Here are the reviews posted during April. Please note, this is not a comprehensive list of books I read in April, but rather the books I had the time to review before month's end.
Here are the reviews posted during March. Please note, this is not a comprehensive list of books I read in March, but rather the books I had the time to review before month's end.
Here are the reviews posted during November. Please note, this is not a comprehensive list of books I read in November, but rather the books I had the time to review before month's end.
Hello all. New writer here still in the process of writing the manuscript, but has a self-publishing package paid for and waiting. Looking for help on the process of writing to marketing a book, particularly in editing. Looking forward to hearing anything to be said! ^_^
Хочу пораскручивать дополнительно свой сайт Зона Ужасов (http://horrorzone.ru/). Денег на раскрутку жаль, да и мало их пока, самому что-то кушать надо. Поэтому изголяемся, экспериментируем... Суть предложения для владельцев ЖЖ и других блогов, дневников etc. сводится к такому простому обмену: один вечный пост в Вашем дневнике с обзором сайта Зона Ужасов и ссылкой на его главную страницу, а взамен создание размещение (в течение одной недели) на многих-многих страницах Зоны (на данный момент их несколько тысяч) баннера, ведущего на Ваш дневник. ( Read more...Collapse )
Feed (2010) Written by: Mira Grant Genre: Horror Pages: 599 (Mass Market Paperback) Series: Book One (ongoing)
The premise: ganked from BN.com: The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.
NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.
Must Have: The book does have some flaws: it's a bit long, and certain repetitions of information can get tedious (except for the blood tests: that was important and needed to be reinforced EVERY TIME). But this book, by the end, was a serious emotional kick to the head, and I was marveling by time I was finished. Sure, the villain is a little too obvious, and yes, for a zombie book, you don't get a whole lot of zombie action. But what kept me turning the pages was the similarities between Georgia's and Shaun's world to our own. Sure, there's differences in the way people live their lives, but the similarities are striking, especially in that people, and their governments, don't change, and if we want change, we have to make it happen for ourselves. I loved this book, and while i don't see myself reading it again, I really look forward to finishing the rest of this trilogy. Grant has given us a dark, gritty tale that on one level will feel familiar to readers of the October Daye series (Mira Grant is the pen name for Seanan McGuire), and the detailed level of world-building is similar too. But I far preferred Feed's heroine over McGuire's, but that may be just a personal preference. The point: if you're a fan of McGuire's work, you definitely need to check this out. If you're a fan of futuristic fiction, you should check this out. Fans of zombies in general may be a little put out, but I still think the book is worth reading just to see how society survives and keeps functioning long after a zombie uprising.
Review style: There's so much to discuss! We'll discuss the future of blogging and how it butts heads with traditional media (yes, this applies to a zombie book), as well as how contemporary issues and pop culture are so at home in this book. Also, a distinct look at the heroine and how she runs circles around October Daye of McGuire's urban fantasy series. Also, I want to discuss the weird feeling I had while reading, that this book is more YA than not, even though the protagonists aren't teens. Spoilers, absolutely. I can't talk about this book without discussing the things that hit me the hardest, so please DO NOT READ THE FULL REVIEW if you haven't yet read this book. Trust me, you'll thank me later. The full review is linked to my journal below, so if you HAVE read the book, hop on over! As always, comments and discussion are most welcome!
Kill the Dead (2010) Written by: Richard Kadrey Genre: Urban/Dark Fantasy Pages: 434 (Hardcover) Series: Book Two (ongoing?)
The premise: ganked from publisher's website: James Stark, a.k.a. Sandman Slim, crawled out of Hell, took bloody revenge for his girlfriend's murder, and saved the world along the way. After that, what do you do for an encore? You take a lousy job tracking down monsters for money. It's a depressing gig, but it pays for your beer and cigarettes. But in L.A., things can always get worse.
Like when Lucifer comes to town to supervise his movie biography and drafts Stark as his bodyguard. Sandman Slim has to swim with the human and inhuman sharks of L.A.'s underground power elite. That's before the murders start. And before he runs into the Czech porn star who isn't quite what she seems. Even before all those murdered people start coming back from the dead and join a zombie army that will change our world and Stark's forever.
Death bites. Life is worse. All things considered, Hell's not looking so bad.
Worth the Cash: to those fans who enjoyed the first, Sandman Slim. I don't recommend reading Kill the Dead without the first book under your belt though. There's too many off-handed comments made referencing the first book and it's world-building that don't get explained, so if you haven't read said first book, you're going to be a bit lost and a lot grumpy. But it's an enjoyable sequel, and I'll be happy to pick up the next in the series, whatever and whenever that might be.
If you're interested in the first book, Sandman Slim, check out Free Fridays at Barnes & Noble's book club. You can click here for a free electronic copy, which also includes an excerpt to Kill the Dead. Can't get much better than that, can it?
Review style: There's actually not a whole lot I want to talk about, save for comparing this to the current urban fantasy trend (aka, Buffy-Lit) and why this is a breath of fresh air for some urban fantasy readers. I'll talk about how this works as a sequel, and then nitpick a few issues. Oh, and zombies. We'll talk zombies. No spoilers, so feel free to read the full review at my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)
The Sandman (1989-1996) Issues 1-75 Written by: Neil Gaiman Cover Art: Dave McKean Illustrated by: Various
The premise: Given the nature of the series, I'm not going to attempt to provide a summary. However, Neil Gaiman has a fabulous quote summing the whole thing up, so I'll provide THAT to you instead: The Lord of Dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision.
Must Have: If you're already a Neil Gaiman fan, what exactly are you waiting for? If you haven't read this, run, don't walk, to your nearest bookseller and get the whole series. Sure, it's a different reading experience than American Gods or Coraline, but just because it's a comic book doesn't make it any less important. I still maintain that you cannot call yourself a TRUE Neil Gaiman fan if you haven't yet read The Sandman (and that's not saying that because I have read The Sandman, I am a true fan--I like his work, but he's not a must-author for me).
If you're a reader of comics and graphic novels, then by all means, give this a shot. Note that there will be DC Universe cameos at the start of the series, but all of that DC Universeness fades as the series goes on, with one notable but very important exception. But definitely, get your hands on this. It's just as important, IMHO, as Watchmen and just as epic (but in a COMPLETELY different way) as Preacher. This is a classic, and besides, the issue "A Midsummer Night's Dream" won a World Fantasy Award. How can you say no to that?
Lastly, if you haven't read Gaiman before and you're a casual to non-reader of comics, I offer this advice: it's your call. My first experience with Gaiman was American Gods, and that gave me enough credit to be willing to read this series even if I never read another Gaiman novel or short story as long as I lived. But where you start is up to you, and your comfort level in reading graphic novels. But I will say this: if you're a fan of the types of epic stories that history and mythology can create, then you need to sit down and give this a shot. I think the story itself is a MUST, but how you experience it and in what edition is entirely up to you.
That said: I will happily re-read this series one day. It's one of those that once you get to the end, you want to go back and look for all of the little details you missed. And that, frankly, is simply enjoyable.
Review style: even if I wasn't trying to avoid spoilers, there's no way in HELL I'd spoil this series for you. Instead, I want to talk about the reading experience, offer advice on HOW to read the series, discuss the art and the problem of having multiple artists between story arcs. We'll talk about what makes it epic as well as why Gaiman's of multiple, various, and competing mythologies simply works in this series. I'll discuss the story itself in the most vague, generic way possible, so have no fear. :) I'll also provide a list of available editions and the appropriate order, because this is one series that's necessary to read in order.
So, if you'd like the full review, please click below to go to my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)
Horns (2010) Written by: Joe Hill Genre: Horror Pages: 368 (Hardcover)
The premise: ganked from BN.com: Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples. At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real. Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.
But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . . Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge. . . . It's time the devil had his due. . . .
Worth the Cash: I keep debating on whether or not this is a good novel for Joe Hill newbies to start out with. On one hand, it's not quite as relentless: it has moments of dry, demented humor, a love story that's worth watching, and a cleaner ending than Heart-Shaped Box. On the other hand, Heart-Shaped Box is so relentless starting out that it's hard to pull away, and the story that unfolds is really compelling. The ending is a bit abrupt there, though, so I think that if you want to read Joe Hill, but you don't want to start with his short stories (20th Century Ghosts), or his comics (Locke & Key), then Hills is the place to start. I think I liked it a wee bit better than Heart-Shaped Box, but truth be told, I've reached the biased point when it comes to Hill as author: I'll read anything he writes, and it'll take something REALLY bad before I'm unhappy with his work. But this isn't bad! It's good! It's both similar and different to HSB, and I think fans of Hill should be pleased, especially in regards to the characterization. And, of course, the joy of the horns themselves. I love some of the commentary in this book, but fair warning: it may not be for everyone.
Review style: I'm aiming for no spoilers, so let's see: we'll discuss the humor of the book, without spoilers, why I liken this to magical realism (it's not a very strong argument), as well as how the use of flashbacks help rather than hurt the book, and then play devil's advocate and do the opposite: explain how the flashbacks hurt instead of help. I also make a sorry attempt to compare this technique to a symphony and a progressive metal concert. ;) And there's not much else to talk about here short of getting into those pesky spoilers, so let's leave it at that, shall we? Feel free to read the full review over at my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)
I (finally!) updated my website. Sorry I was lax on this, no excuse. Mea culpa.
But I've got lots of new stuff on there, new links for writers, some new editorials, and a brand new sample story "Sailing Through Changpi" which was first published by Continuum SF in 2004. Hope you like it! :)
anxious