Category Archives: Links

Fantasy, Links, Preview, SciFi

Previews

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A week has gone by since BookCon and I have been inundated. Unfortunately most of the books I picked up are not being released until the fall and the publishers request reviews not be posted until a certain period prior to release. The time varies by publisher, but basically nothing I have right now can be posted. Instead of a new review, I figured I would throw out a couple of previews until I get through a book I can actually write about.

First from Tor, something I am personally excited for, Is John Scalzi’s new book, Lock in. In the near future, a virus spreads through the world’s population. Everyone reacts differently with some people experiencing nothing worse than a headache or flu symptoms. The more severe cases result in acute meningitis, and only one percent gets “locked in” and are unable to move or respond, but are still conscious. This is unfortunately a real phenomenon called Locked In Syndrome. It is generally unrepeatable and the person has almost no ability to communicate, with a few notable cases trying to have interfaces where patients could at least answer “yes” or “no”.

In Scalzi’s book, however they have devised a virtual reality system where those suffering could “ride” a licenses body and once again interact with the real world. The story builds based on what actions are taken with these “loaner” bodies. Tor has released the first 5 chapters on this up coming book. Check here for links to each chapter as well as other related information. Lock In comes our August 26th 2014.

The next link I have is an excerpt from the new anthology edited by George R.R Martin, Rogues. Rogues contains stories from Neil Gaiman, Pat Rothfuss and Mr. Martin himself as well as many other authors in this genre. I know I am excited for some of these stories such as Neil Gaiman’s story “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” which is based in his Neverwhere story. Martin’s story is based in the “Game of Thrones” universe (so calm down, you’re getting a new story), and of course Patrick Rothfuss has a story with Bast from “The Kingkiller Chronicles”. It is that story I happen to have found an excerpt of on Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist. Suvudu has also posted Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie reading from their stories. The release of Rogues is right around the corner on June 17th and is being published by Bantam. I really wish I had gotten a chance to review this book earlier, but I promise to try to squeeze it into my TBR list.

Luckily there are tons of great books coming  out and I don’t even come close to scratching the surface. Stay tuned in to your favorite publishers, authors and blogs for the latest.

Fantasy, Links, Preview, SciFi

Links & Stuff

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We are almost halfway through March and it has been quite a month already.  This month saw some highly anticipated books (such as Words of Radiance and Tropic of Serpents) with even more to come.

If there weren’t enough new books out there for you, Storybundle.com has a great “Epic Fantasy Bundle”. Those who are familiar with the Humble Bundle will know the format. You choose the price, and if it is over a certain amount, you unlock the other books. Basically (as of this writing) if you pay $12 or more you will get 9 epic fantasy novels by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Brandon Sanderson and Tracy Hickman. All are DRM free and a portion will go to a charity of your choosing. Hurry though because this expires in 14 days.

Going back to new books, I have put together a couple of links with excerpts  for upcoming novels. You can read a little bit and get a preview before it comes out.

First (because it comes out in 2 weeks on 3/25) is Lockstep by Karl Schroeder, published by Tor. This space opera is about a 17 year old boy who is stranded in a dead galaxy. He wakes up unexpectedly on a thriving planet… 14,000 years later. So far people have really enjoyed Schroeder’s world building in this. Take a look and see if it interests you.

The next book is Defenders by Will McIntosh, which is being published by Orbit on May 13th. Earth was invaded by telepathic aliens and the human response was to create genetically engineered super-soldiers with inherent resistance to psychic attacks. Once the war is over, what becomes of these defenders who were created with the sole purpose of being soldiers a psychic war? Will it be a Sci-Fi version of Rambo: First Blood? Perhaps an allegory for current veteran status? The only sure thing as that this looks interesting. Check out the prologue over at io9. Also check out Will McIntosh’s website.

Now to take a step away from books for a second. I know many Fantasy fans are also gamers. An immersive fantasy environment is naturally appealing. With this in mind, I did want to point out that The Elder Scrolls Online is right on the verge of the PC release. I mention this because I have been involved in the last few ESO beta sessions, so between working, reading, and the beta on alternate weeks, I have neglected some of my updates here and on twitter. At first I could not mention anything due to Zenimax’s strict Non Discolsure. After the NDA was lifted 2 weeks ago I was planning to write up something with screen caps and some videos, but I think I will wait until next week, as the beta this weekend will be a better version with some extra content. Check back here for that post.

 

Links

SFF Happenings

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There is always something interesting going on in the worlds of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.  Here are a few items which caught my eye and hopefully you find interesting as well.

First up: John Scalzi.

On 2/7 Scalzi posted a link on his blog to an article over on deadline.com about his novel Redshirts being picked up by FX for a TV series. Luckily Scalzi followed up the next day by further explain on his blog. If you do not currently follow John Scalzi’s blog or twitter, take a moment to do so, I doubt you will be disappointed. He writes an entertaining FAQ about his TV adaptation which I encourage you to check out. I for one cannot wait for this. I really liked the book so I am interested to see how the show comes out. Here is a summarized excerpt from a review I did elsewhere:

Redshirts  is the story of an Ensign and his friends who notice something strange going on. What Redshirts really was is a completely original Star Trek Meta parody. The story itself was pretty good, characters were good as well. What really powered this book though was the dialogue. The conversations and situations were great. I think I enjoyed the experience of reading this book much more than I enjoyed the overall picture. That being said, I REALLY enjoyed reading this book. Chapter 24 is one of the greatest things ever. Probably the most brilliant thing I’ve seen in a long time. I’d certainly recommend this book whether someone is looking for a Sci-Fi read, a generally funny book, or just something different

The next thing I wanted to point out was that Sword and Laser‘s 2nd video season kicked off today. This season will be a set of author spotlight episodes. It was also a result of a very successful Kickstarter campaign. The first one that was released was the Hugh Howey episode. I was particularly happy about this episode since a couple of questions I had put out there were asked by the hosts. For full disclosure, as you may know from my Sand review, I am certainly a fan of Hugh Howey’s so I wanted to share this. I was also a backer of this Kickstarter. I have said it in the past, but I again encourage people to follow Sword and Laser’s podcast and forums/book club. I do.

The last item I wanted to touch on today is a post by Brandon Sanderson. I had previously put a link up to the first few chapters of his new novel, Words of Radiance. He mentions this again in his post, which he should considering the release in about a week and a half (I should have a review up mid-March). You can get spoiler free excerpts sent daily  as well as read some Beta Reader tips. What I thought was really interesting though was at the bottom. Brandon Sanderson teaches a creative writing class at Brigham Young University. As you can imagine, this is not an easy class to get into. This year he opened up a larger lecture class before the writing workshop. He also is posting videos of these lecture on his YouTube channel. Anyone looking to get a creative writing lecture from an extremely successful Fantasy writer would do well to check this out.

Keep checking for updates.

Fantasy, Links, Preview

Links & Excerpts

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There are many really exciting new books coming out this year. Some authors and publishers understand our deep addiction to their content and are kind enough to share a small taste of what is to come. The drawback is that instead of temporarily satiating us, it only leaves us wanting more now, adding to our anticipation. Click the title of the book for the link.

The first excerpt comes from the good folks at Tor Books. This excerpt contains the prologue and first two chapters (with recently released cover art) from the highly anticipated and long awaited second book in the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson: Words of Radiance. The first book in the epic fantasy series was released almost four years ago and has been very highly praised by both readers and critics. A Pavlovian response was triggered when I first saw this link. I am very excited to see where it goes considering the end of the previous book.

Our next link is from io9, which is a a really great site. If you you are not checking it out regularly, I highly recommend it. This link has an excerpt and cover art from Joe Abercrombie’s new novel Half a King. Joe Abercrombie is best known for The First Law trilogy, but of course you already knew that. This new novel is being published by Del Rey. It revolves around the youngest son of a king born with a disabled hand. Due to this he is referred to as “half a man” by those around him.

For our final link for today, we head back over to Tor for the second novel in Marie Brennan‘s Memoir by Lady Trent series, The Tropic of Serpents. This of course is the follow up to A Natural History of Dragons published last year.  This story took an interesting turn on dragon fantasy, taking the topic into the scientific realm. The point of view is of an older and more accomplished Lady Trent taking a look back at her early work as a natural historian, studying dragons. I enjoyed the first book very much and am eagerly waiting for the next.

Check back for more updates from the lands of SF/F!