Tagged: Science Fiction

NEW ‘OLD MAN’ STORY TO APPEAR IN ASIMOV’S!

The September 2012 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction (appearing via online sources and in bookstores in mid-July) will feature a new novella about the variously named character from William Preston’s “Helping Them Take the Old Man Down” (Asimov’s, March 2010) and “Clockworks” (Asimov’s, April/May 2011), who was conceived in part as an homage to Doc Savage. 


The new story, which takes place in 1925, sends readers back to the first adventure of the man who will, in time, become “the Old Man.” Be sure to look for “Unearthed” in the September Asimov’s.

For those who want to read the stories in the sequence they’re intended to be read, you can now purchase “Helping Them Take the Old Man Down” and the prequel “Clockworks” in ebook format at Amazon. Both novelettes appear bundled together for $2.99 at the following links:

http://www.amazon.com/Helping-Them-Take-Clockworks-ebook/dp/B008BC4EME/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8

Even More Awards You Probably Know About Already

Once again, those few benighted souls relying on Antick Musings for their skiffy-world news have been poorly served, but here’s the most recent clutch of awards given out in our realms:

Robert A. Heinlein Award

This is both a fairly new award — barely a decade old — and one given for a body of work, rather than a specific piece of fiction, which means it has gone to pretty much exactlywho we all would have predicted it would, in pretty much the same order. The award is given, officially, for “outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space” — NASA propaganda, essentially.

This year’s winner is Stanley Schmidt, long-time editor of Analog, and, in best Heinlein fashion, the award itself is a whopping great medallion that Schmidt will be expected to wear as much as he can — or, at least, the matching lapel pins for when the medallion “is impractical.”

Arthur C. Clarke Award

This is the one that Christopher Priest made such a fuss about a few weeks back — it’s one of the major UK “Best SF Novel” awards, given to “the best science fiction novel published in the United Kingdom” as decided by a panel of judges from the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation, and the SCI-LONDON Film Festival. (Because who better to judge the merits of a novel than people who both organize a film festival and can’t afford a shift key?)

This year, the award went to the only work Priest found barely tolerable, Jane Rogers’s The Testament of Jessie Lamb, which may, perhaps, fill Priest’s heart [1] with something vaguely like happiness.

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

This one is a US “Best SF Novel” award, given — at least, this is how it’s seemed to most outsiders for the past thirty-plus years — to the good SF novel that the late Campbell would have hated the most. (The tone was set early, with with the very first winner, Barry Malzberg’s grim Beyond Apollo, a novel about sex-crazed and just plain old crazed astronauts.)

This year’s slate of nominees has just been announced, and they are:

  • Ernest Cline, Ready Player One (Crown)
  • Kathleen Ann Goonan, This Shared Dream (Tor Books)
  • Will McIntosh, Soft Apocalypse (Night Shade Books)
  • China Miéville, Embassytown (Ballantine Books/Del Rey)
  • Christopher Priest, The Islanders (Gollancz)
  • Joan Slonczewski, The Highest Frontier (Tor Books)
  • Michael Swanwick, Dancing with Bears (Night Shade Books)
  • Lavie Tidhar, Osama (PS Publishing)
  • Daniel H. Wilson, Robopocalypse (Simon & Schuster)
  • Gene Wolfe, Home Fires (Tor Books)
  • Rob Ziegler, Seed (Night Shade Books)

I haven’t read several of these books, so my judgement may be off, but I expect that Osama will be hard to beat: I can feel Campbell already spinning in his grave just because of the nomination. Congratulations to all of the nominees.

I could have sworn there were more than that, but I seem to be at the end of the list for now. Congrats to those who have already won, and good luck for those jostling their way on the very long Campbell list — remember, most of you have already lost!

[1] I originally typed “hard” here — my fingers sometimes have better jokes than I do.

Awards! Awards! Awards!

The lingering memory of my year of blogging for the SFBC — which ended five years ago, so I really should be over it by this point — still compels me to post SFnal awards, even when I do so far too late to benefit anyone. What can I say? I’m a flawed person.

Anyway, here’s some recent awards that you probably already know about:

2011 AurealisAwards

The Australian national awards for SF and other imaginative literature were given out three weeks ago (I know, I know!), and the full list has been available since then.

Here’s the novel-length awards, just because:

  • YOUNG ADULT NOVEL: Only Ever Always, by Penni Russon
  • FANTASY NOVEL: Ember and Ash, by Pamela Freeman
  • SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL: The Courier’s New Bicycle, by Kim Westwood

(via SF Signal)

Analog and Asimov’s Reader’s Awards

The same weekend as the Nebulas (suddenly suspicious — did I blog about the Nebulas? Yes, I did!), the editors of Asimov’s and Analog announced the winners of their respective reader polls for the most popular features of the past year:

Analog’s Analytical Laboratory (AnLab) Awards:

  • Best Novella: “With Unclean Hands” by Adam-Troy Castro (11/11)
  • Best Novelette (Tie):
    • “Jak and the Beanstalk” by Richard A. Lovett (7-8/11)
    • “Betty Knox and Dictionary Jones in the Mystery of the Missing Teenage Anachronisms” by John G. Hemry (3/11)
  • Best Short Story: “Julie is Three” by Craig DeLancey (3/11)
  • Best Fact: “Smart SETI” by Gregory and James Benford (4/11)
  • Best Cover: December 2011 (for “Ray of Light”) by Bob Eggleton

Asimov’s Readers’ Awards are:

  • Best Novella: “The Man Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij Johnson (10-11/11)
  • Best Novelette: “All About Emily” by Connie Willis (12/11)
  • Best Short Story: “Movement” by Nancy Fulda (3/11)
  • Best Poem: “Five Pounds of Sunlight” by Geoffrey A. Landis (1/11)
  • Best Cover Artist: October/November, by Paul Youll (for “The Man Who Bridged the Mist”)

Note that Analog readers are scientists, carefully weighing the validity of each piece in their “Analytical Laboratory,” while Asimov’s  readers just vote for stuff they like.

(also via SF Signal — you really should read them, and get this stuff quicker)

Sturgeon and Campbell Finalists

Finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards were also announced around Nebula time. These are juried awards for the best SF (generally interpreted broadly) story and novel of the prior year, and this year’s nominees are:

Sturgeon:

  • Charlie Jane Anders, “Six Months, Three Days,” Tor.com, June
  • Paul Cornell, “The Copenhagen Interpretation,” Asimov’s, July
  • Yoon Ha Lee, “Ghostweight,” Clarkesworld, January
  • Kij Johnson, “The Man Who Bridged the Mist,” Asimov’s, Oct / Nov (Note: removed from consideration because Johnson is a Sturgeon juror, though it still appears on the official list of nominees.)
  • Jake Kerr, “The Old Equations,” Lightspeed, July
  • Ken Liu, “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary,” Panverse Three
  • Ken Liu, “The Paper Menagerie,” F&SF, March / April
  • Paul McAuley, “The Choice,” Asimov’s, Dec / Jan
  • Catherynne M. Valente, “Silently and Very Fast,” Clarkesworld, October

Sixteen (named) people nominated for the Sturgeon, many of them the editors of the short-fiction venues of the field. My eyebrow is cocked as I type this, but I really don’t know the process. I’m also surprised to see a story by a juror appear on the shortlist, even though it has a note saying it was removed from consideration.
Campbell:

Both awards will be given out during the Campbell Conference in early July.

Compton Crook Award

This award goes to the new SF author of the best novel of the prior year — not to the book itself, but to the author. (It’s also not quite clear if it has to be a first novel, or if newness persists in a writer for some extended period.)

This year’s winner is T.C. McCarthy, for Germline.

(via SF Scope, for variety)

Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees, and thanks to all of the various nominators, judges, voters, and other functionaries that make these various awards run.

PRO SE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS A SCI FI ‘SAVIOR’!

Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of New Pulp, announces its latest volume today, a debut novel from a long time contributor to Pro Se’s award winning magazine line.

saviorfclr-3725016

“Science Fiction,” Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions stated, “is definitely a cornerstone of Pulp Fiction, both Classic and New.  It’s an area, though, that Pro Se really hasn’t gotten into until recently with some entries in our magazines.  ‘Savior’ by Don Thomas is our first novel jumping nose first into that genre and we’re really proud of that.  And it’s a vein of Science Fiction that’s somewhat popular lately, apocalyptic virus takes on the world and a small portion of the population rises to combat it.  But it’s also different, too, in that Don exposes what happens when that small section of humanity becomes heroes of almost cosmic proportions in the eyes of the world and at what costs this takes place.”


From the back cover copy for SAVIOR by Don Thomas-  


In the Near Future, a Red Death will cover the world. As civilization struggles to survive, one government emerges with a sliver of hope- The Strategic Agency against Viral Infections by Organized Resistance. SAVIOR.

SAVIOR delivered on the promise of a miracle cure, elevating themselves into legends…but behind every legend lies truths and secrets…truths and secrets former SAVIOR agent Steve Ryker has sworn to bring into the light…even if it kills him.

SAVIOR is the debut novel of author Don Thomas, a mainstay writer of Pro Se Presents, a two year award winning New Pulp magazine. Complete with fully realized characters, lightning fast pacing, and more meteoric action, SAVIOR proves to be a solid, taut science fiction thriller!

SAVIOR-Edited by Nancy Hansen, Cover Art by Marc Guerrero and Design by Sean E. Ali! Ebook Formatting by Russ Anderson!  Available now on Amazon and at www.prosepulp.com and in ebook form at Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble!  


SAVIOR!  From Pro Se Productions- Puttin’ The Monthly Back In Pulp!

PRO SE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS A SCI FI ‘SAVIOR’!

Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of New Pulp, announces its latest volume today, a debut novel from a long time contributor to Pro Se’s award winning magazine line.

saviorfclr-1467816

“Science Fiction,” Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions stated, “is definitely a cornerstone of Pulp Fiction, both Classic and New.  It’s an area, though, that Pro Se really hasn’t gotten into until recently with some entries in our magazines.  ‘Savior’ by Don Thomas is our first novel jumping nose first into that genre and we’re really proud of that.  And it’s a vein of Science Fiction that’s somewhat popular lately, apocalyptic virus takes on the world and a small portion of the population rises to combat it.  But it’s also different, too, in that Don exposes what happens when that small section of humanity becomes heroes of almost cosmic proportions in the eyes of the world and at what costs this takes place.”


From the back cover copy for SAVIOR by Don Thomas-  


In the Near Future, a Red Death will cover the world. As civilization struggles to survive, one government emerges with a sliver of hope- The Strategic Agency against Viral Infections by Organized Resistance. SAVIOR.

SAVIOR delivered on the promise of a miracle cure, elevating themselves into legends…but behind every legend lies truths and secrets…truths and secrets former SAVIOR agent Steve Ryker has sworn to bring into the light…even if it kills him.

SAVIOR is the debut novel of author Don Thomas, a mainstay writer of Pro Se Presents, a two year award winning New Pulp magazine. Complete with fully realized characters, lightning fast pacing, and more meteoric action, SAVIOR proves to be a solid, taut science fiction thriller!

SAVIOR-Edited by Nancy Hansen, Cover Art by Marc Guerrero and Design by Sean E. Ali! Ebook Formatting by Russ Anderson!  Available now on Amazon and at www.prosepulp.com and in ebook form at Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble!  


SAVIOR!  From Pro Se Productions- Puttin’ The Monthly Back In Pulp!

Hugo Deadline Fast Approaching

I always leave these things to the last minute, so I just submitted my nominating ballot. It’s not as full, or as well-informed, as I’d like to be, but this process works best the more of us take part — however much, and however well, we can.

So, if you’re eligible, and you haven’t yet done it, take a few minutes before midnight PDT tonight and fill out some of your favorites from 2011. The nominating ballot is here. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t read or seen “everything;” none of us have. You’ve read or seen some things, and if you thought some of those are good enough, nominate ’em.

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO THE DEBUT OF PI NICHOLAS COLT!

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp By Tommy Hancock

POCKET 47

By Jude Hardin

OceanView Publishing

One of the best liked, most lampooned, often replicated, sometimes screwed up, extremely action packed, twisty and turny sub-genres of Pulp is the Private Eye tale.   Everything from Hard Boiled to Cozy to Armchair to Science Fiction to Western to on and on ad nauseum, the PI story has endured many a different take and new coat of paint and withstood rather well.  But sometimes the best way to treat a PI is straight ahead and direct, even if it’s a tale clothed in modern trappings.  There’s never anything better than a two fisted, guns blazing gonna do what he’s gotta do gumshoe.   And it’s even better when characterization rides alongside the plot like Tonto following The Lone Ranger.

That is ‘Pocket 47’.

Jude Hardin introduces PI Nicholas Colt in this novel and Colt comes in with a ton of tragic baggage and a moral code akin to Chandler’s Marlowe and Parker’s Spenser.  A former top selling blues guitarist in a band, Colt’s life took a horrible turn when a plane crash claimed his band and his wife and daughter, leaving him as the only survivor a different man.   Years later, Colt lives in an Airstream trailer in Florida, fishes when he wants to, doesn’t play the guitar, and works as a private eye with a reputation for working runaway cases.

A client enters into Colt’s life as the novel opens, a young nurse desperate to find her fifteen year old sister who she had rescued from foster care and who has now ran away.   What starts as a typical case of tracking the girl to her favorite haunts and hiding spots takes a turn when Colt finds her and she claims someone is trying to kill her.  What ensues is murder, kidnapping, fist fights, good and bad cops, a religious white supremacist leading an army of zealots, and most of all secrets.  Secrets surrounding the runaway.  Secrets that engulf almost everyone Colt meets along the way.  And most of all, secrets that may very well tie into the most horrible event in Nicholas’ Colt’s life. 

In ‘Pocket 47’, Hardin makes everything count and matter.  Including the cryptic title.  Colt is a solid entry into the hard boiled PI school, even though he may wear shorts and spend long days fishing.  He has a serious set of rules, so serious he often quotes them and lives by them, a tried and true proof that he’s cast in a classic light.  But he’s also not Superman.  The plane crash in his past, Colt encounters enough problems in his present life to send most men spiraling into a bottle never to float to the top again.  But he barrels on, putting clues together in a solid whydunit, and taking on the police, pimps, wealthy doctors, and a Nazi like religious group to boot. 

The only problem I had with ‘Pocket 47’ and it’s one that is minor overall, is that it really could have been two books.   There’s a point in the tale where for the most part all seems resolved and it could easily be the end of the tale and yet it’s not.  By the end of the book, it’s obvious how it all ties together, but it did get slightly disjointed before it roared on to its more than satisfying ending.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT- ‘Pocket 47’ is a welcome addition to my PI shelf and Nicholas Colt is definitely a character that needs to play his way into another novel….or five.


HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO HARD-BOILED SURF PULP FICTION!

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

HARD-BOILED SURF PULP FICTION #1

By Various Authors

Pacific-Noir Pulp Press

2011

surf-pulp-cover-2523414
Pulp is known for being full of various genres and especially for mixing and mingling them, even before the now popular term ‘mash-up’ was in use.  If you’re a fan of Pulp, Classic, New, or both, even a little bit, then you of course know what I’m referring to.  Western, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Crime, and so forth and yadda to the fourth power.   And the lines between all of those and other genres have been blurred multiple times by various Pulp types and to varying degrees of success. 

Now there is Surf Pulp.  And Hard Boiled Surf Pulp at that.

This first issue magazine from Pacific-Noir Pulp Press features six stories that blend surfing, a sport and pastime that has just as avid, if not more so, adherents and followers as Pulp does, and Pulp style storytelling.  Now, wait. I know what you’re thinking, that is, if you’ve had the exposure to surfing I have.   But don’t worry, this is not a collection of tales featuring Beach Boys type bands solving mysteries or Frankie and Annette finding lost treasures on Party Beach.  As a matter of fact, the mixing of Pulp and Surf is not fifty/fifty in every story, sometimes one outweighs the other more and I find that a good thing in mixed genre collections.  

Having said that though, something else that is mixed about HARD-BOILED SURF PULP FICTION #1 is my reaction.   As a whole, it’s a fun little read, running about 97 pages.  The book design is done well and the interior art is eye catching and overall does what art should do, effectively accompanies the story and adds to the reading experience.  So, presentation wise, this book is definitely a winner.

As far as the stories go, that’s where I get a little divided.  Six tales in the book and three of them I really liked and three of them left me wanting.  The lead story, THE BIG DEEP, is a private eye tale, my personal favorite type of tale, featuring PI Sam Sand, a surfer himself, on the trail of missing waves.  Interesting concept and the mystery starts out fairly solid, but then sort of gets very muddled in the middle and by the time we get to the resolution, it’s solved and everything works out, but it’s unclear how it got that way.  I really like the characterization in this story, especially Sam Sand himself, so would like to see more, but for an initial run, this one, though with good points, didn’t really ring my bell.

SORCEROR OF SIARGAO and CHIMERA are the other two that fall on the lesser side of mixed feelings.  Both are sort of quest tales, people seeking things, some abstract, some concrete, in their lives and in one way or another using the waves and surfing to do so.  And although they are different reads in a variety of ways, they both suffer from the same thing with me-murky storytelling and not a clear definition soon enough in the tales of where they’re heading to keep me hooked and interested.

Now, the other three tales in this thin tome definitely get my hopes up about future volumes.  SURFING ‘ROOTS’ is a futuristic tale of space pilots who surf strange landscapes when they get the chance, but it’s more than that.  It’s a cool other worldly tale of buddies who get into fun and out of trouble together and definitely shows the camaraderie that is so apparent in the popular culture notion of what surfing is.  Plus, the action is well paced and the setting is definitely a star in the tale.

TIGALAND is as far on the other side of the spectrum from ‘ROOTS’ as one can get, but is an A-1 Pulp tale.  Gritty, hard hitting, no holds barred Crime Pulp, this story delivers on a whole lot of levels, including engaging characters, from the two leads through the supporting cast, and a jerky sort of riding along with the story sort of pacing that works really well.

My favorite story in this book was a surprise as I expected it to be the PI tale.  RECKLESS SURFING looks at a period in the not so far future where the surf waves are patrolled by surf cops and the laws are very strict and almost basically too strict for real surfing to go on.  A really interesting character is introduced and carries this story well, that being a former surfer turned water cop, Sergeant Nelson of the Surf Enforcement Patrol.  The story is about a young surfer who gets himself in a spot with other surfers that draws the attention of Nelson.  Nelson identifies the young surfer as a good kid and basically points out what is the beginning of a relationship that will lead to adventure, crime, and hopefully good waves.   This is a very promising start to a great tale and is only the first part.  I really enjoyed the intensity that seemed to ripple throughout this particular tale, enough to tease and keep you interested, but not too much.  Yet.

So three out of six top tales, three out of six that needed a little something more.  Will I be back for future volumes and other works from Pacific-Noir Pulp Press? Sure, if they’ll have me.   This is definitely the start of something that I think has a lot of potential.

THREE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-Enough to bring me back for a second round.

FARMER ESTATE HOLDS AUCTION SPECIAL FOR MAGICK4TERRI!

Seller: The Philip José Farmer Estate


Every item in the Philip José Farmer Estate Sale is now 20% off and 25% of all sales through December 15, 2011 will be donated to Magick 4 Terri!


Four days ago we announced here that 25% of all sales through December 15, 2011 would be donated to Magick 4 Terri. So far the response has been. . .underwhelming to say the least. But we think we know the problem. When you go to the Estate Sale page, the first item you see, a rare signed hardcover of A Feast Unknown costs $450, and the next book is a $100 paperback!


So we’d like to take a moment to point out that while there are very expensive books: $4,500 for The Lake Regions of Central Africa: Volumes 1 and 2 (1860) by Sir Richard Francis Burton, or $1,500 for a signed harcover first edition of Farmer’s The Fabulous Riverboat for examples, there are many affordable books as well.


There are over forty different titles under $50, many of them signed paperbacks, and other cool stuff like this:


Charles M. Doughty. Travels In Arabia Deserta. Heritage Press, 1953. Hard Cover. Near Fine hardcover in slipcase. Decorated beige linen cloth binding, pictorial endpapers, map, illustrated throughout by Edy Legrand. Introduction by T.E. Lawrence. $40.00


Nothing Burns in Hell. Advance Uncorrected Proof. Trade Paperback. Near Fine From the estate of Philip José Farmer. Advanced Uncorrected Proof in Near Fine condition. One of three author copies. These copies are NOT signed. $30.00


Dark is the Sun. Blackstone Audio, Multiple copies of this new audio book were sent to Philip José Farmer’s heirs. This unabridged audio book is 14.5 hours on 12 cds. We’re selling these for about half of the list price. Five author copies are currently available for $30 each.


There are almost another seventy titles between $50 and $100 that would make a great gift for any science fiction fan:


Forrest J Ackerman (ed), Best Science Fiction for 1973. Very Good+ Signed by Philip José Farmer on page 56. Contains a reprint of the short story “Seventy Years of Decpop.” $50.00


Byron Preiss (ed), Weird Heroes Vol 1. Very Good+ Signed by Philip José Farmer on page 194. Contains the first publication of the short story “Greatheart Silver in Showdown at Shootout.” $60.00


Robert Frazier (ed), Burning with a Vision: Poetry of Science and the Fantastic. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+ Signed by Philip José Farmer on page 52. Contains a reprint of the poem, “The Pterodactyl.” $75.00


Fritz Leiber, Ervool. Roanoke: Chapbook. Very Good+ Pictorial wrapper. First edition. Number 158 of 200 numbered copies signed by Leiber on special limitation page. This publication was prepared for distribution at the Sixth World Fantasy Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, October, 1980. $75.00


Brian Ash (ed), The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Oversized Paperback. Very Good+ Signed “Property of Philip José Farmer” on the first page and signed again on page 223 at his entry on Religion and Myths. $85.00


You get the idea — and don’t forget, now everything is 20% off! — but only through December 15th.


So, do yourself, and more importantly Terri, a favor, and spend a little time browsing the list. There is bound to be something you suddenly realize you can’t live without.

Vanguard Publishing announces Strange Worlds of Science Fiction – The Science Fiction Comics of Wally Wood

wallywood-5523239
The Science Fiction Comics of Wally Wood

PRESS RELEASE:

Vanguard Publishing announces
Title: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction
Subtitle: The Science Fiction Comics of Wally Wood
Series: Vanguard Wally Wood Classics

Tales from the Crypt and Weird Science publisher Bill Gaines
called Daredevil, THUNDER Agents, and Mars Attacks co-creator,
Wally Wood “the greatest Science Fiction artist of all time.”
Strange Worlds collects rare 1950s Wood sci-fi comics Strange Worlds,
Space Detective, Capt. Science, Space Ace, and more. If you like Vanguard’s Frazetta Classics, try Vanguard’s Wood Classics.

Partial list of Contents:
The Flying Saucers,
An Earthman On Venus,
Spawn of Terror,
Winged Death On Venus,
The Monster God of Rogor,
The Martian Slayers,
The Insidious Doctor Khartoum,
Time Door of Throm,
Death in Deep Space,
Bandits of the Starways,
The Opium Smugglers of Venus,
Trail to the Asteroid Hideout,
The Weapon Out of Time,
Kenton of the Star Patrol,
Sirens of Space,
Rocky X: Operation Unknown

Author-Illustrator: Wallace Wood
Editor: J. David Spurlock
Cover: Steranko & Wood
Hardcover: 200 color 8.5 x 11 pages
HC Retail: $39.95
Publisher: Vanguard
Release: October 31, 2011
Language: English
HC ISBN-10: 1934331406
HC ISBN-13: 978-1934331408
Printed in: China
http://www.vanguardpublishing.com