Okay, I'll admit it--that is the first step after all--one of my favorite comedies is The Tempest by that Shakespeare fellow. There, my dark dirty secret laid bare before you.
This explains why I was so eager to jump into Prospero Lost by L. Jagi Lamplighter. See, Prospero Lost continues the story of Miranda and Prospero, the two main characters from Shakespeare's play.
In the novel, Prospero has disappeared, leaving only a directive behind for his dutiful daughter, Miranda, that sends her on a journey to track down her estranged siblings, warning them of an impending danger, the Three Shadowed Ones.
The novel reads like a detective story, with a quirky literary charm sprinkled liberally on top. It's action-light, though, so Prospero Lost is very much a character-based fantasy. Still, it's quite engaging, especially for the English Lit geeks among us.
The First 100 - L. Jagi Lamplighter's "Prospero Lost" (Tor)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
"Nowhere-Land" by A.W. Hill (Counterpoint)
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Nowhere-Land
A.W. Hill
468 pp. Counterpoint. $25.00
Pub. Date: 6/1/2009
ISBN-13: 978-1582434988
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Stephan Raszer is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill private investigator sleuthing for dollars; he transcends the typical pulp noir P.I.s drawn and shaded with crayons straight out of Mickey Spillane’s monochromatic Crayola collection. He doesn’t sit alone, waiting, generally for some sexed-up dame to walk through his badly stenciled door and lay a case down on his desk; meanwhile, worrying about where this month’s rent money is going to come from, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, worn fedora cocked to the side, bottle of rotgut on his desk; his shabby office with water-stained walls situated in a dilapidated, rodent-infested building. Even when said sexed-up dame does show up on his doorstep, usually murder’s the name of the game.
Not with Raszer, though. Finding missing people is his Monopoly. And it’s something he’s good at. Really good at.
And these aren’t the got-lost-on-the-way-to-the-liquor-store-hey-check-me-out-on-the-side-of-a-milk-carton kind of missing persons. These people fall off the grid completely, seemingly vanishing into thin air, spiritual victims led astray by persuasive cults or religious-themed alternate reality games. Victims, who’ve searched for God in all the wrong places, looked for salvation in too many faces. One moment they’re here, the next—poof—gone like the Devil in a brimstone-scented puff of smoke.
See, Stephan Raszer is a cult specialist; an extractor who finds and returns people, who have tumbled down the wrong spiritual rabbit hole, back to their loved ones. He doesn’t save them just physically, but mentally and spiritually, a shaman who guides them back to the flock, shepherding them, protecting them. He’s not just a deprogrammer looking to reverse the effects of brainwashing, he’s more. He’s a soul savior.
His latest missing person is a young woman named Katy Endicott, a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who was abducted during a brutal triple homicide. In order to find Katy, Raszer will have to travel deep down the rabbit hole, to where mysticism and reality converge, always careful not to lose himself—and his soul—in the process.
Trying to describe A.W. Hill’s Nowhere-Land is like trying to describe how something tastes without using the word chicken. Extremely difficult, to the point of seeming nearly futile. Forget about putting it neatly in some genre; it’s far beyond genre. It’s like nothing you’ve ever read before, probably like nothing you’ve even imagined before, singular and refreshingly unique. And completely unforgettable.
Hill seamlessly merges together disparate elements in the narrative like mysticism, cults, castration, religious-based alternate reality games and Middle Eastern slavery rings, each element well-researched and imagined, creating an intellectual powerhouse of a novel. Nowhere-Land is stunningly intricate, detailed and erudite, a novel that is both highly philosophical and substantive containing numerous overlapping layers. Which makes Nowhere-Land extremely challenging fiction.
Most of the challenge comes from the mystical, reality-distorting nature of the novel, which is most evident in its last act. Nowhere-Land is the mystical experience, novelized; it is belief, faith and spirituality, described. It’s the visions of Hildegard of Bingen wrapped up in a mystery like an evangelical egg roll. Points in the novel are reminiscent of Plato’s allegory of the cave, surreal moments where the reader emerges from the shadowy confusion of the cave to behold the light and truth outside, finally glimpsing reality, utterly overwhelmed. While disorienting at first, it’s also extremely rewarding, and it makes Nowhere-Land feel mystical. Special. And, strangely, believable.
A.W. Hill’s Nowhere-Land will likely be overlooked by readers due to its challenging subject matter and genre-defying nature. That’s a shame, because it’s one of the most substantive and unique novels I’ve read in years. Clearly, one of this year’s best.
Final Grade: 88 out of 100
The First 100 - S.A. Swann's "Wolfbreed" (Spectra)
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wolfbreed by S.A. Swann is not a book I'd normally pick up to read, but the blurb on the back from George R.R. Martin had me giving this one a shot.
And I'm glad I did. A hundred pages in, and I'm loving it.
Yeah, it's a werewolf book, but Swann takes it in such a new direction, it feels fresh and novel. And completely unexpected.
I can see this one falling through the cracks, which is a shame. Because it deserves a broader audience.
The First 100 - Joe Abercrombie's "Best Served Cold" (Orbit)
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Say this for Joe Abercrombie's novels: they're distinct. Easily identifiable. Only a few pages in, and you know you're in the warped mind of the master.
Must be all that glorious torture porn. Because if someone's not being tortured in the first five pages of an Abercrombie novel, you need to immediately return it to your point of purchase for a refund. Likely one of those pod aliens has abducted Joe and left a simulacrum behind.
All that said, one hundred pages into Best Served Cold and I'm enjoying myself immensely. Go torture porn!
Collector's Corner - David Anthony Durham
Since he was recently awarded the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, what better time than to highlight David Anthony Durham. A couple of years back when he was at San Diego Comic Con, I was able to score this autograph. Enjoy.
Book Giveaway: Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Thursday, August 13, 2009
This is for those who love urban fantasy, and like it a bit philosophical. Up for grabs is a copy of Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch. If you aren't familiar with it, I have a review posted here.
Others. They walk among us, observing. Set in contemporary Moscow, where shape shifters, vampires, and street-sorcerers linger in the shadows, Night Watch is the first book of the hyper-imaginative fantasy trilogy from bestselling Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko. This epic saga chronicles the eternal war of the "Others," an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who must swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light.
The agents of Light--the Night Watch--oversee nocturnal activity, while the agents of Dark keep watch over the day. For a thousand years both sides have maintained a precarious balance of power, but an ancient prophecy has decreed that a supreme Other will one day emerge, threatening to tip the scales. Now, that day has arrived. When a mid-level Night Watch agent named Anton stumbles upon a cursed young woman--an uninitiated Other with magnificent potential--both sides prepare for a battle that could lay waste to the entire city, possibly the world.
To Enter to Win: Send an email to pstotts@bloodofthemuse.com with the subject line "WATCH" 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 "WATCH", 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!
"Warbreaker" by Brandon Sanderson (Tor)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Warbreaker
Brandon Sanderson
592 pp. Tor. $27.95
Pub. Date: 6/9/2009
ISBN-13: 978-0765320308
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Those pesky politically arranged marriages; they can be trouble. What may have started as a good idea to wed two governments together to ensure an era of blissful peace and cooperation can quickly turn sour.
One day, you’re a princess, with a bee-hive hairdo and silky flowing garments, gallivanting like Snow White across a flowered meadow, a precious song in your heart, birds twittering on your shoulders; the next, you’re married to some God King ruling a rival kingdom, serving as a noble vessel whose only purpose is to provide an heir, a royal Rent-A-Womb.
Soon you discover many in the government who despise your homeland, viewing your people as rebels in need of a good crushing; eager to convince the God King—your new husband—to go to war. A war you may be helpless to stop. A war you’re not prepared to stop.
Because you were never meant to be in this position, never meant to marry the God King, never meant for the political wrangling, the behind-closed-doors negotiating, and court intrigue. Never meant to be important. That was supposed to be your older sister, the brilliant bulb in the family, the one with grace and poise, who’d been promised to the God King since birth, and prepared accordingly. Instead, she’s back home, safe, for now, her entire life’s purpose now yours.
Two sisters. Their places switched. Both struggling to prevent a bloody war that seems inevitable. Both struggling to save the other.
Let’s get to the point quickly. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson rocks. Rocks like Jimi Hendrix grooving on the
Successful world-building in fantasy often depends on the author’s ability to bring alive four important aspects: politics, religion and mythology, history, and the physics of magic. Only in thoroughly detailing and exploring each area does the author give the reader a full and rich fantasy world. Sanderson excels at this, lovingly crafting each aspect, giving the reader some real tender meat on each of these four rib bones. Simply stated, the world-building in Warbreaker is fantastic; it’s immersive, complex, and smart.
And while the world-building is sufficiently complex, I found Warbreaker to be one of the easiest and most accessible books. It’s one of those rare novels where after only a few pages, you’re hooked, caught in the flow; it’s the best kind of magic. The kind where a spell’s been cast over you, sucking you deeply into the world, submerging you. Taking your breath constantly away.
Political intrigue—with religious overtones—makes up the heart of the story. Warbreaker isn’t about silly quests, fancy magical swords, or an all-singing all-dancing troupe of dwarf entertainers. It’s about power, raw naked power. And the struggle for it. The plotting for it. The killing for it. It’s about lies and deception, trust and sacrifice, and—maybe even—love. It’s about people. Real people; not caricatures or clichés. And that’s what makes it resonate.
And then there’s the magical system Sanderson has created. It’s the fantasy equivalent of comfort food, like the warm and gooey inside of a sweet chocolate chip cookie. In the novel, the magical coin of the realm is breath. The more you have, the greater your abilities. Give an object enough breath, and you can animate and control it. Along with breath, color plays an important role as the magical impetus. While breath may give the object life, color provides the spark which gets things started. It’s fuel for the fire. Articles of clothing and non-animate objects can be drained of their color to imbue an object with life. While intricate at first, Sanderson’s magical system eventually becomes wondrous and awe-inspiring, growing and evolving over the course of the novel. Finally becoming completely unforgettable.
There are books that you can heartily recommend, and then there are the kind of books you want to thrust upon everyone you meet, going so far as to lock them in a room, prying their eyelids open, and demanding they immediately read it. Warbreaker is that kind of book; one that must be immediately read. A novel that doesn’t seek an audience, it demands one. Incredible and engaging world-building. Shrewd political intrigue. Awesome characters. Clever magic. And humor that’s actually witty. It’s all in here.
And it’s that which makes Warbreaker rock. Rock on, baby. Rock on!
Final Grade: 91 out of 100
News - Trailer for Thomas Pynchon's "Inherent Vice"
Love this trailer for Thomas Pynchon's new book Inherent Vice. Better yet, it's narrated by the man himself.
The First 100 - Jo Graham's "Hand of Isis" (Orbit)
Monday, August 10, 2009
I'm not usually a fan of historical fantasies. Most aren't as interesting as the true historical record anyway. And the ones that follow an alternate course in history seem silly.
But after 100 pages of Jo Graham's Hand of Isis, which follows Egypt during the era of Cleopatra, I found myself rethinking my stance on historicals. Well, maybe not all of them. Maybe just the ones by Jo Graham.
Because she's clearly rocking it here. Hand of Isis is shaping up to be one of the best fantasies I've read this year. All hail Cleopatra!
Book Giveaway: Magic Kingdom For Sale: Sold! by Terry Brooks
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Talk about classic fantasy. One of the books I picked up for free at San Diego Comic Con a few weeks back was Magic Kingdom For Sale: Sold! by Terry Brooks. It's an extra copy, so I thought I'd try to find it a new and loving home.
Landover was a genuine magic kingdom, with fairy folk and wizardry, just as the advertisement had promised. But after he purchased it, Ben Holiday learned that there were a few details the ad had failed to mention.
The kingdom was in ruin. The Barons refused to recognize a king, and the peasants were without hope. A dragon was laying waste to the countryside, while an evil witch plotted to destroy everything.
Ben's only followers were the incompetent Court Magician; Abernathy, the talking dog who served as Court Scribe; and the lovely Willow--but she had a habit of putting down roots in the moonlight and turning into a tree. The Paladin, legendary champion of the Kings of Landover, seemed to be only a myth and an empty suit of armor.
To put the final touch on the whole affair, Ben soon learned that the Iron Mark, terrible lord of the demons, had challenged all prospective Kings of Landover to a duel to the death--a duel which no human could hope to win.
The task of proving his right to be King seemed hopeless. But Ben Holiday was stubborn...
To Enter to Win: Send an email to pstotts@bloodofthemuse.com with the subject line "KINGDOM" 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 "KINGDOM", 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!
Collector's Corner - Jeff Lindsay
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I've found myself addicted to the Showtime series Dexter recently, immensely enjoying the first two seasons on DVD. Years ago, I read the book the series was based upon, Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, and enjoyed it. I was able to eventually see Lindsay on tour when he was out promoting his third novel in the Dexter Morgan series, Dexter in the Dark. The following is the ghoulish autograph obtained.
"Cemetery Dance" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing)
Monday, August 3, 2009
Cemetery Dance
Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
448 pp. Grand Central Publishing. $26.99
Pub. Date: 5/12/2009
ISBN-13: 978-0446580298
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Here’s one for the strange case file. Strange like those head-scratching stories that are plastered in big, bold headlines across supermarket tabloids, like a glittering neon sign screaming: something weird this way comes! Weird things like Sasquatch, UFOs and ghosts haunting the local Piggly Wiggly, a poltergeist in produce causing the celery root to rearrange itself. Strange events that toe the line of believability, that test our gullibility. That seem beyond rational explanation.
The latest entry in this wacky world of weird: a couple is brutally attacked in their swanky
No, things get weird—and the story careens off the tracks of normalcy, plunging into the land of tabloids and media honey—when a curious thing is revealed about the assailant. He’s dead. As in six-feet-under-buried-in-your-best-black-suit dead. A suicide victim who took a long jump off a tall bridge; his body fished from the river, taken to the morgue and identified by his sister. And then buried. About two weeks prior to the attack.
So how does a dead man commit such a crime? Shuffling off the mortal coil should limit one’s ability to go all Grand Theft Auto on someone. Clearly, there’s no logical answer. But there may be a sensational one: voodoo. As in the type of voodoo that turns a person into a zombie. And not just a brain-eating mindless shuffling member of the George Romero undead family; this zombie is a little more on the ball, a little more real. And the voodoo behind his creation seems very real.
Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is the latest adventure featuring their wildly popular recurring protagonist, Special Agent Pendergast. For those unfamiliar with the character, Pendergast puts the Special in Special Agent; he’s a superhero without the cape and tights. A genius and Renaissance man, he’s an investigator par excellence, a wealth of information—seemingly omniscient—who can probably tell you the rectal temperature of a bumblebee. And he always seems to be five steps ahead of everyone else like a master chess player toying with three-year olds.
Which makes finding challenges for him difficult. How do you challenge someone who’s intellectually beyond everyone? Who seemingly can catch a perpetrator even before a crime is committed Minority Report-style, just by knowing the evil in men’s hearts and the darkness in their minds. So how do you challenge him? You give him a case that goes beyond rational explanation, and have him attempt to find a reasonable answer. Like an episode of Scooby-Doo with Pendergast playing the role of the pesky kids uncovering a spooky mystery.
Starting with an improbable premise and trying to make sense of it is the underlying hook in the Pendergast thrillers. It’s the novel’s greatest strength and charm, the very definition of an intriguing page-turner. By taking the unknown and making it known. You keep reading just to see how
But there is a downside to this narrative approach, sometimes the resolution doesn’t satisfy, doesn’t give you the juicy answer you’re expecting. Sometimes it just seems too mundane. Too normal considering the improbable starting premise. This was the case with Cemetery Dance. The buildup is incredible; I found myself rushing through the book, staying up late into the night to finish. Once finished, I found myself asking: is that it? Feeling slightly disappointed in the outcome.
Even with the disappointing ending, Cemetery Dance is a fine addition to the Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child catalog. A finely conceived, executed and intelligently written thriller that’ll keep your nose buried deep within the book. And, ultimately, well worth the ride.
Final Grade: 81 out of 100
