serial distractions Archives - Tachyon Publications

January 13, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring Alastair Reynolds, Jeff VanderMeer, and Nalo Hopkinson

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized agave, alastair reynolds, barbera bella, booklife, booklife: strategies and survival tips for the 21st century writer, chris cold, chuma hill, collection, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, fantasy, frodo's book of randomness, ian sales, it doesn't have to be right..., jeff vandermeer, john coulthart, john green, nalo hopkinson, novella, review, science fiction, serial distractions, shedrick pittman-hassett, short stories, slow bullets, Thomas Canty, wsfa press

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

Alastair Reynolds (Photo: Barbera Bella)/Jeff VanderMeer (Photo: Agave)/Nalo Hopkinson

At IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE RIGHT, Ian Sales reviewed the signed, numbered WSFA Press edition of Alastair Reynolds’ SLOW BULLETS.

This is typical Reynolds – a universe which he perhaps might not have visited before but nonetheless feels like one of his, and a plot predicated on horrible violence which still manages to slingshot off an optimistic and redemptive ending. It is, in fact, pretty much about as Reynolds as you can get and, as a result, your mileage may vary. I enjoyed it, some bits more than others.

WSFA Press limited edition cover by Chris Cold

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett at SERIAL DISTRACTIONS discusses Jeff VanderMeer’s thought-provoking BOOKLIFE: STRATEGIES AND SURVIVAL TIPS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY WRITER.

Most writing books focus on technique–the nuts and bolts of writing. Some even detail the ins and outs of publishing. But what sets BOOKLIFE apart from these other books is its focus on the writing life. It is decidedly not a how-to book, but more of a written coach on the creation and maintenance of, for lack of a better term, your Booklife.

One of the biggest themes of the books is BALANCE. VanderMeer emphasizes repeatedly the need to strike a balance between the public and private Booklife–and to err in favor of the private. This sense of moderation and balance is a through-line for the book. It is also important to note that most of the advice given in the book boils down to common sense approaches to dealing with people. Your Booklife, despite the many hours spent alone churning out words, is a collaborative effort requiring the support of a network of people–treat them shabbily at your peril.

For both novice and experienced writers, BOOKLIFE is highly inspirational, thought-provokingly humane, and highly recommended.

FRODO’S BLOG OF RANDOMNESS followed John Green’s advice and end up enjoying Nalo Hopkinson’s beautiful FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS is a love letter to the very idea of fantasy. The characters within experience joy and loss, wonder and dread, the mundane and the amazing, all with fantastical beings and creatures as the vehicles to the extremes and peaks of those emotions and occurrences. Some of the characters are the fantastical beings, others interact with them or bring them to life, and most are seemingly “normal” people that have wondrous thing happen to them, changing their lives in incredible ways. Yet, at the same time, no fantasy element removes the stories from our reality in full, making each story feel more real, more possible, and their worlds approachable and attainable.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS then takes those incredible things and uses them to write beautiful short stories that cover a range of very real ideas, examining those ideas, and often flipping many of them on their heads. A few of them are: what growing up is like from the mind of a child, guilt over someone’s death, the afterlife, deprivation of the senses, mental deficiencies and genius, what the life of a god would be like, and the reality that would exist if every person really did have someone meant for them.

I’ll admit, some of this book went over my head, which I did expect being that it was recommended by someone as cerebral as John Green. However, that didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the stories, even if I found a few of them dragging on a bit unnecessarily. Hopkinson’s writing shows that she has a different view of the world than anyone else could, and her Caribbean roots shine in the names, dialogue, and surroundings of the characters she creates. It is a very high level of writing, but never pretentious. I don’t understand every element in all the stories, but I didn’t feel like I needed to in order to enjoy them fully.

For more info about SLOW BULLETS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

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 info about FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

January 16, 2015

The unpredictable COLD IN JULY is a top distraction of 2014

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized bad citizen corporation, best of 2014, cold in july, crime, dead end follies, elizabeth story, joe lansdale, Joe R. Lansdale, just a guy that likes to read, mike monson, movie tie-in, mystery, serial distractions, texas, texas noir, wag the fox

Not only has the acclaimed film version been included on numerous best of 2014 lists, but the re-issue of Joe R. Lansdale’s classic Texas noir Cold in July garnered many mentions as well.

Serial Distractions:

Top Distraction

Content-wise, I didn’t write very many reviews this year. That is definitely something I need to fix in 2015. That being said, my stand-out, Top Distraction of 2015 [sic] is easy to pick this year:

Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale

This book has everything I love by one of my favorite authors.

Wag the Fox:

One of my favorite writers saw one of his novels re-released to coincide with the premier of its film adaptation. If you like revenge tales, you need to read this novel. One fateful home invasion forever alters the lives of two fathers. Seriously, read it.

Dead End Follies:

For its unpredictable nature and its perfect blend of genres. An inimitable novel from an inimitable author.

Without comment, both Just a Guy That Likes To Read and author/publisher Mike Monson, in an interview at Bad Citizen Corporation, included Cold in July in their list of best reads of 2014.

For more about Cold in July, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.

July 31, 2014

COLD IN JULY is a brilliant example of Joe R. Lansdale writing at its tightest

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized cold in july, crime, elizabeth story, joe lansdale, Joe R. Lansdale, movie tie-in, mystery, review, serial distractions, shedrick, texas noir

At Serial Distractions, Shedrick declares Cold in July as his favorite Joe Lansdale novel yet.

Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep, Edge of Dark Water, The Thicket) is the gonzo prose-laureate of East Texas and this novel is a brilliant example of his writing at its tightest. He slowly turns up the tension in the first third of novel as Russel becomes an eerie force of menace, tormenting Dane and his family in the finest noir tradition. Then the story takes an abrupt turn into a straight-up crime novel as Dane, his wife Ann, Russel, and the competently egotistical PI Jim Bob Luke begin to put together pieces of the mystery that neither Dane nor Russel can let go of–even when what they find challenges their definitions of humanity. Finally, in its bloody and blazing climax, the novel transforms again into a pulpy action triumph. Even throughout these transitions, Lansdale manages to add another layer of storytelling to the mix, that of the psychological turmoil of the protagonist (Dane) and his questioning of what it means to be a man and “do what a man has to do”, his ability to be a good father, and the burden of his own sense of honor. All of this in a tidy, 250-page package.

The characters Lansdale creates are vivid and lively. Ann Dale is a lovely, strong woman who can easily go toe-to-toe with these über-masculine men she finds herself involved with. Dane is a sensitive, but rock-solid man, the salt of the earth. Russel is a man with a soul-sucking darkness in his heart, but is also a man full of regret and a basic humanity that keeps him from becoming a monster. And Jim Bob Luke has enough personality for ten characters, but Lansdale manages to keep him from hogging all of the available spotlight.

Finally, as he usually does in his fiction, he evokes the very spirit of its setting. You feel the heat, smell the stifling air, and taste the salt of the sweat in the stifling sauna that is an East Texas summer. He paints a vivid picture of the brimstone and fire of South Texas refineries and the desolate scrub of the country outside the asphalt jungle of the city. Texas itself is as much a character in the story as the players.

Needless to say, this is probably my favorite Joe Lansdale novel yet. And that’s saying something.

Read the rest of Shedrick at Serial Distractions.

For more information about Cold in July, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.