The latest reviews and mentions of Tachyon titles and authors from around the web.

Paul Weimer for Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together interviews Jane Yolen as part of their Six Books series.

1. What book are you currently reading? 

How to Find your Way in the Dark  by Derek B. Miller

Skipping ahead to the last question

6. And speaking of that, what’s your latest book, and why is it awesome?

I have a book of love stories and poems (published and unpublished in the fantasy/science fiction mode, called THE SCARLET CIRCUS which I hope will lift the hearts of readers of all ages teen and up making them smile or sigh, but always making them aware of the many ways one can love and be loved..

Elly Bangs, author of UNITY, is a finalist for 2022 WSFA Small Press Award for “Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias” in Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 138 (November 2021).

At Clarkesworld, Arley Sorg interviews Eileen Gunn about her new collection Night Shift.

How would you describe your writing style?

I think I write in a number of different styles, depending on the mood of the story, the voice of the character, the time in which it’s set, etc. However, I consistently make certain choices as I write, and as I edit my own work: I like short sentences, direct verbs, and few adjectives. I eschew periphrasis. All that may derive from my having spent my formative years writing advertising for technology companies. I usually think that the reader has more important things to do than read my precious prose, so I should be quick, funny, and smart.

My ideal length is two hundred and eighty characters, the length of a tweet. This used to discourage me from longer forms, but now I’m thinking of a novel as merely four thousand consecutive tweets.

Patricia A. McKillip’s THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD continues to impress as evident by comments from Amanda J. McGee and Deby Fredericks.

I ordered this book back when Patricia McKillip passed away as part of my effort to read my writing foremothers. I don’t know that I had expectations for this book exactly, and at the beginning of it I almost bounced off. But ultimately this became one of my favorite books I’ve read this year so far. It filled me with a lovely nostalgia, and ultimately this narrative was a kind one, despite everything. It’s a story full of magical creatures, a sorceress and her power, and men and their fear. I heartily recommend it.

Amanda J. McGee

THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD, by Patricia McKillip (1974), is one of my all-time favorites and also holds up almost 40 years later. Who wouldn’t love to have a menagerie of legendary beasts? McKillip’s prose is also poetic, but more flowery and emotional than LeGuin’s. You can almost miss the family drama, tormented love, and political intrigue. Sybel becomes intent on revenge and backs one side in a war, but in the end her magical animals prevent the violence that all the humans seem to crave. That’s something I’ve come to value in my own written work.

Deby Fredericks