Wizard’s Tower

Juliet Gets Reviewed

~ Cheryl

I don’t get many reviews for Wizard’s Tower books because they are mostly reprints and professional reviewers much prefer to cover new material. However, I was pleased to see a review of Juliet McKenna’s Turns & Chances done by Jo Hall. You can read the whole thing here, but the comment I have picked out for use in sales situations is as follows:

The reader also gets a real sense of depth, of the world stretching away beyond the narrow confines of these pages, both in time and space. It’s an impressive achievement.

That encapsulates pretty much what readers want from Epic Fantasy, a world that seems real, rather than just being a pile of cheap Hollywood flats borrowed from a failed production of The Lord of the Rings. Juliet, as an historian, is very good at this sort of thing.

By the way, over the weekend I was checking the final draft of our ebook of The Thief’s Gamble. It will be a few weeks yet before you can buy it because Juliet has deadlines for her latest novel, Defiant Peaks, but it will not be long now.

New From Lethe

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

My friends at Lethe Press have sent me a new ebook edition of a classic work of gay science fiction. Exile in Paradise by Dirk Vanden (Richard Fullmer) was first published in 1969, the same year as the Stonewall riots. The original publisher called the book Twin Orbs because they liked salacious puns, but I believe that Exile in Paradise is the author’s preferred title.

I see that there is no mention of Vanden in the Science Fiction Encyclopedia. I shall have words with the management. There’s a good interview will him at Lambda Literary.

New Fantasy from Book View Café

~ Cheryl

Yesterday I told you about the science fiction new books from Book View Café. Today it is the turn of fantasy.

First up we have From Whence You Came by Laura Anne Gilman.This is set in the same world as her Nebula-nominated Vineart War trilogy, but centuries earlier.

In addition we have The Hounds of God by Judith Tarr. This is the third and final volume of Tarr’s famous series, the Hound and the Falcon. The other two volumes (also available in the store) are The Isle of Glass and The Golden Horn.

New SF from Book View Café

~ Cheryl

I have three new science fiction books available in the bookstore today. They are all published by Book View Café. There are two new fantasy books as well, but I’ll leave those for tomorrow.

Pride of place should go to the Chaos Chronicles omnibus by Jeffrey A. Carver. This is a three volume series packaged together as one and selling for only £4.49. We also have a new short story collection from Carver, Going Alien.

Also new in store is a short story collection called Female Science Fiction Writer by Amy Sterling Casil. See, they do exist! And with a title like that, how can you resist.

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The WSFA Small Press Award

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

This is a favorite award of mine, and one I’m growing even more fond of now I have my own publishing company and bookstore. The Washington Science Fiction Association (that’s Washington DC, not Washington State) gives out an award each year to a fine short story published by a small press. The nominees for 2012 were released just before Worldcon and the news got a bit buried by the Hugo excitement, so I’m giving them a signal boost. Besides, You can buy lots of the nominees in my store.

The full list of nominees is available here. I’d like to highlight the following.

From Clarkesworld we have “A Militant Peace” by David Klecha and Tobias S. Buckell (issue #62) and “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” by Lily Yu (issue #55).

From Fantasy we have “Lessons from a Clockwork Queen” by Megan Arkenberg (issue #54).

From Twelfth Planet Press there’s “The Patrician” from Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Love and Romanpunk collection.

And from Book View Café we have “What Ho, Automaton!” by Chris Dolley, which is available in the anthology Shadow Conspiracy, Volume II (edited by Phyllis Irene Radford and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff) and as a stand-alone volume. Chris has produced a celebratory version of the stand-alone book with steampunk-themed drop caps. As I know some ereaders mess up dropcaps I’ve left both versions available when you buy the book.

Finally, though sadly not in the store, I’d like to mention “Yesterday’s Taste” by Lawrence M. Schoen which appeared in Transtories, the last book edited by my much missed friend, Colin Harvey. Colin would have been so proud.

New From Fox Spirit

~ Cheryl

There will be a lot of new books added to the store this week. I have a mailbox full of material from Book View Café that arrived this morning. Before that, however, we have the weekend’s deliveries: two new books from the new British small press, Fox Spirit.

Shadows is a psychological horror novel from South African writer, Joan De La Haye. I’m not sure that I’m up for a book whose heroine is plagued by thoughts of suicide, but I’m sure some of you will appreciate it.

Tales from the Nun and Dragon is a themed fantasy anthology edited by Adele Wearing. There are 23 stories altogether, and they all center around the pub in the book’s title (though doubtless no two authors imagine it in the same way). There are 23 stories, and the biggest name amongst the contributors is probably Adrian Tchaikovsky. I’ve sold two already, which is always heartwarming.

On The Radio

~ Cheryl

This coming Saturday my good friends at Shout Out radio in Bristol have an all-day show in addition to their usual one-hour Thursday evening slot. I have been invited to appear on the “Out and About” show with Mary and Ben. I’ll be talking mainly about science fiction and fantasy: LGBT writers, Wizard’s Tower, and BristolCon. I believe that I’ll also be taking part in a later, more general session discussing the latest LGBT news stories, but I’m not sure when that will be.

Shout Out shows are usually archived online so that you can listen to them later at your leisure. I’m pretty sure that will happen with these shows as well, so West Coast people don’t need to get up early to listen to me.

Shout Out flier

September Magazines

~ Cheryl

Just because Worldcon is happening it doesn’t mean that magazine production schedules get put on hold. The new issues of Clarkesworld and Lightspeed continue to come out like clockwork. What have we got for you this month?

The headline story from Clarkesworld is a team effort by David Klecha and Tobias S. Buckell. It is a science fiction story called “The Found Girl”, and as usual is also available in audio, narrated by Kate Baker.

Also in fiction is “Robot” by Helena Bell which, on a quick glance, is not about a robot at all. And then there is “muo-ka’s Child” by Indrapramit Das, a Clarion graduate from Kolkata. Jonathan Strahan and Ian Mond were talking about Das in the inaugural Last Short Story podcast. I have a feeling we’ll be discovering a lot of writers from India in the coming years.

The non-fiction starts with a fascinating biography of Canadian scientist, Omond Solandt, written by Jason S. Ridler. Jeremy interviews Nick Mamatas and Paul Tremblay about the practice of satire. And Chesya Burke’s Another World column looks at a new form of magical negro stereotype.

The cover for this issue is “Awe at Thistledown” by Angel Nieves.

That leaves us with Neil Clarke’s editorial. Firstly I’m delighted to see that his health is much improved, and I wholeheartedly support those who encouraged him not to go to Worldcon. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for him in the Editor: Short Form category. The editorial, however, focuses more on the Word Fantasy Award nomination. The “Special Award Non-Professional” tends to irritate most of the people who get nominate for it because no one likes it being suggested that they are unprofessional. For Clarkesworld, however, it is an acknowledgement that the people who produce it are largely unpaid (except in Hugos). Neil has taken the opportunity to announce that he has set a new goal – to be able to pay the staff. I’m delighted to see him do that, and I hope he succeeds. You can help, by paying money for the magazine rather than reading it for free.

The new issue of Lightspeed is also available in the store. I’m pleased to see them include a Harry Harrison story in the issue. There’s the usual profusion of fiction, both original and reprint. Non-fiction includes an interview with John Scalzi. And the ebook exclusive novella is Walter John Williams’ Nebula winning “The Green Leopard Plague”.

Welcome Osier Publishing

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

We have a new publisher in the bookstore. Osier Publishing is a UK-based small press specializing mainly in fantasy. You can see a list of their books here.

I haven’t read any of their books, but one thing I did note is that one of their authors is Morgan Gallagher, who is a frequent commenter here. That makes them sort of family. Please do check out their books.

Book Review – Beyond Binary

~ Cheryl

I’m almost caught up on book reviews now. The latest one is for Brit Mandelo’s anthology, Beyond Binary, which is a book that I probably had unrealistically high hopes for, and which nevertheless managed to provide a lot of stories that I liked a lot. It is certainly a book that I’m proud to have in the store. You can read the review here.

Happy Birthday Andromeda

~ Cheryl

What’s the most long-running English language SF fiction magazine that you have never heard of? I’m guessing that it will be the Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and I’m guessing that because it is published in Australia which makes distribution challenging. However, they have been publishing for 10 years, and to celebrate their anniversary issue is available in epub. And that means it is available in the bookstore.

You can learn more about the magazine and the people behind it at their website.

Hopefully we’ll have more issues available soon.

New from Prime

~ Cheryl

I’ve been neglecting Wizard’s Tower a bit over the past couple of weeks because of the high pressure day job stuff, but I’m pleased to say that I’ve found time to add some new titles to the bookstore. These are all new releases from Prime Books.

First up is a anthology that is presumably cashing in on the current fashion for circus stories. It is a reprint anthology, but that means you get some great material. The finest circus stories around, from people like Peter Straub, Amanda Downum, Jeff VanderMeer, Genevieve Valentine, Kij Johnson, Chris Barzak, Holly Black and Howard Waldrop. Circus: Fantasy Under the Big Top – go for it!

Next we have a new collection from a very fine and under-appreciated author, Holly Phillips. I loved her first collection, In the Palace of Repose, and I’m sure that At the Edge of Waking will be just as good.

And finally, for those of you who can’t get enough gore, Paula Guran has put together an anthology of the most repulsive and disgusting tales of the zombie apocalypse that she can find. If your brains have not yet been eaten enough, you need Extreme Zombies.

Eew, guess which one I won’t be reading. Still, it takes all sorts. If brain eating is your thing, I’m happy to help, so to speak.

Interrogated by Angry Robots

~ Cheryl

Which isn’t nearly as painful as you might think. That nice Darren Turpin droid from the Robot Trading Company has done an interview with me for the store’s blog. You can read the results here.

The sharp-eyed amongst you might spot mention of a new book from Wizard’s Tower. Project Colinthology has finally got to the point where I can mention it in public. If all goes well, it will be available at BristolCon. E-book only, I’m afraid, because all of the money is going to Colin’s favorite charity, Above and Beyond.

New From Lethe

~ Cheryl

I’ve got three new books from Lethe Press this week. Green Thumb, a novella by Tom Cardamone, sounds interesting:

Mutability blooms in the Florida Keys after the Red War. The genie boxes created King Pelicans with single human hands to rule the ruins of half-drowned Miami…and other, stranger persons.

We also have a collection by Alex Jeffers, You Will Meet a Stranger Far from Home. But the book I’m most interested in is Lauriat: A Filipino-Chinese Speculative Fiction Anthology, edited by the inimitable Charles A. Tan. That’s bound to offer something different.

August Magazines

~ Cheryl

And lo, a new month starts, and a whole pile of new reading material arrives. What’s more, Clarkesworld has a new look to the website.

But what’s inside? I hear you ask. Well, how about stories by Kij Johnson (“Mantis Wives”) and Cat Valente (“Fade to White”)? I feel kind of sorry for Sofia Samatar being sandwiched between those two, but I’m sure that “Honey Bear” must be really good or it would not have got in. Kate Baker, as always, narrates the stories, starting with “Mantis Wives” with the other two to follow.

In the non-fiction, Jeff Seymour talks about magic systems, Jeremy interviews China Miéville, and Daniel Abraham discussed the relationship between plausibility and truth.

In his editorial, Neil talks about suffering a heart attack while at ReaderCon, and having a kidney stone operation soon thereafter. Take it easy, buddy. We all want to see you well.

The cover is “Space Journey” by Martin Faragasso who is from Argentina. As always, the magazine is available in the bookstore.

Not to be outdone in the big names stakes, the August issue of Lightspeed contains a new story by the magnificent Ken Liu, and the ebook exclusive is a novella by Joe Haldeman.

Gays Go Wilde 2012

~ Cheryl

New in the bookstore this week is the latest in the Wilde Stories anthologies, which are best of the year collections of speculative fiction about gay men. This year’s edition contains stories by people like Rick Bowes, Chris Barzack and Ellen Kushner (yes, it is a Riverside story). As ever, the book is edited by Steve Berman. You can buy Wilde Stories 2012 here.

And while we are on the subject, Lethe Press have also sent me two new books in the Astreiant series. Point of Hopes is the final novel co-authored by Melissa Scott and her late partner, Lisa A. Barnett. Point of Knives is a novella by Scott which takes place between the events of Point of Dreams and Point of Hopes.

Fantasy Mistressworks

~ Cheryl ~ 8 Comments

Over at the Fantasy Mistressworks blog Amanda Rutter has posted a list of 50 top fantasy books by women. As with most such things, it is a bit of a mystery to me. I don’t understand how one can have a list of top fantasy by women and not include Ellen Kushner, Liz Hand, or Caitlin Kiernan, for example. But these things are all subjective. I’m not blogging to complain. I’m blogging to celebrate the fact that the list includes The Thief’s Gamble by Juliet E. McKenna, which I will be publishing soon (hopefully next month, but quality before speed). Golly gosh, what with this and Lyda’s award-studded series, I’m starting to feel like a real publisher.

More Books – Lyda Morehouse’s AngeLINK Series

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

It wasn’t that long ago that Wizard’s Tower had only published three books. The beginning of this year, in fact. Now we have two more on sale, and five more announced. No, make that nine more announced. Because I have just sent out the press release about the forthcoming ebook editions of the AngeLINK series by Lyda Morehouse. Those of you who have been reading me since Emerald City days will know that I am very fond of these books. They won a bunch of awards too. As soon as I found out that Lyda was looking to do ebooks I jumped at the chance. Science fiction, by a woman writer, with ethnic diversity, and a transgender archangel? No brainer.

Obviously it will take time to get the ebooks made, and I have Juliet’s novels to publish as well, so the rest of the year is going to be quite busy. Thankfully we have the good folks at Antimatter doing most of the legwork on the Tales of Einarinn books. I’m not making any promises, but I’m hoping for one book a month for several months to come.

There’s at least three more books I’d like to do as well. How is it you do without sleep again?