The Leaning Pile of Books
Aug
19
2012

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I talk about books I got over the last week – old or new, bought or received for review. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.

This week one finished copy and two ARCs showed up in the mail. One of these is the finished copy of a book I already discussed when I got an ARC so I’m not going to include it again. If you are interested in reading more about this book, Black Bottle by Anthony Huso, you can do so here. (I have updated this post to include the excerpt now that it’s close enough to the book’s release date that there is one available.)

The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman

The Rise of Ransom City (Half-Made World #2) by Felix Gilman

This sequel to The Half-Made World will be released in hardcover and ebook in November. There doesn’t seem to be an excerpt from this upcoming novel yet, which isn’t surprising since it won’t be released for a little while. If you are new to these books, you can read an excerpt from The Half-Made World on Tor.com, though.

I have not yet read The Half-Made World, but seeing this reminded me that I have a copy of it and that maybe I should read it. It’s supposed to be excellent, and I have been wanting to read one of Felix Gilman’s books for awhile now since I’ve also heard good things about Thunderer by him.

This is the story Harry Ransom. If you know his name it’s most likely as the inventor of the Ransom Process, a stroke of genius that changed the world.

Or you may have read about how he lost the battle of Jasper City, or won it, depending on where you stand in matters of politics.

Friends called him Hal or Harry, or by one of a half-dozen aliases, of which he had more than any honest man should. He often went by Professor Harry Ransom, and though he never had anything you might call a formal education, he definitely earned it.

If you’re reading this in the future, Ransom City must be a great and glittering metropolis by now, with a big bronze statue of Harry Ransom in a park somewhere. You might be standing on its sidewalk and not wonder in the least of how it grew to its current glory. Well, here is its story, full of adventure and intrigue. And it all starts with the day that old Harry Ransom crossed paths with Liv Alverhyusen and John Creedmoor, two fugitives running from the Line, amidst a war with no end.

Tomorrow the Killing by Daniel Polansky

Tomorrow the Killing (Low Town #2) by Daniel Polansky

Tomorrow the Killing is the sequel to Daniel Polansky’s debut, titled Low Town in the US and The Straight Razor Cure in the UK. The book I received is an ARC of the UK edition of this upcoming book, and I can’t find a US release date for it. It will be released in the UK in hardcover and ebook on October 11. It seems to be too early for an excerpt, but you can read one from Low Town or The Straight Razor Cure. (I have no idea if they are actually different or not but figured I’d link to both the US and UK excerpts.)

This week’s post seems to have a theme of sequels to books I’ve been meaning to read since Low Town is another one I’ve been meaning to pick up and haven’t yet.

Once he was a hero of the Great War, and then a member of the dreaded Black House. Now he is the criminal linchpin of Low Town.

His name is Warden.

He thought he had left the war behind him, but a summons from up above brings the past sharply, uncomfortably, back into focus. General Montgomery’s daughter is missing somewhere in Low Town, searching for clues about her brother’s murder. The General wants her found, before the stinking streets can lay claim to her, too.

Dark, violent, and shot through with corruption, TOMORROW, THE KILLING is a fantastic successor to one of the most heralded fantasy debuts of recent times.

Guest Post by Rowena Cory Daniells and Besieged Giveaway
Aug
13
2012

Rowena Cory Daniells, author of the best selling King Rolen’s Kin trilogy, lets us see what goes on inside writers’ heads.

Outcast Chronicles Banner

I’ll let you into a secret…

What really goes on in writers’ heads

I saw a TedTalk recently about introverts. The speaker, Susan Cain, admitted to being shy which was funny, because there she was talking to an audience, being filmed for distribution. But what she had to say was important to her and it struck a chord with me.

Around one in three people are introverts to some degree or another. The quiet ones make the talkative types uneasy. Extroverts are always urging introverts to speak up, join in and go to parties as if their reticence is something that needs to be cured. Susan Cain made a good case for quiet contemplation.

Someone has to stand back and observe, then hold a mirror to the world through the medium of books, film, art etc so that we can see ourselves more clearly. And writers, who by their very nature, love being shut away in a room with a keyboard and the world of their imagination, would have to be some of the most introverted of introverts.

Yet, writers are supposed to promote their books. ‘Off you go,’ the publisher says, ‘be scintillating and entertaining’. No wonder writers struggle.

‘You want me to talk about my book? But that’s why I wrote the book, so I could talk about things via my characters and my world.’ Writers would much rather let the book speak for itself.

Writers would much rather be in the background listening to readers talk about their books.

I like to sit on trains and listen in to conversations. Not in a weird way. People talk and I happen to hear. The other week two teenage boys were doing the conversational equivalent of strutting. One was still in school and was boasting about a fight he’d been involved in. The other one had dropped out of school and was making X dollars a week and very proud of himself. His job? Chasing chickens. Did you know you can hold four chickens in each hand, hanging them upside down by their legs? His friend was impressed.

It’s all part of observing the world and trying to make sense of it. This is what writers are doing and all the while, their stories are simmering away in the background.

You might see us mowing the yard or peeling the potatoes — it’s not like I get to take long walks on the beach, my life is pretty ordinary — but what goes on in my head is not. Because while I’m pushing the mower back and forth across the yard I might be battling aliens on a space station, or down a dark alley dicing with vampires or galloping across a misty moor looking for dragon eggs.

Often I’ll be angsting over a character’s dilemma as I sift through a plot problem.

That’s why writers need quiet time. If you charge straight at a plot hole, it’ll trip you. You need to come at it side-ways and then the solution will percolate up from your subconscious. All this goes on and before you know it, when the time is right, you’ll feel the urge to write.

That’s when the relatives will visit, or the kids will come down with the ‘flu.

That’s when I think fondly of monasteries, where they take a vow of silence and food is slipped under the door twice a day. To be left alone to write, what a luxury.

It’s the dissonance between the empty page and the full head. There’s a story trying to get out. I just have to find the best way to tackle it. Sometimes I’ll write thirty pages, before I hit my stride. I’ve been writing The Outcast Chronicles for ten years now. The characters feel like old friends. Old friends who I put into terrible situations to see how they react. Did it make for an engrossing story? This is what A Fantastical Librarian had to say: ‘In Besieged Daniells has created a rich and complex world and used it as the stage for an engrossing story. So engrossing in fact, that at one point I found myself emerging from the story only to find that I’d lost several hours.’ (review)

We couldn’t write like that if the world and characters weren’t vividly real to us. So that’s what goes on in writers’ heads when it looks like they are staring off into space. That’s why writers are the most introverted of introverts.

And here is what goes on in other people’s heads. Photographer, Simon Hogsberg, went around stopping people on the street and asking them what they were thinking about the moment before he stopped them. He recorded what they said and took their photograph. It’s fascinating. (See here).

The Outcast Chronicles by Rowena Cory Daniells

Rowena has a copy of Besieged, book one of The Outcast Chronicles, to give-away to one lucky commenter. (Open world-wide).

Give-away question: Do you have a favourite spot where you like to curl up and read, or can you lose yourself in a book anywhere?

Rowena’s Blog

Catch up with Rowena on Twitter: @rcdaniells

Catch up with Rowena on GoodReads

About Besieged:
Sorne, the estranged son of a King on the verge of madness, is being raised as a weapon to wield against the mystical Wyrds. Half a continent away, his father is planning to lay siege to the Celestial City, the home of the T’En, whose wyrd blood the mundane population have come to despise. Within the City, Imoshen, the only mystic to be raised by men, is desperately trying to hold her people together. A generations long feud between the men of the Brotherhoods and the women of the sacred Sisterhoods is about to come to a head.

With war without and war within, can an entire race survive the hatred of a nation?

Rowena Cory Daniells, the creator of the bestselling Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, brings you a stunning new fantasy epic, steeped in magic and forged in war.

Giveaway Deadline
If you are interested in winning a copy of Besieged, leave a comment answering the giveaway question above by the end of the day (EST) on Thursday, August 23. Good luck!

The Leaning Pile of Books
Aug
12
2012

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I talk about books I got over the last week – old or new, bought or received for review. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.

This week two review copies of books coming out later this month showed up.

Blades of Winter by G. T. Almasi

Blades of Winter (Shadowstorm #1) by G. T. Almasi

This is both a debut and the start to a new series. It will be released in paperback and ebook on August 28, and it will be followed by Hammer of Angels next spring. An excerpt from Blades of Winter is available on the publisher’s website.

I’ve seen this one mentioned a few times and was curious about it so I was happy to find it inside the package that showed up in the mail. It sounds like a fast-paced novel and it does start with the action in the very first line:

 

Nothing pisses me off more than being shot at while I’m eating.

It sounds like a lot of fun:

In one of the most exciting debuts in years, G. T. Almasi has fused the intricate cat-and-mouse games of a John le Carré novel with the brash style of comic book superheroes to create a kick-ass alternate history that reimagines the Cold War as a clash of spies with biological, chemical, and technological enhancements.

Nineteen-year-old Alix Nico, a self-described “million-dollar murder machine,” is a rising star in ExOps, a covert-action agency that aggressively shields the United States from its three great enemies: the Soviet Union, Greater Germany, and the Nationalist Republic of China. Rather than risk another all-out war, the four superpowers have poured their resources into creating superspies known as Levels.

Alix is one of the hottest young American Levels. That’s no surprise: Her dad was America’s top Level before he was captured and killed eight years ago. But when an impulsive decision explodes—literally—in her face, Alix uncovers a conspiracy that pushes her to her limits and could upset the global balance of power forever.

Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks

Wards of Faerie (The Dark Legacy of Shannara #1) by Terry Brooks

This first book in a new Shannara trilogy will be available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook on August 21.  An excerpt from Wards of Faerie is available on the publisher’s website.

The next two books in the trilogy are both scheduled for release next year: The Bloodfire Quest in March and Witch Wraith in August.

There are lots of Shannara books so if you are someone like myself who has no idea where to start you may find the reading order guide on the author’s website useful. This page does state that most of the trilogies can stand alone so the guides are intended to help readers avoid spoiling themselves or get the most they can out of the books.

For information on the Wards of Faerie tour and the locations Terry Brooks will be visiting, visit this page. If he’s not coming to a city near you, there will be signed copies of the book available on The Signed Page. (This is a great site. I keep an eye on it and have gotten signed copies of books from it before. Right now I’m trying not to drool over Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey, which will also be available there.)

Seven years after the conclusion of the High Druid of Shannara trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks at last revisits one of the most popular eras in the legendary epic fantasy series that has spellbound readers for more than three decades.

When the world was young, and its name was Faerie, the power of magic ruled—and the Elfstones warded the race of Elves and their lands, keeping evil at bay. But when an Elven girl fell hopelessly in love with a Darkling boy of the Void, he carried away more than her heart.

Thousands of years later, tumultuous times are upon the world now known as the Four Lands. Users of magic are in conflict with proponents of science. Elves have distanced their society from the other races. The dwindling Druid order and its teachings are threatened with extinction. A sinister politician has used treachery and murder to rise as prime minister of the mighty Federation. Meanwhile, poring through a long-forgotten diary, the young Druid Aphenglow Elessedil has stumbled upon the secret account of an Elven girl’s heartbreak and the shocking truth about the vanished Elfstones. But never has a little knowledge been so very dangerous—as Aphenglow quickly learns when she’s set upon by assassins.

Yet there can be no turning back from the road to which fate has steered her. For whoever captures the Elfstones and their untold powers will surely hold the advantage in the devastating clash to come. But Aphenglow and her allies—Druids, Elves, and humans alike—remember the monstrous history of the Demon War, and they know that the Four Lands will never survive another reign of darkness. But whether they themselves can survive the attempt to stem that tide is another question entirely.

Review of Banner of the Damned by Sherwood Smith
Aug
09
2012
Banner of the Damned
by Sherwood Smith
695pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 8/10
Amazon Rating: 3.9/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.25/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.83/5
 

Banner of the Damned is a recent fantasy novel in the Sartorias-deles world by Sherwood Smith. While Sherwood Smith has also written middle grade and young adult novels set in this same world, this is an adult novel set in the historical era. It is set approximately 400 years after the Inda books comprised of Inda, The Fox, The King’s Shield, and Treason’s Shore. Despite its relation to these books, it can be read as a stand alone, although I suspect I would have gotten more out of it had I read the Inda books first (which I do now want to read because I really enjoyed Banner of the Damned!).

Banner of the Damned is both an epic fantasy story and the written confession of Emras, a scribe who broke the first two of the three core rules of her profession:

 

First Rule: Do not interfere.

Second Rule: Keep The Peace.

Third Rule: Tell the truth as we see it. [pp. 3]

The entire novel is her defense testimony, which details her life, the events leading up to her failure to keep the scribe’s rules, and the reasons for what she did. It begins with an important day when she is fourteen years old. As a punishment, Emras was removed from the rest of the children in training to be scribes and sent to work in the kitchens. On this particular morning, she was awakened in order to join the other scribes for testing. Later that day, she learns the scribes are beginning to consider the best student to one day become personal scribe to Lasva, the beloved princess of Colend.

Emras applies herself to her studies and is eventually chosen to work for Princess Lasva, who requested a scribe close to her own age. This allows her to see Lasva’s trials and tribulations firsthand and eventually brings her to Marloven Hesea, a country of warriors possibly plagued by dark magic – where she makes the choices that lead to her imprisonment.

Sherwood Smith’s books have been on my radar for awhile, but I was never quite sure where to start. When Kate Elliott was talking about how much she loved Banner of the Damned on Twitter, I decided to start with that one. Since it is my first book by Sherwood Smith, I can’t say if it’s the best place to start or not, but I can say that it has made me more eager to read her other books. I enjoyed it immensely and think it is one of the better books I have read so far this year.

It came as no surprise to me to learn the author has been writing about the Sartorias-deles setting for a long time given the richly detailed world in this novel. It’s not flashy fantasy with magic bursting everywhere and swordfights breaking out every 20 pages (although there is magic, especially in the second half and a little bit of fighting!). It’s more mature fantasy with a world-building focus on cultures – both how people interact with each other in the context of their own cultural constraints and how they interact with those with other cultural values. The first half of the book is mainly focused on Colend, the country Emras and Lasva reside in. Colend is a very peaceful nation characterized by civility and subtlety. The people add nuances to their communication through gestures and body language, and their conversations tend to be very polite on the surface even if there are barbs underneath. This nation is shaken up by the king of Chwahir, who was treated unkindly by the people of Colend with one exception – Princess Lasva, who is kind and attentive toward all. When he decides he must have Lasva for his own, it shatters the peace they are accustomed to and introduces change into their way of life. A third country, Marloven Hesea, also plays an important role in the story and its people also share different values and attitudes than those in Colend.

While there are fleshed out, vividly real cultures in this novel, it is also about the lives of its characters – from their everyday activities to the importance one person can have on the fate of many. Emras documents everything from her scribe training and placement as scribe to the princess to the people in court to the bigger events that took place. It demonstrates the domino effect events can have since many different occurrences put her in the position that lead to her imprisonment, particularly as related to actions taken by others and how they influenced Lasva’s eventual path.

The characters themselves had me feeling a bit conflicted at first since I thought they had an uneven ratio of good to bad qualities. For instance, Lasva is exceptionally beautiful and kind, and Carola is vain, arrogant, and selfish with no good quality I could see. Yet they did work for me, and this was because they each had different characteristics and qualities so none of them were “good” or “bad” in the same way, making them seem more like the average person who leans toward one side of that spectrum. They also had experiences that fleshed them out. In addition to her epic beauty and kindness, Lasva still had unpleasant memories and grief in her life, and the way she reacts to situations gives her enough humanity to keep her from being obnoxious or completely unbelievable. As a young woman, Lasva could also be naive so she was not perfect despite her innate goodness and she was a character I could empathize with. She and Prince Ivandred both managed to make an emotional impact on me.

However, the one drawback was that Emras did not manage to have that effect on me despite being the narrator and the character whose viewpoint we see most intimately. That’s not necessarily a bad thing since it is completely in keeping with the character of Emras and her scribe nature. Despite the personal nature of her account, she is a trained observer who keeps her distance and not someone overly emotional. That’s not to say she doesn’t have feeling or empathy since she certainly was upset when shunned by her cousin or when Lasva was unhappy. She is very practical and logical, though, and this does carry over into her voice in a way that kept me from being truly worried about Emras despite knowing something terrible must have happened to her from the very first page.

There were a lot of slower parts in this novel since it took a long time to get to that main conflict, but I was never bored by it because I was interested in what happened to the characters. Once I got about 200 pages from the end, I couldn’t put the book down because I had to know how it ended. (In some ways, this was unfortunate since part of the reason I read this massive book was to give myself a chance to get caught up on reviews. I thought I was going to make it, but I ended up deciding my need to find out how it ended was greater than my need to be caught up and finished it sooner than expected.)

Banner of the Damned is one of my favorite books read this year. Though not lacking conflict, it is a novel that has many quieter moments but comes together beautifully in the end to show the greater impact a few people and a series of events can have. The cultures were wonderfully developed and so were the major characters, who each had their own distinct attributes and roles in the imprisonment of Emras – and her writing of her testimony. Highly recommended for fans of thoughtfully written fantasy stories with complexity beneath the surface.

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: I bought it.

Read an Excerpt

The Leaning Pile of Books
Aug
05
2012

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I talk about books I got over the last week – old or new, bought or received for review. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.

This week I bought a couple of books since I had to get one of my must-read books of this year. Three finished copies and two ARCs (early not-yet-quite-finished copies) showed up in the mail.

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels #5.5) by Ilona Andrews

This is set in the world of Kate Daniels but it’s not a book with Kate as the main character even though it does include a novella about her entitled “Magic Gifts.” This particular book is about her best friend, Andrea, and is supposed to take place between Kate Daniels #5 (Magic Slays) and Kate Daniels #6 (forthcoming next year). Gunmetal Magic was just released this past week and is available in mass market paperback, ebook, and audiobook. An excerpt from Gunmetal Magic is available.

Kate Daniels is my very favorite urban fantasy series. Magic Strikes (#3) is my favorite urban fantasy book of all time with Magic Bleeds (#4) close behind it. These books just have everything – action, character development, a great sense of humor, mythology, and this amazing mystery around the main character that goes deeper as the series continues. While I am a tad disappointed not to be continuing Kate’s story, I’ve been hearing Andrea’s book is very good as well and am very much looking forward to reading it.

The novels in the Kate Daniels series are:

  1. Magic Bites (Read Excerpt)
  2. Magic Burns (Read Excerpt)
  3. Magic Strikes (Read Excerpt)
  4. Magic Bleeds (Read Excerpt)
  5. Magic Slays (Read Excerpt)

This is a series that gets better as it goes along, and I was told that I had to get to book 3 to really appreciate it. This turned out to be true since it was really book 3 that turned me into a rabid fangirl fan of this series.

Some people have everything figured out — Andrea Nash is not one of those people. After being kicked out of the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. All she can do is try to put herself back together, something made easier by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend, Kate Daniels.

When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano — the male alpha of Clan Bouda and Andrea’s former lover — die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate … and must work with Raphael. As her search for the killer leads her into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta, Andrea knows that dealing with her feelings for Raphael might have to take a backseat to saving the world …

The Secrets of Jin-Shei by Alma Alexander

The Secrets of Jin-shei by Alma Alexander

This was my other purchase made when I ordered Gunmetal Magic. It sounds like the type of character-driven fantasy I like to read and it is on sale on Amazon right now.

The Secrets of Jin-shei is available in paperback and ebook. The only working excerpt I could find was the one on Amazon.

Updated to add: There is a sequel, The Embers of Heaven.

Enter an ancient world of courtly elegance and intrigue, where sages are also sorcerers, and the daughter of a lowly seamstress can become a companion to an empress. In this magical land there is a secret language — a language that women have passed down from mother to daughter for countless generations — a language that signals a bond like no other… the bond of jin-shei.

Set in a mythical Chinese kingdom, The Secrets of Jin-shei is a timeless story of what sustains friendship — and what tears it apart. Accepting all the joys and responsibilities of jin-shei, eight girls pledge lifelong loyalty to each other: the poet, Tai, whose promise to a dying girl changes the history of an empire; the warrior, Xaforn, an orphan who will protect her chosen family no matter what the cost; Khailin, the scholar, whose thirst for knowledge leads her into a world of dark secrets and alchemy; sage Nhia, the only person with the power to save Khailin; Tammary, the gypsy girl, whose secret lineage could ruin a royal house; Qiaan, daughter of a captain in the Imperial Guard, with family secrets of her own; the healer, Yuet, confidante to the empress; and the empress herself, Liudan, whose search for family and ultimate quest for immortality holds the power to destroy them all.

Summer and Bird by Katherine Catmull

Summer and Bird by Katherine Catmull

This middle grade novel will be available in October (ebook and hardcover). An excerpt is available online.

An enchanting–and twisted–tale of two sisters’ quest to find their parents

When their parents disappear in the middle of the night, young sisters Summer and Bird set off on a quest to find them. A cryptic picture message from their mother leads them to a familiar gate in the woods, but comfortable sights quickly give way to a new world entirely–Down–one inhabited by talking birds and the evil Puppeteer queen. Summer and Bird are quickly separated, and their divided hearts lead them each in a very different direction in the quest to find their parents, vanquish the Puppeteer, lead the birds back to their Green Home, and discover the identity of the true bird queen.

With breathtaking language and deliciously inventive details, Katherine Catmull has created a world unlike any other, skillfully blurring the lines between magic and reality and bringing to life a completely authentic cast of characters and creatures.

In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz

In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz

This middle grade book and companion to A Tale Dark & Grimm will be released in September (hardcover and ebook). An excerpt is available.

More Grimm tales await in the harrowing, hilarious companion to a beloved new classic

Take caution ahead—
Oversize plant life, eerie amphibious royalty, and fear-inducing creatures abound.

Lest you enter with dread.
Follow Jack and Jill as they enter startling new landscapes that may (or may not) be scary, bloody, terrifying, and altogether true.

Step lively, dear reader . . .
Happily ever after isn’t cutting it anymore.

In this companion novel to Adam Gidwitz’s widely acclaimed, award-winning debut, A Tale Dark & Grimm, Jack and Jill explore a new set of tales from the Brothers Grimm and others, including Jack and the Beanstalk and The Frog Prince.

Sharps by K. J. Parker

Sharps by K. J. Parker

This is a finished copy of a book I already read and reviewed last month when participating in a week of interviews with K. J. Parker.

An excerpt is available on the publisher’s website. Sharps is available in trade paperback and ebook.

For the first time in nearly forty years, an uneasy truce has been called between two neighbouring kingdoms. The war has been long and brutal, fought over the usual things: resources, land, money…

Now, there is a chance for peace. Diplomatic talks have begun and with them, the games. Two teams of fencers represent their nations at this pivotal moment.

When the future of the world lies balanced on the point of a rapier, one misstep could mean ruin for all. Human nature being what it is, does peace really have a chance?

Fable: Edge of the World by Christie Golden

Fable: Edge of the World by Christie Golden

This prequel to the Xbox 360 game Fable: The Journey will be released in ebook and trade paperback on August 21. An excerpt is available on the publisher’s website.

The official prequel novel to the Xbox 360 videogame, Fable:™ The Journey

It’s been almost a decade since the events of Fable 3, when the Hero vanquished the threat across the sea and claimed his throne. As king he led Albion to an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. But on the night of his wedding to his new queen, ominous word arrives: The darkness has returned.

Beyond a harrowing mountain pass, the exotic desert country Samarkand has been overrun by shadowy forces. Within the walls of its capital city, a mysterious usurper known only as the Empress has seized control. To protect his realm, the king must lead his most trusted allies into a strange land unknown to outsiders. As they forge ahead along Samarkand’s ancient Great Road, populated by undead terrors and fantastic creatures once believed to be the stuff of legend, the king is drawn ever closer to his greatest challenge yet.

But soon Albion is engulfed in a war of its own. As the darkness spreads, town by town, a treacherous force has infiltrated the queen’s circle. Now the fate of all that is good rests with a faint flicker of hope . . . that somewhere, somehow, heroes still do exist.

(c) 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft, Fable, Lionhead, the Lionhead logo, Xbox, and the Xbox logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

Trucker Ghost Stories edited by Annie Wilder

Trucker Ghost Stories edited by Annie Wilder

This book is exactly what it sounds like from the title – a collection of ghost stories concerning highways and roads. It will be released in ebook, trade paperback, and audiobook on August 7. There is an excerpt on the publisher’s website.

In a uniquely entertaining book by a rising star, here are uncanny true tales of haunted highways, weird encounters, and legends of the road.

It may have happened to you; it’s happened to almost everyone who’s ever driven down a highway at night, or in the fog, or snow. Something suddenly appears: a flash of movement, a shadow…what was it? It could be, as the true stories in this book attest, a ghost.

These are true stories from the highways and byways of America. These firsthand accounts are as varied as the storytellers themselves—some are detailed and filled with the terror and suspense that made people feel they had to share what happened to them with others; others are brief and straightforward retellings of truly chilling events.

Here is a chupacabra attack on the desert highway between L.A. and Las Vegas; ghost trains and soldiers; UFOs; the prom girl ghost of Alabama; a demon in Texas, and other accounts of the creepy, scary things that truckers and other drivers and passengers told to editor Annie Wilder.

With so many different stories, Trucker Ghost Stories moves beyond the usual haunted house to offer stories to entice any ghost story reader…and anyone who’s ever wondered….

Review of After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
Jul
30
2012
After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall
by Nancy Kress
192pp (Paperback)
My Rating: 8/10
Amazon Rating: 2.6/5
LibraryThing Rating: 3/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.57/5
 

After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall is a short book about the apocalypse by science fiction and fantasy writer Nancy Kress. Nancy Kress has won awards and accolades for many of her short stories and is also well known for her science fiction novels, particularly her Beggars/Sleepless trilogy beginning with Beggars In Spain. (On a personal note, Beggars In Spain is both an excellent book and the first science fiction book I read since it is one of my husband’s favorites that he has read numerous times. Nancy Kress was also the first author to participate in my Women in SF&F event in April.)

In the year 2035, humanity is nearly nonexistent and struggling to survive as a race. Several years ago, the Earth was destroyed by aliens the remaining humans nicknamed “Tesslies.” The Tesslies placed twenty-six humans in an enclosed area that protects them from the ruined environment. As the years have gone by, the number of the original survivors has dwindled until very few remain. They also had difficulties with having children: only six of their children survived and most of them are sickly, deformed, and/or infertile. Yet they have some hope since the Tesslies left behind machines that allow the adolescent humans to visit the past, and they bring back healthy children who should be able to help continue the human race once they are older.

However, these missing children in the time before the apocalypse have not gone unnoticed. Distraught parents have reported strange stories of a stranger snatching their children and then disappearing into a flash of light. Although many dismiss these stories as hysteria, mathematician Julie Kahn knows better. Her algorithms have been getting closer to accurately predicting when and where the next of these kidnappings will occur, and she is determined to discover the truth behind the missing children.

After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall is exactly what it sounds like – a story that covers what happens before, during, and after an apocalypse. It doesn’t follow them in that order, though, and actually sets up some rather compelling suspense about exactly what happened and will happen with all the three different timelines. This may sound confusing, but it’s actually quite simple to read and follow even though it does contain a lot for its short length. This is part of what makes it so impressive – that despite its page count, it manages to contain so much.

This is one of those books that pulled me in when I didn’t seem to be in the mood to read anything. I started a few books and put them down before reading the first chapter of this, which is only 5 pages long. That quickly, I was hooked. It starts with an abduction of two children by Pete, one of the adolescents born after the apocalypse, which sets up all kinds of questions. Why could he travel back in time? Who is this McAllister he keeps thinking of who instructed him on his mission? Why can he only go back in time for ten minutes? In addition to making me want to know more, these few pages also gave a glimpse into the world after the apocalypse with Pete’s wonder in seeing the ocean. Because he was born after the apocalypse, Pete has only seen the ocean in storybooks until he finds himself near a beach. The opening to After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall is so strong just because so much happens in those few pages – it sets the tone and sets up questions without sacrificing pacing.

It remains well-paced and suspenseful throughout, and the way it built off the three different timelines was very well handled. Even the timeline before the apocalypse managed to remain suspenseful since I kept wondering if Julie would ever get to the bottom of the kidnappings or if she would end up meeting the Tesslies. An even bigger surprise is that the early sections that were just dedicated to simply describing bacteria growing on plant roots kept me riveted. For one, these sections were really short, generally not even taking up an entire page. For another, I found them creepy since they had to be tied to the apocalypse somehow even though I wasn’t entirely sure how. From now on, I will be eying plants with suspicion and wondering what sinister happenings are going on beneath the soil’s surface!

I especially loved how life after the apocalypse was portrayed and felt that how this small group of humanity would behave was treated realistically. While the book never seemed slow to me, it also didn’t gloss over their everyday lives including the blandness of their environment and the work they had to do to make sure they had soy to eat. It wasn’t always pleasant to live in a society without modern conveniences or even much privacy, and this small community tended to handle everything from shit-bucket duty to sex matter-of-factly. Yet in spite being taught they must serve the greater good and do whatever they can to preserve humanity, these people are still human with all the emotions, rivalries, and desires that come with this condition. Through fifteen-year-old Pete we see firsthand the struggle to balance the needs of all with the wishes of the individual.

This book was very simply written to the point of seeming stilted a few times, but it conveyed what it needed to. Even though my personal preference leans toward more poetic prose, a leaner prose style probably worked better for this book and its quickly-moving story. The most major problem I had with this book was some people in the story made an assumption I did not think made sense with the facts they had. However, neither this nor the writing style greatly hindered my enjoyment of this book since I was very absorbed in the story and could hardly put it down.

If this short book is at all representative of her short stories, I can see why Nancy Kress is often awarded for them. In a story that is less than 200 pages long with rather large print, the author managed to keep it exciting with both strong storytelling and fast pacing. Often with shorter stories that move quickly like this one, there is some emotional distance but there were still scenes that were quite affecting. In addition to that, there was a look at society’s reaction to the end of the world and a little bit of actual science fiction based on biology and geology  – yet it was never dry or at all difficult to read. The more I think about the scope this story had even with its short length, the more impressed I am by both how readable and memorable it is.

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: I bought a copy (for my husband’s birthday although I read it before he did!).

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