reviews
Mar 31, 2009
Jo Walton weighs in on Ventus
A nicely balanced review, and a good explanation of 'thalience'
Over at Tor.com, Jo Walton speaks about her recent discovery of my first novel, Ventus. It's a nice review and a good introduction to some of the ideas in the book. Ventus, mind, is the sequel-of-sorts to Lady of Mazes, and moreover is available from this website as a free ebook if you're interested in checking out my work with no commitment cost. If you're at all interested, check out Jo's review, then come back and grab a copy of the novel.
Mar 30, 2009
Nice review of the Virga books
From Porter Square Books in Boston
I'm just emerging into that phase of the Virga series when the books can be reviewed as a whole; and of course this won't seriously happen for another couple of years, when Ashes of Candesce is finally out. But it's starting, and a very nice, and highly favourable review of the series as a thing in itself is now online at the Porter Square Books blog.
You can read the review yourself if you're interested; I was just very proud to read the following bit (talking about Queen of Candesce):
Following the machinations of Venera and her enemies really did remind me of Frank Herbet’s Dune; it is a rare treat to read about smart people outsmarting other smart people.
Mar 07, 2009
First review of The Sunless Countries
I'm not even done the book; how weird is that?
So I'm in my office going through the page proofs of The Sunless Countries, worrying that the pacing is off, and I decide to procrastinate by doing some ego-surfing--and what should I find but a review of TSC! A favourable one! And he doesn't even mention the pacing.
Schroeder evokes the slow, crushing drift into ideological nonsense in a distressingly compelling way, & puts Leal [Maspeth] in the heart of it; should she collaborate with the Eternists to try to salvage some representation of science & history (even if she has to teach it as heretical, along side accepted dogma) or should she make a meaningless stand?
Wow. This is like getting a newspaper from next week. It also suggests to me that the current practice of sending out Advanced Reading Copies this early needs to be reconsidered, because that practice is predicated on it taking reviewers months to get their reviews out. I could literally tweak the book right now to solve some of the issues the reviewer, Mordecai, raises. Luckily he hasn't found many.
Very timely and useful.
Weird, though.
Feb 03, 2009
Six for Six in Locus Magazine
Pirate Sun made their recommended reading list for 2008.
It's February, and time to confirm once again that Locus Magazine really really likes me. Pirate Sun is one of the twenty novels they recommend out of the hundreds published in 2008.
So, every one of my Tor novels has made this list--six in a row. I guess this means that, as far as Locus is concerned, I'm one of the top twenty SF novelists working in English. (I can hear the chant now: "We're number 20! We're number 20!)
This recommendation appears to have nothing to do with, and no influence on, sales; but I can't exactly complain, can I? The list is chosen by a pretty heavy-hitting set of reviewers and editors, all of whom are experts in the field. Collectively, they read pretty much everything that comes out every year. So it's hugely flattering that they've given me this rare vote of confidence not just once, but with every book I've written.
Hmmm... maybe, then, I should write another novel. What to call it? Perhaps... Ashes of Candesce? ...
Dec 29, 2008
Bookgasm: Fast Forward 2 best book of the year
Bookgasm has chosen Lou Anders' excellent anthology Fast Forward 2 as its best SF book of the year. They say:
Anders has assembled some of the best and brightest current stars of the genre, and they turned in stories that, as a whole, really do represent the cutting edge of fiction. From a fashion designer who grows living gowns to a raid on the doomsday seed bank to a young man getting Cyrano-with-a-twist dating advice in the India of the future, FAST FORWARD 2 is the book to read this year.
Dec 19, 2008
More great reviews of Fast Forward 2
Lou Anders' magnificent anthology picks up kudos, as does the story Toby and I wrote for it
Several new and excellent reviews of Fast Forward 2 have appeared in the past several days. The anthology continues to get excellent press, and deservedly so. The most recent review, at Bookgasm, had this to say:
Among all of this goodness, three entries stand above the rest: Karl Schroeder and Tobias S. Buckell contribute “Mitigation,” an environmental thriller revolving around a subject by which I’ve been fascinated recently; Paulo Pacigalupi’s “The Gambler” recounts the plight of a war-scarred blogger torn between his ideals and his need to get his online popularity in order to keep his job; and Ian McDonald’s “An Eligible Boy” is another stunning entry in the continuing stories from the future India he created in RIVER OF GODS...
Other good new reviews can be found at at True Review and by reader Steve Mollmann.