Cora Buhlert's Blog, page 105

Edgar Wallace – the forgotten crime writer?

The Guardian has a review of a new biography of British crime and thriller writer Edgar Wallace.

My first reaction upon reading the article – beyond heading to Amazon to check out whether the biography was available and how much it costs and cursing that I’d never known about the Edgar Wallace memorial plaque at Ludgate Circus, while I lived in London as a student – was, “Wait a minute, so Edgar Wallace is a little known and largely forgotten author? In what universe?”

Because at least here in Germany, Edgar Wallace is far from forgotten. Most of his novels are still in print some ninety to one hundred years after they were first published. And the 1960s film adaptations of his novels are classics of German postwar cinema. I suspect that no one would be more surprised about the continued popularity of his novels in Germany than Edgar Wallace himself, since he apparently didn’t like Germans very much, as evidenced by various xenophobic remarks in his works (which shocked me upon first reading, because here was another hero of mine who hated people of my nationality, because apparently being hated by Donald Duck, Captain America, Indiana Jones and the Doctor was not enough). However, Germany certainly loved Edgar Wallace.

Thus, to me Edgar Wallace is not merely the man who created King Kong (though I know that he did), but mainly the man who created the Ringer, the Squeaker, the Masked Frog, the Black Abbot, the Sinister Monk, the Green Archer, the Red Circle and a whole host of other masked and hooded villains and vigilantes.

The Guardian article reveals a few tidbits about Wallace’s life that I for one didn’t know, such as that he was an illegitimate child, which would explain the preoccupations with sinister plots involving Magdalene laundries (which I was stunned to learn really existed, since I always assumed they were a bit of weirdness that Wallace made up) and innocent orphans getting embroiled in inheritance schemes leading to murder in his work. I also didn’t know that Wallace had been a tabloid crime reporter before he turned to fiction writing, though it explains the many roving reporter characters in his work, usually played by Eddi Arent in the movies.

I’m a huge fan of the Edgar Wallace adaptations of the 1960s to the point that I’ve written an article about them for a now defunct zine (available in PDF form here) and also blogged about them several times. I also consider Edgar Wallace, as filtered through the eyes of 1960s filmmakers, a huge influence upon my own work.

However, it’s the “filtered through” that’s the important bit here, because the Edgar Wallace who is remembered and beloved by many in Germany is not so much the man who churned out crime novels by the dozens in the 1910s and 1920s, but the eerie disembodied voice (which belonged to Wallace’s son Bryan Edgar) that always said “Achtung! Hier spricht Edgar Wallace” (Attention! This is Edgar Wallace speaking) at the beginning of the adaptation of those crime novels in the 1960s. That Edgar Wallace that I love is not a product of the 1910s and 1920s, but a dark mirror of the Mad Men era of the early 1960s. The Edgar Wallace that I love is a creation of producer Horst Wendtland, directors Alfred Vohrer and Harald Reinl, cinematographers Karl Löb and Richard Angst, writers Jürgen Roland and Wolfgang Menge, composers Peter Thomas and Martin Böttcher as well as actors Joachim Fuchsberger, Heinz Drache, Karin Dor, Eddi Arent, Klaus Kinski, Siegfried Schürenberg, Ilse Paget, Ann Savo, Carl Lange, Fritz Rasp, Siegfried Lowitz and many others.

In many ways, this makes Edgar Wallace and his popularity in Germany similar to Winnetou and Old Shatterhand, who nowadays are better remembered for the film adaptations than for the original Karl May novels as well as James Bond, who is also better remembered for the various movies than for the original Ian Fleming novels. It’s probably telling that many of the same people were involved in both the Winnetou and Edgar Wallace movies. As for James Bond, I’ve long argued that the James Bond we’ve come to love is more the creation of producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, screenwriter Richard Maibaum, directors Terence Young and Guy Hamilton, set designer Ken Adam, composer John Barry, title designer Maurice Binder and actor Sean Connery and to a lesser degree Roger Moore. Coincidentally, there is some overlap between the Bond and Wallace movies, since actors Gerd Fröbe, Karin Dor, Ilse Steppat as well as Christopher Lee all played memorable roles in both. In fact, I strongly suspect that the former three were hired for the Bond movies on the strength of their performance in the Wallace movies (Sir Christopher Lee was of course Ian Fleming’s cousin and probably ended up in two Wallace movies due to his ability to speak almost flawless German). Particularly Ilse Steppat’s three Edgar Wallace roles in Der unheimliche Mönch (The Sinister Monk), Die Gruft mit dem Rätselschloss (The crypt with the mystery lock) and Die Blaue Hand (The Blue Hand) are highly reminiscent of her later appearance as Irma Bunt in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service to the point that she might as well be playing the same character. In fact, I’ve always assumed that Ilse Steppat’s sinister headmistresses of exclusive girls’ boarding schools with a dark twist in The Sinister Monk and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service were the same person.

As for why in these three cases, the film adaptations are remembered so much better than the novels they were based on, I suspect part of the reason is that the novels are horribly dated. I already talked about how dated Karl May’s novels were even by the time I read them in the 1980s in my post commemorating the late Pierre Brice. As for Ian Fleming, I actually think the Bond novels have held up surprisingly well and I certainly enjoyed reading them, but they’re nonetheless slow by the standards of modern thrillers. What is more, I remember that when I first read the original Ian Fleming Bond novels in the 1990s, I was struck by how different from the movies they were. If anything, the Daniel Craig movies are closer to the novels (plus, Craig starred in what was finally a decent adaptation of Casino Royale) than any of the previous screen Bonds. As for Edgar Wallace, when I first read one of his novels at around the same time I read the original Bond novels (because I was a student of literature and interested in where the things I loved came from), I remember being seriously underwhelmed, not to mention put off by the casual racism, sexism and classism that somehow was so much worse than in the movies as well as by the casual ableism, that come to think of it actually made it into the movies.

So yes, I know who Inspector Elk is. However, my Inspector Elk is not “tall and thin, a slight stoop accentuated his weediness”, as Wallace describes him in The Fellowship of the Frog but the decidedly not weedy , the actor who played the character in the 1959 film adaptation of the novel, first and among the best of the more than thirty German Edgar Wallace films of the 1960s.

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Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for July 2015

It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some June books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Once again, we have new releases covering the whole broad spectrum of speculative fiction. We have science fiction, space opera, military science fiction, science fantasy, paranormal romance, science fiction romance, post-apocalyptic fiction, dystopian fiction, YA fantasy, epic fantasy, urban fantasy, sword and sorcery, time travel, horror, werewolf detectives, regency werebears, starships, space pirates, the afterlife, aliens, people who live in walls, lots of LGBT characters and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

The Salvation of Innocence by Robert E. Balsey Jr.:

A young woman embarks on a harrowing journey to save her world’s last vestige of magical healing in Robert E. Balsley Jr.’s epic new fantasy novel, The Salvation of Innocence.

Althaya, the goddess of healing, wishes to share her ability to help those in need, providing “empaths,” which give clerics the means to magically heal others—a means that some people fear and wish to destroy. In response, a dark magic known as the Purge is created to seek out and eradicate all empaths.

But one lone survivor remains, spirited away by Althaya and hidden in a magical stasis field. There, the last empath must remain alive until the time comes for rescue—but the Purge will not rest until the last empath is found and killed.

Three thousand years later, Kristen Rosilie Clearwater is only beginning to realize her destiny. Having been brought to the island of InnisRos as an orphan, she has long felt a “tug” toward something she can’t quite understand. But when she begins experiencing the dreams of a young child, Kristen knows that the two are somehow connected—and that the fate of the world, and the future of healing magic, rests on her shoulders.

Finished with Life but Unable to Die by Scott Bartlett:

At ninety-one, Michael Haynes finds his terminal cancer diagnosis a relief.

He’s ready to move on from this world. In fact, he’s convinced his death will make things better for his children, providing both financial ease and closure for a long-ago event that still haunts them all.

But just when he thinks he is finally shuffling off, Michael wakes from a coma to find he has undergone a miraculous new procedure and his time here is far from over.

As his condition piques the government’s interest, Michael begins to discover a shocking secret about how the universe works. Instead of solving everything with his death, he must contend not only with continuing to live indefinitely but also with stopping his family from tearing itself apart.

All 5 novellas in the Unable to Die series are available now!

Ascendancy: Rise of the Fallen by Bradford Bates:

John Blackthorn is one of the Gifted, and a member of the Ascendancy. The Gifted, under the direction of Adam, are dedicated to protecting humanity from the supernatural. Using the gift of magic, the Ascendancy polices the supernatural world. Now facing a new threat from the Fallen an alliance must be forged to save humanity. The Fallen are up to something new, and the Ascendancy must take drastic action to save the city of San Francisco. John and his partner Sarah Atsidii will work together to stop whatever the Fallen are planning.

This is the first tale in the Ascendancy Origins Series.

The novella is just over 36k words.

The Bramblewood Werebear by K.M. Carroll:

Jennie Walden is a young woman who has written papers for natural science journals, and has corresponded with a fellow naturalist, Oliver Gunnersen, for years.

When Oliver proposes long distance, Jennie travels to Oliver’s home at Bramblewood Estate to wed her mysterious friend. She is astonished at his size and physical strength, yet his adorable shyness remains, if she can see past his imposing exterior.

Oliver has kept his bear form secret from Jennie, fearful that if she knew that he was a monster, she would flee. But the werewolves of the neighboring city of Grayton have emerged to mingle with the populace. A certain pack has begun threatening him and the treasure he protects on the Bramblewood land. The werewolves know that he cannot tolerate another shifter in his territory … and threaten to turn Jennie.

Now Jennie must choose whether to flee, or whether to stick with this bear-man she has grown to love from a distance. The time is coming when their very survival depends on the love of the other.

Reunification by Timothy L. Cerepaka:

When one knight travels to a another world to find his long-lost sister, he is drawn into a conflict deeper than he knows.

With three photographs of his sister as his only clues, Rii, a Knight of Se-Dela, travels to Xeeo, a world of science and technology completely unlike his magical and mystical home world of Dela, where he hopes to reunite with his sister after her mysterious disappearance six years ago.

It soon turns out that the disappearance of Rii’s sister is linked to a vaster conflict between two ancient organizations that stretches back to the dawn of the two worlds themselves. And when Rii finds himself stranded on this world, he must race to find his sister before the mysterious figures who want him dead end his life.

Magic Times by Harvey Click:

Everybody wants a little magic—but just a little can do a lot of damage!

A young man not overly burdened with brains hitchhikes to Ohio in search of his runaway girlfriend, but he finds a lot more than he’s looking for. Soon Jason is chin-deep in a bizarre and perilous predicament involving a witch, a crippled magician, a sinister businessman, a mysterious stalker, and a book of magic that could bring about the end of the world.

Harvey Click, best known for his lurid horror tales, explores a different genre with this darkly comic coming-of-age novel. He mixes a tablespoon of black magic with a teaspoon of zesty sex, a sprinkle of savory satire, a dash of dire danger, a splash of spicy suspense, a pinch of pungent irony, a cup of coarsely ground comedy, and a full measure of sheer madness.

Awakened by Shei Darksbane and Annathesa Nikola Darksbane:

Geeky lesbian Dakota Shepherd was just a bored night security guard, working at a museum in Knoxville, Tennessee until one fateful encounter changed it all. A rogue wizard. A demonic ritual. A silver chalice. Dakota Awakened, Hellfire blazing from her hands.

Dakota’s powers are a danger to herself and everyone around her, and she has to learn to control them quickly or risk losing her one chance to finally fulfill a lifelong dream.

While coming to terms with her new reality, she stumbles upon a secret that changed the course of her life.

Now she wants to know who is responsible for the holes in her memory, the blocks that hold back her powers, and all the years she spent alone.

Who put her back to sleep when she Awakened years before?

Awakened is the first book in the Auralight Codex: Dakota Shepherd series.

The Layneworth Monsters by Jolie Du Pre:

There’s a vicious serial killer in town that’s keeping the detectives of Layneworth and the entire city up at night. Some think it’s a ruthless human, while others could swear werewolves are behind the havoc.

The Buscettos are far from human. Though they appear like the typical, charming family to the outside world—they’re a sex and bloodthirsty monster race that has stealthily roamed the planet since the fifth century. Known as Zxxtergins, they often leave their victims mutilated and nude in their pursuit of carnal desire.

Detective Brenda Martin and her partner Robert Moretti are determined to crack the case, but at what cost? Vaccinations are said to keep the Zxxtergins at bay. When Brenda forgets to keep up with her vaccinations, does she too become a victim? Amongst all of the cross-species love and uncontrollable lust, loss of life both monster and human, is Layneworth, let alone the world, safe from the Zxxtergin race?

IMPACT by Matthew Eliot:

It’s been nine months since the meteorites hit. They brought both destruction and disease, carrying a mysterious pathogen that has killed untold millions, while turning others into Meteorwraiths — zombie-like human relics.

Now, the tattered remnants of humanity do their best to survive.

Alice and Adrian have lost everything except each other. Both barely twelve-years-old, they fight their way across the ruins of Europe, in a desperate search for their family.

James Walscombe is senior safety specialist trapped inside top-secret US nuclear facility Atlantis with two colleagues. They survived the impact, unscathed. But now, one of them has turned into a psychotic murderer.

Father Paul struggles to keep his faith in a world resentful towards its gods. His life isn’t the one he thought he’d chosen when he entered the seminary, and now new, dark deities are creeping out from the shadows.

Earth’s survivors are trying to adapt to the harsh realities of the post-impact world.

But the worst is yet to come.

The Green Children by Domino Finn:

Maxim and Diego don’t always get along. But they get results.

After missing for three days, a young girl is found wandering the Arizona forest. She’s despondent, with no memory of her ordeal beyond eerie delusions. When a second girl disappears, a pattern emerges that sets two police departments racing against the clock to save her.

Only two men dare take on the mysterious Sycamore wilderness: Maxim Dwyer is a small-town detective with attachment issues who faces off against a rival from the county police. Diego de la Torre, a biker troublemaker with an anti-authority complex, walks a fine line between responsible citizen and vigilante outlaw.

Together, the unlikely pair isn’t always on the same side of the law, but they are the girl’s best hope. Unfortunately, things in Sycamore are rarely what they seem. Maxim and Diego have more problems than they know, and if those don’t catch up with them, whatever lurks in the forest will.

Earthbound by Mark R. Healy:

The Earth is suffocating under toxic skies and there’s only one way for those left behind to escape – the space elevator that sits atop the massive structure known as the Reach.

Knile Oberend is an outcast, a man exiled for the crimes of his past. Thrown an unlikely lifeline, he has less than forty-eight hours to cash in his ticket at the top of the Reach and escape off-world.

Disgraced cop Alec Duran had a bright future until he made one fateful mistake. Now his last shot at redemption becomes entwined with the fate of the very man who ruined his life three years ago.

Alton Wilt, an underworld boss desperate to leave Earth, falls upon a rare find – the name of a man who is about to be granted passage off-world. With his minions in tow he is hell bent on stealing that privilege for himself.

As time runs out, these three men find themselves on a collision course that will lead to a confrontation from which only one can emerge victorious.

Shifting Infinity by Patty Jansen:

Melati escaped New Jakarta space station when it fell into Allion’s hands. Her family was left behind the enemy lines.

She signed up for active duty with the International Space Force in the hope they would liberate the station. Instead, they chose to maintain a crippling siege that has lasted for ten months.

A small ship escapes from the station with on board a single male occupant whose mind appears to have been wiped.

With her skills in artificial mindbases, Melati is part of the team that tries to get information out of him.

He could be a human Trojan horse sent by Allion and his calls for help nothing more than a trap to get ISF to send people to the station. Or he could be a genuine escapee from the station where the recycling processes have collapsed and ten thousand civilians have mere weeks until they die of asphyxiation. Either way, the time for watching and waiting is over. War is about to begin.

This is the sequel to Shifting Reality.

Ambassador: The Sahara Conspiracy by Patty Jansen:

3 December 2114

Cory Wilson is woken in the middle of the night with a summons to appear in the president of Nations of Earth’s office. An aid worker in Djibouti has discovered a shipment of alien guns.

As ambassador to gamra, the extraterrestrial organisation which controls the Exchange, the FTL wormhole network, Cory has often been critical of Earth’s handling of extraterrestrial problems. This is his moment to shine, to apply his knowledge about alien customs, to, in the words of the president, “get those idiots out of there”.

Except the usual suspects, the Zhori mafia who have caused trouble on Earth for a long time, are nowhere to be seen. This is something far more dangerous, something that involves all of northern Africa, something that provokes the anger of Asto, gamra’s largest world. Asto’s army is already prowling in orbit, ready to strike.

Dead Reckoning and Other Stories by David M. Kelly:

From David M. Kelly comes a cast of characters all in need of some serious therapy.

In Dead Reckoning, Hector discovers that life after death ain’t easy when your shorts itch and your ass belongs to a whip-wielding giant. And pity poor Murphy, struggling to keep the peace between his team of geeky scientists and a gung-ho lieutenant, as they investigate a mysterious alien ship—all while dealing with his own personal case of Murphy’s Law.

First Contact is always complicated, especially when you have to call in cranky old relic, Casteneda, to bail you out. Fresh off the battlefield, Matt Holbrook is also grappling with a perplexing new species, but all he wants is to make it home.

Earl Duarte is in for some interesting pet therapy in How much is that doggy? And as for Elvis, he definitely needs some therapy. In One for the Money he’s re-entered the building, but is kinda confused. Meanwhile, lovesick Dan wonders if Mel will ever notice him in the technology-obsessed world of Version Control.

Hexad: The Factory by Al K. Line

IT WASN’T GOING TO BE A NORMAL SATURDAY…

Dale dug furtively, feeling like a muppet but unable to get the previous evening’s conversation with Amanda out of his mind. A stupid, drunken conversation, full of conjecture about the possibility of time travel. Then one of them, he couldn’t remember which, had come up with the idea that if it really was possible at some point in their future then they’d go back in time and bury proof under the apple tree in the garden.

Dale knew he was acting foolish, and prayed Amanda didn’t wake up to find him digging in the dirt. He couldn’t help it though, however ridiculous it seemed. There was that nagging at the back of his mind: what if?

Wraith by Lita Locke:

Welcome to ‘Howling Moon Detective Agency’ — where the cases (of beer) are cold, the dames are hot-blooded (important if you’re a vampire), the crims are cool-headed … oh, and the co-owner’s a Werewolf!

But that’s nothing out of the ordinary, and just a regular day at the office, really!

What’s not right is that a Scottish castle has a Bogle, a York theatre needs ghost busting, and a grown man can’t go five minutes without crying.

It’s up to the team at ‘Howling Moon’ to sort the clues, catch a killer, avenge the dead and scare off the nearly departed still treading the Victorian theatre boards. Thing is: they’ve got two weeks to solve the supernatural, otherwise it’s ghost lights out for everyone!

Vergence by John March:

Ebryn has trained as a caster from a young age. He sets out to find a place for himself, travelling to Vergence city, where he hopes to be accepted amongst his own kind.

But Ebryn doesn’t know he carries a dangerous secret with him. A secret which threatens to overturn the delicate balance between the factions vying for dominance in the city, the heart of a great trading empire.

Orim, a skilled warrior, is sent by the ruler of Vergence to discover the truth. Opposing Orim is a deadly assassin, tasked with permanently burying the past.

As the struggle for control of the city starts to unfold Ebryn finds he’s not the only one with a hidden history.

Vergence is the first book in the Vergence cycle.

An Aching in the Bone by Genevieve McKay:

Carolina Brown finally has the life she’s always dreamed of. She lives in a fantastic house with a family who loves her. She is following her dream of being a chef (just like her idol Gordon Ramsay) and she even has a horse of her own.

So what if she’s still a hermit? All she wants is for things to stay exactly as they are.

But, like it or not, things are changing. Cara’s family enter her in a province-wide Junior Chef competition; one she knows she’s going to fail miserably at. That creepy boy from next door lurks behind every tree and, worst of all, her beloved friend Henry is losing his zest for living.

When forces from outside threaten Cara’s world she will stop at nothing to protect her family.

This is the sequel to The Opposite of Living.

The Torrent by Simone Pond:

Grace has survived Chief Morray’s attempt to keep her trapped inside the mainframe, but at a terrible cost: leaving her mother behind. Giving up training at the academy in order to wait for Ava’s return. Grace wants to do the right thing, but it’s never that simple. While Ava struggles against Morray in the virtual reality, Grace is left alone in the real world to fight her own battles. There’s a new corrupt authority figure. A regional council to sway. A war to stop. And a promise to keep to a precious young soul. How can Grace save everyone, including herself?

The Torrent is the final book in the New Agenda Series.

The Book of Daniel by Mat Ridley:

Daniel Stein is having the worst day of his life. The last day of his life, in fact. And things are only going to get worse for him tomorrow.

Death is only the beginning for Dan. Waking up to find that his wife, Joanna, has also been killed is bad enough, but then Dan also finds a sword shoved into his hand, and is told that the only way he’s ever going to get to Jo—and Heaven—is if he does as God tells him and fights against the forces of Satan’s army.

But demons are the least of Dan’s problems in the afterlife. There’s also his hatred of God to contend with.

And Dan is pretty sure that God hates him right back.

Welcome to Purgatory.

Pirates by Jim Rudnick:

“Tanner Scott, a RIM Confederacy Naval officer, has fought many battles against both humans and aliens. Years ago, he proved victorious against a band of aliens. His ongoing fight with his own alcoholism however remains a stalemate.

And suddenly, Pirates have appeared on the RIM. They have kidnapped the passengers of many craft and sold them into slavery and Scott is ordered to find them and rescue them.

But the pirates aren’t acting alone. They are sponsored by a powerful Royal with ambitious plans, and she isn’t about to let some Navy captain stand in the way of her mining empire. Scott must rescue the slaves while simultaneously navigating the treacherous space of interstellar politics.

If he fails, a Royal will gain more power, the entire Confederacy may unravel, and Scott’s alcohol addiction will be the least of his worries…”

The Holeys in the Wall by Helen Ryan:

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! KABOOM!

Bo had never heard anything like it before. Red and white dust was everywhere and big bits of the Wall crumbled away.

‘Holey terror!’ shouted Mr Buzz in Bo’s left ear. ‘Take cover!’

What would you do if your world was falling apart? Run, hide or try and save the day? The Holeys all live in a gigantic stone wall that is beginning to crumble and fall. They are frightened if the Wall falls what will become of their home?

Bo is the youngest Holey. He is asked to go where no Holey has gone before, beyond the Wall. He must seek the mysterious Builder who the Holeys believe will save them. Bo discovers there is more to life than the Wall that houses them all.

But what happens if Holeys don’t follow the rules?

Well everyone follows the rules. Don’t they?

Mir: Shamansworld Series Box Set by Jessica Rydill:

Follow the adventures of young shaman Annat Vasilyevich and her close-knit but eccentric family as they travel between worlds and fight fearsome enemies.

From quirky humour to deep sorrow, watch her as she grows from an awkward teenager to a young woman, trying to master her magical powers, understand her complex sexual nature and avoid getting killed by fanatical medieval lords, foreign wizards and the Inquisition.

Annat is a Wanderer and a shaman in a world where Wanderers are outcast and shamans are viewed with fear and suspicion. Will she survive to adulthood, or will she be killed and exiled to the underworld where shamans continue to travel after death?

This boxed set includes the first three novels in this fantasy adventure series: Children of the Shaman, The Glass Mountain, and Malarat. Each book is over 100,000 words long.

SAFE by Hollis Shiloh:

Afraid of being outed, Neil Hunter, “Hunt,” dreads meeting the new “human lie detector” at the precinct — a registered empath who can sense truth and falsehood.

But Skyler Zane is more of a mess than any closeted cop could ever be, with an abusive ex and a history of mental issues. And instead of avoiding him, Hunt ends up taking him under his wing, looking out for him.

And maybe falling for him, too. Everything is going well — including their unexpected feelings for each other — until Sky’s skills come to the wrong attention. Now it’s up to Hunt to find him — and figure out how to keep them both alive.

The Deep Link by Veronica Sicoe:

Taryn’s DREAM of forging an alliance with powerful aliens has become a NIGHTMARE. She is linked to a ruthless warlord, an alien killing machine who could destroy humanity on a whim.

Taryn will go down fighting before she surrenders to the monster invading her mind.

But in her struggle to regain control, she finds her tormentor has irreversibly changed her, and she has in turn changed him. The link is turning her into a weapon, drawing strength from the world-slayer who had no regard for another’s life—until now.

And their powerful connection doesn’t remain unnoticed.

As death and destruction erupt around them, quickly growing out of control, theymust carve their way out of their old lives with a single common purpose: unite their forces and change the future.

Grand Master’s Game by Aurora Springer:

Spin across the galaxy – Violet and her Grand Master hunt their enemies

Cracks in the portal web threaten galactic civilization, and suspicions fall on the mysterious Grand Masters with their immense psychic powers. Once, there were twelve Grand Masters, humans and aliens, on the Council. Now there are eleven. One was killed when the young pawn, Violet, rescued her Grand Master, Athanor, from the Red Queen’s dungeon. The Red Queen fled the fight and she lurks out of sight, regenerating her energies.

Athanor devises a risky plan to expose his enemies on the Council and force the Red Queen into the open. His strategy will use Violet’s empathic skills as his secret weapon. She wrestles with her erratic talents and doubts about their unequal partnership. In their search for revenge, they must contend with the portal crisis, psychic traps and hostile aliens. In the inevitable battle of Grand Masters, Violet and Athanor each will face their worst nightmares. What is the sacrifice for victory?

This is the sequel to Grand Master’s Pawn.

Machination by Ella Summers:

For sixteen years, the alliance between the sorcerers of Elitia and the technology-powered Selpe Empire has held. But forces from both outside and within want to see that bond broken—and now they may finally succeed.

When the Selpe emperor is assassinated the same night his twin half-Elition sons vanish without a trace, the high king of Elitia tasks Ariella with uncovering a traitor in the Selpe ranks. She has never felt comfortable chasing conspiracies. If she doesn’t solve this one, though, the traitor will strike again—and the rule of the Selpe Empire will fall to those who want to turn her and every other Elition into living weapons.

Desperate times call for unlikely allies. Ariella teams up with Silas, the dead emperor’s bodyguard; Marin, a bomb-building airship engineer; and Leonidas, a disgraced Selpe intelligence agent. But someone really doesn’t want them to unravel this conspiracy. And this mysterious someone is doing a pretty thorough job of trying to kill them.

Machination is Book 3 in the Sorcery and Science fantasy adventure series.

Friends in Command by Joe Vasicek:

THE FUTURE OF THE OUTWORLDS NOW LIES IN UNCERTAIN HANDS.

The war for the Outworlds is on. The Imperials may have lost the first round, but they’re back—and this time, a ragtag flotilla isn’t going to stop them.

When Aaron recieves a captain’s commission in the new Outworld Confederacy, Mara is his natural choice for second in command. But Mara never expected to live past the first few battles. She only joined the resistance to avenge her father, and fears the monster she’s starting to become. The only thing she has left to live for now is her friends.

The Imperials aren’t the only enemy in this war, though. The friends must face a threat from within.

This is book 4 in the Sons of the Starfarers series.

The Great Symmetry by James R. Wells:

Exoarchaeologist Evan McElroy has made a discovery about a long-extinct alien race. But his sponsors realize they can make huge gains if the new findings are kept completely secret. Step one of their plan is to kill the entire research team – starting with Evan.

As Evan flees for his life, his trajectory awakens a long-buried struggle. The Infoterrorists, who believe all ideas are screaming to be free, have waited years for the right moment to take on the seven great families that control all of civilization. This could be their opportunity. Or, it could be time for millions to die.

The Great Symmetry is classic science fiction from the great-grandson of H. G. Wells.

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Alarm für Cobra 11, the Avengers and the handling of short guys

Since summer is traditionally the TV doldrums over here, I recently found myself watching a repeat of two episodes of the long running German TV series Alarm für Cobra 11 (Alarm for Cobra 11). I’ve blogged about the show before, but the short version is that it’s a series chronicling the adventures and cases of two highway cops which generally lead to mass carnage on the highway and the most amazing car stunts you’ll see anywhere.

Since Alarm für Cobra 11 is not exactly cerebral television, it’s ideal viewing for a hot summer evening. Plus, the two episodes I watched perfectly encapsulated the mix of humour, banter, occasional emotional moments and absolutely breathtaking stuntwork that used to make Alarm für Cobra 11 good before the show decided to go all adult and grimdark from season 19 on. If you’re interested, you can watch the episodes in question, Turbo und Tacho (Turbo and Tacho) and Formel Zukunft (Future formula) online. The second episode, Formel Zukunft, is even science fiction – sort of.

The undisputed star of Alarm für Cobra 11 is Turkish-German actor Erdogan Atalay as Semir Gerkhan, since his partners – Tom Beck who stars in the episodes in question was one of the better ones IMO – keep changing every couple of seasons. Erdogan Atalay is not the first Turkish-German actor to play a lead role on German TV – that honour goes to Renan Demirkan in the late 1980s one season wonder Reporter – but his casting was a breakthrough for diversity in German television, for here was finally a Turkish-German actor playing a Turkish-German character who did not appear in a drama about discrimination, racism, xenophobia, fundamentalism or honour killings, which were the only contexts in which you saw Turkish-Germans on TV up to the mid 1990s (Nor have things changed all that much – Sibel Kekilli still gets honour-killed a lot, though she also gets to solve crimes and sleep with Tyrion Lannister). In this climate, Semir Gerkhan was a breath of fresh air, for he was simply a regular German guy who happened to be Turkish origin. His Turkishness occasionally plays a role, but it’s not a main plot point.

While watching Alarm für Cobra 11 a few days ago, one thing struck me. Now Erdogan Atalay is a rather short guy and will often be the shortest person in the scene. In fact, I used to think he would have made an excellent Wolverine some fifteen years ago, if Hugh Jackman hadn’t nabbed that particular role.

But what’s notable about Alarm für Cobra 11 is that the series makes absolutely no attempt to disguise the fact that Erdogan Atalay is a short guy. There are none of the hidden heels, thick-soled shoes and plain old orange crates that Hollywood uses to disguise height differences between actors, nor are there any of the less blatant tricks such as having the taller actor sit and the taller one stand. No, Semir simply happens to be short, just as he happens to be Turkish-German.

Now contrast this to the way Hollywood handles short male actors. The Iron Man and Avengers films are particularly blatant examples, because Robert Downey Jr. is another actor who happens to be short and yet the films take great pains to hide that fact by having him run-around in thick-soled shoes when he’s not in costume (when he is, CGI can do the trick) or having Gwynneth Paltrow walk around barefoot to even out the height difference. And in that scene in The Avengers, where Tony Stark gets into a shouting match with Steve Rogers about who is worthy of being a proper hero, Robert Downey Jr. is likely standing on a crate, because there’s no way otherwise that Tony and Steve can appear to be of the same height.

The practice is not confined to The Avengers either. For example, NCIS LA also goes to great pains to visually disguise the height differences between the actors to the point that the extremely tall actor who plays the psychologist Nate is always seen crouching and sitting to hide the fact that he towers above everybody else.

But looking at Alarm für Cobra 11 and the way that Semir is simply allowed to be short, I honestly wonder why Hollywood still feels the need to make male stars look tall, even if they’re not. Would it really matter if Tony Stark were shown to be a short guy, especially since Hawkeye, Phil Coulson and the untransformed Bruce Banner are actually allowed to be their natural not particularly impressive height? Short or not, Tony would still be a genius inventor, still be Iron Man, still be a hero. So really, what does it matter if he’s short?

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Mixed links about e-books, science fiction romance and the Hugos

This weekend has been somewhat quiet on the Internet with most of Europe groaning under a massive heatwave, the US celebrating the 4th of July and several cons going on around the globe.

What is more, I decided to give Dean Wesley Smith’s July Short Story Challenge a try, which resulted in a lot of writing and five short stories written in as many days (more on that in a different post later), but was also rather exhausting, especially given the less than ideal weather.

Nonetheless, I have a couple of links to share and things to announce:

First of all, I have a guest column in Issue 7 of SciFi Romance Quarterly, which you can download here or read online here. The issue is also chock-full of reviews, information about new SF romance releases, articles and fiction. And best of all, it’s free. So what are you waiting for? Go and check it out!

BTW, after downloading the issue via Dropbox I had to doublecheck that I had only shared the many photos of cranes that I was supposed to share with a business partner of my Dad’s and not the issue as well, since I doubt that crane companies care about SF Romance, though you never know.

The subject of my column is “Science Fiction Romance and the Hugo Awards” BTW. But before the groaning starts, there’s very little about puppies in the article (beyond a brief “If you’re just joining us…” summary) and a whole lot about great books blending science fiction and romance that either were nominated for awards or should have been.

While on the subject of the Hugo Awards, Hugo voting is still open and the debate is still going on, though it has gotten a bit quieter of late. I still faithfully follow Mike Glyer’s round-ups at File 770 though and that’s how I came across this great post by Malcolm Cross in which he points out that SFF has never really been unpolitical, not even during that mythical golden age that the various spokespuppies are so fond of extolling. Coincidentally, Malcolm Cross also points out that the fact that women, people of colour and LGBT people also get a voice in SFF these days doesn’t mean that the perspectives of straight white men have no value or that straight white men have nothing of interest to say, because – guess what? – the prevailing image of masculinity hurts straight white men as well.

In other news, Pegasus Pulp celebrated its fourth anniversary two days ago and I took the opportunity to delve a bit into sales metrics and wrote a lengthy post full of statistics neepery over at the Pegasus Pulp blog.

While on the subjects of e-books, the good people at Smashwords will be running their annual summer sale until July 31 and several of my books are participating. So if you have been eager to get some of my higher priced books at a lower price, here is your chance. For example, you can get Mercy Mission, first in the Shattered Empire series, at 75% off if you use the code SSW75 at the check-out. Or you can get Countdown to Death, first in the Silencer series, for 50% off, if you use the code SSW50 at the checkout.

For more promotions, the good people at the e-book subscription service Oyster now offer three months of unlimited reading for only 99 US-cents. Among the many other great books available at Oyster, you can also read all of my books there for free and I still get paid.

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Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for June 2015

It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some May books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Once again, we have new releases covering the whole broad spectrum of speculative fiction. We have science fiction, space opera, military science fiction, science fantasy, paranormal romance, post-apocalyptic fiction, dystopian fiction, YA fantasy, epic fantasy, time travel romance, Steampunk, weird western, horror, vampires, dragons, djinns, starships, magical schools, teen superheroes, otherworldly dogs, magical bookstores, vampiric bees, villainous teabags and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

The Lost World by Susan Alison

Lily’s life was dog-free and uneventful until one night when it became absolutely the reverse.

That same night Matt Lannings was reluctantly drawn into the fantastical scenario that Lily’s life had become – the only thing was that Lily believed she’d been chosen to save another world in another universe – and Matt didn’t.

Matt didn’t believe any of it!

Katie Fforde (internationally best-selling author, and President of the Romantic Novelists’ Association) said of ‘The Lost World’ — ‘Magical! Full of warmth and humour.’

Malevolent by K.M. Carroll

Libby is a high school senior who should be preparing for graduation. Instead, she’s been bedridden for six months with valley fever, stuck on her father’s farm in California’s central valley.

When the beekeepers arrive in February, bringing their bees to pollinate the almond crop, one of them looks like a vampire, acts like a vampire, says his name is Malevolent, and tries to murder Libby’s lousy boyfriend. Yet he offers her honey that dramatically improves her illness, and his bees sing words that she can understand.

Mal took up beekeeping in order to preserve the last remnants of his humanity. What started as a simple trip to California quickly turns into something far more complicated, as he meets a lovely girl who is deathly ill, infected by Mal’s own brother. Feeling guilty and responsible, Mal sets out to heal her with his precious, magic-infused honey, and with each passing day, comes closer to breaking his personal creed:

Befriend Many, Serve Some, Trust Few, Love None.

Once healed, Libby has the strength to break up with her boyfriend–touching off a war between Mal and his brother. This escalates into a realm of awful magic Libby has never dreamed of, where she is both pawn and prize in the battle against a Necromancer. In the end, Libby must face her growing feelings for Mal, and decide whether to destroy him–or rescue him from his soulless existence.

Transcend by Stacy Claflin

Eylin is hiding in the underground city from the group of ancients who want her dead, but she’s not safe even there. On the other side of some massive tunnels, an unknown group is systematically removing magic from each underground city.

As pressure mounts, Eylin has big decisions to make, and each could have deadly consequences. After being personally attacked, she makes a bold decision, and goes after it with the hopes of saving those she loves.

She becomes deeply invested in an ancient culture. If she gets too close, she could put all of her loved ones at risk.

This is book 8 of The Transformed series.

Hunted Hero Hunting by Timothy Ellis

Jonathon Hunter’s world grows darker each day. Assassins, Pirates, Bounty Hunters, Mercenaries, and Retros, all want a piece of him. Each trap leads to yet another trap. When the unthinkable happens, the prey becomes the predator. The hunted goes hunting. But how does a young spiritual warrior cope, as the kills mount?

The Hunter Legacy series:

1. Hero at large

2. Hunted Hero Hunting

3. Send in the Hero ***forthcoming***

Alex Armstrong: Awakening by Hayes Farley

Alex Armstrong is definitely not telekinetic.

But he will be. And all it takes is a little red pill.

Welcome to Pal Tech, the top-secret school for kids with latent telekinetic powers. Like the other freshmen, Alex was recruited sixteen years ago, when neonatal scans revealed his capacity for telekinesis. Now that he’s of age and his powers are ripe for unlocking, he can begin his training.

Alex excels. Whether he’s navigating a mock Star Wars Trench Run in lab class, crushing his friends in a game of no-hands basketball, or dodging a paintball-shooting helicopter drone during his Simtest, Alex makes telekinesis look easy.

Pal Tech’s president takes notice, moving Alex out of the simulation rooms and into field work with the upperclassmen. His first assignment: join the juniors as they oversee the school’s latest diamond shipment.

But somebody talks, and what should have been a routine delivery gets intercepted by a rogue telekin—a rogue telekin who’s already murdered two senators in his quest to kill Pal Tech’s founders.

With the other students scrambling to survive, Alex must stop the telekin before he causes any more destruction. There’s just one problem: The bad guy can fly.

The Twiceborn Queen by Marina Finlayson

Kate O’Connor’s had a rough week. Thrown into the middle of a war of succession between the daughters of the dragon queen, her introduction to the hidden world of the shifters almost proved fatal. Now, because of Kate and her new powers, that hidden realm has been revealed to the world, which hasn’t exactly won Kate any popularity contests.

Still, it’s not all bad news. After all, it’s not every day someone you love comes back from the dead. Throw in a hot new boyfriend, and suddenly Kate’s got a lot to live for—which is bad timing, because now the queen’s set a bounty on her head and every shifter in Sydney is trying to collect it.

Kate may have defeated a dragon already, but there are plenty more where that one came from. As her enemies close in and the body count mounts, Kate begins a desperate search for allies. The deadly game of the proving continues. If Kate is to save the people she loves, failure is not an option. The rules are simple: win or die.

The Twiceborn Queen is the second book in the urban fantasy trilogy The Proving.

Revelation by Kevin Hardman

The pressure of being a super – especially a teen super – can get to anyone, as Jim (aka Kid Sensation) has witnessed firsthand. Now he wonders if he himself might be succumbing to the strain in some way, as he can’t shake the feeling that he is now being watched by some new stalker. Moreover, despite his wide slate of powers, he hasn’t been able to discover to a single clue to substantiate the existence of this potential new enemy, making him wonder if it’s all in his head.

Looking forward to a few days of R&R and hanging out with his friends, Jim’s downtime is interrupted by the unsettling news that Alpha Prime, the world’s greatest superhero (and Jim’s father), is missing. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Jim finds his world rocked by an even more ominous revelation: his deranged half-brother, Paramount, has escaped from confinement in a maximum security installation.

In the course of investigating these events and trying to ascertain what connection, if any, there is between them, Jim becomes privy to information concerning a potent alien device capable of laying waste to the entire planet. But he’s not the only one – an enigmatic villain wants the alien technology for his own purposes, and it’s up to Jim to find a way to stop him before the world pays the ultimate price.

The Hartshire Bank by R.D. Henderson

Crepier is missing and the bank he created is foundering at the start of Hartshire Bank, the fourth novella in the Nambroc Sequence, a fantasy novella. His disappearance sends members of Watley Greywall’s crew reeling. Crepier was the longest-serving lieutenant in Watley’s crew.

Sir Sander Guyle, a reputed crime lord who wants to be thought of as legitimate merchant, steps into the void created by Crepier’s disappearance to lead the bank. He seizes the opportunity of managing the bank to complete the evolution to becoming a tycoon.

Things become dangerous and precarious when Crepier’s dead body is discovered on the rocky banks of the Waterford River a few leagues outside of Hartshire. The cause of death was several stab wounds in the chest.

Several senior members of Watley’s crew suspect that Sir Sander Guyle was responsible for Crepier’s death.

Watley, on the other hand, does not seem to be too troubled by the murder of Crepier, her most loyal and longest-serving lieutenant.

It appears Watley Greywall is hiding something, but what is it?

Planet Bloom by Jessie Jasen

The year is 2350.

Earth is in the Planetary Alliance with aliens who claim to be our creators. But not everybody agrees with the new doctrine.

Starship Scorpius is sent to explore space in search of advanced extraterrestrial technologies that will give us an advantage over our alien allies.

The battle for supremacy begins here…

The race is on when Scorpius encounters an alien phenomenon that leaves a mysterious extraterrestrial technology stranded on the ship—a strange machine that can teleport the crew to parallel dimensions.

But a deadly accident forces Captain Megan Ashley to forbid further usage of the machine. First Commander Sy Race supports Ashley’s decision, but secretly starts exploiting the technology when he realizes he can create his own parallel worlds and use them to attain his personal goals.

The STARSHIP SCORPIUS SERIES is infused with aliens, AIs, ghosts, starships, high-tech, mysterious space phenomena, battle between good and evil, and the central question of what it means to be an individual within the collective—human and alien—in the galaxy of the 24th century.

The Shadowseeker by Victor Kloss

Spellswords, Wardens, Traders, Scholars, Diplomats – the five departments of the Royal Institute of Magic an apprentice must master to become a full member.

Ben Greenwood has no idea what to expect when he begins his apprenticeship, but he quickly realises his family history is going to make life difficult. On his very first day, a Shadowseeker – a mysterious and dangerous dark elf – surfaces, and Ben suspects the dark elves might be trying to capture him again in an effort to flush out his parents.

When Ben renews his own search for his parents, he soon discovers they are closing in on a piece of Queen Elizabeth’s legendary armour – the only weapon strong enough to defeat the dark elf king once and for all – but it is guarded by something even more deadly than a Shadowseeker.

A race against time ensues, with Ben desperate to warn his parents they’re walking into a death-trap, while somehow completing the first level of his apprenticeship and securing his place at the Royal Institute of Magic.

Through a Mirror, Darkly by Kevin Lucia

There are a lot more truths in the books we read, than we’d like to admit.

What if a book delves into the lives of the very town you live in? Reveals to you some personal stories of people you know? Or thought you knew.

Bookstore owner Kevin Ellison faces this truth when a mysterious book shows up in Through a Mirror, Darkly by Kevin Lucia.

Through a Mirror, Darkly is a Supernatural Thriller collection masked as a novel. With elements of mystery, suspense, and otherworldly horror, Through a Mirror, Darkly successfully delves into the worlds of Lovecraft, Grant, and the mysterious Carcosa.

“Arcane Delights. Clifton Heights’ premier rare and used bookstore. In it, new owner Kevin Ellison has inherited far more than a family legacy, for inside are tales that will amaze, astound, thrill…and terrify.

An ancient evil thirsty for lost souls. A very different kind of taxi service with destinations not on any known map. Three coins that grant the bearer’s fondest wish, and a father whose crippling grief gives birth to something dark and hungry.

Every town harbors secrets. Kevin Ellison is about to discover those that lurk in the shadows of Clifton Heights.”

Through a Mirror, Darkly is a Supernatural Thriller collection masked as a novel. With elements of mystery, suspense, and otherworldly horror, Through a Mirror, Darkly successfully delves into the worlds of Lovecraft, Grant, and the mysterious Carcosa.

Ranger Rising by Salvador Mercer

A thousand years ago, on the world of Claire-Agon, a war raged between men and dragons, destroying both the creatures and the land’s many civilizations.

When his family is enslaved, Targon Terrel must battle the sinister Kesh wizards to save them, but a desperate group of refugees from his home country of Ulatha needs his help, too.

With the unexpected aid of a Druid of the Arnen, Targon discovers his destiny as a Ranger, but far from solving his problems, this discovery will soon reveal a personal betrayal. Targon’s fate brings him closer to long-buried truths about the ancient war between wizards and dragons — truths that could plunge his world into darkness forever.

Fallen by Christine Pope

When a group of rogue djinn attack the sanctuary of Taos, New Mexico, Jessica Monroe has no choice but to activate the device that was designed to destroy the elementals’ supernatural powers. With her lover Jace and the other friendly djinn in Taos doomed to a weakened half-life as long as the machine is active, Jessica and the other members of the community launch a desperate mission to retrieve the one man who might be able to help them — Miles Odekirk, the scientist in Los Alamos who invented the device in the first place.

The threat of retaliation by the Los Alamos survivors is only one of the perils facing Jessica, however. For Jace has his own enemies, and when an ancient rival returns to seek his own revenge, Jessica may have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save not only the man she loves, but everyone in the Taos community, human and djinn alike.

This is book 3 of The Djinn Wars.

McSorely’s Evil Tea by Helen Ryan

Sky Swift lives happily in a cosy home with her mother. She enjoys the simpler things in life like drinking tea, munching biscuits, oh and sniffing everything. One day evil pays a visit. Her world has changed forever. Stalked by an evil tea bag and chased by an evil tea company that will stop at nothing to get her.

They want her for their wicked plan.

Sky is in trouble. She needs help.

But who can she turn to?

 

A Prospect of War by Ian Sales

Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it, but those who ignore history do so at their peril. The Empire was born in civil war and now, 1,300 years later, a fresh civil war is brewing. But who is the mysterious “Serpent” who threatens the Imperial Throne? And what can the renegade naval officer known only as the Admiral, and her single battlecruiser, do to combat him? Casimir Ormuz, a young man of low birth, may be the key. Whoever controls him is most likely to win—but he is determined to be his own master.

And then the historical origin of the Serpent’s conspiracy abruptly intrudes into the present… And the civil war becomes a battle for the Empire’s survival.

Set in a colourful and richly-detailed universe, An Age of Discord tells an epic story of derring-do and intrigue, while subverting space opera sensibilities and traditions.

Wake by Maia Sepp

It’s 2020, and there’s an environmental crisis brewing in the depths of the Greenland ice sheet that’s a threat to everyone on the planet. But California girl Camilla Brightly is an expat just trying to make a buck, working for an offbeat PR firm. Their latest project? Everyone on staff has to get their “domestic helpmates” –anything from dishwashers to disco balls–networked via a new client’s “smart” home automation system. Camille doesn’t want Big Brother knowing that the only thing in her freezer is the makings for a vodka smoothie, but that’s not the worst of her problems.

A hacker intent on taking down one of her firm’s customers stumbles across a secret Camilla didn’t even know she was keeping, and her refrigerator turns out to be so smart it’s figured out how to stalk her. On top of that, there’s an environmental crisis brewing in the depths of a glacier halfway across the world that’s a threat to everyone on the planet. Global warming has reached a tipping point–and so has Camilla. She can’t stop the impending apocalypse but can she save herself?

With the help of an adorably nerdy co-worker and his polyamorous cousin, Camilla has to untangle herself from her less-than-harmonious home, foil a blackmailer, and face down an ecological disaster that might change life as she knows it forever. “Wake”–the prequel to “An Etiquette Guide to the End Times”–is a novel of climate change, unruly appliances, and finding a place to belong.

The Magician of Dustville by Hollis Shiloh

Magic, danger, and love in the Old West

A small yet powerful magician moves to Dustville. He’s prickly about his height (or lack thereof) and extremely private about his past.

Magician meets sheriff, also private about his past and quite firmly in the closet. It is, after all, the only safe place to be in the little almost-town of Dustville.

Attraction blossoming between them promises pleasure, and possibly more. Can this become what they both truly want — a real relationship?

And can they survive cruel villains, dark pasts, and a grave magical danger that will test them both to their limits … or beyond?

Enchanted by Ella Summers

Born in the land of magic, Ariella has never cared for the nightmare world of technology beyond Elitia’s borders: airships, bombs, some dubious thing the humans call fusion energy. Her last encounter with technology very nearly killed her, and she’s not eager for a rematch. But then her friend Davin, the crown prince of Elitia, is abducted by agents of the Avan Empire. To save the man she secretly loves, she has to travel beyond Elitia to the Avan capital city. Her only hope lies with rogue mercenary Everett—and trying to fight technology with magic.

Everett, mercenary and rescue mission expert extraordinaire, knows he’s in for trouble as soon as he sees his latest client. Ariella is Elition; the enormous glowing sword she carries around won’t let him forget that, just as he can’t forget the last time he crossed paths with Elition magic. Ten of his friends died, victims of telekinetic sorcery, and Everett learned to be very wary of magic. But Ariella is offering him a substantial reward for his help—if they can save Davin before the Avans’ unknown endgame plays out.

Enchanted is the first book in the Sorcery and Science fantasy adventure series.

The Wanderer by Vincent Trigili

Episode one of The Silverleaf Chronicles follows the life of Silverleaf, a dragonmaster who was born into a world without dragons, and doomed to die as a madman alone in the wilderness until a young woman enters his life, and a mysterious army marches across the land destroying all in its path.

The Silverleaf Chronicles is the first season in The Dragonmasters and is made up of seven episodes, each around 70 pages in length.

 

Godspeed by Michael Trinidad

The America of the late 21st century is a pale shadow of its former glory. Decades of war and the growing divide between the poor and the wealthy leaves all but the super-rich in the grips of the greatest depression since the 1930’s.

This is the world that sixteen-year-old Sharon Hall lives in. With her city teetering on the razor’s edge of dying, the dream of graduating and getting the diploma she needs to get a real job and save her family grows more distant with each passing day.

However, a team of television developers has other plans for her city. In exchange for around 140 high school students selected at random, her city will receive the millions of dollars it desperately needs to jump-start its broken economy. Before Sharon knows what the developers are really filming, she’s drafted into the production, known simply as “The Battle.”

But, “The Battle” is anything but simple. While touted as an ordinary wilderness survival show, the game is, in fact, a staged war that splits Sharon’s circle of friends in two and equips everyone involved with rifles, machine guns and other deadly weapons of modern warfare.

Of course, Sharon is going to survive. She has a family that needs her. But when the cost of her survival is the lives of her friends on the other team, it may be a more expensive price than she’s willing to pay.

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New German short story available – Neue Kurzgeschichte auf Deutsch erhältlich: Unter dem Galgen

I have a new release to announce. This one is another German language story, namely the translation of my short historical romance Hanging Day.

***

Ich habe ein neues e-Book anzukündigen, diesmal wieder eine neue Kurzgeschichte auf Deutsch. Es handelt sich dabei um Unter dem Galgen, die deutsche Übersetzung meiner historischen Liebesgeschichte Hanging Day.

Unter dem Galgen

London, 1751: Es ist Hinrichtungstag und neun verurteilte Verbrecher, sechs Männer und drei Frauen, sollen am berüchtigten dreistempligen Galgen von Tyburn sterben. Unter jenen, die gekommen sind, um die Gefangenen hängen zu sehen, ist auch Jack Blackstone, besser bekannt als Blackjack, der Straßenräuber.

Aber Jack ist an diesem Tag nicht nach Tyburn gekommen, um das Spektakel einer öffentlichen Hinrichtung zu begaffen. Denn unter denen, die heute gehängt werden sollen, ist auch Jacks große Liebe Eliza Colson, zum Tode verurteilt für ein Verbrechen, das sie nicht begangen hat.

Jack hat geschworen, Eliza vor dem Galgen zu retten oder bei dem Versuch zu sterben.

Mehr Informationen.

Länge: 5700 Worte

Preis: 0,99 EUR, USD oder GBP

Erhältlich bei Amazon Deutschland, Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Niederlande, Amazon Frankreich, Amazon Italien, Amazon Spanien, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australien, Amazon Brasilien, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Japan, Amazon Indien, Kobo, Apple iTunes, Thalia, Weltbild, Hugendubel, Der Club, BOL, Otto-Media, Donauland, buecher.de, buch.de, eBook.de, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, txtr, Inktera, Smashwords, Casa del Libro, Flipkart, e-Sentral und XinXii.

Diese Geschichte gibt es auch auf Englisch.

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Wolfgang Jeschke, Nutty Nuggets and mixed SF Links

Since my last post, a couple of other obituaries for Wolfgang Jeschke have popped up online, including a few in English:

Mike Glyer at File 770 has an English language obituary.
Locus Online has another English language obituary.
Phantastik-Couch offers not just an appreciation of Wolfgang Jeschke, but also an extensive bibilography of his works.
SF-fan.de shares a tribute to Wolfgang Jeschke as well as covers of all his novels.
The Austrian newspaper Der Standard calls Wolfgang Jeschke’s death “the end of an era”.
Finally, though I already linked it in my previous post, here is again Dietmar Dath’s wonderful tribute from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

There has also been some good news on the German SF front this weekend, because the winners of the 2015 Kurt-Laßwitz-Preise for German language science fiction have been announced. The award for the best German language SF novel went to Tom Hillenbrand for Drohnenland (Drone Country), another novel of which German cultural critics don’t seem to be aware that it is SF at all. Even Amazon Germany has it listed as a crime novel rather than as SF. The award for the best international SF went to Ursula K. Le Guin’s Paradises Lost.

Meanwhile, in the US, the Hugo war is still going on and reaching ever more ridiculous heights. The latest skirmish has the various puppies threatening to boycott Tor, i.e. the publisher whose books they claim to be hating anyway, and everybody else weighing in.

I’m largely keeping out of the puppy war these days, because I have better things to do than waste my time on a US-specific culture war that looks very quaint from the outside. Though I’ll probably post my personal Hugo voting policy.

However, I have to point out Mark Barrowcliffe’s a.k.a. M.D. Lachlan’s brilliant takedown of Brad Torgersen’s by now infamous “Nutty Nuggets” post.

Finally, for a non-SF-related link, here is a great article on the decline of the British seaside resort and its eventual rebirth. I have something of a weakness for British seaside towns, simply because they are so very different from the staid and dull German seaside resorts, so I’d be sad to see them die off.

Comments are closed. Puppies, please poop elsewhere.

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Too Many Deaths – Sir Christopher Lee, Wolfgang Jeschke, James Last and a couple of others

We only just lost Pierre Brice, but it seems the universe is conspiring to take away even more of our best and brightest, because the wave of deaths of much beloved celebrities continues unabated.

The most discussed death today is of course that of Sir Christopher Lee after a long and full life at age 93. Christopher Lee was just as ubiquitous as Pierre Brice. But unlike Brice, who was only known for a single role, Christopher Lee was known for many, many different parts.

He was Dracula and the Mummy and Frankenstein’s Monster and Fu-Manchu and Lord Summerisle and both Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. He was both the Bond villain Scaramanga and the real-life cousin of Ian Fleming as well as an actual spy during WWII. He was Count Dooku and Saruman the Grey and duelled on screen with three Jedi knights as well as Galdalf, while in his eighties. He was in a Dr. Mabuse movie (sort of – it’s complicated) and in two Edgar Wallace movies, playing a police officer who turns out to be the killer in one and the obvious villain, who turns out to be innocent, while Eddi Arent is the real killer, in the other. He lent his voice to the animated adaptation of Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn. He was a trained singer, recorded several Heavy Metal albums and spoke nine languages. He was, in a word, amazing and he will be sorely missed.

The second death of the day is a particular blow to German science fiction, because noted German science fiction writer and editor Wolfgang Jeschke died on Wednesday, aged 78. The state of German language science fiction has never been particularly happy and that we have something approaching a science fiction genre at all is largely due to Wolfgang Jeschke’s tireless work on behalf of the genre at the publisher Heyne. Dietmar Dath, himself an SF writer as well as one of my favourite German critics, puts it very well in his obituary for Wolfgang Jeschke at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: He was the one who made German language SF possible.

Since Wolfgang Jeschke was not all that well known outside Germany, there are no English language obituaries yet. Though his novel The Cusanus Game was translated into English and published by Social Justice Cabal Central – pardon, Tor Books – a few years ago. Here is a review by Gary K. Wolfe from the Chicago Tribune.

What is more, we also lost James Last, musician, composer, bandleader and king of easy listening this Wednesday, when he died in Florida aged 86. In his own way, James Last was as ubiquitous as Pierre Brice and Sir Christopher Lee. If you grew up in 1970s and 1980s Germany, you knew his music and your parents or grandparents probably had one or more of his records. Mine certainly did. When they were recently remodelling their living room, I came across a stack of old records of bad German pop music from the 1970s and asked, “Can we throw those out or at least hide them where the handimen won’t see them?”, they vehemently answered “No”. One of those records was a James Last record. It’s the one I would have rescued, along with the Johnny Cash in Folsom Prison record and the “Musikalische USA-Reise” (A musical trip through the US), a compilation of country songs named after US cities.

Because – in spite or because of what this kind of mean obituary in the Guardian claims – James Last was one damn good musician, even if his music was not quite to your taste. His songs were sung by various international stars including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti, he wrote the scores for many movies and the title songs for several popular TV series. His piece “Einsamer Hirte” (The lonely shepherd), originally written for an album called “Film scores without films” (which is a bloody brilliant title), wound up becoming a film score not once but thrice, most famously in Quentin Tarantino’s (who, whatever else you think about him, knows a thing or two about music) Kill Bill, Vol. 1.

Since James Last was born in Bremen as Hans Last, started his career here and remained connected to the city of his birth throughout his life, his death received a lot of coverage in the local media. Radio Bremen, where his career began, has a lot of background material about James Last, including some rare photos and early clips.

His most famous work was probably the wonderfully evocative tune “Biscaya”:

But my favourite of his is probably the Herz Schmerz Polka (Heartache polka). James Last didn’t actually write it – that honour goes to Czech composer Václav Bláha – but his orchestra sure played it wonderfully. The Herz Schmerz Polka starts at 1:10 BTW:

However, Sir Christopher Lee, Wolfgang Jeschke and James Last were not the only great people who left us in these past few days. Here, mentioned in brief, are a few others.

Ernst Waldemar Bauer, German nature documentary filmer and TV host, died aged 89. If you’re German and were into nature and animal documentaries (which I never was, not even as a child), he was probably as ubiquitous to you as Pierre Brice, Sir Christopher Lee and James Last.

British actor, singer and writer Ron Moody, best remembered for portraying Fagin in the musical Oliver! on stage and screen, died aged 91. He almost became the Third Doctor instead of Jon Pertwee.

Margueritte Patten, British author of cooking cooks, including one about war-time ration cooking, as well as one of the first TV-chefs, died aged 99. Even the New York Times has an obituary for her.

Ornette Coleman, revolutionary jazz saxophonist and composer, died aged 85. The New York Times shares some of his greatest hits.

Wrestler Dusty Rhodes a.k.a. “The American Dream” also died, aged only 69. I’ve never really been a wrestling fan and considered US-style pro-wrestling mostly as this really curious phenomenon that I sometimes saw on the original Sky Channel in the 1980s in Rotterdam, where my Dad worked and where we had that most marvelous miracle of the modern age, cable TV. Dusty Rhodes would have been active in those years and he was recognisable enough that I knew who he was as soon as I saw a photo.

Please, universe, just make it stop.

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Winnetou Redux, German SF and Two Audio Links

My post about the passing of Pierre Brice, the actor best known for portraying the noble Apache chief Winnetou in the Karl May adaptations of the 1960s, attracted some unexpected attention, because it led to me being interviewed by Carol Off on the program As It Happens by CBC Radio today. You can listen to the interview here.

As for how that interview came about, I was just sitting down to watch the evening news, when I was handed the telephone with the words “Someone speaking English.”

Now English language phonecalls in this house are usually for me and even when they’re not, I’m usually the one who ends up answering them. Most of those English language calls are work-related, but since I wasn’t expecting anything along those lines, I was naturally a bit curious.

So I answered the phone and found myself talking to a very nice lady who works as a producer for CBC Radio in Toronto. Turned out that they wanted to do a piece about the late Pierre Brice and my blogpost was one of the very few English language articles about him. So she asked me a few questions, I tried to explain why Pierre Brice and Winnetou were so important for many Germans and then she asked if she could call me back for the interview with Carol Off.

They called me back an hour later, we did the interview and this is how I ended up getting interviewed on Canadian radio, which impressed my parents mightily. when I told them.

If you’re not all audioed out yet, I’d also like to point you to this recent episode of the Skiffy and Fanty Show podcast about German science fiction. I wasn’t interviewed for this one, since it’s a recording of a panel about German SF at Loncon, the 2014 WorldCon. But I did help out the Skiffy and Fanty team by decyphering the German names and tracking down the relevant links, for which they kindly thanked me in the subsequent episode dedicated to Mad Max: Fury Road.

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Thoughts on the 2014 Nebula Awards

The debate about the Hugo Awards is still going on and reaching ever more ridiculous proportions. If you feel like wading into all that, the tireless Mike Glyer at File 770 offers daily summaries of the latest entries in the debate. And if you’re in need of a laugh, check out “Sad Puppies Review Books” by Alexandra Erin, parody reviews of popular (American) children’s books written Sad Puppy style.

With all the controversy surrounding the Hugos, it’s easy to forget the other important SFF award, which would be a pity, because the winners of the 2014 Nebula Awards have been announced this weekend.

As I said in my Nebula nominations reaction post from February, this year offered a worthy and pleasantly diverse group of Nebula nominees and the winners reflect this.

Jeff Vandermeer wins in the Best Novel category for Annihilation, the first book in his Southern Reach trilogy. It’s certainly a worthy winner, though personally I prefer both Ancillary Sword and The Goblin Emperor (and it’s going to be very hard to decide which one to give the top spot on my Hugo ballot). What is more, Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy very likely lost a Hugo nomination due to puppy shenanigans, so I’m happy to see him win the Nebula.

I loved Ursula Vernon’s “Jackalope Wives”, which won in the short story category, and indeed the story was on my Hugo nomination ballot. Alaya Dawn Johnson took home two well-deserved Nebulas, one in the novelette category as well as the Andre Norton Award for the best YA book. Nancy Kress in the novella category is another worthy winner, though I haven’t read the work in question.

Guardians of the Galaxy won in the dramatic presentation category, proving that at least this year, colourful and fun science fiction won out over dull and earnest entries like Interstellar. But then I feel that Guardians of the Galaxy is really the SFF movie to beat this year, even though puppy shenanigans may have harmed its chances at the Hugo due to several voters having vowed to place all slate nominees (and Guardians was on the puppy slate, because even crying canines occasionally have taste) under “No Award”.

The recipients of the Grand Master and Solstice Awards are all very worthy choices as well, though it’s a pity that Joanna Russ couldn’t receive this honour in her lifetime. I also agree with some of the commenters at File 770 that deserving as Larry Niven is, it would be great to see more Grand Master Awards go to the many great women writers in the genre.

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