Guest Post – Fantasy: The Versatile Genre by Rowena Cory Daniells

To celebrate the release of the Fall of the Fair Isle Omnibus, one of my favourite Australian fantasy writers has agreed to write a guest blog.  Please enjoy Rowena’s post on:

 

Fantasy: The Versatile Genre

Science Fiction books can be SF-thrillers, action adventure and mysteries. It is a versatile genre and often explores the philosophical theme: As technology advances will we lose our humanity?

Meanwhile, Fantasy is known for the Quest: Can we defeat evil (which is usually encapsulated in a magical being or object) so that good can triumph. But fantasy is not limited to the black and white portrayal of good and evil.

With King Rolen’s Kin, I set out to write the kind of rollicking action adventure fantasy that kept me up all night when I first discovered fantasy. The narrative was supposed to be an examination of power and what people will do for it, following King Rolen’s four children and the choices they make when their kingdom is invaded. I concentrated on the King’s second son, Byren but before I knew it Byren’s friend, Orrade revealed that he was gay and this led to complications for Byren. Protecting his friend left him vulnerable.

I found myself exploring the question of friendship, brotherhood and being true to oneself. By the end of book four we saw what Byren would do for power and the consequences even if the motivations were pure.

When I wrote The Outcast Chronicles I knew this trilogy would explore two related themes. The narrative followed the fate of a race of mystical beings called the T’En. This gave me a perfect opportunity to explore racism in the denatured setting of fantasy. And since the T’En society was divided into sisterhoods and brotherhoods, I was also able to explore issues of gender and trust. This trilogy was a finalist in the Hemming Award 2013.

The Judges said: “The Outcast Chronicles trilogy is a tour de force of extraordinarily detailed world building. Rowena has created political intrigue, attempts at genocide, a dangerous world of magic that many believe to be gods, with flawed, noble and ignoble characters on all sides. There is poetry and wit in the writing, and characters that stay with you long after you have finished this gripping trilogy.”

I quote this because the fantasy genre gave me the opportunity to delve into characters who were ‘different’ without alienating the reader due to a preconceived prejudice.

The Fall of Fair Isle was first published between 1999 and 2003, released as three books, now Solaris have released it as an omnibus edition. Set 600 years after The Outcast Chronicles it can be read as a stand-alone.

This is a more intimate story than The Outcast Chronicles, delving into the motivations and dilemmas of the three main characters. Imoshen, named after her famous ancestor, the last surviving member of the royal family, must surrender her stronghold and her island to General Tulkhan, son of the Ghebite King’s concubine, who conquered Fair Isle to win his father’s love. She agrees to help him smooth the transition of power. But all does not go smoothly because Reothe, Imoshen’s former betrothed, has survived and he needs her help to win back Fair Isle.  Should she keep her word to the General or is she bound by her older vow to Reothe?

At its core The Fall of Fair Isle is an exploration of duty and honour, and because Imoshen is a throwback to her T’En ancestors the narrative also examines gender and racism.

King Rolen’s Kin was a rollicking adventure fantasy, The Outcast Chronicles was a political intrigue fantasy and The Fall of Fair Isle is an intimate glimpse of people caught in the crucible of power. All three examine honour and the choices we make using the fantasy genre as the medium.

This genre is really much more versatile than people give it credit and I love it when I find an author who is willing to push the boundaries.

I hope readers will enjoy The Fall of Fair Isle.

 

Rowena

 The Fall of the Fair Isle can be ordered through booktopia.

 

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Book Release – The Fall of the Fair Isle by Rowena Cory Daniells

For those of you who missed out on Rowena’s first trilogy, she is set to rerelease it as an omnibus edition in the coming month. I’ll keep you updated as more details come to light.  The artwork as always, looks magnificent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Book Review – King Breaker by Rowena Cory Daniells

The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin was my first introduction to Rowena Cory Daniells and as such holds a special place, because I think Rowena is one of Australia’s best writers of adventure/grimdark fantasy and I have thoroughly enjoyed having the chance to read this and her later series, The Outcast Chronicles.

King Breaker rounds out a chronicle of four novels, plus a novella.  The chronicle is a tale of the fortunes of the royal family of Rolencia after their parents and the heir to the throne are murdered and the crown usurped. 

In King Breaker, Byren, the remaining heir has managed to defeat the invading army and is betrothed to the Myrofinian Queen, the 15 year old Isolt.  So technically he is now king-in-waiting to the country that invaded his own; while the bastard, Cobalt the Usurper, sits on the throne of Rolencia.  The Merofynian nobles, like all self centred aristocracy resent him and when he has to leave his younger brother Fyn (who has developed feelings for Isolt )as Lord Protector, the scene is set for some opportunistic politicking and potential family feuding. Piro the youngest, continues her adventures as the Mage’s apprentice and manages to almost shake her reputation for putting her foot in it.  We also see the return of Garzik, Orrade’s brother, who struggles with loyalty to Rolencia or the Utland raiders.

I felt more keenly than ever, the tension in the interpersonal relationships in this novel.  Indeed much of the fighting, much of what would usually be set battles is glossed over fairly quickly. That’s not to say there isn’t action, but that of the three or four large battles that took place, most were quickly resolved or happened off page.  One of Daniells’ strengths though, is making you care about the characters and she is equally well versed in placing them in physical or emotional danger, so don’t think a lack of gutsy battles is going to give you an easy ride.

If I had to find fault, I did feel in a couple of places that Daniells may have had to cut material too sharply.  King Breaker is the largest book in the series, coming in at 774 pages and there were two distinct points that I felt that Daniells’ usual style felt a bit truncated i.e. she had to cut harshly to get the page count down. 

I  would suggest that King Breaker could have been two(if we ignore the realities of publishing) or maybe three books.  I certainly think there were enough subplots to continue without padding the tale out.  But that’s a minor quibble and to be fair I think Daniells has done a brilliant job of wrangling the material down into the one tome to round off the tale. 

King Breaker has all the qualities that I have come to expect of the series – excellent pacing, interesting interpersonal relationships and a good portrayal of a gay character in Byren’s companion Orrade.  The King Rolen’s Kin chronicle is a nice introduction to Daniells’ work and when you have recovered from the rollercoaster ride I suggest you take up the Outcast Chronicles which I think is grittier and better paced than Game of Thrones.

Note: The King’s Man novella is only available as an ebook, and while not necessary to read before embarking on King Breaker, it will enhance your enjoyment.  It’s also one of the best novella’s I have read over the past two years – see my review here.

This book was provided by the author.

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Australian’s can purchase the entire series through Booktopia and if you use the following code ( EARLY) midnight Saturday(November 9) you can get free shipping.

The King’s Bastard

The Uncrowned King

The Usurper

King Breaker

To purchase the ebook novella The King’s Man you will have to look online at Amazon, Kobo, or Rebellion

 

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This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013.  Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women..

 

 

 

 

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Covey Candy – King Breaker

You’ll see below the newly released cover for King Breaker, the fifth and concluding book in The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin.  Clint Langley has outdone himself on the artwork again. Checkout Rowena’s site for further updates.

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Norma K Hemming Nominations announced:

The wonderful Rowena Cory Daniells brings us the glad tidings.  There are 4 authors nominated and 6 books.  They are in no particular order:

• Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan
• Winter be my Shield by Jo Spurrier
• Besieged, Exile, and Sanctuary by Rowena Cory Daniells
• Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

The Norma K Hemming Award :

marks excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class and disability:

• in the form of science fiction and fantasy or related artwork or media.

• produced either in Australia or by Australian citizens.

• first published, released or presented in the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is given.

                                                                                                                   [source]

I have read 4 of the above titles and concur with the judges selections.  I haven’t read the Jo Spurrier (it’s in my non reviewing TBR pile) but I have heard some very good things.  I would have been severely (yes severely) perturbed if Rowena hadn’t made the list because there’s a whole lot of gender commentary wrapped up in some of the best gritty dark fantasy on the market.

For judges comments you can go here.

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Ditmars 2013 – Best Novella or Novelette

And it turns out I have read everything in this category and still would have if Jason Nahrung’s Salvage had been a sentence or two shorter and fallen into it.  And it’s further proof that having read everything doesn’t help with your voting.  I suspect that there are many worthy reads within the eligibility list, the trouble being  access to them, some hidden away in collections and time to read them.

The nominees are:

Best Novella or Novelette
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* “Flight 404”, Simon Petrie, in Flight 404/The Hunt for Red Leicester (Peggy Bright Books)
* “Significant Dust”, Margo Lanagan, in Cracklescape (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Sky”, Kaaron Warren, in Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)

 

Comments:

I reviewed Flight 404 here. A good hard science read, where that science is the backdrop, it influences story but is not THE story. My final thoughts on it were:

I really enjoyed this story, felt that that the character was an honest and positive representation of a transgender person and I was captive to the mystery and story right until the end.

Significant Dust is my favorite from Cracklescape, which I reviewed here.  Not my favourite Lanagan short, that honour goes to singing my sister down but as I said in the review of Cracklescape:

Significant Dust was the story that had me reaching for the tissues.  It’s not quite so gutting as my favourite Lanagan, Singing My Sister Down, because there’s a hopeful ending or at least Margo has left enough room for me to imagine one.

Sky was part of a fairly even collection, each of the stories presented something of value to me and I don’t have a feeling of Sky standing out above and beyond the others.  Here’s the review for Through Splintered Walls that contains the novella.

Of those that didn’t make it on to the ballot that I have read and that I think really stood out were "Elyora", by  Jodi Cleghorn, in the Review of Australian Fiction.  I am not sure the novella hit a wide enough audience.  I think it sits well in the Australian Gothic Horror genre as outlined in Dr Hannett’s article for This is Horror.  If you’re fans of Nahrung or McDermott I encourage you to check out Elyora, which will be republished this year by a UK publish under a different title and with a longer prologue.

The second is The King’s Man by Rowena Cory Daniells (though I’m not sure it was published in Australia or if that even matters by the rules) its a novella set in the KRK universe.  It’s gritty, largely self contained at still manges to carry the emotional punch of Daniells’ much larger novels. 

 

 

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eBook Review–The King’s Man by Rowena Cory Daniells

The King’s Man is an an exclusive ebook set in the world of the King Rolen’s Kin Trilogy.  Its official release date is the 6th of December.

Lucky for you(but more so for me), I have through my knowledge of the Dark Arts™  managed to obtain a copy ahead of release, by which I mean Rowena asked if I would like to read it.

Long time readers will know that I am a fan of Rowena’s work.  Her fantasy writing is economical (no padding), engaging, superlatively paced and at times deceptively crunchy.

The King’s Man continues in that fine tradition.  This novella takes a secondary character from the trilogy, Garzik son of Lord Dovecote, who readers previously thought was probably dead and follows his adventures.  Rowena dedicated the book to a reader with the following:

To Leanne, who refused to believe that Garzik was dead

And I thought to myself; what a lovely gesture, bringing a much loved secondary character to life.  Leanne may well wish,however, that Garzik’s fate remained lost in that ill-defined limbo between the writers brain and the page, for his adventures are not altogether pleasant. 

Garzik fails to light the beacon that will warn Rolencia of invasion and is captured by Merofynian forces and sold into slavery. Much more than that I will not tell, sufficed to say that Rowena is not afraid of hurting the characters or making the reader feel uncomfortable. There is also a subtle expanding of the secondary world of King Rolen’s Kin, as the novella gives us an insight into the peoples of the Utland Isles.

I detect a somewhat darker tone creeping into The Kings Man.  If you have read both King Rolen’s Kin and The Outcast Chronicles, you will certainly feel a difference.  For while A King’s man sits in the King Rolen’s Kin world, its tone is darker and similar to Rowena’s later books.

I’ll admit I did have concerns that the shortened format would have an effect on the tale.  Rowena writes fantasy that is bursting at the seems with beautifully crafted and constructed content, I was worried that it might not work in shortened format. 

Those concerns were unfounded.  I found myself in that familiar state, where I am eagerly turning pages, fully engaged with the text, feeling the story.  Rowena has done it again and I suspect and hope that Garzik will feature in a future King Rolen’s King novel, which this novella would be an apt lead into.

If you're a fan you’ll want to read it.  If you haven’t read Daniells before you should read it.  I hate to define authors in terms of other authors works, but Rowena's work has the darkness of tone present in A Song of Ice and Fire, or a Joe Abercrombie novel matched with a thriller like pacing of a Barry Eisler.  A Game of Thrones on speed if you like.

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This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012.  Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women.

 

 

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Galactic Chat 16 Rowena Cory Daniells

The new Galactic Chat is up thanks to the tireless work of the silent producer.  You can now listen to myself and Rowena talk about Fantasy, Gender and fiction that takes you out of your comfort zone.

This week Sean interviews Australian Fantasy novelist Rowena Cory Daniells.  Rowena has long history of involvement in Australian fantasy and science fiction and has released 4 novels this year.  Sean asks Rowena about the pressure of releasing so many books in such a short time.  What drives the exploration of Gender and Sexuality in her most recent series, The Outcast Chronicles and what she has planned for the very near future? They also discuss the potential for self publishing and the benefit of being picked up by overseas publishers.

(Note: In recording this interview we encountered everything the Gods of the Internets could throw at us. The final product has been cut and edited together from about 5 parts. Sean apologises for the less than optimal listening experience).

Rowena can be found on her  website or on Twitter.

You can stream from the player below or you can download here (right click & save as)

Podcast Powered By Podbean

 

If you really like crunchy, mature fantasy fiction you should check out The Outcast Chronicles.  They are available on Booktopia and if you purchase a book by Sunday evening and type NICE in the coupon area they’ll give you free shipping.

 

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Upcoming audio interviews

 

I have a couple more interviews in the works which will feature on the Galactic Chat Podcast:

1. Rowena Cory Daniells author of the recently released Outcast Chronicles
2. Joe Abercrombie author of Red Country and other gritty fantasy works

The interview with Rowena is in post production.  The interview with Joe Abercrombie is arranged.

If there’s any particular questions you’d like to ask Mr Abercrombie et me know in the comments.

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Great News for Rowena Cory Daniells’ Fans

 

A couple of news items for Rowena’s fans:

• I have just finished editing and interview i did recently for Galactic Chat, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.
• Rowena has the rights back to her now out of print first T’En trilogy.  She will be releasing it herself under the series title Fall of Fair Isle – see her website for the new covers designed by Daryl of R&D Studios
• She’s hard at work on the fourth book in the King Rolen’s Kin Trilogy

 

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Book Review–Exile (Book 2 of the Outcast Chronicles) by Rowena Cory Daniells

Exile is the second book of the Outcast Chronicles, the first I reviewed here. 

The Outcast Chronicles are a prequel to Daniells’ 1999 sell-out series The Shadow Kingdom (called The Last T’en Trilogy in the US).

Whereas the Shadow Kingdom was an intimate fantasy tale, the Outcast Chronicles is a political power fantasy that is mature, confronting and damn near impossible to put down.

Exile is carefully crafted to background readers who have the misfortune to only have discovered book 2 in the series. I do, however, implore you to pick up Besieged. You’ll appreciate the additional build up of tension, and exploration of character.

The final pages of Besieged left us at the outskirts of the Celestial City with the forces of King Charald breaching the walls.  With Exile, readers will be relieved to note, the T’En are able to hold off the attack and there is an uneasy cessation to the fighting as King Charald seeks their surrender. 

Imoshen is elected Causare of the T’En, more through Brotherhood division than popular sentiment and seeks to gain precious time for her people who are spread out and surrounded by the Mieren (humans) settlements. 

King Charald wants to wipe the T’En from his kingdom.  Imoshen must save what she can to lead them into exile.  Can she hold her divided people together while their enemy contemplates genocide?  Can King Charald hold his Kingdom together with traitorous, barons nipping at his heals?

Exile is tightly written and rarely lets up the pace.  Any breaks in the pacing are filled with rich scenes of character development  that allow Daniells to entice you into caring deeply for her darlings.  Only when you have fallen in love with them does she apply the pressure, turning Exile into a page turner of exquisite torture.

But it doesn’t stop at the excellent display of craft. The exploration of gender and sexuality in Exile is a mature look not only at the possibility of real female political power but at the destructive culture that can develop in male only institutions.

Some of the treatment of Brotherhood members by their own organisations has echoes of the real life abuse and bastardisation that occurs  in organisations such as the military. 

It was a discomforting read for me as a male, because it turned a critical eye to issues that we might like to handle with humour or not talk about at all.  Nonetheless it’s the fact that Daniells doesn’t shy away that makes the book and the series not only enjoyable fiction but a creation of something with substance.

I’d like to see a book from the series win the Norma K Hemming Award.

If you’re tired of the standard fantasy tale.  If you would like a fantasy with depth and colour, pick up the outcast chronicles.  All three titles were released this year so you will be treated to the rare delight of being able to pick up all the books in what I am sure will become your favourite trilogy.

This book was provided by the Author at no cost to me.

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This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012.  Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women.

 

 

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Book Review–The Price of Fame by R.C. Daniells

The Price of Fame is Rowena Cory Daniells’ first foray into paranormal crime fiction - hence the slight variation on her name. 
It’s a book that’s had a long gestation, something like 20 years, a labour of love, a book waiting to find the right time and the right publisher.

I am an unabashed fan of Rowena’s fantasy titles, I devour them in an afternoon if I’m not careful.  Her pacing’s spot on, characters are  well developed, and she possesses that skill many aspire to- the ability to create a book that you are reluctant to put down.

But that’s Fantasy and switching genre’s means you are stepping into a milieu that has slightly different rules and expectations.  Add to this the knowledge that I am a big ‘S’ skeptic and that my preference, if I have any, for paranormal fiction is that it either plays it totally fantastical (e.g. Burn Mark) where you accept the premise of witches, warlocks and psychics or you play it gritty and realistic with the suggestion, the possibility, the merest hint that something paranormal is going on.

The Verdict

Short version – I read it two sittings, getting sunburnt because I couldn’t but the book down.
Longer Version - Daniell’s plays it pretty straight from the beginning.  We have a documentary maker, Antonia Carlyle, trying to track down old members of the famous Tough Romantics, a punk rock band from the 1980’s.  She’d determined to uncover the reality of the band before they achieved fame, before their singer Genevieve James was murdered by a jealous taxi driver Peter O’Toole. 
Only a witness, steps forward 25 years later with a story that may exonerate O’Toole.  

Daniells uses first person point of view to good effect in The Price of Fame cutting between Antonia and the murderer, Peter O’Toole’s story written by the reclusive writer and witness who befriended him. It allows Daniells to vary the pace and prevents the reader from getting tired of being in Antonia’s head all the time.  The technique also allows the reader to observe personalities common to both time periods in a slightly different light.  It also gives us intimacy.

I have only ever been to the trendy version of St Kilda and so have no real life experience to compare Daniells recreation of 1980’s St Kilda to, but she created a palpable and believable, crime and drug ridden inner city suburb that any city dwelling reader could surely find a reference to.

With or without restless spirits

The writing and the pacing, overrode my aversion to  “psychic energies”, the characters were real, the ending a mix of triumph and sadness.  While I think The Price of Fame is a one shot, I hope Daniells decides to play in the crime fiction sandpit again. I’ll read it with or without restless sprits. 
You’ll note the absence of a “tramp stamped” vixen on the cover. I think it frames the book well -  I heartily recommend it if your preferences are towards realism with a slice of the fantastic.

This book was provided to me by the author.

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This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012.  Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women.

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King Rolen’s Kin continues

Long time readers will know of my totally biased adoration of the work of Rowena Cory Daniells.
 
That being said if you are a fan of fast paced epic fantasy go out and buy her books right now. Buy them in bulk because, like good chocolate you can’t stop at one.

Hitting the Sweet Spot

Rowena is one those writers that seems to hit the sweet spot.  This is not to say that there aren’t authors out there that aren’t as good, but Rowena is a member of a club of writers that I know as soon as I pick up the book I will lose all sense of time, I will simply read only surfacing for food and the threat of divorce. 
She’s joined in that club by Barry Eisler who’s thriller fiction has the same affect on me. Both take me back to teenage years when I’d be nearly comatose in English lessons because I had spent all night reading the latest David Gemmell.

Get to the point Sean

The series that started it off for me, King Rolen’s Kin, is going to receive another book.  Here’s the announcement from Rowena:

Here’s the official Press Release:
Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books, has commissioned a new novel by  Australian fantasy writer Rowena Cory Daniells.  The agent is John Jarrold, and the deal is for World English Language rights. The book is due for publication at the end of 2013.[read on]

Astute readers will note that this book is in addition to the trilogy that Rowena has coming out this year – The Outcast Chronicles. 
So in the time I have been book blogging (2 years) she’s released two trilogies, a crime novel and has another book green lighted.
I doffs me hat to her and thank her for providing the fans with such enthralling stories.
 

Reviews and Interviews

Rowena was kind enough to be interviewed as part of my Authors and Social media series last year.  I reviewed The King’s Bastard here, and Besieged last fortnight. 

I have received in the mail today Exile and her new crime novel The Price of Fame from Clan Destine Press. 

So I may need medical attention this week.

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Book Review– Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells

Besieged is the first book in The Outcast Chronicles by Rowena Cory Daniells.  The Chronicles see Daniells return to the world which she created in the T’En Trilogy.  The Chronicles are a prequel to that series and take place at a considerable distance from the evens featured in the earlier works.
It is not necessary then to have read the earlier trilogy, to understand or enjoy Besieged.

Where to start on Besieged?

There are good books that you can appreciate and enjoy, then there are books that you will lose sleep over or have to get you significant other to hide from you so you can get work done.  Besieged, for me is the latter.  I found its story and Daniells’ writing tugging at my consciousness at every waking moment of the two days it took me to read it.

The dark and twisted tale

Besieged is a saga of blood, family inheritance and the struggle for acceptance. A tale of political scheming, intrigue, and up close and personal violence.  A tale of character’s wants, desires, and ambitions causing misery and misfortune for those around them.  It is a story of two people and two cultures and a path of destruction they seem unable to avoid.

Sorne is the half blooded son of King Charald in a kingdom where T’En and the half blooded Melanjue are slandered as Wyrd’s, abominations in the eyes of the true men who follow the Churches of the Seven.  He is raised in secret by a high priest and forged, through deprivation and holy torture, into a weapon to use against the T’En.

Imoshen is secretly raised by a T’En Brotherhood, an action the breaks the 400 year old covenant between the male and female factions of T‘en culture. She has an untrained talent for wielding the T’En gift and an inquisitive nature unfettered by the dictates of the covenant.
Imoshen searches for acceptance and a home for her children.  Sorne searches for love and affection from a father who will give him none.
Both these characters are agents of change in two cultures set to collide with one another.

Dark fantasy not for the squeamish

I have been a fan of Rowena’s since consuming the King Rolen’s Kin Trilogy last year. Besieged features the same pacey writing but with much darker content.

The battles in Besieged occur off page.  Daniells focuses on the interpersonal, which makes some of the content darker than your general fantasy tale.  There’s not much left untouched – children die, and characters are tortured.  The violence isn’t gratuitous but Daniells’ skill in getting you to love characters and invest in them before she hurts them in front your eyes, is superlative. You simply must read on to ensure that characters obtain justice or carry out revenge.

If you were squeamish about the inclusion of a gay character in the King Rolen’s Kin series, then you may have to put on your big boy/girl pants to read Besieged.  The T’En culture is split into Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods, same sex coupling is common and expected, in addition to trysts that result in offspring. 
There’s also aspects of sexual politics within in the Brotherhoods that might make male readers squirm uncomfortably.

Similar in tone to a Song of Ice and Fire, but complete

I have made comparisons between Daniells’ work and that of George R.R. Martin before, stating my preference for the former.  If you are looking for dark, gripping adult fantasy, but in a finished product, Besieged and I venture, the rest of the Chronicles, will sate your palate.

This book was provided to me by the author.

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This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012.  Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women.

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Win Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells

Just wanted to drop a note to say that I have received Besieged for review and let me state, right now, I love this book.

This is a book I had to tell my wife to hide because I needed to get work done today.

Anyway, review coming up this weekend (probably).  But in the meantime check out the competition running on Goodreads to win a copy or place it on your Booktopia wish list for when the next free shipping  promo is held.

Solaris, Rowena’s publisher is also planning to release the next  books in the series in the next few months, so no long waits for the rest of the trilogy(oops! Exile is already out).

For heavens sake its only $9.50 buy it now (ok I’ll stop gushing).

But seriously, damn fine dark fantasy.

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A slow start to the week

If you have noticed that things have been a little quieter than usual, I have started a 10 week contract as a teacher librarian, consequently I have been doing prep work.

There’s a couple of reviews that I am working on but, they will likely wait until the weekend.  In the meantime here’s some news and links.

Rowena Cory Daniels informs us that Besieged has landed at her place (you should be able to order it from your friendly neighbourhood bookshop). 

Checkout Tabitha Darlings Bedroom Floor for all the  Dr Who’s rendered as time ladies. 

Here’s a concerning report on Readercon from Genevieve Valentine - a post about why codes of conduct a necessary for some (mainly men) who just don’t get it. 

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Are you Besieged?

Rowena Cory Daniell’s latest, Besieged , should be hitting the shelves right about now. 

Besieged (Book 1 of The Outcast Chronicles) is set in the same world as her earlier T’En trilogy.

For nearly 300 years the mystics have lived alongside the true-men, who barely tolerate them, until...

King Charald is cursed with a half-blood mystic son. Sorne is raised to be a weapon against the mystics. Desperate to win his father's respect, Sorne steals power to trigger visions. Unaware King Charald plans their downfall, the mystics are consumed by rivalry. Although physically stronger, the males' gifts are weaker than the females. Imoshen, the only female mystic to be raised by males, wants to end the feud. But the males resent her power and, even within her own sisterhood Imoshen's enemies believe she is addicted to the male gifts.

Sorne tries, but cannot win the respect of True-men. When he has a vision of half-bloods in danger he has to ask himself where his loyalty lies.
Convinced he can destroy the mystics, King Charald plans to lay siege to their island city. Will Imoshen win the trust of the mystic leaders and, if she does, will she believe the visions of a half-blood?

I interviewed Rowena here and have reviewed the first book of the King Rolen’s King Trilogy here. 
She’s one of the few writers I would recommend buying by name alone.  I am hard pressed to think of a fantasy writer that can write fast paced adventure fantasy as well as her.

Booktopia has Besieged on sale at about $10.50 plus postage.  And  they  do a deal where you can order the whole trilogy ( they will be released over the next few months) and pay only once for postage.

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Snapshot 2012 Interview–Rowena Cory Daniells

 

Please welcome Rowena Cory Daniells as the first interviewee in my selection of authors for the  2012 Australian Speculative Fiction Snapshot.  Rowena was kind enough to take time out of her very bust writing schedule to answer my questions.

• Rumour has it that you have been quietly working away in the writing salt mines, what can you tell us about your current projects?

It has taken over my life! No, seriously, it has. When this project is all handed in I am going to spend some time with my family.

The Outcast Chronicles had been brewing for more than ten years. A draft of this went to the very first ROR back in 2001. The question behind the series is: 'What would really happen, if people with magical abilities lived amongst us?' And from there a whole world complete with drama, intrigue and betrayal came to life.

I’ve also written a King Rolen’s Kin novella and most of book one of the new King Rolen’s kin trilogy.

 

• You are a stalwart of the speculative fiction community. When you reflect and look back over all your work what do you see, what are your proudest moments?

Wow, I'm not ninety yet. I'd like to think I'll achieve a lot more. So far... I'm glad to see the Vision Writing Group going from strength to strength. And I’ve found the ROR writing group a life-saver over the years.

 

• Fantasy in Australia seems to be enjoying a heyday, what future works might we expect from you? More great trilogies or a subtle branching out into crime fiction perhaps?

I have such a backlog of books already written. They push the boundaries of the fantasy genre, but my publishers tend to like traditional fantasy, so I’ll have to see.

Meanwhile, there is the paranormal-crime (no vampires) The Price of Fame, which is coming out this year. I find a lot of the writers I interview write both crime and fantasy (and some add historical to this mix). I think you need a certain type of mind to research and build the complex worlds required for these genres. (Even writing historical books requires world building, because that world doesn’t exist anymore).

 

• Now some authors don't read a lot of the genre they write, at least while in the process of writing - what great Australian reads have you come across lately?

I must admit that since November last year I have had my head down, writing madly. I’ve read Cochrane, The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain, which is the biography of the real life sea captain that Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey is based on.

I re-read The West Point Military History Series: Ancient and Medieval Warfare, which is an analysis of great battles and the leaders who fought them. And I’ve read the books that the ROR team put in for feedback. So I know some interesting work is going to be coming from them in the near future.

 

• It's two years on from Aussiecon 4,  what do you think are some of the biggest changes to the Australian Spec Fic scene since then?

I must admit that I have been working part-time/full-time so I haven’t had much time to do anything other than write and work (and renovate. Don’t me get started on renovating!).

I’ve really been enjoying Twitter because of the fascinating links. And I’m on an Aussie Spec Fic Women’s list which is interesting because they are all such intelligent, challenging women.

In the last two years, I think blogs have really come into their own. It’s been a great way for me to keep in touch with readers and see what other authors are up to. Plus the publishing industry is changing so rapidly, I’ve found the discussion on the blogs really informative.

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Rowena’s Bio:

Rowena Cory Daniells, best selling author of the trilogy King Rolen’s Kin, sets out to write the kind of books that you curl up with on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Her new fantasy trilogy, The Outcast Chronicles, will be released in 2012. Her paranormal-crime (no vampires) The Price of Fame will also be released in 2012.

Rowena can be found at http://rowena-cory-daniells.com/ or www.corydaniells.com

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This interview was conducted as part of the 2012 Snapshot of Australian Speculative Fiction. We’ll be blogging interviews from 1^st June to 8^th June  and archiving them at ASif!: Australian SpecFic in Focus. You can read interviews at:

• http://thebooknut.wordpress.com/tag/2012snapshot/
• http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/tag/2012snapshot/
• http://helenm.posterous.com/tag/2012snapshot
•  http://bookonaut.blogspot.com.au/search/label/2012Snapshot
• http://www.davidmcdonaldspage.com/tag/2012snapshot/
• www.champagneandsocks.com/tag/2012snapshot/
• http://randomalex.net/tag/2012snapshot/
• http://jasonnahrung.com/tag/2012snapshot/
• http://mondyboy.com/?tag=2012snapshot
• http://tansyrr.com/tansywp/tag/2012snapshot/

 

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Outcast Chronicles are nearly here

Fans of Rowena Cory Daniells, will no doubt be aware that, it won’t be long until she releases her next trilogy.  But for the rest of you, sadly deprived of Rowena’s fast paced, action filled fantasy here’s a taster in book trailer form.  The Outcast Chronicles:

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Outcast Chronicles coming soon

The lovely and extremely hard working Rowena Cory Daniells has emerged from the writing oubliette to inform us that Amazon has some special offers surrounding her Outcast Chronicles series, the first of which is released in June.

You can check the info here Amazon offer on Outcast Chronicles…:

If you haven’t read Rowena’s King Rolen’s Kin trilogy you should be flayed alive  you should track them down.  I did a review of The Kings Bastard here.  Seriously fast paced fantasy adventure.

As far as I know Rowena doesn’t have an Australian publisher ( the wonderful Solaris publishes her work), but you should be able to pick up from Booktopia, Pulp Fiction in Brisbane or Notions Unlimited in Melbourne or any half decent bricks and mortar store.

Below are the covers of the new trilogy by the talented Clint Langley.

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I have been nominated to run in this years fan fund for the National Science Fiction Convention to be held in Melbourne.

If you appreciate the work that I do in Australian Speculative Fiction Fandom and you have a spare $5, you can vote for me here and help send me to the National Conference.

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