Release Week: Vlad; Neil Gaiman Presents Ellen Kushner's The Privilege of the Sword; Charles Yu; and Charles Stross's The Apocalypse Codex
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Release Week: Vlad; Neil Gaiman Presents Ellen Kushner's The Privilege of the Sword; Charles Yu; and Charles Stross's The Apocalypse Codex
Posted on 2012-07-25 at 16:27 by Sam
The release week for Tuesday, July 24 brings quite a few titles I’m very interested in. Luckily, two of the audiobooks I’ve most got my eyes on are on the shorter side.
Vlad By Carlos Fuentes, translated by Alejandro Branger and Ethan Shaskan Bumas, narrated by Robert Fass for Dreamscape Media (Dalkey Archive Press, 112 pages) — Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins — “Where, Carlos Fuentes asks, is a modern-day vampire to roost? Why not Mexico City, populated by ten million blood sausages (that is, people), and a police force who won’t mind a few disappearances? ‘Vlad’ is Vlad the Impaler, of course, whose mythic cruelty was an inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In this sly sequel, Vlad really is undead. More than a postmodern riff on “the vampire craze”, Vlad is also an anatomy of the Mexican bourgeoisie, as well as our culture’s ways of dealing with death. For - as in Dracula - Vlad has need of both a lawyer and a real-estate agent in order to establish his new kingdom, and Yves Navarro and his wife Asuncion fit the bill nicely. Having recently lost a son, might they not welcome the chance to see their remaining child live forever? More importantly, are the pleasures of middle-class life enough to keep one from joining the legions of the damned?”
The Privilege of the Sword By Ellen Kushner, Narrated by Ellen Kushner, Barbara Rosenblat, Felicia Day, Joe Hurley, Katherine Kellgren, Nick Sullivan, and Neil Gaiman for Neil Gaiman Presents — Length:15 hrs and 40 mins — won the 2007 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel — “A few words from Neil on Privilege of the Sword: Life hands us so many moments when we hover between who we were raised to be, who the people around us are trying to make us, and who we are trying to become. In Katherine’s case, that means encountering a range of people and behaviors her mother never prepared her for - including some shocking acts of violence, both physical and emotional. As one of Kushner’s most charming characters, an actress known as “The Black Rose”, sighs, “It’s all so very difficult, until you get the hang of it.”” Here The Privilege of the Sword is another “illuminated” production, with Kushner’s narration accompanied by a full cast, as was the case for fellow World of Riverside novel Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners.
Sorry Please Thank You: Stories By Charles Yu, Narrated by James Yaegashi, Johnathon Ross, Mark Nelson, Ramon De Ocampo, Richard Poe, and Johnny Heller for Recorded Books — Length:4 hrs and 50 mins — “New York Times Notable Book author Charles Yu wrote the best-selling novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. In his stunning, often humorous, collection Sorry Please Thank You, Yu draws on pop culture and science to make incisive observations about society - and to offer touching insight into the human condition. In two of Yu’s remarkable stories, he focuses on a big-box-store night-shift employee with girl trouble and a company that outsources grief for profit.”
And just out today (Wednesday July 25) is The Apocalypse Codex By Charles Stross, Narrated by Gideon Emery for Recorded Books — Length:11 hrs and 55 mins — “The winner of multiple Hugo Awards, Charles Stross is one of the most highly regarded science fiction writers of his time. In The Apocalypse Codex, occasionally hapless British agent Bob Howard tackles a case involving an American televangelist and a supernatural threat of global proportions.”
ALSO OUT TUESDAY:
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Technomancer: Unspeakable Things, Book 1 By B. V. Larson, Narrated by Christopher Lane for Brilliance Audio — Length:10 hrs and 26 mins — “When Quentin Draith wakes up in a private sanatorium, he has no memory of who he is or how he received the injuries riddling his body. All he knows is that he has to get out, away from the drugs being pumped into him and back to the real world to search for answers. His first question: How did his friend Tony’s internal organs fill with sand, killing him in a Las Vegas car crash?”
- Darksiders: The Abomination Vault By Ari Marmell, Narrated by — Length:12 hrs and 11 mins — a thousands of years prequel to the the action-adventure video games from Vigil/THQ, 2010’s Darksiders and the imminently forthcoming Darksiders II — “Ages before the events of Darksiders and Darksiders II, two of the feared Horsemen - Death and War - are tasked with stopping a group of renegades from locating the Abomination Vault: a hoard containing weapons of ultimate power and malice, capable of bringing an end to the uneasy truce between Heaven and Hell…but only by unleashing total destruction.”
- Two Alliance-Reach novels by Serpent’s Reach, Narrated by , and Cuckoo’s Egg, Narrated by , both from Audible Frontiers
- Beholder’s Eye: Web Shifters, Book 1, Changing Vision: Web Shifters, Book 2, and Hidden in Sight: Web Shifters, Book 3 By Julie E. Czerneda, narrated by — Series: Web Shifters — along with additional Czerneda audiobooks A Thousand Words for a Stranger: Trade Pact Universe, Book 1, Ties of Power: Trade Pact Universe, Book 2, and To Trade the Stars: Trade Pact Universe, Book 3 narrated by Allyson Johnson
- Thirteen: Women of the Otherworld, Book 13 By Kelley Armstrong, Narrated by Johanna Parker — Length:10 hrs and 50 mins
- Teen: The Girl of Fire and Thorns By Rae Carson, Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda — Length:12 hrs and 9 mins — first published in print and ebook in September 2011 by HarperCollins
- Teen: I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Legacies By Pittacus Lore, Narrated by Devon Sorvari, Jeff Brick, and Kaleo Griffith — Length:7 hrs and 53 mins
- A decent sized list of
- The Land at the End of the Working Day by Peter Crowther, Narrated by Robert Keiper (Published in print by PS Publishing) and Outer Diverse by Nina Munteanu, Narrated by Dawn Harvey (Published in print by Starfire World Syndicate) — for Outer Diverse use code diverse-launch for 10% off
EARLIER THIS WEEK:
- Lord of Souls: An Elder Scrolls Novel, Book 2 By Greg Keyes, Narrated by Michael Page — Series: Elder Scrolls, Book 2 — Length:9 hrs and 5 mins
- The Folklore of Discworld By Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson, Narrated by Michael Fenton Stevens — Length:13 hrs and 1 min
- Methuselah’s Children By Robert A. Heinlein, Narrated by MacLeod Andrews for Brilliance Audio — Length:7 hrs and 19 mins
- Gather Yourselves Together By Philip K. Dick, Narrated by Luke Daniels — Length:10 hrs and 51 mins
- Endworld: Thief River Falls Run: Endworld Series, Book 2 By David Robbins, Narrated by Damon Abdallah for Books in Motion — Length:6 hrs and 19 mins
- Time Gap By Loren Robinson, Narrated by Maynard Villers for Books in Motion — Length:6 hrs and 57 mins
SEEN BUT NOT HEARD:
- Empty Space by M. John Harrison (Gollanz, Jul 19, 2012) — “Harrison’s literary space opera, The Kefahuchi Tract (which began with Light and Nova Swing), was met with wide acclaim. Now, the third book in the trilogy is finally here. Empty Space, structured in three alternating stories that merge to its grand conclusion, promises to mess with your head, but in a good way.” (via Kirkus Reviews)
- The Stranger’s Magic: The Labyrinths of Echo, Book Three by Max Frei (Overlook, July 19)
- Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino (Titan, July 20)
- The Siege in the Room: Three Novellas by Miquel Bauca and translated by Martha Tennent (Dalkey Archive Press, Jul 24, 2012)
- YA: Cuttlefish by Dave Freer (Pyr, July 24) — “Young adult alternate history novel, set in a 1976 in which the British Empire spans the globe, about a girl and her mother forced to flee London aboard a coal-powered submarine.” (description via Locus Magazine)
- The Dark Knight Rises: The Official Novelization by Greg Cox (Titan Books, July 24)
LATER THIS WEEK:
- Jack Glass by Adam Roberts (Gollanz, Jul 26, 2012 — UK only?)
- Trinity Rising by Elspeth Cooper (Gollanz, Jul 26, 2012 — UK only?) — The Wild Hunt #2 after Songs of the Earth
- Anthology: Galactic Creatures edited by Elektra Hammond (Dark Quest, LLC, July 27)
- Closed Horizon by Peter Lantos (Arcadia Press, July 28) — “set in 2032, Mark Chadwick is a brilliant psychiatrist who is on the verge of a major scientific breakthrough. By combining functional imaging of the brain with computer technology, he can not only predict intentions but also decode human thought processes.”
NEXT WEEK (July 31):
- Chimera by T.C. McCarthy (Orbit in print and e-book, Blackstone Audio, July 31, 2012) — The Subterrene War, Book 3 — “Escaped Germline soldiers need to be cleaned up, and Stan Resnick is the best man for the job—a job that takes him to every dark spot and every rat hole he can find.”
- Shadows Before the Sun by Kelly Gay (July 31, Pocket Books) — no audio news — the next book in Gay’s Charlie Madigan series
- vN (Von Neumann Sisters #1) by Madeline Ashby (Angry Robot/Brilliance Audio, Jul 31, 2012) — ““Amy Peterson is a self-replicating humanoid robot known as a VonNeumann. For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of a mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother’s past, so when her grandmother arrives and attacks her mother, Amy wastes no time: she eats her alive. Now she carries her malfunctioning granny as a partition on her memory drive, and she’s learning impossible things about her clade’s history - like the fact that she alone can kill humans without failsafing…”
- The Crown of the Usurper by Gav Thorpe (Angry Robot, Jul 31, 2012)
- Devil’s Wake by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due (Atria, July 31, 2012) — “In this sci-fi thriller, the world is ovecome by a deadly new infection that transforms those infected. A group of teenagers navigates across this apocalyptic landscape seeking safety and community, but must overcome deadly obstacles every step of the way. Devil’s Wake seeks to reinvent the zombie novel by simulating a zombie-like apocalypse without actually using the word “zombie.”” (via Kirkus Reviews)
- Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan (Solaris, July 31) — “Morgan’s promising first novel features Alice, a seemingly normal woman with an uneventful life. That is, until she is visited by angels who not only inform her of the war between the angels and the Fallen, but also that she is to play an integral part in helping the angels win. Guided by a disgraced angel named Mallory, Alice comes to learn about her own history—secret even to herself—and why the angels must send her to hell.” (via Kirkus Reviews)
- An Officer’s Duty (Theirs Not to Reason Why #2) by Jean Johnson (Ace, July 31) — “An Officer’s Duty is the second book in the Theirs Not to Reason Why series, an exciting military science fiction series featuring the tough-as-nails female protagonist named Ia. The first book, A Soldier’s Duty, was a Philip K. Dick award nominee. What sets this series apart from other military sf series is that Ia can foresee all the possible futures of mankind, and in all but one of them, her home galaxy will be destroyed. The series depicts her attempts to steer human history to that one golden future. The catch: she cannot tell anyone about her abilities or all will be lost.” (via Kirkus Reviews)
- Blood of the Emperor: The Annals of Drakis: Book Three by Tracy Hickman (DAW, Brilliance Audio, July 31)
- Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch (Del Rey, July 31, 2012)
- Carry the Flame by James Jaros (Harper Voyager, July 31)
- Exile: The Outcast Chronicles by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris, July 31)
- The Wanderers (Veiled Isles Trilogy) by Paula Brandon (Spectra, July 31)
- Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz (Coming July 31, 2012)
- Collection: Confessions of a Five-Chambered Heart by Caitlin R. Kiernan (Subterranean, July 31)
- Collection: The Incarceration of Captain Nebula and Other Lost Futures by Mike Resnick (Subterranean, July 31)
- Collection: The Woman Who Married a Cloud: The Collected Short Stories of Jonathan Carroll by Jonathan Carroll (Subterranean, July 31)
- Anthology: Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel (Tachyon, Aug 1, 2012)
- NONE SO BLIND (TKTK) by Joe Haldeman, read by Robertson Dean — Available 1 August 12 from Blackstone Audio
- THE WYRMLING HORDE (TKTK) by David Farland, read by Ray Porter — Blackstone continues its production of Farland’s Runelords series, here with book 7 — Available 1 August 12 from Blackstone Audio
- ICE PROPHET (1983) by William R. Forstchen — author of One Second After — Available 1 August 12 from Blackstone Audio
- Forge of Darkness (Kharkanas Trilogy #1) by Steven Erikson — “set 300,000-odd years before the main Malazan series. It tells the story of Anomander Rake, Silchas Ruin, Mother Dark…” (August 2nd 2012 by Bantam Press)
Some selections in August and early September:
- The Spark by Susan Jane Bigelow (Candlemark & Gleam, August) — book three after 2011’s well-received Unbroken and January’s Fly Info Fire from this high quality small press
- Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris Book 1) by Jim C. Hines (August 7, DAW Hardcover) — “Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects.”
- Silver: Return to Treasure Island by Andrew Morton, read by David Tennant for Dreamscape (August 7) — “A compelling sequel to Treasure Island from Poet Laureate Andrew Motion”
- Anthology: When the Villain Comes Home edited by Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood (August 10, Dragon Moon Press) — a follow-on anthology to their 2011 anthology When the Hero Comes Home with stories from Ari Marmell, Eugie Foster, Jim C. Hines, Karin Lowachee, Todd McCaffrey, Rachel Swirsky, Jay Lake, J.M. Frey, and more.
- Bullettime by Nick Mamatas (ChiZine, August 14)
- Swallowing a Donkey’s Eye by Paul Tremblay (ChiZine, August 14)
- Collection: At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories by Kij Johnson (Small Beer, August 14)
- Collection: Crackpot Palace: Stories by Jeffrey Ford (William Morrow, August 14)
- The Legacy of Lord Regret: Strange Threads: Book 1 by Sam Bowring (Orbit, August 14)
- A Guile of Dragons by James Enge (Pyr, August 24) — “It’s dwarves versus dragons in this origin story for Enge’s signature character, Morlock Ambrosius! Before history began, the dwarves of Thrymhaiam fought against the dragons as the Longest War raged in the deep roads beneath the Northhold. Now the dragons have returned, allied with the dead kings of Cor and backed by the masked gods of Fate and Chaos.”
- Heir of Novron by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit, January 2012) — the third volume (collecting books 5 and 6) of Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations is due in audio from Recorded Books on September 1
- The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross — just published in print and e-book, coming in audio from Recorded Books, read by Gideon Emery, on September 1
- Seawitch by Kat Richardson (Greywalker Series book 7, Recorded Books, September 1)
- Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, book 2, Recorded Books, September 1) — recently published follow up to Leviathan Wakes
- Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson, read by Neal Peart for Brilliance Audio (Sep 1) — Peart reading the novelization by Anderson for Peart’s concurrently releasing Rush album
- Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama (FS&G, September 4) — “Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.”
- The Kingmakers by Clay and Susan Griffith (Pyr, September 4) — the conclusion of their Vampire Empire series which began with 2010’s The Greyfriar and 2011’s The Rift Walker — book one came to audio earlier this year from Buzzy Multimedia, read by James Marsters, and the remaining books will be coming along eventually