Cubecraft

I stumbled across this site months ago and recently used one of their designs to make a Creeper paper doll for my husband.  In addition to Minecraft figures, they have Star Wars, Portal and many, MANY more.

Here's what the flat print outs look like:

And he's a finished creeper.  The first time I printed the design it was too small to use.  They're glue free so you have to be able to wrestle the tabs into the correct slots (which for the legs on the creeper were a bit of a challenge).  I ended up inputting the downloadable .jpg into an art program, erasing the instructions and creeper pic (so as to save ink) and then printing it onto cardstock.

Worked out nicely.  I'm debating making myself a companion cube...

Lists and Fun

These are a bit old, but I've been busy and haven't had time to post them until now.  First, some great lists I came across.

Lee & Low Books did a Diverse Dystopias list, that is fantastic.  Their criteria:

In honor of the upcoming release of our new YA anthology, Diverse Energies, we thought we’d put together a list of dystopias with diversity. For the purposes of this list, our definition of diversity is: 1.) A book with a main character of color (not just secondary characters), or 2.) A book written by an author of color. Of course, all types of diversity are worth celebrating, so if you know of other diverse dystopias (with, for example, LGBT diversity) please share them in the comments as well.

I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that anthology, though given how much I've already got to read it would likely sit on my floor for a while before I got to it...

Next, SFX put together a list of 10 Inspirational Disabled Characters from Sci-Fi and Fantasy.  They mention some characters I missed in my own list, so go take a look.

Lastly, Antick Musings mentioned these two sites that, if you type in a url will tell you if the site is written by a man or a woman and what age the author is.

It's good for a laugh but I wouldn't take the responses seriously as together they claim my blog is written by a 65-100 year old man (75%)!  Wrong on both counts.  SOOOOooooo wrong.  But kind of funny. :)

Book Review: The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis

Pros: good mystery, afterward explaining what's true and where he took liberties, lots of detail

Cons: 

Damiata, once lover of Juan, Duke of Gandia, and mother of his illegitimate child, is accused by Pope Alexander VI (the duke's father) of aiding in his murder.  In order to clear her name and reclaim her son she must uncover the true murderers.  She is sent to Imola, where a recent string of murders has uncovered an amulet belonging to Juan and where the Pope's first born son, Cesare Borgia, Duke of Valentinois, is brokering a peace with the condottieri (mercenery fighters) Damiata is certain killed her lover.

Meanwhile, Imola is also home to the Florentine secretary Nicolo Machiavelli, who fears that Cesare's peace with the condottieri will mean the destruction of his beloved Florence.  Joining forces with Damiata and Cesare's engineer general, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli tries to solve the murders and make his study of human nature, that eventually lead to the writing of The Prince.

Ennis does a fantastic job of blending known history with his murder mystery.  He makes certain assumptions regarding events and characterizations based on primary sources (which he discusses briefly in an afterward to the book so the reader has a better idea of what's true and what he fabricated for the novel).  

The first part of the book is told by Damiata, with the rest by Machiavelli.  As the characters get closer to discovering the identity of the murderer, Ennis manages to maintain a spirit of uncertainty, making it hard to guess who the real culpret is.  This is helped by the number of likely suspects being investigated and the difficulty in performing the investigation.

There is a lot of good detail regarding the characters and the setting, especially with regards to Machiavelli's beliefs on human nature.  There are also a few illustrations in the novel, showing scientific principles important to the plot and diagrams drawn by da Vinci.

I'd recommend this to fans of Umberto Eco (particularly The Name of the Rose) and Karen Maitland's Company of Liars.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Coming November 2012

As always, this list is compiled from the Indigo Books website and, as such, represents Canadian release dates.  The Carina ebooks listings are from their site.

Hardcover:

Bronze Summer – Stephen Baxter

The Annotated Sword of Shannara – Terry Brooks

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance – Lois McMaster Bujold

Cold Days – Jim Butcher

The Rise of Ransom City – Felix Gilman

River Road – Suzanne Johnson

Star Wars: Annihilation – Drew Karpyshyn

Warhammer: Sword of Caledor – William King

Crown of Vengeance – Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

Flame of Sevenwaters – Juliet Marillier

The Cassandra Project – Jack McDevitt

King of the Dead – Joseph Nassise

The Fractal Prince – Hannu Rajaniemi

The Soddit – Adam Roberts (reprint)

Star Trek: Klingon Bird-of-Prey Haynes Manual – Ben Robinson

Still Life with Shape-Shifter – Sharon Shinn

Revenant Eve – Sherwood Smith

Silhouette – Dave Swavely

Knife Sworn – Mazarkis Williams

Trade Paperback:

The Price of War – Daniel Abraham (reprint omnibus of An Autumn War and The Price of Spring)

Epic – John Joseph Adams, Ed.

Spirit's End – Rachel Bach

Archon – Sabrina Benulis

Cyberpunk: Stories of Hardware, Software, Wetware, Evolution and Revolution – Victoria Blake, Ed.

The Book of Thomas: Heaven – Robert Boyczuk

A Cosmic Christmas – Hank Davis

The Devil's Diadem – Sara Douglass

Lord of the Trees – Philip Jose Farmer (reprint)

Pax Britannia: Time's Arrow – Jonathan Green

The Shattered Gates – Ginn Hale

Dead Reckoning – Charlaine Harris

The New Moon's Arms – Nalo Hopkinson

The Complete Keeper Chronicles – Tanya Huff

The Cube – Nat Karody

Warhammer: Blood of Aenarion – William King

Doctor Who: The Child of Time – Roger Langridge

The Dusk Watchman – Tom Lloyd

Lovestar – Andri Snaer Magnason

Hair Side, Flesh Side – Helen Marshall

Godspeaker – Karen Miller

Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights – Ryu Mitsuse

Tears in Rain – Rosa Montero

The Inexplicables – Cherie Priest

The Hogwarts Library Boxed Set – J. K. Rowling

The Emperor's Soul – Brandon Sanderson

Phoenix Rising – Ryk Spoor

Frail – Joan Frances Turner

Warhammer 40K: Siege of Castellax – C. L. Werner

Mass Market Paperback:

Steel's Edge – Ilona Andrews

Undead to the World – D. D. Barant

Stone Spring – Stephen Baxter

Power Play – Ben Bova

Heaven to Wudang – Kylie Chan

The Ascendant Stars – Michael Cobley

A Fighting Chance – William Dietz

Grantville Gazette VI – Eric Flint, Ed.

In the Lion's Mouth – Michael Flynn

Star Wars: Ascension – Christie Golden

The Dragon Men – Steven Harper

Lord's Fall – Thea Harrison

Trapped – Kevin Hearne

Honor's Paradox – P. C. Hodgell

The Wild Ways – Tanya Huff

Warhammer 40K: Tome of Fire – Nick Kyme

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations – David Mack

Crossed Blades – Kelly McCullough

Defiant Peaks – Juliet McKenna

Moonsinger's Quest – Andre Norton (reprint)

Polterheist – Laura Resnick

Edge of Infinity – Alastair Reynolds

The Thirteen Hallows – Michael Scott & Colette Freedman

The Scar – Sergey & Marina Dyachenko

Lust for Life – Jeri Smith-Ready

Shadowmarch – Tad Williams

Carina Press eBooks:

How Beauty Met the Beast – Jax Garren

Stellarnet Prince – J. L. Hilton

Dark Dealings – Kim Knox

Books Received in September 2012

Fate of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward Lerner 

Synopsis from Tor (where you can also read a preview of the book).

For decades, the spacefaring species of Known Space have battled over the largest artifact—and grandest prize—in the galaxy: the all-but-limitless resources and technology of the Ringworld. But without warning the Ringworld has vanished, leaving behind three rival war fleets.

Something must justify the blood and treasure spent. If the fallen civilization of the Ringworld can no longer be despoiled of its secrets, the Puppeteers will be forced to surrender theirs.

Knife Sworn by Mazarkis Williams
Synopsis from Nightshade Books.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, The Emperor's Knife, and am looking forward to this one.

Williams returns to the sumptuous palaces and treacherous back alleys of the Cerani Empire, where intrigue, passion, and dangerous magic threaten the very soul of a newly-crowned emperor.

After spending most of his life in captivity and solitude, Sarmin now sits upon the Petal Throne of Cerana. But his reign is an uneasy one. Ambitious generals and restless soldiers want war at any cost. An insidious foreign religion stirs fear among the people and the court. And the emperor's own heart is torn between two very different women: Mesema, a Windreader princess of the northern plains, and Grada, a lowborn untouchable with whom Sarmin shares a unique bond. A natural-born mage, Sarmin also carries within him a throng of bodiless spirits whose conflicting memories and desires force him to wage a private battle for his sanity.

In times past, a royal assassin known as the Emperor's Knife served as the keen edge of justice, defending the throne from any and all menaces, but the last Knife has perished and his successor has yet to be named. For his own safety, and that of the empire, Sarmin must choose his own loyal death-dealer . . . .but upon whom can be he bestow the bloody burden of the Knife-Sworn?

The Unincorporated Future by Dani and Eytan Kollin
Synopsis from the Indigo Books website.  I'm currently reading the first book in this series, The Unincorporated Man, and am really enjoying the world-building and characters.

Sandra O'Toole is the president of the Outer Alliance, which stretches from the asteroid belt to the Oort Cloud beyond Pluto. Resurrected following the death of Justin Cord, the unincorporated man, O'Toole has become a powerful political figure and a Machiavellian leader determined to win the Civil War against the inner planets at almost any cost. And the war has been going badly, in part because of the great General Trang, a fit opponent for the brilliant J. D. Black. Choices have to be made to abandon some of the moral principles upon which the revolution was founded. It is a time of great heroism and great betrayal, madness, sacrifice, and shocking military conflict. Nothing is predictable, even the behavior of artificial intelligences. There may be only one way out, but it is not surrender.

The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis
Synopsis from Indigo Books.
Not only did I read - and love - this Renaissance based historical fiction, I was privileged enough to meet the author at a publisher event.  I'll be posting my review soon.

A sweeping, intense historical thriller starring two of the great minds of Renaissance Italy: Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci. Based on a real historical mystery, and involving serial murder and a gruesome cat and mouse game at the highest levels of the Church -- it was the era of the infamous Borgias -- The Malice of Fortune is a delicious treat for fans of Umberto Eco, Sarah Dunant, and Elizabeth Kostova.

This brilliant novel is an epic tale exploring the backdrop of the most controversial work of the Italian Renaissance, The Prince. Here, Niccolò Machiavelli, the great "scientist" of human behaviour becomes, in effect, the first criminal profiler, while his contemporary and sometime colleague, the erratic genius Leonardo da Vinci, brings his observational powers to the increasingly desperate hunt for a brilliant, terrifying serial murderer. Their foil and partner is the exquisite Damiata, scholar and courtesan. All three know their quarry is someone who holds enormous power, both to tear Italy apart, and destroy each of their most beloved dreams. And every thrilling step is based on historical fact.

Tears in Rain by Rosa Montero
Synopsis from Amazon.  Sounds pretty cool.  I'm hoping to read it before its November 27th publication date.

Death is inevitable. Especially when you have an expiration date.

As a replicant, or “techno-human,” Detective Bruna Husky knows two things: humans bioengineered her to perform dangerous, undesirable tasks; and she has just ten years on the United States of Earth before her body automatically self-destructs. But with “anti-techno” rage on the rise and a rash of premature deaths striking her fellow replicants, she may have even less time than she originally thought.

Investigating the mysterious deaths, Bruna delves into the fractious, violent history shared by humans and replicants, and struggles to engage the society that fails to understand her—yet created her. The deeper she gets, the deadlier her work becomes as she uncovers a vast, terrifying conspiracy bent on changing the very course of the world. But even as the darkness of her reality closes in, Bruna clings fiercely to life.

New Author Spotlight: Douglas Hulick

New Author Spotlight is a series designed to introduce authors with up to 3 books in the different SF/F subgenres.

Today's spotlight shines on Douglas Hulick!

Hulick's debut novel is Among Thieves published by Roc.

Here's the cover copy...

Drothe has been a member of the Kin for years, rubbing elbows with thieves and murderers in the employ of a crime lord while smuggling relics on the side. But when an ancient book falls into his hands, Drothe finds himself in possession of a relic capable of bringing down emperors - a relic everyone in the underworld would kill to obtain.

Check out his book, and these others, if you like stories about thieves:

• Den of Thieves by David Chandler (Harper Voyager)
• Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit)
• Giant Thief by David Tallerman (Angry Robot)

Klingon Style

If you haven't heard Psy's "Gangnam Style" you've been missing out on quite a phenomenon.  The latest in a string of remakes including (my favourites only) Gangnam Style by Waveya (5 women wearing ridiculously high heeled shoes), Gangnam Style without music, Gandalf Style and many, MANY, others comes Klingon Style by Comediva.  It's actually in Klingon - with several people in Star Trek costumes doing Star Trek things behind the Klingon singer.  :)