not so much said the cat

November 18, 2018

Happy birthday to the incredible Michael Swanwick

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized birthday, elizabeth story, freddie baer, gravity's angels, michael dashow, michael swanwick, michael swanwick's field guide to the mesozoic megafauna, not so much said the cat, stephanie pui-mun law, tales of old earth, the dog said bow-wow, the postmodern archipelago

Photo: Beth Gwynn

One of the most acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy short-story
writers of his generation, Michael Swanwick won an extraordinary five
Hugo Awards in six years (1999-2000 and 2002-2004). His stories also
garnered World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, Asimov’s Readers’
Awards, Locus, and SF Chronicle awards. Swanwick’s Stations Of
The Tide (1991) won the prestigious nebula award for best novel.

His other novels
include In The Drift (1985), Vacuum Flowers (1987),
Jack Faust (1997), and Bones of the
Earth (2002). The many collections of Swanwick’s numerous
acclaimed short tales include GRAVITY’S ANGELS (1991), TALES OF OLD EARTH (2000), CIGAR-BOX FAUST AND OTHER MINATURES (2003), MICHAEL SWANWICK’S FIELD GUIDE TO THE MESOZOIC MEGAFAUNA (2004), THE DOG SAID BOW-WOW(2007), The Best of Michael Swanwick
(2008), Solstice Fire (2013), Season’s Greetings
(2014), and NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT (2016).

Omni,
Penthouse, Amazing, Asimov’s Science Fiction,
New Dimensions, and Full Spectrum number among the many
venues with Swanwick’s short fiction. A frequent contributor to the
New York Review of Science Fiction, he
previously published the controversial essays on the state of the
science fiction and fantasy fields: The User’s Guide to the
Postmoderns (1986) and “In the Tradition…” (1994). Both essays
were collected in THE POSTMODERN ARCHIPELAGO (1997). Swanwick
contributed to the serialized The Witch Who Came in
from the Cold
(2017).

All of us at Tachyon
wish the extraordinary and amazing Micheal a spectacular birthday.

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on GRAVITY’S ANGELS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael Dashow

For more info on TALES OF OLD EARTH, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael Dashow

For more info on CIGAR-BOX FAUST AND OTHER MINIATURES, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Freddie Baer

For more info on MICHAEL SWANWICK’S FIELD GUIDE TO THE MESOZOIC MEGAFAUNA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

For more info on THE DOG SAID BOW-WOW, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

For more info on THE POSTMODERN ARCHIPELAGO, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael Dashow

May 4, 2018

Newly minted SFWA Grandmaster Peter S. Beagle and a host of Tachyon authors to attend the 2018 Nebula Conference

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Ann Monn, burn, camille andre, daryl gregory, elizabeth story, ellen klages, in calabria, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, John Picacio, michael swanwick, not so much said the cat, peter s beagle, pittsburgh, sfwa nebula conference, the new voices of fantasy, the overneath, the secret history of science fiction, we are all completely fine, wicked wonders

Many Tachyon authors will join Tachyon head honcho Jacob Weisman and SFWA Grandmaster Peter S. Beagle for the 2018 SFWA Nebula Conference in Pittsburgh, May 17-20.

SFWA members and other individuals who are interested in the field of science fiction and fantasy are welcome to attend SFWA’s Nebula Conference. Attendees may participate in workshops, programming and special events throughout the weekend.

Focusing on three tracks relevant to professionals in the genre, attendees will be able to choose from career management, professional development, and expert knowledge panels and workshops throughout the weekend.

Other Tachyon creators scheduled to appear include Daryl Gregory, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, Ellen Klages, and
Michael Swanwick.

The conference offers a full selection of programming.

For more info about IN CALABRIA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover art by Camille André

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about THE SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about BURN, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio

January 19, 2018

Tachyon tidbits featuring Kameron Hurley, Peter Watts, and Michael Swanwick

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized apocalypse nyx, bel dame apocrypha, elizabeth story, god's war, god's war trilogy, infidel, kameron hurley, michael swanwick, not so much said the cat, nyx, paul robichaux, Peter Watts, preview, rapture, review, the freeze frame revolution, wadim kashin, worlds in ink

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

Kameron Hurley, Peter Watts (photo by Johan Angelmark [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons), and Michael Swanwick (Beth Gwynn)

Kameron Hurley on her eponymous site previews all the forthcoming Bel Dame Apocrypha/God’s War goodness for 2018.

GOD’S WAR, the first book of the Bel Dame Apocrypha/God’s War Trilogy has been out of print since late last year. The publisher is re-issuing the books in mmp with updated, streamlined covers – just in time for the launch of the new story collection, APOCALYPSE NYX!

Because Nyx really is the hero we need right now.

Yes, 2018 is THE YEAR OF ALL THINGS NYX, MY FRIENDS. REJOICE.

WORDS IN INK’s Most Anticipated 2018 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Releases includes both Hurley’s APOCALYPSE NYX and Peter Watts’ THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION.

Paul Robichaux enjoys Michael Swanwick’s NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT.

I adore everything I’ve ever read by Michael Swanwick. I’m not sure how I missed this collection of short stories before but it’s superb.

For more info on APOCALYPSE NYX, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Wadim Kashin

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

January 3, 2018

Tachyon tidbits featuring Jo Walton, Lavie Tidhar, Peter S. Beagle, Jacob Weisman, and Michael Swanwick

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized andrew wheeler, b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog, camilla andré, central station, elizabeth story, fantasy literature, jacob weisman, jeff somers, jo walton, lavie tidhar, michael swanwick, not so much said the cat, peter s beagle, review, sarah anne langton, starlings, tadiana jones, the antick musings of g.b.h. hornswoggler gent., the new voices of fantasy

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

Jo Walton, Lavie Tidhar (photo: Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013), Jacob Weisman & Peter S. Beagle (Jill Roberts), and Michael Swanwick (Beth Gwynn)

On B&N SCI-FI & FANTASY BLOG, Jeff Somers mentions Jo Walton’s STARLINGS in The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of January 2018.

Fans of Walton will rejoice at the variety on display in this collection (though we’d expect nothing less from an author who seems determined to never write the same book twice). She offers up short stories, poetry, and plays that explore many of her favorite themes in new and interesting ways. From a tale that follows a gold coin as it changes hands on a space station to a story about a phone app that allows you to share in a loved one’s pain and loss, Walton’s lively imagination is the main selling point, as she deluges the reader with ideas. Other standouts include a story about a biographer interviewing a simulation of a 20th century subject, three brief vignettes set at a weary inn, and, oh, the poems, which are wonderful whether or not you consider yourself a fan of the form.

Tadiana Jones delivers FANTASY LITERATURE’s third review of Lavie Tidhar’s John W. Campbell Award winner CENTRAL STATION.

CENTRAL STATION is a brilliantly imagined, vividly detailed world, where Lavie Tidhar stitches together concepts about scientific developments, the future of humanity, community and family, love, religion and individual choice, all at the same time. It’s an impressive and beautiful patchwork quilt; it’s just that there isn’t a whole lot of plot to it. CENTRAL STATION is more focused on the ideas and the characters. But what scintillating ideas, and what fascinating characters!

I think my favorite creation was Carmel, the data vampire, inflicted with the Nosferatu Virus, driven to suck data from the necks of humans who have the ubiquitous data node. Like the Shambleau of old, she is feared and hunted down by humans, but the digital Others have a particular role in mind for her.

Tidhar’s rich, allusive writing contains a wealth of ideas and a breathtaking vision for what humanity may become. In the vast differences between the various types of characters, it becomes clear that it’s the similarities that are most important, connecting people in all our diversity. While I would have like a more fully developed plot, in the end I felt like I had gained in insight and compassion by being immersed in the day-to-day world of the people of CENTRAL STATION.

For THE ANTICK MUSINGS OF G. B. H. HORNSWOGGLER, GENT., Andrew Wheeler recounts the past year with mentions of Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman’s THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY and Michael Swanwick’s NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT.

Every year, I do this post for New Year’s Day, linking the first and last (with some wiggle room for comprehensibility) sentences of each month of the past year to the posts where those sentences appeared.

Yes, it was once a meme. No one else does it anymore, which means it belong to me, now. Surely adverse possession can happen virtually as well?

August

You can get this book from Tachyon Press – well, more likely from an intermediary – and it was released on August 22nd, so you can get it right away.

December

Michael Swanwick’s last big collection of short stories was 2007’s The Dog Said Bow-Wow, which somewhat explains the title of last year’s NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT.

For more info on STARLINGS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

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

Cover art by Camille André

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

November 30, 2017

For a limited time, get a selection of SIGNED books from Tachyon

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized alex solis, blood and lemonade, charles vess, context: further selected essays on productivity creativity parenting and politics in the 21st century, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, ellen klages, hap and leonard: blood and lemonade, Joe R. Lansdale, john coulthart, Kerem Beyit, lovecraft's monsters, not so much said the cat, patricia a mckillip, peter v brett, sale, signed books, six months three days, the apes of wrath, the great bazaar & brayan's gold, the stress of her regard, the very best of charles de lint, the very best of tad williams, Thomas Canty, Tim Powers, wicked wonders, wonder of the invisible world

From Jacob’s many travels and authors stopping by the offices, we have a large selection of signed books.

As with our entire catalog, these books are part of our holiday sale.

From now until Wednesday, December 13

10% off on all orders of $25 or more (use the coupon code HAPPY10)
Free Media Mail shipping on all orders for U.S. customers

SIX MONTHS, THREE DAYS (limited edition) by Charlie Jane Anders

THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD by Peter V. Brett

LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS edited by Ellen Datlow

THE VERY BEST OF CHARLES DE LINT

CONTEXT by Cory Doctorow

WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE by Daryl Gregory

WICKED WONDERS by Ellen Klages

THE APES OF WRATH edited by Richard Klaw (includes signatures by Klaw and contributors Joe R. Lansdale, Scott Cupp, Jess Nevins, and Mark Finn)

HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE by Joe R. Lansdale

WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD by Patricia A. McKillip

THE STRESS OF HER REGARD by Tim Powers

NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT by Michael Swanwick

THE VERY BEST OF TAD WILLIAMS

Plus the previously announced Peter S. Beagle signed books

10% off only applies to orders of $25.00 or more

Sale ends Wednesday, December 13, at 11:59PM PST.

Free shipping via USPS Media Mail within the United States (except Alaska and Hawaii). No minimum purchase required.

Please email for other shipping options

For more info on WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

For more info on THE VERY BEST OF TAD WILLIAMS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Kerem Beyit.

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE APES OF WRATH, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Alex Solis

Design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart

For more info about THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on SIX MONTHS, THREE DAYS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE STRESS OF HER REGARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on CONTEXT: FURTHER SELECTED ESSAYS ON PRODUCTIVITY, CREATIVITY, PARENTING, AND POLITICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more information about THE VERY BEST OF CHARLES DE LINT, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Charles Vess

November 18, 2017

Happy birthday to the incredible Michael Swanwick

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Ann Monn, birthday, cigar-box faust and other minatures, elizabeth story, freddie baer, gravity's angels, michael dashow, michael swanwick's field guide to the mesozoic megafauna, micheal swanwick, not so much said the cat, stephanie pui-mun law, tales of old earth, the dog said bow-wow, the postmodern archipelago

Photo: Beth Gwynn

One of the most acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy short-story writers of his generation, Michael Swanwick won an extraordinary five Hugo Awards in six years (1999-2000 and 2002-2004). His stories also garnered World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, Asimov’s Readers’ Awards, Locus, and SF Chronicle awards. Swanwick’s STATIONS OF THE TIDE (1991) won the prestigious Nebula Award for Best Novel.

His other novels include IN THE DRIFT (1985), VACUUM FLOWERS (1987), JACK FAUST (1997), and BONES OF THE EARTH (2002). The many collections of Swanwick’s numerous acclaimed short tales include GRAVITY’S ANGELS (1991), TALES OF OLD EARTH (2000), CIGAR-BOX FAUST AND OTHER MINATURES (2003), MICHAEL SWANWICK’S FIELD GUIDE TO THE MESOZOIC MEGAFAUNA (2004), THE DOG SAID BOW-WOW(2007), THE BEST OF MICHAEL SWANWICK (2008), SOLSTICE FIRE (2013), SEASON’S GREETINGS (2014), and NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT (2016).

OMNI, PENTHOUSE, AMAZING, ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION, NEW DIMENSIONS, and FULL SPECTRUM number among the many venues with Swanwick’s short fiction. A frequent contributor to the NEW YORK REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION, he previously published the controversial essays on the state of the science fiction and fantasy fields: The User’s Guide to the Postmoderns (1986) and “In the Tradition…” (1994). Both essays were collected in THE POSTMODERN ARCHIPELAGO (1997). Swanwick contributed to the serialized THE WITCH WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD.

All of us at Tachyon wish the extraordinary Micheal an amazing birthday.

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on GRAVITY’S ANGELS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael Dashow

For more info on TALES OF OLD EARTH, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael Dashow

For more info on CIGAR-BOX FAUST AND OTHER MINIATURES, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Freddie Baer

For more info on MICHAEL SWANWICK’S FIELD GUIDE TO THE MESOZOIC MEGAFAUNA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

For more info on THE DOG SAID BOW-WOW, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

For more info on THE POSTMODERN ARCHIPELAGO, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael Dashow

August 18, 2017

Tachyon tidbits featuring Jeff VanderMeer, Ellen Datlow, Michael Swanwick, and Susan Palwick

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Ann Monn, best science fiction books, booklist, booklist online, daniel kraus, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, fate of mice, jacob mcmurray, jason ridler, jeff vandermeer, lightspeed, michael swanwick, nihil, not so much said the cat, reiko murakami, susan palwick, the third bear, tobias carroll, tor.com

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

Jeff VanderMeer (photo: Kyle Cassidy), Ellen Datlow, Michael Swanwick (Beth Gwynn), and Susan Palwick

In his TOR.COM article Remade Bodies and Surreal Spaces: Where to Start With the Work of Jeff VanderMeer, Tobias Carroll discusses THE THIRD BEAR.

THE THIRD BEAR, VanderMeer’s 2010 short story collection, offers a fine survey of the many sides of his fiction. In some cases, that means a side of his work that his novels haven’t yet explored: “Finding Sonoria,” about a detective hired to locate a possibly imaginary country, and “Errata,” a foray into experimental narratives, obsession, and conspiracies, recall the metafictional and metaphysical pulp fiction of Brian Evenson.

Readers of VanderMeer’s longer work will find strange echoes of some of his novels here, as well. “The Situation,” about dangerous office politics in a company dedicated to bizarre genetic experiments, reads like a precursor to some of the themes and settings that VanderMeer would develop in BORNE. (Impossibly huge, existentially menacing bears show up in a couple of places in the collection, in fact.) And there’s also “The Quickening,” in which arguably the least threatening animal imaginable–a pet rabbit–accumulates a dense air of mystery and menace.

Daniel Kraus for BOOKLIST includes Ellen Datlow’s NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR among Top 10 Horror: 2017.

Queen of the horror anthology Datlow follows up DARKNESS: TWO DECADES OF MODERN HORROR (2010) with this 2005–15 compendium, which delightfully showcases the modern breadth of horror, from psychologically chilling to all-out terrorizing. A perfect discovery tool.

BEST SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS mentions Michael Swanwick’s NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT in Exciting New Books For August Part 2.

Michael Swanwick is one of the most elegant and consistently satisfying short story writers working today, and this latest collection is everything you might expect. Darger and Surplus put in an appearance, as do AIs and time travellers and rogues and more. A daring woman enters hell to bring her father back, only to find that hell is nothing like she had imagined. Time travellers from pre-history are having a party to welcome the end of time. An intelligent spacesuit tells of an encounter with centipede-like aliens. And fairy tale characters tell us why they prefer to remain in a book. There are 17 stories here, wildly different in subject but all alike in their invention and wit.

The August 2017 issue (87) of LIGHTSPEED spotlights Susan Palwick’s (THE FATE OF MICE) new short story “The Shining Hills” and a discussion between the author and Jason Ridler about the story.

I enjoyed that both Niff and Seamus tried to rationalize the fantastic of Arthur’s Seat, but from different viewpoints (optimist and cynic). Was that a conscious choice from the beginning, or did it develop over the execution of the story?

It grew out of their characters. Niff desperately wants to leave and Seamus is determined to stay, so their different interpretations arise from that.

I enjoyed the duplicitous nature of authority in Seamus, a sheen that hid his own weirdness and subterfuge on gaining Niff’s trust. I’ve read about those attempts in works on predators of various kinds. Do you think there is a clear link between authority and the need to build trust through lies?

I think there’s a clear link between deceit and the need to build trust through lies. Seamus isn’t acting in an official capacity here; he’s just pretending to. He’s doing this on his own time. His desire to protect Niff is real, but his motivations are personal and might draw scrutiny from his superiors. Certainly anything like objectivity is compromised. I see Seamus as a very private person, someone who usually plays things close to the chest. I doubt he’s opened up to anyone else the way he has to Niff, and I’m not sure he’d have talked to her so freely if he didn’t already know, on a gut level, that she’d be gone soon. He’s having the conversation he wasn’t able to have with his daughter.

It may be worth mentioning here that the idea from the story came from a real incident. After the 1988 World Fantasy Convention in London, I took the train up to Edinburgh, which is one of my favorite cities, and stayed there for a week. One day I was hiking by myself on Arthur’s Seat and heard someone ask, “Are you all right?” When I turned, I found a cop next to me. He and his partner patrolled the base of the park, and when they saw a woman alone, he left the patrol car to climb up and assess the situation. He stayed with me, chatting pleasantly, until we met another hiking party. I don’t know if there’d just been an assault on Arthur’s Seat or if this was standard procedure, but he clearly didn’t like my being up there by myself.

Cover by Reiko Murakami

The Shining Hills

by SUSAN PALWICK

“Are you all right?”

The voice, sharp and worried, shot out of the pocket of shadow to her left. Startled, she turned and found herself blinking at a cop, one of the ones who patrolled the park on foot. In the last light of dusk, she could just make out his half-frown, his badge, the hand resting on a nightstick. He reminded her of her father.

She shivered and pulled her sweatshirt more tightly around her. She should have brought warmer clothing, but she wasn’t going to be here long. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Her father would have said she was being rude, and foolish beside: You didn’t talk back to cops, especially in foreign countries. She didn’t care. Cops were cops.

“It’s getting dark. Where are you going?”

None of your fucking business. Even she knew better than to say that. Anyway, couldn’t he figure it out? She didn’t answer, just gestured with her chin. When she glanced at the top of Arthur’s Seat now, she couldn’t make out the glowing lights she’d seen before. She wondered if the cop would have been able to see them. Only the Chosen saw them, supposedly. That was why the rest of the world thought they were crazy.

She hoped she hadn’t missed her chance.

For more info about THE THIRD BEAR, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Jacob McMurray

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

Cover by Nihil

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about DARKNESS: TWO DECADES OF MODERN HORROR, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE FATE OF MICE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

June 14, 2017

Tachyon tidbits featuring Michael Swanwick, Joe R. Lansdale, and Lavie Tidhar

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized blood and lemonade, central station, elizabeth story, gregory frost, hap and leonard: blood and lemonade, Joe R. Lansdale, lavie tidhar, liars club oddcast, michael swanwick, molly odintz, mystery people, not so much said the cat, paradoks, polish, stacja centralna

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

Michael Swanwick (photo: Beth Gwynn), Joe R. Lansdale (Karen Lansdale), and Lavie Tidhar (Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013)

Gregory Frost on his eponymous site shares the news that Michael Swanwick, author of NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT, joins the LIARS CLUB ODDCAST.

My good friend the amazingly inventive Michael Swanwick joins us on the LIARS CLUB ODDCAST this week to discuss the craft of writing science fiction and fantasy, his fascination with his con artists Darger and Surplus (and with writing short fiction) and even a bit of musing on the works of George R. R. Martin. Don’t miss a great interview with this multiple-award-winning author!

For MYSTERYPEOPLE, Molly Odintz discusses Joe R. Lansdale in A (Partial) Atlas of Texas Crime Fiction.

These are the two main threads of Texas crime fiction still today – tales of the city and the hypocrisy beneath its polite surface, and stories of small town secrets, where no matter how much prejudice is visible on the surface, there’s always more hidden beneath. Joe R. Lansdale continues Thompson’s mantle (with added horror and humor) in his Hap & Leonard series, as well as his stand-alone novels THE THICKET and SUNSET & SAWDUST, preserving the beauty of East Texas speech and nature while not shying away from the crass, casual brutality of East Texas lives, all while pointing out the absurdities of his setting and his characters.

PARADOKS previews STACJA CENTRALNA, the Polish edition of Lavie Tidhar’s Clarke, Campbell, and Locus award-nominated CENTRAL STATION.

In July, a science fiction novel “Central Station” by Lavie Tidhar will be published by Zysk i S-ka. This is a wonderful, multidimensional and deep story that combines all the best features of the genre. One of the best science-ficton novels by 2016, among others. “The Guardian”, “io9”.

(Translation from Polish courtesy of Google)

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

June 12, 2017

Tachyon tidbits featuring Michael Swanwick, Jeff VanderMeer, Brandon Sanderson, and Nalo Hopkinson

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized alexander nanitchkov, booklife, booklife: strategies and survival tips for the 21st century writer, borne, brandon sanderson, chris lough, chuma hill, cosmere, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, jeff vandermeer, john coulthart, list challenges, michael swanwick, nalo hopkinson, not so much said the cat, Publishers Weekly, the emperor's soul, tor.com, we read a book

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

Michael Swanwick (photo: Beth Gwynn), Jeff VandeMeer (Kyle Cassidy), Brandon Sanderson (Ceridwen via Wikimedia Commons), and Nalo Hopkinson (David Findlay)

WE READ A BOOK selects Michael Swanwick’s NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT as their June read.

Steven

That’s probably not good for you, but I’ll try.

For June, I’m picking a book by one of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy authors, Michael Swanwick. I’ve read some of his books before, and we’re going to read a lot more over the course of this book club, which will keep going until we die or hate each other, right?

I’m picking a short story collection, and, Jeff, you won’t be surprised at all when you hear the title. This book club hasn’t been going on long enough for any Internet strangers reading this to know much about us yet, but you’ll know, Jeff. You’ll know.

The story collection is called NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT.

Jeff

Cats. I should have known. It’s actually a little surprising that you’ve gone through two book picks without selecting a book about cats in some form or another. In that sense, I am already impressed.

This does actually sound good though. I enjoy short stories and, according to Amazon, Michael Swanwick is the master of short science-fiction. I don’t know that Amazon is exactly the gatekeeper of great literature, but it’s enough to encourage optimism.

For PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, Jeff VanderMeer shares 5 Writing Tips.

Writing the rough draft of a novel might seem hard enough all by itself. But after you have a draft, the work is still just beginning because for most novels revision is the key to success—as is finding enthusiasm for revision to make your manuscript everything you want it to be. Such enthusiasm means not just renewed energy and having a positive outlook after the initial adrenaline rush of inspiration, but also being patient. Often, this means not seeking out “efficiency” in your process. Getting too quickly to where you want to go, getting there too smoothly, is antithetical to thinking through complex issues. You want roadblocks, confusion, chaos, and doubt. Unexpected, wonderful things come out of this approach.

But at some point, no matter how good your partial or rough draft is, you may also have to methodically test your novel—in all ways, from the structure down to the paragraph level. For my new novel BORNE, I made a number of revisions based on taking a step back and thinking about what I wanted the book to emphasize and what the characters told me about the story.

1. Changes to structure can relieve pressure and allow your novel to breathe.

Initially I had thought of the book as being in two parts, and the sort of book where you receive much of the context up front. But as I weighed how much information to provide to the reader and where, I realized I should experiment with a three-part structure because I was in danger of off-loading too much context too quickly on the reader. In novels not set in the present-day, this can result in an undesirable thickness that weighs down scenes. As soon as I mapped out what this change would mean, I felt a huge sense of relief. Suddenly the whole idea of even what scenes had to go where changed drastically.

3. The emotional depth of your story can be affected by how you provide exposition.

A change in structure meant a change in the length of the novel to some degree, but more importantly it meant I had more space for context related to setting and landscape and history to be situated at regular intervals along the way—only in the places it was needed and thus made more active than simply inert exposition. This changed the texture of the novel by making individual moments of description or explanation shorter. The space left behind is filled instead by the emotional lives of the characters—a kind of interiority with regard to the narrator that hopefully deepens the novel and makes it more emotionally complex. Ultimately, then, whereas in my prior Area X novels the setting deliberately seems to devour the characters, the characters in BORNE stand out in stark relief from the setting.

4. A multi-level narrative voice requires detailed attention at the paragraph level.

Because I saw Rachel as an educated, sophisticated voice, the rough draft often had too many words better suited for an essay. I felt this was necessary in the draft to establish voice, but in revision, I cut or changed a number of such instances while leaving others. What I left was enough to signify the kind of narrator Rachel was, but the cuts also supported the changes to structure that resulted in fewer “lumped” descriptions of setting. In a way, the simpler the language became, the more complex the effects. This is because some of the more complex word choices drew too much attention to themselves in the midst of highly emotional scenes—scenes in which I wanted the reader fully engaged in the moment of the scene. However, leaving in several of these complex word choices was essential not just to characterization but to the frame of history through which Rachel tells the story. The diction must move from informal to more formal at moments when Rachel thinks she is imparting something of historical importance. Without the signifiers of more complex vocabulary, I could not make this shift without it being jarring.

Chris Lough at TOR.COM reveals that Mapping Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere Raises So Many Questions About His Future Books.

In fall of 2016 fantasy author Brandon Sanderson officially revealed in the ARCANUM UNNBOUND collection that almost all of his books take place in a single cosmos, known as the “Cosmere”. Along with charts of each star system known about in the Cosmere (here’s an example), the book hinted that characters from the Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive, Elantris, and Warbreaker series had already begun quietly appearing on other worlds (i.e. other books) within Sanderson’s fictional universe.

These “worldhoppers” hold the secret to the larger epic underpinning Brandon Sanderson’s novels and stories, so I got curious…what do we know so far about them?

There’s an inciting event behind all of the worlds in the Cosmere which narratively linked them together and produced the first “wave” of worldhoppers. From Martin Cahill’s “Let’s Talk About Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere“:

…a long, long time ago, there was a singular entity that went by the name/title of Adonalsium. From what little we know, it was a celebrated force of life and creation. But something happened and Adonalsium was shattered into sixteen shards, each of them containing a single aspect of Adonalsium’s cosmological DNA and power, with both positive and negative aspects contained within.

Present at the Shattering of Adonalsium were sixteen individuals, who found the Shards left from the catastrophe and took them up, gaining immense power, and essentially ascending to godhood. With this newfound power, the Shardholders went off to do whatever it is that gods do.

With a consciousness to direct them, many of the Shards began to Invest their magic and influence in certain planets or peoples. Every Shard impacts a planet in a way that allows certain individuals to tap into its own distinct magical power.

This first wave of sixteen Shards–known more recently as Vessels–puts the list of known worldhoppers in the double digits already. This is our framework for mapping The Cosmere-Thus-Far, allowing us to illustrate the relationships between planetary systems in the Cosmere by way of the beings who have “hopped” between them.

LIST CHALLENGES includes FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS among their 100 Must Read Books by Women Authors.

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about BOOKLIFE: STRATEGIES AND SURVIVAL TIPS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY WRITER, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart

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

Cover art by Alexander Nanitchkov

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

May 16, 2017

Tachyon receives six Locus Award nominations

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized central station, dreams of distant shores, elizabeth story, john coulthart, lavie tidhar, locus awards, magdalena korzeniewska, michael swanwick, not so much said the cat, patricia a mckillip, peter s beagle, pirate utopia, sarah anne langton, summerlong, Thomas Canty

The finalists for the 2017 Locus Awards were announced. Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION, Peter S. Beagle’s SUMMERLONG, Bruce Sterling’s PIRATE UTOPIA, Patricia A. McKillip’s DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, Michael Swanwick’s NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT, and Tachyon Publications itself all received nominations. Tachyon authors, editors, and artists John Joseph Adams, Charlie Jane Anders, Ellen Datlow, Julie Dillon, Kate Elliott, John Picacio, Alastair Reynolds, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan, and Sheila Williams were all honored too.

Congratulations to all the finalists.

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

COMPANY TOWN, Madeline Ashby (Tor)
THE MEDUSA CHRONICLES, Stephen Baxter & Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Saga)
TAKE BACK THE SKY, Greg Bear (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
VISITOR, C.J. Cherryh (DAW)
BABYLON’S ASHES, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
DEATH’S END, Cixin Liu (Tor; Head of Zeus)
AFTER ATLAS, Emma Newman (Roc)
CENTRAL STATION, Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon)
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, Colson Whitehead (Doubleday; Fleet)
LAST YEAR, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)

FANTASY NOVEL

ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)
SUMMERLONG, Peter S. Beagle (Tachyon)
CITY OF BLADES, Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway)
THE OBELISK GATE, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
CHILDREN OF EARTH AND SKY, Guy Gavriel Kay (NAL; Viking Canada; Hodder & Stoughton)
THE WALL OF STORMS, Ken Liu (Saga; Head of Zeus)
THE LAST DAYS OF NEW PARIS, China Miéville (Del Rey; Picador)
THE WINGED HISTORIES, Sofia Samatar (Small Beer)
THE NIGHTMARE STACKS, Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
NECESSITY, Jo Walton (Tor)

HORROR NOVEL

THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WHEEL, R.S. Belcher (Tor)
FELLSIDE, M.R. Carey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
THE FIREMAN, Joe Hill (Morrow)
MONGRELS, Stephen Graham Jones (Morrow)
THE FISHERMAN, John Langan (Word Horde)
CERTAIN DARK THINGS, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Dunne)
HEX, Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Tor; Hodder & Stoughton)
THE FAMILY PLOT, Cherie Priest (Tor)
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, Matt Ruff (Harper)
DISAPPEARANCE AT DEVIL’S ROCK, Paul Tremblay (Morrow)

YOUNG ADULT BOOK

CROOKED KINGDOM, Leigh Bardugo (Holt)
THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON, Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin)
LOIS LANE: DOUBLE DOWN, Gwenda Bond (Switch)
TRUTHWITCH, Susan Dennard (Tor Teen; Tor UK)
POISONED BLADE, Kate Elliott (Little, Brown)
BURNING MIDNIGHT, Will McIntosh (Delacorte; Macmillan)
GOLDENHAND, Garth Nix (Harper; Allen & Unwin; Hot Key)
REVENGER, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Orbit US ’17)
THIS SAVAGE SONG, Victoria Schwab (Titan; Greenwillow)
THE EVIL WIZARD SMALLBONE, Delia Sherman (Candlewick)

FIRST NOVEL

THE READER, Traci Chee (Putnam)
WAYPOINT KANGAROO, Curtis Chen (Dunne)
THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN, Roshani Chokshi (St. Martin’s)
THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE, Heidi Heilig (Greenwillow; Hot Key)
ROSES AND ROT, Kat Howard (Saga)
NINEFOX GAMBIT, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
ARABELLA OF MARS, David D. Levine (Tor)
INFOMOCRACY, Malka Older (Tor.com Publishing)
EVERFAIR, Nisi Shawl (Tor)
VIGIL, Angela Slatter (Jo Fletcher)

NOVELLA

THE LOST CHILD OF LYCHFORD, Paul Cornell (Tor.com Publishing)
THE DREAM-QUEST OF VELLITT BOE, Kij Johnson (Tor.com Publishing)
HAMMERS ON BONE, Cassandra Khaw (Tor.com Publishing)
THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM, Victor LaValle (Tor.com Publishing)
EVERY HEART A DOORWAY, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
THIS CENSUS-TAKER, China Miéville (Del Rey; Picador)
THE IRON TACTICIAN, Alastair Reynolds (NewCon)
THE DISPATCHER, John Scalzi (Audible; Subterranean 2017)
PIRATE UTOPIA, Bruce Sterling (Tachyon)
A TASTE OF HONEY, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com Publishing)

NOVELETTE

‘‘The Art of Space Travel”, Nina Allan (TOR.COM 7/27/16)
“Pearl”, Aliette de Bodard (THE STARLIT WOOD)
“Red as Blood and White as Bone”, Theodora Goss (TOR.COM 5/4/16)
“Foxfire, Foxfire”, Yoon Ha Lee (BENEATH CEASELESS SKIES 3/03/16)
“The Visitor from Taured”, Ian R. MacLeod (ASIMOV’S 9/16)
“Spinning Silver”, Naomi Novik (THE STARLIT WOOD)
“Those Shadows Laugh”, Geoff Ryman (F&SF 9-10/16)
“The Future is Blue”, Catherynne M. Valente (DROWNED WORLDS)
The Jewel and Her Lapidary, Fran Wilde (TOR.COM Publishing)
“You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay”, Alyssa Wong (UNCANNY 5-6/16)

SHORT STORY

“The Story of Kao Yu”, Peter S. Beagle (TOR.COM 12/7/16)
“Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies”, Brooke Bolander (UNCANNY 11-12/16)
“A Salvaging of Ghosts”, Aliette de Bodard (BENEATH CEASELESS SKIES 3/17/16)
“Seasons of Glass and Iron”, Amal el-Mohtar (THE STARLIT WOOD)
“The City Born Great”, N.K. Jemisin (TOR.COM 9/28/16)
“Seven Birthdays”, Ken Liu (BRIDGING INFINITY)
“Afrofuturist 419”, Nnedi Okorafor (CLARKESWORLD 11/16)
“Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee”, Alastair Reynolds (BRIDGING INFINITY)
“That Game We Played During the War”, Carrie Vaughn (TOR.COM 3/16/16)
“A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers”, Alyssa Wong (TOR.COM 3/02/16)

ANTHOLOGY

CHILDREN OF LOVECRAFT, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Dark Horse)
THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION: THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL COLLECTION, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin; Robinson as The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 29)
HIDDEN YOUTH: SPECULATIVE FICTION FROM THE MARGINS OF HISTORY, Mikki Kendall & Chesya Burke, eds. (Crossed Genres)
TREMONTAINE, Ellen Kushner, ed. (Serial Box; Saga ’17)
INVISIBLE PLANETS, Ken Liu, ed. (Tor; Head of Zeus)
THE STARLIT WOOD, Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe, eds. (Saga)
THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY OF THE YEAR: VOLUME TEN, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
BRIDGING INFINITY, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
DROWNED WORLDS, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
THE BIG BOOK OF SCIENCE FICTION, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Vintage)

COLLECTION

SHARP ENDS, Joe Abercrombie (Orbit US; Gollancz)
HWARHATH STORIES: TWELVE TRANSGRESSIVE TALES BY ALIENS, Eleanor Arnason (Aqueduct)
A NATURAL HISTORY OF HELL, Jeffrey Ford (Small Beer)
THE COMPLETE ORSINIA, Ursula K. Le Guin (Library of America)
THE FOUND AND THE LOST, Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga)
THE PAPER MENAGERIE AND OTHER STORIES, Ken Liu (Saga; Head of Zeus)
THE BEST OF IAN MCDONALD, Ian McDonald (PS)
DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, Patricia A. McKillip (Tachyon)
BEYOND THE AQUILA RIFT: THE BEST OF ALASTAIR REYNOLDS, Alastair Reynolds (Subterranean; Gollancz)
NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT, Michael Swanwick (Tachyon)

MAGAZINE

ANALOG
ASIMOV’S
BENEATH CEASELESS SKIES
CLARKESWORLD
F&SF
FILE 770
LIGHTSPEED
STRANGE HORIZONS
TOR.COM
UNCANNY

PUBLISHER

Angry Robot
Baen
DAW
Gollancz
Orbit
Saga
Small Beer
Subterranean
Tachyon
Tor

EDITOR

John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Ellen Datlow
Gardner Dozois
C.C. Finlay
Jonathan Strahan
Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
Sheila Williams
Navah Wolfe

ARTIST

Kinuko Y. Craft
Galen Dara
Julie Dillon
Bob Eggleton
Donato Giancola
Victo Ngai
John Picacio
Shaun Tan
Charles Vess
Michael Whelan

NON-FICTION

SCIENCE FICTION REBELS: THE STORY OF THE SCIENCE-FICTION MAGAZINES FROM 1981-1990, Mike Ashley (Liverpool University)
OCTAVIA E. BUTLER, Gerry Canavan (University of Illinois Press)
SPECULATIVE BLACKNESS: THE FUTURE OF RACE IN SCIENCE FICTION, André M. Carrington (University of Minnesota Press)
SHIRLEY JACKSON: A RATHER HAUNTED LIFE, Ruth Franklin (Liveright)
THE VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS, Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Headline)
TIME TRAVEL: A HISTORY, James Gleick (Pantheon)
THE GEEK FEMINIST REVOLUTION, Kameron Hurley (Tor)
WORDS ARE MY MATTER: WRITINGS ABOUT LIFE AND BOOKS 2000-2016, Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION: SECOND EDITION, Adam Roberts (Palgrave Macmillan)
TRAVELER OF WORLDS: CONVERSATIONS WITH ROBERT SILVERBERG, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro (Fairwood)

ART BOOK

YOSHITAKA AMANO: ILLUSTRATIONS, Yoshitaka Amano (VIZ Media)
Kinuko Y. Craft, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Mahlon F. Craft (Harper)
Kinuko Y. Craft, MYTH & MAGIC: AN ENCHANTED FANTASY COLORING BOOk (Amber Lotus)
SPECTRUM 23: THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY FANTASTIC ART, John Fleskes, ed. (Flesk)
Stephanie Law, DESCANTS & CADENCES: THE ART OF STEPHANIE LAW (Shadowscapes)
Ralph McQuarrie, STAR WARS ART: RALPH MCQUARRIE (Abrams)
SPACESHIPS: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE REAL AND THE IMAGINED, Ron Miller (Smithsonian/Elephant Book Company)
THE ART OF THE FILM: FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, Dermot Power, ed. (Harper Design; HarperCollins UK)
Shaun Tan, THE SINGING BONES: INSPIRED BY GRIMMS’ FAIRY TALES (Allen & Unwin 2015; Arthur A. Levine; Walker UK)
Charles Vess, WALKING THROUGH THE LANDSCAPE OF FAERIE (Faerie Magazine)

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

Cover and image by Sarah Anne Langton

For more info on SUMMERLONG, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Magdalena Korzeniewska

Design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover by John Coulthart

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

Cover by Thomas Canty

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

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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