Snake Eyes - Declassified
© Devil's Due Publishing

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G.I. Joe, Gaiman, & a Random Rant

Awww yeea it’s Tuesday everyone and Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Unfortunately we don’t have an extensive list of new releases hitting the shelves this week but there are still a couple of choice morsels coming out on hardcover and paperback today. 

G.I. Joe releases a comprehensive back story on probably the coolest character of the cartoon and comic book series: Snake Eyes. This mutilated combat veteran has a story to tell and Devil’s Due Publishing brings it to the table in Snake Eyes: Declassified. 

Rudy Rucker, a computer scientist / science fiction writer / theoretical mathematician, returns to the literary scene with a re-release of the 1990 SF classic The Hollow Earth on paperback today through MonkeyBrain books. Winner of two Phillip K. Dick Awards for best science fiction novels Software (1982) and Wetware (1988) of the Ware Tetralogy, Rucker has blazed the trail of cyberpunk literature and in doing so has wrote some damn fine fiction novels along the way. 

Neil Gaiman fans will want to check out Darrell Schweitzer’s in-depth breakdown of The Sandman, American Gods, and Coraline in The Neil Gaiman Reader and Star Trek fiction fans won’t want to miss the newest installment of the Star Trek: Corps of Engineers series Aftermath that follows 2004’s Wildfire.  
 

New in Hardcover: 
 

Snake Eyes Comic Book Illustration

© Devil's Due Publishing

Soldier. Ninja. Respected member of G.I. Joe. His real name is classified; his past, a blank slate... But behind every mystery waits a truth to be told. For the first time in print, the definitive origin of Snake-Eyes is told! What little information was known has been sewn together with revelatory moments and threads that explain where he's been, how he became who he is and set the stage for where he is going. A tale of war, betrayal, loss and death - and out of the tragedy... the legend is born. By far one of the coolest original G.I. Joe characters and foremost military ninja bad ass in the comic book series, Snake Eyes: Declassified offers an intense look at the enigmas of the mysteriously mute Silent Master. Oddly enough this book made it’s shelf debut in a paperback edition this past April, so if you’re interested in picking this one up for as little money as possible opt for the earlier release.  

Imperial Masochism: British Fiction, Fantasy, and Social Class, John Kucich (Princeton University Press) 

British imperialism's favorite literary narrative might seem to be conquest. But real British conquests also generated a surprising cultural obsession with suffering, sacrifice, defeat, and melancholia. "There was," writes John Kucich, "seemingly a different crucifixion scene marking the historical gateway to each colonial theater." In Imperial Masochism, Kucich reveals the central role masochistic forms of voluntary suffering played in late-nineteenth-century British thinking about imperial politics and class identity. Placing the colonial writers Robert Louis Stevenson, Olive Schreiner, Rudyard Kipling, and Joseph Conrad in their cultural context, Kucich shows how the ideological and psychological dynamics of empire, particularly its reorganization of class identities at the colonial periphery, depended on figurations of masochism. Drawing on recent psychoanalytic theory to define masochism in terms of narcissistic fantasies of omnipotence rather than sexual perversion, the book illuminates how masochism mediates political thought of many different kinds, not simply those that represent the social order as an opposition of mastery and submission, or an eroticized drama of power differentials. Masochism was a powerful psychosocial language that enabled colonial writers to articulate judgments about imperialism and class. The first full-length study of masochism in British colonial fiction, Imperial Masochism puts forth new readings of this literature and shows the continued relevance of psychoanalysis to historicist studies of literature and culture. A heady, esoteric read into the influences of government and history on Britain’s literary identity, this new analysis is sure to inspire (or appall) those interested in the cultural and national trends that have pervaded British fantasy and fiction. 
 

The Neil Gaiman Reader

© Wildside Press

Neil Gaiman's talent is so vast that any exploration of his work can only be described as a beginning. Here is one such beginning, an examination of the creative genius being The Sandman, American Gods, Coraline and so much more. His prose fiction has achieved enormous acclaim and popularity. Now leading scholars provide insights into The Sandman universe, its mythological underpinnings, Gaiman's technique and his relationship to other masters of the fantastic imagination. Two extensive interviews with Gaiman are included, along with a thorough bibliography of his work to date. I can still remember how awed I was the first time I cracked into American Gods and realized how innovative and refreshing of an author Neil Gaiman was (and is). Definitely a new trailblazer in supernatural fiction, Gaiman is here to stay. Maybe we’ll get lucky and hear something about Gaiman’s screenwriting work on the upcoming Beowulf movie in this book. 
 

Doctor Who: The Price of Paradise, Colin Brake (BBC Books) 

Laylora - the Paradise Planet. A world of breath-taking beauty, where peace-loving aboriginals live in harmony with their environment. Or do they? The Doctor and Rose arrive to find that the once-perfect eco-system is showing signs of failing. The paradise planet has become a death trap as terrifying creatures from ancient legends appear and stalk the land... Is there a connection between the human explorers who have crash-landed and the savage monsters? What secret lies at the heart of the natives' ancient ceremonies? And what price might one human have to pay to save the only home he has ever known? When a planet itself becomes sick, can there be a cure? The Doctor and Rose find themselves in a race against time to find out... 
 

New in Paperback: 
 

Prey - Origin of the Species

© Dabel Brothers Productions

Ten thousand feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, in the deepest part of the Solanca Trench, a drilling team suffers a mysterious catastrophic accident. In an attempt to solve the mystery, the Prometheus Corporation turns to disgraced marine biologist Cloyce Witticker to find out just what went wrong. But what Cloyce discovers will change his life forever: an ancient creature never before recorded in human history, a new species so deadly that it makes humanity its prey. 
 

The Hollow Earth

© Monkey Brain Books

In 1836, Mason Algiers Reynolds leaves his family's Virginia farm with his father's slave, a dog, and a mule. Branded a murderer, he finds sanctuary with his hero, Edgar Allan Poe, and together they embark on an extraordinary expedition to the South Pole, and the entrance to the Hollow Earth. It is there, at the center of the world, where strange physics, strange people, and stranger creatures abound, that their bizarre adventures truly begin. One of the lead members of the cyberpunk literary movement and creator of the “transrealist” SF writing style, Rudy Rucker’s work has proven himself to be a true master of the genre. 
 

Aftermath of the Star Trek Corps of Engineers Series

© Star Trek Books

Having recovered from the catastrophic events of Wildfire (2004), the Starfleet Corps of Engineers team on the U.S.S. da Vinci meets its new second officer: Mor glasch Tev, an arrogant Tellarite who's the best there is, and he knows it. Even as Captain Gold and Commander Gomez get used to their acerbic new officer, the S.C.E. team faces crises in its own solar system. A strange vessel appears in the middle of San Francisco that the S.C.E. must deal with—aided by engineers extraordinaire Montgomery Scott and Miles O'Brien. Then they have to help the Venus terraforming team—a mission that brings Bynar computer expert Soloman to a difficult crossroads. That's only the beginning of the challenges for the Corps as it faces a Ferengi with a time machine, a prison colony in a black hole, and a mission from the Dominion War that comes back to haunt the da Vinci crew in more ways than one… 
 

Random Rant: 

Due to the slim-pickings of new book releases this Thanksgiving week, I’m letting my hair down and getting a few things off my chest. Although this will be an inconsistent feature of the column, this week’s shortage of available content gives me the perfect opportunity to discuss something that’s been weighing down on my conscience for a long time: Lame Book Covers. 

Walking down your local bookstore’s fantasy and sci fi aisle is usually a gross assault on the eyes: hundreds of books compete for your attention with lavish artwork and colored spines that encompass every hue of the visible spectrum. It’s a veritable rainbow of stimulation; the seizure-inducing anime of the book realm. It’s easy to see why. What do we, the unsuspecting consumers, have at our disposal to determine if a book is worth the paper it’s printed on? Aside from editorial reviews, word of mouth, and the book’s synopsis we’re left to our own devices to determine what to buy. Let’s face it, rave reviews can be bought by the publisher for a dime a dozen and the craftiest marketing personnel can whip up an inside sleeve summary that makes a B-rate knock-off sound like the rebirth of a literary classic.

Now I know what you’re thinking, respect the cardinal rule: Don’t judge a book by its cover. But how many times have you picked up a book solely because it had an eye-catching exterior? I know I have. The book’s substance should always speak for itself but in the fantasy and sci-fi genres the polarization of quality is downright absurd. Lame book covers can completely demerit a book before you even think twice to give it a chance. I’m not foolish enough to think that the best novels should have the coolest cover art but come on publishers, lets try to raise the bar here. 

Firestorm, the Horrible - Looking Fourth Installment of the Operation - Pleiades Series

© Triskelion Publishing

You may be thinking this is a cheap shot at an obscure series from a crappy author and well, you’d be right. But I’d be a lot less angry at the situation if lame book covers were few and far between. Unfortunately they’re eeeeverywhere. I’m sure even as you read this you’re thinking of your own examples of bad book covers. It seems like the horror genre skirts a lot of this neglect and usually their covers (at the worst) only fluctuate between cliché and uninteresting. The sci fi and fantasy novels though, they run the entire book cover gamut from original and awesome to disgraceful and appalling. It’s even worse when a book you really like is enclosed in a reprehensible shell… 

The Lord of Chaos of The Wheel of Time Series

© Tor Books

Where have all the good illustrators gone? Can people not afford a decent Alan Lee or Ted Nasmith painting? The graphic novel people have some bitchin’ cover art on their books, why can’t the old-fashioned book publishers pull their heads out of their asses? With so much color and busyness in most of the book covers out there today, hell I’d be delighted with a clean black leather front and a cool silver-embossed symbol. Unfortunately I know it all comes down to cuttin’ profits. The louder the book cover the better the publishers think it is for sales. Maybe they’re right. Maybe a lot of people like the covers I’m referring to. But every time I see a new book that lowers the bar for visual representation I can’t help but shudder and feel bad for the genre as a whole. Lame book covers, you should be ashamed of yourselves.      

Okay guys now that I’m thoroughly drained that’s enough ranting for one week. Next Tuesday we’ve got some big releases with the second installment of Paul Kearney’s The Sea Beggars series and the paperback release of Jordan’s 11^th book of the WoT series Knife of Dreams. Be sure to check back on Tuesday for those books and the rest of the Weekly Buzz and have a Happy, lazy, artery-clogging Thanksgiving! Questions or comments? Hit me up at PFerrara.mania@gmail.com.