in which our hero pretends he knows what he is talking about
Percepliquis by Michael J. Sullivan
Percepliquis
Michael J. Sullivan
Orbit, 2012 (In The Heir of Novronfrom Orbit Books)
The concluding novel to Michael J Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations, Percepliquis, is available as part of Heir of Novron (along with Wintertide). I was graciously sent a copy of the book by the author. If Winteride is the Empire Strikes Back of the Riyria Revelations, then Precepliquis is Return of the Jedi. Indeed much The Trilogy, Riyria Revlations wraps up in a similar manner things are tied up nicely and neatly. This series has always been of a more traditional bent hearkening back to the classics of the genre so the fact that the novel and series wraps things up in very neat package. There are twists and turns on the journey, surprising revelations on the way and while the finale might lack the grit and menace of more modern subversive fantasy there is a welcome heft to the ending that left me feeling satisfied and hopeful the Sullivan may one day explore future adventures in this world.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
Crown, 2011
Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One is an adrenaline fueled, high-octane, non-stop thrill ride through nostalgia-land. It is a novel that takes its inspiration from various sectors of the geek world borrowing as much from classic 80s films, movies, and games as much as it extrapolates from today’s contemporary media. For better or for for worse Ready Player One wears its geeky heart openly on its sleeve. If the novel has a message it is only as a vague background noise to the technicolor adventure at its core. Ready Player One isn’t art via the Louvre, it’s art via Gallery88.
In the bleak future of 2044 the world isn’t a happy place. Poverty and famine run rampant with people more or less unwilling to do anything to save the world. Like most of the world the orphaned Wade Watts (his father was a comic book fan) escapes the misery of everyday existence by plugging into OASIS and real-time, virtual world where anything and everything is possible. On his death bed the creator of OASIS, James Halliday, left users with a challenge: a series of hidden puzzles and tests leading to the ultimate prize. Countless people in OASIS have tried to track down the start of this quest to no avail. Years later it is Wade Watts stumbles across the first test and starts a battle with the fate of OASIS as its ultimate reward.
The Coldest War
Coldest War the sequel to Bitter Seeds, one of my favorite novels of 2010, is available in audiobook form today from the fine folks at Audible! You won’t see the Coldest War in print for until July so if you’re as anxious as I am for more from Ian Tregillis hit up audible.com today!
Halo: Glasslands by Karen Traviss
Halo: Glasslands
Karen Traviss (read by Euon Morton)
Tor, 2011 (audio version available from MacMillan or on Audible.com)
Halo: Glasslands is billed, or was when I first came across it, as a bridge between Halo 3 and the upcoming Halo 4. It is also a sequel Eric Nylund’s Ghosts of Onyx (a fact I didn’t know). As a result there are some pretty steep prerequisites for Glasslands name you have played Halo 3 (not unlikely if you are reading a Halo novel) and have read Ghosts of Onyx. A working knowledge of Halo: Reach might also be beneficial. All that being said if you don’t have a strong working knowledge of the Halo universe, past and present, Glasslands is going to be an impenetrable nightmare. I barely match these requirements so this novel was close to a stretch for me.
The Cold Commands by Richard K. Morgan
The Cold Commands
Richard K. Morgan
Del Rey, 2011
After just about three years Richard Morgan’s The Cold Commands has been released. Picking up more or less where The Steel Remains leaves this dark fantasy (I almost want to say science fantasy) novel is a bit slower than the previous volume, forgoing major strides in plot advancement in favor of maneuvering characters and events so as they are positioned for further adventures, and likely more action, in the next volume(s). While this makes for a more intense study of our three main leads; Ringil, Arceth, and Egar; it does lend the novel a more meandering feel.
Late as usual, thanks to the holidays plus a bout post-Christmas stomach fun (note: there was no actual fun had). I’m still considering doing a belated “best of 2011″ (with the obvious caveat being “things I’ve read/listened/played” which is a frighteningly small percentage of actual things released in 2011). Meanwhile I’m prepping for MAGFest X. Hopefully this year I’ll get some stuff posted from the show itself. The fun starts tomorrow and word is there are still tickets at the door; so if you’re a fan of games and are in the DC area you should definitely give it a shot. Anyway, hit the jump for some statistical fun…
Wildwood by Colin Meloy
Wildwood
Colin Meloy
Balzer and Bray, 2011
Wildwood is the debut novel of Colin Meloy, better known as the singer/songwriter of The Decemberists. Aimed at older children Wildwood is similar in many ways to C. S. Lewis’ Narnia books but with several twists all its own. Prue McKeel lives in Portland where the maps mark an Impassable Wilderness at the edge of the city. This is fact Prue has come to live with, and mostly ignore, until the day the crows come a snatch her baby brother. With that act Prue sets forth into that Impassable Wilderness, called The Wildwood by its inhabitants, to find her baby brother and rescue him by any means necessary.
Wintertide by Michael J. Sullivan
Wintertide
Michael J. Sullivan
Ridan Publishing, 2010 (to be republished in The Heir of Novron by Orbit Books in 2012)
Wintertide is the penultimate volume of Michael J. Sullivan’s The Riyria Revelations, out of print as a single volume (thankfully provided to me for review by Robin Sullivan) it will be available alongside Percepliquis as The Heir of Novron next month. The events of Wintertide spawn directly out of The Emerald Storm with Royce and Hadrian having finally tracked down Degan Gaunt, the supposed Heir of Novron (I remain a sceptic) to the capital city of the Novron Empire where he has been captured and is awaiting trial. Also in the city, the damaged Empress is awaiting her marriage and the Princess of Melengar, Arista is also awaiting execution. To make matters worse it turns out that Melengar is under seige by the Imperial army and isn’t doing so well. It is this revelation that prompts one of the greatest mistakes any group of heroes can make: they split the party. Royce heads back to Melengar to check on his lover Gwen leaving Hadrian to extract Gaunt on his own.
Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
Rosemary and Rue (October Day #1)
Seanan McGuire
DAW, 2009
I have a soft spot for urban fantasy. Plucky heroines, luckless detectives, murder, magic, and mayhem. When an urban fantasy is done right, when an author manages to blend our own mundane reality with other realities both strange and magical it is a wonderful experience that, long after the book is closed, will leave you looking askance at your everyday life. So yeah, I might scoff at the tramp-stamp be-speckled covers, I might groan at the paranormal romance plots that suffuse the genre but at the end of the day I’m still going to read the book and, even if I wouldn’t want to admit it, I’ll probably enjoy it. So when I heard good things about Seanan McGuire’s October Day novels I decided that it was worth a shot and nabbed a copy of the Rosemary and Rue via Audible.com with bonus benefit being that it was read by Mary Robinette Kowal (an accomplished editor and author in her own right).
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
HarperFestival, 2008 (audiobook edition)
A children’s book for adults? An adult book for children? A children’s book with some mature themes? It is difficult to describe precisely where Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book falls with regards to audience. Truth is it is one of those rare volumes that defies any one particular label. It is one of those books I feel like parent and child should experience together. The Graveyard Book is a bildungsroman very much in the tradition of Dickens. The young boy whose family is murdered is adopted by the ghosts of a nearby graveyard, christened Nobody Owens (or Bod to his friends), and raised by this strange new family. Nobody is looked after by someone who may or may not be a vampire, taught by a werewolf (or Hound of God), and even dance with the Pale Lady herself.
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