feminist science fiction Archives - Tachyon Publications

February 1, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring James Tiptree, Jr., Brandon Sanderson, and Daryl Gregory

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized alexander nanitchkov, aqueduct press, brandon sanderson, catahya, daryl gregory, elizabeth story, fantasy, feminist science fiction, geoff whaley, Gordon Van Gelder, horror, interview, jacob weisman, james tiptree jr, l. timmel duchamp, lisa rogers, magazine of science fiction and fantasy, mats strandberg, mormon, review, swedish, the emperor's soul, the oddness of moving things, tiptree symposium, university of oregon, we are all completely fine

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

James Tiptree, Jr., Brandon Sanderson (MidAmerican Fan Photo Archive), and Daryl Gregory

The University of Oregon took videos of the entire Tiptree symposium last month, and they’re now all available online including the Panel on publishing, with Jacob Weisman (Tachyon Publications), L. Timmel Duchamp (Aqueduct Press) and Gordon van Gelder and Lisa Rogers (MAGAZINE
OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION).

At THE ODDNESS OF MOVING THINGS, Brandon Sanderson’s award-winning THE EMPEROR’S SOUL lead Geoff Whaley to curse Mormons.

DAMN you Mormons and your great Science Fiction/Fantasy! That’s about 25% fact and 75% unadulterated conjecture. Before I go into that (you can skip the next two paragraphs if you’re not interested), funny story: I kept thinking of this as some weird hybrid of the story as it happened and The Emperor’s New Clothes. My mind is weird.

<snip>

I also really enjoyed the philosophical aspect of art, politics and the idea of faithfulness/truth. There’s such a fine line between mimicry and creativity in general and I felt Sanderson wrote an incredible story which looks at it from all sides. It’s hard to say which side he comes down on because it almost seems like you can’t have either without the other.

I can’t think of anything negative to say about the work other than it is too short! Unfortunately, that’s just the sign of a great writer in that he left me desperately wanting to know more about the characters and the setting! I appreciated the addition of Sanderson’s thoughts on writing at the end of the novella.

<snip>

Recommendation: I thoroughly enjoyed it and think anyone really could. In less than 200 pages and in really only one prolonged interaction I became invested in three characters and desperately wanted to know more at the end. Definitely worth a read.

In an interview for the Swedish-language site CATAHYA, writer Mats Strandberg recommends Daryl Gregory’s award-winning WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE.

I nag always
about LOCKE &
KEY series, but they know enough, your readers
already. Michelle Pavers DARK
MATTER may actually not be missed. Elizabeth
Hands new ghost story WYLDING
HALL is really nice and mysterious. And THE
REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS by Alden Bell. I also
liked the WE ARE ALL
FINE COMPLETELY by Daryl Gregory, of monsters
attack survivors in group therapy. Scariest I’ve read in a long
time is BIRD BOX by
Josh Malerman … Then I’d also like to tell about the pod FACULTY
OF HORROR, where two academic feminists analyze horror movies –
incredibly funny, smart and informative.

(Translation for Swedish by Google)

For more on THE EMPEROR’S SOUL, visit the Tachyon page

Cover art by Alexander Nanitchkov

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

February 11, 2015

THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT is seriously awesome

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized ana grilo, collection, elizabeth story, essays, fantasy, feminist science fiction, julie dillon, kate elliott, review, short stories, the book smugglers, the very best of kate elliott

Saying that Ana Grilo at The Book Smugglers just liked THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT would be a vast understatement.

The framing of The Very Best of Kate Elliott is clear: feminist stories featuring a diverse group of female characters presented in a variety of roles and journeys. The most obvious extrapolation here for me given my personal interests is how topical and important this collection is as it fits into an ongoing conversation about places for women – as writers, readers and characters – in SFF. The fact that I absolutely loved every single story and every single essay is just the cherry on top of Mount Awesome.

There is a little bit of everything here and something for everybody. This is a great collection, a fun collection, an important collection, a highly recommended collection. The Very Best of Kate Elliott is the very best that genre fiction can offer.

Rating: 10 – Seriously Awesome

Read the rest of Grilo’s review, which includes coverage of many of the stories and essays, at The Book Smugglers.

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

Cover art by Julie Dillon.

Design by Elizabeth Story.

June 4, 2014

Tachyon and the origins of Aqueduct Press

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized aqueduct press, book punks, feminist science fiction, jacob weisman, l. timmel duchamp, nicolette stewart, publishing, science fiction

Over at Book Punks, Nicolette Stewart provides a fascinating insight into Aqueduct Press.

Evidence of the lack of visibility among indie publishers: Until I decided to write this series, I had never heard of Aqueduct. Not one single peep. A few minutes of googling though and my jaw was on the floor. THERE IS A PUBLISHER DEVOTED TO FEMINIST SCIENCE FICTION?!?!?! Well holy fucking shit. I am a feminist, and I love science fiction. The combination of the two almost always—writing style willing, of course—leads to books I enjoy. While the Aqueduct catalogue contains a few of the bigger names in feminist science fiction—Ursula Le Guin, Gwenyth Jones, Tanith Lee, and Lisa Tuttle, for example, and feel free to translate “bigger” as “names I had heard of and possibly read”—it also contains many more names that were new to me. Their catalogue is a minefield of Nikki’s New Potential Favorite Novels.

It was during Stewart’s interview with L. Timmel Duchamp, one of the founders of the Seattle-based press, about the origins of the press that this intriguing Tachyon-related factoid appeared.

Gavin Grant’s inspiring WisCon sessions talking about the basics of small-press publishing and the example of his and Kelly Link’s Small Beer Press made it seem actually do-able. Once we set things in motion, we went to Gavin for help in finding a fulfillment service to handle our books, and other highly specific information. Later, Jacob Weisman, of Tachyon Publications, also gave us advice. Eileen Gunn, who had a career in advertising, taught me a great deal about promotion and publicity. Without question, the entire undertaking would have been a lot scarier without Eileen, Gavin, and Jacob’s generous counsel, and would have resulted in my having to continually reinvent the wheel of independent press publishing.

(Highlighting added)

For the rest of Stewart’s interesting piece on Aqueduct Press, visit Book Punks.