Writer's Grove
Still Life with Fantasy and Fruit 15
Well. It’s been a while. Back to it!
I often get people asking me what I’m reading or if I have any suggestions. So here’s what I’ve either just finished reading or is shortlisted in my To-Be-Read pile:
Starting in the front left: EVEN WHITE TRASH ZOMBIES GET THE BLUES by Diana Rowland. I love these books and it’s not just because the covers are hilarious. The words inside are pretty hilarious too! Angel Crawford has her flaws as a human being (and as a zombie) but she’s also completely endearing and aware that she has problems. You can’t help rooting for her as she tries to solve them. If you haven’t given these a try yet, start with MY LIFE AS A WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE. I saw Diana at San Diego Comic Con and did my best not to fanboy all over her. She’s so awesome. She has this whole other series about demons that I haven’t tried yet, but I’ll get to them soon.
Zipping to the back: THE NIGHT SESSIONS by Ken MacLeod posits a world where humanity has basically kissed religion goodbye…but the robots haven’t. Interesting premise to me on several levels, so I’m looking forward to trying this out. I haven’t read anything by Mr. MacLeod before.
Back up front in the center: THE QUANTUM THIEF by Hannu Rajaniemi. I just recently finished this and I have to say it was SO weird and SO awesome but DAMN. It’s not a light read. He’s doing new stuff here and it’s deep immersion in a bizarre world. I had to put it down to think about it several times. But I always came back, because I did in fact keep thinking about it and needed to know what happened next. I can’t explain half the things that happened in that book, but I finished it and liked it…which makes it the strangest book I have ever read. Usually if I don’t understand something—say, a calculus textbook—I just give up and won’t read it. But I never wanted to give up on this. I actually liked all the stuff I didn’t understand. Both as a reader and a writer, I want to know, HOW DID HE DO THAT? So yeah. This isn’t a “safe” read, but I’d say it’s one of those high-risk, high-reward things. I’m going to read it again because I know I missed a ton of stuff the first time around. And the sequel, THE FRACTAL PRINCE, is coming out in September. I’m excited!
Up in the back on the right: CALIBAN’S WAR by James S.A. Corey. This is the sequel to LEVIATHAN’S WAKE, which I enjoyed very much, so I’m looking forward to this.
Bottom right: TEMPEST’S FURY, the fifth book in the Jane True series. I’ve been a fan of Nicole Peeler’s books since I discovered book one, TEMPEST RISING. Jane True drops these one-liners every so often that get me laughing so hard I can’t stop. I wake up my dogs. My wife. My child. They give me dirty looks and I point at the book by way of explanation, helpless to stop, tears running down my face. So yeah. I like these books, and at some point around book three Nicole’s editor heard about it. If you look really closely at the cover for book five, you’ll see a little something I told her:
My blurb may require some explanation: Jane True is not a telepath and she does not routinely have hot bloody sex, much as she may wish for it. But she is a heroine who’s abruptly thrown into a supernatural world and has to make the best of it, and discovers along the way that she’s a bit stronger than she thought. So there you have it. I’m on page fifty of this one now and digging it! Hope you all are reading something spiffy and if you’re not, I hope this gives you a starting point.* Cheers!
*None of these was provided to me by my publisher or any other publisher…I bought them all because this really is the sci-fi/fantasy stuff I like to read. :)
