What I've Been Reading: A Recap

Hey folks!
Just to catch up, I've been reading advanced reading copies (ARCs) like a fiend lately. A couple of posts back, I gave an idea of what I'm reading-- so...

Finished THE EDGE OF REASON last week and have written up a draft of the review. Very positive overall, but maybe not a book for the religious-minded...

Am now reading A KISS BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE by Tom Sniegoski (a real nice guy and one heck of a writer), after having wrapped up THE LOST ONES by Tom's frequent co-writer Chris Golden on Saturday. Also have to finish rewrites on my draft review of VICIOUS CIRCLE by Mike Carey; if you haven't read THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, go find it and read it now. If you like HELLBLAZER, you'll love Felix Castor.

Aside from that, there's a few things here and there I want to wrap up for SFRevu's April issue. We'll see how much I get done, but I'm on the hook for about eight or nine reviews-- not to mention all the new stuff I *want* to read! Sheesh-- seems like my hobby has become my life.

Not Much Blogging Going On

Hey folks,
Last week was a bit odd. I've been pulling together an awful lot of things that had been on the backburner for awhile, but now they're coming due. Mostly a bunch of interviews but some review work as well.
Well, let's get caught up on what's new.
I've been doing a lot of reading the past week. What's on deck right now is:
THE EDGE OF REASON by Melinda Snodgrass,
THE LOST ONES by Christopher Golden,
DAEMONS ARE FOREVER by Simon R. Green,
A KISS BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE by Thomas E. Sniegoski,
and a handful of others.
Lucky for me, I get to choose what I review. That means I can pick the books I like, the stuff I enjoy, and review it. If I'm not wild about something, I can let it go and say nothing. (Nasty reviews are really easy to write and can be an emotional purge valve, but why go to the trouble of wading through something you hate?)
Granted, there can be a time to express your disappointment with a writer's work--I've done it myself more than once--but my time is increasingly limited and I'd rather be upbeat than not.
One thing I'm also doing less of: reviewing books that I've bought myself.
There's very little upside in doing so. Sure, I've done the publisher a favor by hyping a book I didn't get for free... and I've gotten yet another byline... but the tangible rewards for doing this are basically nonexistent, and I have plenty of other stuff I can review that I DID get for free.
It's a fine line, that separation between reading for pleasure and reading for review.

***************

So why do we reviewers review? Well, in general, it's a great way to read (even before the book is in release) stuff that we want to read. If we do our jobs well, then we:
1- build a better relationship with the authors and publicists; and
2- get a good reputation (which helps when you're trying to get interviews).
Both of those are good things. I've met a bunch of writers whose stuff I've reviewed and they've almost uniformly been courteous or even glad to meet me; one writer even sent me a Christmas card thanking me for supporting his work (which was surprising and welcome).
Being a reviewer is great. There are rewards for doing this sort of thing and I recommend trying it to whomever out there wants to get into the world of media-related journalism (heck, I would never have worked in comics if I hadn't been writing for COMICS SCENE first). But bear in mind, being a reviewer isn't the same as being an author.
Which reminds me, I need to get back to work on my own fiction. Maybe if I'm lucky and persistent, somebody out there will one day blog about reviewing my stuff.

More INSIDE STRAIGHT-- Wild Card Consortium Writers Reading My Blog!

Just for fun, I backtracked where some traffic was coming from in the past few days... and found myself at www.captaincomics.us, a comic book site with a healthy discussion board. One of the topics was Wild Cards, and I found (to my surprise) that "old school" WC writers John Joseph Miller and Stephen Leigh post there!

Not only that, but Mr. Leigh happened across my proto-review of Inside Straight and put a link to my blog on the Captain Comics board.

Wow.

I interviewed JJM years ago for COMICS SCENE about the Wild Cards comic miniseries by Epic Comics (a now-bygone imprint of Marvel), and have an interview with George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass coming soon in SFRevu-- but it's mighty gratifying to know that two (or more!) of the folks who created the series saw this little write-up.

Thanks for looking in and hope you'll come back again! Drew

INSIDE STRAIGHT: the next generation of Wild Cards

I've been a fan of the Wild Cards books since they started coming out in 1987. The premise is simple and elegant: an alien virus is let loose in 1946, killing nine out of ten infected, transforming nine out of ten survivors in a random but bizarre fashion, and leaving that final one-in-a-hundred seemingly untouched... yet endowed with some amazing superpower.

There have been 17 books (from three publishers) in the series, edited by George R.R. Martin (visit his site!) and Melinda Snodgrass (visit her site!). The series grew out of the authors gathering to play a superhero roleplaying game and finally deciding that, being writers, they'd better make some money out of this time-consuming hobby. Publication of the titles trailed off, with the last two releases in 2002 and 2006.

Now, however, the Wild Cards are back.

INSIDE STRAIGHT is the new mosaic novel (collection of interwoven short stories) by this writing group, which includes a handful of new writers amid the veterans. It begins with an assassination in Baghdad, zips to the other side of the world for the debut of a wild cards-based reality show, and ends on the bloody killing fields of Egypt.

Although there are cameos from established characters (such as Golden Boy), the stories introduce a number of terrific new characters:

• Jonathan Hive (aka Bugsy), a blogger who can turn into a cloud of green wasps;
• Lohengrin, a knight armored in "ghost steel" who answers the call of duty wherever it leads;
• Rustbelt, an ironclad Minnesotan who faces a monstrous injustice... and makes a momentous decision;
• Amazing Bubbles, whose career lies in ruins after her wild card turns;
• Drummer Boy, a superstrong and six-armed joker who fronts a rock band;
• Curveball, the "girl next door" who plays to win;
• Lilith, a mysterious British ace; and
• Stuntman, a kid who never quite measured up to his athlete dad's expectations, but has an opportunity to become the first American Hero.

Also featured is John Fortune, stripped of his uncontrollable powers by his father Fortunato, who now wants to gain back what he's lost. He has a shot at it, thanks to an amulet given to his mother Peregrine (a famous wild card known for her beauty and her huge white wings). Putting it on opens a world of possibilities... and takes him into the path of terrible danger. Backed by Bugsy and Lohengrin, Fortune chooses to embrace his destiny and heads for Egypt, where the Living Gods (jokers who resemble the Egyptian pantheon) have asked for his help.

You see, as mentioned, the adventure begins with an assassination. The Caliph, ruler of a multi-state Muslim empire, is murdered and a joker terrorist group is framed for the crime. This leads to a horrifying retaliation against Egypt's joker population, a situation that at first seems to be a background element but takes center stage very quickly. (Long-time readers of the series will get an Easter egg, of sorts, as the Caliph is a well-established character from a long time back.)

Up front is the debut of reality show American Hero, pitting 28 aces (divided into four teams) against each other and judged by aces Digger Downs, Harlem Hammer and Topper. Situations are created and the teams must react--with failure meaning each losing team has to "discard" a player. (Yes, the card imagery is still in full force herein.)

The show provides a snapshot of aces in 2008 America. Many of them are celebrities because of what they are (that is, superpowered), not who they are; Bugsy blogs about this at length in the very opening of the book. This becomes an extremely important point, as the entire book turns upon one question:

What is a hero?

As the book splits between the trio (or quartet?) in Egypt and the dwindling cast of AH in Hollywood, the importance of the question grows more clear by the page. Each character has a moment of truth, when they can be a hero or not. Some of these are exceptionally poignant, as a handful step up; the others either fail this test of character (one spectacularly so) or opt out entirely.

A small group of ace volunteers joins Fortune, Bugsy and Lohengrin in Egypt, as two armies converge on Aswan and the masses of joker refugees taking shelter there. There's a Magnificent Seven quality to this final act, which ends in desperate battle and none left unchanged (and several dead) before it's all over.

It's an ambitious book with a lot to say. Wild Cards as a series hasn't shied away from social commentary (in the context of alternate history), but this is perhaps the most head-on tackling of real world issues and the theme of heroism that the series has yet attempted. In a way, it harks back to "Witness" by Walter Jon Williams, one of the very first WC tales. That was about the Four Aces, a team assembled by an altruist and set loose on the world stage in the 1950s; now, the stakes are higher, but the underlying problem is the same: can wild card powers solve world crises? Can those with power stand aside and do nothing while terrible things happen?

What is a hero? By the end of this book, the true heroes are revealed--and a new age dawns for the children of the wild card.

What can I say? I loved this book.

Look for the SFRevu review in January 2008.

Another Review Preview Coming Soon

Hey folks-
I owe SFRevu a bunch of reviews between now and the end of the month. Look for a quick "Review Preview" of The Phoenix Unchained by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory (the first in a new trilogy set about a millennium after The Obsidian Trilogy they co-wrote).
My full review will show up here on December 1, by the way.
In the mean time, I know I'll be doing a Review Preview of Inside Straight by George R.R. Martin, Melinda Snodgrass and a batch of folks real soon, so... keep an eye out for it.