GUEST POST: Ernst Dabel on his Upcoming Novel ALBINO...

This April, Ernst J. Dabel will release his new novel, Albino—a self-published YA ebook with distribution through Sea Lion Books. To help promote Albino, Ernst J. Dabel himself had a few things to say about his new book:

"Many years ago, my brothers and I were driving back from a convention. We were all exhausted but in good spirits. We had listened to a lot of music, but now turned it off so we could discuss some of the things we could do to contribute to society. We went back and forth on many things, some things we only briefly touched upon them, while others we debated for many hours in hopes of discovering a new way of bringing a happy heart and a beaming smile to each one of our fans. Well one of the topics that came up was by my brother Les, who’s now my agent. He said to us that he knew something that he felt had never been written before.

I was of course very curious, because at the time, my dream of becoming an author had not blossomed yet, but had only been a tiny seed. And I was very eager to write something that others had not delved into yet. Woodland creatures, he told us, living in the forests, not dressed up in human clothes and weapons as most of the cartoons portrayed, but dressed in grass, leaves, bark, flowers and other things from the wild. Their weapons would be made of wood, bone and other natural things but not metal.

Before I could open my mouth to respond to his comment however, he stopped me. Maybe he saw the look on my face. Woodland creatures! All the stories about them were for little kids, adults, if they were not parents, were not interested in reading such things. I was ready to move on to the next topic when he told me it had to be about woodland creatures that adults would not mind reading about. Then Les smiled. My brain processed his words and then the light bulb went on and I smiled back at him. He knew exactly what I was thinking, and he reminded me that I had always told him how J.R.R. Tolkien had written about elves, dwarves, and other fantasies, which in his time, were considered fit only for kids and not for respectable adults, and had written a story that both young and old alike has fallen in love with over the years. Now he told me, I might as well take woodland creatures, which in my time, is considered fit only for kids and not respectable adults, and write a story that young and old alike would fall in love with.

I didn’t need to hear any more. I was sold on the idea and so I locked myself in my room and wrote Albino in three weeks, pouring my soul into the work. When I finally finished and looked in the mirror, I was like Tom Hanks from Castaway with the wild hair and unkempt beard, lol (grins). It was the most grueling three weeks of my entire life.

I found an article as I was writing this blog post and I wanted to share it:

J.R.R. Tolkien, claimed in another lecture a couple of years later, entitled “On Fairy-Stories,” that “there is no true end to any fairy-tale” (Monsters 153). As if to prove his point, Tolkien took the Beowulf tale and reworked it: first as a children's story called The Hobbit, published in 1937, and then as “a children's book for adults” (Stirling 15), i.e. The Lord of the Rings, in 1954-5. The critics were confounded, especially since adults read the latter work; again and again, it seemed. What's more, in a major British poll conducted by the Waterstones book chain and Channel 4 television several years before the millennium ended, “adults” voted the trilogy the book of the century. To add insult to injury, the Folio Society1 decided they would check what readers of “serious” books thought, and yet again Tolkien came out on top… (If you’d like to read the entire article you can find it HERE.)

Albino will also include various black and white illustrations. I believe they will give a sense of how vast and complex this world of Nothengarrd, which Albino stumbles into, really is. Separating east from west is a large river of hundreds of thousands of living snakes, which flows from north to south in an endless flow. Some characters, aside from Albino, include the raccoon Lutador and his mother Dominirendlutador who are both dressed in banana peels; the mouse king Brannherr dressed in the flower petals of a rose sitting on his wooden throne and all of his scions who also dress in various flower-petals; Velhaco, the vain mouse prince dressed in the wings of butterflies; the fire ant Unos and his generals from the hellish desert of Arido dressed in outfits made from mud; and many others.

In the end, Albino does to woodland creatures what Lord of the Rings did for fantasy back in Tolkien’s time. In other words Albino takes woodland creatures into a story that even adults would care to read ;)"

OFFICIAL ALBINO SYNOPSIS: The white mouse Albino always believed that he would live with the old farmer William Springer forever, eating Cheddar cheese and enjoying life at the farm. But after he is kidnapped by the street urchin Darl and violently thrown into a raging river to drown, he wakes up in the middle of a strange and mysterious forest and his life is changed forever as he finds himself in a world unlike anything he could ever imagine.

Aided by an odd crow, he begins an adventure filled with action, danger, and ultimately a final confrontation against his worst nightmares.

The ancient and cruel rats called the Ma’aldee are on the move, while the Spiritual Guardians of the Land whisper in fear and dread of the coming of Emperor Loucura, Lord of the Ma'aldee.

Only Albino has the power to save the Land...

ABOUT E.J. DABEL:

Ernst J. Dabel is the President and co-owner of Dabel Brothers Productions, a publishing company specializing in comics and graphic novels. Ernst’s company has adapted novels by major authors such as Dean Koontz, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Orson Scott Card, Raymond E. Feist, R.A. Salvatore, Patricia Briggs, Robert Silverberg, Tad Williams, and others. Albino is his second novel after Pantheons.

The Limits of Fantasy Inspired by History: "The Kings of Morning" by Paul Kearney (by Liviu Suciu)

After two wonderful reinterpretations of classical events - The Ten Thousand and Corvus - I was both having great expectations and great doubts about the logical conclusion of the series in "The Kings of Morning".

Expectations because I really like how Paul Kearney's writes and his Ten Thousand were the best in modern fiction (and I read a few other reinterpretations from Michael Curtis Ford and Valerio Manfredi), while Corvus managed to dispel my original doubts and create a Macht analog of Alexander and a unifying war that worked.

Doubts because as opposed to both Xenophon's campaign (The Ten Thousand) and Philip and Alexander Greek wars (Corvus), I read a ton about Alexander's Asian campaign and his successors wars for that matter, most notable recent such being God of War, the masterpiece of Christian Cameron, and the fantasy-nal reinterpretation of Alexander's aftermath by Jo Graham in Stealing Fire, part of her wonderful "Numinous World" series.

And the doubts proved founded since The Kings of Morning did not really work for me as it got too close to fraying my suspension of disbelief on two related counts. First the Alexander parallels are too pronounced here for the everybody lives happily ever after stuff and second The Kings of Morning gets very near war as escapism.

The author's skills can disguise a lot of the above, but ultimately this book lacked three dimensions and read too much as clear escapism Hollywood style; this may work in a pure fantasy setting, specially one that does not take itself too seriously, but here with the classical model, the book is found wanting and I could not help feeling that reading God of War and then reading The Kings of Morning is like reading a serious book for adults, followed by a simplified children's one on the same theme.

For good measure I reread Stealing Fire too just too see if/how a fantasy-nal novel can compare and I found it even better on second read with wonderful prose, three dimensional characters depth and subtlety, all which The Kings of Morning sadly lacked.

Overall, if you can take The Kings of Morning on its own, you may enjoy it more, but if the historical parallels dominate, the book is sadly lacking in comparison with what's out there.

Three Fall Titles of Huge Interest, I.M. Banks, J. C. Valtat and D. Weber (by Liviu Suciu)

Iain M. Banks returns to the Culture (or at least that's the internet talk as I have not seen a book synopsis so far) in The Hydrogen Sonata. There is also a rumor that it will be a "big" book, longer than any of the previous Culture novels and of course it shot up to my top of the expected list.

As Use of Weapons at #6 is top sff on my all time favorite list (both as a book and a proxy for the Culture series of course) and Surface Detail and Transition have been top sf (and sff for that matter) of their years for me, it's clear why The Hydrogen Sonata is such a huge awaited novel.

Mr. Banks will soon have a non-sff (non-M) novel out, Stonemouth, but I never found his non-M books (I read 4-5 easily) that much on my taste as they are "very British" and such are always hit-and-miss with me as I grew up on French culture, etc...

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In October, Jean Christophe Valtat will have a new novel out called Luminous Chaos. I loved Aurorarama and the title above suggests a book in the same vein, possibly a sequel or same universe novel, so I got very interested when I heard about it.

We'll see of course and I am even more curious how a second novel coming with very high expectations will read as sometimes novels coming out of nowhere so to speak may seem even more impressive due to that.

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While not unexpected as David Weber has so far kept the one Safehold novel per year schedule, I was still happy to learn that the 6th Safehold novel is on track for September/October and it has as (tentative) title, Midst Toil and Tribulation. You can find the links to all the series reviews in the review of How Firm a Foundation.

This last Safehold novel - #5 to date - has been the weakest imho as the author started repeating himself a little too much without bringing enough new stuff. In general, Mr. Weber tends to repeat and rework stuff from series to series and even book to book, so you can see a few scenes and subplots in various guises, but usually he adds that extra twist or that new angle of looking at - the assassination attempt in By Heresies Distressed which also appears in the upcoming War Maid's Choice in a new guise after appearing first in Heirs of Empire in a different context for example, or the main battle in A Rising Thunder are two recent such examples that come to mind but there are quite a few in his 50+ books work - that the scenes in cause read fresh and exciting.

In How Firm a Foundation though the freshness lacked a little and I hope that Midst Toil and Tribulation will reinvigorate the series with some of those twists the author is justly famed for. I read some speculations and some author comments about the general thrust of MTAT and they are of course not surprising considering how HFAF ended, but there is enough space to twist and turn...

Scarecrow Returns by Matthew Reilly (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Author Website

Read an excerpt HERE

Order the book HERE (US and UK)

Watch book trailer HERE

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Matthew Reilly was born and brought up in Sydney, Australia. He studied law at the University of New South Wales and wrote his first two books while being a student. He self published his first book which lead to his eventual publication by Pan Macmillan. He is a cricket aficionado as well as a movie memorabilia collector. One of his prize items is a DeLorean DMC-12 and other items from the Star Wars and Indian Jones franchises.

OFFICIAL BLURB: At an abandoned Soviet base in the Arctic, a battle to save all life on Earth is about to begin... It is a top-secret base known only as Dragon Island. A long-forgotten relic of the Cold War, it houses a weapon of terrible destructive force, a weapon that has just been re-activated...

When Dragon Island is seized by a brutal terrorist force calling itself the Army of Thieves, the fate of the world suddenly hangs in the balance. But there are no crack units close enough to get to Dragon island in time to stop them from setting off the weapon. Except, that is, for a small equipment-testing team up in the Arctic led by a Marine captain named Shane Schofield, call-sign SCARECROW.

It's not a strike team; just a handful of Marines and civilians. It's not equipped to attack a fortified island held by a small army. But it will go in anyway, because someone has to, THE ULTIMATE HERO IS BACK, FACING THE ULTIMATE ARMY OF VILLAINS!

FORMAT/INFO: Scarecrow Returns is 359 pages long, divided over seven section (Phases) and a prologue, each section is further divided into several small chapters for a rough final count of hundred-plus chapters. Narration is in the third-person via various characters such as Shane “Scarecrow” Schofield, Gunnery sergeant Gena “Mother” Newman, Dr. Vasily Ivanov, Jeff Hartigan, Veronique Champion, Hammerhead, Zack Weinberg, The Lord of Anarchy, David Fairfax, corporal Billy Thompson and a couple other characters. Scarecrow Returns is the fourth book in the Shane “Scarecrow” Schofield series.

January 3, 2012 marked the North American hardback and e-book publication of Scarecrow Returns via Simon and Schuster. The UK version was called Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves (See image below) and was published in both Hardcover and e-book format on February 2, 2012 via Orion

ANALYSIS: Matthew Reilly’s story to publication is one as wondrous as one of his books. Borrowing money from his parents to publish his debut book and then doing his own publicity and selling the book to local bookstores was quite a task. His book then caught the attention of a publishing persona and based on the potential seen in the book, lead to him being offered a two book contract. The first of those two books was Ice Station & since then Matthew Reilly has never looked back. I happened upon his books when I was starting out as a reader and was enamored by his adventure-laced, action-packed thrillers. However in the last few years, I was disheartened by his Jack West Junior thriller series and they remain the least liked among all his books with his fanbase. When he announced that his next book was going to be a return to his most beloved character, I was ecstatic and wanted to see whether he would be able to top the poignant finale of Scarecrow[3rd book].

I believe a bit of background is required before I begin the review, the first three Scarecrow books have taken place in such varied locations such as Antartica, Utah desert and pan-global race. The first book had Scarecrow saving his team, the second one his nation and third one the entire world. With such a progression and with certain events taking place in the third book, most fans felt that the series had come to its natural conclusion and it would require a herculean effort from the author to write a fourth book to continue the series. Often authors return to characters best left alone and the way this story starts, I got that feeling but before it could take root, Matthew spun his magic. Also on a side note this is book four and therefore not the ideal place to start reading the series as various ennui of the past books have been revealed.

The story begins with a series of reports detailing certain events that herald the ascent of the army of thieves. The scene quickly then shifts to a little known Arctic island called Dragon Island, wherein previous Russian cold war experiments have left a weapon of sorts which has been overtaken by the army and its deranged leader. Calling himself the Lord of Anarchy, their leader announces his intentions of rescaling the world’s current power scenario and activates the weapon which will detonate in a little over five hours. The team closest to dragon island is a civilian one lead by Shane Schofield who are testing some equipment. They are ordered to do whatever it takes to sabotage the detonation process. Thus begins the return of Scarecrow which will see him and his team fight foes on a magnitude beyond their imagination and stop a global genocide within five hours.

The book is a kind of fresh start for the main character and the author’s decision to have the action centered in another icy location (akin to the events of the first book) was a meaningful one. Also it was all the way to the other side of the pole and this time around, there are fewer recurring characters from the previous books. Matthew Reilly’s books are like popcorn blockbusters wherein there are a ton of action-packed sequences, cheesy one-liners, twisty plots and overall a fun feeling when you finish the book. Perhaps when it comes to these type of thrillers he has no equal. This book has his trademark signature sequences, wherein action and chaos unfolds over pages and the heroes manage to live by some insane idea which just has the right amount of luck and skill to make it work. The book’s plot doesn’t just have a single thread but consists of atleast three-four threads which continue to unfurl on their own and later on unite to form an exciting plot. For the returning reader there are various nods and connections to the previous books which continue to strengthen the cohesiveness of the overall series.

Previously on reading a couple of Matthew Reilly’s books, a reviewer had remarked that he doesn’t really give his characters any space to breathe or any time to grow as his books have frequent and gruesome character deaths. This characteristic is present this time around as well and what’s more there are quite a few deaths in this one. Perhaps the author has introduced a sense of seriousness with his choices in the third book and this time around also there are a few things by which the author reinforces his intentions. The biggest guessing game for the readers has been as to where and when Mother will bite the bullet and the author has certainly hinted at it in the past books and he continues that game over here as well but I’m not going to tell you what happens to her. Lastly this book is the most introspective of all the Scarecrow books for reasons which will be apparent to readers of the previous books and the author quite wonderfully plays on that thread showcasing a wounded & perhaps mentally unstable protagonist. This introspective element is also shined on a couple of other recurring characters however the main focus as always is Scarecrow.

With this book, the author showcases that his previous series was a not an indicator of him losing his touch, there’s plenty left in his imagination to wow his fans all over again. I must also point out a few things before I go on, these books have to be counted as pure entertainment, nothing more and nothing less! While Matthew’s writing talents have bought a smile to many a fan, his books have left plenty unsatisfied. Readers looking for a deep nuanced, character driven read will not find it here; these books are the equivalent of Michael Bay films if they had some semblance of a plot to go along with the action. You can expect simple comedy and the thrills associated with cliffhanger chapter endings but as always at the back of your mind, you know that the hero somehow makes it. Predictability of the plot is not to be taken for granted but predictability of the protagonist’s survival is a given. Characterization is also somewhat shallow as most characters can be easily divided into the good & evil camps, though the author springs a few surprises from time to time. This book has one of the most endearing non-human characters a robot called Bertie & I’m hoping readers will get to see more of Bertie in the future as well. Lastly for first time readers this book might not be the best place to start as a lot of surprises of the past three books are revealed but this is required to explain many a scenario and character interactions in the book.

CONCLUSION: Matthew Reilly triumphantly returns to the type of stories which have earned him fans on a global level, combining trademark action sequences with stereotypical dialogue but with a greater emotional quotient, Scarecrow Returns manages to give the readers an excellent read. Fans of his earlier books can be assured that they will find what they have been missing for the past few years and this book heralds a new direction for our favorite marine. Give Scarecrow Returns a read and discover why Matthew Reilly is the unmatched master of the most imaginative action-thrillers ever written.

Spotlight on March Books

This month we are featuring 30 books. There are more than twice as many new sff and related releases this month in traditional publishing not to speak of the countless indies from Amazon and Smashwords but we are limiting ourselves to books that will be reviewed here or are similar with such. For the full schedule of March 2012 titles known to us, you can consult the Upcoming Releases page.

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 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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“Killing Ghost” by Christopher Ransom. Release Date: March 2012. Published by Cemetery Dance. (HF / US Debut).

“Intrusion” by Ken MacLeod. Release Date: March 1, 2012. Published by Orbit UK. (SF).

“The Best SF & Fantasy of the Year: Vol. 6” edited by Jonathan Strahan. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by Night Shade Books.

“A Rising Thunder” by David Weber. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by Baen. (SF).

“Intruder” by C.J. Cherryh. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by DAW. (SF).

“Bridge of Dreams” by Anne Bishop. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by Roc. (FAN).

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“The Drowning Girl” by Caitlin R. Kiernan. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by Roc. (FAN).

“Jane Carver of Waar” by Nathan Long. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by Night Shade Books. (SF).

“The Pillars of Hercules” by David Constantine. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by Night Shade Books. (FAN).

“And Blue Skies From Pain” by Stina Leicht. Release Date: March 6, 2012. Published by Night Shade Books. (FAN).

“Point and Shoot” by Duane Swierczynski. Release Date: March 7, 2012. Published by Mulholland Books. (MISC).

“Arcadia” by Lauren Grof. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by Voice (MISC).

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“Chrysanthe” by Yves Meynard. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by Tor. (FAN).

“Wide Open” by Deborah Coates. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by Tor. (FAN).

“The Games” by Ted Kosmatka. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by Del Rey. (SF).

“The Company of the Dead” by David Kowalski. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by Titan Books. (MISC).

“Hide Me Among The Graves” by Tim Powers. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by William Morrow. (MISC).
“The Vanishers” by Heidi Julavits. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by Doubleday. (MISC).

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“The Book of Lost Fragrances” by M.J. Rose. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by Atria. (MISC).
“Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright” by Justine Saracen. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by Bold Strokes Books. (MISC).
“The Steel Seraglio” by Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey. Release Date: March 13, 2012. Published by ChiZine Publications. (MISC).

“Son in Sorrow” by Meilin Miranda. Release Date: March 20, 2012. Published by Sans Culotte Press. (FAN).

“The Thief” by Fuminori Nakamura. Release Date: March 20, 2012. Published by Soho Books. (MISC).

“Edge of Dark Water” by Joe R. Lansdale. Release Date: March 25, 2012. Published by Mulholland Books. (MISC).

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“The Outcast Blade” by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. Release Date: March 26, 2012. Published by Orbit. (FAN).
“The Master of Heathcrest Hall” by Galen Beckett. Release Date: March 27, 2012. Published by Del Rey. (FAN).

“The Alchemist of Souls” by Anne Lyle. Release Date: March 27, 2012. Published by Angry Robot. (SF).

“Age of Aztec” by James Lovegrove. Release Date: March 27, 2012. Published by Solaris. (SF).

“A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel — Volume One” by Daniel Abraham, George R.R. Martin and Tommy Patterson. Release Date: March 27, 2012. Published by Bantam.

“Costume Not Included” by Matthew Hughes. Release Date: March 27, 2012. Published by Angry Robot. (UF).