Reviews!

Hello!

Right, time for some reviews.

What, thought I'd do some kind of comic introduction? What sort of person do you think I am? I am a blogging professional. I'm 100% business, me. Bam! I blog that shiz, right there.

Ahem.

Right, so Theresa Derwin at Terror Tree has had some very nice things to say about Ben Macallan's Desdaemona, whose mix of dry wit and ass-kicking has clearly appealed to her.

I have no doubt that there will be a follow up to this novel. Apart from plenty of shocks and incredibly strong main characters in both Jordan and Desi, sharp humour abounds in this book and brings it to a whole new dimension of Urban Fantasy. Witty, intelligent and fast-paced, Desdaemona is positively the most fun read I have had in a very long time.

And Graeme at Graeme's Fantasy Book Reviews has been equally pleased with Gary McMahon's The Concrete Grove, which slightly foiled his plans of a week of "comfort reads."

It goes without saying that if you are squeamish at all then this is probably a book that you should avoid. McMahon doesn’t pull his punches at all and this shows us all too well that perhaps the true horror in this piece lies in just what us humans can be capable of if we want something enough. It’s not pretty... It’s a vicious read with a delicate beauty about it; if you like your horror fiction then I don’t see any reason why you won’t get a lot out of this.

Finally, Michael Wilson at Read Horror has shared his thoughts on last year's horror anthology, Jonathan Oliver's The End of the Line, which he feels captures not just the atmosphere of the subject matter, but the gamut of the horror medium to boot.

Well worth dipping into, boasting a plethora of original, humorous, and horrific tales. Whilst I have been unable to detail the entire magnificence of the roster on show, The End of The Line comes fully recommended. This collection contains stories that will terrify you with vivid realism, move you, deliver more than a healthy dose of spiritual eeriness and bring you face to face with loss. Both horror and The End of The Line can offer more than jump out of your seat shocks, read this and prepare for enlightenment.

Sweet.

Cheers,

David

Review Backlog: Engineering Infinity

Wotcher,

As I mentioned here and here, I keep a folder in my email inbox for any book-reviews we hear about in the course of our work; it's from here that I populate the links in my incredibly popular "Reviewspam" feature. And with the very busy spell that I've already mentioned, this folder has ended up very crowded.

This is the third review backlog for today - and most likely the last, for the time being - and is for Jonathan Strahan's excellent hard-SF anthology Engineering Infinity.

Quite apart from the positively glowing review in the San Francisco book review, which Jenni has already posted, this has been getting some pretty exceptional love, which is always nice to see...

Guy Haley over at SFX gave it a pretty rare five stars:

"If you’re au fait with the periodic table, the murkier parts of quantum physics and biochemistry you’ll lap it all up. We lesser mortals can still enjoy the skill on display, and revel in those stories that speak to both head and heart."

Total Sci-Fi Online's Paul Simpson, meanwhile, gave it eight out of ten, writing:

"A new collection of 'hard SF' is far more wide-ranging than might first appear."

Gareth at Falcata Times was also clearly impressed by the collection:

"Each individual tale brings a whole host of talent to the fore as well as bringing some great storytelling alongside great prose. It’s a serious piece of fiction and one that deserves a lot of readers attention whilst allowing readers to try people new as well as a chance to get involved in the harder edge of the genre."

The Hi-Ex! Blog's reviewer actually found his assumptions about his reading tastes shaken:

"Reading this collect has got me re-evaluating what I think of as Hard Sci-fi. There are tales in here that I wouldn’t have classed as such - but on reflection, of course they are... I can honestly say that almost every tale hit the mark for me."

A similar admiration for Strahan's range is found in The Guardian:

"What's refreshing about this volume is the editor's broad take on what constitutes Hard SF, from stories so hard as to be impenetrable to the more humanistic."

We're going to choose to read "so hard as to be impenetrable" as a meaning "in a good way," in this context, since he seems to be pleased with the result.

Cheers,

David

Review Backlog: Age of Odin

Hi all,

Having been a bit slack posting (while being frantically industrious editing, I should hastily add) - although Jenni (no less busy editing) has been a bit better at giving you something to read - I have inevitably wound up with a buttload of emails in my inbox about reviews that have appeared on the internet that I have not yet posted to the blog.

So, rather than spam with you with all of them at once, or even try to get through them in order, I thought I would give them by title.

First, James Lovegrove's New York Times Best Selling The Age of Odin. As well as being a hit on the bookshelves, the third in the Pantheon cycle has enjoyed a warm critical reception, from reviewers who have found themselves enjoying the mix of summer blockbuster and subversive SF.

Geek Chocolate's Kevin Gilmartin was clearly blown away, insisting that he will be urgently snapping up the previous two books:

"The Age of Odin had me chuckling throughout and, on more than one occasion, out-loud laughing. Lovegrove pokes the ribs of anyone and everyone. Mortals, gods, Scottish, English, Irish, American, Army, RAF... well, you get the idea. Nobody is safe from Gid Coxall and comrades' barracks-honed wit."

The Hi-Ex! Blog also very much enjoyed the book:

"It’s what I imagine the result would be if Neil Gamian and Tom Clancy wrote a book together - in a good way!"

Curiously, Stephen Theaker at Theaker's Quarterly asked for The Age of Ra. I'm assuming, from his reaction, that he will be reading the other two shortly:

Let gods worry about the future; I'm looking forward to reading the sequels: The Age of Odin, and The Age of Zeus. How could they not be brilliant?

So that's good, then.

David

Reviewspam!

Wotcher all!

Hope you've all enjoyed "Blue Portal," the free ebook sample chapter from Eric Brown's upcoming The Kings of Eternity (if not, go now and read).

And now, some reviewspam.


Alice Wybrew at Total Sci-Fi Online has posted a very warm review of Paul Kearney's Corvus, awarding 8/10:

"Kearney’s effective mix of carnage and gut-wrenching moments mean you’ll be thinking about Corvus long after you’ve finished it."

Keith Harvey at Hub Magazine also included a detailed and very respectful review (warning - PDF) of Corvus:

"Corvus is a jewel of a novel and easily meets the challenge of the very successful The Ten Thousand. It feels very much like a Gemmell novel but... harder, sharper, and tighter."

Patrick Mahon at SF Crow's Nest was very impressed by Eric Brown's Engineman:

"I thoroughly enjoyed Engineman. Like most of Brown’s stories, the SF plot and setting are used to explore the lives of a set of complex, three-dimensional characters."

So some good results, there. Glad to see.

David

End of the Line Reviews!

Hello Again!

Right, this gets a separate post because there are so damn many The End of the Line reviews, they'd drown out all the others.

Check em out:

Don D'Amassa has offered up a short but sweet review:

A couple of my favorite horror novels have involved subways and I even enjoyed the underground sequences in the movie Mimic. The stories involve a variety of unexpected characters and critters lurking therein. Several of them are genuinely creepy and evoke claustrophobic terror.

Paul Simpson at Total Sci-Fi Online has this to say:

There's something for most horror tastes, from the explicitly graphic to the more subtle. More than one story starts in one direction then takes a sharp left into more unusual territory... while some play with familiar tropes from a different genre.

Masco Guslandi at Horror World seems quite pleased with it (apparently, Horror World don't want people quoting their reviews, so I've not included a quote here).

Jason Baki at Kamvision seemed more pleased that not with it:

I love anthologies for the fact that they provide a great opportunity to discover new writers, and to see a different side to those whose work I already enjoy. This collection has a great premise and it's really interesting to see how the authors have interpreted it... The end of the line? I suspect this is just the beginning for an exciting new collection of themed horror anthologies from publisher Solaris.

SFX Magazine's January issue (#203) is going to include a four-and-a-half star review by Jes Bickham:

The End of the Line is a pleasingly atmospheric anthology, one that fans of original horror will find studded with darkly glittering jewels.

And we gather Lisa Tuttle is going to include a review in The Times, sometime in the next few Saturdays. We haven't seen the review yet, but she seems to like it; says she expects it to appear in a host of "best anthology of the year" lists...

Looking forward to seeing you all tonight at Foyles!

David

Reviewspam, spam, spam, spam...

Wotcher!

Right, some reviewery.

Niall Alexander at the Speculative Scotsman simply loves the new edition of Eric Brown's Engineman:

Engineman is an elegy of addiction, at its core, a lyrical and indelibly persuasive fable of one man's hunger for something greater, something more. And it is that rare - not to mention precious - thing in science fiction: a cracking good story over and above an account of awesome future tech.

Liviu at the Fantasy Book Critic site is similarly effusive about Paul Kearney's Corvus:

A page turner that will keep you hooked until the end... we somehow want both sides to win. Corvus (A+) delivered what I expected of it with brio and reinforced the standing of Paul Kearney as a master of military fantasy.

Brian Sammons, of the Innsmouth Free Press, has offered up a review of Ellen Datlow's multiple-award-winning Poe as part of Poe Week:

Poe-heads rejoice! Poe is usually used as a starting-off point, a place to give some Poe flavor or theme, but then the stories usually go off on their merry way in a wide range of directions... consider this one highly recommended by me.

Schweeeet.

Please do go and read the reviews and give these kids your love.

Cheers,

David

Yet More Reviewspam...

Wotcher,

Bit of an unscheduled Reviewspam update, since you only had one a day or so ago, but a bunch of new reviews have landed on my lap.

First off, Angus over at Fantasy Literature gives five stars to Paul Kearney's Hawkwood and the Kings.

"Kearney’s battle scenes are the best I have ever read in fantasy, or even empirical history, and that includes the likes of Steven Erikson and George R.R. Martin... I strongly recommend readers of good epic fantasy everywhere to buy The Monarchies of God, now."

Angus then goes on to give four and a half stars to the second half of the Monarchies of God series, Century of the Soldier.

"A familiar story about the human condition that is freshly executed... Kearney’s battles are vivid, intense, alive, brutal, and bloody... The political drama is quick, intelligent and exciting."

And then Mark Chitty over at Walker of Worlds gives Eric Brown's Engineman nine out of ten.

"All in all I would highly recommend Engineman - it's got great characters, great tech and a wonderful story that is nicely wrapped up at the end. It's also the sort of sci-fi that doesn't throw the science in your face and uses it as a background detail to tell the story rather than depending on it. Another favourite of mine!"

Many thanks,

David

Never have so many , owed so much Reviewspam, to so few

Just some quickies.

Cathy Green over at SFRevu has written a very thoughtful review of Shine:

"Bad things happen to people and circumstances are hardly ideal, but most feature people in less than ideal situations working to make the best of less than ideal situations on both large and small scales and mostly succeeding."

Tyson and Yagiz over at the Speculative Book Review have both reviewed The King's Bastard:

"By the end of The King's Bastard I was ready for more. Even though Solaris has plans to release the trilogy in consecutive months, it is a long time to wait for what just might be one of my favorite books of the year. It is definitely one of the strongest debuts of the year."

Finally, Kerl at UN:BOUND has reviewed The Usurper:

"The Usurper makes a truly great read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!"

So that's nice.

Reviews of The Monarchies of God

Hey all,

This is a bit of a one-off Reviewspam Special, but it's not often you get this kind of feedback, so I thought I'd blog about this individually.

Yagiz Erkan, over at the Speculative Book Review, has just given us these two kickass reviews of Paul Kearney's The Monarchies of God Volume 1: Hawkwood and the Kings (click here for the review) and The Monarchies of God Volume 2: Century of the Soldier (click here for the review).

And the dude's given Paul ten out of ten each time!

So check out his reviews, and if he persuades you, check out the books...

David

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Reviewspam Creeps In This Petty Pace

Slightly laboured title? I apologise.

Anyway, we have another plethora of reviews and bumf for you today. So hold tightly to your seats...

• Eric Brown at The Guardian has written these great reviews of Age of Zeus...
  
  "This is the kind of complex, action-oriented SF Dan Brown would write if Dan Brown could write."
  
  ...and Shine.
  
  "It's a bold attempt to counter the prevailing gloom of much current SF."
  
  
• TTA Press's Interzone 228 also includes reviews of both books (not on the site; you'll have to pick up the magazine):
  
  "Lovegrove has fun with his premise, and he's not afraid to get in a few digs at the real world."
  
  "If there's a stand of optimism that links the best stories in the collection is is something to do with human imagination, inventiveness and perseverance."
  
  
• Jim Dodge Jnr. at Mass Movement Magazine offers this glowing review of Justin Gustainis' Evil Ways:
  
  "Just be ready to have a Hell of a good time!"
  
  
• Neale Monks at SF Crow's Nest posted this very warm review of Brian Lumley's The Lost Years: Harry and the Pirates...
  
  "...should appeal to both Lumley fans and those who simply enjoy well-written horror fiction."
  
  
• ...while his colleague Patrick Mahon follows up on his previous review of Eric Brown's Necropath with this review of Xenopath.
  
  "Jeff Vaughan's new-found optimism is a convincingly drawn testament to the transformative power of love and makes this a fundamentally uplifting book to read. "
  
  
• Joshua Hill at the Fantasy Book Review gives a positively gushing account of Paul Kearney's The Ten Thousand:
  
  "Kearney captures all the best parts of fantasy – the young nobodies destined for glory, the gathering of a team, mercenaries, and exotic races and places – and combines them together with grit and realism and enough blood to drown a horse."
  
  
• SFX Magazine's summer 2010 issue 197 (again, you'll have to pick it up) includes a decent review of Ian Whates' The Noise Within.
  
  "Whates has crafted a thoroughly entertaining space opera, set in a universe brimming with humans, AIs and, just maybe, something alien."

So dig 'em up and check 'em out.

Cheers,

David

Goedel, Escher, Reviewspam

Wotcher chaps,

Slight hiatus on sarcasm and funnay here as we have been embroiled in book stuff. Will be making time as soon as opportunity gives to provide you with some kick-ass wurdz (see, if you spell it with a Z it's "edgy") soon.

In the meantime, some reviews:

• Jonathan Cowie at The Science Fact and Science Fiction Concatenation has given us this slightly mixed review of Eric Brown's Cosmopath.
  
  "As is typical with Brown's novels, we are off at a cracking pace almost from page one."
  
  
• Jonathan also gives us this very kind review of Jeste de Vries's Shine.
  
  "This anthology, in its way, markedly stands out from the crowd."
  
  
• Ian Hunter at the Concatenation gives us this very warm review of Justin Gustainis's Evil Ways.
  
  "A tough, fast, gripping read."
  
  
• The wonderful Jared at Pornokitsch gives us this gleeful appraisal of James Lovegrove's Age of Zeus.
  
  "The Age of Zeus is fun, entertaining and endlessly explosive."
  
  
• Liviu Suciu at Fantasy Book Critic also seems to have enjoyed Age of Zeus.
  
  "And the action is just unbelievably good."
  
  
• Liviu, meanwhile, gives a slightly more moderate review of Shine.
  
  "Shine starts with a bang with six stories that I enjoyed a lot and could not stop reading."
  
  
• Martin Willoughby at Hub Magazine has provided this review (at time of writing, you will need to download the PDF of issue 118, although it'll go fully online shortly) of Brian Lumley's The Lost Years: Harry and the Pirates.
  
  "The book is not something you want to read late at night if, like me, you are prone to nightmares!"
  
  
• Detra Fitch at Huntress Reviews seems to have been all over Shine.
  
  "5 Stars! So possible that it makes me shiver in fear for the future. Outstanding!"
  
  
• ...and was at least as happy (you'll need to scroll down a bit) about Age of Zeus.
  
  "FIVE STARS! A brilliant combination of modern warfare and Greek mythology.... Lovegrove is on his way to greatness."
  
  
• I think we need to take Detra on staff. She also loved the hell out of (again, you'll need to scroll down) all four of Gail Z. Martin's Chronicles of the Necromancer stories, including Dark Lady's Chosen.
  
  "FIVE STARS! Every time I pick up a novel by Gail Z. Martin, she takes my breath away!"

Phew. Big one there. Do give our reviewers some love by reading their posts.

Cheers,

David