Stefan

Iorich is a lovely addition to the VLAD TALTOS series. … If you’re already a fan of the VLAD TALTOS series, you’ll have a blast with Iorich. And if you’re not familiar with the series yet, do yourself a favor and go find a copy of The Book of Jhereg right now. You won’t be disappointed.

Please check out the rest of my review on FanLit here!  (This is one I actually was fairly happy with, for once.)

Disclaimer:  The FTC wants you to know that Tor provided me with a free review copy of this novel.  So there.

Next up:  Still working on book 2 of the Age of Misrule trilogy by Mark Chadbourn.  I'm also eying the copy of "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi I just received.  What a gorgeous cover!

As a long-time fan of Kage Baker, I was extremely pleased with Not Less Than Gods. If you’re in the market for an excellent SF series, I’d probably still recommend starting with In the Garden of Iden first, but Not Less Than Gods is a solid addition to the Company series and works surprisingly well as a standalone novel. Read the entire review here! Disclaimer: The FTC wants you to know that the publisher of this novel provided me with a free review copy. So there. Next up: well, I've read a bunch of other stuff, but I'm trying not to post my reviews here before they get published on other sites, so there's a bit of a backlog. Right now I'm on book 2 of Mark Chadbourn's Age of Misrule trilogy, which has been very enjoyable so far.

…How to Make Friends with Demons is another great example of Graham Joyce’s distinctive style. Narrator William Heaney is a more or less regular middle-aged man: boring government job, divorced with two kids, likes seventies music, has a drinking problem. Oh, and he believes that there are 1,567 varieties of demons that can possess anyone at any time. Someone else claims to have identified 4 additional demons, but Heaney thinks he’s just confusing demons with psychological conditions — and then labels excessive footnoting as a demon a few sentences later.

Read the full review here!

Disclaimer: the FTC wants you to know that the publisher of this novel sent me a free review copy.

Next up: Just finished my re-read Lois McMaster Bujold's "Ethan of Athos" for discussion at Beyond Reality. My next read will be Catherynne Valente's novella "Under in the Mere" (due out next month from Rabid Transit Press).

… I thought Sasha was excellent, especially given that this is Joel Shepherd’s first fantasy novel. It offers a huge fantasy world, a fascinating heroine, heart-pounding descriptions of both small-scale sword fights and full-on warfare, several characters that genuinely grow and change, and — maybe most importantly — the hint that this is just the start of what could become a great series. While I wouldn’t rank it quite as high as George R.R. Martin’s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, I think Sasha will go down very well with fans of that series.

Please check out the full review here!

DISCLAIMER:  The FTC wants you to know that the publisher of this novel provided me with a review copy.  So there.

Next up:  "Noonshade", sequel to "Dawnthief" by James Barclay.  About 100 pages in, it seems a bit better than the first book.

Conjure Wife is a 1943 horror novel by master fantasist Fritz Leiber, who is best known for his excellent FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER stories. While Conjure Wife is usually labeled as horror, the recently released trade paperback edition from Orb is marketed as "the classic of urban fantasy" — maybe to latch on to the recent surge in popularity of that sub-genre? Regardless of which genre it's placed in, Conjure Wife is an excellent novel that definitely deserved a re-release.

Check out the rest of the review at the Fantasy Literature website!

Next up:  I'm already halfway through "Sasha" by Joel Shepherd, which so far is much better than I expected.  

Imager's Challenge is the second book in the IMAGER PORTFOLIO, the latest fantasy series by L.E. Modesitt Jr. The author is probably best known for his ongoing SAGA OF RECLUCE, but for readers who may be daunted by the length of that series, the IMAGER PORTFOLIO is a great way to try the work of this talented and prolific writer.

Check out the rest of the review at www.fantasyliterature.com!

If you're familiar with Richard K. Morgan's other works, you'll be pleased to know that "The Steel Remains" combines many strong points of his Takeshi Kovacs novels, but places them in a fantasy setting instead of SF.  This is a very recognizable Richard K. Morgan novel - in an unrecognizable setting. 
Ringil Eskiath, son of a wealthy merchant family, has made a name for himself in several ways before the start of the story.  For one, he is a hero of a past war, in which humanity had to defend itself against an invasion of a non-human lizard-like race.  Balancing this, he is also an openly gay man in a very intolerant society - and it's only his heroic behavior, and the wealth of his family, that has saved him from a horrible public execution.
After the war, Gil went into semi-retirement in a small village, but he is called back to the city at the start of the story, asked by his mother to try and save a less fortunate family member who has been sold into slavery.  While investigating her disappearance, Gil uncovers a much larger plot involving a member of a race that was long considered gone.
Gil's story takes up most of the novel, but two other story lines alternate with his chapters, both focusing on former - and very different - comrades of Ringil.  Eventually the three plots draw together to a solid climax, but before then they help give a solid picture of a very intriguing and well-designed fantasy universe.  Two more novels are planned in this fantasy world, but "The Steel Remains" works very well as a complete story while at the same time showing great promise for the sequels.
So.  If you're familiar with the author, you'll know he doesn't shy away from violence and explicit sex - and often combines the two.  There aren't very many likable characters in his books.  Parts of this book stand out as some of Morgan's darkest, most shocking work.  If you're squeamish or looking for something light to read, this book is not for you.  On the other hand, if you're interested in trying some real "dark fantasy" (or fantasy noir, to borrow the author's term), check out this excellent novel. 

Next up: it took me some time to gather my thoughts about this novel, so I'm already almost halfway through "A Grey Moon Over China" by Thomas A. Day... which is so far very, very good. 

Major Keir Roget, an agent for the Chinese-dominated Federation government, is sent to investigate a mysterious world - mysterious because it is entirely enveloped by a "haze" of shielding particles. When he arrives on Haze, he finds a friendly and seemingly very advanced civilization of humans who give him such complete access to their society that it almost seems as if his perceptions or thoughts are somehow being controlled.

Roget's story is told in alternating chapter...more Major Keir Roget, an agent for the Chinese-dominated Federation government, is sent to investigate a mysterious world - mysterious because it is entirely enveloped by a "haze" of shielding particles. When he arrives on Haze, he finds a friendly and seemingly very advanced civilization of humans who give him such complete access to their society that it almost seems as if his perceptions or thoughts are somehow being controlled.

Roget's story is told in alternating chapters, going back and forth from the Haze mission to the events leading up to it, including an earlier mission among the "Saint" (read: Mormon) culture on Earth that reveals many things about the Federation. This way, the reader slowly gets an idea of what shaped Roget's opinions and character while reading the main story set on Haze. Modesitt Jr. really shows off his writing skills here, keeping both story threads separate but slowly building up to a strong climax connecting both tales.

Longtime readers of Modesitt Jr. will quickly recognize several themes and elements that frequently pop up in the author's works: a cerebral main character, lovingly detailed world-building, focus on environmental issues. There are several direct and indirect references to current political and societal issues, but also hints of a galactic history spanning thousands of years. That Modesitt Jr. can pull all of this off without resorting to endless info-dumps speaks to his considerable skill as a writer. This is an excellent standalone SF novel, and one I wouldn't hesitate recommending both to longtime Modesitt fans and to anyone who isn't familiar yet with the author.

Elantris is the city of the gods. Its inhabitants have white hair, glowing skin, near-immortality and powerful magic. Once in a while, a random regular person from the outside world wakes up, transformed into an Elantrian, and moves into the city. Ten years before the book starts, everything suddenly changes: the Elantrians lose their magic and are transformed into gray-skinned, magicless wretches. Raoden, the crown prince of Eralon, is also transformed and tossed into the ruined city.
...more Elantris is the city of the gods. Its inhabitants have white hair, glowing skin, near-immortality and powerful magic. Once in a while, a random regular person from the outside world wakes up, transformed into an Elantrian, and moves into the city. Ten years before the book starts, everything suddenly changes: the Elantrians lose their magic and are transformed into gray-skinned, magicless wretches. Raoden, the crown prince of Eralon, is also transformed and tossed into the ruined city.
This is the very intriguing start of Elantris, Brandon Sanderson's debut novel. From this inspired beginning, he creates a fast-paced and original fantasy novel that never slows down and works its way to a satisfying conclusion.
I thought this book was very refreshing because, unlike so many fantasy tomes, it actually has more material than its pages warrant. Sanderson could have easily turned this 600 page novel into a full trilogy, and I'm sure that other writers (hello Tad Williams) would have done so.
If anything, the book occasionally seems too fast-paced. Some characters, like Roial and Shuden, could have been fleshed out a bit more (I'd even argue one of them could have been an additional viewpoint character to give the novel some more substance). The fantasy world and its various countries are only very minimally sketched. Finally, the last 50 pages definitely felt rushed, quickly tying up several loose ends. I can't believe I'm actually writing this, but I really think this book should have been longer!
Still, this is a very entertaining and relatively original read. The magic system is unique and relevant to the story and the characters, while a bit stereotypical at times, are easy to identify with and don't always take themselves too seriously (something I always appreciate in fantasy). Elantris doesn't read like a debut novel. It definitely motivated me to check out Sanderson's other books.

"The Best of Michael Moorcock" is a brand new collection of the legendary author's best short fiction, containing several of his classic stories, as well as one previously unreleased story.  The collection, lovingly edited by John Davey with Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, is nothing short of excellent.  There are really no bad stories here, and some that are simply stunning. 
As someone who has read many of Moorcock's novels but barely any of his shorter work, I was amazed at how well the author's skill - so much better known for the long, sweeping epic - translates into the much more concentrated short form.  Also amazing is the ease with which Moorcock switches tones and styles, from the light-hearted to the overwhelmingly deep, from fantasy to SF to non-genre fiction, from the joking staccato prose of "London Bone" to the lyrical sadness of the Elric story "A Portrait In Ivory".  It's easy to see why this man is a legend. 
One of my favorite aspects of this book are the subtle typographical touches added to each story's title - e.g. the words "Behold the Man" are placed in the shape of a cross, and "London Bone" looks like a tube sign.  Every one is different and somehow relevant to the story, and they give the book an old-fashioned - in a good way! - and playful air.
SF fans have been lucky this year, with two excellent best-of short story collections so far:  first Tor released a brilliant Gene Wolfe collection, and now there's Tachyon Publications' Michael Moorcock collection.  If, like me, you weren't very familiar with these authors' short works yet, getting these books is practically a must.   

This is a great novel-length adaptation of the original The Empress of Mars novella.
Most of the book is set in "The Empress of Mars", the only bar on the young Mars colony. Mary Griffith barely manages to keep the bar solvent, helped by her three daughters and a number of outcasts (some of whom you'll be familiar with if you've read Baker's short story in The New Space Opera).
Kage Baker really shows off her trademark wit and easy-flowing style in this funny and at times ...more This is a great novel-length adaptation of the original The Empress of Mars novella.  Most of the book is set in "The Empress of Mars", the only bar on the young Mars colony. Mary Griffith barely manages to keep the bar solvent, helped by her three daughters and a number of outcasts (some of whom you'll be familiar with if you've read Baker's short story in The New Space Opera).
Kage Baker really shows off her trademark wit and easy-flowing style in this funny and at times moving story. In the novella, there were some subtle links to Kage Baker's main Company series. The links are much clearer in the novel-length version, including the appearance of two Company operatives and a strong link to one of the main plot lines of the series.
If you've read Baker's Company books, I'd call this one a must-read - you will definitely enjoy this book. If you're not familiar with the series yet, it's actually not a bad place to start because it stands outside of the main plot, but I'd still recommend to start with In the Garden of Iden.  ****

Next up:  finishing up "The Best of Michael Moorcock" and starting on "The Unincorporated Man" by Dani and Eytan Kollin (what an intriguing title). 

PS I've started writing the first drafts of these reviews in Goodreads - hence the links to the GR pages of the books and authors.  I recommend checking out that site if you're a book geek like me :)

I'm not going to attribute my enjoyment of this novel to a definite craving for good space opera science fiction, because aside from that fact, it's simply an excellent piece of story-telling set in an intriguing and original far-future universe that could host many more good novels in the future.  I hope Flynn will decide to write them.

The novel's framing story is mostly set in an inn.  A mysterious harper has tracked down a man for a story.  As he tells the story about the Dancer, an alien artifact accidentally discovered by a starfreighter captain, we learn more about the history and ways of the United League of the Periphery, an interstellar society connected by faster-than-light highways.  Between the chapters, the harper and the story-teller bicker, eat and drink, and talk --- all the while adding to the over-all picture.  The author is amazingly deft at telling a fascinating story - at its most basic level a very complicated chase after the Dancer - while slowly making the reader get a more accurate view of the Periphery's history. 

One odd but charming aspect of the novel is that, while it's undeniably science fiction, so many of its features resemble fantasy: not just the cliche of strangers meeting in an inn to listen to a harper and hear stories, but also the artifact's magical-seeming nature and the names of the space-highways (the Palisades, the Silk Road) and the police force (Hounds are almost super-human-seeming agents with military, detective and spy-like aspects).  

Aside from the entertaining story line and the well-drawn characters, I really enjoyed the way Flynn described the Terran parts of society --- Terrans are a lower class in the Periphery, with their own ghettos on every planet, secret councils of leaders, and even their own lingo (a barely understandable jumble of several languages).

This is an excellent piece of SF, and as mentioned before, I really hope Flynn will write more stories in this universe.  Four stars!

NOTE:  I just found the author's LJ, and it appears that there is another novel set in this universe in the works.  Yay.

Next up: I'm finally getting to "Lamentation" by Ken Scholes.  I hope it lives up to the hype.

I finished this novel a couple of days ago and haven't written anything about it so far because, honestly, I can't think of anything relevant that hasn't been written before in other reviews.  It's a very good novel, somewhere between historical fantasy and horror, with a dark, witty sense of humor and an interesting narrative style.  It's set in Victorian London, but the city in the book falls somewhere between China Mieville's New Crobuzon and Neal Gaiman's "Neverwhere".  (Although, come to think of it, the Neverwhere resonance may have been caused by a duo of murderers who made me think of Croup and Vandemar.) 

I truly enjoyed this novel (despite the fact that I can't think of a damn thing to write about it!).  I'm curious to read the new book by Barnes, "The Domino Men", which was just released this week.  From the blurb, it sounds like it's a prequel of sorts, and I believe the title characters may be those two killers I mentioned before.  Could be good!

Next up:  I'm already almost done with "Postsingular" by Rudy Rucker.  

Bon Agornin, patriarch of a well-off family, is on his death bed.  His family has gathered around him, including his oldest son Penn, who is a country parson, and Avan, the younger brother who is making his way up in the bureaucracy of the capital city.  Also there are his unmarried daughters Haner and Selendra, and oldest daughter Berend, who is married to Daverak, a young nobleman.  When Daverak claims a large part of Bon's wealth, a complex family drama starts, involving an inheritance battle and the search for suitable matches for the young daughters.
So far, fairly standard plotting for a Jane Austen novel.  The twist here is that every character in this novel is a dragon, and the wealth of the dying dragon doesn't only include his hoard of gold but also the flesh of his body, which dragon children traditionally eat to grow in strength.
When I read the reviews for this novel, I couldn't have been less excited.  First of all, I try to avoid fantasy with dragons (because I think they are the oldest cliche in the book), and secondly, it sounded way too gimmicky.  
However, I was pleasantly surprised.  The novel is expertly written in the Victorian style, including third person omniscient POV with the occasional authorial side-step ("Dear reader, at this point you are probably surprised by..." and so on).  Aside from a strange fondness for run-on sentences, Walton does a great job impersonating Jane Austen.  She also paints a realistic dragon society (yes, I know), including religion, social values, and even some social upheaval on the horizon.  After a few chapters, it somehow seems normal to be reading Pride and Prejudice with dragons.  To my surprise, I ended up enjoying this novel tremendously.  Four stars - what a good start to the reading year for me.

Next up:  picked at random from the TBR pile (which I shall be tackling this year with vengeance and righteous fury):  "We the Underpeople" by Cordwainer Smith.

"Majestrum" is a lovely fantasy-SF-mystery hybrid by an author I'd literally never heard of, but definitely will look out for in the future.  The story follows Henghis Hapthorn, the most famous discriminator (think: Sherlock Holmes-like detective) on Old Earth.  "Old Earth", because the story is set in a Jack Vance-like Dying Earth setting, millions of years into the future when the sun's become small and orange, mankind is spread across the Ten Thousand Worlds, and the rich and decadent aristocracy rules. 

Henghis is recovering from a strange interdimensional incident in which his integrator (something between an AI and a PDA) was transformed into a small furry creature, which still performs its functions but also demands exotic fruits and regularly talks back to its owner.  At the same time, his own personality was split in two separate entities: his old, rational self and a more intuitive, irrational personality that shares his body (and also talks back to him).

Henghis is contacted by one of the rich and powerful aristocrats to investigate a stranger who has attached himself to his daughter.  During the investigation, he begins to find out more about the changes that happened to his personality and what they may mean for the future of the universe.

This novel is simply lovely.  It's at times hilarously funny, but in a reserved way --- people being very polite and formal while insulting each other.  The setting, while not exactly original, is well realized and definitely shows promise for the other two Henghis Hapthorn novels that are available from Nightshade Books.  I'll admit that I enjoyed the first half of the novel much more than the second half, but over all it's a great read and definitely recommended.

Next up:  picked at random from my towering TBR pile:  "Agent to the Stars", John Scalzi.

The full title of this excellent book is "The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia".  It's a very readable non-fiction account of the lives of the many Americans who emigrated to the USSR during the Great Depression.  In the 1930's the US was going through an enormous economic decline and rampant unemployment.  The USSR seemed attractive to many Americans:  the country was stabilizing after the October Revolution, in the middle of what was considered a grand social experiment - the first communist country.  This was exciting at the time - a young country that had just overthrown Tsarist rule and was trying a new, radical form of government.  Thousands of Americans emigrated, searching for work and prosperity, feeling like the original American pioneers looking for fortune in an unknown land.  They found work, brought over their families, started a prosperous immigrant society.  Russia in the 30's even had baseball leagues and English language newspapers.  Henry Ford did good business with Stalin and helped him set up an automobile construction plant, manned by American engineers and workers.
In the second half of the decade, the Stalin regime started becoming more paranoid, arresting and detaining some of the original revolutionaries in its drive to consolidate its power.  This process would become completely unhinged as the years went by, leading to the arrest of hundreds of thousands of people --- including the American immigrants.  Many of them ended up in the Gulag "corrective labor camps" - concentration camps in Northeast Russia, mainly there to mine gold and later uranium in the most horrible circumstances.  The vast majority of the prisoners died within a few months of arrival, necessitating ever more new prisoners to keep the gold flowing.  It's hard to wrap your mind around the amount of people who died in those camps. 
Meanwhile, the American embassy in Moscow was completely ineffectual in trying to protect US citizens or get them released from the Gulag system.  One American ambassador actively misinformed Roosevelt to protect his own lavish lifestyle.  The fact that most of the immigrant Americans were forced to release their passports and take on Russian nationality didn't help.  The end result is that thousands upon thousands of Americans were basically abandoned to their fate. 
Even more heartbreaking is the fact that some of the prisoners who managed to survive the camps were released after the second World War, only to be re-arrested when the Cold War broke out in the years after WWII.  "The Forsaken" details the entire period from the early 1930's through the post-Stalin years, and even deals with some of the problems researchers encountered in the post-Glasnost era when trying to access some of the historical records. 
This is an excellent book, well-researched and, despite the subject matter, very readable.  The author deftly combines the personal stories of the American immigrants with the history of the era.  The book is informative and touching at the same time.  ****

One note.  I had to find a second book to read because, after reading a few chapters of "The Forsaken" before bed, I had some really horrific nightmares - and this was even before I got to the more detailed descriptions of the Gulag camps.  The book is very tasteful and never graphical, but it still affected me very strongly, so  I read "The Forsaken" during the day only.

Next up: finishing up "The New Space Opera" (short stories I was reading at night) and I'll probably jump into Hanif Kureishi's "Something To Tell You" tomorrow too.

Took a break from reading the 1200 page mammoth by Steven Erikson for this great novel by Junot Diaz.  The story follows an immigrant Dominican family, mostly focusing on Oscar Wao, a hopelessly romantic overweight geek, obsessed with roleplaying games, fantasy and science fiction, mercilessly made fun of by almost everyone in his immigrant community in New Jersey.  It also tells the story of his sister Lola and his mother Belicia, and on a larger scale the entire Dominican Republic.  The book is written in high-energy prose, full of Spanglish and slang, with lots of cultural references (including many to old and new SF and fantasy), but also contains a large amount of informative footnotes dealing with the tortured history of the Dominican Republic, its former dictator and other notables.  "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" is a joy to read, swinging from street-slang to poetry, from vulgar to sublime, often in the same sentence.  And after reading it, you won't forget Oscar ever again.  ****

Next up:  Back to "The Bonehunters" by Steven Erikson!

My two earlier posts about this book (here and here) sum up my overall opinion pretty accurately, now I've finished it and had some chance to think about it.  It's thought-provoking and fascinating, but at the same time, large parts of it are just plain annoying.  You have to be prepared to work through the first 50 or so pages, which introduce most of the unique vocabulary of the novel.  They took me about 3 hours to read (but that may be in part because I can't read a word I don't know yet without looking it up, so once I discovered the 20 page glossary in the back of the book, I couldn't help myself).  You'll also need to be ready to read through several 20 to 30 page chunks that consist for the most part of metaphysical discourse and dialogue.  It's admirable that Stephenson put so much work into rationalizing concepts that are just thrown into other SF novels, but at the same time, I couldn't help groaning a few times when another lecture began.  However, if you don't mind these quirks, you'll eventually be rewarded with an interesting plot and some really exciting, excellently written scenes.  The novel is unique, at times completely engrossing and at others infuriating beyond belief.  I'm going to give it three stars out of five because, despite my admiration for Stephenson's ambition and skill, this was still my least favorite novel of his. 

Next up:  I'm actually almost done with "The House of the Stag" by Kage Baker.  

Edit:  After a few months, I am *still* thinking about Anathem.  I've bumped it up to 4 stars.  I may actually have to re-read this thing. 

I recently read that "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie won the "Booker of Bookers" again --- the novel was elected the best novel out of all Booker prize winners on the 25th anniversary of the prize, and just now (or at least, earlier this year) it won again on the 40th anniversary.  Not surprisingly, IMO, as it's a brilliant piece of literature.  All this to say that, reading this bit of news, I came up with the vague project/plan to read all the Booker prize winners, in reverse order, because somewhat to my surprise, "Midnight's Children" is the only one of the bunch I've read.  The first one -- being the most recent Booker prize winner -- is "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga.
I'm going to cop out of writing a review here (again), simply because I'm recovering from a hellacious stomach flu.  Just sitting up for 15 minutes to type this has made me break out in sweat.  However!  I will link to this excellent review, which will hopefully give you a flavor of the novel.  It's truly excellent, and I highly recommend it.  ****

Next up:  I'm finally getting to "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson.  High expectations for this one.

This is an utterly charming and lovely novel.  I'm not going to write a full review because there's a perfectly fine one here (which is also where I discovered it). I'll just say that I enjoyed this book tremendously --- so much that I actually am going to buy copies for my dad (if I can find a Dutch translation) and for my father-in-law, both of whom lived through WWII.  ****

Next up:  "Anathem" is calling to me, but "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga just came in at the library, so that one comes first.