Just Arrived, 2/2/10
Posted on February 2, 2010 Posted by John Scalzi 30 Comments
A little groundhog showed up at the house today and said “sorry about the six extra weeks of winter. Maybe these will make up for it.”
What did he bring?
* Coyote Destiny, by Allen Steele (Ace): True fact: My very first author fan letter was to Allen Steele. I found his e-mail and gushed in hopefully not-too-stalkery fashion about how we went to the same high school (sort of) and how I liked his books AND WAS STANDING RIGHT OUTSIDE HIS WINDOW. Well, maybe not that last part. He wrote back one of those polite “thanks!” letters authors learn to write to overenthusiastic fans, and that was pretty much it, until we eventually met face to face AND I SHOWED HIM THE TATTOO OF HIM I HAVE ON MY CHEST. I’m kidding! It’s not really of him. Just his face on a unicorn body. That’s not weird. I’m going to stop oversharing now. Anyway, this is the latest in the Coyote series, which I’ve enjoyed the heck out of so far, and it’ll be out March 2nd.
* Shalador’s Lady, by Anne Bishop (Roc): The new installment of Bishop’s “Black Jewels” series. It promises dark eroticism. That’s the best kind! Also out March 2nd.
* And Falling, Fly, by Skyler White (Berkeley): She’s a fallen angel! He’s a neurochemist! They’re caught between worlds! No, really, it’s not a metaphor: In the book they’re caught between worlds. Dark fantasy, out March 2nd.
* Deep in the Woods, by Chris Marie Green (Ace): Sixth book in the Vampire Babylon series, featuring vampire slayer Dawn Madison. Out March 2nd.
* Where Angels Fear to Tread, by Thomas E. Sniegowski (Roc): The latest installment of the Remy Chandler series, he being an angel-turned-private investigator, this time on the trail of a missing child. March 2nd.
* Xombies: Apocalypticon, by Walter Greatshell (Ace): Zombies! With an X! The followup to Xombies: Apocalypse Blues. In other news, “Apocalypticon” is my new favorite word. Out February 23rd.
* Roadkill, by Rob Thurman (Roc): The next in the urban fantasy series featuring half-human PI Cal Leandros and his brother Niko. March 2nd.
I’ve been meaning to pick up some E.M Forster. I read one of the Remmy Chandler books in the Mean Streets anthology. It was a good teaser.
Also, try saying Apocalypticon avocado Avogadro Acapulco five times fast.
Oops. Not Forster. Thomas E. Sniegoski. Damn.
I like the epic feel of Steele’s vision in the Coyote series. What’s interesting to me is how much the style seems to be reminiscent of Golden Age authors, and when I read the first Coyote book, I had to double check the publication date. Anyway, I can’t wait to get my hands on this latest work.
Ah Anne Bishop…
If there’s a girl/guy in your life who likes (or you want her/him to like) fantasy novels and hawt secks, give her/him these books.
Busy groundhog. He seems to have stopped by my place also.
Is there a slant from vampires and zombies to angels now in the publishing world?
Angels are apparently huge right now. But don’t chase that trend, because agents are sick of getting queries about angels already.
My grue/orc love story should be a genrebuster.
I am kidding about the grue/orc story. OR AM I?
Xombies and Roadkill, already in my ‘upcoming books’ wish list on Amazon (sorry, I shouldn’t say that word, should I? Is there an easy way to transfer wishlists between online bookstores? *MARKET OPPORTUNITY*)
As far as angel books go, Nalini (sp?) Singh’s new book just came out (sequel). Yay.
I read parts of the the first of Steele’s Coyote books when parts of it appeared as short stories in one of the SF magazines. I’ve always meant to go back and start from the beginning.
Since I was lucky enough to be thanked in the acknowledgments of one of the Coyote books, I’m thinking I’ll have to get this one. And I managed that without showing Allen my own tattoo, which involves his name and some flowers, somewhere private.
This is the second nod I’ve had today toward Allen Steele’s Coyote series. First, VOYA (February 2010) reviewer Michael Levy included it in his list of planetary romances/ planetary adventure novels, writing: “With Steele’s ongoing love for political philosophical discussion, plus his emphasis on realism, this series seems particularly likely to appeal to teen readers who have already fallen in love with the work of Robert A. Heinlein.” I’m not a teen, by far, but with two positive reviews in one day, I must download it to my Kindle tonight. Business at the speed of thought (and the ability to make the font large enough for my aging eyes to see).
Um. I hereby volunteer to read any and all books you might get but do not have time to read… and write reviews of them in my small-town (and yes, I know that if I have to say it’s small then that means it is really really small) newspaper :)
I’ll even chip in on postage for free books!
(Is it working?… … darn.)
Sorry? Sorry!
It’s 72 degrees and I drove home from work with the top down. I’ll take all the winter I can get.
I understand though that Dayton has blizzards in summer and winter so you may be biased.
I totally missed hearing about the LAST Coyote book, Coyote Horizons…
So now I go looking for it, and find that the two booksellers that have their own e-readers have the ebook for $7.19, and everyone else has it for $25.99 and up. (One store has it for $31)
whoa. that’s just stupid. the paperback’s already out for crissake.
Knowing nothing of the work of Anne Bishop until now, I was thrown off by the title Shalador’s Lady because of the close resemblance of Shalador and Chaladoor, the latter being the name of the notoriously dangerous region of space where much of James Schmitz’ The Witches of Karres (1966) takes place. Apparently a second Baen Books sequel by Eric Flint et al. was released a few weeks ago that revisits the Chaladoor.
If I count right that is 16 books arriving in the last 2 days. How do you manage to read all these And hang with the family And kill all those zombies And photograph the cats And, you know, write for a living?!
It’s no wonder I can’t find anything to read. The only book I would even read the back cover on would be Coyote Destiny (I may have to look into it more considering the gushing love from Scalzi).
1 out of 7 books? Is urban fantasy with some type of supernatural being (vampire, zombie, angel, etc.) the only thing publishers are buying? Where is the science fiction?
Chad:
It’s just the books I happened to be sent on this particular day. Some days there’s more science fiction, some days more fantasy.
There’s another Coyote book coming out? Kickass – I absolutely loved the first one and dutifully followed the series in Asimovs when it was being released. A couple of his spinoff novels have been lack luster, but It’s still an awesome series.
Do you suppose a zombie angel would have a smartass talking turkey vulture sidekick?
John, you are probably right. I guess I have to look harder, as I’m not finding much new science fiction other than steampunk (which isn’t for me).
I think I have read more current thrillers in the past year than I ever have because there seems to be a dearth of good SF books.
I quit going to bookstores as they seem to stock all the traditinal SF (Herbert, Asimov, Card, etc.), which I have read, but the only new stuff they seem to get is urban fantasy. I now shop online for my books, but the Amazon thing is annoying as I paid for Prime. Very frustrated right now. Maybe the Coyote series will satisfy me for a while.
John Scalzi @ 19:
I dunno about Chad, but it feels like I run into it a lot elsewhere, too. I mean, I like fantasy well enough — currently enjoying Magaret Ronald’s Spiral Hunt, in fact — but between the latest over-milked vampire/zombie/angel/whatever trend and yet-another-epic-quest novels and endless sequels (*) and TV/movie/game novelizations and other safe havens for publishers, what’s left seems mighty thin on the ground. Yeah, yeah, it’s an old complaint. Maybe I’m just becoming an Old Fart, but it seems to be getting worse.
On the other hand, my to-be-read pile doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller. On the gripping hand, there’s less Good Science Fiction ™ in that pile than I wish there were.
(*) Which is not to disparage all sequels, of course. [cough]
Oh, how you made me laugh with your oversharing.
Just to point out what Josh Jasper @2 said (perhaps without noticing) it’s not Sniegowski, it’s Sniegoski as Barnes and Noble completely failed to inform me.
@ Chad
Xombies: Apocalypticon is science fiction.
Ooooh. I hadn’t heard about the Coyote series before. I’m going to have wander by the bookstore on the way home this evening I see… =)
-Buxley
LOVE the Coyote series and am heartened to hear that John is a big fan too, all is right in the world. The Old Man series and Coyote series have been my favorite books over the last few years. Been looking forward to this latest Coyote book since I heard about it last year.
@ #26 L. Brown
I disagree, but I’m sure I’m in the minority.
There’s another Coyote book coming out? Kickass – I absolutely loved the first one and dutifully followed the series in Asimovs when it was being released.