shelf inflicted Archives - Tachyon Publications

shelf inflicted

December 1, 2016

Accolades keep rolling in for Lavie Tidhar’s gorgeous CENTRAL STATION

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized adam roberts, asimov's science fiction magazine 30th anniversary anthology, best of 2016, central station, lavie tidhar, peter heck, review, sarah anne langton, science fiction, shelf inflicted, The Guardian, view from ascraeus

At THE GUARDIAN, Adam Roberts names Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION as one of the best science fiction and fantasy books of 2016.

Of course, the main barrier to a properly global SF remains the anglophone biases of culture and fandom, which give an advantage to writers who work in English. Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION (Tachyon), a sprawling hymn to the glory and mess of cultural diversity set in a future spaceport Tel Aviv, is one example: Israeli-born Tidhar lives in London and writes in English.

Peter Heck in the December issue of
ASIMOV’S
SCIENCE FICTION enjoys the book.

Tidhar follows several such characters, offering a view of the station from each of their perspectives. Several have some connection in the past, notably a love story between an older couple, Boris Chong and an African woman named Miriam Jones. We learn they were lovers long ago before Chong emigrated to Mars. Now he’s back.

The other characters cover a wide range of origins and types; many of them are scrambling to make some kind of living in the strange world that has grown up around this crossroads of the universe.

Back in the 1950s, one critic (Kinglsey Amis? Michel Butor? Tell me if you remember who) observed that the aliens in much American SF had more in common with their readers than the average Mexican did. Here’s a writer who can hardly be accused of that—and yet, even Tidhar’s most alien beings have a share of humanity. Tidhar’s well worth a look if you want an idea of what the next generation of SF is going to look like.

Photo: Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013

VIEW FROM ASCRAEUS recommends the novel.

For a novel this is, and it is a wonderful thing all by itself. Set around the grand interplanetary Central Station of a far future Israel, this novel ties a loosely connected group of marginalised people into a cohesive examination of identity and history. This feels more like magical realism than SF, given that there isn’t so much a plot rather than a theme, where each fragment binds together into a beautiful tapestry of life.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, lost myself utterly in the world that Tidhar has created. I’ve been falling out of love with SF in recent years, but this book, and some others I’ll be reviewing shortly, have given me renewed hope for the genre. That isn’t to say that this is perfect, it isn’t: it could do with some sort of payoff to conclude the novel, for example, as opposed to just meandering off in med res.

I happily recommend this to your consideration.

SHELF INFLICTED praises the work.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven’t been inspired to write lately, or read, or anything really (except football manager 2017, but that’s a different story altogether) But in my long journey to try and put ideas from brain box A to real world B, I read something that either takes me to places I really want to go…ORRRRRRR they show me a glimpse of the future.

Mr. Tidhar did both, a gorgeous vision of what more likely than not will be the world to come and beautifully written to boot.

Do me a favor and yourself, if you haven’t read this..do.

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

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

September 7, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring Ellen Datlow, Joe R. Lansdale, and Bruce Sterling

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Ann Monn, bruce sterling, cheryl eddy, daniel schwent, darkness, darkness: two decades of modern horror, diselpunk, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, hap and leonard, hap and leonard ride again, horror, io9, Joe R. Lansdale, john coulthart, michelle garza, mirrorshades, nightmares, nightmares: a new decade of modern horror, nihil, pirate utopia, review, science fiction, shelf inflicted, swamp noir, texas noir, this is horror

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

Ellen Datlow (credit: THIS IS HORROR), Joe R. Lansdale (Karen Lansdale), Bruce Sterling (THE VERGE)

For THIS IS HORROR, Michelle Garza praises Ellen Datlow’s NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR.

As indicated in
Ellen Datlow’s introduction, you could consider this a sequel to
DARKNESS: TWO DECADES OF MODERN HORROR, which included greats like
Clive Barker, Stephen King, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman and George R.
R. Martin. NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR is a celebration
of the art of writing short stories. These tales are a gathering of
those that left a lasting impression on her. It did on us, and
certainly will on you.

An excellent collection over all, featuring some of the best voices in horror. It has something to suit a wide variety of tastes, blending stories about real life trauma and bloodshed, to stories that pass into the realms of cosmic terror, horror in the old west and even those with a grim fairytale-like feel. In these pages you will find a nightmare for every horror fan.

Daniel Schwent on SHELF INFLICTED reviews HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The guys at Tachyon sent me this as well as HAP AND LEONARD. There’s a significant amount of overlap so some of this will be a clip job.

Introduction by Michael Kortya: I’m always interested in what one writer writes about another. Kortya echoes my feelings on Hap and Leonard and Joe Lansdale in general. He also refrains from spoiling the shit out of stories, which is growing increasingly rare in introductions.

Joe R. Lansdale, Hap and Leonard, and Me by Bill Crider: Bill Crider details his decades-long friendship with Joe Lansdale and gives an outsider’s point of view on Joe working on the series.

The Oak and the Pond: Hap tells the story of what happened to the Robin Hood Tree, a tree mentioned in several of the early Hap and Leonard books.

The Boy Who Became Invisible: Hap recounts a tale of his youth, the tale of the boy everyone picked on.

The Boy Who Became Invisible is a powerful tale because it’s all too believable and very relatable. I remembered the ending but it still hit pretty hard. This particular version of The Boy Who Became Invisible is in screenplay format.

An Interview with Joe R. Lansdale, His Own Self: Rick Klaw interviews Joe, asking his thoughts on such topics as racism, genres, Texas, violence, and other subjects.

The Care and Feeding and Raising Up of Hap and Leonard: Lansdale talks about the genesis of Hap and Leonard and writing the books, confirming that Hap is something of a stand-in for Lansdale himself.

At IO9, Cheryl Eddy includes Bruce Sterling’s forthcoming alt history, dieselpunk adventure PIRATE UTOPIA in All the New Scifi and Fantasy Books You Absolutely Must Read This Fall.

A gaggle of
ne’er-do-wells plot global chaos in this new satire from the editor
of the seminal MIRRORSHADES: THE CYBERPUNK ANTHOLOGY.

For more info about 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.