young adult

Blog Posts

Book Review: A Quill Ladder by Jennifer Ellis (with an Interview)

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For my May contribution to this year’s focus on female writers, I wanted to feature two young adult SciFi/Fantasy titles written by women authors whose work I enjoy and initially discovered by happenstance:  Jennifer Ellis and Frances Hardinge. Even if you don’t typically read YA, you certainly know some children or young adults who are looking for good reads in the genre, and both of these writers deserve plenty of appreciation. First up for this post is Jennifer Ellis. Ellis is an indie author from Canada who writes both middle-grade science fiction/fantasy novels and adult dystopic novels featuring elements of adventure, romance, and environmental themes. I discovered her work through a Goodreads giveaway listing for her adult novel In the Shadows of the Mosquito Constellation. It looked potentially interesting to me, but looking at her website and blog really sold me on taking the time to check out the novel. Though I didn’t win the giveaway, I was able to get an electronic version directly from her; immediately upon starting it, I was drawn in and impressed through the end.

Blog Posts

My Superpower: Arwen Elys Dayton (Seeker)

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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 Arwen Elys Dayton to talk about how the power of temporary hyperdrive relates to Seeker. My new book, Seeker, is set in the near future in Scotland and Hong Kong. The teens in this story have spent years on a remote estate, undergoing often brutal training with some really interesting weapons. All of this is to become a Seeker, one who uses this special training and weaponry to make the world better and more fair — the characters look on their calling as something like a futuristic version of the Knights Templar, committed to doing what’s right. Naturally, as the author of this story, it would be awesome if I had a special ability with weapons or hand to hand combat or languages or anything related to the book. I would love to be one of my characters. I did watch a lot of Bruce Lee films as a kid; I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in the weapons section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and I went to a very international high school, so I can swear in a lot of different languages…but unfortunately, I don’t think any of these traits rise to superpower level.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

230. Celine Kiernan (a.k.a. the Ghost of Nimh) — Into the Grey (An Interview)

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode230AnInterviewWCelineKiernan/SandF%20–%20Episode%20230%20–%20An%20Interview%20w%20Celine%20Kiernan.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSGhost children, night terrors, and mislabeled books, oh my!  It’s been far too long since Celine Kiernan was last on our show.  And that’s why we asked her back to discuss her novel, Into the Grey, which recently released in the United States.  We discuss her influences, writing stories in a recent Irish past, and 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 230 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Celine’s Website Celine’s Twitter Celine’s Books Into the Grey Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0).  Additional music from “Black Vortex” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

Blog Posts

My Superpower: Tansy Rayner Roberts

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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 Tansy Rayner Roberts to talk about how the power of Feminist Snark relates to Kaleidoscope. ————————————– My name is Tansy Rayner Roberts, and my superpower is Feminist Snark. Being a feminist with everyday access to the internet and a deep interest in superhero comics is pretty hard work at times. If it wasn’t for snark, I’d have set fire to my web browser long ago. But a sense of humour, sarcasm and an ability to communicate righteous fury through blogging can save the day. Luckily, I’m not the only one who harnesses my feminist snark for good rather than evil. When Starfire was turned into a personality-free sexbot in the New 52, David Willis of Shortpacked was there to make a point with a well-timed comic strip. When the idea of a female Thor rocketed through fandom (causing misogynist waves of disapproval in amongst the ‘hell yeahs’) Joss Whedon used the snarky hammer of sarcasm to cut through the nonsense. Gail Simone’s tweet stream, DC Women Kicking Ass on Tumblr, and the Mary Sue are all part of my support network. They are, in the words of Gail Simone, my She-vengers. The thing they all have in common? Feminist Snark as a superpower.

Blog Posts

Mining the Genre Asteroid: Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin

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A century and a half after Earth has been wrecked, humanity exists in two spheres. There are the hardscrabble colonies, where survival is the watchword, as man tries to live on alien, often unfriendly environments. The people are often poor, desperate and technologically backward. And then there are the Ships that travel the spaceways. Technologically advanced and relatively rich, the Ships have a strict regime for keeping themselves from being overpopulated. Every person who reaches their fourteenth birthday must train for an ordeal called the Trial.

Giveaways

Giveaway: James Dashner’s The Kill Order AND The Eye of Minds + Dashnerian Swag!

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That’s right.  We’ve got two books to give away this week as part of James Dashner’s blog tour for the paperback edition of The Kill Order.  Entry is going to be super simple.  All you need to do is answer this question in the comments OR via Twitter (@skiffyandfanty — use the hashtag #dashnerarmy) OR via email (skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com — use the subject line Dashner Giveaway): What is your favorite young adult fantasy or science fiction novel? So get your entries in right away.  The giveaway will close on January 24th, 2014 (Friday).  Winners will be announced on the following Monday. On top of that, Dashner’s Army is going to give away some swag (t-shirts, etc.) if they reach 1,000 members.  Joining is pretty darn easy.  You just need to go here and sign up!

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