Jun 30, 2011

Covering Covers: Percepliquis - Michael J. Sullivan


Cover Artist: Michael J. Sullivan

The Riyria Revelations is one of the most popular self-published/small-published fantasy series of recent years. As much as we're led to believe that a book should not be judged by it's cover, the undeniable success of Sullivan's work has been, at least in part, a result of the simple yet professional looking covers with which he has encased his stories. The cover of the latest (and last book), Percepliquis debuted today on Sullivan's blog. I've posted it above and for reference the first five books are shown below.



I really admire these covers. They aren't flashy but they aren't cheesy either, which is more than you can say about most self-produced cover. Sullivan appears to be cognizant of his own limitations, playing to his strengths rather than being overly ambitious. I like the clean imagery and the consistent style, even the repeated color scheme which I hadn't noticed before writing this piece. Pecepliquis isn't my favorite cover of the series - that honor goes to Avempartha or Nyphron Rising - but I'm happy the design and level of quality remained more or less consistent. Given that each book in the series sold a lot more copies than it's predecessor, Sullivan could have easily outsourced the cover art if he desired.

As for the book itself, Percepliquis is a strange story, one that really appeals to the book collector in me. As I discussed with him earlier this summer, Sullivan's series has been promoted to the majors with Orbit planning to republish the six books as a trilogy later this year. Even cooler, Orbit was gracious enough to allow Sullivan to publish Percepliquis under the Ridan Publishing imprint with the release of the Orbit omnibus, much to the delight of series completists everywhere.
I saw a great journey. Ten upon the road, she who wears the light will lead the way. The road goes deep into the earth, and into despair. The voices of the dead guide your steps. You walk back in time. The three-thousand-year battle begins again. Cold grips the world, death comes to all, and a choice is before you.
Percepliquis is the final installment of the epic fantasy, The Riyria Revelations. In this saga that began with The Crown Conspiracy, two thieves caught in the right place at the wrong time were launched on a series of ever escalating adventures that have all lead to this moment. Three thousand years have passed and the time for Novron’s heir to act has arrived.

The Ridan edition of Percepliquis should be available in the neighborhood of January 2012. You can send an e-mail to riyria6@gmail.com to make sure you are notified when it is.

Jun 28, 2011

On Notice!


This series of mini-rants is brought to you by Mind Asplode, the only product made out of 99.9% uncut surprise.

[Author's Note: Please read these "notices" in the light-hearted tone with which they were written. Mostly.]

ON NOTICE - People That Think Book Trailers Are A Good Idea

Watch this and tell me you're excited to read The Host. [Ignore the fact it was written by the same woman who unleashed Twilight on the world.]


I mean really? I hope they didn't spend triple digits on that. And make no mistake, this is par for the course. Personally, I would love to see a publishing house put together a real book trailer - one where random bits of dialogue and prose are spliced together. Here's one for James S. A. Corey's excellent new space opera:

Foaming-at-the-Mouth Denunciations.
 "Anyone Drop A Rock?" 
Smudge.
Martian Navy.
Holden.
Irregular Orbital Graves.
"You Slept At All?"
Yawning.
LEVIATHAN WAKES

Good no?

ON NOTICE - Mira Grant - Zombie novels don't work. Even someone with half a brain [left] knows that. zombies aren't scary on the page. You can't see them in all their grotesque glory. There's no dialogue. They can't (or at least shouldn't) outsmart the protagonists. And every proofreader fears the day when the have to spell "BRAAAAAAIIINNNNSSSSSS!!!!" right.  Zombie novel don't work. Why then is Mira Grant's Newsflesh Trilogy so good? 


The one and only.
ON NOTICE - Seanan McGuire -  You can spell it anyway you want - faerie is still fairy. I'm not buying it. You can take your Tinkerbell, your Oberon, and your pumpkin transmogrifying grandma and live happily ever after. Uh no, those aren't the October Daye books on my shelf. You are mistaken. Why would I want to read grim and gritty urban fantasy that blurs the line between mystery and fantasy? Damn you McGuire! Quit making 97% of Urban Fantasy feel bad about itself.

Wait a second... Zoom in and Enhance...
ON NOTICE - Authors who manage to be awesome while writing as multiple psuedonyms - See above. That and the fact that McGuire is starting up another series, this one about "a family of crypto-zoologists who protect endangered mythological species, the organization of monster hunters sworn to destroy them, and the forbidden romances on both sides." [Check out io9 for the full story]. They say everyone has a story to tell. Chances are McGuire took yours.

ON NOTICE - Days When Neil Gaiman Doesn't Link My Blog - Lonely blog is lonely.
I'll give you 30 guesses.

ON NOTICE - The New York [Behind the] Times - C'mon. Everyone knows Lauren Beukes is awesome. I'm glad you figured out that Zoo City was worth reading. Everyone else has known that ever since Moxyland put Angry Robot on the map. But if you insist on identifying up-and-coming writers, I've got another name you might want to check out: George R. R. Martin. He's poised to explode.

I've heard good things about this one too....
And the updates...

REMAINING ON NOTICE - Naomi Novik - Someone needs to tell her that while dragons aren't real, unanswered questions are. Interview, Novik. Interview.

REMAINING ON NOTICE - One of the Not So Fine Editors At Tor - You're up for parole when I finally see The Coldest War. Not a second sooner.

OFF NOTICE - Patrick Rothfuss - You know I can't stay mad at you.

OFF NOTICE- : & ; - Still don't know the difference but my therapist has helped me accept that I never will.

OFF NOTICE - A Certain Unnamed Publisher Who Lies - Now known as "A Certain Unnamed Publisher Who Lied, But Eventually Came Through"

REMAINING ON NOTICE - China Mieville - Placed on Double Secret On Notice for getting such awesome UK covers. Speaking of which, I now have a special Mieville bookshelf.

REMAINING ON NOTICE - Myself - What's it called if permanent and immutable have a child? And then that child is frozen in carbonite. That's what chance I have of moving off this list.

OFF NOTICE - The Art Department at Bantam - If I re-purchase all of the books, the covers will match again. #itssosimple #waitasecond #thatwastheideawasntit

Jun 23, 2011

Covering Covers: Killing Rites - M.L.N. Hanover


It's time for everybody's favorite topic - good urban fantasy books and bad urban fantasy covers.

Cover Artist: Unknown
If you've enjoyed Daniel Abraham's The Dragon's Path or James S. A. Corey's Leviathan Wakes (and why wouldn't you when you can get a bundled eBook of both for less than a movie ticket) and aren't entirely opposed to the idea of Urban Fantasy, I'd recommend completing the pseudonymic triumvirate with M.L.N. Hanover's The Black Sun's Daughter series. All three series are penned by the same 5-hour-energy guzzling author and each targets a different demographic of specultative fiction readers. Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranoir Urban Fantasy - whatever you're looking to buy, Abraham has a story to sell you.

As is the case with his new book featured above, Killing Rites, due out later this year. The fourth and latest chronicle of Jayne Heller's nomadic exorcisms promises to explore the game changing revelations which rocked the foundations of Jayne's world as the end of Vicious Grace.

Read on for a spoiler filled summary:
Jayne Heller has discovered the source of her uncanny powers: something else is living inside her body. She's possessed. Of all her companions, she can only bring herself to confide in Ex, the former priest. They seek help from his old teacher and the circle of friends he left behind, hoping to cleanse Jayne before the parasite in her becomes too powerful.


Ex's history and a new enemy combine to leave Jayne alone and on the run. Her friends, thinking that the rider with her has taken the reins, try to hunt her down, unaware of the danger they're putting her in. Jayne must defeat the weight of the past and the murderous intent of another rider, and her only allies are a rogue vampire she once helped free and the nameless thing hiding inside her skin.
Killing Rites will be published by Pocket Books on Nov 29th. And don't forget, it also marks the return of Midian, the scene stealing vampire who made Unclean Spirits such a joy to read.

Jun 14, 2011

The Flower of Sauron

Click to embiggen.

Photograph by: Photographie 51 [Jennifer Wolohan]

The Dark Lord is everywhere. Watch out hobbits.

You can see more, less evil, flowers here.

Jun 13, 2011

Covering Covers: Reamde - Neal Stephenson [w/ Detailed Blurb]


          US Cover                                               UK Cover
          Artist: Unknown                                     Artist: Unknown

REAMDE.
README.
REAMED.
REMADE.
ERAMDE?

What does it mean? Here's the latest blurb:
Four decades ago, Richard Forthrast, the black sheep of an Iowa family, fled to a wild and lonely mountainous corner of British Columbia to avoid the draft. Smuggling backpack loads of high-grade marijuana across the border into Northern Idaho, he quickly amassed an enormous and illegal fortune. With plenty of time and money to burn, he became addicted to an online fantasy game in which opposing factions battle for power and treasure in a vast cyber realm. Like many serious gamers, he began routinely purchasing viral gold pieces and other desirables from Chinese gold farmers— young professional players in Asia who accumulated virtual weapons and armor to sell to busy American and European buyers.
For Richard, the game was the perfect opportunity to launder his aging hundred dollar bills and begin his own high-tech start up—a venture that has morphed into a Fortune 500 computer gaming group, Corporation 9592, with its own super successful online role-playing game, T’Rain. But the line between fantasy and reality becomes dangerously blurred when a young gold farmer accidently triggers a virtual war for dominance—and Richard is caught at the center.
In this edgy, 21st century tale, Neal Stephenson, one of the most ambitious and prophetic writers of our time, returns to the terrain of his cyberpunk masterpieces Snow Crash and Crpytonomicon, leading readers through the looking glass and into the dark heart of imagination.
This September, Neal Stephenson is back with what looks to be his most marketable book since Cryptonomicon. Consider me intrigued...

Jun 10, 2011

Covering Covers & Contents: Lightspeed: Year One - John Joseph Adams (ed.)


Like good fiction but hate eReading? What the hell is wrong with you? You're in luck!

 

 
Prime Books is collecting the first twelve issues of Lightspeed in a handsomely covered and bug-splatteringly physical edition. Lightspeed, if you're not aware, is an online-only monthly magazine that publishes a mix of original and classic reprint science fiction shorts. In its first year of publication, Lightspeed produced 4 genre award nominees in 2010, all of which are included in the Year One collection.
 

Here's the full list of contents:
  • Introduction – John Joseph Adams
  • June 2010, Issue One
    • I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno – Vylar Kaftan (Nebula Award Nominee)
    • The Cassandra Project – Jack McDevitt
    • Cats in Victory – David Barr Kirtley
    • Amaryllis – Carrie Vaughn (Hugo Award Nominee)
  • July 2010, Issue Two
    • No Time Like the Present – Carol Emshwiller
    • Manumission – Tobias S. Buckell
    • The Zeppelin Conductors' Society Annual Gentlemen's Ball – Genevieve Valentine
    • ...For a Single Yesterday – George R. R. Martin
  • August 2010, Issue Three
    • How to Become a Mars Overlord – Catherynne M. Valente
    • Patient Zero – Tananarive Due
    • Arvies – Adam-Troy Castro (Nebula Award Nominee)
    • More Than the Sum of His Parts – Joe Haldeman
  • September 2010, Issue Four
    • Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain – Yoon Ha Lee (Sturgeon Award Nominee)
    • The Long Chase – Geoffrey A. Landis
    • Amid the Words of War – Cat Rambo
    • Travelers – Robert Silverberg
  • October 2010, Issue Five (SF-Horror Hybrids Issue)
    • Hindsight – Sarah Langan
    • Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back – Joe R. Lansdale
    • The Taste of Starlight – John R. Fultz
    • Beachworld – Stephen King
  • November 2010, Issue Six
    • Standard Loneliness Package – Charles Yu
    • Faces in Revolving Souls – Caitlin R. Kiernan
    • Hwang's Billion Brilliant Daughters – Alice Sola Kim
    • Ej-Es – Nancy Kress
  • December 2010, Issue Seven
    • In-Fall – Ted Kosmatka
    • The Observer – Kristine Kathryn Rusch
    • Jenny's Sick – David Tallerman
    • The Silence of the Asonu – Ursula K. Le Guin
  • January 2011, Issue Eight
    • Postings from an Amorous Tomorrow – Corey Mariani
    • Cucumber Gravy – Susan Palwick
    • Black Fire – Tanith Lee
    • The Elephants of Poznan – Orson Scott Card
  • February 2011, Issue Nine
    • Long Enough And Just So Long – Cat Rambo
    • The Passenger – Julie E. Czerneda
    • Simulacrum – Ken Liu
    • Breakaway, Backdown – James Patrick Kelly
  • March 2011, Issue Ten
    • Saying the Names – Maggie Clark
    • Gossamer – Stephen Baxter
    • Spider the Artist – Nnedi Okorafor
    • Woman Leaves Room – Robert Reed
  • April 2011, Issue Eleven
    • All That Touches the Air – An Owomoyela
    • Maneki Neko – Bruce Sterling
    • Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son – Tom Crosshill
    • Velvet Fields – Anne McCaffrey
  • May 2011, Issue Twelve
    • The Harrowers – Eric Gregory
    • Bibi From Jupiter – Tessa Mellas
    • Eliot Wrote – Nancy Kress
    • Scales – Alastair Reynolds

That's 48 stories for less than 15 bucks. A quarter per short works for me. While there's no denying the quality of the reprinted material from King, Le Guin, Card, and GRRM, I'm equally excited by the newer authors. John Joseph Adams is one of the premiere genre anthology editors working today, and he does a great job recognizing upcoming and underread talent of the likes of Ted Kosmatka, Nnedi Okorafor, Charles Yu, Alice Sola Kim, and Genevieve Valentine.
 
I'm not sure when this one is out, but I'll be sure to pick it up when it arrives. In the mean time, consider buying an issue or two of Lightspeed to keep the good stuff coming.

Jun 9, 2011

Community


Over on io9, (which is a pretty good site as long as you ignore their shameless plagiarism) they've got a quote from Community executive producer Dan Harmon discussing how "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" one of Season 2's best episodes almost never happened. Here's a snippet:

"They [the studio and the network] were so upset about the crime of this episode having been written. The note session as a whole was preceded by a 45-minute period of them walking around the lot whispering to each other. They told me they would come up to my office and meet me privately. When they came up, I had the director and all of the writers in the office with me, because I was terrified. They sat down, and they said, ‘Look, where do we start?'
The full quote is even more disturbing, as Harmon gets so frustrated with the network execs that he contemplates quitting one of the funniest shows on TV. If you haven't seen it, you're really missing out on a wealth of brilliant material. It gets fairly low ratings but I'd attribute that to the frequent meta-fictional dissections of common TV and film tropes (particularly in the genre space) going over the average viewer's head. I would assume that the people who enjoy Two and a Half Men and the ones who like Community fall are for the most part mutually exclusive. I mean they had a freaking clip show made up of clips from episodes that never existed! People who watch the same episode of CSI week after week won't catch on to that one.

So if you've got a few minutes, watch the first part of "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons," the episode that was received as anathema to the NBC execs. As the title suggests, it's basically 23 minutes of a bunch of people sitting around a table making up a story together. Who could possibly enjoy that?


If you enjoyed the first half of the episode, find a way to track it down [preferably in a way that actually gives the show some support such as iTunes or on DVD]. If not, at least tune in next season. Community is a brilliant show and I would hate to see it go the way of Arrested Development or Better Off Ted [may they Rest In Piece] just because it didn't have the fanbase of some lowest common denominator sitcom.

Please.

Jun 7, 2011

YetiStomper Picks for June


June's slate is a curious one, full of questions and impracticalities.

Zombie books shouldn't work. The antagonists are brain-dead, dialogue is minimal, and the visual gore factor simply doesn't translate from the screen to the page. They shouldn't happen. Why then, does June bring us not one, but two, zombie novels? And even more curious, why are both of them fantastic?

Science Fiction is dead. Everyone knows it. We are stuck on this planet until we bleed it dry so why even bother speculating scientifically? And will someone please let James S. A. Corey know, whoever that is? I'd hate for him to try to save SF by himself. It's doomed.

Anthologies don't sell. If speculative fiction is a literary ghetto, then anthologies are the genre equivalent of the projects, housing all the poor disenfranchised short stories on the publisher dime. But if that's the case, how do you explain the Wild Cards and Bordertown books which have an impressive 29 installments and counting between them? Where do they keep coming from? And why?

What's going on? Doesn't anyone know anything?

As usual, I blame the authors.  Let's get started.



Raising Stony Mayhall - Daryl Gregory

Standalone - You might not know where GenRenaissance Author Daryl Gregory's fiction will take you next, but there's no denying that when you reach the destination, you'll have enjoyed the trip. Whether he's writing pulp demons, mutant noir, or zombie orphans, Gregory always strikes a delicate balance between humor, heart, and horror in his abstract exploration of what the word "family" really means. Raising Stony Mayhall is the third novel in Daryl Gregory's young career and he amazes once again in his narration of the the curious life of one Stony Mayhall. Mayhall was made an orphan during the the first zombie outbreak. Unfortunately for him, he was born to parents on the losing side. But can his adoptive human family keep him secret from the government that would destroy him? And what to do when you find your relatives aren't as (un)dead as you once thought? (June 28th from Del Rey)

Deadline - Mira Grant

Newsflesh, Book 2 - Somehow, someway, Campbell Award winning author Seanan McGuire manages to maintain an absurd level of quantity and quality in her work, publishing seven novels as two authors in under three years. McGuire's latest (written by alter ego Mira Grant) continues the zombie tale started in 2010's Hugo nominated Feed in which bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason set out to unravel the conspiracy behind a global pandemic in a world where viral information is the only defense against a viral hunger. (May 31 from Orbit)

Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey

The Expanse, Book 1 - And here I thought 2011 was supposed to be a good year for Fantasy. But with the last three months bringing readers Up Against It, Fuzzy Nation, The Quantum Thief, and now Leviathan Wakes, a veritable Sci-Fi revival appears to be in the works. James S. A. Corey is a pseudonym for a talented pair of writers: Yeti-favorite Daniel Abraham and relative newcomer Ty Francks. Together as Corey, they set out to remind the SF landscape that story and science aren't mutually exclusive. Hard without being immutable, Leviathan Wakes follows Captain Jim Holden and Detective Miller across the solar system as they pull on different threads of the same conspiracy. (June 28 from Orbit)

Chasing the Moon - A. Lee Martinez

Standalone - A. Lee Martinez is just one of those writers who experiences life on a different wavelength. Frequently starting with a concept past the point where other authors would draw the line, Martinez's fiction is absurd, hilarious, and, above all else, unpredictable. His latest, Chasing the Moon, sees a woman move into her dream apartment. Unfortunately for her, there are a couple of unadvertised tenants who are hellbent on making it less of a dream and more of nightmare. But even Vom the Hungering is a potential ally when the fate of the world is on the line. (May 25 from Orbit)

City of Ruin / Book of Transformations - Mark Charan Newton

Legends of the Red Sun, Books 2 and 3 - No matter what side of the pond you're on, June is a good month for fans of Mark Charan Newton. UK fans get The Book of Transformations, the third in Newton's popular Legends of the Red Sun series, while his US followers continue to play catch up with City of Ruin, the sequel to last year's Nights of Villjamur. Either audience will delight in Newton's capital-w Weird approach to fantasy as he expertly crafts another tale in one of his frequently troubled cities. (June 28 from Spectra)

The Final Evolution - Jeff Somers

Avery Cates, Book 5 - After failing to satisfy his personal vendetta in the four previous volumes, Cates' ongoing war with Canny Orel is finally coming to a head in the fifth (and final?) installment. But what price is Cates willing to pay to enact his revenge? Somers' cinematic cyberpunk stylings aren't for everyone but if you like gritty anti-heroes and fun, fast-paced science fiction, The Final Evolution is worth a look.

The Boy at the End of the World - Greg van Eekhout

Middle Grade SF Novel - Van Eekhout's 2nd middle grade novel (after the excellent Kid vs. Squid) is just as strong as the first, delivering an intelligent yet humorous story in a post-apocalyptic package. Fisher is, as far as he knows, the last living human on earth and he's determined to do what he can to change that, even if it means crossing the country with a robot guardian that makes C-3PO seem serene and a cloned woolly mammoth that answers to Protein. If you are looking for a book that will challenge your kids without exposing them to Twilight-esque perversions, The Boy at the End of the World is a great place to start. But don't take my word for it, go read what 10 year old Junior YetiStomper Keegan had to say on the subject in his review. And don't be surprised if you end up reading it as well. I did. (June 21 from Bloomsbury)

Mistification - Kaaron Warren

Standalone - If Angry Robot is determined to bring about a robotic revolution, they are going about it the wrong way. Rather than stockpiling ammunition or energy sources, they seem determined to snap up all the fleshy faced writing talent they can find. One of their deadliest weapons, Kaaron Warren, still owes me several hours worth of sleep after her profoundly good but equally disturbing debut novel, Slights. Later this month, our future robot overlords are unleashing the Astonishing Australian on an unsuspecting populace once again. Mistification, her third novel, tells the story of a stage magician who can't do a single trick, mostly because his magic is completely real. Besides entertaining audiences, Marvo is responsible for shielding the rest of humanity from the unfathomable experience of undiluted reality. Dark, moody, and magnificent, Warren is poised to put on a show.  (June 28 from Angry Robot)

Welcome to Bordertown - Holly Black & Ellen Kushner, eds.

Bordertown Anthologies, Book 5 - After a multi-year hiatus, Bordertown is once again open to tourists. Come visit B-town, a mysterious metropolis juxtaposed between "The World" and "The Elflands" where technology and magic coexist, but not without consequence. Old enough to legally drink,  the shared narrative world of Bordertown was originally conceived back in 1986 by Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold but the editing duties have been passed down to long time contributor Ellen Kushner and newcomer Holly Black. In Welcome to Bordertown, a new generation of writers is on display, many of which grew up on Bordertown books decades ago. This latest volume includes original work from Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Catherynne M. Valente, and well as series regulars Will Shetterly, Emma Bull, Charles de Lint and Windling herself. If you like Urban Fantasy, you owe it to yourself to see where it all started. (May 24 from Random House)

Wild Cards: Fort Freak - George R. R. Martin, ed.

Wild Cards Mosaic, Book 21 - It's a good summer to be GRRM. Hit TV show. Long awaited novel hitting shelves. Plus a handful of passion projects coming to fruition, including Fort Freak, the latest entry in the Wild Cards Mosaic. In case you weren't aware, the long running Wild Card Mosaic  is a series of shared world novels and anthologies written by a cornucopia of talented writers and [mostly] edited by George R. R. Martin himself. The books themselves are set in an alternate 20th century America in which 1% of the world's population was given superpowers, 9% horrible disfigurements and the remaining 90% an early grave. This particular volume concerns Fort Freak, Manhattan's Fifth Police Precinct, in which half the men are more than human and features David Anthony Durham, Ty Franck, Cherie Priest, and Melissa M. Snodgrass among others.  (June 21 from Tor)



YetiStomper Pick Of The Month: I have a love/hate relationship with books. There are so many good books worth reading. But there are SO MANY good books worth reading. But even among June's decathlon of worthy selections, a few titles stand out. Mark Charan Newton [The Book of Transformations] is writing some of the best (and weirdest) fantasy in the game. Mira Grant [Deadline] is looking to take over the entire industry, even if she has to write it herself. And then there are Daryl Gregory and Daniel Abraham, two palindromic authors who are both FTW and WTF. As in "That book was FTW, WTF haven't you read it yet?" In the end, it comes down to these two: Gregory for his cold skinned but warm hearted Raising Stony Mayhall and Abraham (along with Ty Francks) for their "hard without being hard to read" space opera, Leviathan Wakes. As always, it's a tough call. Book books are outstanding and all three authors are promising talents who could use whatever small support my mention provides. Ultimately, I'm going with Gregory's Raising Stony Mayhall as my YetiStomper Pick of the Month for reasons that should be clear in about one paragraph.



YetiStomper Debut Of The Month: Ok, I'm cheating a little. I couldn't really decide between Raising Stony Mayhall and Leviathan Wakes. Read them both if you can. Fortunately, James S. A. Corey is at least partially a debut author (even if the Daniel Abraham half of him isn't) which means I can still give Leviathan Wakes top billing as the YetiStomper Debut of the Month. It was also the only [kinda] debut novel this month. So it both deserved recognition enough to make an exception and won by default. If that makes any sense. Please post in the comments if you know of any other worthy debut contenders even if it means putting them up against the Leviathan itself. Otherwise, go read Leviathan Wakes and Raising Stony Mayhall. The order doesn't matter, just that you read them. And/or any of the great books on this list.

YetiStomper Cover Of The Month: Hmmmm.... Where did this go? Stay tuned to find out!



Anyway, as always, if you are interested in more details regarding any of the above books, just click on through the Amazon links. And don't worry, thanks to new state legislation, I don't get a single penny, nickel, or dime from it. It's been hard restructuring my budget without that extra $10 a year but I think I'll survive. Be sure to let me know if there is anything I may have missed in the comments.

You can view previous installments of YetiStomper Picks here.

Jun 1, 2011

Covering Covers: Southern Gods - John Hornor Jacobs


Yeah, I didn't get YetiStomper Picks for June done today. Blame beach volleyball, dinner with friends, and Portal 2.

Instead, here are two versions of John Hornor Jacobs' upcoming horror novel, Southern Gods. One was made by Jacobs himself, the other by Night Shade Books' marketing department.

But which one is which? And which do you prefer?



I personally like the one on the left. What do you think?


Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin' John Hastur. The mysterious blues man's dark, driving music - broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station - is said to make living men insane and dead men rise. Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur's trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil. But as Ingram closes in on Hastur and those who have crossed his path, he'll learn there are forces much more malevolent than the Devil and reckonings more painful than Hell... In a masterful debut of Lovecraftian horror and Southern gothic menace, John Hornor Jacobs reveals the fragility of free will, the dangerous power of sacrifice, and the insidious strength of blood.

Expect Southern Gods from Night Shade Books in August 2011.
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