Normally I do a long post discussing my favorite books and publishers of the year, but I’m going to pass on that. Besides the thought of writing that kind of post simply making me tired, there were too many things I missed. I’ll mention a few favorites, but that’s all I’m going to do. Mostly this will be a recap of the year’s highlights and set some goals for next year. Continue reading
The Aeronaut’s Windlass
Jim Butcher
Roc
Hardcover $27.95 630 pgs.
ebook $13.99
Before I get started, I’d like to thank Roc books for providing me with the review copy.
Now, in three words, my reaction upon turning the last page of The Aeronaut’s Windlass:
I want moar!
The Aeronaut’s Windlass is the first volume in Jim Butcher’s new series, The Cinder Spires. It’s got airship battles. It’s got bravery and derring-do. It’s got nefarious sneak attacks and villains you’ll love to hate. It’s got dueling. I like dueling. (I think we should bring it back. One way or another, there would be fewer a******* wandering about mucking up the place.)
In short, it was a whole heck of a lot of fun. Here’s the setup. Continue reading
Chapelwood: The Borden Dispatches
Cheri Priest
Roc Books, 434 pgs.
Paperback $16.00, ebook $9.99, audio $29.99
It’s been decades since the events in Maplecroft. Lizzie Borden lives a quiet, reclusive life alone in her mansion. But she keeps up with events in the outside world through magazines, journals, and newspapers that arrive via the US Postal Service.
So when she starts reading reports of a serial axe murderer terrorizing Birmingham, Alabama, it gets her attention. (Turns out he’s one of the good guys. Really.) Especially when she starts to see other references to Birmingham, references about a dark cult that meets in an old church out in the woods at a place called Chapelwood.
Then she gets a telephone call from her old friend, Inspector Simon Wolf. He’s in Birmingham investigating the death of a friend, a priest who was gunned down on the steps of his church in broad daylight. Before he died, the priest had written Wolf, asking for his assistance.
Wolf thinks all of the events in Birmingham are related. And he wants Lizzie’s help. It looks like Lizzie is going to get to swing her axe one more time.
The House of Shattered Wings
Aliette de Bodard
Roc Books
Hardcover $26.95
ebook $11.43
One of the nice things about receiving review copies is that I often end up reading things I wouldn’t otherwise read but find that I enjoy. Case in point, Aliette de Bodard’s new novel that was released in the US today, The House of Shattered Wings. (I’d like to very much thank Roc Books for the review copy.)
I’ve read some of de Bodard’s short fiction. I’d found it a bit slow moving for my taste, and so I was a little hesitant about reading this novel. (I’ve not read her earlier novels.) In addition, the premise of fallen angels isn’t one that holds much appeal for me. But I decided I would give it an honest try.
I’m glad I did. While I did find the pacing to be somewhat slow at times, especially in the first half of the book, overall I enjoyed the novel. Here’s the setup. Continue reading