A Lee Martinez book thread

Because A Lee Martinez has some cool books and I never seem to talk to anyone else who has read them.

For anyone who isn't familiar but has someone tripped into the thread and is all confused, A Lee Martinez is a cool writer man who writes some cool books. And he doesn't seem to like sequels so nearly everything he writes is a brand new, strange setting with its own quirks and draws. He also really, really likes eldritch abominations. Most of his books have one. Too Many Curses and Chasing the Moon have several.

But yeah, settings. He'll do an urban fantasy where gods sign up for profiles on dating-ish websites to try to attract new followers (Divine Misfortune) or where there's animal control for mythological critters (Monster) or more stock fantasy settings (as in Company of Ogres and Nameless Witch).

If you have the time, pick up one of his books. For the novelty if nothing else but also for the good times.

For people who already have read some of his stuff, what was your favorite? And/or what would you like to see adapted into another medium?

I personally like Too Many Curses.

I haven't read anything by him, but I'd really like to check out Emperor Mollusk Versus The Sinister Brain. Because with a title like that, how can I not?

I know, right? Its such a great title. I can't help but say it olde timey radio style to myself.

There used to be a place on his website where you could read the first chapter for free but I can't find it. It looks like Amazon has the first chapter up though.

Saying it in an old-timey radio presenter voice is a must. I just took that as granted.

And aha! That should have been obvious to me. Then again, I hadn't even thought of that book in some while before seeing this thread. So kudos to you for that.

No problem. Getting people to read A Lee Martinez stuff is its own reward probably.

I've read pretty much everything by him. I can't say that any of them struck me as great, but none of them were really bad either. They're quick, fun reads. My favorite is probably Monster, followed by the latest one (Helen and Troy's something something Road Trip) and A Nameless Witch.

I read Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain. I think if you like Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat series you'll like this one - it's the same light-hearted riff on sci-fi pulp.

My only problem is that he creates characters and worlds that scream for follow up and never does.

Well, he released a book of short stories recently that build in his established settings.

Just finished Too Many Curses. Why oh why do we not have a page for it yet? It was just so damn charming, but with a ridiculous amount of quality Nightmare Fuel from the Big Bad.

And to be honest? I liked the open ending. I mean, let's face it, when you get to know the characters in their cursed form, the curse breaking kinda feels like a bit of a let down, since the eccentricities of their curse is part of their charm.

I guess we don't have a page because not enough people have read it. We could totally make a page happen though.

Whelp, I've added a horribly anemic page in desperate need of filling: Too Many Curses

I expanded it slightly. Does Martinez himself have a page? That I think would be a worthier endeavor than just one of his works

I've only read one of his books, so that's all I can really contribute.

Picked up The Automatic Detective today. Is good shit. Had me charmed from the first mention of an intuition simulator.

Aaand...done. I really liked that Holt was the kid the nefarious conspiracy needed, rather than the kid with the flashy psychic powers.

edited 28th Mar '14 2:48:51 AM by rikalous

Glad you liked it! Are you considering picking up anything else he wrote?

Also, short story called Belly of the Dragon that Martinez posted on his site.

edited 21st May '14 5:12:37 PM by Bocaj

I am remarkably cheap and have a great many books on my backlog already, so probably only if another one shows up in the library system.

Fair enough.

Okay, I am likely gonna give this guy a read. Which one would be best to start?

ALL OF THEM! Or the ones I mentioned elsewhere...

Also, more Martinez short fictions:
The Truth About Magic.
Coffee and Jealousy.

Less than five hundred words collectively.

More short fictions is worth double posting probably.

Old Soldiers.
Story on a Beach.
Charlie's Monsters.

Edit: Free fiction sure is neat.

The Needs of Gods.

Edit edit:

Say it With a Smile.

Guy has crazy story ideas.

Edit x3:

Happy Accident.

Time Enough.

Edit: Death and the Clown.

Lost and Found.

Rainfall.

The Company of the Dead.

Unwound.

edited 11th Jun '14 5:14:51 PM by Bocaj

The Plight of the Lonely French Fry.

Based on Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest.

Edit: Wounds.

The Last Mortals.

The Color of Madness.

Rogue. Related to Automatic Detective.

Looking Back.

The Faceless King by A Lee Martinez.

Based on the Demon with 10,000 Fists setting but I'm having trouble pulling that story up. The page won't load for me anyway.

Unseen Problems based on Gil's All Fright Diner setting.

Graves.

Everything You Want.

Battle Scars by A Lee Martinez.

Context: Same setting as Emperor Mollusk vs the Sinister Brain and Cindy and Cragg. Saturnian Rockmen tried to invade Earth which was under the tyrannical protectorship/rule of Emperor Mollusk. So he blew up a chunk of Saturn. As you do. Now bunches of rockmen live on Earth and have menial jobs. Sucks. One such is Cragg who had a bit part in the original novel working as a bagman at the grocery that Emperor Mollusk shops at. In the short story Cindy and Cragg from the short story anthology Robots vs Slime Monsters, coworker Cindy goes out on a date with Cragg to an employee morale thing. That's all the context you need.

Souls for Sale.

Hole. Follows up on the previous story.

Extraction Also follows up from the previous story.

Untitled. Also also follows up from the previous story.

The saga of Jack ends.

Ants

The Robot Who Scanned Too Much

Bones

edited 9th Jul '14 11:51:27 AM by Bocaj

The Numbers Game.

Edit:

One of These Doomsdays. First chapter from an unpublished book.

Champions.

Mean Streets

Time and Forgiveness

Bad Meat.

One of These Doomsdays chapter 2

Directives.

Waking Up Green.

Thin Line.

Citizen Drat.

One of These Doomsdays chapter 3.

The Roommate.

edited 28th Jul '14 1:55:13 PM by Bocaj

At the least, I'm making it easy for myself to find any of these stories later.

The Last Sentence.

Find the Lady.

Sofas for Less.

One of These Doomsdays chapter 4.

The Button.

Nothing to Lose.

Distant Shores.

Fires of Titans.

One of These Doomsdays chapter 5.

Inhuman Resources

Girlfriends. Based on the Helen and Troy setting.

All the Wrong Angles.

edited 14th Aug '14 3:19:30 PM by Bocaj

One of These Doomsdays Chapter 6.

The Bogeyman War.

Human.

Bash of the Titans.

One of These Doomsdays chapter 7.

Legends.

One of These Doomsdays chapter 8

One of These Doomsdays chapter 9.

One of these Doomsdays chapter 10.

Dead Guy part 1

Dead Guy part 2

10,000 Times.

. . . For a dollar.

edited 23rd Nov '14 9:41:20 AM by Bocaj