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

Joe R. Lansdale (photo: Karen Lansdale), Lauren Beukes, Lavie Tidhar (Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013), and Ellen Datlow (THIS IS HORROR)

Editor Rick Klaw at The Geek Curmudgeon reveals info and the cover for Joe R. Lansdale’s forthcoming HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE.

The book HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE is a mosaic novel of sorts. That’s when you take a bunch of related stories and connect them with adjoining pieces ala THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES and the like.

Here’s some copy I threw together to help explain the book. I hope the fine folks at Tachyon can gussy it up a bit.

Since their first appearance in Savage Season through the recent hit SundanceTV series, the unconventional ass kicking duo of Hap Collins and Leonard Pine captured the hearts of fans everywhere. Now in this unconventional novel, creator Joe R. Lansdale explores the beginnings of the decades long friendship between the white, liberal, good ‘ol boy Hap and the black, Republican, gay, Vietnam veteran Leonard. The complicated tale of violence and humor, set in the racist, homophobic late 60s East Texas, introduces the two boys who grew up into the men, who become far more than friends. They call each other brother.

Watch for BLOOD AND LEMONADE this March.

PAGES AND PINTS reviews Lauren Beukes’ debut collection SLIPPING: STORIES, ESSAYS, & OTHER WRITING.

SLIPPING is an
interesting compilation of stories that tackle topics ranging from
the frightening future of technology/social media to issues of
extreme poverty and race. While some stories are particularly heavy
on the science fiction (“Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs” and
“The Green”) others like “Smileys” and “My Insect Skin”
are made all the more chilling by their realism.

While each story in
this collection is unique, they all have that one piece in common
that make me so passionate about her previous novels – there’s a
sense of some underlying real world threat in even the most intensely
science fiction story lines. Much like Margaret Atwood’s THE
HANDMAID’S TALE, the reader is left with feelings of unease, that
though what you’ve just read is fiction, it still hits too close to
home to not make you nervous.

SLIPPING ends with a
brief collection of non-fiction that helped to make her fiction even
more meaningful. “Adventures in Journalism” gives an intensely
personal description of Beukes career as a journalist in South
Africa, while “All the Pretty Corpses” shares insight into how
THE SHINING GIRLS came to be and why gender issues (sexism, domestic
violence, etc.) play such a prevalent role in much of her work. I
felt that this glimpse in Beukes’ own life and personal experiences
made her fiction even more meaningful.

Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION was the subject of COODE
STREET ROUNDTABLE 7.

Welcome to the seventh episode of The Coode Street Roundtable. The Roundtable is a monthly podcast from Coode Street Productions where panelists James Bradley, Ian Mond, and Jonathan Strahan, joined by occasional special guests, discuss a new or recently released science fiction or fantasy novel. With James busy with housemoving and such, we’re joined by award-winning critic Gary K Wolfe.

If you’re keen to avoid spoilers, we recommend reading the book before listening to the episode. 

Charles Tan shared video of Ellen Datlow accepting her recent Hugo Award.

And of Datlow presenting the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.

HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE cover by Elizabeth Story

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