The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness is the Hugo and Nebula Winning novel by Ursula K. LeGuin, and is widely considered to be her finest work. It is a novel of first contact on the surface, but its deeper purpose was in exploring gender roles in society. It tells the story of Genly Ai, a human representative of the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets. Genly is tasked with extending an invitation to the world of Gethen to join the Ekumen. His ally in this is the Prime Minister of Karhide, Lord Estraven.

In a political shift, Estraven is ousted and must flee to the neighboring nation of Orgoreyn. Genly is rebuffed in his mission by the King of Karhide, so he then decides to take his offer to the government of Orgoreyn. Orgoreyn , however is esentially a communist oligarchy, and Genly is caught in between opposed factions here as well.

The plot struck me as rather mediocre. The characters outside of Estraven and Ai were rather dull as well. World building is the strength of this novel. The novel is considered a major work of feminist science fiction. I'm not sure I agree with that. The key element of the story is the nature of the Gethenian people themselves. They are androgynes, a people possessing the potential to manifest either sex, but normally they are nueters. For 2 days every month they go into a state called kemmer, in which they take on sexual characteristics of one of the genders, and more or less go into heat. The result is Gethenians can both sire and bear children. Because of this traditional gender roles such as developed on Earth are not present on Gethen. Its a very interesting concept, but not one that I really look for in my SF reading. LeGuin also inserts several short chapters in which the mythology of Gethen is explored.

This book wasn't to my liking. I found it very hard to get interested in. Not until the last third of the book did I find myself enjoying it. Combine that with an uninspiring plot, a mostly bland cast of characters, and the fact that the only truely groundbreaking element of the story was a commentary on gender roles, I was underwhelmed. I certainly see why people hold the book in high regard, but personally, it didn't do much for me. I will stick with the Earthsea trilogy as the signature LeGuin work.

6.5 out of 10

Available from Amazon

Lies of Locke Lamora : limited edition

The cover art for the LoLL ltd ed.
Very pretty.
I have pre ordered my copy from Clarkesworld. It can be purchased directly from Subterranean press also.

Here is the author's blurb on this. *note it actually is scheduled for May release.

In March or April, Subterranean Press will be releasing a high-quality limited edition of The Lies of Locke Lamora.

I believe the run will be 500 Merely Rockin' Limited Edition hardcovers and 15 Ultra Fucking Rad Super Rockin' Edition versions. Obviously those aren't the 'official' descriptions, but what could be better than Ultra Fucking Rad? The answer is nothing. Nothing's better.

This edition of TLOLL will have an original color cover and four color interior illustrations by Edward Miller (http://www.lesedwards.com), and every single one will be signed by yours truly.

If they sell, Bill at SubPress rubs his hands with glee* at the thought of producing a subsequent collector's edition of each book in the Gentleman Bastard sequence. So you know what you need to do-- skip that next meal, ignore your pressing medical concerns, and default on your rent, baby, because there's fresh, pipin' hot books to be had.

*I, of course, do not so much rub my hands together as generate an invisible electromagnetic Glee Field strong enough to knock migrating birds out of the sky.

I went for the merely rockin' edition. I believe the Ultra Rad editions are sold out. I don't normally buy special editions, but I loved this book so much I made an exception.

A Song of Ice and Fire : The Series

From Variety:


HBO has acquired the rights to turn George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series "A Song of Fire and Ice" into a dramatic series to be written and exec produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
"Fire" is the first TV project for Benioff ("Troy") and Weiss ("Halo") and will shoot in Europe or New Zealand. Benioff and Weiss will write every episode of each season together save one, which the author (a former TV writer) will script.
The series will begin with the 1996 first book, "A Game of Thrones," and the intention is for each novel (they average 1,000 pages each) to fuel a season's worth of episodes. Martin has nearly finished the fifth installment, but won't complete the seven-book cycle until 2011.
The author will co-exec produce the series along with Management 360's Guymon Casady and Created By's Vince Gerardis.
Martin's series has drawn comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkien, because both are period epics set in imagined lands. But Martin has eschewed Tolkien's good-vs.-evil theme in favor of flawed characters from seven noble families.
The book has a decidedly adult bent, with sex and violence comparable to series like "Rome" and "Deadwood."
"They tried for 50 years to make 'Lord of the Rings' as one movie before Peter Jackson found success making three," Martin said. "My books are bigger and more complicated, and would require 18 movies. Otherwise, you'd have to choose one or two characters."
Aside from writing the most recent draft of "Halo," Weiss recently adapted the William Gibson novel "Pattern Recognition" for WB and director Peter Weir.
Benioff and Weiss were repped by CAA and Management 360.

Please let this happen and be good. I'm totally excited about this. HBO has a damn good track record in developing cutting edge television series. I'm not familiar with Beinoff and Weiss. Tray, while a bit disappointed was visually entertaining. Plus with George's background in tv, I think this is a great fit, feature films would never work.

Free Verse: Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

I attended an event last night at the Walker Art Center put on in conjunction with Rain Taxi, a local literary review magazine. It was part of the Free Verse series of readings, and discussions and starred frequent collaborators Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. They are probably best know for their work on The Sandman, but they have been working together more or less for over 20 years, and have created such books as Coraline, Wolves in the Walls, The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish, and Mirrormask.

The evening started out with Dave showing some short clips of his animation, and then moving on to his wider portfolio which includes comics, novels, cd, posters, and movies. He gave a very interesting commentary as the presentation unfolded.

Neil, followed Dave, and proceeded to let the packed audience of 350 people in on the fact that he had just planned on winging things until he found out that Dave had actually prepared. So he interspersed readings from his latest book Fragile Things, in between his recap of his relationship with Dave. Most of the key points in their partnership can be found in this essay.

After their individual presentations, they say down together for a some joint reminiscing before taking some questions from the audience. The whole event lasted right at two hours.

This is the 4th time, I've gotten to see Neil , and its always a delight. He is extremely engaging, and possesses a voice that just pulls you into his readings. It was, however, the first time I'd seen Mr. McKean, and while not quite and outgoing as Neil, Dave had a tremendous wit, to go along with his amazing artistry. I can see why they have prospered so well together. They were introduced as England's greatest artistic duo since Lennon and McCartney. That's not too far off the mark in my opinion.

The event was carried live on the web, and should soon be available to view here

Nebula Ballot

The preliminary ballot for this year's Nebula awards is out.

The Nebulas have an odd calender year, eligiblity is work released from March of 2005 thru Feb of 2006.
The canidates for Best Novel are ok, there might be a couple I'd rather see on there, but as I've not read most of these, I'll not argue.
Nebula Awards weekend is May 11-13 in NY, with James Gunn to be named Grandmaster.

Paperback v. Hardcover

Ahh the eternal debate. Actually its more properly Trade Paperback v. Hardcover v. Massmarket Paperback. There is a debate going on at the ASOIAF forum about what people prefer. Personally I prefer Hardcovers, but sometimes they arent available, and sometimes cost is a factor, but I generally try to buy in HC if its not just a book, I'm taking a flyer on.

This post by Brandon Sanderson, author of Elantris, and Mistborn, gives the author's perspective on the debate.

The gist is that authors make a lot more on hardcovers sold than on paperbacks.

Dragon Avenger

Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight is the second cook in the Age of Fire cycle. It tells the tale of Wistala, the sister of Dragon Champion's Auron. The book starts in the same place as the first. With the hatching of the clutch in the cave. and for the first several chapters, it tells the same story, but through Wistala's viewpoint. This time when Wistala and Auron part, she believes he is the one who dies.

Wistala takes off to find her father who flew off to exact vengeance upon the Wheel of Fire Dwarves who betrayed them. She even manages to find him, near death from his rash attack, and spends some time trying to nurse him back to health. Being a coming of age story, of course the outcome of this reunion is bound to be temporary, and it is. Wistala is forced to flee and is nearly killed by the Dragonblade. Tala, though is rescued by a kindly elf named Rainfall. and she spends the majority of the book growing up in his company. Not a lot of avenging going on yet huh? just a lot of talking cats, and mules, Well the avenging does come. Events lead to Wistala getting the opportunity to take revenge on all who have wronged her, and her family, and she takes full advantage.

I liked the book, it was a light entertaining read for the most part. It felt more like a young adult novel than Champion did. Perhaps it was because of the different feel from the Dragonelles perspective. Perhaps it was where the first book had talking wolves, this one had cats, and horses, and mules, and buzzards. Perhaps I just didn't notice it in the first book. Anyway, Knight does a nice job of expanding his world. We see different areas than we did with Auron. We learn more about the history of the land. He also creates characters that you get attached too. I found myself saddened by the loss of certain characters. Its a worthy follow up to Dragon Champion. The next book in the series is slated to be about the little maimed Copper. I look forward to it.

7 out of 10

You can purchase this book at,

Clarkesword
or
Amazon

The Final Reflection

The Final Reflection is a Star Trek novel written by John M. Ford. Its the first Star Trek novel I've ever read, and from my understanding its pretty atypical. Ford, like the Enterprise liked to go where no man has gone before. Even himself. He actually wrote a second Star Trek novel, How Much for Just the Planet, which is a musical if you can believe it.

The main twist in this book, is it doesn't follow the adventures of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, but rather it has a Klingon as the main protagonist. Vrenn, is a houseless orphan who was trained to play the live version of the game klin zha, a much more complicated form of chess. During a match he gains the notice of a prominent Klingon admiral, and ends up being adopted into his line. Vrenn is now able to fulfill his dreams of becoming a naval officer. Vrenn eventually is forced to take the name of Krenn, as a political expediency, and is made captain of his own ship. Part of the price of this is he must travel to Earth to bring back a delegate from the Federation. Kreen becomes a key figure in a plot to bring about a war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. He must determine who he can trust in order to prevent a needless, honorless war.

Ford does masterful work in representing the Klingons as noble , honorable characters, not the hated barbarians they had always been portrayed as. Keep in mind this was written in 1984, well before The Next Generation introduced us to Worf, and the concept that Klingons were anything other than "the enemy". Ford takes a universe all of us are familiar with, and makes it his own. The trouble with so many tie-in novels is that the authors have little room for original creation, but Ford never seems constrained by those limits.

I really enjoyed this book. Any fan of either Star Trek books, or Ford's work should definitely pick this up. I will be moving his other Star Trek book up in my to be read pile.

8.5 out of 10

But this book at Amazon