Author Archives: Keith West

A Review of The Scroll of Years

The Scroll of Years
Chris Willrich
Pyr Books
Trade paper $15.95 US $17.00 Canada
Ebook $11.99
Amazon B&N Indie Bound

A Scroll of Years is the first novel about thief Imago Bone and poet Persimmon Gaunt. The pair have appeared in 5 short stories to date, and the first is included in this volume. Somehow this series has managed to fly under my radar. That’s something I’m going to need to fix. Looking at Willrich’s website, I may have read one or two but didn’t realize they were part of a series.

Anyway, Bone and a pregnant Gaunt are fleeing from Night’s Auditors. They are a pair of hit men who don’t merely kill their victims. In essence they steal their victims’ souls. They’re a pair of nasty dudes, and they have a dragon working for them. One of them controls a fire spirit. The other has a mirror embedded in his forehead which shows all possible things his victim might do. These guys are hard to kill, and they don’t give up easily.

Gaunt and Bone flee across the ocean to a land much like Imperial China. Gaunt has a mark forming on her belly that resembles two dragons. It’s a sign that the child she carries is someone a lot of powerful people want to get their hands on. Gaunt and Bone are going to need all the allies they can get.

The writing is rich and subtle, and Gaunt and Bone are foremost of a cast of delightfully flawed characters. Some fantasy novels are like a tankard of ale, intended to be slammed back. The Scroll of Years is of a more refined vintage, one in which you savor the writing as well as the story and characters. The story takes place over both months and years simultaneously. (That statement will make sense if you read the book, trust me.)

Gaunt and Bone have been compared to Fafhred and the Grey Mouser. I can see the resemblance, and I’d bet money that Fritz Leiber was one of Willrich’s influences. But that comparison runs the risk of limiting the characters or skewing a potential reader’s expectations. I see echoes of an earlier generation of writers in this book. Writers such as Ernest Bramah with perhaps a dash of Dunsany and maybe a pinch of Clark Ashton Smith. Plus a nod to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Leiber’s heroes were clearly cut from the same general cloth as Conan, inhabiting a milieu rooted in Western tradition where any portrayal of Eastern cultures were filtered to a greater or lesser degree through the West’s perceptions of the East. As Willrich notes in the Acknowledgements, this particular work is firmly planted in Chinese soil. The titular Scroll of Years is a concept I’ve not come across in much European based fantasy. And rather that detracting, the Chinese folk tales Willrich interjects into the story give it added depth and resonance.

The Scroll of Years is not like anything I’ve seen recently. Willrich has a fresh voice, and with this novel (I can’t speak for the short stories, not being familiar with them yet) he expands the boundaries of sword and sorcery.

The events in this book grow out of the short stories, and there are one or two passing reference to previous events that seem to refer back to them. Don’t let that stop you from picking this one up. You can enjoy The Scroll of Years on its own merits. The ARC I have says today is the release date (which is why I wrote the review today), but the author’s website says the 24th. Either way, look for a copy if this sounds like it might be your cup of tea. And if Pyr want to publish the short stories (with one or two new ones included, hint, hint), well, that would be fine with me.

I’d like to thank Lisa Michalski at Pyr Books for the review copy.

Worldcon Report, Part 2, Photos

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As promised, here is the second part of my Worldcon report, which will mostly consist of photos along with some commentary. I hate formatting a bunch of pictures, so I apologize for any sloppiness in the presentation.

Exhibit Hall

This picture shows the exhibit hall. The art show is on the left, the exhibits are on the right, and the dealers’ room is at the back. This was a very open space and well laid out. It was easy to navigate and find things.

Reception for James Gunn

The reception for James Gunn. Gunn is seated at the table in the middle of the picture. I don’t know who everyone is but John Kessel and Sheila Williams (editor of Asimov;s) are in the picture. Many of the people here had some personal connection to Gunn.

Brad Denton and Howard Waldrop

This picture is from the panel on Texas authors who have passed on, and shows Brad Denton on the left and Howard Waldrop on the right. Much of the discussion centered around Chad Oliver since he was about the only science fiction writer from Texas for a number of years. The conversation eventually shifted to Tom Reamy (to whom I have a small personal connection) and Steven Utley. The conversation never got around to Ardath Mayhar, which is unfortunate. Each of the authors mentioned were unique, and there was no one quite like them. If you haven’t read any of them, track down their works. The NESFA editions of Chad Oliver were being given away for free, and Utley’s two volume collection of Silurian Tales had just been published.

Bill Cavalier outside the Cavalier Room

The picture to the left is REHupa editor Bill Cavalier outside “his” room at the Menger Hotel. The bar in the Menger hotel is where Teddy Roosevelt recruited the Rough Riders. There are a number of pictures and displays about that. I’ll write up a post for Dispatches From the Lone Star Front and put the pictures I took of the bar in that one. Bill has been after me to join REHupa. I probably will, but I’ve got so much on my plate right now that I want to make sure I can handle the added commitment. (I said “probably”, Bill. That’s not a Yes, at least not yet.)

Damon Sasser, Rusty Burke, and Harry Turtledove are discussing Robert E. Howard’s horror stories. Turtledove was channeling L. Sprague de Camp at times.

Legacy Circle Dinner

This picture is the Robert E. Howard Legacy Circle Dinner that was held Saturday night. Clockwise starting on the left are Paul Herman, Bill Cavalier, Rusty Burke, Dave Hardy, Damon Sasser, Jeff Shanks, Patrice Louinet, Rob Rhoem, John Bullard, and Ben (whose last name I never caught). The place were tried to go to told us there would be over an hour wait, so we ended up eating at an Italian restaurant up the street. It was an interesting the experience. The food was good, although my lasagna wasn’t very hot. There was almost no one there, the manager seated us in front of the window and sent over three plates of calamari on the house, and they had just gotten their liquor license renewed and the wine list wasn’t up to date. I’m guessing there had been a change in management.

At the Buckhorn Bar

Afterwards, most of us ended up at the Buckhorn Bar, which Robert E. Howard visited. Still with us are Jeff, Bill, Rusty, Paul, Rob, Patrice, Ben, and Damon. They closed right after we got there (it was only 9:00 on a Saturday night for crying out loud); we moved on to the Menger Bar.

The Foundation booth. Good help is hard to find. I helped out when needed. On the table are all of the books from the Foundation that are currently in print.

Finally, two scenes from San Antonio. First, the most sacred plot of soil in Texas, the Alamo at sunset.

Second a street scene on the way to breakfast Monday morning, some kid doing the perp walk. I know the people in the background and ended up joining them for breakfast. They were so intent on the menu that they never saw the cops walk this kid by them.

Worldcon Report, Part 1

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This is going to be the written report, mostly without pictures because I haven’t had time to sort through the ones I took and see what I want to post. It’s been one of those weeks at work and it started on the way down to San Antonio. I spent more time than I would have liked dealing with a couple of problems that waited until I was on the road to arise. I post some pictures in the next few days.

James Gunn at his reception.

I had to teach class Thursday morning, so by the time I got to San Antonio, checked into the hotel and hoofed it over to the convention center to register, I just made it before registration closed. I wandered the dealer’s room and familiarized myself with the layout before grabbing a bite. At least I intended to. I ran into Adrian Simmons, editor of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, and ended up accompanying him to a private, invitation-only reception for James Gunn. Adrian had been invited, and I went along as his guest. It was a great event, and I took advantage of the opportunity to speak with him. He’s 90, and critics are calling his new novel his best. I picked up a signed copy before the weekend was over. There’ll be a review going up at Futures Past and Present sometime in the next few months. Learning of Fred Poh’s death made me extra glad I grabbed a signed copy, in spite of being a little overbudget.

What would you eat for a book?

Later I attended the Bookswarm party, which was packed. I got a chance to talk to Martha Wells for a few minutes, and I walked away with two free books. The theme of the party was Eat a Bug, Get a Book. The bugs were sanitized and freeze dried. (I ate a mole circket and a dung beetle and got The Other Half of the Sky edited by Athena Andreadis and Exile by Betsy Dornbush.) The highlight of the party was getting to meet Brad Beaulieu, Douglas Hulett, Courtney Schafer, and Zachary Jernigan. If you haven’t read them, you should. Other than a glimpse of Jernigan from across the street, the only one of that group that I saw after that night was Courtney Schafer.

The next day was one of those where there was about twelve hours of programming I wanted to attend, all of it in a three hour block. I went to most of the Robert E. Howard panels, of which there were many. Most of the hanging out I did with friends was with members of the Robert E. Howard Foundation or chatting with folks at parties. Saturday was much the same, but Sunday was a little more relaxed. Among the non-Howard panels I attended were a discussion of C. L. Moore’s “Vintage Season”, the history of firearms in the 1800s, a discussion on writing that included Michael Swanwick and James Patrick Kelly, a panel of Texas writers who have passed on, and readings by Jack McDevitt and Howard Waldrop. I only caught part of the panel on sword and sorcery since it was up against one of the more interesting Robert E. Howard panels. The autographing lines were either nonexistent or ridiculously long, so I only got a few signatures.

Sword and Sorcery Panel: (l. to r.) Stina Leitch, Lou Anders, Sam Sykes, Saladin Ahmed, Chris Willrich

I went to the Alamo Saturday morning with Bill Cavalier, editor of REHupa. He hadn’t seen it, and it had been a while since I had paid my respects. Next to the Alamo is the Menger Hotel. Teddy Roosevelt recruited the Rough Riders in the bar, and it’s something of a mini-museum. I’ll do a write-up of it on Dispatches From the Lone Star Front over the weekend.

I didn’t try to attend the Hugos. I wasn’t impressed with the slate of nominees for the most part. But it’s a popularity contest, and currently my tastes and those of the field are in a state of moderate divergence. The Legacy Circle of the REH Foundation went to dinner Saturday night.

There were some free books, including NESFA’s three volume Chad Oliver set. I found the first two of the Heinlein juveniles I was missing, and picked up an extra copy of Glory Road. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that novel. I read it when I was about 14, and it’s about time for a reread.

It’s good to be the king.

Some overall thoughts. First, this was the first time I’ve been able to attend a Worldcon. It wasn’t quite what I expected. I’ve attended World Fantasy twice, and the density of pros in that venue is high, but then that’s a convention that’s aimed at pros. Worldcon is more geared for fans. I never saw some of the bigger names, although I know they were there. Most of the ones I did see, I only saw once or twice. The convention center is a bit too spread out for this sort of event.

I was surprised at crowded it wasn’t. I was also a little surprised with how old the average attendee seemed to be. While people seemed to be having a good time, I didn’t detect a great deal of excitement. Maybe that’s because I’m getting older, but everything seemed more laid back than I was expecting.

I’d certainly attend another Worldcon, but only if it wasn’t at the same time classes started. And only if it wasn’t too far away. While I enjoyed it and am glad I went, I wouldn’t travel halfway around the world, or even the country, to repeat the experience.

I’ll post some more photos later in the week.

The End of Summer, or the Long and the Short of it

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Things have been hectic this week as classes start on Monday, and I’m trying to get everything organized I need to do. On top of that, we’ve been a one car family for the last 10 days. My wife works outside the city limits, by the way. On the other side of town.

Anyway, I’m not sure how much I’ll get posted in the next couple of weeks. I’m still planning to go to Worldcon. I don’t have any classes on Friday, and my department head doesn’t object to my leaving after my 8:00 a.m. on Thursday. I usually don’t get much reading done at a con, and I’m sure that will be even more true about Worldcon. Add to that my column at Amazing Stories needs to be ready to go before I leave, and I’m going to be busy. (That’s the column that will go live on Labor Day, not next Monday. I still have to do that one as well.)

The next few novels here are going to be (in no particular order at this point) Duma Key by Stephen King, Trial and Glory by Joshua Simon, Saxon’s Bane by Geoffrey Gudgion, Sworn Sword by James Aitcheson, Prince Thief by David Tallerman, and The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich, Seven Forges by James A. Moore, The God Tattoo by Tom Lloyd (short stories rather than a novel), plus Winter be my Shield by Jo Spurrier (for a review I owe the Gemmell Awards). I’ve been dipping into Duma Key for about a month in between other reading and will probably finish it first. After that it’s a tossup.

I’ve also got a few titles I want to slip into Futures Past and Present and Gumshoes, Gats, and Gams. In addition, I’d really like to get back to reading more short fiction. I’ve not read much in the last six months. I tend to do better in a number of areas if I’m reading short fiction regularly. Not sure why; maybe the mental stimulation helps with productivity and general mental well-being or something.

So that’s how things stand at the moment. Not a lot happening here on the blogs since the launch, and not a lot likely to in the next couple of weeks. But that will change.

I’d like to thank everyone who has commented or sent me emails supporting the new site. While it’s still very much a work in progress and a learning experience, it’s good to know I’m doing something right.

Opening Salvo 2.0

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Hello. Welcome to the new home of Adventures Fantastic. If you’re reading this shortly after it was posted (as opposed to stumbling upon it some time later), then you’re aware of the problems I ran into with Google deciding the old blog was spam. As a result, I’ve decided to change platforms and work from a space that is mine rather than someone else’s. I may still run into problems with Google, but at least I control the site completely rather than piggy-backing on some other platform.

So, what to expect: Rather than run two blogs, I’m going to run four. Crazy, I know, especially if you noticed how much more frequently I posted at Adventures Fantastic than I did at Futures Past and Present. Those two blogs will still be in existence here at the new site. The two I’m adding are Gumshoes, Gats, and Gams (detective and noir fiction) and Dispatches From the Lone Star Front (Texas and Southwest history). The former is completely new, while the latter is something I started at the Home of Heroics blog a couple of years ago. (Links to all of them are on the menu bar at the top of the page, along with info about me and the blog.)

Neither seemed to fit well into Adventures Fantastic, but there wasn’t any other place to put the posts dealing with noir or history. Fantasy, especially sword and sorcery, historic adventure, and things related to pulp will still be posted to Adventures Fantastic, along with general news and updates. I’ve posted a brief introduction at each of the new blogs, giving more detail about the themes and titles along with what to expect.

While all the main components are in place, it’s still a work in progress. I’m getting some things figured out, but it will probably be a while before I’m completely satisfied with everything.

I plan on adding a page to at least the fiction blogs (although I’m not sure about Dispatches) that will contain links to my own works. I’m starting to learn how to publish things myself, although I haven’t gotten very far. With classes about to start and Worldcon less than two weeks away, I’m not sure I”ll have time to have that ready. I didn’t want to rush into that aspect of things, nor did I want to delay things while I got up the learning curve.

Anyway, welcome aboard. I’m glad you’re here, whether you followed me over from the other platform or have joined since the move.

World Fantasy Nominations Announced

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The nominees for this year’s World Fantasy Awards were announced this evening. The winners will be announced at this year’s World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, UK, on October 31 – November 3. Adventures Fantastic would like to congratulate all the nominees.

They are as follows:

Life Achievement:

Susan Cooper
Tanith Lee

Novel:

The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz; Doubleday)
The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
Crandolin, Anna Tambour (Chômu)
Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson (Grove; Corvus)

Novella:

“Hand of Glory”, Laird Barron (The Book of Cthulhu II)
“Let Maps to Others”, K.J. Parker (Subterranean Summer ’12)
The Emperor’s Soul, Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon)
“The Skull”, Lucius Shepard (The Dragon Griaule)
“Sky”, Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls)

Short Story:

“The Telling”, Gregory Norman Bossert (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/29/12)
“A Natural History of Autumn”, Jeffrey Ford (F&SF 7-8/12)
“The Castle That Jack Built”, Emily Gilman (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/26/12)
“Breaking the Frame”, Kat Howard (Lightspeed 8/12)
“Swift, Brutal Retaliation”, Meghan McCarron (Tor.com 1/4/12)

Anthology:

Epic: Legends of Fantasy, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Tachyon)
Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic, Eduardo Jiménez Mayo & Chris N. Brown, eds. (Small Beer)
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, Jonathan Oliver, ed. (Solaris)
Postscripts #28/#29: Exotic Gothic 4, Danel Olson, ed. (PS Publishing)
Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Random House)

Collection:

At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Kij Johnson (Small Beer)
Where Furnaces Burn, Joel Lane (PS Publishing)
The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volume One: Where on Earth and Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands, Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
Jagannath, Karin Tidbeck (Cheeky Frawg)

Artist:

Vincent Chong
Didier Graffet & Dave Senior
Kathleen Jennings
J.K. Potter
Chris Roberts

Special Award Professional:

Peter Crowther & Nicky Crowther for PS Publishing
Lucia Graves for the translation of The Prisoner of Heaven (Weidenfeld & Nicholson; Harper) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Adam Mills, Ann VanderMeer, & Jeff VanderMeer for Weird Fiction Review
Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi for ChiZine Publications
William K. Schafer for Subterranean Press

Special Award Non-Professional:

Scott H. Andrews for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
L. Timmel Duchamp for Aqueduct Press
S.T. Joshi for Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction, Volumes 1 & 2 (PS Publishing)
Charles A. Tan for Bibliophile Stalker blog
Jerad Walters for Centipede Press
Joseph Wrzos for Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration (Centipede Press)

Morlock in Love

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Wrath-Bearing Tree
James Enge
Pyr Books
Trade paperback, 320 pp., $18.00
ebook $11.99 Kindle Nook

Across the Narrow Sea, in the land of Kaen, something is killing the gods. In order to determine if this is a potential threat to the Wardlands, the Graith of Guardians sends Morlock Ambrosius and Aloe Oaij to investigate.

Morlock is secretly in love with Aloe. Aloe isn’t in love with him. At least not yet. In his afterward, Enge describes this book as a love story with sword and sorcery interruptions. To a point, that’s true. But if you take the sword and sorcery out, the love story is pretty thin. Magic is so much a part of Morlock that you can’t tell much of a story about him if there’s no magic involved.

This was a strange novel in some ways. Not the love story portion. Enge handles that very well, starting with the misunderstandings between Aloe and Morlock to her growing admiration of, and ultimately love for, Morlock. I realize that last sentence sounds like this is just Jane Austin with fantasy trappings. In the hands of other, lesser writers, that’s what you would get. Not so here.

At times Wrath-Bearing Tree is a very weird book. As Morlock and Aloe visit the cities of Kaen, it’s almost like reading some of the “true accounts” of travelers in the early days of the Age of Exploration. Strange, bizarre, and completely unlike anything you’re familiar with. For instance, and this isn’t the weirdest example, there’s a mountain on which the inhabitants either herd goats or sheep, but never both. The reason is the religious significance of what an individual herds. Once a year the two religions have a major battle (which of course Morlock and Aloe get caught in), but the goats and sheep used in those battles are anything but cute livestock. And I’m not even sure how to describe the The Purple Patriarchy.

Because of this, much of the book reminded me of Jack Vance with doses of Clark Ashton Smith here and there. The unusual societies were one of the highlights of the book for me. Enge has some fun along the way. During the Purple Patriarchy chapter, Aloe and Morlock have run afoul of the local traditions and need to escape. They do so with the aid of a group of adventures trying to put together a quest, D&D style.

Eventually Morlock and Aloe encounter Morlock’s father Merlin. Morlock has never met his father, so it’s an emotional reunion. Merlin as Enge depicts him is an interesting character, although not an admirable one. I would like to have seen more of him.

The main portion of the book, in which Aloe begins to fall in love with Morlock is told entirely from her point of view. The reader already knows how he feels about her. It’s interesting to watch her misunderstandings about him change as she gets to know him better. One word of warning. The sex scenes are extremely graphic, so if you are offended by that sort of thing or it’s not your cup of tea, you may want to keep that in mind.

The subtitle of Wrath-Bearing Tree is A Tournament of Shadows, Book 2. There are some unresolved issues in the larger story arc, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Enge resolves them. I’d also like to thank Pyr Books for sending me the review copy.

Enge’s work is unlike anything else out there that I’ve come across. To some extent, it may be an acquired taste, because he’s not a paint-by-numbers kind of writer. His work is original, imaginative, and one of a kind.

Return to the Shifted World

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Kindred and Wings
Philippa Ballantine
Pyr Books
Paperback 340 pp., $18.00
ebook $11.99 Kindle B&N

If you read Philippa Ballantine’s Hunter and Fox last year (reviewed here), then you will be glad to know that the sequel hits the shelves on August 6, which is tomorrow as I’m writing this. The good folks at Pyr books were kind enough to send me a review copy, for which I would like to thank them.

I enjoyed the novel, but I liked the sequel even more. Kindred and Wings takes up where Hunter and Fox left off. Talyn is still seeking the Caisah’s death, but she’s going to discover there are other things that should be a higher priority. Finn the Fox, aided by the dragon Wahirangi, continues his quest to find his brother. Meanwhile, Talyn’s brother Byre will discover that dealing with the Kindred is not without cost. And hanging over everything is the growing menace of White Void.

There are a number of viewpoint characters in Kindred and Wings. Ballantine alternates between them, juggling story lines in a way that makes the action flow. I’ve not read her more recent novels in her other series (not because I’m not interested but because I have to sleep sometime), so I can’t make a complete comparison, but I think this is some of her best writing. Each of the viewpoint characters, and there more than just the three I mentioned above, are well defined. We see each of them at their worst and their best. Their motives and agendas sometimes come into conflict, and it’s here that some of the strongest character development occurs. While I didn’t like all the viewpoint characters, I understood them, and it’s because they were so well written that I didn’t like one or two of them. None of them were stock characters.

There are some great action scenes, including several battles, and all are handled well. But ultimately this book boils down to personal conflict, and it’s at this level that the author’s abilities really shine. The scene in the castle where Finn first encounters the shade of his mother, or when Kelanim is in the chapel of wings, not a word is wasted. The sense of being there, of visualizing what was happening, was particularly strong.

Overall, Kindred and Wings had a more epic feel to it than I remember Hunter and Fox having. That’s probably the result of how Ballantine handles the viewpoint characters. The respective characters don’t alternate chapters or sections of chapters in a predictable manner. Rather we see what we need to see when it’s time to see it. That means that sometimes a character will be off stage longer in some parts of the book than in others. We find out the Caisah’s secrets, and I really liked what those turned out to be. Not everything you thought you knew in the first book was true.

If I had to find a flaw in the book, I felt that everyone coming together for the final confrontation was a little rushed. I was expecting a cliffhanger ending with the final resolution in a following book. The ending was satisfying, and I don’t mean to imply that it wasn’t. I just wasn’t expecting it to happen in this book.

Kindred and Wings was a very satisfying read. It hits shelves tomorrow, so if this is your cup of tea, look for it.

Perils on Planet X Returns

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If you aren’t familiar with Perils on Planet X, written by Christopher Mills and drawn by Gene Gonzales, then you’re missing out. It’s a weekly sword and planet comic. The writing and illustration are top notch. Mills and Gonzales have taken a few weeks off for a well-deserved summer break, but now they’re back with the first installment of the second chapter. Now’s a good time to get caught up on the story. All pages are free. You can check it out by clicking the link above.

Progress

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I’ve spent part of this evening working on the new site. All four of the new blogs have been created, and I’ve written the introductory post for three of them. I don’t have any graphics in place yet. Since each blog will have a different focus, I want each one to have it’s own logo. That will take a little time to set up. Hopefully within a couple of weeks.

On a unrelated topic (not really since time spent on one is time not spent on the other), I’ve almost finished the last of the novelettes that received Hugo nominations. I should manage that before I collapse and go to bed. I won’t be able to read the novellas before the deadline to vote. That’s tomorrow, so I probably won’t vote in that category. I’ll post some thoughts on the nominees when I get a chance in the next day or so.