collection

August 10, 2015

Win a copy of Nalo Hopkinson’s intensely engaging FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized afro-caribbean, chuma hill, collection, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, fantasy, giveaway, goodreads, nalo hopkinson, science fiction

The first new collection in over 12 years from the award-winning Nalo Hopkinson!

In celebration of the release of Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, we’re giving away a copy with the help of the fine people over at GOODREADS.

“The award-winning author of Midnight Robber and Brown Girl in the Ring returns with a collection of fantastical short fiction, assembling a decade’s worth of stories of magic and the supernatural intersecting with everyday life.”
—BarnesandNoble.com

Nalo Hopkinson (Brown Girl in the Ring, Skin Folk) has been widely hailed as a highly significant voice in Caribbean and American fiction. She has been dubbed “one of our most important writers,” (Junot Diaz), with “an imagination that most of us would kill for” (Los Angeles Times), and her work has been called “stunning,” (New York Times) “rich in voice, humor, and dazzling imagery” (Kirkus), and “simply triumphant” (Dorothy Allison).

“Every reader will surely find something to love, as this collection is often hilariously funny, deeply tragic, intensely engaging, and strongly steeped with fantastic elements.”
— Civilian Reader

FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS presents more than a dozen years of Hopkinson’s new, uncollected fiction, much of which has been unavailable in print, including one original story. Her singular, vivid tales, which mix the modern with Afro-Caribbean folklore, are occupied by creatures unpredictable and strange: chickens that breathe fire, adults who eat children, and spirits that haunt shopping malls.

The Smile on the Face
The Easthound
Message in a Bottle
Left Foot, Right
Old Habits
Emily Breakfast
Men Sell Not Such In Any Town
Herbal
A Young Candy Daughter
A Raggy Dog, A Shaggy Dog
Shift
Delicious Monster
Soul Case
Snow Day
Flying Lessons (original to this collection)
Blushing
Ours is the Prettiest

Visit GOODREADS for more details.

For more information on FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

August 7, 2015

The great LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG is engaging, entertaining, and interesting

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized cainsville, collection, horror, kathryn holllinrake, kelley armstrong, led astray, led astray: the very best of kelley armstrong, lola's reviews, paranormal romance, review, short stories, the eater of books!, urban fantasy, vampires, werewolves

Pair of reviews for the mesmerizing LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG.

Photo: Kathryn Hollinrake

From THE EATER OF BOOKS!:

Overall, the stories in this anthology were engaging, entertaining, interesting, and definitely helpful if you’ve read the full-length novels of the series that the short story corresponds to. And the short stories that stand alone are mesmerizing and strange, definitely worth reading! All of the stories are rather short, which I (for the most part) enjoyed!

LOLA’S REVIEWS:

This is a great short story collection of short stories written by Kelley Armstrong, some take place in the universe of her existing series and other are standalones. I think the ones that take place in her series universe are my favourite as there I have more of a context to place them in, more background and knowledge about the world. Especially the Cainsville short stories, I read Visions at the same time as I read this and the short stories all shed a new light on events and reveal a bit more about Cainsville.

Although some of the standalones ones were very good as well. Most short stories contain some kind of twist which I really liked. As even though they were short they were enjoyable and often managed to surprise me with the twist. The short stories are all very well written, there were a few I didn’t care for, but most were enjoyable. All in al I think this is a great book for fans of Kelley her writing or those wanting to get a feel for her writing style.

For more information on LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

August 5, 2015

Trio of reviews featuring Hannu Rajaniemi, Peter V. Brett, and Brandon Sanderson

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized alexander nanitchkov, brandon sanderson, brayan's gold, collection, demon cycle, elizabeth story, fantasy, hannu rajaniemi, hannu rajaniemi: collected fiction, lius lasahido, novella, peter v brett, review, rinn reads, science fiction, the emperor's soul, the great bazaar, the great bazaar & brayan's gold, the y logs, yuki no yoshikan, yzabel

Photo: Uránia Filmszínház (Hannu Rajaniemi)/Karsten Moran (Peter V. Brett)/MidAmerican Fan Photo Archive (Brandon Sanderson)

THE Y LOGS was enthralled by the sold out HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION.

These short stories are a little easier to follow, while retaining this quality, as well as first sentences that almost always manage to pique my interest, combining as they do totally different elements. Typical example: “Before the concert, we steal the master’s head.” We often hear or read that first sentences and first pages are important to grab a reader’s attention, and I think this author manages to do that very well here.

Most of those stories kept me enthralled, although not always for the same reasons. Some of them were clearly set in a distant enough future that men had become digital gods, or launched starships meant to drop servers into spaces just like one would plant seeds, aiming to create a network spanning entire galaxies. Other stories felt closer to contemporary times, while toying with Finnish myths and legends (Tuoni…). Not to mention the inclusion of Edinburgh: I very often derive pleasure just from reading about a city I know well and/or live in.

(This review also appeared at YZABEL.)

RINN READS recommends Peter V. Brett’s THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD.

I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of short stories that I find them difficult to review, because often I’m left a little disappointed and wanting more. This volume does not suffer from this, being an accompaniment to a longer series, but it didn’t really add anything necessary. However, it was interesting nonetheless, and something to quench the thirst until I can get my hands on the recently released fourth book. A recommendation for anyone who enjoys Brett’s writing, and especially those who can’t wait for book five!

YUKI NO TOSHOKAN loved Brandon Sanderson’s award-winning THE EMPEROR’S SOUL.

This novella has really left a deep mark on my soul. I will never forget how the story and characters have made me feel. The story may be fiction, but it has changed how I see and feel about the real world, especially about humans. The thing I want to say about this novella has been said in the novella itself, as my feelings about this book somewhat mirror Gaotona’s feelings about Shai’s book, so I would like to close my review with the quote:

“These were the tears of a man who saw before himself a masterpiece. True art was more than beauty; it was more than technique. It was not just imitation.

It was boldness, it was contrast, it was subtlety. In this book, Gaotona found a rare work to rival that of the greatest painters, sculptors, and poets of any era.

It was the greatest work of art he had ever witnessed.”

For more info on HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Lius Lasahido

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.

For more on THE EMPEROR’S SOUL, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Alexander Nanitchkov.

Design by Elizabeth Story.

August 4, 2015

FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS is beautiful, plain and simple

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized b&n sci-fi and fantasy blog, chuma hill, collection, derek newman-stille, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, fangirlnation, nalo hopkinson, review, short stories, speculating canada

Various odds and ends regarding award winner Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.

The B&N SCI-FI & FANTASY BLOG includes FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS among it’s picks for August 2015.

The award-winning author of Midnight Robber and Brown Girl in the Ring returns with a collection of fantastical short fiction, assembling a decade’s worth of stories of magic and the supernatural intersecting with everyday life. From stories of the apocalypse to tales of unsettled spirits, Hopkinson finds the odds threads woven throughout our reality and picks at them, revealing a far stranger tapestry beneath.

FANGIRLNATION loves the book.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS is beautiful, plain and simple. If you want something that breaks through the stereotypes of Fantasy writing and want a fresh and often bizarre take on the world around us, this is the book to put on the top of your reading list.

Derek Newman-Stille at SPECULATING CANADA does the unusual and reviews two of the short stories from the collection in two separate articles.

“The Easthound”:

Hopkinson’s “The Easthound” mirrors the classic Star Trek episode “Miri” (Season 1, Episode 8) where a virus has spread on an Earth-like planet that turns people monstrously violent when they hit puberty. But, she takes thing further. Whereas the writers of “Miri” try to resolve these issues with a cure (followed by sending educators to the planet), “The Easthound” expresses the idea that there generally aren’t simple solutions to the violence that street children experience and adults are generally part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Hopkinson explores the complexity of street life and the complex ways that “growing up” has a different set of meanings for kids on the street.

“Message in a Bottle”:

Hopkinson’s “Message in a Bottle” disrupts traditional ideas about aging (and childhood) and explores the discomfort that adults feel when children act or talk like adults.

For more information on FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

July 31, 2015

THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD is perfectly fun

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized brayan's gold, collection, elizabeth story, fantasy, lauren k cannon, novella, peter v brett, review, sci-fi and fantasy reviews, the fantasy book collector, the great bazaar, the great bazaar & brayan's gold

A pair of reviews for Peter V. Brett’s highly recommended THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD.

From SCI-FI AND FANTASY REVIEWS:

[BRAYAN’S GOLD] also has demons. Lots and lots of demons. Arlen manages to spend quite a bit of his time trying to avoid getting into a fight with a demon, and also somehow managing to fail. There’s some fairly hectic chase scenes, and some genuinely raw and impactful combats. Brett writes fast-paced, gruesome fights, and they’re entirely believable. His non-protagonist characters don’t have quite the same depth, but this is more of a stricture of length than anything else – they’re certainly excellent foils for Arlen, and the reader does get a broader understanding of both the world and Arlen’s character from the narrative. It helps that it’s a page turner; the spaces between action are less lulls, and more necessary breathers.

<snip>

As with Brayan’s Gold, this story gives us a great deal of fast-paced action. Arlen manages to do some incredibly stupid things and get away with them, at least partially through luck; but the chases, the fights, they’re page-turners, every one. At the same time, the reader is getting more context for the larger trilogy. Arlen as a younger man, possibly less angry, more easily thwarted perhaps, and not as cunning as he might be – but still driven, still recognisably the protagonist of Brett’s larger series. His careful, respectful relationship with Abban is fleshed out a bit more in this text than it has been before, and gives a new layer of meaning to their interactions in other slices of Brett’s narrative. The Great Bazaar is less of a journey story than Brayan’s Gold, but it feels like it puts a bit more meat onto the bones of extant characters, and it’s a lot of fun to read.

<snip>

Overall, if you’re already a fan of Brett’s Demon Cycle books, this is an excellent adjunct to that series. If you’re coming to it fresh, these are perfectly fun standalone novellas – you actually don’t need to have read the rest of the series to ‘get’ them; that said, I’d recommend you do, because if you have, there’s more understanding to be had. In either case, this collection is entirely worth your time.

Defensive ward against: Snow Demons
First appeared: Brayan’s Gold

Ward by Lauren K. Cannon, copyright by Peter V. Brett.

THE FANTASY BOOK COLLECTOR:

I don’t want to delve too much more into the story, as you can see from just a few quotes Brett’s writing is unique, descriptive and poetic like to every detail, which is why he would rather use these novellas to describe events of gaps within his books where in his books he will skip years to keep the continuation at a speed more suited for a reader and balance out the parts of his characters within the books.

I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading the novellas and would highly recommend them to readers who love fantasy but do not fancy the longer books and especially to fans who have read the books and want to fill in some of the gaps.

5/5

For more info about THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.

July 30, 2015

Which writer first compared Iowa to heaven?

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized baseball, collection, dave morice, fiction, field of dreams, heaven, iowa, iowa writers workshop, kevin costner, kyle munson, poetry, shoeless joe, short story, the des moines register, the essential w. p. kinsella, w. p. kinsella

For THE DES MOINES REGISTER, Kyle Munson wonders whether Iowa City poet Dave Morice or “fellow Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus W.P. Kinsella of SHOELESS JOE and FIELD OF DREAMS fame,” first compared Iowa to heaven?

Morice remembers sharing an informal writing group with Kinsella in the late 1970s. The writers met weekly at a local rec center.

Morice culled through 15,000 pages of his work for his newly published thematic collection, “Poetry City: A Literary Remembrance of Iowa City, Iowa.” That’s how he and his editor, Joye Chizek, unearthed his 1974 poem “The Bugs of Johnson County”:

Insects outnumber us by the octillions.

They are in love with each other.

The planet is a plant.

The universe is a garden.

I’m a gardener.

I live.

Here.

And I love it.

You live here too.

Or you don’t.

Wild ideas fill the heads of insects.

They get carried away by their passion for life.

Is this Heaven?

No, just count the bugs. It’s Iowa!

Poet Dave Morice, as “Dr. Alphabet,” types poetry from atop the Jefferson Building in downtown Iowa City in 1979 in one of his many poetry marathons. (Photo: The Des Moines Register)

Kinsella didn’t even arrive in Iowa City until 1976. Before leaving with his master of fine arts from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1978, he had written the bones and read aloud portions of what would become the novel “Shoeless Joe.” It was published in 1982.

The title character, a ghostly baseball player, speaks with Iowan Ray Kinsella early in the book:

“God what an outfield,” he says. “What a left field.” He looks up at me and I look down at him. “This must be heaven,” he says.

“No. It’s Iowa,” I reply automatically.

And then of course Ray Liotta asked Kevin Coster, “Is this heaven?,” in the 1989 film “Field of Dreams,” cementing it into our culture.

W. P. Kinsella (photo: Ed Steers)

I phoned Kinsella at home in Canada, northeast of Vancouver. He remembered Morice but not “The Bugs of Johnson County.”

I read him the complete poem.

“I’ve never heard of that at all,” he said.

I wasn’t shocked. I can’t remember everything I wrote — much less read — a year ago. So I wouldn’t expect Morice or Kinsella to recall a seven-stanza poem nearly 40 years later.

Was “Is this heaven?” somehow fluttering around Iowa City’s literary atmosphere in the ’70s when Kinsella captured it and sealed its fate?

Who knows. To be clear, I’m not calling Kinsella, 80, a plagiarist. I’m merely saying that the origins of one of Iowa’s signature movie catchphrases might be more complicated and interesting than we assumed — and would be par for the course considering the creative Petri dish that was Iowa City in the 1970s.

Read the rest of Munson’s article at THE DES MOINES REGISTER.

For more info about THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.

July 30, 2015

HAP AND LEONARD, the collected tales of Joe R. Lansdale’s intrepid duo, arrives in early ‘16

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized collection, crime, east texas, elizabeth story, hap and leonard, hap collins, joe lansdale, Joe R. Lansdale, leonard pine, michael kenneth williams, michael kortya, novella, short story, texas, texas noir

It’s been teased and hinted about for months but at long last HAP AND LEONARD, a collection of the finest Joe R. Lansdale short stories featuring the not-so-dynamic East Texas duo, is officially coming out in March, 2016.

Complete with an introduction by New York Times bestselling author Michael Koryta and an original afterword by Joe R. Lansdale, his ownself, HAP AND LEONARD delivers six previously uncollected tales of mayhem, violence, and adventure told in the uniquely Lansdale manner.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction by Michael Kortya

Veil’s
Visit

Death
By Chili

Hyenas

Dead
Aim

The
Boy Who Became Invisible

Bent
Twig

Joe
R. Lansdale Interviews Hap Collins and Leonard Pine

Afterword
by Joe R. Lansdale

HAP AND LEONARD cover by Elizabeth Story.

July 29, 2015

LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG is excellent escapism

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized collection, fangs for the fantasy, horror, kelley armstrong, led astray, led astray: the best of kelley armstrong, otherworld, paranormal romance, review, risingshadow, short stories, urban fantasy, vampires, werewolves

A pair of reviews for the impressive LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG.

(photo: Kathryn Hollinrake)

From RISINGSHADOW:

Reading Led Astray: The Best of Kelley Armstrong was an interesting and pleasant reading experience for me, because I hadn’t yet read anything by Kelley Armstrong (I was aware of her and knew who she is, but unfortunately I hadn’t had an opportunity to read any of her novels or stories). I’m glad I could read this collection, because I found myself enjoying it and was fascinated by the stories.

I don’t normally read urban fantasy, because I consciously tend to avoid it due to the sad fact that a lot of urban fantasy novels and stories are simply not worth reading. I’ve often been more or less disappointed with the low quality and poor entertainment values of many urban fantasy novels, because it’s very frustrating to read about shallow happenings and Barbie-and-Ken-like characters who fall head over heels in love with supernatural beings and have all kinds of sex with them without any kind of sense or style. Fortunately, this collection turned to be entertaining and was worth reading, because the stories were good and interesting.

<snip>

Now that I’ve read this collection, I have to mention that I’m convinced of Kelley Armstrong’s writing skills. She’s one of the few urban fantasy authors who seem to be at home in many different sub-genres of speculative fiction, which is rare. She knows how to entertain her readers and delivers good and addictive stories that easily hook her readers.

Kelley Armstrong has a nice way of surprising her readers with unexpected twists and turns. I was pleasantly surprised by the twists in these stories, because the author had added interesting twists to many of her stories. For example, “A Haunted House of Her Own” has an interesting twist at the end that works well.

What separates Kelley Armstrong from many other urban fantasy authors is her ability to add good characterisation to her stories. Her characters are interesting and they have lives and problems of their own that are of interest to the readers.

I give this collection strong four stars for its entertainment values. (To be honest, some of the stories deserve five stars, because they’re excellent.)

If you enjoy reading entertaining urban fantasy, you will most likely enjoy Led Astray: The Best of Kelley Armstrong, because it contain entertaining and fascinating stories. It will be of special interest to fans of Kelley Armstrong, but also to readers who enjoy urban fantasy and works by such authors as Charlaine Harris, Laurell K. Hamilton and Kim Harrison. If you’re into urban fantasy and want to read entertaining stories, I think that you’ll enjoy this collection. It’s a collection with an emphasis on entertainment and style.

My final words are:

Led Astray is a good short story collection for readers who enjoy reading urban fantasy novels and stories. It’s excellent escapism for urban fantasy readers!

FANGS FOR THE FANTASY:

I have to say that this book isn’t an easy read. It contains stories containing child abuse, rape, suicide and lots of terrible grief and tragedy. It’s not an easy read, but it is a powerful one which is truly excellently written. I can’t emphasise this enough, the writing is excellent and the emotional impact of the stories because of that is, at times, gut wrenching. Coming from the Otherworld series I never expected something so dark or a book that would throw in so many emotional gut punches – but I have to say I’m impressed, deeply impressed by almost every story in this book.

For more information on LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

July 29, 2015

Join Peter V. Brett under the Brooklyn Bridge

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized books beneath the bridge, brayan's gold, brooklyn bridge, collection, demon cycle, elizabeth story, event, fantasy, granite prospect, naomi novik, novella, peter v brett, signing, the great bazaar, the great bazaar & brayan's gold, word

WORD, the Books Beneath the Bridge reading series, returns on August 3 to the Brooklyn Bridge Park with Peter V. Brett and Naomi Novik.

Our annual literature series returns to the Granite Prospect steps featuring 6 evenings curated by local, independent bookstores. Each program will include a reading, Q&A, and book signing with the authors.

For more on the event, visit the Brooklyn Bridge page.

For more info about THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.

July 29, 2015

The awe-inspiring FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS is a must read

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized afro-caribbean, chuma hill, collection, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, fantasy, my bookish ways, nalo hopkinson, review, science fiction, the skeptical reader

(photo: Aurora Public Library)

MY BOOKISH WAYS included Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS on their list of August 2015 Must Reads in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, while THE SKEPTICAL READER gives the awe-inspiring collection 3 our of 5 stars.

I’ve been wanting to try Nalo Hopkinson was a really long time now and somehow have never been able to locate her works in bookshops. So obviously when I saw this one up for review on NetGalley, I pounced on it immediately. It took a while to get through as I’ve mentioned but I was quite impressed by some of the stories in this collection.

Like any short story/anthology collection, this one was quite varied in its themes, narrations, and the reactions it wangled from me. There were some stories in here which were awe-inspiring but then there were some I could barely get through, despite each of them just being short stories. It’s a very strange blend — I had so much appreciation for some, but then so much dislike for some others.

What I actually thought was the most impressive part of this collection is the little introduction Hopkinson provides in the beginning of each story. Because short stories are such microscopic, abstract narratives, having insight into the thought process of the writer penning them brought about a whole new dimension to the product. Not always, but often her introductions would set the stories perfectly into the “big picture” she was trying to emulate via her storytelling. Absolutely adored the creativity.

Other wonderful elements Hopkinson plays around with are allusions, literary references, and at times, what seemed to me, an attempt to retell a popular story or myth. This was both entertaining and frustrating. Frustrating because there was a story introduced with a connection to The Tempest and another which is inspired by Goblin Market and while I loved that she drew inspirations from these, as someone who’s read Goblin Market but not The Tempest, I was unsure how much I really like this technique. Obviously I’m missing out on some another layer of symbolism by not having read The Tempest, especially since I understood her story relating to Goblin Market more because I was already familiar with the poem.

Read the entire review at THE SKEPTICAL READER.

Discover the rest of the August must reads at MY BOOKISH WAYS.

For more information on FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

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Tachyon Publications

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