best of 2015

April 22, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring Nalo Hopkinson, Anne R. Dick, Michael Swanwick, and Lavie Tidhar

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Ann Monn, anne r dick, best of 2015, biography, carl slaughter, central station, chuma hill, collection, danika ellis, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, interview, james wallace harris, josh beatman, lavie tidhar, michael swanwick, my bookish ways, nalo hopkinson, philip k dick, review, sarah anne langton, science fiction, SF Signal, the dog said bow-wow, the search for philip k dick

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

Nalo Hopkinson, Anne R. Dick (Craig Lee for The New York Times), Michael Swanwick (Beth Gwynn), and Lavi Tidhar (Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013)

Danika Ellis’s much belated top 10 books of 2015 includes Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.

For SF SIGNAL, James Wallace Harris delivers an overview of the various Philip K. Dick biographies.

PKD
had five wives, two of which wrote biographies. I loved THE SEARCH FOR PHILIP K. DICK by
Anne R. Dick (married to PKD 1959-1965) because she influenced THE
MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE.
And Tessa B. Dick, (married to PKD 1973-1977) has wonderful insight
into Phil’s later mystical writings. I wished Kleo Apostolides
(married 1950-1959) and Nancy Hackett (married 1966-1972) had also
written biographies, so we’d have complete spousal coverage of
Dick’s writing years.

Also at SF SIGNAL, Carl Slaughter interviews Michael Swanwick about his Darger and Surplus series. The duo’s first adventure was included in the collection THE DOG SAID BOW-WOW.

CARL SLAUGHTER: What are Darger and Surplus, i.e., what species?

MICHAEL SWANWICK: Aubrey Darger is human, a Londoner, and the product of the slums of Mayfair. Sir Blackthorpe Ravenscairn de Plus Precieux, known to his friends as Surplus, is a citizen of the Demesne of Western Vermont, a proud American mongrel, and the creation of the gene-mills of Winooski. Though he walks upright and has full human intelligence, he could not be mistaken for anything but a dog. I believe he has quite a bit of American foxhound in his genome, but in this I could be mistaken.

CS: Which one comes up with the moneymaking schemes? Which one makes the decisions? Which one gets into the most trouble? Which one cracks the jokes?

MS: They are both talented confidence artists, so their schemes could come from either, but Surplus defers to Darger as having the deeper depth of lore and the greater cunning. He, however, is more fast-thinking in a crisis. The two are so commonly of one mind that a suggestion from one is almost invariably accepted by the other. As for trouble… Surplus has a particular weakness for women which frequently gets him in hot water. Darger only rarely becomes romantically involved but when he does he is incapable of taking it lightly. It’s hard to say which tendency causes them more grief.

It’s the strangest thing, but I’ve never heard either make a joke. I must think on that.

CS: Do the stories appear in short or long fiction or both?

MS: Both. The characters invented themselves in a story called “The Dog Said Bow-Wow,” at the end of which they accidentally set fire to London and decided to go to Moscow to run a scam on the Duke of Muscovy. It was the first time I’d ever written characters who would enjoy being run through one of my stories again, so I let them take the lead. I write down their adventures as I discover them.

MY BOOKISH WAYS included Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION among its May 2016 Must Reads in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

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

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE SEARCH FOR PHILIP K. DICK, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman

For more info on THE DOG SAID BOW-WOW, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

For more info on CENTRAL STATION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

March 2, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring Lavie Tidhar, Jacob Weisman, Nalo Hopkinson, and Ellen Datlow

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized afrocaribbean, anthology, barcelona, belén martín-lucas, best of 2015, bibliosanctum, central station, chuma hill, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, geeky nerf herder, goro fujita, horror, iafor, invaders, invaders: 22 tales from the outer limits of literature, jacob weisman, john coulthart, lavie tidhar, reiko murakami, sarah anne langton, science fiction, SF Signal, short stories, spain, the iafor international conference on global studies, the monstrous, this is horror

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

Lavie Tidhar, Jacob Weisman, Nalo Hopkinson (Photo: IRFAN KHAN/GETTY IMAGES), and Ellen Datlow (Source: Tom Joyce)

SF SIGNAL lavishes praise upon the new cover for Lavie Tidhar’s forthcoming novel CENTRAL STATION.

Tachyon Publications has posted the excellent cover art for their upcoming publication of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station. Cover art is by the wonderful Sarah Anne Langton. I love the retro feel and the monochromatic look of this.

The GEEKY NERF HERDER expressed similar sentiments by simply posting the cover with #CoolArt.

Mogsy at THE BIBLIOSANCTUM is excited about Jacob Weisman’s new anthology INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE.

When book mail arrived from California, I was thrilled to discover it was this sci-fi anthology from Tachyon Publications! From aliens to nanotech, this wild collection features all manner of science fiction and beyond. I’m not even a big reader of short stories, but I do want to read this one.

IAFOR, the International Academic Forum, announced Belén Martín-Lucas (Associate Professor, University of Vigo, Spain) as the Keynote Speaker at The IAFOR International Conference on Global Studies 2016 (Global2016) in Barcelona.

Her Keynote Presentation, “Speculations on Posthuman Love: Nalo Hopkison’s Response to Neoliberal Necropolitics”, will discuss TransCanadian author Nalo Hopkinson’s critique of the devastating regime of the expulsion of a majority of the population from the networks of economic globalization, and from life itself.

THIS IS HORROR announced Ellen Datlow’s THE MONSTROUS as the runner-up for their Anthology of the Year award.

For more info about CENTRAL STATION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

For more information about INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Goro Fujita

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 on THE MONSTROUS, visit the Tachyon page.

Illustrations by John Coulthart

Cover by Reiko Murakami

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

February 3, 2016

More year end acclaim for Kate Elliott, Nalo Hopkinson, Hannu Rajaniemi, Alastair Reynolds, and John Langan

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized afrocaribbean, best of 2015, chuma hill, collection, dark fantasy, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, falling in love with hominids, hannu rajaniemi, hannu rajaniemi: collected fiction, horror, John Langan, julie dillon, kate elliott, kelley armstrong, led astray, led astray: the best of kelley armstrong, lius lasahido, Locus, nalo hopkinson, paranormal romance, paula guran, reiko murakami, science fiction, short stories, slow bullets, the monstorus, the very best of kate elliott, Thomas Canty, urban fantasy

LOCUS announced their 2015 Recommended Reading List. Four Tachyon titles garnered mention: THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT, Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, and Alastair Reynolds’ SLOW BULLETS.

Editor Paula Guran’s THE YEAR’S BEST
DARK FANTASY AND HORROR: 2016 will include “The Door” by Kelley Armstrong from LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG and “Corpsemouth” by John Langan from Ellen Datlow’s THE MONSTROUS.

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

Cover art by Julie Dillon

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 HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Lius Lasahido

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information about SLOW BULLETS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more information on THE MONSTROUS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Reiko Murakami

Design by Elizabeth Story

January 29, 2016

SLOW BULLETS is a very timely glimpse into a far future

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized a skinseller's workshop, alastair reynolds, best of 2015, elizabeth story, joseph tomaras, maddalena tarallo, nebula, novella, planetary awards, science fiction, slow bullets, space and sorcery

Alastair Reynolds’ fascinating SLOW BULLETS garners discussion about possible award nominations.

Photo: Barbera Bella

At A SKINSELLER’S WORKSHOP, Joseph Tomaras reveals his tentative nominations for the forthcoming Nebula Awards, which included SLOW BULLETS.

This one grew on me more than I expected. It starts out like a fairly standard, grim bit of military SF, but by bringing in atrocity, torture, vengeance, the decline of civilization, memory, and identity, it ends up echoing Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony”. A very timely glimpse into a far future that isn’t quite so distant.

Read about Tomaras other selections at A SKINSELLER’S WORKSHOP.

Maddalena Tarallo recently discovered the Planetary Awards, chosen by book bloggers, podcasters, and booktubers. On her SPACE AND SORCERY blog, Tarallo shared her choices.

For Shorter Story, SLOW BULLETS by Alastair Reynolds: this author usually deals with wide-spanning galactic civilizations, but here he keeps his focus tighter on a group of people who find themselves marooned in space – and time – through an accident that might be sabotage as well. I enjoyed the fascinating characters and the more intimate depiction of their psychology.

Check out the rest of Tarallo’s selections at SPACE AND SORCERY.

For more info about SLOW BULLETS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Design by Elizabeth Story

January 11, 2016

Best of 2015: WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE edition

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized adam christopher, afterparty, best of 2015, books bones and buffy, daryl gregory, elizabeth story, gregory xane, harrison squared, horror, m huw evans, nate southard, novella, pterygopalatine fossanations, review, static broadcasts, we are all completely fine

The fact that Daryl Gregory’s World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson award winning novella WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE came out in 2014 did not stop the work making it’s way on to several best of 2015 lists.

At PTERYGOPALATINE
FOSSANATIONS, M. Huw Evans mentioned both Gregory’s WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE and it’s prequel HARRISON SQUARED among his best reads of 2015.

WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE – Daryl Gregory
Brilliant novella. Engaging, compelling, thought-provoking, emotionally moving, and funny. I feel like the characters are still living in my head—they pop up every now and again to remind me that the world is a very weird place.

HARRISON SQUARED – Daryl Gregory
Super fun Lovecraftian YA novel featuring [spoilers] one of the characters from WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope Daryl gives us more novels from this world!

Nate Southard on his
STATIC BROADCASTS named the novella as one of his favorite reads of 2015.

A support group made up of very unique people might just save the world from a very ancient, otherworldly terror. This novella was the first Gregory I’ve read, but it will be nowhere near the last. He creates riveting characters and lets the story roll out naturally, not to mention the amazing amount of imagination and a brilliant, heartfelt final twist. Read. Now.

Without comment, Gregor Xane included WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE among his top 11 reads of the year.

Adam Christopher’s top five contained AFTERPARTY and gave both WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE and HARRISON SQUARED honorable mentions.

I’ve known Daryl for a while (we are, after all, founding members of the Two First Names gang), but Afterparty was the first book of his that I’ve actually read. And… I loved it. A near-future novel about a drug that makes you believe in God, it instantly made Daryl one of my favourite writers. Honourable mentions to his novel Harrison Squared and World Fantasy Award-winning novella, We Are All Completely Fine, which I also devoured this year.

Similarly BOOKS BONES AND BUFFY named AFTERPARTY to their best of list and mentioned WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE.

For more information on WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

January 8, 2016

Even more Tachyon among the very best

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized andrew wheeler, anthology, best of 2015, christina scholz, chuma hill, collection, damien angelica walters, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, falling in love with hominids, hannu rajaniemi, hannu rajaniemi: collected fiction, horror, ian sales, it does have to be right, james everington, john coulthart, lius lasahido, los angeles public library, novella, reiko murakami, review, science fiction, short stories, slow bullets, strange horizons, the conversationalist, the monstrous, this is horror, Thomas Canty

Several Tachyon titles were included on many a pundit’s list for the best publications of 2015.

Christina Scholz at STRANGE HORIZONS loved Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.

As long as we’re talking short stories, Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS has also earned a special place in my heart. If you’re looking for a distinctive and powerful woman’s voice in weird fiction, you should definitely read this book. Hopkinson writes from a transcultural, postcolonial, feminist, LGBT perspective, and her work is empowering and fun to read. I especially enjoyed her use of patterns from oral storytelling and her interweaving of Carribbean myth with contemporary Weird (and other things, including Shakespeare).

The LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY included FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS on their best of the year list.

This collection of short stories by celebrated fantasy author Nalo Hopkinson is incredibly original and beguiling. The stories throw you straight into new and fantastic worlds that you will wish to stay in longer. Whether it be the quirky and adorable world of “Miss Emily Breakfast,” or the chilling coming of age “The Easthound,” this is a collection you will not be able to put down.

THE CONVERSATIONALIST included the collection among it’s favorite books.

This was such a strong and interesting collection to read! Once again I was reminded that given the right context, I do really enjoy short fiction. I savoured this book, I really enjoyed it and I tried to let all the words seep into my bones. Before this collection I was unfamilar with Hopkinson’s work – but she’d been on my ‘to-read’ list for absolutely ages! I’m so glad I got a chance to read this collection because I really got a sense of her writing, the kind of stories she wanted to tell. I’m so glad I had an opportunity to read this, it’s easily one of the best things I read this year.

Without comment, Damien Angelica Walters listed Ellen Datlow’s THE MONSTROUS with the best anthologies and collections of 2015.

Also without comment (though he wrote effusively about the book in his THIS IS HORROR review), James Everington included four tales from the anthology in his annual Favourite Short Stories selections.

Andrew Wheeler on his THE ANTICK MUSINGS OF G.B.H. HORNSWOGGLER, GENT. mentioned Alastair Reynolds’ SLOW BULLETS among his favorite books of 2015.

But the pride of place for the month has to go to a short book that made me want to read science fiction again, after a long period of being sour on fiction in general and techno-babble in particular. Alastair Reynolds’s SLOW BULLETS uses SFnal ideas to tell a story that mainstream fiction never could – and that’s a story of characters, about memory and redemption and second chances and traditions and justice and revenge.

At IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE RIGHT…, Ian Sales laments the poor quality of 2015 science fiction books covers with the exception of HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION.

I’ve had a quick look at my bookshelves, and online, for cover art from genre books published in 2015… and failed to find any which particularly stood out. Except, perhaps, the cover art to Hannu Rajaniemi’s COLLECTED FICTION, which is by Luis Lasahido. But I shall continue to look, in the hope I find enough candidates for my ballot before the end of the year.

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 MONSTROUS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Reiko Murakami

Illustrations by John Coulthart

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more information about SLOW BULLETS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Lius Lasahido

Design by Elizabeth Story

January 7, 2016

More Tachyon titles rank among the very best

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized alastair reynolds, ambling along the aqueduct, anthology, best of 2015, cheryl morgan, chuma hill, collection, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, falling in love with hominids, greeburgh public library, hannu rajaniemi, hannu rajaniemi: collected fiction, horror, james everington, Lit Reactor, lius lasahido, livia llewellyn, nalo hopkinson, novella, reiko murakami, richard thomas, science fiction, slow bullets, steve reads, the monstrous, Thomas Canty, val's random comments

Tachyon titles were included on many a pundit’s list for the best publications of 2015. Here’s a selection of six such rankings.

Kathy at the Greenburgh Public Library named Alastair Reynolds’ SLOW BULLETS as one of her books she read and loved in 2015.

The ideas were new and different and disturbing and good all at the same time.

Without comment, JAMES EVERINGTON named Ellen Datlow’s THE MONSTROUS as one of the best anthologies of the year.

Richard Thomas of LIT REACTOR included “The Last Clean, Bright Summer,” Livia Llewellyn’s contribution to THE MONSTROUS, among his favorite short stories of 2015.

I’m always fascinated by ritual, and this story embraces that habit, and adds a layer of innocence to the equation. I’ve become a huge fan of Livia’s work, and I seek it out now whenever I can. A mixture of rural simplicity and surreal grandness, the way this story unfolds, the outcome, the inevitability of it all, the ways that the people see their lives, the violence and rebirth—it’s quite unsettling. And yet, also touching, if that’s possible.

In her Year in Review column for AMBLING ALONG THE AQUEDUCT, Cheryl Morgan mentions HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION.

HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION is worth checking out even if you only do so for “The Haunting of Apollo A7LB”, which I adore.

VAL’s RANDOM COMMENTS admits that Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS just missed the top ten books of the year.

While over at STEVES READS, FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS was the number one book of the year.

Here at the end of the year, I’m a bit surprised that the best sff book of 2015 was not only a short story collection but also one that veers so close so often to the border of YA. And yet, Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS is just a stunning success of a creative vision, even when that vision is presented in shards and fragments of eighteen different stories. Some of those stories – pieces like “Message in a Bottle” or “The Easthound” – are more effective than others, but the overall effect is joyous.

For more information about SLOW BULLETS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on THE MONSTROUS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Reiko Murakami

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Lius Lasahido

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

January 6, 2016

Tachyon titles rank among the very best

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized amal el-mohtar, bea's book nook, best of 2015, book chase, collection, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, fantasy, fantasy literature, hannu rajaniemi, hannu rajaniemi: collected fiction, horror, julie dillon, kate elliott, kelley armstrong, led astray, led astray: the best of kelley armstrong, lius lasahido, magic realism, npr, paranormal romance, reiko murakami, science fiction, short stories, the essential w. p. kinsella, the mo, the very best of kate elliott, Thomas Canty, urban fantasy, w. p. kinsella

Tachyon titles were included on many a pundit’s list for the best publications of 2015. Here’s a selection of five such rankings. More to come over the next several days.

NPR named HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION as one of 2015′s great reads.

In Hannu Rajaniemi’s collected short fiction, godhood is a plague, the city of Paris woos a Finnish man, a record chain’s logo is a dense symbolic capsule, and stories occasionally read you while you read them. Mixing myth, fairy tale and hard science fiction in dazzling proportions, these stories are mind-blowing, engrossing revelations of which I can only speak hyperbolically. From Finland to the farthest reaches of outer space, Rajaniemi weds vast scope to marvelous intimacy in prose reminiscent of a ringing glass bell.

— recommended by Amal El-Mohtar, book critic

BEA’S BOOK NOOK mentioned LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG on her Top Ten Books I Read in 2015.

This anthology really showcases Armstrong’s strengths and her diversity plus I enjoyed the stories from her established series that gave us new perspectives from secondary and new characters as well as brand new stand-alones.

BOOK CHASE named THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA as the number one fiction book of the year.

It is a difficult concept to explain to non-fans of the game of baseball, but there is a strong feeling of kinship between hardcore lovers of the game. Kinsella is one of those people,and it shows in the beauty and sweetness of his baseball stories. The man is a master short story writer and, thankfully, many of his stories are about baseball. This collection covers the entire Kinsella range of writing – and it is wonderful. Not just for baseball fans

Without comment, FANTASY LITERATURE included THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT among its favorite books of 2015.

Also without comment, SHOTGUN LOGIC named Ellen Datlow’s THE MONSTROUS as one of the best anthologies of the year.

For more information on HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Lius Lasahido

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on LED ASTRAY: THE BEST OF KELLEY ARMSTRONG, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more information on THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Cover 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

For more information on THE MONSTROUS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Reiko Murakami

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

December 10, 2015

Tachyon tidbits featuring Hannu Rajaniemi, Daryl Gregory, and Susan Palwick

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized amal el-mohtar, Ann Monn, best of 2015, collection, daryl gregory, elizabeth story, gestella, hannu rajaniemi, hannu rajaniemi: collected fiction, horror, lius lasahido, novella, npr, review, science fiction, shel graves, shel graves' sensorium, short stories, susan palwick, the illustrated page, we are all completely fine, World Fantasy Award

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

Hannu Rajaniemi (Photo: Uránia Filmszínház)/Daryl Gregory/Susan Palwick

NPR included the sold out HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION as part of their Book Concierge, a guide to 2015′s great reads.

In Hannu Rajaniemi’s collected short fiction, godhood is a plague, the city of Paris woos a Finnish man, a record chain’s logo is a dense symbolic capsule, and stories occasionally read you while you read them. Mixing myth, fairy tale and hard science fiction in dazzling proportions, these stories are mind-blowing, engrossing revelations of which I can only speak hyperbolically. From Finland to the farthest reaches of outer space, Rajaniemi weds vast scope to marvelous intimacy in prose reminiscent of a ringing glass bell.

— recommended by Amal El-Mohtar, book critic

THE ILLUSTRATED PAGE praises Daryl Gregory’s World Fantasy Award winning novella WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE.

WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE is a complicated, dark story with a cast of damaged people at it’s core. I would highly recommend it, and I hope Gregory decides to write a sequel.

On her blog SHEL GRAVES’ SENSORIUM, Graves reviews Susan Palwick’s story “Gestella” from the collection THE FATE OF MICE.

Why it springs to mind: A hauntingly beautiful horror story about what happens when a woman relinquishes her power. A unique werewolf story with commentary on aging.

<snip>

Memorable:

The powerful ending! The word: sportfuck. A new take on lycanthropy. Written in second person — you.

Quote:

“You know that your growing wisdom is the benefit of aging, the compensation for your wrinkles and your fading—although fading slowly as yet—beauty. You also know that Jonathan didn’t marry you for wisdom.”

Personal connection:

Some of my favorite stories seem to be the ones that address the issues of women aging: Margaret Atwood’s “Torching the Dusties” and Mary Robinette Kowal’s “The Lady Astronaut of Mars”. This also fits with one of my favorite themes for thought — the relationship between the treatment of human animals and animals. What we allow to be done to one, can be done to the other.

For more info on HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Lius Lasahido

Design by Elizabeth Story

For info on WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE FATE OF MICE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

December 7, 2015

FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS is a delightful smorgasbord

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized afrocaribbean, best of 2015, brit mandelo, brown girl in the ring, chuma hill, collection, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, gift guide, hope wabuke, john green, midnight robber, nalo hopkinson, octavia's brood, review, rock paperback scissors, science fiction, short stories, short story spotlight, silva moreno-garcia, smugglivus, the root, tor.com, vlog brothers

A smattering of gift guides, best of lists, and even a review, all featuring Nalo Hopkinson’s great FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.

On his VLOG BROTHERS video blog, John Green shares his Book Giving Guide For the Holidays. Among his selections are Nalo Hopkinson’s MIDNIGHT ROBBER and FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, saying about the latter "I recently started FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, which is a great title and so far a great book.“

ROCK, PAPERBACK, SCISSORS offers its own holiday guide.

In many of Neil Gaiman’s stories, the fantastical is just around the corner from reality, and the world can be very dark although it’s never completely devoid of light. If that sort of story appeals, then I would recommend FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS by Nalo Hopkinson. It is a short story collection that spans multiple genres, from horror to sci-fi to fairytale.

Brit Mandelo of TOR.COM shines the Short Fiction Spotlight on the collection.

As for the stories that stuck out to me the most from this delightful smorgasbord, there are a handful. I tended to appreciate the longer pieces more than the flash work, but the flash work remains interesting, often for what it reveals about Hopkinson’s pet projects and the things she finds enjoyable as a writer.

“The Easthound” (2012) is the first piece in the collection and also one of the ones that stood out most to me—both because I hadn’t encountered it before and because it’s a strong showing. As a post-apocalyptic piece, it combines a few familiar tropes: a world of children, where the coming of adulthood is also the coming of the disease that turns them into werewolf-like monsters who consume their nearest and dearest. Hopkinson combines the Peter-Pan-esque attention to staying a child as long as possible with a much darker set of notes, like the children starving themselves intentionally to slow their development. The language-game the protagonists play to occupy themselves in the fallen future is intriguing as well. Overall, I felt that the ending was a bit obvious in coming—of course it’s her twin; of course she’ll change right after—but that the emotional content of the story doesn’t suffer for it. The payoff just isn’t in the actual conclusion.

<snip>

Overall, Falling in Love with Hominids is a worthwhile collection that goes together well—and these are some of the stories I liked best. Hopkinson is a talented writer, whose interest in topics like embodiment and desire comes through in many of these stories; I appreciated reading it quite a bit.

Read the rest of Mandelo’s review at TOR.COM.

THE ROOT’s Hope Wabuke included FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS on her list of 15 Powerful Works of Fiction Published by Black Authors in 2015.

Jamaican-born writer Nalo Hopkinson made a name for herself with her debut novel, BROWN GIRL IN THE RING, winner of the Warner Aspect First Novel Award. Hopkinson has also won the John W. Campbell Award, the Locus Award, the World Fantasy Award and the Prix Aurora, among others. In FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, the multitalented author turns her considerable prowess to a collection of short fiction steeped in Afro-Caribbean folklore.

THE BOOK SMUGGLERS’ Smugglivus 2015 Guest Author Silvia Moreno-Garcia dubbed the collection as one of the best books of 2015.

Finally, 2015 also saw the release of
OCTAVIA’S
BROOD: SCIENCE FICTION STORIES FROM SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT and FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS by Nalo Hopkinson, both of which would be of interest to short fiction readers who enjoy stories that don’t quite fall in a single category but straddle different genres.

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

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

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