What is Carrie Vaughn reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Carrie Vaughn, author of Discord's Apple as well the New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series featuring werewolf talk radio host, Kitty Norville.

Her entry begins:

The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

I've been happily diving into Steven Erikson's epic fantasy series, The Malazan Book of the Fallen. This is actually kind of surprising, because I'm not a huge reader of epic fantasy. Sure, I've read The Lord of the Rings, as all fantasy fans ought at least once. But my usual pattern is to read the first book in a long series (such as Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World, the first book in the monster-huge The Wheel of Time Series), agree that it's a lot of fun, and feel absolutely no need to go on to the next book. Usually, I get enough of a sense of the style and tone of the writing, and where the story is going, that I get quite enough of that world, thank you very much. I'm a slow reader. I don't want to take the time to read seven eight-hundred-page books about the same thing.

What makes Erikson different? Well, everything. The trappings are all there -- warriors, vast armies battling for the fate of the world, magic, wizards, thieves, dark prophecies, deposed kings, long journeys, and so on. But they're all tilted. Skewed. Erikson has a built a history that covers hundreds of thousands of years, in which immortal beings actually remember those hundreds of thousands of years. They've watched thousands of vast armies battle for thousands of worlds in that time. The scale is...[read on]

Among the early praise for Discord's Apple:

"Carrie Vaughn weaves a gorgeous tapestry of the human condition in a post apocalyptic world filled with mystery, magic, and immortals. Her world building is masterful!"
--L.A. Banks, New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth

“Discord’s Apple is an intriguing blend of fantasy, action, and adventure. A modern day fairy tale you won’t want to end!”
--Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author of The Darkest Whisper

"Myths, magic and mayhem abound in Carrie Vaughn’s Discord’s Apple. Once you take a bite, you won’t be able to put it down."
--Lori Handeland, New York Times bestselling author of Apocalypse Happens

Read an excerpt from Discord's Apple, and learn more about the author and her work at Carrie Vaughn's website, blog, MySpace page, and Facebook page.

The Page 99 Test: Kitty and the Silver Bullet.

The Page 99 Test: Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand.

The Page 69 Test: Discord's Apple.

Writers Read: Carrie Vaughn.

--Marshal Zeringue