Upcoming: “Black Moon” by Kenneth Calhoun (Hogarth)

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CalhounK-BlackMoonUKThis is a really intriguing-looking novel. A copy of the novel arrived in the mail yesterday (complete with an eye-mask…). Here is the synopsis for Kenneth Calhoun’s dystopian future novel, Black Moon…

Insomnia has claimed everyone Biggs knows. Even his beloved wife, Carolyn, has succumbed to the telltale red-rimmed eyes, slurred speech and cloudy mind before disappearing into the quickly collapsing world. Yet Biggs can still sleep, and dream, so he sets out to find her.

He ventures out into a world ransacked by mass confusion and desperation, where he meets others struggling against the tide of sleeplessness. Chase and his buddy Jordan are devising a scheme to live off their drug-store lootings; Lila is a high school student wandering the streets in an owl mask, no longer safe with her insomniac parents; Felicia abandons the sanctuary of a sleep research center to try to protect her family and perhaps reunite with Chase, an ex-boyfriend. All around, sleep has become an infinitely precious commodity. Money can’t buy it, no drug can touch it, and there are those who would kill to have it. However, Biggs persists in his quest for Carolyn, finding a resolve and inner strength that he never knew he had.

Black Moon will be published in March 2014 by Hogarth (an imprint of Random House) in both the UK and US.

Review: THE GOSPEL OF LOKI by Joanne M. Harris (Gollancz)

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HarrisJ-GospelOfLokiUKAn excellent, modern take on the beloved Trickster

“Loki, that’s me.

“Loki, the Light-Bringer, the misunderstood, the elusive, the handsome and modest hero of this particular tissue of lies. Take it with a pinch of salt, but it’s at least as true as the official version, and, dare I say it, more entertaining.

“So far, history, such as it is, has cast me in a rather unflattering role.

“Now it’s my turn to take the stage.”

With his notorious reputation for trickery and deception, and an ability to cause as many problems as he solves, Loki is a Norse god like no other. Demon-born, he is viewed with deepest suspicion by his fellow gods who will never accept him as one of their own and for this he vows to take his revenge.

I’ve mentioned before how Loki seems to be everywhere, these days. From comic books to blockbusters, the Trickster is just growing in popularity. Now we have The Gospel Of Loki, Joanne Harris’s first fantasy novel for adults. Unsurprisingly, given Harris’s well-established gifts as a writer, this is a well-written, engaging novel. It’s quirky, amusing throughout, with an undercurrent of darkness and menace. This is a lot of fun. Continue reading →

Upcoming: “A City Stained Red” by Sam Sykes (Gollancz)

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Sykes-04-ACityStainedRedI’m a fan of Sam Sykes’s novels. I thought both Tome of the Undergates and Black Halo were wonderfully subversive, dark and twisted takes on the fantasy genre. Sykes’s sense of humour is great, and runs throughout the novels without undermining the sense of adventure and action of the story. I’ve been woefully, shamefully slow about getting around to Skybound Sea, too. Nevertheless, the author’s story and characters continue apace! This April, Gollancz will be publishing the first in a new trilogy starring the loveable, dysfunctional heroes we have come to know and love(ish). A City Stained Red is the first in The Scion’s Gate trilogy.

Here is the synopsis…

The Scion’s Gate is a trilogy that tells the story of the struggle between the adventurer, Lenk, and his companions and the demons trying to break free from hell in order to resume their own agendas.

Long before he was sent to hell, the Aeon known as Khoth-Kapira was the closest thing to a living god the world had ever known. Possessed of a vast intellect, he pioneered many of the wonders that persist in the world that lingered long after he was banished. Nearly every fragment of medical, economic and technological progress that the mortal races enjoyed could be traced back to him. But with his wonders came cruelty beyond measure: industrialized slavery, horrifying experimentations and a rage that would eventually force the world to bow to him.

Now, as Khoth-Kapira stirs the world begins to shudder with disasters yet to come.The epicenter is the city of Cier’Djaal. A religious war between two unstoppable military juggernauts begins to brew. The racial fury among many peoples of the world is about to explode. Demons begin to pour from the shadows at the head of a vicious cult worshipping dark powers.

And Lenk finds himself in the middle once more, his fate and the fate of Khoth-Kapira interlinked as the demon attempts to convince him of his earnestness.

Also, I really like the new approach to the artwork – before, the character-based pieces were a little weird. Eye-catching, sure, but not the best. This new cover is a little more vague, but I prefer it to the original style.

Also on CR: Interview with Sam Sykes, Post-Trilogy Catch-Up

Full disclosure: I have read an early draft of this novel. It was very good – tighter, funnier and all-round better written and constructed than the first two novels. Given that I thought they were very strong, too… Well, I’m very excited to read the final version.

An Interview with SUSIE MOLONEY

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MoloneySusie-AuthorPic(Richard-Wagner-2010)Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Susie Moloney?

I’m a writer of horror fiction, and I live in Canada and the US, spending half my time in New York City with my playwright husband, Vern Thiessen. I’m a mom to two sons and a blind dog, and I love them all equally, no favourites.

I’ve been writing stories since I could hold a pencil, although when I first started writing, I used to illustrate them as well, and color the pictures. Somewhere there’s a pretty epic illustrated story about a black water beetle (“Blackie’s Story”) who isn’t black, but green. No black crayon.

To date, I’ve written four novels, Bastion Falls, A Dry Spell, The Dwelling and The Thirteen. My claim to fame is that A Dry Spell received the largest advance ever, in Canada. That may have changed by now, but it was a big deal back in the day. I’ve been on the cover of two national magazines. The week my cover on Chatelaine came out, was the week that Princess Diana died. True story: I walked into an airport bookstore to pick up something to read on the plane, and there was my cover, right next to the People Magazine Princess Diana cover. I turned around and ran out. It was too overwhelming, my face right next to hers. I read the in-flight magazine that trip.

Things Withered, Stories is my very first collection. I’m no longer a collection virgin.

MoloneyS-ThingsWithered

What inspired you to write these particular stories? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

All my inspiration comes from really mundane, prosaic sources. I know everyone says that. But I’ll tell you, regular, ordinary everyday people terrify me. You know why? Because everyone has something special about them. Everyone. We were raised on that tenet. So if some regular Joe is standing in front of you, and you can’t quite tell what’s special about him — I just naturally assume his special quality must be that he’s a serial killer. Or what if he’s a vampire (if it’s at night), or a warlock hell-bent on collecting enough souls to pay a debt to Satan? What if there’s a suburban mom, slowly letting her oppression and anger drive her into madness and as a means of releasing that horrible pressure cooker of rage, she poisons cookies and brings them over? What if the cookies are super-good and you eat like, ten of them (not saying I’ve ever eaten ten cookies at once)?

I’m pretty sure regular, ordinary, everyday folk are seriously dangerous.

How were you introduced to genre fiction?

Blatty-TheExorcistThe first genre book I ever read, if you can call it a genre book, was The Exorcist. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to read it, I was only a little kid. I certainly knew enough to read it with a flashlight in the cubby hole at my grandparent’s house. It was sufficiently terrifying that I went on to read Jaws I think that same summer. By the time I was a teenager, people were passing around Salem’s Lot by Stephen King and I alternated between horror and those bodice rippers that were all the rage in the ’80s (an entirely different kind of horror).

Up until then I was writing stories about my dog and the odd love story. Often someone died in what I wrote. After I finished reading Cujo, also by King, I just wanted to write something in the tone and mood of that book — and so was born Bastion Falls, my first novel.

MoloneySusie-FirstStephenKing

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

Publishing has changed so much since my early days! In a lot of ways it’s much better. We do seem to be in some kind of a transition phase and I’m curious to know where it ends up. This is the most literate epoch in human history — we’re constantly communicating. Email, Facebook posts, Twitter (literate in 140 characters!). Everyone is clever and interesting and sharing. I love/hate it. Being a writer is no longer a special career! On the other hand, there has never been so much access to such an incredible variety of experiences and perspective, that a seeker of the human experience is the beneficiary of an embarrassment of riches, the likes of which have never been seen.

MoloneyS-TheThirteenAs for writing practices, the only thing I consistently do is burn a candle while I write. Makes me feel like I’m in a dark garret in the middle of Paris (never been, I hear they have garrets).

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?

Aside from the aforementioned “Blackie’s Story,” the first substantial piece I ever wrote was about a single-mother vampire by the name of Aria. This was long before the Twilight days, long before vampires were ever even a thing — how about that, right? I invented vampires (maybe not — should probably Google-check that). The story came out of my experience of being a single mom back in the days when that was a bad thing. I felt like a monster much of the time, and I suppose that was my way of dealing with it. In the story the little boy is not a vampire and the mom — Aria — does her best to raise him even as she tries to adapt to her new form. There’s a version of it in Things Withered at the very end of the book, a short film script I wrote to adapt the story in some way.

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

I love how many women are writing genre now, and how that’s changing the face of genre. I have my favourites, like Gemma Files, Kaaron Warren, Barbara Roden — her book Northwest Passages is absolute not-miss — Tananarive Due, these are all great writers who are writing genre.

I never quite feel like what I’m writing fits exactly into the genre category. It’s not a perfect fit like some of the women I’ve listed. I feel like I’m writing about very dark subject matter, with some supernatural elements.

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

I’ve started a new novel, but it’s always slow going in the beginning. I always think of the first four-five months of a new novel to be the “mistake-making” time. I change my mind about the direction a character is taking and have to rewrite, or I decide one character is more important than the one I felt was the protagonist and have to rewrite, or I have an existential crisis and decide to spend a week drinking too much, doubting the value of my existence and the value of words in general, and have to spend some time drying out. I’m nearly through this part. Also, there’s still lots of crying.

This new (currently untitled, or more accurately, over-titled) is the first time I’ve written “in period.” It takes place in the very early ’70s. It requires more research than you’d think. Who remembers? You know what’s fun about it? Listening to the music of the time and remembering that most young girls listened to AM radio. Wow that was some really bad music (“Go Away Little Girl”, Donny Osmond), and some really exceptional stuff (“Ain’t No Sunshine”, Bill Withers).

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

EndicottM-TheLittleShadowsRight this very moment I’m reading The Little Shadows by Marina Endicott, a stunningly written story about a mother and her daughters on the Vaudeville circuit around the time of the first world war. I’m also reading Manson by John Gilmore. I’m a Gilmore fan, love his gritty edge, his no bullshit style.

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

I’m totally obsessed with Bonnie & Clyde. I have about twenty books on the subject and I’m sure I know everything there is to know about the deadly couple. I once started a screenplay, told from Bonnie’s POV and I called it “Dirt.” Never got very far with it, but I think about picking it up again about every six months. I also have a more minor obsession with Tudor history and the reformation. I like to think that gives me Nerd status on the street. I got juice, man.

What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?

I have a couple of projects that I’ll see the end of. It’s always nice to finish things. And I have the new novel… I’m hoping that my schedule will clear up enough so that all I’ll be working on is the new book. There’s something so extraordinarily wonderful about waking up in the morning and knowing that the only thing you have to do is toss yourself into the world you are creating and not come up for air until it’s dark.

I do love the dark.

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Things Withered is out now, published by ChiZine Publications.

Upcoming: “The Finisher” by David Baldacci (Macmillan)

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BaldacciD-FinisherUKI’m a big fan of David Baldacci’s thrillers – be they his stand-alone novels, the King And Maxwell series, or (my favourite) the Camel Club novels, I have enjoyed every novel of his that I’ve read. It should be no wonder, therefore, that ever since I read Absolute Power (yes, the novel that was adapted into a movie starring Clint Eastwood), I have pre-ordered each of his novels as soon as I spot them on Amazon/Waterstone’s/Barnes & Noble. True, I’ve been lax in the past couple of years about keeping on top of things (I have yet to read either of his Will Robie novels, for example), but he remains one of my favourite thriller authors. He’s certainly, one of my favourite authors of the genre who is still producing novels at a prodigious rate (Vince Flynn has sadly passed away, and Kyle Mills seems to be writing less and less…). James Patterson doesn’t count, because he is to thrillers what Brandon Sanderson is to Fantasy.

Given my interest in Baldacci’s work, therefore, I was very surprised to learn that he’s turned his hand to YA fantasy. His next novel, The Finisher, looks like it’s going to be very different from his usual fare. And I must say, I’m rather looking forward to giving it a try. Here’s the UK synopsis…

Welcome to Wormwood: a place where curiosity is discouraged and no one has ever left. Until one girl, Vega Jane, discovers a map that suggests a mysterious world beyond the walls. A world with possibilities and creatures beyond her imagining. But she will be forced to fight for her freedom. And unravelling the truth may cost Vega her life.

BaldacciD-FinisherUSAnd the slightly longer US synopsis…

Why would Quentin Herms flee into the Quag? There was nothing in the Quag except certain death.

Vega Jane has never left the village of Wormwood. But this isn’t unusual – nobody has ever left the village of Wormwood. At least not until Quentin Herms vanishes into the unknown.

Vega knows Quentin didn’t just leave – he was chased. And he’s left behind a very dangerous trail of clues that only she can decode.

The Quag is a dark forest filled with terrifying beasts and bloodthirsty Outliers. But just as deadly are the threats that exist within the walls of Wormwood. It is a place built on lies, where influential people are willing to kill to keep their secrets. Vega is determined to uncover the truth – but the closer she gets, the more she risks her life.

The Finisher is due to be published in the UK (Macmillan), and in the US (Scholastic) in early March 2014. His most recent novel for adults was King And Maxwell.

Another Amazing CAPTAIN AMERICA Piece by Lee Bermejo… (Marvel)

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I’ve mentioned on the blog before how much I like Lee Bermejo’s artwork. Indeed, I’ve also shared a previous piece of his depicting Steve Rogers. Today, he unveiled another piece on his blog, which I am shamelessly re-posting on here. This time, it’s more of an action-shot, whereas the previous one I shared was more moody, and an after-the-battle and taking stock moment. He’s an incredibly talented fellow…

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“The Circle” by Dave Eggers (Knopf)

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EggersD-TheCircleAn interesting, timely and disturbing novel

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in America — even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.

The Circle is the first novel I’ve read by Eggers. It is also one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read. The novel revolves around Mae Holland, a new hire at The Circle – a massive, Google-meets-Facebook-type social media goliath. We follow her story as she navigates the company, its quirks, and also its never-ending evolution. We see her life turned upside down as she strives to rise in the Circle’s ranks, to adopt and embrace its new innovations. Completing the Circle becomes an obsession, and despite clear signs of its negative impact on her life and those of her loved ones, the inexorable pull of the company, the sense of community, and compulsion to be a part of something proves too much for Mae to resist.

What made this novel so unsettling was how Eggers has extrapolated an all-too plausible (albeit slippery-slope) evolution of social media. The author’s not subtle, either, and it sometimes felt like he is trying to bludgeon the reader with his own negative feelings about social media and its ubiquitous place in contemporary life. At the same time, he has a point. As The Circle continues to evolve, and gobble up ever-more resources, technology and, above all else, access to its users’ private lives, we see an unprecedented erosion of privacy. More than that, though, is that this erosion is voluntarily embraced by Circle users.

Despite the anvil-from-the-sky approach to delivering his point, Eggers has written an accessible, engaging and above-all thought-provoking novel. It will make you analyse your own social media use, and probably make you adjust your habits, too…

An important, if unsubtle, novel, The Circle is certainly recommended reading for anyone who embraces a well-connected life.

2014: New Year’s (Reading) Resolutions…

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ReadingResolutions-2014-Header

Last year, I resolved to read at least the first book in four fantasy series. I managed to read the first of only two of them… Thankfully, these sorts of thing are not binding, but nevertheless, I’ve decided to (belatedly) come up with another four fantasy series I would like to at least try, if not finish, in 2014. I will include the two I failed to read in 2013, and hopefully keep them high on the TBR list. So, here are the 2014 Fantasy Reading Resolutions…

Margaret Atwood – MaddAddam Trilogy

Celia Friedman – The Coldfire Trilogy

Tom Lloyd – Twilight Reign (from 2013)

Brandon Sanderson – Mistborn (from 2013)

ReadingResolutions-2014-Covers

As before, and always, there are no doubt going to be tens of new fantasy, sci-fi, urban fantasy and horror novels series that I will want to read. Even need to read, in my weirdly-wired mind. They will probably get in the way of my fulfilling these reading resolutions (which makes you wonder if these types of posts have any value whatsoever, but there we go). It’s impossible to read all the novels I want to read. But I will do my best to read at least the first in the above series. It certainly helps that I have already bought them. I’ll use the weekend Upcoming posts to highlight stand-alone novels, and also hitherto unmentioned or unrevealed SFF series that catch my attention. In the meantime, though, here is some information about the above-mentioned series…

AtwoodM-1-Oryx&CrakeMargaret Atwood, Oryx & Crake (Virago)

Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride.

I’ve never read anything by Atwood before. It’s time to address this oversight.

MaddAddam Series: Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, MaddAddam

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FriedmanCS-CF1-BlackSunRisingCelia Friedman – Black Sun Rising (Orbit)

Over a millennium ago, Erna, a seismically active yet beautiful world was settled by colonists from far-distant Earth. But the seemingly habitable planet was fraught with perils no one could have foretold, and the colonists found themselves caught in a desperate battle for survival against the fae, a terrifying natural force with the power to prey upon the human mind itself, drawing forth images from a person’s worst nightmare or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life.

Twelve centuries after fate first stranded the colonists on Erna, mankind has achieved an uneasy stalemate, and human sorcerers manipulate the fae for their own profit, little realising that demonic forces which feed upon such efforts are rapidly gaining in strength. Now, as the hordes of the dark fae multiply, four people – Priest, Adept, Apprentice and Sorcerer – are about to be drawn inexorably together for a mission which will force them to confront an evil beyond their imagining, in a conflict which will put not only their own lives but the very fate of humankind in jeopardy.

I’ve heard so many bloggers and friends say how much they’ve loved this series, that I really think it’s time I give it a try. Friedman’s latest novel, Dreamwalker, is also on my radar.

The Coldfire Trilogy: Black Sun Rising, When True Night Falls, Crown of Shadows

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Lloyd-TR1-StormcallerUKTom Lloyd, Stormcaller (Gollancz/Pyr)

Isak is a white-eye, feared and despised in equal measure. Trapped in a life of poverty, hated and abused by his father, Isak dreams of escape, but when his chance comes, it isn’t to a place in the army as he’d expected. Instead, the Gods have marked him out as heir-elect to the brooding Lord Bahl, the Lord of the Fahlan.

Lord Bahl is also a white-eye, a genetic rarity that produces men stronger, more savage and more charismatic than their normal counterparts. Their magnetic charm and brute strength both inspires and oppresses others.

Now is the time for revenge, and the forging of empires. With mounting envy and malice the men who would themselves be kings watch Isak, chosen by Gods as flawed as the humans who serve them, as he is shaped and moulded to fulfil the prophecies that are encircling him like scavenger birds. The various factions jostle for the upper hand, and that means violence, but the Gods have been silent too long and that violence is about to spill over and paint the world the colour of spilled blood and guts and pain and anguish…

Lloyd has now completed this series, and the first novel in his new series – Moon’s Artifice – has already been published (also by Gollancz). I intend to read both Stormcaller and Moon’s Artifice this year, and hopefully more of the Twilight Reign series, too.

Twilight Reign: The Stormcaller, The Twilight Herald, The Grave Thief, The Ragged Man, The Dusk Watchman, The God Tattoo

Also on CR: Interview with Tom Lloyd

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Sanderson-1-FinalEmpireUKBrandon Sanderson – The Final Empire (Gollancz/Tor Books)

Once, a hero arose to save the world. A young man with a mysterious heritage courageously challenged the darkness that strangled the land.

He failed.

For a thousand years since, the world has been a wasteland of ash and mist ruled by the immortal emperor known as the Lord Ruler. Every revolt has failed miserably.

Yet somehow, hope survives. Hope that dares to dream of ending the empire and even the Lord Ruler himself. A new kind of uprising is being planned, one built around the ultimate caper, one that depends on the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind and the determination of an unlikely heroine, a street urchin who must learn to master Allomancy, the power of a Mistborn.

While I failed to read The Final Empire in 2013, I did manage to read my first Sanderson novel – Steelheart. Obviously very different to this one, but I’m glad I have at least read one of his novels, now. I know this series has been hugely popular and successful on both sides of the Atlantic (and elsewhere, I assume), and I really think I need to give it a read. Sanderson continues to have a weird distinction with me: I won all of his novels, but have barely read any of them…

The Mistborn Series: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Allow of Law [there are more to come, too…]

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I thought I’d take this opportunity to mention some new series starting in 2014 that have also caught my attention. As it’s still early days, I’ll present the synopses and cover art, and keep my comments brief…

Miller-1-PathToPowerHCKaren Miller, The Path to Power (Orbit)

NOBODY IS INNOCENT. EVERY CROWN IS TARNISHED

A royal child, believed dead, sets his eyes on regaining his father’s stolen throne.

A bastard lord, uprising against his tyrant cousin, sheds more blood than he bargained for.

A duke’s widow, defending her daughter, defies the ambitious lord who’d control them both.

And two brothers, divided by ambition, will learn the true meaning of treachery.

All of this will come to pass, and the only certainty is that nothing will remain as it once was. As royal houses rise and fall, empires are reborn and friends become enemies, it becomes clear that much will be demanded of those who follow the path to power.

The first in Miller’s new Tarnished Crown series. I haven’t read any of Miller’s previous novels, and I think this one sounds like the book to rectify this oversight.

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Jemisin-FifthSeasonN.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season (Orbit)

The Fifth Season is set in a world which has suffered frequent, repeated Extinction Level Events for millions of years, and all life (and magic) in this world has adapted to it. Hundreds of years might pass between these events — easy, plentiful years in which great cities rise, and people have the leisure for art and science and rapid advancement — but then, again and again, the cities fall. The world is littered with the detritus of these times of plenty, and this cover hints at them: past ages of decadence, now decaying; stone that endures beneath flaking gilt.

The above synopsis is from Goodreads, who found it on the author’s website. (I do wonder when there will be an official description.) I really enjoyed Jemisin’s first fantasy series (Inheritance), and also the first novel in the Dreamblood duology that followed (not sure why I didn’t get around to finishing it, though…). This is the first in the author’s new The Broken Earth series, and I’m very much looking forward to it.

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What series have I missed? What new series are you looking forward to this year, or ‘old’ series are you hoping to finally try out?

“Breach Zone” by Myke Cole (Headline/Ace Books)

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ColeM-SO3-BreachZoneUKThe explosive conclusion to Myke Cole’s first trilogy

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…

In this, the final part of Cole’s first trilogy, we have an excellent conclusion. Not only do we see the events of the last three books come together, but the story digs deeper and offers more than either of its predecessors. The author has really pulled out all the stops for this one, and written a really fantastic novel.

The novel is set predominantly in Manhattan, with a few scenes and events taking place in or around the New York area – for example, Bookbinder is on a ship off the coast, testing a new device just as the action kicks off. Harlequin is at the centre, which I liked, as it turns out he is a far more nuanced character than we might have seen in the previous novels (which were through the eyes of people who often were on the wrong side of him). As he takes command of the incursion on Manhattan, we get to see him in action, struggling to keep the hordes from the Source at bay, while also attempting to marshal allies from the Manhattan Selfer underground and also keep the military and law enforcement forces available in line and manning the barricades.

The action is as well-written and realistic as before, with plenty of intense moments that place the reader right alongside the combatants, in the thick of the fighting. I particularly enjoyed seeing the sorcerers let loose, unleashing their myriad powers in devastating and creative ways – the way Cole has developed and devised the various ‘schools’ of magic is fantastic, and he always surprises with the ways in which the powers can be interpreted, and yet still grounded (somewhat) in reality. It was also great to read about the urban conflict taking place in neighbourhoods I have spent many a day walking. I don’t know why everyone seems so keen on destroying New York City in fiction, TV and movies…

What I found most interesting with this novel was how the action was not the best element. In fact, it faded slightly into the background for me. I thought the flashback chapters, detailing Harlequin’s past with Scylla, were absolutely superb, and showed that Cole is not just an excellent military-sci-fi writer. (True, we knew this from Control Point and Fortress Frontier, but in Breach Zone his talent really shines on all fronts.) With this, his third novel, Cole has well and truly arrived. He has written a novel that is just better in every way. The balance between action, character development and world-building was spot-on. As with the previous two novels, I also really liked the use of chapter epigraphs to add further colour and background to the world/reality he has created.

As I mentioned on Twitter when I was reading it, Breach Zone is like a perfect blend of Marvel’s Avengers and the Battle for Helms Deep. Only, better. To draw another comparison to comics, it’s not difficult to see similarities between Scylla and X-Men antagonist Magneto, as she espouses a similar reorientation of society, with the latents on top. Cole’s use of the flashbacks to detail her evolution from high-powered CEO to prisoner of the SOC was deftly done, fleshing out her character and showing us the dangers of government paranoia, overreach and overreaction. She’s a tragic figure, and her relationship with Harlequin just one of the casualties of a frightened government’s policies to control that which it cannot control, nor understand.

If you haven’t read any of these novels, yet, I strongly urge you to do so. I’ve been saying it ever since I read Control Point, but with each novel it becomes clearer: Myke Cole is a fantastic new talent, and if each of his novels improves on the last, it won’t be long before we see him climbing ever-higher on the bestseller list.

Highly recommended.

***

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

Myke Cole’s Shadow Ops trilogy – Control Point, Fortress Frontier and Breach Zone – are published by Headline in the UK and Ace Books in the US.

Now Available in the US: “The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen” by Steven Erikson

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I have never read anything by Steven Erikson. At least, nothing novel-length (I may have read a short story of his at some point…). His Malazan Book of the Fallen series is a fan-favourite. When I first started blogging, it was also enjoying a prolonged re-read on Tor.com. Many bloggers and friends I have made in the SFF community love the series. And yet I’ve never tried it… Part of the reason is the prospect of devoting such an immense amount of time to reading the whole thing (10 novels, plus four written by Ian C. Esslemont).

EriksonS-CompleteMalazanBookOfTheFallen2014

For those others of you who haven’t read the epic series, and if you live in the US, Tor Books has just released an eBook collection of the whole thing. Included in the collection are: Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, Midnight Tides, The Bonehunters, Reaper’s Gale, Toll the Hounds, Dust of Dreams, and The Crippled God. Here’s the synopsis for Gardens of the Moon:

The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen’s rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.

For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.

However, it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand…