This is the first of these I’ve done in a while, but there have been some pretty good articles cropping up around the internet, and I thought I would be remiss for not sharing them. I have, nevertheless, still missed plenty. Hopefully this series of posts will be back to normal from next week.
This Week: A flurry of K.J. Parker reviews and mini-interviews; Kameron Hurley discusses her first novel; Jon Sprunk is interviewed; Pornokitsch take a look at 50 Shades of Grey vs. fantasy hatred;
Bit of a mix this week: an article about authors and Library eBook loans; Amazon & Waterstone’s; Special Needs in Strange Worlds (the series just keeps on going strong); a mini-article by S.G. Browne; a great review of Railsea by China Mieville; and an article by Sarah Pinborough.
This week, we saw the conclusion of Justin’s excellent series of Agency guest posts (by Robert Jackson Bennett and Robin Hobb); Suzanne Johnson wrote about her Urban Fantasy novel set in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans; Ian Irvine wrote about the lessons he’s learned writing fantasy; Chuck Wendig provides some thoughts on the Big Idea behind Blackbirds; Tor US announced their eBooks were going DRM-free from July, and both Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi commented on the decision and what it might mean for readers and authors.
These are all largely from the first half of the week – I was rather busy after Wednesday – so feel free to share links in the comments of anything I missed.
A very busy week around the book-related regions of the internet, with a bundle of interesting articles. I’ve included a couple of older articles, because I was slow and didn’t get around to them until after I posted last week’s links round-up. One is a particularly good comment from John Scalzi.
Herein: Aidan Moher on Women in Fantasy, Elspeth Cooper on Disabilities in Fantasy, Jeff Salyards on being Embedded with the Enemy, an interview with Amanda Carlson, Brad Beaulieu on how he likes shades of grey, John Scalzi on eBooks Drama, The Atlantic on the eBooks Drama, The New Republic on the Dept of Justice & Monopolies (related to eBooks drama)
A more varied selection of links this week, as I venture outside of the speculative genre blogosphere (a pilgrim in a foreign, unknowable wilderness: one that featured only token mentions of Game of Thrones, Hunger Games and lots of literary fiction…). I was able to find some very interesting articles this week.
Bastard Books: Interview with Myke Cole
Does this really need an explanation? Needless to say, Myke’s debut novel is a favourite of mine, so I’d recommend you read it if you haven’t yet. Here’s my review, another interview, and a guest post Myke wrote about Peter V. Brett’s novels.
Yglesias (an MSNBC political analyst and contributor) takes a look at the pending DoJ case that has been brought against Apple and a number of big-name publishing houses. A couple of interesting comments (of which there are many):
- “If there’s a case against the government’s actions it’s that the forces of disruption buffeting traditional publishing are much too large to be blocked by any cartel. The good news is that literary culture should survive either way.”
- “In bookstores,” Turow writes, “readers are open to trying new genres and new authors: It’s by far the best way for new works to be discovered.” – This I agree with, although it’s also possible that an eBook store could offer a similar function.
- “the Justice Department’s notion that we should fear a book publishers’ cartel is borderline absurd, on par with worrying about price-fixing in the horse-and-buggy market.”
- “the only way for these firms to stay viable is to publish books people like and to sell them at a price readers want to pay”
Yglesias’s article also has a link to…
This is a very well-written, thought-provoking article. That I imagine a lot of readers of this blog might take issue with. That being said, I think he makes a lot of good points, despite how much we may wish he was wrong. [Please come back and leave comments here, if you have any! Same goes for any of these linked-articles.]
The author takes an alternative stance on the indie bookstores-vs.-Amazon debate to what you might expect from most (if not all) book-related blogs and news-sites. He is also even-handed in his position. For one, Manjoo is not blind to Amazon’s “wantonly callous” tactics that end up “destroying its competitors”. Nor, however, is he blind to Amazon’s strengths and positive aspects of its existence:
- “As much as I despise some of its recent tactics, no company in recent years has done more than Amazon to ignite a national passion for buying, reading, and even writing new books.”
- An interesting factoid (one that my own book-buying practices support): “Amazon has said that after people buy a Kindle reader, they begin purchasing e-books at twice the rate they’d previously purchased print titles. (And they keep buying print titles.)”
This article also has a number of interesting links embedded within. I spent a pleasant while clicking through the links in this and Yglesias’s article. It also reminded me of a conversation I had with Myke Cole and Peter V. Brett back in December (and it actually was a dark and stormy night, too, which added a pleasant pathetic fallacy to proceedings…).
An author I’ve never had a chance to read, but a lot of people seem to think he’s the bee’s knees. An interesting interview with some good commentary.
American Prospect: “Hell’s Bells” by Abby McGanney Nolan [Article]
An interesting look at the rise of teen heroines in dystopian future fiction (Hunger Games, Divergent, Legend, Blood Red Road). In each of the novels looked at, Nolan explains and examines a common theme: “the teenage-girl narrator has grown up sheltered in a zone of relative comfort. Her troubles multiply as society’s flaws are revealed to her and she must fight for survival and the safety of her family.” The author also goes on about the presence of an “ideal young man” in each novel, all of whom seem perfect in every way (I haven’t read any of the novels, but do hope to read Hunger Games in the very near future, in my new-found interest in YA).
“In this recession-battered age, these four authors (including two in their mid-20s) present the wild possibility of love and social change amid the ruins. If there’s hope in dystopias, what’s impossible in our world?”
Staffer’s Musings: Interview with Anne Lyle
Again, pretty self-explanatory what this is. If you want more from Anne Lyle, check out my interview with her for this site, too. I hope to get to her debut, Alchemist of Souls, within the next week or so, depending on whether or not I get better and can start reading at a decent pace again.
I’m a huge fan of Waid’s work, as can be seen from the amount of coverage I’ve given Irredeemable and Incorruptible, not to mention a couple of his other series. I recently also bought the first volume of his run on Daredevil (volume two is released in a couple months), which I hope to read and review in the next week or so.
“Waid announced [at WorldCon] that he is selling his extensive comic book collection to fund a weekly online comic series, which will launch in May.”
Quite a surprising move, but one that sort-of makes sense in a market that is slowly coming around to embracing the digital medium (see, for example, Marvel’s decision to start packaging a free digital copy with their $3.99 comics).
Waid said: “They don’t want to undercut the 1,800 Diamond retailers out there in the world, and I get it… I don’t want to undercut them either. But we’re playing a different game. The more of us that know how to do this for the Web, the better off the medium is.”
I also learned that both Incorruptible and Irredeemable will come to an end in May! Even though I had a feeling it was bound to happen, this still makes me a little sad.
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On Civilian Reader this week, in case you’ve not been reading, we’ve had two interviews – with Gail Carriger and Gaie Sebold; a wealth of comic reviews (I’ve been rather under the weather this week, and they are easier to read and review), including my New 52 Catch-Ups (Batman and Bat-Family); and a review of a fun political thriller, The Run by Stuart Woods (first published in 2000). Sadly, as I was struck down in the “pribe ob libe” (as I seem to be writing everywhere)* by man-flu, my review of Kingdoms of Dust, the gothic third novel in Amanda Downum’s Necromancer Chronicles, will be postponed until Monday afternoon.
Next week, I hope to bring you more fiction reviews: a short guest review for Brandon Sanderson’s first Mistborn novel, Final Empire (on Monday morning), as well as a couple of short-story and audio-drama reviews. And maybe another thriller. Oh, and an interview with Aidan Harte, a debut author whose novel Irenicon will be published later this year by Jo Fletcher Books (and I’ll be reading and reviewing it at some point soon, too. I’m sure there will be more, but if I told you all of it, then it wouldn’t be a surprise.
* Sometimes I’m like a terrier with a joke – I keep using it and worrying at it until I think of some better quip to inflict on people across my various social media.
The second links post, and one that’s a bit more varied.
New York Post “NYPD in 1850” by Lyndsay Faye
This is a very good, short article by the author of Gods of Gotham (Headline), which I intend to read very soon. It has a really intriguing premise, so I’m looking forward to reading this historical take on the NYPD.
Staffer’s Musings: Interview with Elspeth Cooper
With Songs of the Earth finally available in the US, Justin sat down with Elspeth (uh, metaphorically) for a very interesting interview. For more on Songs of the Earth, check out my review of SotE and interview with Elspeth from last year.
io9: “Rejected Star Wars Toys: George Lucas is denying you an inflatable Emperor’s Throne!”
Some of these are great fun, and the uber-geek in my would really like to own a Death Star Basketball and Cloud City Desk Lamp. And the Darth Vader Magnetic Chip Clip with Sound? “I have you now!” – Brilliant!
Simon Spurrier: “London Super Comic-Con: Panel Parity”
Simon Spurrier, author of A Serpent Uncoiled and Marvel’s X-Club series, talks about London’s inaugural Super Comic-Con and how “this convention was also notable for a slight controversy [he] happened to create”. It’s a nice, long post in support of Paul Cornell’s thoughts on the gender-balance in comics. Written in Spurrier’s trademark zaniness, it’s a thoughtful, thought-provoking and intelligent read.
“At the moment it’s all too easy for the lip-curlers and sneermonkies of the world to dismiss Western Comics as the sole preserve of thirtysomething-plus men in teeshirts who never properly grew up because that’s the only face of comics they ever see. Which is terrible. And I say that as a thirtysomething man in a teeshirt who never properly grew up.”
Washington Post: “Book Review: The Annotated Sandman” by Mike Musgrove
A good, proper review of the ground-breaking graphic novel. Which I still haven’t read. I don’t think I could ever justify the cost of this annotated version, but I may pick up a paperback edition to read at some point. [If I remember correctly, the Strand have a load of copies.]
Barnes & Noble SciFi & Fantasy Blog: Jim Butcher & Benedict Jacka
A good discussion between the two authors and more.
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And, of course, there was also all the content on Civilian Reader – an interview with E.C. Myers and a review of his debut, Fair Coin; my review of Ari Marmell’s first YA novel The Thief’s Covenant; and yesterday’s guest post from A. Lee Martinez.
Trying something new this week: a collection of links to the most interesting posts I spotted from around the blogosphere – ranging from reviews, commentary, interviews, and more. I’ll probably keep the number of links down to about five, but sometimes there will be more, sometimes less.
They’ll be pretty basic posts – just text and the links, probably – but hopefully they’ll help generate more interest in the blogs I follow and like. So, in no particular order, here are a few links to things I found particularly interesting…
Stomping on Yeti: “Fact: Internet Polls Suck” [Comment]
The abominable blogger takes a look at possibly the dodgiest reader poll ever compiled by man.
Staffer’s Musings: “Pillars of Hercules” by David Constantine [Review]
No secret I’m a fan of Justin’s site, and especially when he reviews books that didn’t really work for him. Cheryl and ‘Fizzy’ are great creations, and this approach to negative reviews is one of the best out there. While you’re there, check out… well, pretty much everything else he’s posted. Great blog, deserves to be read by way more people than read this one.
A Dribble of Ink: “Prince of Thorns” by Mark Lawrence [Review]
Probably the best review I’ve read of the book (which I thought was fantastic), and more proof of why Aidan’s A Dribble of Ink is one of the best blogs out there (and not just taking into account book-related blogs).
Jim C. Hines: “Who Controls Your Amazon E-book Price?” [Article]
An author (whose work I really want to read) gives some thoughts on a recent pricing issue he’s experienced on Amazon, while also pulling back the curtain on Amazon’s policies regarding self-published authors’ work and how much control the company demands.
Tor.com: “Warhammer 40k: 25 Years of Orks in Space” by Robert Lamb
This article was originally published on HowStuffWorks.com, but Tor kindly shared it, and that’s how I stumbled across it. It’s a great, fun look at “five sciencey reasons to be thankful for the Warhammer 4oK universe”.
There are special 25th Anniversary events taking place in (I believe) all Games Workshop stores today, in case you’re a fan and want to join in the celebrations.
Michael Sullivan: “A Digital Feast” [Article]
This is actually from January, but I really liked the post, and wanted to link to it again. Michael takes a look at writer communities, past and present, and how the internet has changed things. Really liked this one.
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Also, because I think this week’s been pretty good as blog-content goes, I would like to draw your attention to the Robert Jackson Bennett Interview & Giveaway, my review of Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, and yesterday’s guest post by Jon Sprunk.
That’s all for this week. Anything else you’ve seen out there you think people should read?
