I’ve been very slow about reading and reviewing. Partly, this is because I was busy over the Christmas and New Year period, but also because I kept coming across novels that I ended up not being able to finish. Nevertheless, books have been dribbling in over the weeks, and I wanted to shine a light on the ones that have arrived, in advance of any reviews. I shall resist my usual urge to write “I’ll be reading this soon”, as I always seem to break this promise to myself…

So, keeping it simple, here are the novels’ covers and synopses. Where I have some initial pre-reading thoughts, I’ve shared them, but because there are so many, I’ve decided to keep my mutterings to a minimum.

Peter Clines, Ex-Purgatory (Del Rey UK)

George Bailey is an ordinary guy, working the nine to five as a handyman and trying to make the best of the little he’s got. But when he sleeps, he dreams of fire and flying, of zombies and superheroes.

When the two realities start to merge, George begins to question if he’s gone mad. That, or something has gone terribly wrong…

Hmm… I really didn’t get much from the first in the series, so I can’t imagine I’ll be getting around to the fourth book any time soon. Crazier things have happened, of course, but nobody should hold their breath.

*

Myke Cole, Breach Zone (Headline)

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began “coming up Latent,” developing terrifying powers — summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Those who Manifest must choose: become a sheepdog who protects the flock or a wolf who devours it…

In the wake of a bloody battle at Forward Operating Base Frontier and a scandalous presidential impeachment, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, call sign “Harlequin,” becomes a national hero and a pariah to the military that is the only family he’s ever known.

In the fight for Latent equality, Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind.

When Scylla’s inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. In order to redeem himself with the military, Harlequin will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil…

I’ve actually finished this already. I will have a review up relatively soon. It was good, certainly, but I also had a couple of slightly strange take-aways.

Also on CR: Interview with Myke Cole, Guest Post (Influences & Inspirations), Reviews of Control Point and Fortress Frontier

*

Sebastien de Castell, Traitor’s Blade (Jo Fletcher Books)

Falcio is the first Cantor of the Greatcoats. Trained in the fighting arts and the laws of Tristia, the Greatcoats are travelling Magisters upholding King’s Law. They are heroes. Or at least they were, until they stood aside while the Dukes took the kingdom, and impaled their King’s head on a spike.

Now Tristia is on the verge of collapse and the barbarians are sniffing at the borders. The Dukes bring chaos to the land, while the Greatcoats are scattered far and wide, reviled as traitors, their legendary coats in tatters.

All they have left are the promises they made to King Paelis, to carry out one final mission. But if they have any hope of fulfilling the King’s dream, the divided Greatcoats must reunite, or they will also have to stand aside as they watch their world burn…

Reading this at the moment (about 60% in, now) and really enjoying it. More to come.

*

Richard Ford, The Shattered Crown (Headline)

Heroes must rise…

The King is dead. His daughter, untested and alone, now wears the Steel Crown. And a vast horde is steadily carving a bloody road south, hell-bent on razing Steelhaven to the ground… or the city will fall.

Before the city faces the terror that approaches, it must crush the danger already lurking within its walls. But will the cost of victory be as devastating as that of defeat?

Another fantasy series that kicked off last year that I’ve not been able to get around to reading. It sounds pretty good, though, and a number of people seem to have taken to it rather well.

Also on CR: Interview with Richard Ford

*

Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden, Cemetery Girl: The Pretenders (Jo Fletcher Books)

She calls herself Calexa Rose Dunhill — names taken from the grim surroundings where she awoke, bruised and bloody, with no memory of who she is, how she got there, or who left her for dead.

She has made the cemetery her home, living in a crypt and avoiding human contact. But Calexa can’t hide from the dead — and because she can see spirits, they can’t hide from her.

Then one night, Calexa spies a group of teenagers vandalizing a grave — and watches in horror as they commit murder. As the victim’s spirit rises from her body, it flows into Calexa, overwhelming her mind with visions and memories not her own.

Now Calexa must make a decision: continue to hide to protect herself — or come forward to bring justice to the sad spirit who has reached out to her for help…

Another book I’ve already finished reading. It’s the first in a trilogy, and it does have a definite First Part feel to it, but it is still a strong story, well-visualised.

Also on CR: Interview with Christopher Golden

*

A.S.A. Harrison, The Silent Wife (Headline)

Todd Gilbert and Jodie Brett are in a bad place in their relationship. They’ve been together for twenty-eight years, and with no children to worry about there has been little to disrupt their affluent Chicago lifestyle. But there has also been little to hold it together, and beneath the surface lie ever-widening cracks. HE is a committed cheater. SHE lives and breathes denial. HE exists in dual worlds. SHE likes to settle scores. HE decides to play for keeps. SHE has nothing left to lose. When it becomes clear that their precarious world could disintegrate at any moment, Jodie knows she stands to lose everything. It’s only now she will discover just how much she’s truly capable of…

Read and reviewed this already. Disappointed.

*

Andrew Hughes, The Convictions of John Delahunt (Transworld)

On a cold December morning, a small boy is enticed away from his mother and his throat savagely cut. This could be just one more small, sad death in a city riven by poverty, inequality and political unrest, but this killing causes a public outcry. For it appears the culprit – a feckless student named John Delahunt – is also an informant and in the pay of the authorities at Dublin Castle. And strangely, this young man seems neither to regret what he did nor fear his punishment. Indeed, as he awaits the hangman in his cell in Kilmainham Gaol, John Delahunt decides to tell his story in this, his final, deeply unsettling statement…

Set amidst Dublin’s taverns, tenements, courtrooms and alleyways and with a rich, Dickensian cast of characters – carousing students, unscrupulous lowlifes, dissectionists, phrenologists, blackmailers and the sinister agents of Dublin Castle – The Convictions of John Delahunt is based on true events that convulsed Victorian Ireland.

Beautifully observed, seductive and laced with dark humour, this gripping historical thriller about a man who betrays his family, his friends and, ultimately, himself marks the debut of an exciting and assured new literary voice.

*

Alma Katsu, The Descent (Arrow)

Lanore McIlvrae has been on the run from Adair for hundreds of years, dismayed by his mysterious powers and afraid of his temper. She betrayed Adair’s trust and imprisoned him behind a stone wall to save Jonathan, the love of her life. When Adair was freed 200 years later, she was sure that he would find her and make her existence a living hell. But things turned out far different than she’d imagined.

Four years later, Lanore has tracked Adair to his mystical island home, where he has been living in self-imposed exile, to ask for a favor. She wants Adair to send her to the hereafter so she may beg the Queen of the Underworld to release Jonathan, whom she has been keeping as her consort. Will Lanore honor her promise to Adair to return? Or is her intention to reunite with Jonathan at any cost?

Of all the forces of the universe, the most mysterious, confounding, and humbling is the power of love. The epic story of love and loss, magic and destiny that began with The Taker and sparked a chase around the world in The Reckoning comes to a surprising conclusion with The Descent.

Also on CR: Interview with Alma Katsu

*

Jasper Kent, The People’s Will (Bantam)

Turkmenistan 1881: Beneath the citadel of Geok Tepe sits a prisoner. He hasn’t moved from his chair for two years, hasn’t felt the sun on his face in more than fifty, but he is thankful for that. The city is besieged by Russian troops and soon falls. But one Russian officer has his own reason to be here. Colonel Otrepyev marches into the underground gaol. But for the prisoner it does not mean freedom, simply a new gaoler; an old friend, now an enemy. They return to Russia to meet an older enemy still.

In Saint Petersburg, the great vampire Zmyeevich waits as he has always waited. He knows he will never wield power over Tsar Aleksandr II, but the tsarevich will be a different matter. When Otrepyev delivers the prisoner into his hands, Zmyeevich will have everything he needs. Then all that need happen is for the tsar to die.

But it is not only the Otrepyev and his captive who have returned from Geok Tepe. Another soldier has followed them, one who cares nothing for the fate of the tsar, nor for Zmyeevich, nor for Otrepyev. He has only one thing on his mind revenge. And it’s not just Zmyeevich who seeks the death of the tsar.

Aleksandr’s faltering steps towards liberty have only made the people hungry for more, and for some the final liberty will come only with the death of the dictator. They have tried and failed before, but the tsar’s luck must desert him one day. Soon he will fall victim to a group that has vowed to bring the Romanov dynasty to a violent end – a group that calls itself The People’s Will.

This is the fourth in a series I’ve wanted to read in so very long (the Danilov Quintet). I couldn’t tell you why I haven’t got around to it, yet. I have the first novel on my Kindle, too, so I really have no excuse.

Also on CR: Jasper Kent Guest Post on Influences & Inspirations

*

Ursula le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Orbit)

A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can change their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

This was sent to me as part of the Hodderscape review project. I have been remiss to not read it already. I will force myself to bump it up the TBR mountain, though, and hopefully catch up. (I’ve wanted to read this for years, so I don’t know why I didn’t get my arse in gear and seize the opportunity ASAP.)

*

Anne Leonard, Moth and Spark (Headline)

He’s cursed with an impossible task. She’s blessed with magical visions.

Together they can save a divided Empire.

Prince Corin has been given the task of freeing the dragons from their bondage to the Empire. However, it seems that that not even the dragonriders themselves know how these terrifying beasts are kept under control.

When Tam, a doctor’s daughter, arrives in the capital she makes an amazing discovery: she is a Seer, gifted with visions.

Sparks fly when Corin and Tam meet … but it’s not all happily ever after. Not only is the prince forbidden to marry a commoner, but war is coming to Caithen. Torn between love and duty, they must work together to uncover the secret that threatens to destroy their country.

I really want to read this. It’s been described as “Princess Bride meets Game of Thrones … with a dash of Pride and Prejudice”. Which is certainly an intriguing mixture. The text in the ARC is rather tiny, though, it could take a while and a magnifying glass to read…

*

Seth Patrick, Reviver (Macmillan)

Revivers. Able to wake the recently dead, and let them bear witness to their own demise. Twelve years after the first reviver came to light, they have become accepted by an uneasy public. The testimony of the dead is permitted in courtrooms across the world. Forensic revival is a routine part of police investigation. In the United States, that responsibility falls to the Forensic Revival Service. Despite his troubled past, Jonah Miller is one of their best. But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence. Something is watching. Waiting. His superiors tell him it was only in his mind, a product of stress. Jonah is not so certain. Then Daniel Harker, the first journalist to bring revival to public attention, is murdered, and Jonah finds himself getting dragged into the hunt for answers. Working with Harker’s daughter Annabel, he becomes determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Soon they uncover long-hidden truths that call into doubt everything Jonah stands for, and reveal a threat that if not stopped in time, will put all of humanity in danger…

Should have got around to this sooner. No idea why I haven’t. I will! I must! It sounds so cool…

Also on CR: Interview with Seth Patrick

*

Taylor Stevens, The Informationist (Arrow)

Vanessa Munroe deals in information – covert information. With an extraordinary intellect, a physique that allows her to pass as either male or female, and ruthless martial arts skills, she offers a unique service to anyone – government or individual – who’ll pay her.

Now a Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter, who vanished in Africa four years earlier. Where international investigators have tried and failed, Munroe follows a cold trail far into the lawless lands of central Africa.

And then things spin out of control.

Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself cut off from civilisation and left for dead. Her only hope of discovering the truth – and of getting out of Africa alive – is to face up to the violent past that she’s fought so hard to forget.

I have an interview coming up with Taylor Stevens. Hopefully up next week. Watch this space…

*

Jo Walton, Farthing, Ha’Penny and Half A Crown (Corsair)

First published in 2006, Jo Walton’s Farthing was hailed as a masterpiece, a darkly romantic thriller set in an alternate postwar England sliding into fascism.

Eight years after they overthrew Churchill and led Britain into a separate peace with Hitler, the upper-crust families of the “Farthing set” are gathered for a weekend retreat. Among them is estranged Farthing scion Lucy Kahn, who can’t understand why her and her husband David’s presence was so forcefully requested. Then the country-house idyll is interrupted when the eminent Sir James Thirkie is found murdered—with a yellow Star of David pinned to his chest.

Lucy begins to realize that her Jewish husband is about to be framed for the crime—an outcome that would be convenient for altogether too many of the various political machinations underway in Parliament in the coming week. But whoever’s behind the murder, and the frame-up, didn’t reckon on the principal investigator from Scotland Yard being a man with very private reasons for sympathizing with outcasts and underdogs—and prone to look beyond the obvious as a result.

As the trap slowly shuts on Lucy and David, they begin to see a way out—a way fraught with peril in a darkening world.

Alyssa blitzed through these in just under four days. That’s a pretty good endorsement to me… Expect me to read at least Farthing soon (it’s at the top of my TBR mountain, so…).

*

Jo Walton, What Makes This Book So Great? (Corsair)

As any reader of Jo Walton’s Among Others might guess, Walton is both an inveterate reader of SF and fantasy, and a chronic re-reader of books. In 2008, then-new science-fiction mega-site Tor.com asked Walton to blog regularly about her re-reading — about all kinds of older fantasy and SF, ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems. These posts have consistently been among the most popular features of Tor.com. Now this volumes presents a selection of the best of them, ranging from short essays to long reassessments of some of the field’s most ambitious series.

Among Walton’s many subjects here are the Zones of Thought novels of Vernor Vinge; the question of what genre readers mean by “mainstream”; the underappreciated SF adventures of C. J. Cherryh; the field’s many approaches to time travel; the masterful science fiction of Samuel R. Delany; Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children; the early Hainish novels of Ursula K. Le Guin; and a Robert A. Heinlein novel you have most certainly never read.

Over 130 essays in all, What Makes This Book So Great is an immensely readable, engaging collection of provocative, opinionated thoughts about past and present-day fantasy and science fiction, from one of our best writers.

I don’t like reading reviews of books I want to read. So how does one review a book of reviews and essays on books you want to read? This is a pickle I am going to be presented with, when I start this…

*

Martha Wells, Razor’s Edge (Century)

Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal.

But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: the fierce marauders come from Leia’s homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive — and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire… if they find out her true identity.

Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death — or embrace it — to keep the rebellion alive.

It’s been too long since I last read a Star Wars novel. I started to feel Nine Book Story-Arc Fatigue, but given that this is set in the classic movie-era… It could fix my franchise funk. We’ll see.

*

Dick Wolf, The Intercept (Sphere)

The first novel from the creator of Law & Order and the first in a series featuring NYPD Special Agent Jeremy Fisk.

Four days before the dedication of the new Freedom Tower at ground zero in New York City, five passengers and a flight attendant bravely foil the hijacking of a commercial jet en route to the city. Thrust into the national spotlight, “The Six” become instant celebrities, hailed for their bravery. But iconoclastic New York Police investigator Jeremy Fisk believes there’s more to this than a simple open-and-shut terrorism case. Fisk – from the department’s Intelligence Division – suspects that in reality this is an early warning signal that another potentially more devastating attack is imminent.

Fisk and his team spring into action, but as each promising new lead fizzles to nothing they realise that their opponents are smarter and more dangerous than anyone they’ve faced before. The seemingly invisible enemy is able to exploit every security weakness, anticipating Fisk’s every move. And time is running out until ground zero day…

*

Timothy Zahn, Scoundrels (Arrow)

To make his biggest score, Han’s ready to take even bigger risks.

But even he can’t do this job solo.

Han Solo should be basking in his moment of glory. After all, the cocky smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon just played a key role in the daring raid that destroyed the Death Star and landed the first serious blow to the Empire in its war against the Rebel Alliance. But after losing the reward his heroics earned him, Han’s got nothing to celebrate. Especially since he’s deep in debt to the ruthless crime lord Jabba the Hutt. There’s a bounty on Han’s head – and if he can’t cough up the credits, he’ll surely pay with his hide. The only thing that can save him is a king’s ransom. Or maybe a gangster’s fortune? That’s what a mysterious stranger is offering in exchange for Han’s less-than-legal help with a riskier-than-usual caper. The payoff will be more than enough for Han to settle up with Jabba – and ensure he never has to haggle with the Hutts again.

All he has to do is infiltrate the ultra-fortified stronghold of a Black Sun crime syndicate underboss and crack the galaxy’s most notoriously impregnable safe. It sounds like a job for miracle workers… or madmen. So Han assembles a gallery of rogues who are a little of both – including his indispensable sidekick Chewbacca and the cunning Lando Calrissian. If anyone can dodge, deceive, and defeat heavily armed thugs, killer droids, and Imperial agents alike – and pull off the heist of the century – it’s Solo’s scoundrels. But will their crime really pay, or will it cost them the ultimate price?

Really want to read this, and soon. Zahn wrote some of my favourite early Star Wars novels, and I enjoyed the prequel short story for this tale. Hopefully soon.

***

Which of these catches your eye?

In a rather unusual move, I’ve been buying rather a lot more books than I normally do. Partly, this is because Amazon (UK) has been having some pretty amazing Daily Deals. There have been great selections from a variety of authors on or near 99p, which I thought too good to pass up. Now, whether or not I’ll have enough time to read them all in a timely manner is, of course, the always-present question when it comes to my insatiable acquiring of reading material. [An insatiability that has been somewhat tempered, of late, but that is a topic for a later post, as it will have an impact on the blog going forward. That and a number of other things.] So, just to flag some interesting books that I think are worth everyone’s attention, here is what I’ve acquired over the Christmas and New Year period…

*

J.J. Abrams & Doug Dorst, S. (Mulholland)

One book. Two readers. A world of mystery, menace and desire

A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.

THE BOOK: Ship of Theseus, the final novel by a prolific but enigmatic writer named V. M. Straka, in which a man with no past is shanghaied onto a strange ship with a monstrous crew and launched on a disorienting and perilous journey.

THE WRITER: Straka, the incendiary and secretive subject of one of the world’s greatest mysteries, a revolutionary about whom the world knows nothing apart from the words he wrote and the rumours that swirl around him.

THE READERS: Jennifer and Eric, a college senior and a disgraced grad student, both facing crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they’re willing to trust another person with their passions, hurts and fears.

S., conceived by filmmaker J.J. Abrams and written by award-winning novelist Doug Dorst, is the chronicle of two readers finding each other in the margins of a book and enmeshing themselves in a deadly struggle between forces they don’t understand. It is also Abrams and Dorst’s love letter to the written word.

I’ve been intrigued by this ever since I first saw it advertised. Then I saw an interview with Abrams on the Colbert Report, and my interest has only grown since. It’s a beautiful physical object, too. Wonderfully produced. One thing, though: I have no idea how to read it…

*

Margaret Atwood, ORYX AND CRAKE (Virago)

Pigs might not fly but they are strangely altered. So, for that matter, are wolves and racoons.A man, once named Jimmy, now calls himself Snowman and lives in a tree, wrapped in old bed sheets. The voice of Oryx, the woman he loved, teasingly haunts him. And the green-eyed Children of Crake are, for some reason, his responsibility.

She’s one of Canada’s most famous and successful authors. So copies of her novels are in plentiful supply in Toronto’s bookstores. And yet, I have never read any of her books. So, hopefully, this will be my first of many.

*

David Baldacci, THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN (Grand Central Publishing/Macmillan)

Disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon must get from Washington to LA in time for Christmas. Forced to take the train across the country because of a slight ‘misunderstanding’ at airport security, he begins a journey of self-discovery and rude awakenings, mysterious goings-on and thrilling adventures, screwball escapades and holiday magic. He has no idea that the locomotives pulling him across America will actually take him into the rugged terrain of his own heart, where he will rediscover people’s essential goodness and someone very special he believed he had lost. In equal parts hilarious, poignant, suspenseful and thrilling, The Christmas Train is a delightful journey filled with memorable characters who have packed their bags with as much wisdom as mischief… Part detective story, part disaster movie, part romance, this is a brilliant, heart-warming holiday tale.

I’ve read most of Baldacci’s thrillers (though I am a little behind at the moment), but when I saw this on sale, I thought it would be interesting to read something different by him.

*

Jeffrey Eugenides, VIRGIN SUICIDES (Fourth Estate)

This is the story of the five Lisbon sisters – beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the entire neighbourhood.

The boys that once loved them from afar are now grown men, determined to understand a tragedy that has always defied explanation. For still, the question remains – why did all five of the Lisbon girls take their own lives?

This hypnotic and unforgettable novel treats adolescent love and death with haunting sensitivity and dark humour, and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time.

It’s a classic that I have failed to read already, and I wanted to address this oversight. I have seen the movie, though I don’t remember much about it…

*

Gavin Extence, THE UNIVERSE VERSUS ALEX WOODS (Hodder)

Alex Woods knows that he hasn’t had the most conventional start in life.

He knows that growing up with a clairvoyant single mother won’t endear him to the local bullies.

He also knows that even the most improbable events can happen – he’s got the scars to prove it.

What he doesn’t know yet is that when he meets ill-tempered, reclusive widower Mr Peterson, he’ll make an unlikely friend. Someone who tells him that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make the best possible choices.

So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at Dover customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of ashes on the passenger seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he’s fairly sure he’s done the right thing.

I saw a number of big advertisements for this novel in London Tube stations last year, but never got around to investigating it further. I’ve heard good things, though.

*

Tina Fey, BOSSYPANTS (Sphere)

Once in a generation a woman comes along who changes everything. Tina Fey is not that woman, but she met that woman once and acted weird around her.

Before 30 Rock, Mean Girls and ‘Sarah Palin’, Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon — from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

It’s Tina Fey. This wasn’t on sale. But I’ve wanted to read it for ages. Now I have no excuse not to.

*

Richard Ford, THE SPORTSWRITER (Bloomsbury)

Frank Bascombe has a younger girlfriend and a job as a sportswriter. To many men of his age, thirty-eight, this would be a cause for optimism, yet Frank feels the pull of his inner despair and especially of his recent losses – his preferred career has ended, his wife has divorced him, and a tragic accident took his elder son. In the course of this Easter weekend, Frank will lose all the remnants of his familiar life, though he will emerge heroic with spirits soaring. This is a magnificent novel that propelled Richard Ford into the first rank of American writers.

I picked up Canada late in 2013 (can’t believe that’s “last year”, now…), and have seen a number of copies of The Sportswriter in Toronto bookstores – and also the sequel, which I believe was a Pulitzer Prize-winner?

*

A.M. Homes, THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW (Granta)

Things You Should Know is a collection of dazzling stories by one of the most talented and daring young American writers. Homes’ distinctive narratives demonstrate how extraordinary the ordinary can be. A woman pursues an unconventional strategy for getting pregnant; a former First Lady shows despair and courage in dealing with her husband’s Alzheimer’s; a teacher’s list of ‘things you already should know but maybe are a little dumb, so you don’t’ becomes an obsession for someone wasn’t at school the day it was given out; and adult tragedy intrudes into a childhood friendship. The stories are full of magic and strangeness and humour, but also demonstrate an uncanny emotional accuracy and compassion.

Thought these would be a good introduction to Holmes’s writing.

*

Andrew Kaufman, ALL MY FRIENDS ARE SUPERHEROES (Telegram Books)

All Tom’s friends really are superheroes. Tom even married a superhero, the Perfectionist. But at their wedding the Perfectionist is hypnotized by her ex, Hypno, to believe that Tom is invisible. Nothing he does can make her see him. Six months later the Perfectionist is sure that Tom has abandoned her, so she’s moving to Vancouver. She’s going to use her superpower to leave all the heartbreak behind. With no idea that Tom is beside her she boards the plane: Tom has until they touch down to convince her he’s there, or he loses her forever. A wonderful, heartbreakingly funny tribute to love, sweet love.

This slim volume has been on my radar for a while. Then I saw it go on sale, and I considered it fate. Will be reading this very soon.

*

William Landay, DEFENDING JACOB (Orion)

When a teenaged boy is discovered stabbed to death in the woods adjoining the local high school, a wave of shock ripples through the suburban community of Newton, outside of Boston. Assistant district attorney Andy Barber is used to dealing with murder and its after-efffects, but with his own son, Jacob, also a student at the school, he too is anxious for a swift arrest and conviction. But as the kids appear to be stonewalling the cops and the investigation stalls, evidence emerges that ties Jacob to the crime – and suddenly Andy faces a very different challenge: preventing his son from being convicted of murder. Together with his wife, Laurie, the family closes ranks in the midst of an increasingly hostile community as Andy prepares for the trial of his life, the one trial he cannot afford to lose. Especially when the emergence of his own dark family secrets threatens to undermine Jacob’s defence. And as the drama reaches its climax, Andy and Laurie have to face every parent’s toughest questions: how well do you really know your own child, and how far would you go to save them?

This has been on my radar for far too long. It was on sale, and I thought it too good to pass up, and also think this will make me finally get around to reading it. Really interesting premise.

*

Veronica Roth, DIVERGENT (HarperCollins)

In the world of Divergent, society is divided into five factions – Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful) and Erudite (the intelligent). Every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice Prior, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is. Her choice shocks everyone, including herself.

During the initiation that follows, Tris and her fellow initiates undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them, Tris must determine who her friends really are – and where the boy who seems to both threaten and protect her fits into the life she’s chosen.

But Tris also has a secret, kept hidden because she’s been warned it can mean death. As unrest and growing conflict threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris learns that this secret might save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

I saw the trailer for the movie adaptation of this. It didn’t suck. Then I saw this was on sale for Kindle. That was enough of an incentive. I’m so easy when it comes to book bargains… I don’t know anyone who has read it, nor do I really know what to expect.

*

Richard Russo, STRAIGHT MAN (Vintage)

Hank Devereaux, a fifty-year-old, one-time novelist now serving as temporary chair of the English department, has more than a mid-life crisis to contend with when he learns that he must cull 20 per cent of his department to meet budget. Half in love with three women, unable to understand his younger daughter or come to terms with his father, he has a dangerous philosophy that life, and academic life, could be simpler, but he fails to see the larger consequences of his own actions or of the small-world politics that ebb and flow around him, as his colleagues jostle for position and marriages fall apart and regroup. The despair of his wife, and the scourge of the campus geese, he is a man at odds with himself and caught somewhere between cause and effect.

I’ve only recently found out about Russo’s novels. I came across this one shortly after reading Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys, and it seems to have some similarities that attracted me. Hopefully be reading this soon. (Russo’s Empire Falls, which I also bought somewhat recently, was a Pulitzer Prize winner.)

A nice selection again, this month – and a mixed bag, to boot. Two publishers have four books each – Headline and Arrow/Random House – but it’s a testament to their varied lists that they aren’t all the same (saving two Star Wars novels). Headline, actually, has been really impressing me this year: they buy and publish a great range of titles, and as far as I can tell are often pushing the boat out, too. It’s been a (thankfully) slower month, too, so I have some chance of actually being able to catch up on some/most of this. It certainly helps that a couple of these have been on my Must-Read list for a long while (here’s looking at Breach Zone, Razor’s Edge and Scoundrels), but the unexpected arrivals look interesting, too.

Myke Cole, Breach Zone (Headline)

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began “coming up Latent,” developing terrifying powers — summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Those who Manifest must choose: become a sheepdog who protects the flock or a wolf who devours it…

In the wake of a bloody battle at Forward Operating Base Frontier and a scandalous presidential impeachment, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, call sign “Harlequin,” becomes a national hero and a pariah to the military that is the only family he’s ever known.

In the fight for Latent equality, Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind.

When Scylla’s inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. In order to redeem himself with the military, Harlequin will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil…

Another opportunity to feature Myke’s novels and that cover? Why yes, I shall most certainly be taking that. Anticipation is very high for this novel, from a number of readers and reviewers. I’ve had it for a week, now, but I’m saving it for my Christmas break, so I can read it without worrying about having to interrupt reading by going to work… I loved the first two books in the series (see below for review links), and I have high expectations for this one. It’s becoming a bit of an end-of-yearly ritual, reading the new Myke Cole novels. Let’s hope there are many more years of this tradition still to come.

Also on CR: Reviews of Control Point and Fortress Frontier, Interview with Myke Cole, Guest Post by Myke Cole (Inspirations)

*

Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden, Cemetery Girl: The Pretenders (Jo Fletcher Books)

She calls herself Calexa Rose Dunhill — names taken from the grim surroundings where she awoke, bruised and bloody, with no memory of who she is, how she got there, or who left her for dead.

She has made the cemetery her home, living in a crypt and avoiding human contact. But Calexa can’t hide from the dead — and because she can see spirits, they can’t hide from her.

Then one night, Calexa spies a group of teenagers vandalizing a grave — and watches in horror as they commit murder. As the victim’s spirit rises from her body, it flows into Calexa, overwhelming her mind with visions and memories not her own.

Now Calexa must make a decision: continue to hide to protect herself — or come forward to bring justice to the sad spirit who has reached out to her for help…

A slim graphic novel, the first of three (I believe), by mega-selling True Blood author Charlaine Harris and New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden. I’ll be reading this hopefully tonight, actually, so expect a review sometime pre-Christmas, I expect (I have a fair number of reviews I need to catch up on writing…).

Also on CR: Interview with Christopher Golden

*

A.S.A. Harrison, The Silent Wife (Headline)

A chilling psychological thriller portraying the disintegration of a relationship down to the deadliest point when murdering your husband suddenly makes perfect sense.

Todd Gilbert and Jodie Brett are in a bad place in their relationship. They’ve been together for twenty-eight years, and with no children to worry about there has been little to disrupt their affluent Chicago lifestyle. But there has also been little to hold it together, and beneath the surface lie ever-widening cracks. HE is a committed cheater. SHE lives and breathes denial. HE exists in dual worlds. SHE likes to settle scores. HE decides to play for keeps. SHE has nothing left to lose. When it becomes clear that their precarious world could disintegrate at any moment, Jodie knows she stands to lose everything. It’s only now she will discover just how much she’s truly capable of…

I picked this up in Sainsbury’s. It’s been all over the place, and the London Tube are lined with massive posters advertising the novel, plastered with masses of glowing, gushing quotations and blurbs. A little slow to the party, perhaps, but I started reading it this morning. Only a little bit in and it’s good. So far, it’s good. Haven’t seen yet what makes people gush so much about it, but still early days.

*

Richard Ford, The Shattered Crown (Headline)

BLOOD OATHS ARE SWORN AND BROKEN IN A CITY FACING TOTAL ANNIHILATION AS FORD’S EPIC FANTASY SERIES CONTINUES.

Heroes must rise …

The King is dead. His daughter, untested and alone, now wears the Steel Crown. And a vast horde is steadily carving a bloody road south, hell-bent on razing Steelhaven to the ground

… or the city will fall

Before the city faces the terror that approaches, it must crush the danger already lurking within its walls. But will the cost of victory be as devastating as that of defeat?

The second novel in Ford’s Steelhaven (grimdark fantasy) series. I have the first novel on my shelf, but have yet to dive in. I’ve heard some pretty great things, though, and I had the pleasure of chatting with Richard at WFC 2013 in Brighton. He was a very nice fellow. I hope to get to this in the new year, along with the first book. Maybe make a reading week of the two.

Also on CR: An Interview with Richard Ford

*

Alma Katsu, The Descent (Arrow)

Lanore McIlvrae has been on the run from Adair for hundreds of years, dismayed by his mysterious powers and afraid of his temper. She betrayed Adair’s trust and imprisoned him behind a stone wall to save Jonathan, the love of her life. When Adair was freed 200 years later, she was sure that he would find her and make her existence a living hell. But things turned out far different than she’d imagined.

Four years later, Lanore has tracked Adair to his mystical island home, where he has been living in self-imposed exile, to ask for a favor. She wants Adair to send her to the hereafter so she may beg the Queen of the Underworld to release Jonathan, whom she has been keeping as her consort. Will Lanore honor her promise to Adair to return? Or is her intention to reunite with Jonathan at any cost?

Of all the forces of the universe, the most mysterious, confounding, and humbling is the power of love. The epic story of love and loss, magic and destiny that began with The Taker and sparked a chase around the world in The Reckoning comes to a surprising conclusion with The Descent.

This sounds kind of interesting, although I didn’t realise it was the third in the series… Nuts. Not sure when I’ll be able to get around to reading the first two, but I will put it on the Want To Read list, at the very least. We’ll have to see.

*

Ursula le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Orbit)

Winter is an Earth-like planet with two major differences: conditions are semi-artic even at the warmest time of the year, and the inhabitants are all of the same sex. Tucked away in a remote corner of the universe, they have no knowledge of space travel or of life beyond their own world. And when a strange envoy from space brings news of a vast coalition of planets which they are invited to join, he is met with fear, mistrust and disbelief…

This is one of the classics of science fiction. Naturally, it is also one of the many novels I have never read… So it was nice that this came up as part of the Hodderscape review project (they have teamed up with Orbit for this month’s title). I’ll hopefully get it read A.S.A.P.

*

Anne Leonard, Moth and Spark (Headline)

A THRILLING QUEST, FORBIDDEN LOVE AND AN EMPIRE ON THE BRINK. MOTH AND SPARK IS THE PRINCESS BRIDE MEETS GAME OF THRONES … WITH A DASH OF JANE AUSTEN.

He’s cursed with an impossible task. She’s blessed with magical visions.

Together they can save a divided Empire.

Prince Corin has been given the task of freeing the dragons from their bondage to the Empire. However, it seems that that not even the dragonriders themselves know how these terrifying beasts are kept under control.

When Tam, a doctor’s daughter, arrives in the capital she makes an amazing discovery: she is a Seer, gifted with visions.

Sparks fly when Corin and Tam meet … but it’s not all happily ever after. Not only is the prince forbidden to marry a commoner, but war is coming to Caithen. Torn between love and duty, they must work together to uncover the secret that threatens to destroy their country.

I don’t really know much about this novel. I’ve seen it mentioned here-and-there, not to mention in the Headline Catalogue I was reading not so long ago. I’m intrigued, certainly – “Game of Thrones meets Jane Austen” is an interesting way of pitching a novel, even if Martin’s epic has become a bit of a publicity crutch in fantasy circles. Never seen it twinned with Austen, though, which is why it caught my attention. I have high hopes for this one. Will probably read it in the new year, after I get back from Canada. [Also, that’s a really nice cover…]

*

Taylor Stevens, The Informationist (Arrow)

Vanessa Munroe deals in information – covert information. With an extraordinary intellect, a physique that allows her to pass as either male or female, and ruthless martial arts skills, she offers a unique service to anyone – government or individual – who’ll pay her.

Now a Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter, who vanished in Africa four years earlier. Where international investigators have tried and failed, Munroe follows a cold trail far into the lawless lands of central Africa.

And then things spin out of control.

Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself cut off from civilisation and left for dead. Her only hope of discovering the truth – and of getting out of Africa alive – is to face up to the violent past that she’s fought so hard to forget.

The first in Stevens’s Vanessa Michael Munroe series, this sounds like a pretty intriguing thriller. Not sure exactly when I’ll get to it, but hopefully not in the too-distant future. Sounds like an interesting protagonist, and I like the idea of another thriller set in Africa (it’s been a while since I last read one set there).

*

Martha Wells, Razor’s Edge (Century/ Lucas Books)

Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal.

But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: the fierce marauders come from Leia’s homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive — and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire… if they find out her true identity.

Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death — or embrace it — to keep the rebellion alive.

The first of a new series of novels – Empire and Rebellion, focusing on the core characters from the movies, and adding to that era’s canon. I’m really looking forward to reading this, and also the next in the series, Honour Among Thieves by James S.A. Corey. [Interestingly, going to the series page on Goodreads, you will see “Untitled Luke Skywalker Novel by Kevin Hearne”, due out in 2015 – that could be very cool, too. Watch this space!]

I’m hoping this novel, Scoundrels (below), and also Crucible herald a shift in Lucas Books’ approach to writing fiction in the Star Wars universe: no more nine-book, drawn-out series. Please. They were getting a little tiresome – which is partly why I struggle to rustle up the enthusiasm for reading Apocalypse… But I hopefully will relatively soon, so I can enjoy the aforementioned Crucible.

*

Timothy Zahn, Scoundrels (Arrow)

To make his biggest score, Han’s ready to take even bigger risks.

But even he can’t do this job solo.

Han Solo should be basking in his moment of glory. After all, the cocky smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon just played a key role in the daring raid that destroyed the Death Star and landed the first serious blow to the Empire in its war against the Rebel Alliance. But after losing the reward his heroics earned him, Han’s got nothing to celebrate. Especially since he’s deep in debt to the ruthless crime lord Jabba the Hutt. There’s a bounty on Han’s head — and if he can’t cough up the credits, he’ll surely pay with his hide. The only thing that can save him is a king’s ransom. Or maybe a gangster’s fortune? That’s what a mysterious stranger is offering in exchange for Han’s less-than-legal help with a riskier-than-usual caper. The payoff will be more than enough for Han to settle up with Jabba — and ensure he never has to haggle with the Hutts again.

All he has to do is infiltrate the ultra-fortified stronghold of a Black Sun crime syndicate underboss and crack the galaxy’s most notoriously impregnable safe. It sounds like a job for miracle workers… or madmen. So Han assembles a gallery of rogues who are a little of both — including his indispensable sidekick Chewbacca and the cunning Lando Calrissian. If anyone can dodge, deceive, and defeat heavily armed thugs, killer droids, and Imperial agents alike — and pull off the heist of the century — it’s Solo’s scoundrels. But will their crime really pay, or will it cost them the ultimate price?

Excellent, the paperback edition of this highly-anticipated novel! Zahn also wrote one of my favourite Star Wars trilogies, The Thrawn Trilogy, and I’ve been eagerly reading everything else he’s written for the franchise. This is a rather long novel, so the hardcover was utterly impractical for someone who has a three-hour commute into London for work. It would have just become destroyed. So, now that I have the novel in a more-manageable size, I may read on the plane to Canada on Wednesday. We’ll see.

*

Another round-up of recent reads. I’ve actually been reading a lot more comics/graphic novels than I’ve been reviewing, but I’ve decided to review only the ones I feel really ‘need’ a review. That is, those that inspire particularly strong opinions, or from series that I am particularly fond of already. Others, for example The Walking Dead, have been reviewed plentifully already and my positive reviews wouldn’t really add much to the discussion. But this didn’t stop me from writing something here anyway.

Reviewed: Fairest Vol.3, Helheim Vol.1, Numbercruncher, Peter Panzerfaust Vol.1, Sex Vol.1, The Walking Dead Vols.1-6

*

Fairest, Vol.3 – “The Return of the Maharaja” (Vertigo)

Writer: Sean Williams | Artist: Stephen Sadowski | Inks: Phil Jimenez | Colors: Andrew Dalhouse

When Nalayani seeks the help of the Maharaja to save her village from the Dhole, she uncovers a secret that could change the Fables Universe forever: the still alive and long-thought dead Prince Charming!

Collects: Fairest #15-20

I have made it quite clear on the blog that I’m a big fan of Bill Willingham’s Fables series – it is, without a doubt, one of my top five series of all time. Unusually, the spin-off titles have likewise been excellent (the two Cinderella mini-series, the longer-but-now-complete Jack of Fables, and now Fairest). Fairest was actually the first series in the Fables-verse I tried, and have since devoured as much of the rest as I can (thus-far) afford. The first two story-arcs in this series were fantastic, and especially the second written by Lauren Beukes. This third book, while still excellent, suffered from some minor pacing issues. At the same time, I think it relies on a little more existing knowledge of the main Fables series than previous books have. This is no bad thing (although, it did present a number of spoilers for me, having not read beyond the fifth deluxe collection). The alternative location (Indu) was interesting, and allowed for some refreshingly different mythological influences – ones that have appeared before in the main series, but were never as prominent as they are here.

Overall, though, this is another great addition to the growing Fables canon, and one I would strongly recommend to all lovers of fairy tales and fables.

*

Helheim, Vol.1 – “Witch War” (Oni Press)

Writer: Cullen Bunn | Artist: Joëlle Jones | Colors: Nick Filardi

“Once the threshold of Helheim is crossed, not even gods can escape.”

The age of Vikings. Savage wild men, dark creatures, and hideous undead are pawns in the war between witches. A hero named Rikard pays the ultimate price in this conflict… but his fight is far from over. Raised as a draugr – an undead killing machine – Rikard is meant to be used as a weapon in the supernatural conflict. But Rikard will not be controlled. And where the draugr treads, death follows!

Collects: Helheim #1-6

Now this is a very cool start to a new spin on Viking mythology. I don’t want to get too much into the story, as it’s fast-paced and the game is always evolving and moving forward. If you are a fan of Vikings, supernatural horror, great comic art, and solid story-telling, then this is a must. The artwork is superb – Joëlle Jones has a real talent for this genre, and draws some amazing, sometimes-gribbly combat and horror scenes. Witches, demons, the undead, Draugr, and plenty of Viking action. Great fun.

The end of the book leaves plenty of room for more stories in this setting, of which I hope there are many on the way!

*

Peter Panzerfaust, Vol.1 – “The Great Escape” (Image)

Writer: Kurtis J. Wiebe | Artist: Tyler Jenkins | Colors: Alex Sollazzo

A coming of age tale told through the eyes of a group of French orphans during World War 2 who are saved by a brave and daring American boy named Peter. As they travel together, they get tangled up in the French Resistance in Paris, fighting a growing German presence under the leadership of a fanatical SS officer hell bent on wiping them out! Using the Peter Pan story as a touchstone, Peter Panzerfaust reinvents familiar character and plot elements in a unique and creative way.

Collects: Peter Panzerfaust #1-5

I picked this up on a whim. I’d seen the writer’s name attached to a couple of new, very intriguing series, and decided to try out this book. I’m a big fan of the Peter Pan story (the movie Hook was a surprisingly large part of my childhood… I think I’ve seen it about six times), and this is a particularly interesting, well-crafted adaptation. Although, really, it’s more of a strong homage than adaptation. There are obvious parallels, but Wiebe has really managed to create something pretty original. The story is very well plotted, moving at a brisk-but-unhurried pace, and the characters experience both the highs and lows of living during a war. It was quite moving at times, too. The artwork is pretty interesting, too, with a rather distinctive aesthetic – the characters are slightly otherworldly and waifish, even impish, at times, but it is never a distraction or visually jarring.

Overall, this is a really interesting start to a quirky, recommended series. I can’t wait to read the next volume.

*

Numbercruncher (Titan Comics)

Writer: Si Spurrier | Artist: P.J. Holden | Colors: Jordie Bellaire

Dying young, a brilliant Mathematician enters the afterlife and discovers a way to cheat the terrifying Divine Calculator. He schemes to be endlessly reincarnated within the lifespan of the woman he loves, no matter how often the violent bailiffs of the Karmic Accountancy cut-short each life. It falls to one such agent – the surly Bastard Zane – to put a stop to the time-twisting romance!

From the brilliant mind of Simon Spurrier comes this new, bizarre story. It is part love-story, part resurrection myth, thriller and also whodunnit. It’s also a bitch to review: there are so many twists and turns, that to spend really any time talking/writing about it would rob these surprises of all their power. I knew basically nothing when I read it, and as a result this was a very fresh story. It builds very nicely over the course of the four issues (which also include a number of interesting extras), and I had no idea how it was going to end. A really pleasant surprise, this only raised my admiration for Spurrier’s creative talents.

Highly recommended.

*

Sex, Vol.1 – “The Summer of Hard” (Image)

Writer: Joe Casey | Artist: Piotr Kowalski

Retired superhero Simon Cooke has returned to Saturn City to live life as a “normal” civilian. Easier said than done!

This is a tricky one to review. If I’d been reading Sex issue-by-issue, just once a month, I may not have got past the second instalment. It took too long to start, really. At the end of this collection (eight issues), it still felt like the story had some way to go before the depth was properly explored (no double entendre intended).

The motivations and psychologies of the characters are only just starting to take shape and make sense (there have been a few jumps, obfuscations, etc.). Simon Cooke actually feels a little flat – we’re basically told he’s having difficulty with his re-assimilation into “normal” life (he’s a billionaire a la Bruce Wayne, in a city starkly divided along socio-economic lines – how “normal” can his life be?). He only started becoming interesting right near the very end of the book. Some of the characters who enter his orbit have a lot of potential, though. Maybe the second book will cement things into their proper places, but I do worry that’s too late for readers to wait or commit to.

At the same time, the story is not, in many ways, what I was expecting. This is both good and bad. I had hoped for something in the vein of a less-ugly version of The Boys, exploring the idea of superheroes in their “down-time” or after their retirement, but minus the… I don’t know, skeezy quality? Instead… We basically only get a prologue to something maybe bigger. In many ways, “Sex” is a bad title – attention-grabbing, certainly, and descriptive of some of the content (which does venture into the psycho-sexual, and/or graphic territory), but the main character, Cooke, is pretty much a complete prude. Anyone who’s looking for just a smutty comic will come away disappointed, and anyone who’s hoping for more nuance (like me), will likewise come away feeling a little dissatisfied. It has the beginnings of something pretty interesting, but maybe the expectation of making this a “naughty funny book” eclipsed the storytelling that should have been the priority?

Overall, then, this is probably going to shape up in an interesting way, but the pacing as a monthly comic will likely disappoint many, and will probably lose readers along the way. A pity. This had potential.

*

The Walking Dead, Vols.1-6 (Image)

Writer: Robert Kirkman | Artist: Tony Moore

The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months society has crumbled: no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. In a world ruled by the dead, the survivors are forced to finally start living.

What is there, really, left to say about The Walking Dead that hasn’t been said already? It’s a phenomenon all by itself. The premise is great – what happens after the apocalypse? Kirkman has been on the record stating that he imagined this series going on indefinitely, because he was dissatisfied with zombie movies’ and fiction’s tendency to just end. The series has now hit its 18th collection, I believe, so I still have a lot of catching up to do.

I’d seen the first series of the AMC TV show (and really enjoyed it), but never really felt much interest in reading the comic series that spawned it – despite my newfound interest in comics in general. As has been so often the case in the past couple of years, following a sale on ComiXology, I gave the first couple of collections a try, and was damn-near hooked! I have a fondness for post-apocalyptic stories and series (probably for exactly the clichéd or textbook reason most people like them), and this is a pretty great one.

It’s interesting how the story has unfolded over these six books: characters have come and gone (often brutally), but it is not always at the jaws of a zombie (or horde thereof). Kirkman and Co. have focused on the survivors, how they cope – or not – with the new reality they find themselves in. There are plenty of shocking moments, often rendered in arresting full-page pieces. The black-and-white artwork suits the story and mood, too, and there’s plenty of great use of shadows and darkness from which the zombies do lurch and grab.

I do sometimes wonder how on earth they’re going to keep this going and interesting over the course of such a long series. But, I’m certainly interested in finding out – not to mention also catching up with the TV series, which has diverged quite a bit from the series, I hear (from a Rolling Stone cover story). On the strength of these six books, though, I would say the series absolutely deserves the success it has enjoyed. Definitely recommended.

The second publisher-specific gift guide for the holidays. Here is a small selection of some great, recent books to come from Headline, and also a few upcoming titles that you should really all mark your calendars for…

*

Myke Cole’s Shadow Ops Series: Control Point, Fortress Frontier and Breach Zone

Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.

Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military’s Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.

The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down – and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he’s ever known, and that his life isn’t the only thing he’s fighting for.

Anyone who’s been reading CR for a while will know I’m a big fan of Myke Cole’s novels. The first two are already out, and Breach Zone will be published at the start of 2014. Magic, action, and solid story-telling. It’s guns ‘n’ sorcery at its best.

Myke Cole’s Shadow Ops novels are published by Ace Books in the US.

Also on CR: Interview with Myke Cole, Guest Post on Influences & Inspirations

*

Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie — magical, comforting, wise beyond her years — promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly’s wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark

It’s Neil Gaiman’s new novel. Do you really need more of a reason? It’s brilliant. Almost everyone says so! As I’m a huge, long-time fan of Gaiman’s fiction, I really can’t for the life of me think why I haven’t got around to reading this… Methinks it will have to be one of my Christmas reads on my trip to Canada…

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is published by William Morrow in the US.

*

Christopher Golden, Snowblind

Twelve years ago the small town of Coventry, Massachusetts was in the grasp of a particularly brutal winter. And then came the Great Storm.

It hit hard. Not everyone saw the spring. Today the families, friends and lovers of the victims are still haunted by the ghosts of those they lost so suddenly. If only they could see them one more time, hold them close, tell them they love them.

It was the deadliest winter in living memory.

Until now.

When a new storm strikes, it doesn’t just bring snow and ice, it brings the people of Coventry exactly what they’ve been wishing for. And the realisation their nightmare is only beginning.

Was Christmas too cheerful? Well, how about this new horror novel from the excellent Golden? And, who knows, maybe it’ll be snowing by the time it’s released (mid-January) and it’ll be like the universe has provided a pathetic fallacy just for you!

Snowblind is published by St. Martin’s Press in the US.

Also on CR: Interview with Christopher Golden

*

Suzanne Johnson, Royal Street, River Road and Elysian Fields

As the junior wizard sentinel for New Orleans, Drusilla Jaco spends more of her time mixing potions and retrieving pixies than she does sniffing out supernatural bad guys that slip over from the preternatural beyond. It is DJ’s eccentric boss and mentor, Gerald St. Simon, who is tasked with protecting the city.

But when Hurricane Katrina hammers the city’s fragile levees, it unleashes more than just flood waters. As the winds howl and Lake Pontchartrain surges, the borders between the modern city and the Otherworld start to crumble away…

Now the dead and the restless are roaming the Big Easy, and a serial killer with ties to voodoo is murdering soldiers sent to help the city recover. To make it worse, Gerald St. Simon has gone missing, the wizards’ Elders have assigned a grenade-toting asshat as DJ’s new partner, and the pirate Jean Lafitte – who has an impressive libido for a 200-year-old – wants her to walk his plank.

If she is going to survive, DJ will have to learn that loyalty requires sacrifice, allies can be found in unlikely places… and that duty mixed with love creates one bitter gumbo.

A new(ish) urban fantasy series set in post-Katrina New Orleans? That sounds really cool. I somehow picked up an ARC of, I think, the middle book from the US publisher. The series seems to have been released in rather a stealth manner in the UK (book three was released in August, according to the catalogue). Also, points for using “asshat” in the synopsis…

Suzanne Johnson’s Sentinels of New Orleans novels are published by Tor Books in the US.

*

Adam Sternbergh, Shovel Ready

“I don’t want to know your reasons. I don’t care. Think of me as a bullet. Just point.”

Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, before New York became a burnt-out shell. Now the wealthy spend their days tapped into virtual reality; the rest have to fend for themselves in the streets. Now there’s nothing but garbage.

So he became a hit man. He doesn’t ask questions, he works quickly, and he’s handy with a box-cutter.

When he’s hired to kill the daughter of a high-profile evangelist, Spademan’s life is upended. He will have to navigate two worlds – both the slick fantasy and the wasteland reality – to finish the job, clear his conscience, and make sure he’s not the one who winds up in the ground.

Coming in January, I have been itching to get my mitts on this book for a while. Luckily, I also just got an ARC… Mwahahah! (Too much? Ah well.)

Shovel Ready is published by Crown Publishing in the US.

*

Jennifer Williams, The Copper Promise

There are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel…

Some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths.

For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him … and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel looks like just another job. There’s the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they’re done.

But sometimes there is truth in rumour.

Soon this reckless trio will be the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart. And they’re not even getting paid.

Very intrigued by this. Other than that, I don’t really know much about it. Have been hearing some good things about it, though. I’ll be sure to get around to the ARC at some point very soon. Published in February 2014.

***

Any other Headline titles I forgot…? Share below. (Or via Twitter, and I’ll add them.)