Monthly Archives: November 2014

The Raksura Return

Stories of the Raksura, Volume 1
Martha Wells
Night Shade Books
trade paper, $15.99
ebook Kindle $9.99 Nook $7.49

Have you ever had one of those books that took you forever to read? Not because the book isn’t interesting, but every single time you try to read it, you can’t get more than a few pages further along before something interrupts you.

That was my experience with this book. It seemed the Fates were conspiring to thwart me every time I picked the book up. But I persevered.

And I can say it was nice to revisit this world. I would also like to thank Lauren Burstein of Night Shade Books for the review copy. There are two novellas and two short stories here plus a couple of appendices. Here’s what you get. Continue reading →

RIP Judy Crider

Happy Thanksgiving

2 Replies

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. May it be full of fun, food, family, and joy.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more aware of the role of gratitude in my life, and particularly my need for it. When I focus on what I have and on God’s blessings, I find it easier to have a balanced outlook. When I look at things through a lens of thankfulness, I have a better perspective on the small irritations and disappointments.

Some of the things I’m thankful for:

My family.

Employment.

The readers of this blog and the friendships I’ve made through it.

That I live in the greatest country in the history of the world.

The freedoms that come with living in the US.

Laughter.

For those who aren’t old enough to remember, here’s the clip of the classic episode of WKRP in Cincinnati the above image is from:

An Open Letter to the AAS

3 Replies

So with the holidays coming up, my reading list – We interrupt this blog post for the following public service message:

Earlier this month, the Rosetta mission made history by landing a probe on a comet. This is slightly more difficult than playing a video game, in case you were wondering.

Dr. Matt Taylor was the ~~spokesperson~~ spokesman for the ESA, the organization which accomplished this feat. He wore a shirt which caused some people to get knots in their knickers. I discussed this at the end of my review of Interstellar. I’d hoped we’d heard the last of this because the stupid, it burns.

Then the AAS (American Astronomical Society) issued a statement. Let’s look at it in detail, shall we? Continue reading →

Dark Screams is Something to Scream About

Hot Lead, Cold Iron: The Best of Two Genres

Robert E. Howard’s Swords of the North Available for Preorder

5 Replies

The Robert E. Howard Foundation announced last week that their next book, Swords of the North, is available for preorder. I’ve ordered my copy. Is that not a great cover? The book ships in December, so it would make an excellent Christmas gift for the REH fan in your life, even if that fan is yourself. Maybe especially if that fan is yourself.

Here’s what the announcement, lifted from the REH Foundation page:

There is a clear self-consistency among all of Howard’s tales which will readily demonstrate that underlying it all is a coherent vision of a fictional history of the world and mankind, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s term a “secondary” world, internally consistent, full of strangeness and wonder, “free from the domination of observed fact,” yet quite credible, a world rooted in the familiar if populated with the unfamiliar, a world that combines the ordinary with the extraordinary. Just as Tolkien’s “Arda” is our Earth, so too is Howard’s world.

-from Rusty Burke’s introduction

The REH Foundation Press is proud to present Swords of the North, a collection of Robert E. Howard’s Celtic/Viking adventure stories. The book checks in at 540 pages, and will be printed in hardback with dust jacket, in a limited first-print quantity of 200 copies, each individually numbered. Cover art by Aaron Miller and introduction by Rusty Burke. This volume marks the first publication of the fragment that begins with, “Between berserk battle rages,” which features Cormac Mac Art’s partner, Wulfhere Skull-splitter. It also collects for the first time in one volume all of the James Allison stories and fragments, both incomplete drafts of “The Temple of Abomination,” and other rarities. The book is expected to ship in December 2014. Pre-order yours today.

Prices

Swords of the North is $45 for REHF Members, $50 for non-members (all prices in US dollars) plus shipping. (How to become a member? Look here.)

Shipping prices and additional details (such as the contents) can be found at the REH Foundation website.

I Look at The Spawn of Cthulhu

1 Reply

My latest post on the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series at Black Gate is up. It’s over The Spawn of Chthulu, edited by Lin Carter. Here’s the link to it.

This a collection of stories centered around Lovecraft’s “The Whisperer in Darkness”. All of the stories that follow have some connection to Lovecraft’s tale. I take a look at all of them. If you’re into Lovecraft, check it out.

Here, Kid, Your First Sample is Free: A Review of Shattered Shields

7 Replies

Shattered Shields
Jennifer Brozak and Bryan Thomas Schmidt, ed.
Baen Books
Trade paper, $15.00
ebook $8.99 Kindle Nook Baen

In case you’re wondering why I titled this post the way I did, it’s because this book is a perfect gateway drug into heroic fantasy. All of the stories are well written and fast-moving, and with the exception of a couple that simply weren’t to my taste, I enjoyed every single one of them. I’d like to thank Baen Books for the review copy.

There are seventeen stories here, so I’m not going to give a summary of each one. I’m gong to focus on the ones that stood out to me. Those of you who’ve read my reviews for a while know how my tastes stack up against yours, so even if we don’t always like the same things, you’ll get a good idea of what to expect from Shattered Shields. Continue reading →

When October Goes

2 Replies

Now that Halloween is over, I’m going to shift gears a bit. Time to return to more sword and sorcery here at Adventures Fantastic. Or at least solid adventure fantasy. I’ve already started reading Shattered Shields, edited by Jennifer Brozek and Bryan Thomas Schmidt, which hits shelves on Tuesday. I don’t know if I’ll have the review up by the release date, but I’ll do my best.

Pyr and Solaris have both sent me copies of some cool titles since the first of the summer that I never got a chance to work into the schedule. I really want to go back and pick read some of them. They’re mostly fantasy, but there’s some science fiction mixed in. Also, Night Shade has sent me some titles, and one of the first I’ll read is Stories of the Raksura, vol.1, by Martha Wells. I’ll probably start that one by the end of the week.

Speaking of science fiction, there are some titles sitting around I want to read. Some of them will be popping up at Futures Past and Present as I work them in. I’ll also be reading some mystery/noir titles and reviewing them at Gumshoes, Gats, and Gams.

Plus there are some titles from various other publishers I want to read. I’ll be mixing them in at random. I’m going to try to strike a balance between titles that someone has sent me and stuff I just want to read for fun. So you never know what’s going to pop up next.