tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52038363478419182132012-01-28T23:41:25.224ZA fantasy, science-fiction and horror blog. Reviews, essays, free books and author interviews! And cookies.Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.comBlogger2731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-71385111135568584062009-07-17T19:17:00.007+01:002009-07-17T20:49:33.170+01:00

Brave New WorldAldous HuxleyVintage Classics1932 original publishing date2006 Vintage reprint[I know it's been a long while since I did a proper review, so please forgive the slightly rambly nature of this piece...]A little while back I reviewed 1984, the classic dystopian, science-fiction novel by George Orwell (maybe not that science-fictional since it could be argued that it was used as a sort

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-9200162405994985882009-07-07T11:34:00.004+01:002009-07-07T13:17:48.706+01:00

BBC One, 9pm. This is the first episode in the five-part series, with each one-hour long episode being shown consecutively over the course of this week. Unless you live in America, in which case you have to wait until the 20th. Muahaha.If you remember, at the end of the last series, half the Torchwood team had been killed off. Tosh, a favourite character, and Owen, not so much, were done away

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com305tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-47948696436843103862009-06-29T12:53:00.005+01:002009-06-29T13:01:41.757+01:00

This is W. Somerset Maugham's retelling of a very old Arabic story I found the other day, which he wrote in 1933, and I thought might be of some interest to at least some of you...Death speaks: There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-16709459995415101292009-06-03T12:38:00.005+01:002009-06-03T13:37:16.618+01:00

Wow. Blimey. Sad news today that David Eddings, aged 77, died yesterday evening.The Belgariad series was one of my favourites when I first discovered fantasy, and I still remember creeping down the stairs into the dingy basement of a used bookshop in my town, and encountering the first book, Pawn of Prophecy, flicking through it, and just reading for hours. This was at a time when my father felt

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-70475205658946214232009-03-31T16:07:00.004+01:002009-03-31T17:09:22.868+01:00

I just received this comment on my review of The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari, which was reviewed way back in October 2007:This was just awful. Nothing origin in here just cuss words which completely destroys the etheral, mythological setting and tone the author is trying to go for. Every 'fuck' that is said just pulled me out of any fantasy setting that was attempted. Imagine if a 'Fuck' was

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-5371527541887099992009-03-13T08:38:00.005Z2009-03-13T09:02:47.165Z

Win a copy of what? I, at least, had never heard of The Siege of Krishnapur until I bought a wonderful pack containing the six Booker prize-winning novels that had been nominated for the Best of the Bookers award. That pack also contains Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, the much fêted magic-realist post-Indian-partition novel, which is soon to be made into a movie.The Siege of Krishnapur

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-1387117994466737912009-02-25T20:08:00.004Z2009-02-25T20:17:47.819Z

Darn.The Official Philip José Farmer Home Page is reporting that Philip José Farmer passed away today at age 91. He's probably best known for the Riverworld and World of Tiers series. He wrote some pretty weird stuff, but I liked a lot of it, World of Tiers particularly. Also, if you ever see a book called The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, pick it up! It is good. It'll probably be battered and old;

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-40554068152058067682009-02-24T20:38:00.004Z2009-02-24T20:49:40.949Z

Not-a-post, but a desperate filler, while the month of February evaporates quickly. I should, if this world were kind, be eating pancakes tonight... For those of you in places other than the UK who previously thought our standards of journalism were pretty good, I present you with The Sun... All capitals used are theirs.A CAT-BOY has stunned medics with his ability to SEE in pitch black with eyes

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-14627288165818408752009-02-17T14:39:00.007Z2009-02-17T14:58:57.798Z

Being Human is a science-fictional comedy/drama/horror currently being shown on BBC3 (one of the non-terrestial, but still popular, channels) at 9pm on Sunday in the UK. I like it a lot. The episodes are 1 hour long, which I occasionally think might be a bit long for what happens in the show, but it's quickly become my favourite hour of television every week.It's about three people living in a

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-80312600812455583962009-02-04T15:43:00.009Z2009-02-06T15:07:48.715Z

UPDATE 6/02/2009: We've had about 5" of snow overnight in my little normally-bad-weather-free area of England, and the Army has been called in as people are abandoning their vehicles on many of the roads. It's virtually impossible to get in or out of my village. The main road from my tiny village to civilisation had been closed anyway for repairs -- meaning we were having to go down tiny

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-78099170817028089372009-02-01T10:54:00.006Z2009-02-01T11:19:56.137Z

I think Tia might find this interesting ;) A US publisher is releasing a new bone-crunching comedy version of Pride and Prejudice in which Elizabeth must face off the dubious social manners of the ravenous undead...From the Guardian article: Oh, Mr Darcy, you're looking tasty ... is that shirt wet? I'm trying to imagine the conversation. "Hey

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-51860623370463767132009-01-22T10:37:00.005Z2009-01-22T11:22:10.302Z

Puss-In-BootsAngela CarterVintage Booksfrom the collection The Bloody ChamberI'm afraid this is a rather lame post, considering the time it has been since my last (much longer!) review. I chose, for some reason, to get stuck into the biggest non-fiction book in the world -- an enormous 1200 page account of the Third Reich, and haven't yet emerged properly. I did have time to read a short story,

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-47096604611531817682009-01-08T13:55:00.003Z2009-01-08T17:09:25.790Z

Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge OrwellPenguin Classics1948355 pagesI'm sure this book needs no introduction to some people. It is the classic depiction of a totalitarian dystopian future -- one planned, rather than accidental -- and it has proved so powerful and enduring because it is so very, very plausible. Some of the things predicted in Nineteen Eight-Four have indeed come to pass, while it has

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-89494164088930178692009-01-04T13:10:00.002Z2009-01-04T13:38:27.034Z

So. A couple of weeks ago, John at Grasping for the Wind, who hosts and organises many of the discussions and cool things that go on between the bloggers, had an idea for a meme which has proved very popular and has so far collected almost 200 science-fiction and fantasy blogs, old and new. Now, I was woefully inattentive at the time, and didn't repost the meme here, but The Book Swede was lucky

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-85821989361433746722009-01-02T14:51:00.002Z2009-01-02T15:14:00.483Z

A happy New Year to you all! Out with the old, and in with the new, and all that... 2009 is the year in which Barack Obama becomes President of the United States of America; not long after that it becomes illegal to possess "extreme pornography" in the UK, whatever that is; it is the International Year of Astronomy; it is the two hundredth birthday of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln (whichever

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-28971877731648095192008-12-18T17:53:00.002Z2008-12-18T18:26:54.084Z

I wish everyone a happy Christmas, Mithrastide, HumanLight day, Hanukkah, or whatever festival you will be celebrating :) I hadn't planned to break from blogging this early for the holidays, but my laptop officially died last week, and thus far, I haven't been able to resurrect it.I know, since September onwards, I haven't been blogging nearly as much as I was before, and I expect most of you

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-86168669777672573602008-12-04T20:00:00.000Z2008-12-05T21:49:34.402Z

Thomas Paine's Rights of Man: A BiographyChristopher HitchensAtlantic Books158 pagesJune 2006Lately, I can't seem to get into anything that isn't grounded in reality to a certain extent. I'm lucky enough to get nice, shiny books which are in my favourite genre, and I do you (and the lovely publishers and authors) the disservice of not reading them, let alone reviewing them! Forgive me. No matter

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-90552123837238844742008-11-29T11:08:00.005Z2008-11-29T13:17:36.919Z

There's a really good interview with Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother, over at the Guardian.*Charlie Stross talks about where he gets his ideas from, and strongly urges you not to buy a book that he fears will create a whole new generation of super-writers and thus put him out of business...*David B. Coe talks about killing off characters, over at the SF Novelists site, a place I'd

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-35203183384781991922008-11-23T12:06:00.004Z2008-11-23T12:39:28.341Z

Merlin, is of course, the wizard from the tales of King Arthur, one of my favourite myths of any culture. There have been many interpretations of the classic story: books, films, plays, musicals, etc. This time it's a 13-episode series by the BBC which has hooked me. It's aimed at the Saturday tea-time family slot and it's by far better than that other reinterpretation the BBC did of a classic

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-20511830283369681712008-11-19T22:05:00.005Z2008-11-19T22:21:35.052Z

THREE-BOOK US RIGHTS DEAL FOR BRITISH URBAN FANTASY WRITER Susan Howe, Rights Director at Orion, has sold US rights in three dragon fantasies by UK novelist Stephen Deas to Ginjer Buchanan of Berkley Ace in a very good deal. The first book will be published in hardback in 2009. World rights in the series, which opens with Deas’s debut THE ADAMANTINE PALACE (to be published in hardback and

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-89240340448841654642008-11-16T17:15:00.000Z2008-11-19T18:07:45.093Z

New MoonStephenie MeyerAtom Books608 pages2007I had a lot of fun reading Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (shortly due to be released in cinemas near you...), the story of Bella and the ... not-a-man-but-a-vampire ... that she loves, and I was eager to get straight into the next, much larger, book in the series: New Moon...Except.It's one of the most frustrating books I've read in a while...When

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-6603907455346954672008-11-11T19:22:00.005Z2008-11-11T19:43:05.983Z

Remembrance Day, Poppy Day, Armistice Day, Veterans Day. World War I was formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. The Great War, to End All Wars, it was called. 21 years later, the world was at war again, and 70 million people, mostly civilians, lost their lives. We remember.Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est is one of

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-81469617898778206432008-11-07T19:53:00.003Z2008-11-09T16:47:07.511Z

...A slightly misleading title. First: me. An apology for the now-quite-frequent, nigh hebdomadal delay in posting anything to this site. My life is a rollercoaster and so on right now, but I'll try not to do it again for a while :) A few fun bits of news for you, here.The Stross:CHARLES STROSS will be signing copies of THE CLAN CORPORATE the new book in the Merchant Princes series

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-87551830478187008302008-10-28T09:27:00.007Z2008-10-28T14:36:28.036Z

Hullabaloo in the Guava OrchardKiran DesaiFaber & FaberThis is a book I've been meaning to read for a while, by an Indian author who I'd heard Salman Rushdie praising very much. Desai's second book, The Inheritance of Loss, also went on to with the Booker Prize, which upped the stakes a little. Would this live up to my expectations?Not quite. Not at all, in fact, I'm sorry to admit. The first

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-527461391313799152008-10-24T16:04:00.003+01:002008-10-24T17:03:37.376+01:00

TwilightStephenie MeyerAtom Books434 pages2006Firstly, apologies for the delay. I've found it a bit hard to get into meaty, gritty epic fantasy these last few weeks, and I found myself stalking bookshops looking, hoping, for something that would take my fancy. Nothing did. I felt a little burnt-out on reading and wondered whether I should pick up some DVDs instead. And then I heard a plaintive

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-85145505519854788272008-10-20T17:47:00.004+01:002008-10-20T17:56:58.205+01:00

You might have heard, on the blogosphere, about a newbie called Hannu Rajaniemi, who has just made a pre-emptive three-book deal with Simon Spanton of Gollancz, friend of this blog. I didn't have time to report it at the time, but John Jarrold has just sent me more news about the remarkable early signs of a new force in SF...PRESS RELEASE – GERMAN RIGHTS PRE-EMPTED AT FRANKFURT FOR

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-60880720390849162432008-10-19T21:27:00.002+01:002008-10-19T21:35:08.808+01:00

Where is the meme? you ask. Are we not to be delighted by irrelevant facts about your favourite types of cheese, oh Book Swede? Will you not tell us a bit about yourself, and then nominate others to do the same, thereby passing the meme ever onward?Well, no, I have not the time, I'm afraid.The word meme is itself a meme, though, a unit of information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-22118431029826296942008-10-16T19:27:00.003+01:002008-10-16T19:43:31.673+01:00

Ugh. Life is hard. Another week, another bereavement. For fear of turning this into an agony corner, I won't go into any more details, save to say that it's the reason for my long absence (again). I refuse to allow anyone else to die. I've drunk enough rosé as it is this week.I'm aware that the Chris Evans contest was due to come to an end a couple of weeks ago. I'll select the winners soon,

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-44828651875793149132008-10-12T12:46:00.004+01:002008-10-12T13:07:00.562+01:00

Just a quick Sunday thought that has been bothering me.I know in America and Canada it is pretty much always considered pretentious or archaic to use whilst instead of while. (Incidentally, the American use of gotten, instead of the common British got, contra what the Daily Mail tried to tell me the other day, is not a sign of the verbal depravity of American speakers, but a use of an inflection

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-43284044077425847572008-10-11T11:55:00.004+01:002008-10-11T12:46:17.929+01:00

Back now :) Everything went OK, gave my dad a good send off and it was actually quite fun, for a funeral. That's good. He'd have liked that. Finally started watching the news again, and the world has changed rather a lot, with an huge economic meltdown (added that in case someone else had contrived to remain ignorant of this). Darn it.Thank you everyone for your kind messages of support and

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-46988091909400038012008-09-29T12:55:00.002+01:002008-09-29T13:03:05.697+01:00

Apologies for the pause in bloggery. I learnt on Thursday that my father had passed away unexpectedly. I will try to return as soon as possible; the greatest tribute to the dead, surely, is to carry on living, as normal, or as best as possible -- and besides that, it helps to keep your mind off of things and keep sane, but for now I have things to arrange. I preponed my visit to Edinburgh and

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-54666323347010993962008-09-24T09:00:00.000+01:002008-09-24T09:00:00.681+01:00

The US cover art...The UK cover art...The best is the UK art I think -- those US devil/demons aren't that great -- but neither is that fantastic, in my opinion. What's yours?

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-82632339618987142802008-09-23T17:10:00.000+01:002008-09-23T19:09:39.932+01:00

WolfbladeJennifer FallonOrbit Books711 pages2004I apologise for the unconscionable delay in reviewing and posting pieces of any effort to this site -- I have been reading more than ever before in my life, but unfortunately it's all really boring stuff that I had no choice but to read! Wolfblade is a book I've had on my shelf for a little while now, and after that marathon of yawn-fest-material, I

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-22609949376083173842008-09-15T18:56:00.002+01:002008-09-15T19:02:47.292+01:00

The latest client of the John Jarrold Literary Agency is UK author and editor Ian Whates. In the mid-1980s, Ian started submitting stories to science fiction and fantasy magazines, several of which appeared in small press publications Dream and New Moon Quarterly. The second to be published, “Take Two”, was subsequently nominated for the British Fantasy Award. Nearly two decades later, he

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-47312351752961528532008-09-14T10:58:00.006+01:002008-09-14T11:14:31.406+01:00

Yes, a bit of Sunday silliness, while I finish reading a few books, and getting my thoughts down on others:The Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator! I've tried to stay out of American politics (except for the part where I was temporarily running for the Presidency according to some misguided US news stations), but I did find this quite funny:Chris, if you were born to Sarah Palin, your name would be:

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-33043781544295560472008-09-11T15:58:00.003+01:002008-09-11T17:08:35.263+01:00

I ran quite a few contests last month (and don't worry, I have some more for this month, too!) and, later than I planned, I'm announcing the winners...Feast of Souls by Celia Friedman, by kind courtesy of Orbit Books! Winners:John Misiak, New York, USARiya Puttanna, Warwickshire, UKThe Steel Remains by Richard Morgan, by kind courtesy of Gollancz Books! Winner:C. Pawley-Kean, Bracknell, UKThe

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-49461836358845497952008-09-08T16:08:00.010+01:002008-09-08T20:12:55.807+01:00

I was surprised to learn today that one of my favourite modern English poets, Carol Ann Duffy, has had one of her poems (not my favourite, but a good one) censored from an anthology for students taking GCSE English Literature. She's a very popular poet, and is tipped to be the next Poet Laureate. (Duffy has in fact responded, and I didn't notice 'til after this post, to one of the external

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-43154224897489103092008-09-07T13:40:00.006+01:002008-09-07T13:50:54.192+01:00

HarperCollins Voyager releases details of Stephen Hunt's third novel: The Rise of the Iron Moon First glimpse of The Rise of the Iron Moon's hardback cover design and plot synopsis revealed; plus, paperback release date for second novel, The Kingdom Beyond the Waves, advanced to September 1st 2008 to meet trade demand for mass-market edition. London, 5th September 2008 - The cover

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-74288014770612662172008-09-06T12:40:00.000+01:002008-09-06T12:40:00.498+01:00

Promise of the WolvesDorothy HeartsSimon & Schuster297 pagesJuly 2008I remember hearing, a while back, about a series of books called something like The Cave Bear Clan Series or the Cave Bears Fight Back in Clan-like Formation Series, or something similar, but never got around to reading them. It looks like I might have to now, because Promise of the Wolves, as the back cover says, is in the same

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-62142625990532812782008-09-04T14:09:00.001+01:002008-09-04T14:09:25.751+01:00

There was a discussion, a while back, which I'm not going to go over, about swearing in fantasy. I found the discussion very interesting, but didn't really comment ... and I'm not going to now. I just found the guidelines for the use of swearing in one channel's guidelines, and thought it might be of general interest to some of you :)This is a selection of words from one channel's guidelines:

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-1428899981537563192008-09-03T10:00:00.007+01:002008-09-03T10:21:58.661+01:00

So, a Dwarf, a Paladin and an Elf go into this Bar . . . Humour in fantasy: Admit it. You’ve never picked up a book whose cover depicted a sword-wielding warrior battling a three-headed dragon and thought, Cool! I’ll bet this puppy’s chock fulla laughs! My covers, which feature a lovely lady assassin surrounded by drops of blood, don’t have ‘em rolling in the aisles either. But

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-77724130585866218632008-08-31T20:31:00.002+01:002008-08-31T20:45:03.939+01:00

I've had a really great time on holiday! Returned yesterday, from the ridiculous hotness of Slovenia, to some much-needed English dampness and general rainy mizzle :)Got unpacking, and various other bits to do (I have a sudden caprice to watch a Buffy episode, but which one...?), so it will be "goodbye for now" for a little while!I have only five minutes on this computer, so I can't answer or

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-6436849948628142032008-08-28T01:13:00.001+01:002008-08-28T01:16:43.479+01:00

Over at Fantasy Debut, I occasionally do what I call "featured debuts", which is an as-I-read-it review of a novel. Chris will probably be back before I finish reading this, but here are my thoughts on the first few chapters. I've been int erested in reading SEABORN by Chris Howard for quite some time, and I knew within a few chapters that I wanted to cover it as an as-I-read-it review. Now that

Tia Nevittnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-22958613952066828042008-08-26T16:31:00.002+01:002008-08-26T16:33:16.285+01:00

Hey, all - John from Grasping for the Wind filling in for The Book Swede. Here's a piece I'm cross-posting from my own blog that I thought you might find interesting. So go forth and discuss.According to the Guardian, Charlie Hidgson, author of the "Young Bond" books for young adults, has created a computer game that ties into his books. Kids are not just encouraged, but are forced to read his

John Ottinger III (Grasping for the Wind)noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-30555668564879772272008-08-23T09:33:00.001+01:002008-08-23T09:33:00.220+01:00

I do so love it when words sound like nonsense words. Although the meaning for this word isn't that great, I do love the word itself. I found it whilst having a quick lucy through the revised edition of Doctor Johnson's Dictionary (the original dictionary, as parodied in Blackadder) (which has been compiled again by linguist rock-star, David Crystal).(Firefox is being silly and won't let me copy

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-91517093325932152712008-08-21T11:00:00.000+01:002008-08-21T11:00:02.048+01:00

Worldbuilding and the Unconscious—How do you do the voodoo you do? Chris asked me for some thoughts on worldbuilding and the collective subconscious. He’ll probably get more than he bargained for, but here goes. How does worldbuilding work? I can only tell you how I do it—every writer probably has a different method. I’ve known I wanted to write since I was 14, and so I’ve always

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-8789000338700207852008-08-20T19:10:00.002+01:002008-08-20T19:10:00.722+01:00

I'm not a selfish guy, so I thought I would repost The Book Swede's response to several of my Ask the Bloggers questions while he is away. You can see other responses at my blog, Grasping for the Wind, but for now, enjoy The Book Swede's.What got you started in blogging, and why did you choose to become an SF book reviewer?I started my blog in April and didn't post anything until July -- I simply

John Ottinger III (Grasping for the Wind)noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-36781496331722168682008-08-19T00:41:00.003+01:002008-08-19T00:45:02.097+01:00

(This is Tia, guest-blogging from Fantasy Debut, where I often showcase debut novels like this one.)The Gargoyle(Amazon UK, Canada)by Andrew Davidson (website, other website)HardcoverDoubledayExcerpt (also available as PDF)Blurb:The narrator of The Gargoyle is a very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, who dwells in the moral vacuum that is modern life. As the book opens,

Tia Nevittnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-3071852862925739002008-08-18T18:57:00.002+01:002008-08-18T19:01:07.102+01:00

Hi Folks, John from Grasping for the Wind guest blogging for Chris. I wanted to let everyone know about a super secret little surprise. Don't tell anyone, but Last Argument of Kings is already available for sale at Amazon, a whole month early!

John Ottinger III (Grasping for the Wind)noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-3837129933330288662008-08-18T09:44:00.000+01:002008-08-18T09:44:00.542+01:00

While I'm away, I have some quotes which I have found for you by laboriously trawling through whatever happened to be in front of my eyes at the time...Today:A toast (and please feel free to add some of your own, either real or spontaneously made up, in the comments! The best one wins something special (and probably shiny) when I get back):"To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-57427466137797397912008-08-17T11:00:00.000+01:002008-08-17T11:00:03.763+01:00

Before I started this blog, I cared relatively little about how the books I bought looked. Whether it was awful cover art, or simply a really old edition of a book, with tattered pages, ubiquitous coffee stains, chewing gum on page 49 (along with other substances of page 84, frequently, of which I shall not go into too much detail here) it didn't matter: the outside could be as crap as it liked:

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-68240339129431634712008-08-15T09:00:00.001+01:002008-08-15T09:00:00.656+01:00

Well, I'm off for two weeks now in Slovenia (even now, hurtling on a train to Reading where I am to Meet People, and then go on to Gatwick), which is a country on the other side of Italy, and I have no idea what it will be like, and I'm looking forward to it :)Actually, I do know it's meant to be really hot, and that wolves are common there (cool!), as are brown bears (also cool!, but in a

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-68708725869620405482008-08-13T14:00:00.002+01:002008-08-13T14:09:34.426+01:00

Yep. Seems there's been a groundswelling of popular support in the US for my election to the highest office in that country, despite not even living there (and being utterly unknown).Here's a news-report about my recent campaign:I don't really much of a policy at this point, but I'm sure you can work one out for me...?

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-61345514556679909642008-08-12T12:42:00.001+01:002009-01-16T16:51:59.746Z

The Charnel PrinceGreg KeyesTor UK626 pages2004The Charnel Prince is the sequel to Keyes' fantastic 2003 novel, The Briar King, first in the The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series.The Charnel Prince actually starts relatively slowly at first, but it soon builds up in speed and tension as the events of the first book soon begin to have an effect on Crotheny, and the entire world.Keyes captures

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-30603342740301696462008-08-08T10:32:00.003+01:002008-08-08T10:55:22.166+01:00

Thanks to Simon at Gollancz, I have one copy of Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains to give away! It probably needs no further introduction from me, but if you haven't already, check out our interview :)To enter:Send an email to: thebookswede@googlemail.com, containing the subject (aka header) "STEEL"No multiple entries -- or I will personally selotape bacon to you :) Whether you like it (and I

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-30670457163655942422008-08-06T10:30:00.001+01:002008-08-06T11:07:37.791+01:00

I enjoyed The Steel Remains, the début fantasy of acclaimed science-fiction writer, Richard Morgan, a great deal, and with the UK release coming up, thought it would be good fun to interview Richard! :) It turned out Robert at Fantasy Book Critic also had the same plans, so, while in the end it didn't turn out quite to be a collaboration, the two interviews complement each other well, and no

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-76651685570709586032008-08-05T08:33:00.004+01:002008-08-05T11:03:34.218+01:00

And discover why I hate him...I'd heard a bit about The Shadow of the Wind from Larry's excellent blog (on which I comment occasionally, but read always); it was a work in translation, from Spanish, and had apparently done quite well there...I bought it, and was completely mesmerized by the unfolding tale. Nothing at all, surely, could have been lost in the translation. It was a more "literary"

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-58711960604207224542008-08-01T12:02:00.002+01:002008-08-01T12:14:03.016+01:00

GracelingKristin CashoreGollancz Books336 pagesJanuary 2009 (UK)October 2008 (US)In Kristin Cashore's début, a Graceling is a person with a preternatural power of sorts. Some Graces allow great skill at fighting, or mind-reading, or anything else that might be useful in a fantasy novel.Katsa has a very special Grace, one that's very useful, but not one that she wants: the Grace of Killing. She's

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-4109780634030492282008-07-31T16:35:00.003+01:002008-07-31T16:55:34.920+01:00

Trundling along one of the neglected lanes of the Internet, and ran across a link to a rather cool poem on the blog of David Crystal -- the guy for the English Language and linguistics (I'm currently studying his excellent, and deep!, The Stories of English).What I like so much about David Crystal is that he isn't prescriptive, and nor is he old-fashioned and liable to believe old wives' tales

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-92036418174157640782008-07-28T18:47:00.002+01:002008-07-28T19:00:24.639+01:00

Hi, again. Sorry for the lack of posts this past week; I took an unplanned five day hiatus from life, spending most of that time being ill, utterly unable to speak or walk :O Before this blog started, I was rarely ill ... And the illness started on my birthday, without alcoholic beverages even entering the equation :(Anyway, again, as apology for my silence, I have another contest, this time

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-2123082510400636842008-07-21T19:09:00.004+01:002008-07-21T20:00:29.637+01:00

The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us -- there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries. Dr Carl Sagan -- Cosmos, Chapter 1.At first, when I saw this video, I wasn't that impressed. It took me a little

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-75708574797102619902008-07-19T16:26:00.008+01:002008-08-01T12:17:22.637+01:00

Feast of SoulsCelia FriedmanOrbit Books582 pages2007Sometimes known as C.S. Friedman, Celia is the author of the acclaimed dark science-fantasy Coldfire series, of which Black Sun Rising is probably her most well known work. It's a series I'd always heard good things about, and the US edition sported fantastic artwork from the effulgent Michael Whelan, so I was eager to get my hands on the UK

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-44900535249149860512008-07-16T21:20:00.005+01:002008-07-17T16:55:00.408+01:00

Thanks to Drew's generosity, I have three signed copies of his début (now released in paperback) from Daw Books up for grabs! The rules are as simple as ever (except for the fact that I keep changing my mind whether I want you to fill in a box, or send me an email...):I'll be reviewing this one soon, along with a load of other books I've managed to snatch time to read in this extremely frenetic,

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-3721398268980437782008-07-15T10:00:00.005+01:002008-07-20T20:09:39.603+01:00

You might remember, a little while back, on Neil Gaiman's site, he was offering readers the chance to read American Gods, online, for free. It proved very popular -- but some problems with viewers having to read a single page at a time, and slow loading speeds, meant that many people expressed a hope that it would be done better next time.If there was a next time.It was an experiment to see

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-60096234835990094692008-07-13T12:02:00.004+01:002008-07-20T20:09:25.809+01:00

There's been bit of a foofaraw* over the recent Locus Award results -- after it emerged that the rules had been changed after everyone had voted, to allow subscribers to the Locus Awards to have their votes counted twice. Effectively, a subscribers vote was worth double that of a non-subscriber.This meant that some books which were in the lead by popular vote, ended up losing because subscribers

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-46683033149378564962008-07-09T12:45:00.005+01:002008-08-01T12:17:58.068+01:00

The Court of the AirStephen HuntVoyager Books582 pagesApril 2007The Court of the Air seems at first to be set in a largely Victorian-type world; the Kingdom of Jackels, the main stage for the story, is a very English place. A nation of shop-keepers, their country is lovingly described as having the power to over-run the entire continent, but instead prefers to cut their hedges and dissolve

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-60254345108442105832008-07-06T13:23:00.002+01:002008-07-06T15:18:34.578+01:00

EXTERMINERUM! Well, that has to be one of my favourite moments of the series, in one of my least favourite episodes.Spoilers.I'm glad the Doctor didn't regenerate into anyone other than David Tennant, but the cliffhanger ending from last week was solved so annoyingly. Lots of pseudobabble and quick talking nonsense. Well, I just extrapolated my introverted matrices into the thingymabbobby severed

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-74819922267558078252008-07-03T16:26:00.007+01:002008-08-01T12:18:47.567+01:00

Scar NightAlan CampbellTor UK550 pages2006I finished Scar Night in Oxford, on a balcony, at three in the morning, mug of cider in one hand, surrounded by spires lancing into the sky, glorious architecture and scenery; the perfect setting. Unfortunately, the cider (and the time, but mostly the cider) meant I understood very little of what was actually happening! I read it again on the train and

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-59849930229099824192008-06-30T10:34:00.001+01:002008-08-01T12:20:19.694+01:00

Saturn's ChildrenCharles StrossOrbit Books371 PagesJuly 2008Saturn's Children is dedicated to the memories of Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. Heinlein gets name-checked in the book, as does John Scalzi and Richard Dawkins.Saturn's Children imagines a time after we humans have mysteriously gone extinct -- leaving only our intelligent, but enslaved, robots behind. Freya 47 is one such robot, a

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-20999104359660800722008-06-26T09:54:00.008+01:002008-06-27T22:49:14.879+01:00

Hey again. I've been away in lovely Oxford these last few days, and stayed a bit longer than planned -- it's one of my favourite cities, and friends were there :) I did quite a few cool things there that I might post about, and picked up quite a few strange anecdotes about the city, for no apparent reason.I'll be back with several interviews and reviews and stuffs soon. Meanwhile, want a chance

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-28411419016971265652008-06-21T10:06:00.004+01:002008-08-01T12:22:05.491+01:00

Goblin QuestJim C. HinesDaw Books346 pages2005Orcs and goblins and trolls et al -- these are the cannon-fodder bad guys of a typical fantasy world. When people aren't on quests, coming into their mountains and killing them, though, what do they do? Well, not much, really, as Jig, "the runtiest member of an admittedly puny race", would testify. Goblins live to be killed in large numbers. Except

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-30007853638652119572008-06-19T16:40:00.004+01:002008-06-19T18:31:24.638+01:00

Tragically I Was An Only TwinEd: William CookRandom House350 pages2003Tragically I Was An Only Twin is not, in fact, an autobiography; it's a collection of various sketches, letters, articles and interviews with Peter Cook, and as such, might as well be autobiographical since much good comedy tells the truth through lies.There are lots of conflicting ideas about Peter Cook -- a horrible man, but

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-88115172108742024272008-06-17T16:23:00.009+01:002008-08-01T12:23:28.496+01:00

The Family TradeCharles StrossTor UK308 pages2004 (US)2007 (UK)Every time I read a new Charles Stross book, I find a novel that quickly becomes a favourite, and always for different reasons each time. In the last year, I have read several of his science-fiction novels: Halting State, The Jennifer Morgue, The Atrocity Archives and Glasshouse, and now with The Family Trade I have another book I

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-14179713144716641242008-06-15T11:58:00.003+01:002008-08-01T12:24:21.744+01:00

M is for MagicNeil GaimanBloomsbury Books250 pages2007It's been all of two weeks since my last Neil Gaiman related post (in which I got excited by the new website, and blurb, of The Graveyard Book) and since 2008 is quite a busy year for Neil, I thought it might be timely to review some more of his books!M is for Magic is Gaiman's first collection for younger people, but a lot of his children's

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-30115765860296189042008-06-11T16:48:00.012+01:002008-08-01T12:50:34.002+01:00

The Edge of ReasonMelinda SnodgrassTor Books381 pagesMay 2008The Edge of Reason is captioned with the words, "A novel of the war between science and superstition". To be honest, even though I'm interested in a skeptical bent towards religion and science, et cetera, I was hoping that The Edge of Reason wouldn't be a book that hit its reader round the head with a anti-organised religion message,

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-3136700248412053222008-06-09T16:10:00.012+01:002008-08-01T12:29:01.611+01:00

The War of the FlowersTad WilliamsOrbit Books758 pages2003Tad Williams has long been one of my favourite authors for his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series and for his Shadowmarch trilogy (not yet complete), but I'd never actually read any of his single-volume fantasy before. I'd planned to read Tailchaser's Song, a fantasy with lots of cats in it, but that one is apparently out of print at the

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-8580280184006343532008-06-07T17:01:00.009+01:002008-08-01T12:30:08.053+01:00

Eternal VigilanceGabrielle S. FaustImmanion Press232 PagesApril 2008Eternal Vigilance is the first vampire novel I've read in quite a while. I commented on how great I thought that cover art was, a few months ago, and thus I was delighted when my copy arrived...One hundred years after his Sleep, the vampire Tynan Llywelyn awakes. Firstly, he's not very happy about that -- he'd planned to Sleep

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-35750545153335626632008-06-05T10:46:00.011+01:002008-07-20T20:06:57.635+01:00

I got an email yesterday, asking if I could include some links to sites that offer advice on writing fantasy, and I was pretty sure I'd done this -- just quite far down the page, on the right, out of sight, it seems! ;) I'd forgotten about them, myself. (Sorry for the strange red lines -- I can't get rid of them, despite the fact that I have quote tags all closed!).Over at the SFF Writers of

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-73914761653070795102008-06-03T10:14:00.012+01:002008-08-01T12:31:16.909+01:00

The Dragon WaitingJohn M. FordGollancz Books365 Pages1983This is one is from the Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks series, and it actually won the World Fantasy Award back in 1984 against:Pet Sematary, Stephen KingWandering Unicorn, Manuel LainezTea with the Black Dragon, R. A. MacAvoyThe Armageddon Rag, George R. R. MartinLyonesse, Jack VanceMost of which I have heard of. Although it was only

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-51982903807825555122008-05-31T18:58:00.005+01:002008-08-01T12:51:37.098+01:00

The HostStephenie MeyerSphere Books624 Pages6th May 2008Guest review by Elizabeth de Jager of My Favourite Books.I genuinely can’t imagine a scarier scenario. Aliens invade Earth. And they stay. Not only do they stay to co-habit Earth, they take over by bonding with the humans (whom they call their host) in a parasitical way. They repress the host’s personality completely and take over

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-49948296485400632492008-05-29T19:49:00.006+01:002008-08-01T12:34:34.700+01:00

Midnight Never ComeMarie BrennanOrbit Books379 pagesMay 2008 (UK)June 2008 (US)One of my favourite periods of English history is that of the Elizabethan era (1558 - 1603). It was a time when boundaries were being pushed in theatre and poetry and literature, a time when England seemed to prosper with the Virgin Queen on the throne. Edmund Spenser named his eponymous faerie queen for her, as a

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-84945349351102543042008-05-27T13:55:00.004+01:002008-07-20T20:09:14.075+01:00

Yes, this title was stolen from Lou Anders. The SF Site Mind Meld this week was rather excellent, and asked:Science fiction would be nothing without the science. Who doesn't like reading about new or interesting ideas inside of a story? But should SF authors know their stuff when it comes to the science behind the stories? To that end, our question this week:Q: Do science fiction authors have an

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-44637917892606628092008-05-27T11:43:00.009+01:002008-06-15T11:58:05.786+01:00

I know the release of Bloodheir, the second book in Brian Ruckley's acclaimed Godless World trilogy, isn't that far away, but nevertheless, I thought some of you might like the chance to get it a bit early -- and free! ;) Open to people from the UK only. (I will be running more worldwide contests soon). Closes 10th June 2008.--This one is now closed :)

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-64617350859577776092008-05-26T11:06:00.011+01:002008-08-01T12:35:29.701+01:00

ElantrisBrandon SandersonTor Books638 Pages2005Brandon Sanderson is now quite a well-known name in fantasy, especially in America, but more lately, worldwide, as it was announced that he will be concluding Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (A Memory of Light) following Jordan's death from amyloidosis. Brandon has written a very well received Young Adult novel, Alcatraz: Versus the Evil

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-61607645558495386302008-05-25T14:40:00.013+01:002008-06-10T18:10:40.566+01:00

A few weeks after reviewing Paul Melko's Singularity's Ring, I realised that I hadn't yet deleted it from my Amazon wishlist ... something I never normally do anyway, even once I've managed to lay my hands on a certain book... Which probably explained why another copy of the book rolled through my letterbox the other day, from a very nice relative :)I don't need two copies, though, so enter below

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-19811137228162641402008-05-22T09:00:00.006+01:002008-08-01T12:52:52.854+01:00

Lord of Snow and ShadowsSarah AshTransworld Books704 pages2003I approached this book knowing absolutely nothing about it, having only received one recommendation some years ago, and thus, had no idea what to expect. Would it be cliché, would it be epic fantasy, or something gritty, perhaps a book about owls? What it was, was very good, and a little bit of all of them.Within the first fifty pages,

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-2404060064054781232008-05-21T09:00:00.004+01:002008-06-10T18:41:34.172+01:00

Many of you will know that I've recently come to the conclusion that Neil Gaiman is one of those gods he loves to write about. Morpheus, perhaps: the Dream King. I've been looking forward to his next novel for a very long time. It's called The Graveyard Book; it's a riff off The Jungle Book and it's for children. As with Coraline, his multi-award winning "book for little girls (of all ages and

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-18017797769683943242008-05-20T17:45:00.001+01:002008-05-20T17:55:12.539+01:00

I've become a huge New Who fan (I've never seen any of the old episodes) and had something close to a nerdgasm when I saw that the series 3 concept art (putting ideas to paper and not always using them) had been unveiled over at the BBC. I'm liking this, the fourth series, but I'm missing Martha (and the Master) and the over-arching nemesis plot/Big Bad doesn't seem to be developing. Not really.

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-925221276375643232008-05-20T09:00:00.005+01:002008-08-01T12:38:12.412+01:00

The Solaris Book of New FantasyEd: George MannSolaris Books512 pagesDecember 2007Short fiction, before this year, was something that I'd never really read. With a couple of Night Shade anthologies, that changed, so I was very pleased to get stuck into an anthology I'd heard lots of good things about last year, from Aidan and Robert in particular, as the new Solaris imprint launched.Stealing the

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-16814314283016093692008-05-19T10:56:00.008+01:002008-08-01T12:54:57.256+01:00

SuperpowersDavid J. SchwartzVintage Books376 pages2008We've probably all wondered what it would be like to have powers -- to fly to work when we can't be bothered with the traffic; to turn invisible in horrible situations; to run away at light speed; to hear the thoughts of those around us; and, perhaps, to throw people through brick walls.In Superpowers, the first novel of David J. Schwartz (who

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-45725747163061215352008-05-17T17:25:00.006+01:002008-07-01T14:39:39.156+01:00

From Aidan I got a bit of news about Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold, which has been delayed. Not by much, only a few months, but Joe has written a really interesting and funny post about why, with a bit of writerly advice and info about the publishing industry in there, too: “I’d got used to the pace I was working at with Last Argument of Kings, and foolishly extrapolated my likely writing

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-26536575203540682602008-05-16T16:56:00.004+01:002008-05-16T17:21:17.249+01:00

Well, that was rather a lame title ;) Things have been rather busy here, so, erm, no time to come up with good titles... or excuses for not having good titles ... or excuses for not having good excuses for not having...Thanks to the kind person writing this post -- me! -- one lucky winner will receive Raymond E. Feist's best-selling, critically acclaimed novel, Magician.The winner is: Daniel

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-48708747160513044202008-05-14T18:50:00.007+01:002008-07-01T14:41:50.251+01:00

When I heard about V for Vendetta, being a comic noob, I didn't have a clue that it was based upon the comic series by the legendary Alan Moore. What I did know, was that it was rubbish. Hell, no one liked it -- it must be rubbish. (I wasn't paying much attention to the online SFFsphere at that point, so for all I know, a lot of us types liked it...)It's not rubbish. In fact, I really enjoyed it.

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I really enjoyed Richard (K) Morgan's The Steel Remains, his forthcoming fantasy début (August 21st in the UK). I decided to contact Richard for an interview -- and he agreed! I then decided with Robert at Fantasy Book Critic that we might as well work together on this one and produce an interview that would be even better for the collaboration.Of course, it would be even better if you were able

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-39080048865591436292008-05-12T15:50:00.009+01:002008-08-01T12:40:50.845+01:00

Singularity's RingPaul MelkoTor Books2nd May 2008316 PagesA Sci-Fi Essential BookSingularity's Ring is Paul Melko's début novel, a science-fictional story of a not-too-distant future where Earth's population is now much less than a billion, and many live in poverty. What's worse is that all this has happened after 90% of humanity has transcended (which may or may not mean that they have all gone

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-49572245599305204622008-05-11T20:24:00.005+01:002008-07-01T14:47:50.265+01:00

Yes, yes, another contest on this usually contest-empty blog ;) I'd planned to announce this contest later in the week, but I'm having a bit of trouble with the review of the aforementioned book. I liked it, but there were problems areas, and I seem unable to write properly today, so that can come tomorrow! :)Again, thanks very much to the awesome people at Sphere Books (who are, by some trickery

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-68984264045816178612008-05-09T14:54:00.004+01:002008-05-22T17:43:26.041+01:00

The Doll's HouseNeil Gaiman:::I've just realised that this is the second of two special Gaiman orientated posts, and for some reason, I feel ever so slightly guilty. I suppose it's because, at the moment, and for the next week or so, I'm going to be a bit quiet around here. I'll be popping in, and hopefully reviewing as usual, and hosting contests, but generally, I won't really be here. Perhaps

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-71883380660787676492008-05-07T18:23:00.003+01:002008-05-19T15:06:37.822+01:00

Thanks to the lovely folks at Orbit, and to celebrate the release of Pamela's Blood Ties (reviewed yesterday), I have a signed copy to give away :)As you can tell from the review, I really liked it, so to enter...Send an email to: thebookswede@googlemail.com, containing the subject (aka header) "BLOOD"No multiple entries, or the Foot of Annoyance shall Connect with your Rump, and Disapproval

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-3502327605928619312008-05-06T17:17:00.009+01:002008-08-01T12:56:38.658+01:00

Blood TiesPamela FreemanOrbit Books400 Pages5th June 2008 (UK)7th April 2008 (US)Pamela Freeman has made quite a name for herself with her children's and young adult fiction, but this is her first novel for adults, and the first in a series. Blood Ties tells of the stories of Ash, Bramble and Saker, and the people of the Eleven Kingdoms; a place where with the cast of a stone one's future might

Chris, The Book Swedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00063580097665443750noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5203836347841918213.post-33524290154216002782008-05-06T09:27:00.001+01:002008-05-06T09:30:48.397+01:00

I've got really bad Internet problems today (and yesterday) hence the lack of posts! I mnaged to get a lot of reading done, and will have reviews coming soon. With some more contests, too.For the moment, though, check out all the other cool sites, to your right. Once the problem is sorted, I'll be taking advantage of post scheduling to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again! :)

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