Bookwyrmmes: Avid Readers of the Fantastical, Impractical, and Techno-Babblical

Announcing Aetherica 2009 - A Fantasy Convention

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:28:42 GMT

Announcing Aetherica 2009 – A Fantasy Convention

We are proud to announce Aetherica, a new fantasy convention to take place in Chester, England on the weekend of June 19th – 21st, 2009.

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in the centre of Chester will play host to a weekend of diverse fantasy-themed programming, ranging from presentations and panels to craft workshops and team building activities. Just as fantasy ranges from fairy tales to complex epics, So Aetherica will offer everything from in-depth literary analysis to whimsical games.

Guests of honour include Peter Beagle, a superb author best known for his novel, The Last Unicorn who has been described as “America’s greatest living fantasist,” and Joe Abercrombie, a critically acclaimed new talent whose books have been labelled as “edgy”, “humorous” and “compelling, with a gritty, real-life feel.”

Join us at midsummer 2009, and spend a weekend celebrating all that is magical.

Current membership rates are:
Adults: £35 (until November 16th 2008)
Juniors (5-18): £25
Infants (under 5): £5
Please see our website (Aetherica FAQ) for more details on the rates and price rises.

For more information about the convention, to join or to book a hotel room, see Aetherica.org

Media Enquires: Wednesday Jones
Publicity@aetherica.org

Fantasy Web Serial - Free Chapter Each Week

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:33:28 GMT

THE GAUNTLET THROWN

by Cheryl Dyson & Xina Marie Uhl

A Free Web Serial
New Chapters Every Tuesday

We've just published Chapter 5 - join us for more!

Brydon's quest was simple. Borrow the fabled Gauntlet of Ven-Kerrick, bring it home to prove his worth, marry the princess, and ascend the throne.

He had planned for the dangerous terrain and Redolian assassins, but he did not count on slavers and werewolves. He did not expect the Gauntlet to be missing, nor to find the Kerrick royal family murdered, and he definitely did not anticipate the distractions of a sultry thief and a rescued slave girl.

Luckily, his worst enemy was there to help him out.

To receive free chapters of the entire novel - one per week - friend us or join our newsletter here.

Free Fantasy Web Serial

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:43:59 GMT

THE GAUNTLET THROWN

by Cheryl Dyson & Xina Marie Uhl

A Free Web Serial Beginning July 1, 2008

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:52:51 GMT

Hello! Thought I'd make a post about one of my favorite authors! Has anybody else discovered and loved Brandon Sanderson's books?

I wrote this for my own journal, but I thought you guys might be interested. I just finished the second book in his Mistborn trilogy, and really enjoyed it.

What a great time to be a reader. Brandon Sanderson's book The Well of Ascension just came out. It's the second book in a projected trilogy called Mistborn and wow, what meaty, substantive books. Not to get all gushy, but Brandon Sanderson is my new favorite author. He has officially moved into the neighborhood in my brain where Robin McKinley, Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Steven Gould live. (Sharon Shinn used to live there on the merits of her Archangel series [brilliant, seriously!], but she keeps churning out crappy books, and she's been demoted to the banlieues of my brain. Scary!)

Back to subject - I read the first Mistborn and I enjoyed it. It was a bit slow to get into, but once I reached the halfway mark it TOOK OFF. My goal in talking about this is not to recap the plot. I really don't want to do that. I find it tedious. What I DO want to talk about is what makes these books unique.

1. The premise is unique in the genre... What happens after the final battle that typically ends epic fantasy novels? The book starts a thousand years after the hero has defeated the enemy the "Deepness." The hero has set himself up as a vicious and cruel despot named the "Lord Ruler" and enslaved an entire people group. He's remade the world in his image, and crushed every independent religion. The people worship him now.

That's how the first book starts. No more details from me. I don't want to spoil it. As good as the first one was, the second one was at least twice as good. It continually surprises. More analysis under the cut.

2. The magic system is incredibly unique. I think setting up unique magic systems is really his trademark. He did it in Elantris, his debut novel, and he upped the ante in Mistborn. The magic in Mistborn is called Allomancy and involves the ingestion and burning of metals. There are eight basic allomantic metals - Steel, Iron, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Zinc, Pewter, and Tin. Burning different metals gives you different abilities. Pewter makes you strong and fast. By burning brass you can inflame emotions while zinc soothes emotions. Tin makes your senses super sharp. Most people who can use allomancy can only use one of the metals. If you can use all of them, you are a Mistborn.

3. The setting is sharp and well drawn. The city of Luthadel is dark and dirty, covered eternally in ashes from the volcanoes that are nearby. The city is ruled by different houses, each accountable to the Lord Ruler, and they vye for favor by assassinating each other and ostentatious displays of wealth. The grinding lives of the Skaa (the enslaved people group I mentioned) is what keeps the society running.

There are a lot more really cool, innovative things that Brandon Sanderson does to set the cliches of fantasy out on their collective ear.

I do think this book has several flaws. The magic system while innovative is REALLY complex and it made it difficult for me to jump into right away. (I've analyzed this in much more depth on my journal. I edited this entry to take it out because a friend of mine pointed out that it might contain some spoilerage. I don't take kindly to spoilers and try to avoid giving them, but I think some people might have a more stringent view on what constitutes a spoiler than I do.) Also, I didn't LOVE the characters like I loved his characters in Elantris. I loved Prince Raoden even when he was mouldy and afflicted. In Mistborn, I really liked all of the characters, but nothing really pushed me too strongly towards lurv.

Overall though, this was a fabulous book, and I would definitely recommend it to any fantasy lover. It was so innovative, it almost felt like discovering the genre for the first time.

I'd rate it an 8 out of 10. (Elantris I'd give a 9.5 out of 10.)

***Edited to remove possible spoilerage.

I can't wait for the third book to come out!

The Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:47:17 GMT

The Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn: I absolutely LOVE Shinn's Angel series - I remember the day I found them, I snatched up ArchAngel, devoured it, and went back and bought all the rest immediately. The Thirteenth House is a sequel to Mystic and Rider. I don't have M&R anymore, but I vaguely remember liking it better than the 13th House. I think it is likely because I found Senneth deeper and more interesting than Kirra. And probably because I'm jealous that Kirra has men to choose from ;) Anyway, I thought Shinn did a really good job of handling the emotionally fraught subject of adultery. I especially appreciated the emotions toward the end of the book when all parties came face to face. I found some of Romar's declarations of love a little too teenager-esque for my taste, although I imagine younger readers will swoon. I felt Shinn did a GREAT job of keeping Kirra light hearted and somewhat immature without being irritating (completely different than Bishop's Lynnea). After reading Marillier's Black Mirror, I keenly felt the difference in depth of worlds. Even so, Shinn's book was a really fast paced, interesting novel that draws the reader in and holds them to the end. I would recommend first time Shinn readers start with the Angel series though :) 8/10 :)

New Review!

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 19:35:57 GMT

The Black Mirror by Juliet Marillier: Ok, first off, I'm biased because I have a soft spot in my heart for anything by Marillier. I think she's fabulous. I loved this book. A fully constructed world in terms of all aspects: social, political, spiritual, etc. I cared about every single character - all were given a depth and soul, amazing, considering how many there were. Lush descriptions, nuanced characterizations, deep motivations... fabulous. Bridei is a boy-becoming-man, full of the idealism, honour, and hope of youth - finding his way in a world of corruption and well-meant meddling. Tuala is a girl-woman who struggles valiantly in a world that rejects her. Marillier does an incredible job of exploring the dynamics of the liminal space in which Bridei's and Tuala's love exists - it is not recognized by the world, it cannot exist in the world, yet it is. The magic was subtle and felt real in its subtlety. I cannot wait to see where Marillier goes next with this series. 9.5/10

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 15:51:44 GMT

Although I seem to be the only person who does this, I will give my 3 second review of two books I recently finished :)

The Visitor by Sheri S. Tepper: Excellent and engrossing. My interest flagged a little at the end when the secrets had been revealed and Tepper moved into a more straightforward conclusion. But overall, absolutely worth the read and recommendable :) Tepper has a really lovely nuanced writing style and I love how she doesn't spell everything out for the reader. (9/10)

Sebastian by Anne Bishop: Ugh. I was so disappointed. I loved the Black Jewels trilogy, but this book was full of trite dialogue, shallow relationships between characters, silly action (like in one scene, an adult character was described as literally falling off a chair laughing), and a world that did not feel fully formed. Lynnea (heroine?) was agonizingly constructed - Bishop tried to make her naive, but she really just came out stupid and irritating (the whole rabbit / tigress thing drove me nuts). Sebastian had glimmers of being cool, but because he was tied up in Lynnea, she projected her stupidness on him. The "passion" between them was disjointed, I felt, and contrived. The character of Belladonna was really the only one with the possibility of depth, so I'm holding out hope that Belladonna will be as good as the Black Jewels books. (4/10)

January ratings

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 05:28:46 GMT

View Poll: January Book Ratings

A Pound of Flesh

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:05:59 GMT

My latest fantasy novel, A POUND OF FLESH, has hit the bookstores! It's the sequel to TO SERVE & SUBMIT:

A POUND OF FLESH

by Susan Wright

Fantasy, trade paperback

Roc/Penguin Group

Between dominance and subservience lies a power no amount of pain or pleasure can extinguish: Freedom.

Marja was once Lexander's pleasure slave – until the master found himself enslaved by her love. Together, they have vowed to free all slaves by destroying pleasure houses throughout the world. But this undertaking requires Marja to disguise herself as a slave once more and infiltrate one training house after another to sow the seeds of revolution - and risk losing the man she loves in the process.

Also - TO SERVE AND SUBMIT is now available in mass market paperback!

To read the 1st chapter of A POUND OF FLESH, go to my blog: http://susan-wright.livejournal.com

For more information, go to: www.susanwright.info

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 03:47:50 GMT

Ok, so I'm reading Melusine by Sarah Monette...

Anyone who is reading or has read this.... are you as annoyed as me re: how weak, passive, whiny, useless Felix is?

otherwise, I think it's a good book...

February's books

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 14:22:41 GMT

The books we're reading for February are:

Tinker by Wen Specer
Doppelganger by Marie Brennan

Nominations for March are open.

February books

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:57:39 GMT

Please vote for our February books.

View Poll: February books

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:18:50 GMT

I just finished reading two delightful little books. They are Tithe and Valiant by Holly Black. I ate them up like candy, going through both in probably three days. They're listed as young adult, but Valiant, at least, has adult themes (drugs and sex).

They're marvelous little faerie tales. Black has a really keen ability to make you fall in love with a guy in very few words!

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 04:13:08 GMT

What is your favorite fantasy book ever? I'm desperate for some new authors....

A Query on Trees and Their Appearance in Other Works

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 02:59:15 GMT

I set out this evening for find the perfect community to post my burning question to get maximum results. Congratulations; you belong to it, as do I (now). Thus, if anyone has any suggestions as to where else to post the following query (besides epicfantasy) for the best response possible, please comment.

I'm currently building plot line and world for a fantasy novel involving dryads and trees, specifically trees who have their own culture and language and who interact with humans for their own specific reasons as a species. I wonder how many other books out there in the vast collection of fantasy worlds contain cultures of trees and/or dryads, extensively developed or mentioned. I feel a need to know what's out there so I know what connections the readers might automatically make to other works. I'm aware of such commonly-known books like the Lord of the Rings series, the Chronicles of Narnia, and the So You Want to Be A Wizard series; I ask to pull on a more extensive knowledge of fantasy worlds. As I am also a student with a goal, I'm not as well-read in my area of writing as I would like to be. That can't be helped at the moment, so I'm asking you. What say ye, bookwyrmmes?

December ratings

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:52:10 GMT

View Poll: December Book Ratings

January books

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:04:24 GMT

The books we're reading for January are:

The Price of the Stars by Debra Doyle & James D. MacDonald
The Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Nominations for February are open.

Tiebreaker

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 02:34:26 GMT

We have a tie in the Science Fiction category for January. Will someone who hasn't voted yet please vote for Probablitly Moon, The Price of the Stars, or Warchild on the poll. Thank you.

January books

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 23:57:46 GMT

Please vote for our January books.

View Poll: January books

Conquistador

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 18:57:48 GMT

At the moment I am reading "Conquistador" by S.M. Stirling.

I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on it.

$10 is it really that cheap?

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 18:50:57 GMT

Yes folks! Threadless, the bestest site on the interweb for buying absolutely fabulous t-shirts and hoodies, is having a hugeoramous sale!!! most of their shirts are only $10!!! Here's the link:
http://www.threadless.com?streetteam=Mograt
Isn't it the best!?!?!

November ratings

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:36:17 GMT

View Poll: November Book Ratings

Firebird discussion

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:38:30 GMT

In Kathy Tyers website, she says that in 1999 and 2000 she rewrote Firebird and Fusion Fire as she would have liked them to be in the first place. It would be interesting to see the changes she made.
Which edition do you have, the one published in 1987 or 1999?

Mine is the '87 and I've noticed a few changes - like descriptions and names - just in the excerpt from her website. In the earlier edition her punishment for spying was much more lenient than in the excerpt of the later edition.

It's an interesting society as long as you're the eldest child. At least for the Ruling and noble class. Only the eldest Heir will be allowed to have children. The second Heir can marry but not have children. The third and fourth are expendable and are expected to find a quick and honorable death upon the birth of the Heir's children. It seems to me that there would be many more assassination attempts upon the eldest child and even the second child in a family with those kinds of rules. Even raised in with that mindset, of being a wastling, many of them didn't want to die. What better way than to kill off the person before you so you can move up in line. You just have to make sure you don't get caught!
Another thing was that the Ruler or Head of the noble family was supposed to commit suicide when their Heir was ready to take his or her place. Now where's the incentive to teach your child how to Rule or lead when you know that upon reaching that time, you'll have to take your own life?

I was surprised that Carradee wasn't killed by Phoena. I know she had plans to become Queen but I never heard of any plans she'd made or had ready to be put into action at the right time.

December books

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 22:54:38 GMT

The books we're reading for December are:

Firebird by Kathy Tyers
The Sight by David Clement-Davies

Nominations for January are open.

Tiebreakers

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:07:24 GMT

We have ties in both Science Fiction and Fantasy novels for Dec.

Can someone who hasn't voted yet please scroll down to the poll and vote for either Firebird or Warchild in Science Fiction and The Last Dragonlord, The Salt Roads, or The Sight in Fantasy.
Thanks.