Author: Civilian Reader

Upcoming: LEVIATHAN’S BLOOD by Ben Peek (Tor UK)

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I shared the cover for Ben Peek‘s second novel a little while ago on Twitter, but Tor UK have recently posted a piece about the cover and novel, and I thought it should be up on CR as well. Leviathan’s Blood is the sequel to The Godless. Here’s what it’s about:

The city of Mireea has been destroyed and its survivors seek shelter, refugees from a great war. Among them, Zaifyr and his companions arrive at the gates of Yeflam, seeking asylum. Zaifyr’s immortal status might gain them access – but will that be enough? And although they are weary indeed, they also face a bigger threat than lack of sanctuary. A new child god has entered the world, and she will do anything to destroy those who might threaten her power. Zaifyr warns Yeflam of the danger she poses. But it’s too late. Priests of the new god have entered the city.

Meanwhile, Ayae becomes enmeshed in Muriel Wagan’s machinations. Now known as Lady of the Ghosts, Muriel seeks leverage to protect her people. But anyone in her way will find politics are more dangerous than the sword. Then on the other side of the world, the saboteur Bueralan returns home. Around his neck he carries a terrible cargo: the soul of a dead man. He’s been set on a dark path by the child god and he must face the consequences. For they will change a whole world.

I like the relatively-simple composition and idea behind the cover — and the execution is quite stunning. It was designed by Neal Lang.

Leviathan’s Blood is due to be published in April 2016.

For more on Ben Peek’s writing and novel, be sure to check out his website, and follow him on Twitter and Goodreads.

Also on CR: Interview with Ben Peek

Quick Review: THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNEW IT by Nick Cole

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ColeN-EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnewItAn interesting post-zombie apocalypse novel

In the future, an artist specializing in historical records creates a piece of art based on three separate accounts of the Pandemic. What follows is a patchwork tale of survival and horror as two lovers struggle to survive the undying dead and the collapse of an America turned charnel house. Told as memos from Ground Zero, and later in the journal of a Dark Tower-like quest by train and foot across a nightmare landscape of ruined cities and raving corpses, the three accounts reveal more than just the grim realities of society’s collapse. The Notebook meets The Walking Dead in this stained glass depiction of the end of the world as we knew it.

After learning about this book via a Tweet from BoingBoing, I promptly headed over to Amazon and bought it. I started it that same day, and blitzed through it pretty quickly. It’s an interesting read, offering something new for a genre and threw out some surprises. It’s an engaging, ultimately uplifting post-apocalyptic tale. Continue reading →

Upcoming: SPELLBREAKER by Blake Charlton (Tor/Voyager)

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Above are the covers for the long-awaited third novel in Blake Charlton‘s Spellwright Trilogy, Spellbreaker. The sequel to Spellbound, it works as a stand-alone. It’s due out in June 2016, published in the US by Tor Books and in the UK by Voyager. Here’s the synopsis:

Leandra Weal has a bad habit of getting herself in dangerous situations.

While hunting neodemons in her role as Warden of Ixos, Leandra obtains a prophetic spell that provides a glimpse one day into her future. She discovers that she is doomed to murder someone she loves, soon, but not who. That’s a pretty big problem for a woman who has a shark god for a lover, a hostile empress for an aunt, a rogue misspelling wizard for a father, and a mother who — especially when arguing with her daughter — can be a real dragon.

Leandra’s quest to unravel the mystery of the murder-she-will-commit becomes more urgent when her chronic disease flares up and the Ixonian Archipelago is plagued by natural disasters, demon worshiping cults, and fierce political infighting. Everywhere she turns, Leandra finds herself amid intrigue and conflict. It seems her bad habit for getting into dangerous situations is turning into a full blown addiction.

As chaos spreads across Ixos, Leandra and her troubled family must race to uncover the shocking truth about a prophesied demonic invasion, human language, and their own identities — if they don’t kill each other first.

I rather enjoyed the first two novels in the trilogy, but four years and many novels later, I have forgotten a fair bit of what happened in them…

Also on CR: Interview with Blake Charlton; Reviews of Spellwright and Spellbound

For more, be sure to check out the author’s website, and follow him on Twitter, Goodreads and Facebook.

Quick Q&A with NATHAN GARRISON

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GarrisonN-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Nathan Garrison?

I am a father, husband, musician, chef, soldier, dreamer, and geek. Oh, and I write stuff too!

Your debut novel, Veiled Empire, is published by Voyager. It looks pretty interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

I’d say it’s got a decent blend of classic and modern styles, both in tone and content, and is packed with action. It is part of a (forthcoming) series, but it can also be read as a standalone. Continue reading →

Excerpt: STAR WARS PSYCHOLOGY (Sterling)

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LangleyT-StarWarsPsychologyToday, we have an exclusive excerpt from Star Wars Psychology, edited by Travis Langley (Sterling, 2015). Specifically, a section by Jim Davies about droids. First, the synopsis for the book:

STAR WARS PSYCHOLOGY: Dark Side of the Mind explores the various psychological aspects of the beloved series, giving fans a better understanding of the motivation and mental states of their favorite characters.

A group of expert contributors, led by Travis Langley, explore the “Big Five” personality factors and the characters who embody each major trait. Get to know the major players a little better leading up to the new movie coming out this December… How does anxiety disorder explain the transformation of a character’s psyche from good to evil and back to good? Can robots feel pain and suffering? How does limb amputation and neuroprosthesis impact the brain? Does music influence our emotional reading of the entire saga?

And now, on with the excerpt. Continue reading →

Upcoming: HEX by Thomas Odd Heuvelt (Hodder/Tor)

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I tweeted about Thomas Odd Heuvelt‘s Hex yesterday, and figured that it also made sense to mention it on the blog. It looks interesting (not to mention creepy), and I’ve been hearing great things from people who have read it early. Here’s the synopsis:

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay until death. Whoever comes to stay, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a seventeenth-century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Blind and silenced, she walks the streets and enters homes at will. She stands next to children’s beds for nights on end. So accustomed to her have the townsfolk become that they often forget she’s there. Or what a threat she poses. Because if the stitches are ever cut open, the story goes, the whole town will die.

The curse must not be allowed to spread. The elders of Black Spring have used high-tech surveillance to quarantine the town. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town’s teenagers decide to break the strict regulations and go viral with the haunting. But, in so doing, they send the town spiraling into a dark nightmare.

Hex is published in April 2016 in the US by Tor Books, in the UK by Hodder, and in the Netherlands by Luitingh-Sijthoff.

Quick Review: AHRIMAN – EXODUS by John French (Black Library)

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FrenchJ-AhrimanExodusA collection of short stories set in French’s Ahriman series

Ahriman, exiled sorcerer lord of the Thousand Sons, has many servants who do his bidding. Each has a tale to tell, but few as compelling as that of Ctesias the twice-dead, summoner of daemons. From an encounter with the mysterious Dead Oracle to the perils of the Hounds and Wrath and navigating the Gates of Ruin, Ctesias is a vital link in Ahriman’s grand plan. This is Ctesias’ tale, in his own words, of his trials and the great and terrible deeds he has performed in his master’s name. This is the chronicle of his path to damnation as he leads Ahriman to his exodus from the Eye of Terror.

Each of the short stories contained within this collection are told from the perspective of Ctesias, a member of the fallen Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. A sorcerer particularly gifted at summoning and binding daemons, he has been adopted into Ahriman’s war band, for a particular reason that his new master is keeping hidden. I had already read a few of the short stories contained herein, but the anthology was a nice way to have them all collected in one volume. As I expected, I enjoyed the collection. Continue reading →

Upcoming: THOSE BELOW by Daniel Polansky (Hodder)

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Earlier today, Tor.com shared the cover artwork for Daniel Polansky‘s upcoming new novel, Those Below. It was unveiled earlier by Hodder, although I inexplicably managed to miss that post… The sequel to Those Above, and final novel in the author’s epic fantasy Empty Throne series, it’s due to be published by Hodder in the UK, on March 10th, 2016. I really can’t wait to get my mitts on this one…

Here’s what it’s about:

For centuries beyond counting, humanity has served the Others, god-like Eternals who rule from their cloud-capped mountain-city, building a civilization of unimagined beauty and unchecked viciousness.

But all that is about to change. Bas Alyates, grizzled general of a thousand battles, has assembled a vast army with which to contend with the might of Those Above. Eudokia, Machiavellian matriarch and the power behind the Empty Throne, travels to the Roost, nominally to play peacemaker – but in fact to inspire the human population toward revolt. Deep in the dark byways of the mountain’s lower tiers, the urchin Pyre leads a band of fanatical revolutionaries in acts of terrorism against their inhuman oppressors. Against them, Calla, handmaiden of the Eternals’ king, fights desperately to stave off the rising tide of violence which threatens to destroy her beloved city.

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Guest Post: “Process Story” by Colin Sinclair

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SinclairC-AuthorPicMy creative method is simple. I lock myself in a darkened room and scream at a blank sheet of paper for an hour until something comes to mind.

I jest, of course. It’s typically a half-hour, tops.

It can’t always be so tough of course. Some days are better than others, right enough. There’s even times when the ghost of an idea can roll right up beside you, start to whisper in your ear.

Like this, for example:

I have a 20-month old son who loves cars, and the Disney-Pixar movie Cars, and planes, which he calls cars. He also likes Planes. When Christopher’s not looking stylish in hats — or, you know, fighting orcs — we’re watching Cars.

Around about the two-hundredth viewing I noticed an angry Doc Hudson, setting out his plans for the car that’s just wrecked the main road into town.

“I’m gonna put him in jail ’til he rots. No, check that… I’m gonna put him in jail ’til the jail rots on top of him, then I’m gonna move him to a new jail and let that jail rot.”

Continue reading →

Audio Review: TRUTHS, HALF TRUTHS & LITTLE WHITE LIES by Nick Frost (Hodder)

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FrostN-TruthsHalfTruths&LittleWhiteLiesAn amusing, at times moving, memoir of a life up to stardom

“No life can really be all black, right? Even during the darkest times, what got me through that bleakness was laughter and time. With enough of both of these things I reckon you could get over just about anything.”

Nick Frost burst onto our screens in a blaze of camo fatigues and weaponry as the Territorial Army obsessed loveable idiot Mike Watt in the hit cult comedy Spaced. Since then, fans around the world have watched him with a fervent devotion as he fought zombies, rescued aliens and salsa’d his way to box office smash after smash.

It’s quite a story. But it’s not this story. This story isn’t the romp from movie set to Hollywood party. This is a story of a life like no other.

With blistering candour Frost recounts his childhood growing up in Essex in a household full of love and optimism but tragically blighted by alcoholism, illness and sudden life shattering misfortune. 

Dogged by his own personal demons, Nick tells of the hilarious, jaw dropping and at times heartbreaking experiences that have punctuated his tumultuous life.

Nick Frost is possibly best known for his roles in Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Paul. He’s probably also best known as Simon Pegg’s best bud. After reading (or listening) to this audiobook, though, you’ll know him as a very funny, friendly, yet introverted fellow, too. I didn’t know anything about him outside of his film roles, so I was very interested in listening to this audiobook. I was not disappointed — this could be one of the top five audiobooks I’ve listened to this year. Continue reading →