Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Coming in July 2010

(Note, I didn't add these, but several Star Trek novels are being reprinted.)

Hardcover:

The Bird of the River – Kage Baker

Omnitopia Dawn – Diane Duane

Primeval – David Golemon

Gateways - Elizabeth Hull, Ed.

March in Country – E. E. Knight

Wolfsangel – M. D. Lachlan

Dragongirl – Anne & Todd McCaffrey

The Dervish House – Ian McDonald

Sword of Fire – William McGrath

The Reluctant Mage – Karen Miller

Imager's Intrigue – L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Tongues of Serpents – Naomi Novik

Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story – Andy Rash

The Fuller Memorandum – Charles Stross

The War That Came Early: East and West – Harry Turtledove

Discord's Apple – Carrie Vaughn

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance – Sean Williams

Trade Paperback:

Masked – Lou Anders, Ed.

Mammoth Book of the End of the World – Mike Ashley, Ed.

Steampunk Prime – Mike Ashley, Ed.

The Loving Dead – Amelia Beamer

Slant – Greg Bear

An Empire Unacquainted With Defeat – Glen Cook

The Very Best of Charles de Lint – Charles de Lint

The Unit – Terry Dehart

The Year's Best Science Fiction 27 – Gardner Dozois, Ed.

Visions of Tomorrow: Science Fiction Predictions that Came True – Tom Easton, Ed.

Robin and the King – Parke Godwin (reprint)

Sherwood: A Novel of Robin Hood and His Times – Parke Godwin (reprint)

The Law of Nines – Terry Goodkind

The End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse – Martin Greenberg, Ed.

Template – Matthew Hughes & Jay Lake

The Crowded Shadows – Celine Kiernan

The Word for World is Forest – Ursula Le Guin

Star Trek: SCE: Out of the Cocoon – William Leisner

The Infernal Game: Ghost Dance – Rebecca Levene

Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Siege – Karen Miller

The Starry Wisdom: A Tribute to H. P. Lovecraft – D. M. Mitchell

Dreams of the Compass Rose – Vera Nazarian

All That Lives Must Die – Eric Nylund

Dirty Rotten Aliens: An Anthology of Science Fiction – Mike Resnick, Ed.

Yellow Blue Tibia – Adam Roberts

Virga: Cities of the Air – Karl Schroeder

The Office of Shadow – Matthew Sturges

Wolf's Cross – S. A. Swann

The Markhat Files – Frank Tuttle

Jump Gate Twist – Marl Van Name

The Complete Lyoness – Jack Vance

Dragonlance Chronicles Omnibus – Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Mass Market:

Twisted Metal – Tony Ballantyne

Without Warning – John Birmingham

A Princess of Landover – Terry Brooks

Rift in the Sky – Julie Czerneda

The Uncrowned King – Rowena Cory Daniells

Rise of the Poison Moon – Maryjanice Davidson

Face Off – Mark del Franco

Lincoln's Sword – Debra Doyle & James MacDonald

In the Stormy Red Sky – David Drake

The Magickers Chronicles – Emily Drake

Wait for Dusk – Jocelyn Drake

Grantville Gazette IV – Eric Flint, Ed.

Stuff of Legends – Ian Gibson

Shadow Chase – Seressia Glass

The Chamber of Ten – Christopher Golden

Divine Misdemeanors – Laurell Hamilton

The Puppet Masters – Robert Heinlein (reprint)

Red Hood's Revenge – Jim Hines

Forgotten Realms: Unbroken Chain – Jaleigh Johnson

City of Ghosts – Stacia Kane

Unholy Magic - Stacia Kane

Mass Effect: Retribution – Drew Karpyshyn

Century of the Soldier – Paul Kearney

Winter Duty – E. E. Knight

Warhammer: Grimblades – Nick Kyme

Succubus Blues – Richelle Mead

As Lie the Dead – Kelly Meding

Wizard Squared – K. E. Mills

Heroes Return – Moira Moore

Tracking the Tempest – Nicole Peeler

Pathfinder – Laura Reever

The Ghost King – R. A. Salvatore

Stargate SG-1: The Power Behind the Throne – Steven Savile

Bring on the Night – Jeri Smith-Ready

A Devil in the Details – K. A. Stewart

Warhammer 40K: Nemesis – James Swallow

Order in Chaos – Jack Whyte

Terminator Salvation: Trial By Fire – Timothy Zahn

Saga: A Novel of Medieval Iceland

By: Jeff Janoda

Pros: engaging, intricate plotlines, lots of political intrigue

Cons: the names are confusing for the first few chapters

A lot of medieval literature tends to be boring. The way of writing was not a style we normally appreciate today. While there's often a lot of action, there's little character development and too much description. Now, part of the problem is that a lot of medieval literature was meant to be recited rather than read (thinking specifically of earlier stuff, of which the Icelandic Sagas, that Saga: A Novel of Medieval Iceland was based on, were a part of). I haven't read any Icelandic Sagas, so this observation is drawn from having read Beowulf and numerous other primary sources from various periods that we refer to as the Middle Ages.

Jeff Janoda took these sagas and turned them into living stories. Reading his prose felt like listening to a storyteller. He has just enough description to give you a sense of place and people, religion and culture. His characters develop throughout the novel, some becoming more naive, others growing up fast. There's a lot of political intrigue, and just enough action to keep you reading.

The story is about the various feuds begun when Thorolf cuts the hay from both his meadow and that of his neighbour, Ulfar. When Ulfar tries to get satisfaction for this theft, he's forced to change allegiance, an act that spirals into a cold war for land and influence.

One of the most fascinating things about the story is the idea that with so much interbreeding, blood feuds are simply not practical. So most legal affairs are dealt with at the yearly Thing, where the Gothi, clan leaders, pass judgement. Of course, once some of the Gothi start taking matters into their own hands, blood feud becomes a real possibility.

The only complaint I had about the book (and it would have been impossible to get rid of) was the number of names that started with a 'T'. Thorbrand, Thorgils, Thorleif and Thorolf are all major characters introduced in the first few chapters. The author provides a glossary of names, but I never looked at it, choosing to flip back to earlier passages to help get the names straight.

This is an excellent novel and if you have any interest in Iceland, medieval or otherwise, I highly recommend it.

Getting More Medieval

I haven't been doing much in the way of posting about the Middle Ages here. I'll be rectifying that in the future. I want to start reading/rereading my collection of history books and primary sources.

To kick things off I'm reading Saga: a Novel of Medieval Iceland, by Jeff Janoda. I was sent a review copy by the publisher, Academy Chicago Publishers, and am loving it. Look for the review either tomorrow or next week.

In the meantime, here's a video my husband stumbled across a few days ago. It's a sketch from That Mitchell and Webb Look, a British comedy show. In it, an inventor comes up with a very exciting new invention: the mouse. If only he knew what it was for... I pulled it from dwummers's youtube site under the title "Greatest Invention Yet".

The Guild

The Guild is "a web series about a group of online gamers". Felicia Day, creator of the series and the character Codex, was the love interest in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. She mentions the Guild in the special feature 'musical commentary' for the show.

And it's worth checking out. The series follows 6 gamers for whom the game is everything. It starts when Zabou, their gnome warlock, shows up at Codex's house, wanting to move in with her because of their online chemistry. They've never met in person and that, combined with her therapist's suggestion and some other antics, convinces Codex that the Guild must meet in person.

The show is less about gaming and the fantasy world they share than it is about their relationships and lives outside the game.

They also do holiday specials and have a great music video: Do You Wanna Date My Avatar. It's taken from their youtube site.



And if you like this, you'll probably like Unforgotten Realms, about two gamers and their innumerable quests. The cartoon peters out towards the end, ultimately going nowhere, but the first 2 seasons or so are a lot of fun.

David J. Williams, Author Interview

Novels:

THE MIRRORED HEAVENS

THE BURNING SKIES

THE MACHINERY OF LIGHT

Website: www.autumnrain2110.com

Note: Mr. Williams will be touring for THE MACHINERY OF LIGHT. He'll be in the Toronto area, signing at Bakka Phoenix Books on Saturday June 12th, at 3 pm. Check out his appearances schedule to see if he'll be coming to a city near you.

> What's the premise of THE MIRRORED HEAVENS?

September, 2110 A.D. The mysterious terrorist group Autumn Rain destroys the world's space elevator and promises more attacks. Among the American agents sent into the field in response are Claire Haskell and Jason Marlowe. She's an expert hacker; he's a specialist in physical combat -- and they're former lovers as well. But they soon learn that their memories of each other may be constructs implanted by their spymaster-handler--and that the Rain are now hunting them. Things go downhill from there.. . .

> What about the two subsequent books in the trilogy, THE BURNING SKIES and THE MACHINERY OF LIGHT?

Well, THE MIRRORED HEAVENS is self-contained in the sense that it doesn't end on a cliffhanger-- you get narrative payoff, but at the same time the door's left open for an expansion of the canvas, as Autumn Rain targets the U.S. president himself and seeks to ignite total war between East and West. At the risk of revealing spoilers, I won't go into any more detail than that . ..

> What led you to write a series about space terrorism?

I felt there was a certain contemporary resonance to the terrorism concept―and that science fiction was a good angle from which to regard it without recourse to ideological filters.

> Do you think science fiction reading is on the rise again?

I'd love to say yes, but honestly, I suspect it's all shiny vampires and lovable werewolves these days. So buy my books and fight the Prevailing Paradigm . . .

> What are your favourite three books?

Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, The Illuminatus Trilogy; Frank Herbert, DUNE; anything written by William Gibson in the 1980s.

> What made you want to be a writer?

The voices in my head, of course.

> Who is you favourite character in the Autum Rain trilogy and why?

Claire Haskell. For all the wrong reasons: I've been in love with for her for years.

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

Not on your (or rather, my) life. Most of them are borderline sociopaths.

> What was the first novel that you wrote and how long did it take to write it?

You're looking at it. THE MIRRORED HEAVENS was written across seven years, and sold along with the entire trilogy to Bantam in the summer of 2007. I don't think my feet hit the ground again till the fall….

> What was the hardest scene for you to write?

The opening sequences. I must have written them at least five times. It took me a long time to figure out how to do justice to the nuking of that space elevator. . .

> What is your university degree in and does it help with your writing?

History, which definitely had its impact on me. The first thing I wrote was the timeline at the end of THE MIRRORED HEAVENS . . .the unfolding of our next hundred years. A lot of the art and documents on the website ( www.autumnrain2110.com) is the result of that initial world-building.

> When and where do you write?

In my apartment. The study at times; the living room at others. Right now I'm sitting on the bed typing this with my cats glaring at me.

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

Same answer to both: the isolation. It allows you to create whole new worlds, but at the risk of cutting you off from the real one.

> Do you have any advice for hopeful authors?

Never give up―and figure out what you're willing to give up to get there.

> Any tips against writers block?

Come up with concepts cool enough that you have to write them. I.e., if you're blocked, go back to the drawing board and brainstorm even harder.

> How do you discipline yourself to write?

I'm less disciplined than I am obsessive-compulsive. I either write or I start twitching.

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

For THE MIRRORED HEAVENS, I think I queried almost all the literary agents who take science fiction. All but one shot me down without even seeing any manuscript material. But one is all you need….

Which Science Fiction or Fantasy World Would You Live In?

Nathan Bransford asked this question over on his blog a few days ago. I've asked this question in my interviews before. Would you live in an SF/fantasy world of your creation, someone else's world?

Several commenters on Mr. Bransford's blog mentioned Harry Potter's world (or more specifically Hogwarts), while others mentioned Tolkien's Middle Earth.

Both seem like good choices. I don't think I'd live in either. I already live on Earth, and I doubt magic would make the world a better place. More interesting, but not necessarily better. I imagine the wizarding community would actually take over and have puppet human governments they control.

As for Middle Earth, after Sauron's dealt with the Elves leave, and they're my favourites, so the world wouldn't be as much fun. And before he's killed... things are just too dangerous. Everywhere. It was one of Tolkien's more brilliant actions that the war in Middle Earth affected the entire world. Nowhere was safe, not even the Shire. I could do without that kind of stress.

So which fantasy world would I live in? (I'm leaving out SF because I've always been a fantasy lover.) Most modern day fantasy worlds are fun to visit but I would never want to live in them. They're too dark and gritty. The problem with all worlds though, is that something bad's happening there (or else there wouldn't be a novel set in the place).

The other concern is that in most cases, living in the world would only be good if you were in a certain class or group. Pern, for example, would only be a great place to live if you were a dragon rider. Or maybe a harper. But who'd want to live there as one of the beholden peasants?

So, if I could choose my place in life, the world of Elantris, either after the events of the book or before the Elantrians were cursed would suit me. As long as I could be an Elantrian and use magic.

If I couldn't choose my race, then I'd like to live in Terry Brooks' Shannara world. I 'lived' there during much of my high school years anyway, so it would be rather familiar. It's a world wherein the problems were fairly localized, so the rest of the world could be extremely peaceful while the Shannara scion went to save it. It also has many places I wouldn't mind living. I'd be an elf there in a snap. Or live in Shady Vale, or even around Rainbow Lake. This is the world that made me fall in love with fantasy. I think I could be quite happy there, even as a peasant.

How about you? What fantasy or science fiction world would you choose to live in? And what race/status would you want to be/have there?

"Ian McKellen" recites the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to the Lord of the Rings

Earlier this month lukjad007 took a reading of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song lyrics done in an Ian McKellen voice by Hunter Davis and remixed it to a song from The Fellowship of the Ring. It works beautifully. It's amazing the video wasn't intended for the song, considering how well the pauses work with the music.