“Her Scales Shine Like Music” by Rajnar Vajra is a moving science fiction novelette about an encounter and budding relationship between two aliens, one human, who are the only living creatures occupying a planet in deep space. The human is assigned to guard a valuable find, while his colleagues leave, to file a report with the company that hired them.
“The Art of Space Travel” by Nina Allan is a science fiction novelette. In 2047, a first manned mission to Mars ended in tragedy. Thirty years later, a second expedition is preparing to launch. As housekeeper of the hotel where two of the astronauts will give their final press statements, Emily finds the mission intruding upon her thoughts more and more. Emily’s mother, Moolie, has a message to give her, but Moolie’s memories are fading. As the astronauts’ visit draws closer, the unearthing of a more personal history is about to alter Emily’s world forever.
“Something Happened Here, But We’re Not Quite Sure What It Was” by Paul McAuley is a complex sf story about politics and xenophobia when human colonists on an Earth-like planet are faced with the possibility of reaching out to alien cultures, especially when a big organization that has previously done harm is in charge of the operation.
[Read “Something Happened Here, but We’re Not Quite Sure What it Was” by Paul McAuley]
In the hollowed-out skull of the sixteenth President of the United States, a miserable time traveler builds a modest studio apartment and isolates himself from his own time, his own space, his own species, and his own past. But when gruesome reminders of his life prior to intracranial habitation begin appearing in his freshly constructed apartment, the time traveler is forced to either contend with his memories or, failing that, to run further away from them.
[Read “Sic Semper, Sic Semper, Sic Semper” by Douglas F. Warrick]
A brilliant young physicist, alone on a Pacific atoll during World War II, begins to chronicle the laws of motion that govern her dreams.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has arrived. The story that follows up with these characters that we’ve known like family for nearly 20 years is available to be read by everyone. It’s Harry Potter’s (and J.K. Rowling’s) birthday. You’ve read your copy, probably twice already. There were midnight release HP parties for the first time since 2007.
Group hug, Potter fans.
It was during the end of Three Parts Dead, with its many reversals and its clash between different and intricate rule-based magic systems, that we both recognized the inner thrill of reading a new Brandon Sanderson story. Except…Three Parts Dead isn’t a Sanderson novel, it’s a Max Gladstone book from a few years back.
“…superfluous central towers ringed with those strange radiator flanges that were a signature motif of the style and which made them look as though they might generate potent bursts of raw technological enthusiasm if you could only find the switch that turned them on….”
William Gibson’s “The Gernsback Continuum” was published first in the anthology Universe 11 (1981), then Gibson’s own collection Burning Chrome (1986), and the anthology Mirrorshades (1988), before being reprinted far and wide: Seminal cyberpunk texts all, in which it always stuck out, just a bit.
The next book in Brandon Sanderson’s Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series, The Dark Talent, comes out September 6th from Starscape–and we want to send you a copy of books one through four in the series, as well as a galley copy of The Dark Talent!
Alcatraz Smedry has successfully defeated the army of Evil Librarians and saved the kingdom of Mokia. Too bad he managed to break the Smedry Talents in the process. Even worse, his father is trying to enact a scheme that could ruin the world, and his friend, Bastille, is in a coma. To revive her, Alcatraz must infiltrate the Highbrary–known as The Library of Congress to Hushlanders–the seat of Evil Librarian power. Without his Talent to draw upon, can Alcatraz figure out a way to save Bastille and defeat the Evil Librarians once and for all?
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Davide Rapp has created a supercut video of every spell used in the Harry Potter movies, and it’s interesting to see just how varied the onscreen spells get, when often it seemed as if the characters in the movies just alternated between “Accio!” and “Expelliarmus!” a lot. Take a look!
In Charlie Jane Anders’ “Six Months, Three Days,” the man who can see the future and the woman who can see multiple futures obsess over their predestined breakup half a year away. Possibilia, a short film described as “an interactive love story set in the multiverse… whatever that means,” tackles many of the same dilemmas about whether heartbreak is worse when you know it’s coming, as an ordinary couple plays out their breakup in infinite scenarios. And because it’s interactive, you can follow along with each distinct narrative thread. We would expect no less from Daniels, the directing duo who made an absurd film about a farting corpse into the surprisingly moving Swiss Army Man.
Usually when you see as incongruous of a mashup as Edgar Wright’s zippy, snarky Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Christopher Nolan’s grimdark take on the Dark Knight, it’s the dialogue of one being dubbed into the other. But in the case of this excellent video, YouTuber Inventor Headquarters manages to scrounge together every little scrap of levity from Nolan’s trilogy, set it to Sex Bob-Omb’s music, and get you thinking about death and getting sad and stuff.
We want to send you a galley copy of Chapel of Ease, the latest book in Alex Bledsoe’s Tufa series, available September 6th from Tor Books! Read the first chapter here.
When Matt Johanssen, a young New York actor, auditions for Chapel of Ease, an off-Broadway musical, he is instantly charmed by Ray Parrish, the show’s writer and composer. They soon become friends; Matt learns that Ray’s people call themselves the Tufa and that the musical is based on the history of his isolated home town. But there is one question in the show’s script that Ray refuses to answer: what is buried in the ruins of the chapel of ease?
As opening night approaches, strange things begin to happen. A dreadlocked girl follows Ray and spies on him. At the press preview, a strange Tufa woman warns him to stop the show. Then, as the rave reviews arrive, Ray dies in his sleep.
Matt and the cast are distraught, but there’s no question of shutting down: the run quickly sells out. They postpone opening night for a week and Matt volunteers to take Ray’s ashes back to Needsville. He also hopes, while he’s there, to find out more of the real story behind the play and discover the secret that Ray took to his grave.
Matt’s journey into the haunting Appalachian mountains of Cloud County sets him on a dangerous path, where some secrets deserve to stay buried.
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We’re excited to share this deleted scene from Ghost Talkers, Mary Robinette Kowal’s upcoming novel that’s set in London during the First World War. In the novel, Ginger Stuyvesant works with the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force of the Allies that can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence. But when she discovers the presence of a traitor in their ranks, the top brass thinks she’s just imagining things…
Ghost Talkers is available August 16th from Tor Books!
It’s a global event occurring every two years in which athletes stretch the limits of the human body. A mythical torch representing the fire that Prometheus stole from Zeus is carried around the world, and the opening ceremonies feature all manner of costumes and spectacle unique to the nations represented. The Olympics already sound like something out of science fiction and fantasy, so it makes sense that seven sci-fi writers would comment on the Games, especially in regards to their current infrastructure and ethical issues as well as their future. The Huffington Post asked a number of authors—including Tor’s own Madeline Ashby, Malka Older, Max Gladstone, S.B. Divya, and Ada Palmer—to dream up ways that the Olympics might evolve, in a world being changed by everything from the climate to technology to gender identity.
Our friends at FSG Originals are publishing Warren Ellis’s new novel Normal in four weekly digital installments. The fourth and final installment was released this past Tuesday and is available wherever e-books are sold. Each week, Tor.com has hosted a discussion between Warren and a new writer about that week’s episode. This week, to close things out, it’s Lauren Beukes, author most recently of Broken Monsters and The Shining Girls along with the about-to-be-reissued Zoo City and Moxyland.
Normal is the new serialized digital novella from Warren Ellis, the guy who packs more ideas into every page (or every panel in his comics work) than many writers would use in a whole book.
His publisher FSG Originals asked me to ask Warren some questions about the fourth and final installment, which will be out in actual book form later this year. And it’s great. Normal is hectic and smart and brutal and funny, and queasy-making, too. Like William Gibson and Margaret Atwood, Warren is one of those writers who seems to have an all-access backstage pass to the total weirdness of the now.
Welcome back to the Dragonlance Reread!
Last time, Berem was revealed as the Green Gemstone Man as he and the rest of our imprisoned party were busy trying to escape the dungeons. We also met the Queen of Darkness not-quite in the flesh, and—at Kitiara’s urging—Tannis knelt before her to pledge himself to her service. This week, the pell-mell continues as Kit schemes, trumpets blare, and everyone’s conflicted wizard makes his return…
Max Gladstone’s fantasy series the Craft Sequence was written and published out of order (scandal!) with Book 3 coming first, followed by Book 2, then Book 5, and so on. Although Gladstone’s books converge into a fantasy series, every book is itself a standalone story taking place in the same world, and a reader can start the series with any book and still get a full experience.
With the first five volumes of the Craft Sequence now out on book shelves, readers can choose their own chronological or anti-chronological voyage through the series. So what order should a reader approach the Craft Sequence in?
With shooting wrapped on Star Wars: Episode VIII, Daisy Ridley is turning her attention to other potential franchises. The actress has signed on to star in Lionsgate’s adaptation of Patrick Ness’ post-apocalyptic YA series Chaos Walking, set in a world where all living beings can hear each other’s thoughts through Noise, a stream of words and images and sounds.
My new book, Spiderlight, is something of a deconstruction of the fantasy adventuring party, as seen in plenty of post-Tolkien works, and as beloved of Dungeons & Dragons players everywhere. It’s not as common as you’d think in fiction—often the action is a single individual or a hero-and-sidekick pair, or something larger, like a military company. What I’m after here is an ensemble cast with a particular feel to it—that mix of clashing characters and different skillsets. Here are some of my favourites.
Stranger Things characters as cats was an internet inevitability (I think it’s Moore’s Law or something?) but look how cute they are! Even the Monster Cat is cute!
LOOK AT BARB CAT.
Even in cat form, Barb is the best.
We want to send you a copy of Drew Magary’s The Hike, available now from Viking!
When Ben, a suburban family man, takes a business trip to rural Pennsylvania, he decides to spend the afternoon before his dinner meeting on a short hike. Once he sets out into the woods behind his hotel, he quickly comes to realize that the path he has chosen cannot be given up easily. With no choice but to move forward, Ben finds himself falling deeper and deeper into a world of man-eating giants, bizarre demons, and colossal insects.
On a quest of epic, life-or-death proportions, Ben finds help comes in some of the most unexpected forms, including a profane crustacean and a variety of magical objects, tools, and potions. Desperate to return to his family, Ben is determined to track down the “Producer,” the creator of the world in which he is being held hostage and the only one who can free him from the path.
At once bitingly funny and emotionally absorbing, Magary’s novel is a remarkably unique addition to the contemporary fantasy genre, one that draws as easily from the world of classic folk tales as it does from video games. In The Hike, Magary takes readers on a daring odyssey away from our day-to-day grind and transports them into an enthralling world propelled by heart, imagination, and survival.
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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes open to legal residents of 50 United States and D.C., and Canada (excluding Quebec). To enter, comment on this post beginning at 4:30 PM Eastern Time (ET) on August 4th. Sweepstakes ends at 12:00 PM ET on August 8th. Void outside the United States and Canada and where prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules here. Sponsor: Tor.com, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.
This is the portal fantasy I’ve spent my whole life waiting for. I never knew it until now, but it is the truth. The glorious, shiny, magnificent truth.
I didn’t expect to like it. I don’t have a good record with portal fantasies. They haven’t been all that common in recent years, and those I’ve read were of… mixed… quality, to be polite about the matter. Portal fantasy usually has a peculiarly colonialist or imperialist bent, in which the (white, Anglophone) protagonist who steps through the door or falls through the mirror or finds their way to the world in the back of the wardrobe possesses some intrinsic special quality or advantage, becomes a leader and/or a hero, and/or enlightens the backward natives. There are seldom significant consequences for their absence from their ordinary lives, and they seldom return deeply scarred—physically or otherwise.
Foz Meadows’ An Accident of Stars upended every expectation I ever had about a portal fantasy and gave me something vastly more satisfying.
