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Month of Horrors / Hell is Adaptations: The Silence of the Lambs
“Memory, Agent Starling, is what I have instead of a view.”
It’s easy to understand how Manhunter and its source material Red Dragon lost much of its staying power after the release of The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. This is the film that made many people ridiculously famous: Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Ted Levine, Jonathan Demme, and Thomas Harris, among others. It won five Academy Awards in one swoop, beating out The Prince of Tides (for Best Picture), JFK (Best Director), Cape Fear (Best Actor), Thelma & Louise (Best Actress), and Fried Green Tomatoes (Best Adapted Screenplay).
Unlike Harris’ novel, Silence the film is a standalone piece that makes no reference to the earlier story, ignoring the novel’s many reference’s to Red Dragon’s protagonist Will Graham, now living as a disfigured drunk somewhere in Florida, and inferring that Graham’s boss Jack Crawford was the one who caught the notorious cannibal psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter. For the purposes of adaptation to a new medium, it’s understandable that many changes would need to be made, but it’s actually fascinating how well the finished product works both as a standalone piece of art and as an adaptation.
“I ate your script with a Montrachet and a side of red caviar.”
Heartwood Winners!
Our Heartwood, by Freya Robertson, re-tweet contest is now closed. We had 51 re-tweeters and a handful of blog comments and Facebook shares this time around and we have randomly picked our 5 lucky winners:
Our congrats to all five of our winners and many thanks to all who participated. Thanks, of course, to Freya Robertson and Angry Robot as well for making the contest possible. If you’re one of our winners please send your snail mail info to info @ worlds without end dot com and be sure to include the title of the book you’ve won. We have a lot of these contests and we want to make sure to send you the right book.
Speaking of a lot of contests, we have a new one to kick off Friday so be sure to come back for another shot at some free reads. And don’t forget to tell your friends about us too! If they should win a book you can always borrow 😉
JFF: The Detainee Winners!
Our Jo Fletcher Fridays re-tweet contest for Peter Liney‘s debut book, The Detainee, has closed. We had 23 entries and have drawn our 4 random winners.
Congrats to our winners:
Cassandra was the first random name drawn so she gets the hardcover – our other winners will receive trade paperbacks. If you are one of our prize winners please send your mailing info to us at “info [at] worldswithoutend [dot] com” so we can get your books in the mail right away. Please mention which book you’ve won in your email.
Our thanks to Peter Liney and Jo Fletcher Books for donating the prizes. We’ll be back next Friday with another giveaway so stay tuned for more free books!
SF Manga 101: Knights of Sidonia
Glenn Hough (gallyangel) is a nonpracticing futurist, an anime and manga otaku, and is almost obsessive about finishing several of the lists tracked on WWEnd. In this series on SF Manga Glenn will provide an overview of the medium and the place of science fiction within it.
Way back at the start of the Appleseed blog, I mentioned that only one author got more than one series in this cavalcade of SF manga. Shirow has three entries. Time, money spent, and new material imported into the stateside SF manga scene has shown me there are always new treasures to find on these unending bookshelves. Tsutomu Nihei brought us Blame!, now it’s time for some Knights.
Vertical has this to say about Knights of Sidonia Vol. 1.
“CORE EXPOSED”
Outer space, the far future.A lone seed ship, the Sidonia, plies the void, ten centuries since the obliteration of the solar system. The massive, nearly indestructible, yet barely sentient alien life forms that destroyed humanity’s home world continue to pose an existential threat.
Nagate Tanikaze has only known life in the vessel’s bowels deep below the sparkling strata where humans have achieved photosynthesis and new genders. Not long after he emerges from the Underground, however, the youth is bequeathed a treasured legacy by the spaceship’s cool-headed female captain.
Jo Fletcher Fridays: The Detainee by Peter Liney
After a long – and unintended – hiatus, 
Jo Fletcher Fridays is back – and back with a bang! This week we have what looks like a wicked good dystopian novel from debut author Peter Liney called The Detainee. This is the first book in a new trilogy that came out in July in the UK but won’t be available in the US until March of next year so this is a great chance to get it early in the states. We’ve got 1 hardcover and 3 trade paperbacks to give out so you have 4 chances to win.
You know the drill: re-tweet this tweet, share it on Facebook or comment here in the blog to enter the contest. Do all three and triple your chances! We’ll have a drawing and announce the winners next Monday so tweet away. First name out of the bag will get the hardcover edition.
The Detainee
by Peter Liney
When the fog comes down and the drums start to beat, the inhabitants of the island tremble: for the punishment satellites – which keep the tyrannical Wastelords at bay – are blind in the darkness, and the islanders become prey.
The inhabitants are the old, the sick, the poor: the detritus of Society, dumped on the island with the rest of Society’s waste. There is no point trying to escape, for the satellites – the invisible eyes of the law – mete out instant judgement from the sky.
The island is the end of all hope – until ‘Big Guy’ Clancy finds a blind woman living in a secret underground warren, and discovers a reason to fight.
What people are saying:
“An impressively dark, dystopian piece with much to say about capitalism’s tendency to treat human beings as commodities, disposable when no longer useful.” – Financial Times.
“I am impressed with the high impact story that Peter Liney has managed to create in The Detainee, it’s unique concept and excellent writing will leave this story in the back of my mind for a long time.” – The Book Plank
We’ve got a book trailer and an excerpt to give you a taste of what Liney has cooked up for us so click the cover image to visit the novel page. It’s a brutal future world but there is always hope. Keep that in mind when you read the excerpt. This one is on my list for sure. Let us know what you think in the comments and good luck in the contest. Check back Monday for the results.
Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge: September Review Poll is Open
We posted 9 great reviews for September and it’s that time again to cast your votes for your 3 favorites. As always, there are 3 prizes awarded each month. We’ll keep the poll open until October 25 so you’ll have time to read all the reviews.
- Boneshaker by Cherie Priest – Rae McCausland (ParallelWorlds)
- Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente – Rob Weber (valashain)
- Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough – Steff S. (MMOGC)
- Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett – Emily Sandoval (ersandoval)
- Up the Walls of the World by James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice B. Sheldon) – M. Fenn (mfennvt)
- The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold – Jack Dowden (JDowds)
- In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente – Alix Heintzman (alixheintzman)
- The Highest Frontier by Joan Slonczewski – Allie McCarn (Allie)
- Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear – Clare Fitzgerald (thecynicalromantic)
Thanks to all our reviewers last month. If you didn’t make the September list, don’t give up – there are still more chances! Please help us spread the word about the review poll and encourage your friends to come over and vote. A lot of effort goes into these great reviews each month so show some love for our reviewers and vote!
The stats are looking really good since we crossed the 500 mark on the reviews and we’re closing in on 1,000 books read too. The downside? Only 81 days left to get to the finish line. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the pressure. I’m looking for short books to finish on 😉 Speaking of making it, there are lots of folks who have already done so. There’s a “Finished!” thread in the forum where those over-achievers are talking about their success and the great books they found while doing the challenge. Go over and check it out and give ’em a pat on the back for a job well done. Perhaps you’ll find some inspiration to get you through.
General Stats After 9 Months:
Time Remaining: 81 days
Participants: 374!
Books Read: 975
Books Reviewed: 519
WoGF Review: Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear
Clare Fitzgerald (thecynicalromantic) started reading feminist deconstructions of fairy tales in elementary school and grew up to major in literature and something called “discourse studies.” She reads a lot of teen fiction, gothic novels, and retold fairy tales, and is especially interested in feminist issues in fantasy and sci-fi. She reviews books at A Room of One’s Own because otherwise she is liable to forget what she’s read and what she thought about it. She currently works as a technical editor, but aspires to be a vampire witch queen pirate sorceress when she grows up.
Editor’s Note: This review counts for September.
I had the privilege of buying Elizabeth Bear‘s Range of Ghosts directly from the author, along with a few of her other books. She is one of the many awesome people I met at Readercon, so I was happy to pay for shiny signed new physical copies plus shipping rather than buying an ebook, even though I’ve never read any of her other stuff.
I do not regret this decision at all.
Range of Ghosts is a political fantasy and it’s based largely on the medieval Middle East and Asia. A major theme is the rise and fall of empires; the empire that owns most of the known world at the time of this story is the Qersnyk Khaganate, which is largely based off the Mongol Empire—the Qersnyk are a culture made up of a number of nomadic horse tribes from the steppe. The Khaganate is facing civil war after the death of the Great Khagan. Other kingdoms, empires, and former empires—some subject to the Khaganate; some on its borders—have their own cultures and their own reactions to the war within the Khaganate. How closely these other kingdoms seem to be based on other Asian and Middle Eastern cultures varies, or possibly my familiarity with the cultures in question does. The different cultures and the different factions within the political houses are all well-characterized and clearly differentiated. As far as I can tell, there are no white people in the entire book.
Book Giveaway: Heartwood by Freya Robertson
So we just wrapped up our last giveaway and thought why not do another? This time we’ve got 5 advanced copies of Heartwood, the debut book by New Zealand author Freya Robertson. This is the first book in her The Elemental Wars series which comes out from Angry Robot on October 29 in the US and November 7 in the UK so this is your opportunity to get your hands on it early.
For your chance to win all you have to do is re-tweet this tweet, share this post on Facebook or leave a comment below. Next Wednesday we’ll throw all the names into a hat and draw out 5 lucky winners.
And since this is Freya’s first novel it’s likely that you’ve not read her before so she’s a great candidate for your Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge!
Heartwood
by Freya Robertson
A dying tree, a desperate quest, a love story, a last stand.
Chonrad, Lord of Barle, comes to the fortified temple of Heartwood for the Congressus peace talks, which Heartwood’s holy knights have called in an attempt to stave off war in Anguis. But the Arbor, Heartwood’s holy tree, is failing, and because the land and its people are one, it is imperative the nations try to make peace.
After the Veriditas, or annual Greening Ceremony, the Congressus takes place. The talks do not go well and tempers are rising when an army of warriors emerges from the river. After a fierce battle, the Heartwood knights discover that the water warriors have stolen the Arbor’s heart. For the first time in history, its leaves begin to fall…
The knights divide into seven groups and begin an epic quest to retrieve the Arbor, and save the land.
About the Author:
Freya is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, as well as a dedicated gamer. She has a deep and abiding fascination for the history and archaeology of the middle ages and spent many hours as a teenager writing out notecards detailing the battles of the Wars of the Roses, or moping around museums looking at ancient skeletons, bits of rusted iron and broken pots.
Freya lives in the glorious country of New Zealand Aotearoa, where the countryside was made to inspire fantasy writers and filmmakers, and where they brew the best coffee in the world.
You can find her online at her website as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
Looks pretty good, right? Click the cover image to read an excerpt from Heartwood courtesy of the author’s website. Tweet away my friends and good luck in the contest!
Ancillary Justice Winner!
Our Ancillary Justice re-tweet contest is now closed. We had nearly 100 re-tweeters and a handful of blog comments and Facebook shares this time around and we have randomly picked our lucky winner:
Jessica Reisman
Our congrats to Jessica for the win and many thanks to all who participated.
Thanks, of course, to Ann Leckie and Orbit as well for making the contest possible. I’m guessing they’d like it very much if you bought a copy of Ancillary Justice for yourself 😉
We’ll be back shortly with another book giveaway contest so if you didn’t win this time you’ll get another chance.
Book Gift Suggestions: Horror
It’s been a while since we created our suggestion list for Fantasy, and the Month of Horrors seemed like the perfect time to cobble together a list for Horror. Been looking for some good genre book recommendations you can pass along to non-genre or genre-beginner readers? Here are some works of fiction that will blow their minds and make them addicts just like you.
Today’s list contains half a dozen Horror books to knock the socks off the people who don’t have good genre taste… yet.
The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories, by H. P. Lovecraft
Arguably, you could hand a reader any collection of Lovecraft stories, and the effect would be just about the same. The master of weird fiction rotated regularly through just a few variations on his theme of supernatural terror: from intrusions out of the dream world to beautiful symbolic visions, from unnatural resurrections to polar-dwelling Elder Things, you can be sure that at least somebody will be losing his sanity, if not his lunch. Many of the stories in this volume also tie in to Lovecraft’s popular Cthulhu Mythos, so there’s plenty of temptation here to find more to read.
Perfect For: People who like old-timey scares and wish their steampunk novels had more unnatural geometry.
20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill
One might shy away from Hill’s collection of short stories in favor of his more popular novels, but 20th Century Ghosts has something for everybody to enjoy. As I wrote in my longer review last year, the stories that especially stand out are “20th Century Ghost” (about a dead girl who loves the movies too much to leave the theatre), “The Black Phone” (a terrifying tale of kidnapping and phone calls from the dead), “The Cape” (a spooky story of a… different kind of superhero), and “Voluntary Committal” (wherein one might easily be lost amidst the cardboard maze in the basement). Don’t miss out on Hill’s sequel to Dracula and his personal take on Kafka’s Metamorphosis, either.
Perfect For: Anyone who likes disturbingly surreal tales.
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
By far the most obvious recommendation on this list, you might be surprised how many people have never read the novel that sparked the popularity of the “romantic vampire” subgenre. Told entirely as an epistolary novel, Dracula follows the ever-shifting fortunes of a small group of English aristocrats as an ancient Transylvanian vampire decides to hitch a ride to their homeland from the old country. It’s both a look at the fragility of Victorian mores, and awe at the power of the mysterious foreign “other.” Arguably also a yearning for a spiritually-enriched world that the Enlightenment cast aside, Stoker’s novel offers a great deal even for a jaded, modern audience.
Perfect For: That friend who’s watched every Dracula movie.
House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski
Danielewski isn’t well known for his fiction outside of this novel, partly because he hasn’t written much else, but mostly because his other work is so rarified and abstract that it only appeals to a niche audience. However, House of Leaves was his first and most popular work, despite some aspects that a popular audience might find pretentious. This is a story told from the perspective of a young tattoo artist Johnny Truant, writing about a found manuscript detailing a documentary that does not seem to officially exist, The Navidson Record. It’s a narrative within a narrative within a narrative, copiously (and often erroneously) footnoted. The documentary concerns a preternaturally-shaped house, which may or may not be haunted, and which frequently changes its inner layout and dimensions. It’s hard to be both scary and erudite, but Danielewski manages.
Perfect For: Someone who’s ready to make the leap into metafiction.
The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, by Neil Gaiman
Although Neil Gaiman has long had a reputation as a Horror writer, much of his fiction is simply Fantasy with a slight twist of Horror. Even most of his run on the Sandman comic series was more about Fantasy than Horror. But the first volume of this popular set definitely shows off Gaiman’s talent at writing Horror, albeit the sort influenced more by old Horror comics than novels. As he introduces the character of Morpheus, the King of Dreams, he is at great pains to remind us that Morpheus is also the King of Nightmares. The series found a larger audience after this first storyline, but I will always have a soft spot for this mash-up of Gothic and old-school comic book scares.
Perfect For: Wannabe goths and people wondering how Neil Gaiman got his start.
Inferno, by Dante Alighieri
Ok, this one might be pushing it a little. There’s no doubt that much of today’s Horror fiction simply could not exist without Dante, but his medieval epic poem does not easily fit into the genre as we know it today. It also does not provide the thrills-n-chills normally associated with Horror. It is rather a more intellectual look at the horrors of the human spirit, and a sober acknowledgement of where they lead us. That being said, I would stack up the story told by Count Ugolino in the ninth circle of Hell about his betrayal by an archbishop to a slow and very cruel death against anything written by Stephen King or Clive Barker. You can also learn how Hell actually froze over a very, very long time ago.
Perfect For: Poetry lovers and those curious about ancient cosmologies.
Have anything you’d like to add to the list? Let us know in the comments!
