Lit Bits: Eric Brown and Dan Henk — New Books From Anarchy!
We’ve become huge fans of Anarchy Books in the last year. Maybe it’s because they keep publishing fascinating and hard-hitting works of speculative goodness. Or maybe it’s because we read Remic’s novel (Serial Killers Inc.), came out completely screwed up in the head, and can’t seem to go back to normal. Either way, any time we hear about something new coming out of the Anarchy universe, we want to tell you all about it. This week, Anarchy Books announced two new upcoming books, one by Eric Brown (who folks should know by now) and Dan Henk. We’re stoked, to say the least! Here’s the info: Saturday 19th November is a date for your diaries, with Anarchy Books releasing not one wholesome SF novel, but two! First comes New York Nights by SF Heavyweight, Eric Brown. “New York 2040 is a city of the lost. So, a good place to work in Missing Persons. But business is not so good that Hal Halliday can forget his sister, burned alive when she was a child. Now, only VR offers the chance to bring her back. The future may yet allow Hal to live in the past – if he can survive his next job…” Described by Peter F. Hamilton as “the name to watch in SF“, and Brown’s novel HELIX described by Stephen Baxter as, “a classic concept – a built world to dwarf Rama and Ringworld – a setting for a hugely imaginative adventure. Helix is the very DNA of true sf. This is the rediscovery of wonder”, this first digital release of New York Nights is available as a PDF, EPUB or MOBI format, for the low price of £1.99. Artwork by Jethro Lentle. Check out www.anarchy-books.com. The second “SF Saturday” release emerges from the crazy imagination of famous tattoo artist Dan Henk. The Black Seas of Infinity is Dan Henk’s debut novel, and what a powerhouse of action SF it is! “Visions of pulp era heroes fill his thoughts. Taking advanced physics, he dreams big, but harsh reality bites as he grows up, and he resigns himself to building surveillance drones for the military. After a brief probative period, he’s unexpectedly moved into the clandestine world of investigating crashed alien craft. Fascinated beyond anything he thought possible, it’s a dream come true but his lack of social skills get him fired. However, he’s seen too much – and a year later returns to pull off a bloody heist… Fleeing into the woods with the military in hot pursuit, he makes a mad scramble up the coast. It’s only then he discovers the world has grown strange. Businesses are closed. Highways deserted. The US has become fractured… Trigger happy locals and violent militias are only the beginning. Death, madness, and the unwelcome return of creatures from beyond this world await…” Think X-Files crossed with Alastair Reynolds and you’ll begin to get a picture of where Dan’s stunning original SF writing will lead you… The Black Seas of Infinity is available in PDF, EPUB or MOBI flavours, for the low low price of £1.99. Artwork and internal illustrations by Dan Henk. Check out www.anarchy-books.com.
Lit Bits: Cover Art Revealed for China Mieville’s Railsea
China Mieville’s new novel, Railsea, now has a cover: I like it. What do you all think?
Lit Bits: Angry Robot Signs Two “Open Door Month” Authors
Here’s the press release: Like most successful publishers, Angry Robot generally only accepts submissions through literary agencies. Earlier this year, however, the company ran a pilot programme to see how many unpublished – but talented – authors there were without representation. During March, Angry Robot invited all un-agented authors to submit completed manuscripts as part of an “Open Door Month”. Over 990 novels were submitted during that period. Today, Angry Robot are delighted to announce the first acquisitions from the first Open Door Month. Two new authors,
? of the Week: SF/F TV Netflix Should Bring Back?
The folks at Netflix are putting their hands in the production box and trying to bring back some favorite shows like Arrested Development. But as Gamma Squad notes: You know what, Netflix? There’s no SF in that mix; let us help you out. They’ve listed Firefly, Reaper, Pushing Daisies, and Justice League Unlimited. That’s an interesting list, but what we want to know is this: If Netflix could bring back any science fiction or fantasy television show, live action or animated, which one should they bring back and why? Me? I’d love to see Firefly come back, but I’m smart enough to know that a reboot in any form would be disastrous. How do you bring back a show when half the lovable characters are dead or changed for the good? I don’t know. I want a reboot so bad, but it will probably never happen… But there are other shows I’d love to see come back. It would be amazing to have someone reboot Space: Above and Beyond. Don’t start where they left off, but redo the entire concept a la Battlestar Galactica. Why? Because the show had so much potential when FOX produced it way back in the day. It was one of the few shows I’ve ever seen that took seriously the idea of an interstellar war. But it was flawed beyond reason. The series had a lot of bad writing, some mediocre acting, and undeveloped plot points (the conflicts between humanity proper and the two versions of synthetic life could have been developed with more fervor). So that’s what I would like to see get a reboot. For now. In a week, my mind might change… Now it’s your turn!
RIP — Realms of Fantasy, III
SF Scope reports that Realms of Fantasy, which was previously purchased from Warren Lapine by the people behind Damnation Books (Lapine had purchased it from the original owners), is once more closing its doors. Citing financial problems, the current owners said During our time with the magazine we picked up without missing a single issue and were lucky enough to produce the 100th issue. We were able to introduce poetry and bring back the table top gaming column. We have been truly amazed at the positive feedback on the issues we have produced from all of the fans. This is what makes this decision so painful for us. As we were considering closing the magazine we thought it was important for the October 2011 issue to be released in print for the fans. We did this knowing there would not be a return on the investment, but did it simply because we felt it was right. This does mean the October 2011 issue will be the last issue. The issue did go to newsstands and we have copies for those who are not active subscribers. Realms of Fantasy will be available for sale from the current owners, who can be reached here: support [at] rofmag [dot] com. Other inquiries can be sent to the same address. Editors Shawna McCarthy and Douglas Cohen have posted their fairwells here and here. Needless to say, I’m quite sad about this. I was excited when they announced they would open to electronic submissions in the near future, since it would make RoF top on my list for my fantasy work. But now we’re one major market short in the short story world, which makes writing short stories with reckless abandon. Something tells me that the future of the short story isn’t looking very good. There’ll be plenty of places to submit to, of course, but the value of the short story in the SF/F field may fall to the wayside. Then again, I may be a little pessimistic. What do you all make of the announcement?
? of the Week: Is Amazon Devaluing Books?
Over at RT Book Reviews they’re wondering whether Amazon has an impact on how we value books. Amazon is the premiere source for cheap books, as we all know, but is its aggressive practices to make books cheaper and more accessible to consumers good for writers? From the article: But many authors and industry insiders worry that Amazon’s extremely low price scheme will end up devaluing authors’ work. Discussing Amazon’s low prices, Carina Press’ Angela James tweeted, “Don’t train readers to believe the full value of a book was in the paper it was printed on, not your creative content!” And author Moira Rogers replied via tweet, “Or the difference in prices between formats. I do think the devaluation of the story goes a lot deeper than e-books.” To piggy back onto their concerns, we’d like to know what you think. Is Amazon devaluing books or the creative process? Let us know in the comments.
