Sunday, June 29, 2008

Books in the Mail (W/E 6/28)

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie - This will jump to the top of the pile, since I have the Gollancz edition in ARC form (signed!), too. I read and loved the first two books in this series, too. Joe's a humble guy who rarely interjects himself into conversations about his work or the genre.

Gone-Away World Nick Harkaway - This sounds really interesting - a cool combination of science fiction, superheroes and surreality. Equal parts raucous adventure, comic odyssey, geek nirvana and ultracool epic, The Gone-Away World is a story of—among other things—pirates, war, mimes, greed and ninjas. But it is also the story of a world, not unlike our own, in desperate need of heroes—however unlikely they may seem.

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart - This is an advance from Subterranean Press of the classic series set in a fantastical version of ancient China (Hughart subtitled it "A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was"). It draws on the traditional tale of Cowherd and Weaver Girl and other myths, poems and incidents from Chinese history. I've read/seen good things about these books and now I'll have a chance to read it myself.

The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks
- This is the mass market release of the book I reviewed about a year or so ago. Good stuff, now all we have to do is wait for the last volume of the Fourth Realm trilogy.

Going Under Quantum Gravity Book Three by Justina Robson
– The third book in Robson’s series which combines elements of fantasy and cyberpunk with her trademark themes of identity and reality, and magic and technology.

Hero of Ages: Mistborn 3 by Brandon Sanderson - I really enjoyed the first two installments (The Final Empire, Well of Ascension) of the series, as I said last week when they arrived. I hope Brandon can deliver on the promise of the first two volumes. If so, this series will be an overall standout, IMHO. Either this or Abercrombie is the book I was most pleased to see in the mail this week.

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