Above is a video released by Fender, featuring a number of great guitarists working on the Game of Thrones theme tune, played on GoT-themed axes. Joining Tom Morello of Audioslave/Rage Against The Machine, Scott Ian of Anthrax, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme, and Brad Paisley, are Dan Weiss (show creator) and the original theme composer, Ramin Djawadi.
Given that the final episode airs this evening, it seemed appropriate to share the video today. Enjoy!
Above you can see the North American and UK covers for To Be Taught, If Fortunate, the upcoming new novella by Becky Chambers. Chambers is the critically-acclaimed author of the Wayfarer sci-fi series. This novella is a stand-alone, and one that sounds really interesting:
At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in subzero temperatures, absorb radiation and convert it for food, and conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to journey to neighboring exoplanets long known to harbor life.
A team of these explorers, Ariadne O’Neill and her three crewmates, are hard at work in a planetary system fifteen light-years from Sol, on a mission to ecologically survey four habitable worlds. But as Ariadne shifts through both form and time, the culture back on Earth has also been transformed. Faced with the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten those who have left, Ariadne begins to chronicle the story of the wonders and dangers of her mission, in the hope that someone back home might still be listening.
To Be Taught, If Fortunate is due to be published in North America by Voyager (September 3rd), and in the UK by Hodder (August 8th). I’m really looking forward to reading this one.
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Chris Humphreys?
Gosh, start with an easy one! I was hoping you could tell me!
Chris is an actor and author who was born with a sword in his hand — which must have made it painful for dear old ma. He became an actor so he could leap around with bladed weaponry — and largely succeeded. (I was even Graham Ashe the Immortal in Highlander, though I was dead after ten minutes which seems a swizz!). He became a writer with much the same ambitions, though he also became interested in myth and magic and playing Hamlet at a formative age shook things up philosophy-wise. (Who also dies from a sword cut, of course!) His body is Canadian, his mind is English, and his heart is Norwegian. He has a familiar called Dickon who claims to be a cat, and he writes in a cedar octagon in a forest on an island in the Salish Sea.
Your new novel, Smoke in the Glass, was published this week by Gollancz. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?
Glad you think so. Yes, it is Book One of the Immortals’ Blood Trilogy. The story began for me, in that cedar octagon, with a question: If you had the choice, would you want to live forever? Continue reading
Lucas Davenport’s 29th outing…
Clayton Deese looks like a small-time criminal, muscle for hire when his loan shark boss needs to teach someone a lesson. Now, seven months after a job that went south and landed him in jail, Deese has skipped out on bail, and the U.S. Marshals come looking for him. They don’t much care about a low-level guy–it’s his boss they want–but Deese might be their best chance to bring down the whole operation.
Then, they step onto a dirt trail behind Deese’s rural Louisiana cabin and find a jungle full of graves.
Now Lucas Davenport is on the trail of a serial killer who has been operating for years without notice. His quarry is ruthless, and — as Davenport will come to find — full of surprises…
This is the 29th novel in Sandford’s excellent Lucas Davenport/Prey series. I started reading them, I think, when Certain Prey, was first published in the UK. Since then, I’ve managed to read almost all of them (the first few weren’t available in Britain at the time, but are all getting published this year). With each new novel, I was impressed by Sandford’s ability to keep the series fresh and interesting. Neon Prey is no exception: I really enjoyed this. Continue reading
I’ve seen the cover for Rivers Solomon‘s The Deep around the internet a few times over the past couple of weeks. Inspired by a song by Clipping for an episode of This American Life, “We Are In The Future,” the premise really caught my attention:
The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society — and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future…
Yetu holds the memories for her people — water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners — who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one — the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities — and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past — and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity — and own who they really are.
Clipping is comprised of Daveed Diggs (most recently mega-famous for being in Hamilton), William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes.
The Deep is due to be published by Saga Press in November 2019. Looking forward to reading it. Rivers Solomon is also the author of the acclaimed An Unkindness of Ghosts, published by Akashic Books in North America and in the UK.
Above is the new music video for Slipknot‘s latest single, “Unsainted”. Taken from the upcoming album, We Are Not Your Kind, it’s really good. For me, it strongly calls to mind their earlier albums, and in some very good ways. Continue reading
The Siege of Terra as the Horus Heresy draws closer to the end
After seven years of bitter war, the end has come at last for the conflict known infamously as the Horus Heresy. Terra now lies within the Warmaster’s sights, the Throneworld and the seat of his father’s rule. Horus’ desire is nothing less than the death of the Emperor of Mankind and the utter subjugation of the Imperium. He has become the ascendant vessel of Chaos, and amassed a terrible army with which to enact his will and vengeance. But the way to the Throne will be hard as the primarch Rogal Dorn, the Praetorian and protector of Terra, marshals the defences. First and foremost, Horus must challenge the might of the Sol System itself and the many fleets and bulwarks arrayed there. To gain even a foothold on Terran soil, he must first contend the Solar War. Thus the first stage of the greatest conflict in the history of all mankind begins.
This series has been a long time coming. The Horus Heresy series began with Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising, published back in 2006. After 53 more books, countless short stories, audio-dramas and more, the traitor forces of Warmaster Horus are knocking on the doors of the Solar system. This novel covers the opening moves of the end-stage, and French does a fantastic job of portraying this chaotic, brutal siege. If the rest of the Siege of Terra series is as strong (or stronger) than this, fans are in for one hell of a ride. Continue reading
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Sophie Tanner?
Hiya! Who is she indeed? Well, I grew up in Devon and Dorset so I’m a west country girl. I was an animal-loving, day-dreaming child who went on to become a Britpop-obsessed cider-lover as a teenager. It was a bit of a culture shock when I went to uni in London but I loved it! I studied Theatre and English then worked in tourism, then went travelling to Mexico and Africa, which was mind incredible.
When I returned to Blighty, I fancied living near the beach and so headed straight for Brighton and, 12 years later, I’ve never left! I love the laid back, anything-goes vibe here and there’s always so much going on — music, theatre, street parties, every fitness class you can imagine etc. I live in a little flat near the sea with my bumptious Labrador, Ella. We spend a lot of time on the beach and roaming the Sussex Downs. I try to stay quite active — I like going to Kung Fu and trapeze class. As well as being an author I also work as a freelancer in PR and content writing. I just turned 40 and so far, so good!
Your debut novel, Reader, I Married Me, was recently published by Trapeze. It looks rather fun: How would you introduce it to a potential reader?
I often introduce it as a romcom without the ‘rom’! It’s a light-heartedly subversive challenge to the traditional romcom narrative which suggests you need an ‘other half’ in order to be truly happy. I’d say it’s an uplifting, feel-good read if you’re in need of a boost. Continue reading
Blood of an Exile by Brian Naslund is one of the debut fantasy novels I’ve been most looking forward to. The first in the Dragons of Terra series, it has been described as “a fast-paced adventure perfect for comic readers and fans of heroic fantasy”. The novel is due to be published in August by Tor Books in North America (6th) and in the UK (8th).
Bershad was supposed to die…
When he was caught trying to assassinate a fellow noble, Flawless Bershad was given a death sentence. Fight monsters so that he would die serving the kingdom. But Bershad can’t die.
He’s never lost a fight, the most successful dragon slayer in history but marked as a doomed man, Bershad stands apart from the world. But that is about to change.
The man who sentenced Bershad to his fate has just given him an out. Kill a king and walk free forever. But Bershad could care less about the fates of kings and kingdoms, until, that is, he discovers he is the only person able to save an innocent child and, possibly, the life of every creature in Terra.
I will share information about each and every new Adrian Tchaikovsky book for as long as Civilian Reader continues. A fantastic author, with a prodigious imagination and a work/writing ethic (combined with ever-greater quality) that we can only aspire to emulating. Made Things is his next novella, due to be published by Tor.com in North America and in the UK, on November 5th. The cover and synopsis were recently unveiled on Barnes & Noble’s Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog. Here’s what it’s about:
She was good at making friends.
Coppelia is a street thief, a trickster, a low-level con artist. But she has something other thieves don’t… tiny puppet-like friends: some made of wood, some of metal. They don’t entirely trust her, and she doesn’t entirely understand them, but their partnership mostly works.
After a surprising discovery shakes their world to the core, Coppelia and her friends must reexamine everything they thought they knew about their world, while attempting to save their city from a seemingly impossible new threat.
Also on CR: Interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky (2012); Guest Posts on “Nine Books, Six Years, One Stenwold Maker”, “The Art of Gunsmithing: Writing Guns of the Dawn”, “Looking for God in Melnibone Places: Fantasy and Religion”, and “Eye of the Spider”; Excerpt from Guns of the Dawn; Reviews of Empire of Black and Gold, Guns of the Dawn, Spiderlight, Ironclads, Walking to Aldebaran
'just a nobody with a blog'
library lovin', backlist browsin', SFF reader...
Another Book Off The To Be Read Pile
Mostly book reviews, and sometimes other stuff
Book Reviews, News, and Other Stuff
My Irrational Life
The writings, reviews and ramblings of Paul Starkey...
by Marianne de Pierres
News, data and insight about the powerful forces that shape the world.
Books! Where are the great books?
that doesn't fall apart two days later
A topnotch WordPress.com site
Random musings from an extreme bibliophile.
And for summer days
On the Writing of Epic Fantasy - The Archives
Welcome to Gav Thorpe's Weblog
Speculative fiction
Don't worry. None of this blood is mine.
Civilian Reader 