Friday, June 10, 2005

FutureShocks

Just got this in today from the publisher, the cover to my next anthology, FutureShocks, due from Roc in January, 06. Another stunning John Picacio illustration:



Contributing to FutureShocks: Kevin J. Anderson * Paul Di Filippo * Alan Dean Foster * Howard V. Hendrix * Alex Irvine * CaitlĂ­n R. Kiernan * Louise Marley * Sean McMullen * John Meaney * Paul Melko * Robert A. Metzger * Chris Roberson * Adam Roberts * Mike Resnick & Harry Turtledove * Robert J. Sawyer * Robert Charles Wilson

24 comments:

Hal Duncan said...

Ooh, that's pre-tty.

Lou Anders said...

Ain't it, though?

Anonymous said...

It looks very nice, Lou!

Lou Anders said...

Hi Deanna, and thanks.
I really like the way the type solution integrates into the illustration (rather than compromises it) too.

Anonymous said...

Looks awesome! So do many names in that list of contributors.

Lou Anders said...

Thanks, Mahesh.
You know, if I can say so myself, it feels like a really strong, solid, even collection from start to finish.

This worries me, however, as the previous, Live without a Net, which had a very troubled gestation - taking almost two years to assemble and changing publishers midway - felt wildly uneven to me by the time I delivered it and yet was praised for the "overall quality" of its material. So that one felt uneven and was praised for being solid, whereas this one feels really, really solid....

Anonymous said...

That looks fabulous, Lou! I'm really proud to be part of this book. Thanks for inviting me!

Cheers,

Rob

Lou Anders said...

Thanks, Rob.
I am thrilled you were in this one.

Anonymous said...

No prob, Lou! I didn't know that about Live Without a Net; I recently got that collection, so it'll be interesting to see how it all comes off.

Lou Anders said...

Hey Mahesh,
I'll be very interested in your opinion of Live without a Net. Please let me know what you think when you've had a chance to read it. I was talking above of my opinion in the middle of producing the book, elbows deep in it. I'm very proud of it, and looking back believe it's a very strong collection. And fortunately I'm not alone in that assessment.

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean. Projects really do look waaaaaaaay different when you're elbows deep, rather than when it's finished, or years later.

I brought the collection with me to work today. I look forward to reading it, and I'll definitely give you feedback. :)

Lou Anders said...

Don't get caught at work!
My very last "day job" before journalism & publishing, back in Santa Monica, Ca in 1995, the boss came in, and I tried to shove the paperback I was reading into a desk drawer and ended up somehow flipping it through the air to land in my lap in a really dead-obvious way. Fortunately, she hated her job too and didn't mind. And she quit a few months after I did.

Anonymous said...

This is a gorgeous cover, Lou! My favorite Picacio so far. :-)

Lou Anders said...

Thank you, Vera.
I am really, really pleased with it. Though my favorite of John's pieces might still be his cover for Budayeen Nights.

Anonymous said...

Haha, no worries, I always read at lunch. I should try that paperback airflip, though, just to see what kind of reaction I'd get.

I'm glad you don't have to work a day job where you have to hide your reading.

(By the way, I'm almost done with Chris Roberson's story, and I'm enjoying it; the story is very well-realized and gripping. Bodes well for the rest.)

Lou Anders said...

Are you reading them in order or skipping around?

Chris' story, you know, garnered him a Sidewise Award and a World Fantasy nomination, as well as a sequel in Asimov's, which Locus referred to as "mind expanding." I was quite pleased with it.

A follow up novella, "The Voyager of Night Shining White," is due from P S Publishing later this year.

Anonymous said...

I usually go in order with collections or anthologies, but I wanted to read his first.

Didn't know that about his awards, though; very cool! I'll have to check out that novella, and the Asimov's sequel.

'Here There, & Everywhere' is the next novel I'm going to read (it's currently on my bookshelf, waiting patiently. lol.)

Lou Anders said...

Mahesh,
Chris has another tale of alternate-China in an upcoming issue of Postscripts as well. And he has a non-related story coming out in Asimov's again soon. But the aforementioned novella-it's just amazing. A Chinese Master and Commander on a solar sail to Mars.

You'll have to let me know what you think about HT&E as well!

Chris Roberson said...

Actually, Lou, it's a nuclear fission engine that powers Night Shining White, not a solar sail. But thanks for the kind words!

Lou Anders said...

Quibble, quibble, quibble...

Jonathan said...

Like, dude, that is a cool looking book. Many congrats on it. John is just delivering one killer cover after the other at the moment, and this one is one of his very best. Can't wait to see it when it hits the shelves in January. A New Year's resolution of it's very own.

Lou Anders said...

Thanks Jonathan.
Interestingly enough, one of our contributors said the cover looked "very 70s" while another compared it to Richard Power's work. I don't think that's a direct influence (and I won't speak for John), but he knows that I am very partial to the "modern art" look of a lot of 1970s covers. There was something about that era that communicated the "seriousness" of the material.

Anonymous said...

I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I can't help myself. I will be buying this!

Lou Anders said...

Who says you can't judge a book by its cover? Peole do that all the time. That's why I take the covers at Pyr so seriously. And personally, there are books that I want that I will not buy because they are currently only available with atrocious covers. I won't name it, but a new collection of a famous Golden Age author just came out, and I am very, very curious to explore his work, but can't get passed the god awful jacket.