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

Ellen Datlow, Nalo Hopkinson, Kate Elliott, and Charlie Jane Anders (Tristan Crane)

LOOKING FOR A GOOD BOOK enjoyed Ellen Datlow’s top-notch anthology LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS.

Ellen Datlow has put together this collection, culling stories from other works and commissioning others.  I’ve been impressed with the books that Datlow has edited before (of those I’ve read, of course), so I suspected that this would also be a top-notch anthology, and indeed it is.  Too often I’ve read anthologies on a theme where many of the stories fit the theme only by the barest of margins.  That is not the case here.  The discerning Lovecraft fan should be able to see how these stories do, indeed, fit in the Lovecraft’s Monsters theme.  I found that it definitely helped serve as a reminder to have the monster index at the end of the book (it’s been a long time since I read Lovecraft’s work and not a derivative of them).

As with most anthologies or collections of short stories, my enjoyment of the works will vary.  I very much enjoyed the story by Neil Gaiman (and it is probably the most anthologized of the bunch), and some of the other better-known named authors (to me, at least), such as Karl Edward Wagner and Joe R. Lansdale and Laird Barron, put forth some wonderful stories.

[The] artwork inside the book was lovely.  The book is peppered with black and white art by John Coulthart and it is wonderful.  The images are haunting and eerie and a really great addition to the book.

Ellen Datlow and Charlie Jane Anders have been announced as guest speakers for the Spring 2016 classes of Jilly Dreadful’s THE BRAINERY WORKSHOP.

For BUSTLE, Kristian Wilson reviews and analyzes John Green’s Book Giving Guide. 

It’s highly likely, of course, that my reasons for wanting to give diverse books as gifts are different from yours. Maybe your child is trans* and you want to educate your extended family about trans* issues. Or perhaps you are of a different ethnicity than your partner, and you want to share part of your identity with your in-laws. Whatever your reasons are, Green’s got you covered with his holiday book-giving guide.

Green recommends 28 books, 20 of which — a whopping 71 percent — were written by women. Many, if not most, of these titles feature LGBTQ+ characters, or were written by LGBTQ+ individuals. None of the seven male authors he names are white, and half of the books in Green’s guide were written by authors of color. If you’re looking for diverse books, this list definitely isn’t shabby.

Kristian looks at 15 of Green’s best and most-interesting recommendations.

9. FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS by Nalo Hopkinson

Sci-fi author Nalo Hopkinson is one of three writers to get two nods on Green’s list. FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS is Hopkinson’s latest collection of short stories.

Michael Berry at SFGATE reviews Nalo Hopkinson’s great FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.

Hopkinson doesn’t tread the same ground twice. The author uses her unpredictability and versatility to great advantage, keeping herself and her readers off balance and open to fresh possibilities.

The title of this collection comes from the work of Cordwainer Smith, one of the most idiosyncratic writers of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. In her foreword, Hopkinson states that she “loved [Smith’s] imagination, style, the poetry of his writing, his compassion.”

In the stories presented here, it’s easy to see the kinship between those two very different writers. Hopkinson’s stories stack up well against their source of inspiration, but her voice is clearly her own, charged with deep feeling and vast imagination.

For the SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW, Kate Stephenson lauds THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT.

Powerful, vivid, masterful—The Very Best of Kate Elliott is a touchstone for the legacy of women in writing and in history. Kate Elliott puts forth her rich sci-fi landscapes through a very clear lens, focused in the introduction to the anthology: women—and marginalized others—exist within, take up, and have a space within the world, and therefore within the fictional landscapes of science fiction and fantasy literature.

Her stories, populated by a rich collection of mostly female lead characters, create alternate worlds, histories, and fantasies every bit as rich as those ushered by her male counterparts, but with a more colorful tapestry and honest effort at speaking the diversity that is the world. Kate Elliott’s very best is beautiful!

For more information on LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS , Tachyon visit the site .

Cover and illustrations by John Coulthart

For more info on SIX MONTHS, THREE DAYS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Julie Dillon

Design by Elizabeth Story