20 posts tagged “fiction”

Tobias Buckell's first novel is an awesome science fiction novel, full of: swash-buckling adventure, steam punk, nanotechnology, and even a star ship.

More importantly, the characters have depth, seem plausible, and captivated my interest. And they're not all white! Actually, most are shades of brown (being either Aztec or Afro-Caribbean).

The preface to this book intrigued me, but then the first thirty pages seemed to drag. I started wondering if this was really a fantasy novel, and a bad mish-mash of cultures. I kept reading, however, for the promise of the preface, and was rewarded in spades, as the steam punk kicked in, adventure kicked into gear, and explanations that made sense were provided.

I'm looking forward to reading his second book, Ragamuffin.

I used to read short stories fairly often. My teen years were spent with a subscription to "Fantasy and Science Fiction." Even later, I continued to read short stories collected in anthologies.

But in recent years I found myself reading almost exclusively novels. I stumbled upon the Vision anthology accidentally--My friend Kate Baggott won second prize in the 2007 University of Hertfordshire Writing Award, and I won a copy from her blog.

Since reading these stories, I now have a renewed interest in short stories. I picked up an issue of Maison Neuve, and might start reading science fiction short stories again.

Vision is an interesting anthology. The prize-winning short stories are all excellent. I loved some of the short-listed stories as well, but others not so much. Even when reading stories that did not work as well, however, I liked seeing what the author did with the vision theme. Sometimes the vision is an integral part of the story, as in the first prize "The Snow Child" by Nathalie Abi-Ezzi, about a Finnish woman's vision of a child. Other times the vision is only one piece of the story, as in Kate Baggot's "The Three Wives," in which the third wife taps into the world of visions.

Two books arrived today from Amazon (finally spending gift certificates). Now that I have them in hand, I can hardly wait to read Crystal Rain and The Lies of Locke Lamora.

I read about Crystal Rain on Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. I couldn't resist the idea of Caribbean pirate steampunk. I read about The Lies of Locke Lamora on many blogs, including Pat's. I don't know if I needed to read another fantasy about a thief, but how could I resist reading about the leader of the Gentlemen Bastards?

I picked up the curious incident of the dog in the night-time based on a recommendation. The idea of a book told from the point of view of an autistic teenager seemed unusual.

What I didn't expect was such a fast-paced emotional read. I finished this book in less than a week, which is unusual for me these days. At first I was drawn to the story of this boy who is trying to figure out who murdered the neighbor's dog. And I loved the quirkiness - he decides whether he's going to have a good or bad day based on how many red and yellow cars he sees on the way to school - after all, it's no less arbitrary than someone deciding based on the weather (if that person spends the day inside).

But this book is much more than a mystery. Although we do learn "whodunit", we also go on an emotional roller coaster, as Christopher learns the truth about his family and explores outside his comfort zone.

Although I knew this was the second book in a series, I decided to give it a try anyway. One character's story interested me, and there were a few neat bits, but overall it didn't hold my interest and I put it down after about 100 pages. Maybe I would have appreciated it more if I had read the first book in the series.... or the previous series that lead up to this.

But I found too often that the writing itself annoyed me. For example, the book starts with a chase through a crowded market. Nice action scene. Except when the action stopped for a brief paragraph describing someone's clothing. That might have fit if a character had also stopped, but in the middle of a chase, I expect description to be woven into the action.... a detail here and there as the action proceeds.  Other places I felt like the writing could have been tighter and with fewer "X was Y" constructions. But maybe that's just me being a writer.

I won a copy of Vision: An Anthology of Winning Stories from the 2007 University of Hertfordshire Writing Award in Kate Baggot's blog contest. You see, Kate, besides writing the Babylune blog and freelance articles, writes fiction and won second prize with her short story "Three Wives".

Of course, I read this story as soon as the book arrived. I loved the story and felt I could read a novel about these three interesting women. I keep finding myself wanting to know more about them.

I'll read the other stories as well, but maybe not right away.

What about other books I was expecting? I've given up on receiving the Scalzi book and Marjorie Liu's ARC. I don't know if they were mis-delivered, if my postman wants my books, or if they were never sent, but after a couple of months, I'm giving up.

Bruce Alexander's Murder in Grub Street appealed to my love of historical mysteries. The historical details were intriguing: London in the 1700s (prior to my more familar readings in Victorian London, but involving some of the places featured in Anne Perry's Thomas Pitt mysteries), Samel Johnson, Hassidic Jews, and a blind magistrate playing detective who is none other than the brother of Henry Fielding.

The historical facts and the mystery itself were satisfactory. The story, however, felt lacking, as there seemed so much missed opportunity to provide emotional depth to the characters.

It was worth reading once, but it's sitting in my donation pile, as I don't want to read it again.

Marjorie Liu recently announced that there will be a buzz campaign for Soul Song, which will be released in July as the sixth book in the Dirk & Steele series.   I read three other books in this series and am very much looking forward to this one. These are in the "paranormal romance" category, but think cross between X-Men and James Bond as a romance. The women are both feminine and strong, and the romance doesn't overwhelm the book.

From the cover (I know, don't judge a book by it's cover), I'm guessing that the hero is a shape-shifter who shifts into a dolphin. He played a supporting role in Shadow Touch, but in my experience, you don't have to read the previous book(s) to appreciate the current book.

For this release, Marjorie Liu says that she has more ARCs available than ever, and is trying to get as many people to participate as possible.

 

If you are chosen to participate in the buzz campaign, she asks that you post a review on a) Amazon, BN.com, Powell's and/or any online bookstore of your choice; b) write up a review on your blog; or c) let folks on the message boards know what you think of the book!  She says, "Please don't feel obligated to post a good review if you don't like SOUL SONG."  

 

BTW, if you participated in the  last buzz campaign (for The Red Heart of Jade) you'll be getting an ARC for the new campaign, and don't need to  fill out the form again. If you participated in the Shadow Touch campaign but not the Red Heart campaign, you must fill out the form to apply.

 

If you are interested in participating, follow the link below and fill out the brief survey.  Dorchester has full discretion over who receives ARCs, and will be choosing the participants.  

 

Soul Song buzz campaign:

 

http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/SpecialFeatures.cfm?ID=2257

Last night I stayed up too late to finish Camilla Gibb's Sweetness in the Belly. The story is told from the viewpoint of Lilly, an English girl whose hippy parents led a nomadic life, moving from country to country in Europe, and then to Tangiers (Morocco). When the eight-year-old Lily wants to spend the day studying with a muslim teacher/philosopher, she never sees her parents again - for they are killed in a car accident. Lily has always longed for stability and embraces her new islamic life. She makes a piligramage to Harar (Ethiopia). Most of the book is divided between her life in Ethiopia in the early 1970s (in the years leading up to the revolution) and her life in London in the 1980s, working as a nurse and working in a 2-woman volunteer organization to help reunite Ethiopian refugees.

This book was wonderful. The language is poetic. Camilla Gibb is an anthropologist who did professional research in Ethiopia. The character Lily, who is both absorbed into the world and always to some degree an outsider is the perfect narrator to introduce us to that world.

The love stories are very sweet. Although the eventual outcomes was somewhat predictable, the details and reactions of the people involved was charming and felt plausible.