Totally Tor: Steampunk Fortnight Continues & More!
Hey Huys and Girls, got some more info and news for you straight from Irene Gallo. 
Let’s launch into it, shall we?
First up, Steampunk Fortnight is still happening, and by now there’s plenty to catch up on if you’ve missed anything. Check out the link for the low-down!
Also, on Wednesday a new story was posted – Felix Gilman’s Lightbringer’s and Rainmakers (click the link to read it), set in the same world as his The Half-Made World.
Here’s the cover for you to enjoy (the work of the excellent Jon Foster):
Last week saw the release of Cat Rambo‘s story, Clockwork Fairies, and here’s a taste of the story for you:
Mary the Irish girl let me in when I knocked at the door in my Sunday best, smelling of incense and evening fog. Gaslight flickered over the narrow hall. The mahogany banister’s curve gleamed with beeswax polish, and a rosewood hat rack and umbrella stand squatted to my left.
I nodded to Mary, taking off my top hat. Snuff and baking butter mingled with my own pomade to battle the smell of steel and sulfur from below.
“Don’t be startled, Mr. Claude, sir.”
Before I could speak further, a whir of creatures surrounded me.
At first I thought them hummingbirds or large dragonflies. One hung poised before my eyes in a flutter of metallic skin and isinglass wings. Delicate gears spun in the wrist of a pinioned hand holding a needle-sharp sword. Desiree had created another marvel. Clockwork fairies, bee-winged, glittering like tinsel. Who would have dreamed such things, let alone made them real? Only Desiree.
Mary chattered, “They’re hers. They won’t harm ye. Only burglars and the like.”
She swatted at one hovering too close, its hair floating like candy floss in the air. Mary had been with the Southland household for three years now and was inured to scientific marvels. “I’ll tell her ladyship yer here.”
She left. I eyed the fairies that hung in the air around me. Despite Mary’s assurance, I did not know what they would do if I stepped forward. I had never witnessed clockwork creations so capable of independent movement.
Footsteps sounded downstairs, coming closer. Desiree appeared in the doorway that led to her basement workshop. A pair of protective lenses dangled around her neck and she wore gloves. Not the dainty kidskin gloves of fashionable women, but thick pig leather, to shield her clever brown fingers from sparks. One hand clutched a brass oval studded with tiny buttons.
Desiree’s skin color made her almost as much an oddity in upper London society as the fairies. My intended. I smiled at her.
“Claude,” she said with evident pleasure.
She clicked the device in her hand and the fairies swirled away, disappearing to God knows where. “I’m almost done. I’ll meet you in the parlor in a few minutes. Go ahead and ring for tea.”
Eileen Gunn’s got a ‘ quartet of steampunk pastiches’ coming up soon, so keep an eye out for that: A Different Engine, Day After the Cooters, The Perdito Project, and Internal Devices.
What else is happening on Tor? Plenty, as always!
Jo Walton is covering the Hugo Nominations, starting from 1953 and going up to 2000; you can find the introduction here, and the first post here. Definitely a series I’ll be following – it’ll be interesting to see how the Hugo’s have changed over the years and decades.
Also, set your reminders for November 3rd: Tor will be posting a story by Fantasy author Peter Orullian (check out this link to get the low-down on him and what he’ll be bringing us), and here’s the cover for you:
Awesome artwork by Kekai Kotaki.
Oh, and are you guys ready?
Thanks to Irene Gallo for the for the info; check out The Art Department blog here, and follow Irene on Twitter here.
Be EPIC!
Robert Redick Lives!
Many of you may have noticed that Robert has been quiet since the end of September, when he posted the UK and US covert art for the third Chathrand Voyage novel, The River of Shadows; well, he’s back, and as entertaining as ever!
On Tuesday passed he posted an update about the intense process that is writing, a company called CHEMIPLASTICA (if you don’t laugh at the end, well, you’ve got a difficult sense of humour to satisfy!), and updates on The River of Shadows and Book IV, The Night of the Swarm.
Also, Robert’s latest post is not only an interesting read for fans but also a snapshot of just what happens in a writer’s brain when having to make a very difficult but important decision: he gives us all the titles he considered for Book III.
And yes, I am planning to read and review Robert’s work – I’ve got copies of both Book 1 and Book II and just have to damn well get to them – there’s something about an epic fantasy adventure on the sea that really sounds awesome, and I’ll be getting to them soon, hopefully.
As always,
Be EPIC!
John Jarrold’s Corner: 2-Book German deal for Adam Nevill
Great news for German horror fans! Adam Nevill has been received a 2-book deal for German rights with Heyne; here are the details:
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PRESS RELEASE – GERMAN DEAL FOR ADAM NEVILL
Sascha Mamczak at Heyne has acquired German rights in two horror novels by Adam Nevill from Jon Mitchell, Rights Manager at Pan Macmillan. Julie Crisp acquired World rights in the books from agent John Jarrold.
This is the sixth translation deal for Adam Nevill via Macmillan’s rights department, following on from China, France, Russia, Spain and Turkey.
APARTMENT 16 was published very successfully by Pan in May this year, and THE RITUAL will follow in 2011. Heyne are planning to publish THE RITUAL first, following up with APARTMENT 16.
‘APARTMENT 16 has sold extremely well, reprinting three times and spending a long time as Amazon.co.uk’s bestselling horror title, and we’re both delighted with this deal,’ said John Jarrold. ‘Congratulations to Jon Mitchell!’
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Here’s the creepy and beautiful cover art for The Ritual; love the small detail hanging from that tree-branch!
Great news, huh? I wonder how you say “I shat my pants it was so scary!” in German? ‘Cause I think that phrase’ll be heard a-plenty! 
Congrats to John, Adam and the horror fans of Germany!
Be EPIC!
Voices in Dark Corners: Announcing Dark Fiction Magazine!
I missed this completely (thanks to an ageing, decrepit and most-of-the-time bloody useless Blackberry), but here’s the awesome news! I guess this’ll also kick-off a dedicated category on the blog.
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DARK FICTION MAGAZINE LAUNCH
LONDON, MIDLANDS AND MANCHESTER, UK, 26 Oct 2010. Dark Fiction Magazine(www.darkfictionmagazine.co.uk) is pleased to announce the launch of a new service for fans of genre fiction. Beginning Oct 31st (Halloween), Dark Fiction Magazine will be launching a monthly magazine of audio short stories. This is a free service designed to promote genre short fiction to an audience of podcast and radio listeners. A cross between an audio book, an anthology and a podcast, Dark Fiction Magazine is designed to take the enjoyment of short genre fiction in a new and exciting direction.
Dark Fiction Magazine publishes at least four short stories a month: a mix of award-winning shorts and brand new stories from both established genre authors and emerging writers. Each episode will have a monthly theme and feature complementary tales from the three main genres – science fiction, fantasy and horror.
Co-founder Del Lakin-Smith said: “I love reading short stories, and with the increased uptake of mobile and portable devices this really is a growth area. But like many I find I don’t have as much time as I would like to read, so I tend to listen to many podcasts on the go. The idea of replacing my podcasts with high quality, well performed audio short stories is something I find highly appealing, so Sharon and I set about making that a reality.”
Sharon Ring, co-founder of Dark Fiction Magazine, said: “From technophobe to technophile in less than two years; I spend a great deal of time working online. To while away those hours, I like to listen to podcasts and drink copious amounts of strong coffee. Now, while I don’t recommend you drink as much coffee as I, I do recommend you check out what Del and I have created. We love podcasts; we love genre fiction; we built a site to bring the two together.”
The theme of Dark Fiction Magazine’s first episode is The Darkness Descends and will feature four fantastical stories:
• ‘Maybe Then I’ll Fade Away’ by Joseph D’Lacey (exclusive to Dark Fiction Magazine)
• ‘Pumpkin Night’ by Gary McMahon
• ‘Do You See?’ by Sarah Pinborough (awarded the 2009 British Fantasy Society Short Story Award)
• ‘Perhaps The Last’ by Conrad Williams
Lined up for future episodes are Pat Cadigan, Cory Doctorow, Jon Courtenay, Grimwood, Ramsey Campbell, Rob Shearman, Kim Lakin-Smith, Ian Whates, Lauren Beukes, Mark Morris, Adam Nevill, Gareth L Powell, Jeremy C Shipp, Adam Christopher, and Jennifer Williams, among others.
With a team of dedicated and passionate narrators, a central recording facility and a love of genre, Dark Fiction Magazine delivers a truly outstanding aural experience.
Dark Fiction Magazine will also be producing special editions with seasonal stories and topical issues, competitions, flash fiction episodes and novel excerpts. Each episode aims to shock and delight, to horrify and confound as Dark Fiction Magazine takes its listeners on an aural tour through the world of genre fiction.
Dark Fiction Magazine is a collaborative project, created and developed by Del Lakin-Smith and Sharon Ring. For further information, contact Del or Sharon at editorial (at) darkfictionmagazine (dot) co (dot) uk
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This is great news! Short-fiction audio is awesome, just the thing for that longish commute or for a walk to work (in my case), and I’ll definitely be standing in (digital) line! Congrats to Sharon and Del and to all the authors! Btw, I could tell you something awesomely cool about Conrad Williams (which, if you’ve seen it or are ‘in the know’ would know, but I’ll wait for the news to be official.
Be EPIC!
Review: Godspeaker Book 3 – Hammer of God by Karen Miller
Some of you on Twitter may have seen my over-excited tweet last week while I was still reading Hammer of God. Yep, I love the book!
I read Empress in April 2009 and The Riven Kingdom in September 2009, so yes, it’s taken me some time to get through the series, but one of the strengths, right out of the gate, of this series and of Karen’s writing is that it’s memorable.
In Empress, Karen took us to Mijak, a desert land where their god is worshipped with blood-sacrifices. It’s a land of warriors and priests and slaves, harsh and brutal and beautiful at the same time, and in Mijak Karen introduced us to one the best female lead characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading – Hekat. We also met Vortka and Raklion and Nagarak and Zandakar and Dmitrak, but it was Hekat who stole the show.
In The Riven Kingdom, Karen took us to Ethrea and introduced us to Rhian, the only daughter of the ailing King. Rhian soon finds herself scrambling to survive and trying to get support for her own bid to ascend to Ethrea’s throne as its first-ever queen. The Riven Kingdom was a much-needed breath after the emotional and brutal rollercoaster that was Empress and took us to a world more easily understood, but it was as good as Empress was, for different reasons.
Now, in Hammer of God, Karen brings Mijak and Ethrea crashing together, and what a clash it is!
One thing I noticed in Empress and The Riven Kingdom was the type of writing employed – in Empress the sentences were shorter and in many cases, more simply understood; as a reader I was very much thrust into the thought processes and culture of Mijak which made their religion and lives more easily understood – sometimes I would even find myself thinking ‘tcha!’ in response to something stupid or frivolous or something I didn’t agree with. The Riven Kingdom is different again in that the writing and language used is closer to what we’d expect to read, so the novel flows extremely well as Karen introduces new characters and places and events. Hammer of God is a blend of these styles – simple yet elegant, flowing yet fast-paced, brutal and beautiful, too. One of my friends, Justin Germishuys, a fellow writer who has studied language and grammar intensively, is reading Hammer of God now and has said on numerous occasions that Karen Miller is a brilliant writer – I’ll leave it up to him to explain, since I don’t know half the time what he’s talking about when he’s using the technical-grammar terms to describe her writing. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Karen writes novels that anyone, from any background, can read and enjoy because she doesn’t use complicated sentence structures that’ll have you re-reading paragraphs; everything flows as the characters and their emotions are brought to life and the worlds that Karen creates in these novels were intensely interesting to me, whether I was in Mijak or in Ethrea.
I’ve said before that Karen does characters brilliantly, and if anything, I felt she surpassed herself in Hammer of God. Here we’ve got a young girl, Rhian, having to take a position of leadership under the mos extreme circumstances; here we’ve got a man in a world alien to him who must learn a completely new way of life if he is to survive; here we’ve got a priest who sees the good in everyone but who is forced to oversee and do terrible things in the name of the god he believes in; here we’ve got a toymaker who misses his wife and only wants to make toys but is forced into the spotlight and chosen to wield a power he never believed in; here we have an Empress who believes, to the core of her being, that she is doing what her god wants her to do… Even the psychology behind these characters would be, on their own, interesting, and Karen brings them all beautifully and tragically to life – many times I shook my head, incredulous or stunned and I laughed plenty, too – sometimes because the characters had to laugh or die and I felt I needed it, too. That’s the kind of reaction that Karen managed to elicit from me.
Event-wise and action-wise, Karen went all out in Hammer of God, and no-one was spared a chance to step into danger; I was hectically tense throughout the last ten or so chapters of this novel and the pace kicked up into the stratosphere, so expect not wanting to sleep or work or eat.
There was one culture and character that I didn’t get nearly enough of it was the people of of another great empire, far from Ethrea and Mijak, and the empire’s Emperor – I seriously hope we’ll be meeting these guys again some time! And I have to add, too, that the end of the book made me extremely curious about what would happen in both Ethrea and Mijak; these are two lands and cultures, with all their characters, that I’ll miss!
All in all, Hammer of God is an excellent climax to a really interesting and intriguing series – cool magic, deep religious and political thoughts and discussions, and larger-than-life characters that really make you look at yourself and what you think and believe.
I’m giving Hammer of God an air-punching 9 / 10, and the Godspeaker series an excellent 8 / 10 – the trilogy is complete so you can read all the books in one go, no waiting for more volumes!
Check out Karen’s website here and click this link to read excerpts of all the novels; to order your copies of Hammer of God, use the following links: Amazon US, Amazon UK and Exclusive Books (South Africa).
Also, you guys in the UK are in for a treat! Karen will be at Forbidden Planet this coming Saturday (October 30th), along with NK Jemisin! Check out this link for more info.
Be EPIC!
SFF News of the past week
Hey Everyone, hope you’re all having an amazing Friday evening / afternoon / morning! I have to apologize – I have completely forgotten what I wanted to post for today so I’m going to be giving you guys some links to check out and info to mull over.
First up (I just saw this on IMdb), Stephen Norrington is no longer involved as director of the upcoming The Crow remake. Sure, I feel for Stephen, but I’m actually glad to hear this – I’m firmly in the camp that agrees that The Crow stands on it’s own as an incredible, terrible (and by that I mean intense and deeply affecting) and brilliant movie, and I see it as one of the best graphic novel adaptations of all time. When I firs watched The Crow I had no idea who Brandon Lee was; I didn’t even know he had died during the filming of the movie. But I watched it and I cried afterwards. When I read James O’Barr’s original graphic novel I cried most of the way through – not because it was sad, you understand, but because it was so utterly deep and intense. Think the ‘Cat in the Hat’ moment… In any case, what I’m getting at is this – James lost someone very close to him and used and wrote The Crow as a way of dealing with his pain; Brandon died bringing us the original movie, and whatever conspiracy theories you can think of don’t really matter; his death not only made it more tragic (if that was even possible) but oddly and ironically personal – his unintended sacrifice gave me an experience that I’ll never forget. So yes, I’m happy that the movie is in trouble – leave it alone; it can’t be bettered but it can certainly be changed. The generation that watched The Crow will always measure anything to do with The Crow by Brandon’s movie, but the generation that watches the remake (should it get made) might never even think to watch the original and that will be terrible indeed.
Remember The Hobbit movie? Yes, it’s been greenlit, Peter Jackson is sitting in the director’s chair (thank bloody goodness! I was worried there for a while…) and Martin Freeman will be brining a younger, funnier Bilbo Baggins to life. Don’t know who Martin is? He played the role of Arthur Dent in the big-screen adaptation of The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (entertaining but nothing, absolutely nothing, against the novels). Anyway, shooting will begin in February, and it won’t be shot in New Zealand, apparently, even though union bosses have okayed it (not worried about this at all, though some New Zealanders may be pissed). I’m really looking forward to this movie! I know how those trolls got turned into stone (seen in a scene from Fellowship of the Ring) but it would be awesome to see it, and Smaug is sure to be breathtaking.
Next up, The Hulk may be getting another TV show; not sure how I feel about this yet. I loved (yes, I’ll admit that) both movies but I’m part of a minority – if it broke twice, don’t fix it, it’s a lost cause. Unfortunately. 
I guess it’ll all turn on whether Mark Ruffalo can give us a good Bruce Banner / The Hulk in the upcoming Avengers movie….
Next up, orgasm with me over his, won’t you:
Aiyaiyai… I feel like an absolute tit for not having finished Reaper’s Gale yet…
Next up, join me in congratulating Alex J Cavanaugh on his Release Week! His first novel, CassaStar (coming up for a review soon) is officially available! Here’s the book trailer for you:
Sincerely, congratilations, Alex! May this be the first of many, many novels and the start of a long, incredibly successful career!
Now, here’s some covers for you – new covers from the awesome dudes a Angry Robot:
(I’ve got a review-blurb in Soul Stealers, wOOt!)
Wanna order any of these? Check out the Amazon US Angry Robot search-page and the Amazon UK search-page; if readers in South Africa would like to get their hands on any of these novels (some of which haven’t yet been published, remember that, go to Exclusive Books and tell them to order from Ingrams). You can also listen to audio excerpts of the following novels through these links: Matt Forbeck’s Amortals, Andy Remic’s Kell’s Legend & Soul Stealers.
And last, but not least, a poll:
Pat of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist (one of the blogs that served as an example to start this blog) received a copy of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson’s 13th Wheel of Time novel (which means second-last), Towers of Midnight, and posted his semi-review / thoughts; he’s not yet finished with the book, though, and will post a full review upon the novel’s release date. In answer to his post, a blogger that I have much respect for, Amanda Rutter, wrote this post in answer to Pat’s semi-review; I’m asking you this – if a novel is embargoed, does it mean that *no* reviews, at all, should be allowed prior to publication? Or does it really, truly matter? If you want some more background to this discussion, check out this post from Mark Newton, too. And here’s a poll for you:
There we go! Hope you all have an incredible weekend! Don’t forget, I’m running a South Africa-only giveaway of Rowena Cory Daniels’ The King’s Bastard, ending on the 14th of November with the winner announced on the 15th.
Be EPIC!
Land That I Love by William Freedman – Cover Discussion on Facebook
Hey everyone, I’ve got something interesting for you.
Rebel E Publishers is hosting a discussion about the cover for William Freedman’s novel, Land That I Love, over on its Facebook Page, and you’re all invited to voice your opinions.
There have already been people who have weighed in – William himself, Cat Connor, Adele Harrison and Lood Du Plessis, and I’ll be joining the discussion, too. If you haven’t heard of the novel, here’s a bit about it:
When two rival presidents in the distant future, foes since their youth, declare a galactic hyper-power war, a series of events ensue which transforms America’s place in the world … and beyond! With devilish delight William Freedman upends icons, role models and expectations with laugh-out-loud irreverence. His characters defy tradition and stereotyping, revealing the mayhem and high jinks which – without doubt – exist within the hallowed halls of existing rival countries, let alone imaginary future nations and governments. Outrageous slap-and-tickle combined with political prods and withering insight make Land that I Love a compelling lampoon. Add ‘Blazing Saddles meets War of the Worlds’ and you begin to appreciate the riotous read in store. Move over Tom Sharpe, Christopher Brookmyre, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, David Sedaris, Eoin Colfer, Ambrose Gwinett Bierce …
And here’s the cover:
Like it? Hate it? Meh? Whatever you think, head on over to Rebel E Publishers’ Facebook page and join in the discussion! Please don’t comment here as that defeats the purpose of the discussion…
If Land That I Love has piqued your interest here are some links you can use to get hold of it:
Amazon US, Waterstones, and for readers in South Africa, Exclusive Books. You can also check out the novel’s Facebook Page.
Be EPIC!
Totally Tor: Heaven’s Shadow & The Walking Dead
Some great and exciting news from Tor UK via Chloe Healey:
Press Release 18th October 2010 – Tor UK announces two exciting new acquisitions
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HEAVEN’S SHADOW
From filmmaker/writer/producer David S. Goyer and author Michael Cassutt comes The Heavens Trilogy, an epic science fiction/adventure series that finds mankind fighting for survival in a new world plagued by an alien menace. Heaven’s Shadow begins with the discovery of an object of unknown origin headed toward Earth. Speculation as to what it might be runs high, and leads to an international competition to be the first to land on it, to claim both the prestige and whatever other benefits there might be. Thus, two rival teams of astronauts begin a thrilling and dangerous race – but what they find when they reach their goal will turn out to be unlike anything they could have imagined…
David S. Goyer is a screenwriter, film director and comic book writer. He has written several screenplays based on numerous comic book series, among them Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Flash. He is currently working on writing the third instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman film series and the new Superman movie. Michael Cassutt is a television producer, screenwriter, and author. His notable TV work includes producing or writing, or both, for The Outer Limits, Eerie Indiana , Beverly Hills 90210, and The Twilight Zone.
The first book has already received high praise from Guillermo Del Toro, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Strain and writer-director of Pan’s Labyrinth: ‘David Goyer always delivers thoroughly imagined, minutely researched worlds, spun around the most outlandish premises. Goyer acknowledges and understands genre while turning it over its head in this trippy, pulse-pounding tale’. The film rights to the trilogy have been optioned to Warner Bros in a seven figure deal.
Julie Crisp, Editorial Director of Tor UK, pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights in the trilogy from Penguin US in a mid-Frankfurt deal. ‘Heaven’s Shadow reads like Michael Crichton channelling Arthur C Clarke. It’s everything I loved about science fiction written in the 1950s bought up-to-date for a contemporary audience. We’re thrilled to add such an exciting trilogy and these hugely talented authors to the Tor UK list’.
The first book in the trilogy HEAVEN’S SHADOW will be published in hardback in July 2011.
THE WALKING DEAD
Tor UK recently pre-empted a trilogy of zombie novels based on Robert Kirkman’s successful and critically acclaimed Walking Dead comic book series. The books were acquired in a mid-Frankfurt deal by Julie Crisp, Editorial Director of Tor UK, from Thomas Dunne books in the US . A TV series based on the comics will be released in the US on the AMC network on 31st October 2010 and on the FX channel in the UK on 5th November 2010. The series, starring UK’s Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually, Teachers and This Life) and written, directed and produced by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile), follows small town sheriff Rick Grimes as he travels across a post-apocalyptic US plagued by zombies in an attempt to find his wife and son. Watch the The Walking Dead trailer:
Based on entirely new stories, Robert Kirkman is co-writing the books with horror novelist Jay Bonansinga, author of Perfect Victim and Shattered. The first book, The Walking Dead, will be released in November 2012 alongside the second season of the TV series.
Julie Crisp said, ‘From George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead through to Simon Pegg’s Shaun of the Dead, Zombies have always held a unique place in contemporary culture. Robert Kirkman has offered a fresh and exciting perspective on the zombie storyline through his series of comics and Tor UK is hugely excited to be able to work with him on the novelizations based on the world and characters he created in The Walking Dead’.
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Very exciting stuff! The Walking Dead is still something that needs to grow on me (when I watched the trailer for the incoming TV series I honestly thought, “Okay, we’ve seen this all before, what’s the fuss all about?”) and I admittedly haven’t read the comics, but I’m very excited for Heaven’s Shadow – David Goyer has proved that he can write awesome scripts and it’ll be interesting see what this project can come up with.
Be EPIC!
Totally Tor: News and Info from Irene Gallo
Hey everyone, this’ll be the start of a new feature on the blog which I’ve named, as you saw above, Totally Tor.
A couple of weeks ago Irene Gallo called for bloggers to help spread the news of what would be happening on Tor’s website, and I answered the call. Without further a-do, let’s get into it:
Steampunk Fortnight starts tomorrow!
Curated by Tor’s amazing Liz Gorinsky, the next two weeks will feature:
Musings on the genre from a host of esteemed guest bloggers, including Tim Akers, Jared Axelrod, S. J. Chambers, Amal El-Mohtar, G. D. Falksen, Fábio Fernandes, Chris Garcia, Jaymee Goh, Theodora Goss, Clay and Susan Griffith, Mark Hodder, Stephen Hunt, Evelyn Kriete, Dexter Palmer, Mike Perschon, Diana Pho, Mike Resnick, Nisi Shawl, and Diana Vick.
Original steampunk fiction from Felix Gilman, Eileen Gunn, and Cat Rambo.
Tor.com exclusive wallpaper by Sydney Padua (http://sydneypadua.com) of “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage” (http://2dgoggles.com) fame.
Coverage of the steampunk events such as Webster Hall’s The Anachronism.
Process posts from steampunk writers, artists, designers, costumers, and tinkerers.
An absurd amount of giveaways, including books, costume elements, gadgets, and HMS Stubbington dirigible tattoos.
Here’s the cover for Cat Rambo‘s Clockwork Fairies, which will be appearing on Tor on the 27th (artwork by Greg Manchess):
Also coming on the 27th is this, by Felix Gilman (cover by Jon Foster):
There’s also more steampunk stuff coming up:
Flash-fiction stories from Eileen Gunn, Dates not finalized yet.
Original Comic:
Clockwork Cowboy, title and date not finalized;
A new comic from Teetering Bulb (it will be awesome!)
We’ll also be hosting giveaways from various steampunk craftsmen.
Non-steampunk stuff on Tor:
Matheson, Storyteller:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/09/richard-matheson-storyteller
We’ve started a series of posts exploring the work of Richard Matheson through various media. Hosted by Mathew Bradley. We will publish a reprint story from him in the next 4-6 weeks. Details when they are nailed down.
Jo Walton recently started a re-read of the entire Patrick O’Brian Aubrey/Maturin series.
Not science fiction but certainly a “related subject.”
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/10/re-reading-patrick-obrians-aubrey-maturin-series
Star Trek rewatch will continue next Thursday, the with two Star Trek novelists: David Mack and Dayton Ward. They will kick off season three with the anticipated/dreaded “Spock’s Brain”
We’ll be starting a smaller celebration of Ringworld at 40 soon. Details as I get them.
And finally, here’s a quick look at November:
Original fiction by:
Peter Orullian
Kij Johnson
Mathew Sandborn Smith.
…and more
That’s it for this week! Irene’ll have more news for us soon!
Be EPIC!
John Jarrold’s Corner: Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold – Debut Acquired by Solaris Books
Great news from John Jarrold regarding an intriguing-sounding debut which I’ll definitely be reading!
PRESS RELEASE –SOLARIS ACQUIRE DEBUT FANTASY
Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books, has acquired BABYLON STEEL, the opening volume of a fast-moving fantasy series from debut novelist Gaie Sebold. The agent was John Jarrold, and the deal was for UK/US rights. The book is due for publication late in 2011.
Babylon Steel, ex-sword-for-hire, ex…other things, runs the best brothel in Scalentine; city of many portals, two moons, and a wide variety of races, were-creatures, and religions, not to mention the occasional insane warlock.
She’s not having a good week. The Vessels of Purity are protesting against brothels, women in the trade are being attacked, it’s tax time, and there’s not enough money to pay the bill. So when the mysterious Darask Fain offers her a job finding a missing girl, Babylon decides to take it. But the missing girl is not what she seems, and neither is Darask Fain. In the meantime two moon is approaching, and more than just a few night’s takings are at risk when Babylon’s hidden past reaches out to grab her by the throat.
“I’m delighted for Gaie,” said John Jarrold. “Her writing and story-telling are remarkable – and she is also outstandingly witty. And it’s great to get another new novelist out there!”
“It’s terrifically exciting to discover a new fantasy author who is producing fresh, interesting and funny work that’s also so vastly inventive,” Jonathan Oliver said. “Readers will fall in love with Gaie’s world and her brilliant central character.”
Gaie Sebold works for a charity. She has won a few awards for poetry and has sold short stories to magazines including Black Gate, Legend and City Slab, the recent Under the Rose anthology (Norilana) and the forthcoming End of an Aeon anthology (Fairwood Press). She is an occasional performance poet. She was born in the US but has lived in the UK most of her life, currently in an ‘up and coming’ area of London which doesn’t appear to have got very high yet. She is a member of T Party Writers, a London-based genre critique group. She has said this about the genesis of the book:
“The idea of having a heroine who was a Madam in a world where the clientele might be, shall we say, interesting, is one I have had in mind for several years. But the story didn’t really coalesce until I started thinking about where some of those clientele, and indeed the Madam herself, might have come from, and then the city-state of Scalentine and Babylon started to develop together.
“I wanted to write about people working in the Oldest Profession who were not necessarily villains or victims: but people doing a job, and taking pride in their work; and for sexual work to be part of celebrating and respecting sexuality, rather than something that diminishes or dirties it. Though I’m not ignoring the ugly aspects of real-life sex work, that wasn’t what I wanted to deal with in this story. After all, Scalentine is a fantasy city: dealing with possibilities that don’t exist, or barely exist, in our own world, is one of the things I think fantasy is for.
“I have also always been fascinated by the idea of different worlds that are only a mirror’s breadth away, and of different species living cheek by jowl. For me Scalentine is rather like my own peculiar version of London; where lots of different people and cultures end up creating a fascinating if not always easy mix.
“Also, of course, I just wanted to have fun: with Babylon and her crew, of whom I have become increasingly fond; and with Scalentine’s multiplicity of characters, races, species, portals and possibilities. Which I did.”
Sounds pretty interesting! Congrats to Gaie and to Solaris!
Be EPIC!
