The Cover of Adam Nevill's new book: Last Days

Adam Nevill has quickly become one of my favorite horror writers. His latest book, The Ritual was simply brilliant (my review). Today I saw the cover of Nevill's next book, Last Days.

Adam Nevill's books have consistently had good looking covers and this one, in my opinion, is no exception. I really liked The Ritual's cover and I really like this one too. It certainly conveys the heart-squeezing horror-story message pretty well. I simply can't wait to read it.

Last Days will be published in May 2012. And here is the blurb:

They visit after dark and they never let go . . .

When indie filmmaker, Kyle Freeman, is offered a deal to make a documentary about a notorious cult, an opportunity to avoid both bankruptcy and obscurity is finally on the table.

Led by the infamous Sister Katherine, The Temple of the Last Days reached its bloody endgame in the Arizona desert in 1975. Ever since, rumour and speculation about the group’s mystical secrets and paranormal experiences have lain half-concealed behind a legacy of murder, sexual deviancy and imprisonment.

The shoot’s locations take Kyle and his one-man crew to the cult’s original bases in London, France and finally to the desert crime scene where the cult self-destructed in a night of ritualistic violence. But when Kyle interviews the remaining survivors, who haven’t broken silence in decades, a series of uncanny events and unexplained phenomena plague the production. And what exactly is it they are managing to record in any place the Temple once resided?

Troubling out-of-body experiences and nocturnal visitations, the sudden demise of their interviewees and the discovery of ghastly artefacts soon pitches Kyle into the unnerving realisation that he is entangled in the cult’s hideous vestiges.

And whenever the old friends call, there’s no light, no warning and no mercy ...

REVIEW: Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore

Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore
Publishing Information: Kindle
Publisher: HarperCollins; 28 March 2006
ISBN 10: 0060735449
ISBN 13: 978-0380792733
ASIN: B000OVLK2M
Standalone
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Synopsis: "Pilot Tucker Case has a weakness--well, Tuck really has two--and the combination of drinking and sex in the cockpit of the pink Mary Jean Cosmetics Learjet puts him on the front page of papers all over the planet. But he finds another job with a mysterious employer--someone with a brand-new Lear 45-- who's willing to pay Tuck generously and ask no questions about his record. The jet and job are on Alualu, a speck in the Pacific Ocean, and Tucker has nowhere else to go. But first he has to get to Alualu, and once there, he faces a hurricane, Shark People, atypical missionaries, and boredom ... and the responsibilities assigned to him by Capt. Vincent Bennidetti, U.S. Air Force, deceased bomber pilot and present-day deity of the Shark People."

When you are looking for a book to lighten you spirit or need a good laugh, you can not go wrong with Christopher Moore. The books are quick to read and while humorous, they also contain a little moral lesson. Or at least something for you to think about, but not too seriously.

Island of the Sequined Love Nun is Moore's fourth book and if you have enjoyed his previous work, you will enjoy this as well. The characters are always interesting. Take Tucker for instance. He is a down on his luck pilot who takes a job out in the middle of the Pacific by a group he knows nothing about. Even before he makes it to his employer he meets an Australian spy, a talking fruit bat, and a teenagers that worship California gangs and MTV. Tuck may be the main character but he is just an example of the interesting individuals you will meet in the novel.

One of the topics that Moore attempts to tackle is ethics and retribution. It is only brought up a few times and even then it is rather vague, while most books that deal with these topics the antagonists usually find themselves in hot water or ultimately punished by the end of the novel; however, Moore tends to let his slide and get away scott-free which seems to me to mirror real life than the movies or other books.

The Island of the Sequined Love Nun does its best to explore religion and hypocrisy, but with Moore's talent he does not hit you over the head with it. The imaginary cult and the various other religions found on the island make for some great moments and humorous adventures. While I felt the novel was the weakest of Moore's collection, I still found the story compelling and a lot of fun to read. It is hard to find a truly funny novel and not ruffle feathers when dealing with religion, but Moore manages to do both quite well. I am slowly working my way through Moore's books and plan to read the next one in the series as some of his characters manage to find their way into the pages of future novels. This particular novel was much different from his previous work and shows his growth and ability to tackle difficult topics without removing his trademark humor.

Plot 7
Characters 8
Style 8

Overall 7/10

REVIEW: Happily Ever After edited by John Klima

Happily Ever After edited by John Klima
Paperback: 477 pages
Publisher: Night Shade Books (24 May 2011)
ISBN-10: 1597802204
ISBN-13: 978-1597802208
Reviewer: Cara
Copy: Bought in bookshop

From the back of the book
Once Upon A Time...
... in the faraway land of Story, a Hugo-winning Editor realised that no one had collected together the fairy tales of that age, and that the doorstep-thick anthologies of modern fairy tales were sorely lacking...

And so the Editor ventured forth, wandering the land of Story from shore to shore, climbing massive mountains of books and delving deep into lush, literary forests, gathering together thirty-three of the best re-tellings of fairy tales he could find. Not just any fairy tales, mind you, but tantalising tales from some of the biggest names in today's fantastic fiction, authors like Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke, Charles de Lint, Holly Black, Alethea Kontis, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, Paul Di Filippo, Gregory Frost, and Nancy Kress. But these stories alone weren't enough to satisfy the Editor, so the Editor ventured further, into the dangerous cave of the fearsome Bill Willingham, and emerged intact with a magnificent introduction, to tie the collection together.

And the inhabitants of Story - from the Kings and Queens relaxing in their castles to the peasants toiling in the fields, from the fey folk flitting about the forests to the trolls lurking under the bridges and the giants in the hills - read the anthology, and enjoyed it. And they all lived...
...Happily Ever After.

This is a beautiful book. The cover art (by Kurt Huggins and Zelda Devon) captures the essence of the tales contained within and each story has different small decorative motifs at the top of each page. A lot of care has been taken by Night Shade Books to present Happily Ever After as a volume to treasure and, given the high calibre of authors contributing to this anthology, they are right to do so. Personally, I would be prepared to pay for a hard cover version, so taken am I with this anthology.

From the unusual introduction by Bill Willingham (of the Fables graphic novels series), which is a short story itself, to the chilling final tale by Robert Coover, Happily Ever After has a something for everyone within its pages. Many of the stories are based on the familiar characters from the European tradition - Red Riding Hood, trolls, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, for example - but others take their inspiration from other parts of the world or are completely new yet still recognisable as a fairy tale.  The authors hail from across the broad range of speculative fiction: Peter Straub is known as a horror writer, whereas Garth Nix is a familiar name in childrens fiction. Patricia Briggs is the author of a quality urban fantasy series and Nancy Kress is an award winning science fiction writer. Other names familiar to me who have contributed to this anthology include Jeff VanderMeer, Karen Joy Fowler, Howard Waldrop, Michelle West (also known as Michelle Sagara) and Esther Friesner.

Having grown up reading Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm and the Andrew Lang 'colours' series of fairy tales (now available on Kindle) I am probably biased in favour of this type of story. I always enjoyed the dark undercurrents that were present in the written versions but were mysteriously absent in the Disney film versions. As a result, I prefer my fairy stories to have a more sinister edge. In Happily Ever After, I was not disappointed; these are fairy stories for adults. Take Wil McCarthy's He Died That Day, In Thirty Years for example. Here we have a modern take on Alice in Wonderland, only in this story she is not the innocent girl who finds herself in a mysterious world filled with white rabbits and mad hatter but instead is a protagonist in a distinctly science fictional piece.  One story that stands out is Pinocchio's Diary by Robert J Howe, which is brutal and terrifying yet has a strong moral core. Another that left a lingering disquiet was The Return of the Dark Children, which explored how the parents dealt with the loss of their children to the Pied Piper.

While I enjoyed the book overall, I was annoyed by there being four stories based on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Also there were  2 stories about Rapunzel, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Although the stories were all quite different from one another, I would have preferred there to have been only one version of each. Of all  the stories, however, there was only one I really disliked - The Sawing Boys by Howard Waldrop. I found it confusing (despite the glossary of slang terms used at the end) and was somewhat puzzled by its inclusion in this particular anthology.

Happily Ever After will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys short stories with a twist. The range of authors combined with new and imaginative approaches to familiar tales will appeal to a broad spectrum of speculative fiction readers. It is a book that lends itself to reading in short bursts rather that straight through from start to finish. I found that reading a story every 2 or 3 days was ideal, and it acted almost like a palate cleanser. It is certainly a book I will return to time and time again and I am sure it will still be prominent on my bookshelves for many years to come.

Overall 8/10

REVIEW: Incarceron (Kindle Edition) by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Publishing information: Kindle Edition
Publisher: Thorndike Press; 22 September 2010
ISBN 10: 1410429911
ISBN 13: 978-1410429919
ASIN: B0049MPHWQ
Series: Book one of the Incarceron series
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Description: "Finn is a 17-year old prisoner of Incarceron. His memories begin and end there. He knows nothing about his heritage except for vague memories that tease at his mind. The teen is determined to escape the prison fashioned centuries ago as a solution to the chaos created by man. Now Incarceron is self-sustaining and self-perpetuating—prisoners are born there and they die there. Legend claims only one man has ever escaped, Sapphique, and Finn is determined to follow in his steps. Claudia, the warden's daughter, lives sequestered in a castle surrounded by servants. But she, too, longs for escape—from a father who frightens her and from betrothal to an insipid prince. Finn and Claudia each discover a crystal key and are amazed to find that they can communicate with each other. As their trust in one another builds, each pledges to help the other. The two stories emerge, intertwine and, by the end, unwind in startling twists that will astonish."

I have heard a lot of rumblings regarding Incarceron, that it is the next big thing after Harry Potter and that it is a cross between City of Ember and Hunger Games. I wish that were the case, sadly it is not.

Incarceron focuses on two individuals Finn, a boy with no memory and said to have been born inside the living prison known as Incarceron and Claudia, a young girl who is rebelling in her father's plan for her to become queen. By chance the two of them encounter one another and with their combined efforts plan to help each other with their individual problems. Nothing new here and that is why I have a problem with other reviews stating that it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's just not original.

While this is a Young Adult novel/series, I don't think you have to dumb down anything so that children can understand the concepts presented in the book and it seemed like the entire book was watered down for that exact reason. When Fisher laid down her world, early on I could see where the book was going and ultimately what was going to happen to her characters. I lost interest nearly sixty pages into the book. It was unfortunate as there is a lot of great things that could have happened but failed to come to fruition.

Finn is a somewhat interesting character, he is likable. His predicament is easy to identify with from a readers prospective but it is also where he fails. His past is a mystery and yet he is told that he is special by those around him. Strikes a similar chord to a certain boy wizard. He also speaks parsaltongue or something along those lines as he can hear the living prison and has a strange bond with it. Claudia is not much better. She is perfect in any and all ways. She was breed and educated to be anything that she needs to be. She has no flaws which may work for some but even kids realize that everyone has some shortcomings. This is not to say that they were bad characters but they both have been done hundreds of times before and with all the hype surrounding this book, I was hoping for something more inventive than what I read.

There is some magic in the novel but it mainly comes from the prison itself. As it has the ability to feed those contained inside and the ability to change its form in the blink of an eye. It is an ingenious idea but never got off the ground for me. The prison is in the title of the book and I felt that it took a backseat to everything else that was happening in the novel.

While I wanted to enjoy and be able to recommend Incarceron, I find I cannot do it. It is mundane. We have been there and done it all before which is a huge disappointment. I have heard that the book is being planned to become a movie and it may be a excellent medium for this story as there is plenty of scenes that would make excellent special effects. Whether it was my mood or all the hype surrounding this title, I just did not enjoy this as much as I should have. It is average at best.

Plot 7
Characters 6
Style 6

Overall 6.5/10

Author's Guild Sues Universities

Click the link to read the full article here.

NEW YORK (AP) — Authors and authors' groups in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom sued the University of Michigan and four other universities Monday, seeking to stop the creation of online libraries made up of as many as 7 million copyright-protected books they say were scanned without authorization.

The Authors Guild, the Australian Society of Authors and the Union Des Ecrivaines et des Ecrivains Quebecois, or UNEQ, joined eight individual authors to file the copyright infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan against Michigan, the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University and Cornell University.

For more of the article click here.

Short but Great Stories

I'm not your typical short-story lover. In general, I wouldn't really consider short story my favourite format however I've always believed that they fit some genres much better than others. The obvious one is horror. And I would add to that science-fiction.

Sometimes, depending on my mood, I find it very liberating not to commit to a whole book to fully enjoy a good story. I also happen to read a couple of books at the same time therefore short stories suit much better the genre switching that my mood might dictate. They also provide a great way to discover new authors and new styles.

Here are some of my recent books containing some great stories:

House of Fear
edited by Jonathan Oliver

Paperback: 408 pages
Publisher: Rebellion (14 Oct 2011)
ISBN-10: 1907992065
ISBN-13: 978-1907992063

The tread on the landing outside the door, when you know you are the only one in the house. The wind whistling through the eves, carrying the voices of the dead. The figure glimpsed briefly through the cracked window of a derelict house.

Editor Jonathan Oliver brings horror home with a collection of haunted house stories by some of the finest writers working in the horror genre, including Joe R. Lansdale, Sarah Pinborough, Lisa Tuttle, Christopher Priest, Adam L. G. Nevill, Nicholas Royle, Chaz Brenchley, Christopher Fowler, Gary Kilworth, Weston Ochse, Eric Brown, Tim Lebbon, Nina Allan, Stephen Volk, Paul Meloy and more.

Manhattan in Reverse
by Peter F. Hamilton

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Macmillan (7 Oct 2011)
ISBN-10: 0230750303
ISBN-13: 978-0230750302

A collection of short stories from the master of space opera. Peter F Hamilton takes us on a journey from a murder mystery in an alternative Oxford in the 1800s to a brand new story featuring Paula Mayo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth’s Serious Crimes Directorate. Dealing with intricate themes and topical subject this top ten bestselling author is at the top of his game.

Engineering Infinity
edited by Jonathan Strahan

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Solaris (15 Jan 2011)
ISBN-10: 1907519513
ISBN-13: 978-1907519512

The universe shifts and changes: suddenly you understand, you get it, and are filled with a sense of wonder. That moment of understanding drives the greatest science-fiction stories and lies at the heart of Engineering Infinity. Whether it's coming up hard against the speed of light and, with it, the enormity of the universe, realising that terraforming a distant world is harder and more dangerous than you'd ever thought, or simply realising that a hitchhiker on a starship consumes fuel and oxygen with tragic results, it's hard science-fiction where sense of wonder is most often found and where science-fiction's true heart lies. This exciting and innovative anthology collects together stories by some of the biggest names in the field, including Stephen Baxter, Charles Stross and Greg Bear.

The End of The Line
edited by Jonathan Oliver

Paperback: 374 pages
Publisher: Solaris (1 Nov 2010)
ISBN-10: 1907519327
ISBN-13: 978-1907519321

New horror stories set on and around the Underground
In deep tunnels something stirs, borne on a warm breath of wind, reeking of diesel and blood. The spaces between stations hold secrets too terrible for the upper world to comprehend and the steel lines sing with the songs of the dead.

The End of The Line collects some of the very best in new horror writing in an themed anthology of stories set on, and around, the Underground, the Metro and other places deep below. This collection of 19 new stories includes thoughtful, disturbing and terrifying tales by Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Mark Morris, Pat Cadigan, Adam Nevill and Michael Marshall Smith amongst many others.

REVIEW: Greyfriar (Kindle Edition) by Clay and Susan Griffith

Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith
Publishing Information: Kindle
Publisher: Pyr 18 November 2010
ISBN 10: 1616142472
ISBN 13: 978-1616142476
ASIN: B004BA73LE
Series: Book 1 of the Vampire Empire
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Synopsis: "In the year 1870, a horrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world. Millions of humans were killed outright. Millions more died of disease and famine due to the havoc that followed. Within two years, once-great cities were shrouded by the gray empire of the vampire clans. Human refugees fled south to the tropics because vampires could not tolerate the constant heat there. They brought technology and a feverish drive to reestablish their shattered societies of steam and iron amid the mosques of Alexandria, the torrid quietude of Panama, or the green temples of Malaya.

It is now 2020 and a bloody reckoning is coming.

Princess Adele is heir to the Empire of Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire. She is quick with her wit as well as with a sword or gun. She is eager for an adventure before she settles into a life of duty and political marriage to a man she does not know. But her quest turns black when she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan. Her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious hero who fights the vampires from deep within their territory. Their dangerous relationship plays out against an approaching war to the death between humankind and the vampire clans

Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar is the first book in a trilogy of high adventure and alternate history. Combining rousing pulp action with steampunk style, Vampire Empire brings epic political themes to life within a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.

There is a lot of positive buzz surrounding the Greyfriar, the first book in the Vampire Empire series, so it was only a matter of time before I found myself reading it to see what all the hype was. Greyfriar is a lot of fun to read and it does bring back some of the mythos that vampires used to exhibit before the time of teenage angst, glitter, and romance.

The first thing that I enjoyed about the novel was that our hero is actually a heroine. Princess Adele is a strong character and not a damsel in distress, she has a inner strength that is not seen in a lot of female characters in vampire novels. She also does not rattle when faced with a life or death situation and rolls with the punches. She also gives a few punches along the way. She is very capable and the fact that she is next in line for the throne leads me to a believe that if she survives until the end of the series the future will be very bright for her people.

There is also the vampire killer Greyfriar who begins the story very mysteriously and to some a legend or myth. However, as the story continues we soon learn most of who he is and why he fights, I thought that it was well done but I would have liked to have had the mystery stay around for a little longer. The other major characters are the two vampire princes who are as different as night and day and have a long history of love and hate between them. While one must kill the other to take the throne, the build up to the confrontation is exceptionally written and will be resolved in later editions in the series. We also have an American senator who has been chosen to wed the young princess. A bit of a rogue and rough rider rolled into one. His introduction in the story is typically American and his personality does not let up until the end of the book. Nearly all of the major players in the novel are well written and a lot of fun.

I think the major attraction to me was the world building. It is the future but a future in which steampunk has led the way to keeping humanity from being enslaved by the vampire empire. The empire has taken over all of the northern hemisphere. There are brief mentions of the Japanese invading their home country to rescue valuable relics. We do not know where the vampires came from and how large their numbers are. We also have very little information as to how they came to take over the hemisphere. There are a lot of unanswered questions and I like that. There are also a lot of clues that help you form the picture mentally. The fact that it is not spelled out for you was something that I enjoyed.

Greyfriar is a short novel which I think works to its advantage. The action is fast and frenzied and keeps moving right along. A great debut and a series with a lot of potential. Recommended.

Plot 7.5
Characters 8
Style 8

Overall 8/10