Kindle Daily Post

The Garden of Stones

Guest post by fantasy author Mark T. Barnes.

The Garden of Stones is an epic fantasy novel set in exotic Shrīan, a nation torn by political subterfuge, vengeance, and the maneuvering of the dominant factions of the government.

The people of Shrīan are mostly aligned behind two of the oldest and most influential Houses: the Näsarat and the Erebus, whose bloodlines date back to antiquity.

When the Näsarats first founded the Awakened Empire, the Erebus seemed happy to serve. But the seeds of envy had been sown, and while the Näsarat saw a future of racial harmony, shared knowledge and diplomacy, the Erebus were focused on the manifest destiny of their people--conquest. Future generations saw rivalries, wars, and a divided the nation.

Now the leader of the Erebus, Corajidin, wants to restore his House to the high throne. Driven by visions of his future, he's prepared to break laws and bend social mores to deliver what he sees is the best path for his country. With the knowledge of treasures hidden away in the ruins of forgotten civilizations, Corajidin sets out to raid the tombs of yesteryear to unearth powerful arcane artifacts, lost mystic knowledge, and devastating weapons that will give him the advantage in the conflict to come.

But it's Indris of the Näsarat—warrior-mage, historian and adventurer—who finds himself in the way of Corajidin’s plans. At the request of one of the government factions, Indris and his companions brave the dangers of the old world and the beings that now inhabit it. Travelling through the remnants of fallen empires, Indris must confront Corajidin and stop him from stealing from the past, to deliver a future that will change Shrīan forever, and more firmly entrench the feud between the Näsarat and the Erebus that Indris would just as soon see end.

A Mount Rushmore of Sci-Fi Figures

Contributor Fleetwood Robbins is an editor, writer, and sci-fi and fantasy enthusiast.

As the nation takes a day (and hopefully more) to commemorate the men and women who have died in service to the United States Armed Forces, I thought I would take a few minutes to memorialize some of the great military figures of fantasy and science fiction in a SF Mount Rushmore. The characters I choose reflect my fondness for them as characters, not necessarily their greatness as individuals. Some are villains. Some are heroes. But all are soldiers worthy of memorial. Still, each figure is weighted in importance by position. George Washington’s spot, for obvious reasons, is the pole position—el numero uno, as they say where I come from. The second most important figure in the arrangement will go to the space occupied by Lincoln. Jefferson and Roosevelt are the third and fourth most important figures, respectively, which may seem unorthodox. Deep Purple, at least, took a straightforward approach to the hierarchy when they reimagined the monument for their album In Rock. Ian Gillian and Ritchie Blackmore, arguably the two defining members of the band, took Washington and Jefferson’s spot. But we should leave Deep Purple to their space truckin’ and move on. Nevertheless, presented in order of appearance…

In the place of George Washington is General Zod from the 1980 movie Superman II. I know, it’s almost too obvious. Zod, played by Terence Stamp, actually refaces Mount Rushmore during the course of that movie. But let’s look at the qualifications. Zod is an actual general. He isn’t some jumped-up despot with a self-appointed title who stopped climbing the ladder at colonel. Zod had vision and he never saw a world he didn’t want to rule.

In Jefferson’s place: Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, from Joe Abercrombie’s bloody revenge fantasy Best Served Cold. For anyone unacquainted with Monza, she is a deliriously capable killer of men, and a charismatic leader of the mercenary army the Thousand Swords. She’s a five-tool player: She kills in bunches, and delivers the coup de grâce when it counts; she has the support of the people and her soldiers; and she’s as beautiful as she is deadly.

Now for Roosevelt. This deserves a versatile character. I’m no historian, but Roosevelt was a truly great American figure -- founder of the Bull Moose Party, leader of the Rough Riders, explorer, naturalist, author. He spoke softly and carried a big stick, which is part of the reason I’m going with Billy Pilgrim from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. When Billy became “unstuck in time,” we truly got to see what an amazing life he led. From his zoo-like exhibition on the planet of Tralfamadore to his time as a soldier during the firebombing of Dresden, Billy gives the reader a new perspective on the world and beyond. “So it goes.”

For the clean-up spot, Dune’s Paul Atreides will take the place of Lincoln. Conceptually, it seems like the right choice. Muad’Dhib, as he comes to be known among the Fremen, is almost impossible to describe in a few words. He has martial skill, a keen mind, and is the messiah given to the universe by the Bene Gesserit, an esoteric sisterhood with supernatural power. Throw in his ability to hold his spice, and you’ve got a revolutionary leader capable of bridging space and time, which is definitely an impressive skill set.

Arguments could be made to switch some of these up. Paul Atreides could be swapped with Monza Murcatto pretty easily, for example, but you probably have a totally different idea for your own memorial.  I’d love to hear it.

SF and Fantasy Awards Season Heats Up; Hugo and Nebula Awards Still to Come

From roughly April through early November, the science fiction and fantasy world speculates on the outcome of several different prominent awards -- ultimately rejoicing or raging at the announcement of the finalist and winners. (Milder emotions are not permitted.) So where are we right now? How is it all trending?

As Omnivoracious previously reported, the Tiptree Award for feminist SF went to The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Ancient, Ancient by Kiini Ibura Salaam. Last month, Brian Francis Slattery won the Philip K. Dick Award for best SF paperback published in North America for Lost Everything. Just this past week, in what must be considered an upset, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, for excellence in science fiction published in the U.K., was awarded to Chris Beckett for Dark Eden. Beckett’s novel beat out favorites like Nick Harkaway’s Angelmaker and Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312.

The Nebula Award and Hugo Award finalists also were announced in the last couple of months. The 2013 Hugo Award ballot for excellence in science fiction was voted on by the members of the World Science Fiction Convention. The winners will be revealed at the World SF Convention, Lonestar Con, in early September. The finalists for best novel are:

 

2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
Blackout, Mira Grant (Orbit)
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, John Scalzi (Tor)
Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

By contrast, the Nebula Awards are voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, a writers’ organization. The Nebula winners will be announced in mid-May at a special banquet in San Francisco hosted by SFWA. Their novel ballot looks like this:

Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW; Gollancz ’13)
Ironskin, Tina Connolly (Tor)
The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Five Favorite Star Wars Scenes

To ramp up for May the Fourth, a celebration of all things Star Wars, the Kindle editors compiled our five favorite scenes from the films -- from the epic saber duels to Han versus Greedo to yes, Darth’s declaration of fatherhood. Selecting five scenes was no easy task, so we’re anxious to know: Which moments top your list?

#5. Yoda versus Count Dooku (Episode II: Attack of the Clones)

 

#4. Assault on Jabba's sail barge (Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)

 

The Adventures of Lanoree Brock, Je'daii Ranger

Tim Lebbon's Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi -- Into the Void is a new novel set at the same period as the Dawn of the Jedi comics by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema. The earliest novel yet in the Star Wars universe, it follows the adventures of Lanoree Brock, Je'daii Ranger, as she confronts a deadly menace threatening all she holds dear. Below is an exclusive entry from her ship's log.

Ironholgs, enter this in my journal, there's a good droid. Okay. Where to begin...

So, the Je'daii Council asked me back to Tython, which meant only one thing –– they had a mission for me.  I'm a Ranger, it's to be expected, although the last time they did this I ended up flying out to Ska Gora and getting involved in the Wookie land wars.  I thought that was going to be a breeze.  It ended ... messily.

But this is different. So very different. The way I see it, there are two reasons they called me back. The first is that the mission is so serious, so delicate, and potentially so deadly that they couldn't risk any form of communication to fill me in. They couldn't transmit the information, even on the Je'daii's own secured channels. They couldn't send anyone – –a droid, a Ranger –– with encrypted files. This had to be face to face. 

And when I met them in the valley, even that meeting was done in extreme secrecy. Strange to see the Council like that. Almost as if they were scared.

The second reason they chose me is just how personal this mission is to me.

At first, I thought the latter might compromise the former. But I've had time to let it sink in. I've had time to dwell on the past –– those early years on Tython with my dear brother Dal, and the later years without him –– and I can see why the Je'daii Council are so wise.

The danger of the mission and its personal aspect are so intertwined that they couldn't choose anyone else. It's me. It always had to be me.

They say a Je'daii's training is what makes them the person they are, and in some respects that's true. My journey across Tython shaped me. I found my true calling at Anil Kesh, the Je'daii Temple of Science. There I learned to temper my doubts and channel my talents. There I first discovered the alchemy of flesh. 

But it was I who made that long, ultimately tragic journey that really formed the person I am now.

So now I'm embarking on my new mission. First stop will be Kalimahr. I've been told to meet a Twi'lek called Tre Sana there. I'm told he will help me. And already I'm unsettled. I'm used to dealing with non-Tythans, but for something as sensitive as this? Why is there something a Twi'lek can tell me that the Council cannot? 

Not the best way to start a mission, eh, Ironholgs? In mystery. In darkness. 

Nevertheless, I returned to Tython with peace of mind, and now I'm leaving again with a great weight bearing down on me. A personal pressure the likes of which I never thought I'd have to face. And such a danger for the whole Tythan system.

I feel that I'm about to test every moment of training I've ever undertaken.

But that's fine, Ironholgs. I'll have you with me, grumpy droid that you are. I have my Peacemaker ship, refined and customized to my liking. Faster engine. Bigger guns.

And I have the Force. Whatever happens, whatever I'm about to face –– and whoever I might meet––the Force is always there.

Set course for Kalimahr. And may the Force go with me.

Je'daii Ranger Lanoree Brock, signing off.

Beyond Leprechauns: Discovering the Rich World of Celtic Mythology

Guest post by Jodi McIsaac author of Through the Door.

Before I started doing research for my new fantasy novel, Through the Door, my knowledge of Irish folklore was limited to what I had learned from Lucky Charms commercials and the St. Patrick’s Day parade. But once I started exploring this remarkable area of ancient myth and legend, I was immediately drawn to the deep well of magic, adventure, romance and drama I had found before me – the perfect playground for a fresh and fast-paced new urban fantasy series. Here’s just a taste of this fascinating history and how I wove these discoveries into the fabric of Through the Door.

• One of my most exciting discoveries was the Tuatha Dé Danann, the pantheon of ancient Irish gods. Our modern concept of winged, pixie-like fairies can be traced back to these immortal beings, who cause an incredible amount of chaos in the life of my human protagonist, Cedar.

• Then there are the Merrow, the Irish version of mermaids. Legend has it they can be kept from their watery kingdom by stealing their red caps. But as my characters find out with tragic results, the Merrow are best left alone—and you certainly don’t want to make them angry.

• I found myself particularly drawn to the gray areas between Celtic myth and history—like the remarkable similarities between the Irish goddess Brighid and the 5^th century abbess St. Brigid, one of the patron saints of Ireland. By all accounts both women had over-the-top personalities, making this goddess-nun a welcome addition to the cast of Through the Door.

• Hundreds of prehistoric burial mounds dot the Irish countryside, and were once thought to be the entrances to the Otherworld, or the land of Tí na nÓg. The Irish call them “fairy mounds” – or sidhe, which seemed to me the perfect name for the portals that six-year-old Eden accidentally creates, setting her fantastical adventure in Through the Door into motion.

Using the rich realm of Irish mythology and folklore to create the world in Through the Door has been an incredible journey filled with unexpected surprises and inspiration every step of the way. I feel as though I’ve barely scratched the surface, and I’m excited to dive even deeper into the mythology as I research and write the next books in the Thin Veil series.

Guest Blogger: Fleetwood Robbins on "Geek Chic" Culture

Guest contributor Fleetwood Robbins is an editor and sci-fi and fantasy enthusiast.

In advance of geek week, I started thinking about what “geek chic” means. My first thoughts were about fashion -- heavy frame glasses and whatever else we choose to label geeky -- and how that has contributed to what the mainstream considers cool. But geek culture, or fandom, has really become so much more influential on the culture as a whole than a simple fashion trend. It’s becoming the mainstream. The acceptance of geek culture has made reading an old pulp paperback in public totally acceptable. Now I listen to my mom’s theories on Jon Snow’s parentage rather than the details of her neighbor’s fourth marriage. “Han shot first” is, for many people, as familiar a refrain as is “All is fair in love and war.” It’s hard to know when all this happened, but just as the dude abides, fandom pervades.

Watching the Mad Men season premiere the other weekend I was struck again by the improbable intersection of geek and mainstream culture. Let me set the stage without spoiling anything for you. Betty Draper is out in search of her daughter’s friend, who she believes has run away. After tracking her to an East Village tenement that serves as a squat for some counterculture youths, Betty talks to a young man named Zal who says, “We have to take everything that the establishment throws away” in reference to all their objets trouvés. “What you can’t grok is that we are your [mainstream society’s] garbage.”

Whatever philosophical point Zal is trying make, his use of vocabulary is really intriguing. “To grok,” which is to say “to understand profoundly and intuitively,” according to Merriam-Webster, is a verb that I hear thrown around in fantasy and science fiction circles quite often. Robert Heinlein introduced the word in Stranger in a Strange Land in 1961 (which was the first science fiction book I ever read). That pub date would certainly make it possible that Zal would use the word in the context of the show, but it’s also really unlikely. The Mad Men writers seem to suggest that the word took a rather circuitous route through sixties counterculture -- which is undoubtedly offered as “cool” in relation to Betty’s establishment square -- before eventually snaking back into geek speak, something we now consider to be cool, and finally into mainstream usage. I suspect that the word never had a heyday with the Abbie Hoffman set, but instead took a good long time to work outwardly from Heinlein and SF circles into more general geek culture, and finally into the dictionary. And it’s still not a word you hear often.  

It’s a rather brilliant bit of dialogue, in my opinion -- something that suggests some very thoughtful and careful attention to detail, which is something I always appreciate. That Zal -- the edgy, forward-thinking character in question -- uses the word legitimizes it’s modern usage as cool, despite the time period of the setting. I guess it’s only a matter of time before my mom tells me that she grokked the ending of Cold Skin on page one. 

Top Five Graphic Novel Picks by Brian Wood

Author Brian Wood released his first graphic novel, Channel Zero, in 1997 but has spent much of his life consuming comics. While most of his time is now spent creating comics, he shares his top five graphic novels (and series) of all time with us. Catch Wood's newest work, The Massive, now on Kindle.

I often joke, in interviews and panel discussions, that after fifteen years of writing comics, I read very little of them.  I liken it to knowing how hotdogs are made – once you’re fully aware of the behind-the-scenes process, the finished product can lose a lot of its magic.  But that’s not always true, and here’s a few of my favorites that stand my test of time.

Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Darick Robertson: This series debuted just as I decided making my own comics was something I wanted to try, and this was more influential than even I probably know.  Really funny, nasty, prescient, heart breaking, profane, and violent, this political-journalist-in-the-future epic is so much more than the sum of all of its parts.  Warren Ellis’ career as a predictor of the very near future is still going strong today, but this is really where it all started.  For me personally, this became the benchmark of what I hoped to attain as a comic book writer, and my own series DMZ owes a lot to Transmetropolitan.

The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century by Frank Miller and illustrated by Dave Gibbons: Frank Miller is known for a lot of books, but this isn’t one that’s often cited.  Shame, since for me, hands down, this is as good as it gets.  You could call it dystopia, but it's really not, at least one what you expect when you hear that word.  A young woman pulls herself out of poverty (in a world where a cyborg Nixon is still president, no less), fights in some pointless war that seems to be perpetrated by warring factions of the fast food beef industry, and falls into a rapidly changing future of corrupt politics set against a second American civil war.  This is an INCREDIBLY progressive series, on both the political front and also for featuring one of the strongest, most complex, most human female lead characters I think comics has ever produced.  Another big influence.

The Winter Men by Brett Lewis and illustrated by John Paul Leon: Perpetually out of print and/or difficult to track down, this single volume about post-collapse Soviet superheroes is perfection. In terms of dialogue, it has no equal in or out of comics; the art is John Paul’s absolute best.  This is the comic that every single other person I know who makes comics moan and groans and pulls their hair out because HOW DID THEY MAKE SOMETHING SO PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL AND OH MY GOD, AHHHH. The ultimate comic book cult classic.  Last time this book was released, I bought 20 copies to use as gifts.  I think I have two left. 

Punisher MAX by Garth Ennis: This is actually a series of about ten volumes, each one standing on its own.  They are all worth your while, Garth’s r-rated version of Marvel Comics’ The Punisher, an aging, bitter, war-torn version of the costumed hero.  In the MAX series, Frank Castle wears a windbreaker and takes on the mafia, soldiers from his past, white slavers, Russian special forces, and fellow hitmen.  It’s unrelentingly dark and violent, but never without rays of hope, and I’ve never felt for any superhero like I do for Garth’s Punisher.  Standouts include the volumes Mother Russia, Man Of Stone, and the gut-punch that is Slavers.  Start there.

The Filth by Grant Morrison: I’ve read this book a dozen times since it was published almost ten years ago and each time takes me a little closer to figuring out what the hell is going on.  Don’t let that scare you off, though, this is an insanely inventive, raw, and perverted story about secret societies, commie chimpanzees, sex police, and split personalities.  This is pretty pure sci-fi, and while challenging, is also one of the most original comics I’ve read.  And like I said, it rewards multiple re-reads.  Not for the puritanical, though.

I’d point out that all of the above are at least five years old, and most are more like a decade.  That’s not (only) me showing my age, but it speaks to the fact they all stand the test of time, no easy feat when dealing with science fiction or speculative fiction or social commentary.  Details can change, tech can turn obsolete, and political and geographic realities shift, but great sci-fi is always, at its core, about how people are affected by it.  That’s the access point for the reader, that’s what makes us give a damn. 

The Sweet Pain of Finishing a Series

This week in science fiction and fantasy we challenge you to discover your next favorite series. In this post, New York Times bestselling author of the Wool series Hugh Howey shares his passion for series reading and writing and the sweet pain of finishing that last book.

There was a game we played every summer. My brother, my sister, and I would crowd the bench seat of our old Ford van and strain for the first glimpse of the ocean. It was a ritual at the end of a long road trip and an even longer year between our annual beach trips. That sight of the sun twinkling on the waves meant we were back to the beach house. And now our summer could truly begin.

This yearly return to a familiar but unreal landscape, a chance to escape from our regular lives, to be reunited with old friends we spent but a week a year paling around with, highlights all that is wonderful about a series of books. Sure, we squirm and moan over the interminable wait between vacations, but when that annual release comes, there is no greater thrill. Our favorite protagonist is glimpsed for the first time, and it reminds me of rounding that final turn in the road to spot the distant sea.

I was a sucker for a book series growing up. I tore through thick paperbacks at a prodigious rate. Scanning bookstore shelves, I kept a sharp eye out for spines with numbers on them. Once I found a world I enjoyed visiting, full of people I came to love (and sometimes loathe), all I wanted was to get back again and again, see how those characters evolved over time, watch them overcome small hurdles even as they worked toward some greater, unfinished cause. The sweet pain of completing a book was only salved by knowing another was waiting. And finishing a series, reading that final epilogue, often brought me to tears (and had me digging out the first book to start all over again).

When I sat down to write my first novel, there was no doubt in my mind that I was launching a series. I created a young character named Molly Fyde, but I already saw her old and weary after a legion of adventures, her heart broken and mended a dozen times, her children making trouble of their own. Books are magical as singular things, but they are limitless in a series. There’s the chance to watch old friends grown and mature. There’s the heartache of losing someone and the bliss of meeting someone new. With each book, we know a little of what we’re getting, but we know there’ll be surprises as well.

This week celebrates the chance to start a new series. For me, it’s also a chance to reflect on the books I grew up with. Some of my favorites include Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and Peter F. Hamilton’s Naked God trilogy. There’s the countless Forgotten Realm books I devoured over the years, and my old pal The Stainless Steel Rat. I’ve read the Dune books and the Foundation saga multiple times, and I’m sure I’ll read them again. These and many more are like that old beach house of my youth—they sit just around the bend, always waiting for me to return.

Ready to discover the next series you indulge in? Dive into our Start a New Series store featuring more than 120 sci-fi and fantasy picks.

From Planet to Planet, One Episode at a Time

Guest post by John Jackson Miller, author of Overdraft: The Orion Offensive, Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith – The Collected Stories, as well as more than a dozen graphic and prose novels.

As fiction-lovers know, many of the works we consider novels today were first serialized in magazines. Since the heyday of the pulps ended, however, the largest print home for serialized adventure stories in North America has been the comic book. The vast majority of adventure comics have long been "continued-next-issue" tales; and rare among magazines, comics are known by issue number. It's a labeling tradition that's a throwback to serialized prose in dime novels--and a reminder that the most important thing isn't the title or month, but where you are in the story.

The relatively recent practice of collecting comics into graphic novels has revolutionized that business--while influencing how comics stories are written. Each individual issue still has to stand alone, bringing the reader from one cliffhanger to the next, while advancing the overall narrative.

From Iron Man to Star Wars to Mass Effect, I've written more than 100 monthly comic books that later appeared together as graphic novels. Always, I tried to write with an eye to both the individual episode and the larger storyline. Comics writers get slammed for "writing for the trade paperback" when they forget that our initial audience is reading the story a small chunk at a time. Every issue, after the first, needs to reward readers by resolving something, while pushing the bigger arc forward. So when I began crafting my new Kindle Serial Overdraft: The Orion Offensive, I was excited to apply to prose some of cliffhanger dynamics that I'd grown familiar with in comics.

There's a fun, pulpy feel to Overdraft. When a conniving stock trader blows a fortune, he's sent out to the toughest market in space to make amends. Jamie Sturm takes readers from one planet--and crisis--to another ever two weeks, and as in comics, there are old cliffhangers resolved, new ones introduced, and clues planted as the storyline builds toward a climactic finish.

It's a different tempo than I would use in a more traditional novel, such as my upcoming Star Wars: Kenobi. But then, a story in eight acts--as Overdraft: The Orion Offensive is – isn't that unfamiliar a thing, either. Whether we're reading graphic novels, watching arc-driven TV dramas, or having new Serial episodes sent automatically to our Kindles, we're getting stories structured in ways our great-grandparents would've been familiar with. A full story . . . to be continued!