What, you want news and links too? SO DEMANDING. But ok.
"GASP! That would be me, coming up for air. How long was I down there? About twenty years, from conception to completion. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is done. Sure, editing and all that crap to follow. But ... done. I don't know who I am. Who am I again? What planet is this? Three months of butterflies ... maybe this double whiskey will fix that. Hmm. No. Delayed reaction going on here."
Whether you're a fan or not, Erikson deserves credit for this achievement. The regularity with which he has turned out huge books is admirable. Of course, there's been some criticism - that the quality has slowly gone downhill, that there are inconsistencies with plot/character/history - but it's still a feat deserving of recognition, especially considering the delays fans have experienced waiting for new releases from other authors.
What else...oh yeah, Aidan was quick to notice that Peter Brett has sold another novella to Subterranean Press:"Peter V. Brett sold a stand-alone novella, Brayan’s Gold, to Subterranean Press, via agent Joshua Bilmes. The volume will be “heavily illustrated by artist Lauren K. Cannon.”
Speaking of Brett, I've got a nice copy of his new novel The Desert Spear. It's sitting on my table and staring at me. And it's big. While the general reaction has been positive, there's been some interesting criticisms - notably concerning the use of rape in the book, and the character of Leesha (who, in some quarters, has been branded with the odious tag of 'Mary Sue'). I'm intrigued to see whether I feel the same way (I do recall she was a bit of a Goody-Two-Shoes in the first book at times), so hopefully will get around to The Desert Spear at some point.
Right, that'll do...what - you want more? OMG SOME LINKS FOR YOU THEN. Just a few, because I'm meant to be getting ready to go out...see what personal sacrifices I make for you lot?
The Speculative Scotsman has reviewed the year's biggest release - The Passage.
Mark has got a good write-up of the Predators movie.
Aidan's got the finished artwork for The Broken Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin's second novel (I'm not keen on the title, too similar to the first book). The cover is really nice though.
Wert has got the artwork for M. D. Lachlan's Fenrir, the sequel to the well-received Wolfsangel (which I still need to get around to). He's a busy little bee, is our Werthead, and he's also got a review of Ken Scholes' Lamentation.
Amanda's got a pretty epic Black Library giveaway - go check it out. And laugh at the douchebag moaning about privacy in the comments section. If you're worried about giving your personal details away, don't enter! Honestly, some people...
My Favourite Books have reviewed Stephen Deas' The Thief-Taker's Apprentice.
That enough genre goodness for y'all? Good.
3 comments:
Cheers James :-)
The Desert Spear's been exactly the same for me. Got it early for review, and while I was finishing off the things what I were already reading to clear a path for it, a couple of reviews popped up that made an issue out of the use of rape in The Desert Spear. And I don't know that that's an issue I particularly want to tackle head-on. Christ, what if I disagreed? What if I thought the rape had a place in the narrative? That connundrum's kind of put me off, and The Desert Spear has been slipping down the TBR stack since. Shame. Sure I'll put my reservations aside and read it before the year's out, but I was so excited for it before release... strange to have such enthusiasm utterly sucked away.
Anyway. Burbling. Thanks for the mention, James, appreciated. Read The Passage! :)
Amanda - you're welcome!
Niall - I don't think there's a problem at all if you think the use of rape in TDS is justified; not everyone has criticised that element. And it's ok to disagree of course! Though admittedly the subject matter demands a certain subtlety to the approach...
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