bill capossere

November 29, 2022

One of the best reads of the year, Lavie Tidar’s NEOM is lush and exquisitely crafted

Rick Klaw blog bill capossere, fantasy literature, gareth d jones, Laura Hiatt, library journal, mary robinette kowal, my favorite bit, neom, new scientist, nonstop reader, review, sally adee, Scrapping and Playing, sfcrowsnest, tar vol on, the fantasy hive

NEOM, Lavie Tidhar’s long awaited return to the universe of the John W. Campbell Award Winner CENTRAL STATION, continues to attract effuse praise from a variety of quarters including Laura Hiatt in Library Journal, Gareth D. Jones for SFcrowsnest, Nonstop Reader, Bill Capossere at Fantasy Literature, Tar Vol on, Scrapping and Playing, and in New Scientist, Sally Adee recommends the book. At both The Fantasy Hive and Mary Robinette Kowal’s My Favorite Bit, Tidhar contributed essays relate to the novel.

Neom by Lavie Tidhar — Cover by Elizabeth Story

Old and new fans alike will adore this fascinating new addition to Tidhar’s future Earth universe, and science fiction buffs would do well to put Tidhar on their radar of must-read authors.
Library Journal

From the very start, the atmosphere engulfed me as I delved once more into this world of Lavie Tidhar’s imagination. I could almost feel the heat and the glare of the sun as the megalopolis that is Neom is slowly introduced through the eyes of Mariam, one of the city’s poor who holds down several jobs to make a living. This also gives us the perfect opportunity to experience various and disparate aspects of the city through her jaded eyes.
SFcrowsnest

This is such an engaging story, told in such lush and exquisitely crafted prose that I was swept away from the first few pages. At its heart, it’s a story of longing and family, beauty and danger, and a coming of age adventure with a clever and loyal young protagonist who has a dream and a path to follow. There are several disparate plot threads which wind closer throughout the book though it never comes to a clean denouement and resolution. There are glimpses of overarching themes which center around the interplanetary hub from Tidhar’s earlier book but most of the book is word pictures and allegory.
Nonstop Reader

Because, and so far I think I can say this about every Tidhar story I’ve picked up, you should read this book, even if it doesn’t have quite the impact of his best work (and choosing amongst his books for that title would be difficult) and even it is a bit light on plot perhaps for some. But honestly, before reading this, I was at the point where if I could auto-purchase Tidhar book like I auto-pay my bills so that they’re shipped automatically to me as they’re published, I’d sign up for that service, and NEOM would have been a welcome arrival in that system.
Fantasy Literature

But whatever it is, I liked NEOM a lot. I won’t say that every single perspective was jaw-dropping, and I’m not sure there’s a one that’s going to anchor itself in my mind and not let go. But it’s a beautiful and touching tapestry, certainly among my favorites of the year.
Tar Vol on

A novel that kept me reading, moved me to tears for an old automaton being destroyed, love the characters.
I enjoyed it, found it entertaining but it also made me think as the descriptions of NEOM are so similar to those of our world.
Scrapping and Playing

Everything that ignites passion and outrage today will be decrepit and decayed tomorrow. NEOM, in Tidhar’s eponymous book, isn’t a plan for a cutting-edge city in Saudi Arabia that has appalled many, but a fait accompli that is the backdrop of a beautiful and far more interesting story.
New Scientist

What I realised as I was doing it, though, was that I still loved science fiction. I didn’t really want to quit. I just needed a change. It turns out that when you take out the weird stuff – the “elves and aliens”, as I sometimes call it – well, you start missing them after a while. At least I did. So during the second lockdown in the UK, while I was supposed to be finishing Maror, I went instead back to the world of CENTRAL STATION, and wrote the misadventures of a rather odd robot as it arrives one day in the city of Neom, buys a flower and takes it out into the desert. This book, called NEOM, is out now from Tachyon Publications.
The Fantasy Hive

I was in the middle of our second pandemic lockdown, in the cold of winter and unable to concentrate on the huge literary novel, Maror, that I was supposed to be writing. Instead, the image came to me of a robot and a flower. I didn’t know who the robot was or what it was doing, so I wrote it to find out. The robot confounded me. It bought a rose in the market of the city of Neom, a would-be megalopolis sprawled along the Red Sea, the real-world fever-dream of a Saudi prince. Then the robot took the flower it bought, took it deep into the desert, left it beside a long-forgotten cenotaph of a long-forgotten war, and then it casually stomped on a scorpion with its foot.
My Favorite Bit

September 9, 2020

A fascinating and rewarding creation, Marie Brennan’s DRIFTWOOD is charming, meditative, and often poignant

Rick Klaw blog bill capossere, blue book balloon, driftwood, fantasy literature, marie brennan, Mikaela Silk, reading reality, review, the british fantasy society

A quartet of reviews for the fantastic DRIFTWOOD by Marie Brennan.

At FANTASY LITERATURE, Bill Capossere praises the book.

DRIFTWOOD (2020) is a charming, meditative, and often poignant collection of linked stories by Marie Brennan that mostly succeeds both in its individual tales and as a whole, though I had a few issues. But given that one of those is it was too short, it’s still an easy book to recommend.

[…]

I absolutely love the setting, which serves up endless potential for stories, since each one reveals a new world to us. Driftwood has a bit of a Calvino-esque feel to it, particularly Invisible Cities, one of my all-time favorite works of fiction. You’ve got visits to different worlds (cities), a sense of the fantastical, each new setting told as a story, some lyrical language. And, as with Calvino, a bit of a haunting sadness. Brennan uses the rich potential of the setting premise to deliver some beautifully original images/ideas, which I won’t ruin by noting here.

As does BLUE BOOK BALLOON.

A collection of simple stories, each self-contained but building into a cycle that is more than the sum of its parts, DRIFTWOOD is a fascinating and rewarding creation, conveyed in prose that can range from the solemn to the bitter to the darkly humorous but is never less than engaging. Brennan is at home sketching the linguistics of a world, bringing alive a marketplace (‘…a thousand spices, each one distinct on the tongue. Aromatic flowers that danced in the gentle air, their seeds spreading I the ceaseless light. Serpents doxing in the warmth, sold as pets, as sacrifices, as food…’) or imaging its complex religious life as she is evoking the long-lived, continually reborn bar, Spit in the Crush’s Eye or describing with great flair the adventurers who brought the balloon to Driftwood and sought to map it – undermining the solemnity of purpose expected in a fantasy novel by saying they did it simply because it seemed a fun thing to do. Everyone might be doomed, swirling away into the pit, but there are lives to live and people here to live them. Finding a calm place between denial of the inevitable and obsession with it seems to be key – in Driftwood as in our own world(s).

READING REALITY adores the mosaic novel.

Escape Rating A+: Some books are just WOW! And DRIFTWOOD is definitely one of those books.

[…]

Many of the stories in DRIFTWOOD have been previously and separately published, but together they make a surprisingly wonderful and cohesive whole. A whole that is entirely too short but begins, middles and ends exactly where it should. A beautiful puzzlement and a fantastic read

For THE BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY, Mikaela Silk feels much the same.

I’ll admit I was unsure about this book when I first started reading, but it drew me in bit by bit and I was enthralled by the time I finished reading.

With its unique setting, ‘Driftwood’ offers a refreshingly different take on the apocalypse. There are no zombies, no nuclear or natural disasters, no tales of people resorting to looting or cannibalism. Instead, it focuses on the deeper and more personal aspects of an apocalypse. The question of what people will do when their world and their culture and their civilisation is disappearing, slowly slipping away to an inevitable doom, is endlessly fascinating. The most interesting feature of this is the variety which Brennan’s setting allows; from those who try to deny the inevitability, such as the King of the Miqerni, to those like Noirin who simply want to ease the loss and for the memories of her people to last as long as possible.

August 13, 2019

Lavie Tidhar’s wonderful THE VIOLENT CENTURY lingers in the mind long after the reading

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized ama, andrew wheeler, b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog, bill capossere, drawing center, dreams of elvex, factor daily, fantasy literature, gautham shenoy, lavie tidhar, lucas adams, reddit, review, sarah anne langton, superhero, the antick musings of g.b.h. hornswoggler, the new york review of books, the violent century, unholy land

The first US paperback edition of Lavie Tidhar’s THE VIOLENT CENTURY excites reviewers and fans.

Bill Capossere’s 5 star review for FANTASY LITERATURE:

THE VIOLENT CENTURY is a wonderfully constructed, crafted work that bears a great emotional weight even as it raises more intellectual questions. It’s the kind of work that lingers in the mind long after the reading and leaves the reader unsettled as they roll ideas over and over in their head. Just as good fiction should do.

The Spanish site DREAMS OF ELVEX:

In short: a fantastic superhero story, with a very comiquera structure, with a lot of rhythm and with very original situations. Too bad that some of the story arcs are not as good as others and the rhythm suffers. I see the structure as ideal for an audiovisual adaptation, and I hope that some editorial will consider its translation. For my part I will continue pending the work of this fantastic writer.

(Translation courtesy of Google)

B&N SCI-FI & FANTASY BLOG:

World Fantasy Award-winner Lavie Tidhar blends the superhero and spy genres in this dark, high-energy epic of alternate 20th century history, originally released in 2015.

Andrew Wheeler at his THE ANITCK MUSINGS OF G.B.H. HORNSWOGGLER, GENT. praises the Sarah Anne Langton cover.

As a bonus, for those of you who suffer massive anxiety, like a certain former New York Times SF reviewer, about reading garishly-covered genre fiction on the train, THE VIOLENT CENTURY has an exceptionally classy cover that only just hints at the fantastic elements inside.

At FACTOR DAILY, Gautham Shenoy lists 5 superhero novels for people who love comics (or don’t).

Grim, melancholy and brilliantly written, THE VIOLENT CENTURY – filled with clever cameos and replete with keen observations on humanity and heroes – is not an easy read. Yet, it is a book that rewards the reader for sticking with it till the end.

Lavie participated in a VIOLENT CENTURY-centric REDDIT AMA.

PristineEnthusiasm
I loved The Violent Century – who were your favorite superheros, and will you write more about my favorite, Spit?

Lavie_wuz_here
AMA Author
Everyone likes Spit the best!

I have this loosely planned semi-sequel that does focus on Spit, and there’s a handful of short stories so far. She’s so much fun to write – I like kind of falling back into that world from time to time. Oh, there’s one here: Heroes. But I have so much on and I never seem to quite get around to doing the rest of them. There’s a fun one about these really horrible British supermen that I started recently, that makes me laugh. So hopefully one day…

(and yeah, I guess I like Spit the most, too! It’s such a ridiculous superpower).

And finally an unexpected mention of Lavie’s most recent original novel UNHOLY LAND, courtesy of THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS (reported by Lucas Adams) coverage of “As If: Alternative Histories From Then to Now,” an exhibition at the Drawing Center.

Beyond the accompanying zine, the exhibit doesn’t have a catalog, but outside the Drawing Center it’s easier than ever to find authors plumbing the depths of imagined paths, with new thoughts on the ways we’ve lived and continue to: Lavie Tidhar’s UNHOLY LAND, which envisions a Zionist homeland in Uganda, and K. Chess’s Famous Men Who Never Lived, about a community of refugees forced to flee from their dimension to ours after a cataclysm, both capture the uncertainty and sorrow of our moment.

For more info about THE VIOLENT CENTURY, visit the Tachyon page.

For more info on UNHOLY LAND, visit the Tachyon page.

Covers by Sarah Anne Langton

November 29, 2018

Lavie Tidhar’s “cabinet of wonders” UNHOLY LAND makes more Best of Year lists

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized best of 2018, bill capossere, book riot, fantasy literature, hanukkah, lavie tidhar, library journal, michelle anne schingler, npr, sarah anne langton, unholy land

The accolades keep rolling in for Lavie Tidhar’s beautifully written UNHOLY LAND.

Both NPR and LIBRARY JOURNAL include the book among their best books of 2018.

NPR:

It’s the kind of smart, intertextual science fiction that would make Philip K. Dick giddy.

LIBRARY JOURNAL:

Recalling China Miéville’s The City and the City, Tidhar’s narrative resonates with the dilemmas of modern Israel without devolving to mere metaphor.

Photo: Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013

At FANTASY LITERATURE, Bill Capossere declares the title is gong on his Best of 2018 list.

I read UNHOLY LAND straight through in one sitting, blowing off work, family, and the first few minutes of dinner to do so. And had I not finished I most likely would have just skipped dinner entire until I did. For such a short book — under 300 pages — Tidhar crams in a world (worlds) of thoughtfulness, suspense, imagery, and beautiful prose. Highly recommended.

UNHOLY LAND makes a different type of list at BOOK RIOT with Michelle Anne Schingler’s 8 Nights of Jewish Books: A Suggested Hanukkah Reading (and Gifting!) List.

A pulp writer transgresses the barriers between realities in Tidhar’s latest science fiction wonder, which finds agents who can skip between universes chasing the man who may be instrumental to a multiverse rift—centered somewhere in the forests beyond Palestina, a territory in what was Uganda, in a world that is not our own. Tidhar’s book is a cabinet of wonders—it will not stop proffering surprises ’til the end.

For more info on UNHOLY LAND, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

August 9, 2017

Tachyon tidbits featuring James Morrow, Ellen Klages, Gordon Van Gelder, and Nancy Kress

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized bill capossere, borderlands books, elizabeth story, ellen klages, fantasy literature, Gordon Van Gelder, interview, James Morrow, john denardo, kirkus, looking for a good book, Nancy Kress, passing strange, paul semel, review, the asylum of dr caligari, the very best of fantasy & science fiction volume 2, Thomas Canty, tomorrow's kin, wicked wonders, yesterday's kin

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

James Morrow, Ellen Klages (photo: Scott R. Kline), Gordon Van Gelder (Houari Boumedienne), and Nancy Kress (Ellen Datlow).

For FANTASY LITERATURE, Bill Capossere praises James Morrow’s THE ASYLUM OF DR. CALIGARI.

If it sounds a bit over the top, well, it is. Morrow dives fully into gothic/surreal mode here, having fun with it even as he shows himself quite accomplished in its voice and tropes: the twisting, canted architecture; the purple and at times stilted prose; use of fire and shadow, classic types such as the mesmerist and sorcerer, and so forth. This is all wedded to the historical events of the time, such as the assassination of the Arch-Duke, the rolling in of one country after another due to alliances, specific military actions and strategy, and the use of new weapons such as the flamethrower and the early tank. Morrow also raises the intellectual stakes with explorations of art’s power (or lack thereof) to affect human action, psychology, violence, propaganda, war profiteering, sexuality, the gross absurdity of warfare — either individually or as they are entwined in culture/human nature.

If you’ve seen the film or know a lot of early 20th Century/late 19th Century art, Morrow offers up a slew of allusions for you to revel in. If not, the book is still enjoyable for its prose style, big ideas, and especially for its humor. THE ASYLUM OF DR. CALIGARI is peppered with lots of one-liners or funny dialogue bits. Not all the humor worked, and some would have stood better with a bit more subtlety (the line “Rube descending a staircase” would have been even funnier without the explanation just before of the painting itself. I thought), but I laughed aloud a few times and chuckled many more. I’d offer up examples but don’t want to spoil the jokes (Freud and Nietzsche makes especially ripe targets here, though).

I did think THE ASYLUM OF DR. CALIGARI felt too long even though it comes in at just about 200 pages and would have preferred it as a long short story/short novella, maybe about 130-150 pages or so. But for such a short book this is a relatively minor complaint since the length of time to finish it was so minimal, making this an easy recommendation despite that one issue.

At KIRKUS, John DeNardo recommends Ellen Klages’ WICKED WONDERS in his article 3 Lies and 7 Truths About Reading Short Fiction.

Pssst! Can I ask you a question? We’ve known each other for a while now, and I feel like we’ve established a relationship where we can drop the pretenses and be honest with each other. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, and I don’t know the best way, so I’m just going to come right out and ask: why don’t you read short fiction?

If I’ve misread you, I’m sorry. If you love reading short fiction like I do, then I’m glad we found some common ground on which we can share our mutual love of reading. But if I’ve read you correctly, then…we need to talk. If you’re intentionally avoiding short fiction then you’re cheating yourself out of some fantastic reading experiences. Here, let me break it down for you…

WICKED WONDERS and Klages’ PASSING STRANGE appeared on the Borderlands June bestsellers list.

Trade Paperbacks
1. THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu, trans by Ken Liu 
2. ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY by Charlie Jane Anders 
3. THE RAVEN STRATAGEM by Yoon Ha Lee 
4. PASSING STRANGE by Ellen Klages 
5. THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey 
6. TOO LIKE THE LIGHTNING by Ada Palmer 
7. WICKED WONDERS by Ellen Klages 
8. PREY OF GODS by Nicky Drayden
 9. I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER by Dan Wells 
10. RIVER OF TEETH by Sarah Gailey

LOOKING FOR A GOOD BOOK enjoys Gordon Van Gelder’s THE VERY BEST OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, VOLUME 2.

But more often than not I was impressed by the stories …only a small handful that I remember reading back in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s when I subscribed to the magazine: “Jeffty is Five” by Harlan Ellison is such a story, as is George Alec Effinger’s “The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything.” Ellison’s work was always cutting edge and ‘Jeffty’ is one of the classics that continues to stand the test of time. Effinger is someone who’s work I saw a lot of at the time but who doesn’t have the following that he should. This is a great way to introduce him to new readers.

I stopped reading F&SF in the 1980’s – not because I wasn’t interested, but …well…life happens sometimes. My point, though, is that the writers here that appeared in the magazine after the 1980’s are authors who are ‘new’ to me (though I’ve recently become acquainted with those still publishing). I enjoyed Charles de Lint’s “The Bone Woman” and Maureen F. McHugh’s “The Lincoln Train” – an alternative history story.

“Maneki Neko” is by Bruce Sterling – one of my favorite ‘new’ authors (though he’s pretty established now) and this story shows his deft hand. He’s known as one of the leaders of the ‘cyber-punk’ category and here he combines his noted cyberpunk skills with humor. A fun story, and it’s these fun stories that always made me appreciate Fantasy and Science Fiction.

<snip>

Looking for a good book? THE VERY BEST OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, VOLUME 2, edited by Gordon van Gelder is a book that can’t help but appeal to anyone who already loves the genre and is a great way to introduce great science fiction and fantasy to new readers.

Paul Semel on his eponymous site interviews Nancy Kress.

While some novels start out as short stories or novellas, the switch typically happens as these tales are being written. No one ever gets to read the original short story or novella, and a completed version of the story may not even exist in this form. But Nancy Kress’ new sci-fi series, which kicks off with the novel TOMORROW’S KIN (hardcover, digital), has taken a different path. It started off as a novella, YESTERDAY’S KIN, which not only came out three years ago, but it’s still available wherever you buy fine books. Or fun ones. Though in talking to Kress about this, she admitted that this wasn’t part of some master plan three years in the making.

Where did the original idea for TOMORROW’S KIN come from, and how different is the finished novel from that original idea? Because my understanding is that it’s somewhat rooted in your 2014 novella, YESTERDAY’S KIN.

The novella forms the first quarter of the novel, which extends the story ten more years. There was still a lot of story still to be told, what with global disruption on several levels as well as the new physics and engineering gifted by the aliens, which could lead to the building of the first Terran starships. Maybe. If all goes well. In fact, there is so much more story that it became a trilogy. All three books are written — TOMORROW’S KIN, IF TOMORROW COMES, and TERRAN TOMORROW — and will be released by Tor over time.

What was it about the the story you told in YESTERDAY’S KIN that made you think it could work over the course of three books, and why didn’t you write it that way to begin with?

The novel is not an expansion, which just tells a story in greater detail and ends in the same place. It’s an extension, which carries the story forward and ends in a different place. Big difference. I didn’t initially write a novel instead of a novella because I didn’t realize there was more story to tell until I’d finished the novella and thought about it for a while. I am not a great planner. I write, in part, to discover what I want to have happen, and then make decisions from there.

’

TOMORROW’S KIN starts off with the novella. It then picks up the story a year or so later and carries it through, with all the same characters, for nine more years. The next two books, due to marvels of time dilation while traveling between stars, covers a few more months for the traveling characters and nearly thirty years on Earth.

For more info on THE ASYLUM OF DR. CALIGARI, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on WICKED WONDERS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE VERY BEST OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, VOLUME 2, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

For more info on YESTERDAY’S KIN, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

June 19, 2017

Lavie Tidhar’s impressive CENTRAL STATION wins John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized bill capossere, campbell, central station, fantasy literature, john w campell memorial award, lavie tidhar, sarah anne langton

The Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction honored Lavie Tidhar with the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for CENTRAL STATION.

Campbell award administrator Chris McKitterick with the award

Bill Capossere for FANTASY LITERATURE praises the book.

I’m a sucker for linked story collections. Sure, at their worst they can feel like a lazy person’s cheap novel — a thrown together bunch of old stories with a few perfunctory transitions/connections. But at their best they mix the concentrated focus and power of a short story with the weight and depth of a longer narrative arc, making for a wonderfully discursive, elliptical, and yet strong-hitting creation. And that’s exactly what we have in Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION, a beautifully constructed and composed linked-story novel/collection.

The imaginative richness, sharpness of detail, and complexity of connections would make this a good book, but it’s the depth of characterization and amount of feeling in their stories that makes it an excellent one. Stories of love and loss and regret and relationships and fathers and sons and mothers and sons and old friends and new friends and once-old-friends-not-new-again. CENTRAL STATION is a lyrically told, expertly constructed tale that moves even as it impresses in its craftsmanship. Highly recommended

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

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

July 13, 2016

The recommended INVADERS really explores the outer limits of literature

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, bill capossere, black gate, bookshots, elizabeth story, fantasy, fantasy literature, goro fujita, invaders, invaders: 22 tales from the outer limits of literature, jacob wesiman, john o'neill, leah dearborn, Lit Reactor, magic realism, review, science fiction, zoe brooks

Reviews for Jacob Weisman’s anthology INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE are flooding in.

Photo by Jill Roberts

At FANTASY LITERATURE, Bill Capossere found the book easy to recommend.

As with most collections, whether they be of stories, poems, or essays, I found INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE, edited by Jacob Wesiman, to be a mixed bag overall, with some weak stories, some solidly good ones, some very good ones, and several absolutely great ones, more in fact than I typically find in an anthology, making this an easy collection to recommend.

<snip>

INVADERS has 22 stories. A quarter of them are out-and-out great. Another quarter or so are very good. And most of the rest are solid, enjoyable pieces told in skillful prose. Which makes INVADERS one of the better anthologies I’ve read lately.

Zoe Brooks of MAGIC REALISM praises INVADERS.

Whilst these stories are science fiction and not magic realism, many of the writers contributing to the anthology are already authors of magic-realist fiction, who have been invited to try their hands at speculative fiction. The resulting stories are remarkable and fascinating. One of the consequences of asking these literary authors to write sci-fi was there was generally a strong focus on the human element in the stories – relationships, sexual relations and indeed the nature of being human (something particularly appropriate to the sci-fi genre).

<snip>

This collection really explores the outer limits of literature as it claims. I recommend it to you.

For LIT REACTOR, Leah Dearborn gives the anthology the Bookshots treatment.

INVADERS seems to be a collection designed with the task of subverting and upending stereotypes about “genre” fiction in mind. Its authors weave complex speculative fiction within the short spaces alloted them. Whether a conscious effort or not, it does an admirable job of showcasing how seamlessly science fiction themes can be blended with a more traditionally literary voice. The stories are smart and balanced, with a dark side but highly readable.

INVADERS covers a lot of ground between its 22 short stories. Sometimes the invaders are interpreted as evil metal giants, sometimes they’re adults in a land of children. It’s an interesting theme that the various authors clearly enjoy toying with. The stories range from ostensibly serious to comedy—oh, never-mind-that’s-actually-really-serious-and-you-waited-until-the-last-page-to-sucker-punch-the-reader. There’s some darkness, a few laughs, and a lot of expertly crafted hooks.

John O’Neill of BLACK GATE is excited about the book.

When I was at the Nebula Awards weekend I had a chance to catch up with my friend Jacob Weisman, publisher of Tachyon Books, and I asked him about his upcoming anthology INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE. I had assumed it was a collection of alien invasion tales but, as he patiently explained to me, that’s not it at all. Jacob has gathered a superb batch of stories by literary authors who have invaded science fiction — and left distinct footprints behind.

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

Cover by Goro Fujita

Design by Elizabeth Story