Books Received (Three Weeks’ Worth! ’Twas Like Early Christmas…)

I was away for a couple of weeks, and when I returned home, I had a veritable jackpot in books waiting for me:

In the spirit of full-disclosure (and just in case it takes a while for me to get around to reading and reviewing them), here’s what turned up, and a few preliminary, pre-reading thoughts…

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Kelley Armstrong, Omens (Sphere)

Twenty-four-year-old Olivia Taylor Jones has the perfect life. The only daughter of a wealthy, prominent Chicago family, she has an Ivy League education, pursues volunteerism and philanthropy, and is engaged to a handsome young tech firm CEO with political ambitions.

But Olivia’s world is shattered when she learns that she’s adopted. Her real parents? Todd and Pamela Larsen, notorious serial killers serving a life sentence. When the news brings a maelstrom of unwanted publicity to her adopted family and fiancé, Olivia decides to find out the truth about the Larsens.

Olivia ends up in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois, an old and cloistered community that takes a particular interest in both Olivia and her efforts to uncover her birth parents’ past.

Aided by her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, Olivia focuses on the Larsens’ last crime, the one her birth mother swears will prove their innocence. But as she and Gabriel start investigating the case, Olivia finds herself drawing on abilities that have remained hidden since her childhood, gifts that make her both a valuable addition to Cainsville and deeply vulnerable to unknown enemies. Because there are darker secrets behind her new home and powers lurking in the shadows that have their own plans for her.

I’ve only read a couple of Armstrong’s novels – and, strangely, not the ones I always wanted to… I discovered her Women of the Otherworld series around the time I started receiving ARCs from publishers, which meant I could never really justify buying them for myself. Then the later books in the series started turning up, and my sister pinched them (she did buy the first ones, you see). I did, however, read Armstrong’s two non-supernatural thrillers, ?? and ??, which I enjoyed a great deal. This novel is the start of a new series, so I’m hoping to read it very soon (and prevent my sister from liberating it first…).

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Brenda Cooper, The Diamond Deep (Pyr)

What if a woman as strong and as complex as Eva Perón began her life as a robot repair assistant threatened by a powerful peacekeeping force that wants to take all she has from her?

The discovery ship, Creative Fire, is on its way home from a multi-generational journey. But home is nothing like the crew expected. They have been gone for generations, and the system they return to is home to technologies and riches beyond their wildest dreams. But they are immediately oppressed and relegated to the lowest status imaginable, barely able to interact with the technologies and people of the star station where they dock, the Diamond Deep.

Ruby Martin and her partner, Joel North, must find a way to learn what they need to know and to become more than they have ever been if they are to find a way to save their people.

I have sadly been unable to keep on top of all my reading from Pyr Books. I feel pretty bad about this, given how willing they are to send me review copies (not to mention how much I like their authors…). The previous book in this series, This Creative Fire, is one such missed book. I’ll do my best to catch up ASAP.

Also on CR: Interview with Brenda Cooper

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Troy Denning, Crucible (Century)

Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and Luke Skywalker return in an all-new Star Wars adventure, which will challenge them in ways they never expected—and forever alter their understanding of life and the Force.

When Han and Leia Solo arrive at Lando Calrissian’s Outer Rim mining operation to help him thwart a hostile takeover, their aim is just to even up the odds and lay down the law. Then monstrous aliens arrive with a message, and mere threats escalate into violent sabotage with mass fatalities. When the dust settles, what began as corporate warfare becomes a battle with much higher stakes—and far deadlier consequences.

Now Han, Leia, and Luke team up once again in a quest to defeat a dangerous adversary bent on galaxy-wide domination. Only this time, the Empire is not the enemy. It is a pair of ruthless geniuses with a lethal ally and a lifelong vendetta against Han Solo. They will stop at nothing to control the lucrative Outer Rim mining trade—and ultimately the entire galactic economy. And when the murderous duo gets the drop on Han, he finds himself outgunned in the fight of his life. To save him, and the galaxy, Luke and Leia must brave a gauntlet of treachery, terrorism, and the untold power of an enigmatic artifact capable of bending space, time, and even the Force itself into an apocalyptic nightmare.

I’m rather behind on my Star Wars reading. I have to finish Fate of the Jedi, and then read Mercy Kill before I can get to this. Hopefully soon-ish. Interestingly, I was also able to find an early draft version of the cover. I think it’s rather good, so I decided to share it again here…

I may actually like this one better…

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Mark Hodder, The Secret of Abdu el-Yezdi (Del Rey UK)

Burton & Swinburne return in a new series!

The Beast is coming. History will be remade.

Since the assassination of Queen Victoria in 1840, a cabal of prominent men-including King George V, HRH Prince Albert, Benjamin Disraeli, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel-has received guidance from the Afterlife. The spirit of a dead mystic, Abdu El Yezdi, has helped them to steer the empire into a period of unprecedented peace and creativity. But on the eve of a groundbreaking alliance with the newly formed Greater German Confederation, scientists, surgeons, and engineers are being abducted-including Brunel!

The government, in search of answers, turns to the Afterlife, only to find that Abdu El Yezdi is now refusing to speak with the living. Enter the newly-knighted Sir Richard Francis Burton, fresh from his discovery of the source of the Nile. Appointed the king's agent, he must trace the missing luminaries and solve the mystery of Abdu El Yezdi's silence. But the Beast has been summoned.

How can the famous explorer fulfill his mission when his friends and loved ones are being picked off, one by one, by what appears to be a supernatural entity-by, perhaps, Abdu El Yezdi himself?

I’ve never read any of Hodder’s series… I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe this will be the first? Anyone know if that’s not a good idea? Should I start from the very beginning, or can I just dive straight in?

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Drew Karpyshyn, Children of Fire (Del Rey UK)

Long ago the gods chose a great hero to act as their agent in the mortal world and to stand against the demonic spawn of Chaos. The gods gifted their champion, Daemron, with three magical Talismans: a sword, a ring, and a crown. But the awesome power at his command corrupted Daemron, turning him from savior to destroyer. Filled with pride, he dared to challenge the gods themselves. Siding with the Chaos spawn, Daemron waged a titanic battle against the Immortals. In the end, Daemron was defeated, the Talismans were lost, and Chaos was sealed off behind the Legacy—a magical barrier the gods sacrificed themselves to create.

Now the Legacy is fading. On the other side, the banished Daemron stirs. And across the scattered corners of the land, four children are born of suffering and strife, each touched by one aspect of Daemron himself—wizard, warrior, prophet, king.

Bound by a connection deeper than blood, the Children of Fire will either restore the Legacy or bring it crashing down, freeing Daemron to wreak his vengeance upon the mortal world.

I’ve mentioned this on the blog before. I’m certainly interested in seeing what Karpyshyn has come up with. I enjoyed his Star Wars novels (at least, the Darth Bane books, which are the only ones of his that I’ve read). Hopefully get to this pretty soon.

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Daniel Polansky, She Who Waits (Hodder)

Low Town: the worst ghetto in the worst city in the Thirteen Lands.

Good only for depravity and death. And Warden, long ago a respected agent in the formidable Black House, is now the most depraved Low Town denizen of them all.

As a younger man, Warden carried out more than his fair share of terrible deeds, and never as many as when he worked for the Black House. But Warden’s growing older, and the vultures are circling. Low Town is changing, faster than even he can control, and Warden knows that if he doesn't get out soon, he may never get out at all.

But Warden must finally reckon with his terrible past if he can ever hope to escape it. A hospital full of lunatics, a conspiracy against the corrupt new king and a ghetto full of thieves and murderers stand between him and his slim hope for the future. And behind them all waits the one person whose betrayal Warden never expected. The one person who left him, broken and bitter, to become the man he is today.

The one woman he ever loved.

She who waits behind all things.

Possibly my most-anticipated novel of the year. Ever since I read Straight Razor Cure/Low Town, and Tomorrow the Killing shortly thereafter, I have been impatient for this novel. Expect it to be read and reviewed very soon. If you haven’t read this series yet, I highly recommend that you do. It’s superb.

Also on CR: Interview with Daniel Polansky

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Christopher Ransom, The Orphan (Sphere)

The truth is more terrifying than you can imagine. Darren and Beth Lynwood always dreamed of having a son, but when young amnesiac runaway Adam enters their lives, he brings with him a creeping darkness that threatens to engulf their family and everyone around them. When Adam's memories claw their way to the surface, Darren finds himself haunted by thoughts of his own childhood – and of a boy very much like Adam who was done an unspeakable wrong. As buried secrets are unearthed, the Lynwood’s happy home becomes the hunting ground for a relentless evil and an obsession that will not die. There’s no point locking the door. There’s no use shutting out the night. Because the orphan is already inside. Dare you read to the end of The Orphan? Discover the chilling new novel from the author of The Birthing House and The People Next Door.

I’ve never read anything by Christopher Ransom. Sounds pretty cool, though…

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Michael J Sullivan, The Crown Tower (Orbit)

TWO MEN WHO HATE EACH OTHER. ONE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION. A LEGEND IN THE MAKING.

A warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm’s most valuable possessions. But it isn’t gold or jewels the old wizard is after, and this prize can only be obtained by the combined talents of two remarkable men. Now if Arcadias can just keep Hadrian and Royce from killing each other, they just might succeed.

Loved the Riyria Revelations, Sullivan’s original six-part series set in this world. The Crown Tower (and The Rose and Thorn) takes place prior to that series, and introduces us to Hadrian and Royce as they meet for the first time.

Also on CR: Interview with Michael J. Sullivan, Guest Posts – Gritty vs. Heroic Fantasy and History & Riyria

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Adrian Tchaikovsky, War Master’s Gate (Tor)

Relentlessly advancing towards Collegium, the Empire is again seeking to break down its walls. The mighty imperial armies have learnt from their failures, and Empress Seda will brook no weakness in her soldiers. However, Stenwold Maker has earned his title, and the War Master has strategies to save his city. His aviators rule the skies – but the Wasp Kinden Empire has developed a terrifying new aerial weapon.

Yet the campaign may be decided far from marching armies and the noise of battle. In an ancient forest, where Mantis clans pursue their own civil war, the Empress Seda is seeking lost magic. Some dangerous shadow of old night is locked up among these trees and she is wants its power. Cheerwell Maker must stop her, at any cost, but will their rivalry awaken something far deadlier? Something that could make even their clash of nations pale into insignificance...

A series I have shamefully left un-caught-up… I plan to do a mega catch-up at some point in the near future. Perhaps one a month or something (I overdose easily). Hopefully in time so I am ready for the final book, when it’s published. Really enjoyed the first book in the series, Empire in Black & Gold.

Also on CR: Interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky, Guest Post

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Lavie Tidhar, The Violent Century (Hodder)

They’d never meant to be heroes.

For seventy years they’d guarded the British Empire. Oblivion and Fogg, inseparable at first, bound together by a shared fate. Until a night in Berlin, in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a secret that tore them apart.

But there must always be an account... and the past has a habit of catching up to the present.

Recalled to the Retirement Bureau from which no one can retire, Fogg and Oblivion must face up to a past of terrible war and unacknowledged heroism, a life of dusty corridors and secret rooms; of furtive meetings and blood-stained fields, to answer one last, impossible question:

What makes a hero?

It’s Lavie, dealing with Super-Heroes and 20th Century history. Of course I’m interested in reading this. I’ll be reading it very soon. I’ve also seen a mock-up of the cover art, which I think is really cool. Can’t wait to see the final version.

[Disclaimer: I work for Lavie’s agent. Which means this is also ‘work’ reading. It’s a hard life…]

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David Towsey, Your Brother’s Blood (Jo Fletcher)

Thomas is thirty-two. He comes from the small town of Barkley. He has a wife there, Sarah, and a child, Mary; good solid names from the Good Book. And he is on his way home from the war, where he has been serving as a conscripted soldier.

Thomas is also dead – he is one of the Walkin’.

And Barkley does not suffer the wicked to live.

I’ve mentioned Your Brother’s Blood on the blog before (as well as hosted an excerpt), and it’s one of my most-anticipated of 2013. Hope to get to this ASAP. The novel is due to be published in the UK on September 26^th 2013.

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Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Djinni (HarperCollins)

If you were bewitched by The Night Circus…

If you were mesmerised by A Discovery of Witches…

If you were enthralled by Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell…

You will be enchanted by

THE GOLEM & THE DJINNI

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master, the husband who commissioned her, dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York in 1899.

Ahmad is a djinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free – an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world.

The Golem & The Djinni is their magical, unforgettable story; unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures – until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

Having read none of those comparisons, I really don’t know what to expect from this novel. But it was available through Amazon Vine, so I thought why not? I’m certainly interested in reading it, as I try to mix up the genres I’m reading and featuring on the blog. The title is slightly (pointlessly) different in the US: The Golem and the Jinni (also published by Harper).

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From the Library…

A new additional component of the Books Received posts – I will now include mention of anything I’ve picked up in the local library. Because… well, why not?

 

Richard Kadrey, Kill City Blues (Voyager)

James Stark, aka Sandman Slim, has managed to get out of Hell, renounce his title as the new Lucifer, and settle back into life in LA. But he's not out of trouble yet. Somewhere along the way he misplaced the Qomrama Om Ya, a weapon from the banished older gods who are also searching for their lost power.

The hunt leads Stark to an abandoned shopping mall-a multi-story copy of LA-infested with Lurkers and wretched bottom-feeding Sub Rosa families, squatters who have formed tight tribes to guard their tiny patches of this fake LA. Somewhere in the kill zone of the former mall is a dead man with the answers Stark needs. All Stark has to do is find the dead man, get back out alive, and outrun some angry old gods-and a few killers-on his tail.

I love this series. It’s dark, irreverent, funny, and has plenty of action and weird goings-on. This is book five, and each of the previous four was a strong addition to the series. Everyone should read it. Go on, what are you waiting for?

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Astro City, Vol.1 – “Life In The Big City” (DC Comics)

Welcome to Astro City, a shining city on a hill where super heroes patrol the skies. Each chapter in this collection is a standalone story, highlighting different aspects or characters in the Astro City world. The city's leading super hero tries to be everywhere at once, and berates himself for every wasted second as he longs for just a moment of his own. A smalltime hood learns a hero's secret identity, and tries to figure out how to profit from the knowledge. A beat reporter gets some advice from his editor on his first day on the job. A young woman tries to balance the demands of her family with her own hopes and desires. Despite the fantastic settings, the characters in these slice-of-life stories feel like real people, and that gives the stories real power.

This series has just been re-booted/-launched by DC, so I figured it was a good time to start at the very beginning, and see what it was like before investing in the new series (which I think has reached #3).

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Black Orchid (Vertigo)

Before introducing the modern version of The Sandman, Neil Gaiman wrote this dark tale that reinvented a strange DC Comics super hero in the Vertigo mold. Featuring spectacular art by Gaiman's frequent collaborator, Dave McKean, BLACK ORCHID is now collected in a deluxe trade paperback

After being viciously murdered, Susan Linden is reborn fully grown as the Black Orchid, a hybrid of plant and human, destined to avenge her own death. Now, as this demigoddess attempts to reconcile human memory and botanical origins, she must untangle the webs of deception and secrets that led to her death. Beginning in the cold streets of a heartless metropolis and ending in the Amazon rainforest, this book takes the reader on a journey through secrets, suffering and self-rediscovery.

I’ve never read this, but I’ve heard a lot of great things. After reading my first volume of Sandman, too, I’m interested in reading a lot more of Gaiman’s comic-work. So when I saw this on the shelf, I picked it up right away – after all, where better to start than at the beginning?

Coming up in July from Orbit

A great selection of books arrived this week, this time from Orbit Books (a publisher I feel I’ve been neglecting somewhat of late – through no conscious intent, I should stress). One of these is on my list of highly-anticipated novels of 2011, as it is the final book in a series I very quickly became hooked on.

Capsule Review: “Frostbitten”, by Kelley Armstrong (Orbit)

Reviewed by Shevaun Fergus

Book 10 of the hugely popular Women of the Otherworld series

After years of struggle, Elena Michaels (journalist, investigator, werewolf) has finally come to terms with her strange fate, and learned how to control her wild side.

At least, that’s what she believes when she sets off to Alaska with her partner Clay. A series of gruesome maulings and murders outside Anchorage seem to implicate a rogue band of werewolves. But the truth is far more complicated. Trapped in a frozen, unforgiving terrain, they are forced to confront a deadly secret, and their own, untamed nature…

Continuing the story of Elena, the only female werewolf in the world, this is a gripping, supernatural read. Elena and her mate, Clay, travel to Alaska in order to investigate some reported deaths from wolf-attack. Unfortunately for the werewolf couple, real wolves are the least of the problems facing the residents of Anchorage…

Lots of blood, guts and gore ensue, and we meet some new monsters to add to the already impressive Otherworld bestiary.

A great piece of ‘urban fantasy’ fiction (to use the catch-all genre name for such novels), Frostbitten effortlessly combines the real world and the paranormal in a way that really brings it to life on the page. Armstrong’s characters are well defined and believable, which just makes it all the more engrossing (as one might expect after so many successful previous volumes – which I have not actually read, I must admit – something that shall be rectified ASAP).

Fast paced and great fun, I couldn’t put this down. Highly recommended for fans of both the author and urban fantasy/werewolf fiction as a whole.

Series Chronology: Bitten (2001), Stolen (2003), Dime Store Magic (2004), Industrial Magic (2004), Haunted (2005), Broken (2006), No Humans Involved (2007), Personal Demon (2008), Living with the Dead (2008), Frostbitten (2009), Waking the Witch (2010)

Also by Armstrong: Nadia Stafford thrillers (Exit Strategy & Made To Be Broken); The Darkest Powers Series (The Summoning, The Awakening, The Reckoning & The Gathering – April 2011)

Am I an Anti-Urban Fantasy Snob?

You have to be totally dense to have missed the ‘Urban Fantasy’/‘Paranormal Romance’ (‘UF’/‘PR’) genre crazy that has followed in the wake of Stephanie Meyer’s phenomenally successful Twilight series. I was rather turned off by the extreme hype that surrounded it, finding the swooning teenage girls irritating and the sudden blanket publicity rather oppressive (I only watched the first Twilight movie a couple months ago), and have until now pretty much tarred every novel pigeonholed in the genre with the same negative brush. Now that New Moon has been released, and the prevalence of the ‘Team Edward’  and ‘Team Jacob’ merchandise (see right), I’m even more wary of the genre and have even considered crossing the road to get away from the occasional rabid fan.

Have I been narrow-minded? Quite possibly. Ignoring the fact that I know postgraduate literature students who are fond of the Twilight novels (not all of them in an ‘ironic’ way – and don’t get me started on that), in some ways there are things that characterise these novels that I potentially could like very much. Reading some of the synopses or blurbs printed on the backs, I am put in mind of Buffy and Angel knock-offs in book-form. (One of Kelley Armstrong’s books was, after all, described as “mak[ing] Buffy look fluffy”, which I thought boded well.)

Being a fan of these two shows – not to mention Supernatural and Sanctuary, I’ve found myself thinking about giving some UF a try. After all, the books could benefit from the ‘unconstrained’ book format; less susceptible to network demands or controls, no need to worry about prime time taboos, and so forth.

I remain cautious, however. An awful lot of these novels sound like… well, soft-werewolf/vampire-porn trash. Sorry, but it’s true. Also, having flicked through some of them on the shelves of my local bookstore, I can certainly say that the ‘love’ scenes contained within are utterly laughable, and the least ‘erotic’ or ‘sensual’ things I’ve ever read, packed full of cliché and hyperbole, not to mention the unlikely fact that everyone in them appears to be an absolute master in the bedroom (or in the alley, on the desk, in back of the car, etc.), reading them makes me cringe. I’m no prude, but seriously – there’s a reason the Friends episode about Chandler’s romance-writer mother was so funny.

So where am I going with all this? Well, I’ve decided to swallow my prejudices – and pride – and read some urban fantasy novels. Thanks to the lovely people at Orbit and Solaris, I have a couple to start with. [At least, I think these count as Urban Fantasy…]

First off, Solaris sent me Natasha Rhodes’s Circus of Sins today, so I shall probably start with this one (it’ll still be a little while before I get to it, but thought I’d write something now anyway). The book’s design reminds me of a semi-horror novel I owned years ago, by Kristin Kathryn Rusch (Sins of the Blood), so it caught my attention. Here’s the synopsis from the back cover:

When young Vampire-Hunter Kayla Steele is bitten by a werewolf, she thinks it’s the end of her world. However, little does she know that the real end of the world is not that far away. Master Vampire Harlequin has made a deal with the Devil and is now planning to commit the ultimate sin – killing an angel – which will trigger an ancient curse and bring about war in heaven.

If that happens, it will be the end of mankind forever.

Kayla’s only hope now lies in a mysterious stranger named Niki, who knows where the angel is being kept. Together, they must rescue the angel before midnight on Sunday in order to stave off Armageddon. But unless Niki is who he claims to be, the stakes just got one hell of a lot higher…

This is actually book three in the series (which started with Dante’s Girl and then The Last Angel – both also released through Solaris), but for once I’m not obsessive enough to insist on reading the entire series: there’s bound to be some form of catch-up passage in here, so I will just stick with that. It sounds very much like a grander Buffy plot, so I’m actually rather looking forward to this. I might bump it up the review roster/timetable, depending on my mood when I finish my current read (Joseph Finder’s excellent thriller, Vanished). I will also happily admit to being swayed by the testimonial from Dan Abnett (one of my favourite authors), who is quoted on the back cover:

“Taut and gripping. Natasha Rhodes’s prose is that precious thing: the stuff you just can’t put down…”

The second novel is a slightly different: Marjorie M. Liu’s The Iron Hunt, which is the first in her Hunter Kiss series. Despite the terrible tag-line that graces the top-right of the artwork (“Dark Blood Will Flow”), it again has a rather interesting premise:

During the day, Maxine’s tattoos are her armour and she is invincible. At night, they peel from her skin to take on forms of their own, leaving her human and vulnerable – and showing themselves to be demons sleeping beneath her skin. But these demons are the best friends and bodyguards a woman can have. And Maxine needs bodyguards. She is the last in a line of women with power in their blood, trained to keep the world safe from malignant beings who would do us harm.

But ten thousand years after its creation, the prison dimension that kept the worst of these from us is failing, and all the Wardens save Maxine are dead. She must bear the burden of her bloodline and join the last wild hunt against the enemy.

It sounds rather like Buffy again (“The last of her kind, a Warrior awaits the call”), and the “prison dimension” put me in mind of the ‘Phantom Zone’ of the Superman mythos. I am particularly intrigued by the idea of the living tattoos (one assumes it will be an idea better executed than the fellow in the Elektra movie with the living tattoos). So, again: rather interested in reading this one.

The final UF I have lined up is Kelley Armstrong’s Frostbitten. I’m not strictly sure if this is actually UF, but it seems to be lumped in to the genre all too often, so it’ll count (I think the same can be said for Laura K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series). I’m actually less cautious about reading this, as I have already read one of Armstrong’s thrillers, Exit Strategy, which I thought was very good and written in an interesting, and quirky style (at least, quirky for a thriller). Armstrong’s UF series, however, are both more popular and more established. Here’s the synopsis of Frostbitten:

After years of struggle, Elena Michaels has finally accepted her life as a werewolf, and learned how to control her wild side.

At least, that’s what she believes when she sets off to investigate a series of gruesome murders outside Anchorage. The truth, however, is more complicated. Trapped in a frozen, unforgiving terrain, Elena is forced to confront a deadly secret, and her own, untamed nature…

The third book in series sequence, which has recently been re-packaged by Orbit, Armstrong’s books are clearly being aimed at the Twilight market. The press literature that came with Frostbitten even mentions that “partly in thanks to the explosion of the Twilight phenomenon, sales of Bitten have doubled recently”.  The first in the series, Bitten, was published in 1999 in a previously non-existent (practically) ‘paranormal fiction’ genre. The success of Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series opened the door for authors like Meyer and Charlaine Harris (whose novels have now been turned into HBO series True Blood). The Women of the Otherworld series is now pretty long, featuring eleven books: Bitten, Stolen, Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted, Broken, No Humans Allowed, Personal Demon, Men of the Otherworld, Living With The Dead, Tales of the Otherworld, and Frostbitten. The next in the series, Waking The Witch, will be released on August 5th 2010, through Orbit.

[  Canada  /  US  / UK  ]

So. Urban Fantasy – the jury’s still out, but I’ll read the three novels mentioned above, and get back to you. Should be an interesting couple of weeks, at any rate – who knows, I might even be sucked in to the genre and read everything in it!

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As a side-note, I wonder if, had they been released today, Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles would have been listed as ‘Urban Fantasy’ or ‘Paranormal Romance’?

Certainly, books such as Blood & Gold, Pandora, Vittorio the Vampire, and The Vampire Armand are sufficiently… well, tame to appeal to the Twilight crowd, even if they are certainly more ‘grown-up’ ( despite the overuse of the word “love” in these novels, to an extent where I now raise an eyebrow at its every use).

Rice’s output pretty much fizzled out after Memnoch the Devil (book five of the Chronicles), sadly. Merrick was the last one to really grab me from start to finish. The other novels in the series never really felt as necessary, engrossing or bewitching as earlier volumes, despite remaining good reads – this is largely down to Rice’s gift for writing atmospheric scenes and making you feel almost present in the novel.

The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned remain two of my favourite books of all time, though, so expect a retrospective review soon. Probably quite soon, as I’ve recently re-watched the superb Interview With A Vampire and the less-superb Queen of the Damned.

I do seem to be in the mood for vampire-related media, recently: I watched all three Underworld movies last week, and I intend to work my way through the Blade trilogy as well next week.