IMM: New Crayons Galore! 02/28/2010

(In My Mailbox Meme from The Story Siren and New Crayons Meme from Color Online)

This week every single book I got were all POC-related, either by content or author or both. 8D And er, you’d think after blowing my money last week I would have learned to hold back a bit. But no! Too many shiny books out there to be bought! Namely the newly released Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and the fact that Michelle Sagara West was available for signings this week propelled me to buy the remaining two books of the Sun Sword series. I’m trying hard not to think about my dwindling funds in my bank account.



Books will be talked about from top to bottom, left to right, under the cut. 8D

The Year of the Horse - Justin Allen (signed)

Year of the Horse is a tale of Western America, with a difference. Yen Tzu-lu, a child of immigrants unwillingly pressed into service beside a gang of roughnecks, bent on stealing a gold mine from a shadowy villain deep in the western wilderness. Along for the ride are Jack Straw, a famed gunslinger and mystic, Henry Jesus, a former Union soldier and freed slave turned buffalo hunter and marksman, Chino, a Mexican outlaw from California whose very country was yanked out from under him, John MacLemore, a Confederate ex-patriot gone west, and his daughter, a true wild child of the western frontier. They must cross the continent: through desert, plains, canyon and forest; survive run-ins with Union soldiers, Indians both friendly and vicious, wild animals, deadly storms and suspicious settlers. If they make it, they'll be rich. If they don't, they'll almost surely be dead.

Won from a giveaway! (thanks Justin Allen and Melissa Walker!) ninefly are thinking of reading this book together, and I'm refraining from reading this until she gets her copy. Anyone is free to join us on our reading discussion. Just leave a comment saying you want in and I'll contact you. 8D

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – N. K. Jemisin

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle.

I bought one day before the release and have already read it. I demand that everyone go forth and read this book now. It’s that good. (Or, alternatively, pledge to buy the next two sequels for me. I’m down with that. Jks! =D)

Boys Without Names - Kashmira Sheth

For eleven-year-old Gopal and his family, life in their rural Indian village is over: We stay, we starve, his baba has warned. With the darkness of night as cover, they flee to the big city of Mumbai in hopes of finding work and a brighter future. Gopal is eager to help support his struggling family until school starts, so when a stranger approaches him with the promise of a factory job, he jumps at the offer.

But Gopal has been deceived. There is no factory, just a small, stuffy sweatshop where he and five other boys are forced to make beaded frames for no money and little food. The boys are forbidden to talk or even to call one another by their real names. In this atmosphere of distrust and isolation, locked in a rundown building in an unknown part of the city, Gopal despairs of ever seeing his family again.

But late one night, when Gopal decides to share kahanis, or stories, he realizes that storytelling might be the boys' key to holding on to their sense of self and their hope for any kind of future. If he can make them feel more like brothers than enemies, their lives will be more bearable in the shop—and they might even find a way to escape.

Thanks to Edi for sending this over! First time I ever got an uncorrected proof ARC. It’s Sheth so I’m pretty excited about how this novel will go. (Did anyone read Keeping Corner? I enjoyed that a lot)

Brown Girl In the Ring - Nalo Hopkinson (signed)

The rich and the privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways-farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless of the streets. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, the tragic mystery surrounding her mother and grandmother.

She must bargain with gods, and give birth to new legends.

… Bakka Phoenix was selling signed copies. I have no self-control. I remember reading this back when I was young, and the title stands out for me as one of the few sci-fi novels I came across as a kid that didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth. Wanna see how this feels upon a reread. (Also, Toronto in a SFF setting! w00t!)

River Shield and Sun Sword - Michelle West (signed)

[No summaries because spoilery for developments in the series]

I had to buy the two remaining copies and have a complete set of fully signed Sun Sword series. Yay for signed collection! 8D I got to meet Michelle West yesterday and she was lively and lovely and very nice. *giddy*

The Moon Under Her Feet – Derwin Mak

Father Mak Wycliffe is a Roman Catholic priest and space engineer. One the Moon, he meets Jessica, a teenage girl in a Catholic school uniform. Jessica loves to shop and hang out at nightclubs. But Jessica also claims to be Jesus Christ.

Will Jessica use her special powers to start a nuclear armageddon? Will Father Wycliffe, the Virgin Mary, scientists, and clergy be able to stop Jessica from carrying out her Father's will? While the mortals and Jessica's immaculate mother try to foil her, Jessica happily splurges on designer clothes, luxuries she never had in first century Judea.

The Moon Under Her Feet combines space opera, ghost story, and theology in a way never before seen in science fiction. From Derwin Mak, the author of "Transubstantiation," winner of the 2006 Prix Aurora Award, Canada's national science fiction award, for Best Short-Form in English.

Now, you may or may not look at the author’s name and go, “Hmm, where have I heard of him before?” I had that negliling feeling too when I saw the author’s name, but all that flew out the when I flipped through the chapters and died laughing inside. Jesus = Jewish girl in a Catholic Schoolgirl uniform?! REALLY?! Also it charmed my socks off for having an ethnically diverse cast in an SF setting. Not too often I see that. Going home, I looked his name up and realized that he was one of the editors of Dragon and the Stars, who’s cover I already bitched about, so I’ll save my breath. I’m seeing a trend in his unfortunate covers here (this cover? Is NOT easy on the eyes) but between this one and the other of whitewashing!fail, I’d take this cover any day. =D

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Giveaway Reminder

You can win either Exclusively Chloe by J. A. Yang or Mountain Girl River Girl in my 1st 50 followers giveaway contest. Opens internationally and ends March 4th.