Paul Weimer

August 22, 2022

Tachyon tidbits featuring Jane Yolen, Elly Bangs, Eileen Gunn, and Patricia A. McKillip

Rick Klaw blog Amanda J. McGee, arley sorg, clarkesworld, Deby Fredericks, eileen gunn, elly bangs, interview, Jane Yolen, nerds of a feather flock together, night shift, patricia a mckillip, Paul Weimer, the forgotten beasts of eld, unity, wsfa small press award

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

**Paul Weimer for Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together interviews Jane Yolen as part of their Six Books series.**

1. What book are you currently reading?

How to Find your Way in the Dark by Derek B. Miller

Skipping ahead to the last question

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

I have a book of love stories and poems (published and unpublished in the fantasy/science fiction mode, called THE SCARLET CIRCUS which I hope will lift the hearts of readers of all ages teen and up making them smile or sigh, but always making them aware of the many ways one can love and be loved..

Cover for The Scarlet Circus, a collection of love stories by Jane Yolen — Cover by Elizabeth Story

**Elly Bangs, author of UNITY, is a finalist for 2022 WSFA Small Press Award for “Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias” in Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 138 (November 2021)**.

**At Clarkesworld, Arley Sorg interviews Eileen Gunn about her new collection Night Shift.**

How would you describe your writing style?

I think I write in a number of different styles, depending on the mood of the story, the voice of the character, the time in which it’s set, etc. However, I consistently make certain choices as I write, and as I edit my own work: I like short sentences, direct verbs, and few adjectives. I eschew periphrasis. All that may derive from my having spent my formative years writing advertising for technology companies. I usually think that the reader has more important things to do than read my precious prose, so I should be quick, funny, and smart.

My ideal length is two hundred and eighty characters, the length of a tweet. This used to discourage me from longer forms, but now I’m thinking of a novel as merely four thousand consecutive tweets.

Patricia A. McKillip’s THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD continues to impress as evident by comments from Amanda J. McGee and Deby Fredericks.

I ordered this book back when Patricia McKillip passed away as part of my effort to read my writing foremothers. I don’t know that I had expectations for this book exactly, and at the beginning of it I almost bounced off. But ultimately this became one of my favorite books I’ve read this year so far. It filled me with a lovely nostalgia, and ultimately this narrative was a kind one, despite everything. It’s a story full of magical creatures, a sorceress and her power, and men and their fear. I heartily recommend it.
Amanda J. McGee

THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD, by Patricia McKillip (1974), is one of my all-time favorites and also holds up almost 40 years later. Who wouldn’t love to have a menagerie of legendary beasts? McKillip’s prose is also poetic, but more flowery and emotional than LeGuin’s. You can almost miss the family drama, tormented love, and political intrigue. Sybel becomes intent on revenge and backs one side in a war, but in the end her magical animals prevent the violence that all the humans seem to crave. That’s something I’ve come to value in my own written work.
Deby Fredericks

November 3, 2020

With a well-rounded and very human protagonist, Kimberly Unger’s impressive NUCLEATION is engaging

Rick Klaw blog a green man review, amazing stories, andrew liptak, ernest lilley, kimberly unger, nerds of a feather flock together, nucleation, Paul Weimer, review, transfer orbit, warner holme 0

With the imminent book birthday on November 13, excitement builds for Kimberly Unger’s NUCLEATION.

At A GREEN MAN REVIEW, Warner Holme enjoys the debut novel.

NUCLEATION by Kimberly Unger is a science fiction novel that attempts to deal with everything from possible first contact, to nanomachines, to corporate espionage and personal rivalries. This would make the book seem overpacked in other hands, yet is quite effective overall. Indeed, the iclusion of many scientific concepts in this book is impressive.

[…]

Overall, NUCLEATION is an intelligently written story that manages to combine a number of serious scientific concepts with sociological ones as well. The fact that the Helen is engaging enough to keep the reader invested contributes well.

As does Paul Weimer for NERDS OF A FEATHER, FLOCK TOGETHER.

The novel provides a well rounded and very human protagonist in Helen. She’s our sole point of view, which can be a bit awkward at times and the author goes through some pains to make sure she is witness to some important events and there is just the slightest bit of shoehorning. It’s not a real defect of the novel, merely a consequence of that tight on person point of view. The author leverages this in all sorts of ways in putting us in Helen’s head and giving us a perspective for us to try and “figure out” along with Helen just what machinations, aside from the potential alien contact, are going on. She makes for an appealing and immersive character whose triumphs, successes, and boundary pushing all feel very natural and real.

[…]

NUCLEATION ends most satisfactorily and with a good solid ending, but there are clear lines for potential sequels and follow ups. First Contact, after all, is just the beginning of a story involving human-alien relations. I am interested in seeing where the author goes with the story from the ending of this novel, and hope the strengths here can be leveraged further on with more of Helen’s story.

For AMAZING STORIES, Ernest Lilley includes the book among Science Fiction to Look for November 2020.

Closer to Earth, you’ve got NUCLEATION, Kimberly Unger’s debut, a hardcore space procedural with some very interesting ideas about micro wormholes, nanomachines, and entangled communications, set in a first contact situation and a conspiracy.

Similarly, Andrew Liptak in TRANSFER ORBIT mentions NUCLEATION as one of the 17 sci-fi and fantasy books to check out this November.

July 7, 2020

In the time of the Coronavirus, Marie Brennan’s fascinating DRIFTWOOD shares a lesson worth remembering

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Roughly one month from publication (but available for pre-order from your favorite bookseller or direct from Tachyon), interest in Marie Brennan’s DRIFTWOOD ramps up.

At NERDS OF A FEATHER, FLOCK TOGETHER, Paul Weimer praises the book.

And what brings worlds there in the first place to that doom isn’t the point, and as we learn in the stories, the slow destruction isn’t the point, either. The point is what the people of these worlds do with the time that they have. In the time of the Coronavirus, that’s a lesson worth remembering.

In a self-interview, Stephen Theaker on his THEAKER’S QUARTERLY FICTION reveals his thoughts on the novel.

What are you reading? – Reading Glasses Facebook group

DRIFTWOOD by Marie Brennan, about a place where what seem to be the ghosts of dead planets cluster before disappearing forever. Very good.

SIMPLY A BOOK DRUNKARD also thought highly of the work.

It took me a few chapters to get into this, the lack of main plot line confusing me. But then I was absolutely hooked on this fascinating setting with its diversity in people. It is a shorter read, one I easily got through in a few hours. It is so worth it though, because it is interesting and unique.

I really hope more books will be set in this world. I had a great time with it and highly recommend picking this one up.

THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE deems the forthcoming book as squee-worthy.

August squeeing keeps right on going with Driftwood, introducing a new post-apocalyptic universe – ‘where worlds go to die’ – from Marie Brennan.

A REFUGE FROM LIFE includes DRIFTWOOD among Most Anticipated Books of the 2nd Half of 2020.

March 5, 2015

There is no better time than now to become acquainted with Kate Elliott’s wonderful worlds

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized a dribble of ink, collection, elizabeth story, essay, fantasy, julie dillon, kate elliott, overview, Paul Weimer, review, the very best of kate elliott

For A Dribble of Ink, Paul Weimer supplies an overview of Kate Elliott’s works.

Though also an author of several science fiction novels (Jaran, for instance, might be considered as Genghis Khan meets Jane Austen in space!), Elliott is best known for being one of the cornerstones of epic fantasy writing starting in the mid 90s and continuing strongly to this day. While many of the innovations and style of Elliott’s rising carries through all of her work, the series’ themselves are individual and distinct in manner, matter, and tone. There is a Kate Elliott fantasy series for nearly every taste of reader.

<snip>

The Very Best of Kate Elliott collects her shorter fiction, with delightful cover art by Hugo winner Julie Dillon. Elliott’s short fiction is full of dense nuggets of worldbuilding and character, and often provides new and novel perspectives on the worlds of her fantasy novels.

<snip>

There is no better time than now to become acquainted with Kate Elliott’s wonderful worlds and I look forward to enjoying the perspective, voice, and talent she brings to epic fantasy for years to come.

Read the rest of Weimer’s informative essay at A Dribble of Ink.

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

Cover art by Julie Dillon.

Design by Elizabeth Story.

February 25, 2015

Writing a narrative that entertains is Kate Elliot’s chief goal

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized collection, elizabeth story, essays, fantasy, interview, julie dillon, kate elliott, Paul Weimer, short stories, the very best of kate elliott

Over at SF Signal, Paul Weimer interviews Kate Elliott about THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT

Paul Weimer: Readers at SF Signal are familiar with you and your novels. So why a collection of shorter works, for which you aren’t so well known?

KE: Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications approached me to ask if I had ever considered publishing a collection of my short fiction. I was brought in as part of the Tachyon “THE VERY BEST” series, which also includes volumes from Charles de Lint, Tad Williams, and Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine.

As it happens the stories in the collection are indeed “the very best” of my short fiction because they constitute ALL of the short fiction I have ever written with the exception of two stories too tied to the Spiritwalker Trilogy to work without prior familiarity with that series (one available for free on my web page and one — with fabulous Julie Dillon illustrations — available for purchase) and two (never published) short stories I wrote as a teenager. Over the course of my life I have written twice as many novels as short pieces.

<snip>

PW: I didn’t expect the non fiction essays to be included along with the stories. How did you come to choose these to be included? How do you see the dialogue play out between the essays and the themes of your own stories?

KE: I don’t write in a vacuum. While my chief goal when writing is to create a narrative that entertains the reader and keeps them reading (if I can’t keep my readers reading then it really doesn’t matter what other theoretically fabulous things I do, does it?), I do churn a lot of themes and questions through my stories as a way to examine, take apart, and consider from multiple sides issues and thoughts I have about the world, life, people, history, culture, and so on. Writing science fiction and fantasy is my way of trying to understand how humanity works and how I feel about that.

Writing a more substantive essay takes a lot of time so I don’t do it often, and generally I write such essays about subjects that I’ve wrestled with for a long time, often through my fiction. I asked for these essays to be included in the collection, and wrote an introductory essay as well, because the concerns reflected in the non-fiction resonate throughout my fiction.

Read the rest of Weimer’s conversation with Kate Elliott at SF Signal.

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

Cover art by Julie Dillon.

Design by Elizabeth Story.

February 16, 2015

THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT is essential

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized collection, elizabeth story, essays, fantasy, julie dillon, kate elliott, Paul Weimer, review, SF Signal, short stories, the very best of kate elliott

At SF Signal, Paul Weimer declares THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT “An essential part of any fan of the author’s work and a short-form entree into the author’s style.”

As such, the stories in The Very Best of Kate Elliott overlap with all of the major series in terms of publication. While some of the stories are original, some of these stories her work are side tales to those series rather than original works. Often, the characters here are original or at best marginal to the series. Thus, for the most part, these stories stand independently of the worlds in which they are set, giving a hint of the vaster worlds beyond the limited words of their pages.

<snip>

These stories and the others in the collection explore the concerns and themes that one can find in her larger works and series. The challenges and role of women in society, especially when said women cannot or will not conform to the limited roles that society has deemed within them. Women doing heroic things, both in the manner of more male protagonists, and also getting the job done in ways a typical male hero would never think of. Anna, for example, in “Leaf and Branch and Grass and Vine” gets past the many obstacles on her own quest with some fancy thing and not a little bit of social engineering. Like her novels, stories like this show that Elliott likes to show different kinds and forms of heroism.

<snip>

In addition to the stories, the collection includes a number of the online essays that Elliott has written over the years. Readers at SF Signal here will, for example, recall “The Omniscient Breasts”, her study of “the male gaze” in fiction, first published in this space. These essays explicate the concerns and issues that Elliott has explored in her fiction in a much more direct and unflinching format. Readers who somehow miss the themes and concerns that the author explores in her fiction can see them here in unmistakable terms. If there was any doubt as to why it was Kate who was selected to read the Hugo best fan writer acceptance speech of another powerful voice in fantasy, Kameron Hurley, these essays make it absolutely clear why it was that she was selected.

<snip>

Fans of her novels should not hesitate to pick up The Very Best of Kate Elliott; readers new to her work can find the themes and style of the author in evidence in this collection, although not that deep immersive feel that her novels bring.

Read the rest of Weimer’s insightful review at SF Signal.

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

Cover art by Julie Dillon.

Design by Elizabeth Story.

Paul Weimer

Tachyon tidbits featuring Jane Yolen, Elly Bangs, Eileen Gunn, and Patricia A. McKillip

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

Paul Weimer for Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together interviews Jane Yolen as part of their Six Books series.

Skipping ahead to the last question

Elly Bangs, author of UNITY, is a finalist for 2022 WSFA Small Press Award for “Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias” in Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 138 (November 2021).

At Clarkesworld, Arley Sorg interviews Eileen Gunn about her new collection Night Shift.

Patricia A. McKillip’s THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD continues to impress as evident by comments from Amanda J. McGee and Deby Fredericks.

With a well-rounded and very human protagonist, Kimberly Unger’s impressive NUCLEATION is engaging

In the time of the Coronavirus, Marie Brennan’s fascinating DRIFTWOOD shares a lesson worth remembering

There is no better time than now to become acquainted with Kate Elliott’s wonderful worlds

Writing a narrative that entertains is Kate Elliot’s chief goal

THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT is essential

**Paul Weimer for Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together interviews Jane Yolen as part of their Six Books series.**

**Elly Bangs, author of UNITY, is a finalist for 2022 WSFA Small Press Award for “Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias” in Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 138 (November 2021)**.

**At Clarkesworld, Arley Sorg interviews Eileen Gunn about her new collection Night Shift.**