Here is some information on three more new audio editions, published this past week by Audible.
First up, we have two more stand-alone novels by Justina Robson. As with SILVER SCREEN and NATURAL HISTORY, released earlier this month, these early novels further show Robson’s skill at crafting engaging, ahead-of-their-time literary science fiction novels.
- LIVING NEXT DOOR TO THE GOD OF LOVE (Spectra) – Simon Brooks
- MAPPA MUNDI (Pyr) – Ruth Urquhart
Both of these novels were critically-acclaimed when they were released, and continue to receive good praise. Publishers Weekly gave MAPPA MUNDI a starred review, stating that it ‘maintains throat-tightening suspense from its teasingly enigmatic introduction of its major characters to its painful conclusion that evil will succeed if well-meaning people try to achieve good at any cost… this near-future SF thriller presents convincing characters caught in profound moral dilemmas brought home through exquisite attention to plot details and setting.’ The novel was also shortlisted for the 2001 Arthur C. Clarke Award. LIVING NEXT DOOR TO THE GOD OF LOVE garnered praise from both Publishers Weekly and the New York Times. The former suggested that, ‘If William Gibson and Norman Spinrad had dropped acid together, this fourth SF novel by British author Robson is the book they might have written.’ The NYT described the novel as one of ‘exquisite precision and thoughtfulness‘, and ‘nothing short of a modern-day fairy tale, except she doesn’t need to hide behind predatory wolves and little girls in blood-red garments to convey what’s truly at stake. Her story could not be told without technology, but it is not a story about technology. It is a story about people, whose behavior cannot be so easily predicted, whose defects cannot be so easily repaired and whose functions and purposes in the universe have yet to be determined.‘
Next, the second volume in Michael Cobley‘s Shadowkings series, SHADOWGOD is also now available. There will be some more news on this series next week, but suffice it to say, Cobley’s debut fantasy trilogy was an early pioneer of modern ‘grimdark’ fantasy. Here are the details…
- SHADOWGOD – Shadowkings #2 (Earthlight) – Philip Rose
Jon Courtenay-Grimwood, writing for the Guardian, reviewed SHADOWGOD thus: ‘SHADOWKINGS, was brutal, cruel and realistic in a way genre usually avoids. SHADOWGOD, his second, is not only lighter, it is better written and makes good use of the world Cobley has created… writing to rival David Gemmell.’