…in the last quarter or so, an accelerating build-up towards the placement exam that is meant to seal the students’ fate, is darn hard to put down. Recommended. This is my first book from the Dyachenkos, a Ukrainian husband-and-wife team, but it certainly won’t be my last: Tor published their epic fantasy The Scar, and I have every intention of trying it… The book itself is a bit fiddly to find: it’s available in the US and UK only (I was lucky to…

…l no trace of magic, sorcerous or otherwise. I had expected Chimalli to protest at seeing a stranger search through his possessions, but the boy remained sitting on his reed mat, staring at me in eerie silence. To avoid looking back at him, I raised my eyes to the walls, gazing at the intricate frescoes–obviously painted by someone with talent. The painted gaze of Xochiquetzal stared back at me: the goddess of joy and flowers wore her quetzal feat…

…ber, midnight Pacific Time–sorry for the cutoff date but I’ll be travelling to WFC afterwards and will probably be too jetlagged to answer emails!). If you’ve already preordered the ebook (or got the print book) prior to this blog post obviously the offer is also valid. Just fill in the contact form with a receipt of your purchase (NB: please remove all identify details such as physical address etc. from your receipt!) and send it on! (contact for…

…xamination of what people do to hubots, and the questions on the nature of free will, are really great; and I loved that the series, in the end, doesn’t take positions but encourages you, the viewer, to decide where you are standing. Also loved that the two competing groups trying to transform/preserve society–the children of David Eischer and the government officials in pursuit of them–are shown as equally ruthless. And, finally, it’s quite nice…

…ld. Speaks for itself… There is more, but I think I’ve ranted enough. Feel free to comment (but do play by the rules of civility). I will be around, but I’m a. moving flats and b. trying to focus on my writing at the moment, which means I might also be lagging a little behind… [1]I’m not saying that the use of all those tropes equals crap stories–there are some very good stories out there that make use of them. I just want to point out that they’r…

…explanations. So behold the brand new spiffy Xuya page: all you’ve ever wanted to know about Xuya (well, not quite yet, but it does have a few pointers about the chronology, where the stories fit in there, and a few items of general interest). Enjoy! BTW, since I’ve locked the comments on the page, this post here is as close as it’s getting to the official question thread–in the (unlikely[1]) event that you have any interrogations about Xuya-relat…

Hum, so, that story about the phoenix? I’ve sold it to Subterranean Online for a future issue. Many thanks to Yanni Kuznia for the invitation, and to Gareth L Powell and Rochita Loenen-Ruiz for the feedback (extra thanks to Rochita for putting up with my total absence of a brain). It’s set in the Xuya continuity, some time after On a Red Station, Drifting (and even has a returning minor character from that novel). Features mindships (of course),…

…devouring books. Misc Correct pronunciation of Aliette de Bodard: https://www.aliettedebodard.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/correct_pronunciation_AdB.mp3 Press “SF is lucky to have Aliette de Bodard.” Alastair Reynolds “…a writer who, in a career of barely more than a decade, has shown remarkable versatility, shifting from the multiple award-winning, far-future space opera settings of her Xuya series to the Dominion of the Fallen fantasy novels,…

…nto the body that belonged to her all along; into the arms of her family. “Come on, come on,” the women whisper, and their voices are stronger than any other noise; than Jason’s breath in the bedroom; than the motors of the floaters or the vague smell of garlic from the kitchen. “Come on, great-aunt!” She is more than this body; more than this constrained life–her thoughts spread out, encompassing hangars and living quarters; and the liquid weight…

…ievances Download First Three Chapters (MOBI/Kindle) Other formats: EPUB | PDF Read Chapter One Online! Read excerpt from Chapter Three Online! Read excerpt from Chapter Four Online! Read on Kindle: Still unconvinced? Other people think this is a great book: De Bodard (…) has spun 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….