The House of Shattered Wings around the web

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So you can now buy The House of Shattered Wings both in the US and the UK–I thought it was high time to round up a few of the things that have been going on with the novel, just in case you’re feeling indecisive (or if you want to know more!).

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A roundup of where I’ve been on the web so far (I think I’ve got most of them? Haven’t been keeping very good track…):
-The Forum at BBC World Service: Magic
My Favorite Bit at Mary Robinette Kowal’s website (Morningstar, in case you had doubts ^^)
Big Idea piece at John Scalzi’s blog
-I talk on the Coode Street Podcast with Jonathan Strahan and Gary K Wolfe about the novel: Jonathan Strahan calls it “powerful and engaging”.
An intimidation of Shrimp: Cooking the Books podcast with Fran Wilde and Zen Cho on weaponised food, and food and worldbuilding
Midnight in Karachi podcast with Mahvesh Murad
Six Books at Nerds of a Feather
-On the Gollancz blog: Eight inspirations for the Novel (CS Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy!)
-At Scifinow: Merging Fantasy and SF in a ruined Paris
-At Intellectus Speculativus: Diversity and Gender Roles in The House of Shattered Wings
-At Geekmom: my favourite manga and anime
-At welovethisbook.com: how Les Miserables and The Count of Monte Cristo inspired the novel
Interview with Michelle Hebert
Commented excerpt at Reader Dad
Commented excerpt at Civilian Reader
Commented excerpt at Geek Syndicate

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A few reviews around the net (not exhaustive, sorry, I couldn’t keep track of everything!):
Publishers Weekly (starred review):

Gripping (…) De Bodard aptly mixes moral conflicts and the desperate need to survive in a fantastical spy thriller that reads like a hybrid of le Carré and Milton, all tinged with the melancholy of golden ages lost.

Jessie Potts at Romantic Times (RT Top Pick for August):

Will grab readers and force them to pay attention to the amazing writing and the phenomenal characters (…) It’s a whirlwind, it’s heartbreaking and it’s one of the best fantasy novels of 2015.

Library Journal (starred review):

A fascinating Paris of decay and cruelty. ­Phillippe is a marvel of a character, unreliable as a narrator but compelling in his flaws and his deep well of homesickness.

Gary K. Wolfe, Chicago Tribune:

Especially haunting(…) convey(s) a visceral sense of immediacy (…) a surprising but compelling murder mystery, which plays out according to the supernatural terms de Bodard has laid out so evocatively.

Paul Weimer at SF Signal:

A dark and wondrous fantasy (…) every setting and location is invoked in vivid detail, and a very dark world is brought to life.

NPR review by Tasha Robinson:

Grimly prosaic (…) wrapped up in intrigue and politics (…) comes closer to the blunt, grounded violence of Game Of Thrones than the high gothic fantasy it outwardly resembles (…) a grim story with high-flown conventions, but by finding so much ugliness even in supernatural beauty, de Bodard makes both seem more compelling, and more concrete.

Jonathan Hatfull at Scifinow:

Fascinating, moving and hugely readable.

Niall Alexander (originally at Tor.com, reprinted on his blog):

The year’s best urban fantasy by far (…) takes a whole hoard of over-familiar fantasy tropes and turns them, evidently effortlessly, on their collective head (…) There’s an intelligence—and, yes, an elegance—to The House of Shattered Wings that is as rare and precious as angel essence.

D Franklin at Intellectus Speculativus:

Aliette de Bodard has written an absolute masterpiece whose sequel cannot come soon enough.

Dario Ciriello at his blog:

One of the most unusual and absorbing books I’ve read in years (…) a vivid sense of remembered splendour and grandeur (…) a powerful novel that sinks deep into the reader’s psyche, taking you into a world so rich and characters so compelling that they linger for months after turning the last page. Don’t miss it.

Bookshelf Butterfly:

Not for the faint hearted but is a literary feat of imagination that will astound readers.

R.A. Kennedy at his blog:

a novel that is not easy to put down (…) has has some incredible moments that will leave you wanting more (…) a thrilling, gripping read, that will leave you wanting another hit of angel essence.

Glen Mehn:

Haunting and sticks in the mind.

The book is also an Amazon Best Book of the Month in Science Fiction/Fantasy.

Still undecided? You can sample a bit before making up your mind.
Read Chapter One!
Read excerpt from Chapter Three!
Read excerpt from Chapter Four!

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