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Author: John ONeill

Vintage Treasures: Phaid the Gambler by Mick Farren

Vintage Treasures: Phaid the Gambler by Mick Farren

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Phaid the Gambler (Ace Books, August 1986). Cover by Jim Gurney

Mick Farren was a fascinating guy.

He was the singer for the UK band The Deviants in the 60s, and released two solo albums in the late 70s, and a live album in 2005. He began his writing career in the early 1970s as a journalist for the UK Underground press, and eventually the mainstream New Musical Express. By the end of the 70s he was supporting himself as a full time writer, and over a 30-year career he published 23 novels before his death in 2013 at the age of 69. He died after collapsing on stage during a Deviants concert in London in July 2013.

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Fantasy Detectives and an Ancient Mystery Cult: The Five Penalties Trilogy by Marina Lostetter

Fantasy Detectives and an Ancient Mystery Cult: The Five Penalties Trilogy by Marina Lostetter

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The Helm of Midnight and The Cage of Dark Hours
(Tor, April 2021 and February 2023). Covers by Sam Weber and Reiko Murakami

Marina Lostetter has had a heck of a career in just the last ten years. She started publishing in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show in 2012, and quickly followed up with sales to Galaxy’s Edge, Lightspeed, Daily Science Fiction, Shimmer, Uncanny Magazine, and many other fine outlets. Her first three novels, all part of the Noumenon space opera trilogy (published 2017-2020) won wide acclaim from major outlets (“Brilliant… the genre at its very best.” — Kirkus Reviews; “Lostetter remains at the forefront of innovation in hard science fiction.” — Publishers Weekly).

Last year Lostetter released her first fantasy novel, The Helm of Midnight, and five months later followed up with the aliens-vs-robots adventure Activation Degradation. She’s only published one book this year, The Cage of Dark Hours (sequel to Helm of Midnight, and the second book of The Five Penalties trilogy), but it’s still early.

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GW Thomas on Interplanetary Graveyards, Cemetery Worlds, and Junkyard Planets

GW Thomas on Interplanetary Graveyards, Cemetery Worlds, and Junkyard Planets

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Art by Chris Foss

GW Thomas’s Dark Worlds is one of the better blogs out there, at least for fans of classic SF, comics and pulps. In just the last few weeks he’s discussed Sword & Sorcery at Warren (Part 10: 1980), Bronze Age DC Werewolves (Parts 1, 2, and 3) and Golden Age Plant Monsters.

No one else is doing scholarship on plant monsters, and Thomas clearly deserves an award for that alone. But my favorite recent piece was his 2-part article on interplanetary graveyards, cemetery worlds, and junkyard planets in comics and pulps.

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New Treasures: Vagrant Gods by David Dalglish

New Treasures: Vagrant Gods by David Dalglish

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The first two novels of the Vagrant Gods trilogy: The Bladed Faith and The Sapphire Altar
(Orbit Books, April 5, 2022 and January 10, 2023). Cover art by Chase Stone

David Dalglish is the author of more than two dozen fantasy novels, including the Seraphim trilogy, the 6-volume Shadowdance series, and The Keepers trilogy. His Vagrant Gods trilogy, which opened last year with The Bladed Faith, takes place in a brand new setting, a world in which an usurped prince dons the skull mask of a legendary assassin to reclaim his kingdom and his slain gods.

Booklist says “This dark adventure will hook genre fans with its detailed world building, strong characters, and gory, action-packed scenes,” and BookPage calls it “beautiful, grandiose and expansive.” The second volume in the series, The Sapphire Altar, arrived in January, and the third book, The Slain Divine, is due on January 9, 2024.

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Future Treasures: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Future Treasures: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

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The Saint of Bright Doors (Tor.com, July 11, 2023)

Vajra Chandrasekera is a Sri Lankan author who has published over 40 stories in many of the top genre markets, including Nightmare Magazine, Clarkesworld, Analog, PodCastle, Fireside Quarterly, and many others. His debut novel arrives in two weeks from Tor.com.

The Saint of Bright Doors is the tale of Fetter, raised as a child soldier by his mother in her war against his father. He learns to walk among devils and anti-gods, loses his shadow, and finally escapes to the big city, where divine destinies are a dime a dozen and the inhabitants are caught up by the mystical locked doorways that have appeared throughout the city. Max Gladstone calls it “A breathtaking achievement,” and Sam J. Miller says it “keeps on dropping bombs and surprises and brilliance and heartbreak to the very end.”

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Vintage Treasures: The Gate of Ivory Trilogy by Doris Egan

Vintage Treasures: The Gate of Ivory Trilogy by Doris Egan

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The Gate of Ivory, Two-Bit Heroes, and Guilt-Edged Ivory (DAW Books, 1989-1992). Cover art by Richard Hescox

Doris Egan is a successful screenwriter and producer with a very impressive resume. She’s worked on dozens of shows since the early 90s, with screenwriting credits on Dark Angel, Smallville, Numb3rs, House, Torchwood, Black Sails, and The Good Doctor. She was a producer for Smallville, NCIS, Skin, Tru Calling, House, Krypton, Swamp Thing, and many others.

But before Hollywood came calling, she was a fast-rising science fiction author. Her debut novel The Gate of Ivory (1989) — the tale of an anthropology student stranded on the isolated planet Ivory, the only place in the galaxy where magic actually works — was nominated for a Locus Award and the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel, and was followed in rapid succession by Two-Bit Heroes (1992) and Guilt-Edged Ivory (also 1992).

While Egan’s Hollywood career made her the envy of every midlist SF writer, there are those of us who wonder what science fiction lost when she was lured to Tinseltown.

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Mission Impossible in Space: The Icarus Novels by Timothy Zahn

Mission Impossible in Space: The Icarus Novels by Timothy Zahn

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The Icarus Hunt (Bantam Spectra, August 1999) and The Icarus Plot
(Baen Books paperback reprint, June 27, 2023). Covers by Paul Youll and Dave Seeley

Timothy Zahn is one of my favorite short story writers. I read his early fiction, like the Hugo Award-winning novella “Cascade Point,” in the early 80s in Analog magazine, and in gaming mags like Ares and Fantasy Gamer. In 1983 I thoroughly enjoyed his debut novel The Blackcollar, the runner up for the Locus Award for Best First novel. In the following years he produced some major work, including the bestselling Star Wars novel Heir to the Empire and its sequels, the Cobra series, the Conquerors trilogy, and the popular Dragonback books.

In 1999 Zahn published The Icarus Hunt, the tale of a renegade space pilot named Jordan McKell, who ekes out a living at the edges of the iron-fisted regime of the Patthaaunutth, dabbling in interstellar smuggling for customers who represent the last vestiges of free trade in the galaxy. When McKell and his alien partner Ixil are hired to fly a strange ship named The Icarus and its special cargo to Earth, they soon find themselves caught up in events that could change the course of galactic history.

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Vintage Treasures: Time to Come edited by August Derleth

Vintage Treasures: Time to Come edited by August Derleth

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Time to Come (Berkley Books, December 1958). Cover by Robert E. Schulz

Back in December I kicked off a survey of the Science Fiction Anthologies of August Derleth, starting with his 1948 reprint anthology Strange Ports of Call.

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls Derleth “one of the pioneering anthologists in the genre.” He began his editing career with horror collection Sleep No More in 1944. Strange Ports of Call, which drew heavily from pulps such as Astounding, Wonder Stories, Amazing, The Black Cat, Planet Stories, and others, was his first SF volume. It was a success, and so was the Berkley paperback, and very quickly the formula was set. Over the next six years Derleth produced six more SF anthologies, all of which drew heavily from pulp magazines, and all of which were released in paperback — packaged and heavily abridged with machine-like precision to hit a 172-174 page count and a profitable 35-cent price point.

Time to Come was something different. Derleth’s first original science fiction anthology, it contained brand new stories by the biggest writers of the day, including Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Charles Beaumont, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Carl Jacobi, Ross Rocklynne, Robert Sheckley, and Clark Ashton Smith. Like the others it was very successful, remaining in print in multiple editions for 15 years.

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New Treasures: Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

New Treasures: Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

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Dragonfall (DAW, May 2, 2023). Cover by Micaela Alcaino

L.R. Lam, who also writes as Laura Lam and Laura Ambrose, is the author of the Micah Grey trilogy (Pantomime, Shadowplay, and Masquerade), about an an intersex youth who runs away from home to become a circus aerialist. Lam is also the author (with Elizabeth May) of the Seven Devils duology, Seven Devils and Seven Mercies.

Lam’s new book is the opening volume in a new fantasy series, Dragon Scales. The tale of a street thief who steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the hated Plaguebringer, Dragonfall is a tale of the world-changing events triggered by that small bit of larceny… beginning with Everen, the last male dragon, dragged him through the Veil and disguised as a human, who find himself unexpectedly in the thief’s power. Publishers Weekly calls it “Sumptuous epic fantasy,” and GrimDark magazine sums it up as “a slow burn, full of angst, moral dilemmas and emotionally damaged characters… an exciting opening to a series with a lot of potential.”

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Knowing the Rules, and Choosing to Break Them: An Interview with K.B. Wagers

Knowing the Rules, and Choosing to Break Them: An Interview with K.B. Wagers

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The NeoG trilogy, published by Harper Voyager: A Pale Light in the Black
(March 2020), Hold Fast Through the Fire (July 2021), and The Ghosts of Trappist
(June 27, 2023). Covers by Vadim Sadovski and Reginald Polynice

K.B. Wagers is one of the most exciting of the new crop of space opera writers. Their first novel, Behind the Throne, appeared in 2016 from Orbit Books, and it kicked off what eventually became a popular six-volume series featuring Hail Bristol, a runaway princess who becomes one of the most fearsome gunrunners in the galaxy. Packed with alien gods, centuries-long conflicts, treasonous plots, interstellar civilizations, invasions, intrigue, diplomatic missions, a spaceship with a motley crew, and full-scale galactic war, the Hail Bristol universe is terrific rest stop for anyone who enjoys space opera and political intrigue.

K.B.’s new NeoG series, set in our own solar system, follows the adventure of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard, a military force patrolling and protecting space. The first two volumes, A Pale Light in the Black and Hold Fast Through the Fire, will be followed by The Ghosts of Trappist, arriving in hardcover from Harper Voyager on June 27, 2023. Lara Báez, the Publicity Manager at HarperCollins, was kind enough to arrange an interview with K.B. before the release of the new book. The complete text of our email discussion, which took place between May 31 and June 5th of this year, is below. It has been lightly edited for clarity, and to correct the worst of my spelling mistakes.

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