One of the best werewolf stories I’ve ever read…
Silver, by Rhiannon Held, is one of the best werewolf stories I’ve ever read. I found it a completely new, and compelling, take on the trope, in part because her werewolves are all born that way, not changed over from normal humans via violence. Instead, the werewolves have their own mythology and culture, within the larger scope of living as a secret ethnicity within the human population.
You can read more about the ideas and worldbuilding and genesis of the story in John Scalzi’s “Big Idea” feature, which is where I first heard of it, and got hooked on the ideas behind it. 
If you enjoy well-written, character-driven fantasy, you’ll likely enjoy this whether or not you’re generally into werewolf stories. It’s that good! (and I just finished my second read-through)
Silver Shark
I love the new world of e-publishing! One of my must-read authors, Ilona Andrews, (actually a husband & wife writing team, publishing under her name) finished writing a new book a couple of weeks ago, and got the copy-edits back a few days ago, and this morning I bought the e-book – no waiting months for the book to actually come out!
(Of course, I still have to wait for her traditionally published books to come out in the usual way, but it’s nice to get her self-pub stuff so quickly, to tide me over.)
Silver Shark is short, novella-length, I think, since I finished reading it this evening, which is another nice thing about e-publishing. You can write a story to whatever length seems right, rather than needing to hit an arbitrary word-count goal and either stretching the story out with fluff or cutting it short. The book itself is a well-written science fiction romance.
Happily, I also wrote a bit tonight, but probably won’t do any more until tomorrow, since we have an invitation to go play Risk tonight. 
Reading and Writing
I didn’t write last night after all, though I did catch up on a bit of email, which was good.
I *did* write tonight, working on the novel rewrite, and had fun with the first action scene. I’m not quite done with it, but I did some retconning that was necessary to set it up, so I’m rather pleased.
I write because I love reading stories, and right now I’m reading one that I’ve been waiting for months for: Circle of Enemies, by Harry Connolly.
It’s AWESOME, and just as thoroughly engrossing as the previous two in this series. (The Twenty Palaces novels)
If you like a real-world setting, magic that is more scary than wonderful, and seriously novel monsters, (very Lovecraftian) then you’re likely to enjoy these books. The first one is Child of Fire, and you can read the first chapter for free.
Now, back to my book.
Book Review – Origin, by J.A. Konrath
So, I just finished reading this e-book, Origin, by J.A. Konrath. (Well, I finished it last night before I went to bed, but close enough.)
It was a fun read, well worth the $0.99 I paid for it, but definitely what I would call a popcorn novel.
The pitch, as written by the author, is:
Thriller writer J.A. Konrath, author of the Lt. Jack Daniels series, digs into the vaults and unearths a technohorror tale from the depths of hell…
1906 – Something is discovered by workers digging the Panama Canal. Something dormant. Sinister. Very much alive.
2009 – Project Samhain. A secret underground government installation begun 103 years ago in New Mexico. The best minds in the world have been recruited to study the most amazing discovery in the history of mankind. But the century of peaceful research is about to end.
BECAUSE IT JUST WOKE UP.
The thing is… even though I enjoyed it a lot, and the narrative effortlessly pulled me back in every time I picked it up after having to take a break for pesky things like work, it didn’t really satisfy. Like popcorn – fun, but not a meal. Things happen, characters survive (or don’t), but no one really changes. None of the characters are different at the end of the book than at the beginning. (Aside from death, of course.)
I don’t know if trying to add more depth would have ruined the fun of it, or pushed it to a higher level, but as it stands, I have to call it a fun read, (as long as you enjoy a little bit of blood and gore) but not a must-read.
Go, read!
Or download, at least
Resonance, by Chris Dolley is one of my favorite novels, and he’s offering it for FREE on his website as an ebook!
From the description there:
“Graham Smith is a 33 year-old office messenger. To the outside world he’s an obsessive-compulsive mute – weird but harmless. But to Graham, it’s the world that’s weird. And far from harmless.”
I love, love, love this book, and think everyone should read it.
© 2010 Catherine Wechsler, used with permission.
