New Books Fall 2007
Sunday, October 21st, 2007 - 11:21am
Well, just found two new books by some of my favorite authors. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have a new book out in their continuing horror/mystery series, called "The Wheel of Darkness", and Irvine Welsh has a new collection of novellas called "If you liked school, you'll love work!"
Any other good recommendations for recent books of note?
I also picked up Dan Simmons new one, "The Terror", and I'm hoping for better than "Olympus".
Extremism in the defense of liberty *is* a vice. It has been since the first Crown Loyalist was tarred, feathered and set afire, and it's no better now. It corrupts first the individual, then ultimately the institution it defends.
Well, the newest book in the Horus Heresy series is out. It's called Descent of Angels and so far I've been nothing but pleased with it.
So hell did freeze over after all; Welcome to Skjold!
Zombie Planet, the final book in David Wellington's zombie trilogy, is just out, and although the second book was a letdown after the brilliance of the first, I'm looking forward to wrapping things up. If you liked the Romero zombie movies, you will adore these books. I read the first in a day. And continuing on the undead theme, I'm happy to see that Max Brook's World War Z is finally out in paperback.
On a much more literary (and Canadian) note, Michael Winter's new novel, The Architects Are Here, was just published. Spare, personal, and unsentimental, his writing is great, and I always enjoy reading books set in Newfoundland (and this time, Toronto, too).
Who's the author of that, Agemmon? What's the series? Fantasy? SF? Historical fiction?
Extremism in the defense of liberty *is* a vice. It has been since the first Crown Loyalist was tarred, feathered and set afire, and it's no better now. It corrupts first the individual, then ultimately the institution it defends.
Two new fantasy books out (well, supposed to be out) Terry Brooks latest in the birth of shannara series and "A Sword From Red Ice" by JV Jones - the final book in her latest and long-wrought trilogy... though i don't think it's hit this side of the pond yet... (just checked, it's out over here in December but US has it as of the 16th oct)....
Of - power - insessantly
Plagued - by - malefisense
Doomed - to - insidious -
Death - is - he - who - breaks
this - monument - i - prophesy
Anyone heard what's happening with the next Ice & Fire series book?
Well, I don't like to toot my own horn, but I'm a pretty good amateur rectal photographer. Would you like to see my portfolio?
Song of the Week: ...on Facebook...
This is GRRM's latest comment on his progress.
*Legion* wrote:
Let's see...Stephen Donaldson's "Fatal Revenant"- vol 2 of "Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant"; "Bertram of Butter Cross" by Jeffrey E. Barlough
Robear- a Lincoln & child fan? Eeeexcellent! Did you ever read "The Ice Limit"? and the on-line epilogue? How about "Riptide"?
"Eat Keel, Hellbug!"
Not exactly in the same vein as what's already been listed, but I just picked up Oliver (Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat) Sacks's new book, Musicophilia.
Basically, a collection of case studies of people with neurological conditions that have had musical side-effects. The first one, for instance, is about a guy with little to no musical training who gets struck by lightning in a phone booth and afterwards develops a great love for piano music. He begins dreaming that he's performing and writing songs, and when he wakes up, the melodies from his dreams are still in his head. So, he takes music and piano lessons, and now, 12 years later, he's a fairly respected performer and composer.
There are other stories, about why people have perfect pitch, about people who have seizures only when hearing certain music or instruments, and a lot more. I'm excited to read more of it.
XBox Live Gamertag: Warlockbert
Here's where Elysia jumps in with her usual rave about the brilliant Khaled Hosseini and both of his amazing books, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. He's the best writer I've ever read. Period. Orson Scott Card has been bumped from first on my list to make room for this guy.
I'll also add one other: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon, a really unusual and fascinating book written from the point of view of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome.
Oooh - and I'm editing to add the entire Wess'har Wars series by Karen Traviss. good stuff.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
- Dr. Martin Luther King
Unfortunately, 2007's been a pretty weak year for books, at least for the kind of Fantasy/Sci-Fi books that interest me. Looking at my shelves with hundreds of titles, I found a total of four from this year. Two from the same author. That's just sad.
It seems like a lot of the the advances going out to new authors are in the supernatural romance category, in which Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris are the only authors worth a damn. Dire times for fantasy readers who demand more than 'which ultra-hunky werewolf/vampire/demon/etc. will the gorgeous heroine hook up with first?'.
Everything can be debated, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's debatable.
--Chuck Klosterman, Fargo Rock City
Today I picked up Joe Haldeman's The Accidental Time Machine in the book store to read the first chapter for judgement. Hours later I finish it and stumble out of the store really hungry and confused because it was so good I hadn't really stopped and decided to just keep reading. It just happened.
Danjo Olivaw Lives
One of those books the new Dresden Files novel by Jim Butcher? I really enjoyed his work, enough that I got the whole series for my brother and am seriously considering getting it again for myself.
Remember, only by treating everyone with dignity and respect can we maintain the element of surprise for that inevitable day when we wipe our enemies from the face of the Earth.
For clarification, "bnpederson" is pronounced "Brian."
Nah - I was kind of ambivalent on the first one and never got around to trying subsequent entries. The series looks interesting enough that I keep meaning to give it a redo. Does it get better?
Everything can be debated, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's debatable.
--Chuck Klosterman, Fargo Rock City
I definitely think so. If you get around book four and nothing clicks at all then it just isn't your thing and I admit to having a hard-on for any fantastic realism stories (mmm, Gaiman). But in the course of the series Dresden and his fellows actually change and grow, events have meaning, time moves forward several years between books, and we learn a lot more about what I consider a very interesting universe behind our own. And as I said, I'm going to be buying them again just to reread them most likely, so I'm going to recommend them to high heaven.
My biggest series to equate it to, personally, is the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust. The books are short but extremely dense, with characters firing off one liners like nothing else and entertaining you from beginning to end. But then I don't know if you've ever read the Vlat Taltos novels either.
Remember, only by treating everyone with dignity and respect can we maintain the element of surprise for that inevitable day when we wipe our enemies from the face of the Earth.
For clarification, "bnpederson" is pronounced "Brian."
The author is Mitchel Scanlon. It's the sixth book in the Warhammer 40.000 series focusing on the very beginning of the Imperium. All the books so far has been written by different authors so the style is very different from book to book and, mostly, the feature some of the same incidents and happenings but from different points of view by different characters and even different species. A great read for all, especially if you like good science fiction.
The six books so far
So hell did freeze over after all; Welcome to Skjold!
Ugh.
Psychotic Foreign Teenage Chicks are so hot. - Legion
I find it ironic anytime a healthy vaccinated person bitches about science...on the internet. - MaverickDago
In case you want to find additional frustration on the subject, you can check out http://www.georgerrmartin.com/
GWJ Alliance on Blackhand
Lunazul - Rouge & GWJ Paparazzo
Merdee - Hunter
Lunarel - Druid
I just picked up Interworld by Neil Gaimen. It was released in June but figured it might be worth mentioning. I'm about half-way through after about 3 hours of reading. It's an easy and enjoyable read.
Elysium wrote:
XBL: elliottxW
I recently finished Twilight Watch, by a Russian person who's name I won't butcher, and it was fantastic. It's book 3 in a series of 4. The first is Night Watch. I highly recommend it.
I'm an Uncle!!! -8/20/07
I buy even though I have 2 of them. I likey the Snakey. - Scrub
ICO: General Fancypants l Steam: Grenn[GWJ] l WoW: Goquelyrslf, Grendwar l XBLA: GWJ Grenn
One of my RPG groups just finished a game loosely based on Night Watch.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
It's not a trilogy anymore? I have the first book, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm waiting on that third movie.
"YOU SPOIL, YOU GET SPOILED! AAAAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Nah, he finished it off, I think, with the fourth book Final Watch. It hasn't been translated yet.
I'm an Uncle!!! -8/20/07
I buy even though I have 2 of them. I likey the Snakey. - Scrub
ICO: General Fancypants l Steam: Grenn[GWJ] l WoW: Goquelyrslf, Grendwar l XBLA: GWJ Grenn
CE - Yeah, read both those, but didn't know there was an epilogue to Ice Limit. I thought they'd sequel that?
Extremism in the defense of liberty *is* a vice. It has been since the first Crown Loyalist was tarred, feathered and set afire, and it's no better now. It corrupts first the individual, then ultimately the institution it defends.
Killer, check out some of the Brits. Good stuff this year from Greg F Hamilton, Steven Erikson and Charlie Stross. There's also Karl Schroeder and Cory Doctorow with several new books each. And William Gibson's new one is tight and intriguing.
Extremism in the defense of liberty *is* a vice. It has been since the first Crown Loyalist was tarred, feathered and set afire, and it's no better now. It corrupts first the individual, then ultimately the institution it defends.
Persian Fire by Tom Holland is excellent, as is Reaper's Gale by Stephen Erikson. But my hands down favorite book of the year has been The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
Let me state this emphatically: If you like SF & Fantasy and you can only read one book in the next twelve months, make it The Name of the Wind. Read this book. In fact, if you buy it and don't like it, send me a PM and I will buy it from you for what you paid. That's right, I am offering a money-back guarantee to any tagged GWJ community member. That's how certain I am that you need to read this book.
(I think that might be a GWJ first.
)
"It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem." - Malcolm Forbes
Man, don't you people read anything besides SF and fantasy?
Buncha sterotypes! 
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
Do you want some more history or politics books? How about thrillers?
"It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem." - Malcolm Forbes
Robear- if you haven't been to it, www.prestonchild.com is their website. The Epilogue is linked there....
Charlie Stross has "Halting State" just out and somewhere on HIS website, another book featuring The LAundry.
"Eat Keel, Hellbug!"
What else is there?
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Porn.
I'm an Uncle!!! -8/20/07
I buy even though I have 2 of them. I likey the Snakey. - Scrub
ICO: General Fancypants l Steam: Grenn[GWJ] l WoW: Goquelyrslf, Grendwar l XBLA: GWJ Grenn