it's always a good day...

...when books come in the mail [1]. This week's box I'm especially excited about--let's discuss them in order of appearance:

The Neil Gaiman plus (the) Terry Pratchett, Good Omens. Can you imagine a more power-packed story-telling duo than this? No, you cannot. Nor can I--and yet, I've yet to read it. Goodbye, this week's non-writing hours.

Anthony Ryan, Blood Song. Recently discovered this UK author and fell in love with his latest work, The Waking Fire. I might still have to write a blog about it, it's so good, but think B. Sanderson magic and plotting with witty British dialogue. A must-read--and this, his first novel, gets even better reviews online, so. All the excites [2].  

Terry Pratchett, The Color Of Magic. I didn't tell the whole truth up above--it isn't even that I haven't ever read Good Omens. It's that I've never read Terry Pratchett. And basically every still-sentient SF lover I've mentioned this to informs me I'm a sinner and damned until I've read at least a few of the Discworld novels. At which point I will still be a sinner and damned, but have a sense of humor about it (can you tell I'm already on the last section of the book?)

N.K. Jemisin, The Obelisk Gate, because damn, the first book in this series rocked my socks off. Let's just make a short list: successfully told in second person; seismic magic; further narrative trickery; stellar worldbuilding; loveable unique characters; plot twists and magic oppression and love outside social boundaries. Awesome. And, I'm told, she pulls it off again and to even greater degree in The Obelisk Gate [3]. Can't wait to read it. 

If these books are anywhere near as awesome as I'm hoping, you'll probably hear about them more. Or find their stellar influences in my own writing, starting with the Aletheia project I'll be writing next month! Also, if you haven't heard and are curious, I'm looking for pre-readers for the current draft of The Cursed!

And may you have a bookfully good day too. 


[1] It's a good day when they come from the bookstore too--but i intentionally forget what books i've ordered online, and often send them slow shipping because i still have a pile of other books to read (creating a sort of deadline), so when i open that box it's a total surprise. Like getting a box of gifts from a friend who knows exactly what you've been wanting to read. 

[2] Plus, I'm like a hormone-drowned high schooler when it comes to new authors. I get crushes. I get addicted. If i like them at all i suddenly need to read everything they ever wrote, including blogs, interviews, podcasts, and bad never-published novels i find through extensive internet creeping. The list of these authors to date: Alastair Reynolds, Ken Liu, Brandon Sanderson, Daniel Abraham, and now likely Anthony Ryan. And the great thing is, you don't ever have to get rejected by them outside the west entrance of the gym and spend months moping in hormone-laden depression. You just wait for their next thing to come out and in the meanwhile, you know, maybe date some other writers. 

[3] She's also in grave danger of becoming the next author crush. And her blog served as the inspiration for this one, dear fellow reader, so if you've got a hankering for some well-written blogs swing on by. 

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