Author Interview: Miles Cameron

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)
Miles Cameron in his natural habitat

Miles Cameron in his natural habitat

For today’s interview, I’m very pleased to welcome Miles Cameron, author of the excellent new fantasy novel The Red Knight (my review).

Far Beyond Reality: Hi Miles, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Since The Red Knight is your first novel writing under this name, can you tell us a bit about yourself? What would you like the world to know about Miles Cameron?

Miles Cameron: Well—I’m from the US, and I’m an upstate New Yorker.  I grew up on a farm and I love the Adirondack Mountains, which are, in every way, the Adnacrags.  For those who don’t know, the Adirondack Park is the largest state park in the US and is over 6 MILLION acres of nature—red in tooth and claw.  And more beautiful than I can describe.  I love to camp there in every season—even in spring, with all the blackflies and mosquitoes.  I’m a veteran amateur swordsman, and I’ve been swinging various swords—European and Asian—since I was eleven.  I served in the United States Navy and I saw enough of conflict in the real world to gain some insight into the fictional, reenacting, and martial arts versions.  I have a wife and a daughter, age nine, who, thank god, have a sense of humour about a fifty-year old husband and father fighting in armour.

Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews | Tagged | 5 Comments

The Red Knight by Miles Cameron

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

TheRedKnightThe eponymous hero of The Red Knight by Miles Cameron is the leader of a mercenary army that’s just returning to Alba after fighting a campaign abroad. His identity and even his real name are a mystery to most: there are hints throughout the novel, and eventually you’ll have a good idea of who he is, but for the most part he simply goes by “Red Knight” or “Captain” and deflects any questions about his origins.

He and his company are now on their way to Lissen Carak, the site of an ancient and heavily fortified convent whose surrounding farms have recently been subjected to attacks by a creature from the Wild. The Abbess, unable to secure protection from the distant King’s court, hires the Red Knight’s company to root out the source of the attacks. Little do either the Abbess or the Red Knight know that this engagement will turn out to be much longer, bloodier, and more important than they originally bargained for—not only to the convent but to the entire realm…

Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Reviews | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Imager’s Battalion by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

ImagersBattalionImager’s Battalion is the sixth novel in L.E. Modesitt Jr.’s Imager Portfolio series, and the third one focusing on the life and times of Quaeryt, after Scholar and Princeps. The initial three novels (Imager, Imager’s Challenge and Imager’s Intrigue) had a different protagonist and were also set hundreds of years after Quaeryt’s time, which is, for this author, a typical shift in chronology.

All this to say that this is a review about the sixth book in an ongoing series. If you haven’t read at least the first two Quaeryt novels (and ideally all five preceding novels), you may want to stop reading this review at the end of this paragraph and instead check out my review of Scholar, because it’s hard not to include plot spoilers for earlier books when you’re reviewing a novel like this one. In summary: for readers who are new to the series: it’s excellent, you should absolutely read it, but stop reading here if you want to avoid spoilers.

Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Giveaways, Reviews | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Lookin’ Good: Speculative Fiction 2012

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

I usually don’t do cover reveals on this blog, but in this case I’ll make an exception because this book is, well, something special. Last year, Justin Landon (of the excellent Staffer’s Book Review) and Jared Shurin (one of the people behind Pornokitsch) decided to compile the best genre-related content originally published on the web and put it all together in an anthology. That project is now approaching its completion, with the finished book expected towards the end of February.

Continue reading →

Posted in News and Other SFF-Related Ramblings | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Happy Birthday, Far Beyond Reality!

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

beyondrealityFar Beyond Reality is one year old today! It’s hard to believe that it’s been a full year since I finally worked up the gumption to set up a central spot for my scattered reviews and other miscellaneous SF&F-related ramblings. In that time, I’ve learned a lot, tried some new ideas, even stuck with one or two of them, and made a bunch of new friends. I posted almost seventy reviews and a bunch of other things including mini-reviews, news roundups, giveaways, and some very successful interviews.

It’s been a good experience so far, and I look forward to keeping the site going for a long time. I’d like to thank everyone who’s followed or subscribed to the site in one way or another, as well as all the others who’ve found FBR through some random web search and occasionally drop by. I value and appreciate all my readers, and welcome all your feedback and comments.

On a personal note, I definitely hoped to post much more content here than I actually have. Unfortunately, my health took a drastic turn for the worse last year. I won’t go into detail about this, but let’s just say I’m far from being out of the woods yet. Because of this, my usual reading/reviewing/writing pace has slowed down considerably. I’ve not been myself, basically, but I hope to get fixed up and back in the swing of things this year. When that happens, I plan to bring back some of the regular, recurring features I started last year, as well as post more reviews, more interviews, and more SF&F coverage. Here’s to a healthier, happier 2013!

Posted in Site announcements | 7 Comments

Lookin’ Good: Unstuck #2

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

unstuck2coveroct102jpeg4526x800Unstuck is an independent, nonprofit annual magazine edited by Matt Williamson. The term “magazine” may be a bit misleading here: with one issue per year, and each issue looking like a gorgeous trade paperback comprised of hundreds of pages of short fiction, it really feels more like a series of anthologies. I know, I know – semantics.

Whatever you call it, it’s worth taking a look, especially if you enjoy short fiction that straddles genre boundaries. When its first issue came out, about a year ago, it described itself as “literary fiction with elements of the fantastic, the futuristic, the surreal, or the strange — a broad category that would include the work of writers as diverse as Borges, Ballard, Calvino, Huxley, Tutuola, Abe and (of course) Vonnegut.”

I reviewed that first issue for Tor.com, and just a few days ago the second issue arrived in my mailbox — all 570 pages of it! I haven’t had a chance to look at anything except the table of contents, but let’s just say that it once again looks like a treat.

Continue reading →

Posted in News and Other SFF-Related Ramblings | Tagged | Leave a comment

Nell Gwynne’s On Land and at Sea by Kage Baker and Kathleen Bartholomew

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

Nell_Gwynnes_On_Land_and_At_SeaIt’s hard to believe that it’s already almost been three years since Kage Baker’s untimely death. She was an immensely talented storyteller and one of my favorite authors of the last few decades. In the short time between her first published story (1997’s “Noble Mold”) and her death in 2010, Kage produced a truly impressive amount of fiction: over a dozen novels across several genres (including the Company series, still my favorite time travel epic in the history of SF) and an amazing number of short stories, novelettes and novellas.

Most of Kage’s wonderful and wonderfully prolific output has by now been published in one form or another, but it turns out that some of her works-in-progress were left unfinished. Kage’s sister Kathleen Bartholomew has completed one of these, and thanks to Subterranean Press it’s now available: Nell Gwynne’s On Land and At Sea.

Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Science Fiction | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Far Beyond Reality’s Best of 2012

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

A few weeks ago, each Tor.com reviewer was asked to put together a list of our three favorite books of the past year. After long hemming and hawing (I get a bit obsessive when I’m put on the spot and forced to make selections like these), I picked these three (okay, four) novels. Oh, and a few honorable mentions. Sticking with just three books is really hard.

Anyway, if you’re looking to spend some of that book gift card money burning holes in your pockets, these aren’t bad places to start! (You can find the original article, including the excellent selections made by my Tor.com colleagues, here.)

Sharps 1. Sharps by K. J. Parker. This is one of those novels that’ll draw you in with its breezy, light tone and sparkling dialogue, making it impossible to put down—until you suddenly realize that the stakes are much higher than initially expected, because much of the action takes place off-screen and most of the characters don’t fully realize what’s really going on. Sharps is a flawless piece of storytelling. Here’s my full review.

KillingMoonTheShadowedSun2. The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin. These two connected novels blew me away with their complex, morally ambiguous characters, their truly unique world-building and (for want of a better word) magic system, and their complex, sweeping plots. This is some of the deepest, most innovative fantasy I’ve read in years. My full review of the two novels can be found here and here.

23123. 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. Robinson returns to large-scale SF with 2312, an ambitious and challenging novel that combines the story of a relationship between two unlikely friends with a Solar System-spanning future history of mankind. Meticulously constructed and gorgeously written, this was easily the best SF novel of the year for me. My full review is here. I also had the chance to conduct a fascinating interview with the author.

Honorable mentions: this list almost consisted entirely of short story collections. I ended up going with the novels, mainly because I couldn’t pick which collection to put on the podium, but if short stories are your thing, make sure to check out one or all of these stunning new collections: Cat Rambo’s Near + Far, Elizabeth Hand’s Errantry: Strange Stories, Kij Johnson’s At the Mouth of the River of Bees, and Karin Tidbeck’s Jagannath. You can find my reviews of these collections, and a few others I reviewed this year, here.

Near-coverErrantryAttheMouthoftheRiverofBees-coverJagannath

Posted in News and Other SFF-Related Ramblings | 2 Comments

Amazing Janny Wurts Kindle deals!

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

CurseoftheMistwraithRegular readers of this site may know that I’m a huge Janny Wurts fan, and that I consider her Wars of Light and Shadow series one of the most criminally under-appreciated fantasy series around. So, here’s the deal.  I don’t plan to make it a habit to post about every single Amazon deal here. There’s enough sites for that already. However, in this case, I do want to point out that you can currently pick up the Kindle version of the first book in this brilliant series for less than a dollar, the second book for $1.99, and the third one for $3.79. I don’t know how long these deals will last, but if you’re at all interested in intelligent, thought-provoking, emotionally challenging fantasy, and if you haven’t read this series yet, you really should take advantage of this offer right now.

The Curse of the Mistwraith – $0.99

The Ships of Merior – $1.99

Warhost of Vastmark – $3.79

My review of the first book can be found here, and my reviews of the other two (and most of the rest of the series) can be found on the author’s page over at the excellent Fantasy Literature site I used to review for before I launched Far Beyond Reality. (You may have to scroll down because other reviewers there covered these books too – but you’ll notice the praise is near-unanimous, for good reason.)

Posted in Sales | Tagged | 2 Comments

Giveaway winner: A Red Sun Also Rises by Mark Hodder

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Stefan (Far Beyond Reality)

ARedSunAlsoRisesThe winner of last week’s giveaway is…

Steven W. of Alexandria, VA!

Congratulations, Steven – your copy of A Red Sun Also Rises by Mark Hodder is on its way, courtesy of the kind folks at Pyr.

Keep an eye out for future  giveaways (and of course the usual reviews, interviews and other SF&F-related ramblings) here at Far Beyond Reality!

Posted in Giveaways | Tagged , | Leave a comment