No Higher Compliment

"The greatest compliment I can pay End of the Century is that it reminded me of a Steven Moffat episode of Doctor Who," says Rob Will Review. He goes on to say that the book is "one of the best time travel novels I’ve read.  The novel also deserves high marks for including numerous gay characters who are as sensitively drawn as they are three-dimensional and non-stereotypical.  End of the Century succeeds on every level–as an intricate puzzle, as a reunion with characters readers of Roberson’s previous books will have grown very fond of, as a fascinating character study of new heroines and heroes from various eras, all of whom are unknowingly bound by a single quest, and, most of all, as an excellent story wonderfully told.  As the Tenth Doctor might say, 'This is brilliant!'”

2010 Locus Awards Finalists

The 2010 Locus Awards Finalists have been announced, and we are thrilled and honored to see that Pyr has made the ballot three times. Ian McDonald's "Vishnu at the Cat Circus" is on the shortlist for Best Novella, whereas the book it comes from, Cyberabad Days, is up for Best Collection. Meanwhile, Pyr itself breaks into the top five for Best Publisher.


Huge congratulations to all the nominees. Winners will be presented during the Science Fiction Awards Weekend in Seattle WA, June 25-27, 2010.

Obviously, Very Chuffed About This.

So, what a great weekend! Hugo nomination, Hugo nomination for Ian McDonald, PKD Special Citation for Ian McDonald, BSFA Award for Stephan Martiniere. Attention next weekend, you have a lot to live up to. Here's the official press release, as sent out earlier today and posted to the Pyr site:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
April 5, 2010

Contact: Jill Maxick, 800-853-7545
jmaxick@prometheusbooks.com

Pyr Announces Four Award Nominations, Citations and Wins 
Author Ian McDonald, Editor Lou Anders, and Artist Stephan Martiniere Recognized

Amherst, NY -- Pyr, a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Prometheus Books, is proud to announce two Hugo Award nominations and to congratulate Pyr author Ian McDonald on accolades for his books Cyberabad Days and Desolation Road.

The 2010 Hugo Award ballot was announced yesterday, Easter Sunday, at Odyssey 2010, this year’s Eastercon. We are thrilled to celebrate our two nominees:

· Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders, nominated for the fourth consecutive year in the “Best Editor - Long Form” category.
· Ian McDonald's “Vishnu at the Cat Circus” from Cyberabad Days, nominated in the “Best Novella” category.

The Hugos are international, fan-voted awards. All members of the World Science Fiction Society are eligible to vote. The Hugo Awards Ceremony will be held at this year’s World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), ‘Aussiecon 4’ in Melbourne, Australia on September 5, 2010.

McDonald’s original novella “Vishnu at the Cat Circus”--which closes out the Cyberabad Days collection and serves as a sequel to River of Gods--will be included in the Twenty-Seventh Annual Edition of Gardner Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction.

Lou Anders says, “I’m enormously honored to be nominated in the ‘Best Editor - Long Form’ category for the fourth year in a row. I'm equally, if not more gratified, to see Ian McDonald in the ‘Best Novella’ category. Ian is one of science fiction's premiere authors and he is at the top of his game.”

Anders’ fourth consecutive Hugo Award nomination coincides with Pyr’s fifth anniversary celebration.

“We're extremely pleased and grateful for the tremendous reception Pyr has received,” says Prometheus Books President Jonathan Kurtz. “The taste, vision, and stewardship of Editorial Director Lou Anders has been instrumental in shaping the brand since March 2005.”

In related news, Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days was given a 2010Philip K. Dick Award Special citation. The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.

Additionally, cover artist Stephan Martiniere has won the British Science Fiction Association Award for “Best Artwork” for the cover of Desolation Road by Ian McDonald.

Pyr has published six books by Ian McDonald: River of Gods; Brasyl;Desolation Road; Cyberabad Days; Ares Express and The Dervish House(forthcoming in July 2010).

Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days wins 2010 Philip K. Dick Award Special Citation

Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days has won the Special Citation from the 2010 Philip K. Dick Awards, presented Friday night at Norwescon 22 in SeaTac, Washington. Huge congratulations to Ian, and to PKD Award winner C. L. Anderson, whose Bitter Angels won the award. From the official press release:

2010 Philip K. Dick Award Winner Announced

 

It was announced on Friday, April 2, at Norwescon 33, in SeaTac, Washington, that the winner for the distinguished original science fiction paperback published for the first time during 2009 in the U.S.A. is:

            BITTER ANGELS by C. L. Anderson (Ballantine Books Spectra)

Special citation was given to:

            CYBERABAD DAYS by Ian McDonald (Pyr)

 

The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.  The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust and the award ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science Fiction Society.  The 2009 award was given to EMISSARIES OF THE DEAD by Adam-Troy Castro (Eos) in a tie with TERMINAL MIND by David Walton (Meadowhawk Press).  The 2009 judges were Daniel Abraham (chair), Eileen Gunn, Karen Hellekson, Elaine Isaak, and Marc Laidlaw.

This year’s judges are William Barton, Andy Duncan, Bruce McAllister, Melinda M. Snodgrass, and David Walton.

For more information, contact the award administration:

                                                            David G. Hartwell (914) 769-5545.

                                                            Gordon Van Gelder (201) 876-2551

For more information about the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, http://www.psfs.org/:

                                                                        Contact Gary Feldbaum (215) 665-5752

For more information about the Philip K. Dick Trust: www.philipkdick.com

For more information about Norwescon:  http://www.norwescon.org/:

                                                                        Contact NorthWest SF Society: (425) 686-9737

With Great Power... Comes Great Cover Art!

Now it can be shown, the fantastic cover art to With Great Power..., my forthcoming anthology of superhero prose stories, out from Pocket's new Gallery Books imprint in July. The art is by Trevor Hairsine, artist on such titles as Judge Dredd, Captain America, Wisdom, Ultimate Galactus, Black Panther and many other comic books.

Once again, here's the awe-inspiring Table of Contents:

Introduction: The Golden Age by Lou Anders
"Cleansed and Set in Gold" by Matthew Sturges
"Where their Worm Dieth Not" by James Maxey
"Secret Identity" by Paul Cornell
"The Non-Event" by Mike Carey
"Avatar" by Mike Baron
"Message from the Bubblegum Factory" by Daryl Gregory
"Thug" by Gail Simone
"Vacuum Lad" by Stephen Baxter
"A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows" by Chris Roberson
"Head Cases" by Peter David & Kathleen David
"Downfall" by Joseph Mallozzi
"By My Works You Shall Know Me" by Mark Chadbourn
"Call Her Savage" by Marjorie M. Liu
"Tonight we fly" by Ian McDonald
"A to Z in the Ultimate Big Company Superhero Universe (Villains Too)" by Bill Willingham

Robyn Hitchcock in "Black Cab Sessions"

Via YepRoc: Yep Roc artist Robyn Hitchcock is the latest musician to take part in the Black Cab Sessions. The Black Cab Sessions is a series of one-song performances by musicians and poets recorded in the back of a black taxicab. The sessions are recorded while the cab that serves as the studio travels through city streets, usually in London, England. The motto of the Black Cab Sessions is "one song, one take, one cab." 

Robyn Hitchcock's latest release Propellor Time (Sartorial Records) features guest appearances from Nick Lowe, Johnny Marr, John Paul Jones, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and more. Propellor Time is available now on limited-edition import CD/LP and for digital download at the Yep Roc Webshop while supplies last. 

ROBYN HITCHCOCK from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

Twice the Agony

I was on Rick Kleffel's wonderful Agony Column Pocast on March 11th, episode 846, talking about Pyr Books' Pyr and Dragons Contest, as well as Kay Kenyon's Prince of Storms and Paul McAuley's Gardens of the Sun.  Here the direct link.

I came back on March 19th, episode 852, to talk about Pyr's first five years (we turned five this month!). And here's the direct link to that.

Brilliant

MidSouthCon 28 Program Schedule

This coming weekend it's my privilege to be Editor Guest of Honor at MidSouthCon 28, held March 12th to 14th at the Whispering Woods Hotel and Conference Center in Olive Branch, MS. Kevin J Anderson and Rebecca Moesta are the co-Author Guests of Honor, and Gail Simone is the Comic Guest of Honor.  Sherrily Kenon is a Special Guest of Honor. Should be quite a convention.

Here's my programming schedule:

Friday    5:00 PM    Killing Your Darlings    Working with an editor doesn't have to be murder; a second opinion can bring new life to your manuscript.

Friday    7:00 PM    Opening Ceremony   

Friday    8:00 PM    How to Choose or Make Art for Book Covers  Painting or choosing artwork for book covers that drive sales -- what art directors look for.

Saturday    11:00 AM    ET/CEU: If You Like... Try...    Read-alikes: helping readers find new writers

Saturday    1:00 PM    Autograph Signings   

Saturday    2:00 PM    The Story of Book Covers    From initial sketches to the finishing details, learn how a book cover is created.

Saturday    5:00 PM    Banquet   

Sunday    10:00 AM    KaffeKlatsch II    

Sunday    12:00 PM    Sunday Social with Guests   

Sunday    1:00 PM    Roundtable Discussion with Editors and Publishers    Everything you want to know (or some you don't).  Here's your chance to ask!

See you there!

Get the Jump on the Future

With the release of GEOSYNCHRON, the third and final book in David Louis Edelman's landmark Jump 225 trilogy, the accolades for the series are pouring in. Look how many folks are saying this isn't just a good series, but a defining one:

The Dragon Page Cover to Cover:
“Probably some of the best sci-fi written this decade... Amazing stuff.

Grasping for the Wind:
“Edelman’s concluding novel, long in the making, is just amazing. ....If you read no other science fiction story this year, read the Jump 225 trilogy.”

Locus Magazine:
“This smart, idiosyncratic blend of cyberpunk, libertarian entrepreneurship, and social engineering will, I think, stand as a seminal work of 21st century SF.”

Fantasy Book Critic:
“Geosynchron achieves a rare feat for a trilogy-ending volume, namely it takes the series one level higher, beyond mundanity to true sense-of-wonder SF, so it finally plays on the level of the masters of modern SF like [Alistair] Reynolds and [Peter F.] Hamilton… An A+ and so far the best core-SF novel I’ve read in 2010.”

SFFWorld:
“Geosynchron is at the top of my best reads list - it has set the bar very high for anything else I’ll be reading this year. The Jump 225 trilogy is a must-read, an instant classic and a work of SF that will help define this first decade of the 21st century, and could cast a long shadow for many years to come.”

The Agony Column:
“This is what you want from science fiction. You want the vision of the writer to inform your vision of your life.”

I could go on. But really, do I need to?

2010: A Space Oddity (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)

Looks like I'll be at this, where I'll be wearing the Art Director Hat and giving a talk on book covers:

Press Release 

February 16, 2010 University of Alabama, Creative Campus

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Creative Campus presents “2010: A Space Oddity”

boldly exploring relationship between the worlds of space science and science fiction 

(Tuscaloosa, AL) Creative Campus is pleased to announce “2010: A Space Oddity” as the intersection of space science and science fiction. ASO is a collaborative convention through Creative Campus to express and boldly explore relationships between the worlds of space science (astronomy, physics, engineering, and computer sciences) and science fiction (writing, film, music, and art) and how the two play off one another to create and inspire.

As Carl Sagan once said, "Imagination will take us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere," this statement rings truest in our desire to explore all of the outlets of these two in a creative, educational, and fun environment. “2010: A Space Oddity” will be at Shelby Hall on Saturday March 6, 2010 from 9:30am to 8:00pm.

ASO is free and open to the public. Registration is strongly encouraged, especially for parties interested in participating in the writing workshops.

Elements of ASO range from lectures and panel discussions to writing workshops and sci-fi inspired art galleries. The Saturday Space Oddity convention is the culminating event of a three day series of celebrating the intersection of science and creativity.

For more information, registration, and schedule please visit www.creativecampus.ua.edu.

Thursday, March 4

Come and join 2010: A Space Oddity on Thursday, March 4th at Lloyd Hall, Room 38, as we boldly explore the world of science fiction and gaming with a free panel hosted by ABXY beginning at 7:30 p.m. Following ABXY, sit back and enjoy a presentation hosted by UA Astronomy professor Dr. William Keel on galactic objects and the rise of the amateur astronomer.
Friday, March 5

We invite you to go star gazing with the Astronomy Department at Moundville Archeological Park on Friday, March 5th, 2010 beginning at 7:00 p.m. Come out and enjoy observing nebula and star clusters with Dr. Keel who will be hosting the evening's free viewing.

Below is the link again for the Astronomy Dept. public viewing website, http://www.astr.ua.edu/Public.html.

About the Science Fiction Writing Workshops: 

The Sci-Fi portion of ASO will function to help writers become better craftsmen of science fiction through workshop interactions. Participants will also have the opportunity to sit in on personal readings by other published writers, Q & A sessions, and lectures on story development.

There will be two options for Workshops. One workshop will be a group free writing exercise based off of a prompt. Another workshop will be devoted to reviewing your work. How can you get involved? When you register for ASO, there is an option to include a word doc.

To participate in this aspect of ASO, you must have registered and submitted your piece for workshop by March 1. This allows all participants adequate time to read and review the pieces prior to the workshop day. You will be contacted via email with your workshop time and provided with attachments of your group's workshop samples.

*Please keep all short story and excerpt pieces to a maximum of 4 pages (double spaced, 12 pt font).
*You may submit two poetry pieces.

For time constraints and group sizes, please chose to participate in only one genre (poetry or prose) for workshop purposes. Additionally, if you would like to participate in both the free writing and prepared piece workshop, please notate this in the "It would be cool if A Space Oddity had..." portion of the registration.

The writing component of ASO is not meant to act as a contest or competition of any kind. It is merely there to provide writers a common ground and meeting place to discuss their work, grow as artists, and to build camaraderie with other like-minded individuals.

Participating Authors

Jack McDevitt - Jack McDevitt started writing novels when Terry Carr invited him to participate in the celebrated Ace Specials series. His contribution was The Hercules Text, which won the Philip K. Dick Special Award. McDevitt has produced fifteen additional novels since then. Nine of them, including seven in a row through 2009, have qualified for the final Nebula ballot. Seeker won the award in 2007. In 2004, Omega received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel. Altogether McDevitt has been on the final Nebula ballot sixteen times. http://www.jackmcdevitt.com

Lou Anders - Lou Anders, three time Hugo nominated Editorial Director and Chesley Award Winning Art Director of Pyr Books. Lou has worked on several various anthologies such as With Great Power... (Gallery Books, July 2010), Swords & Dark Magic (Eos, June 2010, coedited with Jonathan Strahan), Fast Forward 2 (Pyr, October 2008), Sideways in Crime (Solaris, June 2008), Fast Forward 1(Pyr, February 2007), FutureShocks (Roc, January 2006), Projections: Science Fiction in Literature & Film (MonkeyBrain, December 2004), Live Without a Net (Roc, 2003), and Outside the Box (Wildside Press, 2001). In 2000, he served as the Executive Editor of Bookface.com, and before that he worked as the Los Angeles Liaison for Titan Publishing Group. He is the author of The Making of Star Trek: First Contact (Titan Books, 1996), and has published over 500 articles in such magazines as The Believer, Publishers Weekly, Dreamwatch, DeathRay, free inquiry, Star Trek Monthly, Star Wars Monthly, Babylon 5 Magazine, Sci Fi Universe, Doctor Who Magazine, and Manga Max.

http://www.pyrsf.com/
http://www.louanders.com/Home.html  

David C. Kopaska-Merkel - David C. Kopaska-Merkel is the editor and publisher of Dreams and Nightmares magazine, and was for six years the editor of Star*Line, the journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Fourteen previous chapbooks and hundreds of poems and short stories have been published in dozens of venues since the early 1980s.

Blog: http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/
http://dreamsandnightmares.interstellardustmites.com/index.html

Joanne Merriam - Joanne Merriam is a former Executive Assistant of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia. After quitting to travel Canada by train, and then parts of the Northeastern and Southern United States with her husband Alan Slone she wrote her first book of poetry The Glaze from Breaking (Stride, 2005), which was written, in part, about those travels. Joanne Merriam’s poetry and fiction has appeared in dozens of magazines and journals, including The Antigonish Review, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Astropoetica, Chiaroscuro, The Fiddlehead, Grain, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Riddle Fence, Room of One’s Own, Strange Horizons and Vallum Contemporary Poetry, as well as in the anthologies Ice: new writing on hockey, To Find Us: Words and Images of Halifax and The Allotment: New Lyric Poets.
http://www.joannemerriam.com/


Contact Information: 
Caleb Sexton, csexton205 at gmail dot com, (205) 348-7884, (205) 534 7748

Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Gambler" Nominated for Nebula

Wonderful news this morning. Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Gambler", which originally appeared in our anthology Fast Forward 2, has been nominated for a Nebula Award in the Novelette category. Congratulations to Paolo on this, and also on his nomination in the Novel category for The Wind-Up Girl (from Night Shade Books). 

"The Gambler" was previously a Hugo award and a Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award nominee. So if you haven't read it already, you might want to read "The Gambler" in its entirety on the Pyr Sample Chapters blog here.

And here is the full SFWA press release:

SFWA is proud to announce the nominees for the 2009 Nebula Awards.

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of  SFWA. The awards will be announced at the Nebula Awards Banquetthe evening of May 15 at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, just 20 minutes from the Kennedy Space Center in Fla. Other awards to be presented are the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Science Fiction or Fantasy for Young Adults, the Bradbury Award for excellence in screenwriting and the Solstice Award for outstanding contribution to the field.

 Short story

"Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela," Saladin Ahmed (Clockwork Phoenix 2, Norilana Press, Jul09)

"I Remember the Future," Michael A. Burstein (I Remember the Future, Apex Press, Nov08)

"Non-Zero Probabilities," N. K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld, Nov09)

"Spar," Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct09)

"Going Deep," James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jun09)

"Bridesicle," Will McIntosh (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jan09)

Novelette

"The Gambler," Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, Pyr Books, Oct08)

"Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage," Michael Bishop (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jul08)

"I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said," Richard Bowes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec09)

"Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast," Eugie Foster (Apex Online, Nov09)

"Divining Light," Ted Kosmatka (Asimov's Science Fiction, Aug08)

"A Memory of Wind," Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, Nov09)

Novella

The Women of Nell Gwynne's, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, Jun09)

"Arkfall," Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sep09)

"Act One," Nancy Kress (Asimov's Science Fiction, Mar09)

Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon, Feb09)

"Sublimation Angels," Jason Sanford (Jason Sanford, Nov09)

The God Engines, John Scalzi (Subterranean Press, Dec09)

Novel

The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Nightshade, Sep09)

The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam, Nov08)

Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman (Pocket, Oct09)

The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey, May09)

Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor, Sep09)

Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press, Oct09)

Bradbury Award

Star Trek, JJ Abrams (Paramount, May09)

District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug09)

Avatar, James Cameron (Fox, Dec 09)

Moon, Duncan Jones and Nathan Parker (Sony, Jun09)

Up, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar, May09)

Coraline, Henry Selick (Laika/Focus Feb09)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon, Jul09)

Ice, Sarah Beth Durst (Simon and Schuster, Oct09)

Ash, by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown & Company, Sep09)

Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, Jul09)

Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor Aug08)

When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, Jun09)

Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon, Oct09)

For more information, visit www.nebulaawards.com or www.sfwa.org

About SFWA

Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.

Since its inception, SFWA® has grown in numbers and influence until it is now widely recognized as one of the most effective non-profit writers' organizations in existence, boasting a membership of approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers as well as artists, editors and allied professionals.  Each year the organization presents the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

I Often Dream of Trains in New York

From I Often Dream of Trains in New York:

A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything

Mark Chadbourn's The Silver Skull

Working on catalog copy for Fall-Winter 2010-11 now, while the snow falls outside my window. This includes copy for the next Swords of Albion book, The Scar-Crow Men, so I'm rounding up reviews of the previous The Silver Skull.This is by no means all, just the one's I'm pulling for today. Really, skimming the below response, how can you not want to read this book?

“In a year of outstanding fantasies, The Silver Skull may just be one of the best so far.” Monsters and Critics

"Fantastic—keeper" 4 12/ stars RT Book Reviews

“…one of the funnest books we have read. Period. Imagine a James Bond story, but way more awesome, set in an alternate Elizabethan England. This is what you get in this book…. The Silver Skull reads at breakneck speed and never relents.” Elitist Book Reviews

“Smart, fun, at times surprisingly moving, and occasionally downright shocking, The Silver Skull is impossible to put down.” Realms of Fantasy

“There are times when you read a book that’s so amazing to you that you feel the author had you personally in mind when they wrote it, that’s exactly how I feel about Mark Chadbourn’s The Silver Skull. ….This is a must-read, and is my favorite book so far this year.” Fantasy Literature

A 2006 Video Interview with Gene Wolfe

Via SF Signal:



Because I never get enough of listening to Gene Wolfe talk.

The People vs George Lucas

I've just been informed that "after 2 1/2 years of intense production, 63,686 frequent flier miles, 634 hours of footage, 14TB of drive space, 126 interviews, 719 fan submissions, and countless white nights," THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS is complete and will world premiere at the prestigious South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas (March 12th to March 21st 2010)!

I was one of the SF&F professionals interviewed at last year's World Science Fiction Convention last year and have been told that I made the final cut. Here is the (quite funny) trailer:

ArtOrder's Latest "Ask the Art Director" series

Another great post by Jon Schindehette in his ArtOrder "Ask the Art Director" series. This one asks, "Can I Be a Cover Artist?" Great responses from artist Todd Lockwood, Tor Art Director Irene Gallo, Wizards of the Coast's Kate Irwin, illustrator Ralph Horsley, CthulhuTech Art Director Mike Vaillancourt, and Yours Truly. For anyone interested in illustration, not just those looking for a career in it, the post is well worth checking out.

Impossible to Put Down

"The book was near impossible to put down," says Neth Space on Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Diving into the Wreck. "Diving into the Wreck was something of a departure from my usual fair and a departure that rewarded me well. The deep introspection combined with palpable tension created a near-perfect balance throughout. And Rusch does it all less than 300 pages. This one isn’t just for fans of traditional science fiction. 8/10"

Meanwhile, Elitist Book Reviews says of Mark Chadbourn's The Silver Skull that it is "one of the funnest books we have read. Period. Imagine a James Bond story, but way more awesome, set in an alternate Elizabethan England. This is what you get in this book." They go on, "The Silver Skull reads at breakneck speed and never relents. In one scene, there is a carriage being chased and careening all over the road, threatening, at any moment, to spill over. We felt the way the characters in the carriage felt while reading this, and oh was it fun. It takes only a chapter or two to get going and then doesn't stop."

Locus 2009 Recommended Reading List

Locus magazine have released their Recommended Reading List (also published in their February issue).

James Enge's Blood of Ambrose appears in the category of First Novels.

Ian McDonald is on for Cyberabad Days for Collections, and from that collection, "Vishnu at the Cat Circus" is on for Novellas.

The UK edition of Paul McAuley's Gardens of the Sun also made the list (ours comes out in March).

Congratulations to all three authors!