Bob @ Beauty in Ruins
PLEASE NOTE: I'm rarely active here anymore, but please feel free to follow me on Goodreads, where I post regularly.
These are the chronicles of a book addict, a photo junkie, and an aspiring author, rewriting the very fabric of reality one page (and one snapshot) at a time. From the strange to the unusual; the abandoned to the abnormal; the haunted to the historic; the supernatural to the surreal; the forests of dark fantasy, the cemeteries of gothic horror, and the post-apocalyptic ruins of science fiction are the landscapes of my imagination.
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From the Shelf to the Page: This Week in the Ruins
A much busier week this time around with some promos, reviews, features, and a couple of solid reads from the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off.
- Talking Madness, Delusion, and Epic Fantasy with Michael R. Fletcher(author of Beyond Redemption)
- Sci-Fi Review of The Dangerous Type by Loren Rhoads
- Waiting on Wednesday with Chasing the Phoenix by Michael Swanwick
- The Third Five Reviews from Great Self-Published Fantasy Blog-off
Stacking The Shelves and Mailbox Monday are a pair of weekly memes that are about sharing the books that came your way over the past week, and which you've added to your shelves - whether they be physical or virtual, borrowed or bought, or for pleasure or review.
For starters, as a member-in-good-standing of the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association, I had the opportunity of downloading the voter’s package for the 2015 Aurora Awards. These awards celebrate the best works and activities done by Canadians in 2014, with the winners announced at Canvention 35 (which will be hosted by SFContario 6 this November in Toronto). I'm most interested in the Best Novel and Best Related Workcategories, so I'm looking forward to giving the following titles a read:
On the review front, a few new titles this week, including . . .
Occupied Earth: Stories of Aliens, Resistance and Survival at all Costs
edited by Richard Brewer & Gary Phillips
For years, writers and filmmakers have speculated about the possibility of the Earth being invaded by aliens from another planet. But what if the aliens have been watching us, infiltrating us via human collaborators, or even surgically altering themselves to look human? Occupied Earth is a groundbreaking anthology that explores the idea of what the world would look like years after its conquest.
20 years after a successful invasion by the Makh-Ra, humanity still exists, only they have become subservient to a new race of occupiers who now govern the devastated planet. But, as much at things continue with some sense of normalcy, something has happened in the Mahk-Ra’s empire. Earth, once considered a strategic beachhead of major importance to the Empire, has been downgraded in its value. Things are starting to degrade. Our planet is the last place any self-respecting Mahk-Ra officer wants to be assigned. Yet, despite everything, life continues.
These stories bring us face to face with annihilation — and show how we can pull ourselves back from the brink. Featuring Rachel Howzell Hall, Lisa Morton, Matthew V. Clemens, Howard Hendrix, Nathan Walpow and more, OCCUPIED EARTH is coming. Stay safe. Stay strong. Survive at all costs.
Heroika: Dragon Eaters
edited by Janet E. Morris
The art of dragon killing: Dragons have been eating humans for centuries. Now heroes throughout history stalk their legendary foe. Learn how to hunt, kill, and eat the wild dragon. Never before has revenge tasted so good. A literary feast for the bloody-minded.
In Janet Morris' anthology on the art of dragon killing, seventeen writers bring you so close to dragons you can smell their fetid breath. Tales for the bold among you.
HEROIKA 1: DRAGON EATERS , an anthology of heroic fiction edited by Janet Morris, features original stories by Janet E. Morris, Chris Morris, S.E. Lindberg, Jack William Finley, Travis Ludvigson, Tom Barczak, J.P. Wilder, Joe Bonadonna, Milton Davis, A.L. Butcher, William Hiles, M. Harold Page, Walter Rhein, Cas Peace, Beth Patterson, Bruce Durham, Mark Finn.
Witches Protection Program
by Michael Phillip Cash
Wes Rockville, a disgraced law enforcement agent, is given one last chance to prove himself and save his career when he's reassigned to a 232 year old secret government organization. The Witches Protection Program. His first assignment: uncover a billion-dollar Cosmetics company’s diabolical plan of using witchcraft for global domination, while protecting its heiress Morgan Pendragon from her aunt’s evil deeds. Reluctantly paired with veteran witch protector, Alastair Verne, Wes must learn to believe in both witches and himself. Filled with adventure, suspense and a rousing good time, Michael Phillip Cash creates a tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where witches cast spells and wreak havoc in modern day New York City.
After Alice
by Gregory Maguire
From the multi-million-copy bestselling author of Wicked comes a magical new twist on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Lewis's Carroll's beloved classic
When Alice toppled down the rabbit-hole 150 years ago, she found a Wonderland as rife with inconsistent rules and abrasive egos as the world she left behind. But what of that world? How did 1860s Oxford react to Alice's disappearance?
In this brilliant new work of fiction, Gregory Maguire turns his dazzling imagination to the question of underworlds, undergrounds, underpinnings — and understandings old and new, offering an inventive spin on Carroll's enduring tale. Ada, a friend of Alice's mentioned briefly in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is off to visit her friend, but arrives a moment too late — and tumbles down the rabbit hole herself.
Ada brings to Wonderland her own imperfect apprehension of cause and effect as she embarks on an odyssey to find Alice and see her safely home from this surreal world below the world. If Euridyce can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life. Either way, everything that happens next is "After Alice."
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is another weekly meme, this time focused on what books are spending the most time in your hands and in your head, as opposed to what's been added to your shelf.
Wizards, magic, necromancers, and thieves, all in a steampunk turn-of-the-century London.
• The Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence
Okay, I've patient, but since my review copy seems to be stuck in the mail, I went out and bought a copy at lunch. I've waited long enough - time to indulge!
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