REVIEW | Swords & Dark Magic ed. by Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders (Eos)

With Swords & Dark Magic editors Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan have amassed an all-original collection of Sword and Sorcery from both new and long established masters of the genre. Overall the volume doesn't disappoint. There are a few ruts which didn't take off for me, but for those that did work well made this a memorable volume. What surprised me most was the pacing of many of the stories. What I'd call the old school authors seem to go for more of a slow build-up while the newer entrants for the most part vie to grab you from the first page with action. Now on to some of the highlights.

“Goats of Glory” by Steven Erikson - A very slow moving story for the most part. I was getting bored until the magic part finally got introduced and at that point I was hooked. Demon hordes are a bunch of pushovers when a group of warriors comes out of the mountains. A very satisfying ending with good action in the last third.

“Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company” by Glen Cook - The Company is on a bit of a lull as they have been stationed in one city without anyone to battle for months. When all of a sudden they are again tossed into the machinations of their betters. Definitely one of the better Black Company shorts I've read as it shows they are more than just the brawn and have got brains to back it up. Croaker keeps his usual tone and aplomb as the company figures out away to solve the heart of the matter without getting their own throats cut.

“Bloodsport” by Gene Wolfe -  In some ways this reminds me a lot of a GRRM Dunk & Egg story without Egg. A new Knight is made to play the games of their sovereign, but when the games are over and all else is lost they strive to better the world around them and give themselves a purpose. The world is left vague as Wolfe wants you to connect and care for the characters more, which he succeeds at adequately. Quite good, but felt unfinished.

“The Singing Spear” by James Enge - This was one of my favorites in the collection. It was over before I wanted it to end. Just the right amount of action and humor and wonderfully paced. You don't mess with a mad Wizard's bartender and live to tell the tale. I'll definitely have to get to the copy of Blood of Ambrose I bought a while back soon. Enge has created quite a memorable character I'd like to explore a bit more.

“A Rich Full Week” by K. J. Parker - A zombie Sword & Sorcery tale with a Priestly Philosopher cum Wizard. As with most Parker stories she goes for a different angle than most would as the Philosopher doubts himself yet is still able to project the persona he needs to to survive and get the job done and get the walking deadman. Very good inner dialogue.

“A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet” by Garth Nix - The first Nix I've read and what an inventive world he has here which we just get a peek at. Sir Hereward a injured knight is recuperating as his puppet manservant is off exploring the area they are staying in. The knight wants to get a present for his puppet man Mister Fitz, which leads to a nice battle with a treacherous demon. I definitely want to check out some more Nix now. Nix also has a free story with the same characters available online, which precedes this one.

“Red Pearls: An Elric Story”  by Michael Moorcock - Big literary confession time. I can't remember ever reading an Elric story before in novel or short form. That will be changing since "Red Pearls" introduced me to an amazingly weird world and leading character. I'm not sure where it falls in the pantheon of Elric stories and I have a feeling it fills in a gap that fans have wanted, but nonetheless it was easy to follow and certainly gave you a good flavor for what Moorcock is known for.

“In the Stacks” by Scott Lynch - Hands down the best story in the volume. Lynch's imagination is in top form as Wizards in training must venture into the bowels of an ancient magical library to return books to their proper stations. In some ways this is what we'd get if Jasper Fforde decided to go for more of a traditional Fantasy tale. Splendid and just plain fun. The prose and characters are as always well done and this shows the gentler side of Lynch.

“The Sea Troll’s Daughter” by Caitlin R Kiernan - For some reason this is one of the stories that is most staying in my mind and I'm having a hard time pinning down why that is. It is a story that shows heroes are not always the best people as the heroine in this case has a drinking and attitude problem. In a juxtaposition the Sea Troll's daughter comes off more humane than that of the heroine although it has a bit of a non-ending.

“The Fool Jobs” by Joe Abercrombie - As always Abercrombie does an amazing job at introducing an unusual cast of characters and putting them in a very awkward situation as they search for a magical something, but what that magical something is is not at all clear. This takes place in the North of the First Law world with Craw who some of you may remember unless you blinked. Great twist of an ending like only Abercrombie can do, but I do think his work is more suited to long form. Or it could just be "The Fool Job"s feel too much like a prelude of what is to come in The Heroes. Which in essence it is.

If you are a fan of old school Sword & Sorcery this is a collection not to be missed. It is filled with everything S & S lovers want: action, magic, grey characters, and evil baddies. A few key stories brings this up a few notches in the anthology pantheon with the Nix, Enge, and Lynch being the biggest standouts. As for the goal of being a definitive look at Sword & Sorcery it missed the mark, but not by much. A few of these deserve inclusion in one of the Years Best Anthologies at the least. I give Swords & Dark Magic 8 out of 10 hats. Overall, I'll have to throw some curses at Anders and Strahan for putting such a good anthology together and exposing me to so many authors I've been meaning to try, some for more than a decade, and by extension making me buy a few books by these authors. I'm definitely going to try a Nix and have to decide on what Elric book to start with. Any suggestions?


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Cover Unveiled for Ghost Story (Dresden Files 13) by Jim Butcher

WARNING: For those fans who haven't read Changes yet don't look too closely at this cover.

After the amazing and life changing events of Changes we have to wait a little while until the next volume Ghost Story is released in March 29, 2011.  Again the art by Chris McGrath Dresden illustration regular is veering away from the alleyways of Chicago as was done with Changes for something a bit different. At first glance I thought it was a bit too close to White Night, but the position and detailing make it work.

To tide us over for our Dresden fix we'll have the short story Dresden Files collection Side Jobs to look forward to this October 26th, which has a post Changes short called "Aftermath" from Murphy's point of view. Also for those hardcore fans and RPGers out there we have the Dresden Files RPG debuting any day now.  I just got my preview PDFs and they look quite amazing. I can't wait until the final printed book shows up.


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GUEST POST | Ekaterina Sedia on Anthology Editing

The creation of anthologies have always intrigues me.  Some are definitely better than others and generally if you have an editor who holds to a certain level you'll end up with a quality selection even if you don't love every story.  I've been following Ekaterina Sedia's work for the last couple of years ever since a friend told me about The Secret History of Moscow. Since then Sedia put out the outstanding The Alchemy of Stone and is now working on her third anthology after the World Fantasy Award winning Paper Cities and the just released Running With the Pack.  With all her recent work with anthologies I invited her to discuss her process for selection.  We also discussed a "What is Urban Fantasy" post, which she touches on as well.


All You Need To Do To Get Published is Haunt Your Editor's Dreams

Putting together an anthology is an interesting proposition – and I suspect that methods differ widely from anthologist to another. I, of course, can only talk about my approach. I'm currently working on BEWERE THE NIGHT, another urban fantasy antho I'm doing for Prime. This is my third solo urban fantasy anthology, and I'm starting to feel that I finally have some idea of what I'm doing.

The stories that I select are chosen by a highly idiosyncratic method – if I love it, I buy it; there's no telling in advance of what I'm going to love. Usually, there are more good stories than I have openings, so I retain the stories I like until everything is in, and then make my final selections. Keep in mind that some slots are allocated in advance – to solicited reprints and originals. And the process of selection is just like that – but generally, if I think the story is good, I'll buy it.

Many writers seem to get hung up on irrelevant details though – recently, I've been getting a lot of questions about my formatting requirements, what exactly do I mean by urban fantasy, etc etc. And the thing is – I don't think anyone was ever rejected for wrong font or an extra space after a period, or a summary of the story in the cover letter. All of those things don't matter if the story is good. Also, most editors (I'm guessing, although it is certainly true for me) don't know what they're looking for until they read it. So asking me whether I want ass-kicking chicks-urban fantasy or Charles de Lint-urban fantasy is a tad unnecessary – unless the guidelines specify some very narrow niche, you should just send in anything that you think might fit. Editors know when they cast a wide net – vague guidelines usually is not an oversight that needs to be corrected or clarified but an invitation. I've certainly acquired my share of stories that were neither urban nor particularly fantasy at that. But it's a sin to turn away a great story because it didn't meet some silly limitation, you know?

Now, what makes a story good? Usually, the stories I pick have surprised me somehow. For example, Molly Tanzer's story "In Sheep's Clothing" (from Running with the Pack) surprised me by an ingenious way it fused some very modern concerns with the werewolf myth. Others, like Kaaron Warren's "The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfalls" (which will be reprinted in Bewere the Night), delighted and shocked with their very strangeness, with the language and imagery that created an uncanny, dreamlike feel. I even dreamed about the story the night after I read it, and the next day emailed Kaaron asking her for the reprint. See? All you have to do is to haunt editors' dreams.

And since the host of this blog asked, I'd also like to touch on the whole what-is-urban-fantasy thing. The supernatural detective who kicks ass and sleeps with whatever it is she's investigating became as much a cliché (or a convention, if you will) as a magical school or a put-upon orphan who is secretly royalty. None of those are necessarily better or worse than the others. But here again we come against the issue of unnecessary limitation. Why write about vampires when everyone is writing about vampires? Why artificially narrow the genre, which is completely self-described in its own name? Fantastical happenings in (modern) cities are so much richer and more inspiring than whatever the current mold happens to be. It's like people who argue that steampunk has to take place in Victorian England – they are certainly entitled to their opinion but it doesn't mean that everyone else agrees.

So to me, urban fantasy can be pretty much anything, as long as it's somewhat modern day and somewhat fantastical. Same with were-creatures – if there's a change from a human to animal or vice versa, it fits. Genres are really just for the book shelving convenience; don't let anyone tell you that these are scriptures. Too strict adherence to rules can be misguided; adherence to the rules that don't really exist is just puzzling.


Ekaterina Sedia resides in the Pinelands of New Jersey. Her critically acclaimed novels, The Secret History of Moscow and The Alchemy of Stone were published by Prime Books. Her next one,The House of Discarded Dreams, is coming out in November 2010. Her short stories have sold to Analog, Baen's Universe, Dark Wisdom, and Clarkesworld, as well as Haunted Legends and Magic in the Mirrorstone anthologies. She is also an award-winning editor ofPaper Cities anthology, with Running with the Pack just released and Beware the Night coming in 2011.

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Contest for Brent Weeks / Greg Bear flip Chapbook

I have a two copies of the Brent Weeks and Greg Bear mini-flip book that Orbit was giving out at Book Expo this year.  I grabbed two not realizing it was a flip so that's more for my fine readers.   The Weeks half is the first three chapters of The Black Prism and the Greg Bear portion is the first four chapters of Hull Zero Three. This is a very nice chapbook style production with a sturdy cover and the text printed on nice gloss so it should make a good collectible for the Weeks and Bear fans out there.

To enter send an email to madhatterreview (AT) gmail (dot) com with your full name and snail mail address and "WEEKS-BEAR" in the subject line. Include the name of your favorite Weeks or Bear character along with the title of the book they appear in. The deadline is midnight June 15th. I'll announce the winner on the following day or as soon as I remember. This contest is open to the people of the United States and Canada only since I'm paying for shipping. If you send multiple entries you will be disqualified from the contest.


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VIDEO | Steampunk Panel from School LJ at BEA 2010 w/ Cherie Priest, Scott Westerfeld & Cory Doctorow

This is a rather interesting video from this years Book Expo as part of the School Library Journal portion of the show. The panel is different than the one I mentioned in my BEA rundown, which was on the show floor.This particular event was with Cory Doctorow, Scott Westerfeld, and Cherie Priest was meant more for a Librarian audience with a focus on YA Steampunk.



As soon as the Steampunk panel from the show floor is online I'll let you know.  That was a good one as well from what little I caught with Catherynne Valente and Cherie having very differing views on Steampunk out of England.

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MEME | Book Habits Meme, Summer 2010 Edition

This meme has come back around again so I figure I'd do an update.

What is your favorite drink while reading?

Cool water or sometimes a diet Cherry Dr. Pepper.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

Horrifies me to no end. I hate marring books in any manner.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

Generally one of the many bookmarks I have. If it is a book I've been looking forward to I'll try to use a green leather bookmark I picked up in Ireland 8 years back.  It is sort of like my lucky sock when playing football only for books.

Fiction, nonfiction, or both?

Mostly Fiction for the last year.  Although I have a special place in my heart for travel narratives ala Bill Bryson and J. Maarten Troost (The Sex Lives of Cannibals). But I enjoy a good Science or History read for time to time as well. Such as 1491 by George Mann (no relation to the steampunk author) or the Edge.org books edited by John Brockman (What Do You Believe But Cannot Prove).

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

I can stop anywhere, but I usually will wait to the end of a chapter or section break. I rather wait until the end of the chapter because otherwise I'll end up re-reading a page.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

Not that I can't remember. I'm much more verbal than physical. I might curse it out, but that rarely happens.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

Not usually. I'll usually have an idea of what it means given the context.

What are you currently reading?

I won't read two novels at the same time, but I'll certainly mix in some shorts and graphic novels. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem is the novel right now. So far it is quite amazing. On the graphic novel front I've been making my way through The Goon by Eric Powell. Really great series that I'll have to get more of soon.

What is the last book you bought?

Graphic Novels: Witchfinder by Mike Mignola, B.R.P.D.: 1946 by Mike Mignola, and The Mice Templar: Destiny.


Books: Plan B by Jonathan Tropper and Four and Twenty Black Birds by Cherie Priest.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?

Answered above. No more than one novel at a time, but shorts and comics do get worked in.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?

Any place, any time. But weekends are the best as I'll usually get through one book while it takes me 5 workdays to get through one.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?

No real preference, but I guess series.  I like to see characters and worlds grow and change so they usually work best for me.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?

Many. The names I've been saying for the past few years would be: Walter Moers, Jasper Fforde, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie, Matt Ruff, Jim Butcher, John Scalzi, & Robert J. Sawyer.  Some newer names would be Ken Scholes, Mark Teppo, Cherie Priest, & Mike Carey.

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)

By size and level of interest, but not much else.  Check out this post for more.


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New Procurements (My mail person must hate me)

The last couple weeks were pretty quite for books and than all of a sudden I got 7 packages in one day. A couple of those were books I ordered and below few others were nabbed while I was out and about.

Thunderer by Felix Gilman - This I picked up at Tor's Steam Salon and while I was there Gilman signed it.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest - Also from the Steam Salon as I can never find it in store.

Twelve by Jasper Kent - My UK counterparts have been talking this Vampire read up for a year now and I'll definitely be partaking of this review copy at some point in the near future.

Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk - This is the finished copy of Sprunk's fine debut (review here), which shows off the art wonderfully.

Absorption by John Meaney - Part of my Book Depository order, which is still rolling in. How could I pass up a Sci-Fi series with Ragnarok as the series title? Well I couldn't, so there.

Plan B by Jonathan Tropper - I've been itching for some more Tropper after enjoying last year's This Is Where I Leave you so very much. Tropper's publisher is reissuing his books so I snagged this on my last trip to Borders with a coupon.

Hamlet's Mill: An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge And Its Transmission Through Myth by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechen - I've long been a fan of Ancient Mystery type books regarding past civilaztions and lost history.  Think Graham Hancock.

Dog Blood by David Moody - This is the sequel to Moody's debut Hater sent from the publisher. I'll definitely check it out soon.

The Machinery of Light by David J. Williams - The third and final book in the Autumn Rain trilogy sent by the author. Review of the first book is still to come.

Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds - Another review copy that I'll be devouring by the end of June.

Antiphon by Ken Scholes - Galley of one of my most anticipated series now. If you haven't tried Scholes get off your butts and do it.  You won't regret it. I'm anxious to read it now, but I try to hold off until close to publication.

Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handeland - I'm a little wary of this mash-up take off after my abortive attempt at reading Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, but I'm a big Shakespeare fan so I just might try it out. Review copy from publisher.

Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts -  I like Urban Fantasy, but the cover turned me off at first. Having re-read the back cover copy it does pique my interest again as a not your run of the mill UF mixing sword forging with dwarves in a modern setting. Review copy from publisher.

Twisted Metal by Tony Ballantyne - Not picture because it just showed up. Another from Book Depository. Did someone say robot war?


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Away and Contest notice

By the time you read this I will be somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.  Hopefully the waves won't get to me and I'll be having a blast.  There will still be plenty going on here for the next week although I won't be quick on replies to e-mail or comments here. I've got a great guest post from Ekaterina Sedia coming up and a neat little giveaway for Brent Weeks and Greg Bear fans out there.  Also, Harry over at Temple Library Reviews has a great contest going on for a bookcase.  Go on and stop by because you know those piles of books would look nicer on that beautiful shelf.

REVIEW | Health Agent by Jeffrey Thomas

This review is a little late. I read Health Agent a few months back, but when I moved back to my house the book got misplaced. But here now are my thoughts after a bit of a re-read and finding my original scribbles.

Health Agent is a very early version of Punktown. It was the first originally intended long form visit to Punktown by Thomas, but the first publisher dropped the ball. Now more than 20 years later we finally get a look at what Thomas had cooking, which has grown so much since Health Agent was originally written.

Health Agent is a penetrating read that sticks in your soul for a good, dark time. In many ways Health Agent is a very disturbing read. Firstly the subject matter is communicable diseases, which must be controlled or completely eradicated. Whores, both male and female abound in Health Agent along with hardcore drug use, depraved sex acts, and horrific blood chilling scenes of a very graphic nature, especially in the second half. In some ways it reminded me of some of the sicker scenes of the Saw movies, which for me is a bit too much, but I pressed through my discomfort because I had to know the out come which shows what a compelling story Thomas has here.

Health Agent is the story of Agent Montgomery Black and his partner Opal Cowrie. They are responsible for tracking down and arresting people infected with alien diseases in particular Mutstav 670, which is running rampant and causes death in every person infected in less than a year. While on investigation Black and Opal get infected in an odd arts show so they get to see how the other side fairs. This isn't a case of good agent gone bad, but of good agents thrown into the worst of circumstances and seeing a conspiracy wherever they look. Black eventually survives, which leads to the second part of the book where he is no longer an agent.  Now he is taking it easy working in a train station as a magazine seller when a beautiful girl catches his eye, but his skills as a detective quickly takeover as he notices she is injured sometimes when he sees her. This is the point in the story where the really bad and sick train rolls in to Punktown.  Black suspects connections between the art show that infected him and the show this girl is now involved in. The connections work well and the Sci-Fi aspect comes more into play as quite a few alien species get more involved with the story.

Health Agent is at its core a detective novel set in a Sci-Fi enviroment, but if you are sqeamish you might want to pass it over as it can get pretty extreme at times.  The ending wraps thing up well and shows there is redemption in Punktown. It is just hard to get and earn, but Monty eventually gets his due. I give Health Agent 7.75 out of 10 hats.  I found this fresher than even the more recent Blue War, but the Punktown shorts are still my favorites. All in all this gives a deeper insight into what Thomas has been brewing for over 20 years. Recommended for recent fans of Charlie Huston's Sleepless and other Sci-Fi mixed with Horror elements.


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Recent Read Run-Down

Well I've been reading a lot even if I haven't had time to review everything. I wanted to share my thoughts and continue a log of sorts of what I've been reading. I especially wanted to get this down as I'll be on vacation next week and didn't want these to fade from memory too much. Don't worry about my absence as I have plenty of posts scheduled for my time away, which includes an author guest post.  As you'll see below I'm still avoiding books over 500 pages at the moment. I've definitely been in the mood for lighter reading fair and that will probably continue for the next couple of weeks.

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - This is the first book Zafon ever wrote, which also happens to be a YA book.  You can definitely see how The Shadow of the Wind developed from here.  The prose isn't nearly as beautiful, but accomplishing that would be difficult given the intended audience.  YA books just don't stretch your vocabulary as an adult book intends to do.  Still it was a very fine read that I recommend all Zafon fans seek out.  The ending was a bit off, but the first two thirds built up well. I'd love to hear thoughts about this one from someone who hasn't read The Shadow of the Wind to see what an outsider without the high expectations gets from it.   Zafon's publisher Little Brown is planning on releasing his other two YA books a year apart.

The Mirrored Heavens by David J. Williams - Recommended.  Full review to come.

Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez - Yet another great comic romp.  Martinez is solidifying his place as one of American's best Speculative Humorists. The ending was a bit predictable, but I can overlook that for the entertainment value as Martinez's baggage-laden gods show how truly gone wild they are, especially after being invited into someone's home. In some ways this is a humorous version of Gaiman's American Gods that doesn't take it self too seriously, but using gods little used in literature elsewhere.  Highly recommend for those looking to laugh.

Strata by Terry Pratchett - An okay read that I was expecting more out of.  Definitely not the Pratchett we've come to know and love.  This was him striving for more of a hard Sci-Fi story.  While it does the science part fine the characters were difficult to care for and a section at the beginning of the main journey bothered me in its execution.  It is a good read to see the evolution of the idea of a disc world, but I prefer other early Pratchett such as The Carpet People and The Bromeliad Trilogy.

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr - I thought I had read this years ago, but I think I might be mistaken.  Either way I doubt I would have appreciated it as much in the past.  This is a classic not to be missed by anyone.  The third section lost me a little as it feels a little dated, but the first two are timeless and amazing in their style and execution.  This story is a forbearer to so much Apocalyptic fiction it is scary to think where that subgenre would be if it had never been published.

The Goon Vol. 1 through 5 and The Goon: Noir by Eric Powell and others - I am officially addicted to this truly awesome graphic novel series.  I'd rank it close to Hellboy in terms of quality of art with the cover paintings being especially grabbing.  The stories are pretty darn good as well as the mob muscle/anti-hero known as The Goon battles a Zombie Priest and his hordes.  With each passing chapter The Goon gains unexpected complexity, but it is the all out fights you'll stick around for.  He combats a mad scientist, werewolves, mutants, and a host of other creatures.  All in all it is a great mix of 30's Noir and the paranormal with a deep humor bent that can border on the inappropriate. Highly recommended.

Swords and Dark Magic edited by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan - Highly recommended. Full review to come.

Stalking the Vampire by Mike Resnick - The second in the John Justin Mallory series of uber hard-boiled Detective stories in an alternative Manhattan infested with creatures of myth and legend. The story moves along at a quick pace, but some of the repetitive dialogue between certain characters was tiring. This mostly had to do with Mallory and his cat-girl protector Felina arguing about what she is going to eat.  Still I like Mallory and his no nonsense attitude plus their are loads of funny lines between other characters. Recommend for those looking for a light read with some laughs.

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