Whispersync Daily Deal: The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin, read by Sarah Zimmerman

Posted on 2014-02-08 at 12:42 by Sam

Saturday, February 8, 2014: Today’s Kindle Daily Deal lineup includes N.K. Jemisin’s The Killing Moon, book one in her Dreamblood duology published in 2012. Already staking out considerable territory on the fantasy map with her Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Award nominated Inheritance Trilogy (beginning with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which won the Locus Award for Best First Novel), it’s a chance for new fans and old ones to get into her second series on the cheap, at $1.99 Kindle and a $3.99 upgrade to the Audible edition, The Killing Moon: Dreamblood, Book 1 narrated by Sarah Zimmerman for Hachette Audio:

“In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers - the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe … and kill those judged corrupt. But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh’s great temple, Ehiru - the most famous of the city’s Gatherers - must question everything he knows.”

Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged dreamblood, nk jemisin, the killing moon

Release Week: Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation, James Marsters reads The Kingmakers, Allen Steele's V-S Day, Christopher Golden's Dark Duets, METAtropolis stories, Scott Sigler's Pandemic, J.C. Hutchins' "The 33", and Natania Barron's Pilgrims of the Sky

Posted on 2014-02-07 at 19:06 by Sam

JANUARY 29-FEBRUARY 4, 2014: You are in for quite a treat this week, audiobook listeners. From the surreal and claustrophobic Annihilation to the rapiers-afly adventure of The Kingmakers, to alternate history and on to an intriguing anthology of horror and dark fantasy. Meanwhile, the entire roster of METAtropolis stories have been released individually, and podcasting pioneer J.C. Hutchins released the first installment of a new serial project, "The 33". Speaking of podcasting pioneers, Scott Sigler's latest novel, Pandemic, gets a pro narrator treatment in the form of Phil Gigante, and Natania Barron is live reading and discussing her novel Pilgrim of the Sky a chapter at a time via Google Hangouts. There's a long list of "also out" titles of interest as well, including B.J. Novak's fiction collection One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories narrated by several of Novak's The Office co-stars, C.S. Friedman's Dreamwalkers, Julianna Baggott's Burn, Clive Barker read by Simon Vance, Steven Erikson read by Michael Page, Frank Herbert read by Scott Brick, Daniel Price's Flight of the Silvers, Greg Egan's Incandescence, Marissa Meyer's Cress, Colin Meloy's Wildwood Imperium, Megan Miranda's Vengeance, Bridgett Ladd's The Lotus Effect, Sheila Turnage's The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, and the latest in Audible's very welcome productions of the works of Octavia Butler, Adulthood Rites. Still, it's Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation which has been my most-anticipated audiobook of 2014 since, oh, early 2012, and which is finally here, so let's jump right in:

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

I was (and absolutely remain) a huge fan of Jeff VanderMeer's 2009 novel Finch, a "fungal noir" set in his rich secondary world fantasy, Ambergris, which had served as a setting for his previous books. For his new series, The Southern Reach, VanderMeer sets his sights into the simultaneously more familiar -- for all intents and purposes, our contemporary world -- and yet even more strange for its twisted reflections of that familiarity, and delivers an intense and transformative journey into a surreal landscape. Though not explicitly set in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge from which so much of the setting of the novel is drawn, the rich, varied ecosystems of the Florida Panhandle's Gulf Coast come to eerie life in the "Area X" wilderness of VanderMeer's Annihilation, out this week from Blackstone Audio concurrent with the print/ebook release from FSG Originals. It is the author's first novel since 2009, marking also the return of narrator Carolyn McCormick after concluding Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series with Mockingjay in 2010 and narrating James Patterson's latest Women's Murder Club novel in 2011.

When I started reading about this book, I spent far too many hours trying to come up with my dream narrator for it. (Far, far too many.) Somehow I never considered McCormick, but from the first line she is fantastic. Her laconic, detached mainline narration perfectly suited to the biologist's clinical, scientific mind, and it is the biologist's narrative voice, through the structure of the novel as her definitive account left in a journal, which, detail by detail, flashback by flashback, brings depth both to the mysteries of "Area X" and to her character. McCormick does not employ too much in the way of vocal gymnastics to differentiate the  few characters; just enough to characterize them effectively and succinctly as, one presumes, the biologist herself might do. The principal exception to this is her work on the voice of the psychologist, the designated leader of the expedition, which is given a decidedly (almost British-schooled?) formal turn, a flavor which makes McCormick's outstandingly dynamic work with her later in the novel stand out all the more strikingly. On the story: from the first pages, the narrative -- of an all-female 12th expedition to a mysterious "Area X" after 11 previous and mostly catastrophic expeditions -- is driven by a compulsion, a both scientific and inescapably personal curiosity to answer the question of: what lies at the tower's base? This tower, which is not even supposed to be here, which does not appear on any map or in any record of "Area X"? This curiosity grows further into fear-yet-we-must-see territory as the first foray into the tower reveals strange words written, glowing, breathing, alive? on the walls of the tower, heading down. We find the mysteries of Area X and "The Southern Reach" growing deeper and broader both down into and in the surrounding, increasingly surreal landscape beyond the tower, setting up and leading naturally into further explorations in the successive books, but the biologist's journal stands alone as a completed arc, a completed story of inquiry, discovery, and transformation. It is a fantastic book and audiobook, highly recommended. But don't just take it from me. Dave's already reviewed the audiobook as well, saying: "It’s as if The Company from Alien sent The Dharma Initiative into the Mountains of Madness." Next, take a peek at some of the international covers:

Posted in Release Week, Uncategorized | Tagged allen steele, annihilation, carolyn mccormick, christopher golden, clay and susan griffith, dark duets, james marsters, jc hutchins, jeff vandermeer, metatropolis, the 33, the kingmakers, the southern reach, v-s day, vampire empire

Review: Annihilation

Posted on 2014-02-07 at 06:25 by Dave

Annihilation (Book 1 in the Southern Reach trilogy) by Jeff VanderMeer, Read by Carolyn McCormick Length: 6 hours

It’s  a simple, classic set-up: A group of explorers head out on an expedition to the mysterious Area X. They have gone through rigorous training that strips much of their identity in hopes of generating unbiased field reports. Instead, they are referred to simply by their scientific professions: Psychologist, Anthropologist, Surveyor, and Biologist. There was a Linguist too, but something happened to her. They are the twelfth expedition. Some of the prior expeditions have been successful. Others have ended in the death of every member on the team. Pretty soon, this latest expedition comes across something that’s either a tunnel or a tower - something that wasn’t on the maps in their briefings. There is, of course, something very wrong about this tower tunnel. Not long after exploring it, things start to go very wrong for the twelfth expedition.

I’d say the fun starts here, but really - the terrifying fun starts pretty much right away. The expedition is out of its depth from the very first page - before they cross over the border into Area X. It quickly becomes clear that nothing about the expedition or Area X are as these scientists have been led to believe.

It’s a simple, classic set-up, but it’s written by Jeff VanderMeer, so things are a unique level of intensely, wonderfully, WTFery weird. VanderMeer is simply an incredible writer, his prose popping like mushroom spores in your ears as he leads you in a delightful, dangerous daze across the mysterious, unexplainable landscape of Area X. It’s filled with invisible boundaries, spooky doppelgangers, strange creatures, and unexplainable events. It’s a primal story of  coming to grips with a place impossible to understand - a place just as strange as ourselves. For all its weirdness, it’s incredibly accessible, and never dull.

Carolyn McCormick was the narrator of the Hunger Games trilogy, and she does very strong work here. The story is told from the journal entries of the Biologist, and McCormick does an excellent job of coming across as a seemingly detached scientist on assignment, but secretly luring you in with just the right hint of inflections that cut beneath the surface, exposing you to a surprising amount of emotion: fear, love, longing, and the struggle for individuality.

Annihilation is my new addiction. It’s as if The Company from Alien sent The Dharma Initiative into the Mountains of Madness. It’s an expedition into the bizarre, and I can’t wait to try and find my way back to the border.

Posted in reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged annihilation, carolyn mccormick, jeff vandermeer, kaleidoscope of wtfery, southern reach trilogy

An Interview with Ellen Kushner on Riverside's Scholars, Swordsmen, and Neil Gaiman Presents

Posted on 2014-02-05 at 21:04 by Dave

If I was going to pick an audiobook that I listened to last year as my favorite listen, regardless of when it came out, I'm pretty sure my choice would be Ellen Kushner's The Privilege of the Sword (Review). It was thrilling, fun, and had so much to think about regarding gender roles in society. And the performances were a pure delight. I can't wait to listen to it again! Kushner is the author of three novels in the Riverside world: Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword, and The Fall of the Kings, all of them in audio thanks to the wonderful Neil Gaiman Presents. Kushner was gracious enough to let me interview her about all things Riverside, Neil Gaiman Presents, and more! I hope you enjoy reading it!

Dave Thompson: First off, you know I live very close to Riverside, right? It's unfortunately not quite like the Riverside in your books!

Ellen Kushner: Riverside, California?  To be honest, first I heard of it was a few years ago, when a fan sent me a photo of a T-shirt from there that said:  HOMICIDE SUICIDE RIVERSIDE - thought it was pretty applicable for Swordspoint, too!  So then someone actually made one that said HOMICIDE SUICIDE REGICIDE - RIVERSIDE!  for The Fall of the Kings.

In 1987, Swordspoint came out. About 25 years later, Neil Gaiman picked it up for his audiobook line Neil Gaiman Presents, and it seems like a pretty resounding second success. Can you talk a little bit about the trip from there to here, and particularly the success and reception of the audiobook?

It all started with Sue Zizza of SueMedia productions, who directed and produced our musical radio drama The Witches of Lublin for public radio in 2011.  She asked if my books were on audio, and when I said no, she invited me to read them myself!  Sue is a world-renowned radio drama producer, and we determined to throw in some of those values as well.  Gaiman & Audible/ACX had just announced the NGP line, and we went to them to ask if they'd be interested.  Neil is an old friend, as well as a fan of the books, and he was delighted to get us on board for the initial series launch.

I was plunged headfirst into a whole new world:  Audiobooks are very different from stage acting, and even from radio.  They require a certain kind of vocal - and focal - stamina that was new for me.  When Sue started bringing in friends of hers who also happened to be huge award-winning Audie talents, I got to see how it's really done.  And I was deeply involved in the post-production choices we made, as well; Sue and engineer David Shinn really bent over backwards to try to bring my aural "vision" to life in each book.

I was very fortunate to have Neil Gaiman telling the world that the Swordspoint audiobook existed!  I know that made a huge difference in its reception as we celebrated the book's 25th Anniversary.  The buzz around that brought me many new readers.  And I worked really hard to get the word out to the existing fans.  I mean:  Who doesn't want to hear the author read her own work, when she promises you that it's as close as she can come to replicating the voices in her head?  But also, it's always been underground cult classic - and this gave people who already knew about it a chance to tell their friends, "See?  This is what I'm talking about!"

So Swordspoint sold very well - but when it won an Audie, to my surprise it was TPOTS sales that went through the roof:  I  guess people who liked the first book went and found the sequel had come out by then.  That was kind of hilarious - in a good way.

It took you a while to come back to Riverside. The Fall of the Kings was first published in 2002. Why the delay, and what was it like to revisit Riverside?

Posted in Interviews | Tagged ellen datlow, neil gaiman presents, swordspoint

Whispersync Daily Deal: The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell and Angelfall by Susan Ee

Posted on 2014-02-05 at 16:31 by Sam

Wednesday, February 5, 2014: While most of (if not all) the 24 deals I posted Monday are still ongoing, Wednesday brings another explicitly “one day only!” Whispersync Daily Deal, The Rise of Renegade X: Renegade X, Book 1 by Chelsea M. Campbell, narrated by Phillip Russell Newman. The Kindle edition is on sale for $1.99, and the title offers a $2.99 upgrade to the Audible edition. “Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she’s been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father’s too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he’s not a hero in any way, or else he’s stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first. To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad’s “flying lessons” that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city—despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights—thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she’s his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.”

Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged angelfall, chelsea m campbell, renegade x, rise of renegade x, susan ee

Whispersync Daily? Deals: Miserere by Teresa Frohock and Three by Jay Posey

Posted on 2014-02-03 at 21:39 by Sam

Monday, February 3, 2014: While not on the official “Kindle Daily Deal” listings, a massive list of “under $3.99” ebook titles finds a long list of titles to check out. I’ll focus on two recommended listens that I don’t think I’ve mentioned before in Whispersync terms:

Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock, narrated by Eileen Stevens for Audible Frontiers is on sale today (and perhaps longer?) for $2.99 on Kindle, with a $3.99 Whispersync for Voice upgrade to the Audible edition. Called “Seriously good, edgy fantasy” and “a thoughtful fantasy for the over 30 crowd” by early audiobook reviewers, Frohock’s debut novel also received a starred review from Library Journal: “With richly developed, complex characters and a talent for portraying the horrific nature of evil, the author relates a compelling tale of faith rediscovered, trust regained, and hope reawakened.” Here’s the book description: “Exiled exorcist Lucian Negru deserted his lover in Hell in exchange for saving his sister Catarina’s soul, but Catarina doesn’t want salvation. She wants Lucian to help her fulfill her dark covenant with the Fallen Angels by using his power to open the Hell Gates. Catarina intends to lead the Fallen’s hordes out of Hell and into the parallel dimension of Woerld, Heaven’s frontline of defense between Earth and Hell. When Lucian refuses to help his sister, she imprisons and cripples him, but Lucian learns that Rachael, the lover he betrayed and abandoned in Hell, is dying from a demonic possession. Determined to rescue Rachael from the demon he unleashed on her soul, Lucian flees his sister, but Catarina’s wrath isn’t so easy to escape.”

The second is Three (Legends of the Duskwalker) by Jay Posey, narrated by Luke Daniels, available for $1.99 Kindle plus $3.49 Whispersync for Voice upgrade to the Audible edition. “The world has collapsed, and there are no heroes any more.His name is Three, a travelling gun for hire in a dying world. He has no allegiances, no family, no ties.Against his better judgment, he accepts the mantle of protector to a sick woman on the run, and her young son. Together they set out across the plains in search of a mythic oasis, attempting to survive the forces that pursue them, and the creatures of the dark.In these dark times, a hero may yet arise.”

Again as they’re not on the “Daily Deals” list I don’t know how long some of these will last, or if they’re indeed just “regularly sale priced” going forward; anyway, SFSignal’s list of 330 science fiction, fantasy, and horror ebook titles under $3.99 includes a sizable list of Whispersync for Voice titles with sizable discounts, most of which are listed here along with Kindle + Audible prices:

• Empire State by Adam Christopher (Angry Robot) -- $1.99 + $3.49
• Female Science Fiction Writer by Amy Sterling Casil (Book View Cafe) -- $3.99 + $1.99
• Technomancer (Unspeakable Things: Book One) by B.V. Larson (47North) -- $2.99 + $1.99
• The Assassin’s Curse (Strange Chemistry) by Cassandra Rose Clarke (Strange Chemistry) -- $1.39 + $3.49
• Under the Empyrean Sky (The Heartland Trilogy) by Chuck Wendig (Skyscape) -- $3.99 + $1.99
• Embedded (Angry Robot) by Dan Abnett (Angry Robot) -- $1.99 + $3.49
• Osiris: Book One of the Osiris Project by E.J. Swift (Night Shade Books) -- $2.99 + $4.49
• Permutation City by Greg Egan (Greg Egan) -- $2.99 + $1.99
• Blackwood (Strange Chemistry) by Gwenda Bond (Strange Chemistry) -- $1.99 + $3.49
• Zoo City by Lauren Beukes (Angry Robot) -- $1.99 + $3.49
• Slam by Lewis Shiner (Subterranean Press) -- $2.99 + $2.99
• vN by Madeline Ashby (Angry Robot) -- $1.99 + $2.99
• Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer (Feiwel & Friends) -- $2.99 + $3.95
• Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence) by Max Gladstone (Tor Books) -- $2.99 + $4.49
• The Far Time Incident (The Incident Series, #1) by Neve Maslakovic (47North) -- $3.99 + $1.99
• The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes (47North) -- $3.99 + $1.99
• The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp (Angry Robot) -- $1.99 + $3.49
• The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston (Thomas Dunne Books) -- $2.99 + $3.99
• Nexus by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) -- $1.99 + $3.49
• Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders) by Robin Hobb (Spectra) -- $3.79 + $3.99
• The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu (Angry Robot) -- $1.99 + $3.49
• The Emperor’s Knife: Book One of The Tower and Knife Trilogy by Mazarkis Williams -- $3.93 + $2.99

Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged angry robot, audible frontiers, eileen stevens, jay posey, luke daniels, night shade books, teresa frohock, three

Whispersync Daily Deal: Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig, narrated by Emily Beresford

Posted on 2014-02-01 at 13:29 by Sam

Saturday, February 1, 2014: Today brings Chuck Wendig’s Blackbirds to the Kindle Daily Deal list at $1.99, with a $0.99 Whispersync for Voice upgrade to the Audible edition, read by Emily Beresford for Angry Robot on Brilliance Audio. It’s the first of his “Miriam Black” books (followed by Mockingbird and The Cormorant) and I’ve been looking for just this kind of excuse to pick up book one:

“Miriam Black knows when you will die. Still in her early twenties, she’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. But when Miriam hitches a ride with truck driver Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be gruesomely murdered while he calls her name. Miriam has given up trying to save people; that only makes their deaths happen. But Louis will die because he met her, and she will be the next victim. No matter what she does she can’t save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to try.”

Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged angry robot on brilliance audio, blackbirds, chuck wendig, emily beresford, miriam black

Review: Hide Me Among the Graves

Posted on 2014-01-31 at 06:01 by Dave

Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers, Read by Fiona Hardingham Length: 17 hours, 26 minutes

What do you want from a sequel? Comfort? More of the same? Or simply a continuation? A further exploration that goes somewhere different? There isn’t one right or wrong answer. Sometimes it’s one thing, sometimes it’s something else, sometimes it’s a mixture. Tim Powers’ Hide Me Among the Graves falls into the latter category - there are similarities to its predecessor, but it is also very much its own book.

You should know upfront that Tim Powers’ The Stress of Her Regard is one of (if not my all time) favorite vampire books of all time. It was one of the first things I reviewed here, and it’s unlike any other vampire story I’d ever read. What was terrifying about it wasn’t just the inhuman vampires (though they were), but the way it examined the notions of the muse, as well as success and the arts. It remains to this day one of the most frightening books I’ve read.

Hide Me Among the Graves includes vampires, and some minor characters return, but it’s much more of a dark fantasy adventure than it is dark fantasy horror. It’s Doctor Sleep to The Shining. There is plenty of spookiness afoot in séances, ghosts cursed to swim the Thames, and spiritualism. But it never achieves the shocking horror and awful lusts of The Stress of Her Regard. It’s almost like the second half of Dracula, where Van Helsing organizes Jonathan Harker, Dr. Seward, and the rest of the gang to go a-vampire-hunting. There’s danger, but it’s matched with humor and excitement.

It also features much more of an ensemble. Where the first book held a relatively tight focus on Michael Crawford (with occasional dalliances into Percy Shelley), the net here is cast much broader. Happily, the ratio of male/female heroes is much more even, which is good. One of the main issues with The Stress of Her Regard is that Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) had so little to do, and was pushed to the side for her husband and friends. This time out, we get the poet Christina Rosetti, street smart former prostitute Adelaide McKee, and young Johanna. They’re joined by veterinarian John Crawford, poet Dante Gabriel Rosetti, and elderly former explorer and adventurer Edward Trelawney.  They’re all very different from each other, and due to some of the conflict that arises, the book is surprisingly quite a bit funnier. But that doesn’t make this book a comedy by any stretch. There’s an unsettling scene early on when teenaged Christina’s father essentially forces her to take one of the demonic statues, sacrificing her to save himself. Many of the characters suffer hellish graveyard sequences and haunted seas. But it’s not as disturbing or challenging a novel as The Stress of Her Regard.

Simon Vance is one of my favorite readers in the business, so I was sad he didn’t return here. However, Fiona Hardingham’s narration was nothing short of excellent. This was no small task, as she had to work to differentiate the various characters – who were often in the same place together, or whose narratives jumped from one to the other. McKee in particular was a lot of fun to listen to, as was her salty old-dog take on Trelawney (and when the two of them were playing off each other, it was listening bliss). The rest of the characters felt not only like individuals, but the protagonists of their own stories under Hardingham’s voice. It’s the first time I’ve listened to Hardingham narrate, but her voice was easy to settle into hearing, and I hope to hear much more of her work.

All in all, Hide Me Among the Graves is a welcome return to Powers’ dark, mysterious world of vampires, art, and the muse. I’d be happy to go back again if Powers found himself inspired to keep us up late at night again.

Posted in reviews | Tagged fiona hardingham, hide me among the graves, tim powers, vampires

The Kitschies Finalists Announced

Posted on 2014-01-31 at 02:59 by Sam

Via SF Signal, the finalists for the 2013 Kitschies have been announced. The UK-based awards categories include the Golden Tentacle for best debut, the Red Tentacle for best novel, and the Inky Tentacle for best cover art, with the addition of some special mentions. The awards offer a fantastic and unique perspective on books, carving out a highly-curated sensibility of intelligent speculative fiction: "The Kitschies, presented by The Kraken Rum, reward the year's most progressive, intelligent and entertaining works that contain elements of the speculative or fantastic. The prize is now entering its fifth year. This year's finalists are selected from a record 234 submissions, from over fifty publishers and imprints."

Below, I'll link to the US audiobook editions if they exist and offer a bit of commentary:

The Red Tentacle (Novel), selected by Kate Griffin, Nick Harkaway, Will Hill, Anab Jain and Annabel Wright:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged a calculated life, a tale for the time being, ancillary justice, ann leckie, anne charnock, bleeding edge, mr penumbra's 24-hour bookstore, nexus, ramez naam, robin sloan, ruth ozeki, the kitschies, thomas pynchon

Release Week: One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Secret of Magic, Red Rising, Hang Wire, Dominion, Love Star, The Crane Wife, Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis, and Janis Ian's Stars

Posted on 2014-01-29 at 21:44 by Sam

JANUARY 22-28, 2014: Another huge week of releases, from the old and long missing (One Hundred Years of Solitude and Xenogenesis), to the new (The Secret of Magic, Red Rising, and Hang Wire), to alternate history and other bits around the edges, to a fantastic new multi-voice production of Janis Ian's Stars anthology. Also out this week is Lord of All Things translated from the prize-winning German edition, a highly anticipated YA sequel in Megan Shepherd's Her Dark Curiosity, the latest book in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series, and a four of the fiction novels of the late Iain Banks. As usual the "Seen But Not Heard" list has a few items of note as well, with James Smythe's The Echo and James Cambias' A Darkling Sea among the latest added to the "missing in audio" lists. But! Some fantastic news as well: a recent Tantor photoset teasing their upcoming February titles includes both Ted Chiang's collection Stories of Your Life and Others and the intruguing Christopher Golden anthology Dark Duets; Michael J. Sullivan is hosting an Unfettered audiobook giveaway; the Recorded Books audiobook Humble Bundle has been expanded by three books, including Grace Krilanovich's The Orange Eats Creeps and Charles Portis' True Grit; and Jeff VanderMeer's giveaway of five copies of Annihilation continues as well. And! Out today, and therefore more properly fodder for next week's already crowded slate, is Clay and Susan Griffith's The Kingmakers, book 3 in their Vampire Empire trilogy. Read by James Marsters for Buzzy Multimedia, it's a title I was able to listen to just a bit early, and so expect to see more about that from me in short order. Enjoy!

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, narrated by John Lee for Blackstone Audio brings one of the seminal works of magical realism to audio. It is a bold choice to cast the multiple-award-winning -- yet very British -- Lee, whom I have personally enjoyed immensely on such works as China Mieville's Perdido Street Station and Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, for this very Latin American work, as Blackstone has recently cast Armando Durán, Roxanne Hernandez, Marcelo Tubert, and Thom Rivera for other recent productions of the Colombian author's works. But Lee has shown himself quite up to the task of taking us into the world of the Buendía family. To quote Wikipedia for once instead of the book copy: "One Hundred Years of Solitude is a 1967 novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founds the town of Macondo, the metaphoric Colombia. The widely acclaimed book, considered by many to be the author's masterpiece, was first published in Spanish in 1967, and subsequently has been translated into thirty-seven languages and has sold more than 20 million copies. The magic realist style and thematic substance of One Hundred Years of Solitude established it as an important, representative novel of the literary Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s, that was stylistically influenced by Modernism (European and North American), and the Cuban Vanguardia (Vanguard) literary movement."

Out last week in print and ebook and thus only briefly bemoaned for its short stay on the "missing in audio" list is The Secret of Magic By Deborah Johnson, Narrated By Peter Francis James for Penguin Audio. "In 1946, a young female attorney from New York City attempts the impossible: attaining justice for a black man in the Deep South. Regina Robichard works for Thurgood Marshall, who receives an unusual letter asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a returning black war hero. It is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the most reclusive author in the country. As a child, Regina was captivated by Calhoun's The Secret of Magic, a novel in which white and black children played together in a magical forest. Once down in Mississippi, Regina finds that nothing in the South is as it seems. She must navigate the muddy waters of racism, relationships, and her own tragic past." The review in Booklist further adds to my interest: "What she discovers are parallels between life in Revere and Calhoun’s book. How much of the book is real, and how does it connect to the murder?" Now, is this "really" a magical realism novel? Or is someone trying to "trick" you into reading mimetic fiction? Does it matter? Why? I'm quite curious myself...

Posted in Release Week | Tagged adam christopher, andri snaer magnason, christopher kipiniak, cj sansom, daniel weyman, deborah johnson, dominion, gabriel garcia marquez, hang wire, janis ian, john lee, lovestar, luke daniels, octavia butler, one hundred years of solitude, patrick ness, pierce brown, red rising, stars, the crane wife, the secret of magic, tim gerard reynolds, xenogenesis