Roberson Rambles on Brasyl
Author Chris Roberson (Paragaea,
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Reviews
Hey, I Can Write Too! Concatenation on Fast Forward 1
Here’s a review of my anthology Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge
Tony then spends the bulk of his “review” talking about why science fiction is important and illustrating how to communicate this to the uninitiated with a personal example. I got to say, the point of the book is the fiction, so I’m glad there are plenty of reviews that concentrate on that (or even mention it), but, as an anthologist who puts a lot of work into my introductions and then wonders “Does anybody even read this?” the once-in-a-blue-moon review that favorably calls out the intro is much appreciated.
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Various and Sundry
Great Publishers Weekly review for Joel Shepherd’s forthcoming Killswitch,
Nothing to argue with there, right?
Meanwhile, Fantasy Book Critic proclaims that “not only was The Blade Itself
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Multiple Pyr Reviews
A host of Pyr reviews have come in over the last few days. Here are the highlights:
Ian McDonald’s River of Gods:
“…if you can stand the initial shock of a future India, described in breathtaking detail by McDonald, then you will find yourself immersed in the world that he has created. River of Gods is a rich, fascinating novel…fans of hard science fiction will find plenty to like…” –SciFiNow Magazine, issue 5
Ian McDonald’s Brasyl:
“Brasyl has been receiving high praise from just about everyone since it’s publication. It’s easy to see why. Not content with writing just one interesting story, McDonald gives us three… What’s even more amazing is that McDonald has taken these stories and wrapped them around a very hard science fictional idea. Namely that of the quantum computational view of cosmology.tackles big issues like free will and the heat death of the universe and places them in intensely personal stories, which serves to humanize these ideas and make them easier to understand… Brasyl rivals River Of Gods story-wise and surpasses it in science fictional terms. “-SFSignal, 4 1/2 stars
Justina Robson’s Selling Out (Quantum Gravity, Book 2):
“Provocative melding of fantasy and science fiction…her freewheeling language instills the plot with an unpredictability…limitless creativity and enthusiasm…” –SciFiNow Magazine, issue 5
“Robson continues, from Keeping It Real (2007), the story of super cyborg secret-agent extraordinare Lila Black as she follows her former charge Zal, the most famous rock star in Otopia, into Demonia…Clearly having fun in a world of elves, fairies, and high-tech toys, Robson has a great sense of rock and roll, too, which helps lots in this almost-over-the top confection.” –Booklist, September 1, 2007
Fiona Avery’s The Crown Rose:
“…a fascinating novel about a period in history imbued with mysticism, and it is exciting to read something so well encompassing that tradition. Fiona Avery has a marvelous talent for vivid characterization, and makes Isabelle and her family and servants glow with realism. This is a well-researched book, and it shows. Give yourself a trip to the thirteenth century and get this book!” –ReadertoReader.com, September 2007
Kay Kenyon’s Bright of the Sky: the Entire and the Rose: Book 1:
“Well written, with engaging, well-developed characters, Kenyon gives readers fascinating, alternative worlds on a breathtaking scale. Mind boggling worlds, deep plotting and characters—what more can we want from science fiction?” -SirReadaLot.org, September, 2007
Not bad, huh?
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Sagramanda: A Chef d’oeuvre for Sure
Norman Spinrad’s latest On Books column, this one titled “Buried Treasures,” is par for the course for his usual cogent discussion of the state of modern publishing. He looks at five books, one from a major house, three from the “small press”, and the fifth one from Pyr, whom he describes as a publisher that “seems to straddle, or perhaps in the end will erase, the distinction between such lists and the so-called major SF lines.”
Spinrad’s column begins with the assertion that “Whether you call it evolution or devolution, SF publishing has changed rather radically from what it was, say, a decade ago. Most of the changes have been negative in terms of accessibility to potential readers and income to writers. However, perhaps there will turn out to be a small improvement or two in terms of literary freedom as the center of gravity, to coin an entirely paradoxical metaphor, moves to the fringes.”
He then uses the five books in his review – The Good Fairies of New York, The Demon and the City, No Dominion, The Secret City, and our own Alan Dean Foster title, Sagramanda (A Novel of Near-Future India),
Meanwhile, Alan and I are certainly happy with this view of Sagramanda: “…by far the best thing he?s written thus far, a chef d?oeuvre for sure, and what?s more, colorful, exotic, and reasonably action-packed, too…. a very detailed, sensorily vivid, culturally and technologically convincing, portrait of his extrapolated India via characters who come alive with psychological depth. What more can you ask of a science fiction novel?”
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Wrong Way Round
SFRevu’s Colleen Cahill astounds me, having elected to dive into a four book series with book three. I’m talking about Sean Williams’ The Hanging Mountains,
“This book moves fast and it quickly swept me into the complex, beautiful and deadly work that Williams has so artfully crafted. In the second chapter, the boat is attacked by a large white snakelike creature, big enough to encircle the ship in its coils. The monster is made all the more eerie by its lack of eyes, nostrils or mouth. My heart was racing through this scene and I knew I had to finish this story. If an author can do that much in less than thirty pages, imagine how good the rest of the book will be!”
Colleen admits there are better ways to read the series, but adds, “If I thought it was good, just think how much better it will be when you have the whole story.”
Something to Crow About x 3
Three new Pyr reviews up at SFCrowsnest.
First up, Eamonn Murphy’s review of Alan Dean Foster’s Sagramanda (A Novel of Near-Future India):
“Someone once said of George Bernard Shaw that he couldn’t write a boring sentence. Alan Dean Foster can but he doesn’t write very many of them. Even when adapting less than excellent animated ”Star Trek’ scripts, he turns in a good line or two. Presenting his own plots and characters his prose is frequently divine, full of apt phrasing and neat similes. If nothing else, this book is a pleasure to read. Happily, there is something else, mostly a good plot, an interesting cast of characters festooned with hi-tech gadgets and a rich setting…”
Then Tomas L. Martin reviews Sean Williams 2nd and 3rd Books of the Cataclysm. Here’s Tomas on Book 2, The Blood Debt:
“Williams is a great writer and an even better world-builder. Comparisons
can be made to China Mieville’s Bas-Lag work with its assorted weirdness and willingness to bend and break the traditional tropes of fantasy worlds. This doesn’t feel like a fantasy adventure novel typically does. Its towns, citizens, technology and magic feel significantly alien and new which is a great and welcome achievement… Overall, Sean Williams has produced that rare of gems, a fantasy book that really feels like you’re visiting a new world, rather than a rehashed version of somebody else’s milieu. The easy style and likeable banter between protagonists makes the book an enjoyable read and the plot keeps you wanting to come back for more. Expect to buy all four if you get the first!”
And here is Tomas on Book 3, The Hanging Mountains:
“Sean Williams’ impressive world-building and enjoyable style and plot surprised me, providing me with the most enjoyable fantasy reads I’ve experienced since finishing China Mieville’s The Scar…Sean Williams is writing an important series here that does a great service to the fantasy genre by encouraging it to break tradition. His powerfully creative world-building should stand as a call to arms for fantasy writers to leave the world of Tolkien-aping lands behind and really start being adventurous. Read all three of ‘The Books Of The Cataclysm’ and when the fourth is released, buy that, too. I know I will be.”
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A Storytelling Machine
John DeNardo posts his SFSignal Review of Mike Resnick’s Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future.
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Hurricane Moon is Top Pick
The Romantic Times has given Alexis Glynn Latner’s Hurricane Moon
“Top Pick! Latner’s stunning full-length debut takes a well-worn plot, strips it bare and meticulously creates its own version. The characters are well defined; the science is imaginative but not whimsical; and the voyage is out of this world.”
Also happy to report that Hurricane Moon was named in the “What You Should Read This Year” panel at the recent ArmadilloCon and has been chosen as a book-club read of the Fandom Association of Central Texas (as was, apparently, Keeping It Real).
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They’re Here! Blade and River!
Ian McDonald’s Hugo and Clarke nominated River of Gods is now out in trade paperback. It’ll be in stores in early September, and is already listed as in stock at Amazon.com.
What’s more, Joe Abercrombie’s extraordinary fantasy debut The Blade Itself is also out. I just got my copies day before yesterday. Like River of Gods, its also on Amazon already.
Reviewer Lucien Spelman goes on to say that Joe’s novel is “a fantasy novel full of enough ironic and slightly self-deprecating humor and Scorcese–esque violence to make the average hipper than thou non-fantasy reader want to learn more about the genre (my favorite kind to convert), yet filled with enough touchstones to make your average Tolkien weaned fantasy reader quite happy indeed.”
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