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Try the first Four Issues of Innsmouth Magazine for Just $3.99

Try the first Four Issues of Innsmouth Magazine for Just $3.99

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innsmouth-magazine-collected-1-4I haven’t done as much reading on my Kindle Fire as I thought I would. It’s not that I don’t like it — it’s more that I flat out haven’t done as much reading as I thought I would in the last 10 months.

But buying? That’s a different story. It reminds me of the months after we bought our first DVD player. Excited by our new purchase, we went a little crazy, buying all kinds of weird stuff. Two seasons of the marionette puppetry show Thunderbirds from 1966? Check. Every episode ever made of Space: 1999? Check. First season of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea? Still in the shrinkwrap. God help me.

It was the same with the Kindle. Give me a new toy, and I immediately want to dress it up. It wasn’t out of the box a month before I crammed forty books into it. I told myself I’d read them, but I didn’t. I think at heart I just loved seeing the little book icons show up on the menu page. It’s like having a library in your pocket.

I’m better now. Mostly I use my Kindle these days to read manuscripts, advance galleys from publishers, and online magazines like Locus. But there’s still the occasional digital title that grabs my attention and won’t let go until I hit the “Buy it Now” button.

The most recent is Innsmouth Magazine: Collected Issues 1-4, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles. Stiles, the author of “Roundelay” in Black Gate 15, is an up-and-coming dark fantasy writer in her own right. Collecting the first four issues of the highly regarded digital Innsmouth Magazine, this omnibus edition is impressive indeed. Individual issues are priced at $1.99, so it’s also a bargain.

It demands to be read, too. So far, I’m quite enjoying it. Nick Mamatas’ cleverly-titled “And Then, And Then, And Then…,” which takes its title from a type of denigrated narrative technique, takes that same narrative technique and uses it to very chilling effect. Most of the tales are very short — David Conyers’s “The Swelling,” the intriguing but rather predictable tale of a woman who’s suffered a devastating loss at sea and then inexplicably finds herself on a cargo vessel bound for Carcosa, is the longest I’ve encountered so far, and it barely qualifies as a novelette.

My only complaint about Innsmouth Magazine: Collected Issues 1-4 is the complete lack of any editorial content — or indeed, a table of contents of any kind. The only way to find out what writers or stories are in each issue is to painstakingly page through it. I expect magazines to have a little more structure, maybe an editorial or house ad, reviews. Something. It’s more like an anthology, in fact. Its starkness in this regard is almost, dare I say it, Lovecraftian.

Innsmouth Magazine: Collected Issues 1-4 was published by Innsmouth Free Press on April 8, 2012. It is available exclusively in digital format for $3.99.

Genre 2012: the Ghetto Remains the Same?

Genre 2012: the Ghetto Remains the Same?

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new-yorker-coverPssst.  Hey, buddy.  Yeah, you.  Come over here a sec.  Listen.  Did you know that by virtue of reading this, by virtue of even cruising this site, you live in a ghetto?

It’s true.

Let me explain.

Once upon a distressingly long time ago, when I worked in retail bookstores, life was peaceful.  Organized.  Every book had its place.  Each, by its nature, described in advance its own prized spot on the shelf.  Controversy in the rarefied field of what we bibliophiles archly referred to as Incoming Tome Location had been all but eradicated.

There was, of course, one pesky exception.  Genre.  Or, to be exact, Genre Fiction.  The breakouts for Romance and Mystery/Suspense were generally simple enough, a Maginot Line easily upheld, but woe betided Fantasy and Science Fiction (not to mention everyone’s favorite red-headed stepchild, Horror, the shelves for which invariably faced into an out-of-the-way corner, as if they attracted only trench-coated perverts and budding psychopaths).  Garcia Marquez and Italo Calvino were literature, and clearly so, by virtue of being international in stature.  But then, what of Stanislaw Lem?  How had he become marooned in Sci-Fi?  Maybe, we clerks said, speaking in clandestine whispers lest our overlords hear us, Lem’s titles could be cross-shelved.  Shelved, God forbid, in more than one place.

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Fall 2012 issue of Subterranean Magazine now Available

Fall 2012 issue of Subterranean Magazine now Available

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subterranean-magazine-fall-2012One of my favorite online magazines, Subterranean, has just released its 24th issue. Before issue 23, it was presented in a rolling format, with new fiction and articles available every week; but they’ve now switched to posting the complete contents all at once. That means you can now enjoy new novellas by Nnedi Okorafor and Kealan Patrick Burke, and novelettes by Maria Dahvana Headley and Brian Lumley.

The fiction this issue runs the gamut from apocalyptic horror to the mysteries of deepest Africa. Here’s the complete table of contents:

  • “African Sunrise,” by Nnedi Okorafor (31,000 word novella)
  • “Game,” by Maria Dahvana Headley (11,000 word novelette)
  • “Two-Stone Tom’s Big T.O.E.,” by Brian Lumley (14,000 word novelette)
  • “When the Shadows are Hungry and Cold (A Milestone Story),” by Kealan Patrick Burke (18,000 word novella)

Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death won the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award. Maria Dahvana Headley’s memoir, The Year of Yes, an account of the year she spent saying yes to anyone who asked her out, has been optioned for the screen by Paramount Pictures; her debut novel, Queen of Kings, was published in 2010. Brian Lumley is the author of the Necroscope novels; he received a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2010. Kealan Patrick Burke’s novel, The Hides, was a Bram Stoker Award nominee, and his novella, “The Turtle Boy,” was a Stoker Award Winner in 2004.

Subterranean has just announced that in the next couple of weeks, they’ll offer an electronic edition of the current issue for just $2.99 for those who prefer to read it on ereaders. Watch the website for availability information.

Subterranean is edited by William Schafer and published quarterly. The Fall 2012 issue is completely free and available here; see their complete back issue catalog here. We last covered Subterranean magazine with their previous issue, Summer 2012.

Mars: A Planetary Star

Mars: A Planetary Star

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fourth-planet-from-the-sunJohn O’Neill’s August 5th blog article,  “All Eyes on Mars as Curiosity Prepares to Land,” focused on the suspense of waiting for the rover to land safely on Mars. The two-thousand pound (900 kg) rolling geology lab did in fact make a flawless landing on August 6th and with its touchdown, it revived interest in the Red Planet. From the description of Curiosity given on Jet Propulsion Lab’s website, the rover truly belongs in a science fiction tale.

  • body: a structure that protects the rover’s “vital organs”
  • brains: computers to process information
  • temperature controls: internal heaters, a layer of insulation, and more
  • “neck and head”: a mast for the cameras to give the rover a human-scale view
  • eyes and other “senses”: cameras and instruments that give the rover information about its environment
  • arm and “hand”: a way to extend its reach and collect rock samples for study
  • wheels and “legs”: parts for mobility
  • energy: batteries and power
  • communications: antennas for “speaking” and “listening”

The size of a small SUV, the rover has already begun its mission to “search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favorable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life.” It is equipped to gather data, take photographs and then send the information back to JPL. In other words, Curiosity is our roving reporter on Mars. Kind of gives a whole new concept to being a “foreign” correspondent, doesn’t it?

With Curiosity running around on Mars, what better time is there to combine science with fiction and review some of the stories written about the Red Planet? A good start is Gordon Van Gelder’s anthology, Fourth Planet From The Sun. It was published by Thunder’s Mouth Press in 2005, about a year after the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity started to send back their photos of Mars. It is fitting that with the successful landing of Curiosity, we take another look at it.

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Electric Velocipede Kickstarter Funded! Started First Stretch Goal!

Electric Velocipede Kickstarter Funded! Started First Stretch Goal!

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Less than a week ago, we posted here to talk about the Kickstarter campaign we launched to fund next year’s Electric Velocipede issues. We hit our $5,000 goal with two weeks to go.

Wow.

I guess people want to see more Electric Velocipede! Once you hit your goal on Kickstarter, in a lot of ways you’re done. However, since people can cancel their pledge at any time before your campaign ends, you want to keep talking it up so that more people pledge to cover the chance that a few might drop out. Also, with so much time left, it felt wasteful to just do nothing.

A lot of Kickstarter campaigns will run stretch goals once they reach their initial funding request. That way, there’s a reason for people who want to give to keep giving (you’d hate for someone who wanted to donate to feel like they missed their chance).

With that in mind, we’ve started our first stretch goal: we want to digitize all of Electric Velocipede‘s back issues (you can see the glorious cover to issue #1 on the right) and make them available as epubs, mobi files, and PDFs so that people can read them on whatever device they want to. We’ve had a number of people asking about it, often international backers, and we think it’s a good idea. We’ll need about $2,500 to do this, and we’re already more than $1,o00 of the way there!

It will take some doing for this; we need to get electronic rights from the first thirteen/fourteen issues’ worth of authors and then we need to convert the files. Neither of which is terribly complicated, but it is time-consuming. But it will be worth the effort. We’ve got a lot of fans that have come to us recently who have never been able to read copies of older issues since we always really small print runs.

We have a bunch of different things in mind for stretch goals, but this felt the most important, given how much it will benefit our readers. If we achieve this stretch goal, anyone who’s backed at $25 or more will receive electronic copies of all back issues of Electric Velocipede. That’ll be issues #1 – #21/22. That’s almost $1 an issue! Plus, at $25 you’ll get a print copy of a back issue, and a electronic four-issue subscription starting with issue #25. You’ll get almost the entire issue run for your $25 investment. You won’t regret it.

Apex Magazine #40

Apex Magazine #40

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apexmagissue40Apex Magazine turns 40 with its September issue, featuring  “During the Pause” by Adam-Troy Castro (who is interviewed by Maggie Slater), “Sexagesimal” by Katherine E. K. Duckett, “Sacrifice” by Jennifer Pelland, and “Sonny Liston Takes the Fall” by Elizabeth Bear (reprinted from The Del Ray Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, a review of which you can read here) . Cover art by Julia Dillon. Nonfiction by Peter M. Ball and editor Lynne M. Thomas.

Apex is published on the first Tuesday of every month.  While each issue is available free online from the magazine’s website, it can also be downloaded to your e-reader from there for $2.99.  Individual issues are also available at  Amazon, Nook, and Weightless.

Twelve-issue (one year) subscriptions can be ordered at Apex and Weightless for $19.95; Kindle subscriptions are available for $1.99 a month.

Electric Velocipede Launches Kickstarter Campaign to Publish 4 Issues in 2013

Electric Velocipede Launches Kickstarter Campaign to Publish 4 Issues in 2013

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electric-velocipede-24John O’Neill gave me the opportunity to write here and talk a little bit about a Kickstarter campaign that I launched in the week leading up to Worldcon for my magazine Electric Velocipede, an eclectic, speculative fiction magazine. The magazine was founded in 2001 and has published at least two issues (and the occasional double issue) every year since. In 2009, it won the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine. It’s also been nominated for the World Fantasy Award four times and had several of its stories reprinted in year’s best anthologies.

In addition to its critical acclaim, Electric Velocipede has been a place for people to encounter excellent writing that’s just a little different. We particularly pride ourselves on finding new short fiction voices in the field. Among the writers who published early work with Electric Velocipede are Catherynne M. Valente, Hal Duncan, Aliette de Bodard, Rachel Swirsky, Shira Lipkin, and many more.

And it’s not just new voices; established writers have also graced Electric Velocipede‘s pages. Jeffrey Ford, Jeff VanderMeer, Liz Williams, Jay Lake, Alex Irvine, Marly Youmans, Chris Roberson, Genevieve Valentine, Ken Liu, and others have all been here. Here, check out some examples of what we’ve published:

We’re looking to raise $5,000 to cover the costs of publishing four issues of the magazine in 2013. We’re putting out two issues in the second half of 2012 (most of issue #24 has come out already), so we’ll already be on a quarterly schedule and ready to continue that pace next year. At the time of writing this, we’ve raised almost 85% of our funding with more than two weeks to go. While reaching our goal looks very much in our grasp, we don’t want to lose our early momentum and miss out on the chance to bring great content to our current and future readers.

You can view complete details on the Kickstarter campaign here.

Galaxy Science Fiction, May 1952: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, May 1952: A Retro-Review

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galaxy-may-1952I’ve been blogging about my experiences collecting and reading Galaxy magazine (originally titled Galaxy Science Fiction). Within my initial collection I had the May, 1952 issue (Volume 4, Number 2 for those who want to get that detailed). The issue included a novella, two novelets, and three short stories from Boyd Ellanby, Peter Phillips, Charles De Vet, Richard Matheson, Franklin Abel, and Poul Anderson.

“Category Phoenix” by Boyd Ellanby – In a Big Brother society ruled by Leader Marley, Dr. David Wong works in Research, tasked with finding a cure for White Martian Fever. But for the past ten years, Dr. Wong has been researching immortality, something he inadvertently discovered while creating a cure for Blue Martian Fever. Dr. Wong hopes to share his findings with those closest to him without alerting Leader Marley – a challenging task, considering how closely they’re monitored.

“Lost Memory” by Peter Phillips – Palil and his associates examine a new arrival from outer space. It seems like them – inorganic and metallic – yet without normal modes of communication and shaped as a cylinder. When they’re finally able to communicate with it, they cannot understand all of its words, like mann, blud, and deth. Their only hope of saving the poor, blind creature is to perform an operation, but the visitor is so confused that it keeps asking for corrosive oxygen.

“Wheels Within” by Charles De Vet – Mr. Bennett suffers from headaches so severe that not even a neurologist can help. The headaches even escalate into hallucinations of a beautiful woman named Lima. One day, he discovers a show in town called “Lima, Mystic of the Mind,” and he is shocked to find that the woman exactly resembles the one from his hallucinations. For a price, she offers to cure him of his headaches, though the cure will involve pain and anxiety through false experiences, leading him into a cyclical dream sequence that seems unending and hopeless.

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Worldcon Wrap-up

Worldcon Wrap-up

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black-gate-booth
The Black Gate booth. From left to right: John O’Neill, Howard Andrew Jones, James Enge, and part of Donald Crankshaw’s head. Also, the back of Peadar Ó Guilín. Click for bigger version.

I was almost to Chicago last Thursday when I realized I’d gotten so wrapped up in the audio book of The Name of the Wind that I’d missed my turn. Fortunately, I found another way to Interstate 90 and the Hyatt Regency. And when I finally reached the dealer’s room, I was able to lodge a personal complaint with Patrick Rothfuss himself for writing so well that I got distracted.

It wasn’t long ago that I’d arrive at a convention and be surrounded by strangers or literary luminaries I was too nervous to approach. When I turn up these days, there are still a lot of strangers, but there are plenty of familiar faces as well. Before I’d even checked in, I bumped into Tom Doyle, and shortly after registering my complaint with Patrick Rothfuss, I was welcomed by Arin Komins and Rich Warren  to their used books booth, Starfarer’s Dispatch.

Rich showed me a rare Harold Lamb book, then, as I noticed it contained an insert about Lamb I had no knowledge of, he handed me a CD with scans of the material. That was incredibly kind of him. I then signed a complete set of the Harold Lamb books I’d edited and personalized Arin’s copy of The Desert of Souls, which she had liked so much that I gifted her with an ARC of The Bones of the Old Ones.

Purely by chance, I kept down the aisle to the left and came instantly to the Black Gate booth where John O’Neill, (now with beard) occupied a booth surrounded by old but well-cared for paperbacks and stacks of Black Gate magazines. The booth remained a gathering spot for friends, acquaintances, and staff members throughout the convention, which is why the talented Peadar Ó Guilín and Donald Crankshaw were manning the booth with O’Neill. I’d never had the chance to meet Peadar before, but his gentle humor put me immediately at ease. We chatted for a while and then James Enge wandered up with his brother Patrick. While the Mighty Enge was settling into the room we shared, I retrieved a box of The Desert of Souls hardbacks to sell at the Black Gate booth. (We sold ’em all before the end of the convention!)

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You’ll Never See it in Galaxy

You’ll Never See it in Galaxy

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youll-never-see-it-in-galaxyIn my last post, Discovering Galaxy Science Fiction, I shared my excitement in discovering Galaxy magazine and getting my hands on some issues. While I was still admiring my recent collection, my wife surprised me with the first twelve issues of Galaxy Science Fiction!

Galaxy’s first issue was October, 1950. Upon the back cover are the words, “You’ll Never See it in Galaxy.” Below that header, two short narratives appear about Bat Durston – one set in space, one set in the old west. Other than the setting and descriptions, the paragraphs are nearly identical. Following that is this great statement: “If this is your idea of science fiction, you’re welcome to it!” [Click on the image at right for the complete text].

Editor H.L. Gold writes in the opening letter that science fiction is finally coming of age and that media sources are treating science fiction intelligently. Gold writes that Galaxy “proposes to carry the maturity of this type of literature into the science fiction magazine field, where it is now, unfortunately, somewhat hard to find.” With stories akin to Bat Durston in heavy supply, that’s no surprise.

In addition to Galaxy’s content, Gold writes that even their cover art

is proof of [Galaxy’s] break with the amateur and/or shoddy tradition… We never were convinced, in any case, of the actual commercial appeal of naked maidens, prognathous youths in winter underwear… and monsters that can exist only on the nutrients found in India ink and Bristol board.

He describes cover artist David Stone as “weary of tearing covers off magazines to avoid embarrassment.”

Clearly, Galaxy’s founders found a dearth in excellent science fiction, presented in a professional format. I admire them for their boldness, to proclaim what’s needed and to publish it. I look back on the golden age of science fiction with renewed interest; editors like Gold forged that age through their publishing and promotional endeavors.

As to what lies within the pages of these magazines, I can only grin, for I’ve just finished reading one of the issues. In a future article, I’ll reveal what I’ve read and perhaps entice some of you to join me. Here’s a spoiler: you won’t find any tales about Bat Durston.