SFF Blog Recap

28 Jun - 4 Jul

Welcome to this week's SFF Blog Recap! I enjoy gathering these very interesting posts every week. I hope you enjoy reading them too.

(The blog posts below are ordered alphabetically according to their Blog Site names. So there's no favoritism. You should have picked a name starting with one of the first letters of the alphabet ;) ).


Pardon Me While I Beat a Dead Horse
Fantasy & SciFi Lovin' News & Reviews

"A few weeks ago I was asked to write a post on another blog about whether women were treated fairly in comparison to men when written as action heroes. You wouldn't think this would be a hard topic to write on-- especially for me-- but let me tell you, I struggled with it. I threw up a post here asking what people thought of when I said "female superhero," originally envisioning the post would be about the more traditional comic book heroines. And while I got some good answers it failed to inspire a real dialog in my head that I could transfer to the page."


Spotlight on July Books
Fantasy Book Critic

"This month Robert Thompson provided most of the book titles with additions by Cindy Hannikman, Liviu Suciu and Mihir Wanchoo. We are featuring 60 books. This month there were considerably more new sff releases but we tried to limit ourselves to a reasonable number and we chose the books most in tune with what's reviewed here. "


2010 at Half
Fantasy Book Critic

"While this year I have done several posts about favorite novels so far, as well as updating my (collated) 2010 Anticipated Book Post with short reports and links to the full reviews when available for 61 of the 90-100 books mentioned there, I decided to do a half-year post too. I read some 97 books published in 2010 so far and I will focus on those."


SF and Fantasy Masterworks Reading Project
Floor to Ceiling Books

"I am pleased to announce a new project aiming to read the full 130+ books in the Gollancz SF and Fantasy Masterworks series. A fantastic group of bloggers has come together to provide this resource: including people such as Larry, Niall and our overlord, Patrick."


Interview: Jon Sprunk
Grasping For The Wind

"Jon Sprunk is the author of Shadow’s Son and its forthcoming sequel Shadow’s Lure, both from Pyr Books."


Guest Post | Mark Charan Newton on the Proliferation of Online Reviews (Help or Hinderence?)
The Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review

"Some authors tend to be a bit tight lipped when sharing their opinion and some share a bit too much. If you've been following Mark Charan Newton you'll know he skirts close to the second camp and often takes the contrarian point of view just to stir up good conversation."


Show Don’t Tell, And Other Myths
Mark Charan Newton

"It’s been on my mind, so I thought I’d dig up this old article on breaking writing rules, which is fantastic (and which I saw originally via Ursula Le Guin)"


Knowledge: Chainsaw or Straitjacket?
Through a Forest of Ideas

"I've been thinking about knowledge. To be honest, I've always had an ongoing discussion with myself on knowledge, it's use, it's blessings and it's shortcomings. As a reviewer, I suffer from the minority complex that I have not read enough and therefore I am far from entitled to an opinion. Because I lack knowledge, can't compare or know the classics I've the idea that I can't be a constructive contributor to the conversations, which take place at different blogs."


News from the Front
When Gravity Fails

"Anyway, I have so much exciting news for you that this is going to be a long blog post. So strap yourself in, assume the position, etc etc."


Giveaways

Interview – Liz Fichera, Author of Captive Spirit – Plus Giveaway!
Debuts & Reviews

"Liz Fichera is an author living in the American Southwest by way of Chicago. She likes to write stories about ordinary people who do extraordinary things, oftentimes against the backdrop of Native American legends. "


Giveaway! "The King's Bastard" by Rowena Cory Daniells
Fantasy/Sci-Fi Lovin' Giveaways!

"Courtesy of Rowena Cory Daniells I have a copy of The King's Bastard to offer for giveaway."


Giveaway! ‘Tongues of Serpents’ (Naomi Novik)
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

"Despite things going a little off kilter in the last book, I’m still a big fan of Naomi Novik’s ‘Temeraire’ books and plan to read ‘Tongues of Serpents’ very soon. Here’s the blurb..."


Carrie Vaughn Giveaway!
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

"Thanks to the good folks at Tor Books, I have two copies of Carrie Vaughn's latest Kitty Norville novel, Kitty Goes to War, up for grabs!"


Win a copy of Daniel Abraham's Leviathan Wept and Other Stories
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

"I have a copy of the limited edition of Daniel Abraham's Leviathan Wept and Other Stories for you to win, compliments of the cool folks at Subterranean Press."


Win a copy of Naomi Novik's Tongues of Serpents
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

"I have a copy of Naomi Novik's Tongues of Serpents for you to win, courtesy of the folks at Del Rey."


Free Reading

Free Readin’ | Small Offerings by Paolo Bacigalupi
A Dribble Of Ink

"Hot off the heels of The Windup Girl winning a Nebula Award for Best Novel and a Locus Award for Best First Novel, Paolo Bacigalupi‘s name is on everyone’s lips. Tor.com is jumping aboard the Bacigalupi bandwagon and have published Small Offerings, a short story previously only available in Fast Forward I and the limited edition of Bacigalupi’s short story collection, Pump Six."


Free Fiction: The Last Legends of Earth by A. A. Attanasio
Grasping For The Wind

"For July, you can get an eBook copy of The Last Legends of Earth by A.A. Attanasio for free with the coupon code below!"


Free Library: July New Addition!
Suvudu

"For July, Suvudu continues its fun collaboration with the Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine! This month, we are showcasing Recrossing the Styx by Ian R. MacLeod. For free. Yes, for free. "


Excerpt: Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks
Suvudu

"Del Rey Books and Terry Brooks have electronically released the first excerpt from his forthcoming novel, Bearers of the Black Staff. It is the first book of a duology set 500 years after the events of his New York Times bestselling post-apocalyptic trilogy Genesis of Shannara. "


Cover art and extract from Ian Cameron Esslemont's STONEWIELDER
The Wertzone

"You can see the current in-progress cover art for Stonewielder and read the first chapter over on Malazanempire."


King's Bastard Free Sample!
When Gravity Fails

"As you're probably aware, Rowena Cory Daniells' King Rolen's Kin trilogy launches at the end of the month with the first book, The King's Bastard (although some sneaky booksellers already have it on the shelves, so you can pick it up right now)."