Out of the Garden and into my Library

Out of the Garden
Angeline Hawkes
Bad Moon Books
Trade Paper, 393 p., $20.00
ebook $3.99 Kindle  Nook

If you enjoy a good barbarian story, and who doesn't, then you might want to check out the latest from Angeline Hawkes.  While most of her recent work is in the field of horror, she makes the occasional foray into the realms of fantasy, often giving us another exploit of her barbarian character, Kabar of El Hazzar.  All the stories so far have been collected in this volume.

These are pseudohistorical fantasies that may or may not take place in our world.  Some of the references to historical places and peoples, such as Nineveh or Hebrews, would incline one to think so.  But then there are references to all sorts of places that never existed.

None of which is really relevant.  What is, is the answer to the question, are the stories entertaining?

Cover for Abercrombie's Red Country Released

Joe Abercrombie's next novel, Red Country, is due out in the UK from Gollancz on October 18 and in the US from Orbit on October 23.  I know what I'll be reading over the Thanksgiving break (unless I can score an ARC first).  Gollancz has released the UK cover.  That's it on the right.

From what I've been able to learn, it seems to be a Western in a fantasy setting, where a woman seeks revenge out on the frontier.




 Here's the wraparound cover:  








The US cover looks like this:

 Finally, if you're wondering what the book is about, here's the jacket copy: 

“They burned her home.
They stole her brother and sister.
But vengeance is following.
Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb’s buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried.
Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust…”

Donald E. Westlake Tribute Video

If you're a fan of Donald E. Westlake, you'll probably be interested in this video that James Reasoner has posted on his blog.  (And if you're not a fan of Westlake, why not?)  Although he started out in science fiction, he made his mark in mystery and crime writing.  I've only read a small portion of his work (the man was prolific), but I've never read a bad book by him, whether one of the comic caper novels or one of his darker crime novels, such as the Parker novels under the name Richard Stark.  Tomorrow would  have been his 79th birthday.  His final novel, The Comedy is Finished, was recently published by Hard Case Crime. 

Recommendations from the First Half of 2012

There have been a lot of lists posted or published, depending on the format, in the last few weeks, claiming to enumerate the best books/stories/graphic novels/dirty limericks/ransom notes/whathaveyou from the first half of 2102.  To which, I say, yeah, right.  Unless these lists were compiled by committee, no one person could have read enough novels to say their list is the best.  And if the list were put together by committee, well, we all know what too often comes out of committee.

Now I'm not saying those lists don't have value, just the title "Best" is misleading.  So I'm going to call the list that follows simply my recommendations for the first half of 2012.

First, a couple of ground rules.  I'm going to limit myself to novels, and with one or two exceptions which were self-published, novels published in 2012.  I'm making an exception for the self-published novels because they sometimes need a little time to develop some momentum.  Anyone paying attention to the trade publishers should be aware of forthcoming novels.

I'm also going to take the coward's way out and not try to rank them.  I started to, but quickly ran into the issue of trying to decide between two books I thoroughly loved but for entirely different reasons.  I could bite the bullet and give them rankings, but tomorrow I'd probably change my mind.  Instead the books will be listed alphabetically by title.

So here are my recommendations from the first half of 2012, along with an occasional cheeky synopsis.  If more than one book in a series came out in the first part of the year, I've only listed the first book.

Vampires of the Carribean

Cast in Dark Waters
Ed Gorman and Tom Piccirilli
various ebook formats, $2.99
Kindle  Nook Smashwords

In spite of the fact that this is a fairly short piece of fiction (less than 19,000 words), Cast in Dark Waters is one of the best weird pirate stories I've ever read.  The characters, particularly the protagonist, Crimson, seemed to almost walk off the page, they came across so real. 

Crimson is a lady pirate, widowed, who is the toughest, most dangerous buccaneer in the Carribean.  The plot is straightforward.  An Englishman, having taken up the life of a Virginia tobacco farmer, has found out that his daughter has run away from finishing school in England with a notorious pirate.  He and his wife have come seeking Crimson's help in finding her.  The pair of lovers are rumored to be staying on an island with a dark reputation.  Supposedly the undead also inhabit the island.

And Crimson's former husband may be among them.

Jo Anderton's Latest Suited Me Just Fine

Suited
Jo Anderton
Angry Robot Books
UK/RoW
432pp B-format paperback
£7.99 UK
ISBN 9780857661562
US/CAN
416pp mass-market paperback
$7.99 US $8.99 CAN
ISBN 9780857661579
eBook
£5.49
ePub ISBN 9780857661586

I liked the premier novel in this series, Debris, although I took issue with the publisher's classification of it as science fiction; as a scientist, I have to regard the way some things happened in the book as fantasy.   Either way, it was a great read.  Suited is even better, in my not-so-humble opinion. It's easy to see why she won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent.  Congratulations, Jo!

The story picks up shortly after the events in Debris.  The Puppet Men are still out there, and they have plans for Tanyana and her collecting team.  Starting by splitting them up.  Lad and Tanyana end up in the same team, while Lad's brother and protector Kichlan goes to a different team.

Thank You

I'm not really getting into all the celebrating today, I guess because I've been out of sorts for the last few days.  (Don't ask; I'm not sure I completely understand why myself.)  One of those times when I just want to be left alone and have little to nothing to do with people.  I do want to take a minute, though, to say Thank You to everyone who follows, looks in occasionally, or stumbles across either this blog or the other one who has served in the military.  That extends to anyone who has lost a spouse, parent, sibling, child, or other loved one. 

As I've grown older, I've noticed that my collection of regrets tends to increase.  One of the main ones is that I never served in the military.  Part of it was my aversion to authority, but part of it was that I never felt the need to do so.  I doubt I would have that attitude today.  Of course I'm past the age they'll take me.

But I digress.  I want to thank everyone who has served and sacrificed for our freedoms.  Without you and those who came before you, I wouldn't be able to do so many of the things I enjoy.

So Thank You.  Very Much.