b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog

July 5, 2016

CENTRAL STATION is one of the Best New Science Fiction Books of the Year (So Far)

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog, best of 2016, central station, chicago nerd social club, joel cunnigham, lavie tidhar, positron chicago, rachel esserman, review, sarah anne langton, the reporter group

Photo: Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013

Joel Cunningham on the B&N SCI-FI & FANTASY BLOG includes Lavie Tidhar’s dazzling, unsettling vision of the future CENTRAL STATION in his listing of The Best New Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of the Year (So Far).

Tidhar’s second novel out in the U.S. this year, following the pitch-black Adolf Hitler satire A MAN LIES DREAMING, couldn’t be more different: this strange take on space opera is a classic “fix-up,” strung together from a double-handful of previously published short stories exploring the lives of the inhabitants of a slum situated below Central Station, the hub of humanity’s future and a gateway to contact with the Others, an alien force that is changing the future of humanity. On the ground, in a border town between Tel Aviv and Jaffa, genetically engineered children experience a different sort of reality, cyborg couriers deliver drugs, and robotic priests speak to the faithful. It’s a dazzling, unsettling vision of the future from one of the most consistently interesting—and challenging—voices in the genre.

For THE REPORTER GROUP, Rabbi Rachel Esserman praises the book.

Some novels straddle the line between fantasy and science fiction. That’s true of Lavie Tidhar’s “Central Station” (Tachyon Publications), which is set in a Tel Aviv of the future. In this world, most of the universe’s population is connected into “the conversation” – a type of Internet that interfaces with people’s brains. Cyborg robotiks, who were created from dying soldiers, now have few memories of the humans they once were. There is also a group of children whose existence is part magic and part science.

“Central Station” works best as a collection of interrelated stories rather than a cohesive novel. One reoccurring character is Boris Chang, who has returned from space after years of trying to escape a family curse. Once in Tel Aviv, he meets an ex-lover, now known as Mama Jones, who runs a type of café/bar and has adopted an orphan with an unusual gift. Other characters include Motl, a robotik who has fallen in love with a human, and Carmel, a data vampire whose bite drains people of their memories and their lives. Parts of the overarching plot focus on why Carmel has been allowed to settle on Earth, a place vampires are forbidden entry.

While “Central Station” is a fantasy, Tidhar seems less concerned with creating a cohesive alternative world than with telling the stories of the humans and almost humans who populate it. All his characters are searching for something beyond themselves, whether it’s spiritual satisfaction or love. Although the narrative doesn’t answer all of the questions it raises, those who enjoy pondering metaphysical mysteries will lose themselves in its pages.

POSITRON CHICAGO offers notes from the Chicago Nerd Social Club June reading of CENTRAL STATION.

Lots of praise for the writing in “Central Station”, perhaps the more so after slogging through last month’s selection. We really liked the characterization here, and the way that Tidhar conveys really human stories and a deep sense of place by making these sort of thin slices of description across an interwoven cast.

<snip>

However, a lot of us liked the “let’s just see how life is like there” approach. We were fascinated by each character and segment, from the religious robots and data-vampires to the very human inheritors of Weiwei’s Folly. We particularly liked that ethnic history feels realized here–characters’ cultural heritages are actually fleshed out. We talked for a bit about how, in addition to not having some save-the-universe plot, it’s also neither a utopia nor a dystopia, it’s just a place with people living their lives, which is unusually realistic. And we wondered why SF has generally been uncomfortable with examining the “small lives of quite desperation” of normal folks–why that tends to be left to “literary” fiction.

It’s also pretty impressive how Tidhar layers SF references without hanging textual impact on them (unlike something like “Ready Player One”, for instance). You don’t need to know that Carmel’s story is an homage to C.L. Moore’s “Shambleau” for it to work…but it’s a nice extra if you do. Likewise the Burroughs-inspired Martians, or the use of “ubik” as a verb. Even the sneaky inclusion of Scientologists as “Elronites” seems like a reminder of the kind of pulpy SF L. Ron Hubbard wrote.

<snip>

Really a delightful discussion, and personally I can’t suggest “Central Station” enough. A change of pace, a change of place, with a real mix of styles here–horror, SF, comedy, pastoral. The overall impression I get from the book is a surprising kind of gentleness that is all too rare in SF/F–gentle without being precious–and acts as a kind of framing to highlight some really nice moments of wonder.

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

Cover and poster by Sarah Anne Langton

June 22, 2016

DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES showcases Patricia A. McKillip’s gorgeous prose

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog, essay, kristi chadwick, library journal, lisa goldstein, patricia a mckillip, review, sam reader, the inferior 4, tor.com

For the LIBRARY JOURNAL, Kristi Chadwick praises Patricia A. McKillip’s DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES.

A young couple trade odd stories in a bathroom as something rages outside. An artist calls upon his muse, who answers him through an unfinished painting. A musical band of witches takes on a dark force during their bar performance. The seven ethereal tales (including three new ones), collected here touch on people’s dreams and desires. Also featured is McKillip’s 2002 essay on writing high fantasy and Peter S. Beagle’s afterword, “Dear Pat,” an appreciation of McKillip’s work. VERDICT McKillip (Wonders of the Invisible World) once more enchants with this volume, which fantasy readers will devour as they are transported into multiple realities.

In 7 Essential New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Short Story Collections on the B&N SCI-FI & FANTASY BLOG, Sam Reader recommends the collection.

Patricia
McKillip writing style ranks with the most beautiful and lyrical in
fantasy or elsewhere. In her long and celebrated career as a
fantasist, she has written some of classics of the genre—THE
FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD, The Riddle Master series, and
OMBRIA
IN SHADOW. This recent collection records some of her best shorter work,
including stories about an artist and his peculiar muse, an odd
storytelling session during a massive storm, haunted houses, and
mermaids. McKillip excels at layering sensory details into her work,
but beyond that, her prose is just gorgeous to behold, with each word
embellishing an ever richer tapestry before your eyes. Even if you’re
a long-time fan, DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES delves into
never-before-seen territory; it’s a chance to rediscover the work
of a master, all over again.

At her THE INFERIOR 4 blog, Lisa Goldstein further praises McKillip and her new book.

The new Patricia McKillip collection, DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, is out. The blurb I wrote for it says, “You are about to encounter mysteries, monsters, jewels, songs, witches, a treasure chest of story. Here are magic worlds, places of enchantment, and a wonderful, lyrical voice to guide you through them.”

Here’s something else I thought of since since I wrote that, though this is more about her overall career than a specific book. There are a lot of people writing fantasy these days, but very few who can create myths, who can reach deep into the place where great stories come from. McKillip is one of them. If you like writers who speak the language of fantasy, I recommend this book (or any of her books, really) highly.

Patricia A. McKillip at Westercon 64 in the Fairmont San Jose Hotel on Saturday 2 July 2011 (Stephen Gold/Wikimedia Commons)

Patricia Mckillip produced the original essay “Unexpected Fires, Meddlesome Cats, and Other Cooking Disasters” for Tor.com.

I’ve been asked if I cook as well as I write about cooking.

It’s a fair question: I’ve been cooking almost as long as I’ve been writing. Writing was something I fell into, much like Alice down the rabbit-hole, when I was fourteen. I sat down one day to write myself a story instead of reading one, and thirty-two pages later—pencil and lined paper tablet—I finished my tale andrealized that my predictable world had expanded wildly, enormously, with endlessly diverging and intriguing paths running every which way into an unknown I suddenly knew existed. Having ended one story, (which is locked away, guarded by dragons and evil-eyed basilisks, and will never see the light of day if I have anything to say about it), I wanted to start all over again on another.

When or why I decided I needed to inflict culinary disasters on my long-suffering family and others I don’t remember.

My most vivid cooking memory, even after so many years, is setting my brother on fire with my Cherries Jubilee.

<snip>

I think it was the amount of flour and honey involved in the recipe that I should have noticed some time before we sang Happy Birthday and I tried to cut the cake. It was like taking a knife-or a tooth- to a brick. There was no eating that birthday cake; it was meant for greater things, or would have been if I had been a better decorator. My sister decided she wanted to keep it anyway; it was her birthday and her gingerbread house. So she gave it a home on top of the chest of drawers in her bedroom. There it stayed for weeks, or maybe months, drooping slightly, loosing a cookie now and then, until one of the cats knocked it onto the floor and it was finally thrown away.

Cats and cakes combine in other memories, as when I made a chocolate cake (entirely edible) for my parents’ wedding anniversary. I frosted it with chocolate, and filched a jar of my father’s maraschino cherries he liked in his Manhattans. I cut the cherries in half and placed them decoratively all over the frosting on the top and sides of the cake. I left it on the table to be admired and went to do other important things. When I came back I saw the cat on the table gently picking the cherry halves off the cake and munching them down. I did the lightning thing with my hair and the thundery thing with my voice and the cat vanished. I contemplated the problem for a moment. Nobody else was around. I halved more cherries, stuck them on the empty spots on the chocolate, and everyone ate cake with enthusiasm, blissful in their ignorance.

For more info on DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

June 17, 2016

Patricia A. McKillip’s essential DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES is excellent

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized allie mccarn, b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog, barnes and noble, chris kammerud, collection, dreams of distant shores, fantasy, gary k wolfe, joel cummingham, Locus, patricia a mckillip, review, strange horizons, Thomas Canty, worlds without end

Patricia A. McKillip at Westercon 64 in the Fairmont San Jose Hotel on Saturday 2 July 2011 (Stephen Gold/Wikimedia Commons)

At the B&N SCI-FI & FANTASY BLOG, Joel Cunningham recommends Patricia A. McKillip’s new collection DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES.

Winner of a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, Patricia McKillip’s books are beloved for their timelessness—her fantasy novels are simultaneously classical and subversive, lyrical and filled with life and energy. Her latest release is a short fiction collection, assembling short pieces that range from an ecological fairy tale novella to a story of witches and mermaids. It’s both essential for fans and a lovely introduction to her work.

Gary K. Wolfe in the June, 2016 LOCUS praises the collection and author.

For a career of more than 40 years, Patricia McKillip hasn’t been particularly prolific in short fiction, but her generous output of first-rate novels (most recently KINGFISHER, reviewed here last month) has more than satisfied a devoted readership. Still, a rare new story collection is something to look forward to, especially when, as with DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, it includes three previously unpublished tales, a long novella all but unavailable since its original 1994 publication, an essay by McKillip on high fantasy, and an appreciative and sharply insightful afterword by Peter Beagle. Part of the reason a collection like this is especially intriguing is that, as McKillip herself points out in her essay, the romantic epic conventions of high fantasy have so often been the basic stuff of her novels, and watching her simultaneously manipulate, celebrate, invert, and challenge those conventions is a large part of her appeal. But there are other forms of fantasy, perhaps more gemlike, that she also seems drawn to, and even though the present collection offers us only six stories in addition to the novella and the non-fiction pieces, it’s enough to make you wonder what more she might be able to do in this area.

For WORLDS WITHOUT END, Allie McCarn lauds the work.

Every time I have read one of Patricia A. McKillip‘s novels, I have been struck by her poetic language and the vibrancy of her fantastical worlds. Therefore, I was delighted to have a chance to read and review an advance review copy of her latest collection of short fiction, DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES (to be published June 14, 2016). The book collects seven works of short fiction, one essay by McKillip, and a warm and insightful afterword by Peter S. Beagle. McKillip’s essay is about her style of writing high fantasy, which involves simultaneously following and breaking the rules of the genre. I enjoyed the glimpse into her writing process, and I think the balance between tradition and originality that she describes is one of the things that has kept drawing me back to her fiction.

The short fiction in DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, though, is far from traditional high fantasy. There are no queens, courts and heroes, and the stories take place in worlds not unlike our own. I thought the title itself was a remarkably accurate description of the contents within, since each tale felt like a dream permeated by a different style of magic. The vein of strangeness that runs through every work ties the collection of stories together.

<snip>

In closing, this was an excellent collection of short fiction by Patricia A. McKillip. Each of the stories takes place in a different world, with a different tone and approach to the supernatural. With such a range, from the surreality of “Weird” to the Victorian painters of “Gorgon in the Cupboard”, I expect it will please fantasy fans with a variety of tastes. As for me, I have enjoyed visiting each of McKillip’s DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES.

Chris Kammerud of STRANGE HORIZONS reviews the book.

In Patricia A. McKillip’s latest collection of stories, DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, we encounter our fair share of so-called witches, mermaids, heroes, and heroines. We are, it would seem, on familiar ground, and so, perhaps, we may think we already know the shape these stories will take. We’ve seen it all before, haven’t we? High fantasy has, over the last forty years, on occasion, run the risk of going the way of American fast food, of giving rise in its oft-epic success to a kind of monoculture—the latter producing endless fields of the same old boring potatoes, the former producing endless fields of the same old magical orphans.

McKillip, thankfully, while possessing the deepest reverence for the rules of high fantasy, also finds those rules rather boring and in constant need of breaking.

<snip>

“At its best,” McKillip says, “fantasy rewards the reader with a sense of wonder about what lies within the heart of the commonplace world.” It’s a worthy goal of all stories, whatever genre. And, at its best, DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES does this, managing to show us, tucked inside the commonplace forms of fantasy, glimpses of things which remain timeless, nameless, and true.

For more info on DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

May 27, 2016

CENTRAL STATION distills all of science fiction into a single book

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized a man lies dreaming, b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog, central station, ceridwen christensen, elan samuel, fantasy literature, lavie tidhar, orbital operations, review, sarah anne langton, skye walker, the warbler, warren ellis

A quartet of reviews of Lavie Tidhar’s thoughtful and poignant CENTRAL STATION.

Lavie Tidhar

In his ORBITAL OPERATIONS newsletter, Warren Ellis offers his take.

CENTRAL STATION. Lavie Tidhar. Now this is a thing. This is a science fiction novel written in an episodic style, where, in fact, it seems to me, each episode is also a little study of science fiction. Old science fiction. It’s like Tidhar is enacting a cold restart of the genre in the Middle East. References to old science fiction abounds – I came across the Louis Wu reference and was suddenly wait, what? And then Shambleau, and a chapter that was in large part a set-up for a bit about sandworms, and damn. A spaceport that’s Jewish on one side and Arab on the other and the seat of the project of science fiction.

“Our maker who art in the zero point field, hallowed be thy nine billion names …”

The Nine Billion Names Of God. Short story by Arthur C Clarke. Tidhar does this all the way through the book. Central Station is the locus of science fiction. Defining it as the source of global stories. There is one single American in the book that I noticed, and even he is noted as having lost his accent.

And, yes, it does tell its own story, one that is as much myth and legend as sf. Interrupted love, the culture of abandoned robots, designer babies with imaginary friends and released AI as wild djinni. The book is bigger than it seems, and I’m still thinking about it, unpacking the layers of it. I recommend it highly. It’ll stay with you for days, because every idea in it has more ideas under it. It’s all of science fiction distilled into a single book.

Skye Walker of FANTASY LITERATURE reviews the book.

CENTRAL STATION is a thoughtful, poignant, human take on a possible future. For the most part CENTRAL STATION occurs at the titular port on planet earth. This space resides in what we know today as Tel Aviv, but in the distant future it has gone through many names and many people. Everything seems to begin in earnest when Boris Chong arrives in Central Station after spending a great deal of time away — some of which on Mars. Central Station, the place, is a half-thought meeting of a variety of worlds. CENTRAL STATION the book is more thoughtful than I think I know how to express, but I’ll give it a try.

<snip>

CENTRAL STATION is about humanity in every form it may take. It’s about yearning and hopes and frustrations. Its intricate design of life, love, and happenstance in a distant future isn’t so much grounded in a forced humanity as revelling in it. It’s also about mysteries never to be solved. There are a fair few things in CENTRAL STATION that I continue to wonder about. In most stories without a foreseeable continuation these kinds of loose ends would bother me. In the case of CENTRAL STATION they lend to the idea that what I read was just a moment. There was time in the lives of the characters before the story began, and there is life after. CENTRAL STATION is written like a segment of history, except that it’s set in the future.

If you’re looking for a plot-heavy sci-fi narrative you may want to look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a deeply complex comment on humanity in a future where many lines are blurred, this is the right pick for you.

On the B&N SCI-FI & FANTASY BLOG, Ceridwen Christensen writes about the vibrant novel.

This is the second of Tidhar’s novels I’ve read in as many months, and I have to say, I’m incredibly impressed with his range of style and voice. A MAN LIES DREAMING was pulp snarl, a book both thoughtful and lewd, nasty and pointed. But CENTRAL STATION, now this is something different: amiable, shifting, slow, and stealthy. There’s nothing particularly urgent about it, no main arc that drives you from here to there. This is not to say there aren’t stakes for the people who live in the shadow of the station. This Tel Aviv is a vibrant, textured place. Tidhar has the knack of detailing his beautiful, worn city with the specificity of pop songs and cultural detritus only known to its people, the kind of tossed off knowledge that cements a people to a place, and is ultimately unknowable to outsiders.

He had me leaning in, listening, to this conversation. You should take a listen too, on your way from here to there.

Elan Samuel on THE WARBLER praises CENTRAL STATION.

I thought it would be difficult to find a book at good as Hannu Rajaniemi’s COLLECTED FICTION this year, but Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION, also published by Tachyon, has overtaken it for the top spot in my list this year. By a tiny margin.

For me, CENTRAL STATION was more than a good—or even great—book. It was an important book, for several reasons. The first is that it is some advanced science fiction that breaks through a number of barriers in the genre, which I’ll dig into below. The second is that it was written by an Israeli author and takes place in Tel Aviv.

<snip>

Beyond its significance to me for personal reasons, CENTRAL STATION is an excellent book that pushes at the boundaries of science fiction, while maintaining a deliberately sci-fi core. It was not a story of adventure, or of love, or of horror, though at points it had elements of of all of these. It is a human story. It offers glimpses into the lives of people living their lives, and shows us that no matter how sophisticated our technology becomes or how the world may change, to be human is to struggle, to connect, to love, to fear, to believe and disbelieve. It is absolutely science fiction, and it is also a literary exploration of the human condition through the lenses of family, death, evolution, technology, and religion.

CENTRAL STATION is told almost in vignettes, which makes sense given that Tidhar wrote and published each chapter separately over the course of several years before compiling them into a book with Tachyon. The cast sometimes feel disconnected from each other, but then you realize their connection is their home. Tel Aviv. Central Station. The writing is superb, sometimes eschewing superficial imagery for abstraction, but always returns to a place of clarity. It flows beautifully throughout the read, and though it is short, it is full.

CENTRAL STATION blew me away. I hope it will do the same for you.

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

Cover and poster by Sarah Anne Langton

February 17, 2015

THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT provides an excellent introduction to the reliably fantastic writer

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog, barnes & noble, barnes and noble, collection, elizabeth story, essays, fantasy, joel cunningham, julie dillon, kate elliott, review, short stories, the very best of kate elliott

On the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, Joel Cunningham reveals top picks for the week of February 10 including THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT.

Elliott is known for her expansive fantasies, from the seven-book Crown of Stars series to the recently completed Spiritwalker trilogy, but this collection proves she’s equally adept at writing short fiction. Collecting stories set in worlds both familiar (including the settings of the Spiritwalker books and her Jaran quartet) and new, as well as non-fiction essays about writing, it makes an excellent introduction to the work of one of epic fantasy’s most reliably fantastic writers.

Read the rest of Cunningham’s selection at Barnes & Noble.

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

Cover art by Julie Dillon.

Design by Elizabeth Story.

«< 4 5 6 7 8