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Author: John ONeill

New Treasures: The Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel

New Treasures: The Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel

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Sleeping Giants-small Waking Gods-small

Sylvain Neuvel’s debut Sleeping Giants was nominated for the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel. It was the tale of Rose Franklin, who made an incredible discovery as a child: a huge metal hand buried deep underground in South Dakota. As an adult, she’s a celebrated physicist leading the team tasked with uncovering the strange artifact’s secrets — starting with its impossible age and strange composition. When additional pieces are located around the world, hinting at a titanic whole, the mystery only deepens. Chicago Review of Books called it “A complex tapestry with ancient machinery buried in the Earth, shadow governments, and geopolitical conflicts,” and Jason Heller at NPR labeled it “A thriller through and through… one of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory, [and] a smart demonstration of how science fiction can honor its traditions and reverse-engineer them at the same time.”

Now the second volume, Waking Gods, has arrived in hardcover and significantly raised the stakes, as mankind faces a deadly invasion of colossal machines touching down across the globe. It arrived in hardcover from Del Rey last month.

Sleeping Giants (320 pages, $26 hardcover/$16 paperback/$7.99 digital, April 26, 2016)
Waking Gods (336 pages, $28 hardcover/$13.99 digital, April 4, 2017)

Read an excerpt from Sleeping Gods at the Del Rey/Penguin Random House website here.

Future Treasures: The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

Future Treasures: The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

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The Prey of Gods-smallThere aren’t enough good robot adventure stories out there. At least Nicky Drayden is doing her part… her debut novel The Prey of Gods, featuring robots, genetic engineering, a Zulu heroine, and an ancient and bloodthirstily demigoddess, arrives in trade paperback from Harper next month. Drayden has published more than a dozen short stories in Daily Science Fiction, as well as Shimmer, Space and Time, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and other fine venues. Publishers Weekly calls her novel “A science fantasy set in 2064, [where] newly awakened demigods and artificial intelligences battle for the fate of South Africa… fascinating.”

In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. Yes — the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges:

A new hallucinogenic drug sweeping the country…

An emerging AI uprising…

And an ancient demigoddess hellbent on regaining her former status by preying on the blood and sweat (but mostly blood) of every human she encounters.

It’s up to a young Zulu girl powerful enough to destroy her entire township, a queer teen plagued with the ability to control minds, a pop diva with serious daddy issues, and a politician with even more serious mommy issues to band together to ensure there’s a future left to worry about.

Fun and fantastic, Nicky Drayden takes her brilliance as a short story writer and weaves together an elaborate tale that will capture your heart . . . even as one particular demigoddess threatens to rip it out.

The Prey of Gods will be published by Harper Voyager on June 13, 2017. It is 400 pages, priced at $15.99 in trade paperback and $10.99 for the digital edition. The dynamite cover is by Brenoch Adams. Read a generous excerpt at Tor.com.

The Late May Fantasy Magazine Rack

The Late May Fantasy Magazine Rack

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Asimovs-Science-Fiction-May-June-2017-rack Beneath-Ceaseless-Skies-225-rack Clarkesworld-May-2017-rack The-Dark-Issue-25-May-2017-rack
Swords and Sorcery magazine-rack Lightspeed-May-2017-rack Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Q32-rack Shoreline of Infinity Magazine-rack

In his report on Edinburgh’s Monthly Mini-Convention, Event Horizon, M Harold Page alerted me to the existence of the Scottish SF magazine Shoreline of Infinity, which somehow managed to produce 7 issues and still fly below my radar. Not to worry! I’ve added it to the list, making it the 48th genre magazine we track. Whew! That’s a lot of reading every month.

In other news, Fletcher Vredenburgh reviewed issue 63 of Swords and Sorcery and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #32 in his April Short Story Roundup. For our vintage digest fans, Rich Horton reviewed the February 1962 issue of Fantastic, and Matthew Wuertz continued his issue-by-issue journey through Galaxy magazine with October 1953, containing the first installment of Isaac Asimov’s classic The Caves of Steel.

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

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The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on the Best SF and Fantasy Books in May

The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on the Best SF and Fantasy Books in May

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D’Arc Robert Repino-small Extinction Horizon-small The Caledonian Gambit-small

I’m never going to get through my May reading list. Heck, I’m not even going to finish compiling my May reading list.

But that’s okay, because the good folks at the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog made one, and it’s better than mine anyway. In fact, it’s got a whole bunch of great titles — by Timothy Zahn, Robin Hobb, M.R. Carey, Gregory Benford, Robert Jackson Bennett, Jack Campbell, Gini Koch, Faith Hunter, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Isabelle Steiger, Robyn Bennis, and many others — including a bunch of stuff I didn’t even know about.

For those who missed it when we discussed it here earlier, there’s also some long-anticpiated books by several notable Black Gate contributors, including Martha Wells, Ellen Klages, and Foz Meadows.

The B&N article was authored by Jeff Somers. Here’s some of the highlights.

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New Treasures: Olympus Bound by Jordanna Max Brodsky

New Treasures: Olympus Bound by Jordanna Max Brodsky

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The Immortals Jordanna Max Brodsky-small Winter of the Gods Jordanna Max Brodsky-small

I saw Winter of the Gods at the bookstore last month, and was captivated by the striking cover. I didn’t realize it was the second novel in a series until today, when I did a little more homework. The first volume, The Immortals, was released in hardcover by Orbit last year; it’s now available in paperback.

Winter of the Gods, the second volume in the Olympus Bound series about the ancient Greek gods in their new home in Manhattan, arrived in hardcover on Valentine’s Day. The third volume will be titled Olympus Bound; it doesn’t yet have a release date.

Here’s the summary for Book One.

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An Homage to Classic Superheroes: After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

An Homage to Classic Superheroes: After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

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After the Golden Age-small Dreams of the Golden Age-small

Superheroes rule at the box office, and have for nearly a decade. They’ve pretty much conquered television as well. And of course, they’ve been the predominate genre in American comics since the 1960s.

But novels? Not so much. For whatever reason, the massive popularity of American superheroes just hasn’t translated to prose. There have been some solid attempts, however, perhaps most notably Peter Clines’s Ex-Heroes series and George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass’s long-running Wild Cards shared universe (now in development for television at Universal Cable Productions).

One of the most interesting to me personally is Carrie Vaughn’s two-volume series After the Golden Age, about the children of famous superheroes, struggling to find their way in the world and form their own fledgling supergroup. Publishers Weekly called the first novel “A loving homage to classic superheroes,” RT Book Reviews says it’s “More than a superhero story… an adventurous story that is much more about the emotions than the ability to fly,” and Locus gave it a very enthusiastic review, calling it “A thrilling yarn… good old-fashioned comic book fun.”

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May 2017 Lightspeed Magazine Now Available

May 2017 Lightspeed Magazine Now Available

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Lightspeed May 2017-smallI often forget that, in addition to doing double duty as editor of two leading magazines (Lightspeed and Nightmare) and one of the most celebrated and successful anthologists in the industry (Cosmic Powers, What the #@&% Is That?, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy), John Joseph Adams also edits his own line of novels for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In his editorial in the most recent issue of Lightspeed, John brings up up to date on the exciting novels he’s bringing our way.

My latest novel acquisition for John Joseph Adams Books is Upon a Burning Throne and The Blind King’s Wrath, the first two books in a new epic fantasy series by Ashok K. Banker, about a group of siblings battling for control of a vast empire while a powerful demonlord pits them against each other… In July, we’ll be publishing two books: (1) Carrie Vaughn’s novel, Bannerless — a post-apocalyptic mystery in which an investigator must discover the truth behind a mysterious death in a world where small communities struggle to maintain a ravaged civilization decades after environmental and economic collapse; and (2) Sand by Hugh Howey, a reissue of his acclaimed indie-published novel.

In September, we’ll be publishing Retrograde by Peter Cawdron, a hard SF novel about an international colony of astronauts on Mars, who have been prepared for every eventuality of living on another planet except one: What happens when disaster strikes Earth?

In October, we’ll be publishing Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories by Hugh Howey, a short story collection including three stories set in the world of Hugh’s mega-hit Wool… In November, we’ll be publishing Molly Tanzer’s Creatures of Will and Temper — a Victorian-era urban fantasy inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which an épée-fencing enthusiast and her younger sister are drawn into a secret and dangerous London underworld of pleasure-seeking demons and bloodthirsty diabolists, with only her skill with a blade standing between them and certain death.

A bit further out, in Spring 2018, we’ll have The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp, about a magician with a talent for finding lost things who is forced into playing a high-stakes game with the gods of New Orleans for the heart and soul of the city.

This month’s Lightspeed offers original fantasy by Adam-Troy Castro and Kendra Fortmeyer, plus fantasy reprints by Greg Hrbek and Amal El-Mohtar, as well as original science fiction by Bruce McAllister and Susan Jane Bigelow, alongside SF reprints by Tobias S. Buckell and Seanan McGuire. The non-fiction includes author spotlights, Book Reviews by LaShawn Wanak, a review of The 100 TV show by Jenn Reese and Christopher East, and an interview with Steven Barnes by Christian A. Coleman.

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Future Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017, edited by Rich Horton

Future Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017, edited by Rich Horton

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Rich Horton Years Best SF 2017-smallThe Year’s Best season is now in full swing. Jonathan Strahan‘s volume arrived April 18th from Solaris, and Neil Clarke‘s April 4th from Night Shade. Couple that with the 2017 Nebula Awards Showcase released last week from Pyr, and you have the beginnings of a decent SF library.

So why would anyone who has those volumes need another Year’s Best?

Simple, really. Where else will you find Lavie Tidhar’s groundbreaking novella “The Vanishing Kind?” Or Paul McAuley’s “Something Happened Here, But We’re Not Quite Sure What It Was?” Or Carrie Vaughn’s Hugo nominee “That Game We Played During the War?” Or Jason Sanford’s Nebula nominee “Blood Grains Speak Through Memories?” Or Cat Rambo’s almost-Nebula-nominated “Red of Tooth and Cog?”

Nowhere but in Rich Horton’s upcoming Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017, coming next month from Prime Books. This is Rich’s ninth volume, and over the years he’s proven to have both excellent taste and genuine skill ferreting out future classics in out-of-the-way places (such as private Patreon feeds, and the Beloit Fiction Journal.) He may well be the most widely-read of all the Year’s Best editors, and it shows in his Table of Contents every year.

Speaking of which, here’s the impressive TOC for his 2017 volume, with fiction from Charlie Jane Anders, Ian R. MacLeod, Genevieve Valentine, Rich Larson, Kameron Hurley, Carlos Hernandez, Chaz Brenchley, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and many others.

“Seven Ways of Looking at the Sun-Worshippers of Yul-Katan” by Maggie Clark (Analog)
“All that Robot Shit” by Rich Larson (Asimov’s)
“Project Empathy” by Dominica Phetteplace (Asimov’s)
“Lazy Dog Out” by Suzanne Palmer (Asimov’s)

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New Treasures: The Never King by James Abbott

New Treasures: The Never King by James Abbott

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The Never King James Abbott-small The Never King James Abbott-back-small

‘James Abbott’ is a pseudonym for Mark Charan Newton (Nights of Villjamur, the Legends of the Red Sun series). I’m not sure why he’s trying out a pseudonym, but the official biography reads “James Abbott is a pseudonym for an established author who is trying an exciting new direction,” so I’m guessing The Never King is a noticeable departure from his previous stuff. Whatever the case, it’s getting some good notice, SFX says it has:

Flashes of Joe Abercrombie-style grit… it also boasts a modern sensibility: an ugly despot on the throne, religious strife, refugees, the role of propaganda… with likable characters and well-paced battles, it’s an accomplished tale.

The Never King was published in the UK by Pan on May 18, 2017. It is 499 pages, priced at £8.99 in paperback and £4.99 for the digital edition (copies are also available in the US through multiple online retailers). The cover was designed by Neil Lang.

The 2016 Nebula Award Winners

The 2016 Nebula Award Winners

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All-the-Birds-in-the-Sky-medium Every-Heart-a-Doorway_Seanan-McGuire-small Arabella of Mars-small

The 2016 Nebulas were presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America at the 52nd Annual Nebula Awards Weekend on Saturday, May 20th, at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center in Pennsylvania.

Unlike the last two events (which were held in Chicago), I was unable to attend this year, which I regret. But somehow they went on without me, and gave out Nebula Awards anyway. Here’s the complete list of winners.

Novel

All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Books)

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