New Books and ARCs, 3/25/16
Posted on March 25, 2016 Posted by John Scalzi 28 Comments
To send us off into the Easter weekend, please see this fine stack of new books and ARCs that have arrived at the Scalzi Compound. Do you see anything you’d like to have the Easter Bunny deliver to you? Let us know in the comments!
It’s a treat to see a Scott Sigler book in your ARCS. He was an early internet self promoting author, too.
Victor Lavalle’s The Ballad of Black Tom is awesome! Many +1s.
I really enjoyed Mike Underwood’s second Genrenauts novella.
Half a War looks interesting.
I loved READY PLAYER ONE, and watching D. Hoak burble about ARMADA has it on my radar.
Am I hallucinating, but didn’t Armada come out last year?
Yep, I did read it last summer. Why is an Arc? Is it out in paperback now or something?
A Song for No Man’s Land sounds interesting. Out of curiosity, how many books do you read in a week on average? It seems like you get a new pile every other day!
Seconded on ‘Half a War’; I’m looking forward to it.
I definitely want to get my paws on a copy of Ada Palmer’s debut novel. I also liked the first Genrenauts novella.
Alight (I liked the first one in the series! YA but not juvenile.). And I just listened to an interview with the author of A Life Engineered, sounds interesting.
I’m with Miles… what exactly is an ARC? I loved Armada when I read it last summer – I’m on the waitlist for a re-read now that reading Ready Player One has me wanting more Ernest Cline, but it’s already come out.
An ARC is copy of an yet-to-be-released book that publishers send to reviewers and others before the book’s release date. I think the main difference is that ARCs don’t have all the final editing tweaks. Pretty much, any book in that picture that has a date on the spine is an ARC.
As for Armada, the book’s been out long enough for a paperback release.
Half a War I felt was the weakest of the trilogy. Book No 2 was Half a World and I’d rate that one the best of the three.
But then, when I first read Lock In I wasn’t too enthused. Then I read it in one day last weekend and really enjoyed it. I’ve decided I have a “mood” thing that influences how I feel about a book.
That said I’ve bought all Joe’s books and will continue to do so.
Thanks for the photos John. I’m definitely getting ideas of what to acquire next: – esp. new authors
I have a library copy of the Ballad of Black Tom waiting for me, and I am halfway through a Joe Abercrombie trilogy…. Where’s the “Like” button?
I greatly enjoyed Ada Palmer’s reading of the opening chapter of TOO LIKE THE LIGHTNING at Worldcon Smokane last year, and would be deeply envious of your ARC had I not one of my own. Actually, I’m still a bit envious (because if I had TWO, I could loan one to a friend and discuss together!). It comes out May 10, and I’m very happy that Tor is bringing out the other 3 books in the series at 6 month intervals instead of the usual 12 or 18.
Even if you have no time to read your copy, I recommend opening it and admiring the typography.
For whatever reason, when I first looked at the picture, the stack of paperbacks all had a ‘retro’ feel to them. It’s like I was looking at a stack of paperbacks from the 80s or 90s. Maybe it is the exposure of the corners which makes it looks like the edges are a bit frayed.
I Am not offended. Have a great day.
Ada Palmer!
I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while now!
Is “The Ballad of Black Tom” about the blind, mentally retarded piano savant of the antebellum era? I read about him in the’60’s in a grown-up book (I was a precocious reader) called “Mysteries of the Mind,” dealing with such unusual topics as savantism, doppelgangers, folie a deux, pibloktoq (Arctic madness–those 6-month long nights cooped up with the same people used to make folks flip out something fierce), koro, and a guy engaging in (ahem) “animal husbandry” until, as Tom Lehrer says, they caught him at it. It was fascinating, even to a kid who wasn’t entirely clear on what that guy was doing with his horse that made his wife so mad, and I’d love to reread it as an adult if I could find a copy.
“A Song for No Man’s Land” sounds like it could be good. I’m sorry to say that I was very disappointed by “Armada,” but I know a lot of people seemed to like it anyway, so I hope you do.
The Life Engineered is one of my favorites.
>> Is “The Ballad of Black Tom” about the blind, mentally retarded piano savant of the antebellum era? >>
No, it’s a Lovecraftian story told from the POV of a black man, who Lovecraft would have considered subhuman but who the author does not. It’s pretty good.
I just added Devourers to my TBR list, after favorable comments on File.
Hi Kurtbusiek: oh boy I love a good tentacled-horror-from-beyond-the-stars story! I’ll have to read that one as soon as I get time. Right now moving + illness in family leaves no time for anything but the occasional scream, but I wrote it down. (The title. Not the scream.). Thanks!
Half a War and Absconded Ambassador. Armada sucked so bad.
Drew Magary is a funny guy. I read his stuff on Deadspin, but have never read his books.
I was unimpresed by Armada. Reminded me of the premise of that Pixels movie. I liked Ready Player One but Armada doesn’t bring any real new ideas to the table.
Do you ever get nods from other writers for posting these? I had no idea The Hike was even on its way, now it’s on my Amazon wishlist. (I enjoyed Postmortal, so I tend to keep my eye out for Magary).