Lately, my job has provided me with a lot of opportunities for listening to audio books, while doing tasks that don't require much thought. I figured this would be a great chance for me to listen to some of those non-genre books that I have been wanting to read but haven't managed to find time for. One such book is Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon, a book that I have heard wonderful things about and have meaning to read for over a year now.
Publisher's Synopsis: The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways–and with unexpected consequences–in acclaimed author Dan Chaon’s gripping, brilliantly written new novel.
Longing to get on with his life, Miles Cheshire nevertheless can’t stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving stealthily from place to place, managing along the way to hold down various jobs and seem, to the people he meets, entirely normal. But some version of the truth is always concealed.
A few days after graduating from high school, Lucy Lattimore sneaks away from the small town of Pompey, Ohio, with her charismatic former history teacher. They arrive in Nebraska, in the middle of nowhere, at a long-deserted motel next to a dried-up reservoir, to figure out the next move on their path to a new life. But soon Lucy begins to feel quietly uneasy.
My whole life is a lie, thinks Ryan Schuyler, who has recently learned some shocking news. In response, he walks off the Northwestern University campus, hops on a bus, and breaks loose from his existence, which suddenly seems abstract and tenuous. Presumed dead, Ryan decides to remake himself–through unconventional and precarious means.
From the very start of the book, where Ryan is being rushed to the emergency room by his father, with his severed hand lying in a cooler beside them, I was completely hooked. In bits and pieces we get to know Ryan, Lucy and Miles and how they each ended up in their current situations. The main pull of the story, though, is the mystery of how these seemingly unrelated stories could possibly be connected and I just kept "reading" in eager anticipation of making this discovery.
I had a difficult time connecting to, or even sympathizing with, any of the book characters because their choices and behaviors were so foreign to me. While I can understand the concept of wanting to reinvent oneself, the way that Lucy and Ryan callously abandon their families without any explanation really bothered me as well as the way that they passively let events pull them along, afterwards. I was a bit more sympathetic towards Miles, though I was frustrated by the way he kept putting his own life on hold to search for a brother who didn't want to be found, especially since it's unclear what he expects to happen if he does find him. The one character I did come to feel for is Miles's missing brother Hayden. We mostly get to know him through Miles's recollections of their childhood, and it is suggested that he may have taken part in heinous acts of crime, but he was the one I found myself rooting for the most. I really wanted him to be found and to get the help that he needed.
The end, when it came, was both satisfying and disappointing. As the story winds up the pieces start falling into place and the connection between all of the stories is cleverly revealed. But the individual stories are left unresolved, which I was disappointed with. When the book did end I was somewhat stunned at the abruptness of it and my mind scrambled to rearrange the events of the story in light of the new revelations. At that point I would have really liked to have had a physical copy of the book on me so that I could flip back and read certain parts of the book to reevaluate particular events.
Kirby Heyborne does a fantastic job narrating Await Your Reply and I very much enjoyed listening to him read this book. I had no trouble identifying each individual character, even though there were quite a few of them. As I mentioned, there were some instances when I would have liked to have a physical copy of the book and I think I might have missed out on some clues by listening to the book rather then reading it. This didn't really bother me but others might want to take this into consideration before deciding if they prefer to listen to or read the book.
From start to finish, I was completely absorbed by Await Your Reply and I really had to force myself to put it down in order to get other things done. The story just pulls you along and you want to keep reading in order to find out how it all ends. And despite my dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the book, I would still highly recommend it for anyone looking for a thrilling, unpredictable read.
When Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer began exchanging letters as part of the Letter Game they had no idea of how far the game would progress. But after a few weeks of Caroline writing as Kate and Patricia as Cecelia, one letter a week wasn't enough. The two women had quickly become absorbed by the characters they had created, and the story that was coming together, and the letters between them became more frequent. Eventually, as the story headed to its conclusion, Patricia and Caroline took a look at all the letters they had written each other and realized that it would make an excellent book, and from those letters emerged Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot.
When Kate is taken to London for the season, along with her beautiful younger sister, her cousin Cecelia is disappointed at being left behind. But Kate has promised to regularly write to Cecelia everything about her London debut and in return Cecelia will keep Kate up-to-date on the news back home, in Essex. What neither Kate or Cecelia expected was to get embroiled in a sinister plot involving a magical chocolate pot and the Mysterious Marquis. But when Kate nearly gets poisoned by a witch and Cecelia befriends an enchanted young woman with an evil stepmother, both girls tumble headlong into the adventures of their lives. Through regular correspondences, Kate and Cecelia share the details of their individual escapades, which they soon come to realize are connected. And so it is up to Kate and Cecelia to pool their resources together and come up with a way to save a certain marquis from a tragic end, because you can never count on men to get things done properly.
Sorcery and Cecelia includes all of my favorite fantasy book elements; feisty and intelligent heroines, magic, adventure, and a dash of romance. I loved the characters of Kate and Cecelia and by the end of the book wished that I could adopt them as my best friends. Both girls are clever, witty and sensible though they are not above getting into the occasional bit of mischief or in bending the rules when something needs to get done. And when it becomes apparent that the Marquis and his friend are making no progress in defeating the witch and her cohort, Kate and Cecelia step in to take things in hand and get the job done right.
While I usually avoid books written in a letter format in this case I really enjoyed it. For most of the book two different stories are being recounted, one of Kate's adventures in London and the other of Cecelia's in Essex. Both girls comment on each others stories, offering advice and commiseration, and eventually the events in London and Essex begin to intertwine. I really liked the explanation, in the back of the book, of how the story came together through real letters written by Patricia and Caroline, and I thought it gave the book an authentic feel (or as authentic as a fantasy book can get).
It's been years since I last read a book by Patricia Wrede and Sorcery and Cecelia makes me wonder why I've waited so long. It was a delightfully charming book that I had a lot of fun reading and which I'm sure I will be returning to many times. It was a wonderful break from some of the darker books that I've been reading lately and I'm now determined to seek out any other books of Patricia Wredes that I've missed out on (and Caroline Stevermer as well, as I've never heard of her before). After finishing Sorcery and Cecelia I was pleased to discover that it is followed by two more books featuring Kate and Cecelia, and I look forward to reading those books as well.
To help promote Kill the Dead, the recently released sequel to Sandman Slim, Eos is offering free downloads of the Sandman Slim ebook. Downloads are available for the Sony e-reader, Kindle and Nook, though anyone can download the free software for these readers to read the book on their PC.
Book Description: Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero
Life sucks, and then you die. Or, if you're James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.
Now Stark's back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But when his first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you'd expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future.
Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.
Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author.
This offer is available for two weeks only. Visit Eos for more information.
The problem with putting together this list of new releases each week is that I'm constantly discovering new books that I just can't find the time to read. And then, before I know it, I find myself compiling a list including the sequels to those original books, and I'm once again reminded of all the books that I still have not gotten around to reading. One such book is Celine Kiernan's The Poison Throne, which I have heard great things about but haven't yet read. Though if you have read and enjoyed this book then you have probably been looking forward to this week's release of The Rebel Prince, the final book in the trilogy.Connie Willis's Blackout has also been on my list of books to read and this week its sequel, All Clear, will already be available. Reading the synopsis of All Clear has inspired me to push Blackout to the top of my TBR list.And as a further reminder of another author whose books I have yet to satisfactorily explore is 80! Memories & Reflections on Ursula K. Le Guin, a compilation of essays and stories put together by LeGuin's friends. Unfortunately I haven't read enough of LeGuin's books to properly appreciate such a book but I'm sure there are many other scifi and fantasy readers who will.Some YA book releases worth noting are Hunger by Morse Kessler, Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick and Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.Hope you have a great reading week!
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80! Memories & Reflections on Ursula K. Le GuinKaren Joy Fowler & Debbie Notkin, edsGenre:Publisher: Aqueduct PressRelease Date: Oct 21A private gift to Ursula K. Le Guin becomes a gift to all readers, an exciting chance to enjoy someone else's birthday present. In 2009, for the momentous occasion of Ursula K. Le Guin's 80th birthday, Karen Joy Fowler and Debbie Notkin put together a volume of tributes and appreciations, as a birthday present. The project, known in academic circles as a ''festschrift,'' or ''celebration book,'' resulted in a single copy, handbound in green leather, which Karen presented to Ursula a few days after her birthday in October. The original idea came from Kim Stanley Robinson, who also contributed an essay to the book. With Ms. Le Guin's kind agreement, Aqueduct Press is delighted to share this unique celebration with Le Guin's readers and fans. The book contains poetry, personal essays, academic essays, biographical information about Le Guin, as well as fiction, including previously unpublished fiction by Andrea Hairston and John Kessel. Publication will coincide with Le Guin's 81st birthday. Contributors include Eleanor Arnason, Brian Attebery, Richard Chwedyk, Karen Joy Fowler, Molly Gloss, Eileen Gunn, Andrea Hairston, Jed Hartman, Gwyneth Jones, John Kessel, Ellen Kushner, Nancy Kress, Sarah LeFanu, Vonda N. McIntyre, Pat Murphy, Julie Phillips, Paul Preuss, Kim Stanley Robinson, Nisi Shawl, Lisa Tuttle, Elisabeth Vonarburg, and Jo Walton, among others.
All ClearConnie WillisGenre: Science FictionPublisher: SpectraRelease Date: October 19In Blackout, award-winning author Connie Willis returned to the time-traveling future of 2060—the setting for several of her most celebrated works—and sent three Oxford historians to World War II England: Michael Davies, intent on observing heroism during the Miracle of Dunkirk; Merope Ward, studying children evacuated from London; and Polly Churchill, posing as a shopgirl in the middle of the Blitz. But when the three become unexpectedly trapped in 1940, they struggle not only to find their way home but to survive as Hitler’s bombers attempt to pummel London into submission.Now the situation has grown even more dire. Small discrepancies in the historical record seem to indicate that one or all of them have somehow affected the past, changing the outcome of the war. The belief that the past can be observed but never altered has always been a core belief of time-travel theory—but suddenly it seems that the theory is horribly, tragically wrong.Meanwhile, in 2060 Oxford, the historians’ supervisor, Mr. Dunworthy, and seventeen-year-old Colin Templer, who nurses a powerful crush on Polly, are engaged in a frantic and seemingly impossible struggle of their own—to find three missing needles in the haystack of history.
Against All Things Ending (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 3)Stephen R. DonaldsonGenre: FantasyPublisher: Putnam AdultRelease Date: October 19The long-awaited sequel to The Runes of the Earth and Fatal Revenant returns readers to the Land-and unravels some of the mysteries haunting Covenant and Linden Avery.Thomas Covenant is alive again, restored to his mortal body by the unimaginable combined force of his own white gold ring, Linden Avery's Staff of Law, and the ancient dagger called High Loric's krill. His resurrection is Linden's defiant act of love, despite warnings from mortals and immortals that unleashing this much power would destroy the world. She brought his spirit back from its prison in the Arch of Time, and revived his slain body, so that Covenant lies whole on the cool grass, and the world seems at peace. But the truth is inescapable: The thunderclap of power has awakened the Worm of the World's End, and all of them, and the Land itself, are forfeit to its devouring. If they have any chance to save the Land, it will come from unlikely sources- including the mysterious boy Jeremiah, Linden's adopted son, whose secrets are only beginning to come to light.
Blood Trinity ( Belador Bk1)Sherrilyn KenyonGenre: Paranoral Romance, Urban FantasyPublisher: PocketRelease Date: October 19Supernatural warriors bound by an extraordinary code of honor face an ultimate test of loyalty in the exciting new paranormal thriller from New York Times bestselling authors Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love.Atlanta has become the battlefield between human and demon. All her life, Evalle Kincaid has walked the line between the two. Her origins unknown, she’s on a quest to learn more about her past . . . and her future.When a demon claims a young woman in a terrifying attack and there’s no one else to blame, Evalle comes under suspicion. Now she’s on a deadly quest for her own survival. Through the sordid underground of an alternate Atlanta where nothing is as it seems to the front lines of the city, where her former allies have joined forces to hunt her, Evalle must prove her innocence or pay the ultimate price.But saving herself is the least of her problems if she doesn’t stop the coming apocalypse. The clock is ticking and Atlanta is about to catch fire. . . .All day.
Crescendo (Hush, Hush, Bk 2)Becca FitzpatrickGenre: YA Urban FantasyPublisher: Simon & Schuster Children's PublishingRelease Date: October 19Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even im
Diving Mimes, Weeping Czars, and Other Unusual SuspectsKen ScholesGenre: AnthologyPublisher: Fairwood PressRelease Date: OctoberReturn to Ken Scholes' Imagination Forest in this second collection of quirky, off-beat stories. These 17 tales range from his first published story in 2000 to his most recent in 2009, including two stories set in his Psalms of Isaak series. You'll encounter cynical Santas and explore the dating woes of superheroes. You'll join God and Satan in the bar for a glass of merlot and watch the hyjinx unfold as Reverend Sparkle Jones leads his rag-tag gang of misfits across a post-apocalyptic America in search of the holy grail to stem the tide of an alien invasion. You'll meet the Lady of the Lake in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl and bump into Abe and his backup singers as they do their part to save the world. So settle in for the ride and keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times. Here in the Imagination Forest, you never know who — or what — you'll come across.
HungerJackie Morse KesslerGenre: YA Urban FantasyPublisher: GraphiaRelease Date: October 18"Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world."Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons?A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens.
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future: The First 25 YearsKevin AndersonGenre: Scifi and Fantasy AnthologyPublisher: Galaxy PressRelease Date: October 19This book holds between its pages the best new science fiction and fantasy stories and illustrations of the year, discovered by the judges of the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests—a veritable who's who in the field of speculative fiction writing and illustrating.
Pock's WorldDave DuncanGenre: Science FictionPublisher: EDGE Science Fiction & FantasyRelease Date: October 15Pock’s World, long settled by humankind, is accused of being infected by humanoid aliens. It has been quarantined and may have to be sterilized. Five people are chosen to go there and examine the evidence: saintly but ruthless Father Andre; Ratty Turnsole, a muckraking reporter ripe for romance; ambitious politician Athena Fimble; manipulative bureaucrat Millie Backet; and shady billionaire Linn Lazuline. Some of them carry grudges - all have their own agendas.Pock’s World surprises them all. Nothing is what they expect. Quickly entangled in love, politics, religion, and deceit, they discover that the clock is already ticking and the fate of humanity itself is at stake.
NightshadeAndrea CremerGenre: YA Urban FantasyPublisher: PhilomelRelease Date: October 19Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?
The First Book of GrimmShiloh WalkerGenre: Paranormal RomancePublisher: Samhain PublishingRelease Date: October 19Once upon a mission…Candy HousesNow that Greta is a Grimm—guardian angel and official paranormal ass-kicker—romance is hard to find. There’s only one man who makes her heart race, a fact that scared her right out of his arms. But now she needs a hand.The last woman Rip expected to see on this dangerous mission is the one who rejected his love. Faced with a danger neither of them saw coming, the question is which is the greater danger—the one threatening their lives, or their hearts?No Prince CharmingWith days spent trolling for demons and nights with a sometime lover, Elle thinks she’s finally gotten over her so-called Prince Charming. But now, on the eve of her most dangerous mission, he’s back—the man who broke her heart.Michael jumped at the chance to become a Grimm, though he knew Elle would never forgive him. It looks like she’s doing just fine without him, but he’s ready to use every weapon in his not-so-charming arsenal to save her, if necessary. Kill for her, live for her, die for her…Warning: Dark, sexy, a little bit scary—these twisted fairy tales are only for grownups and are best saved for bedtime.
The Rebel Prince (The Moorehawke Trilogy, Bk 3) Celine KiernanGenre: FantasyPublisher: OrbitRelease Date: October 18Wynter Moorehawke has braved bandits and Loup-Garous to find her way to Alberon-the exiled, rebel prince. But now that she's there, she will learn firsthand that politics is a deadly mistress. With the king and his heir on the edge of war and alliances made with deadly enemies, the Kingdom is torn not just by civil war - but strife between the various factions as well. Wynter knows that no one has the answer to the problems that plague the Kingdom - and she knows that their differences will not just tear apart her friends - but the Kingdom as well.
Weight of Stone: Book Two of the Vineart WarLaura Anne GilmanGenre: FantasyPublisher: GalleryRelease Date: Oct 19An island nation has vanished. Men of honor and magic have died unnatural deaths. Slaves flee in terror. . . . Are the silent gods beginning to speak? Or is another force at work in the Lands Vin?Laura Anne Gilman’s critically acclaimed, Nebula Award–nominated Flesh and Fire introduced a brilliantly imagined world where the grapevine—cultivated by the Vinearts who know the secrets of wine magic—holds together disparate lands. Now, confusion, violence, and terror are sweeping over the Lands Vin. And four people are at the center of a storm.Jerzy, Vineart apprentice and former slave, was sent by his master to investigate strange happenings—and found himself the target of betrayal. Now he must set out on his own journey, to find the source of the foul taint that threatens to destroy everything he holds dear. By Jerzy’s side are Ao, who lives for commerce and the art of the deal; Mahault, stoic and wise, risking death in flight from her homeland; and Kaïnam, once Named-Heir of an island principality, whose father has fallen into a magic-tangled madness that endangers them all.These four companions will travel far from the earth and the soul of the vine, sailing along coastlines aflame with fear, confronting sea creatures summoned by darkness, and following winds imbued with malice. Their journey will take them to the very limits of the Sin Washer’s reach . . . and into a battle for the soul of the Lands Vin. For two millennia the Sin Washer’s Commandment has kept these lands in order: Those of magic shall hold no power over men and those princes of power shall hold no magic. Now, that law has given way. And a hidden force seeks the havoc of revenge.
Andie Miller is ready to move on with her life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her. A distant cousin has died and left North the guardian of two orphans who have driven away three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs someone to take care of the situation, and he knows Andie can handle anything....
When Andie meets the two children, she realizes the situation is much worse than she feared. Carter and Alice aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. Complicating matters is Andie’s fiancé’s suspicion that this is all a plan by North to get Andie back. He may be right because Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting....
Then her ex-brother-in-law arrives with a duplicitous journalist and a self-doubting parapsychologist, closely followed by an annoyed medium, Andie’s tarot card–reading mother, her avenging ex-mother-in-law, and her jealous fiancé. Just when Andie’s sure things couldn’t get more complicated, North arrives to make her wonder if maybe this time things could just turn out differently....
Jennifer Crusie is one of the few romance authors whose books I regularly read. When I recently discovered that Crusie had a new book out in August I was eager to get a hold of it. Unfortunately, though, Maybe This Time ended up being a big disappointment, and wasn't nearly as enjoyable and entertaining as Crusie's previous books.
I must admit that part of the problem had to do with my personal disinterest in ghost stories. I've read several other books with similar themes this past year, including Hell Fire by Anne Aguirre and Ghost Light by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and I didn't really enjoy either of those books either. It's just that stories about ghosts and haunted houses don't do anything for me. On the other hand, I really liked Sophia Kinsella's Twenties Girl, which had involved a ghost, so I figured that Crusie's fun writing style might similarly spice up the ghost themed plot in Maybe This Time. But this wasn't the case.
Two orphaned children in a haunted house with a creepy housekeeper and a lovely governess, hired by the children's distant guardian. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Yes, I'm sure you've read similar books before, including, too, the dark and stormy night in which events come to a head.
In addition to the uninspired plot, Maybe This Time just didn't charm me the way all of Crusie's other books had. Other than Andie's wacky, fortune telling mother, the characters weren't as fun and quirky as in her other books and the romance felt flat to me. We barely even get to know the two male characters battling for Andie's affection, since they remain off-stage for most of the book.
I was actually pretty irritated with the romantic plot of the story and the way Andie casually dumps her wonderful, loving boyfriend, who she was about to get engaged to, to go back to her ex-husband, who she hasn't seen in ten years. But apparently unbridled lust is a good enough reason to dump your almost-fiance and hook up (aka, fall-in-love) with a man you already divorced once. And then the story weakly attempts to make Andie's boyfriend come across as a jerk, by having him do something stupid, so that the reader will feel Andie is justified in her callous behavior towards him. This just annoyed me even more.
There were a few interesting moments in the book and I trudged on just to see how some of the threads would be tied up, but as a whole I found the book pretty disappointing; not at all what I have come to expect from Jennifer Crusie.
I have to admit that if you enjoy ghost stories than you will probably find Maybe This Time more appealing than I did but I doubt you will get any more enjoyment than I did out of the feeble romantic plot.
Although it's been over a year now since I first challenged myself to start reading science fiction, I still find myself intimidated by the hard core stuff. To me, Gateway by Frederik Pohl falls into this category because it's written by a top scifi author and it has a cover featuring spaceships shooting at each other in outer space. That's heavy-duty scifi stuff.
But when I recently found myself in possession of a copy of Gateway I thought it couldn't hurt to take a look inside, just to test the waters. To my surprise, I was immediately drawn into the story by the casual narration style and before I knew it I was half-way done with the book. While at first I was compelled to keep reading by the easy writing style- so different from many of the other scifi that I've tried- I was soon caught up by the thrill of the story and I could barely bring myself to put the book down, until I finished it all.
Bob Broadhead has always dreamed of being a prospector; of flying a Heechee ship in search of the valuable relics hidden on far off-planets- all that remains of the mysterious Heechee race. But becoming a prospector is expensive and far beyond Bob's means, so he has to settle for following in his parent's footsteps and working in the food mines.
The life of a miner is hard and by the time Bob is twenty-six he has lost both his parents to the mines. Bob has little hope that his life will get any better until the day he wins $250,000 in the lottery, which he immediately spends on a ticket to Gateway.
Gateway is the place to go for anyone wanting to make their fortune through prospecting. It’s the asteroid where the Heechee ships were first discovered and it's there where training and accommodations are provided for those who risk their lives in search of Heechee treasure. The problem is that no one knows exactly how the aircrafts work. Each ship appears to be pre-programmed to a particular destination but the destinations can only be determined once a prospector has traveled there. If a prospector is lucky he will be brought to an undiscovered planet full of Heechee relics, for which he will be awarded enough money to retire for life. The unlucky never make it back at all, or at least not alive.
Bob is excited to finally fulfill his dreams of becoming a prospector, that is- until he gets a look at the remains of a ship from a failed mission. The bodies of the prospectors, mysteriously ripped apart, cause Bob's excitement to dampen and suddenly he isn't sure if this is what he wants at all.
As his friends and fellow prospectors eagerly set off into the unknown, in fulfillment of their own dreams, Bob haunts the tunnels of Gateway wracked by fear and indecision. Should he give up his dreams of glory when he is already so close or risk his life in a possibly deadly mission?
Years later, Bob is facing the consequences of what he experienced at Gateway and the events which led to the final and horrifying trip that brought him the fame and fortune he had longed for.
Gateway starts off with a counseling session between Bob and his robotic psychiatrist whom he calls Sigfried. As Sigfried attempts to get Bob to talk about the painful events of his past, Bob reluctantly recounts the story of what brought him to Gateway and what happened there. The story switches between Bob's conversations with Sigried, and his own recollection of events. At times I was frustrated by this because the counseling sessions keep hinting at events that have not yet come to pass, so I knew to expect certain things to happen, which I didn't like. But otherwise it was a good way to break up the intensity of the story, by inserting conversations between Bob and psychiatrist.
As the story progressed I came to like Bob less and less, due to his behavior and interactions with some of the other characters, but at the same time I was able to sympathize with his plight. The intensity of emotion in the story is tangible, as each character sets off on a mission that could end in either glory or a horrible demise. I was on edge throughout the story, waiting for Bob to finally go on a mission of his own, but also fearful of how it would end.
I did have a few doubts about some aspects of the story, such as the fact that after hundreds of years, so little information has been discovered about the workings of the Heechee aircrafts. If the world has advanced to the point where people can reside on other planets, as they do in this book, then technology must be sophisticated enough to have developed robots that could have been used for experimentation with the aircrafts. And such robots could also have traveled on the missions instead of people, in order to discover where the ships go to.
I thought it was interesting, though, that we don't actually learn anything in the story about the Heechees themselves or their history. I actually felt quite comfortable with this part of the story because a number of fantasy books that I've read recently have similar themes, of past alien cultures that have left remains for the current human race to discover. But I do believe Pohl talks more about the Heechees in his sequel to Gateway, which I am certainly planning on reading.
One of the things I liked best about Gateway was that I actually understood everything that took place. The science part of the book was very low-key and I wasn't required to know any scientific terms or understand any complicated technological equipment, which is what often intimidates me about science fiction books. Gateway was a pleasantly easy book to read, which I really appreciated.
Gateway turned out to be a really fantastic book that I would recommend to anyone looking for a thrilling literary adventure. If you are new to science fiction then this is an excellent book to start with, though I think even people who don't read scifi would really enjoy it as well.
This is a good week for YA readers, with lots of new YA books coming out over the next few days. James Dashner's sequel to The Maze Runner is probably one of the most anticipated YA books of this week, along with Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero. Passion Play, a new fantasy from Tor, has been receiving a lot of attention, which might have to do with it's comparison to Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy books.One book that I thought looked like it could be fun is Stork by Wendy Delsol. The premises is certainly original (unlike so many of the other YA books, which all sound alike to me) and I'm curious to see how the story plays out. I'm actually still reading The Passage, though, so I'm not looking for anything else to read at the moment. It's good so far, but grim. Hope you have a great reading week!**********************************************************************************************************
BanishedSophie LittlefieldGenre: YA ParanormalPublisher: Delacorte Books for Young ReadersRelease Date: October 12There isn’t much worth living for in Gypsum, Missouri—or Trashtown, as the rich kids call the run-down neighborhood where sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell lives. Hailey figures she’ll never belong—not with the popular kids at school, not with the rejects, not even with her cruel, sickly grandmother, who deals drugs out of their basement. Hailey never knew her dead mother, and she has no idea who her father was, but at least she has her four-year-old foster brother, Chub. Once she turns eighteen, Hailey plans to take Chub far from Gypsum and start a new life where no one can find them.But when a classmate is injured in gym class, Hailey discovers a gift for healing that she never knew she possessed—and that she cannot ignore. Not only can she heal, she can bring the dying back to life. Confused by her powers, Hailey searches for answers but finds only more questions, until a mysterious visitor shows up at Gram’s house, claiming to be Hailey’s aunt Prairie.There are people who will stop at nothing to keep Hailey in Trashtown, living out a legacy of despair and suffering. But when Prairie saves both Hailey and Chub from armed attackers who invade Gram’s house in the middle of the night, Hailey must decide where to place her trust. Will Prairie’s past, and the long-buried secret that caused her to leave Gypsum years earlier, ruin them all? Because as Hailey will soon find out, their power to heal is just the beginning.This gripping novel from thriller writer Sophie Littlefield blazes a trail from small-town Missouri to the big city as Hailey battles an evil greater than she ever imagined, while discovering strengths she never knew she had.
Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, Bk 2)Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlGenre: YA Urban FantasyPublisher: Little, Brown Books for Young ReadersRelease Date: October 12Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.Sometimes life-ending.Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.
ElixirHilary DuffGenre: YA Paranormal Romance/Urban FantasyPublisher: Simon & SchusterRelease Date: October 12As the daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington D.C. politician, Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. And though she dreads the paparazzi who track her every move, she herself is a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world.But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful young man begin to appear in Clea’s photos—a man she has never seen in her life.When Clea suddenly encounters this man in person she is stunned—and feels an immediate and powerful connection. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance and discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond.Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fate, together they race against time to unravel their past in order to save their future—and their lives.
Enchanted IvySarah Beth DurstGenre: YA FantasyPublisher: Simon & SchusterRelease Date: October 12What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather. When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her: She has been selected to take the top-secret Legacy Test. Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton. Sweet!Lily's test is to find the Ivy Key. But what is she looking for? Where does she start? As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he's her guard. That's weird. But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her. He tells her that there are two Princetons—the ordinary one and a magical one—and the Key opens the gate between them. But there are more secrets that surround Lily. Worse secrets.When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life. Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between two worlds, with her family at its center. In a place where Knights slay monsters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage—and a little magic—to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future.
Fatal Error (Repairman Jack, Bk 14)F. Paul WilsonGenre: Publisher: TorRelease Date: October 12The End of the World is at hand!Munir Habib's life has become a nightmare. His tormentor has warned Munir not to report the kidnapping of his family, or else they will pay a terrible price. A friend realizes something is terribly wrong and tells Munir he doesn't have to go to the cops. There's a guy who fixes situations like this-Repairman Jack. Jack is backed into helping Munir despite his ongoing involvement in the cosmic shadow war between the Ally and the Otherness. Or perhaps because of it. He's chafing at being forced into the defensive role of protecting the Lady, the physical embodiment of the consciousness of the planet Earth.Meanwhile, the Septimus Order and the Kickers are seemingly working in concert on a plot to extinguish the Lady and open the way for the Otherness to take over our reality. To top it all off, Dawn Pickering finally goes into labor and delivers a baby she only glimpses as it's whisked away, and is terrified by what she sees. Later she's told the baby died, but she doesn't believe it. Neither does Weezy. Neither does Jack. All these interlocking plots mean doom for humanity. But Jack never gives up or gives in.
Hold Me Closer, NecromancerLish McBrideGenre: YA Urban FantasyPublisher: Henry Holt and CoRelease Date: October 12Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?
Just Add MagicCindy CallaghanGenre: Children/YAPublisher: Simon & Schuster’s Aladdin M!xRelease Date: October 12While cleaning the attic one day, Kelly Quinn, a curious sixth grader with a passion for cooking, finds a book of secret recipes bearing a warning: Beware of the Law of Returns. Using the book, Kelly starts a cooking club with her best friends, clumsy roller-skating Darbie and fashionista soccer star Hannah. The dishes from the book are delish, but they seem linked to strange occurrences at home, at school and on the soccer field.
Passion PlayBeth BernobichGenre: FantasyPublisher: TorRelease Date: October 12Ilse Zhalina is the daughter of one of Melnek’s more prominent merchants. She has lived most of her life surrounded by the trappings of wealth and privilege. Many would consider hers a happy lot. But there are dark secrets, especially in the best of families. Ilse has learned that for a young woman of her beauty and social station, to be passive and silent is the best way to survive.When Ilse finally meets the older man she is to marry, she realizes he is far crueler and more deadly than her father could ever be. Ilse chooses to run. This choice will change her life forever.And it will lead her to Raul Kosenmark, master of one of the land’s most notorious pleasure houses…and who is, as Ilse discovers, a puppetmaster of a different sort altogether. Ilse discovers a world where every pleasure has a price and there are levels of magic and intrigue she once thought unimaginable. She also finds the other half of her heart.Sure to appeal to fans of Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series.
RevolutionJennifer DonnellyGenre: YAPublisher: Delacorte Books for Young ReadersRelease Date: October 12BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light, artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.
StorkWendy DelsolGenre: YA Urban FantasyPublisher: CandlewickRelease Date: October 12Oh baby! A hip heroine discovers that she has the ability to decide who gets pregnant in this witty YA blend of romance and the supernatural.Sixteen-year-old Katla has just moved from Los Angeles to the sticks of Minnesota. As if it weren’t enough that her trendy fashion sense draws stares, she learns to her horror that she’s a member of an ancient order of women who decide to whom certain babies will be born. Add to that Wade, the arrogant football star whom Katla regrettably fooled around with, and Jack, a gorgeous farm boy who initially seems to hate her. Soon Katla is having freaky dreams about a crying infant and learns that, as children, she and Jack shared a near-fatal, possibly mystical experience. Can Katla survive this major life makeover and find a dress for the homecoming dance? Drawing from Norse mythology and inspired by The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, debut author Wendy Delsol conceives an irreverent, highly entertaining novel about embracing change and the (baby) bumps along the way.
The Half-Made WorldFelix GilmanGenre: SteampunkPublisher: TorRelease Date: October 12A fantastical reimagining of the American West which draws its influence from steampunk, the American western tradition, and magical realismThe world is only half made. What exists has been carved out amidst a war between two rival factions: the Line, paving the world with industry and claiming its residents as slaves; and the Gun, a cult of terror and violence that cripples the population with fear. The only hope at stopping them has seemingly disappeared the Red Republic that once battled the Gun and the Line, and almost won. Now they’re just a myth, a bedtime story parents tell their children, of hope.To the west lies a vast, uncharted world, inhabited only by the legends of the immortal and powerful Hill People, who live at one with the earth and its elements. Liv Alverhyusen, a doctor of the new science of psychology, travels to the edge of the made world to a spiritually protected mental institution in order to study the minds of those broken by the Gun and the Line. In its rooms lies an old general of the Red Republic, a man whose shattered mind just may hold the secret to stopping the Gun and the Line. And either side will do anything to understand how.
The Lost HeroRick RiordanGenre: YA Urban FantasyPublisher: Hyperion Books for ChildrenRelease Date: October 12Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she’s his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.
The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes BackJ. W. RinzlerGenre:Publisher: Random HouseRelease Date: October 12In this lavish thirtieth-anniversary tribute to the blockbuster film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, New York Times bestselling author J. W. Rinzler draws back the curtain to reveal the intense drama and magnificent wizardry behind the hit movie—arguably the fan favorite of the Star Wars Saga.Following his The Making of Star Wars, the author has once again made use of his unlimited access to the Lucasfilm Archives and its hidden treasures of previously unpublished interviews, photos, artwork, and production mementos. The result is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes, up-close-and-personal look at the trials and triumphs, risks and close calls, inspiration, perspiration, and imagination that went into every facet of this cinematic masterpiece. Here’s the inside scoop on:• the evolution of the script, from story conference and treatment to fifth draft, as conceived, written, and rewritten by George Lucas, famed science-fiction author Leigh Brackett, and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan• the development of new key characters, including roguish hero Lando Calrissian, sinister bounty hunter Boba Fett, and iconic Jedi Master Yoda• the challenges of shooting the epic ice planet battle in the frozen reaches of Norway and of conjuring up convincing creatures and craft—from tauntauns and snowspeeders to Imperial walkers• the construction of a life-sized Millennium Falcon and the swamp planet Dagobah inside a specially built soundstage in Elstree Studios• the technique behind master Muppeteer Frank Oz’s breathing life into the breakthrough character Yoda• the creation of the new, improved Industrial Light & Magic visual effects facility and the founding of the now-legendary Skywalker RanchIn addition, of course, are rare on-the-scene interviews with all the major players: actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and David Prowse; director Irvin Kershner; producer Gary Kurtz; effects specialists Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett; composer John Williams; and many others. Punctuating the epic account is a bounty of drawings, storyboards, and paintings by Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnston, and Ivor Beddoes, along with classic and rare production photos. An added bonus is a Foreword by acclaimed director Ridley Scott.The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a fittingly glorious celebration of an undisputed space-fantasy movie milestone. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
The Scorch TrialsJames DashnerGenre: YA DystopiaPublisher: Delacorte Books for Young ReadersRelease Date: October 12Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more Variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety... until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, much of the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated--and with it, order--and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim... and meal.The Gladers are far from done running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.Thomas can only wonder--does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?
TranceLinda GerberGenre: YA Paranormal Romance/ Urban FantasyPublisher: SpeakRelease Date: October 14It begins with a subtle vibration, a tingling. There is time to take only one breath. The trance begins. When it is through, she is certain of two things: Someone she knows is about to die. And she is powerless to stop it.Ashlyn Greenfield has always known when bad things are going to happen. Each time that familiar tingling at the back of her neck begins, she knows what's to come a trance. She's pulled in, blindsided, an unwilling witness to a horrible upcoming event. But she's never been able to stop it not even when the vision was of her mother's fatal car accident. When soulful Jake enters Ashlyn's life, she begins having trances about another car accident. And as her trances escalate, one thing becomes clear: it's up to her to save Jake from near-certain death.
In the MeantimePaul TremblayGenre: Scifi and Fantasy Short Story Anthology/HorrorPublisher: ChiZine PublicationsRelease Date: October 15A history teacher begins his unorthodox senior course with clips from an ominous surveillance video, causing a student's home life to deteriorate along with the lessons. A girl with a second head that changes into different historical and fictional identities tries to find her father while figuring out how to handle Mom and the book club. A blog documents society's slow, unexplained, but inexorable end, or is it only a collection of pixel-sized paranoia? A once-awkward teen holes up in a kiddie-themed amusement park after the end of the world, and schemes to take Cinderella's Castle by force. This collection by Paul G. Tremblay (author of THE LITTLE SLEEP and NO SLEEP TILL WONDERLAND) features fifteen stories of fear and paranoia, stories of apocalypses both societal and personal, and stories of longing and coping.
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Lately, my job has provided me with a lot of opportunities for listening to audio books, while doing tasks that don't require much thought. I figured this would be a great chance for me to listen to some of those non-genre books that I have been wanting to read but haven't managed to find time for. One such book is Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon, a book that I have heard wonderful things about and have meaning to read for over a year now. 
