My World Fantasy Con weekend, part I report

Well, I'm back from World Fantasy Con in Columbus, Ohio. I was bummed to miss last year's show in California, but glad to be back. Since I work full-time now, and have a child, getting to conventions is harder than ever, but this one is near and dear to my heart and I'm glad I made it back, to socialize with friends, fantasy publishing industry veterans, and new friends alike.

Being surrounded by so many passionate people left me inspired to find more related freelance editing work, and it also left me with something else... an updated pile of books and authors I have to read. Uh, it also left me severely dehydrated from all the time spent at the bar, but that is where most of the hanging out happens.

I did participate in my first WFC panel, The Art of the Mashup (along with veteran editors Jeff Connor and Jim Frenkel). It was fun to discuss the likes and dislikes, definitions and variations of this popular trend in publishing. Being one of the first panels of the convention, I was pleased with the turnout, the large room filled as people arrived for the weekend. Thanks to the WFC programming staff for letting me be a part of it!

Over the weekend I got a chance to see some folks I hadn't seen since the WFC in Calgary in 2008, like Tim Akers who I was pleased to hear his newest book comes out tomorrow, The Horns of Ruin (which I plan to pick up at lunch on the morrow). I did some copyediting work for Tim's first novel (Heart of Veridon) and am excited for this new series from Pyr.

I also got to meet the proprietors of Subterranean Press, makers of wonderful limited edition hardcovers, novellas, and other interesting projects (it was nice meeting you Bill & Tim). My friend, Peter V. Brett's novella, Brayan's Gold, comes out in limited edition printing in a few months. It's a wonderful new story set in the world of The Warded Man and The Desert Spear. I've read this book, it is great fun, an exciting adventure, and I think fantasy fans everywhere will enjoy it. I should note the beautiful cover was done by illustrator, Lauren K. Cannon. It was great to see her at the con as well.

There was lots more from the weekend, new people I met, other author's I'm excited to read about, and some bloggers worth linking to. I hope to cover the rest of it in a second blog post soon. Stay tuned. But I'll tell you, I have a lot of reading to do.

Congrats to all the winners of the World Fantasy Awards! i09 has the list of winners: here.

Lazy Sunday morning blogging

I know Sunday morning isn't exactly a hotbed of blogging activity. But I am up, just fed little James, and he's playing while I check the Times book review section, and assorted other sites to see what's going on this early Sunday.

Rec'd a copy of The Dark End of the Street yesterday from the good folks at Bloomsbury. I think I received this as part of LibraryThing.com's Early Reader program, so I'll be sure to post my review on there as well as on here. I only just read the Introduction by mystery veteran S.J. Rozan, and will work my way through these noir stories of sex, crime, and, well, whatever else is in there.  


I'm also about half way through The Bloodstained Man, the Heavy Metal Pulp book I mentioned last time. It's fun so far, I hope to have a full report once I finish it.


Just a quick note, enjoy the day.

Reporting in, Sir...

Let's see what I've been up to since we last spoke. Well, first I broke down and bought the the 3rd volume of The Walking Dead. Amazing, I'm even more psyched for the AMC television series if it is possible. Trying to control myself, and borrow someone's copies of volume 4 on, but I might not last. I need to have it. 


I also picked up Stieg Larsson's book one of the Millennium trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Not always one to read what everyone else is reading, I felt I needed to know what the fuss was all about. I was surprised at how dark the book was, I wasn't expecting that. I can admit it when I'm impressed, and I was sucked into the story. I feel the saddest part is that the poor author died soon after submitting all 3 books. I will be picking up the rest of the series at some point.

I hear The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is very good, I may pick up a copy of that soon. Also, a friend gave me a copy of The Bloodstained Man ARC (advanced reading copy) from Tor books, part of their new Heavy Metal Pulp line of novels. I think it's a cool idea, and even the ARC has rough sketches and panel artwork to compliment the text. Nice. I'll report back on that.


At this past weekend's NY Comic Con, I picked up a few more books. First I got to meet the co-writing team behind  Havemercy, which Ballantine Books was giving out copies of the mass market paperback edition. I had read this fantasy novel in manuscript form a few years back, and I was happy to see Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett carrying on with the series (since then, Shadow Magic the 2nd in their series published in 2009 and a third in the series, Dragon Soul was released in June of 2010). They were super nice and it was great to meet them.
 

At the Tor Books booth, I picked up a copy of Dan Wells' I am Not a Serial Killer. This dark thriller looks like an exciting read, and I'm looking forward to getting right into it. Soon. Patience, young Jedi.

Also, even at Comic Con, I find a military history author, whose name I knew well from my time as Editor of MBC. Dwight Jon Zimmerman and artist Wayne Vansant were in Artists' Alley, and I introduced myself and talked shop with them both. Dwight was nice enough to sign me a copy of his fantastic book about America's special forces, Beyond Hell and Back. Glad to finally meet those guys, I have lots of respect for their work.

I also got a chance to meet and have a few drinks with UK fantasy writer Joe Abercrombie, along with fellow hombres, the writers Peter V. Brett & Myke Cole. I've only heard many good things about Joe's work, and now after meeting the bastard, I can't help but like the guy and simply must read his work. I have no excuse really. 

Well, that's enough for tonight on this not-so-regular blog. As always, I'll report in soon, when able. Until then, reporting from the field will continue.

Finally catching up: The Walking Dead

Someone recently told to me that I'm always late to the game, but I do show up. Well, that is definitely true in the case with me finally reading the first two volumes of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead. I had only heard good things, reviews, press. What took me so long? And what makes the book so good?

The human drama, that's what it comes down to. Kirkman masterfully plotted out how life would be for this band of survivors, and how it would go on, the big picture. No quick movie end, this is life after, and how hard it is, as the people all around you dwindle one by one.

I am excited in a way, because there are about 10 more volumes in existence for me to find and devour like the party of friends finding some precious food in the bleak story and cherishing it. The fact that the survivors haven't accepted the fact that at any moment any one of them can die, and they still grasp onto family, friends, and what may have once been normal life, creates a desperate situation that is so easy to identify with. How would I act in such circumstances? Would I be brave enough to go into the city to find food or weapons? Could I be detached enough to let someone I love go, just as they are bitten, knowing they're already gone? Hard questions to answer.

All I knew is that I had to start reading before AMC's TV adaptation of the series kicks off on Halloween--while I'll be at World Fantasy Con--I'm sure a few of us bookish types can find a tv and see how the grizzly comic adaptation turns out. From what I've seen already in previews, it looks really good.

And althoug the attic library only had volume 1 and 2  of the series, now neatly returned to their rightful place in the archives, my quest will be to beg, borrow, or--well, purchase the remaining trades and get all caught up.

Review of The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell

I was hard pressed to find parts of this novel I didn't like, even the zombies were ok in my book. Written by a guy who teaches in New York; obviously well educated, well read, and with a nack for imagery and symbolism, this book was beautifully written. The protagonist, Temple, or Sarah Mary Williams, her real name maybe, was tough and scrappy, and I immediately liked her.

Temple travels in a post-apocalyptic world, still in its infancy at about 25-years since end of civilization as we know it. Temple is looking for something, or maybe nothing, but in this world she avoids zombie-like creatures, or meatskins, as she calls them, who lumber in far less dramatic fashion than usual throughout the empty streets.

She encounteres some aweful and amazing things in this book, like the electric-fence guarded plantation home, existing oblivious to the decaying world outside the baricade, with a sad and desperate family within. But even with fresh food and shelter, the wanderer, feels the calling of the road. She meets a pair of brothers as well, which doesn't go so well, and haunts her throughout the story.

To take this journey with Temple is to put it lightly. She encounters so much, gets into a few scrapes, and I felt myself both cringing and marveling at her actions. Most of the trip is dark, as she often questions whether or not she is evil in the things that she has to do to survive. But she also has goodness coursing through her veins, she tries to help a friend find his way to find his family, all the while being pursued by another not so unlike herself, only much larger.

Some basic technical things bothered me about the novel, for instance, the utilities working in several parts seemed not to be something the author was concerned about. Even in deserted places, Temple was able to walk into shops, use the running water, and I wondered if this was an oversight or was the "world" still so new in this phase, that some of the basic utilities still functioned somehow? It bothered me a bit in the beginning, but then not so much as the novel wore on.

I also like the introduction of other creatures aside from just your average zombie. I won't spoil anything here, but if you stick around long enough, you'll see Temple encounter a new kind of fiend, a result of the horrid wasteland and how a few have figured out to survive.
 
Overall I really enjoyed the novel, and think Alden Bell is someone I'll keep an eye on to see what's next. I recommend for fans of tales from the wasteland.

The Terminal State by Jeff Somers - a Review full of bullet holes

What can I say about The Terminal State, the fourth installment of Jeff Somers' Avery Cates series? Let's see. The plot moves along at a brisk pace, once again putting Avery in a god-awful situation to start. And with, shall we say, a little augmentation, Avery shakes some dust off those old bones and gets into action.

Manipulation I think is the best word to describe the overall vibe of this book. Around every corner, down every dark tunnel, are forces manipulating each other, and especially poor Avery. But when you're the best gunner around, it comes with the territory.

When the Army snatches up Cates for a hand in the newest war against all-out annihilation, he unwillingly drags his feet, and is quickly resold to the highest bidder. Sent off to work a special mission with two odd accomplices, one a tattooed freak calling himself The Poet, and the other a mysterious female that feels oddly familiar, Avery is forced to start off on a job lacking the one thing he knows he needs most...a gun.

Filled with all the run-and-shoot action fans of the series have come to expect, this ride is non-stop, until the very end. At times I actually felt like I was playing a video game, with warnings, ammo count, and my heath meter dwindling away.  

One is left wondering just how much of this world is left to explore, it remains quite bleak by the end. And I know Somers is planning to "end a major arc" in the overall story in the next book. I'm already pining for next year's release.

I'd also like to send a shout out to cover designer, Lauren Panepinto, for an excellent job with the newly designed paperback (and for the new look of the mass market paperbacks of the previous books in the series as well). I loved the Jae Lee artwork on the previous trades, but this new treatment pretty much rocks.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - a late review

In 2008 I went to see Cory Doctorow  talk about books, Big Brother, and rights-free content. That night I bought a book, which I intended to read soon after and just got to this month, a few years late. Such is life sometimes for the Bookrastinator.

As I finished reading Little Brother on the express bus heading home to my home in Queens, I felt a sense of relief. I was free.
I looked down a street which was closed off for a block party and realized that even in today's restrictive world, we still live in a place where we can close off the street to throw a party. This is not the case in many parts of the world.

I really enjoyed Little Brother, even if half of it was a whirlwind of hacking terminology and lengthy explanations, with me being one of the least techy people I know, I sometimes felt out of my league. I kept thinking, man, I have friends who need to read this. They’d love it.

I did totally dug the main character, tech-obsessed high school senior, Marcus, known online as “w1n5t0n” and quite often in the principal’s office for hacking his way through school-mandated devices. 

When a terrorist attack disrupts an unsuspecting Bay area around San Francisco, a bunch of friends are caught right in the middle of it. And suddenly it's not so great to be the techy kid with all the gizmos in his backpack. Curious teen becomes a suspect. Suspect gets taken in for some unfriendly questioning. Things get serious.

Author Cory Doctorow mentions in the afterword that reading George Orwell's 1984 when he was twelve years old changed his life. I remember reading it in high school and it also affected me in a profound way.

Will Little Brother have this type of effect on the next generation? I'd like to think so. Government control, and surveillance is a big issue and will only continue to be so in the world we live in today. Will the torture scene scare kids? Sure. Did 1984's torture scenes scare me, absolutely. If it stirs up conversation, debate, shouting matches even, then it did it's job.

I feel like this is the type of book I need continually loan out, force people to read, because it's profoundly important in some way that is not completely clear to me yet. All I do know, as a father, is that this is a book I want my son to read when he's a teenager, so that we can have a debate about it like Marcus and his father in the book. 

And yes, I am dating myself saying that the title reminds me of the rap song from the 80s. I sang it in my head each time I opened the book. I'm not sure if Doctorow was going for that as well as evoking the spirit of Orwell. But either way, it worked for me.