In terms of new books these next two weeks are pretty lean. This weeks new choice is Reapers Legacy which is the sequel to last years London Eye . Tim Lebbon's young adult teens in post apocalyptic London novel that has been compared to the Xmen when the writing is excellent has been on my to read pile for a good long time and with the sequel immanent it just may be time. Here is the info on the book from the Pyr website:
Two years after London is struck by a devastating terrorist attack, it is cut off from
the world, protected by a large force of soldiers (known as Choppers), while those
in the rest of Britain believe that their ex-capital is now a toxic, uninhabited wasteland.
Jack and his friends know that the truth is very different. The handful of survivors in London are developing strange, fantastic powers. Evolving. Meanwhile, the Choppers treat the ruined city as their own experimental playground.
Jack's own developing powers are startling and frightening, though he is determined to save his father, the brutal man with a horrific power who calls himself Reaper. Jack must also find their friend Lucy-Anne, who went north to find her brother.
What Lucy-Anne discovers is terrifying—people evolving into monstrous things and the knowledge that a nuclear bomb has been set to destroy what's left of London. And the clock is ticking.
I missed picking this up months ago when I saw it at my favorite speculative fiction bookstore in San Francisco Borderlands. The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson is set in the same world as Elantris his first published novel separated widely geographically from its events. The novella is nominated in the best novella category along with Jay Lake's "The Stars do not Lie" (Asimovs Magazine), "After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall" by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications), " On a Red Station, Drifting" by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press) and "San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats" by Mira Grant (Orbit).I feel kind of a fool for not getting it but its still available. Here is the text from Tachyon's website:
Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Though condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Despite the fact that her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead from the attack of assassins.
Delving deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councilor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that her forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.
Skillfully deducing the machinations of her captors, Shai needs a perfect plan to escape. The fate of the kingdom lies in one impossible task. Is it possible to create a forgery of a soul so convincing that it is better than the soul itself?
The other section of the Hugo Ballot I want to mention today is the J W Campbell Award for best new writer; some of the names on the list are there for their second year and have the chance again and I think there are some great people on the list that may be just beneath people's radar right now.
First off Chuck Wendig is someone that if you never read his fiction, really your missing out if you never try his books, you reall need to look at his website and his blog at Terribleminds, its witty informative and will turn you onto some very cool shit. Secondly is Mur Lafferty which is a name I'm very familiar with as a rabid podcast listener; she has been the provider of many a great story wither it be the steampunk influenced Heaven series or her superhero tale Playing for Keeps. She has her first big market novel coming not this year from Orbit books and is well worth your money. Third is the very talented urban fantasy author Stina Leight who has written two novels set in Ireland during the time of troubles pulling on the myths of the British isles and Christian religion. Stina is someone who's work I would recommend pretty much unreservedly. Now I have never read the work of either of the other authors but I have them on my wanted list; Max Gladstone wrote a novel I much want to read called Three Parts Dead that is talked about like the Law and Order of Urban Fantasy and the name I never knew before now Zen Cho is a woman of Malaysian origin who's website and blog have me really intrigued, honestly I think I'd want to vote for them all.
I encourage you to check out all the embedded links above for the authors.... Really any or all of them deserve the award...
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment