Austin Aslan's Blog, page 2

Review: Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

I just finished Gene Wolfe’s “Book of the New Sun,” a seminal four volume magnum opus in science-fiction’s “Dying Earth” sub-genre, in which we’re flung, headlong, into an inconceivably far-distant future where our sun is a dwindling red presence in the sky and humanity’s last children are bearing witness to the planet’s inevitable natural death.

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The saga slowly and patiently unravels as a presumed fantasy work and reveals itself to be science fiction. Our protagonist, Severian, is a young apprentice in a guild of tortures/executioners. He is exiled from all he knows when he unforgivably shows mercy to a prisoner, allowing her to take her own life rather than be tortured. No spoilers here (because our narrator tells us this much in the opening pages): Severian goes on to wander, fight in a great war, and eventually become the autarch, the supreme ruler of the planet, where he then endeavors to accomplish nothing less ambitious than the resurrection of the dying sun itself.

This story will stick with me for the rest of my life.

I don’t say this lightly: Book of the New Sun is without a doubt the most singular thing I’ve ever read, the most ambitious narrative I’ve ever conceived of, and the most expertly-executed and disciplined work of inspired writing I’ve ever seen. It utterly stands alone and defies any comparison. Truly: a worthy pursuit for anyone who likes to think of themselves as a serious pupil of literature. But don’t take it from me. George RR Martin calls it, “One of the great science fantasy epics of all time.” Niel Gaiman hails it as, “The best SF novel of the last century.” And Ursula K. LeGuinn refers to Wolfe as, “Our Melville.”

BOTNS took me six months to complete. It’s not an easy read, and is best served by affording it more concentration than today’s readers are perhaps accustomed to. You must be willing to pay attention, to delve deep—and to cross examine its own unreliable narrator. Wolfe is never accidental. The most confusing moments are the ones you must scrutinize above all others.

[image error]But I am not trying to discourage you, curios reader! On the contrary! BOTNS is gorgeously written, but it’s also a ton of fun! In fact, it’s downright COOL. It’s a swashbuckling adventure. There are swords and laser guns, aliens, cyborgs, robots, giants and ghosts, sea monsters and gods, spaceships and time travel. Romance and love and deception. It literally features an entire, written-out stage play within. At times it reads as deeply as a Hemingway or Stephen Crane war novel (Wolfe was, after all, himself a soldier who served on the ground in battle during the Korean War). (And he was also, incidentally, the inventor of the Pringle potato chip. Don’t believe me? Look it up. But I digress…)

[image error]BOTNS bleeds the crimson blood of Christian mysticism throughout–particularly Catholic mysticism–but it does so in the most appropriately-subtle and delicious ways. At times it is utterly haunting, or horrific, and genuinely scary. But BOTNS is undeniably at its best (and least challenging and most rewarding) when it slows down and reflects on itself, and the human condition, and the millions of years of future trajectory our species has in store, possibly over and over again, not only within this universe, but beyond the next Big Crunch and Big Bang, and the next one, and so on.

This book is dizzying, and dreamlike, at times confusing and even frustrating. But above all it is singular–and singularly masterful. It is an experience all to itself, something very rare indeed anymore…in these days when it’s generally conceded that there’s no such thing as anything new…under the sun.

TURBO Racers Series makes list featuring deaf characters!

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From the HarperCollins’ article opening:

“We are always on the lookout for books that celebrate our differences. One of the things we love most about the new middle-grade series TURBO Racers is its diverse cast of characters. They come from many different cultural backgrounds, and the main character, Mace, is fluent in ASL because both of his parents are deaf. In our opinion, we need more books that touch on deaf culture! We did some digging, and here are seven fantastic books that feature characters who are deaf.”

Click here for the full article!

Fall 2019 YA Scavenger Hunt! Team BLUE

[image error]Hi! You found your way over to Austin Aslan during the Fall 2019 YA Scavenger Hunt! Congratulations. You probably arrived here via C.M. Boers. Awesome. (And my Team Blue #YASH host is Heather McKenzie. Check it out!) If you happen to not know what the heck I’m talking about, Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. And if you’re experiencing any technical glitches, don’t worry, Glitch Happens. Go here for some tasty medicine.

Now, without further ado…let’s YASH!

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AND NOW NOW, without further ado-do, here’s the  MAIN EVENT! I’M HOSTING Lori M. Lee!

Lori has provided me with the following awesome bonus material for this year’s YA Scavenger Hunt. She’s featuring the opening page for her short story in COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES. She’ll really excited for people to read it!

 

STARLIGHT AND MOONDUST Excerpt

According to the locals of Little Nova, a witch lived in their woods. They said she brewed potions, cursed trespassers, and grew her garden on the bones of sacrifices.

Hlee Khue knew better, though. Niam Tais wasn’t a witch; she was a shaman.

Every Wednesday and Friday, Hlee took the trail that wound through the woods north of town. The trail eventually led to a small house guarded by lawn sculptures and a brood of chickens, where Hlee delivered a hearty dinner prepared by her mom, with plenty left over for the next day’s lunch. It was the duty of the tiny Hmong community in Little Nova to look out for Niam Tais, as the woman lived alone with no children to care for her.

Niam Tais had lost her father and brother in the war and then her mother to sickness in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The history of tragedy and frantic escape were the shared stories of all refugees. But how Niam Tais came to be here, in Little Nova, was a different kind of story entirely.

When Niam Tais was a young girl, she’d woken from her bed, driven from the sweat-damp sheets by the humidity and the bright face of the moon through the window of her family’s hut. She’d wandered down to the riverbank and fallen asleep at its shore to the gentle shushing of the water. The next morning, she brushed moondust from the creases of her clothes as her thoughts grasped for the vestiges of a dream about a man in shining robes and a string of white stones against his brow.

It was a sign, the village elder decided, that she’d been called by the spirits to the revered duties of a shaman.

Some years later, after the war had displaced her halfway around the world, she fell asleep with the moonlight full against the backs of her eyelids and dreamed again of the Moon Emperor. In the dream, he shot an arrow across the night sky, a streak of brilliant silver, and beckoned her to retrieve it. As in her childhood, she’d obeyed the calling and ended up in the sleepy town of Little Nova.

What Niam Tais did after that wasn’t clear, and Hlee had never been satisfied by the open ending. Instead, she couldn’t help but wonder if the story hadn’t yet found its conclusion.

 

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Exciting stuff, Lori! All right, fearless hunter, off you go… But before you scurry off to visit the next author on the hunt, Tera Lynn Childs, please feel free to peek around my entire site for a while and follow the links to my two YA survival-disaster sci fi novels, THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD, and my new TURBO RACER series with HarperCollins, TURBO Racers: Trailblazer. Book Two: Escape Velocity, drops in Feb of 2020.

Please leave a comment below, let me know you stopped by!

And please be sure to follow me on twitter, tumblr, instagram and facebook to follow my adventures in real time!

MOVE ALONG FOLKS, YOU’VE ONLY GOT A FEW DAYS TO GET THROUGH THIS!

Please continue your delectable YA Scavenger Hunt by visiting the next lovely author: Tera Lynn Childs Go! Do it! DO IT NOW!!!

Another Checkered Flag!

When is a book finished? For me: today! I just turned in my final comments on the “first pass” of TURBO 2: Escape Velocity. I probably won’t get another look at it before a physical copy is mailed out to me.

In all honestly, I had a TON of fun writing this book. Getting a fresh look this week at the final, final draft was extremely satisfying. It’s a smash-bang of a sequel, and I may even be more fond of it than the original offering. It’s as close as I’ve come yet to writing, much less publishing, a mystery novel, with fabulous whodunit notes and a great hook and numerous clever twists and turns that’ll keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat throughout. I’m really proud of it.

If you haven’t picked up something of mine yet, I might suggest this book. It’s fast and furious and fun, with more rewards than a typical, forumlaic sporting event tale. Comes out in February, but you can pre-order it now. If you pre-order it through Brightside Books in Flagstaff, you can ask them to have me sign it before it ships to you. Otherwise, there’s always Amazon or your personal favorite brick and mortar retailers…

Meanwhile, I may need to celebrate. Serious question: what’s your favorite SMOOTH, LIGHT-BODIED red wine with lots of surprising NOTES and LAYERS and a nice clean FINISH?

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YASH Spring 2019 – Team RED!

[image error]Hi! You found your way over to Austin Aslan during the Spring 2019 YA Scavenger Hunt! Congratulations. You probably arrived here via Candice Robinson. Awesome. (And my Team Red #YASH host is Elle Beaumont, who has an excerpt from my new novel TURBO Racers: Escape Velocity. Check it out!)

If you happen to not know what the heck I’m talking about, Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. And if you’re experiencing any technical glitches, don’t worry, Glitch Happens. Go here for some tasty medicine.

I am DAYS away from making NOT ONE BUT TWO big announcements about new book developments. But I can’t share the info just yet. But that’s okay, just means you’ll have to check back in with me soon! Like, literally, any day! ((You could also follow me on Twitter and get the news drop in real time!)) Anyway, you’re only here right now to grab my number and check out my hosted author’s bonus material anyway, so let’s just skip ahead to that…!

Now, without further ado…let’s YASH!144 (ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR)

 

AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT! I’M HOSTING Mindy McGinnis!

Mindy McGinnis is an Edgar Award-winning novelist who writes across multiple genres, including post-apocalyptic, historical, thriller, contemporary, mystery, and fantasy.

While her settings may change, you can always count on Mindy’s books to deliver grit, truth, and an unflinching look at humanity and the world around us.

Mindy has provided me with the following awesome bonus material, a snippet from the audiobook of her novel, Heroine. Pretty straight forward stuff. Give it a quick read! I mean, er, listen…

 

 

 

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Exciting stuff, Mindy! All right, fearless hunter, off you go… But before you scurry off to visit the next author on the hunt, T.A. Maclagan, please feel free to peek around my entire site for a while and follow the links to my two YA survival-disaster sci fi novels, THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD, and my new series with HarperCollins, TURBO Racers: Trailblazer, which just dropped in January.

Please leave a comment below, let me know you stopped by!

And please check out my recent photo essays for Gore-Tex(R) chronicling my epic two-month, 800-mile Arizona Trail thru hike. And be sure to follow me on twitter, tumblr, instagram and facebook to follow my adventures in real time!

MOVE ALONG FOLKS, YOU’VE ONLY GOT A FEW DAYS TO GET THROUGH THIS!

Please continue your delectable YA Scavenger Hunt by visiting the next lovely author: T.A. Maclagan. Go! Do it! DO IT NOW!!!

YASH Fall 2018 – Team RED!

[image error]Hi! You found your way over to Austin Aslan during the Fall 2018 YA Scavenger Hunt! Congratulations. You probably arrived here via Christina June. Awesome. (And my Team Red #YASH host is F.M. Boughan. Check it out!) If you happen to not know what the heck I’m talking about, Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. And if you’re experiencing any technical glitches, don’t worry, Glitch Happens. Go here for some tasty medicine.

I’m once again in a weird place during YASH where I have super exciting new authorly/book news to share, but I’m not yet at liberty to share it. But that’s okay, just means you’ll have to check back in with me soon! Anyway, you’re only here right now to grab my number and check out my hosted author’s bonus material anyway, so let’s just skip ahead to that…!


Now, without further ado…let’s YASH!

144 (ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR)

 

AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT! I’M HOSTING Sara B. Larson!

Sara has provided me with the following awesome bonus material, the playlist for the conclusion to her duology, BRIGHT BURNS THE NIGHT.

 

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BRIGHT BURNS THE NIGHT playlist

See You in a Few – “The Martian” – Harry Gregson-Williams

Aflame – Jessica Rotter

Togetherness, Tarzan and Jane – “Tarzan” – Harry Gregson-Williams

Unsteady – X Ambassadors, Erich Lee

Winter has Come – Ramin Djawadi

She Remembers – Max Richter

Awaken – “Jane Eyre” – Dario Marianelli

Eric’s new life, Just a Deam – “X Men Apocolypse” – John Ottman

Safe Now – “Captain Phillips” – Henry Jackman

Chapter 12, verse 5, A Grave Situation, The Necklace – “The Man in the High Castle” – Henry Jackman

Another Death in the Life – “The Age of Adaline” – Rob Simonsen

Hurts Like Hell – Fleurie

Swan Lake Suite – Pyotr Tchaikovsky

 

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Exciting stuff, Sara! All right, fearless hunter, off you go… But before you scurry off to visit the next author on the hunt, Yvonne Ventresca, please feel free to peek around my entire site for a while and follow the links to my two YA survival-disaster sci fi novels, THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD, and my new series with HarperCollins, TURBO Racers: Trailblazer. That novel drops in late December.

Please leave a comment below, let me know you stopped by!

And please check out my recent photo essays for Gore-Tex(R) chronicling my epic two-month, 800-mile Arizona Trail thru hike. And be sure to follow me on twitter, tumblr, instagram and facebook to follow my adventures in real time!

MOVE ALONG FOLKS, YOU’VE ONLY GOT A FEW DAYS TO GET THROUGH THIS!

Please continue your delectable YA Scavenger Hunt by visiting the next lovely author: Yvonne Ventresca. Go! Do it! DO IT NOW!!!

TURBO Racers Audiobook news!

My new HarperCollins novel “TURBO Racers: Trailblazer” (pub. set for January) is officially being produced in audio formats! I’m ecstatic to announce it’ll be narrated by Ramon de Ocampo, award-winning voice of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” audiobooks.

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Ocampo has been a familiar TV-face for decades, starring on shows from Grey’s Anatomy to West Wing to Hawaii 5-0 and Sons of Anarchy, with roles on Castle, Bones, Law and Order, and several CIS shows, too. TURBO will take place all over the globe, with numerous interesting international characters. Very much looking forward to hearing Ramon bring them all to life!

http://www.ramondeocampo.com/www.ramondeocampo.com/Resume.html

Spring 2018 YA Scavenger Hunt

Hi! You found your way over to Austin Aslan during the Spring 2018 YA Scavenger Hunt! Congratulations. You probably arrived here via Cheyanne Young. Awesome. (And my Team Green #YASH host is Emil Sher. Check it out!) If you happen to not know what the heck I’m talking about, Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. And if you’re experiencing any technical glitches, don’t worry, Glitch Happens. Go here for some tasty medicine.

I can finally share the exciting book related news I’ve hinted at in past YASHes! (Is YASHes a word? It is now…) I have a new series dropping with HarperCollins! I’m so excited about this project and very proud of the completed first novel. TURBO Racers: Trailblazer will become available for purchase on January 1, 2019. The film and television rights have already been swept up. Stay tuned for more deets throughout the year! And check out the official announcement on Publishers Weekly… Such incredible people involved. I couldn’t be more thrilled.

The series follows 7th grader Mace Blazer as he dreams of joining the TURBOnauts, who pilot specialized vehicles that morph during a single race between high-octane roadsters, supersonic aircrafts, and torpedo-fast submersibles. Trailblazer is set for winter 2019, and the second book in the deal for early 2020.

Now, without further ado…let’s YASH!

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AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT! I’M HOSTING Shonna Slayton!

Shonna has provided me with an excerpt from THE TOWER PRINCESS,  a book cover, and a painting of a pomande. Enjoy!

 

FUN FACT from THE TOWER PRINCESS

In THE TOWER PRINCESS, Gressa has a keen interest in herbs. She tries to grow them in her tower, but they don’t fare well because they—like her—need to be outside.

Gressa dries her herbs and keeps them in a pomander, a gold sphere with segments like an orange. One section remains empty for the fabled rowan trees that used to grow in her land, and that she hopes will one day return.

Traditionally, pomanders were used to hold perfume, often in the form of wax. Today, pomanders made with oranges and cloves are quite popular.

Here’s a scene where Gressa is allowed a small plot of land for her precious herbs:

Excerpt

Gressa packed the freshly tilled dirt around her struggling herb plants. “There you go, my sweet woodruff,” she said. “Grow strong here in the shade.” She sat back on her heels, admiring the neat rows of seedlings transplanted from the pots in her room. At least now they had a chance of surviving outside with the common graces of the sun and the rain.

“And what does that one do?” asked Old Anne. “I’m not familiar with it.”

She was pointing to a cluster of deep green leaves with flowers just beginning to bud. Gressa stood and planted her hands on her hips. “According to Axell’s book, this one works well for an upset stomach and for healing wounds. However, what the book recommends most is to dry it and place it in our beds. Its common name is bedstraw. It’s supposed to keep the fleas away.”

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Blurb: Their families didn’t want them to meet, but now that they have, everything has changed.


The townspeople call her the Tower Princess, but Gressa’s life is no fairy tale. She’s never understood why she’s been separated from the rest of the kingdom, but now that she’s older the pieces are coming together.

For too long she’s been trapped in her brother’s scheme to find a way through the magical wall dividing their kingdom in two. She doesn’t expect any help from the prince to the south, even if he did manage to bumble his way to her rescue. If she could pick anyone to form an alliance, it would be the squire she watches train from her window; he shows promise. But, confined to her tower, there’s nothing she can do…or is there?

One day a hole opens up in the Dividing Wall and with it, a chance for Gressa to change everything.

Bio:

SHONNA SLAYTON writes historical fairy tales and is the co-creator of the Fairy-tale Forum group on Facebook.

She finds inspiration in reading vintage diaries written by teens, who despite using different slang, sound a lot like teenagers today.

When not writing, Shonna enjoys amaretto lattes and spending time with her husband and children in Arizona.

Download a free story from Shonna here:  http://shonnaslayton.com/

Add THE TOWER PRINCESS to your Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37769880-the-tower-princess

Follow Shonna on Instagram: http://instagram.com/shonna.slayton/

 

 

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Exciting stuff, Shonna! All right, fearless hunter, off you go… But before you scurry off to visit the next author on the hunt, Steven Dos Santos, please feel free to peek around my entire site for a while and follow the links to my two YA survival-disaster sci fi novels, THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. And please leave a comment below, let me know you stopped by!

And please check out my recent photo essays for Gore-Tex(R) chronicling my epic two-month, 800-mile Arizona Trail thru hike. And be sure to follow me on twitter, tumblr, instagram and facebook to follow my adventures in real time!

MOVE ALONG FOLKS, YOU’VE ONLY GOT A FEW DAYS TO GET THROUGH THIS!

Please continue your delectable YA Scavenger Hunt by visiting the next lovely author: Steven Dos Santos. Go! Do it! DO IT NOW!!!

 

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT!

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Friends! I have waited, eagerly, for quite a long time to finally confirm this HarperCollins book news! I’m so excited about this project and very proud of the completed first novel. “TURBO Racers: Trailblazer” will become available for purchase on January 1, 2019. Stay tuned for more deets throughout the year! And check out the official announcement on Publishers Weekly… Such incredible people involved. I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Today we’ve lost worlds, filled with people…

I’m very sad to hear the news today that Ursula K. Le Guin has passed away. She is one of the most sublime wordsmiths you will ever read. Period. She made the English language beautiful, and her stories are more vivid than reality, and often hold more truth. Her creativity was singular. We’ve lost today not just a skilled author, but worlds, filled with people. Pick up “A Wizard of Earthsea” today. Read it. Weep, for her loss, but also at her words. After all, she would tell you: words contain magic.