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Month: April 2016

The Mid-April Magazine Rack

The Mid-April Magazine Rack

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This month we started our coverage of Mike Resnick’s bi-monthly magazine Galaxy’s Edge with the March/April 2016 issue, packed with intriguing stories by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley, Larry Hodges, and many others… including Kary English and Robert B. Finegold’s tale of an assassin dispatched to kill the latest incarnation of the Goddess of Kindness. Michelle Ristuccia reviews the story at Tangent Online.

In “Shattered Vessels” by Kary English and Robert B. Finegold, M. D., Shevirah’s purpose as an assassin falters when he falls in love with an incarnation of Chesed (Kindness). English and Finegold’s deftly woven kabbalist tale pits destiny against love through multiple reincarnations of the characters, spanning thousands of years. The narration brings these large themes down to a personal level so that readers will identify with the protagonist’s plight despite the large time-span. Readers do not need to be familiar with the Kabbalah to enjoy this story.

In his March Short Story Roundup, Fletcher Vredenburgh reviews the latest issues of Swords and Sorcery and GrimDark magazines — including a Dinosaur Lords story by Victor Milán, “Red Seas, Red Sails,” which “gives readers savage pirates, brave knights, and of course, a dinosaur. Specifically, a Pliosaurus funkei, a huge aquatic beast that GMD‘s editors knew would make a great cover.” For our vintage magazine readers, Rich Horton reviewed the February 1972 Analog and an anthology of tales from Science Fiction Adventures, Matthew Wuertz continues his issue-by-issue re-read of perhaps the greatest SF magazine of the 50s with the April 1953 issue of Galaxy, and Doug Ellis shared a remembrance of a 1936 party attended by H.P. Lovecraft.

Check out all the details on the magazines above by clicking on the each of the images. Our April Fantasy Magazine Rack is here.

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New Treasures: Greener Pastures by Michael Wehunt

New Treasures: Greener Pastures by Michael Wehunt

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Greener Pastures Michael Wehunt-small

Michael Wehunt’s short fiction has appeared in Innsmouth Magazine, Shadows & Tall Trees, Cemetery Dance, The Dark, Shock Totem, and Strange Aeons. His first collection, Greener Pastures, was published last month from Shock Totem Publications, and has already received a lot of positive attention. He’s a fast rising star in horror and weird fiction, and well worth checking out. This may sound strange to everyone else, but I was playing with the digital preview on Amazon, and was delighted to find full-page ads for half a dozen back issues of Shock Totem, a magazine I’ve never read but clearly should, in the back. Things like that make me happy.

From the round-robin, found-footage nightmare of “October Film Haunt: Under the House” to the jazz-soaked “The Devil Under the Maison Blue,” selected for both The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror and Year’s Best Weird Fiction, these beautifully crafted, emotionally resonant stories speak of the unknown encroaching upon the familiar, the inscrutable power of grief and desire, and the thinness between all our layers. Where nature rubs against small towns, in mountains and woods and bedrooms, here is strangeness seen through a poet’s eye.

They say there are always greener pastures. These stories consider the cost of that promise.

Greener Pastures was published by Shock Totem Publications on March 29, 2016. It is 238 pages, priced at $13.99 in trade paperback and $3.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Michael Bukowski.

Faren Miller Reviews The Brotherhood of the Wheel at Locus Online

Faren Miller Reviews The Brotherhood of the Wheel at Locus Online

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The Brotherhood of the Wheel-smallIn my previous article on R. S. Belcher’s The Brotherhood of the Wheel, I called it “the opening volume in a new urban fantasy about a mysterious society of truckers.” Faren Miller over at Locus Online can do much better than a one-sentence description — and she does, with an enthusiastic review.

Though Tor calls R.S. Belcher’s The Brotherhood of the Wheel an ‘‘urban fantasy,’’ it also describes the novel as set on ‘‘the haunted byways and truck stops of the US Interstate Highway System.’’ Roads – both real and metaphorical – are crucial to this dark fantasy, focusing and expanding the power of magics that range from the latest trends in ghosts and weird critters discussed on bad-ass websites, to entities transplanted to the New World from pre-Christian Europe and points beyond.

We begin with big rig truck driver Jimmie Aussapile, one of what proves to be a won­derfully miscellaneous bunch of people who oppose the forces of evil in tense scenes that gradually reveal connections between events in towns, suburbs, and cities of the Midwest and the South: Illinois, Kansas, Tennessee, Louisiana. Appearing near the mid-point of Belcher’s previous novel Nightwise, Jimmie, his tractor trailer, and a passing mention of the Brotherhood prompted Belcher’s literary agent to urge him to write more about them, as noted in the Acknowledgements here. I’m delighted that he followed her suggestion, in his own devious way. He has a masterful ability to move between assorted viewpoint characters in multiple plotlines kept separate long enough to become distinct: just hinting at links that may strengthen, but don’t become full alliances until hard action with shared danger breaks down the barriers between them.

The Brotherhood of the Wheel was published by Tor Books on March 1, 2016. It is 384 pages, priced at $27.99 in hardcover and $14.99 for the digital edition. See Faren’s complete review here

Analog, February 1972: A Retro-Review

Analog, February 1972: A Retro-Review

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Analog February 1972-smallNot long ago I wrote about one of the last issues of Analog with John W. Campbell’s name on the masthead, along with a fairly early Ben Bova issue (November 1971 and October 1972). Here’s another issue from that period, officially Bova’s second. But Bova started work in November (I am told), so in all likelihood none of these stories were chosen by him. They must be among the last Campbell selections. (By the way, I earlier speculated that Kay Tarrant or someone else might have chosen a few stories from the slush pile between Campbell’s death in July and Bova’s hiring, but Mike Ashley assures me that no stories were bought in that interregnum.)

This issue has a cover by John Schoenherr. Interiors are by Schoenherr and Kelly Freas. The editorial is by Bova – his first. (The January issue, officially Bova’s first, had a guest editorial by Poul Anderson.) It’s called “The Popular Wisdom,” and it celebrates Campbell’s tendency to dispute conventional answers.

The Science article is also by Bova, “When the Sky Falls,” about exploding stars and even galaxies, and neutron stars, quasars, and black holes. P. Schuyler Miller’s Book Review column, The Reference Library, begins by discussing the increased attention academia was paying to SF, and recommends Thomas Clareson’s collection of non-fiction about SF: SF: The Other Side of Realism. The other books he covers are Isaac Asimov’s second Hugo Winners anthology, Abyss by Kate Wilhelm, Android at Arms by Andre Norton, and Gray Matters by William Hjortsberg. He liked them all, but chides Hjortsberg a bit for his lack of knowledge of real SF. The letter column is absent.

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Future Treasures: Strangely Beautiful by Leanna Renee Hieber

Future Treasures: Strangely Beautiful by Leanna Renee Hieber

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Strangely Beautiful Leanna Renee Hieber-smallLeanna Renee Hieber is the author of the Magic Most Foul trilogy, The Eterna Files, and its sequel Eterna and Omega.

Her early novels The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker were originally published in paperback by Leisure Books in 2009 and 2010, and they’re now getting harder to find. Fortunately, Tor has bundled both critically acclaimed novels into a single volume, bringing them back into print in a handsome new revised edition. It will be available in trade paperback at the end of the month.

Miss Persephone Parker ― known as Percy ― is different, with her lustrous, snow-white hair, pearlescent pale skin, and uncanny ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Seeking to continue her education, Percy has come to Queen Victoria’s London, to the Athens Academy. What she will learn there will change her life forever.

Athens Academy is the citadel of The Guard, an ancient order that battles the forces of evil. The Victorian Guard, led by professor Alexi Rychman, is incomplete. They cannot defeat Jack the Ripper ― who is more than the serial killer he appears to be ― or the greater monster his appearance heralds.

Percy’s lifelong habit of concealment combined with Alexi’s fevered search for the Guard’s missing seventh nearly prove disastrous as ancient Greek myths begin playing out in modern, gaslit, Victorian London. Percy and her new friends and allies must overcome their preconceptions about each other and their own histories before they can set the world to rights.

These two books were followed by two more in the same series: The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess (2011) and Miss Violet & the Great War (2012). No word yet on whether Tor plans to reprint them as well.

Strangely Beautiful will be published by Tor on April 26, 2016. It is 544 pages, priced at $20.99 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital edition. I don’t know who did the cover, but I know I like it.

Goth Chick News: Future Treasures – My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

Goth Chick News: Future Treasures – My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

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My Best Friend's Exorcism-smallQuirk Books, publishers and seekers of all things awesome, more than live up to their self-proclamation.

They have been my personal source of quirky awesomeness since I was first introduced to them in 2013 via The Resurrectionist, a quintessentially odd bit of literature indeed. Following this came a litany of titles, all of which were so decidedly strange, so that I could not help but assign all Quirk publications a place of honor on the shelves of Goth Chick News.

It follows that in order to be the source of peculiar books Quirk must court very unusual authors, who by design, must be up to the task of…well… being quirky. This was made clear when I sought out the publisher’s booth at this year’s C2E2 event in Chicago, where I inquired whether or not The Resurrectionist would ever be followed by second book. I was informed the author had not submitted anything quite “strange enough” to date, but they would keep me informed.

I really do love these people.

What I was given instead was the first two works by an author who was currently living up to Quirk’s standards of “odd”; Mr. Grady Hendrix — Horrorstör, (a horror novel which takes place in an Ikea-like establishment and is documented inside an Ikea-like catalog for lack of a better description), and My Best Friend’s Exorcism.

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Announcing the Winners of The Emperor’s Railroad by Guy Haley

Announcing the Winners of The Emperor’s Railroad by Guy Haley

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The Emperor's Railroad-small2Woo hoo! We have three winners!

Two weeks ago we invited you to enter a contest to win an advance copy of Guy Haley’s new novella The Emperor’s Railroad, the opening installment of a terrific new adventure fantasy series, The Dreaming Cities. To enter, all you had to do was send us an e-mail with the subject “The Emperor’s Railroad.”

We have three copies to give away. Our lucky winners were selected from the pool of eligible entries by the most reliable method known to modern science: D&D dice. The three winners are:

Stephen Milligan
Bill Smiley
M.Sault

Congratulations all! And thanks to Tor.com for making the contest possible. For more details on Tor.com‘s entire novella line, check out their online catalog:

New Releases
Coming Soon
Free Short Fiction — hundreds of free short stories and novelettes at Tor.com

The Emperor’s Railroad will be published by Tor.com on April 19, 2016. It is 177 pages, priced at $12.99 in trade paperback, and $2.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Chris McGrath.

April/May 2016 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale

April/May 2016 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale

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Asimov's Science Fiction April May 2016-smallThe April/May issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction, a big double issue, contains a brand new novelette from Black Gate blogger Derek Künsken, “Flight from the Ages.” It also offers a novella from Suzanne Palmer, novelettes by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Alexander Jablokov, and others, and short stories by James Van Pelt, Robert Reed, Esther M. Friesner, and others. Here’s the full description from the website:

Suzanne Palmer delivers April/May 2016’s thrilling novella, “Lazy Dog Out.” In a race against time and an unknown enemy, a tugboat captain must depend on her crew and her ingenuity to defend her space station. Betrayal and intrigue abound in this life and death struggle to protect humans and aliens from a sinister organization.

C.W. Johnson spins an exciting tale about people ensnared inside an alien creature whose size defies speculation. It’s not long before you realize that characters should be as fearful “Of the Beast in the Belly” as they are of the leviathan. Derek Künsken  escorts us into the deep future for an all out “Flight from the Ages”; “Matilda” and her pilot face enigmatic aliens in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s terrifying new novelette; and brave souls must take on the “Starless Night” of a distant planet in a new story by Robert R. Chase. The violence and endless repercussions of war rage back on Earth in new to Asimov’s author T.R. Napper’s “Flame Trees”; Alexander Jablokov invites us to the eerie reunion of three men who revisit their past to uncover multiple truths about “The Return of Black Murray”; Esther M. Friesner turns to a far more distant past to examine the suffering of “The Woman in the Reeds”; James Van Pelt reveals that some people will have art at any cost in “Three Paintings”; Robert Reed brings us a chilling tale about “The Days of Hamelin”; and Dominica Phetteplace presents us with a new perspective as her unusual experiment continues in “Project Synergy.”

April/May’s Reflections finds Robert Silverberg “Thinking About Homer”; Peter Heck’s On Books examines works by Charles Stross, C.A. Higgins, Seth Dickinson, Stephen Baxter, and Peter Cline; plus we’ll have an array of poetry and other features you’re sure to enjoy.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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A Newly Completed Series: Heart of Dread by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

A Newly Completed Series: Heart of Dread by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

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Heart of Dread Frozen-small Heart of Dread Stolen-small Heart of Dread Golden-small

The husband-and-wife team of Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston have some enviable successes under their belt, including the 8-volume Blue Blood series and the Witches of East End novels, which were adapted for the Lifetime network. On her own, de la Cruz is also the author of The Au Pairs series, Angels on Sunset Boulevard, Girl Stays in the Picture, and many others. Michael Johnston is no slouch on his own either — he just sold his epic fantasy series to Tor, and the opening volume appears next year.

Their coauthored YA trilogy Heart of Dread opened with Frozen (2013), set in an imaginatively conceived post-apocalyptic Las Vegas, frozen under the ice. The thought of another dystopian YA series puts me to sleep, but Frozen caught my attention. Check out the intriguing jacket copy and see if you agree.

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Check Out the Teaser Trailer for Marvel’s Doctor Strange

Check Out the Teaser Trailer for Marvel’s Doctor Strange

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I’m very excited by Marvel’s upcoming Doctor Strange movie, even more than I usually am by big-budget comic adaptations. And the brand new teaser trailer — featuring our first look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the sinister Baron Mordo — isn’t helping me stay calm at all.

I view Doctor Strange at the last major untapped Marvel property. The 1960s comic, by Stan Lee and the brilliant Steve Ditko, the team that created Spider-Man, created in Doctor Strange a truly unique comic character, a sorcerer-hero who learned to navigate the strange paths between our reality and the next, and in the process discovered an endless chain of bizarrely-connected — and frequently very dangerous — parallel dimensions. I had real fears the movie would gloss over that aspect of his origin story, or ignore it entirely, but this trailer has put those to rest. It’s going to be epic.

Doctor Strange is scheduled for release November 4. It also stars Rachel McAdams and Mads Mikkelsen, and is directed by Scott Derrickson (The Messengers, Sinister). See our previous coverage here and here. Derek Kunsken took a detailed look at Lee and Ditko’s original comic here and here.