Most-Anticipated Novels – August 2012

Just a quick run-down of my ten most-anticipated novels of August 2012. Given the lack of stability, frequent travel and relocation of the past few weeks, I’ve not been able to keep on top of my reviewing as well as I would have liked. Therefore, these books may not be reviewed in a particularly timely fashion (some because I don’t have them, others because I don’t have them with me at the moment). Nevertheless! Each of these is near the top of my to-read list, and I fully intend to feature more of them in the near future. Of course, the best laid plans…

Featured: Madeline Ashby, vN; Charles Cumming, A Foreign Country; James Enge, A Guile of Dragons; Jim C. Hines, Libriomancer; Darius Hinks, Orion: The Vaults of Winter; Mark Lawrence, King of Thorns; Tim Lebbon, The Heretic Land; T.C. McCarthy, Chimera; James Rollins, Bloodline; James Swallow, Fear To Tread

The Rise of “Mini-eBooks” (or “Short Stories”, as we usually call them…)

On USA Today yesterday, Craig Wilson published a story about “mini ebooks”, which are “being served up this summer as bite-size appetizers for the main course to follow”. I wasn’t aware that this was particularly news-worthy, having seen plenty of these short stories and prequel minis released over the past couple of years. Also, Amazon’s been releasing it’s Kindle Singles for a long time, so there’s more evidence that it’s not a new idea.

They are, however, clearly on the rise. Wilson picks up on three – a new Rizzoli & Isles short from Tess Gerritsen (John Doe UK/US), an early Jack Reacher story from Lee Child (Deep Down UK/US) and a new Walt Longmire story from Craig Johnson (Divorce Horse).

I am entirely in agreement with Johnson, who said these eBook shorts were “a good way of providing a bridge between books,” and also Wilson’s support for them:

“[They are] an opportunity to feed a voracious, digitally savvy public no longer willing to wait between books. The public appears willing to plop down a couple of bucks for a teaser before paying $25 for the real deal.”

Even excusing the impatience-born appeal, I think they really serve best as tasters for new readers – which is why I’ve bought both of Child’s eBook short stories – Deep Down and last year’s Second Son (I’ve never read a Reacher novel, and to this day I have no idea why not…). I’m not sure if I’ll buy Gerritsen’s, as I have the first full-length novel in the Rizzoli & Isles series, and John Doe isn’t a prequel.

In the SFF genre, I’m not aware of too many examples, but off the top of my head T.C. McCarthy’s Somewhere it Snows, Brad Beaulieu & Steve Gaskell’s Strata, Nick Harkaway’s Edie Investigates, Brent Weeks’s Perfect Shadow, and Orbit Books’s Short Fiction initiative, which now has 22 titles (sadly still only available in the US, except for Perfect Shadow).

I would certainly be interested to read more short stories from other authors I already know and like, so I definitely see this as a win-win for eReading fans.

The real issue, I suppose, would be more about whether or not the short fiction should be series prequel, a continuation, or something entirely unrelated to the author’s next full-length release. I personally would like a mix of all three.

How do other people feel about this?

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CORRECTION: Orbit Short Fiction initiative HAS rolled out for UK customers! Just go to the website, and each title has a handy list of vendors. Hurrah! This is great news! I really want seven of them…

“Somewhere It Snows” by T.C. McCarthy

An emotional and thought-provoking science-fiction short

Lev Sandakchiev is old and worn out. An indentured servant to a warrior alien race, he wonders if he’ll survive his last assignment. If he does, Lev has a choice: return to Ukraine – on Earth – or stay in space as the master of his own indentured servants, forever tied to the commerce of destruction...

Somewhere It Snows is an interesting, well-written and stand-alone science-fiction short story from the author of Germline, Exogene and the forthcoming Chimera.

Our protagonist Lev is working for a warlike alien race as a runner and supplier, trying to work up enough service to make it to the “merchant” rank, which will grant him greater status and privilege, and also the possibility to go home to Earth.

It’s a very tantalising short story, due to the themes and information it introduces us to, and also because of the engaging main character. However, because of its length, it is a little difficult to describe or discuss without ruining the story. It has an almost wistful, sad air – it is the story of a man long removed from his home, wondering how, why and if he’ll ever make it back and what it will mean if he could return. It packs quite an emotional, raw punch.

I’d love to read more of this setting, because I think McCarthy is really on to something here. It works wonderfully as a raw snapshot of a hard life in the far future, a future with endless potential for violence and the threat of external invasion and extermination hanging over almost all cultures, species and planets.

As an introduction to McCarthy’s writing style, it’s fantastic, and if you want a taster before trying Germline, then this is a good place to start – if you’re in the US, you could also try his other short stories (published through Orbit), The Legionnaires and The People’s Army, which are not available in the UK [yes, this is a bit of an old, good-natured grumble of mine...].

Somewhere It Snows is available here (UK) and here (US).

To find out more about McCarthy’s writing, visit his website. You can also follow him on Twitter.

Also on CR: Interview with T.C. McCarthy

Catching Up With the Book Haul

It’s been a loooong time since I did one of these, but because the past few weeks have been amazing for books, I thought I’d use this opportunity for a quick round-up of what you can expect to appear on the blog in the next few weeks and months – some of these have arrived quite early, so I’ll hold back on them until closer to their publication dates.

This is not exhaustive (some very exciting books came in the mail after I took the photo below), so there is actually going to be even more awesome stuff up here as well. This post also doesn’t talk about the comics and graphic novels that will feature on the blog, but I’ll do a separate post for those.

Top Picks for March 2012

I’m a little late posting this, but I thought I’d still share a few thoughts on some of my most anticipated books coming out in March 2012. As usual, there are more new books coming out than I would be able to read, so I like to give them at least a hat-tip in these posts.

The Subterrene War Interviews…

Yesterday I stumbled across the Subterrene War website, dedicated to the science fiction series by T.C. McCarthy. The series begins with Germline, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and is followed by Exogene (available now) and Chimera (out later this year).

If you like your sci-fi gritty, grim, and with a brutalist aesthetic, then this series is definitely for you. As I say in my review, it also reminded me a little of Hunter S. Thompson in tone.

I’ll be reading and reviewing Exogene in the very near future, but in the meantime, I thought I’d share the character interviews McCarthy scripted. So, without further ado…

Colonel Martin:

Lieutenant Chopiak:

Dr. Parsons:

Private Matthews:

Also on CR: An Interview with T.C. McCarthy

“Germline” by T.C. McCarthy (Orbit)

A journalist goes native in a future war, loses grip on reality…

Germline (n.) – A secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers (slang).

War is Oscar Wendell’s ticket to greatness. A reporter for the Stars and Stripes, he has a pass to the front lines of a brutal conflict over natural resources, where genetics – the germline soldiers – battle heavily armed troops deep beneath the icy, mineral-rich mountains of Kazakhstan.

But the front is nothing like Oscar imagined. The genetic soldiers are more human than he bargained for, too. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of drugs and adrenaline, lines are beginning to blur. And if Oscar doesn’t find a way out of the chaos soon, he may never get back.

I first heard about Germline quite a while ago, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting a chance to read it. As soon as it arrived in the post, I put aside the novel I was about to start, and dove right in. I’m glad I did – Germline is an intense, bizarre, and engrossing ride along with a man who is spiralling into his own private hell amidst what can only be described as a hell on earth (yes, he’s pretty unlucky…). It’s different to any other science-fiction I’ve read, and I will certainly be following the trilogy closely and eagerly.

Artwork: EXOGENE by T.C. McCarthy (Orbit)

Just another quick artwork post (there are some really nice pieces of work being released recently, so I’ve decided to take the opportunity to share them).

T.C. McCarthy’s debut novel, Germline has only just come off the presses (it’s released next month), but Orbit have pre-empted the release by showing us the artwork for the author’s second novel, Exogene (both novels are part of McCarthy’s Subterrene War series).

Introducing… T.C. McCARTHY

A little while ago, I wrote a post about military sci-fi novels with journalists at the centre of the story. In the very short piece, I mentioned Dan Abnett’s Embedded and also T.C. McCarthy’s Germline. At the time, I didn’t know anything beyond the short synopsis I’d seen on Orbit’s website. As we draw closer to Germline’s August publication date, however, I thought it would be a great time to interview the author, and see if we can find out a little more about the book and the series it is a part of.

After receiving a PhD from the University of Georgia, McCarthy embarked on a varied career that gave him a keen perspective on warfare and foreign policy. He’s worked as a patent examiner in complex biotechnology, and also worked at the CIA as an analyst through 9/11 and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. (Which is pretty cool.)

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to military sci-fi author T.C. McCarthy…

Upcoming: Journalists getting in on Sci-Fi Action

Two novels coming out in the near future feature journalists embedded (in one form or another) with military units as their main protagonists. I’m surprised it’s taken so long for this premise to take hold, given the attention it received during the current Afghanistan and Iraq wars. In some ways, the Horus Heresy series from Black Library has adopted the idea of journalists accompanying military forces, but it was never really central to the story – rather, it was a device to portray the story.

In Dan Abnett’s Embedded and T.C. McCarthy’s Germline, the embedded journalist takes the top spot.

Having studied both international journalism and the role of the media in foreign policy, I think both of the novels sound pretty appealing. The idea of seeing conflicts from the frontlines, but from an outsider’s perspective, offers great scope for intelligent discussion of the nature of war, so transferred onto these speculative settings, we could be in for a real treat.