Posts Tagged ‘fantasy’
Hugo Awards: The Short Stories
Posted on: June 16, 2013
So. I’m eligible to nominate and vote in the Hugo Awards this year. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the Hugos are basically the Oscars of the Scifi/fantasy community. it is a very. big. deal.
The nominating process was really fun. But now it’s time to look at everything in the voting packet and read as much of it as I possibly can. And it’s. . . intimidating. I’m slowly making my way through the “big” categories, short story, novelette, novella, novel, even Campbell award. I count myself very lucky that I’ve already read a few of the novels, two of the Campbell award nominees, and a two of the novellas. VERY LUCKY. Even with a head start, will I be able to get through everything I’d like to read by the end of July?
Let’s find out.
my voting plans will stay a secret, but as I get through categories, I’ll publish my thoughts, link to earlier reviews, and we can generally discuss.
There’s two really good reasons I’m doing short stories first. Actually, three really good reasons:
they’re all available online for you to read for free
they’re all pretty short
there’s only three of them
And the nominees are:
Immersion, by Aliette de Bodard
Mantis Wives, by Kij Johnson
Mono no Aware, Ken Liu
and here’s what I thought of them:
Clockwork Phoenix 4, Edited by Mike Allen
Available July 2013
where I got it: received review copy from the editor (thanks Mike!!)
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What kind of stories will you find in Clockwork Phoenix 4? Only those are that are magical, imaginative, heartwrenching, just plain bizarre, forward-looking, backward-looking, biological, romantic, hopeful, darkly funny and openly frightening. All the words that describe the best speculative fiction you’ve ever read apply. In fact, if this isn’t the epitome of speculative fiction, I don’t know what is.
Mike recently did an interview with me over at BSBB, and I asked him about the job of an editor. Among other things, he described it as being similar to being the director of a play. Did you recently see a play or a movie that was more than the sum of its parts? How about a musical that was only 2 hours long, but seemed to have weeks of song in it? That’s what Clockwork Phoenix feels like, like time has been frozen, allowing Allen to cram far more beautiful strange things than the laws of physics should permit in less than 300 pages. Allen is a dude who really, really knows how to direct.
I used to always read anthologies in the order the stories were presented. I started liking anthologies much better after I decided I’d read the stories in any damn order I wanted (usually starting with the shortest). I know Mike Allen put these stories in this particular order, for a particular reason, and by reading them out of order it’s like I’m going through his carefully curated museum backwards. To be even more contrary, the order I’ve reviewed a handful of stories in isn’t the order they were presented in either.
I’ve not read much from most of the authors in this collection, so I greatly appreciated the “Pinions” section in the back, where each other offers a short bio, and more importantly a little snippet about how their story came to be. It was very nice to read that Corrine Duyvis is an arachnophobe.
Here are my thoughts on a handful of selected entries. This is just the smallest taste of what awaits you within these pages. Where available, click on the author’s name to visit their website.
The Old Woman With No Teeth by Patricia Russo – The Old Woman has hired someone to transcribe her story, but since he keeps getting things wrong she interrupts and tells him what he aught to be writing down. Their interaction is hilarious, but her story starts out sadly. The Old Woman is very lonely, and wants a family. She goes into the city to find orphans who might want to be adopted, and instead finds another population that is in more dire need of being wanted. It’s a little jarring how the story goes from a fantasy-feel to a matter-of-fact feel, but in the end it all works out.
Beach Bum and the Drowned Girl by Richard Parks – what happens when two story cliches meet each other? Beach Bum is the mysterious guy the female protagonist always meets in the story, maybe to fall in love with, maybe to learn something from, maybe to be hurt by, maybe just to watch. Drowned Girl is the dead girl the investigator always finds, the mystery to be solved, the child to be saved. And who knows? Maybe Beach Bum and Drowned Girl can help each other out and learn from each other. It couldn’t hurt to chat with another cliché, could it?
TBR Topple!
Posted on: May 19, 2013
Thanks to Dark Cargo for starting the TBR Topple campaign. This is where you look at your teetering stack of books you’ve been meaning to read, and instead of buying more books (for therapeutic reasons, of course), you take a handful of books from your TBR pile, read the first chapter or two just to get a taste, and see which ones taste good enough to keep reading. And the ones that don’t do it for ya? Get ‘em outta the TBR and regret nothing!
Other great folks involved in TBR Topple include Lynn’s Book Blog and Over the Effing Rainbow. Maybe we can all help each other out.
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Here’s what I got:
Some of the books mentioned below I’ve already cracked open to see what tasty morsels abide within, others I, umm…. haven’t. But I will! I hope!
From the library:
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, recommended by My Bookish Ways, it’s magical realism/urban fantasy. Kinda Charles deLint-esque?
Mastering Communication at Work – yes, this is something I’m reading for work. You know how must business books are drier than dust and make you want to die of boredom? This one isn’t. It’s readable, interesting, has a bunch of exercises to do. I’ve read the first 2 chapters and flipped through the rest. I wish I’d read this 10 years ago. A bit heavy to read all in one go, but I may need to buy a copy of this.
The Diviner, by Melanie Rawn
Posted on: May 8, 2013
The Diviner, by Melanie Rawn
published in 2011
where I got it: purchased new
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Whatever you expect this book to be, or to be about, it isn’t. The blurb on the back is fairly useless, making it sound like an action packed revenge story with some magic. I’ll give it that, it is a revenge story, and there is some magic. But at the core, The Diviner is the story of a family who was nearly destroyed, and instead, irrevocably changed the world.
Long review short, Melanie Rawn’s The Diviner is so full of awesome that I don’t even know where to start talking about it. Complex and sprawling, subtle yet epic, The Diviner offers stunning world building, an elegant magic system, and characters who I swear I just spent an endless summer with. Doesn’t hurt that Rawn’s writing style is poetic yet purposeful, layered like sheer silks that shift and billow in the breeze, offering momentary glimpses of a larger pattern.
The Diviner is all about the details – details that support other details, that are required to make something else work, yet like a cathedral or a fractal, the complexities blend into the background at first blush. There’s so much I want to touch on, that trying to review this book is like trying to review Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind. It would be so much easier if this review could just consist of “you have to read this book!” over and over again until I reach 800 words.
Spanning four generations, the pacing of The Diviner is very fast, but the point of the book requires that time pass quickly. When months or years pass between chapters, we’re often given a passage written by a chronicler who has documented what happened. The chroniclers are just one more subtle architectural detail, it’s easy to see they each have their own style but were trained in the same school. This method of showing the passage of time may not work for all readers, but I found it refreshing and enjoyable.
Even more new stuff
Posted on: May 4, 2013
I don’t think I can afford to buy any more books until the end of the summer! Also, reviews have been light recently because I’m up to my eyeballs in epic The Diviner, by Melanie Rawn. ignore it’s hokey cover art, and go read this right now because it is amazing. Review will show up eventually, I’ve got to finish it first!
but, there’s New Stuff!
A Stranger in Olondria was recommended to me by my friend at the bookseller. The debut novel from Sofia Samatar from Small Beer Press, it never hurts to support new authors and small presses. the cover art? eh, bleh.
River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay – after a long discussion with the other half last night about how Kay’s writing has evolved over the years, we decided that even though neither of us were in love with Under Heaven, we should give the pseudo-sequel, River of Stars a try.
New to me stuff! (because I can’t resist a used bookstore!)
Yes, I know the Doctor Who novelizations are kinda hokey. BUT I DON”T CARE I LOVE THEM!
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding – I remember hearing a ton about this when it came out, time to give it a shot.
Kushiel’s Dart by Jaqueline Carey. When 99% of the blogging world is saying this book is a must read, who am I to pass on it?
The Spirit Thief, by Rachel Aaron
Posted on: April 30, 2013
The Spirit Thief, by Rachel Aaron
published in 2010
where I got it: the library
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The entire internet has been afire about Rachel Aaron’s Eli Monpress series for a while now, and it’s no secret I’ve a major weakness for thieves in fantasy environments, so how could I resist a story about the greatest thief ever? The first volume wasn’t exactly what I expected, but surprises are always a good thing, right?
The infamous thief (and wizard!) Eli Monpress is certainly the focus of the story, but we learn about the world through Spiritualist Miranda Lyonette. She’s been sent to the Kingdom of Mellinor to keep Eli from stealing an important artifact. Lucky for us, she’s rather unsuccessful in her mission, otherwise this would be a very short and rather un-fun book.
Upon her arrival at Mellinor, Miranda finds that Eli has completely ignored the artifact and has instead kidnapped King Henrith and is holding him for ransom. Out of the woodwork steps the King’s brother, Prince Renaud, who claims the throne for himself and convinces everyone that Miranda is secretly working for Eli and against the kingdom. As Miranda unravels what’s going on, she’ll have to choose which is more important: following the rules, or doing the right thing.
Miranda is a court-trained Spiritualist, which means she’s made binding agreements with the spirits she works with. She offers them physical protection and a portion of her own energy, and in turn she can use their magic upon request. It’s a very formal agreement, and she’d never think of using a spirit against its will, or hurting it in any way. Wizards who go against their training, who take advantage of the strength of spirits, are known as enslavers, and should be destroyed at all costs.
Eli’s relationship with spirits is completely different. He doesn’t offer protective contracts with them, but he doesn’t force them to do anything either. He just talks to them, almost as if they were just other people he was having a conversation with. He’s certainly not a spiritualist, nor is he an enslaver. The Spirit Court isn’t sure what to make of him. And that’s just one reason why there’s a huge bounty on his head. Eli Monpress, the man who steals everything that’s not nailed down, and when he wants something that’s nailed down, he convinces the nails to give him a hand.
Interview with Seth MacGregor
Posted on: April 24, 2013
- In: characters | interviews
- 4 Comments
The other day I got to interview Gillian Philip, author of one of my favorite new novels, Firebrand. I got talking on twitter with Seth MacGregor (the main character of Firebrand), and managed to convince him to answer a few interview questions too. He claims Gillian doesn’t let him have any fun, but he has got a weakness for twitter, Joss Whedon TV shows, modern conveniences, and finding trouble.
If you’re already a fan of Firebrand, go harass Seth on twitter. If not, learn what all the fuss is about by reading my interview with Gillian Philip, or my reaction to the book.
Gillian never lets you do anything fun? I find that hard to believe. I also find it hard to believe she could stop you, if you really wanted to do something. I’ve never interviewed someone like you before. be gentle with me. 
Hi Andrea! Oh, Gillian’s such a control freak. At least she’d like to be, and she thinks she has a say in anything I do. Ha. Given what she puts me through, I think I deserve a bit of fun. And thank you for interviewing me. She-Who-Would-Like-To-Be-Obeyed has tried to make me promise I won’t flirt, but hey, I have given no oath, and all that.
Unlike many other Sithe, you can actually physically feel the veil, you can pull it and pinch it, hold it between your fingers. What does it feel like? you wouldn’t um, do anything to harm it, would you?
I’m absolutely not supposed to be able to do that, so this is between you and me, okay? I mean, the Sithe don’t burn witches, and they have a healthy respect for them, but… they tend not to be all that fond of them. So anyway, yes, I can feel the veil. It’s kind of… elusive. Sometimes it feels like very, very fine silk; sometimes it’s so fragile it’s more like mist. Or like mist would be if you could touch it, if that makes sense. It isn’t visible.
And no, I wouldn’t harm it even if I could. It’s too valuable as a defense. I am tempted to tweak it a little, just occasionally; like, say, if a gorgeous full-mortal blogger is asking me questions and I want to hold her attention.
But I can’t damage it, or tear it. There’s no-one on earth who can do that, even if the blasted thing is dying all by itself.
Can you tell me more about your water-horse? the first time you met it (her? him?) was one of my favorite scenes in Firebrand.
Ah, thank you! That is one of my favourite memories, I’ve got to say. I think I fell in love with that kelpie before I’d even seen it. It’s pretty hard to master a water-horse; once you get on one you can’t get off, and they’ll only answer to the right bridle and the right mind, so I was kind of proud I didn’t get killed.
My blue roan isn’t exactly Champion the Wonder Horse; if he found a kid in trouble he’d probably eat it instead of going for help. He’s voracious and he’s violent – great in a fight – and he can be fickle. He’s not as obedient as Conal’s horse, and I wouldn’t trust him with puppies or small children. But he’s loyal to the death and I love him.
Some of you may remember a few weeks ago when a book called Firebrand blew my mind, gave me a band-aid, then blew my mind again. I’ve pretty much been twitter-stalking Gillian Philip ever since, harassing her friends, following people who follow her, and generally being a pest. I was such a pain in the rear that Gillian agreed to let me interview her and ask all sorts of personal questions about her writing habits, her favorite foods, other projects she’s involved in. Even better, she let me interview a very close, um, friend of hers. That interview will be posted a little later this week, and trust me, you’ll like it.
Since I can’t even coherently talk about Ms. Philip or Firebrand without turning into a blathering fool, here’s some official bio type stuff:
Gillian Philip was born in Glasgow, lived for twelve years in Barbados, and now lives in the north of Scotland with her husband, twin children, three dogs, two sociopathic cats, a slayer hamster, three chickens and a lot of nervous fish. She’s the author of The Darke Academy series (writing as Gabriella Poole), the Survivors series, (as part of the Erin Hunter writing team), a long list of children’s and young adult stand alone novels, and the Rebel Angels dark fantasy series. She’s been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend award, the Carnegie Medal, and been shortlisted for numerous other book awards.
Learn more at her website her twitter, and her facebook page.
Let’s get right to the interview!
Was there something that triggered you to write the Rebel Angels series? How did you develop the characters of Seth and Conal?
There were all kinds of triggers for this one. I always wanted to write a fantasy set in Scotland, and the faery myths seemed a good place to start (because believe it or not, when I started writing Rebel Angels, there were hardly any books about modern fae… so you can tell how long ago I started it…) The landscape where I live is just brimming with stories, and I’d get ideas practically every time I went for a walk. The very first spark came at a small but sinister loch, where I threw in a couple of teenagers and watched them vanish. (But only in my head, honest.) That was how lochs became my watergates between the worlds.
There are lots of places in the Highlands named after the Gaelic Sith – Schiehallion, Glenshee and so on – but I didn’t want to use the term Sith because of the Star Wars connotations. I compromised on Sithe, because they aren’t the Irish Sidhe (though they are related. I’d like to see one of those family get-togethers).
Seth and Conal kind of grew, organically. Seth started out as a villain, but he grabbed hold of the story (and my throat) and wouldn’t let go. And brothers have been fascinating since Cain and Abel, so there were so many games to play with them.
Our supernatural characters in Firebrand are violent fae, certainly not angels in the traditional sense. Why is it called the Rebel Angels series?
That came from a Highland myth that really appeals to me. The story (which varies from region to region) goes that when the Rebel Angels were thrown out of Heaven, the ones that fell in the sea became selkies, or seal people. The ones that got caught in the sky became the Northern Lights. And the ones that reached land became the faeries.
The opening scene of Firebrand is quite the hook. Did you always plan to open the book that way? (you can read an excerpt of Firebrand, which just happens to be that opening scene, here)
I did. Originally, that scene was all there was. I’d actually written Bloodstone first, before Firebrand, and Conal had made a throwaway remark – the way characters sometimes do – about something that had happened to him centuries before. I found I wanted to know more, so I started scribbling the backstory in a notebook. At first it was just that scene between Seth and Conal; before I knew where I was, I had pages and pages of notes. When it reached about five chapters, I gave in and wrote the whole novel.
Scourge of the Betrayer, by Jeff Salyards
published in 2012
where I got it: received review copy via the author (Thanks Jeff!)
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I read plenty of fantasy, but not much in the way of military fantasy, so Scourge of the Betrayer was more than a few steps outside of my comfort zone. Young Arkamondos (he goes by Arki) is a trained scribe. Used to living in the city and recording the daily activities of bored merchants, Arki thinks he wants a more interesting gig. The Emperor has decreed that travelling bands of Syldoon Warriors must have a scribe, and our story begins when Arki finds himself hired by Captain Braylar Killcoin.
The rest of the troop make it no secret they don’t want Arki around, that they think he’s a worthless city boy, and a liability to their missions. The only member of the group who shows Arki any friendship is Lloi, a fingerless hedge-witch. She’s an outcast of her tribe, so she knows exactly what it’s like to be seen as an outsider. Braylar might not come right out and say it, but he desperately needs someone to observe and witness what happens, just not for the reasons the Emperor thinks.
For a skinny little book, Scourge of the Betrayer touches on a ton of cool worldbuilding ideas. Soul devouring weapons, the Godveil, Memory witches, Salyards has built himself a well populated playground to play in for future books in this series. For this volume, he’s kept the worldbuilding very light, perhaps as a tease for the reader, and perhaps simply as a requirement of an action heavy novel that’s less than 300 pages long.
I was about out of my comfort zone as Arki was out of his. The members of Braylar’s troop are very, very good at what they do. Highly trained, they know how to take orders with out question, set up weapons and ambushes, and generally kick tons of ass. Arki mentions on more than one occasion that it would take him years to learn all this. No wonder they see him as a liability. Even if he manages not get himself killed in an ambush, if he asks too many questions or connects too many dots, that might get him killed quicker. Braylar has found reason to kill more than one scribe these last few years – they observe too much, they ask too many questions.
Firebrand, by Gillian Philip
Posted on: April 8, 2013
Firebrand, by Gillian Philip
published February of 2013
where I got it: received review copy from the publisher (thanks Tor!)
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I wanted to write a formal review of Firebrand. I tried to. Really, I did. But nothing I typed was conveying anything I wanted to say. Thus, this post is more emotional reaction than formal-ish review. Shit happens.
I’m having a tough time coming up with words to describe Firebrand. Words like wonderful and amazing and stunning just aren’t going to do it this time. What’s the word for the taste of a late summer heirloom tomato warmed by the sun? What’s the word for that feeling in your chest when listening to a beautiful piece of music, and the groundedness of the cello and tympani reverberates right through you and reminds you who you are? That word for wanting to trap perfect moments forever in amber, so you can watch the sunlight get caught in them? Those. those are the words I need for Firebrand. The last book that made me feel this way was The Name of The Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. I felt like I was waking up.
Philip effortlessly reached into the recesses of my mind, found the story I most wanted to hear, and then she put it on paper. I was addicted in the first few pages, and the book only got better. Everything you think a fantasy about fae creatures is, everything you expect, throw all of that out the window, right now. Firebrand is something new.
Instead of prattling on and on about the plot, I’m going to tell you the most important thing, and the thing that bound me instantly to Firebrand: Seth MacGregor idolizes his older half-brother Conal. The first time we meet Seth, he’s readying himself to murder his brother.
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