Received:// Tides From The New Worlds - Tobias Buckell

Buy From: Amazon.com (Kindle Store)/iBooks

Caribbean born novelist Tobias Buckell established himself as a gifted new voice in science fiction with his stunning first novel Crystal Rain. Now, in his first collection, Buckell demonstrates his strengths in the short form, offering readers a collection of stories that are compelling, smart, wonderfully imagined, and entertaining.

Tides from the New Worlds contains 19 stories that range from multicultural science fiction to magical realism, some in print for the first time.

Spotted this in my feeds, it's previously been published as a rather gorgeous looking limited edition hardcover from Wyrm Publishing, which is a little out of my price range once shipping to the UK is added. Thankfully it's been released as an ebook for cheap dates like me and you can get it at either the Kindle store or iBooks. Not sure about iBooks but it's $2.99 at Amazon or $3.51 for my fellow tea drinkers due to the stupid 'VAT on ebooks but not paper books' rule we have.

The author has very kindly sent me a copy to review, so I'm going to stick this at the top of my reading list in thanks and hopefully get a review up as soon as real life will allow.

Batman on a Budget

City of Scars is a seriously impressive - at least visually - Batman film made for just $27,000. It's a pretty cheesy story with some dialogue to match but the look and atmosphere they've created is pretty cool.

When the Joker escapes from Arkham and murders the parents of a young boy, Batman recalls the pain of losing his own parents as a child. He is pushed past his limits to the point where his focus becomes revenge on all who stand in his way, including many of Gotham’s underworld. Finally, Batman is forced to look at the psychological profile of his own mind and accept the consequences of his life to find resolve.

CITY OF SCARS

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Smurfing Mothersmurfers

This has to be some kind of horrible joke. It's like Howard the smurfing Duck all over again.

Want:// Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery - edited by Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders

Published By: Eos

Buy From: Amazon.co.uk

A truly breathtaking new anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, Swords & Dark Magic offers stunning new tales of sword and sorcery action, romance, and dark adventure written by some of the most respected, bestselling fantasy writers working today—from  Joe Abercrombie to Gene Wolfe. An all-new Elric novella from the legendary Michael Moorcock and a new visit to Majipoor courtesy of the inimitable Robert Silverberg are just two of the treasures offered in Swords & Dark Magic—a fantasy lover’s dream.

Being a short fiction hound I just keep spotting really great anthologies I want. I spotted this one doing the rounds on various blogs and it looks like it could be next on my shopping list since I waited all of a few hours to buy my last want. :)

I don't read much modern sword & sorcery, I've read a lot of the old pulps, and some newer stuff but I read far more science fiction than I do fantasy so this looks like a nice taster selection. I am currently catching up on Joe Abercrombie so you can see I'm a little behind on the current torrent of fantasy novels.

Listen:// The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection - Neil Gaiman

Published by: Harper Children's Audio

Buy From: Amazon

I've been thoroughly enjoying reading Gaiman's "Crazy Hair" to my daughter Sophie so I picked up this audio collection containing four of his children's stories plus a short interview with his daughter asking the questions.

I've read all but one of these stories before and whilst I miss the art that goes with them, Gaiman is an excellent narrator and the stories stand by themselves as modern fairytales that make me wish I grew up with them. Funny, strange, even slightly dark in places; I grew up with Roald Dahl and his wonderfully twisted yet funny short stories, Gaiman is one of the few modern authors that manages to strike that same balance.

I just listened to this whilst watering the garden with a big grin on my face and I'm looking forward to sharing them with Sophie. I'm not sure she is ready for the Wolves In the Walls but I think she might just fancy swapping me for two goldfish.

Read:// A Science Fiction Omnibus Edited by Brian Aldiss [And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side - James Tiptree Jr]

Published by: Penguin Classics

Buy From: Amazon

 "And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side" from the pseudonymous James Tiptree Jr is a cracking little tale on the human race's sexual obsession with 'the alien', or in this case actual aliens and the consequences of that obsession. I don't necessarily buy the premise but there's no doubt it's a story that makes you think.

Read:// A Science Fiction Omnibus Edited by Brian Aldiss [Skirmish - Clifford Simak]

Published by: Penguin Classics

Buy From: Amazon

Next up is 'Skirmish' by Cliffod Simak, early shades of the Matrix in this light-hearted take on man's dependence on machines leading to the now much more common theme of the machine revolution. It feels dated and at 1950 it is but I find credulity straining ideas like 'all types of machines becoming self aware' date it far too much. I know it is of it's time but talk of self aware typewriters and sewing machines makes me think fantasy when it was clearly written as science fiction. Fun if you accept it for what it is.