New Poll: What should I read next???

I'm halfway through David J. Williams' The Burning Skies (Canada, USA, Europe), sequel to last year's The Mirrored Heavens, and it's been quite a wild ride so far. Kind of a trainwreck of a book, but oh so entertaining!

On the horizons, I have Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold (Canada, USA, Europe) and Mark Charan Newton's Nights of Villjamur (Canada, USA, Europe).

So now you get to decide which novel will join this august company!

The nominees are:



- Roberto Bolano's 2666 (Canada, USA, Europe)

Santa Teresa, on the Mexico–US border, is an urban sprawl that draws in lost souls. Among them are three academics on the trail of a reclusive German author; a New York reporter on his first Mexican assignment; a widowed philosopher; and a police detective in love with an elusive older woman. But there is darker side still to the town. It is an emblem of corruption, violence and decadence, and one from which, over the course of a decade, hundreds of women have mysteriously, often brutally, disappeared.

Told in five parts, 2666 is the epic novel that defines one of Latin America’s greatest writers and his unique vision of the modern world. Conceived on an astonishing scale, and – in the last years of Roberto Bolaño’s life – with burning, visionary commitment, it has been greeted across Europe and Latin America as his masterpiece, surpassing even his previous work in inventiveness, imagination, beauty and scope.



- Metatropolis, edited by John Scalzi (Canada, USA, Europe, and Subpress)

A strange man comes to an even stranger encampment... A bouncer becomes the linchpin of an unexpected urban movement... A courier on the run has to decide who to trust in a dangerous city... A slacker in a "zero-footprint" town get a most unusual new job... and a weapons investigator uses his skills to discover a metropolis hidden right in front of his eyes.

Welcome to the future of cities. Welcome to METAtropolis.

More than an anthology, METAtropolis is the brainchild of five of science fiction's hottest writers -- Elizabeth Bear, Tobias Buckell, Jay Lake, Karl Schroeder and project editor John Scalzi -- who combined their talents to build a new urban future, and then wrote their own stories in this collectively-constructed world. The results are individual glimpses of a shared vision, and a reading experience unlike any you've had before.

You're at the city limits now. See what's waiting on the other side.



- James Enge's Blood of Ambrose (Canada, USA, Europe)

Behind the king's life stands the menacing Protector, and beyond him lies the Protector's Shadow...

Centuries after the death of Uthar the Great, the throne of the Ontilian Empire lies vacant. The late emperor's brother-in-law and murderer, Lord Urdhven, appoints himself Protector to his nephew, young King Lathmar VII and sets out to kill anyone who stands between himself and mastery of the empire, including (if he can manage it) the king himself and his ancient but still formidable ancestress, Ambrosia Viviana.

When Ambrosia is accused of witchcraft and put to trial by combat, she is forced to play her trump card and call on her brother, Morlock Ambrosius—stateless person, master of all magical makers, deadly swordsman, and hopeless drunk.

As ministers of the king, they carry on the battle, magical and mundane, against the Protector and his shadowy patron. But all their struggles will be wasted unless the young king finds the strength to rule in his own right and his own name.



- Max Frei's The Stranger (Canada, USA, Europe)

Max Frei’s novels have been a literary sensation in Russia since their debut in 1996, and have swept the fantasy world over. Presented here in English for the first time, The Stranger will strike a chord with readers of all stripes. Part fantasy, part horror, part philosophy, part dark comedy, the writing is united by a sharp wit and a web of clues that will open up the imagination of every reader.

Max Frei was a twenty-something loser—a big sleeper (that is, during the day; at night he can’t sleep a wink), a hardened smoker, and an uncomplicated glutton and loafer. But then he got lucky. He contacts a parallel world in his dreams, where magic is a daily practice. Once a social outcast, he’s now known in his new world as the “unequalled Sir Max.” He’s a member of the Department of Absolute Order, formed by a species of enchanted secret agents; his job is to solve cases more extravagant and unreal than one could imagine—a journey that will take Max down the winding paths of this strange and unhinged universe.



- Chris Wooding's Retribution Falls (Canada, USA, Europe)

Frey is the leader of a small and highly dysfunctional band of smugglers, occasional pirates and sometime fraudsters. An inveterate womaniser and rogue, he and his gang make a living on the wrong side of the law, existing on the fringes of the empire, avoiding the attention of the Union Navy. With two ragged fighter craft and a small cargo ship on the verge of falling apart, he and his gang run contraband, rob ships and generally make a nuisance of themselves. So a hot tip on a cargo barque loaded with valuables seems like a great prospect for an easy heist and a fast buck ...right up until, on their opening salvo, the whole thing explodes. Suddenly Frey isn't a nuisance anymore - he's public enemy number 1 with the Union on his tail and contractors hired to take him down. Including his oldest and dealiest rival, Frey's ex-wife. But something about the explosion doesn't make sense. The barque must have been rigged to blow, and Frey's been framed to take the fall.But if he wants to prove it, he's going to have to catch the real culprit - and that means heading into the heart of the Union, and following a trail through the criminal underworld that could ultimately lead to the very top.

It's going to take all his criminal talents to prove he's not a criminal ...

33 commentaires:

Vanessa said...

I vote for the Blood of Ambrose, it sounds interesting.

Larry Nolen said...

Seeing you review 2666 might be something a bit out of the ordinary. I loved it when I read it last summer, but I'm uncertain as to which genre it would be fall under.

That being said, it is worthy of any and all accolades that it receives. I plan on reviewing it next month, but since I have it in Spanish, I think I might write the review first in Spanish, since I'll be quoting from it.

Todd said...

Retribution Falls looks pretty good. I'll vote that one.

Anonymous said...

You should read City of Thieves by David Benioff. Really good, just read it myself. My interest was sparked knowing that Benioff is one of the two guys bringing us Ice & Fire on HBO.

James said...

My pick would be The Blood of Ambrose

Anonymous said...

Blood of Ambrose for me too.

Sean T. M. Stiennon said...

Blood of Ambrose, easily.

Ben said...

I vote for either 2666 or Metatropolis.

Anonymous said...

2666! I'd like to hear your take on some "literary" novels with crossover appeal...

Anonymous said...

I Agree with Larry. 2666 is for sure something different for Hotlist and it is the one that I´m interested from this bunch. So read it already!

Anonymous said...

I vote for Wooding, keen to hear what that's like!

Anonymous said...

Well I don't know what you are going to read next, but you sure peaked my curiosity about Roberto Bolano. In fact I'm going to buy it today.

Nick said...

I vote for Retribution Falls.

Ryan said...

I vote for all. Get to work, Pat!

The Mad Hatter said...

Some great choices. I just read The Stranger and I'll likely have my review up soon. I've been hearing great things about Retribution though so I'd love to get your take on that.

D-man said...

My pick from this list would be Metatropolis. I'm currently reading Old Man's War by Scalzi, and have read works by Bear and Schroeder in the past. All three write very well, and I'm sure Buckell and Lake are also very capable.

If I had to pick a second, it would likely be Retribution Falls.

ediFanoB said...

Quite hard.
I voted for RETRIBUTION FALLS
Second would be BLOOD OF AMBROSE

Anonymous said...

I vote for Retribution Falls it sounds very interesting and I would like to know more about it to see if I really want to read it my self. Second would be Metatropolis

Adam Whitehead said...

RETRIBUTION FALLS is an excellent novel, and I thoroughly recommend that one.

Droidprogrammer said...

I vote Blood of Ambrose, time for some old time fantasy. But I do admit the Stranger by max frei is on my wish list at indigo

Pissenlit said...

My vote's for Retribution Falls.

Terry Weyna said...

I vote for 2666. I'm planning to read it this summer, and I'd be interested in your take on it.

Anonymous said...

I vote for Max Frei because I've heard the buzz, but I don't know anything about it!

Anonymous said...

The Stranger sounds interesting and I'm curious to know how a Russian sensation translates.

drxray said...

2666 please

Anonymous said...

Blood of Ambrose

David said...

2666 sounds like the most interesting out of that list.

moonrat said...

hmm, i say THE STRANGER.

Harry Connolly said...

Blood of Ambrose

Lou Anders said...

If only I could vote...

Luis said...

My vote is for 2666. The "literary" world has praised it very much. I'd like to know how a "normal" reader would rate it. By this I DON'T MEAN that Pat's reviews are below those of "serious" critics, in fact, I have read several books based solely on Pat's recommendation.

Steph said...

I think Blood of Ambrose sounds most interesting, with The Stranger a close second.

Adam Whitehead said...

It would be nice if the book that won the vote did so on its own merits and not because other blogs had organised some kind of bloc voting. But that's the Internet for you ;-)