Black Gate

Here’s a fun thing, especially for fans of classic SF such as myself. An anthology celebrating a popular theme in science fiction magazines of the 50s and 60s: repopulating a planet.

It’s the kind of story that fell out of fashion by the early 70s, when overpopulation and pollution became hot-button topics, gradually eclipsing colonial and expansionist themes in SF. As a result many of the stories in Go Forth and Multiply have never been reprinted since they originally appeared in magazines like Astounding and New Worlds in the 1950s, including Randall Garrett’s “The Queen Bee,” Rex Jatko’s “On the Care and Breeding of Pigs,” and E. C. Tubb’s “Prime Essential.”

F&SF publisher (and editor emeritus) Gordon Van Gelder has gathered a terrific collection of what Tangent Online calls “twelve great classic science fiction stories,” including Kate Wilhelm’s acclaimed novella  “Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang,” Richard Wilson’s Nebula Award-winning “Mother to the World,” and stories by John Brunner, Poul Anderson, Robert Sheckley, Damon Knight, and many others.

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The Red Men, Matthew de Abaitua’s debut novel, was originally published in trade paperback in 2009 by British fantasy small press Snowbooks. This is the first US edition. It follows de Abaitua’s two previous novels with Angry Robot, IF THEN and The Destructives.

In his acknowledgements de Abaitua says the theory of time as a solid state that he explores in the book “was put to me in an Italian restaurant in Northampton by Alan Moore.” The Red Men was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke award, and filmmakers Shynola adapted the first chapter into a gripping short called Dr. Easy, which you can watch here. The book was widely praised when it first appeared; Will Self said “De Abaitua operates on the smiling face of the present to reveal the grimacing skull of the future.” And Golden Apples of the West said “With The Red Men, De Abaitua joins the ranks of Philip K Dick, J G Ballard, Rudy Rucker and Lavie Tidhar, writers who see and understand what’s happening to reality before the rest of us do.”

The Red Men was published by Angry Robot on November 7, 2017. It is 368 pages, priced at $7.99 in paperback and $6.99 for the digital version. The cover is by Raid71.

Ah, the new year. When a reader’s mind naturally turns to new authors. Who will have the big breakout debut novel of 2018? Who will come out of nowhere to be the new John Scalzi, Mary Robinette Kowal, or George R.R. Martin? Place your bets!

I’m not much of a betting man, but if I were, I’d pay close attention to the end-of-the-year buzz from the major media outlets. This is where careers are made and broken. And for the last month I’ve been hearing a whole lot about Rivers Solomon’s debut science fiction novel An Unkindness of Ghosts, the tale of slum-dwellers on a generation starship.

It made several Best of the Year lists, including The Guardian‘s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2017, Publishers Weekly‘s Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Books of 2017, Library Journal‘s Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Books of 2017, and it was an NPR Book Concierge Best Book of 2017. PW called it “Stunning… a raw distillation of slavery, feudalism, prison, and religion that kicks like rotgut moonshine.” If I were a betting man, I might place a big bet on Rivers Solomon.

Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She’s used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she’d be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world.

Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship’s leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot — if she’s willing to sow the seeds of civil war.

An Unkindness of Ghosts was published by Akashic Books on October 3, 2017. It is 340 pages, priced at $15.95 in trade paperback and $15.99 for the digital version. Read an excerpt at The Rumpus.

I’m not sure what’s up with Prime Books, one of my favorite small press publishers, but I heard they had some production difficulties in 2017, and as a result their schedule was reduced and many titles were delayed by several months. Rich Horton’s Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017, expected in June, didn’t arrive until late fall, and Sheila Williams’s Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine: A Decade of Hugo & Nebula Award Winning Stories, 2005-2015, scheduled for last November, hasn’t shown up at all.

Whenever small press publishers experience publishing delays, I fret about them. Delays never help a book. Paula Guran’s The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2017, due in July, was delayed until December, and I hope it doesn’t get lost in the end-of-the-year crush. It’s a terrific volume, and well worth a look. Why not pick up a copy and help a small press that could use your support?

This is the 8th volume, and it comes packed with fabulous tales — including Amal El-Mohtar’s Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning story “Season of Glass and Iron,” Victor LaValle’s Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Award nominated novella The Ballad of Black Tom, Brooke Bolander’s World Fantasy Award nominee “Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies,” and stories by Aliette de Bodard, Jeffrey Ford, Max Gladstone, Kat Howard, N. K. Jemisin, Stephen Graham Jones, Marc Laidlaw, Seanan McGuire, Rachael Swirsky, Steve Rasnic Tem, Catherynne M. Valente, Michael Wehunt, Fran Wilde, Alyssa Wong, and many others. Here’s the complete table of contents.

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Marissa Meyer is the bestselling author of the Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, Winter). Her latest is a teen superhero saga that has hit the New York Times bestseller list — an unusual feat. Superhero novels are definitely popular these days, but there aren’t many that have hit bestseller lists. Might be worth a look.

Secret Identities.
Extraordinary Powers.
She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies ― humans with extraordinary abilities ― who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone… except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice ― and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to the villains who have the power to end them both.

If you’re in the market for quality superhero fiction, we also recommend checking out Matthew Hughes To Hell and Back trilogy, Carrie Vaughn’s After the Golden Age, and of course George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards.

Renegades was published by Feiwel & Friends on November 7, 2017. It is 576 pages, priced at $19.99 in hardcover and $9.99 for the digital edition.