THE DROWNING CITY by Amanda Downum
Orbit, 2009, 370 pages, 978-0-316-06904-5, Mass Market Paperback, $7.99

Today I went to Borders with the intention of purchasing Midwinter by Matthew Sturges; after yesterday’s release of the cover art for The Office of Shadow (which is viewable on the Pyr blog), I wanted to go ahead and put the first book in my immediate reading stack.

Unfortunately, Borders’s inventory system is a dirty, dirty liar, because they did not have any copies despite it being “likely” in the store. I meandered about for twenty minutes, checking displays, end-caps, and carts just to be certain that it wasn’t hiding somewhere else. Alas, no luck.

As a result, I went back to the SF/F section and browsed aimlessly to kill another five minutes. I walked by The Drowning City, glanced at it, walked past, then took a step backward and decided to read the blurb. After that I read the first page and quickly decided to buy it.

The Drowning City is the first book in Downum’s The Necromancer Chronicles. Obviously, I can’t say much about it since I haven’t read it yet, but it has spies, pirates, smugglers, and an Imperial government–so many of my favorite fantasy elements. I do love books about intrigue, and I’m interested in seeing what this author manages to do.

A note about the cover–the woman on the front reminds me more than a little of the way the “evil” men were dressed in The Two Towers (and, yes, I just spent thirty minutes looking up that scene before finishing this sentence*). You know, the guys swathed in black with the heavy eyeliner who look vaguely Persian….

In any case, my acquisition of Midwinter was intended to lead into an essay about cover art, but instead you have that random little note about the Lord of the Rings film. Either way, an essay is forthcoming at some point during the week.
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* Actually, this thirty minutes involved a heated competition with my friend about which movie the Frodo-and-Sam-are-captured-by-Faramir scene was in, followed by a second heated competition over which chapter of the movie it was once we figured out it was in The Two Towers. Halfway through this competition I got backhanded in the mouth, and we eventually came to the conclusion that we were both half-right.

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BONESHAKER by Cherie Priest
Tor, 2009, 416 pages, 978-0-7653-1841-1, Trade Paperback, $15.99

I’m convinced that my present schedule–which is out of control and obstructs me from updating as much as I would like–has caused some kind of short circuit in my brain that prevents me from performing basic operations and from remembering things in general. My recent Amazon.com order is an example of this.

Two days ago, I decided to order several books that I’ve had my eye on (which will be discussed further once I actually have these books in my possession); among them was Boneshaker, which I’ve been reading wonderful reviews about for the last week. Therefore, you can imagine my surprise when I received the “your order has shipped” notice only to discover that I never actually put Boneshaker in my cart.

After staring at the screen for about five minutes in complete consternation, I decided that something had to be done about this error as quickly as possible.

Of course the bookstore that I would normally turn to in this kind of situation has become utterly useless to me. Over the last few months, Borders has been focusing more on its sales numbers and less on its selection. I wasn’t particularly surprised to discover that Boneshaker was only available online through this vendor. Thus, my initial search yielded nothing.

So I crossed my fingers and, despite not having much faith that I would find a copy locally on the day of its release, I checked the inventory for Barnes & Noble.

Lo and behold–in a matter of moments Barnes & Noble re-established itself as my reliable ally.

I was able to find three copies of Boneshaker at the local B&N, which more than satisfied me–not only because it was in stock, but also because it was on the shelf on the day it was supposed to be on the shelf. This is rarely ever the case with Borders, nowadays, unless the book is something well-known and serial, like the Dresden Files.

Additionally, I discovered that Barnes & Noble had all of the Haikasoru titles in stock. This was incredibly surprising to me; my little section of Florida isn’t exactly known for its variety of selection when it comes to books, movies, or…well…anything else.

So, with Boneshaker in hand, as well as an adorable birdy notebook and a pencil case with what looks to be Japanese dolls on the front (both for 50% off, I should mention), I managed to leave the store happily with my order error satisfactorily corrected.

Finally, those interested in Boneshaker might like to take a look at Cherie Priest’s interview at The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf blog, which was posted earlier today.

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Viz has done it again.

Which is to say they’ve done something amazing, in my opinion, and it just goes to show how long I’ve been neglecting the major manga publishers when something like this slips by my notice.

Haikasoru is Viz’s new(ish) publishing imprint dedicated to Japanese speculative fiction. The tagline on the website reads “Space Opera. Dark Fantasy. Hard Science.”

Well, I’m in. In fact, I feel an online order coming on any time now.

Foreign SF/F (most notably by Japanese and Hispanic writers) has been an interest of mine for some time, but since it’s nigh impossible to get ahold of such books, I’ve had very little to read in that area. Japanese fiction in particular is difficult because I don’t read Japanese and, therefore, can’t simply import a book or two written in its native language (Spanish fiction I could at least read, though it might take a while to get through an entire book). I can think of very few Japanese science fiction titles (that is to say, novels rather than manga) that have been translated into English. Off the top of my head, I want to include The Crimson Labyrinth by Yusuke Kishi, but that’s really not an SF title at all–more of a survivalist thriller.

Needless to say, I’m excited about this, and I’ve already picked out which book(s) I’ll be ordering first. Their catalogue so far is short, and it shouldn’t be that difficult to catch up. But before I talk about their current line-up, let me point out one thing:

Battle Royale (by Koushun Takami) is being rereleased as a new, revised edition. It will include a new introduction, an interview with the Battle Royale filmmaker, and an afterword by the author. It’s due to release on November 17.

This is definitely on my birthday list. Sure, I have the original release of Battle Royale–I’ve read it and I love it. But who can resist a new edition with new material? Not I.

If you’ve seen and enjoyed the movie, then you must read this book. There’s so much more detail and story to take in. Granted, it’s quite long, and if you’re not accustomed to Japanese names, then you might get a little confused at first–but it’s certainly worth it.

Here are the other books being released by Haikasoru, in order of availability:

All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka–Available Now
Usurper of the Sun by Housuke Nojiri–Available Now
The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa–Available Now
Zoo by Otsuichi–Available Now
Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe, (paperback release)–11.17.09
The Book of Heroes by Miyuki Miyabe — 1.19.10
Yukikaze by Chōhei Kambayashi–1.19.10

Stop by the Haikasoru website for more information and for summarizes of these titles.

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Angry Robot will be making its official UK launch on Saturday, October 10, at the Forbidden Planet Megastore. Everyone is invited, so stop by to meet several Angry Robot authors, including Dan Abnett, Colin Harvey, and Andy Remic; each of these authors will be signing copies of their latest books. You’ll also have the chance to meet the Angry Robot crew: Marc Gascoigne, Lee Harris, and Chris Michaels.

Forbidden Planet Megastore is located at 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London.

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