Comic book fans have been enjoying Bill Willingham's FABLES for years, so it's only fit and proper that at long last readers who take their stories straight up without pictures (well, only a comparatively few pictures, at any rate) were allowed to join the fun. PETER & MAX is Willingham's first FABLES novel, a tale of sibling rivalry that spans several centuries and as many worlds, and like the comic books that preceded it, it weaves half a dozen familiar folktales and fairy stories into a single seamless tapestry, ringing some clever changes on them along the way. Fast-paced, witty, and fun from start to finish, PETER & MAX is sure to win Willingham legions of new readers.
as of 7/20/09
It's hardly a secret that I have loved science fiction ever since I first discovered Robert A. Heinlein's HAVE SPACE SUIT, WILL TRAVEL when I was a kid. It's less well known that I am also a fan of mystery and crime fiction. So naturally, when you blend the two genres together, I sit up and take notice. A couple of titles that I've read recently do just that, albeit in completely different ways.
THE PREFECT, by Alastair Reynolds, is part of his popular "Chasm City" future history, an adroit and fast-paced blend of space opera and police procedural, original and exciting, teeming with cool stfnal concepts. A real page turner. The prefect of the title is a sort of space cop, Sipowicz in a spacesuit, or maybe Dirty Harry with a whiphound.
Henghis Hapthorn, the hero of THE SPIRAL LABYRINTH by Matthew Hughes, hails from a very different tradition. Hapthorn is a "discriminator," a private eye of sorts, made up with a little Travis McGee, a sprinkle of Hercule Poirot, and a whole lot of Magnus Ridolph, Jack Vance's famous "galactic effectuator." Hapthorn's picaresque adventures, an adroit blend of SF and fantasy, pay homage both to Vance's Dying Earth fantasies and his classic Demon Prince future history. The two books could not be more different in tone, style, or intent, but they are both a tremendous amount of fun.
THE PREFECT, by Alastair Reynolds, is part of his popular "Chasm City" future history, an adroit and fast-paced blend of space opera and police procedural, original and exciting, teeming with cool stfnal concepts. A real page turner. The prefect of the title is a sort of space cop, Sipowicz in a spacesuit, or maybe Dirty Harry with a whiphound.
Henghis Hapthorn, the hero of THE SPIRAL LABYRINTH by Matthew Hughes, hails from a very different tradition. Hapthorn is a "discriminator," a private eye of sorts, made up with a little Travis McGee, a sprinkle of Hercule Poirot, and a whole lot of Magnus Ridolph, Jack Vance's famous "galactic effectuator." Hapthorn's picaresque adventures, an adroit blend of SF and fantasy, pay homage both to Vance's Dying Earth fantasies and his classic Demon Prince future history. The two books could not be more different in tone, style, or intent, but they are both a tremendous amount of fun.
as of 3/12/09
I'm always excited when a well-established writer leaves his comfort zone to try something new and different. It doesn't always work out, mind you, but the best writers are those willing to take risks, rather than the guys (and gals) who tootle endless variations on the same tune. Dennis Lehane has made a huge name for himself with his contemporary mystery novels, most notably Mystic River and his series of books about the Boston private eyes Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. Terrific reads, all of them... but with THE GIVEN DAY, Lehane leaves all of that behind for something very different, a historical novel about... well, lwhat is it about? Baseball, race, the great influenza epidemic of 1918, terrorism, socialism, family, and the Boston Police Strike of 1919, for starts... but mostly it's about its characters. The cast includes Babe Ruth, Calvin Coolidge, and a host of other real life figures, but the Irish prizefighter-cop-undercover-radical Danny Coughlin and Luther Laurence, a black baseball player on the lam, dominate the story. Both are wonderfully realized. THE GIVEN DAY is as strong as anything Lehane has done, and that's saying a lot.
The passage of half a century has given the America of the early 1950s a certain rosy nostalgic glow in popular memory, but there was a lot more going on back then than one would ever dream from watching NICK AT NITE. Those formative years of us Baby Boomers were an era of unrepentent racism and sexism, Cold War paranoia, stifling conformity, and political repression. The shame of the blacklist and the red scare have been well documented in both fact and fiction (in the first volume of my own WILD CARDS series, among many other places)... but the other great hysteria of the era is less well known, unless you grew up a funny book geek, like me. I'm talking about the campaign against comic books, wherein an alliance of blue noses, prudes, headline-hungry politicians, religious ideologues, and medical quacks crippled an entire industry, put hundreds of writers and artists out of work, drove dozens of publishers out of business, and did their best to destroy an original American art form in its infancy. David Hajdu tells the whole story in THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America. Vividly written and meticulously researched, Hadju's account takes us from the birth of the first funnies to the death of EC and the triumph of the censors. It's a must read for anyone interested in comics, popular culture, or free speech... and make no mistake, it's a cautionary tale as well. It can happen again.
The passage of half a century has given the America of the early 1950s a certain rosy nostalgic glow in popular memory, but there was a lot more going on back then than one would ever dream from watching NICK AT NITE. Those formative years of us Baby Boomers were an era of unrepentent racism and sexism, Cold War paranoia, stifling conformity, and political repression. The shame of the blacklist and the red scare have been well documented in both fact and fiction (in the first volume of my own WILD CARDS series, among many other places)... but the other great hysteria of the era is less well known, unless you grew up a funny book geek, like me. I'm talking about the campaign against comic books, wherein an alliance of blue noses, prudes, headline-hungry politicians, religious ideologues, and medical quacks crippled an entire industry, put hundreds of writers and artists out of work, drove dozens of publishers out of business, and did their best to destroy an original American art form in its infancy. David Hajdu tells the whole story in THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America. Vividly written and meticulously researched, Hadju's account takes us from the birth of the first funnies to the death of EC and the triumph of the censors. It's a must read for anyone interested in comics, popular culture, or free speech... and make no mistake, it's a cautionary tale as well. It can happen again.
as of 6/16/08
Here's a few titles that I've read and enjoyed over the past year. If you're looking for a good new fantasy to get into, try A MAGIC OF TWILIGHT by S.L. Farrell and THE EDGE OF REASON by Melinda Snodgrass, the opening volumes in a couple of gripping new series. Farrell takes us to an exotic new fantasy world with a strong Venetian flavor to serve up a tasty stew of war, intrigue, magic, and religion, while Snodgrass brings the eternal struggle between faith and reason to the streets of contemporary Albuquerque. You should also run out and pick up THE YIDDISH POLICEMAN'S UNION by Michael Chabon, which just won the Nebula Award, and deservedly so. It's an alternate history detective novel set in Jewish Alaska, and there's never been anytthing quite like it. I also enjoyed the hell out of the new historical from Ken Follett, WORLD WITHOUT END, a sequel of sorts to his THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH. The new book isn't quite as strong as the first one, but it's still thoroughly engrossing, a vivid look at medieval life peopled by characters you can't help but care about. And then for something completely different, check out SOCIETY'S CHILD, the autobiography of singer/ songwriter Janis Ian (who's a hardcore SF and fantasy reader, when she's not writing incredible songs like "At Seventeen" and "Society's Child."). Her story is as heartfelt as her songs.
as of 08/28/07
A BETRAYAL IN WINTER, the second volume of Daniel Abraham's terrific new fantasy sequence, "The Long Price," is just out in hardcovers. Daniel is a good friend and a sometime collaborator of mine, as I mentioned when I reviewed the first volume of his series, so I am naturally biased in his favor... but that being said, these are splendid books, original and engrossing and well worth the time of any fan of good fantasy. If you haven't tried these yet, the place to start is with A SHADOW IN SUMMER, the first installment of the story, just out in paperback. The awkwardly titled A BETRAYAL IN WINTER -- I wish they had stayed with WINTER CITIES, Daniel's own title for the novel -- is just as strong as its predecessor... but wait till you see what's coming in volumes three and four! Abraham just keeps getting better and better.
as of 08/28/07
BANEWREAKER (Tor, 2004) and GODSLAYER (Tor, 2005) by Jacqueline Carey. Someone once said that the villain is the hero of the other side, a maxim that l long ago took to heart in my own fiction. Lately it seems as if a lot of other folks have taken it to heart as well. Witness WICKED, the hit novel and Broadway show that tries to redeem the Wicked Witch of the West, or the recent deluge of vampire novels wherein the vamps are the heroes, rather than the monsters of yore. And now comes Jacqueline Carey, best known for her Kushiel series of erotic fantasy novels, with BANEWREAKER (Tor, 2004) and GODSLAYER (Tor, 2005), a two-part high fantasy epic that is at heart a retelling of LORD OF THE RINGS from the point of view of Sauron. Oh, Sauron's not in it, of course. Neither is Gandalf nor Frodo the Ringbearer nor Aragorn son of Arathorn; that would be copyright infringement. You don't have to squint very hard to see their shadows standing behind Satoris the Third-Born, Malthus, Dani the Water-Bearer, and Aracus Altorus, however, for all that Carey does a deft job of making them characters in their own right. And where Sauron had his Nine, Satoris has his Three, the foremost of whom, Tanaros Blacksword, is really the hero (antihero?) of the saga, and a damned compelling character. You can't help rooting for him, even though you are uncomfortably aware all the while that you're cheering on the Witch-King of the Nazgul... which may well be Carey's point. It's a splendid idea splendidly accomplished, so much so that I ended up wishing there were three of them instead of two. I mean, hey, if you're going to go this far, why not go all the way? I have not read Carey's better known Kushiel books yet, but if they are as good as these, I know I'll need to check them out.
as of 09/03/06
JAMES TIPTREE, JR: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ALICE B. SHELDON by Julie Phillips (St. Martin's Press, 2006). James Tiptree, Jr. was one of the rising stars of SF when I first broke into the field in 1971. A mystery man known only through his stories and letters, Tiptree wrote some of the most provocative and elegant short fiction of the period, and was esteemed by the Old Wave and New Wave alike. The curtain finally parted in the fall of 1976, however, when "Tip" was unmasked. Behind the mask was a woman named Alice B. Sheldon, a former WAC and CIA agent and African explorer, as tormented as she was talented. Now comes Julie Phillips with JAMES TIPTREE, JR: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ALICE B. SHELDON (St. Martin's Press, 2006) a fascinating new biography of one of our field's most enigmagic and tragic personalities. Most writers lead fairly boring lives, and their biographies become one long string of "and then he wrote...," but Sheldon was a huge exception, and Phillips does a splendid job of telling her story. If there's any justice, this book should walk away with the Hugo for "Best Related Book" next year. Read it... and find some of Tiptree's collections and read them as well. You'll be glad you did.
as of 06/2/06
Jeremy Schaap's CINDERELLA MAN (Houghton Mifflin, 2005) is subtitled "James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Sports History." One could quibble over that last part -- myself, I'd have to say that the Jets' win over the Baltimore Colts in Superbowl III and the victory of '69 Mets over the Orioles in that year's World Series were shockers equal to Braddock's defeat of Baer, and the defeat of the unbeaten Man o' War by a colt named Upset probably puts all of them in the shade -- but cavils aside, this is a still a great story, and a hell of a good read. Schaap's writing is crisp and clear, his research impeccable, and he does a beautiful job of evoking the world of professional boxing in the 20s and 30s, with its cast of characters so colorful they seem tailor made for Hollywood. Many of the same characters could be seen in last year's CINDERELLA MAN film, starring Russell Crowe, Paul Giamatti, and Renee Zellwegger. Terrific performances and a great period look made that one of my favorite movies of 2005, but it only told half the story -- the screenwriters did very well by Braddock, staying close to the facts of his life and career, but made Baer into a cardboard heavy. The real Maxie Baer was an engaging personality in his own right, more clown than killer, and Schaap gives him equal time with Braddock in the book, making their final confrontation that much more dramatic. The movie was fine, for what it was, but if you want the whole story, read the book.
as of 05/21/06
Robert Charles Wilson's SPIN (Tor, 2005). is one of the finalists for this year's Hugo Award in the Best Novel category (sometimes called the Big One, even though all Hugos are of course equal). It would hard to conceive of any novel with an opening as powerful as this one. One night, in the not too distant future, all the stars disappear from the sky all over the world... and if that doesn't tweak your old sensawonder, you don't have any business reading SF. Some will categorize this as a "hard SF" novel, a novel of ideas, and Wilson does indeed deliver on that score. Unlike a lot of hard SF, however, this is also a moving novel of character, a love story of sorts. The cosmic mysteries of the Spin and the dreams and desires of the three central characters share the stage as eons pass, races evolve, and the sun itself grows old. Wilson's elegant, translucent prose is a joy to read. SPIN would be a credit to the Hugo ballot in any year, and would make a worthy winner.
as of 05/16/06
DARK STAR by Alan Furst (Random House, 2002). I have never been much a fan of spy stories. Oh, sure, I read all of the James Bond novels back when I was in high school, but that was more for the sex than for the espionage (it was a different time, and Ian Fleming was about the hottest thing a high school kid could buy), and anyway, James Bond is more a superhero than a spy. I've sampled a few other writers in the years since, but somehow the spy stuff has always left me yawning. I had heard good things about a writer named Alan Furst, however, so a few months ago I picked up his novel DARK STAR, which sounds like a science fiction novel, but isn't. What it is is the tale of Andre Szara, a Pravda reporter who doubles as a Soviet agent in France and Germany as World War II is drawing near. The characters are complex and compelling, the prose is rich and atmospheric, and Furst evokes his period so powerfully that I almost felt as though I had lived through it. I still don't much like spy stories, but I think that I like Alan Furst.
as of 03/21/06
CONVENTIONS OF WAR, by Walter Jon Williams (Eos, 2005) is the third volume in Walter Jon Williams' epic series DREAD EMPIRE'S FALL, and if there was any justice it ought to be a Hugo finalist this year. I had the privilege of reading parts of this book and its two predecessors, THE PRAXIS and THE SUNDERING, in our local writer's workshop, but no matter how big a chunk Walter Jon gave us, I always went away wanting more. This is space opera the way it ought to be: fast-paced, colorful, inventive, epic in scale, chock full of intrigue, derring-do, balls and battles, secrets and revelations, heroism and heartbreak, deft plot twists and poignant human moments. Martinez and Sula make for a fascinating pair of protagonists -- no Hornblower-in-a-spacesuit clones here, but very real and very human, brilliant, vain, ambitious, tormented. Eos needs to buy more of these books (and do a better job of publishing and promoting them). This series is too damned good to end here.
as of 03/21/06
AN OPEN BOOK by Michael Dirda (Norton, 2003) Some kids love to play baseball, some love basketball, some track or tennis. I loved books. Reading was my favorite sport in childhood, maybe because it was the only one that I was good at. My family used to say of me, "That Georgie, always has his nose in a book." Now, there were not a lot of other hardcore readers growing up in the projects of Bayonne, New Jersey. Sometimes I felt as if I were the only one. It's too bad I didn't know Michael Dirda. Dirda, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and former Book Editor of THE WASHINGTON POST, had his nose in a book as well, as he makes plain in AN OPEN BOOK (Norton, 2003). Subtitled "Chapters From a Reader's Life," A OPEN BOOK is a sort of coming-of-age story, an engrossing chronicle of Dirda's childhood and his gradual discovery of (1) literature, and (2) girls. That somehow he makes both discoveries equally fascinating, at least to me, may say something about the both of us. Whether it is his first kiss or his first Faulkner, Dirda makes you feel his excitement. I enjoyed his book immensely, and only wish I'd read half the books that he has.
as of 03/20/06
A SHADOW IN SUMMER by Daniel Abraham (Tor, 2006) I cannot pretend to be objective on this one. Daniel Abraham is a good friend and sometime collaborator of mine, a member of my local writer's workshop, and a former student of mine at Clarion West., so I suppose you could say that I am predisposed to like his stuff. Actually, though, I love his stuff. He is one of the most talented new writers to enter the field in years, and he just keeps getting better and better. When Tor asked me for a jacket blurb for his first novel, I wrote, "A SHADOW IN SUMMER is a thoroughly engrossing debut novel from a major new fantasist. The world of the Khaiem, the andat, and the poets makes a fresh and original setting for a poignant human tale of power, heartbreak, and betrayal that kept me reading from first page to last. Abraham's varied cast of characters are a lively and interesting bunch, and he tells their stories in an elegant style that reminded me by turns of Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, and M. John Harrison, while still remaining very much his own. So when is the next volume coming out?" It's all true, folks. Read this book. You can thank me later.
as of 03/07/06
THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY by Eric Larson (Vintage, 2004) Twenty years ago I was writing a Jack the Ripper novel (never finished, though a chunk of it can be found in my collection QUARTET) called BLACK AND WHITE AND RED ALL OVER, and doing a lot of reading about serial killers. One of the most fascinating was a fellow named Mudgett who went by the nom de guerre H.H. Holmes, and built a ghastly "murder hotel" in Chicago. I even played with idea of writing a novel about Mudgett, but gave up the notion when I learned that Robert Bloch had already done just that. Two decades later, Mudgett is back in Eric Larson's bestselling THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY. Subtitled "Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America," Larson's book tells the story of two men: Daniel Burnham, the visionary architect who designed the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and Mudgett / Holmes, the killer who used the fair to lure young women to his hotel to meet their bloody ends down in his secret vaults. Larson does a masterful job of weaving their stories together. In his hands, Burnham's fight to build his fair is just as gripping as Mudgett's murders, and somehow these two very different tales become one. Triumph and tragedy, a vanished time and a lost kingdom, a terrific read.
Archive: 2005 and earlier
Archive: 2005 and earlier
Non-Fiction:
JAMES TIPTREE, JR: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ALICE B. SHELDON by Julie Phillips
SOCIETY'S CHILD by Janis Ian
Novels:
THE PREFECT by Alastair Reynolds
THE SPIRAL LABYRYNTH by Matthew Hughes
PETER & MAX by Bill Willingham
SOCIETY'S CHILD by Janis Ian
Novels:
THE PREFECT by Alastair Reynolds
THE SPIRAL LABYRYNTH by Matthew Hughes
PETER & MAX by Bill Willingham
THE GIVEN DAY by Dennis Lehane
