Reading in Fantasy and Horror April 2015

[suciul]

Finished Two of Swords from KJ Parker 1-3 and it's vintage work from the author and a must for any fan of his; the one thing I would say for now is read the first three before you have an opinion as they are successively told from another pov and illuminate (and obscure and hint at much more) what came before; awesome stuff so far that promises much and the structure of changing pov's, locales, even "sides" in the telling works superbly for now

highly recommended and the next installment a huge asap

Also finished The Sword of the South by David Weber, from the Bazhell/Wencit series and first in what the author calls his 5 volume fantasy magnum opus; sadly it is just 80's style fantasy when the best in the field moved far beyond that; while DW is still my #1 sf writer of today, fantasy is not his strong point and the Safehold series first three volumes are so much better read as epic fantasy with an AI wizard (the following volumes move into sfnal territory as technology starts evolving, but those first 3 are as close as top fantasy as DW has written so far)

I really hoped this would be different from the previous Bazhell/Wencit volumes and would align closer with the best in contemporary fantasy, but sadly while the pages turn, the content verges on boring, repetitive and very, very simplistic (reading about Wencit repeating his ritual calling of enemies before destroying them for the nth time, or Bazhell's musings/talks with Tomanak that are straight 80's fantasy gets tiresome quickly, not to speak of the ending which is as cliche as it goes, veering into parody)

Unless a huge DW or Bazhell fan, this is skippable and I intend to stay out of this series from now on, maybe browse the next volume just in case it gets better (less)

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[Bacchus]

I just got myself The Fade by Chris Wooding and I'm hoping anyone who's read it before and/or has a physical copy can confirm that the chapter numbers aren't a mistake in my ebook? I could understand if the chapters were counting down consistently from 30, but there are some chapters that go in the opposite direction during the countdown:

30-29, 31, 28-27, 32, 26-23, 33, 22-19, 34, 18-16, 35, 15-13, 36, 12-11, 37, 10-9, 38, 8-6, 39, 5-4, 40, 3-0.

Are the chapters counting up intentionally placed where they are?

 

[Contrarius]

30-29, 31, 28-27, 32, 26-23, 33, 22-19, 34, 18-16, 35, 15-13, 36, 12-11, 37, 10-9, 38, 8-6, 39, 5-4, 40, 3-0.

Sounds like a conspiracy to me. ;-)

eta -- I think it's intentional. A random review from GR says this: "The novel starts literally in the middle of the story as Orna, a highly skilled assassin and warrior who is a ‘Cadre’, an indentured servant working for a wealthy merchant family, is caught up in a disastrous battle that leaves her husband and fellow Cadre dead and her captured by the enemy. The rest of the books moves both forward and backwards from this first chapter, alternate chapters either moving forward in time or moving back through a series of flashbacks showing key moments in Orna’s past life. "

 

[Bacchus]

Thanks Contrarius. I try minimise the reviews I read on Amazon for fear of spoilers and being unduly influenced by either positive or negative opinions. I did skim through some of the reviews on Amazon to see if there was any mention of the unique chapter ordering, and though there was mention of chapters counting down, I was still confused by the placement of those chapters counting up.

 

[william.shumate]

I've made a shift towards sci fi this month in an effort to keep the momentum I've built up in pursuing my reading goal this year. That being said, I would consider some of these titles to be a bit of a crossover rather than pure sci fi.

I started off the month by finishing up the last two books of The Bel Dame Apocrypha. This is definitely a blend of the two genres, and I struggled to categorize it, but it is a really good series. For anyone whose interest is piqued by strange magic systems, this one is definitely a winner. The magic system has to do with bugs, and is really unique. Also if you like characters along the lines of Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs, you would enjoy this series. The author has a pretty grim set of metaphysics, which is right up my alley. I really enjoyed these books.

After that I read The Incorruptibles by John Hornor Jacobs. This was another book that defies genres. Think grimdark western with dwarves in an alternate world (grimdark is an arbitrary word, but it's the best way I can think of to describe it). If you've ever watched the show Hell on Wheels, and you like fantasy, you will probably enjoy this book. It started a little slow, and is pretty short at just over 300 pages, but it's a unique book. It seems like it could be setting up for a sequel? Which would be awesome, because it left me wanting more.

Next on the list was Gridlinked by Neal Asher. Straight sci-fi here, again if you like Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs books, this is a good read. It's the first book of the Agent Cormac books, and I will be reading the rest of the series.

I followed up with The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. I would classify this as a mix of speculative fiction and steam punk. It won a Hugo, and is a really beautiful book. The premise of the book is that the global economy collapsed, and has been replaced with one that is now based off of calories (I.E. food is at a premium, oil is a luxury, to see someone driving a car would be the height of opulence). There is not a ton of action in it, but I hardly even noticed. When it does pick up it does so pretty fast. Bacigalupi does a beautiful job of world building (or city building I guess, as most of the story takes place in one city). This is one of those books that makes you soak in every word. I highly recommend it to fans of any genre.

I'm finishing off the month with a reread of The Canticle by R.A. Salvatore, this has always been a favorite of mine and is a nice change of pace from some of the darker, heavier books I've been reading lately. I've had a reading goal of 50 books each of the past two years, and always start off well, but end up falling short of the mark. My strategy this year has been to mix in some shorter books that allow me the time to read the longer ones, while also switching between genres to avoid becoming static. So far it's been going pretty well, I'm 19 books in, while also juggling all of the reading that goes along with school (I'm a poli-sci major).

 

[NickeeCoco]

About a year ago I read the first half of Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. I ended up putting it down because I was just not into it. I picked it up again last night to see if my opinion would change. I read some more on my hour commute home today. I'm putting it back down. It has aspects I like, and a whole lot of aspects I do not. I like the world. I don't like the characters. They're two dimensional to me.

I'm about to start Moth by Daniel Arenson.

 

[Corporal Blues]

I bounced off Ian Roger's Every House is Haunted. It just wasn't working for me. None of the stories really caught my attention or imagination, and after giving it a fair go, (I read nearly half of the book), I decided it was time to move on to other stuff. I have GRRM's The Ice Dragon on my Kindle, so I think I'll stick with the short stuff and dive into that next.

 

[jackdaw]

Thanks Contrarius. I try minimise the reviews I read on Amazon for fear of spoilers and being unduly influenced by either positive or negative opinions. I did skim through some of the reviews on Amazon to see if there was any mention of the unique chapter ordering, and though there was mention of chapters counting down, I was still confused by the placement of those chapters counting up.

I've read a physical copy. Contarius was right, of course, the unusual numbering was intentional. The highest number represents the action furthest in the past, counting down to chapter 0, the end of the story and the most recent action...but printed order is not a smooth numerical countdown.

I've never seen the author's own explanation for this. But there are two common reasons given for it by reviewers, etc.

The first is that it gives reader two choices in reading novel: either read it in published order, or in strict countdown order (i.e. Read highest number first, then second highest, then third, fourth, fifth highest, etc all the way to zero).

The second explanation is that it's just the way of letting you know chronological place in story as you read through book.

Most people agree the experiment didn't quite work, it didn't add anything to the book. But still a good, fast action enjoyable read.

 

[Hobbit]

I really liked The Fade when I reviewed it in 2007: http://www.sffworld.com/brevoff/402.html Pleased to see your questions have been answered, Bacchus. I hope that you've enjoyed it too.

 

[Westy]

Agreed it was a good book - in fact I might have to plan a re-read in the near future...

 

[Contrarius]

I finished The Gollem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker this morning.

If I've got all these awards/nominations straight: Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (2013), World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (2014), Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature (2014), James Tiptree Jr. Award Nominee (2013), Goodreads Choice Nominee for Debut Author, Best Fantasy (2013).

IMHO, it probably deserved em. It's a sweet and gentle book; and, though not seriously profound, it has a lot of thoughtful things to say about being human, free will, self-determination, and gender roles (notice the James Tiptree nomination). I thought the writing, the story, and the characters were all very well done.

And then, of course, there's my good buddy, the narrator George Guidall. I've said it before -- he's one of the best. He can be a sort of love-him-or-hate-him kind of guy, but since I'm one of the love-hims I was very happy that he recorded it. He always draws me in and makes me want to listen more.

So -- not the book to read if you want lots of drama and action, but pretty perfect if you want something to tug at your heart a bit and make you think a bit without straining your brain too much. On the 1-5 scale, I'm rating this one around 4.4 -- not much wrong with it that I could see.

 

[ZackE89]

I Finished Last Argument of Kings and was super satisfied by the ending. Loved how every character's arc ended up. Fantastic trilogy. My book club picked The Ruins by Scott Smith and I'm currently about half way through it. Gruesome and dark horror story. Has anybody else read it? What are your thoughts if you have? So far I'm enjoying it, it took a while to get going but now it's going and horrible things are happening

 

[Westy]

I finished The Gollem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker this morning.

If I've got all these awards/nominations straight: Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (2013), World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (2014), Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature (2014), James Tiptree Jr. Award Nominee (2013), Goodreads Choice Nominee for Debut Author, Best Fantasy (2013).

IMHO, it probably deserved em. It's a sweet and gentle book; and, though not seriously profound, it has a lot of thoughtful things to say about being human, free will, self-determination, and gender roles (notice the James Tiptree nomination). I thought the writing, the story, and the characters were all very well done.

And then, of course, there's my good buddy, the narrator George Guidall. I've said it before -- he's one of the best. He can be a sort of love-him-or-hate-him kind of guy, but since I'm one of the love-hims I was very happy that he recorded it. He always draws me in and makes me want to listen more.

So -- not the book to read if you want lots of drama and action, but pretty perfect if you want something to tug at your heart a bit and make you think a bit without straining your brain too much. On the 1-5 scale, I'm rating this one around 4.4 -- not much wrong with it that I could see.

Agreed that was a very good book, probably my favourite of that year.

 

[Westy]

Finished reading Unwrapped Sky by Rjurik Davidson. It's set in the city Caeli-Amur, which is ruled by three Houses and built on a foundation of thaumaturgy (magic) and ancient technology.

The major plot-line of the story is one of a rising unrest throughout the city, with different groups (led by different individuals) driven by agendas to bring the Houses down. It's told from three main characters, Kata (a philosopher-assassin who's in debt to the Houses but has questionable allegiances), Max (a seditionist wanting to topple the Houses), and Boris (a House agent on a quest for power and crushing the rebels).

Amongst this story line are a range of fantastical settings and characters - minotaurs, an undersea city, strange humanoids living under ground, mutants, weird vegetation, unusual foods and drink (like hot-wine which is addictive but adds strength to the drinker), fish-people, and more.

Combining these two facets make an original and entertaining story reminiscent of Mieville, not only in the weird creatures, but also the political and socialist storyline underpinning it. A favourite read so far this year.

 

[willsonjohn90]

Here's where you tell us about what you've been reading in Fantasy and Horror this month. Good or bad, we want to know what you think.

Mark

I have been reading Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid - The Book of Scary Urban Legends by Jan Harold. I have coand mpleted half of the Book it seems fine.....

 

[Contrarius]

I started Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara, the first of the Chronicles of Elantra.

So far, eh. It has a very UF tone, but in an AU with several different species living together. I'm finding the heroine quite irritating -- she seems to be a Mary-Sueish twit whom everyone wants or needs or loves for various reasons. I'm almost halfway through it (I had a lot of audio-compatible time yesterday), so things had better shape up quick if I'm to avoid slapping her upside the head.

 

[Spears&Buckler]

I started Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence a few days back and I'm really into it. Along with Daniel Polansky's Low Town trilogy, Lawrence's The Broken Empire is the best newer work I've read recently. If you hadn't noticed, the prologue for his newest work-in-progress Red Sister is up on his blog.

 

[Bacchus]

I've read a physical copy. Contarius was right, of course, the unusual numbering was intentional. The highest number represents the action furthest in the past, counting down to chapter 0, the end of the story and the most recent action...but printed order is not a smooth numerical countdown.

I've never seen the author's own explanation for this. But there are two common reasons given for it by reviewers, etc.

The first is that it gives reader two choices in reading novel: either read it in published order, or in strict countdown order (i.e. Read highest number first, then second highest, then third, fourth, fifth highest, etc all the way to zero).

The second explanation is that it's just the way of letting you know chronological place in story as you read through book.

Most people agree the experiment didn't quite work, it didn't add anything to the book. But still a good, fast action enjoyable read.

I really liked The Fade when I reviewed it in 2007: http://www.sffworld.com/brevoff/402.html Pleased to see your questions have been answered, Bacchus. I hope that you've enjoyed it too.

Yes, glad to see that's been cleared up. Thanks to all. However, I won't be reading it immediately. I was recommended Chris Wooding and decided to get a stand alone instead of his steampunk tetralogy to try him out.

I just finished the Humanity's Fire trilogy by Michael Cobley (SF) and am now starting Daniel Polansky's Low Town trilogy with The Straight Razor Edge.

 

[Luke_B]

Finished reading Unwrapped Sky by Rjurik Davidson. It's set in the city Caeli-Amur, which is ruled by three Houses and built on a foundation of thaumaturgy (magic) and ancient technology.

The major plot-line of the story is one of a rising unrest throughout the city, with different groups (led by different individuals) driven by agendas to bring the Houses down. It's told from three main characters, Kata (a philosopher-assassin who's in debt to the Houses but has questionable allegiances), Max (a seditionist wanting to topple the Houses), and Boris (a House agent on a quest for power and crushing the rebels).

Amongst this story line are a range of fantastical settings and characters - minotaurs, an undersea city, strange humanoids living under ground, mutants, weird vegetation, unusual foods and drink (like hot-wine which is addictive but adds strength to the drinker), fish-people, and more.

Combining these two facets make an original and entertaining story reminiscent of Mieville, not only in the weird creatures, but also the political and socialist storyline underpinning it. A favourite read so far this year.

Glad you enjoyed it! My review goes up Thursday morning our time (Wednesday evening for those in the UK and U.S.). Here's a sneak peak extract from the longer review:

I thought long and hard about whether I should make a comparison between Australian author Rjurik Davidson's debut novel, Unwrapped Sky, and the Bas Lag novels of China Mièville. It seems a reductive approach to reviewing this book, which is certainly the product of a fertile and ambitious imagination of all of its own. However, undeniably the many pleasures of Unwrapped Sky are reminiscent of those earlier Bas Lag books. The lavishly constructed city setting patched together from a variety of technological and mythological elements; the wilful subversion of the tropes of epic fantasy; and the book’s conversation with the politics of revolution; all this makes the comparison hard to resist.

New Weird seems to be last season's fashion in the world of speculative fiction (perhaps supplanted by Grimdark as the in vogue thing (and I suspect an interesting essay could be written on the relationship between the two “movements”)). However, Unwrapped Sky is a debut novel that spent almost a decade in gestation, with roots in a time period when the term was perhaps more relevant to the conversation in the field. The novel is set in the same fantastical milieu as several of Davidson’s earlier short stories (collected in The Library of Forgotten Things put out by PS Publishing in 2010). The first of these stories dates back to 2005, and that piece, titled ‘The Passing of the Minotaurs’, forms a large part of the opening chapters of this 2014 novel.

Those who have had the pleasure of reading the preceding short stories will be familiar the city of Caeli-Amur, where the entire plot of this novel takes place. Like New Crobuzon, this setting is intentionally anachronistic, with classical references butting up against elements from the post-industrial revolution era.

The city is described as nestled on a coastline against white cliffs in a way that immediately brings to mind the cities of ancient Greece. This reference point is further re-enforced by the inclusion of creatures from Greek mythology, such as minotaurs and sirens, though Davidson also throws in creatures born purely from his own imagination, like the fish-men known as Xsanthians. The descriptions of many of the public buildings in Caeli-Amur also evoke the Colosseum and well-known features of ancient Rome.

These elements coexist with factories and production plants that have been transposed from the late Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century. Much of the city’s steam powered technology seems to be from this later period. Though, there is a noticeable absence of gunpowder (presumably there is no analogue for China in this world), meaning that fighting is mainly carried out with blades, bludgeons and bolt-throwers.

Just as the setting is a juxtaposition of old and more modern reference points, Davidson’s prose is often an exercise in contrast. Consider, for example, the dreamlike opening paragraph of the book:

“For the first time in tens years the minotaurs came to the city of Caeli-Amur from the winding roads that led though the foothills to the north. There were three hundred or more of them. From the city they appeared as tiny figure – refugees perhaps. But as they approached, the size of their massive bodies, the magnificence of their horned bull heads, the shape of their serrated short-swords, became apparent. The minotaurs had come for the Festival of the Bull. When the week was over, they would descend from the white cliffs on which the city perched and board ships that carry them out over the Sunken City and home to their island of Aya.”

Such surreal and fantastical imagery is often quickly defiled by descriptions of horror and violence. It’s not long into the book that one of the minotaurs described so gracefully (almost sacredly) above is seduced back to the apartment of a human woman for sex, only to be slaughtered and sliced up for some degenerate commercial use. The subversion of magical creatures from legend by integrating them into a grim and dirty world is another another comparison point with Mièville. The graphic descriptions of violence imbue the narrative with a relentless tension. Underneath the sweet smell of the book’s dreamlike passages, there is always the waft of decay and ruin...

 

[Westy]

Review sounds good, agree with your points on the contrasting elements. Looking forward to reading book 2 later this year...