Music Video: Jon Marco's Rhianna

Saw this great music video that pays homage to the films of the 80s.  I got most of the references, though there were 2 or 3 scenes I couldn't recognize.  It's pretty fun.  Directed by Jim Meegan.

Book Review: Gameboard of the Gods by Rachel Mead

Pros: fascinating characters, interesting world, exciting climax

Cons: pacing, gods don't make much of an appearance

RUNA - the Republic of United North America - was founded after the Decline, a period in which thousands died, and which people believe was caused by three things: disease, religion and cultural separation.  Servitors are tasked with making sure their remaining religions are not a danger to society.  When servitor Justin March is brought back from his exile in Panama to take on a murder investigation with unexplainable evidence, he knows it has something to do with his own inexplicable experiences in the past.  One of which left him with two ravens in his head, and an unknown god asking for his devotion.  He's got less than a month to solve the case before another person is murdered and he and his ward are deported.

For a bodyguard he's given Mae Koskinen, a member of the praetorian guard, elite soldiers with implants that provide faster reflexes and greater strength.  A member of the upper class, which was allowed to avoid the gene mixing forced on others after the Decline, Mae has surprisingly perfect genes.  While finding each other attractive, a misunderstanding upon meeting creates tension between them, even as Mae attracts gods looking for perfect followers.

The novel jumps between three viewpoints, those of Justin, Mae and Teresa, Justin's ward from Panama, whom he's hoping to give a better life.  Teresa, as a fish out of water, is the reader's introduction to the politics and history of this new world.  The author builds things slowly, making you piece together what's happened.  Only through Teresa do you get any concentrated information.  There are no info dumps.  You have to pay close attention to what's being said as conversations are completely natural, since the characters know the context for what's happening, even if you, as the reader, don't.  As such, it takes a while to feel comfortable in this world.

This is the first book of a new series and is basically set up for what's to come.  The aspects of the book that interested me, the murder mystery and the idea of gods playing with the lives of humans, were not as central to the plot of this book as I'd expected.  The investigation into the murder stalls a bit and only picks up around the half way point in the book.  As a result, I found the pacing to be very uneven.  The opening is fascinating with a lot of information being imparted to the reader.  Then there's the move to the RUNA, where stuff happens, including learning most of the information about the country's background, but little plot development.  The plot picks up again and things stay interesting until the climactic ending.  The second quarter stalls though, and as a reader I couldn't understand why so little was being done with regards to the murder investigation.  I was hoping for something akin to Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone, but what I got was a strange not quite romance, with the protagonists obviously wanting each other but kept apart for various reasons.

While I loved Mae and Teresa, there were times Justin drove me nuts.  He's such a smug SOB.  Still, watching the characters interact was amusing, even when either Justin or Mae manufactured another reason they couldn't have sex again.

I was disappointed by how little the gods showed up.  The ending makes me hopeful that this aspect will have a larger role in the next book.  Indeed, this more than anything made the novel feel like a set up.  It was as though this entire book was for readers to understand the world and characters so the next book could start dealing with the gods and their intrigues.  Not to say that this book ignored the intrigue, the gods do make appearances, but both Mae and Justin try to ignore what's happening until they're no longer given that option.

Speaking of Justin and his god, I was surprised that it took him so long to figure out who He was.  The rune, I thought, gave it away pretty quickly.

I'm not sure who to recommend this book to.  There's a little bit of everything - fighting, romance, mystery, dystopia - but not enough of any one thing to say: "This is for you if you like..."  I suspect the next book will have more focus, given how this one ended.  The writing is good and the series shows promise, yet I feel this book leaves the reader wanting more.   

Author Interview: Jenn Bennett

Novels:
Kindling the Moon
Summoning the Night
Leashing the Tempest (ebook original novella)
Binding the Shadows

Website: www.jennbennett.net

> What is your Arcadia Bell series about?

Arcadia "Cady" Bell is a mage who runs a Tiki bar in Central California. She's been living under an alias because her family is wanted by the FBI for allegedly murdering the leaders of several occult organizations. She also has the rare ability to identify Earthbound demons—humans on the outside, demons on the inside—which leads her to partner with an Earthbound demon named Lon Butler.

> You were born in Germany and have lived and travelled to a number of places and now live in the U.S.  What's the coolest place you've been and why?

Probably Hong Kong. It's dense and energetic, easy for English speakers to navigate, and surrounded by lush beauty.

> Have your travels influenced your writing at all?

Absolutely. Traveling not only opens you up to a variety of locales, but a variety of people and experiences, as well. You can't get falling-down drunk in a Taipei karaoke bar surrounded by drag queens and "working girls" with rooms in the back without some of that leeching into your well of inspiration.

> What made you want to be a writer?

My college background is in art and painting, but I ended up doing the 9-to-5 corporate office thing (marketing and product development), which made me ridiculously unhappy. One day, my then-boss asked me what I'd do if I wasn't working there. I immediately blurted out, "I'd write a novel." I'd never really thought seriously about writing before that moment. A few months later, I gave into temptation and wrote my first book.

> Why did you choose to make your protagonist a renegade magician bartender?

Urban fantasy already had its fair share of detectives, bounty hunters, and generic monster slayers. I suppose I wanted to do something a little outside the box. I've always had a fascination with the occult, and I’m rather fond of the retro kitsch vibe of the Tiki scene. But the heart of my series is the characters and their relationships—not the setting or the world building.

> What were your literary influences for the Arcadia Bellseries?

Neil Gaiman, the Brothers Grimm, Diana Gabaldon, Anaïs Nin, Philip Pullman, Laura Kinsale, Loretta Chase, Mary Shelley.

> What are you working on now?

I have a new paranormal romance series set in 1920s San Francisco coming from Berkley/Penguin in January 2014: bootlegging, fog, ghosts, Chinatown, magical hexes, bawdy humor, and steamy romance. Huzzah!

> What's the first novel (published or unpublished) that you wrote and how long did it take to write it?

The first novel I wrote centered on portals into a fantasy realm. It was awful. I had zero idea what I was doing—I just flailed around in the dark and hammered it out in a month. KINDLING THE MOON was the third book I wrote. It snagged me a literary agent, who sold it to one of the Big 6 New York publishing houses in five weeks. From the time I wrote my first word until I sold my first book: 1 1/2 years. That was two years ago. I’ve since sold six books and one novella.

> What was the hardest scene for you to write?

The final two scenes in BINDING THE SHADOWS. I shed a few tears putting those words together. I knew that they were scenes that had to be written, because that was the story that needed to be told, but it was physically painful to do it.

> When and where do you write?

Surrounded by clutter in my home office. I write best when there are no distractions: either in the middle of the night when everyone's asleep, or really early in the morning when everyone's asleep. Basically, as long as everyone else is sleeping (including my pugs), I'm good to go!

> What’s the best/worst thing about writing?

Best? Creating characters than readers love. Worst? The famously s-l-o-w machine that is the traditional publishing house. By the time a book comes out, I’ve already written three more.

> Do you have any advice for hopeful authors?

Learn how to do things the right way (grammar, plotting, page count, genre expectations), then have the guts to break a few rules and forge your own path.

> Any tips against writers block?

Walk around outside. Take a drive in a place you don't visit often. Play a video game. Read a book in a new-to-you genre. Do something that flexes your mental muscles in a way that isn't explicitly related to writing—one that requires you to look at things differently.

Short Film: Seed, Directed by Tyson Wade Johnston

Pretty cool SF video.  The graphics look fantastic.  It's a short film with an interesting twist.

"Set in the year 2071, where technology has brought mankind to the brink of colonization on a planet named Gaia, one astronaut takes on an isolated mission and discovers unearthly horrors that could bring an end to human life on this planet."

SEED (2012) Short Film from Tyson Wade Johnston on Vimeo.

Two Upcoming Books That Sound Interesting

I saw this book mentioned in Romantic Times Magazine.  The author is from Israel and the book was published in 2004, winning the 2005 Geffen Award for the best fantasy/science fiction novel of the year and the 2006 Kugel Award for Hebrew literature.  It's out in Canada and the U.S. on June 25th.  Here's the synopsis:

As an epilogist, Ben Mendelssohn appreciates an unexpected ending. But when that denouement is the untimely demise of his beloved wife, Ben is incapable of coping. Marian was more than his life partner; she was the fiber that held together all that he is. And Ben is willing to do anything, even enter the unknown beyond, if it means a chance to be with her again.

One bullet to the brain later, Ben is in the Other World, where he discovers a vast and curiously secular existence utterly unlike anything he could have imagined: a realm of sprawling cities where the deceased of every age live an eternal second life, and where forests of family trees are tended by mysterious humans who never lived in the previous world. But Ben cannot find Marian.

Desperate for a reunion, he enlists an unconventional afterlife investigator to track her down, little knowing that his search is entangled in events that continue to unfold in the world of the living. It is a search that confronts Ben with one heart-rending shock after another; with the best and worst of human nature; with the resilience and fragility of love; and with truths that will haunt him through eternity.

This next book is coming out in December, but I saw the cover here, and thought it looked interesting.

Alana Quick is the best damned sky surgeon in Heliodor City, but repairing starship engines barely pays the bills. When the desperate crew of a cargo vessel stops by her shipyard looking for her spiritually-advanced sister Nova, Alana stows away. Maybe her boldness will land her a long-term gig on the crew. But the Tangled Axon proves to be more than star-watching and plasma coils. The chief engineer thinks he's a wolf. The pilot fades in and out of existence. The captain is all blond hair, boots, and ego... and Alana can't keep her eyes off her. But there's little time for romance: Nova's in danger and someone will do anything - even destroying planets - to get their hands on her!

Book Review: The Long Walk by Stephen King (Writing as Richard Bachman)

Pros: creepy premise, really get to know the characters, thought provoking

Cons: don't learn much about the world or why the walk is put on, crass discourse

Every year 100 teen boys join the Long Walk.  They walk at 4 miles per hour, day and night, until they can't go any further and are given their ticket.  The prize for the winner is great.  But it's a long, long road.

This is a character driven dystopian novel that focuses on a small group of walkers in the current year's Long Walk.  The characters become very real, three dimentional people.  Which makes reading the book difficult, as you're slowly watching them die.

As the walk progresses and the characters discuss why they've joined it and who will survive, you're left questioning many things as the reader - are you the same as the crowd that lines the road, hoping to see blood?  Or are you one of the boys, learning that you don't want to die because death is suddenly so close?  Unlike the crowd you see the characters as human.  You feel their pain.  As someone who walked the last 100+ km of the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimmage in 5 days, I really did feel their pain.  But even as you feel their pain and sympathise with their situation, you're still a spectator, safe in the knowledge that you can stop walking, sit down, enjoy today with the knowledge that tomorrow is coming.

The book also makes you think about peer pressure, and how much easier it is to go with the status quo than to fight it, even when you life is on the line.

I was disappointed that you don't learn much about the society that allows - nay encourages - the Long Walk year after year.  Clues in the text indicate that America has become in some ways a police state, but the extent of it is hidden from the reader.  Similarly, the early text leads you to believe that the boys volunteer for the walk, which isn't quite the case.

I wasn't a fan of some of the boys' discussion, but I accept it as realistic.  There's some crass humour as well as discussions of bodily functions, etc.

If you liked The Hunger Games or Battle Royale and want a less violent, more introspective version of the same ideas, then check this out.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Coming in July, 2013

These Amazon Canada based lists are quite long (and, I'm hoping, more inclusive) than my previous ones.  I wasn't feeling that great when I put it together and caught myself several times adding trade paperbacks to the mass market list.  I apologize in advance if my list is wrong with regards to the format.  I try to be accurate but mistakes do happen and while I think I caught all the mistakes, I may not have.  Added to the ebook list, as usual, are the Carina ebooks.

Hardcover:

Elisha Barber – E. C. Ambrose

Storm Surge – Taylor Anderson

Bloodfire Quest – Terry Brooks

Witch Wraith – Terry Brooks

Star Wars: Crucible – Troy Denning

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection – Gardner Dozois, Ed.

On the Razor's Edge – Michael Flynn

The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman

Carpathian – David Golemon

Thieves' Quarry – D. B. Jackson

Fifth Grave Past the Light – Darynda Jones

Kill City Blues – Richard Kadrey

Love in the Time of Metal and Flesh – Jay Lake

The Executioner's Heart – George Mann

Evening's Empires – Paul McAuley

Sir Hereward and Mister Mitz: Three Adventures – Garth Nix

The Long War – Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter

Blood Song – Anthony Ryan

The Age of Ice – J. M. Sidorova

World of Warcraft: Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde – Michael Stackpole

Fiend – Peter Stenson

Neptune's Brood – Charles Stross

Theatre of the Gods – M. Suddain

Anarchy – James Treadwell

Two Fronts – Harry Turtledove

Beginnings – David Weber

The Night of the Hunter – Davis Grubb, Patrick Loehr, Paul Wedlake & Joe R. Lansdale

Storm Riders – Margaret Weis & Robert Krammes

Chimera – David Wellington

The Best of Connie Willis – Connie Willis

Trade Paperback:

Wastelands II: More Stories of the Apocalypse – John Joseph Adams

The Mammoth Book of Black Magic - Mike Ashley, Ed.

The Mammoth Book of Time Travel SF – Mike Ashley, Ed.

Nightfall – Robyn Bachar

Turbulence – Samit Basu

This is How You Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death – Matthew Bennardo, David Malki & Ryan North

Bad Seeds: Evil Progeny – Steve Berman, Ed.

Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks – Rachel Caine, Jennifer Estep +

Interrupt – Jeff Carlson

Ex-Communication – Peter Clines

Doctor Who: Dark Horizons – J. T. Colgan

The Great White Space – Basil Cooper

Trinity Rising – Elspeth Cooper

Warhammer 40K: The Emperor's Gift – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Crazy in the Blood – Lucienne Diver

William Shakespeare's Star Wars – Ian Doescher

Warhammer: The Best of Hammer & Bolter Vol 2 – Christian Dunn

The Eternal Flame – Greg Egan

Herald of the Storm – Richard Ford

The Twin Princes – Ja'Nell Fowler

Warhammer 40K: Ahriman: Exile – John French

Against Gravity – Gary Gibson

Angel Stations – Gary Gibson

Three Parts Dead – Max Gladstone

The Glass God – Kate Griffin

The Mammoth Book of Angels and Demons – Paula Guran, Ed.

Warhammer: Skarsnik – Guy Haley

Death's Excellent Vacation – Charlaine Harris & Toni Kelner, Ed.

Into the Woods – Kim Harrison

The Secret of Abdu El Yezdi – Mark Hodder

The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2013 – Rich Horton, Ed.

Noah's Boy – Sarah Hoyt

Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing – Sandra Katsuri, & Samantha Bieko, Ed.

A Once Crowded Sky – Tom King

Mist – Susan Krinard

Lord of Slaughter – M. D. Lachlan

Wolf in Shadow – John Lambshead

A Liaden Universe Collection, Vol I – Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Fire Logic – Laurie Marks

The Delphi Room – Melia McClure

The White Forest – Adam McOmber

Myths & Legends: King Arthur – Daniel Mersey & Alan Lathwell 

Beloved Stranger – Janet Miller

Cold Copper – Devon Monk

Blood and Feathers: Rebellion – Lou Morgan

On Her Majesty's Behalf – Joseph Nassise

The Constantine Afflictio – T. Aaron Payton

Forged in Fire – J. A. Pitts

Snuff – Terry Pratchett

Romulus Buckle & the City of the Founders – Richard Ellis Preston, Jr.

The Other Place – J. B. Priestley

Lady of the Glen – Jennifer Roberson (reprint)

The Initiate Brother Duology – Sean Russell

Was – Geoff Ryman

Degrees of Wrong – Anna Scarlett

Split at the Seams – Yolanda Sfetsos

Dragonwitch – Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Big Iron – C. A. Suleiman

The Coldest War – Ian Tregillis

Coup d'Etat – Harry Turtledove

The Melancholy of Mechagirl – Catherynne Valente

The Sorcerer's Widow – Lawrence Watt-Evans

The Black Prism – Brent Weeks

Long Fall From Heaven – George Weir & Milton Burton

Warhammer: Blighted Empire – Clint Lee Werner

Warhammer: Dead Winter – Clint Lee Werner

The Thousand Names – Django Wexler

Countdown City – Ben Winters

The End of the Dream – Philip Wylie

The Legend of Snow Wolf: Redemption – F. Lit Yu

Mass Market Paperback:

The D'neeran Factor – Terry Adams

Iron Gray Sea – Taylor Anderson

Magic Rises – Ilona Andrews

Dancing with the Devil – Keri Arthur

Harbinger – Philippa Ballantine

This Case is Gonna Kill Me – Phillipa Bornikova

Satan's Reach – Eric Brown

The Traitor Queen – Trudi Canavan

Wicked Bronze Ambition – Glen Cook

Pile of Bones – Bailey Cunningham

Fringe: The Burning Man – Christa Faust

Pathfinder Tales: The Wizard's Mask – Ed Greenwood

Viral Nation – Shaunta Grimes

Forsaken by the Others – Jess Haines

Assignment in Eternity – Robert Heinlein (reprint)

The Big Reap – Chris Holm

The Darwin Elevator – Jason Hough

Pacific Rim – Alex Irvine

Thieftaker – D. B. Jackson

Phoenicia's Worlds – Ben Jeapes

Rise of the Gryphon – Sherrilyn Kenyon & Dianna Love

King of Thrones – Mark Lawrence

Helen & Troy's Epic Road Quest – Lee Martinez

Warhammer 40K: Angel Exterminatus – Graham McNeill

Fate of Worlds – Larry Niven & Edward Lerner

Ice and Shadow – Andre Norton (reprint)

Last Blood – Kristen Painter

Seawitch – Kat Richardson

Queen of Wands – John Ringo

A Cursed Embrace – Cecy Robson

Vicious Moon – Lee Roland

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse – Diana Rowland

Forgotten Realms: Stone of Tymora – R. A. Salvatore & Geno Salvatore

A Conspiracy of Alchemists – Liesel Schwarz

Kitty in the Underworld – Carrie Vaughn

Star Trek: From History's Shadow – Dayton Ward

Hungry Like a Wolf – Christine Warren

Midst Toil and Tribulation – David Weber

I Don't Want to Kill You – Dan Wells

The Renegade – Jack Whyte

The Dirty Streets of Heaven – Tad Williams

eBook:

The Guardian's Witch – Ruth Casie

Never Deal with Dragons – Lorenda Christensen

Scythe Does Matter – Gina X. Grant

The Quiet Earth – Craig Harrison (reprint)

Battle Station – B. V. Larson

The Monsters in Your Neighbourhood – Jesse Petersen

Sky Hunter – Fae Sutherland

Celebromancy – Michael Underwood

Time Rep – Peter Ward

Desperate Magic – Rebecca York