Welcome back to the glamorous and sexy world of publishing!
The hiatus, from March 2007 to now, has been entirely because of me. Without boring with details, in this time I’ve been diagnosed with a fairly common and rather debilitating illness, and started treatment, and had some ups and downs. I can’t rule out future breaks in transmission, but I’m happy to say, right now, that ticon4 is back.
Barely a year goes by without someone, somewhere, proclaiming the death of publishing hard copy books. If it isn’t the internal machinations of the publishing industry causing this talk, the endless merging of publishing houses seemingly in a quest to form an Uber-Publisher, then it’s usually the words of a doomsaying geek on Slashdot or Boing Boing proclaiming the newest technological marvel that will replace books within the decade/ year/ month/ hour/ nanosecond.
Science Fiction fans the world over seem to be well placed among the harbingers of this movement, readily embracing PDAs and laptops and e-books if only to discard them for this year’s fad.
A number of Australians have debuted on fantasy shelves in major bookshops around the country over the last ten years. Sara Douglass was the first to draw serious attention in the mid-nineties with her BattleAxe trilogy, the second two books winning the 1997 Aurealis Award for excellence in the category of full length fantasy. Since her success, a number of other Australians, mostly female, have added their epic trilogy fantasy to the mix, published primarily by Voyager/HarperCollins, but also by Pan McMillan and Random House. Last year, HarperCollins alone published twenty Australian speculative fiction titles[1]. While the shiny covers and large print runs have done much to seemingly aid the speculative fiction genre in this country, the very loyal ‘genuine’ speculative fiction community is not so certain.
The Ninth Circle – Alex Bell
Hachette Livre Gollancz, 2008
RRP: AU$32.99
ISBN: 978-057-508027-0
Reviewed by Kate Smith
The Ninth Circle by Alex Bell is not simply another mystery story which is diverting at the time of reading but is ultimately of little impact on the reader. For a reader looking for something different, both in subject matter and style, this novel is well worth a read. The story builds from being a simple tale of a man struggling to come to terms with amnesia to a much more complicated one with serious questions about morality and the nature of religion. If the reader does not seek to guess ahead of the story it is very easy to become swept away and to feel the situation as Gabriel, the central character, sees it. Bell’s manner of writing communicates the confusion and desperation Gabriel experiences, and this makes for an engrossing read. The story is brought together nicely at the end, completing the story arc and ensuring the reader is clear about the situation Gabriel has finally taken some measure of control over.
The Last Witchfinder – James Morrow
Hachette Livre Phoenix, 2007
564 pages
RRP: AU$22.95
ISBN: 978-0-7538-2153-4
Reviewed by Lev Lafayette
This is, to put simply, a brilliant piece of historical fiction that combines fact and theme, poetic license and in-depth knowledge. As the title suggests, the story is set in the seventeenth century. The heroine of the story, Jennet Stearn, daughter of the Witchfinder General, learns natural philosophy from her aunt, Isobel, who is eventually executed as a witch. A young Jennet takes the opportunity to swear an oath to herself to end the statute of witchcraft, as her father is sent to the colonies (as Isobel was a “lady”) as both punishment and “reward”. He soon finds himself embroiled in hunting down Satanists in the rather famous township of Salem.
Dust.
There was a taste of dust in Nick’s mouth.
Dust that coloured his hand orange-red and dulled the surface of the silver ring on his finger.
The ring. Kylie.
Smith stuck his head around the corner of the cubicle. “Where the hell is Zac? I need him to sign off on this invoice.”
Jensen looked up, but after a moment his gaze skittered away to the left. He shook his head, looking slightly uneasy. “Haven’t you heard?”
Smith felt his stomach do a slow loop. His throat went dry. He could guess what he hadn’t heard, but he asked anyway.
“What?”
Where’s My Jetpack? A guide to the amazing science fiction future that never arrived – Daniel H. Wilson, PhD.
Allen & Unwin Bloomsbury, 2007
192 pages
RRP: AU$22.95
ISBN: 978-0-7475-8286-1
Reviewed by Cat Sparks
I have to confess that I wanted to like this book long before I actually opened it. It’s a stylish-looking publication, all jet black and silver and shimmering electric blue. Author Wilson, whose previous title How to Survive a Robot Uprising also piques my interest, takes us through a selection of familiar SF tropes: flying cars, teleportation, unisex jumpsuits, space elevators, cryogenic freezing and ray guns, etc, outlines their position in our cultural consciousness, then explains where we’re at with them all, scientifically speaking, in terms of the here and now. Wilson writes with good humour and he knows his stuff.
The Stormcaller – Tom Lloyd
Hachette Livre Gollancz, 2007 (reissue)
502 pages
RRP: AU$22.95
ISBN: 978-0-5750-7926-7
Review by Grant Watson
Fantasy is such an overloaded and overcooked genre these days that it’s difficult to see the forest for the trees – that is, to actually weave your way through the endless stacks of derivative and unimaginative books to actually find those rare enjoyable and relatively original ones. It’s a problem that drove me away from the genre for years. Today I only ever really return in fits and starts, hoping each time that I’m going to read something really special. Usually I don’t.
The Two Pearls of Wisdom – Alison Goodman
HarperCollins, 2008
448 pages
RRP: AU$32.99
ISBN: 9780732288006
Reviewed by Kate Smith
Two Pearls of Wisdom was an interesting novel to read but one that had this reader in two minds when considering several aspects of the tale. The story is a very interesting premise and one that to begin with draws the reader in. The first part of the tale, the description of the life of a young girl pretending to be a boy and trying to complete a taxing training regime, is well told. While it may initially feel as though the story is familiar – young girl pretending to be a boy and risking huge penalties if she is discovered – the reader should stay with it and allow the tale to develop. The middle part of the story was not as captivating as the beginning, however, but the ending was good and the reader is well-prepared for the next novel in the series. As a standalone novel the ending was too abrupt and I was frustrated at not being able to continue the story.
