Wonder vs. Grittiness

I've read a lot of gritty novels lately, and I'm beginning to crave that sense of wonder again. I've blogged on this before, just over a year ago. My point then--and now--is one of the reasons I read fantasy is for that sense of wonder.

I like gritty stories as well, but the pendulum seems to be swinging too far over on the gritty side of late. Rare is the author who can combine the two. Alex Bledsoe managed it in The Sword-Edged Blonde, which is one of the reasons I liked that book so much.

Of the recent debuts I've read, The Warded Man was the grittiest. It was also one of my favorites. The last book I read with a true sense of wonder was The Name of the Wind. It wasn't really gritty at all.

I'm thinking that wonder must be very difficult to pull off. Interestingly, Arthur C. Clarke stands out in my mind as a writer who could really do a sense of wonder well. And he, of course, wrote science fiction based on hard science.

What do I look for in wonder? Anything that can give me a moment where I just think, "Aaah." It's kind of like a bit of dessert nestled among the pages. Book candy. It could be anything from how overwhelmingly huge Jupiter is up close (2001: A Space Oddessy) to the first glimpse of an ancient abandoned mountain city (Rhapsody: Child of Blood by Elizabeth Haydon). It can even be leaves stirring in a courtyard (The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss).

I went to my shelf and pulled out the books that I thought were most likely to contain a sense of wonder. One was Slathbog's Gold, which I blogged about a few weeks ago, where I was having a hard time getting into it because of a lack of conflict. The other is Seekers of the Chalice by Brian Cullen. Tor sent it to me last year, and the cover is so beautiful that I think a attempt at wonder must be hiding within. I had a hard time getting into it last year, but since Tor sent me the sequel, The Valley of Shadows, I'm going to give it another shot, in between the other books I'm reading. Fortunately, neither book is very long.

Has anyone read Seekers of the Chalice? It seems to be under-reviewed in the Blogosphere.

What are some books you've read lately with a sense of wonder?

Random Chatter

Whew! Springs sports season is over, and I'm heaving a big sigh of relief. This is our first year doing this, and we spent most of the last eight weekends at either competitions or exhibitions. My daughter loved it, so it was worth it. We'll do it again next year, plus hopefully some more stuff.

I've been reading The Stranger and Lisa Shearin's The Trouble With Demons, which comes out at the end of the month. I'm going to do an advance review on that one. It's the author's third novel, but since she was my first author here at FD, I imagine I'll cover all her books.

Last week, I did some beta reading for a very promising young author, and I hope she doesn't mind my linking her here. I don't do a lot of beta reading, but she has read both of my novels, and now I have read both of hers. Her latest is a Young Adult Fantasy called Grim Light, and it's nothing like all the vampire stuff you see these days. She's come up with a fascinating mythology around Death, and her novel was very un-put-downable. I would be very surprised if she weren't published in the next five years. Maybe I'll be able to announce her here, if I keep this blog going that long.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my calls for opinions on Epic Fantasy Week. All the authors generated some interest, but the ones who generated the most interest were Tad Williams and Peter V. Brett. The most popular subjects were Gods and Religions, and Magic Systems, with the other subjects getting either one or two votes.

So now I need to get busy--especially now that I have a bit more time on the weekends!

I Must Have It! Today!!

Check it out! Yes, it is what you think it is! A comic adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice! It is part of Marvel Illustrated, where Marvel brings you classics such as The Man in the Iron Mask, The Wizard of Oz and The Portrait of Dorian Grey. The artist is the Rita award-winning Romance novelist Nancy Butler. She discusses it in this article.

This link has the first eight pages of the comic book, which take you all the way up to Darcy's Snubbing. It is true to the story, if a bit rushed. I like what I see of the art so far. The women aren't too sexy, which I was afraid of. In the cover art above, Lizzy is a dead ringer for Jennifer Ehle, the actress who played Lizzy in the 1995 A&E adaptation with Colin Firth. However, inside the comic book, Lizzy has her own look. Jane is especially elegant, and even Mary is pretty. I'm not terribly fond of Darcy's look here--he's a bit too modern.

I will go today in search of one. I will brave murky comic book shops if I must, but if Marvel did its distribution smart, it will be available in the comic/graphic novel section of bookstores. (BTW, best comic book shop ever? Atomic Comics is Mesa, Arizona.) If I can't find one, I will buy it here.

Progress Report - The Stranger by Max Frei

The Stranger by Max Frei came out on the 1st and I've read the opening chapters.

Max is what the uncharitable might call a loser. He can't sleep at night and has a difficult time holding a job because of this. However, he sleeps deeply and dreams vividly during the day. So vividly that he has a difficult time telling his dreams from reality.

However, it turns out that his dreams are a sort of reality, which takes place in the city of Echo. Max is in training there to become an agent of The Minor Secret Investigative Force of the City of Echo. After a brief background, we are plunged into Max's training.

Lots of strange things happen, but for me, it suffers from a lack of conflict. Why is it I keep ending up with books that have conflict problems? I haven't gotten very far, mostly for this reason. No matter how strange the setting and engaging the magic--and it is both strange and engaging--I do need a bit of conflict to carry me through.

The Max Frei books are very popular in Russia, and this novel is its debut in the United States. The protagonist and the author have the same name, so it's like you're reading Max's autobiography. Check out this Wikipedia entry. I was a bit confused at first, and email conversations with the book's publicist led to my being offered this review copy.

I certainly intend to continue reading; I should have lots of unexpected free time this weekend.

UPDATE: Robert had the same problems I had with the opening, but he ultimately enjoyed it. Read his review here.

Your Input Sought - Epic Fantasy Week

I'm putting together a weeklong event* here at Fantasy Debut in honor of my favorite fantasy subgenre--Epic Fantasy. I'd love to have your input. As part of Epic Fantasy Week, I'd like to invite some epic fantasy authors to do interviews. I was thinking about two authors, a debut author and a well-established author. The below lists are based on novelists whose work I have followed (and still follow) over the years. Who would you be interested in? (This is assuming they agree to be interviewed, or that I can reach them.)

• Tad Williams
• J. V. Jones
• Tracy Hickman
• Elizabeth Moon

And here are my possibilities for debut authors. I limited it to authors whose books I've read.

• David Anthony Durham (Acacia)
  
• Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind)
  
• Ken Scholes (Lamentation)
  
• Peter Brett (The Warded Man)
  

You're welcome to suggest authors who I may not have thought of, but in the end, I'll pick someone of whose work I'm a genuine fan.

Here are some possible epic fantasy subjects for me to write about to fill the rest of the week. Please pick two or three. The list is by no means limited to what's here, so if you think of something else, let me know!

• I Still Love Elves (actually, I've already started this one)
• Dwarves, Ogres and Orcs
• Why All-Powerful Characters Lose Me
• Epic Journeys
• Historic Epics and Alternate History
• Magic Systems
• Gods and Religions
• "Science Fantasy"
  

I'm also planning to approach publishers for epic fantasy prize packs! I'm hoping the prize packs can be truly epic in scope. (Bad pun? Sorry.)

Anything else you'd like me to cover as I celebrate my favorite subgenre?

*With apologizes to Heather of The Galaxy Express.

Review: Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

Red-Headed Stepchild (US - Canada - UK)
by Jaye Wells (Website - Blog - MySpace - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads)
Publisher: Orbit (March 31, 2009)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Excerpt

Publisher's Blurb:
In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now.

This time, it's personal.

Red-Headed Stepchild is the story of Sabina Kane, half vampire and half mage, who is assigned to infiltrate a rival group of supernatural creatures led by a "man" named Clovis, who is half vampire and half demon (he's not really a man in the human sense, hence the quotation marks). The book is urban fantasy set in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I found it to be a quick read that held my interest. However, throughout the book I felt detached from Sabina, even though her outcast status as a half-breed initially made her sympathetic. The events of the story were described, but I couldn't always tell how they were affecting Sabina emotionally, so it was hard to empathize with her. At other points the book seemed to be telling me what she was feeling instead of showing me. For instance, there's a fun demon character named Giguhl whose antics annoy Sabina no end. I never got the idea that she was fond of him. But later we're told she is, although it wasn't backed up by anything shown previously. The same kind of emotional telling instead of showing happened a few more times with other characters. Telling isn't as effective as showing, and it kept me from connecting emotionally with Sabina and the others. Even when a certain friendly character died I didn't find that I cared.

The plot itself kept me guessing. Sabina can't trust anyone, so there was a constant sense that the story could go anywhere. However, there were a few times when I wanted to yell at Sabina to pay attention to clues she was choosing to disregard. For instance, if a friend disappears under mysterious circumstances and there are hints that another acquaintance might be involved, it's probably a good idea to investigate. Whenever Sabina ignored a clue or potential problem, which happened too many times, she seemed to be acting illogically, which detracted from the read.

The world of the story is nicely fleshed out, particularly the origin myth. In this world the supernatural races are the children of Lilith and worship her as their goddess. Vampires are descended from Lilith and Cain. The vampires' "mark of Cain," which they all inherited from their forefather, is their red hair. The mythology is logical and believable. I particularly liked the significance of applewood, although I wasn't clear on why it seemed to be toxic only to vampires, not to Lilith's other supernatural descendants.

Before the end Sabina has to make an important decision about her loyalty. Of course, she needs something big to propel her into making her final decision. Unfortunately, the "something" that was chosen didn't seem compelling enough. I felt there were much better, more logical reasons for her to make the decision she did.

Once her decision was made, then the story progressed to the climax -- except that the climax was anticlimactic, particularly in respect to a certain enemy who had to be dealt with. What Sabina chose to do seemed to be dictated by the needs of future stories, not by Sabina's own emotional needs. It wasn't organic, so it wasn't completely satisfying.

Overall, I have to say I found Red-Headed Stepchild to be a flawed book, but it also had its good points. It provided a light read and an interesting take on the vampire mythos.

March Debut Round-Up

Midwinter (US - Canada - UK)
by Matthew Sturges (Website - Blog - Facebook - Forum - Twitter)
Publisher: Pyr (March 24, 2009)
Paperback: 345 pages
Excerpt

Publisher's Blurb:
Winter comes to the land only once in a hundred years. But the snow covers ancient secrets: secrets that could topple a kingdom.

Mauritaine was a war hero, a captain in the Seelie Army. Then he was accused of treason and sentenced to life without parole at Crere Sulace, a dark and ancient prison in the mountains, far from the City Emerald. But now the Seelie Queen – Regina Titania herself – has offered him one last chance to redeem himself, an opportunity to regain his freedom and his honor.

Unfortunately, it’s a suicide mission . . .

Read more at Pyr Books. Matthew Sturges is a former comic book writer for D. C. The author website above takes you to Clockwork Storybook, a group writer blog. Contrary to the "clockwork" part of their name, it does not appear to be a steampunk blog.

Reviews: Fantasy Book Critic - Grasping for the Wind

The Betrayal (US - Canada - UK)
by Pati Nagle (Website - Blog - Livejournal - Twitter - Facebook)
Publisher: Del Rey (March 24, 2009)
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Excerpt

Publisher's Blurb:
The noble and magical aelven were riven by war when a rogue clan embraced a forbidden source of magic: the drinking of blood. In the bitter fighting that ensued, the vampiric Clan Darkshore were cast out of the aelven and driven across the Ebon Mountains. Stripped of their various clan colors, they were thenceforth known only as “alben,” hated and shunned. An uneasy peace now holds over the land, but it is whispered that Shalár, the beautiful and bloodthirsty queen of the alben, is readying a surprise attack to win back all that was lost–and none can say where or when she will strike.

The fate of the clans will depend on two young aelven lovers, Eliani and Turisan, who are blessed with a legendary gift: the fabled power of mindspeech. But this ability comes with great risks. Time is running out as the alben mount their attack–and their ultimate betrayal.

Reviews: Aelven

The review site above takes you to a page of author blurbs. Pati Nagle is a historical novelist making the jump to fantasy. From her bio, she has been a lifelong fan of fantasy and science fiction.

Red-Headed Stepchild (US - Canada - UK)
by Jaye Wells (Website - Blog - MySpace - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads)
Publisher: Orbit (March 31, 2009)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Excerpt

Publisher's Blurb:
In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now.

This time, it's personal.

Reviews: Darque Reviews - SciFiGuy.ca

The author got a fabulous book deal for this one; congratulations to her! Her name is already familiar to me--she has been very active on Facebook. Raven has already read Red-Headed Stepchild and her review will be appearing later in the week.

Introducing Debut Roundups

Tomorrow morning, Mulluane and I are unveiling our new Debut Showcase format. For now, it is called Debut Roundup, unless we can think of a better name. You can still find them by using the "Debut News" tag.

The way it will work is we will collect information throughout the month on debuts that are releasing that month. On the last day of the month--or close to it--I will post the whole thing. I don't anticipate more than 7 to 10 debuts in any one month. if I get more than that, I may put up a post around the 15th as well.

This will relax my blog schedule significantly, since I will no longer have to reserve several days a week for Debut Showcases. I'll be able to do more as-I-read-it reviews, as well as fun, informal posts like you saw last week.

Review: Blood Blade by Marcus Pelegrimas

Blood Blade (US - Canada - UK)

By Marcus Pelegrimas (Website - Blog)
Publisher: Eos (January 27, 2009)
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Excerpt

I found Blood Blade refreshing. Although it contains vampires and monsters (specifically various types of werewolves), it offers a fresh take on them, primarily concerning their biology and how they reproduce. Vampirism is transmitted by a spore that attaches to the heart. Werewolfism can be transmitted through werewolf bites, but someone who is bitten won't become a pure werewolf. The world of this book also contains other types of wereanimals who aren't really friendly with the werewolves. Blood Blade is urban fantasy with a setting moving from Seattle to Canada to Chicago and beyond.

The story is about a human named Cole, who starts out a mere computer game developer and ends up a Skinner, which is someone who dedicates his life to fighting werewolves and keeping a fragile peace with vampires (known as Nymar). I felt Cole's initial introduction to the Skinner way of life was a little shaky, since it required him to suddenly decide to take an extreme vacation to the wilds of Canada, where he ran into a type of werewolf known as a Full Blood. This encounter propelled him into the rest of the story. Unfortunately, I could see all of it being set up, and I wished Cole had had more of a reason to be where the Full Blood was. I still don't know why that particular Full Blood was there, but maybe that's being saved for another book.

Once Cole had been propelled into the main story, everything moved along at an enjoyable clip and I didn't have any more complaints about obvious setups. For most of the book Cole is in Skinner training, but of course the things he's fighting don't wait for him to be fully trained before they attack him, so there's plenty of action along the way. Cole isn't an invincible hero by any stretch of the imagination. He's capable, has a good heart, and admits his weaknesses, all admirable qualities. He was fun to read.

His Skinner trainer is a kickass woman named Paige. She could easily have turned into a stereotype, but I didn't think she did. Naturally, Cole lusts after her, but she seems to return his interest only when they're about to die. The rest of the time she just cares about training him so he can help her fight the things that are after them. Readers will notice that the women in the book get much more detailed physical descriptions than the men, and most of the women are attractive. But I still don't know what Cole looks like other than the fact he's got a gut that appeared when he hit thirty. Maybe the gut is why Paige isn't interested in him…

The main villain's motivations were a little murky. On the one hand he was looking for revenge, but I wasn't clear on exactly how he intended to get it. He had a plan, I just wasn't sure what the end result of it was supposed to be. I did like the fact that his monster sidekick, whom I felt sorry for, had good reasons for being the way he was.

There were a few things I would have liked to see added or adjusted. First of all, I would have liked to see more of an origin myth. Cole never asks where the Nymar and various types of werewolves came from, but I wanted to know. Also, I would have liked to see Cole's gamer background play a more integral role in the story. It plays a role, but there was still room for it to become indispensable to resolving the plot. Finally, there were occasional rough patches in the writing. Not a lot, but enough that I noticed them. Awkward wording and the misuse of "lie/lay" stood out, as well as one or two spots where the characters didn't seem to know something they'd been told earlier.

On the whole, however, this was a fun book that kept me reading, and I don't hesitate to recommend it to fans of urban fantasy. Although the book contains lots of dark creatures with dark plans, the tone stays hopeful. The Skinners we follow are a pragmatic bunch who live day to day and don't worry much about angst. I've mentioned before that I'm a fan of dark characters with wounded souls. Well, there aren't any of those here (at least not among the heroes), and that's okay. The characters are fun, the pace was quick, and although the story boils down to a very basic good vs. evil plot, it's an enjoyable ride and a nice introduction to this series.

Regular Posting . . .

. . . will resume on Sunday afternoon. Raven has finished her latest review and all I need to do is spiff it up with links and images.

This week on "hiatus" has taught me something. I have been entirely too serious about this blog. I made it more lighthearted this week--more "me" to be honest--and it was much more fun. I even managed to snag a new reader or two. So expect things to be a bit more relaxed around here.

Have a great weekend and pop on back Sunday Afternoon!