Libromancer's Apprentice

A Terrible Fall of Angels (Zaniel Havelock #1) / Laurell K. Hamilton Confession - as much as I read large amounts of urban fantasy, particularly those with some sort of Investigator main character, I haven't really gotten into Hamilton's earlier works.  I gave Anita  the college try, working through a handful of books, but while I respected her work I never grew invested in the series.   But, Guilty Pleasures  came out in 1993.  Thirty years is a long time for someone to hone and refine their craft, and Hamilton's body of work and impact on the genre speaks volumes to her skill.  So a brand new series made me sit up and pay attention.  I wanted to see where this went, and I was not let down in the slightest.  Laurell K. Hamilton also took some time to answer some questions about the series, themes, setting, and horror! A Terrible Fall of Angels gives us a new setting, one where faith and belief can shape your magic, one where children can be...

Empire of Silence ( Sun Eater #1) / Christopher Ruocchio This month I got my hands on a pre-pub copy of Empire of Silence , Christopher Ruocchio's debut novel.   It is, at this point, already out and on bookstore shelves, but I've been busy and at about 600 pages it took a little longer to get through. As a side note, my copy has a quote from James S. A. Corey rather than David Drake on the cover as shown in the image here. Empire of Silence gives us an Space Opera with flavors of epic fantasy, starting us at the very end with our narrator awaiting execution.  I'd say it's a good read for fans of Pierce Brown's Red Rising. From the publisher: Hadrian Marlowe, a man revered as a hero and despised as a murderer, chronicles his tale in the galaxy-spanning debut of the Sun Eater series, merging the best of space opera and epic fantasy. It was not his war. The galaxy remembers him as a hero: the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remem...

The Dresden Files  is probably one of my favorite series out there, and was quite conceivably my proper introduction to Urban Fantasy.  Thinking back, I know I read fantasy within contemporary and urban settings, but this grumpy, sarcastic, and too stubborn for his own good wizard caught my attention. And then this collection comes across my radar.  With not just a new Dresden Files story, but stories by some of my favorite authors. Shadowed Souls  is an excellent collection of dark and urban fantasy, and a decent introduction to the genre for the curious.  If you're already a fan of urban fantasy but don't recognize the authors... pick up this collection, you've been missing out. And editor Kerrie L. Hughes gave us some of her time to answer questions about working on anthologies!  Read on! Hello!  Thank you for your time, both in answering these questions and the time invested in such a great anthology. How do you get started with an ...

Seanan McGuire has become a go-to author for me, writing smart, fun, and compulsively readable books. Once Broken Faith is the latest October Daye novel. Part of me just wishes that Toby could have a nice, relaxing vacation... but let's be honest, its when things go wrong that they get all sorts of interesting. Toby is due for that break, and she almost gets it, the story opening to an amazing scene of domestic "normalcy" (or as normal as one can get with fae teenagers running around) that rarely shows up in her life. But as they say, no good deed goes unpunished, and returning with a cure for elf-shot certainly counts. Now her brief interlude of peace at home with her built family is interrupted as she's pulled into the dangerous world of pure-blood faerie politics as the only changeling at the conclave... and then the first dead body shows up. As part of the release of Once Broken Faith , and with the help of Penguin RandomHouse, I was able to snag some...

In case you missed it, The Nightmare Stacks is out, and I absolutely loved it. Well, Charles Stross took some time to answer a few questions about The Nightmare Stacks , and if you don't read his blog it's a nice little glimpse into his incredibly brilliant and complex brain.  I made an attempt to come up with questions he hasn't already answered countless times or talked about on his blog, and I think I met with mixed success.  I will say this, he did drop some hints about The Delirium Brief , and gave some splendid answers to my inquiries. The Nightmare Stacks marks the 7th book of the Laundry Files, and CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN is no longer simply a looming future.  It's here.  Right in the middle of it all is former merchant bandker and under-prepared neophyte Laundry Agent (and f neophyte PHANG, but that's a different story) Alex.  The most pressing things on Alex's mind dealing with his v-parasite, hoping his new roomates (Pinky and the Brain) don...

Like always, Arisia was chaotic and awesome.  For the past few years I've attended primarily in the capacity of staff which takes up a good chunk of my time, and this year we had to truncate our attendance due to work on Friday and Monday.  I also took part in three panels this year over the two days we were in attendance, so fun times.  Next year we're going out early Friday and coming back Monday evening... it really does make a difference. I only had a brief time in which to check out the art-show, after the auction closed Sunday night.  The one frustration I've regularly had with Arisia is the hours things are open.  I'm used to late opening vendor rooms, but usually hand-in-hand with a vendor room opening at 10am or later, is that it stays open until maybe 8 or 9 (or later).  Maybe the few fandom conventions that I'm used to are the exception to the rule.  I was excited that the vendor room was open later than normal, which meant until 7PM inste...

ComicBlitz Launches Unlimited Comic Book Subscription Service for the iPad Pretty cool, but like everything else in the digital reading subscription game, still has a ways to go. Library Science Fiction: “Tomes and Talismans” This just sounds super cool to me, some day maybe I'll even have a chance to watch it. Canva for Nonprofits Great tool for creating graphic media, now available in full for non-profits. Entire editorial staff of Elsevier journal Lingua resigns over high price, lack of open access This... is kind of amazing. Victory for Users: Librarian of Congress Renews and Expands Protections for Fair Uses Always a good direction. 2015 World Fantasy Awards Ballot Sherri S. Tepper won a life-time achievement award!  Also, how did I not realize that this was happening within my range of reasonable to attend events?  AAAAAH! Anne Frank’s diary in a copyright law paradox 70 years after her death For those interested in copyright and complications. This...

Black Lives Matter Inspired This Chilling Fantasy Novel N. K. Jemisin was interviewed for the  Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast, and Wired ran an article on it.  Sadly, I have a feeling that the title of this article means a lot of people will discredit it, please don't, please read it.  She is a fantastic author, and she's not making up her experiences or talking about something that could happen. EFF Asks Court on Behalf of Libraries and Booksellers to Recognize Readers’ Right to Be Free of NSA’s Online Surveillance It's really hard to cut out tracking and surveillance of third parties with any sort of online library service. Who Won Science Fiction’s Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters Ok, so this one should have been in my August collection, but I was slacking. Dudes, Did You See the Library They’ve Got Here? A fun read from McSweeney's. Academics are being hoodwinked into writing books nobody can buy Gah. How Much Money do Libraries Spend on e-Boo...

Ragnarok has come and gone, and both the world and the gods are still around.  After the defeat of Baldur, Lain, who is perhaps both Loki and Baldur, must return with Odin's spear to Asgard.  Odin, Thor, and many of the others are dead and gone, the god's children seek to claim the former power of Asgard's glory, Hel was slain in combat and seeks to claim her place among the honored dead, and the Wyrd twists lives, pulling gods and mortals alike. Sigmund is both a young man, a low-level IT tech, and the avatar of a Norse goddess who was the wife of Loki.  Em and Wayne are the reincarnations of the Valkyries slain in battle.  Still coming to terms with what they are, and what that means, they all must reclaim roles to prevent a second Ragnarok. Read Full Review Also reviewed: Liesmith : Book 1 of the Wyrd Alis Franklin has graciously shared her time with me to answer some questions as part of a TLC Book Tour for her latest novel, Stormbringer . ...