best of 2019 Archives - Tachyon Publications

January 16, 2020

Tachyon tidbits featuring Carrie Vaughn, Jo Walton, Kameron Hurley, and Peter S. Beagle

Rick Klaw blog best of 2019, Carrie Vaughn, david grigg, infinite text, jo walton, kameron hurley, meet me in the future, paul semel, perry middlemiss, peter s beagle, review, starlings, summerlong, summrlong, the broken heavens, the immortal conquistador, the overneath, two chairs talking 0

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

INFINITE TEXT enjoys Carrie Vaughn’s THE IMMORTAL CONQUISTADOR.

What I love about Vaughn’s writing is that she takes you on a fun adventure and secretly sneaks in layers of complexity to her characters where you find yourself thinking about them for days on end. I can’t wait to see where this series is heading!

Cover art by Rebecca Harp
Cover design by Elizabeth Story

LA BIBLIOTHÈQUE D’ESPERLUETTE loves Jo Walton’s STARLINGS.

A collection that I recommend with pleasure to all readers of imagination and which I hope will one day be entitled to a French publication in order to benefit as many people as possible!
Translation from the French courtesy of Google

January 16, 2020

Lavie Tidhar’s fun, gently surreal UNHOLY LAND was a 2019 Notable Read

Rick Klaw blog anime, anime anime, beijing sf summit forum, best of 2019, china, lavie tidhar, Locus, positron chicago, shenzhen, takahashi katsunori, the violent century, unholy land 0

Unholy Land; cover by Sarah Anne Langton — Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

POSITRON CHICAGO included Tidhar’s UNHOLY LAND among the Notable 2019 Reads & Re-Reads.

The visions of alternate worlds are the main strength here—better, worse, stranger than our own—wrapped around the twin issues of Israel as persecuted and persecutor.

Lavie Tidhar, Ian McDonald, Liu Yixian, Wu Yan (photo by Wu Yan/courtesy of Locus)

For LOCUS, Tidhar reports from the Beijing SF Summit Forum 2019 and Shenzhen.

To make matters more interesting (for me!), my visit coincided with the Chinese publication of my novel Central Station. While the others were relaxing, I was reunited with my old friend Wu Yan at the Citic Bookstore in Beijing for a panel event. Professor Wu, whom one may well call the godfather of Chinese SF, was a central pillar of the convention – a couple of days later he’d be delivering a keynote address reporting on the financial profitability of the growing “SF sector” before the thousands of attendees.

Wu Yan happily informed me that I was known as in China as “the science fiction ghost” – apparently because no one has seen me since 2000. The name seemed to catch, based on the number of interviews I did which introduced me this way….

The Violent Century; cover by Sarah Anne Langton — Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

January 9, 2020

Titles from Kameron Hurley, Lisa Goldstein, Lavie Tidhar, and Hannu Rajaniemi & Jacob Weisman all garner best of year notices

Rick Klaw blog best of 2019, foreword, hannu rajaniemi, ivory apples, jacob weisman, kameron hurley, kendra preston leonard, lavie tidhar, lisa goldstein, lynn's book blog, meet me in the future, pat's fantasy hotlist, the new voices of science fiction, the violent century 0

Cover by Carl Sutton
Design by Elizabeth Story

Both FOREWORD and PAT’S FANTASY HOTLIST include Kameron Hurley’s MEET ME IN THE FUTURE among the best books of 2019.

“Meet Me in the Future is an episodic jaunt across distant stars whose sixteen short stories bubble with laughter, thrills, tears, and questions. …The stories’ settings are as diverse as their characters, ranging from familiar to surreal. Elements of magic swirl among spaceships, while a body mercenary proves able to jump between corpses. … A trek across galaxies that hits home, Meet Me in the Future is a love letter to the best of science fiction.”
FOREWORD

Although some are definitely better than others, overall the stories contained within the pages of Meet Me in the Future are all good reads in their own right. Even better, though disparate in style and tone, there are enough recurring themes explored throughout the tales that the book stands rather well on its own.
PAT’S FANTASY HOTLIST

LYNN’S BOOK BLOG ranks Lisa Goldstein’s IVORY APPLES as one of the best.

This is my first book by Lisa Goldstein but here is an author that definitely needs to go on my auto buy list. I don’t know what it is but here is an author that can make a book feel personal. Like this book was written for me. It was, I swear it was. The writing is really lovely, hypnotic almost.

Cover art by Matt Dixon
Cover design by Elizabeth Story

Without comment, Kendra Preston Leonard’s list of best books of the year includes Hannu Rajaniemi and Jacob Weisman‘s THE NEW VOICES OF SCIENCE FICTION and Lavie Tidhar’s THE VIOLENT CENTURY.

December 23, 2019

THE VIOLENT CENTURY, a tale only Lavie Tidhar could imagine, is an NPR Favorite of 2019

Rick Klaw blog best of 2019, central station, chronophlogiston, crime time, jason sheehan, lavie tidhar, maxim jakubowski, npr, review, the violent century, unholy land, 中央星站 0

Jason Sheehan names Lavie Tidhar’s THE VIOLENT CENTURY as one of NPR’s favorite books of 2019.

The world right now is full of superhero stories. In movies and on TV, in comics and graphic novels. But Lavie Tidhar, with his sharp eye for absurdity (and stellar world-building powers), gives his heroes a literary moment, bringing them to the page in a world where American, British, Russian and Nazi supermen fought in World War II and shaped everything we know of 20th and 21st century history. It begins like a classic John le Carré story, with an old, retired hero called Fogg being brought in to discuss an old case file. But where it ends up is like nothing that anyone but Tidhar could imagine.

CHRONOPHLOGISTON offers similar sentiments.

Mr. Tidhar has a staccato, stream-of-consciousness style of writing (at least in this book) that reminded me of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. It takes some getting used to, but soon enough feels natural and makes for a brisk and engrossing read. Mr. Tidhar creates a grim and atmospheric world; the European post-war scenes evoked for me the imagery of Carol Reed’s The Third Man.

Maxim Jakubowski for CRIME TIME includes Tidhar’s UNHOLY LAND among the best reads of the year.

There’s a Chinese edition of Tidhar’s award-winning CENTRAL STATION (中央星站).

December 13, 2019

Lisa Goldstein’s wonderful, clear-eyed, and unsentimental IVORY APPLES is one of the best books of 2019

Alec Checkerfield blog andy hedgecock, best of 2019, christine jacques, gary k wolfe, ivory apples, lisa goldstein, Locus, morning star, review

For MORNING STAR, Andy Hedgecock names Lisa Goldstein’s IVORY APPLES as one of the best books of 2019.

IVORY APPLES is a challenging and entertaining read that provokes reflection on the responsibilities of creative people and the nature of art — its influence, possibilities and costs.

Gary K. Wolfe at LOCUS offers similar sentiments.

IVORY APPLES is a haunting story of what a classic fantasy work can do for and to its readers and its creator; on the other, it’s a pretty wonderful, clear-eyed, and unsentimental fantasy novel entirely on its own terms, muse or no muse.

At COMPULSIVE READER, Christine Jacques also likes the book.

In Ivory, Goldstein has created a place that exists only on its own terms.