A Special Story For Tor.com's 4th Birthday: "A Tall Tail"

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A Special Story For Tor.com's 4th Birthday: "A Tall Tail"

We've got a special treat for those devoted readers  who subscribe to the Tor.com newsletter: this year for our birthday, we're initiating our first annual Rocket Story! Enjoy an exclusive read of "A Tall Tail" by Charles Stross a week before it appears on the site!

Charles Stross is a British SF author who now lives in Scotland. He is the author of the Laundry series and the Hugo-winning novella "The Concrete Jungle." The illustration is by Gregory Manchess.

You can read the entire story by clicking here

The Painted Man - Peter V Brett

Title: The Painted Man
Author: Peter V Brett
Publisher: Harper Voyager

This made the commute fly. For the first time in a long time, I was tempted to remain on the train all the way to the end of the line, just so I had the chance to finish this book.

Imagine a world where demons (corelings) are real. Where corelings come to life every night. And the only way to protect yourself is by drawing the correct runes. Houses are surrounded by painted runes. Travellers sleeping alongside the road lay out enclosures covered in runes.

We follow our main characters as they grow and the experiences that shape and mould them into young adulthood. From the death of our heroes mother to the spite and neglect of our heroines step mother (why is it always the stepmother), along the path of development, to their eventual meeting.

The author has given us two fully rounded characters, a cracking read, that builds and builds, and then...... ends. When I first got to the end I felt betrayed, but upon re-reading the cover (after a few choice words) suddenly realised that this is the first book in a trilogy. Alright then ...... bring on two and three.

Absorption - John Meaney

Title: Absorption (Ragnarok volume one)
Author: John Meaney
Publisher: Gollancz

If you like a bit of fantasy wrapped in some hard sci-fi then this is for you. What better than a bit of Norse mythology (Ragnarok), heroes seperated in time and space and some definate hard sci-fi concepts to get the story going.

This is the first part of the Ragnarok series and I got the bug. I'll be on the hunt for more as they come my way.

Several heroes are brought out in the book and their characters fleshed out individually, some more than others. They all see the 'black shadow clouds' around some people while no-one else can, and it becomes apparent as the book progresses that the heroes will at some stage be brought together to perform certain deeds. This never quite happens in the first installment, but the story is enough in itsself to introduce you to everyone and some depth and background the the intended universe that will stage the rest of this story.

There are some fairlt radical ideas, not new I hasten to add, but the way the author has drawn them here makes you sit up and take notice.

Like Arnie once said "I'll be back!"

The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks

The Way of Shadows - Night Angel Trilogy

Author: Brent Weeks

Publisher: Orbit

I picked this book up on a slow day, and ended up putting it down several hours later. The plot cracks along at a fair pace and provides a few twists and turns along the way, and the inevitable cliffhanger that leaves you wanting to go out and read the next book in the series.

The characters are well enough rounded out with Kylar (the hero) and Durzo Blint (his master and trainer) and a supporting cast of .... well a few too many characters to be honest. I kept having to work out who was who among the more minor characters. But that is a minor defect in a fantastic story.

Kylar wants to be a wetboy and the only way he can do this is to apprentice himself to Durzo Blint the best and most experienced wetboy in the city. The reasons why he does this I'll leave for you to discover when you read the book, suffice to say that he gains more than he expects, loses more than he wants and cannot have what he always wanted.

Read it or he'll be round to pay you a visit.

Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic

A good friend handed this book to me and said to give it a go. I did and I thouroughly enjoyed every minute. The book is aimed at teenagers, and adults who want a good solid read.

The heroine of the story, Katniss, is called to serve in the Hunger Games. This is an event where two people from each district are selected, at random, and placed in an arena covering many square miles until only one remains. The whole event is broadcast live to the 12 districts - shades of The Running Man - and fortunes are won and lost on the survival and death of contestants.

There are many philosophical questions that this book hints at and extrapolations, extreme admittedly, from the reality TV of today. You find yourself empathising with the characters and the ending, abrupt as it is, leaves you wanting the next book in this trilogy.

I give this a solid two thumbs up.

The Last Theorem - Arthur C. Clarke and Frederik Pohl

The Last Theorem

Author(s): Arthur C. Clarke and Frederik Pohl

From: CollinsVoyager

I snapped this book off the shelf and couldn't wait to get home to read it. You know how it is when one of your treasured authors 'springs' a book on you. I thought a bit of maths, some aliens hell bent on destroying Earth, the 'clueless' hero who finds himself - great. Well this turned out to be a bit of a letdown to be honest.

The premise is that the central character solved Fermats last theorem - in his head - mainly to stop himself going crazy - is then feted around the world - is wined and dined - and on and on and on.

You get to know Ranjit (the central character) well, his hopes, fears, dreams and concerns. The other characters are less well filled in and some are almost two dimensional caricatures (the Americans). The story angles around this man's life and the science fiction side is crammed into the last few chapters. For a science fiction author (two of them) of such great standing this is strange to say the least.

Not one for the favourite shelf

Without Remorse - Tom Clancy

Without Remorse

By: Tom Clancy

From: Harper Collins

This book is a kind of stand alone prequel, come introduction to the 'John Clark' of Rainbow Six. Set at the time of the Vietnam war, we follow John on a voyage of revenge after drug dealers kill and mutilate his girlfriend.

The only problem, if that is what it is, I have with this book is that most of the scenes seem altogether too plausible. If someone with just enough training is pushed to the point where, when no-one will help and the only way to satisfaction is to do it yourself, they set out to seek revenge on their taunting opposition.

The bad guys are slightly cariacatured as the the hard pressed police officers, but the stereotypes stand up well.

This book is not as fast paced as some of Tom Clancy's other offerings, but this book offers you a chance to go behind a character and discover their motivation and history.

A solid read for a Tom Clancy fan. I liked it.