Author Archives: Keith West

The Shadows Darken

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Shadow’s Lure
Jon Sprunk
Pyr, $16.00, 391 p.

I want a glowing green girlfriend that nobody else can see or hear who can walk through walls.

Don’t tell my wife I said that.  She would probably entertain objections to the idea.

But it would be convenient to have one.  For instance, she could tell me when danger was around the corner.  Like Kit does in the Shadow series.

Jon Sprunk’s Shadow’s Son was one of the first books I reviewed after starting this blog, and it was good to revisit the world and characters. The publisher’s web site says this title was published last June, but I didn’t see a copy on the shelves of a bookstore until October, which until I started writing this post is when I assumed it was published.  If I’d known it came out last summer, this review would have been written months ago.  Just so you know, there are some mild spoilers for Shadow’s Son in the following paragraphs.   Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Continue reading →

A Quick Question

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I’ve been thinking about something for the last few days, and I’ve reached the point where I would like some feedback.

At the end of last year, I posted two essays.  The first was an explanation of my growing frustration with ebooks from major publishers, in  regards to both quality and pricing, concluding with the statement that I would be reading many more indie published books in 2012. The second contained my recommendations for which publishers had the lines I thought would be the most interesting in 2012 based on my reading in 2011. In both posts I put lists of what I intended to read over the next few months.  In the post on publishers I listed titles, although not all the titles I have on hand from every publisher.  The other list only contained authors, in part because in some cases I hadn’t decided which books from particular authors I would read first.

Since then, something interesting has occurred.

Since those posts, I’ve gotten several requests to review indie published books, all of which I’ve agreed to.  In one case, I already had that book on my list.  Another of these books is a YA novel.  Now I’ve never reviewed any novels marketed as YA here.  Not because I’m not interested in what’s being published in the YA market, but because there were so many other things I wanted to read first.

But I’ve got a son who will be reading in middle grade and YA soon, and I want to encourage him to read.  At the moment he doesn’t share his father’s interest in reading, in part because of the way reading was taught in the town where we lived before moving to where we are now.  I need to know what’s out there that he might be interested in so I can direct him to those books.

Here’s where my question, or questions rather, enter the picture.

First, how much YA would you being interested in seeing me review?  I’m going to be reading some, but I’d like to kill two birds with one stone and review some of it here.  How many of you would be open to that?  How many opposed?

Second, I’ve been thinking about how to handle reviewing requests by indie authors.  One of the requests I’ve gotten for a review is a little outside the scope of the blog but not so much that it would be totally out of place.  How far afield would you those of you who read this blog tolerate my reviews going?  I’m not going to review urban fantasy much, and while I have no objection to romance being a major part of the story, I’m not interested in reading anything where that’s the entire story.  I’ve been wanting to increase the amount of historical adventure I include here.  A lot of the indie published stuff I’ve seen has been historical, but mostly historical romance rather than adventure.  On the other hand, some of it has been historical mystery, and it’s been hard to tell just how much adventure as opposed to classical deduction the story contains.

I’ll review indie science fiction over at Futures Past and Present.  What about the occasional detective or noir novel?  Any objections there?

So, to recap:  How much YA should I review?  How wide a range of indie novels should I consider for review?  What genres or subgenres are you (not) interested in seeing reviewed?

Yes, I know this is my blog and I’m free to review whatever I feel like.  But on the other hand, I’m trying to develop a community and a brand.  I want people who visit for the first or second time to have a good idea of what they’re going to find.  And I don’t want to alienate anyone who’s a regular or even an occasional reader. So I would really appreciate some feedback.

Thank you. 

Across the Rooftops with Kron Darkbow in the City of Rogues

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City of Rogues
Ty Johnston
various ebook formats, 0.99 (Kindle, I think this is a temporary price; Ty, correct me if I’m wrong on this) – $2.99 (Nook)

This book was a lot of fun. It was a good, old fashioned fantasy adventure novel, the first of a trilogy.  I enjoyed it immensely.

Johnston does an outstanding job of juggling a fairly large cast of characters for such a short book, imbuing each of them with their own personality and characteristics.  They include Kron, a young boy he befriends, his friend the city guard sergeant, a healer and his wizard mentor, the crime lord Belgar the Liar and four of his henchmen, and two swords for hire.  That he is able to develop the characters to the depth that he does while maintaining the relentless pace speaks well of his ability as a writer.  Along the way he drops tidbits about the greater world, its history and geography.  And he does it all without harming any swans.

Here’s the basic setup:

The main character is one Lucius Tallerus, who is better known as Kron Darkbow.  Tallerus has returned to the city of Bond, where he lived until his parents were killed.  After their murders, he was taken in by his uncle, recently deceased, and trained as a warden for the Prisonlands.  Now that his uncle is dead, Tallerus has returned to seek revenge on the person responsible for murdering his parents.  He adopts the identity of Kron Darkbow and seeks his revenge.  He dresses in black, prowls rooftops, has a grappling hook and an assortment of tools he carries on his person.  In short, he bears a strong resemblance to a certain Caped Crusader.  But whereas Batman, at least the one I grew up reading (I haven’t followed the title for a few years now) didn’t kill under any circumstances, Kron has no scruples against taking the life of someone he feels deserves to die.

He’s not a superhero by any means.  He makes mistakes, costly ones at times, and he is capable of being injured.  More than once, Kron is almost killed.  He’s much more realistic and fleshed out as a character than many superheroes.

The other intriguing character was Belgad the Liar.  At one point Johnston states that Belgad doesn’t like to lie; it seems the nickname has followed him around for years.  He probably picked it up in junior high, where the names given to you stick with you for life.  He’s a barbarian from the north who has risen to a knighthood and place of prestige in the city, although not exactly ethically.  Like a better known barbarian who became king of Aquilonia, Belgad has grown beyond his origins to become an able administrator and businessman. 

I found him to be the most interesting character in the book, and certainly the most sympathetic and likeable viallain, if you can call him that, I’ve encountered in years.  He doesn’t like killing or stealing; they’re bad for business.  When he came to power, he dissolved the thieves guild and the assassins guild for those reasons.  He still practices extortion and doesn’t hesitate to use strong arm tactics, but despite his fearsome reputation, he didn’t seem to me to be that bloodthirsty.  Nor were his inner circle of henchmen.  I got the impression at times that Belgad would have preferred to run his empire without violence at all, but that it was a necessity in his line of work.  He certainly wasn’t the psychotic megalomaniac many crime lords are portrayed as being. 

Johnston took two characters whom he could have portrayed as coming directly from central casting, fitting their stereotypes, yet he chose to make them human, and in doing so, he transcended the typical generic revenge fantasy.  There’s a reason some many heroes in fiction come back to seek vengeance for deaths, especially the deaths of parents.  Those type of stories speak to us on a primal level.  Many us of would like to do the same if we were to find ourselves in such situations.  I think that’s why these types of plots remain popular.  To use this plot is not a lack of originality on the part of an author.  The lack of originality comes with the author fails to do something new with it, and in this Johnston has succeeded admirably.  I found this to be a fresh take on familiar tropes, something hard to pull off.

Don’t think this novel is merely some postmodern slice of life character study, either.  It’s full of action, intrigue, and swashbuckling.  It would make a good movie.  Unfortunately , Hollywood would probably screw it up.

There are other characters with their own stories in the book, and they all intertwine with Kron and Belgad’s story.  Until the final chapters, there’s no dark lord with a demon horde.  That will change in the rest of the trilogy, but this first book and its introduction of the characters is a story of conflict on a deeply personal level.  I’m looking forward to what happens in the rest of the trilogy, so much so that when I finished Citiy of Rogues, I went and bought the rest of the trilogy and the sequel and prequel.  I’ll report on them in the coming months.  Until then, I recommend this one.

Fireside Magazine Funded

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I don’t know how many of you are aware of Fireside magazine.  It’s a new startup fiction magazine that will launch in March if all goes according to schedule.  It will be available in pdf and ebook formats.  Print copies are reserved for contributors to the Kickstarter fundraising, and depending on the level of contribution will be signed by one or more authors.  (You get to choose whose signature you receive.)  The magazine has reached its funding goal, so it’s a go.  The first issue will have contributions from Tobias S. Buckell, D. J. Turnbuckle, Adam P. Knave, Ken Liu, Chuck Wendig, and Christie Yant, with illustrations by Amy Houser.  There’s about 36 left on the fundraising, and any money not used in production will either go to the authors or be used as seed money for future issues.  To learn more or to contribute, go to the Fireside page.

More Glenn Lord Tributes

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Here are some more Glenn Lord Tributes that have gone up in the last few days:

Funeral arrangements have been posted on the REHupa site.

Barbara Barrett and John O’Neill; Glenn Lord, Nov 17, 1931 – Dec 31, 2011

Mike Chomko; Glenn Lord:  Another Giant Passes

Frank Coffman; On the Passing of Glenn Lord

Chris Gruber; Glenn Lord, Howardian Herald, 1931-2011

Dave Hardy; Glenn Lord 1931-2011

Al Harron; Glenn Lord, the Greatest Howard Fan, 1931-2011

Don Herron;  Two-Gun Bob: Into the West

Brian Leno; Edited by Glenn Lord

Damon Sasser; Glenn Lord: The Flame of Howard Fandom

Damon Sasser; In Memoriam, Glenn Lord  This one has links to several items of interest, including a interview with Glenn.

Sailing the Serpent Sea

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The Serpent Sea
Martha Wells
Night Shade Books
Trade Paper, 342 p., $14.99

If you’ve read The Cloud Roads, or my review of it, or just looked at the cover of either it or The Serpent Sea, you can probably guess that I’m using the term “sailing” in the title of this review somewhat loosely.

I’ve been looking forward to this book since I read The Cloud Roads last year, and Night Shade Books was gracious enough to send me a review copy.  It should be hitting store shelves any day now, if it hasn’t already.  I’ve not seen a copy yet, but that doesn’t mean the book isn’t available.  You should pick up a copy (of both if you haven’t read the first one).  That way you can join me in one of my New Year activities, looking forward to the next book in the series.

The story picks up shortly after the close of The Cloud Roads, with the Indigo Cloud court returning to their ancestral home.  This happens to be a Mountain Tree, and the name means exactly what it says.  It’s a tree that’s purt  near the size of a mountain, as we would say where I hail from.  There are entire forests of these things, and they have branches wide enough for herds of herbivores to live on.  The sequences with the Mountain Tree, brief though they were, reminded me of Alan Dean Foster’s Midworld, one of my favorite creations.

Unfortunately, Moon, Stone, Jade, and some of the others don’t get to enjoy their new home for long.  The tree is dying.  Sometime within the last turn, the Three Worlds equivalent of a year, someone broke into the tree and took the seed containing the life essence of the tree, and as a result the tree is dying.  Fortunately, the thieves left enough of a trail for them to follow.

What they find is more than any of them expects, with wonders and surprises outside the predictable.  Part of the story involves tracking the thieves, but the bulk of it involves trying to retrieve the seed once they locate the parties responsible for taking it.  Along the way they encounter a number of races, most we’ve not seen before.

Whereas much of the excitement and suspense in The Cloud Roads came from the threat of the Fell and some intense aerial combat scenes, in The Serpent Sea the suspense comes from the group’s efforts, especially Moon and Stone’s, to locate the seed and retrieve it.  The book is no less suspenseful.  It’s every bit as good as the first without being repetitive. 

Nor is this just a suspenseful novel.  The characters continue to grow, as do their relationships, and Wells makes it all look easy.  Even some of the characters who only show up for one or two scenes come across as individuals.

Of course, since this book is told from Moon’s point of view, his character development is where the emphasis is.  Much of this revolves around Moon trying to make a place for himself in the court, something that becomes harder after the group visits a neighboring court.  Moon commits a faux paus that results in Jade having to engage another queen in combat.  By the time the book is over, Moon will experience a number of things and will grow into a true leader.

A few weeks ago, Martha Wells wrote in a post on The Night Bazaar, that after her last contract ended in 2007 and five novels “died on the vine”, she was on the verge of giving up writing for good when the book that became The Cloud Roads resurrected itself.  I’m glad it did, and I hope those other novels come back and are published, either by Night Shade, someone else, or Martha herself.  There was a time, more in science fiction than in fantasy, where authors created detailed worlds or universes, such as Known Space (and especially Ringworld), Dune, or more recently Karl Schroeder’s Virga, places unique and filled with that sense of wonder that seems to be missing from so much of contemporary fantastic literature. The Cloud Roads and The Serpent Sea are brim full of sense of wonder.  It would have been a shame if Martha had given up before these books got published.  Kudos to Night Shade for publishing her, and the other new writers they’ve brought into print.  It’s one of the reasons I listed Night Shade as a publisher to read in 2012.

As I mentioned, there are a number of races in the Three Worlds.  I hope when Martha is done telling the story of Moon, or if she just wants to take a break, she’ll introduce us to more of them.  The Three Worlds is a fascinating place, and I, for one, am eager to explore more of it.  With these books Wells is writing at the top of her game, and given their breath, originality, and complexity, this series is showing indications it could become one of the landmark series of the genre.

RIP, Glenn Lord

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Several Robert E. Howard related websites and blogs are reporting that Glenn Lord (1931-2011) passed away sometime yesterday, New Year’s Eve.  In case some of you don’t recognize the name, Glenn Lord was the person most responsible for helping to get Conan and Howard’s other work back  into print in the 1960s and 1970s.  I only met Glenn a couple of times and never really knew him.  By the time I became active in Howard fandom, Glenn wasn’t attending many Howard Days, at least that I can recall.  There’s nothing I can say that those who knew him well can’t say better.  There really hasn’t been time for any lenngthy tributes to be written (you can’t rush that type of writing), by read these brief tributes and announcements by Mark Finn, Damon Sasser, James Reasoner, Al Harron, and check the REHupa site periodically for more information.  Glenn touched many people in a significant way, and as tributes are posted over the next few days, I’ll provide links to all the ones I see.
Sigh.  I really didn’t want to start 2012 with this type of post.

Four Publishers You Should be Reading in 2012

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Yep, that’s right.  I said “publishers”, not “authors”.  The reason for this wording is these are the publishers I think are publishing the most innovative, original, and/or best written stuff in the fantasy and science fiction fields, with a dash of horror thrown in for spice.

I’m limiting my list to four (plus a runner-up) because these are the publishers whose books I’ve most enjoyed this year.  If you’ve read my post from yesterday, you can probably guess which ones won’t be on there.  I’m deliberately not including small presses that publish pricey limited editions, even if they also publish trade editions.  I’m limiting the list to imprints you can find in a local bookstore.  Also, there’s at least one publisher not on the list because I simply didn’t get around to reading any of their books this year, and that’s Orbit. I’ve enjoyed things they’ve published in the past, and have several books in the TBR stack from them.  What I’ve read of Orbit’s line I’ve generally enjoyed, and I expect that to be the case with what I have on hand.

One thing to note about all the publishers on the list.  Roughly a decade, to use round figures, is about as long as any of these publishers have been around, although one or two have existed slightly longer than that.  Some are much younger.  All of them are lean, efficient, and not afraid to take chances with what they publish.  And their books don’t look like all their other books.

Here’s the way I’m structuring this list.  I’ll list the publishers in reverse order, starting with the runner-up (along with an explanation of why that publisher isn’t number 5), with a few recommendations from their line along with a list of some of what I’ll be reading from them in the coming months.  I’ll confine myself to three, at most four, recommendations and TBRs, even though in most cases the actual number is greater.  Links will be to the books’ webpages, not any reviews I’ve posted; there’ll be a comprehensive list of reviews at the end of the post.  For series, I’ll only list the first volume.  A book’s being included in the TBR listing is not a guarantee I’ll review it here or at Futures Past and Present.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Runner-up:  Prime Books.  The reason I’m calling Prime the runner-up is somewhat awkward.  You see, I haven’t actually finished any of their books, at least none that I’ve bought in the last few years.  Not that I’ve disliked any of the books, but that they’ve all been anthologies, and I have a really bad habit of dipping into an anthology  between novels, reading a selection of stories, then putting the anthology down for an extended period of time before coming back to it.  So I’ve got a number of anthologies sitting around unfinished.  (I really need to break that habit.)   Prime does publish novels, and I have some in the TBR list (which I promise I will finish).  Their ebooks are reasonably priced, with most in the $4.95 range, and unlike many higher priced ebooks from larger publishers, the TOCs are interactive.  Highlights of what I have read portions of include Rich Horton’s annual Best Science Fiction and Fantasy series, which I’m waay behind on, and Paula Guran’s annual Best Dark Fantasy and Horror series, which I’m not as far behind on.  Many of the their recent anthologies have been themed reprint anthologies.
Recommendations:  It’s hard to recommend something you haven’t finished, but you could hardly go wrong with any of the Year’s Best, either the science fiction and fantasy or the dark fantasy and horror. 
TBR:  When the Great Days Come by Gardner Dozois, Heart of Iron by Ekaterina Sedia, Mechanique by Genevieve Valentine

Number 4:  Abaddon/Solaris These are two imprints of the same company, with the former having a dark focus and the latter a less grim tone.  Either way, you can’t go wrong.  There’s enough solid science fiction, fantasy, and horror in a wide variety of subgenres here to keep anyone busy.  The company is British, so many of the author’s names might not be familiar to American readers.  Don’t let that stop you; British authors have a slightly different perspective on things, which I find quite refreshing at times.  Check their website, and I’m sure you’ll find several things appealing. 
Recommendations:  Hawkwood’s Voyage (in the omnibus Hawkwood and the Kings) by Paul Kearney, Engineering Infinity edited by Johnathan Strahan, and Viking Dead by Toby Venables
TBR:  Engineman by Eric Brown, The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney, The Recollection by Gareth L. Powell, Solaris Rising edited by Ian Whates

Number 3:   Angry Robot  This is another British publisher, and the youngest imprint on the list.  Yet in the short time they’ve been around, Angry Robot has embarked on an aggressive program of publishing some of the most ambitious genre-bending books on the market.  Their authors come from all over the English speaking world, and some of their most acclaimed titles are by authors from places other than the US or Great Britain.  They’re beginning to get nominations for the some of the major awards in the field, including the Hugo and the Ditmar, and winning the Arthur C. Clarke and World Fantasy.  This is an imprint to watch.  They’re having an ebook sale  for the month of January, so now’s your chance to check them out and see what all the commotion is about. 
Recommendations:  Winter Song by Colin Harvey, Roil by Trent Jamieson, The Crown of the Blood by Gav Thorpe
TBR:  The World House by Guy Adams, Book of Secrets by Chris Roberson, Walking the Tree by Kaaron Warren

Number Two:  Night Shade  This is the publisher on my list that’s been around the longest, but in my opinion they’re only getting better.  I didn’t read a great many of their books this year, and the science fiction I read wasn’t exactly to my taste although I understand the appeal of those particular titles.  But the fantasy was some of the best I’ve read in years.  The characters were all well-drawn, complex individuals, most of whom you could cheer for, including some of the villains, or perhaps I should say antagonists since most weren’t entirely evil.  The plots were involved and often twisty, with plenty of action and suspense.  Nightshade seems to be focusing on developing new authors at the moment, although one of my favorite authors, who hadn’t been able to get a publishing contract the last few years has signed with them and they’re continuing to reprint much of Glen Cook’s backlist, for which they are to be lauded.  All but one of their titles that I read were the first volumes in new series, which is a good thing.  I’m excited about what they’ve got coming up this year and will be reading more of their books than I did this past year.
Recommendations:  The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu, The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer, The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
TBR:  Miserere by Teresa Frohock, Southern Gods by John Horner Jacobs, The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells (which I’m reading right now, look for the review in a couple of days)

Number One:  Pyr  If you read books from only one publisher in 2012, this is the one you should read.  This is by far the most impressive and innovative line in all SFF publishing, although the others on this list are giving them increasing competition. If you’ve read many of their books, you understand why editor Lou Anders won the Hugo for Best Editor – Long Form last year.  I’ve not read a single book published by Pyr that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed, something I can’t say about any other publisher.  That’s not to say everything they publish is compatible with my taste.  They have a few items in their lineup that I can tell are not my thing.  And that’s okay; in fact, that’s how it should be.  A good publisher will a wide enough selection of product that most readers can find something they like, not cater to a narrow audience.  While they tend to focus on series (only makes economic sense), Pyr also publishes stand alone novels and a few anthologies.  Their focus has shifted since their inception from science fiction to fantasy, and they’re publishing some of the most exciting fantasy around, especially if you like the heroic variety, which I do.
Recommendations:  The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, Twelve by Jasper Kent, Wolfsangel by M. D. Lachlan, Shadow’s Son by Jon Sprunk
TBR:  Blackdog by K. V. Johansen, Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann, City of Ruins by Kristine Kathryn Rusch,  Shadow’s Lure by Jon Sprunk

These are the publishers I think are the best in the field right now, and the ones I’ll be reading the most in 2012.  That’s not to say I won’t be reading other publishers.  I will, just like I listed the indie published authors I’ll be reading in the coming months in a previous post.  As I said there, please be patient.  That’s a lot of books to read and will require time to complete, and I have other books in the TBR listing from some of these publishers that I didn’t list.  I’m sure some of you have your own ideas of which publishers are the ones to be reading, and I’m sure they aren’t the same as mine.  That’s okay.  Feel free to post a comment letting me know which ones they are.  As much good stuff is out there, I’m bound to have overlooked something.

For those who have too much time on their hands might be interested, here are links to the reviews I’ve posted of books by these publishers, arranged by publisher.

Abaddon/Solaris:  Hawkwood’s Voyage and The Heretic Kings by Paul Kearney, Engineering Infinity by Jonathan Strahan, Viking Dead by Toby Venables

Angry Robot:  Debris by Jo Anderton, Empire State by Adam Christopher, Darkness Falling by Peter Crowther, Winter Song by Colin Harvey, Roil by Trent Jamieson, The Crown of the Blood and The Crown of the Conqueror by Gav Thorpe

Nightshade:  The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu, The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer, The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

Pyr:  “Traveler’s Rest” by James Enge,Twelve, Thirteen Years Later, and The Third Section by Jasper Kent, Wolfsangel and Fenrir by M. D. Lachlan, Shadow’s Son by Jon Sprunk