Reading Recommendation: Singularity’s Ring at Brenda Cooper

Reading Recommendation: Singularity’s Ring

February 8th 2008 at 7:12 am

Singularity’s Ring by Paul Melko arrived via Amazon yesterday. Now, I read it long ago, since I got the lucky chance to blurb it. So I’ll quote myself, “Singularity’s Ring is an elegantly written and constructed thriller, simultanously an exciting chase novel, a thought provoking tour of a future Third World, and a clear-eyed meditation on the limits of individuality and belonging. Apollo Papadopulos is a most unusual protagonist, brilliantly conceived, the kind of character whose adventures make the real world seem somehow less real. I loved this novel, and I was sorry to see it end.”

And, by the way, the cover and the book design are drop-dead gorgeous.

Paul’s writing reminds me of Vernor Vinge and Karl Schroeder, two of my favorite hard sf writers.

By the way, I have a little story about finishing my advance copy. We had a heckuva wind storm last winter, the kind of windstorm that actally has a name and that people still talk about, the Hannukah Eve Windstorm. It knocked out power to almost the whole community east of Seattle where we live (there were stars over Bellevue, WA…a strange thing to see for a city dweller). The night of the storm I was finishing this book up. Since I work for a city, I was busy in our emergency operation center through the height of the storm, wherin a tree feel on my car and cracked the windshield. Two Police Captains had to help me get the tree off. Anyway, I drove home, the car rocked by wind, the glass in front of me creaking, Singularity’s Ring tucked into my backpack. I got home around midnight, if I remember correctly. Well, I had promised my blurb to Tor. So I finished the last few pages huddled under blankets like a kid in bed with a flashlight, which turned out to be a great way to ignore being downright cold with no power in winter. Then I sent the blurb over my blackberry since there was no power for the computers.

I’m glad Tor got it. Now, go get the book. It’s quite good.

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3 Responses so far

1. Karl Schroeder on Feb 11th, 2008 at 8:21 am

Congratulations on the book! It sounds cool and I’m definitely looking forward to reading it.

Gorgeous cover, by the way. That alone made me want to buy it.
2. Karl Schroeder on Feb 11th, 2008 at 8:22 am

Er–your book, I meant. I also blurbed Paul’s book, and I loved that too.
3. brenda on Feb 21st, 2008 at 6:48 pm

Thanks Karl! And yes, I’ve been lucky in my cover artist - it’s Stephen Martinniere.

Books

Reading the Wind by Brenda Cooper

Audio promo:

"Brenda Cooper's newest novel is a feast of character and concept. She depicts the devastation of war on microcosmic and macrocosmic levels, and even more so, the driving motives of young men and women caught in deadly conflict. Cooper is a master explorer of the interaction of society and individuals. She probes the psychology of her genetically enhanced characters with both rare depth and fidelity to scientific plausibility. Moral conundrums drive the plot in this unforgettable narrative. Don't miss this compelling work by a major new talent." - Mary A. Turzillo, An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl.

"Brenda Cooper tells a tale of a powerful brother and sister in a fight for their lives, offering insights along the way into the nature of courage and the hunger for community that burns in every human being. This is a lively book, full of colorful images and a memorable cast of human and animal characters, a worthy successor to The Silver Ship and the Sea." - Louise Marley

Available in July, 2008, from Tor Books.

The Silver Ship and the Sea by Brenda Cooper

Audio promo:

"The first solo novel by Larry Niven's Building Harlequin's Moon (2005) coauthor portrays the thoroughly convincing human colonial society on Fremont, a dangerous planet rife with vicious predators, frequent earthquakes, and falling meteors....Distinctive characterizations, well-limned interrelationships, and the vividly realized Fremont contribute to an exciting coming-of-age story with a strong message about the evils of prejudice." - Sally Estes, Copyright American Library Association.

Mass Market Paperback, July 2008.
Included by Booklist as a "Best Adult Book for Young Adults."

Building Harlequin's Moon by Brenda Cooper and Larry Niven

"Fans of both hard and softer, psychological SF will welcome veteran Niven and newcome Cooper's well-written tale of a 60,000 year layover in space, in which physical challenges of world building are matched by the social challenges of collaboration among disparate groups." - Publisher's Weekly

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