Sarah over at Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books has a lot to say about Jennifer Rardin’s Once Bitten Twice Shy — and lot of it has to do with how Jasmine “Jaz” Parks kicks serious ass. They’re hilarious and irreverent and I have to say, I love their taste in books!
There are some great reviews coming in for Daniel Abraham’s The Long Price. Starburst says of it:
In this enjoyable, intelligent, original fantasy series, plot springs with tragic inevitability from character and there are no heroes and villains but only often flawed but eminently understandable human beings
SFX go further in their review:
Far from being a bog-standard tale of swords and sorcery, Daniel Abraham has served up a compelling, emotionally brutal and edgy fantasy that’s genuinely worthy of comparison with genre heavyweights like George R.R. Martin . . . [pushes] way beyond the genre’s comfortable boundaries, into bold and unsettling new territory.
Jeff Somers has achieved a trifecta of geekery, with a review of The Electric Church on Aint It Cool, another review at the indispensable CHUD.com, and an interview in Your Mom’s Basement.
Elsewhere, at Ficlets, he talks about the book’s journey to publication.
We’re extremely sorry to say that the Mike Carey event scheduled for Thursday 25 October has been cancelled by the organisers.
We’ve received a number of queries from fans asking if there is any news regarding the final volume of The Wheel of Time, which Robert Jordan was writing when he sadly passed away last month. At this stage, there is no news. As soon as we have news, we will announce it here.
Once Bitten, Twice Shy is getting great reviews! The The New York Post featured it in their “Required Reading” column, and over at Katie’s Reading, Katie says:
“Before I started reading Once Bitten, Twice Shy I had read several reviews that claimed that this was a good book, a great book even. But in no way was I prepared for how truly wonderful Once Bitten, Twice Shy turned out to be. I loved it, plain and simple as that.”
Curious? Get to know Jaz with this excerpt, and then stop by Jennifer’s blog to meet the author.
Orbit UK author Mike Carey will be doing a talk and signing on Thursday 25 October. It’s at at the Rutherford Theatre, 76 Portland Place, W1B 1NT, from 7.00pm. Tickets are £7 (£5 for concessions), and are available by contacting events.london@blackwell.co.uk, calling 0845 456 9876 or dropping into the Blackwells bookshop at 100 Charing Cross Road.
There’s also a competition to win tickets and signed copies of Mike’s new book, Dead Men’s Boots, on the SFX website.
Update: unfortunately, this event has been cancelled by the organisers.
SFCrowsnest has just added some fantastic reviews of classic and new Orbit books. Now’s your chance to check out some great SF & Fantasy you might have missed:
Of Spindrift, the latest book in Allen Steele’s critically acclaimed Coyote series, they say:
Steele’s clean, crisp writing and careful scientific invention reminds me of Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama. There’s a definite feel of classic Science Fiction storyline brought up-to-date with technology and science. That’s no bad thing and the easy pace and good characterisation make it a pleasure to read.
Of Moving Target, Elizabeth Moon’s military SF thriller, they say:
The last eighty pages are complete page-turners . . . If you like space opera then this is a series I think you would enjoy.
Adding to the praise for Charles Stross’ The Atrocity Archives, SF Crowsnest says:
Stross mixes the weird monsters of a Lovecraft novel with the gadgets and clever action of a techno-thriller. . .an enjoyable romp through a crazy mix of genres.
And for the fantasy readers out there, here’s what they say about Ian Irvine’s The Fate of the Fallen:
[Irvine] delights in creating sweeping sagas and great journeys for the characters. There are some wonderful colourful passages of people and landscapes. What he really likes is to bring his characters right down into the core of themselves as they face great challenges.
Words of praise in the latest Aurealis magazine for two of Orbit’s top Australian scribes, Sean Williams and Marianne de Pierres:
Sean has produced some good work in the past; he’s had the opportunity to flex his writing muscles in a wide variety of projects. In Saturn Returns, I felt a new assuredness, a strength of voice that was compellingly entertaining and thought-provoking. Saturn Returns is Sean’s best yet — go out and buy it.
Dark Space is an exciting adventure with plenty going on to keep you turning the pages. The story is primed to enter uncharted territory at the end of Book One. Marianne has a knack for creating compelling characters in complex realities — the Parish Plessis novels showed us that — so this is one to watch as it develops through the next two volumes.”
A shout out to former Aurealis editor, now reviewer, Keith Stevenson for his insightful reviews, which will appear in full in issue #38.
Keith also had some nice things to say about Orbit’s new global presence, so it would be rude — rude, I say! — not to repeat some of that niceness here:
The enthusiasm comes from what’s happening in the Australian market lately. This could be another false dawn — we’ve been through so many — but with the arrival of Hachette Livre and its much respected imprint Orbit into the local arena there is a level of energy and enthusiasm that I haven’t seen for a long while in Australian genre publishing . . . And so to another Orbit SF release (see what I mean: the release of two Australian science fiction books in as many months is unheard of in recent years).
Thanks, Keith. I hope we can continue to excite SF readers in Australia — and all around the world — for years to come!
Are you a US resident? Are you concerned about surviving (and thriving!) in a future populated by cybernetic monks and brutal security forces? If you answered yes, check out the near-future-dystopia-survival-kit sweepstakes at the Orbiteer. And be sure to sign up to our newsletter for upcoming contests and exclusives.
