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

Peter S. Beagle, Lauren Beukes, Lavie Tidhar (Photo: Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013), and Alastair Reynolds (Barbera Bella)

For GREEN MAN REVIEW, Robert M. Tilendis praises Peter S. Beagle’s THE RHINOCEROS WHO QUOTED NIETZSCHE AND OTHER ODD ACQUAINTANCES.

Peter S. Beagle lives and writes in a universe where anything can happen, and probably will. He is also one of those writers whose books should carry a warning label.

However, I can’t tell you what the warning label should say. Perhaps “Watch for Turns of Phrase.” Phrases do turn, in unexpected ways that just carry the reader along and not until later do we realize that was a very surprising thing to say. Or maybe “Danger! Perfectly Normal Bizarre Events.” They are very bizarre, and in Beagle’s hands are perfectly reasonable, almost expected, even though we have no idea what will happen next.

That said, it is only fair to point out that THE RHINOCEROS WHO QUOTED NIETZSCHE is a survey course in Beagle. Included are stories and essays dating from as early as 1957 (“The Telephone Call,” which Beagle cites as the first story he ever got paid for, and which, as he quite rightly notes, reeks of CATCHER IN THE RYE because, as he says, “in 1956 it seemed to me … that the only way to write real people was in the manner of J. D. Salinger.”), to pieces first published in this volume.

The entire collection is suffused with that particular magic that seems to belong only to Peter S. Beagle, although there are others who own close variations, including Patricia A. McKillip, who contributed an Introduction (“Under the Zucchini”), and who remarks on something that gave rise to the first warning above: Beagle pulls poetry out of ridiculously sublime places, turns of phrase and juxtapositions of images that seem to come from some secret treasure house to which only he has the key. Even his introductions to the sections of this collection are worthy of note.

To anyone familiar with Beagle’s work, this collection is a must-have. For those who have yet to encounter him, perhaps this caveat is most appropriate: “Warning! Magic Ahead.”

In a review of Trevor Noah’s BORN A CRIME at THE OVERLY ATTACHED READER, Lauren Beukes receives an unexpected mention.

BORN A CRIME is an insightful memoir that strikes the perfect balance of historical and personal. I learned a lot and it gave me a better context for what I already knew. It made me laugh and cry. I know I love a book when I’m giving everyone around me daily updates! If you are interested in the subjects addressed in this book, you might be interested in the short article Inner City by Lauren Beukes. Her short story collection SLIPPING is coming out in November, which features some stories about South African culture.

On his eponymous site, Lavie Tidhar announces the slip-cased edition of his acclaimed CENTRAL STATION.

This special collectors edition of Central Station is strictly limited to 100 hardcover signed copies in slipcase. The book is designed by Pedro Marques, and the slipcase cover and back art reproduces the fantastic Sarah Anne Langton travel poster artwork. You can pre-order them here – once they’re gone, they’re gone!

Exclusive to this volume is the first appearance in print of “Crabapple”, a part of Central Station that was not included in the final novel from Tachyon.

Gollancz on their blog reveals the UK edition of Alastair Reynolds’s Locus Award-winning and Hugo nominated novella SLOW BULLETS.

We are thrilled to share with you the cover for Alastair Reynolds’ Slow Bullets. The cover art was designed by Thomas Canty with cover design by Elizabeth Story. From the author of the
REVELATION
SPACE series comes an interstellar adventure of war, identity, betrayal, and the preservation of civilization itself.

SLOW BULLETS will be available in hardback and ebook on the 16th February 2017.

For more info on THE RHINOCEROS WHO QUOTED NIETZSCHE AND OTHER ODD ACQUAINTANCES, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael Dashow

For more information about SLIPPING: STORIES, ESSAYS, & OTHER WRITING, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Clara Bacou

Design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

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

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Design by Elizabeth Story