Teaser Tuesday 5/7/2013: Toby Continues to Stream the Universe

Still reading Toby Streams the Universe, by Maya Lassiter.  The titular psychic, Toby, continues to try to get a handle on his visions while trying to prevent the election of a president who will lead the world into … wait, sorry, that’s a different psychic.  Toby is just trying to keep his friends safe and happy and himself from going insane.  And did I mention he still lives in New York City?

Teaser Tuesday 4/30/2013: Toby Streams the Universe

This week’s free book is Toby Streams the Universe, by Maya Lassiter, in which a psychic (the titular Toby, looking like a PhotoShop mashup of Elijah Wood and Tobey Maguire on the cover) who is increasingly unable to control his visions attempts to help his private investigator friend solve cases, prevent his sister (also a psychic) from killing herself, find his missing father, protect his new neighbor from an abusive ex-husband, keep his family’s finances afloat by reading the minds of stockbrokers, change the dark future that awaits various friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and avoid going insane. All while living in New York City. So what have you done lately?

Teaser Tuesday 4/16/2013: “Oz Reimagined”

This month’s free Prime book is Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond, a collection of short stories inspired by, you guessed it, the Oz stories of L. Frank Baum. Not just based on the characters from the Wizard of Oz, the stories includes Ozma, the Gump, Jack Pumpkinhead, and others. The collection has a foreword by Gregory Maguire of Wicked fame, which should tell you that you are in for some revisionism. As in this story, “Off to See the Emperor”, by Orson Scott Card, in which six-year-old Frank Baum and nine-year-old Theodora are trying to get Theodora’s mother’s ring back, and the Lion is being less than helpful about it.

“The War of the Ravels” Then And Now: When Mercy Met Brennendah

I’m between books at the moment, having finished off Wool and not picked up a replacement yet, so rather than Teaser Tuesday, this week I offer another side-by-side comparison of a scene from The War of the Ravels. In this scene, Our Heroes meet a fellow named Brennendah, of the same species (“Rittandic”) as the villain of the piece, Kihantroh. As usual, the original, 20-year-old version of the scene is on the left, while the rewritten version is on the right.

Teaser Tuesday 3/26/2013: “Wool”

This week I’m still working on Wool: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey, the dystopian SF novel from last week.  This is a big book and well worth the $3.99 Kindle price.  It still mostly takes place in that giant silo (“They mostly stay in the silo.  Mostly.”), and at this point my speculation last week that the title, which seemed to refer to the wool pads use to scrub sensors, might also refer to the old saw about “pulling the wool over one’s eyes” has been explicitly stated.  Five points for me!

Teaser Tuesday 3/19/2013: “Wool”

So having run out of free books, I have shelled out the princely sum of $3.99 for Wool: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey, a dystopian SF novel that, so far, takes place entirely in a giant underground silo in which the remnants of humanity eke out an existence, while outside, the earth is a lifeless world beneath a toxic atmospheric stew.  At the moment the title appears to refer to the wool pads used by convicts (or the occasional volunteer) who goes out into the poisonous world to scrub the sensors and cameras that allow those within the silo to look out at the wasteland they have left behind, but I’m thinking it also refers to the wool being pulled over everyone’s eyes, perhaps by the silo’s IT Department.  We shall see!

Teaser Tuesday 3/12/2013: “Bottled Abyss”

Another month, another free book from the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library!  This week it’s Bottled Abyss by Benjamin Kane Ethridge, in which a bottle containing the waters of the River Styx finds its way into mortal hands.  Needless to say, hilarity ensues.

Teaser Tuesday 2/26/2013: “Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum”

This week’s freebie book is Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum, a novel that I would (so far) characterize as “Grave Encounters” meets The Little Stranger meets my own Night Watchman (though without the gore). Two teams of ghost hunters — one of which is led by a man who has his own ghost following him around — investigate a Chicago-area haunted asylum, site of numerous suspicious arson fires and wandering apparitions. What could possibly go wrong?

Teaser Tuesday 2/12/2013: “The Last Ringbearer”

Having finally finished Gust Front and having proceeded to polish off Flowertown, I am now reading The Last Ringbearer, a book by Kirill Eskov (translated from the Russian) which postulates that the events of The Lord of the Rings are another example of history being written by the victors. In this telling, Sauron is just another king, Gandalf is a pompous ass who wants to destroy Mordor to stop its incipient industrial revolution, the elves are xenophobic and manipulative invaders from another dimension, Aragorn is a grubby usurper who murders Denethor (who was actually the king of Gondor rather than a mere steward) and keeps Faramir and Eowyn as hostages to ensure the cooperation of Rohan and Gondor … you get the idea. While not up to the level of other revisionist literature like Wicked, it’s interesting enough, and it’s freely available for download in various formats (to the displeasure of Tolkien’s publishers, apparently). More money to buy medication for Tucker!

Teaser Tuesday 2/5/2013: “Gust Front”

Still reading Gust Front by John Ringo — this is one big book!  Since last week’s excerpt was all about running away, I thought it would be appropriate for this week’s excerpt to be about what happens when the invaders reach Washington, D.C., and begin trying to take the Mall and, specifically, the Washington Monument.  As a bonus, it’s from the point of view of the same person whose unit was fleeing through Arlington National Cemetery, too.