Books I Edited in 2009

So, it's that time of year again....

Here is the list of all the books on which I served as editor (and art director) in my capacity as Editorial Director at Pyr books for 2009.

Chris Roberson, End of the Century
Kay Kenyon, A World Too Near (Book Two of The Entire and the Rose) (paperback after hc)
Kay Kenyon, City Without End (Book Three of The Entire and the Rose)
Ian McDonald, Cyberabad Days
Tom Lloyd, The Twilight Herald (The Twilight Reign 2)
Matthew Sturges, Midwinter
Ian McDonald, Brasyl (paperback after hc)
James Enge, Blood of Ambrose
Joel Shepherd, Crossover (mass market after trade paperback)
Sean Williams, The Hanging Mountains (3) (paperback after hardcover)
Mark Chadbourn, World’s End (Age of Misrule 1)
Joel Shepherd, Breakaway (mass market after trade paperback)
Mark Chadbourn, Darkest Hour (Age of Misrule 2)
Joel Shepherd, Killswitch (mass market after trade paperback)
Ian McDonald, Desolation Road (reprint)
Mark Chadbourn, Always Forever (Age of Misrule 2)
Mike Resnick, Stalking the Dragon (A Fable of Tonight 3)
Justina Robson’s Chasing the Dragon (Quantum Gravity 4)
Tom Lloyd, The Grave Thief (The Twilight Reign 3)
Paul McAuley, The Quiet War
James Barclay, Dawnthief (Chronicles of the Raven 1)
Joel Shepherd, Sasha (A Trial of Blood & Steel 1)
James Enge, A Crooked Way
James Barclay, Noonshade (Chronicles of the Raven 2)
Mark Chadbourn, The Silver Skull (The Sword of Albion)
Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Diving into the Wreck
James Barclay, Nightchild (Chronicles of the Raven 3)
Mike Resnick, Starship: Flagship (Starship 5)

What a year it's been. I'm proud of every damn one of them, and all my fabulous authors and artists! Thank you all. 

2 Years, 10 Months, and Counting...

...since we launched the Pyr science fiction & fantasy imprint in March, 2005. So as we leave 2007 and enter 2008, I thought I'd take a look back on some of the highlights thus far. This is a list I made some months back and which you've seen a shorter version of before, and which I update from time to time. Totally cool if you just want to skim this, but it blows my mind we haven't yet closed out our third year:

Ian McDonald's Brasyl:
Quill nominee, Salon.com's Summer Reading Recommendation, Starred Review in PW, Starred Review in Booklist, A grade in SciFi Weekly, B+ in Entertainment Weekly, Amazon.com "Best Books of the Year So Far: Hidden Gems," The Times Christmas choice: science fiction / fantasy, Bookgasm's 5 Best Sci-Fi Books of 2007.

• USA Today: "...the most rewarding science fiction in recent memory."
• Boing Boing: "...his finest novel to date"
• Salon.com: "...you will delight in Brasyl."
• Amazon's Bookstore Blog: "McDonald deserves to be going up against most of the world’s top fiction writers, period."
• Sci Fi Weekly: "...hot and tropical and full of music."
• Publishers Weekly: "Chaotic, heartbreaking and joyous, ... must-read"
• Locus: "...without doubt one of the major SF books of 2007."
• Washington Post: "...as close to perfect as any novel in recent memory."
  

Ian McDonald's River of Gods:
BSFA Award winner, Arthur C. Clarke nominee, Hugo nominee, starred review in Library Journal

• Washington Post: "...a major achievement from a writer who is becoming one of the best sf novelists of our time."
• Library Journal: "Highly Recommended.”
• Asimov's: "A literary masterpiece."
• San Francisco Chronicle: "...one of the best science fiction novels published in the United States this year.”
• Publishers Weekly: "...sure to be one of the more talked-about SF novels of the year."

Justina Robson's Keeping It Real (Quantum Gravity Book One)
Locus Recommended Read, Starburst Five Star Review

• Entertainment Weekly: ""For fans of Tolkien, had he gone electric, dropped acid, and discovered tantric sex."
• Ain't It Cool News: "This isn't SF for SF readers. This is SF for a generation raised on anime, manga, and MMORPGs. This is SF for the Wii gamer. "
• Monsters & Critics: "This action-packed futuristic sci-fi that will appeal to techies and fantasy fans alike."
• Library Journal: "...skillfully builds a seamless connection between sf and fantasy in this fast-paced series opener featuring a strong, action-oriented heroine and a unique world setting."
• SFX: "...a novel packed with memorable characters and ideas but that doubles as holiday-reading escapism.”

Kay Kenyon's Bright of the Sky (Book One of The Entire and the Rose):
Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year 2007, Starred Review in Publishers Weekly, A grade in SciFi Weekly

• Publishers Weekly: “Kenyon’s vision of a unique universe ranks with those of such science fiction greats as Frank Herbert and Orson Scott Card.”
• Sci Fi Weekly: ""a bravura concept bolstered by fine writing; lots of plausible, thrilling action; old-fashioned heroism; and strong emotional hooks."
• Booklist: "...a fascinating and gratifying feat of worldbuilding... a grand epic, indeed. "
• Library Journal: "Reminiscent of the groundbreaking novels of Philip K. Dick, Philip Jose Farmer, and Dan Simmons."
• Washington Post: "...as compelling as anything by Stephen R. Donaldson, Philip José Farmer or, yes, J.R.R. Tolkien."
  

David Louis Edelman's Infoquake (Volume One of the Jump 225 Trilogy):
Barnes & Noble's # 1 Editor's Choice Top 10 SF&F Novels for 2006, John W. Campbell Memorial Award Nominee for Best Novel 2006, Bookgasm's 5 Best SciFi Books of 2006

• Publishers Weekly: "Bursting with invention and panache."
• B&N Explorations: "The love child of Donald Trump and Vernor Vinge."
• SFFWorld: "This may be THE science fiction book of the year."
• Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show: "Like a more accessible Charles Stross."
• Asimov's: "A high-speed, high-spirited tale of capitalist skullduggery."

Mike Resnick's Starship: Mutiny,Starship: Pirate, and Starship: Mercenary (Starship series):
B in Sci Fi Weekly

• Publishers Weekly: "Readers craving intelligent, character-driven SF need look no further.”
• Analog: "...a fast, smooth, utterly effortless read.”
• SF Reviews: "...simply pure escapism, impossible to resist by anyone who still remembers that good old fashioned sense of wonder.”
• Sci Fi Weekly: "...good old-fashioned space adventure."
• Library Journal: "Snappy dialog, intriguing human and alien characters, and a keen sense of dramatic focus."

Joel Shepherd's Crossover, Breakaway and Killswitch (Cassandra Kresnov series):
Bookgasm's Top Five SciFi Books of 2006 and 2007, Pat's Fantasy Hotlist's Best Books of 2007 runner-up, Waterstone's Top Ten SF for 2006

• Publishers Weekly: ""Robert Ludlum meets Elizabeth Moon in this classic military SF adventure..."
• Don D'ammassa's Critical Mass: "Space opera the way it ought to be written."
• Library Journal: "... delivers a fast-paced story of intrigue and adventure set against galactic politics."
• Philadelphia Weekly Press: "Very exciting and impossible to put down."
• Bookgasm: "Action is electric and infused with the rough-edged reality of warfare, the characters are multifaceted and introspective, and the sexy quotient is once again high."

Recent Awards & Nominations for Pyr:

• 2007 Quill Award nominee: Ian McDonald, Brasyl
• 2007 Hugo Award nominee - Best Professional Editor - Long Form - Lou Anders
• 2007 Chesley Award nominee - Best Art Director - Lou Anders
  
• 2006 World Fantasy Award nominee - Special Award, Professional - Lou Anders
• 2006 John W. Campbell Award for Best Novel nominee - David Louis Edelman, Infoquake
• 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award winner - John Meaney, Paradox
• 2005 Philip K Dick Award nominee - Justina Robson, Silver Screen
• 2006 John W Campbell Best New Writer nominee - Chris Roberson
• 2005 John W Campbell Best New Writer nominee - Chris Roberson

Recommendations/Endorsements:

• Salon.com's Summer Reading Recommendation - Ian McDonald - Brasyl
• Amazon.com "Best Books of the Year So Far: Hidden Gems" - Ian McDonald - Brasyl
• The Times Christmas choice: science fiction / fantasy - Ian McDonald - Brasyl
  
• Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year 2007: SF&F - Kay Kenyon - Bright of the Sky
  
• 3 Pyr Books included in Bookgasms Top Five SciFi Books of 2007 - Ian McDonald - Brasyl (#1), Joel Shepherd's Breakaway and Killswitch
  
• Locus magazine’s Recommended Reading: 2006 : Joe Abercombie - The Blade Itself, Justina Robson - Keeping It Real
• 3 Pyr Books included in the B&N Editor's Choice: Top Ten SF&F Novels of 2006: David Louis Edelman - Infoquake (#1), Sean Williams -The Crooked Letter, John Meaney - Resolution
• 2 Pyr Books included in Waterstone's Top Ten SF for 2006: Joel Shepherd - Crossover, Chris Roberson - Paragaea: A Planetary Romance
• 3 Pyr Books included in Bookgasm's Top Five SciFi Books of 2006 - Ian McDonald - River of Gods (#1), Joel Shepherd - Crossover, David Louis Edelman - Infoquake
• Sean Williams, The Hanging Mountains selected as a BookSense Notable Book for July
• Kay Kenyon, Bright of the Sky - one of four novels selected by ReaderCon "the con that assigns homework" for their attendees to read pre-convention
• Justina Robson, Silver Screen selected for Kirkus Reviews Best SF&F Books of 2005
• John Meaney, Paradox - #2 on Barnes & Noble's Editor's Choice: Top Ten SF&F Novels of 2005

Foreign Awards given to Pyr books for their overseas editions:

• 2007 Arthur C Clarke Award nominee - Adam Roberts, Gradisil (Gollancz)
• 2005 Arthur C Clarke Award nominee - Ian McDonald, River of Gods (Simon & Schuster)
• 2004 British Science Fiction Association Award winner - Ian McDonald, River of Gods (Simon & Schuster)
• Spain's Xatafi-Cyberdark Awards. nominees: Mike Resnick, New Dreams for Old and Ian McDonald, River of Gods.

Symphony for a Devil

Two summers ago, it was my great pleasure to attend the Campbell Conference at the University of Kansas. While there, I dialogued a great deal with Diane Turnshek, SF author and director of the Alpha Writers Workshop, "the science fiction, fantasy, and horror workshop for young writers," about ways to introduce SF&F to new readers.

The result was "the Pyr street team," a group of ten (now fourteen) readers, all between 15 and 25, who volunteered to read arcs (advanced reader copies) of Pyr books in exchange for blogging about them, ideally in places and communities that Yours Truly might not be hip enough to be up on. Diane handpicked the members from Alpha, submitting them to me for final approval, and we've been up and running since August, 2006.

One of the conditions going in was that I insisted this not be the propaganda wing of Pyr books, and stressed to the team that they were being asked to blog honestly about a book, whether they liked it or not. Part of this is my concern that if it were strictly propaganda it would smell as such and therefore be of little use. Part of it is my feeling that honest, intelligent discussion is more interesting and engaging than straight praise. And part of this is my desire to get real feedback on Pyr books from actual, (non-professional) readers. The result has been very informative - if sometimes painful. Because honest they have been! (Hi, Shara.)

What I didn't expect out of the program was the degree of communication that would evolve between Yours Truly and the members, with some very interesting genre-related discussions on our private email list. I'm not sure but what this hasn't actually been the most valuable aspect of the whole program for me.

Now, one of our most active participants, who blogs as Calico Reaction and Symphony for a Devil, has launched a year-in-review series of linked posts she's calling the Pyr Trifecta. Two of her three posts are up now. First is what she styles her "serious" post, Pyr Post # 1: A Year in Review, where she looks back at everything she's read from us in 2007. She discusses our cover art as well, with some good words for both Stephan Martiniere and John Picacio. And she breaks her reading down into four categories: Wanted to Like and LOVED; Wanted to Like and DID; Really Wanted to Like but Didn't, Sadly; and Didn't Think I'd Like and Didn't. (See that note about honesty above.)

Pyr Post # 2: 2007 Superlatives is more light-hearted. As she explains, "Remember the good old high school days, and those oh-so-lovely senior superlatives that were really a popularity contest but supposedly represented the best in our class? I thought it'd be really fun to do that with the 2007 crop of Pyr titles..." Books are awarded such interesting categories as Coolest Premise, Most Likely to Make an Awards Ballot, Most Likely to Make a Kick-Ass Motion Picture, and Best "Girl" Book.

Any nice things said about Yours Truly was probably paid sponsorship, but the rest of it is well worth reading.

Update: Pyr Post # 3: Pyr Book Giveaway !!!! is up now. It's a contest in which two lucky winners get the Pyr book of their choice, selected from out of the 2007 books discussed. Also, there's a poll, the results of which I'll be curious to see. Check it out!