* A great review from The Book Smugglers on The Siren Depths
The world-building is unquestionably well-established and thought-through, the Raksura a wholly different species without being completely alien.
It also features a matriarchal society of completely badass women, a different type of Consort that doesn’t mind being protected AND saved by his Queen but who wishes he can be more proactive, friendship bonds, reasoned and negotiated romance, as well as moments of pain and loss mingled with beauty and inspiration.
As I mentioned on here before, since the publisher has let The Cloud Roads go out of print, there won't be any more Raksura books. It is still available in ebook and audiobook, for now.
* SF Site is having their annual Vote for your favorite SF/F books of the year.
* Book rec: John R. Fultz' sequel to Seven Princes is out: Seven Kings
Book two in Fultz’s imaginative visionary tale is the epitome of fantasy. His worldbuilding is in a class by itself. His battle scenes explode with inconceivable actions, his imagery and descriptive narrative gives voice and life to his awe-inspiring characters and his heroes and nightmarish creatures give face to his epic tale. The novel stands well alone, but the series should be read in order.
* Weird internet things: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax This kind of thing always seem so incredible, except for the fact that I know of someone who has done this sort of scam several times, for attention, for fun, and for money.
Some Things
January 17th, 9:55
2013-01-17 06:27 pm (UTC)
2013-01-17 07:09 pm (UTC)
Later books in a series are always going to have lower sales than the earlier books, so to keep going, a series has to continually bring in new readers who start from the beginning. The only way to do that is to have the earlier books available. So The Siren Depths is pretty much destined to tank, with the lower sales it will have as the third book in a series, plus not being able to draw in new readers since the first book isn't available. It might still draw in new ebook or audiobook readers, but not being able to pull in new hardcopy readers will hurt the sales very badly.
Also, the publisher letting the first book go out of print before they publish the third book is a pretty good indication that they just aren't interested in publishing any more of my books.
I hope that makes sense. (Sorry, I'm not sure how well I'm explaining it.)
2013-01-17 07:12 pm (UTC)
2013-01-17 07:22 pm (UTC)
2013-01-17 07:23 pm (UTC)
2013-01-17 07:35 pm (UTC)
And I'm glad you enjoyed the books! All this might completely change if good things happen, and I might be able to afford to self-publish another book, but right now there's no telling. I really loved writing these books, though, so I'm trying to emotionally prepare myself for the worst.
2013-01-17 07:37 pm (UTC)
2013-01-17 07:58 pm (UTC)
2013-01-27 01:10 pm (UTC)
2013-01-27 03:44 pm (UTC)
And thanks for reccing it to your friends, that really is the thing that helps the most. :)