Harry Markov Interviews Liviu and Cindy on his Temple Library Reviews Blog

With Robert in (partial) retirement and declining to participate, we somewhat reluctantly decided to talk a bit about us and FBC a month or so ago when Harry Markov contacted us for his Sunday sff bloggers interviews.

The result is HERE.

David Barnett will publish popCult! With UK small publisher Pendragon Press

Pendragon Press who published our favorite author Mark C. Newton first novel The Reef has acquired a novel from the very promising UK author David Barnett.

Earlier this year the author David Barnett had a Guardian post on: "Science fiction: the genre that dare not speak its name" which was quite well received in the sff online community and we are very happy to announce his new sf novel "popCult!" here.

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More from John Jarrold:

PRESS RELEASE – DAVID BARNETT NOVEL SOLD TO PENDRAGON

John Jarrold has sold limited-edition rights in popCULT!, a novel by UK author David Barnett, to Chris Teague at Welsh publisher Pendragon Press. David is the Assistant Editor of the Bradford Telegraph and Argus newspaper, and has had two earlier novels published by Immanion Press, Hinterland and Angelglass. He also writes regular blogs for the Guardian books website.

popCULT! is a contemporary SF caper in which a struggling writer is drawn into the machinations of a motley group of underground art prankster rebels who harbour a strange and terrible secret beneath the streets of London.

David said, 'popCULT! is one of my favourite works and I'm delighted that a press with the reputation of Pendragon has taken it on.'

'David is both prolific and incredibly inventive,' said John Jarrold. 'I'm expecting great things of him as his career progresses!'

Contact John Jarrold by e-mail: j.jarrold@btinternet.com or phone: 01522 510544 for further details.

3^rd July 2009

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Note from Liviu: I loved Mr. Barnett's Guardian post when it made its way through the online sff community a while ago and of his two earlier novels "Angelglass" looks very interesting for me and I am looking into getting a copy.

News Flash: SF Collection Wins UK's only Short Story Literary Prize

"The Turing Test" by Chris Beckett which is available to order HERE won the 2009 Edge Hill Short Story Prize edging out Country of the Grand by Gerard Donovan (Faber), The Atmospheric Railway by Shena Mackay (Cape), The First Person and Other Stories by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton) and Anne Enright's Yesterday's Weather.

Earlier this year Guardian had a write-up of the Edge Hill shortlist with an emphasis on:

"A little-known science fiction writer is pitted against Booker prize winner Anne Enright in the UK's only literary award for the best short story collection. Chris Beckett's The Turing Test, which features space ships, robots and time travel, is up against Enright's Yesterday's Weather, the follow-up to her Booker-winning novel The Gathering..."

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More details about the winning announcement from The Bookseller Magazine via John Jarrold:

"A science fiction collection from defunct indie publisher Elastic Press has won the 2009 Edge Hill Short Story Prize, beating collections from Faber, Vintage, Cape and Hamish Hamilton.

Elastic Press author Chris Beckett won for his collection The Turing Test. He was presented with £5,000 plus a specially commissioned painting by Liverpool artist Pete Clarke at a ceremony held by Edge Hill University at the Bluecoat Centre in Liverpool on Saturday (4th July). He also picked up the £1,000 Readers' prize.

Anne Enright won the second prize, also worth £1,000, for her collection Yesterday's Weather (Vintage).

Judge James Walton, journalist and chair of BBC Radio 4's "The Write Stuff" said: "I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand.

"Yet, once the judging process started, it soon became clear that The Turing Test was the book that we'd all been impressed by, and enjoyed, the most—and one by one we admitted it."

The Edge Hill Short Story Prize was launched by the university three years ago and is co-sponsored by Blackwell; it is the UK's only award for a short story collection by a single author. This year's shortlist also comprised: Country of the Grand by Gerard Donovan (Faber), The Atmospheric Railway by Shena Mackay (Cape) and The First Person and Other Stories by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton).

Elastic Press closed in November 2008, although it is still selling backlist, it is no longer accepting submissions."

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FBC congratulates Chris Beckett whose recent novel "Marcher" and recent reprint "The Holy Machine" are available now and of course we are extremely delighted to see a sf collection winning a literary prize! And edging out a recent Man Booker winner in the process!

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Later addition from Liviu: Intrigued by this announcement which I found quite extraordinary in its way, I looked into getting a copy of "The Turing Test" and luckily Fictionwise has the multi-format e-book for sale which means instantaneous delivery and indeed from the quick browse after buying the book late at night after a very tiring July 4 it seems to be stunning and well deserved of the prize and it went to my top of my reading list. For a print edition BookDepository offers one at a very good price too with free s&h in many places including US with the link at the beginning of the post.

Fantasy Book Critic breaks 1 Million Pageviews

Sometime last week FBC broke 1 Million page-views according to the site-meter. Robert started the site in March 2007 so it took FBC about 28 months to reach this number.

We also broke 350 reviews with #350 coming from our newest contributor Mihir Wanchoo and we hope to reach 400 reviews in September.

Interviews are less predictable but we hope to reach 65 by the end of the year and of course we hope to keep up with the monthly spotlights and maybe offer a 2010 preview too as Robert offered the 2009 preview last fall.

We are truly grateful that our love of books expressed here resonates with so many readers!


Note: Since there was some discussion on the topic recently, we want to emphasize that all the links we offer (Amazon, BookDepository, publishers...) are done as a courtesy and for the benefit of the readers ONLY and FBC and its contributors do not derive any financial benefit out of them, so for example ordering a book through any of our links does not lead to any financial compensation for us, we are NOT Amazon affiliates... We do not do ads and any banners or book widgets we offer are again at our discretion and for the purposes of showcasing the books we love.

While we receive review copies, many of the books reviewed are bought or otherwise obtained independently (library, friends...) by the contributors - (Liviu's note: ~45% in my case from the records I keep, with an extra ~10% received from the authors directly, and only ~45% publisher review copies) - and we generally request a book for review because we think we would love it, rather than review a book because someone sent it to us.

FBC is a site whose motto could be "Here we love books!!" and while we do negative or so-so reviews, even the occasional "un-reviews", our goal first and foremost is to showcase books someone here loves and luckily there are quite a few such and from quite a wide spectrum genre and style-wise to have lots of original content.

On a final note a very special thank you to Becca for creating our lovely Thank you picture. :)

News Flash: British author Adam Nevill sells two books to Pan Macmillan

PRESS RELEASE – TWO-BOOK DEAL FOR BRITISH HORROR NOVELIST AFTER AUCTION

Julie Crisp of Pan Macmillan in London has concluded a World Rights deal with John Jarrold, for two untitled horror novels by British author Adam L G Nevill, after a hard-fought auction. She set a floor, which she exercised at the end of the auction for a good five-figure sum. The under-bidder was Emma Coode of HarperCollins UK.

'Adam is one of horror's rising stars,' said John Jarrold. 'His first novel, BANQUET FOR THE DAMNED, received great praise. Having now read his next book and the synopsis of his third novel, I can say without doubt that he's going places, and sooner rather than later. Congratulations to Julie – and to all who took part in the auction. The enthusiasm with which this was met really makes me feel positive about horror's re-birth after a period in the doldrums.'

Contact John Jarrold or Julie Crisp for further details.

John Jarrold - e-mail: j.jarrold@btinternet.com phone: 01522 510544

Julie Crisp- e-mail: j.crisp@macmillan.co.uk phone: 020 7014 6000

1^st July 2009

Fantasy Book Critic congratulates Mr. Nevill and we are looking forward to his books.

"Interregnum" by SJA Turney (reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official Simon J. A. Turney Website
Order "Interregnum" HERE(US) and HERE(UK and Overseas)
Read the First Three Chapters from "Interregnum" HERE
Watch the "Interregnum" Trailer (wmv) HERE

INTRODUCTION: Several days ago I found about this very promising new author absolutely by chance and I got hooked on the epic fantasy "Interregnum" excerpt linked above; I immediately asked for a pdf review copy and read the novel after I had finished the then-current read, vaulting it to the top of a huge pile of books containing quite a few well known recent/soon tbp novels. It was this exciting and interesting for me!
A military fantasy novel set in a late Imperial Rome like world and a page turner end to end.

SJA Turney is also the author of the recently released "Marius' Mules" which as the title suggests, is a novel about the Roman Legions of the Late Republic; the novel is based on the early Julius Caesar's Gaul campaigns and I read it last week. While less polished than this one, "Marius' Mules" is an excellent adventure historical fiction with a strong military component and I plan to include it in a July/August feature on "Legions of Rome: Novelizations" alongside the first two installments of James Mace' superb military Soldier of Rome series.

OVERVIEW: "Interregnum" starts 20 years after the death of the last emperor Quintus who went mad, declared himself a God, was imprisoned by the Senate in his palace and died in an escape attempt engineered by his most loyal marshal Kiva Caerdin.

Later, general Caerdin shattered by the death of his Emperor and resting at his estate was caught in the war between the 3 other marshals and when his villa was burned with his wife and son inside, he died looking for vengeance.

At least this is the official story.

Only the political marshal Avitus who later took the name of the Imperial capital as Lord Velutio walked away alive from the big battle but the Empire fell to pieces with the army splintering in local units, lords claiming independence, while Velutio could retain only a stronghold around the capital.

The offhsore island of Isera, home of the Emperor's Palace and hard to reach due to reefs and treacherous currents, became a "jail" for the important politicians of the Empire as Velutio pondered his options.

20 years of fighting led to the rise of 34 year old Sabian a general believed to be on par with the last great Imperial general Caerdin and who became Lord Velutio's army commander despite the mistrust between the two; Sabian thought that only Velutio, unsavory, cruel and all, can reconstitute the Empire while Avitus has never been much of a general despite his rank so he needed a great soldier at his side.

In an obscure corner of the Empire, weary mercenary leader Kiva Tregaron fights one more battle for some losing lordling, while a strange young boy, escaping other mercenary captors asks for help in return for a considerable sum of money.

On Isera, former minister Sarios leader of the exiles has been grooming two young promising boys Darius and Quintilian in the arts of fighting and government.

The novel stands at about 440 pages divided into five parts with multiple POV's, most notably Kiva, Quintilian, Darius and Sabian and quite a few other important characters. There are some maps at the beginning and an epilogue at the end, which adds a "historical" touch to the novel.

ANALYSIS: Interregnum is a very compelling page turner from the opening skirmish in the never ending minor wars between various lords to its epilogue some 440 pages later. I could not put this novel down unless I *really needed* to since I was drawn into its world and wanted to find out what happens.

The novel has a combination of the expected and some twists and turns I did not see, so while I could glimpse where it goes, there were quite a few surprises on the way. The characters are well drawn and believable. It is also a blood and guts novel, brutal at times with quite a lot of fighting, gore, summary killings as well as drawn out crucifixions and as it behooves such, the main characters are men, with only serving maid Sathina who seizes her chance for a better life and helps our heroes, as the one woman featuring somewhat prominently.

While the novel has great narrative flow and the prose is very clear, the one noticeable though minor niggle is the use of anachronisms like "planet" - in reference to the world of the story which implies a subtle cosmological worldview or "genetic" which implies a subtle scientific worldview, and those leaped from the pages to my attention as quite discordant.

The fighting, either hand to hand or long distance with crossbows and throwing knives is very well done, brutal, merciless and with no theatrics, while the characters' combination of honor and expedience is very believable too. There is a lot of intrigue, political maneuvers and all you can expect from the kind of novel "Interregnum" wants to be and succeeds magnificently as it happens.

Of the characters Kiva is the best drawn one, haunted by the past, believing himself cursed by the gods. Sabianus as his "modern" incarnation tries very hard to maintain the balance between honor in the abstract and actually doing honorable things, while the two youngsters Quintilian and Darius start as relatively inexperienced, but that changes quickly in the heat of the events.

One superb touch of the novel is in showcasing the contradiction between wanting to do well and even doing the immediate honorable thing, which may actually have quite unforeseen terrible consequences, and doing the expedient, "practical" and sometimes even brutal and murderous thing for personal gain, but which may lead to peace for the land and a tolerably better life for many.

Can you have both in terrible and dangerous times? Honor and practical results, or doing the "right" thing and doing the "practical" one are exclusive? And who is a hero then?
The straight one whose actions lead to death and misery for many, or the crooked one whose action leads to some improvements in the life of the many? The novel tries to show both options and it succeds to a large extent.

A great debut and excellent military fantasy, highly recommended and a personal favorite.

"The Osiris Ritual" by George Mann (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official George Mann Blog
Order "The Osiris Ritual" HERE(hc) or HERE(slipcase edition)
Read "The Shattered Teacup", a Newbury investigation (pdf) HERE
Read FBC's Review of "The Affinity Bridge" HERE
"The Affinity Bridge" in the US at Tor/Macmillan

INTRODUCTION: “The Affinity Bridge” was a personal favorite of mine in 2008 and the next series installment "The Osiris Ritual" became a highly awaited novel for 2009. In consequence I have been pestering Mr. Mann for a review copy for a while and I was absolutely delighted when a pdf of the book containing the two short stories that will be included in the UK hardcover edition and the extract from the author's new series "The Ghost of Manhattan" appeared in my inbox in early June.

I read the book the same day I received it, putting aside any other book I was reading at the time and my high expectations were fulfilled by a very entertaining page turner that I could not put down until I finished it. After reading the novel, I asked the author to provide us with an overview of the series considering that it will run at least six novels and one collection and you can read George Mann's spoiler free but insightful answer in the note following the review. Taking Mr. Mann's insights into account in my re-read of the novel the following day added an extra layer to my already great enjoyment of "The Osiris Ritual".

OVERVIEW: Welcome to an alternate version of London, year 1902, where airships roam the sky, mechanical cabs are starting to displace the horses and coaches, automatons are starting to replace servants and even pilots, and Queen Victoria is going as strong as ever as a part mechanical, part human ruler in the care of strange Dr. Fabian.

The story of Sir Maurice Newbury as "Sherlock Bond" with an addiction to opium and the arcane and his plucky assistant Veronica Hobbes, her very unusual sister Amelia as well as the assorted cast of strange characters encountered in "The Affinity Bridge" continues and deepens here.

Chief Inspector Sir Charles Bainbridge is also present but like the Queen, he takes a more backstage role in this novel than in the first one, leaving Maurice, Veronica and Amelia as the main POV's

In "The Osiris Ritual" there are three seemingly unrelated threads:

Lord Winthrop a famous Egyptologist has returned from the Middle East with an unusual mummy and intends to unveil it a party for the cream of London society; Sir Maurice and young journalist Purefoy of The Times are in attendance; it is said that the mummy has dark curses laid upon those who will touch it; what will happen to Lord Winthrop?

Veronica is on the trail of a presumed serial killer; girls are disappearing and that is connected with a traveling performer, the stage magician Alfonso.

Maurice gets an express order from the Queen to bring agent Caspian in; formerly undercover in St. Petersburg but returning unauthorized to London, Caspian is a very weird personage as Maurice discovers.

And over this hovers the long shadow of Newbury's predecessor as Queen's expert agent on the occult, one Dr. Knox who seemingly loyal and dedicated to the Empire, had a gruesome agenda; discovered some 5 years ago, he used his arcane knowledge to escape and murder the agent in charge of his arrest and the Queen and Sir Charles fear constantly that Newbury will cross that line too.

The novel stands at about 300 pages and the ending ties the main threads above while clearly segueing into the next installment which is now one of the most awaited novels of 2010 with the promised arc ending and major revelations and twists. In the hardcover edition there will be two short stories featuring Newbury, Sir Charles and Veronica as well as an excerpt from the author new series "The Ghosts of Manhattan" (mobsters and steampunk in NY cca 1925!!)

The first story "What Lies Beneath" takes place immediately after the ending of "The Osiris Ritual" and alludes at its events though it has no direct connection with them, while the second story "The Shattered Teacup" takes place between "The Affinity Bridge" and this novel and is offered free online by Snowbooks both in pdf format and as a special audio rendering.

ANALYSIS: When I started "The Osiris Ritual" I had no clear idea what the book will be about in the big picture sense; will it be a standalone, a direct sequel to "The Affinity Bridge", a second novel in a series? I knew the setup from Affinity which I just loved, I knew it will be some kind of mystery/secret agent investigation with something involving Egyptian mythology and of course I love the writing style of the author, but I had no idea how the series is structured.

I saw hints about the deeper background in the first novel and as The Osiris Ritual progresses I saw more tidbits that imply a deeper structure than a fairly straightforward "Sherlock Bond" type of mystery/adventure in a steampunk setting.

So in a sense "The Osiris Ritual" is a middle novel of a trilogy with the threads building for a powerful climax in "The Immorality Engine", but its main threads are brought to a conclusion too, so it can be read as a standalone.

For the author style which I personally love, the story linked above will showcase it better than any short excerpt and I would urge anyone wanting to give a try to the series to check it out.

None of the characters is "perfect". Maurice has his oppium addiction and the seeds of doubt that start to plague him as he delves more into the secret world of his trade, while Veronica racked by guilt about Amelia's fast decline and impending death and as a sort of atonement for that, throws herself into finding the presumed serial killer and saving the young women that could be his next victims. For both, personal danger is something they almost court recklessly and beyond their call of duty. No "cool, calculating, all knowing" secret agent or detective here, but two very emotional characters and that is a big plus for me adding "life" to the series.

Even the unflappable Sir Charles finds brandy as the only antidote to the bleak, brutal world he inhabits. Only Amelia who starts assuming a more and more central role here is emotionally detached; she still has visions, but her fast and furious decline and imminent death has detached her from her feelings as a way to cope, though of course there is Dr. Fabian and his miracles so who knows, Amelia may have a hope somehow, but at what cost?

We then have three elements: steampunk alt-London cca 1902, the mysteries from the threads mentioned in the Overview and the characters themselves whose inner struggles occupy the central stage more and more. Does it mesh well?

The first volume was first and foremost a book of the superb universe imagined by Mr. Mann, with both characters and action important but not the main attraction for me at least. Here though Maurice and Veronica, with Amelia to a lesser extent take clear center stage and it worked very well for me.

Just great stuff and highly, highly recommended!


Note: Graciously answering my query for more information, George Mann told me the following (reproduced with the author's permission):

George Mann:

"The stories and the extract (from The Ghosts of Manhattan) will be in the limited UK hardcover edition only - the paperback due out in September will just be The Osiris Ritual on its own. I don't know for sure yet, but I imagine the US edition will also just be the novel itself.

I have a rough plan for 6 novels so far, but there are also novellas and short stories exploring different characters and different aspects of the world, and the series could run for a good while if people want more. I have plenty of material!

The first three books form the first arc. There are themes running throughout the first two books that are all teased out in book three. So the seeds for everything have been planted, and I'm hoping that readers will see things in a different light as everything comes to a head in THE IMMORALITY ENGINE.

The format of the books, of course, is to have a 'standalone' mystery - or a new case - each book, but the real arcs are the character arcs and the overall stories that make them who they are. So whilst they can be read as standalone mysteries, there's really two three book arcs, with major themes and a few underlying story arcs.

Then there's going to be a short story collection in the UK, featuring a prequel novella about the death of Newbury's previous assistant, Templeton Black, as well as a Newbury & Hobbes novella set between Affinity and Osiris, and a whole bunch of other short stories too.

Then book four kicks off a second arc of three books. Something *major* happens in book four and that has serious repercussions through books five and six as the characters come to terms with what has happened. It changes the dynamic and introduces new blood. "

Spotlight on July 2009 Books

This month Robert Thompson provided most of the book titles with additions by Cindy Hannikman, Liviu Suciu and Mihir Wanchoo. We are featuring 40 books.

Since we have quite a few books and we want to keep the post manageable and easily navigable, so people do not give up halfway through the list, we are doing just covers, titles, links, but no blurbs. Click on any link and you will find more information about the book or the author(s).

The release dates are US unless marked otherwise and the books are first edition unless noted differently. The dates are on a best known basis so they are not guaranteed; same about the edition information.

“The Osiris Ritual” by George Mann. UK Release Date: July 1, 2009

“Wireless” by Charles Stross. UK Release Date: July 2, 2009.

"The Motley Man” by Daniel Duguay. UK Release Date: July 3, 2009.

"The Dwarves" by Markus Heitz Release Date: July 3, 2009.

“Lord of Silence” by Mark Chadbourn. UK Release Date: July 6, 2009.

“By Heresies Distressed” by David Weber. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

“Eye of the Storm” by John Ringo. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

"The Shimmer" by David Morrell. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

"Eyes Like Stars" by Lisa Mantchev Release Date: July 7, 2009.

“Winter Duty” by E.E. Knight. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

“Zadayi Red” by Caleb Fox. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

“Libyrinth” by Pearl North. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

“Wildfire” by Sarah Micklem. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

“Desolate Angel” by Chaz McGee. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

“The Affinity Bridge” by George Mann. Release Date: July 7, 2009 (US 1st)


"The Purifying Fire" by Laura Resnick
“The Unscratchables” by Cornelius Kane. Release Date: July 7, 2009.

“Lobster Johnson: Satan Factory” by Thomas E. Sniegoski. Release Date: July 8, 2009

“Oceanic” by Greg Egan. UK Release Date: July 16, 2009. (UK reprint)

“Avilion” by Robert Holdstock. UK Release Date: July 16, 2009.

“The Cold Kiss of Death” by Suzanne McLeod. UK Release Date: July 16, 2009.

“Destroyer of Worlds” by Mark Chadbourn. UK Release Date: July 16, 2009.

“The Price of Spring” by Daniel Abraham. Release Date: July 21, 2009.

“The Gods of Amyrantha” by Jennifer Fallon. Release Date: July 21, 2009. (US/UK 1st)

“The Stars Blue Yonder” by Sandra McDonald. Release Date: July 21, 2009.

“Sandman Slim” by Richard Kadrey. Release Date: July 21, 2009.

“The Calling” by David Mack. Release Date: July 21, 2009.

“Dead and Alive” by Dean Koontz. Release Date: July 28, 2009.

“Always Forever” by Mark Chadbourn. Release Date: July 28, 2009.

“The Light of Burning Shadows” by Chris Evans. Release Date: July 28, 2009.

“Shadow Magic” by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett. Release Date: July 28, 2009.

“Snakeskin Road” by James Braziel. Release Date: July 28, 2009.

“Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia. Release Date: July 28, 2009.

“Dark Time” by Dakota Banks. Release Date: July 28, 2009.

“Demon Inside” by Stacia Kane. Release Date: July 28, 2009.

"Age of Ra" by James Lovegrove Release Date: July 28, 2009.

"The Thorn Queen" by Richelle Mead Release Date: July 28, 2009.

“Metatropolis” ed. by John Scalzi. Release Date: July 30, 2009.

“Purple & Black” by K.J. Parker. Release Date: July 30, 2009.

“The Ebb Tide” by James P. Blaylock. Release Date: July 31, 2009.

Dragonseed: A Novel of the Dragon Age by James Maxey (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)

Visit James Maxey's Prophet and the Dragon Blog Here
Order Dragonseed Here (Us) or Here (UK)
Read FBC's review of Bitterwood Here

In 2007 when James Maxey's Bitterwood was published something grabbed my attention from the beginning. There are plenty of books about dragons out there, but Maxey takes the concept of dragons to the next level. Never before had I read a first chapter that intrigued me as much as Bitterwood did. These dragons weren't kind dragons walking around helping the world, instead they were evil creatures who enslaved humans and oppressed the human race. Two years later, the third book of the Dragon Age series, Dragonseed is being released and it's just as intriguing as the first book of the series.

Dragonseed picks up a few days after Dragonforge left off. The humans have overthrown the dragons and are in control of Dragonforge. They plan on making a stand until every last dragon is killed in the land. Ragnar continues to spread the word of the Lord throughout Dragonforge causing many new tensions and conflicts. Word is finally making way to slaves throughout the land of the humans victory, in a hope to squash this hope the dragons have decided to attack Dragonforge. Burke has worked long hours figuring out how to turn the gunpowder into useful weapons against the dragons. This discovery may have just evened the playing field between humans and dragons, or it might have tipped the scale in favor of the humans.

Meanwhile, Jandra, a young woman who recently lost her genie (a scientific device from the Athenians that uses scientific technology to do many wonderful things), finds herself being pulled to look for not only her genie but that of the defeated goddess Jazz. She undertakes this journey with many familiar faces, Bitterwood, Zeeky and the pig Poocher, and Burke along with some not so familiar faces: Shay, an escaped slave, and Anza. Janda firmly believes that by finding the genie she can change the world for the better.

With a couple of new characters introduced and even a couple of unexpected characters returning, Dragonseed is another great chapter in the Dragon Age series.

Dragonseed was a much anticipated third installment to the Dragon Age series. James Maxey certainly kept up to those expectations and even brought a new level to his books by bringing a new look to the many characters in his series.

While many of the previous books held an element of sword and sorcery, Dragonseed seems to branch away slightly from the non stop action and focus a lot more on characterization. Readers get a different view into many of the previous characters that were introduced. There is a deeper understanding as to who Anza is, and what might be going on in Bitterwood's mind. A lot of light is shed upon the mystery that cloaked a lot of the characters. This is definitely a step up from the previous novels by Maxey where the characters weren't the main focus and there felt a slight detachment from them.

Another element that is very well done is that of the combination of science and fantasy. While many previous books have tried combining the two elements and failed, Dragonseed has a natural flow to it. The science at times can be a little complex but is described in a way that makes understanding it easy. There is nothing far out there that makes readers wonder if this was even possible. Instead, every science or technology based idea appears to be natural to the environment that Maxey has created.

In an ideal world, I would have enjoyed a little bit more fighting between the dragons and humans. Considering all of the royal dragon family has been killed off, I would have loved to see the humans go wild with the fights to dragon. This wouldn't have gone along with the plot of Dragonseed as it is clear that with the death of the king, humans have settled into a distinct pattern of avoiding any conflict with the dragons. The bulk of the book is focusing on healing in the aftermath of the previous fighting and battles, and also on developing a lot of the characters so having to many fights might have been overkill.

As with the previous novels, Dragonseed can be read regardless of if you are a follower of the Dragon Age series or not. While it's recommended to read the first two novels first, a reader could pick up the book and there is just enough explained about the background information that you won't be lost. This is a great think if you haven't read the previous books in a few years.

As Solaris (the publisher for Maxey's Dragon Age series), is for sale there is a sense that if this series were to end with this book readers would have enough closure to the series. There are plenty of other story lines that can be continued and a few questions that can be explored more in other books, but if this were not the case it would be a nice way to end the book. Again this goes along with the idea that each book stands alone and has a beginning and an end with no major cliff hangers (while DragonForge does end with a slight cliff hanger, it still is very complete).

In the end, Maxey lived up to my expectations in Dragonseed. I loved the fact that readers get to learn more about the characters that they have spent 2 books learning about and even grow closer to these characters. There are definitely a number of twists and turns in Dragonseed that bring an element of surprise and action to the book. While Bitterwood brought readers into a unique world of a dragon dominated earth, Dragonseed brings a lot of closer to the many questions asked in the first book. It's a great closure to a series if it needs to be the end of the Dragon Age series. Hopefully Maxey will choose to continue on the series regardless of the hardships the publishing world is facing, and if he doesn't branch out on his current series, it would be a treat to see him branch out into another completely different series.

"The New Space Opera 2" ed. by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Order "The New Space Opera 2" HERE(US) and HERE(UK and Overseas)
Official Jonathan Strahan Website
Gardner Dozois at Wikipedia

INTRODUCTION: I like reading original sff anthologies, whether themed or not, and now is a great time for them with such titles being published like the Solaris SF/F line, Pyr’s Fast Forward books, Night Shade’s Eclipse volumes, and the indie Hadley Rille Ruins novels as well as numerous themed “standalone” books from DAW books and others.

However since New Space Opera is unquestionably my favorite sff sub-genre the two anthologies last year that stood out were Galactic Empires (ed. G. Dozois) and The New Space Opera (ed. G. Dozois and J. Strahan).

So when "The New Space Opera 2" anthology was announced it became an asap book and I have to say that it surpassed my already very high expectations with 14 stories that worked superbly out of the total 19.

ANALYSIS: As I found out from the introduction, New Space Opera has become such a popular sub-genre that the two editors managed to populate this book with 19 different authors from the 18 of the first installment. So no PH Hamilton, A. Reynolds, P. McAuley, S. Baxter, WJ Williams, D. Simmons, R. Reed and T. Daniel here which are some of my big-time favorite authors associated with it.

Talk about not doing your homework when looking for a book, but this announcement surprised me and made me a bit apprehensive since the missing names highlighted above are some of my most favorite authors.

However from the first superb RC Wilson story to the extraordinary and possibly - hard to say with so many superb ones - #1 story of the volume at the end JC Wright' s triumphant return to the "Golden Age" universe of his mind-boggling debut series in "The Far End of History", I truly enjoyed the anthology and I think it was even better than the first in some respects.

If there is one small niggle is that I would have alternated the easier, more humorous pieces a bit different against the darker, more emotional ones, but I read the anthology mostly in jumps rather than sequentially in story order, so that did not matter very much.


"Introduction" by the editors:

“Utriusque Cosmi”, Robert Charles Wilson

(LS) *****

Excellent story in the superb RC Wilson style so familiar from his many novels and stories; as usual both mind-boggling sense of wonder - it starts with our universe shelved as a book that is read only and it goes beyond that - combined with a great character in young (and much, much older) Carlotta and her adventures.

“The Island”, Peter Watts

(LS) *****

In this one Peter Watts is at his uncompromising view of life as a hard Darwinian struggle and not a wishy-wish fairy tale so loved by me in his famous Rifters series and later in the remarkable standalone novel Blindsight. Humanity sends sub-light ships to build wormholes for ftl to be possible; a deep time mission with safeguards to insure its imperative survives for billions of years, we follow one of the original crew who retained her humanity in the face of billions of years objective, though a regular lifetime subjective, her shipboard "son" and the AI in charge as they encounter something quite unusual. A great twist at the end just adds to the enjoyment.

“Events Preceding the Helvetican Renaissance”, John Kessel

(LS) ****

"Brother" Adlan and Lieutenant Nahid of the Republican Guard fight the Caslonian Empire in Helvetica space; however much more is at stake than a simple rebellion. A very interesting tale of adventure, belief or lack thereof and sense of wonder; the one downside is the author style which does not quite match my tastes. If you like Mr. Kessel's fiction you will enjoy this a lot.

“To Go Boldly”, Cory Doctorow

(LS) unrated

Sadly my literary tastes and Cory Doctorow' style are very divergent so I cannot rate this one; I fast browsed it and it seems to be a Trekkish parody but I cannot say more, it just does not hang together for me to truly make sense of it.

“The Lost Princess Man”, John Barnes

(LS) *****+

This is one is both big time fun and has some deep undertones; In a huge galactic polity with quadrillions of humans and roughly several hundred of thousand princesses, con-man Aurigar plays the "lost princess con" only too well, bringing attention from mighty aristocrat Lord Leader Cetusa who wants to play the same game at another level.

I just kept laughing out loud throughout the story though towards the ending it became darker and quite serious. Excellent and a big time highlight showing how effective short stories are for a tale that I am pretty sure will not work that well at novel length.

“Defect”, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

(LS) *****

This story is not quite a space opera one but a dark sf adventure which succeeds very well mostly due to its atmosphere. A secret agent wants to quit and meet with her husband and son and offer them the chance to go with her and have new lives. But her last mission is haunting her and the cruise star-ship on which the two men vacation is savaged by a killer, only Misha the son being allowed to survive wounded in order to send a message.

“To Raise A Mutiny Betwixt Yourselves”, Jay Lake

(LS) ****

In a post-empire humanity ftl travel needs strange paired-minds. There was something that did not quite mesh well for me in an otherwise interesting set-up, but overall a good story.

“Shell Game”, Neal Asher

(LS) *****

Aliens who are built like mollusks with shells in the spiral Galaxy pattern believe that are on a mission from God to impose Its will. Meeting the Polity Line they cause some moderate mayhem as Polity wars go, until their expeditionary fleet is crushed. The Polity shrugs but the survivors from said mayhem want revenge. Neal Asher delivers his trademark ultra-high octane sf adventure with the usual not-so veiled attacks against superstition and obscurantism.

“Punctuality”, Garth Nix

(LS) unrated

Another author with a very divergent style from my tastes; this one is short but again seems written in a foreign language and I could not make any sense of it; something with spaceships

“Inevitable”, Sean Williams

(LS) *****

This is almost a 5 star plus story about the paradoxes of time travel and much more. The Interstellar Guild is building a human empire spanning thousands of worlds but the strange transcendental Structure which allows instantaneous travel within its thousands of light years span would be a big help if understood and tamed. However its inhabitants have different ideas and there is much more to them than meets the eye.

“Join The Navy and See the Worlds”, Bruce Sterling

(LS) unrated

Same comment as with all unrated stories; unfair for me to rate them since they are so far from my taste that I cannot truly make any sense of them; this one is about a Solar System ride by a millionaire from what I glimpsed, but I may be wildly wrong.

“Fearless Space Pirates of the Outer Rings”, Bill Willingham

(LS) *****

First time story for me from the author; it is again part pastiche, part serious. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I am quite interested in other offerings by the author. Danny Wells is the XO of the Merry Prankster raiding ship of the Outer Rings Confederacy and he is the only raider of the Confederacy belonging to a second rate race far in the boondocks of the Galaxy. Danny takes a bet from his Captain about whose Prize Crew will capture first an Oerlian merchant. The back story unfolds nicely showing among other things how having an old car that breaks down on you in the middle of nowhere can lead to riches and glory in the Galaxy(!) and the ending is just great but it would not do to spoil it. Big time fun!!

“From the Heart”, John Meaney

(LS) *****

Pilots, mu-space and Carl Blackstone. Another triumphant return to the setting of an older favored series, this time the Nulapeiron universe of John Meaney. The story features the distinctive author style and if you love it make sure you check the original trilogy starting with the superb Paradox.

“Chameleons”, Elizabeth Moon

(LS) *****

Another sf adventure rather than space opera proper and very successful too; former low-level mafia boy escapes poverty on his native "backwoods" Novice Station and becomes a highly paid trusted bodyguard of a VIP; assigned to accompany the early teens boys of the VIP on a trip, he has to stop over at Novice for a ship-change despite emphasizing to his employer who knows about his past, the utter inadvisability of that; when the connecting star ship is days late, boys will be boys so they cannot be contained in the luxurious transit hotel and they want to visit Novice. No need to say what will ensue, but a great story with twists, turns and great fun.

“The Tenth Muse”, Tad Williams

(LS) **** 1/2

A story of an interstellar ship, a cabin boy that truly looks like a 10 year old despite being 43 and a linguist who may hold the key to the ship survival when fearsome aliens appear. A very good story overall, I found the style a bit flattish for me.

“Cracklegrackle”, Justina Robson

(LS) *****

Another return to a space operatic favored universe of mine, this time the Forged, human based creatures gen-engineered for all kinds of environments including the cold vacuum of space. The Unity, Hyperion Greenjack, talking gryphons and more wonders populate this story which should lead the appreciating reader to Natural History and the rest of Ms. Robson tales set in this wonderful universe.

“The Tale of the Wicked”, John Scalzi

(LS) * 1/2

I almost "unrated" this one too, but Mr. Scalzi sometimes writes SF on my taste (Old Man's War, Ghost Brigades, various short stories) so I felt qualified to comment this time; the story never clicked for me. A warship preparing to engage in an hostile pursuit may be sabotaged or at least that is what I got from it, but I really could not make too much sense.

“Catastrophe Baker and a Canticle for Leibowitz”, Mike Resnick

(LS) **** 1/2

Fun parody of the famous sf novel title; Catastrophe Baker is a full-time freelance hero with a weakness for mysterious women and he cannot resist when Voluptua von Climax asks for help to recover the stolen canticle of producer Saul Leibowitz; I guess this synopsis says enough about the story, but it's pure fun to read and chuckle. Though the over-dramatic acts are less successful at eliciting laughter than the subtler humor of The Lost Princess Man or the Space Pirates tale above.

“The Far End of History”, John C. Wright

(LS) *****+

This is just awesome, especially if you are a big time fan (like me) of the author's Golden Age debut trilogy. Here there are encounters with Atkins, the Lords of the Silent Oecumene and much more, but the opening line:

"Once there was a world who loved a forest-girl"

should hook you; the back-story is explained well enough so no need for reading the Golden Age novels before to enjoy this story, but everyone who loves it should try those superb novels. I really hope Mr. Wright will get back to the Oecumene milieu and write more novels about it!!

Overlooked Masterpiece of Dark Fantasy: "Monument" by Ian Graham (Reviewed by Robert Thompson)

Official Ian Graham Website
Order "Monument" HERE

Browsing around the internet one day, I came across a fantasy novel I had never heard of before: Ian Graham’s “Monument”.

Originally released in 2002/2004 (UK/US), “Monument” is the self-contained tale of Anhaga Ballas, a vagrant who, through a series of unfortunate events, finds himself the most wanted man in all of Druine and condemned to death by the Church.

Left with few options, Ballas embarks on a quest to find Belthirran, a mythical land free of the Church’s grasp . . . a land that could offer Ballas sanctuary...

Plot-wise, the book is fairly straightforward throughout with the main character Ballas basically moving from point A to point B, but what the story lacks in complexity is more than compensated for by superb pacing and constant unpredictable twists, especially a few major revelations towards the end.

Aside from the impressive plotting/pacing, the prose is dynamic, the characters convincingly rendered, the dialogue a major strength, and the world-building—though shallow compared to most epic fantasy—is intriguing, most notably the Pilgrim’s Church and the magical race of the Lectivin. In fact, the book as a whole is so well-written that it’s hard to imagine that “Monument” is just a debut.

But what I loved most about the novel was Ballas. Not just a vagrant, Ballas is also a drunkard, incredibly ugly, and willing to do anything immoral—lying, cheating, stealing, killing—as long as it benefits him. In short, Ballas is the ultimate ‘anti-hero’, and one of the most loathsome characters I’ve ever read in a book. . . but also one of the most compelling.

Overall, Ian Graham’s “Monument” is a fantasy novel that captures the grit, darkness and trope-bending of Joe Abercrombie, Richard K. Morgan’s “The Steel Remains”, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy and David Keck, but executed much better. An instant favorite...

2009 Locus Award Winners

From Locus Magazine website:

Winners of the 2009 Locus Awards were announced at a ceremony and banquet June 27, 2009 in Seattle WA during the Science Fiction Awards Weekend.

Science Fiction Novel: Anathem, Neal Stephenson (Atlantic UK, Morrow)
(FBC Review HERE; Liviu's top 2008 SF)

Fantasy Novel: Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt

First Novel: Singularity's Ring, Paul Melko (Tor)
(FBC Review HERE)

Young-Adult Book: The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins, Bloomsbury)
(FBC Review HERE and HERE)

Novella: "Pretty Monsters", Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters)

Novelette: "Pump Six", Paolo Bacigalupi (Pump Six and Other Stories)

Short Story: "Exhalation", Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
(FBC Review HERE)

Anthology: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin's)

Collection: Pump Six and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books)

Non-Fiction/Art Book: P. Craig Russell, Coraline: The Graphic Novel, Neil Gaiman, adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell (HarperCollins)

Editor: Ellen Datlow

Artist: Michael Whelan

Magazine: F&SF

Publisher: Tor

The Fantasy Book Critic team congratulates the winners!