The Case of the Deadly Desperados - Book Review

Introducing P. K. Pinkerton, Master of Disguise. When twelve-year-old P. K. (Pinky) Pinkerton's foster parents are murdered by Whittlin' Walt and his gang of ruthless desperados, Pinky goes on the run. He's forced into hiding with Ma's priceless last possession: the deed to a large amount of land and silver mines in the Nevada Mountains. But relying on disguises will only keep Pinky hidden for so long, and the desperados are quickly closing in... (Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

The Case of the Deadly Desperados is the first in a new series of mystery books from The Roman Mysteries author Caroline Lawrence. It follows P. K. (Pinky) Pinkerton, a twelve year old private eye in the year 1862. This series seems to be ‘The Western Mysteries’ if you’re in the USA, or ‘The P.K. Pinkerton Mysteries’ if you’re in the UK, because apparently our children don’t really know what a western is anymore. Hopefully this series might change that, if the strength of the first book is anything to go by. It’s an exciting, action-packed adventure in which Pinky never seems to be out of danger. All the traditional elements of a western are there, as well as plenty of interesting facts about the real Wild West.

Sharps - Book Review

Sharps, by K. J. Parker, is a fantasy set in two neighbouring kingdoms that are finally enjoying an uneasy truce after a long and terrible war. As some factions desperately attempt to keep the peace while others plot to spark conflict once again, a team of reluctant fencers is sent to represent their country in a special tournament. One slip could cause a political incident; one mistake could mean war. And the fencers soon find that they are expected to fight with sharps, not the blunt performance weapons they are used to.

Sharps is ‘low fantasy’, a story set in a world that is definitely not our own, but without magic or strange creatures, featuring no supernatural beings or non-human races. It could be historical fiction except for the fact that it does not fit into any actual historical setting of our world. The setting felt vaguely Renaissance to me, but different enough to feel like a true fantasy world. This is a very different kind of fantasy from the dragons and wizards of other stories, or even the gritty battles and adventurers of the more modern fantasy epic. Dealing with the aftermath and politics of war, it is realistic but not grimdark, and though it follows the fate of two countries, it is essentially a character driven story, narrowing in on a specific set of people and exploring not only how events affect them, but how they could change the future of their nations. For a story about sword-fighting, it is a more thoughtful, slower-paced and political book than one might imagine.

India, Birthdays, and Lots of Books

I haven’t posted on here in a while, having been in India and very busy, but now I’m back! It certainly seems like a lot longer than a few weeks – I feel like I’ve done so much. So, here’s a quick catch up of what I’ve been up to.

Does Size Matter? - Fantasy Shorts

It's Short Story Sunday, and I've written an article over on Fantasy Faction about fantasy short stories. Containing information about the history of short stories and fantasy, what makes short stories different from longer novels, and places to find them... click here to read more!

Fantasycon - Convention Report

Over the weekend I went to Fantasycon, a convention held each year for writers, editors, publishers and fans of fantasy (mainly books and short stories, but also some comics and films). This year it was held in Brighton at the Royal Albion Hotel, beginning on Thursday with a meet and greet for early arrivals, and ending on Sunday with the British Fantasy Society Awards and the Dead Dog Party.

This was my first Fantasycon and I was a little nervous. I knew a few people from Edge Lit, but this was a much bigger event and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I didn’t need to worry – everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and I soon started meeting tons of new people as well as catching up with others. I can certainly see how Fantasycon has earned its reputation as the friendliest con!

#StoryEachNight is One Year Old!

#storyeachnight, a project started by Nicole Cushing to read a short story every night and then tweet about it, with a mini-review if you like, is now one year old! Read more about it and about short stories in general in a series of blog posts, including a guest post from me, in the next week on Nicole Cushing’s blog: Laughing at the Abyss.

Ante's Inferno - Book Review

Ante’s Inferno, by Griselda Heppel, tells the story of 12-year-old girls Ante and Florence, as they journey through the Underworld with a boy called Gil who died a hundred years earlier. Following a path that leads to the centre of Hell, they face strange dangers and mythical monsters, while at the same time learning more about each other. For Ante, worse than the dangers of the Underworld are the fears that Florence may actually be dead, and that she, Ante, may have killed her.

Short Story Sunday - Clarkesworld to go Pro?

A quick piece of short story news for this Short Story Sunday. Clarkesworld, one of the bigger speculative fiction online magazines (and probably my current favourite) is aiming to go pro! That means they would like to pay pro-rates to their writers as well as a reasonable wage to their staff. This is great news, and I hope Clarkesworld is successful!

Updates - My Week in Woolly Retro Goodies, Needles and Milestones

I've been a bit quiet on here and on Twitter this week; things are a little crazy! A sudden opportunity has come up to go to India with my mother, so I've been racing about like a mad thing trying to get passport and visa sorted out, and getting far too many needles poked in both arms. The injection count is up to 8 different diseases and viruses at the moment - my body is extremely unimpressed with me.

In other news, I now have a Kindle, and so I will be able to accept books in Mobi as well as Epub formats to review! It currently has 158 Tor ebooks loaded on it, but I can't say that I haven't already been browsing through the Kindle store, wondering what my first purchased ebook will be... I think I'm leaning towards a short story collection from an indie publisher. Any recommendations?

The Hugo Award 2012 Short Stories - Review

Today the 2012 Hugo Awards will be presented at Chicon 7 (WorldCon), the ceremony beginning at 8pm CDT. And, since it’s also Short Story Sunday on my blog, I thought I would take a closer look at this year’s nominated short stories.

Homecoming, by Mike Resnick

This is probably the most ‘sci-fi’ of the bunch, though none of them are particularly focussed on SF/F genre tropes – with the obvious exception of John Scalzi’s story, which I’ll talk about below. Homecoming was originally published in Asimov’s.