Author: locusmag

New & Notable New Titles & Bestsellers 

New & Notable Books, November

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Eugen Bacon, Chasing Whispers (Raw Dog Screaming 9/22) Collection of 13 stories, 11 new, of transformative Afro-irrealist Black speculative fiction by the acclaimed (and prolific) African Australian author.

 

 

Sarah Gailey, Just Like Home (Tor 7/22) Critical­ly applauded horror novel mixing supernatural and psychological elements with mystery. A woman returns to her childhood home, where strange developments make her question the past, when her father was accused of ...Read More

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Books Reviews 

Alexandra Pierce Reviews Unraveller by Frances Hardinge

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Unraveller, Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Chil­dren’s 978-1-50983-697-0, £14.99, 496pp, hc) September 2022. (Amulet 9-781-41985-931-4, $19.99, 432pp, hc). Cover by Vincent Chong. January 2023.

If you live in Raddith, and you hate someone deeply enough and long enough, you might develop what the people there call a curse egg. When you’ve really, really had enough of that per­son, you can let the curse go and the object of your hatred will ...Read More

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Reviews Short Fiction 

Charles Payseur Reviews Short Fiction: Fantasy, Lightspeed, and F&SF

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Fantasy 8/22, 9/22 Lightspeed 8/22, 9/22 F&SF 9-10/22

August’s Fantasy brought a number of works dealing with the power of stories and narratives, including the complex “The Tails that Make You” by Eliza Chan. Written in second person, you are a woman with tails, a huli jing, and though for some it can be a mark of pride and power, for you it is clouded with shame, ...Read More

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Legal News Publishing 

PRH/S&S Merger Doomed

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The proposed merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has unraveled. On November 22, 2022, S&S parent Paramount Global filed with the SEC and confirmed they were terminating the agreement. Paramount is entitled to a termination fee of $200 million.

PRH parent company Berteslmann issued a press release that says, “Bertelsmann will advance the growth of its global book publishing business without the previously planned merger of Penguin ...Read More

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Awards News 

2022 Dream Foundry Contest Finalists

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Dream Foundry, a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the finalists for its 2022 contests.

Writing Contest

  • Angela Acosta
  • Sarah Ang
  • Laura Chilibeck
  • Davida Kilgore
  • Nico Montoya
  • Georgie Morvis
  • Audrey Obuobisa-Darko
  • Ry Rosenhirsch
  • Katlina Sommerberg
  • Takim WIlliams

Art Contest

  • Albokhari Mohamed Tahir Bashir
  • Elemei
  • Daniela Ivanova
  • Nino
  • Clare Reid
  • Winter Ross
  • Serene Illustrations
  • Eryk Souza
  • Jeff Stirling
  • Larissa Usuki

Writing

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News Workshops 

Salam Award Writers Workshop 2023

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The inaugural Salam Award Writers Workshop will be held March 6-10, 2023 in Lahore, Pakistan. Elizabeth Hand and MaryAnne Mohanraj are the lead instructors. There will be a Clarion/Milford style workshop, lectures on craft, guest sessions from members of the Salam Award board, and a sightseeing tour.
Since 2017, The Salam Award has honored the best Pakistani and Pakistani-diaspora writing in the SFF genre. This workshop will exclusively focus on
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Books Reviews 

Alvaro Zinos-Amaro Reviews Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life and Influences by Bev Vincent

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Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life and Influences, Bev Vincent (becker&mayer! books 978-0760376812, $30.00, 240pp, hc) September 2022.

In “After the Accident (2000s)”, the fifth and penultimate chapter of The Stephen King Ul­timate Companion: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences, a profusely illustrated biographical guide to King’s life and career, Bev Vincent writes: “Characters suffering grievous physical injuries began to appear regularly ...Read More

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News Workshops 

Clarion West Seeks New Home

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The Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle WA is looking for new facilities:

Clarion West has a long history of partnering with universities and organizations in the Seattle area to house the Six-Week Workshop. As we’ve honed in on what our students need for their workshop experience and focused on affordability, equity, and accessibility, the number of potential partners has narrowed. Even before the pandemic, we couldn’t secure a long-term ...Read More

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Films 

The Sanitation Worker is a Hero in Your Neighborhood: Arley Sorg and Josh Pearce Discuss Samaritan

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Today’s major-brand superheroes have an onscreen lineage going back at least to the ’40s, including iconic serials starring Superman, Batman, and Captain America. But Marvel and DC aren’t the only cinematic superhuman universes. During the great superhero revival of the 1980s, wedged between memorable Christopher Reeves films Superman and Superman II, came 1981 television series The Greatest American Hero. Standing alongside the tradition of filmmakers and TV showrunners ...Read More

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Announcements News 

NPR’s Best Books of 2022

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NPR’s Books We Love (formerly Book Concierge) has an extensive list of Best Books in an assortment of categories, including It’s All Geek to Me, The Dark Side, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, and many more, with hundreds of titles recommended by “NPR staff and trusted critics.” The Sci Fi, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction category includes titles by authors like Sarah Gailey, Alexis Henderson, Marlon James, Shehan Karunatilaka, T. Kingfisher, R.F. ...Read More

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Books Reviews 

Gary K. Wolfe Reviews The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

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The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (MCD 978-0-37460-595-7, $28.00, 464pp, hc) October 2022.

Here’s another genre term that seems to have shifted meaning over time. For a field that some­times proudly calls itself “speculative fiction” – an upscale term designed to get you invited to more parties than “science fiction” would – most SF features remarkably few scenarios in which char­acters actively speculate about much of anything. (I guess ...Read More

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New Books New Titles & Bestsellers 

New Books: 22 November 2022

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Adler, Dahlia, ed.: At Midnight

(Macmillan/Flatiron 978-1-250-80602-4, $19.99, 464pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, November 22, 2022)

Young-adult original anthology of 14 reimagined fairy tales, plus one new.

 

Anderson, Kevin J.: Double-Booked

(WordFire Press 978-1-68057-350-3, $21.99, 252pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, audio, November 22, 2022)

Humorous fantasy detective novel, eighth book in the series featuring Dan Shamble, zombie P.I., who has to deal with diabolical schemes surrounding the publication ...Read More

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News Publishing 

Esquire‘s Best Horror Books of 2022

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Esquire has announced a 22-title list of the best Horror books of 2022.

Their top five titles are:

  • All The White Spaces, Ally Wilkes (Atria/Emily Bestler)
  • Echo, Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Nighfire)
  • Such a Pretty Smile, Kristi DeMeester (St. Martin’s)
  • Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin (Tor)
  • And Then I Woke Up, Malcom Devlin (Tordotcom)

    • For the full list of titles, see the Esquire post.

    While you are here, ...Read More

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    Awards News 

    Dragon Award Category Changes

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    The Dragon Awards have announced a reduction in award categories from 15 to 11 for 2023. The “Media Tie-In” and “Military Fantasy/Sci-Fi” categories will be removed, and other categories will be combined: “Comic Book” and “Graphic Novel” will become “Best Comic Book or Graphic Novel,” “PC/Console” and “Mobile Game” will be “Best Digital Game”, and “Board Game” and “Miniatures/Role-playing/CCG Game” will become “Best Tabletop Game.” “Best Illustrative Book Cover” is ...Read More

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    News Publishing 

    Audible Best SF Audiobooks

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    Audible has announced “The 12 Best Sci-Fi Listens of 2022”:

    • A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Macmillan Audio)
    • Upgrade Soul, Ezra Claytan Daniels (Audible Originals)
    • The Blood Trials, N.E. Davenport (HarperAudio)
    • Leech, Hiron Ennes (Macmillan Audio)
    • The Spare Man, Mary Robinette Kowal (Audible Studios)
    • Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Recorded Books)
    • How High We Go in the Dark, Sequoia Nagamatsu (HarperAudio)
    • No
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    Awards News 

    The Washington Post‘s Best SFF of 2022

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    The Washington Post has released its list of the best science fiction and fantasy novels of 2022, as chosen by Charlie Jane Anders.

    • The City Inside, Samit Basu (Tordotcom)
    • A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
    • The Story of the Hundred Promises, Neil Cochrane (Forest Avenue)
    • The Women Could Fly, Megan Giddings (Amistad)
    • The World We Make, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
    • Babel: Or the Necessity of
    ...Read More Read more
    Awards News 

    BCS Recuses from Best Semiprozine Consideration

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    Editor Scott H. Andrews announced in an editorial that Beneath Ceaseless Skies (BCS) “recuses the magazine from further nominations or finalist appearances for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.”

    There are many other indie zines, run by dedicated staff and publishing great and important stories, whose work in our opinion deserves a Best Semiprozine finalist and the boost in reach and support it can provide. We want to see them ...Read More

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    News Obituaries 

    Greg Bear (1951-2022)

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    SF writer Greg Bear, 71, died November 19, 2022, after complications from heart surgery. He suffered a number of strokes during the procedure, and after a week in which it became clear he would not recover, he was taken off life support in accordance with his advance directive. Bear was the celebrated author of over 50 novels and almost as many works of short fiction, and was a pillar in ...Read More

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    Features Interviews Slider 

    Xiran Jay Zhao: Speak Loudly

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    XIRAN JAY ZHAO is in their twenties, and was born in a small town in China, immigrating to British Columbia in Canada in their early teens.

    Zhao attended Simon Fraser University, graduating in 2020 with a degree in biochemical disease research. They finished school at the height of the first COVID wave, and since they were unable to find a job due to the pandemic, they focused on writing and ...Read More

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    Books Reviews 

    Alexandra Pierce Reviews Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

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    Station Eternity, Mur Lafferty (Ace 978-0-59309-811-0, $17.00, 336pp, tp) October 2022. Cover by Will Staehle.

    In Station Eternity, her first novel since Nebula, Hugo, and Philip K. Dick Award nominee Six Wakes, Mur Lafferty turns two old tropes of the PI-murder-mystery genre on their head. Firstly, the misanthropic investigator. It’s an old one, and maybe not seen as much these days, but the loner PI who’s grown

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    Reviews Short Fiction 

    Charles Payseur Reviews Short Fiction: Flash Fiction Online, Worlds of Possibility, and GigaNotoSaurus

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    Flash Fiction Online 7/22 Worlds of Possibility 8/22 GigaNotoSaurus 7/22

    August brings some editorial additions to Flash Fiction Online, where publisher Anna Yeatts joins Emma Munro as co-editor-in-chief. As for the fiction itself, it’s a strong issue, including Adam Piñon Kerkman’s ‘‘Moon Eater & Housekeep­ing’’, a deep and beautiful piece that looks at the hidden people of the world, those who don’t have power and are cut ...Read More

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    News Obituaries Uncategorized 

    Greg Bear (1951-2022)

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    Greg Bear died November 19, 2022, after complications from a heart surgery. Doctors discovered he had suffered a number of strokes during the procedure, and a week after the surgery, in accordance to his directive, he was taken off life support.

    Bear was the author of over 50 novels and almost as many works of short fiction, for which he won two Hugo Awards and five Nebula Awards and many ...Read More

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    Books Reviews 

    Alex Brown Reviews How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy

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    How to Succeed in Witchcraft, Aislinn Brophy (G.P. Putnam’s Sons 978-0-59335-452-0, $18.99, 416pp, hc) September 2022.

    Shayna is a junior at the prestigious T.K. Anderson Magical Magnet School in Aislinn Brophy’s debut novel, How to Succeed in Witchcraft. For years she’s been neck and neck with Ana Álvarez, her academic nemesis, but this time she’s determined to come out on top. The Brockton Scholarship is her ticket to

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    Books Reviews 

    Russell Letson Reviews Eversion by Alastair Reynolds

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    Eversion, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz 978-0-57509-076-7, £20.00, 320pp, hc) May 2022. (Orbit US 978-0-31646-282-2, $17.99, 304pp, tp) August 2022. Cover by Lauren Panepinto.

    The strange shuffling sound you will be hear­ing is a reviewer tiptoeing around a text filled with spoiler trapdoors. The book in question is Alastair Reynolds’ Eversion, a novel designed to promote puzzlement, and in fact to be a puzzle as much as a story, which means ...Read More

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    Awards News 

    2022 National Book Awards Winners

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    The winners of the National Book Awards (NBA) in the Fiction, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature categories were announced at the 73rd National Book Awards Ceremony, held November 16, 2023 in New York.

    Author and artist Art Spiegelman received the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, presented by Neil Gaiman.

    Winners of genre interest include All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (Razorbil) in the Young ...Read More

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    Books Reviews 

    Colleen Mondor Reviews Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

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    Belladonna, Adalyn Grace (Little, Brown 978-0-316-15823-7, $18.99, hc, 403pp) August 2022.

    In Adalyn Grace’s historical fantasy Belladonna, 19-year-old orphan Signa has a problem with Death. He seems to be stalking her, following her from one complicated family situation to another, and always leaving a body behind. She can see Death, she talks to Death, but she doesn’t understand his motivations or how the two of them have formed ...Read More

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    Announcements Awards News 

    Amazon Best Books of 2022

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    Amazon has published its yearly array of lists to promote the best books of 2022, with editors’ selections in various categories. Titles and authors of genre interest follow, in ranked order.

    Science Fiction and Fantasy

    • Fairy Tale, Stephen King (Scribner)
    • Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf)
    • The Atlas Six, Olivie Blake (Tor)
    • The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi (Tor)
    • The Measure, Nikki Erlick
    ...Read More Read more
    Announcements News Workshops 

    Clarion 2023 Instructors

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    The Clarion Workshop in San Diego CA has announced the instructors for its 2023 session: Andy Duncan, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Tochi Onyebuchi, Anjali Sachdeva, and Rae Carson & Charles Coleman Finlay. Jac Jemc is faculty director.

    The workshop will be held June 25, 2023 – August 5, 2023. Applications for the workshop open on December 1, 2022.

    The Clarion West Summer Workshop previously announced its instructors and dates.

    While you ...Read More

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    Books Reviews 

    Gary K. Wolfe Reviews Lucky Girl: How I Became a Horror Writer: A Krampus Story by M. Rickert

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    Lucky Girl: How I Became a Horror Writer: A Krampus Story, M. Rickert (Tordotcom 978-1-250-81733-4, 110pp, tp; -81734-1, $4.99, ebook) September 2022.

    M. Rickert has long demonstrated her skill in managing the venerable tradition of tales nested within tales in such brilliantly constructed stories as ‘‘Journey Into the Kingdom’’ and ‘‘Cold Fires’’ (not to mention last year’s The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie). Her new novella Lucky Girl, which ...Read More

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    New Books New Titles & Bestsellers 

    New Books: 15 November 2022

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    Armentrout, Jennifer L.: A Light in the Flame

    (Evil Eye Concepts/Blue Box Press 978-1-957568041, $31.99, 608pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, November 15, 2022)

    Fantasy romance novel, second in the Flesh and Fire series. The only person who can save Sera now is the one she’s spent her life planning to kill.

     

    Arnold, Justin: Wicked Little Things

    (Tiny Ghost 978-1739983475, $12.99, 244pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, November ...Read More

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