Did Not Finish/Not-a-Review: Last First Snow by Max Gladstone

First, let me be clear, I did not finish the book Last First Snow by Max Gladstone, so this isn’t a true review. Some people strongly believe that if you don’t finish a book, you should not comment on it at a blog like mine. Well, I disagree, because I think that sharing reasons why I don’t finish a book are just as valid as sharing the reasons why I finish reading and enjoy (or not) books. And let me be further clear that I believe a lot of why I didn’t finish this book comes down to the old standard excuse – ‘it’s not you, it’s me’. So, you have been warned.

I have heard many good things about the books that Max Gladstone writes in the Craft Sequence, so many that I’ve been waiting for a good place to jump in. It is my understanding that they are all written to be stand-alone books in a related sequence and that Last First Snow is ‘first’ in the sense of timeline. So, I thought it would be good entry point.

This is a book that I should like and I genuinely feel that the concept at its core is brilliant. The book and the world combine social activism of the real world with a fantasy world full of Aztec-inspired deities and monsters. This is the story of a fantasy protest movement. It’s the story of magical lawyers and big city mayors who are undead skeletons. In short it’s full of a lot cool, unusual stuff with real depth and relevance to our own world.

But, I didn’t finish this book, and that is something that is pretty rare for me. Was it too dense? No. Did I not connect with the characters? No. So, then what is the problem? And further, I made it pretty far before I actually stopped – page 228 of 380.

I think that it’s because it’s all too real. Last First Snow expertly describes and identifies with so many social problems of our own world – in short, it works too well.

Part of why I read is for escape, especially at this point in my life when I have so much going on and I simply don’t have the emotional depth and strength to pile on any more. This book, as fantastic as it is, did not prove to be that escape. It pretty well just reinforced a lot of the issues I need to deal with. It realistically shows the conflict of one’s ideas with the family they love and care for and have committed to. There are no good choices. And it touches way too close to home for me. Also, all of my ‘senses’ kept telling me that something really awful was about to happen, again, something reflecting a real world all too close to my own.

All of this proved too much for me. I wasn’t enjoying reading, I was dreading it. It was time to put the book aside. Will I come back to it? Maybe…I hope so, but it’s hard for me to predict when. Most likely I’ll try another book in the Craft Sequence first, but again, it will probably be a while.

The Craft Sequence

Last First Snow (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Three Parts Dead (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Two Serpents Rise (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Full Fathom Five (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Mini Review: The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

If you regularly follow this blog, then you know that I can be a bit … delayed in my reviewing (and if you’re new, howdy and now you know). I’ve made no secret that I’m just busy and it can be hard for me to keep up. But I do keep up, just slowly. So, my reviewing these days runs roughly 3 months behind when I finish a book – unless it doesn’t, because some reviews beg to be written more immediately, but the muse is a finicky seductress, and I digress.

Anyway, my rambling does have a point and that is that I was very happy to see Wesley Chu win the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer at the 2015 Hugo Awards. And that has inspired me to finally get around to my ‘review’ of his debut novel, The Lives of Tao.

Honestly, I don’t have a lot to add to the narrative that you’ll find out there, so details here are intentionally sparse. I will simply say that this book is tons of fun. It’s a (sort-of) weird book about alien possession and international espionage, about secret organizations that actually control the world, and even the evolution of humanity and its civilization. Or maybe it’s about a loser in a go-nowhere tech job. That description alone is enough to probably bounce a number of readers and probably the reason that The Lives of Tao found its home with Angry Robot publishing which is known for taking chances on books that the big publishers can’t envision a market for. But, don’t fall for the trap – this book is too much fun to pass up.

If you love the idea of near-immortal, body snatching aliens controlling everything, where one takes over the life a forgettable geek and turns him into an uber spy and international man of mystery – this book is for you. And if you like the sound of some of that, but the rest seems a bit too far out there…read it anyway. This book is fun. It’s well written, it is damn near impossible to put down, and it always leaves you wanting to read more and more. It’s awesome y’all – it’s the stuff that wins awards. It’s a summer read, a beach read, or hell, it’s a great read for tonight.

Get the point? Read it. And, there are sequels. Plus another trilogy is forthcoming. All is good.

Tao Trilogy

The Lives of Tao: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

The Deaths of Tao: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

The Rebirths of Tao: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

Io Trilogy

The Rise of Io: Forthcoming

Time Salvager: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

Review: The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato

One way I survive all that shit life throws at me is through compartmentalizing. I create (artificial) boundaries, I develop boxes for thinking within and without, I live in context, I have many limits. In many ways it’s a fundamental part of human nature, though some people do it more than others. However, we all have our own system.

Likewise, books beg to be shelved, and the system for shelving can be deeply personal. Sure there’s that Dewey Decimal system that anyone under the age of 35 can’t possibly fathom, and every time I visit a library I realize just how much I’ve forgotten about it, but I digress. How do books get shelved, categorized, or boxed? Do you first sort by read versus not read (I often do)? Then do you alphabetize? By author’s name, by book title? Do divide into genre? What about subgenre?

I’ve rambled through the beginning of this review because context is so important. The context I come from, the way I categorize books, and how I approach it. And more directly, all of these variables can allow one to see a book at many more levels than may be first evident.

The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato is one such book. It’s set in a secondary world – so it must be fantasy? It has clockwork in its title and largely occurs on a dirigible, so it must be steampunk? But there’s magic, so back to fantasy? But there all these machines and clockwork technology – plus Victorian-like monarchy, so it has to be steampunk? But, there’s clearly a romantic story-arc, so it can only be paranormal romance? Oh please, can’t you tell it’s really a post-modern, weird western?

All of the above characteristics of The Clockwork Dagger are very real and inform what it is, but let’s approach it as a steampunk book, since that’s the way it’s dressed and it would seem that’s what it wants the world to think it is. In this respect, it has everything that a good steampunk book should offer – Victorian-esque world, mystery, secret agents, clockwork/steam technology, guns, and dirigibles.

But, look at what I’ve written above…does it matter? I’ve written about what box the book goes in, what shelf it belongs to. I’ve written about the setting, the world built to frame the book. I haven’t really touched on what this book is and what it has to say.

To get to what the book is and what it says, one must start with the heart of the book – Octavia Leander. Octavia is a young woman starting out on her first independent, professional venture in the world. She is a healer, a magical healer, one of great talent and who must be careful in what she shows the world around her. Her world is war-torn and she bears scars of that war herself. She is the maiden with a heart-of-gold who is out of her depth in the great big world. Predictably she meets a man who becomes a love interest, there is threat to her wellbeing, she is betrayed by someone close to her, and it all has big implications. But, just because those things are predictable, doesn’t mean they are bad. Because it comes back to Octavia who is a wonderfully compelling character with a perspective on things that is downright amusing even when deadly serious.

The Clockwork Dagger is also a (almost) traditional murder-mystery set in an enclosed space. Most of the book takes place on a dirigible where strange attacks keep occurring. Why? Who? It all gets mixed up with agents from the eastern wastes, agents from the crown, a long-missing princess, and of course, Octavia herself, who is slowly realizing that she’s not just an average magical healer, but something more.

And wrapped up in all of this are some really excellent ‘goodies’ that round out a great story and loveable protagonist with some meaty depth. In a secondary, Victorian-world, it’s hard to leave out those troubling bits of colonial, post-colonial, racial and ethnic tensions, and Cato certainly does not. Additionally, there’s a juicy bit of science vs. magic vs. religion wrapped up in the story. Rounding this out is another little bit that I always love to see in SFF books – realization that the status quo is not a good thing. There are implications of social justice, poisonous leadership and a real need for progressive change.

Now, I’ve rambled on for quite a bit, wrapping this review up in the context of boxes and shelves, then knocking those aside, rambling more, and I still haven’t flat-out offered up my opinion on all this, which is what I strongly believe is the most important part of a review. Did I like this book?

Yes.

This book is a fun mystery and adventure through a creative, well-rounded (western) steampunk world. But it’s Octavia and her merry band of friends and conspirators that make it the fun book that it is. Of course, I want more, and more there is. The Clockwork Crown rounds out the duology and is available now, along with a (prequel) novella, The Deepest Poison.

The Clockwork Dagger: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

The Clockwork Crown: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

The Deepest Poison: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

Podcasts

Occasionally I get to do podcasts, and this post collects those that I've been on. Enjoy!

• Rocket Talk with Justin Landon: We discuss blogging, how I'm a better person because I blog, and field questions from a nearly live Twitter audience. 

Me Talk Rocket

At immense and incomprehensible sacrifice, I agreed last night to bail Rocket Talk host Justin Landon out his lack of preparation by being a last-minute, unplanned guest on the Rocket Talk Podcast (this of course is a huge exaggeration as Justin had a family emergency to deal with). Of course, I had zero time to think in advance about how I would answer the obvious questions, plus I have a nasty summer cold and was medicated up, and me being me, I also imbued a bit of whisky (purely to numb my rasping throat). Not to mention this was my first podcast. I'm fairly certain the title of this blogpost is more articulate than what I managed last night.

Oh, and then we answered questions from Twitter. Thanks guys /sacrasm

BUT, it was lots of fun. I can only hope that I didn't make too big of an idiot of myself. So, if you are inclined, have a listen. And thanks to Justin who picked me out of what must have been dozens of willing volunteers to be a last-minute sub. 

Neth Space does Rocket Talk

Review: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

I must preface this review with some necessary context about myself, which of course will ramble a fair bit as I often do.

Over the past several years I’ve come to realize that what I write at this blog aren’t really reviews, as my ‘reviews’ often don’t really summarize the books I discuss. Likewise, I’ve never claimed to be a critic, as this certainly isn’t an academic exercise and I (mostly) don’t critically discuss and analyze the text. What I write is both for those who haven’t read the book and for those that have. What I write about is my reaction to books – there may be some summary and there may be discussion on how a book converses with genre and other aspects of the world – but what I do here is express my opinion about the book and how I reacted to it. In short, my writings here (usually) are not conversations with those who have or have not read the book I discuss, but conversations with myself.

So, to aid you in understanding this particular conversation with myself, I will provide some important context. Because this book, more so than most books I read, was very specifically set-up to be a book that I would fall completely in love with or became so annoyed with that I could not tolerate it even a little bit. This is a book that could almost certainly have no middle ground whatsoever. You may be asking yourself why. In a word: geology.

My day job and even where I put a huge amount of volunteer effort, is in geology, specifically engineering geology, but that is neither here nor there. My ‘expertise’ in this world is in applied geology. This is what I do, and since I live in a society that is defined by that career/jobs we are boxed into, in many ways, it is what I am.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is geology applied to epic fantasy in a way I have never seen it before. No, it’s not dinosaurs with people, or clever geologic names, or even a geologically influenced map. The Fifth Season is geology made into epic fantasy, primarily through magic. The magic of this book occurs through people (and other ‘beings’) directly manipulating geologic forces. The world is one in constant geologic upheaval and some people have the power to reduce or enhance these phenomena.

Hopefully, my long preamble is starting show some focus. The Fifth Season would live or die by me on all of the little, tiny details that won’t matter or mean much to 99% of its readers. I suppose, conversely, that means that this review (or reaction?), probably won’t mean much to 99% of those of you out there. But you’ve made it this far, so why not see it through to the end (no worries, I write about much more than just geology)?

Typically when I read fiction, and most of that falls squarely in the greater SFF world, I don’t have much problem with suspending belief. Particularly with geology. I can usually pretty well ignore any issue or inconsistency. It’s not hard – because hey, it’s fantasy. But with The Fifth Season it’s too much in my face – it is geomagic (my word, not Jemisin’s – hers is much cooler). This is the dying earth metaphor in the form of fantastic geology. The folly of humanity, geologic retribution.

So far I’ve laid hints, but not flat-out said which extreme my reaction fall into. So, I’ll say it now – I love this book! The geologic aspects are very well handled – and orogene is an excellent name for a ‘geologic sorcerer’ (for a quick lesson, while it’s not technically a word in English, orogene plays on orogeny, which can mean a lot of things, but at its most basic, it refers to a mountain building event in geologic time). If I tried really hard, I could come up with some nitpicking, but considering that I would have to try so hard in a book that puts geology front and center, well that is an accomplishment. Also joyfully worth noting, geologic names for characters – Syenite, Alabaster, Carnelian, etc. (all are rocks and/or minerals).

OK, I do need to talk about some other aspects of this book. First, I think a lot of people will be talking about this book because there really is a metric shit-ton of interesting stuff in this book (yes, ‘shit-ton’ is a geologic term…at least for me it is). I’ll start with what the book is – the synopsis I read speaks of apocalypse and post-apocalyptic happenings (usually this is an instant no-go for me in a book, but that is another essay altogether). It certainly fits the general idea of epic fantasy – there’s a quest, there’s magic, etc. But what it really fits is the dying earth motif*. Past sins of humanity destroyed the natural order of the world and humanity barely survived. And the cycle of disaster now repeats itself, with humanity ever approaching the point where they don’t survive. Is this the story of the end?

Additionally, the story is told through a beautiful mosaic of diversity. The cast is largely non-white, generally lacking specific analogs to the racial and ethnic breakdown of our world. In addition to a female lead, other descriptors of the major and minor characters include transgender, gay, and bisexual. What’s best is that none of those details matter all that much to the plot. They are simply there because that’s the way it is. Which is the way it should be.

Voice. Voice makes or breaks a work of fiction, and what may be the most significantly interesting characteristic of The Fifth Season is voice. First, there is second, as in second person. This rarely used narrative voice lends both distance and intimacy to the description of the end of the world. Particularly since it’s more than the end of the world, as the voice is that of someone whose world has already ended. There is a journey as a three points of view slowly converge on clarity in the face of chaos. The journey of woman – child to teen/young adult to mother. Conflicts and emotions are different, yet relatable. And the world ends.

The Fifth Season is the first book in The Broken Earth Trilogy. Emotionally and thematically The Fifth Season provides a full plot arc as the first book in a trilogy is supposed to do, if not exactly ending with the triumphant pause in the three-act play of a trilogy. Plot-wise, there’s something of a cliff-hanger that really has me wanting to read the next book now.

I’ve thrown around the term dying earth in this review a few times as it can be a very powerful metaphor for the folly of humanity. In The Fifth Season you can choose your own analog. And this blends well into the tragedy of single human lives that make for such compelling literature. Again, in The Fifth Season you can choose your own analog for that tragedy. The Fifth Season is the story of a dying earth, it is the story of an apocalypse in a world of repeating apocalyptic events, though this just might be the end of it all. It is also the story of very personal journey(s) through a time of upheaval, and one that creates opportunity to relate on many levels. As a mother, as an outcast, as a talented and ambitious professional, as a slave to society. As I say above – choose your own metaphor – Jemisin laid the ground work for at least half a dozen, which opens the door for even more.

The best fantasy does not strive to restore the status quo. It seeks progress, progress that can be ugly…very ugly. In many cultures and traditions death is not the end, but an end. In that end there is the implication for rebirth, the implication of progress along a greater journey. I have a sneaking sense that what Jemisin is doing in The Broken Earth Trilogy is not just the end, but also the beginning of progress toward something more.

So, my own journey with The Fifth Season began with the superficial connection to a single metaphor. Or you could say that it began with the earth (maybe even the Earth). And while I quite clearly reveled in that connection, drilling deeper, to the core of the story kills the connection to the earth. In that death there is the birth of the connection to humanity, which completes the circle for a personal connection.

The Fifth Season is SFF of potential, perhaps the most potential that can be had at this moment in time.

The Broken Earth Trilogy

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

*It’s worth noting that Jemisin has said that the Stillness of the The Broken Earth Trilogy is not Earth and was never intended to be Earth. It is a secondary world, though I stand by my assertion that at least in the case of The Fifth Season, there is far more kinship to Dying Earth motifs than the dime-a-dozen post-apocalyptic SFF series plaguing genre these days.

Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

There are thousands of ways I could begin this review of Uprooted by Naomi Novik and many ways in which to present it, but to start it must be simple.

I love this book – it is a wondrous read with a surprise around every page. As I read, I could never get enough – I lost sleep, reading ‘just one more chapter’ five or six times a night. I guessed at what would come next and was always surprised…until I simply stopped and just let the story flow. It’s timeless, evocative and every bit the modern fairy tale others proclaim it to be. It is a must read.

But of course Uprooted isn’t only simple as it’s as deeply layered as the best fairy tales always are. And so must my review be more than a statement or two about how much I love the book.

Voice. It can so often be overlooked in its importance, but particularly for first person, it dominates a story’s ultimate success. For Uprooted this voice is Agnieszka (Nieshka to her friends), a young woman who will find who she is and her place in the world through the growth of Uprooted. She is ignorant to the world yet rooted to her past, devoted to her loved ones, and contains a will strong enough to endure and shatter convention. Uprooted is certainly the fairy tale it’s proclaimed to be, though more so, it’s the story at the root of that timeless tale – the origin and the seed from which a magnificent collection of truths will descend. It is the tale of Nieshka and how she saves her homeland, a kingdom, a wizard, and a friend. And so much more.

One aspect of Uprooted that made it an absolute joy to read is that I began reading it with very few expectations, and the few I did have mostly turned out to be wrong. The jacket description of the book is all over and done with in a just a few pages. Afterwards is a blank slate. First one path forward emerges, then another, then another, and eventually the journey is simply enjoyed.

It took some help for me to see it*, but the ultimate theme guiding Uprooted is friendship. Every single significant moment in this book is rooted in Nieshka’s friendship with Kasia. Yes, there is a beautifully drawn out romance, and there is the ever present corruption of the Wood and the evil it brings, and politics of kingdoms and such as well. But it’s the simple, mundane (yet clearly so much more than mundane) value of friendship that Uprooted grows from.

For this reason (among others), I would propose that Uprooted should be thought of as an ideal ‘entry-level’ fantasy. Typically when that term is thrown about there are spaceships, aliens, battles, or dragons, swords and other battles. Probably an orphan or a soldier, likely magic or faster-than-light travel. But of course that view is from one (particularly loud) tradition, and Uprooted nurtures another tradition.

Fear not, if you feel that your fantasy needs swords and bravery, evil beasts to be defeated, battle and betrayal, you will find this. But let’s move on.

As with the best fairy tales, Uprooted has many layers, and many conversations that can sprout forth. Be it friendship as I indicate above, or the blooming of a love and the opening of a dead heart, or even the mundane conversations of genre.

Yes, for those of us who have delved into the ‘community’ of fandom, there is conversation to be had. In fact, one could choose their own metaphor if they were so inclined. There is the prescriptive, rigid magic of the Dragon, complete with its long history and devote adherents. The precise requirements of diction, pronunciation and the corresponding expectations of courtly sorcerers. Nieshka’s corresponding magic of intuition and song, containing no prescription or predictive path is a foil to whatever establishment you choose. The corruption of the Wood, its pure evil and malice and the resulting lack of hope presents another opportunity for conversation. For all the overwhelming evil and corruptive power, there is redemption. Hope prevails though the indomitable spirit of Nieshka. The conversation is changed and the future rewritten**. And hell, I just know there’s a good ‘can’t see the forest for all the trees’ message wandering the Wood somewhere.

Of course it can be any community that takes a lesson from Uprooted, I merely chose the one closest to me as I write.

As many a review that I write grows from a beginning into a wild bramble of mixed thoughts and metaphor, eventually it comes back to the beginning. And so it ends in the simplicity of earned embellishment.

Uprooted is the seed that spawns a thousand generations of a tale and Novik has cultivated a magnificent, timeless beauty to enjoy***.

Uprooted: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

* The reasons why are probably several essays worth of material.

**Leaving grimdark for dead in ditch? This reviewer can only hope.

***Over and over again.

Mini-Review: The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe

As I sit down to write this review of The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe, I’ve come to realize that it’s hard. Not because I don’t have a lot to say about the book – I do. Not because I didn’t love the book – I did love it. But, really it comes down to that I’ve said it all before, most likely better than I could again. So, go read the review I wrote for Wisp of a Thing. Everything in that review applies to The Hum and the Shiver. Bledsoe’s Tufa books are probably the books I’m enjoying most right now, and that earlier review really says all I need to say.

Still here? OK, again, go read that earlier review if didn’t already, because this is where I simply get nit-picky. The Hum and the Shiver is the first Tufa book – in sequence of writing, publishing, and occurrence in ‘book world’. It tells – The Hum and the Shiver has a few bumpy spots that weren’t present in Wisp of a Thing. Most notably is the relatively slow start. This is because this is not an action book, and all the conflict is truly personal conflict that comes from within. This is tricky ground to cover in a society (and genre for that matter) that craves action and real, in-your-face conflict. Related to that, some of the subplots never quite melt into the full story. It’s just a little rough around the edges.

But for all of that, by about halfway through the book, it’s all gone. I was completely immersed into the story and couldn’t even come up for air. With these books it’s just best to let it all go and lose yourself in the music of the story.

The Hum and Shiver (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Wisp of a Thing (My Review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Long Black Curl (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Mini-Review: Heaven’s Queen by Rachel Bach

Heaven’s Queen by Rachel Bach is the final book in the Paradox trilogy which falls somewhere in the area of new space opera or military science fiction, or whatever – really it doesn’t matter how you choose to (or not to) shelve these books. What does matter is that they are so much fun and such a pleasure to read¹.

In my review of the first book in the series, Fortune’s Pawn, I get into a bit of discussion on entry-level SF and even the similarities of Fortune’s Pawn to urban fantasy. I think that all was an interesting discussion, but series has long-since moved forward and so should we. Heaven’s Queen takes us from the cliffhanger of an ending to Honor’s Knight and wraps up the trilogy in a very satisfying way.

So far in the series, Devi has spent a lot of time reacting to the situation she’s found herself thrown into – in Heaven’s Queen, she raises a rather giant middle finger to the entire galaxy and makes them play by her terms. Now it wouldn’t be a very fun book if everything went as planned, but it was a necessary shift in the narrative for her to get the chance to take charge of the big picture rather than just the tactical incidents of the past. This of course has been building through the series, but it’s great to see it truly play out.

As I had come to expect from the series, loyalties are challenged and unclear. Who is good and bad and ugly? What is the right thing to do? And let’s not forget the romance, because there is a rather beautiful romance underlying everything else.

As with the previous books in the series, it adds up to a great conclusion. Call it a beach read, an escape read, or what you read on Tuesday night – it has that feel. It’s complex and ‘deep’ enough to not feel cheap, but it’s still got plenty of explosions, violent encounters with aliens, lovely moments of romance, and a prison-break worthy of the Death Star². All in all, this is a great conclusion to the series, right down to the neatly wrapped end of the end.

Fortune’s Pawn (My Review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Honor’s Knight (My Review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Heaven’s Queen (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

¹  This is basically word for word out of my review of Honor’s Knight. I don’t care, I liked what I wrote then and I like it now – it applies. And I can plagiarize from myself as much as I please. In fact, this whole review is parasitic plagiarism at its best.

²  Ok, this is a poor analogy, because the prison break arc is well done and Star Wars never could actually explain the ease of their escape. Even if they did let them go. 

A Few Weeks Ago I Got to Hang Out With a Bunch of Cool Authors

Or, how I make myself look cooler by namedropping actual cool people.

Phoenix Comicon happened back in May and it’s fast becoming recognized as a very strong convention for SFF authors, which I’m told is strategic goal of the comicon. Well, I didn’t have time to attend the actual Con, but I did happen to be in Phoenix the night before the Con where there was the Elevengeddon author signing event at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore (you can get signed books by all those authors by contacting them). It was the brain child of Kevin Hearne and it ended up having around 17 authors signing books.

I would guess that about 100 people showed up. The event was rather loosely organized with so many authors – basically just a signing. Kevin Hearne’s line was the longest, which meant there was a great opportunity to chat with the other authors. I only took one picture of the event, which is posted here. I’m pretty sure Sam Sykes had a live feed of the signing for the first 15 minutes or so, I have no idea where that lives on the internet, but if you were so inclined, you could find yours truly lurking at various points of that.

Anyway, the event seemed like a who’s who of my Twitter feed. I brought 3 bags of books to be signed. I bought another bag’s worth at the event. Without counting, I probably had about 30 books with me to sign. The link to the event lists all the authors that were present – the names below are authors who’s books I got signed (in no particular order)

Cherie Priest

Sam Sykes

Beth Cato

Myke Cole

Kevin Hearne

Naomi Novik

Wes Chu

Delilah S. Dawson

Django Wexler

Brian Staveley

Brian McClellan

Chuck Wendig

And even with the 30 or so books I had signed, I still missed some. When I got home I realized that I had other books by Naomi Novik and Myke Cole that didn’t make the trip. I also had books by Jason Hough that didn’t make the trip. Add that to me bringing a couple of books by Kevin Hearne that were already signed, and it was a bit frustrating. There’s always next year.

At the signing even I had some nice conversations with a few of the authors. Myke Cole was awesome – especially once he realized I ran this blog. He was very complimentary and fun to chat with. Brian Staveley was also fun to chat with as we discussed his books, the forthcoming final book of his trilogy (he had just submitted a draft of before coming on the trip), and ideas for future books in the world.

But if it was just a signing event, I probably wouldn’t bother with a blog post. Because then I headed to the bar with a few of the authors. This is where the name dropping gets more fun because drinks were involved. Sam, Myke, Kevin, Wes, Delilah, Jason, Brian and Brian all headed to a nearby bar, with a few others, including Myke’s significant other.

Some hilarity ensued – first I proved to be a rather worthless blogger by calling Brian McClellan by the wrong name – I confused him with Chuck Wendig. Laughs were had. Later I once again got something wrong about Brian by assuming he lived in Utah (he lives in Cleveland) – not that it was such a bad assumption because he used to live there. Anyway, Brian was a good sport about it. We’ll see if that holds up if I read and review his books one day and intentionally throw in a bunch of factual errors just to be consistent with my past behavior.

Sam was there, so poop was discussed.

Myke was quite amused that in Arizona it’s necessary to post signs about not bringing your guns into bars. Kevin shared that his family had been coming to that specific bar for generations. Several of us are relatively close in age and have young children – so we chatted a bit about that.

And of course there was a fair bit of industry gossip that I even contributed to a bit. Apparently I could contribute some interesting info since I’m on the receiving end of marketing. I’d love to name names and dish out the dirt, but then I wouldn’t get to play next time. In the end it was declared that someone must have something on someone else. #nocontextforyou

So, does this make me less objective as a reviewer? Well, I’ve never claimed to be objective anyway, so I don’t care. I’ll continue to say what I think of books in my reviews. But, the last three books I’ve read were by authors at that signing. And I have plans to read others in the near future. So, there is that.

Anyway, lots of fun was had as I actually interacted with real people that I have known from the internet. And next year, hopefully I can actually attend the Con.

Review: The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley

Hello good readers, I know that you are all fans of epic fantasy so I have this book that I just have to introduce you to. I believe that this is as close to a perfect match as you’re going to find in this crazy world and I just know that it will lead to a long-lasting relationship. I’m sure you’ve seen it pop up through the internet matching sites, and maybe you’ve flirted with the idea, or maybe you’ve been reluctant to explore further, but this is the one. First, it’s a classic and even nostalgic epic fantasy that we recognize from the glory days of the 1980s and 90s, but trust me in this, it has modern sensibility. I know that this is the second book in the trilogy and I was a bit mixed when I met the first book, but this one builds on the first book so well that those previous problems go away. It grows, it improves, it actually makes its world a better place….well we hope it will. But I’m sure it will because this book is just perfect.

So, here is The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley – I just know you’re going to love it.

As mentioned above, I reviewed the first book in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series, The Emperor’s Blades and found it a bit mixed. In the end I enjoyed the book very much because of just how compelling the book is, how much fun it is to read. I had a few qualms about the worldbuilding (mostly me being picky), an issue with a female character not getting the screen time she deserves (and that we were promised), and what bothered me most was that this appeared to be yet another book about restoring the status quo in epic fantasy without any move toward actual progress in the world.

Staveley must have laughed at my review, knowing what he was going to do in The Providence of Fire.

It’s the second book of the series – and as proper, worldbuilding takes a back seat to the story and continued character development. And when it’s needed, Staveley deftly weaves into the rest of the story. Picky problem I had with book 1 neatly goes away.

This is Adare’s book in many ways. The Emperor’s Blades was mostly about the brothers, but in The Providence of Fire Adare comes to life. The brothers are there, and I’m guessing there’s pretty equal time, but Adare isn’t left behind in this. The book still has too few female characters overall, but those that are there are the real deal. Issue 2 I had with book 1 shows great improvement.

One of the biggest and least recognized problems with ‘traditional’ epic fantasy is that it is inherently conservative – it fights for maintaining the status quo, or a return to the past, and it’s often some form of governance that is tyranny by another name and keeps peoples firmly in their ‘place’. The Emperor’s Blades is presented as another version of this epic fantasy – the heirs to an empire fight to keep the empire intact. The Providence of Fire throws a wrench into the machine – a giant wrench, a hugely progressive idea. Where will it go…it’s too soon to say after book 2. But I love that The Providence of Fire isn’t fighting for the status quo of epic fantasy.

All of that great improvement I point to above is almost secondary, because, what The Providence of Fire does best, and better than just about any other epic fantasy book that comes to mind as I write this, is keep the reader guessing. The Providence of Fire plays coy, amps up the mystery as it slowly seduces the reader. It is irresistible.

This is the second book in a trilogy, and I still can’t say with any certainty who is the bad guy/gal. I don’t know – there are too many layers of possibility. And this is not a structural problem of the book – it’s as compelling as ever. In fact, it’s what really makes things stand out, because this may be a classic style epic fantasy about an empire in turmoil, barbarian invaders, court intrigue, ancient races, tyrannical sorcerers, meddling gods, and everything in between THAT DOESN’T HAVE A ‘BAD GUY’. This might be a case where everyone is a little (or more) bad and a little (or more) good with the ultimate challenge to find an ultimate balance that works for the world.

Or I could be completely off and there is a BIG BAD that the ‘good guys’ will defeat. That could work too (though former sounds so much cooler to me). It’s an amazing act of balance that has allowed Staveley to keep the reader completely guessing at such a relatively late stage in the trilogy without it destroying the credibility of the plot and the development of the characters.

So…..now that you’ve met The Providence of Fire, what do you think? Simply irresistible, am I right? Have fun together, remember me fondly and behave.

Pssttt…I also have my eye on The Last Mortal Bond and I’m not-so-secretly hoping it gets kinky.

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne

The Emperor’s Blades (My Review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

The Providence of Fire (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

The Last Mortal Bond (Forthcoming: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Blogger Interviews Blogger About Blogging

Every so often over the past (almost) 10 years of blogging, the view is reversed and I go for an interesting journey into the looking glass. What am I talking about? When a blogger interviews another blogger about blogging. Sometimes it's not even as boring as I imply it is - and I hope that's the case with this interview where 'S' of SCY-FY: The Blog of S.C. Flynn asks me a few questions. I offer some 'wisdom', make some jokes, and even follow my own advice to not take myself too seriously. Am I zen blogger, or just a crotchety old blogger? Choose for yourself.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and thanks to Stuart for the fun interview!

Mini-Review: Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon) was released to great fanfare and critical acclaim, which had been preceded by a good bit of buzz that began when the spectacular cover art and intriguing synopsis were released some months earlier. I was one of those who began looking forward to this book way before it was released. Then I heard the early buzz from early readers, though I waited until the book was released to read it, and I only got more excited. And of course I waited until a couple of months after I finished the book to finally write this review.

One result is that I have very little to say that hasn’t been said elsewhere (often much better than I could say it myself). First – the book is awesome, it easily lives up to the early buzz and critical acclaim. Second – this book has a wonderful, wonderful voice to it. The main protagonist, Karen Memery, brings life to this first person narration. It’s pulp fiction. It’s the weird west. And it’s beautifully told through the foul, honest mouth of a ‘seamstress’.

Come for the steampunk, weird west, alternate history, tale set in the low streets of a new city a lot like Seattle, featuring a classy bordello full of exquisitely interesting people as they dive into a murder-mystery and are aided by the real-life origin of the Lone Ranger and his fictional Native American sidekick. Stay for the addictively unique voice of Miss Memery, LGBTQ characters, romance, dirigibles, submarines, bio warfare, mind control gloves, and a sewing machine that doubles as mechanical armor. No worries – that doesn’t even cover it all, but it should give you a taste of just why you should run (not walk) and start reading this book right now.

Hyperbole aside (and the actual description is not hyperbole – it really is that cool), Bear gives voice to voices that are traditionally mute and go no further than ‘yes sir’, ‘no sir’, etc. Subversive is a term that gets bandied about here. And as wonderful all that is – it’s the voice, Karen Memery’s voice that makes this book a great book. Miss Memery charms the reader, refills the bourbon, charms the reader some more, refills the bourbon again, and then she gets animated in her story as you continue to refill the bourbon between moments of laughter and anxious tension.  

Elizabeth Bear really is writing at the top of her game right now and getting long deserved recognition at just the right time. Few authors pull off such a varied bibliography half so well, and Karen Memory just may top it all (at least for the moment). Go ahead, jump on the steamwagon for this one – it’s a wild ride and one hell of a tale to hear told.

And now, I want to read this again. With a bourbon in hand.

Better make it a double.