The Great Geek Manual

Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Biographical Notes to ‘A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Air-planes’” by Benjamin Rosenbaum at PodCastle.
• Listen to “The City Quiet as Death” By Steven Utley and Michael Bishop.
• Listen to “Dreams of the White City” by Jay Lake at Transmissions From Beyond.
• Listen to “The Language of the Whirlwind” written by Lavie Tidhar at Clarkesworld.
• Listen to “The Mechanical Aviary of Emperor Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar” by Shweta Narayan at Shimmerzine.
• Listen to “A Princess Of Earth” by Mike Resnick at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Pulp Cover” by Gene Wolfe at StarshipSofa.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• There’s a new Torchwood Comic online. In it, the aliens have landed… see how Captain Jack and the rest of the Torchwood team fend them off in our brand new and exclusive Torchwood Comic.

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Book: My Dead Body
ISBN-13: 978-0345495891

Author: Charlie Huston
Series: Joe Pitt Casebooks
Publisher: Del Rey
Genre: Hard-boiled noir / Horror
Release: October 13, 2009
Length: 336 pages (Hardcover)

Rating: A- (95/100)

Verdict

Charlie Huston is the cure for what’s ailing vampires today. He’s single-handedly succeeded in putting the starch back into the genre and breathed a whole new life into the best traditions of Raymond Chandler. And while the entire Joe Pitt series is highly recommended reading for fans of hard-boiled noir, horror, pulp fiction, or urban fantasy, it needs to be said that My Dead Body is Huston’s piece de resistance.

Nowhere are you going to find a grittier or more action-packed noir novel, and if you’re a fan of the genre, that should be all that needs to be said.

Pros: Huston has a flair for razor sharp dialog. Big screen action sequences. Gritty, realistic characters. No sparkly vampire angst.

Cons: Dialogue can become a bit confusing due to Pitt’s choice of punctuation.

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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Catch ‘Em in the Act” by Terry Bisson at Tor.com.
• Listen to “Kiosk” by Bruce Sterling at Aural Delights (10:30 to 01:55:00).
• Listen to “Knotwork” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman at StarShip Sofa.
• Listen to “A Programic Approach to Perfect Happiness” by Tim Pratt.
• Listen to “Roadside Rescue” by Pat Cadigan at EscapePod.
• Listen to “The Queen’s Triplets” by Israel Zangwill at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Vilcabamba” by Harry Turtledove at Tor.com.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download the science fiction novel Haven by Justin Kemppainen in a variety of formats over at Smashwords.
• Paul Haines has released his novella “Wives” on his website. The story originally appeared in the Australian anthology X6.
• Read the first chapter of Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison, hitting shelves February 23rd.

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Book: Freedom (TM)
ISBN-13: 978-0525951575

Author: Daniel Suarez
Series: Sequel to Daemon
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Genre: Cyberpunk / Techno-Thriller
Release: January 7, 2010
Length: 416 pages (Hardcover)

Tagline: “Everything is under control. Everything…”

Rating: A- (95/100)

Verdict

After the sheer brilliance of Daniel Suarez’s explosive debut, it was inevitable that his second book would fail to live up to it’s predecessor, but it’s surprisingly just how close Suarez has come to making lightning strike twice.

If possible, Freedom is actually more cerebral than Daemon, drifting away from the spy-thriller themes into the philosophies and economics of a revolutionary war story. The change provides a nice contrast to the first novel, but it does get a bit preachy at points. The result is that, while this book is an as much of an absolute must-read for computer geeks as its predecessor, the non-geek set is likely going to find this book hard to pallet.

Pros: Absolutely stupendous underlying concept. Fast-paced. More tech than a Bond film.

Cons: Cliche villains. Story is too broad in scope. Focus shifts from technology to economics. A touch preachy at time.

Synopsis

In Brief: The botnet set loose at the death of a famous gaming tycoon in the previous book has seized control of corporate networks around the globe. Now, agents recruited by the botnet are launching a second industrial revolution, forming communities with the aim of creating a network of sustainable economies, independent of the decaying capitalist systems of the world around them. But clandestine forces within the government, in collaboration with corrupt corporate interests, are plotting to seize control of the network and turn it to their own purposes.
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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Another End of the Empire” by Tim Pratt at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Catch ‘Em in the Act” by Terry Bisson at Tor.com.
• Listen to “Debris” by Kiini Ibura Salaam at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Elcano Syndrome” by Gustavo Bondoni at Beam Me Up.
• Listen to “Excision” by Scott H. Andrews at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Fading Light” by Simon Strantzas at PseudoPod.
• Listen to a free 10-minute preview clip from the audiobook Godkiller: Silent War.
• Listen to “A Knyght Ther Was” by Robert F. Young at Archive.org.
• Listen to “Memory Dog” by Kathleen Ann Goonan StarshipSofa.
• Listen to “On the Human Plan” by Jay Lake at Escape Pod.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• Axe Cop! is a comic written by a 5 year-old boy and illustrated by his older brother.
• Dark Horse is offering a Free Mass Effect iPhone Comic.

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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Another End of the Empire” by Tim Pratt at PodCastle.

More Links

• The highlight of the week is Crossed Genres Post a Story for Haiti feature. Authors are posting short stories over at their website. If you enjoy the stories, you’re invited to donate to a charity involved in Haiti relief.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Bram Stoker award-winning author Jonathan Maberry has posted free PDF download of a prequel to his novel Patient Zero available.
• Read an excerpt of Prince of Storms by Kay Kenyon.
• Read excerpts from Secrets of the Sands by Leona Wisoker at Grasping for the Wind: Part One, Part Two, Part 3, Part Four, and Part Five.

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Book: Mansfield Park and Mummies: Monster Mayhem, Matrimony, Ancient Curses, True Love, and Other Dire Delights
ISBN-13: 978-1607620471

Author: Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian
Publisher: Curiosities
Genre: Parody / Humor
Release: November 16, 2009
Length: 568 pages (Paperback)

Rating: B (85)

Verdict

Mansfield Park and Mummies is a hilarious satire. Nazarian puts a Monty Python spin on one of the most deadly dull classics of English literature and succeeds in transforming it into a hilarious farce, while still remaining true enough to the tone of the original tale that its deliciously ridiculous premise never overtakes the authenticity of its tone.

If you liked Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you need to read this book. It’s a pitch perfect encore.

Pros: The irreverent tone is perfectly executed. Tongue-in-cheek humor and vivid visuals read like a theatrical play.

Cons: Very long, even with hilarious sub-plots. Why always Jane Austin?

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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Above It All” by Carol Emshwiller at Fantasy Magazine,
• Listen to “All the King’s Monsters” by Megan Arkenberg at Clarkesworld.
• Listen to “Good & Faithful Servant” by Colin Davies at Beam Me Up.
• Listen to “The Kiosk” by Bruce Sterling at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “The Secret Protocols of the Elders of Zion” at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “The Starship Mechanic” by Ken Scholes and Jay Lake at Tor.com.
• Listen to “Turning the Apples” by Tina Connolly at Pseudopod.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction “Between the Wolf & The Dog” by C. Le Mroch.

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