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Author: John ONeill

Vintage Treasures: The Pollinators of Eden by John Boyd

Vintage Treasures: The Pollinators of Eden by John Boyd

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The Pollinators of Eden-back-small The Pollinators of Eden-small

Here’s an odd little book.

It was fairly routine for publishers to use sex to sell paperbacks in the 60s and 70s (and 80s, and 90s, and….) But usually they teased the reader with sexy cover art, or code words like “sensuous” and “spicy” (or “French”) to signal sexual content. The Pollinators of Eden has a more overt sexual theme, dealing with an intelligent and sexually voracious species of tulip discovered on a distant planet.

It was Boyd’s second novel, following The Last Starship from Earth (1968), and preceding The Rakehells of Heaven (1969) and Sex and the High Command (1970), and critics at the time didn’t really know what to make of it. Analog reviewer P. Schuyler Miller praised it as “A treat for its picture of intra- and interagency intrigue alone… a worthy candidate for the next round of ‘best novel’ awards,” but M. John Harrison called it “a feebler look at The Ring of Ritornel,” and Kirkus Reviews said it “has enough Freudian fertilizer to swamp any Eden.”

It was not a hit in the US, and has never been reprinted here. But in the UK it appeared in four separate paperback editions between 1970-78,  from Gollancz, The Science Fiction Book Club (UK), Pan, and Penguin. It has been out of print for 38 years.

The Pollinators of Eden was published by Dell in November 1970. It is 212 pages, priced at 75 cents. I bought the copy above (along with The Last Starship From Earth) in an online lot for $2.99. The cover is by Paul Lehr; click the images above for bigger versions. There is no digital edition.

Swastikas Over the Sahara: The Afrika Reich by Guy Saville

Swastikas Over the Sahara: The Afrika Reich by Guy Saville

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The Afrika Reich-small The Afrika Reich-back-small

Who doesn’t love a good Nazi alternate history? I sure do. Twenty years ago I read Richard Harris’ riveting Fatherland, about a relentless detective who stumbles on the long-buried evidence of the Holocaust in 1964 Nazi Berlin, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Something else I like? Discount books. I’ve found a few online sellers who specialize in new-condition titles at remaindered prices, and I’ve spent waaay too much money cozying up to them. They call on the weekend and send birthday cards now. I think we’re all going walleye fishing in Alberta this August.

One of those sellers had a curious book called The Afrika Reich in stock and, well, let’s just say we came to an arrangement. I admit to buyers remorse about the Star Trek cookbooks and picture books on Damascus architecture, but this one, about the realization of the Third’s Reich’s diabolical plans for Africa, definitely has my interest. It made the Sunday Express Books of the Year list in 2011, The Times calls it “An horrific reimaging of the Dark Continent,” and Daily Telegraph says it’s “Fatherland for an action movie age.” That all sounds great to me. I’m sold (literally, in this case).

The Afrika Reich was published by St. Martin’s Griffin on January 13, 2015. It is 379 pages, priced at $16.99 in trade paperback. The cover was designed by David Shoemaker (click the images above for bigger versions). BookOutlet USA currently has new copies in stock for $1.98.

July 2016 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale

July 2016 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale

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Asimovs SF July 2016-smallerOver at Tangent Online, Chuck Rothman finds plenty to like in the latest issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction.

July’s Asimov’s begins with “Ten Poems for the Mossums, One for the Man” by Suzanne Palmer and starts out with a protagonist — a poet — attending what is essentially a writing retreat alone on an alien world with strange life forms, including the Mossums, described as “green fuzzy boulders.” The poet writes a series of poems about his impressions, and slowly begins to discover that the Mossums are more complex than he imagines. The story started a bit slowly, but quickly drew me in, and it was nice to read something that portrayed aliens by hints and without any clear-cut answers…

“Masked” shows a future where the wealthy use both makeup and holographic techniques to make themselves as beautiful as they can. Bess is about to meet again with her friend Vera, who has suffered a computer virus that wreaked havoc with the computer programs she uses to adjust her appearance. Vera is supposedly recovered, but Bess can see that she doesn’t seem right. Rich Larson’s version of the future and the styles are well imagined, and one of the strengths of the story is the way that Bess begins to understand what’s really important…

The set up to Will McIntosh’s “Lost:Mind” is convoluted, but once that’s past it becomes a fine story. Colonel Walter Murphy’s wife Mimi is dying of Alzheimer’s and, desperate, he turns to technology, creating a recording of her mind so she can live on. But such experimentation is illegal in the US, so it has to be smuggled in from India. A full mind would raise alarms, so it’s broken into 32 pieces of a chess set, to be assembled later. And the chess set is stolen. What follows is a race against the clock to find the pieces (from a noted sculptor) before the battery dies, along with Mimi’s mind. There’s a great mixture of action, dead ends, and emotional roller coasters to make the story one of the best of the year.

Read the complete review here.

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Series Fantasy: John Connolly’s Tales of Samuel Johnson

Series Fantasy: John Connolly’s Tales of Samuel Johnson

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The Gates John Connolly-small The Infernals John Connolly-small The Creeps John Connolly-small

Irish writer John Connolly is best known for the Charlie Parker private eye/horror novels. The first, Every Dead Thing (1999) was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award, and the fourteenth, A Time of Torment, will be released this August. In 2009 Connolly published his first novel for younger readers, The Gates, featuring Samuel Johnson, his faithful daschund Boswell, and his bumbling demon friend Nurd. It was followed by two more; all three are now available in trade paperback from Emily Bestler Books.

The Gates (320 pages, $7.99, August 30, 2011)
The Infernals (336 pages, $15, April 10, 2012; published in the UK as Hell’s Bells)
The Creeps (319 pages, $15, August 26, 2014)

The books have been celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic. The LA Times calls them “Laugh out loud funny… a cross between Eoin Colfer and Terry Pratchett,” and Booklist says they’re “Hilariously macabre.” In her Black Gate review of The Infernals, Andrea Grennan called them “Marvelous… great fun for any reader, young or old. Like the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons, adults will appreciate The Infernals in a different and more sophisticated way.”

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New Treasures: Confluence by Paul McAuley

New Treasures: Confluence by Paul McAuley

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Confluence Paul McAuley-smallI’ve found a number of online sellers offering brand new copies of recent British SF and fantasy books very inexpensively (essentially, at remainder prices), and I’ve been taking advantage of them. My most recent purchases include Paul McAuley’s In the Mouth of the Whale (the third volume in his far-future series The Quiet War), and the massive omnibus volume Confluence, which contains his complete trilogy. And I do mean massive — just take a look at the thing (click the image at right for a more lifesize version). At 935 pages, it proudly stands all on its own on my end table (and darn near tips it over).

Paul McAuley was an early columnist for Black Gate (his fantasy review column On the Edge appeared in our early print issues). The omnibus volume contains three complete novels, all originally published in hardcover in the US by Avon EOS:

Child of the River (1997)
Ancients of Days (1998)
Shrine of Stars (1999)

Here’s the description:

Confluence — a long, narrow, artificial world, half fertile river valley, half crater-strewn desert. A world beyond the end of human history, served by countless machines, inhabited by 10,000 bloodlines who worship their absent creators, riven by a vast war against heretics.

This is the home of Yama, found as an infant in a white boat on the world’s Great River, raised by an obscure bureaucrat in an obscure town in the middle of a ruined necropolis, destined to become a clerk — until the discovery of his singular ancestry. For Yama appears to be the last remaining scion of the Builders, closest of all races to the revered architects of Confluence, able to awaken and control the secret machineries of the world.

Pursued by enemies who want to make use of his powers, Yama voyages down the length of the world to search for answers to the mysteries of his origin, and to discover if he is to be the saviour of his world, or its nemesis.

Confluence was published by Gollancz in August 2015. It is 935 pages, priced at £16.99 in trade paperback and $15.99 for the digital edition. I bought my copy from Media Universe for $12.14 plus $3.99 shipping (and In the Mouth of the Whale from the same vendor for $2.95). Copies of both are still available.

Future Treasures: The Big Sheep by Robert Kroese

Future Treasures: The Big Sheep by Robert Kroese

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The Big Sheep Robert Kroese-small The Big Sheep Robert Kroese-back-small

Robert Kroese is the author of Mercury Falls, Starship Grifters, and Disenchanted. His latest novel is a science fiction noir that reads like it takes place in the same L.A. as Blade Runner (except it’s a lot funnier). It follows two very different private investigators as they track an extremely valuable genetically engineered sheep through a dystopian future L.A. Worth checking out.

Los Angeles of 2039 is a baffling and bifurcated place. After the Collapse of 2028, a vast section of LA, the Disincorporated Zone, was disowned by the civil authorities, and became essentially a third world country within the borders of the city. Navigating the boundaries between DZ and LA proper is a tricky task, and there’s no one better suited than eccentric private investigator Erasmus Keane. When a valuable genetically altered sheep mysteriously goes missing from Esper Corporation’s labs, Keane is the one they call.

But while the erratic Keane and his more grounded partner, Blake Fowler, are on the trail of the lost sheep, they land an even bigger case. Beautiful television star Priya Mistry suspects that someone is trying to kill her — and she wants Keane to find out who. When Priya vanishes and then reappears with no memory of having hired them, Keane and Fowler realize something very strange is going on. As they unravel the threads of the mystery, it soon becomes clear that the two cases are connected — and both point to a sinister conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the city. Saving Priya and the sheep will take all of Keane’s wits and Fowler’s skills, but in the end, they may discover that some secrets are better left hidden.

The Big Sheep will be published by Thomas Dunne Books on June 28, 2016. It is 308 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by David Curtis. Click the images above for bigger versions.

Vintage Treasures: Lincoln’s Dreams by Connie Willis

Vintage Treasures: Lincoln’s Dreams by Connie Willis

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Lincoln's Dreams-small Lincoln's Dreams-back-small

There are precious few debut novels that receive the outpouring of acclaim that greeted Connie Willis’s Lincoln Dreams when it first appeared. There are even fewer that remain in print for as long as five years. The Bantam Spectra edition of Lincoln’s Dreams has now been in print for an astounding 24 years… that’s got to be some kind of record.

Willis’ first novel, Water Witch, was co-written with Cynthia Felice, and published in 1982. Lincoln’s Dreams, which appeared in hardcover from Bantam Spectra in May 1987, was her true solo debut, and it established her immediately as a major novelist. Twilight Zone Magazine called it “A tight, solid fantasy with a stiletto-in-the-heart epiphany at the end… fascinating,” and Watership Down author Richard Adams called it “Moving and beautiful… a most original and fascinating novel.” Fantasy Review said it “clearly marks Connie Willis as one of our foremost young novelists.” And Harlan Ellison said:

Every once in a while a talent leaps up to announce itself as important. Connie Willis is such a talent: a magisterial intelligence at work… to miss Lincoln’s Dreams is to risk the loss of your immortal soul.

Lincoln’s Dreams was published by Bantam Spectra in July 1992. It is 229 pages (plus 2-page foreword by the author, and a 12-page preview of her 1992 novel Doomsday Book), priced at $4.99. The cover is by Jean-François Podevin. Click the images above for bigger versions.

Clarkesworld 117 Now Available

Clarkesworld 117 Now Available

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Clarkesworld 117-smallIn his editorial this issue, Neil Clarke has some powerful words to say about how all of us can help keep short fiction alive.

If we want short fiction to thrive, we have a responsibility to spread the word and promote the works we’ve enjoyed. There are many ways to do this, but it needs to be focused, respectful, and timely. More specifically, it needs to be done in locations that are relevant to the audience you are trying to attract. Your blog is nice, but adding Twitter or Amazon might have a bigger impact.

Reviewing isn’t for everyone, mind you. I really wanted to do my part and find a way to contribute to a positive conversation about short fiction. I tried writing reviews. The blank screen tormented me and it took a while to realize that I wasn’t following the path that best utilized my skills. Instead, I changed tactics and launched Forever Magazine as a way of bringing back some of the stories I’ve enjoyed. When I go full-time this year, I hope to be able to do a bit more with that project.

Read his complete editorial here.

Clarkesworld #117 has four new stories by Margaret Ronald, Sam J. Miller, E. Catherine Tobler, and Zhang Ran, and two reprints by Michael Flynn and Nancy Kress.

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Space Stations With Secret Passages, and Snow White in Space: Rich Horton on Sanctuary in the Sky by John Brunner/The Secret Martians by John Sharkey

Space Stations With Secret Passages, and Snow White in Space: Rich Horton on Sanctuary in the Sky by John Brunner/The Secret Martians by John Sharkey

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Sanctuary in the Sky John Brunner-small The Secret Martians Jack Sharkey-small

After a series of duds, our intrepid retro-reviewer Rich Horton turns to the always-reliable John Brunner.

I’ve read some weak Ace Doubles lately, so I tried to improve my fortunes by picking one with a John Brunner half. I can almost always count on Brunner for entertainment with a thoughtful edge. Brunner (1934-1995) of course was one of the field’s greats, a Hugo winner for Stand on Zanzibar (1968). He had a bifurcated career a bit like Robert Silverberg’s: beginning around the same time as Silverberg he was extremely prolific early in his career, publishing a lot of quickly executed and competent work; and then sometime in the early to mid ’60s seems to have consciously raised his level of ambition, beginning with novels like The Whole Man and The Squares of the City, and continuing to his famous quartet of long novels, beginning with Stand on Zanzibar, then The Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider.

The book under consideration this time is the 1960 Ace Double Sanctuary in the Sky by John Brunner, paired with The Secret Martians by the far less well known John Sharkey.

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New Treasures: A Most Improper Boxed Set by Stephanie Burgis

New Treasures: A Most Improper Boxed Set by Stephanie Burgis

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A Most Improper Boxed Set-smallNot long after I got my Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, I joined a small start-up in Champaign, IL. I kept trying to explain to my friends and family what we did, without much luck. But after Microsoft licensed our first product and renamed it Internet Explorer 1.0, everyone understood what we did.

It was thrilling to be a manager in a fast-growing internet start-up in the early days of the dot-com boom, let me tell you. But one of the things I came to realize early on was that being an early tech pioneer was no help at all when it came to predicting where the next big thing was coming from. When Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, for example, I confidently predicted it would never approach the success of Borders, since there was no way to browse for books, like you could in a real bookstore. Today, Borders is bankrupt, Amazon.com is one of the most successful companies in human history, and I spend hours every week browsing and shopping for books online, discovering more new titles than I ever could in a brick-and-mortar store.

That’s how I stumbled across A Most Improper Boxed Set, a delightful trilogy of Regency fantasy novels by Stephanie Burgis (Masks and Shadows), and decided to take a chance on it. Would I have made the same impulse purchase in a bookstore? Who can say? I’m just glad I did it.

For lovers of Harry Potter and Jane Austen, this boxed set of the Kat, Incorrigible Regency-era fantasy trilogy is a delightful blend of adventure, humor, mischief, romance, and quite a bit of improper magic.

Katherine Ann Stephenson has just discovered that she’s inherited her mother’s magical talents, and despite Stepmama’s stern objections, she’s determined to learn how to use them.

But nineteenth-century England is not the easiest place to practice scandalous magic. Kat’s reckless heroism will be tested to the utmost as she learns to control her new powers — all while battling dangerous highwaymen, dodging devious scoundrels, attempting to win her sisters their true loves, avoiding malicious gossip and disgraceful accusations, managing her sister Angeline’s heedless witchcraft and her brother Charles’s carelessness… and saving her family’s lives, the magical Order of the Guardians, and ultimately, England itself. And all this while trying to maintain the dignity of a proper lady!

This paperback boxed set — which includes Kat, Incorrigible; Renegade Magic; and Stolen Magic — contains enough mischief and magic to make Stepmama faint… and to satisfy the most voracious of readers.

A Most Improper Boxed Set was published by Atheneum Books on October 7, 2014. It contains three novels in trade paperback, with a combined page count of 1072 pages, and is priced at $21.99. The marvelously whimsical cover art is by Annette Marnat. See Emily Mah’s interview with Stephanie Burgis here.