Bestselling SFF debuts of 2008

According to Bookscan numbers, the bestselling SFF debut in the USA was Russell Kirkpatrick's Across the Face of the World (Canada, USA, Europe). It was followed by Brent Weeks' The Way of Shadows (Canada, USA, Europe).

In the UK, the bestselling SFF debut turned out to be Brent Weeks' The Way of Shadows. Orbit came out on top on both sides of the pond!

Congrats to both winners!:-)

Win a copy of C. S. Friedman's WINGS OF WRATH and FEAST OF SOULS

I have five copies of C. S. Friedman's Wings of Wrath (Canada, USA, Europe) for you to win, compliments of the nice folks at Daw Books. Even better, if you haven't read the first volume in The Magister trilogy, Feast of Souls (Canada, USA, Europe), Daw Books will throw in a copy of the mass market paperback to sweeten the deal even more!

The rules are the same as usual. You need to send an email at reviews@(no-spam)gryphonwood.net with the header "WRATH." Remember to remove the "no spam" thingy.

Second, your email must contain your full mailing address (that's snail mail!), otherwise your message will be deleted. You must also tell me if you are gunning for both titles, or just for Wings of Wrath.

Lastly, multiple entries will disqualify whoever sends them. And please include your screen name and the message boards that you frequent using it, if you do hang out on a particular MB.

Good luck to all the participants!

Will wonders never cease???

Because it's -33°C with the windchill and I need a laugh. . .

Speculative Horizons: Update

Inasmuch as possible, I will try to keep you guys updated on the anthology front.

Hal Duncan was the first author to submit a short story, one that I really liked right off the bat. He recently sent me the revised version, and we now had to pass it through the folks at Subterranean Press for a final okay. As you know, Hal can write some fucked up stuff, so I was hoping that they would get into it as much as I did.

Well, the Subpress powers that be found a lot to love about Duncan's "The Death of a Love." Bill emailed me to say that it was a damn good story!

One down, and still four more short stories to go. But C. S. Friedman, L. E. Modesitt, jr., Tobias S. Buckell, and Brian Ruckley now have their work cut out for them -- at least if they plan on topping Duncan's "The Death of a Love."

Truth be told, if they all submit pieces as good as Hal's, they would make my job a lot easier!:p

A while back, Bill asked me to start thinking about an artist for the cover art. Though it's too early to start thinking about the cover (what with us only having one short story to consider at the moment), I did mention that I wouldn't mind having either Michael Komarck or Vincent Chong doing it!;-)

Stay tuned for more. . .

Win a copy of Ian McDonald's CYBERABAD DAYS

I have five copies of Ian McDonald's latest, Cyberabad Days, up for grabs, courtesy of the cool folks at Pyr. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Here's the blurb:

Ian McDonald’s River of Gods—called a “masterpiece” by Asimov’s Science Fiction and praised by the Washington Post as “a major achievement from a writer who is becoming one of the best SF novelists of our time”—painted a vivid picture of a near future India, 100 years after independence. It revolutionized SF for a new generation by taking a perspective that was not European or American. Nominated for the Hugo Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and winning the BSFA Award, the rich world of the novel has inspired McDonald to revisit its milieu in a series of short stories, all set in the world of River of Gods.

Cyberabad Days is a triumphant return to the India of 2047, a new, muscular superpower of one and a half billion people in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity, and a population where males outnumber females four to one. India herself has fractured into a dozen states from Kerala to the headwaters of the Ganges in the Himalayas.

Cyberabad Days is a collection of seven stories, one Hugo nominee and one Hugo winner among them, as well as a thirty-one-thousand-word original novella. As with everything Ian McDonald does, it is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.

The rules are the same as usual. You need to send an email at reviews@(no-spam)gryphonwood.net with the header "CYBERABAD." Remember to remove the "no spam" thingy.

Second, your email must contain your full mailing address (that's snail mail!), otherwise your message will be deleted.

Lastly, multiple entries will disqualify whoever sends them. And please include your screen name and the message boards that you frequent using it, if you do hang out on a particular MB.

Good luck to all the participants!

Muse of Fire

I've been intrigued by this novella ever since I heard about it on the Subterranean Press website months ago. I mean, Dan Simmons mixing up science fiction and William Shakespeare's body of work. I had no idea how it would turn out, but I knew I needed to read Muse of Fire.

The story occurs in a distant future in which mankind's first contact with a powerful alien race ended humanity's rule of self. The scattered human remnants now live under the yoke of a Gnostic hierarchy that controls their existence. Earth has been drained of its oceans and is now populated by the dead brought back by the Archon funeral barges. The Earth's Men, a wandering theater troupe dedicated to presenting the works of Shakespeare, stop to perform Much Ado About Nothing on a planet that's a regular stop on their intergalactic tour. But when a group of Archons, members of the ruling caste, join the rest of the audience, the actors are acutely aware that a lot appears to revolve on the quality of their performance. Soon, the Earth's Men are set on a path on which much more than their lives seems to be at stake.

The tale is told in a first person narrative, the sole POV of Wilbr, a young actor. Although the troupe is comprised of several other actors, the single POV format works quite well overall. I don't think that multiple narrative voices would have worked out in a novella-length project such as this. Granted, I would have loved to learn more about Aglaé, Heminges, and the Muse, yet Wilbr's POV suffices to convey all that the readers need to know to enjoy the book.

Muse of Fire contains many of the traditional scifi tropes such as first contact and alien encounters, fascinating worlds, unfathomable technologies, etc. Yet at its heart lies a more spiritual element which is seldom explored in science fiction works. Hence, though I enjoyed the interesting worlds and aliens Simmons came up with, I wish the author would have focused a bit more on the four stages of humanity's eternal evolution and the four levels of their masters. I was engrossed by anything that had to do with the Archons, the Poimen, the Demiurgos, and Abraxas, the ultimate God of Opposites.

Dan Simmons obviously loves and respects William Shakespeare. I was pleasantly surprised by how easily he was able to incorporate the Bard's classics in this novella.

Muse of Fire is a solid effort; something special and quite unique. Already soldout (though you should be able to find a few copies by visiting some online retailers), hopefully this novella will find its way into another, more widely distributed edition, for it deserves to be read and enjoyed by all fans of quality science fiction stories.

The final verdict: 7.5/10

For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe, and http://www.subterraneanpress.com/.

Neil Gaiman contest winner!

I'm going to make someone VERY happy today! What better way to begin 2009 than by getting your hands on the gorgeous Subterranean Press limited edition of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (Canada, USA, Europe, and http://www.subterraneanpress.com/).

The winner is:

- Amanda Teague, from New York, New York, USA

Thanks to all the participants!

Musical Interlude

Jay-Z Feat Memphis Bleek - Do My
Uploaded by SeenMyBrain

This selection shows that Pat is in dire need to get wasted and spend a night on a busy dance floor with his party friends! Methinks it's high time for some R&R!

As with any gangster hip hop/rap track, this one contains lyrics brimming with eloquence such as:

Tell me all about you past
Let me console your soul while I pump your ass

But man, the beat is DOPE!

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (January 6th)

In hardcover:

Stephenie Meyer's The Host maintains its position at number 5.

Stephen King's Just After Sunset maintains its position at number 6. This marks the novel's seventh week on the NYT list. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Orson Scott Card's Ender in Exile is up three spots, finishing its seventh week on the charts at number 25. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Charlaine Harris' From Dead to Worse is up three positions, ending its fourteenth week on the bestseller list at number 32.

Neal Stephenson's Anathem makes a return at number 34. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

In paperback:

Stephen King's Duma Key is up one position, ending its tenth week on the prestigious list at number 8.

Tobias S. Buckell's Halo: The Cole Protocol is down four spots, finishing its fifth week on the charts at number 13 (trade paperback). For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Charlaine Harris' seven Sookie Stackhouse novels rank from number 4 to number 22.

Win a copy of Dan Simmons' DROOD

Thanks to the folks at Hachette Book Group, I have three copies of Dan Simmons' upcoming Drood (Canada, USA, Europe) up for grabs!

Here's the blurb:

On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens--at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world--hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever.

Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something more terrifying?

Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens's life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens's friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), DROOD explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting, and utterly original, DROOD is Dan Simmons at his powerful best.

The rules are the same as usual. You need to send an email at reviews@(no-spam)gryphonwood.net with the header "DROOD." Remember to remove the "no spam" thingy.

Second, your email must contain your full mailing address (that's snail mail!), otherwise your message will be deleted.

Lastly, multiple entries will disqualify whoever sends them. And please include your screen name and the message boards that you frequent using it, if you do hang out on a particular MB.

Good luck to all the participants!

Deconstructing Urban Fantasy

In the wake of Lilith Saintcrow's "Angry Chicks in Leather" articles of a few weeks back, NYT bestselling author Carrie Vaughn offers her own two cents on the subject.

Here's an excerpt:

So. In urban fantasy (again, using the current popular marketing definition), we have violent, kick-ass heroines who are also subject to insecurities and exhibit several other problematic traits that bring their real, functional strength into question. This genre is admired for its strong women characters — that’s often the reason given for its appeal and popularity. But is the genre also guilty of undermining some of those strengths?

This is where I put my academic hat on. I’ve been studying urban fantasy with kind of a morbid fascination because I think it says something about our culture. When the same tropes appear over and over again, and are this popular, it means something.

Click on this link to read the whole piece.

By the way, I'm about 75 pages into Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Canada, USA, Europe) and I'm really enjoying it! Kitty eloping in Las Vegas! This has trouble written all over it!;-)

Wings of Wrath

Following a science fiction stint during which she wrote This Alien Shore (Canada, USA, Europe) and The Wilding, acclaimed SFF author C. S. Friedman returned to fantasy in 2007 with the release of the excellent Feast of Souls (Canada, USA, Europe). To my consternation, to this day the first installment in The Magister trilogy remains one of the genre's best-kept secrets. How a novel by the author who brought us the celebrated Coldfire trilogy could remain so underrated, I'll never know.

Though Feast of Souls flew low under the radar of a majority of SFF fans, the book nevertheless set the bar quite high for the forthcoming sequels. I had lofty expectations for Wings of Wrath, and I was uncertain whether or not Friedman could deliver. Well, not only did she deliver, but C. S. Friedman wrote what will likely be one of the very best fantasy novels of the year!

Following the events chronicled in Feast of Souls, Kamala is now being hunted down by the Magisters for killing one of their brethren. Disguised as a common witch, she must hide the truth behind her magical powers. Aware that even the Magisters fear the mystical barrier known as the Wrath, Kamala flees to the northern Protectorates. Yet all is not as it should be in the north, as the Wrath -- humanity's only protection and last line of defense against the Souleaters, an enemy that once brought civilization on the brink of doom -- appears to be weakening. The Guardians of the Wrath dispatch Rhys to the Alkali Protectorate to discover what afflicts the Spears. When Rhys is captured during his investigation, Kamala is forced to rescue him. Together, they'll uncover the truth about the disruption in the Wrath, a discovery which risks to shake the Guardians' faith to the core of its foundations. In the High Kingdom, as surviving royal heir the monk Salvator Aurelius must claim the vacant throne. Soon afterward, allies and enemies alike will seek to test their new monarch's mettle. And in the southern land of Sankara, the Witch-Queen Siderea will be offered the means to strike back at the Magisters who used and then abandoned her to her fate. But such a gift bears a terrible price, one that would make her something other than human. Against such a turbulent backdrop, mankind must now prepare for the return of the dreaded Souleaters.

Feast of Souls hinted that it would be the case, but Wings of Wrath proves that The Magister trilogy is vaster in scope than anything Friedman has written to date. The author expands on the back story, and numerous revelations regarding the Wrath, the Spears, the lyr blood, the Guardians and the Protectorates, the Souleaters, and much, much more make this book resound with depth. And there are countless secrets left to uncover, which makes it hard to believe that there's only one volume left to tie up all the loose ends. The worldbuilding is intriguing and rich in details, even though every answer provided raises yet more questions. Friedman has that damnable tendency to keep you begging for more!

Characterization has always been Friedman's forte, and once again she doesn't disappoint. Kamala was the principal protagonist in Feast of Souls, yet the sequel focuses a lot more on a number of secondary characters. To a certain extent, and I'm persuaded that this was meant to be one of the novel's themes, the storylines concentrate on three female characters fighting back to regain a measure of control in their lives. There's Kamala, who endeavors to find ways to gain some leverage against the Magisters. With her soulfire all be snuffed out, Siderea must find a way to prolong her life and exact her vengeance on those who left her to die alone and forgotten. And there's Gwynofar, who fights to protect what's left of her family, even though her son's Penitent faith makes this undertaking incredibly difficult. Working behind Salvator's back, she seeks to maintain stability in the High Kingdom. And as a lyra, she is sworn to protect the world from the foretold return of the Souleaters. All those POVs are well-executed, particularly that of the Witch-Queen, whose storyline truly takes off in this book. This insightful fleshing out of these three women provide a lot of character growth and adds another dimension that what was already a superior read. The other main protagonist is Rhys, Guardian of the Wrath, who is probably the most interesting character of the cast. Once more, Friedman offers us a few tantalizing glimpses of the secret lives of Magisters Colivar and Ramirus, with hopefully more revelations to come in the third volume.

It's now evident that the author laid a lot of groundwork for the rest of this trilogy in Feast of Souls. With that done, Wings of Wrath is paced perfectly. One moves from chapter to chapter, always wanting a bit more.

À la George R. R. Martin, the author demonstrates yet again that she has no qualms about killing off important characters. Try not to get too attached to any of them. . .

As was the case with its predecessor, Friedman closes the show in Wings of Wrath with a bang. And again, though satisfying in every sense of the word, she leaves the door open for so much more that it makes you eager for the grand finale.

Wings of Wrath is C. S. Friedman writing at the top of her form. This series is head and shoulders above most of the competition on the market today. And if the final installment lives up to its promise, we may soon refer to the Coldfire trilogy as that other fantasy series written by Friedman. Yes, it's that damn good.

Hard to put down. Wings of Wrath is definitely one of the fantasy books to read in 2009!

The final verdict: 9/10

For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman contest winners!

Our winners will have the opportunity to see for themselves whether or not this is the non- Dragonlance series that will put Weis and Hickman back on the map. They will each receive a complimentary copy of Bones of the Dragon (Canada, USA, Europe), courtesy of the folks at Tor Books.

The winners are:

- Jay Franco, from Astoria, New York, USA

- Jackie Morgan, from Madison Heights, Michigan, USA

- Kevin Pearson, from Rockford, Illinois, USA (KevinPearson on bookspotcentral.com)

Thanks to all the participants!

Preditors and Editors Readers' Poll

It has just come to my attention that Pat's Fantasy Hotlist has been nominated as best review site on the Preditors and Editors Readers' Poll this year. Many thanks for that!:-)


If you want to vote or nominate a site, follow this link.


I finished tied for second place last year, which was quite a thrill!

1$ Ebooks from Orbit

This from Orbit:

Orbit – in partnership with a number of major ebook vendors – has launched an innovative promotion offering one ebook for sale each month at the introductory price of $1.00. At the end of the promotional month the cost of the ebook returns to its standard price and a new book will be offered at the discount. Details of the promotion are at http://www.onedollarorbit.com/

The promotion will include The Way of Shadows by debut author Brent Weeks, Empress by Karen Miller, as well as classics of science fiction such as Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks.

VP and Publisher of Orbit Tim Holman said: “We believe that this promotion will give readers a great opportunity to discover new writers. Most of our consumer marketing has an online focus, and the digital marketplace offers the perfect platform for price-promotion initiatives such as this. It will be very exciting to see how effective it is. The range of titles chosen for the promotion includes a mix of frontlist and backlist, from both new and established authors, and we will be monitoring the performance of every title very closely.”

Click on the link for more info. The 1$ Ebook for April is Brian Ruckley's Winterbirth.

This is OUR game!!!

The Holidays mean a lot of things to a lot of people. It's the Bowl season for US college football fans. It's the beginning of the playoffs in the NFL.

In Canada, there's a tradition that's now a few decades old: The World Junior Hockey Championships. It's a chance to see the crème de la crème of tomorrow's NHL. The best young talent on the planet all in one place, as countries duke it out for bragging rights.

And this year the tournament was held in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. Canadians are a fractious lot, and there is no such thing as a Canadian identity. Indeed, a majority of Canadians are simply proud not to be American. Hence, there's no unity in any shape or form. God knows my countrymen give me opportunities to be ashamed of being Canadians on an almost weekly basis. . . Especially my French Canadian brothers and sisters, now that the go-gauche québécoise is out in full force, but that's another story. . .

There's only one thing that can truly bring this country together, coast to coast, and that's hockey. This year our boys were gunning for a fifth straight gold medal. And to get there, they had to beat the USA, Russia, and Sweden, all of them hockey powerhouses in their own rights.

They had to come back from behind and show a lot of character to beat the Americans. They scored with barely a few seconds left in the third period to tie the game with the Russians, and then defeated them in a shootout when overtime solved nothing. And tonight, they beat the Swedes 5-1 to capture the gold medal.

Well-done, guys! Once again, you have made us proud to be Canadians!

Someone in the crowd had a banner that said it all about this country: Hockey. . . Nothing else matters!

Happy Birthday Hotlist!

Had I known that this was a special day, I would have prepared myself accordingly. But since I can barely keep track of my own birthday (I know it returns every year at the same date, but what the heck!?!), it's no surprise that I forgot all about this.

I needed to get a membership at a new gym today, for my old one closed down a few weeks back. And after a free week, it was now time to pay. I realized that it was January 5th when I signed the contract.

On January 5th 2005, for want of a better idea, I decided to create a blog. You see, if there had been something good on TV that night, you would probably not be reading this. But because everything on TV sucked that night, I've been wasting technology and polluting the internet for four years now. Do you understand why quality television is important!?!

Since then, I've been heralded as a good reviewer by some and a total shithead by others. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. . . Or maybe I'm really just a dumbass; you never know.

Nearly 175 book reviews, I don't know how many interviews, countless giveaways, more than 914,000 visitors, and over 1.4 million page views later, Pat's Fantasy Hotlist is still around. In an of itself, this longevity is astounding considering how quickly I grow bored with most things. Don't know how long I'll keep doing this, but you can expect more of the same short and pathetic reviews I've been putting out for some time yet!

Man, the Hotlist is 4 years old. . . Who would have thought this blog would last this long and become so popular??? Life is full of surprises!

New Poll: What should I read next?

I'm almost done with C. S. Friedman's Wings of Wrath (Canada, USA, Europe), which by the way should be one of the top fantasy books of 2009, and will soon begin Dan Simmons' Muse of Fire (Canada, USA, Europe, and http://www.subterraneanpress.com/).

As for what comes next, I'm letting you guys decide! Here are the nominees:

- A Fantasy Medley (http://www.subterraneanpress.com/), an anthology featuring short stories by Hobb, Murphy, Armstrong, and Elliot.

- Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald (Canada, USA, Europe), a collection of short stories set in the universe of the novel River of Gods.

- Twelve by Jasper Kent (Canada, USA, Europe), a vampire novel using Napoléon's war with Russia as its backdrop.

- The Books of the South by Glen Cook (Canada, USA, Europe), the second Black Company omnibus.

- The Mystery of Grace by Charles De Lint (Canada, USA, Europe), the author's forthcoming adult novel.

- Getting to Know You by David Masurek (Canada, USA, Europe), a collection of short stories by the author.

R. Scott Bakker contest winners!

A trio of Canucks got lucky this time! They will each receive an autographed copy of R. Scott Bakker's excellent The Judging Eye, compliments of the folks at Penguin Books. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

The winners are:

- Mike Koshel, from Oxdrift, Ontario, Canada

- Jason Poulis, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Jeordhi on asoiaf.westeros.org)

- Ian Schildt, from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Thanks to all the participants!;-)

Win an Advance Reading Copy of L. E. Modesitt, jr.'s IMAGER

Since I received an extra ARC of Modesitt's opening chapter in The Imager Portfolio, Imager (Canada, USA, Europe), I'm giving someone the opportunity to be among the first to read it prior to its release date!:-)

Here's the blurb:

Imager is the beginning of a whole new fantasy in a whole new magical world from the bestselling creator of Recluce. Although Rhennthyl is the son of a leading wool merchant in L’Excelsis, the capital of Solidar, the most powerful nation on Terahnar, he has spent years becoming a journeyman artist and is skilled and diligent enough to be considered for the status of master artisan—in another two years. Then, in a single moment, his entire life is transformed when his master patron is killed in a flash fire, and Rhenn discovers he is an imager—one of the few in the entire world of Terahnar who can visualize things and make them real.

He must leave his family and join the Collegium of Imagisle. Imagers live separately from the rest of society because of their abilities (they can do accidental magic even while asleep), and because they are both feared and vulnerable. In this new life, Rhenn discovers that all too many of the “truths” he knew were nothing of the sort. Every day brings a new threat to his life. He makes a powerful enemy while righting a wrong, and begins to learn to do magic in secret. Imager is the innovative and enchanting opening of an involving new fantasy story.

The rules are the same as usual. You need to send an email at reviews@(no-spam)gryphonwood.net with the header "PORTFOLIO." Remember to remove the "no spam" thingy.

Second, your email must contain your full mailing address (that's snail mail!), otherwise your message will be deleted.

Lastly, multiple entries will disqualify whoever sends them. And please include your screen name and the message boards that you frequent using it, if you do hang out on a particular MB.

Good luck to all the participants!