Tales of the Emerald Serpent is a Great Start to a New Anthology Series

Tales of the Emerald Serpent
Scott Taylor, ed.
Art of the Genre
tp, 180 p., $14.99
ebook, $4.99
Illustrated by Janet Aulisio, Jeff Laubenstein, and Todd Lockwood

I don’t remember where I heard about this project (probably over at Black Gate), but it was a Kickstarter project I told you about earlier this year.

Well, the project was successfully funded, although the stretch goals weren’t met. More on that in a bit.

I finished the collection over the weekend, and I can say it was money well spent. There are nine interrelated stories by Lynn Flewelling, Harry Connolly, Todd Lockwood, Juliet McKenna, Mike Tousignant, Martha Wells, Julie Czerneda, Scott Taylor, and Rob Mancebo.

The setting is the city of Taux, a city made of stone. Once a thriving metropolis, something happened the inhabitants which caused them to be imprisoned in the stone. Since that time, humans as well as a number of other races have moved in and tried to make the city their own. They’ve not been completely successful. It’s a city of sorcery, swordplay, and intrigue. There are the Razors, professional duelists who are deadly in all styles of sword fighting. There are the Sturgeons, the name of the constabulary. There are thieves, scoundrels, and ne’er-do-wells. Much of the action centers around the Emerald Serpent, a tavern in the Black Gate district. All of it is exciting, fresh, inventive, and a whole lot of fun.

Most of the stories in this volume take place over the period of a few days or weeks, although some, like “Namesake” by Lynn Flewelling, occur across a span of a few years. Some of the tales contain references to other stories and characters in the book.

There’s not a bad story in the lot, and some of them, such as “Between” by Todd Lockwood and “Charlatan” by Scott Taylor tell of the same events from completely different points of view. The overall effect creates a book that is greater than the sum of its parts. Along with reading some good fiction by old favorites, I’ve discovered some more writers whose work I’ll be reading.

I highly recommend this anthology to fans of good, exciting fantasy, especially fans of the short story. The stretch goals of this anthology would have funded the second and later volumes in the series. The first stretch goal didn’t quite make it. That’s a shame, because I’m really looking forward to reading the next volume, especially after the events of “Footsteps of Blood” by Rob Mancebo, the final story in the book. I’m hoping Scott Taylor produces the second volume anyway. (Pleeaasee!!!)

If you are old enough to remember Thieves World or have read similar books, Tales of the Emerald Serpent is patterned after that series. If that’s your thing, then show your support by ordering a copy today.

Out of the Garden and into my Library

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Out of the Garden
Angeline Hawkes
Bad Moon Books
Trade Paper, 393 p., $20.00
ebook $3.99 Kindle Nook

If you enjoy a good barbarian story, and who doesn’t, then you might want to check out the latest from Angeline Hawkes. While most of her recent work is in the field of horror, she makes the occasional foray into the realms of fantasy, often giving us another exploit of her barbarian character, Kabar of El Hazzar. All the stories so far have been collected in this volume.

These are pseudohistorical fantasies that may or may not take place in our world. Some of the references to historical places and peoples, such as Nineveh or Hebrews, would incline one to think so. But then there are references to all sorts of places that never existed.

None of which is really relevant. What is, is the answer to the question, are the stories entertaining?

Yes, yes they are. The title story, also the longest in the book, is by far the most unusual, in that Kabar wanders into the Garden of Eden long after Adam and Eve have left. He finds it’s not uninhabited. The other eleven stories vary in length, with some being short stories and others novelettes or novellas.

The tone and plot vary, as well, from one story to the next. Although several have the same basic plot skeleton, that being Kabar must go and fight a monster to bring back a magic item to aid someone, the difference and enjoyment is in the details.

Kabar isn’t your typical Clonan. Whereas Conan is a wanderer with no family, Kabar places great importance on family in spite of his travels. In fact two of the stories don’t involve Kabar at all. “The Treasure of Their Destinies” is an adventure of Kabar’s brother Aeneas in which Kabar isn’t even mentioned that I noticed. This one reminded me of Sinbad. Kabar’s wife Adina has the starring role in “Sacrifice of the Utukki”. It’s in part this expanded cast that sets these stories apart from the pack of poor Robert E. Howard imitations.

That’s not the only thing different about this character. Kabar is noble and good, not the antihero that Conan sometimes is. He is more than willing to sacrifice or put himself at risk for those he cares about, whether they be friend or family. Of course, he’s not above keeping some gold for himself or ravishing a beautiful (and willing) woman (or goddess) if opportunity arises.

That’s not to say that Robert E. Howard doesn’t cast a long shadow over these tales. The author and her husband are former members of REHupa, after all. The action, swordplay, danger, and sorcery are all there. And the titles are worthy of Howard. “The Skull of Zondamar” (nice twist on the end of that one), “To Hunt a God”, “Upon This Forgotten Altar”, “The Bloody Spear of Nineveh”, and others sound like Howard titles.

I found this collection to be enjoyable and fun, a nice addition to my sword and sorcery library. The author’s website has a list of the stories in this series. On that list is a novel in progress. I’m keeping my eye out for it.

Cover for Abercrombie’s Red Country Released

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Joe Abercrombie’s next novel, Red Country, is due out in the UK from Gollancz on October 18 and in the US from Orbit on October 23. I know what I’ll be reading over the Thanksgiving break (unless I can score an ARC first). Gollancz has released the UK cover. That’s it on the right.

From what I’ve been able to learn, it seems to be a Western in a fantasy setting, where a woman seeks revenge out on the frontier.

Here’s the wraparound cover:

The US cover looks like this:

Finally, if you’re wondering what the book is about, here’s the jacket copy:

“They burned her home.
They stole her brother and sister.
But vengeance is following.
Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb’s buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried.
Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust…”

Donald E. Westlake Tribute Video

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If you’re a fan of Donald E. Westlake, you’ll probably be interested in this video that James Reasoner has posted on his blog. (And if you’re not a fan of Westlake, why not?) Although he started out in science fiction, he made his mark in mystery and crime writing. I’ve only read a small portion of his work (the man was prolific), but I’ve never read a bad book by him, whether one of the comic caper novels or one of his darker crime novels, such as the Parker novels under the name Richard Stark. Tomorrow would have been his 79th birthday. His final novel, The Comedy is Finished, was recently published by Hard Case Crime.

Recommendations from the First Half of 2012

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There have been a lot of lists posted or published, depending on the format, in the last few weeks, claiming to enumerate the best books/stories/graphic novels/dirty limericks/ransom notes/whathaveyou from the first half of 2102. To which, I say, yeah, right. Unless these lists were compiled by committee, no one person could have read enough novels to say their list is the best. And if the list were put together by committee, well, we all know what too often comes out of committee.

Now I’m not saying those lists don’t have value, just the title “Best” is misleading. So I’m going to call the list that follows simply my recommendations for the first half of 2012.

First, a couple of ground rules. I’m going to limit myself to novels, and with one or two exceptions which were self-published, novels published in 2012. I’m making an exception for the self-published novels because they sometimes need a little time to develop some momentum. Anyone paying attention to the trade publishers should be aware of forthcoming novels.

I’m also going to take the coward’s way out and not try to rank them. I started to, but quickly ran into the issue of trying to decide between two books I thoroughly loved but for entirely different reasons. I could bite the bullet and give them rankings, but tomorrow I’d probably change my mind. Instead the books will be listed alphabetically by title.

So here are my recommendations from the first half of 2012, along with an occasional cheeky synopsis. If more than one book in a series came out in the first part of the year, I’ve only listed the first book.

Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig This is short, dark, compulsively readable tale of a young woman who can see the death of any person she touches through the eyes of that person. One day she touches a man and sees herself present at his death. Review here.

Carpathia by Matt Forbeck The Carpathia was the ship which rescued the survivors of the Titanic. What if there were vampires onboard? Review here.

Crazy Greta by David A. Hardy I called this the book John Bunyan would have written if he had been dropping acid while writing The Pilgrim’s Progress. I stand by that statement. Review here.

Feyland by Anthea Sharp An entertaining and well-written young adult novel about what happens when the immersive computer game becomes a little too real. Review here.

Giant Thief by David Tallerman So this kleptomaniac steals this giant, see? Then he gets roped into being the hero against this warlord. The only problem is his sticky fingers keep getting him in trouble. Review here.

Hunter and Fox by Philippa Ballantine An emotionally wounded woman serves as a hunter for a tyrant in a world in which the landscape changes on a regular basis. Review here.

The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp Two thieves kill a demon while robbing a tomb. Only the demon has powerful friends…A great adventure that reminded me of why I read sword and sorcery in the first place. Review here.

Rise and Fall by Joshua P. Simon An epic fantasy about duty, honor, family, and the ties that bind. An impressive debut. Review here.

Shadow Ops: Control Point by Myke Cole A world in which those with magical abilities are either drafted into covert military teams or exterminated and what happens when one man says, “Enough is enough.” Review here.

Shadow’s Master by Jon Sprunk The conclusion of a dark trilogy about a man who is heir to the shadows seeking to learn who he is. Review here.

The Straits of Galahesh by Bradley P. Beaulieu Flying ships, astral projection, Machiavellian politics, an invading army, and a doomsday cult trying to bring about the end of the world. In the midst of this, can two crazy kids find true love? Review here.

Thief’s Covenant by Ari Marmell Another YA, but with a dark edge. Widdershins is a thief who has minor deity living in her head. One of the most fun books I’ve read in a while in spite of the dark content. Review here.

Vampires of the Carribean

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Cast in Dark Waters
Ed Gorman and Tom Piccirilli
various ebook formats, $2.99
Kindle Nook Smashwords

In spite of the fact that this is a fairly short piece of fiction (less than 19,000 words), Cast in Dark Waters is one of the best weird pirate stories I’ve ever read. The characters, particularly the protagonist, Crimson, seemed to almost walk off the page, they came across so real.

Crimson is a lady pirate, widowed, who is the toughest, most dangerous buccaneer in the Carribean. The plot is straightforward. An Englishman, having taken up the life of a Virginia tobacco farmer, has found out that his daughter has run away from finishing school in England with a notorious pirate. He and his wife have come seeking Crimson’s help in finding her. The pair of lovers are rumored to be staying on an island with a dark reputation. Supposedly the undead also inhabit the island.

And Crimson’s former husband may be among them.

That’s all I’ll say about the plot. This story could have come from Weird Tales, a collaboration of Henry S.Whitehead and Robert E. Howard. There are elements of both in this tale. The creepiness factor is about an 11.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. There’s plenty of swordplay, and if you listen carefully, you can almost hear the mast creaking in the breeze and smell the spray of the ocean as it breaks over the fo’c’sle.

Crimson is a wonderfully wounded heroine, and it’s amazing how much depth Gorman and Piccirilli bring to what would be a stock character in the hands of lesser writers, a woman buccaneer who’s as tough as a man. That’s almost become as much of a cliche in some circles as the maiden needing rescue. And they do it in far fewer pages than most writers would use.

All of the characters are well drawn. Their relationships are real, and they defy expectations. In fact, the whole thing defies expectations. You think you know what is going to happen once they reach the island, but Gorman and Piccirilli sidestep the obvious approach and go for the unexpected.

I rushed through this one in a single sitting. Gorman has long been a favorite of mine, but this is AFAIK the first work I’ve read by Piccirilli. I’ll need to read more of his stuff. I hope they write a sequel; I want to read more about Crimson.

Cast in Dark Waters, for all its grimness, was some of the most fun I’ve had in a great while. I highly recommend it.

Jo Anderton’s Latest Suited Me Just Fine

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Suited
Jo Anderton
Angry Robot Books
UK/RoW
432pp B-format paperback
£7.99 UK
ISBN 9780857661562
US/CAN
416pp mass-market paperback
$7.99 US $8.99 CAN
ISBN 9780857661579
eBook
£5.49
ePub ISBN 9780857661586

I liked the premier novel in this series, Debris, although I took issue with the publisher’s classification of it as science fiction; as a scientist, I have to regard the way some things happened in the book as fantasy. Either way, it was a great read. Suited is even better, in my not-so-humble opinion. It’s easy to see why she won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent. Congratulations, Jo!

The story picks up shortly after the events in Debris. The Puppet Men are still out there, and they have plans for Tanyana and her collecting team. Starting by splitting them up. Lad and Tanyana end up in the same team, while Lad’s brother and protector Kichlan goes to a different team.

Right from the start, things begin to go wrong. Debris is hard to find, making quota difficult to achieve. Ordinary debris, that is. The half alive stuff keeps popping up, and in the worst places. Tanyana’s suit is getting stronger, not to mention developing a mind of its own. The Keeper is talking to Lad, although Tanyana is the only one who can see him, and then only when fully encased in her suit. The Keeper insists they help him rather than trying to meet their quota, and what he asks can be chilling.

There’s a member of Tanyana’s new team who has a suit like hers. He may or may not be what he seems. But he’s not the only one with secrets. Tanyana has a few of her own, such is she pregnant? Some of the team members she’s been working with are hiding things as well. As is the Keeper.

The relationships between Tanyana, Lad, and Kichlan continue to grow and deepen. This is one of the places where Anderton shows her strengths. Her friendship with Lad and deepening love for Kichlan are complex, multifaceted, and believable. Which makes the impact of the second half of the book so devastating.

All hell breaks loose. Things move along at a breakneck pace, and Anderton handles the action like an author with more than just two published novels under her belt. I finished the last third of the book in almost a single sitting and barely noticed the passage of time. By the time you turn the last page, everything will have changed. Where Anderton is going to go with the next book, I’m not about to try and guess. I’m just going to go along for the ride.

Suited is a dizzying tour de force that’s not really like anything out there. And that suits me just fine. Both Debris and Suited are featured books at Adventures Fantastic Books.

Here’s an excerpt:

Open publication – Free publishing

Thank You

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I’m not really getting into all the celebrating today, I guess because I’ve been out of sorts for the last few days. (Don’t ask; I’m not sure I completely understand why myself.) One of those times when I just want to be left alone and have little to nothing to do with people. I do want to take a minute, though, to say Thank You to everyone who follows, looks in occasionally, or stumbles across either this blog or the other one who has served in the military. That extends to anyone who has lost a spouse, parent, sibling, child, or other loved one.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed that my collection of regrets tends to increase. One of the main ones is that I never served in the military. Part of it was my aversion to authority, but part of it was that I never felt the need to do so. I doubt I would have that attitude today. Of course I’m past the age they’ll take me.

But I digress. I want to thank everyone who has served and sacrificed for our freedoms. Without you and those who came before you, I wouldn’t be able to do so many of the things I enjoy.

So Thank You. Very Much.

Hunter and Fox is Full of Surprises

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Hunter and Fox
Philipa Ballantine
Pyr Books
trade paper $17.32
ebook $10.31 Kindle Nook

I enjoyed Philipa Ballantine’s Geist very much (reviewed here) and have the sequel Spectyr in the TBR pile, so when an opportunity to get a review copy of her latest book arose, I took advantage of it. I’m glad I did.

This is different than any of Ms. Ballantine’s work I’ve seen to this point. I think it’s safe to say Hunter and Fox is different than most fantasy that’s currently out there. This is a good thing, although trying to pull off a book like this is a challenge for most writers. By and large, Ms. Ballantine is up for the challenge.

This is a hard book to describe because there are multiple story arcs that intertwine. I’m only going to give you an idea of the initial set up to avoid spoilers because there are plenty of surprises. The story takes place in a world where Chaos reigns, with mountains becoming plains or shallow seas, forests turning into deserts, a constantly changing topography, with the flora changing with it. Or at least it did until a despot known as the Caisah conquered everything and brought stability to large portions of the world.

This world is inhabited by a number of races, all of whom came there through the White Void at different times. The older races are the more powerful, and the oldest of all is the Vaerli. When the Caisah came to power, he performed a magical attack against the Vaerli called the Harrowing, which took away most of their abilities. It also caused any two Vaerli who happen to find themselves in each other’s presence to burst into flame. This was 300 years ago. Some of the races, including the Vaerli and the Casisah (whose race is a mystery), are effectively immortal. They can be killed, but they don’t age.

Talyn is one of the Vaerli. She is the Caisah’s Hunter, charged with tracking down and killing any enemies he decides need to die. There have been quite a few such individuals through the years. Talyn tells herself she’s doing this to help her people.

Finnbarr the Fox is a storyteller who happens to have some small magical abilities. He loves Talyn. At one time she loved him, but she’s discarded those memories. Being immortal, the Vaerli have the ability to excise memories to preserve their sanity. He’s come to find her. He’s also fomenting rebellion against the Caisah.

Finnbarr has three companions who are more (and less) than they seem. Talyn’s brother is out there somewhere. He’s been given a quest that will have major repercussions. Before the book is done the players will learn that there are greater things to fear than the Caisah.

This is an ambitious book, original and full of surprises. My understanding of what was happening changed throughout. Ballantine doesn’t foreshadow much. She simply drops information and revelations as she goes along. You need to be paying attention when you read this one because what you think is happening isn’t necessarily what’s really happening. There are a number of plot threads hanging and questions unanswered when you close the book. Who is the boy Finn communicates with through a cat’s cradle? What’s the story about a group of Vaerli sacrificing their children? I could go on, but that would be teasing. Also, many of the questions involve spoilers.

Don’t look for a happy ending in this one. The last line has to be one of the bleakest and most effective I’ve ever seen. It’s not so much that the ending is tragic or a cliffhanger, although the end contains aspects of both. This is a story that isn’t fully told, and I’m not sure wrapping things up in neat resolutions would have been the best way to tell this portion. There will definitely be another volume, and I hope sales are good enough that Pyr publishes it soon. I want to know how things get wrapped up.

The only complaint I have is the cover, for two reasons. First, it implies there’s a greater romance element to the story than there actually is. Second, Talyn is described more than once as being shorter than the average Vaerli woman, or any woman for that matter, with an olive complexion. The woman on the cover (that’s not a horse she’s riding, BTW) looks tall and pale.

My issues with the cover aside, this was a good book, one I recommend. I’m looking forward to the sequel. Hunter and Fox is a featured book at Adventures Fantastic Books.

Congratulations to the Campbell and Sturgeon Award Winners

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The winners of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award have been announced.

The Campbell Award is given for the best novel, and this year it’s a tie. Christopher Priest (The Islanders) and Joan Slonczewski (The Highest Frontier) will share the award. The Sturgeon Award is given for the best short fiction and goes to Paul McCAuley for “The Choice”, published in Asimov’s 2/11.

Locus has a complete list of the nominees here.

Adventures Fantastic congratulates all the nominees and especially the winners.