We are pleased today to welcome Anton Strout, author of the Simon Canderous urban fantasy series.  His latest novel, Dead Matter, goes on sale today. Mr. Strout has graciously offered to give away two novels to commenters on today's post. Winners can choose between any of his novels:

SB Frank: Welcome Anton! On your website, you have the most intriguing factoid. You write that you are the co-creator of the faux folk musical Sneezin’ Jeff & Blue Raccoon: The Loose Gravel Tour (winner of the Best Storytelling Award at the First Annual New York International Fringe Festival). Can you tell us a little bit about the musical, about the festival, and about the award?

Anton Strout: The Read More

Dead to Me by Anton Strout

What is there to say about Anton Strout's Dead to Me? Good things, I mean, since that is my quest these days...to begin my reviews with the positive rather than the negative. This isn't proving to be easy and if I was a more paranoid person I'd wonder if Mr. Strout didn't just write Dead to Me for the sole purpose of trying my (admittedly rather short) patience.

Well, I love the fact that Strout chooses to give his character the power of psychometry. Oh, urban fantasy has all manner of necromancers, mind-readers, clairvoyants, and goodness only knows what else, but I can't recall ever seeing psychometry before. Certainly not by that name. The idea is pretty interesting and the fact that using it causes the main character, Simon Canderous, to suffer low blood sugar, is pretty amusing. Aside from that, Read More

Dead Matter by Anton Strout

Dead Matter is the third book in the Simon Canderous series by Anton Strout. Overall, it was entertaining, worth reading, and just missed being exceptional. One unexpected strength of Dead Matter is the plot, including the mystery. Too often, in fantasy billed as comedic, the plot or mystery suffers. Not so here. Anton Strout is an excellent story crafter, and his talent shines throughout. The setting is also strong: imagine Ghostbusters meets Dilbert. In this case, Simon works as a psychometrist (reading object histories) for the New York City Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs, an organization so wrapped up in red tape it’s amazing anyone can ever get out in the field to fight the Forces of Darkness. The main characters, too, especially Simon Canderous and his girlfriend Jane, are interesting enough to carry the re... Read More

Shadowed Souls edited by Jim Butcher & Kerrie L. Hughes

Shadowed Souls is an invitational anthology edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes. Butcher is the author of three fantasy series: THE DRESDEN FILES, THE CODEX ALERA, and THE CINDER SPIRES. Hughes is an established short fiction writer who has edited several anthologies including Chicks Kick Butt, Westward Weird, and Maiden Matron Crone.

The theme of Shadowed Souls is, “good isn’t always light and evil isn’t always dark,” and the eleven stories here showcase main characters — often from the writer’s series — who struggle not to give in to the monster within... or to keep it contained. While the stories are conventional, with conventional magic systems for the most part, this is a nice collecti... Read More

Just reports about his visit to GenCon. Comment for a chance to win a FanLit bookmark signed by R.A. Salvatore.

Each year in Indianapolis, thousands gather for what’s called “The Best 4 Days in Gaming.” Gencon Indy was held from August 5th to August 8th, 2010. This gathering of nerds is the largest of its kind in the country. If you are into Dungeons & Dragons or board games, this is your Mecca because over 8600 gaming-related activities are held over four days. Gencon is awesome, but you may be wondering how much it relates to fantasy. The truth is, without fantasy as inspiration, Gary Gygax would never have created Dungeons & Dragons. ... Read More