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Author: John ONeill

Announcing the Winners of The Imlen Brat by Sarah Avery

Announcing the Winners of The Imlen Brat by Sarah Avery

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Woo hoo! We have winners!

Two weeks ago we invited you to enter a contest to win a copy of Sarah Avery’s brilliant new novella The Imlen Brat, a tale of mighty pirate kingdoms, weather wizards, quarrelsome ghosts, curses, and secret magics. To enter, all you had to do was send us an e-mail with a one-sentence review of your favorite fantasy novella.

We have two 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.

Our first winner is Phil Hansen, who writes about a World Fantasy Award nominee from 1990.

My favorite fantasy novella is Jonathan Carroll’s Black Cocktail, which starts off whimsical and descends into terror — unique and unlike anything else I’ve read.

Black Cocktail was published by Legend/Century and St. Martin’s Press in 1990. The cover is by Dave McKean.

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December Issue of The Dark Now on Sale

December Issue of The Dark Now on Sale

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the-dark-december-2016-smallThe Dark switched to monthly publication in May, and has had a terrific year so far. It’s published original fiction from Steve Rasnic Tem, Steve Berman, Kali Wallace, Leena Likitalo, A.C. Wise, Cassandra Khaw, and many others, and reprints from Angela Slatte, Tananarive Due, Helen Marshall, Seanan McGuire, Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, Robert Shearman, Mark Morris, and others. At $1.99 per issue, it’s one of the best bargains in the field.

The Dark is edited by Sean Wallace, with assistance by Jack Fisher. It is published online and in digital formats, and includes two original stories and two reprints each issue. Here’s the Table of Contents for issue #19, cover-dated December 2016.

“Too Many Ghosts” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“The Curtain” by Thana Niveau (from Postscripts 32/33: Far Voyager, November 2014)
“As Cymbals Clash” by Cate Gardner
“The Absent Shade” by Priya Sharma (from Black Static, Issue 44, January/February 2015)

You can read issues free online, or help support the magazine by buying the ebook editions, available for the Kindle and Nook in Mobi and ePub format. Issues are around 50 pages, and priced at $2.99 through Amazon, B&N.com, Apple, Kobo, and other fine outlets — or subscribe for just $1.99 per issue. If you enjoy the magazine you can contribute to their new Patreon account here. You can also support The Dark by buying their books, reviewing stories, or even just leaving comments.

Read the December issue here, and see their complete back issue catalog here. The December cover is by Susanafh. We last covered The Dark with the August issue.

See our Late November Fantasy Magazine Rack here, and all of our recent Magazine coverage here.

Dark and Gritty, with Plenty of Mystery and Treachery: Kelly Gay’s Charlie Madigan Novels

Dark and Gritty, with Plenty of Mystery and Treachery: Kelly Gay’s Charlie Madigan Novels

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I don’t have anything against urban fantasy and paranormal romance… but for a very long time, it seemed like the fantasy shelves of my local bookstore were buried in the stuff. So it was easiest to ignore it all, good and bad, and just come back when the dust had settled.

Well, at long last, it seems like the tide of urban fantasy has receded a bit, which means it may be safe to go back in the waters. I’m interested in cherry-picking the most popular and acclaimed series out there — and also, naturally, the ones with the best covers.

Kelly Gay’s Charlie Madigan series certainly fits all of my criteria. Publishers Weekly called it a “Standout Series,” and Romantic Times called the opening novel, The Darkest Edge of Dawn, “dark and gritty, with plenty of mystery and treachery . . . . An excellent start to an electrifying new series!” The series ran for four volumes between 2009-2012, all published in paperback by Pocket Books.

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New Treasures: The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan

New Treasures: The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan

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Shaun Tan has won the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist three times, the Hugo Award once, and even an Academy Award, for his 2011 animated film The Lost Thing, based on his picture book of the same name. His other books include The Arrival (2007), Tales From Outer Suburbia (2009), The Red Tree (2010), Eric (2010), and the omnibus collection Lost & Found (2011).

His latest is a little different. It’s a fairy tale collection and virtual art exhibit packaged up in a single book — a 192-page collection of tales inspired by the Brothers Grimm, accompanied by original sculptures by Tan. That’s right — sculptures. Booklist calls it “A stunning, eerie addition to fairy tale and folklore collections,” and they’re not wrong.

There are a few samples floating around on the internet, and I’ve collected some below. Enjoy.

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Future Treasures: Last Year by Robert Charles Wilson

Future Treasures: Last Year by Robert Charles Wilson

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last-year-robert-charles-wilson-smallRobert Charles Wilson won the Hugo Award for Spin; he’s also the recipient of the Philip K. Dick Award, the Aurora Award, and the John W. Campbell Award. His novels Darwinia (1998) and Blind Lake (2003) were also Hugo nominees. His recent novels include The Chronoliths (2001), Julian Comstoc (2009), and Burning Paradise (2013).

His newest, Last Year, is “an alternative history novel, a time travel novel, and a whodunit all in one” (Booklist). It’s available in hardcover from Tor next week.

Two events made September 1st a memorable day for Jesse Cullum. First, he lost a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Second, he saved the life of President Ulysses S. Grant.

In the near future of Robert Charles Wilson’s Last Year, the technology exists to open doorways into the past — but not our past, not exactly. Each “past” is effectively an alternate world, identical to ours but only up to the date on which we access it. And a given “past” can only be reached once. After a passageway is open, it’s the only road to that particular past; once closed, it can’t be reopened.

A passageway has been opened to a version of late 19th-century Ohio. It’s been in operation for most of a decade, but it’s no secret, on either side of time. A small city has grown up around it to entertain visitors from our time, and many locals earn a good living catering to them. But like all such operations, it has a shelf life; as the “natives” become more sophisticated, their version of the “past” grows less attractive as a destination.

Jesse Cullum is a native. And he knows the passageway will be closing soon. He’s fallen in love with a woman from our time, and he means to follow her back — no matter whose secrets he has to expose in order to do it.

Last Year will be published by Tor Books on December 6, 2016. It is 351 pages, priced at $27.99 in hardcover, and $14.99 for the digital version. The cover was designed by Michael Graziolo.

November 2016 Lightspeed Magazine Now Available

November 2016 Lightspeed Magazine Now Available

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lightspeed-november-2016-smallTrying to keep up with uber-editor John Joseph Adams is exhausting. In his capacity as editor of two magazines (Lightspeed and Nightmare), a prolific anthology editor, and editor of John Joseph Adams Books for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, he produces more books than I can read every month. Here’s a snippet from his editorial in the current Lightspeed on his various doings this month.

As you may recall, in addition to editing Lightspeed and Nightmare, I am also the series editor of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, which launched last year. The first volume was guest edited by Joe Hill, and the 2016 volume (which came out October 4) is guest edited by Karen Joy Fowler…

My new anthology [What the #@&% is That?] — co-edited with Douglas Cohen — releases this month…. I just released new editions of my anthologies Federations and The Way of the Wizard. The new covers are both by the wonderful and talented Matt Bright at Inkspiral Design… Next month, the final volume in the POC Destroy series will publish as a special issue of Fantasy Magazine (which was merged into Lightspeed back in 2012).

In my role as editor of John Joseph Adams Books for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, I just acquired a novel by debut author Bryan Camp: The City of Lost Fortunes, a novel 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. Publication date is tentatively scheduled for Spring 2018. Meanwhile, I also bought a story by Bryan for Lightspeed, so you’ll be seeing his short story debut sometime in the near future as well!

Whatever brand of coffee John is drinking, I need some. On top of everything else, John also reports that this month’s Lightspeed includes a special section on comics and graphic novels by four guest-columnists: Christie Yant, Jenn Reese, Kate Galey, and Rachel Swirsky. They’re also adding a new regular book review columnist, joining Andrew Liptak and Amal El-Mohtar.

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Jonathan Strahan on the Best Short Novels of 2016

Jonathan Strahan on the Best Short Novels of 2016

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the-best-story-i-can-manage-robert-shearman-smallJonathan Strahan used to edit a marvelous anthology series for the Science Fiction Book Club called Best Short Novels. He published four volumes, from 2004-2007. On his Coode Street website yesterday, Jonathan published “An Imaginary List” of his picks for a 2016 volume.

I was pondering what I’d put into my old Best Short Novels series, if I was still editing it for someone today. After a bit of reflection I came up with the following list. I wasn’t restricted to Hugo length requirements, so one story is actually a long novelette, but this list would still come close to 200,000 words which is about right for the old series.

Here’s his selections for the ten best short novels of 2016, including five entries from the new Tor.com novella line, two from collections, and one each from Asimov’s SF and F&SF.

The Dream Quest of Vellitt Boe, Kij Johnson (Tor)
The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle (Tor)
Every Heart A Doorway, Seanan McGuire (Tor)
This Census-taker, China Mieville (Del Rey)
“The Charge and the Storm,” An Owomoyela (Asimov’s)
The Devil You Know, K.J. Parker (Tor)
The Iron Tactician, Alastair Reynolds (Newcon)
The Best Story I Can Manage, Robert Shearman (Five Storeys High)
“The Vanishing Kind,” Lavie Tidhar (F&SF)
A Taste of Honey, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor)

We discussed Jonathan’s Best Short Novels series in a feature earlier this year, and we covered the latest from Tor.com here.

See Jonthan’s complete post here.

The Late-November Fantasy Magazine Rack

The Late-November Fantasy Magazine Rack

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This month Fletcher Vredenburgh pulled double duty with his Short Story Roundup, reviewing the latest issues of Curtis Ellett’s Swords and Sorcery Magazine and the team-edited Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, plus the first two issues of Dave Ritzlin’s Scrolls of Legendry. Tony Den also looked back at the pulp magazine appearances of H. Warner Munn, including Weird Tales, Weird Terror Tales, and Famous Science Fiction.

For our modern readers, we reported on the news that Asimov’s SF and Analog Magazine have switched to bi-monthly publication.

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

As we’ve mentioned before, all of these magazines are completely dependent on fans and readers to keep them alive. Many are marginal operations for whom a handful of subscriptions may mean the difference between life and death. Why not check one or two out, and try a sample issue? There are magazines here for every budget, from completely free to $35/issue. If you find something intriguing, I hope you’ll consider taking a chance on a subscription. I think you’ll find it’s money very well spent.

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New Treasures: Congress of Secrets by Stephanie Burgis

New Treasures: Congress of Secrets by Stephanie Burgis

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congress-of-secrets-stephanie-burgis-smallStephanie Burgis is the author of the Kat, Incorrigible trilogy of Regency fantasy adventures for kids. Masks and Shadows, her first historical fantasy novel for adults, was published by Pyr earlier this year. Martha Wells calls her newest, Congress of Secrets, “A gripping and enjoyable historical fantasy thriller, with engaging characters scheming for survival and revenge, fighting addictive alchemical magic against the lush background of the 1814 Congress of Vienna.” That’s good enough for me.

In 1814, the Congress of Vienna has just begun. Diplomats battle over a new map of Europe, actors vie for a chance at glory, and aristocrats and royals from across the continent come together to celebrate the downfall of Napoleon… among them Lady Caroline Wyndham, a wealthy English widow. But Caroline has a secret: she was born Karolina Vogl, daughter of a radical Viennese printer. When her father was arrested by the secret police, Caroline’s childhood was stolen from her by dark alchemy.

Under a new name and nationality, she returns to Vienna determined to save her father even if she has to resort to the same alchemy that nearly broke her before. But she isn’t expecting to meet her father’s old apprentice, Michael Steinhüller, now a charming con man in the middle of his riskiest scheme ever. The sinister forces that shattered Caroline’s childhood still rule Vienna behind a glittering façade of balls and salons, Michael’s plan is fraught with danger, and both of their disguises are more fragile than they realize. What price will they pay to the darkness if either of them is to survive?

Our previous coverage of Stephanie Burgis includes:

A Most Improper Boxed Set
Masks and Shadows
Stephanie Burgis on Scandals in Regency England, Magickal Bathwater, and an Illness That Is No Laughing Matter by Emily Mah

Congress of Secrets was published by Pyr on November 1, 2016. It is 347 pages, priced at $17 in trade paperback and $9.99 in digital formats. The cover was designed by Nicole Sommer-Lecht.

The B&N Sci-Fi Blog on The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of November

The B&N Sci-Fi Blog on The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of November

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Jim Killen has been as the science fiction and fantasy buyer for Barnes & Noble for nearly 20 years, and every month he shares his top new SFF releases at the B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog. His November list includes exciting new books from Brandon Sanderson, Ben Bova, Emma Newman, Christopher Hinz, Kim Harrison, Cassandra Rose Clarke, Erika Johansen, David Weber, David Dalglish, and others — including Culdesac by Robert Repino, the sequel to the widely acclaimed Mort(e), the tale of a housecat who becomes a war hero in an apocalyptic battle between humans, giants ants, and sentient animals.

Repino returns to the war-torn world he established in Mort(e) as the War with No Name rages on. The Colony, a race of intelligent ants, has humanity on the run before its army of sentient and intelligent animals. Culdesac, a housecat-turned-general for The Colony, is a brutally effective warrior, for whom violence is always the answer. As his forces occupy the town of Milton, however, he must prepare for a brutal counteroffensive from the humans, even as he discovers secrets that threaten to undermine his understanding of this new universe. Repino imbues a startling sense of realism to a story about an intelligent cat’s desire to wipe out humanity; Culdesac’s story is not only tense and violent, but oddly emotional and touching.

Culdesac was published by Soho Press on November 15. It is 128 pages, priced at $9.99 in trade paperback and $7.99 for the digital edition. We covered Mort(e) here.

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