It's News To Me #25

We've got Wheel of Time news, Daniel Abraham news, a charity drive and a new segment. What more could you ask for?

Cover Art


I almost forgot about this awesome cover when it was floating around a little while ago, but here it is again. Plus, Clash of the Geeks is a great project with lots of big names and it's all for charity. The copy is free and then you have the chance to donate as much as you want to benefit lupus...well, to fight lupus through the Lupus Alliance of America. And you can't really get any better than a Unicorn Pegasus Kitten.

Early in 2010, author John Scalzi had a vision. And it was of himself. As an orc. And of actor and writer Wil Wheaton. As a warrior. In a clown sweater. Astride a unicorn pegasus kitten. What did this singular visionmmean? Scalzi didn’t know. But he knew it was clearly too powerful to be ignored.

News

A Dribble of Ink posted this bit of news about one of my new favorite authors, Daniel Abraham (see here). The more of his writing I can get, the better. Here is a bit of blurbage about one of his newest projects called Leviathan Wakes where he will be writing under the name James S.A. Corey.

Humanity has colonized the planets - interstellar travel is still beyond our reach, but the solar system has become a dense network of colonies. But there are tensions - the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars and the political and military clout they wield over the Belt and beyond.

Now, when Captain Jim Holden's ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the attack, stop a war, and find the truth behind a vast conspiracy that threatens the entire human race.

I'm also supremely excited for Abraham's next series, The Dagger and the Coin, starting with The Dragon's Path.

In Daniel’s own words: ‘In the way that The Long Price Quartet was a semi-tragic meditation on the epic scale of an individual life, The Dagger and the Coin is a love letter to fantasy adventure intended to keep the reader from getting enough sleep..’

I promise right now that I will gladly forego any sleep for this series.

Need some Towers of Midnight fix before the actual release date. Well, here's an excerpt called The Seven-Striped Lass (from Brandon Sanderson's Website). Anyone excited? Or just excited that after not too long you won't have to hear about WoT anymore?

Count me in the first category.

Also available is the prologue (for purchase), which sounds to be pretty dang good, at least that's what the buzz is.

There's also a review up already at Tor.com (thanks ChrisW for bringing it to my attention).


Top 5 Reviews of the Week

This is a new segment and it probably goes without saying, which with that preface means it's not going without saying, this is all personal opinion. And even further, this list is pretty arbitrary. Maybe a book catches my fancy and I put a review here, maybe the review is exceptionally well written and I'm completely jealous. Maybe I just like the cover or the review author has rated the book a perfect 5/5 or 10/10. Who knows? Am I supposed to know these things? I also make no promises as to how long this segment will last. :)

Without further ado:

5. Book Worm Blues: Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman- both a 5/5 book and I am planning on reading this trilogy soon.

4. Stephen Sullivan's Goodreads review: Troy:Lord of the Silver Bow by David Gemmell - actually rated 6/5 stars and I'm a David Gemmell fan.

3. The Speculative Scotsman: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - I'll be reading this one soon and of course, The Speculative Scot has a way with words.

2. Mad Hatter's: The Last Page by Anthony Huso - A book I wasn't at all interested in until I read this review. That's when you know you're doing your job right. :)

And the number one book review of the week (yes this is completely "arbitrary and capricious" - especially the fact that this is a countdown) is...

1. Tie:

-Tyson at Speculative Book Review: The Black Prism by Brent Weeks - Having quite the opposite effect of number 2 - after being ever so excited to begin this one, you could say that my spirit's been dampened.

and

-Speculative Horizons: An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham - In what I have to say is at least twice (maybe even 3 to 4 times) as eloquent as I put it, James lays it out nicely.

And those are the top 5 reviews of the week. I'll scour the interwebs for some great reviews that I find as I continue to postpone homework. :)

And that's the news...at least to me.