30
Mar
Click to Buy
ISBN-13: 9780451462640
One of the biggest complaints I have with urban fantasy as a whole is that it tends to lean very far into the paranormal and make realism second place. Not so with Ann Aguirre’s latest offering, Blue Diablo, which, put simply, is To Cast a Deadly Spell meets Commando.
Corine Solomon is a woman on the run. She’s settled in Mexico City and managed to keep up a life as a shopkeeper for eighteen months when her ex-boyfriend, one of the many people she’s hiding from, walks in her shop door. She still isn’t over Chance, not what he put her through or her love for him. But none of it matters because Chance asks for Corine for the one thing he knows she’ll give–her help finding his kidnapped mother.
Corine isn’t the only person whose past has caught up with them, but she is the only one who can help because Min, Chance’s mother, has left a trail of clues that only Corine’s gift of psychometry (psychic reading of events through objects) can decipher.
Blue Diablo stands out from the genre, not just because it wholly encompasses “bad guys” outside of the serial killer and supernatural varieties, or because of its higher than typical body count. One of the biggest stand out features of this book is the cast of realistic, almost entirely minority characters and non-Celtic/European magic mythos.
In comparison to Aguirre’s other books (Grimspace and Wanderlust) Blue Diablo is a true blend of the genres that make urban fantasy; fantasy, mystery, romance and horror, whereas the former are science fiction with romantic elements. Blue Diablo’s heroine and hero are no less emotionally tortured, in either their pasts or their feelings for each other.
Aguirre likes the devastated hero, and the heroine whose power costs something. Readers who like mixed blessings in their magic and desperate, delicious heroes will find a lot to like in Aguirre’s books. Nothing comes easy, if at all. Not defeating the bad guy, or winning the day or even getting the guy/girl. It makes Blue Diablo not an effortless read, but a tension-filled exciting tale nonetheless.
27
Mar
FreeApex Magazine consistently offers some of my favorite mixed genre stories. The February issue kicks off with “Cai and Her Ten-Thousand Husbands” by Gord Sellar, a multicultural tale of war, violence, prostitution and immortality. Cai is “liberated” from her small village, directly into a house of concubines, which serve to both amuse the troops and experiment on them. The years of being programmed to be a sexual submissive change her, but how much change, and how many years go by, not even Cain knows. For a story that revolves around the many aspects of sex, there’s very little of the act in the story. But there is a complicated world with many secrets for Cai and the reader to discover.
“Dark Planet” by Lavie Tidhar also features and exotic feel. In this offering, a group of troops have been deployed to Fly, a planet so terrible (seriously, there are exploding shrapnel bugs and living trees that eat people) that many deny it even exists. The plot is hazy and leaves readers wondering if they “got” all of it. But the world building is beautiful and dangerous, as if this tale was tailored for Apex’s style.
“A Plague from the Mud” by Aaron Polson is a reprint from Permuted Press’ giant creatures anthology, Monstrous: 20 Tales of Giant Creature Terror. The narrator, a teacher in a small logging town in the Oregon woods, is witness to the strange emergence of beetles, with habits like the cicada, but with a predictably large size and taste for bigger meals than other bugs.
Finally, for fiction, comes “Tearing Down Tuesday” by Steven Francis Murphy which first appeared in Interzone. Much like the traditional tale of a boy and his dog, with a dark twist, “Tearing Down Tuesday” is the story of a boy and his robot, the only person who loves him and does him right, no matter what the cost to both of them.
All together it’s another dark, fine edition of Apex Magazine.
Also Featuring:
Popped Culture: Robots in Distress by Justin Stewart
Monster in the Closet by Alethea Kontis
Libraries Like Jungles, Side to Side by Lavie Tidhar
An Interview with R. Thomas Riley
26
Mar
The Shimmer people are celebrating their 10th issue by giving it away for free. It features 12 stories and an interview with Cory Doctorow. If you like it, consider supporting the small press by subscribing.
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Retaliatory lawsuit against Writer Beware staff dismissed
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March 26, 2009
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss, the principal operators of the Writer Beware website, filed by a purported literary agent.
Writer Beware is a publishing industry watchdog group sponsored by Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) which “shines a light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes and pitfalls.”
The suit, initiated by Robert Fletcher and his company, the Literary Agency Group, alleged defamation, loss of business and emotional distress while making claims Fletcher had lost $25,000 per month due to warnings about his business practices posted by Crispin and Strauss.
The suit was dismissed with prejudice March 18 by the Massachusetts Superior Court due to Fletcher’s failure to respond to discovery or otherwise prosecute the lawsuit. Crispin and Strauss, through counsel, intend to file a motion against Fletcher and the Literary Agency Group, Inc., seeking recovery of their legal fees incurred in defending what they believe to be a frivolous lawsuit.
The case dates to February 2008, when Fletcher and his company filed for a temporary restraining order pending a preliminary injunction against Crispin and Strauss in Suffolk County Superior Court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During a subsequent hearing Feb. 19, the temporary restraining order was dismissed for improper service (Strauss wasn’t served until 42 minutes after the time of the hearing, and Crispin was not served at all), but the supporting complaint was allowed to proceed.
Currently, Fletcher and his companies remain the subjects of an active investigation by the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
“I’’m very pleased that the case was dismissed. Knowing how hard those involved with Writer Beware work – and how important the work they do is to writers, both within SFWA and outside of it – it’s very good news, indeed,” said SFWA President Russell Davis. “Writer Beware is one of the most important and valuable services SFWA provides, and knowing that this frivolous case was dismissed, and that Mr. Fletcher is now the subject of an investigation in Florida only validates the work done by Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss.”
Crispin and Strauss have volunteered countless hours of their time to advising, educating and warning aspiring and established authors about dubious, questionable and outright criminal business practices on the fringes of the publishing industry. They maintain the Writer Beware website (writerbeware.com) and are major contributors to Writer Beware Blogs! (accrispin.blogspot.com).
24
Mar
Click to Buy
Something Wicked is a dark genre magazine out of South Africa. It features good art and a mix of dark fiction offerings that vary from complete misses to overlooked gems…. Full review at The Fix.
23
Mar
Congratulations to all the nominees!
Superior Achievement in a Novel
COFFIN COUNTY by Gary Braunbeck (Leisure Books)
THE REACH by Nate Kenyon (Leisure Books)
DUMA KEY by Stephen King (Scribner)
JOHNNY GRUESOME by Gregory Lamberson (Bad Moon Books/Medallion Press)
Superior Achievement in a First Novel
MIDNIGHT ON MOURN STREET by Christopher Conlon (Earthling Publications)
THE GENTLING BOX by Lisa Mannetti (Dark Hart Press)
MONSTER BEHIND THE WHEEL by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin (Delirium Books)
THE SUICIDE COLLECTORS by David Oppegaard (St. Martin’s Press)
FROZEN BLOOD by Joel A. Sutherland (Lachesis Publishing)
Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
THE SHALLOW END OF THE POOL by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press)
MIRANDA by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
REDEMPTION ROADSHOW by Weston Ochse (Burning Effigy Press)
THE CONFESSIONS OF ST. ZACH by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books)
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
PETRIFIED by Scott Edelman (Desolate Souls)
THE LOST by Sarah Langan (Cemetery Dance Publications)
THE DUDE WHO COLLECTED LOVECRAFT by Nick Mamatas, and Tim Pratt (Chizine)
EVIDENCE OF LOVE IN A CASE OF ABANDONMENT by M. Rickert (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
TURTLE by Lee Thomas (Doorways)
Superior Achievement in an Anthology
LIKE A CHINESE TATTOO edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)
HORROR LIBRARY, VOL. 3 edited by R. J. Cavender (Cutting Block Press)
BENEATH THE SURFACE edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing)
UNSPEAKABLE HORROR edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder (Dark Scribe Press)
Superior Achievement in a Collection
THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance Publications)
MAMA’S BOY and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)
JUST AFTER SUNSET by Stephen King (Scribner)
MR. GAUNT AND OTHER UNEASY ENCOUNTERS by John Langan (Prime Books)
GLEEFULLY MACABRE TALES by Jeff Strand (Delirium Books)
Superior Achievement in Nonfiction
CHEAP SCARES by Gregory Lamberson (McFarland)
ZOMBIE CSU by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel Press)
A HALLOWE’EN ANTHOLOGY by Lisa Morton (McFarland)
THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (HarperCollins)
Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection
THE NIGHTMARE COLLECTION by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)
THE PHANTOM WORLD by Gary William Crawford (Sam’s Dot Publishing)
VIRGIN OF THE APOCALYPSE by Corrine De Winter (Sam’s Dot Publishing)
ATTACK OF THE TWO-HEADED POETRY MONSTER by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty (Skullvines Press)
From Brian Keene’s blog:
Below are the full details for both service-members interested in signing up and civilians interested in donating books.
WHAT IT IS:
Books For Troops is a program that supplies books free of charge to the men and women serving in the United States military in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world. The program has been honored by many, including the 509th Logistics Fuels Flight Squadron based at Whiteman A.F.B. in Missouri. It went on hiatus while my wife and I had a baby. Now it is back.
HOW IT WORKS:
If you are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and would either like free books to read, or would like free books to distribute to your fellow servicemen and women, send an email to briankeene at live.com. Please put ‘Books For Troops’ in the subject line. In the body of the email, include your rank, first and last name, and a valid military address (APO, FPO, etc.).
Please Note: You must have a valid military address to qualify. No civilian addresses will be accepted without prior approval. We apologize for that, but it is the only way to screen out fraudulent applications from non-service members.
After that, you will receive a shipment of free books approximately every two months. There is absolutely no charge for this. You do not need to return the books. All we ask is that you enjoy them, and pass them on to fellow service-members when you are done, or donate them to your base or ship library.
HOW NON-MILITARY PERSONNEL CAN HELP:
If you are an author or publisher that would like to donate books to the program, please send them to Books For Troops, c/o Brian Keene PO Box 281, Craley, PA 17312. We ask that books be in good condition. Please do not send books with missing or yellowed pages, stripped covers, photocopies, etc. Any subject is acceptable, but we especially encourage genre fiction (horror, fantasy, science-fiction, western, historical, crime, mystery, thriller, romance, and men’s adventure). We will also accept donations of stamps to help out with shipping costs.
Books For Troops is not a charitable organization (it is run by a lone author and his overworked assistant). Because we are not a charitable organization, your donation should not be considered tax deductible. Also because of this, we cannot accept cash donations, checks, or money orders.
Please email briankeene at live.com with any questions.
*I’m adding this as a page on my blog and will be donating review copies that I recieve and have read (as my income allows me to afford postage for).
Click yo Buy
Paperback: 978-1435732490, $19.95
Valerie McCormick believes in family above all else, a fact that’s obvious when she wins a trip to Seattle and ends up spending it doing research on a boat for her husband’s company. However, on her free trip she witnesses the murder of two FBI agents and is thrust into a multinational court case against a cartel that puts her life in terrible danger.
Dead Witness is a self published debut thriller with a touch of love story. Valerie is understandably upset by her predicament, and surrounded by daughters who seem sweet, but oblivious, a husband who is using her and various FBI agents who bumble around and ruin her life. The bad guys are evil. The heroes are not quite perfect and over all the book is close, but not quite ready to be on the must read shelf.
Butler is a solid writer, with good potential, but there are several things that end up distracting from the story. To begin with it’s hard to connect with Valerie, the lead character. Her personality seems less than three dimensional and while she’s understandably emotional, hearing her upset over being in protective custody, and her willingness to be dead rather than without her family made her hard to sympathize with. The FBI procedure in the storyline isn’t entirely convincing, leading to mistakes that certainly add to the plot, but can make a reader question the storytelling. Readers will likely also wonder why Valerie’s brother, an intelligent, skilled investigator, is smart enough to consistently break through the FBI’s cover, but doesn’t consider that the bad guys might be watching him.
Finally, it’s clear that Valerie is the main character, not just because the story is her story, but because all the secondary characters seem to reiterate what she thinks and feels, as well as that she’s a strong, lovely person, in the sections of the story told from their point of view as if they, too, are trying to convince the reader of Valerie’s worth. Unfortunately, this ends up feeling insincere, contributing to a disconnect between the picture readers have of Valerie, and the picture Butler is trying to paint.
Butler shows promise, however, and is likely to show up with a stronger work down the road.