“Lost For Words” by Edward St. Aubyn (Picador)

May 30, 2014 Civilian Reader Review Fiction, Macmillan

An enjoyable, cutting short novel about literary awards and ‘literary people’

The judges on the panel of the Elysian Prize for Literature must get through hundreds of submissions to find the best book of the year. Meanwhile, a host of writers are desperate for Elysian attention: the brilliant writer and serial heartbreaker Katherine Burns; the lovelorn debut novelist Sam Black; and Bunjee, convinced that his magnum opus, The Mulberry Elephant, will take the literary world by storm. Things go terribly wrong when Katherine’s publisher accidentally submits a cookery book in place of her novel; one of the judges finds himself in the middle of a scandal; and Bunjee, aghast to learn his book isn’t on the short list, seeks revenge.

Lost For Words is the first novel of St. Aubyn’s that I’ve read. And it was, thankfully, very good. It’s rather short, too, which actually gives it a little more punch. If you have any interest in the publishing industry, industry awards, and the people connected to either/both of these, then you should really give this a try. A fun, short, and cutting satire of the publishing industry.

Imagine all of the negative stereotypes that are connected with publishing and authors. Write them into a story about a literary award that is somewhat controversial – because it’s a) an award, b) sponsored by a morally flexible corporation, and c) rather politicised. Don’t forget to include the unqualified and judges with their own agendas (can there ever truly be a qualified and unbiased judge?). Now watch as their egos, insecurities, narcissism and pettiness takes over.

This is a rather fun novel. There were times when I thought it might be a bit too much of an in-joke, but St. Aubyn writes so well (not to mention concisely) that I think anyone who just likes reading good fiction should like this. Throughout reading Lost For Words, characters that were scarily familiar to real people I have come across in real life – from editors, agents, reviewers, authors – that this was a rather uncomfortable, yet very funny and shrewdly observant read. Nobody is safe, and the author takes his razor sharp pen to pretty much every facet of the publishing industry.

There were some moments when the characters’ pretentiousness took over a bit, as was no doubt the author’s intent, but this does mean some passages drag. Just as time would slow right down if you were actually in conversation with these pseudo-intellectual, pompous blowhards… None of the characters are especially likeable – to say they are flawed would be a massive understatement. They are universally narcissistic, if sometimes gifted. The judges are either clueless, pursuing non-relevant (or misunderstood) agendas, and at odds with each other. The long- and short-list authors are bundles of anxieties and arrogance. Katherine was a particularly unsympathetic character, and I thought the damage she leaves in her wake – especially what befalls her editor – was rather underdeveloped. Not uninteresting to read about, though.

I think the novel could actually have done with being a bit longer – the balance of certain scenes felt off to me, or as if he wanted to include this example of silliness, then this one, then another, without always trying to tie it all together. A bit of a literary hit list, perhaps?

About a third of the way through this, I bought the first novel in St Aubyn’s better known, critically-acclaimed Patrick Melrose series – Never Mind. I hope to get to it very soon. Lost For Words is definitely recommended.

Upcoming: KILL BAXTER by Charlie Human (Century)

May 29, 2014 Civilian Reader Uncategorized Century, Charlie Human, Random House, Upcoming, Urban Fantasy

In July, Century (a division of Random House UK) will be publishing KILL BAXTER, the follow up to Charlie Human’s mind-bending debut, Apocalypse Now Now. I thoroughly enjoyed that novel (despite the slightly weak ending) – the main character, Baxter, was delightfully twisted; the plot rather bonkers, with a great Cape Town setting populated by some of the most colourful, interesting and weird Urban Fantasy creations I’ve come across. I have pretty high hopes for Kill Baxter, and can’t wait to get my mitts on a copy. The cover is once again done by the ever-excellent Joey Hi-Fi who is also working on a separate South African cover (as he did for Apocalypse Now Now). Can’t wait to see that piece, too!

Here’s the synopsis…

And he thought the hard part was over…

The world has been massively unappreciative of sixteen-year-old Baxter Zevcenko. His bloodline may be a combination of ancient Boer mystic and giant shape-shifting crow, and he may have won an inter-dimensional battle and saved the world, but does anyone care? No.

Instead he’s packed off to Hexpoort, a magical training school that’s part reformatory, part military school, and just like Hogwarts (except with sex, drugs, and better internet access). The problem is that Baxter sucks at magic. He’s also desperately attempting to control his new ability to dreamwalk, all the while being singled out by the school’s resident bully, who just so happens to be the Chosen One.

But when the school comes under attack, Baxter needs to forget all that and step into action. The only way is joining forces with his favourite recovering alcoholic of a supernatural bounty hunter, Ronin, to try and save the world from the apocalypse. Again.

Sounds pretty cool, no? This time, I hope Human manages to really stick the landing, and makes Kill Baxter awesome all the way through. The novel is due to be published on July 17, 2014 in the UK (not sure about the US or South Africa).

Mini-Review: “Valour’s Trial” by Tanya Huff (Titan Books)

May 29, 2014 Civilian Reader Review Confederation, Military Sci-Fi, Sci-Fi, Titan Books

Reviewed by H.

Huff’s Military Sci-Fi series returns for a strong fourth installment!

Unexpectedly pulled from battle, Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr of the Confederation Marines finds herself in an underground POW camp that shouldn’t exist, where her fellow marine prisoners have lost all will to escape. Now, Torin must fight her way not only out of the prison, but also past the growing compulsion to lie down and give up – not realizing that her escape could alter the entire course of the war.

Four books in, and Tanya Huff is still keeping this series interesting and engaging. Much of what I liked in the first three books can also be said for this one. The characters are pretty much all engaging and well-developed. Torin Kerr remains a fantastic heroine. The action sequences are fantastic. And the setting is well-realised. So, I’ll keep this short, to avoid repeating myself too much. Needless to say, though, this is another great addition to the series.

Torin Kerr still saves the day, through her dedication not only to the Confederation but also to the members of her team (whoever they happen to be on any given adventure). In Valour’s Trial, after waking up in a hellish prison, Kerr and some new comrades are up against a hitherto unknown enemy. After a short while, she attempts an escape with some of her fellow prisoners. While breaking out, she discovers that some of the Others – the opposition in the war in which she has been fighting – are also held captive. Who, then, are their gaolers? What does this mean for the wider war effort?

As before, it’s great to see how Torin deals with the obstacles that her adventurous (perilous) career keeps throwing in front of her. She’s a great character, and thus far has never been dull. Reading about her is entertaining. Huff has done a great job in this novel of writing some great characters – they’re really well-rounded and enjoyable guides to the world/universe, most of all Torin. The humour remains – perhaps a little too similar and repetitive after four books – which adds a welcome levity to certain scenes, and avoids the series from becoming too bleak.

The ending of the novel offers some tantalising possibilities for the next in the series, The Truth of Valour, too. It’ll be interesting to see how different that novel will be. If you have any interest in military science fiction, or science fiction in general really, then Tanya Huff’s Confederation series is a must-read. Highly recommended. Can’t wait to get my hands on the next one!

For Fans of: Rachel Bach, Jack Campbell, Ann Aguirre, David Weber, Elizabeth Moon, Jean Johnson, Mike Shepherd

Trailer: “This is Where I Leave You”

May 29, 2014 Civilian Reader Uncategorized Uncategorized

A bit of a departure from the usual trailer fare that I share on CR, but I think this looks like it could be fun. A stellar cast, too – Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Jane Fonda, Dax Shepherd, the alcoholic congressman from season one of House of Cards, and other good actors! I’ve never read any of Jonathan Tropper’s novels, but I did recently pick up a couple of them on sale. So, hopefully I’ll get around to reading them relatively soon. Here’s the trailer…

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And the novel’s synopsis…

The death of Judd Foxman’s father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family – including Judd’s mother, brothers, and sister – have been together in years. Conspicuously absent: Judd’s wife, Jen, whose fourteen-month affair with Judd’s radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public.

Simultaneously mourning the death of his father and the demise of his marriage, Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch’s dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family.

As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed, and old passions reawakened. For Judd, it’s a weeklong attempt to make sense of the mess his life has become while trying in vain not to get sucked into the regressive battles of his madly dysfunctional family. All of which would be hard enough without the bomb Jen dropped the day Judd’s father died: She’s pregnant.

This Is Where I Leave You is Jonathan Tropper’s most accomplished work to date, a riotously funny, emotionally raw novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind – whether we like it or not.

An Interview with CRAIG CORMICK

May 28, 2014 Civilian Reader Interview Angry Robot Books, Fantasy

Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Craig Cormick?

To misquote Miley Cyrus, “I’m just a guy.” Well, my kids think I’m just a guy, but they don’t know that I actually live a secret life creating wild new worlds, and sword-fighting evil villains and saving them from catastrophic harm.

Otherwise, I’m an author and science communicator. I’ve published over 20 books and over 100 short stories and about 20 academic journal papers and I love playing with genres, mixing fiction and non-fiction, playing with history and creating new things out of it.

I have several different lives and I know some people have Googled me and then asked, “Hey do you know this other Craig Cormick guy who has been to Antarctica/writes about biotechnology/is a social scientist/won this prize/etc.?” They are all me.

Your novel, The Shadow Master, is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in July 2014. How would you introduce the novel to a prospective reader? Is it part of a series?

I’d tell them that it’s a kick-arse tale of alternative history, love and conflict, madness and magic.

Yes, it is going to be part of a series, and I’m just completing book two right now.

For a bit more info on the book, imagine a city something like Florence. A walled city, to protect it from the plague that is ravaging the countryside. Then imagine two warring houses, the Medicis and the Lorraines. Both are battling for control of the city. And next imagine each House has in its employ a learned man – Galileo and Leonardo, who are versed in the arcane arts of science, that can control time and space and the very laws of nature. So science works like magic in this world.

Then imagine two lovers – Lorenzo and Lucia, who discover that together they too can change the natural laws of the world. But each belongs to a different warring house that refuse to let them be together.

And amongst all this there is a mysterious stranger – the Shadow Master. He is a hooded man that carries technologies not known in this world. He seems to understand all the mysteries of the Walled City, and even the long-lost secrets of the ancients, who built the walled city. And he possesses the knowledge as to how Lorenzo can save Lucia – and save all of civilisation while he is at it.

It’s got sword fights and mad clerics and bombs and magical shape-changing people and an army of plague victims and fire and water and a wise-arse mystery figure. It has everything except a car chase!

Gee – I’d read it.

What inspired you to write the series? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

I have been lucky enough to have travelled a lot in my work as a Science Communicator, and I was a conference in Florence a few years back, and while walking around the Galileo museum that I got this idea – what if science behaved like magic. So what if when Galileo invented the telescope it actually transported you across to what you were looking at – and what if the early chronometers actually slowed down time? And it all started forming out of that magical moment.

How were you introduced to reading and genre fiction?

For most of my life I’ve been what might be described as a writer of ‘Literary Fiction’ – but I crossed over from the dark side after meeting people who were writing SF, and attending some of their conferences – and I have to tell you the SF or genre fiction community is a lot less bitchy and more supportive than the literary crowd (oops – did I say that out loud?)

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry?

Like many authors I think it fair to say that I love writing a whole lot more than she loves me back. I’ve had some good successes, publishing over 20 books, but I’ve had a few spectacular failures too. The publishing industry itself is an arcane beast, I find, that is best kept on a chain, for you need to keep an eye on it, but if you get too close you’ll not only see the ugly side up close, but you might even get gobbled up and spat out.

Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

Good question, though I find that each different book I’m writing seem to have a different path to completion. Some I’ve just sat down and started toying with ideas and seen where they take me, and others I’ve meticulously planned and plotted out. I had a rough idea where I was going with the Shadow Master and let it take me on a bit of a voyage, but the sequel has been more carefully plotted out.

My general writing plan is to just get the words down first. (Novels are written by doing a few pages a day.) And then, when I’ve got those words down I can look at them and start reworking them. My general claim is that I’m not a great writer – but I’m a really great rewriter!

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

I still have my first book – it was called The End of the Second Eon and was a hand-written fantasy book, that I wrote and illustrated when I was about ten-years old. It had knights and ravens and magic and… hmmm, I’d better go and dig it out and look it over and see if it was truly atrocious as I fear, or whether there might actually be the gem of a good idea in there.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I actually don’t spend too much time dwelling on the genre, nor the sub-genres and where things fit into it, as I think that can get in the way a bit of what you’re working on – striving to fit a genre rather than let the story wander a bit.

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

There’s always quite a bit in my pipeline and I’ll probably need to call a plumber around to clear it out – but there’s Shadow Master and the Floating City (the sequel), a novel about Adolf Hitler having been found hiding in a small fishing village in Australia during the Falkland’s War, and I’m also finishing up a book on the science of the Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly. I’m editing a collection of pieces from all the different scientists who have worked on identifying Ned Kelly’s bones and remains that were recently located at a prison cemetery. It involves forensic pathology and DNA testing and archaeology and detective work through the records and is absolutely fascinating story. Watch this space!

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

Next to my bed are several books calling out to me, “Read me! Read me! Please read me!” Those calling the loudest are Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, Robin Hobb’s The Royal Assassin, and a Smurf comic book.

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I have a twin brother (“My Evil Twin” we both describe the other as). He’s a medical doctor, I’m a PhD doctor. We both have fairly similar tastes, though like many twins – when we’re living close to each other we tend to be buying different clothes and books and things – but when we aren’t in close contact it is like we revert to type rather than try and assert our differences, and start buying the same types of things as each other.

I’m sometimes asked, what’s it like to be a twin – but I have to ask, “What’s it like not to be?” (And it’s nice to have someone who will NEVER forget your birthday!)

***

The Shadow Master will be published in North America and in eBook on June 24th 2014, and in the UK on July 3rd 2014, by Angry Robot Books.

Quick Reviews: BULLSEYE, THE INNOCENT, and THE HIT by David Baldacci (Macmillan/Grand Central)

May 27, 2014August 3, 2015 Civilian Reader Review Assassin, Bullseye, David Baldacci, Espionage, Grand Central, Hit, Innocent, Macmillan, Politics, Thriller, Washington DC, Will Robie Series

Two novels and a short story introducing a new hero from one of the modern masters of thriller fiction…

I really enjoyed all three of these stories. I also read them quite a while ago, in preparation for the release of The Target. I’m not sure why I didn’t get around to posting reviews of them sooner, but I wanted to mention them here. Because they’re excellent. I’ll keep things short, though… Continue reading →

Coffin Hill, Vol.1 – “Forest of the Night” (Vertigo)

May 27, 2014 Civilian Reader Comics, Review Caitlin Kittredge, Coffin Hill, Inaki Miranda, Vertigo

An excellent start to a new series

Following a night of sex, drugs and witchcraft in the woods, Eve Coffin wakes up naked, covered in blood and unable to remember how she got there. One friend is missing, one is in a mental ward-and one knows that Eve is responsible.

Years later, Eve returns to Coffin Hill, only to discover the darkness that she unleashed ten years ago in the woods was never contained. It continues to seep through the town, cursing the soul of this sleepy Massachusetts hollow, spilling secrets and enacting its revenge.

Set against the haunted backdrop of New England, COFFIN HILL explores what people will do for power and retribution.

Collects: Coffin Hill #1-7

In Coffin Hill, novelist Caitlin Kittredge (Black London series) has written an engaging, eerie, and above all superb tale of witchcraft, childhood mistakes and family legacies. Inaki Miranda – perhaps best known for work on Fairest – realises the book beautifully. This book doesn’t really need much of a review. If you are a fan of horror, suspense, witches, and weirdness, then this is a great book for you. I really enjoyed this.

Book starts with Eve Coffin basking in unwanted attention after solving a serial-killer case as a rookie cop. Unfortunately, when she returns home, she stumbles across an altercation between her roommate and a disgruntled, armed boyfriend. Leaving the force, she returns to her childhood home of Coffin Hill, and almost immediately finds herself embroiled in a weird, supernatural case linked to certain events of her childhood.

As events in the present get progressively stranger and more dangerous, Eve must overcome local suspicions, and a potentially homicidal old acquaintance. All the while navigating the emotional battlefield of reuniting with an old flame. Who, as it happens, is now sheriff and investigating another strange disappearance in the woods…

Coffin Hill has a superb opening story-arc. It is a brilliant mix of suspense, supernatural, crime-thriller, and the beginnings (potentially) of a family saga. There are, of course, hints to larger and greater things, none of which are resolved here. This is ok – after I turned the final page, I was definitely eager for more. The artwork is stunning, and Inaki Miranda is probably one of my favourite artists working in comics. The images are clean and brilliantly composed, while the colouring makes the book both moody and strikingly vivid.

Very highly recommended. This is a must-read new series.

An Interview with JAMES A. MOORE

May 27, 2014 Civilian Reader Interview Angry Robot Books, Fantasy

Let’s start with an introduction: Who is James A. Moore?

I’ve been a professional writer for a little over 20 years. I started in comic books worked my way over to role playing games and then decided to try my luck with horror fiction. I’ve also written some science fiction and a few fantasy pieces. I’m currently working on a weird western, a fantasy series, a crime novel and a few other projects, including a science fiction apocalyptic piece.

Your next novel, The Blasted Land, is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in July 2014. It is the sequel to Seven Forges. How would you introduce the series to a new reader, and what can fans of the first expect?

Good question. I’d like to say it’s something different, and maybe that’s true but I imagine almost everyone makes that claim. It’s a sword and sorcery series. But one where I’ve set aside the legends and creatures I’ve read about before to come up with new dangers and, hopefully, a unique setting. I like to think of the series as a clash of cultures and a clash of theologies. Ultimately, however, it’s a story about an aging empire facing a threat that seems absolutely relentless and unstoppable.

I have always believed that every book should be able to stand alone. That said, I love a good cliffhanger. So the story starts off in this case EXACTLY where Seven Forges left off. I fill in the gaps, but I also try to do that without burying the previous readers in older details. It’s a bit of an interesting challenge as I haven’t really worked on a direct series before though I’ve had a few occasions where the characters I’ve written about in the past have shown up in new adventures.

What I’m working in, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to explore it in greater depth, is the differences between the two cultures and the dangers of dealing with a tide of fanatical warriors on a holy quest.

What inspired you to write the series? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

Honestly, I normally don’t know what sort of story I want to write until I have an idea that won’t leave me alone. That was very much the case here. I wanted to write something different and in this case the only setting that really seemed to work was a fantasy setting.

I’ve always loved a good fantasy novel but one of the things I wanted to do was avoid a lot of the tropes I’ve seen pop up over the years. So I decided to start up a fantasy series after taking a pretty long hiatus from reading any fantasy.

Most of my inspiration comes from the news. The world is a fascinating and terrifying place, I let it inspire me whenever possible.

How were you introduced to reading and genre fiction?

I’ve always been a voracious reader. When I was younger it was mostly comic books, and later I expanded into fantasy, then science fiction and then horror. I sort of worked in the reverse order when it came to writing.

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry?

I love being a writer. It’s really very much my dream job. It’s always a strange challenge because the industry is changing in so many ways and because no matter how much time I spend writing, I would like to have more time.

Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

I have a full time job in addition to writing. I work in retail because the hours are flexible and can accommodate my often chaotic writing schedules. My first rule is that I write every day. The only exception is if I am at a convention, then I TRY to write every day and I normally fail. When it comes to research, I tend to study whatever strikes my fancy and let it percolate in the back of my brain. At least half of my ideas come from articles I’ve run across in magazines or online.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

Well, I originally wanted to draw comic books. I wanted to be an illustrator. Turns out that you actually have to know how to draw for that to happen. After I’d spent a good amount of time working up several comics from beginnig to end I showed them to an editor from Marvel Comics who told me that my artwork was lousy, but that he could see the story I was telling despite the bad anatomy and weak backgrounds. He’s the one who suggested I try writing and as he was the editor for Clive Barker’s Hellraiser comic book (out from Epic comics, which was a branch of Marvel) I tried my luck with a Hellraiser story. He bought it a few months later. That was my very first sale, a story called “Of Love, Cats and Curiosity” That showed up in the 15^th issue I believe.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

My firm belief is that genre is what publishers make of it. I’ve worked horror, science fiction, crime and fantasy but to me they are ultimately all just different places where I try to sell my stories. I write the stories I want to write and worry about where to sell them afterward. I think that’s really the best way to go with it. First and foremost I have to love the story I’m writing or I can’t very well expect anyone else to like it.

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

Well, I’m going to pitch the next couple of books in the SEVEN FORGES series soon. But I’m also working on two novellas with the character Jonathan Crowley, who is one of my recurring characters. Both of the stories I’m working on with him are supernatural westerns. I’m working on a straight crime novel with a frequent co-author named Charles R. Rutledge. I’m working on a horror-fantasy novella called Bloodstained Wonderland with Christopher Golden. I’m working on a science fiction/apocalyptic novel for Earthling Publications. I have a mostly finished Jonathan Crowley novel called Boomtown that I intend to finish by year’s end. I’m also currently outlining a dark fantasy trilogy with Charles R. Rutledge that we intend to try to write this year as well. I tend toward the prolific side. Or at least the ambitious side.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

I just finished reading Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. It’s a phenomenal book. I also just finished reading White Knight a novella by Bracken MacLeod that I would recommend very highly. And I’m researching away on both the Old West and Mushrooms for entirely unrelated stories.

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I’m a widower. I lost my wife of 20 years a few years ago. In fact I’ve got a very long series of essays about that very subject (decidedly nonfiction) available at my website.

***

The Blasted Land is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in June 2014. Seven Forges is available now. For more on Moore’s writing and novels, be sure to follow him on Twitter and visit his website.

“Speed of Dark” by Elizabeth Moon (Orbit)

May 26, 2014 Civilian Reader Review Hodderscape, Orbit Books, Sc-Fi

A superb, endearing, and moving modern classic

Lou is different to “normal” people. He interacts with the world in a way they do not understand. He might not see the things they see, however, but he also sees many things they do not. Lou is autistic.

One of his skills is an ability to find patterns in data: extraordinary, complex, beautiful patterns that not even the most powerful computers can comprehend. The company he works for has made considerable sums of money from Lou’s work. But now they want Lou to change – to become “normal” like themselves. And he must face the greatest challenge of his life. To understand the speed of dark.

As I’m sure a lot of other reviewers have found, Speed of Dark is not the easiest of novels to review. Reading Speed of Dark was illuminating, engaging, and moving. Lou is a powerful and endearing voice, and to get a glimpse of how his mind works and how he sees the world was fascinating. I don’t know nearly as much about autism as I should, but I felt Moon has written an intelligent and nuanced tale of an autistic man’s experiences in a world that doesn’t know how to accept him as he is, nor properly understand how he sees the world. This is a great novel, and it is absolutely clear to me why it won a Nebula Award.

To get it out of the way quickly, I think there was only one weakness to the novel, and that was the fact that plot felt somewhat of a secondary concern. This is not strictly speaking a bad thing, as Lou and his colleagues are universally interesting characters to spend time with. The plot centres around the innovative “cure” for autism, and the characters’ decisions of whether or not they want to take it, and therefore become more like the “normals”. The ending felt just a tad rushed and truncated, and I’m still not sure how I actually feel about Lou’s choice (I won’t spoil it, though).

What a cure for autism would mean is something I’ve wondered about quite a bit, recently. It’s not something I’m very good at talking or writing about, but I did like the way Moon handled the issue and hypothetical, and also how her characters saw the choice.

Without doubt, the best thing about the novel is Lou’s voice. I loved reading the story told through his perspective – seeing the different ways he sees people and the world, his shrewd observations about how “normals” treat him so very differently, when they don’t have to (or, indeed, really shouldn’t). The different ways in which certain actions of his are treated as symptoms, while the same actions from a normal are considered, well… normal. Here’s an early example from the novel, when Lou is visiting his therapist, Dr. Fornum:

When she answers the phone I can look around her office and find the twinkly things she doesn’t know she has. I can move my head back and forth so the light in the corner glints off and on over there, on the shiny cover of a book in the bookcase. If she notices that I’m moving my head back and forth she makes a note in my record… It is called stereotypy when I do it and relaxing her neck when she does it…

In fact, this early scene with Dr. Fornum is filled with interesting and intelligent commentary on the treatment and impression of those with autism in society today. I’m sure there are many reviews that have used the following passage, but I thought it was superb and perfectly explains Lou’s situation:

If they aren’t going to listen, why should I talk?

I know better than to say that out loud. Everything in my life that I value has been gained at the cost of not saying what I really think and saying what they want me to say.

In this office, where I am evaluated and advised four times a year, the psychiatrist is not less certain of the line between us than all the others have been. Her certainty is painful to see, so I try not to look at her more than I have to. That has its own dangers; like the others, she thinks I should make more eye contact than I do. I glance at her now.

Dr. Fornum, crisp and professional, raises an eyebrow and shakes her head not quite imperceptibly. Autistic persons do not understand these signals; the book says so. I have read the book, so I know what it is I do not understand.

What I haven’t figured out yet is the range of things they don’t understand… I know some of what she doesn’t know. She doesn’t know that I can read. She thinks I’m hyperlexic, just parroting the words… She knows I work on a computer, she knows I went to school, but she has not caught on that this is incompatible with her belief that I am actually nearly illiterate and barely verbal… She does not like it when I use big words (as she calls them) and she tells me to just say what I mean.

The novel is filled with very-well-written passages, or almost beautifully-worded observations and descriptions. At one point, for example, Lou ponders the nature of his autism, and how or why he has it:

I do not think God makes bad things happen just so that people can grow spiritually. Bad parents do that, my mother said. Bad parents make things hard and painful for their children and then say it was to help them grow. Growing and living are hard enough already; children do not need things to be harder. I think this is true even for normal children. I have watched little children learning to walk; they all struggle and fall down many times. Their faces show that it is not easy. It would be stupid to tie bricks on them to make it harder. If that is true for learning to walk, then I think it is true for other growing and learning as well.

God is suppose to be the good parent, the Father. So I think God would not make things harder than they are. I do not think I am autistic because God thought my parents needed a challenge or I needed a challenge. I think it is like if I were a baby and a rock fell on me and broke my leg. Whatever caused it was an accident. God did not prevent the accident, but He did not cause it, either… I think my autism is an accident, but what I do with it is me.

As I said at the start, and is no doubt apparent at this point, this is a tricky novel to review. Overall, then, I would say that this novel is extremely well-written, delicately and intelligently handled, quite moving and even uplifting. It could be described as “low-SF”, as the cure and something at the end are pretty much the only science fictional part of the story.

Very highly recommended. This is a superb novel.

***

I received this novel as part of the Hodderscape Review Project. It is published in the UK by Orbit Books, and received a new cover this week (the second included in the review, above).

(MORE) Books Received…

May 25, 2014 Civilian Reader Uncategorized Angry Robot, Books Received, Del Rey UK, Gollancz, Macmillan, Orbit, Tor UK, Transworld

In what is fast becoming the Book Flood of Summer 2014, even more exciting books have been turning up in the post and as eARCs…

Featuring: Anna Caltabiano, Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston, Richard A. Clarke, James S.A. Corey, Ellen Datlow (ed.), Emma Donohue, Daryl Gregory, Elliott Hall, Doug Hulick, Kameron Hurley, Kendra Leighton, D.J. Molles, Edward St. Aubyns, Liesel Schwarz, Graeme Shimmin, Nalini Singh, James Thornton

Anna Caltabiano, The Seventh Miss Hatfield (Gollancz)

Rebecca, a 15-year-old American, isn’t entirely happy with her life, comfortable though it is. Still, even she knows that she shouldn’t talk to strangers. So when her mysterious neighbour Miss Hatfield asked her in for a chat and a drink, Rebecca wasn’t entirely sure why she said yes. It was a decision that was to change everything.

For Miss Hatfield is immortal. And now, thanks to a drop of water from the Fountain of Youth, Rebecca is as well. But this gift might be more of a curse, and it comes with a price. Rebecca is beginning to lose her personality, to take on the aspects of her neighbour. She is becoming the next Miss Hatfield.

But before the process goes too far, Rebecca must travel back in time to turn-of-the-century New York and steal a painting, a picture which might provide a clue to the whereabouts of the source of immortality. A clue which must remain hidden from the world. In order to retrieve the painting, Rebecca must infiltrate a wealthy household, learn more about the head of the family, and find an opportunity to escape. Before her journey is through, she will also have – rather reluctantly – fallen in love. But how can she stay with the boy she cares for, when she must return to her own time before her time-travelling has a fatal effect on her body? And would she rather stay and die in love, or leave and live alone?

And who is the mysterious stranger who shadows her from place to place? A hunter for the secret of immortality – or someone who has already found it?

One of Gollancz’s 2014 debuts, I was very much looking forward to reading this. I’m reading it at the moment and, while interesting and pretty well done, it isn’t really grabbing me… Hopefully it will pick up as I near the end…

Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston, Earth Awakens (Orbit)

Nearly 100 years before the events of Orson Scott Card’s bestselling novel Ender’s Game, humans were just beginning to step off Earth and out into the Solar System. A thin web of ships in both asteroid belts; a few stations; a corporate settlement on Luna. No one had seen any sign of other space-faring races; everyone expected that First Contact, if it came, would happen in the future, in the empty reaches between the stars. Then a young navigator on a distant mining ship saw something moving too fast, heading directly for our sun.

When the alien ship screamed through the solar system, it disrupted communications between the far-flung human mining ships and supply stations, and between them and Earth. So Earth and Luna were unaware that they had been invaded until the ship pulled into Earth orbit, and began landing terra-forming crews in China. Politics and pride slowed the response on Earth, and on Luna, corporate power struggles seemed more urgent than distant deaths. But there are a few men and women who see that if Earth doesn’t wake up and pull together, the planet could be lost.

This is the third volume in Card & Johnston’s The First Formic War series. Sadly, I haven’t read any of the Ender’s Game-related novels, so I’m not sure I’ll get to this in the immediate future. I will, however, be reading Ender’s Game pretty soon.

Richard A. Clarke, Sting of a Drone (Thomas Dunne)

In Washington, the Kill Committee gathers in the White House’s Situation Room to pick the next targets for the United States drone program. At an airbase just outside Las Vegas, a team of pilots, military personnel and intelligence officers follow through on the committee’s orders, finding the men who have been deemed a threat to national security and sentenced to death. On the other side of the world, in the mountains where the drones hunt their prey, someone has decided to fight back. And not just against the unmanned planes that circle their skies, but against the Americans at home who control them.

I’ve read a fair bit of Clarke’s non-fiction, so I’m curious to see what his fiction is like. Hot topic, drones.

James S.A. Corey, Cibola Burn (Orbit)

The gates have opened the way to thousands of habitable planets, and the land rush has begun. Settlers stream out from humanity’s home planets in a vast, poorly controlled flood, landing on a new world. Among them, the Rocinante, haunted by the vast, posthuman network of the protomolecule as they investigate what destroyed the great intergalactic society that built the gates and the protomolecule.

But Holden and his crew must also contend with the growing tensions between the settlers and the company which owns the official claim to the planet. Both sides will stop at nothing to defend what’s theirs, but soon a terrible disease strikes and only Holden – with help from the ghostly Detective Miller – can find the cure.

I’m so behind on this series… This is the fourth novel in The Expanse series, yet I’ve only managed to read the first one, Leviathan Wakes. It was recently announced that the TV rights for the series have been bought and (possibly) started development. I’d like to catch up, and I’ll do my best to do so.

Ellen Datlow (ed.), Lovecraft’s Monsters (Tachyon)

This deliciously creepy and loving tribute to the master of modern horror features riveting illustrated stories of his wicked progeny.

In the century since the master of horror, H. P. Lovecraft, published his first story, the monstrosities that crawled out of his brain have become legend: the massive, tentacled Cthulhu, who lurks beneath the sea waiting for his moment to rise; the demon Sultan Azathoth, who lies babbling at the center of the universe, mad beyond imagining; the Deep Ones, who come to shore to breed with mortal men; and the unspeakably-evil Hastur, whose very name brings death. These creatures have been the nightmarish fuel for generations of horror writers, and the inspiration for some of their greatest works.

This impressive anthology celebrates Lovecraft’s most famous beasts in all their grotesque glory, with each story a gripping new take on a classic mythos creature and affectionately accompanied by an illuminating illustration. Within these accursed pages something unnatural slouches from the sea into an all-night diner to meet the foolish young woman waiting for him, while the Hounds of Tindalos struggle to survive trapped in human bodies, haunting pool halls for men they can lure into the dark. Strange, haunting, and undeniably monstrous, this is Lovecraft as you have never seen him before.

Sounds like an interesting anthology.

Emma Donohue, Frog Music (Picador)

Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman called Jenny Bonnet is shot dead. The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, she will risk everything to bring Jenny’s murderer to justice – if he doesn’t track her down first. The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women and damaged children. It’s the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts.

In thrilling, cinematic style, FROG MUSIC digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue’s lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boom town like no other.

Some of my own research touched upon Chinese immigration into San Francisco during this period, so I thought the novel sounded quite interesting.

Daryl Gregory, We Are All Completely Fine (Tachyon)

Harrison was the Monster Detective, a storybook hero. Now he’s in his mid-thirties, and spends most of his time popping pills and not sleeping. Stan became a minor celebrity after being partially eaten by cannibals. Barbara is haunted by unreadable messages carved upon her bones. Greta may or may not be a mass-murdering arsonist. Martin never takes off his sunglasses. Never.

No one believes the extent of their horrific tales, not until they are sought out by psychotherapist Dr. Jan Sayer. What happens when these seemingly-insane outcasts form a support group? Together they must discover which monsters they face are within – and which are lurking in plain sight.

I’m a big fan of Gregory’s writing – especially his latest novel, Afterparty (Tor in the US, Titan in the UK). This is very high on my TBR list.

Elliott Hall, The First Stone (John Murray)

Private eye Felix Strange doesn’t work homicide cases. He saw enough dead bodies fighting in Iran, a war that left him with a crippling disease that has no name and no cure. So when Strange is summoned to a Manhattan hotel room to investigate the dead body of America’s most-loved preacher, he’d rather not get involved.

Strange has a week to find the killer, and even less time to get the black-market medicine he needs to stay alive. In an America where biblical prophecy is foreign policy, Strange knows that his hiring is no accident. He can’t see all the angles, and he knows he’s being watched. In a race against time Strange must face religious police, organized crime and a dame with very particular ideas, while uncovering a conspiracy that reaches the very heart of his newly fundamentalist nation.

This is the June title for the Hodderscape Review Project, for which I am shamefully behind on my reading. Shamefully! In fact, there may not be a Cone of Shame large enough to encompass my lackadaisical approach… This is by no means do to a lack of interest in the titles I’ve received (indeed, this one sounds really interesting, and definitely up my street). I’ll be getting to this hopefully very soon, after I get my review of Speed of Dark ready. The First Stone is the first in a trilogy, so hopefully I’ll like this one and have more to read! The rest of the series includes The Fall (a prequel short story), The Rapture and The Children’s Crusade. I just bought the prequel, so I’ll slot that in before starting this.

Doug Hulick, Sworn in Steel (Tor)

It’s been three months since Drothe killed a legend, burned down a portion of the imperial capital, and unexpectedly elevated himself into the ranks of the criminal elite. Now, as the newest Gray Prince in the underworld, he’s learning just how good he used to have it.

With barely the beginnings of an organization to his name, Drothe is already being called out by other Gray Princes. And to make matters worse, when one dies, all signs point to Drothe as wielding the knife. As members of the Kin begin choosing sides – mostly against him – for what looks to be another impending war, Drothe is approached by a man who not only has the solution to Drothe’s most pressing problem, but an offer of redemption. The only problem is the offer isn’t for him.

Now Drothe finds himself on the way to the Despotate of Djan, the empire’s long-standing enemy, with an offer to make and a price on his head. And the grains of sand in the hour glass are running out, fast…

Loved the first book, very glad this one has finally arrived!

Also on CR: Interview with Doug Hulick

Kameron Hurley, The Mirror Empire (Angry Robot)

On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past… while a world goes to war with itself.

In the frozen kingdom of Saiduan, invaders from another realm are decimating whole cities, leaving behind nothing but ash and ruin.

As the dark star of the cataclysm rises, an illegitimate ruler is tasked with holding together a country fractured by civil war, a precocious young fighter is asked to betray his family and a half-Dhai general must choose between the eradication of her father’s people or loyalty to her alien Empress.

Through tense alliances and devastating betrayal, the Dhai and their allies attempt to hold against a seemingly unstoppable force as enemy nations prepare for a coming together of worlds as old as the universe itself.

In the end, one world will rise – and many will perish.

I’ve mentioned this before on the blog. Will get to it pretty soon.

Also on CR: Guest Post by Kameron Hurley

Kendra Leighton, Glimpse (Much-In-Little)

I’ve mentioned this novel a few times on the blog, recently. It sounds really interesting. The publicity material makes a big deal out of the fact that the novel is inspired by Alfred Noyes’s The Highwayman. Before reading the synopsis for this novel, I had never heard of that story, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to comment on that aspect, when I get around to reviewing this. I recently sent interview questions to Kendra, so expect that to go up mid-June. [Full disclosure: Kendra and I are friends from undergrad.]

D.J. Molles, The Remaining (Orbit)

In a steel-and-lead encased bunker a Special Forces soldier wait on his final orders.

On the surface a bacterium has turned 90% of the population into hyper-aggressive predators.

Now Captain Lee Harden must leave the bunker and venture into the wasteland to rekindle a shattered America.

I do like post-apocalyptic novels. This was a self-published success before Orbit picked up the series. Hopeful it’ll be entertaining, and better than the Ex-Heroes series, which was another move-to-big-publisher zombie series that I… did not like much. This printed edition also includes the novella, “An Empty Soul” (not, as the back cover copy suggests, “Faith”).

Edward St. Aubyns, Lost For Words (Picador)

The judges on the panel of the Elysian Prize for Literature must get through hundreds of submissions to find the best book of the year. Meanwhile, a host of writers are desperate for Elysian attention: the brilliant writer and serial heartbreaker Katherine Burns; the lovelorn debut novelist Sam Black; and Bunjee, convinced that his magnum opus,The Mulberry Elephant, will take the literary world by storm. Things go terribly wrong when Katherine’s publisher accidentally submits a cookery book in place of her novel; one of the judges finds himself in the middle of a scandal; and Bunjee, aghast to learn his book isn’t on the short list, seeks revenge.

Lost for Words is a witty, fabulously entertaining satire that cuts to the quick of some of the deepest questions about the place of art in our celebrity-obsessed culture, and asks how we can ever hope to recognize real talent when everyone has an agenda.

I’m almost finished, actually. It’s pretty good, too. Imagine everything you don’t like about publishing, literary society, and the most annoying denizens that inhabit it. Then make fun of them in a clever, wry manner. Short review coming soon (it doesn’t need a long one).

Liesel Schwartz, A Clockwork Heart & Sky Pirates (Del Rey UK)

FOR BETTER OR CURSE. That might as well have been the wedding vow of Elle Chance and her new husband, the ex-Warlock Hugh Marsh in the second book of this edgy new series that transforms elements of urban fantasy, historical adventure, and paranormal romance into storytelling magic.

As Elle devotes herself to her duties as the Oracle – who alone has the power to keep the dark designs of Shadow at bay – Marsh finds himself missing the excitement of his former life as a Warlock. So when Commissioner Willoughby of the London Metropolitan police seeks his help in solving a magical mystery, Marsh is only too happy to oblige. But in doing so, Marsh loses his heart… literally.

In place of the flesh-and-blood organ is a clockwork device – a device that makes Marsh a kind of zombie. Nor is he the only one. A plague of clockwork zombies is afflicting London, sowing panic and whispers of revolution. Now Elle must join forces with her husband’s old friend, the Nightwalker Loisa Beladodia, to track down Marsh’s heart and restore it to his chest before time runs out.

I met Liesel Schwartz at a signing for her debut novel (the first in this series). Sadly, I haven’t got around to reading that novel, yet… Sigh. So many books, so very little time to get through them all…

Also on CR: Interview with Liesel Schwarz

Graeme Shimmin, A Kill In The Morning (Bantam Press)

“I don’t like killing, but I’m good at it. Murder isn’t so bad from a distance, just shapes in my scope. Close up work though, the garrotte around the neck, the knife in the heart, it’s not for me. Too much empathy, that’s my problem. Usually. But not today. Today is different…”

The year is 1955 and something is very wrong with the world: Churchill is dead and WW2 didn’t happen. Europe is in thrall to a nuclear-armed Nazi Germany. Only Britain and its Empire holds out, bound by an uneasy truce and all the while German scientists are experimenting with terrifying forces beyond their understanding – forces that are driving them to the brink of insanity and beyond.

Berlin is a hotbed of suspicion and betrayal – a lone British assassin is fighting a private war with the Nazis; the Gestapo are on the trail of a beautiful young resistance fighter and the head of the SS plots to dispose of an increasingly decrepit Adolf Hitler and become Fuhrer. While in London, a sinister and treacherous cabal will stop at nothing to conceal the conspiracy of the century.

Four desperate scenarios that are destined to collide with catastrophic effect. And it all hinges on a single kill in the morning…

Never heard of this before it arrived in the mail. Sounds kind of interesting, too.

Nalini Singh, Shield of Winter (Gollancz)

Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he’s done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch – if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life.

For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake…

Having rebuilt her life after medical “treatment” that violated her mind and sought to stifle her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now, she’ll fight for her people, and for this Arrow who stands as her living shield, yet believes he is beyond redemption.

But as the world turns to screaming crimson, even Ivy’s fierce will may not be enough to save Vasic from the cold darkness…

I’ve never read anything by Nalini Singh, although I’ve only heard very good things. One thing I’m not sure about, though, is if this novel can be read without prior knowledge? If not, then I’ll hopefully give it a try pretty soon. If yes, then…

James Thornton, Sphinx: The Second Coming (Barbican Press)

SPHINX: THE SECOND COMING delves into the powers of the Ancient Gods of Egypt, and conjures them into a thrilling science fiction adventure. The Sphinx waits. Methane bubbles beneath the ocean’s beds. Catastrophe is coming. A team of westerners is set to unlock a code found deep in the fabric of the Great Pyramid. The puzzle goes beyond time – for secrets of Ancient Egypt are alive beneath modern Cairo. The puzzle stretches into the universe, where the ruling powers on distant galaxies stay alert for the future of planet Earth. This is visionary storytelling of the highest order that takes you deep into the mysteries of Egypt, and the wildest reaches of the imagination.

Thornton seems to be a pretty accomplished fellow – especially in the realms of environmental protection and policy. Whether or not that will translate into a skill at penning gripping adventure stories…? We’ll just have to see. It sounds interesting – a bit like Lovegrove’s Pantheon series, perhaps? Maybe less action and war than that, though. Age of Ra meets Da Vinci Code…?