Posts Tagged: Science Fiction

Art

Michael Whelan Provides Cover Art for Dragonwriter, a New Anne McCaffrey Tribute anthology

By Aidan Moher March 1st, 2013
Dragonwriter, Anne McCaffrey

Yesterday, it was announced that Michael Whelan, legendary artist who long provided art for the Fantasy and Science Fiction genres, including Anne McCaffrey’s popular Pern novels, will be providing the cover art for an upcoming anthology celebrating McCaffrey. Tor.com has details about the anthology:

On August 6th, Smart Pop Books is releasing Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern, a compilation of essays remembering the dragonwriter herself, Anne McCaffrey, and including contributions from •Elizabeth Moon, David Brin,• Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, •Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Richard Woods, Jody Lynn Nye, Angelina Adams, and more.

This is notable not only for Whelan’s previous contributions to the series, (including one of my favourite covers of all time), but also because he retired from the cover art industry several years ago, only popping out here and there to provide art at special times (like the release of A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, replacing the late Darrell K. Sweet). It nice to see Whelan return to the world of Pern. You can see more of Whelan’s Pern artwork in his tribute post to McCaffery.

Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffery and Pern will be released on August 6th, 2014 by Smart Pop. It is available now for pre-order.

News

Gardner Dozois joins Clarkesworld as Reprint Editor

By Aidan Moher February 26th, 2013

Clarkesworld40500On Friday, February 22nd, it was announced my Neil Clarke, editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, that the well-regarded Speculative Fiction magazine will be adding a new reprint section, headed by Gardener Dozois, an equally well-regarded anthologist.

The official press release details the additions:

Clarkesworld Magazine, a leading science fiction and fantasy magazine, has named award-winning editor Gardner Dozois (pronounced “doe-zwa”) to helm its new reprint department. In his role as reprint editor, every month Gardner will draw upon forty years of experience to select two exemplary science fiction stories published during the last three decades. The first of these stories are scheduled to appear in the April 2013 issue of the magazine’s online, digital and print editions.

“Since my heart attack last year, when readers responded with encouragement and support, I’ve been trying to find a way to say ‘thank you’,” said Neil Clarke, Clarkesworld Editor-in-Chief. “The reprint department had been on our wish list for some time and when the opportunity to work with someone of Gardner’s caliber arose, I knew I had found the perfect way to express my gratitude.”

Clarkesworld has long been one of my favourite SF magazines and it’s wonderful to see them joining together with someone like Dozois. With John Joseph Adams at Lightspeed, Ann VanderMeer and Ellen Datlow at Tor.com, and Johnathan Strahan at Eclipse, it’s interesting to see some of today’s best short fiction editors continuing to become as important to online markets as they are to the long-running tradition of print anthologies.

Feature Article

My 2013 Hugo Nominations & Recommendations

By Aidan Moher February 25th, 2013
A Dribble of Ink's 2013 Hugo Nominations & Recommendations

Welcome to my 2013 Hugo nominations and recommendations. Here I will be collecting the novels, writers, films and videogames that I believe are deserving to win a Hugo award. I have not filled out every category, for one reason or another, but there is a nice variety here, all of which entertained me in 2012. Also included in these nominations and recommendations are other notable items for your consideration. These are generally items that I’ve not read or experienced yet but come well-recommended by people I trust and are on my plate to do so before the nomination process.

This list is still a work-in-progress and can (and will change) before the nomination period ends on March, 10th. I hope you find something of interest here. Enjoy.

Best Novel

If you look at the list of 2012-published novels I read last year, it might be no surprise that, as of now, I do not have enough novels to fill my ballot in this category. Between now and the nomination deadline I will be doing some catch-up, and I’ve included those novels in the ‘Other Notables’ section, but it 2012 was not a particularly strong year for me. The novels I include below, however, I believe in fully.

THE KING'S BLOOD by Daniel AbrahamThe King’s Blood by Daniel Abraham
(REVIEW // Buy: Book/eBook)

Geder Palliako’s star is rising. He is a hero of Antea, protector to the crown prince, and darling of the court. But storms from his past are gathering, and with them, a war that will change everything.

Cithrin bel Sarcour founded a powerful bank on stolen wealth, forged papers, and ready blades. Now every move she makes is observed, recorded, and controlled. Unless Cithrin can free herself from her gilded cage, the life she made will be for naught; war may provide just the opportunity she needs.

An apostate priest sees the hidden hand behind all: a long-buried secret of the dragon empire threatens everything humanity has built. An age of madness and death approaches, with only a few doomed heroes to stand in its way.

Last year, I chose to nominate Abraham’s The Dragon’s Path over Leviathan Wakes, his SF collaboration with Ty Franck, published under the name ‘James S.A. Corey.’ Leviathan Wakes made the ballot, The Dragon’s Path did not. I still believe in that nomination and that Abraham is behind some of today’s most interesting and exciting Fantasy. The Dagger & The Coin takes the comfortable, adventurous Fantasy built by Terry Brooks, David Eddings and Raymond E. Feist and imbues it with an intelligence and depth that sets it apart from the rest of the field. The King’s Blood is an improvement on The Dragon’s Path on every level and continues to prove Abraham’s worth the genre. As I said in my review, “It’s about time we stop comparing Abraham to other authors, and start comparing other authors to him.”

Read More »

Art

Cover Art for God’s War by Kameron Hurley (Del Rey UK)

By Aidan Moher February 22nd, 2013
God's War by Kameron Hurley

There has long raged a debate about the quality of UK vs. US cover art and the different ideals behind design aesthetics in the two regions. In general, fans seem to consider the UK to be the stronger market, and for a long time they were, but it’s my feeling that in the past couple of years, thanks to publishers like Tor, Night Shade Books, Pyr Books and Orbit Books, that the US has eclipsed the UK and is generating much more interesting cover art in general. Hurley herself said, “I am told the UK market is way more stuck-up about their covers. I adore my Conan covers, but $1 says the more mainstreamy-cover sells more books.”

If this is a ‘mainstreamy’ cover, I’m not sure I like where Del Rey UK is taking the series. Still, It’s nice to see Hurley seeing a release from a major publisher. What some people might not know is that Del Rey was originally meant to publish Hurley in the US, first picking up her novel, God’s War, before, for a variety of reasons that I’m not clear on, deciding to let Hurley and the series go. It, and its edits, were then picked up by Night Shade Books. Read More »

News

Weekly short fiction coming to Tor.com

By Aidan Moher February 7th, 2013

Tor.com, one of the most respected short fiction publishers on the web, announced today that it will be increasing its short fiction publication to a weekly format. At four stories a month, this puts the magazine on par with other short fiction venues like Clarkesworld and Lightspeed in terms of volume. Great news for readers.

Since our launch in 2008, Tor.com has always been a competitive market for original short sci-fi and fantasy fiction. We’ve been able to work outside of conventional publishing boundaries, create original illustrations for the stories, and have now garnered both Nebula and Hugo Awards! By the end of last year, Tor.com doubled our editorial staff, both in acquiring editors and first readers for our open submissions file. Our fiction team consisting of Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Liz Gorinsky, Ann VanderMeer, Ellen Datlow, Bridget Smith, and Carl Engle-Laird are working harder than ever to bring you the best of what’s on the cutting edge of new speculative fiction! We’ve always been proud of our stories and now we’re proud to offer new ones once a week! Expect forthcoming new stories from Genevieve Valentine, Harry Turtledove, Cory Doctorow, and many, many more.

Irene Gallo, Creative Director for Tor.com and Tor Books, also confirmed to me that this indicates a turn-around/response time for short fiction submissions to the site, saying that the short fiction editors have been, “catching up on the back-log.” It’s good news for those with submissions in the queue, which is infamously long, and those who’re simply looking for new, good SFF short fiction. Though, given Tor.com’s previous track record, I expect that the short fiction will continue to favour established long- and short-fiction writers, and remain almost impenetrable to emerging writers who submit to the site.