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Big Week for Fantasy Fans!
We Review Matthew Sturges' Midwinter By
Tim Janson
May 03, 2009
DK’s Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon
© DK Publishing
Before we get into the week’s new releases and reviews, let’s cover two quick news stories this week:
The Finalists for the 2009 Locus Awards were announced this week. The list is fairly extensive so I won’t list all of them but here are some of the key categories:
Best Science Fiction Novel
Matter, Iain M. Banks (Orbit UK)
City at the End of Time, Greg Bear (Gollancz, Del Rey)
Marsbound, Joe Haldeman (Ace)
Anathem, Neal Stephenson (Atlantic UK, Morrow)
Saturn's Children, Charles Stross (Orbit, Ace)
Best Fantasy Novel
The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)
Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt)
The Bell at Sealey Head, Patricia A. McKillip (Ace)
The Dragons of Babel, Michael Swanwick (Tor)
An Evil Guest, Gene Wolfe (Tor)
Best Young Adult Novel
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor)
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins, Bloomsbury)
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Knopf)
Nation, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK, HarperCollins)
Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor)
…Fantasy writer Tom Deitz passed away on April 27 from heart failure. The native of Georgia was just 57. Deitz wrote several well received fantasy novels and series in his career including The Soulsmith Trilogy, Bloodwinter, Windmaster’s Bane, and The Gryphon King. Deitz had been in poor health since suffering a heart attack in January. In addition to his writing career Deitz was also an Assistant Professor at Gainesville State College.
New in Fantasy
The Turning Tide: A Novel of Crosspointe Diana Pharaoh Francis (Roc)
They were the best of friends: Ryland, the son of the king, is bound by loyalty. Shaye is both a majicar and a Weverton, both rebellious factions. Fairlie, a fiery metal-smith, is the iron bond that held them all together. Until now. Crosspointe’s greatest advantage at sea is its ship’s compasses—but the compass makers are dying. Without them, Crosspointe will fall. To save his country and repel the coming Jutras invasion, the king orders Ryland to commit an unforgivable act. And soon Ryland, Shaye, and Fairlie find themselves at war…with each other.
The Sword Never Sleeps: The Knights of Myth Drannor, Book III Ed GreenWood (Wizards of the Coast)
A classic, Lieber-esque sword and sorcery adventure! A cry for heroes went out from the kingdom of Cormyr when treachery threatened to bring her low, and the Knights of Myth Drannor answered that call. Earning praise from the Crown itself for their efforts, the Knights earned the name of adventurers. But to save Cormyr, they must become more than mere adventurers. The Knights must become heroes.
Starfinder: Book One of the Skylords John Marco (DAW Hardcover)
Steam trains and electricity are rapidly changing the world. Moth of Calio is obsessed with the airships developed by his friend Fiona’s grandfather Rendor, and dreams of taking to the air one day like his heroes, the Skyknights. But not everyone is happy to see humans reach the skies. For thousands of years, the mysterious and powerful race known as the Skylords have jealously guarded their heavenly domain. But Moth and Fiona are about to breach the magical boundary between the world of humans and the world of the Skylords.
The Restless Shore: The Wilds James P. Davis (Wizards of the Coast)
One hundred years ago, the Akanamere was ravaged by the Spellplague, drying the lake and leaving behind a nightmarish landscape of frozen waves, distorted creatures, and a strange being whose song drives listeners to carry out what they believe are the singer's orders. When a genasi girl is kidnapped by these fanatics, her troubled sister must brave the wilds of the Mere-That-Was to save them both from an gruesome fate.
Magic in the Blood Devon Monk (Roc)
Working as a Hound—tracing illegal spells back to their casters—has taken its toll on Allison Beckstrom. But even though magic has given her migraines and stolen her recent memory, Allie isn’t about to quit. Then the police’s magic enforcement division asks her to consult on a missing persons case. But what seems to be a straightforward job turns out to be anything but, as Allie finds herself drawn into the underworld of criminals, ghosts, and blood magic.
The Lancelot Murders (A Merlin Investigation) J.M.C. Blair (Berkley)
When Lancelot is accused of murdering Queen Guenevere’s father, she begs Merlin to prove his innocence. Though inclined to leave the faithless knight to his fate, Merlin risks his very life to find the truth at King Arthur’s bidding.
Ghost Ocean S.M. Peters (Roc)
Beings of unimaginable power, classified as myths and legends, have been imprisoned in the secludedtown of St. Ives for centuries?watched over by guardians with supernatural skills. Te Evangeline?sfather was one such guardian, a ?binder? who died in the line of duty and who passed along his abilityto his daughter. Now, Te must awaken the magic within her before her father?s killer releases hisfellow prisoners on an unsuspecting world.
Fall of Light Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Ace Hardcover)
Opal LaZelle is a special effects make-up artist, transforming actors into fantastical and grotesque creatures. Unknown to the casts and crews of the films she works on, Opal is gifted in the art of magic—and she applies more than make-up when altering an actor’s features.
Her latest job requires turning Corvus Weather into a dark god of the forest. But when Corvus’s performance becomes too convincing—on set and off—Opal realizes he’s not acting. Something has taken possession of Corvus. Something sinister tied to the town’s past, with the ability to absorb the very essence of life. Something Opal doesn’t have enough power to confront, much less drive from the man she has fallen in love with.
Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9) Charlaine Harris (Ace Hardcover)
Except for Sookie Stackhouse, folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, know little about vamps—and nothing about weres. Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to reveal their existence to the ordinary world. At first all goes well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found near the bar where Sookie works—and she feels compelled to discover who, human or otherwise, did it. But there’s a far greater danger threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings—older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves—is preparing for war. And Sookie finds herself an all-too human pawn in their battle.
Darkborn Alison Sinclair (Roc Trade)
For the Darkborn, sunlight kills. For the Lightborn, darkness is fatal. Living under a centuries-old curse, the Darkborn and the Lightborn share the city of Minhorne, coexisting in an uneasy equilibrium but never interacting. When Darkborn physician Balthasar Hearne finds a pregnant fugitive on his doorstep just before sunrise, he has no choice but to take her in. Tercelle Amberley’s betrothed is a powerful Darkborn nobleman, but her illicit lover came to her through the daytime. When she gives birth to twin boys, they can see, something unheard of among the Darkborn. When men come for the boys, Balthasar is saved by the intervention of his Lightborn neighbor—and healed by the hands of his wife, Telmaine. Soon he finds himself drawn deeper into political intrigue and magical attacks, while Telmaine must confront a power she can no longer keep sheathed in gloves, a power she neither wants nor can control. (read an excerpt here: Darkborn Excerpt
Alara Unbroken (Magic: the Gathering) Doug Beyer (Wizards of the Coast)
Once upon a time, the plane of Alara was shattered into five planes, each distinctly populated with relative mono-magical culture that reflects each of the five colors. Now, the planes are beginning to realign and merge once more. As nefarious forces work to hasten the cataclysmic realignment for their own gain, the populations of once ordered planes struggle to come to terms with a new planar order in which long separated struggles between opposite clash once more; martyrs face executioners, fire and water, earth and air, growth and decay, the innate versus the artificial. Amid this chaos, Ajani, a fierce leonin planeswalker, struggles to bring justice and resolution to his brother's death. Noble warrior Rafiq searches for the source of the of this evil that has invaded his world. And Sarkhan Vol, planeswalker and dragon hunter, taps into a power so pure and ancient, it threatens to consume him even as he revels in its unadulterated totality.
New in Science Fiction
Terra Insegura Edward Willett (DAW)
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
In the Stormy Red Sky David Drake (Baen Hardcover)
With a new destroyer command under him, now-Captain Daniel Leary and master spy Lady Adele Mundy are off to the backwater Veil region on a diplomatic mission. Did we say diplomatic? Yeah, right. What they find is a local warlord ready to throw Cinnabar from the region, a vile aristocrat dealing in slave labor—and a huge Republic of Cinnabar Navy defeat that has thrown the entire sector under the crushing heel of the vile Alliance.
Time to fight back—and that Alliance stronghold in the nearby Monserrat cluster looks awfully vulnerable. Okay, actually, it looks impregnable to any but a determined Leary and Mundy. But should they achieve the impossible yet again, they do have an occupying army nearby—if only they can free it from its chains!
Diamond Star Catherine Asaro (Baen Hardcover)
Del was a rock singer. He was also the renegade son of the Ruby Dynasty, which made his career choice less than respectable, and gave him more to worry about than getting gigs and not getting cheated by recording companies, club owners, or his agent. For one thing, the Ruby Dynasty ruled the Skolian Imperialate, an interstellar Empire, which had recently had a war with another empire, the Eubian Concord. For another, Del was singing on Earth, which was part of a third interstellar civilization, and one which had an uneasy relationship with the Imperialate. Del undeniably had talent, and was rapidly rising from an unknown fringe artist to stardom. But, with his life entangled in the politics of three interstellar civilizations, whether he wanted that or not, talent might not be enough. And that factor might have much more effect than his music on the lives of trillions of people on the thousands of inhabited worlds across the galaxy.
Star Wars: Adventures - Han Solo And The Hollow Moon Of Khorya (Dark Horse Comics)
No one ever said being a smuggler was easy! Before they ever met Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca had already lived a lifetime of adventures. In this action-packed tale, Han and Chewie are caught between gangsters and the Empire, and their only help is Han's former partner - who may be worse than either!
City of Dust Steve Niles (Radical Comics Graphic Novel)
From the dark mind of legendary horror writer Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) comes a story set in the aftermath of our world's collapse. Records show the Earth once known was consumed by religious wars, spurred by the suppression of free thought and where creative expression is now viewed as the rot and infestation of the mind. This chilling vision of the future unveils a world where the police now patrol for crimes of the imagination, or Mind Crimes as their called. This beliefs, along with any tales of false heroes, idols or gods, are illegal. Special detective Philip Khrome doesn't enforce Imagination, instead he works in homicide; thats where the action is, and he has seen it all before. But criminals evolve and the world is forever changing. When a killing spree hits his department, Khrome finds himself face-to-face with a perpetrator who has merged reality with superstition, something is not what it seems. This enemy of folklore will require old-fashioned detective techniques to bring to justice, but the only problem is it will take one's imagination to find the source of this new evil.
New In Horror
Supernatural: Rising Son (Wildstorm Comics Graphic Novel)
Dean and Sam Winchester were raised as Hunters by their widowed father, seeking vengeance on the supernatural elements that took their mother from them. But the road to vengeance is a dark one, and is it a place where children can have any semblance of a life?
Picking up several years after Supernatural: Origins, the boys are now old enough to join John on his cross-country "hunting trips." Amid the carnage and violence, John's seeking something specific: any information on why his wife was murdered. But is he prepared for the answers that he'll find? And is he willing to sacrifice his 11-year-old son Dean to this hard, lonely life by giving him his first "hunt"?
Last Vampire Standing Nancy Haddock (Berkley Trade)
228-year-old Francesca Marinelli thought her past was dead—then a stranger from the Atlanta vampire nest crashes her home looking for sanctuary. A budding stand-up comic, Jo-Jo’s running from an undead superior eager to drive a stake through the heart of his dream job. But Jo-Jo’s bad jokes aren’t the only dark clouds on the horizon. A psychotic vampire with a murderous agenda has followed Jo-Jo to Florida, putting everyone close to Francesca in danger.
New in Non-Fiction
Angels & Demons: The Illustrated Movie Companion Linda Sunshine (Newmarket Press)
The official illustrated tie-in book to the film adaptation based on the novel by the bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks. Featuring more than 200 photos, drawings, and historical images, this official full-color companion book captures the film's amazing visuals, and details the complexity of bringing Dan Brown's bestselling thriller novel to the screen.
In Angels & Demons, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to Rome to embark on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, and deserted cathedrals. What he uncovers is unimaginable. The Illuminati, a secret society whose existence dates back to the 1700s, is alive, well, and murderously active-masterminding a deadly plot to blow up the Vatican.
Angels & Demons: The Illustrated Movie Companion offers a behind-the-scenes look at the stunning production design and process of filming the famous locations featured in the movie. Director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer, and executive producer Todd Hallowell share how they accomplished this formidable task on such a tremendous scale, employing hundreds of artisans in Italy and Southern California.
Reviews
Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon Matthew K. Manning (DK Hardcover)
DK’s comic related books have definitely matured over the past couple of years. While a lot of their older books tended to be filled with a lot of fluff and not a lot of real content, their recent books have been quite good. Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon is one of the best, actually. It’s 200 pages filled with information and insight on Marvel’s most popular mutant. Sure it’s still filled with great art from the comics but this is a book you can sink your teeth into.
Manning explores Wolverine’s entire career both in terms of his fictional mythos but also his history in terms of the comics. We start with a look at the character himself as created by Len Wein, John Romita Sr., and Herb Trimpe. Throughout the book Manning notes “Key Issues” in Wolverine’s comic history, the first being The Incredible Hulk #181 which featured the first Wolverine story. Manning provides a background into how the story came about relating how then Marvel Editor-in-Chief had visited Canada and had wanted to develop a Canadian superhero and handed the reins to Wein. There is a full story synopsis of this and all the key issues. Manning delves into Wolverine’s unique powers and gives fans a list of the 10 things that Wolverine has survived thanks to his remarkable healing factor including surviving numerous explosions and gunshot wounds. There are also sections devoted to Wolverine’s love interests and his various friends, allies, and enemies, and all his assorted group affiliations. And all this is in chapter one alone!
Following chapters cover Wolverine’s life, including his true origin and military history.
Chapter 3 covers his eventual membership with the X-Men including profiles of the other team members and X-Men foes. The Key issue here, of course, is the landmark Giant-Sized X-Men #1. Chapter 4 focuses on Wolverine’s solo career and includes a look at each of his solo comic titles. Chapter 5 looks at his further adventures and his involvement in many of Marvel’s key storylines in the past 20 years such as “House of M” and “Civil War. The book concludes with Wolverine in the future as in the “Days of Future Past” tale.
This is a remarkable book and the easily the best reference one could ask for, for such an important character. The art is fantastic, and the layout is perfect. Grade A.
Bomb Queen V: Bombastic Jimmie Robinson (Image Comics Trade Paperback)
The latest Bomb Queen TPB is entitled “Bombastic” and a title name has never been better suited. Jimmie Robinson’s Bomb Queen takes everything you knew about evil and stomps a big ol’ hole in it. The Bomb Queen rules over New Port City with an iron fist and a costume that threatens, and usually does, burst to reveal her ample assets. Robinson unapologetically lampoons traditional superhero titles with a character so outrageously profane that you know it’s got to make Stan Lee’s gums bleed!
A trio of Internet gossip nerds decides they want to sneak into New Port City to get some stories for their site. This is highly illegal in Bomb Queen’s city and they are risking their own lives trying to go undercover as workers from Littleville, the small neighboring town that supplies New Port City’s food. Littleville has their own problems, namely in the form of a maniacal serial killer who is carving up residents. Littleville ends their own hero, the White Knight off to talk to Bomb Queen…yeah Right! All Hell breaking loose is an understatement!
Robinson provides both story and art and gives us a sleek, raunchy super villain that is strictly for mature audiences. One of the most provocative and hilarious comics around. If you have not read Bomb Queen yet, here’s a chance to get on board! Grade B+
Midwinter Matthew Sturges (Pyr Trade paperback)
Matthew Sturges is best known as a comic book writer, working exclusively for DC comics on titles such as Jack of Fables, House of Mystery, and Shadowpact. Midwinter is his first novel and, as I understand it, was actually written a number of years ago before he got into comics.
The former war hero, Mauritaine, was sentenced to life in prison, accused of treason. Queen Titania has offered him the chance to redeem himself if he will undertake what can only be described as a suicide mission. In “Dirty Dozen” style fashion, Mauritaine must choose several other prisoners as his allies to help him on his mission across dangerous, magic-blasted lands. Meanwhile others plot against him including a traitor in his own company.
Writing novels is obviously very different than writing comics. You have the time to develop your character’s personalities to greater detail but some of the characters were lacking a little depth. Oddly I found some of the secondary characters were fleshed out more fully than some of the main characters. Still, Midwinter is not a book that will bore you. It’s an exciting page-turner that infuses some modern Sci-Fi elements in with a traditional fantasy world. Sturges definitely shows promise! Grade B
Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Companion Tara Bennett (Titan Books)
Terminator Salvation is one of the most anticipated films of the year, not only because it’s a franchise that is near and dear to fan’s hearts, but also because Terminator 3 was seen as a bit of a disappointment. The series starts again, this time moving to the future of 2018as the human resistance battle against the Skynet killer machines.
Titan’s Companion book by Tara Bennett walks you through the entire production process from pre to post production with a look at the characters, stunts, visual effects, and Terminator designs, all with brilliant full-color photography. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t immediately turn to the section on “Building the Terminators” to see how director McG was going to deliver an entire army of Terminators versus the solo or pairs we’ve seen in the first few films. Here we see entire assembly lines of T1 Sentrys, T600, T700, and Hydrobot models. Later you’ll get a look at the mammoth Harvester models, which collect humans for examination.
Each of the main characters: John Connor, Kyle Reese, Kat Connor, etc., are spotlighted with a look at that character’s role in the film and the actor playing them. One of the best chapters is “Welcome to 2018” that features a look at the near-future Earth, dominated by machines. It’s obviously a world where the infrastructure we have today is still in place but no longer operational. If the Companion is any indication, the Terminator franchise should be back on its feet. Grade B+
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