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Book Review: Veil of the Deserters by Jeff Salyards

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In a border kingdom of the Syldoon Empire, a long-range military unit has gotten itself too tangled with local politics for its own good. Its commander, Captain Killcoin, having lost one of the few people who can keep him all together with his dangerous mind-warping weapon Bloodsounder, is in a heap of trouble with higher ups in the Empire. Trouble enough that one of the most dangerous people in the Empire has been fetched to bring him home — his sister. The completion of Killcoin’s task and the journey home to the capital  is not going to be a straight road by any means. And chronicling, witnessing, watching this all, an unlikely protagonist — a scribe, with little military skill, who is only slowly shedding his callowness. He’s hired by the Syldoon for purposes only now becoming clear. Purposes that could shake an Empire. Arkamondos is in way, way over his head.

Blog Posts

Book Review: The Best Fantasy and Science Fiction of the Year, Volume 8

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While not quite Dozois-sized in the number of stories and pages it contains, The Best Fantasy and Science Fiction of the Year Volume 8 edited by Jonathan Strahan does have one major advantage over its counterpart. Strahan, unlike Gardner Dozois’s own yearly tomes, boldly mixes both science fiction and fantasy into one volume, rather than trying to figure out what belongs in Science Fiction and what is firmly in the domain of fantasy. Eight volumes in, Strahan’s editorial voice in selecting the best of the year from both SF and fantasy together is distinctive and strong. The stories are:

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

205. Mary Anne Mohanraj & Cecilia Tan at ICFA (An Interview) #WorldSFTour

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode205MaryAnneMohanrajAndCeciliaTanAtICFA/SandF%20–%20Episode%20205%20–%20Mary%20Anne%20Mohanraj%20and%20Cecilia%20Tan%20at%20ICFA.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSri Lanka, erotica, and world sf futures, oh my!  Mary Anne Mohanraj and Cecilia Tan join Julia and Shaun at ICFA to discuss a whole lot of amazing things.  We cover the history of Circlet Press, the nature of erotic sf/f, Mary’s incredible The Stars Change, Sri Lankan politics, sexuality and genre, immigration from South Asia and assimilation in the West, and so much more. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 205 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Mary Anne’s Website Mary Anne’s Books Mary Anne’s Twitter Cecilia’s Website Cecilia’s Books Cecilia’s Twitter Circlet Press You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible.  Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

Blog Posts

My Superpower: James L. Sutter

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My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome James L. Sutter to talk about how the power of talking about the important things relates to The Redemption Engine. —————————————— When asked what my superpower is, I’d usually talk about sneezomancy. For reasons unbeknownst to me, my sneezes are a reliable indicator of my general health. One sneeze means I’m getting sick. Two sneezes means I’m fine. Three or more sneezes means “wow, it’s dusty in here!” Not exactly the sort of thing that gets one onto the X-Men, right? So in getting ready for this article, I started rifling frantically through other powers. The ability to bend my thumb back, like, really far. The ability to eat several pounds of blueberries in a sitting without Serious Gastronomic Distress. The ability to consistently hit the high note in “Take On Me.” And then I realized that I actually have a superpower that permeates every aspect of my life. I can talk to people about things that matter. In fact, I adore it.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

203. Stephanie Saulter (a.k.a. The Jeweler) — Gemsigns (An Interview) #worldsftour

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode203InterviewWStephanieSaulter/Sandf–Episode203–InterviewWStephanieSaulter.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSGenetic mutations, civil rights, and pandemics, oh my!  Stina and Shaun join forces to interview Stephanie Saulter about her novel, Gemsigns, which was released yesterday in the United States.  We talk about imagining changing cultures, technological advancements, religion, civil rights, and how all of these things are tied to her incredible sf novel! You U.K. folks can get Binary, the sequel, right now.  What are you waiting for?  Go.  Now.  Why are you still here?  GET!  There’s a Waterstones somewhere near you.  Don’t come back until you have both of the books in hand (OK, so you can come back without it, but we recommend the “buy books now” option). We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 203 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Stephanie’s Website Stephanie’s Books Stephanie’s Twitter Jo Fletcher Books You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible.  Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

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