Me, and book reviews

This weekend at World Fantasy Convention I was asked several times if I do book reviews. The short answer is that I don't. However, I did encounter a couple of people who were interested in getting my opinion about specific aspects of their books...and that I feel is within my purview. TalkToYoUniverse is all about language and culture and writing, and those of you who have been following me for a while know that I get pretty analytical sometimes. So if you're interested in having me look at your book and analyze a small piece of it to look at worldbuilding or point of view or cultural representations etc. I'm willing to consider it. It will be something of a different angle on the book than you'd see in a general review, and more congruent with my theme.

In this vein, then, I'm going to be doing a piece in the next week or two about a new book that's coming out called The Fallen Queen by Jane Kindred. Lucky me, I was given it in Advance Reader Copy by an agent at the convention, and it's a lot of fun! I'm also hoping to see another ARC from someone I met... this could be really cool and interesting.

Exciting Review of Cold Words

Today I discovered the following review in Locus magazine, from Gardner Dozois:

"Also good in the October Analog is "Cold Words," by new writer Juliette Wade, a story about a diplomatic mission to an alien planet that's in danger of foundering on the rocks of cultural misunderstandings. Wade does a really good job of creating alien aliens, with their own distinctly non-human psychology and cultural values, and showing how language, the words themselves, can both create barriers and help to tear them down."

I was thrilled to receive good words from such a highly respected reviewer. I have a big smile on my face right now.