Happy Halloween!

Be safe, give/get lots of goodies, and have a great Halloween!

Minecraft Cathedral

I've spent the last few weeks planning and building a Cathedral in Minecraft. Here's the finished product:

At night


and during the day.

JibJab Halloween Sendables

Have you ever wanted your face in a horror movie? Well, now's your chance. JibJab, a company that's been doing email videos for a while, has a set of Halloween choices up. You photograph the people you want to use, and the program fits their faces into the movie. You can then email the video to family and friends.

Here's a Frankenstein video my husband made using our cats.

Mystery Guitar Man

This isn't strictly SFF, but the Mystery Guitar Man has some fantastic music videos - some of which have fantastic elements involved (like extra arms and tiny people). This is his rendition of the Simpsons theme song on kids musical instruments.

Crown of Crystal Flame - Book Review

By: C. L. Wilson

***Spoiler Warning*** This is book 5 in a 5 book series, therefore even the synopsis will have some spoilers if you haven't read the previous books.

Pros: great wrap up for the series, satisfying battle scenes, down time between fight scenes allowed for continued character development

Cons: while Wilson was willing to kill off a few characters, there were too many last minute saves, which reduced overall tension

The Eld have begun their attack on Celaria. King Dorian and his wife are more at odds than ever and Rain, banished from the Fading Lands, is nearing bond madness.

This book starts directly after the events of Queen of Song and Souls. There is a brief recap of that book's conclusion, but you might want to skim it again before starting this book.

With war imminent, there's less time for romance. Wilson manages to squeeze in a few love scenes, but they're not as detailed as the ones in previous books. Crown is more focused on battles and Wilson does a great job of narrating battlefields.

In this book we learn more of the Elves and see some creepy creatures of evil that Vadim Maur has prepared for this war.

There's a long denouement after the climax which clears up a lot of things. Rather than feeling overlong, it makes for a satisfying conclusion.

While it seemed like she was willing to kill characters, too many named supporting characters are saved in the nick of time. Similarly, Rain and Ellysetta are almost captured and/or killed so often some of the tension was lost (as you know they'll be saved). Having said that, Wilson definitely puts her protagonists through the wringer.

If you've enjoyed the series thus far, you'll find this a satisfying conclusion.

Eon - Book Review

By: Alison Goodman

Pros: engaging, combines new age beliefs with fantasy world magic, protagonist stays in character

Cons: major plot twist is very obvious

Eon's ability to see all 11 energy dragons is awarding her the chance to become the apprentice of the Rat Dragon, ascendant this year. But women aren't allowed to be Dragoneyes, so she must hide her gender. When the choosing ceremony goes awry and the long lost Mirror Dragon returns, she is plunged into mess of political intrigue she is ill equipped to handle.

Eon is an engaging read that's hard to put down. The girl goes from crisis to crisis as she's thrust into the heart of palace politics while trying to keep several important secrets.

The magic of this fantasy world is based heavily on new age beliefs. The chakras are used to focus chi, while the dragon mythology is the Chinese zodiac. Goodman manages to take these familiar concepts and makes them unique by molding them to the energy dragons, through whom natural phenomenon can be controlled.

Modern readers will quickly figure out the plot twist regarding the truth of the Mirror Dragon. While it is in character for Eon to misunderstand what is happening, it is frustrating as a reader to see how she's missing something that to us is so obvious. However, I was impressed that the author resisted the urge to give Eon a modern mindset. She is very much a product of her world, which is as it should be.

I found Eon a fascinating character, even while I didn't always like her decisions. She's caught in a difficult position where if it's learned she's a woman, her life and that of her master and servant, are forfeit. As more and more people put their faith in her power her position becomes even more desperate. In response, she pressures a friend to act in a way that puts his life in danger, with no consciousness that she's done so. She also takes pains to avoid becoming a pawn.

While I was able to guess many of the plot twists early in the book, the last third, after the truth of the Mirror Dragon is revealed, was so unexpected, and somewhat disturbing, that I enjoyed every moment of the adventure.

The book ends at a satisfying place while leaving many things unfinished. I'll definitely be picking up Eona when it comes out next spring.

Unforgotten Realms

I've been meaning to post this ever since I met Robert Moran at Fan Expo Canada. He's a Canadian artist and the creator of Unforgotten Realms, an animated series following the RPG exploits of the experienced gamer Mike (Sorcerer Eluamous Nailo) and newcomer Rob (Sir Schmoopy of Awesometon). The series is quite funny, especially when "Timmy the Eeeeevil" pops up.

His website, Witty Wizard, cues up the first episode automatically, or you can click here to see thumbnails of them all, otherwise, I watched them a few years back over on the Escapist Magazine site. You can find their Unforgotten Realms episodes here (showing in reverse order). (And if you've never seen the Zero Punctuation game reviews Escapist Magazine posts, you should (warning - they're adult content and composed with black humour)).

SFF GLBT Reading List

In honour of Spirit day - unofficial as it may be - "in memory those who ended their lives after being bullied and harassed because of the gender or sexual identity", I have decided to postpone the reading list I'd planned to post this month, and post this one instead. It's unfortunately not complete, so I will be adding to it when I get the time. If you'd like more ideas, here's the wiki page for Lambda (the GLBT award) nominees and winners for the speculative fiction category.

These are all books with either gay/lesbian protagonists or important supporting characters. Not all of the authors books that fall into this category are mentioned (for example, Mercedes Lackey has several series with gay characters, I just loved the Last Herald Mage trilogy and so wrote that one down).

Here are the books in no particular order:

Fantasy
Magic's Pawn, Magic's Promise, Magic's Price - Mercedes Lackey
The Steel Remains - Richard Morgan
Nights of Villjamur - Mark Charan Newton
A Companion to Wolves - Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear
Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword - Ellen Kushner
Havemercy, Shadow Magic, Dragon Soul - Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
Stepsister Scheme, Mermaid's Madness, Red Hood's Revenge - Jim Hines
Dhalgren - Samuel Delany
The Exile and the Sorcerer - Jane Fletcher
Daughters of an Emerald Dusk - Katherine Forrest
Palimpsest - Catherynne Valente
A Book of Tongues - Gemma Files
Mordred, Bastard Son - Douglas Clegg
Nightlife, Moonshine, Madhouse, Deathwish - Rob Thurman
Of Saints and Shadows - Christopher Golden

And thank you to the commenters who suggested the following fantasy titles:
Velum, Ink - Hal Duncan
The Chosen, The Standing Dead, The Third God - Ricardo Pinto

Science Fiction
Slow River - Nicola Griffith
Trouble and Her Friends - Melissa Scott

The Day the Earth Stood Still (Original)

Director: Robert Wise, 1951
imdb listing

Pros: excellent use of light and shadows and music to create mood, still relevant message

Cons: younger viewers will find the film slow and likely boring

Klaatu is an alien sent to earth to deliver a message. But humans are too embroiled in fear of what he represents and earth politics to listen.

This black and white classic still holds up today. The emphasis was on atmosphere and message. The films few special effects (vaporizing weapons, opening the ship and its interior, the ship landing and take off) were done as simply as possible, so the film isn't marred by cheesy effects. The robot Gert, is a man in a rubber suit. And yet, it all looks great. The inside of the ship is stark and alien. The spaceman's appearance from the ship is frankly creepy.

Modern viewers will likely lament the lack of action. It works for the film, contrasting the fear and paranoia of the humans with the vast intelligence of Klaatu. The difference between them is summed up by his statement to a US official who tells him meeting with the Earth's heads of states is impossible, "I am impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it".

Using a human - without embellishment - as the alien, really brings the message home. Here's a superior being, who is superior without the arrogance or ambition we see so much of in humans. He is, in essence, more human in his actions than the humans who claim to revere such attributes. Klaatu is calmly aware of himself and his knowledge, looking rather like a parent wondering why the children are afraid of the dark.

Even his demonstration of power is something most humans, in the post WWII era (or even now) would not have considered. For humans power equals violence, wherein lies the problem. The other worlds can't allow a power hungry, violent race to reach the stars, spreading out and annihilating everything in its path. Klaatu, on the other hand, is powerful without being violent.

The film is a cautionary tale, that extra-terrestrials aside, our violent past makes us unlikely to peacefully colonize the universe. And if there are sentient life-forms out there, they might well take steps to stop us.

William Dietz - Author Interview

Books: lots, including:
At Empire's Edge
Bones of Empire
click here for full book list.

Website: williamcdietz.com

> What's the premise for the duology that comprises At Empire's Edge and Bones of Empire?

I see the Empire universe as existing in the far distant future (thousands of years from now) in a time when the Uman (Human) race has not only spread to distant stars but largely forgotten its origins. Therefore the vaguely Roman-like government is not an attempt to recreate a long lost empire--but is simply the latest development in a long succession of monarchies, democracies, theocracies and meritocracies that have come and gone over many millennia. What's old becomes new again!

Any government regardless of type requires some sort of law enforcement organization, and having come into contact with predatory empaths, the Umans were forced to bioengineer variants who could successfully deal with such individuals. And that's where Xeno cop Jak Cato comes in. He's a slacker, but honorable in his own way, and tough as nails.

> How did your experience in the navy help with your writing?

Many though not all of my books are classified as military science fiction. So the time spent with the navy and the marine corps gave me a feel for the military mindset, values, and traditions. These things can be learned by people who haven't served but having lived it helps.

> You've reused the "McCade universe" for several series (Galactic Bounty, Drifter, Freehold, Prison Planet). Should these books be read in any particular order or does each series stand alone?

As I wrote War World, later re-titled as Galactic Bounty, I was not only trying to produce a first novel--but a durable universe in which other books could be set assuming that the first one sold. That seems a bit presumptuous looking back on it, but the plan paid off when Galactic Bounty sold, thereby opening the door to the other books you mentioned. And since all of them were contemporaneous it was possible to have shared characters as well.

So in answer to your question it would be nice to read the McCade and Drifter stories in sequence, but all of them were designed to stand alone, and can be read in random order.

> What's different between writing books in your own world versus writing media tie-in novels?

I guess the most obvious difference is the question of control. An author has almost complete control while writing his or her original fiction but surrenders a great deal of that when agreeing to take on work for hire. Writing a tie-in is a team sport that often involves a lot of negotiation, compromise, and flexibility. But I enjoy it. Well, most of the time anyway:)

> What are your favorite three books?

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Trial Treasure Island

> What made you want to be a writer?

My mother loved to read, gave me unrestricted access to the local library, and turned me loose. Then I began to read four or five books a week often to my own detriment since I should have been trying to understand algebra instead. It was therefore natural to want to create the type of story that gave me so much pleasure.

> In the books you’ve written, who is you favorite character and why?

Sam McCade may not be the deepest, or the most cleverly constructed, but he was the first. So without him where would I be?

> If you could, would you change places with any of your characters?

Heavens no! Even the bad guys are braver and more competent than I am. I wouldn't last ten minutes in one of my books.

> What was the hardest scene for you to write?

There are various possibilities but I'll go with the love scene between Dexter and Rossi in Snake Eye my only thriller thus far.

> When and where do you write?

I write in a nicely furnished office in the basement of my home. I try to start about 7:30 AM, and typically put in about eight hours a day, six or seven days a week.


> How has the publishing industry changed since 1984 when your first book came out?

The market has grown steadily smaller, publishers rely on BookScan more, and e-book readers are a serious threat to the viability of dead tree books and the stores that sell them. And that saddens me because I want to have both.

> What’s the best/worst thing about writing?

The best thing about writing is writing. It's a pleasure like painting, singing, or dancing.
The worst thing about writing is writing. It requires a great deal of hard work:)

> Do you have any advice for hopeful authors?

In spite of what you hear lots of new authors are published each year. So don't give up. It's important to know your chosen genre inside out, look for a way to bring something new to it, and put in the necessary chair time. If you write one page per day, that's three-hundred and sixty-five pages in a year, and there's your book!

> Any tips against writers block?

Yes, create a detailed outline before you write the book, and follow it. If you know what's supposed to happen next you're much less likely to become blocked. The outline will evolve of course, and that's a good thing, but keep track of the changes.

How does book reviewing affect the reading experience?

This question was asked over at Got Schephs' blog. It's a good question, and two reviewers she got to respond had interesting answers.

Anything you do for fun isn't as much fun once you do it as a job, even if that job is reviewing books for your own blog. I find I'm often not able to read the book of my choice because I have a book I'm obligated to read that has to be read first. And there's only so much reading time in a week. While I try to choose my review books carefully, there are times when you feel like reading one thing but have to read something else instead. And times when you choose badly and have to push through, finishing a book you'd otherwise put down and move on from.

I also read a lot more critically. I notice typos and inconsistencies more than I used to. I parse the books more, wondering why the author did this when - as a writer - I would have done something else.

When a book is well written, this means I appreciate it more than I would have before. When it's poorly written...

Path of the Sun - Book Review

By: Violette Malan

Pros: detailed fantasy world, interesting characters

Cons: not a standalone, slow moving at times

Path of the Sun has Dhulyn and Parno, Mercenary Brother partners, involved in a murder mystery in the Menoin Tarkinate.

They come escorting the Tarkin's bride-to-be, but a grisly murder causes them to pass through a Caid ruin, the Path of the Sun, in pursuit of the killer. The path leads to another world where those Marked with the powers of Healing, Finding, Mending and Seeing - like Dhulyn - are broken and put to death. And the Espadryni, Dhulyn's extinct people, still live.

The identity of the killer is revealed to the reader early on. The makes for an interesting character study, as we see the killer interact with several people, lying and manipulating his way to his goals.

As with her other books, Path of the Sun examines a new corner of her fantasy world. The peoples are all distinct, with cultures, tastes, politics, etc. that differ from those used in the past.

Newcomers to the series will not be able to start here, however. Too much of this book depends on knowledge of events in earlier books. Characters from book 1 reappear, the trouble the partners get into in book 2 is finally resolved, and some actions from book 3 are referred to.

Still, if you haven't discovered her and want to read a quieter, more thought provoking fantasy, Malan is a great choice. Her characters grow with each novel and there's always more of the world to discover.

Minecraft Double Waterfall

I posted about Minecraft a week or so ago. Here's a nifty waterfall my husband made in our multiplayer world.

R. A. Salvatore Signing at the World's Biggest Bookstore, part 2

As promised, here are more videos for your enjoyment. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone!

This isn't advice most aspiring authors will want to hear, but it's better to know what you're in for if you want to be a career writer.



I missed recording the question on this one. Salvatore's basically explaining that racism in books (where are are distinctly different races) is different from racism among humans.

A longer video, Salvatore touches on several things - how the internet has changed, how he used to feel about criticism and what helps him ignore critics now.

He really is a great public speaker and a friendly guy. If he's coming to a city near you, go see him.

R. A. Salvatore Signing at the World's Biggest Bookstore

We had a fabulous event on Thursday when R. A. Salvatore came to the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto to talk about and sign books. If you want to see more pictures, click this link. I spent yesterday editing clips from the Q&A. Fellow Forgotten Realms author, Ed Greenwood, was in the crowd. Here's a video of them, holding each others newest release, answering the question, "What's the best thing about being an author?"


And some other videos that relate. I'll be posting more videos next week. So stay tuned.

Claire Delacroix - Author Interview

Claire Delacroix and Claire Cross are both pseudonyms of Deborah Cooke, who has been writing romance novels for many years, and has too many titles to list. So I'll just put her Prometheus Project books, the ones she talks about in the interview, down.

Fallen

Guardian

Rebel

Websites: www.deborahcooke.com, www.delacroix.net, www.clairecross.com

> What's the premise behind the Prometheus Project trilogy?

The series is set in the year 2099, in a post-nuclear world much more gritty than our own. The idea is that it's very nearly the end of the world and that the angels are making a last ditch effort to save us from ourselves. To do this, some of them voluntarily shed their wings and become mortal, mingling in the human world to take on a mission. This isn't without complications though - it's a big change for the angels to assume the limitations of mortality and our world isn't always the way they expect it to be. And in this post-nuclear society, those humans who have been damaged by radiation poisoning are enslaved as mutants - so the former angels, with their inexplicable diagonal scars, are always in danger of being "harvested".

The reason that the angels feel a sense of responsibility to us doesn't become clear until the end of Rebel, book #3, so let's not have a spoiler just yet.

> What can readers expect from the 3rd book, Rebel?

This trilogy ended up having a number of plot threads that continued from book to book. In Rebel, all of those plot threads are resolved in a big finish. I think readers of the series will find it a satisfying conclusion.

> What's it like having a pseudonym and how do you find time to write books as several people?

Pseudonyms are a pretty common tool for publishing. They're used by publishers to brand different kinds of work by the same author, not to fool readers but to let readers know what to expect from a given book. There are authors who write romance with fantasy elements under one name, for example, and mystery with romantic elements under another. Those books might even appear in different sections of the bookstore, which is a marketing strategy used for genre fiction. The assumption is that not all readers will enjoy all of an author's books, although I find that my readers do follow me around the bookstore. My Claire Delacroix books were originally all historical romances - now they're future-set, but still "not contemporary" - and my Deborah Cooke books are contemporary romances. I tend to include fantasy elements regardless of "author brand", but that's a reflection of my own interests.

Traditionally, there was also a concern with an author's frequency of publication. When I sold my first book in 1992, it was believed that romance authors shouldn't have single title publication dates more often than once every 8 to 12 months. People who wrote more quickly than that - like me - tended to write under two names, to have more publication slots. Over time, publication schedules have accelerated, although most single title print houses still want a maximum of two new titles per year per author name in the romance section. There are obvious exceptions which makes me guess that the acceleration will continue.

> What are your favourite three books?

Tough to choose only three, but I'll try -

• The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

• Possession by A.S. Byatt

• The Sculptress by Minette Walters.

> What made you want to be a writer?

I love reading. I was one of those kids who was always reading. As a result, I was usually making up stories, about kids like me or kids not like me, at least when I wasn't reading. I had a teacher in high school who suggested that I could be a writer myself, but the idea was so startling that it was a good decade before I sat down and wrote anything that wasn't an assignment. Now I can't imagine doing anything else.

> If you could, would you change places with any of your characters?

In this series? No! I'm happy to live vicariously through them, in this particular world.

> What was the first novel (published or unpublished) that you wrote and how long did it take to write it?

When I was a teenager, I wrote a version of The Lord of the Rings that had the romance of Arwen and Aragon as the spine of the story. I thought that romance was behind a lot of the story and shouldn't have just been in the appendix. It was a fantasy romance - fan fiction, really, but before fan fiction was a big thing. Fortunately, I composed most of it in my head and very little of it was ever written down - I didn't think it was allowed to write down stories in another author's world, using another author's characters - and what was written down is long shredded and gone. The world is a better place for that, I think, although it would be fun to write that story now. I was right, though: it's not allowed!

> Has having a history degree helped with your writing?

I think having a history degree and an interest in social history helps with worldbuilding. I worry a lot about where products come from in my fictional world, about cause and effect, and probably a bit too much about religion and politics. There are always "compare and contrast" essay questions about my world in the back of my mind! That makes the fictional world more dimensional for me, and - with any luck - for my readers, too.

> When and where do you write?

I have an office at home, where I do most of my writing. I write every day, as that keeps the story in my head. The precise time changes, especially when I'm working out a plot twist or when I have promotional obligations, but I aim to work a certain amount each day.

> What’s the best/worst thing about writing?

I love writing. I love telling stories. I love pushing myself to learn new things and to try new techniques. I also love doing the research to support a new story. That's the best part about writing, the writing itself. The worst thing about writing is that it makes it harder to be a reader. I don't read other people's fiction when I'm writing my own - that means with my current schedule that most of the time, I'm not reading fiction. When I do read fiction, I'm much more critical than was once the case. It's harder to just go with it. My analogy is that of the stage magician going to a magic show on his day off, and spending the entire time looking for the wires, or trying to figure out how each feat was accomplished, instead of just enjoying the show.

> What is something you didn’t know about the publishing industry before you had your first book published?

I knew NOTHING about publishing when I sold my first book. There are still great swaths of the business that remain a mystery to me - partly because the only constant in publishing is change.

> Do you have any advice for hopeful authors?

Tell the story that you want to write, not the one that you think will sell. Inform yourself about the publishing business and its realities. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

> Any tips against writers block?

I think writers' block is a misnomer, or maybe an excuse. If you are a working writer, you write. If you are a working writer and you do not write, then you are slacking or procrastinating -- or not a working writer, after all. Successful writers write and they write regularly. They also finish manuscripts and they send them out to industry professionals. It's that simple.

> How do you discipline yourself to write?

It's what I do. It's what I love to do. Discipline isn't a variable.

> How many rejection letters did you get for your first novel or story?

I had three book manuscripts in a kind of rotation when I started out. I'd revise one and send it out, then while I was waiting to hear back on that work, I'd revise the second one. It took 4 to 6 months at that time to hear back from editors and agents. Two of those works never sold, one because I didn't have the skill to construct the story at that point and because paranormal romantic suspense wasn't marketable twenty years ago - yes, I do intend to dig that out and revise it again. - The second never sold because I was trying to write something marketable, even though that kind of story wasn't my kind of story. The third was my medieval romance, ROMANCE OF THE ROSE, which did sell. By the time that book sold, though, my rejection letter file was close to an inch thick. (I still have it somewhere.)

One big difference is that in the early 1990's, editors and agents wrote real letters if they thought the work had promise. Some of my rejection letters were pages long, and all of them included useful advice. I learned a great deal from those rejection letters, and learned it from the people who were decision-makers in the industry. These days, industry professionals are so pressed for time that authors seldom get such detailed letters - the one-line rejection letter is much more common than it was. In my whole fat file, in contrast, I had just one of those letters. That change puts new writers at a disadvantage. On the other hand, there are a lot more writers' groups, writing blogs, publishing blogs and books about the industry available. There's more general information that is widely available, which gives new writers an advantage in learning about the industry as a whole.

Poltergeist - Movie Review

Director: Tobe Hooper, 1982

Pros: original for its time, good story

Cons: doesn't hold up to modern sensibilities, overly dramatic

When the 5 year old daughter of a real estate developer claims to hear voices in a TV, her tale is discounted. Suddenly strange things start happening in their home and the girl is taken by the unquiet ghosts. The family races to get her back, asking a college team of parapsychologists for help.

While Poltergeist is a classic, it doesn't really hold up by today's standards. The acting is decent and the story good, but the effects are fairly cheesy and deaden the impact of the psychological and physical horror of the plot.

Newer Press: Haikasoru

I didn't think to point this press out several months ago when I first started noticing their books in the store. Haikasoru is an imprint of Viz Media. They've been translating a lot of Japanese fiction for the English market. Jim Rion, at Grasping For the Wind, did an excellent interview with the head of the imprint, Nick Mamatas.

Shades of Milk and Honey

By: Mary Robinette Kowal

Pros: quick pace, seamlessly adds magic to historically accurate pre-Victorian setting

Cons: entirely character driven, ending felt rushed

Two British Regency era sisters, one beautiful the other accomplished, vie for the attentions of men.

Despite her mastery of the womanly arts of painting, piano and glamour, 'plain' Jane Ellsworth despairs of finding a husband and is jealous of her younger sister's good looks and easy manner.

The novel's a quick read, with short chapters and lots of dialogue. Though not in first person, we see the world through Jane's eyes, as she tries to deaden her feelings for Mr. Dunkirk for fear that he's interested in her sister. Meanwhile she learns more about magic by examining the techniques of a visiting glamourist, much to his annoyance.

Like the Jane Austen novels it was based on, Shades of Milk and Honey is entirely character driven and has no plot beyond whether Jane will end up married and to whom. Those who enjoy Victorian literature will appreciate the attention to detail Kowal puts into her work. The addition of magic - the only non-historical attribute - adds an interesting element to the story and is seamlessly integrated into the Victorian culture.

Jane could be a Mary Sue character were it not for her rivalry with her sister. Always proper, Jane suppresses her emotions to the point that her art is lifeless, despite her talent.

While the climax was dramatic, the ending felt a bit rushed. Everything was too neatly tied up in too few pages.

If you enjoy Regency literature, this is a great read, whether you're into fantasy or not.

Meet R. A. Salvatore in Toronto October 7th, 7pm

Just a reminder, R. A. Salvatore will be meeting fans and signing books at the World's Biggest Bookstore on Thursday October 7th, at 7 pm. Here's a book trailer for his newest release, Gauntlgrym.

From his site:

When one of his oldest friends, Bruenor Battlehammer, chooses to spend his final days searching for the fabled dwarf kingdom of Gauntlgrym, Drizzt readily agrees. Drizzt joins Bruenor on his quest for the fabled dwarven kingdom of Gauntlgrym: ruins said to be rich with ancient treasure and arcane lore. Unfortunately, the more they uncover about the secret of Gauntlgrym, the more it looks like they can’t stop it on their own.

Not in Toronto? He'll be visiting numerous cities, so check out his tour list either on facebook or his website (which also mentions his online tour - in case he's not coming to a city near you).

Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Coming in November 2010

Hardcover

Knot Gneiss – Piers Anthony

Hull Zero Three – Greg Bear

Surrender to the Will of the Night – Glen Cook

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Vortex – Troy Denning

The Human Blend – Alan Dean Foster

Towers of Midnign – Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

Trio of Sorcery – Mercedes Lackey

The Ragged Man – Tom Lloyd

Songs of Love and Death – George R. R. Martin

Echo – Jack McDevitt

Sword of Fire – William McGrath

Empress of Eternity – L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

On the Banks of the River of Heaven – Richard Parks

Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise: Haynes Manual – Ben Robinson

Microcosmic God, Volume II – Theodore Sturgeon

The Ultimate Egoist, Volume I – Theodore Sturgeon

Midsummer Night – Freda Warrington

Above His Proper Station – Lawrence Watt-Evans

Shadowheart – Tad Williams

Trade Paperback

Pump Six and Other Stories – Paolo Bacigalupi

Elfsorrow – James Barclay

Shadowheart – James Barclay

The Barsoom Project – Steven Barnes

The Way of the Wizard – Peter Beagle

Jasmyn – Alex Bell

Forgotten Realms: Year of the Rogue Dragosn – Richard Lee Byers

Muse and Reverie – Charles De Lint

The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Vol 3 – David Drake

The Magic Labyrinth – Philip Jose Farmer

Guardians of Paradise – Jaine Fenn

We Can Fix It: A Time Travel Memoir – Jessica Fink

Worlds of Fantasy: The Best of Fantasy Magazine – Jeffrey Ford, Ed.

The Stranger – Max Frei

Dirty Rotten Aliens – Randall Garrett

The Scientific Adventures of Barn Munchausen – Hugo Gernsback

Robin and the King – Parke Godwin (reprint)

Sherwood – Parke Godwin (reprint)

Pax Britannia: Dark Side – Jonathan Green

Pax Britannia: The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus – Jonathan Green

Elminster Ascending – Ed Greenwood

The Book of Elizabeth – Darby Harn

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe – Charlaine Harris and Toni Kelner, Ed.

The Broken Kingdoms – N. K. Jemisin

Fall From Earth – Matthew Johnson

Beloved of the Fallen – Savannah Kline

Flaming Zeppelins – Joe Lansdale

Carousel Tides – Sharon Lee

The Adventures of Professor Thintwistle and His Incredible Aether Flyer – Richard Lupoff

Sojan the Swordsman/Under the Warrior Sun – Michael Moorcock

Dreams of the Compass Rose – Vera Nazarian

Mysteries of the Diogenes Club – Kim Newman

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon – Diana Paxson

The Alchemist in the Shadows – Pierre Pevel

The Quantum Thief – Hannu Rajaniemi

The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions – Robert Rankin

Bitten in Two – Jennifer Rardin

The Buntline Special – Mike Resnick

Heavy Metal Pulp: Money Shot – Christopher Rowley

Pirate Sun – Karl Schroeder

House of Discarded Dreams – Ekaterina Sedia

The Double-edged Sword – Sarah Silverwood

At the Queen's Command – Michael Stackpole

The Habitation of the Blessed – Catherynne Valente

Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded – Ann VanderMeer, Ed.

DragonLance: War of Souls Omnibus – Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

In Dreams Begin – Skyler White

Sleeping Helena – Erzebet Yellowboy

Mass Market Paperback

The Spirit Rebellion – Rachel Aaron

Werewolf Smackdown – Mario Acevedo

Forgotten Realms: Avenger – Richard Baker

Wolfsbane – Patricia Briggs

Guardians of the Phoenix – Eric Brown

Servant of a Dark God – John Brown

Iorich – Steven Brust

First Lord's Fury – Jim Butcher

Forgotten Realms: Whisper of Venom – Richard Lee Byers

Gilded Latten Bones – Glen Cook

Servant of the Underworld – Aliette de Bodard

Indigo Springs – A. M. Dellamonica

Silver Zombie – Carole Nelson Douglas

The Long Man – Steve Englehart

Of Masques and Martyrs (reprint) – Christopher Golden

The Path of Razors – Chris Green

Vicious Grace – M. L. N. Hanover

Damage Time – Colin Harvey

Brooklin Knight – C. J. Henderson

Black Wings – Christina Henry

Darkship Thieves – Sarah Hoyt

Trolls in the Hamptons – Celia Jerome

The Silver Mage – Ktherine Kerr

World of Warcraft: Stormrage – Richard Knaak

Dragon Champion – E. E. Knight

Star Trek: Seize the Fire – Michael Martin

Catalyst – Anne McCaffrey

King's Wrath – Fiona McIntosh

Magic at the Gate – Devon Monk

Destroyer of Worlds – Larry Niven

The Battle for Commitment Planet – Graham Sharp Paul

Blood Prophecy – Stefan Petrucha

Steampunkd – Jean Rabe

Eureka: Brain Box Blues – Cris Ramsay

Soul Stealers – Andy Remic

Book of Secrets – Chris Roberson

Heaven's Spite – Lilith Saintcrow

Agent to the Stars – John Scalzi

The Road to Bedlam – Mike Shevdon

Unusual Suspects – Dana Stabenow

Children of Hurin – J. R. R. Tolkien

The Golden Shrine – Harry Turtledove

Forgotten Realms: Lady Ruin – Tim Waggoner

Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here – Christine Warren

Warhammer: Wulfrik – C. L. Werner

City of Dreams and Nightmares – Ian Whates

Cobra Alliance – Timothy Zahn