Novedad: Killing is my Business, de Adam Christopher

Ya está a la venta Killing is my Business, de Adam Christopher, una nueva entrega de su serie del detective robótico Ray Electromatic. 

Esta es su sinopsis:

"Robot noir in 60s Los Angeles? You had me at 'Hello.'" —John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author 

Another golden morning in a seedy town, and a new memory tape and assignment for intrepid PI-turned-hitman—and last robot left in working order—Raymond Electromatic. 

But his skills may be rustier than he remembered in Killing Is My Business, the latest in Christopher's robot noir oeuvre, hot on the heels of the acclaimed Made to Kill.

Novedad: Standard Hollywood Depravity, de Adam Christopher

Tor.com ha publicado esta semana Standard Hollywood Depravity, de Adam Christopher, que forma parte de la misma serie que Made to Kill. El libro incluye también la historia corta Brisk Monkey. 

Esta es su sinopsis:

The moment Raymond Electromatic set eyes on her, he knew she was the dame marked in his optics, the woman that his boss had warned him about. 

Honey. 

As the band shook the hair out of their British faces, stomping and strumming, the go-go dancer’s cage swung, and the events of that otherwise average night were set in motion. A shot, under the cover of darkness, a body bleeding out in a corner, and most of Los Angeles’ population of hired guns hulking, sour-faced over un-drunk whiskey sours at the bar. 

But as Ray tries to track down the package he was dispatched to the club to retrieve, his own programming might be working against him, sending him down a long hall and straight into a mobster’s paradise. Is Honey still the goal—or was she merely bait for a bigger catch? 

Just your standard bit of Hollywood depravity, as tracked by the memory tapes of a less-than-standard robot hitman. 

Standard Hollywood Depravity is a Ray Electromatic mystery by Adam Christopher.

Novedad: Made to Kill, de Adam Christopher

Ya está a la venta Made to Kill, la nueva novela de Adam Christopher. Ésta es su sinopsis:

It was just another Tuesday morning when she walked into the office--young, as I suspected they all might be, another dark brunette with some assistance and enough eye black to match up to Cleopatra. And who am I? I'm Ray, the world's last robot, famed and feared in equal measure, which suits me just fine--after all, the last place you'd expect to find Hollywood's best hit man is in the plain light of day. 

Raymond Electromatic is good at his job, as good as he ever was at being a true Private Investigator, the lone employee of the Electromatic Detective Agency--except for Ada, office gal and super-computer, the constant voice in Ray's inner ear. Ray might have taken up a new line of work, but money is money, after all, and he was programmed to make a profit. Besides, with his twenty-four-hour memory-tape limits, he sure can keep a secret. 

When a familiar-looking woman arrives at the agency wanting to hire Ray to find a missing movie star, he's inclined to tell her to take a hike. But she had the cold hard cash, a demand for total anonymity, and tendency to vanish on her own.

Plunged into a glittering world of fame, fortune, and secrecy, Ray uncovers a sinister plot that goes much deeper than the silver screen--and this robot is at the wrong place, at the wrong time. 

Made to Kill is the thrilling new speculative noir from novelist and comic writer Adam Christopher.

Ebooks de Adam Christopher y Justin Gustainis en oferta

Angry Robot continua con sus ofertas navideñas y hoy nos ofrece ebooks de Justin Gustainis y Adam Christopher por 1£ cada uno. Recordad que para aprovechar la oferta es necesario utilizar el código mincepie tras añadir los libros a la cesta y antes de realizar el pago. 

Los títulos en la promoción de hoy son:

• Hang Wire, Adam Christopher
• Hard Spell, Justin Gustainis
• Known Devil, Justin Gustainis
• Evil Dark, Justin Gustainis

Mis votos para el Premio John W. Campbell

Confieso que normalmente tengo muchos problemas para decidir a qué autores votar en el Premio John W. Campbell (que, como sabéis, no es un Hugo pero se vota con los Premios Hugo) ya que me resulta difícil encontrar dos o tres autores noveles, y ya no digamos cinco, cuyo trabajo haya leído y me haya gustado. Sin embargo, este año he tenido justo el problema contrario: hay muchos autores nuevos interesantes entre los que escoger.

Después de pensarlo un tiempo, me he decidido por los siguientes cinco escritores, que presento aquí en orden alfabético:

• Madeline Ashby (primer año en que puede ser elegida): su novela de debut vN was fue una de mis lecturas favoritas de 2012 y puede que incluso la incluya en mis votos de los Hugo. Podéis leer mi reseña de la novela así como mi entrevista con la autora. 
• Adam Christopher (primer año en que puede ser elegido): me gustó mucho Seven Wonders cuando lo leí hace unos meses (debería escribir mi reseña un día de estos) y también he oído muy buenas cosas de Empire State, una novela que tengo muchas ganas de leer.
• Tim Maughan (primer año en que puede ser elegido): uno de los escritores de ficción corta más interesantes de los últimos años. Reseñé Paintwork y la magnífica "Limited Edition" y también entrevisté al autor.
• Jeff Salyards (primer año en que puede ser elegido): su Scourge of the Betrayer fue una agradable sorpresa para mí, ya que no es el tipo de novela que me suele gustar. Espero con ganas Veil of the Deserter, la segunda entrega de la saga.
• Courtney Schafer (segundo año en que puede ser elegida): Su novela The Whiterfire Crossing fue otro notable debut (y también debería escribir sobre ella pronto) y The Tainted City ha recibido incluso mejores críticas.

   

Si sois votantes de los Hugo, os recomiendo que le echéis un vistazo al trabajo de estos autores y consideréis incluirlos en vuestra papeleta para el Premio John W. Campbell. Realmente lo merecen. Y podéis encontrar más autores nominables en la lista de Writertopia e incluso leer algunas de sus obras de forma gratuita en la antología Stupefying Stories.

(You can also read this article in English/También puedes leer este artículo en inglés)

My John W. Campbell Award Ballot

(Disclaimer: English is my second language, so I want to apologize in advance for there may be mistakes in the text below. If you find any, please let me know so that I can correct it. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.)

I confess that I usually have a lot of problems to decide which authors to include in my John W. Campbell Award ballot (as you know, this award is voted together with the Hugos, but it is not a Hugo award) as I find it very difficult to find two or three, let alone five, new authors whose work I've read and liked. However, this year I've had exactly the opposite problem: there are many interesting new authors to choose from.

After some thinking, I've settled on these five writers, presented here in alphabetical order:

• Madeline Ashby (1st year of eligibility): her debut novel vN was one of my favourite reads of 2012 and I may even include it in my Hugo ballot. You can read my review of the novel and my interview with the author.
• Adam Christopher (1st year of eligibility): I really liked Seven Wonders when I read it a few months ago (I should write my review someday) and I've also heard very good things about Empire State, a novel I really looking forward to read.
• Tim Maughan (1st year of eligibility): one of the most interesting short fiction authors of the last few years. I reviewed Paintwork and the excellent "Limited Edition" and I also interviewed the author.
• Jeff Salyards (1st year of eligibility): his Scourge of the Betrayer was a wonderful surprise for me, since this is not the kind of novel I usually like. I'm looking forward to Veil of the Deserter, the second installment of the saga.
• Courtney Schafer (2nd year of eligibility): Her novel The Whiterfire Crossing was another strong debut (and I should also write about it soon) and The Tainted City has received even better reviews.

   

If you are a Hugo voter I strongly recommend you to check these authors' work and to consider including them in your John W. Campbell Award ballot. They really deserve it. And you can find more eligible authors on Writertopia's list and even read some of their fiction for free on the Stupefying Stories anthology.

(You can also read this article in Spanish/También puedes leer este artículo en español)

Up for review (part 2)

As promised, this is the second part of the list of books I've received and I'll be reading and reviewing soon.

The Apex Book of World SF 2 edited by Lavie Tidhar (Apex Publications)

In The Apex Book of World SF 2, editor Lavie Tidhar collects short stories by science fiction and fantasy authors from Africa and Latin America.

An expedition to an alien planet; Lenin rising from the dead; a superhero so secret he does not exist. In The Apex Book of World SF 2, World Fantasy Award nominated editor Lavie Tidhar brings together a unique collection of stories from around the world. Quiet horror from Cuba and Australia; surrealist fantasy from Russia and epic fantasy from Poland; near-future tales from Mexico and Finland, as well as cyberpunk from South Africa. In this anthology one gets a glimpse of the complex and fascinating world of genre fiction—from all over our world.

Featuring work from noted international authors such as Will Elliot, Hannu Rajaniemi, Shweta Narayan, Lauren Beukes, Ekaterina Sedia, Nnedi Okorafor, and Andrzej Sapkowski.

 

 Bowl of Heaven by Gregory Benford and Larry Niven (Tor Books)

In this first collaboration by science fiction masters Larry Niven (Ringworld) and Gregory Benford (Timescape), the limits of wonder are redrawn once again as a human expedition to another star system is jeopardized by an encounter with an astonishingly immense artifact in interstellar space: a bowl-shaped structure half-englobing a star, with a habitable area equivalent to many millions of Earths…and it’s on a direct path heading for the same system as the human ship.

A landing party is sent to investigate the Bowl, but when the explorers are separated—one group captured by the gigantic structure’s alien inhabitants, the other pursued across its strange and dangerous landscape—the mystery of the Bowl’s origins and purpose propel the human voyagers toward discoveries that will transform their understanding of their place in the universe.

 

Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher (Angry Robot Books)

Tony Prosdocimi lives in the bustling Metropolis of San Ventura - a city gripped in fear, a city under siege by the hooded supervillain, The Cowl.

When Tony develops super-powers and acts to take down The Cowl, however, he finds that the local superhero team Seven Wonders aren't as grateful as he assumed they'd be...

File Under: Science Fiction [ Heroes In Action | A Double Cross | Kapow! | Tables Turned ]