brad k horner

May 24, 2017

Impressive THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY is recommended

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized a c wise, adam ehrlich sachs, alyssa wong, amal el-mohtar, anthology, ben loory, brad k horner, brooke bolander, camilla andré, carmen maria machado, chris tarry, e lily yu, elizabeth story, eugene fischer, hannu rajaniemi, infinite text, jacob weisman, jy yang, kelly sandoval, maria dahvana headley, max gladstone, peter s beagle, review, sarah pinsker, sofia samatar, the new voices of fantasy, the reading life, ursula vernon, usman t malik

Reviews for Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman’s new anthology, THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY, have started appearing.

Peter S. Beagle (photo: Rina Weisman) and Jacob Weisman

INFINITE TEXT praises the anthology.

What Beagle does with this anthology is an elegant passing of the writing pen to a younger generation of fantasy writers, and he presents them to us, the readers, without rigidity as his teachers before him have. He accepts them as they are and is in awe of their risk-taking, creativity, and courage. I cannot imagine how many works Beagle must have read through to select these top 19 stories, but I had a hard time selecting my favourites, as each one of them brings something completely unique to the Fantasy cornucopia. His selection includes a great balance of men and women writers, as well as various backgrounds.

<snip>

I recommend this anthology to anyone who loves fantasy and wants to try some of the new emerging voices. I have no doubt that each one of these writers will continue to write and publish larger works in the future, and this anthology is a great introduction to them. I would especially recommend this to readers who are new to fantasy and want to sample shorter works without committing to an entire series and/or trilogy.

Brad K. Horner on his eponymous site enjoys the book.

I really liked, sometimes loved the stories in this volume. A lot of them are reprints, if not all, and I remember a number of them quite fondly from previous reads, such as, and especially, Alyssa Wong and Brooke Bolander.

However, there were a number of newcomers (the definition is flexible) that I really enjoyed or I’ve already had the pleasure of reading some of their actual novels, such as stories from Hannu Rajaniemi, Sofia Samatar, and Max Gladstone. Hannu is a personal favorite author of mine, and Max is rapidly getting there, too, for me.

<snip>

All in all, though, I am very impressed and pleased by this collection and if its primary intention is to say, “Hey, look at these authors and revel in their glory!”, then I think it did a wonderful job. Most of them have quite a few awards under their wings, too.

I totally recommend this for all modern fantasy lovers. (And btw, there’s a TON of great OLD fantasy retellings, usually quite unique and unusual tales in their own right. If you love hard to find legends retold for modern sensibilities wrapped and layered in fantastic characters, this is ALSO your book.)

THE READING LIFE really likes the book’s lead story “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong.

A few days ago I as kindly given a review copy of a forthcoming soon anthology, THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY, edited by Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman. I was completely shocked by how much I liked the beautiful lead story, “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong. Last month I first read the surrealistic short fiction of Leonora Carrington. If April 2017 was for me the month I "discovered” Leonora Carrington, then quite possibly May will be observed as the month I first read Alyssa Wong. I know this sounds hyperbolic but I can for sure visualize Leonora being stunned by “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers,” i certainly was. I was on first reading mesmerized by the sheer elegance of Wong’s prose combined with the very ugly and evil story she tells.

<snip>

If just a few of the stories in THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY are close to this good, it is well worth acquiring.

For more info about THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Camilla André

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

March 28, 2017

The hugely enjoyable WICKED WONDERS delivers powerful stories

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized brad k horner, eleanor farrell, elizabeth story, ellen klages, emily netterfield, pamela scott, portable childhoods, review, the book lover's boudoir, wicked wonders

At THE BOOK LOVER’S BOUDOIR, Pamela Scott enjoys her introduction to Ellen Klages with the forthcoming WICKED WONDERS.

This is my first time reading the author.

I thought this collection of strange, unsettling stories was hugely enjoyable. Each story has an air of the weird, strange or mystery about and in some cases you really don’t know what’s going on until you reach the end – and even then you don’t get all the answers. For the most part I enjoyed the stories. My personal favourites were The Education of a Witch, Amicae Aeternum and Singing on a Star (which is amazing by the way). The other stories were good just not quite as great as these three which will stay with me for a long time. I really liked the author’s voice and style. Even though some of the stories dealt with crazy, fantastical events they are written in a matter that suggests everyday events are taking place. No oh my God, there’s a three headed-demon going to eat us all, more, oh, look that demon has a nice skin-tone. I just really liked this. I got lost in these stories for a while which is a good thing.

Scott then reviewed Klages’ earlier collection PORTABLE CHILDHOODS.

I thought PORTABLE CHILDHOODS was a fantastic collection of stories. I enjoyed each and every one. Most collections, I find, contain at least one dud, a story that just doesn’t work. That wasn’t the story this time around. Each story is strong and earns a place in the collection. I thought they were all fantastic. I enjoyed them all so much I struggled to picks some favourites but managed in the end. The best stories are Basement Magic, Triangle, Flying over Water, A Taste of Summer and Portable Childhoods. The stand out best story was Guys Day Out which made me cry like a baby. This story about a father and his Down’s syndrome son is one of the best stories I’ve ever read. I thought this was a great collection of stories and I’d highly recommend it.

Brad K. Horner similarly enjoys his first encounter with Klages through WICKED WONDERS.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve never read Ellen Klages before, but I can definitely say that she has a talent for understated and richly-drawn character tales.

These aren’t meant to blow you away with reveals, but they are subtle and powerful explorations of youth (mostly) and they’re definitely good for nostalgia.

A great deal of them will have slight magical twists, but I’ve got the impression that they’re mostly nostalgic histories of Americana. It’s mild and slightly subversive and the kinds of reveals are almost always social or personality.

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on PORTABLE CHILDHOODS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Emily Netterfield

Cover design by Eleanor Farrell

September 29, 2016

NIGHTMARES is one hell of a fun ride

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, brad k horner, british fantasy award, eddie generous, Ellen Datlow, for the love of words, Halloween, horror, nightmares, nightmares: a new decade of modern horror, ominous october, review, the doll collection, unnerving magazine

Ellen Datlow (credit: THIS IS HORROR)

Brad K. Horner on his eponymous site loves Ellen Datlow’s forthcoming anthology NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR.

Since this hasn’t been released yet, I’m going to skip all the spoilerish stuff and the Story by Story gush or other reaction, and instead pick out some of my absolute favorites and otherwise tease some of the best ideas and themes for the rest, because I’m gonna be honest… the whole book of horror tales was rather fantastic.

I mean, it should be. This was a cherry-picking of the last ten year’s best horror stories from some of the biggest non-stratospheric names in the business. Meaning it’s mostly underrated authors or authors that are up-and coming or are well on their way to becoming household names.

That being said, I was thoroughly creeped out, disturbed, amused, and even awed. Most of these did a very good job at keeping me on the edge of my seat, and some even managed to make me really squirm and and want to say, “Enough, enough” and a few made me want to go out and pick up everything that author has ever written and be thankful that this book let me in on the big secret of their existence. 🙂

<snip>

Now, just so you know, I loved almost all of these stories, and leaving some of these out actually kind of pains me. 🙂 I’m still anxious after reading this entire book. And that’s all because of the fantastic skills and the creepy dolls and the western zombies and the UF overdrive of hell infestations and good old fashioned roadtrip murder sprees. 🙂

Really, this one one hell of a fun ride. Anyone just looking for a good sampler or just a crazy good time could do FAR worse than this. 🙂

For UNNERVING MAGAZINE, Eddie Generous praises the book.

To describe this anthology collectively solid would be an understatement. Though not all tickled equally, all proved merit in garnering attention for a sampler of the traits befitting best horror fiction written in the last decade. Originality oozes from these tales (as does much blood, tears and cries) like flags risen in newly discovered dirt masses.

<snip>

The different shades of horror shared a quality of writing rarely met in a collection of shorts from such a variety of authors. Deep, rich scenery, multi-dimensional heroes and villains, scenes of strong atmosphere and believability, it is here and thick all over. The weirdness and newness of the voiced themes adds to the overall appeal in a way so rare it’s still bleeding.

In her own words, editor Ellen Datlow is an enthusiast of horror and enough so that, though not declaring it a best of, can put together volumes of her favorite short horror fictions spanning a decade and present it as something just like that. Nightmares, horror reprinted for works originally published from 2005-2015 is of the highest quality of anthology available.

FOR THE LOVE OF WORDS included, without comment, NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR among their Ominous October selections of books they plan on reading this Halloween season.

Congratulations to Ellen for her book THE DOLL COLLECTION winning the British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.

For more info about NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Nihil

Design by Elizabeth Story

September 23, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring Bruce Sterling, Nalo Hopkinson, Lauren Beukes, and Kate Elliott

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized brad k horner, bruce sterling, chuma hill, clara bacou, falling in love with hominids, helisinki, interview, joe sherry, john coulthart, julie dillon, kate elliott, lauren beukes, nalo hopkinson, nerds of a feather flock together, pirate utopia, poisoned blade, review, shaina reads, slipping, slipping: stories essays & other writing, the very best of ka, tor.com, worldcon 75

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

Bruce Sterling, Nalo Hopkinson (Photo: David Findlay), Lauren Beukes, and Kate Elliott (April Quintanilla)

Brad K. Horner on his eponymous site gives abundant praise to Bruce Sterling’s forthcoming alt history, dieselpunk adventure PIRATE UTOPIA.

Wow. As an SF novel, it’s really quite gorgeous. I’ve been getting tired of all those overdone WWII alternate histories. This one is a beautiful strike in another direction, and it’s humorous and it’s scary and it pushes all the right buttons for me.

And it’s also pulp in all the grand ways, too. 🙂 Mussilini got his dick shot off while working as an editor, Hitler got shot and killed taking a bullet for a friend. There’s even Houdini, the Spy, Lovecraft his employee, and also Robert E Howard working alongside them. I was hoping to see Clarke Ashton Smith among them, but alas, no. 🙂

I haven’t been so delighted by such a strange book just tickling my sense of wonder in such a way as this. Bruce Sterling has gotten really interesting.

He’s been living in Europe for the last decade, learning so much about these places, and also as an American Cyberpunk author now writing Dieselpunk, I have to say that he’s pushing the envelope again. 🙂 In a really awesome way. 🙂

Bravo!

TOR.COM reports that Worldcon 75 has announced their guests of honor including Nalo Hopkinson, author of FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.

Worldcon 75 also announced the five Guests of Honor, who “come from five different countries and reflect the diversity in science fiction and fantasy”: Johanna Sinisalo, Nalo Hopkinson, John-Henri Holmberg, Claire Wendling, and Walter Jon Williams.

Crystal Huff echoed her co-chair’s comments, saying, “In the early days, the science fiction community was dominated by the US, and accordingly most Worldcons have taken place either in the US or in English speaking countries. But in recent years this has changed rapidly. Many of the most interesting works today are created in other languages, and those new voices bring new energy and new ideas to the genre. We see the beginning of a new era of diversity, not only in colour, but also in gender, beliefs and abilities. To bring Worldcon to Helsinki is a natural, but important step in this development.”

Worldcon 75 will take place August 9-13, 2017 at the Helsinki Messukeskus convention center in Finland. For more information, check out the Worldcon 75 website.

SHAINA READS is B-A-N-A-N-A-S for Lauren Beukes’ debut collection SLIPPING: STORIES, ESSAYS, & OTHER WRITING.

The excerpt I read was so bizarre that I’ve tried to summarize it for fifteen minutes and have completely failed. This collection from South African author Lauren Beukes either going to be gimmicky as hell or absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to find out which.

Joe Sherry at NERDS OF A FEATHER,
FLOCK TOGETHER interviews Kate Elliott (THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT) as part of their 6 Books interview series.

1. What book are you currently reading?

I’m a tag-team reader which means I’m always reading about six books at the same time, but for the sake of brevity I will focus on the SHAHNAMEH, the Persian Book of Kings, by Abolqasem Ferdowsi. This poetic retelling of a prose original was composed in the 10th century by Ferdowsi and became the national epic of Persia (Iran). The story is exactly as advertised by the title: the legendary and historical reigns of various Persian kings. I’m reading it with Tessa Gratton in weekly chapters which we then discuss in a blog post each week at my blog. This September we are reading through the history of Sekander (Alexander the Great). It is fascinating to see how he is portrayed in this version of his story. There are familiar tales told in a slightly altered form as well as completely new episodes not present in the Western history. Also, amusingly, this history claims that Sekander’s father was a Persian king who married a Greek princess. Highly recommended, and very long. We’re reading the Dick Davis translation, done in prose, but there are other versions.

4. How about a book you’ve changed your mind about over time–either positively or negatively?

I avoid re-reading books I loved when I was young for precisely this reason. While some may hold up, others, I fear, will not, and I would rather not lose my rosy affection for them. For example I picked up Robert Heinlein’s RED PLANET as an adult and almost immediately had to set it down again because of how heavily 50s-USA gendered and acculturated it was.

6. And speaking of that, what’s *your* latest book, and why is it awesome?

POISONED BLADE is the second book of the Fives trilogy (which starts with COURT OF FIVES).

The story is set in the country Efea, which was conquered 100 years earlier by a people called the Saroese. Jessamy, our protagonist, is the second of four biracial sisters born to a father and mother who can’t legally marry because he’s Saroese and she’s Efean. The Fives is a game played before large crowds. It’s like a big obstacle course with four obstacles around the outside and a fifth in the center (there’s a greater mystery about the Fives but that is revealed over all three books).

Competing in the Fives is what Jes has always wanted to do (I wanted to write a story about a girl who’s an athlete), but because the sisters have been raised with the father’s rigid cultural expectations she’s not allowed to. In the course of sneaking out to do it anyway she gets caught up in major political intrigue. The story contains generous helpings of my four favorite narrative food groups: determination, love, action, and treachery. Also giant mechanical spiders.

When asked for a pitch, I call it “Little Women meet American Ninja Warrior in a fantasy world inspired by Cleopatra’s Egypt.”

For more info on PIRATE UTOPIA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover and image by John Coulthart

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 about SLIPPING: STORIES, ESSAYS, & OTHER WRITING, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Clara Bacou

Design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover art by Julie Dillon

Design by Elizabeth Story

September 8, 2016

SLIPPING is wonderfully evocative

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized brad k horner, collection, donde acaba el infinito, essays, horror, keith lawson, lauren beukes, Lit Reactor, review, science fiction, slipping, slipping: stories essays & other writing

Brad K. Horner on his eponymous site praises both Lauren Beukes and her debut collection SLIPPING: STORIES, ESSAYS, & OTHER WRITING.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

<snip>

This is my fourth Beukes and I was thrilled to get the ARC, not merely because the author is fantastic with mixing genres, being as solid in hard SF and mystery as she is in wonderfully evocative and detailed and interesting prose set within South Africa.

<snip>

But she also evokes wonderful and interesting flavors for her settings, too, bringing out some of the most interesting and sharp details like all of the best writers I’ve ever read. She is completely conscious of the issues of South Africa, but she’s just as evocative about the alien worlds featuring the problem of slime molds, the kind of world that makes cyborgs, or even a meme’d out inner-world. 🙂

She’s weird, and I love weird. Everyone should be reading this author and start tracking her wonderful talent with characters. That’s where she shines the most. 🙂

image: LaurenBeukes.com

At LIT REACTOR, Keith Lawson asks the important question, Why The F*ck Aren’t You Reading Lauren Beukes?

Well, as I mentioned in the introduction, Beukes just doesn’t give shit. She’s going to write the kind of story she wants to write and the publishing marketers be damned.

She absolutely will not be classified into a single genre. Of her four novels she’s written an urban fantasy, a high tech thriller, a serial killer thriller, and a horror novel. But here’s the thing, her urban fantasy, ZOO CITY, is also a mystery novel coupled with social satire. Her serial killer novel, The Shining Girls, is also a time travel epic. And her horror novel, Broken Monsters, well, that shit’s a straight up horror novel. But it’s got a great police procedural and coming-of-age story mixed in there to boot. (Plus, for all of you Stranger Thingsjunkies, the Duffer Brothers seemed to have pulled a huge part of their major plot point out of
BROKEN
MONSTERS.)

More or less, these are intense, read in one sitting novels that have a little something for everyone. Beukes’ voice is compelling and conversational, as if when you’re reading her, she’s sitting right in front of you telling you these intense, thrilling, and incredibly fucked up stories, and no matter how horrified you are, you can’t stop listening to her. You won’t stop, because you absolutely have to know what’s going to happen next.

<snip>

But if you’re a See’s Sampler kind of reader, Beukes has her first mixed collection (short stories and essays), SLIPPING, coming out from Tachyon Publishing in November. And even though I’m just starting to make my way through it, from what I’ve read so far, it’s pretty damn good.

The Spanish-language DONDE
ACABA EL INFINITO reviews SLIPPING.

The order of the
stories (I have the habit of reading anthologies in order, I will
never break anything), is particularly well thought out , it creates
a very interesting speech, in addition to the narrative, as the book
proceeds, is improving. If something has always surprised me Beukes,
it is its ability to play different genres and themes, and transmute
them into his own style. Science fiction, horror, thriller, fantasy.
Hybridization of genres is something I have always stressed this
South African author. And so, an anthology of his stories, I think it
is the best way to start with his work. Another point in favor of
Lauren Beukes, is that almost all the protagonists are women and tend
to the development of an internal problem not usually read on male
characters. That is, the focus character focuses on other problems or
personal identity. The stories deal with issues such as government
corporations, the effects of television and social networks in
culture, and especially domestic violence or gender. Adding this to
his stories often occur in South Africa (others in Japan or
Pakistan), these elements make it an extremely interesting author.

<snip>

In general, the stories have a dark tone, decadent, showing that we have already known universe with THE SHINING GIRLS or BROKEN MONSTERS. Characters who survive, broken characters, broken worlds. As for the part of non – fiction, I recognize that it was prejudiced, but has surprised me a lot to find really interesting pieces, such as how the author began working as a journalist. Especially the text entitled All the Pretty Corpses, where it ’s a tough to media criticism and expose his way to murder victims (especially women) and how this was the seed of his famous The bright. In short, I think Lauren Beukes knows of what he speaks. They are current social issues that affect us all, regardless of the country where they live. Both fiction and non-fiction, Beukes proves to be a committed author with society. Something I start to miss in current science fiction.

(Translated from Spanish by Google)

For more information about SLIPPING: STORIES, ESSAYS, & OTHER WRITING, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Clara Bacou

Design by Elizabeth Story

May 4, 2016

NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT is awesome

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized brad k horner, collection, elizabeth story, leah bayer, lipstick & libraries, michael swanwick, not so much said the cat, review

On his eponymous site, Brad K. Horner praises Michael Swanwick and his forthcoming collection, NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This man is a superlative author.

I’m deathly worried about spoiling anything about this short story collection because all I want to do is gush and gush about the transposition of ideas here, the character building there, the truly awesome amount of storytelling SKILLS that he seems to effortlessly embody. He lays out words with such clarity and beauty and beastly knowledge about the SF (and fantasy!) fields, that I’m frankly floored. He’s consistently original, widely exploratory, and best of all, he is consummately entertaining.

I could gush on and on, but what I really, really want to do is discuss his stories. There’s really a ton that I want to say, but spoiling anything at this point would do everyone a disservice, and that’s precisely the opposite of what I want. I want to tell EVERYONE that Michael Swanwick has got to be one of the very best SF authors alive.

Well I can tell you right now, I’m never turning my back on short stories again if this guy is still writing them. I didn’t meet a single story I didn’t absolutely love.

They were all a perfect marriage of classic stories and bleeding edge tech, from godlike continental AIs to the abolishment of time, clever discourse on libertarianism and zero-sum economics in a mirroring tale of humanity and alien bugs, fairy tales and one of the best futuristic con-games I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming. 🙂 There was even a literary love-story of an American Pushkin that surprised and delighted the hell out of me even as it baffled me, too. 🙂

Some of my absolute favorites, even though I loved them all, were:

The Dala Horse – Great world building, great fairy tale.
Passage of Earth – NICE and twisty invasion story.
The Woman Who Shook the World-Tree – I’m NOT spoiling this one, but trust me. It’s COOL. 🙂
Tawny Pettycoats – I’m a sucker for con games.

Leah Bayer at LIPSTICK & LIBRARIES accidentally fell in love with the collection.

Let’s be real: I read this book because the word cat is in the name. It’s a chronic weakness of mine. Book is about cats? I’m gonna read it. Cat on the cover? Gonna read it. Cat in the title? You know the drill. But while this was a ridiculous impulse read (I barely skimmed the description before picking it up) I fell head-over-heels in love with this collection of stories.

It’s hard to describe the overall feel of this book, because so many different genres and moods are tackled. There’s surreal, futuristic fairy tales. Hard science fiction. More traditional fantasy. Horror. A lot of the inspiration is pulled from folklore or fairy tales, but none of these feel familiar. “The Dala Horse,” for example, has some classic Red Riding Hood traits (along with, I swear, Dora the Explorer–our girl has a talking backpack and map!) but it’s so utterly bizarre and indescribable. “Of Finest Scarlet Was Her Gown,” my favorite from the collection, is about a girl’s deal with the devil while in hell, but it’s like no hell I’ve seen in literature and the deal is so interesting and novel.

For more information on NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

March 29, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring Jacob Weisman, W. P. Kinsella, Lavie Tidhar, and James Tiptree, Jr.

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized alexandra pierce, alisa krasnostein, anthology, aurealis award, baseball, brad k horner, central station, collection, elizabeth story, fantasy, goro fujita, invaders, invaders: 22 tales from the outer limits of literature, jacob weisman, lavie tidhar, letters to tiptree, literature, looking for a good book, Publishers Weekly, review, sarah anne langton, science fiction, the essential w. p. kinsella, Thomas Canty, w. p. kinsella

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

Jacob Weisman, W. P. Kinsella (Photo: Pat Covello), Lavie Tidhar, and James Tiptree, Jr.

Jacob Weisman’s new anthology INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE garnered a starred review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

In this very fine reprint anthology, Weisman has brought together 22 SF stories by authors who, although not generally associated with the genre, are clearly fellow travelers (not the ominous invaders suggested by the title). Among the major names are Pulitzer Prize–winner Junot Díaz, George Sanders, Katherine Dunn, Jonathan Lethem, Amiri Baraka, W.P. Kinsella, Steven Millhauser, Robert Olen Butler, and Molly Gloss.

In general, the stories tend toward satire and emphasize fine writing more than hitting genre beats—technology is usually a means to an end rather than the center of the story—but most of them could easily have found homes in SF magazines. This volume is a treasure trove of stories that draw equally from SF and literary fiction, and they are superlative in either context.

LOOKING FOR A GOOD BOOK was impressed by THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA.

Right from the start, Kinsella made me smile. A turn of a phrase, the recognition of a trait in a character, the understanding of a look or a desire, the shared secret between a character and myself … Kinsella captures it all so well and I was constantly smiling through these stories, which seems an unusual reaction to a work of fiction, but felt good all the same!

I tried to keep track of my favorite stories but it soon became evident that this was both easy, because I enjoyed them all, and difficult – how do you pick favorites from 30+ stories when you enjoy them all? “How I Got My Nickname” was one of the first stories that put a big smile on my face, and “The Indian Nation Cultural Exchange Program” hit home with me as it seemed to capture a mood and culture so perfectly.

This is the sort of book that I want to put into the hands of everyone I know and tell them to read these stories. They are about life and the people that make life worth living.

I think that this needs to be required reading in schools. In Kinsella’s parlance, this book is a home-run.

Looking for a good book? You’ve found it with the collection THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA.

Brad K. Horner can’t get enough of Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION.

You know you’ve got a winner when:

You keep saying to yourself, over and over and over, I hope this never ends, I hope this never ends.

Its full of Jewish-Robot religions, a wide assortment of post-mortality packages, Strigoi (data vampirism, damn I loved Carmel,) and a heavily advanced system of MMORPG’s that is tied very tightly to real-money systems, and can help you earn enough to book passage off-planet by way of captaining a starship in-game. How cool is all this? I can’t even begin click off all these hundreds of wonderful ideas, and so many of them get explored so deeply, too.

Yes, it’s a setting piece, but the characters are much more than just setting. The themes are also deep and introspective and Lavie Tidhar loves to explore everything deeply and interestingly.

I just couldn’t get enough of this novel.

<snip>

I could read this novel forever. I could keep reading its like from now to eternity. It’s just that good and it’s BRIGHT in my head.

Twelfth Planet Press’s amazing LETTERS TO TIPTREE has won the prestigious Aurealis Awards.

BEST CHILDREN’S
FICTION

A SINGLE STONE, Meg
McKinlay (Walker Books Australia)

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL /
ILLUSTRATED WORK

THE SINGING BONES,
Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin)

BEST YOUNG ADULT
SHORT STORY

“The Miseducation
of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (CHERRY CROW CHILDREN, Twelfth Planet
Press)

BEST HORROR SHORT
STORY

“Bullets”,
Joanne Anderton (IN SUNSHINE BRIGHT AND DARKNESS DEEP, AHWA)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

“The Miseducation
of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (CHERRY CROW CHILDREN, Twelfth Planet
Press)

BEST FANTASY SHORT
STORY

“The Giant’s
Lady”, Rowena Cory Daniells (LEGENDS 2, Newcon Press)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

“Defy the Grey
Kings”, Jason Fischer (BENEATH CEASELESS SKIES, Firkin Press)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION
SHORT STORY

“All the Wrong
Places”, Sean Williams (MEETING INFINITY, Solaris)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION
NOVELLA

“By Frogsled and
Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers”, Garth Nix (OLD VENUS,
Random House)

BEST COLLECTION

TO HOLD THE BRIDGE,
Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

BLOODLINES, Amanda
Pillar (ed.) (Ticonderoga Publications)

BEST YOUNG ADULT
NOVEL

IN THE SKIN OF A
MONSTER, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

DAY BOY, Trent
Jamieson (Text Publishing)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

DAY BOY, Trent
Jamieson (Text Publishing)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION
NOVEL

ILLUMINAE, Amie
Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK
SERIES AWARD

THE WATERGIVERS [THE
LAST STORMLORD (2009), STORMLORD RISING (2010), STORMLORD’S EXILE
(2011)], Glenda Larke (HarperVoyager)

THE CONVENORS’
AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

LETTERS TO TIPTREE,
Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)

Congratulations to all the honorees.

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 info about THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

June 24, 2015

Stellar HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION offers something for every kind of sci-fi fan

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized black gate, brad k horner, collection, elizabeth story, hannu rajaniemi, hannu rajaniemi: collected fiction, jill roberts, lius lasahido, may the books be with you, open book society, rachel fagundes, review, science fiction, short stories, the quill to live

Hannu flanked by Tachyon project editor Rachel Fagundes and book designer Elizabeth Story. (Photo by Jill Roberts)

A quintet of reviews for the sold out HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION.

From OPEN BOOK SOCIETY:

From the opening salvoes of “Dues Ex Homine,” through the sensually virtual war “The Server and the Dragon,” through a quantum ride through the painful “Ghost Dogs,’ to the innovative neuro-fiction of “Snow White is Dead” and the snippets and sundries in “Unused Tomorrows and Other Adventures” the writing in Collected Fiction is stellar – an easy slide through the expanding vistas of Hannu’s unique brand of science fiction.

It’s very visceral worlds that Rajaniemi constructs, carefully and deftly; weaving in and out of the psychedelic atmosphere of a Phillip K. Dick piece. His style is the mark of true professionalism, both to the word and what it conveys. Word economy appears to be loose until the end of a story when you realize everything had its place in the end. This is a rare treat in the many authors I’ve had the pleasure (and occasional displease) of reading. The hard science fiction element and the science fantasy is smoothed over and dictated to the reader such an elegant fashion that even non-science fiction fans can pick up and read easily.

Rajaniemi’s command of the English language is commendable and the words flow like gossamer fabric across the page. The reader enters a trance like state causing suspension of disbelief and immersion into a whole new way of experiencing science fiction. In fact, the hard science is often conveyed so subtly that it almost whizzes past you. Stories with both grace and elegance adorn these pages, and the pounding pulse of the prose keeps the reader turning the pages.

THE QUILL TO LIVE:

The first thing I will say about the book is that it has something for everyone. Hannu is extremely creative and has a ton of great ideas. As such, the book is filled with a plethora of stories from every kind of sci-fi, some fantasy, and even things like horror and historical fiction. I found myself excited for my next train ride to find out what tale I would get to next and how I would like it on the spectrum of things. There were stories about ghost astronauts, dragons who are bffs with computer servers, cyber gods, a voodoo identity crisis, magical fish, cyber plagues, transdimensional dogs, histories of planets, and much more.

On that note, I found the stories to be of varying levels of enjoyment. However, I found that my enjoyment of the tales very often had to do with my taste, as the stories that I liked less were simply about subjects that I did not find interesting. Additionally, there were only a few stories I did not like. For the most part my feelings of the stories ranged from good to great. Hannu seemed to do very well in a short story medium, packing tons of excitement and emotions into quick reads. The tales all felt like they fit the short fiction medium, and the works felt like they had the impact of larger novels despite their small size. The writing was clean and the prose was good; showcasing worlds, science, and magic from tons of stories to a dazzling effect.

<snip>

If you want to dream of other worlds and scientific marvels, and want to do it in bite size pieces, I highly recommend checking out Hannu Rajaniemi’s Collected Fiction.

BLACK GATE:

I decided to limit myself to one book and, oddly enough, despite the rare opportunities to get autographs from some of my favorite authors, the title I couldn’t resist was Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction, from an author who wasn’t even in attendance. It’s a beautiful limited edition hardcover from Tacyhon Publications. I’d heard rumors it was almost sold out, and when I saw Greg [Ketter] had a single copy, I snatched it up.

MAY THE BOOKS BE WITH YOU:

(Poorly translated from Russian by Google)

And finally we made a collection of 19 of his short stories, ranging from the very old items by type and Deus Ex Homine to fresh products (Invisible Planets). It turned out well on the whole.

If you are fed up with stories of Jean le Flambera and want to read something else from Rayaniemi, this collection – a great option. Here are all the stories that the author wrote for his career, plus several previously unpublished and not seen on the network. Here and “bogochuma”, which changes the body and mind, and the media turns people into gods (Deus Ex Homine); Tyche and the Ants, so his posthuman fairy tale for children about a little girl overcome various challenges against the backdrop of the fantastic lunar landscape, etc.

Brad K. Horner:

All said, this is one of my absolute favorite short story collections, and by far and away I was catching a lot of flies. I heartily recommend for every die-hard sci-fi fan and/or modernized fairy-tale consumer. The fanboy has spoken.

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

Cover art by Lius Lasahido

Design by Elizabeth Story

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