Battle of the Books, Fall 2012, Championship Round :: The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi vs. Auraria by Tim Westover

We arrive at the championship of the belated Fall 2012 Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books, which presents a classic David-and-Goliath matchup. Paolo Bacigalupi's The Drowned Cities, the follow-up to a National Book Award nominee and Michael L. Printz Award winner, had to be considered one of the favorites of this bracket, while the success of Tim Westover's independent book Auraria was quite unexpected. Auraria reached the finals with surprise wins over Stephen Graham Jones, Matthew Hughes, and Mary Robinette Kowal. Can it pull one more upset? I have read through page 200 of The Drowned Cities and Auraria, and the book I most want to continue reading to the end will be the champion of the Fall Bracket of the 2012 Battle of the Books.

The Drowned Cities: Little, Brown hardcover, May 2012, 434 pages, cover art by Neil Swaab. The Drowned Cities got to the championship with wins over Alexander Wisbal and the Hall of Heroes by Isaac A. McBeth, Dark Magic by James Swain, and Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson.

The Drowned Cities brings together Tool, the bioengineered man-beast who was many readers' favorite character in Bacigalupi's previous novel Ship Breaker, and Mahlia, a young "castoff." Mahlia is the daughter of a Chinese peacekeeper, who left her to her fate when the Chinese pulled out of the "Drowned Cities," the ruins of Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas. Tool has been badly wounded and a local militia is hunting the area for him and for Mahlia, for reasons I won't spoil. Mahlia administers antibiotics to Tool, hoping that he can recover and help her escape this battle-ravaged area. But Tool has little interest in her plans, and Mahlia's friend Mouse and her benefactor Dr. Mahfouz do not wish to leave, so by the midpoint of the book, Mahlia is facing some tough choices.

Auraria: QW Publishers trade paperback, July 2012, 390 pages. Auraria advanced to the finals with upset wins over Zombie Bake-Off by Stephen Graham Jones, Song of the Serpent by Hugh Matthews (aka Matthew Hughes), and Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal.

Auraria, Georgia is an Appalachian mining town. James Holtzclaw has arrived by carriage with instructions from his employer Mr. Shadburn to buy out all the land in town. This he manages quite well, undeterred by all the spirits, ghosts, and other supernatural forces to be found in Auraria. It turns out that Mr. Shadburn grew up in Auraria. He is determined to build a dam, flood the entire town, and build a luxury hotel on the shores of the resulting lake. He wants to do this not to make money——indeed, he antagonizes Holtzclaw by his recklessness with his money——but to compel the residents to abandon their unhealthy fascination with gold-mining.

The Battle: The first thing to make very clear is that, through 200 pages, both of these books are excellent.

The Drowned Cities is the kind of engrossing, hard-edged YA story that we need if we are going to attract young readers to books in general and to science fiction in particular, and there is also plenty here to satisfy adult readers. The book matter-of-factly presents a nicely, and frighteningly, imagined fallen America of the future, focusing on the swampland around our former capital. For his protagonists, Bacigalupi pairs the amazingly powerful Tool with Mahlia, who survives by her wits. Early in the book, Tool wipes out half a company of pursuing soldiers by brute force. Later, Mahlia manages nearly to destroy the rest of the company through sheer cleverness. They make a terrific combination.

Auraria is a quieter book, but also very effective. Westover does a wonderful job combining small-town personalities with whimsically magical story elements, all tied together with a wry sense of humor. I will stick with my description in the semifinals, that the novel reads like a collaboration between Garrison Keillor and Neil Gaiman.

But as much as I'm enjoying both these books, I'm only permitted to choose one winner. The Battle comes down to two factors.

First, there is more depth to the characterization in The Drowned Cities. Mahlia is a believable and interestingly conflicted young woman, and Tool is a fascinating character, with a most unique outlook on life. The characters in Auraria are not as fully developed. Please note that this is not a complaint. Holtzclaw in particular is a fairly flat character by design——he is there as a straight man to observe the bizarre goings-on in Auraria, and that works quite well. But because I don't feel terribly connected to him as a character, Auraria is not quite so difficult to put down as The Drowned Cities.

The second deciding factor is story. While the first two rounds of the Battle of the Books are mostly decided on style points, since few of the books are very deep into their stories after 25 or 50 pages, plot becomes a greater factor by the semifinals and finals. And for all Auraria's strengths, midway through the book the plot isn't developing quite so much as I'd like. There is some friction brewing between Holtzclaw and Shadburn, but nothing to match the dramatic tension of The Drowned Cities. Mahlia has had to confront what seemed to be a monster, to overcome an entire company of soldiers, and now she faces an agonizing dilemma over her best friend and her mentor. Halfway through the book, her entire life has fallen to pieces. Readers don't know if she will be able to save herself or her friend Mouse, and we very much care whether she can. And that makes the book impossible to put down.

THE WINNER: The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

Congratulations to Paolo Bacigalupi, who is the fourth Battle of the Books winner, joining Elizabeth Bear, James Renner, and Ian Tregillis. We will feature The Drowned Cities in a full review at Fantastic Reviews, and we will also try to arrange an interview with Bacigalupi (although we already interviewed him once, so Paolo may have had his fill of us).

Thanks for joining us for the Fall 2012 Battle of the Books, and stay tuned for Battle of the Books #5, which will feature another array of talented authors, including Laird Barron, Keith Brooke, China Miéville, Jane Rogers, a pseudonymously cloaked Melinda Snodgrass, Steve Rasnic Tem, and many others.

Battle of the Books, Fall 2012, Second Semifinal :: Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal vs. Auraria by Tim Westover

Our second semifinal in the belated Fall 2012 Battle of the Books matches one of our "seeded" books, Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal, against the Cinderella of this bracket, Auraria by Tim Westover. The book I most want to continue reading after 100 pages will advance to the championship round, to try its luck against Paolo Bacigalupi.

Glamour in Glass: Tor hardcover, April 2012, 319 pages, cover art by Larry Rostant. Glamour in Glass reached the Final Four by defeating Bloodthirst in Babylon by David Searls in the first round and Orb Sceptre Throne by Ian C. Esslemont in the second round.

Glamour in Glass is the second in Kowal's "Glamourist Histories" series, historical fantasies written in the style of Jane Austen. The books star husband-and-wife glamourists Jane and Vincent, who have the ability to weave visible illusions with their minds. In the first 50 pages, Jane and Vincent decided to take a trip to Belgium for a belated honeymoon and to meet Vincent's old glamourist friend Bruno Chastain. Travel to the continent has become possible again after Napoleon's abdication, but if our own world's history is any guide, Europe will soon fall back into turmoil once Napoleon escapes exile. In the second 50 pages, Jane and Vincent encounter ruffians, whom Vincent (played by Colin Firth) bravely fights off, then meet M. Chastain, who shocks Jane by administering corporal punishment to one of his children. Later, inspired by M. Chastain's daughter, Jane has a breakthrough concept for using glass to record and preserve glamour.

Auraria: QW Publishers trade paperback, July 2012, 390 pages. Auraria advanced to the Final Four with upset wins over Zombie Bake-Off by Stephen Graham Jones in the first round and Song of the Serpent by Hugh Matthews (aka Matthew Hughes) in the second round, unprecedented success for an independent book in the Battle of the Books.

The story takes place in the late Nineteenth Century, in the Appalachian mining town of Auraria, Georgia. James Holtzclaw has been sent to Auraria with instructions from his employer Mr. Shadburn to buy out all the land in town. Through 100 pages, he has been remarkably successful at his purchases, in part because he is prepared to pay with gold coins and many of the locals are frustrated miners fascinated with gold. At each stop through the community, Holtzclaw witnesses something remarkable and magical, such as a boy fishing in the air instead of water, and a piano played by a ghost. Through 50 pages he steadfastly refused to acknowledge these supernatural happenings, but by the end of the first 100 pages he has abandoned his skepticism. The last straw for his disbelief was wandering through a house three stories tall on the outside, but containing dozens of floors on the inside.

The Battle: This Battle of the Books is between two historical fantasies both set in the Nineteenth Century (Glamour in Glass early in the century, Auraria late), and both written in a delightful style.

Kowal's previous Glamourist Histories book, Shades of Milk and Honey, was a Nebula Award nominee, and to my tastes so far Glamour in Glass is even better. It features strong characterization, an interesting magical system, and dialogue and narrative that combine for a wonderful homage to Jane Austen, with occasional winks to Kowal's modern readers adding to the fun. I am looking forward to seeing how Kowal works illusionist magic into the Napoleonic conflict. But for Battle of the Books purposes, it might have behooved her to get the Napoleon storlyine going a bit sooner——through 100 pages there is no dramatic tension building yet.

I have read enough by Mary Robinette Kowal that I fully expected the charming writing style of Glamour in Glass, but what a pleasant surprise that Auraria, by an author completely unfamiliar to me, is written in an equally enjoyable style. Tim Westover offers a humorous but affectionate view of small-town America that reminds me of Garrison Keillor, combined with a Gaimanesque imagination.

To give you a little taste, here is our protagonist Holtzclaw ascending through the different floors of the impossible house that finally shakes him of his skepticism, searching for the owner Mr. Walton. Each floor is manned by an attendant, watching over the collection unique to that floor. Holtzclaw thinks he is walking through an empty floor, when the attendant Cannie calls his attention to the piles of dust which are that floor's collection:

"I think you have stepped right into the arsenic powder and blown it to the four corners of the world," said Cannie. "I don't know I should ever sort it out from the sulfur."

"Such a collection would be better placed in vials or bottles," said Holtzclaw.

"It's not a collection of bottles," said Cannie.

"No, I would imagine that collection is somewhere upstairs."

"Maybe. I've never seen it."

On his tiptoes, Holtzclaw managed to cross the room without further scorn from Cannie. He climbed the stairs, which should not have led anywhere, but found himself in another full-sized story, and across the room was another staircase. It was impossible and astonishing, this proliferation of space under a single roof, yet somehow disappointing, too——it was only more stories in a house. A very modest wonder.

But disbelief would only slow him down. Hotlzclaw could shut his eyes, beg for rationality, but this infinite house would still be here, and Mr. Walton would still be inside. Besides, when he convinced Mr. Walton to sign over the property deed, Shadburn would own this house, and it could be demolished if the laws of nature were too offended.

If you love Jane Austen then you might prefer Glamour in Glass, but Tim Westover's wry sense of humor is right up my alley.

We like to compare the Battle of the Books to the March Madness basketball tournament. Part of the fun of March Madness is combining Kentucky, UCLA, and other powerhouse teams with teams from schools you might never have heard of, and every now and then one of those little guys like George Mason or Butler makes a deep run in the tournament. In the Battle of the Books, Auraria is our out-of-nowhere dark horse, shocking everyone by going toe-to-toe with books by acclaimed authors and more than holding its own.

THE WINNER: Auraria by Tim Westover

Auraria advances to the championship round to meet The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi.

To see the whole bracket, click here.

Battle of the Books, Fall 2012 :: Final Four

We have quickly arrived at Final Four in the belated Fall 2012 Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books:

Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson vs. The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal vs. Auraria by Tim Westover

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. This sixteen-book bracket, our fourth, contained a wide variety of genre books. Hopefully some sparked your interest. There were a number of appealing, well-written books. Now only four books remain.

Dropping good books after reading only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult, but this format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

Three of the four "seeded" books made it to the Final Four: Further: Beyond the Threshold, The Drowned Cities and Glamour in Glass. The dark horse of the group is Auraria, an independent book that has proved a surprisingly strong competitor, pulling off consecutive upsets over top-flight authors.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a tremendous response to the Battle of the Books format. More brackets are to come, so stay tuned!

Battle of the Books, Fall 2012, Second Round :: Song of the Serpent by Hugh Matthews vs. Auraria by Tim Westover

Our final second round match in the Fall 2012 Battle of the Books pits Song of the Serpent by Hugh Matthews (aka Matthew Hughes) against Auraria by Tim Westover. The book I most want to continue reading after 50 pages will grab the last spot in our Final Four.

Song of the Serpent: Paizo paperback, May 2012, 309 pages, cover art by Adrian Smith. Song of the Serpent is a tie-in to the Pathfinder role-playing game, by Matthew Hughes under his Hugh Matthews pen-name. It reached the second round by upsetting a seeded book, Losers in Space by John Barnes, in the first round.

In the first 25 pages, our protagonist Krunzle the Quick, a small but sharp-witted thief, was captured by a wizard. In the next 25 pages, Krunzle begins the quest assigned to him by the wizard's wealthy employer: to retrieve a daughter who has run away with a headstrong man. The wizard sends Krunzle on his way with an enchanted sword, magical boots to speed his journey, and an intelligent snake wrapped around his neck to ensure his loyalty. With his amazing sword and boots Krunzle seems unbeatable at first, but by the end of 50 pages he is captured by a second wizard.

Auraria: QW Publishers trade paperback, July 2012, 390 pages. Auraria is a fantasy set in a Nineteenth Century Appalachian mining town. It advanced to the second round with a surprise win over Zombie Bake-Off by Stephen Graham Jones, making it the first independent book to win a contest in the Battle of the Books.

In the opening 25 pages of Auraria, our protagonist James Holtzclaw arrived in the town of Auraria, with directions from his boss to buy out all the land in town. Over the next 25 pages, Holtzclaw starts to acquire swathes of the town, meeting several interesting characters and all the while refusing to acknowledge the ubiquitous presence of the supernatural in Auraria.

The Battle: It would be a major surprise for either an RPG tie-in or a self-published book to make the Final Four of the Battle of the Books, but one of those two things is about to happen. But either way, it will be a pleasant surprise, since through 50 pages, both Song of the Serpent and Auraria and very well-written and entertaining.

Song of the Serpent does not require any prior familiarity with Pathfinder, but it's not hard to tell that some of the props of the story, such as the enchanted sword, derive from the game. Still, Matthew Hughes takes a breezy approach to the Pathfinder universe that makes for fun reading, even if you're not especially interested in role-playing games. I particularly like Hughes' snappy dialogue, althought there is less of that in the second 25-page section, as Krunzle commences his solitary quest.

Meanwhile, so far the storytelling in Auraria is remarkably confident. Even without the fantasy elements, the descriptions of the scenery and the delightful dialogue would make Auraria a very strong historical novel. But it's the fantasy touches that make the book especially memorable. I love watching Holtzcraw try to rationalize or ignore the unmistakeable magic of the town. For example, he reacts in a wonderfully deadpan fashion when he goes to buy a farmer's home, asks the farmer to introduce his wife, and is told to ignore her: "She's been fluttering around here ever since she died."

When we decided to allow independent books in the Battle of the Books, it was with the hope that perhaps somewhere along the line we would find a hidden gem about which we could help spread the word. Auraria is it. Tim Westover writes at a professional level, and through 50 pages, his quirky tale about a strange mining town where magic hides in plain sight is wonderfully fresh and original.

THE WINNER: Auraria by Tim Westover

Auraria advances to the semifinals to face Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal.

To see the whole bracket, click here.

Battle of the Books, Fall 2012, First Round :: Auraria by Tim Westover vs. Zombie Bake-Off by Stephen Graham Jones

We complete the first round of the belated Fall 2012 Battle of the Books with Auraria by Tim Westover against Zombie Bake-Off by Stephen Graham Jones. The book I most want to continue reading after 25 pages will be the final entrant in the second round.

Auraria: QW Publishers trade paperback, July 2012, 390 pages. QW bills itself as a publisher of "quaint and weird fiction," but its only two books so far are Tim Westover's Auraria and an anthology edited by Tim Westover (albeit an anthology with some strong authors, such as Camille Alexa and David Boop). So until QW puts out some books with other names on them, we'll have to regard this as a self-publishing venture of Tim Westover. Westover's previous book was a collection of short stories originally published in Esperanto. (I kid you not. The back of Auraria boasts that the book was short-listed for Esperanto Book of the Year; I'm surprised enough Esperanto books are published in a given year to make a list.)

Auraria is a fantasy based on Appalachian folklore, set in the Nineteenth Century. Our protagonist James Holtzclaw arrives in Auraria, Georgia, a mining town that has seen better days, intent on buying out all the land in furtherance of his employer's secret plans. From the moment he arrives, Holtzclaw encounters strange sights, such as a young man fishing in fog where there is no water, for which Holtzclaw labors to find sensible explanations.

Zombie Bake-Off: Lazy Fascist Press trade paperback, February 2012, 256 pages, cover art by Matthew Revert. Lazy Fascist is an imprint of Eraserhead Press, arguably the leading publisher of bizarro fiction. Stephen Graham Jones has written a dozen books in a range of genres and styles, although he is probably best known for his horror fiction. Among other honors, he has been nominated for the Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the International Horror Guild Award. He is one of the most accomplished Native American authors working today.

Zombie Bake-Off is a tongue-in-cheek zombie story. It begins late at night when a group of stoned young men in a bakery truck run over an odd-smelling pedestrian. In a panic, they throw him in the back of the truck, but by the next morning the body is gone. Meanwhile, security guard Chapman and soccer mom Terry are engaged in a turf war——the Lubbock, Texas bake-off has been double-booked with a pro wrestling event. The back of the book suggests some of those wrestlers will soon be indulging in tainted donuts.

The Battle: Stephen Graham Jones is a top-flight author who brings a welcome perspective to the field, emphasizing blue-collar characters. It is nearly inconceivable he could be taken out of the Battle of the Books by a self-published author whose previous work appeared in Esperanto.

But sooner or later it was bound to happen that an independent book would win one of these battles, and Auraria has by far the best opening of any indie contestant since we started the Battle of the Books. The opening pages of Auraria feature a charming voice and wonderfully wry dialogue. The fantasy elements so far are understated, but it is most amusing watching Holtzclaw try to make sense of them, for instance in this scene where he meets a strange young woman in a quiet pond:

"May I trouble you for your name?" said Holtzclaw.

"Princess Trahlyta," she said.

"How lovely," said Holtzclaw. "Mine is James Holtzclaw, at your service. 'Princess' as a given name is popular right now. Your parents picked a fashionable one for you."

"Pleased to meet you, James. Princess isn't my name. It's my title."

"Princess, eh? Where is your kingdom?"

"This spring and the others like it," she said. "The valley. An hour upriver; the same downriver. And thousands of miles beneath my feet."

"You own all that?" said Holtzclaw.

"To be princess doesn't mean to own it," she said.

Holtzclaw's respect for her calmness and command of natural lore turned to contempt at her childish answers to his questions. She was playing a game with him, trying to draw him into her fun. It was a waste of time.

Meanwhile, as much as I admire Stephen Graham Jones' writing, I'm not much connecting with the first sections of Zombie Bake-Off. Humor is always subjective, and "bizarro" humor particularly so. While I generally like the bizarro sub-genre, it tends to be hit-or-miss for me, and so far Zombie Bake-Off is a bit more on the miss side. Even though the book is overtly tongue-in-cheek, I found less to laugh at in the opening pages than I did from the more subtle humor of Auraria.

THE WINNER: Auraria by Tim Westover

Auraria advances into the second round, to take on Song of the Serpent by Hugh Matthews (aka Matthew Hughes).

To see the whole bracket, click here.