Waiting on Wednesday 07/16/14
Posted on July 16, 2014 14 Comments
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick:
The Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher: October 7, 2014 (Tor)
I’d almost forgotten how much I enjoyed The Six-Gun Tarot until back in the spring I saw this amazing cover for the sequel, The Shotgun Arcana. The writing in the first book had a sort of raw quality which was actually quite perfect for the themes in the novel, a dark western with traces of horror and steampunk and other fantasy elements thrown in, and I remember thinking given time there’s lots of places this author and series can go.
“R. S. Belcher’s debut novel, The Six-Gun Tarot, was enthusiastically greeted by critics and readers, who praised its wildly inventive mixture of dark fantasy, steampunk, and the Wild West. Now Belcher returns to Golgotha, Nevada, a bustling frontier town that hides more than its fair share of unnatural secrets.
1870. A haven for the blessed and the damned, including a fallen angel, a mad scientist, a pirate queen, and a deputy who is kin to coyotes, Golgotha has come through many nightmarish trials, but now an army of thirty-two outlaws, lunatics, serial killers, and cannibals are converging on the town, drawn by a grisly relic that dates back to the Donner Party…and the dawn of humanity.
Sheriff Jon Highfather and his deputies already have their hands full dealing with train robbers, a mysterious series of brutal murders, and the usual outbreaks of weirdness. But with thirty-two of the most vicious killers on Earth riding into Golgotha in just a few day’s time, the town and its people will be tested as never before—and some of them will never be the same.
The Shotgun Arcana is even more spectacularly ambitious and imaginative than The Six-Gun Tarot, and confirms R. S. Belcher’s status as a rising star.”
Book Review: Unwept by Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman
Posted on July 15, 2014 17 Comments
Unwept by Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Series: Book 1 of The Nightbirds
Publisher: Tor (July 1, 2014)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Some books start off with a shaky opening but then end up getting better as the story gains momentum, but other times there are books like Unwept that go the opposite way. These books manage to capture my attention right off the bat and get me invested with an interesting premise, but then they stumble and lose me about halfway through. The magic fizzles out and I can’t get it back.
I have my inklings as to why this might have been the case with Unwept. Thing is, I love being teased with a bit of mystery. And this book did that very well, starting off by painting a baffling yet very intriguing picture. A girl named Ellis Harkington comes to herself in the middle of a train ride accompanied by a nurse and baby, but has no memory of how she got there or any of her life before this moment. She arrives at a remote seaside town named Gamin where everyone seems to know her better than she knows herself, but she can’t even recognize any of their faces. A group of young men and women called the Nightbirds — who claims to be a literary society – welcome her back into the fold with open arms, and yet for a literary society they don’t seem all that interested in books…
Then there are the nightmares. Ellis dreams of clouds of moths and visitations from a strange soldier with a paisley-shaped mark on his face. There’s also talk of terrible things happening all over town, like a devastating fire, missing people, and the discovery of mutilated bodies pointing to a ruthless killer on the loose. And why are there no children in town? There this real sense of unease and foreboding. The atmosphere is practically humming with anticipation. The stage is set for something great, and you know deep down in your gut that this book has got to be building up to something huge.
Well. It didn’t really happen. At least, not for me. You must understand, this book had me wrapped around its finger and I was completely under its control and prepared to fall head over heels in love with it. I cannot give enough praise to the first half of this novel; it was fantastically well written and constructed to give the reader a perfect foundation. I simply adored the first 150 pages or so. But not long after that, the plot started fraying at the edges.
Unfortunately, being plied with all that escalation with ultimately not much payoff has a way of making me feel a bit grumpy. I’m also disheartened by the lost potential of this story. The book could only maintain the suspense for so long before I started questioning where it was trying to go and what it was trying to say. I had the sneaking suspicion that I was being led on a wild goose chase. Not long after that, I finally had to admit to myself that I really had no idea what was going on. By the time some answers were forthcoming, I don’t know if I felt as invested or engaged in the outcome anymore. The revelations were certainly eye-opening, but it’s a classic case of “too little too late.” I just can’t decide if the disappointment hurt more or less because the story had such a strong and promising start.
Unwept is also the first book of a series, and – unsurprisingly, perhaps – it has the stamp of a “Book One” all over it. Don’t expect any satisfying or clear-cut answers. Instead of growing and expanding, the story seemed to shrink back in on itself. There is mystery at the beginning, and there will still be mystery at the end, and probably more blanks and question marks than you started out with. It’s hard to tell now, but I think I might have had a more positive reaction to the book if I had known to rein in my expectations a little.
In the end, I don’t think Unwept is a bad book. The sheer enjoyment I got out of the first part of it is a testament to that. It’s also such a quick read that if you’re even remotely interested in the description, I would say it is well worth your time, as the average reader can probably knock it out in one or two sittings. It has a fascinating premise, and I have no doubt it’ll work for a lot of readers. I just personally wish I been better prepared for its peculiar pacing.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Tor Books!
PANELS: X-Men: Regenesis #1
Posted on July 14, 2014 1 Comment
Magneto: “So, us… together. You can’t say it doesn’t appeal to your sense of drama. The terrorist and the goddess. The devil–”
X-Men: Regenesis #1
Book Review: Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch
Posted on July 14, 2014 24 Comments
Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Putnam (July 10, 2014)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Cyberpunk is another one of those science fiction subgenres that have been more miss than hit with me in the past, but that hasn’t stopped me from giving more of it a try, hoping to find something that’s more my liking. So even after my inability to get into William Gibson’s Neuromancer – a book considered a seminal work in the cyberpunk field – I still decided to check out Tomorrow and Tomorrow, which has been described as leading in the next wave following in the footsteps of Gibson.
Indeed, in the classic cyberpunk tradition, the book has its setting in a near-future dystopian with elements of hard-boiled detective film noir and overall a very bleak worldview. The city of Pittsburgh is a pile of rubble and ash after its destruction by terrorists in a nuclear blast. Ten years later, survivor John Dominic Blaxton still mourns his wife and unborn child while most of the world has moved on. Our protagonist is a marginalized loner, addicted to drugs as much as he is addicted to his memories of his lost life by immersing himself in the Archive where he can relive moments with his wife in a fully interactive digital reconstruction of Pittsburgh.
Dominic’s work also involves investigating deaths recorded in the Archive for insurance companies. One day, while pursuing a claim, he becomes obsessed with the apparent murder of a young woman when he discovers that her records have been tampered with, evidence that someone is trying to cover up the circumstances of her death. His digging around doesn’t go unnoticed. Like many cyberpunk protagonists, John finds himself manipulated by higher forces and trapped into a situation where he has little control.
Thomas Sweterlitsch has created a future where technology runs rampant. Everyone has an adware implant in their head and access to information is near ubiquitous. People have become wholly dependent on the computer chips in their brains, and the result is a dehumanized society with a strong sense of disenchantment and nihilism. Feeds run continuously in an endless stream, with up-to-the-second news updates. Grisly details of accidents or crime scenes are made public at the speed of an eye blink, along with the darker secrets of the victims’ lives. The society eats up their sex tapes as voraciously as they revel in the graphic violence.
It’s this brutal, emotionally numbing aspect of cyberpunk that makes it so hard for me to click with this genre. Strangely enough, I can handle most kinds of gritty, dark fantasy without issue, but these near-futures and the negative effect of technology on human society have a way of cutting too close for comfort. All everyone seems to care about anymore is pornography and violence, and it is so off-putting not to mention mentally draining. The themes of grief and loss are also at the forefront of this novel, which makes reading it a real struggle if you’re not feeling in the mood for something so despairing. It’s hard to watch Dominic go through life relying so heavily on the Archive; instead of helping, the technology has pretty much halted his healing all together, and he hangs on to his grief like his wife died yesterday instead of a decade ago.
This wasn’t a bad novel, however. I thought the world-building was fantastic and the mystery, hardboiled noir and crime thriller elements were done very well. This is a story about a man destroyed by tragedy and the events that ultimately pulled him out of his funk and allowed him to move on, but it is for the most part a very stark, very depressing and sometimes disturbing book. I don’t regret reading it and I would recommend this to cyberpunk fans, but consider holding off if you’re in the mood for something lighter.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via First to Read in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Putnam Books!
Posted on July 13, 2014 Leave a Comment
“When your rage is choking you, it is best to say nothing.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Fledgling
Graphic Novel Review Bites
Posted on July 13, 2014 5 Comments
Naja is also a woman who feels no pain, neither inside, nor out. It makes her the perfect assassin; number three in Zero’s arsenal. She does not question her purpose. When Zero gives an order, she follows it. Until she discovers that number one and number two are out to kill her, by order of Zero.
Naja’s story is narrated by a mysterious third party who has done his or her research on Naja and knows far more than any casual observer should know. It’s an interesting concept and the art is sharp, capturing Naja’s cold stillness in one moment, and swift and deadly action in the next.
In spite of a strong set up, the story plods along, such that by the time it gets to the big reveal, I’d already lost interest. Both the characters and the story had a lot of potential, but it ultimately lacked the depth and pacing to keep my attention.
Letter 44: Volume 1 by Charles Soule
The 43rd president left a very nice letter for Stephen Blades. It warned the new president that the mess 43 had left behind had a purpose: preparation for aliens. As in, the discovery of an alien mining operation that has, thus far, been kept top secret. Also on a need to know basis is the existence of a team of scientists and soldiers on the Clarke, a ship sent out to make first contact with these aliens.
This isn’t a new concept, but Soule does add his own twists here and there to make it a little more interesting. The political intrigues didn’t grab me as much as the goings on onboard the Clarke, where the crew have developed some potentially volatile relationships that could make or break their mission. Unfortunately, this all seems to revolve around the two female crew members, who, while they have important sciences purposes on the ship, kind of just boil down to the two vaginae that are being fought over/not being fought over.
I was pleased that the alien encounter aspect wasn’t dragged out for too long. We do get to see what’s going on, though it opens up all sorts of new mysteries that have almost convinced me to read more.
The Bunker: Volume 1 by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Five friends decide to bury a time capsule, but instead discover a bunker with instructions from their future selves warning them of what is to come and how to hopefully prevent it.
The concept is interesting and the relationships between the five friends offer a lot of opportunity for conflict, but the dialogue is poorly written, starting with the immaturity of the characters at age twenty-two. Fortunately, with the discovery of the bunker, they grow up pretty quickly once they decide whether or not to believe the letter. But then things get a bit muddy, with the art being of little help in deciphering it all. Not that I dislike the art. I liked the sketchiness and the use of mauves and blues to set the bleak tone. There are tragic backstories to deal with and all sorts of betrayal, and the time travelling….
Liquid City, Vol. 3 by Various
Every writer has a story to tell but sometimes, they never get around to telling those stories. The idea behind the Liquid City collection is: the apocalypse is coming, so what better time than the end of the world to finally let those stories see the light of day.
As with all collections, there will be hits and there will be misses. I had as many favourites as I did ones that did not impress me, but it was the overriding theme of telling your untold stories that really got to me.
With thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copies of these graphic novels in exchange for honest reviews.
Lootz: Mogsy’s Book Haul
Posted on July 12, 2014 18 Comments
It’s been a pretty hectic summer so far, so I’m actually a bit behind on featuring my new books. So a couple of these probably came a few weeks ago and there are some recent ones that didn’t make it into the picture, but every book arrival is cause for excitement and each will have their time in the spotlight, if not this time then definitely in the future! Here’s what’s in the physical pile today:
A Better World – the second book in the Brilliance Saga, a series apparently soon to be a motion picture. My interest was initially piqued by this sci-fi dystopian sounding thriller but I was a little nervous because I hadn’t read the first book – however, I was reassured that the second one can be enjoyed on its own and so that was great news indeed. My thanks to Wunderkind PR!
Into the Fire – courtesy of Jo Fletcher Books comes the sequel to The Detainee. I really enjoyed the first book, which could have been read as a stand alone, but I’m definitely up for finding out what happens next to these characters.
The Godless – another book from across the pond, this one courtesy of Tor UK which is why the cover might look a little different if you’ve seen the one from the publisher in the US! This one’s a nice big chunky book and I’m looking forward to nom nom nomming it.
Chasers of the Wind – a surprise arrival from Tor, I was originally on the fence about checking this out but now that I have it I’m probably going to give it a read some time this summer. I’ve already seen some pretty interesting reviews so I’m looking forward to exploring this one for myself.
Flight of the Golden Harpy – a beautiful finished copy of another book from Tor, this one’s pretty high on my list to tackle this summer.
Stitching Snow – my thanks to Tabitha from Not Yet Read for a copy of this! Reading early copies of YA books is pretty rare for me, but Tabs is always so good with hooking me up with any ARCs she can spare and she is my go-to guru when it comes to YA. I agree with her that this one sounds pretty sweet!
Blindsight – I only gave in to one ebook deal this week! Blindsight is the predecessor to Echopraxia, a book you’ve probably seen getting some buzz because it’s about to come out next month. It’ll be good to have the first book right at hand if I decide to read the series, plus it was a nice price.
Blightborn – received via Netgalley. Couldn’t help it! It’s by Chuck Wendig and one of my top anticipated books for this summer, not to mention I enjoyed the first book immensely and I have auto-approval from Amazon Publishing. My willpower has its limits.
Book Review: Unexpected Stories by Octavia E. Butler
Posted on July 12, 2014 2 Comments
Unexpected Stories by Octavia E. Butler
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Open Road (June 24, 2014)
Wendy’s Rating – 4 of 5 stars
“Our worldview is transformed by an imagination that sees no border between thought and what is real.” ~Walter Mosley on Octavia E. Butler
American novelist Walter Mosley opens this short story collection by expressing exactly how I feel about the loss of Octavia E. Butler and how it feels to find these stories so long after that loss.
She was a woman who defied convention on every level to give us incredible, award winning stories; all of which feature prominently on my bookshelf. That isn’t to say that I blindly love all of her work. But I do love the mind behind them. My introduction to her work was Lilith’s Brood. I became an instant fan and I wanted nothing more than to sit down with this woman and pick her brain to find out where these incredible ideas came from. Her death meant I could never have that opportunity, but thankfully, others have, which is why one of the books I treasure most is Conversations with Octavia Butler.
Unexpected Stories are more than just an addition to my treasured collection. They are earlier works, still rough around the edges and not nearly as rich as her subsequent stories, but they are no less impressive for the opportunity to see how this woman evolved as a writer.
“A Necessary Being” and “Childfinder” are very characteristic of Butler’s work. They are both stories helmed by strong women who must deal with dire situations, and make significant decisions and sacrifices in order to protect those they lead. Both women bear heavy burdens and are fueled by loss, but also by hope. Butler’s stories are often quite bleak and realistic, despite the science fiction and fantasy stamp. Her work never shies away from the harsh topics, and even in her most fantastical stories, everything remains so very human as she holds up a mirror to the darkness within us; the complicated dance of power that defines humanity. I cannot recommend her work to anyone who needs their speculative fiction to be sunshine and roses, but to everyone else? Octavia Butler should be necessary reading.
Wendy’s Summer Reading List + Worlds Without End Reading Challenge Update
Posted on July 11, 2014 23 Comments
My summer reading list will be a challenge this year because I’ve gotten so busy with other projects and distractions, that my reading has slowed down significantly. Still, I’m determined to complete my 150 book Goodreads Challenge, and am making my way through the to-read pile that is tumbling off of my night table.
That’s where the Worlds Without End Roll Your Own Reading Challenges come in. Not only does it make for a really cool visual effect, it helps keep me on track, while fulfilling my somewhat obsessive compulsive listing needs.
1. I Just Have to Read More of that Author
2. 2014 Speculative Fiction by Authors of Color Challenge
3. 2014 Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge
4. Pick and Mix
5. Read the Sequel
6. Fantasia
7. Mythopoeic Award
8. The Book of Ones
Most of these are self explanatory, but feel free to click on the links to learn more. I’m very proud of myself for only adding the Pick and Mix challenge to my initial challenge post at the beginning of the year (I’ll save the Bucket List challenge for 2015).
It’s summer, so I don’t want to commit to too much, but my list will definitely draw on these challenges to keep me moving forward:
Book Review: Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
Posted on July 11, 2014 4 Comments
by Piper Kerman
Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (April 2010)
Author Info: Twitter
Wendy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars :
I enjoyed spotting the different characters and story elements within the book that the show expands on so wonderfully.
Yes I read this because I’ve watched and enjoyed the series on Netflix. No, the book is not better than the show. Or rather, the book is a pretty vanilla memoir and does not give you nearly as much character depth as the show does. Of course the show goes over the top with the drama, because it’s there to entertain the viewer, but I don’t think it loses the message Kerman is trying to deliver in her documentation of her relatively brief prison stay. This is still about highlighting the life of institutionalized women who are thrown into a system that puts no real effort into true rehabilitation. But while the Netflix series may exaggerate situations, I feel like the book didn’t go deeply enough, especially when it came to insight into the other women. As it is all told through Kerman’s perspective, with no real discussions with the other women, her view on them and their various situations comes off as somewhat cursory.
Kerman frequently discusses certain detrimental elements of prison life, even quoting statistics in ‘did you know?’-like asides from the memoir process, but the writing really doesn’t delve into how that truly affects the women, because she glosses over so much. Deeply emotional moments barely take up a few paragraphs and simply end with her writing about how she or someone else cried. It does convey the emotional impact of the various situations, but without enough engagement to truly engage the reader to empathize with these moments.
As for the injustices that take place within the prison, there certainly are many, but again, there is a lot of glossing over and little depth, and frankly, Piper does not seem to suffer much of it or from it. That’s not to say that her time was not emotionally and psychologically taxing, but she makes it clear that she walked into the prison with significant advantages as a white, well-educated woman. As such, through this book she is able to lend her voice to the cause in hopes of inciting change upon our justice system. But after a while, it felt a lot like a memoir from a rich white woman about being inside prison at the same time as Martha Stewart. While Martha didn’t end up at the same prison, her trial and incarceration factored in quite often, and I jadedly began to wonder if the book’s publication was significantly boosted by that fact. Was this really about helping her fellow prisoners? Or is it about grasping at fifteen minutes of fame through six degrees of separation? Fortunately, there was never any condescension in her views of the other women. She always seemed to approached everyone with respect and empathy and earned the same from them.
Overall, not a horrible read, but certainly not as entertaining as the show (not that I’m faulting Kerman for not writing with my entertainment in mind). However, reading it gives me a greater appreciation for the show’s writers. I enjoyed spotting the different characters and story elements within the book that the show expands on so wonderfully. I love that the show truly turns the focus from Piper—a rather dull character in both book and show—and instead defines her by the incredible women around her who teach her a thing or two about real life.
The BiblioSanctum 