Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

After I finished reading Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry I was tempted to edit my summer reading post to include this book... Patient Zero is a summer blockbuster type of book for sure.

What does “summer blockbuster type of book” mean to me? Well, first and foremost it must be fun to read. Patient Zero was incredibly fun to read... a zombie/techno/military thriller which was both scary and refreshing in its genre blurring approach. Secondly, your summer blockbuster needs to move at a quick pace and be compelling. Patient Zero does the job here as well... it kept me turning pages as fast as I could well past the point I planned to put the book down for the night - if you are a relatively quick reader, this is a book you can blow through in an afternoon spent at the beach, on the back porch, or whatever summer reading spot you enjoy best... and better than that, it is not empty calorie kind of read where you wonder where your time went when you have finished - it is a book that will stick with you after you done, leaving you satisfied.

Patient Zero is the story of Joe Ledger and how he becomes part of a secret government organization, the fictional Department of Military Science, fighting terror(ism) in the form of some scary zombies. The book has a nice mix of science, modern technology, crime fighting, international terrorists, action, suspense, a bit of humor, and zombies... and this mix actually works extremely well. The front cover advertises this book as “A Joe Ledger Novel” so I am hoping we will see more of Joe in future books - Joe Ledger is a badass character who deserves some more adventures in print.

When I was preparing to write this review, I was trying to come up with some clever comparison - you know, a “Stephen King meets Tom Clancy” or “Bentley Little meets Michael Crichton” kind of thing - but nothing really worked for me, although “Night of the Living Dead meets 24” comes kind of close. Putting all these comparisons aside and what it comes down to is that Patient Zero is a good fun read. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys zombie books or techno-thrillers and is looking for fresh take on these genres in the form of combining them together.

The Best Place on the Internet for Book News (links galore)

It feels only natural for me to follow-up my previous post with this one. The simple fact is that I know of no “best” place to go for book news. Depending on what you are looking for, it could be almost anywhere, so I figure I’d share a few of my favorite places to go trolling around for book stuff at...

Traditional News Sources:

The New York Times - the gold standard in book reviews? I don’t know if I can really say, but they do pay attention to the many aspects of the publishing industry.

Publisher Weekly - duh, it is their job to cover book news! I really want to subscribe to the actual print magazine - I just find it hard to rationalize the large cost of a weekly rag (that’s a lot of books I could buy with that money)... at some point I will most likely get to where I drop the money - just not this month. Anyone feel like sending me a gift subscription?

The Washington Post - worth a gander from time to time.

Los Angeles Times - they say the newspaper industry is dying, but yet I still visit their websites?

USA Today - lots of fluff, but also some fun too.

Entertainment Weekly - not really the “best” in any sense of the word (still better than CNN though), but worth a visit to check out Stephen King’s column every so often.

Everything Else (blogs, author sites, publishers, news, crazy sites, and more):

Tor.com - a truly great site with all kinds of stuff going on. I visit often and spend much time reading reviews and news here. The official publishing website for Tor can be found here.

Omnivoracious - an amzon.com creation - this one is pretty new to me, but China Mieville was recently guest blogger so now I’ve started checking it out.

Ecstatic Days - Jeff Vandermeer, enough said.

The SF Site - good stuff.

Philip K. Dick Fans - yep, I’m a fan.

Locus Online - a great magazine’s website

Kirkus Reviews - sometimes it feels you see their blurbs on every other book you pick up.

George R.R. Martin - I am a fan the man, his work, and his blog.

Hunter S. Thompson Books - if you are a HST fan, you MUST spend some quality time at this site.

Fantasy Book News & Reviews - a really nice blog with lots of fantasy book news items.

Fantasy Debut - I really like the focus on debut works here. Have found some great books by reading regularly.

SFF World - another nice site for those of us you enjoy Speculative Fiction.

Weird Fiction News - just what it sounds like.

To end, a nice little link dump for you to check out at your leisure (don’t forget to check out my blog roll on the right too). The who owns what of publishing houses is never simple, so I am just throwing out a few, mostly bigger ones, which are worth exploring - S&S, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Penguin, Orbit Books, Del Rey, and Pyr. Here are some social networking type book places - LibraryThing (my favorite place on the internet... it is where my books are cataloged after all), Goodreads, Shelfari, book network, and Wonderlands. Finally (for real this time), here are a bunch of random bookmarks from an incredibly unorganized folder I keep - Futurismic, Book Sale Finder, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama, C.J. Box, Marshall Karp, Neil Gaiman, Carl Hiaasen, Jeff Carlson, Dan Simmons, Heliotrope Magazine, Collected Editions, Books and Chat, Nathan Bransford-Literary Agent, Books on the Nightstand, Interesting Bookstores, A Dribble of Ink, Raging Bibliomania, The Wertzone, Westeros Forum, Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, Bookslut, Graeme's Fantasy Book Review, Bookninja, The Internet Speculative Fiction Database, bookgasm, Padfoot and Prongs, and, because I really do have to stop somewhere, Confessions of a Book Whore.

The Worst Place on the Internet for Book News

No, I am not talking about this blog! As a reader who has inevitably made their way to this blog, I am going to assume you have a rather good sense of where to find book news on this interweb thingy, but in case you do not, I am here to tell you where NOT to go for book news... I often check out various sites to find new reviews, interviews, and stories from around the book world (granted, much of this done while I am work and trying to limit my digital footprint in preparation of that inevitable meeting with my boss when an online usage report is created for me). I have always thought it good practice to try out various sites (book-centric sites, entertainment sites, media sites, you name it) as you never know when some exclusive interview or story might you may have missed catches your eye. Now, you would think a place like cnn.com, being a news leader of some sorts, would have a writer somewhere who could spend a few minutes a week covering books? No, CNN is being named my worst place on the internet for books news... as of the writing of this (the evening of June 14th), the most recent item on http://topics.cnn.com/topics/book_reviews is 10 days old, and the most recent story on http://topics.cnn.com/topics/books is over two months old! Seriously, not even a story covering the announcement of a forthcoming Dan Brown book or how the economy is hurting book sales (but helping Romance novels). Sure, MSNBC is not much better, and Fox News actually has no book section at all, but for some reason I expect more from cnn... I remember reading a story on Robert Jordan when Winter’s Heart was released and thinking to myself that cnn was really trying to do a good job covering the book world. Well, no longer. Of course, this was a long time ago and, I suppose, their priorities are elsewhere, but I worry that maybe it is partly because people (minus the readers of book blogs) just don’t care about books anymore... or maybe, just maybe, it is because book blogs now exist? No, I am not talking about this blog!

The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick

I picked this book up on a lark of sorts... I had previously seen, and liked, the cover art online, but besides what that shows, I knew very little of what to expect from The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick. I am not typically one to go for nautical fantasy... not that I have anything against the high seas, it just normally does not catch my interest or imagination. Well, thankfully I really did like the cover art on this book (I know, I know, don’t judge a book.. blah blah blah), or I would not have picked it up and experienced such a wonderful read... as an aside - this is amusing to me, as the reviewer in the LA Times calls the cover “forgettable” (which is kind of true, but I still think it looks cool).

The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick opens ominously with a news clipping of a ship lost at sea. It is not just any ship, but the Cathrand, a ship of legends and history (and perhaps magic). The story that follows is a fresh and wondrous tale. There are surprises and intrigue galore in this book. A large cast of characters which populate the Cathrand add a welcome amount of complexity to the story. Set in a world with a lush history, it is a stimulating adventure that any fantasy fan would enjoy. This book creates that sense wonder that fantasy literature often strives for, yet rarely achieves. Robert V. S. Redick does such an awesome job of setting everything up (the setup is actually better than the payoff, but I didn’t mind that one bit) that I am dying to read more of him... as this is the first book in a planned trilogy, I could not be happier that I will get to read more, and will certainly be buying the next two books as they come out - this is one of those stories where I feel I will want to read the whole thing in one breathtaking swoop (meaning I will wait until the trilogy is complete, and then reread this book before the next two). Of course, my enjoyment and wonderment was certainly partially due to the Merchant's Polylex (you got to read the book if you want to know what the Merchant's Polylex is)... as is probably the case with a lot of book lovers, I am a sucker for secret books of knowledge playing key roles in a story - and the 13th Edition of the Merchant's Polylex sure sounds like one cool ass book to have along on a voyage on the Cathrand.

The Red Wolf Conspiracy did a good job of not only entertaining me, but also making me realize that I do like me some ship fiction... as a land-lovin’ kind of guy, I know nothing of boats (are they suppose to be called “ships”?), but I am now on the lookout for some more high seas fantasies and other stories that I think I might enjoy - I just recently picked Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander, but who knows when I will get around to reading it (not that that is fantasy, but I think there are some boats on an ocean in it). Anyway, that’s about it for this one - a fun read, a challenging read in some aspects, an engaging read, an entertaining read, a wondrous read (help, I need better adjectives), and a book I definitely recommend you read. I’d also suggest you poke around the website for the book for more info and some samples.

The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

Being the Ninth Post of my Project Reread...

I couldn’t help myself... after planning on taking a break from my Project Reread for a short while, I found myself back into Robert Jordan’s world much sooner than I was anticipating. When reading a series of books I am often of two minds - either I want to read it straight through one book after another, or I need to read other books in between - there normally is no rhyme or reason to how I approach a series (although, I suppose, the depth and complexity of a series plays a large role). With rereading The Wheel of Time I feel I know the story and characters well enough to be able to take long breaks between books (I have similar feelings about A Song of Ice and Fire), yet still I felt the urge to return sooner than I was expecting. Nonetheless, on to my thoughts...

The Shadow Rising is the longest book of the series (by a few words, I think) and makes excellent use of the increased length (not that any of these books are short). Through The Dragon Reborn Robert Jordan seemed to be keeping with the same well executed quest formula. In The Shadow Rising the formula is much the same, although elements of the narrative become more complex as the story continues to grow. Adding to the complexity, along with other story points (which really are many), we dive into the politics of Tar Valon, the legends of the Aiel, the dangers of a city in turmoil, and the fight to save a small village from evil. This book has all the wonderment of the previous three, as well as new story layers. The characters have matured some but are still growing in many ways (and one or two are still slightly annoying).

This book moves the story forward even while expanding it. I am aware that for some fans this book is the high point of the series... I do not think that is the case with me, but can understand it. The first four books are such great escapist fantasy literature that at some point fans must be let down if the next book in a series doesn’t live up to expectations - and throughout the remainder of the series some fans do seem to get let down a lot. This, I am guessing, is in some small part due to the fact that The Shadow Rising does expand the story, opening it up beyond what the first three books seem to foretell (at least on the surface, because even back in the first book, upon rereading, I recall some nice hints to what would occur a few books down the line). I, for one, don’t really remember ever being let down or disappointed while I was reading the books originally - although, we shall see how I feel this time around as I progress further into the series.

I want to mention briefly a specific story point -possible SPOILER WARNING- here I am talking about Rand’s journey through the rings in Rhuidean... I really enjoyed Robert Jordan’s ability to provide just enough information to answer some questions, Rand going in back in time as he moves forward through the rings learning the history of the Aiel, all while creating as many mysteries as it answers. This somehow made me think of it almost as an episode of Lost - somehow that show has the ability, whenever they answer a big question, to leave you with new questions and keep you hooked. Robert Jordan does this well. We learn aspects of the story we were very interested in discovering (or at least I was) and are left with the new questions that keep us reading in hope of learning just a little more. As the series progresses, more answers come, but Robert Jordan never gives away the complete what, how, who, and why of it all, leaving me as hooked as a teenage girl (or middle age woman) is on Twilight.

Was it worth a reread? Abso-freakin-lutely! I loved this book the first time I read it, and I loved it all over again with this reread. I really do enjoy me a big fat book that I can get lost in, and The Shadow Rising is just that - there is something very pleasurable about being 300 pages into a book, saying to yourself “man, this is good stuff”, and still having another 600 and some pages in front of you that you know you will enjoy.
. . .
Collector’s note - The Shadow Rising is somewhat collectible, although it also marks the point where books of the series begin a drastic decrease in value as The Wheel of Time started hitting best seller lists... there are just too many copies of all the following books to be considered collectible unless they are part of a signed first edition collection or something like that. I think starting with The Fires of Heaven I will begin a discussion of the signed and numbered limited editions that are out there - this may end up being tricky for me as it will undoubtedly lead into my thoughts on artificial and manufactured scarcity in the book collecting world, and those thoughts will certainly outgrow the small space I leave as a “collector’s note” when writing some of my reviews.
. . .
Up next on my Project Reread - gee, to be honest, I am not sure... I will probably continue on with The Wheel of Time for now, but George R. R. Martin seems to be calling my name, and I really must get through those to be prepared for whenever the next book hits the shelves - with the final WOT book reportedly being broken out into three books, I no longer have the urge to get through them by the fall (even though I will probably do so).