Urban Mythic edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber

The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber (The Alchemy Press £10.99) is launched at the World Fantasy Convention later this month.

There is magic out there on the street and the Mythic are alive and well and creating chaos in a city near you.

Fourteen authors bring you tales of wonder and horror, with ancient curses and modern charms, strange things in the Underground, murder and redemption, corporate cults and stalwart guardians, lost travellers and wandering gods, fortune tellers and urban wizards, dragons, fae and unspeakable beasts.

With stories from: James Brogden, Joyce Chng, Zen Cho, Graham Edwards, Jaine Fenn, Christopher Golden, Kate Griffin, Alison Littlewood, Anne Nicholls, Jonathan Oliver, Mike Resnick, Gaie Sebold, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Ian Whates.

Blood and Feathers: Rebellion by Lou Morgan - reviewed

Blood and Feathers: Rebellion by Lou Morgan. Solaris £7.99

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

For those who read Blood and Feathers, this is a welcome return to an Alice of a very different kind. And to those who missed it: where the Hell were you? Rebellion is a direct continuation of Blood and Feathers, and there is enough exposition for a new reader to catch up. But as with any new series, reading the first volume will be a distinct advantage. 

And Hell is the operative word because Hell has quite literally broken loose. Hordes of the Fallen, evicted from Lucifer’s realm, are dealing out death and mayhem at every turn as they a wage open warfare with angels all across the earth.

It would be unfair to potential readers, not to say impossible, to describe too much of the complex plot. Simply put, it is Heaven versus Hell. But there are more twists and turns, broken deals and chicanery told in this story than you’d get from a bunch of Mafia dons at a tall-story bake-off. Yet all come together in a skilful interweaving of breadcrumb trails. Archangel Michael is determined to destroy Lucifer and will do whatever it takes to achieve his goal, with no one beyond sacrifice. That is one of the chair-gripping aspects of Rebellion. Nobody is safe. This is a story where immortals die – often – and thus makes for a tension and excitement so often missing from series. Not even Archangels are sacred under the red pen of Lou Morgan.

There have not been that many books of late that I have read cover to cover in a day, forsaking all of the things I should be doing; Rebellion is such a one-sitting book. The style is crisp, even brisk, but always satisfying in the pictures it conveys. That’s not to say that you feel in anyway rushed or that there is a lack of place or people. Far from it.  Rebellion is a funny, breath-taking, action-packed novel, without frills or angst, and peopled with achingly real personalities. No purpleness of prose but a lot of red blood and blackness of intent from the main protagonists.

Rebellion took this reader along routes that hadn’t before occurred to me. It is a must-read book and is thoroughly recommended.

The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic

The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber, is scheduled for launch at the 2013 World Fantasy Convention. The final line up, in alphabetical order, is: 

• James Brogden – The Smith of Hockley
• Joyce Chng – Dragonform Witch
• Zen Cho – Fish Bowl
• Graham Edwards – A Night to Forget
• Jaine Fenn – Not the Territory
• Christopher Golden – Under Cover of Night
• Kate Griffin – An Inspector Calls
• Alison Littlewood – The Song of the City
• Anne Nicholls – The Seeds of a Pomegranate
• Jonathan Oliver – White Horse
• Mike Resnick – The Wizard of West 34th street
• Gaie Sebold – Underground
• Adrian Tchaikovsky – Family Business
• Ian Whates – Default Reactions

Cover by Ben Baldwin

Among Others by Jo Walton. Book review

Among Others by Jo Walton. Corsair/Constable Robinson. £7.99. Also available as an eBook

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

It would be very simple to slot Among Others neatly into the ‘rites of passage’ niche, but it really is so much more. It is an insightful look at a young teenage girl’s fight against her disability, her dysfunctional family and her lack of direction – and much more. 

Mori (Morwenna) Phelps is a runaway, escaping from an insane mother who caused the death of Mori’s twin sister in an apparent magical battle that also left Mori with a crippled leg and a broken heart. The courts place Mori in the care of her estranged father and his rich but very eccentric sisters, in Shropshire, who in turn promptly send her to a posh boarding school. She is miles away from everyone she knows. 

There is nothing manic or swooning about Mori; she takes all that life throws at her with stoic determination, and a wonderfully wry humour. The novel unfolds as a series of diary entries covering a few months over the period 1969/70. It holds her hopes and dreams, but also provides a window into her obsessive reading of fantasy and science fiction, with frequent acerbic judgements on books and their authors, which often had me laughing out loud. The diary entries, generally very short, also feature observations on the humdrum life she leads in a school she hates – with its strange politics concerning buns for tea and its obsession with house points. But these apparent low-key entries offer a fresh picture on who Mori is now and will be.

This novel deals with loss and yet Mori does not dwell on the darkness in her life. She has her fears and doubts, but she handles each as they arise with varying degrees of aplomb – and then moves on. We read of Mori’s casual, and occasionally frustrated, opinions on pain management, and of her logical analyses of emotional and physical turmoil caused by her completely dysfunctional family, especially her insane mother, still in South Wales, and apparently detached father. 

Among Others is also about magic. Mori describes her interaction with beings that she calls fairies; but which could be anything from ghosts to her own imagination. It is very much down to the reader and her boyfriend, whom she met at an SF readers’ group in the local library, to decide what is real and what isn’t. 

This is a compelling narrative, beautifully crafted, drawing you into a world that is often deceptively tranquil, and yet fraught. Among Others deservedly won the Hugo, the Nebula and the British Fantasy awards for Best Novel. Thoroughly recommended!

Alchemy Press: book launch

The Alchemy Press launches two new anthologies at FantasyCon on Saturday 29 September, at 10.00 a.m. The convention, a highpoint in the fantasy and horror fan’s calendar, once more returns to the south coast city of Brighton.

Join us, the editors and some of the contributors, to welcome these two new, brilliant anthologies: The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders and The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes.

The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber:

“When we think of a wonder, our minds go most often to the great buildings of the past – the pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge – but the human mind can make almost anything wondrous. We walk with wonders every day, through the power of curiosity and imagination and our human tendency to make stories about what we fear, what we desire, what we wish to understand. This collection offers new glimpses into the wonder we all feel.” – Kari Sperring

So then, discover standing stones, burial mounds, ruined castles or sunken cities: the ancient sites that litter our landscapes; the ancient wonders that possess a mysterious appeal that cannot be denied.

With stories by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Aliette de Bodard, Peter Crowther, Anne Nicholls, Adrian Cole, Pauline E Dungate, Bryn Fortey, William Meikle, John Howard, James Brogden, Shannon Connor Winward, Misha Herwin, Lynn M Cochrane and Selina Lock.

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes edited by Mike Chinn:

In the tradition of The Shadow, The Bat, Doc Savage, The Spider; Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Detective Agency; Dusty Ayers & His Battle Birds; Sheena and K-Zar. Hard-boiled detectives, sinister vigilantes, bizarre villains – the staple of the Pulp tradition. Two-fisted heroes – and heroines – fighting for right and justice in the midnight city, foetid jungles or exotic, far-flung lands. And deranged villains for whom the world is never enough.

Here, seventeen writers dive headlong into the world of the pulp fiction, to tell us tall tales of daring do, of heroes, heroines and their villains.

With stories by Mike Resnick, Peter Atkins, Peter Crowther, Adrian Cole, William Meikle, Joel Lane, Amber L Husbands, Milo James Fowler, Anne Nicholls, Robert William Iveniuk, Bracken N MacLeod, Chris Iovenko, Joshua Wolf, James Hartley, Ian Gregory, Michael Haynes and Allen Ashley.

Special FantasyCon price: £8.00 each (cover price £10.00) or buy both for £15.00.

Ancient Wonders: ToC announced

We can now reveal the contents for TheAlchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber:

Kari Sperring – Introduction

Adrian Tchaikovsky – Bones 
James Brogden – If Street
Shannon Connor Winward - Passage  
Pauline E. Dungate – One Man’s Folly
Anne Nicholls - Dragonsbridge 
Peter Crowther – Gandalph Cohen and the Land at the End of the Working Day 
Misha Herwin – The Satan Stones 
Lynn M. Cochrane – Ringfenced
Bryn Fortey – Ithica or Bust 
Adrian Cole – The Sound of Distant Gunfire
William Meikle – The Cauldron of Camulos
John Howard – Time and the City
Selina Lock – The Great and Powerful 
Aliette de Bodard - Ys

The 2011 Xmas issue of Estronomicon now available

Pop over to the Screaming Dreams website and follow the links to download for free the latest issue of Estronomicon, edited by Steve Upham. Included are stories by James Bennett, Peter Coleborn, Neil Davies, Jan Edwards, Matt Finucane, John Forth, Stewart Horn, Ian Hunter, Mark Howard Jones, Bob Lock, Marion Pitman, Neil Williamson and Stuart Young.

You'll also find links to other Screaming Dreams titles, such as Phantoms of Venice edited by David Sutton and Fearful Festivities by Gary Fry.

The Double-Edged Sword by Sarah Silverwood

The Double-Edged Sword: The Nowhere Chronicles, Book One, by Sarah Silverwood. Gollancz 2010. £9.99
Reviewed by Jan Edwards

Finmere Tingewick Smith’s sixteenth birthday, and his odd world is just about to get a lot odder. Abandoned as a baby with nothing but an old woollen blanket and a man’s ring to identify him, he was raised by the venerable Judge Brown and the old men of Orrery House. Strange enough one might think; but he in fact spent alternate years at separate schools – meaning that he has two very different best friends. Then the Judge is murdered and Fin is plunged into a dual world: the London that he recognises in what is called the Somewhere, and an alternate London that exists in the realm of Nowhere. It’s the Knights of Nowhere with their double-edged swords, and the missing woman known as the Storyholder, who are tearing his previously comfortable world apart.

This is a fun book full of swashbuckling sword play, with secret doorways into hidden realms, and old men who are not at all what they seem. It cracks on at a breakneck pace, never dwelling on any one section for long so that the attention does not have the time to wander. Yet even at full-tilt The Double-Edged Sword remains a fully fleshed world inhabited by three-dimensional characters.

The ending is, of course, of the cliff hanger variety in true Saturday Cinema tradition. It just begs the reader to hang on for the next thrilling instalment, and I am certain most readers will be queuing avidly for future episodes in the life of Finmere Tingewick Smith. (As an aside, the acknowledgement page owns up to a number of borrowed names – and for those in the know it can be fun spotting them.)

The main protagonist is sixteen but does feel somewhat younger at times. This, I suspect, is because the book is aimed at a target audience of nine-plus – readers invariably prefer to read ‘up’. That said, this book is not confined to that demographic: it is eminently readable by just about anyone, male or female. Search no longer for that elusive Christmas stocking treat for the young fantasy reader in your family: this is it. Excellent storytelling; recommended.

Jan Edwards: new blog

Jan has created a new blog which lists all her publications todate -- plus forthcoming titles. To visit her blog click here.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. Virago £7.99

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

WW2 has just ended and like many of its ilk Hundreds Hall in Warwickshire is spiralling into decay, as is the society that had supported it in bygone times. Dr Faraday is called to an emergency at the Hall. He is curious about the place since his mother had been a maid there between the wars. He had once sat in the kitchen as a small boy eating left-over jellies from a village celebration; and he had stood in reverence as a teenager at the funeral of the owners’ then only child, victim of the diphtheria epidemics that ravaged Britain at that time.

Taxes, changing laws and the general decline of the gentleman farmer’s lot had brought the Ayres’ and Hundreds to their knees despite all Roddie Ayres could do – injured RAF ace and now, at age 24, the reluctant owner of Hundreds. So when Dr Faraday arrives he is shocked by its condition. As Faraday is drawn into the family’s activities he becomes aware of other factors. Is there an insipient streak of insanity running through that family? Or is it the Hundreds, or something in it, that is causing one disaster after another?

Essentially, this is a romance between Faraday and Caroline Ayres; between Mrs Ayres and the memory of her eldest daughter who died so long ago; between all of the Ayres family and Hundreds itself. And with that love comes the hate, and the class and gender prejudices.

Beautifully written as one expects from a book shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. But slow; very slow. I reached page 240 (out of 499) before very much at all has happened. Yes, it is a page turner that sucks you into Hundreds’ claustrophobic world so that you are compelled to read on. But it was also an effort not to turn to the last chapter to get to the end of the novel.

The house and the family are stock Gothic in many ways, albeit well drawn, and the paranormal elements (or psychological – depending on how you read it) are well researched. But I suspect that most readers of Gothic or horror or paranormal fiction will find that part of it quite tame. There is a lot of telling rather than showing which defuses much of the tension. And there is a first person narrator in Faraday who does far too good a job at debunking any theory that dares be ‘unscientific’.

If this is a ‘paranormal romance’ the emphasis is definitely on the romance. As for the paranormal element: the cover puffs call The Little Stranger ‘chilling’ and ‘unnerving’ and the reader is told to ‘sleep with the light on’. Really? These reviewers apparently led very sheltered lives.

Verdict: a beautifully written book that comments on the social and, to some extent, the political history of those post war years, and a book that I found very curiously satisfying in its conclusion.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. Vintage £7.99
Reviewed by Jan Edwards

Niffenegger’s previous novel, the SF romance The Time-Traveller’s Wife, and subsequent film, was a basic time-travel romp which, provided you could keep track of when the hero was, could be seen as a fairly simple story. You knew from the start what to expect and only the how was there for the telling. Her Fearful Symmetry, however, is more Gothic in style and content; it’s also far more subtle with far more tension, and with more than one twist to its plot.

A ghost story in every sense: Elspeth Noblin dies, having set up a series of life-changing diktats in her will, only to find that she has not moved on. As Elspeth’s twin nieces Valentina and Julia (daughters of Elspeth’s own estranged twin Edie) arrive from America to take up their inheritance, a plan gradually comes to her. Her flat overlooks Highgate Cemetery (where her body lies). In the flat above is the OCD Martin, desperate to overcome his agoraphobia so that he can follow his wife to her native Netherlands. In the flat below, Elspeth’s lover Robert mourns her death and writes his thesis on the cemetery and its inhabitants, of which his lover and her family are a part.

Death, love and obsession are the themes here, and there are plenty of all to go round. Valentina falls for Robert, and he for her, despite his still periodically masturbating over Elspeth’s possessions. Julia, jealous of her sister, attempts to fall for Martin, but fails. And Elspeth’s brooding spectre watches and guards her biggest secret of all until her ability to haunt the residents allows her to bring her self-obsessed plot to fruition. It’s impossible to say more without giving the story away.

A slow start to this book, it must be said, but once Niffenegger has finally set her scenes it is a genuine page turner with a macabre yet strangely satisfying end. It may be found on the general fiction shelf in Waterstones’ but make no mistake, this is romance of the paranormal – but not something you are likely to see alongside the standard paranormal romances. Her Fearful Symmetry is a ghost story with a genuine creep factor and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Labyrinth by Kat Richardson

Labyrinth (a Greywalker novel) by Kat Richardson. Piatkus £7.99
Reviewed by Jan Edwards

Harper Blaine, PI, has died – several times; and on each occasion she comes a little closer to her potential, and a little deeper into the carefully laid trap of Wygan, the Pharaoh-ankh-astet (Egyptian god/vampire). Then there are Edward, Carlos and Goodall to deal with. All are uber-vamps, and all vie for possession of Harper and/or her Greywalker gifts.

So, this is Harper’s dilemma: to defeat Wygan she must reach her potential. But to reach her potential it looks like she’ll end up falling in with his plans. Status quo, it seems. But she has some cards to play: the ghost of her father, Quinton; her techno-geek boyfriend; Mara, her best friend who happens to be a witch; and, last but not least, her feisty pet ferret, Chaos. All are rooting for Harper to succeed.

I have read some of the previous books in the series. That does help because, though previous history is explained here and there, I am not sure that the uninitiated would follow all of the nuances without some prior knowledge of Harper’s world. That’s not a bad thing in itself as it keeps things fresh. It is possible to catch-up if you pay attention: there are a few sections on Harper’s dealings in the spirit world which are described in minute detail that I must own up to skipping over as they spiral away. But it’s not a real problem when considered as a whole.

This book moves along at a furious pace, with villains at every turn. Sub-plots are a tangled web of deceit and dual-alliances, where “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” seems to be the major weapon in Harper’s armoury as she pulls in deals and favours right and left to achieve her aims. Nothing and no one could be taken for granted in this battle against, what is to all intents and purposes, a demi-god. Plenty of action and a body count that I lost tally of very early on, but a lot of fun. This is a page-turner that sweeps you inexorably to a desperate and explosive end of Harper Blaine’s travails. A kick-ass urban fantasy world to enjoyably lose yourself in for a few hours.

Shade Fright by Sean Cummings

Shade Fright (Valerie Stevens, book 1) by Sean Cummings. Snowbooks, £7.99
Reviewed by Jan Edwards

I came across this book by accident when browsing the three for two bargains. I hadn’t heard of the author or the publisher so it was a real lucky-dip item. Fortunately it turned out to be a reasonably good read (not all of my impulse buys are). Shade Fright fits into the paranormal romance/urban fantasy slot quite readily with supernatural activity combated by a feisty female protagonist.

The heroine of the piece is Valerie Stevens who works for a Canadian government department set up to investigate and control paranormal activity. She has the usual sidekicks: Dave, her opera-singing dump-truck driving boyfriend; the ghost of former Prime Minister William MacKenzie; and an ex-attorney Zombie named Caroline. There’s also Valerie’s mentor and tutor, a 400- year old Dwarf Mage known only as D.T. And the story? Things are dying. Trees, birds, you name it. Some evil creature is working its way up the food chain toward the humans and Valerie in particular... read on. The plot has many twists and a zillion characters.

This is a fun book; it romped along at a furious pace. It’s the first in what appears to be an intended series. One thing that struck me was that it did feel at times as if this were the second, or even third, book, as a great deal of history for the central characters went unexplained. I don’t expect entire histories -- that becomes boring -- but there were apparently significant points alluded to that were never fully explained. As a result the one character that stood out as a ‘real’ person was not Valerie Stevens but the gun-wielding zombie, Caroline. Now she has some mileage as a character in future adventures.

Being honest, I must say that this kind of thing has been done with more panache by the likes of Kelley Armstrong and Jim Butcher, but that can be said of some other big sellers I could mention. Don’t let that put you off, however: Shade Fright is still a entertaining read and I will look forward to reading the second book, Funeral Pallor.

Wizard Squared by K E Mills

Wizard Squared (Rogue Agent volume 3) by K E Mills. Orion £6.99
Reviewed by Jan Edwards

Witches Incorporated is part of the system, despite its best efforts to remain independent. So when it finds that in a parallel world one of its number, the powerful wizard Professor Gerald Dunwoody, has taken over this world with dark magic – and is looking to step into theirs as well – something must be done. Witches Inc realises that only person who can hope to stop him is its own Professor Gerald Dunwoody. Except that he has gone missing. There are twists and turns galore with magic and temporal glitches, and to describe any further would give too much away.

In this volume we have all the usual suspects from the first books in the Rogue Agent series: Wizard Gerald, Princess Mellisande and the anarchic bewitched bird Reg, all setting out to right the wrongs of the Gerald who, in the alternate reality took a slightly different choice for the best of reasons and became evil. This is a classic alternate universe conundrum where the ‘heroes’ in this world are faced with darker versions of themselves in the other.

Wizard Squared is a far darker story than volumes one and two. The writing is impeccable and I enjoyed all those darker elements. But I did get frustrated with long sections of dialogue that told very little and found myself skim-reading whole sections at a time. That’s not to say I disliked the book. Its inventive take on magic is a welcome change from rote fantasy, and its darker elements were especially intriguing. I look forward to reading the promised book four.

Killing Kiss by Sam Stone

Killing Kiss (Book 1 of The Vampire Gene Trilogy). Murky Depths £7.99
Reviewed by Jan Edwards

Yes, this book has been out for some time, hence the belated review.

Gabriele has been moving on for all of his very long death: he’s a vampire of the old school. And now he is setting up a new victim for his annual feasting, a forbidden feast – she is the girlfriend of his college pal. Then the pattern of his long existence of feed-and-move-on is disturbed when he is distracted by Lilly, a new beauty on the block. After a party where his drink is spiked, he feeds on his exotic class-mate, and no-one is more surprised than he when she rises again. He is further unsettled when Lucrezia, his maker, crosses his path.

The thing I like most about Gabriele is that he is 400 years old and that he is lean, mean and deadly to know. He does not see himself as evil but merely an amoral survivor doing what he has to do to carry on into the future. Yes, this is a vampire novel far closer to ancient legend than many we have seen in recent years. There is a romantic side to his life glimpsed through flashbacks to the various women he has loved and lusted after and fed upon in his long search for ‘soul mate’ with whom to share his eternity. The shifts back and fore in Gabriele’s past are skilfully tailored to reflect what is occurring in his present. He has much to regret, yet his only nod to that past is a trophy case full of lockets containing the hair of past ‘lovers’. But he is a vampire, one that is more than prepared to kill, and suck, on anyone who gets in his way.

The language is carefully crafted without any waste or prevarication. Every plot turn has a reason for being: sex and history and vampires acting as they ought. What more can you want from any gothic novel? This is the first in a trilogy. Book two, Futile Flame, is on the British Fantasy Awards short list for the August Derleth Award for Best Novel. Later this year, the third volume, Demon Dance, is published, also by Murky Depths.

White Cat by Holly Black

White Cat (The Curse Workers Book 1) by Holly Black
Gollancz 2010. Trade pb £10.99 / hc £18.99
Reviewed by Jan Edwards

Holly Black describes this as ‘...a novel about capers, curse magic and memory.’ I am not sure I can put it a lot better than that, but I shall try. Cassel is the only non-worker in a family of Curse-Magic Workers, and his elder brothers look down on him as a result. His father is dead and his mother is in jail for ‘working’ a sting on a millionaire with her ‘emotion’ touch. In fact, since Curse Working is illegal, many Workers are employed by a Curse-Worker Mob boss. Surely enough for any 17 year old to cope with, you would think? But Cassel has a lot more to contend with. His sleepwalking results in his being suspended from school, and he was haunted constantly for the past three years by memories of his murdering his girlfriend, Lila – who is the only daughter to the afore-mentioned Mobster.

With an opening like this you know life can only get complicated and so it does. A white cat is communicating with him through his dreams, and then it turns up in 'person'. The magic in White Cat is consistent throughout and the place and people are totally believable.Cassel himself is not just a crook by default. He enjoys the thrill of chasing down his mark, even without the aid of magic. He’s a con-man and you know you shouldn’t like him; yet you can’t help yourself.

Like many of the Paranormal Romance titles this is marketed as YA but can be found as easily among the adult novels, with characters, intrigue and pace of a high quality that sets the page-turning quotient on high (I read White Cat in one sitting). I would also say in passing that Gollancz cover (shown) is more fitting than the ‘Twilight’ cover of the McElderry US edition. Red Glove, the second Curse Workers Book is expected May 2011.