We chat with Steven Paul Leiva, author of Traveling in Space and his audiobook narrator Jeff Cannata, about aliens, the beauty of language and avoiding death.
FEATURED REVIEW: The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig
Welcome to our Featured Reviews! In this series, we’ll be highlighting book reviews by the S&L audience. If you want to submit a review, please check out the guidelines here! -Veronica
Review by Kaleb Russell
After reading this book, I‘ve realized how amazing Chuck Wendig is. Somehow he manages to write great books and give out even greater writing advice through his blog at www.terribleminds.com, which you should definitely check out after reading this review.
Deep down, under the streets of New York City, lies the Great Below, the Descent, or the Underworld. It is a great expanse of deadly denizens, monstrous cults, and even the Gods themselves who are trapped in the eternal hell. That is until the humans, accidentally, open the gates to hell; allowing said creatures into the infinite above to rape and kill any and all the humans who reside there; to feed on their pain and make the world for humans a living hell. And these deadly creatures don’t care if they used us up completely; they only want to cause chaos on the world above them.
Then there is The Organization. A variety of different gangs, formed together in order to keep control of prostitution, crime, and drug trade in the city of New York. The main drug being Cerulean, otherwise known as The Blue Blazes. One of the Five Occulted Pigments originating from the Great Below; it gives the user enhanced strength and allows them to strip away the veil the monsters use to hide themselves from anyone who hunts them. One of whom happens to be one of the strongest, most vicious thug of The Organization.
He goes by the name of Mookie Pearl. Butcher, bar owner, breaker of bones (both human and demon). Don’t let the name fool you. He’s an intimidating, hulking figure who is only good at bashing the heads of anyone who trifles with The Organization. Or his estranged daughter, Nora, who comes to Mookie telling him she plans to change the game and become the next big crime boss of New York. Right after that Mookie learns the boss of The Organization, Konrad Zoladski, has terminal lung cancer. The Boss knows he doesn’t have much time left on this earth, so he decides that his grandson, Casimir, will become his successor and take control of The Organization and all that comes with it. But Casimir is not ready and he knows it. It’s then that Casimir comes to Mookie for help. He asks Mookie to find another one of the Five Occulted pigments, a purple substance known as Death’s Head, which is said to cure any disease or even bring the user back to life. The fact that no one has even seen this Pigment makes Mookie skeptical, but when he starts searching for it he finds more than he’s looking for and chaos ensues.
The Blue Blazes was a spectacular book. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but after I continued reading it I fell in love. The world building in the book was good. We learn the origin of the Organization, the monsters that inhabit the Great Below and the Five Occulted Pigments from Mookie as he goes around the city, searching for something that might not even exist. Most of the information is given to us through the means of a journal entry by a man named John Atticus Okes, a man who delved into the Great Below and never returned, at the beginning of every chapter. I found it helpful and felt eager to read John’s story as he slowly goes mad in the Great Below. With those we could move on in the story rather than have most of it introducing the world and more time was spent developing the characters.
Another thing I loved about the book were the action scenes. I felt they were fast paced and well executed. It felt like I was actually there to witness the battle between Mookie and all the creatures of the night. My favorite thing about The Blue Blazes was the family dynamic between Mookie and his daughter Nora who is constantly at her dad’s throat for abandoning her and her mother. I don’t believe Nora’s character was as fleshed out as I’d liked it. She acts like a spoiled brat throughout most of the novel and even admits it from time to time. But even with that I still enjoyed how Mookie was always willing to save his daughter even with all the things she’d done. Some fathers wouldn’t go through that much trouble to help their children when they are in dire need of help. It made my heart warm when reading it. Mookie isn’t the big bad monster everyone makes him out to be. In truth, he’s a man who loves his family and friends. I sympathized with him whenever something went wrong with him on his journey.
Honestly, I have nothing to gripe about. This was a great book and when I try to think of any negatives, my mind draws a blank.
Final Verdict: Why are you still here?! Stop reading this review and go out to buy The Blue Blazes this minute! It’s an amazing book and you’d have to be doped up on the Blue not to see it.
And please let me know if you found this review helpful as well as what you feel like I need to work on. Thank you for reading.
S&L Podcast – #184 – Threeways to Save Humanity
There’s so much you can do with us this week, including bringing Neil Gaiman to the stage, discovering 20th century high fantasy, and saving humanity. And how we can save humanity makes Tom blush. Plus, we wrap up this month’s pick, Dawn by Octavia Butler!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Original Sorghum Malt Beer – Bard’s Tale Beer Company, LLC
Veronica: Racer5
A TV series based on The Elfstones Of Shannara has been greenlit.
Daniel Abraham has an update on The Expanse TV show, including first casting news and the creative team behind the television adaptation.
There is currently a kickstarter campaign for a theatrical adaptation of 5 of Neil Gaiman’s short stories, a bunch of the backer rewards are various books and things signed by Neil Gaiman and he’s in the video so check it out if you’re a fan.
World Fantasy Award nominees were announced, as were two Lifetime Achievement Award winners.
PICKS
Killian: Finished The City and the City by China Miéville earlier today and was absolutely blown away by it. Here’s my review: I think I’ll read a Feist book next for some light, mindless fun.
Rabindranauth – Finished Royal Assassin earlier, dived headlong into Assassin’s Quest immediately. I will forever kick myself for not reading these incredibly brutal books before now.
Here’s my review.
COMING SOON
July 29
Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch is out in paperback
July 31
Equoid: A laundry Novella by Charles Stross
August 6
The Widow’s House (The Dagger and the Coin) by Daniel Abraham
Rise of the King: Companion Codex, II (Companions Codex) by R. A. Salvatore
The Magician’s Land: A Novel by Lev Grossman”
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
A Suggestion for New Topics on Club Picks
Are there any “high fantasy” books that take place in the 20th century?
Local Group Meetups
Amazon Unlimited
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Wrap-up Dawn by Octavia Butler
What did you think? (full spoilers)
What Makes Us Human?
Ending issues (here be spoilers)
Next Month’s Book: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is our August book
S&L Podcast – #183 – The Damon Inside Me
We ponder on Matt Damon’s role in The Martian, why we love to hate villains, and the role of philosophy and ideology in Octavia Butler’s Dawn. Join us, before Veronica falls into the hellmouth.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Red Stripe
Veronica: 2011 Canoe Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon The Expedition
QUICK BURNS
And the Martian is…
The Wertzone: Update on Scott Lynch’s THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN
WINNERS: 2014 Locus Awards – SF Signal
J.K. Rowling has released a new ‘Harry Potter’ story online
S&L and Open Road heading to Loncon 3!
PICKS
FEATURED REVIEW: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
Tor founder Tom Doherty on publishing without DRM
Do we love to hate villains?
Duty to self-publishing authors?
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Lem at Nerdtacular!
Geeky Awesome Jennifer found us at the Managing Your Community panel here at Nerdtacular ’14 in Utah! She made a fantastic knitted Lem, and we are eternally grateful 🙂
S&L and Open Road head to Loncon 3!
We’re happy to announce that we’re teaming up with Open Road to get some incredible author interviews at this year’s Loncon 3!
We’ll be gathering questions from you in this Goodreads thread, and then the Open Road crew will be asking the authors your questions at the conference in August.
S&L Podcast – #182 – Ken Liu Translates Success
Ken Liu’s short story “The Paper Menagerie” swept the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. His short story, “Mono no aware” won the 2013 Hugo, and his novella “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” was also nominated for a Hugo. We caught up with him at this year’s Nebula awards and asked him if he takes writing-enhancement supplements.
S&L Podcast – #181 – The Promise of More Blood
We break down our June book pick, Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan, and find out why its actually four or five books and its gods are not what they seem. Also we set up our July pick from Octavia Butler and decide whether warp speed is actually coming or not.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Boddington’s Pub Ale
Veronica: Earl Grey Tea
QUICK BURNS
3 more Expanse novels announced – Ben
IXS Enterprise (IXS-110) – Bookshelf
Every Game Of Thrones Scene Broken Down By Book, Chapter And Episode
WINNERS: 2014 Campbell and Sturgeon Awards
PICKS
Tom: Cibola Burn by James S A Corey, Traveling in Space by Steven Paul Leiva
Veronica: Shattered by Kevin Hearne, though I’m still a book behind!
Sandi – I finished listening Hollow World this morning. I really liked it. Kind of a modern H.G. Wells/Jonathan Swift vibe. I’m now starting On the Steel Breeze. I love the narrator, Adjoa Andoh. She played Martha’s mother on Doctor Who and was one of the narrators of Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor.
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
Monthly meetups!
Uncharted-esk Books by Josh
How do you find new books to read? by Alexander
Should We Read Comics/Graphic Novels As Group Reads by Killian
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
July Book is Dawn by Octavia Butler
Wrap up Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
“The revolution will not be…?” by Sean
Let’s talk about the ending by Joanna
ADDENDUMS
Looking for something ELSE to read? Wish you could read 20 books in the space you usually read one? Can’t decide between scifi and fantasy? WE HAVE SOLVED ALL YOUR PROBLEMS. The Sword and Laser Anthology combines 10 great scifi and 10 great fantasy stories from new authors found RIGHT HERE in our audience. And the stories are fantastic. Even Patrick Rothfuss thinks so. Head on down to your favorite online bookseller and search Sword and Laser Anthology or point your favorite Web browser to swordandlaser.com/store.
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FEATURED REVIEW: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
Welcome to our Featured Reviews! In this series, we’ll be highlighting book reviews by the S&L audience. If you want to submit a review, please check out the guidelines here! -Veronica
It turns out that you can go home again. Or at least you can if you’re Stephen King.
I just finished this, King’s sequel to a much earlier work. The Shining is the story of a small child, trapped in a world so much more dangerous than the one other kids inhabit, because he has a special talent. A power that supernatural forces want to consume. In Doctor Sleep, we get to see that small child, now grown, haunted by the same affliction that nearly drove his own father to murder his wife and son. Not his power, but the drinking problem he now has, the only thing he has yet found to suppress his terrible, awesome power, and keep the ghosts of his childhood quiet.
To me, this story is largely about demons. Recognizing the worst of them for what they are, and realising that you are never alone with them.
Its also a story about another small child, afflicted (or gifted) with her own set of abilities, and because ka is a wheel, and it always turns, this little girl is also chased by supernatural forces eager to consume her.
I can’t overstate how much I enjoyed this book. I first read The Shining over 20 years ago, and its one that’s always really resonated with me. Getting to revisit the landscape of that work with King, seeing what happened to Danny Torrance after the events at the Overlook Hotel, and finding out how his life turned out because of it was a lot of fun.
Fans of King’s other novels will find a healthy helping of the usual Easter eggs here as well. If you’ve read any of his other books, you’ll enjoy the many references to King’s integrated universe.
The only item to note (and it’s not a negative, but it is a warning), would be that I consider either reading The Shining or seeing the original Kubrick movie a definite prerequisite to reading this book. Preferably both, so you’ll know the correct version of the story that King uses to jump from, but also so that you’ll have the awesome imagery from the movie to help light the way.
S&L Podcast – #180 – Emily Jiang: Cinderella, Secret Agent
We talk to Emily Jiang at the Nebula Awards about her book Summoning the Phoenix, her foray into children’s books and what she has planned for a full novel. Hint, it involves magic and spies.
Download direct here!