42 Comments on “Today’s Books and ARCs, 10/3/13”

1. For those of us not steeped in the publishing world, what are all the ARCs for? Are they hoping you will blurb the books?

2. They send them to me so that I will put them on the site, like I do here, and people will talk about them, like they do in these threads.

3. Contagion looks entertaining to me. Also why is Memories of Ice in there? Didn’t that come out several years ago?

4. Drakenfield, for sure.

5. I can’t stop laughing at the title “Killer of Enemies”. Who else are you going to kill? Your friends?

6. Memories of Ice looks like I’d need to read it in ebook form. Way too big for me since the car accident. This is the second posting where we’ve had no book overlap.

7. MoI is book three of ten (with others from another author and side books etc). It’s from (I believe) the series with the largest advance ever at the time (potentially in the genre) and is also a very good read.

8. That’s the Subterranean Press limited edition of Memories of Ice, which is beautiful and (literally) 3″ think.

   Fun fact: All of those other books were much thicker until MoI was placed on top of the stack.

9. @NicoleP

   That is the Subterranean Press limited edition.

10. You’re going to have fun with KILLER OF ENEMIES. Actually, Athena might really like it – it’s tons of superhero-style fun.

11. Memories of Ice reminds me I still need to get round to reading Gardens of the Moon, which I bought at Borders.

12. I’m intrigued by the title of “The Monster in the Mudball”.

13. I grabbed an arc of the Eye of Minds at SDCC this year. Thing01 (12yo) LOVES it (also loves Armor, iRobot, Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, to give you an idea of taste…)

14. Killer of Enemies looks interesting. Thanks to all for the info about MoI. Just started Ancillary Justice based on “The Big Idea.”

15. @scalzi Ah, got it :) I was just wondering if they expected you to READ all the ARC’s as quickly as they seem to be sending them to you :D

16. Contagion looks interesting.

17. The only author I have even heard of is Steve Erikson. Though I suppose if I was in a bookstore, I would probably check out the “Killer of Enemies” one to see what it is about.

18. Parlor Games and The Eye of Minds both caught my eye, I think because of the titles and the typefaces, which promise a good time.

19. I’m reading Memories of Ice right now…but my copy isn’t nearly that nice.

20. Drakenfeld? Is that coming out in the US anytime soon?

21. I understand why they give them to you but what do you do with them all. It must be hundreds over the course of a year.

22. I read a travel blog piece from Las Vegas to Denver that Marcel Theroux did for The Guardian a few months back that was interesting, thoughtful, and entertaining. Didn’t realize he was a novelist; definitely want to read one of his books. Wonder if Paul Theroux is his father?

23. Yes Tim H. Marcel Theroux’s father is Paul.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Theroux

24. John, dude, if you don’t want that Memories of Ice I will so take it off your hands

25. Oh man I am REALLY curious to read more Jim Crace! I’ve read Being Dead and if you’d told me beforehand that I’d find a novel about decomposing corpses unutterably beautiful I’d have made a weird face, but it really, really is.

26. Bababoey: John has said that most of them wind up donated to his local public library in Bradford. :)

27. Oh, dear. Killer of Enemies. Well.

    …the title seems intended to be read straight. I suppose if it does well, we might look forward to sequels such as Slayer of Foes, Lover of Sexual Partners, and the environment-conscious Lumberjack of Trees.

28. @Standback – well, quite.

    Am I alone in finding the title of Memories of Ice etc. etc. only too similar to the Shadow War of the Night Dragons etc. etc.? I am unable to bring myself to read any book that proclaims itself part of such a series. Maybe I’m missing out on something wonderful, but these sagas just make me think too much of Reamde’s Devin Skraelin and his prolific output.

29. John: I am wondering what your take is on Steven Erikson’s ‘Malazan Book of the Fallen’ series. (Hope I got that right…) I own the first three in MMPB but have yet to open them up, mostly due to time. They look interesting, but I’ve been fooled before.

30. I had to look up the description for Eye of the MInds, but it sounds awesome.

31. Newton first; then Theroux…
    (I’ve been looking forward to that one, in fact!)

32. I picked up an ARC of Monster in the Mudball at ALA Chicago this summer. It’s Warehouse 13 for kids – fun stuff.

33. I just love how Memories of Ice is attempting to (and from the look of things succeeding at) crush its fellows.

34. Do you equate “almost never happens” with “doesn’t happen _every_ day”? It’s been years — decades, actually — since I got review copies, and then nothing like the number you seem to be getting. Of course, back then (before you were born, I think) not nearly as much science-fiction & fantasy was published in book form.

35. I would love to read Strange Bodies. Marcel Theroux’s last book was a dystopian ice age future thing that was very interesting. He is, as mentioned, related to Paul Theroux who wrote The Mosquito Coast and also a thing on what cannibalism tastes like (apparently, people taste like pigs).

36. Theroux’s last book “Far North” was reallllly well written and quite haunting. I picked up the ARC at work, not sure what to expect, and ended up loving it. Not an “ice age” story as Jeny mentions, just set in Siberia after things have fallen apart. And not really dystopian either — there’s no oppressive government, which I think is a requirement for dystopias, though I wouldn’t argue the point too strongly…

37. Can’t wait to read “Killer of Enemies” and I hope there’ll be an ebook version soon. :)

38. Drakenfeld is the one I want, last time I looked it wasn’t available yet but if they have sent out review copies the it should be available for pre order now

39. Good to see 2 UK authors in there. Both the Theroux and the Crave have been out for ages and Harvest has been nominated for several literary awards.

40. You probably don’t want to read “Memories of Ice” until you’ve read the first two books in the series, and they can be hard to get into. On the flip side, it’s one of the most epically rewarding reads in the history of fantasy. MoI is almost absurdly deep and has a couple of the best written battle scenes in fiction. The Siege of Capustan alone is worth the price of the book, and Itkovian … well, his story is indescribable.

41. PARLOUR GAMES by Markya Baggio appeals to me as I enjoy reading historical fiction.

42. Just a sidenote about KILLER OF ENEMIES: the title comes from the Apache “Killer of Enemies” legend, on which the story is based.

    The e-book should also be available by the end of this week.