the stars are legion

November 29, 2018

Kameron Hurley’s APOCALYPSE NYX is a world you’ll want to return to again and again

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized adrienne martini, apocalypse nyx, bel dame apocrypha, elizabeth story, god's war, ignotus award, kameron hurley, las estrellas son legión, Locus, Publishers Weekly, review, the light brigade, the stars are legion, wadim kashin

In LOCUS (October 2018), Adrienne Martini praises APOCALYPSE NYX.

Kameron Hurley’s APOCALYPSE NYX isn’t a
stand-alone novel in her God’s War serise, AKA
the Bel Dame Apocrypha series, depending on
which internet oracle you ask. And I had to ask,
because the world Hurley illustrates in the five
works of short fiction collected in APOCALYPSE NYX. is a world I want to return to again and again.

Those already familiar with Nyx and crew should
enjoy these delightfully grimy and sweaty slices of
their world. The newbies will have titles to add to
their reading lists.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY lauds Hurley’s The Light Brigade with a *starred* review.

Hugo winner Hurley’s second futuristic novel (after The Stars Are Legion) is a smart, brutal, and structurally sophisticated military science fiction tale with a time travel twist.

Like Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War, this book is both a gripping story of future warfare and an incisive antiwar fable. Readers will savor this striking novel’s ambitious structure and critique of rapacious, militarized capitalism.

According to LOCUS, Hurley’s Las estrellas son legión [The Stars Are Legion] won the prestigious Spanish Ignotus Award for Foreign Novel.

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

Cover by Wadim Kashin

Design by Elizabeth Story

June 20, 2018

Tachyon tidbits featuring Peter S. Beagle, Kameron Hurley, John Kessel, Jeff VanderMeer, and Ellen Klages

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized borne, campbell award, czech academy of science fiction fantasy and horror, ellen klages, gunn center for the study of science fiction, in calabria, jeff vandermeer, John Kessel, john w campell memorial award, kameron hurley, milan žáček, mythopoeic award, passing strange, peter s beagle, the moon and the other, the stars are legion, v kalábrii

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

Peter S. Beagle (photo: Rina Weisman), Kameron Hurley, John Kessel (Scott Edelman), Jeff VanderMeer (Kyle Cassidy), and Ellen Klages (Scott R. Kline)

Peter S. Beagle’s IN CALABRIA, translated into Czech by Milan Žáček, won Best Translation from the Czech Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.

Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction announced the 2018 John W. Campbell Memorial Award Finalists. While no Tachyon titles were mentioned, several Tachyon authors were honored: Kameron Hurley for The Stars are Legion, John Kessel for The Moon and the Other, and Jeff VanderMeer for Borne.

2018 Campbell Award Finalists

Nina Allan The Rift
Christopher Brown Tropic of Kansas
Louise Erdrich Future Home of the Living God
Kameron Hurley The Stars Are Legion
John Kessel The Moon and the Other
Eleanor Lerman The Stargazer’s Embassy
Paul McAuley Austral

Annalee Newitz Autonomous
Deji Bryce Olukotun After the Flare
Kim Stanley Robinson New York 2140
Norman Spinrad The People’s Police
Jeff VanderMeer Borne
David Walton The Genius Plague

The 2018 Mythopoeic Awards Finalists were announced with Tachyon author Ellen Klages’ Passing Strange among the honorees.

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature

Crowley, John, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (Saga Press, 2017)
Hoffman, Alice, The Rules of Magic (Simon and Schuster, 2017)
Kathryns, G.A., Snow City (Sycamore Sky Books, 2017)
Klages, Ellen, Passing Strange (Tor.com, 2017)
LaValle, Victor, The Changeling (Spiegel and Grau, 2017)

Congratulations to the winners and nominees.

June 15, 2018

Tachyon tidbits featuring Nick Mamatas, Kameron Hurley, Nalo Hopkinson, Brandon Sanderson, and David Hartwell

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized brandon sanderson, bustle, charlotte ahlin, dark one, david hartwell, deadline, denise petski, elizabeth story, infinite text, james davis nicoll, kameron hurley, midnight robber, nalo hopkinson, nellie andreeva, Nick Mamatas, review, the people's republic of everything, the stars are legion, timescape books, tor.com

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

Nick Mamatas, Kameron Hurley, Nalo Hopkinson (photo: David Findlay), Brandon Sanderson (Ceridwen via Wikimedia Commons), and David Hartwell ( Houari Boumedienne [CC BY-SA 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons)

INFINITE TEXT praises Nick Mamatas’ forthcoming collection THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF EVERYTHING.

This collection incorporates a range of stories written over the last ten years. I enjoyed that each story is followed up by Mamatas elaborating on how the story was written, but most importantly, the ever-frequently-asked question: where do your ideas come from? I really enjoyed this aspect because at times short stories in the speculative genre that cross over can be so odd I’m not sure I know what to think of them. Mamatas explains how he came up with the idea and what he was trying to achieve for each one of these short stories. Two stories in this volume are about collecting correspondence to create a personality-emulator. Mamatas writes after “Walking with a Ghost” that he was fascinated by the friendship and correspondence between Jack Kerouac and H.P. Lovecraft and their cult following, and the idea that one can gather enough data on a person’s way of addressing to be able to emulate ‘personhood.’ Yes, there is an AI Lovecraft in this collection. The second story follows a Marx and Engels partnership in the style of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson—told in a steampunk style. These are just two examples of the variety that can be found in this collection. In the middle there are some that struck a chord with me, particularly “Tom Silex, Spirit-Smasher” and “The Phylactery”–mainly because there was something very personal to them with a touch of humanity and interesting characters. There are a few stories published here for the first time for which even Mamatas has no further comments. Several of his stories focus on Communism and politics, and concludes with a novella (what used to be a screenplay) about the George W.H. Bush era and the invasion of Iraq which was picked up for a film and then dropped (but we get to enjoy it in novella format).

I liked his writing style. On a sentence-level Mamatas in not pretentious nor exclusionary. His fiction is accessible if you want to be taken into the dark corners of niche-speculative fiction. I enjoyed them very much, and like every short story collection there will be a mixture of what works and what doesn’t on an individual level.

Charlotte Ahlin for BUSTLE includes Kameron Hurley and Nalo Hopkinson titles among 15 Sci-Fi Books To Read If You Need A Break From Dystopian Novels.

I mean, look, if you want to read devastating literature about fascist futures 24/7, I’m not going to stop you. But sometimes, it’s OK to read just for fun. It’s OK to read science fiction that doesn’t depict the future as a horrific wasteland full of human rights violations. You might even find that quite a lot of non-dystopian sci-fi can still be politically relevant. Sci-fi can run the gamut from dark and brooding to actually positive and funny. So if you’re looking for aliens and space adventures and science fictional worlds that are not set on Earth in the dismal future, here are a few books to get you started:

‘The Stars Are Legion’ by Kameron Hurley

Far out, on the rim of the universe itself, lies a fleet of decaying world-ships called the Legion. And the Legion is on the move. Enter Zan, the would-be savior of the stars. She just might have the ability to enter one of the Legion’s dangerous world-ships and save whole galaxies from genocide—the only trouble is that Zan can’t recall who is exactly she is, or which side of this war she’s supposed to be on.

‘Midnight Robber’ by Nalo Hopkinson

It’s Carnival season on the planet of Toussaint, and young Tan-Tan is excited to join the festivities in her Robber Queen costume. But when she and her father are suddenly exiled to the cruel new world of New Half-Way Tree, she’s going to need more than a silly costume in order to survive. Tan-Tan is going to need to become the real Robber Queen, here in this world where all the monsters of folklore have come to life.

At DEADLINE, Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski reports that Brandon Sanderson Teams With FremantleMedia North America For Drama Series, Part Of Multi-Media Project.

FremantleMedia North America, along with Random House Studio, have partnered with best-selling fantasy novelist Brandon Sanderson for an ambitious, multi-media collaboration. It includes the development of drama Dark One for television. Additionally, Sanderson is concurrently creating a graphic novel that will be published by Vault Comics. He is also penning a supplementary, multi-volume book series that will expand on the storyline from the show and further explore subsidiary characters. The multi-media project also includes a Dark One podcast, which will shed further light on the incidents leading up to where the TV series will begin.

Dark One will be a dramatic fantasy adventure spotlighting a young man who sees visions of strange and fantastical worlds, which he is told are just hallucinations. But this dark and deadly fantasy world that keeps coming to him is actually a real vision of another world – one where he has been prophesied to become a tyrant and destroy this land of interesting creatures, sporadic electrical currents and a darkening landscape.

“I’m used to painting a picture in words. Dark One came to life when I freed myself to think of it as a project for actual visual media, with the setting, characters and outline all coming together,” said author Sanderson. “I’m excited to be able to partner with FremantleMedia North America and Random House Studio on this for television.”

James Davis Nicoll on TOR.COM argues (rightfully so) Why Editors Matter: David Hartwell’s Extraordinary Timescape Books.

Avid SF readers may know the late David G. Hartwell (10 July 1941–20 January 2016) as one of Tor Books’ senior editors. Or perhaps he may be familiar as the editor and co-editor (with Kathryn Cramer) of Year’s Best SF and Years Best Fantasy, not to mention many other themed anthologies. They might be aware of his role with the New York Review of Science Fiction. Con-goers might well remember his striking fashion sense. His technicolor shirts, waistcoats, and jackets were of eye-searing brilliance and contrast.

Thanks to Asimov’s repeated admonitions that editors matter, I began at an early age to pay attention to the humans responsible for the books I consumed en masse. When I knew which editors were behind the works I liked, I would follow them from company to company. Thus I first became aware of Hartwell as the person behind Pocket Books’ remarkable Timescape imprint.

Timescape licensed its name from Gregory Benford’s novel of the same name. Ironically, Timescape the novel was never reprinted to my knowledge by Timescape the imprint, although two other Benford novels (Against Infinity and Across the Sea of Suns) would be published by the imprint. Between 1981 and 1984, Hartwell published at least 171 titles (perhaps there were more; this is my best count). Some were original to the line, others were reprints. Many, like Gene Wolfe’s Shadow of the Torturer, are still well known, and aside from the checklist at the end of this article—note to self: include checklist—I will not dwell on them.

For more info on THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF EVERYTHING, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

June 7, 2018

Kameron Hurley’s APOCALYPSE NYX will blow you away

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized apocalypse nyx, elizabeth story, get to work hurley, grimdark magazine, ignotus awards, kameron hurley, las estrellas son legión, locus magazine, podcast, review, the stars are legion, wadim kashin

GRIMDARK MAGAZINE recommends Kameron Hurley’s forthcoming APOCALYPSE NYX.

APOCALYPSE NYX is the new collection of novelettes from multi-award-winning author Kameron Hurley (The Stars are Legion, the Worldbreaker Saga, and the God’s War Trilogy), and make no mistake: it’s grimdark AF. Set in the world of the God’s War Trilogy, the stories’ titular anti-hero, mercenary and bounty hunter, Nyx (Nyxnissa so Dasheen) might be the grimmest darkest badass protagonist I’ve come across in SFF. With maybe an exception or two, she doesn’t give a crap about anything but the job and the money, and maybe the whisky… and maybe the fucking.

<snip>

The magic, violence, action, and twisting plots are great in their own right, but these are character-driven stories ferociously propelled by Nyx’s fierce and implacable personality. She can move from wanting to fuck Khos to killing him for the job in a heartbeat. She admires Rhys’s delicate features and devout nature but he’s just a Chenjan deserter and if he doesn’t like the work, he can fuck off. Rhys serves as her unwanted moral conscience and she hates him for that. Her best mate is Anneke because she is always ready with the guns and the whisky even if she is always way too wasted and nearly gets them all killed in a drug-induced psychotic outburst. Nyx’s love-hate relationships with her messed up crew and herself provides full-depth intellectual and emotional stimulation on top of the insane plots and twists of these compelling though somewhat conventional conflicts. Yes, the stories and the way they are plotting are extremely engaging, but you are definitely reading about Nyx in this book and what she actually does provides the backdrop on which Hurley paints a truly fascinating and absurdly screwed up character. It is not the high concept SFF that her award-winning and excellent novel The Stars Are Legion is, but I happen to love successful character-driven fiction, and this is primarily the reason I absolutely love APOCALYPSE NYX and intend to purchase God’s War as soon as I catch up on my reviews.

I usually talk about themes in reviews because I think they contribute to what the reader takes away from a book. Forget about it. Just let APOCALYPSE NYX blow you away with its deep portrayal of a person in constant intellectual and moral crisis, and don’t worry about what it means. You will be immersed in love, lust, hate, revenge, desire, and will question the value of human life. You will empathize with Nyx for her faults yet be appalled at her lack of human conscience. It’s a heady mix and entertaining as hell.

Is it grimdark? You bet your ass it is. Try not to root for Nyx as she blasts away innocents who happen to be in the way of the next payoff. It’s impossible. And the question of grey morality itself makes a couple of unobtrusive appearances in the stories and in the delightful banter between her crew of freaks. If you’re reading this review, then you obviously appreciate grimdark. Grab this nice introduction to Nyx’s life and world. You won’t regret it. Most highly recommended.

The translated The Stars Are Legion is a finalist for the 2018 Ignotus Awards, given annually to the best Spanish science fiction and fantasy publications.

Foreign novel

Behind Their Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (ed. Alianza)
The Archive of Atrocities by Charles Stross (ed. Unusual)
Fuego by Joe Hill (ed. Nocturna)
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin (ed. B)
The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley (ed. Alianza)

Congrats to all the finalists.

The new episode of Hurley’s monthly rant/podcast GET TO WORK HURLEY is available for your listening pleasure.

EPISODE NINE: Real talk about why women in every industry are done with the bullshit, why it’s OK to delete Facebook (yes, even if you have books to promote!), writing and mental health, and some advance craft discussions about how to manage burnout and writing expectations.

Hurley contributed the article “On Patience, Goal-Setting, and Gardening” to the June 2018 issue of LOCUS.

What all of this work has taught me are lessons I sorely need repeated: the importance of planning, goal setting, and patience. We want everything all at once in our culture. We want our first book to sell millions. We want our first job to lead us to greatness. We want everything now, immediately. To have to wait, to toil for it, can make us frustrated. But the truth is that there are so many things we simply won’t ever achieve unless we strive to complete them a piece at a time, like this garden. If, standing in the middle of those lots, I thought about all the time and money it would take and just gave up, I would never be standing in this garden, amazed to have taken a vision from my head and made it into a tangible thing.

And so it is with writing a difficult book. The toil can be frustrating and intense. There are times when you feel alone and disheartened. You feel you’ll die before you finish.

It’s the ability to envision something that doesn’t exist, that, perhaps, makes us believe in the act of creation. I’ve learned that the trick of seeing past what is to what may be isn’t necessarily a trait shared by everyone. Watching a few episodes of House Hunters will demonstrate that effectively. Imagination is a skill that must be honed and sharpened like any other. I’ve found myself leaning hard on my imagination more recently, trying to imagine my way out of a future that seems increasingly bleak.

Have you entered the Kameron Hurley’s APOCALYPSE NYX Sweepstakes?

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

Cover by Wadim Kashin

Design by Elizabeth Story

May 1, 2018

Peter S. Beagle, Ellen Klages, and Tachyon itself are all Locus Award finalists

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized black feathers, buried heart, cosmic powers, ellen klages, in calabria, locus awards, passing strange, peter s beagle, spoonbenders, the overneath, the stars are legion, wicked wonders

The finalists for the 2018 Locus Awards were announced. Peter S. Beagle’s IN CALABRIA and THE OVERNEATH, Ellen Klages’ WICKED WONDERS (as well as her Passing Strange) and Tachyon Publications itself all received nominations. Many Tachyon authors, editors, and artists received notice including John Joseph Adams, Charlie Jane Anders, Ellen Datlow, Julie Dillon, Cory Doctorow, Kate Elliott, Karen Joy Fowler, Daryl Gregory, Kameron Hurley,
Caitlín
R. Kiernan, Nancy Kress, John Picacio, Alastair Reynolds, Michael Swanwick, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan, and Sheila Williams.

Congratulations to all the finalists.

SCIENCE
FICTION NOVEL

Persepolis
Rising,
James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Walkaway,
Cory Doctorow (Tor; Head of Zeus)
The
Stars Are Legion,
Kameron Hurley (Saga; Angry Robot UK)
Provenance,
Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Raven
Stratagem,
Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
Luna:
Wolf Moon,
Ian McDonald (Tor; Gollancz)
Seven
Surrenders,
Ada Palmer (Tor; Head of Zeus)
New
York 2140,
Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The
Collapsing Empire,
John Scalzi (Tor US; Tor UK)
Borne,
Jeff VanderMeer (MCD; HarperCollins Canada; Fourth Estate)

FANTASY
NOVEL

The
Stone in the Skull,
Elizabeth Bear (Tor)
City
of Miracles,
Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway; Jo Fletcher)
Ka:
Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr,
John Crowley (Saga)
The
House of Binding Thorns,
Aliette de Bodard (Ace; Gollancz)
The
Ruin of Angels,
Max Gladstone (Tor.com Publishing)
Spoonbenders,
Daryl Gregory (Knopf; riverrun)
The
Stone Sky,
N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Jade
City,
Fonda Lee (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The
Delirium Brief,
Charles Stross (Tor.com Publishing; Orbit UK)
Horizon,
Fran Wilde (Tor)

HORROR
NOVEL

Ill
Will,
Dan Chaon (Ballantine)
Universal
Harvester,
John Darnielle (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; Scribe UK)
After
the End of the World,
Jonathan L. Howard (Dunne)
Food
of the Gods,
Cassandra Khaw (Abaddon US; Abaddon UK)
The
Night Ocean,
Paul La Farge (Penguin Press)
The
Changeling,
Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau)
Red
Snow,
Ian R. MacLeod (PS)
Behind
Her Eyes,
Sarah Pinborough (Flatiron; HarperCollins UK)
Mormama,
Kit Reed (Tor)
Ubo,
Steve Rasnic Tem (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

YOUNG
ADULT BOOK

Tool
of War,
Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown)
In
Other Lands,
Sarah Rees Brennan (Big Mouth House)
The
Dragon with a Chocolate Heart,
Stephanie Burgis (Bloomsbury; Bloomsbury USA)
Chalk,
Paul Cornell (Tor.com Publishing)
Buried
Heart,
Kate Elliott (Little, Brown)
A
Skinful of Shadows,
Frances Hardinge (Macmillan; Amulet)
Frogkisser!,
Garth Nix (Scholastic; Allen & Unwin; Piccadilly)
Akata
Warrior,
Nnedi Okorafor (Viking)
Shadowhouse
Fall,
Daniel José Older (Levine)
The
Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage,
Philip Pullman (Knopf; Fickling UK)

FIRST
NOVEL

The
Bear and the Nightingale,
Katherine Arden (Del Rey)
The
City of Brass,
S.A. Chakraborty (Harper Voyager US)
Amberlough,
Lara Elena Donnelly (Tor)
Winter
Tide,
Ruthanna Emrys (Tor.com Publishing)
The
Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter,
Theodora Goss (Saga)
The
Art of Starving,
Sam J. Miller (HarperTeen)
Autonomous,
Annalee Newitz (Tor; Orbit UK 2018)
Lincoln
in the Bardo,
George Saunders (Random House; Bloomsbury)
An
Unkindness of Ghosts,
Rivers Solomon (Akashic)
Amatka,
Karin Tidbeck (Vintage)

NOVELLA

IN CALABRIA,
Peter S. Beagle (Tachyon)
River
of Teeth,
Sarah Gailey (Tor.com Publishing)
Agents
of Dreamland,
Caitlín R. Kiernan (Tor.com Publishing)
Passing
Strange,
Ellen Klages (Tor.com Publishing)
Down
Among the Sticks and Bones,
Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
Binti:
Home,
Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing)
“And
Then There Were (N-One)“,
Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3-4/17)
All
Systems Red,
Martha Wells, (Tor.com Publishing)
The
Black Tides of Heaven,
JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)
The
Red Threads of Fortune,
JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)

NOVELETTE

“Children
of Thorns, Children of Water“,
Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny 7-8/17)
“The
Hermit of Houston”, Samuel R. Delany (F&SF 9-10/17)
“Come
See the Living Dryad“,
Theodora Goss (Tor.com 3/9/17)
“The
Worshipful Society of Glovers“,
Mary Robinette Kowal (Uncanny 7-8/17)
“Extracurricular
Activities“,
Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com 2/15/17)
“The
Hidden Girl”, Ken Liu (The
Book of Swords)
“The
Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids”, Seanan McGuire (Black
Feathers)
“Wind
Will Rove”, Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s 9-10/17)
“The
Lamentation of Their Women“,
Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com 8/24/17)
“Waiting
on a Bright Moon“,
JY Yang (Tor.com 7/12/17)

SHORT
STORY

“Don’t
Press Charges and I Won’t Sue“,
Charlie Jane Anders (Global
Dystopias)
“Zen
and the Art of Starship Maintenance”, Tobias S. Buckell (Cosmic
Powers)
“Persephone
of the Crows”, Karen Joy Fowler (Asimov’s 5-6/17)
“Fire.”,
Elizabeth Hand (Fire.)
“Dear
Sarah”, Nancy Kress (Infinity
Wars)
“The
Martian Obelisk“,
Linda Nagata (Tor.com 7/19/17)
“Fandom
for Robots“,
Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny 9-10/17)
“Welcome
to Your Authentic Indian ExperienceTM“,
Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex 8/17)
“Starlight
Express”, Michael Swanwick (F&SF 9-10/17)
“Carnival
Nine“,
Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath
Ceaseless Skies 5/11/17)

ANTHOLOGY

Cosmic
Powers,
John Joseph Adams, ed. (Saga)
Black
Feathers,
Ellen Datlow, ed. (Pegasus)
The
Book of Swords,
Gardner Dozois, ed. (Bantam; HarperCollins UK)
The
Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection,
Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Bookburners,
Max Gladstone, ed. (Saga)
The
Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories,
Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin, eds. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
The
Best of Subterranean,
William Schafer, ed. (Subterranean)
The
Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year,
Volume Eleven,
Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris)
Infinity
Wars,
Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris)
Transcendent
2: The Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction,
Bogi Takács, ed. (Lethe)

COLLECTION

Six
Months,
Three Days, Five Others,
Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com Publishing)
THE OVERNEATH,
Peter S. Beagle (Tachyon)
Norse
Mythology,
Neil Gaiman (Norton; Bloomsbury)
Strange
Weather,
Joe Hill (Morrow; Gollancz)
WICKED WONDERS,
Ellen Klages (Tachyon)
Cat
Pictures Please and Other Stories,
Naomi Kritzer (Fairwood)
Ursula
K. Le Guin: The Hainish Novels and Stories,
Ursula K. Le Guin (Library of America)
Her
Body and Other Parties,
Carmen Maria Machado (Graywolf)
Tender,
Sofia Samatar (Small Beer)
The
Refrigerator Monologues,
Catherynne M. Valente (Saga)

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
Gregory
Manchess
Victo
Ngai
John
Picacio
Shaun
Tan
Charles
Vess
Michael
Whelan

NON-FICTION

Sleeping
with Monsters: Readings and Reactions in Science Fiction and
Fantasy,
Liz Bourke (Aqueduct)
In
Search of Silence: The Journals of Samuel R. Delany,
Volume 1, 1957-1969, Samuel R. Delany (Wesleyan University Press)
The
Invention of Angela Carter,
Edmund Gordon (Oxford University Press US; Chatto & Windus 2016)
Star-Begotten:
A Life Lived in Science Fiction,
James Gunn (McFarland)
Iain
M. Banks,
Paul Kincaid (University of Illinois Press)
Luminescent
Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler,
Alexandra Pierce & Mimi Mondal, eds. (Twelfth Planet)
Not
So Good a Gay Man,
Frank M. Robinson (Tor)
Don’t
Live for Your Obituary,
John Scalzi (Subterranean)
A
Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison,
Nat Segaloff (NESFA)
J.G.
Ballard,
D. Harlan Wilson (University of Illinois Press)

ART
BOOK

The
Art of the Pulps: An Illustrated History,
Douglas Ellis, Ed Hulse & Robert Weinberg, eds. (IDW)
Spectrum
24: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art,
John Fleskes, ed. (Flesk)
Paul
Kidby, Terry
Pratchett’s Discworld Imaginarium (Gollancz)
Jeffrey
Alan Love, Norse
Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki,
Kevin Crossley-Holland (Candlewick Studio)
Gregory
Manchess, Above
the Timberline (Saga)
Syd
Mead, The
Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist,
Craig Hodgetts (Titan)
Jean-Baptiste
Monge, Celtic
Faeries: The Secret Kingdom (Goblin’s
WAY)
Wendy
Pini, Line
of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini,
Richard Pini (Flesk)
Omar
Rayyan, Goblin
Market,
Christina Rossetti (Donald M. Grant)
James
Wyatt, The
Art of Magic: The Gathering: Kaladesh (Viz)

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 on WICKED WONDERS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

March 27, 2018

50 Science Fiction Essentials Written by Women features many Tachyon authors

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized all the birds in the sky, b&n sci-fi & fantasy blog, beggars in spain, brown girl in the ring, Carol Emshwiller, Charlie Jane Anders, frankenstein, her smoke rose up forever, james tiptree jr, jeff somers, John Picacio, kameron hurley, mary shelley, nalo hopkinson, Nancy Kress, suzy mckee charnas, the mount, the slave and the free, the stars are legion

On B&N SCI-FI & FANTASY BLOG, Jeff Somers names 50 Science Fiction Essentials Written by Women. The impressive list features several selections written by Tachyon authors.

This month we celebrate women’s history—and today, women’s future history. What better way to highlight the amazing contributions women have made to science and culture than highlighting some of the most creative minds ever, and their surprising, thought-provoking, mind-blowing visions of tomorrow?

The history of science fiction in the Western world owes a huge debt to women. Many of the earliest and most influence works in the genre were composed by women, and women have supplied the field with many of its greatest writers through the years. To bring the point home, we took a few minutes to come up with a list of 50 essential sci-fi books written by women—and we could easily have kept going (and hope you will in the comments).

HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER, by James Tiptree, Jr.
Tiptree was the pseudonym of Alice Bradley Sheldon, and one of the most remarkable aspects of her career is the fact that most people knew it was a pseudonym, but assumed the writer was male—in fact, several famous sci-fi writers and editors expounded on the masculine qualities of her writing over the years before her identity was revealed. Sheldon worked mainly in short fiction, and was brilliant, as this essential collection will prove.

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
Two centuries after its composition, Frankenstein continues to be adapted, copied, interpreted, and misunderstood. The popular interpretation holds that “humanity shouldn’t mess with the laws of nature,” but Shelley’s novel is subtler than that. Frankenstein is, rather, a strenuously pro-science novel that indicts man for his callousness toward non-human life. The “monster” of the novel is smart and tragic—the true fiend is Dr. Frankenstein himself, not because he pursues knowledge and scientific breakthroughs, but because he holds the results of his work in contempt and refuses to accept the consequences of his actions. The horror folks are always trying to claim this one as their own, and we say: fight us.

Beggars in Spain, by Nancy Kress
Genetic editing, cold fusion, humans who have been modified to not need sleep—and that’s just for starters. Kress’ 1993 novel is set in a future where the emergence of the Sleepless, people who prove to be almost superhuman in their capabilities and lifespan, at first sparks violence against them, and then transforms the world in unexpected ways. Over the course of decades, Kress traces how America reorganizes itself into a tiered society, with Sleepless on top and the “Livers” on the bottom, as a philosophy known as Yagaiism (named after the scientists responsible for the Sleepless) argues that only the productive matter, and only contractual relationships work. Kress packs an incredible number of thought bombs into this engaging story.

The Stars Are Legion, by Kameron Hurley
A woman named Zan wakes up in a sick bay minus most of her memories. She is greeted by a woman named Jayd, daughter to the lord of the Katazyrna, who says they are sisters, and that Zan is the only one who can help her people. From this intriguing beginning, Hurley throws us furiously into a universe where women fight and die for and aboard living worldships crewed and maintained by their solely female populations, who give birth to everything needed to keep the ships healthy: children, monsters, even fleshy mechanical parts. But the Katazyrna is a dying world, and the coveted worldship Mokshi may hold the secret that will save it. Before Zan can get her bearings, Katazyrna is ambushed, and Zan and Jayd are thrust into dangerous new roles and a fight for their lives in a landscape that’s constantly shifting underneath them—and the reader. This is space opera like you’ve never seen it—angry, feminist, ferociously inventive, and not a little frightening.

Walk to the End of the World, by Suzy Mckee Charnas
This is a tough book to read. The first of Charnas’ Holdfast Chronicles, it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where the only human survivors are descended from a group of white men who rode out the apocalypse in a shelter. All other people were apparently killed, leaving the men to form a sick, horrifying society straight out of a Men’s Rights brochure: all other races are considered subhuman, and blamed for bringing about the end of the world, and women—called Fems—are considered degenerate subhumans, good for little more than breeding, hard labor, and cruelty. The men aren’t much better off, divided into three tiers: boys, often preyed upon by pedophiles; Juniors, responsible for the management of the Holdfast; and Seniors, who take most of the food and comfort for themselves. Charnas pulls off a late-inning POV switch that expands the scope of the story in a disorienting way, resulting in a powerful reading experience that exposes the worst of humanity in surprising and shocking ways.

Brown Girl in the Ring, by Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican-Canadian writer who brings a totally original perspective to this dystopian novel, set in a future Toronto that has suffered a financial collapse and become isolated from the rest of the world. Inside Toronto, it’s chaos, with the only order imposed by criminal gangs as the poor struggle for daily survival. Ti-Jeanna is a young new mother living with her spiritually-gifted grandmother and dealing with her lover, a member of the ruling gang. Hopkinson does a marvelous job of pouring Jamaican and West Indian culture into this feminist vision, telling a story where women have a special cultural bond and special spiritual abilities, set against a bleak dystopia that’s rooted in frightening realistic possibility.

All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders
Charlie Jane Anders’ science fantasy debut could fit on any number of lists—it’s one of those rare books that’s a lot of different things all at once. It tells the story of Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead, childhood friends who discover early on that they’re extremely talented—Patricia in magic, Laurence in science. Separated for years, they pursue their respective disciplines and are in turn recruited into twin efforts to save an Earth slowly being torn apart by climate change and other forces. When they find each other again, it’s not certain whether they’re destined to save the world, or destroy it. The divide between science and magic is a recurring theme, and adds a wonderful sense of tension to a novel bursting with ideas.

The Mount, by Carol Emshwiller
In a genre where it sometimes seems the one constant is a smug assumption that whatever the future is, it will be dominated by humans, Emshwiller’s 2002 novel subverts our expectations. It describes an Earth where humanity had been subjugated by the herbivorous Hoots, alien beings who are essentially highly-advanced prey who have adapted abilities that allow them to dominate predators. Humans are used as riding mounts by the Hoots, who have difficulty getting around on their weak legs, and they treat us very much the way we treat horses today—though we retain the very human abilities to think, resent our masters, and foment a revolution. Emshwiller’s willingness to imagine a sci-fi future where humanity itself has become the oppressed, mistreated half of a binary relationship is a genius way of shocking even the wokest among us into reevaluating our preconceived notions of our supposed exceptionalism, understanding of sexuality, and very existence. A disturbing and fascinating sci-fi vision.

For more info about HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio

January 12, 2018

Happy birthday to the dynamic Kameron Hurley

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized apocalypse nyx, birthday, elizabeth story, god's way, infedil, kameron hurley, nyx, rapture, the geek feminist revolution, the stars are legion, wadim kashin

The author of the first article to ever win a Hugo Award (“We Have Always Fought” 2014), Kameron Hurley also won another Hugo (Best Fan Writer 2014), 2 BFA (The God’s War [2011] and The Geek Feminist Revolution [2016]), and been a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke and Nebula Awards.

The Bel Dame Apocrypha/God’s War Trilogy, which introduced the popular Nyx, began with God’s War, concluded with Infidel (2011) and Rapture (2012). Hurley followed up that series with the epic fantasy series, the Worldbreaker Saga, which includes The Mirror Empire (2014), Empire Ascendant (2015), and The Broken Heavens (forthcoming). Her space opera, The Stars are Legion, was published in February 2017.

Hurlery’s nonfiction has appeared in numerous online venues, including The Atlantic, Bitch Magazine, Huffington Post, The Village Voice, LA Weekly, and Entertainment Weekly. She writes a regular column for Locus Magazine. Many of her essays were collected in The Geek Feminist Revolution.

Her short fiction has graced the pages of many magazines such as Popular Science Magazine, Lightspeed, Vice Magazine’s Terraform, EscapePod, and Strange Horizons, as well as anthologies such as The Lowest Heaven, The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women, Year’s Best SF and Meeting Infinity. Her stories have been collected in Brutal Women (2010) and the forthcoming APOCALYPSE NYX.

All of us at Tachyon wish the amazing Kameron a happy birthday. May you long chronicle tales of blood, bugs, and brutal women!

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

Cover by Wadim Kashin

Design by Elizabeth Story

December 13, 2017

Tachyon tidbits featuring Kameron Hurley, Jeff VanderMeer, and Joe R. Lansdale

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized annihilation, apocalypse nyx, elizabeth story, hap and leonard, hap and leonard: the two bear mambo, interview, jeff vandermeer, Joe R. Lansdale, kameron hurley, paul semel, the stars are legion, wadim kashin

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

Kameron Hurley, Jeff VanderMeer (photo: Kyle Cassidy), and Joe R. Lansdale (Karen Lansdale)

On his eponymous site, Paul Semel interviews Kameron Hurley about her recent novel THE STARS ARE LEGION and the forthcoming APOCALYPSE NYX.

Speaking of which, The Stars Are Legion is a science fiction novel. But is there a subgenre of sci-fi or combination of them that you feel describes it better?

Wombpunk. To find out why – gotta read the book.

The Stars Are Legion has been compared to the TV shows Rick & Morty and Farscape. But do you think fans of Rick & Morty and Farscape would enjoy this novel?

I’ve never seen Rick & Morty, so I have no idea. But Farscape, yes. I’ve been mucking about with the idea of living ships for some time, and so far that’s the bit of media I’ve seen that’s done the best with it.

Are there any other TV shows — or maybe movies or video games — do you think had a big influence on The Stars Are Legion?

The science fiction movie Pandorum, for sure.

Along with The Stars Are Legion, you have another book, APOCALYPSE NYX, coming out next year. July 17th, to be exact. What can you tell us about it?

APOCALYPSE NYX is a collection of linked novellas featuring the ragtag band of misfit mercenaries from my God’s War trilogy. It’s the first in what I hope will be several collections of stories in that universe. Fans have been asking for more.

Do you think people who enjoy The Stars Are Legion will like APOCALYPSE NYX, and thus the God’s War books, as well?

Yes. It’s got blood, bugs, and brutal women. What’s not to like?

Paramount Pictures released the official trailer to Alex Garland’s ANNIHILATION, based on the best-selling novel by Jeff VanderMeer.

SundanceTV shared the first teaser trailer for HAP & LEONARD: THE TWO BEAR MAMBO, based on Joe R. Lansdale’s popular swamp noir series.

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

Cover by Wadim Kashin

Design bv Elizabeth Story