The Bodhisattva

*Opens window, covers it with duct tape on both side and stares at it for an hour , assuredly having more fun than people watching Legend of the Seeker*

Ah, back again for the weekly look at the last 7 days of BookSpot Central!

-Exclusives:

- Back with an exclusive this week and this time we have the prologue to the latest/forthcoming work from Hal Duncan, Escape From Hell!, being published by MonkeyBrain Books. Hal is, of course, the author of Vellum and Ink, and a former nominee for such awards as the Word Fantasy Award, the BFS Award for Best Novel, and the Locus and Crawford for Best New Author. Go check that out!

In term of exclusives, I’ve got a lot of sweet stuff lined up to cap of the year and going into thw first quarter of next year - this is what I do!

Big thanks to MonkeyBran Books, Hal Duncan and Chris Roberson for allowing BookSpot Central to feature this sample!

-Interviews:

- Damon interviews Brent Weeks On the Spot, a writer who has him quite weak in the knees. Weeks had his debut The Way of Shadows recently released to blog buzz (which may in fact mean 19 people may have liked it!) but I’ve actually talked to some peeps whose opinion I trust (ummm. .. not Damon - the guy doesn’t like A Storm of Swords, Deadwood, Macross Batman, Red Man and he likes Lil’ Wayne - if that tells you anything) and they seem to be on-board. Remember, Damon also reviewed The Way of Shadows and BookSpot Central has an exclusive excerpt for you to sample!

- I interviewed Tobias Buckell. Buckell is the author of Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin and Sly Mongoose and we chatted Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Science Fiction, U.S. Invasion. This was On the Spot style.

I also had Jetse de Vries on the BookSpot Beat (10 questions, topic specific feature) and our subject was Optimism in Science Fiction. This was related to the recent announcement by Solaris book that he would be editing, Shine, an anthology of stories featuring stories with more optimism in the stories.

Big thanks to Tobias Buckell, Brent Weeks and Jetse de Vries for the time - and a shout out to Matt Staggs!

I’ve got a ton of interviews lined up, half done, in the bag already or that I’m plotting on, both BookSpot Beat and of the On the Spot Variety - BookSpot Central is the spot for interviews! Your favorite writers and Tomio? What dreams may come. . .

-Reviews:

- Damon reviews Futurama: Bender’s Game.

He also reviews Kung Fu Panda where he gets his Ian McShane dose as he still denies the brilliance of Deadwood, one of the top 5 television shows of all time.

Yes, we get DVDs to review!

I have a review on Tropic Thunder coming up!

- Rob gets Malazan on us and reviewed Ian Cameron Esslemont’s Return of the Crimson Guard

Esslemont offers us the kind sprawling, multiple point of view tale, we’ve come to associate with Malazan novels.

Remember I had the Esslemont interview to end all Esslemont interviews earlier this year (until I interview him again! )! I think the guy is a pimp.

Rob stays epic and reviews Daniel Abraham’s A Betrayal in Winter, the second book in his Long Price Quartet!

- Trina has a lovely review of George R.R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings

Martin is deeply inspired by English history in the late medieval period, more specifically the Wars of the Roses where the dynasties of Lancaster and York fought a long-drawn civil war about the throne of England. His historical inspiration was particularly conspicuous in A Game of Thrones, which in many respects reminded me of The Sunne in Splendour, Sharon K. Penman’s excellent historical novel about the Yorkist monarchs Edward IV and Richard III.

- New reviewer! Professor Crazy drops SF on us with Jack McDevitt’s The Devil’s Eye

Each chapter begins with a quote from one of Vicki Greene’s horror books, which I felt was an effective and interesting touch. The book has elements of a mystery novel, but set in the future. I thought the blending of genres was handled well.

Welcome to the fold!

-Articles/Columns:

- Sandra Ruttan is back with the Saturday Sound-off making fun of listmakers and list readers (which make up 33% of Tomio loyalists)

- Mark gets jazzy on us with this week’s Other Side of the Tracks. I have to admit i read all these joitns though I’d never by any of them! He takes a look at Susan Tedeschi and Back To The River.

We are close to debuting a new monthly feature that’s basically the sweetest thing ever, so be on the lookout!

-Contests:

More added this week!

- I have 5 copies of Holly Phillip’s forthcoming The Engine’s Child to be published by Del Rey later this year! If you’ve read In the Palace of Repose you are on this!

- I also have 5 copies of The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks! Look above for links to excerpts, reviews, and interview!

- I have 5 copies of Neal Stephenson’s Anathem!

- I have a signed copy of forthcoming Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card! You have a few hours left to win!

- Fourth week of George R.R. Martin/Dark Sword Miniatures goodness! This week it’s the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister!!

I want to thank Atlantic Books, Del Rey, Tor, and Dark Sword Miniatures for choosing BookSpot Central to host these contests!

Please be sure to visit our contest page to be up to date with all current contests hosted at BookSpot Central. We are adding new prizes constantly!

I also have some new contest features (not books) coming up soon!

-Tomio Stuff:

Just more stuff period. We kind of went through our transition months from FBS to BSC and now we are back guns blazing, and I’m rolling out the the new, heavy stuff from here on out. Look at what we do on the daily, look at our line-up for Heliotrope and be on the lookout for new features coming soon. Real people do real things. We took 40,000 (according to Damon) steps back and now we are back sprinting (the Japanese don’t skip) on the yellow brick road. Thanks to our contributors and thanks to our readers!

I hope you enjoy!

*closes window on week*