Free Reading! 'Implied Spaces' excerpt and 'The Green Leopard Plague'

Nightshade Books have just published Walter Jon Williams' 'Implied Spaces'; a sci-fi novel of... well, here's the blurb! :o)

Aristide, a semi-retired computer scientist turned swordsman, is a scholar of the implied spaces, seeking meaning amid the accidents of architecture in a universe where reality itself has been sculpted and designed by superhuman machine intelligence. While exploring the pre-technological world Midgarth, one of four dozen pocket universes created within a series of vast, orbital matrioshka computer arrays, Aristide uncovers a fiendish plot threatening to set off a nightmare scenario, perhaps even bringing about the ultimate Existential Crisis: the end of civilization itself.

Traveling the pocket universes with his wormhole-edged sword Tecmessa in hand and talking cat Bitsy, avatar of the planet-sized computer Endora, at his side, Aristide must find a way to save the multiverse from subversion, sabotage, and certain destruction.

Looks pretty cool doesn't it? To celebrate the release, not only have Nightshade Books put an excerpt on their site but they have also made the Nebula Award winning novella 'The Green Leopard Plague' available in its entirety. Both of these texts can be found on the Nightshade Books
Downloads page. If all of this isn't enough for you then check out the the Interview with Walter as well.

Enjoy!

Naomi Novik - An excerpt from 'Victory of Eagles' and tour dates.

If you're a fan of Naomi Novik then I'm sure that you're waiting patiently (or not so patiently maybe!) for the release of 'Victory of Eagles', the latest installment in the adventures of Captain Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire. There's just over a month to go if you're living in the US (July 8th) but a little bit longer for UK residents (August 7th) so how would you like a little something to keep you ticking over in the meantime?
If you go to Naomi's website, not only can you sign up for email updates etc but you can also read an excerpt from 'Victory of Eagles'. I'm a big fan of this series and the excerpt has really whetted my appetite for the book itself. Expect to see a review soon...

Naomi will also be going on tour to promote 'Victory of Eagles'. Here's a list of the dates and venues, I guess that the exact times still need to be confirmed...

7/9 New York, NY
Barnes & Noble (Greenwich Village)

7/15 Philadelphia, PA
Free Library of Philadelphia

7/16 Washington, DC
Borders Books & Music (Bailey’s Crossroads)

7/17 Richmond, VA
Creatures ‘n Crooks

7/22 San Francisco, CA
Borderlands Books

7/23 Berkeley, CA
Dark Carnival

7/24, 7/25, 7/26 San Diego, CA
San Diego Comic Con \o/

7/28 Seattle, WA
University Bookstore

7/29 Portland, OR
Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing

Apparently Chicago will also be visited (sometime in August) but details are still to be confirmed. You can get all this information (and other cool stuff) by visiting Naomi's website and signing up for the email updates.

'Sly Mongoose' - The Trailer!

I just found this on Youtube and thought I'd share :o)

See your name in print!

I'm not talking about your local newspaper either, how do you fancy seeing your name appear in a book of retro-Victorian steampunk adventure? Sounds good doesn't it? Read on...

I'm a big fan of Abaddon Books' 'Pax Brittania' series; in particular the adventures of one Ulysses Quicksilver, gentleman adventurer and agent of the crown. Check out my reviews of Unnatural History and Leviathan Rising for more information. The next book in the series, 'Human Nature', is due to be released in December and Jonathan Green (the author) is offering one lucky reader the chance to see their name used for one of the characters in the book. You could be the arch-villain or you could end up as a cheeky cockney cabbie, who knows...
I'm in and, despite wanting to win this thing, I thought I'd offer you all the chance to enter as well. More information can be found Here.

Good luck!

A Saturday Afternoon Link up!

The Saturday morning hangover is now just a (still slightly painful) memory and I'm now in a position where I can look at a computer screen without it going all blurry and me feeling like someone is sticking knives in my eyes!
Without further ado, here's some of the bits and pieces that caught my eye this week. If you haven't seen them already then I think you should check them out...

Pat points us at this article from Orson Scott Card. I'm not sure whether he has a point or it's a severe case of sour grapes...

Chris has done something that I still can't work out how to do, post Youtube clips onto his blog. For your viewing pleasure, Chris has three clips of Neil Gaiman reading Shoggoth's Old Peculiar...

If you're a Terry Brooks fan then you ought to head over to A Dribble of Ink where Aidan has the cover art for Terry's forthcoming novel 'The Gypsy Morph'.

Fantasy Book Critic reckons Chris Evans' 'A Darkness Forged In Fire'(Book One of The Iron Elves) is going to be one to watch out for in 2008. If he's right then be there right at the start by reading this Interview

Sci-Fi Chick reviews Iron Man: Beneath The Armour. I am really looking forward to seeing this film!

There is so much good stuff going on at Urban Fantasy Land that I wouldn't even know where to point you at first. Just click on the link and find your own way from there ;o)

I'm looking forward to seeing 'Iron Man', Amras got there first and This is what he thought...

What am I up to? Well, here's the thing. Books with 'paranormal romance' are starting to appear amongst the books I receive. This isn't something I normally read but one of the points behind starting this blog was to try stuff I'd never read before... Therefore things are going to get a little 'romantic' next week as far as my reading goes, at the very least I hope to discover what the difference is between 'paranormal romance' and 'urban fantasy'! Stick around and see where my journey takes me. Seriously, please stick around as I really don't want to do this one on my own!

Have a great weekend!

Free Reading, Swear Words and Reviews!

I'm having one of those mornings where, even though I only had one beer last night, I feel more than a little bit hungover. What's wrong with me? I think I'm just getting old... :o(
Oh well, while I slope around the house feeling sorry for myself here's some stuff that I found on the internet this week...

The 'Pulp Idol' short story competition is up and running again over at the SFX site. Someone posted This as a good example of a time travel story, made me laugh :o)

Staying on the free reading theme, Gary Braunbeck's Rami Temporales makes for a haunting read. Keep an eye on the blog for more Gary Braunbeck bits and pieces in the next week or so.

Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics laid the foundations for subsequent robot stories in science fiction. It will be interesting to see if Warren Ellis' Three Laws have a similar effect...

Fantasy Book Critic takes a look at David Gunn's Maximum Offense, he liked it as well ;o)

Jay Tomio gives us an update on what is happening over at Fantasy Book Spot.

Grasping for the Wind takes a look at Jim Hines' Goblin War. It looks interesting and I may just have to check these out.

Staying with Jim Hines, he has declared war on Patrick Rothfuss...

Last, but not least, Dark Wolf Reviews takes a look at R.A. Salvatore's Promise of the Witch King.

What am I doing what all this is going on? Well, I've finally started on Greg Keyes' 'The Born Queen' (great stuff) and I'm also dipping into a couple of short story collections. I also went to Forbidden Planet last night so expect at least a couple of posts about all the comics I came home with! :o)

Have a great weekend!

I've got no content to add today so here's someone else's...

A doctor's appointment, and people actually expecting me to do stuff at work, has put a bit of a crimp in my plans to review 'The Digital Plague' today. Keep your eyes open for a review tomorrow and then go and buy the book when it hits the shops, it's that good :o)
In the meantime, I saw a couple of things on the Orbit website that I thought I'd share...

Don't you just hate it when you're collecting a series of books and the covers change halfway through? I do... I've been collecting Mike Carey's 'Felix Castor' series and the cover art has been changed for the third book. It could be worse I guess, it could have been a ten book series where the art work was given a radical makeover halfway through (I'm looking at you Mr Erikson...)
Anyway, This article is about something completely different but it does show the new artwork for the first three 'Felix Castor' books. I'm not sure if these are in the shops yet but are well worth picking up if they are...

If you haven't already read Jeff Somers' 'The Electric Church', and your tastes run to gritty cyberpunk, then you need to get yourself a copy sooner rather than later! If you have read 'The Electric Church', have a quick look at
This cartoon while you're waiting for 'The Digital Plague' to hit the shelves (you can win a copy of this over at Pat's site). It made me laugh :o)

They're actually going to make me work today, here's some links to keep you going!

Every so often, my boss not only remembers that he hired me but he also remembers where I'm sat in the office. This invariably means that I have to do some work, something that never fails to shock and disgust me :o( In the absence of my own content today, here's a handy set of links to what everyone else has going on. In the meantime, spare a thought for poor ol' me while I try and look busy...

Chris the Book Swede is not writing a
Review! Definitely not, no sir... It made me laugh :o)

Fantasy Book Critic Interviews Alan Campbell, I'm now really looking forward to reading my copy of 'Iron Angel'...

Sci-fi Chick reviews Lisa Shearin's 'Armed and Magical'.

The Wertzone has a very informative author profile on Alastair Reynolds.

Once you finished looking at the links here, head over to Larry's Blog where there are loads more links for your delectation and delight!

Realm's of Speculative Fiction is your one stop shop for a comprehensive list of all the great blogs you should be visiting. Is that a link to my blog you can see there? I believe it is... :o) Thanks guys!

Speculative Horizons took me on a trip down memory lane with
this 'Fighting Fantasy' cover. Pretty cool stuff!

Aidan continues his mighty quest to show us all the spots where you can get Free Readin' on the internet.

Last but not least, The Deckled Edge shines a Spotlight on this week's new releases.

What am I up to while everyone else is coming up with all this great stuff? Well, funny you should ask that... I'm reading David Gunn's 'Maximum Offense' (the sequel to 'Death's Head') and there will probably be a review posted in the next couple of days. After that it's Jeff Somers' 'The Digital Plague' and I really want to read 'The Born Queen' at some point...

The Big Fat "I'm back!" Post...

I'm back home and trembling at the prospect of having to go back tomorrow :o( Madeira was lovely, apart from the fact that the island experienced it's worst weather for twenty years while we were there! This was balanced out though by the fact that we got to go swimming with wild dolphins on our last day, easily one of the best experiences ever :o)
I'm back now (already planning our next holiday)and ready to kick start things here after the break. Other people have been coming up with some pretty cool stuff while I was away and here's some of it...

Aidan reviews The Ancient by R.A. Salvatore.

Robert looks at Kate Elliot's Shadow Gate, one of those books that I really need to get round to picking up...

I loved Liz Williams' 'Snake Agent' and Chris recently reviewed the sequel The Demon and the City.

Because I'm lazy at providing loads of links, I shall direct you all to this post, from Larry, where there are even more links to be found ;o)

Rob has a pretty cool post about Cylons and one of my favourite short story collections...

Last, but not least, Adam reviews one of this year's most anticipated releases, I started it last night and have been more than impressed so far!

While I'm on the subject of links, Harper Collins are looking at setting up an online Tolkien store and are after feedback so that they can give people what they want. If this is the sort of thing that you're interested in then there's a survey that you can fill in right Here.

I'm guessing that you must be wondering what kind of stuff will be appearing on the blog in the next few days now the holiday is over. Well, I've just finished reading Ian Cameron Esslemont's 'Night of Knives' so expect to see a review tomorrow. After that you'll have to wait and see but you can pretty much count on a review of Greg Keyes' 'The Born Queen' and a certain book by Richard Morgan... There should hopefully be a couple of interviews as well.
Before I go (shopping needs to be done...) there's just enough time for a shameless plug of a book that I really enjoyed last year and is now out in mass market paperback...



For those of you that haven't read it, 'The Electric Church' is a great read in the mould of 'Altered Carbon' and one that I reckon you'll enjoy if you like your sci-fi brutal and over the top. I reviewed it Here and am looking forward to seeing 'The Digital Plague' when that comes out (in June I think)...

Anyway, that's enough from me for now. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Bakker & Jones: New Prologues on-line!

This has already been mentioned over on the Westeros Forum but I thought it was worth saying again ;o) Pat has already covered the 'Neuropath' prologue, I've had a quick read and it has whetted my appetite for what looks to be quite a disturbing book!
If you fancy reading the prologue for J.V Jones' 'Watcher of the Dead' (latest in the 'Sword of Shadows' series) then Here is where you need to be looking! From where I'm sat it all looks pretty interesting...

'A Dance with Dragons' - UK Cover

I don't know if this has been posted on other blogs already but I just saw this, on the Voyager website, and figured I'd post it ;o)
It looks pretty good from where I'm sitting! Certainly better than the US cover...

PS If anyone knows how I can make this picture a bit bigger...

New On-line service from HarperCollins, what would you like to see?

I've just had an email from HarperCollins who are planning a new online service offering exclusive limited edition versions of existing HarperCollins titles and online-only new titles. Seeing as this is aimed at folks like you (yes, you!) They've asked me asked me to direct your attention over Here where you can fill out a survey and give your opinion on the service etc that you would like to see. I've just done the survey and it doesn't take long at all...

Fantasy Book Spot 'Best of 2007' Tournament!

If you had to choose between 'Acacia' and 'The Blade Itself' which one would you pick? How about a choice between 'The Terror' and 'Brasyl' or 'Silverfish' and 'Pirate Freedom'? Well, you have the chance to make all these choices and then defend your chosen book to the death over at Fantasy Book Spot (link under 'Forums' on the right hand side of the screen) where their 'Best of 2007' tournament is now underway. Joining in is simple; register on the forum, pick your favourite book (in each thread) and then tell everyone why you think that book should win through to the next round. The winner gets the rather nice looking award in the picture, you won't get an award but you'll be able to feel all pleased with yourself if your favourite book wins... ;o)

George Romero's 'Diary of the Dead'

It's always a happy day for me when a new zombie movie hits the big screen. There's nothing like being scared to death in the cinema and then having to walk outside with that little voice in your head saying, "just imagine if zombies had attacked London while you were watching the film..."
George Romero's 'Diary of the Dead' is out in the UK right now and promises to be better (I think) than his last zombie outing 'Land of the Dead'. Instead of me going on about it, how do you fancy seeing what the man himself has to say? My wife knows I'm a complete sad-case as far as zombie films (George Romero ones in particular) so when she saw this on the BBC website I was emailed straight away! Happy reading...

PS, Real zombies don't run! (Although it's cool when they do...)

More Free Reading! Jeff Vandermeer's 'The Situation'

There seems to be a 'mini-boom' just recently in the number of online books being made available for free download. NightShade Books have just done it, Tor and Harper Collins have been doing it for a little while now (and I think Eos Books made some of their books available to mark their tenth anniversary). Now it's the turn of PS Publishing who have made the entire text of Jeff Vandermeer's forthcoming novelette 'The Situation' available in Adobe pdf format over on Wired.com's GeekDad. Printed copies of the book will not be available for another three weeks so it's a great way to have a little taster in the meantime. According to PS Publishing Editor-in-Chief Peter Crowther, 'The Situation' is "a tale of corporate surrealism that ought to ring true for anyone who's ever found themselves trapped in cubicle hell and struggling to deal with the bewildering pace of technological change." Sounds just like my job right now... :o(
If you find yourself hankering for a printed copy of 'The Situation' then have a look over Here...

Free Download! Richard Kadrey's 'Butcher Bird'

I've got no idea what 'DRM' stands for but Night Shade Books are releasing Richard Kadrey's novel 'Butcher Bird' as a DRM-free download. I've had a quick look and ended up having to remind myself that I should be working right now...
Here's the press release,

Back in 2005, a very different version of Richard Kadrey's novel Butcher Bird began its life as a free download posted online at The Infinite Matrix. At the time, it was called Blind Shrike. In 2007, Night Shade Books published our version.

Now it's back. With the cooperation of Richard Kadrey, Night Shade Books is proud to make the entire text of Butcher Bird available as a DRM-free download, in a wide variety of formats, so that everyone can enjoy this amazing novel of black magic and arcane mysteries, however and wherever they want. The World of Butcher Bird is one where angels and devils brawl in the streets, where the Black Clerks charged with keeping the Dominions in check have developed their own dark agenda, where the swordswoman known as Blind Shrike battles monsters in deadly combat, where a civil war has broken out in Hell, and where Spider Lee, an unassuming San Francisco tattoo artist, and his drinking buddy LuLu Garou, have been dropped right smack into the middle of the action.
Richard himself describes the book as "the Gnostic Gospels meets Wild at Heart." Butcher Bird is an odyssey that will take you from the San Francisco underground to decadent palaces to the very gates of Hell… and beyond!

Richard Kadrey is the author of six novels, including Angel Scene, Kamikaze L'Amour, and the quintessential cyberpunk novel Metrophage. His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies, as well as the magazines Asimov's, Interzone, Omni, and Wired.

Fancy a free read? Head on over Here where you can download 'Butcher Bird' and a couple of other tales too. Thanks go to John Joseph Adams (Night Shade Books) for the heads up ;o)

Something a little different...

It has nothing to do with sci-fi or fantasy but does have the potential to turn into a horror story! Here goes...
On March 23rd my wife will be going on half a plane journey. 'Half a plane journey?' I hear you say. Well yes, because when the plane reaches 10,000 feet she'll be jumping straight out and parachuting back down to the ground. Now, I'm one of those people who think that a plane is something that you use to travel from A to B, not jump out of halfway through. My wife would normally agree but this time it's for charity so she's going for the 'throw herself out of a plane option'!
The charity is called 'COSMIC' (Children of St Mary's Intensive Care)and it raises money for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, which now treats around 500 desperately sick children every year. A couple of my wife's colleagues have relatives who have used this facility and the three of them have decided to give something back. Everything they raise will be used to provide life saving equipment, support and accommodation to parents and to fund training, education and an internationally significant research programme at Imperial College London looking at the causes, effects and treatment of childhood diseases.
My wife is seeking sponsorship for the parachute jump (she's not so daft as to do this for free!) and that's the whole point of this post really. If you would like to donate any money there's a handy little on-line sponsorship form over Here. The minimum donation is £2 and all donations will be gratefully received! :o)
Thanks guys, I'll see what I can do about posting some pictures on March 24th...

'Lazy Sunday' Link Up!

The sun is out (for the first time in how long?), and I haven't finished reading any of the books that I've got on the go, so I thought I'd give you some links to places that I think are well worth having a look at...

John, over at Speculative Horizons has just started blogging and already has a review of 'Last Argument of Kings' up. He also finds time to vent some spleen at sub-standard art on fantasy book covers...

The Book Swede's 'Quote of the Week' continues, this time the quote supplier is one Philip Palmer...

Larry has just read David Keck's In a Time of Treason and says that it's a definite improvement on 'In the Eye of Heaven'.

Tia has an interview with Adrian Phoenix (author of 'A Rush of Wings') over at Fantasy Debut

And finally... Pat has just found out what books he will be reading after having lost his bet with GRRM. Have a look over Here to see what looks like some interesting reading coming up for Pat...

Have a great Sunday everyone!

'The Red Wolf Conspiracy', Fantasy Debut for 2008?

That's a pretty tough one to answer so early in the year but there are already promising noises being made about the opening chapter in Robert Redick's 'The Chathrand Voyage' trilogy. Don't believe me? Have a look Here and then head on over Here as well. There's certainly enough good things said to make me mark this title as one to definitely look out for...
Not only are we getting early reviews but there's also an Author Website where you get to check out the first chapter amongst other things. Not only do you get this but one of my favourite purveyors of quality interviews has thrown some questions at Redick and posted the answers on his blog. Have a look Here for Chris' interview...
All sounds like good stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing what 'The Red Wolf Conspiracy' is like when it comes out in February...

Preditors & Editors Reader's Poll

I've just been told that the blog is one of the nominees for The Preditors & Editors Readers' Poll, a site that honours print & electronic publications published during 2007. It's just nice to see my blog nestled in amongst some amazing review sites... I've voted for my favourite and, just this once, I wasn't voting for myself! Why don't you head on over Here and vote for your favourite? Voting is open until the 15th January.
Good luck to all the nominees!