The Last Colony Now in Paperback: An Open Pimping Thread

Posted on July 29, 2008    Posted by      108 Comments

The Last Colony is now officially out in paperback in the US and Canada. Please, remember to be considerate of your local booksellers when you are mobbing them for your copies. No need to stampede through the store, trampling children and the books of my competitors. I would not want to be the cause of their lamentations. There are enough copies to go around, I promise.

To celebrate the release of my novel into an attractive affordably-bound edition, I hereby declare this an open pimp thread, with a particular emphasis on books (aside from mine, of course) that you’ve been recommending to others. Yes, you may include your own, because, honestly, if you won’t recommend your own work, who will? You may also pimp other projects online or off as well.

(Remember: If you put three or more links in your entry, it’ll probably get put into the moderation queue to await release by me. Don’t panic; I’ll get to it.)

So: What do you feel like promoting to everyone today? Don’t be shy, step right up to the microphone.

Update, 4:20pm: Cool, TLC is #8 on Amazon’s Science Fiction list at the moment. Thanks, folks!

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108 Comments on “The Last Colony Now in Paperback: An Open Pimping Thread”

  1. I just want a publisher in the United States to put out Jeff Noons latest works here and possibly re release some of his earlier works so people don’t have to pay 50.00 to read his stuff.

  4. I’m really big on the following recently:

    T.A. Pratt’s Blood Engines, Poison Sleep and I forget the name of the third one I’m waiting for later this year. Excellent vampire stories.

    Jo Walton’s Farthing, Ha’penny and I forget the name of the third one I’m waiting for later this year. Excellent alternate history/mysteries set in England. (Detect a theme there Sherlock?)

    I also loved Into The Storm: Destroyermen. by Taylor Anderson. A time travel novel (or is it) and first of a promised series.

    As long as we’re pimping, feel free to click on my name above and check out my blog.

    ::Oh Crap! Now I’ve gotta go write something scintillating. If you get there and read about cat crap, that was’t it::

  5. I shall pimp a thing not my own and a thing my own:
    Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet is a three-quarters complete fantasy series. It is based around a group of city-states and the enslaved magic beings that both protect them and bring them their fortune. The prose is elegant, and the plots are excellent. The third book of the series, “An Autumn War,” was published last week. The first two books are “A Shadow in Summer” and “A Betrayal in Winter.”
    http://www.danielabraham.com/newsite/?page_id=4
    As for the thing my own, I hereby pimp http://talkwordy.com, my word-nerd blog on words, grammar and other oddities.

  6. I would like to recommend P.C. Hodgell, one of my favorite writers who writes very original and nice fantasy novels.

    She hasn’t had good luck with her publishers (her last one went out of business), but all of her books are available at Baen in electronic format, and hopefully she’ll produce more books and reach more readers.

    http://www.webscription.net/s-122-p-c-hodgell.aspx

    with upcoming dead tree versions next year:
    http://www.amazon.com/God-Stalker-Chronicles-P-C-Hodgell/dp/1416555765/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217307014&sr=8-4

  7. I write a blog about music, Amber on Music. I just write about whatever music stuff is in my mind. Today’s entry was on having a “Hey There Delilah” earworm. Yesterday, I was kicking around some ideas about instruments and what defines the genre “country”. I have fun writing it and it would please me if you had fun reading it.

  8. I just wrote and shot a short film (that is not edited yet) and a comic publisher is interested in an idea of mine. Nothing complete yet, but things are starting to move in the right direction!

  9. The ENie awards voting booth is now open. Please go vote for Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design work. Specifically: Empire of the Ghouls. Why? Because I did some of the interior art. That’s why!

    Check out the leather manuscript cover. This one was raffled off for the KGB bar in NYC to support their fantastic fiction series…along with some other leather that I threw in. My closet is starting to look like the Ft. Knox of leather projects.

    Come on John… you know you want one.

  10. I’d like to pimp “Kiln People” by David Brin – it’s hilarious. And it has perhaps the best opening chapter I have ever read. I won’t spoil it by saying why. Just read it!

    Are there any other takers for best opening chapter?

  11. My friend Annie has a story in Apex’s horror anthology Courting Morpheus that is to be published this fall. I think it’s her first commercial sale. Support talented new authors!

  12. I would very much like to pimp the guys and gals over at decoderring theater. They do audio dramas in the old fashioned radio style–Noir Detective stuff and Masked Crime Fighting a la The Shadow. Good works. Man I love me some Black Jack Justice!

    Also, I might as well pimp my blog–I put up random musings about life in Japan, personal stuff, and snippets of my as-yet-unpublished writing. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s not totally without merit. Click my name to see!

  14. Raymond Saunders has three books about an American version of Flashman called Fenwick Travers that are good fun.

    Of course, new installments haven’t been published in a decade and I can’t find any info on the author sooooooo try not to get hooked.

  15. Gotta pimp Mike Shepherd’s Kris Longknife series – not highbrow literature but a rollicking good time for military sci fi. Also, kudos to Tanya Huff for putting Blood* on hold and working on Confederation novels (Valor’s Choice, The Better Part of Valor, The Heart of Valor, Valor’s Trial). Here’s to Orbital Resonance and all other things John Barnes (A Million Open Doors for instance). And, last but not least, a shout out Glen Cook for the Garret PI books (Sweet Silver Blues, Bitter Gold Hearts, etc.). They’re funny and good mysteries, like Mickey Spellaine’s Mike Hammer with Trolls and Elves. :)

    Oh, and fans of pseudo-sci fi comics might like Sluggy Freelance (www.sluggy.com) where strips with titles like, “Yippy Skippy the Evil” and “Game Called On Account of Naked Chick” raise the e-Comic art form to all new heights of lunacy and hilarity.

  18. I recently re-read G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday. I love that book. It is both a madcap metaphysical spy thriller and a philosophical debate. The book has too much beauty and humor for me to let the fact that I strongly disagree with Chesterton’s philosophy and beliefs detract from my enjoyment of it.

  19. I am a bookseller, so I spend all day pimping books. I prefer to think of myself as a pusher though. Getting a customer hooked on a new author, knowing they will have to come back in again and again for their hit of that stuff. Excellent!
    This month I have been suggesting 2 books Scalzi turned me on to and I the publisher sent me an advance copy of. “Halting State” by Charles Stross and “Little Brother” by Cory Doctrow. Both my 14 yo son and I really loved “Little Broiher” so I can suggest that one to kids and parents. The other title is “Child 44”, an impressive debut thriller set in Stalinist Russia. A detective is trying to track down a serial killer that the government says doesn’t exist.

  20. I’ve been reading Shadow Unit serial episodes on my Kindle. (It’s a simple and very readable, links-enabled conversion to the Kindle—just save the HTML pages and email to the converter.) They’re very, very good. I should be finishing the re-read of the Chabon.

    By the way, the re-read of TLC went extremely well. Second to Brasyl actually. The others tend to suffer, but TLC is eminently re-readable. I knew I should have fit in re-reads before voting in the Hugos.

    Also, my blog is now an SF-and-Fantasy-on-Kindle-Love blog. There’s nothing quite like going in a completely opposite direction from what used to give you hits.

  23. Hi guys,
    This isn’t book related but I thought I’d take this opportunity to pimp my friend who is running for parliment in the Australian Capital Territory (I have no idea if any of you guys are Australian let alone Canberran)

    Greg Tannahill is a gamer, geek, science fiction aficianado and blogger who is running as a Democrat candidate. Where in Australia the Democrats party is a centrist (or slightly left leaning) party that focuses on social justice issues and Government oversight.

    One of Greg’s campaign issues is the dismantling of Australian Video Game Censorship laws. Currently there is no R18+ rating for games in Australia and any game that would otherwise match that rating is banned. Greg thinks that adults and parents should be able to choose the games, books and other media that they see.

    Greg runs a gaming/media blog called The Dust Forms Words and has a political blog at http://www.GregTannahill-for-Canberra.org

    Thanks for listening

  25. I would like to Pimp SL Viehl Stardoc series the 8th book will be out in august. Her series is about a surgeon who left earth to escape her father scheme for her future and the adventure she lives in the universe. The descritpion of the aliens she meets and their characterization are really enjoyable. And for all the cat lovers, Cherijo the Surgeon has a cat and a friend Chakacat (alien looking and treated like cats).
    http://www.amazon.com/Stardoc-1-S-L-Viehl/dp/0451457730/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217321744&sr=8-1

    And also Tanya Huff Confederation series which is good marine SF :)

  26. Elantris, and the Mistborn trilogy, by Brandon Sanderson, are some of my new favorite books! Both fantasy, and both very original!

  27. What the heck I shall pimp my ‘anime reviews’http://arcadiagt5.livejournal.com/71036.html in particular my review of Wings of Honneamise

  28. I would just like to point out that I suck at html. :(

    Far too close to code for good Business Analyst. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. :)

  29. Nathan@4: The third in Jo Walton’s “Small Change” trilogy is called Half a Crown.

    Anyway, why I’m really commenting is to pimp Scott McCloud’s Zot!. Many of you may know Scott McCloud from his terrific nonfiction works, Understanding Comics and Making Comics. (Okay, Reinventing Comics was less good.) But he started out with a fiction series that is just one of my most favoritest things ever.

    The title character is Zachary T. Paleozogt, a teenage superhero from another world — one that’s a glorious mashup of everything cool from our world with every utopian SF future ever thought of. He meets up with Jenny Weaver, a sensitive girl from our world. There’s adventure, there’s romance (low-key romance; they’re just kids), there’s Jenny’s brother who turns into a monkey. There’s a man who can control machines and use them to kill, and a crazed cyborg-artist with the Chrysler Building spire on his head.

    Anyone who likes SF (and is there anyone reading this blog who doesn’t?) and doesn’t hate comics should totally check it out.

  30. Well, I have nothing of my to pimp other than my own sorry blog, so allow me to pimp the book (paperback version) that caused you to start this thread in the first place. “The Last Colony” qualifies for me as one of the best full circle completions of a series that I have ever read. Beautiful fucking work (can I say fuck?) right down to the very artful tactic of finishing up exactly where we started. I just finished it. Took me a whole four hours. Great work Mr. Scalzi

  32. I’m giving away a FREE signed copy of the Barren Worlds anthology from Hadley Rille Books on my blog this week. It features my first short story in print – “Ocherva” and the first short story of Mary Ellen Martin – “Tiger’s Eye View”.

    http://myview.w0pht.org

    My first self published novel comes out in September of 2008, get a jump on the festivities at the official web site of Starstrikers: http://starstrikers.ning.com

    Thanks John!

  33. I’ll recommend my friend Kristin Cashore‘s debut novel, a YA fantasy called Graceling. We have an ARC around the house and one of our houseguests this weekend read the entire thing between midnight and 7 am.
    Also, if you were sad when they cancelled The Tick you should be watching The Middleman. It’s on ABC Family of all places, but it’s full of sly cultural references and inspired weirdness.

  34. Well, Book related…

    First I would like to pimp Senor Charlie Stross’s “The Atrocity Archives”, kinda old but a lot of fun and Great Old One-y goodness.

    Non-fiction wise, I’d like to pimp “The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in an America Century” – just started reading it, but Steve Coll writes some of the best non-fiction I’ve ever read (“Ghost Wars” is great as well).

    Lastly, I’d like to pimp my new Linux blog Madbuntu for all your geeky fun.

  35. I’ve become a contributor at Solar Flare. My first article is here: Internet News. I’ll be focusing on “Internet” News (website launchse, updates, and redesigns) as well as “Science Fiction Videogame” news. If you have any news to share contact me through the e-mail address in the articles.

    SpaceWesterns.com just published interviews with the writers who’ve appear on the site in the first year, several stories, and interview with a Battlestar Galactica CGI Artist, and the conclusion to another serial.

    Our “Space Western Senryu” contest winners are scheduled to be published next week.

  36. Okay, I also highly recommend the Graceling as well, this book should be huge in the YA. All those teen girls will jump from the Twilight series to this; and all the boys will love the fighting scense that Kristin Cashore writes so well.

    But, I would like to pimp out the Anathem by Neal Stephenson. This giant door-stopper of a book was simply amazing. Erasmus lives in a cloister, but not a religioius one, one that is devoted to math, science, philosophy, and a whole lot of debate. It takes place on a world that has seen who civilazations come and go, a bit more advanced than ours. This book has everything, action and tons of pages of characters arguing philosophical theoroms. Plus, he creates hundreds of words, making me recall reading A Clockwork Orange all those years ago and having to puzzle out the meanings in the context (Stephenson provides a glossary imbeded in the text and one in the back). An amazing book.

  37. Damn. The fact that The Last Colony is out today is a bad thing. It means that I let July slip alway without getting all the things done that I had planned for the month, including pre-ordering The Last Colony. Looks like I’m off to the brick & mortar on the way home from work today…

    One thing I did get done was start a blog. Included on my to-do list for August is to start writing posts to publish there. Will I? Won’t I? Exciting stuff, I know. I’d appreciate any helpful hints from any blog-savvy folks who are kind enough to click the link. Thanks.

  38. I have nothing to pimp (other than my blog), but I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate you for having your name as big as the title on that cover.

    How many more books will it be before we start getting “John Scalzi Presents: title by otherguy“?

  39. I’d like to pimp Scott Westerfield’s Uglies trilogy. It’s a great scifi young adult story about a city-state that genetically alters every kid when they reach the age of 16 to make them “pretty” by social standards.

  40. Greg Egan’s Incandescence is a cracking read.

    I can honestly say I have been extremely impressed (and quite liked) both John Scalzi books that I have read (Old man’s war and Ghost brigade, though not in that order, so some surprises in Old man’s war weren’t).

    And, if you like pen&paper RPGs, I consider my Project Unnamed to be more-or-less finished.

  41. Thanks for the pimpage opportunity.

    I have two short stories that have been picked up by Variant Frequencies, a genre based audio fiction podcast. They do really great work, check them (and my stories) out.

    ################
    Firstborn (NSFW):
    Brought to life by the vocal talents of Tee Morris, Mur Lafferty, Michael R. Mennenga, and Chuck Tomasi.

    BLRB:
    Innocence is the best containment. The ultimate in reform for those who committed the First True Sin: Rebellion. But is an innocent mortal soul enough to contain the dark essence of a Fallen Angel?

    LINK:
    http://www.variantfrequencies.com/2007/05/11/firstborn/
    ################

    and

    ################
    The Rut (narrated by Michael R. Mennenga):

    BLRB: Home to work. Work to home. Rinse, lather, repeat – for the rest of your life. For Thomas Crane, life had become just that: one monotonous day after another. Until one morning when he realized something had changed. Could he finally crawl out of the Rut his life had become, or was he simply doomed to repeat this dreary cycle forever?

    LINK:
    http://www.variantfrequencies.com/2007/10/24/the-rut/
    ################

    Thanks!
    Michael

  42. A FREE BOOK!!

    I demand that everyone have their children read my totally free online middle grade reader, Devon Blake and the Starship Crash. Well, perhaps demand is too stong a word. How about please? Yes, please sounds better. The entire book is available free at:

    http://www.devonblake.com

    Enjoy

  43. My copy of The Last Colony arrived from Amazon yesterday. Already loving it.

    I’d like to pimp PSDTuts for its fantastic selection of Photoshop Tutorials.

    I’ll also unashamedly pimp my own site for what must be the third time in a Scalzi open-pimping thread. http://www.antonybennison.com is now new and improved thanks to a WordPress install and some of my own graphic work. There you’ll find two crime novels to download or read online, and a link to the cartoons I sometimes draw.

  44. One outbound, one inbound link for pimpery:

    Firstly, I’d like to recommend the web site of one Matt Staggs, who’s daily compilation of SF&F links is da bomb. Find the latest example here.

    Secondly, it’s been more than a dozen years since I’ve written anything longer than flash fiction (500 – 1000 words) and so my recently-completed short story, Town Meeting Day, is a milestone for me. Feedback is welcomed.

  45. I finally got my copies of The Ghost Brigades (anyone even remember that book?), The Last Colony, and The Android’s Dream. I thought of putting up a picture, Scalzi style, but decided against it.

    The books came to Bangalore by a rather circuitous route having been shipped (literally) from the US a couple of months ago. Amazon charges a bomb for overseas shipping, so I had to take a different, more time consuming route. But as NBC used to say, if you haven’t read it, it’s new to you. Or something.

    I don’t have anything to pimp but have a request for the publishers of John’s sci-fi books (Tor right?) to show some love to the readers here in India. It’s not all about the economics is it? Is it?

    Anyway, I have asked John about this before and I think even though the UK rights have been sold, the publishers aren’t seeing the Euro signs here, so they’re not throwing the books our way. (Reason no 361 of why you should have loads of money: You can pre-order Scalzi’s books from anywhere in the world.)

    Oh, the hardships of living in the third world.

    Na, I’m thrilled that I get to read three more Scalzi books. Now, if we could find a way to stop those pesky bomb blasts, life would be good.

  47. Open pimp thread eh? Not your stuff?

    Well our Blog (http://wereadscifi.com) is for all you Science Fiction lovers out there. We chat and discuss our favorite printed works. We’d love it if you’d drop by.

    For example, a snipped from the Favorite Author post about John Scalzi (http://www.wereadscifi.com/favorite-author-john-scalzi/):

    “Many people have suggested that Scalzi must be either the reincarnation of Robert A. Heinlein, or guided by his ghost. While there are certainly many positive similarities between Scalzi and Heinlein, Scalzi has a much more accessible sense of humor than Heinlein ever did. The humor and personalities he infuses into his stories and his characters is what really makes me love them. However, the action and adventure is very reminiscent of my most favorite Heinlein novels. Therefore, the combination of styles that I call ‘Scalzeinlein’ has yet to produce something that I haven’t absolutely loved…”

    Yup. Coined that new word myself. You heard it here first folks.. Scalzeinlein. Nothing in the Google results for that yet, though I’m sure this comment will trump my blog :)

  49. @Fuddster:

    If you want help with WordPress plugins, give me a shout. I tried contacting you on your blog, but it you need the contact form plugin first :)

  50. David Louis Edelman talked about his newest novel Multireal here a while back in one of Scalzi’s Big Idea features, but I wanted to join the chorus of praise for his first book Infoquake (to which MultiReal is a sequel). Truly, it is one of the most original science-fiction novels I’ve ever read.

  51. I feel like a superhero this morning. Preferably medium-rare with two eggs, sunny-side up, some whole wheat toast and a large glass of orange juice.

    It’s not technically cannibalizism unless I’m a superhero myself, which I most certainly am not.

    If you, too, have a hankering for superheroes, try Matthew Wayne Selznick’s Brave Men Run as an appetizer now, then Mur Lafferty’s Playing For Keeps on August 25th. Both were originally released as free podcasts and, after being bitten by a radioactive agent, crossed over into the print market.

    Also, you may want to have a look at The Great Superhero Movie Project, which isn’t so much a book as an incredibly stupid idea.

  52. ** Free e-book **

    I’m pimping my new book, Threshold to Darkness, by giving away free electronic copies to those who are interested (in .PDF format). This book is a fast-paced science-fiction thriller and is the first in a two-book set. Hardback copies of the book are also available for purchase on my website. AND, as an added bonus, I will sign any hardback copies purchased for free.

    If you are interested in receiving your free copy of the e-book, please click on my name above or send me an email at:
    msb@matthewscottbaker.com
    or visit me at
    http://www.matthewscottbaker.com

    On a non-self-pimpage note, I’ll have to piggyback with Shiloh and say Brandon Sanderson rocks! Elantris is one of my favorite fantasy novels (neck-and-neck with The Name of the Wind), and Warbreaker is not far behind.

  53. Hopefully that shall mean an appearance for Last Colony on Audible.com soon as well.

    As for book I have recently recommended and/or blogged about:

    The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson – While I typically prefer fiction, I could not put this book down. Bryson takes us through his childhood growing up in the Midwest during the 50’s. He did an amazing job of channeling the child/boy he was. It was a more innocent time, shown through the eyes of a child. As the Memoir (yeah I know dirty word these days) progresses, Bryson is able to parallel his own loss of innocence with that of the times.

    Dreadful Skin, By Cherie Priest – Dreadful Skin is without a doubt my favorite novel so far this year. Cherie Priest is a fabulous storyteller with a gift for southern gothic. She paints a vivid picture of post Civil War west. Her characters are compelling. Most notably Eileen Callaghan, Irish nun turned Lycanthrope hunter truly came alive for me; she is witty, determine and surprisingly human throughout. Dreadful Skin manages to ask some big questions regarding good & evil, faith and free will, all the while telling a frightfully captivating story and never once tripping my fairly low gross-out threshold.

    Magic’s Child, by Justine Larbalestier: I just downloaded this from audible the other night. Haven’t really gotten too far into it yet, but I loved reading the first two books in the series. I was very happy to see this recent addition to Audible. Fun YA fantasy series set in Australia and New York. Wonderfully written and interesting premise. Don’t use magic and go insane, use magic and die young.

  54. 1) For the discerning country music fan (and even the unenlightened), Ashton Shepherd’s debut CD Sounds So Good. It’s astonishing in it’s maturity, all the moreso considering Shepherd is a 21 year old wife and mother from Alabama. She is no transplanted pop tart; this is the real thing. That her voice is in a lower register, more alto than soprano, is a nice plus.

    2) Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas series.

    3) Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother should sweep every available science fiction award next year.

    4) My blog Babble On.

  55. I’d like to pimp my Book Groups Wiki, a place for authors to promote themselves to book group organizers and vice versa: http://bookgroups.wikispaces.com/

    If you can cut and paste, you can add an entry for your book group or for yourself-as-author! The wiki is most useful when it has lots of entries – please spread the word about it today!

    Mindy, off to get her copy of THE LOST COLONY

  56. I’m going to go ahead and pimp a somewhat oldie and slightly older somewhat oldie.

    I just finished Spin by Robert Charles Wilson — nothing short of phenomenal. Very well written characterizations and plot, with great execution of the science fiction elements.

    Next is my all time favorite science fiction novel — Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This book blew my mind when I read it in high school and continually blows my mind without fail upon every re-read.

  58. My friend Michael Burstein’s hugo-nominated short stories are finally being anthologized in “I Remember the Future,” along with two new stories.

    (Michael brought the ARC over to my place this past weekend to show off, it looks great.)

    Available for pre-order from Apex Books or via bursteinbooks.com

    Alas, I’m not nearly creative enough to write anything of my own, but I have an idea or two that I’m kicking around.

  59. I will pimp a book I am in that just came out called: “Bits of the Dead” It also features: Piers Anthony, Nancy Kilpatrick, Michael Laimo, R.J. Sevin, Jeff Strand, Tim Waggoner, and a bunch of other folks. It is a illustrated collection of zombie flash fiction and can be found at Amazon and Horror-Mall.

  60. I would like to pimp Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse. I read it while on a retreat from the world a couple of weeks ago, and it was absolutely beautiful.

  61. I’d like to promote Air Supply, but that would be a lie.

    Instead, may I suggest Kelly McCullough’s series “Webmage,” “Cybermancy” and “Codespell.” It’s an entertaining mix of magic, mythology and hacking. If I could think of a word about computers that started with “M,” I could get a job writing book blurbs. But they are fun.

  62. @Nathan – while I agree that T.A. Pratt’s books Blood Engines, and Poison Sleep are really excellent urban fantasy novels, they are not “vampire stories”.
    I’m actually almost completely sure that there isn’t even a single vampire appearing anywhere on either book. I may be mistaken on that, it’s been a while, but even if a vampire did show up it was very very far from being a main character.

  65. Books to pimp, hmmm…

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lies_of_Locke_Lamora Scot Lynch. Fantasy, thieves, adventure… and the sequel has PIRATES. I can’t wait for more (I have a problem with starting reading series that haven’t been finished yet)

    and

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Majesty%27s_Dragon (Temeraire in the UK) and sequels by Naomi Novik. DRAGONS and Napoleonic warfare. Like Hornblower (or Master and Commander)… but with DRAGONS. Shinycool. Latest book published earlier this month.

  69. Ooh, ooh, I’m doing an experimental wiki storytelling project! (Doesn’t that sound fancy?) It’s called Voices, and I’d love for more people to register and play along with me.

    Man. Now I feel so… so shameless, and dirty. I’m not cut out for this open pimping business.

  70. My friend Patrice Sarath’s first book, Gordath Wood, just came out from Ace. Recommended for people who like their fantasy gritty rather than sweet.

  72. I really enjoyed Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker not the least of which is because it was FREE on the INTERNET.

    I pimp The Bugle Podcast to pretty much every human being I have ever met, because it’s so goddamn good. John Oliver from The Daily Show is one of the hosts. I know a lot of people claim they don’t have time to podcast, but this is so very worth it. I’m in awe of it every week.

    Also, I’d like to pimp Hedi Fleiss. I don’t really know how much work she’s getting these days and it’s always tough to see someone unemployed.

  73. I’d like to pimp the re-release of one of the very best epic fantasy series out there, which due to several reasons has fallen below the radar and will be expanded in the near future, after the previous works have been collected and reissued by Baen (all hail to them).

    If you can’t wait for them to be in physical form, they’re already available at the ebook Baen website: http://www.webscription.net/s-122-p-c-hodgell.aspx

    We’re talking about Chronicles of the Kencyrath or Dark of the Gods by P.C. Hodgell, depending on whether you’re British or American.

    I’ll quote from their blurb for the ebook omnibus of all the released novels:

    “Welcome to the world of the Kencyrath, where ivory-armored, carnivorous horses travel in herds called “rages,” pretty butterflies might very well suck your life’s blood, and tree leaves migrate south for the winter. It’s a dangerous and beautiful place where it’s easy to get yourself killed. And resurrected. And possibly become bound to somebody else’s soul in the process.

    Not your ordinary high fantasy landscape. And Jamethiel Priest’s-bane is far from your average high fantasy heroine. This is one fantasy character who never does the expected.”

    The author has never had a big publisher behind her until now, and her small publishers went out of business, then there was that writer’s block time, but now she’s finished with her day job and she’s working on the next novel. These books should be Peter Jackson’s next movie project, if the world were fair.

    One of the few powerful female epic fantasy voices and authors’ author writing since the 80ies continues on.

    You can preorder the first print collection at Amazon already.
    http://www.amazon.com/God-Stalker-Chronicles-P-C-Hodgell/dp/1416555765/

  74. Quick, before ABC totally ruins it! (And yes, the U.S. version looks like it’ll be a stinker….) Not a book, but gooood:

    Life on Mars, the U.K. television series with the magnificent John Simm as the befuddled current-day cop who gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973, and spends two seasons trying to figure out what’s going on (“Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time?”) and trying to get back home. Meanwhile, he’s fighting crime partnered with a foul-mouthed, bent, utterly non-PC 1973 cop. Cast, acting, production are all at that high BBC level.

    And if you like early 70s music (or even if you didn’t know you did), the soundtrack is enthralling/addictive.

    There’s only two seasons of 8 episodes each, and Amazon.co.uk often has sales on the boxsets. So very, very worth checking out. Especially if you like your vintage police series with some SF context. (But whatever you do, don’t let yourself google or read anything about the series 2 finale before you see it. Really. One of the most amazing, inspired bits of television in such a very long time, don’t spoil it for yourself before you watch it.)

  75. Just ordered it! My local (Canadian) bookstore had one on order and now my name is attached. I told them to buy another since I’ll be recommending it to others! It’s supposed to arrive early August.

  77. (Oh, go on, then…)

    I would like to pimp Laurie J. Marks’ Elemental Logic series. I just finished the second, Earth Logic (the first is Fire Logic, the third Water Logic). Intelligent, low-key epic fantasy, which explores the longer-term things that happen *after* the great big wars of conquest that you see in other epic fantasies. Things like how both conquered and conquerors alike experience bitterness, deprivation and acculturation, the ways in which even ‘heroic resistance’ saps and warps the spirit of a people, and ways of fighting back that don’t involve swords. You know, all the cheerful escapist stuff. ;-) Also, lots of alternative family structures, gay marriages, and societies that aren’t just modelled on an idea of medieval Europe. The first is a bit more conventional and less interesting, but still worth it for female characters who aren’t just damsels in distress, and male characters who don’t just think with their swords.

    And a personal plug: I review (in a long, detailed sort of way) books for the excellent webzine Strange Horizons, and at a group blog, Eve’s Alexandria. Recent reviews at the latter that may be of interest here include Ian McDonald’s Brasyl, and, further back in the mists of time, our host’s Old Man’s War (short version: enjoyed, with reservations!).

    Cheers!

  79. Obligitatory self-pimping: Buy/read my books (epic fantasy).

    Okay, moving right along. Books that I’d recommend. I just read Nancy Kress’ Dogs and it is really really good. And read C.E. Murphy’s Queen’s Bastard. And I finally got around to Jim Butcher’s Fury series and again, really good.

    Di

  80. I’d like to pimp “The Ice War” by Stephen Baxter, which can be found in the September issue of Asimov’s.

  81. John Biggins wrote a historical fiction series that is very good indeed.

    The protagonist is a naval officer in service to the Hapsburg emperor. The stories are set in and just before WWI. Very much worth your while.

    A Sailor of Austria.
    The protagonist serves with the Imperial and Royal Submarine Corps, 1915-1918.

    The Emperor’s Coloured Coat.
    Immediately prior to WWI and to the end of 1914.

    The Two-Headed Eagle.
    A brief stint in the Imperial and Royal air service, 1916.

    Tomorrow the World.
    A trouble-plagued around-the-world trip in 1905 or thereabouts.

  82. @Manny…damn you…now I have “hey there, delilah” earworm (and I much prefer janis ian, who’s autobiography and 2 cd musicbiography just arrived this afternoon)

    but I don’t want to pimp janis ian. I want to pimp “Riding the Hellbound Train” by Tom Trumpinski which was published by Peregrination Press (John Barnstead).

  83. P.S. — for those who liked Jo Walton’s Farthing and Ha’Penny (and maybe even Robert Harris’s Fatherland), Ian MacLeod’s The Summer Isles is excellent. In this alternative history, Kaiser Willy keeps “that poor madman” Hitler locked up in Germany, but Fascism happens — this time in Britain.

    And before Farthing, Jo Walton wrote Tooth and Claw, a lightly entertaining take on the Victorian parsonage novel, in which the protagonists are slightly cannibalistic social-climbing dragons….

  86. I would like to Pimp my friends’ movie making at http://www.enoughstupid.com

    Enough Stupid Productions is a group of Northern Illinois filmmakers, they have some fun content and I really enjoy the two movies they have already made.

  87. Every time I see The Last Colony referred to as “TLC” I wonder when you wrote a book titled “Tender Loving Care.”

    But yeah, I picked up the paperback earlier today, I’m already a significant chunk through, and I’m enjoying it. A lot. Thanks for the great book!

  88. I’d like to pimp my new iPhone app. Now available at the App Store.

    http://66.93.4.109/ScoreCounter.html

    Not really useful if you don’t own an iPhone or iPod Touch.

    And since it’s for keeping score and time for bout’s at *fencing* tournaments I thought it wasn’t useful if you weren’t a fencer, but apparently several people have downloaded it and found other uses for it.

    And it’s free too!

  89. On the personal side, I’ll drop the usual comments about my LJ, A Chocoholic UnAnonymous (click on the link above).

    As for books I’ve been reading, I have a series that I would highly recommend; the “Bigtime” series by Jennifer Estep. This series is classified as paranormal romance, and mixes romance and superheroes.

    The first book, KARMA GIRL, was released in mass media paperback this month. The second, HOT MAMA, will be coming out in mass media paperback next week. And the third book, JINX, has its first release in September. (You can get a sneak peak at the first chapter of JINX at Estep’s website. Just squish her name together as one word, add “www.” and “.com” on either end, and you have the URL.)

  91. Robin McKinley’s new book, CHALICE, due out September 18.

    And her blog: http://www.robinmckinleysblog.com

    Ah, the choices, the choices. I have OMW and Ghost Brigades in paperback, but TLC in hardcover. Do I go hunt down expensive hardcovers for the first two? Or quietly dispose of TLC and buy the new MMPB?

    PS. How am I posting comments too quickly? I haven’t posted one for weeks.

  92. I’d like to not pimp Stephen King, who is apparently half the man that Scalzi is. I’m basing this info on the Dallas Morning News blurb sitting on back cover of my brand new purchase, “The Last Colony” by John Scalzi.
    I would like to pimp Richard K. Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs Novels. It’s good stuff.

  93. I’m currently 95% of the way through Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. It’s a solid sentry in the Stephanie Plum series, and so far, the only negatives are that no cars have blown up the the ’57 Buick hasn’t made an appearance. However, there are potato guns and a psychotic monkey, so it’s all good.

    I don’t write, so I don’t have a book of my own to plug, but I am doing publicity for Capclave, the literary SF con put on by the Washington (DC) Science fiction Association, and Allan Wold has agreed to conduct his writers workshop again this year, and we will also have a reviewers workshop. For more information on the con, please check out the webpage http://www.capclave.org The con is October 17-19. The GOHs are author James Morrow and critic Michael Dirda.

  95. Well, let me see.

    ‘The Last Valley’ is a really good book about Dien Bien Phu by Martin Windrow which not enough people seem to have read; I think it’s the finest single book about the military experience I know, and the parts about counter-insurgency are horrifyingly relevant right now in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Weird’ is an upcoming Korean Western set in 30s Manchuria which looks riduculously excellent so far.

    My own book ‘The Bloody White Baron’, a history of the psychotic Buddhist proto-Fascist Baron Ungern-Sternberg and his conquest of Mongolia in 1920-1921, comes out in a US edition from Basic Books next spring.

  97. What to pimp. What not to?
    Let me see.
    THe Kushiel series by Jacquiline Carey – Intrigue, politics, with a large does of sensuality and a dose of magic. First book, Kushiel’s chosen.
    Pretty much anything by David Weber.
    Eric Flint’s 183* series.
    Jim Butcher’s Dresden series.
    All are texts to be devoued.

    As far as RPG’s go – and no, I’m not talking computer games, I’m talking Roleplaying games where you /socialise/, for Ifni’s sake, getting together with your friends for fun – Exalted is teh shiny. As is Cthulhutech. and Shadowrun.
    D&D4e is to be avoided like the plague. It carries the plague, you know. You break out in boils.
    *sage nod*

  98. This has a very tenuous sci-fi connection.
    For any UK based readers (or Edinburgh Festival bound tourists), there’s “One Small Step” showing at the Assembly Rooms, George Street, Auld Reekie. 5pm each day for the next few weeks.
    It’s a “hilarious” (maybe) look at the space race presented by the Oxford Playhouse.
    Opening night is tomorrow for which there are LOTS of seats available.
    Iain M. Banks might be there (but probably not). Likewise members of The Proclaimers.

  99. Just finished Larry Bond”s latest in the “First Team” series, “Soul of the Assassin” and I am also working my way through Dean Koontz’s “Odd” Series. I just now am starting “Brother Odd”

    As far as the pimping, I would love for you all to came over and checked out my blog:

    http://blogs.simcountry.com/NeonCardinal/

    I am just getting started and I am no way near as talented nor as tech savey as our host is here. I am just having some fun with it. I am not that smart so I hope some of you can help “smarten” up the place!

  100. i’d like to pimp my website: http://www.WorldsWithoutEnd.com

    WWEnd is a SFF literature reference website with a wide array of member features that any SFF fan will appreciate. we present the best SFF novels the genre has to offer by focusing on award nominated books.

    we cover 8 major awards in SFF: Hugo, Nebula, Locus SF, Locus Fantasy, Campbell, WFA, PKD and Clarke. all the winners and nominees for each of the eight awards are presented in cover graphic lists with synopsies, excerpts and details for all the books. click here to see the Hugo list: http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_hugo_index.asp

    if you register in our forum (FREE of course) you can use our Novel Tagging feature to record your reading history for each award so you can see how many Hugo winners you’ve read etc. it will color code the awards lists according to your personal reading history. here’s an example of what my winners list looks like: http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_index.asp?emulate=1

    we also have bios, videos, histories, links etc. for every author and publisher. we’ve got a forum and reference section with tons of stuff like podcasts, magazines, author blogs, convention listing, specialty SFF bookstore info etc. and lots more. i hope ya’ll will check it out!

    thanks!

  102. hey nothing to pimp,

    but I just finished reading “The Ghost Brigades” and it was freakin’ amazing. I’m a big fan, and glad to see there’s a new book out to quench my craving for pure awesome science fiction. I followed the link in the back of the book here… this blog is sweet, I realize I’m posting in a fairly random place, but that’s how I roll. Keep writin’ and I’ll keep readin’.

  103. Hey IMRAN MAHMUD @56 I agree with you! I love Dan Simmon’s Hyperion series and Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin. Sadly, the sequel Axis is not as good. Maybe he’ll rectify things with the 3rd book, Vortex.

    Hey NATASHA @65 I HALF-agree with you. I just read The lies of Locke Lamora last week and i’m currently reading the sequel Red Seas under Red Skies. Looking forward to Scott Lynch’s third book in the series. They are cool fantasy/grifter/thriller books. Like a 12th century James Bond, with magic.

    However, I read the first Naomi Novik book and was done. I am NOT a fan of the Temeraire series. I think the idea is good, but it’s badly executed. Can I get a witness?

    My shout out would be for my favorite series of all time from my fave author, which is probably Peter F. Hamilton‘s Night’s Fall series: “The Reality Dysfunction,” “The Neutronium Alchemist” and “The Naked God.” Gigantic hard-sci fi military space opera, well-written with a ridiculously huge cast of characters. His other series Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained is also excellent (and it’s a little shorter–2 books instead of 3.) It’s also space opera military sci-fi, with aliens and a large Star Trek-like Confederation.

    Oh and I generally review all the stuff I read (and watch) at my blog: http://www.madprofessah.com.

  104. I got “Old Man’s War” for free on the Kindle. Then paid for “Ghost Brigades” after a few late night binges I found that the newer stuff is not on the Kindle store.

    Whaaaaaaaa.

    The Kindle is my in-law defense system. Without it I am exposed to hanging our with in-laws and talking about things like wrestling, nascar and hunting.

    Whaaaaaaaa.

  105. Glad to see that the Kindle version is finally available. Purchased first thing this morning, reading now. I have already purchased Zoe’s Tale, but couldn’t bring myself to read it until I ready TLC first.

  107. Just reading this awesome book …

    I couldn’t believe what I read as the fleet exploded and the sense behind the last colony was exposed …

    Great great great! :-)

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Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS
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