Nove i pročitane knjige (u 2017.)

[Nightflier]

Nisam ih čitao pa ne znam, ali sve i da jesu to nije nužno tako loše. Doduše, moji kriterijumi su malo pomereni, pošto su meni i knjige Pitera Breta i Brendona Sandersona, recimo, za taj neki uzrast. S druge strane, "Skrhano more" Džoa Aberkrombija je takođe plasirano kao YA, a po meni je reč o više nego ozbiljnim knjigama. Doduše, jedno ne isključuje drugo, je li.

[Fidel]

Ne mora da znaci da su lose knjige ali ne bih voleo da se Laguna potpuno okrene knjigama za decu i omladinu kad je u pitanju fantastika

[CorwinM]

Mislim da si 100% u pravu i za Breta i za Sandersona. OK su i jedan i drugi, ali nekako kao da je sva fantastika koju čitam u zadnje vrijeme izašla sa industrijske trake i kao da su još prije početka pisanja uradili neke fokus grupe. Uz to većina toga zvuči poznato, sve su to veoma stare priče produžene i prežvakane. Izuzetak je Rotfus, prije svega zbog kvaliteta pisanja, ne zbog originalnosti. Ima li još "teškaša" kada se radi o talentu za pripovijedanje?

[Nightflier]

U poslednje vreme izniklo je nekoliko neverovatnih pisaca epske fantastike, koji se nose sa ozbiljnim temama i potpuno brišu pod s tezom da je fantazija jeftini eskapizam, dok je SF za intelektualnu elitu, jer je društveno angažovan.

Od onoga što bi moglo da se objavi kod nas a sa pristojnim izgledima za komercijalni uspeh izdvojio bih Marka Lorensa sa obe trilogije (Broken Empire i Red Queen's War), Danijela Polanskog (Low City) i možda Majlsa Kamerona (Traitor Son Cycle).

Od onoga što ima manje izglede za komercijalni uspeh, ali je izvanredno tu je Džon Hornor Džejkobs sa dve fenomenalne weird west/alternate history  knjige, novi roman Naomi Novik - stand alone, koliko ja znam - Uproted i možda Benetov City of Stairs.

U domenu onoga što nema šanse da se proda kod nas a mlogo je dobro tu je na prvom mestu Maks Gledston, doslovce sve što je objavio, Daril Gregori i Greg van Ikaut.

[Nightflier]

I've read Shadows of Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky and back then I was impressed by the originality of his world building and quite interested in a weird steampunk-ish military fantasy he created. Nevertheless, I felt that his writing was a little clunky and his characterization lacking in some ways. Overall, I gave the series 3/5 stars.

The Tiger and the Wolf is another story entirely. This novel is beautifully written - it's structure crafted to perfection, it's sentences sometimes borderline lyrical and never heavy-handed. This is a language of an A-list author who has mastered his craft.

Another thing about this novel is that this one of the rare non-eurocentric fantasies that I've enjoyed. Although we are all aware that there is more to human history and mythology than medieval Europe, and Western Europe at that, this knowledge is for some reason quite hard to translate into good fantasy story. The Tiger and the Wolf manages this feat just fine, and takes the reader to a multi-ethnic human world (I strongly suspect that experience of writing the Shadows of Apt series came handy) on the brink of Iron Age. Protagonists are of all possible skin colors - and once again we have something rarely achieved: People of color in a fantasy novel, but without anything jarring or smacking of some current political agenda. These characters feel integral to the world and the immanent conflict of world views between various characters of various skin tones is described perfectly, normally and without a hint of what would we now call racism. The novel is an anthropological marvel in this regard, since it's gifted with self-awareness that the skin tone is the source of otherness, and otherness is a source of conflict - but this conflict is born not out of prejudice but out of lack of understanding. Once again, a view point completely lacking in modern storytelling and a way to approach an extremely sensitive topic in a way that is elegant and above everything else - humane.

With the same grace Tchaikovsky takes on other issues that plague modern society, such as child abuse, patriarchal society norms and misogyny, gender issues (and even transgender issues) and a host of other topics. It's almost bewildering that he managed to cram all of that into single novel.

In a way, this one is YA novel. In a way - it's not. Let me explain.

Since the world-wide success of Hunger games, we are exposed to a flood of YA series that are quite formulistic, and more than often lackluster. The Tiger and the Wolf has all the paradigms of an YA novel: A young female protagonist, strong authoritarian figures to rebel against, somewhat dystopian society (there are hint of that throughout the novel), and personal growth and empowerment of the heroine. What this novel lacks are the cliches of YA novels: no love triangles, no cheap theatrics, no artificial drama. But it bears the message of emancipation, loud and clear, which is something that large number of more popular YA novels fails to achieve.

The Tiger and the Wolf is a perfect blend of YA with heroic fantasy. It is suitable epic and just enough grim for mature readers, but still approachable enough for the younger ones. This is really a masterpiece of fantasy literature, worthy of World Fantasy Award.

[Nightflier]

[Nightflier]

U proteklih nekoliko dana objavljeno je više vrlo zanimljivih romana. Pre svega, nastavak prošlogodišnjeg sleeper hita, Linesman.

Alliance: A Linesman Novel by S. K. Dunstall



As the Linesman series continues, linesman Ean Lambert finds himself facing an alien ship he doesn’t understand—and a terrifying political threat he cannot fight…
 
 The lines. The soul of every ship. It was once thought there were only ten, but that was before an alien vessel appeared at the edge of space—before Ean Lambert heard more lines singing. Ean’s ways of communicating with lines is strange. But his abilities make him a valuable tool—or weapon—to command.
 
 Captain Selma Kari Wang has lost everything—her ship, her crew, her legs. But the New Alliance of Worlds is not done with her yet. After they rebuild her broken body, they send her to captain one of the new alien ships, teaming her up with Ean, the only one who can understand the alien lines.
 
 Kari Wang and Ean are poised on the threshold of discoveries that could change the world. But not everyone wants the New Alliance to control the secrets they uncover—and those who oppose won’t hesitate to do whatever it takes to stop them…

[Nightflier]

Novi roman Roberta Sojera

Quantum Night by Robert J. Sawyer




With such compelling and provocative novels as Red Planet Blues, FlashForward and The WWW Trilogy, Robert J. Sawyer has proven himself to be “a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation” (New York Times). Now, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author explores the thin line between good and evil that every human being is capable of crossing…

Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from twenty years previously—a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts.

Jim is reunited with Kayla Huron, his forgotten girlfriend from his lost period and now a quantum physicist who has made a stunning discovery about the nature of human consciousness. As a rising tide of violence and hate sweeps across the globe, the psychologist and the physicist combine forces in a race against time to see if they can do the impossible—change human nature—before the entire world descends into darkness.

[Nightflier]

U proteklih nekoliko dana objavljeno je više vrlo zanimljivih romana. Pre svega, nastavak prošlogodišnjeg sleeper hita, Linesman.

Alliance: A Linesman Novel by S. K. Dunstall



As the Linesman series continues, linesman Ean Lambert finds himself facing an alien ship he doesn’t understand—and a terrifying political threat he cannot fight…
 
 The lines. The soul of every ship. It was once thought there were only ten, but that was before an alien vessel appeared at the edge of space—before Ean Lambert heard more lines singing. Ean’s ways of communicating with lines is strange. But his abilities make him a valuable tool—or weapon—to command.
 
 Captain Selma Kari Wang has lost everything—her ship, her crew, her legs. But the New Alliance of Worlds is not done with her yet. After they rebuild her broken body, they send her to captain one of the new alien ships, teaming her up with Ean, the only one who can understand the alien lines.
 
 Kari Wang and Ean are poised on the threshold of discoveries that could change the world. But not everyone wants the New Alliance to control the secrets they uncover—and those who oppose won’t hesitate to do whatever it takes to stop them…

Moj prikaz:

Alliance is a bit slower and less interesting read than the previous novel in the series, but it still manages to capture both old-school space opera and humanistic approach to science fiction and fantasy that is sorely lacking in the fields of space opera and military sf.

This one is, perhaps unfortunately, all about the world building - or perhaps the space ship building, so the characters are put firmly in the second place, although the new character of captain Kari Wang has her moments to shine. There are several new characters as well, but underdeveloped (one feels).

I expected more developments concerning the Lancastrian Empire and it's princess, but that was lacking as well.

Although I enjoyed this book a lot, I can not shake a feeling that it suffers from the "second book in a trilogy" sindrom. It does very little to further the plot or to develop the characters, almost as its purpose was to set the stage for further books in the series and to introduce us to another character who will play a large part in the novels to come.

Nevertheless, Alliance was entertaining read and quite nicely written, so I expect more good things to come from the keyboard of S. K. Dunstall.

4/5

[Kaladin Blagoolujni]

Pošto sam prošlu godinu završio sa Belgarijadom i Malorijadom (sve knjige onako u cugu  ) ovu sam počeo u istom stilu tj. sa onim što sam preskočio u mladosti 



U šumovitom priobalju Ostrvskog Kraljevstva, siroče po imenu Pag postalo je šegrt velikog čarobnjaka Kulgana. Iako je svojom hrabrošću stekao naklonost dvora i srce ljupke princeze, Pag nije mogao da ovlada veštinama čarobnjaštva na tradicionalan način.
Uprkos tome, Pagova neobična vrsta magije jednog dana će zauvek promeniti sudbinu dvaju svetova, jer su mračna bića iz drugog sveta otvorila rascep u tkanju kosmosa, kako bi ponovo započela drevni rat između sila Reda i Haosa.

I ako namjenjene za "mlađu" publiku knjige su mi baš legle, onako narodski ko budali šamar tj. pustiš mozak na pašu.
Veoma uzbudljivo i zarazno (pročitao za par dana) i nešto drugačije, kapije svjetova, priča razvučena onako po godinama ne po listovima. Tjera te da okrećeš stranicu po stranicu i vraća te u djetinjstvo. I ako nema onako baš detaljnih opisa svijetova jednostavno te knjiga uvuče i sve je onako lako opisano, lako sve sebi dočaraš.
Likovi si zanimljivi i zabavni i jednostavno opisani a opet se saživiš sa njima.
Sve je jednostavno stalo u dvije knjige i jedva čekam da se uhvatim u koštac sa ostalim knjigama iz ovog serijala.

[Nightflier]

A vidim da smo čitali i Sandersona?

[Kaladin Blagoolujni]

Nisam ja od juče    Čitao do sada:

Pesma leda i vatre, Točak vremena, Red magle, Arhiva olujne svjetlosti, Sjećanje, jad i trn, Sjenovita međa, Prvi zakon i Osvetu, Mač od Šanare, Gospodar prstenova i naravno Belgarijadu i Malorijadu tako da se mogu pridružiti probranom društvu ljubitelja epske i naučne fantastike.

Upravo sam završio i serijal Prostranstva (tri knjige iz Lagune) i sada se bacio na Srebreni trn, malo kasnije utisci 

[Nightflier]

Svaka čast

[Nightflier]

Lovecraft Country: A Novel by Matt Ruff


The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.
Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide—and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite—heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors—they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.
At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn—led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb—which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his—and the whole Turner clan’s—destruction.
A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism—the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today.
Ovo je objavljeno još onomad, ali meni tek sada stiže na red za čitanje. Za jedno nedelju dana, odokativno. Enivej, iako je roman zapravo objavljen u februaru zgodno je podsetiti na njega, jer je ova godina izgleda sva u znaku Lavkrafta i lavkraftijanske fantastike, koje ima sve više - skoro kao u inat WFA skandalu.

[Nightflier]

http://www.mybookishways.com/2016/03/angry-robot-books-will-publish-a-series-of-novels-based-on-the-worlds-of-monte-cooks-numenera-and-the-strange-giveaway.html

[Nightflier]

http://io9.gizmodo.com/read-up-on-sfs-best-new-authors-in-the-2016-campbell-el-1764450175?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Požurite i skinite dok je džabe.

[Nightflier]

Dok se Bučer ne smiluje da objavi novog Drezdena

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson #9) by Patricia Briggs



Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.
Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

[Fidel]

Ima li sanse da Brigsovu vidimo opet na srpskom, Hurog nije toliko los

[Nightflier]

Ne. Svi beze od urbane fantastike. Ne ide kod nas.

Sent from Bigg Maggzzee

[Nightflier]

Dok se Bučer ne smiluje da objavi novog Drezdena

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson #9) by Patricia Briggs



Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.
Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

Moj prikaz:

I loved Patricia Briggs long before she became the best-selling author that she's now. I even translated one of her earlier novels and convinced my then-publisher to by the Hurog duology. I must say that I had great sympathies for Mercy Thompson series, although I still feel that this series is strictly commercial venture for Briggs and that a lot of her previous novels, set in purely fantasy setting, were quite better.

Mercy Thompson novels had their ups and downs, but this one IMHO marks a turning point, both in quality of writing and quality of plotting, so to say. I really like the Russian/Slavic elements and I like the trend of exploring the motifs from Slavic mythology in modern Urban Fantasy series.

This was very entertaining read and it shows some character growth of protagonists, as well as some world building on a larger scale, which seems promising for the future of this series.

4/5

[Vedro nebo]

 Zavidim vama zanrovskim prevodiocima i urednicima.
@ Nightflier Spavas li ti, covece, uopste?! I kojom li brzinom citas 

[Nightflier]

Pa, sinoć sam spavao 4 sata

Nekada jesam čitao prilično brzo, ali sada više ne mogu da postignem tu brzinu ni čitanja ni prevođenja

"Vade" me migrene od kojih patim, pa tada najčešće ne mogu da radim ništa osim da čitam ili u težim oblicima gledam serije.

[Nightflier]

Kada sam bolestan običavam da čitam knjige koje sam čitao XY puta. Osećam se, valjda, kao da sam u društvu starih prijatelja, koji su me videli u najrazličitijim stanjima, pa mogu da se ponašam shodno svom raspoloženju, umesto da tetošim nežna osećanja nepoznatih ili malo poznatih ljudi. Valjda je tako sa svim mizantropima.

No, roman King Kelson's Bride (The Deryni Novels) by Katherine Kurtz zapravo sam pre ovog čitanja pročitao samo jednom, kada je i objavljen - pre desetak godina, ili tako nešto. Zanimljivo za redovne kukumavke glede novog romana u Martinovom serijalu, između objavljivanja KKB i hronološki prethodnog romana u serijalu, The Quest for Saint Camber, prošlo je više od deset godina. Elem, kako je takođe prošlo više od deset godina kako sam ga ja prvi i jedini put pročitao, rešio sam da se upoznam s njim ponovo - najviše zbog toga što sam nabasao na novo izdanje. Proteklo vreme nije bilo milo prema mom pamćenju, pa sam ogromnu većinu sadržaja KKB zaboravio, tako da mi je u neku ruku ovo drugo čitanje bilo kao da je prvo.

Razlika između prvog i drugog čitanja očitovala se u čitalačkom iskustvu, sporijem čitanju i promišljanju. Kada sam prvi put pročitao KKB, završio sam ga u dahu, verovatno za četiri sata aktivnog čitanja. Ovoga puta mi je bilo potrebno više dana i nekih osam do deset sati za četristotinak stranica. To je manje bitno.

Bitnije je promišljanje o romanu, koji je čak najlošiji u tom serijalu od 16 knjiga (koje nisam sve čitao, jer nisu hronološki povezane), ali opet predstavlja izvrstan sažetak ne samo serijala u celini, već i stanja fantazije sedamdesetih i osamdesetih godina.

Kao što svi znamo, fantazija je uvek nipodaštavana spram naučne fantastike, ponajviše zbog isticanja njenog eskapističkog elementa i manjka društvene angažovanosti. Ove dve stvari teško da mogu da se spore, ali sa jedne strane zanemaruje se da je fantazija kao žanr mlađa od naučne fantastike (ma koliko to paradoksalno zvučalo), a sa druge strane - većina ovdašnjih teoretičara jedva da je išta i čitala od te fantazije, koju s tolikim žarom svrstavaju u manje vrednu rođakinju naučne fantastike, te je tako njihov stav upitan već na iskustvenom nivou.

Deriny Chronicles su sjajan primer svega što fantazija može da ponudi književnosti i fantastici u širem smislu. Ovaj serijal nije epska fantastika, već istorijska, ali je uprkos tom istorijskom elementu i danas svež i bitan. S jedne strane se oslanjajući na arturijanski mit, a na drugoj strani se oslanjajući na podele koje su šezdesetih i sedamdesetih godina potresale američko društvo - čiji su odjeci danas više nego aktuelni, Deriny Chronicles veoma vešto prepliće motive šireg društvenog konflikta - klasnog, rasnog, verskog i civilizacijskog - sa motivima ličnog razvoja, porodičnih odnosa, ličnog sazrevanja i suočavanja sa kako sopstvenim tako i sa tuđim predrasudama. Sve to pisano prelepim jezikom, koji asocira na najromantičniji period srednjeg veka, a da pri tom nije naporan čitaocu, i bez tmurne grimdark patine kojoj u poslednje vreme pribegava kako ko stigne.

Čak i ovaj roman, najslabiji od sedam o kralju Kelsonu, pravi je biser fantazijske književnosti i premda vrlo verovatno nije po ukusu savremenog čitaoca, može biti oguglalog od silne krvi i drobi, propraćenih specijalnim efektima u rangu holivudskih blokbastera (o kojima autori tih romana nesumnjivo sanjaju), kojima savremena fantazijska dela obiluju, divan je nostalgični povratak u vreme kada je fantazija imala širu slobodu izraza nego što je sada ima, bez pritiska tržišta i urednika i ukalupljavanja priča.

Možda ovakva fantastika više ne može da posluži ni kao užina jednom gladnom čitaocu, ali je zato divan popodnevni čaj - u moru jeftine kafe.

5/5

[Nightflier]

Najave kažu da je ovo jedan od deset najboljih debitantskih romana ove godine. Meni je na spisku za čitanje odmah nakon United States of Japan.


Snakewood by Adrian Selby



Once they were a band of mercenaries who shook the pillars of the world through cunning, alchemical brews, and cold steel. Whoever met their price won.
Now, their glory days behind them, scattered to the wind, and their genius leader in hiding, they are being hunted down and eliminated one by one.
A lifetime of enemies has its own price.
Adrian Selby brings us into an unforgettable new world filled with magic, mystery, intrigue, bloodshed and betrayal.

[Perin]

Ću da overim. Zvuči mi zanimljivo.

Послато са SM-N915FY уз помоћ Тапатока

[Nightflier]

Lovecraft Country: A Novel by Matt Ruff


The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.
Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide—and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite—heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors—they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.
At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn—led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb—which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his—and the whole Turner clan’s—destruction.
A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism—the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today.
Ovo je objavljeno još onomad, ali meni tek sada stiže na red za čitanje. Za jedno nedelju dana, odokativno. Enivej, iako je roman zapravo objavljen u februaru zgodno je podsetiti na njega, jer je ova godina izgleda sva u znaku Lavkrafta i lavkraftijanske fantastike, koje ima sve više - skoro kao u inat WFA skandalu.

Počeo sam da čitam. Knjiga me je kupila nakon prvih nekoliko procenata. Iako sam malo iznerviran iskorišćavanjem skorašnje kontroverze glede WFA, pisac me je ipak privoleo na svoju stranu - i to tako majstorski da sam ostao bez reči.

[Nightflier]

Borderline by Mishell Baker



A year ago, Millie lost her legs and her filmmaking career in a failed suicide attempt. Just when she's sure the credits have rolled on her life story, she gets a second chance with the Arcadia Project: a secret organization that polices the traffic to and from a parallel reality filled with creatures straight out of myth and fairy tales.

For her first assignment, Millie is tasked with tracking down a missing movie star who also happens to be a nobleman of the Seelie Court. To find him, she'll have to smooth-talk Hollywood power players and uncover the surreal and sometimes terrifying truth behind the glamour of Tinseltown. But stronger forces than just her inner demons are sabotaging her progress, and if she fails to unravel the conspiracy behind the noble's disappearance, not only will she be out on the streets, but the shattering of a centuries-old peace could spark an all-out war between worlds.

No pressure.



Borderline je urbana fantastika koja prevazilazi samonametnuta ograničenja ovog žanra. Baveći se osobama sa raznim psihofizičkim poteškoćama, Mišel Bejker je načinila korak unazad i postrance u odnosu na savremene žanrovske tokove, potpuno izbegavajući BAMF protagonistkinju i power creep tako imanentan u urbanoj fantastici (videti romane Lorel Hamilton i Ilone Endrjuz), tako da je Borderline u neku ruku povratak korenima urbane fantastike, oličenim pre svega u romanima Mercedes Leki iz devedesetih godina (SERRAted Edge series), gde se manje bavimo besmislenom akcijom i specijalnim efektima, a više međuljudskim odnosima i unutrašnjim razvojem protagoniste, te psihološkim problemima s kojima se svako od nas suočava pri interakciji sa spoljnim svetom.

Mišel Bejker skoruje mejdžor brauni points zbog potpuno originalnog tretmana vilenjaka i vilinskog sveta, što nije lako postići u savremenom UF okruženju, gde se razni faeries/fey/seelee eksploatišu preko svake mere, baš kao vampiri tokom prethodne dve decenije.

Ne bih se usudio tvrditi da je Borderline žanrovski klasik u najavi, ali svakako jeste impresivan prvenac i prvi roman ma kakve fantastike, posle "Pandemonijuma" i "Đavoljeg alfabeta" Darila Gregorija, koji uopšte pokušava da se bavi psihom i telom iz ugla osoba sa takvim invaliditetima. Premda Bejker ne piše ni izbliza dobro kao Gregori, njen jezik je više nego pristojan, sasvim odmeren, a uvid koji pruža u život osoba s raznim poremećajima je dubok, iskren i očito zasnovan na temeljnom proučavanju.

Ključna stvar je da je sve to postignuto na prilično zabavan i pismen način, što me - nažalost - navodi na pretpostavku da je ovaj roman jednostavno previše dobar za većinu publike i da će biti zapostavljen u knjižarama.

5/5

[Nightflier]

Poteralo me je s knjigama na faerie tematiku, a bogme poteralo me je i sa prijatnim iznenađenjima. Sinoć sam načeo  Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr i u prvih nekoliko odsto, veoma obećava.

Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr



 Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal. Her father’s “unconventional” business has meant a life of tightly held secrets, concealed weaponry, and a strict code. But Lily’s crime isn’t being the daughter of a powerful mob boss. Her guilt lies in the other half of her DNA—the part that can coax ancient rumors from stones and summon fire with a thought. Lily is part fae, which is a crime in her world.

From the time before she was born, a war has been raging between humanity and fae. The Queen of Blood and Rage, ruler of both the Seelie and Unseelie courts, wants to avenge the tragic death of her heir—a death that was the fault of reckless humans.

Lily’s father has shielded her from the repercussions of her ancestry…until she is sent to the prestigious St. Columba’s school, straight into the arms of the Black Diamonds.

Mysterious, glamorous, and bound together in their mission but constantly at odds, Zephyr, Creed, Will, Roan, Violet, and Alkamy are a Sleeper cell of fae, planted in the human world to help destroy it from within. With covers as rock stars and celebrity children, the Black Diamonds carry out the queen’s war against humanity. And unbeknownst to Lilywhite, she’s been chosen to join them.

Now more than ever, Lily’s heritage puts her in peril, and even the romantic attention of the fae singer Creed Morrison isn’t enough to keep Lily from wanting to run back to the safer world of organized crime.

Melissa Marr returns to faery in a dramatic story of the precarious space between two worlds and the people who must thrive there.

[Nightflier]

[Nightflier]

To whom it may concern, sa ovim se u prevod kreće sutra:

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas




"Nothing is a coincidence. Everything has a purpose. You were meant to come to this castle, just as you were meant to be an assassin."

When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King's Champion and be released from prison.

Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her.

And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she'd have again: a friend.

But something evil dwells in the castle—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival—and a desperate quest to root out the source of the evil before it destroys her world.

[Nightflier]

Nova antologija Džonatana Strana. Njegove tematske antologije su meni vrlo verovatno omiljene.

Elves of Antarctica, Paul McAuley
 Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit – Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts, Ken Liu
 Venice Drowned, Kim Stanley Robinson
 Brownsville Station, Christopher Rowe
 Who Do You Love?, Kathleen Ann Goonan
 Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived by Her Mercy, Charlie Jane Anders
 The Common Tongue, the Present Tense, the Known, Nina Allan
 What is, Jeffrey Ford
 Destroyed by the Waters, Rachel Swirsky
 The New Venusians, Sean Williams
 Inselberg, Nalo Hopkinson
 Only Ten More Shopping Days Left Till Ragnarök, James Morrow
 Last Gods, Sam J. Miller
 Drowned, Lavie Tidhar
 The Future is Blue, Catherynne M. Valente

[Nightflier]

In unrelated news, novi roman Gaja Gavrijela Keja smešten je u fiktivni Dubrovnik i biće objavljen za jedno mesec dana. Videćemo hoće li fiktivni Srbi (Sorabi?) biti zlikovci... Za sada se čini da je jedan (od dvoje?) protagonista janjičar (cue Cune Gojković)...

Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay



The bestselling author of the groundbreaking novels Under Heaven and River of Stars, Guy Gavriel Kay is back with a new novel, Children of Earth and Sky, set in a world inspired by the conflicts and dramas of Renaissance Europe. Against this tumultuous backdrop the lives of men and women unfold on the borderlands—where empires and faiths collide.

 From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request—and possibly to do more—and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman, posing as a doctor’s wife, but sent by Seressa as a spy.

The trading ship that carries them is commanded by the accomplished younger son of a merchant family, ambivalent about the life he’s been born to live. And farther east a boy trains to become a soldier in the elite infantry of the khalif—to win glory in the war everyone knows is coming.

As these lives entwine, their fates—and those of many others—will hang in the balance, when the khalif sends out his massive army to take the great fortress that is the gateway to the western world…

[Nightflier]

An action-packed novella from acclaimed fantasy author Brian Ruckley, following the adventures of the Free - the most feared mercenary company the world has ever seen. 
For years the Free have sold their martial and magical skills to the highest bidder, winning countless victories that have overthrown kings and shaken empires. 
 Yulan is a newcomer to their ranks, keen to prove himself worthy of the Free's name.  When corsair marauders ravage the Hommetic Kingdom's coastline, Yulan gets his chance.
 His mission is simple: travel to the corsairs' island fortress, persuade their self-proclaimed king to sign a peace treaty, then head home with sword unbloodied.
 Yet the crumbling fortress holds many secrets, and blades speak louder than words. Soon Yulan must fight not just for the glory of the Free, but for his very survival.

[Nightflier]

Ovo bi trebalo da bude zanimljivo...

A Song for No Man's Land - Andy Remic



He signed up to fight with visions of honour and glory, of fighting for king and country, of making his family proud at long last.

But on a battlefield during the Great War, Robert Jones is shot, and wonders how it all went so very wrong, and how things could possibly get any worse.

He'll soon find out. When the attacking enemy starts to shapeshift into a nightmarish demonic force, Jones finds himself fighting an impossible war against an enemy that shouldn't exist.

Andy Remic's A Song for No Man's Land is the first in an ongoing series.

[Nightflier]

Iako Bejn Buks bije rđav glas, ipak je reč o ozbiljnom izdavaču koji je u velikoj meri doprineo razvoju žanra, ali i političkom diskursu unutar američke spisateljske zajednice. Unatoč trešastim naslovnicama, koje počesto nikakve veze nemaju s knjigom koju predstavljaju publici, fantastika s kraja dvadesetog veka i početka dvadeset prvog ne može se ni zamisliti bez ovog izdavača, makar u solidnoj B+ kategoriji.

Nakon smrti osnivača, Bejn Buks je zacrtao kurs postepenog povlačenja iz ideološke niše u koju je upao, sve vreme pokušavajući da ne izgubi mukotrpno stečenu publiku. U tom svetlu gledam i prinovu njihovoj autorskoj postavci, u vidu Aleksa Stjuarta, više nego uspešnog pisca romana smeštenih u WH40k. U Bejnu se predstavlja militarističkim sf-om, ali njegovo bogato iskustvo uliva nadu u začetak novog i uspešnog serijala u ovom podžanru.

Shooting the Rift by Alex Stewart



ORIGINAL TRADE PAPERBACK. Space opera with a bang, as a young castout is caught up in an interstellar war.

DISOWNED IN A HARSH GALAXY

Cast out by his family and exiled from the Rimward Commonwealth, Simon Forrester must make a new life for himself as an apprentice to the powerful Commerce Guild. But others aboard the merchant vessel Stacked Deck have a hidden agenda that might lead directly to interstellar war. Now with rising tensions between the Commonwealth and the neighboring League of Democracies threatening to erupt into open war, Simon finds himself forced to choose between old and new loyalties, with the fate of an empire at stake!

[Nightflier]

Shooting the Rift i A Song for No Man's Land pokazali su se relativno razočaravajućim. U prvoj je gender-swaping društvenih uloga izveden besmisleno i traljavo, očito po uzoru na neke motive koje smo viđali razrađivane u Honovorverzumu i Vorkosigan Sagi, dok je ovo drugo naprosto dosadno i besmisleno. Zato je Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr veoma zadovoljavajuća knjiga, inteligentno napisana i premda namenjena YA segmentu, bez ijednog klišea kojima je većina YA produkcije zasejana kao politički sistem mufljuzima.

No, najiščekivaniji naslov ovog meseca svakako je

Fellside by M. R. Carey Hardcove




The unmissable and highly anticipated new literary thriller from the author of the international phenomenon The Girl With All the Gifts.

 Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. It's not the kind of place you'd want to end up. But it's where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life.

 It's a place where even the walls whisper.

 And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess.

[Nightflier]

Poteralo me je s knjigama na faerie tematiku, a bogme poteralo me je i sa prijatnim iznenađenjima. Sinoć sam načeo  Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr i u prvih nekoliko odsto, veoma obećava.

Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr



 Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal. Her father’s “unconventional” business has meant a life of tightly held secrets, concealed weaponry, and a strict code. But Lily’s crime isn’t being the daughter of a powerful mob boss. Her guilt lies in the other half of her DNA—the part that can coax ancient rumors from stones and summon fire with a thought. Lily is part fae, which is a crime in her world.

From the time before she was born, a war has been raging between humanity and fae. The Queen of Blood and Rage, ruler of both the Seelie and Unseelie courts, wants to avenge the tragic death of her heir—a death that was the fault of reckless humans.

Lily’s father has shielded her from the repercussions of her ancestry…until she is sent to the prestigious St. Columba’s school, straight into the arms of the Black Diamonds.

Mysterious, glamorous, and bound together in their mission but constantly at odds, Zephyr, Creed, Will, Roan, Violet, and Alkamy are a Sleeper cell of fae, planted in the human world to help destroy it from within. With covers as rock stars and celebrity children, the Black Diamonds carry out the queen’s war against humanity. And unbeknownst to Lilywhite, she’s been chosen to join them.

Now more than ever, Lily’s heritage puts her in peril, and even the romantic attention of the fae singer Creed Morrison isn’t enough to keep Lily from wanting to run back to the safer world of organized crime.

Melissa Marr returns to faery in a dramatic story of the precarious space between two worlds and the people who must thrive there.

Iznenađujuće slatka knjiga. Detaljniji osvrt sledi, ali ukratko 4/5.

[Nightflier]

Već neko vreme se na redovnim pojilištima elektronskim knjigama da nabaviti

The Fireman by Joe Hill



 No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it’s Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.

Harper Grayson, a compassionate, dedicated nurse as pragmatic as Mary Poppins, treated hundreds of infected patients before her hospital burned to the ground. Now she’s discovered the telltale gold-flecked marks on her skin. When the outbreak first began, she and her husband, Jakob, had made a pact: they would take matters into their own hands if they became infected. To Jakob’s dismay, Harper wants to live—at least until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. At the hospital, she witnessed infected mothers give birth to healthy babies and believes hers will be fine too. . . if she can live long enough to deliver the child.

Convinced that his do-gooding wife has made him sick, Jakob becomes unhinged, and eventually abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror. The chaos gives rise to ruthless Cremation Squads—armed, self-appointed posses roaming the streets and woods to exterminate those who they believe carry the spore. But Harper isn’t as alone as she fears: a mysterious and compelling stranger she briefly met at the hospital, a man in a dirty yellow fire fighter’s jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as The Fireman, he strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted . . . and as a weapon to avenge the wronged.

In the desperate season to come, as the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman's secrets before her life—and that of her unborn child—goes up in smoke

[Nightflier]

A Song for No Man's Land by Andy Remic je bilo prilično razočaravajuće štivo. Uglavnom dosadno. Stil je bio prilično prikladan vremenu koje opisuje, ali to je sa sobom samo donelo frustraciju zbog opšteg utiska protraćenog valjanog pripovedanja. Stiče se nekakav neodređeni utisak da je A Song for No Man's Land trebalo da bude novi "Tri srca i tri lava", ali veoma je daleko od toga.

Zato je roman Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr lepo osveženje. Ovo je definitivno YA roman, koji prilično uspešno igra na žici između urbane fantastike i distopije. Meni je bio zabavan iz više razloga: Pre svega, uspeo je da me tinejdžerski protagonisti ne iznerviraju do besnila, što mi se do sada desilo samo kod Džoa Aberkrombija (kada je reč o novoj YA produkciji). Dakle, karakterizacija je izvedena više nego solidno. Zamerka je da je svakako bilo prostora da se neki detalji iz života protagonista razrade, kako bi se dobila dodatna trodimenzionalnost, ali likovi su i ovako više nego uverljivi, a ne samo grubi krokiji kakvi se dosta često sreću u savremenoj žanrovskoj književnosti. Melisa Mar je pokazala da je više nego dobar zanatlija u tom smislu. Worldbuilding je štur, ali solidan i služi svrsi - odnosno, savršeno podržava radnju romana; ni manje ni više od toga. Mizanscen u mnogome podseća na serijal o Meri Džentri, ali operisan od besmislenog seksa (kojeg ima taman koliko je priemereno nižim razredima srednje škole) i apsurdnih grotesknosti. Autorka vrlo uspešno izvrće neke fantazijske trope (crno je zlo, belo je dobro), sve vreme se pozivajući na sve do jedan YA kliše samo da bi ga u nekoliko britkih poteza ili rasporila ili razotkrila kao potpuno besmislen. To se najbolje ogleda u motivu ljubavnog trougla, koji je rešen fenomenalno i nedvosmisleno. Neke stvari jesu prilično naivne, naročito bitka pred kraj romana, koja bi trebalo da nekakav vrhunac, ali je napisana relativno nemaštovito i prilično suprotno impliciranoj unutrašnjoj logici sveta, tako da je ona i možda najveći razlog zašto je ovaj roman od mene dobio 4 a ne 5/5 zvezdica. Naravno, od Seven Black Diamonds ne treba očekivati ni nove Black Jewels ni novu Meri Džentri, ali je ipak reč o vrlo slatkom YA romančiću, napisanom više nego pristojno i dovoljno zabavnom da se ne zažali zbog vremena utrošenog na čitanje.

[Mica Milovanovic]

Pre svega, uspeo je da me tinejdžerski protagonisti ne iznerviraju do besnila, što mi se do sada desilo samo kod Džoa Aberkrombija (kada je reč o novoj YA produkciji)

C.c.c. Vidim ja da ćeš i ti imati problema na novoj, mladalački poletnoj, pristojnoj i politički korektnoj "Novoj Sagiti"...

[Nightflier]

Ma jok, druga ciljna grupa. Seven Black Diamonds je pisan za 14-16, a ovi su 25-30, koliko vidim. Doduše, u poslednje vreme baš sa tim age bracketom nešto imam problema u komunikaciji. Može biti stoga što baš ne filtriram mišljenje spram publike, iako bih voleo da mislim kako se makar izražavam pristojno čak i kada nipodaštavam sagovornika

[Nightflier]

Ovo bi možda moglo da se nađe i na temi o feminizmu u fantastici, no...

Alex Dally MacFarlane - The Mammoth Book of SF Stories By Women (2016)



Travel by train to the Moon, discover living spaceships born in gas giants and explore the constellations, alternate universes and post-apocalyptic worlds of this compelling collection of SF written by women.

Whether crossing the stars or constructing the future of our planet, women have always written powerful, important science fiction. This anthology showcases the most exceptional SF stories written by women in recent decades, from classic stars Ursula K. Le Guin and Angélica Gorodischer; science fiction greats Karen Joy Fowler and Nancy Kress; new award-winning talents Elizabeth Bear, Nnedi Okorafor and Aliette de Bodard; and many more.

This anthology showcases the most exceptional science fiction stories written by women in recent decades, from classic stars like Ursula K. Le Guin and James Tiptree Jr. to science-fiction greats such Nancy Kress, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Karen Joy Fowler to new award-winning talent

Contents:
Girl hours / Sofia Samatar --
Excerpt from a letter by a social-realist Aswang / Kristin Mandigma --
Somadeva: a sky river sutra / Vandana Singh --
The queen of Erewon / Lucy Sussex --
Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's Day / Tori Truslow --
Spider the artist / Nnedi Okorafor --
The science of herself / Karen Joy Fowler --
The other graces / Alice Sola Kim --
Boojum / Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette --
The eleven holy numbers of the mechanical soul / Natalia Theodoridou --
Mountain ways / Ursula K. Le Guin --
Tan-Tan and Dry Bone / Nalo Hopkinson --
The four generations of Chang E / Zen Cho --
Stay thy flight / Élisabeth Vonarburg --
Astrophilia / Carrie Vaughan --
Invisible planets / Hao Jingfang --
On the Leitmotif of the Trickster Constellation in Northern Hemispheric star charts, post apocalypse / Nicole Kornher-Stace --
Valentines / Shira Lipkin --
Dancing in the shadow of the once / Rochita Loenen-Ruiz --
Ej-Es / Nancy Kress --
The cartographer wasps and the anarchist bees / E. Lily Yu --
The death of Sugar Daddy / Toiya Kristen Finley --
Enyo-Enyo / Kameron Hurley --
Semiramis / Genevieve Valentine --
Immersion / Aliette de Bogard --
Down the wall / Greer Gilman --
Sing / Karin Tidbeck --
Good boy / Nisi Shwal --
The second card of the Major Arcana / Thoraiya Dyer --
A short encyclopedia of lunar seas / Ekaterina Sedia --
Vector / Benjanun Sriduangkaew --
Concerning the unchecked growth of cities / Angélica Gorodischer --
The radiant car thy sparrows drew / Catherynne M. Valente.

[Nightflier]

Threading the Needle by Joshua Palmatier

The Nexus—the hub created by the Prime Wielders to harness the magical power of the ley lines for the city of Erenthrall, the Baronial Plains, and the world beyond—has Shattered, the resultant pulse cascading through the system and leaving Erenthrall decimated, partially encased in a massive distortion.
The world has fared no better: auroral storms plague the land, transforming people into creatures beyond nightmare; silver-white lights hover over all of the major cities, the harbinger of distortions that could quicken at any moment; and quakes brought on by the unstable ley network threaten to tear the earth apart. The survivors of this apocalypse have banded together in desperate groups, both in the remains of Erenthall and in small enclaves beyond the city, scrounging for food and resources in an ever more dangerous world.
Having survived the initial Shattering, Wielder Kara Tremain and ex-Dog Allan Garrett have led their small group of refugees to the Hollow, a safe haven in the hills on the edge of the plains. But the ley system is not healing itself. Their only option is to repair the distortion that engulfs Erenthrall and to fix the damaged ley lines themselves. To do that, they’ll have to enter a city controlled by vicious bands of humans and non-humans alike, intent on keeping what little they’ve managed to scavenge together.
But as soon as they enter the streets of Erenthrall, they find themselves caught up in the maelstrom of violence, deception, and betrayal that the city has descended into—including the emergence of a mysterious and powerful cult calling themselves the White Cloaks, whose leader is known as Father….
He is the same man who once led the terrorist group called the Kormanley and brought about the Shattering that destroyed the world!

[Nightflier]

The Emperor's Railroad (Dreaming Cities #1) by Guy Haley




Ako ništa drugo, Amazonova Kindl platforma omogućila je renesansu novela. Pisci to za sada kolebljivo koriste, mahom vezujući novele za etablirane svetove svojih serijala, ali s vremena na vreme javljaju se i projekti kakav je The Emperor's Railroad.

Prva novela u svetu Dreaming Cities Gaja Hejlija smućkana je po obrobanom receptu daleke prošlosti u dalekoj budućnusti, uspešno kombinujući postapokaliptični mizanscen s motivima distopije, estetikom stimpanka, pripovedačkim stilom vesterna i na kraju formom pikardskog romana.

Nepretenciozno a opet jezgrovito napisana novela nagoveštava bogatu istoriju postapokaliptičnog sveta, sasvim dovoljno sumornog i religioznog da se oseti piščevo iskustvo u radu na Warhammer novelizacijama. Ipak, Hejli ovim uratkom dokazuje da je daleko od tek anonimnog proizvođača generičke robe. The Emperor's Railroad je napisana izuzetno dobro i u zanatskom i u pripovedačkom smislu i komotno može da stane rame uz rame s recimo Martinovim novelama iz sveta "Pesme leda i vatre".

5/5

[Nightflier]

Prva knjiga u ovoj trilogiji bila je veličanstvena

War Factory: Transformation Book Two by Neal Asher



Thorvald Spear, resurrected from his death over a hundred years earlier, continues to hunt Penny Royal, the rogue AI and dangerous war criminal on the run from Polity forces. Beyond the Graveyard, a lawless and deadly area in deep space, Spear follows the trail of several enemy Prador, the crab-like alien species with a violent history of conflict with humanity.

Sverl, a Prador genetically modified by Penny Royal and slowly becoming human, pursues Cvorn, a Prador harboring deep hatred for the Polity looking to use him and other hybrids to reignite the dormant war with mankind.

Blite, captain of a bounty hunting ship, hands over two prisoners and valuable memplants from Penny Royal to the Brockle, a dangerous forensics entity under strict confinement on a Polity spaceship that quickly takes a keen interest in the corrupted AI and its unclear motives.

Penny Royal meanwhile continues to pull all the strings in the background, keeping the Polity at bay and seizing control of an attack ship. It seeks Factory Station Room 101, a wartime manufacturing space station believed to be destroyed. What does it want with the factory? And will Spear find the rogue AI before it gets there?

War Factory, the second book in the Transformation trilogy, is signature space opera from Neal Asher: breakneck pacing, high-tech science, bizarre alien creatures, and gritty, dangerous far-future worlds.

Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

[Nightflier]

Blejk Čarlton se setio da završi svoju trilogiju:

Spellbreaker by Blake Charlton



Leandra Weal has a bad habit of getting herself in dangerous situations.
While hunting neodemons in her role as Warden of Ixos, Leandra obtains a prophetic spell that provides a glimpse one day into her future. She discovers that she is doomed to murder someone she loves, soon, but not who. That’s a pretty big problem for a woman who has a shark god for a lover, a hostile empress for an aunt, a rogue misspelling wizard for a father, and a mother who--especially when arguing with her daughter--can be a real dragon.
Leandra’s quest to unravel the mystery of the murder-she-will-commit becomes more urgent when her chronic disease flares up and the Ixonian Archipelago is plagued by natural disasters, demon worshiping cults, and fierce political infighting. Everywhere she turns, Leandra finds herself amid intrigue and conflict. It seems her bad habit for getting into dangerous situations is turning into a full blown addiction.
As chaos spreads across Ixos, Leandra and her troubled family must race to uncover the shocking truth about a prophesied demonic invasion, human language, and their own identities--if they don't kill each other first.

Spellbreaker is the long awaited sequel to Blake Charlton's Spellbound, which was listed by Kirkus Reviews among the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2011. This final installment of the Spellwright Trilogy stands alone as a complete story; however, fans of the series will find in it answers to the questions raised by the previous books about Leandra’s parents, Nicodemus Weal and Francesca DeVega.

[Nightflier]

Objavljen je drugi Eriksonov prikvel za Malazan, Fall of Light, koji prati dogodovštine mlađanog Anomandera. U nekom trenutku, vratiću se pisanju prikaza čitavog sveta, naročito pošto je skoro objavljen peti deo seriala (u Laguninom izdanju).

[Nightflier]

Na uobičajenim mestima za skidanje piraCkih knjiga pojavila su se dva nova romana, potencijalno vrhunska:

Guy Gavriel Kay - Children of Earth and Sky




The bestselling author of the groundbreaking novels Under Heaven and River of Stars, Guy Gavriel Kay is back with a new novel, Children of Earth and Sky, set in a world inspired by the conflicts and dramas of Renaissance Europe. Against this tumultuous backdrop the lives of men and women unfold on the borderlands—where empires and faiths collide.
 
 From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request—and possibly to do more—and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman, posing as a doctor’s wife, but sent by Seressa as a spy.
 
 The trading ship that carries them is commanded by the accomplished younger son of a merchant family, ambivalent about the life he’s been born to live. And farther east a boy trains to become a soldier in the elite infantry of the khalif—to win glory in the war everyone knows is coming.
 
 As these lives entwine, their fates—and those of many others—will hang in the balance, when the khalif sends out his massive army to take the great fortress that is the gateway to the western world…

Paul Kearney - The Wolf in the Attic



A novel that will enchant readers of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. The fantastical appears in the middle of 1920's Oxford as a young refugee looking to escape her grim reality rubs shoulders with two of the founding fathers of modern fantasy, Tolkien and Lewis.
 
 1920s Oxford: home to C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien... and Anna Francis, a young Greek refugee looking to escape the grim reality of her new life. The night they cross paths, none suspect the fantastic world at work around them.
 
 Anna Francis lives in a tall old house with her father and her doll Penelope. She is a refugee, a piece of flotsam washed up in England by the tides of the Great War and the chaos that trailed in its wake. Once upon a time, she had a mother and a brother, and they all lived together in the most beautiful city in the world, by the shores of Homer's wine-dark sea.
 
 But that is all gone now, and only to her doll does she ever speak of it, because her father cannot bear to hear. She sits in the shadows of the tall house and watches the rain on the windows, creating worlds for herself to fill out the loneliness. The house becomes her own little kingdom, an island full of dreams and half-forgotten memories. And then one winter day, she finds an interloper in the topmost, dustiest attic of the house. A boy named Luca with yellow eyes, who is as alone in the world as she is.
 
 That day, she’ll lose everything in her life, and find the only real friend she may ever know.
 

[Nightflier]

Upravo sam pročitao završnicu trilogije Red Queen's War, koja bi mogla da bude veoma zanimljiva old school Sagitašima, pri čemu ne mislim na forumaše već na čitaoce Bobanove edicije. I ova trilogija se, baš kao i njena prethodnica, oslanja na sintezu tvrde naučne fantastike - naglašavajući kvantnu mehaniku - i fantazije. Prikaz trećeg romana uslediće za koji dan, a za sada evo obrazloženja preporuke koju sam dao Laguni za prva dva romana u trilogiji:

Za Marka Lorensa Prince of Fools je znak velikog spisateljskog napreka. Njegova prethodna trilogija je sjajan primer pretapanja žanrova i odbacivanja književnih klišea zarad novog pristupa pomalo istrošenom i izlizanom (pod)žanru epske fantastike. Po mom mišljenju, Lorens je iznašao savršenu ravnotežu između danas popularnog grimdark spisasateljskog stila, koji su popularisali autori poput Džoa Aberkrombija i pomalo šaljivo-posprdnog duha koji je odlika stare škole mača & magije i čitave lepeze pisaca, od Lajbera do Zelaznija.

Prince of Fools je napisan mnogo bolje od prethodne Lorensove trilogije, na koju se naslanja tek delimično. Odnosno, smešten je u isti svet, ali poznavanje događaja iz trilogije Broken Empire ne samo da je nebitno već bi možda moglo i da oteža čitanje ove trilogije, pa je svakako preporuka da se najpre čita Red Queen's War a tek onda Broken Empire. Jezik je u drugoj trilogiji britkiji i sveden na bezmalo ogoljene ali ipak prelepo sročene rečenice dostojne noar krimića ili urbane fantastike – žanrova u kojima nema mesta dugim i lirskim opisima. Lorens majstorski barata pripovedanjem iz prvog lica, a njegov protagonista je daleko uverljiviji i živopisniji lik od Džorga, protagoniste Broken Empire-a.

Takođe, svet u kojem se radnja odvija izgrađen je daleko detaljnije i podrobnije, ali mora se priznati da je tu po sredi samo nadgradnja već solidnih temelja prethodne trilogije.

Prine of Fools bih zdušno preporučio svim ljubiteljima Džoa Aberkrombija, s tim da mislim da je Lorens vanredno uspešno rastegao granice i epske i naučne fantastike (elementi naučne fantastike daleko su naglašeniji u prethodnoj trilogiji, što nije teško jer su o ovoj bezmalo neprimetni), a istovremeno mu je pošlo za rukom da ne oponaša ni Džordža Martina ni Džoa Aberkrombija, što je relativno teško za pisca koji bi da dela baš u ovom žanrovskom segmentu.

Liar's Key  je drugi roman u trilogiji, a u njemu se takođe vidi piščev napredak u čisto zanatskom smislu. Autor je sada smeliji, stilski razigraniji i upečatljiviji, pa je jasno da je sada već sazreo njegov lični izraz, potpuno prepoznatljiv i jasno drugačiji od stilski srodnih pisaca, kakvi su recimo Aberkrombi, Ričard Morgan i Danijel Polanski (Polanski je objavljen u Hrvatskoj, u veoma lošem prevodu). Protagonista i sporedni likovi sada su složeniji i tananije crte njihovih ličnosti su istaknutije, a iako se likovi u suštini vode veoma prostim pobudama pisac ih je uspešno izgradio u potpuno razvijene i višedimenzionalne ličnosti, u kojima se veoma doslovno prelivaju svetlost i tama.

Liar's Key nije toliki kvalitativni skok u poređenju s Prince of Fools koliko je taj roman bio u poređenju s prethodnom trilogijom. Više je po sredi evolucija. Poslednja trećina knjige pati od izvesnih problema, ali veliko je pitanje da li bi to bilo očigledno prosečnom čitaocu, koji ne razmišlja sve vreme kako bi nešto preveo.

Bilo kako bilo, Lorens je jedan od retkih pisaca čije knjige mi se iskreno dopadaju i van onoga što mislim da bi bilo prihvatljivo za naše tržište.

[Nightflier]

Trenutno čitam dve nove knjige, friške s elektronskih štamparskih presa:

The Waking Fire (The Draconis Memoria #1) by Anthony Ryan



The Waking Fire is set in a vibrant new world where the blood of drakes—creatures similar to dragons—is valued beyond reckoning, and can be distilled into elixirs that grant fearsome powers to those who are “blood-blessed.” The novel follows an unregistered blood-blessed as he searches for an elusive variety of drake so potent, its capture would mean unrivalled riches; the second in command of a blood-burning ironclad ship; and a young woman in a lifelong contract to a trading syndicate, whose espionage mission places her on the front lines of a newly declared war. As empires clash and arcane mysteries reveal themselves, these characters are tested again and again and soon discover that the fate of the world rests on their shoulders.

The Draconis Memoria is a remarkable new epic fantasy series with steampunk flavor, full of the phenomenal worldbuilding and non-stop action that have gained Anthony Ryan a global fan base.

Stranger of Tempest (The God Fragments #1) by Tom Lloyd



Lynx is a mercenary with a sense of honour; a dying breed in the Shattered Kingdom. Failed by the nation he served and weary of the skirmishes that plague the continent's principalities, he walks the land in search of purpose. He wants for little so bodyguard work keeps his belly full and his mage-gun loaded. It might never bring a man fame or wealth, but he's not forced to rely on others or kill without cause. Little could compel Lynx to join a mercenary company, but he won't turn his back on a kidnapped girl. At least the job seems simple enough; the mercenaries less stupid and vicious than most he's met over the years. So long as there are no surprises or hidden agendas along the way, it should work out fine.

Obe knjige mešaju fantaziju sa stimpank estetikom, s tim da Lojd dodaje orijentalni začin, što mu je već manir u poslednje vreme, dok Rajan dodaje uštogljeni kvazibritanski mizanscen, koji grubo odgovara vremenu napoleonskih ratova iz našeg sveta. Ovo potonje, praćeno tipičnim uštogljenim engleskim jezikom, premda ne i nekim inače čestim tropima (konkretno, nižerazrednoj društvenoj ulozi žena, svedenih ili na kurve, zle špijunke, tupave plastične ukrase ili ljubavi protagoniste), što je malo osvežavajuće. Moram priznati da sam razočaran, budući da sam nakon Raven's Shadow očekivao nešto bliskije Martinu nego Sandersonu.
Lynx is a mercenary with a sense of honour; a dying breed in the Shattered Kingdom. Failed by the nation he served and weary of the skirmishes that plague the continent's principalities, he walks the land in search of purpose. He wants for little so bodyguard work keeps his belly full and his mage-gun loaded. It might never bring a man fame or wealth, but he's not forced to rely on others or kill without cause. Little could compel Lynx to join a mercenary company, but he won't turn his back on a kidnapped girl. At least the job seems simple enough; the mercenaries less stupid and vicious than most he's met over the years. So long as there are no surprises or hidden agendas along the way, it should work out fine.