Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

A coldblooded, brilliant general has to decide if her loyalty lies with her Empress or her people. An orphan has to come into her mother’s powers and decide how to use them. A young man inherits his sister’s throne and must lead a pacifist people into war. These, mixed with a world ending cataclysm, enchanted weapons, and mysterious immortals might seem like just another trope laden, fantasy novel with easily discernible good guys fighting the obviously evil bad guys. Yet, Mirror Empire breaks from this tradition, arguably set by Lord of the Rings, with a glorious, violent way.  Kameron Hurley’s take on fantasy inserts you into the middle of a world that is truly unfamiliar and menacing.

We come into the story on the eve of a reoccurring, world-shattering event, heralded by the rise of the dark star. As a relentless enemy ravages the lands in the north, Hurley’s characters have to navigate fractious politics, perfect assassins, ruinous betrayals, and the collision of worlds. Hurley does some excellent world building, creating a fascinating realm complete with sentient plants, bear cavalry, blood magic, and much, much more. As soon as you start to settle the rules and the situation in your head, she switches things around. But what makes Mirror Empire truly unique is the take on gender. The two main civilizations that you meet have vastly different conceptions of gender. One has four different pronouns while another has three, in each case, their application is not just societal, but personal. As if this gender fluidity was not enough, one of the characters gradually changes his/her physical gender characteristics.  While not for the faint-of-heart, this gritty fantasy novel is decidedly a good read and is definitely worth picking up.

Dark Fantasy: A Step Away from Horror?

What is dark fantasy?

According to Lucy A. Snyder at www.sff.net:

"Both horror and dark fantasy explore the nature of evil and create a creepy or frightening atmosphere. Thus, when asked what the difference between dark fantasy and supernatural horror is, some people will say that there is no difference, or that the difference is that horror goes to greater extremes."

"To my mind, that's a bit of an oversimplification.  While a broad gray area certainly exists between the two genres, there are a few ways to distinguish the two.  Some general characteristics:

Dark fantasies have an established setting that is fantastic or otherworldly. 
The protagonists of dark fantasies are often heroic. They choose to face danger in order to save others or to achieve some greater goal. They are often experienced with the occult or in possession of special skills, knowledge, or powers. 

In many dark fantasies, there's an implied comfort to the reader: The characters the reader cares about will usually make it out alive in the end, and the day will be saved."

Try some of these fantastic examples of dark fantasy:

Joe Abercrombie--First Law series--The Blade Itself--Inquisitor Glokta is a bitter relic, trapped in a broken body. Nobleman, Captain Jezal dan Luthar is vain, selfish and self-obsessed.  Logen Ninefingers is an infamous warrior with a bloody past.  Bayaz , an old man with a terrible temper, who could be the First of the Magi or a fraud.  Whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Glotka, Jezal and Logen a lot more challenging...

Clive Barker--Imajica
Hunted through New York City by an assassin hired by her husband, Judith is saved by her former lover, John Zacharias, but the two are quickly thrust into the strange netherworld of Imajica, where they must fight unspeakable evils.

Glen Cook--The Black Company series--The Black Company
Adrift in a world torn by sorcery gone wild, the Company is the last remnant of a once-great mercenary army. Led by Croaker, former physician and primary chronicler, they must search the world for the last ray of hope--the White Rose.

Stephen R. Donaldson--Chronicles of Thomas Covenant--Lord Foul's Bane
He called himself the Unbeliever because he dared not believe in the strange alternate world in which he suddenly found himself. Yet he was tempted to believe, to fight for the Land, to be the reincarnation of its greatest hero....

Neil Gaiman--American Gods
After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. Two days before he gets out, his wife dies in a mysterious car crash. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr. Wednesday who claims to be a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, solving murders along the way. 

Simon R. Green--The Nightside series--Something from the Nightside
John Taylor is not a private detective per se, but he has a knack for finding lost things. That's why he's been hired to descend into the Nightside, an otherworldly realm in the center of London where fantasy and reality share renting space and the sun never shines.

Caitlin Kiernan--The Red Tree
Sarah Crowe left Atlanta to live in an old house in rural Rhode Island. Within its walls she discovers an unfinished manuscript written by the house's former tenant – who was obsessed with the ancient oak growing on the property. As the tree takes root in her imagination, Sarah risks her sanity to unearth a revelation planted centuries ago.

Stephen King--Dark Tower series--The Gunslinger
The Gunslinger is a haunting figure in combat with The Man in Black in an epic battle of good versus evil. A spellbinding tale that is both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike and filled with ominous landscapes and chilling peril.               

Mark Lawrence--Broken Empire series--Prince of Thorns
When he was nine, he watched his mother and brother killed before him. By the time he was thirteen, he was the leader of a band of bloodthirsty thugs. By fifteen, he intends to be king...   Life and death are no more than a game to him-and he has nothing left to lose.

China Mieville--New Crobuzon series--Perdido Street Station
Beneath the bleached ribs of a dead, ancient beast lies New Crobuzon, a squalid city where humans, Re-mades, and arcane races live in perpetual fear. The air and rivers are thick with factory pollutants and the strange emissions of alchemy, and the ghettos contain a vast mix of workers, artists, spies, and junkies. 

Michael Moorcock--Elric of Melinbone series--Elric the Stealer of Souls
Elric - the albino sorcerer and battle-thirsty prince. Elric - doomed beyond hope to wander a world of savagery and treachery. Elric - seeker of impossible goals, fighter of remorseless battles, and an embittered poet. Elric - held in the grip of his own sword, the enchanted Stormbringer. 

Catherynne M. Valente--Palimpsest
Between dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To this kingdom come four travelers:  a locksmith; a beekeeper; a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman. They've each lost something important and what they will find is more than they could ever imagine.

Alabaster: Wolves

Comics Unmasked: The History of Comic Censorship

Saturday, September 27, 11:30 am

Support Banned Books Week, bring a lunch and learn about the misunderstood history of a commonly censored genre from WCPL librarians and Epic Loot Games & Comics staff. Trivia (with prizes) after the talk. 

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Banned Books Week: September 21-27, 2014

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read by bringing awareness to censorship and challenged materials. Every year The American Library Association with the national Banned Books Week planning committee selects a theme or genre of books that have been challenged. This year the focus is on the frequently challenged genre of comics and graphic novels. During the week leading up to Banned Books Week and throughout the week itself, we are devoting our Fine Print posts to graphic novels.  We hope to raise awareness of the ongoing threats of censorship and to spread knowledge about graphic novels as a unique form of storytelling

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Let's be frank: I don't read a lot of graphic novels. I do own a few, though, and all of them are adaptations of books or short stories that I've read and loved. Thus, I present to you Alabaster: Wolves by Caitlin Kiernan, with artwork by Steve Lieber and Rachelle Rosenberg. This one's not on any banned or challenged book list that I'm aware of, but given what's made those lists so far, I'm pretty sure it could be a contender. Why? Well, there's violence in it, for one. It deals with the occult. There are assorted creepy-crawlies on every other page. And you know what? I'm okay with that because the heroine of the story is pretty awesome, and of all the characters Kiernan has created over the years, she's my favorite. Her name is Dancy Flammarion, and she's a rather mysterious albino waif who wanders the back roads and the empty places of the Deep South in search of the aforementioned creepy-crawlies. Commanded by a terrifying angel only she can see and armed with just a carving knife, Dancy goes where the monsters are, and she destroys them. She's so vicious with that knife that all the big bads know her name, and I'm telling you, it's a beautiful thing.

Dancy first appeared in Kiernan's excellent Threshold: A Novel of Deep Time, and she went on to star in several short stories of her own, all of which are collected in Alabaster. Wolves began as a five-part series of comics that has Dancy visiting a "bad part" of South Carolina, an abandoned hole of a town that, as you may have guessed by now, is overrun with werewolves, among other things. Accompanied by a wise-cracking bird and the ghost of a werewolf she kills early on, Dancy soon finds herself outnumbered and outgunned, so to speak, when the angel that has guided her deadly knife-wielding hand suddenly abandons her. Beyond that, you'll get no spoilers from me, so if you want to know if Dancy eventually puts down the pack or ends up as dog chow, well, you'll just have to read the graphic novel to find out. And if graphic novels really aren't your thing, you can always read the short stories.

Highly recommended for fans of dark fantasy and horror.














Fantasy, gangsters, and confidence games, oh my!

In general, I am a fan of books and movies about cons and conmen. Con stories that are well done are deeply satisfying to me with their twists and turns and convoluted plot lines. Fantasy is another preferred genre, though I find as the years progress I am shying away from the high, Tolkien-esque fantasy, with its clearly defined good and bad, in favor of a grittier fantasy where such lines are blurred. Enter The Lies of Locke Lamora, the first book of the Gentlemen Bastards Series.

Set in the city of Camorr, a dark, fantastical version of renaissance Venice, so full of tricksters, conmen and thieves, it’s amazing anyone has any money at all. Our protagonist, one Locke Lamora, is an orphan, who manages to survive in this inhospitable city through his own guile and some excellent training. The story alternates between the past and the present. We see that in the past, Locke was trained by a con artist and thief-maker extraordinaire, who is the head of the Gentleman Bastards. In the present, Lock is the head of the Gentlemen Bastards and his ambitious little group are going against the rules of the underworld and robbing the aristocracy blind. But other forces are at play and are poised to upset all of Locke's carefully constructed plans.

This is a story of power-plays and naked ambition, of confidence games and swordfights, of petty thieves and ravenous sharks. This is an entertaining romp of a gritty anti-hero with more unique, profanity laced exclamations than I have read in quite some time. If you like you fantasy with a rough edge, then I would certainly give this book a try.

Need a New Read?

I just read, Chicks Kick Butt. It's a compilation of short novellas from many authors. All the stories have female heroines, who (obviously) get the bad guys and save the day. I checked this book out because one of the primary authors is Rachel Caine. I enjoyed her weather warden series and thought this might be a good read. Little did I realize the book would lead me to new authors that I never read before. The short stories allow you a glimpse at the writing style of each author (and man are there authors to choose from!). There are 14 authors/stories in this book. Each story is very short, which makes for a quick read. You don't have to read it all in one sitting.

I can't wait to read a full story written by some of these authors! If you enjoy paranormal fiction, urban fantasy, dark fantasy or paranormal romance give these books a try.


Rachel Vincent's novella has characters from her Werecat Series. The first in her series is Stray. It is an urban fantasy a coming of age story for .


Karen Chance's short story, In Vino Veritas gives glimpses of characters from Midnight's Daughter. The protagonist is a special vampire, called a dhampir (half vamp, half human) can this fighter of evil uphold the senates laws and stay in one piece.

Cheyenne McCray's Double Dead shows us a private Investigator, Nyx, who is oh so much more. You definitely want her on your side if you are in trouble. You can read more about Nyx in Demons Not Included.
Lilith Saintcrow's Monsters seemed like an excerpt (and I would definitely love to read more about Eleni, Wolf and Tarquin), however in researching what story they are from I learned these characters are from some of her unfinished books. Hopefully Saintcrow will get back to them and give us more exciting stories to read. if you'd like to read more of her work you can try Night Shift or Dark Watcher.

Happy Reading! I hope you find a new favorite author.

Who knew?

Have you ever had a Eureka moment? This is the moment when all of a sudden you have insight into yourself. Well, I had a startling Eureka moment yesterday. I was helping a patron at the library find some stories to read.  She hadn't been to the library in years and wanted some new titles. She wasn't sure what she liked, but did say she enjoyed fantasy stories.  I selected a few titles that I thought may  interest her: Hunger Games, Graceling, Shifter, and Ill Wind.  All are wonderful fantasy stories, the one characteristic I did not realize they all had in common (until I looked at them altogether in her arms) was a strong female protagonist. Yes, while I read them I realized it (how could I miss it?).  However I never actually thought about the preponderance of stories I read that contain a strong female lead.  These stories would include JD Robb's in Death series,  James Patterson's Women's Murder Club ,  Tamora Pierce's YA series and Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series , and last, but in no way least, Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy (aka Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

Do not get me wrong, I have many other literary interests and read many novels with male protagonists, animal heroes, and even hapless heroes/heroines. I just never realized that a majority of the stories I enjoy have strong female leads. These are women who (pardon the expression) kick butt, get the job done and at times become reluctant heroes. They do what needs done to survive or to deliver justice.  I doubt that if these women were men that I would like the stories less, but... I'm not sure now.  Who knew that I enjoyed strong female leads as much as I do. I hope you'll take time to try one or two to see if you like them. These stories are action packed, fantasy adventure stories.  Although they all have strong females there are also strong males in each novel. Most of these stories just happen to be written from a woman's point of view.

Win a free Karen Marie Moning book!

Cincinnati-born author Karen Marie Moning has a new book coming out next month.  Shadowfever is the newest installment in the "Fever" series and will be released on January 18, 2011.  To help celebrate this occasion, the author has graciously donated copies of the first book in the series to the library--and you can get your hands on your very own--for free!
Just come to the Adult Services desk at either location and ask for a copy of Darkfever--and it shall be yours. 


Here is a small description from Karen's website:
"MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman.
Or so she thinks... until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae..." 
Darkfever at www.karenmoning.com.

The free give-away starts Tuesday, December 21, 2011 and will continue as long as supplies last. One book per person please.

Whether you get a free copy or not please try this great series which the author calls a romance, fantasy, mystery, and even a thriller. And don't forget to put yourself on hold for the newest book Shadowfever.

Darkfever
Bloodfever
Faefever
Dreamfever
Shadowfever

Happily ever after?

I am one of those people, who enjoy a happy ending. It doesn't matter if it is a thriller, a murder mystery or a romance novel. I just love it when the characters (aka the author) get it right. They defeat the bad guy and everyone lives happily ever after. With this in mind I have been anxiously awaiting Suzanne Collins last book in her Hunger Games Trilogy. Yes it is written for young adult readers, but it is a crossover book and many adults have read and enjoyed each book in the series and like me have waited for the last book, Mockingjay. 
The series is set in a totalitarian dystopia called Panem. Two children from each district are selected annually to participate (pay tribute to the Capitol) in the reality show, the Hunger Game.In Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is introduced. Katniss not wanting to see her sister die, volunteers to take her place when her name is drawn in the annual Hunger Games Lottery.  The games take place in the Capitol and are a fight to the finish. 2 champions from each district are chosen and fight until there is only one victor (aka survivor) left. It's like the Olympics only deadlier.  It is televised and every night the death bells ring signifying how many tributes died that day.  This series is not for the faint hearted. Brutal deaths occur throughout the book. It is a story of courage, bravery and compassion in the face of  impending death. Katniss' struggle to survive while maintaining her integrity, leads the readers to hold their breath and hope for the best. How will she survive? She's only a kid. The only hope she has is to win the game.  Victors earn a life of luxury. This translates in district 12 to enough food to eat, money and a nice home in the Victor's Village. Your family moves in with you and you are safe. Or are you?


Katniss wins the game but defies the government.  What is the cost of saving yourself and your friend but making an enemy of the leader of the world? Can you really live happily ever after?

The second book in the series, Catching Fire shows the brutality of war and the evil of absolute power.  Katniss indeed lives in Victors Village with her family, but she no longer hunts, her life long friend and companion is forced to work long hours in the coal mine and to make matters even worse President Snow is VERY angry.  A rebellion has begun and he blames Katniss. 

Now, I believed at the end of the Hunger Games and the beginning of Catching Fire, that Katniss and Peeta were now safe in district 12. What was I thinking???  Spoiler Alert do not read farther if you have not read Catching Fire. President Snow gets revenge on the victors of the preceding games. This Hunger Game is a Quarter Quell and the President chooses to send 2 champions from each district back into the game. Need I say and here we go again. Katniss fights along side other district champions and then is miraculously saved. However, Peeta is captured by the government. The rebellion has begun and the government will stop at nothing to hold off the revolution by any means possible.  Collins leaves us hanging wanting to know what happens next to our humanitarian Katniss, her friend and companion Peeta, and all the districts. 
It is a terrific story that kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next.

Consequently, I have been eagerly awaiting, Mockingjay, the last book in the series. I wanted to know what happens next to my beloved characters, their homeland and of course learn what happens to President Snow. Remember President Snow uses any means possible to accomplish his goal. His goal is to maintain control of the districts.  Katniss doesn't realize how much power she has given the President with the capture of Peeta after the Quarter Quell. The President knows Katniss cares about humanity, especially her family, Peeta, and Gale. He understands that death is not the worse possible consequence in time of war.  Katniss learns that leaders are power hungry and she and the citizens are merely pawns in their game.  If she dies both sides win, if she lives she's a danger to either regime. 
Let me tell you that I thouroughly enjoyed this trilogy: the vivid characters, bright scenes and the incredible, yet horrific details. The main characters, Katniss and Peeta almost always end up wounded but survive. I expected a happy ending in the last book. Well to be truthful, there was a happy ending, just not the one I wanted. The book kept me turning pages. After becoming entwined in the characters....it's hard to imagine being disappointed at the end, but I was. I wanted it all. I wanted President Snow punished (ok I admit dead), the districts free, the Capitol citizens to wake up and realize what a horrible environment they created and yes Katniss and her family (all those she loves and holds dear) to live happily ever after, in their new free world.

I forgot war just isn't like that. There is always a cost and price survivors pay. No one comes out of war unscathed and lives happily ever after. (What was I thinking?) I just wanted the fairy tale; instead I got a dose of grim reality.   
This is a wonderful series and I recommend it. Just remember these book try to imitate life and war. The characters react humanly and each must live with the choices they made for better or worse.



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SFWA announces latest Nebula Awards winners

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America has announced the Nebula Awards® winners for 2009.

The Nebula Awards® are voted on, and presented by, active members of SFWA. The awards were announced at the Nebula Awards® Banquet held at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront the evening of May 15. The 2009 Nebula Award Winners are:

Novel - The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books, Sept. 2009)

Novella – The Women of Nell Gwynne’s by Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, June 2009)

Novelette – “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast,” by Eugie Foster (Interzone, Feb. 2009)

Short Story – “Spar,” Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct. 2009)

Ray Bradbury Award – District 9 by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug. 2009)

Andre Norton Award – The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, June 2009)

Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.

Since its inception, SFWA® has grown in numbers and influence until it is now widely recognized as one of the most effective non-profit writers’ organizations in existence, boasting a membership of approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers as well as artists, editors and allied professionals. Each year the organization presents the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

Neil Gaiman Is Cool And You Know It

And if you don't know, you'd better ask somebody. This leather-clad literary icon is the creator of the hugely popular graphic novel series The Sandman, as well as numerous other graphic novels (Eternals, Signal To Noise), short-story collections (Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnus Nutter, Witch), children's books (The Wolves in the Walls, Coraline), and novels for adults (American Gods, Anansi Boys). Oh, and remember the films Stardust and Beowulf? Neil Gaiman again, who wrote the book on which the former is based and who co-wrote the screenplay for the latter. That's right: imaginative entertainment for the entire family, and Gaiman does it all without phoning it in like certain other popular writers, who, ahem, shall not be named here (but you all know who you are, so knock it off). Gaiman also has a pretty cool web site for his fans, which you can check out here. So if you've never heard of Neil Gaiman, consider this a long-overdue introduction, and be sure to reserve his very latest, The Graveyard Book.

Books I Love: Alabaster

Alabaster by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Commanded by an angel no one else can see, an albino girl named Dancy Flammarion travels the scorched backroads of Georgia in search of otherworldly prey: the Children of Cain. Nightwalkers. Monsters that for ages have hidden themselves in the dark places of our world. Monsters that feed on us. Dancy--homeless, motherless, and utterly alone--was first introduced in Kiernan's Threshold, and she is the heroine of this short story collection. Unlike many of the cookie-cutter protagonists populating today's dark fantasy and paranormal fiction, Dancy isn't drop-dead gorgeous and she has neither a blackbelt in karate nor any sort of law-enforcement or combat training. Really, she's just a teenager armed with only an old carving knife and the ability--or curse--to see monsters that others cannot, and that's all she needs to get the job done. If you're looking for romance, look elsewhere: Dancy doesn't date the monsters, she kills them. Alabaster is one of my favorite collections by one of my favorite authors, so if you're a fan of dark fantasy and looking for something a little different from the norm, give it a shot.

"Southern Vampire" Series Coming to HBO This Fall

Readers nowadays can't seem to get enough of vampires. The paranormal romance and dark fantasy genres are just filled to the brim with writers hoping to make a buck off of those pesky bloodsuckers and their creepy pals. However, one author who's staked her claim in the genre, so to speak, and done it extremely well, is Charlaine Harris. Her popular "Southern Vampire" series, of which From Dead to Worse is the latest, is an entertaining and darkly humorous twist on Southern Gothic starring everyone's favorite telepath, Sookie Stackhouse, and in which vampires and other assorted baddies that go bump in the night are very real and make no apologies for it. And in case you've been living under a rock lately, Sookie Stackhouse and her gang are coming to TV land this fall in the form of the HBO vampire series "True Blood." Interested? You betcha! Especially since it's being produced by Alan Ball, creator of the very popular (and very good) series, "Six Feet Under." So read the books now (we've got 'em all) and get the Tivo ready for September.

The "Southern Vampire" series by Charlaine Harris:

Dead Until Dark

Living Dead in Dallas

Club Dead

Dead to the World

Dead as a Doornail

Definitely Dead

All Together Dead

From Dead to Worse