Could the same thing happen for books I think I love? If I went back and read some of my childhood favorites, would they suddenly be terrible? I highly suspect the pun-filled adventures of Piers Anthony‘s XANTH series would not have the same impact on me now as it did when I was 14. There are probably many other books I should never re-read. I rarely re-read books, so  I’m turning to the masses to answer my question:

Have you ever re-read a fantasy book and wish you hadn’t?
As always we’ll select a commenter from below to choose a book from our stacks.

Black-Winged Tuesday

I read Alicia Ryan’s previous novel The First Vampire, about Samson and Delilah, and was impressed. Ryan is a competent story teller and an above-average world builder. In Black-Winged Tuesday, I was not sure what to expect because it’s quite a departure from The First Vampire.

Herman Morrie is an unlucky guy, and Tuesdays in particular are often filled with disaster. When Herman dies from a jet engine dropping from the sky onto his home, it just had to happen on a Tuesday. Herman’s transition from mortal to immortal is interesting, as Ryan chooses familiar situations like an airport counter and waiting in line to get into an event to show us the difficulties Herman now confronts in the afterlife. It’s amusing to imagine such a common and familiar a transition as opposed to the glory of the pearly gates and a daunting angelic presence.

The principal storyline deals with the moral conflict between good and evil. Herman is assigned as a guardian angel to an unassuming accountant who is harassed by his boss, unable to attract the interest of a girl, and suffering from lycanthropy that turns him into a beaver when he is stressed out. Herman’s assigned partner on this mission is as light-hearted and frivolous as Herman is solid and diligent. That’s where things get interesting, because Herman has attracted the interest of powers much greater than his normal peers.

Ryan’s depiction of the world and her combination of bad, neutral and good guardian angels is kind of fun. It’s odd in a sense, because morality becomes subject, more or less, to the interpretation of an individual. Where one person may consider rampant alcohol abuse and sexual promiscuity as inappropriate and bad behavior, another might consider those simple lifestyle choices. It’s a little too relativistic for my own outlook, but for the purposes of the novel it opens the doors to all sorts of interesting situations.

Herman undergoes a lot of pain and personal growth as he learns lessons about who he really is, not the life that he chose to lead. For me, this was really interesting as I wondered how many of us would consider ourselves and our strengths and positive attributes differently if we were able to take an almost third-party perspective for a time. For Herman, learning who he can be and that his worth is much greater than he ever imagined is powerful, and opens him to a profound evolution of perspective and self-worth. Ryan is careful through all of this to maintain ties to the person who Herman was, instead of having him shed his former self as if he had never been.

I enjoyed Black-Winged Tuesday for the moral ideas that I found there much more than for the actual story. Herman and his partner Price are a fun odd-couple pairing, but most of the other characters were just not very interesting to me. Getting behind the story and exploring Ryan’s original take on morality was much more enjoyable, and I would readily consider reading another book like this from her.

Tower

… Tower of Glass, Robert Silverberg uses androids to explore a common science fiction theme: What makes us human? I’ve read dozens of stories which ask this question, but Tower of Glass will stick with me. Originally published in 1970, Tower of Glass has worn very well, probably because it deals with timeless human problems… The pace moves quickly and Silverberg packs in a lot of ideas as he shows us a newly developing android society that is dealing with the same kinds of issues that humans have always dealt with — racism, caste systems, slavery, outcasts, ghettos, disease, drug abuse, political agitators, religious zealots, and the rise of an oppressed population. All the while Silverberg ratchets up the tension as the tower gets taller and Krug becomes more obsessed and noticeably less godlike. I listened to Stefan Rudnicki narrate Audible Frontiers’ version of Tower of Glass. Rudnicki always gives a great reading — he has a nice voice, he never overacts, and he always seems to “get” what he reads. Tower of Glass was nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus awards. Read the rest.

1) The Flight Deck of the Space Shuttle Discovery: Here’s a 360 degree view of the Space Shuttle Discovery’s flight deck during decommissioning in the Orbiter Processing Facility. Click on the picture and hold your mouse button down to move around the flight deck in any direction. Don’t forget to look at the ceiling!

2) Ladies, do you need a new bullet-holding leather garter?: Steampunked Out has all your intimate leather needs!… Well, maybe not all, but they’ve got plenty of lovely hand-crafted Victorian leather goods for ladies and gentlemen.

3) Google Earth on Steroids: Coming soon! Urthecast will be a 24/7 High Definition live webcast of Earth from orbiting space stations. View Urthecast videos and sign up to be a beta tester.

4) 2011 Nebula Awards Winners: and the winners are….

5) SFWA 2012 Election Results: Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America elect their leaders.

Orb, Sceptre, Throne

It has been a real pleasure to watch the development of Ian Cameron Esslemont as a writer. Both Night of Knives and Return of the Crimson Guard were solid offerings but burdened with problems of pacing and character, though Return of the Crimson Guard showed some improvement. Each seemed pretty clearly the product of a new author. Stonewielder, the third of Esslemont’s MALAZAN novels was a big jump forward in terms of quality and craft; though it shared some of its predecessors’ flaws, they were less frequent and less detrimental to the overall reading experience. I’m happy to say that trend continues with Esslemont’s newest — Orb, Sceptre, Throne — which I found to be his most thoroughly enjoyable book yet… I heartily and happily recommend it and think the vast majority of MALAZAN fans will have a great time reading it. Some, however, should be prepared to have their initial pleasure tempered the more they think about the book. In any case, if the trend in writerly craft continues, I’m absolutely looking forward to the next by Ian Cameron Esslemont. Read the rest.

Against the Light

The forces of the Earth Mother are being oppressed by the Hierarchy, which is guided by the light, in Dave Duncan’s Against the Light. The Children of the Mother are being hunted down and taken into custody where they are tortured by dungeon masters that recall the Spanish Inquisition. Sadly, as Rollo Woodbridge finds out, the Hierarchy has many weapons in addition to surprise in their arsenal. Against such determined zealots, how can Children of the Mother survive? Unlike the followers of the Light, the Children have magical gifts… Read the rest.

Rachel Aaron: I’m signed up to write a new series! Unfortunately I can’t get into details yet, but it’s going to be very different from ELI MOONPRESS, though hopefully no less awesome.

Danielle Ackley-McPhail: Now that the ETERNAL CYCLE trilogy has been wrapped up I’m working on a number of anthologies for 2013. Three are to be published by Dark Quest Books: Best Laid Plans (Book 5 in the DEFENDING THE FUTURE anthology series), Gaslight and Grimm: Steampunk Faerie Tales, and Eternal Flame (Book 2 in the LEGENDS OF A NEW AGE series). The final anthology is Bad-Ass Faeries 4: It’s Elemental, which will be published by Mundania Press. There are also six novels in the line-up, but the first that needs to be completed is The Redcaps’ Queen: A Bad-Ass Faerie Tale, sequel to the Halfling’s Court, by Dark Quest Books.

Alma Alexander: Book 5 of the WORLDWEAVERS trilogy, and a brand new YA series with book one written and now in the planning stages for the rest of the story…

Alex Bledsoe: I’ve turned in the manuscript for Wisp of a Thing, the follow-up to The Hum and the Shiver, which is scheduled for release in 2013.  I’m currently in the middle of writing the fifth EDDIE LACROSSE book, so far untitled, also due out next year.  And I’m working on some other, new stuff that I can’t talk about right now, but that I’ll announce soon.

Stephen Deas: I have a prequel novella, The Thief-Taker’s Blade which will be made available on the internet at some point over the next few months, either as an e-book or as a download from my website. Right now I’m working on a fantasy series set in something like the Dark Ages (sorry, historians) which might loosely be described as vikings vs. saxons vs. the undead, only they’re not vikings and saxons. I’ve just finished the copy-edits for The King’s Assassin (the third and last THIEF-TAKER book out in October) and the proofs for The Black Mausoleum (out in August).

Chris Evans: My next novel is another fantasy, but set in a new world with new characters different from the Iron Elves. Currently titled The Tree Line, this will be a single, stand alone novel using a time frame similar to that of the Middle Ages, but inspired by the cultural upheaval, racial animus, and bloody conflict of the Vietnam War. The tag line we’ve been using is LORD OF THE RINGS meets Apocalypse Now, but my agent came up with one I like even better — a fantasy that wails like Hendrix. It comes out Spring/Summer 2013.

Justin Gustainis: In addition to Known Devil, the third HAUNTED SCRANTON book, I’m writing a couple of novellas for Solaris featuring occult investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain. Quincey and Libby have already been the focus of three novels: Black Magic Woman, Evil Ways, and Sympathy for the Devil.

Kevin Hearne: I’m working on an IRON DRUID novella called Two Ravens and One Crow.

Jim C. Hines: At the moment, most of my energy is going into the sequel to Libriomancer. I’d tell you what it’s called, but I don’t have a title yet. This is the epic battle of Jim vs. First Draft, and so far, First Draft is winning. I’ll knock it down eventually, though.

Matthew Hughes: Hell to Pay, the third in the TO HELL AND BACK series.

L.E. Modesitt Jr: I just finished and turned in a stand-alone SF novel — The One-Eyed Man — and I’m currently working on the eighth book of THE IMAGER PORTFOLIO. Books 6 & 7 are finished and in production. They are Imager’s Battalion and Antiagon Fire.

Janny Wurts: The draft for Destiny’s Conflict — next volume in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series, and arc IV’s finale (also the second to last volume in the series, entire).

We’ll be back with more news next week!