Miscellany

June is Pride Month and over at the SF Signal website, they've compiled a list of favorite LGBT authors, stories and novels, asking some authors to chime in with their own recommendations.  Here is that list; use it to help find books and authors for your own reading lists!

"Q: LGBT themes and characters have, thankfully, enjoyed an emergence in speculative fiction the past few years, and we’d love to know who some of your favorite LGBT authors, stories, and novels are, and why?"

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/06/mind-meld-lgbt-themes-in-fantasy-and-sf-recommendations/

Happy reading!

Short Fiction Month: 8 POUNDS: Eight Tales of Crime, Horror & Suspense by Chris F Holm (Poisonville Press)

Chris Holm first came to my attention as the author of the acclaimed noir fantasy Dead Harvest, from Angry Robot Books.  And now having completed his short story collection 8 Pounds: Eight Tales of Crime, Horror & Suspense, I can see what all the hubbub is about!

First off, let me say that 8 Pounds is an outstanding collection of stories.  Yes, these are tales of crime, horror and suspense but Holm infuses each piece with such atmosphere that it flows effortlessly from one story into another without jarring the reader from their experience.  It is a collection that needs to be read and reread often.

As always, I like to try to talk about each story individually, so let's go:

Both "Seven Days of Rain" and "The World Behind" have the flavor of vintage Stephen King, each blending the past with the present as the protagonists recall childhood memories and things better left undisturbed come to light. Holm expertly layers the atmosphere in these tales, keeping the reader engaged until the climax comes and hits them between the eyes.  Well done.

In "A Better Life" what I first thought of as a predictable new-couple-moving-to-the-country story really threw me for a loop at the end.  The increasing sense of foreboding builds and builds and the ending is both gruesome and horrific.

"A Simple Life" is a prime example of Holm's mastery of writing a great pulp story.  It follows a very unsympathetic character getting himself deeper and deeper into a very sticky situation for the affections of the very pretty femme fatale.  Again, a great story.

"The Toll Collectors" takes a hit-man from a classic noir yarn and drops him into a ghost story that turns into a revenge tale where his past sins come back to haunt him he finally gets his just desserts.

My favorite piece in the collection is the title cut, "8 Pounds".  And I hesitate to say anything as I don't want to give too much away but this story here is worth the price of admission alone.  Holm slowly (agonizingly) ratchets the tension up, up and just when you think you can breath again-BAM!! he lets you have it!  LOVED IT!

"The Well" is the little sister to "8 Pounds".  I definitely place them both squarely in the horror set of these tales but "The Well" is a much shorter, moody piece but the ending is just as satisfying.

And finally "The Big Score" is a story of double and triple crosses that I read through at light speed, so engrossed was I in lobsterman Mike Mallory and the trouble he finds himself in when he is mistaken for another fisherman who has something that two very unscrupulous treasure hunters want.  Again, Holm stages this story nicely and it is the most action packed of the set.

I cannot recommend this collection highly enough.  Usually I seek out short story collections as an introduction to an author's work but with 8 Pounds Chris Holm has made me want to try an entire new genre on for size.  My crime/noir/pulp reading is very infrequent but if there are writers out there producing stuff like this, stuff like Chris Holm, then I may have to take a longer, keener look at what's out there.  Thank you Chris Holm, for not only entertaining me with 8 Pounds but for showing me that dark, well written fiction can come in many, many forms.


(Book 2/10 toward the Horror/Thriller Reading Challenge 2012 hosted by Sweeping Me ).

Cover Revealed for Devil Said Bang (Sandman Slim 4)

These covers keep getting better and better!

Via Richard Kadrey's Damn Tumblr:

"Devil Said Bang


While ruling the denizens of darkness does have a few perks, James Stark isn't exactly thrilled with the course his career (not to mention his soul) has taken.  Breaking out of Hell once was a miraculous trick.  But twice?  If anyone can do it, it's Sandman Slim.  While he's working out the details of his latest escape plan, Slim has to figure out how to run his new domain and hold off a host of trigger-happy killers mesmerized by that bullseye on his back.  Everyone in Heaven, Hell and in between wants to be the fastest gun in the universe, and the best way to prove it is to take down the new Lucifer, aka Sandman Slim aka James Stark.

Then again, LA isn't quite the paradise it once was since he headed south. A serial killer ghost is running wild   and his angelic alter-ego is hiding somewhere in the lost days of time with a secret cabal who can rewrite reality.  And starting to care about people and life again is a real bitch for a stone-cold killer.

A violent and atmospheric tale full of edgy fun and packed with angels and demons, monsters and madmen, Devil Said Bang is another thrilling hit of kickass fun from the diabolically talented Richard Kadrey."

The fourth book in the Sandman Slim series, look for it August 28, 2012.    

12 Days of Monsters, the 4 Book Club and Help Lovecraft eZine

This week's web surfing:

Over at the Weird Fiction Review,  in celebration of the annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (IFCA), they are presenting "12 Days of Monsters"; the theme of the conference is "The Monstrous Fantastic" and guests of honor are China Mieville and Kelly Link.  Highlights of the 12 days include an interview with Mieville, the first web publication of Link's "Pretty Monsters" as well as monstrous fiction, comics, art and favorite monsters.  Check out the full week's schedule of the 12 days here.

Meanwhile the Robot Overlords have signed a new two book deal with Adam Christopher, author of Empire State and the forthcoming Seven Wonders. The new deal includes the sequel to Empire State, titled The Age Atomic, to be published May 2013 and a stand alone novel called Hang Wire to follow within a year.  This deal makes Christopher one of only three authors to have placed four books with Angry Robot.  For details on the new deal, click here.

Michael Davis, publisher of the quite awesome Lovecraft eZine, put out a call for help to readers of the magazine for donations to keep the March and April issues on track.   And his call was answered!  The two issues have been saved but it never hurts to continue to lend a helping hand; the eZine is a place to read great fiction in the Lovecraftian vein and also an invaluable resource to the uninitiated to the famous author and his Cthulu Mythos.  Help Mike and his family keep the magazine going!

Happy reading!

Miscellany

Tidbits and more from my web surfing this week:

First up, new cover art for THE QUARRY, the new book forthcoming from Mark Allan Gunnells.  The artist is David Naughton-Shires and is based on photos Gunnells took of the actual location:

THE QUARRY will be Mark's first novel and comes out in February from Evil Jester Press; keep a watch out for it and of course, I'll be talking about it here on the blog!


And another friend has something coming out; Sergio Kardenas's new album THE TIME MACHINE is finally out!

 I've been a big fan of Sergio's forever; he truly is a renaissance man!  In 2007 to celebrate his 20th anniversary as a photographer, he put out his first collection of his photography, THE MAGAZINE OF SEX, designed to look like a vintage adult magazine from the 60s and 70s; in 2009 he followed this with the award winning film La Functionaria Asensia a.k.a. The Slayer Bureaucrat and now he's hitting us with the one, two punch of his long awaited 10 song CD and his new book PULP FANTASIES & FETISHES that I talked about here.  I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of the CD and will be talking about it here very soon!

And finally,the momentum that EMPIRE STATE by Adam Christopher has reached dizzying heights this week, what with the book finally been released (it seems like it's been forever!) and two big events accompanying it; 

The first event was the London launch of EMPIRE STATE at Forbidden Planet Megastore on January 5th; the second will be the January 10th reading and signing in New York at the Mid-Manhattan Library.  You can read about the Forbidden Planet event on Adam's blog, here and here.

                                                          Photos by Stephen J Sweeney 


And that's the round up for today!  Happy reading!
                                                                           

New Cover Art from Angry Robot!

The first cover is from Matt Forbeck's upcoming Titanic themed horror novel Carpathia.  This will be out March 2012, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the "unsinkable" ship.  I like how this cover is blood stained, with the Titanic sinking in the background; pretty eerie!  I've never heard of horror being combined with this famous disaster, and since I was such a fan of Vegas Knights, I'm excited to see where Forbeck's take on the story will go...

And also revealed just this week is the brilliant new cover art for Adam Christopher's Empire State.  I've enjoyed following him on Twitter; his view on superhero fiction is awesome!  If you haven't heard already, he practically got his Angry Robot deal via Twitter alone; you can read what I mean and how he came to be an Angry Robot author here.

Here's a brief synopsis and tag line:

" The stunning noir-fantasy thriller set in the other New York!


It was the last great science hero fight, but the energy blast ripped a hole in reality, and birthed the Empire State – a young, twisted parallel prohibition-era New York.

When the rift starts to close, both worlds are threatened, and both must fight for the right to exist..."

Empire State already has its own page at Angry Robot and from the early blurbs, this book just sounds all kinds of awesome, making me count the days til its US release date December 2011!!  It is also featured in the Book Cover Smackdown at SF Signal.

Adam and Empire State will also be featured in The Qwillery for the 2012 Debut Author Challenge.  To take part, you just need to sign up, buy the book when it comes out, read it, and then join the conversation over at The Qwillery; he will also be doing an interview and reader Q&A so check it out!

WOW!  It looks like Angry Robot is starting 2012 off with a BIG bang!  Again guys, I'm counting the days!!

New Steampunk Anthology From Echelon Press

On Monday February 14th, Karen Syed from Echelon Press announced an upcoming Steampunk anthology named Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance to be released May 2011.  Some of the authors featured will be Nick Valentino (aka Sir Thomas Riley), Sean Hayden, Kim Lankin-Smith, Jennifer Williams and the wonderful Adam Christopher.

I'm very excited about this anthology and as details come out will keep you posted here.  Congratulations to all the authors!

News From Angry Robot!

New author news this week from Angry Robot:

First up, Angry Robot welcomes Jo Anderton

Jo Anderton

New Australian author Jo Anderton has signed to Angry Robot for at least two novels in her Veiled Worlds series. The worldwide deal, covering physical books and eBooks, was done by agent Anni Haig-Smith and Angry Robot’s publishing director, Marc Gascoigne. Debris will be published in the autumn of 2011, with direct sequel Suited scheduled to follow in early-to-mid 2012.

Series opener Debris introduces us to Tanyana, leader of a matter-manipulating team. Following an accident, she’s dismayed to be demoted to little more than a garbage collector, but it soon becomes obvious she’s been manipulated into that role by the faceless faction she calls the Puppet Men, to uncover a world-shattering secret.

That man Marc Gascoigne said, “With the ever-increasing popularity of Japanese and Korean anime, manga and computer games, it’s been surprising that there hasn’t been more SF and fantasy showing its influence. Debris’s mix of SF and fantasy themes, exotic future-medieval settings, Dune-esque warring factions, and a fabulous kick-ass heroine is exactly the sort of on-trend science fiction Angry Robot was set up to publish. We’re damned pleased to have Jo on board.”

Jo added, “I’ve been reading Angry Robot books since their first giant, metallic steps and absolutely loving them. Debris started out as an idea about a magical version of the industrial revolution and a scarred garbage collector who saves the world, but still has to pay her rent. Add a few motley companions, a pinch of probably-misinterpreted quantum physics, and far too much time spent in front of various Final Fantasy video games. I’m thrilled my books have found a home at Angry Robot.”

Then, new announcement about Matthew Hughes:

With all the new author news around here recently and prepping/raising alcohol tolerances for Fantasycon, we’ve had to keep this under wraps for a few weeks. Which has been a struggle, because this is so damn cute.


Yes, it’s the cover for Matthew Hughes‘ first Angry Robot novel, The Damned Busters. The artist is the wonderful Tom Gauld, who you may know for his great editorial cartoons in, for example, The Guardian newspaper’s book review section. He’s only done a few book covers, most recently for the US edition of the Neil Gaiman- and Al Sarrantonio-curated Stories anthology, but maybe we can change that.

And as you can see, the cover pretty much tells you the set-up of the novel. Mild-manned insurance actuary Chesney Arnstruther accidentally summons a demon, and by hook or by crook ends up with his heart’s desire – to be a superhero. But as we all know, it’s not always wise to get what one wishes for…

Complete with lovely Angry Robot logo, the book, volume one of the To Hell and Back series, will be in stores and for download May/June next year. The sequels will also have covers by Tom, because, well, he’s bloody great.

The Robot Army Is Coming!

Angry Robot is FINALLY launching its line in the US and Canada next month in September and if you've been counting the days as I have, it's been a long wait!

The first titles to be released will be: SLIGHTS by Kaaron Warren, KELL'S LEGEND by Andy Remic, MOXYLAND by Lauren Beukes and SIXTY-ONE NAILS by Mike Shevdon.  Amazing reviews for all these books (indeed, for the whole imprint) have been all over the 'net for quite some time now,so if you're a fan of great speculative fiction, Angry Robot has it all!  Start checking into yout local bookstores now and visit the Angry Robot website here.

Prepare to meet your Robot Overlords!

Angry Robot and Lauren Beukes News

Today from Angry Robot:

A brief reminder – Lauren Beukes (author of the fantastic, critically-acclaimed MOXYLAND) is making a rare visit to the UK this month from her native South Africa, and we’ve lined up three events where you can meet her, and get your books signed.


Not only that, to celebrate her visit we’ve teamed up with Forbidden Planet to bring you an Angry Robot first – a limited edition hardcover of her forthcoming novel, ZOO CITY. It’s already attracted a lot of attention, and for very good reason!

You can order a copy of  ZOO CITY from Forbidden Planet, here. Better still, come along to her signing. There are just 100 copies being sold through Forbidden Planet, so you’re going to have to get one soon to avoid disappointment! This is a very limited limited edition.

Lauren will be signing ZOO CITY at the London Forbidden Planet Megastore from 6.00-7.00pm on Thursday July 29th. Come along and say “Hi” and pick up a copy of the book. I’ll also be there (Lee) despite my wife’s protestations (she doesn’t object to Lauren – the signing is halfway through our holiday, so I’ll be leaving our cottage in Wales to come along to the event).

British Science Fiction Association
The night before Lauren’s signing at Forbidden Planet she will be the special guest at the July meeting of the British Science Fiction Association, where she will be reading from ZOO CITY, prior to an interview. There will be a Q&A session at the end, and you don’t have to be a member of the BSFA to attend. There may be one or two other Angry Robot authors there, too, as well as Marc Gascoigne – Angry Robot’s Publishing Director.

The reading / interview will be at the upstairs bar of:

The Antelope Tavern, 22 Eaton Terrace, Belgravia, London SW1W 8EZ (nearest tube station is Sloane Square on the District and Circle lines).

The reading will commence around 7.00pm, but people usually start gathering in the downstairs bar from 5.00pm onwards.



British Fantasy Society
Lauren will also be the guest at the first BFS Open Night of the year. Well, not Open Night so much as Open Afternoon. For those of you who might find it hard to get to central London on a weekday evening, Lauren’s BFS event is on Saturday 31st July from 1.00pm until 5.00pm at The George pub on The Strand, WC2R 1AP (nearest tube station: Temple). And again, you don’t have to be a member to attend, though you can join on the day if you wish.



So, those dates again:

Wednesday 28th July: BSFA meeting - 7.00pm onwards (but any time from 5.00 for general chit-chat and beerage)

Thursday 29th July: Forbidden Planet signing – 6.00pm until 7.00pm (see here for details)

Saturday 31st July: BFS meeting – 1.00pm until 5.00pm