Tachyon tidbits featuring Peter S. Beagle, Samantha Mills, Ellen Datlow, David Liss, and Joe R. Lansdale

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

The Book Lover’s Boudoir enjoys THE ESSENTIAL PETER S. BEAGLE VOLUME II: OAKLAND DRAGON BLUES AND OTHER STORIES even more than the impressive first volume.

I enjoyed THE ESSENTIAL PETER S. BEAGLE VOLUME II a bit more than VOLUME I. Many of the stories are grounded more in the real world with a touch of fantasy which appealed to more. Some the stories in VOLUME I were familiar to be but I hadn’t read anything in VOLUME II. I enjoyed the anticipation of wondering what I would find when I finished a story and turned the page. I loved all of the stories.

cover of The Essential Peter S. Beagle Volume 2; art by Stephanie Law, design by Elizabeth Story
Cover art by Stephanie Law
Design by Elizabeth Story

On her blog, freshly-minted Nebula Award-nominee (for the short story “Rabbit Test”) Samantha Mills announces her novel debut, THE RISE AND FALL OF WINGED ZEMOLAI. coming in 2024 from Tachyon Publications.

I’m thrilled to be working on this book with Jaymee Goh and Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications. We’ve worked together once before (when my short story “Strange Waters” was collected into THE NEW VOICES OF SCIENCE FICTION) and it was a great experience, so I really feel that the book is in good hands.

It is slated for release in early 2024. We’ll get a firmer date dialed in once I’ve gotten through initial edits — at which point I will of course be shouting it from the rooftops. ;D

Cover art by Matt Dixon
Design by Elizabeth Story

As part of their survey of the 2022 Splatterpunk Award nominees, Doris V. Sutherland at Attack of the Six-Foot Tranny, praises 2022 Splatterpunk Award winner BODY SHOCKS, edited by Ellen Datlow.

Reading BODY SHOCKS feels like experiencing the Splatterpunk Awards by way of the Hugo Awards. Compared to most of the books on the ballot, the writing is polished with more care, the narrative styling more pronounced, and the satirical elements given a stronger feminist slant. Yet the macabre weirdness that we have come to expect from the Splatterpunk Awards is present and correct.

Cover and images by John Coulthart

Over on Talking About Books, Suroor Alikhan likes THE PECULIARITIES by David Liss.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy. David Liss has a way of creating atmosphere and a sense of menace.

Design by Elizabeth Story

In an exclusive, Denise Petski of Deadline reports that Tubi has started principle photography on The Thicket, based on Joe R. Lansdale’s novel of the same name.

EXCLUSIVE: Tubi has begun principal photography on dark western thriller The Thicket, based on Joe R. Lansdale’s novel of the same name, starring and produced by Game of Thrones alum Peter Dinklage. Production is underway in Calgary, Canada.

A longtime passion project for Dinklage, The Thicket also stars Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets), Esmé Creed-Miles (Hanna), Levon Hawke (The Crowded Room), Leslie Grace (In The Heights), Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Old Man),  Macon Blair (I Care A Lot), James Hetfield (Metallica), Ned Dennehy (Peaky Blinders), Andrew Schulz (Infamous), and Arliss Howard (Mank).

Set at the turn-of-the-century, The Thicket follows an innocent young man, Jack (Hawke), who goes on an epic quest to rescue his sister Lula (Creed-Miles) after she has been kidnapped by the violent killer Cut Throat Bill (Lewis) and her gang. To save her, Jack enlists the help of a crafty bounty hunter named Reginald Jones (Dinklage), a grave-digging alcoholic son of an ex-slave (Akinnagbe), and a street-smart prostitute (Grace). The gang tracks Cut Throat Bill into the deadly no-man’s land known as The Big Thicket — a place where blood and chaos reign.