New Fiction Magazine Specutopia Premiers

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Specutopia 
edited by Dale Wise
6 issues/year
$3.49 per issue
available in PDF, .mobi, or .epub formats

 Issue 1 July/August 2012

I had an opportunity the other day to pick up a review copy of Specutopia, the new speculative fiction magazine.  I’m glad I did.   I’d like to thank editor Dale Wise for sending me a copy.

Specutopia is an electronic fiction magazine of, what else with that title, speculative fiction.  In his editorial, Dale Wise states that he’s open to publishing any type of speculative fiction, be it fantasy, science fiction, or some hybrid.  It contains seven stories by authors whose names, with one exception, aren’t familiar to me.  The authors come from all across the globe, which I think is a good thing.  There are a lot of good fiction writers outside the US.  On the whole, I enjoyed the issue, although there were a couple of exceptions I’ll discuss below.  For now, some general impressions.

First the layout was quite professional.  Mr. Wise did a fine job on the formatting.  The cover art is quite striking.  I couldn’t find a credit for it, or I would list the artist’s name here.

While the cover might suggest this is strictly a science fiction magazine, and there is some pure science fiction, there’s a wide variety of fiction here.  With this type of selection, there’s probably something to appeal to just about everyone.  The flip side is that it’s highly likely that not everything will appeal to everyone.  If Mr. Wise continues to have this much diversity in what he publishes, and I hope he does, he could have a problem with finding cover art that encompasses the magazine’s contents without making prospective readers think it’s more narrow in scope than it is.  While I think that’s something of a good problem to have, I’m glad it isn’t my problem. 

The first story, “Hollow Spaces” by Greg Mellor, didn’t work for me until I was well into it.  The reason was it started out with only dialogue.  I had to read a bit before I understood what was going on.  Once I did, though, I began appreciate what the author was trying to do.  In the end, this turned into a moving science fiction story of a mother and the irreversible changes her relationship with her young son undergoes.

James Beamon‘s “The Death of the World’s Greatest Detective” is a quirky little deconstruction of the stereotypical private investigator tale.  It was a fun poke at some of the more ingrained tropes of that genre that managed to still be a fantasy in the end.

“Hoodoo” by D. Thomas Minton is the only science fiction story in the issue that takes place in space.  A group of soldiers and scientists, at war with a hostile alien race, discover the remains of an unknown species that crashed on the planet they’re exploring.  And in the end, one of the soldiers discovers a bond with them across time and species.

When I started “Water Child” by Jennifer Mason-Black, my initial reaction was this was going to be another mother and child story, which is not my favorite subgenre.  By the time I reached the end, all I could say was “Wow.”  This was by far the most powerful and moving story in the issue.  If Mr. Wise can put at least one story in each issue that’s this powerful, he’s going to put his publication on the map.  I won’t be surprised if this one is on recommended reading lists next year, if not included in a best of the year anthology.  Since the situation unfolds throughout the story, I’ll let you read it to find out what it’s about.  And the pecan pie lady got on my nerves, which I think was the point.

“Entanglement” by Rachel Acks is a science fiction tale of a girl, eventually woman, who is haunted by a man only she can see.  He doesn’t appear to her often, but when he does, he tends to be injured.  The nature of his injuries change and they appear to have something to do with decisions the protagonist makes.  In spite of questions being left unanswered, I like this one a lot.

David Seffen‘s “Never Idle” is a fantasy about a man who has the ability to awaken machines to consciousness.  He tends to restrict his talent to cars, which is somewhat appealing.  This is something of a love story, although the love interest isn’t a car.

The final story, “Solitude, Quietude, Vastitude” is by Jetse de Vries, the only writer in the magazine of whom I had heard.  The advantage to reading stories by unfamiliar authors is that, unless there’s been a lot of hype, you usually don’t have much in the way of expectations, either good or bad.  Mr. de Vries was the editor of Shine a few years ago, an anthology of optimistic science fiction.  I enjoyed the anthology and liked the premise, so I had high hopes for this story.  Unfortunately, I found this piece long on writing and short on story.  On the surface it’s about a woman who goes to something resembling a carnival, but its really about the life issues she’s facing.  It seems to me that this was the type of literary science fiction where an author puts as much, and usually more, effort in writing fancy sentences full of symbolism as telling a compelling story.  It was a well-written story, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.  Maybe I’ll have better luck with the next story of his I try.

Overall, this is a promising start to a new publication.  It often takes a few issues for a new publication to find its tone and voice, something Mr. Wise points out in the editorial.  It’s going to be fun seeing that develop.  I’m looking forward to the next issue.  If you want to give Specutopia a try, it’s available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble, but I would suggest you click this link and buy directly from the publisher to show your support.  That way they don’t have give a cut to the middle-man.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies Hits 100 Issues

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Beneath Ceaseless Skies 
Cover art by Raphael Lacoste

The one hundredth issue of BCS won’t go live for another day or so, which means I’ll have to put the links in for the individual stories later (done), but I wanted to try and create a bit of advance buzz for the issue.  (Having a subscription, I got my copy early.)  Beneath Ceaseless Skies is one of the best fantasy markets out there, and it publishes every other week.

I’m behind on reading the short fiction magazines I subscribe to, or I would have reviewed some of the preceding issues.  I may still.  But 100 issues is a milestone that deserves to be celebrated.  Instead of the usual two pieces of fiction, there are four, just like in the issue marking the three year anniversary of the magazine (reviewed here).  Here’s what you’ll find.

“In the Palace of the Jade Lion” by Richard Parks is a quiet combination of ghost story and love story.  It’s the longest story in this issue, and well worth your time. It’s set in China or a country very much like it, a departure from his series of stories set in ancient Japan.  Parks is one of the best practitioners of fantasy working today, and if a magazine or anthology has a story by him, and it’s not one of the publications I subscribe to, his name alone usually is enough to make me pick it up.

Next is “Ratcatcher” by Garth Upshaw.  In this tale, clockwork creations have taken over, forcing humans to hide in holes.  They subsist on a number of foodstuffs  at which most people who eat Western diets would turn their noses up.  One day a ratcatcher decides he’s had enough and fights back.

Christie Yant is an up-and-coming writer of science fiction and fantasy.  “The Three Feats of Agani”  was the second story of hers I’ve read (the first being”Temperance” in the inaugural issue of Fireside, reviewed here).  While “Temperance” was science fiction, this is core fantasy.  It’s about a nine year old girl hearing the story of the god Agani at her father’s cremation.  It’s dark, morally complex, and powerful, a mature work.

If the name Amanda M. Olson isn’t familiar to you, it’s because “Virtue’s Ghosts” is her first published story.  You couldn’t tell it by reading it; I only know that because it says so in the brief author bio at the end of the story.  This may have been my favorite solely for the narrator’s voice.  It’s the first person account of a girl who lives with her mother and two aunts.  The mother and one of the aunts run a boarding house, and the second aunt comes to live with them.  In this world, people are required to undergo a coming of age ceremony in which they are given a magical pendant that prevents suppresses their greatest character flaw.  In this story, they take in a boarder who has a shocking secret.

As I said, this issue won’t go live for another day or two, but you should keep your eye out for it  (I’ll add links and any other updates when that happens.).  Beneath Ceaseless Skies is one of the most consistently high quality pure fantasy publications around.  Here’s hoping we see another hundred issues.  And another hundred after that.  And another…

Dancing on Graves is Good PI Fun

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Dancing on Graves
Jack Clark
Createspace, 217 p.
Trade paper $13.95, Kindle 4.99

Of the major awards for genre fiction, at least among the ones I pay attention to, the Shamus Awards (given by the Private Eye Writers of America) are pretty close to the top of the list.  So if a book’s cover says that the author is a Shamus Award Finalist, I pay attention.  And when a Shamus Award Finalist emails me to ask if I he can send me a couple of his books to review, do you think I’m going to be open to that idea?  Is the Pope Catholic?  Does a bear…never mind.

Now I realize that the focus of this blog is primarily heroic fantasy and historical adventure and the focus of my other blog, Futures Past and Present, is science fiction in all its forms.  Granted there’s been little historical fiction in recent months, and I don’t update the science fiction blog very often.  That’s because this one keeps me busy enough.  So busy that I find I have very little time left for the other two closely related genres that I really love, noir  and private investigator fiction.  There are times when this drives me nuts because that’s what I’m in the mood for.  I’ve decided to occasionally include some noir or PI novels in my reviews, just to preserve my own sanity.  Not a lot of them, but every once in a while, maybe once very four to six weeks.  I know some of the people who read these posts on a regular basis are also noir/PI fans, so I don’t think I’m completely deserting my audience by this move.

Jack Clark’s Nobody’s Angel was one of the first books I reviewed here, before I really hit my stride.  It was top notch.  Dancing on Graves is, too, and it’s the first of two books Mr. Clark kindly sent me that I’ll be reviewing, and for which I would like to thank him.

There was a question on someone’s blog the other day, I think James Reasoner‘s but I’m too lazy to look it up, asking how many ongoing PI series were left.  Other than Loren D. Estleman‘s Amos Walker and Bill Pronzini‘s Nameless Detective, there weren’t too many names suggested.  A few others, but not many.  The Nick Acropolis series by Jack Clark can be added to that list. 

Acropolis is a former cop who left the force approximately ten years prior to this novel under conditions that were not of his choosing.  That plays some role in the plot. 

Back in 1981, when Acropolis was a homicide detective, a young law student named Katherine Traynor was brutally murdered in a Chicago park.  The man arrested for the killing, Billy Mansfield, ran out of the park and was hit by a taxi.  He claimed he couldn’t remember what happened prior to his being struck by the vehicle.  He was also covered in blood.  It was an open and shut, slam dunk case, with little to no investigation done.

This was in the days before forensics.  Billy Mansfield has been on death row for about 22 years, placing the events of the novel in 2003 or early 2004 if I caught all the dates and numbers correctly.  Acropolis, now a private detective, is approached by a group that’s trying to clear death row cases.  They manage to convince Acropolis that there is a possibility that Mansfield might be innocent.

So he agrees to help them look into the case, although he doesn’t think it will go anywhere.  If you’ve read even a little detective fiction, you can make an educated guess just how wrong he’s going to be. 

In good detective fiction, you don’t know what’s going on but you think you do.  This should be true of the reader as well as the detective.  Only as you get deeper into the book should little things not add up, creating a sense of frisson, and the further you read, the more secrets start to open up like layers in an onion.  That’s exactly what happens here.  This is one of those books that rewards patience, when about halfway through you start to discover that you really don’t know what’s going on after all, that there are currents at work dark and deep and ready to suck you under.

This was a good PI novel, a fine addition to what has gone before in the genre.  If you like this sort of thing, and I know some of you do, Jack Clark is someone to check out.

Now, lest some of you think I’m giving Mr. Clark a pass because he sent me free books, let me address a couple of negatives.  First, the layout/formatting/whatever.  I’ve never dealt with Createspace, so I don’t know how difficult this part is.  There were numerous places where the top and bottom margins were off, mostly the bottom, with the text ending before the bottom of the page.  This had the effect of making me think I was at the end of the chapter (they’re short for the most part) only to find I wasn’t.  Was this annoying?  Yes.  Was I able to get used to it?  Yes, after a bit.  Did I let it stop me from enjoying the novel?  Is a bear Catholic?  Does the Pope…never mind.

The second was a factual detail.  At one point, Acropolis makes a reference to Pluto no longer being classified as a planet.  I don’t remember the context, or even what part of the book it was in other than it was in the first half or so.  Why is this a big deal?  Because in my offline life, I’m a science geek, that’s why.  This novel takes place in 2003 or so, and Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.  That type of little detail is the sort of thing that can bug me.  It’s not a big deal, and certainly not essential to the story, but it stuck out in my mind.

One other thing, and it’s not a negative really, but something you should be aware of.  Many of the great PI series take place in large cities where the city itself is to some extent a character and the detective’s interaction with the city becomes part of the attraction of the series.  Amos Walker in Detroit.  Phillip Marlow in Los Angeles.  The Continental Op and the Nameless Detective in San Francisco.  Matthew Scudder in New York.  John Francis Cuddy in Boston.  I could go on.  Jack Clark is a Chicago cab driver, and the city is very much a central part of the book.  Never having had an opportunity to visit Chicago (a three hour layover in the airport doesn’t count), many of the references were lost on me.  I could have looked some things up on the internet, but we’ve already discussed my laziness.  Besides, I was more interested in finding out who killed Katherine Traynor.  If you’ve not been to Chicago, you might not fully appreciate the aspect of how the city had changed over Acropolis’ lifetime.  Even not having seen some of the places mentioned, Clark still managed to make me feel the sense of loss Acropolis experienced as he moved through a city that was no longer the one he grew up in.  It was powerful writing in places and made Acropolis more than just another gumshoe.

While there were some negatives to this book, the positives far outweighed them.  The other novel is Highway Side, also an Acropolis novel.  I’ll review it here when I’ve cleared some other commitments.  I’m looking forward to it. 

Mockingbird Sings an Original Song

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Mockingbird
Chuck Wendig
Angry Robot Books
UK/RoW
6 Sep 2012
384pp B-format paperback
£7.99 UK

US/CAN
28 Aug 2012
mass-market paperback
$7.99 US $8.99 CAN

eBook
28 Aug 2012
£5.49

Class? Let me have your attention please, class.  We’re going to start today’s session with a quiz.  The topic is Chuck Wendig’s forthcoming novel, Mockingbird.  This will be multiple choice.  Mockingbird is a) relentless, b) creepy, c) compelling, d) surprising, e) likely to keep you up too late finishing it, f) all of the above.

No looking on your neighbor’s paper.  Please pass them to the aisle when you’re done.

Do I have all the papers?  Good.  The answer, of course, is f.

If you read Blackbird (reviewed here), then you know the basic premise.  Miriam Black has the ability to know the time and circumstances of a person’s death just by touching them. Wendig made the most of that premise in the first novel of the series, in which Miriam touches a man and learns that she will be present at his murder a month in the future.

When I had an opportunity to grab an eARC of the sequel, I jumped at it.  Mockingbird opens about a year later.  Miriam touches a woman in the grocery store and sees the woman will be gunned down in about five minutes.  So she acts to save the woman and launches a series of events that will totally change her world.

And that’s a rough paraphrase of the blurb Angry Robot has posted.  I’m loath to add too much to it, even though it really doesn’t tell you much.  I’ll say this.  Miriam finds herself in a situation in which she has to prevent a series of killings that are a few years in the future.  Beyond that, I don’t want to give too many details away.  Spoilers, ya know.

The story didn’t go where I expected it to.  I was surprised several times.  Wendig has come up with a killer that is at least as scary as Hannibal Lector.  There were scenes that were downright flawless in their creepiness.  I doubt I’ll ever look at crows the same way again.  We learn more about Miriam, and it’s kinda spooky, some of the stuff we learn.  Of course, Wendig only gives us so much.  He leaves plenty of questions and implications hanging, making us want more.

He also does a great job of balancing how many times Miriam uses her talents in the book.  Too little, and she’s not really special; too much, and it becomes blase.  Wendig has her use it just enough, and every time it heightens the suspense or gives us some important piece of information or moves the plot along.

The prose is lean and compelling.  I’ve stayed up way too late tonight finishing the book and writing this review.  It’s that good.

The publication date here in the US is still about six weeks away, which should give you plenty of time to put the book in your reading schedule and to read Blackbird if you haven’t yet.  (Points deducted if you haven’t.)  Angry Robot hasn’t posted an excerpt yet, or I would provide one.  I’ll just leave you with your assignment, class, which is to read this book.  It’s going to be one that people are talking about, and I expect to see at least one volume from this series on the award ballots next year.

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

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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.