Lunacon 2017 Artist Guests
The New York Science Fiction Society – the Lunarians (2), Inc. – has announced Bob Eggleton will be Artist Guest of Honor and Marianne Plumridge will be Special Guest Artist at Lunacon 2017. They join others already on the marquee, … Continue reading →
D. Douglas Fratz (1952-2016)
Doug Fratz, a five-time Hugo nominee for Best Fanzine and a well-known sf/f book reviewer, died September 27. It turned out that by missing MidAmeriCon II (while in the hospital) I also missed my last chance to see him: he … Continue reading →
Book ‘Em, Danno
By John King Tarpinian: We spent the better part of the day at the Pasadena Antiquarian Book, Print, Photo and Paper Fir, ka The Bustamante Show. I was with friends who are mainly paperback collectors. When I say collectors and it … Continue reading →
Benford Wins Forry Award
The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society voted the 2016 Forrest J Ackerman Award for Service to Science Fiction to author/scientist Gregory Benford at its September 29 meeting. … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 10/1/16 Scrolls from The Times of Darkness
(1) GORGEOUS ART. After yesterday’s link to a website that posts a hideous sf book cover every day, it’s time to balance the score. On Facebook, Mike Resnick shared the beautiful cover of the Chinese edition of Seven Views of … Continue reading →
Top 10 Posts For September 2016
Last month everybody wanted to talk about the first Dragon Award winners, not least the winners themselves. And the Hugos are always a popular discussion topic, sparked this time by Worldcon 75’s announcement of its experimental Best Series Hugo category. … Continue reading →
Best Series Hugo: Eligible Series
By JJ: Worldcon 75, to be held in Helsinki in August 2017, has announced that it will exercise its right under WSFS Constitution to run a special Hugo category for “Best Series.” To assist Hugo nominators, listed below are the series believed to be … Continue reading →
Adam Rakunas: Windswept and Like A Boss
By Carl Slaughter: Adam Rakunas’ 2015 debut novel, Windswept from Angry Robot, won the Philip K. Dick Award. In June, he released a sequel, Like a Boss. WINDSWEPT Labor organizer Padma Mehta is on the edge of space and the … Continue reading →
Dirt and Stars YA Series
By Carl Slaughter: DOWN TO DIRT by Kevin Killiany Released: June 27th, 2016 SEQUEL: LIVING ON DIRT By Kevin Killiany Release Date: November 2016 “DOWN TO DIRT is YA hard science fiction with an attitude, full of technical details as … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 9/30/16 How Much For Just the Pixels?
(1) WRITERS WITH POWER? Having lived through the days when few sf authors had any kind of industry prestige, I’m impressed how many genre writers are included in “Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors 2016”, compiled by The Hollywood Reporter. The … Continue reading →
Long List Year 2 Kickstarter
David Steffen’s The Long List Anthology year 2 Kickstarter has rocketed off the starting line, which is a thematically appropriate beginning for this year’s collected edition of the stories that received enough Hugo nominations to get into the final report. … Continue reading →
2015 Cóyotl Awards
The winners of the 2015 Cóyotl Awards, presented by the Furry Writers’ Guild for the Best Anthropomorphic Literature of the 2015 calendar year, were announced August 13 at the Rocky Mountain Fur Con in Denver. BEST NOVEL Winner Barsk: The … Continue reading →
A Dozen “Year’s Best”
By Carl Slaughter: A dozen editors, some of them household names in the speculative community, take their stab at the year’s best stories. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois The Best Science Fiction of … Continue reading →
Helsinki To Run Best Series Hugo
Worldcon 75, to be held in Helsinki in August 2017, will exercise its right under WSFS Constitution to run a special Hugo category for “Best Series.” The committee’s announcement today explains: Fans voted in August 2016 to trial a new Hugo award for “Best Series”, … Continue reading →
Three To Watch For
By Carl Slaughter: OTTO BINDER: THE LIFE AND WORK OF A COMIC BOOK AND SCIENCE FICTION VISIONARY By Bill Schelly Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary chronicles the career of Otto Binder, … Continue reading →
Joseph Nassise’s Urban Allies
By Carl Slaughter: URBAN ALLIES Editor: Joseph Nassise Harper Voyager In this impressive anthology, twenty of today’s hottest urban fantasy writers—including Charlaine Harris, Jonathan Maberry, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan Mcguire, and C. E. Murphy—pair together to write ten original stories featuring … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 9/29/16 “–We Also Stalk Gods”
(1) THERE’S A SKILL I’D LIKE TO HAVE. It sounds like something you’d see in a movie about dope dealers, says The Hollywood Reporter, but it’s behind the scenes at for-profit fan conventions — “Stars Getting Rich Off Fan Conventions: How … Continue reading →
Michael Cassutt: Z Nation, and Space Exploration
By Carl Slaughter: Michael Cassutt produces and writes for a different kind of zombie story. SyFy’s Z Nation is a post-apocalyptic science-humor show. He has 6 nonfiction books about space exploration and has been interviewed by Discovery Channel and History Channel on … Continue reading →
Brotherton’s SF By Scientists Anthology
By Carl Slaughter: SCIENCE FICTION BY SCIENTISTS: ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES Editor: Michael Brotherton Release Date: December 26, 2016 This anthology contains fourteen intriguing stories by active research scientists and other writers trained in science. Science is at the heart … Continue reading →
Brenda Cooper’s Spear of Light
By Carl Slaughter: With Spear of Light, Brenda Cooper continues stories in same universe as Creative Fire, Diamond Deep, and Edge of Dark. Creative Fire and Diamond Deep are the Ruby’s Song duology, Edge of Dark and Spear of Light … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 9/28/16 I Can Tick, I Can Tick ‘Cause I’m Better Than You
(1) BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU. In Victoria, Texas, a “Facebook post costs Comic Con thousands in funds”. A Facebook comment from one of the founders of Victoria Comic Con cost the group $2,770 in city support. After Megan … Continue reading →
Season of the Witch at NYRSF Readings, Featuring N.K. Jemisin and Kai Ashante Wilson
By Mark L. Blackman: On the evening of Tuesday, September 27 at its venue, the Brooklyn Commons Café, the New York Review of Science Fiction Readings Series skirted the haunting season of Hallowe’en, presenting fantasy writers N.K. Jemisin and Kai Ashante … Continue reading →
Robert Weinberg Photos
Author Robert Weinberg, who died September 25, was photographed many times over the years by Andrew Porter for Science Fiction Chronicle. Here is a selection of those pictures.… Continue reading →
Furry Murder
Four people associated with a triple homicide in Fullerton (CA) on September 24 were involved in the Southern California furry community reports the Orange County Register — one of the victims, two men charged with the murder, and an unnamed … Continue reading →
Chuck Wendig’s Invasive
By Carl Slaughter: INVASIVE by Chuck Wendig sequel to Zeroes Hannah Stander is a consultant for the FBI—a futurist who helps the Agency with cases that feature demonstrations of bleeding-edge technology. It’s her job to help them identify unforeseen threats: … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 9/27/16 If Pixels Come, Is Scrolling Far Behind?
(1) THE FLYLEAF IS STILL HITTING THE FAN. When it was first reported that Governor Brown had signed this law, it was in triumphant terms of Mark Hamill no longer being victimized by autograph forgeries. Now people have looked under the hood … Continue reading →
Grab That Torch
By John Hertz: We’re all still staggered by the death of Dave Kyle. Of course the rest goes on. Stories are written, illustrated, published; and fanzines; conventions are organized (hmm, maybe not the right word) and put on (hmm); clubs … Continue reading →
Collected Classic SF By Women
By Carl Slaughter: WOMEN OF FUTURE PAST Editor: Kristine Kathryn Rusch Released: September 6 Baen Meet the Women of Futures Past: from Grand Master Andre Norton and the beloved Anne McCaffrey to some of the most popular SF writers today, … Continue reading →
Bishop O’Connell’s American Faerie Tales
By Carl Slaughter: As a critiquer for the Critters Workshop and an interviewer/feature writer for Diabolical Plots, SF Signal, and File 770, I’ve read an awful lot of sample chapters. Very few compelled me to read the remainder of the … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 9/26/16 Scrolls To The Left Of Me, Pixels To The Right
(1) JUST. ONE. SCHOOL. UPDATE. There was the inevitable brush with bureaucracy, but the books everyone donated are now being checked out to kids at Greenville High School in the Sierras of California. “Just. One. School. A Saga Continues” (August … Continue reading →
L. Neil Smith To Receive LFS Award at MileHiCon
In January, L. Neil Smith was announced as the next recipient of a Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement Award from the Libertarian Futurist Society. The organization will present it to him at MileHiCon in Denver. Smith will be presented … Continue reading →
2016 Elgin and Dwarf Star Awards
The Science Fiction Poetry Association announced the winners of the Elgin Awards and the Dwarf Stars Award today. ELGIN AWARDS Elgin Award: Book-Length Category Crowned, by Mary Soon Lee In second and third place were: 2nd — The Robot Scientist’s … Continue reading →
2015 Sidewise Awards
The winners of the 2015 Sidewise Award for Alternate History are: Long Form The Big Lie, by Julie Mayhew, Hot Key Books Short Form “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore,” by Bill Crider, in Tales of the Otherverse, edited by James Reasoner, … Continue reading →
Kelly Robson on “Waters of Versailles”
By Carl Slaughter: Kelly Robson’s fantasy alternate history short story, “Waters of Versailles,” edited by Ellen Datlow and published by Tor, was nominated for a Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, and Aurora Award. In this interview, she shares insight into … Continue reading →
