New Arrivals : It's a Book!

Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer, illustrated by Douglas Holgate

Like many people, I devoured the Lunar Chronicles series. They had me at “cyborg Cinderella” I’M NOT MADE OF STONE, PEOPLE.  It was a fun series with adventure, humor, and the kind of friendships we all hope for. So I was really excited to find out that Marissa Meyer was writing a comic book spinoff of the series. Wires and Nerve follows the exploits of Iko as she goes after the rogue wolf soldiers left on Earth. Excited, yes, but also a little nervous. I’m picky about my comic books—if I don’t love the art, it doesn’t matter if the story is great. And if the art is wonderful but the story is flat? I’m putting the book down. Not every novelist can manage the crossover into another form, either. Finally, there’s always the concern that a side character won’t have enough narrative oomph to carry a story on their own.

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I managed to get my grubby little paws on an early copy of Wires and Nerve, and let me tell you, friends, you can breathe a sigh of relief. If you loved the original series, you’ll love the comic book. Meyer has used this opportunity to not only deliver Iko as her usual, charming self, but also to give us a more in-depth look into the problems of being an android. As much as Cinder faced prejudice for being a cyborg, Iko is constantly being dismissed as a non-entity—a frustration she handles with humor and wit, but a frustration nonetheless.

All of the other characters from the book are present, too. After all, things don’t wrap up with an easy, “And they lived happily ever after” at the end of the novels. Rebuilding takes work and time, and in the comic we get a glimpse of the characters getting on with the necessary business of starting over.

Let’s talk about the art. Wires & Nerve is done in various blues, blacks, and grays and usually I prefer my comics in full color. I thought the scheme worked for this book, though, what with the general setting being in ships, space, and the Lunar settlement. Doug Holgate’s drawings are charming and whimsical and I thought an excellent fit for the story.

Basically, if you liked the books, you need to get your mitts on the comic. Don’t usually read comics? This is a good place to start! Haven’t read the Lunar Chronicles? Well, you can read the comic without having read the series, but you will get a ton of spoilers for the books. So maybe you should just read all of the books. You won’t regret it. I mean, if cyborg Cinderella didn’t sway you, I’m not sure you can be reasoned with. Wolf soldiers? Dashing starship captains? Evil queens? Feisty androids that fight human prejudice as well as genetically engineered killing machines? I don’t know about you guys, but for me that translates into shut up and take my money.

New Arrivals : It’s a Book!

Sometimes the stars align, the planets fall into place, the heavens open, and you fall in love with a book. Nothing is better than that feeling. And then you find out that the author has another book coming out and suddenly you’re swamped by two very different and conflicting emotions. On one hand, you are excited and happy that you get more from a talented writer that speaks to you on a bone-deep level. On the other hand, what if that last book was a fluke? What if the next one doesn’t live up to everything the last book promised?

In 2015, Ottessa Moshfegh released the book Eileen to much fanfare. It was an Indie Next pick, it was short listed for the Man Booker prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction, and David Sedaris picked it as his recommended book for his Fall 2016 tour. Basically, Moshfegh knocked it out of the park. We had two separate staff recommendations for it:

“Oh Eileen. You are antisocial, you are untrustworthy, you are selfish and self-hating at the same time. You are obsessive, you are put-upon. The way you live your life makes my skin crawl. So why do I love you so much?” –Anje

 “A pretty wild departure from her debut (but equally excellent) novella McGlue, Eileen is a gut-wrenching journey with one of the most intriguing antiheroes I've ever encountered. Darker, complex interior lives of seedy characters are Moshfegh's stock-in-trade but that murkiness shouldn't dissuade potential readers. It is a fearless, compulsively readable novel that reads as if it's on fire.” –Wes

This week, Moshfegh’s new short story collection, Homesick for Another World, is out. And if you think Eileen got a lot of attention, people have been chomping at the bit for this collection. Why? Because Moshfegh is particularly known for her short stories. She’s been published in The Paris Review, The New Yorker and Granta. Her short stories have earned her a Pushcart Prize, an O. Henry Award, the Plimpton Discovery Prize, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Moshfegh has been described as our Flannery O’Conner, which is saying something. (Basically that the stories will be weird and awesome.) So if you love a great short story, this collection is for you. If you’re new to short stories, Homesick for Another World is a good place to start. Wes described it as, “The weirdness and darkness of ‘Eileen’ ratcheted up to a ten, to all of our benefits.” 

He also sent me this gif, which I assume means, “this book is number one.” You’ll just have to judge for yourself.

-Lish

New Arrivals : It's a Book!

There is a bit of a curse in being a book lover—there are many, many books in this world and try though you might, you can't read all of them. I’m occasionally struck by an overwhelming dread about this fact, and I know I’m not alone. The thing is, even if you’re not on an epic quest to read every book ever written, there are still so many books and more come out every Tuesday. How do you choose?

It is a wonderful and horrible problem to have—this indecision, but we here at Third Place Books would like to help you out a little bit by highlighting our favorite new releases, on New Release Tuesday.

So here we go!

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

The Bear and the Nightingale begins with Vasya and her sibling huddled around a fireplace as their nurse spins tales about Frost, the winter demon. Arden’s voice and world building is strong—she envelops you with sensory details of Vasilisa’s world. Reading the opening pages you can almost feel the sharp bite of cold as you come in from outside. The fire is warm, the smell of honey cakes redolent in the air, and the creaky, worn voice of the storyteller beckons you to sit closer. The story is rich with fairy tale elements, but also steadied by the reality of 14th century Russia.

My coworker, Vlad, states it more eloquently:

What struck me from the very first paragraph in The Bear and the Nightingale was the confidence of the writing; I was immediately pulled into a liminal space, between historical and fable. The lives of Vasya and her family, and their medieval Russian culture are painted in evocative detail, and yet Arden effortlessly slips the reader into this fantastical layer of ancient spirits large and small that permeates the Russian countryside.

The book draws from a wealth of folklore and fable without losing a certain modern appeal: Vasya's struggle as a young woman against a strict patriarchal tradition; the clash between faiths—the old beliefs versus Christianity; the ageless human urges and failings, vanity, deceit, lust, fear.

Arden's prose itself is lively and engaging, and bolsters the intricate balance of her story.

There is, in fact, a heady richness to the novel, and it’s especially remarkable when you consider that the book is Arden’s debut. The Bear and the Nightingale immediately puts her into good company—the book is being likened to the works of Neil Gaiman, Erin Morgenstern, and Naomi Novik. I would recommend her for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s books as well.

And luckily, this book is just the first course. The Bear and the Nightingale is the first book in a three book series, so you have more to look forward to. The book hits the shelves today, so come on down and take a peek. (Or you can even take a sneak peek on Katherine Arden’s website as she has some excerpts posted!)

-Lish