The Founders of Steampunk

Hello Friends,

I attended a fascinating panel at the 2011 World Fantasy Convention held in San Diego, California: “The Founders of Steampunk.”

This was a very historic event, and fortunately, Moses Siregar, author extraordinaire, filmed it with the consent of the panelists. (linked at the end of this post)

This panel featured :

K.W. Jeter, James Blaylock, and Tim Powers.

John Berlyne served as the moderator. He's not a founder of steampunk, but is an expert on Tim Powers and wrote a book about Tim's works. He's also worked as a literary agent.

Here are a few notes I made during the panel and tidbits I wanted to share with all of you.

K.W. Jeter coined the term “steampunk” and he did so in 1987 in a letter to Locus Magazine.

Jeter, Blaylock and Powers were all students at Cal State Fullerton in 1969. They discovered Henry Mayhew’s book about London called, “London Labor London Poor,” which is a treasure trove of information on the Victorian era and the best research book on London ever. (Print copies are available for purchase online http://www.amazon.com/London-Labour-Wordsworth-Classics-Literature/dp/1840226196/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1320915385&sr=8-1 or you can find it as a free download—I’m not sure where, sorry).

Jeter, Blaylock, and Powers would each call dibs on specific parts of “London Labor London Poor” for their stories. The book has all the linguistic idioms of the times. There’s also a “London Underworld” book by Mayhew they mentioned as well, and it’s available as well. http://www.amazon.com/London-Underworld-Victorian-Period-First-Person/dp/0486440060/ref=pd_sim_b_1

My favorite quotes from the panel:

“We weren’t hampered by knowledge” (about science). “Any revision of history that we do is accidental, as we don’t know anything about the real history.” Tim Powers

“Imaginary science is better and more fun than real science.” K.W. Jeter

“Anubis Gates is a complete fake as far as steampunk.” Tim Powers (author of Anubis Gates)

“Homunculus (by James Blaylock 1986) and Infernal Devices (by K.W. Jeter 1987) are perfect steampunk.” Tim Powers *Side note, the sequel to Infernal Devices is coming out from Tor Books in 2013.

View the video of the panel here:
http://sciencefictionfantasybooks.net/tag/founders-of-steampunk/


Enjoy!

Paul Genesse
Editor of The Crimson Pact anthology series
www.thecrimsonpact.com

Spellbound Book II of the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia

Hi Friends,

Here's a review of Spellbound, a "grim" noir superhero novel set in an alternate history 1920's Earth. I love the first one and they put a blurb from me on the back of the book.

http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/11/spellbound.html

Paul Genesse
Editor of The Crimson Pact anthology series
www.thecrimsonpact.com

Review of Monster Hunter Alpha by Larry Correia

Review of Monster Hunter Alpha by Larry Correia


Werewolves are awesome, and the coolest werewolf character I’ve ever read about is Earl Shackleford. He goes by Earl “Harbinger” now, and he’s in charge of the monster hunting company, Monster Hunter International (MHI) in New York Times bestselling author Larry Correia’s uber cool urban fantasy world that mirrors our own.

I’m so glad Correia gave Earl his own book, Monster Hunter Alpha, as Earl was an important and mysterious, but secondary character in Monster Hunter International and Monster Hunter Vendetta—both excellent novels. In this third installment of the New York Times bestselling Monster Hunter franchise we get to learn more about Earl’s background, partly through fascinating journal entries, and we get to see how bad ass werewolves really are.

Earl’s tough, and since he’s nigh immortal, he’s been around since before World War I, he has a lot of experience to draw upon—though he’s only in control of his curse and the moon madness for part of the month. His life is exciting, deadly, and never boring when he decides to take a vacation. That’s what he tells the gang at MHI. In truth, he’s found out that his arch nemesis has surfaced, a Russian werewolf named Nikolai who Earl last battled in the jungles of Viet Nam. Armed with little information—and a truck full of guns and silver bullets—our monster hunting hero (who keep in mind is also a monster) is drawn to a middle of nowhere town in the frozen wilds of Michigan’s upper peninsula during a harsh blizzard.

A whole town of innocent people is attacked when an ancient artifact, buried in a mine near the town for decades, is finally located by a very devious villain—whose identity is secret for most of the book. Monster Hunter Alpha starts fast, and the story evolves a little more slowly after that, but like almost all great horror novels, the set-up pays huge dividends later.

Earl is assisted not by his crew from MHI, (Owen Pitt and the gang will have other books, don’t worry) but by the town’s deputy sheriff, Heather Kerkonen, a red head with a lot of fight in her who is related to the Norwegian guy who found the amulet and buried it in the mine long ago. She’s a well drawn character and a perfect compliment to Earl. The two of them form the core of the book and let me tell you, this would make a great movie or TV series. I think the dialogue alone is a screenwriter’s dream and Correia writes very cinematic scenes with everything you’d want in a movie, or a great book.

Monster Hunter Alpha is a top-notch urban fantasy action-horror novel with great thrills, chills, dark humor, and serious carnage. BIG GUNS, cool characters, many werewolf on werewolf battles, horrifying monsters, and a snowplow scene that you will never forget mark this as a killer book. It’s a lot of entertainment for $7.99, and the story builds to a truly amazing climax at the end that made me smile and wish for the next volume, Monster Hunter Legion.

Paul Genesse
Editor of The Crimson Pact Series
www.thecrimsonpact.com

Book Give-Away on Goodreads

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Crimson Pact

by Paul Genesse

Giveaway ends December 01, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Review of Net Impact by Donald J. Bingle

Net Impact by Donald J. Bingle is not your dad’s spy novel. This is a modern spy thriller about a realistic agent working for a shadow company, The Subsidiary, affiliated with several different sovereign nations. The details are crisp and main character is a fully drawn man with an exciting career in espionage, but a terrible life at home, as he rarely sees his wife and son, who are becoming more and more upset with his always gone lifestyle. His marriage is in serious trouble as he is sent on a mission to New Zealand to stop the transfer of unmanned drone plans and goes from there as our he uncovers the truth about a very diabolical plot apropos for our modern internet age.

The most fascinating thing about the novel is the inclusion of the fictional virtual world of Reality 2 Be, think Second Life, where a lot of secret and illegal activity happens—which is not fiction. I had no idea, but in the virtual worlds of the internet money is transferred, criminals conduct clandestine meetings, and rebels and terrorists get together right under the nose of the world governments who have no idea of how to monitor and police the virtual worlds. Sure, we’ve seen spies infiltrate the lairs of the bad guys, but I hadn’t seen one infiltrate a virtual world before, and it was cool to see how the plot brought the virtual and real world together in a very fascinating twist.

The strength of the book is the accurate main character, who is so good at what he does, but not in a sort of silly James Bond way. This is more of a Jason Bourne crossed with that cool uncle of yours who was a lineman in football, then army ranger, and a cop before he became a private consultant. He’s a realistic spy, who uses his keen intellect and pragmatic philosophy to get the job done—and he’s known for causing mass destruction, but he gets the mission accomplished no matter what. Sure, there are a few gunfights, fires, computer hacking moments, and big explosions, but OMG, the ending is pretty amazing and I didn’t see that one coming. I’m pretty certain no spy has ever used what this guy used to accomplish the mission at the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as well as Bingle’s other novels, Forced Conversion and Greensword. His short fiction has always entertained me as well, and I look forward to his next project.

Net Impact is a short, punchy, realistic spy thriller for the modern age, and once you read this, you’ll never look at the internet the same way again.


Paul Genesse, author and editor

Review of Shadow Valley

Shadow Valley by Michael R. Collings

This is a very creepy horror novel by an esteemed and accomplished writer. The prose is smooth and interesting and builds to become quite intense at the end. The main character is Lila Ellis, a young woman who is trying to find out if anyone lives in an old house in a rural valley that is about to be flooded by a new dam project that will create a reservoir.

The book is short and easy to read, but it takes a while to really get going. The pace picks up when Lila gets into the house and discovers a chilling journal that spells out some of the sordid and complex history of the Stevenson family. Lila uncovers the secret past of the place and finds out about the curse that has taken so many people, especially young women who end up living there alone.

Right when Lila enters you know she’s made a huge mistake, but the twists are still quite interesting. The first thing she discovers is seventy boxes of chocolate with only one missing from each box. This was where it really started to get creepy and who knew that the smell of chocolate could be so scary? Collings excels at description and knows how to build an atmosphere of dread.

Overall, this is an interesting story, but some readers will find it a little slow. If you’re a fan of Stephen King, haunted house books, and family curses, this is definitely a book you'll enjoy.

Paul Genesse
Editor of The Crimson Pact

Top 10 Challenged Books of 2010

I found this list and wanted to share it.

Top 10 Challenged Books of 2010
By Pam Gaulin | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Wed, Sep 21, 2011

Danger! Books ahead! Each year during Banned Books Week, the American Library Associationshares its list of the top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2010. Banned Books Week 2011 occurs Sept. 24 to Oct. 1. Few classics make the list, but there are penguins, vampires, a part-time Indian and angst-ridden, sexually-curious teens.

No. 1 "And Tango Makes Three" by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Unlike the other books on the list, "And Tango Makes Three" is a picture book, inspired by the true story (based on an incident at Central Park Zoo in Manhattan) of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, successfully incubating an egg. According to the ALA, it has been challenged due to "homosexuality, religious viewpoint" and is considered "unsuited to age group" (preschool to grade 3) "And Tango Makes Three" has remained the number one challenged book since 2006, with the exception of 2009 when Lauren Myracle's "ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r" (series) was the most challenged book.

No. 2 "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
Published in 2007, the book remained relatively under the censorship radar until 2010, debuting at the number two spot of most challenged books. The book is challenged for " offensive language, racism, sex education, sexually explicit, violence , and being unsuited to age group (grades seven through 10).

No. 3 "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
This was the only classic to make the 2010 list. Reasons the book was challenged include: "insensitivity, offensive language, racism and being sexually explicit." Huxley was ranked 36th on the most challenged author list from 2000 to 2009, and No. 54 from 1990 to 1999, according to theALA.

No. 4 "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
Hopkins' book has been compared to another frequently challenged book, "Go Ask Alice." Published in 2004, 2010 is the first year "Crank" makes the top 10 list, thanks to " drugs, offensive language, and being sexually explicit."

No. 5 The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
When the highly anticipated movie premieres in 2012, this dystopian novel may jump a few notches on the challenged list. The book is challenged for violence, sexual explicitness and is considered unsuited to its intended age group (grades seven and up).

No. 6 "Lush" by Natasha Friend
The main character lives in a dysfunctional family with and alcoholic father. Although it was published in 2006, 2010 is the first year the book makes it to the most challenged list. Reasons include:"drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group (grades 7 and up).

No. 7 "What My Mother Doesn't Know" by Sonya Sones
Sones' book has bounced off and on the most challenged list in the last decade, mainly for "sexism, being sexually explicit, unsuited to age group," according to ALA.

No. 8 Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Ehrenreich's book is the only non-fiction book on the list. Reasons for challenges include drugs, offensive language and religious viewpoint. It's also challenged due to its political viewpoint and for being "inaccurate," according to the ALA.

No. 9 "Revolutionary Voices" edited by Amy Sonnie
Rarely does a collection of stories make the top 10 list, but here it is. The book has been challenged for "homosexuality and being sexually explicit."

No. 10 "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Meyer's vampire phenomenon has dropped down in its ranking for 2010, last year there were even "more dangerous" books on the shelves. In 2009 "Twilight" the series ranked at number five. The series is challenged most frequently due to violence and its religious viewpoint.