The Book of Apex, blog tour
The book of Apex. Volume 4 of Apex Magazine. Edited by Lynne M Thomas
A great collection of stories that will appeal to varying tastes. I won’t attempt to review them all because that would just be too much for one post but will try to give more of a flavour of what is contained here and look at the stories that particularly appealed to me.
The Bread We Eat in Dreams by Catherynne Valente
The series gets off to a great start with a story by Catherynne Valente about a demon. A demon who lives amongst the people of the small town of Sauve Majeure. Gemegishkirihallat, or Agnes if that’s too much of a tongue twister! Apparently an innocent old woman, growing her own produce and baking her own wares. Of course during puritanical times people begin to look askance at others who may be slightly different and judge them harshly and so Agnes, having green fingers, and being such an expert baker comes under scrutiny. Surely she isn’t such an innocent old woman, there can be only one explanation. Agnes is surely a witch! There is a certain sort of delicious irony here. A demon, who is banished from hell, sent to purgatory (which living amongst us lesser mortals must surely be) only to be convicted as a witch and accused of trying to consort with the devil. All told in the beautiful voice of Valente. A lovely twist to this demon’s tale with the message ‘be careful what you wish for because the grass is not always greener’.
The 24 Hour Brother by Christopher Barzak
The 24 Hour Brother is somewhat of a sad story basically about a boy who is born and experiences his full life during one twenty four hour period. This is a short but quite gripping tale that grasps you from the moment that the baby is born, and is discovered to have already grown a tooth. Within a matter of minutes the baby has become a toddler and shortly after is running down the corridors of the hospital where he was only moments before born. I did feel again that there was a message in this story, one primarily about the shortness of life, the way it passes so quickly and should be enjoyed fully.
The Leavings of the Wolf by Elizabeth Bear
This story is about letting go. A recently divorced woman who is trying to come to terms with being single and at the same time trying to shed the extra weight she gained during the bitter split. Every morning she runs around the campus where she works. Usually followed by the crows which have become attached to her during her study of them and now follow her movements. On one particular morning she finds herself on a track not previously traversed and winds up on a beach, accosted by a God! In order to recover she will need to sacrifice something that she’s been holding onto for the wrong reasons.
Sweetheart Showdown by Sarah Dalton is a futuristic tale which focuses on a beauty contest. The contestants use all sorts of weird and wonderful tricks to enhance their appeal to the audience, even mind control, and the grande finale involves a fight to the death for the two remaining ‘would be’ Sweetheart winners. Imagine Running Man meets Miss World where the contestants have more than sharp words on their tongues and a swish of their luxurious locks is likely to prove fatal. Have the contestants been brainwashed? Do they really seek to win at all costs? Just how far will one person go in order to be the most beautiful? Beauty is skin deep after all.
The Silk Merchant by Ken Liu
In which a young man seeks to discover the secret of a beautiful silk cloth. In doing so he will fall in love and discover that some riches come at too high a price. And, there are spiders! I’m just saying… Very easy to read with lovely writing.
Sprig by Alex Bledsoe
An enchanting tale about a young boy who becomes separated from his parents whilst at a summer fair and befriended by a lovely young woman dressed as a fairy. Fairies hidden in plain sight. Plastic wings and glitter. Do you believe in fairies? Maybe they’re more real than we care to know. I love tales like this because they make me want to believe in the extra ordinary.
Waiting for Beauty by Marie Brennan
A re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast. Beautifully told, enchanting and twisted! Yep, definitely twisted. Don’t be thinking of reading this to the kiddies for a bedtime story.
It would be very easy to run on at great length about this book, just trust me, it would be far too easy and so I will spare you and leave something for you to discover. There are such a lot of stories to choose from. Dark stories about satanic worship, horrible tales of rot and decaying bodies, strange tales of labyrinths of death and dreams of masked balls tempered with dark humour, particularly thinking here of Trixie, the Godess of Smiting who rides into the fray on a palaquin carried aloft by magnificent, flatulent pandas. Beware all jerks and dickheads….
So, what’s new..
Okay. Put bluntly, January has been a bit of a sluggish and slow month. Work very busy. Temporarily lost my reading mojo and got behind with reviews! But, things are looking up. A lot.
Firstly, I’m still taking part in a massive readalong of Brandon Sanderson’s Way of Kings with a whole bunch of lovely bloggers. Such a good book. Not to mention a giveaway!!!! The details of the readalong are here on Dab of Darkness and the details of the giveaway are here at On Starships and dragonwings- check it out! No pushing and shoving there are a few copies up for grabs!
Secondly, I’m taking part in a book blogging tour, slavishly put together by Andrea at Little Red Reviewer for the Book of Apex 4, edited by Lynne M Thomas. Yes, there’s a banner and it’s absolutely gorgeous:
I’ll be reviewing a few of the stories, and there are a good few to choose from from a whole range of authors, plus Alex Bledsoe (author of the Eddie LaCrosse/Tufa and Rudolfo Zginski novels) will be stopping over with a guest topic piece and later in the month an interview. I’m so excited I could burst! I’ll try and contain it though because that could be awkward.
On top of that, this month I’ve read the following:
- The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Wake by Anna Hope
- Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
- Light by Michael Grant
- The Sword Edged Blond by Alex Bledsoe
- All the Truth That’s in Me by Julie Berry
So, all very exciting and more details to follow soon!
Cheap at twice the price..
30 January 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Control Point, Fortress Frontier, Myke Cole
It has to be done. You walk down the high street, you pretend you don’t notice the bookshop and yet, your feet walk you right in through the door, belligerent feet – you’ll be sorry when I stop putting shoes on you! Look at this though (‘Black Hawk Down Meets the X-Men’):
Both books less than £5 at The Works – get on it!! I may be a Took – but I’m not a ‘fool of a Took’.
The World According to Ellie Quin by Alex Scarrow
30 January 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Alex Scarrow, The World According to Ellie Quin
The World According to Ellie Quinn is the second in a series that got off to an excellent start with The Legend of Ellie Quin. Again, this is a very engaging read that picks up immediately where the last novel left off (and I would recommend reading these in order as they’re telling a story in linear fashion). If you’ve not read these books then beware of spoilers below. If you haven’t read them and want to do so then my review of No.1 is here!
Again, a very engaging read that picks up almost immediately where the last story left off. Ellie is now living in a little apartment or pod – to be honest it’s more of a shoebox but that’s not a problem. She’s with her new friend and saviour from book No.1 Jez. Fortunately the two seem to have formed a fairly close relationship already which gives the close quarters in which they now live a more bearable feel. Ellie seems a little more secure, she has a job and the two girls seem to be doing well enough to at least enjoy a bit of night life and occasionally buy a few things other than basic necessities. They’re both having a fun girly time basically. Of course, getting too comfortable will undoubtedly lead to complacency and Ellie didn’t leave behind one home just to form another so soon – she wanted more. She wanted to travel. She certainly didn’t just want to make ends meet and eke out a living.
She still continues to meet with Aaron – which is just as well as he seems to be her anchor to reality at the moment – reminding her of her own ambitions and worrying about her fairly quick conversion to all out city chick!
At the same time we have the storyline of the Corporate suits who are trying to find Ellie – with none too friendly objectives in mind. They’ve put their best man in the case. He’s ruthless and unsympathetic and he’s narrowing the search area quite systematically and rapidly!
This is another short story but it manages to cram plenty in. There are a number of adventures with the girls as they seem to go from one drama to the next, fuelled by Jez’s love of life and big schemes until eventually their good luck runs out and they seem to hit a bit of a low.
It’s at this point that Ellie has her ‘bright idea’ – and, I’m going to leave that there.
The historical, ‘wiki’ style entries used in the previous story are used again to good effect – I really like the way these dovetail with the story and give this demonstration of how truth becomes distorted into myth – and yet somehow manages to retain a ‘little’ of what actually happened.
I’m really enjoying this series and from what I’ve read so far I think this is only going to get better. I like the mystery that is posed about Ellie. I like the adventures and the pacing and basically I’m fairly intrigued.
Again, I guess you would call this ‘soft’ sci fi but for me that feels perfect. It’s quirky, engaging and fun and I definitely recommend picking it up.
Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, readalong week 5
29 January 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Brandon Sanderson, Readalong week 5, Tethyan Books, The Way of Kings
Banner courtesy of Anya at On Starships And Dragonwings!Banner courtesy of Anya at On Starships And Dragonwings!
Today is week 5 of our readalong of Way of Kings and I have to chuck out there that I love this book (and found it difficult not to just read on this week) – but I’ve held firm! This week’s host and provider of questions is Tethyan Books. The schedule is here and it’s still not too late to join if you want to get in on the blogging fun. Beware of spoilers below (as Dab of Darkness likes to say) they’re having a party below!
1.Dalinar made a very dramatic decision at the beginning of this section. Do you think it was the right one? What do you think will happen to him, Adolin and (and the not-united Alethi) if he follows through?
To an extent I’m not surprised by his decision, only because if everyone keeps telling you there’s something wrong or different about you then eventually you may start to believe it. Also, his endeavours to get the other High Princes all failed and on top of that he’s starting to compare himself to Gavilar. I wonder if he stays whether his house will fall into shame – or at least I think he believes that. Also, if he stays might he eventually have the same realisation as Gavilar and end up falling foul of an assassination. Speaking of which I wonder who is on Szeth’s list? I think he’s coming to the conclusion that the battles and glory they seek is wrong and using the shardblades for this reason is wrong. It was very interesting to read the thoughts he was having inbetween pounding rocks. He could almost have been describing Kaladin – ‘never fight other men except when forced to in war, let your actions defend you not your words, expect honour from those you meet, and give them the chance to live up to it. Whether it’s the right decision or not I don’t really know although I suspect his visions of a peaceful life at the homestead with his slippers and pipe will be far from the reality.
2.We’ve gotten to see a little more of Shinovar with Rysn the apprentice merchant. In terms of plants and animals, it seems to be pretty much like our world. How do you think it happened that there’s such an ‘ordinary’ place, or what do you think might have happened to turn the rest of the world so unusual? Given this and the chapter on Szeth, do you have any more ideas on what the meaning of his “Truthless” title might be?
No, I’m confounded by this. I suppose if you take our own natural world you could choose a place with a blazing hot desert or thick ice and glaciers and then almost anything in between the two. Things evolve and adapt to their climate after all. Still, for a moment there I was scratching my head – it was like one minute I was walking through Middle Earth and the next I was walking through Middlesbrough (well not quite, but,). Quite bizarre. As to the ‘Truthless’ title I’ve been scratching my head over that. It does seem like Szeth is being punished, and he also seems incredibly talented, but then, the scratching of the head continues (quite furiously) and… nothing further comes to mind!
3. Shallan and Jasnah’s story has returned! Based on Jasnah’s words to Dalinar, and the clues Shallan is picking up, what do you think Jasnah’s project is about? What do you think she hopes to accomplish?
I think she’s trying to find out more about the motive behind Gavilar’s assassination and more about what he seemed to have discovered. Without this knowledge they’re all just warring against each other with no real meaning to it. I think that somebody has to try and find out more about the Parshendi and what they feared enough from Gavilar to have him killed.
4. Concerning Shallan, it’s starting to seem that her drawing ability is a supernatural gift. Do you have any theories on the bizarre figures Shallan accidentally drew behind the king?
That was a bit freaky wasn’t it. I have no idea what the figures were. Except they seemed to be standing almost like bodyguards – a bit like guardian angels. I really don’t know. Perhaps she should try that same tactic when she’s drawing others, for example, Jasnah, to see what it reveals in her picture – maybe it somehow pertains to the character and their own behaviour – so, Sadeas, for example – could have a huge rat with big sharp teeth stood behind him – skulking in the shadows LOL.
5. Back to the bridge crews, now that we’ve seen a bit more into Gaz’s perspective, does he seem any more sympathetic? Why do you think he owes Lamaril money?
No, I still don’t like Gaz, even with his perspective. He was torn between just wanting Kaladin dead and wanting his spheres! As to Lamaril – he said it was blackmail so I assume Gaz was caught somewhere he shouldn’t have been or was doing something he shouldn’t. Unless that was just a slip up – perhaps Gaz has to pay Lamaril money in a sort of protection deal??
6. Kaladin has won over his bridge crew, and enacted a brilliant plan to protect them—which utterly ruined the military strategy. Do you think his plan was a good one, or should he have seen the chaos coming? What do you think will happen to him next? Also, what do you think he’ll do if he figures out the real reason why bridgemen aren’t allowed shields?
What a disaster! I’m not surprised he didn’t see what would happen – he was so intent on his own crew he was no longer looking at the bigger military picture. When you think back to the beginning when we were first introduced he also worked similarly, in an almost lonesome way to protect his men. Of course, he immediately realised what was happening and what he’d done. It’s not going to be pretty for him after that – obviously a lot of men died and the battle was lost so there’s going to be one hell of a grumpy Sadeas wanting retribution – he doesn’t care a fig for the bridgemen in the first place and now this has happened, well, eek. I presume he’s going to realise why they’re not allowed shields after this – sitting ducks and all. On the flip side maybe this will turn things around, after all, there aren’t many bridgemen left after this affair so perhaps there’ll have to be a rethink!
That’s it for this week.
Books and travelling with Lynn 