Updates on books for a change

I'm back in the swing of reviewing work -- I have three big reviews that I'm currently working on, and they will all be coming out in the fall. Lately, I have such a passion for debut novelists -- I want to give these people the critical reception they deserve after launching their (hopefully successful) publishing careers. It is what I will want if I ever get my work scraped together enough to publish, so I feel it is only right to give that to them.

Also, it is pretty exciting to see the new generation of writers -- there could be something amazing in the mix, you never know. My giddy book nerd instincts are all aflame these days.

On a totally unrelated note, about 5 a.m. this morning I woke up and reached for whatever book was in bed with me (I typically sleep with 3-4 books in the bed). I grabbed a copy of an old George RR Martin paperback, the first of his A Song of Ice and Fire series. I started re-reading and realized just how much I enjoyed those 1000+ page books. Say what you will about the nerdiness of that, but Martin is quite good at what he does.

Whereas Tolkien was more of a mythologist -- he brought the language of saga and myth to the fantasy/sci fi novel -- Martin is, in my opinion, a very keen political writer. His work features dozens of characters, reflecting a wide variety of houses and interests, in a epic which is just as much about the politics of a nation as it is about good, old-fashioned sword-and-sandals fantasy. What I love about these books is the way the plot lines swoop in and around each other, getting entangled, becoming further complicated and elaborate. Personally, I think the swords/dragons angle of the book is almost beside the point -- it is the dynastic wrangling that makes these books so addictive. While Tolkien made you feel like you were reading noble, grand prose (a bit like the Bible), Martin makes you feel like you're reading a really good political analysis.

His next one in the line is out in September. I'm dying to get a review copy and write something really giving Martin the credit he deserves, but I think the mainstream review publications are a little wary of him still. Time will tell if his work endures -- but I'm willing to bet he's recognized by mainstream reviewers eventually, much the same way that Stephen King has.