czech Archives - Tachyon Publications

December 13, 2017

Tachyon tidbits with Peter S. Beagle

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized czech, elizabeth story, girl's guide to sci-fi, holly best, in calabria, jabberwocky literary, magdalena korzeniewska, nonstop reader, peter s beagle, summerlong, the last unicorn, the overneath

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

Photo: Rina Weisman

NONSTOP READER praises THE OVERNEATH.

THE OVERNEATH is a collection of 13 stories, including two Schmendrick stories. I was so excited to be allowed to review the Overneath because Schmendrick (and The Last Unicorn) was really the watershed book for me growing up and between Peter S. Beagle and Madeline L’Engle I turned into a ravenous bookworm and never got better.

I therefore expected the Schmendrick stories to be central for me in the collection with 11 bonus stories which I expected to like, but not be blown away by. I am truly surprised that that wasn’t the case. Oh, both of the stories are wonderful, and Schmendrick Alone has never been published elsewhere, but for me at least, they weren’t the standouts in this collection.

This is as good as it gets. Peter S. Beagle is an amazingly generous gifted storyteller and we’re lucky that he has shared his stories with us.

Five stars

Holly Best at GIRL’S GUIDE TO SCI-FI cherishes SUMMERLONG.

SUMMERLONG, Beagle’s most recent and more accessible novel is perfection. Every word has purpose, each tangled detail sculpts the characters into being, each chapter reflects the complexity of life. There are few authors who can properly assimilate the world of myth and gods into present day fiction without the story becoming overwhelmingly supernatural. The unimaginative becomes real – that what modern civilization has lost is summoned forth in SUMMERLONG.

A gem, something to be cherished, re-read and shared, Peter S. Beagle’s SUMMERLONG proudly sits on my book-shelf.

Via Twitter, Jabberwocky Literary revealed the magnificent cover to the Czech edition of IN CALABRIA.

For more info on THE OVERNEATH, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on SUMMERLONG, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Magdalena Korzeniewska

Design by Elizabeth Story

September 13, 2017

Lavie Tidhar’s breathtaking CENTRAL STATION is lyrical and imaginative

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized argo, central station, centrální stanice, czech, czytanka na dobranoc, karolina sulinska escudo, lavie tidhar, polish, rascunhos, sarah anne langton

Photo: Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013

At the Polish site CZYTANKA NA DOBRANOC, Karolina Sulinska Escudo enjoys Lavie Tidhar’s John W. Campbell Award winning CENTRAL STATION.

CENTRAL STATION is one of the most breathtaking, surprising and imaginary stories I’ve read. The style of the author reminds me of the prose of Hannu Rajaniemi, although it is more lyrical and imaginative. Tidhar in his latest novel merged the previously published stories. It’s back to the golden age of SF with a distinct retro note that makes the imaginary world incredibly colorful and rich. It combines the past with the future and makes the reader feel the longing for other works of this genre. Ba, even behind those unread.

Polish edition

CENTRAL STATION is really a great book, but you can not approach it with the assumption that we hit a work of art, because it is a truly special novel, which will also receive a wide circle of critics. It seems to me that the idea for the book was the idea of creating another, new and futuristic world, and the story itself was marginalized. This novel was made up of fragments of finished stories, which the author decided to loosely connect with each other. Each of the stories told is interesting, but there is no main motive to push the narrative forward. You can see the structure here, but we’re going to lose all the pleasure of reading so deeply. Because it’s not the heroes, not the events are important only the reality in which they play out. These stories are narrated in isolation from the events described, from a distance, which in practice limits and often even excludes the involvement of heroes. Often unfinished, taken out of context, are only part of a larger puzzle-picture of the future world. However, I will add that narration also plays an important role in this book, is an additional factor in the world of knowledge.

Tidhar has absorbed and digested so many science fiction genres to finally give us something new and innovative, something I have not met so far, a book in which you hear echoes of reading from the past. Spectacular, often poetic, prose made me unable to break away from her. I was so absorbed in the details of the world that I exposed, that practically to the last page I did not notice the lack of a plot. For me it was sensational and without it. Must read.

(Translation from Polish courtesy of Google)

The Portuguese site RASCUNHOS praises the novel.

Futurist, presenting the next step of human evolution in which one is born already with connections that allow the transmission of data, nevertheless achieves a somewhat reticent vision, with positive points but without great euphoria, in a scenario decadent in which humans continue to have their existential doubts, their intersections and communication failures. A story both futuristic and human;

(Translation from Portuguese courtesy of Google)

The Czech edition of CENTRAL STATION (CENTRÁLNÍ STANICE) is coming out in December from Argo.

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

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

December 27, 2016

PIRATE UTOPIA is an artistic triumph

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized 067, bruce sterling, czech, flogging babel, michael swanwick, petr koubsky, pirate utopia, seeing the elephant, william grabowski

Three fresh reviews of Bruce Sterling’s brilliant PIRATE UTOPIA.

At SEEING THE ELEPHANT, William Grabowski lauds the book.

Some reviewers are
disappointed with the book’s “lightness,” and say it would fare
better as a graphic novel. I disagree, and perceive Sterling’s
effort as implicitly aligned with Michael Moorcock’s underrated
alternate histories THE LAND LEVIATHAN (1974), and THE STEEL TSAR
(1981), wherein large sociopolitical ideas and war are explored
without moral judgment.

With an Introduction
by Warren Ellis, Rick Klaw’s interview with the author, and John
Coulthart’s awe-inspiring illustrations based on the work of
designer and Futurist manifesto co-author Fortunato Depero, PIRATE
UTOPIA is an artistic triumph.

Michael Swanwick on his FLOGGING BABEL blog, praises the work.

The novella explores this strange phenomenon through the lens of the single worst member of the new government, exposing along the way the seductively poisonous appeal of fascism. At the end, after the inevitable has played out, Harry Houdini appears with two alt-historical pulp writers to implicate science fiction and fantasy literature in the in the whole mess.

It really is quite brilliant.

Tachyon has packaged this story with an introduction by Warren Ellis, a Cast of Characters explaining the historical figures behind the story, an afterword by Christopher Brown, an interview with Sterling himself (by Rick Klaw), and notes on the book’s design by John Coulthart. Taken all together, they raise the book to the status of Event.

Coulthart’s cover and illustrations must be singled out for particular praise. Based on Fortunato Depero’s graphics, they capture the energy and zest of Futurist art and the dangerous appeal that the movement had. I can’t think of a better marriage of image and text than here.

At the Czech 067, Petr Koubský discusses the volume in his yearly recap.

As is tradition, once again, I made a list of books that I have taken this year and could also be interested in you. Of jednasedmdesáti titles will surely choose something to read. Thematic range extends from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan through a human brain into a robot scanned after telling English professor who decided to become a leisure professional fighter. And much more.

In the alternate history that we have two very nice pieces. Veteran sci-fi Bruce Sterling shear Adriatic pun PIRATE UTOPIA : What if after the First World War, D’Annunzio futurists occupied Istria successfully? Develops real bizarre story , but which in reality took a quick end. Sterling has long lived in Belgrade and moved to the former Yugoslavia, so the mood of the place did not have to invent, it has experienced. Very nice! Loosely reminded me Hvorecký Bratislava escapade Wilson’s (literary, not the movie): same time, same circumstances, when Europe was dismantled for parts and began to assemble all kinds of ways.

(Translation courtesy of Google)

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

Cover and illustrations by John Coulthart