The Nerdclave included James Morrow’s The Madonna and the Starship among their 5 Exciting Sci Fi and Fantasy Books Releasing in June.
All accounts say it’s hilarious, and Morrow has a reputation for being one of science fiction’s leading humorists and satirists.
For more on The Madonna and the Starship, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover and design by Elizabeth Story
Nancy Kress, the multiple Hugo and Nebula award winning author of Yesterday’s Kin and After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, discusses the keys to writing a successful character in the Adventures in Sci Scifi Publishing Podcast 260.
For more info on Yesterday’s Kin, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by Thomas Canty
For more info on After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by Elizabeth Story
Bookgasm’s Alan Cranis pulls double duty with reviews of two recent Tachyon titles.
On The Very Best of Tad Williams:
For newcomers to his short fiction, the most pleasant revelation will be the different types of stories Williams has written over the years. In “The Old Scale Game,” a fairly recent work, an aging knight confronts an equally aging dragon and the two traditional adversaries enter into a mutual partnership. This contemporary spin on a familiar setting allows Williams to express a sly warning to those who see the fantasy field as nothing more than a cash cow.
Contrast this with “Not With A Whimper” where a group of readers debate online the merits of fantasy versus science fiction until their exchange is interrupted by power surges. The source of the surges, the debaters discover, is an artificial intelligence struggling with its new-found consciousness and powers. Williams presents the entire story in a near cyber-punk style of coded posted messages.
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Of the far too many authors cramming the fantasy field with seemingly endless series, only a few are genuinely worthy of our time. THE VERY BEST OF TAD WILLIAMS proves that he is among this select company, and may also cause some to drastically re-evaluate the talents of this prolific and popular author, and discover his other equally satisfying works.
For the rest of the Cranis review, which includes coverage of several of the other stories in the collection, visit Bookgasm.
And then on Cold in July:
One of the benefits of COLD IN JULY being made into an independent movie (adapted by screenwriter/actor Nick Damici and directed by Jim Mickle) is this new, movie tie-in edition from Tachyon, Joe R. Landsdale’s publisher. So now this early work from one of America’s finest storytellers – first published in 1989 and nearly impossible to find since – is once again available. That’s wonderful news not only for the legion of Lansdale fans but also for those who love a finely told crime story.
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This new edition is further enhanced by an original forward by director Jim Mickle, and a new afterword by Lansdale himself. Mickle recalls what first attracted him to the novel and the many false-starts his adaptation suffered along the way to completion. Lansdale reveals the events that planed the seed of the story in his unconscious, and how it seemed to flow full-borne from his mind to his typewriter when he finally devoted himself to the story.
Lansdale also comments how happy he is to see a new edition of this novel back in print after so long a time. That’s true for us readers as well.
Regardless if you plan to see the movie or not, now’s your chance to fill that gap in your Lansdale collection — or finally get one started.
For the rest of the Cranis review, visit Bookgasm.
For more information on The Very Best of Tad Williams, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by Kerem Beyit.
Design by Elizabeth Story.
For more info on Cold in July, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover design by Elizabeth Story
James Morrow, author of The Madonna and the Starship, is attending the First Conference of the International Society for Heresy Studies, May 30-31 at New York University.
While there, Morrow will be involved in two public discussions.
Friday, May 30 4-5:30
Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts
Robert Royalty, Jr.
James Morrow
Rebecca Goldstein
Gregory Erickson
Edward Simon
Saturday, May 31 9-10:30 Room 501
Chair: Bernard Schweizer
A. James Morrow: “The Novelist as Heretic”
B. Lorna Gibb: “Spiritualism and Heresy: Genesis of a Novel”
C. Tasha Golden: “Pop Heresy: Songwriting at the Edge of the Speakable–An interdisciplinary conversation“
For more details about the event, visit the International Society for Heresy Studies site.
For more on The Madonna and the Starship, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover and design by Elizabeth Story
The fine folks at Tor.com are running an excerpt from James Morrow’s rationally absurd The Madonna and the Starship.
For more on The Madonna and the Starship, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover and design by Elizabeth Story
With the help of Goodreads, we’re giving away an advanced reader’s copy (ARC) of Yesterday’s Kin, the new book from the multiple Hugo and Nebula award winner Nancy Kress.
Aliens have landed in New York.
A deadly cloud of spores has already infected and killed the inhabitants of two worlds. Now that plague is heading for Earth, and threatens humans and aliens alike. Can either species be trusted to find the cure?
Geneticist Marianne Jenner is immersed in the desperate race to save humanity, yet her family is tearing itself apart. Siblings Elizabeth and Ryan are strident isolationists who agree only that an alien conspiracy is in play. Marianne’s youngest, Noah, is a loner addicted to a drug that constantly changes his identity. But between the four Jenners, the course of human history will be forever altered.
Earth’s most elite scientists have ten months to prevent human extinction—and not everyone is willing to wait.
For more info on Yesterday’s Kin, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by Thomas Canty
Lit Reactor and Wag the Fox both chime in on Joe R. Lansdale’s Texas noir Cold in July.
From Lit Reactor:
But where this novel departs from genre-expectations, where it delves deeper than it’s impressive Realism-meets-Road House-circa ’89 fight-scenes, tailings, and gunfights, is where the subtext reverses and reveals the story is less about that one-for-one vengeance ratio. This story is really about the undefined ratio of a father’s responsibility.
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And the texture here is the main character Dane’s past relationship, or lack of one, to his own father, compared to the new relationship he’s forging with a grizzled old mercenary. So, yes, from a plot stand-point, this everyman character has to keep a gun he’s afraid to use, and has to insecurely adhere to a code that takes him away from his wife and son, and has to pursue vigilante justice for a crime he’s no longer involved in. But from a profoundly meaningful stand-point, any questions we have about his motivation are the book’s true investigation: What does it mean to have honor in a world without it? And what does it mean when one has to admit that “honor”, and one’s sense of it, could be corrupt to begin with? And what does it mean when heroes are cocky, yes, and good fighters, yes, but all that’s a distraction, meant only to hide the truth that they’re battered and alone?
You’re sure to finish this book fast, but you’re also sure to think on it slowly.
From Wag the Fox:
What would you do if you woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone breaking into your home? It’s a question that has kicked off a lot of murder mysteries, both in books and on screen, but I can’t recall any story starting at this point and veering so wildly the way Joe Lansdale’s Cold in July does.
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I’ve read that this is one of Joe Lansdale’s personal favorites among his own works, one that he’s most proud of, and while the prose is so lean it’d make a butcher blush with envy, there are moment when it feels like the bones have been picked clean. Lansdale doesn’t mess around though, he keeps the story moving, he keeps each character wholly in the moment and working like cogs in a well-oiled machine.
There’s a film adaptation out this summer, even hitting Cannes, but I gotta wonder if it can capture all of the visceral suspense contained in this book’s pages. Heck, if it can translate half the magic of this thriller to the screen, then I’ll be happy. And if not, there’s still a damned good book to be read.
For more info on Cold in July, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover design by Elizabeth Story
Humble eBook Bundle 4 offers nine titles including two Tachyon books.
Blood will flow, heads will roll, dragons will soar, and the dead shall rise. Journey to ancient cities ruled by sinister mages, storm-tossed seas where monsters dwell, mysterious towers full of ancient secrets, and dark dungeons with untold treasures. From Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian to George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire, join the legendary heroes and villains in nineteen epic adventures that are sure to bring out the barbarian in you.
Anti-hero Elric infiltrates a band of mercenaries to match wits with a powerful sorcerer. With her trio of dragons, Daenerys Stormbringer makes a fool’s bargain with slave traders. A mage’s apprentice, the young Grey Mouser uses newfound power to battle an evil duke. Conan breaks into the Tower of the Elephant to steal a spectacular jewel with a dark secret. Despite her drunkard’s ways, Malmury slays an old sea troll before facing his powerful daughter.
“Heroes and their mighty deeds populate the pages of this delightfully kitschy yet absorbing anthology of sword and sorcery short stories from the 1930s onward. Hartwell and Weisman have selected some of the best short-form work in the genre, starting with the originator, Robert E. Howard, and his tales of Conan the Barbarian. The heroes are tough, savvy, and willing to knock a few heads in to get the job done. The soldier of Glen Cook’s Dread Empire and Fritz Leiber’s Grey Mouser make strong appearances, as does Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné and his dread sword, Stormbringer. Female heroes are as ruthless as their male counterparts: C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry walks through Hell and back to get her revenge, while George R. R. Martin’s Daenerys Stormborn becomes a true queen by outmaneuvering an entire city of slavers. This is an unbeatable selection from classic to modern, and each story brings its A game.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“The 19 stories in this volume span a time period from 1933 to 2012 and provide a strong introduction to this fantasy subgenre.”
—Library Journal
“Awesome collection, very highly recommended.”
—Nerds in Babeland
“Superbly presented…reignited this reader’s interest.”
—SF Site
“A big, meaty collection of genre highlights that runs the gamut from old-school classics to new interpretations, it serves as an excellent introduction and primer in one.”
—Green Man Review
“Hard and fast-paced fantasy that’s strong from the first piece right through to the last.”
—Shades of Sentience
“Hartwell and Weisman’s choices are top-notch and provide both an excellent introduction to the subgenre for new readers and exciting reading for long-time fans.”
—Grasping for the Wind
“This engaging anthology is a terrific way to meet some of the best fantasists for those unfamiliar with their works and for returning vets a chance to enjoy fun short stories.”
—Midwest Book Review
Table of Contents
“Introduction: Storytellers: A Guided Ramble into Sword and Sorcery Fiction” by David Drake
“The Tower of the Elephant” by Robert E. Howard
“Black God’s Kiss” by C. L. Moore
“The Unholy Grail” by Fritz Leiber
“The Tale of Hauk” by Poul Anderson
“The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams” by Michael Moorcock
“The Adventuress” by Joanna Russ
“Gimmile’s Song” by Charles R. Saunders
“Undertow” by Karl Edward Wagner
“The Stages of the God” by Ramsey Campbell (writing as Montgomery Comfort)
“The Barrow Troll” by David Drake
“Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted With Defeat” by Glen Cook
“Epistle From Lebanoi” by Michael Shea
“Become a Warrior” by Jane Yolen
“The Red Guild” by Rachel Pollack
“Six From Atlantis” by Gene Wolfe
“The Sea Troll’s Daughter” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
“The Coral Heart” by Jeffrey Ford
“Path of the Dragon” by George R. R. Martin
“The Year of the Three Monarchs” by Michael Swanwick
Edited by Ellen Datlow
Behold these newly-illustrated legends of modern horror’s most wicked progeny. In Lovecraft’s Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft’s famous creations—Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, and more—are celebrated in all their terrifying glory. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas. The monsters are lovingly rendered in spectacular original art by World Fantasy Award–winning artist John Coulthart (The Steampunk Bible).
“Ellen Datlow’s second editorial outing into the realm of Lovecraft proves even more fruitful than the first. Focusing on Lovecraftian monsters, Datlow offers readers sixteen stories and two poems of a variety that should please any fans of the genre.”
—The Arkham Digest
“…amazing and creative tales each with a striking illustration by John Coulthart…I fully recommend adding this nice anthology for all fans of Lovecraft.”
—Dark Corner
“Lovecraft’s Monsters, edited by Ellen Datlow and published by Tachyon Publications, is a reprint anthology of some carefully chosen and mighty fine Lovecraftian short stories, novellas and poems…. All in all it is a terrific selection of works, and one that any fan of Lovecratian works should add to their collection.”
—Fear.net
“[A]n amazing and diverse treasure trove of stories. As an avid fan of Lovecraft’s monstrous creations, THIS is the anthology I’ve been waiting for.”
—Shattered Ravings
“Where else, in one anthology, can a reader jump from roman noir werewolves to steampunk tanks in the Amazon to tales of forbidden love on the Innsmouth shore to Pinkerton agents in the Wild West?… Fortunately, we have Ellen Datlow to lead the way.”
—Hellnotes
“The result is a delightful array of little pieces that range in mood and subject. Unholy sacrifice, forbidden love, a private dick on the trail of a murderer—there’s something there for everyone.”
—The Jaded Consumer
“Editor Ellen Datlow has put together an anthology that will rock your liquid fantasies. Tachyon Publications has produced an excellent themed anthology. Lovecraft enthusiasts will plunge into the volume and be happily immersed in the content.”
—Diabolique Magazine
“Each story is a dark wonder and the volume itself is absolutely gorgeous, sumptuously illustrated throughout with steampunky-baroque original art by World Fantasy Award-winning artist John Coulthart. Lovecraft’s Monsters is a must-have for every fan of dark speculative fiction, so click on the cover graphic and grab it!”
—The Tomb of Dark Delights
“[A] delightful array of little pieces that range in mood and subject…. Unholy sacrifice, forbidden love, a private dick on the trail of a murderer—there’s something there for everyone.”
—The Jaded Consumer
“So I am telling you now, in the name of Yog-Sothoth, get this book, and prepare to lose some sleep.”
—The Bookend Family
“…an entirely enjoyable read… for Mythos devotees I would highly recommend picking it up”
—Seattle Geekly
“For Lovecraft’s Monsters, each writer had the same agenda: come up with a fresh take on one of the legendary author’s otherworldly creatures, like Cthulhu, the Shoggoths, the Elder Things and Yog-Sothoth. (Trust, they’re scarier than those tongue-twisting names suggest.) Adding to the book’s excellence, illustrator John Coulthart provided gorgeous new black-and-white artwork for each story.”
—Complex
“Lovecraft’s Monsters will appeal to fans of Lovecraft’s work, particularly his Mythos stories, and to readers of dark fiction everywhere. Datlow is an experienced and keen editor of dark fiction and has assembled a truly impressive list of stories.”
—LitReactor
“Datlow brings together some of the top SF/F and horror writers working today and has them play in Lovecraft’s bizarre world. And that’s a delight.”
—January Magazine
“There’s a lot to love in Lovecraft’s Monsters, an anthology which is both faithful and inventive at the same time. Unafraid to take risks and snazzily illustrated, this collection is proof that the Cthulhu cult remains as strong as ever.”
—Starburst
Table of Contents
Introduction by Ellen Datlow
Foreword by Stefan Dziemianowicz
“Only the End of the World Again” by Neil Gaiman
“The Bleeding Shadow” by Joe R. Lansdale
“Love Is Forbidden, We Croak and Howl” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
“Bulldozer” by Laird Barron
“A Quarter to Three” by Kim Newman
“Inelastic Collisions” by Elizabeth Bear
“That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable” by Nick Mamatas
“Red Goat Black Goat” by Nadia Bulkin
“Jar of Salts” and “Haruspicy” by Gemma Files
“Black as the Pit From Pole to Pole” by Howard Waldrop and Steven Utley
“I’ve Come to Talk With You Again” by Karl Edward Wagner
“The Sect of the Idiot” by Thomas Ligotti
“The Dappled Thing” by William Browning Spencer
“The Same Deep Waters as You” by Brian Hodge
“Remnants” by Fred Chappell
“Waiting at the Cross Roads Motel” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Children of the Fang” by John Langan
Michael Swanwick’s “witty, smart, challenging” collection The Dog Said Bow-Wow is a Kindle Daily Deal for Wednesday, May 28.
For today only, the ebook is available for just $1.99!
2008 Locus Award finalist
Featuring the 2002 Hugo Award winner “The Dog Said Bow-Wow”
Also the 2003 Hugo Award winner “Slow Life”
And the 2004 Hugo Award winner “Legions in Time”
Great literature has never been this much fun before. The reigning master of short fiction reinvents science fiction and fantasy in a dazzling new collection unlike anything you’ve ever read. Time-traveling dinosaurs wreak havoc on a placid Vermont town. An ogre is murdered in a locked room in Faerie. An uncanny bordello proves as dangerous as it is alluring. Language is stolen from the builders of Babel. Those strangely loveable Post-Utopian scoundrels and con men Darger and Surplus swindle their way through London, Paris, and Arcadia.
The Dog Said Bow-Wow includes three Hugo Award–winning stories and an original novelette of swashbuckling romance and adventure, “The Skysailor’s Tale.” Ranging from the hardest of science fiction to the highest of fantasy, this irresistible collection amuses and enlightens as only Michael Swanwick can.
“In addition to their individual quality, the 16 stories in this rollicking collection amply demonstrate Hugo-winner Swanwick’s impressive versatility…intriguing characters and lovingly told stories.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Witty, smart, challenging, marveling in off-beat invention and beautifully written….”
—SF Site, featured review
“Every reader with a dollop of humanity will admire Michael Swanwick’s rowdy good humor. His towering creativity seems so effortless that it is easily overlooked—so effortless, and so immense. You won’t want to put this book down.”
—Gene Wolfe
“By turns funny, clever, mysterious, and possessing hidden depths, the stories in Swanwick’s latest collection demonstrate he’s at the top of his game. Delightful, thoughtful work, sure to please his readers.”
—Jeff VanderMeer, author of The Third Bear
“For most writers, it’s a good day when a story is witty or has great ideas or characters. Michael Swanwick consistently wins on all three.”
—Vernor Vinge
“Michael Swanwick is one of my all-time favorite short-story writers. Sometimes he makes me laugh, sometimes he makes me shudder, sometimes he makes me weep. He always makes me think. And that’s just when I am talking to him.”
—Jane Yolen
“In The Dog Said Bow-Wow, a valuable author has taken the disreputable duckling of category fiction and nurtured it into a swan of elegant speculation, as the wick of disciplined fancy draws the reader’s inflamed imagination ever downward through the waxen feast. Swan and wick: an essential conjunction yielding wonder, warmth, wit, and many a synergistic epiphany.”
—James Morrow, author of Shambling Toward Hiroshima
“Michael Swanwick’s stories start soft, sneak close, and punch hard. And nobody else—nobody!—in science fiction has his range.”
—Nancy Kress, author of After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall
“Michael Swanwick’s The Dog Said Bow-Wow is an extraordinarily strong collection. His fierce imagination, subtle humor, and genius for implication are evident in each of these stories.”
—Jeffrey Ford
“…arguably [the] best collection of his stories, populated by tricksters, dinosaurs, gods, and explorers, Swanwick takes a variety of old themes and styles and twists them into something fresh and new.”
—Rain Taxi
“Swanwick’s graceful prose, prodigious inventiveness, and sense of humor are very much in evidence here….”
—Tangent
“…surpassingly brilliant…storytelling of the highest order.”
—Locus
Table of Contents
For more info about The Dog Said Bow-Wow, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by Ann Monn
The fine folks at Bookish included the forthcoming James Morrow book The Madonna and the Starship among their hottest summer releases.
Galaxy Quest, eat your heart out
We’ve got to tip our hat to the cheesy SF works that defined the genre early on—and James Morrow’s intriguingly-titled The Madonna and the Starship hearkens back to exactly that. His satirical novel, set in the 1950s, sees aliens invading NBC studios to dispose of the millions of “irrational” viewers of a religious TV series. The only man who can stop them? A pulp writer who sounds like a cross between Kilgore Trout and Bill Nye the Science Guy: He must come up with a script that’s rationally absurd enough to deter the extraterrestrial invaders.
On shelves: June 10
Additionally, Bookish is giving away free copies of selected titles (including The Madonna and the Starship) from their summer previews.
For more on The Madonna and the Starship, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover and design by Elizabeth Story
