Review: Serpents of Arakesh by V.M. Jones

Serpents of Arakesh by V. M. Jones

Appearances can be deceptive.  The four people around the table look like a businesswoman (Veronica Sherwood); a tramp (Quentin Quested); a bodybuilder (Shaw; and a bank manager (Withers).  You would neverguess that Quentin is actually one of the wealthiest men in the world, the world’s most wizardly computer genius and the man behind the best-selling Quest computer games. 

The most recent game—Quest for the Golden Goblet—is being marketed with a special promotion sweepstakes.  People who register the game get to enter a contest to win a complete computer system, a complete set of the Quest games and … a two-day gaming workshop with Q himself. Faster than you can say “golden ticket,” thousands of entries pour in, and salfes have jumped two hundred percent.

Q has a very personal agenda behind the contest, though. He wants to find five children who can enter the magical world of his creation and find a healing potion that will save the life of his daughter Hannah.

It’s clear the author has seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory  a few times, but that’s okay.  Jones has taken the basic “golden ticket” premise and given it an interesting Harry Potte-ish gloss.  (Like Harry, protagonist Adam is an orphan who has to deal with bullies.) 

Shakespeare Noir

I knew there had to be a website called Shakespeare Noir and there is. (Here.) I wasn't sure what I would find there--reimaginings of plays as short, hard-boiled stories? Deconstruction of the drama from a noir-ish lens?
It turns out to be a site celebrating all sorts of manipulations of words, including poetry. Here's ow it's described on the home page:

Spoken Word,

Lyrical expression.

Verbal manipulation

Of thoughts and words

Which create thoughts and images

Which takes you to another world

Which it creates, but doesn’t really exist

Except within the poets mind

Thus leaving you blind

To the truth of it all.

Definitely worth checking out if you're a word-lover.

The Biggest Buffet Ever?

Courtesy of Caesar's Palace

When I was a kid I loved buffets. I thought it was great being able to pick and choose what I put on my plate. (My parents were children of the Depression and there was no such thing as accommodating a picky eater in my house. You ate what was in front of you and you liked it that way even if it had mayonnaise on it or olives in it.)
Nowadays, though, buffets seem more like a temptation to overeat. There are so many yummy treats on offer that you can't possibly put them all on one plate. So you must (!) go back for seconds. And thirds are not unheard of.
So now Caesar's Palace has come up with a new buffet extravaganza they call "Bacchanal," featuring 524 different menu items including Red Velvet pancakes with sweet cream cheese topping, and made to order chocolate and vanilla souffles. Read more about this over-the-top feast here. 

Mark Satchwill has outdone himself

Illustration by Mark Satchwill

The new NoHo Noir story is up and I only hope I've done justice to Mark Satchwill's illustration. I think it's a stunning commentary.
He's in the middle of redoing his art site, but you can see more of his work here.  He's also participating in a "photo a day" and posting them on Facebook.
Here's a link to the story, "Perceived Value."

Review: Railsea by China Mieville

Railsea by China Mieville is a coming-of-age tale that takes its inspiration from Moby Dick and Treasure island and a whole universe of elements that he’s mixed into a wildly imaginative story of a young man who has grown up in a world bounded by railroads who discovers there’s something beyond and goes looking for it to claim his destiny.

The hero of the book, a young man called Sham (Shamus Yes Ap Soorap) has gone “to rail’ to hunt the moldywarpes, beasts who inhabit the railsea and used for their fat and meat and fur. Apprenticed to the train’s doctor, Sham is eager to hear the stories the railsailors tell and fascinated by the train’s captain Abacat Naphi, a one-armed woman who lost her limb to a wily white moldywarpe and has been searching for it ever since.

He is less enthusiastic about the rough games the sailors entertain themselves with—games like beetle races and death matches with birds and beasts. One day Sham snaps, stealing a little day bat from the “arena” so it won’t end up killed. This action marks him out to the other crew members. The captain marks him out for reasons of her own, and he’s soon embroiled in feeding her obsession with developing one of his own.

As a proponent of “New Weird,” Mieville has always blended myth and pop culture and literature in his works (most gracefully in Kraken) and in this novel, readers will recognize Moby Dick, Dune (the modlywarpes explode out of the dirt like the “worms” that make spice), a bit of Treasure Island and also Tales of the Arabian Nights.

Secrets of Underground Paris

Secret Life of Paris?  I'm there.
Great CNN article on what they call "Paris' Empire of the Dead." See the article and pictures here.

Kickstarter and me...

Map illustration by Mark Satchwill

Does it seem like everybody and her brother suddenly has a Kickstarter campaign?  I know several people who have wildly successful ones and a couple who have had no luck at all.  I'm about to embark on one myself, to fund the publication of Starcaster, my entry in a "shared world" series of novels. I'm working with four novelists, Joseph Lewis, MeiLin Miranda, Charlotte English, and Coral Moore, and the name of the series is "The Drifting Isle Chronicles."  My story takes place on a floating island called "Risenton." Mark Satchwill provided an old-timey map for me.
I want to raise some money to pay "production costs" and I'm now putting together the whole plan. Anyone out there who's done a Kickstarter campaign?  I'd welcome any and all suggestions.