Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The City & The City by China Miéville

Promo copy:

New York Times bestselling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in an enthralling city that is unlike any other—real or imagined

When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he probes, the evidence begins to point to conspiracies far stranger, and more deadly, than anything he could have imagined. Soon his work puts him and those he cares for in danger.

Borlú must travel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own, across a border like no other. It is a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen, a journey to Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma.

With shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & The City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

Buyout by Alexander Irvine

Promo copy:

From acclaimed author Alexander C. Irvine comes a gritty near-future thriller in the paranoid, prophetic vein of Philip K. Dick and Richard K. Morgan

One hundred years from now, with Americans hooked into an Internet far more expansive and intrusive than today’s, the world has become a seamless market-driven experience. In this culture of capitalism run amok, entrepreneurs and politicians faced with rampant overcrowding in the nation’s penal system turn to a controversial new method of cutting costs: life-term buyouts. In theory, buyouts offer convicted murderers the chance to atone for their crimes by voluntarily allowing themselves to be put to death by the state in exchange for a one-time cash payment, shared among their heirs and victims, based on a percentage of what it would have cost taxpayers to house and feed them for the rest of their natural lives. It’s a win-win situation.

At least that’s what Martin Kindred believes. And Martin is a man who desperately needs something to believe in, especially with his marriage coming apart and the murder of his brother, an L.A. cop brutally gunned down in the line of duty, unsolved.

As the public face of the buyout program, Martin is a lightning rod for verbal and physical abuse–but he embraces every challenge, knowing his motives are pure. But when evidence comes to light that a felon in line for a buyout may have been involved with his brother’s death, Martin’s professional detachment threatens to turn into a personal vendetta that will jeopardize everything–and everyone–he holds dear. Inspired by today’s politics, Buyout is an unforgettable look at an all-too-believable future . . . and one man’s struggle to do the right thing.

The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick

Promo copy:

Scant years after a terrible war that shook empires, a six-hundred-year-old ship sets sail for enemy lands in an attempt to forge an enduring peace between the world’s two greatest monarchies. A vast city afloat, the ancient vessel bears a royal bride-to-be; a stowaway tribe of foothigh warriors; an honest young tarboy with a heritage of treason; a rat with a magical secret; and a dark conspiracy centered around the Red Wolf, a legendary and dangerous artifact.

When the conspiracy is uncovered, the voyage takes a turn into perilous waters, and the sword-wielding young bride and her quick-witted tarboy companion must face deadly assassins, treacherous mermaids, and monstrous slavers to uncover secrets at the highest levels of power—secrets that will send heroes and traitors alike careening towards a mysterious destination that could destroy both empires at a stroke.

A publishing sensation in England, The Red Wolf Conspiracy marks the debut of a remarkably gifted young writer.

On the other end of the phone, a woman with a heavy Asian accent asked me if I was the Rick who wrote Nexus Graphica for Sf Site.

"Um.. yeah. Why?"

"We’d like to promote your book."

"What?"

"In your column you feature several of your books."

"Um.. I wrote about those books. I did not write them."

"The X-men is not your book?"

*chuckle* "No. I WRITE about OTHER books."

"Well, you have a book, right?"

"Yes.. but it came out several years ago. Who are you and what do you want?"

"You were targeted by our website because of your quality writing. We would like to promote your book." She went on to tell me she was from Book Whirl and they successfully promote books, though she didn’t offer names of any clients.

The site itself is slick, though makes the common mistake of too much info on the title page, obscuring their message. And the Barnes & Noble and Amazon links near the bottom give the false impression that they are sponsored by the bookstore giants.

From their ABOUT US:

I was not very impressed. You call an author without really knowing what they do? Obviously, I don’t own the X-men and the tiniest bit of research reveals that I’ve never even written the X-men. And I’m suppose to take you seriously?

Then there’s the pricing. While not terrible, their services are way too fragmented– potentially obscuring the actual costs– and the charts offer little indication of what you get for your money.

The site only lists four clients. Is that all they have? And though they apparently focus only on newer writers, you would think if their pr was so good, I would have heard of at least one of them. I am, by reputation, very tied into the book trade. Something somewhere should have come to my attention about one of their authors.

When I asked the their telemarketer where they were located, she told me Iowa. No indication of that on their site.

Reading the fine print reveals that Book Whirl is owned by Yen Chen Support, an Asian business process outsourcing company. I’m sure Yen Chen is a fine company, but nothing on their site lends me to believe they know the first thing about the book industry on any continent. (Though apparently they use Linux, which does give them Brownie points.)

If you are an author looking for some promotional help, you are better of contacting someone like Deep Eight proprietor Matt Staggs. He may not have the whiz bang of Book Whirl, but he knows the biz and understands the various Internet marketing opportunities. Plus, Matt knows who owns the X-men.

"Rick, can I get your email so we can check in with you in a few months?"

"You can get it from the column."

"Um.. where is that?"

"Sf Site. Scroll down and click on Nexus Graphica. The new column went up yesterday."

"I don’t see it. Please tell me your email."

"Forget it. I’m not interested in your services. Don’t contact me again" *CLICK*

I’m poking my head above ground briefly to share my San Antonio Current review of Charlie Huston’s latest crime thriller The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death.

Time to return to my burrow. More geekiness to come…

After posting some new arrivals, I’ll be going to ground for a week or so as I catch up on several looming deadlines.

Y’all be good. I’ll be back soon with some fresh geekiness goodness.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Sanctified and Chicken-Fried: The Portable Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale

Promo copy:

Master of mojo storytelling, spinner of over-the-top yarns of horror, suspense, humor, mystery, science fiction, and even the Old West, Joe R. Lansdale has attracted a wide and enthusiastic following. His genre-defying work has brought him numerous awards, including the Grand Master of Horror from the World Horror Convention, the Edgar Award, the American Horror Award, seven Bram Stoker awards, the British Fantasy Award, Italy’s Grinzane Prize for Literature, as well as Notable Book of the Year recognition twice from the New York Times. Sanctified and Chicken-Fried is the first "true best of Lansdale" anthology. It brings together a unique mix of well-known short stories and excerpts from his acclaimed novels, along with new and previously unpublished material. In this collection of gothic tales that explore the dark and sometimes darkly humorous side of life and death, you’ll meet traveling preachers with sinister agendas, towns lost to time, teenagers out for a good time who get more than they bargain for, and gangsters and strange goings-on at the end of the world. Out of the blender of Lansdale’s imagination spew tall tales about men and mules, hogs and races, that are, in his words, "the equivalent of Aesop meets Flannery O’Connor on a date with William Faulkner, the events recorded by James M. Cain." Whether you’re a long-time fan of Joe R. Lansdale or just discovering his work, this anthology brings you the best of a writer whom the New York Times Book Review has praised for having "a folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace."

I first blogged about this book back in November ’08 and my thoughts on the matter have not changed one lick.

A Madness of Angels: Or The Resurrection of Matthew Swift by Kate Griffin

Promo copy:

For Matthew Swift, today is not like any other day. It is the day on which he returns to life.

Two years after his untimely death, Matthew Swift finds himself breathing once again, lying in bed in his London home.

Except that it’s no longer his bed, or his home. And the last time this sorcerer was seen alive, an unknown assailant had gouged a hole so deep in his chest that his death was irrefutable…despite his body never being found.

He doesn’t have long to mull over his resurrection though, or the changes that have been wrought upon him. His only concern now is vengeance. Vengeance upon his monstrous killer and vengeance upon the one who brought him back.

About the Author
Kate Griffin is the name under which Carnegie Medal-nominated author Catherine Webb, writes fantasy novels for adults. An acclaimed author of young adult books under her own name, Catherine’s amazing debut, Mirror Dreams, was written when she was only 14 years old, and garnered comparisons with Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman. She read History at the London School of Economics, and is now studying at RADA. A Madness of Angels is her first adult fantasy novel.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The Exterminating Angel

Promo copy:

A group of bourgeois cosmopolitans are invited to a mansion for dinner and inexplicably find themselves unable to leave, in Luis Buñuel’s daring masterpiece The Exterminating Angel. Made just one year after his international sensation Viridiana, this is a furthering of Buñuel’s wicked takedown of the rituals and dependencies of the frivolous upper classes, full of eerie and hilarious absurdity.

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer

The Last Script: Remembering Luis Buñuel, a 2008 documentary featuring Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean Luis Buñuel

New interviews with filmmaker Arturo Ripstein and actress Silvia Pinal

Theatrical trailer

New and improved English subtitle translation

PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Marsha Kinder and a reprinted interview with Buñuel

Simon of the Desert

Promo copy:

Simon of the Desert is Luis Buñuel’s wicked and wild take on the life of devoted ascetic Saint Simeon Stylites, who waited atop a pillar surrounded by a barren landscape for six years, six months, and six days, in order to prove his devotion to God. Yet the devil, in the figure of the beautiful Silvia Pinal, huddles below, trying to tempt him down. A skeptic s vision of human conviction, Buñuel’s short and sweet satire is one of the master filmmaker’s most renowned works of surrealism.

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
[list]New, restored high-definition digital transfer

A Mexican Buñuel (1995), 50-minute documentary by Emilio Maillé

New interview with actress Silvia Pinal

New and improved English subtitle translation

PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Wood and a reprinted interview with Buñuel

Inside Moves

Promo copy

The Academy Award® nominated film (Best Supporting Actress Diane Scarwid, TV’s Pushing Daisies) Inside Moves makes its long-awaited DVD debut this February from Lionsgate. Directed by Richard Donner (Superman), the film was based on the Todd Walton novel of the same name. Praised by the New York Times as "a well-acted movie…parts of it are so effectively offbeat, that it rises above…just as surely as its characters triumph over their troubles,"

Inside Moves follows Roary (John Savage, The Deer Hunter), a young man who has been partially crippled after a failed suicide attempt. Depressed, Roary begins spending a lot of time at a neighborhood bar full of interesting misfits. When Jerry the bartender (David Morse, Emmy® nominee HBO’s John Adams) suddenly finds himself playing basketball for the Golden State Warriors, Roary and the rest of the bar regulars hope his success will provide a lift to their sagging spirits.

The Inside Moves DVD contains special features that include audio commentary with Donner and writer Brian Helgeland, a making-of featurette, interviews with Walton, Donner and screenwriter Barry Levinson and a stills gallery of Donner’s original shooting script.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The End League Volume 1: Ballad Of Big Nothing
Written by Rick Remender Art by Mat Broome and Eric Canete

Promo copy:

A thematic merging of The Lord of the Rings and Watchmen, The End League follows a cast of the last remaining super men and women as they embark on a desperate and perilous journey through a world dominated by evil, in hopes of locating the one remaining artifact that can save humanity – the Hammer of Thor.

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son
Written by Dean Koontz & Kevin J. Anderson Adapted by Chuck Dixon Art by Brett Booth

Promo copy:

In the nineteenth century, Dr. Victor Frankenstein brought his notorious creation to life, but a horrible turn of events forced him to abandon it and slip away from the public eye. Two centuries later, a serial killer is on the loose in New Orleans, gruesomely salvaging body parts from each of his victims, as if trying to assemble a perfect human being.

Detective Carson O’Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner, Michael Maddison, would back her up all the way to Hell itself–and that just may be where their new case leads. For as they investigate the strange killings, O’Connor and Madison find themselves drawn into a weird underworld of deception and secrets where a man named Victor Helios has created an entire race of perfectly engineered people who are meant to take humankind’s place one day. But something is happening to some of Helios’s creations, and it may be that this bizarre serial killer is the least of the detectives’ worries.

From the masterly pen of New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz–and featuring an adaptation by legendary comic book writer Chuck Dixon and gorgeous illustrations by acclaimed artist Brett Booth–Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son is a story filled with fast-paced action, gripping horror, and thrilling adventure.

Eclipso: The Music of the Spheres
Written by Matthew Sturges Art by Steven Jorge Segovia and Chad Hardin

Promo copy:

Since the beginning of time, Eclipso, the evil embodiment of God’s wrath, has attempted to control the universe by possessing beings and feeding off their darkest desires.

In this collection, Eclipso returns, taking possession of the Atom’s murderous ex-wife, Jean Loring, before striking out at the rest of the DC Universe. And when the demented entity sets its sights on former host Dr. Bruce Gordon, Eclipso’s true plans for universal domination are revealed and only the Spectre can take him down!

Pigeons From Hell
Written by Joe R. Lansdale Art by Nathan Fox

Promo copy:

Master horror storyteller Joe R. Lansdale throws his scathing wit and wild, otherworldly creations into the mix as he brings Robert E. Howard’s classic tale of dark revenge to the present . . . and into the unwilling lives of the Blassenville mansion heirs, twin sisters Claire and Janet. When Griswell fled the Blassenville estate those many years ago, he couldn’t have imagined the grotesque horrors that would eclipse the ones he saw then – but they’re here! With more than twenty books to his credit, Joe R. Lansdale is an acclaimed storyteller. He’s been called "an immense talent" by Booklist; "a born storyteller" by Robert Bloch; and The New York Times Book Review declares he has "a folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace." He’s won a ton of awards, including five Bram Stoker horror awards, a British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award, the Horror Critics Award, the "Shot in the Dark" International Crime Writer’s award, the Booklist Editor’s Award, the Critic’s Choice Award, and a New York Times Notable Book award.

Howard! Lansdale! Two great tastes that go great together!

While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I’m taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Click on images for full sized versions.

Beginning sometime in the late 90s, filmmaker Tim Harrison under the thinly veiled nom-de-plume Harrison! began publishing his mini-comic Monkey’s Paw. Issue #2 was a 17" x 11" sheet printed on both sides and folded into fourths. The mini offered, among four other strips, a two page story which while not using names ridicules a well know Austinite who produces a very famous and influential geek site.

"The Comic They Didn’t Want Me to Do!" p. 1

"The Comic They Didn’t Want Me to Do!" p. 2

As was trendy in the 90s, Harrison included an essay blasting the mainstream for disrepecting comics. He also admonishes the comic creators themselves suggesting that "the majority of comics put out in the last one hundred years is CRAP." His solution? Concentrate more on story and less on guys beating each other up.

"Johnny Tourette" from Monkey’s Paw #2

Harrison’s Aw, Shaddup! ran for several years in the Austin American Statesman.

While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I’m taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Click on images for full sized versions.

Titbit 5 (1992) proudly promised "choice morsels for cerebral appetites." This small, slim ‘zine offered poetry and art by Amanda Duckworth, Lance Myers, Mark Portier, Ruben Soriano and others.

Art by Lance Myers

Art by Ruben Soriano

In another example of movie studio ignorance, the much-ballyhooed, long awaited Vikings vs. alien saga Outlander is opening, Jan 23 in select theaters nationwide including three Texas cities: Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio but NOT AUSTIN!!! Of those four, which city do you think a movie like this would do the best in?

It just screams Alamo Drafthouse!