Originally self-published, Nick Louth‘s BITE will be published in paperback by Sphere in the UK next year (it is available now in eBook).
Tomorrow should be the greatest day of Erica Stroud-Jones’s life. In just 24 hours this brilliant young scientist will present her secret work to a conference in Amsterdam – research that promises to revolutionise the battle against a deadly tropical disease. Millions of lives could be saved; a Nobel Prize beckons.
Arriving to watch her are sceptics and rivals, admirers and enemies. Erica’s own eyes will be on sculptor Max Carver, her American new love to whom she will dedicate her achievement.
Tomorrow never comes.
Erica vanishes during the night. Max, desperate, terrified, sets out to find her, descending into an underworld full of malice and cunning. But even he is shocked by the dark terror he finds in the heart of the woman he loves.
This sounds intriguing. The synopsis doesn’t give much away at all, but that could be a good thing.
A quieter month — I don’t know if that’s just because there’s less coming out, or because I’ve somehow missed a bunch of new releases that never made it on to my radar. Feel free to add suggestions and recommendations in the comments, if you think I’ve missed something I shouldn’t have.
If you caught my review a couple weeks ago for The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, you’ll have noticed that I am a big fan of Claire North‘s work. It was on the strength of that novel that I picked up Kate Griffin’s six novels (Claire North and Kate Griffin are both pseudonyms for Catherine Webb). I have also been very much looking forward to North’s next novel, Touch, for which today Orbit released the cover (right). Here’s the synopsis:
Your violent death usually triggers the first switch.
Just before your life ebbs away, your skin happens to touch another human being – and in an instant, your consciousness transfers completely to the person you touched.
From that moment on, you can leap from body to body with a touch of the skin. You can remain for a minute, an hour, a lifetime, and after you leave, the host has no memory of the time you were there.
My name is Kepler. I could be you.
For me, the carefree life of jumping between bodies has become a terrifying nightmare. I am being hunted. I don’t know who. I don’t know why. If you’ve read this far, our lives have already touched. Now you are part of the conspiracy too.
Get ready to run.
Touch is due to arrive in February 2015, and is published by Orbit in the UK, US and ANZ. In the meantime, do yourself a favour and read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (if you’ve already read it, check out Griffin’s novels and, maybe, re-read Harry August?). You can follow North on Twitter for more news, etc.
A bizarre memoir, which doesn’t do what it said on the tin…
In Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher tells the true and intoxicating story of her life with inimitable wit. Born to celebrity parents, she was picked to play a princess in a little movie called Star Wars when only 19 years old. “But it isn’t all sweetness and light sabers.”
Alas, aside from a demanding career and her role as a single mother (not to mention the hyperspace hairdo), Carrie also spends her free time battling addiction, weathering the wild ride of manic depression and lounging around various mental institutions. It’s an incredible tale – from having Elizabeth Taylor as a stepmother, to marrying (and divorcing) Paul Simon, from having the father of her daughter leave her for a man, to ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed.
This is memoir is… rather mad for the most part (certainly the beginning). Not always in a good way, sadly. Wishful Drinking was not what I’d expected, nor as I’d hoped. In some ways, this should have been expected — for the first 20% of the audiobook, Fisher tells us about the ECT she had, which basically destroyed most of her memories. (Which, when you think about it, makes it rather strange, the urge to write a memoir, then…) Fisher basically offers a three-hour, acerbic take on her family and substance abuse. It sometimes veers into glib (rather than risque), and the humour falls flat too often. I really don’t know what to think about this audiobook/memoir. Continue reading →
CHAPPIE, the new movie from Neill Blomkamp, director of District 9, Elysium and (as I recently learned) 3D animator for Stargate SG-1 and Smallville. Here’s the synopsis…
Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings – some good, some bad – and he will rely on his heart and soul to find his way in the world and become his own man. But there’s one thing that makes Chappie different from anyone else: he is a robot. The first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. His life, his story, will change the way the world looks at robots and humans forever.
The vampire world is in crisis – their kind have been proliferating out of control and, thanks to technologies undreamed of in previous centuries, they can communicate as never before. Roused from their earth-bound slumber, ancient ones are in thrall to the Voice: which commands that they burn fledgling vampires in cities from Paris to Mumbai, Hong Kong to Kyoto and San Francisco. Immolations, huge massacres, have commenced all over the world.
Who – or what – is the Voice? What does it desire, and why?
There is only one vampire, only one blood drinker, truly known to the entire world of the Undead. Will the dazzling hero-wanderer, the dangerous rebel-outlaw Lestat heed the call to unite the Children of Darkness as they face this new twilight?
Few novels have had as much of a lasting impression on me as Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned. I have read them so many times, now. I have, of course, also read the other novels in the Vampire Chronicles. It was with considerable anticipation, then, that I started this long-awaited new novel. It did not disappoint. An ambitious expansion of the existing mythology, and an engrossing update to the lives of Lestat and the undead tribe. Continue reading →
Written by Daniel Wallace | Illustrated by Joel Gomez & Beth Sotelo
Experience the world through the eyes of the Dark Knight, as Batman shares the secrets of his relentless battle against the villains of Gotham City.
Filled with insight on everything from his tragic origin story to invaluable crime-fighting tips, this fully illustrated book sees the World’s Greatest Detective give budding heroes all the advice they need to take on villainy wherever they find it.
Written by Matthew K. Manning | Illustrated by Joel Gomez & Beth Sotelo
Enter the Joker’s twisted world as the Clown Prince of Crime shares his deranged worldview, revealing his skewed perspective on everything from life in Arkham Asylum to battling Batman.
This series of short, heavily-illustrated guides to the worlds of comic heroes and villains is a lot of fun. They’re very quick reads, and serve as excellent introductions, one-stop reference books and curios for fans new and old. Each of the books has a number of extra inserts and removable items — such as Arkham Asylum note cards (the Joker’s is amusing), Robin’s facemask, Post-It Note annotations from Dr. Arkham in the Joker’s book. In the Batman book, you’ll read about his equipment and world (include explanations of the most notable/stranger items in the Batcave), very brief descriptions of the key villains in the Rogues Gallery. The Joker’s book is appropriately zanier and more twisted, with riotous colours and scribblings from the mind of the demented clown. It’s a fun pair of books. I think they’d work as great stocking-stuffers for the Batman fan in your family. Readers already familiar with the characters may prefer one of the graphic novels or collections, though.
From actor Cary Elwes, who played the iconic role of Westley in The Princess Bride, comes a first-person account and behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cult classic film filled with never-before-told stories, exclusive photographs, and interviews with costars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner.
The Princess Bride has been a family favorite for close to three decades. Ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 Greatest Love Stories and by the Writers Guild of America as one of the top 100 screenplays of all time, The Princess Bride will continue to resonate with audiences for years to come.
Cary Elwes was inspired to share his memories and give fans an unprecedented look into the creation of the film while participating in the twenty-fifth anniversary cast reunion. In As You Wish he has created an enchanting experience; in addition to never-before seen photos and interviews with his fellow cast mates, there are plenty of set secrets and backstage stories.
The Princess Bride is one of my favourite movies. Therefore it was with great anticipation that I awaited the publication of Elwes’s memoir of the making of the movie. Elwes, who played Westley, delivers here a superb book. It is witty, humble, and excellently performed. Elwes is joined on occasion by other members of the cast and crew, who contribute their own stories and favourite memories of the production. What struck me most was how clearly they all enjoyed the whole process — even when things became tough, painful (literally — there were a few injuries during filming). Elwes talks of the disappointment that the movie was original met with scratching of heads by many, and the amazement and gratitude that it went on to become a massive hit on video, not to mention a passed-down-the-generations classic. Elwes’s delivery is perfect, as one can expect, and the narration is welcoming and crystal clear. There are also many moving memories of Andre the Giant, who played Fezzik and sadly passed away in 1993.
Every fan of the movie should read or listen to this. Or probably both. This was thoroughly enjoyable, engaging and very difficult to stop listening to. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch the movie for the hundredth time. And order a copy of the book for everyone I know (including one for my own library)…
***
As You Wish is published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster. It is available in audio via Audible, who provided the review copy. Here’s a video clip of The Princess Bride cast being interviewed on Good Morning America (2011):
I only recently read (and loved) Austin Grossman‘s You, but ever since I have been keeping my eyes open for news on his next novel. As it happens, today SF Signal shared the cover and synopsis for CROOKED, which is due out in July 2015. (Gargh! That’s so far way!) Here’s the synopsis:
This is the story of Richard Nixon, America’s last defense against a supernatural Cold War.
Richard Nixon’s life is a compellingly human story: historically epic, richly strange. His career spans World War II, the Cold War intrigue, the Mad Men sixties, and the turbulent seventies. He went from political phenomenon to master schemer to a joke, sobbing in the Oval Office.
But what if Nixon was actually a man who had stumbled on a terrible supernatural secret? A leader who did what he had to do to protect humanity, at the cost of disgracing the entire nation?
What if our worst president was really a pivotal figure in the secret history of the twentieth century, caught in a desperate struggle between ordinary life and horrors from another reality?
He’s not a crook. He’s a hero. So cut Nixon some slack. He saw the devil walk.
I still need to read Soon I Will Be Invincible. I’m sure I’ll manage that before Crooked hits shelves.
Originally self-published, Nick Louth‘s BITE will be published in paperback by Sphere in the UK next year (it is available now in eBook).
Civilian Reader 