Unless you are a big-name author, book reviews tend to become ever rarer the longer a series goes on. So I am extremely grateful that Blade has gotten a couple of solid reviews — and that Edges has gotten a new and very positive write up from long-time reviewer Rich Horton.

Posting at his personal blog, Rich says, “[EDGES] is exciting and stuffed with good old-fashioned Sense of Wonder…There is real tension, real human relationships to deal with, cool technology, and an ending that promises more wonders…It’s a great deal of fun, exciting, scary. And now I’ll have to read the rest [of the series]!” That is a review quote any author would covet! Find the full review here.

Reviews of Blade have so far appeared at SciFi Mind and in Locus magazine (no link yet to the review) — for which I am incredibly grateful. In a crowded field, getting the word out is always a huge challenge…and with that in mind, I want to let you know that I’m also deeply grateful to all of you who’ve enjoyed the books and posted your ratings and reviews, whether at Amazon, Kobo, Goodreads, or your favorite book vendor. I truly appreciate it, and it really does help push a title a little closer to success. Thank you! 🙂

I included this news in my October 22nd newsletter, but forgot, until now, to post it here. If you haven’t yet signed up for my newsletter, you really, really should. It’s fun, it’s once every four weeks (with an occasional special issue), and it’s the best way to stay in touch.
Sign up here.

My 2013 indie novel, The Red: First Light, marked my return to novel-length science fiction after a hiatus of many years. To the surprise of just about everyone, including me, it became a Nebula-award nominee, and was later re-published by Simon & Schuster’s Saga Press, as the first of a trilogy.

Again to my surprise, it’s just been included on a list of “15 recent sci-fi books that forever shaped the genre.” (Recent as in the last 15 years.) The list appears at the gaming and entertainment website, Polygon.

This list is, of course, just one man’s opinion. (Thank you, Andrew!) I can’t help but observe that the Red trilogy is rather obscure compared to nearly every other included title.

Of those other titles, I’ve read ten and tried two more without finishing them. How about you? How many of the books on this list have you read?

Before we leave September behind, I wanted to link to two online reviews of The Last Good Man.

Locus is a trade magazine focused on science fiction and fantasy and has been in print for decades. Issues include publishing news, interviews, and reviews. In the September issue — both print and online — Russell Letson reviews The Last Good Man:

Nagata has devised a thinking-reader’s future-military scenario, a highly qualified adventure in which every thrill comes with a realization of what it costs, what it says about the world that enables it, what it means to fight and kill and face death.

Read the full review here.

And at “Nerds of a Feather” (got to love that name), Joe Sherry has posted a mini-review, saying “Nagata’s near future military sci-fi is as good as it gets.” Read the mini-review here.

The Contest
During 2017 I’ve participated in a few promotions run by Sci-Fi Bridge, an author-created group seeking to mutually expand our reader base. Sci-Fi Bridge is sponsoring one more contest that I want to share with you. Sign up for the Sci-Fi Bridge newsletter (and separate author newsletters if you choose to) during the fall giveaway, and be entered to win collections of signed print books among other things. Details are here.

The first official review (that I’m aware of) of The Last Good Man is out, and it’s a good one!

Publishers Weekly is an industry magazine that reviews massive numbers of books. According to PW, “A starred review indicates a book of outstanding quality.”

Of course any author would be thrilled about that, and I was very pleased to see that The Last Good Man had earned a star.

The reviewer describes it as “…a thrilling novel that lays bare the imminent future of warfare.”

Read the full review here.

This past week I’d been hoping to finally get back to work on the new novel, but we were also having all the windows on our house replaced, and I somehow miscalculated just how much time that project would consume. Yes, we have a contractor doing the work, but we needed to clear everything in front of the windows and remove the blinds, and of course once that was done, I needed to clean all those places that only get cleaned when a room is painted, or re-carpeted, or when the windows get replaced….

Anyway, with luck, I’ll get back to work on the novel this weekend.

In the meantime, two bits of news… I’m on the latest Coode Street Podcast, along with Eleanor Arnason. With hosts Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe, we talk about women in science fiction, as well as our own careers.

And over at io9.com, Annalee Newitz has posted a column called Two Science Fiction Novels You Must Read to Deal with Election Season:

The US presidential debates are eroding our souls, and the partisan mudslinging has only just begun. That’s why it’s time to escape into the world of the future, or alternate history, to see how truly twisted politics can get. Two new novels will take you there.

One of those two novels is Crooked, by Austin Grossman. The other is The Red. Visit io9.com to read Annalee’s review.

My agent sent a brief email this morning to let me know that a review of The Red came out in Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine of the publishing field — and it’s a “starred review” which counts for… well, I was going to say an extra-bonus-thumbs-up, but seriously, it counts for a lot. You can see the review here.

And here’s an interesting write up from Slate on the subject of books reviews: How four magazines you’ve probably never read help determine what books you buy.

Reviewer Stefan Raets offers his opinion of The Red: First Light in a review published yesterday at Tor.com.

“…an amazing novel… The Red: First Light is a dark, intelligent, cynical take on military SF. It’s an excellent novel that deserves a much larger audience.”

Read the full review here.

If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a detailed review of The Dread Hammer, written by Paul Weimer, and just up at SF Signal.

If you’re on twitter, be sure to follow Paul. You can find him here: @PrinceJvstin

I started noticing a definite uptick in the ebook sales of my novel Vast this past week and wondered why. Google Alerts proved useless in tracking down the reason, but my blog stats provided a clue that led me back to Alastair Reynolds’ blog, who has some really kind things to say about the book–and so do his commenters. Check it out here.

You can sample the book at the links below. Vast, in ebook form, will also be available from BookViewCafe.com in July, and the print version will be out later this summer.

Amazon.com USA
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble