HUNTER'S RUN by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, & Daniel Abraham
© Eos Books
Top 5 Top 5 Lists of 2007
By: Pat FerraraDate: Monday, December 31, 2007
It’s the last Weekly Book Buzz of the year, and even though this release schedule is for the first batch of SF, Fantasy, and Horror books coming out in 2008 I wanted to take a quick, clichéd look at the requisite lists of 2007 superlatives.
Featured below are the top five “Top 5 Lists of 2007” I’ve randomly generated without any regard for facts, feelings, or decency (i.e. in true ‘Jet Lag’ fashion). It seems only appropriate to start with a book-related list, but like a wacky Japanese variety show anything goes after that!
Top 5 Fantasy & Sci-Fi Book Series to Date
5. George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire
4. Isaac Asimov’s Foundation
3. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter
2. J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
1. Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time
In a year punctuated by the deaths of Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Jordan, 2007 needed some strong genre releases, yet unfortunately good ole George wasn’t able to deliver his much anticipated fifth volume of the intended seven-novel ASoIaF set, forcing me to reduce its standing in this irrefutable list of the best genre series to date.
Asimov’s Foundation series will always hold a treasured place in my heart. The story of mathematician extraordinaire Hari Seldon and his sweeping journey to save a crumbling, far-future empire is one of the building blocks of modern SF. There’s a reason Asimov’s masterpiece won the Hugo Award for “Best All-Time Series” in 1965. If you haven’t read this yet get to it!
The year 2007 undeniably belongs to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. The release of Deathly Hallows not only completed the astoundingly successful witchcraft and wizardry arc but also obliterated all publishing records. Despite these accomplishments though Rowling’s series never quite did it for me like Lord of the Rings did, and the few of you that read this column on a weekly basis should already know of my unequivocal love for Jordan’s Wheel of Time. So the epic has grown a bit too big and the author died before finishing the final tome, A Memory of Light. In my opinion WoT is still the best bang for your buck in the realm of fantasy literature.
Top 5 Console Games of 2007
5. Rock Band
4. Halo 3
3. BioShock
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
1. Half-Life 2: Orange Box
Now I know it’s easy to make fun of GUITAR HERO and the rest of its rock-simulation ilk, and no one did it better than the master satirists Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park Episode 166: “Guitar Queer-o”), but by god these games are actually fun. When a buddy of mine told me he dropped the $170 to get Harmonix’s ROCK BAND, I thought he was crazy. Then I became the bassist in “Sly Beaver and the Dirty Rascal,” and now I can say with total confidence that if you’ve never bellowed Weezer’s “Say it Aint So” at the top of your lungs while flawlessly executing its bitchin’ guitar solo, well, you’ve never rocked.
Lev Grossman of Time Magazine named HALO 3 the best game of 2007, but I have to wholeheartedly disagree with this ‘expert’. Bungie & Microsoft’s Master Chief cash cow merely gave most fans exactly what they wanted: more of the same. But those of us that desire truly innovative gaming need look no further than 2K’s BIOSHOCK, CALL OF DUTY 4, or the simply amazing HALF-LIFE 2: ORANGE BOX. While I’ve never been a fan of any CALL OF DUTY game, Activision’s first foray into contemporary CoD warfare blew me away with impressive graphics, awesome new features (like a death cam that’s perfect for multiplayer smack talk), and a surprisingly fluid control set.
Both BIOSHOCK and the ORANGE BOX pushed the Havok physics engine to its very limits, giving gamers unique, fun, and visually beautiful environs for the next generation of FPS destruction.
Top 5 Entertainment & Technology Conflicts of 2007
5. Cloud Computing vs. Microsoft
4. HDVD vs. Blu-Ray
3. Stem Cells vs. Government
2. WGA vs. AMPTP
1. Deckard’s Human vs. Replicant Status
Though cloud computing is still in its infancy, the idea of making downloadable software applications (like Microsoft Office) obsolete by offering free apps completely over the web is already stirring up trouble. Spearheaded by Google and IBM, cloud computing aims to revolutionize how individuals and businesses interact with their software in an increasingly connected world. Look for this confrontation to explode into a full bout of fisty cuffs in the next few years.
Microsoft may still be in the prep stage for taking on cloud computing, but in the meantime they’ve been hard at work this year actively protecting their current profit vehicle: streaming online video. Rumors that Microsoft is handing out kickbacks to keep the HDVD and Blu-Ray conflict alive may be unsubstantiated, but that doesn’t make the format war any less deadlocked.
The Writers Strike has provided us all with loads of tabloid-like entertainment, but as the year comes to a close my guilty-pleasure love of entertainment conflict has, in this case, turned into genuine concern and worry. Will the AMPTP budge on royalty issues? Can the WGA hold out until June? These are the questions of the new year, and I can only hope that all of this, in retrospect, won’t be for naught. Stay strong writers!
Top 5 Movies of 2007 I Regret Never Seeing Due to Inexplicable Reasons
5. Once
4. An Unreasonable Man
3. The Host
2. Sunshine
1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Now I don’t take too kindly to sappy romantic films, but the buzz surrounding John Carney’s ONCE made me do a double-take. Yet like the Ralph Nader doc AN UNREASONABLE MAN, the self-reflexive monster flick THE HOST, and Danny Boyle’s SUNSHINE, ONCE was a bit difficult to find in theatres… but not difficult enough that I couldn’t have seen all these films during their theatrical run.
For all of you HP fans that are up in arms right now let me make a correction: I did in fact get to the theatre for ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, but I only remember the opening and closing scenes of the film itself. You see the marriage between movie theatres and full-service bars is a beautiful thing, but treacherous when enjoyed with hundreds of strangers connected in mutual fandom.
If you think you could keep from getting black-out drunk at a sold out, six-print midnight screening (at a theatre equipped with a fireplace lounge serving HP-themed mixed drinks), well, you’re a better man than I. Why didn’t I see PHOENIX at a later date? I can only respond with a colossal shrug. Damn you inexplicable reasons!
Maxim Magazine’s “Unsexiest Women Alive” Top 5 List
5. Britney Spears
4. Madonna
3. Sandra Oh
2. Amy Winehouse
1. Sarah Jessica Parker
This list isn’t even one of my own, but it’s definitely my favorite.
When Maxim editors likened Madonna to a “Willem DaFoe with hot flashes” and declared that Sarah Jessica Parker was the “least sexy woman in a group of very unsexy women” they elicited a universal cheer from men everywhere. For this reason I had to mention Maxim’s list here as one of the very best of 2007.
So remember Sarah Jessica Parker that, despite your success and fame, you are not sexy.
I hope all of you Maniac readers have enjoyed this year with myself and the Weekly Book Buzz column. Keep all of your suggestions and comments coming and have a safe and Happy New Year!
Books to check out this week: Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, Hunter’s Run, & Weavers of War
New in Hardcover:
The Ruby Dice, Catherine Asaro (Baen Books)
Two men, two empires. Jaibriol ruled the Eubian Concord: over two trillion people across more than a thousand worlds and habitats. Kelric ruled the Skolian Imperialate. War had come before—ten years ago, Jaibriol had lost his parents in the final battle of the Radiance War between the Concord and the Imperialate—and it might come again, devastating vast swathes of the galaxy. Neither Jaibriol nor Kelric wanted war, but neither was complete master of his realm. And each hid a secret that, if revealed, might be his downfall. Jaibriol was a secret psion, with telepathic abilities, and to be a psion in the Eubian Concord was to be a contemptible slave, eventually to be tortured for the pleasure of the slave's owner. Kelric, years ago, had disappeared for nearly two decades. He had been a prisoner and slave on the planet Coban, part of neither empire, until he had managed to escape. And if the Skolian Imperialate knew of his captivity, there would be demands for vengeance, ravaging Coban—and killing the wife and children Kelric had left behind when he escaped. Neither man knew how much longer he could keep his secret—nor how much longer they could hold back the threat of a war that could incinerate hundreds of inhabited worlds.
Ring of Fire II, Eric Flint (Baen Books)
A mysterious cosmic force—the “Ring of Fire”—has hurled the town of Grantville from 20th century West Virginia back to 17th century Europe, and into the heart of the Thirty Years War. With their seemingly magical technology, and their radical ideas of freedom and justice, the time-lost West Virginians have allied with Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, to form the Confederated Principalities of Europe, changing the course of history—in ways both small and large.
Gaunt’s Ghosts: Only in Death, Dan Abnett (Games Workshop)
As the crusade to liberate the Sabbat Worlds continues, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt leads the Tanith First-and-Only into an unforgiving new warzone – the fortress world of Jago. As the enemy assaults increase in fury, Gaunt and his regiment must face the terror of the present alongside the ghosts of their past, for only in death does duty end.
The Lion’s Way, Marco Marsan & Peter Lloyd (Greenleaf Book Group)
With richly imagined settings and fast-paced action, The Lion's Way leads readers on a spellbinding trip through what might have been. Juve, a member of the government's secret police, scents the rot behind the façade of the modern Roman Republic's greatness--a corruption of the democratic principles that enabled the Republic to survive and thrive for thousands of years. Ruthless politicians oppress the people. Propaganda poisons the public against those who speak out. But Juve, leading a double life, recruits a gang of revolutionaries to bring down the dictatorship. It seems that one sure strike could spark the rebellion that frees Rome. But at the crucial moment, Juve learns a shattering truth, a revelation that destroys everything he loves and believes in. Juve escapes to the past in a desperate attempt to change history. He must find the man whose teachings formed the foundation for the Republic's strength and power--Juve has to save the man some say was the son of God. With a visionary eye fixed on the the implications for our own time and place, Marco Marsan and Peter Lloyd deliver an unforgettable novel, examining questions of freedom, love, morality, and truth in the context of a thrilling struggle between might and right.
Hunter’s Run, George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, & Daniel Abraham (Eos Books)
Like so many others, Ramón Espejo ran from the poverty and hopelessness of the Third World to the promise of a new world—joining a host of like-minded workers and dreamers aboard one of the great starships of the mysterious, repulsive Enye. But the life he found on the far-off planet of São Paulo was no better than the one he had abandoned. Tough, volatile, and angry—a luckless prospector hoping for that one rich strike that will make him wealthy—Ramón is content only when on his own out in the bush, far from the dirty, loud, bustling hive of humanity that he detests with sociopathic fervor. Then one night his rage and too much alcohol get the better of him, resulting in sudden bloodshed and a high-profile murder. Ramón is forced to flee into the wilderness for however long it will take for the furor to die down. Here, mercifully, almost happily alone, Ramón is once again free. But while searching for his long-elusive lode, he stumbles upon something completely unexpected: a highly advanced alien race in hiding; fugitives like himself on a world not their own. Suddenly in possession of a powerful, dangerous secret, Ramón must battle for his freedom from alien captors and also against the hostile and unpredictable planet. And so the chase begins. Police, fugitive aliens, and a human murderer weave a web of shifting alliances as Ramón enters the greatest manhunt the alien world of São Paulo has ever known. If he is to survive, Ramón must overcome inscrutable aliens and deadly predators, but his greatest enemy is himself. With every move in the desperate game, he struggles to outwit his enemies and solve the mystery of a murder he himself committed. A rip-roaring adventure tale and character study of a fascinating and twisted mind, Hunter's Run showcases three masters of the form at their best.
The Voyage of the Proteus, Thomas M. Disch (Subterranean Press)
Subterranean Press is proud to present an original novella by one of speculative fictions most original voices. Not since the Odyssey by the Greek poet Homer has there been such a rousing adventure on the high seas, not since the celebrated comic book 300 such noble torsoes and dashing deeds, not since Scarlet O'Hara such an intrepid heroine as the Trojan princess and pythoness Cassandra. Abducted from her ravaged homeland by the cruel warlord Agamemnon, Cassandra needs all her beauty and guile to survive the perils of the Aegean Sea, but she is able to do so with the help of a modern-day Ulysses--the Author Himself, an aged writer transported back into an Age of Pagan Rites! Signed, limited edition.
Time’s Tapestry: Navigator, Stephen Baxter (Ace Hardcover)
As William the Conqueror's men attempt to stamp out the flames of rebellion, a prophecy is uttered. A bedraggled woman in a ruined chapel speaks of civilizations in conflict, armed by the engines of God... And that prophecy proves to be true as the fearsome war between Christianity and Islam leaves its mark across the land. In Spain, a rogue priest dreams of the final defeat of Islam, for he has found a rent in the tapestry of time, a point where agents from the future used diabolical weapons of destruction to change history. Centuries later, in 1492, as men of vision weary of the strife and are drawn to the unknown West, one such explorer seeks the funding for his voyage-while a mysterious Weaver plots to unravel the strands of time and stop him.
New in Paperback:
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, Ed. by John Joseph Adams (Night Shade Books)
Famine, Death, War, and Pestilence: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the harbingers of Armageddon - these are our guides through the Wastelands... From the Book of Revelations to The Road Warrior; from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today's most renowned authors of speculative fiction, including George R.R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King, Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon.
The Science of Dune, Ed. by Kevin R. Grazier (Benbella Books)
With Sandworms of Dune—the last title in the bestselling Dune science fiction series—due to be released in August 2007, sci-fi fans wanting to brush up on their Dune trivia and analyze the books from a fresh viewpoint will be able to do so with this definitive reference. Delving into the world of Dune, this guide offers fascinating scientific speculation on topics including physics, chemistry, ecology, evolution, psychology, technology, and genetics. It also scrutinizes Frank Herbert’s science fiction world by asking questions such as Is the ecology of Dune realistic? Is it theoretically possible to get information from the future? Could humans really evolve as Herbert suggests? and Which of Herbert’s inventions have already come to life? This companion to the Dune series is a must-have for any fan who wants to revisit this science fiction world and explore it even further.
Thunder of Time, James F. David (Tor Books)
Ten years ago, the prehistoric past collided with the present as time itself underwent a tremendous disruption, transporting huge swaths of the Cretaceous Period into the world of the twentieth century. Entire neighborhoods and cities were replaced by dense primeval jungles and modern humanity suddenly found itself sharing the earth with fierce dinosaurs. In the end, desperate measures were taken to halt the disruptions and the crisis appeared to be over. Until now. Slowly at first, but with increasing frequency, time begins to unravel once more. What’s worse, Nick Paulson, Director of the newly-formed Office of Security Science, discovers that the time displacements are being manipulated by unknown parties, utilizing a mysterious new technology. Indeed, the very integrity of the space-time continuum appears to be at risk. To preserve both the future and the past, Nick and his allies must uncover the secrets hidden within in a lost temple at the center of a dino-infested jungle–and in an enigmatic structure on the surface of the moon. But they are not alone in their quest. A cult of ruthless fanatics is also intent on controlling the time waves, and they will stop at nothing to reshape history to their own design…
Inside Prince Caspian: A Guide to Exploring the Return of Narnia, Devin Brown (Baker Books)
Return to the land of Narnia for another adventure If you found Narnia through the wardrobe, you may think you know all there is to know about this mystical land. But youve only just begun the journey. In Prince Caspian, there is much more to discover. Tracing through Prince Caspian chapter by chapter, Devin Brown explores fascinating symbols, hidden meanings, and easily missed details that swirl in and around the return to Narniaall to the delight of book lovers and film fans alike. If youre ready to be transported back into the magical world of Narnia, this careful literary analysis is where you should start. Devin Browns love for Narnia and his comprehensive knowledge of C. S. Lewiss oeuvre shine out from every page of Inside Prince Caspian. In its commitment to deepening and broadening the readers understanding of Prince Caspian, Browns literary criticism follows in the tradition of Lewiss own criticism.Jonathan Rogers, author, The World According to Narnia A splendid blending of scholarship and analysis, this book helps every reader understand C. S. Lewiss Prince Caspian better than ever before. Devin Brown provides wisdom and insight in every chapter. He teaches us not only about C. S. Lewis as we go through the book but also about God, goodness, and life. A wonderful commentary!Marvin D. Hinten, author, The Keys to the Chronicles Some books are wonderful, but very few are absolutely necessary. Devin Browns Inside Prince Caspian and its predecessor, Inside Narnia, are both wonderful and absolutely necessary. I am thrilled they exist and recommend them with great enthusiasm and joy.Eric Metaxas, author, Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery Devin Brown is a professor of English at Asbury College. A C. S. Lewis aficionado, Brown has been regularly writing, teaching, and lecturing on Lewis for more than ten years. Brown is the author of Inside Narnia.
Weavers of War, David B. Coe (Tor Books)
In the four previous books of his epic fantasy series Winds of the Forelands, David Coe has woven a complex tapestry of magic and politics, courage and betrayal, love and hate. Now, he brings the many strands of this enthralling series together in a climactic novel that will thrill readers of epic magical fantasy. For years the magical Qirsi people who live among the Eandi courts of the Forelands have conspired, weakening alliances among the realms. The renegades are led by a mysterious Weaver named Dusaan with powers that allow him to appear in the dreams of his followers and to bind the magic of many Qirsi into a single weapon more potent than any the Eandi have faced in a thousand years. Now, his planning begins to bear fruit. He reveals himself to friend and foe alike, knowing that none can stand against him. Dusaan takes control of the Empire and begins his march toward war, enlisting those who serve him in other realms to join the battle, as the ranks of his army swell. King Kearney's armies are forced to battle Eandi invaders from Braedon. However, this battle is a diversion contrived by Dusaan to weaken the Eandi armies. Grinsa, another Weaver, fights for the king. Knowing that the renegades are the true enemy, he struggles to make his people recognize this before it's too late. At last, the two Weavers do battle, Dusaan leading his army of Qirsi sorcerers, Grinsa standing with an alliance of Eandi nobles and warriors. Whichever side wins will bear a heavy cost for victory.
I find Jordan to be the most bloated and derivative fantasy writer out there. I think it was after reading the fifth book I realized that his female characters are essentially all the same, and that he just kept trying to stretch out a series for as long as possible.