Nicholas Bruner
Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Young Adult Author
What I’m Reading: Embassytown
I mentioned in my review of The Left Hand of Darkness a few years ago that it took an anthropological approach to science fiction. Indeed, the main character in that book was an anthropologist who comes to another planet with humans that have been separated from other humans for centuries and have evolved subtle but definite cultural and biological differences from humans on other planets. This anthropological approach allowed a deeper exploration of culture and custom than one usually reads in science fiction books.
Embassytown, by China Mieville, takes this even a level further. One of the main characters, Scile, is a linguist (which if I recall my college courses correctly, is one of anthropology’s four sub-specialties). Scile has married the narrator, Avice, and is excited to return to her native world, a distant, backwater planet where an alien race named the Ariekei live and tolerate the presence of a small human city named Embassytown. Scile is eager because the Ariekei speak a language unlike any other language known in the universe, and he wants to study it.
What I’m Reading: Overboard
Overboard, by S.C. Megale, is a steampunk humor fantasy, though that description hardly does justice to this incredibly inventive novel. I’m struggling to think of an apt comparison. Is it like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy set on a cruise ship? Or perhaps it’s more like if Jimmy Buffett had written a novel, only his drug of choice had been shrooms rather than margaritas? Maybe it’s Moby-Dick meets Captain Feathersword (and his fantastic jacket) from the Wiggles?
Whichever comparison fits best, the book follows Markham, who wakes up as he’s splashing down into a giant lobster aquarium, only to be pulled out before he drowns by a mild-mannered, bipedal crocodile in a chef’s outfit. He has no memory of his past or he how came to be in that odd situation. The crocodile, named Gavial, heads a commercial kitchen that opens onto a palatial dining hall. His sous-chef, Nina, has pity on the lost, pitiful Markham and takes it upon herself to show him the ropes of this whimsical world.
What I’m Reading: The Court of Silver Flames
The Court of Silver Flames, by Sarah J. Maas, is a bit of an experimental read for me. I don’t normally listen to recorded books, but I’ve made some long-ish car trips recently and wanted something to listen to, so I chose this, a series I’ve long been interested in trying. This experiment led to two surprises.
First, this was not the first book in the series. Unfortunately, it was impossible to tell from the CD covers in the library what order the books should be heard in, but somehow I thought from the book description this might be the first one (I’m not sure now that the first one was even on the shelf). Actually, this turned out to be the fifth and final, or at least most recent, book in the series.
What I’m Reading: Viper and Steel
Viper and Steel is the third book in the Guilds of Ilbrea series by Megan O’Russell. I have previously read and reviewed both the first one, Inker and Crown, and the second one, Myth and Storm. The series is about the Karron clan, six natural and adopted children of Lord Karron who grew up together and have remained close now that they are in their late teens or early twenties and members of the various guilds in the city of Ilara, capital of Ilbrea. Things are advancing in the story arcs for all six characters, even as the city of Ilara itself is caught up in a civil war, so let’s see what the Karrons are up to.
A Far Ocean’s Tale and Other Stories Out Now!
In the final days of Atlantis, a ray must flee certain death—Find out what happens in this fantastic collection of stories that’ll keep you reading all night!
Packed with Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror, these short stories will keep you on the edge of your seat.
A Far Ocean’s Tale: Accused in the death of a ray, Gray-Patch, a telepathic ray, must flee for her life. Her travels through dangerous seas toward the city of the rays will end in disaster. Can she survive against all odds?
Mountain Man reveals medieval miners learning a horrific truth about the nature of the mountain they’re mining.
La Jolla Ballroom uncovers a man’s journey back to 1930’s California and he falls in love with the time… before discovering just how dangerous that period truly was.
Filled with captivatingly exciting world-building, interesting concepts that stand the test of time, and thought-provoking scenarios, these ten stories are a must-read for fantasy, sci-fi, and horror readers.
What I’m Reading: Locksmith at the End of the World
High Concept refers to a book or movie plot that can be easily described with one phrase. In Locksmith at the End of the World, a novella by Angela Glascock, that phrase is “zombie apocalypse from a dog’s point of view.” The first line of the book is “Chester knew something was terribly wrong when his person tried to eat him.” That first line immediately sets the tone(s) for the novella, which alternates between horrific and adorable as our canine hero, Chester, navigates a zombie-fied world. There’s also a big helping of dry humor.
What I’m Reading: Song of Echoes
Song of Echoes, by R.E. Palmer, is an epic fantasy with well-drawn characters and a classic feel. It starts off slowly but builds powerfully, its sympathetic characters operating in a beautifully-described landscape of rugged mountains and primoridal forests and swamps.
What I’m Reading: Myth and Storm
Myth and Storm is the second book in the Guilds of Ilbrea series by Megan O’Russell. I read the first one, Inker and Crown, a couple months ago and liked it enough to return for the second volume. If you recall, the book was about the Karron clan, six natural and adopted children of Lord Karron who grew up together and have remained close now that they are in their late teens or early twenties and members of the various guilds in the city of Ilara, capital of Ilbrea. So let’s see what our Ilbrean guild friends are up to this time!
