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Month: August 2015

New Statesmen on the “Shockingly Offensive” 100 Best Fantasy and SF Novels

New Statesmen on the “Shockingly Offensive” 100 Best Fantasy and SF Novels

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A Spell for Chameleon-smallLiz Lutgendorff at New Statesmen read all 100 books on NPR’s list of the best science fiction and fantasy novels — a list that includes virtually every major title the genre has yet produced. And her response mirrors a complaint I hear over and over from young fantasy readers, and especially women — the classics of our genre have very little to offer readers seeking interesting and strong women characters.

There were also books that were outright misogynistic, like a A Spell for Chameleon where characters openly talk about not trusting women… The main plot of A Spell for Chameleon is that the main character, stupidly named Bink, has no magical talent…. Along the way, he meets Chameleon, who has the unenviable magic of being smart but ugly in one phase of the moon and beautiful but stupid in another. This inevitably leads to Bink liking her… Apparently for Bink, having someone compliant was more valuable than intelligence or independence, making Bink an utter creep…

Frankly, from my vantage in 2015, it was just plain weird to read books where there were hardly any women, no people of colour, no LGBT people. It seemed wholly unbelievable. I know what you could say: it’s science fiction and fantasy, believability isn’t one of the main criteria for such books. But it is relatively absurd that in the future people could discover faster-than-light travel, build massive empires and create artificial intelligences but somehow not crack gender equality or the space-faring glass ceiling.

The consequence of the lack of women and the obvious sexism is that the books became very much like one another. My book reviews contained more profanity and I became a much more harsh critic of the genres I most enjoyed reading. They were all the same story of white guys, going on an adventure.

I’m sure Ms. Lutgendorff’s comments will be hotly debated, but I think it’s foolish to ignore her gut reaction. Like it or not, the classics of an older generation are giving way to new novels, as they should. That’s what happens in a living genre. Read the complete article here.

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in July

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in July

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Sherlock Season 3While we wait impatiently for the next episode of the popular BBC series Sherlock, the best way to pass the time seems to be to talk about the show with other fans. Bob Byrne proved this with the #1 post at Black Gate in July, his July 13th article “The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Season 3 – What Happened?”, in which he observes the negative fan reaction to the third season:

Season three (finally) arrived. Hoo-boy. Not only did I see, I observed. And for the first time, I saw and observed a notable amount of unhappiness with the show. And with the second episode, it was certain that a shift had occurred among the fan base. It continued through the third (season finale) episode.

A significant number of folks grumbled about season three. Where there had been very little unhappiness with the first six episodes, an entire contingent of fans did not like season three and it impacted their overall attitude towards the show…

I will state categorically that the excitement for season four is not nearly as great and certainly isn’t as universal as it was for prior seasons. Now, a bit of that could be due to the loooong delay (season four has now been pushed to 2017).

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New Treasures: The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán

New Treasures: The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán

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The Dinosaur Lords-smallI love dinosaurs. And epic fantasy. Epic fantasy with dinosaurs? That’s just a no brainer. Emily Mah interviewed author Victor Milán on his new novel The Dinosaur Lords — which George R. R. Martin calls “A cross between Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones” — just last week; check it out here.

Intrigue, beauty, brutality, and dinosaurs – welcome to Paradise.

A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often cruel place. Men and women live on Paradise but dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden – and of war. Colossal plant-eaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meat-eaters like Allosaurus and the most feared of all, Tyrannosaurus rex rule the land. Armored knights ride dinosaurs to battle legions of war-trained Triceratops and their upstart peasant crews. Seeking to centralize real power in his figurehead Fangèd Throne, Emperor Felipe of Nuevaropa sets off a chain of wars that may blaze up to consume the continent called the Tyrant’s Head. But is Imperial ambition the only spark, or are more sinister forces at work?

And so we have as our players in the tale: Fallen hero Karyl Bogomirsky, who wants to escape from constant headaches and nightmares and gets lured into the quixotic task of raising an army from a province of pacifists. Part-time Dinosaur Master and minstrel, and full-time rogue Rob Korrigan, who wants to get paid and laid — but he follows the man he’s written and sung about into what looks like certain disaster. Princess Melodia, who is eager to escape the shadow of her indulgent but neglectful father the Emperor but is faced by consequences she never anticipated. And Imperial Champion Jaume, Count of the Flowers, the Empire’s most celebrated swordsman and poet, who wants to serve Beauty and the right. But what can he do when faced with two equally wrong and ugly choices?

The Dinosaur Lords was published by Tor Books on July 28, 2015. It is 448 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover, and $12.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Richard Anderson.

Vintage Treasures: The Lights of Barbrin by Joseph Burgo

Vintage Treasures: The Lights of Barbrin by Joseph Burgo

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The Lights of Barbrin-smallI haven’t said a lot about the Timescape imprint from Pocket Books, one of the most prestigious publishing lines of the 80s. Founded by David G. Hartwell, it was named after Gregory Benford’s SF novel Timescape, and it produced over 100 paperbacks between 1981 to 1985 — including the four volumes of Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, Philip K. Dick’s The Divine Invasion and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, Clark Ashton Smith’s The City of the Singing Flame, John M. Ford’s The Dragon Waiting, Donald Kingsbury’s Courtship Rite, and many others — including many Hugo and Nebula award nominees. It was shut down by Pocket in 1985, as it wasn’t producing a sufficient number of bestsellers for its budget. The line has a sterling reputation for quality. And among the many high-profile books, it also produced a number of highly regarded titles from lesser known authors… including The Lights of Barbrin, the debut fantasy from an unknown writer named Joseph Burgo.

The Quest of Ehred the Mighty

Braced by the strength of his Haziad — the four freedom fighters who represent fire, air, earth, and water — fire-bearer Ehred fought his way to importance, wielding a mighty force that made him all powerful in Nabrilehr, the land of the misfits.

But the evil Rand, barred from all Haziads because of his twisted devotion to the dangerous Unmaker, strove long and hard — and finally stole Ehred’s fire power for his own destructive use.

Now Ehred and his Haziad must steal back the blazing power — for in Rand’s hand it threatens to consume Ehred’s world!

Burgo never produced another fantasy novel, and this is his only contribution to the field. The Lights of Barbrin was published in paperback by Pocket in September 1978, and reprinted under the Timescape imprint in February 1982. It is 192 pages, priced at $2.50. The cover is by Carl Lundgren. There is no digital edition, and it has now been out of print for 33 years.

Sharing Creative Space: An Interview with Marvel Editor Daniel Ketchum

Sharing Creative Space: An Interview with Marvel Editor Daniel Ketchum

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ketchu 3So far in this series, I’ve interviewed Marvel Associate Editor Jake Thomas, Assistant Editor Xander Jarowey, and Assistant Editor Heather Antos about their roles in the production process and their editorial voices.

Today, I wanted to e-talk about the sharing of creative territory between writer and editor. So, I’m having an e-conversation with Marvel Editor Daniel Ketchum, who edits A-Force, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Storm, X-Force, X-Men and other books.

Daniel, in an interview you mentioned that part of your job is deciding which villain the X-Men fight in the next issue. I suppose I assumed (naively) that the writer got to decide most things. How do you divide creative decision-making roles with your writers?

Haha. Truth be told, that answer I gave is more of an easy-to-grasp oversimplification of what Marvel editors do. Four times out of five, the conversation with a writer at the outset of a story arc starts with them pitching the story they want to tell. (That other one time is when something like AXIS or SECRET WARS comes up and you just shouldn’t avoid addressing it.)

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Future Treasures: The Path of Anger by Antoine Rouaud

Future Treasures: The Path of Anger by Antoine Rouaud

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The Path of Anger-smallI don’t know about you, but it takes a lot for me to commit to a new fantasy series. The Path of Anger, the first volume of The Book and the Sword, has all the right ingredients: imperial intrigue, long-buried secrets, assassinations, a missing sword, and a mystery tangled up with the birth of a new regime… Antoine Rouaud is a debut fantasy writer who works at NPR Radio. The Path of Anger was translated from the French by Tom Clegg.

There will be blood. There will be death. This is the path of anger…

Year 10 of the new Republic, in the remote port city of Masalia. Dun-Cadal, once the greatest general of the Empire, has been drinking his life away for years. Betrayed by his friends and grief-stricken at the loss of his apprentice, he’s done with politics, with adventure, and with people. But people aren’t finished with him — not yet.

Viola is a young historian looking for the last Emperor’s sword, said to have been taken by Dun-Cadal during the Empire’s final, chaotic hours. Her search not only leads her to the former general, but embroils them both in a series of assassinations. Dun-Cadal’s turncoat friends are being murdered, one by one, in the unmistakable style of an Imperial assassin…

But as Dun-Cadal comes to realize, none of these developments — not even the surprise of meeting his supposedly deceased apprentice — has been the result of chance. An intrigue transcending the fates of the individual characters has been put into motion, and its secrets are revealed one by one as the story unfolds.

The Path of Anger will be published by Thomas Dunne Books on August 25, 2015. It is 437 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Larry Rostant.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies 179 Now Available

Beneath Ceaseless Skies 179 Now Available

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Beneath Ceaseless Skies 179-smallBeneath Ceaseless Skies #179 has new stories by Therese Arkenberg and Kendra Leigh Speedling, and a podcast by Caroline M. Yoachim.

“The Grace of Turning Back” by Therese Arkenberg
Semira watched Aniver hold audience with the Queen of the Dead, nerving herself to cross the river to them.

“The Exile of the Eldest Son of the Family Ysanne” by Kendra Leigh Speedling
I played the memory three more times. On the last time, I saw a hand reach down and take something.

Audio Fiction Podcast: “Seasons Set in Skin” by Caroline M. Yoachim
Horimachi’s own tattoos were from before the war, when black ink was made of soot instead of faery blood. Read by Tina Connolly.

Issue 179 was published on August 6, 2015. Read it online completely free here.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies is edited by Scott H. Andrews and published twice a month by Firkin Press. Issues are available completely free online; you can also get a free e-mail or RSS subscription.

Firkin Press also sells a Kindle/e-Reader subscription, which includes automatic delivery to your Kindle or other device. A 12-month subscription comes with 26 issues and costs only $13.99. Single issues are available on Kindle and at Weightless Books for 99 cents. Subscribe here.

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Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 7: International Science-Fiction Short Film Showcase 2015, and Meathead Goes Hog Wild

Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 7: International Science-Fiction Short Film Showcase 2015, and Meathead Goes Hog Wild

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Fantasia FestivalMonday, July 20, was a relatively short day for me at the Fantasia Festival, but one I was looking forward to with great curiosity. At 5 PM I was going to the De Sève Theatre to watch a collection of science-fictional short films: Fantasia’s International Science-Fiction Short Film Showcase 2015 (to give the screening its official name) would show nine films ranging from four to twenty minutes long from seven different countries. Afterwards I’d stick around to see the world premiere of Meathead Goes Hog Wild, a Chicago-set movie about a man pushed to the edge of sanity. It ended up an interesting mixed bag. To go through everything I saw in order:

“Welcome to Forever,” an American short written and directed by Laddie Ervin, clocks in at 13 minutes and opens with a newscast setting up a future in which minds can be uploaded into the cloud and then downloaded into robot bodies. We learn that 112 million people have taken advantage of this technology, sparking protests — and then also learn that a nasty virus has struck at the cloud consciousnesses. The film then focusses in on a small-scale story of a man (Clive Hawkins) trying to clean up one of the many loose ends the virus left.

It’s effective enough, but doesn’t entirely come together; the introductory section and the main story feel disconnected. And the setting’s much larger than the story, so the themes of the main dramatic action are out of sync with the science-fictional elements. The world’s too big, the questions raised by the uploading technology too varied. And while the film looks sharp, the characters don’t feel real. Oddly, the film’s own success at sketching the setting undermines it: the world feels so interesting I want a story that explores it more deeply. As it is, the movie’s an interesting piece, but I don’t think it’s a total success.

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The Golden Age of Horror Seems to be Progressing Well: The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven

The Golden Age of Horror Seems to be Progressing Well: The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven

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The Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven-smallLast year when I reviewed The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Six, I said that volume gave confirmation that we are currently living in a golden age of horror fiction, especially in short stories. This year’s The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven shows that this age is thankfully not ending for the foreseeable future.

As with the former editions, the seemingly inexhaustible Ellen Datlow had edited this volume. Among her many, many awards includes a very recent Bram Stoker for her horror anthology Fearful Symmetries, released last year. If you’re not familiar with any of Datlow’s anthologies they are (in my humble opinion) the gold standard of horror fiction. Datlow knows a good story!

As with previous editions, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven showcases a plurality of different kinds of horror stories and styles, from old-fashioned supernatural yarns and psychological horror to Crypt-Keeper-style revenge tales. As I usually say in my review of anthologies, I’m not a fan of every story within, but each story here is without a doubt superbly written and executed.

This volume includes the usual horror “superstars” along with some very talented new blood. What I’m calling horror “superstars” are those few horror writers who unsurprisingly make regular reappearances in many of horror’s year’s best anthologies. In this volume this includes Nathan Ballingrud with his creepy tale “The Atlas of Hell,” about a mob boss seeking to track down a supposedly occultic book in the swamps of Louisiana, a “book” that turns out to be much more than bargained for. Ballingrud always has a very unique take on horror and this horrific story is no disappointment.

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Michael Swanwick’s “The Night of the Salamander” Live at Tor.com

Michael Swanwick’s “The Night of the Salamander” Live at Tor.com

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The Night of the Salamander-smallMichael Swanwick’s new novel Chasing the Phoenix was published by Tor this week, and to help mark the occasion, Tor.com has published the fifth tale in his ongoing “Mongolian Wizard” series, “The Night of the Salamander.”

“The Night of the Salamander” is a fantasy set in an alternate fin de siècle Europe, featuring a locked room, a murder, and an unexpected kind of magic. The previous stories in the series were all published at Tor.com, and they are all available completely free. They are:

“House of Dreams” (November 2013)
“Day of the Kraken” (September 2012)
“The Fire Gown” (August 2012)
“The Mongolian Wizard” (July 2012)

All five stories were marvelously illustrated by Gregory Manchess, who also provides the art for the newest installment (at right). The entire series was acquired and edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden.

Michael Swanwick is also the author of The Iron Dragon’s Daughter and its sequel The Dragons of Babel, Stations of the Tide, Jack Faust, Bones of the Earth, and other novels, plus nine collections, including A Geography of Unknown Lands, Tales of Old Earth, and The Dog Said Bow-Wow.

“The Night of the Salamander” is 5,400 words. Read the complete story here.

We last covered Tor.com in July, with Michael Livingston’s story “At the End of Babel.” For more free online fiction, see our complete magazine coverage here.