Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 108

Announcing the Totally Awesome INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY

Well, I’ve been hemming and hawing over what to give away for about a week now, and I finally decided.

First, let me tell you why I’m doing a giveaway. 

Bookworm Blues, my tiny, dusty corner of the internet, has reached a few cool milestones in the past week. First, I now have over 1,000 Twitter followers. Yeah, about 600 of them are probably spambots, but it’s the number that counts, right?

Secondly, yesterday when I logged onto my website stat counter thing, it was at 206,000. I just looked now and it was at 207,512 unique hits, which filters out all the spam hits as much as possible. Basically, since I started THIS website about a year or so ago, I’ve 200,000+ hits. Thats AMAZING. That’s also not counting the 100,000+ hits I had from my old website before I moved over here.

That’s worth celebrating, and it’s worth rewarding and bribing my loyal readers so they might keep coming back.

The dilemma 

I was stuck for a while on what to give away. You see, the thing is, I’m getting ready for cancer treatment and it’s not cheap. It will take me out of work for a while and medical bills are already making things pretty tight, so I don’t have a wad of cash to throw around. That pretty much ruled out shipping books internationally because that is EXPENSIVE. But many of my readers live in other countries, so it wouldn’t be fair to leave all of you out just because you have the audacity to live somewhere that costs a bit more to ship to.

So then I was thinking that maybe I could bribe a publisher to ship a book out for me. But I wasn’t comfortable with that, either. The problem with that is that most US based publishers don’t do international shipping. Also, what if you don’t want to read the book I’m offering?

See the dilemma? I have a wide and varried audience, and I’d like to appeal to ALL of you (because I’m thanking ALL of you).

Then, today in the shower (where most of my epic inspirations hit), I had an idea. What if I offered $15 USD to a random winner  for BookDepository? They do free international shipping and 15 bucks might get you a book or two, if you are smart about it and buy paperbacks. $15 also won’t break my bank and I won’t have to worry about shipping it. Plus, YOU will get to order whatever YOU want, not what I think you should read.

So, it’s settled. Here are the details for the THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR VISITING MY WEBSITE giveaway: 

1. Contest is open to EVERYONE who lives in the countries Book Depository ships to FREE OF CHARGE (there’s over 90 on the list, so that leaves it fairly open). For a list, visit this link.

2. To enter the contest, leave a comment on this post by midnight, mountain time on Thursday, January 31. 

3. A winner will be chosen at random. I will email you directly. You will have 48 hours to respond. If you do not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen.

What you are winning and how it works: 

For the life of me, I can’t find a gift card/store credit option on Book Depository anywhere. I emailed them about it, but no response. So this is how it’s going down:

1. You will win $15 to buy whatever books you want. You sleuth the Book Depository pages and you email me, telling me what books you want to order along with your shipping address. (Please keep in mind, I’m going through cancer treatment and money is tight, so keep it within the $15 limit)

2. I will order these books and have them shipped to you.

So, there you go. I hope that’s not too confusing.

And once again, thanks for making this website so much fun for me to run. 

Re-Review | The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – N.K. Jemisin

About the Book

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother’s death and her family’s bloody history.

With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate – and gods and mortals – are bound inseparably together.

427 pages (paperback)

Published on February 25, 2010

Published by Orbit

Author’s webpage

You can purchase a copy of this book by clicking on the following links: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy), The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy) – Kindle

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This is a re-review. You can read about project re-review here.

I have a ton of reviews to catch up on, but I figured that a fitting start to 2013 would be a re-review. This isn’t just any re-review, though. This is a re-review of the first book I ever reviewed on my blog all those years ago. Looking back at it now, it kind of blows my mind how much my stuff has changed over the years. (Check out my very first review I ever wrote here.)

Anyway, one of my Christmas presents this year was a Kindle and a gift card for said Kindle. I’ve been reading on it constantly. While I’ve been focusing on Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, when cancer stuff hits I tend to be in the mood to read lighter material. I was browsing through the books I’ve bought in the past and happened across The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I didn’t actually mean to re-read it, but two days later, here I am.

I remember when I first read it; I thought it was the best thing ever written. Like my blog, it seems like my personal taste has changed a lot, too. That’s what makes these re-reviews fun for me. It’s interesting to see how much things change when you don’t really expect them to.

Now that my little diatribe is done, let’s get to the nitty-gritty.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is, to the best of my knowledge, Jemisin’s first published book, and it really seems to be the book that put her on the speculative fiction map. There are some very good reasons for this. The world is fascinating and unique, the cultures are diverse, Sky is easy to visualize and Jemisin has a very lyrical and descriptive way of writing that seems to suck readers in, even if the story is suffering somewhat. 

I tend to think that the quality of the book that most readers seem to enjoy is the romance. The Night Lord is quite a memorable character, no matter what you actually end up thinking of the man. He’s tortured and miserable and absolutely enslaved to people who are far weaker than he is, and it’s been that way for a very long time. He’s grown bitter, and very dangerous. The affection between the innocent Yeine and this god is rather predictable and a tired trope, but Jemisin handles it well. Nahadoth is an absolutely haunting character, thanks to Jemisin’s wonderful ability to write. Next to him, Yeine’s character suffers a bit. She’s a little too predictable, a little to church-mouse to accompany the various gods she finds herself wound up with.

Characterization is, perhaps, where Jemisin shows her flaws most. I have already mentioned briefly some problems with Yeine, but the real issues were with the other two heirs she was competing with, the brother and sister who were both sadly two dimensional for their own good. The sister was so obviously evil, vindictive and petty it was hard to believe her character. At times, I found her to be laughable. Her brother, on the other hand, was almost non-existent throughout the story.

Like the title, the book itself is a little longer than it needs to be in some respects. Very much of Yeine’s story can be easily chopped without losing any real depth. Her search for answers to her mother’s death seems to circle around itself quite a bit, and takes up a lot of time that is, frankly, unnecessary. The grand ‘Ah ha!’ moment at the end of the book, really makes much of the portions regarding her mother’s death rather exhausting and almost, I hesitate to say, pointless.

Despite these small issues, I really should give Jemisin some praise for her writing. She didn’t choose an easy narrative path to tell her story. Much of it is rather twisting and confusing until about the halfway point, where things start to become clear. She manages to not only keep the world alive (though some of the cultures and politics could have used a little more polishing), but readers interested despite much of the (seemingly) circular inner dialogue.

However, if you ask me why I’m giving The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, three stars rather than four, it’s for one specific, incredibly annoying, stylistic reason:

***

No… not yet…

***

I need to discuss something else that I remember from four years ago that has no baring on the immediate point at all before I can talk about…

***

Wait, now I understand.

Sarah, you gotta just spit this out.

Shut up. I’ll get to it when I stop remembering this thing that makes no sense.

***

People who have read the book might read what I just read and understand what I’m poking fun of. For those who haven’t, if you read the book, you’ll understand. You’ll become very fond of stuff like that throughout the entire book. While I understand the difficulty of telling a story that does not entirely take place on a linear timeline, the constant divisions, inner dialogue and memories that make no sense are incredibly annoying.

At the end of the day, what this book boils down to is a very high class and holy soap opera.

That being said, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms ship has sailed, and it was an amazingly successful journey, despite my various gripes. The truth is, Jemisin’s incredible talent with writing outshines all of the book’s flaws. It’s easy to overlook various annoyances when you’re enjoying a literary feast. Not only did this book prove Jemisin to be a formidable speculative fiction author, but her career since then has skyrocketed. So, no matter what I say here, she has done something very right and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms proves it. It’s easier to enjoy the book for what it is, than to focus on the various negative points in it. At the end of the day, this truly is one incredible start to a very successful career as an author, and the fantasy genre is better for it.

3/5 stars

Lofty 2013 Goals

Well, 2013 is upon us, and who is more surprised than I that we somehow managed to survive the apocalypse?

In 2012, I didn’t really have any goals besides the goal to get over myself and start interviewing authors. Which I actually managed to accomplish (and I learned I enjoyed it quite a bit). I also hosted an event, Special Needs in Strange Worlds which was wildly successful and incredibly fun. Other than that, I guest posted on a lot of different blogs and venues, was interviewed a few times and other exciting things of that nature. Perhaps the most exciting, at least to me, is that I finally got a chance to do what I’ve always wanted to do: edit. In 2012, I started helping edit two books, one of which will be released on January 8.

2012 seemed to be the year me and my website both grew and changed in ways I hadn’t ever predicted or expected.

So what on Earth could I be hoping to achieve in 2013? 

Well, I’m still hoping to land that publishing/freelance editing job (snort, snort).

In all seriousness, I hope 2013 will continue in the same way 2012 went. I want to continue interviewing and interacting with authors. I am also already in the planning stages for another month-long event inspired by Special Needs in Strange Worlds. I hope that this will kick off in April or May. The theme for this one will be different, and rather self-indulgent because it’s something I’m fascinated with. I won’t give it away, but I will give you a clue. It has something to do with worldwide cultures. I’ll let you ponder that until I announce the event when it’s ready. The good thing about this one is that it’s not something I thought of in the shower and then put into action 10 minutes later. I actually have a few good months to prepare this event, so I hope (cross my fingers) it will be as interesting and inspiring as Special Needs in Strange Worlds was.

Onto personal bookish goals:

In 2012, I read 112 books. I have a personal goal to hit 120 in 2013. 
I want to continue challenging myself to read things that I typically wouldn’t read (example: in 2012 I forced myself to read a bunch of romance books, and while I still don’t like the genre, I do respect and understand it a bit more. I think that’s important in a reviewer). 
I want to continue editing books, and hopefully get one or two more under my belt this year (at least). 
Someday, I swear to (insert holy thing here) I’ll be on a podcast. I have no idea why I want to so bad, it just sounds like fun.
I already accomplished one goal I set myself. On January 1, 2013 I finally reached 1,000 Twitter followers, which is very, very cool (though a good chunk of them are probably spambots). Be checking here in the next few days for an announcement of a celebratory GIVEAWAY.
I will continue doing re-reviews. For some reason I find my different opinions after re-reading a book really interesting. So you’ll get more of those.

Personal non-bookish goals:

In 2012, I lost 50 pounds. I plan to lose the last 20 this year (though I wouldn’t mind a few more than that). 10 more pounds puts me in my healthy weight range, and I’d like to get right in the middle of my healthy weight range this year. My bonus for hitting my goal will be the purchase of a new (and much more expensive) camera. It’s time to upgrade… camera, body, mind and soul. I’m almost there. It feels great.

Most importantly, I’d like 2013 to be the year I finally beat cancer. Last night I spent a little time making this stupid graphic to keep me motivated and upbeat when everything seems set against me. I’m hoping against hope that this year is the year that, after two years of struggle (which seems to be more emotional than anything else), I finally win.

Cancer Update

When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, I made a pretty conscious decision to be open about it. Well, here’s the rundown. I was diagnosed with “the best kind of cancer” (No cancer is good. I hate it when people say “you really got lucky with your cancer! It’s the best one!” like I won some damn lottery) in Oct. 2010 (papillary thyroid carcinoma). I had a total thyroid removal in November of 2010. Then, I started on the hormones that we all have to start on with thyroid cancer. In January, 2011, I went to the hospital to start radioactive iodine treatment (after a horrible low iodine diet which I HATED). They did a blood test and learned I was 9 weeks pregnant (which is probably why I felt like crap the whole time I was doing the low iodine diet).

Anyway, pregnancy was horrible. With a mixture of back problems that basically paralyzed me for six months, and fighting cancer, it was a nightmare. After I had Fiona, I had an ultrasound done in October 2011, at which point I was told I was cancer free. Yay.

Moving to now.

May of this year I had another routine ultrasound done. The doctor found 3 abnormal lymph nodes and wanted to watch them. He slightly elevated my hormones and let me sit with it for a few months to see if the nodes would grow or disappear or do whatever the hell it is that nodes do.

Today I went back for my follow up.

Result:

My three abnormal nodes have each doubled in size. One has him very nervous because it “looks like it might have access to your blood” – if its cancerous (which is what we are all expecting) and has access to my blood this “best cancer ever” could literally have moved ANYWHERE in my body (which means that even the “best cancer” can be horrible). Second bit of bad news? Not only did the three existing nodes double in size (one grew a little more than double), but two more decided to join the party. I now have five abnormal nodes. I had two of them biopsied today. I should get results in 10 days, with the new year, it might take a little longer.

That little red mark is the where I had the biopsy done.

Treatment?  If it ends up to be cancer, like we all expect, it’s bilateral neck surgery to remove all the cancerous junk and “one or two” rounds of radioactive iodine. The doctor says that if the biopsy comes back normal (I don’t know how it could. He’s been calling it cancer for months and no normal nodes would ever look like THAT… even I can tell that much and I’m not trained with that at all), the growth of the nodes has made him so nervous that he wants me to do “one or two doses” of RAI anyway, preferably as soon as possible.

Now, I’m digesting it all. I didn’t expect THIS. I’m having a hard time… emotionally I feel kind of broken and hollow right now. I’ll be mad as hell tomorrow and I’ll probably be crying for a week. I’m going to be on pins and needles until we take the next step to get rid of this stuff. I don’t, honestly, know what I am.

My husband came home from work early with flowers and strawberries to cheer me up. I think when the child wakes up from her nap we’ll go to the zoo. I’m just trying to keep my mind off of it…. or something. I don’t honestly know. I’m all over the map. But, I made a promise to myself to be pretty open about this stuff, so here you go. This is the update. I’ll probably be quiet a few days until I emotionally stabilize a bit.

Author Interview | Jeff Salyards

Jeff Salyards is a relatively new voice in speculative fiction. He’s made quite a splash with his first, and very successful, novel Scourge of the Betrayer. It says something about an author’s budding career when they went from a person no one has heard of before, to a common name in a matter of a few months. In fact, I find his success so exciting that I’m anxiously standing by watching where his promising career will lead him. He’s also a hell of a guy. This is proven by the fact that he let me bother him with one of my incredibly long interviews during an extremely busy part of the year and didn’t complain even once.

What a guy.

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

About the Author (in his words)

I grew up in a small town north of Chicago. While it wasn’t Mayberry, with all the doors unlocked and everyone offering each other slices of pie and quaint homilies, it was pretty quiet and sleepy, so I got started early imagining my way into all kinds of other worlds and universes that were loud, chaotic, and full of irrepressible characters and heaps of danger. Massive explosions. Tentacled aliens. Men with sharp swords and thousand-yard stares and secrets they would die to protect. Clearly, I was a full-bore dork.

Royal Crown bag full of multi-sided dice? Check. Blood-red hooded cloak? Check. Annual pilgrimages to Renaissance Faires? Check. Whacking other (curiously athletic and gifted) dorks with rattan swords in the SCA? Check. Yes, I earned my badges, thank you very much.

My whole life, I’ve been fascinated by the fantastic, and of course this extended to speculative fiction of all kinds. Countless prepubescent evenings found me reading a worn, dog-eared copy of Thuvia, Maid of Mars (it sounded so much dirtier than it was!) or The Frost Giant’s Daughter (high hopes for that one too!) well past lights-out, flashlight in hand, ignoring the repeated calls to turn in. That’s as quiet and harmless a rebellion as you can have, and my parents mostly sighed and left me to it.

So, no one has ever been surprised to hear that I was working on (or at least talking about working on) some sci-fi or fantasy story or other. But it took years of flirting with various projects, flitting from one to the next without the hint of complete commitment, before I finally mastered myself enough to finish a novel. And longer still before I finished another one that was worthy of being published.

But wonders never cease. And here we are.

My debut novel, Scourge of the Betrayer, is a hard-boiled fantasy to be published by Night Shade Books in May 2012. It’s the first installment in a series called Bloodsounder’s Arc. I’m so excited I’m beginning to annoy myself. I am represented by Michael Harriot at Folio Literary Management, and couldn’t be happier. His savvy, smart advice has been invaluable on this journey. I suspect he has a secret stash of 20-siders somewhere in his desk.

I live with my lovely wife, Kris, and three daughters in a suburb west of Chicago. I am indebted to Kris in countless ways for her steadfast encouragement, support, and thick skin in dealing with a prickly, moody writer. I don’t always like living with me, but she has a choice and stays anyway.

And before you are tempted to mention it, I am fully aware that siring three daughters is certainly karmic retribution, particularly when they all transform into teenagers. I cling to the hope of discovering at least one of them reading covertly in the middle of the night. That kind of transgression I can handle.

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You can visit the author’s website, facebook and twitter for more information.

Jeff also participated in Special Needs in Strange Worlds with an amazing post called Broken, but Unbowed, which you can read here.  

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Onto the interview

General Questions

I love how you describe yourself as a dork in your biography on your website. I can completely relate. While you list a few much loved books from your childhood, I’m wondering what others you remember that really got you started into fantasy and science fiction?

I remember being sick at home with a really nasty bug, and pretty much confined to shivering under a velour blanket for several days, and I devoured The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I also took several trips to Narnia as well around that time. And while I loved those books, they were sort of quiet and whimsical, especially compared to the explosions and dark sorcery and bloodletting that John Carter and Conan had to deal with. But I’ve always been drawn to both kinds of fantasy and science fiction, then and now—some days, I want sprawling vistas, poignant poetry and meditation, the challenge of magnificent ideas, and other days, I want beheadings, betrayals, crushed bones, and broken hearts.

Being a father, and an avid reader yourself, are there any books that you love sharing with your kids?

Flowers in the Attic and Go the F**k to Sleep are favorites in the house. I kid. Sort of. I do wish they would go the eff to sleep.

Dr. Seuss is always a go to. Guess how Much I Love You and I Love You, Stinky Face! (Notice a trend, do you?). Any Maisy book. Any and all princess related-books. My Truck is Stuck. Purplicious and all spin-offs. The oldest is just starting to read, so things will really take off soon.

You say that no one was really surprised when you started writing a novel. How long ago did you start writing and how long did it take you to complete your first book (published or unpublished)?

Do you remember the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books? Where the reader picks the narrative path, and either solves the mystery, finds the treasure, or gets eaten by Gronks depending on choices made? Well, my Master’s thesis was a novel: an irreverent, silly, much longer version of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book called Listen to the Zebras geared towards adults. Written in second person, where “You” were involved in baffling and zany intrigue with telepathic commandos, clones of yourself, a shadow puppeteer, and a really overbearing mother. I wrote it over the course of about two and a half years while finishing up my course work. It was a lot of fun. In a masochistic sort of way.

You are also a father with three daughters who I love hearing about on Facebook. As an author heavily invested and successful in a creative field, what are some of the ways you encourage creativity in your children?

The eldest wants to be a fashion designer, the middle girl will probably play rugby, and the jury’s still out on number three.  It can be tricky finding an activity, creative or otherwise, that engages all of them, especially given how different their personalities are and the range in ages. Sometimes having fun can be a lot of work. But drawing, arts and crafts, make believe, word games, making up songs, Legos, Play-Doh, and lots and lots of reading are in the mix.

You say that you are indebted to your wife for being supportive while writing. In what ways has her support helped you continue with your books?

Well, the only time I get to really write is at night after the kids go down (and stay down!). So first and foremost, she’s great about encouraging me to use that time, provided we still make time to reconnect ourselves. So I’m lucky to be with someone that understands and appreciates that this is a dream come true for me, and pushes me to keep after it.

And she does a phenomenal job helping on the practical front (setting up readings, an Author page on FB, etc.) But more than that, I’d say the biggest show of support is simply putting up with a moody, self-absorbed (or at least character-absorbed) writer for a spouse. If I’m not writing, I’m often feeling guilty about not writing, or I’m reading reviews, or trying to promote the book and series, or trying to figure my way through the next scene, or fixing the one I just wrote that bombed, or. . . on and on. Lost in my own private universe. And while that can get lonely or reclusive for me, I know the reverse is true, too—it can be hard waiting on a writer to return to earth and be responsive. So I appreciate her willingness to wait me out, and to reel me back in when necessary.

When you aren’t writing or working, what could someone generally find you doing?

Sleeping. Sometimes crying. Because I wish I was sleeping. And even when I’m sleeping, I dream about sleeping.

Scourge of the Betrayer Questions

Scourge of the Betrayer is your first published novel. Were you prepared and expecting all the things you’d face on and after release day? What has releasing your first novel taught you about writing and criticism?

My agent and publisher were good about preparing me for what release day would bring (beautiful nymphs and dryads riding prancing unicorns, announcing my arrival with wine and song, and heralding the greatness that would surely follow!! Or not.). So I wasn’t completely clueless about how manic it would be. But it was a good manic, and exciting as all get out. So no complaints. I’m a dad—I’m used to crappy sleep and high anxiety anyway.

As far as what it taught me, I’m a scarred veteran of writing workshops, so I have thick skin and I’m pretty inured to the slings and arrows of having my stuff critiqued. And having it done by reviewers is pretty similar. Just on a more public stage. With a lot bigger audience. And it’s out there for posterity. Forever and ever. And ever.

In all seriousness, I do read my reviews, more than once, but I try not to get too distracted or depressed by the less then effusive ones, or too high on the glowing reviews. As you well know, reading is very subjective, and where one reviewer might love your book and call it a favorite of the year, others might roast over a very hot open flame. So you’re probably not as lousy as your worst review or as fantastic as your best.

One of the interesting parts of your book is that the main character virtually knows nearly nothing about the situation he’s in. It unfolds around him (and the reader) as the book progresses. Therefore, the reader doesn’t really know anything, either. We learn as we go. While I’m sure you had to plan events in advance, did you find it hard to stop yourself from giving too much away too soon? How did you pace yourself, and the understanding of events and situations so perfectly? You always seemed to drop just enough knowledge but never too much to spoil anything and I find that kind of restraint incredible.

Thanks for the compliment, but not everyone thought the pacing was as spot on as you did. Some critics thought I played it too close to the vest, or was chintzy in handing out info. Still, as you say, it was a very deliberate choice, for good or ill.  Once I committed to the idea that Arki was going to be a generally clueless dork through much of the first book, I had to really monitor how and when he (and therefore the reader, since he was essentially the proxy) 0discovered what the Syldoon soldiers were really up to, and what the devil was bedeviling Captain Braylar Killcoin. (And without spoiling anything, I will only say that even some things he thinks he’s uncovered and pieced together prove to be different than expected in Book II.)

It was a balancing act. If I revealed too much too quickly, it would sort of defeat the purpose of having a naïve chronicler in the first place; but too little, too slow, and readers would grow frustrated (as a few no doubt did).  So I always tried to ask myself when considering revealing something, was it a natural consequence, and did it make sense given the parameters I had in place. 

That pretty much dictated when and how information was doled out. I tried to avoid massive info dumps, and to bring most of the stuff to light through conversation that felt natural and organic.

Your name is being compared to the likes of Joe Abercrombie. Does that comparison ever surprise you?

I’m thrilled to be mentioned in the same breath as Joe Abercrombie—one, because I enjoy his books and only think he’s getting better, and two, because he’s wildly popular. Who doesn’t want wildly popular to rub off on them? But I am surprised a little. While we both seem to have a pretty dark sense of humor, Bloodsounder’s Arc is told in first person, where all of Abercrombie’s books (at least so far) are third. And while both of us seem to gravitate to world’s that are fairly low-magic, I’d say the tone and feel of the series/books are pretty different as well.

Glen Cook has been bandied around as another comparison. And that makes a little more sense, at least superficially—the Black Company books feature a chronicler narrating the exploits of a military company. But even there, I think the differences outweigh the similarities: the narrators couldn’t be more different, the characters in the respective companies don’t overlap much, beyond being “grey”, and the magic-levels are pretty far apart.

Still, surprising or not, it’s fantastic to be compared to any big hitters in the field.

Scourge of the Betrayer is a rather graphic book in some parts. Was it hard for you to write such graphic scenes? Did you have to be in a certain mindset to do so, or do some research to make sure you portrayed battles/injuries/etc. correctly?

I’ve loved history for as long as I can remember, and I’ve always been drawn to medieval history in particular. One thing that always jumped out, though, is that even in periods where the writers of the age paid a lot of lip service to chivalric virtue, the battles were often brutal, gruesome affairs (especially if you didn’t happen to be well-off enough to get ransomed). Sure, the campaigns often consisted of long bouts of marching, camping, scouring the countryside, and waiting, only occasionally broken by skirmishes or the odd prolonged engagement, but the combat itself was ugly, brutish, and intense. And yes, while a lot of evidence indicates that armor worked pretty damn well, plenty of combatants in a pitched battle or siege weren’t armored head to toe. So the injuries that folks sustained were awful. (The Battles of Towton (http://www.economist.com/node/17722650) and Wisby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Visby) are pretty revealing about the grisly ways people were offed in hand to hand combat.)

Now, Scourge might not be historical fiction, but I wanted it to have an almost historical-fiction feel at its base, so I tried to emulate the depiction of battles in books by Bernard Cornwell (he’s pretty much the gold standard, as far as I’m concerned).  I didn’t want to revel in it, or glorify it, or include graphic scenes for any sensational reason, but to illustrate exactly what it took to take an armored man down, and that plans went to shit after the initial engagement, and dumb luck could play as decisive a role in the outcome as skill or tactics or planning.

I know not everyone likes battles in fantasy, but I figured if I was going to write about a military company, I needed to capture some of the grim reality they’d experience.

How long did it take you to write Scourge of the Betrayer from the birth of the idea to sending it off to the publisher?

Not forever and a day, but pretty much forever. I started writing Scourge about ten years before it was published. Now, if this sounds like a really long time, it’s because it was (which sounds worse—ten years or a decade? I go back and forth). But it wasn’t like I spent the entire time agonizing over every little word choice, because there were some pretty long stretches in there where I got completely distracted by other life happenings and allowed myself to drift away from it. Job, hunting, moving to England for a couple of years, travel, job hunting, drinking, reading, thinking about job hunting, playing tennis badly, doing laundry, recovering from drinking, you get the idea. I wasn’t what you (or anyone, except possibly a worse slacker living in his mom’s basement) would call focused or committed.

But then my girls were born in pretty quick succession, and with suddenly zilch in the free time department, that forced me to really reevaluate the whole writing endeavor and what it meant to me. It was time to fish or get off the pot. No, that’s not right. Shit or cut bait? 

Anyway, it was go time.

I almost hate asking this question, but I am curious. Some writers create their worlds first, and then fill it with people and move onto cultures, plots, etc. Others create their people first, and then build a world around their characters. Which camp, if any, do you fit into? How much research and trial and error went into your world and character building? Did the effort ever surprise you? (Or are you one of the lucky ones where it all seems to come naturally to you?)

I started with the characters—a nerdy archivist recording the narration from a hardened military commander. Still, several of the other characters were there from the get go, too, and I fleshed out the Syldoon structure, the Memoridons, the God Veil, and all the other world building elements after that. Because I wanted to focus on the characters and their interactions, a lot of those elements are only hinted at or explored briefly in the first book, but never fear—they really come to the forefront in Book II. Or fear if you want. Who am I to dictate?

When can your numerous fans and avid readers be expecting the next book in this series?

I’m hoping to finish the rough draft of Book II (tentatively titled Veil of the Deserters) in the spring, and turn in a revised and polish manuscript in the summer, so it should be available by November or December 2013.

Are there any other projects you are working on at the same time?

Between the day job, the dad job, promoting the series, and working on Veil of the Deserters (or whatever the heck it ends up being called), there’s barely enough time to sleep, let alone work on another project. So, nope, nothing else in the fire right now.

I think that’s all I have for now. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Is there anything else you’d like to say before we close?

I’ve rambled enough. Anyone who made it this far is probably exhausted, rubbing their eyes, and cursing you for allowing this whole thing to happen. So I’ll just say thanks for inviting me to do the interview, Sarah. I appreciate it, and it’s been a blast.

Top 10 Books of 2012

I don’t usually do top ten lists, but I decided to this year. 2012 was a great year for books, and I ran across some truly wonderful reads. In no particular order, I’m deciding to share my 10 favorite books with the masses. Enjoy!

——

Of Blood and Honey – Stina Leicht

Liam never knew who his father was. The town of Derry had always assumed that he was the bastard of a protestant — his mother never spoke of him, and Liam assumed he was dead. But when the war between the fallen and the fey began to heat up, Liam and his family are pulled into a conflict that they didn’t know existed.

A centuries old conflict between supernatural forces seems to mirror the political divisions in 1970′s era Ireland, and Liam is thrown headlong into both conflicts! Only the direct intervention of Liam’s real father, and a secret catholic order dedicated to fighting “The Fallen” can save Liam… from the mundane and supernatural forces around him, and from the darkness that lurks within him.

My review, Author interview 

 

 

The Troupe – Robert Jackson Bennett

Vaudeville: mad, mercenary, dreamy, and absurd, a world of clashing cultures and ferocious showmanship and wickedly delightful deceptions.

But sixteen-year-old pianist George Carole has joined vaudeville for one reason only: to find the man he suspects to be his father, the great Heironomo Silenus. Yet as he chases down his father’s troupe, he begins to understand that their performances are strange even for vaudeville: for wherever they happen to tour, the very nature of the world seems to change

Because there is a secret within Silenus’s show so ancient and dangerous that it has won him many powerful enemies. And it’s not until after he joins them that George realizes the troupe is not simply touring: they are running for their very lives.

And soon, George is as well.

My review, Author interview 

 

Range of Ghosts – Elizabeth Bear

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards. These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

My review

 

Percepliquis – Michael J. Sullivan

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS…THE ELVES HAVE CROSSED THE NIDWALDEN. TWO THIEVES WILL DECIDE THE FUTURE.

“I saw a great journey. Ten upon the road, she who wears the light will lead the way. The road goes deep into the earth, and into despair. The voices of the dead guide your steps. You walk back in time. The three-thousand-year battle begins again. Cold grips the world, death comes to all, and a choice is before you.” – Fan Irlanu, Tenkin Seerer of Oudorro Village

Percepliquis is the final installment of the epic fantasy, The Riyria Revelations. In this saga that began with The Crown Conspiracy, two thieves caught in the wrong place at the right time were launched on a series of ever escalating adventures that have all lead to this moment. Three thousand years have passed and the time for Novron’s heir to act has arrived.

My reivew

 

The Hollow City – Dan Wells

Dan Wells won instant acclaim for his three-novel debut about the adventures of John Wayne Cleaver, a heroic young man who is a potential serial killer. All who read the trilogy were struck by the distinctive and believable voice Wells created for John.

Now he returns with another innovative thriller told in a very different, equally unique voice. A voice that comes to us from the realm of madness.

Michael Shipman is paranoid schizophrenic; he suffers from hallucinations, delusions, and complex fantasies of persecution and horror. That’s bad enough. But what can he do if some of the monsters he sees turn out to be real?

Who can you trust if you can’t even trust yourself? The Hollow City is a mesmerizing journey into madness, where the greatest enemy of all is your own mind.

My review

Author signing 

 

The Coldest War – Ian Tregillis

Someone is killing Britain’s warlocks.

Twenty-two years after the Second World War, a precarious balance of power maintains the peace between Great Britain and the USSR. For decades, the warlocks have been all that stand between the British Empire and the Soviet Union– a vast domain stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of the English Channel. But now each death is another blow to Britain’s security.

Meanwhile, a brother and sister escape from a top-secret research facility deep behind the Iron Curtain. Once subjects of a twisted Nazi experiment to imbue ordinary humans with extraordinary abilities, then prisoners of war in the vast Soviet effort to reverse engineer the Nazi technology, they head for England.

Because that’s where former spy Raybould Marsh lives. And Gretel, the mad seer, has plans for him.

As Marsh is drawn back into the world of Milkweed, he discovers that Britain’s darkest acts didn’t end with the war. And as he strives to protect Queen and country, he’s forced to confront his own willingness to accept victory at any cost.

My review

 

Miserere – Teresa Frohock

Exiled exorcist Lucian Negru deserted his lover in Hell in exchange for saving his sister Catarina’s soul, but Catarina doesn’t want salvation. She wants Lucian to help her fulfill her dark covenant with the Fallen Angels by using his power to open the Hell Gates. Catarina intends to lead the Fallen’s hordes out of Hell and into the parallel dimension of Woerld, Heaven’s frontline of defense between Earth and Hell. When Lucian refuses to help his sister, she imprisons and cripples him, but Lucian learns that Rachael, the lover he betrayed and abandoned in Hell, is dying from a demonic possession. Determined to rescue Rachael from the demon he unleashed on her soul, Lucian flees his sister, but Catarina’s wrath isn’t so easy to escape!

My review

Author’s interview 

 

 

The Dirty Streets of Heaven – Tad Williams

Bobby Dollar is an angel—a real one. He knows a lot about sin, and not just in his professional capacity as an advocate for souls caught between Heaven and Hell. Bobby’s wrestling with a few deadly sins of his own—pride, anger, even lust.

But his problems aren’t all his fault. Bobby can’t entirely trust his heavenly superiors, and he’s not too sure about any of his fellow earthbound angels either, especially the new kid that Heaven has dropped into their midst, a trainee angel who asks too many questions. And he sure as hell doesn’t trust the achingly gorgeous Countess of Cold Hands, a mysterious she-demon who seems to be the only one willing to tell him the truth.

When the souls of the recently departed start disappearing, catching both Heaven and Hell by surprise, things get bad very quickly for Bobby D. End-of-the-world bad. Beast of Revelations bad. Caught between the angry forces of Hell, the dangerous strategies of his own side, and a monstrous undead avenger that wants to rip his head off and suck out his soul, Bobby’s going to need all the friends he can get—in Heaven, on Earth, or anywhere else he can find them.

You’ve never met an angel like Bobby Dollar. And you’ve never read anything like The Dirty Streets of Heaven.

Brace yourself—the afterlife is weirder than you ever believed.

My review

Author’s interview 

 

Throne of the Crescent Moon – Saladin Ahmed

The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings.

Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, “the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat,” just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame’s family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter’s path.

Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla’s young assistant, is a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety. But even as Raseed’s sword is tested by ghuls and manjackals, his soul is tested when he and Adoulla cross paths with the tribeswoman Zamia.

Zamia Badawi, Protector of the Band, has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the lion-shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man’s title. She lives only to avenge her father’s death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father’s killer. Until she meets Raseed.

When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince’s brewing revolution are connected, the companions must race against time—and struggle against their own misgivings—to save the life of a vicious despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

My review

 

Sharps – K.J. Parker

For the first time in nearly forty years, an uneasy truce has been called between two neighbouring kingdoms. The war has been long and brutal, fought over the usual things: resources, land, money…

Now, there is a chance for peace. Diplomatic talks have begun and with them, the games. Two teams of fencers represent their nations at this pivotal moment.

When the future of the world lies balanced on the point of a rapier, one misstep could mean ruin for all. Human nature being what it is, does peace really have a chance?

My review (with mini interview) 

 

 

 

Best event – Special Needs in Strange Worlds

I’m mentioning this event here, along with links to the posts, because I don’t want people to forget.

I’m still honored to have hosted it on my website.

Authors

Robert Jackson Bennett - Beauty is Shaped by Reality

Carol Berg - Writing Differences

Teresa Frohock - Disabilities in Miserere

Stina Leicht - Nobody’s Perfect

Jay Lake - Cancer and Writing

Bryan Thomas Schmidt - ADHD

Mark Lawrence - Broken Heroes

Jeff Salyards - Broken, but not Unbowed

M.D. Lachlan

Bloggers/Reviewers

Kendra Merritt - Relatable Heroes

Paul Weimer - In Praise of Miles Vorkosigan

Daniel Goodman - Small Heroes Overcoming Big Obstacles

Aidan Moher - Shadowmarch by Tad Williams

Erin Hill-Dowdle - Disability in Literature

Meineke van der Salm - Defining Disability

Ryan Frye - Favorite Differently Abled Characters

Niall Alexander - The Scar

Sue Bricknell - The Ship Who Sang

Jacob Topp-Mugglestone

Anonymous blogger - Depression in a place where Depression is Not A Thing

Ole Imsen - The Disabled in the Historical Record

Bryce Lee - The Power of Overcoming

Bookworm Blues – Closing Thoughts

Fun aside: I enjoyed Stina Leicht’s books so much I bought some autographed copies from her for a Christmas present for myself. 

I was interviewed (by a newspaper) & Non-bookish links

I have some stuff going on of a non-bookish nature, and I’m really busy right now, so today I’m going to just throw up a bunch of links and my newspaper bit and let you have at it. This very well might be my last post until after Christmas Day. The weekend up through the day itself are all going to be pretty packed for me. Plus, the world still might end (har har).

First, I’ve expanded my photography sale. Here’s the original post. Here’s the new stuff.

Second, Just for the hell of it, I’ve posted some water photography and some Utah landscape photography, which you can  ooh and ahhh over here and here. (The ooohing and ahhhing helps my fragile ego… )

And, for a really random addition to this post, I was interviewed by a newspaper recently. Instead of posting the link to the interview here, I’m going to retype it a bit to preserve (hopefully) some of my anonymity, which is pretty much history at this point, I realize. Anyway, I was interviewed about being an atheist during the holiday season – my perspective and all that. I think it turned out pretty well, despite some details the reporter got wrong. (For example, we bought tickets to Ireland on Christmas Day and traveled there in March. We also saved all year and used the money we would have used buying crap for each other to buy important things, like furniture and making memories… but we never went into debt over it, like most people seem to. We also NEVER decorated for it, until this year. For us, the holiday is all about remembering important moments and the people who matter most to us. It’s never been about gifts or decorations, but always about memories so we try to keep things rather humble, or I think the whole shebang loses its importance. We’d always feel so relaxed and stress free during the holiday season and watch all the masses of stressed out people with some sort of amusement.)

This snippet was part of a larger piece about alternative viewpoints regarding the holidays. He also interviewed two pagans, which took up the majority of the article.

Anyway, here it is…

—-

Into the holiday, hesitantly > Sarah, a 29-year-old freelance editor who lives in (city) said that as atheists, she and her husband rarely celebrated Christmas, if at all.

“I always had trouble rationalizing the celebration of a humble person, who also healed the poor, by filling up my shopping cart and going into debt,” Sarah said.

So during the first years of their marriage, she and her husband used holiday money to buy furniture. Two Christmasses ago, they spent Christmas week traveling in Ireland.

Then everything changed, including their Christmas celebrations, when the couple had a baby girl.

Even if Christmas had lost its religious meaning for them long ago, Sarah and her husband dedecided the sight of lights and other decorations would would be a treasure for their 16-month-old daughter. Sarah cast back to her own childhood and her Mormon upbringing. Once you’re a parent, she reasoned, why not get sucked up into it?

“I had memories of Christmas lights on the tree, so I wanted my daughter to have the same,’ Sarah said. “I’ve never met an atheist who says you can’t celebrate in some way simply because you’re an atheist. They probably exist somewhere out there, but I’ve never met them. For us, now, the holiday is about pulling together as a family to recall everything that happened during the year.”

While skeptical toward religions in general, Sarah bristles slightly at the suggestion that she somehow might be missing the “true meaning” of the holiday simply by celebrating it as she and her husband see fit.

“It’s a holiday that means something different to everyone,” she said. “I don’t think that’s a ‘war on Christmas.’ I think that’s diversity, and that’s wonderful.”

—-

So there you have it. Happy Holidays, all… no matter how you celebrate (or not) it/them.

SALE | Wars of Light and Shadows – Janny Wurts

I usually don’t post this sort of thing. I tend to think that news and press releases get passed on by enough other blogs out there that I’m really not needed to add my voice. However, on the occasion I make an exception. Like right now.

I really admire Janny Wurts, and while I have only read the first book in this series (which I loved – I should note that I have read enough of her other work that I can make the claim about her incredible talent with some authority), I think all of her work is worth reading. She’s an incredible author whose ability to write is second to none. I’ve seen this news posted on a few other blogs and I decided to bite the bullet and post it here as well. Why? Because it’s Janny-Freaking-Wurts and her amazing books are on sale and you really, really need to read them because, seriously, this woman can WRITE.

Here are the details:

The first three books of the Wars of Light and Shadows are currently on sale in e format:

(USA venues, Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, Books on Board, B&N)

The Curse of the Mistwraith 99 cents

The Ships of Merior $1.99

Warhost of Vastmark $3.99

Curse of the Mistwraith at least at Amazon UK: L1.99

Now, what are you waiting for? Go check them out!

The Rise of Ransom City – Felix Gilman

About the Book

This is the story Harry Ransom. If you know his name it’s most likely as the inventor of the Ransom Process, a stroke of genius that changed the world.

Or you may have read about how he lost the battle of Jasper City, or won it, depending on where you stand in matters of politics.

Friends called him Hal or Harry, or by one of a half-dozen aliases, of which he had more than any honest man should. He often went by Professor Harry Ransom, and though he never had anything you might call a formal education, he definitely earned it.

If you’re reading this in the future, Ransom City must be a great and glittering metropolis by now, with a big bronze statue of Harry Ransom in a park somewhere. You might be standing on its sidewalk and not wonder in the least of how it grew to its current glory. Well, here is its story, full of adventure and intrigue. And it all starts with the day that old Harry Ransom crossed paths with Liv Alverhyusen and John Creedmoor, two fugitives running from the Line, amidst a war with no end.

368 pages (hardcover)

Published on November 27, 2012

Published by Tor

Author’s webpage

This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

You can purchase a copy of this book by clicking on the following links: The Rise of Ransom City, The Rise of Ransom City – Kindle

—–

Here’s the deal. The Half-Made World rocked. I loved it. I remember it fondly and I fairly devoured it. I had a very hard time putting it down. Therefore, I turned very anticipatory eyes toward The Rise of Ransom City and find myself not really let down, but not as thrilled as The Half-Made World made me feel, either.

The first thing readers will notice is a change in perspective. A dramatic one. The Rise of Ransom City is an autobiographical tale told from the perspective of one Harry Ransom, who is trotting all over the place trying to reach fame and fortune with his apparatus, which is some sort of device that creates light. While Harry is an interesting fellow, he’s not who I wanted to hear about.

Ransom goes on many interesting adventures and runs into some fascinating characters, not the least of whom are the two you are wondering about most from the previous book – Liv and Creedmoor, who he runs into occasionally but not nearly often enough. In fact, I felt as though that’s where the book suffered most. I wanted more of Liv and Creedmoor. I wanted to see the end of the story from their eyes and I never really got to. They were shadowy, enigmatic figures that never really seemed to reach the front burner, where they belonged.

Ransom himself is quite a character. He has no opinions on politics, and because of that the reader really never learns much about the war, or the driving forces behind whatever is happening in whichever town he finds himself in. That’s actually kind of nice. It allows the reader to see the world as Ransom sees it, and he has a certain innocent quality that I really enjoyed. He also traveled nearly constantly and had a knack for finding himself in odd situations with interesting people. This worked well to expand my knowledge and understanding of life in this world, especially life on the Rim, where he did most of his traveling.

That being said, Ransom is a rather hard person to warm up to, as for the first part of the novel he comes across as being rather self-serving as most of his travels are to find investors for his wonderful invention. However, he runs into trouble and he also meets people on the road with their own secrets. Occasionally, Gilman lets the reader get a glimpse into the more subtle workings of Ransom, a rather dreamy idealist who likes to tinker and doesn’t mind being alone with his thoughts. These more subtle moments, like when Ransom rescues part of a piano off of a sinking boat, say more about Ransom as a character than almost anything else he puts into his autobiography.

Gilman really does some things quite well. For example, The Rise of Ransom City is actually a quite complex novel. He combines fantasy, steampunk and some quite long and evolved wars deftly. Everything seems to fit into his world perfectly and the perspective of Ransom adds some great new insight into everything Gilman created with this duology. That being said, it’s hard to figure out how to classify this novel, and the series in general. It’s not quite fantasy, not quite steampunk and not quite… whatever else. Usually novels that aren’t quite that many things seem to struggle to find their footing but Gilman never does. He’s sure of himself, and confidant from the start. While some readers might struggle with the autobiographical point of view, Gilman’s wonderful expansion of the world and the various social dynamics in it are sure to please.

While I did lament the fact that Liv and Creedmoor didn’t have more time in the limelight, and I did miss their perspectives, I did end up growing rather fond of Ransom and his odd ideas and ideals as the novel progressed. It might take readers some time to warm up to the fellow, but it is worth it. Gilman manages to make The Rise of Ransom City a complex, engaging and unique grand finale to his wonderful series.

 

4/5 stars

Guest Review | Abhinav Jain on Birds of Prey – Duane Swierczynski

Once again, thanks to Abhinav Jain for this guest review. This is part of his Advent Reviews series. You can find the details and schedule by clicking on this link. 

—–

Duane Swierczynski’s Birds of Prey is one of the better titles in DC Comics’ New 52 relaunch of its entire line-up. It has a fair few flaws around issues 10-12, but overall, the series has just been fantastic. As a fan of the Ashley Scott-starrer live action series from 2002, I was very excited to get into the series and read about the “old team” so to speak (the live action series is set several years after the “current” time period, when Batman and Catwoman’s daughter Helena Kyle is the Huntress, and a disabled Barbara Gordon aka Oracle works with her to keep Gotham safe).

There have been some excellent moments in the series, such as Dinah Lance/Black Canary and Evelyn/Starling teaming up with Barbara Gordon/Batgirl to take down some noted criminals early on, and their team-up with the “former” supervillain Poison Ivy; and later when they all bring in a new member, the sword-wielding Japanese heroine Katana. The team is built up superbly and their adventures are really fun to read about. The series exceeded my expectations admirably.

And then came the #0 prequel issue this September and I was completely blown away. I hold James Robinson’s Earth 2 #0 to be the best zero issue in New 52, among all the titles that I’m currently following and have got to that point. Duane’s Birds of Prey #0 comes very, very close to topping it, that’s how good it is.

The issue details how Black Canary, Batgirl and Starling meet: Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot runs the Iceberg Lounge in Gotham Bay, a noted hotspot for the criminal underworld. Black Canary breaks in to get an audience with Cobblepot and get a job working security for him, all the while keeping watch for a rather dangerous and explosive deal to go down. Starling is already working there, and on the day of the deal, Batgirl drops in to break up the party. From then on, it’s a downright adventure.

Duane’s writing for this issue is just superb. It’s all told from Black Canary’s perspective and we get some good backstory on her motivations for being a vigilante, which was a great build-up from what’s been coming out in the rest of the series. We also get treated to some of Starling’s backstory, which was a downright surprise so to speak, particularly the last page of the comic, which has a very big revelation about her agenda in being with Cobblepot and, now, with Black Canary. Batgirl is a cameo in this, as is Starling, as Black Canary is the focus, which was entirely fine with me.

Romano Molenaar has pencil duty for this issue, the latest in the art changes for the series, which has gone through about three-four main artists so far. The constant flip-flops in the art-team are disconcerting, since it does not put forward a cohesive direction for the series. But I have to say that Molenaar is a great replacement for Jesus Saiz, who started off the series. I love how Molenaar draws all the characters, there are no heavy pencil shadings or shadows or hard edges to any of the characters. Smooth approach is the best approach. Vicente Cifuentes as inker and Chris Sotomayor as colorist have also done an awesome job here. The entire palette of soft blues and whites really work for the book, and bring out Molenaar’s panels perfectly.

Stanley “Artgem” Lau’s cover for the issue is also spectacular. It really gives you a good feel for what’s inside the comic and the colour contrasts between the heroines and the white and black of the background they are breaking out of is extremely dynamic. I wish the entire book had been drawn and coloured and inked the same way!

In short, this was an awesome issue and it sets up the whole team thing between Black Canary, Starling and Batgirl very well. An awesome job by Duane, Romano and Co.