Author: Civilian Reader

Upcoming: VELVET WAS THE NIGHT by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)

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MorenoGarciaS-VelvetWasTheNightUSLast year, Silvia Moreno-Garcia‘s Mexican Gothic (justifiably) stormed all over the book charts. This year, the author returns with Velvet Was the Night, a mystery/noir/thriller novel set in 1970s Mexico. In addition to that great, eye-catching cover, the synopsis sounds suitably intriguing as well:

A riveting noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of a missing woman that brings them together.

1970s, Mexico City. Maite is a secretary who lives for one thing: the latest issue of Secret Romance. While student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes into stories of passion and danger.

Her next-door neighbor, Leonora, a beautiful art student, seems to live a life of intrigue and romance that Maite envies. When Leonora disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman—and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents.

Meanwhile, someone else is also looking for Leonora at the behest of his boss, a shadowy figure who commands goon squads dedicated to squashing political activists. Elvis is an eccentric criminal who longs to escape his own life: He loathes violence and loves old movies and rock ’n’ roll. But as Elvis searches for the missing woman, he comes to observe Maite from a distance—and grows more and more obsessed with this woman who shares his love of music and the unspoken loneliness of his heart.

Now as Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies all aiming to protect Leonora’s secrets—at gunpoint.

Really looking forward to reading this one. Velvet Was the Night is due to be published by Del Rey in North America and in the UK, on August 17th, 2021. New editions of the author’s The Beautiful Ones (April 27th) and Certain Dark Things (September 7th) are also due out this year, published by Tor Books.

Also on CR: Excerpt from Signal to Noise

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Upcoming: THE ESCAPEMENT by Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon Publications)

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Tidhar-EscapementUSsmThe cover for Lavie Tidhar‘s upcoming new novel The Escapement made its way online today, and quite the stunner it is, too. Due to be published by Tachyon Publications in October, it is pitched as a “dazzling new novel evoking Westerns, surrealism, epic fantasy, and circus extravaganzas… an evocative dreamscape of dark comedy, heartbreak, hope, and adventure,” that recalls The Gunslinger and The Phantom Tollbooth. Which all makes for an intriguing mix, indeed. Here’s the synopsis:

Into the reality called the Escapement rides the Stranger, a lone gunman on a quest to rescue his son. But it is too easy to get lost on a shifting landscape full of dangerous versions of favorite things: lawless cowboys, giants made of stone, oppressed clowns, and even more sinister forces at play.

The Stranger always finds new enemies in every godforsaken town. He reluctantly defends the not-always-helpless, while avoiding the deadly symbol storms of petulant gods. As the Stranger has learned, the Escapement is a dreamscape of deep mysteries, unpredictable geography, unlikely allies, and unwinnable battles.

But the flower the Stranger seeks still lies beyond the Mountains of Darkness. Time is running out, as he journeys deeper and deeper into the secret heart of an unknown world.

The Escapement is due to be published by Tachyon Publications in North America and in the UK, in October 2021.

Also on CR: Reviews of The Violent Century and By Force Alone

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Upcoming: THE MALEFICENT SEVEN by Cameron Johnston (Angry Robot)

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JohnstonC-TheMaleficentSevenThe new cover for Cameron Johnston‘s upcoming new novel, The Maleficent Seven, was revealed today on Tor.com. I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty awesome. The synopsis gave off a vibe similar to that for Ari Marmell’s The Conqueror’s Shadow (which I really enjoyed). I’m really looking forward to trying this one. Here’s the synopsis:

When you are all out of heroes, all that’s left are the villains.

Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together they brought the whole continent to its knees… Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory.

40 years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke — the last bastion against a fanatical new enemy tearing through the land, intent on finishing the job Black Herran started years before.

Seven bloodthirsty monsters. One town. Their last hope.

Cameron Johnston’s The Maleficent Seven is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in North America and in the UK, on August 10th, 2021.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter Continue reading →

Upcoming: THE RIGHTEOUS by David Wragg (Voyager)

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WraggD-AoF2-RighteousUKDavid Wragg‘s hotly-anticipated second novel, The Righteous is due out in just a few months! The sequel to his acclaimed debut, The Black Hawks, the novel will be published by Voyager this summer. One of my most-anticipated fantasy novels of the year, I can’t wait to get my mitts on it! Here’s the synopsis:

Bound by oath and honour, Vedren Chel found himself drawn to the heart of a deadly rebellion. With him stood the mercenaries of the Black Hawk Company, who were only ever in it for the money.

But the uprising failed. Now, Chel and the sell-sword Rennic languish in prison, watching as their comrades are taken one by one for execution.

A daring escape will set them free, but with the combined forces of vengeful church and voracious crown arrayed against them, Chel and the Black Hawks must embark on a desperate search for new allies.

Journeying from frozen wastes to towering cities, from drug-riddled fleapits to opulent palaces, THE RIGHTEOUS is the thrilling and riotous second adventure from one of fantasy’s most exciting new voices.

The Righteous is due to be published by Harper Voyager on June 10th, in North America (eBook) and in the UK (the North American print edition is currently scheduled for September). At the time of writing, The Black Hawks is only 99p in the UK, so it’s a great time to get started on the series!

Also on CR: Interview with David Wragg (2019)

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Quick Review: MALIBU RISING by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Hutchinson/Ballantine)

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ReidTJ-MalibuRisingUKA superb novel about family

A lifetime holding it together.
One party will bring it crashing down.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over-especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control.
By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames.

But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them… and what they will leave behind.

Like many people, I loved Taylor Jenkins Reid’s previous novel, Daisy Jones & the Six. As soon as I finished that novel, I went out and picked up The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo, and eagerly awaited the author’s next new novel. That new novel is Malibu Rising, due out in May. I was lucky enough to get a DRC, and I read it as soon as I could. I’m very happy to report that it is another excellent, character-driven story of family, love, loss and life. Continue reading →

Quick Review: POSSESSION by Katie Lowe (St. Martin’s Press)

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LoweK-PossessionUSA true-crime podcast inches perilously close to the truth for Hannah…

The past haunts her. The present hunts her.

Ten years ago, Hannah’s husband was brutally murdered in their home, and she (conveniently) doesn’t remember a thing about that night. But the police charged someone else—a stranger—and put him away for life. And Hannah packed up her six-year-old daughter and left London behind.

But now her hard-won countryside peace is threatened. Conviction, a viral true crime podcast known for getting cases reopened and old verdicts overturned, has turned its attention to Hannah’s husband’s murder for its new season. They say police framed the man who was found guilty, and that Hannah has more suspicious secrets than just her memory loss: a history of volatility; citations at the clinic where she worked as a psychiatrist; dependencies on alcohol and pills; and a familicidal grandmother, locked away in a Gothic insane asylum until her death. As Hannah loses the trust of everyone she loves, the only person she feels she can confide in is a former colleague, Darcy, who’s come back into her life—but who may have motives of her own. But Hannah can’t tell even Darcy her deepest secret: that she’s still tormented by the memory of her husband and the crater he carved through her life.

Possession is the new novel by the author of the much-buzzed-about The Furies. I thought it looked interesting, and I’ve been seeing a fair number of suspense/crime novels that feature a true-crime podcast at its centre. While I haven’t listened to many, my partner loves My Favorite Murder and a couple of others, so I thought it might be interesting to see how Lowe incorporates that cultural phenomenon into the novel. Turns out, the author does it very well. I enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Quick Review: THE END OF EVERYTHING by Katie Mack (Scribner)

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MackK-EndOfEverythingUSHCA fantastic introduction to the possible ways in which the universe will end…

From one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics, an accessible and eye-opening look at five ways the universe could end, and the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in cosmology.

We know the universe had a beginning. With the Big Bang, it expanded from a state of unimaginable density to an all-encompassing cosmic fireball to a simmering fluid of matter and energy, laying down the seeds for everything from black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life as we know it. But what happens to the universe at the end of the story? And what does it mean for us now?

Dr. Katie Mack has been contemplating these questions since she was a young student, when her astronomy professor informed her the universe could end at any moment, in an instant. This revelation set her on the path toward theoretical astrophysics. Now, with lively wit and humor, she takes us on a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.

It has been a long time since I last took a science class — not just physics, but really any kind. I’ve kept my interest in the subject somewhat alive mainly through podcasts (for example, The Infinite Monkey cage, which is co-hosted by Brian Cox). Somehow, I managed to leave Katie Mack’s The End of Everything unread for quite some time. I started reading it late one night, and was hooked right from the start. This is an excellent book: one that should appeal to knowledgable scientists and the merely science-curious alike. I really enjoyed this. (And learned a lot!) Continue reading →

Quick Review: A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT by Becky Chambers (Tor.com)

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ChambersB-M&R1-APsalmForTheWildBuiltA monk and a robot go for a wander in the woods(ish)…

It’s been centuries since the robots of Earth gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.

They’re going to need to ask it a lot.

This novella was a great, pleasant surprise. It’s quite a small story, but one that takes a look at some pretty big questions. Its two main characters are fantastic, and is a breath of fresh air in today’s rather bleak times. I really enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Very Quick Review: BECOMING A FILM PRODUCER by Boris Kachka (Simon & Schuster)

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KachkaB-MaW-BecomingAFilmProducerAn interesting primer for anyone interested in a career in movie production

A revealing guide to a career as a film producer written by acclaimed author Boris Kachka and based on the real-life experiences of Academy Award–winning producer Fred Berger and Oscar-nominated producer Michael London — required reading for anyone considering a path to this profession.

Becoming a Film Producer takes you behind the scenes to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a film producer. Bestselling author and critic Boris Kachka shadows Academy Award–winning producer Fred Berger and Oscar-nominated producer Michael London to show how this dream job becomes a reality. At the center of any successful film is a talented producer. Producers bring films to life by assembling the major players — from screenwriters, directors, and talent, to, perhaps most importantly, the money. Fly between Los Angeles and New York as movies are developed, filmed, and released. Gain insight and wisdom from Berger and London’s years of experience producing films ranging from the indie darlings Sideways and Milk, to Academy Award–winning blockbusters like La La Land. Here is how the job is performed at the highest level.

This book, part of Simon & Schuster’s “Masters at Work” series, is an excellent introduction to what it means to be a film and/or TV producer. With three producers, at different points in their careers, as case studies, Kachka gives readers a look into this world: what it takes, the various roles a producer must play, and also the shifts and changes in the industry over the past few decades. Well-written and accessible, I really enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Upcoming: STRANGE BEASTS OF CHINA by Yan Ge (Melville House/Tilted Axis Press)

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YanGe-StrangeBeastsOfChinaUSI first spotted Yan Ge‘s new novel on NetGalley — I’ll admit, it was the cover that caught my attention. Strange Beasts of China has an intriguing premise, as well, and I’m really looking forward to reading it. First published in 2006 as 异兽志, it’s finally getting an English-language edition. Here’s the synopsis:

A disquieting bestiary that blurs the line between human and beast from one of most exciting voices in contemporary Chinese literature

YanGe-StrangeBeastsOfChinaUKIn the fictional Chinese town of Yong’an, monsters and spirits live, almost indistinguishable, alongside humans. Strange Beasts of China follows the narrator, an amateur cryptozoologist, as she attempts to document each type of beast with the help of her former professor and his enigmatic assistant. From the Sacrificial Beasts, who can’t stop dying, to the Heartsick Beasts, who are genetically engineered to be as loyal and loving as possible, each chapter introduces a new beast and dives deeper into a mystery that threatens the narrator’s very sense of self.

In prose that is both whimsical and daring, Yan Ge guides the reader through the underbelly of a chillingly uncanny world and questions what it really means to be human.

Strange Beasts of China is due to be published by Melville House in North America (July 2021), and is published in the UK by Tilted Axis Press (out now).

Follow the Author: Goodreads, Twitter