Trolls Play With Conventions, River Flows On

One of our very first offerings, Charles Coleman Finlay’s The Prodigal Troll gets a new review on SF Crowsnest from reviewer Tomas L. Martin. Martin, who admits a bias towards science fiction over fantasy, admits, “This is a good book because it plays a little with genre conventions. The societies are slightly different to what you’d expect and the fight scenes involving a small rebellious tribe are reminiscent of a fantasy Vietnam amongst the trees. The main character and the knight at the beginning are well drawn. Finlay writes with an extremely enjoyable style and this is one of those books that flies by quickly. The trolls are fun and poignant in equal turns…”

Meanwhile, Magill Book Reviews reviews Ian McDonald’s River of Gods: “…McDonald skillfully weaves the characters’ narratives into a cohesive whole, providing a thought-provoking look at a possible future world in which non-Western influences play just as large a role as their Western counterparts.”

And, while we’re talking about Ian McDonald, we’re thrilled to report that his latest, Brasyl, ranked # 5 on the bestselling hardcover list at San Francisco-based independent genre bookstore Borderlands Books for May 2007!

Incidentally, all three of the above works – The Prodigal Troll, River of Gods and Brasyl, are available from Borderlands right now. And as you all know buying from independents is guaranteed good for your karma.