- Articles: Interview: Karen Joy Fowler, by Clinton Lawrence –
- From Victoria Schwab to Justina Robson: The best female science fiction and fantasy writers you should read now – Features – Books – The Independent –
- The Hugo Awards (2014-2015) –
- Nominate Your Favorite Works And People For The 2015 Hugo Awards –
- Hug a Critic (Or Nominate them for an Award) « Once & Future –
Articles with the Tag Fantasy
Tracking with closeups (January 16th through February 2nd)
- Borderlands Books : Used&New Science Fiction, Fantasy&Horror – In November, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed a measure that will increase the minimum wage within the city to $15 per hour by 2018. Although all of us at Borderlands support the concept of a living wage in principal and we believe that it's possible that the new law will be good for San Francisco — Borderlands Books as it exists is not a financially viable business if subject to that minimum wage. Consequently we will be closing our doors no later than March 31st.
- Locus Online – posts from Locus Magazine » 2014 Locus Recommended Reading List – This Recommended Reading List, published in Locus Magazine’s February 2015 issue, is a consensus by Locus editors and reviewers — Liza Groen Trombi, Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, Faren Miller, Russell Letson, Graham Sleight, Adrienne Martini, Carolyn Cushman, Tim Pratt, Karen Burnham, Gardner Dozois, Rich Horton, Paul Kincaid, and others — with inputs from outside reviewers, other professional critics, other lists, etc. Short fiction selections are based on material from Jonathan Strahan, Gardner Dozois, Rich Horton, Lois Tilton, Ellen Datlow, Alisa Krasnostein, and Paula Guran with some assistance from Karen Burnham, Nisi Shawl, and Mark Kelly.
- Seanan’s Tumblr | Do you get royalties on used books, or are they… – Let’s return to the used book ecosystem for a moment. When you buy a used book from my local Half-Price Books, no, I don’t get royalties. But the store pays its rent. People are employed. The lights stay on. People who need money can sell their books to the store to be sold to other people looking for a little joy. A used book is joy magnified. It is something paid forward into the world. A pirated book is a dead end.
- Morning Star :: Fantastically profound – Joyce was intensely proud of his roots and once said: “I’ve taken a conscious decision to explore the lives of people who are still ignored by a majority of writers.” He enjoyed his success but expressed sadness at feeling “educated out” of the environment and culture into which he was born.
- This is a jar full of major characters … | Time-Machine? Yeah! – Actually it is a jar full of chocolate covered raisins on top of a dirty TV tray. But pretend the raisins are interesting and well rounded fictional characters with significant roles in their stories.
Tracking with closeups (January 15th)
- Amazon.com: The Man in the High Castle [HD]: Amazon Instant Video – Free pilot of the television series
- Sleeps With Monsters: I Want More of Everything I Like | Tor.com – I’ve spent the past little while, in fact, dwelling on the kinds of books I’ve read (and reread) in the last year, and considering the kinds of books I would give a wisdom tooth to see more of.
- Survey on Translated Literature by University of Bristol | Europa SF – The European Speculative Fiction portal –
- Where to Start with Michael Moorcock’s Sci-Fi and Fantasy Multiverse — The B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog – If you ever needed an excuse to get familiar with the sci-fi/fantasy figurehead, this is it. Warning: Michael Moorcock fans must have a sturdy set of bookshelves. Seventy novels take up a lot of space.
- Mind-Blowing Science Fiction And Fantasy Books To Watch Out For In 2015 – You'd better invest in a pocket dimension if you want to keep up with all the great reads that are coming your way in 2015. Including Alastair Reynolds, Naomi Novik, Neal Stephenson, and tons more. Here are 60 essential science fiction and fantasy books coming out this year!
Cry of the Newborn — James Barclay
Cry of the Newborn
James Barclay
819 pages
published in 2005
James Barclay is not a writer I had heard of before I got this book out of the library. The backcover blurb sounded interesting and the frontcover sported a quote by Steven Erikson, one of my favourite fantasy writers, so while the first few pages I sampled were a bit dull I thought I’d take a chance. The library also had the sequel, but I didn’t put that one up as this was big enough already; I could always get it next time. But I don’t think I will. Erikson’s blurb said that Cry of the Newborn was “a most extraordinary and impressively ambitious novel”, but in reality it was just a bog standard epic fantasy novel. Not a bad novel by any standards, competently written certainly, but nothing special.
The story revolves around a typical fantasy prophecy, that one day humans can ascend to godhood, having the same powers as the Omniscient. This belief is however a heresy to the Order, the state church, which prosecuted and killed off all believers in this prophecy and destroyed all knowledge of it hundreds of years ago, or so it believes. The truth is otherwise, with the heretics believing in Ascendancy having gone to ground in Westfallen, a sheltered corner of the Estorian Concord where their centuries old breeding process has finally borne succes. Generation after generation managed to produce some people with special powers, but most of these powers were weak and often lost at a later age. It’s only at the start of the story that the first generation of true Ascendants is born, four children with potential powers rivaling the Omniscient itself. Cry of the Newborn is the story of their coming of age, in a time when their country is in grave peril.
The Year of Our War — Steph Swainston
The Year of Our War
Steph Swainston
290 pages
published in 2004
I’ll admit it was the China Miéville blurb on the frontcover that made me pick up this novel. For some reason the Amsterdam library is overstocked with series after series of extruded fantasy product; if it hadn’t been for that quote I wouldn’t have looked twice. Steph Swainston isn’t somebody I had heard of before, or even seen mentioned, which goes to show how big fantasy is these days. The Year of Our War is her first novel and it promises much for the future. Since its publication Swainston has written two more books, both set in the same universe. But if it hadn’t been for that Miéville blurb I never would’ve known about her, so score one for marketing.
If you look at just the barebones plot, The Year of Our War sounds like bog standard fantasy. The Fourlands are threatened by the Insect invasion, a mindless almost unstoppale menace which has already taken over the northern part of the world, with only the Emperor and his Circle of fifty immortals standing in their way, leading the defence against the Insects since God has abandoned the world over 2000 years ago. Jant Shira, the hero and narrator of this story is the youngest of these immortals, a crossbreed of two races, winged but flightless Awian and slender, thin half-wild Rhydanne, the result of which is that he can fly, but he’s the only one in this world. Ever since becoming an immortal he has served as a messenger and it’s as such that he witnesses the disaster that undoes the costly stalemate the Circle has managed to create, when the Awian King, Dunlin Rachiswater dies in an attack on the Insect lands and his weak brother mounts the throne and withdraws his troops from the wall to protect him in his capital.