Archives
Terra Insegura makes a top-10 books of 2009 list…
...from blogger and reviewer Shaun M. Duke at The World in the Satin Bag. He puts Terra Insegura at No. 6, just ahead of (ahem) Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Here's his entire list, and here's what he had to say about Terra Insegura: 6. Terra Insegura by Edward Willett One of the few science fiction novels I reviewed and loved this year, Willett's sequel to Marseguro is exactly what science fiction needs: action, awesome ideas, and good characterization. No more good vs. bad plots. There's so much grey in Willett's book that it makes you really think about everything, from what occurred in the previous novel to what ...A nice review of Marseguro…
...showed up today on the blog arch thinking. While she had some criticisms, it's generally a good one. Some highlights: ...Willett really shines at world-building. He brought Marseguro (the planet) to life for me and I enjoyed getting to know Earth of the Body Purified (which reminded me of Heinlein’s religious dictatorship of “If This Goes On –“ and Revolt in 2100), however briefly the action takes place there. ...Willett is a strong writer with a great concept and good story. Anyone who wants to read a novel that talks about tough ethical questions and has characters whose lives are in shades of grey will enjoy Marseguro. I look forward to the promised review of Terra Insegura.A mini-review of Marseguro…
...has shown up at the blog Strategist's Personal Library. Here's the most important bit: All of the characters here have well thought out motivations and there's excellent characterization. I liked that even the protagonists are flawed in some way. This isn't black vs. white there are shades of gray. Lots of ethical decisions to be made by individuals. Recommended. Nice!Book review: Defining Diana by Hayden Trenholm
Defining Diana by Ottawa author Hayden Trenholm, published by Bundoran Press, is a near-future police procedural, a combination of mystery and science fiction that I personally find irresistible if it's done well--and Defining Diana is definitely done well. I'll let the back cover copy handle the set-up: Found naked and alone in a locked room, the beautiful woman was in perfect health--except she was dead... It's 2043 and much has changed: nuclear war, biotechnology and all-powerful corporations have transformed the world... Now science is taking DNA manipulation to new, unrestricted levels. Superintendent Frank Steele is an old-fashioned cop. He commands a small, elite police unit that is handed all the biazarre and ...Good review of Terra Insegura at SF Scope
There's a very nice review of Terra Insegura by Ian Randal Strock at SF Scope. It begins: A little bleaker, a little less "gosh-wow" sensawunda (due to familiarity), a lot closer to home, Terra Insegura is the perfect balance to Marseguro: you've got to read this one if you read the first. It does stand on its own, but why deny yourself the pleasure of the full literary tapestry Edward Willett weaves with these two? And it ends, in part: Willett keeps his characters moving all over the board, but always toward their stated goals (rational or not), which will just happen to intersect in an Earth-shaking conflagration. While I was disappointed each time a story-line chopped off, it brought me ...Book review: Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher
I blame my brother. See, summer before last I was visiting him in Kincardine, Ontario, and discovered that he had several of the early Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher in paperback. I started reading them. But he was missing some. So then I ordered the omnibus editions available through the Science Fiction Book Club. And then I ran out of those...and found myself buying the hardcover versions of new ones as soon as they appeared. Which is just a long-winded way of saying that I reall, really like the Dresden Files books. And the latest, Turn Coat, doesn't disappoint. One of Butcher's strengths is his ability to ...Book review: City of Glass, by Cassandra Clare
City of Glass is the third and concluding book in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments YA fantasy trilogy (the previous two being City of Bones and City of Ashes), and the proof that enjoyed the first two quite a bit (aside from the fact I said as much on this blog) is that I bought it in hardcover as soon as I saw it. There's not much point in summarizing what happens in this one, since the only way anyone is ever going to read it is if they've read the first two and enjoyed them. Suffice it to say that all ...Book review: Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Yeah, I know. Of all the superfluous book reviews in the world, another one of Wicked is probably the superfluousmost. After all, it's a New York Times bestseller, with more than three million copies in print. USA Today called it "an outstanding work of imagination." John Updike called it an "amazing novel." The Los Angeles Times called it "A staggering feat of wordcraft." And I? I call it bunk. Hey, don't get me wrong, I love the musical. (Or at least I love the music; I haven't had the chance to see it on stage.) In fact, it was the musical that brought my wife and I to the ...Book review: Storm from the Shadows by David Weber
I first discovered David Weber's Honor Harrington series rather late, reading the first few installments in ebook form on my hieBook reader when they were made available for downloading at the Baen Free Library. I loved them, and moved on to buy the next few in paperback. Now I am fully addicted and purchase them in hardcover the moment they appear. Which is how I came to read Storm from the Shadows. Once again, I devoured it--but I have to say, if you aren't already a fan of the "Honorverse," you'd probably find the appeal hard to fathom. Weber tends to advance the plot through scene after scene of ...Book review: Thunderer by Felix Gilman
I've fallen a bit behind in posting my mini-reviews of the books I read, but I'm going to do my best to catch up in the next little while, beginning with Felix Gilman's Thunderer . There's a long tradition of fabulous and exotic cities in fantasy fiction, from Gormanghast to Minas Tirith to Ankh-Morpork, but few that are stranger or more fascinating than Ararat, the city to which a man named Arjun comes in search of a missing god, only to find that it's pretty much like tracing a needle in a haystack in place that is plagued with gods, where streets and buildings and whole neighborhoods ...
Edward Willett is a The Shards of Excalibur, Book 1: Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel, coming in October from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
