New Arrivals - mid December '06

Filed by: Darren on December 22, 2006 at 15:35
Filed In: Books

Another batch of books have come in for the Books Received section of UKSFBN, and once again there are a couple of pearls included that I'd particularly like to bring to your attention:

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

This one's going to cause me a real scheduling headache. Joe Abercrombie's debut novel, The Blade Itself was my definite fantasy highlight of 2006. It was an absolutely superb low-fantasy saga; chock full of action, adventure and incident, shot through with a very dry, witty sense of humour, and with none of the pomposity that the heroic fantasy genre is so prone to. Great reading, absolutely flew through it, Jo loved it as well. Part 2? Hell, yeah! (or, as Jo quite literally said upon picking up the book not ten minutes ago, "oooh! oooh!")

So, this one really demands to be shunted right to the front of my 'must read' queue... except that K.J. Parker's Evil for Evil is already occupying that spot, and I definitely want to read that one for pretty much the same reasons. And then I've got the Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, John Connolly's Nocturnes and Gail Martin's The Summoner coming up hard on the rails... damn! Decisions, decisions...

The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes

Another Gollancz proof that arrived in the same batch as the Abercrombie. I've been hearing some mixed background buzz about this one for a while; some say 'good', some say 'not sure'. But it looks like it'll fit into an oeuvre that I do have a definite affection for; you'd probably have to call it 'quasi-Victorian humourous melodrama' or something. Or then again, maybe not...

But you know the stuff I mean, anyway: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Mark Gattiss' The Vesuvius Club - which coincidentally I'd started reading the day before this one turned up - for instance. And I could theoretically include the recent Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by G.W. Dahlquist in there as well, although to be honest that one was comparatively top-heavy on the melodrama and rather devoid of humour.

Hmmm. More headaches...

No Dominion by Charlie Huston

Not one that'll immediatly challenge for must-read top-spot, but a definite medium-term contender. This is the second in Charlie Huston's current series about a vampire-gang-dominated New York; no place for a determined loner vampire like Joe Pitt, who just wants to be left alone to live his un-death in peace. But his staunch neutrality makes him useful - and also potentially dangerous - to a whole range of factions in the continually ongoing gang turf war, so peace and quiet are likely to be two commodities in short supply.

Thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series, Already Dead, after Jo bought a US copy from Amazon and then hit me with it until I agreed to read it. Urban vamp meets hard-boiled private eye, with everything wrapped up in a dark, grungy atmosphere that you could choke on. Orbit will be releasing the first couple of volumes in the UK early next year.

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And finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the three latest titles from PS Publishing, which also came in today: Julian - A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson, Flavors of My Genius by Robert Reed, and The Voyage of Night Shining White by the much talked-about Chris Roberson. All, as it happens, with stunning artwork from a certain Les Edwards (or Edward Miller) as well.

'Julian - A Christmas Story' by Robert Charles Wilson

'The Voyage of Night Shining White' by Chris Roberson

All three look very interesting indeed, so that's three more for the already-groaning t.b.r. shelf... one day I really will have to win the lottery, just so I can actually afford the time to sit down and read all this potentially rather excellent material. I tell you, it's the only way it's ever going to happen...

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10 Responses to 'New Arrivals - mid December '06'

Ed on December 22nd, 2006 11:13 pm

Truly, we feel for you and what book will I read next dilemmas.
Nocturnes is easy. It's short stories, dip in and out while you read the others. Leave the last one out though, as you need to have read the other Charlie Parker novels first. Don't have my copy to hand for the title but the one about clowns still sticks in my mind, MMS in style.
And those PS ones should only take you a couple days each.
The Vesuvius Club is a great read. Just what you would expect from one of the League of Gentlemen. Oscar Wilde as James Bond sums it up nicely.
Ariel on December 23rd, 2006 5:25 pm

Cheers, Ed. It helps to know that others recognise my pain... :)

Might have to leave Nocturnes for a while yet, I've only read the first Charlie Parker so far...
Joe on December 23rd, 2006 10:34 pm

Somnambulist was actually a very enjoyable read, finished it a few weeks back. There does seem to be a vogue in publishing for pseudo-Victoriana right now; I blame a mix of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Jonathan Strange myself. And that Light Ages probably had a hand in it too. Still reading the installments of Penguin's Glass Books of the Dream Eaters 'penny dreadful and was less than enthused about the idea of another in this sub genre, but I thought I'd take a quick look (anything under 500 pages is now a 'snack' book to me) and I'm glad I did as it slowly sucked me in.

Mind you I have balanced faux Victorian with the real thing recently - old edition of Alan Quatermain's last adventure and some old RLS shorts - interesting to compare them.

Thought Already Dead was bloody brilliant when Orbit sent me the proof of the UK version (first time I've come across someone vampirised in the loo of punk club CBGBs and I've read a lot of vamp books) and Charlie has had great reviews for his comics debut with Marvel's revived Moon Knight this year (comics and books, I think he needs to go on my list of folks to try and interview next year). Sure George will be sending me a copy when Orbit have that one, but based on the first book I'll be reading this one.

Just a couple of days before finishing up and Macmillan sent me a proof of Hal Duncan's sequel to Vellum, Ink. Only a hundred pages into this monster of a book and it is even harder going than Vellum (I mean that in the good way, Hal pushes his readers) - I think I can best characterise it as 'quantum headfuck' writing. Insane and brilliant in equal measure, been gagging to get hold of this one. That and the newly arrived Albion have jumped to the top of my reading pile over the hols.
Ed on December 23rd, 2006 10:38 pm

I constantly look at the "to read" shelf going that one, no, that one, nah, oh decisions.

It's only the last one in Nocturnes that is a Charlie Parker story. "Some Children Wander By Mistake" - you won't look at clowns in the same light again.
Mark on December 27th, 2006 1:30 am

Halfway through Before They Here Hanged, and am really enjoying it. A broader canvas than Book 1, Ariel, but I think you're going to enjoy it.

Still waiting for the Solaris books to turn up - not yet! - but like Joe I am lucky enough to have a copy of Ink. It is brilliant, but like Vellum, hard work (in a good way!). Some books are just fun, others stretch the braincell/s....

But the impressions are that 2007 could be quite a good year for all things SF.Fantasy?Horror.
Ariel on December 27th, 2006 11:13 am

Joe mate, I have to confess that Vellum was one of those books that I had to let go halfway through - I think I admitted as much in an old blog somewhere - not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because it was quite frankly mashing my head, and my head was far too full of other stuff at the time. As you say, that Mr Duncan certainly doesn't go easy on his readers, and good for him for taking that line, I say.

Oh,. and the Glass Books is something like 900 pages or so in all mate - the last one is a triple-length special...

I'm a chapter from the end of The Vesuvius Club right now, so it'll be decision time very soon. I think I'm leaning towards the Abercrombie (Mark, you've swayed me in that direction, I think), followed by the Parker, then the Connolly... it'll depend on which one Jo grabs first, most probably.
Mark on December 27th, 2006 5:18 pm

LOL. Fight! Fight!

Be interested to read what you think, Ariel.

Just realised that I forgot to say that I started with Glass Books, and started trying to read them Penny-Dreadful-Victorian-stylee, ie: one a week (or so). I've managed all the way to Chapter 3; I'm now finding it difficult to regain interest. I guess it's just a different time...
Ariel on December 28th, 2006 9:27 am

Well, I read the Glass Books in one fell swoop, and to be honest (Joe, you might want to look away now, mate...) I thought there was an awful lot of repetition in the later episodes, with the author quite sensibly assuming that anyone who read the earlier parts a few weeks ago may well have some trouble remembering some of the finer detail from earlier on.

But the net effect was that I actually ended up wishing I'd tried to read it in instalments myself...
Joe on December 28th, 2006 2:39 pm

To be honest I was getting that repetitive vibe too, mate - I'm about book 6 or 7 at the moment but took a hiatus because it did seem rather repetitive and turned to the Somnabulist then Heart Shaped Box instead for a while, will go back to it in the New Year - one thing about the little installments is that they are very easy to read on the bus to work :-)

On the upcoming book slot though there is the mass market paperback of Jeff VanderMeer's Shriek in January - if you didn't pick up the trade paperback last year I highly recommend it. It is much more accessible than his City of Saints and Madmen collection (although I highly recommened that too - actually I'd recommend anything by Jeff, like Gaiman he is one of those authors who could make writing his grocery list interesting). And I am looking forward to the sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora in the spring, that was one of the most enjoyable reads of the year.
Joe on December 28th, 2006 2:41 pm

Oh, forgot to say, it is that season when I do my now traditional pick of the 'alternative' SF and GNs of the year: http://www.woolamaloo.org.uk/2.....#comments. Just as well for me most authors have a sense of humour and don't get offended :-)