INTERVIEW | Ian Tregillis author of Bitter Seeds

Ian Tregillis is a debut novelist, scientist, screenwriter, man of leisure, and best of all mammal. His alternative history trilogy, The Milkweed Triptych, which starts with Bitter Seeds has just recently been released from Tor Books. His work has also appeared in the latest volumes of George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards.

MH: Firstly, thanks for agreeing to this interview. Secondly, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? I know you've been involved in GRRM's Wild Cards consortium for a few years now.

IAN: You're welcome. Thanks for interviewing me.

I'm originally from Minnesota. I grew up in the Twin Cities, and attended the University of Minnesota for both college and grad school. But then the lure of gainful employment lured me to New Mexico. A few years later, after a long sequence of events where I was at just the right place at just the right time, I fell in with an amazing collection of professional science fiction writers. I'm still somewhat amazed that they took me in.

A while after I joined up with the local writers, George Martin and Melinda Snodgrass were looking for new writers to join the Wild Cards consortium, in preparation for a relaunch of the series. Melinda and Daniel Abraham convinced George to take a chance on me.

And I've been chained in the hold of his dirigible ever since.

MH: How would you describe Bitter Seeds to new readers?

IAN: It's a fantasy alternative history of World War II, with superpowers, warlocks, spies, demons, and explosions. It's about the human costs of war, both in battle and behind the scenes. (Sometimes I say "superheroes" instead of "superpowers", but I looked ahead to your next question and cheated.) My friend Daniel Abraham calls it an adventure story with magic and spectacle. I jokingly refer to it as, "Watchmen meets Inglorious Basterds."

MH: Bitter Seeds centers around your version of the World War II or more specifically the conflicts between Nazi Germany and Britain. Did you ever worry that creating a story involving Nazi Superhero like people would be seen in a bad light?

IAN: Good question. The last thing I'd ever want is for people to think that Bitter Seeds is intended, in any way, as a glorification of the Third Reich. I tried to make it clear that although the war described in Bitter Seeds isn't the war we know from history books, the background of the fictional world is our world. So the German soldiers in Bitter Seeds serve the same twisted ideology they did in the real world. That hasn't changed.

The project that creates the "supers" in my book is modeled on gruesome human experimentation that really took place. If the book is dark in places, that's because it's skirting the edges of real history. That said, "superhero" is a convenient shorthand to describe some of the characters in the novel--one I use myself, frequently--but it's actually somewhat misleading. What we really mean is that these characters have unnatural abilities. "Superhero" connotes a dogooder, but none of the characters fit that description. Likewise, there are no supervillains.

I tried to paint all the principals in shades of gray. Nobody is purely evil or purely good. Even the protagonists of the story do dark things. At the same time, there is a point of view character on the Axis side of the war, and I wanted to ensure that he wasn't a cartoon. He's very conflicted about what he's doing and what he's a part of. And he should be.

MH: I can attest that none of your characters are placed in easy situations and never with clearcut choices. Your German X-Men come about their powers through scientific means. How did your own scientific background working with Los Alamos National Laboratory and other research influence Bitter Seeds?

IAN: You know, people often ask me that. When I first started kicking around the ideas behind this story, I brought an outline to my local writers' group, to see if they thought it was a project worth pursuing. (They did, enthusiastically.) One of the things I'll always remember from that meeting was the awkward silence, until somebody broke the ice by saying, "So, uh, what exactly do you do at the lab?"

But in fact my science background played very little part in the development and writing of Bitter Seeds. The story is purely fantastical. Writing is my escape, and if I started writing a novel rooted in rigorous science, it would feel like I was taking my work home with me. Although I couldn't resist working just a little bit of real-world physics into the plot.

MH: When I was a kid I would watch reruns of In Search Of hosted by Leonard Nimoy everyday after school and learned about all kinds of weird stuff on ancient civilizations, Dracula, and Loch Ness. This is also the show where I learned the Nazis were very into Ancient Mysteries such as Atlantis and strange science, which was little known until after their downfall. How much if and did the speculation of Nazis experimenting on humans and creating flying saucer tech play into your world?

IAN: In Search Of ! I loved that show when I was a little kid. (It scared the bejeezus out of me, though. Leonary Nimoy made everything sound so creepy.)

There was definitely an undercurrent of weirdness to pieces of the Third Reich, from the Ahnenerbe and pseudohistory, to Himmler's dabbling fascination with the occult. (Although not everything in the Third Reich was steeped in occultism, and in fact many prominent Nazis decried such things. In the grand scheme of things, it was probably more of a footnote than anything else.) The occult angle has been explored quite a bit, so I wanted to take the story in a slightly different direction.

World War II jump started tons and tons of technological research and development, for both the Axis and the Allies. It's also known that the Axis powers performed some truly horrific human experimentation. (At extermination camps in Europe, but also in places like occupied Manchuria.) So, while I didn't veer into saucer tech and foo fighters, I did think it would be interesting to build on that historical record of intense scientific development, and combine it with an overly-literal quest for Nietzsche's "overman".

MH: With so many well known and well regarded writing cohorts you must have been imparted some great wisdom at some point. What's the best advice you've been given as a writer? Have you followed it?

IAN: I've been extremely lucky in my writing efforts, largely because I've been able to work with and learn from some tremendous talents. I've received a lot of advice and guidance over the years, and I try my best to
keep it in mind while I work. Just off the top of my head:

George Martin taught me to, "Never hoard your silver bullet."

Charles Coleman Finlay taught me that spending a lot of time struggling with some aspect of writing isn't necessarily a sign of weakness.

Cory Doctorow taught me that every writer has strengths and weaknesses, and that good writers acknowledge this.

Walter Jon Williams taught me that a truly skilled writer can make anything riveting.

Elizabeth Bear taught me that writing is a process of continual improvement.

Daniel Abraham taught me that "information control" is one of the keys to good storytelling.

MH: While Bitter Seeds is a complete story in and of itself you've set things up well for more stories. What can we expect out of The Coldest War? Will you be attempting to do things any differently in form or style? New character points of view? And most importantly when can I get my grubby little hands on it?

IAN: Hmmmm, let's see...

Bitter Seeds is the novel that introduces Marsh and Gretel, and where she puts all of her pieces on the board. The Coldest War is the novel where Marsh uncovers her plan. Necessary Evil is the novel where he has to deal with it.

There is a new point of view character in Coldest War. That novel follows a similar structure to Bitter Seeds. Necessary Evil, which I'm finishing now, differs from the previous two novels both in style and viewpoint characters. The stylistic change in this third novel has made for an interesting challenge, but I'm excited about it. The Coldest War is currently scheduled for February, 2011. I don't know when Necessary Evil will be hitting shelves.

MH: What caught me when I first saw Bitter Seeds was the beautiful, yet austere cover art by John Jude Palencar. Do you think his depiction of Gretal is accurate to what you envisioned? Did you have a hand at all in the cover's evolution?

IAN: My only influence on the cover art was in writing the actual book. But that didn't bother me at all, because when my editor told me that Tor had hired John Jude Palencar to do the cover for my first novel, I felt like I had hit the jackpot! I've been a fan of Mr. Palencar's work for a long time-- I'd never dreamed his artwork would someday grace one of my covers. The cover art for Bitter Seeds is yet another place where I've been phenomenally lucky.

His rendering of Gretel, and the entire novel, is pitch-perfect. The painting captures so many little elements from the book, both literally and stylistically, that it bowled me over the first time I saw it. I *love* the cover.

MH: Besides the Milkweed Triptych what else are you working on?

IAN: I wrote and tentatively sold a couple of short stories earlier this year (but I'm superstitious, so I'm not ready to announce those sales until the contracts are signed and the checks have cleared-- another thing I learned from GRRM). I'm also playing around with ideas for my next novel project, post-Milkweed. In fact I'll be discussing these with my agent when I see her in a few days. My gift to myself, after I turn in the manuscript for Necessary Evil, will be to finally turn my full attention to stuff that's been on the back burner for many years. I'm very excited about the next novel.

MH:What are two things most people don't know about you?

IAN: I once was thrown out of a Christmas party by a sock puppet.

And, I once had an unfortunate encounter with a Nobel Laureate--a man whom I admired greatly. (Not a bad encounter, just unfortunate.)

MH: In keeping with the name of this blog what is your favorite type of hat? (or just favorite hat if you have one)

IAN: I am very fond of my Tilley hat [pictured at the top]. It has a nice wide brim (which is a good thing, because my pasty Minnesota complexion doesn't respond well to the New Mexico sun) and plenty of airflow. Plus, any hat that can allegedly) pass through the digestive system of an elephant yet still do its job afterwards has got to be a good one, right?

MH: What was the book that made you love the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre?

IAN: My introduction to science fiction happened when I was 5 years old, after the first day of kindergarten. That's when I discovered Dr. Who on public television. The first SF book I remember reading (devouring) was Heinlein's Red Planet. It's a very fond memory for me.

MH: Is there anything you'd like to say in closing?

IAN: I'm running a contest/puzzle on my website right now! First prize is a signed advanced review copy of Bitter Seeds. Details on the contest and some hints on how to play can be found in several entries on my blog, starting here.


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Covers Unveiled for new Resnick, Akers, Barclay, & more

Pyr's Fall list has started appearing on Amazon along with a few of the covers. The first three are the Steampunk covers, which are all winners and exude the fun ascetic of the genre. The last 3 are for James Barclay's series Legends of the Raven, which sport some gorgeous and action packed art. Again these may not be the final versions and I'll add artist credits as I find them. UPDATE: Artists added via Lou Anders.

(Art by J. Seamas Gallagher. Design by Nicole Sommer-Lecht)

The Buntline Special by Mike Resnick is the start to his Weird West series. The art is very reminiscent of Dr. Grordbort. If I wasn't already interested in this it would have turned into an emphatic YES! This is guaranteed to be a wild and fun ride. December release.

The year is 1881. The United States of America ends at the Mississippi River. Beyond lies the Indian nations, where the magic of powerful Medicine Men have halted the advance of the Americans east of the river.

An American government desperate to expand its territory sends Thomas Alva Edison out West to the town of Tombstone, Arizona on a mission to discover a scientific means of counteracting magic. Hired to protect this great genius, Wyatt Earp and his brothers.

But there are plenty who would like to see the Earps and Edison dead. Riding to their aid--old friends Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson. Against them stand the Apache wizard Geronimo and the Clanton gang. Battle lines are drawn, and the Clanton gang, which has their own reasons for wanting Edison dead, sends for Johnny Ringo, the one man who might be Doc Holliday's equal in a gunfight. But what shows up instead is The Thing That Was Once Johnny Ringo, returned from the dead and come to Tombstone looking for a fight.

Welcome to a West like you’ve never seen before, where “Bat Masterson” hails from the ranks of the undead, where electric lights shine down on the streets of Tombstone, while horseless stagecoaches carry passengers to and fro, and where death is no obstacle to The Thing That Was Once Johnny Ringo. Think you know the story of the O.K. Corral? Think again, as five time Hugo winner Mike Resnick takes on his first steampunk western tale, and the West will never be the same.

(Art and type by Benjamin Carre.)

The Horns of Ruin by Tim Akers is the start to a new world for Akers after his Heart of Veridon, which started him on the Noird path. Ohh, rocket packs! I love the detailing on the lettering. November release.

Eva Forge is the last paladin of a dead God. Morgan, God of battle and champion of the Fraterdom, was assassinated by his jealous brother, Amon. Over time, the Cult of Morgan has been surpassed by other gods, his blessings ignored in favor of brighter technologies and more mechanical miracles. Eva was the last child dedicated to the Cult of Morgan, forsaken by her parents and forgotten by her family. Now she watches as her new family, her Cult, crumbles all around her.

When a series of kidnappings and murders makes it clear that someone is trying to hasten the death of the Cult of Morgan, Eva must seek out unexpected allies and unwelcome answers in the city of Ash. But will she be able to save the city from a growing conspiracy, one that reaches back to her childhood, even back to the murder of her god?

 

(Art by Jon Sullivan, design by Nicole Sommer-Lecht)

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder is the first in the Burton and Swinburne series and also his debut novel. Wow. This cover is electric.  It is almost a little too busy what with the long title and series name, but it  works miraculously well with the art. September release.

When one man changes history, history changes everyone!

London, 1861.

Sir Richard Francis Burton--Explorer, linguist, scholar and swordsman; his reputation tarnished; his career in tatters; his former partner missing and probably dead.

Algernon Charles Swinburne--Unsuccessful poet and follower of de Sade; for whom pain is pleasure, and brandy is ruin!

They stand at a crossroads in their lives; and are caught in the epicentre of an empire torn by conflicting forces: Engineers transform the landscape with bigger, faster, noisier and dirtier technological wonders; Eugenicists develop specialist animals to provide unpaid labour; Libertines oppose repressive laws and demand a society based on beauty and creativity; while the Rakes push the boundaries of human behaviour to the limits with magic, drugs and anarchy.

The two men are sucked into the perilous depths of this moral and ethical vacuum when Lord Palmerston commissions Burton to investigate assaults on young women committed by a weird apparition known as Spring Heeled Jack, and to find out why werewolves are terrorising London's East End.

Their investigations lead them to one of the defining events of the age; and the terrifying possibility that the world they inhabit shouldn't exist at all!

(Click to embiggen, artist has been confirmed to be Raymond Swanland)

Elfsorrow, Shadowheart, and Demonstorm by James Barclay are the first three books in the Legends of the Raven series, which Pyr is bring over to the US for the first time in an accelerated published schedule with one a month starting in November. Another jaw dropper set of covers and they are much better than their UK counterparts as the designs are very much in the vein of Forgotten Realms. I have a feeling the artist is Raymond Swanland as it has the feel and color palette of his work on Glen Cooks's Black Company omnibuses.

Look for my interview with Lou Anders, the Editorial Director of Pyr, who discusses quite a few of these books.


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INTERVIEW INDEX

Interviews to date:

Steven Gould author of 7th Sigma

Douglas Hulick author of Among Thieves (review here)

What is one device from a Science Fiction novel you wish were real? (19 Authors Answer)

Mark Charan Newton author of Nights of Villjamur (review here)

Kameron Hurley author of God's War (review here)

Brent Weeks author of The Black Prism (review here)

Steampunk is...(13 Authors & Editors Answer)

Anthony Huso author of The Last Page (review here)

Brandon Sanderson author of The Way of Kings (review here)

Amelia Beamer author of The Loving Dead (review here)

Lou Anders, Editor of Pyr Books (review of Swords & Dark Magic here)

Jon Sprunk author of Shadow's Son (review here)


Ian Tregillis author of Bitter Seeds (review here)

Sam Sykes author of Tome of the Undergates (review here)

Neal Asher author of The Skinner

Zombies (The New Dead) w/ Kelley Armstrong, Mike Carey, Chris Golden, Tim Lebbon, Jon Maberry, & David Wellington

Benjamin Parzybok author of Couch (review here)

Kristine Kathryn Rusch author of Diving Into the Wreck (review here)

Ken Scholes author of Lamentation

Paul McAuley author of The Quiet War (review here)

Cherie Priest author of Boneshaker (review here)

Mark Teppo author of Lightbreaker (review here)

Lev Grossman author of The Magicians (review here)

Karen Miller author of The Prodigal Mage (review here)

Chris Evans author of Iron Elves series

S.M. Peters author of Ghost Ocean (review here)


Character Interviews to date:

Atticus from Kevin Hearne's Hounded

Eva Forge from Tim Akers's The Horns of Ruin

Alexia and Lord Maccon from Gail Carriger's Soulless

Lord Akeldama from Gail Carriger's Soulless

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Review Index

REVIEW | The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas (Roc)

Dark dragons this way cometh.

Kings and Queens from the Dragon Realms are eligible every 10 years to become the unquestioned overseers of all the lands. The 10th year has come and many parties are vying for the seat of power whether it is through political machinations, coercive means, or down-right ruthlessness. And let us not forget the dragons who are more monstrous than nearly any other dragon you've read about before.

The Adamantine Palace is Stephen Deas's debut novel and what a rending and smoking debut it is at times. The first chapter sets a dark and compelling tone and never lightens from there with some of the meanest dragons and wicked characters found in Fantasy. If Christopher Paolini decided to go on a meth-fueled writing bender he probably still wouldn't come close to writing his dragons so devilishly.

There are a few problems, but pacing isn't one of them as he keeps to short, tight chapters that push the story along in a Thriller type fashion. However, the pushing is at a sacrifice to the characters and the world-building. The human characters come off very cold and more lizard-like than the Dragons as they can't seem to keep themselves from sleeping with one another or from trying to kill each other at every turn. While the dragons are oppressed creatures who have been held down too long and are after vengeance for what has been done to them and their peers.

Many of the characters just seem like slight variations on one another, especially when viewed from one generation to the next. Also, the motivations of many of the characters are cloudy at best with them seeming to do just what is unexpected to spite people. In some ways the rest of the book doesn't live up to that first chapter, but things take a turn for the better at the end where Deas has pulled off a jaw dropper after setting so much up to go another way.

The Adamantine Palace shows a lot of promise and sets the ground for what could be a memorable series, but doesn't standout from it's predecessors under the name of gritty fantasy published over the last few years. If you are a big dragon fan you may want to pick it up as Deas does give the dragons a fairly original treatment, but I have a feeling there are better things to come from them in future volumes. I give The Adamantine Palace 6.5 out of 10 hats. I'll definitely be checking out the second book in The Memory of Flames series, The King of Crags once it is released in the states to see if Deas brings much needed detail to the world and characters.


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NEWS | Patrick Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fears pub date

Patrick Rothfuss has just confirmed that the long awaited sequel to The Name of the Wind is nearing completion. The Wise Man's Fear has a firm publication date of March 1st, 2011. He is set to turn in the final draft by September. Mark your calendars! In his very candid post he said:

It’s the third draft she’s read, but it’s the first one I’ve really had any confidence in. The first one was pure crap. The second one was mostly complete but still pretty shaky in parts.

This draft was good. I’m verging on being proud of it. It still has a few problems, but they’re manageable problems. They’re problems I can perceive and get my head around, and that means they’re problems I can solve.

During his talk with his editor at DAW, Betsy Wollheim he was asked very pointedly whether he could commit to these dates:

I said I was sure I could finish it by September.

She asked me if I was sure. Really sure.

I thought about it. Back in 2007, I was sure I’d have the book done by 2008. But I was hugely ignorant and optimistic back then. So I was dead fucking wrong. That caused a lot of grief.

I told her I was really sure I could have it finished by September.

Come hell or high water? She asked me.

Come hell or high water, I said.

Let us all rejoice because come hell or high water we'll have some Kingkiller Chronicles goodness to look forward to in early 2011.  This is a series close to my heart as The Name of the Wind was the book that really turned me on to book review blogs what with Rothfuss doing so many interviews and eventually led me to start Mad Hatter's Bookshelf.  So you have Patrick to blame for all I've plied upon you.


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INTERVIEW | Sam Sykes author of Tome of the Undergates

Sam Sykes is a bit of a wild card in interviews if you've been following him around as he is making a name for himself while trying to promote his debut Tome of the Undergates, but one thing you can be sure of is an entertaining take on any questions asked. I went a little off the deep end with this one as I was hoping Sam would take the ball and throw it through a wall, which he has, much to my delight. I also gave Mr. Sykes a flash fiction challenge as well, which means I am now a publisher of sorts and he is beholden to be from here onto eternity.

MH: You are definitely lighter than Abercrombie. Reading his work you'd think he be a depressive with a violent streak. Reading your work could make you think you hate the water and might have some issues making friends.

SS: My loathing of the water, like a salmon writhing through my subconscious current, actually spawns from my inability to digest fish. Cursed with a crippling iodine allergy, I have been kept far, far away from the world of delectable seafood that you decent, godly people enjoy. My relationships, career and three marriages all collapsed due to my intolerance for their tender flesh. Flung far from society, I harbored my grudge against the ichthyoid menace until it became the manifesto you just read.

Right, then. Let me put on my serious face for a moment...

MH: Thanks for joining me in my little neck of the blogosphere. Firstly, can you tell me what first drew you to Fantasy? I definitely feel like you played a bit of D n D growing up.

SS: It'd be fairly accurate to describe my D&D experience as "a bit." It feels slightly shameful to admit it, especially with so many people claiming that I copy and pasted a campaign into the book, but I haven't actually played a whole lot of the game itself. I owned a lot of books on the subject and read them voraciously, but I lacked the patience to put them to play. I actually became a fan of D&D after I was attracted to books like Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. I still hold those dear to my heart, as I devoured them messily from age 12 to 15, but by that point, I was finding the books a little hard to accept. You had adventures, but they were always a little too cut and dry for me (get money, stab bitches). Which segues nicely into your next question.

MH: Tome of the Undergates follows a small group of people you call Adventurers. Why Adventurers? And what is it that so many people in that world find revolting about them?

SS: I did, actually, start writing about adventurers because that's what I thought people wrote about in fantasy. By this time, I was reading a lot of new and interesting stuff, though, and when I went back to my story, I realized I had just written the same story that everyone else had. That wasn't what altered the story's path, though, so much as the fact that nothing made sense to me.

Adventuring is, as we've been led to believe, a pretty dangerous job: people pick up swords and, without any guarantee of ever coming back, go into dark, dirty places to perform an act that basically boils down to murdering someone and stealing all their stuff. Why would they be noble, kind-hearted and good? Why wouldn't they be greedy, spiteful and a little suicidal? That all sort of spiraled out of hand as I started questioning the ideas of fantasy that we sort of accept as real. Why would humans hate orcs but get along with elves? Why would priests be instantly armed with unshakable faith? Why would a wizard, someone who can bend the laws of reality to his whim, ever feel the need to acknowledge a higher power? Why would savages be noble and teach us more about ourselves than civilization ever could and not...you know, smearing themselves with feces and eating brains?

So I guess the answer to the cause for revulsion: if you met a dude who ran around killing people and taking their stuff, would you like him?

MH: Besides to help pay for your rent and dog food why should everyone get Tome of the Undergates? What do you think sets it apart from other fantasy books? I'm especially interested because you pointed out that nearly all the reviews of Tome thus far have mentioned wildly different aspects.

SS: Well, my ape fighting circuit takes care of rent, so no worries about that.

Really, I think the answer is right there, isn't it? Everyone has been taking different things from TOME and I couldn't be happier about that. Some people enjoy the fight scenes, some enjoy the characters, some enjoy the monsters; many frequently enjoy all three. I think that everyone will find at least something they like about the book because the book itself is a little hard to explain. There are moments of grittiness, to be sure, but even amidst the violence and the animosity, there are moments of tenderness and compassion amongst the characters. There's worldbuilding, of course, but a lot of it comes from the people who live in the world, rather than scenery and history.

The best endorsement I can give it is that, whatever they've loved, whatever they've hated, nobody reading TOME has been bored.

MH: You've been making quite a name for yourself through your blog, twitter, and various review blogs. You've even giving yourself the moniker "angriest man alive." Which just begs the question what would you do if a Carebear walked up to you and wanted a little cuddle from you?

SS: Are we talking Carebears proper or those degenerate swine known as the Carebear cousins? Who thought of that, anyway? "You know what Carebears are missing? Mental illnesses. Give that to them and they are effing set."

I really don't have a choice in being the angriest man alive. It was scientifically proven after my blood was tested for anger and the sample jumped clean off the slide and assumed the doctor's identity, sleeping with his wife, raising his children and eating his food while painting the man proper as an impostor and forcing him to stare from a prison made of lies into the horror that was once his own flesh.

MH: I was thinking the regular variety Carebears. Next I have something of a challenge for you and if you aren't up for it I would totally understand. Have you ever written much flash fiction? If so I'll give you a couple thoughts and leave it to you to write me an instant classic masterpiece. There is a restaurant. One room is left vacant except for a old rickety ladder is in the corner. That room's ceiling is covered with a variety of old doors. A little boy wanders in there. Go!

SS: The people above are hungry. This is what mama tells me. I go downstairs because we need more. We need more, she says, because the people are always hungry. I go in and I find the ladder. The doors start shaking. Mama knows what's behind them. I only know voices. I know the one behind the red door that says mean things, calling me words I can't find in the dictionary we have. I know the one behind the blue door that cries all the time and won't listen to me when I ask it to please be quiet. I know the one behind the green door that used to scream and cry but then started talking softly, telling me things about children my age who run on grass and get toys to play with. The doors never stop shaking until I leave. Today, though, one of them isn't shaking. I pick up the ladder and walk beneath it. It's the blue door. I'm sad. But I go up there, anyway. I wonder what the voice looks like. I wonder if maybe it's just sleeping and maybe I can talk to it today. But probably not. The people above are hungry.

MH: Wow! I didn't know you had it in you. This is creepy and cool at the same time. I'm proud to be the first to publish it.

Besides your short story Humane Killer with Diana Gabaldon in The Dragon Book are there any shorts available or that are planned to be published? Or are you just concentrating on the Aeons' Gate series? What are we in store for in the future from you?

SS: Humane Killer is pretty much it, I'm afraid. We'll see what happens later, but for the moment, I'm working hard to bring out BLACK HALO (the next in the Aeons' Gate Series), and after that, the third book. So You can definitely look forward to those in the impending years.

MH: You recently attended Eastercon, which is one of the bigger Cons in the UK. How was the experience? Also, just how many authors did you lick while there?

(image courtesy of Kamvision)

SS: Eastercon was something of a hoot. It was my second time in Britain, the first time being to meet everyone at Gollancz. I got to meet Joe Abercrombie in passing there, but the actions I took sealed our bitter, blood-deep hatred for each other. It was inevitable, really. We were two opposing forces; nothing quite so dramatic as fire and ice or light and darkness, more of a mild opposition...like cabbage and turnips. Of course, you already know he's cabbage. He just sort of looks like cabbage, doesn't he?

Anyway, I didn't get to lick anyone else. In fact, Mr. Newton, in addition to having eyelashes like moth wings, has the reflexes of a rabid koala. He quickly tumbled away from me the moment he knew what was happening and scrambled up a nearby tree, where he remained for the rest of the Con. I did, however, get to threaten to spit in his editor's mouth. You would have thought she'd be more grateful for the fact that I didn't...

MH: If Sam Sykes were a book what kind of book would he be?

I've always wanted to be one of those "forbidden" books, like the Necronomicon...or the Reaganomicon. The thing is, I'm actually quite a gossip and very bad at keeping secrets. So if I was one of them, I don't think I'd be a very good one. As people walked by, I'd like be sputtering out with my paper lips: "Hey! HEY! Forbidden shit, right in here! Come take a gander, why don't you? How about you, sugar-lips? Dare you look...inside these forbidden pages? Yes, come closer...place your tender hands upon my leathery cover. Yes, ease me out gentle...careful! My spine is so delicate. Yes, look upon me and...what? Well, yeah, there's nothing inside! It's a FORBIDDEN book. Who the fuck was going to think to look inside? Oh, don't you act like this was my fault, you little...hey! Get back here! You can't just leave me open like this! You're ruining the whole 'forbidden' angle!"

I've played this out a million times and it always ends like that.

MH: What are 2 things about you most people don’t know? Do you have a helper monkey to feed and bathe you?

SS I've been told I'm actually quite sweet, which may contradict the image many people have of me being naturally vengeful and sasquatchesque. Aside from that, I suppose one thing people don't know about me is that I never tell people things they don't know about me for fear that they are squirreling away secrets to use against me should I become wealthy, famous and/or possessed of super powers.

Of course, I already have super powers, but I'm not telling you what they are. One of them does involve a monkey, though. I've already said too much.

MH: What is your preferred type of hat? Do you have a horned helm somewhere around the house?

SS: You know, for awhile, I was really into hats when I was in high school. I have no idea why, really; they just seemed like a fun thing to collect. At my pinnacle, I had an army pith helmet, a fez, a top hat, a bowler derby (which I still have), a deerstalker cap and a coonskin cap. My most prized hat, however, was a replica of an 1800s British military helmet. You know, the kind that's all upright and sort of like a cone-head that the British used to wear when they went around kicking the world's collective nuts for a few decades?

I liked this one because, unlike many people my age, I actually had a British friend who would wear it and instantly assume an air of authority, which usually meant he would declare manifest destiny and take my sandwich. "For king and country," he claimed. I was going to argue with him, but he did have the helmet to prove it.

I've been sorely tempted to buy a horned helmet every time I go to the Renaissance Festival, but I've not yet mustered the nerve, mostly out of fear that it will go too well with my drinking horn and one day my ex-wife will read the headline: "HAIRLESS VIKING ARRESTED FOR PUBLIC INDECENCY, CALLING THE PRESIDENT AN 'OWLHOOT.'" None of us need to see that.

MH: And I'll leave the final word with you.

SS: Well, shit, man, everyone's read your review (and other fine reviews) of TOME OF THE UNDERGATES, so I guess if this interview convinces anyone to buy it, that's great. I'd have to wonder what was wrong with the other interviews I gave, though. What, were they just not wacky enough? Will you only support my ostentatious bachelor lifestyle if I dance for you like a mandrill? IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED TO SEE?!


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Recent Read Run-Down & Updatery

Over the last year I've been able to keep to a fairly consistent schedule of at least 4 posts a week if not more. Well, that has suffered a little the last month or so as I've had a lot going on at work. But that still hasn't kept me from keeping up to my review a week pledge, which is still going strong. Plus I've had a lot of things in the cooker that are finally coming to fruition.  Tomorrow look for a lively interview with one Sam Sykes author of Tome of the Undergates. I'm quite proud of the interview in which both Sam and I let loose.  It is definitely one of my sillier interviews.  I've just sent the last batch of questions to Ian Tregillis whose debut Bitter Seeds just recently released and his answers so far have been great as I had some very pointed questions.  Look for that interview next week.  My long awaited interview with George Mann should be up sometime in May as well. Plus I've cornered Lou Anders to an interrogation interview of sorts as he has got loads going on.  I've also been reading a few books as well including a couple great debuts. Lately, I've been going for shorter reads so I've managed to get through quite a few, but as you can see from the list below my tastes have been all over the place.

The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee - This one was a bit of a stretch for me to begin, but around the 80 page mark things started to click as it was something of a culture shock at first.  Definitely not your typical Fantasy novel. The story is set in the icy north with Inuit type cultures that are clashing with the long established settlers from the east. These settlers now live to the south and have some long standing issues of their own with other groups after them.

Some characters have a spiritwalking/animal abilities that re-imagines the werewolf mythos into new and interesting areas. There is only a slight Steampunk bent to the novel, but I didn't learn until finishing that Karin has plans to do more with these characters so it looks like it'll be explored further. There is still much to be revealed about this world, especially the war that is brewing and how the spiritwalkers will play into it. Recommended, especially for those tired of a European/Anglo setting/feel.

Changes by Jim Butcher - The latest in the Dresden Files answers more questions than any of the previous volumes with lost of culminating events. In many ways this acts a a giant season finale.  Some of my cast favorites are inexplicably missing, but this series still hasn't disappointed me yet. Highly recommended, but only if you are caught up on the series.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - A very drool classic time twister that was slow and a little too detailed at times. It definitely took awhile to get going for me.  The first part of the story is very disjointed, but Willis had that planned from the start. Rarely will an author try to intentional confuse the reader as much as she did, but expertly so. Recommended.

Kid vs. Squid by Greg van Eekhout - A debut middle grade reader from van Eekhout whose adult debut Norse Code I enjoyed.  The story more than equals the fun of the title.  Atlantis mythology crossed with a seaside boardwalk equal loads of laughs and some great crustacean fighting action. I already know a couple kids who I'll be buying copies for.  Recommended for those look for a light read between Epics.

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis - This is Ian's stellar debut effort which shows incredible skill at setting and character development. Full review to come.  Highly recommended.

Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk - Another debut, which is one of the best Swords & Sorcery books I've read in this year. Great bloody action with hints of good things to come from what is a planned trilogy.  Full review to come. Highly recommended.  Look for an interview with Spunk in the near future. I actually finished it a couple months back, but Pyr wanted to wait until closer to publication before its release. This is also the first interview I've ever conducted where I hadn't read a book by the author first.

Warriors edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois - It took me a little while to get through this mammoth collection, but it was worth it.  I couldn't help, but read the GRRM dunk story The Mystery Knight first, which if your a fan of the series will make it worth the cover price alone. I actually went back to re-read the first two Dunk & Egg stories before starting the third since it has been years.  All together they make a great tapestry into the earlier years of Westeros.  The Mystery Knight wasn't as entertaining as the first story, but we can finally get an inkling of what he as planned for these characters.  We know how they end up.  We just don't know precisely how they got there. The next standout to me was Joe Haldeman's Forever Bound, which is a prequel to his Forever Peace world. Great use of VR tech.  Dirae by Peter S. Beagle is quite a strange story, but it gets better the deeper you go as the style takes a few pages of getting use to as a warrior women keeps getting switched on and off to complete missions.  There were a few stories I didn't care for, but those turned out to be from authors I haven't enjoyed in the past so it was a bit expected.   A great collection all around.


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REVIEW | Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann (Pyr)

Steampowered cars. Check. Golems. Check. A dank Noir NYC. Check. Twisted people. Check. Strange gadgets. Check.

Ghosts of Manhattan is the first in a new series placed in the same world as Mann's Newbury & Hobbes only pushed into the future late 1920s. I enjoyed Mann's The Affinity Bridge, quite a bit, which is why I had to read Ghosts as soon as I nabbed a copy. With Ghosts of Manhattan Mann goes for the pulp comic feel of the early 20th century instead of a Shelockian pastiche he did so well. Mann's NYC is a version gorgeously accentuated set in a time period I love where Gangsters, big guns, and fast talking women rule. Mann succeeds fairly well especially with the action sequences, but there are some issues which boggled me quite a bit. Either way I did find myself enjoying the book even more than the Newbury series, which had to do a lot with the setting and dark nature of the characters.

Ghosts of Manhattan is like the dirty love child of H.P. Lovecraft and Bob Kane's Batman circa 1920s with flappers and prohibition in which The Ghost is after mob boss The Roman. Mann strings us along for a few chapters about the identity of the hero known as The Ghost, but I wish he had pushed it a bit further to really nail the separate personalities down a bit more. The mysterious Roman as an arch nemesis worked for the first half of the book along with his nefarious minions doing his bidding, but by the time he got directly involved he lost his ominous and dangerous presence even when finally taking center stage. The Ghost still manages quite a few hold-your-breath battles with clockwork Golems, loads of mobsters, and big gun fights that will more than keep you flipping the pages.

The Ghost himself is an also an intriguing character with his history and inventing capabilities, which have enabled him to create some interesting, if not buggy, gadgets along his way as a dark vigilante. Though there are some major problems with the narrative. Mann had the habit of holding out too much on the reader to the point when big plot points are revealed they didn't entirely fit in with what had been covered. For one the main love interest Celeste is left far too vague and when her history and connections are revealed it doesn't seem to make sense. A clue or two more would have helped. This also plays into the problems with not enough revealed about the main villain until the very end, which makes part of the plot feel too thin.

Overall, I recommend Ghosts of Manhattan with some reservations, but it will take hardly anytime to read as it zooms by with breakneck speeds at times and the stylization of the world and most characters is well done. If you're a steampunk fan looking for something a little bit different Ghosts of Manhattan is well worth checking out. Mann has done an admirable job of pushing the steam into the 20th century.

Ghosts of Manhattan is an adventurous pulp style story with shades of The Shadow, The Phantom Detective, and even a little of the noir side of Batman: The Animated Series. The world and story definitely lend themselves to a comic book audience, which may have been a better medium for it. The Cthulhu type universe intrigues me greatly, which I hope is further explored in future installments. I give Ghosts of Manhattan 7 out of 10 hats. I'll definitely be there for the sequel and I still have the second Newbury book The Osiris Ritual beckoning at me from the to-read shelf.


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Blog-o-versary giveaway winners

Sorry about not announcing the winner sooner. I was in charge of moving my company's offices for the last week, which also explains the sporadic posting this week.  But a review will be going up later today or tomorrow to keep my review streak alive.  The grand prize winner of Ares Express and one mystery book is Lynn Marler. The runner-up is Bryce Lee who will win one mystery book. Both winners should expect an e-mail shortly with the selections for their mystery book. Congratulations!

Covers Unveiled for Brandon Sanderson, Chris Wooding, & Pierre Peval

Quite a few new covers have been released recently with Gollancz's new catalog for the latter half of the year some of which have been seen other places, but I still wanted to show these off for one reason or another.  Also, note some of these covers are probably not in their final form.  First up we have the UK version of The Way of Kings, which echoes the look and style of the UK Mistborn covers, but falls short of the coolness of those. Also, I have to question the logic in staying to the same look for The Stormlight Archive since that is going to be a very long series (10+ books).  It would seem deserving of a look all its own at least with the type if not the art concept.

Retribution Falls blew me away recently and now we have the second Tale of the Ketty Jay Black Lung Captain to gander at and get our saliva percolating in anticipation.  The cover is in the class of the first with another gorgeous piece by Stephan Martiniere. Also, the short synopsis has been released.

Buckle up for heist action, thievery, shoot-outs and double-crossing galore


Darian Frey is down on his luck. He can barely keep his squabbling crew fed and his rickety aircraft in the sky. So when Captain Grist meets him, with news of a crashed aircraft laden with treasure, Frey is up for a death-or-victory getrich-quick scheme. If Grist is telling the truth then there’s a fortune up for grabs; it’s going to take all of Frey’s considerable skill at lying,cheating and stealing to get his hands on it...

Pierre Pevel's The Cardinal's Blades has been gaining nice accolades in the UK with liking it to an Alexandre Dumas novel crossed with dragons.  It has been translated from French and Pyr will be publishing The Cardinal's Blade in the next 12 months or so with the follow-up The Alchemist in the Shadows to follow, which is shown above. Pyr has also mention they'll be keeping the UK cover art, which is a smart idea, especially given both are done by Jon Sullivan, the artist behind many of my favorite recent covers including the US launch of The Shadows of the Apt series.  The cover is a little on the low resolution side, but I found the original art on Sullivan's site, which shows it off quite well.

Welcome to Paris in 1633, where dragons menace the realm. Cardinal Richelieu knows that France is under threat once again, and aims to counter it with his most trusted men: the Cardinal’s Blades. But they’re up against a man as elusive as he is manipulative, as subtle as Richelieu himself. The Alchemist in the shadows... Packed with beautiful, dangerous women, dashing rogues, and dragons, this is another triumph from Pierre Pevel.

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REVIEW | Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
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