eBook eConomics: Free-Ninety-Nine

Not good, skiffy fans.

Well, not really. More like good for us, bad for our collective fiscal solvency. Apparently, publishers have finally figured out that if you give people like me (and probably you) the option to click a button and receive an eBook for the price of a Katy Perry song or two, the results tend to be somewhat predictable. Unlike two consecutive blog posts invoking She Who Kisses Girls and Likes It. Who saw that coming?

Let's take a look at three different publishers who have been pummeling my purse money satchel recently (and the slightly different striking methods they use to do so). Also, it's worth noting that I'm a Kindler, not a Nookie, so apologies in advance if the mentioned deals don't translate to your preferred device. Blame divergent formats and DRM. I always blame DRM ever since they canceled Firefly. Don't tell them I told you.

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Orbit

First in my eBook eXplorations (tIred oF tHis yEt?), is Orbit, a publisher whose 2011 slate is so good it violates that statutes of four nations, seven states, a single Canadian province, and a handful of ancient city-states (apparently along with the laws of physics). And the best part? They seem to be willing to spread the love around by offering a different deal every month through their "Orbital Drop" Program, mostly in the form of discounted and bundled backlist books. It's one newsletter you won't regret signing up for.

But Orbit isn't just focusing on their back catalog. In addition to this month's deal [3 of Gail Carriger's eclectic Parasol Protectorate novels for 9.99], Orbit is willing to part with two of this year's biggest books for less than a penny a page. Ten bucks will get you over 1 kilopage of Daniel Abraham goodness with the double eBook edition of The Dragon's Path and Leviathan Wakes. Even better, people who bought the eBook edition back in March received Leviathan Wakes three months before the rest of us. An advance edition premium for eBooks could be interesting, although I don't see it working in the long run.

All things considered, Orbit's strategy seems to be centered around limited time offers on bundles with the intention on introducing you to a few new series with the hopes you'll stick around for later volumes. I don't know what the audience overlap is between The Dragon's Path (fantasy) and Leviathan Wakes (SF space opera) but you can be sure FREE will help blur the lines a little more. And while Orbit does have some below double dollar deals [Kevin J. Anderson's The Edge of the World for $1.99 (Kindle Only)], they don't seem too eager to get into a price war with their bundle deals still pricing out between  $3.33 and $5.00 a book.

• The Dragon's Path & Leviathan Wakes - Daniel Abraham / James S. A. Corey -2 for $9.99
• The Parasol Protectorate: Books 1-3 - Gail Carriger - 3 for $9.99
• The Edge of the World - Kevin J. Anderson - $1.99

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Night Shade Books

Night Shade Books is also in on the fun, albeit in a slightly different way. A large portion of Night Shade's output is anthology based - either with themed anthologies from John Joseph Adams, "Best of" anthologies from Jonathan Strahan and Ellen Datlow, or their eclectic Eclipse series, also from Strahan. They've got a problem though; anthologies don't have the same backlist appeal their novelular (it's a word, trust me) counterparts command. While I don't have the numbers to back it up, I think it's safe to assume most anthologies don't demand multiple printings. Particularly "Best of" books which are going to cannibalize their own sales year after year.  

Enter the eBook.

Unlikely their corporeal counterparts, their is little to no cost in producing an eBook "print run" of an infinite number of copies. Each book might not sell a lot of copies during its twilight years but what it does sell is sure to be almost pure profit. When you combine the two (infinite supply and high profit margins) you've got a fantastic formula for lowering prices to generate demand. Which is exactly what NSB is doing.

The latest volume of Eclipse might cost you $7.99 but the first volume is a down right affordable $2.99. And like the cosmic crack dealer they are, you better believe they are hoping to hook you on that first taste. I'm not sure what the driver is for dropping the price point (end of the print run? 3 years old?) but we can all be glad it's there.

In addition to their anthology business, Night Shade also makes a point of using eBook promotions to expose some of their newer authors to the hungry masses [at least for some eBook readers]. Recently, Brad P. Beaulieu's The Winds of Khalakovo and Will McIntosh's Soft Apocalypse were given away for free for Nook users as part of Barnes and Nobles' Free Friday Program. While one can argue that those downloads mean fewer sales, there's no denying that 77,229 extra copies of The Winds of Khalakovo in the wild will generate a lot of interest in a format that can't be easily lent to other readers. Not to mention the boost it should give to the second volume. 

Here is a sample of a few of Night Shade Books' more attractive deals. Sadly the free Nook giveaways have since ended.

• The Living Dead 2 - John Joseph Adams, ed. - $2.99
• Eclipse One: New Science Fiction And Fantasy (v. 1) - Jonathan Strahan, ed. - $2.99
• The Living Dead - John Joseph Adams, ed. - $2.99
• The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Of The Year Volume 1 - Jonathan Strahan, ed. - $2.99
• The Best Horror of the Year Volume 1 - Ellen Datlow, ed - $2.99

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Pyr

As Tim O'Reilly so aptly put it "the problem isn't piracy, it's obscurity", a motto which Pyr Books really took to heart. Like NSB, they know all about the power of selling something for free-ninety-nine. In fact they make a point of it, hoping to make up the difference when you return to finish one of their many multi-volume series (at full price). It's a great strategy and one more publishers should pursue, particularly those that typically traffic in long epics. Extended series have enough barriers to entry as it is, they don't need you counting your pennies before you jump into a ten book tale. Speaking of jumping in, you can try Kay Kenyon's Bright of the Sky or Joel Shepherd's Sasha right now for no risk.

If I published eBooks, once a series went to three books, I would give the first volume away for free (or close enough to not matter). No exceptions. And then watch my backlist sales climb as the new readership returns to the characters they've become invested in. Assume you've got 5 books in a series for $5 a pop - would you rather sell 0 books for $0 or 5 for $20?

Here's some of the goodness Pyr's got going for it at the moment.

Bright of the Sky: The Entire and the Rose, Book 1 - Kay Kenyon - FREE
Sasha: A Trial of Blood and Steel, Book 1 - Joel Shepherd - FREE
Empire in Black and Gold: Shadows of the Apt, Book 1 - Adrian Tchaikovsky - $1.99

[Side Note:  Empire in Black and Gold costs $9.59 on the Nook! And Bright of the Sky isn't available. Are you kidding me?]

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Now at this point, I'm sure you're thinking that I've finally lost it - that I'm nothing more than a glorified publicity machine for "Big Book." Don't worry, I haven't sold out, I'm just completely selfish. Every book that I can help sell is another step toward convincing publishers that $1.99 is a price point that works. Which is good for me all of us. And by "all of us," I mean readers.

Authors, publishers, and distributors? Not so much.

So get to it, my expendable minions much appreciated readers. Are there any other publishers up to sales shenanigans? And what's this I hear about 99p eBooks across the pond?

Covering Covers: The Scarab Path by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Cover Artist: Unknown

US fans of Adrian Tchikovsky will be happy to know that Pyr will continue their import business with the 5th book in his Shadows of the Apt series. The Scarab Path will hit shelves on April 26, 2011 so you may want to keep your eyes open for the technicolor monstrosity above.

Historically, Pyr has covered Tchaikovsky's books with strong work from Jon Sullivan. The combination of bold font treatment and eye-catching color palates work together to create some really striking art. Or at least they have in the past.

I don't know if Sullivan (who was also responsible for the UK covers) returned for the latest volume or not but the cover of The Scarab Path appears to feature a six year old boy who recently ingested a stick of Willy Wonka's Three Course Dinner Gum. It's disobeying Marmaduke's Law - just because you can CGI it, doesn't mean you should. To the juicing room!

But on a more serious note, The Scarab Path continues Tchaikovsky's unique insect inspired world. Here's the blurb:

The war with the Wasp Empire has ended in a bitter stalemate, and Collegium has nothing to show for it but wounded veterans. Cheerwell Maker finds herself crippled in ways no doctor can mend, haunted by ghosts of the past that she cannot appease, seeking for meaning in a city that no longer seems like home. The Empress Seda is regaining control over those imperial cities who refused to bow the knee to her, but she draws her power from something more sinister than mere armies and war machines. Only her consort, the former spymaster Thalric, knows the truth, and now the assassins are coming and he finds his life and his loyalties under threat yet again. Out past the desert of the Nem the ancient city of Khanaphes awaits them both, with a terrible secret entombed beneath its stones...

The Scarab Path is due out on April 26th from Pyr.

Yeti Review: Ghost of Manhattan - George Mann

30 words or less: Ghost of Manhattan delivers on its promise of " steampunk superhero" but fails to deliver a logical plot, deviating wildly to reach a frustrating and seemingly random conclusion

Pros: Prose reads quickly and effortlessly; Action sequences are well written and fun.

Cons: Ending and its twist are not set up at all and conflict with previous world building effort; Secondary characters get little to no development; Identity of "The Ghost" is drawn out for far too long; Some of the action sequences feel out of place.

The Review: For better or worse, a lot of books are defined by their endings. A great ending will stick in the mind of the reader. A terrible one will see the book flung across the room in disgust. Unfortunately, the current state of my copy of Ghosts of Manhattan suggests it is one of the latter.

Simply put, the conclusion to Ghosts of Manhattan is inexplicably poor. The best endings are ones that are completely unpredictable but in hindsight, perfectly arranged. The ending of Ghosts of Manhattan doesn't just come out of left field, it comes from a whole different sport and one that the first two hundred or so pages never even hinted was being played. Imagine if the Great Gatsby ended with an alien invasion led by the robot disguised as Daisy or if zombies killed Ric at the end of Casablanca. The seeming randomness of the final scenes was so problematic that the text itself was actually revised between the ARC edition and the final print run. In fairness to the work, I reread the final version to see if my qualms were addressed. They weren’t.

From the beginning, Mann introduces us to the world of Gabriel Cross, a mash-up of Jay Gatsby and Bruce Wayne who spends his nights fighting crime as a vigilante known only as The Ghost. Like Batman, The Ghost has no actual superpowers, relying instead on gadgets and guns to clean up the streets of an alternate 1920s New York City. Unlike Batman, The Ghost has no problem killing people, making it difficult to sympathize with an often brutal enforcer. Mann’s version of the 1920s features coal powered cars, holographic communicators, and rocket powered airplanes giving it the steampunk vibe promised in the “Steampunk Superhero” tagline, albeit in an eclectic fashion.

The jumble of worldbuilding elements is further compounded by the inclusion of more supernatural elements ranging from semi-sentient men of clay to xenobiological curiosities. There seems to be no limit to what can occur in Mann’s steampunk world and the lack of internal cohesion grows more and more evident as the story progresses. The plot seems to create the setting rather than the setting influencing the plot. This is a subtle but important distinction in the craft of genre worldbuilding and one that is largely responsible for the disappointing ending.

Before the veritable train wreck of the final chapters, Ghosts of Manhattan does manage to provide the fun, fast paced read it is advertised to be. Detective Felix Donovan and The Ghost cross paths in their investigations of The Roman, a new gangster who has been making his name killing city officials in grotesque fashion and leaving a pair of ancient coins on the victim’s eyes. The investigation soon becomes personal as The Roman’s henchmen attempt to abduct Cross’s love interest, Celeste. Before long, Donovan and Cross team up to find the Roman and put an end to his heinous crimes.

In true pulp fashion, the book is more about the providing action than depth, resulting in several excellent fight sequences and a paper thin cast of characters. The action itself is the highlight of the novel and aside from the rather contrived and implausible rocket powered biplane chase it is all grand fun.  Writing prolonged action without losing a sense of spacial awareness is very difficult and the Mann's scenes play out like an action film. There is a fluid grace to this aspect of his prose, allowing for narrative focus amidst the chaos. Despite any misgivings about the subject matter, there is no denying that Mann manages to keep the plot moving and the pages turning.

Ghosts of Manhattan appears to be the first book in a sequence of “Ghost” stories. There is no denying the latent potential within the world of George Mann's steampunk superhero. If Mann can tighten up his plotting and find a better balance between character and action, future installments of this new series may be excellent indeed. Series debuts are often the weakest of the bunch (see The Dresden Files for proof) as the introduction of characters often comes at the expense of their development. Unfortunately, potential and actual are two different things and until Mann delivers on the pulpy promise hinted at in his action sequences, I can’t recommend Ghosts of Manhattan.

Covering Covers: The Buntline Special - Mike Resnick

Cover Artist: J Seamas Gallagher

I think it's safe to say that Steampunk has finally arrived. At first, it seemed like the Steampunk movement was all style and no substance but the lineups of 2010 / 2011 appear chock full of boiling water and bronze gears. One such title is Mike Resnick's The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale. I've yet to read many Steampunk titles but this one is sure to make the shortlist based on the excellent cover alone. Prostitutes and ray guns! And even though I typically don't like the overly stylized font, it works here. It seems to flow directly from what I presume are powerlines, creating a cohesive feel. Very pulpy and very cool.

Speaking of cool, I also have it on good authority that Gallagher is doing some interiors for the novel. If his interiors are even half as impressive as the work Keith Thompson put together for Leviathan, The Buntline Special could be something special indeed. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of details about this book right now, but Lou Anders did provide a teaser or two over on the Pyr blog.

We've just signed with [Mike Resnick] for The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale. Picture a fractured America, steampunk technology, cowboys, rayguns, Native American shamans, and, drum roll please, zombies! I feel very safe guaranteeing that the West will never be the same.

The Buntline Special comes out from Pyr this December.

Books Received: Early June

It's about time I started mentioning the books I've sent for review. I've reached the point where I am getting them at a faster rate than I can read them (and that's not counting the books I still buy for myself). I want to read them all (or at least 90% of them, I've gotten some strange books) but unfortunately, I just don't have the time.

So I'm going to put together a brief biweekly post to make sure the books I receive get at least some coverage here at Stomping on Yeti.

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Title: Tome of the Undergates
Author: Sam Sykes
Publisher: Pyr
Edition: ARC
Release Date: September 2010
Blurb: The debut novel from an extraordinarily talented twenty-five-year-old author. Fantasy's next global star has arrived. Lenk can barely keep control of his mismatched adventurer band at the best of times (Gariath the dragon man sees humans as little more than prey, Kataria the Shict despises most humans, and the humans in the band are little better). When they're not insulting each other's religions they're arguing about pay and conditions. So when the ship they are travelling on is attacked by pirates things don't go very well. They go a whole lot worse when an invincible demon joins the fray. The demon steals the Tome of the Undergates - a manuscript that contains all you need to open the undergates. And whichever god you believe in you don't want the undergates open. On the other side are countless more invincible demons, the manifestation of all the evil of the gods, and they want out.Full of razor-sharp wit, characters who leap off the page (and into trouble) and plunging the reader into a vivid world of adventure this is a fantasy that kicks off a series that could dominate the second decade of the century.

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Only one book in early June (which is probably a good thing). You can see the historical list of books received here.

Books Received: Late May

It's about time I started mentioning the books I've sent for review. I've reached the point where I am getting them at a faster rate than I can read them (and that's not counting the books I still buy for myself). I want to read them all (or at least 90% of them, I've gotten some strange books) but unfortunately, I just don't have the time.

So I'm going to put together a brief biweekly post to make sure the books I receive get at least some coverage here at Stomping on Yeti.

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Title: Twelve
Author: Jasper Kent
Publisher: Pyr
Edition: ARC
Release Date: September 2010
Blurb: Melding the supernatural and the historical, a thrilling novel of vampires set in the Napoleonic wars.

In June 1812, Napoleon's massive grande armée began its invasion of Russia, and the imperial Russian army, massively outnumbered and out maneuvered, was forced to retreat. But a handful of Russian officers — veterans of Borodino — are charged with trying to slow the enemy's inexorable march on Moscow. Helping them is a band of mercenaries from the outermost fringes of Christian Europe, known as the Oprichniki — twelve in number — who arrive amidst rumours of plague travelling west from the Black Sea. Preferring to work alone, and at night, the twelve prove brutally, shockingly, effective against the French.

But one amongst the Russians, Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov, is unnerved by the Oprichniki's ruthlessness. As he comes to understand the horrific nature of these strangers, he wonders at the nightmare they've unleashed in their midst.

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Title: Shadow's Son
Author: Jon Sprunk
Publisher: Pyr
Edition: Final Copy
Release Date: June 8th, 2010
Blurb: In the holy city of Othir, treachery and corruption lurk at the end of every street, just the place for a freelance assassin with no loyalties and few scruples.

Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade, but when a routine job goes south, he is thrust into the middle of an insidious plot. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and sorcery from the Other Side, his only allies are Josephine, the socialite daughter of his last victim, and Kit, a guardian spirit no one else can see. But in this fight for his life, Caim only trusts his knives and his instincts, but they won't be enough when his quest for justice leads him from Othir's hazardous back alleys to its shining corridors of power. To unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the empire, he must claim his birthright as the Shadow's Son . . .

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That's it for the last two weeks of May. You can see the historical list of books received here.

YetiReview: The Entire and The Rose by Kay Kenyon

Note: This review was cross posted on SF Signal.

30 Words or Less: An undeniable triumph of world building, Kay Kenyon's The Entire and The Rose is a science fantasy tale of two worlds worth exploring despite the gradual pace dictated by occasional prose problems.

Bright of the Sky: 3/5
A World Too Near: 3.5/5
A City Without End: 4.5/5
Prince of Storms: 4/5

The Good: Absolutely unique world-building that combines science fiction and fantasy elements and continues to grow throughtout the entire series; Carefully plotted narrative that spans and evolves over four volumes; The world is exceptionally well integrated into the narrative rather than being adjacent to it.

The Bad: Early volumes have problems with jarring perspective changes; Worldbuilding often uses infodumping rather than in-narrative elements; The story isn't well segmented into individual novels, leaving readers with an all-or-none decision.

The Review: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Rarely is this truer than in Kay Kenyon's science fiction/fantasy hybrid quadrilogy. An undeniable triumph of world building split into four books, The Entire and the Rose is 1700 pages of complex characters and intricate narrative. The events of the series revolve around Titus Quinn, the first denizen of the Rose (our universe) to cross through into The Entire, a complex infinite world constructed by the harsh, alien Tarig and inhabited by a number of races of their creation. Several years before the series begins, Quinn and his wife and daughter were pulled into the Entire when the ship he was piloting broke apart mid-wormhole jump. Quinn returns months later in our time with no family and little recollection of what happened despite living in the Entire for over a decade. When science proves that his ravings about a second reality may in fact be true, Quinn returns to the Entire in search of his missing wife and daughter and to explore what, if any, benefit The Entire may offer Earth. As Quinn quickly becomes embroiled in the politics of the world he left behind, it becomes obvious that much more is at stake than the fate of his family. The plot only gets more complex from there, the majority of which takes place in the profoundly strange world of the Entire, although the story does take place in both universes.

To provide any more detail than that would ruin the game-changing revelations that occur frequently throughout the series, shifting plots and loyalties in unexpected but exciting ways. There are several power players on both sides of the divide and rarely is there any way of knowing who is playing who. If the Earth universe is referred to as the Rose, the other universe labeled as the Entire might be better known as the Onion. From the start of the series to the final pages, Kenyon slowly peels back layer after layer of world building, unveiling an amazingly concocted world. Religion, politics, cultural divides, a forever war, teenage cults, complex transit systems: the facets of the Entire go on and on. Kenyon details aspect after aspect of her created universe and she does an unbelievable job of unobtrusively bringing the elements she has previously cultivated back into the main plot.

It's a rare occurence but if anything there is almost too much world building. The Entire is inhabited by a number of races and species all of which are fairly unique when compared to the genre standards. However, a few of these races are almost superfluous, with not a single primary or secondary character coming from their ranks. Kenyon could have either edited them out or integrated them into the story as well as she did the primary species of Humans, Chalin, Tarig, Inyx, Hirrin, and Paion. The cultural depth of these imagined races is continually capitalized upon by Kenyon and as a result the few species that don't get starring roles ultimately fall to the wayside.

While the extraneous elements could have been handled better, the world of the Entire and the thoroughly constructed characters that inhabit it are the main attractions of the series. Kenyon's writing, on the other hand, leaves a little bit to be desired especially in the early volumes. Kenyon writes from an extremely tight third person perspective and she has an unfortunate tendency to jump perspectives mid-scene without warning, generating confusion and necessitating rereading just to confirm which character was thinking what. Kenyon gets better at this as the books go on but early on these jarring transitions occur disappointingly often especially considering a small change symbol (which is often used to switch perspectives between scenes) could have easily been used to remedy this problem. As the books progress, Kenyon does manage to reduce the frequency with which these occur. The third and fourth volumes are much stronger than the first in this regard.

Kenyon also has a propensity to take a "tell not show" approach to her worldbuilding and while the world is interesting enough, there is no in-narrative reason for the characters to lecture the way they do. Consequently, the books of The Entire and The Rose read somewhat slowly. While not a bad thing in and of itself, these are not necessarily beach reads and due to the complex nature of the world and plot, it should be read in its entirety for full effect, commanding a significant time investment on the part of the reader.

Additionally, it is important to bear in mind that this epic series would be best described as science fantasy. While Kenyon maintains the premise that all of the places and structures of her world are science-based, the science satisfies Clarke's axiom and is indistinguishable from magic. Anyone who goes into this series expecting to understand the physics underpinning the world will be sorely disappointed. Despite the trappings of science that frame the Entire, at its core it's a fantasy world; it exists and behaves the way it does because the story dictates the way it does. But it works and it works well.

Here are individual reviews of each of the four volumes in the series.

Bright of the Sky: Arguably the weakest book in the series, Kenyon's series debut suffers from exposition overload. Kenyon essentially sets up the story three times; first in the future Earth universe, than in the future Entire world, and then revealing Quinn's backstory and what occurred during his first trip to the Entire. With three full histories to explain in additional to all of the characters she introduces, it doesn't feel like a whole lot happens. The last fifty or so pages feel rushed when compared to the whole and while the end of the book comes at a natural stopping point it doesn't really resolve any of the threads introduced. With such a To-Be-Continued ending, it produces contradictory emotions - on one hand there was too little payoff after the slower prose associated with complex world building; on the other hand, A World Too Near beckoned from the shelf immediately. Bright of the Sky is also the book that suffers the most from those aforementioned perspective shifts.

A World Too Near: With A World Too Near and subsequent novels, the pace begins to pick up as Kenyon spends less time crafting her world and more time playing in it. Building on some of the surprises that emerge toward the end of Bright of the Sky, the principal conflict of the series is revealed and the battle lines are drawn. The question of who to trust is paramount and a looming decision allows Kenyon to really dig into her cast of characters. Where Bright of the Sky was about introducing the Entire, A World Too Near is really about establishing the key characters and fleshing out their motivations as they traverse the fantastic civilization. One of the most significant developments in this regard is the introduction of Helice Maki, another transplanted Earthling with an endgame that may or may not align with Quinn's. Upon entering the Entire, the plot evolves from a simple us-versus-them conflict into a more complex adventure. Although it suffers slighty from middle novel syndrome, A World Too Near really sets the stage well for the last half of the series.

A City Without End: The strongest and most science fictional of the volumes, A City Without End sees Kenyon accelerate the thread of Quinn's battle with the fearsome Tarig to a frenetic pace. Even though she still pens a few new characters, Kenyon's takes advantage of the gradual set up of the first two novels and really pushes the plot forward in unexpected directions. Unlike the other novels, A City Without Endalso includes a strong second plotline set in the Rose universe; one that could support an entire novel in and of itself. As it is, this thought provoking idea is only furthers the existing conflict. As the Rose and Entire plotlines collide on an unexpected battleground, the pages really start to turn. While the first two books were structured similar to classic "journey fantasies", A City Without End is more of a political SF thriller than a traditional fantasy. There is a great balance between closure and setup as Kenyon slams some doors and opens others, creating numerous possibilities for the direction of the concluding volume, Prince of Storms.

Prince of Storms: In the concluding volume of the series, Kenyon manages to wrap up the numerous threads of The Entire and The Rose while continuing to grow her characters in the face of new challenges. At first the final volume feels likes it would just be a prolonged epilogue especially after the spectacular ending of A City Without End but it's clear that Kenyon has a few more tricks up her sleeve. Prince of Storms takes a more fantastical approach to the Entire, taking advantage of some of the more unexplained intricacies of the Entire to raise the stakes once again. Reading the final book made it extremely clear how well Kenyon had planned out the entire series. Things that seemed to be throw away lines in the first two volumes were brought full circle, adding an appreciated cohesion to the story and lending credence to the final climax. Prince of Storms ends the series on a strong note, leaving the readers with a robust narrative that doesn't leave the door open for future derivative adventures.

Ultimately, The Entire and The Rose is more than a sum of its composite volumes, so much so that it was too difficult to reach a conclusion on one book before reading the others. The story flows through the pages like one of the arms of the Nigh (a river of exotic matter from the story), bearing strongly motivated characters through alternating periods of slow progress and torrential action. The narrative twists and turns unexpectedly, creating new letters to place between points A and B. At the core of Kenyon's series is her imagined Entire, rivaling any fantasy world for its complexity and surpassing the vast majority for sheer inventiveness. Despite some missteps in presentation, Kay Kenyon's The Entire and The Rose has created a unique science fantasy series that is worth reading, well, in its entirety.

Covering Covers: Blood of the Mantis

Over at Pyr-O-Mania, Lou Anders has posted the Pyr cover to the US edition of Adrian "Have Fun With That" Tchaikovsky's Blood of the Mantis

I must say I like this cover alot. More so than Jon Sullivan's previous Pyr re-cover for Empire in Black and Gold shown below. I don't normally like photorealistic characters on my covers but the new one isn't bad, whereas the WaspWarrior guys on the EiBaG cover look a little goofy (especially the wings). The thorn people on BotM are very intriguing and make me want to know more. My eye is also drawn to the red glow at the bottom of the book which highlights the authors name and adds a sense of mystery to the scene portrayed.

While I don't love the Empire in Black and Gold cover, I do love the layout and spine of both books. I think the font choice is unique and well spaced/accentuated. The spine design will guarantee that the books should look fantastic lined up on a shelf. I do hope that they keep the Pyr logo the same size. It changes based on the spine width and that bugs me in series.

On the other hand, the original Jon Sullivan covers (UK editions) were great as well). I'm not sure if I like the old covers more or not. It's a toss up. All in all, Jon Sullivan seems to have a great grasp on this series. I think I will go cover hunting to see what else he has designed.

What happened to the cover for Dragonfly Falling? 2 comes BEFORE 3, Lou...

UPDATE: Aidan was kind enough to link me the Dragonfly Falling Cover, which I now remember seeing. That one might be my favorite. It's between 2 and 3 certainly. So Lou can count. I just can't remember.

Anders the Abominable (Editor not Snowman)

First off, that is my MS Paint rendition of what Lou Anders actually looks like. Over at Pyr-o-mania, Anders (henceforth referred to as The Bane of My Existence) has announced new books. Not two or three little novels mind you.

14 frakking books. Four. Teen.

The problem here is that, as with most Pyr titles, these sound very interesting. I'm not going to recap them all here (use the link, you know how) but fantasy and steampunk elements abound. Unlike most publishers, Pyr seems willing to go out and find the up-and-coming foreign authors that I read about on the foreign book blogs and *gasp* publish their books in the US. Jasper Kent, Pierre Pavel, Mark Chadbourn, Paul McAuley, and on and on.

You would think taken proven sellers in foreign markets and importing them would be a fairly solid business plan. So why is it that time and time again, it's Pyr that is acquiring the US rights to well-regarded foreign authors?

Anyway, 14 more books that sound like something I want to read. That's just what this bibliophile (and his bookshelves/bank account) need. Thanks alot Lou... ya jerk.

Covering Covers: Gardens of the Sun

I read Paul McAuley's first book, The Quiet War a month or two back. It didn't exactly leave me excited to pick up the next installment but it's hard to argue with the cover that Lou Anders posted over at Pyr. Wow.

I thought the first cover was great but this cover is a step above even that strong piece of art.

Lou also blurbed the novel:

The Quiet War is over. The city states of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn have fallen to the Three Powers Alliance of Greater Brazil, the European Union and the Pacific Community. A century of enlightenment, rational utopianism and exploration of new ways of being human has fallen dark. Outers are herded into prison camps and forced to collaborate in the systematic plundering of their great archives of scientific and technical knowledge, while Earth's forces loot their cities, settlements and ships, and plan a final solution to the 'Outer problem'. But Earth's victory is fragile, and riven by vicious internal politics. While seeking out and trying to anatomise the strange gardens abandoned in place by Avernus, the Outers' greatest genius, the gene wizard Sri Hong-Owen is embroiled in the plots and counterplots of the family that employs her. The diplomat Loc Ifrahim soon discovers that profiting from victory isn't as easy as he thought. And in Greater Brazil, the Outers' democratic traditions have infected a population eager to escape the tyranny of the great families who rule them. After a conflict fought to contain the expansionist, posthuman ambitions of the Outers, the future is as uncertain as ever. Only one thing is clear. No one can escape the consequences of war - especially the victors.

I'm still undecided if I will pick up Gardens of the Sun. I wasn't impressed by the characterization in the first book but I felt a lot of the issues might have been caused by it being the first piece of a larger story rather than a stand-alone book. The characters that felt superfluous in The Quiet War may have instrumental roles in the sequel. Currently, Gardens of the Sun is the second book in McAuley's diptych as indicated by the author over in an Q/A session over at io9.

YetiStomper: I know the sequel Gardens of the Sun is coming out next year in the US, what is the overall scope of the series? Will it be a strict trilogy or are you planning something larger? 

Paul_McAuley: @YetiStomper: In one sense Gardens of the Sun is a direct sequel to The Quiet War, in that it picks up and follows the stories of the characters in the first novel through the aftermath of war and the development of new tensions. But I prefer to think of the two novels as a diptych. The first about the onrushing inevitability of war; the second about attempts to win some kind of conciliation and new direction out of war’s aftermath. The first is the lesson; the second is the lesson learned.

I'm kind of sort of thinking about a third book, set about a thousand years after the first two.

Note who asked the question. Wink Wink. I think I'll give the second book a try since it's only a two book arc. I sincerely hope that McAuley can bring the character quality to match his hard science.

It's just too bad you aren't suppossed to judge a book by its cover. Because this would be a guaranteed 5-star.

More Books Announcements from Pyr

While everyone probably things I'm a pupper blog for Pyr, I'm not. I enjoy their stuff and they do a great job of making announcement easily available. If you are an editor with book news, let me know. I love book news!

But back on topic, in the past few days Pyr has made a pair of announcements. The first is a Victiorian-set steam punk tale entitled Burton & Swinburne in The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack or something to that effect. (It's a little long and not so easy to remember). This is the first book in a planned series by Mark Hodder. Anders provided a description:

It is 1861, and the British Empire is in the grip of conflicting forces. Engineers transform the landscape with bigger, faster, noisier and dirtier technological wonders; Eugenicists develop specialist animals to provide unpaid labour; Libertines oppose restrictive and unjust laws and flood the country with propaganda demanding a society based on beauty and creativity; while The Rakes push the boundaries of human behaviour to the limits with magic, sexuality, drugs and anarchy.


Returning from his failed expedition to find the source of the Nile, explorer, linguist, scholar and swordsman Sir Richard Francis Burton finds himself sucked into the perilous depths of this moral and ethical vacuum when the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, employs him as “King's Spy.” His first mission: to investigate the sexual assaults committed by a weird apparition known as Spring Heeled Jack; to find out why chimney sweeps are being kidnapped by half-man, half-dog creatures; and to discover the whereabouts of his badly injured ex-friend (and new enemy), John Hanning Speke.


Accompanied by the diminutive and pain-loving poet, Algernon Swinburne, Burton's investigations lead him back to one of the defining events of the age: the brutal assassination of Queen Victoria in 1840; and the terrifying possibility that the world he inhabits shouldn't exist at all!

Now a poet doesn't sound like the most interesting of sidekicks but all the rest is pretty intriguing. Sex, murder, and politics, what's not to like. Plus chimney sweep abuse! Anders also gave high praise to Hodder's worldbuilding. Apparently it's less of a steampunk fantasy and more of an alternate history based on a singular key change. Burton & Swinburne is expected to debut sometime in fall 2010.

The second announcement concerns Jasper Kent, who has sold US rights for a pair of novels, Twelve and Thirteen Years Later. These are vampire novels, but not your Twilight brand of vampires. These are the unstoppable-evil monster type vampires, the kind that have lived for centuries and accumulated years and years of deadly combat experience and don't mind selling their services to the highest bidder. These are type of vampires I wouldn't mind reading about.

Lou Anders was quoted in the press release:

‘I'm thrilled to be welcoming Jasper Kent into the Pyr fold,’ says editorial director Lou Anders. ‘TWELVE is a magnificent blend of a historical novel and a dark fantasy novel, that could appeal equally to readers both in and out of genre. Jasper is a skilled storyteller, whose compelling prose had me hooked from his opening chapter. The book is "un-put-downable," and I love that he has brought back a real sense of threat and danger to the classic monsters, something that has been lacking with too many vampires lately. I cannot wait to spring this on US readers.’

Now somehow or other I ended up with a UK copy of Twelve. Probably something to do with the great cover and killer summary. And no more emo vampires. That's always a plus.

YetiReview: The Quiet War

21 Words or Less: A Hard SF extrapolation of intrasolar colonization that emphasizes excellent scientific elements at the expense of plot and characterization

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Good: Solid Hard SF that lacks any scientific errors apparent to the average reader; Filled with intriguing ideas of genetic manipulation and social experimentation; Offers a complex, multifaceted political system that seems realistic

The Bad: Characters are all bland and unappealing; Plot suffers from book-one-itis; Pacing problems make retention more difficult.

Space is a cold, dark place; unwilling to compromise and necessitating brilliant science and fantastic technology just to stay alive. Paul McAuley's The Quiet War is no different. Arrogantly intelligent, dispassionate, and otherwise off-putting; the five central characters fail to create any type of tension or reader engagement. Two are genetic scientists who are reluctantly pulled into the rapidly dissolving political situation between the Earth based nations and the populations of the Outer Systems. No matter the abuse or external manipulations Macy Minnot and Sri Hong-Own face, they remain self-centered and otherwise disinterested in the titular "quiet war." Not to mention the fact that they repeatedly assert their own intelligence, despite making illogical decision after decision. This brings into question, McAuley's choice of including these characters in the book. They do stuff but it's just stuff: forgettable events that don't influence much of anything and aren't particularly interesting or entertaining.

Similarly, the inclusion of Cash Baker, another of McAuley's PoV characters, is suspect. Cash, a fighter pilot who is genetically cut to interface with his ship, has only a few point of view scenes and his minor contributions to the book are outweighed by the extra page count they result in. There was simply no reason for including him in this already bloated book. While the fourth character, Loc Ifrahim, manages to evoke some emotion, the desire to see a character die so his scenes stop is rarely a good thing. He's wormy, irritating, and insignificant (despite his own delusions of grandeur). The last character is Dave #8 who as his name suggests, is one of a batch of clones who are raised to be perfect supersoldiers devoid of personality. He's also the most interesting character in the book.

Luckily, the novel is mostly redeemed by the strengths of McAuley ability to conjecture. His vision of the future solar system is extremely interesting and the technology that allows humanity to survive in the harsh environs of Jupiter's and Saturn's moons is fascinating. Vacuum organisms that are engineered to construct valuable resources in the cold emptiness of space, futuristic cults that believe they are receiving messages from their time-traveling selves, secret underwater gardens where no life should exist, livable outposts on every place imaginable (and some that aren't), plants that utilize electrical currents or temperature gradients instead of photosynthesis. And those are only a few of the wondrous concepts introduced by McAuley. The science appears to be solid if hypothetical, and on more than several occasions the potential repercussions engaged the ever important "What If?" function of the imagination. The problem here is that the story and the characters are what distinguish a science fiction novel from a science journal article or text book entry and it's not good when your science is more interesting that the people interacting with it.

To be fair, The Quiet War is the first book in a multiple book arc. It's possible that the books are more serial than episodic and there are several volumes telling a single story. If that's the case, then The Quiet War represents little more than an introduction of the characters and settings that will be utilized down the road. Cash Baker and Mary Minnot might end up influencing the political future of the entire solar system. It's certainly possible. However, in the 470 pages provided thus far, McAuley doesn't appear interested in maintaining an audience to reach that point.

Not only does he bloat what should be 200 pages or less of introductory material into a full novel, the way McAuley chooses to structure the book is almost unexplainable. Rather than rotating point-of-views, he opens the book with two quick scenes with Dave and Cash and then doesn't return to them until 125 pages later by which time I had almost forgotten about them both. The infrequent Dave chapters feel out of place for the majority of the novel and the even more infrequent Cash chapters never manage relevance. And it's not only the PoV decisions. The Quiet War lacks a concrete plot and any semblance of a traditional story structure (rising action, conflict, etc.) except for lots of introduction/exposition and a very weak climax. The closest thing to a plot is the repeated encounters between Loc and Mary but it simply doesn't work and even if it did, it still wouldn't have mattered in the big picture. Throughout the book, the ratio of page count to plot relevance is mind boggling. If it wasn't for the strength of the occasional aside as McAuley expounds upon the hypothetical science of the Outer System colonies, the book would suffer greatly.

All in all, whether it was overly inflated expectations resultant from positive UK reviews, the nearly flawless record with an otherwise brilliant line of Pyr books, or the unrealized story potential represented in McAuley's carefully crafted future, The Quiet War was a disappointment.  I expected more and I simply didn't get it. At this point, I don't know if I will read McAuley's follow up, The Gardens of the Sun, which makes its UK debut in October. I still might tune back in as I remain curious why McAuley included the characters he did. They've got to do something down the line, right? It's also possible that McAuley simply wrote an epic too large for a single book and didn't do enough editing to turn the first part of the story into a story capable of standing on its own. While that's still worrying, it's less disturbing than the alternative. Either way, you've got to weigh the inferior story elements against the excellent setting they occur in. It's your call on this one.

Vampires? Vampires. Vampires!

Over at Pyr-o-mania. Lou Anders announces the first Pyr published stories featuring vampires. The Vampire Empire series, written by Clay and Susan Griffith, promises "Alt. history steampunk vampire."

Anders goes on to provide a little more detail on the series as described by the Griffiths:

"We are thrilled to be working with Pyr books on Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar," they [the Griffiths] say. "Pyr has always published the sort of rich fantasy we enjoy reading, so it’s a great treat to write for them too. Vampire Empire is the culmination of our love of fantasy, history, and rousing pulp adventure. The world of the novel consists of familiar Victorian history blended with strange twists to create a vast tapestry of politics and war fueled by odd steampunk technology. We think our take on vampires will excite you. But mostly, we promise that we know, as any reader does, characters count more than anything else."

I'm slightly intrigued as it is Pyr. But on the other hand, the mediapalooza for all things Twilight and True Blood have really soured me on vampires. That's not to say that these won't be good books. It's just that when the most popular vampire on the planet also is a raving pedophile, it just makes the bloodsuckers appear kinda sucky. It will also be interesting to see how Steampunk fits in. I've found that the term Steampunk is thrown around a lot, sometimes where it doesn't really belong. It seems to be a SFF buzzword in today's circles.

I'm also not liking the title. Vampire Empire? It rhymes, or does it? It just doesn't do it for me. If you are reading this Lou, I would recommend Blood Empire instead.

Right now this one is a wait and see for me. I'm going to need to see some reviews and/or some more information. Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar is penciled in for late 2010/early 2011. It should be interesting to see if the vampire market survives until then or if people will get burned out on Twilight and other vamp stories by then.

So what do you think? Vampire Empire or Blood Empire? Are you still interested in vamp-centric fiction?

Either way, congrats to Clay and Susan, I'm eager to hear more!

Pyr-o-mania: You're Going to Love Eva Forge

Pyr-o-mania: You're Going to Love Eva Forge

Pyr is walking on dangerous ice. And you really shouldn't mix hot and cold like that.

In the above link, Lou Anders has announced that they picked up .the second book in Tim Akers debut steampunk/noir trilogy a new Tim Akers steampunk/noir book entitled The Horns of Ruin. Steamnoir? Noirpunk? Anyway, Akers' has another fantasy series going starting with Heart of Veridon which is being published later this year. By Solaris.

Now I have nothing against Solaris or Pyr. Business is business and if Pyr thinks that Akers going to be a big enough draw then good for Tim and good for Pyr. I'll admit the book sounds intriguing.


What has me worried is my bibliophilia. When books series change publishers they do one or more of the following.

1. Change cover sizes (HC to TPB, PB to HC, etc)
2. Change cover artist
3. Change cover layout (fonts,positions,etc.)

When this happens, the bibliophile in me loathes to line up two disparate books on the shelf. Try to get a matching set of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Doesn't exist. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files went to HC around Book 7 and the cover art changed dramatically. I'm still not sure what to do with myself.

So Pyr has purchased the 2nd book in the series, the 1st of which is being released in mass-market paperback. The majority of Pyr titles are released in trade paperback format (which I prefer to MMPB). So chances are that we will have a situation.

Something similar happened before with David Louis Edelman's Jump 225 series. I believe Solaris put out the 1st edition of Infoquake and then Pyr took over with the 2nd Book, MultiReal. I know there was a cover change and maybe a format change but I believe Pyr actually put out a reissue of the 1st book with a spine close enough to the 2nd book that they could line up on a shelf together.

I've spoken with Lou Anders in the past and I believe he as much of a bibliophilic cover-junkie as I am. If Pyr covers are any indicator, then he is. If that's true Pyr might manage to republish the Heart of Veridon in a matching format. Or at least something that won't make me cringe every time I look at the shelf.

Heart of Veridon will be released September 29th, 2009.

UPDATE: Lou Anders was kind enough to stop by and explain that the books are in different series so there will be no bibliophilic anxiety after all. I misread his post and combined it with some information from Amazon.com regarding Heart of Veridon being the first book in a trilogy. Most of this post makes no sense now but I am glad the Pyr has vowed not to hijack authors mid-series.

Congrats to Tim!

Adrian Tchaikovsky Coming to the US!

Pyr-o-mania: Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt Coming to the US

Pyr has picked up the Shadows of the Apt series for US release. The series is written by Adrian Tchaikovsky, who is just one of the many UK authors who I have read good things about but don't have books available in the US yet. It's not that difficult to get around this with the internet and whatnot but I try to support the US publishers and bolster the US sales where I can.I would hate if an author sold extremely well in England due to American readers cannibalizing the sales and then flopped when the books finally made it across the pond since the most interested people already bought them internationally.

Here's a blurb from the first book to give you an idea what the series is about:

Seventeen years ago Stenwold witnessed the Wasp Empire storming the city of Myna in a brutal war of conquest. Since then he has preached vainly against this threat in his home city of Collegium, but now the Empire is on the march, with its spies and its armies everywhere, and the Lowlands lie directly in its path. All the while, Stenwold has been training youthful agents to fight the Wasp advance, and the latest recruits include his niece, Che, and his mysterious ward, Tynisa. When his home is violently attacked, he is forced to send them ahead of him and, hotly pursued, they fly by airship to Helleron, the first city in line for the latest Wasp invasion. Stenwold and Che are Beetle-kinden, one of many human races that take their powers and inspiration each from a totem insect, but he also has allies of many breeds: Mantis, Spider, Ant, with their own particular skills. Foremost is the deadly Mantis-kinden warrior, Tisamon, but other very unlikely allies also join the cause. As things go from bad to worse amid escalating dangers, Stenwold learns that the Wasps intend to use the newly completed railroad between Helleron and Collegium to launch a lightning strike into the heart of the Lowlands. Then he gathers all of his agents to force a final showdown in the engine yard...

Pyr is also publishing them with brand new covers by Jon Sullivan who did the 2nd and 3rd covers in the UK. Hopefully, he will maintain (or exceed) that level of quality.


Pyr will be releasing these books in quick succession, hitting shelves in March/April/May 2010. The quick release schedule is one of my favorite things about Pyr. (Besides the quality, that is)

Congrats to Adrian and check these out if you like insect steampunk fantasy. Who doesn't?

Throw another book on the Pyr...

No, not Farenheit 451. Over at Pyr-o-mania Lou Anders has announced that debut author Jon Sprunk has been signed to a 3 book deal with Pyr. His fantasy trilogy, comprised of Shadow's Son, Shadow's Lure, and Shadow's Master is given the following blurb.

The first book, Shadow’s Son, is the story of an assassin thrust into the
middle of a political and religious upheaval that threatens to topple the
last bastion of civilization. It's got everything that Pyr fantasy is coming
to represent - great action, grit & grime, morally ambiguous characters,
strong females who are more than foils, complex politics, actual magic, and
lots and lots of swordplay.

Now, I'm a huge fan of Pyr. They've only been on the scene for a few years and in my mind, they have established a reputation of quality publishing, to the point where I will give a book a chance just because its got the Pyr insignia on the spine. Ian McDonald (Brasyl, River of Gods), Joe Abercrombie (The Blade Itself), Kay Kenyon (The Entire and the Rose), the Fast Forward anthologies (Fast Forward 1). All quality. All Pyr. Right now, I'm eagerly anticipating Paul McAuley (The Quiet War), another British author getting a lot of good press before his US debut.

One of my favorite things that Pyr does is publishing on a schedule thats reader-centric. Rather than rolling out US releases for UK books out several months or even years apart, like some publishers are apt to do, Pyr has debuted several trilogies in consecutive months. I absolutely love this. When you read 40+ books a year, waiting a year between books can make it almost impossible to enjoy the second or third book in a trilogy without rereading. This quick schedule allows me to either wait a few months until all the books are released to begin reading without losing interest in the series or forgetting to look for the book release. Just right now, I have the first 2 Age of Misrule books (Mark Chadbourn) on my shelf waiting for the concluding volume.

I'm not sure off the release schedule for Jon Sprunk's Shadow trilogy, but if it's anything like previous Pyr releases, it's something you will want to check out.

Congratulations Jon!