New Procurements

So I'm doing fine in the book department since I announced my book buying hiatus. And the book haul sent to me from publishers the last couple of weeks is definitely in the manageable area. If I had been buying per my usual rate there would be at least another 2 or 3 books below. Believe me the urge has hit me.

Masked edited by Lou Anders - This is the finished copy sent from the publisher of Anders' superhero prose anthology I've been so looking forward to. I plan on getting to this quite soon, but I'm in the middle of two other anthologies so it'll have to wait, but not too long with a Mike Carey sitting in there. The cover looks even better in person.

Tracato by Joel Shepherd - This is the galley of the third book in Shepherd's Blood & Steel series, which has been likened to A Song of Ice and Fire in a lot of places.  I also have the second book in the series, but not the first so given my pledge I doubt it will be read anytime soon.

CassaStar by Alex J. Cavanaugh - This is galley Cavanaugh's debut science fiction novel.  The official release is set for October so I'm sure I'll be reviewing it before than. Here is the trailer that has been making the rounds.



Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn - I've been meaning to read Carrie Vaughn for a while, but didn't want to jump in to a long established series such as her Kitty Norville werewolf books, so this standalone may fit the bill.  I actually had it on my Looking Forward Urban Fantasy post and nearly forgot about it until Tor was kind enough to send a copy. Also, the protagonist is a comic book writer, which ups the ante for me to make time.

Virga: Cities of the Air by Karl Schroeder - Tor has smartly decide to do trade paperback's of Schroeder's Virga series starting with an omnibus of the first two in the series Sun of Suns and Queen of Candesce. This is something I think more publishers should do.  Especially for series with four or more books. Look at the long success of The Black Company series or Wolfe's New Sun and other related books. Also over the years I've found myself less willing to read mass markets and would much rather have a trade paperback, which is easier to read and holds up better.


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New Procurements after my last major bookstore visit

REVIEW | The Mirrored Heavens by David J. Williams (Spectra)

Earth has been in turmoil for decades with constant wars, and infighting. Only in the last few years have political and military powers reached a detente, which is quickly eroding as an unknown terrorist group only known as Autumn Rain seek to cause havoc around the world and in nearby space. The United States and the Eurasian Coalition have agents in the field trying to understand and control the situation lest full-scale war erupt, which both side believe would mean the end of Earth.

David J. Williams' debut The Mirrored Heavens is cross breed of Cyberpunk, Thriller, Cold War Politics, and Espionage that all starts with a loud bang as a space elevator is blown into pieces and no one is sure why. Players on all sides are thrown into the mix with hardly anyone's allegiances trusted. All the main characters just seem like shades of the same person as they are all a bit sociopathic and overly precise, which can make it hard to separate the characters as they have similar voices. But these are altered humans who are specially trained to kill and infiltrate. Most agents are sent off in pairs with one being a Razor, who is the muscle of the group nearly Terminator-like while the other, the Mech, can make computers do their bidding who have circuitry on the brain.

Adrenaline floods Haskell’s body, merges with her distant ecstasy—and as it does so, her perception in the zone sharpens even further. The nervous system into which she’s extended her own crystallizes still finer. The edges grow sharper, the colors brighter, the shadows darker.

The Mirrored Heavens is an exhilarating read as Williams moves things at such a break-neck pace I often found myself having to take breaks just to absorb everything that was going on. Williams throws so much in the well it was close to overkill on more than one occasion with too much information and action making it hard to take everything in and really nail the look of everything in your mind's eye. I'm sure I lost some meanings or connections along the way. Regardless, Williams' vision of 2110 is one of the most action packed Sci-Fi novels around today with twisty characters that have capabilities that you can never guess.

Whirling. Marlowe confronts only air—and than instinct saves his life, for instead of drawing up dumbfounded, he keeps moving, diving as his adversary’s knife (replete with powered saw-edges to shear through even heavy armor) flies through the space where his head had been a moment before. Dive seamlessly switches to somersault, leaving him on the floor, firing backward over his head, riddling the man with bullets. The whole action has taken less than two seconds. Whoever he was, this man is now dead.

Williams denies giving his characters even the briefest of breaks as they are tossed from one battle to the next in this very bleak future. One of the main questions that kept coming to mind was: Does this future humanity deserve to survive? So few people seem redeemable and most are downright unlikable as they use and twist people to their own desires. Even thinking this I didn't have a problem pulling forward given the vivid, but somewhat frantic style.

If you like complex military Sci-Fi with a razor sharp edge or cold war politics mixed with hi-tech action The Mirrored Heavens is well worth checking out despite some issues. I give The Mirrored Heavens 7 out of 10 hats. Also, I'd recommend the mass market edition as it has a nice appendix with a timeline that I made use of more than once. I have The Burning Heavens the second book in the Autumn Rain Trilogy, which I'll partake of in the future to see if some of the issues I noticed were improved upon. Plus there is a lot going on in this future that I want answers to.  Also check out the site for the series as it looks pretty cool.


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Winner of The King's Bastard [Signed] by Rowena Cory Daniels

The lucky winner of Rowena Cory Daniels's The King's Bastard is Pamela from Escondido, CA.  Look for more giveaway goodness in the weeks to come.

Cheers,

Your friendly book-loving Mad Hatter

REVIEW | Time and Again by Jack Finney

My first SFF Masterworks Blog review is live for Jack Finney's classic Time and Again. I think this is definitely one of my best constructed reviews with thanks to Larry for his keen eye and pushing me to raise my game. Go on over and take a gander and be sure to check what else is going on. We're already up to 9 reviews within less than two weeks of launching.  Sure plenty more are to come, but you've gotta start somewhere and we've already tackled George R.R. Martin's Fevre Dream and Philip K. Dick's Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep?.

At some point I'll add my reviews to Mad Hatter's, but for the time being they'll only be available at SFF Masterworks.

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UK Cover Unveiled for The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie has released the UK cover for The Heroes, and I like.  I like it a lot.  It follows in the footsteps of the beautiful UK edition of Best Served Cold, which also had a map/weapon combo.  The map was drawn by Dave Senior and the axe is by Didier Graffet.  This is not the final draft as blood and some other details will be added.

War: where the blood and dirt of the battlefield hide the dark deeds committed in the name of glory. THE HEROES is about violence and ambition, gruesome deaths and betrayals; and the brutal truth that no plan survives contact with enemy. The characters are the stars, as ever, and the message is dark: when it comes to war, there are no heroes…

Meet THE HEROES.

Curnden Craw: a ruthless fighter who wants nothing more than to see his crew survive.

Prince Calder: a liar and a coward, he will regain his crown by any means necessary.

Bremer dan Gorst: a master swordsman, a failed bodyguard, his honor will be restored—in the blood of his enemies.

Over three days, their fates will be sealed.

Here is the US cover from Orbit just for comparison sake:

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Cover & Table of Contents Unveiled for Life on Mars ed. by Jonathan Strahan

Science Fiction stories about Mars have been popular within the genre for more than the past century starting with The War of the Worlds and with a particular upswing in the 1950s spurred by Ray Bradbury and the pulps of the day. Life on Mars looks to revitalize the well trod upon Martian landscape yet again with a stellar crew of contributors and another inspiring cover piece by Stephan Martiniere. To say this is an amazing group of authors given the topic is something of an understatement. Reynolds, Baxter, Doctorow, McDonald, and Robinson all in the same volume with new stories! Plus what is probably one of Kage Baker's last written stories. Behold the full table of contents:

1. “Attlee and the Long Walk” by Kage Baker

2. “The Old Man and the Martian Sea” by Alastair Reynolds

3. “Wahala” by Nnedi Okorafor

4. “On Chryse Plain” by Stephen Baxter

5. “First Principle” by Nancy Kress

6. “Martian Chronicles” by Cory Doctorow (novella)

7. “Goodnight Moons” by Ellen Klages

8. “The Taste of Promises” by Rachel Swirsky

9. “Digging” by Ian McDonald

10. “LARP on Mars” by Chris Roberson

11. “Martian Heart” John Barnes

12. “Discovering Life” by Kim Stanley Robinson

I'm very curious about Doctorow's piece. Maybe an homage to Bradbury? The anthology is being pitched to a YA audience, but it should play well with adults as well. Also, the McDonald story might have something to do with the YA novel he recently sold to Pyr. Either way this will be a can't miss for Sci-Fi short story or Mars fans. Life on Mars is scheduled to be released in April of 2011 by Viking.


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MEME | Gollancz SF Masterworks

A few of my fellow SF and Fantasy Materworks Reading cohorts have been posting what they have read in the SF Masterworks series and I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring.  What I've bolded are books read and italics means I own it, but it has been gathering dust.  Hopefully in a year's time this list will look a lot more bolded.  This list also includes new Masterwork releases coming out later this year and the first section of roman numerals of the list are a special run of hardcovers in the series, which are also in the numbered series.

I - Dune - Frank Herbert
II - The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
III - The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick
IV - The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
V - A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr.
VI - Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
VII - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
VIII - Ringworld - Larry Niven
IX - The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
X - The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham

1 - The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
2 - I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
3 - Cities in Flight - James Blish
4 - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
5 - The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
6 - Babel-17 - Samuel R. Delany
7 - Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
8 - The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
9 - Gateway - Frederik Pohl
10 - The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith

11 - Last and First Men - Olaf Stapledon
12 - Earth Abides - George R. Stewart
13 - Martian Time-Slip - Philip K. Dick
14 - The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
15 - Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
16 - The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
17 - The Drowned World - J. G. Ballard
18 - The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut
19 - Emphyrio - Jack Vance
20 - A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick

21 - Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
22 - Behold the Man - Michael Moorcock
23 - The Book of Skulls - Robert Silverberg
24 - The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds - H. G. Wells
25 - Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
26 - Ubik - Philip K. Dick
27 - Timescape - Gregory Benford
28 - More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
29 - Man Plus - Frederik Pohl
30 - A Case of Conscience - James Blish

31 - The Centauri Device - M. John Harrison
32 - Dr. Bloodmoney - Philip K. Dick
33 - Non-Stop - Brian Aldiss
34 - The Fountains of Paradise - Arthur C. Clarke
35 - Pavane - Keith Roberts
36 - Now Wait for Last Year - Philip K. Dick
37 - Nova - Samuel R. Delany
38 - The First Men in the Moon - H. G. Wells
39 - The City and the Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
40 - Blood Music - Greg Bear

41 - Jem - Frederik Pohl
42 - Bring the Jubilee - Ward Moore
43 - VALIS - Philip K. Dick
44 - The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula K. Le Guin
45 - The Complete Roderick - John Sladek
46 - Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick
47 - The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells
48 - Grass - Sheri S. Tepper
49 - A Fall of Moondust - Arthur C. Clarke
50 - Eon - Greg Bear

51 - The Shrinking Man - Richard Matheson
52 - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - Philip K. Dick
53 - The Dancers at the End of Time - Michael Moorcock
54 - The Space Merchants - Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth
55 - Time Out of Joint - Philip K. Dick
56 - Downward to the Earth - Robert Silverberg
57 - The Simulacra - Philip K. Dick
58 - The Penultimate Truth - Philip K. Dick
59 - Dying Inside - Robert Silverberg
60 - Ringworld - Larry Niven

61 - The Child Garden - Geoff Ryman
62 - Mission of Gravity - Hal Clement
63 - A Maze of Death - Philip K. Dick
64 - Tau Zero - Poul Anderson
65 - Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
66 - Life During Wartime - Lucius Shepard
67 - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang - Kate Wilhelm
68 - Roadside Picnic - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
69 - Dark Benediction - Walter M. Miller, Jr.
70 - Mockingbird - Walter Tevis

71 - Dune - Frank Herbert
72 - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
73 - The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick
74 - Inverted World - Christopher Priest
75 - Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle
76 - H.G. Wells - The Island of Dr. Moreau
77 - Arthur C. Clarke - Childhood's End
78 - H.G. Wells - The Time Machine
79 - Samuel R. Delany - Dhalgren (July 2010)
80 - Brian Aldiss - Helliconia (August 2010)

81 - H.G. Wells - Food of the Gods (Sept. 2010)
82 - Jack Finney - The Body Snatchers (Oct. 2010)
83 - Joanna Russ - The Female Man (Nov. 2010)
84 - M.J. Engh - Arslan (Dec. 2010

So what's my count? 13 read, which illustrates exactly why I wanted to get involved in the Masterwork Reading Project.  The two lonely italic books owned but not read is Ringworld, which is also my next scheduled pick for review after Time and Again from the Fantasy Masterwork list and The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard.  Look for my review of Time and Again early next week over at the SF and Fantasy Materworks Reading Blog.


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Contest for The King's Bastard by Rowena Cory Daniels [signed]

The Kingdom of Rolencia sleeps as rumours of new Affinity Seeps, places where the untamed power wells up. By royal decree all those afflicted with Affinity must serve the Abbey or face death. Sent to the Ab­bey, the King’s youngest son, Fyn, trains to become a warrior monk. Elsewhere others are tainted with Affinity and must fight to survive. Political intrigue and magic combine in this explosive first book in an exciting new fantasy trilogy.

Through the generosity of Rowena Cory Daniels I have one signed copy of her book The King's Bastard up for grabs.  The King's Bastard has just been released and is the first ina trilogy titled The Chronicles King Rolan's Kin that is being publishing in quick succession by Solaris Books with the 2nd volume expected late this month and the third in August. I'll be starting on my own copy shortly.

To enter send an email to madhatterreview (AT) gmail (dot) com with your full name and snail mail address and "BASTARD" in the subject line. The deadline is midnight July 14th. 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 only since I'm paying for shipping. If you send multiple entries you will be disqualified from the contest.


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SFF Masterworks Group Project

The news hit last week about the official launch of a blog dedicated to reviewing all 130+ books in the Gollancz Fantasy and SF Masterwork series, which I am a part of called The SF an Fantasy Masterwork Reading Project.  This is my first attempt at participating in a group blog, but I couldn't pass up the chance to be part of something that would help me fill-in some of the horrendous gaps of classic reading in the genre I love so much.  My first contribution will be Time and Again by Jack Finney, which I've been meaning to read for ages. I hope to have my review up by the end of the week.

This project was started by Patrick from Stomping on Yeti so a big thanks to him for organizing and pushing us all in to this.  We've got quite a good crew of bloggers both established and new on the scene including Larry from Of Blog, Ken from Neth's Space, and Niall from The Speculative Scotsman to turn out reviews on a regular basis.  The plan is to post at least a few times a week and the first four posts are already available. So go on over and bookmark it.

Cover Unveiled for The Osiris Ritual by George Mann

A steampunk mystery adventure featuring immortality, artifacts, and intrepid sleuths Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbes.

Sir Maurice Newbury, Gentleman Investigator for the Crown, imagines life will be a little quieter after his dual successes solving The Affinity Bridge affair. But he hasn’t banked on his villainous predecessor, Knox, who is hell-bent on achieving immortality, not to mention a secret agent who isn’t quite what he seems....

So continues an adventure quite unlike any other, a thrilling steampunk mystery and the second in the series of Newbury & Hobbes investigations.

The Osiris Ritual is the second in Newbury & Hobbes series from George Mann designed by Tor Books. The cover follows the same format as The Affinity Bridge, which was probably one of the best executed Steampunk cover last year having had a lot to do with the finishing details on the printed jacket with a metallic paper stock used along with copious amounts of embossing to the gears on the cover.  All around a splendid job so I'll have to reserve a bit judgement on The Osiris Ritual until I see the final job since at first blush this design is a little sedate.  But look! A Steampunk cover without an airship! What an idea!

For comparison sake here is the cover for the UK edition.  Again a lot of detail work going on, but I'm not fond of the color scheme.

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