Holy Saintcrow!

In a time when all paranormey romancey fiction had hit something of a low.. (Susan Grant- Your planet or mine, puh-LEASE!) ...I noticed a heroine with a sword, whose proud Necromancy head rose above the others.

Her name is Dante Valentine and the writer is the amazing Lilith Saintcrow. Saintcrow can write action to a tee and she's succeeding in creating a really cool near future.

'Working for the Devil' is good. Darn Good. I haven't picked up 'Dead Man Rising' yet, but I will, and I suggest y'all do too, coz its a good read.

Take a Chance on Touch the Dark

When I finished Karen Chance's 'Touch the Dark'. I felt a strange serene joy at finding such a cool new voice. In fact she reads a bit like an early, far-less-gross Anita Blake.

The story revolves around the young and troubled Cassie, the Clairyovant. (She describes herself as a ghost magnet!). When she was young (five, or is it six?) her parents were murdered by the cruel vamp master who wanted to control her abilities. He raised her among other master vampires and carved a pentagram into her back. (See the cover -click on the link.) She's since escaped him, but it seems he's found her again , (he lets her know by tactfully leaving her own obituary on her computer). Also there’s been another vamp watching her, right under her nose, and she didn't spot it.

This launches her in the world of the Vampire Senate (look out for who the 'leader' is!) and the complicated world of the Silver Circle of Combat Mages. She's thrown into a deeper, more complex world, and often has no idea what to do. This is possibly my only issue with the book. The middle lags a little and Cassie isn't very bright at times. This could be sheer jaded-ness on my part, as we readers expect both resourcefulness and intelligence from our heroines. This one delivers as much as she can, given that she is young character, and this is clearly the first in a series.

Cassandra (hows that for a mythological reference, by the way?!) cannot always control what the visions will do to her, and by the end of the book she has an important decision to make about her powers, and she learns a secret from her past that changes how she sees the world. It was a good read, although the lack of romance may bother readers expecting more. There's not much there in the way of a love story... or is there? I won't say what she does, but its worth the read, as its an important step for the character of Cassie.


Note: I wanted to add a pic of the cover, but if y'all are curious about that jsut click on the link. For some unknown reason it just refused to load up. My apologies.

Ellen Datlow anthologies available at Galaxy!

Direct from the author herself, Galaxy has a number of out of print titles, edited by the wonderful Ellen Datlow. Horror and fantasy collections such as Twists of the Tale ($7.95), Whisper of Blood($7.95), Little Deaths($19.95) and Blood is Not Enough(7.95) are now in stock. The stock we have will be all we can get, so make sure you don't miss out.

"The Atrocity Archives" by Charles Stross

This action-packed book will appeal to many readers because it neatly combines several genres by borrowing aspects from both spy-thrillers and H P Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos whilst poking fun at the computer industry and government bureaucracy.

The central conceit of this book is that magic exists but, apart from being inexplicable and ‘magical’ it is actually a branch of higher mathematics, albeit a complicated and dangerous branch, liable to snap under anyone foolish enough to clamber about on it. This concept leads Stross to create a world in which curious computer hackers can accidentally tear holes in reality and summon monstrous horrors from beyond time and space by tinkering around with occult algorithms. These accidents are much more life threatening than a Trojan virus or an email bomb, because multi-tentacled, Lovecraftian horrors from alternate dimensions are always ready to leap through the gaps and wreak havoc. In a scenario such as this, and with hackers being the persistent breed that they are, you would expect apocalyptic mishaps to be around every corner. And you would be right. That’s where the Laundry steps in. In the UK, the Laundry is a top secret government organisation created as a defence against occult-related catastrophes (accidental or otherwise).

The story follows a computer technician named Bob Howard who first came to the attention of the Laundry when he unwittingly, almost destroyed an entire city. Instead of locking him up, the Laundry instead offered him an IT job. Fast becoming bored with his position in a government department that doesn’t officially exist and that he can’t discuss with anyone else, he signs up for active service in the field. That’s where the action is. Maybe.
Stross finds a lot of humour in presenting spies as un-sexy bureaucrats who are simply doing a series of small jobs within a much larger orperation. These spies would never find themselves sporting tuxedos and quaffing martinis. Instead, active service mostly means working at a different desk and occaisionally experiencing the dubious thrill of standing in freezing cold rain in the middle of the night waiting for a chance to clumsily burglarise the office of a hacker who’s stumbled onto something potentially devastating. Thankfully, Bob Howard’s world gets more exciting than that as he is soon noticed by his superiors as a quick-witted chap who’s good in a tight fix. As long as he gets his request for leave in to his head of department before Tuesday, he’ll be free to save the world next week.

Stross has also developed several hilarious bureaucratic descriptions for paranormal phenomena a.k.a. ‘reality excursions’. These phrases beautifully illustrate just how a government department would attempt to curb, restrict and quantify something as wild and dangerous as magic.

This book also contains the novella "Concrete Jungle" which won the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novella. "Concrete Jungle" is fast-paced adventure also featuring Bob Howard and the Laundry, in which Stross builds on the history and (mis-)uses of the ‘basilisk’ technology.

"The Atrocity Archives" is available from our online store.
The second book in this series, "Jennifer Morgue" is due to be released in November, 2006.

For a list of the Charles Stross books available from Galaxy Bookshop, click here.
Many of the copies that we currently have in stock have been signed by the author but we will run out of these soon!

Charles Stross book signing at Galaxy Bookshop Thursday 27th July 5PM

Charles Stross, one of the most exciting authors working in science fiction at the moment, will be visiting Galaxy Bookshop on Thursday, 27th of July at 5PM.

Having only been published for a comparitvely short period of time, Stross has already amassed a fine collection of work, such as his debut duology "Singularity Sky" and "Iron Sunrise", the stand alone "Accelerando" and his urban fantasy series, The Merchant Princes.

Stross is definitely a man of many talent and his website offers a brief glimpse into the mad world that is Charles Stross.

We shall have plenty of copies of Stross' books, including his latest book, "Glasshouse" and the latest intallment in the Merchant Princes series, "Clan Corporate".

Peeps: Intelligent Biology, plus Vampires

I started my last posting by declaring my lover for Red Dwarf, it seems fitting to start this posting by declaring my love for Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld, and especially everything this has to say about parasites.

That’s right, parasites.

Horrible things. Things that live in your brain, or your bloodstream. Things that eat, and breed and die in your lower intestine, while you, the blissfully unaware host, feeds them. Every second chapter of 'Peeps' talks about a different form of disgusting germ type thing, with the underlying characteristics of the germ thing mirroring some part of the story as it continues.

A brilliant narrative technique, I thought. I hadn't seen it used this effectively, well, ever. And the best part is, all the germ type things are utterly and horrifically true. You will never want to drink water, swim or touch a cat ever again.

Oh, and there’s a story too. Peeps discusses the familiar issue of vampirism with a refreshing twist that I rather enjoyed, and it Cal is a likeable hero who genuinely enjoys discussing his 'change', and the important role of vampires in his society. He maintains enough edge for the 'reluctant hero' fans, but there’s an open enthusiasm to his character with is just a tiny bit endearing, for a vamp. The plot also attempts to counter one or two of the older vampire-related legends. I'm not saying it attempts to write its own vampire-mythos, quite the opposite, it actually builds on the ancient ideals and updates it quite well.

I really liked it. An interesting character, a refreshing premise, and really gross descriptions of evil germ things make great blend.

8 Reasons to buy Red Dwarf Series 8!

I love Red Dwarf. Even when the character of Rimmer disappeared mid-season seven (off on his big mission to be Ace Rimmer, remember?), I still had high hopes for series eight. And I was not disapointed!
Not only are the Dwarfers reunited with the original crew, but suddenly the whole series has a new dimension added to it with floor 13, otherwise known as 'The Brig'. So here they are, all 8 brilliant reasons to get series eight and pray for a glimmer of hope that there may one day be a movie...

1. To witness the effects of the 'sexual magnetism' virus on Rimmer in 'Back in the Red'. Its crude, I know, but I still laugh my head off every time.

2. Krysten's moral collapse in Krytie TV!!! "Oops, you've been Kryter-ed!"

3. The episode titled 'Cassandra'. The only episode of series eight that all the fans seem to agree is utterly brilliant. "A computer which unerringly predicts the future is a dangerous thing indeed..."

4. Pete the dinosaur/sparrow in Pete Part One and Two. Also watch out for Birdman!

5. Archie, Krytens newest artificial appendage. And while I'm mentioning appendages, I've told their are some really great out-takes.

6. Oooh... the character of 'Nicey-Ackerman'. Steals the spotlight in every scene he's in.

7. Bob and Madge, the skutters. Not only does Bob have a name, but also he has a missus named Madge!

8. The final, frustration-inducing episode, titled Only the Good. Not the best way to end the series, as it leaves loyal fans wondering what the smeg exactly happened, but very good in every other sense.