Couch is quite a mundane title for such an outlandish book. Three guys move a couch, save the world. That is the tag line and it is quite apt. It drew me in immediately and from the moment I started I knew this would be a truly special read. Couch is quite unlike any book I've read before. Its aim is to tell a modern day quest through very unconventional and seemingly meandering means yet it never falls off track.
Couch is the kind of book where the less you know about the story before you start the better it will be. It is very intimate with its telling. A low-level con man, a hacker, and a prophetic dreamer share an apartment and a comfortable couch and it goes from there. I identified with hacker more than I have with any character in a very long time. The dialogue is perfect for who the characters are as lazy, but intelligent twenty-something's with little to no prospects in life. But each has their role to play in the quest and fulfills it to the utmost. Giving all that they have to something they don't understand all the while trusting destiny and serendipity.
The Quiet War is over. The city-states of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, founded by descendants of refugees from Earth's repressive regimes, the Outers, have fallen to the Three Powers Alliance of Greater Brazil, the European Union, and the Pacific Community. A century of enlightenment, rational utopianism, and exploration of new ways of being human has fallen dark. Outers are herded into prison camps and forced to collaborate in the systematic plundering of their great archives of scientific and technical knowledge, while Earth's forces loot their cities and settlements and ships, and plan a final solution to the "Outer problem."
But Earth's victory is fragile, and riven by vicious internal politics. While seeking out and trying to anatomize the strange gardens abandoned in place by the Outers' greatest genius, Avernus, the gene wizard Sri Hong-Owen is embroiled in the plots and counterplots of the family that employs her. The diplomat Loc Ifrahim soon discovers that profiting from victory isn't as easy as he thought. And on Earth, in Greater Brazil, the democratic traditions preserved and elaborated by the Outers have infected a population eager to escape the tyranny of the great families who rule them.
Meanwhile, in the outer reaches of the Solar System, a rag-taggle group of refugees struggle to preserve the last of the old ideals. And on Triton, fanatical members of a cabal prepare for a final battle that threatens to shatter the future of the human species.
After a conflict fought to contain the expansionist, posthuman ambitions of the Outers, the future is as uncertain as ever. Only one thing is clear. No one can escape the consequences of war—especially the victors.
Set in a world where color is the basis of all magic, Gavin Guile is the current Prism - and one that happens to have many secrets. Secrets like his brother Javen, who he defeated in the great war years earlier and now keeps in a dungeon below his home. Or secrets like his son Kip, a young man raised in another land who has yet to realize the full extent of his powers.
As Kip begins to learn the truth behind Gavin and Javen's great schism, he will also learn that time is running out for the world as they know it. For the Prism is not what he seems to be, and there are greater powers afoot than could ever have been imagined.I say bring it on. The Night Angel series more than lived up to expectations and shows Weeks can write great characters in highly realized settings.
Behold my new pile of stuff, which is a mixture of purchases and recently received review copies. This will also serve as a sort of preview of what I expect to review at least partially over the coming months.
True story: in 1899, Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla decided to end war forever. With Twain's connections and Tesla's inventions, they went into business selling world peace. So, what happened? Only now can the tale be told - in which Twain and Tesla collided with Edison and Morgan, an evil science cabal merging the Black Arts and the Industrial Age. Turn of the century New York City sets the stage for a titanic battle over the very fate of mankind.
Next we have Elegy Beach by Steven R. Boyett, which is the sequel to cult classic Ariel. I just read Ariel so expect a review of sorts shortly. Though I may wait until I read Elegy and do a combined review. I received both as review copies.Thirty years ago the lights went out, the airplanes fell, the cars went still, the cities all went dark. The laws humanity had always known were replaced by new laws that could only be called magic. The world has changed forever. Or has it?
In a small community on the California coast are Fred Garey and his friend Yan, both born after the Change. Yan dreams of doing something so big his name will live on forever. He thinks he's found it-a way to reverse the Change. But Fred fears the repercussions of such drastic, irreversible steps.
From Galileo's heresy trial to the politics of far-future Jupiter, from the canals of Venice to frozen, mysterious Europa, Robinson illuminates the parallels between a distant past and an even more remote future—in the process celebrating the human spirit and calling into question the convenient truths of our own moment in time.
Nicodemus Weal is a protagonist that all of us can identify with. SPELLWRIGHT features a unique system of magic and characters that are genuine inhabitants of that world. SPELLWRIGHT is a letter-perfect story: an absorbing read and recommended." —Robin Hobb
The Good, The Bad, and The Uncanny by Simon R. Green is the 10th book in Nightside series. I plan on catching up on the series shortly along with the mass market release of Just Another Judgement Day. This was received gratis as well.Things were going so well for P.I. John Taylor, that it was only a matter of time before everything hit the fan. Walker, the powerful, ever-present, never to-be-trusted agent who runs the Nightside on behalf of The Authorities, is dying. And he wants John to be his successor-a job that comes with more baggage, and more enemies, than anyone can possibly imagine.
The Next Queen of Heaven by Gregory Maguire of Wicked fame. Maguire has entered into a charity venture with Concord Free Press. Concord gives all of the books they publish away for free on a first-come, first-served basis, but they expect a donation to be made to a charity of your choice and the book to be passed on after reading. I was lucky enough to be among the 2,500 people to receive a copy.In a flyspeck upstate NY town at the end of the second millennium, something dangerous is coming—either Y2K, salvation, or murder. Following an accident in a church basement, a fundamentalist family is knocked off its fundaments while the choir director in the Catholic church next door schemes to escape both his sorry past and his sorrier future.
Next is To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, which I picked up used after the recommendation from my friend Jason. Sounds like a fun Fantasy/Sci-Fi mix and I've been meaning to read a Willis book for awhile.In her first full-length novel since her critically acclaimed Doomsday Book Connie Willis, winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, once again visits the unpredictable world of time travel. But this time the result is a joyous journey into a past and future of comic mishaps and historical cross-purposes, in which the power of human love can still make all the difference.
The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe has been on my radar since Jeff over at Fantasy News gave it a great review. A mix of Detective/Swords & Sorcery certainly sounds like it would be a fun read and the sequel Burn Me Deadly is due out shortly. I'll probably read and review this in the coming weeks.It should have been a case like any other: a missing princess, a king willing to pay in gold for her return. But before he realizes it, sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse is swept up in a web of mystery and deceit involving a brutally murdered royal heir, a queen accused of an unspeakable crime, and the tragic past he thought he’d left behind.
Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with one hell of a hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples. Once, Ig lived the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned American musician, and the younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, Ig had security and wealth and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more - he had the love of Merrin Williams, a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. Then beautiful, vivacious Merrin was gone - raped and murdered, under inexplicable circumstances - with Ig the only suspect. He was never tried for the crime, but in the court of public opinion, Ig was and always would be guilty. Now Ig is possessed with a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look, and he means to use it to find the man who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge; it's time the devil had his due.
Christopher Moore has posted the first two chapters to his third vampire book Bite Me. Here is a small sample:
Being the Journal of Abigail Von Normal
Emergency Back-up Mistress of the Greater Bay Area Night
The city of San Francisco is being stalked by a huge, shaved vampyre cat named Chet, and only I, Abby Normal, emergency back-up mistress of the greater Bay Area night, and my manga-haired love monkey, Foo Dog, stand between the ravenous monster and a bloody massacre of the general public. Which isn’t, like, as bad as it sounds, because the general public kind of sucks ass.
Still, I think that this battle of dark powers, the maintenance of my steamy, forbidden romance, the torturous brea- in of a new pair of red vinyl, thigh-high Skankenstein platform boots, as well as the daily application of complex eye make-up and whatnot, totally justify my flunking Biology 102, (Introduction to Mutilation of Preserved Marmot Cadavers, with Mr. Snavely, who totally has his way with the marmots when no one is around, I have it on good authority.) But try to tell that to the mother unit, who deserves this despair and disappointment for cursing me with her tainted and small-boobed DNA.
Allow me to catch you up, S‘il vous plait. Pay attention, bitches, there will be a test.
1. Scalzi is really a clockwork automaton who has been programmed to slowly spread angst wherever he goes.
2. As we all know Wheaton is the Bizarro Scalzi. If Scalzi ever shook hands with Wil Wheaton the world would end. It would be like matter and antimatter smashing together.
3. Scalzi has written 5 of the biggest blockbuster movies of the last decade. He chooses to do it under a pen name to avoid getting e-mails from people trying to get him to read their scripts.
4. While George R.R. Martin is not your bitch, Scalzi freely admits he is. Be sure to send a note when you need your laundry to be done and the gutters need to be cleaned out. His rates are very reasonable.
5. Scalzi once created a flow chart on who could and couldn't be a dick on Whatever. Really he did! He did this as there were too many half-witted-Scalzi clones trolling about. They were left over from his failed experiments of cloning himself in order to spend more time taping bacon to cats and playing video games.
6. Scalzi's internet sensation of taping bacon to a cat would truly be out done if he released photos of his bacon tuxedo.
7. Scalzi has a sentient wart in his armpit that helps him instill terror wherever he goes. It is also very good at charades.
8. Scalzi controls the internet.
9. Scalzi's real "Big Idea" is to co-opt all readers attention.
10. If there were no Coke Zero or Bacon Scalzi would waste away to nothing.
I came up with a few of these awhile back, but thanks must go to Jim C. Hines's post of 20 Neil Gaiman Facts as it did inspire me to no small degree.
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Kristine Kathryn Rusch has been writing under various names in multiple genres gaining accolades wherever she has ventured. Rusch was also an editor for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for a number of years winning a Hugo for her work there. Diving Into the Wreck is my first try of her work, but will surely be only the start to many others.
Diving Into the Wreck is like something out of the Golden Age of Sci-Fi as it feels like a timeless tale in the far future, which is an amazing irresistible and speedy read. The book is broken into 3 interlocking stories that would have acted well on their own in novella form, but together form a rich universe and history. It is a very personal book that ends up being quite a bit more than you expect. The stories get bigger and bigger with the telling until you reach a somewhat intense culmination.
Diving is very reminiscent of Pohl's Gateway or possible placed in something close to the Babylon 5 universe. The stories are told from Boss's view in an almost journal like fashion. She is not some hero archetype, but a loner who only has human interactions when she deems it necessarily and operates everything she does in a business-like fashion. At first this can make her seem cold, but she has a lot more layers that come through. Boss makes her living traveling through space looking for wrecked space ships, which she hopes can be plundered for treasure, sold, salvaged, or possibly toured with inexperienced divers out for a thrill. Think of her job as an expert scuba diver, but only in space and with a lot more risk.
Diving Into the Wreck is easy on the science for those who don't like amazing long scientific explanations to go along with the story. But Rusch's science is well enough explained to suit the story's purpose. It is her universe's history and character building that you'll be drawn to. The crux of the story surrounds Boss's discovery of mysterious ancient vessel that may have lost technology that could change everything in her sector of the universe. She mounts an expedition of sorts into the vessel with a trusted group of divers and odd things happen. From there we also encounter an eerie space station where people have been disappearing for years.
Perfect paced and immensely readable Diving Into the Wreck will satisfy even the most jaded of Sci-Fi reader. If I had any complaints it would only be that it was over too soon and left me for wanting more out of Boss and her cadre of divers. I give Diving Into the Wreck 8 out of 10 Hats. I plan on reading more Rusch and have already ordered a copy of The Disappeared, which is book one in The Retrieval Artist Series a Mystery Sci-Fi series. Unfortunately, The Disappeared is out of print, but used copies are easily had. Maybe an omnibus is needed of the first 2 or 3 in the series to indoctrinate new readers as she only recently released the sixth volume in the series. Rusch also mentioned on her blog another Diving Universe book is possible. I sure hope it happens as there is at least one more major mission waiting for Boss.
Book Link: US | Canada | Europe
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Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams
***Review copy provided by Pyr
There is a new poll in the upper left corner. As usual I have a huge backlog of books, even after my vacation tear along with normally reading at least 2 books a week. Well, to clear a bit of space on my to-read shelves before the end of the year I'm putting up 6 giant sized reads. All are each around 500 pages or more. Some of these will just be big books while others might be omnibuses or complete series I own, but haven't read yet. My goal is to read the winner before the end of the year I decided to go with a very eclectic mix of mostly older across the genres I read. Once these are moved along it will allow me to neaten up my to-read shelves, which is now more of a to-read bookcase. Here are the choices:
Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco (656 total pages) - I've heard this called the smart-person's Da Vinci Code, which has been sitting on my shelf for at least 2 years since a friend highly recommend it. I read Eco's somewhat heady, but enjoyable The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana a few years back.
Three clever book editors, inspired by an extraordinary fable they heard years before, decide to have a little fun. Randomly feeding esoteric bits of knowledge into an incredible computer capable of inventing connections between all their entries, they think they are creating a long lazy game--until the game starts taking over.... Here is an incredible journey of thought and history, memory and fantasy, a tour de force as enthralling as anything Umberto Eco--or indeed anyone--has ever devised.
Age of Misrule (World's End, Darkest Hour, & Always Forever) by Mark Chadbourn (1350 total pages) Now that I have all three volumes it is taking up a lot of space and I keep hearing generally good things.
All over the country, the ancient gods of Celtic mythology are returning to the land from which they were banished millennia ago. Following in their footsteps are creatures of folklore: the Fabulous Beasts, shape-shifters and Night Walkers, and other, less wholesome beings. As they grow in power, so technology is swept away. It is myth and magic that now rule supreme in this new Dark Age: The Age of Misrule. The Eternal Conflict between the Light and Dark once again blackens the skies and blights the land. On one side stand the Tuatha de Danann, golden-skinned and beautiful; on the other are the Fomorii, monstrous devils hell-bent on destroying all human existence. But in times of trouble, come heroes. Five flawed humans, Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, are drawn together to search for the magical talismans which which to fight the powers of old. But time draws short and humanity looks set to be swept away ...
On Her Majesty's Occult Service (Omnibus edition of The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue) by Charles Stross (784 total pages) - This would be my first introduction to Stross's work and from what I've seen it would be a lot of fun.
Publisher's Weekly: "With often hilarious results, the author mixes the occult and the mundane, the truly weird and the petty. In "Atrocity," Bob, a low-level computer fix-it guy for the Laundry, a supersecret British agency that defends the world from occult happenings, finds himself promoted to fieldwork after he bravely saves the day during a routine demonstration gone awry. With his Palm, aka his Hand of Glory (a severed hand that, when ignited, renders the holder invisible), and his smarts, he saves the world from a powerful external force seeking to enter our universe to suck it dry. In "Jungle," Bob teams up with a cop, Josephine, to save the Laundry from a power monger who seeks to stage an internal coup by using zombies as her minions. Amid all the bizarre happenings are the everyday trappings of a British bureaucracy. Bob gets called on the carpet by his bosses because he requested backup during an emergency without first getting his supervisor's okay and filling out the requisite forms. Though the characters all tend to sound the same, and Stross resorts to lengthy summary explanations to dispel confusion, the world he creates is wonderful fun."
Cyteen (Omnibus of Cyteen: The Betrayal, The Rebirth, and The Vindication) by C.J. Cherryh (696 total pages) - I've heard this compared to Dune only it is supposed to be better and again this would be my first indoctrination into Cherryh's work..
Library Journal: "A brilliant young scientist rises to power on Cyteen, haunted by the knowledge that her predecessor and genetic duplicate died at the hands of one of her trusted advisors. Murder, politics, and genetic manipulation provide the framework for the latest Union-Alliance novel by the author of Downbelow Station. Cherryh's talent for intense, literate storytelling maintains interest throughout this long, complex novel."
Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls by Matt Ruff (496 total pages) - I know this is shy of the 500 page count, but I love Ruff and this has been hanging around for far too long. Ruff's Fool on the Hill is one of my all-time favorite reads, but this one seems to be more on the serious side.
"I suppose I should tell you about the house.... The house, along with the lake, the forest, and Coventry, are all in Andy Gage's head, or what would have been Andy Gage's head if he had lived. Andy Gage was horn in 1965 and murdered not long after by his stepfather ... It was no ordinary murder.. though the torture and abuse that killed him were real, Andy Gage's death wasn't. Only his soul actually died, and when it died, it broke in pieces. Then the pieces became souls in their own right, coinheritors of Andy Gage's life. . . . "
From the author of the cult classic Fool on the Hill comes a strange and moving story of self-discovery. Andy Gage was "born" just two years ago, called into being to serve as the public face of a multiple personality. While Andy deals with the outside world, more than a hundred other souls share an imaginary house inside Andy's head, struggling to maintain an orderly co-existence: Aaron, the father figure, who makes the rules; Adam, the mischievous teenager, who breaks them; Jake, the frightened little boy; Aunt Sam, the artist; Seferis, the defender; and Gideon, the dark soul, who wants to get rid of Andy and the others and run things on his own.
Andrew's new coworker, Penny Driver, is also a multiple personality -- a fact that Penny is only partially aware of. When several of Penny's other souls ask Andy for help, Andy reluctantly agrees, setting in motion a chain of events that threatens to destroy the stability of the house. Now Andy and Penny must work together to uncover a terrible secret that Andy has been keeping from himself....
This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman (576 total pages) - Many people consider Friedman one of the modern masters of Sci-Fi, but I've yet to delve in. Maybe this will be the time.
In the first age of Earth's colonization of space, the FTL drive that powered the starships caused severe genetic damage in the colonists. Generations later, a new mutant race arises, one which can safely conduct people between the stars. But since they use their ability to tightly control all interstellar commerce, rival interests soon seek to break the monopoly. An when a lab-raised young woman narrowly escapes kidnapping, even as a rogue computer virus wreaks havoc on the interstellar "Net," she must flee into "alien shores", evading her pursuers while attempting to uncover the secrets of her own existence.
So there is a literary Thriller, a very strange Fantasy, a couple of Space Operas, an Epic Urban Fantasy series, and a humorous duo of Lovecraftian inspired spy novels. So what's it gonna be?
I noticed many of the books I've read recently have had apocalyptic backgrounds or culminations, so I wanted to turn the tide a bit with this one. Also, after the last cover reveal I thought it best to show a cover that is beautifully done.
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Some of the world's most talented SF writers (including Alastair Reynolds, Kay Keyon and Jason Stoddard) show how things can change for the better. From gritty polyannas to workable futures, from hard-fought progress to a better tomorrow; heart-warming and mind-expanding stories that will (re-) awaken the optimist in you!
Ken Scholes has been garnering accolades for many years for his short fiction including being a finalist for the Endeavor award for his short story collection Long Walks, Last Flights, & Other Strange Journeys. Only this year did his debut novel Lamentation release to start The Psalms of Isaak series, which just came out in mass market last month. This month saw the publication of volume two Canticle. Lamentation had been hanging around my to-read shelf since its release and when I heard the second book was about to come out I thought it was high time I got to it. After reading both volumes back-to-back it would be an understatement to say this series will be anything other than memorable for years to come. The characters are well done and the plotting is unbelievably deep.
MH: Hello Mr. Scholes, welcome to Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf. Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself? 
Rob Thurman is best known for the Cal and Niko Urban Fantasy series starting with Nightlife. Most of Thurman's covers have been Chris McGrath paintings, but it looks like Roc wanted to go for more of a Sci-Fi feel for Chimera so they turned to artist Aleta Rafton.
I still wanted to do a book that explored a relationship between brothers, although a significantly different take on it as these brothers have been separated for ten years. And the older brother is not necessarily the wise, 'good' brother. And although there's action, guns, genetic engineered monsters, sarcasm (of course), the book is about establishing that brotherly bond when one brother refuses to admit it exists and has no memory of his former family at all. If you read Dean Koontz, the older Lightning and Watchers was the feel of what I wanted for this book with a Sixth Sense smackdown ending. Hands down, this is my favorite book that I've written. What Cal and Niko always had, Stefan and Michael have to struggle for...and the struggle...writing it was like giving birth...only a lot less messy and no guy telling you he feels your pain (I've never given birth, but I'd like to think I'd punch a man in the testicles on that one.)Chimera will be released in June of 2010 between Cal Book Five and the second Trixa Novel.
Below are the results to my recent poll To Read or Not Read Stephen King's Under the Dome.
Hell yes! Epic is what he does best. 9 (26%)Overall, I was surprised to learn many people didn't know Under the Dome is part of King's Epic style. I did finally succumb to ordering Under the Dome as the recent price war between Amazon, Walmart, and now Target priced the book at around $9 for top selling preorders.
Yes, but I'm skeptical. 3 (8%)
Hell no! He has lost it. 8 (23%)
Maybe. 6 (17%)
King is doing Epic again? 9 (26%)
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