’t
overly miss them. Please, tell us what you think!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><em>About the reviewer:</em></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><em>Alex can be found in the rolling hills of Oxfordshire, splitting his time unevenly between fighting crime and raising two little boys (which is surprisingly similar). When he does find a spare moment he crams it full of fantasy or basketball, and due to rapidly ageing knees it's mostly fantasy these days. He's trying to learn the writing craft through sheer bloody mindedness and dreams of the day he has to do nothing else. If you're so inclined you can watch him stalk writers on Twitter - @shep5377</em></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-48616629021840423342013-05-26T17:00:00.003+01:002013-05-26T17:00:28.137+01:00Poison by Sarah Pinborough <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvo75F96A6pWZnFnWQsfGnYDvCNNdJPRX5jLSvZ4pbutjcTXDJM1R55ux_Q3cVqNtmwD9dpVdXeWvNte3UzcQg733qzqPb3QIPB-wIOv_6bkgDAgfHLEtVusCaOpVGm9F9DwJHEw8xgs/s1600/poison-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvo75F96A6pWZnFnWQsfGnYDvCNNdJPRX5jLSvZ4pbutjcTXDJM1R55ux_Q3cVqNtmwD9dpVdXeWvNte3UzcQg733qzqPb3QIPB-wIOv_6bkgDAgfHLEtVusCaOpVGm9F9DwJHEw8xgs/s320/poison-cover.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poison<i> is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Snow White story which takes all the elements of the classic fairytale that we love (the handsome prince, the jealous queen, the beautiful girl and, of course, the poisoning) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires. </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">Poison by Sarah Pinborough will take you for a wicked ride through fairy tales as you have never before imagined them. It is a fresh,</span><wbr style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"> and slightly naughty twist on the stories we all know and have grown up with. </span>It has a comfortable familiarity as many different
characters, tales and settings are twisted, bent, and woven back together
with Pinborough’s signature on them. A signature that brings the characters to
life and makes them much more real and relatable while retaining their
fantastical traits that have always defined them.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No longer are the dwarves a people happy to
mine all day for the benefit of others. Now they are lower class citizens,
enslaved by the kingdom, taking on a rougher, dirtier appearance than we are
used to. But Pinborough manages to still portray them as a people full of fun
and camaraderie. And of course, their beloved friend, the princess called Snow
White is still much loved by people and nature, but now she has a more
carefree, reckless way to her fun in the forest. And a penchant for enjoying <i>all </i>of the earthy pleasures afforded
her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What fairy tale could be complete without
an evil, wicked witch of a stepmother? The evil Ice Queen out to destroy the
innocent little princess? Well, maybe not quite so innocent in this tale, but
you get the idea. Her part in this is quite enjoyable as we get more insight to
her motivations and evil ways than in fairy tales. No longer is the evil witch just evil for the
sake of being evil. She becomes a real character, who is self absorbed and
loveless, traits that have caused her to resort to her slightly evil ways and
decisions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pinborough’s twists also provide cameo
appearances by a number of familiar characters after they have been through her
wicked fairy tale reconstructive process.
I don’t want to include any spoilers, but will mention Aladdin! His
appearance and contribution is by far my favorite of these cameo
transformations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So in a version like this, the reader can’t
help but wonder will Prince Charming show up to save the princess and sweep her
off her feet? What will she make of him if he does? I can only recommend you
read to find out for yourself, because while everything is so familiar, the
characters have been redefined in a way that will leave you guessing. This is
not your Disney fairy tale. It is much, much better. And much more
wicked. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poison<i> is available now from Gollancz.</i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><em style="font-family: Oswald; line-height: 24px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About the Reviewer: Lisa spends her days programming in Java, living the exciting life of a cubicle ridden software engineer. When not at work, she enjoys her time with her husband and two boys. She spends the rest of her free time playing on multiple indoor soccer teams and of course reading, reading, reading. She is ‘new’ to the fantasy genre, having read her first fantasy book in 2010. After reading more and more fantasy, she is now hooked and can often be found around the internet searching for her next book and adding titles to her ever increasing TBR list.</span></em></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-83492277317427756952013-05-25T11:25:00.002+01:002013-05-25T11:25:26.727+01:00Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVokpMChpDdTe9BtiLNBj7weIxWno69lzxUp1IijRkZWLTCfO8E105vQ0h3VQu0-JtwS4_IFkp61F2yPu3JS8v2GU0WwEwHHrNAhv4Tf7D23v3_UM2cW5uWI6CuZvls4vR07LVyBXVR_o/s1600/RoyalAssassin-UK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVokpMChpDdTe9BtiLNBj7weIxWno69lzxUp1IijRkZWLTCfO8E105vQ0h3VQu0-JtwS4_IFkp61F2yPu3JS8v2GU0WwEwHHrNAhv4Tf7D23v3_UM2cW5uWI6CuZvls4vR07LVyBXVR_o/s320/RoyalAssassin-UK.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘We are here
Fitz, you and I, to change the future and the world...’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fitz dreams
of Red Ship Raiders sacking a coastal village, leaving not a single man, woman
or child alive. Tortured by this terrible vision he returns to the Six Duchies
Court where all is far from well.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">King Shrewd
has been struck down by a mysterious illness and King-in-waiting, Verity,
spends all his time attempting to conjure storms to confuse and destroy the Red
Ship Raiders. And when he leaves on an insane mission to seek out the mystical
Elderlings, Fitz is left alone and friendless but for the wolf Nighteyes and
the King’s Fool with his cryptic prophesies.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So,
once again I try and review a book that has been reviewed countless times in a
plethora of different ways. I have to try and find a way to get you to pick up
this book and read it. Because I really, <i>really
</i>want you to read it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Royal Assassin </i>is the second book in <i>The Farseer Trilogy </i>by Robin Hobb,
originally published in 1996 by Voyager Books. If you’d like to read my review
of the first one, <i>Assassin’s Apprentice, </i>you
can read it <b><a href="http://wildersbookreview.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/assassins-apprentice-by-robin-hobb.html" target="_blank">here</a></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll
open with full disclosure. <i>Royal Assassin
</i>is firmly ensconced in my top three favourite books. Don’t ask where. That’d
be like asking a woman her age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
return to Fitz, who you’ll recall was poisoned by his uncle, Regal. His
recovery is long and, as you’d expect from Hobb, very painful. He is forced to
reassess his life choices and where his future may lead. In the end it leads
back to Buckkeep, to King Shrewd and Prince Verity, to Molly and to the Fool.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">King
Shrewd is terribly sick with an unexplained wasting disease and Prince Verity
is cloistered in a tower, using the Skill to keep the Red Ships at bay. Fitz
gradually becomes closer to Verity and has to use his assassin’s skills to
serve him better. Fitz must battle to keep forged ones away from Buck and
battle to protect the people he cares for from Regal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
is an unrelenting and dark tale, noticeably more so than <i>Assassin's Apprentice</i>. We see
some of the very few happy moments of Fitz’s life, but Hobb uses these to raise
him high only to dash him down further and deeper than he’s ever been. By the
end of this book you know that Fitz is never destined to be happy, never fated
for anything but suffering. He is subjected to some of the most excruciating
situations you’re likely to find in any form of literature, with the rare added
bonus that this is made to feel so <i>real. </i>Most
times when the main character of a tale is in danger you never really feel
concerned for their safety, but even though this is told in the first person, I
was terrified for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If
this is your first time reading this then you are about to meet one of the best
supporting characters in fantasy. I won’t talk too much about him as it would
become spoilerific, but Nighteyes often steals the show. His view on the world
is animalistic (well, he is a wolf, after all) but he unintentionally offers
some wonderful philosophical views on Fitz’s situation which actually made me
think (which scares me...).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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is used in another way, too. Through him we explore the Wit, one of the most
underrated magic systems in fantasy. It feels really organic, because neither
Nighteyes nor Fitz </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">know what the hell they’re doing, so we learn along with
them, stumbling and bludgeoning as they go.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So,
look, I could talk about the prose (amazing) or the character development
(stunning </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">when you remember this is told in first person), but I covered most
of that in the </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Assassin's Apprentice</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> review. For what it's worth, the sequel does it even better</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead,
let me tell you of the emotional impact. I’ve mentioned that I feared for
Fitz’s safety, but I was proud, angry, sad, desperate, disgusted and pretty
much any other emotion you can name. I ran the whole gamut of emotions time and
time again. And this wasn’t just for Fitz. I felt for Molly. I felt for
Burrich. I ached for the Fool. I felt for them all at one time or another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So
please, read this series. The pace can be a little slow and difficult in parts
and Regal still feels slightly out of place in terms of his persona, but you
are so richly rewarded for your perseverance. And let me know your feelings on
the ending...</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: windowtext;"><o:p style="background-color: white;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </o:p></span><br style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 24px;" /><span lang="en-GB" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: windowtext;"></span><br style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 24px;" /><span lang="en-GB" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: windowtext;"></span><br style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-color: #cccccc; line-height: 24px;"><span lang="en-GB" style="color: windowtext;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><em>About the reviewer:</em></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><em>Alex can be found in the rolling hills of Oxfordshire, splitting his time unevenly between fighting crime and raising two little boys (which is surprisingly similar). When he does find a spare moment he crams it full of fantasy or basketball, and due to rapidly ageing knees it's mostly fantasy these days. He's trying to learn the writing craft through sheer bloody mindedness and dreams of the day he has to do nothing else. If you're so inclined you can watch him stalk writers on Twitter - @shep5377</em></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-39010872986323758182013-05-24T16:02:00.000+01:002013-05-24T16:02:07.054+01:00The City by Stella Gemmell <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBNDmBGmBYyR6sy35ok9ckLZIJTD7Urw9Inlec7CtjPCoJpWSMgR7WSm_DZEwU0ZF2ra0LU8chpOjAidF7y8ewI1jNGLLUZ7xt21BNsG-WXgig9ta5Kr3maUxFKK1xQMPEw3Y318H6cI/s1600/The+City+UK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBNDmBGmBYyR6sy35ok9ckLZIJTD7Urw9Inlec7CtjPCoJpWSMgR7WSm_DZEwU0ZF2ra0LU8chpOjAidF7y8ewI1jNGLLUZ7xt21BNsG-WXgig9ta5Kr3maUxFKK1xQMPEw3Y318H6cI/s320/The+City+UK.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">The City is ancient, layers upon layers. Once a thriving metropolis, it has sprawled beyond its bounds, inciting endless wars with neighboring tribes and creating a barren wasteland of what was once green and productive.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">In the center of the City lives the emperor. Few have ever seen him, but those who have recall a man in his prime, though he should be very old. Some grimly speculate that he is no longer human, if he ever was. A small number have come to the desperate conclusion that the only way to stop the war is to end the emperor’s unnaturally long life.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">From the mazelike sewers below the City, where the poor struggle to stay alive in the dark, to the blood-soaked fields of battle, where few heroes manage to endure the never-ending siege, the rebels pin their hopes on one man—Shuskara. The emperor’s former general, he was betrayed long ago and is believed to be dead. But, under different aliases, he has survived, forsaking his City and hiding from his immortal foe. Now the time has come for him to engage in one final battle to free the City from the creature who dwells at its heart, pulling the strings that keep the land drenched in gore.</span></i></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simply put, Stella Gemmell’s <i>The City</i> is awash in blood. The story lays
out the gory ravages of a centuries old war to both citizens of the city, as
well as all those that oppose it. This war has come to a point where there can
be no winners. Each side has dehumanized the other and will fight until there
is no one left to lift a sword. Which does not seem far off. Generations have
been lost and life within the city walls has become so harsh and abhorrent that children
have been relegated to a hard life in the underground tunnels, passageways, and
sewers, fending for themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><i>The City</i> is more about the city than any one person and it is very
much a good vs. evil tale without moral ambiguity. At least that is how it
seems. The Emperor encapsulates the role of ‘Evil’. All though, it is an Evil
somewhat unknown because he has been sheltered and isolated from even his own
people. He has been ruling since before anyone can remember and </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">appears to have
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZ6BOVOuQioVVv5O5In5tF1DTxqJcH6oiMMPzGFBytn2OM6-np9a1DWWS17Y6UKk-FYlzQEdtS2g4Ys4jAEhyphenhyphen7DT9ir_9N8mbONz9FFVKjG3znT4OoU7fTmkmKXQINgstTU4YBurV14o/s1600/The+City+US.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZ6BOVOuQioVVv5O5In5tF1DTxqJcH6oiMMPzGFBytn2OM6-np9a1DWWS17Y6UKk-FYlzQEdtS2g4Ys4jAEhyphenhyphen7DT9ir_9N8mbONz9FFVKjG3znT4OoU7fTmkmKXQINgstTU4YBurV14o/s320/The+City+US.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The individuals are a collection of people that
help illustrate the current state of discontent, desperation and the desire to
know a time of peace, to see an end to the ages old war. Their struggles and
conflicts unfold for the reader during this critical time. A plan is formed to
overthrow the Emperor to restore peace, the question remains; is the plan
trustworthy? And who is really orchestrating it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many things to love about this story.
Gemmell’s illustration of the city is just one example. She has created a
fascinating city that has grown by building upon itself over the ages. A river
that use to run through the city has over time become buried, and part of the
passages below, filling and flooding areas creating danger for Dwellers (the
people that live underground) and shifting which passages are usable or safe to
travel. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is very much an exciting
epic fantasy that just feels good to read. I believe it’s the type of story that
holds many fantasy fans within the genre. In fact, up until about 75% of the
way through, I had few complaints and much enjoyment. However at this point,
there were a number of things that I felt detracted from the story as a whole.
Without spoilers, I will just say, that there were some shifts in character
that I found jarring as well as convenient coincidences. There were convenient
coincidences prior to this as well, but at some point, it seemed to cross the
line for what my willing suspension of disbelief could handle. Perhaps I should
just view it as the fate of the world within the story and put my complaints of
coincidences aside because overall, it was a tale worth reading.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The City<i> is available now in the UK from Bantam Press, and will be available in the US from June 4th 2013, from Ace. </i></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><em style="font-family: Oswald; line-height: 24px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About the Reviewer: Lisa spends her days programming in Java, living the exciting life of a cubicle ridden software engineer. When not at work, she enjoys her time with her husband and two boys. She spends the rest of her free time playing on multiple indoor soccer teams and of course reading, reading, reading. She is ‘new’ to the fantasy genre, having read her first fantasy book in 2010. After reading more and more fantasy, she is now hooked and can often be found around the internet searching for her next book and adding titles to her ever increasing TBR list.</span></em></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-17804395759861285652013-05-23T13:44:00.002+01:002013-05-23T15:01:09.357+01:00Interview with Ben Galley<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4qgibQwHcFfNVGGtk465MmGNdfvfl9j263pyNNPmP5VvlMXLJrUWOcFRwvmmPNJJYmcUdNn76-W-QeQaQqUpCL9jUfdDBMRIdFBzpvUxG3AQ7FHXNCc1ioP3klQRgkt6EhWfSrEmWRE/s1600/Ben-Galley-author-009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4qgibQwHcFfNVGGtk465MmGNdfvfl9j263pyNNPmP5VvlMXLJrUWOcFRwvmmPNJJYmcUdNn76-W-QeQaQqUpCL9jUfdDBMRIdFBzpvUxG3AQ7FHXNCc1ioP3klQRgkt6EhWfSrEmWRE/s320/Ben-Galley-author-009.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Emaneska Series by Ben Galley, is drawing to a close with the
imminent, simultaneous release of the final two installments, <i>Dead Stars Parts 1 & 2</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Follow the links to see our review of the first two parts in the series, <i><a href="http://wildersbookreview.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-written-by-ben-galley.html" target="_blank">The Written</a></i> and <i><a href="http://wildersbookreview.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/pale-kings-by-ben-galley.html" target="_blank">Pale Kings</a></i>.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ben has been kind enough to grant us an interview, where he talks about
the origins of Emaneska, jaw dropping cover art and what the future may hold.
Enjoy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR - Thanks for making the time for this Ben; this must be a very busy
time for you at the moment! What three words would you use to describe The
Emaneska Series?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - Brutal. Non-stop. Epic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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WBR - You cheated a bit there, but I’ll let you off! Can you talk us through how
you got started with the Emaneska Series? </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - It was a culmination of a few elements that gave birth to Emaneska.
First off, I'd been looking to escape my gloomy day-job and achieve that old
childhood dream of being an author for some time. At the same time I was
inhaling every fantasy book I could find, rediscovering my love of the genre.
Then, as clichéd as it sounds, the name Emaneska popped into my head one day,
along with the inspiring tag-line of 'Lord of The Rings meets Sin City'. That
was it - I had a name, a direction, and I started writing the first chapter
that very night. It was as simple a genesis as that. I haven't looked back since.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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WBR - You’ve become something of a self publishing guru, but how did you make
the </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRI1ENjpeIE7p66f80I4C_IkZJLyDa4tTb_i-74xcfOekEOzZz0uv4MBu2dKRP0HA6FlAED8Bz001wDCo47RpqbtXEnFjLLPKD3n-aOwKsxwft0wdE1mxnucAZIE8DqAVrWlsba8Xb5Io/s1600/The+Written.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRI1ENjpeIE7p66f80I4C_IkZJLyDa4tTb_i-74xcfOekEOzZz0uv4MBu2dKRP0HA6FlAED8Bz001wDCo47RpqbtXEnFjLLPKD3n-aOwKsxwft0wdE1mxnucAZIE8DqAVrWlsba8Xb5Io/s320/The+Written.jpg" width="207" /></a></b></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>decision to publish your books yourself, rather than go the more
traditional path? </b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - I originally wanted to go the traditional route, but while writing
the book, I began to grow worried about the idea of rejections, of giving up my
rights, and also the length of time the process takes. I began to research
alternate ideas after seeing an advert for something called 'Self-Publishing'.
The more I researched, the more I became enamoured with the idea of going DIY,
of going indie. It was fortuitous timing, as this is the first time in history
that self-publishing is a financially viable option for success.
Self-publishing providers were beginning to pop up all over the place, and
through a lot of research and experimentation, I negotiated my way to market
cheaply, quickly, and professionally, just as I'd wanted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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WBR - You also help other authors to find out how to self publish their work, is
that a part of your career you enjoy?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - I'm a zealot when it comes to helping others. I believe that the manner
in which I published my books was a very successful and accessible one, and
it's a route I'm keen to share. For instance, a lot of authors think that going
indie costs a lot of money - up into the thousands. I published '<i>The Written</i>'
for around £400, and all from one laptop. As soon as I began to make headway
with the books, I knew it was time to start helping others. There's a lot of
mistakes to be made in this new landscape, costly and serious mistakes, and no
author should fall foul of them when there are so many opportunities now
available.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR - The covers of your books are fantastic. Were you trying to break
the rule of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover?’ </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - Thank you very much! I very much was. I judge books by their covers
all the time. Especially now, when the market is so wide and packed. The cover
is your sales pitch, just as much, if not more, than your blurb or reviews. I
knew that to make sales, I had to have an absolutely rocking cover. One that
hinted at the genre, but also stood apart by being unusual for fantasy and
visually entrancing. I used Crowdsourcing via a site called Crowdspring to find
a truly original graphic artist called Mikael Westman, whose concept for my
cover physically made me sit bolt upright and my jaw hang loose.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR - You’ve used a lot of ‘mainstream’ mythological creatures in this series,
why did you decide to use things like dragons and vampyres in your world
instead of going full on fantasy and creating an entirely new set of
creatures? </b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - I wanted to toy with a number of stereotypes, especially with the
vampyres. It was a time when Twilight and dark romance was crowding shelves,
and I wanted to use a creature that readers would feel familiar with, but also
feel that they're being introduced to something new, something alternate.
Dragons for me was a prerequisite. I'm obsessed with the beasts, but once again
I wanted to treat them differently, and give them a few idiosyncrasies that
might not have been written about before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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WBR - You’ve referred to the Emaneska Series as ‘A Trilogy In Four Parts,' Why
have you decided to release both <i>Dead Stars Part 1</i> and <i>Part 2</i> at the same time?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - I wanted to be fair to my readers, and also be different. I know
from personal experience that there are fans out there capable of inhaling one
of my books in a night. I also know how frustrating it can be waiting 6 or 12
months to finish a series. It can be even more frustrating when you're left on
a cliff-hanger. <i>Dead Stars</i> had to much material to be one book, but also was
too fluid to be split easily. I decided that it was time to push the boat out
and try a double release.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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WBR - Now that the series if over and you’ve said your goodbyes to the citizens
of Emaneska, how do you look back on the last four years? </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - With absolute fondness, and also a bit of guilty pride. I've
achieved a lot in the last four years, and I'm very happy with what I've
learnt, what I've published, and how it's been received. I also understand now
what authors like King and RR Martin mean when they say they are still learning
and growing as writers. Emaneska is the start for me - I've got so much more to
do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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WBR - Your Kickstarter campaign was very successful and you first graphic novel
of The Written was fully funded. How is that progressing and is Kickstarter
something you will explore again? </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - Thank you again. The graphic novel of <i>The Written</i> is going very
well at the moment. We're compiling all the concept art, ready to start
building up the first chapter. We're looking towards a release in Autumn or
Winter this year. It's a different direction for Emaneska, but so many people
are eager to see and read it, I know I've made a good choice. Mike Shipley is
an incredible artist. Once again, I'm very lucky to have come across him. If
you haven't seen any of the art you can find it on my Facebook Page (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/bengalleyauthor%29" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0072c6; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.facebook.com/bengalleyauthor)</span></a>.
I fully intend to use it for funding the next graphic novel for <i>Pale Kings</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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WBR - What’s next for Ben Galley? </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - A bucket-load of sleep and a holiday I think. I may even mix the
two. Then it's straight back to the laptop. I will be writing a standalone
fantasy that will be very different from Emaneska in many ways. Can't wait to
try something new.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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WBR - And finally, what book are you reading at the moment?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG - At the moment I'm rereading the <i>First Law</i> trilogy by Joe
Abercrombie. Outstanding books!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WBR - Thanks again, Ben! </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ben can be found online at his website, <a href="http://www.bengalley.com/">www.bengalley.com</a> and you can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/BenGalley" target="_blank">@Ben Galley</a>. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;">The first two books in his Emaneska series of epic fantasy, <i>The Written</i> and <i>Pale Kings</i>, are available now. The concluding parts of the saga, <i>Dead Stars</i>, will be simultaneously released on 31st May. </b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-52083816949178251402013-05-21T16:42:00.001+01:002013-05-21T18:05:57.116+01:00Sharps by K.J. Parker <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Sharps</i> is
the latest standalone novel from author K.J. Parker, a critically successful,
but perhaps not as well-known commercially fantasy author. I’d never heard of
Parker until I got a little deeper into the SFF community, where I started
hearing the name repeated again and again from other major bloggers, like
Justin Landon over at <a href="http://www.staffersbookreview.com/2012/07/sharps-k-j-parker-with-mini-interview.html" target="_blank">Staffer’s Book Review</a> and Jared Shurin at <a href="http://www.pornokitsch.com/2012/06/new-releases-sharps-by-kj-parker.html" target="_blank">Pornokitsch</a>. It
seems like Parker is just on the verge of becoming an enormous success – an
author that’s always been a well-known secret within genre circles, but just
not quite there when it comes to the average punter in the bookshop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Parker writes what you could
perhaps term “fantastical histories”. The worlds Parker writes in are 100%
fantasy creations, but they don’t tend to involve much (if any) magic or
fantastical creatures – rather, Parker uses these worlds to explore ideas and
topics that are parallel with our own current affairs. The novels explore the
fundamental workings of a range of topics, from politics to economics;
engineering to individual power and the nature of good and evil. But although
Parker explores these ideas on societal levels, s/he uses individuals to tell
the stories. These may be tales with broad-ranging ideas, but the characters
are at the centre. And going by<i> Sharps</i>,
they’re just damn good stories. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Sharps</i> is
the story of two countries: Scheria and Permia. They have long been at war, but
for the first time in a rather bloody forty years a truce has finally been
called. They are not at peace yet, though. Talks are in place and a diplomatic
mission is sent to Permia by the Scherians. For both countries share one
central interest – fencing. Scheria puts together a team of its best fencers to
tour Permia, with the mission supposedly being to try and unite both countries
with this shared interest. A force of goodwill. But things really are not quite
that simple. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With <i>Sharps</i>, K.J. Parker takes a sometimes serious and often satirical
look at warmongering, organised sporting events and the art of diplomacy. The
novel follows almost exclusively the group of fencers sent into Permia,
following the points of view of each one at different points. There is the most
central of these, Giraut Bryennius, a young man who is forced at pain of death
to go with the party into Permia. Addo Carnufex is the son of General Carnufex,
Scheria’s most renowned commander (and perhaps throughout the world), Iseutz
Bringas – the only female member of the team, Jilem Phrantzes – a former
champion and the team’s administrator, and finally, Suidas Deutzel, the
Scherian fencing champion – and a real scene-stealer throughout the novel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Through the eyes of these
central characters, we see the foreign country of Permia, and Parker very much
limits us to seeing only what the characters do – a country where something
isn’t quite right. Nothing seems to go quite to plan and there is clearly more
to their diplomatic mission than they are being told. Parker manages to create
a tense atmosphere through this sense of just never knowing what’s really going
on. The novel twists and turns, Parker only ever showing us what s/he needs us
to know, until everything becomes so convoluted and tangled up that it becomes
difficult to see where it’s going. But then, right in the final 50 pages,
Parker unravels the knot in an ingenious piece of plot structuring, and
everything becomes clear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There were areas,
particularly in the middle of the novel, where I struggled. Mainly this was
through frustration at misunderstanding the situation, but Parker does have a
knack for gauging the reader – the characters are always frustrated with you.
What kept me reading was Parker’s outstanding dialogue. Much of the novel’s
structure – it’s worldbuilding, plotting, foreshadowing – all come from the
dialogue. Parker shies away from copious description, and instead opts to allow
the characters to do the telling. And it’s hilarious. I haven’t laughed so much
at a novel since some of the older Discworld novels. It’s biting and satirical,
but always incredibly funny. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Sharps</i> is
like a medieval/early-modern roadtrip through a war-torn, primitive country,
with (of all things) a sports team at the centre. It’s not the easiest novel to
read, and at times it can become quite dense (despite its average length) with
worldbuilding and intrigue which doesn’t always make sense until the bigger
picture is revealed. But in that lies Parker’s strength – intrigue. This is an
author that is not afraid to write in a structure that only ever reveals what
s/he wants you to know. It’s a fun, satirical, darkly funny and at times,
thought-provoking read – and I’d have to agree that although there may be better Parker novels out there, it’s only a matter of time until
K.J. Parker gets the recognition s/he deserves. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-28152121641053076482013-05-19T10:16:00.001+01:002013-05-19T10:16:29.920+01:00Pale Kings by Ben Galley <br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Emaneska
is crying out for a saviour<br />
The only question is:<br />
Can they kill a child to save a world?<br />
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Emaneska’s Long Winter remains as bitter as a blade between the ribs. War is
fast approaching. Gods and daemons are hovering on the horizon. Long-lost
revelations arrive to haunt the lives of three men.<br />
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The Pale Kings are rising.<br />
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While Farden busies himself digging up his past in the strange deserts of
Paraia, the storm-clouds begin to gather for Durnus, Elessi, Cheska, and
Modren.<br />
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Together with Farfallen and his Sirens, they must fight to survive against the
Long Winter, the vicious machinations of the new Arkmage, and the arrival of
something much deadlier than both combined. War, deception, and murder are
quickly becoming the only paths to salvation...</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ben Galley has given his imagination free reign in this
action packed story. We return to Farden, the troubled yet powerful mage, as he
journeys through the desert in search of... well, in search of answers, of
advice, of anything to help him in the battle with his enemies. We join him as
he finds unlikely allies and is given the toughest of choices to make. We
follow as he goes from one landscape to another, from frying pan and into the
fire, trying to save a world that doesn’t always want his help.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cast of characters grows impressively, and the
scope of the story becomes truly epic in the best sense of the word. It’s to
Galley’s credit that the growth feels organic and natural. I think it is one of
the author’s strengths that each of the characters is fleshed out and fully
realised. He adds just enough hints or redemption or damnation for each that
you never really know who will end up on which side. You <i>think </i>you know, and that’s the delicious part.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <i>The Written, </i>the first in the Emaneska series (you can read the
review <b><a href="http://wildersbookreview.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-written-by-ben-galley.html" target="_blank">here</a></b>) there is an intriguing
blend of new creatures and races with the more familiar fantasy or supernatural
ones. One of the main supporting characters is a vampyre, there are dragons
aplenty and they are searching for wells of Dark Elf magic. <i>Pale Kings </i>takes this one step further,
with some excellent development of the Sirens and their culture, and we are
introduced to witches and fauns and shape shifters. I was worried that it would
take me out of the action as I’m not generally a fan of these traditional
monsters and I have found them to be tired tropes, but with a few minor
exceptions what we expect is turned around and used to an advantage or as
misdirection. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed these as much as if he’d
invented entirely new and mystical races.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story does take a little while to get going, with some
soul searching and character history taking centre stage for a while. I would
have liked this spread over a larger section of the book. It was all very
interesting and necessary stuff, but if it had been delivered whilst getting
the narrative rolling it would have enhanced the experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are some fascinating interludes where we glimpse daemons
and gods at work, all of whom are as flawed or as warped as some of the mortal
characters! It is in these segments that we can truly see Galley’s imagination
fly, and you start to appreciate how ambitious he is being with Emaneska and
how far he wants to go.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really enjoyed <i>The
Written,</i> but <i>Pale Kings </i>is
cleverer, grittier and a real evolution in the author’s craft. It bodes well
for the final parts of this series, <i>Dead
Stars Parts 1 and 2. </i>It’s going to be hard going to keep up the pace, so I
can’t wait to read them!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><em>About the reviewer:</em></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><em>Alex can be found in the rolling hills of Oxfordshire, splitting his time unevenly between fighting crime and raising two little boys (which is surprisingly similar). When he does find a spare moment he crams it full of fantasy or basketball, and due to rapidly ageing knees it's mostly fantasy these days. He's trying to learn the writing craft through sheer bloody mindedness and dreams of the day he has to do nothing else. If you're so inclined you can watch him stalk writers on Twitter - @shep5377</em></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-38904284718855807542013-05-16T10:00:00.000+01:002013-05-16T10:00:03.171+01:00The Scar by China Mieville <br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scars are not injuries,
Tanner Sack. A scar is a healing. After injury, a scar is what makes you whole.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Scar</i> lives up to its title. Everything and everyone
at the core of this story is at a different stage of healing. Whether they have
physical wounds, broken emotional bonds or tears in the world itself,
everything will eventually leave a scar. Mieville has managed to craft a
follow-up to <i>Perdido Street Station</i>
which touches on deeper themes of loneliness and belonging. And pirates. Where <i>Perdido Street Station</i> was an
introduction to the city of New Crobuzon, <i>The
Scar</i> is far more wide-ranging; leaving New Crobuzon for climates new, and
to places altogether much stranger than the city it leaves behind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bellis Coldwine is the
central protagonist of <i>The Scar</i>.
Continuing the theme of unorthodox central protagonists from <i>Perdido Street Station</i>, Bellis is a
linguist. She’s named aptly; cold, mostly humourless and consistently
conflicted by her own decisions. The novel begins in New Crobuzon, but Bellis
quickly leaves, believing herself to be in danger from the militia. (In a nice
nod to the events of <i>Perdido Street
Station</i>) She finds herself a job onboard a naval ship as a translator; a
ship which has a cargo of more than just trade goods. But this is all just
set-up for the real storyline. When Bellis’ ship is taken by pirates and
press-ganged into the floating city of ships known as Armada, she finds herself
much further from home than she ever wished to be. And the rulers of Armada
have bigger plans than anyone could possibly imagine – leading them to the
greatest beast in the seas and the source of unimaginable power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Scar</i> is
a little shorter than <i>Perdido Street
Station</i>, but still comes in at a hefty length. However, Mieville has
managed to hone his talents between the two novels to create a book which moves
along at a near perfect pace, from set-piece to set-piece. Where <i>Perdido Street Station</i> was a little
flabby in its first quarter and to some extent in its last quarter, <i>The Scar</i> always moves briskly, and yet
always allows the characters and setting room to breathe. On top of that, the
plot is an absolute stunner – each individual part building to a huge climax and
then starting all over again, but building on what’s come before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In terms of imagination,
Mieville is completely unleashed here. <i>Perdido
Street Station</i> was layered with atmosphere and some very original ideas,
but <i>The Scar</i> just goes one step
further. New Crobuzon was a living city – you could feel every layer of grime
seep into you as you read it. But Armada, the main setting for <i>The Scar</i>, could not be more different.
I’ve never seen anything like it before. A floating city, made up of
press-ganged ships from centuries of pillage, it is an incredible idea and
expertly described by Mieville – and yet never to the point of overdoing it.
The setting is there to tell part of the story – it’s just an incredible thing
to behold on top of that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another area where Mieville
improves on from <i>Perdido Street Station</i>
is his cast of characters. As entertaining as they were in Perdido, only two or
three had any real level of depth. The others felt like side-characters. Here,
though, even the minor characters feel well-realised and important to the
progression of the story. Whether it’s the reMade marine engineer, Tanner Sack,
the effective rulers of Armada, The Lovers or the particularly awe-inspiring
Uther Doul and his possibility sword, they all feel like they could live beyond
the pages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With <i>The Scar</i>, China Mieville has managed to build on the success of <i>Perdido Street Station</i> to create a novel
which expands the world of Bas-Lag and tells a much more thematically cohesive
story. You could read it with no prior knowledge of <i>Perdido Street Station</i> quite easily – some may even recommend you
do so. But I think you’d miss out on the joy of having read that foundation
which Mieville built in the last book. Where <i>Perdido Street Station</i> was essentially a very clever monster hunt, <i>The Scar</i> is a tale of just that: scars.
The scars of relationships old and new. The scars of flesh, memory and emotion.
The scars from political, personal and social wounds created in the previous
Bas-Lag novel. And the scars of the very earth itself. It’s a seriously
accomplished novel, and the best I’ve read from Mieville yet. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-51851990591676687612013-05-15T10:00:00.000+01:002013-05-15T10:00:10.292+01:00The Rapture of the Nerds by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross<br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
singularity has arrived and it’s…strangely familiar. In this post-singularity
world, Huw Jones wakes up after a rough night at a friend’s house and stumbles
downstairs for an awkward encounter with the woman he met the previous night,
Bonnie. All relatively normal. With a twist. The house can alter its structure
to match the whims of the owner and Bonnie the woman is now Bonnie the man. A
self-declared technophobe, Huw finds this all a little much, and makes his
excuses. All is not lost as he finds a jury duty notice – he has been selected
to join one of the juries that make decisions on new technology sent from
off-world. The solar system is slowly being eaten by the Cloud, a vast array of
tiny machines amalgamated into a vast computer (of sorts) that is the new home
for humanity. And they still like sending spam emails. A pair of kids with
brains modified to Einstein levels of brilliance have built something and it’s
up to Huw and his fellow jurors to decide whether or not it’s legal, in a
courtroom familiar to anyone who has seen any pseudo-courtroom reality
television series. Then things get really strange as Huw finds he has been
infected with a techno-virus – an ambassador from the cloud, which he is chosen
to host due to him being accustomed to pronouncing the rather difficult
glottals of his native Welsh tongue - and is forced to go on the run. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
world Huw moves through is a hyper-extended version of our own; the singularity
may have brought technological advancement bordering on the magical, but people
are still people. Doctorow and Stross take current trends and extend them and
then extend them a little more to hyperbolic extremes in a satirical
examination of our current world. Pop-up ads now appear projected into your
vision and the search for efficient ad-buster software is still as difficult as
ever. Facebook is still around, but only in America where access sees Huw
inundated with several million friend requests within the space of seconds.
After a journey on the required airship (because those are still cool, right?)
Huw lands in America which has become a shoot-first, ask-questions-later, ultra-fundamentalist
country full of xenophobic rednecks who secretly harbour an obsession with
sexual deviance. Oh yes, and you need a tank and an armoured suit to walk
outside as a hyper-colony of ants has taken over the landmass of the USA. There
is a little bit of cultural smugness in the portrayal of the various nations’
futures as only the UK has remained essentially the same, while the Middle East
and America appear more as recidivist caricatures of themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Rapture of the Nerds</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is
incredibly fast-paced; in fact, I’ve never read anything that races along quite
at this speed. Every paragraph contains a new idea, or a weird twist on
something familiar. There is a slight sense of ‘ticking the boxes’ of geek-cool
as they lift ideas from various sources such as familiars from Lauren Beukes’
<i>Zoo City</i>, uplifted gibbons a la David Brin and talking crows (I can’t remember
exactly where this is from, but it felt familiar). The book is full of nods and
references to SF/F staples such as <i>The Matrix, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy, Doctor Who, World of Warcraft</i>, etc. In this it is reminiscent of Ernest
Cline’s <i>Ready Player One</i>, in that half the fun is searching for all these
little mentions. This is a book for a specific audience and plays to that
strength as many things are skimmed over that could have been developed and
explained in great depth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
may be a structural commentary on the way we use technology especially the
internet, in that we consume information very shallowly as we race around from
page to page. This idea that we are misusing, or at the very least under-using,
the power of the internet may be one of the major themes in this book. One of
the sections I found rather telling was near the end (no spoilers): </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“[…] the
unlimited, unconstrained world of imagination, and we build a world of animated
gifs, stupid sight gags, lame van-art avatars, stupid “playful environments,
and brain-dead flame wars augmented by animated emoticons that allowed
participants to express their hackneyed ad-hominems, concern-trollery, and
Godwin’s law violations through the media of cartoon animals and oversized
animated genitals. […] Give humanity a truly unlimited field, and it would fill
it with Happy Meal toys and holographic sport-star, collectible trading card
game art.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due
to the skimming nature of the story, the characters aren’t fully developed,
they are fully secondary to the plot and the ideas the authors wish to explore.
To be honest, too much character development isn’t strictly necessary; Huw is
the generic ‘everyman’ or I should say ‘everyperson’, who experiences his new
world for us, so we don’t need a long history or motivations for every single
thing. However, it is his relationship with Bonnie (who becomes one of the
other main characters) that feels a little flat because of this. The fluid
nature of her gender could have made for some very interesting interactions
between her and Huw as he is still attracted to her despite her briefly being a
man. However, throughout the novel this is never explored as whenever they
interact it is always as man and woman. And due to various noticeable shifts,
this feels like a conscious decision by the authors to back away from this
particular issue. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite
a rather muddled ending, this is a book that sticks with you after you finish.
I found myself mulling over many of the ideas and images thrown around so
haphazardly for some time afterward as it takes some time to process them all.
It is a fun ride and you will often feel like you are just a spectator as these
two authors take you on a wild journey through their version of the fractured
future. I would recommend it to those who like their speculative fiction to be
both familiar and not so serious. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Rapture of The Nerds</span></span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, by Cory Doctorow & Charlie Stross.
£7.99, 12th April 2013, Titan Books.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>About the Reviewer: </i><span style="line-height: 22px;"><i>Craig Leyenaar is completing an MA (Writing) at Warwick University and then will be prostrating himself before the publishing world in hopes of being granted access. His television was taken away at a young age for no good reason, but was soon replaced with books. He has stuck with them ever since and now after twenty years of reading them he finally feels ready to comment. His tastes include everything from China Mieville and M John Harrison to Isaac Asimov and Peter F. Hamilton to David Gemmell and Terry Pratchett to - he better stop there otherwise there won't be room for anything else.</i></span><span style="line-height: 22px;"> </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-2663030944395574002013-05-14T18:08:00.000+01:002013-05-14T19:14:40.612+01:00Interview with Richard Ford<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Richard Ford originally hails from Leeds in the heartland of Yorkshire,
but now resides in the Wiltshire countryside. His debut novel <i>Kultus</i> was
released in 2011. His second novel <i>Herald of the Storm</i> hit
shelves in April 2013 and is available in the UK everywhere.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: Hi Richard – Welcome to
Wilder’s Book Review, and our first ever interview!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: It’s great to be here, Doug.
I’ve not felt this honoured since I won the Swindon and District Ferrero Rocher
eating championships back in 2001.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: First up – give us three
words that best describe your new book.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> RF: Bloody. Bawdy.
Brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Too much alliteration?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: Well I've already read it
and it certainly lives up to those descriptions!</b></span><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But for those that
haven't, can you tell us a little more about your new series <i>Steelhaven</i> and
the first book, <i>Herald of the Storm</i>.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: It’s an epic fantasy
series set entirely within the capital city of Steelhaven and told from
viewpoint of seven disparate characters, from the heir to the throne down to a
struggling street thief. The city itself is under threat of siege as the country
comes under attack from the north, and as things begin to unravel on the
frontline, they’re not going so well back at home either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: What was the idea behind <i>Steelhaven</i> and
your motives for writing it?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: I wanted to do
something quite sweeping and character-driven. I’d also been watching a lot of
quality TV shows like <i>Breaking Bad</i> and <i>Mad Men</i>, which have a lot of characters
but still manage to tell a cohesive story. Rather than just the usual kings-and-knights-and-barbarian
hordes kind of malarkey, I thought I’d focus on the little people too, and show
how they get by while the major players are doing their thing. Most of the main
action – the battles and nation-changing events – happen off-screen, but there’s
still plenty of murder and mayhem back home too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: The city of Steelhaven is
absolutely central to the first novel, and presumably the rest of the series –
what was your main reason for focusing on one city to such a </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>degree?</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: First and foremost it helps
keep the book focused and stops it meandering off. The fantasy quest saga is
getting a bit tired, so there was no way I was going there. I wanted the series
to culminate in a siege, so letting the reader get to know the city as much as
the characters gives them a kind of emotional investment in the place… before I
burn it to the ground!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: So would you say you're
playing around with the tropes a little, taking all the elements of epic
fantasy but minimising the setting and concentrating the focus of the story?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: I've previously blogged a bit
about worldbuilding and my hatred of it <a href="http://keithbrooke.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/guest-post-worldbuilding-whats-not-to-like-by-richard-ford/">here</a>. However, that was before I'd started on the Steelhaven series in earnest. Since
then it's become obvious that an epic fantasy writer who disregards their
worldbuilding is just asking for trouble. Saying that, you're right about
concentrating the focus on story, and in particular character. You can have all
the intricate worldbuilding you want, but if you're characters are two
dimensional and your story lacking any edge, your novel is bound to fail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: <i>Herald of the Storm</i>
appears to focus on what's happening at home on the sidelines while the
big adventures happen "over there" - was this an intentional focus of
yours in writing this book?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: I guess it was. There's an
invading army and the king goes out to face it. In 9 out of 10 epic fantasy
novels this would be the main focus, but I wanted to concentrate on Steelhaven
and its story. Anyone who likes epic battles shouldn't be put off though,
there's plenty of that still to come later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: Will we see more of the
world outside of Steelhaven in future books?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: The first three books
will be set mainly within the city. Beyond that, who knows, but I’d definitely
like to stretch my wings a bit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: You have quite a diverse
set of point-of-view characters in <i>Herald of the Storm</i> - were
each of them planned from the outset, or did they come up organically during
the writing process? Do you plan on expanding the core cast in the future?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: Most of the characters
evolved with their own stories. When I was planning the series it suddenly hit
me that I could probably amalgamate their differing story arcs into one
overarching plot, and they would all cross over at some point. This can be
quite tricky, and I have been known to plot a chapter breakdown in Excel before
now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sequel to <i>Herald
of the Storm</i> will see a new major character introduced but I think
eight core characters are enough for now. Too many POVs can lead to a novel
losing its focus and meandering off on meaningless tangents. I’d like to avoid
that if at all possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: What were your main
influences behind the book? </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: I originally pitched
the series as ‘David Gemmel’s Legend meets HBO’s The Wire’ and I think they’re
the main two. Obviously, as all writers are, I’m influenced by everything I see
and hear in a variety of media, be it novels, TV, comics, film or computer
games. Writers find source material everywhere they look, and I like to steal
things… erm… borrow things wherever I can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: You also have another book
out, published by Solaris, titled <i>Kultus</i>. Can you tell us a little
bit about it? Is this a series you are likely to return to somewhere down the
line?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: <i>Kultus</i> is
an all-action, balls to the wall, adventure novel. A Jason Statham
movie-in-a-novel for steampunk fans, if you will. In particular it was
influenced by several hardboiled characters from 2000 AD, which I was obsessed
with as a kid. It’s my homage to Judge Dredd, Johnny Alpha, Slaine and Rogue
Trooper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d certainly love to write a
sequel – in fact I’d planned it as a series of novels – but at the moment I’m
mainly focused on Steelhaven. Who knows, maybe one day Thaddeus Blaklok will
rear his big ugly head once again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WBR: That's good to hear - I
know of a lot of people who want to see the return of Thaddeus!</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: What’s next for Richard
Ford?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: Book two in the
<i>Steelhaven</i> series approaches completion of its first draft. Then it’s the
never-ending cycle of edits as I tear more hair out trying to make a jumbled
mass of words into a coherent reading experience. Not that I’ve got much hair
left to tear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: Do you have a tentative
release date for the next book as of yet?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RF: We're aiming for a year
between releases, so it'll be around April 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>WBR: Finally, what are you
reading right now?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">RF: I’ve nearly finished <i>The String Diaries</i> by Stephen
Lloyd Jones (which isn’t out yet, but being a fellow Headline author I got an
advanced copy). It’s brilliant too, highly recommended.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WBR: Thanks Richard! </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Herald of the Storm</i> by Richard Ford is <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Herald-Storm-Richard-Ford/dp/1472203925/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368550914&sr=8-1&keywords=herald+of+the+storm">available now</a> and is published by <a href="http://www.headline.co.uk/">Headline</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Kultus</i> by Richard Ford is also <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kultus-Richard-Ford/dp/1907992278/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368551001&sr=1-1&keywords=kultus">available</a> now and is published by <a href="http://www.solarisbooks.com/">Solaris</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can read my review of <i>Herald of the Storm</i> <a href="http://wildersbookreview.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/herald-of-storm-by-richard-ford.html">here</a>. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-66172221387984134412013-05-09T17:35:00.000+01:002013-05-09T17:35:14.590+01:00The Shadow of the Torturer (Part One of The Book of the New Sun) by Gene Wolfe<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Usually, once I finish a novel I have a clear
idea about what it is, and how I feel about it. Not in this case. I’m still not
sure if I like Gene Wolfe’s <i>The Shadow of
the Torturer</i> and maybe that’s because I decided to read it on its own
rather than looking at the tetralogy <i>The
Book of the New Sun</i> as a whole. <i>The</i>
<i>Shadow of the Torturer</i> was published
in 1981 and stood by itself for a year until <i>The</i> <i>Claw of the Conciliator</i>,
so it should stand by itself. Reviewing something labelled a ‘Masterwork’ is
daunting because if you don’t like it, then there’s the feeling that there’s
something wrong with you – that you didn’t ‘get it’ – rather than a problem
with novel. Well, bugger that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Paradoxically, I’ve
found some of the best novels I’ve read are the ones I’ve put down several
times and been drawn back to, forcing myself to get past the twists and turns
of the rabbit hole during those first one hundred pages (strangely, this length
is consistent) and then been drawn in and onwards through to the final page.
I’m still not sure if <i>The Book of the New
Sun</i> falls into this category.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Labelling it a Masterwork must have been
relatively obvious, but classifying it as fantasy must have given some labelling
machine at Orion an apoplexy. It’s set in the future, but hey it’s got swords,
it’s got flying machines, but hey it’s got swords, it’s got advanced technology
indistinguishable from magic, but hey it’s got, no wait, <i>magic</i>? Problem solved. But, this is not the time for genre debates
and they’re all rather boring anyway, so on with the review.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Book of the New Sun</i>
is the story of Severian of the Torturer’s Guild. Severian narrates his life in
the first person when he is (I assume) an old man and has succeeded to the
throne of the Commonwealth to become the Autarch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Adopted into the
Torturers’ Guild in the city of Nessus, he grows up learning the art of
excruciation practiced on ‘clients’. The Guild acts at the Autarch’s command,
not asking questions of why they must ask questions. There is little discussion
about their aims in torturing their clients, at times it seems more like a
place of punishment than a tool for truth-seeking.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JAAPnnkA_tqc_DB1AjN33OKMFCrfuHdl19lFHLJ_snsu5zrOEnBCvs9NuX9qE7bThjvtfuFxL61H8MTgEqAfYAp3dZXVVwxLt6kIItGp3L89JiQaHFSra0hAzFJ-BlOg1APihCg4VZs/s1600/SotT-Big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JAAPnnkA_tqc_DB1AjN33OKMFCrfuHdl19lFHLJ_snsu5zrOEnBCvs9NuX9qE7bThjvtfuFxL61H8MTgEqAfYAp3dZXVVwxLt6kIItGp3L89JiQaHFSra0hAzFJ-BlOg1APihCg4VZs/s320/SotT-Big.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first chapters detail
his early years in the guild and his growing loyalty with the revolutionary,
Vodalus. A one-sided bond established after a chance encounter in a graveyard,
it is never quite clear why Severian feels such admiration for Vodalus. Unsure
of whether he belongs in the guild this fascination leads him into a strange
relationship with one of his clients, a woman named Thecla, who is imprisoned
due to her sister being Vodalus’ lover. I never quite believed in these
emotional ties as Severian is an opaque character due to his own unreliable
narration. This is consistent throughout the book as Wolfe rarely dwells on his
characters’ motivations. They do what they do and that’s it. His act of mercy
in helping Thecla commit suicide rather than continue being tortured sees him
exiled to the distant city of Thrax and, at the same time, he is gifted with
the sword Terminus Est. Alongside these plot points Severian explores the local
area revealing an ancient city that has forgotten its own past except for a few
lonely figures holding a candle up to history. The Citadel is a dark, brooding
edifice filled with sects and guilds, yet strangely empty; more like a museum
than a living city. Wolfe doesn’t dwell on detail yet creates an exceptionally
vivid and realistic setting. My only problem here was that each scene/setting
feels a little like the stage of a movie set, filled with props that hide the
emptiness behind. Each place Severian travels through feels isolated and cut
off like islands in the city-sea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After leaving the
Citadel a series of vignettes (a structure similar to that of Iain M. Banks <i>Consider Pheblas</i>), constructed as
pseudo-parables, describe Severian’s journey from the Citadel of the Torturers
to the borders of the city, Nessus. During his journey through the city,
Severian grapples with uncertainty about whether he did the right thing as he
leaves all that was familiar to him. He finds work as an executioner to earn
money, which further confuses him as he becomes more and more what he thought
he was not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After being challenged
to a duel, Severian, enters the Botanical Gardens where he has several strange
encounters on his path to collecting his weapon for the fight, which is a
poisonous plant called an avern. The Botanical Gardens is a wondrous creation,
with various sections that somehow entrance visitors into not wanting to leave.
It is here that Wolfe makes the setting of the distant future clear through a
exhibit that Severian and his companions become a part of.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The build-up to the
monmachy (single combat) takes around six chapters and the fight itself is over
in a matter of paragraphs. I found it singularly unsatisfying, not because I
wanted an overworked fight scene, but because Severian’s success doesn’t come
from him, but from a <i>deus ex machina </i>immunity
to the avern’s poison.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was not the only
thing I found slightly ‘off’ about <i>The
Shadow of the Torturer</i>. Severian’s relationships with the various female
characters are somewhat unconvincing. Although his age is never explicitly
stated, I placed him in his mid to late teens and despite coming from the
cloistered environs of the guild he still manages to be irresistible to the
women he meets. He often talks of love, yet this never comes across as genuine.
This may be intentional as Severian is narrating his own life and this how he
interprets his memories, but it still jarred.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wolfe is an incredibly
literate writer; he uses language with purpose – you get the impression that
every word is meticulously chosen – and this could be a barrier to some
readers. I found myself reaching for the dictionary every couple of pages. The
only other writer I’ve had to do that with is China Mieville, who counts Wolfe
as one of his influences. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM585PyVT-c8QJPoIAIyKaXm11LMCj3ewdjqYFnyQ481VCFInS5FUQjgyAFMCENxuyDkQW7Tl4Y_Q__irqM9WwuwUw6g2ZM5Cig1t3GQE5QYI4qQS7ACXqqNEl4m9mWf00-wi3GQjpBuw/s1600/botns1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM585PyVT-c8QJPoIAIyKaXm11LMCj3ewdjqYFnyQ481VCFInS5FUQjgyAFMCENxuyDkQW7Tl4Y_Q__irqM9WwuwUw6g2ZM5Cig1t3GQE5QYI4qQS7ACXqqNEl4m9mWf00-wi3GQjpBuw/s320/botns1.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Book of the New Sun</i>
is not an accessible book and whether or not it is worth the work involved is
up to the individual reader. I found myself searching for hidden meaning, but
found it only rarely as I’m sure much of it went straight over my head. In a
little metafictional tongue-twisting, Wolfe (via Severian) cops to his
intentions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“…everything, whatever happens, has three
layers of meaning.”…<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">(I’m
jumping ahead here to the third meaning)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“And the third meaning?” Dorcas asked. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“The third is the transsubstantial meaning.
Since all objects have their ultimate origin in the Pancreator, and all were
set in motion by him, so all must express his will – which is higher reality.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“You’re saying that what we saw was a sign.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>I shook my head. “The book is saying that everything
is a sign.”</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">From what I’ve read from
others more Wolfe-wise than I, he is using the <i>Book of the New Sun</i> as allegorical
vehicle for some proselytising. Now, I’ve got no problem with a little
preaching. Hellfire and brimstone make great fantasy, but there’s still got to
be a story. Now, as I’ve only read the first book, having decided to judge them
individually as that was how they’re published, and not having read the Bible,
I can’t say whether this is true, but if that’s your thing, then this may be
the book for you. In the end, I’m still unsure if I actually like this book.
There is no doubt that it is an important piece of literature, and has
influenced many modern writers, but somehow by its end I felt like I had just
read an academic text rather than a work of fiction. I will be reading onwards
with the next books in the series: <i>The
Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, The Citadel of the Autarch</i>;
and perhaps I will have a far different opinion at the end than I do now. And
that may be a good thing, for anything worthwhile does not come easily or
simply. </span><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">About the Reviewer: </span></i><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><i>Craig Leyenaar is completing an MA (Writing) at Warwick University and then will be prostrating himself before the publishing world in hopes of being granted access. His television was taken away at a young age for no good reason, but was soon replaced with books. He has stuck with them ever since and now after twenty years of reading them he finally feels ready to comment. His tastes include everything from China Mieville and M John Harrison to Isaac Asimov and Peter F. Hamilton to David Gemmell and Terry Pratchett to - he better stop there otherwise there won't be room for anything else.</i></span><span style="line-height: 22px;"> </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-63550673807097905112013-05-02T18:43:00.003+01:002013-05-02T18:43:31.725+01:00The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB80I1Pv8XfVsVHDENpmkRqefJzvxbqwboBzET_Gynxqs8d_Myb14lBmRP3MTHaRiK0TYEZtIp2tf-fPpbpQ0awTXi7HiHag4_i6ibYfDTYOnWBSSIG4TZG97AWGWdnTgtqaMweVzY29g/s1600/Wendig-TheBlueBlazes_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB80I1Pv8XfVsVHDENpmkRqefJzvxbqwboBzET_Gynxqs8d_Myb14lBmRP3MTHaRiK0TYEZtIp2tf-fPpbpQ0awTXi7HiHag4_i6ibYfDTYOnWBSSIG4TZG97AWGWdnTgtqaMweVzY29g/s320/Wendig-TheBlueBlazes_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mookie
Pearl works for the criminal underworld of New York City, dealing in the newest
drug craze that’s come to the streets of the Big Apple: the Blue stuff,
Cerulean, Peacock Powder. It comes straight from the bowels of Hell itself. This
is a New York that lives alongside an opening to the <i>real</i> underworld.
And Mookie works for both. Take a hit of the old peacock powder and you’ll see
what you never saw before – everything that was once hidden in the cracks; the
shadows; behind the eyes of people in the streets. It opens up a whole new side
to the world around you – it opens up The Blue Blazes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chuck
Wendig’s latest is an urban fantasy thriller that uses a setting that’s
completely unique, and offers up a cast of characters who feel like a breath of
fresh air to the genre. It’s almost like Wendig has taken the cast of
Goodfellas and dragged them, kicking and screaming into a fantasy reality of
New York, opened up the playground and let them run loose. The story seems at
its roots to be typical gangland mafia fare, but with the real underworld
alongside the criminal one, and the different “pigments” of hell serving as our
drug-runners delight. The plot concerns Mookie Pearl’s quest to save the dying
mafia leader by hunting out the fabled fifth pigment, Death’s Head: the purple
pigment; the lifegiver. Along the way, Mookie encounters a range of different
mythical beasts and bizarre creatures, as well as seeing whatever The Blue
Blazes show him. But things get complicated (as ever!) when Mookie’s daughter,
Nora, comes into the fray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wendig
has really created a fascinating and original main character in Mookie Pearl.
He’s physically enormous – a real, old fashioned street thug. But underneath is
a quieter, more contemplative individual with some deep regrets about his past
and a driving passion for charcuterie. (Yes – charcuterie.) The side characters
are all very well realised and contribute to the frantic plot in ways which are
continually surprising. But Mookie is the star of this novel, and it’s all the
better for it. Wendig writes in a frenzied third person present tense which
moves rapidly through the plot, and for most of the book Mookie acts as our POV
character, with the occasional change to some of the other major players in the
story. It’s an excellent style that had me gripped from page one and always
dying to read just one more chapter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wendig’s
writing style is quite specific to him – it’s a take-no-shit, balls-to-the-wall
style that fits in with the setting and characters of <i>The Blue Blazes</i> well. Wendig doesn’t pull his punches when it comes
to cursing and gore – and indeed, much of the humour derives straight from his
swear-addled prose and blood-splashed pages. The dialogue is crisp and flows
quickly, with a dark humour which Wendig relishes throughout. It’s a style
which Wendig is well-known for and as my first Chuck Wendig novel, I found it
to be a real breath of fresh air in a subgenre which sometimes feels a little
stuffy and manufactured. But it won’t be for everyone – so beware.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">The Blue Blazes</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"> was one of the most
fun experiences I’ve had in fiction this year and it’s got me chomping at the
bit for more from Mookie Pearl – hell, just more from Chuck Wendig. He shows us
an urban fantasy world which we’ve not really seen before, and manages to
breathe some much-needed life into some tired gangster movie style clichés,
with a distinctive vision of both the real and criminal underworlds. <i>The Blue Blazes</i> shows us Hell in
Technicolor, and each pigment jumps straight off the page in High Definition
Wendig-Vision. It’s brilliant stuff, and I just hope there’s more to come from
Mookie Pearl and the five pigments of the Underworld. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Thanks to </i>Angry Robot <i>for supplying me with an ARC of</i> The Blue Blazes. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-46064283655914383432013-04-16T16:20:00.000+01:002013-04-16T16:24:37.145+01:00Fell, Volume 1: Feral City by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Detective
Richard Fell is transferred over the bridge from the big city to Snowtown, a
feral district whose police investigations department numbers three and a half
people (one detective has no legs). Dumped in this collapsing urban trashzone,
Richard Fell is starting all over again. In a place where nothing seems to make
any sense, Fell clings to the one thing he knows to be true: everybody's hiding
something. Even him.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How to even
begin describing <i>Fell</i> to the uninitiated? It’s equal parts
disturbing, grim, insane, disturbing and horrific. Warren Ellis and Ben
Templesmith together paint a city that screams to be put out of its misery.
Just take Snowtown to the pound and put a bullet in its fucking head. Volatile,
relentless, homicidal, diseased. Anything mean and nasty, Snowtown’s got it. <i>Fell</i>’s
got it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why did I
think this was an incredible, beautiful and joyous read?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m no
expert in comic books. I’ve never been a particular fan of the medium and it’s
only in the last few months that I’ve acquired a feigned interest in catching
up with some of the modern classics that everyone I know keeps banging on
about. More on that to come elsewhere in the coming weeks, but <i>Fell</i> is
the first that I’ve read and actually said to myself: “YOU IDIOT!” - I had no idea comics could do anything like
this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fell</span></span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is absolutely dripping,
rotting, congealing, with atmosphere. Unlike anything I could ever experience
in a novel, <i>Fell</i> literally paints a picture of a decrepit
city, full of deranged criminals, hopeless citizens and mostly insane cops. The
artwork is consistently outstanding. At times minimalist (to the point of
barely drawn sketches) to fully detailed images of a city in decay. The pairing
of Ellis and Templesmith is a genuine wonder to behold – one of those times
when you have to put it down to some sort of (slightly disturbed) divine
intervention that these two met to create such a work of art.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
atmosphere is just one element in this rich tapestry of urban horror. We have
the city, the people, the atmosphere. But it needs something else – something
to make you want to read; to stay in this place. And <i>Fell</i> has it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Fell</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> is absolutely all of those
things I’ve described. It’s disgusting, it’s volatile, it’s diseased. But at
its core is something far more important.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Fell</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> has a heart. A soul.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Richard
Fell we have a weathered cop. The man who has Snowtown thrust upon him like a
plague. Our lens to this place. This is his story as much as it is that of
Snowtown. We follow him through case after case of grinding depravity and
insanity, but Richard never loses his cool. Moving through the various plots of <i>Fell</i> is
a redemptive arc of someone we don’t know needs redemption. But he does.
Richard Fell and Snowtown were built for each other. Only together can they
redeem each other and that makes for a wonderful analogue that deserves to be
experienced from start to finish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s no
overarching storyline in <i>Fell, </i>but that doesn’t matter. It’s
about the people, the place, the man at the centre; the city at the core. As
much as I may hope Ellis and Templesmith continue with another volume, I’m
satisfied in the knowledge that I’ve experienced something which has opened my
eyes to a whole new medium of storytelling. I can’t really ask for much more
than that. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-31196494700198065402013-04-10T16:08:00.004+01:002013-04-10T16:08:37.815+01:00Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD99HKv-DlT-PH-TNmzCCuBxOzVe8ysLnD9AxLm1mY6Bten2gjaQJdiWsaSRaoKdApaftNbGkHJHOQ3BEfXEnUp488fD5zOPgSJlzsCKbhDfpmaN-Ke8VaQMashyphenhyphen7hpA_0cYqBhRVR7j8/s1600/9780575130548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD99HKv-DlT-PH-TNmzCCuBxOzVe8ysLnD9AxLm1mY6Bten2gjaQJdiWsaSRaoKdApaftNbGkHJHOQ3BEfXEnUp488fD5zOPgSJlzsCKbhDfpmaN-Ke8VaQMashyphenhyphen7hpA_0cYqBhRVR7j8/s320/9780575130548.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Investigator Vissarion Lom
has been summoned to the capital in order to catch a terrorist - and ordered to
report directly to the head of the secret police.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A totalitarian state, worn
down by an endless war, must be seen to crush home-grown insurgents with an
iron fist. But Lom discovers Mirgorod to be more corrupted than he imagined: a
murky world of secret police and revolutionaries, cabaret clubs and doomed
artists.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lom has been chosen
because he is an outsider, not involved in the struggle for power within the
party. And because of the sliver of angel stone implanted in his head.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Wolfhound Century</i> is the debut novel by author Peter Higgins. A weird tale of espionage
in an alternate, fantastical Russia – it’s a bit like China Mieville had a
party with John Le Carre. On acid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The book follows Inspector
Vissarion Lom, a small-town police detective who hasn’t done himself any
favours when it comes to self-promotion with his superiors. But out of the blue
for Lom, he’s summoned to the vast capital city of Mirgorod, a sort of
Moscow/St. Petersburg/ New Crobuzon hybrid, to investigate the reappearance of
a suspected terrorist. It is Lom’s ability to ask the right questions and stay
in the dark that is required by the head of police in Mirgorod. So <i>Wolfhound Century</i> goes on to become a
story about spies, artists, revolutionaries, gunfights and death-defying chases
on the cool, wet streets of Mirgorod. So far, so<i> James Bond</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But James Bond doesn’t have
angels, sentient rain and giants. I don’t remember seeing many weird, walking
trees and vast stone golems in <i>Skyfall</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Higgins’ has managed to craft
something truly different. It’s a neo-noir fantasy thriller that is filled to
the brim with ideas and imagery that jumps off the page. His prose is honed to
near perfection. His descriptions and style are so atmospheric that several
scenes in particular are still clearly with me long after finishing the book.
Seriously, the way Higgins describes rain is incredible:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Two kinds of rain fell on Podchornok. There was steppe rain from the
west, sharp and cold, blown a thousand versts across the continental plain in
ragged shreds. And the other kind was forest rain. Forest rain came from the
east in slow, weighty banks of nimbostratus that settled over the town for days
at a time and shed their cargo in warm fat sheets. It fell and fell with dumb
insistence, overbrimming the gutters and outflows and swelling the waters of
the Yannis until it flowed fat and yellow and heavy with mud. In spring the
forest rain was thick with yellow pollen that stuck in your hair and on your
face and lips and had a strange taste. In autumn it smelled of resin and earth.
This, today, this was forest rain.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The plot never lets up, as you might expect from something so easily
compared favorably to John Le Carre – it’s at times exciting, exhausting and
terrifying to read. My only problem with the book was that its ending was so
abrupt. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mean to say there is a cliffhanger – but
rather that it just ends, practically mid-scene. It’s a bizarre choice and in
many ways left me with the feeling that this is only half of one greater novel.
I’m under the assumption that there will be a sequel – otherwise I’d really
have to reassess my feelings on <i>Wolfhound
Century</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So apart from that ending, <i>Wolfhound
Century</i> is an extraordinarily accomplished debut from a real master of
atmosphere. Peter Higgins has managed to create a completely unique fantasy
world with a plot that wouldn’t be out of place in a modern day thriller. But
what sets it apart (except for the angels, golems and sentient rain) is the
sense that really, anything could happen. This is what good genre fiction can
do – it can take the familiar and imbue it with the fantastic, creating
something fresh, original and a real standout novel. Excellent stuff – now
where’s Part Two?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks to Gollancz for
providing me with an advanced review copy of Wolfhound Century</span></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-54876475281586520522013-04-04T21:06:00.001+01:002013-04-04T21:06:38.915+01:00The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqR9p2-8tHvI69-j5ij_9DtvVUs9ai9zOlvRzBgsfesjKAX_zCmqw05RZC_PW9fQv8Yps79v7vZBwrSPYJKfNcIgjMKcZurpjc1TLTfAuPdFfu_cftIREgAzEDeHRjN2Y7YcYhyphenhyphendCur8/s1600/The+Girl+Who+Circumnavigated+Fairyland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqR9p2-8tHvI69-j5ij_9DtvVUs9ai9zOlvRzBgsfesjKAX_zCmqw05RZC_PW9fQv8Yps79v7vZBwrSPYJKfNcIgjMKcZurpjc1TLTfAuPdFfu_cftIREgAzEDeHRjN2Y7YcYhyphenhyphendCur8/s320/The+Girl+Who+Circumnavigated+Fairyland.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Stories
have a way of changing faces. They are unruly things , undisciplined, given to
delinquency and the throwing of erasers. That is why we must close them up in
thick, solid books, so they cannot get out and cause trouble.”<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a beautiful book. It even looks
beautiful, with curlicues and rich colours and dragons (who are not really
dragons) all over the cover. It <i>looks</i>
like the kind of book little fingers will grab hold of and refuse to let go
except to relinquish it to their own children. It is the story of September,
bored in Omaha with her father away at war and her mother working all hours to
build aeroplanes. One night she steps out of the kitchen window into the
embrace of the Green Wind and the Leopard of Small Breezes, and is whisked away
to Fairyland, which has fallen under the thumb of a cruel, bureaucratic
Marquess. There she meets a host of
wonderful creatures to help her on her quest; a lonely golem crafted from soap
who washes her courage, a blue boy who must always submit, and the loveable
A-through-L, a Wyverary (his mother was a wyvern, his father was a Library...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">September is wonderful. She would describe
herself as irascible and ill-tempered, but she is also loyal, courageous and
clever. She misses her home, but more than once she turns down the opportunity
to go back because it would mean leaving her friends in danger. She sacrifices
her dress to make a sail for her ship, and her own shadow to save the life of a
little Pooka girl. She’s not immune to despair, and tantrums, and fatigue, and
she seems very alive, a more empowered Alice, a less-than-perfect Dorothy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“...Ship of her own Making” sails on the back
of a rich tradition of children’s fantasy literature; there are shades of Alice
in Wonderland, of Oz, of “At the Back of the North Wind” and Narnia. One of the
delightful things about this book is its self awareness, which, in the hands of
a less skilled writer, could have come across as arch or knowing. Here, it’s
just a fact:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“There's more than one way between your world and
ours. There's the changeling road, and there's the Ravishing, and there's those
that Stumble through a gap in the hedgerows or a mushroom ring or a tornado or
a wardrobe full of winter coats.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
book is not without its sinister moments, or its gory ones, and the story of the
embittered Marquess is tragic, as Fairyland slips through her fingers and she
tries to keep it by controlling and restraining the very magic that makes it
what it is. Perfect for anyone who has ever danced hopefully widdershins around a
fairy ring, or double-checked the back of an old wardrobe, just in case...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>About the reviewer: Jo, the cake-obsessed chair of Bristolcon, is a reviewer, blogger and fantasy author whose fourth novel, "The Art Of Forgetting" is due out this summer from Kristell Ink. Her blog-ramblings can be found at www.hierath.co.uk, and you can track her down on Twitter too (@hierath77). She often frequents pubs and coffee shops, and she is very amenable to bribery.</em></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05190665398750264492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894220704540515218.post-19462681944459461572013-03-25T19:11:00.000+00:002013-03-25T19:11:02.955+00:00The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>When
out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head,
he naturally assumed he was losing it.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He
wasn’t.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He
now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose
race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now
split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented
Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of
civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the
Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that’s what it takes.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Meanwhile,
Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to
end up well…</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The
Lives of Tao</i> by Wesley Chu is definitely a fun read with a concept that was not
only novel, but also, just frankly, very cool. In addition to that, it is definitely
funny. It is extremely rare for a book to literally make me laugh out loud, but
<i>The Lives of Tao</i> achieved this not just once or twice, but a myriad of times. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The
basis of the book is that an alien space ship crash-landed on our planet way
before people existed. Earth’s atmosphere is too harsh for them, so they must
survive by inhabiting a host body of one of Earth’s native life forms. They
pass from generation to generation of Earth’s creatures transferring from host
to host.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As
one might expect with an ages old group, these aliens have separated into feuding
sects, struggling with issues of power and peace. And our protagonist, Roan
Tan, an overweight software engineer, whose largest adventures previously
consisted of drudging himself to his thankless job on the weekend and getting
fall down drunk by himself while watching other people have fun, is suddenly thrust
in the middle of this ancient alien war. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Roan’s
character was someone I could relate to as a fellow Software Engineer/Java
Programmer. Our introduction to him however, shows he hates his job, and allows
his boss to take advantage of his spineless nature. He will do whatever is
asked to keep his shitty job. That, once again, he hates. But he is likable,
you want him to find a way to come out of his shell and be happy. The humor in
this book does wonders for making you relate to and root for the characters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I
cannot say that this story was without its faults. At times I felt the pace
slowed down, and I will admit to feeling a little nitpicky about some of the
technical details related to his job, but those overall were minor. I also
predicted the ending, but since I think it was the best way for it to end, I
can’t complain about that too much. When sitting back and thinking over this story
after finishing it, I am left with a really entertaining read and a desire to
know more about what happens next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For
a first novel, I think <i>The Lives of Tao</i> was very well done and I will
definitely keep my eye out for the next one. Between the humor and the
originality of the story, I would certainly recommend reading it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The
Lives of Tao will be available April 30, 2013 from Angry Robot Books.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><em style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Oswald; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About the Reviewer: Lisa spends her days programming in Java, living the exciting life of a cubicle ridden software engineer. When not at work, she enjoys her time with her husband and two boys. She spends the rest of her free time playing on multiple indoor soccer teams and of course reading, reading, reading. She is ‘new’ to the fantasy genre, having read her first fantasy book in 2010. After reading more and more fantasy, she is now hooked and can often be found around the internet searching for her next book and adding titles to her ever increasing TBR list.</span></em></span></div>
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