tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post4567441086715588175..comments2024-03-20T19:40:58.078-05:00Comments on The OF Blog: 2011 Debuts Read So FarLarry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-39086018549210097852011-09-22T18:52:00.223-05:002011-09-22T18:52:00.223-05:00Do you accept books for review (debut or otherwise...Do you accept books for review (debut or otherwise), or do you confine your reviews to books you've discovered without prompting?Karen A. Wylehttp://www.karenawyle.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-13622579430907969562011-09-22T09:56:09.706-05:002011-09-22T09:56:09.706-05:002011 has been a pretty weak debut year for me - al...2011 has been a pretty weak debut year for me - almost nothing on par with The Invisible Bridge and Aurorarama of last year not to speak of some great sff series starts - though a recent small press sf debut I've read Dancing with Eternity by John Patrick Lowrie changed a little my assessment as becoming one of those memorable surprises you try new authors for. <br /><br />I would be curious to see more reactions to Tiger's Wife from people of E. European culture since as mentioned for me while beautifully written, it was in many ways a book written for a Western audience that reinforces the stereotypes about E. Europe and that grated quite a lot.<br /><br />Though I still liked the book and it did not manage to annoy me as badly as the Booker long listed The last Hundred Days by P. McGuiness, another debut but this time about an era and events I was a live witness too and i could write ten pages on why that book is so distorted and inaccurate to make it laughable as historical fiction, while so-so as fiction<br /><br />Mechanique though was a disappointment despite my high expectations, while Night Circus was very good - great writing again - but it could have been better with a different structure, eg no predictable love story, more characters than two super-humans that grow in powers constantly becoming distant from humanity in the process; actually the author realized the second weakness as the switch in focus towards the end shows<br /><br />The Oracle of Stamboul by MD Lukas was a good book, more adult than YA and more historical fiction than sff...<br /><br />As sff goes i enjoyed some debuts like Debris by Jo Anderton, Napier's Bones by Derryl Murphy and several steampunk and indies, but outside the Lowrie novel above and maybe Debris depending on how sequels go, none was the kind to put the author on my get and read asap list<br /><br />There is an upcoming Spanish blockbuster translation The Time in Between by Maria Duenas that may or may not be impressive and which I want to get asap and 2-3 more sff debuts of interest I also want to try.<br /><br />As for the more noticed sff debuts of the year - Low Town - agree with the commenter above, Prince of Thorns - meh, while The Quantum Thief which i read last year from the UK, again agree with the commenter aboveLiviuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615405766065227026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-7589225785299290462011-09-22T00:30:29.732-05:002011-09-22T00:30:29.732-05:00I usually don't get around to reading debuts u...I usually don't get around to reading debuts until a year or more after their release, but I have managed to read quite a few this year, thanks (I suppose) to Amazon Vine.<br /><br />Obreht's The Tiger's Wife is not only my favorite debut of the year, but one of the best books that I have read this year.<br /><br />Pollock's The Devil All the Time was a gamble, but it turned out to be a tightly plotted thriller and I enjoyed it very much.<br /><br />Although it was good, I do not consider Kelman's Pigeon English award-worthy. It was good, but not something that stuck with me and not something I would want to read again.<br /><br />Ernest Cline's Ready Player One was a hell of a lot of fun, but it was somewhat difficult to get into and can be quite dull when the narrative is removed from the game world in favor of displaying the narrator's everyday life.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Of course, I have read more than just what you have listed here.<br /><br />The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi had a lot of ambition, potential, and but it was little more than mediocre. Makes a good argument for magic as tech.<br /><br />Low Town by Daniel Polanski was predictable tripe that failed to rise above or even to the level of the fantasy-noir blends that came before it.<br /><br />Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson was a mediocre affair that doesn't do well as a book, but will likely do wonderfully as a film.<br /><br />Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Filler comes in the form of bland sexuality and the climax of the novel suffers from a sudden shift in tone that clashes against the rest of the book. As I told a friend who read it alongside me, "If I wanted to read trashy urban fantasy, I would reach for one of the books on my fiancee's shelves and revel in it. I would not go looking in the 'Literature' section of my local book store." This is one of those Lit/Genre mash-ups that tend to go rather well and create something I like, but in this case, it just doesn't work.<br /><br />---<br /><br />I suppose that I should count myself lucky that I managed to read so many good or at least decent debuts, especially when I jumped into half of these books just because they sounded interesting.Jameshttp://dazedrambling.posterous.comnoreply@blogger.com