Being Governor of Jefferson has its particular perks, and its particular challenges. Particularly if you’re a member of this Pacific Northwest state’s most famous ethnic minority…with all the extra height and hair that implies.
Typecasting
Passions in Dust: Smoke by Dan Vyleta
Trade is embargoed in the Victorian England of Dan Vyleta’s Smoke—because the religious aristocracy of the country are invested in keeping their narrative about Smoke, which rises from people on commission of a “sin,” paramount. This narrative keeps the rich on top and the poor on the bottom; in reality, the wealthy use various means to hide their Smoke. Thomas and Charlie meet at a boarding school designed to tutor them in controlling their Smoke as members of the upper class—but there’s far more at work here than just boyhood squabbles.
Times are changing, and various figures on the political and scientific scene are attempting to alter the rulership and social mores of the country. Our protagonists, along with Livia, a young woman whose family is bound up in the very heart of the struggle, must uncover various plots and make their own decisions about the path to righteousness—for themselves, and for their nation. It’s Dickensian in intent and fantastical in scope, but it’s also a novel about young people on the cusp of adulthood.
Announcing Brandon Sanderson’s Arcanum Unbounded, Coming November 2016
Tor Books has revealed the cover to Brandon Sanderson’s Arcanum Unbounded, a new story collection featuring stories from the author’s Cosmere universe, including tales from Mistborn, Stormlight Archive, Elantris, and more!
Time Siege Sweepstakes!
We want to send you a galley copy of Wesley Chu’s Time Siege, the sequel to Time Salvager, available July 12th from Tor Books!
Having been haunted by the past and enslaved by the present, James Griffin-Mars is taking control of the future.
Earth is a toxic, sparsely inhabited wasteland–the perfect hiding place for a fugitive ex-chronman to hide from the authorities.
James has allies, scientists he rescued from previous centuries: Elise Kim, who believes she can renew Earth, given time; Grace Priestly, the venerated inventor of time travel herself; Levin, James’s mentor and former pursuer, now disgraced; and the Elfreth, a population of downtrodden humans who want desperately to believe that James and his friends will heal their ailing home world.
James also has enemies. They include the full military might of benighted solar system ruled by corporate greed and a desperate fear of what James will do next. At the forefront of their efforts to stop him is Kuo, the ruthless security head, who wants James’s head on a pike and will stop at nothing to obtain it.
Comment in the post to enter!
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Star Trek The Original Series Rewatch: “The Empath”
The Star Trek The Original Series Rewatch is devastated by the tragic death of Anton Yelchin, taken from us far too young. Rest in peace, good sir.
“The Empath”
Written by Joyce Muskat
Directed by John Erman
Season 3, Episode 8
Production episode 60043-63
Original air date: December 6, 1968
Stardate: 5121.5
Captain’s log. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to Minara II, which orbits a sun that is going nova. The Enterprise‘s mission is to retrieve the scientific team that is studying the nova, as the sun’s reaching a critical stage, but the scientists have responded to no hails, and the landing party finds all their equipment covered in dust.
A solar flare is approaching the planet. The landing party will be safe on the planet, as the atmosphere will protect them, but the ship is a sitting duck. Kirk orders Scotty to take the ship out of orbit, which means the trio are stuck there for at least 74 hours.
[Love and compassion are dead in you! You’re nothing but intellect!]
Series: Star Trek: The Original Series Rewatch
Margaret Atwood’s Murder Drama Alias Grace to Become Netflix Miniseries
After so long without a proper Margaret Atwood adaptation, now we have two projects soon to be streaming for your eyes: The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu, and the recently announced Alias Grace miniseries for Netflix. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix is drawing from the success of its true-crime series The Making of a Murderer to explore one of Canada’s most infamous true-crime tales, about domestic servant-turned-murderess Grace Marks.
Compass South
It’s 1860 in New York City, and hot-tempered Alex and thoughtful Cleo are pretty sure that their father is dead. Armed only with the watch and knife he left them, the Dodge twins are on their own in an antebellum world of crime and double-dealing. First they join the Black Hook Gang and are caught by the police pulling off a heist. They agree to reveal the identity of the gang in exchange for tickets to New Orleans. But once there, Alex is shanghaied to work on a ship that is heading for San Francisco via Cape Horn. Cleo stows away on a steamer to New Granada where she hopes to catch a train to San Francisco to find her brother.
But neither Alexander nor Cleo realizes the real danger they are in—they are being followed by pirates who think they hold the key to treasure. How they outwit the pirates and find each other makes for a fast-paced, breathtaking adventure! The first in a series, Compass South—written by Hope Larson and illustrated by Rebecca Mock—is available June 28th from Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
The Wheel of Time Reread Redux: The Dragon Reborn, Part 24
You think you’re all that, Wheel of Time Reread Redux, but you’re… well, no, you kinda are in my book. Mwah!
Today’s Redux post will cover Chapters 50 and 51 of The Dragon Reborn, originally reread in this post.
All original posts are listed in The Wheel of Time Reread Index here, and all Redux posts will also be archived there as well. (The Wheel of Time Master Index, as always, is here, which has links to news, reviews, interviews, and all manner of information about the Wheel of Time in general on Tor.com.)
The Wheel of Time Reread is also available as an e-book series! Yay!
All Reread Redux posts will contain spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series, so if you haven’t read, read at your own risk.
And now, the post!
Series: The Wheel of Time Reread
It’s in the Details: Paul Tremblay’s Disappearance at Devil’s Rock
Summer is officially here but if you’re heading out to your local state park for some hiking, camping, or (if you’re a high schooler) some late-night ragers without adult supervision, Paul Tremblay’s Disappearance at Devil’s Rock will make you think twice.
Late one August night, 13-year-old Tommy Sanderson inexplicably leaves his two best friends behind and runs into the woods of Borderland State Park in Massachusetts. The story opens with every parent’s very worst nightmare: an unexpected late-night phone call telling you your child is missing. Tommy’s mother, Elizabeth, has a bad news phone call before—nine years prior, when her ex-husband (and Tommy’s father) died in a car crash. Instantly she—and readers—are placed in a state of heightened tension that rarely lets up. Like a meteor’s crash, Tommy’s disappearance slams into Elizabeth and Tommy’s kid sister Kate and the impact radiates through his circle of friends, his small community, and the world beyond through social media and cable news.
But what really happened to Tommy on that night is more unsettling than anyone can imagine.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Delivers on Family Drama as Only Hogwarts Can
It’s still over a month before fans can grab a copy of the eighth installment of the Potter series (in script form no less, I mean, when has there ever been this kind of hubbub over a theatre script?), but I was lucky enough to catch the thing in previews, and while I’m obliged to #KeepTheSecrets, there is still so much to say.
We Ain’t Afraid of the Promise of a New Ghostbusters Animated Series!
Soon our streets will run green with ectoplasm! You may have heard something about a little indie remake of Ghostbusters, which will star Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon, and come out on July 15th. But now Sony has also announced a new animated series for 2018! The show has original GB director Ivan Reitman on board as a producer, but there’s no word of other casting yet. Presumably none of the current stars will be involved, because according to EW, the show will follow “a new generation of Ghostbusters in the year 2050.” Ghostbusters in the future! Maybe even… dare we hope? I’m afraid to even say it out loud, but…Ghostbusters in space?
As some of you will no doubt remember, the Ghostbusters have previously graced the small screen in The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters, both of which sustained the snarky humor of the films (while also making Slimer a major character for some reason?) so hopefully this newest iteration will be a fun addition to the GB universe. And if it’s in the future, perhaps we’ll get more science fictional ghostbusting?
Rereading Kage Baker’s Company Series: Sky Coyote, Chapters 1-10
Welcome back to the Kage Baker Company Series Reread at Tor.com! Today we’re getting started on the second novel in the series, covering the first ten chapters of Sky Coyote. As always, you can find the introduction to the reread here, and an index with all previous posts in the series here.
Spoiler warning: this reread contains spoilers for the entire series, so be careful unless you don’t mind finding out plot elements and revelations from later books.
And with that we’re off on our first adventure narrated by the redoubtable Joseph—surely a significant change in tone from the previous novel…
[We are the bright ascending bubbles in the black wine of mortality.]
Series: Rereading Kage Baker
“What Am I?” “Hope.” Watch the First Trailer for The Girl With All the Gifts
Author M.R. Carey has shared the first trailer for The Girl With All the Gifts, Warner Bros’ adaptation of his 2014 novel about a very special girl guarded by scientists, soldiers, and a doting teacher in post-apocalyptic Britain. Every morning, Melanie (Sennia Nanua) dutifully straps herself in to a wheelchair to attend class with other children, also restrained, under the tutelage of their beloved Miss Justineau (Gemma Arterton). But beyond the walls of their abandoned army base, infected “hungries” are trying to break in. Within those walls, Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close) is testing a cure, but she needs a very particular ingredient.
Tor.com’s Top SFF Vacation Spots!
It’s officially summer, which means it’s time to pack our bags and finally decide how we’re going to spend our precious vacation days! Ancient ruins and cruise ships are all well and good, but they’re so… real. So we took a slightly different approach and looked to our favorite science fiction and fantasy books for getaway inspirations. And while we’re of course interested in elf-houses and vast island chains and the distant corners of the universe, it turns out some of us just want to go to London. Just maybe not the London we’re used to…
Probably would just be better to show you, right? Here are Tor.com’s top SFF vacation destinations!
Of Dogs and Men: Clifford Simak’s City
What to make, in this day and age, of Clifford Simak, an SF writer born in a mold uncommon in this era, and uncommon even in his own? A midwesterner born and raised, living his life in rural Wisconsin and the modest metropolis of Minneapolis, Minnesota. That sort of environment gave him a midwestern, pastoral sensibility that infused all of his SF work, from Way Station to “The Big Front Yard,” both of which were Hugo winners and both merged the worlds of rural America with the alien and the strange. Simak’s fiction also featured and explored artificial intelligence, robots, the place of religion and faith, his love of dogs, and much more. There is a diversity of ideas and themes across his expansive oeuvre. It can be bewildering to find an entry point into the work of older writers, especially ones like Simak. Where to begin?
There is a simple, best place you can start though. A suite of stories that merges Simak’s love of dogs, his interest in rural settings and landscapes, use of religion and faith, and his interest in robots all in one package: City.
In the Epic War Between Tesla and Edison, We Are All Winners
Star Trek and Batman ’66 recapper extraordinaire Keith DeCandido shared latest salvo in the war between noted pigeon enthusiast Nikola Tesla and his arch rival, Topsy-murderer Thomas Edison.
