Tachyon tidbits featuring Peter S. Beagle, David Liss, David Ebenbach, Lavie Tidhar, and Joe R. Lansdale & Kasey Lansdale

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

Professor Mondo enjoys Peter S. Beagle’s IN CALABRIA.

Honestly, things happen about the way I would expect them to happen, but as ever, there is so much charm and grace in PSB’s writing that it would be churlish to complain.

I’ve said before that Beagle is a writer for whom I can’t even feel envy. There are very fine writers out there, and while I try not to compare myself to anyone else, I sometimes find myself thinking “That’s like something I could have done, had I thought of it,” or “That’s something I could have done, but s/he did it better than I would have.” But I never feel that when I read Peter Beagle. Complaining about not writing like that is like complaining that you don’t fly as naturally and beautifully as a falcon, or that you have to use technology to do what a spider does naturally. It’s not a difference in degree — it’s a difference in kind.
Cover desgn by Elizabeth Story

After listening to the audio book, Booksie’s Blog praises THE PECULIARITIES by David Liss.

David Liss is a well-known historical fiction author.  His trademark is meticulous research.  In this new genre for him, the story is still accurate historically while adding the fantastic elements that make the story fall more in the fantasy genre.  Readers will cheer for Thomas as he grows from a feckless young man to someone ready to take on horrendous events.  I listened to this novel and found the narrator to be a good match.  The only quibble I had was that I found Thomas’ voice too nasal to enjoy listening to.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Design by Elizabeth Story

David Ebenbach, author of HOW TO MARS, sat down with Scott Edelman for cheesecake and conversation on Eating the Fantastic.

We discussed the way he started writing science fiction without realizing he was writing science fiction, the final line of the worst thing he’s ever written, how his first scribbling as a kid was a violent spy novel about The Smurfs, why it’s important to root for an author and not merely our own reading experience, the cliches some in the literary and science fiction worlds believe about each other, the newspaper article which sparked his novel HOW TO MARS, the way he’s managed to carve himself out a bifurcated writing life, the philosophical differences between those writing novels and short stories, and much more.

How to Mars cover
Cover by Elizabeth Story

The French site Les Chroniques du Chroniqueur in a lengthy review recommends Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION.

Through different slices of life of the characters point of view of his stories, the author shows in my opinion how Weird Fiction and Cyberpunk can intersect, through the encounters and relationships that can unite a cyborg soldier to a civilian, or even a cybernetic vampire to a man whose data she cannot steal.

I highly recommend reading this collection!

Translation from French courtesy of Google

In an exclusive, Matt Ligeti for The Comic Book Yeti shares a profile on indie comic publisher Dead Sky Publishing. Among the many goodies are a 5-page preview adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard novel Mucho Mojo and news about a new Joe and Kasey Lansdale creative endeavor.

Additionally, we’re developing another comic with Joe R. Lansdale (Moon Lake), and his daughter Kasey Lansdale (Terror Is Our Business), with artist Daniele Serra (Hellraiser (BOOM!)), but we’re keeping that title to ourselves for now.