Jay Lake - io9

posts about #jaylake more →
Madness of Flowers: The City Is...Alive
Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
A Courtesan-Turned-Warrior's Head-Kicking Journey
All the Alternate Histories in "Other Earths"
Metatropolis Is The Best Kind Of Urban Renewal
Metatropolis Story of Decaying Cities, Read by Saul Tigh
In Recent Scifi, Intelligent Design Is Truth
New Stories by Tobias Buckell and Jay Lake, Free Online
Make Friends With The Ultimate Weirdness

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petitmorte000
10/12/09

In reply to Madness of Flowers: The City Is...Alive
Thank you Grey Area!
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Grey_Area
10/12/09

@petitmorte000: You are very welcome!
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Grey_Area
10/09/09

In reply to Madness of Flowers: The City Is...Alive
Well, for anyone interested, Night Shade Books has a free download of the entirety of Trial of Flowers here [www.nightshadebooks.com] .
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Edited by Grey_Area at 10/10/09 8:59 AM Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

jbq
10/10/09

@Grey_Area: I can't stand reading on the screen, need my books in my hands. I'll definitely be checking these out too, which means more books on my list. Damn you, Chris! At least it's my birthday soon, could be good for the ol' library..
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Edited by jbq at 10/10/09 4:55 AM jbq was starred jbq was unstarred

Zero9
10/12/09

@Grey_Area: Thanks for beating me to posting the link. The only reason I gave that book a try was because I got it for free, and now I can't wait to start to sequel.
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mordicai
10/08/09

In reply to Madness of Flowers: The City Is...Alive
Super excited for both "Pinion" & "Endurance."
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ticktockman
06/27/09

In reply to June Books DRAFT
I like the reviews here, too. If I want to know what Tor is putting out then I can look at the Tor website, or at the sci-fi section at the borders down the street. There's no good independent bookstore in town here for sci-fi, so all I see on the big book chain shelves are novels by Bujold--who I like, don't get me wrong--and Mcaffery and stack upon stack of awful licensed books. I'm more interested in reading about books I might not find on my own and in new editions of works by older writers that I might not see sitting on the shelf of a book store (Jack Vance, here I come).
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ticktockman
06/27/09

@ticktockman: It seems my newborn son disagrees. He vomited all over me just as I finished writing that last post.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/27/09

@ticktockman: Your kid won't be a hipster then. WTF are you feeding him?
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secretmission
06/26/09

In reply to June Books DRAFT
David Hartwell's Year's Best SF 14 is even better than Dozois' anthologies...
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Franknbeans
06/27/09

@secretmission: Nope, wrong. All the best stories of the year are repeated in both anthologies, but Hartwell's unique picks are uniformly sub-par. Plus Dozois has more bang for your buck, more stories equals more enjoyment
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/27/09

@Franknbeans: Exactly. Dozois picks better quality and a wider variety. Always has.
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AileenPaterculus
06/26/09

In reply to June Books DRAFT
I actually enjoy the way you guys do reviews because book specific sites and forums have always held tons of references for the less "arty" stuff. This site turns me on to stuff I wouldn't normally find that would fall through the cracks, and maybe I am just in tune with your style of hipster sci-fi lit, but your choices seem spot on to me.
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Grey_Area
06/26/09

@AileenPaterculus: "Hipster"? Ouch! well, as long as we are turning you on to stuff you like, cool.
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AlessandroGiraffe
06/26/09

In reply to June Books DRAFT
The Strain sounds an awful lot like Scott Westerfeld's Peeps, with vampirism portrayed as a parisitic disease that threatens civilization.
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Grey_Area
06/26/09

@AlessandroGiraffe: The vampirisim as disease thing is hardly new and has been done better.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/26/09

In reply to June Books DRAFT
The Dozois Year's Best anthologies are always, always a delight. Sooo worth picking up and reading. All excellent, across all genres; stuff you already like and a good way to discover authors/genres you wouldn't have given a thought to.

If you can only afford one of these books, get that one.
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EbeneezerSquid
06/26/09

In reply to June Books DRAFT
You know, I've been lurking here on i09 for quite some time, and these book posts have always seemed odd to me.

It seems that the authors I tend to read never end up here.

No John Ringo, Harry Turteldove, Anne (or Todd) McCaffery, Louis McMaster Bujold.

Thinking about it, most of the Writers that I've started reading over the past few years I got started on by the Baen Free Library (free e-books, usually the first in a series).

Have any Baen Books been mentioned on these "New Books" posts?
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Charlie Jane Anders
06/26/09

@EbeneezerSquid: We make a point of being as inclusive as possible, especially in our monthly roundup of new books. At the same time, it's probably fair to say that none of those authors has put out a book recently that any of us contributing to the site has felt like reading or reviewing, for whatever reason. We only have a limited amount of time to devote to new books, and we pick the ones we're personally most excited about to write about. I love older Anne McCaffrey, especially The Ship Who Sang, but haven't read anything she and Todd have written in the past decade or so. As for Bujold, we've mentioned her work a lot.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/26/09

@Charlie Jane Anders: io9 does tend to go a little arty-er and more "literary". ESquid has a good point.

Maybe you just need more reviewers with wider taste/preferences? Reviewing books that are Ripping Yarns, but not going to be up for awards?

(Perhaps someone who was already adult and going to cons in the 80's and has been a fan since Star Trek was brand new?)
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Klebert L. Hall
06/27/09

@Charlie Jane Anders:

I could swear you reviewed something from Baen last fall, but I can't remember what.

-Kle.
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brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there(
06/27/09

@Klebert L. Hall: The Baen Free Library definitely got a shout out during the last year as did some of the books on its e-shelves. I do recall the one with the Fast Elves on the cover.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/27/09

@brentbent: I think that was a post making fun of their cover art.

Which is indefensible -- I kinda feel sorry for the authors sometimes.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
06/26/09

In reply to June Books DRAFT
Jeez, I got my copy of House of Suns like two months ago, and it barely took a week to arrive. Mmmmm....

Can't wait for The Women of Nell Gwynne's to arrive, though.
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Heresiarch
06/09/09

In reply to A Courtesan-Turned-Warrior's Head-Kicking Journey
I've been looking for another good fantasy book (the local Barnes and Noble only seems to offer Epic Heroic Trilogy bullshit), so I'll give this a try.
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Grey_Area
06/09/09

@Heresiarch: If this doesn't work for you try Joe Abercrombie. His stuff is a bit too much Sword & Sorcery for this site, but I really dig the fresh new take he has on those old tired tropes.

Very realistic fight scenes. Yikes.
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JuanitaCharon
06/09/09

In reply to A Courtesan-Turned-Warrior's Head-Kicking Journey
"Green is set on a flat (possibly endless) plain, with a procession of suns drifting across the sky"

Frak. I wanted to use that idea.
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Grey_Area
06/09/09

@JuanitaCharon: Hey, go for it. Infinite area = limitless possibilities, right?
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alphanumeric1971
06/09/09

In reply to A Courtesan-Turned-Warrior's Head-Kicking Journey
"Yes, there are sex scenes involving teenage lesbian warrior nuns that will raise eyebrows among some squeamish readers (like this reviewer)

Shoulda given it to Charlie then.
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Grey_Area
06/09/09

@alphanumeric1971: I needed to broaden my horizons.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/09/09

@alphanumeric1971: Totally. Or Annalee.

And what kind of guy gets upset at teenage lesbian warrior nun sex? I'd have thought that hit all the major fantasies of most men!
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Anekanta - Go Play!
06/09/09

In reply to A Courtesan-Turned-Warrior's Head-Kicking Journey
Great Review--thanks Grey Area! Just one question: is a Weaponized Hawaiian shirt anything like a joke so deadly that it has to be assembled in pieces by people who spoke a different language than the one the joke is written in? Or is it just a really loud shirt?
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Grey_Area
06/09/09

@Anekanta: I'm sorry, I cannot read your comment over the thundering din of Mr. Lake's shirt. It's just that loud.
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braak
06/09/09

In reply to A Courtesan-Turned-Warrior's Head-Kicking Journey
Well...lesbian warrior nuns are my favorite kind of nun...
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