(1) MACHINE AGAINST THE RAGE. Get your Murderbot fix from Twitter’s MurderBotBot. (2) KEEP THE ARMOR ON THE SHELF. The Society for Creative Anachronism has extended its suspension to the end of May 2021: “Resolution to Suspend In-Person SCA Activity … Continue reading →
The winner of the 2020 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year was announced in a virtual ceremony on December 3. Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen, Translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books; Finland) The author and the translator of … Continue reading →
Dream Foundry has announced the finalists in its contests for speculative fiction writers and artists. The Writing Contest finalists are: Jennifer Bushroe Tehnuka Ilanko Allison King Monique Laban Julia Leef P.H. Low Finn McLellan Rodrigo Assis Mesquita Lisabelle Tay Nick Thomas … Continue reading →
(1) WORLDWIDE SFF. The editor makes his pitch: “Celebrating International Speculative Fiction: Lavie Tidhar on The Best of World SF Anthology”. …I spent the past decade trying to pitch a simple idea to publishers: a mass market anthology of international speculative fiction … Continue reading →
Audible has deflected criticism of their returns policy by curtailing the time when a return would be charged against a writer’s royalties from a year to seven days. However, the authors who initially raised the issue question what difference that … Continue reading →
(1) SFPA OFFICER ELECTIONS. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association announced the outcome of its recent elections. Incumbent President, Bryan Thao Worra, was voted in to continue.The new Vice President is Colleen Anderson, and the new Secretary is Brian … Continue reading →
The Speculative Literature Foundation has announced that Kanyinsola Olorunnisola is the winner of the 2020 Diverse Writers Grant and Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is the winner of the 2020 Diverse Worlds Grant. Olorunnisola was awarded the Diverse Writers Grant for his work … Continue reading →
(1) DISCON III ASKS QUESTIONS. Should DisCon III, the 2021 Worldcon, move its date, should it emphasize virtual or in-person participation? The committee has launched a survey to find what fans think: We’re working hard to figure out the … Continue reading →
Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) members have honored Linda Addison as their 2020 Grand Master. Addison accepted the award saying: I’m speechless and overwhelmed with joy to be selected as the 2020 SFPA Grandmaster! I didn’t dare dream about … Continue reading →
The winner of the 2020 Prix Goncourt, the French equivalent to the Booker Prize or National Book Award, has been announced and it’s a genre novel. The novel in question is L’Anomalie (The Anomaly) by Hervé Le Tellier. France 24’s article “Futuristic … Continue reading →
By John Hertz: Cat Eldridge wrote a birthday notice for C.S. Lewis recently. Some of us talked about Lewis’ trilogy of Earth-Mars-Venus travel books, Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength. You may have seen last year that Perelandra was one of two books … Continue reading →
(1) FLIGHT WORN ART. Artist Gregory Manchess tells how he designed the Dragon Crew One patch – and how he got the gig in the first place: “Mission Patch: Crew One” at Muddy Colors. …Through a convoluted process of attending … Continue reading →
Next year fans will choose the site of the 2023 Worldcon: Chengdu, China and Memphis, TN (USA) are currently in contention. Beyond that? An abundance of new Worldcon bids have responded to SMOFCon 37-1/4’s call for questionnaires — Israel, Los … Continue reading →
For over 25 years, the Wild Cards universe has been entertaining readers with stories of superpowered people in an alternate history. When a mysterious stranger approaches Wally Gunderson, a.k.a Rustbelt, about running for Jokertown City Council, he doesn’t think twice about it. His first move? Hiring an unlikely campaign manager – Mordecai Albert Jones, the Harlem Hammer. Together they’ll discover the ins and outs of local politics, and whether conspiracy theorist Sparkjob is actually crazy… or just on to something? “Call Darcy.” The voice was faint but crystal clear, in exactly the way Mordecai Albert Jones sometimes imagined would presage the creeping onset of dementia. He paused in dismantling an Imperial LeBaron land yacht, straining to listen past the fading shriek of torn metal. But the scrap yard was quiet; he heard only the thrum of a chill spring wind and clinking of chains somewhere nearby. With a shrug, he tore the junker’s hood down the middle like a piece of tissue paper, extracting the mercury switch from the trunk light. It was getting difficult to find spare mercury just lying around these days. Many of the heavy metals, really. Either they were valuable, and people stole them—like the...
