See this hat? This is a Wheel of Time re-reading hat. I Re-read Wheels of Time in this hat.

Today’s entry covers Chapters 12 and 13 of A Memory of Light, in which variously shocking revelations are made, and some of them make a hell of a lot more sense than others.

Previous re-read entries are here. The Wheel of Time Master Index is here, which has links to news, reviews, interviews, and all manner of information about the Wheel of Time in general. The index for all things specifically related to the final novel in the series, A Memory of Light, is here.

I am also thrilled to continue to tell you that the Wheel of Time Re-read is also now available as e-books,from your preferred e-book retailer! How cool is THAT, seriously.

This re-read post, and all posts henceforth, contain spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series. If you haven’t read, read at your own risk.

And now, the post!

[“I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody.”]

Welcome back to A Read of Ice and Fire! Please join me as I read and react, for the very first time, to George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.

Today’s entry is Part 28 of A Storm of Swords, in which we cover Chapter 48 (“Jon”).

I decided to only do one chapter today because for one, I’m feeling a bit under the weather, and for another, a little bird has told me that People are saying Chapters 51 and 52 really need to go together. So we’ll do 49 and 50 next week and 51 and 52 the week after that. Okay? Okay!

Previous entries are located in the Index. The only spoilers in the post itself will be for the actual chapters covered and for the chapters previous to them. As for the comments, please note that the Powers That Be have provided you a lovely spoiler thread in the forums here on Tor.com. Any spoileriffic discussion should go there, where I won’t see it. Non-spoiler comments go below, in the comments to the post itself.

And now, the post!

[Next up: giggling at farts and sticking crayons up my nose]

What is the curse of the Dungeons and Dragons movie? Why is it that when the words “Dungeons and Dragons movie” are spoken aloud, cringing and boredom follow? Is it like the cinematic equivalent of Macbeth? Should we be saying “the elvish film” instead of “the Scottish play?” And why would Warner Bros. be taking a shot at it? Either way, it is a bit too late—did you watch that trailer for Dungeons and Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Darkness? I’m as much of a fan of Vecna’s favorite book as anybody, but that doesn’t appear to be… very good. “I’ve traveled to the floor of the pit of my own free will!” and all that jazz. Even power word kill can’t save it. Not even Thora Birch and Jeremy Irons—or cameos from Richard O’Brien and Tom Baker—could save the first Dungeons and Dragons movie. At least Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God had the good graces to be a low budget made for television movie….

But what if there was a good Dungeons and Dragons movie?

[Read more]

Conservation of Shadows by Yoon Ha Lee is a terrifying collection of short stories to review. The stories themselves are rarely scary in the traditional sense, but their individual complexity and astonishing level of variety make this an impossible book to encompass in just a few paragraphs.

It’s not that there aren’t any hooks or approaches; it’s more that there is such a bewildering number of them that, as a reader or reviewer, you feel somewhat like you’ve wandered onto a hitherto undiscovered island full of skittery, unfamiliar species that keep turning out to be something else than what you initially expected. More than a review, Conservation of Shadows needs its own monograph. Towards a Taxonomy of Yoon Ha Lee’s Short Fiction, maybe.

[Read more]

Welcome back to the Short Fiction Spotlight, a weekly column co-curated by myself and the marvellous Brit Mandelo, and dedicated to doing exactly what it says in the header: shining a light on the some of the best and most relevant fiction of the aforementioned form.

This week, we’ll be reading through two of the seven Nebula-nominated novelettes, namely “Fade to White” by Catherynne M. Valente and “Portrait of Lisane de Patagnia” by Rachel Swirsky. I figured it’d be a bit much for me to review “The Finite Canvas” by my aforementioned collaborator, but let it be said that her story is deservedly in contention for the iconic award as well, alongside shorts by Catherine Asaro, Ken Liu, Andy Duncan and Megan McCarron.

So why these two tales above the others? Well, because a single thread connects them: both explore the idea of the image, and the terrible power of the picture of perfection.

[Read more]

It does not compute that there is not a Wheel of Time Re-read, therefore there is one! Hooray!

Today’s entry covers Chapter 11 of A Memory of Light, in which Egwene almost puts her foot in it, Rand learns about that whole discretion/valor thingy, and Mat really, really, really needs to fire his travel agent.

Previous re-read entries are here. The Wheel of Time Master Index is here, which has links to news, reviews, interviews, and all manner of information about the Wheel of Time in general. The index for all things specifically related to the final novel in the series, A Memory of Light, is here.

I am also thrilled to continue to tell you that the Wheel of Time Re-read is also now available as e-books, from your preferred e-book retailer! How cool is THAT, seriously.

This re-read post, and all posts henceforth, contain spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series. If you haven’t read, read at your own risk.

And now, the post!

[Crush! Kill! Destroy! Or Not!]

Welcome back to A Read of Ice and Fire! Please join me as I read and react, for the very first time, to George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.

Today’s entry is Part 27 of A Storm of Swords, in which we cover Chapters 46 (“Samwell”) and 47 (“Arya”).

Previous entries are located in the Index. The only spoilers in the post itself will be for the actual chapters covered and for the chapters previous to them. As for the comments, please note that the Powers That Be have provided you a lovely spoiler thread in the forums here on Tor.com. Any spoileriffic discussion should go there, where I won’t see it. Non-spoiler comments go below, in the comments to the post itself.

And now, the post!

[“Death’s a capricious thing, innit?” “Yes. Yes, she is.”]

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has announced that author Steven Gould has been elected the new president of SFWA by a landslide margin, replacing outgoing SFWA president John Scalzi.

Gould joins Rachel Swirsky as the incoming Vice President, Susan Forest as Secretary, Bud Sparhawk as Treasurer, Lee Martindale as South/Central Regional Director, and Tansy Rayner Roberts as Overseas Regional Director.

SFWA’s statement is below.

[SFWA Board Election Results]

Ready, set, Re-read! *cannon boom*

Today’s entry covers Chapter 10 of A Memory of Light, in which a mystery is introduced, involuntarily bad decisions are made, and a deeply unfortunate race is begun.

Previous re-read entries are here. The Wheel of Time Master Index is here, which has links to news, reviews, interviews, and all manner of information about the Wheel of Time in general. The index for all things specifically related to the final novel in the series, A Memory of Light, is here.

I am also thrilled to continue to tell you that the Wheel of Time Re-read is also now available as e-books, from your preferred e-book retailer! How cool is THAT, seriously.

This re-read post, and all posts henceforth, contain spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series. If you haven’t read, read at your own risk.

And now, the post!

[I know I’ve already quoted WarGames for cut text, which is a damn shame because it would work perfectly here. Dangit]

Nineteen new fantasies welcome the onset of warm weather (at least where it’s not still snowing), including new series additions from Ian C. Esslemont (Malazan Empire/US), Erin Hoffman (Chaos Knights), Erin Hunter (Survivors), Raymond E. Feist (Chaoswar Saga), K.D. McEntire (Lightbringer), Daniel Abraham (The Dagger and the Coin), and L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Imager Portfolio). Barb Hendee and Jean Johnson weigh in with new series starts. Also new this month: the addition of some digital-only or digital-first releases, although the list is by no means inclusive.

Fiction Affliction details releases in science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and “genre-benders.” Keep track of them all here.

Note: All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher.

[Read about the May releases.]

Welcome to the Malazan Re-read of the Fallen! Every post will start off with a summary of events, followed by reaction and commentary by your hosts Bill and Amanda (with Amanda, new to the series, going first), and finally comments from Tor.com readers. In this article, we’ll cover Chapter Two of Toll the Hounds (TtH).

A fair warning before we get started: We’ll be discussing both novel and whole-series themes, narrative arcs that run across the entire series, and foreshadowing. Note: The summary of events will be free of major spoilers and we’re going to try keeping the reader comments the same. A spoiler thread has been set up for outright Malazan spoiler discussion.

Note: something unexpected came up and Amanda won’t be posting today, though she will catch up to us in the comments. She sends her apologies.)

[Read more]

Salaam and good evening to you, worthy Tor.commers! I am now (mostly) recovered from my venture into the delightful crazy that is JordanCon, and now I am bound to tell you all about it. Whoo!

This year I was privileged to be the Toastmaster of JordanCon V, otherwise known as Tar Vacon, and it was pretty much one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in this fandom. And I’ve had some pretty damn cool experiences in this fandom before this, so give that statement the weight it deserves, people.

And of course, no Wheel of Time convention would be complete without me yammering on at length about it, so if you’re just DYING to find out how cool my weekend was (and your Internet connection can handle stupid amounts of pictures) please do click the link for more!

[“I came for the books; I stayed for the people.”]

Chances are you’ve already heard about Unfettered, the fantasy anthology that Shawn Speakman is putting together. If you haven’t, you can read more about it here. Suffice it to say that the book will include the likes of Brooks, Sanderson, Rothfuss, Carey, Williams, Salvatore, Brett... you get the point. Twenty-two writers in all. And yours truly is among them. I was honored to be invited to participate. But writing a story wasn’t enough.

Early on, Shawn asked me to do a short video announcing my story, telling a little about it, about myself, and how I came to write for the anthology. Several of the contributors, including Brandon Sanderson, have done just such a video. You can find them on YouTube if you’re interested. But when Shawn asked me to record myself talking on camera, I countered with a different idea: What if I sing?

[Read more]

It is cold, and snow is falling. You run, like you always do, because time is of the essence. You’re on the Northern continent, beneath the forgotten capital of the Ancients—a long-lost culture who understood makoenergy as the Shinra Electric Power Company never will. The Ancients possessed profound wisdom about the life force of the planet... but you’re not here for ancient wisdom. You’re here for personal reasons. You’re here because of her.

[Read more...]

Greetings to Tor.com from the wilds of Atlanta, where JordanCon Five is full steam ahead! As Toastmaster this year, I am currently running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but I wanted to pop in and give y’all one very important piece of news.

Which is: my Tor.com Re-read commenters are AWESOME.

Click the jump to see why!

[Seriously, you guys, hearts all across the land]