Wanted Dispatch July 20..

Carniepunk anthology including Rachel Caine, Deliah s Dawson, Kelly Gay, Kevin Hearne, Seanan McGuire, Nicole D Peeler, Rod Thurman, Jay wells and more...

This is a genre defying original fiction collection including steampunk, urban fantasy, and survival horror to name a few. This is the kind of collection like last weeks that will open up your mind to writers and genres you might not have otherwise tried. The first story in the collection is a steampunk romance suspense tale by the awesome Deliah S Dawson riffing on Lydia the tattooed lady that will hook you into her storytelling if you have not tried it otherwise. The other tales are a mix of original tales and short fiction in estaleished settings and series. Kevin Hearne tells a tape for his Iron Druid setting that will likewise get you a feel for his stories and possibly hook you to getting his novels. I've read a few and thou there are one or two that did not do it for me I think overall this collection is a winner and may just open minds to genres you might never have tried otherwise.... Go to your local shop and order a copy if your up for Urban Fantasy, Steampunk or Weird Fiction.

 

With a five week month... There is ever a short week but this one is a winner... Jennifer Estep who is in this collection also has a novel up this week called Kiss of Venom from her Elemental Assassin series that is on my to read list but as I have yet to get to the short story I can't say if I would call it a Wanted or not yet....

There are some books comic up next week.... Till then check out the books up for the Hugo, particularly Throne of the Crescent Moon and 2312... And always check in on the electronic magazines Clarkesworld, Apex Magazine, Lightspeed and Nightmare Magazine......

 

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Wanted Dispatch July 13

The Melancholy of Mecha Girl by Catherynne M Valente

Wether it is a new adult or YA novel short story or collection I'm always happy to see more work from Catherynne. This is a collection of her work that has at least a vague of not obscure reference to Japan in some way. As someone who like Japanese myths, and many forms of Japanese pop entertainment from a very young age I am anxious to get a chance to read these stories taken from all over the short fiction markets including the anthology from Haikasoru called The Future is Japanese. The cover is evocative of things both traditional and modern and I expect hat the stories inside are about the same knowing her fondness for pulling from myth, folk tales and history to create her stories. Here is a link to the Haikasoru site so you can take a peek at the excerpt.

 

Imaginarium 2013 edited by Sandra Kasturi

From my favorite small publisher of dark fiction, ChiZine, comes a collection of the best short speculative fiction from Canadian writers. Some of the names are pretty recognize able like the epic fantasy writer Dave Duncan, poetry and story fiction writer Amal El Mohtar, AM Dellamonica who's urban fantasy I'd like to read and Gemma Files who's grim western fantasy I loved but the vast majority of the Table of Contents are unknown to me and that is particularly exiting. Collections like this hit the high points of the years work so you're pretty much gong to get a good ride from most of the stories. Urban Fantasy writer Tanya Huff writes the introduction and well I think I'll just give the link here to the ChiZine page for the book. Its available from them direct as an eBook and its usually the best way to get it if you live outside of Canada but is you order the print edition they usually give you the eBook to read while you await the real thing.

 

 

North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud

With high praise coming from Jeff Vandermeer for Nathan's work I am pretty much on board from that endorsement alone. Tor.com has been touting this title a lot this moth too including this bit of fiction to entice people into Weird Fiction....

 

So this week its a lot of sort fiction and it is great to see so many collections and anthologies coming around...

 

 

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Wanted Dispatch July 6

The Secret of Abdu El Yezdi by Mark Hodder

It is no secret that the Adventures of Burton and Swinburne series tops my favorite list for speculative fiction since I started my blog back in mid/late 2009. Mark pulls people and events from the history that gave rise to the feel of Steampunk and turns his wild imagination loose on them; the product is often wry irreverent look at historical figures in a fantastic familiar setting with characters you wish were that way in reality. His Burton is a man who dislikes the mores and limits of his time and Swinburne, the short, red headed, poet of the era, is a man who pushes the limits of nearly everything. Mark in this volume picks up his story after the revelations and battles of the third and climactic book Expedition to the Mountians of the Moon and does what he is best at, surprising us with something unexpected and courageous in storytelling (yeah I already had a chance to read this and it does not disappoint.). "Secret" pulls on the fiction of Wells, Verne, Shelly and Stoker to create something new and wonderful. I got a chance to read an ARC and I think its a brilliant and mayhaps could stand alone from the other series. Yup I'm a fanboy but I'm not embarassed at all.

Here is a link to the wonderful PYR website....

 

The Executioner's Heart George Mann

I'm contuining the theme here. This is likewise the fourth in a series as with Secret of Abdu El Yezdi but sadly in this case I can't say much about the story or characters having yet to read the previous three books. I have read his neo-pulp books from PYR, Ghosts of Manhattan and Ghosts of War, which were both showed his love of genre fiction, history and of fiction in general. As I am fairly shallow this cover is pretty irresistible the things I have read about the series and this book in particular have me thinking about getting the hardcover... who knows they just might change the cover art for the trade. This is also a buddy consulting detective like series that has a mixed gender protagonist pair and though I love Burton and Swinbrurne and Hodder's women are great characters he spends little time with them (as would be right for the adventuring period)

Here is a link to the TOR.com site excerpt to give you a peek....

Blood and Feathers: Rebellion by Lou Morgan

As a fan of the oft irreverent to the western mythos series Supernatureal this urban fantasy that focuses on the war between the Angels of heaven and the forces of Lucifer is probably a natural. I have been reading reviews and comments about the first book Blood and Feathers as well as the preview chapters via e book and this one seems to be up the UF thriller ally I like.

Lou Morgan seems to take a view of angels akin to that of various writers of the comic series' Hellblazer and Preacher as well as the jaded approach of Supernatural; being effectively gods bagmen or hit men makes them and their motives suspect at best. The first Book apparently includes a trip into hell itself, the frozen version of Dante with the circles of the damned and Lusifer entombed in ice and all. The protagonist is a halfbreed human woman pulled quite way out of her depth with her intorduction to the reality of her world.

Here is a link to th synopsis on the Solaris website and here is a link to the authors blog where there are some excerpts....

The Glass God by Kate Griffin

Everyone has their favorite setting when it comes to urban fantasy and though I never have been to London other then passing through Heathrow airport its a draw for me as with Ben Aaronovitch and Paul Cornell's UF novels. Kate Griffin's Michael Swift (Midnight Mayor ) series is one that I was interested in reading but have yet pick up has gotten a lot of good reviews ( check here on goodreads ); these books involve angels so I guess I'm continuing yet another theme on this Wanted Post.

Looking at the early reviews of this one people are missing her other series a bit but like getting a different set of eyes on the same setting. This is the second book in this series.... it starts with the volume called Stray Souls.... Here is the synopsis for this one from the Kate Griffin's web page (from Orbit Books)

The second novel in a new urban magic series, Magicals Anonymous, from the author of the Matthew Swift novels set in London’s hidden otherworld.

Sharon Li: apprentice shaman and community support officer for the magically inclined.

It wasn’t the career Sharon had in mind, but she’s getting used to running Magicals Anonymous and learning how to Be One With The City.

When the Midnight Mayor goes missing, leaving only a suspiciously innocent-looking umbrella behind him, Sharon finds herself promoted. Her first task: find the Midnight Mayor. The only clues she has are a city dryad’s cryptic warning and several pairs of abandoned shoes…

Suddenly, Sharon’s job feels a whole lot harder.

Here is a link to her blog also...

I've also got two best of collections to mention... The first is the best of Connie Willis... so many times I miss great short works of fiction hat anthologies like this are my only way to find it... Here is the table of contents from the SF Signal blog.

 

and the last for this week may or not be on schedule because of the Nigh Shade Books debacle but Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the volume 5 should be out next week... Dark Wolf reviews published the table of contents here. I love these because there is no way I'd ever get a chance to see all these where they were originally published....

 

 

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Sunday Comics June 30

So this week is a lot of nostalgia for me mixed with a bit of cool storytelling and have to wait for next week when I have the free cash....

 

Ah Journey into Mystery does my heart so good. I've been out of the mix for a while but it is so easy to get back on the marvel soap opera ride that I did not feel out of the loop at all. Beta Ray Bill is totally still my favorite character and though Sif and he still love each other its so much more complicated that the artist along with the history says so much more then the dialogue. I missed the creation of his girlfriend and all that but it matters not because the history of their love shoes through. I will so much miss this comic when it gets canceled in the next coup,e months... At least I got some great action adventure drama comics out of this and I can ever go back to them when I miss the good new days...

Katheryn Immonen deserves another comic in the marvel stable.... I would so buy whatever she writes....

 

 

Wolverine by Paul Cornell is one of the mutant titles I hope gets enough attention. Anyone into Hawkeye should check this out. Paul does not pack as much into an issue but this is the title that wanted to tell the story of Logan and hisnfriends recognizing that he is more then the bloody killing machine that most titles featuring him goes for. Logan here has buds he has a heart and a voice that says that he may be the best there is at what he does but that may not make him happy. As someone who enjoys a good brew, who would love to hang with his old buddies and well has so many regrets tis may just be the Wolverine title for all us old fans who wants more then the claws and the attitude to engage us... Paul I so want this to succeed.... Hell is love to see a Logan as Dredd comic....

 

Hawkeye... What can I say about his title that has not been said... If tour into comics someone must have said check put Matt Fractions Hawkeye. Well if yo have not read anything about how great the writing is on this book here is an issue to check out. Matt writes from the POV of the dog in Clint's Barton's life. The issue touches on the events of the series recently, on the perception of the non human loved ones in our life and treats it with all the seriousness of the first person episode of MASH from back in the early eighties. This issue is such a success in writing and in art by Aja that it better shadows what comics can achieve in storytelling. I feel that though I was paying attention I missed subtitlites in the story that would have been more implicit had an English speaker told the tale.... Check this out if you thins comics have nothing new to say...

 

 

The next two I have yet to get because of the cost of comics this week.... I can only go one 3.99 a week but next week is so minimal for me I can check out Uncanny and Xmen by Bendis if not All-New if I get the chance.... Costs forestall me sometimes and this is one of those weeks.... I was a big fan of Magik and Illyana from the New Mutant days back in the eighties and I so want to read about her these days since another old favorite of mine Doctor Strange is involved. In terms of the Bendis Xmen well I love the leads and giving then a series beyond Scott and Logan well is too awesome to pass over.....

Next week is small so well hope to comment on some of these then....

 

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Wanted Dispatch June 29...

So this week is all about diversity and having a more open mind with my choices about the things I very much would like to read....

 

Forsaken by the Others by Jess Haines

This is a series that is a favorite of a blogger that I really like in terms of her favorites. I have broadened my sphere of reading to include romance of the paranormal type.... Hey I will admit to liking the early Linda Hamiliton books before well to be honest the erotica angle. It was always there but I like it hidden by otherthngs... So what I'm kind of a prude. The blogger at My Bookish Ways appears a couple times this week... I like her tastes and Jess Haines appeared several weeks back promtng this book in her Urban Fantasy Detective series that includes the regulars of werewolves and vampires. This ne takes her heroines to LA and brings out the brain eating zombies... what better place to do it. There are four books in this series before this one and well I like getting in on something when there is a history to delve into...

Here is the synopsis to get you on board

The Others–vampires, werewolves, things that go chomp in the night–don’t just live in nightmares anymore. They’ve joined with the mortal world. And for private investigator Shiarra Waynest, that means mayhem…

Have a one night stand with a vampire, and you can end up paying for it for eternity. P.I. Shiarra Waynest, an expert on the Others, knows that better than most. Yet here she is, waking up beside charismatic vamp Alec Royce with an aching head…and neck. Luckily, Shia has the perfect excuse for getting out of town–namely, a couple of irate East Coast werewolf packs who’d like to turn her into a chew toy.

On Royce’s suggestion, Shia temporarily relocates to Los Angeles. But something is rotten–literally–in the state of California, where local vampires are being attacked by zombies. Who could be powerful enough to control them–and reckless enough to target the immortal? Following the trail will lead Shia to a terrifying truth, and to an ancient enemy with a personal grudge…

 

Here is a link to Jess' website...

A Cursed Embrace by Cecy Robson

This is the second time I will refer to My Bookish Ways (website here) and I really liked the sound of this when I read about it today on the blog. This is the second book in another urban fantasy series that began with the book Sealed by a Curse. Here is what peaked my interest from the blog I mentioned...

A Cursed Embrace (Weird Girls #2) by Cecy Robson (Signet, July 2nd, 2013)-A Cursed Embrace starts about a week after Sealed With a Curse left off, with a dead wereracoon sprawled across the Wird’s doorway. Soon, Aric and his pack are on the way and Celia is dreading a confrontation with Aric, who hasn’t been in touch for a week. She thought they had something, but he seems to be pulling back, and Celia’s own hesitance makes things nearly impossible. We soon find out that there’s a legitimate reason for Aric’s reticence, but that takes a back seat when they find out that demons may be on the loose. Even master vamp Misha is scared, which isn’t an easy feat and his desire for Celia makes for an interesting little triangle, even if her heart is with Aric. After the events of the last book, Celia and Misha have become close, and she has come to value his friendship, even if Aric isn’t too thrilled. She sees the man behind the master vampire and their connection is undeniable, especially after saving each other’s lives. And THAT may be part of the problem. What Celia did for Misha may have smoothed the way for the new menace that they must deal with. Luckily, the Wird sisters have plenty of power at their disposal, and a master vamp and werepack at their backs. What could possibly go wrong?

The Years Best Science Fiction & Fantasy edited by Rick Horton

The short fiction. I've encountered this year again has been excellent and this looks to be a totally worthwhile collection. Of the years more interesting stories. Most of these are available throughout the free electronic magazines like Clarkesworld, Fantasy, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Strange Horizons, Apex et al.

Here is the contents to get you exited.... Check out the venues these one from...

1. “Nahiku West” by Linda Nagata (Analog)
2. “A Murmuration of Starlings” by Joe Pitkin (Analog)
3. “The Black Feminist’s Guide to Science Fiction Film Editing” by Sandra McDonald (Asimov’s)
4. “The Bernoulli War” by Gord Sellar (Asimov’s)
5. “In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s)
6. “The Castle That Jack Built” by Emily Gilman (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
7. “The Governess and the Lobster” by Margaret Ronald, (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
8. “Sunshine” by Nina Allan (Black Static)
9. “Scattered Along the River of Heaven” by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld)
10. “A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight” by Xia Jia (Clarkesworld)
11. “Prayer” by Robert Reed (Clarkesworld)
12. “Honey Bear” by Sofia Samatar (Clarkesworld)
13. “The Contrary Gardener” by Christopher Rowe (Eclipse Online)
14. “Heaven Under Earth” by Aliette de Bodard (Electric Velocipede)
15. “Scrap Dragon” by Naomi Kritzer (F&SF)
16. “Twenty-Two and you” by Michael Blumlein (F&SF)
17. “One Breath, One Stroke” by Catherynne M. Valente (The Future is Japanese)
18. “The Philosophy of Ships” by Caroline Yoachim (Interzone)
19. “Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream” by Maria Dahvana Headley (Lightspeed)
20. “The Gravedigger of Konstan Spring” by Genevieve Valentine (Lightspeed)
21. “Arbeitskraft” by Nick Mamatas (The Mammoth Book of Steampunk)
22. “Fireborn” by Robert Charles Wilson (Rip-Off)
23. “Under the Eaves” by Lavie Tidhar (Robots: The New A.I.)
24. “Four Kinds of Cargo” by Leonard Richardson (Strange Horizons)
25. “The Keats Variation” by K. M. Ferebee Strange Horizons)
26. “Things Greater Than Love” by Kate Bachus (Strange Horizons)
27. “The Weight of History, The Lightness of the Future” by Jay Lake (Subterranean)
28. “Elementals” by Ursula K. Le Guin (Tin House)
29. “Two Houses” by Kelly Link (the Bradbury tribute anthology SHADOW SHOW)
30. “Swift, Brutal Retaliation” by Meghan McCarron (Tor.com)
31. “Uncle Flower’s Homecoming Waltz” by Marissa K. Lingen (Tor.com)
32. “The Magician’s Apprentice” by Tamsyn Muir (Weird Tales)
33. “One Day in Time City” by David Ira Cleary (Interzone)

There are a few more from this week and there will be. Supplementary dispatch... I want to get this out today... I'm a hopeless romantic and maybe that is a good thing since most good stories bring me to tears... Don't tell anyone....

 

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RIP Richard Matheson

Sadly Speculative fiction lost another voice today as Richard Matheson the author of many tales of suspense and horror including I Am Legend has died. This will be posted about in many places as the day goes on Brian Keene posted about it here on his Tumblr feed and Tor.com posted about it here. For me its a time to go back and read I Am Legend again seek out more of his work. Sorry for his passing and for my slight knowledge of his fuller body of work....

 

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Personal apology...

Hey everyone... I don't have a Sunday Comics column this week... I will try to make it up to you this week....

I got no votes on the review so this week in addition to my planned review I will be doing a review of Lexicon by Max Barry...

One of the post Age of Ultron books I most want is Mighty Avengers.... It includes some of my most favorite characters... The old Captian Marvel from the late eighties, Luke Cage the man once known as Poweman hero for hire, Falcon my favorite part of the seventies Captain America and Jennifer Walters The Sensational She-Hulk.... Its also written by Judge Dredd Al Ewing.....

 

 

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