From Library Journal:
MADNESS OF FLOWERS: “Lake’s sequel to Trial of Flowers continues the tale of a decadent and exotic city where madness and politics go hand in hand. VERDICT Award winner Lake (Mainspring; Escapement) combines steampunk eccentricities with magical realism in the style of China Miéville’s Perdido [Street] Station and Michael Swanwick’s The Iron Dragon’s Daughter.“
Posted: 7:16 am Sun October 18 2009 | Comments(0) |
Join me for an open dinner in Torrance, CA, next Monday, 10/12 [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] — Note the time is changing to 7 pm!
Chris Hsiang at io9 reviews Madness of Flowers [ Night Shade Books ] — He liked it a lot.
Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy reviews Mainspring [ Powell's | Amazon thb
Drabblecast features my short story, “Over the Walls of Eden”
Hyperdrive Propulsion Could Be Tested at the Large Hadron Collider — The headline is rather misleading, but this is still quite cool.
In Surprise, Obama Wins Nobel for Diplomacy — Wow. The American Right is going to explode.
?otD: Who invented dynamite?
Posted: 5:36 am Fri October 09 2009 | Comments(0) |
Madness of Flowers has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.
Readers unfamiliar with 2006′s Trial of Flowers will be baffled by this sequel; those who have read the former are likely to be both delighted and flabbergasted by the latter. The City Imperishable is the decadent relic of a magical empire in which human and numinal forces struggled until the Old Gods were almost forgotten — but this familiar-sounding background doesn’t set up a predictable heroic fantasy yarn. The city’s diverse inhabitants, including demigods and manmade dwarves, are subject to violent physical and moral transformations, and Lake’s lushly energetic writing pulls readers through startling developments. Major concerns this time include bloody political intrigue, a blockade by corsairs and an expedition to the North that may lead to the city’s rebirth or its doom. The result is exuberantly odd, melodramatically ironic and dangerously wonderful.
Posted: 4:31 pm Tue September 29 2009 | Comments(6) |
Here’s a tentative update to my bibliography for 2009. This may not be completely exhaustive, and obviously, forthcoming work may slip into 2010 in some cases.
Published:
“Golden Pepper“; Flash Fiction Online; February, 2009
“On the Human Plan“; Lone Star Stories; February, 2009
“Witness to the Fall”; Crime Spells, ed. Martin H. Greenberg and Loren Coleman, DAW; February, 2009
Escapement; Tor Books; April, 2009 [mass market paperback release]
“Rolling Steel: A Pre-Apocalyptic Love Story” (with Shannon Page); Clarkesworld; April, 2009
“To Stone” (with Shannon Page); Morrigan eZine, May, 2009
Green; Tor Books; June, 2009 [trade hardback release]
“Leopard“; Jim Baen’s Universe, June, 2009
“To Raise a Mutiny Betwixt Yourselves”; The New Space Opera 2, ed. Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan, Eos Books; June, 2009 [Sunspin continuity]
“People of Leaf and Branch“; Fantasy; June, 2009 [Green continuity]
“Black Heart, White Mourning”; Grant’s Pass, ed. Jennifer Brozek and Amanda Pillar, Morrigan Books; August, 2009
“In the Forests of the Night”; Metatropolis, ed. John Scalzi, Subterranean Press; August, 2009
“Tale of the Poet and the Dog”; Japanese Dreams, ed. Sean Wallace, Prime Books; Summer, 2009
“An Elderly Pirate Recalls the Death of Love”; Electric Velocipede Issue 17/18
“Red Dirt Kingdoms”; Realms of Fantasy, October, 2009
Madness of Flowers; Night Shade Books; October, 2009
Forthcoming:
“Bone Island” (with Shannon Page); Interzone
“Bringing the Future Home”; Global Warming Aftermaths, ed. Eric T. Reynolds, Hadley Rille Books
“Chain of Stars”; Subterranean [Mainspring continuity]
Death of a Starship; MonkeyBrain Books
“Human Error”; Interzone [prequel to "The Sky That Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue and Into the Black"]
“In the Emperor’s Garden” (with Shannon Page); Fantasy
“Last Drink Bird Head”; Last Drink Bird Head, ed. Jeff vanderMeer; Ministry of Whimsy Press
“Looking for Truth in a Wild Blue Yonder” (with Ken Scholes); Tor.com
“Shedding Skin; Or How the World Came to Be”; Shimmer (Clockwork Jungle Issue)
“The Starship Mechanic” (with Ken Scholes); Tor.com
Posted: 4:59 am Mon September 14 2009 | Comments(0) |
Well, saw
In other news, I knocked out the first draft of a 4,700 word short story called “Mother Urban’s Booke of Dayes” for the Dark Faith anthology project. We’ll see if Maurice likes it. Also revised a shorter spec (meaning, no market waiting) piece entitled “Not Much of a War”, which is from the Flowers continuity, briefly concerning the further adventures of Jason, Kalliope and Onesiphorous. (It falls midway through Madness of Flowers.) Read
Huh, wonder why I’m tired?
Posted: 6:07 pm Mon August 24 2009 | Comments(0) |
Night Shade Books announces the Madness of Flowers cover.
Posted: 3:48 am Wed August 19 2009 | Comments(2) |
A reader reacts to Trial of Flowers [ Powell's | Amazon ] — And of course, Madness of Flowers [ Powell's | Amazon ] will be out shortly.
Dilbert on the cold stench of death
Norman Bel Geddes Airliner #4 — This has always been one of my favorite examples of Big Science era design.
The New Motor, or the Steam-Powered Messiah — Pulled from Dark Roasted Blend‘s own best of 2008. Mmm. Steampunky goodness.
Gems Point to Comet as Answer to Ancient Riddle — Nanodiamonds. Coooool.
?otD: How low can you go?
1/3/2009
Body movement: 40 minute ride on the stationary bike
This morning’s weigh-in: 220.6
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville; Norse Code by Greg van Eekhout
Posted: 7:11 am Sat January 03 2009 | Comments(0) |
Highlights of 2008
Writing
| Novels Published: | Escapement thb, Mainspring mmpb |
|
|
|
| Novels Written: | Green, Tourbillon |
|
|
|
| First Draft Fiction Written (including novels): | 612,700 words |
|
|
|
| Blogging: | 260,000 words |
|
|
|
| Emails: | At least 20,000 emails sent and received |
|
|
|
| Original Short Fiction Submissions: | 36 |
|
|
|
| Original Short Fiction Rejections: | 14 |
|
|
|
| Original Short Fiction Sales: | 21 (one collaborative) |
|
|
|
| Original Short Fiction Published on my Blog: | 10 |
|
|
|
| Reprint Short Fiction Submissions: | 6 |
|
|
|
| Reprint Short Fiction Rejections: | 2 |
|
|
|
| Reprint Short Fiction Sales: | 4 (including two Year’s Best) |
|
|
|
| Nonfiction Sales: | 10 |
Personal
| Inches of Waistline Lost: | 10 |
|
|
|
| Pounds Lost: | 65 |
|
|
|
| Time Spent Exercising: | 132 hours, 45 minutes |
Goals for Next Year
| Novels to be Published: | Green thb, Escapement mmpb, Madness of Flowers tpb, Death of a Starship tpb |
|
|
|
| Novels to be Written: | Sunspin (trilogy), several collaborative projects to be scheduled |
|
|
|
| Additional Inches of Waistline Lost: | 2 |
|
|
|
| Additional Pounds Lost: | 10 |
|
|
|
| Time Spent Exercising: | 250 hours |
Posted: 5:23 pm Wed December 31 2008 | Comments(3) |
Just wrapped the Madness of Flowers galleys, with a huge assist from
No rest for the wicker.
Posted: 6:51 pm Wed December 17 2008 | Comments(0) |
Yesterday was a day with a bit of running around, then
Went out walking this morning. Did 100 minutes, up Twin Peaks again, down the other side, through the upper part of the UCSF campus at Parnassus, then back down to Cole Valley and my B&B. Up at the top of Twin Peaks a band of Hispanic Charismatics were having a pre-dawn service, shouting and writhing to cast out demons in Jesus’ name. (I think that’s what they were praying for, but my Spanish isn’t that good.) Shortly after I passed them by they hopped in their cars and passed me by. So I guess they succeeded in casting me out.
Down in the eucalyptus groves of Parnassus I heard an owl. Dark, with that sharp scent and the cold of a San Francisco winter morning, but she had a lot to say.
I’m in now, getting to work on Madness of Flowers galleys soon until it’s time to pop over to Borderlands for Writer in the Window this afternoon.
Posted: 7:47 am Sun December 14 2008 | Comments(0) |