I have a copy of the newest urban fantasy sensation Eve of Darkness by S.J. Day to giveaway. Even better, this copy is signed.
For Evangeline Hollis, a long-ago fling with a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks just became a disaster of biblical proportions. One night with a leather-clad man of mystery has led to a divine punishment: the mark of Cain.
Thrust into a world where sinners are drafted to kill demons, Eve knows her learning curve must be short. A longtime agnostic, she begrudgingly maneuvers through a celestial bureaucracy where she is a valuable but ill-treated pawn. She's also become the latest point of contention in the oldest case of sibling rivalry in history...
But she'll worry about all that later. Right now she's more concerned with learning to kill while staying alive. And saving the soul she'd never quite believed she had.
To Enter to Win: You must be an active email subscriber of Blood of the Muse to enter. If you have not signed up to receive Blood of the Muse email updates yet, you can sign up here.
Once you are an active subscriber, you can send an email to pstotts@bloodofthemuse.com with the subject line "EVE" and include the email address where you receive your Blood of the Muse updates in the body of your email. Multiple entries will be disqualified. The winner will be selected at random. No purchase is necessary.
For more Blood of the Muse giveaways: click here.
Good luck to everyone who enters!
Book Giveaway: Signed Eve of Darkness by S.J. Day
Monday, May 25, 2009
Book Giveaway: The Wolverine Files by Mike Barr
Friday, May 22, 2009
I have five copies of The Wolverine Files by Mike Barr, graciously provided by Simon & Schuster (you can opt-in here to receive all kind of yummy book news, videos and more from them.) Yay, five chances to win!
This book is a top secret compilation of all known facts about the mutant called Wolverine (a/k/a Logan, Weapon X, Patch, the Runt). This report, generated by the concerted effort of SHIELD (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law Enforcement Division) agents, is intended for the eyes of SHIELD personnel only, and is not to be copied, distributed, disseminated, or in any other way leaked to the general public due to the delicate nature of the information herein. It details Wolverine's origins, career, friends, allies, in all manner of specifics.
If you can't wait to get your own copy of this big bundle of Wolverine love, you can purchase The Wolverine Files here.
To Enter to Win: Send an email to pstotts@bloodofthemuse.com with the subject line "WOLVERINE" and include your name and mailing address in the body of your email. Multiple entries will be disqualified. Winners will be selected at random. No purchase is necessary.
For more Blood of the Muse giveaways: click here.
Bloggers: if you promote this contest on your blog, I will give you an additional entry. Email me at pstotts@bloodofthemuse.com with the subject line "WOLVERINE", and include the address to your blog in the body of the email, or you can leave the address to your blog in the comment section of this post. I'll check it out and make sure you get another entry.
Good luck to everyone who enters!
"This Is Not a Game" by Walter Jon Williams (Orbit)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
This Is Not a Game
Walter Jon Williams
384 pp. Orbit. $24.99
Pub. Date: 3/24/2009
ISBN-13: 978-0316003155
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
A woman sits in a hotel room, alone and scared; outside, the city burns, white hot. Black roiling clouds pollute the horizon, flames flicker in the distance, the smell of burning flesh—of death—penetrates the room. She looks out her window, perched high on the fourteenth floor, and watches the world explode. Into chaos. Watches the riots, the murders, the hatred. Families lined up, destroyed. And she waits. Stranded. A prisoner of circumstance.
The news is grim. The local economy has collapsed, the country’s currency now worthless. The airport and train stations are closed. No one can leave the city. Without help.
So, she waits in her hotel room, a damsel-in-distress. Waits for someone to rescue her, for someone to figure out how she can escape, for someone to solve the puzzle. Of her life.
A life now transformed into a very real game. The goal: helping her leave the city, the country, to make it back home, safely. Woman Stranded in a Hotel Room, seemingly a starting point for the latest alternate reality game (ARG), an online adventure where reality intrudes on make-believe. Where the answers to fictional puzzles can be found in the real world. Where millions of players worldwide use whatever resources, ideas, and skills—whether legal or illegal—to solve puzzles, furthering their quest. It’s the proverbial rabbit hole, players constantly tumbling deeper into a wonderland where conspiracies reign, waiting to be uncovered. It’s Lewis Carroll meets the Grassy Knoll Theory. It’s life, re-imagined. As a story, as a game.
But this is not a game.
This interconnection between reality and fiction is masterfully explored in Walter Jon Williams’ latest novel This Is Not A Game, a beautiful multi-layered novel, both vastly entertaining and astute. It’s a fascinating sociological experiment, an exploration of large-scale problem-solving by a community of minds. An ode to the Hive Mind and the power of Group Think, to its immense processing power. Each individual providing a unique perspective of the problem, a single paintbrush stroke; only the group providing the complete picture, the solution, the Monet. Like a group of rats, arguing, sharing information, before finally deciding the best course through the maze. There’s power in numbers. Reasoning power.
Even better. This Is Not a Game is a compelling mystery, one that threateningly demands—like a militant nun, ruler in hand, your knuckles spread before her—for you to continue, to finish. Stopping, it’s not an option. It’s not even a thought. You turn the pages of the book not just to get answers, but to get the questions, also. And neither disappoint. There is no letdown, no clumsy resolution, no descent into lameness. Everything works, the story coming together beautifully like a well-played game of chess, Williams maneuvering the reader, skillfully. Like a pawn. A very happy pawn.
The novel feels fresh, new, totally unique. Something completely different from the tired, recycled space opera found in most sci-fi novels today. You’ll remember This Is Not A Game afterwards, for its distinct storyline, for being unlike anything else you’ve read. For being special. A rabbit hole, both deep and dark, leading to a dazzling wonderland, where a game imitates life. And life imitates a game.
Last Word:
Games vary. Some you play on a board, everyone fighting to be the little metal car. Some you play on the latest whiz-bang video game system, featuring the most realistic graphics yet. And some you play with people, manipulating their emotions and ideas. But the best games arise from stories; storytelling being nothing more than an author playing a game with their reader. An imagination game, one in which the writer sets the rules. A game with drama and mystery, winners and losers. So Walter Jon Williams’ This Is Not A Game lies. It is a game. A hell of a game, a fascinating mystery, and intriguing social commentary. Where every reader is a winner, no matter what alternate reality you choose to call home.
Final Grade: 87 out of 100
Related Posts:
"Sly Mongoose" by Tobias Buckell (Tor)
"The January Dancer" by Michael Flynn (Tor)
"Caine Black Knife" by Matthew Stover (Del Rey)
Collector's Corner - Peter V. Brett
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Best fantasy novel I've read through the first half of 2009. That's easy. It's Peter V. Brett's The Warded Man. So I was thrilled to get a signed copy of the book, thanks to the folks at one of the great indie sci-fi/fantasy bookstores around, Mysterious Galaxy. Here's a peak at Peter's signature.
Related Posts:
"The Warded Man" by Peter V. Brett (Del Rey)
Author Appearances - Stephen R. Donaldson
Friday, May 15, 2009
Southern California fans take note! Stephen R. Donaldson will be making an appearance at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego on Sunday, May 17. He may be reading an excerpt from his next book Against All Things Ending, as well as signing books. You won't want to miss this.
Sunday, May 17 2009
2:00pm
Mysterious Galaxy
7051 Claremont Mesa Blvd. Suite 302
San Diego, CA 92111
Map it on Google
Author Appearances - Christie Golden
If you're a World of Warcraft fan and happen to live in beautiful Colorado, Christie Golden will be signing copies of her new book World of Warcraft Arthas: Rise of the Lich King on May 16.
Saturday, May 16 2009
2:00pm
Barnes & Noble
The Promenade Shops at Centerra
5835 Sky Pond Drive
Loveland, CO 80538
Map it on Google
"Small Favor" by Jim Butcher (Roc)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Small Favor
Jim Butcher
432 pp. Roc. $23.95
Pub. Date: 4/1/2008
ISBN-13: 978-0451461896
Reviewed by Lindsay Stotts
You walk into your local post office, just for a few stamps. The walls are plastered with Most-Wanted posters, yellowing and curling in at the corners; angry, despicable faces staring back at you. Chilling you to the bone. You look closer at the faces. At the names.
That one’s a vampire. You can always tell; they have such dead, bloodless eyes. Hey. That one’s a faerie. I don’t want to be her Pinocchio. And that one—I don’t know what that one is.
Vampires. Faeries. Hellfire. Knights. Weregoats. Denarians. And wizards.
In what strange world could you find such an eclectic—and downright frightening—rogue’s gallery of things that go bump in the night? Harry Dresden’s world, of course. As in Harry Dresden, the famous
He’s fought every demon, every evil, every monster, every mutant and every mythical creature known to human and wizard-kind. In “Small Favor”, things aren’t any different. Harry just can’t catch a break (unless it involves his nose, and a Louisville Slugger). This time out he has to go negotiate with the Denarians concerning the recovery of all written knowledge. Not just some of it—all of it. Ever done. Just one catch, though. It’s entombed in the body of a little girl. This just reeks of the bizarre stuff
Speaking of not disappointing. Jim Butcher once again delivers a spectacular adventure for Harry and his posse. Not only has Butcher evolved as a writer,
Butcher delves even deeper into the character development of Harry, Michael, Murphy and Thomas, which was icing on the cake for an already edge-of-your-seat-non-stop-action-page-turner of a novel. Harry even gets a little “something something” if you know what I mean. (Okay, mind out of adult-bookstore-with-the-blackened-windows-on-the-corner, he didn’t get anything THAT good, that would have been way too generous of Butcher). With each book, the characters come to life more and more. Butcher makes them all so relatable that you can’t help sitting there, mesmerized, rooting for their favorite, praying you backed the right pony. C’mon SeaBiscuit!
Last Word:
The world’s favorite wizard-detective strikes again! Butcher just keeps making this series better and better. Not a disappointment to be found, just sheer excitement, adventure, and butt-whoopings a plenty. Watch out Harry Potter and Sherlock Homes, here comes Harry Dresden!
Final Score: 90 out of 100
Related Posts:
"Backup" by Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
"Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation" by Martin Millar (Soft Skull Press)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation
Martin Millar
176 pp. Soft Skull Press. $13.95
Pub. Date: 1/6/2009
ISBN-13: 978-1593762278
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Never tick off the Milk Marketing Board.
Never. They play for keeps.
Dairy supremacy isn’t easy; it’s not all fun and milk mustaches. The competition is intense, vicious even. So success requires doing whatever it takes. Stepping on the little guy, keeping upstarts like cottage cheese and yogurt under the heel of your boot, demonizing the lactose intolerant, claiming soy milk’s for sissies. Milk might do a body good, but it’ll also bust your ass. Skilled in not only building strong bones, but in breaking them, too.
So if you libel the leche expect repercussions. Serious repercussions. Like waking up one morning, incessant knocking at your door, a hitman hired by the Milk Marketing Board on the other side, waiting. To kill you.
Bummer.
Even worse. The Milk Marketing Board might not be the only one wanting to send you to the Big-Neapolitan-Milkshake-in-the-sky. There’s that Chinese dude—the one with a human mountain for a driver—creeping around your neighborhood, all mysterious and sinister, asking people about you. About your amphetamine business. About where you live. And desiring, deeply, to chat with you.
Why? What could he want? It ain’t good, clearly. Probably going to steal your business. Take your hard-earned junkies.
And what’s with the city worker digging up the road in front of your flat for the last three days. Constantly drilling. Like a never-ending migraine. How long does it take to fix a hole in the road? Is he watching you? Did he just hit the water line?
Clearly there’s only one answer: everyone’s out to get you. It’s undeniable. You can feel it. Feel the tension creeping up your back, into your shoulders, tightening your chest, your breath coming, ragged and short.
Life. It’s enough to make you paranoid.
Paranoia reigns in the bizarre life of Alby Starvation; a life wonderfully fictionalized in Martin Millar’s “Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation.” It’s slice of life—if your life resembled those truth-stranger-than-fiction stories that end the news. Stories we laugh at, pointing at the idiot on the television, feeling better about ourselves. Because we aren’t that stupid. Or silly. Or odd. Stories about the man who sued his employer, claiming discrimination because his cat dying of throat cancer nixed a promotion. Or about the guy whose video game playing brilliance arises out of Zen meditation—of becoming one with the machine. Stories so ridiculous, so outlandish, so cheesy, they transcend, becoming a monument to stupidity. A sublime idiocy. Like a narrative version of the Dogs-Playing-Poker painting.
The plot follows a variety of these colorful and quirky characters, each with their own truth-stranger-than-fiction storylines. Alby’s life serves as the nexus, the nerve center of the novel, the other characters interweaving in and out, like trains leaving and arriving at a central depot. A Grand Central Station of weirdness. It’s Monty Python’s dry humor coupling with the storytelling of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Beautifully realized. Engaging and morbidly appealing. Like a car accident on the side of the road. Hard to look away from. Hard to put down. And potentially damaging to your psyche.
“Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation” is so subtle, so understated; you don’t know whether to take it seriously. Or to fall on the floor laughing. Like someone telling you—with the greatest sincerity—that the word gullible isn’t in the dictionary. It’s the ultimate insider joke, those odd and ironic moments life springs on you—only for you. It’s a profound humor, utterly refreshing in era filled with over-the-top scatological humor. And this is the genius of Millar’s work.
Last Word:
Never having read Martin Millar before, “Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation” was a wonderful surprise. An unexpected joy. A beautiful, bouncing bundle of book loving. Like coming home one day to a house overflowing with presents, all with your name on them. It’s hip, utterly hysterical, edgy, and has some serious street cred; the book the cool kids talk about in the back of the class. In between the spitballs. It’s Bukowski, but with less sex and alcoholism. And even more stupidity.
Final Grade: 86 out of 100
Free Readins' - Deeds of Men by Marie Brennan
Monday, May 11, 2009
In anticipation of the release next month of her new novel "In Ashes Lie," Marie Brennan is releasing her novella Deeds of Men. For free.
Orbit Books has posted the following description of the novella on their site:
A young man lies dead in a Coldharbour alley. Before his death, he uncovered secrets that could threaten the mortal world above and the faerie world below. Now, to find the murderer and protect both realms, Sir Michael Deven will need the help of a man with reason to hate the fae of the Onyx Court — the victim’s own brother.
So what are you wanting for--get your free readins' here.
Winners of the "World of Warcraft Arthas Rise of the Lich King" Giveaway
Ten big winners have been selected to receive "World of Warcraft Arthas Rise of the Lich King" by Christie Golden, courtesy of those fine folks at Simon & Schuster.
The winners are: LuAnn Morgan from Washington, Erin Cox from Washington, Paul Keyser from Florida, Gabriel Jolivet from Kansas, Patrick Moran from Massachusetts, Jake Woodworth from New York, Michael Richards from Texas, Kathy Scott from Idaho, Katharine Adams from Florida, and Jaydee Dusenberry from Oregon. Congratulations to all our winners!
Thanks to everyone who entered!
Winner of Perfect Dark Graphic Novel Giveaway
A winner has been selected in the Perfect Dark graphic novel giveaway. So they can expect some Perfect Dark goodness heading their way.
The winner is: Melody Malecki from Maryland. Congratulations Melody!
Thanks to everyone who entered!
Collector's Corner: Stephen Deas
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Dragons have grown stale. Writers have not come up with new and intriguing things to do with them. Until now. Stephen Deas has put the ultra-coolness factor back into dragons with his awesome novel "The Adamantine Palace." I was so impressed--and wanted a signed copy--that I bought the limited signed edition. So here's the signature for those curious.
"Monster" by A. Lee Martinez (Orbit)
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monster
A. Lee Martinez
304 pp. Orbit. $19.99
Pub. Date: 5/11/2009
ISBN-13: 978-0316041263
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Imagine working at the local supermarket. The blindingly bright bank of florescent lights humming above, soothingly, almost loud enough to hide the languid buzzing, the death-throes, of a fly that’s gotten into the deli case. Again. Big tricked-out nametag and kangaroo pouch apron ensemble—in a putrid brown—identifies you. Defines you, screaming—Grocery Professional. Cart-pushing rabble littering the store flock to you, surround you, eager and hopeful. Like sailors lured by a siren’s call. Looking for answers. Important answers. Like where the Macaroni and Cheese is. Or the Bagel Bites.
Quiet moments are filled with stocking shelves, opening boxes of sugary merchandise, and mopping up some four-year old’s Jackson Pollock inspired Otter Pop art on Aisle Three. Or the ultimate respite—restocking ice cream. An opportunity—a glorious opportunity—to leave the sales floor, to leave behind the maddening crowds. To go to the holiest of holies, the store sanctuary, the stockroom. Where a huge walk-in freezer resides, the home of half-gallons, the land of ice cream, Popsicles and Klondikes.
You open the freezer door. Only to discover a Yeti devouring the
Now what?
Call for help? Maybe dial 911? Tell them there’s a Yeti in the ice cream freezer. Sure. They’ll believe that. A response team will be there—half past never. So who’s going to believe you? Who are you gonna call?
No. Not Ghostbusters. It’s a Yeti, not Slimer.
Monster. That’s who.
Trolls living in your closet, doing unspeakable things to your shoes? Call Monster. Gaborchends eating all the furnishings in your apartment, your favorite loveseat reduced to a plaid-and-woodsy smelling belch? Call Monster. Crazy old lady living next door, her house crawling with hundreds of cats? Odd. Better call Monster. Yeti in an ice cream freezer, slurping down the
He’s Animal Control Services. Except for Yetis and other magical beasties. A trained specialist in cryptobiological containment and rescue. He’ll get the job done. Most of the time.
And sometimes without injuries.
“Monster”, the new novel by A. Lee Martinez, takes this humorous setup, and embraces it. With a lustful gusto. Like a prisoner greeting his wife on a conjugal visit. It’s a wonderful three-hundred page running joke, the rare one that sustains itself to the end. Never losing its steam, never losing its humor. Never losing its passion. It’s infectious energy, pure, vibrating with life; a leather-bound good mood. Try not to smile while reading “Monster.” I dare you. I double-dog dare you.
Most of the novel’s magic arises from its characters. They’re society’s underdogs, the downtrodden, the little guys, seemingly nothing special. Life’s a constant struggle for them, just to survive; forget about getting ahead. Yet they still fight, with all their heart. And with great humor. So to watch them succeed, to discover themselves, to finally realize—“Hey, I’m special, too.”—is gratifying, even exhilarating. And better yet—funny as hell. An intoxicating mixture of funny with feel-good, Monty Python meets the American Dream, Horatio Alger with a whoopee cushion.
Monster’s sidekick—and informational repository for all things magic—
Last Word:
Being funny’s really hard. Like finding-pleasant-weather-in-Wisconsin hard. Many try. Few succeed. A. Lee Martinez, though, succeeds. Wildly. “Monster” is a triple espresso for the funny bone, brewed by a crazed, wild-eyed barista infatuated with Ghostbusters. A huge jolt of energy, minus the caffeine. It’s infectious, and incredibly fun. Like giggling with your best friend all night long. It’s a smile supernova.
Because your face is certain to explode into a grin.
Final Grade: 81 out of 100
Related Posts:
"Agent to the Stars" by John Scalzi (Tor)
"Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand" by Carrie Vaughn (Grand Central)
Comic Break: The Warriors #1 (Dabel Brothers)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
The Warriors
Issue: #1
Writer: David Atchison
Artist: Chris Dibari
32 pp. Dabel Brothers. $3.99
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Those long forgotten idyllic days of gang warfare. When gangs had a code, an identity. And a costume. One gang embracing the leather vest over a bare chest look. Another finding their fashion identity in a baseball uniform accessorized with custom facepaint. Another dressing like crime mimes, rocking black top hats, faces painted up like Marcel Marceau. Everyday was Halloween in gangland. Trick or Creep.
Life was simpler then. You could trust people. When gangs called a truce, you could bank on their word. You could travel a hundred miles from your
But truces can be fragile creatures. Like people. One bullet can end them. And, then, they’re gone. Like Keyser Soze. Not even a whisper in the wind. And you’re left behind, stuck, stranded, a hundred miles from home. Unarmed. Vulnerable.
With all the
So you fight, battling just to make it back home, to make it back alive. You’re tested. Constantly. Your mettle, your heart, your worth. Because only the strong survive.
So are you strong enough? Strong enough to wear the leather vest. Strong enough to be part of The Warriors.
Dabel Brothers, best known for creating solid comic adaptations of fantasy staples like Jim Butcher’s Storm Front and George R.R. Martin’s Wild Card series, have shifted focus to a new medium here—film. And—in particular—Walter Hill’s cult classic The Warriors.
It’s a risky move, adapting one visual medium to another. But it pays off here. Splendidly. Scripter David Atchison and artist Chris Dibari deliver a solid issue, always reverent to the source material. Always passionate about doing Hill’s film justice. More a celebration of the movie than an adaptation.
The debut should delight fans eager for a comic homage to Hill’s action-packed gang opus. However, those not familiar with the film would be best served to view the movie first, to gain an appreciation of the source material and Hill’s original vision, before immersing themselves into the comic. Only then can you fully enjoy the issue.
Final Grade: 79 out of 100
Related Posts:
Comic Break: George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards #1 (Dabel Brothers)
Comic Break: Jim Butcher's Storm Front #1 (Dabel Brothers)
Comic Break: Jim Butcher's Welcome to the Jungle #1 (Dabel Brothers)
