New in Science Fiction & Fantasy

There are a host of new SciFi/Fantasy novels on our shelves:

Dark Echo -- F G Cottam
Dark Echo is a chilling ghost story about a yacht of the same name. Combining the horror of WWI with devil-worship, madness, and death, this is a book to read on dry land.

The Waters Rising -- Sheri S. Tepper
After 3 years, veteran SF/F writer Sheri Tepper is back with another novel of psychological depth and social import. A post-apocalyptic world is threatened by a flood of biblical proportions and a young woman must contend with a mysterious entity in an attempt to save herself and her world. Good news for Tepper's fans and a good introduction for the uninitiated.

Truthseeker -- C. E. Murphy
Straddling the magical worlds of Faerie this urban fantasy follows Lara Jansen,a quiet Boston tailor and Truthseeker, as she joins forces with prince Dafydd ap Caerwyn of Faerie. Now the two of them must unravel court politics, battle foes both mundane and magical, and follow the truth no matter how dangerous. Murphy is a fun, funny, and exciting author.

Cold Magic -- Kate Elliot
The beginning of a new trilogy, this novel weaves a web of secrets and mysteries around the story of two cousins, Cat and Bee. A magical Victorian England is poised on the edge of the Industrial Revolution but the Old Ways die hard and The Cold Mages oppose the new scientists. As usual Elliot offers no easy answers, just great fiction.

A Star Shall Fall by Marie Brennan
In this novel a dragon was responsible for the Great London Fire of 1666. And the Fae court living in secret beneath the city was responsible for banishing the beast to a passing comet. Now science predicts that the comet is returning. It's ancient Magic and new Science in a race to save eighteenth century London.

Blameless -- Gail Carriger
Staying in magical England (who knew it was such a thriving kingdom?) we have the third book of the Parasol Protectorate series. This volume finds our heroine braving the Continent, contending with Templars, and other assorted unpleasantries. A witty and charming series.

Pariah -- Bob Fingerman
A thinking man's zombie book. Filled with black humor, grim intelligence, novel twists, crunchy action, and the author's undead illustrations. Zombie fans have not read it all!

Ghost of a Chance --Simon R Green
This is the first book in the new Ghost Finders series, concerning the Carnacki Institute which exists to "do something" about ghosts. For the Institute's best agents -- Chance, Chambers, and Happy Jack -- "something" means investigating a haunting under the London Underground. . . . Green's books are fast, dark, and fun, and the Ghost Finders series promises to be more of the same. Enjoy.

The Way of Kings -- Brandon Sanderson
Not content with finishing Robert Jordan's many-volumed epic, author Brandon Sanderson has begun his own. The first book in a projected 10 book series of politics, war, and magic offers no solutions but many, many questions. Sanderson is an evil drug-pusher who will hook those poor junkies who thought they were free with the end of the Wheel of Time.

Noise -- Darin Bradley
So, when they updated the TV signal from analog to digital what happened to the unused airwaves? They were hijacked by anarchists predicting the apocalypse, of course! Now civilization has collapsed and two friends who used to play D&D together must put down the dice and pick up the sword and gun to try to lead a group of survivors to a better place. This is fast, clever, character-centered fiction from a debut author. Let's hope he makes more noise.

Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks hits Nerdnite

Ethan Gilsdorf is reading at the geek-eriffic event Nerdnite on Monday Aug 30 (that's "tonight" for most of you who read this Monday morning), at Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge, 8pm...more info below.

Consider this an off-site event for Porter Square Books --- any copies of his book Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks that are sold actually belong to Porter Square ... so by coming, and buying, you're supporting your favorite indie bookshop.

This is the first event in the Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks "Waiting for the Paperback" fall tour.

Why paperback? Glad you asked!

No need to lug that heavy, heavy hardcover everywhere you go. The paperback is lighter, cheaper and now with fewer errors!

Don't live in Boston? Can't make it? Consider buying the book from Porter Square! more info on Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks here

Nerdnite meets here:

Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, in Central Square, Cambridge, MA, 8pm; T: red line to Central Sq

Drink, eat, see nerdy talks, buy an autographed book! (Heads up: -- $5 at the door, apparently to cover nerdy overhead costs like slide rules, cold fusion research, etc).

The Program:

Talk 1: “Mind Control and Optogenetics: How We Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love the Virus”
By Azriel Ghadooshahy

Talk 2: “Tolkien, D&D, RPGs, MMOs and me: One geek’s personal journey
there and back again through fantasy and gaming subcultures.”
by Ethan Gilsdorf

Watch the Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks video here:

Suzanne Collins reads from Mockingjay

Got Mockingjay in your hand? Here's Suzanne Collins reading from the opening chapter.

Experimental Fiction

Saw this interesting article about experimental fiction on the Guardian a couple of weeks ago. It asks whether experimental fiction is on the rise and highlights a couple of my favorite authors, B. S. Johnson and Lydia Davis, as well as David Foster Wallace and David Mitchell. The article concludes with a cool list of three “experimental” writers the editors think are worth looking into and one of them is Cesar Aira, blogged about here, with a Millions article here and whose book Ghosts is a staff pick here. The article is a good read for anyway interested in the cutting edge of fiction.

SOMETHING LIKE DISCWORLD

So you’re looking for some humorous science fiction and fantasy but you’ve already read Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams (if you haven’t, go read them now!) and you are wondering what to read now? Well, I have a few suggestions.

First, make sure you’ve read Pratchett's and Adams’ “other” books – Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency & Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams.

After you’ve caught up with the “classics” check out these authors and titles:

Christopher Moore writes wild and wacky satire about contemporary demons, sea monsters, vampires, and crazy and lovable “ordinary” people.

Yellow Blue Tibia by Adams Roberts is intoxicating mix of Soviet absurdity, UFO weirdness, and dry wit.

Tom Holt wrote over a dozen humorous SF/Fantasy novels, often twisting traditional myths and fables. His latest, Blonde Bombshell, concerns a planet-killing bomb turned tourist.

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi tells the story of enlightened aliens who come to earth to share their wisdom and fabulous technology. Unfortunately, humanity finds them extremely ugly and very stinky. So they hire a Hollywood agent. Good, B-movie fun.

Robert Rankin is the very British author of a blimp-full of far-fetched satirical adventures combining occultism, steampunk, and running gags. Some of his best are Knees Up Mother Earth, Retromancer, and Toyminator.

Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and published by those monster-lovers at Quirk Books is a zombie/Star Trek fandom mashup. “It’s a zombie book, captain, but not as we know it.”

And speaking of zombies, Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen presents the story of a couple on the edge of divorce who find their love rekindled by the burning cinders of civilization. To be published on August 31, this little book delivers not just laughs and gore but helpful advice for lovers who find the magic gone from their relationship (and replaced by hoards of hungry undead).

A. Lee Martinez is the author of eight humorous novels including Gil’s All Fright Diner (a werewolf and a vampire team up to defend a very strange restaurant from zombies); The Automatic Detective (a doomsday robot turned private investigator battles mutants, green gangsters, and talking gorillas to save Empire City); and Divine Misfortune (shopping for a personal god goes very wrong).

Mockingjay Release

Calling all Suzanne Collins' fans though I'm sure you are already gathering together in anticipation of next Tuesday's release of Mockingjay, the final book in the trilogy. The book will be available here at 7am on Tuesday, August 24th. Join us for activities, refreshments, prizes and OF COURSE books!! Festivities will continue until about noon but books will be here...well, until they're gone!

New Section on our Website

We’ve just unveiled the new Porter Square Books Online menu on our website. Through it you can connect to us on Facebook and Twitter, and learn more about ordering books online. The big new addition to the website is our revamped and expanded EBOOKs Resources page that includes an FAQ, detailed instructions of how to purchase an eBook from Porter Square Books, information about ereading software and hardware (including info about the Sony Reader, the iPad, and convertible tablets), and a list of a few books that really take advantage of some of the potential of eBooks.

To celebrate this new section, we’re having a sale on eBooks. For the month of August all eBooks will be 20% off. If you have any questions or comments about the new web pages and/or eBooks in general, feel free to email Josh at josh@portersquarebooks.com.