Sci-fi and fantasy author Kevin J. Anderson has delivered to his publisher the the final draft for his second book in the Terra Incognita fantasy series, The Map of All Things, weighing in at 704 pages.
“Within the next few months I will receive the publisher’s copy edit, then the typeset galleys for proofing, and the book will finally be released in June 2010,” Anderson wrote on his blog this week.
Anderson is primarily known for his work in science fiction, particularly in the Star Wars and Dune universes, where he has published prolifically over the past several decades. He is also well known for his Saga of the Seven Suns series.
The Terra Incognita series is his first venture into the fantasy world. The first book in the series, The Edge of the World, was published in June 2009 and is described on Amazon:
“Terra Incognita – the blank spaces on the map, past the edge of the world, marked only by the words “here be monsters. Two nations at war, fighting for dominion over the known, and undiscovered, world, pin their last hopes at ultimate victory on finding a land out of legend.
Each will send their ships to brave the untamed seas, wild storms, sea serpents, and darker dangers unknown to any man. It is a perilous undertaking, but there will always be the impetuous, the brave and the mad who are willing to leave their homes to explore the unknown. Even unto the edge of the world …”
The book received mixed reviews. Publisher’s Weekly‘s review, syndicated to Amazon, describes the book as an “uninspired series opener”. “The details of the cultures and politics add little insight into human nature, and a paucity of fantasy elements gives readers no reason to prefer this tale over its numerous contemporaries,” the review adds.
However, writing on Fantasy Book Critic, Liviu Suciu wrote:
“Fast moving, engrossing, clear prose and great characters you learn to care about. This is how “The Edge of World” read to me and despite its length I finished it quite quickly since it’s a very easy read. However this does not mean straightforward, since the novel twists and turns in quite unexpected directions and when you think you have an idea where it goes next, you are soon confounded … Highly, highly recommended and a notable 2009 fantasy novel for me.”
Her colleague Cindy Hannikman also liked the book.
“Kevin J. Anderson finishes 2nd Terra Incognita book”
How wonderful for him … I couldn’t even finish the first! ;)
I really must take exception to the description of these books as his first foray into fantasy, because it’s simply not true: everything he writes is fantasy, even if it has ships with rockets instead of sails and dinosaur transformers instead of dragons. I have yet to see anything from him that qualifies as real science fiction.
I’ve seen people rave about the world-building in this series and simply don’t get what they’re on about. He took Europe and Arabia and twisted them ever so slightly. Period. Wow, how original! His use of Latin as the arcane language of a world in which there was never a Rome makes no sense whatsoever. And his depiction of religious fanaticism is laughable.
I got the first volume thinking it would be fun to demolish the hackery, but it turned out to be so boring and silly that I just lost interest and gave up. I never read the hack before he began inappropriately touching Dune and I’ll never read another thing by him that doesn’t have “DUNE” on the cover.
Liviu Suciu wrote:
“Fast moving, engrossing, clear prose and great characters you learn to care about. This is how “The Edge of World” read to me and despite its length I finished it quite quickly since it’s a very easy read. However this does not mean straightforward, since the novel twists and turns in quite unexpected directions and when you think you have an idea where it goes next, you are soon confounded … Highly, highly recommended and a notable 2009 fantasy novel for me.”
let’s parse this a little ….
“Fast moving, clear prose” = simple writing
“finished it quickly, easy read” = simple writing
this is consistent with all of Keith’s Young Adult fiction,
which includes everything he’s ever had published.
“twists & turns in unexpected directions” – this would seem,
on it’s surface, to be praise for well-thought out and plotted
storylines; however, this is tehKJA under discussion, so a more
plausible explanation is that these “twists & turns” are actually
internal inconsistencies, another of Keith’s hallmarks.
“you are soon confounded” – I’d agree; I’ve been extremely
confounded ever since tehKJAckass was thrust into my life,
with his molesting of Dune …..Who is this guy? Why is he
published at all? And who thought he could write about
Dune? &etc.
“Highly, highly recommended and a notable 2009 fantasy novel for me”
Renai, just who is “Liviu Suciu” and what is his/her/its connection
to TOR, the HLP, Scientology, and so on? I can’t think of another
rational explanation for such an outlandish statement …
Suciu writes for Fantasy Book Critic; I don’t keep track of everyone’s stuff over there, but it is a pretty big site!
Hehe I guess I should have guessed if I did a KJA post you guys would come out out of the woodwork ;)
Well, just because we don’t always comment about other things doesn’t mean we aren’t watching. :)