One Insane Piece of Genius (and 6 sane ones)
ByA few reviews that we’ve not yet mentioned…
King Maker is gathering momentum, and is already being touted as potentially some people’s book of the year. Author Adam Christopher has this to say:
probably the first true urban fantasy…
Broaddus’s story is grim and gritty, a world of gang crime, guns and drugs. The characters of the King Arthur legends are wonderfully and originally transposed to this setting… King Maker is a fascinating novel, a true urban fantasy in the literal definition of the term, and with assured prose and strong characters, should be on every SF fan’s shelf.
For Guy Adams’ wonderful, “insane and exciting” The World House:
Another pearl within this brilliant narrative is Sophie. Whenever the story is told from her perspective, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. She has a special way to see and think about the world, you’ll see…
if you enjoy strange and bizarre tales and especially if you love Neil Gaiman’s work and wonder what his tales would be like on a bad trip, get yourself a copy of The World House
from DailySteampunk.com (although the book isn’t Steampunk, of course).
Moving across to Tim Waggoner’s Nekropolis:
this is still a blood [sic] good book, and you’re unlikely to read anything else like it. It will make you grin with delight and make you want to visit the strange world of Nekropolis. It’s the perfect travel-guide
(from Stanley Riiks). Remember: the sequel – Dead Streets – is published in the UK tomorrow!)
Lateral Books seems to like Lavie Tidhar’s steampunk romp, The Bookman:
His writing is easy on the mind, and deceptively smooth. His vision is surprising, and intricate within a simplistic frame. There’s a lot of nods to popular steampunk inspirations, and plenty of opportunities for you to chuckle at his references and the marvellous way he weaves his references into his novel. And it even has pirates, too. I mean, it has it all. Except ninjas. For now.
Angry Robot keep pushing the boundaries of fantasy and scifi. They have an incredible eye for what works and what doesn’t, and… they work to surprise you with a depth and creativity you know has been slowly dwindling from fantasy and scifi.
Aww, shucks… Now you got us all a-blushing.
Booksquawk, reviewing Aliette de Bodard’s Servant of the Underworld tells us that
de Bodard weaves a substantial air of magic and wonder into her narrative.
And genre powerhouse, Elizabeth Bear says of it:
Her characters are engaging, and (based on my limited knowledge) her worldbuilding and research seem absolutely impeccable… a fascinating look at a culture and setting rarely used in modern fantasy.
Dan Abnett’s swashbuckling yarn, Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero gets a once-over at WarpCore SF:
Abnett’s verbal fencing is a delight. He’s one of the few writers who can go on for five pages about rain, and still have you hooked like a salmon on a crack-dosed worm.
Triumff invites inevitable comparisons with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, thanks to its Britishness and highbrow humour… Although the gags are often cheesier, the slapstick dafter and the puns more outrageous, this novel is easily in the same league as Pratchett, or indeed of any other comic fantasy author.
Writer Gareth L Powell has just enjoyed Lauren Beukes’ Moxyland:
Lean, sharp, and tightly written, Moxyland keeps raising the stakes, from the opening chapter to the uncompromising finale. And with its electronic panopticon, it gives us a dystopia to rival 1984 or Stand On Zanzibar – a future horrifying for its very plausibility.
That’s all for now!