Nanoreviews: The Prey of Gods, The Last Good Man, When the English Fall

Drayden, Nicky. The Prey of Gods [Harper Voyager, 2017]

Well, this is nothing like anything I've read before. The reemergence humans born with the power of gods, the rise of artificial intelligence, genetic engineering - it's a wild combination that works on the strength of Drayden's prose. The Prey of Gods is set in nearish future South Africa and I really don't know how to describe this book except to say that it is a lot of fun to read and is a raw delight. This is a very strong debut and I'm excited to see what Drayden does next.
Score: 7/10

Nagata, Linda. The Last Good Man [Mythic Island Press, 2017]

Nagata's near future military sci-fi is as good as it gets. The Last Good Man deals with private military contractors and the automated and outsourced future of warfare. Nagata spins a tightly focused compelling story of a rescue mission and the secrets that can come back to haunt. It's damned good. I could have read another hundred pages of this and I'd equally love to see another novel focusing on Requisition Operations.
Score: 8/10

Williams, David. When the English Fall [Algonquin Books, 2017]

One of the 24 books I was most looking forward to this year, When the English Fall did not disappoint. It's an Amish post apocalyptic novel, which is perhaps the greatest description I've heard of for a novel. Told through journal entries, When the English Fall is a moving story of keeping one's faith and one's way of life in the midst of increasing and encroaching violence. I appreciated how communities like the Amish may, in many ways, be more equipped for breakdowns in civilization - at least until that breakdown shows up at their doorstep. I want more like this.
Score: 7/10


POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 2017 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Writer / Editor of the mostly defunct Adventures in Reading since 2004. Minnesotan.

6 Books With David Williams

Photo Credit: Joseph LeBlanc

David Williams is currently a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He serves a little church in a little town just outside of Washington, DC. David has driven forklifts, vanloads of Salvation Army bellringers, and taxis. He’s taught games of skill and chance in Colonial Williamsburg, and managed a research grantmaking program at the Aspen Institute. 

While juggling work, marriage, post-graduate education, and being the shuttle-driver-dad for his children, David still managed to publish articles and stories in outlets as wildly disparate as OMNI, The Christian Century, and Wired. He likes his motorcycles dirty, his coffee strong, and his beers hoppy. David blogs at www.belovedspear.org and lives in Annandale, Virginia, with his wife and sons. When the English Fall is his debut novel. 

Today he shares his 6 books with us....

1. What book are you currently reading?

Right now? I'm reading the wonderfully titled OLD FILTH, by Jane Gardam. I read books at semi-random, wildly and wantonly and across genres. I find them either wandering the shelves of my local library until something catches my eye or...as is the case with this one, checking the "librarian recommended" shelf. Human recommendations are so much better and mind-expanding than our current pestilent reliance on algorithms. I'm almost finished, and it's been generally engaging, an elegantly written story of an aging British lawyer with a...complex...history.

2. What upcoming book you are really excited about?

Hmmm. I'm so busy catching up on stuff that I barely have time to consider what's around the bend. I really enjoyed N.K. Jemisen's brilliant and justly lauded THE FIFTH SEASON, and will love reading her soon-to-be-released THE STONE SKY...but I haven't gotten around to THE OBELISK GATE yet. So many books, so little time. I'm also looking forward to Dan Rather's WHAT UNITES US, because as fun as it is escaping reality into realms of our own creation, sometimes you've got to bear down and deal with the mess we've got ourselves into.

3. Is there a book you're currently itching to re-read?

I'm a Presbyterian pastor, and am teaching a class on THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS at my tiny little small-town church this fall. Man, am I eager to re-re-read that book. It's just such a delicious and perfectly executed conceit, and gets right to the heart of what matters in my faith. Faintly subversive, more than a little mischievous, and subtle. I might also listen to the audiobook with John Cleese as Screwtape, because, well, John Cleese.

4. How about a book you've changed your mind about over time--either positively or negatively?

How about both? I tried, a few years back, to get back into Asimov's Foundation Saga, which I loved as a tween. Lord, but those didn't work for me anymore. I'd long since moved on to a diet of harder and speculative sci fi (Ian M. Banks/ Vernor Vinge/ Neal Stephenson) and Asimov just felt stilted. Old, even. That, and the gender dynamics were stale. It was so disappointing. On the positive side, I'd never been interested in the Little House books as a kid. Maybe it was that 1970s Michael Landon series, which always bored the heck out of me, or perhaps it was that I was a boy who foolishly thought they were "girl books." I read them aloud to my sons and my wife for storytime when the guys were little, and man. Those are amazing, amazing books. Raw and graceful, real and powerful.

5. What's one book, which you read as a child or young adult, that has had a lasting influence on your writing?

The first novel I ever read by myself was THE LION, THE WITCH, and the WARDROBE. I was five, and had been taught to read by my mom, who was..is...a Georgetown-trained linguist. We lived in Kenya in the early 1970s, so there was no TV to speak of, nothing to do but read. Which I did. I don't so much remember reading about Narnia as being *in* Narnia. I can still kind of remember it, the crunch of snow underfoot, the taste of Turkish Delight on my lips. It taught me that words are deep magic, one that can cast a reality around us. That, as a level eight cleric, is something I most definitely aspire to.

6. And speaking of that, what's *your* latest book, and why is it awesome?

Latest? Heh. My "latest book" is my debut novel, WHEN THE ENGLISH FALL. I'd originally self-pubbed it back in 2013, and seriously lucked into getting a great publisher to pick it up.

It's "postapocalyptic Amish fiction," which is a...cough...relatively small genre. The premise is that there's been this massive coronal mass ejection, an immense solar storm, which blows out the majority of our electronics. We "English," as the Amish call us, are mortally crippled, but they? They aren't impacted. Not at first, not until desperate, starving, armed people from failing urban areas start encroaching on their communities.

Told through the journals of an Amishman in Lancaster county, it's a meditation on nonviolence, personal and collective integrity, and the artificial boundaries human beings create between one another. I'm hoping others enjoy it, and that it stirs thoughtful conversations.


POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 2017 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Writer / Editor of the mostly defunct Adventures in Reading since 2004. Minnesotan. 

New Books Spotlight

Welcome to another edition of the New Books Spotlight, where each month or so we curate a selection of 6 forthcoming books we find notable, interesting, and intriguing. It gives us the opportunity to shine a brief spotlight on some stuff we're itching to get our hands on.

What are you looking forward to? Anything you want to argue with us about? Is there something we should consider spotlighting in the future? Let us know in the comments!

Jemisin, N. K., The Stone Sky [Orbit, August, 2017]

Publisher's Description:

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS... FOR THE LAST TIME.

The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.

Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.

For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.

Why We Want It: Jemisin is a literary rock star. Plain and simple. I will forever and greedily purchase anything she publishes and finally getting my hands on the conclusion to this trilogy means I'll be doing some summer hibernation to inhale this gem.

Sullivan, Michael J., Age of Swords [Del Rey, July, 2017]

Publisher's Description: 

In Age of Myth, fantasy master Michael J. Sullivan launched readers on an epic journey of magic and adventure, heroism and betrayal, love and loss. Now the thrilling saga continues as the human uprising is threatened by powerful enemies from without—and bitter rivalries from within.

Raithe, the God Killer, may have started the rebellion by killing a Fhrey, but long-standing enmities dividing the Rhunes make it all but impossible to unite against the common foe. And even if the clans can join forces, how will they defeat an enemy whose magical prowess renders them indistinguishable from gods?

The answer lies across the sea in a faraway land populated by a reclusive and dour race who feel nothing but disdain for both Fhrey and mankind. With time running out, Persephone leads the gifted young seer Suri, the Fhrey sorceress Arion, and a small band of misfits in a desperate search for aid—a quest that will take them into the darkest depths of Elan. There, an ancient adversary waits, as fearsome as it is deadly.

 Why We Want It: I have Sullivan's Age of Myth sitting on my shelf waiting for me, now I can sit down and binge read them both. Plus, both covers scream "you will love this!" and I am not one to ignore a book's calling.

Synder, Scott and Jeff Lemire, A.D. After Death [Image Comics, July, 2017]

Publisher's Description:

What if we found a cure for death?

Two of comics' most acclaimed creators, SCOTT SNYDER (WYTCHES, Batman, American Vampire) and JEFF LEMIRE (DESCENDER, PLUTONA, Moon Knight, Sweet Tooth) unite to create an epic like no other, set in a future where a genetic cure for death has been found. Years after the discovery, one man starts to question everything, leading him on a mind-bending journey that will bring him face-to-face with his past and his own mortality.

A unique combination of comics, prose, and illustration, A.D.: AFTER DEATH is an oversized hardcover graphic novel written by SNYDER and fully painted by LEMIRE.

Why We Want It: I stumbled across this one while looking for something random and was immediately intrigued. Image Comics continues to blow me away and I am excited to see what this mixed medium/format mash-up might offer.

Williams, David, When the English Fall [Algonquin Books, July, 2017]

Publisher's Description: 

When a catastrophic solar storm brings about the collapse of modern civilization, an Amish community in Pennsylvania is caught up in the devastating aftermath. Once-bright skies are now dark. Planes have plummeted to the ground. The systems of modern life have crumbled. With their stocked larders and stores of supplies, the Amish are unaffected at first. But as the English (the Amish name for all non-Amish people) become more and more desperate, they begin to invade Amish farms, taking whatever they want and unleashing unthinkable violence on the peaceable community.

Seen through the diary of an Amish farmer named Jacob as he tries to protect his family and his way of life, When the English Fall examines the idea of peace in the face of deadly chaos: Should members of a nonviolent society defy their beliefs and take up arms to defend themselves? And if they don’t, can they survive?

Why We Want It: As some of you may know, I live on a farm and am surrounded by the Amish, our Wal-Mart has horse parking. When I heard about this novel I knew I needed to read it.

Guran, Paula (editor), The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2017 [Prime Books, July, 2017]

Publisher's Description:

The darkness creeps upon us and we shudder, or it suddenly startles and we scream. There need be no monsters for us to be terrified in the dark, but if there are, they are just as often human and as supernatural. Join us in this outstanding annual exploration of the year's best dark fiction that includes stories of quiet fear, the utterly fantastic, the weirdly surreal, atmospheric noir, mysterious hauntings, seductive nightmares, and frighteningly plausible futures. Featuring tales from masterful authors and talented new writers sure to make you reconsider walking in the shadows alone...

Why We Want It: Any collection from Paula Guran is certain to be a wonderfully curated mix. Dark fantasy and horror are tied for my favorite subgenres and these Guran collections help me catch up on stories I may have missed throughout the year. I cherish them.

Carrasco, Jesús, Out in the Open [Riverhead Books, July, 2017]

Publisher's Description: 

A young boy has fled his home. He’s pursued by dangerous forces. What lies before him is an infinite, arid plain, one he must cross in order to escape those from whom he’s fleeing. One night on the road, he meets an old goatherd, a man who lives simply but righteously, and from that moment on, their paths intertwine.

Out in the Open tells the story of this journey through a drought-stricken country ruled by violence. A world where names and dates don’t matter, where morals have drained away with the water. In this landscape the boy—not yet a lost cause—has the chance to choose hope and bravery, or to live forever mired in the cycle of violence in which he was raised. Carrasco has masterfully created a high stakes world, a dystopian tale of life and death, right and wrong, terror and salvation.

Why We Want It: I am always on the lookout for genre fiction in translation. I wish we had more of it and when I find it I am going to buy it and shout about it from every rooftop. Out in the Open was a bestseller in Spain and won multiple awards, how could I not be anticipating this title?

POSTED BY: Shana DuBois--extreme bibliophile and seeker of raindrops.