This made my day yesterday.

Although the whole 'boiler possibly producing carbon monoxide' thing did take the shine off the day somewhat (and right at the very end too, we weren't allowed back into the house until half one this morning) Books turn up in the post and sometimes I just have to post about them because I am that excited. No really, I am :o) Take this book for example, a book that I've been waiting for ever since I had an inkling that it was to published.

For thirty years, Area X, monitored by the secret agency known as the Southern Reach, has remained mysterious and remote behind its intangible border– an environmental disaster zone, though to all appearances an abundant wilderness. Eleven expeditions have been sent in to investigate; even for those that have made it out alive, there have been terrible consequences.

‘Annihilation’ is the story of the twelfth expedition and is told by its nameless biologist. Introverted but highly intelligent, the biologist brings her own secrets with her. She is accompanied by a psychologist, an anthropologist and a surveyor, their stated mission: to chart the land, take samples and expand the Southern Reach’s understanding of Area X.

But they soon find out that they are being manipulated by forces both strange and all too familiar. An unmapped tunnel is not as it first appears. An inexplicable moaning calls in the distance at dusk. And while each member of the expedition has surrendered to the authority of the Southern Reach, the power of Area X is far more difficult to resist.

It might not be another 'Ambergris' book, that's ok I can wait, but anything by Jeff Vandermeer automatically jumps to the front of the queue (nudging out of the way all those other books that have jumped to the head of the queue). Vandermeer writes the kind of books that I want to read and he writes them very well indeed, it's that simple.

Just a few more pages of 'Blighted Empire' to read and then I'm ready for 'Annihilation' :o)

‘The Frost Giant’s Daughter’ – Robert E. Howard

Every so often, nothing else will do apart from a Conan story. After a morning spent juggling two small children (not literally, although that would have been easier in some respects…) and my usual fight with the morning commute (I lost, again…) the need to sit down and watch the iconic barbarian hit some stuff with his sword was stronger than ever. It’s not just the swordplay though is it? Howard is a master of fight scenes but his tales also prove, time and again, that he was a man who just instinctively grasped the art of storytelling; both in terms of the worlds that he created and the plots he set loose in them. I haven’t come across a story of Howards yet that I haven’t wanted to pursue to its conclusion and, even though I’ve read it before, this was definitely the case with ‘The Frost Giant’s Daughter’.

Conan is the last man standing in a fight between rival Vanir and Aesir warbands but is not without injury and his immediate future, amidst the icy peaks of the battlefield, is uncertain. A strange lady appears on the battlefield and Conan’s thoughts turn, somewhat predictably, to more carnal ends but is this mysterious lady running away from Conan… or towards something else entirely? Whatever Conan discovers, will he be in any shape to deal with it?

So, this is the story where Conan basically spends a lot of the pages chasing a woman, Atali, because he wants to have sex with her. Atali’s running is drawing Conan into a trap but it’s clear that sex isn’t on her agenda anyway. It is for Conan though and that makes for some uncomfortable reading; if he catches Atali then he will be raping her, there’s no two ways about it (and Howard makes it clear that, even in his weakened state, Conan could still do exactly that).

As you keep reading though, it becomes clear that Howard has no intention of Conan doing anything like that to Atali; there are more important things to be done here than satiating barbarian urges and Conan’s base desires swiftly become redundant in the face of what is to come. We still have to deal with the thought of Conan being like that but then a whole load of other stuff comes along and, all of a sudden, we’re not talking about dark deeds on a battlefield any longer… All of sudden, Howard widens the focus of the tale and Conan is forced to confront a whole new world beyond the one he is comfortable with. It’s all done very subtly, we know it’s coming but Conan has got his mind on other things and misses it entirely…

And then, BANG! Conan gets a rude awakening and is forced to fight for his life against two frost giants. It kind of serves him right (and hopefully serves as a lesson that he can’t have every girl he sets his eyes on… oh hang on, it’s Conan we’re talking about here) but the reader has to admire the way Conan just throws himself into battle against two giants twice the size of him (even if we know how it will turn out).

There are some forces though that even Conan can’t stop and one of those is the intervention of an angry God. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson that he can’t have every girl he sets his eye on… (Hang on, I’ve said this already haven’t I…) This is the moment where Howard brings two worlds clashing together and I loved the way it then segues into Conan regaining consciousness and doubting whether any of it had even happened. The best time then for Howard to pull out a killer final couple of sentences and make everything crystal clear after all that messing with our expectations. There is a lot going on in ‘The Frost Giant’s Daughter’ then. Not only are two worlds built and displayed for the readers pleasure but we get to see Conan make sense of them in the only way that he can, with the point of his sword and an eye for the ladies. It might get him in a lot more trouble than he would want but it all made for just the right kind of diversion that I needed on the trip in this morning.

Cover Art! 'Wolf of Sigmar' - C.L. Werner (Black Library)

For no other reason than that this is how I felt trying to get to work this morning... :o)

If you live in London then you know exactly what I mean, the daily commute brings out the worst in all of us sometimes (apparently, I have to fight to suppress my inner Skaven...) I love Black Library covers though and that's the other reason I'm posting today as the cover for 'Wolf of Sigmar' is so dynamic and in your face, it's like a shot of caffeine to the eyeballs.
Here's the blurb,

The Black Plague has done its work, and the ravaged Empire is ripe for the picking. As the dread armies of the skaven sweep across Sigmar's realm, each of the great cities looks to its own defence - except Middenheim. As he gathers warriors to his banner and liberates towns and villages from the verminous menace, Graf Mandred begins to embrace his destiny as the future leader of a united Empire - if he can survive the trials to come.

A fairly sparse blurb isn't it? Fair indication that you really need to have read the first two books in this trilogy first ('Dead Winter' and 'Blighted Empire' just in case you were wondering). I'm well into 'Blighted Empire' at the moment so hopefully I'll be able to let you know how that went by the end of the week.
What are you reading at the moment? Is it any good?

'The Troop' - Nick Cutter (Gallery Books)

If you know me outside this blog (hello!) then you will know that I have a pretty healthy appetite for food, albeit all the wrong kinds of food and far more of it then I should really be eating. This week has seen that appetite vanish though; partly because I've caught a bug off Hope (apparently it's funny to cough all over Daddy when you're not feeling well...) and also because I've spent the last couple of days reading Nick Cutter's debut 'The Troop', a book that has actually put me off eating. I didn't think anything could do that... You'll see why when you read 'The Troop' and you really should read it if you like a taut tale of terror that absolutely refuses to be put down. That's what we're talking about here. I couldn't stop reading until I was done and consider my loss of appetite a small price to pay.

Once every year, Scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a weekend camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story around a roaring bonfire. The boys are a tight-knit crew. There’s Kent, one of the most popular kids in school; Ephraim and Max, also well-liked and easy-going; then there’s Newt the nerd and Shelley the odd duck. For the most part, they all get along and are happy to be there—which makes Scoutmaster Tim’s job a little easier. But for some reason, he can’t shake the feeling that something strange is in the air this year. Something waiting in the darkness. Something wicked . . .

It comes to them in the night. An unexpected intruder, stumbling upon their campsite like a wild animal. He is shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—a man in unspeakable torment who exposes Tim and the boys to something far more frightening than any ghost story. Within his body is a bioengineered nightmare, a horror that spreads faster than fear. One by one, the boys will do things no person could ever imagine.

And so it begins. An agonizing weekend in the wilderness. A harrowing struggle for survival. No possible escape from the elements, the infected . . . or one another.

‘The Troop’ is a relentless read, in terms of how it hooks the reader as well as the intensity of the horror that it visits on its cast of characters. No-one makes it to the end of the book unscathed and I’d have to say that the luckiest characters are the ones who are dead by the time the book draws to a close (and what a creepy ending it is, a nice way to keep you thinking long after you’ve stopped reading).

This is a book that shows us all too clearly that evil is pretty much everywhere, ready to be unleashed at a moment’s stupidity, plain ignorance or even more chillingly, with the full knowledge of what will occur. Whether it’s the scouts turning on their troop leader, the obsessive nature of Dr Edgerton in his experiments (regardless of any human cost) or implied big business concerns causing the military to take no corrective action whatsoever; Cutter shows his reader the dark side of human nature and the consequences of this, consequences that actually overshadow the bioengineered threat at times.

And Cutter pulls no punches at all with those consequences, resulting in a dark and horrifying tale the likes of which I haven’t read since… erm… I can’t remember the last time I read something so dark and horrifying. Childhood is wrenched away from the scouts and replaced with the simple desire to stay alive, both in the face of what invades the island and in the face of each other. The danger brings out the best in some characters but the worst in one character in particular who sees it as a chance to indulge in some seriously messed up behaviour. ‘Children can be so cruel’ is a statement that is taken to limits here that you would not believe and makes for scenes that will have you squirming in your seat.

Flashbacks to earlier childhood moments really flesh out the characters but sometimes this happens at the expense of the flow of the plot, slowing things right down when they’ve only just built up a nice head of speed. When things are allowed to flow uninterrupted though, ‘The Troop’ is a joy to behold with Cutter firmly in control of his plot and making sure that everything happens at the most terrifying moment.

This has been a particularly hard review to write coherently as, being completely honest here, I’m still living out what happened to Kent, Max, Ephraim, Newt and Shelley. ‘The Troop’ is a dark and vicious tale that made me feel physically sick at times but still unable to take my eyes off the page and the story unfolding. That’s the best kind of horror fiction, as far as I’m concerned, and I really hope that it isn’t too long before Nick Cutter tries his hand at it again. Highly recommended if you’re into horror fiction, perhaps not so highly recommended if you’ve eaten a meal and want to keep it down… ;o)

(I've been reading the US edition of 'The Troop', Headline will be publishing it in the UK and in the next couple of weeks I think)

'Star Wars: Honour Among Thieves' - James S.A. Corey (Del Rey)

When the Empire threatens the galaxy’s new hope, will Han, Luke, and Leia become its last chance?

When the mission is to extract a high-level rebel spy from the very heart of the Empire, Leia Organa knows the best man for the job is Han Solo—something the princess and the smuggler can finally agree on. After all, for a guy who broke into an Imperial cell block and helped destroy the Death Star, the assignment sounds simple enough.

But when Han locates the brash rebel agent, Scarlet Hark, she’s determined to stay behind enemy lines. A pirate plans to sell a cache of stolen secrets that the Empire would destroy entire worlds to protect—including the planet where Leia is currently meeting with rebel sympathizers. Scarlet wants to track down the thief and steal the bounty herself, and Han has no choice but to go along if he’s to keep everyone involved from getting themselves killed. From teeming city streets to a lethal jungle to a trap-filled alien temple, Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and their daring new comrade confront one ambush, double cross, and firestorm after another as they try to keep crucial intel out of Imperial hands.

But even with the crack support of Luke Skywalker’s x-wing squadron, the Alliance heroes may be hopelessly outgunned in their final battle for the highest of stakes: the power to liberate the galaxy from tyranny or ensure the Empire’s reign of darkness forever.

So much for me saying that I wouldn’t be reading any more Star Wars books now that the licencing is headed Marvel’s way. More and more these days, my reading is about revisiting old friends and friends don’t get any older than Han, Leia and Luke (and the rest). More than that though, ‘Honour Among Thieves’ is James S.A. Corey’s first foray into the Star Wars universe (nice timing there…) and, given how he nails Space Opera in the ‘Expanse’ series, I really wanted to be in at the start to see what he made of this very established setting. The answer is ‘quite a lot as it happens’. Corey falls foul of some familiar pitfalls (that have taken other Star Wars authors) but ‘Honour Among Thieves’ is still a lot of fun and well worth the read.

I’ve said all this before but this is a new blog so I think I can get away with saying it one more time here… ;o) The Star Wars books are hamstrung every time by the fact that certain characters are not allowed to die, especially if (in the case of this book) events are being recounted that come in between films. And that’s the other thing, we know how things are going to turn out and that kind of renders the whole book pointless really. ‘Honour Among Thieves' suffers from this just as much as you would expect. To be fair to Corey, he tries his hardest to please with a super weapon that beats all others (seriously) and loads of set piece moments designed to thrill. They almost do but, with the book being set so early on in the series (between 'A New Hope' and 'The Empire Strikes Back') there are no real surprises at all. You know that everyone will be just fine and they are. Job done, we can all go home now. I know some people say that this is the whole point and I agree with them but only up to a point. I think books need to have a little more than that if they are truly going to engage.

But I did say that 'Honour Among Thieves' was a lot of fun despite all that and it really is. Corey does an amazing job of not only digging into the seamy underbelly of the Star Wars universe but then tying it all into Solo's constantly questioning himself about his role in the Rebellion. What happens when the smuggling work runs out, what does a man do next? These are the questions that lend a thoughtful air to 'Honour Among Thieves' and a side to Solo only hinted at in the films.

'Honour Among Thieves' has a lot going for it then, falling into those familiar pitfalls but engaging in different ways entirely. If there are more Star Wars books to come from James S. A. Corey then I would certainly read them (even if I know how they will end...)

‘Unseen’ – David Guymer (Black Library)

In the depths of the Drakwald forest, a group of mercenaries gather around the fire, drinking to ward off the chill of the night. But more than cold is waiting for them in the darkness, and soon they find themselves being stalked by a creature more deadly than they could ever have imagined...

A short review today as not only have I caught Hope’s cold but she also decided to wake me up at half two this morning to ask me if today was a nursery day… Not a great way to start the day then and it isn’t surprising that my brain feels like a large lump of half melted cheese. In times like this, I can always count on a Black Library book to cheer me up a bit (despite what I’ve been saying recently), especially if it’s a Warhammer fantasy one that takes me back to the Old World. I love it there, a land in a state of perpetual warfare that seems to give rise to thoroughly readable novels more often than not. That was what I needed today and that’s what I got with ‘Unseen’, a short burst of fantasy fiction that gets its claws into you just like, well… whatever is paying a visit to the home of the wizard Heinrich Frisen. It’s a vicious piece of work and its encounter with the mercenaries, hired by Frisen, makes for brutal reading in a fight that is compelling purely because the outcome is never in doubt.

It’s not just these moments that make the book though. Guymer works very well to bring in the oppressive atmosphere of the Drakwald Forest and add that to the unease felt by the mercenaries, especially so given this is such a short book (forty six pages on my phone). It all makes for a tale where the tension is introduced subtly and then expanded on until just the right moment when it is set free. Guymer shows here that he has a firm hand on the plot and has the timing down to a tee.

‘Unseen’ is a tale that Black Library fans will get a lot more out of than regular readers I think; it’s not a long tale at all and I think Guymer uses this as a way of skipping detail where he can get away with it (assuming that the reader should already have some knowledge about the setting). I’d say don’t let that put you off though if you haven’t tried a Black Library book before; ‘Unseen’ may skimp on the detail but it does everything else just right and made for a read that filled in my lunch break just perfectly. Now all I need to do is get through the rest of the day…

A Weekend of Comic Book Reading (Slightly Hungover Edition)

This weekend was all about reading comic books again; there wasn't a lot of time for much else what with stag parties (nothing like one of those to remind me that I can't hold my drink) and spending Sunday with Hope and her casual swearing. Interesting times where I definitely needed books that had pictures as well as words in them; which kind of made it a shame then that I started off with...

‘Counter X: Volume 2'

I used to read 'Generation X' way back in the day and when I saw 'Counter X' in sale it just seemed like the right time for a little nostalgia trip (apparently; stag parties make me feel old as well...) to see what the guys had been up to in the intervening years. I have to say that I never got far enough to find out (although I’m sure I’ll give it another go, one day when I have literally nothing else to read). While Ellis’ script looked like it had some initial promise I personally found the artwork painful to look at and only got a few pages in before calling it quits. It looked like some really rough sketches that had been coloured in a last ditch attempt to make a deadline; not my kind of thing at all (especially when slightly hungover). Luckily for me, I had a few advance PDFs waiting on my phone so swiftly moved onto…

‘Clown Fatale’ #4 of 4 - Gischler, Rosenzweig (Dark Horse)

While I can quite easily tell you what happened in this final chapter (nearly everyone dies, ‘lurid’ is the word of the day here) I gave up trying to understand why a long time ago. That doesn’t matter though; ‘Clown Fatale’ #4 is just as much fun as the preceding three issues, a short sharp hail of gunfire (and, erm… breasts) that doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t and is all the more refreshing for it. I’m pretty sure it isn’t too late to start at the beginning if you haven’t been reading these books…

‘X’ #10 - Swierczynski, Nguyen (Dark Horse)

It’s all starting to kick off for X now with a released mobster making waves in Arcadia, the return of an old enemy and some guy that I have no idea who he is (one for another time I think). If that wasn’t enough, X’s identity has been blown (maybe) and things are about to get interesting there too. Well, things were going a little too easily for our man in the mask and that never makes for a good story (can you imagine, an ongoing series where the vigilante hero doesn’t have to do anything…?)

‘X’ #10 is full of everything we’ve come to expect from this series which means it’s not for the faint hearted at all, Swierczynski and Nguyen combine well to deliver any number of moments that make the reader wince and you can’t help but wonder… Would X really have cut that gangster’s face off and would Swierczynski and Nguyen have shown it happening? Maybe, maybe not, and that’s part of what makes this series so compelling; what is merely implied can sometimes be just as shocking as what you actually see. Some interesting back story waiting to be filled and a (literally) explosive cliff-hanger mean that, in a few weeks’ time, you will undoubtedly be hearing just what I thought of ‘X’ #11…

‘Creepy’ #15 – Various (Dark Horse)

I’m always a little wary about approaching these collections as the stories can be a little hit and miss while the comic relief ‘shorts’ have never worked for me. ‘Creepy’ #15 was a welcome break from all that though; the comic ‘shorts’ still didn’t do it for me but the stories themselves… they were great.

‘The Revenant’ signposted its ending a little too clearly for me but the characters reactions more than made up for that. It’s all too easy sometimes to forget that the fact we know the ending isn’t really the point; it’s our erstwhile grave robbers who are the point of it all and what happens to them is suitably horrifying. ‘Malhiver’ and ‘Second Childhood’ are absolutely awesome though, both delivering scares at just the right speed to give those last panels an impact that will have you gasping. If I had to choose between the two, I would go for ‘Second Childhood’ and the look in the baby’s eyes as our narrator finally figures it out; absolutely amazing work there.

So ‘Creepy’ #15 then, come for ‘The Revenant’ but make sure you stay for ‘Malhiver’ and ‘Second Childhood’…

Any comic book recommendations that you would like to share? I’m looking read more fantasy comics so anything you can suggest would be appreciated :o)