COVER REVEAL ROUND-UP (XIII)

   First up the cover for the first book in a series coming in August 2014, with design by Lauren Panepinto. You can read more about the book over on the author's blog. I like this cover, it's a very simple one stylistically speaking, but it's an image that is eyecatching to me. The cover alone would make me check out this book more closely.

   This cover by Charles Vess is for a Subterranean Press limited print edition of a novella coming in April 2014. I really like Vess' art, and this is certainly not an exception to that.

   A new series from Strange Chemistry, with the first book being released 5 November, gets a cover with a symbol on it. I like this one, not sure what the symbol represents but it looks like it could be a real symbol for something. It has me intrigued.

   Some of you may have spotted that this isn't a new book. The cover is for Tor UK's latest release/printing of this collection, you can see the old one, and read a bit about the book, here. I haven't read the book, but I may pick it up in the future. I think the new cover looks much more modern and science fictiony, but not entirely sure I think it's better than the old one. But then again that could just be me getting old and nostalgic for the covers of yesteryear...

   This book will be out 24 October from Hodder & Stoughton, the art is by Marko Manev. I really like this cover. It has a Noir World War II Video-game feel to it. (And I hope at least one person understands what I mean by that.) This would certainly make me pick up the book and see what it's about.

   From Orbit we have this cover for book with a March 2014 release. It's the first book in a new Epic Fantasy trilogy. It has a hooded man on the cover, but I don't think that matters at all if the cover is well done. This is, and I like it a lot.

   Also from Orbit, this cover designed by Kirk Benshoff is the cover for the third book in a Science Fiction trilogy, it will be released 22 April 2014. If you haven't caught the first two books yet, it's because they are not out. Read more about them, and see their covers here. I think both the above, and the two other covers, look interesting. I'll most likely be checking out these books when they come out.

   More from Orbit. Coming in July 2014, this is designed by Kirk Benshoff and has an illustration by Raphael Lacoste. It's for a new Epic Fantasy series, and it looks very interesting. In fact I want this book to be out a bit before July next year based on what I can see on the cover.

   This one, also from Orbit, is for the forth book in the Expanse series. Illustration is by Daniel Dociu and design by Kirk Benshoff. This is pretty much what you expect a Science Fiction cover to look like, and I in no way mean that as something bad. I really like Science Fiction covers of this type, and I always check out books with this type of cover.

   Also from Orbit, again. This book will be released on 8 April 2014. The cover is dominated by the long title, but I think it works very well. But that isn't the most interesting thing about this book. According to Orbit,  "Claire North is a pseudonym for an acclaimed British author who has previously published several novels". Someone on Twitter suggested K.J. Parker, and that may be correct. But my suggestion was J.K. Rowling, not because I have any special reason to think so, but I wanted to make that prediction early just in case.

   You have probably noticed that there is a lot of covers from books from Orbit in this cover reveal post. That's because they have recently released covers for their Spring - Summer 2014 releases. You can see them here (UK) and here (US). There are a few differences between the two.

REVIEW: WOLF MOON

Cover art by Cliff Nielsen

WOLF MOON

BY

CHARLES DE LINT

ISBN: 0-13-240077-7

Pages: 245

Publisher: Firebird (Penguin US)

First published: 2 August 1988

This edition published: 19 January 2004

On the cover:

His name when he was human was Kern, and it seemed he had been running forever, for he had become the most feared of beings; a werewolf. When the change had first come upon him, his parents had driven him away with silver daggers. Later, Kern sought human companionship. But he could not hide the truth for long, and so he kept running until he ran headlong into the deadliest pursuer of all - a harper bent on stealing his life away.

   By chance Kern was able to take refuge at the Inn of the Yellow Tinker, a warm and welcoming place where he might find a home if he guarded his secret well. And at the inn, Kern found the woman he was destined to love. But could he risk both human and harper vengeance to keep her?

   I should start by categorising this book. To begin with it was marketed as "12 - AND UP years" in 2004, but I'm in no doubt this is Young Adult by today's standards even if the characters are sligthly older than what is usual in YA. It also has a quite strong Romance plot to it, and it is clearly Fantasy. So to sum up, this is Young Adult Fantasy with Romance (,which if it isn't a sub-category clearly should be.)

   De Lint is a great technical writer, his prose is excellent while still staying simple. He doesn't overcomplicate anything, but writes in a pared down and uncomplicated style that is a joy to read. However he doesn't oversimplify, or "dumb down" if you will, he's just precise in what he writes. Of course being technically accomplished doesn't matter much if the story isn't up to scratch. There's no worries on that front, de Lint is a master storyteller.

   The story starts out in a very familiar Fantasy/Fairy Tale way and it continues to be that way for a while. That is not a criticism, the way de Lint writes makes it a very good read despite being familiar in many ways. However, once you get further into the story you realise that de Lint has been deceiving you, and the story becomes so much more than a well written take on a rather standard story.

    While the story may continue to follow familiar patterns de Lint manages to put his own twist on a lot of the elements, and you don't feel like you are reading something written to a formula. This really feels like a fresh story, and you will be left guessing where it will take you.

   I mentioned earlier that this story has quite a strong romantic sub-plot, or more correctly I suppose a romantic co-plot, this is something that I am rarely a fan of, but de Lint manages to pull it off. The romance plot flows naturally along with the rest of the story, it never feels forced. Although it has some Fairy Tale aspects to it, it doesn't in any way feel unrealistic, neither is it toned down too much. It is just a natural part of the story being told, something that made me actually like this part of the plot quite a lot.

   That de Lint really is a great writer can also be seen in the way the characters flows off the page. You'll very early get a feeling for what type the characters are, but they are not restricted by type. And especially one of them manages to have a development that is much more than her stereotype would suggests. (In an early "meta" scene it is even remarked on how stereotypical she is, a great moment that is quite funny.)

   The small cast of characters are very well developed for such a short novel. They really come alive at de Lint's hand, they feel like friends, people you have gotten close to despite meeting them a short time ago.

   This is really a splendid Fantasy book for all ages and genders. De Lint shows that he's a great storyteller, and this book shows that he deserves to be wider read by Fantasy fans. This would make a perfect book for the younger generation, while also being satisfying to older readers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes Fantasy.

REVIEW: Jack of Kinrowan

LINKS: Charles de Lint  Firebird

REVIEW: JACK OF KINROWAN

Book design: Victoria Kuskowski

JACK OF KINROWAN

BY

CHARLES DE LINT

ISBN: 0-312-86959-2

Pages: 412

Publisher: Orb

First Published: Jack the Giant Killer - 1 November 1987, Drink down the Moon - 1 June 1990

This edition published: 2 July 1999

On the cover:

Jack, the Giant Killer

 
A faceless gang of bikers on Wild Hunt through the streets of present-day Ottawa hurtles young Jacky Rowan across the threshold into the perilous land of Faerie. There, to her dismay, she is hailed as the Jack of Kinrowan, a once-and-future trickster hero whose lot is to save the Elven Courts from unimaginable evil.

Drink Down the Moon

Once the realm of Faerie drew its power from the Moon herself. But now a ghastly creature has stolen that power and enslaved the Fair Folk--and Jacky Rowan herself. Only Johnny Faw, a handsome fiddler unaware of his magical gifts, has the power to set them free.

   This is an edition collecting two novels, I'll review each of them underneath.

JACK THE GIANT KILLER

   This story is written very much in the tradition of Fairy Tales, and it bases its world on the Faerie worlds of Celtic legends.

   The hidden world, one that co-exists with our own, is in this case located in Ottawa, Canada. Maybe not the first, or tenth for that matter, location for a Contemporary Fantasy you'll think of. But the real world setting is not really relevant to this story. It could have been any urban area that is over a certain size. (As could most of the London/New York/Chicago/etc set Urban Fantasy novels with the same premise.)

   Here the hidden world is the one of Faerie (, not to be confused with faeries) , a very good setting for a Fantasy tale. De Lint doesn't actually do that much worldbuilding as such, we only get glimpses into the world of Faerie. But I didn't feel that this detracted from the novel, an Epic Fantasy style description, with or without a map, would have served no purpose here. And I think it would only have detracted from the story.

   The story kicks off without any build-up, we are thrown into events just as the main character Jacky Rowan is. We make the journey along with her, and it is a great journey.

   There is plenty of action and suspense along the way, and there's enough suspense to make this a very compelling read. When the story ends we get a resolution that fits in very nicely with previous events, and it feels like this is the destination we were heading for all the time.

   The characters are also very well done. Especially Jacky and her friend, Kate Hazel. Both are fully realised and realistic young women, and their actions and development throughout the story feel very much natural.

DRINK DOWN THE MOON

   This story continues and expands on the tale of Jacky Rowan. But it also introduces us to new characters, most importantly Johnny Faw and Jenni Pook. 

   The story here is split into to strands, Johnny Faw's is arguably the main one, but Jacky Rowan's is equally important. De Lint makes these two parallel stories compliment each other to great effect. They both add layers to the overall story, and they drive each other along for the reader, making this a very fast paced narrative at times.

   Adding several new characters could have made the story a bit cluttered, but de Lint completely avoids making it feel as if there is too much going on. The link between the two storylines is established early on.

   The addition of new players in the Farie world of Ottawa also makes for a seamless way of expending our knowledge of how it works. We get to see parts of the Faerie world that are completely new to us, and this makes for some very interesting revelations.

   Both Johnny and Jenni are interesting to get to know, but it is Johnny who gives us a better understanding of how alien the hidden world is to our own in the early stages of the story. This is very well done by de Lint, and adds an extra layer of believability to the Fairy Tale based narrative.

   The story is pretty much packed with action and suspense when it gets going. There are some very tense passages here. And that there is a relatively large number of characters adds an extra layer of suspense for the reader, as it is impossible to know who will play the central role in the resolution of the story.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

   There is no doubt that de Lint is a great writer, and I am pretty annoyed with myself for not reading any of his books before now despite hearing good things about him since the '90s.

   I found de Lint's writing style to be very compelling. He doesn't overwrite, but manages to tell what is needed in relatively few pages. He's also very good at creating tension, and there is a pace to his stories that are at times break-neck. De Lint has found his way into my must-buy author list with these two stories.

   This is a great Urban Fantasy book, and it shows the roots of that genre off to great effect. Anyone who has any interest in where Urban Fantasy came from should without a doubt get hold of it at the earliest opportunity.

   It is also a great Fairy Tale, based around Celtic myth and legends. And I think it will be a great read for anyone interested in that storytelling tradition.

   Basically this is a book that should be in any fan of Fantasy's collection.

LINKS: Charles de Lint  Orb