Welcome to my worlds!

I'm James Maxey, author of fantasy and science fiction. My novels include the science fantasy Bitterwood Saga (4 books) the Dragon Apocalypse Saga (4 books), numerous superhero novels including Nobody Gets the Girl and the Lawless series, the steampunk Oz sequel Bad Wizard, and my short story collections, There is No Wheel and Jagged Gate. This website is focused exclusively on writing. At my second blog, Jawbone of an Ass, I ramble through any random topic that springs to mind, occasionally touching on religion and politics and other subjects polite people are sensible enough not to discuss in public. If you'd like to get monthly updates on new releases, as well as preview chapters and free short stories, join my newsletter!




Saturday, August 14, 2010

News! Reviews! Links!

First, Loren Eaton at the blog "I Saw Lightning Fall" has just posted a review of Dragonseed. He writes: Dragonseed maintains Maxey's typical mix of SF and fantasy, as well as addressing familiar themes such as naturalism and faith, the limits of political interventionism, and the danger of demagogy. Also, the novel serves up pleasingly complex battles as snarled as a catnip-spiked ball of yarn tossed into a box full of kittens. It's consistently entertaining stuff. Read the full review here.

Second, Joseph Mallozzi, executive producer of the various Stargate series and a fellow contributor in the Masked anthology invited me to drop by his blog and discuss the secret origins of my short story "Where Their Worm Dieth Not." The entry is live as of this morning. Check it out here.

One last note: I've gotten about a dozen superpowers suggested so far for Ap. (See the previous post if you don't know what I'm talking about.) I know it's tough to think of a superpower that hasn't already been used before. Yesterday I was brainstorming with some friends and every odd power they could think of I could point to a character that had already used that power. Someone suggested the power to bring inanimate objects to life, so that you could, for instance, animate an army of kitchen chairs to rise and do your bidding. I had to point out that this was exactly the superpower of Life Lass, a character who made occasional appearances in Legion of Superheroes. Legion sort of raised the bar for thinking of a new power--once you get to Matter-Eater Lad and Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, you know you're hitting the limits of useful powers. But, even if you know a power isn't original, and just want to enter the contest for the giveaway, feel free to send it in.

No comments: