The Leaning Pile of Books
Aug
28
2011

After a couple of weeks without books (!), this week brought 1 ARC, 1 finished review copy, and 3 I bought myself with a gift card.  Both the review copies are books I’ve already talked about since I picked up copies of each at this year’s Book Expo America.  So if you are interested in reading more about Blood Rights (House of Comarre #1) by Kristen Painter or Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations #1) by Michael J. Sullivan, there’s more on this post about books from BEA.  These are both books I really want to read so hopefully I’ll be reading them sometime around release date. (I actually considered starting Blood Rights now since the finished copy showed up, but I couldn’t make up my mind about that or 3 other books. I submitted to the whims of random.org and it chose a different book for me.)

For reviews, I should at least have one for Cold Magic by Kate Elliott up this week.

The Cloud Roads by Martha WellsThe Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

Martha Wells has been on my “authors I should read” list for a while.  She has written eleven novels and one of them, The Death of the Necromancer, was nominated for a Nebula.  In spite of that, I had no idea where to start with her books until this book came out and I saw that both Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers really enjoyed it.  It sounded wonderful, and it’s been in my mind for next time I place a book order ever since.  Then N. K. Jemisin raved about it on Twitter and Goodreads, and I decided to place that order stat. I’ve already started it since this was the book random.org selected for me when I couldn’t choose for myself, and it hooked me in the first chapter.  It’s rare for a book to hook me that well so quickly. There may be something interesting about the beginning, but usually I can put a new book aside after chapter one.  With this one, I picked it up and decided to read the first chapter before doing something. Then I got to the end and was all like “No!  What happens now? What?!”

According to the author’s website, which also includes an excerpt, this is volume 1 of The Books of the Raksura. Volume 2, The Serpent Sea, is scheduled for release in January 2012. If you’ve read volume 1 already, there is also an excerpt available for book 2 that is linked to on that page, as well as the author’s other books.

Moon has spent his life hiding what he is – a shape-shifter able to transform himself into a winged creature of flight. An orphan with only vague memories of his own kind, Moon tries to fit in among the tribes of his river valley, with mixed success. Just as Moon is once again cast out by his adopted tribe, he discovers a shape-shifter like himself… someone who seems to know exactly what he is, who promises that Moon will be welcomed into his community. What this stranger doesn’t tell Moon is that his presence will tip the balance of power… that his extraordinary lineage is crucial to the colony’s survival… and that his people face extinction at the hands of the dreaded Fell! Now Moon must overcome a lifetime of conditioning in order to save and himself… and his newfound kin.

Zoo City by Lauren BeukesZoo City by Lauren Beukes

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book, which won the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award and is a nominee for the World Fantasy Award this year (winners have not yet been announced). Seeing Lauren Beukes was nominated for – and nearly won – this year’s John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer prompted me to finally pick up a copy. It’s one of those I never would have picked up based on the blurb, but all the positive responses to it definitely have me curious about it. Now that I think about it, I suppose I would read very few books if I decided to based solely on blurbs and back cover descriptions, though.

A sample is available to read on the publisher’s website.

Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty 419 scam habit and a talent for finding lost things. But when a little old lady turns up dead and the cops confiscate her last paycheck, she’s forced to take on her least favourite kind of job – missing persons.

Being hired by reclusive music producer Odi Huron to find a teenybop pop star should be her ticket out of Zoo City, the festering slum where the criminal underclass and their animal companions live in the shadow of hell’s undertow.

Instead, it catapults Zinzi deeper into the maw of a city twisted by crime and magic, where she’ll be forced to confront the dark secrets of former lives – including her own.

Redemption In Indigo by Karen LordRedemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

This is a debut novel I’ve heard a lot of good things about as well, and like the above book, it’s a 2011 World Fantasy Award nominee. It sounds very interesting, but then “trickster” in a description always makes me perk up a little.

An excerpt is available on Tor.com.

Karen Lord’s debut novel is an intricately woven tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit. Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makendha—now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones—the djombi— who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.

Bursting with humor and rich in fantastic detail, Redemption in Indigo is a clever, contemporary fairy tale that introduces readers to a dynamic new voice in Caribbean literature. Lord’s world of spider tricksters and indigo immortals is inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale—but Paama’s adventures are fresh, surprising, and utterly original.

2011 Hugo Awards
Aug
21
2011

The 2011 Hugo Award winners were announced at Worldcon in Reno, Nevada, last night.  The winners are as follows:

Best Novel
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis

Best Novella
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang

Best Novelette
“The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele

Best Short Story
“For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal

Best Related Work
Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea

Best Graphic Story
Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes

Best Editor, Short Form
Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form
Lou Anders

Best Professional Artist
Shaun Tan

Best Semiprozine
Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker

Best Fanzine
The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon

Best Fan Writer
Claire Brialey

Best Fan Artist
Brad W. Foster

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (not a Hugo Award but presented at the same time)
Lev Grossman

As usual, there has been discussion all over the Internet about who should have won or been nominated.  I always feel like I’ve never read enough books to really comment on them since a) I haven’t read a great many of the nominated works or authors and b) I’m sure there are lots of great books published for any given year that I just haven’t had the opportunity to read yet.  So I usually refrain from commenting too much, but with that in mind, here’s some thoughts.

Out of the novels nominated this year, I have read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin and Feed by Mira Grant and enjoyed both of them to different degrees (loved the former, liked the latter). While I’ve read several of the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, I haven’t gotten caught up to Cryoburn yet. I haven’t read anything by Connie Willis or Ian McDonald. From this list, I was rooting for The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but not having read the winner I can’t really say whether or not I would have wanted it to win instead.

Looking over books read that were published in 2010, it’s hard to say which ones I would have picked myself, especially because I’m never sure what criteria to base selections off for something like this. Favorite books? Most memorable books? Best written books, best plotted books, most creative books? Books that are all around strong in a number of factors such as writing, characterization, world, ideas and/or creativity, and plot?  This would be why I just do a “favorites” list at the end of the year – it’s much easier than figuring out “best read” and what exactly that is supposed to mean anyway!  If going by all around as my criteria for what constitutes a winner, I would have loved to have seen The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente considered for this award. Also, while I was very glad to see N.K. Jemisin on the list of nominees, I would have chosen The Broken Kingdoms over The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms myself (both were released last year and I thought the second one was stronger).

I was glad to see Lev Grossman win the Campbell since I enjoyed both The Magician and The Magician King (the latter of which would not have been out at the time of his nomination), but I have to admit I haven’t read any of the other authors to compare. With all the praise I’ve been hearing for Lauren Beukes and her novel Zoo City, though, I think I just may have to remedy that soon!

How did you feel about this year’s winners?  Who do you think should have been nominated for/won in these categories and why?

Review of The Tempering of Men by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
Aug
16
2011
The Tempering of Men
by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette
304pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 7/10
Amazon Rating: N/A/5
LibraryThing Rating: N/A/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.33/5
 

The Tempering of Men is the second book in the Iskryne series co-authored by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette.  The first book is A Companion to Wolves, which began as a fun parody of the concept of animal companions and evolved into a novel. A third book, An Apprentice to Elves, is supposed to be released in 2013. The Tempering of Men was released today as a hardcover and an ebook.

Since this is a review for the second book in a series, there will be spoilers for the first book.  If you want to read about A Companion to Wolves instead of spoiling yourself reading about its sequel, that book review is here.

The queen wolf Viradechtis has selected her mate and her human companion Isolfr’s helpers in a rather unconventional manner – by choosing two mates and therefore two men to lead the men of the wolfheall.  While the three wolves are quite fond of each other, this choice ends up being much more problematic for the three men bonded to the wolves.  Vethulf and Skjaldwulf could not be more different.  Vethulf is hot-tempered and outspoken while Skjaldwulf is quiet, introspective, and slower to speak his mind.  To make matters worse, both of them are quite taken with Isolfr despite the fact that he has no romantic interest in either of them.  When the two must go out to war together against the trolls, they’re pushed together by their wolves.  They may even be starting to put aside their differences once they’ve succeeding in destroying the trolls, but will it last or is it just a temporary reprieve due to the tragedy of war?

The two will need to learn to get along, especially as the wolfheall is facing an even tougher challenge then the foes they’ve faced: the possibility of becoming obsolete.  The wolves and their warriors have always fought against the trolls, but now that they’ve vanquished them, there’s concern among the various wolfhealls about whether of not they’ll be useful anymore.  While there will always be threats to men, the wolves are not concerned with being conquerors or the wishes of wolfless men.

When a godsman comes to the wolfheall wanting to record the account of Isolfr’s vision of Freya, he invites Skjaldwulf to journey back with him, thinking he will appreciate their extensive archives.  After thinking about it, Skjaldwulf believes it may be worth taking a look through to see if there is any knowledge that will help the wolfhealls plan for the future.  He considers the offer, and when one of the brothers of the wolfheall decides to leave to help his trueborn sibling against an attack, Vethulf arranges for them to travel together with the godsman.  When traveling south Skjaldwulf learns more of this army and is prominently involved in the decision on how to respond to the threat, beginning the process of stepping into his own new role and possibly changing that of the wolfhealls.

After finishing The Tempering of Men, my first thought was that it was just as enjoyable as A Companion to Wolves. I found it had a slower start, but by the end I was really enjoying it.  Since rereading parts of both books and letting it sink in a little more, I’ve decided that while the sequel is certainly worth reading and had a greater number of well-rounded characters, the first book worked better all around.  It was easier to become immersed in and I preferred the focus on just one main character for a novel of this relatively short length.  Also, The Tempering of Men did feel like a middle book since it isn’t quite resolved by the end and much of what did happen is setting up a bigger story.

It did take me a little while to get involved in The Tempering of Men and really want to find out what happened next.  There seemed to be a larger frequency of Norse names to stumble over for a bit, and it took some time to get going, partially because there were three main characters to focus on instead of just one.  While the previous volume was mainly about Isolfr, this book shifted him to the background and moved his two wolfjarls, Skjaldwulf and Vethulf, and Brokkolfr, another man bonded to a female wolf, to the forefront.  By focusing on Isolfr and his experience with becoming a companion to a wolf and eventually a leader, the first book served as an introduction to this world.

In contrast, this book is about three seasoned wolfcarls, albeit ones that need to adjust to new roles within their community.  Skjaldwulf and Vethulf have already been bonded to wolves for a while, but the two have been thrust into leading men by the choice of Viradechtis. They have to come to terms with their new duties, competition with each other, and preparing for the wolfheall to change with the trolls gone.  Brokkolfr’s part of the story mostly involves a discovery he makes while exploring one day, but he too is learning to step into new responsibilities as he counsels Isolfr – and puts it upon himself to tell him hard truths that he may not want to hear.  He certainly admires his wolfsprechend and finds a lot to commend about him, but there are some cases where Brokkolfr sees Isolfr’s discomfort with aspects of his role getting in his way when it comes to preparing other men bonded to female wolves.  This book is arguably just as much about the characters and their growth as it is any events, and of the three, it’s mostly Skjaldwulf’s story.  He’s the one who takes it upon himself to instigate change and makes the most difference in the end.

This would not be a Bear and Monette book if there was no emphasis on gender and sexuality, although they are part of the story rather than exposition on issues.  Since it has moved away from the coming of age story and introducing a new boy to what it means to be companion to a queen wolf, there’s less emphasis on mating in this one.  I thought this was a good choice since it’s covered pretty thoroughly in the first volume and it might seem excessive if it was also prominent in this book.  That’s not to say it’s ignored, but like Isolfr, it’s more in the background and comes up less.  Also, many of these men are gay, combating the stereotype of the “manly” Viking warrior who lusts after the buxom lasses.  That’s not to say the authors went the route of deciding every man in this all-male society was gay, either.  Some of them still prefer women, and some of them even have children. This creates a new layer of conflict since one of these men is Isolfr, who is coveted by many (and whom Skjaldwulf desperately wishes didn’t seem to prefer women).

I also found it interesting that they included a woman who became heir to her father, a war leader, because he had no sons to be his heir.  For all intents and purposes, she became a man – dressing like one, acting like one, and always referred to with male pronouns.

The Tempering of Men is different from A Companion to Wolves.  While the latter was more of an introduction to the world through the eyes of a young person being initiated into it, the new installment is about more experienced members of the society.  It’s a bit more epic in feel with more main characters and some questing.  I appreciate the fact that it does take the story in a new direction, but I also found the first book a little bit stronger just because it was easier to pick up and become immersed in.  Plus these are not very long books, so just having one main character worked a little better, although we do know some of these characters going in so it’s also not by any means a bad choice to have more than one main character. It also had a middle book feel since the things that did happen seemed like they’d be more important in the next book.  While I enjoyed it very much, I did enjoy the previous book a little more; however, it has not at all dampened my enthusiasm any for more books set in Iskryne.

My Rating: 7/10

Where I got my reading copy: ARC from the publisher.

Read Chapter One

Other Reviews:

Reviews of other books in this series:

  1. A Companion to Wolves
Review of Naamah’s Blessing by Jacqueline Carey
Aug
09
2011
Naamah's Blessing
by Jacqueline Carey
610pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 8/10
Amazon Rating: 3.9/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.13/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.11/5
 

Naamah’s Blessing is the final book in Jacqueline Carey’s companion trilogy to the first two trilogies comprising Kushiel’s Legacy, which began with Kushiel’s Dart.  This newest trilogy takes place well after the end of the first two and can be read without first reading the books that came before (I’ve only read Kushiel’s Dart myself, although I really enjoyed it and should get on reading the rest of them).  The books in the Naamah trilogy before this one are Naamah’s Kiss and Naamah’s Curse, respectively.

There will be spoilers for the first two books in this series in this review. If you have not read them, but are interested in learning more about the series, here’s my review of Naamah’s Kiss.

Moirin returns to Terre d’Ange with Bao with a mixture of joy and grief.  While she is elated to be reunited with her father, the death of Queen Jehanne brings her great sorrow and impacts the kindgom as a whole.  King Daniel is so upset by his queen’s loss that he’s no longer an effective ruler and has another performing most of his duties for him. Now that Morin has returned, the king asks her to do what he cannot – care for his daughter, Desiree, who reminds him too much of Jehanne for him to be around.  Moirin agrees and vows to do so publicly, although she also reminded him beforehand that her diadh-anam may not allow her to stay in Terre d’Ange.

This is indeed the case. When news comes of Prince Thierry’s disappearance in Terra Nova, Moirin discovers it is her destiny to journey overseas and find him herself.  While she’s hesitant to leave the princess, it becomes clear to her that the best thing she can do for Desiree is to find her half-brother and bring him home.  However, there is another purpose for her presence in Terre d’Ange – Moirin is destined to once again meet Raphael de Mereliot, who used her powers selfishly and recklessly in order to gain more power of his own.

At first, I was a little worried that I wasn’t going to enjoy Naamah’s Blessing as much as the rest of the trilogy. While it was still elegantly written, it did take quite a while to get going since there was a lot of reminiscing about events from the first two books for quite a while. Also, it took about a third of the book for it to really feel like it was getting to the plot that had been set up toward the end of the previous book, Moirin facing Raphael de Mereliot once again.  However, once it did pick up, this ended up being my favorite book in the trilogy.  I just loved how it came around full circle back to plots and people from the first book, the beautiful writing, and how different cultures and beliefs were portrayed with such compassion.

Throughout the trilogy, it’s gone from different parts of an alternate Europe to Asia. This book added the Americas to the world tour with Moirin’s journey to Terra Nova. Fortunately, most of the mundane parts of what would have been a lot of traveling were left out so what we did see showed a grand sense of adventure and danger. Terra Nova did indeed come across as the most lethal place Moirin has visited, and there was one scene in particular involving a snake that just might give me nightmares even though I’ve never really been prone to fear of snakes (probably because living in Maine I’ve only ever seen garter snakes which are pretty small, harmless-looking, and could never swallow a creature the size of a capybara whole).  There were some completely creepy scenes involving ants as well, but at least that was not based on reality, so while well done it wasn’t as terrifying.

As much as I enjoyed seeing Moirin traverse the jungles, what I loved most about seeing her visit distant lands was the cultures.  Carey handles all the different beliefs and ways of life so sympathetically.  Even the Aztecs, whose basic belief system was not changed for the purpose of the novel, were not portrayed as bloodthirsty savages but as people with reasons for their actions.  Their convictions had value, and even with Moirin’s deities being so important to the story, Moirin’s gods and goddesses are not the only valid ones in the universe.  When she encounters new cultures, Moirin always tries to learn something new from the other people she encounters instead of belittling them – even when she has some difficulty accepting it on principle, as she did in this book, which really put her to the test.

Moirin did face a big dilemma related to whether or not to trust in what she was told had to be done when it conflicted with her own values.  These types of struggles are one of the reasons I like Moirin’s character, in spite of her not being as flawed as I generally like my main characters to be.  In a lot of ways, she almost seems too perfect – she’s kind, compassionate, always tries to do the right thing, and everyone seems to love her or come to love her unless they don’t seem to be a decent person.  That’s not to say she doesn’t have human traits like a sense of humor or occasional bouts of recklessness, but she doesn’t seem to have any big, glaring personality flaws. Normally, this would be a hindrance to my enjoyment of a series since I prefer my characters to have more bad traits than Moirin has. However, I can find a generally good character like Moirin interesting when she is given difficult obstacles that show what she’s made of and the thought processes she undergoes in her attempts to do right.  That is certainly the case with Moirin, even if I do think that the resolution to some of her problems is wrapped up too easily without her having to act on a choice.

In spite of the tendency for a lot of things to work out too neatly in her favor, everything is still not easy for Moirin.  As we’ve seen before, being used by her deities is both a blessing and a curse.  They lead her around (often on very long, tedious journeys to other continents), she follows, and at times it does cause her great sadness.  They took her away from Jehanne when Moirin had a gift that could have saved her life had she only been there. Knowing what she had to do, Moirin can’t regret it completely because she saved many lives, but she does feel guilt over not being there for Jehanne and agonizes over whether she’d be alive now had she just been there.  In addition to not having a 100% wonderfully god-blessed, luxurious lifestyle full of riches and relaxation, Moirin has committed actions she must pay for.  When she goes across the ocean, she has to correct a mistake she made when she was younger and more naive – and a different person than she is now. While she basically has the same nature as at the beginning of the trilogy, Moirin’s experiences have still shaped her into a more mature young woman than the one we met at the start of the trilogy. I appreciate the fact that she has developed, and I do love her open-minded spirit that allows her to acclimate herself to other cultures and absorb their beliefs so easily.

In spite of a slow start with a lot of recap and inclinations for some convenient resolutions, Naamah’s Blessing was an excellent conclusion to this trilogy.  It was resolved very neatly with a satisfying ending for Moirin, and it was wonderful to see just how far she’d come since the first book. Her story in this book clearly showed the contrast between the very young, unworldly girl she was when the gods first call her away from her homeland and the more knowledgeable young woman she has become.  Combined with lovely prose, entertaining adventures, and a broad, open-minded view of different cultures, Naamah’s Blessing was simply beautiful.

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: Review copy from the publisher.

Other Reviews of Naamah’s Blessing:

Reviews of other books in this series:

  1. Naamah’s Kiss
  2. Naamah’s Curse
2012 Book Lust: Range of Ghosts, The Scar, and More
Aug
08
2011

One of my most anticipated books of 2012 has been Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear ever since she mentioned it in an interview I did with her earlier this year.  I love her books, and the way she described this novel in the interview made it sound especially fantastic:

 

I just handed in the first novel of my first real epic fantasy trilogy. It’s called Range of Ghosts, and it forthcoming from Tor in 2012. I’m a little in love with this world–it’s a cod-Medieval Central Asian fantasy in the mode of the cod-Medieval European fantasy we see so much of. It’s fascinating to me that there are these vast empires and amazing trading societies, socially and technologically advanced, the history of which is almost absent from the Western psyche except when they are invoked as boogeymen–Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun. My Cossack ancestors claim descent from the Golden Horde, and it was incredibly interesting to bury myself in that history.

These are not, I hasten to say, historical fantasies. They’re high fantasy, but they draw their inspiration from sources usually ignored–or cast as the invading enemy–in most of the Western fantasy tradition. And it’s a largely unvisited realm, outside of the adventures of Conan the Cimmerian. The far East gets some attention, but not the vast empires of the Himalayas and the Steppe.

So I was thrilled to see on her blog today that it now has a cover and blurb in the Winter 2012 Tor Catalog!  Here’s what it says about it:

 

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards.These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully
brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

I can’t wait!  Range of Ghosts will be released in March 2012.

Actually, I’d highly recommend checking out the whole catalog since there are some great sounding books here, even if a frustrating number are sequels to books I’ve been wanting to read and haven’t read yet.  Some of the books mentioned are:

  • Touchstone by Melanie Rawn (February 2012)
  • Among Others by Jo Walton (coming to paperback in January 2012 – this looked really good!)
  • Girl Genius Omnibus Volume One: Agatha Awakens by Phil and Kaja Foglio (January 2012)
  • The Scar by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko, translated by Elinor Huntington (February 2012)
  • Shadow and Betrayal by Daniel Abraham (omnibus of first two Long Price books, coming out March 2012)
  • The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi (sequel to The Quantum Thief, to be released in September 2012)
  • Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal (sequel to Shades of Milk and Honey, coming out April 2012)
  • Blue Magic by A. M. Dellamonica (sequel to Indigo Springs, will be released April 2012)

That’s just a few of them – I could spend all night writing about all the books that look good.  I’m really excited about The Scar, which I hadn’t heard of before now.  Here’s the description for that one:

 

Reaching far beyond sword and sorcery, The Scar is a story of two people torn by disaster, their descent into despair, and their reemergence through love and courage. Sergey and Marina Dyachenko mix dramatic scenes with romance, action and wit, in a style both direct and lyrical. Written with a sure artistic hand, The Scar is the story of a man driven by his own feverish demons to find redemption and the woman who just
might save him.

Egert is as a brash, confident member of the elite guards and an egotistical philanderer. But after he kills an innocent student in a duel, a mysterious man known as “The Wanderer” challenges Egert and slashes his face with his sword, leaving Egert with a scar that comes to symbolize his cowardice. Unable to end his suffering by his own hand, Egert embarks on an odyssey to undo the curse and the horrible damage he has caused, which can only be repaired by a painful journey down a long and harrowing path. Toria, the woman whose fiancé Egert killed, hates Egert, and is saddened and numb, but comes to forgive the drastically changed Egert. Plotted with the sureness of Robin Hobb and colored with the haunting and ominous imagination of Michael Moorcock, The Scar tells a story that cannot be forgotten.

Eek, there’s too many books from 2011 I still want to read to be drooling over next year’s books!  Are there any books coming out next year you’re excited about already?

The Leaning Pile of Books
Aug
07
2011

This week brought two review copies, one of which I’ve already talked about in my BEA post so I won’t talk about it in detail again (The Magician King by Lev Grossman, which apparently changed significantly between the ARC and finished copy so I’m going to read the final copy instead of my ARC). Also, I raided my local Borders sale and ended up with 4 books I’ve been wanting to read.  If I had no self control, I could have ended up with a lot more but I tried not to go overboard and kept putting books back.  I even thought about putting some of those final four back, but the friend I was with said not to do that because Borders only closes once and how am I to argue with that logic?

Acacia by David Anthony DurhamAcacia: The War With the Mein by David Anthony Durham

The first novel in the Acacia series is by the author who won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2009.  I remember hearing about this book a lot when it first came out, but I just never picked it up for some reason.  When I was looking through the sale books yesterday, I picked it up and saw the very first line mentioned an assassin – and I was hooked.  From the back cover, it sounds like it’s not actually about an assassin but instead the results of an assassination. Oh well, it sounds really good aside from that anyway! An excerpt is available on the author’s website.

There is a second book in the series, Acacia: The Other Lands.

The ruler of the Known World, Leodan Akaran, presides over a land of prosperity and apparent harmony. On the sheltered island of Acacia, this gentle widower raises his four children, shielding them from the dark realities and dangers that lurk nearby. But all his plans come to naught when a foreign chieftain invades and kills Leodan, causing upheaval throughout the kingdom. By a carefully laid plan, all four offspring escape, moving in different directions, settling in different host nations. This hastily enacted dispersal sets the stage for David Anthony Durham’s fourth novel, an epic fantasy of grand dimensions.

Steal Across the Sky by Nancy KressSteal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress

When I told John I was going to the Borders sale, he told me to pick up something good.  So I picked up this one specifically because it’s by the same author who wrote some of his favorite books (the Beggars trilogy starting with Beggars In Spain). I think it looks pretty interesting as well, though.  An excerpt is available on the author’s website, but beware of the super-bright blue background!

The aliens appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the internet:

“We are an alien race you may call the Atoners. Ten thousand years ago we wronged humanity profoundly.  We cannot undo what has been done, but we wish humanity to understand it.  Therefore we request twenty-one volunteers to visit seven planets to Witness for us.  We will convey each volunteer there and back in complete safety.  Volunteers must speak English. Send requests for electronic applications to [email protected].”

At first, everyone thought it was a joke.  But it wasn’t.

This is the story of three of those volunteers, and what they found on Kular A and Kular B.

Among Thieves by Douglas HulickAmong Thieves by Douglas Hulick

I’ve had my eye on this book ever since it came out earlier this year.  Yes, mostly because it has a thief and I expect books about thieves to be lots of fun!  This is a debut novel and the first book in the Tales of the Kin series, which will be at least three books long. An excerpt is available online.

Drothe has been a member of the Kin for years, rubbing elbows with thieves and murderers in the employ of a crime lord while smuggling relics on the side. But when an ancient book falls into his hands, Drothe finds himself in possession of a relic capable of bringing down emperors-a relic everyone in the underworld would kill to obtain.

Children of Scarabaeus by Sara CreasyChildren of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy

This is the sequel to Song of Scarabaeus, a debut science fiction novel which I read and reviewed earlier this year. While I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book, I was less excited about it by the time I finished it. However, I did still like it enough to want to find out how the story ends and figured that a sale was a good excuse to get a hold of the second half of it. An excerpt of the first few chapters is available online.

The crib is everywhere . . .

Edie Sha’nim believes she and her bodyguard lover, Finn, could find refuge from the tyranny of the Crib empire by fleeing to the Fringe worlds. But Edie’s extraordinary cypherteck ability to manipulate the ecology of evolving planets makes her far too valuable for the empire to lose. Recaptured and forced to cooperate—or else she will watch Finn die—Edie is shocked to discover the Crib’s new breed of cypherteck: children. She cannot stand by while the oppressors enslave the innocent, nor can she resist the lure of Scarabaeus, the first world she tried to save, when researchers discover what appears to be an evolving intelligence.

But escape—for Edie, for Finn, and for the exploited young—will require the ultimate sacrifice . . . and a shocking act of rebellion.

Outpost by Adam BakerOutpost by Adam Baker

This post-apocalyptic debut novel was just released in the UK this month, and I saw that there is a Kindle edition on Amazon US.  Reviews on Goodreads mentioned zombies, so I’m not sure it’s really my type of thing, but it sounds like it’s supposed to be pretty good if you do like that sort of thing.

They took the job to escape the world.
They didn’t expect the world to end.

Kasker Rampart: a derelict refinery platform moored in the Arctic Ocean. A skeleton crew of fifteen fight boredom and despair as they wait for a relief ship to take them home. But the world beyond their frozen wasteland has gone to hell. Cities lie ravaged by a global pandemic. One by one TV channels die, replaced by silent wavebands. The Rampart crew are marooned. They must survive the long Arctic winter, then make their way home alone. They battle starvation and hypothermia, unaware that the deadly contagion that has devastated the world is heading their way…