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Category: Future Treasures

Future Treasures: Women of Futures Past, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Future Treasures: Women of Futures Past, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

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Women of Futures Past-smallBaen is one of the few publishers still producing quality paperback anthologies — and indeed, they’ve had some excellent ones in the past few years. They look to continue that tradition next month with Women of Futures Past, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, which contains 11 classic tales by Leigh Brackett, C.L. Moore, C.J. Cherryh, Pat Cadigan, Nancy Kress, James Tiptree, Jr., Ursula K. Le Guin, Connie Willis, Zenna Henderson, Anne McCaffrey, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Andre Norton.

As usual, Baen offers some free content online, including Rusch’s introduction, and the first two stories. Here’s the complete Table of Contents, with links to the online content.

Introduction: Invisible Women by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“The Indelible Kind“ by Zenna Henderson (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1968)
“The Smallest Dragonboy“ by Anne McCaffrey (Science Fiction Tales, 1973)
“Out of All Them Bright Stars” by Nancy Kress (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March, 1985)
“Angel” by Pat Cadigan (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, June 1987)
“Cassandra” by C.J. Cherryh (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1978)
“Shambleau” by C.L. Moore (Weird Tales, November, 1933)
“The Last Days of Shandakor” by Leigh Brackett (Startling Stories, April 1952)
“All Cats Are Gray” by Andre Norton (Fantastic Universe, August/September 1953)
“Aftermaths” by Lois McMaster Bujold (Far Frontiers: The Paperback Magazine of Science Fiction and Speculative Fact, Volume V, Spring 1986)
“The Last Flight of Doctor Ain” by James Tiptree, Jr. (Galaxy, March 1969)
“Sur” by Ursula K. Le Guin (The New Yorker, February 1, 1982)
“Fire Watch” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, February 15, 1982)

And here’s the complete description.

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When Men Were Men and Aliens Were Green and Up to No Good: The Pulp Tales of Robert Silverberg

When Men Were Men and Aliens Were Green and Up to No Good: The Pulp Tales of Robert Silverberg

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Robert Silverberg’s career as a science fiction writer spans over six decades. His first short story, “Gorgon Planet,” appeared in the February 1954 issue of Nebula Science Fiction, when he was 19 years old, and his first novel, Revolt on Alpha C, was published in 1955. He won a Hugo in 1956 for “Best New Writer,” and for the next few years — until the market for SF magazines collapsed in 1959 — he was extraordinarily prolific, routinely publishing five stories a month, and producing roughly a million words a year.

He published over 80 stories in 1958 alone, in magazines like Imaginative Tales, Fantastic, Amazing Stories, Imagination, and many others. His story “Re-Conditioned Human” appeared in the February 1959 issue of Super-Science Fiction (see the cover below left), and he had two novelettes in the April issue (below right): “Vampires from Outer Space” (under the name Richard F. Watson) and “Mournful Monster” (as Don Malcolm).

Those magazines are almost impossible to find now (unless you’re Rich Horton, of course), but Subterranean Press has done a favor for Silverberg fans — and pulp fans — everywhere by assembling two handsome volumes of his early work. In the Beginning: Tales from the Pulp Era was published in hardcover in February 2006, and Early Days: More Tales from the Pulp Era will arrive on August 31, 2016.

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Future Treasures: Ninth City Burning, by J. Patrick Black

Future Treasures: Ninth City Burning, by J. Patrick Black

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Ninth City Burning Cover-smallHere’s a promising debut SF novel of alien invasion…. or, perhaps, post-apocalyptic alien dystopia? Whatever. It has aliens, desperate battles, and mutant powers. Bring it.

We never saw them coming.

Entire cities disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but dust and rubble. When an alien race came to make Earth theirs, they brought with them a weapon we had no way to fight, a universe-altering force known as thelemity. It seemed nothing could stop it — until we discovered we could wield the power too.

Five hundred years later, the Earth is locked in a grinding war of attrition. The talented few capable of bending thelemity to their will are trained in elite military academies, destined for the front lines. Those who refused to support the war have been exiled to the wilds of a ruined Earth.

But the enemy’s tactics are changing, and Earth’s defenders are about to discover this centuries-old war has only just begun. As a terrible new onslaught looms, heroes will rise from unlikely quarters, and fight back.

Ninth City Burning will be published by Ace Books on September 6, 2016. It is 496 pages, priced at $27 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Matthew Griffin. Read an excerpt at Entertainment Weekly.

See all our coverage of the best in upcoming fantasy here.

Future Treasures: The Call by Peadar O’Guilin

Future Treasures: The Call by Peadar O’Guilin

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Peadar O’Guilin was one of the most popular and prolific contributors to the print version of Black Gate. His first story for us was “The Mourning Trees” (BG 5), followed by “Where Beauty Lies in Wait” (BG 11) and “The Evil Eater” (BG 13), which Serial Distractions called “a lovely little bit of Lovecraftian horror that still haunts me to this day.” A fourth story, “The Dowry,” appeared as part of our Black Gate Online Fiction catalog.

Check out the podcast version of “The Evil Eater” on Pseudopod, or download Where Beauty Lies In Wait, a free e-book collecting a dozen of Peadar’s short stories, including his Black Gate tales, here.

Peadar’s first novel, The Inferior, was published to terrific reviews in 2008; it was followed by the next two novels in The Bone World Trilogy, The Deserter (2012) and The Volunteer (2013). His last book was Forever in the Memory of God and Other Stories, which Sarah Avery called “old-school weird fiction, Clark Ashton Smith style.”

Peadar’s newest novel is easily one of the most anticipated novels of the year here at Black Gate‘s rooftop headquarters. A unique blend of fantasy, horror, and folkore from one of the top writers in the field, The Call is this fall’s must-read fantasy epic.

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Future Treasures: Spellbreaker, the Concluding Volume of The Spellwright Trilogy by Blake Charlton

Future Treasures: Spellbreaker, the Concluding Volume of The Spellwright Trilogy by Blake Charlton

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Spellwright Blake Charleton-small Spellbound Blake Charleton-small Spellbreaker Blake Charleton-small

It’s not often that a fantasy author achieves a breakout work with his first novel — or even his first series — but that’s exactly what Blake Charlton has done with The Spellwright Trilogy, which began with his debut novel Spellwright. Robin Hobb calls the series “A letter-perfect story,” and Publishers Weekly proclaimed it “A winner” in a star review.

After a nearly 5-year gap, the third and final novel in the trilogy, Spellbreaker, arrives in hardcover next week. All three books were published by Tor; here’s the complete publishing details.

Spellwright (352 pages, $25.99, March 2, 2010) — cover by Todd Lockwod
Spellbound (416 pages, $25.99, September 13, 2011) — cover by Todd Lockwood
Spellbreaker (476 pages, $25.969, August 23, 2016) — cover by James Paick

Here’s a look at the back covers of all three volumes.

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Future Treasures: Storm King’s Thunder

Future Treasures: Storm King’s Thunder

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Dungeons and Dragons Storm King's Thunder-smallIn 2013 I wrote an article about introducing my kids to the classic Dungeons and Dragons adventure modules of my childhood — including The Temple of Homlet, Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, and Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl. Last week we wrapped up the climatic Hall of the Fire Giant King with a white-knuckle battle, topping off three years of rousing adventure.

Being the old man that I am, I immediately began to grouse that they don’t make fast-paced, epic adventures like that any more. So I was surprised (and slightly mollified) to see that Wizards of the Coast is releasing a new giant-themed epic adventure for Fifth Edition D&D next month. Just in time for my young adventurers!

Take a stand against the giants in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game

Giants have emerged from their strongholds to threaten civilization as never before. Hill giants are stealing all the grain and livestock they can while stone giants have been scouring settlements that have been around forever. Fire giants are press-ganging the smallfolk into the desert, while frost giant longships have been pillaging along the Sword Coast. Even the elusive cloud giants have been witnessed, their wondrous floating cities appearing above Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate. Where is the storm giant King Hekaton, who is tasked with keeping order among the giants?

The humans, dwarves, elves, and other small folk of the Sword Coast will be crushed underfoot from the onslaught of these giant foes. The only chance at survival is for the small folk to work together to investigate this invasion and harness the power of rune magic, the giants’ weapon against their ancient enemy the dragons. The only way the people of Faerun can restore order is to use the giants’ own power against them.

To defeat giants, you need to be giant!

Storm King’s Thunder will be published by Wizards of the Coast on September 6, 2016. It is a 256-page adventure, suitable for characters level 1-11. It is priced at $49.95.

Future Treasures: Waking Up Dead by Nigel Williams

Future Treasures: Waking Up Dead by Nigel Williams

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Nigel Williams is the author of over sixteen novels, including the bestselling The Wimbledon Poisoner and its sequels. His latest novel is the tale of a ghost who hangs around, trying to unravel the suspicious circumstances of his death…. and in the process, learns a few surprising secrets about his family. The Saturday Times says ““This has the best opening chapter of the year, if not the decade…. This black comedy is Williams’s best since The Wimbledon Poisoner.” And Country Life magazines calls it “A very funny work… Under this master of suburban comedy we have a breathtakingly hilarious hybrid of Blithe Spirit, Noises Off and Miss Marple… will have you falling off your deckchair with mirth.”

Retired bank manager George Pearmain is, apparently, dead. According to the behavior of everyone around him, it would seem that he is no more. Not only that, but his mother has also passed away too — and on the eve of her 99th year, poor dear. Not only that, it could be that they were both murdered.

He feels fine otherwise.

As George’s family gather for the birthday-celebration-that-never-was, he hovers around the house, watching and listening, entirely unseen. As a result, he makes all sorts of discoveries about himself, his wife Esmeralda, and his supposedly happy family…

One of internationally bestselling author Nigel Williams’ best books to date, Waking Up Dead is both a screamingly funny cozy mystery and startlingly strange ghost story asking the question: What would you do if you could bear witness to your own demise?

Waking Up Dead will be published by Thomas Dunne Books on August 23, 2016. It is 332 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover, and $12.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by David Baldensingh Rotstein.

Future Treasures: Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle

Future Treasures: Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle

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Summerlong Peter S Beagle-small Summerlong Peter S Beagle-back-small

A new novel by Peter S. Beagle is a major publishing event. His last novel, I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons (2007), mysteriously never appeared in print, but The Last Unicorn (1968) was ranked the #5 All-Time Best Fantasy Novel in the 1987 Locus Poll. The Folk of the Air (1986) and Tamsin (1999) both won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and The Innkeeper’s Song (1993) won the Locus Award. He’s won virtually every accolade our field has to offer, including the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards.

His long-anticipated new novel Summerlong, a bittersweet tale of passion, enchantment, and the nature of fate, arrives next month. Kirkus Reviews calls it “A beautifully detailed fantasy,” and comic writer Kurt Busiek (Astro City, The Avengers) says it is “An urban myth for adults… a book of magic, wondrous, tragic and unending.”

Our previous coverage of Peter Beagle includes Ryan Harvey’s 2011 article “How to Support Peter S. Beagle with The Last Unicorn Blu-ray,” and our 2010 post on The Secret History of Fantasy.

Summerlong will be published by Tachyon Publications on September 13, 2016. It is 240 pages, priced at $15.95 in trade paperback. The cover is by Magdalena Korzeniewska. Read the full details, including an excerpt, at the Tachyon website.

A Hard-boiled Private Eye Who Becomes a Wizard’s Henchman: A Wizard’s Henchman by Matthew Hughes

A Hard-boiled Private Eye Who Becomes a Wizard’s Henchman: A Wizard’s Henchman by Matthew Hughes

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I’ve posted the first chapter of A Wizard’s Henchman for a free read.

For quite a few years now, I’ve been imagining a far-future civilization called the Ten Thousand Worlds, which occupies an arm of the galaxy known as The Spray. The time I’ve been writing about is just before the universe suddenly and arbitrarily shifts from a basis of rational cause-and-effect to a new regime based on magic. When that happens, technological civilization will collapse and the age of The Dying Earth will dawn, with its grim thaumaturges, haunted ruins, and louche decadence.

Whether they live on grand old, long-settled worlds or strange little planets in odd corners, virtually none of The Spray’s multitude of inhabitants knows that disaster impends. A handful do, and they are preparing for the great change.

Until now, I’ve written only about the handful and I’ve always taken the overarching story just to the point where the cataclysm is about to break upon the Ten Thousand Worlds. In A Wizard’s Henchman, for the first time, I go all the way.

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Pathfinder Meets Lovecraft: Starspawn by Wendy N. Wagner

Pathfinder Meets Lovecraft: Starspawn by Wendy N. Wagner

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Wendy N. Wagner is the Managing Editor for Lightspeed and Nightmare magazines, as well as an editor for the fabulous Destroy series of anthologies, including Women Destroy Science Fiction, Women Destroy Fantasy, and Queers Destroy Science Fiction. She’s also the author of one previous Pathfinder Tales novel, Skinwalkers.

The sequel to Skinwalkers, Starspawn, will be published next week by Tor Books, and follows the notorious pirate Jendara as she returns to the cold northern isles of her home to settle down and raise her young son. When a mysterious tsunami wracks her island’s shore, she and her fearless crew must sail out to explore the strange island that’s risen from the sea floor. The marketing copy describes the novel as follows:

From Hugo Award winner Wendy N. Wagner comes a sword-swinging adventure in the tradition of H. P. Lovecraft, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Pathfinder meets Lovecraft? That’s definitely worth checking out.

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