Received: May 2013

Posted on 2013-06-07 at 18:49 by Sam

Another quiet month in the received column, as for the most part I still have a good backlog in the to-listen and to-review piles already. Still, there were a few things we couldn’t resist asking for:

1. HACHETTE AUDIO: The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks; and Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan (Dave’s current listen as of this posting):

2. HARPER AUDIO: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, read by George Guidall — this one was wonderful, a magical delight of a book and audiobook:

3. MACMILLAN AUDIO: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore: a novel by Robin Sloan, read by Ari Fliakos — one of my biggest “man, I wish I’d found time to listen to that” titles from 2012:

Posted in received

Release Week: The Shining Girls, Liminal States, Shattered Pillars, Siege and Storm, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, The Wall, The Constantine Affliction, Clockwork Fairy Tales, Bullettime, The Choir Boats, and more

Posted on 2013-06-06 at 05:06 by Sam

MAY 29-JUNE 4, 2013: I really, really should have posted a “Release Midweek” this weekend, as I hardly know where to start in recapping this first release week in June. Do  I highlight the baker’s dozen of Audible productions of ChiZine titles from last Wednesday, highlighted for me by Nick Mamatas’ Bullettime and Daniel Rabuzzi’s The Choir Boats? Do I focus instead on the concurrent new releases, and if so do I go with adult novels, young adult, anthologies, or maybe even a non-genre pick? Or do I highlight other books from 2012 and earlier (The Wall, first published in German in the 1960s) now in audio? Even nudging, barely, Stephen King’s new short novel Joyland, off the list? Decisions are hard; let’s pick ‘em all:

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

The Shining Girls: A Novel by Lauren Beukes, narrated by Khristine Hvam, Peter Ganim, Jay Snyder, Joshua Boone, Dani Cervone, and Jenna Hellmuth for Hachette Audio, out concurrent with the US print/ebook release from Mulholland. Out both in print and audio a bit earlier this year in the UK, this is an all-new audiobook for the US market with a full cast to represent the various point of view characters, primarily Ganim (as a serial killer in the possession of a time traveling house), Hvam (as Kirby, the “Shining Girl” that got away), and Snyder (a Chicago journalist, formerly homicide, currently at the sports desk). Beukes was raw energy in her first novel Moxyland, produced a an absolutely fantastic sophomore book in Zoo City, and here is really establishing a sense of mastery and control over her craft, along with taking several risks along the way — chapters dancing about through timelines, present tense across multiple points of view, and, as she writes in her Big Idea post, potentially disturbing levels of violence. Early reviews are in from Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing and D. Harlan Wilson at the LA Review of Books; and there’s a nearly simultaneously announced TV adaptation by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way. It’s a book I’ve had in my sights all year and I’m settling in for an enjoyable rest of the listen.

Liminal States by Zach Parsons, narrated by James Patrick Cronin for Audible, Inc. Published last year by Citadel Press (Kensington), it’s been one I’ve been hoping will come to audio for a while: “Beginning in 1874, with a blood-soaked western story of revenge, Liminal States follows a trio of characters through a 1950s noir detective story and 21st-century sci-fi horror. Their paths are tragically intertwined and their choices have far-reaching consequences for the course of American history.” This is SomethingAwful.com editor Parsons’ debut novel, glowingly reviewed by Nick Sharps for SFSignal as “Audacious, genre-bending science fiction epic. Parsons successfully writes in the style of three unique genres and weaves together multiple narratives to form a stunning tour de force unlike any you have ever experienced.”

Next up are a pair of second books in fantasy series, starting with: Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear, narrated by Celeste Ciulla for Recorded Books. Out in ebook and hardcover earlier this year from Tor: “A winner of multiple Hugo Awards and a Locus Award, Elizabeth Bear crafts mesmerizing tales of science fiction and fantasy. The second novel in her Eternal Sky trilogy, Shattered Pillars continues the epic saga of politics, war, and magic that began with Range of Ghosts. Temur the exiled heir and Sarmarkar the Tsarepheth wizard must gather all their strength to fight the dark forces determined to conquer every great empire along the Celedon Road.”

Second is my young adult pick of the week, Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo, narrated by Lauren Fortgang for Audible Inc. This is the second book in Bardugo’s Grisha series, concurrent with the print/ebook from Henry Holt, succeeding last year’s Shadow and Bone (which happens to be on sale for $7.95 at the moment). Here: “Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.”

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, read by Orlagh Cassidy for Penguin Audio concurrent with the hardcover and ebook release; it’s my (token?) non-genre pick this week. “Meet the Cooke family: Mother and Dad, brother Lowell, sister Fern, and our narrator, Rosemary, who begins her story in the middle. She has her reasons. ‘I spent the first eighteen years of my life defined by this one fact: that I was raised with a chimpanzee.‘”

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer, narrated by Kathe Mazur for Blackstone Audio, brings to audio this groundbreaking 1960s German-language sf novel from Austria, first published in English in 1990, and very recently adapted into a feature film. “‘I can allow myself to write the truth; all the people for whom I have lied throughout my life are dead…’ writes the heroine of Marlen Haushofer’s The Wall, a quite ordinary, unnamed middle-aged woman who awakens to find she is the last living human being. Surmising her solitude is the result of a military experiment gone awry, she begins the terrifying work of not only survival but also self-renewal. The Wall is at once a simple and moving journal - with talk of potatoes and beans, of hoping for a calf, of counting matches, of forgetting the taste of sugar and the use of one’s name - and a disturbing meditation on 20th-century history.”

Next up are a pair of clockwork books, starting with: The Constantine Affliction: A Pimm and Skye Adventure, Book 1 by T. Aaron Payton, narrated by John Lee for Audible Frontiers. “T. Aaron Payton” is a new pseudonym for Tim Pratt’s historical fantasy, published last year. Ever since I read the first chapters, I’ve hoped this would come to audio, and here it is from John Lee no less. “It is 1864, and London is a city in transition. The Constantine Affliction - a strange malady that kills some of its victims and physically transforms others into the opposite sex - has spread scandal and upheaval throughout society. Scientific marvels and disasters, such as clockwork courtesans, the alchemical fires of Whitechapel, electric carriages, and acidic monsters lurking in the Thames, have forever altered the face of the city.”

Clockwork Fairy Tales: A Collection of Steampunk Fairy Tales edited by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett, narrated by Anne Flosnik, Kaleo Griffith, Robertson Dean, and John Lee for Tantor Audio, out concurrent with the print/ebook release Roc, with original fairy tale-inspired stories from K.W. Jeter, Paul Di Filippo, Jay Lake, and Kat Richardson, among others. The narration team is an all-star cast of my favorites.

All right, here’s the deluge from last Wednesday, a pile of Audible Inc. productions of ChiZine Press books, many from last year but others a bit earlier. It’s hard to focus on just two of them, but I’ll start with Bullettime by Nick Mamatas, narrated by Brandon Massey. “David Holbrook is a scrawny kid, the victim of bullies, and the neglected son of insane parents. David Holbrook is the Kallis Episkopos, a vicious murderer turned imprisoned leader of a death cult dedicated to Eris, the Hellenic goddess of discord. David Holbrook never killed anyone, and lives a lonely and luckless existence with his aging mother in a tumbledown New Jersey town. Caught between finger and trigger, David is given three chances to decide his fate as he is compelled to live and relive all his potential existences, guided only by the dark wisdom found in a bottle of cough syrup. From the author of the instant cult classic Move Under Ground comes a fantasy of blood, lust, destiny, school shootings, and the chance to change your future.”

The second ChiZine title (of well more than a dozen, see the Audible Inc. “also out this week” listings below) I want to highlight is The Choir Boats: Longing for Yount, Book 1 By Daniel A. Rabuzzi, Narrated By Kieron Elliot (Book 2, The Indigo Pheasant: Longing for Yount, Book 2, is coming June 12). “London, 1812 - Yount, Year of the Owl. What would you give to make good on the sins of your past? For merchant Barnabas McDoon, the answer is: everything.When emissaries from a world called Yount offer Barnabas a chance to redeem himself, he accepts their price to voyage to Yount with the key that only he can use to unlock the door to their prison. But bleak forces seek to stop him: Yount’s jailer, a once-human wizard who craves his own salvation, kidnaps Barnabas’s nephew. A fallen angel, a monstrous owl with eyes of fire, will unleash Hell if Yount is freed. And, meanwhile, Barnabas’s niece, Sally, and a mysterious pauper named Maggie seek with dream-songs to wake the sleeping goddess who may be the only hope for Yount and Earth alike.”

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK:

BLACKSTONE AUDIO: Yah-Ko By Jamie Sutliff, Narrated By Jamie Sutliff; Exiles at the Well of Souls By Jack L. Chalker, narrated by Peter Macon; Giants’ Star By James P. Hogan, Narrated By John Pruden; and (Fiction) The Center of the World By Thomas Van Essen, Narrated By Simon Vance, Paul Michael, Cassandra Campbell, Vanessa Benjamin, and Gildart Jackson

AUDIOGO: Doctor Who: Harvest of Time (3rd Doctor Novel) By Alastair Reynolds, Narrated By Geoffrey Beevers (I don’t often remark on the Dr. Who tie-in novels, but one from Alastair Reynolds can get my attention)

PENGUIN AUDIO: Gameboard of the Gods: Age of X, Book 1 By Richelle Mead, Narrated By Emily Shaffer; (Teen) The Apprentices By Maile Meloy, Narrated By Cristin Milioti

SIMON & SCHUSTER AUDIO: Joyland By Stephen King, Narrated By Michael Kelly

TANTOR AUDIO: Heart of Iron: London Steampunk, Book 2 By Bec McMaster, narrated By Alison Larkin; The Rings of Haven: Frontiers Saga, Book 2 By Ryk Brown, Narrated By Jeffrey Kafer; and Heart of Obsidian: Psy-Changeling, Book 12 By Nalini Singh, Narrated By Angela Dawe

SCHOLASTIC AUDIO: Curse of the Ancients: Infinity Ring, Book 4 By Matt de la Pena, Narrated By Dion Graham; (Teen) The Dark Unwinding By Sharon Cameron, narrated By Fiona Hardingham

SHADOW MOUNTAIN: Pillage By Obert Skye, Narrated By E. B. Stevens

JIMCIN RECORDINGS: Favorite Science Fiction Stories: Volume 7 By Walter Miller Jr., Harry Harrison, H. P. Lovecraft, Lester del Rey, Peter Bailey, Jack Eagan, and Mauri Wolf, Narrated By Jim Roberts, Kevin Killavey, Ran Alan Ricard, Christopher Strong, and Emmett Casey

BRILLIANCE AUDIO: The Firebird By Susanna Kearsley, Narrated By Lucy Rayner; and The Totem By David Morrell, Narrated By Danny Campbell

AUDIBLE INC: Swallowing a Donkey’s Eye By Paul Tremblay, Narrated By Casey Jones; Ninja Versus Pirate Featuring Zombies By James Marshall, Narrated By Frederic Basso; The Fecund’s Melancholy Daughter By Brent Hayward, Narrated By Lucinda Gainey (also Filaria, narrated by Evan Greenberg); Picking Up the Ghost By Tone Milazzo, Narrated By Brandon Massey; Katja from the Punk Band By Simon Logan; The Book of Thomas, Volume One: Heaven By Robert Boyczuk, Narrated By Frederic Basso; Remember Why You Fear Me: The Best Dark Fiction of Robert Shearman By Robert Shearman; Westlake Soul By Rio Youers, Narrated By Evan Greenberg; Shoebox Train Wreck By John Mantooth, Narrated By Craig Jessen; Rasputin’s Bastards By David Nickle, Narrated By Ken Kliban; and Janus by John Park, narrated by Thomas Stephen; (Fiction) Busy Monsters: A Novel By William Giraldi, Narrated By Jeff Allin; (Teen) Let the Sky Fall By Shannon Messenger, Narrated By Kristen Leigh, and Nick Podehl; (Teen) The Pearl Wars: Skyship Academy, Book 1 By Nick James, Narrated By Jeffrey Kafer; and (Fiction) The Blood of Heaven by Kent Wascom — “an epic novel about the American frontier in the early days of the nineteenth century”

AUDIBLE FRONTIERS: The Halfling’s Gem: Legend of Drizzt: Icewind Dale Trilogy, Book 3 By R. A. Salvatore, Narrated By Victor Bevine; Steadfast: Elemental Masters, Book 8 By Mercedes Lackey, Narrated By Carmela Corbett; Redoubt: Collegium Chronicles, Book 4 By Mercedes Lackey, Narrated By Nick Podehl; The Valley of Creation: Interstellar Patrol, Book 8 By Edmond Hamilton; The Far Traveler: John Grimes, Book 8 By A. Bertram Chandler; and Season of Shadows: Volume One of The Summerlands By Ellen Foxxe

CHERRY HILL: If Not for the Dawn By Dane St. John, Narrated By David DeBoy

INDIE: The First Imperium: Crimson Worlds, Book 4 By Jay Allan, Narrated By Jeff Bower; The House on the Borderland By William Hope Hodgson, Narrated By Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot; Magnificent Guns of Seneca 6: Guns of Seneca 6 Saga, Book 3 By Bernard Schaffer, Narrated By Cody D. Roberts; March of the Cogsmen: Galvanic Century, Book 1 By Michael Coorlim, Narrated By Tom LaCaille VI; and Heir to the High Queen By Chris Wichtendahl, Narrated By Emily Eldridge

SEEN BUT NOT HEARD:

• Aethersmith by J.S. Morin (Magical Scrivener Press, May 30) — book 2 in epic fantasy Twinborn Trilogy: “War has come to Veydrus.”
• The New York Magician by Jacob Zimmerman (May 30, 2013)
• Anthology: The Grimscribe’s Puppets edited by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (Miskatonic River Press, May 2013) — “all new tales that pay homage to Ligotti and celebrate his eerie and essential nightmares” with stories from Michael Cisco, Nicole Cushing, Jeffrey Thomas, Gemma Files, John Langan, and more
• House of Blades (The Traveler's Gate Trilogy) by Will Wight (Jun 1, 2013)
• Anthology: A Killer Among Demons edited by Craig Bezant (Dark Prints Press, Jun 2, 2013)
• A Lasting Cure for Magic by Michael Jasper (UnWrecked Press, June 3) -- "Picking up two minutes after the shocking and unnerving ending to A Wild Epidemic of Magic, this third book in the Contagious Magic series finds Kelley and Jeroan stranded in Dubuque, Iowa, just after their parents—and all the Sorcerers they met in the past two months—were whisked away by none other than the vengeful Druid."
• The Beautiful Land by Alan Averill (Ace, Jun 4, 2013) — “An exciting debut novel, in the tradition of The Passage. The Beautiful Land is part science fiction, part horror–and, at its core, a love story, between a brilliant young computer genius and the fragile women he has loved since high school. Now, he must bend time and space to save her life, as the world around them descends into apocalyptic madness.”
• The Year of the Storm by Mantooth, John (Jun 4, 2013)
• Abaddon’s Gate (The Expanse) by James S.A. Corey (Orbit, Jun 4, 2013) -- Recorded Books has produced (non-concurrently released) audiobooks of the previous two books, so my guess is this may come later this year in audio
• Casino Infernale by Simon R. Green (Roc, June 4) -- 7th book in a series about "Shaman Bond, aka Eddie Drood"
• Burdens of the Dead by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer (Baen, June 4) -- book 4 in historical fantasy series "Heirs of Alexandria"
• In Thunder Forged: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles (The Fall of Llael Book One) by Ari Marmell (Jun 4, 2013)
• Eight Million Gods by Wen Spencer (Baen, June 4)
• Cobra Slave by Timothy Zahn (Baen, June 4)
• Trail of Dead by Melissa F. Olson (Amazon/47North, June 4) -- second in an urban fantasy series
• The Seven-Petaled Shield by Deborah J. Ross (DAW, June 4)
• Anthology: Aliens: Recent Encounters by Alex Macfarlane (Prime, Jun 4, 2013)
• Fiction: what purpose did i serve in your life by Marie Calloway (Tyrant Books, June 4) — “Marie Calloway’s fiction debut, what purpose did i serve in your life, is both a portrait of American youth and a gamble, a chance taken, in answer to the following: for a young woman, is there such a thing as the soul, a life more than the organs, or is she forever recalled to her body? Marie does not answer this question but instead acts it out through a series of intertwined stories. The result is a fusillade of brutally self-aware and insightful pieces that take on the meaning of sex, art, and, most of all, survival in the age of Internet-based sex work and love that can flame and turn to ash in the space of a tweet.” — no audio news
• Fiction: Taipei by Tao Lin (Vintage, Jun 4)

• The Flames of Shadam Khoreh by Bradley P. Beaulieu (Quillings Literary, June 5) -- “The Lays of Anuskaya is a special series with one of the best concluding volumes in the history of epic fantasy.” —Justin Landon, Staffer’s Book Review
• Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh (Orbit, June 11) — “In the future, love is complicated and death is not necessarily the end. Love Minus Eighty follows several interconnected people in a disquieting vision of romantic life in the century to come.”
• The Skystone: Camulod Chronicles, Book 1 By Jack Whyte, Narrated By Kevin Pariseau for Audible Inc. — Scheduled Release Date: 06-11-13
• THE WINDS OF ALTAIR by Ben Bova, read by Stefan Rudnicki for Blackstone Audio (Available 15 June 13)
• ATTICA by Garry Kilworth, read by Simon Vance for Blackstone Audio (Available 15 June 13)
• CLOAK & SILENCE by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Blackstone Audio, June 17)
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (William Morrow and Harper Audio, Jun 18, 2013)
• Lexicon by Max Barry, read by Heather Corrigan and Zach Appelman for Dreamscape Media (concurrent with hardcover/ebook release from Penguin, June 18) — “An up-all-night thriller for freaks and geeks who want to see their wizards all grown up in the real world and armed to the teeth in a bloody story.” – Kirkus Reviews; as well as blurbs from both Lev (“About as close you can get to the perfect cerebral thriller: searingly smart, ridiculously funny, and fast as hell. Lexicon reads like Elmore Leonard high out of his mind on Snow Crash.”) and Austin Grossman (“I don’t know how you could craft a better weekend read than this novel of international intrigue and weaponized Chomskian linguistics. It’s the perfect mix of philosophical play and shotgun-inflected chase scenes. Like someone let Grant Morrison loose on the Bourne identity franchise.”)
• Sea Change by S.M. Wheeler (Tor, Jun 18) — “Wheeler’s stunning debut is a sophisticated fantasy whose lush descriptions, lurical dialogue, and engaging structure are reminiscent of the very best fairy tales… This profoundly beautifuly evolution of fairy tale elements will have readers eagerly awaiting Wheeler’s next book.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
• Requiem by Ken Scholes (Tor, Jun 18) — “the latest in The Psalms of Isaak series”
• Before the Fall by Francis Knight (Orbit, Jun 18) — book two in a trilogy to be published in its entirety in 2013, starting with (already out) Fade to Black
• The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (Harper, Jun 18, 2013) — sequel to The Long Earth
• Wisp of a Thing by Alex Bledsoe (Tor, Jun 18) — coming to Blackstone Audio read by Stefan Rudnicki, this is book 2 after 2011′s The Hum and the Shiver
• The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn (47North and Brilliance Audio, Jun 18, 2013)
• The Quarry by Iain M. Banks (Little, Brown and Co., June 20, 2013)
• The Adjacent by Christopher Priest (Orion UK, Jun 20, 2013) — no US release news
• Divinity and the Python by Bonnie Randall (Panverse, June 21)
• Invisible Cities By Italo Calvino, Narrated By John Lee for Tantor Audio -- Length: 5 hrs -- Scheduled Release Date: 06-24-13
• Cold Steel (The Spiritwalker Trilogy) by Kate Elliott (Orbit, Jun 25, 2013)
• Blade Reforged (A Fallen Blade Novel) by Kelly McCullough (Ace, Jun 25, 2013)
• The Goliath Stone by Larry Niven and Matthew Joseph Harrington (Tor Books, Jun 25) — “Twenty-five years ago, the Briareus mission took nanomachinery out to divert an Earth-crossing asteroid and bring it back to be mined, only to drop out of contact as soon as it reached its target. The project was shut down and the technology was forcibly suppressed. Now, a much, much larger asteroid is on a collision course with Earth—and the Briareus nanites may be responsible.”
• Hunted: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 6 by Kevin Hearne, narrated by Luke Daniels for Brilliance Audio — Scheduled Release Date: 06/25/13
• A Discourse in Steel by Paul S. Kemp (Angry Robot: 25 June 2013)
• The World of the End by Ofir Touché Gafla (Tor, Jun 25) — “As an epilogist, Ben Mendelssohn appreciates an unexpected ending. But when that denouement is the untimely demise of his beloved wife, Ben is incapable of coping. Marian was more than his life partner; she was the fiber that held together all that he is. And Ben is willing to do anything, even enter the unknown beyond, if it means a chance to be with her again. One bullet to the brain later, Ben is in the Other World, where he discovers a vast and curiously secular existence utterly unlike anything he could have imagined: a realm of sprawling cities where the deceased of every age live an eternal second life, and where forests of family trees are tended by mysterious humans who never lived in the previous world. But Ben cannot find Marian. Desperate for a reunion, he enlists an unconventional afterlife investigator to track her down, little knowing that his search is entangled in events that continue to unfold in the world of the living. It is a search that confronts Ben with one heart-rending shock after another; with the best and worst of human nature; with the resilience and fragility of love; and with truths that will haunt him through eternity.”

• THE INTEGRAL TREES by Larry Niven, read by Tom Weiner for Blackstone Audio (Available 1 July 13)
• Thieves’ Quarry by D.B. Jackson (Tor, July 2) — sequel to Thieftaker
• Neptune’s Brood by Charles Stross (Ace, Jul 2, 2013) — “The year is AD 7000. The human species is extinct—for the fourth time—due to its fragile nature. Krina Alizond-114 is metahuman, descended from the robots that once served humanity. She’s on a journey to the water-world of Shin-Tethys to find her sister Ana. But her trip is interrupted when pirates capture her ship. Their leader, the enigmatic Count Rudi, suspects that there’s more to Krina’s search than meets the eye.”
• Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond (Jul 2, 2013)
• The Thousand Names: Book One of The Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler (Roc Hardcover, Jul 2, 2013) — “Enter an epic fantasy world that echoes with the thunder of muskets and the clang of steel—but where the real battle is against a subtle and sinister magic.”
• Playing Tyler by T L Costa (Strange Chemistry, Jul 2, 2013)
• Anthology: Wastelands II: More Stories of the Apocalypse by John Joseph Adams (Night Shade Books, Jul 2, 2013)
• Anthology: The Lowest Heaven (Jurassic London, July 3) — “17 original science fiction stories inspired by our closest celestial neighbours and published in partnership with the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Features new work from Alastair Reynolds, Sophia McDougall, Kameron Hurley, S. L. Grey, E. J. Swift, Maria Dahvana Headley, James Smythe, Matt Jones and many others.” (limited hardcover release in mid-June)
• The Curiosity: A Novel by Stephen Kiernan (William Morrow, Jul 9, 2013)
• Fiction: This Is How You Fall by Keith Dixon (Thomas and Mercer, Jul 9, 2013) — coming to audio read by Nick Podehl for Brilliance Audio
• North American Lake Monsters: Stories by Nathan Ballingrud (Small Beer Press, July 16)
• Beacons edited by Gregory Norminton (Oneworld Publications, Jul 16, 2013) — “Beacons throws down the gauntlet, challenging best-selling and award-winning authors to imagine where we, and out planet, might be headed and, in imagining, help us transform the way we look at our world and change things for the better. From Joanne Harris’ powerful vision of a near future where ‘outside’ has become a thing of history to Nick Hayes’ beautifully illustrated tale of the bond between man and nature, Beacons sees the coming together of dystopian satire, speculative and historical fiction, metaphorical flights of fancy, quiet tragedy, and farcical comedy in stories that are as various as our possible futures. Provocative, encouraging, and deeply moving, Beacons represents the best of short story writing — and collectively illuminates the immediacy of the ecological problems at hand. All author royalties will go to the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, one of the largest groups of people dedicated to action on climate change and limiting its impact on the world’s poorest people.”
• Witch Wraith: The Dark Legacy of Shannara, Book 3 By Terry Brooks — Scheduled Release Date: 07-16-13
• This Is How You Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death by Matthew Bennardo, David Malki ! and Ryan North (Grand Central, Jul 16, 2013)
• Big Iron: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles (The Fall of Llael) by C.A. Suleiman (Jul 16, 2013)
• Anthology: Carniepunk (Pocket Books, July 30)
• The Dark Man: An Illustrated Poem by Stephen King and Glenn Chadbourne (Cemetery Dance, Jul 30, 2013)
• Anthology: The Mammoth Book of Angels and Demons edited by Paula Guran (Running Press, July 30) — UK edition was published May 16
• Three (Duskwalker Cycle #1) by Jay Posey (Angry Robot, July 31, 2013) — cover reveal and excerpt up at io9
• Anthology: Impossible Monsters edited by Kasey Lansdale (Subterranean Press, July 2013) — “The Lansdale name is legendary in the horror field. Now acclaimed musician and actress Kasey Lansdale follows in her father’s footsteps, making her editing debut with this anthology of monstrously innovative stories. The twelve creatures that stalk the pages of Impossible Monsters spring from the twisted imaginations of a dozen of today’s most noted authors.” This anthology includes Neil Gaiman’s “Click-Clack the Rattlebag” among other tales.
• Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan (Kickstarter, July 2013) — “Ellis Rogers is an ordinary guy who has always done the right things and played by the rules. But like many, his life didn’t turn out as he had planned. Facing a terminal disease, he’s willing to gamble that a cure could exist in the future, and although it is insanely dangerous to try, he really has nothing to lose. There are many books that explore what life might be like many years from now, and they cover the spectrum from the idealized world of the original Star Trek, with its progressive stance on equality and civil rights, to Huxley’s dystopian Brave New World. For years I’ve been fascinated by the observation that perception can make people see the same thing in very different ways. So I created a future, which if I’ve done my job properly, will be seen by some as a utopia and by others as exactly the opposite.”
• Engn by Simon Kewin (December House, July 2013) — “Finn’s childhood in the valley is idyllic, but across the plains lies a threat. Engn is an ever-growing steam-powered fortress, that needs a never ending supply of workers. Generation after generation have been taken away, escorted into its depths by the mysterious and terrifying Ironclads, never to return. The Masters of Engn first take Finn’s sister, then his best friend, Connor. He thinks he, at least, is safe – until the day the ironclads come to haul him away too.”
• Darwen Arkwright and the School of Shadows (Darwen Arkwright #3) by AJ Hartley (Razorbill, August 1)
• The Crown Tower (The Riyria Chronicles #1) by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit, August 3)
• The Emergence of the Digital Humanities by Steven E. Jones (Routledge, Aug 3, 2013)
• Wrath-bearing Tree (A Tournament of Shadows Book Two) by James Enge (Pyr, Aug 6, 2013)
• Emperor of Thorns (The Broken Empire) by Mark Lawrence (Ace, Aug 6, 2013)
• The Companions: The Sundering, Book I by R. A. Salvatore (Aug 6, 2013)
• Kindred and Wings (A Shifted World Novel) by Philippa Ballantine (Pyr, Aug 6, 2013)
• The Third Kingdom by Terry Goodkind (Tor, Aug 6) — direct sequel to The Omen Machine
• Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik (Del Rey, Aug 13, 2013)
• The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara (Doubleday, Dreamscape Media, August 13) — “In 1950, a young doctor, Norton Perina, signs on with the anthropologist Paul Tallent for an expedition to the remote island of Ivu’ivu in search of a rumored lost tribe. They succeed, finding not only that tribe but also a group of forest dwellers they dub “The Dreamers,” who turn out to be fantastically long-lived but progressively more senile. Perina suspects the source of their longevity is a hard-to-find turtle; unable to resist the possibility of eternal life, he kills one and smuggles some meat back to the States. He proves his thesis, earning worldwide fame, but he soon discovers that its miraculous property comes at a terrible price. As things quickly spiral out of his control, his own demons take hold, with devastating consequences.”
• Collection: Celestial Inventories by Steve Rasnic Tem (ChiZine, Aug 15)
• Dust (Silo Saga) by Hugh Howey (Aug 17, 2013) — “WOOL introduced the silo and its inhabitants. SHIFT told the story of their making. DUST will chronicle their undoing. Welcome to the underground.”
• Fiction: Lookaway, Lookaway: A Novel By Wilton Barnhardt, Narrated By Scott Shepherd for Macmillan Audio (concurrent with print/ebook release from St. Martin’s) — Scheduled Release Date: 08-20-13
• RED HORSE by Alex Adams (Blackstone Audio, 20 August) — sequel to White Horse
• The Time of Contempt (The Witcher) by Andrzej Sapkowski (Orbit, Aug 27, 2013)
• Billy Moon: A transcendent Novel Reimagining the Life of Christopher Robin Milne by Douglas Lain (Tor, Aug 27, 2013)
• The Swords of Good Men by Snorri Kristjansson (Jo Fletcher Books, August 2013) — a “Viking fantasy novel” by a new Icelandic author
• Super Stories of Heroes and Villains edited by Claude Lalumiere (Tachyon, August 2013) — Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola, Jonathan Lethem, Cory Doctorow, Kelly Link’s “Origin Story”, Carol Emshwiller, Gene Wolfe, GRRM, …
• The Daylight War: The Demon Cycle, Book 3 by Peter V. Brett (GraphicAudio, August 2013)

• Anthology: Glitter and Mayhem edited by John Klima, Lynne M. Thomas, and Michael Damian Thomas (Apex Books, Sep 1) — “Welcome to Glitter & Mayhem, the most glamorous party in the multiverse. Step behind the velvet rope of these fabulous Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror tales of roller rinks, nightclubs, glam aliens, party monsters, drugs, sex, glitter, and debauchery.”
• Shaman: A novel of the Ice Age by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit, 3 Sep 2013) — UK release date, US date not confirmed for this historical fiction “novel set in the ice age, about the people who made the paintings in the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in southern France, about 32,000 years ago”
• Constellations: A Play by Nick Payne (Faber and Faber Plays, Sep 3, 2013) — already available in Kindle and in the UK — via an interesting review on Tor.com
• The Scroll of Years: A Gaunt and Bone Novel by Chris Willrich (Pyr, September 10) -- fantasy debut novel from the well-published in short f/sf Willrich, in his "Gaunt and Bone" sword and sorcery milieu
• Monsters of the Earth (Books of the Elements #3) by David Drake (Tor, September 2013)
• Channel Zilch by Doug Sharp (Panverse, September 2013) — “Mick Oolfson trashed his astronaut career by stunt-flying a shuttle during re-entry. He’s miserable as a groundling, so when testosterone-surfing geek goddess Heloise Chin offers him an astronaut gig on Channel Zilch, a pirate orbiting reality show, Mick jumps at the chance to return to space, though it means denting his Boy Scout scruples by stealing space shuttle Enterprise from the Smithsonian. CHANNEL ZILCH is a near-future hard science fiction caper with heart and purpose, the first book of The Geek Rapture Project. Book 2, HEL’S BET, will be published by Panverse later in 2013.”
• The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale (Mulholland Books, September 10) — ‘In the throes of being civilized, East Texas is still a wild, feral place. Oil wells spurt liquid money from the ground. But as Jack’s about to find out, blood and redemption rule supreme. In The Thicket, award-winning novelist Joe R. Lansdale lets loose like never before, in a rip-roaring adventure equal parts True Gritand Stand by Me–the perfect introduction to an acclaimed writer whose work has been called “as funny and frightening as anything that could have been dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm–or Mark Twain” (New York Times Book Review).’
• Anthology: Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books, September 11)
• Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest (Tor, Autumn 2013)
• American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett (Recorded Books, Sep 13) — published earlier this year in print/ebook, and perhaps to show up in digital audio a bit earlier (Sep 1)
• The Rose and the Thorn by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit, Sep 17) — Riyria Chronicles #2
• The Falconer by Elizabeth May (Gollanz UK, Sep 19) — I don’t see a US release until 2014 for this much-balyhooed debut fantasy
• Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (Scribner and Simon & Schuster Audio, September 24) — King returns to The Shining
• Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, Sep 24, 2013)
• The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White (Tor, Sep 24)
• Dead Run, The by Adam Mansbach (HarperCollins, Sep 24, 2013)
• Love is the Law by Nick Mamatas (Dark Horse, September 24, 2013)
• Hero by Alethea Kontis (Harcourt Children’s Books, October 1)
• Pandemic by Scott Sigler (Crown, Oct 1, 2013)
• Ghosts Know by Ramsey Campbell (Tor, Oct 1)
• The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3) by Scott Lynch (Spectra, October 8)
• A Dance of Cloaks by David Dalglish (Orbit, Oct 8) — originally self-published, now being re-published by Orbit
• Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff VanderMeer and Jeremy Zerfoss (Abrams Image, Oct 15, 2013) — an audiobook for this doesn’t make sense and so there isn’t one and won’t be one, but definitely a project I’m looking forward to
• Copperhead by Tina Connolly (Tor, October 15, 2013) — follow-on to Ironskin – cover revealed
• Fiendish Schemes by K. W. Jeter (Tor, October 15) — “The long-awaited stand-alone sequel to the seminal novel Infernal Devices by one of the founding fathers of steampunk”
• The Abominable: A Novel by Dan Simmons (Little, Brown and Company, Oct 22, 2013)
• Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone (Tor Books, October 29) — book one is in audio from Blackstone
• The n-Body Problem by Tony Burgess (ChiZine, October 2013) — “Tony Burgess returns to the realm of the zombie”
• The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar (Hodder UK, October 2013) — just announced — “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy meets Watchmen in Tidhar’s The Violent Century, the thoughtful and intensely atmospheric novel about the mystery, and the love story, that determined the course of history itself. The Violent Century is the sweeping drama of a time we know too well; a century of fear and war and hatred and death.  In a world where everyday heroes may become übermenschen, men and women with extraordinary powers, what does it mean to be a hero? To be a human? Would the last hundred years have been that much better if Superman were real? Would they even have been all that different?”
• Collection: Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor (Prime, October 2013)
• Parasite by Mira Grant (Orbit, November 1) — I know nothing about his other than the quite interesting cover…
• Twenty-First Century Science Fiction by David G. Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Tor, Nov 5, 2013)
• Starhawk by Jack McDevitt (Ace Hardcover, Nov 5)
• Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Bach (Orbit, Nov 5)
• Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (Tor, November 12) — book 2 in The Stormlight Archive after The Way of Kings
• Hild: A Novel by Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Nov 12, 2013) — “Since Griffith has won the Tiptree, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards, the Premio Italia, and the Lambda Literary Award six times, you’re well advised to grab this fictionalized portrait of a girl name Hild who grew up in seventh-century Britain and became St. Hilda’s of Whitby. Griffith gives us a determined and uncannily perceptive Hild who seems capable of predicting the future (or at least of human behavior), a trait that puts her in the life-and-death position of being made the king’s seer. The writing itself is uncannily perceptive, with none of the flowery excess of some historical fiction writing, though the detailed narrative runs close to 600 pages. I thought of Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall even before I noted the comparison in the promotion.” — LibraryJournal
• Apparition by Trish J. MacGregor (Tor, Nov 12)
• Watcher of the Dark by Joseph Nassise (Tor, November 19)
• Bloodstone by Gillian Philip (Tor, Nov 19)
• Arcanum by Simon Morden (Orbit, Nov 19) — “A historical fantasy novel of medieval Europe in which the magic that has run the world for centuries is disappearing– and now the gifts of the gods must be replaced with the ingenuity of humanity.”
• The Land Across by Gene Wolfe (Tor, Nov 26)
• Last to Rise by Francis Knight (Orbit, Nov 26) — concluding volume in a new trilogy which started with Knight’s debut Fade to Black in early 2013
• The Irreal Reader: Fiction & Essays from The Cafe Irreal edited by G.S. Evans and Alice Whittenburg (Guide Dog, November 2013)
• Collection: Bleeding Shadows by Joe R. Lansdale (Subterranean, November 2013)
• Anthology: Dangerous Women edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (Tor, Dec 3) — table of contents includes Joe Abercrombie, Lev Grossman, and Pat Cadigan, among others

• Maze by J.M. McDermott (Apex, January 2014)
• Leaving the Sea: Stories by Ben Marcus (Knopf, January 2014)
• The Emperor’s Blades (The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #1) by Brian Stavely (Tor, January 2014) — “follows siblings Valyn, Kaden, and Adare, who are in different parts of the world when they learn about the assassination of their father, the Emperor. All of them are in danger of being the next targets, and all of them are caught in the maelstrom of conspiracy, intrigue, treachery, and magic that sweeps through Staveley’s auspicious debut novel.”
• The Crimson Campaign (The Powder Mage Trilogy, Book 2) by Brian McClellan (Orbit, February 2014)
• The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman (Viking, Early 2014) — book three after The Magicians and The Magician King
• Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2014) — the first of three “Southern Reach” novels being published in 2014 — “For thirty years, Area X has remained mysterious, remote, and concealed by the government as an environmental disaster zone even though it is to all appearances pristine wilderness. For thirty years, too, the secret agency known as the Southern Reach has monitored Area X and sent in expeditions to try to discover the truth. Some expeditions have suffered terrible consequences. Others have reported nothing out of the ordinary. Now, as Area X seems to be changing and perhaps expanding, the next expedition will attempt to succeed where all others have failed. What is happening in Area X? What is the true nature of the invisible border that surrounds it?”
• City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (Crown/Broadway and Recorded Books, April 1, 2014) — “a second-world story of spies, subterfuge, and statesmanship set in a nation of dead gods.”
• Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton, April 2014) — “The Nigerian megacity of Lagos is invaded by aliens, and it nearly consumes itself because of it.”
• The Moon King by Neil Williamson (Newcon, April 2014) — Debut novel: “The story of The Moon King grew out of its setting, the sea-locked city of Glassholm, which is a thinly veneered version of Glasgow, Scotland where I live. Glasgow is a city of mood swings, brilliant with sun and warm sandstone one minute and dour with overcast and rain soaked tarmac the next. Summer days are long and filled with light. The winter months pass mostly in darkness. Living here, your spirit is tied to the city’s mood. As soon as I hooked that almost bipolar sense to the idea of natural cycles, the story blossomed. In Glassholm, the moon never sets and everything, from entropy to the moods of the populace, is affected by its phasing from Full to Dark and back to Full again. I wanted to know what would life be like there, what quirks nature might throw into the mix. And what would happen if it was discovered that the cyclic euphorias and depressions were not natural after all.”
• Immolation (Children, #1) by Ben Peek (Tor UK, Spring 2014) is “set fifteen thousand years after the War of the Gods. The bodies of the gods now lie across the world, slowly dying as men and women awake with strange powers that are derived from their bodies. Ayae, a young cartographer’s apprentice, is attacked and discovers she cannot be harmed by fire. Her new power makes her a target for an army that is marching on her home. With the help of the immortal Zaifyr, she is taught the awful history of ‘cursed’ men and women, coming to grips with her new powers and the enemies they make. The saboteur Bueralan infiltrates the army that is approaching her home to learn its terrible secret. Split between the three points of view, Immolation‘s narrative reaches its conclusion during an epic siege, where Ayae, Zaifyr and Bueralan are forced not just into conflict with those invading, but with those inside the city who wish to do them harm.”
• The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne (Random House/Crown, 2014) — “traces the harrowing twin journeys of two women forced to flee their homes in different times in the near future. The first, Meena, is a Brahmin-caste student whose odyssey takes her from the coastal city of Mumbai toward Djibouti across a futuristic but treacherous bridge that spans the Arabian Sea. The second, Mariama, escapes from slavery as a small child in Mauritania, joining a caravan heading across Saharan Africa toward Ethiopia.”
• Blood and Iron by Jon Sprunk (Pyr, 2014)

Posted in Release Week

Review: NOS4A2

Posted on 2013-06-04 at 05:48 by Dave

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, Read by Kate Mulgrew Length: 19 hours, 42 minutes.

Joe Hill's latest novel might be his most epic horror story yet (Locke & Key excluded) - it's crammed full with a murderous automobile, a punk-rock librarian, a haunting and monstrous villains, and flawed heroes that are utterly human and sympathetic. It's both a coming of age story/loss of innocence story, and a tale of failed parents searching for redemption. I finished listening to it a few weeks back, and it's 20 pretty incredible hours of storytelling, marred by one thread's disappointing conclusion.

Charlie Manx abducts children in his Rolls-Royce Wraith and whisks them away to the fantasy world of Christmasland. Christmasland is like a twisted mix of Pinocchio's Pleasure Island and Narnia under the reign of the White Witch. In Christmasland, it's always Christmas and never anything else, and children are encouraged to ditch all their inhibitions.

Posted in reviews | Tagged joe hill, kate mulgrew, nos4a2

The Shambling Guide to New York City Listen-a-Long: Chapter 5

Posted on 2013-06-04 at 02:46 by Sam

Welcome to the latest installment of The Shambling Guide to New York City Listen-a-Long, covering Chapter 5 of Mur Lafferty’s The Shambling Guide to New York City. As always, before I get into the write-up, a warning, that I’ll repeat each episode, that the discussion here is oh-so-spoilerific, so if that’s a concern, pop over and take the less-than-half-an-hour each to listen to the podcast episodes first. On to…

In the intro this week, Mur recaps the release day fun, from her guest post at John Scalzi’s Whatever to the glowing review from Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing, and of course her own excitement at, hey, her new book is out! On to…

When we last left off, Zoë was fresh off a library visit and a research reading binge into Lovecraft and other writers who may have been, after all, documenting reality, as it turns out. Rather than calling as scheduled, Zoë heads out to Underground Publishing’s offices to give Phil her decision on taking the job in person.

As chapter 5 opens, Zoë catches Phil by surprise by not just showing up — she takes the job. They discuss compensation — we get a bit about the various currencies available — and find that, in the office at least, her safety is “guaranteed” because the rest of the staff know that Phil would punish them, brutally. There are, however, no such guarantees when it comes to field work. Through the discussion of currencies we’re also introduced a bit more to Morgan, a water sprite, who lets Zoë know that “monster” is a pejorative; the correct term is “coterie”.

While her salary is quite nice, Underground Publishing doesn’t exactly offer medical, dental, or a managed 401k plan. So, a phone call to HR for previous job (to extend health insurance via COBRA) reveals some more … eep!! … details of her former boss’ policewoman wife; Zoë hiding in her house as said wife and a few of her closet co-workers stomp around. So, here we have a pretty good source of Zoë’s paranoia: calling 9-1-1 and telling them who you are, and they just hang up on you, might just make you feel a teensy bit unsafe.

The next day, her job search finally over, and her first day of work still a ways away, Zoë times her morning commute from Brooklyn, has breakfast and coffee and lingers at Bakery Under Moonlight, and spies a new poster for the grand opening of a new Chinese restaurant. Feeling up for some field research, and perhaps for some noodles, she finds that it’s definitely a “coterie” venue. And who should walk in and seat herself at Zoë’s table, and welcome herself to Zoë’s lunch, than one Granny Good Mae? We get Granny Good Mae’s zombie hunting and CIA backstory and find out that Zoë really needs a talisman if she wants to survive for very long, out and about amongst the coterie. And also, apparently for Granny Good Mae to become her personal Defense versus the Dark Arts — er, coterie — professor.

Zoë sets in for an evening of wine and research. One of these may be a better decision than the other.

Excerpt: Financial District and Harbor Islands, Places of Note, in which we learn that the Statue of Liberty is actually the sarcophagus of a great French demon, erected as a warning.

So. What did we learn here? We learned about hell notes and blood coins, and the even more nebulous currency of favors; we got to know Morgan; we found out that Zoë’s ex-boss’ wife is, er, the jealous type. We also got some of Granny Good Mae’s backstory, finding out that, indeed, she isn’t just a fairly crazy homeless person. Chapter 6 is coming Thursday — as for me, I didn’t want to wait week to week to find out where this was going, so I picked up the audiobook on Tuesday and, er, am already waiting for the next book. But I will be keeping up the Listen-a-Long series, so keep tuning into the podcast and come on back for the recap right here.

Posted in The Shambling Guide to NYC Listen-a-Long | Tagged mur lafferty

And the Audie goes to...

Posted on 2013-05-31 at 15:32 by Sam

The 2013 Audie Awards have been announced, including Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint (for best Audio Drama), Karen Thompson Walker’s The Age of Miracles (for best Science Fiction), the new Audible production of Claire Danes’ narration of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (for best Fiction), the Neil Gaiman Presents production of Keith Roberts’ Anita (for best Fantasy), and many more.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged audies, ellen kushner, neil gaiman presents, swordspoint

Release Week: Mur Lafferty's The Shambling Guide to New York City, Chuck Wendig's The Blue Blazes, Emma Newman's Any Other Name, and Hugh Howey's Shift

Posted on 2013-05-29 at 18:33 by Sam

MAY 22-28, 2013: It's a mammoth release week to (more or less) close May, ahead of a gigantic release day Wednesday (today) which I'll cover both in a post of its own and of course in a bit lesser detail in the next release week roundup. It's also a particularly big release week for self-published (a.k.a. "indie") titles again, and while Angry Robot on Brilliance Audio snags two of my picks of the week, my top pick is probably no surprise to anyone at this point. In the "seen but not heard" listings it's also quite a bit list, led for me by Richard Dansky's Vaporware, which chronicles an A-list video game that does not want to be canceled.

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Well, I've been covering it all month, following the free weekly podcast with a Listen-a-Long series, and it's finally out in full, as I covered on yesterday's release day news roundup: The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty, read by Lafferty for Hachette Audio, concurrent with the print and ebook release from Orbit Books. This starts a new series The Shambling Guides, with book 2 heading to New Orleans. Here: "A travel writer takes a job with a shady publishing company in New York, only to find that she must write a guide to the city - for the undead! Because of the disaster that was her last job, Zoe is searching for a fresh start as a travel book editor in the tourist-centric New York City. After stumbling across a seemingly perfect position though, Zoe is blocked at every turn because of the one thing she can't take off her resume --- human. Not to be put off by anything -- especially not her blood drinking boss or death goddess coworker -- Zoe delves deep into the monster world. But her job turns deadly when the careful balance between human and monsters starts to crumble -- with Zoe right in the middle." A digital audio title, available at Downpour or Audible or iTunes, and likely other places as well.

The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig, narrated by Patrick Lawlor for Angry Robot on Brilliance Audio. "Meet Mookie Pearl. Criminal underworld? He runs in it. Supernatural underworld? He hunts in it.Nothing stops Mookie when he’s on the job. But when his daughter takes up arms and opposes him, something’s gotta give...."

Also out from Angry Robot on Brilliance Audio this week is Any Other Name: The Split Worlds Series, Book 2 by Emma Newman, narrated by the author. Newman is an experienced narrator, not just on her own work (earlier this year's Between Two Thorns, which starts The Split Worlds series) but also on several Iambik Audio titles. Here: "It’s Downton Abbey with magic, in Bath’s secret mirror city. Cathy has been forced into an arranged marriage with William Iris - a situation that comes with far more strings than even she could have anticipated, especially when she learns of his family’s intentions for them both.Meanwhile, Max and the gargoyle investigate the Agency - a mysterious organization that appears to play by its own twisted rules, none of them favourable to Society. And in Mundanus, Sam has discovered something very peculiar about his wife’s employer - something that could herald disaster for everyone on both sides of the Split Worlds."

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK:

Posted in Release Week | Tagged chuck wendig, emma newman, hugh howey, mur lafferty

The Shambling Guide to New York City Listen-a-Long: Chapters 3 and 4 (and release day coverage!)

Posted on 2013-05-29 at 02:25 by Sam

Welcome to the third installment of The Shambling Guide to New York City Listen-a-Long, covering both Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of Mur Lafferty’s The Shambling Guide to New York City. As usual, first up a recap of some recent news about the book, starting with last Monday’s Orbit Books interview with the author: Mur Lafferty on THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY. But the big news is, of course, as Mur writes on her own blog, that The Shambling Guide to New York City is Out!

The big release-day coverage comes from Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing, where Doctorow writes that “Mur Lafferty is one of the worst-kept secrets in science fiction and fantasy publishing. … There’s love, war, humor and a lot of heart, and by the time it’s done, you know exactly why so many writers have been buzzing about Mur Lafferty for so many years. It’s as strong a debut as I can remember reading, and I can’t wait for the follow-on volumes.” Another high-profile bit of release-day buzz comes from Mur’s guest post on John Scalzi’s Whatever blog, on the Big Idea behind the book, where she writes about its origins as a 4000-word short story for a Katrina benefit project. But! None of these posts seem to get at the fact that, hey, yeah, the book and ebook are out, sure, but the full audiobook is out as well. So, head over to Downpour or Audible or iTunes and get your copy!

As always, before I get into the write-up, a warning, that I’ll repeat each episode, that the discussion here is oh-so-spoilerific, so if that’s a concern, pop over and take the less-than-half-an-hour each to listen to the podcast episodes first. On to…

Chapter two left us on a bit of a cliff-hanger, with Zoë pushing into a derelict below-ground theater entrance behind John, an employee of Underground Publishing. As it turns out, Zoë doesn’t need to push that last “1” on her “9-1-…” emergency phone readiness contingency plan, meeting another employee — sitting alone in a sea of chairs in the empty audience of the theater — and making her way on and then backstage of what still is, actually, a theater, though obviously not in use as one. The dressing rooms backstage, as it turns out, have been repurposed as UP’s offices, and it is into one of these, Phil’s, that Zoë heads for her interview with UP head honcho Phil.

Phil pushes Zoë a bit on her credentials, and after again, and again, warning her that, really, there’s no way she will take the job once she finds out who she’ll be writing the guidebook for — cue a fair bit of fun dramatic irony as, well, we’ve seen the book cover and read the synopsis of the book and so have a pretty solid idea on what’s coming, and Zoë has not —  invites her out to dinner. Zoë, not interested in, er, that kind of dinner with a prospective boss any time soon, makes her feelings pretty clear, but after Phil’s assurances that it’s 100% business, accepts the invitation.

Now… even though these recaps are spoilerific, there are still some fun surprises here in Chapter 3 that I don’t want to spell out in detail. Faced with, well, all manner of zombies and vampires seated and waiting tables at an Italian “hole in the wall” restaurant, Zoë’s mind rationalizes this into something unexpected and, frankly, hilarious. Phil doesn’t give her too long to remain in rationality land, as a particularly spectacularly gruesome dessert is brought out to the guests at another table, Zoë has that “aha, the world is broken” moment that one has when one’s reality turns pear-shaped. Then, as Zoë tries to recover, Phil tries — and only partially succeeds, to his puzzlement — to supernaturally compel Zoë to answer his questions, which tend toward the personal rather than the professional.

After a taxi gets them to Zoë’s apartment in Brooklyn faster than is likely humanly possible, Zoë, still pretty much in shock, is left with the invitation to sleep a day on Phil’s job offer, and is met by new neighbor Arthur, who has just leased an apartment in Zoë’s building.

Chapter 3 ends with an excerpt on “Italy’s Entrails”, obviously the restaurant where Phil and Zoë have just had a glass of wine. Well, Zoë’s was wine. Phil’s was a bit darker a vintage…

The Shambling Guide to New York City: Chapter Four by Mur Lafferty Runtime: 18 minutes

The shorter Chapter 4 sees Zoë reflect on her job prospects and lack of knowledge about monsters, vampires, and zombies, myths and legends. So of course a trip to the library is the order of the day, where she picks up — after a bit of a snarky exchange with a librarian who attempts to divert her to the young adult section for Twilight — some of the works of Lovecraft (which she can barely make herself get through, even reading them not for enjoyment but for research) and a few assorted other books on assorted other monsters.

Meanwhile, the real debate is whether Zoë will take the job. Sure, there’s the danger of being eaten. But, well, it’s also a job, and a very interesting one — can she write travel books for monsters? Wouldn’t it be pretty cool to try it? What else was out there, if vampires and zombies and demons were real? Phil is waiting for her phone call, but she grabs her jacket and heads for the UP offices instead.

The excerpt to end this chapter focuses on Manhattan for business travel, as well as a hivemind of scrying birds so accurate that their territory has become neutral territory.

This time, I’ll give a few brief words on Mur’s narration so far. Mur tends towards the transparent, going for clarity rather than attempting highly characterized voices. She’s experienced and this is her own material, with a brisk pace and spot-on timing. The main thing to come through is Zoë’s inner voice; while this isn’t a first person narrative, it’s very close third, and Zoë is quirky, paranoid, and smart, and some of the best humor so far has been her unvoiced asides.

And, now that it’s out, I finally got my ears on the full audiobook first thing this morning. I’ve already listened to Chapter 5, which is due out on Mur’s podcast later this week. So I should be able to get these Listen-a-Long recaps out in a much more timely fashion from here on out. See you in a few days!

Posted in The Shambling Guide to NYC Listen-a-Long | Tagged mur lafferty

Revisiting the regional digital divide, again

Posted on 2013-05-23 at 02:29 by Sam

It’s been a year since I last turned too much attention to the regional digital divide, and it’s high time to give the bee’s nest another poke.

There’s still! no sign of a US release for China Mieville’s Un Lun Dun, The Scar, or Iron Council, and… well, on and on. We did get, from Tantor Audio, Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant series, narrated wonderfully by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as in the UK edition.

And we also got one of the pair of the Iain M. Banks audiobooks I’d bemoaned lack of access to last year, Use of Weapons, though we still don’t have The Algebraist, Feersum Endjinn, or the sans-”M” Banks’ The Wasp Factory.

But there’s more titles coming out in audio “across the pond” that the US isn’t getting, at least not yet. In late April: The City by Stella Gemmell, narrated by Simon Shepherd for Random House Audio, and to Songs of the Earth by Elspeth Cooper, still not out in audio in the US, I can also add 2012’s Trinity Rising, both out from Orion.

I was set to add Hugh Howey’s recently-UK-released Shift: Wool Trilogy, Book 2, narrated by Peter Brooke to this list, but it is set for a US release next week as Shift Omnibus Edition: Shift 1-3, Silo Saga, read by Tim Gerard Reynolds.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ben aaronovitch, china mieville, elspeth cooper, hugh howey, stella gemmell

Release Week: Will Self's Umbrella, Mark T. Barnes' The Garden of Stones, Dan Krokos' The Planet Thieves, and a free Neil Gaiman short

Posted on 2013-05-22 at 14:25 by Sam

May 15-21, 2013: A bit of a lull after last week's haul, but certainly none the lesser in top-level impact as a long, long hoped-for literary fiction title is here this week in the form of Will Self's Booker-shortlisted Umbrella. But don't worry, sf/f fans, whether "sf" or "f" strikes your fancy there are a few audiobooks to check out this week as well, of course. There's also a particularly strong crop of "indie" releases (see a selection of those in the "also out this week" listings) as well as a few more "mainstream" fiction titles that may pique.

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Umbrella: A Novel by Will Self, narrated by John Lee for Audible Inc. by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic. Published in the UK last year and shortlisted for the Booker, the latest novel from Self was published in the US in January and finally comes to audio. "Moving between Edwardian London and a suburban mental hospital in 1971, Umbrella exposes the 20th century’s technological searchlight as refracted through the dark glass of a long-term mental institution. While making his first tours of the hospital at which he has just begun working, maverick psychiatrist Zachary Busner notices that many of the patients exhibit a strange physical tic: rapid, precise movements that they repeat over and over. One of these patients is Audrey Dearth, an elderly woman born in the slums of West London in 1890. Audrey’s memories of a bygone Edwardian London, her lovers, involvement with early feminist and socialist movements, and, in particular, her time working in an umbrella shop, alternate with Busner’s attempts to treat her condition and bring light to her clouded world. Busner’s investigations into Audrey’s illness lead to discoveries about her family that are shocking and tragic."

Posted in Release Week | Tagged dan krokos, neil gaiman, will self

The Shambling Guide to New York City Listen-a-Long: Chapter 2

Posted on 2013-05-16 at 20:58 by Sam

Welcome to the second installment of The Shambling Guide to New York City Listen-a-Long, covering Chapter 2 of Mur Lafferty’s The Shambling Guide to New York City. First, there’s now a book trailer up, she’ll be appearing on a live chat event via Shindig.com next week, and great reviews keep popping up all over the place — like this starred review from Booklist. Before I get into the write-up: a warning, that I’ll repeat each episode, that the discussion here is oh-so-spoilerific, so if that’s a concern, pop over and take the less-than-half-an-hour to listen to the podcast episode first. On to…

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“200”] Cover art by Jamie McKelvie[/caption]

The Shambling Guide to New York City: Chapter Two by Mur Lafferty Runtime: 24 minutes

The intro here is super brief, listing a couple of things listeners can do to show their support, such as pre-ordering the book of course, subscribing to the podcast, and counting down the three (and counting, it’s already less than two weeks as of this post) weeks until the full book and audiobook release, and detailing two launch parties, one at BaltiCon on Memorial Day weekend and the other a local event at Chapel Hill Comics, which I’ll be covering with a special post in this series. On to the chapter!

When last we left off in Chapter One, Zoë was in search of “tall caloric caffeine bomb” and fresh off being rejected not only as a buyer of strange books on keeping hellhounds, but as even being a job applicant for a job which looked pretty much perfect for her, with new travel guide publisher Underground Publishing.

We take a moment to get a little more backstory on Zoë’s path back “home” to New York City as she makes her way through said city, though she doesn’t have to go far to find “Bakery Under Starlight”, a little café only a few doors down from Mannegishi’s Tricks, the bookstore where the book opens. Things are clearly still a bit strange (in how many coffee shops will you hear “Latte for the son of a demon and a whore!” as orders are ready?) and when Zoë grabs a job posting flyer for Underground Publishing from the café’s corkboard, things get a bit stranger as a man stares at her and, echoing company CEO Phillip Rand from chapter one with “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea for you to pursue.”

It turns out that John Dickens, described as a fat man with sallow skin and limp brown hair, works for Rand in public relations at Underground. After a brief exchange, he encourages Zoë to go ahead and apply and see what happens, which she does, right there, from her BlackBerry.

Things go from strange to interesting, perhaps a bit in the ancient Chinese curse definition of the word, as “Granny Good Mae” comes into the café, an elderly woman who, it appears, the patrons and staff are nearly completely terrified of. Zoë helps her get a cup of tea, and escorts her out of the store, only to find that Granny Good Mae claims to have come to the café explicitly to see how Zoë has “grown up”, implying a previous relationship which is a complete mystery to Zoë.

Returning to her table, Zoë discovers that she’s already received a reply and an offer of an interview from Rand — in less than an hour. John offers to escort her to the company headquarters, which are just around the corner from the café in a refurbished off-Broadway theater. Which, upon examination, looks pretty much exactly like an abandoned, condemned off-Broadway theater, complete with boarded-up doors. After dialing 9-1 and holding her finger over the last 1, she follows John into a “dark hallway” and… that’s the end of Chapter Two, other than the end-of-chapter “Excerpt from The Shambling Guide to New York City”, this one on the nightlife of the Theater District.

And, a brief outtro.

Well, I’m still biased, but I’m also still very pleased. I’ve only read to the end of Chapter Two, and so starting with the end-of-chapter excerpt I’m into new territory in the novel. We’re left with some definite mysteries — exactly how weird is John, and do we need to keep worrying about some of his remarks about now wanting to work with Zoë, and more importantly who and maybe what is Granny Good Mae? — and pretty much exactly a cliffhanger, except the cliff is a boarded-up door, leading into the darkness of a condemned-looking building. So a cliffhanger without the cliff.

But! Chapter Three is already up, so there’s no need to endure the pain of not knowning for long. See you next week!

Posted in The Shambling Guide to NYC Listen-a-Long | Tagged mur lafferty