2010_In_Books_Liviu

Here I plan to link all posts on the theme of 2010 releases and reads and index this post on the "Best of" widget. As of today January 3, 2011, I plan to add one more post discussing non-2010 releases I read.

I will include the two Goodreads comprehensive lists dealing with this subject, while for some books I tried and did not care for to continue, a general list is HERE, with books I have and may read at any time listed HERE and HERE.

I am including also the final 94-book list of 2010 Anticipated books of which I finally have/took a look at all. Of them 81 are read so far, 11 are on the reading pile and two I decided I do not want to read.

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1. More-or less comprehensive list of books I read in 2010 HERE

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2. 2010 releases read by me whatever the year read in (2009-10-11) HERE
this will be updated automatically as needed

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3. 2010 reads in covers - up to early December actually but close enough; full list 1 above

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4. Top 55 Novels in Covers; top 25 ranked, the next 30 in more or less chronological order of listing them as obtained on Goodreads; to those 30 I would add one more book I finished on December 29

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4a (added Jan 2011). Top Independent Novels of 2010; 6 highly recommended and 6 more discussed

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5. 10 Disappointing 2010 Novels - not necessarily the worst, just the ones I had high expectations which did not pan out; see post for more novels I did not care for but for which expectations were not that high either

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6. Top 5 2010 releases versus Top 5 older novels read in 2010 - up to late November; some changes may appear in my final list of older books read in 2010

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7. Top 10 expected novels from the rest of 2010 - with updated comments as they came; original post in May, updates along the way, final version in October

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8. 2010 at Half

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9. 2010 Anticipated Final Post which I will update anytime I read/discard any of the remaining 11/94 books there still on my pile

Classic Red Stiletto Pumps and Fishnet Stockings....

Happy new year on my High Heels Blog!! Hope all of you had great holidays so far?! For the first post in 2011 - here are some detailed photos of my red high heels show on my last post. They are 4.5 inch classic red stiletto pumps from Seduce. As the are not very high - they are comfortable for partying a whole night out without getting hurting feet. In glossy red leather these pumps are really eye-catchers ;). Especially together with fishnet-stockings and a quite short mini-skirt like I wear it on this photos. It's always nice to see men looking down my legs and then their look gets stuck on my shoes ;). Although my feet look really small on these photos - my shoe-size is a european 37.5 - which is a US 7 (I guess 50% of all women have my size - so I'm actually a "standard woman).

Happy high-heeled New Years Greetings
- Vivian

Spotlight on January Books

This month we are featuring 42 books. There were considerably more new sff releases but we tried to limit ourselves to a reasonable number and we chose the books most in tune with what's discussed here.

The release dates are US unless marked otherwise, though for books released in the UK and US in the same month but on different dates we use the earliest date without comment and they are first edition unless noted differently. The dates are on a best known basis so they are not guaranteed; same about the edition information. Since information sometimes is out of date even in the Amazon/Book Depository links we use for listings, books get delayed or sometimes even released earlier, we would truly appreciate if you would send us an email about any listing with incorrect information.

Sometimes a cover image is not available at the time of the post and also sometimes covers change unexpectedly so while we generally use the Amazon one when available and cross check with Google Images, the ultimate bookstore cover may be different.

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“Agatha H. and the Airship City” by Phil Foglio & Kaja Foglio. January 1, 2011.
“Demonstorm” by James Barclay. January 1, 2011 (US Debut).
“Cowboy Angels” by Paul J. McAuley. January 1, 2011 (US Debut).
“Tempest’s Legacy” by Nicole Peeler. January 3, 2011.
“The Lost Gate” by Orson Scott Card. Release Date: January 4, 2011.
“House Name” by Michelle West. Release Date: January 4, 2011.

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“The Soul Mirror” by Carol Berg. Release Date: January 4, 2011.
“Puttering About in a Small Land” by Philip K. Dick. January 4, 2011 (Reprint).
“The Hammer” by K.J. Parker. Release Date: January 5, 2011.
“The Demi-Monde: Winter” by Rod Rees. January 6, 2011.
“Rivers of London” by Ben Aaronovitch. UK Release Date: January 10, 2011.
“Gryphon: New and Selected Stories” by Charles Baxter. January 11, 2011.

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“Across the Universe” by Beth Revis. Release Date: January 11, 2011.
“Timeless” by Alexandra Monir. Release Date: January 11, 2011.
“Warped” by Maurissa Guibord. Release Date: January 11, 2011.
“Harbinger of the Storm” by Aliette de Bodard. UK : January 12, 2011.
“Death's Disciples” by J. Robert King. UK Release Date: January 12, 2011.
“Home Fires” by Gene Wolfe. Release Date: January 18, 2011.

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“Among Others” by Jo Walton. Release Date: January 18, 2011.
“Farlander” by Colin Buchanan. January 18, 2011 (US Debut).
“God's War” by Kameron Hurley. Release Date: January 18, 2011.
“Never Knew Another” by J.M. McDermott. January 18, 2011.
“Of Blood & Honey” by Stina Leicht. Release Date: January 18, 2011.
“The Witch's Daughter” by Paula Brackston. January 18, 2011.

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“The Children of the Lost” by David Whitley. Release Date: January 18, 2011.
“The Cypress House” by Michael Koryta. Release Date: January 24, 2011.
“While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction” by Kurt Vonnegut. January 25, 2011.
“The Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures” by Robert E. Howard. January 25, 2011.
“Bloodshot” by Cherie Priest. Release Date: January 25, 2011.
“The Warlord's Legacy” by Ari Marmell. Release Date: January 25, 2011.

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“The Sworn” by Gail Z. Martin. Release Date: January 25, 2011.
“The Griffin’s Flight” by K.J. Taylor. Release Date: January 25, 2011.
“The Sentinel Mage” by Emily Gee. Release Date: January 25, 2011.
“Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories” edited by John Joseph Adams. January 25, 2011.
“The World House” by Guy Adams. January 25, 2011 (US Debut).
“God of War 2” by Robert E. Vardeman. Release Date: January 25, 2011.

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“Drought” by Pam Bachorz. Release Date: January 25, 2011.
“The Heroes” by Joe Abercrombie. UK Release Date: January 27, 2011.
“The Fallen Blade” by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. January 27, 2011.
“The Alchemist” by Paolo Bacigalupi. Release Date: January 31, 2011.
“The Executioness” by Tobias S. Buckell. Release Date: January 31, 2011.
“Brayan’s Gold” by Peter V. Brett. Release Date: January 31, 2011.

Happy New Year 2011!

As 2011 has been dawning all over the world, we wish everyone:

Happy New Year 2011!

(our regular January Spotlight returns on January 2-3)

"The Hammer" by KJ Parker (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

KJ Parker at Wikipedia
Read KJ Parker' story Amor Vincit Omnia HERE
Order The Hammer HERE
Read FBC Rv of Blue and Gold
Read FBC Rv of The Folding Knife
Read FBC Rv of Purple & Black
Read FBC Rv of A Rich Full Week
Read FBC Rv of The Scavenger Trilogy

INTRODUCTION:Pseudonymous author KJ Parker has made a name in fantasy with 12 novels, 2 long novellas/short novels and 2 short stories of which you can read Amor Vincit Omnia free online at the Subterranean site and get a flavor of the author's work.

I have talked about The Scavenger trilogy, while the standalone The Folding Knife is one of my top five novels of 2010. The author's books share some characteristics: setting in a generic pre-industrial society with Roman/Byzantine overtones and naming conventions, dark humor, detached narration, love of details especially about metal working, sword fighting and pre-industrial engineering, themes of betrayal, civilization versus "barbarians", group of extraordinary friends and family feuds that spill into the larger picture.

The Hammer expresses some of these themes to perfection, using a far-off colony island of an unnamed aristocratic republic whose population is rigidly divided into three: an isolated exiled noble family, the met'Ocs and their patriarch whose shadow looms over the novel, though we mostly see his three sons in action, the subsistence-level farmer colonists who regard the met'Ocs with a mixture of fear, resentment and jealousy and the enigmatic and remote natives who seem to be incomprehensible to the mainlanders and with whom the colonists thinks they have an unspoken truce. Crossing the implied and sometimes formal boundaries, Gignomai, the youngest met'Oc tries to fulfill what he perceives to be his destiny...

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: For readers familiar with KJ Parker's work, The Hammer can be summarized as the family drama of The Fencer series, the driven hero of The Folding Knife and the setup of The Company.

On a big island, there is a small subsistence 70 year old colony of farmers and shopkeepers mostly indentured, taxed and generally kept at that level by Home on the mainland through a charter to The Company which brings them the needed goods in return for large amounts of beef and animal skins/pelts; the colonists are allowed no weapons and no ships.

But on a nearby plateau - The Tabletop - impregnable from 3 parts and walled on the 4th - an exiled noble family from Home, the met'Ocs made their - illegal as far as Home is concerned but nobody bothers since they still have friends in power - estate/fortress and they are armed and pretend to keep Home's traditions, though they are poorer than the colonists in many respects, except in books, some more advanced stuff from Home and weapons; of course most of them are dreaming of being recalled and reinstated if their allies manage to gain control Home. The current generation, third since their exile, consists of 3 brothers and a sister, while their father is the patriarch with absolute powers - including life or death - and their mother imported from Home is negligible.

Stheno(mai) the elder and a huge man is the "farmer" in charge with feeding and clothing them and is continually harried by this or that. Luso(mai) the second son is the hunter/warrior who keeps the peace and leads a "gang" recruited from the no-gooders of the colony with occasional cattle raids - the colonists do not mind that since all cattle is Company's - but sometimes for other stuff like pigs or chickens about which the colonists care but can do little not having guns...
Gignomai the youngest is more or less surplus so he has no definite role which allows him to "break out" often to the colony where his best friend Furio Opello is the son and nephew of the most important men there by some accounts since they run the monopoly store that sells Company's goods.

We see Gig at age 7, mysteriously called "Seven Years Before" when he solves a problem with an animal eating the chickens, at 14 in the "Year When", in charge of some pigs, his "first command" and finally from age 21 on - "Seven Years After" - when he decides to leave Tabletop and make a living for himself away from his weird family; or maybe he has different and more momentous plans...

Then there are the "savages", the original nomadic inhabitants of the island who had so far left the colony in peace. And of course things will never be the same...

The Hammer is more personal and intimate than the author's earlier books and in some sense it is the "cheeriest" of all, though of course the term is relative. The novel also asks some of the questions that the author has been exploring in his fiction: how far does one go for "justice", how far does one go for a "noble cause", can a "bad" person do considerably more "general good" than a "good" person, what is civilization?

The Folding Knife treated the same themes at a more impersonal, state politics level, but here everything is close and personal with no quarter given. The dark humor and superb style of the author are on display continually through the novel, while the twists, turns, jaw dropping moments characteristic of a KJ Parker novel materialize often, sometimes in ways familiar from other novels though with enough of a change to read anew, sometimes in ways that confounded my expectations as a "veteran" KJ Parker reader.

We also have the occasion to meet a remarkable set of characters including a mainland aristo cousin of the met'Ocs who is on a "temporary" trip to avoid trial for "sort-of murdering" her husband as she charmingly puts it to Gig, all for his or at least his family's own good by the way, though understandably said family does not quite see it that way, a shopkeeper who finds himself in charge of more than his store and tries to "do good", an elderly native who is quite weird to say the least and a girl shipped from Home to her uncles on the Island and who dreams to become a doctor in a staunch patriarchal society, though the always enigmatic Gignomai, the good natured Furio and the other two met'Oc brothers are center stage throughout.

While in The Folding Knife, "the knife" was clear from page one though of course its true significance had to wait a little to be uncovered, here "the hammer" is more ambiguous since there are a bunch of them, literal in several incarnations - usual hammer for nails, huge hammer in a forge, hammer of a gun - and figurative that play important roles...

As a big fan of the author's work, I had the highest expectations for The Hammer (A++ and provisional top novel of 2011) and they were surpassed because in addition to the usual great stuff I expected and got - characters, memorable moments, prose style, twists and turns - the novel has great balance and offers a truly complete and satisfying experience you want to revisit often.