The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 1-26-14

Posted on January 26, 2014January 23, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Share the Love Giveaway Hop> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

As you read this, I am in Philadelphia, trying not to freeze. The American Library Association Midwinter Conference is in Philly. Why, oh why couldn’t they have picked someplace warm this year?

Oh, that’s right, they saved the hot spot for the SUMMER conference. The June conference this year is in Las Vegas! (Yes, I know, it’s a DRY heat)

Current Giveaways:

Late Last Night by Lilian Darcy (ebook)
Tourwide Giveaway from Susannah Sandlin: $25 Amazon Gift Card, $10 Amazon Gift Card and Author Swag Pack

Blog Recap:

A Review: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
B+ Review: Forward to Camelot 50th Anniversary Edition by Susan Sloate and Kevin Finn
Guest Post by Susan Sloate on Writing About the Kennedy Assassination
B+ Review: Late Last Night by Lilian Darcy + Giveaway
A+ Review: Deeper by Robin York
B Review: Chenoire by Susannah Sandlin + Giveaway
Stacking the Shelves (75)

Coming Next Week:

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (blog tour review)
Jewel of the East by Victoria Vane (blog tour review, guest post + giveaway)
The Warrior & the Flower by Camille Picott (blog tour review + giveaway)
Prince of Tricks by Jane Kindred (blog tour review, guest post + giveaway)
The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki (blog tour review, author interview + giveaway)
Share the Love Giveaway Hop

Stacking the Shelves (75)

Posted on January 25, 2014January 23, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

Last weekend, I resisted the impulse to buy books at RustyCon. However, I am being tempted again.

This weekend is the American Library Association Midwinter Conference, otherwise known as ARC-city. There will be ARCs everywhere I look, and all just waiting to jump into my bag. Free for the taking.

Of course, then I have to carry the things around the conference until I get back to my hotel. By the fourth (fifth, sixth?) book, the lead weight encumbers decision making. Too much of a good thing can be very heavy!

I really hope that more publishers are getting on board with the idea of offering NetGalley or Edelweiss eARCs!

masterful mr montague by stephanie laurens

For Review:
All for You (Coming Home #4) by Jessica Scott
City of the Sun by Juliana Maio
Come Home to Me (Whiskey Creek #6) by Brenda Novak
Dash of Peril (Love Undercover #4) by Lori Foster
The Day He Kissed Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake #3) by Juliana Stone
A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
Honor’s Knight (Paradox #2) by Rachel Bach
Hunting Shadows (Ian Rutledge #16) by Charles Todd
The Masterful Mr. Montague (Casebook of Barnaby Adair #2) by Stephanie Laurens
Shadow Boxer (Alterations #2) by Jen Greyson
Third Daughter (Dharian Affairs #1) by Susan Kaye Quinn

Purchased:
The Mane Event (Pride #1) by Shelly Laurenston

Borrowed from the Library:
Another Man’s Moccasins (Walt Longmire #4) by Criag Johnson

Review: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

Posted on January 20, 2014February 8, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Steampunk
Series: Craft Sequence #1
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Released: October 2, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart.

Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis’s steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot.

Tara’s job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who’s having an understandable crisis of faith.

When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb’s courts—and their quest for the truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb’s slim hope of survival.

Set in a phenomenally built world in which justice is a collective force bestowed on a few, craftsmen fly on lightning bolts, and gargoyles can rule cities, Three Parts Dead introduces readers to an ethical landscape in which the line between right and wrong blurs.

My Review:

One of the foundational concepts of this story is that practicing law is roughly equivalent to practicing necromancy. That what we would call a law firm this universe would consider to be a partnership in a craft firm, where the Craft involved is the Craft of resurrecting the dead. Contract law is all about siphoning living energy from people.

On the other hand, that IS what a lot of people think lawyers do in this world, too.

Another construct underpinning this world is the idea of a world where gods are created and/or maintained by the worship of their followers. (This is an idea that Neil Gaiman took to an entirely different conclusion in American Gods.)

So we have the “legal” question of what happens when a god dies with contracts outstanding. And since Kos Everburning is a god, he always has outstanding contracts. After all, he was supposed to live forever. And he will. The question is who will control his resurrection; his worshippers or the opposing forces who have bought up those contracts that are about to default.

Into this very hot mess the author thrusts two characters in search of a purpose; the Craftswoman Tara, who must figure out who is behind Kos’ death before the spiral of destruction consumes her, and the very junior engineer-priest Abelard, who had the misfortune to be the first to discover that his god was dead.

Neither Tara nor Abelard are in positions of power or authority. Tara is less than a junior associate of her Craft firm; her employment is probationary. Abelard is the most junior priest in the order, and the god he worships died on his watch. If things go badly, the resurrected Kos may not even care for his people.

But Tara is intelligent and most importantly, persevering. As the chain of dead bodies and attempted assassinations gets longer and longer, Tara and Abelard doggedly conduct an investigation whose object is increasingly familiar even as the methods they pursue become more imbued with Craft and magic.

Who had the means, the motive and the opportunity to kill this god? Who needs to kill to keep this secret? And even more basic, and more important, who benefits most from the death of Kos?

Escape Rating A: Now I understand why people raved about this book–raved to the point where the author was nominated for the Campbell Award in 2013. The worldbuilding is absolutely phenomenal. Just the combination of contract law and necromancy is equal parts stunning and sly.

Tara and Abelard make an interesting pair of “detectives”. Tara is the one with the training, but she spends much of the story doubting herself and her ability not merely to solve the case, but simply to do her job well enough to remain employed. She constantly second-guesses herself. Part of her doubt isn’t about ability, it’s about figuring out where she wants to be.

Abelard is fascinating because he never loses faith. He knows his god is dead–after all, he’s seen the body. And yet, he still believes, and because of that belief he keeps going no matter how badly things seem to be going.

Although it is relatively easy to figure out who the ‘bad guy” is, his motives are not so easy to discern. The game he is playing has been very long and extremely convoluted. His henchpeople are not easily discovered. And even though I guessed who, the why, the what and the how, kept me flicking pages furiously at the end.

For anyone who enjoys complicated plots and intricate mysteries woven into their complex worldbuilding, Three Parts Dead is the start of a spellbinding series.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 1-12-14

Posted on January 12, 2014January 12, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

I was hoping to come up with something really profound to say today, but it’s been a wet, gloomy weekend here in Seattle. While this is terrific reading weather, the constant drip does not inspire!

However, this was one of my best weeks ever for review books. So many grade A reviews! Even the B+ book was a load of fun. And although I was sad to see the end of this “chapter” of Modesitt’s Imager Portfolio, he has said on his blog that there will definitely be another series in that world. That news made this reader very happy. Except…I have to wait for it. Darn.

Winner Announcements:

Big Sky Secrets by Linda Lael Miller; the winner is L Lam.

Blog Recap:

A Review: Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson
B+ Review: Beg Me to Slay by Lisa Kessler + Giveaway
A Review: Rex Regis by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
A+ Review: River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz
A+ Review: Sharp by Alex Hughes
Stacking the Shelves (73)

Coming Next Week:

Steal Me, Cowboy by Kim Boykin (blog tour review)
Ashes & Alchemy by Cindy Spencer Pape (blog tour review + giveaway)
The Sweetest Seduction by Crista McHugh (blog tour review + giveaway)
Gossamer Wing by Delphine Dryden (review)
After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn (review)

Review: Sharp by Alex Hughes

Posted on January 10, 2014January 11, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> book reviews

Format read: paperback provided by the author
Formats available: paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genre: Urban fantasy; science fiction
Series: Mindspace Investigation #2
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Ace/Roc
Date Released: April 2, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

HISTORY HAS A WAY OF REPEATING ITSELF, EVEN FOR TELEPATHS.…

As a Level Eight telepath, I am the best police interrogator in the department. But I’m not a cop—I never will be—and my only friend on the force, Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino, is avoiding me because of a telepathic link I created by accident.

And I might not even be an interrogator for much longer. Our boss says unless I pull out a miracle, I’ll be gone before Christmas. I need this job, damn it. It’s the only thing keeping me sane.

Parts for illegal Tech—the same parts used to bring the world to its knees in the Tech Wars sixty years ago—are being hijacked all over the city. Plus Cherbino’s longtime nemesis, a cop killer, has resurfaced with a vengeance. If I can stay alive long enough, I just might be able to prove my worth, once and for all…

My Review:

In this second full-length novel in Alex Hughes’ absolutely awesome Mindspace Investigation series, the mind of the killer is sharp; unfortunately, the mind of the telepath investigating the crime is anything but.

Level 8 telepath Adam Ward injured his mental pathways at the end of Clean (incredible, stunning debut, see review) and is left trying to hide his hopefully temporary disability from the school of sharks he works among, otherwise known as the DeKalb County Police Department.

He’s estranged from his only friend and protector, Isabella Cherubino, because saving her life required revealing that he had been resting against her calming mindspace just a bit too often, and that they had accidentally developed a mental “Link”. Now he really can’t stay out of her head, and she feels, rightly so, that he has betrayed her trust.

In the ever-simmering background of the cop shop, there’s the seething resentment of a consultant making the “real” cops look bad with his showmanship, and as the perfect cherry on the sundae, a new round of budget cuts. People’s jobs are on the line, and every cop in the place thinks the first one to go should be Adam, because he’s not one of “them”.

But Adam needs the work. Not just the paycheck, the work. Coming in to solve puzzles, to get bad guys off the streets–to work with Cherubino–is a big chunk of what’s keeping him clean and off drugs.

That and an awful lot of NA meetings and service projects with his sponsor Swartz.

But this case that lands in Adam and Cherubino’s laps turns out to be all about the sins of the past–and it nearly ends both of their futures.

The first murder victim is also the last victim of Adam’s drug addiction while he was still part of the Telepath Guild. His botched mental surgery killed her telepathic gift. Now she’s dead, and one of the other victims is missing.

The cop killer who murdered Cherubino’s fiance has started another serial spree. These things should not be related, but are they?

And while Adam needs desperately to get back into Cherubino’s good graces in order to save his sanity, one of the pillars of his life is struck down–Swartz has a heart attack and the only way to save him is for Adam to strike a deal with the Guild.

He’s not sure who is betraying whom or if it will all be worth it in the end, especially when it looks like the Guild is involved in the entire murder spree, up to its secretive corporate neck.

Escape Rating A+: The Mindspace Investigations series takes place in a gritty and realistic dystopian/post-apocalyptic setting. Even cooler, the setting is a very recognizable Atlanta and its suburbs. I used to live there and it feels right in a just-off-kilter way.

Even cooler, this dystopia is not that far in the future. People then remember our now, or close. The apocalypse inbetween them and us are the Tech Wars, when wired technology went sentient and then viral. We could get there from here.

The Telepath Guild developed to fight tech with human-based mental skills. It makes a sick and twisted sense. But power still corrupts and absolute power definitely corrupts absolutely.

Adam is so very human. Even his name; Adam, the first man. (It’s slightly geeky cool that his name is Adam Ward. I wonder if he was named after Adam West and Burt Ward; the Batman and Robin of the 1960s?)

In some ways, Adam is Icarus, he flew too close to the sun, his wings melted, and now he’s fallen. But the fallen Adam is a better person than the original. He tries harder.

A lot of reviewers compare this series to Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, because of the urban fantasy plotline. The comparison doesn’t work for me, much as I love Harry. Dresden borrowed the cops but didn’t try to be part of them, and you don’t get much of the cop shop vibe in Dresden. Also Dresden is firmly fantasy, while Mindspace is absolutely science fiction.

A closer parallel might be J.D. Robb’s In Death series, minus the romance. There’s the same police procedural mystery driving the case, albeit with some different procedures. But also there’s the same looming near-future post-apocalypse in the background. Robb’s Urban Wars and Hughes’ Tech Wars have a lot in common.

Adam and Cherubino are extremely flawed, scarred people. They need each other, but navigating their way toward each other, even as partners, is a big part of the fascination in this ongoing series.

As well as the continuing corkscrew convolutions of the mundane politics, the Telepath Guild and whether the humans in this world are going to draw back from the brink of destruction again. And whether Adam will manage to thwart his precognitive visions of his own self-destruction.

This series is awesome stuff. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for Marked.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Stacking the Shelves (72)

Posted on January 4, 2014January 3, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

A slow week. I’m trying to find things more “resistible”, but it may also be that there wasn’t much new listed at NetGalley and Edelweiss.

We all have our temptations. It could be booze, it could be drugs. For me, it’s books. These were all ebooks. I want to read them all, not necessarily own them all.

For Review:
Breakaway Hearts (Kelly Brothers #2) by Crista McHugh
Four Friends by Robyn Carr
Heart of Stone (Gargoyles #1) by Christine Warren
Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space by Lynn Sherr
Steal Me, Cowboy (Copper Mountain Rodeo) by Kim Boykin

Borrowed from the Library:
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones edited by Sheree R. Thomas
Futureland by Walter Mosley
If Kennedy Lived by Jeff Greenfield

A Look Forward: My Most Anticipated Reads for 2014

Posted on January 2, 2014December 31, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | book reviews> books> Draconismoi> ebooks

What a difference a year makes!

It was surprisingly easy to pick the books for this list. I know exactly which books I’m dying for this year. Well, the first ten, anyway. I wasn’t planning on fourteen, but Cass jumped in and rounded out the list. (Thanks, Cass!)

Then I took a look back at last year’s list, and my eyes crossed a bit. There are two repeaters. I don’t mean series where the next book in the series is on the list, although that happens too, but two books that were delayed in publication. So I’ve waited a whole year longer than originally planned. (Not that I didn’t find plenty to read instead)

And a couple of things I thought I would read as soon as they came out, I didn’t. (Best laid plans, etc., etc.)

So here’s this year’s set of newly laid plans. Let’s see how it goes. Why do I hear a “bwahahaha”, coming from somewhere in the shadows?

Skin Game by Jim Butcher is the 15th Harry Dresden book. I can’t believe the series has been going on that long. I fell in love with Harry because he started out as a hapless and frequently luckless wizard in my favorite former hometown, Chicago. But I still love his trademark snark, even as Harry has gone from being a two-bit wizard-for-hire to the Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness.

Damnation by Jean Johnson is the fourth book in her Theirs Not to Reason Why military science fiction series. I heard her read from Damnation at WorldCon in San Antonio, and I can’t believe I have to wait until August to finally get the next chapter in Ia’s story. There have been moments in this series that have sent chills down my spine. This entire series has been awesome.

The Guild, also by Jean Johnson, is the third book in her Guardians of Destiny fantasy romance series. Her military sf is kick ass, but I found her through her fantasy romance, and she’s utterly marvelous. The second book in this series, The Grove, was on my 2013 best list. She does fantasy romance where the fantasy worldbuilding is top notch and her heroines are always the absolute equals of her heroes. Her women have friends who talk to each other, and the plot of the fantasy is as important as the romantic happy ending. Her stories are always a treat!

Cast in Flame by Michelle Sagara is the tenth of the Chronicles of Elantra, and I can’t wait for Kaylin to get back to the city. She belongs there. Removing her from the city and the Courts for two books was interesting and told a lot about her friends among the Barrani, but took away from Kaylin as the center point. I want Kaylin back where she belongs!

Silver Mirrors by A.A. Aguirre is the second book in their (A.A. Aguirre is the joint pseudonym of Ann and Andres Aguirre) Apparatus Infernum series. The first book, Bronze Gods, was one of my best of 2013. The world is just such an awesome mixture of steampunk and “magic goes away”, with an urban fantasy/detective duo that is something special.

Death Defying by Nina Croft has been the biggest tease for the end of December. It’s also the third book in her Blood Hunter series. I loved the first two books (Break Out and Deadly Pursuit) in that science fiction romance series so damn much that I gave Break Out an SFR Galaxy Award. I’ve been waiting since then. Death Defying almost made it into 2013, but not quite. What is so cool about the Blood Hunter series is that Croft figured out a plausible way for vampires and werewolves to make it into space. So along with a science that has granted immortality to a privileged few, there are vampires, who are also immortal. And it makes sense.

Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh is lucky 13 in her Psy-Changeling series. I still love this series, but it’s pretty obvious that the overall arc of the worldbuilding is drawing to a conclusion. The Silence Protocol will fall, the questions revolve around what is going to take its place; order or anarchy. I think I’ve become as or more fascinated with the big story than the individual romances. And I simply can’t express how grateful I am that the cover design has improved with Heart of Obsidian and Shield. The previous US covers were simply abominable.

Lock In by John Scalzi. Honestly, I wouldn’t care what the summary said on Goodreads. It’s by Scalzi, and I’m going to get the eARC from Edelweiss as soon as it pops up. But seriously, it sounds cool, but not one of his funny ones. This looks like one of his big idea books mixing virtual-reality, epidemiology and the misuse of power. Wow!

And now for those books that I hoped to see last year, but were delayed in publication…

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood is the eighth doorstop in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. The Outlander series has been described, and it sounds about right to me, as “historical fiction with a Moebius twist”. The past and the future intertwine in a way that has to be read to be believed. Her 18th century is like you are there, and in a way you are, because you are experiencing it through the eyes of a 20th century woman who found the love of her life in 18th century Scotland. Outlander is the standard by which all other time travel historical fiction and romances are judged. I can’t wait to lose three days in the next one.

One-Eyed Jack by Elizabeth Bear is the continuation of her completely splendiferous Promethean Age series. They are portal fantasies, where Faerie exists next door to our world in a way that means events can, and do, affect both us and them, usually to the detriment of one or the other. And whoever scored last has a nasty tendency to strike back. The original cover sucked, and it went back for a better one. At least, that’s what the author said at WorldCon. (The first cover really, really does suck, we’ll have to see about the second one when it gets here. I just want the damn story)

Two books I should be anticipating but aren’t exactly…

Wicked After Midnight by Delilah S. Dawson and Rex Regis by L.E. Modesitt Jr. These two books have nothing to do with each other, except that they are both January books, and I would normally be chomping at the proverbial bit to get at them. However, I have ARCs. I’ve already read Rex Regis, and can’t recommend it, and the entire Imager Portfolio series, highly enough to anyone who loves epic fantasy.

I started Delilah S. Dawson’s Blud series after I met her at Dragon*Con in 2012. The series is steampunk with a slightly creepy twist to it, but they are darkly enchanting and I scoop up each book as soon as they are available. I know Wicked After Midnight is going to be a treat.

And now for a few words from the Alaskan delegate. Here’s Cass!

The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan! Clearly. I invented a new rating system for Book #1 Then I preordered Serpents 6 months before it’s release. I’ve NEVER preordered something so far in advance. I have no idea what edition it is (hardcover? paperback?), what the cover art looks like…nada. Doesn’t matter. Don’t care. WANT BOOK NOW.

Symbiont by Mira Grant. Argh! I have to see what is happening with the Tapeworm Uprising! And then find some anti-parasitcs to ingest, thus purging my body of our future Tapeworm Overlords.

The Discworld Collector’s Library. Holy shit these covers are gorgeous. (http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2013/10/announcing-the-discworld-collectors-library/). I’ve read the covers off several of my favorite Terry Pratchett books, and I upgrades. Particularly the Death, Cultures of Discworld, and Witches Collections. I am only interested in certain Unseen University and City Watch books.

Untitled by Connie Willis. Connie read the first chapter from an untitled (and as yet unfinished) book at WorldCon and I have no idea when it is coming or what it will be called by I am waiting. Credit card in hand. Just give me a sign Connie…..

And there you have it. A few of the books we are looking most forward to in 2014. Of course, there will be more. Lots, lots more.

Which books are you looking forward to the most in 2014?

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 12-15-13

Posted on December 15, 2013December 15, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

The blog is my island of organization in a sea of moving chaos. This is all relative, you understand. The blog is controlled chaos, the impeding move is currently more like uncontrolled chaos.

The movers are coming to pack us on Friday. WE ARE NOT READY! <panic>

Meanwhile, this is what’s happening on the blog:

Current Giveaways:

$25 Amazon Gift Card from Nina Croft and Operation Saving Daniel
Paperback copy of Clean by Alex Hughes (US/Can only)
Paperback copy of The Seduction of Miriam Cross by W.A. Tyson (US/Can only)
Paperback copy of The Spirit Keeper by K.B. Laugheed (US/Can only)

Winner Announcements:

The winner of one title (winner’s choice from Jeanette Grey’s backlist (Take What You Want, Unacceptable Risk, A Gift Of Trust, or Letting Go) is Jo J.
The winner of The Blooding of Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys is Susan.

Blog Recap:

B+ Review: Operation Saving Daniel by Nina Croft
Guest Post by Author Nina Croft on the Lure of the Werewolf + Giveaway
B+ Review: Lace & Lead by M.A. Grant
A+ Review: Clean by Alex Hughes
Guest Post by Author Alex Hughes: A Discussion of the Tech Wars + Giveaway
B Review: The Seduction of Miriam Cross by W.A. Tyson + Giveaway
A- Review: The Spirit Keeper by K.B. Laugheed + Giveaway
Stacking the Shelves (70)

Coming Next Week:

Christmas in Dogtown by Suzanne Johnson (blog tour review)
Sail Away with Me by Kate Devaux (blog tour review + giveaway)
Chaos Bound by Rebekah Turner (blog tour review + guest post + giveaway)
Christmas at Copper Mountain (blog tour review + giveaway)
Cass promised a review of “something” by Meljean Brook
Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop

Guest Post by Author Alex Hughes: A Discussion of the Tech Wars + Giveaway

Posted on December 11, 2013December 10, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Book Giveaway> Giveaways> Guest Posts

Today I’d like to welcome Alex Hughes, author of the absolutely awesome Clean (reviewed here).This fascinating combination of urban fantasy, science fiction and near-future dystopia was one of the best books that I have read this year. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series!

A Discussion of the Tech Wars
by Alex Hughes

The Mindspace Investigations series (Clean, Payoff, Sharp, Marked) is set about sixty years after a devastating event called the Tech Wars. A madman and his followers circulate computer viruses that shut down the entirety of the world, from smart houses to smart cars, leaving huge casualties in their wake. Then, because of peoples’ brain implants and biotechnology, the viruses end up going bloodborne in one of the worst plagues the world has ever seen. Then, it gets worse. And yet worse.

In the end the Telepaths’ Guild steps in to save the world—but what they do to end the war changes forever how the normals see them. The Guild earned their freedom and their right to choose their own destiny—at the price of fear that hasn’t died out even sixty years later.
People often ask me why I leave so much of the Tech Wars backstory unsaid. Partially, I do this because my readers on the mystery side care far more about cases and pacing than they do about backstory. Partially, I enjoy holding secrets and parceling them out in small doses—it keeps both me and the reader interested over a long series. But mostly, I have this idea in my head that one day, when I’m good enough, I’ll write the Tech Wars as a separate series. To do that well, I’ll need plenty of empty space to fill with individual characters’ choices; the major players will need the room to tell me how they, personally, will change the world.

While I like structure, my best work often happens in these empty spaces, in the things left undecided. So I’m guarding that space, quietly, in consideration for a future series—guarding the magic that will let me write it well.

Today, though, I’ll open the box just a little more to talk about the personal side of the Tech Wars, where the idea comes from and what I have to say on the topic. (Warning: opinions ahead!)

The Tech Wars reflect a concern I and a lot of others have with technology becoming so much a part of our lives so quickly. I grew up with a green-and-black-screen computer, and later with the early Internet. I follow science, and I love the information and history available online, things I would never have been able to get twenty years ago without trips around the world and a lot of patience. I delight when new gadgets come out to make our lives easier. I am by no means a Luddite. But when the whole world is in your pocket, along with constant interruptions by social media and the latest trends, there is no silence.

With the advent of social media, the Internet—and all the people and ideas it involves—becomes a daily part of our lives, one click away. We are drowning in a sea of information all the time, and because the information is set in sound bites, even ‘scientific’ and ‘serious’ information is often sensationalistic and overly simplified to fit in the form. My attention span, at least, has shrunk significantly, as my brain becomes less and less comfortable with down time. I fight for that down time and that silence with a true passion, but it’s hard to get and hard to keep—there are constant distractions and deep thought doesn’t seem to be the currency of our generation. I have to be counter-cultural, and I have to turn off the world, to get my true work done.

I imagine a world one step ahead of ours, in which you are jacked into the sea of information directly through an implant in your head. The world is ‘enhanced’ so there is no more silence, no more direct experience without analysis and subtext. Every part of your life is run by a computer in direct communication with your preferences and likes. The polarization of politics is just the beginning; when you’re only shown information that agrees with your ‘preferences,’ confirmation bias takes over your life. Your way is the only way. You are always right. And, whatever fast food commercials say, that’s actually a dangerous thing. You begin to miss important clues that the world is about to change.

And then the wars begin, and the world falls apart. You’re forced to rely on neighbors—people you may never have met—and poorer folks unable to afford the implants. You’re forced to deal with reality without the filter, for the first time in your life. What kind of world change would that create?

I’m still figuring that out. But I can say, that kind of world-change would stick with you. People would remember, even two generations later, even after sixty years. And that’s the legacy of the Tech Wars in Adam’s world. A legacy of quiet fear and remembrance.

About Alex Hughes

Alex Hughes is the author of the Mindspace Investigations series from Roc. She is a Semi-Finalist of the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, a Finalist in the 2013 Silver Falchion Awards, and a graduate of the pro-level Odyssey Writing Workshop. Over the years, she has lived in many neighborhoods of the sprawling metro Atlanta area, including Decatur during her time at Agnes Scott College.
On any given week you can find Alex in the kitchen cooking gourmet Italian food, watching hours of police procedural dramas, and typing madly. Find out more about Alex at her website or follow her on Twitter.

GIVEAWAY

Alex is giving away one paperback copy of Clean to one lucky winner (US/Canada). To enter, use the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Clean by Alex Hughes

Posted on December 11, 2013December 15, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> book reviews

Format read: mass market paperback provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, paperback, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Urban fantasy; science fiction
Series: Mindspace Investigations, #1
Length: 351 pages
Publisher: Roc
Date Released: September 4, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

I used to work for the Telepath’s Guild before they kicked me out for a drug habit that wasn’t entirely my fault. Now I work for the cops, helping Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino put killers behind bars.

My ability to get inside the twisted minds of suspects makes me the best interrogator in the department. But the normals keep me on a short leash. When the Tech Wars ripped the world apart, the Guild stepped up to save it. But they had to get scary to do it—real scary.

Now the cops don’t trust the telepaths, the Guild doesn’t trust me, a serial killer is stalking the city—and I’m aching for a fix. But I need to solve this case. Fast. I’ve just had a vision of the future: I’m the next to die.

My Review:

The first book in Alex Hughes’ Mindspace Investigations series is one of those stories for which the concept of “book hangover” was invented. I was so completely absorbed by her vision of near-future slightly-dystopian Atlanta, and not just because I used to live there.

This is a dark and gritty landscape in a paranoid post-Tech Wars future. Admiral Adama (Battlestar Galactica) would feel right at home, because what little Tech they have left is not allowed to network with much other Tech, for fear it might get itself together and fight back. Again.

But in order to fight off the viruses created in the Tech Wars, they unleashed something even more potentially dangerous. Some people have developed telepathic powers. And in return for bringing the Tech Wars to an end, the Guild of Telepaths won the right of self-governance.

They seem to be a “state within a state”. Some people with Ability don’t have enough to be more than sensitive. Others are forced to register with the Guild and live under Guild jurisdiction for the rest of their lives. It can be a pretty cushy life, unless you screw up.

And then there’s our hero. The story is told from his first-person perspective, so we don’t know his name until the very last line of the book. (You don’t call yourself by your name very often, do you?)

Our hero is a consultant with the DeKalb County Police Department. And he is way beyond screwed up. He used to be the darling of the Guild, until he got addicted to a very dangerous narcotic called Satin. Now he clings to sobriety by his fingernails and by resting a little too often in the Mindspace of his police detective partner, Isabella Cherabino.

Until his past comes hunting for him, racking up a body count all over the county. Someone in the Guild has a score to settle with him, and he doesn’t even remember why. All he knows is that he has a vision of death that he has to prevent, any way he can. Even if no one trusts him enough to believe him.

Escape Rating A+: I loved Clean so much I bought the novella, Payoff, the instant I finished. The world that Alex Hughes has created is absolutely awesome, and I want to wallow in it. I wouldn’t live there if you paid me, but I want to keep reading until my eyeballs fall out.

Her flawed hero is somebody special. The darling who forgets who he stepped on when he was climbing up, and then gets kicked on the way down. All the way down. He’s vulnerable and wounded and still trying so damn hard to just get through each day clean. Sometimes he fails, and we feel his control slipping. He reminds me a lot of the variation of Sherlock in Elementary; the addict who is using his cases and being needed to solve them as an alternative drug. Hughes’ hero has fallen further and broken harder, he’s also cracked open more and has learned the value of some of the social niceties. But there’s a kinship.
Cherabino seems like the classic combination of tough chick and by-the-book cop, until we find out what made her that way, and then this hidden core of pain is revealed. She’s still tough and she’s still by-the-book, but there’s so much more to her character.

Someday there might even be a romance, but in the fine tradition of urban fantasy, I expect to wait an excellent long while for it.

About the case itself…this was a time where the first-person perspective worked very well (it doesn’t always). Our hero doesn’t remember why the villain is targeting him, so he can’t reveal what he doesn’t know. And the villain is more than a bit off his rocker. Adding to the tension is the need for the hero to decide how many of the Guild’s secrets he can afford to reveal to his police employers in these particular circumstances, where a telepathic serial killer is dumping bodies all over the landscape, bringing the attention of the newspapers to secrets the Guild would rather be kept, well, secret.

Cops, killers, telepaths and stellar worldbuilding. What’s not to love?

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Current Giveaways:

Blog Recap:

Coming Next Week:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Winner Announcements:

Blog Recap:

Coming Next Week:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Winner Announcements:

Blog Recap:

Coming Next Week:

Share this:

A Discussion of the Tech Wars by Alex Hughes

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Share this:

Share this:

A Discussion of the Tech Wars
by Alex Hughes

GIVEAWAY