No real time to out-burble an introduction this week, but look, everyone: books! Books, I tell you!
Click through to read Meet the BoSS for an introduction and an explanation as to why you should care about the Bag o' Speculative Swag.
Read on for a sneak peek at some of the books - past, present and future - you can expect to see coverage of here on The Speculative Scotsman in the coming weeks and months.
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City of Ruin
by Mark Charan Newton
by Mark Charan Newton
Release Details:
Published in the UK on
04/06/10 by Tor
Review Priority:
5 (Immediate)
Plot Synopsis: "Villiren: a city of sin that is being torn apart from the inside. Hybrid creatures shamble through shadows and barely human gangs fight turf wars for control of the streets.
"Amidst this chaos, Commander Brynd Lathraea, commander of the Night Guard, must plan the defence of Viliren against a race that has broken through from some other realm and already slaughtered hundreds of thousands of the Empire’s people.
"When a Night Guard soldier goes missing, Brynd requests help from the recently arrived Inqusitor Jeryd. He discovers this is not the only disapearance the streets of Villiren. It seems that a serial killer of the most horrific kind is on the loose, taking hundreds of people from their own homes. A killer that cannot possibly be human.
"The entire population of Villiren must unite to face an impossible surge of violent and unnatural enemies or the city will fall. But how can anyone save a city that is already a ruin?"
Commentary: What a great start, eh? The arrival of a finished copy of City of Ruin - at last! - is tremendously exciting, not least because its predecessor was among the very best books I read last year. And to think all that time ago, I picked Nights of Villjamur up because someone, somewhere, said it was a bit like China Mieville. Sorry Mark!
Speaking of whom, thanks to his fantastic blog, his presence on Twitter and his penchant, shall we say, for setting the cat amongst the pigeons here on the blogosphere, we all know and love Mark Charon Newton; he's a swell guy. Don't laugh, he is! And thanks to his general swellness, there's not just a review of City of Ruin to look forward to, but a giveaway, an interview (weather permitting) and my perspective on Nights of Villjamur too - just as soon as I've finished the re-read I embarked on as of a few days ago. That's right: we're going to have a jolly old Mark Charan Newton week here on TSS, and I can hardly wait to kick it off.
"Amidst this chaos, Commander Brynd Lathraea, commander of the Night Guard, must plan the defence of Viliren against a race that has broken through from some other realm and already slaughtered hundreds of thousands of the Empire’s people.
"When a Night Guard soldier goes missing, Brynd requests help from the recently arrived Inqusitor Jeryd. He discovers this is not the only disapearance the streets of Villiren. It seems that a serial killer of the most horrific kind is on the loose, taking hundreds of people from their own homes. A killer that cannot possibly be human.
"The entire population of Villiren must unite to face an impossible surge of violent and unnatural enemies or the city will fall. But how can anyone save a city that is already a ruin?"
Commentary: What a great start, eh? The arrival of a finished copy of City of Ruin - at last! - is tremendously exciting, not least because its predecessor was among the very best books I read last year. And to think all that time ago, I picked Nights of Villjamur up because someone, somewhere, said it was a bit like China Mieville. Sorry Mark!
Speaking of whom, thanks to his fantastic blog, his presence on Twitter and his penchant, shall we say, for setting the cat amongst the pigeons here on the blogosphere, we all know and love Mark Charon Newton; he's a swell guy. Don't laugh, he is! And thanks to his general swellness, there's not just a review of City of Ruin to look forward to, but a giveaway, an interview (weather permitting) and my perspective on Nights of Villjamur too - just as soon as I've finished the re-read I embarked on as of a few days ago. That's right: we're going to have a jolly old Mark Charan Newton week here on TSS, and I can hardly wait to kick it off.
The Iron Hunt
by Marjorie M. Liu
Release Details:
Release Details:
Published in the UK on
06/05/10 by Orbit
Review Priority:
Review Priority:
2 (Fair)
Plot Synopsis: "During the day, Maxine's tattoos are her armour and she is invincible. At night they peel from her skin to take on forms of their own, leaving her human and vulnerable, and revealing themselves to be demons sleeping beneath her skin. But these demons are the best friends and bodyguards a woman could have. And Maxine needs bodyguards. She is the last in a line of women with power in their blood, trained to keep the world safe from malignant beings who would do us harm. But ten thousand years after its creation, the prison dimension that kept the worst of these from us is failing, and all the Wardens save Maxine are dead. She must bear the burden of her bloodline and join the last wild hunt against the enemy."
Commentary: I've heard some real horror stories lately. Tales of sci-fi and speculative fiction shelves in bookstores here in the UK and in the States being cleared out to make room for stockpiles of urban fantasy. The very thought makes my skin crawl. I get that urban fantasy, so-called, is a consciously populist genre, but bleh. My considered thought for the day, there.
Then again, I don't usually have the opportunity to get into one of these often interminable series before they're well and truly into the swing of things, so perhaps this is my chance... perhaps.
Commentary: I've heard some real horror stories lately. Tales of sci-fi and speculative fiction shelves in bookstores here in the UK and in the States being cleared out to make room for stockpiles of urban fantasy. The very thought makes my skin crawl. I get that urban fantasy, so-called, is a consciously populist genre, but bleh. My considered thought for the day, there.
Then again, I don't usually have the opportunity to get into one of these often interminable series before they're well and truly into the swing of things, so perhaps this is my chance... perhaps.
Firespell
by Chloe Neill
by Chloe Neill
Release Details:
Published in the UK on
20/05/10 by Gollancz
Review Priority:
Review Priority:
2 (Fair)
Plot Synopsis: "As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia's boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she'll have to face. When Lily's guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia's. Lily's ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she's hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building. The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout's a little weird - she keeps disappearing late at night and won't tell Lily where she's been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster. Scout's a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who've sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who've been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of a firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own - at least, none that she's discovered yet..."
Commentary: Urban bloody fantasy, wherever I look! Here's a handy tip for those of you terrified of accidentally reading one of these literary travesties after Charlaine Harris' crown: if there's a picture of a pretty lady on it, adorned with a tattoo or a piercing or some other vaguely alternative thing - a candle in this case (ooooh) - it's not for you. Firespell, a novel of The Dark Elite I am told, is thus... not for me. Sorry!
Commentary: Urban bloody fantasy, wherever I look! Here's a handy tip for those of you terrified of accidentally reading one of these literary travesties after Charlaine Harris' crown: if there's a picture of a pretty lady on it, adorned with a tattoo or a piercing or some other vaguely alternative thing - a candle in this case (ooooh) - it's not for you. Firespell, a novel of The Dark Elite I am told, is thus... not for me. Sorry!
The Mirrored Heavens
by David J. Williams
Release Details:
Published in the UK on
01/05/08 by Bantam Spectra
Review Priority:
4 (Very High)
Plot Synopsis: "In the 22nd century, the first wonder of a brave new world is the Phoenix Space Elevator, designed to give mankind greater access to the frontier beyond Earth. Cooperatively built by the United States and the Eurasian Coalition, the Elevator is also a grand symbol of superpower alliance following a second cold war. And it’s just been destroyed.
"With suspicions rampant, armies and espionage teams are mobilized across the globe and beyond. Enter Claire Haskell and Jason Marlowe, U.S. counterintelligence agents and former lovers—though their memories may only be constructs implanted by their spymaster. Now their agenda is to trust no one. For as the crisis mounts, the lives of all involved will converge in one explosive finale—and a startling aftermath that will rewrite everything they’ve ever known—about their mission, their world, and themselves."
"With suspicions rampant, armies and espionage teams are mobilized across the globe and beyond. Enter Claire Haskell and Jason Marlowe, U.S. counterintelligence agents and former lovers—though their memories may only be constructs implanted by their spymaster. Now their agenda is to trust no one. For as the crisis mounts, the lives of all involved will converge in one explosive finale—and a startling aftermath that will rewrite everything they’ve ever known—about their mission, their world, and themselves."
Commentary: A few weeks ago, Graeme Flory from the ubiquitous Fantasy Book Review ran a competition to win a signed copy of this very book. I duly entered; I've had my eye on David J. William's books for a while now, so the opportunity to score a copy of his first novel gratis certainly appealed.
But wouldn't you know it... Graeme, despite have just welcomed one Hope Aleta Flory into the world - with the not insubstantial aid of his other half, of course (congrats to you both!) - found the time to intercept my entry and introduce me to Dave himself, who was gracious enough to sign, personalise and send me a copy of his novel himself. Isn't that just lovely? Here, right here, this is why I love blogging. Cyberpunk fun here I come!
But wouldn't you know it... Graeme, despite have just welcomed one Hope Aleta Flory into the world - with the not insubstantial aid of his other half, of course (congrats to you both!) - found the time to intercept my entry and introduce me to Dave himself, who was gracious enough to sign, personalise and send me a copy of his novel himself. Isn't that just lovely? Here, right here, this is why I love blogging. Cyberpunk fun here I come!
The Ambassador's Mission
by Trudi Canavan
Release Details:
Published in the UK on
06/05/10 by Orbit
Review Priority:
06/05/10 by Orbit
Review Priority:
3 (Moderate)
Plot Synopsis: "Sonea, former street urchin, now a Black Magician of Kyralia, is horrified when her son, Lorkin, volunteers to assist Dannyl in his new role as Guild Ambassador to Sachaka, a land still ruled by cruel black magicians. When word comes that Lorkin has gone missing Sonea is desperate to find him, but if she leaves the city she will be exiled forever, and besides, her old friend Cery needs her help. Most of his family has been murdered - the latest in a long line of assassinations to plague the leading Thieves. There has always been rivalry, but lately it seems the Thieves have been waging a deadly underworld war, and now it appears they have been doing so with magical assistance..."
Commentary: Oh no. Wasn't it just last month when I covered The Magician's Apprentice here on the BoSS?
*checks*
Yes, yes indeed it was. Ah well. I haven't got to it yet, I'm afraid, though I still do mean to. Then again, what's the road to hell paved with again? The road to missing out on some great fantasy, more like. This is book one of The Traitor Spy trilogy, successor to The Magician's Apprentice and The Black Magician triumvirate, and one day, its generic (though purple; always a plus) cover notwithstanding, I will read it.
Commentary: Oh no. Wasn't it just last month when I covered The Magician's Apprentice here on the BoSS?
*checks*
Yes, yes indeed it was. Ah well. I haven't got to it yet, I'm afraid, though I still do mean to. Then again, what's the road to hell paved with again? The road to missing out on some great fantasy, more like. This is book one of The Traitor Spy trilogy, successor to The Magician's Apprentice and The Black Magician triumvirate, and one day, its generic (though purple; always a plus) cover notwithstanding, I will read it.
Absorption
by John Meaney
Release Details:
Published in the UK on
20/05/10 by Gollancz
Review Priority:
20/05/10 by Gollancz
Review Priority:
4 (Very High)
Plot Synopsis: "600 years from now on the world of Fulgor Roger Blackstone, son of two Pilots (long-time alien spies, masquerading as ordinary humans) aches to see the mythical Pilot's city of Labyrinth, in the fractal ur-continuum of mu-space. In 8th century Norseland, a young carl called Wulf kills a man, watched by a mysterious warrior who bears the mark of Loki the Trickster God. In 1920s Zurich, Gavriela Silberstein enters the long, baroque central hallway of the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule where Einstein so recently studied. And on a nameless world, not knowing his human heritage, a silver-skinned youth tries to snatch back an Idea - but it floats away on gentle magnetic currents. There are others across the ages, all with three things in common: they glimpse shards of darkness moving at the edge of their vision; they hear echoes of a dark, disturbing musical chord; and they will dream of joining a group called the Ragnarok Council."
Commentary: This came out already? Ach! Well, there goes my lead time. Still, I'm pysched to get started on Absorption, the first book of Ragnarok, a new trilogy from - as The Times describes him - "the first important new SF writer of the 21st century." Colour me very interested indeed.
The Fall of the House of Usher
and Other Stories
and Other Stories
by Edgar Allan Poe
Release Details:
Published in the UK on
06/05/10 by Vintage Classics
Review Priority:
06/05/10 by Vintage Classics
Review Priority:
3 (Moderate)
Plot Synopsis: "Edgar Allan Poe was a writer of uncommon talent; in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" he created the genre of detective fiction while his genius for finding the strangeness lurking within us all has been an influence on everyone from Freud to Hollywood. This complete collection of all his short stories and novellas contains well-known tales 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' alongside hidden gems that both unsettle and enthrall the reader."
Commentary: What better way to wrap up this latest look at a few forthcoming books than with a collection of stories going on a hundred and fifty years old? There's not a whole lot I can say about this classic tome that hasn't been said already - and no doubt more eloquently than I could manage - but at nearly 1000 pages long and beautifully presented, this new Vintage Classics edition of the collection Edgar Allan Poe will make for a lovely addition to my library. I'm not sure if a review of The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories will do anyone any good, but don't be surprised if I report back on a few of my favourites in due course.
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