… & here are some photos from one of my favourite gardens, The Giant’s House in Akaroa. Enjoy!

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Happy New Year, my friends.

I have a January 1 post up on the Supernatural Underground, in which I marry the real life and epic fantasy traditions of “road trip” — with photos, no less. A spot o’ fun for the first day of the year, which you can check out via the following link:

Happy New Year, Supernatural Undergrounders

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And a nice bit of news that came through on the tail end of the old year was that Daughter of Blood made Fantasy Literature.com’s Best Books of 2016 list — very exciting and added some gloss to my New Year’s Eve. 🙂

Fantasy Literature: Our Favorite Books Of 2016 — & Giveaway

UK/AU/NZ

USA

Enjoy the rest of your New Year holiday.

It’s the time of year for lists and I can think of no better day to share the Top 10 posts that featured here  “…on Anything, Really” this year.

To mix things up a bit year I’m listing them chronologically, so I hope you have fun with that. 🙂

Now, here’s that list.

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USA

The 10 Most-Read Posts of “…On Anything Really”, 2016:

1. January 26 — Here At Last: Let’s Welcome Daughter of Blood!

Now, that was a moment: so glad it made it into the “most-read” list for the year. 😉

UK/AU/NZ

2. February 5 — Daughter Of Blood: Deleted Scene — Malian & Raven In Aralorn

Delighted, too, that some of you wanted moar!
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3. February 23 — Leaving The Red Zone: Poems from the Canterbury Earthquakes — An Anthology Edited by James Norcliffe & Joanna Preston

I felt honoured to have work (poems) included in this very important publication.
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Guy Gavriel Kay

4. July 4 — An Interview with Guy Gavriel Kay

Yes, doing that interview was definitely a ‘moment’, as I am a longtime fan of the great GGK.
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KimFalconer

5. July 21 — Guest Post: Kim Falconer on “Narrative Point Of View”

Kim’s guest post was part of her blog tour celebrating publication of The Blood in the Beginning — and her insights into narrative point of view appear to have rocked “…on Anything, Really” readers’ world. Great stuff!
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6. August 1 — Trees in Fantasy Fiction

Trees were something of a theme this year, but this post put them into a Fantasy context. So glad you all seem to have enjoyed the exercise.
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Kristen Blount

7. August 12: The Wall of Night Character Series: Kristen Blount Features Raven

This series arose from a mystery giveaway I did here on the blog — and decided to let everyone who entered be a winner. (Why not?) Readers seem to have felt Kristen Blount’s guest post on Ser Raven, International Man of Mystery, was a winner, too. 🙂
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8. August 27 — Use of Names, Part 2: Character and Identity — When Names Have Deeper Meanings

This post was part of a Use of Names post series (or mini series) but although its fellow instalments were popular this is the one that seems to have really struck a chord.

9. October 20 — The 50th Anniversary of Dune & Why It’s Still Significant

Invoking the title, Dune, is probably a case of “enough said.” But although the actual 50th anniversary was last year (2015), I wanted to expand a little on why I think the book remains significant and still speaking to us, 50 years after it was first published.
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Paul Weimer

10. December 8 — An Avid Reader Special: Paul Weimer’s Top 5 Reads of 2015

It’s always a thrill when a blog contributor makes the Top 10 & ‘three times counts for all’ — so I’m delighted that Paul’s Top 5 SFF reads of 2016 have found favour with readers. A post that well repays the investment of your reading time if you havena read it already.

Enjoy — both the list above and your New Year’s Eve!

Regular visitors here will know Rebecca from her regular Big Worlds On Small Screens column and shared my pleasure that she returned from her sabbatical (focusing on her studies) to share her Top 5 shows of 2016.

You can read that post on:

Rebecca Fisher’s Top 5 Shows of 2016

Today Rebecca’s back to share the 5 films she is really looking forward to watching in 2017.

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Rebecca Fisher’s Five Most-Anticipated Films of 2017

Moana

Coming of Age / Fantasy-Adventure

Okay, I’m cheating a little considering Moana came out at the end of 2016 – but the film was released in other countries a month before New Zealand, and most of us probably won’t get the chance to see it until well after Christmas, so it’s going on this list.

Moana is Disney’s first Polynesian princess, and the film itself is filled with the music and culture of the South Pacific – to say I’m excited is an understatement.

Wonder Woman

Superhero Fantasy

We have endless big-screen adaptations of Superman and Batman – now FINALLY the world’s first superheroine is getting her turn. Gal Gadot briefly appeared as the Amazonian Princess in Zack Synder’s Superman vs Batman, now she takes centre stage with her lasso and gauntlets in order to intervene in the First World War.

The Lego Batman Movie

Comic / Superhero

2014’s The Lego Movie turned out to be unexpectedly good, and its highlight was their hilarious take on Batman: a showboating narcissist who wrote a heavy metal song about his dead parents. It was only a matter of time before he was given his own spin-off film, but if the trailers are anything to go by, it’s going to be just as funny as the last.

Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets

Space Opera

I spent most of my fourteenth year obsessed with Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element, so I was pretty happy to learn he was returning to the space opera subgenre. I’ll admit I don’t know much about the plot (beyond the fact it’s based on a French comic book) but the first trailer looks incredible.

Trailer: Valerian & The City of A Thousand Planets

Star Wars Episode VIII

Space Opera

We don’t even have a proper title for it yet; but the countdown is already on for the second instalment in the new Star Wars trilogy. Having laid the groundwork in The Force Awakens, I’m hoping new director Rian Johnson will take the story in more unexpected directions, with plenty of development for Luke and Leia as well as Rey and Finn. So far the whole thing has been shrouded in secrecy, which is probably just as well. The less we know, the more enjoyable the surprises will be…

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Rebecca Fisher

About Rebecca Fisher

Rebecca Fisher is a graduate of the University of Canterbury with a Masters degree in English Literature, mainly, she claims, because she was able to get away with writing her thesis on C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. She is a reviewer for FantasyLiterature.com, a large website that specializes in fantasy and science-fiction novels, as well as posting reviews to Amazon.com and her They’re All Fictional blog.

Rebecca won the 2015 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Fan Writer.

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To read the previous  instalments in this Top 5 series, click on the “5 Most-Anticipated Books” posts below:

Paul Weimer

Karen McMillan

Yesterday, Paul Weimer let us in on his 5 “most-anticipated” books of 2017. Today, Karen McMillan is here to share what she is looking forward to, reading-wise, in the coming year.

If you missed it earlier in the month, Karen’s Top 5 fiction reads for 2016 are featured here:

Karen McMillan’s Top 5 Reads Of 2016

As with Paul’s post yesterday, relevant covers or cover images may not be available yet, in which case I shall either deploy one from an earlier book in a series, or use none.

Now, onward to what Karen is looking forward to in 2017.

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Karen McMillan’s Five Most-Anticipated Books for 2017

There are many books that I’ve heard information about that I am looking forward to reading in 2017. Here are five that I would like to share with you:

The March of the Foxgloves by Karyn Hay

Historical Fiction

Actually, this book has just published, but many people probably won’t get to read it until 2017, so I’ve included it here. Photographer Frances Woodward arrives from London to the far-flung colony of New Zealand in 1893, wanting to forge a new path of her own making, not the constraints of her puritanical father. She is also escaping the cruelties of 19th Century narcissist, Benedict Hunt, in a story about overcoming obsession. This is a well-written novel that is also very humorous. This is the first in a trilogy, and I can’t wait to read more. A very entertaining read!

City of Friends by Joanna Trollope

Contemporary

This is the twentieth novel from this bestselling author, so you are in very capable hands – and I’ve been fortunate to read an advance copy. Stacey Grant loses her high-flying job and feels like it is the last day of her life. As she struggles with the contrast of her previous professional life for one that now consists of long boring days at home with her dog and ailing mother, at least she knows she has her oldest friends to rely on. But her friends are having personal problems of their own, and soon long cherished friendships are pushed to the limit. This is a very believable and engaging read that is character-driven and emotionally compelling.

The Most Beautiful Women in Florence by Alyssa Palombo

Historical Fiction

I don’t have any information on this book yet, except the fact it’s the second novel by the author of The Violinist of Venice, a book I adored that published in 2015.

Her first book was a lyrical, beautifully written historical novel set in Italy, so I hope that Alyssa Palombo’s new novel will have the same magical elements!

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett

Historical Thriller

A Column of Fire will form one of the ‘Kingsbridge’ series, with The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. It is a spy story set in the sixteenth century, during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. Ken Follett is a storyteller who meticulously researches for his books, so this is definitely a book to look forward to later in 2017!

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah wrote the heart-wrenching historical novel, The Nightingale. I don’t know what her new novel is about, but she is such a fantastic writer, I can’t wait to read her latest offering. It will be publishing the end of 2017.

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Karen McMillan

About Karen McMillan:

Karen McMillan is the author of Unbreakable Spirit, The Paris of the East, and The Paris of the West — but despite this typically modest bio there is a great deal more to Karen’s writing and industry career, which you can read about in more detail here. She is also on Twitter: @KarenMcMillanNZ

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To read the previous  instalment in this Top 5 “Most Anticipated in 2017” series, click on:

Paul Weimer’s Five Most-Anticipated Books of 2017

Earlier in the month, Paul Weimer, Karen McMillan, and Rebecca Fisher shared their Top 5 books and/or shows of the year with us. Over the next three days, they’ll be sharing their most eagerly anticipated books or (in Rebecca’s case) shows coming up in 2017.

Relevant covers or cover images may not be available yet, in which case I shall either deploy one from an earlier book (or show) in a series, or use none.

So here, without further ado, is reader, reviewer, podcaster, gamer, and photographer, Paul Weimer, with his “most anticipated” 5 (books) for 2017.

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Paul Weimer’s Five Most-Anticipated Books of 2017

With 2016 behind us, to the relief of many, 2017 and its slate of books and authors awaits all of us readers at last. Here are just five of the many books I am excited to get to read in 2017. As always, I will delight in the books I don’t even know about just yet. But for now, these are the books I am salivating the most to read this year.

The House of Binding Thorns, Aliette De Bodard

Alternate Historical Fantasy

The House of Binding Thorns is a standalone sequel to De Bodard’s fabulous novel The House of Shattered Wings. (One of my top five reads for 2015: https://helenlowe.info/blog/2015/12/21/an-avid-reader-special-paul-weimers-top-5-reads-of-2015/) The House of Binding Thorns promises to switch focus from House Silverspires to House Hawthorn, and its leader, the charismatic antagonist Lord Asmodeus. Madeline, the alchemist of Silverspires reclaimed by Hawthorn in the course of the previous novel, is sent to make contact with the underwater dragon kingdom we only got the very briefest of looks at in the previous novel. Dragons, Houses, Fallen Angels and Alchemists. And a wonderful apocalyptic alternate historical fantastical setting in ruined Paris. What more could I want?

The Stars are Legion, Kameron Hurley

Space Opera

Kameron Hurley has written gritty war-infused SF (The Nyx Trilogy), epic fantasy (The Worldbreaker novels) and non fiction essays besides. Her work is as bright and sharp as the desert of Nyx’s world, as inventive as the cultures of the Mirror Empire, and as mind-expanding as her non fiction. The Stars are Legion promises to take her writing to a new and exciting realm: Space Opera. Decaying world-ships traveling the galaxy? A huge interstellar war? Desperate survivors willing to risk all? Count me on board!

Brother’s Ruin, Emma Newman

Gaslight Fantasy

Emma Newman first came to my attention as a new writer who traveled across the seas from England to attend a convention local to me. I was enchanted by her urban fantasy Split World novels, with strong characters, feminism, Fae, Sorcerers and much more in the shadows of the modern day world. Her turn into science fiction, starting with Planetfall, has been startlingly good. Brother’s Ruin (Industrial Magic #1) extends her genre range even further, moving into the realm of gaslight fantasy, set in a 19th century where a lower middle class brother and sister’s secret about their magical abilities promises to put questions of class, gender, and magic together in a character blender and set on high.

Cover of the first-in-series

A Tyranny of Queens, Foz Meadows

Portal Fantasy

Foz Meadows’ An Accident of Stars, a triumphant and uncompromising look at the subgenre of Portal Fantasy, was one of my top five reads of 2016 (https://helenlowe.info/blog/2016/12/08/an-avid-reader-special-paul-weimers-top-5-reads-of-2016/ ). It was, much like Alyx Dellamonica’s Stormwrack trilogy, Portal fantasy done right, with the issues and problems plaguing the genre addressed head on, with a strong main character and fascinating secondary world. I am delighted that the sequel, A Tyranny of Queens, is set to come out this year. With the initial wheels of the world, and the main characters already set, I am really eager to see where Meadows takes the character of Saffron, the nation of Kena on the other side of the portal,  the rest of the world beyond it, and more.

The Stone in the Skull, Elizabeth Bear

Epic Fantasy

I’ve been a fan of the work of Elizabeth Bear from the very beginning of her career, having gotten a leg up on knowing about her and fiction through a personal connection in the world of roleplaying games. I’ve read in delight as Bear has developed and grown as an author, conquering subgenre after subgenre. A particular favorite of mine is her epic fantasy Eternal Sky trilogy. Now, with The Stone in the Skull, Bear returns to a new area of her Eternal Sky world, with dynastic war, automations, dark sorcery and much more in store. I’m more than ready to walk the Celadon Highway again.

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About Paul Weimer: 

Paul Weimer is a writer, gamer, blogger, podcaster, photographer, and ubiquitous genre enthusiast. At venues ranging from Skiffy and Fanty to SFF Audio and beyond, he can be found exploring the world of science fiction and fantasy. He can be found on his own website http://www.skyseastone.net/jvstin, on Twitter @princejvstin, and many other places on the internet.

The Curve of the World

Summer breathes
through marram grass, salt-tough
where the southerly whips in
off the Pacific, light &
shadow all the way out
to the distant smudge
of albatross feeding—at night
you see lights dance,
squid boats fishing
the same spot.
The larger ships, too,
follow the albatross road,
tall towers disappearing
beneath the curve
of the world …

The wind sweeps in, recounts
tales of ships, albatross,
men with eyes bleached
to seams … tells
it all to the salt grass
and driftwood piled
into a beach fire—

smoke wavers upward
in a thin stream, dissipates
into the gulf
of sky.

(c) Helen Lowe
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Published in JAAM 27: Wanderings, ed. Ingrid Horrocks,  2009

Huka Falls

It’s Boxing Day — and although I realise that could mean indulging in an orgy of shopping, I really can’t think of anything more boring to do on a holiday. Not to mention wasting precious summer sunshine hours buying stuff I almost certainly don’t need anyway.

Instead, today I took a look at the fabulous Huka Falls where the Waikato River begins its journey from Lake Taupo to the sea. I think the photo gives you an idea of the power and force of water forcing its way through the gorge.

I’ve also been thinking about those words that I posted yesterday, from Howard Thurman, particularly the line, “To bring peace among people.” Someone remarked to me, “shouldn’t it be ‘peace among nations’, though: isn’t that the bromide?”

Obviously I can’t pretend to know what Howard Thurman intended, but I can’t help wondering if the words “peace among people” were not chosen with care.

Reflecting on yesterday’s Christmas Day post

“Peace among nations” may be an ideal we all aspire to, but it does not feel like an achievable goal for most of us individually. Peace among people, however, lies within all our power; it’s something we can individually aspire to and practice: peace within our families, peace with our neighbours, peace in our workplaces, peace in our clubs and community organisations and professional associations.

“Peace among people” is on all of us. It’s something we can all actively try and bring about — and much in the sense of the old aphorism that if we “take care of the pence, the pounds will take care of themselves”, if we all practice building and sustaining peace at an individual level, then one day it might catch on sufficiently that we may well find that we have been laying a foundation for peace among nations as well.

Food for thought, anyway (Boxing Day style.)

In terms of what’s coming up this week, tomorrow I’ll have another poem for you, then over Wednesday 28 – Friday 30th I’ll be running the second part of the “Avid Reader & Viewer” special, with Paul Weimer, Karen McMillan, and Rebecca Fisher looking forward to five forthcoming books and shows of 2017.

Paul Weimer

Meanwhile, here’s a Reprise on their Top 5 for 2016:

Paul Weimer’s Top 5 Reads

Karen McMillan

Karen McMillan’s Top 5 Fiction Reads

Rebecca Fisher

Rebecca Fisher’s Top 5 Shows

“When the song of angels is stilled

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost

To heal the broken

To feed the hungry

To release the prisoner

To bring peace among people

To make music in the heart.”

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by Howard Thurman

Fellowship of Reconciliation

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I posted this poem for my first blog Christmas in 2010. I am reposting it again for Christmas 2016 because the words seem as relevant now as they did then, if not more so — a reminder, if such a reminder is necessary, that there is more to Christmas than the “season of excess”.

I hope the post finds all those who made journeys safely arrived, and all those who are at home in a good place. For those who are not in a safe or a good place, then I hope there may be others who reach out to help you — and that we may all find a way to reach out and help others, both today and in the year ahead.

Take care, one and all.

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

~ Jack London, 1876 – 1916

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I find this particular observation both humorous and motivational — and the observation is as true now as when it was first made, over a century ago.