13 New Covers (Brady, Gay, Gordon, Jones, Malley, Maverick, Peacock, Pearce, Rowland, Souders, Williams)

January Through June 2011 Reads – Star Ratings

Books I read in January through June this year. Separated into star ratings, then listed by order in which I read them. All up at GoodReads. Some reviews here on my WordPress. Does not include books that I didn’t finish, because I’ve deleted them from my catalogue, and likely my memory.

Let me know if you decide to read or not to read them, based on my ratings. Because yes, I am that egocentric

5 STARS: Rage (Jackie Morse Kessler), American Vampire (Jennifer Armintrout), Project 17 (Laurie Faria Stolarz), The Gathering (Kelley Armstrong), The Repossession Mambo/Repo Men (Eric Garcia), Moongazer (Marianne Mancusi), Wither (Lauren DeStefano), Girl Hero (Carrie Jones)

4 STARS: Outside In (Maria V. Snyder), Stocking Full of Coal (Amanda Feral), The Walled Garden (Michele Lang), The Shadow Runners (Liz Maverick), The Vespertine (Saundra Mitchell), Linger (Maggie Stiefvater), Dark Life (Kat Falls), Demonized (Naomi Clark), The Reckoning (Kelley Armstrong), Midnight Alley (Rachel Caine), Feast of Fools (Rachel Caine), Lord of Misrule (Rachel Caine), Carpe Corpus (Rachel Caine), Fade Out (Rachel Caine), Coming Home (P. D. Martin), Kiss of Death (Rachel Caine), XVI (Julia Karr), Ghost Town (Rachel Caine), The Girl in the Steel Corset (Kady Cross), Matched (Ally Condie), Uninvited (Amanda Marrone), The Bradbury Report (Steven Polansky), Uninvited (Justine Musk), Exile (Rebecca Lim), Helper12 (Jack Blaine), Darkness Becomes Her (Kelly Keaton)

3 STARS: Jealousy (Lili St. Crow), Among the Betrayed (Margaret Peterson Haddix), Among the Barons (Margaret Peterson Haddix), Becoming (Kelley Armstrong), Shadow Days (Andrea Cremer), Day of Fire (Kathleen Nance), Dreaming Anastasia (Joy Preble), Things Bogans Like, Beyond Heaving Bosoms (Sarah Wendell & Candy Tan), Fugitives (Alexander Gordon Smith), The Power of Two (Patti O’Shea), Coming Undone (Lauren Dane), In the Arms of Stone Angels (Jordan Dane), The Iron Witch (Karen Mahoney), Damaged (Yolanda Sfetsos), Falling Freestyle (Vivian Arend), Jeweled (Anya Bast), Thyla (Kate Gordon), It Takes a Village Idiot and I Married One (Alex Borstein & Cherry Chevapravatdumrong), Burn Bright (Marianne de Pierres), A Touch Mortal (Leah Clifford), Night and Chaos (Naomi Clark), Savage Transformation (Lexxie Couper), The Official Illustrated Guide (Stephenie Meyer), Exit Strategy (Kelley Armstrong), Made to Be Broken (Kelley Armstrong), You Are So Undead to Me (Stacey Jay), Hereafter (Tara Hudson), Relentless (Lauren Dane), The Scarlet Empress (Susan Grant), Close Encounters (Katherine Allred), Perfect Cover (Jennifer Lynn Barnes), Killer Spirit (Jennifer Lynn Barnes), West End (Laura Van Wormer), Moon Sworn (Keri Arthur)

2 STARS: Defiance (Lili St. Crow)

[REVIEW] The Shadow Runners – Liz Maverick

Liz Maverick
The Shadow Runners (2176, Book 3)
Dorchester Love Spell (US: June 2004)
Buy (UK)

Welcome to futuristic Australia, part-penal colony and part-dumping ground. This concept had a big impact when I encountered it a few years ago. I knew the execution could never live up to the premise I idealised, but I still looked forward to this.

The world-building definitely meets my expectations, particularly the mysterious Parliament which consists of folk who claim to have been aristocrats in their former countries. The group definitely has an historical feel to them, which is rather strange in a futuristic, but nonetheless welcome. I’m not a fan of historicals, but the ones I like tend to involve opium and/or madness. Why? They make for more interesting plots than the same-old class battles. And The Shadow Runners does indeed feature opiate use, though I wasn’t expecting it. Yay for surprise!opium

The novel’s rather enjoyable, until the characters set off for the outback. Action and psychological issues are aplenty there, but I just didn’t connect with it.

The Shadow Runners may not be as good as The Legend of Banzai Maguire, but it sure beats Day of Fire. (One would’ve thought I’d love futuristic Canada, but the characters just didn’t work for me.)

[REVIEW] Irreversible – Liz Maverick

Liz Maverick
Irreversible (Wired, Book 2)
Dorchester Love Spell Shomi (US: 30th September 2008)
Buy (US) Buy (UK)

If you didn’t completely understand straight-line wire-crossing in Wired, then Irreversible will do your head in. It deals with time anomalies; namely Katherine Gibbs who’s stuck in a week-long whilst her fiancé, co-workers, and “friends” pretend whatever Leonardo Kaysar wants them to.

An old pal’s time hacker group is trying to extract Kitty from the loop, but their intern unintentionally screws things up massively. And Vesper is a pain in the arse for most of the book, until she shares a moment with Kaysar and some newspaper and they seem an unlikely but cute couple. But we never hear from her again, and I need closure, damn it! Meanwhile, things suck personally for group leader Louise, who’s feeling a bit lonely, but she goes about it in a totally non-emo way that doesn’t grate.

By the way, layers of time appear to be comprised of black ooze and white vapour. Those layers are bewildering, so give up thinking, and just enjoy the ride.

[REVIEW] Wired – Liz Maverick

Liz Maverick
Wired (Wired, Book 1)
Dorchester (US: 3rd July 2007; 1st March 2011 [re-release])
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Time-travel, alternate realities, wire splices…you don’t have to understand any of these things in order to enjoy Wired. I still don’t get all the little details, but it’s nonetheless a cracking good read, sparking with intrigue plus an unexpected emotional hard-hit. Generally speaking, escapist fiction doesn’t tend to have heroines with psychological disorders, so L. Roxanne Zaborovsky is surprisingly relatable. She loves spy pop culture, but living the espionage life isn’t as glamorous as she hoped. Still, she takes to it rather easily, and that she remembers previous reality splices is rather “speshul snowflake”, but the novel is as entertaining as it is incongruous. The banter between Roxy and Kitty is fun, and their Girls’ Own adventure in the future is a delight. I love the way Liz Maverick’s weird and wacky creativity works!

[REVIEW] Crimson & Steam – Liz Maverick

Liz Maverick
Crimson & Steam (Crimson City, Book 8)
Dorchester Love Spell (US: 29th December 2009)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

It’s bad enough human journalist Jill Cooper has to witness her vampire lover Marius Dumont marry someone else in the name of political harmony, but worse is the virus that kills one of Crimson City’s vampires…and is having a radical affect on Marius, too. To obtain the cure, Jill must willingly infect another vampire, or win the race against time by studying the papers of a young inventor in 1850s London.

At first Jill is so desperate that she’s bloody annoying. Admittedly, she’s having a rough time but she acts like life without love is not worth living. That’s right, all the single ladies – put your hands up! But keep reading, because the rest of the book more than makes up for Jill’s melodrama.

Though set in an alternate (or even futuristic) Los Angeles, with all the royalty, corsets and whatnot it seems rather Victorian, so it’s not a shock to switch to 1850s England. In fact, the steampunk sub-plot is the most fascinating part of Crimson & Steam. There are clear parallels between Jill’s and Charlotte’s troubled relationships, but Charlie still has her dignity.

The Crystal Palace hosts the Great Exhibition that rose engineer Charlotte visits weekly. A tempest prognosticator seems innocent enough, but not even its creator could predict its dire consequences. I still have questions about the device and how it works, and Crimson City’s geography with its strata is bloody confusing, even though we’re told who goes where. More memorable, however, are the crafty mechs.

The government conspiracies, and political divisions between the vampires/humans/werewolves, may seem tired, but the science and steampunk are winners. Totally glom-worthy, Crimson & Steam gives one much to think about, and hope for future instalments. Add to this the mind-bending concepts of her futuristic novels, and Liz Maverick stands above other authors treading the well-worn paranormal path. Can’t wait for her next innovative novel!

December 2009 Releases

Done with November 2009 Releases? Time for December 2009 Releases, representing my wishlist from US, UK, Canada and Australia publications. For releases further into the future, Reading Wishlist has been freshly updated.

Claim to Fame, New Book Deal & Cover Art

Claim to fame: Dorchester Publishing has included part of my review on their page for A. J. Menden’s Tekgrrl. Only a few words, but I’m credited for them

New book deal: From here: Erica Hayes’s Shadowsong, in which a knife-wielding banshee gangster’s quest for revenge on the assassin who ruined her life is interrupted when a deluded fairy sorceress steals her magical song, again to Rose Hilliard at St. Martin’s, in a two-book deal, by Marlene Stringer of the Stringer Literary Agency (World). And I’m happy to announced I received an ARC of Erica’s first novel, Shadowfae, during the week. I’m looking forward to reading and reviewing it soon

Cover art: I’ve fallen drastically behind on posting covers. For now, I’m only posting the ones I HAVEN’T seen plastered everywhere, but I don’t follow as many other book blogs as I used to. Sorry in advance if you’ve already seen these, and I’m clogging up your blog feed.

Tez in the City, Part II

Saturday
-Chatted, signed, photographed with Susan Grant, Liz Maverick, Keri Arthur & Tracey O’hara.

-Liz’s The Shadow Runners is set in Australia in 2176. Not Victoria, but nevertheless I think she was chuffed to be here. And to see for herself if Australia is closer to becoming a penal colony again

-Tracey’s Night’s Cold Kiss cover art was revealed, but I’ll wait for her to share it with you first. Go bother her

-Melanie Milburne‘s surgeon husband sometimes phones her for a chat whilst he’s performing surgery. Who says men can’t multi-task? Melanie also had a trophy on her signing table – I’ll have to check award results.

-Amy Andrews has an agent, but looks after her own Mills & Boon business. Her agent deals with Amy’s other works.

-If you’d like to know the mating habits of marine animals and other mammals, consult Lexxie Couper.

-Jess Dee has a fabulous South African accent. It’s like the Oz one, only classier. And charming. Makes you want to hug the world. In short: fab.

Sunday
-Chat and photos with Liz, Sue, Kez, Jordana Ryan, Lexxie, Jess, MaryJanice Davidson & Anthony Alongi, and Dianna Love. Didn’t chat with Sherrilyn Kenyon, but had a photo.

-Skipped out early to head to the State Library of Victoria for a free session with Justine Larbalestier & Simmone Howell. Free cupcakes – the icing was so tasty!

-In times past and present, they’ve made up their own slang. Consult Simmone about the verb “rod”, and Justine the noun “spoff”.

-Scott Westerfeld is tall.

Flickr

In Praise of ARRC09

As I’ve told you often enough, or in case you’ve forgotten, the Australian Romance Readers Convention (aka ARRC09) will run from February 20-22 here in my own Melbourne. Thanks to all attendees, sponsors, attendees-at-a-distance, organisation committee, and everyone who’s pitched in to make this event happen, and who’ve helped publicise it.

I’m looking forward to this more than I can tell you. I do get rather jealous when my North American and European peeps talk of attending cons, meeting authors, hanging out with writer/reader pals in facetime… Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy that you have all this. I just wish I had it, too

Maybe it’s the whole location thing, but even though I follow book news on the Internet as closely as I can (without forking out for a Publisher’s Marketplace membership), I still feel so separated from the book world and the various writing cliques.

So to have a special gathering such as this, in my own country, in my own state…it’s really brilliant. I don’t even have to pay for accommodation, though I will have to use public transport for better or worse And since the con’s on a weekend (I won’t be there for Friday’s events), the train will only cost me $2.50 for each day. Weekend Saver tickets, y’all.

MaryJanice Davidson, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Stephanie Laurens may pull the crowds, and I’ll be the embarrassed one in the crowd because I haven’t read their work, and aren’t sure that their books will suit my tastes. Nevertheless, it’s wonderful they all will be attending, and MJD will even be bringing her kids. You’re never too young to start learning about the world at large, and not just your little corner. Here’s hoping you enjoy your time here and take home some nice memories, kids

But really the other major headliners are why I’ll be attending: Liz Maverick and Susan Grant. I’ve been keeping an eye on Liz since the launch of Dorchester’s SHOMI imprint. And though I’ve only read three of the books so far (Michele Lang’s Netherwood, Eve Kenin’s Hidden and Michelle Maddox’s Countdown), I’ve bought the others, and they’re all waiting patiently on my shelf to be read.

Last year I looked up Liz’s backlist, to see what other books of hers I might like to try. And I found that perfect one: The Shadow Runners. It’s a futuristic – SET IN AUSTRALIA. This was at the time I was realising how awesome futuristic fiction is, and I’ll admit it: when I learned of this book’s existence, I started thinking about writing my own futuristic Australia novel. I’ve never had a muse, or whatnot, but in this case Liz unintentionally provided inspiration. So even though I haven’t read the book yet (though I own it), it’s very special to me. Now I just need Liz to sign it (and personalise it, let’s not forget) to cement its awesomeness. I WILL TRACK HER DOWN!

The Shadow Runners is actually the third novel in a 5-book miniseries…created by Susan Grant. She also wrote the first and last stories: The Legend of Banzai Maguire and The Scarlet Empress. The series is set in the year 2176, and since it’s Susan’s brainchild…it makes her awesome. If she wasn’t already awesome, but she already was

I own signed and personalised copies of these two books, but since she created the whole series, Susan will hopefully deign to sign the other three as well. Such is the responsibility of the author – if you’re in my city, you may as well be useful

Then there’s Keri Arthur, of course. It’s no secret that not every urban fantasy series is to my liking. But I’ve stuck with the Riley Jenson series because it works for me. It’s set in my Melbourne. The investigations often deal with things I haven’t come across in fiction before, so Keri has fab originality. I have a scene each from Embraced by Darkness and The Darkest Kiss still in my mind, even though I read them last year – and believe me, my memory’s terribly shoddy, so this is a marvellous achievement.

And then there’s the matter of the Wolfsbane and Mistletoe anthology I’m currently reading. So far Keri’s contribution has been the only story to properly hold my attention. I quickly gave up on the preceding stories after a few pages each, because they just didn’t work for me. This one is. So this proves that not only can Keri write a cracking novel, but she’s far and above other short story writers, too. Well, in this anthology at least. Much applause. Anthologies on a whole are often disappointing, but stories like Keri’s are the reason I at least try to give anthologies a chance.

And Tracey O’hara will be there I only learned of her recently – she’s a Canberra-based urban fantasy author whose first novel, Night’s Cold Kiss, will be released in September 2009 by Harper Eos. So she’s sharing a publisher with the likes of Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson and Jocelynn Drake – and she shares an agent with Jocelynn, too. Tracey clearly has great credentials, and she’s a nifty person too – she’s replied to my emails and blog comments Seriously. Often I’m too intimidated or whatever to comment or email an author, so when I do, that’s when I’m comfortable.

I’ll be travelling to the con alone, and won’t know anyone (in person) there, so to anyone who’s attending: say hi I think we’ll all be wearing name tags, so I’ll be the Tez with frizzy brown hair and no make-up. And a deer-in-headlights facial expression. And if it’s skirt weather, bruised knees (Keep banging them on the table I work at. Dude, I so need an ergonomic desk-and-chair combo. And a hard drive and working monitor in the same machine, as opposed to the laptop system and computer monitor I currently use.)

Respect, admiration and love to ARRC09, and have a lovely day!