Archive for Reviews

You need to know RULE 34

I feel like announcing this with some kind of roar or perhaps a drum roll as I’ve been waiting for this for so long and today is actually LAUNCH DAY! But as we’re open plan and I’m highly unmusical I’ll let this do the job …

Charles Stross’s Rule 34 (UK | ANZ) is many amazing things. It’s a fast-paced Edinburgh-based crime novel set a few years into the future. It also displays lashings of Charles Stross’s wry humour and I enjoyed more than a few winces and chuckle-out-loud moments. Another aspect I really enjoyed was Stross’s extrapolation of our current technology, where our usual gadgets have been moved on a step or three.  The BBC’s Click technology programme covered augmented reality just last month, but in Rule 34 it’s a useful, fully-fledged reality.

But perhaps most importantly, I found myself completely caught up in the colourful characters (a detective inspector, a young scalleywag called Anwar and a master criminal showing signs of psychosis known as the Toymaker). There’s not the space here to revel in the bizarre crimes DI Liz Kavanaugh has to investigate (domestic appliances in unlikely places …), or talk about the highly suspicious Eastern European bread-mix young Anwar is peddling. But you can sample for yourselves by reading this plot summary or by enjoying chapter one here. (more…)

THEORIES OF FLIGHT: Prepare . . .

Theories of Flight, Book 2 in Simon Morden’s explosive Metrozone series is now at large worldwide.

Prepare for more explosions. Prepare for more smart-ass foul-mouthing from Petrovitch. And prepare for more from the New Machine Jihad.

And just in case you’ve been wondering what people have been saying about the series . . .

‘A fast-paced thriller . . . an absorbing read’ TELEGRAPH

‘Speeds along with energetic panache’ THE TIMES

‘Morden keeps up a breathless breakneck pace that doesn’t sacrifice character depth or intelligence . . . promises to be a fast-paced thrill ride for the cynical urban space cowboy in all of us’ i09

‘Petrovitch is one of those characters you can’t help but warm to, and readers will be eager to experience more of his adventures and his relentless Russian swearing’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘The action is relentless and Morden has a natural talent for a plot that keeps the reader guessing’ GUARDIAN

‘A fantastic piece of work – a roller-coaster ride through a post-plague hit London that made me think of Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon colliding head on with Gibson’s Neuromancer, whilst side-swiping Stephenson’s Snowcrash. I absolutely loved it!’ SFREVU

‘A heart-stopping onslaught of science and action for much of its perfectly judged duration, paced like a runaway train, and Morden handles the fireworks with a steady hand . . . truly exhilarating stuff’ THE SPECULATIVE SCOTSMAN

(more…)

You should be reading Kate Griffin.

I don’t have as much time for reading as I used to, these days. Day jobs and deadlines aren’t exactly conducive to being well-read, even though the folks at Orbit keep me nicely supplied whenever I do my periodic “Hi guys how’s the kids here’s a manuscript by the way any new books OK don’t mind if I do mooch a few” visits to their HQ in midtown. But despite my disconnection from the new/hot/now book scene, there are a few books and series for which I will stop, drop everything, and read myself blind. One such series is Kate Griffin’s Matthew Swift novels, of which the third, The Neon Court, is out now.

Whenever I try to browbeat others into reading these books, I’ve been using “the Dresden Files if written by Neil Gaiman” as my pitch — but frankly that’s doing a disservice to the Dresden Files, Gaiman, and Griffin all at once. The setup is similar to that of the Dresden books on the surface: each book chronicles the adventures of a much put-upon modern magician just trying to go about his life in an urban setting. The urban setting in this case is London rather than Chicago, and the magician in question is not a wizard, but an urban sorcerer. There are wizards too in Griffin’s world, note — and warlocks, and prophets, and the kinds of magic users who can’t be described because they don’t fit neatly into any recognizable paradigm. But amid this wildly diverse set of magically-gifted (and sometimes -cursed) people, urban sorcerers stand out because their power comes, to put it simply, from their love of city life. Urban sorcerers can’t sit still during rush hour. They feel its surge and ebb in their blood, far more powerfully than any natural rhythms. They talk to pigeons, weave spells out of the fine print on subway tickets, read portents in graffiti. And though their ancestors include druids and shamans and all the natural magic users made famous by history and fantasy, these days they become powerless in the green boondocks beyond a city’s exurbs. The life they need, to thrive, is of a grittier, wilder sort. (more…)

THE HAMMER has hit the mark

It’s great to see that others share our extremely high opinion of K. J. Parker’s The Hammer (UK I US I ANZ) which has been getting some fantastic reviews below. K. J. tells a mean tale of justice, betrayal and how far a man will go for his cause. Gritty, tense, fabulously written and you can see for yourselves in our free extract.

Or take a look at what these people of good taste have to say …

This fantasy is less about wizards (of which there are none) and more about morality, family and notions of justice and duty … the small size of the stage makes the enormity of Gignomai’s actions all the more powerful’ SFX

“As a big fan of the author’s work, I had the highest expectations for The Hammer … it was as good as I expected and it’s an early candidate for my best of 2011″ SFFWorld.com

“The dark humor and superb style of the author are on display continually through the novel, while the twists, turns, jaw dropping moments characteristic of a K. J. Parker novel materialize often” FantasyBookCritic blog

“A story with guts, glory and above all else a principle character facing not only personal dilemmas but also overcoming the odds to succeed …  definitely beautifully written” The Falcata Times blog

“The Hammer is vintage Parker – a fascination with, and a central role for, made objects like swords and guns, a revenge plot carried out with clear-eyed viciousness … in a book steeped in moral ambiguity and the complex thought processes of realistic, not fantastical, characters” Bookgeeks.co.uk

BLONDE BOMBSHELL – landing near you now

There is a fizzingly funny, cosmically comic new Tom Holt book available now! This is the UK paperback edition of Blonde Bombshell (UK | US), a heart-warming tale of Armageddon, and you can get a free extract. Looks like reviewers prefer blondes too, as we’ve had a huge amount of praise for this bombshell:

A pacy romp with some beautifully executed set pieces’ Guardian
‘A comic SF caper reminiscent of Terry Pratchett’ Independent on Sunday
‘One of the most ludicrously funny intergalactic shaggy dog stories ever told’
Daily Express
‘From a very clever author, with some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments’
News of the World
‘A nifty comic read, fizzing with one-liners … enjoyably deranged’ SFX
‘Exceptionally well-written’ SciFi Now

You can also play our highly addictive ‘Blondesweeper’ game. A little healthy competition on the scoreboard would be good for our in-house champions  … make them work for their glory!

The Windup Girl: SF at its very best

The winner of an extraordinary five of 2010’s major international SF awards, and named by Time Magazine as one of the top ten novels of the year, The Windup Girl has garnered Paolo Bacigalupi incredible critical acclaim since UK publication in December:

‘The Windup Girl embodies what SF does best of all: it remakes reality in compelling, absorbing and thought-provoking ways, and it lives on vividly in the mind’ – Guardian

‘Vigorous and compelling… the action scenes, related in taut, breathless prose, can be stunning.  Tremendous entertainment’ – Independent on Sunday

‘Pitch-perfect writing… It’s science-fiction as warnings of the future, as social commentary, and as just bloody good storytelling… SF at its very best’ – SFX

‘Deserves all of the critical adulation already heaped upon it… one of the finest SF books we’ve read’ – SciFi Now

‘One of the best debut novels of recent years’ – Salon Futura

International praise

‘Bacigalupi is a worthy successor to William Gibson: this is cyberpunk without computers’ – Time Magazine

‘Clearly one of the finest science fiction novels of the year’ – Publishers Weekly

‘An exciting story about industrial espionage, civil war, and political struggle, filled with heart-thudding action sequences, sordid sex, and enough technical speculation for two lesser novels’ Cory Doctorow

‘It’s ridiculous how good this book is’ Techland

‘Postmodern Bangkok springs to life in Bacigalupi’s brilliant dystopian tale of culture clash, recalling the best of China Mieville and Neal Stephenson’ Library Journal

Conjures up Venice so vividly you can almost smell it…

Jon Courtenay Grimwood‘s latest novel hits the shelves today, and marks a major change of genre for the critically acclaimed science fiction author.  The Fallen Blade is a meticulously researched and extremely compelling fantasy thriller, set in an alternate 15th century Venice – a city in the grip of corrupt politics, a decadent age, and under threat from a mysterious assassin… 

So far the consensus is that Jon definitely hasn’t lost his touch, and that this is not your average vampire novel!

‘A fantastic evocation of Renaissance Venice, both the atmosphere and architecture of the city, the beauty of the culture it gave birth to and the merciless, brutally violent and Machiavellian politics that ran alongside it … Grimwood has made [a] fusion of genre energy and literary depth his calling card.’ – Damien G. Walter, Guardian Online

‘Conjures up Venice so vividly you can almost smell it… Impressive, but not nearly so impressive as the way Grimwood draws Tycho, essentially a vampire teenager subject to fierce emotion because he doesn’t even realise yet that he craves blood.  He’s a figure both frightening and yet also, at different moments, pitiable and even downright noble…  Reinventing the Vampire myth. Never, ever let it be said that Jon Courtenay Grimwood lacks for ambition.’ – Jonathan Wright, SFX 

‘Sick to death of vampires?  Take heed, because Grimwood’s take on the subject is leagues away from your average fangbanger… The writing is elegant, the dialogue is sharp, the characters economically but well drawn, the action unrelenting, and the story moves – to pardon a phrase – like shit off a shovel…  Hits all the right notes.’  – Alastair Reynolds, SciFi Now

‘It’s too early to start dealing in hyperbole about fantasy books of the year, so let’s just say this one is a very good start.  It’s a novel you can gorge yourself on; a fast-paced, swashbuckling adventure of the old school, full of fire and brimstone thrills and rich flavours.  Yet, unlike many such page-turners, it doesn’t leave a bad aftertaste.  Rather, it leaves plenty to ponder… I’d recommend this book to anyone.’ – Sam Jordison, Salon Futura

Events

Signing at Forbidden Planet, London this evening (Thurs 3rd Feb) with Kate Griffin, 6pm

SFX Weekender – various panels and signing, Sat 5th Feb

Discussion event at the London School of Economics with Ken MacLeod, Thurs Sat 17th Feb

 

Triple Honors for HULL ZERO THREE

Greg Bear’s HULL ZERO THREE is the talk of the web this morning.

First off, Paul DiFilippo at The Speculator at the Barnes & Noble Review, discussing the types of science fiction represented in 2010, selects HULL as exemplary of Hardcore SF, noting that “Greg Bear is one contemporary master of the old ways, and in Hull Zero Three he gives the generation starship theme—crystallized beautifully by Robert Heinlein in 1941’s ‘Universe’—a vigorous makeover.”

At NPR.org, Glen Weldon picks HULL as one of 2010’s Most Transporting Books, noting that “Bear is a pro who knows his way around a starship’s bulkhead and keeps the narrative taut and suspenseful. Importantly, he leavens his hero’s grim steel-and-space ordeal with flashes of lyrical language and imagery.”

And last but far from least, iTunes/iBooks has chosen HULL as one of its Best Science Fiction & Fantasy titles of the year.

Congratulations Greg! And if you haven’t yet read HULL ZERO THREE (or given it as a Holiday gift), well…

THE WINDUP GIRL – unleashed today in print

We are very excited to announce that the print edition of The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi hits retailers in the UK today, fabulously garbed in it’s wonderful cover as seen in this spiral of windup-ness here …

We released the book in ebook form prior to the print edition, so those of you teched up with e-devices might already have had the pleasure, but it was very exciting to see the print edition enter the office still cold from the warehouse. Not sure what kind of preservation method they use on them there. You can get a FREE EXTRACT here, and in case this multiple award-winning book needs further introduction, here are just some of the highlights below:

Time Magazine named The Windup Girl as one of its ten best novels of the year

The book has also won five of 2010’s major international SF awards: the Hugo (as covered in the Guardian here), Nebula, Locus, Compton Crook Award and John W. Campbell Memorial Award

‘Bacigalupi is a worthy successor to William Gibson: this is cyberpunk without computers’ Time Magazine

‘Not since William Gibson’s pioneering cyberpunk classic, Neuromancer (1984), has a first novel excited science fiction readers as much’ The Washington Post

‘Heart-thudding action sequences, sordid sex, and enough technical speculation for two lesser novels’ Cory Doctorow

‘One of the finest SF novels of the year’ Publishers Weekly

‘It’s ridiculous how good this book is’ Techland

Praise for N.K. Jemisin’s THE BROKEN KINGDOMS

In the wake of her earlier novel, THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, being selected as one of the top five sf/f novels of 2010 by Publishers Weekly and by Amazon as one of the top ten best sf/f novels for this year as well, praise for N.K. Jemisin’s newest novel, THE BROKEN KINGDOMS is now spreading across the web.

Today Charlie Jane Anders at io9.com calls it “a thought-provoking, haunting story” and observes that when it comes to narrative “the key is just to tell a great, exciting, engaging story that keeps you turning pages long past your bedtime. And Jemisin has definitely done that here.”

And, meanwhile, at Explorations, the Barnes & Noble Book Club sf/f blog, Paul Goat Allen wraps his review by noting that “those readers who are drawn to storylines featuring strong, heroic female characters – looking for a beautifully written and highly intelligent series should make it a point to seek out and read [THE BROKEN KINGDOMS and THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS]. These will be some of the very best fantasy novels you’ll read this year.”

We couldn’t agree more!