Abraham, Daniel: An Autumn War (Tor, Jul08)
How good have the first three books of Abraham's Long Price Quartet been? So good that I'll be measuring every multi-volume fantasy series I see from now on with this as a yardstick. Endlessly inventive, colorful, epic, and personal all at the same time, and Abraham knows just how much to write and how much to imply. Start with the first book and prepare for a treat.
McMullen, Sean: The Time Engine (Tor, Jul08)
These Moonworld books are just a pure joy to read even when horrible things are happening to the characters. I'm not quite sure how McMullen does that, but it might be a product of his economic writing style. I find so many fantasy epics bloated and unreadable, but these books just tell me what's happening in a highly entertaining fashion: not an extra word or an excess scene. I'll certainly continue to be on the lookout for McMullen's name.
Stross, Charles: Saturn's Children (Ace, Jul08)
I have had no luck at all with Stross's stuff before this. I get the impression that he's a lot smarter than me, a lot savvier about the current state of technology, and when I've tried to read his previous books, I've just found myself getting confused, entangled in terminology, and tripping out of the book after not that many pages. In this one, though, subtitled "A Space Opera," he keeps the tech-talk to a minimum, gives me an interesting character in a terrific setting, and seems to focus on just telling the story. Maybe he dumbed things down for me, but I hafta say I appreciated it.
And the rest of the month:
Baxter, Stephen: Weaver (Ace, Jul08)
Bear, Elizabeth: Ink and Steel (Roc, Jul08)
Brust, Steven: Jhegaala (Tor, Jul08)
Campbell, Jack: The Lost Fleet: Valiant (Ace, Jul08)
Collins, Max Allen: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Berkley, Jul08)
Cooper, Brenda: Reading the Wind (Tor, Jul08)
Galenorn, Yasmine: Dragon Wytch (Berkley, Jul08)
Knight, E. E.: Fall With Honor (Roc, Jul08)
Landon, Kristin: The Cold Minds (Ace, Jul08)
Liu, Marjorie M.: The Iron Hunt (Ace, Jul08)
Modesitt, L.E. Jr.: Mage-Guard of Hamor (Tor, Jul08)
O'Neil, Dennis: The Dark Knight (Berkley, Jul08)
Sarath, Patrice: Gordath Wood (Ace, Jul08)
Smith, Sherwood: King's Shield (DAW, Jul08)
Turtledove, Harry: The Valley-Westside War (Tor, Jul08)
The Main Page will come up if you click on that link there, the June 2008 page with a click on that, and the August 2008 page should occur with a click back there. Or do the box thing:
Except where otherwise noted, content and design
copyright © 1995–2008 by Science Fiction and
Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. ("SFWA").
Any opinions expressed
on the SFWA® site are those of the author, not of the SFWA® organization.
SFWA® and Nebula Awards® are registered trademarks
of
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
375 visitors have been here
since the counter was last reset.