The BoSS for 27/06/10

Bit of a quiet week, this. A couple of the books that have come along look interesting, no doubt about it - namely the Pierre Pevel and the Charlie Stross - but each are sequels to series I haven't read before, which is a real a shame. I expect both authors would be very much to my liking, but I'm a stickler for starting series at the start, and at the moment I simply don't have the time or the means to do so. As is, I'm left looking forward to Wrymeweald: Returner's Wealth above all of this week's proofs, a western YA fantasy I believe I cottoned onto after Mark Chitty of Walker of Worlds posted about it. Holding you accountable, mate, if it's rubbish!

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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The Alchemist in the Shadows
by Pierre Pevel

Release Details:

Published in the UK on

16/09/10 by Gollancz

Review Priority:

3 (Moderate)

Plot Synopsis: "Welcome to Paris, in 1633, where dragons menace the realm. Cardinal Richelieu, the most powerful and most feared man in France, is on his guard. He knows France is under threat, and that a secret society known as the Black Claw is conspiring against him from the heart of the greatest courts in Europe. They will strike from the shadows, and when they do the blow will be both terrible and deadly. To counter the threat, Richelieu has put his most trusted men into play: the Cardinal's Blades, led by Captain la Fargue. Six men and a woman, all of exceptional abilities and all ready to risk their lives on his command. They have saved France before, and the Cardinal is relying on them to do it again. So when la Fargue hears from a beautiful, infamous, deadly Italian spy claiming to have valuable information, he has to listen... and when La Donna demands Cardinal Richelieu's protection before she will talk, la Fargue is even prepared to consider it. Because La Donna can name their enemy. It's a man as elusive as he is manipulative, as subtle as Richelieu himself, an exceptionally dangerous adversary: the Alchemist in the shadows."


Commentary: Historical swashbuckling, then? This sounds like a great deal of fun, and I understand the first book in the series, The Cardinal's Blades, made it onto the David Gemmell Legend award shortlist, so it's got to be of decent quality, too - though the minibio description of Pierre Pevel as "one of the foremost writers of French fantasy today" rather baffles me. I mean, who else is there? In any event, unless a copy of The Cardinal's Blades conveniently materialises, I'm afraid I probably won't be reading The Alchemist in the Shadows. Just don't have the time. Would that I did...

Black Blade Blues

by J. A. Pitts

Release Details:

Published in the US on

27/04/10 by Tor


Review Priority:

2 (Fair)

Plot Synopsis: "Sarah Beauhall has more on her plate than most twenty-somethings: day job as a blacksmith, night job as a props manager for low-budget movies, and her free time is spent fighting in a medieval re-enactment group.


"The lead actor breaks Sarah's favorite one-of-a-kind sword, and to avoid reshooting scenes, Sarah agrees to repair the blade. One of the extras, who claims to be a dwarf, offers to help. And that’s when things start to get weird. Could the sword really be magic, as the 'dwarf' claims? Are dragons really living among us as shapeshifters?


"And as if things weren’t surreal enough, Sarah's girlfriend Katie breaks out the dreaded phrase... 'I love you.' As her life begins to fall apart, first her relationship with Katie, then her job at the movie studio, and finally her blacksmithing career, Sarah hits rock bottom. It is at this moment, when she has lost everything she has prized, that one of the dragons makes their move.


"And suddenly what was unthinkable becomes all too real... and Sarah will have to decide if she can reject what is safe and become the heroine who is needed to save her world."


Commentary: Renaissance party urban fantasy? Really?

I'm a sucker for a good bit of alliteration, but that's the only props I'm giving this book - sorry. I suppose the reviews over on Amazon.com make it sounds like a lark, but between the plot synopsis, the genre and that ghastly cover, it's fairly safe to say I won't likely be reading Black Blade Blues any time soon. Not quite my cup of tea.

 

The Day of the Jack Russell
by Bateman

Release Details:

Published in the UK on

10/06/10 by Headline Crime


Review Priority:

3 (Moderate)

Plot Synopsis: "The Small Shop Keeper With No Name is back. Hired to find the vandals responsible for spraying graffiti on an airline mogul's advertising hoarding, he soon finds himself up to his ears in intrigue and battling to solve murders which echo in the corridors of power. With MI5 getting involved and everyone on the hunt for a missing Jack Russell, can Our Man Behind the Counter stay alive as well as keep his world renowned but criminally ignored No Alibis mystery bookshop afloat?"


Commentary: This Bateman fellow's been a bit of a crime fiction sensation here in the UK, and hearing The Day of the Jack Russell described as - and I quote - "Black Books meets Lead Balloon meets Gavin and Stacey" certainly appeals to my characteristically miserable British sense of humour. Wouldn't you know it, though, it's the second book in a series. The follow-up to Mystery Man, specifically, but serial fiction in this genre tends to be more self-contained than in science-fiction and fantasy, so who's to say? I might give this one a shot.

Wyrmweald: Returner's Wealth

by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Release Details:

Published in the UK on

29/04/10 by Doubleday

Review Priority:

4 (Very High)

Plot Synopsis: "Young pioneer, Micah, enters Wrymeweald full of hope to return home having made his fortune. But this is a land where wyrmes, fabulous dragon-like beasts, roam wild and reign supreme. In Wyrmeweald man is both hunter and hunted - and seventeen-year-old Micah may never return alive, let alone a hero...After a near-brush with death on the edge of a canyon, Micah soon finds a chance to prove his worth when he meets with Eli, a veteran tracker of Wrymeweald. They choose to defend a rare whitewyrme egg and its precious hatchling before it falls into the hands of a band of evil Kith.


"But the fledgling wyrme has its own guardian in the shape of the beautiful, brave and dangerous Thrace. Thrace, a Kin and a highly-skilled wyrme rider-assassin; and Micah, a would-be Kith, should never mix - but the magnetism between them is strong. Together they join forces on a mission to rescue the hatchling and seek vengeance for loved-ones lost at the hand of Kith bandits. Meanwhile the glorious whitewyrme colony of Wyrmeweald looks on as its land is encroached by gold-diggers and ravaged by bounty hunters. Is Exodus the only option? And if so, when - and where - will they flee too?"


Commentary: As I said in the intro, I came across this one courtesy of the lovely trailer Mark posted over at his blog - it's fantasy for young adults, but hella good sounding. Now that I actually have Wyrmeweald: Returner's Wealth in my hands, I can say it's a beautiful book, too: lavishly illustrated throughout. I'm not at all sure about Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, but according to the the other books by bit inside the dustjacket, between them they've published enough to have Stephen King in a cold sweat. You think after sinking 50 hours into Red Dead Redemption I'd be good and done with westerns. You'd think; you'd be mistaken, mind. Good and up for this one.

The Ragged Man

by Tom Lloyd

Release Details:

Published in the UK on
19/08/10 by Gollancz


Review Priority:

3 (Moderate)

Plot Synopsis: "The Lord Isak is dead, his armies and entire tribe in disarray. It falls to King Emin to continue the war alone, and the Menin are only too happy to meet his challenge. In Byora, Ruhen is developing his 'Saviour' persona. The Harlequins start preaching in his name and many of the pilgrims who flock to him are recruited to be 'Children', disciples who spread Ruhen's message. All over the Land people are starting to see Ruhen as the answer to their troubles. A showdown is coming: battle lines are finally drawn and the atrocities quickly mount. The spectre of the Great War looms, but in this age the Gods cannot and will not come to King Emin's aid. With the peoples of the Land turning against Emin and his few remaining allies, their only chance for survival lies in the hands of a dead man."

Commentary: The Ragged Man is the fourth volume of a series that began with The Stormcaller. This is what I have learned. You know, I'm sure these books are fine, but nothing about them grabs me. In fact, I saw what I think was book two in a charity shops a few months ago, selling for buttons, and I didn't buy it then. But good luck to Tom. Maybe when he writes something that isn't part something of whatever, I'll give the guy the old college try.

The Fuller Memorandum
by Charles Stross

Release Details:

Published in the UK on
01/07/10 by Orbit


Review Priority:

3 (Moderate)

Plot Synopsis: "Bob Howard is an IT specialist and field agent for the Laundry, the branch of Her Majesty's secret service that deals with occult threats. Overworked and underpaid, Bob is used to his two jobs overflowing from a strict nine to five and, since his wife Mo has a very similar job description, he understands that work will sometimes follow her home, too. But when 'work' involves zombie assassins and minions of a mad god's cult, he realises things are spinning out of control. When a top-secret dossier goes missing and his boss Angleton is implicated, Bob must contend with suspiciously helpful Russian intelligence operatives and an unscrupulous apocalyptic cult before confronting the decades-old secret that lies at the heart of the Laundry: what is so important about the missing Fuller Memorandum? And why are all the people who know dying?"


Commentary: There's been a lot of meh this week, hasn't there? Well, let there be an end to that. I'm certainly not meh about The Fuller Memorandum. I've heard and read a few of Charles Stross' short stories, and enjoyed them a great deal - but I've never read one of the man's actual novels. This'd be a fine place to start, if only it were the start of The Laundry. As is, it's book three, following The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue, and I find myself stymied yet again. That is unless anyone out there spares a few seconds to speak to how standalone these books are. I really would like to give it a go...

The Levels

by Sean Cregan

Release Details:

Published in the UK on
05/08/10 by Headline


Review Priority:

4 (Very High)

Plot Synopsis: "On the outskirts of Newport, on the US East Coast, lies an abandoned housing project: the Levels. Inhabited by Newport's homeless population, the Levels are run by the all-powerful Sorrow.

"Ex-CIA agent Nate Turner, who is in the Levels to find out who has just tried to kill him, meets a 14-year-old girl Ghost. Ghost is a Fury, one of Sorrow's trained, teenage assassins looking for a way back to her normal life.


"Also in the Levels is Kate, a suspended cop, who has been told that she has only days to live after being attacked, and infected, by the Beast, a serial killer working the streets. The Beast is out for revenge on Kate's new employer, who he believes created the infection that's killing him, an infection that has also been released into the Levels.


"Now Ghost is trying to escape Sorrow, Kate is looking for the Beast and Turner is looking for answers. One thing's for sure, some people aren't going to survive the fallout..."

Commentary: Why does every author need a pseudonym for when they're writing genre fiction? I'm offended. But I'm going to put my feelings to one side for the good of humanity. First things first: The Levels isn't by Sean Cregan at all. It's by John Rickards, who made big waves with his crime thriller debut, Winter's End. This is much in the same vein, I suspect. Its genre trappings aren't immediately apparent, but they're there, I'm assured. Pretty sure I'll be giving The Levels a good going-over within the next month with an aim to getting a review up before its publication date. Here's hoping the Beast doesn't get me while I'm hobnobbing with the hobos!