Dave Reviews: Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

Posted on 2012-11-09 at 17:47 by Dave

Dreadnought, by Cherie Priest Narrated by Kate Reading Length: 13 hours, 24 minutes

War is Hell – Especially for a Nurse

It’s probably important to state right off the bat that I wasn’t a huge fan of Boneshaker. There are several reasons for this, and it should be noted that I read it, and didn’t listen to it, and that may have contributed to my overall feelings. But I like Cherie Priest’s work – in particular, I loved the Eden Moore Southern Gothic Ghost story “Four and Twenty Black Birds” (and if it was available on Audible, I would snatch up that series in its entirety ASAP).

All that to say I came to Dreadnought with some apprehension. So I was thrilled that Priest (and Reading) defied my expectations, and totally rocked me with this book.

There are two keys in play here. First is our protagonist: Nurse Mercy Lynch. I’m not as well read as I’d like to be, but I can’t think of any other SF/F book whose protagonist is a nurse during a war/battlefield. The book opens in a hospital, and closes in another one. It’s set in an alternate history where the American Civil War has lasted over 15 years. While Mercy makes her way across a country fighting against itself, her expertise will be inevitably called upon while everything’s going to hell around her. She’s never far from the wounded and dying soldiers left in the war’s wake. That’s something we don’t see a lot of in genre fiction, and it gives an incredible weight to the violence and action in the story - from her nurse’s perspective, for every great thrilling scene or set piece, Mercy has to deal with the fallout from it all. If bullets fly, her hands will soon be covered in blood because she’s applying pressure to the wounds. I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic at all when I say that Mercy Lynch may be one of my favorite female protagonists.

From a hospital to traveling through a moving battlefield, the first few hours of listening to this are just incredibly intense – really, some of the most intense I’ve heard in a while. That’s not to say Dreadnought isn’t a fun book – it is. But I was just surprised (and pleased) by how much weight the fun packed. This book does not let you look away from the effects of war and violence, and I appreciate it for that.

The second, and perhaps most obvious key, this being an audiobook, is Kate Reading’s incredible reading. I enjoyed it so much, I’m halfway tempted to go back and give Boneshaker another shot. Reading’s reading of Mercy is just absolutely perfect – absolutely nailing the tough, weary nurse’s voice. Her lack of care for social conventions, in particular her profanity around a bunch of men (and sometimes women) who find her to be unladylike, is delightful. And she does solid work with the male characters, specifically Union Captain MacGruder and Texas Ranger Horatio Kornman. Unquestionably, the supporting characters, and their interactions with Mercy, are part of what makes this book so enjoyable.

Yes, there are zombies in this book as well, and I found them far more terrifying in this book. In Boneshaker, they’re usually there – an army of undead rushing after our heroes. In Dreadnought, Priest goes a different route, showing us the horror they’ve wrought well before we actually encounter them, which creates a rising sense of dread throughout the novel.

All in all, this book stunned me in the best way possible, and I hope Priest can continue delivering books in the Clockwork Century of this caliber. Hopefully, Reading will eventually come back to read more of them.

Posted in regular, reviews | Tagged cherie priest, dave thompson, dreadnought, macmillan-audio, review

Sam's listening report: September 2012

Posted on 2012-11-08 at 14:52 by Sam

After dropping to six audiobooks in August, I downsized my listening even further, to the tune of just five in September. (And at that, a bit of a cheat perhaps, considering I'm counting the 1.5-hour podcast of a novella, but hey -- my column, my rules, and it was very enjoyable besides.) The month includes the second half and then some of my Neil Gaiman re-read and Neil Gaiman Presents study, ahead of going to a wonderful storytelling event which featured Gaiman and at which I was entirely too chicken to approach him and tell him how much I'd been enjoying his audiobook selections. Anyway, onto the audiobooks:

REVIEWS: (Standard disclaimer of this being early November and the reviews being much more off-the-cuff than I'd like. But! I am catching up...)

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged ellen kushner, jeff vandermeer, karen thompson walker, light, m john harrison, marbelle, monthly listening report, neil gaiman, neil gaiman presents, podcastle, swordspoint, the age of miracles, the cage, the graveyard book

Release Week: Cooper's The Creative Fire, McDevitt/Resnick's The Cassanda Project, Brandon Sanderson's The Emperor's Soul, Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic, and more

Posted on 2012-11-07 at 15:16 by Sam

November gets off to a big start, with a long list of noteworthy releases, four of which I'll highlight at a little more length, and several more worth checking out as well. (Meanwhile, my "most missing" this fairly busy week is Allen Steele's Apollo's Outcasts, out in hardcover and ebook from Pyr.)

The Creative Fire: Book One of Ruby's Song By Brenda Cooper, Narrated by Yetta Gottesman for Audible Frontiers -- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins. Out in print and ebook from Pyr, it's a book I was very excited to see announced for audio: "Ruby Martin expects to spend her days repairing robots while avoiding the dangerous peacekeeping forces that roam the corridors of the generation ship the Creative Fire. The social structure of the ship is rigidly divided, with Ruby and her friends on the bottom. Then a ship-wide accident gives Ruby a chance to fight for the freedom she craves. Her enemies are numerous, well armed, and knowledgeable. Her weapons are a fabulous voice, a quick mind, and a deep stubbornness. Complicating it all—an unreliable AI and an enigmatic man she met—and kissed—exactly once—who may hold the key to her success. If Ruby can't transform from a rebellious teen to the leader of a revolution, she and all her friends will lose all say in their future. Like the historical Evita Peron, Ruby rises from the dregs of society to hold incredible popularity and power. Her story is about love and lust and need and a thirst for knowledge and influence so deep that it burns."

The Cassandra Project By Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick, Narrated by Brian Holsopple for Audible Frontiers -- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins -- On the heels of another double-blockbuster two-author collaboration, Larry Niven and Gregory Benford's The Bowl of Heaven, "Two science fiction masters—Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick—team up to deliver a classic thriller in which one man uncovers the secret history of the US space program. Early in his career, Jerry Culpepper could never have been accused of being idealistic. Doing public relations—even for politicians—was strictly business...until he was hired as NASA’s public affairs director and discovered a client he could believe in. Proud of the agency’s history and sure of its destiny, he was thrilled to be a part of its future—a bright era of far-reaching space exploration.But public disinterest and budget cuts changed that future. Now, a half century after the first moon landing, Jerry feels like the only one with stars—and unexplored planets and solar systems—in his eyes. Still, Jerry does his job, trying to drum up interest in the legacy of the agency. Then a 50-year-old secret about the Apollo XI mission is revealed, and he finds himself embroiled in the biggest controversy of the twenty-first century, one that will test his ability—and his willingness—to spin the truth about a conspiracy of reality-altering proportions."

The Emperor's Soul By Brandon Sanderson, Narrated by Angela Lin for Recorded Books -- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins -- A second novella for Sanderson's after the even shorter Legion just a bitearlier this year. Here, in print and ebook from Tachyon Publications: "New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson is widely celebrated for his Mistborn Trilogy and contribution to the final three books of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. In The Emperor's Soul, a Forger named Shai can copy and re-create any item by using magic to rewrite its history. After being condemned to death for attempting to steal the emperor's scepter, Shai is given one final chance. She' ll be allowed to live if she can create a new soul for the emperor, who hovers near death."

Practical Magic (1995) By Alice Hoffman, Narrated by Christina Moore for Simon & Schuster Audio -- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins -- "When the beautiful and precocious sisters Sally and Gillian Owens are orphaned at a young age, they are taken to a small Massachusetts town to be raised by their eccentric aunts, who happen to dwell in the darkest, eeriest house in town. As they become more aware of their aunts' mysterious and sometimes frightening powers - and as their own powers begin to surface - the sisters grow determined to escape their strange upbringing by blending into "normal" society."

OUT TUESDAY:

Posted in regular, Release Week | Tagged alice hoffman, brandon sanderson, brenda cooper, forge of darkness, practical magic, release week, steven erikson, the cassandra project, the creative fire

Release Week: A Sudden Outbreak of Magic, Ruins, and a Neil Gaiman gift edition and charity short

Posted on 2012-10-31 at 17:43 by Sam

The last release week in October has a few intriguing new titles, along with a new "gift edition" of Neil Gaiman's Stardust and, as Dave already mentioned, a free short story by Gaiman as well.

A Sudden Outbreak of Magic: Contagious Magic By Michael Jasper, Narrated by Alyson Grauer is the one I've been waiting on the longest. At 8 hrs and 16 mins it is the first book in a series, in which book two is out in print and ebook, and book three is coming soon. I've been following the route of this book from pitch to publication in audio via Audible's ACX: "A Sudden Outbreak of Magic stars Kelley and Jeroan Strickland, twin teenagers whose family just moved to Dubuque, Iowa. One cold morning in November, Kelley gets "infected" by magic after reading aloud from a small leather bound book she finds. She also blows up the family home in the process. Soon Kelley and Jeroan must face up to a power-hungry, centuries-old Sorcerer who wants to rid the world of what he calls "renegade" magic-users. Only Kelley's new way of using magic will save their new city and their magically infected friends, though she may lose her brother in the process. A Sudden Outbreak of Magic is a novel about ancient power, growing up, and finding your place within those two very different realms."

Teen: Ruins: Pathfinder, Book 2 By Orson Scott Card, Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Kirby Heyborne, and Emily Janice Card for Brilliance Audio, simultaneously released with the hardcover from Simon Pulse — continuing the story of 2010’s Pathfinder (Simon Pulse, October 30) -- Series: Pathfinder, Book 2 -- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins -- "When Rigg and his friends crossed the Wall between the only world they knew and a world they could not imagine, he hoped he was leading them to safety. But the dangers in this new wallfold are more difficult to see. Rigg, Umbo, and Param know that they cannot trust the expendable, Vadesh - a machine shaped like a human, created to deceive - but they are no longer certain that they can even trust one another."

Stardust: The Gift Edition By Neil Gaiman, Narrated by Neil Gaiman -- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins -- with a new introduction by Gaiman, accounting for the 11 additional minutes of the "gift edition" of the audiobook which corresponds from the simultaneously published new edition from William Morrow: "This special gift edition will be beautifully packaged in a smaller trim size with a one-piece fine cloth case, a gold-stamped cover, and a whimsical interior design, featuring a frontispiece illustration and line chapter opener ornamentation by noted artist Charles Vess. It will also contain an introductory note by Neil Gaiman." Oh, you don't know what Stardust is about? Here quotes: "Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria Forester—even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that stone barrier, Tristran learns, lies Faerie . . . and the most exhilarating adventure of the young man's life."

Also new from Gaiman this week is the 12-minute free short story Click-Clack the Rattlebag: A Free Short Story Written and Performed by Neil Gaiman. As explained by Dave in his brief review note, every free download benefits charities at DonorsChoose.org. So if somehow you haven't downloaded this yes, get to it, and Happy Hallowe'en and a good All Hallows Listen to all.

ALSO OUT TUESDAY:

Posted in regular, Release Week | Tagged emily janice card, michael jasper, neil gaiman, orson scott card, release week, stardust, stefan rudnicki

All Hallow's Listen, Featuring Neil Gaiman Himself

Posted on 2012-10-26 at 15:27 by Dave

Click-Clack the Rattlebag Written and Performed by Neil Gaiman Length: 12 minutes

Neil Gaiman and Audible have teamed up to produce a Halloween treat, “Click-Clack the Rattlebag,” a short story that’s available as a free download through October 31.

Yes, a free Neil Gaiman short story, read by Neil Himself! But it gets better! For each download, Audible will donate money to DonorsChoose.org, an educational charity! So click that link and get to downloading!

The story itself is 10 minutes of spooky fun, about a young man, and a young boy, and scary stories. It’s the kind of story that’s meant to be listened to, and Gaiman’s reading, as always, is note-perfect. So gather around anyone you know who likes scary stories, and share it with them.

I grabbed it last night as soon as I put the kids down, I hoisted the old headphones and pressed play. It’s a great tale to listen to in the middle of the night in a dark house, while everyone else is asleep!

I’ve been posting All Hallow’s Listens the last few weeks…featuring some creepy books that I thought would be fun to listen to and share with you all this October. It’s generally inspired by Gaiman’s own All Hallow’s Read, but specifically for those of us who love listening to stories. So getting a treat like this is really special, and I hope that Gaiman’s able to make a tradition of it (whether he’s the author himself, or is soliciting other authors to participate).

Posted in All Hallow's Listen, Uncategorized | Tagged all hallows listen, free-audiobooks, neil gaiman

All Hallow's Listen Part 3: Dave reviews George R.R. Martin's Fevre Dream

Posted on 2012-10-25 at 05:00 by Dave

Fevre Dream, by George R.R. Martin Narrated by Ron Donachie Length: 13 hours, 37 minutes

There’s a lot of talk these days about vampire fatigue, and whether or not vampires should hole up in their coffins for a few years until they figure out how to be scary or interesting again.

George R.R. Martin’s Fevre Dream probably isn’t going to change anyone’s mind about the state of vampires in literature, and since the book was written in 1982, that’s really only fair. It is, however, solid proof that vampire stories can be laced with horror and rollicking adventure, and for those of us who like them that way, it’s a hell of a good time.

Mississippi River, 1850s. Abner Marsh is a down-on-his-luck riverboat captain until a mysterious man named Joshua York makes him an offer he can’t refuse: buying and building a new steamboat to Marsh’s specifications, and going down the river with him as co-captain.

Of course, there are a few conditions. York only comes out at night, and makes inconvenient stops as they travel toward New Orleans. Pretty soon, Abner starts to wonder what York is.

Abner Marsh is the kind of hero we don’t seem to see much of anymore. He’s big, ugly, strong, gruff, loyal, and smart enough to realize he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. His personality, his determination, and his desire to do the right thing all ring true, and he’s very easy for us to love and follow.

The setting is the other key: the story tales place primarily in the 1850s on the Mississippi River. Slavery is still legal - Lincoln hasn’t yet been elected, and the Civil War hasn’t happened. Zelazny’s comment that it’s part Mark Twain and part Stephen King is apt, and it’s made me yearn for more dark stories set on riverboats.

Martin’s prose is solid - you can feel both the humidity and evil sweltering as Marsh and York progress further down the river, with bugs buzzing just out of swatting distance. This is a dark fantasy with horror leanings, but to be honest I don’t think it’s anywhere near as dark or disturbing as G.R.R.M.’s ASoIaF series. It’s not the scariest vampire book I’ve read by a long shot (Tim Powers’ The Stress of Her Regard still holds that honor), but it is a fun one.

I’m of two minds on Ron Donachie’s narration. Donachie’s an accomplished actor, and played Ser Rodrik in G.R.R.M.’s Game of Throne TV show, so I can partially understand the decision to cast him. But…for a novel set on riverboats in the deep south of America, casting a Scotsman to narrate the whole thing seems an odd choice.  Donachie’s character voices do sound American (though his pronunciations of words like “clerk,” advertisement,” etc. are definitely British), but the body of his narration does not contain an American accent. After several hours, I was able to just go with it – and in the end it was a very satisfying experience. Donachie’s storytelling is expert, his reading clear, his characters well-drawn, and most importantly: he gets Abner Marsh completely right. In the end, I would have preferred a thick southern drawl telling this tale, and I think this was a missed opportunity for a great match. However, I’ll also be very happy to hear more of Donachie’s narrations.

Fevre Dream is one for fans of Dracula, ’Salem’s Lot, and even bits of Interview with the Vampire. Those of us looking for a dark but fun vampire tale, with good characters in a unique and haunted setting are in for a good ride.

Posted in All Hallow's Listen, reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged audiobooks, Fevre Dream Ron Donachie, George R.R. Martin, reviews, southern lit, vampires

Release Week: Rudnicki's Fantastic Imaginings, and more of Pohl's Heechee Saga read by Oliver Wyman

Posted on 2012-10-24 at 16:55 by Sam

A pretty quiet release week, made even more so considering the deafening absence on this side of the pond that is the lack of Red Country By Joe Abercrombie, available earlier this week in the UK -- narrated by the voice of Abercrombie's First Law series no less, Steven Pacey. Will a US publisher do the right thing and back up the appropriately sized money truck(s) and bring us this next chapter in the story of Logen Ninefingers? Pretty please? (Update: Via The Guilded Earlobe, I find that this audiobook is indeed coming to the US, due out on 11/13 from Hachette Audio concurrent with the US print release.) Still, a completely unexpected audio-only anthology and three more of Pohl's Heechee Saga books is nothing to shake your ears at.

That anthology came out Friday, Fantastic Imaginings: A Journey through 3,500 Years of Imaginative Writing, Comprising Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction edited by Stefan Rudnicki, with an introduction by Harlan Ellison, narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, David Burney, Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell (and many others, including Ellison, Rosalyn Landor, Gabrielle de Cuir, Bahni Turpin, Don Leslie, Michael York, ...) for Blackstone Audio. I try to stay on top of what's coming, but this one, due out in CD format in mid-November, was a complete surprise. Rudnicki is one of my favorite narrators, a Grammy and multi-time Audie award winner for his production, direction, and narration of spoken word, and though he works across every genre I can think of, no small part of his work has been in the field of speculative fiction. Here we see him put together an audio-exclusive anthology covering 3,500 years of myth and fantasy and sf and horror, with an all-star cast of narrators, in just about 22 hours. The introduction, written and read by Harlan Ellison, is quite something. Inside we have Rudnicki's translation from the Polish of a short play; his multi-voiced staging of another; selections of music; stories; and poems. And that's in part one (of six), "The Myths We Live By". Rudnicki's aim with the anthology seems to be to demonstrate the power and primacy of fantastic and mythic fiction, and to trace the roots of and follow the permutations of various subgenres, drawn from the stories which inspired him and which became his favorites over his many years teaching in the fields of theatre history, drama, acting, directing, etc. While I don't think this anthology achieves that indeed rarified aim in total (though what non-encyclopedic tome could?), what it does at certainly give me, in addition to simply an impressively produced and collected anthology, is something I am more than interested enough in: Rudnicki's own germline in the fantastic. I have a keen interest in the voices which bring me the stories I love, and Rudnicki's has been a huge part of my development as a listener, and his prodigies and co-conspirators in that pursuit also carry his influence. While some too-meta and obscure choices (Crowley's "Novelty" for example) and double-dipping into the same mythological pool (Pan gets multiple feature-length treatments) crowd out a potentially more diverse set of selections (there are no writings from South American, African (other than a very brief examination of Hatshepsut), or Asian traditions, and very few from female writers) their power as stories cannot be denied, from Robert Silverberg's "After the Myths Went Home", a quite good choice to begin the anthology (after Ellison's introduction and a short Stephen Crane poem), through selections from Arthur Rimbaud, Nikolai Gogol, Fritz Leiber, Clark Ashton Smith, W.E.B. DuBois, Ursula K. LeGuin, Ambrose Bierce, Lewis Shiner, R.A. Lafferty, Guy de Maupassant, on and on. I'm very much looking forward to continuing my listen of this anthology, following Rudnicki's sources and seeing how well he can tie these more than 50 stories (and plays, and poems) into a coherent presentation and multi-disciplinary argument.

Also out Friday was Beyond the Blue Event Horizon By Frederik Pohl, Narrated by Oliver Wyman for Audible Frontiers, continuing Pohl's The Heechee Saga, which begins with Gateway. Books 3 and 4 also appeared this week: Heechee Rendezvous, and The Annals of the Heechee. Wyman's narration on Gateway was magnificent, and I hope to peek into the continuing story of Robinette Broadhead quite soon.

OUT TUESDAY:

Posted in regular, Release Week | Tagged fantastic imaginings, frederik pohl, harlan ellison, heechee, oliver wyman, release week, stefan rudnicki

Scalzi's The Human Division Audiobook to be Serialized?

Posted on 2012-10-23 at 21:24 by Dave

John Scalzi, author of Redshirts, Fuzzy Nation, and Old Man’s War has just announced that he’s completed his new novel (set in the Old Man’s War universe): The Human Division.

Scalzi has been talking for a while how this book is made up of a series of interlocking stories, and will be released serially as eBook episodes, with the collected edition coming out around the same time as the final story. But in his post today, Scalzi mentions that this might not only happen for the eBook, but for the audiobook as well:

[T]here will be an audio version, from Audible. My understanding is that they will also be doing the book in episodes, concurrent to the electronic episode release schedule.

And it sounds like a good fit for this particular book. I wouldn’t have wanted to listen to any of Scalzi’s previous novels on weekly basis, but since The Human Division was intended to be serialized from the get-go, with each episode essentially being a complete story, I’m pretty curious.

I love me some Scalzi. I read Old Man’s War about five years ago, loved it, and immediately gave it to my dad knowing it’d be the kind of thing he’d dig. We’ve been trading Scalzi books back and forth since, although I listened to both Fuzzy Nation and Redshirts in audio. The more I think about it, the more I’m tempted to pick up these episodes individually. Scalzi tales on a weekly basis? It’s better than television! (Hopefully, there will be some kind of subscription offer from Audible.)

So, yeah. Put me down for the serials! And, you know, I’ll probably set my dad up with a hard copy of the book in it’s entirety when it comes out too, so we can grin like idiots when talking about it.

How about you?

Posted in regular | Tagged human division, john scalzi, news, serialized audiobooks

Listening report: August 2012

Posted on 2012-10-22 at 20:33 by Sam

After seven audiobooks in July, three excellent, I managed just six in August, with one absolutely year's-best fantastic (The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan) another excellent (non-fiction, How to Build an Android), and three more well worth the listen, including science fiction (Chimera), fantasy (A Book of Tongues), and a collection (Fragile Things).

REVIEWS: (Caveat from the last two "monthly" reports also applies here; fairly off-the-cuff reviews, trying to claw back to the present and, you know, not be 2 months behind in reviews any more.)

Posted in regular, reviews, Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged a book of tongues, chimera, fragile things, glory road, how to build an android, monthly listening report, reviews, the drowning girl

All Hallow's Listen Part 2: Dave reviews Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury

Posted on 2012-10-19 at 14:00 by Dave

Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury edited by Sam Weller and Mort Castle Stories by: 26 writers including Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Audrey Niffenegger, Margaret Atwood, Alice Hoffman, Robert McCammon, and more Narrated by: George Takei, Edward Hermann, Kate Mulgrew, F. Murray Abraham, Neil Gaiman, Peter Appel, and James Urbaniak for Harper Audio Length: 14 hours, 11 minutes

Review by Dave Thompson

For me, Ray Bradbury’s name is more synonymous with October and Halloween than any other author I can think of (Neil Gaiman comes in second, a bit further down the line), so if this All Hallow's Listen series seems a little heavy on Ray, that's why.

With that in mind, it seemed natural to include the tribute anthology Shadow Show for All Hallows Listen. Anthologies are hard to write reviews about, particularly if the stories are good, because you want to talk about all the ones you loved, and this collection is crammed full of good stuff.

Posted in All Hallow's Listen, regular, reviews | Tagged all hallows listen, dave thompson, george takei, joe hill, kate mulgrew, neil gaiman, ray bradbury, reviews, shadow show