First draft of new story “Shipbirth”, finished. Sort of SF. With Aztecs and spaceships. Put it up on OWW as it is, before my inner editor took over and slashed it to ribbons.

Black One take me, I shouldn’t be here, Acoimi thought, as the airtight tube finished attaching itself, with a slight hiss. The voice of the Hungry Coyote’s Mind echoed around him–grave and thoughtful, yet somehow too high-pitched, too cold to be that of a male, or indeed of any human. “Linking complete. Disembark.”

The walls around Acoimi throbbed, like a bleeding muscle or heart–the beat of the Mind that was everywhere, that communed with the Hungry Coyote as easily as with the Heavens. The ship had been in deep planes for ten days, the whole journey between Quetzalcoatl and this lonely rendezvous place; and for ten days Acoimi had felt himself going subtly, irremediably mad.

Meanwhile, I will go and drink tea, and read more episodes of Schlock Mercenary (homicidal mercenary company out to make money, and sometimes save people as collateral effects. Huge fun).

-Elizabeth Bear at Ideomancer (which, BTW, has an awesome new look):

In Servant of the Underworld, Aliette de Bodard has created a rather good debut novel, replete with magic, blood, and complex worldbuilding. There was a great deal to enjoy in this book, not all of it the immediately obvious.

-Josh Vogt at Examiner:

(…)for those who enjoy mythology, subtle horror, and even “detective” stories, Servant of the Underworld blends these elements into a unique story. Fortunately, it’s labeled the first book in the Obsidian and Blood series, so hopefully we’ll be seeing Bodard’s next release soon. Looks like book 2 is called Harbinger of the Storm. Sounds…peaceful.

-And Hereward L.M. Proops at Booksquawk (who didn’t like it so much, alas, but you can’t win every time):

(…)those looking for something truly different could do much worse than check out this novel. Whilst not perfect, Aliette de Bodard’s debut shows a great deal of potential which could be better realised in the inevitable sequels.

-The book also gets mentioned over at SF Signal as part of the “What Book Have You Recently Read That’s Good Enough To Recommend To a Friend?” discussion.

-Still at SF Signal, my short story “Golden Lilies” is identified as one of several “Nebula-worthy” short stories by Eugie Foster

-Finally, BestSF reviews “The Wind-Blown Man”, in the February 2010 issue of Asimov’s

Aliette de Bodard looks to China to create an alien society, alien cultures and technology – a world in which China is on a par, or better, with Western Christian society. For my money, I’d rather see Earth cultures used as inspiration to create truly alien societies, as that is true SF – but failing this, I’d much rather see the creative efforts as put in by de Bodard.