Great Reviews for Fantastic New HRB Releases!
Just returned from the 2011 World Fantasy Convention, where I enjoyed hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones. Great panels, excellent venue, intriguing panels, fantastic food in the con suite, outstanding weather, and great company. I even managed to say something intelligent about pirates in SFF during my brief stint on the pirate panel. What could be better?
Well, how about coming home to discover not one, but two excellent reviews of Hadley Rille authors in Publisher's Weekly! My soon-to-be siblings in publishing are representing well this month!
I'm probably most excited that Eric Griffith's Beta Test was well-received. Not just because Eric and I have been very good friends since Viable Paradise XI, but also because this novel is one hell of a crazy-fun ride! Here's what PW had to say:
 Griffith offers up an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale. Thousands of people around the world abruptly disappear, including Sam Terra’s mother and the woman he thought he could love. Sam seeks answers, accompanied by his obnoxious friend Melvin and his childhood pal Paulie, and gradually uncovers secrets that in other hands could have led to a deep philosophical exploration of humanity’s place in the universe. Instead, Sam’s adventures border on the absurd as he travels from New York to California to Australia while the world at large inexplicably ignores the insanity thrust upon it. The humor can’t quite hide the lack of finesse in the writing, but with the focus on escapism, Griffith’s stylistic awkwardness isn’t as big a stumbling block as it otherwise might have been. (Dec.)
I call bullshit on the stylistic awkwardness remark; this book is a smoothly-written page-turner chock full of pop culture references and geeky in-jokes. Pure escapist fun from an author with a lot more where that came from!
I'm also pretty excited about this review of Cate Gardner's Theatre of Curious Acts:
 Gardner (Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits), a rising purveyor of high literary strangeness, offers a fresh slice of phantasmagoria densely packed with striking images. A handful of survivors of WWI meet to take in a mysterious performance that lures them into a battle for the fate of the world. Daniel Cole and his brothers in arms may be the chosen ones, but they’re hardly heroes, and their journey through a world of cross-time trains and four wickedly reimagined apocalyptic horsemen is far removed from the usual epic travelogue. Instead, the men get picked off, separated, and befuddled by their potent, cryptic female guides. Only in the powerful conclusion are Cole and his fellows reunited, when their much-abused humanity just might be enough to halt the apocalypse. Gardner skillfully combines a tight narrative with lush prose to create a difficult but rewarding tale. (Dec.)
First off, this cover is gorgeous, and the premise intriguing. I haven't read this book yet, but it launched to the top of my to-read pile after I arm-wrestled the arc away from Terri-Lynne DeFino at WFC. (Okay, we bargained-- she got Beta Test, I got Theatre. But I think I have to share.) Either way, it looks like a unique little treat for readers in the mood for something a little outside the norm.
Overall, a bit of a coup for Hadley Rille, and a harbinger of excellent things to come!
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