Met the old BoSS? Well, let me introduce you to the new BoSS - same as the old BoSS, more or less... except less is more. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
All caught up? Good. Let's get on with it, then.
All caught up? Good. Let's get on with it, then.
The highlights of this week's mailbag have to be a couple of big hitters from the far-distant States: there's Greg Bear's first go-around with the Halo mythology to begin with, and a certain epic fantasy debut that's been getting a great deal of attention of late. Whether deserved or not.
Speaking of which...
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The Unremembered
by Peter Orullian
by Peter Orullian
Vital Statistics
Published in the US
on 12/04/11
by Tor
on 12/04/11
by Tor
Review Priority
4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)
The Blurb: The gods, makers of worlds, seek to create balance — between matter and energy; and between mortals who strive toward the transcendent, and the natural perils they must tame or overcome. But one of the gods fashions a world filled with hellish creatures far too powerful to allow balance; he is condemned to live for eternity with his most hateful creations in that world’s distant Bourne, restrained by a magical veil kept vital by the power of song.
Millennia pass, awareness of the hidden danger fades to legend, and both song and veil weaken. And the most remote cities are laid waste by fell, nightmarish troops escaped from the Bourne. Some people dismiss the attacks as mere rumor. Instead of standing against the real threat, they persecute those with the knowledge, magic and power to fight these abominations, denying the inevitability of war and annihilation. And the evil from the Bourne swells...
The troubles of the world seem far from the Hollows where Tahn Junell struggles to remember his lost childhood and to understand words he feels compelled to utter each time he draws his bow. Trouble arrives when two strangers — an enigmatic man wearing the sigil of the feared Order of Sheason and a beautiful woman of the legendary Far — come, to take Tahn, his sister and his two best friends on a dangerous, secret journey.
Tahn knows neither why nor where they will go. He knows only that terrible forces have been unleashed upon mankind and he has been called to stand up and face that which most daunts him — his own forgotten secrets and the darkness that would destroy him and his world.
Millennia pass, awareness of the hidden danger fades to legend, and both song and veil weaken. And the most remote cities are laid waste by fell, nightmarish troops escaped from the Bourne. Some people dismiss the attacks as mere rumor. Instead of standing against the real threat, they persecute those with the knowledge, magic and power to fight these abominations, denying the inevitability of war and annihilation. And the evil from the Bourne swells...
The troubles of the world seem far from the Hollows where Tahn Junell struggles to remember his lost childhood and to understand words he feels compelled to utter each time he draws his bow. Trouble arrives when two strangers — an enigmatic man wearing the sigil of the feared Order of Sheason and a beautiful woman of the legendary Far — come, to take Tahn, his sister and his two best friends on a dangerous, secret journey.
Tahn knows neither why nor where they will go. He knows only that terrible forces have been unleashed upon mankind and he has been called to stand up and face that which most daunts him — his own forgotten secrets and the darkness that would destroy him and his world.
A Scotsman's Thoughts: Sounds like high fantasy, am I right?
Well, no shit, Sherlock: it is. In fact, The Unremembered has to be the single most hyped genre debut of the first half of 2011. There've been excerpts, book trailers, short stories, interviews, and a six-part webisode series just kicked off over at debut author Peter Orullian's website - well worth checking out, if only for the pretty fantasy art.
Sadly, that's the greatest recommendation of The Unremembered I can muster, at this stage. Full disclosure: I've only read 50 pages of this behemoth of a book. Saying that, those 50 pages were enough to dampen any and all enthusiasm I felt for this epic new series. I get the sense I'd enjoy the story, if only I could learn to love the storytelling - which seems to me that worst of things: amateurish with delusions of grandeur.
Nonetheless, I mean to give The Unremembered a fair shake. All hope is not yet lost. But the beginning, alas, is... not good.
Withering Tights
by Louise Rennison
Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 03/02/11
by HarperCollins Children's
Review Priority
2 (It Could Happen)
The Blurb: Picture the scene: Dother Hall performing arts college somewhere Up North, surrounded by rolling dales, bearded cheesemaking villagers (male and female) and wildlife of the squirrely-type.
On the whole, it’s not quite the showbiz experience Tallulah was expecting… but once her mates turn up and they start their ‘FAME! I’m gonna liiiiive foreeeeeever, I’m gonna fill my tiiiiights’ summer course things are bound to perk up. Especially when the boys arrive. (When DO the boys arrive?) Six weeks of parent-free freedom. BOY freedom. Freedom of expression… cos it’s the THEATRE dahling, theatre!!
On the whole, it’s not quite the showbiz experience Tallulah was expecting… but once her mates turn up and they start their ‘FAME! I’m gonna liiiiive foreeeeeever, I’m gonna fill my tiiiiights’ summer course things are bound to perk up. Especially when the boys arrive. (When DO the boys arrive?) Six weeks of parent-free freedom. BOY freedom. Freedom of expression… cos it’s the THEATRE dahling, theatre!!
A Scotsman's Thoughts: To day Withering Tights isn't my usual sort of reading is to put it politely: in truth, I wouldn't have noticed this book if it had been staring me in the face. But a review copy came in, I saw Louise Rennison had won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, and now I'm on the fence. I adore Roald Dahl. If Withering Tights has anything on any of his work, I'm sure I'd enjoy it tremendously.
Then again, do I really want to read a book about a precocious nine-year-old frolicking while her parents are AWOL? That's the question.
Then again, do I really want to read a book about a precocious nine-year-old frolicking while her parents are AWOL? That's the question.
The Hanging Shed
by Gordon Ferris
Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 01/03/11
by Corvus
Review Priority
3 (We'll See)
The Blurb: Glasgow 1946. The last time Brodie came home it was 1942 and he was a proud young man in a paratrooper's uniform. Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Shug Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Donovan was dead, shot down in the war. Perhaps it would have been kinder if he had been killed. The man who returns from the war is unrecognisable: mutilated, horribly burned. Donovan keeps his own company, only venturing out for heroin to deaden the pain of his wounds. When a local boy is found raped and murdered, there is only one suspect.
Donovan claims he's innocent but a mountain of evidence says otherwise. Despite the hideousness of the crime, ex-policeman Brodie feels compelled to try and help his one time friend. Working with advocate Samantha Campbell, Brodie trawls the mean streets of the Gorbals and the green hills of western Scotland in their search for the truth. What they find is an unholy alliance of troublesome priests, corrupt coppers and Glasgow's deadliest razor gang, happy to slaughter to protect their dark and dirty secrets. As time runs out for the condemned man, the murder tally of innocents starts to climb. When Sam Campbell disappears, it's the last straw for Brodie, and he reverts to his wartime role as a trained killer. It's them or him...
Donovan claims he's innocent but a mountain of evidence says otherwise. Despite the hideousness of the crime, ex-policeman Brodie feels compelled to try and help his one time friend. Working with advocate Samantha Campbell, Brodie trawls the mean streets of the Gorbals and the green hills of western Scotland in their search for the truth. What they find is an unholy alliance of troublesome priests, corrupt coppers and Glasgow's deadliest razor gang, happy to slaughter to protect their dark and dirty secrets. As time runs out for the condemned man, the murder tally of innocents starts to climb. When Sam Campbell disappears, it's the last straw for Brodie, and he reverts to his wartime role as a trained killer. It's them or him...
A Scotsman's Thoughts: Relatively speaking, my dalliances with crime fiction are rare, and having just polished off the latest from Tana French - superb, incidentally - I wouldn't usually be ready to leap back onto the genre bandwagon so soon. But for The Hanging Shed, I'll make an exception: this Scottish-set novel has been getting huge plaudits thanks to a canny early release on the Kindle, for just £1 (see here if you're taken with that prospect). No promises that I'll have a review up before the physical book's release on March 1st, but sure, I'll do my damndest.
Halo: Cryptum
by Greg Bear
Vital Statistics
Published in the US
on 04/01/11
by Tor
on 04/01/11
by Tor
Review Priority
4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)
The Blurb:
But one species - eons beyond all others in both technology and knowledge - achieved dominance. They ruled in peace but met opposition with quick and brutal effectiveness. They were the Forerunners: the keepers of the Mantle, the next stage of life in the Universe’s Living Time.
And then they vanished.
This is their story.
A Scotsman's Thoughts: I found myself surprisingly taken with the first of the Halo novelisations. The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund was a blast, if a little light in terms of depth - for further enlightenment read the full review - and Greg Bear is one of science fiction's undisputed masters, so it's with high hopes that I come to Halo: Cryptum. The first of a mooted trilogy exploring the Forerunner race, this surprisingly slim volume could be amazing.
Or it could be Dead Space: Martyr. See here.
But I have my hopes.
One hundred thousand years ago, the galaxy was populated by a great variety of beings.
And then they vanished.
This is their story.
A Scotsman's Thoughts: I found myself surprisingly taken with the first of the Halo novelisations. The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund was a blast, if a little light in terms of depth - for further enlightenment read the full review - and Greg Bear is one of science fiction's undisputed masters, so it's with high hopes that I come to Halo: Cryptum. The first of a mooted trilogy exploring the Forerunner race, this surprisingly slim volume could be amazing.
Or it could be Dead Space: Martyr. See here.
But I have my hopes.
Lex Trent Fighting With Fire
by Alex Bell
Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 03/02/11
by Headline
on 03/02/11
by Headline
Review Priority
3 (We'll See)
The Blurb: Lex Trent is reigning champion of The Games contested between fickle Gods using human playing pieces. He has it all. Fame. Glory. Wealth. An enormous ego.
But The Games are about to begin again and the Goddess of Luck wants Lex to defend their title. A challenge he can’t resist, despite the risk of death, because the final round will take place in the Wild West, giving Lex the chance to claim the legendary Sword of Life (who wouldn’t want that?). With Lex’s mix of skill, quick wittedness and no small amount of outright cheating, he can’t lose! Can he?
Luck may usually be a lady to Lex... but in the Wild West they play by their own rules...and Lex has never been that good with rules.
But The Games are about to begin again and the Goddess of Luck wants Lex to defend their title. A challenge he can’t resist, despite the risk of death, because the final round will take place in the Wild West, giving Lex the chance to claim the legendary Sword of Life (who wouldn’t want that?). With Lex’s mix of skill, quick wittedness and no small amount of outright cheating, he can’t lose! Can he?
Luck may usually be a lady to Lex... but in the Wild West they play by their own rules...and Lex has never been that good with rules.
A Scotsman's Thoughts: Another returning guest star, I met Lex Trent way back when I was but a baby blogger - without even a single blogiversary behind me! We had some fun, and then Lex was good enough to introduce me to his creator, the lovely Alex Bell, whom I talked at some length with, as you might recall.
So it's good to see this character back on the TBR stack. That said, for all intents and purposes Lex Trent Fighting With Fire sounds like more of the same... but the first book was such a lark, I'm really all for another one.
So it's good to see this character back on the TBR stack. That said, for all intents and purposes Lex Trent Fighting With Fire sounds like more of the same... but the first book was such a lark, I'm really all for another one.
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That's it for this week. But never fear: the nearly-new and probably only moderately improved BoSS will be back at the same bat-time next week, in the same bat-place. See you then!
Back to The Unremembered, then, or shall I have a go at the new Halo novel? Will it be work, or pleasure?
Bet you can guess.
Bet you can guess.
Sounds like the Unremembered might not be all that some have hoped. Personally, I've been waiting for reviews before joining the hype.
ReplyDeleteI had some hopes for Unremembered, but after reading few pages of the Sacrifice of First Sheason - prequel story published on the web, I had exactly same opinion of writing. Pity.
ReplyDeleteBut, there's more than enough good books out there...
(Psst. THE HANGING SHED is by Gordon Ferris not by Tad Williams. See above.)
ReplyDeleteOops! Sorted - and don't think I don't appreciate the pointer, second mous of anon. :)
ReplyDeleteAs to The Unremembered, I should stress I've not come to any conclusions just yet. The writing is rubbing me the wrong way, sure, but then I feel much the same way about early Brandon Sanderson - and I ended up enjoying The Way of Kings a great deal.
Not that we're likely looking at its equal here, but hey, it can't hurt to hope.
Your blurb about The Hanging Shed caught my eye so I downloaded a sample on Kindle. 30 minutes later I bought the book and haven't had my nose out of it yet except when I'm sleeping or slaving in the salt mines. I'm a third of the way through it and am really enjoying it. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDelete