I look forward to every Tuesday because… it’s New Book Tuesday! I always sneak away for an early lunch so I can swing by the bookstore before heading back to the home office. The visit is often conditional on me finishing some big goal… either a Monday, all-day goal, or a Tuesday morning one. I rarely fail to get done what is needed so I can head out to see what’s new on the shelves. I don’t always leave with a new book for me — not every NBT is fruitful — but I do often find something of interest for my wife or my kids.
I’m heading out today around 11:30am, and I have no idea what I’ll find. While I may not find anything today, I do have three books that I can at least recommend to you if you’re looking for something new to read. I get a lot of advanced review copies, and these three have really stood out from the pack. One of them is from a favorite author, another is a favorite genre, and the final one is a complete (yet welcome) surprise. Hopefully one of these will grab your attention and give you some great reading material for the week ahead.
The B-Team by John Scalzi
Enough said, right?
Okay, maybe not. Three or four of you may have not yet read his 1995 Hugo Award nominated Old Man’s War. That’s okay… you now have a book to put on your shopping list. It’s good. Trust your fellow geek dads that Old Man’s War is guaranteed to entertain. That’s not to say you wouldn’t be able to enjoy The B-Team, but this new episode takes place in the same universe (or should I say universes? *wink wink*) as the four previous Colonial Defense Forces novels. I say episode because Scalzi’s newest novel due out in May is titled The Human Division, but it’s being offered for sale as individual episodes released one per week over the next three months. Thirteen episodes in all, each $0.99, will lead up to the complete novel being released on May 14, 2013 in digital and hardcover editions.
I’m going to go ahead and tell you now… I’m already sold on this episodic storytelling. The B-Team story is about 91 pages, and I read it in one sitting. Thankfully Tor sent me the first three episodes to read, but given that I’ll probably finish them in one sitting as well, I’ll be waiting just like other Scalzi fans for each new weekly release. And it’ll drive me crazy. Why? Because the The B-Team has kicked off what I can already tell is going to be one zinger of a novel.
Scalzi picks up where the political and military elements are dealing with the fallout from the events in The Last Colony. Earth’s supply of soldiers to the Colonial Defense Force has dried up, and the Conclave, a military entity consisting of four hundred alien races, is predicted to start pushing back on the Union’s colonized planets. It’s very important for the Union to begin dealing with other races more diplomatically and with less reliance on the military for invasions and battles for territory. Inside the Union are diplomats that the higher-ups have come to rely on for getting things done… their A-Teams. So, when I tell you that a particularly important negotiation has now fallen into the hands of a B-Team, let me leave it there without giving away any of the surprises.
A familiar (and popular) character from the earlier CDF novels figures prominently in Episode 1, but there are plenty of new characters who have managed to grow on me in Episode 1. I like the intrigue that’s been introduced, and the bigger hints that have been dropped in a relatively short period of time in this opening episode about where this story may be going have hooked me. I’m all in.
It’s been 5 years since the last CDF novel was released, Zoe’s Tale, and that book was a re-telling of the events from The Last Colony from Zoe’s point of view. So it’s been a good wait to hear what’s happening on Earth and with the Union. And now I’ve got to wait three months more. But with the weekly releases, I think I’ll be able to manage.
Episode 1, The B-Team will be released on January 15, 2013, and Episode 2, Walk the Plank, will be available on January 22, 2013.
The Aylesford Skull by James P. Blaylock
If you’re a steampunk fan… enough said, right?
The cover of the book even has it right there under his name… Steampunk Legend. The three writers who are generally considered the fathers of steampunk are K.W. Jeter, Tim Powers, and… James Blaylock. I’ve read most (but not all) of their writings, and only after starting The Aylesford Skull did I remember the events I’d read back in the early 90s that were part of Blaylock’s original steampunk trilogy — The Digging Leviathan, Homunculus, and Lord Kelvin’s Machine, the latter two being republished by Titan Books this year! (I never read The Digging Leviathan… a very hard to find book in good condition. I was able to check out the last two from a local library and have never had copies for my own library. Until now.)
And now, what should arrive in my mailbox a month ago but Blaylock’s newest Langdon St. Ives novel, The Aylesford Skull. Can I just tell you that I read this thing in about two days, and that’s fast given the book’s writing style. The dialogue, the actual Victorian-era technology, and the locales, complete with authentic insults and slang… it’s a book written for true steampunk fans.
The story does not require a previous knowledge of Langdon St. Ives, but also doesn’t hurt to understand who he is, the pain he has suffered, and why he has moved his family to the countryside to escape certain individuals and situations. But leaving London isn’t enough. A nearby grave robbery once again pulls St. Ives into a dangerous mystery, and the culprit turns out to be an old nemesis of St. Ives’. It turns personal when St. Ives’ son is kidnapped by the same man, who pulls St. Ives back into the dark corners of London and exposes a macabre project to open a dark pathway to another dimension using a skull with some unusual features.
The Aylesford Skull has it all — steamships, strange devices, despicable villain with deplorable henchmen, mystics, gentleman’s club, disguises, pistols, and seedy taverns. St. Ives enlists the aid of a number of friends and colleagues (including the author of a certain fictional detective who favors observation and deduction) to help locate his son and stop an evil plan that cannot be allowed to succeed.
I’m quite pleased that Titan has chosen to re-release Homunculus and Lord Kelvin’s Machine in addition to this new title. If you’re a fan of steampunk fiction, these are three books that you’ll definitely want on your shelf. St. Ives has to be one of the most fleshed out Victorian characters ever written, and I’m sincerely hoping that Blaylock isn’t finished with this scientist adventurer. The Aylesford Skull can easily stand alone without any knowledge of Blaylock’s previous steampunk stories, but you’ll want to hunt down additional St. Ives tales, I’m for certain.
The Aylesford Skull will be released on January 15, 2013.
The Disaster Diaries by Sam Sheridan
This is one of those books that I totally identified with… both as a father and as a DIYer. Sheridan is a new dad, and being someone who likes being in control (he’s a mixed martial arts fighter), the arrival of his son combined with all the craziness we see and hear about today’s world, has shown him that there’s being in control… and BEING IN CONTROL. So many things are out of our hands, and we rely on others to provide us with food, shelter, heating and cooling, electricity, and even protection. But what if all that were to disappear? Sheridan takes it upon himself to get some training in a number of skills that could easily mean the difference between life and death one day.
Each chapter opens with a fictional short story about a family man facing a serious problem… and then the training begins. The book opens with something simple (HA!)… an earthquake. And then it proceeds through some crazy stuff — zombies, alien invasion, a new Ice Age, and more. Sheridan is an entertaining writer, and he introduces the reader to all the experts who provide him with skills and knowledge that could possibly save his life. The earthquake story wakes Sheridan up to just how important physical strength will be to survival.
There’s a very interesting chapter on PTS (post traumatic stress) and how studies have been done that show training training training is the key to maintaining control in an out-of-control situation. No matter your position on guns, the book provides some good, thought provoking material that pushes you to wonder just how far you can and will go to protect yourself, your family, and your friends.
Chapters cover dietary needs, starting a fire, medical training, hunting and gathering, hand-to-hand combat with knives, surviving in a snow-covered land, and much more. There’s information on how our brains dissociate in certain situations, how not to lose control when weapons are drawn, evasive driving, and the proper way to shoot an elk. It’s 335 pages of first hand experiences that opened my eyes to just how little I am actually prepared myself. I can start a fire (done it quite a few times, actually), I know basic CPR, I could build a small wind or water-powered generator to power a light bulb, and I now know how to weld with oxy acetylene (no electricity is going to make it hard to do MIG welding!) among other skills. But I’m lacking, there’s no doubt. Sheridan signs up for the classes, gets the training, and documents it all so you’ll know what you’re in for should you decide you want to get some serious survival knowledge packed into your head.
The Disaster Diaries is a fascinating book; while the zombies and alien invasion elements of the fiction story might seem out of place or downright silly, that’s not the point. The point is preparation. And training. And hands-on. Reading how Sheridan progresses through his own training further reminds me just how much our civilization hangs by a thread and just what would be expected of me to protect my own family.
Ultimately, the book ends on a positive note, reminding the reader that humans in most disasters, people are typically more resilient and strong-willed than we may believe. The survival instinct is strong, but so is the social one. When times are tough, the author reminds us that people pull together and survive. I’d like to think that in a bad situation, my own skills might be added to a group to improve it just a little bit. Honestly, I hope I never have to put that to the test. But… just in case… I might give The Disaster Diaries another read and flag those things that I can realistically do to improve myself. (I’m not planning on heading to Alaska for an igloo building class, but Sheridan does make it sound interesting!)
The Disaster Diaries will be released on January 24, 2013.
