An evening with Robin Hobb

On Wednesday night last week I had the privelege of attending an evening with Robin Hobb at the Dendy Cinema in Newtown (which won't mean much unless you live in Sydney). It was a paid event, which is pretty unusual in Australia (or so I'm told) outside of conventions, and which caused a minor stir on Twitter. I was happy to cough up the $20.


Robin and me... obviously.



The event included two brief readings, in which Robin particularly wanted to establish the difference between the voices of Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm (her other writing pseudonym - her real name is apparently Margaret Ogden). Robin followed up with a lengthy Q&A that must have run for over an hour. The questions kept on coming and the event organiser had to wrap it up with a few hands still in the air.

Many of Robin's responses were unsurprising, particularly having read interviews online, but I learnt plenty about her process and background. Robin is a believer in the idea of writing what you know, so the fantastic elements of her stories tend to reflect aspects of real life. In some cases the principle is applied very literally - for fans of The Liveship Traders who appreciated the accuracy of the nautical references, it turns out that Robin's husband is a third generation seafarer - and apparently not much has changed in the profession since the begininning.

Of her many answers I particularly enjoyed her comment about magic. She deliberately creates magic that is difficult and unreliable for the simple reason that, riffing off Clarke's Law, any magic that is sufficiently reliable is indistinguishable from science.



Awesome!



As I mentioned on Twitter, a young lady sitting a few seats away from me spent the whole time reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Since she must have paid her $20 for this rare opportunity as well, I can only conclude that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a pretty good book. Maybe I'll go there one day.

Of course the signing was a highlight for me - I picked up some hardcovers especially for the event, knowing Robin would be able to deface them. I'm pretty happy with the results. 



Suvudu Cage Match 2011 - Final Round

I wrote in an earlier post about the very enjoyable Suvudu Cage Match that has been conducted again this year. The competition has reached the final bout! The good news is that voters are taking into account more than just which characters are their favourites, so there is some serious (and therefore hilarious) debate occuring about which characters should be winning.

Some of my all time favourite series were represented in the semi-finals, with Perrin Aybara (The Wheel of Time) going down at the hands of Quick Ben (The Malazan Book of the Fallen) and Vin (Mistborn) coming up trumps against Jon Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire). The final between Vin and Quick Ben should be interesting.

In addition, Suvudu is holding a contest for the best fan write-up of the ever popular 3rd place playoff between Perrin and Jon. The prize is a personalised copy of The Way of Kings from Brandon Sanderson. As per the site:

In order to be considered, please send your Perrin vs. Jon Snow write-up to spectratwitterfb@gmail.com with the subject line “Cage Match 2011 3rd Place.”

Aurealis Awards Announced

The finalists for the Aurealis Awards (Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards) have been announced. The awards of most interest to me are of course those for Fantasy and Science Fiction Novel:

Fantasy Novel

The Silence of Medair, Andrea K Höst

Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson
Stormlord Rising, Glenda Larke
Heart's Blood, Juliet Marillier
Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts

Science Fiction Novel
Song of Scarabaeous, Sara Creasy
Mirror Space, Marianne de Pierres
Transformation Space, Marianne de Pierres

Apparently not a big year for Australian Science Fiction! The bad news is that I have read precisely zero of these books. Time to get my patriotic act together.

For those who wish to see the entire list, including other categories (horror, short story, children's book, etc.) here is a link to the official Aurealis press release: LINK

The Alloy of Law - a new entry in Sanderson's Mistborn world

Mistborn (series review) is one of the most enjoyable series I have read in the last few years, so I was very excited to hear that Brandon Sanderson has penned a new novella set in the same world. Being one of those dedicated writer types, Sanderson wrote The Alloy of Law as a 'break' from The Wheel of Time and The Stormlight Archive. Way to relax! As the cover suggests, this new entry in the Mistborn saga taps into the Steampunk trend that has been gripping segments of the Speculative Fiction genre.

Here is the blurb:

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

A couple of things worth reading

I should have a few reviews to post next week, but for the time being here are a couple of things I've come across during the week.

Firstly, an excellent conversation (hosted by Amazon) between two of the biggest names in Fantasy, Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss (who featured strongly on the blog a week or so ago). These guys have written two of the biggest releases of the past six months (both in sales and literal size - they define 'doorstop Fantasy epic'); The Way of Kings (Sanderson) and The Wise Man's Fear (Rothfuss). Enjoy the link.

Secondly, major Speculative Fiction publisher TOR ran a vote over on their official blog to find the 10 most popular releases of the decade (not limited to TOR releases at all). Here is the main page and official results.

I think the results are very interesting. They show diverging tastes and there was no runaway, landslide winner, considering that the number one book got 295 of 10 000 votes. I also think that there's a slight skewing towards the winner, Old Man's War, because of Scalzi's online presence and occasional writing work on the blog, but on a ballot done for fun and interest it hardly matters.

For each of the top ten a fairly prominent figure in the community did a review of sorts for the book. Some of my favourites include The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss), Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson) and A Storm of Swords (George R. R. Martin).

Suvudu Cage Matches

Suvudu (the official blog of Random House's Fantasy unit) runs an annual competition called the Cage Match. They pit characters from Fantasy stories against one another and readers vote on who should win. Realistically, yes, that makes it a popularity contest, though I'm sure some fans who take their Fabtasy very seriously take the time to weigh up the powers of the characters involved before casting their vote.

However, it sort of needs to work that way. This year the folks at Suvudu have decided to introduce some characters who are fun and have a place in readers' hearts but realistically would suck in a fight. Like Tasslehoff Burrfoot from the Dragonlance books. Tas makes everyone laugh but he would get stomped by almost anyone else in the contest. Here's Brandon Sanderson's thoughts on that very issue.

The best part is when the writers who own the various IPs referenced pitch in to provide descriptions of how the battles might go down. Here is the best example (in my opinion) from last year:

George R. R. Martin on the final bout between Jaime Lannister and Rand al'Thor (very touching, written in memory of Robert Jordan)

In conclusion, Suvudu Cage Matches are fun, check them out. Don't take them seriously. Please.

Fantasy Maps and Joe Abercrombie's Circle of the World

A couple of posts just for fun today.

One of the staples of Fantasy stories has been the map. If you're going to move characters through a fictional world, let the readers have a clear refernece to help them follow. At least, that was the conventional wisdom. I'm not sure if he was the first to do it, but Tolkien's map of Middle Earth is a very prominent early example of this approach. In more recent times we've seen maps from the likes of Robin Hobb, George R. R. Martin and many others.

The newer wave of authors however have taken it upon themselves to buck the trend. Obviously, if you want to distance yourself from that traditional Epic or High Fantasy, ditch the trappings that are so common. Joe Abercrombie didn't include a full map with The First Law Trilogy or any subsequent book (Best Served Cold has a bit of the map). Neither did he release one online. Here is his reasoning.

However, a fan recently made a map of their own, using information from the books, and I haven't heard anyone argue with it's accuracy (yet). It's nice!

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss Released

The release of The Wise Man's Fear (by Patrick Rothfuss) is probably one of the most significant dates on the Fantasy publishing calendar for the year. It is the highly anticipated sequel to The Name of the Wind, which has become known as one of the best debut Fantasy novels of at least the last decade. The momentum and renown for The Name of the Wind has built quickly and consistently since its release. I only read (and reviewed) it in the middle of 2010 myself, in spite of the 2007 release.

The Wise Man's Fear was of course supposed to be released in 2008, but in the way of all good Fantasy series there have been significant delays. I only allowed myself to read this unfinished series because I figured 'How long can a trilogy take?' We will see...

As a refresher for those not willing to re-read The Name of the Wind Rothfuss has released a summary of sorts on his official website. It is hilariously tongue-in-cheek and in graphic novel form! Whether or not you become a big fan of his books, Pat (I feel like I can call him Pat) never takes himself too seriously and his blog is always enjoyable. More importantly he devotes a good chunk of his time and money to a charity called Worldbuilders. It's hard not to like the man!

Since I haven't had the chance to read The Wise Man's Fear yet, here are a couple of reviews from some professionals:

Blogger John Ottinger at Grasping for the Wind
Author Brandon Sanderson at his official website

Retentive Book Collectors and New China Mieville Covers

There's something about lining up books from a single author or series on your shelf. They don't look identical, but they share a similarity that links them and creates a beautiful symmetry (yes, I know that isn't what symmetry is). Unless things change.

In my early University days I had little money to buy books. The only books I bought were entries in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time and George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. Imagine my terrible sadness when the Wheel books changed from the style of Winter's Heart to Crossroads of Twilight.

 

AFTER 9 BOOKS IN THE SERIES!#$%^&*!

Now I have an income. Now I own all of the US Hardcover versions of the Wheel of Time books from TOR, and I can sleep at night. However, my dreams are about to be troubled again. As if the first change didn't hurt enough there is another evolution in cover design for China Mieville's next book, Embassytown.

                            

Sure, conduct your market research, design more effective and modern covers, change with the times, grow your readership and your profits. But at what cost? Haven't I suffered enough? I can't believe the selfishness of these publishers. It's enough to drive me crazy.

Nebula Nominees Announced (get your alliteration here)

The nominees for the Nebula Awards have been announced. A full list can be seen in many places, including here. For those who aren't familiar with the Nebulas this is the place to start your reading.

My current Nebula record stands at 1 nominated work read (which I will review in full shortly)... 2 if I'm allowed to count a novella. I best get cracking, because in spite of being an infinite improvement on last year it is still a miserable effort.

Most Anticipated Books of 2011

We're already two months into the year, and one of the novels that would have appeared on this list has already arrived (The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie). Time to get moving!

There are some very high profile releases that barely need mentioning, but I will very briefly highlight George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons, The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss and The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch (after all, The Lies of Locke Lamora was my favourite read of 2010). If I had read beyond the first entry in The Malazan Book of the Fallen to date I'm sure The Crippled God by Steven Erikson would also make the list.

I should also mention Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's A Memory of Light, which is more likely to be released in 2012, but in case it makes a 2011 release window it should be highlighted as my most anticipated, bar none. A fifteen year commitment to a series means a lot.

Here are some of my most anticipated releases - and they aren't all sequels:

The Dragon's Path - Daniel Abraham

Abraham's debut series, The Long Price Quartet, has been regularly declared the most criminally underrated Fantasy series of the last decade. Early readers suggest that The Dragon's Path ventures into more mainstream (read: marketable) territory.

Cold Fire - Kate Elliott

This is an absolute no-brainer, since Cold Magic was my favourite book published in 2010. I haven't seen aa synopsis or cover art for Cold Fire, but I don't need it to be excited.

Spellbound - Blake Charlton

Blake Charlton used his own life knowledge and experience to create a refreshingly new world in Spellwright and deliver a hero with a perfectly believeable struggle - dyslexia.

The Coldest War - Ian Tregillis

Bitter Seeds was my favourite debut novel of 2010 and I can't wait to read what becomes of our heroes and indeed the world as a whole in the wake of a World War II that didn't quite play out as history suggests. The title is a pretty fair clue as to where Tregillis is headed.

The Unremembered - Peter Orullian

The most hyped debut of 2011. I'm caught up in it. Why not?

Honourable mentions should also be given to by N. K. Jemisin (The Kingdom of Gods), Mark Charan Newton (The Book of Transformations) and R. Scott Bakker (The White Luck Warrior) whose work I find very exciting, but I am not up to date in their series.

Favourite Reads of 2010

Obviously I am very late to the party, but late February in 2011 is a better time to make this post than never. So here are my three favourite books that I read in 2010, listed in their appropriate category.

Favourite Read of the Year (and Favourite Novel Not Published in 2010)

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - Full Review

The last book I read in 2010 has left quite an impression. For pure page-turning thrills and an unsurpassed level of enjoyment, I couldn't look past Scott Lynch's debut effort in The Gentlemen Bastards sequence. Vivid world building and an endlessly likeable hero combined with a devastating sense of humour.

Favourite Novel Published in 2010

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott - Full Review

Had a confluence of events not brought Kate Elliott to a semi-local independent bookshop I would honestly never have pickd up this book. 2010 was the year that I realised how male-centric my reading had been, and Kate Elliott's first entry in the Spiritwalker trilogy was an excellent initial step in remedying that situation. I choose to end this paragraph now, before I type something that will sound patronising, however well intentioned.

Favourite Debut Novel of 2010

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis - Full Review

Another novel that would have probably passed me by, Ian Tregillis's attendance at Aussicon4 gave me the inspiration I needed to pick this up. His delightful alchemy brings together history, magic and fantastical science in this World War II era thriller.

What have I done?

I have admitted something terrible. It didn't take professional police interrogators to drag the confession out of me. I've volunteered it freely.

The reviews that I have posted recently, based on my holiday reading, indicate that I have committed sacrilege against two of the seminal texts of Science Fiction and Fantasy. I didn't especially enjoy Good Omens and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I'm sorry. I hope my parents can still love me.

In my reviews I pointed to the way humour is delivered in a fashion that felt intrusive to me, and I increasingly lost patience with being pulled out of the story. It was a deliberate device - I'm not implying an error on the part of the authors, it simply didn't work for me.

However I have since thought about other possible causes for my ambivalence... Media dates. I'm not one of those people who demands big budget remakes of old movies with modern special effects, but I have noticed that generally I don't enjoy older media (with those rare, brilliant exceptions). Technically it could be argued that I was not the audience for which old movies or novels were produced. Not many authors think enough of themselves to believe they are writing a great story for posterity, hence they are writing for their contemporaries.

I suppose I am implying that both Good Omens and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy don't resonate with a 28 year old male in 2011 the way that did during the times closer to their release. Had I read them earlier in my life I may have fallen in love with them and might be able to reflect on them with nostalgic affection. I didn't. I came into Good Omens in particular with no knowledge of the story, but with soaring expectations nonetheless. It never stood a chance.

I'm sure my kids won't like The Godfather either. Imagine their probable reaction to Star Wars...

Epic Fantasy... my favourite genre?

There is no doubt that my favourite books fall into the genre of Epic Fantasy. However, I’m not certain that Epic Fantasy is my favourite genre. I grew up with The Lord of the Rings (J. R. R. Tolkien), moved onto Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (Tad Williams) before flirting with The Riftwar Saga (Raymond E. Feist) and finding my ultimate favourites. So what are my top picks – if I’m choosing with my heart it’s The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan), if with my head it’s A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin).



The current leader in the
Epic Fantasy genre?



Although I can’t begin to imagine composing a multi-book epic, the majority of my writing will probably be in this genre of Fantasy. Yet, I remain unsure that this is my favourite genre, primarily because I’m not especially enthused to launch into another series. They’re just so damn long.

I have the first books of The Malazan Book of the Fallen (Steven Erikson) on my bookshelf waiting for me, but frankly I find the idea of committing to such a series intimidating. Giving one author so much reading time, when there is so much to read, feels impossible. Frankly, even knowing how much I love it, if I was confronted with 14 books of The Wheel of Time I probably wouldn’t start reading it. I feel like a trilogy is about as much as I am willing to give my time to, so Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law Trilogy is an example of an ideal recent read.



You can kind of see
why my wife doesn't want
our shelves dominated by

books that look like this...

Ironically, I recognise that one of the reasons why I love The Wheel of Time so much has been the anticipation between books. I know there will be a let-down when the books are over, even if A Memory of Light is the greatest Fantasy book of all time. I’ll be glad to have A Song of Ice and Fire to turn to, and I am currently trying to dump myself in the middle of a bunch of other series so that there will virtually always be a book for me to be anticipating.



I’m hoping Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive will be a worthy replacement for The Wheel of Time. I haven’t finished reading The Way of Kings yet so I can’t say much more at this stage. The good thing about Sanderson’s work is that I’m getting in at the ground floor, as was more or less the case with Jordan and Martin. In an ideal world I would tear through The Malazan Book of The Fallen in time for The Crippled God, but I can’t see that happening.

I’ve just finished devouring Towers of Midnight, and intend to move on to The Way of Kings and The Black Prism (Brent Weeks). Firstly, I’ll be finishing up Shadow’s Son (Jon Sprunk) which snuck to the top of my ‘to read’ list by virtue of its brief length.



The City and The City (by China Miéville) wins the World Fantasy Award

One of the great disappointments of my trip to Aussiecon 4 (Worldcon) in September was the fact that I had to leave before the Hugo Awards Ceremony. I find awards pretty exciting, especially when I am invested in some way in the candidates, so I was eager to find out who would win the 2010 World Fantasy Award at the recent World Fantasy Convention. China Miéville continued on his winning way with The City and The City (full review) taking out Best Novel.

For those unfamiliar with the major awards in the speculative fiction field, here is a brief explanation of the biggest ones:

The Hugo Awards (which cover many more categories than simply Best Novel) are nominated and voted by for fans who are attending or supporting members of Worldcon. The breadth of voters means that the Hugo favours ‘popular’ works, though that doesn’t prevent the Hugos from claiming to be the most prestigious awards in the field.

The Nebula Awards are considered professional awards as they are determined by the members of the SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America). In spite of the name, membership, voting and eligibility to win are not restricted to Americans.

The World Fantasy Awards are given for fewer categories than the Hugo especially, and are decided by a panel of judges (notable professionals in the field). For this reason the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, somewhat like the Nebula, will often be awarded to books that are critically acclaimed but not necessarily widely read or known.

Interestingly, both the Hugo and Nebula Awards can be presented to Science Fiction or Fantasy stories. As the name implies, the World Fantasy Award is restricted to Fantasy. There is some controversy about this fact in fan circles, since the fandom of Science Fiction and Fantasy tend to intersect.

It stands to reason that the two best (at least most awarded) Speculative Fiction releases of the past year are Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl (Nebula Winner - which is still on my ‘to read’ list) and China Miéville’s The City and The City), which most fans seem to agree deserved to share the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Diversity in Speculative Fiction

During a brief conversation I enjoyed with Karen Miller at Aussiecon4 she made me realize that I have read very few female writers of Speculative Fiction (along with very few Australian authors, but that’s for another post and another project). Very modestly, she pointed me to Kate Elliott’s work, describing Kate as ‘one of the best we’ve got’, or words to that effect. Incidentally, I had met Kate Elliott the week before at Infinitas Bookshop which pushed her latest novel Cold Magic to near the top of my ‘to read’ list. I have now finished it (Review).

Karen got me thinking about my favourite writers. The list reads like a who’s who of white, male (probably bearded, and therefore extra-male) Fantasy writers – Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, Joe Abercrombie, Brandon ‘The Beardless One’ Sanderson, and so on. In my favourite series, The Wheel of Time, the viewpoint characters I enjoy most are the males. The series is written by a male author and readers seem to be split on whether or not Jordan provided a good depiction of women. Either way, I often find them frustrating to read about.

I recently listened to the paired novellas The Alchemist and The Executioness by Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell respectively, both male writers. The Executioness was a bigger, more passionate tale, but as I mentioned in my review I found myself drawn to The Alchemist. There may be an element of style that I was attracted to, but quite simply I found myself connecting with the character of Jeoz the Alchemist in his efforts to protect his daughter and his tendency, which I perceive as a very male trait, to work at his goal while allowing no distractions.

Am I really that narrow-minded?

Perhaps I have misrepresented myself somewhat. I would rate Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy very highly on my list of favourites. I am really looking forward to reading N. K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh. Unfortunately the thing that each of these authors have in common is that when I first heard about them I assumed they were dudes. There isn’t enough in their names to tell me otherwise, so I made that connection myself. Apparently being a 28 year old middle class white male has quite the impact on one’s assumptions.

It wasn’t until I had already finished the Farseer books that I discovered that Robin Hobb is a lady. I believe it was in an episode of Jonathan Strahan’s ‘Notes from Coode Street’ podcast that I heard that C. J. Cherryh was required by her publisher to use her initials to conceal the fact that she is female. I think most people have also heard the story of James Tiptree Junior, the pen name of Alice Sheldon, used to secure publication in Speculative field in the 1960s.
Author Mark Charan Newton has recently challenged book bloggers to broaden their coverage, specifically to consider the classics of the genre, not simply the latest blockbusters. I have a lot more broadening to do than simply delving into the back catalogue.

This is not an attempt to over-compensate. I’m not a big fan of overcompensating. I find it patronizing. However, I am committing myself to reading and reviewing work from the following authors:

N.K. Jemisin (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms)
C. J. Cherryh (Cyteen)
Jennifer Fallon (The Tidelords)
Karen Miller (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker)
Lois McMaster Bujold (The Chalion Saga)
Ursula K. Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness, A Wizard of Earthsea)
Connie Willis (Blackout, All Clear, Doomsday Book)

Having said all of this, the next few books I will be reading include The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, The Black Prism by Brent Weeks and Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I am incorrigible in some respects.

Ian Tregillis... a genuine debut author!

Signing. You're doing it... unconventionally.

A few days ago I posted a review of the brilliant Bitter Seeds, the debut novel from Ian Tregillis. I intended to make this small addendum at the time. I had the opportunity to meet Ian at Aussiecon4, enjoy a reading from a short story set in the same milieu as Bitter Seeds and get my copy of the book signed. Ian was delightfully humbled by both the fact that I had a copy of his book (it hasn't been published in Australia) and that I wanted him to deface it.

It seems that Ian may not have done many signings, as the evidence indicates. No flashy, page dominating signature - just a simple message. Refreshingly fresh.

My experiences with reading technology - Ebooks and Audiobooks

While I am hardly a luddite I wouldn’t claim to be up with the all the latest technology. Things are changing for me however, and the cause is easy to identify. I bought an Iphone at the end of last year.

I’m not going to trumpet the virtues of the phone. I’m not an Apple fanboy, I just jumped on the consumer band wagon with so many others. My actual point is that the Iphone represents the first portable ebook reader I have owned and, slightly more pathetically, the first portable audio player I have owned since the days of cassette tapes.

Podcasts – the gateway to ‘reading’ technology

Having an MP3 player opened the gateway to podcasts, many of which I enjoy regularly (and will discuss in a future post). A substantial number of my favourite casts are sponsored by Audible and I was being regularly encouraged to enjoy a free trial. Writing Excuses in particular advertises a particular audiobook each week, and hearing that I could listen to Stephen King’s On Writing narrated by King himself pushed me over the edge and I signed up (of course, it turns out that On Writing is not available to Australian subscribers).

I have listened to several audiobooks now. I started by using my Audible credits to purchase the books from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time so that I could ‘read’ my way through the series again before the final volume arrives (up to 6 of 12 at this stage). I have since begun to diversify my listening. Some highlights include The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett, The Alchemist and The Executioness by Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell (review), and Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis.

While I am still scratching the surface I find myself a massive fan of audiobooks. I have managed to experience so many more books than ever before. Car trips, walks, shopping expeditions, doing chores – no time feels wasted when I am able to ‘read’ as I go. Driving by myself from Sydney to Melbourne for Aussiecon4 would have been incredibly painful without a good story.

Of course, I still listen to podcasts and tend to go for audiobooks when I know I have a substantial window of listening time. The length of some books can be pretty intimidating (a couple of the Wheel of Time books are over 40 hours) and make you wonder when you will ever have time to listen, but the small chunks add up. I’ve probably worked through 300 hours worth of audiobooks in the last six months.

Ebooks – the future of reading, at least for me

Aside from bringing me into contact with Audible, since many of the podcasts I enjoy are about writing and often touch on the publishing industry the issue of ebooks is frequently raised. The boys over at The Dragon Page are massive advocates of epublishing and the opportunities it offers authors and readers. At this stage I am simply engaging with ebooks as a consumer.

I have not yet purchased an ebook from an online store, or purchased a dedicated ebook reader for that matter. I’m using my Iphone. I have read Makers by Cory Doctorow (offered free on his website) and a few items from the electronic Hugo voters packet, including some short stories and novellas (ideal length for ebook format in my opinion, given the way I use ebooks) and China Mieville’s The City and the City. Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl, which I have just started, is the longest story I have attempted on the phone screen.

The Iphone is far from an ideal platform for reading ebooks, given the relatively small size of the screen, but it is functional. It has been to my advantage that the stories/books that I have read so far have been relatively short. I couldn’t see myself sitting down on the couch with my phone at this stage, not when I have so many paper books, but it is fantastic to have available when out and about. My limited experiences with it have also convinced me that I will be a very dedicated user of ebooks when I have a better reading device (probably a year or so away, realistically).

The grey area of Speculative Fiction genres and sub-genres

When I first thought about starting a book review blog I put together a guide to the prominent Speculative Fiction sub-genres. I have since edited it somewhat and posted it here. My intention was (and still is) to identify the genre and sub-genre of each book that I review. I have written a number of novice reviews on Goodreads but haven’t previously tried to label books in this way, so unsurprisingly I was sand-bagged on only my third review on the blog (now posted here). Fortunately it isn’t just me who struggles.

I was inspired to think more on sub-genres a few weeks ago while listening to this episode of the SF Signal podcast. While the SF Signal crew pointed out most of the recognisable categories they emphasised the very blurry boundaries that separate sub-genres.

Enter Lou Anders (Editor at Pyr, involved in numerous anthologies and other projects, including the recent Swords and Dark Magic) who falls into the category of ‘someone who should know.’ In this recent episode of Adventures in SciFi Publishing Lou described sub-genre labels as “nebulous, nebulous terms.” Further, since these terms are vague, “you shouldn’t split hairs too finely in any sub-genre arguments, they’re just bookstore categories.”

Lou’s position isn’t controversial. It's fairly representative of the feelings of industry professionals. In a discussion over at Babel Clash, Jeremy Lassen (Editor at Nightshade Books, involved in Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl), another ‘someone who should know,’ wrote “The marketing categories that books are shelved in, and the kinds of sub-genre tags we apply to books exist for one purpose, from my point of view as an editor and publisher.  They exist to help readers find the books that they will be pre-disposed to like.” Jeremy went on to describe sub-genre labels as “a bit arbitrary.”

So why am I bothering? Ultimately my aim in reviewing books will be to direct readers to stories they will enjoy (when some people actually read my blog), as is the aim of bookstores when they shelve books in different sections of the store. However, I’m hoping my labels will be a bit more informative than the broad category of ‘Science Fiction and Fantasy’ that is as far as most Australian book sellers take things.

Noird...

Finally, I wonder how authors feel about the categories that get applied to their work. Some very clearly embrace it. I’m sure Cherie Priest loves being identified as a producer of Steampunk. Brandon Sanderson happily describes his work as Epic Fantasy. China Miéville calls his writing whatever the hell he wants (he describes The City and the City as ‘noird’ – don’t worry, there’s context). I have to imagine that there are some writers who don’t like having their work pigeon-holed, and others who deliberately combine elements of sub-genres (and tropes from outside the Speculative genres) in order to defy convention and create very original stories.

The price of books in Australia

Why do books cost so much in Australia? If I go into an Australian book selling chain and pick up a mass market paperback it will cost from $18 - $25. It’s pretty brutal to see that $25 sticker then flip the book over to read that it’s R.R.P. in the US is $7.99. To give perspective, according to the current exchange rate (which I realize is flexible, while book prices tend to be static) 1 Australian Dollar buys over 0.97 US Dollars. I heard numerous Americans complaining about the prices in the Dealers Room at Aussiecon4. John Scalzi complained about prices in general in Australia (naturally, he was lamenting the cost of Coke Zero).

I bought the entire Wheel of Time series (up to Book 12) in the US Hardcover (from overseas, so consider postage) for approximately the same price it would have cost to purchase the mass market paperbacks from an Australian bricks and mortar store.

I know there must be costs that I don’t understand, and I don’t want to see these stores fail, because even if I’m just browsing I enjoy being surrounded by books. People already talk about the Ebook revolution damaging these stores – if they’ve survived the competition of online stores for so long, maybe they are pretty secure, at least in Australia.

I’ve bought some things from Amazon, generally items I couldn’t get anywhere else. Their prices are great, especially with the Australian dollar up like it is at the moment, but because it’s those darn heavy books that I’m buying the postage often costs a similar amount to the book itself. Postage from the US to Australia is pretty prohibitive. Enter Book Depository – based in the UK and offering free postage, even to Australia! I’ve bought so many books from there it’s like a sickness. Because of prices in Australian stores shopping online is like walking into a sale where items are reduced by 50-70%. How can you not buy? Is the business model of these online stores, where they buy in bulk and bear the risk of not selling books themselves (they can't send remainders back to the publisher if I understand correctly) really so significant in lowering the price?

I really enjoy going into Borders, grabbing a coffee and reading a magazine or two, or the first few chapters of a new book. I don’t tend to purchase a lot of books from Borders (maybe 7 or 8 this year, which isn’t a tremendous amount relative to my purchasing habits) and those that I have purchased have been from Australian authors whose work isn’t readily available online.

For big fans of reading, whether it’s Speculative Fiction or any other genre, it will always be important to support book stores. I have particularly made the effort to purchase books from a local independent seller called Infinitas Books because they offer things that online stores can not. Community is often centred around these stores. Infinitas offers books clubs, writing groups, gaming meetups, etc. And they bring authors to meet the fans. Authors can’t visit you in the mail (yet…). Is it worth paying more, sometimes as much as double, to protect these stores and what they represent for the reading community?

Incidentally I used to notice the same thing with video games. A brand new Xbox title in the US would sell for US$49.99 while we would pay AUD$99.99 – is that markup really accounted for by exchange rates and import costs?

Why is everything so expensive in Australia?