Archive for Reviews

An Embarrassment of Riches

Charlie Huston

Charlie Huston
(photo: Karin Kohlberg)

I’ve just been looking through the fourth issue of Death Ray, which, it’s pleasing to report, is full of nice things.

First up is a terrific interview with Charlie Huston, talking about his Joe Pitt books, his thrillers and his work for Marvel Comics on Moon Knight. Later in the issue, there’s a fantastic review of the new Joe Pitt book, No Dominion:

Bloody great . . . brilliantly rendered . . . The dialogue is exquisite, pared-down and telling you as much by what’s not said as by what is . . . it’s deceptively simple; there’s actually loads going on here, with relationships deepened, politics furthered, events put into motion and firmer shape given to the overall arc of the series . . . the result is a thrilling read that you’ll want to gulp down in a single draft.

Terry Brooks

Terry Brooks
(photo: Judine Brooks)

Fifty pages later, there’s a flagship feature on Terry Brooks — there’s an extremely expansive interview, touching on all aspects of his work; a selection of eight of his best books with accompanying reviews; and an interview with literary agent John Jarrold, who has published Terry at various stages in his career and outlines Terry’s enduring appeal and the enormous influence his work has had on the genre. The piece concludes:

Whether it’s his affable style, his prodigious capacity to feed his fans with new books, or the simple fact that he can spin a fine yarn is unimportant: Terry Brooks remains one of the most successful fantasy writers ever, and probably will remain so for many years to come.

The first volume in Terry’s new series The Genesis of Shannara, Armageddon’s Children is out now in paperback, and Terry will be touring the UK in September to promote his new title The Elves of Cintra — watch this space for details!

Another Convert to the Electric Church

The Electrich Church CoverJohn at SFsignal posts a great review of The Electric Church by Jeff Somers, giving the book 4.5 out of 5 stars and writing in summary:

PROS: Excellent pacing; well-written action sequences; fun characters; dark setting.
CONS: There’s something remarkably unsettling about passionately rooting for the killers and thieves.
BOTTOM LINE: A first-rate piece of science fiction entertainment.

You can read the full review at SFsignal.com. The monks of the Electric Church will be in bookstores this September. In the meantime, keep an eye on the official site. It’s just a splash page now, but we hear they are building something in there…

Already Dead in Shivers

Already Dead by Charlie HustonThe latest issue of Shivers has a great review of Already Dead, the first book in Charlie Huston’s series of noir thrillers starring undead PI Joe Pitt:

Huston has taken the basics of the vampire mythos and produced a very well crafted tale . . . [His] telling of the tale through the world-weary eyes of a vampire is what sets the book apart. It’s a great read and drags you kicking and screaming through the action . . . There are blood and guts and action and violence and even some pondering on the nature of life and love. I really enjoyed Already Dead and it’s well worth seeking out.

The second Joe Pitt novel, No Dominion, is also out now &#8212 and a third, entitled Half the Blood of Brooklyn, will be published by Orbit UK in early 2008.

Starred Review for Orbit US Debut

Winterbirth book jacketThe first (of many, we hope!) Starred Reviews from Publishers Weekly in the US has just arrived and it’s for Brian Ruckley’s Winterbirth. In their own words, it’s an “outstanding fantasy debut … ensuring a fervent audience of epic fantasy fans looking for something innovative in a genre that can be anything but.” Scroll down the page here to read the full review.

(I’m not sure, btw, whether the fantasy genre as a whole is any more or any less innovative than other genres — answers on a postcard, please — but it’s great to see a reviewer recognizing that Brian Ruckley is a writer with his own distinctive voice.)

Meanwhile, in another lovely pre-publication notice in the US, Kirkus Reviews describe Winterbirth as “epic fantasy in the mode of George R.R. Martin and R. Scott Bakker . . . readers who like their fantasy dark, multi-threaded and political will sink their teeth into this.”

To read an extract from Winterbirth, visit www.brianruckley.com

Chaos Theory

Dark Space by Marianne de PierresHot on the heels of the publication of Dark Space, Marianne de Pierres has decided on a title for the second book in the Sentients of Orion series: Chaos Space. With chaos theory at the heart of her new space opera, it’s an elegant and appropriate title, and we can’t believe it never occurred to us before.

But let’s not forget about book one! Dark Space continues to draw rave reviews from all corners of the SF world. Like these, for instance, at SFF World and Specusphere, not to mention this interview, also at SFF World.

Saturn Returns is in The Bookbag

Saturn Returns by Sean WilliamsSean Williams’ fantastic new space opera, Saturn Returns, is garnering lots of well-deserved attention, from being Waterstone’s SF Bookseller’s Choice this month to this 4-star, out-of-this-world review in The Bookbag: “It’s part detective story and part examination of the nature of identity and people’s relations to each other — between individuals, and between an individual and larger parts of society . . . it’s well written and brought off neatly enough to keep the reader’s interest, and there’s enough mystery to keep you hooked — and there’s really only one central question: Who is Imre Bergamasc and what’s his story?”

You can read the full review here.

Link Roundup

Blogger Graeme Flory has just reviewed Fiona McIntosh’s Odalisque, which Orbit UK publishes this month. He says of it: “I found myself racing through the book to find out how it ended and now I want to read more. McIntosh has created a cast of characters that get under your skin and stay there; relationships are vividly drawn and made this reader want to work through to their conclusions.” You can read the rest of his review here, and there’s also a competition to win one of ten signed copies.

Micro-blogging tool Twitter seems to be the web application everyone’s talking about at the moment. If you’re using it, you can follow updates to this site through our Twitter page.

Finally, Orbit readers in South Africa may be interested in the Fantasy Feast, a special promotion being run through August and September at the Reader’s Paradise bookshop in Cape Town.

Saturn Returns Review and Competition

Saturn Returns by Sean WilliamsThere’s a great review of Sean Williams’ Saturn Returns, recently published by Orbit UK, at Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review. Graeme concludes that it “ties up enough loose ends to give a satisfying sense of closure while leaving the broader plot strands to run on into later books . . . I think this will shape up to be one of the better sci-fi series that are out there.”

Graeme is also running a competition to win one of ten signed copies of the book — just visit his website for more details. But do hurry — entries need to be in by Monday 9 July.

Readers in the UK can find Saturn Returns in good bookshops, including Waterstone’s, where it’s being promoted as the SF Bookseller’s Choice for July.