New Books
"Baking is an alchemical process for Corinna Chapman. At four am she starts work at Earthly Delights, her bakery in Calico Alley.
But one morning Corinna receives a threatening note saying "The wages of sin is death" and finds a syringe in her cat's paw. A blue-faced junkie has collapsed in the dark alley and a mysterious man with beautiful eyes appears with a plan for Corinna and her bread. Then it is Goths, dead drug addicts, witchcraft, a homeless boy and a missing girl and it seems she will never get those muffins cooked in time.
With flair, chutzpah and a talent for kneading, Corinna Chapman will find out who exactly is threatening her life and bake some beautiful bread."
"Aboard a British convict ship bound for the New World, Duncan McCallum witnesses a series of murders and seeming suicides among his fellow Scottish prisoners that thrusts him into the bloody maw of the French and Indian War.
As the only man aboard with any medical training, Duncan is ordered to assemble evidence to hold another prisoner accountable for the deaths - or face punishment that will mean his own death. His conclusions suggest that the wave of violence is somehow linked to the "savages" of the American wilderness. Duncan's suspicions that the prison company is to be sacrificed in the war seem to be confirmed when he learns that they are all indentured to Lord Ramsey's estate in the uncharted New York woodlands, a Heart of Darkness where multiple warring factions are engaged in physical, psychological, and spiritual battle.
Following a strange trail of clues that seem half Iroquois and half Highland Scot, mesmerized by the Lord Ramsey's beautiful daughter, and frequently defying death in a dangerous wilderness populated by grizzled European settlers, mysterious scalping parties, and Indian sorcerers, Duncan McCallum, exiled chief of his near-extinct clan, finds the source of all evil at the site of an Indian massacre."
The Science Fiction Novel - Roger Zelazny
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| Roger Joseph Zelazny |
American author Roger Joseph Zelazny was born in Ohio in 1937 and died in New Mexico in 1995. He wrote poetry and Fantasy and Sci-Fi novels and short stories. I was introduced to his writing by The Chronicles of Amber, an excellent fantasy series. He won the Nebula award 3 times and the Hugo Award 6 times.
Between 1962 - 1969, while working for the US Social Security Administration, he began to write Science Fiction, moving from short stories to novellas to novels. In 1969, he quit his work to write full-time. He became a member of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, whose members also included Jack L. Chalker and both Joe and Jack Haldeman. He was also a member of the Swordsman and Sorcerer's Guild of America, a group I mentioned in my previous entry about Michael Moorcock.
Like most of the Science Fiction writers I've highlighted, Zelazny was prolific. I mentioned one of his novels in one of my looks at Dystopic Sci-Fi, that being Damnation Alley (Check this link).
I'll highlight The Chronicles of Amber and two others of his books that I have currently on my bookshelf.
1. The Chronicles of Amber (1970 - 1991) plus a few related short stories. The two volumes contained 10 stories:
Volume 1
- Nine Princes of Amber (1970)
- The Guns of Avalon (1972)
- Sign of the Unicorn (1975)
- The Hand of Oberon (1976)
- The Courts of Chaos (1978)
Volume 2
- Trumps of Doom (1985)
- Blood of Amber (1986)
- Sign of Chaos (1987)
- Knight of Shadows (1988)
- Prince of Chaos (1991)
It was a fascinating series; political intrigue, mystery, magical transferring between worlds using Trump cards, family arguments, love, romance, murder. I'd recommend to anyone.
2. Changeling (1980).
"In Changeling, the people had long suffered under Det Morson's power. When at last, the wizard Mor joined the fight, Det and his infamous Rondoval castle were destroyed. But the victory was not complete, for the conquerors found a baby amidst the rubble: Det's son, Pol. Unwilling to kill the child, Mor took him to a world where the ways of magic were considered mere legends--a world called Earth."
3. Jack of Shadows (1971).
"In a world half of light, half of darkness, where science and magic strive for dominance, there dwells a magical being who is friendly with neither side. Jack, of the realm of shadows, is a thief who is unjustly punished. So he embarks on a vendetta. He wanders through strange realms, encountering witches, vampires, and, finally, his worst enemy: the Lord of Bats. He consults his friend Morningstar, a great dark angel. He is pursued by a monstrous creature called the Borshin. But to reveal any more would be to spoil some of the mindboggling surprises Jack of Shadows has in store."
Roger Zelazny's complete catalogue can be found at this link.
Enjoy the rest of your week. It's all downhill here.
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