Books

Introducing Long Hidden

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

Here’s a Kickstarter project you may well want to back. Crossed Genres is floating Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History, to be edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older. The blurb for the book includes the following:

Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins.

The stories, then, will feature the marginalized people. They are also intended to be good history, but with a speculative tinge. There is already a superb line-up of authors promising stories, and in addition there will be an open submissions period. Those signed up include Aliette de Bodard, Ken Liu, Nnedi Okorafor and Nisi Shawl. And there are some really good high level rewards and stretch goals too. The Crossed Genres folks really know how to run a Kickstarter campaign (and they are almost a third of their way to the primary goal after just one day).

Also I love the idea of the book. The bad news for the rest of the universe is that I love it so much I’ve come up with a story idea. Of course it will be crap. And I know that Roz Kaveney and Jack Wolf are looking at writing something for it as well, so even if my effort is readable it will be well out-shone. But the thing about stories is that once they are in your head you have to write them. The characters won’t shut up until you do.

Karen, Karen & Karin

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

More podcast catchup here. I have just listened to episode #10 of the superb SF Crossing the Gulf, which features Karin Tidbeck’s award-winning debut collection, Jagannath. Unsurprisingly they loved it. But, this being Ms. Burnham and Ms. Lord, they also have fascinating discussions. Highlights include the bit where Karen B. explains why happens in “Aunts” to Karen L., and the extended discussion of “Rebecka”. I note in passing that, like Ms. B., I know someone a bit like Rebecka. Thankfully I’m not the one who has to take care of her, though I worry constantly for the person who does. Also, like Ms. L., I too saw the action of “Who is Arvid Pekon?” in black and white.

Does anyone know what has happened with the Polish film of Arvid Pekon? Is there any chance we’ll be able to see it at Ã…con or Finncon?

Jack Wolf On ShoutOut

~ Cheryl

I have been catching up with all sorts of things since I got back from Exeter. Included in that is the Shout Out Bristol LGBT radio show. Part of that is ego boo, of course. I get mentioned a couple of times in the Feb. 21st show. But those are very short mentions and should not put you off listening.

And I do hope you listen, because the show includes a long interview with my new friend, Jack Wolf. Jack talks about his debut novel, The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones. His influences include Neil Gaiman and Van Gogh. The book has had a rave review in The Guardian, and is eligible for next year’s Crawford. It sounds very interesting.

Jack also talks about the subject matter of the LGBT History Month talk he did last Saturday, which is based on a PhD he’s doing on gender-variant people in history (mainly the 17th Century).

You can find the episode here. You’ll need to scroll down a bit to get to the February 21st show. Jack’s interview begins around 33 minutes into the show. Or, with any luck, this is a direct link to the mp3.

Got Tansy (With Pirates)?

~ Cheryl

We have a new book in the store. Splashdance Silver is the novel that won Tansy Rayner Roberts the inaugural George Turner Prize in 1998. Out of print in paper, it is now available again as an ebook from Fablecroft. I’m guessing that the sequel, Liquid Gold, will follow soon. Tansy has apparently re-edited the book, so you’ll want it even if you have the paper version.

As to the subject matter, the blurb says it is about, “pirates and politics, treasure and traitors, epic adventures, magical mysteries, nearly-true-love and things which glint in the night.” What more can you ask for? Arrr!

Yesterday’s Radio

~ Cheryl

Yesterday was Ujima Radio day. I very nearly didn’t make it, as the train I was planning to catch was cancelled. Fortunately I don’t trust FGW and there was a later train that, with the help of a taxi, got me to the studio in good time.

Being there on time meant I got to meet Mel and Shana, The Lovettes, who apparently did quite well on X-Factor. It was very clear that they were stars. To start with they were an hour and a half late for a two-hour show, having overslept from a good night out. But once arrived they blew through the studio in a hurricane of charm and energy. You can catch them singing live in the last 10 minutes of Tommy Popcorn’s show.

The first half hour of Women’s Outlook was all me. In the first segment I talk about Karen Lord’s books, and play an interview that I did with Karen over Skype. You may hear a certain amount of background noise during the first bit. We haven’t done pre-recorded interviews on the show before and a small amount of tech panic ensued. Thankfully it all turned out right in the end. You find find that material in this hour of the show (sorry about the title of the show still being wrong in the Listen Again section). The second half hour is all about feminism, and includes a guest from France.

I’m also on in the first 15 minutes of the second hour. That’s a less serious segment, in which Paulette wanted us to talk about power dressing and shoulder pads. Somehow I managed to get in a mention of Lucy Worsley’s recent TV shows, and to have a dig at the RadFems. Do also stay with the show for the Woman of the Week segment because Nia is an awesome lady who is well worth listening to. The second half hour is once again devoted to the issue of female genital mutilation, with again some interesting guests.

Next week on the show I’ll be talking about getting boys to read. I’ll be reviewing Ian McDonald’s Planesrunner (and introducing Bristol to the awesome Anastasia Sixsmith). Tim Maughan will be my guest in the studio.

Book Review – Pantomime

~ Cheryl

This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post about Seraphina. Just as Aliette de Bodard had a specific issue that marred her enjoyment of that book, so I had a specific issue with Laura Lam’s debut novel, Pantomime. It is a shame, because Pantomime is otherwise a very promising and enjoyable book. I just don’t think it is a very good book about the specific sort of character it features. Luckily for the author, it is not the sort of thing that most people will notice. There is much spoilery discussion in the review, which you can read here.

Book Review – Seraphina

~ Cheryl

If you happened to be watching my Twitter feed last week you will have noticed some discussion between Aliette de Bodard, Rachel Swirsky and myself regarding Rachel Hartman’s novel, Seraphina. I managed to find some time yesterday to write some book reviews, and Seraphina was top of the list of books to address. You can see that I wrote here. You should note that my comments are necessarily spoiler-full, and what I wrote is more a critical analysis of the issues raised on Twitter than a review of the book. If you are OK with that, I think it is worth reading because I think the fact that different people can legitimately have very different reactions to a book, depending on the cultural context from which they approach it, is very important, and often overlooked, both by reviewers and by those who rant on the Internet.

Mission Accomplished, Almost

~ Cheryl

Well, yesterday seemed to go quite well. We had around 40 people in the audience, and judging from the comments I got afterwards, both at the venue and on Twitter, people appear to have enjoyed my talk. The downside is that, despite having taken my voice recorder with me, I totally forgot to record it. Fail. I think I am getting old. I need a minder. Well, I need Kevin anyway. Sorry folks.

Still, as I said, people enjoyed it. Also I got to meet someone interesting. In the audience for the talk was Somerset writer, Jack Wolf. Jack’s debut novel, The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones, has been published by Chatto and Windus in the UK and will be coming out from Penguin in the US later in the year. It has also been sold to France and Spain. The folks at Mr. B’s Emporium of Reading Delights have been enthusing to me about it.

The descriptions of the book suggest that it might not be for the squeamish (like me), but it does have faeries in it, and it is a fantasy debut so I’ve marked it down for Crawford reading.

Next Saturday Jack will be giving a talk at the M-Shed. The synopsis is as follows:

Jack Wolf explores characters and writers who were (probably or possibly) transgender and discuss his research into real life 18th/19thC women who chose to live as men. He will also discuss the challenge of writing a trans character in a historical novel whose experiences are as real as possible yet still make sense to modern readers.

I’d love to be there, but of course I have to be at Microcon. However, Jack has recorded an interview for ShoutOut which will be broadcast on Thursday. I look forward to hearing that (on podcast because I’m going to this).

Recommended Reading

~ Cheryl

The Locus Recommended Reading List was published at the beginning of this month. Many of the books listed on it are available from the Wizard’s Tower bookstore. I thought it would be a good idea to remind you all of some of them.

Top of the list has to be Jagannath, the wonderful debut collection from Karin Tidbeck. I say that because the book has also won this year’s Crawford Award. We’ve sold lots copies of Jagannath, but there might still be a few people who don’t have it. It is a lovely book.

As for the rest of the list, here are the ones we have.

The final book, Through Splintered Walls, is on the list because of the novella, “Sky”, which is on the Recommended Reading list and takes up much of the book.

New Feminist SF Study

~ Cheryl

Last night I got email from Lyda Morehouse drawing my attention to Cyberpunk Women, Feminism and Science Fiction: A Critical Study by Carlen Lavigne. It sounds very interesting, and Lyda understands that it mentions the AngeLINK series quite a bit. Of course being an academic work it is ferociously expensive, but the ebook is more in my range. Before I commit my $20, has anyone out there read it? Opinions?

Talking of Lyda, I’ve just listened to the latest Outer Alliance podcast, which is a live recording of a panel on QUILTBAG SF&F from Arisia. One of the audience members gives an enthusiastic recommendation for Lyda’s books. There are lots of other great recommendations in the show notes too. Good job, Julia.

New From Book View Cafe

~ Cheryl

We have three new releases from Book View Cafe today.

First up is a YA fantasy from the fabulous Judith Tarr, His Majesty’s Elephant. It sounds like an Arabian Nights type thing from the blurb.

Secondly we have a science fiction mystery, Pure Cold Light. The blurb is a bit mysterious too, but the book is by Greg Frost so I’m sure it will be great.

And finally I’m delighted to be able to offer for sale, Space Magic, the debut collection from my friend David D. Levine. The book contains “Tk’Tk’Tk”, which is a Hugo winner, and “The Tale of the Golden Eagle”, which was a Hugo and nebula nominee, plus a couple of other award winning tales. Recommended.

New From Osier

~ Cheryl

We have a new Morgan Gallagher novel in the bookstore. Bedlam Maternity is a horror novel about a ghost that appears to be killing new mothers. It sounds way too disturbing for me, which probably means that some of you will lap it up.

Yesterday’s Radio

~ Cheryl

My appearances on local radio yesterday are now available as podcasts. The Ujima Radio show was all about China, in honor of the Chinese New Year. In this segment, around 23 minutes in, you can hear me enthusing about Ken Liu and Guy Gavriel Kay.

Somewhat to my surprise, I also featured in yesterday’s Shout Out Bristol. The entire show is given over to the hot topics of marriage equality and LGBT History Month. Around 45 minutes in there is a selection of sound clips from the two launch events. You get part of my speech opening the exhibition immediately after the Lord Mayor.

New From Wizard’s Tower – The Swordsman’s Oath

~ Cheryl

It is new book time again. The second volume of the Tales of Einarinn, Juliet E. McKenna’s debut fantasy series, is now available in our store. My thanks again to Juliet for allowing me to publish these books, and to the good folks at Antimatter ePress who did the conversion. Juliet has talked about the genesis of the book over at her blog. I always find find her thoughts about the process of creating novels to be well worth reading. And as I can’t add much to what she said, I’m going to put my publisher hat on instead and encourage you to buy The Swordsman’s Oath.

Now I need to get on and put it in other stores as well.

The Locus Recommended Reading List

~ Cheryl

The February issue of Locus arrived today with the usual feature for this time for year, the Recommended Reading List. As with others years, I have had a small part in the preparation of this. No work ever gets on the List on the say so of just one person, but I’m pleased to see many works whose cause I championed on the List (and to see happy authors tweeting about their entries). Every year we get a little bit more diverse, and this makes me happy.

When I get time I’ll do a post about books on the list that I happen to have for sale. Right now, however, sleep beckons.

Happy New Book Day, Karen Lord

~ Cheryl

Those of you in the UK (or who buy from The Book Depository) are now able to buy Karen Lord’s new novel, The Best of all Possible Worlds. (Amazon says that the US edition in due out on February 12th). I’m celebrating by posting my review. I got an e-ARC off NetGalley weeks ago, but the review took quite a bit of work including, unusually, talking to the author about the book. I note that Karen has not told me that I have correctly understood the book, but then she hadn’t told me that I’ve got it completely wrong either.

One of the reasons I like Lord’s writing so much is that she makes me think a lot. That is, after all, why I got into science fiction in the first place. I’ll be fascinated to see what sort of reviews the book gets, but hopefully a lot of you will like it as much as I do.

Women Warriors at Ujima

~ Cheryl

The podcasts from yesterday’s shows at Ujima are now available worldwide.

I started off with a slot in the last 10 minutes of the Tommy Popcorn show, where I got to preview LGBT History Month. Many thanks to Tommy for inviting me on.

The discussion of warrior women comes in the first half hour of the Women’s Outlook show (which I see the Ujima website still has incorrectly titled). I managed to get in some discussion of Julian May’s Saga of the Exiles, and Justina Robson’s Quantum Gravity series. The other people on the podcast loved the picture of Lila Black on the cover of Down to the Bone. I was hoping to get a mention in for Kameron Hurley’s Bel Dame Apocrypha as well (I love the opening of Rapture, which I wanted to read), but there’s only so much time available on live radio.

The second half hour of that segment features some women drummers who are a lot of fun and are clearly doing useful woman-positive work. I find it very sad to find such people insistent that they are Not Feminists, because to them Feminism is all about hating men. I blame you for this, Julie Bindel.

I’m also involved in the Lighter Side of Life segment in the first 15 minutes of the second hour of the show. That’s all about “What’s in a woman’s handbag?”. So if you want to know what is in mine, do listen in.

Next week I’m doing a slot on the main Outlook show where we celebrate Chinese New Year. Women’s Outlook takes a break until the 20th when, it being February, we’ll be doing love stories.