Guest Post: “The Fantastical 18th and 19th Centuries, or, Dragons Dancing at Almack’s” by Daniel A. Rabuzzi

Today I bring you a guest post by author Daniel Rabuzzi, who read my post on the Jo Fletcher Books Blog and had some more to add to the topic. So, naturally, I let him guest on the blog…

Thank you Stefan for inviting me to guest-post at Civilian Reader, on the occasion of Chizine/CZP publishing my fantasy novel, The Indigo Pheasant (sequel to 2009’s The Choir Boats).

I want to start by quoting you (if I may), when you guest-posted at Jo Fletcher Books in July this year:

“Is it just me, or are 18th/19th Century-style worlds absent from the fantasy genre? I don’t profess to have read every fantasy novel, so it could well be that I’ve missed a swathe of series and novels set in time periods inspired by the 18th and 19th Centuries. But, from my reading, I think their absence is a considerable oversight, and also an area for exploration and exploitation.”

Given that my novels are set in the early 19^th century (the action starts in London, and involves characters whose origins are British, West African, Chinese, Indian, German – ­and from elsewhere altogether), you will not be surprised that I agree with you.

Guest Post: “Big Versus Small” by Graham McNeill

This October, Canada will host its first Black Library Expo! Long only a UK or US event, it’s a pretty big deal that Canadian fans of Black Library’s many authors and series will get a chance to meet some of their favourite writers. To celebrate the upcoming event, Graham McNeill – the first Black Library author to get on the New York Times Bestseller list, and a Civilian Reader favourite – has written us a short guest post on conventions…

BIG VERSUS SMALL

by Graham McNeill

I’ve been to quite a few Conventions, Expos, Games Days, Signings and the like in my twelve years with Games Workshop and the Black Library. Actually, scratch that, I’ve been to a lot of these kinds of events. Each one has its own character and feel. Some are manic, blink-and-the-day’s-over events where I meet, talk to and sign for so many people that my head’s spinning by the end of it. Some, like my first Horus Heresy signing (for False Gods) are very quiet affairs, where only a few folk turn up. For a few, read: two.

(To be fair, that last one was in London, on a scorching hot day, on the first day of the 2006 World Cup, where England where playing the first match... what chance did I have...?)

“The Bookseller” by Mark Pryor (Seventh Street)

The first in hopefully an ongoing thriller series

Who is killing the celebrated bouquinistes of Paris?

Max, an elderly Paris bookstall owner, is abducted at gunpoint in front of his friend, Hugo Marston, head of security at the US embassy. Marston launches a search for Max, enlisting the help of semiretired CIA agent Tom Green when he is confronted with multiple barriers. Together, they investigate not only Max’s past, but also the life and world of Paris bouquinistes. Is Max’s disappearance related to his work or his past? And will Hugo’s investigation threaten his life, too?

This is a pretty good opening salvo from Seventh Street Books. Pryor offers a new, fresh voice in thrillers, while working very much within the genre’s boundaries. It’ll be interesting to see what else the author can come up with, and is certainly now on my to-watch list.

DMZ: “Free States Rising” & “The Five Nations of New York” Vols. 11 & 12 (Vertigo)

Finally, the end of the series. Ever since I picked up the first book in Brian Wood’s DMZ, I’ve been hooked, eagerly trying to get hold of the next book, and the next. Wood and Burchielli bring the series to a superb, satisfying and emotional close, doing the long series justice. I was sad to have the series end, but I think the team chose to end it at the right point. Some parts of the story could, maybe, have been expanded on or fleshed out, but I think the fact that the story has ended properly, without spin-offs and extra issues, allows it to maintain a considerable impact. It’s a serious, thought-provoking piece of work. DMZ is a must-read for anyone with an interest in politics, media and modern warfare.

Exclusive Excerpt: THE WRONG GOODBYE by Chris F. Holm

Following hot on the heels of our interview with Chris F Holm yesterday (which was very well received), I’m very happy to share an exclusive excerpt from The Wrong Goodbye [after the break]. This is Chris’s second novel in his Collector series (coming very soon from Angry Robot Books). Here’s the synopsis:

Meet Sam Thornton, Collector of Souls.

Because of his efforts to avert the Apocalypse, Sam Thornton has been given a second chance – provided he can stick to the straight-and-narrow.

Which sounds all well and good, but when the soul Sam’s sent to collect goes missing, Sam finds himself off the straight-and-narrow pretty quick.

File Under: Urban Fantasy [ Missing | Soul Provider | Call Collect | Demon Child ]

[Also, before you move on to the extract – how cool is that cover?]

Thirty Years Old & Still Kicking: MAGICIAN by Raymond E. Feist (Voyager)

This classic of the genre (which I’ve sadly not yet read) was first published 30 years ago, and remains one of the author’s – and the genre’s – most popular books. To celebrate 30 years of Feist, the series is getting a facelift, and it’s a very fine one, too. Here’s the new cover for Magician (to be published in September):

Here’s the synopsis for the book:

The world had changed even before I discovered the foreign ship wrecked on the shore below Crydee Castle, but it was the harbinger of the chaos and death that was coming to our door.

War had come to the Kingdom of the Isles, and in the years that followed it would scatter my friends across the world. I longed o train as a warrior and fight alongside our duke like my foster-brother, but when the time came, I was not offered that choice. My fate would be shaped by other forces.

My name is Pug. I was once an orphaned kitchen boy, with no family and no prospects, but I am destined to become a master magician…

I’ve been reading a lot about this novel, the series and the author’s work as a whole recently, and I’m definitely thinking I should read this very soon.

The eBook will be released in the UK, for the first time, on September 13th 2012.

An Interview with CHRIS F. HOLM

Chris F. Holm is one of Angry Robot’s best finds, and with his Collector series has amassed an ever-growing number of fans. With the imminent release of The Wrong Goodbye (25th September in the US, 4th October in the UK and rest of the world), I thought it was a perfect time to ask him about his writing and novels.

“Blackwood” by Gwenda Bond (Strange Chemistry)

A historical horror mystery

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.

I blitzed through this novel. Bond’s writing is tight and her plotting fluid. Taking a North Carolina historical mystery and twisting it for a supernatural, horror flavour, Blackwood is a pretty solid YA novel. If you like your fiction with a dollop of suspense and an understated romance, then Blackwood is for you. This is a solid debut that has put Gwenda Bond onto my “Authors to Watch” List.

A Musical Diversion… ESO

Discovering ESO was an absolute accident – a Facebook ad had been appearing in my timeline for a while, and I finally decided to click through to it. And I’ve now listened/watched this video countless times. I really like the band’s sound, and can’t wait for the album – Nothing Left To Lose, which is out on October 1st in the UK and (hopefully) MP3 retailers in the US.

Comics Catch-Up: BOOM STUDIOS

As many of you will know, I’m a big fan of many Boom Studios series. In this review, I bring you four of their best: Extermination (#3), Higher Earth (#4), Hypernaturals (#3), and the final issue of Valen the Outcast (#8).