27 August 2012

The I'm Away from the Blog-O-Sphere Giveaway

I'm not with you this week. At least physically. Or would it be virtually? In any event I'm here with you at least spiritually as I'm on vacation and most likely reading. It has been a busy summer what with ALL THE THINGS needing doing and myriad plans that have kept me away from postings as much as I would have liked. To make up for that and this week I thought a giveaway was in order. This will be a triple header giveaway with the first two from duplicate review copies I received and the other is the well...the other... Anyway here you go.
***GIVEAWAY THE FIRST***


Shadow Show is the Ray Bradbury tribute anthology I've mentioned before. I've read more than half the stories so far and it has thus far been one of the finest tribute works I've ever read. Even better than the Jack Vance tribute. And there are some major hitters in this: Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Dave Eggers, Harlan Ellison, Alice Hoffman, Audrey Niffenegger, Ramsey Campbell, Robert McCammon, Dan Chaon, Kelly Link, Charles Yu to name but a few.

***GIVEAWAY THE SECOND***


The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer is so much more than an anthology. It is a treasure and one I've been loathe to read quickly preferring to dip in at different places for just a taste of what it has to offer. Some of the contributors include: Alan Moore, Lev Grossman, Mike Mignola, China Mieville, Cherie Priest, Carrie Vaughn, Garth Nix, Michael Moorcock , Holly Black, Jeffrey Ford, and Ted Chiang. This isn't Steampunk. This isn't Weird. This is pure Lambshead.

***GIVEAWAY THE LAST***

?????????

Let's call this the mystery giveaway. When you e-mail to enter the contest also include your favorite genre from Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Urban Fantasy, Steampunk, or Paranormal Romance. What you'll win is at least 3 books from that genre from my collection. It could be the latest release or it could be something older from my collection, but in very good condition.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

To enter any of the giveaways email madhatterreview (AT) gmail (dot) com with your full name and snail mail address in the body and the name of the contest you'd like to enter in the subject line. Please send a separate e-mail for each contest you want to enter and remember the extra info for the last giveaway. One submission per contest allowable, but multiple entries for the same giveaway will get you disqualified. The deadline is midnight September 1st. I'll announce the winners on the following day or as soon as I remember. This contest is open to the US only. The winner will be selected via random number generator per usual.

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26 August 2012

New Procurements

I'm pressed for time at the moment so let me just throw out a dignified *squee* up about The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks and call it a day. Expect a quiet week here.




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21 August 2012

Cover Unveiled for The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke


I admit it. I have a thing for Mad Scientists of all stripes. The just slightly crazy ones like Doc Brown where they are a bit silly and barely realize how revolutionary their ideas are to more recent creations like Ian Tregillis's Dr. von Westarp who is the epitome of all the evils that science can achieve. Which brings me to this week's new cover art: The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke, which will be her debut adult novel coming from Angry Robot that was found as part of their Open Door submission period. Although, the scientist in question isn't a the center of things. Here's the blurb:
There’s never been anyone - or anything - quite like Finn.

He looks, and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task is to tutor Cat.

When the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world.
One of the things I like about Angry Robot's style of covers is that there isn't one. They try to give each a very unique look to their books. I may not be a fan of all the styles, but more times then not it is something that is very fitting for the story. With The Mad Scientist's Daughter they nailed it beautifully.

The Mad Scientist's Daughter escapes into the world in February right around the time another Mad Scientist related project is being unleashed.

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17 August 2012

NEWS | Jim Butcher's Cold Days Coming in November and What is Coming Next


Jim Butcher's 14th novel of the Dresden Files, Cold Days, has been officially given a publication date of November 27th. Below is the spoiler heavy description, so beware unless you're up-to-date on the series.
After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard.

He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.

Guess which Mab wants first?

Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.

Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…

His soul.
Butcher is currently at work on his Steampunk series, which is being called The Cinder Spires. The first book is tentatively titled The Aeronaut's Windlass. He is hoping to have it done by the end of the year so a publication next year seems very likely. After that it is on to book 15 in the Dresden Files.

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06 August 2012

INTERVIEW | Jim Hines author of Libriomancer

Jim C. Hines has been one of favorite writers since long before I started this blog. It all started with a little book found at my local bookstore called Goblin Quest starring a little blue near-sighted goblin named Jig and his trepidatious fire spider companion Smudge. From there Jig's adventures got bigger with Goblin Hero and Goblin War. Hines's prominence then grew with a quartet of novels based on fairy tale princess stories starting with The Stepsister Scheme and his latest novel Libriomancer--out this week--is his first in the Urban Fantasy series Ex Libris, which is also his first hardcover release.

*****

MH: You've done your Quest Fantasy series, which turned into something of an Epic with the Goblin books, tackled the Fairy Tale genre with the Princess novels, and now you're after Urban Fantasy with Libriomancer. Is your plot to cover the breadth of Genre literature?

HINES: YES! Though I'm finding this one-book-at-a-time approach to be painfully slow. This is why my next book will be 50 SHADES OF BLUE, an erotic romance about goblin detectives in the old west. It will be a picture book.

MH: That's a best-seller waiting to happen. Despite my reluctance on erotic romances that would certainly be something to behold. Smudge, originally scene in the Goblin books, reasserts his role as a sidekick/companion in Libriomancer. You mentioned in the introduction that a short story was the impetuous for Smudge coming back. Did you ever feel pressure on bringing a character you've used so much into a new world?

HINES: That would be "Mightier than the Sword," in Gamer Fantastic, yes. I was (and still am) very nervous about bringing Smudge back. I love that little fire-spider. I'm not fond of spiders in general, but Smudge is just fun. I wanted to be true to his character, and I didn't want to bring him back as just a gimmick. He needed a real role in the story, both in terms of the plot, and in his relationship with Isaac. Smudge has changed a little since his time in the goblin caves. The transition to another world has made him a little ... let's call it "quirkier." But the core of his character is very much there, and I had a blast exploring how he'd relate to our world. One of my favorite bits is when Isaac remarks on how Smudge likes to ride on the dashboard, and that a fire-spider works well for defrosting the windshield during those Michigan winters.


MH: I love that little fire spider too. Libriomancer is peppered with genre literary references from both classic and new works. How much were you bribed for those mentions? And did you go back and re-read a lot of books to get the little details right?

HINES: How much did they bribe me? Well, looking at my bills for this month, IT WASN'T ENOUGH! There were actually only a few instances where I deliberately snuck a friend's name in. Ann Crispin has done tremendous work through Writer Beware, and I remember loving her Star Trek novels when I was younger, so I asked if I could put her in as the author of Vulcan's Mirror. My friend Catherine did a quick consult for me on the idea for Rabid, so I listed her as the author for that one. Mostly though, I just looked for the books that fit, and the kind of books Isaac would want to use for various situations.

As for rereading, I wish I had time to reread every book I mentioned. I read some, skimmed through others, and queried the groupmind on Facebook and Twitter for a few.

MH: You're become known as a humorist Fantasy writer. What moment(s) made you feel that was the direction you should head and make your niche in? Were you know as a funny guy growing up?

HINES: When I started seriously trying to make it as a writer, I concentrated on serious stories. I wanted to be deep and powerful. The first time I made someone cry with one of my stories, it was a huge triumph. But none of that stuff sold. Finally, in a fit of annoyance, I wrote a quirky, humorous sword and sorcery story about a magic bunny knife. It won first place at Writers of the Future, and remains the highest-paying short story I’ve ever done. That was my first clue that maybe lighter stuff was a better fit for me. I still pushed myself to learn how to write dark and serious, but I have more fun when I can work humor into the story.

Growing up, I was mostly known as that skinny, geeky kid. But I did enjoy making people laugh. That hasn’t changed. When someone tells me a story of mine cracked them up, or a blog post made them laugh-snort their coffee, it makes my whole day.

MH: Labeling is something many reviewers seem at odds about, especially YA. I find the Jig the Goblin books YA friendly even going so far as to give them to my niece. If you could have had a say and had them published in the YA category would you? Granted the YA category barely existed when Goblin Quest came out.

HINES: YA was growing when Goblin Quest came out, and a part of me wondered if it would have done better had it been marketed that way. It’s one of those books that could go either way, I think. DAW (my publisher) doesn’t have a YA line, so it came out as regular adult fantasy here in the U.S. But the French editions of the goblin books were published as YA. Who am I to try to unravel the mysteries of book marketing?

MH: Sometimes I think it is whatever works that day for publishers. Have you begun work on the sequel to Libriomancer? Any thing you can share such as a title or direction?

HINES: If you'd asked me about the title 24 hours ago, I would have said no, but I just last night emailed several suggestions to my editor. I think my favorite is "Codex Born." I don't know if that will be what we use, but I like it. I'm currently about 25K words into the second draft of book two. I'm exploring Lena's character a bit more, as well as the history of the Porters and some of the enemies Gutenberg made along the way. I'm also pissing off my protagonist, which is what a good author is supposed to do, right?

MH: That's exactly as it should be. Just hope he doesn't pop out of the book one day. More on the history of the Porters and Gutenberg is definitely what I'd like to see. Do you have any celebration rituals when you finish or sell a new book?

HINES: I don't, and I really need to start some. Any suggestions?

MH: A bottle of wine and reading a good book seems like the way to go. Or how about dancing a merry jig? What is the greatest advice you've even been given as a writer?

HINES: Always ... no, never ... forget to check your references. Also, sit your butt in the chair and write!

MH: Now on to the important issues. What is your favorite hat?

HINES: THIS ONE, BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME! (And the bonus sonic screwdriver takes that picture up to 11.)

MH: Now that is a swank hat. What books are you reading at the moment?

HINES: Lots of good stuff! I'm halfway through N. K. Jemisin's Kingdom of Gods, the final book in her Inheritance Trilogy. I've also been reading various works from the Hugo Voter Packet, and recently finished Marie Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons, which comes out in February of 2013.


MH: I love the cover for Brennan's book. I'll have to make time for it. And thanks for all your time. Is there anything you'd like to say to close us out?

HINES: Thanks for inviting me to do the interview. This was fun! For anyone who's read all the way to the end, you can check out the first chapter of Libriomancer at www.jimchines.com, or follow the links on that site to come hang out with me on the blog, Twitter, Facebook and such. Finally, always stock up on emergency cupcakes, never piss off a platypus, and try not to get too jealous of my hat.

MH: I'll try not to get jealous, but it is going to be hard.

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05 August 2012

A Bad Cover Update and New Procurements

I'll willing to admit a mistake when it happens. A short time ago I posted a piece about a very poorly done cover. Not able to hold myself back I ordered a used copy because I'm the curious type. In this case one part because of the bad cover and one part because van Vogt was a big name back in the day, but I've never read any of his work. Well after holding it in my hands it was poorly done, but my little conversation wasn't quite right it turns out. The cover in question isn't just grey, but done in complete silver metallic. I'm not sure this photo does it justice. But just imagine the shimmer. Also, Scott Lynch recently talked about van Vogt and the piece is worth a look.


Anyway here are the other books that have shown up on my stoop the last couple of weeks. Quite a few I've been wanting and others I hadn't even heard of before.


I've already gone over A.E van Vogt's Mission to the Stars so let's move right along to Kage Baker's Nell Gwynne’s At Land and On Sea, which is a posthumous novella finished by the late author's sister Kathleen Bartholomew also a sequel to The Women of Nell Gwynne’s. A Fantasy Medley 2 contains stories by Seanan McGuire, Jasper Kent, Tanya Huff, and Amanda Downum. I'm most interested in the McGuire story as it takes place in world of October Daye albeit hundreds of years from the present time. Jack Glass is Adam Roberts latest novel, but the first I've ever bought of his. The cover simply grabbed me on this one and still hasn't let go. Joe Hill fans join in rejoicing me about the release of the 5th volume of Locke & Key, which is perhaps the best graphic novel series currently going. The Troupe is Robert Jackson Bennett's latest novel and one I'll be getting to soon.

And because I'm losing steam I'll just mention a couple others. The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton is the latest Steampunk-y offering from Night Shade Books, which involved a disease that changes the sex of the person infection, if it doesn't kill them. The name is a pseudonym of an author who has written a couple books that will be revealing themselves soon.   I've been a fan of Kelly Link's work for a long time, so receiving a galley of her Stranger Things Happen collection coming from Sub Press gave me a smile. I also want to check out Sub Press's humongous Best of collection from Robert Silverberg I didn't even know was in the works. I really need to get into Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series, but this latest seems to be a spin off series so I'm not sure if it is a good place to start.

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01 August 2012

FREE FICTION | Jonathan Wood's No Hero


Jonathan Wood's very pleasing Urban Fantasy alt Cthulhu slash homage to Kurt Russell action movies No Hero is being given away free this week through Wired.com along with the never before released sequel Yesterday's Hero. And the sequel has a zombie dinosaur! How can you pass up something as awesome as that? You can't I tell you. You simply can't. The stories of Arthur Wallace and his work with the mysterious MI37 will remind you of some of the best crazy movies of the 80's fully loaded with quips and explosions galore. As Wood has parted ways with Night Shade Books for Yesterday's Hero it will only be available as an eBook.

Last year I said No Hero is “The book Lovecraft might have written if he had a sense of humor and watched too many Kurt Russell movies,” which is still very true and the reason it was an Honorable Mention in the Urban Fantasy Category for the Hatties. So grab this while it last.

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