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The 2007 NYLA Annual Conference

This week, my parent company Prometheus Books are exhibiting at the 2007 NYLA Annual Conference “Libraries: Learning for Life,” currently being held this October 17 -20, 2007 in Buffalo, New York. Our director of publicity, Jill Maxick, sends along these pictures of the Prometheus Booth, including a close up on the Pyr display. On hand for the show is Richard Snyder, Marcia Rogers, Lynn Pasquale, and the aforementioned Jill Maxick (pictured below.)


Jill reports: “It is PB’s ‘first-ever’ NYLA conference and though exhibit floor traffic was slower than we’d hoped for (we were told that Eastern NYS conference locations are busier due to a higher concentration of library systems in the eastern districts of the state,) Pyr was extremely well-received. Many comments were made about the female action-oriented protagonists of both the Quantum Gravity and Cassandra Kresnov series, which is funny because I think you’ve recently blogged about the similarities in their appeal, no? Librarians also favorably commented on the durability for circulation of our trade paper bindings versus mass-market only titles. “

That’s Crossover: A Cassandra Kresnov Novelby Joel Shepherd being given out in the stack to Jill’s right. Meanwhile, here is a picture of the Pyr display, where I can spy a copy of the just-out The Metatemporal Detectiveby Michael Moorcock. I’m still waiting on my own copy – but it looks good, doesn’t it?

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Selling Out: Can We Get a Cyborg Woman Show-Down?

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Monsters and Critics reviews the second Quantum Gravity book from Justina Robson. Reviewer Sandy Amazeen says of Selling Out:“This absorbing and exciting second installment lives up expectations with the six parallel worlds of humans, elves, demons, faeries, elementals and undead further developed with tantalizing hints of a seventh world dropped in for good measure. Lila’s strong character is nicely balanced by enough self-doubt and concerns about her autonomy to be interesting without being overplayed. A lot more background is provided for the other key protagonists giving this a well rounded feel while setting up the next book with a couple of potential showdowns.”

Meanwhile, she isn’t the first to make the comparison with another Pyr series: “Fans of Joel Shepherd’s Cassandra Kresnov series, think Sandy with six realms worth of creatures, politics and villains to run afoul of.”

Can the fanfic be far behind? Me, I think either one of these two super soldiers could kick the new Bionic Woman’s butt. And Katee Sackhoff would be an excellent Cassandra, but who would you cast as Lila Black?

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Multiverse Reviews: Brasyl & Infoquake

Over on MySpace, Multiverse Reviews tackles two Pyr novels, Ian McDonald’s Brasyland David Louis Edelman’s Infoquake.

Speaking of Brasyl, they write, “Sure, I’ve read parallel universe plotlines before, but Brasyl takes it to a whole new level of weirdness… Enjoy their stories for what they are, don’t rush to the end for the action. The enjoyment of the journey makes the unexpected and bizarre kicker even sweeter.”

Speaking of Infoquake, they write, “Let me just say that this is a wonderfully written book. It kept me engrossed and riveted, with well-written dialogue and engaging characters. In addition, as an avid fan of world building, I loved the world that Edelman created. This book carved a brand new universe using alternate history, detailed imagination and Edelman’s computer programming background…I wholeheartedly recommend Infoquake for anybody and everybody. I know I am just one of many who eagerly await Edelman’s follow up novel to the fantastic Infoquake.”

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Washington Post on the Moon

Adrienne Martini, of the Washington Post, reviews four SF novels in her article “Spaceships, Gunfights and believable characters, too.” She reviews works by Emma Bull, Joe Haldeman, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, and our own Alexis Glynn Latner. Speaking of Hurricane Moon,she says the novel is ” a compelling work that creates believable worlds informed by hard science but populated with credible characters who aren’t just mouthpieces for technological wizardry.”

She goes on to say that, “By the end of the book, both the science and the spirit are joined in a union that is strong and dynamic. Hurricane Moon… is a resonant achievement.”

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Isn’t It Romantic: The Blade Itself in RT

Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself,as reviewed in Romantic Times magazine, October 2007:

“Abercrombie kicks off his series masterfully with a heroic fantasy without conventional heroes. Its clearly the characters that take center stage here. Their dialogue is full of cynicism and wit, their lives full of intrigue, battles and magic.”

Also awarded 4 ½ stars and defined as “Fantastic — Keeper.” Sweet.

Meanwhile, a Reader Review on SFFWorld, from PapaJ, which describes the book as “tight, character driven and with characters that are ‘believable’ and ones that I could identify with easily, yet complex and mysterious. The universe feels expansive yet is without the fluff of detail that bogs down many fantasy novels… All round well balanced, tight, quality fantasy fiction.”

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NSS on Hurricane Moon

Chairman of the Space Books Committee and one of NASA’s first ten women flight controllers Marianne Dyson has reviewed Alexis Glynn Latner’s Hurricane Moonas the featured book for October for the National Space Society. Which is a very cool person and a very cool place for a review of a book about planetary colonization indeed. And her verdict? Well, she has an interesting discussion of whether or not moons are essential for the stabilization of climate. But she concludes, “For those of us entertained by contemplating starship designs, planetary choice criteria, and biological considerations, this book has it all. But the book is also a great read for those who enjoy science fiction about people making choices based on the kind of world and future they want to build for themselves. What kind of people will sign up for one-way trip to an unknown world? What sort of challenges will they face? Will they be willing to change their plans, their minds, even their own humanity to survive beyond the stars? I highly recommend Hurricane Moon to anyone who wants to imagine life on another world.”

Remember, of course, that you can visit Alexis online at her website or her group blog, and that you can read the first three chapters of Hurricane Moon online here.

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Interview: Joe Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie is interviewed today on Fantasy Book Critic. They talk about The Blade Itself, the whole of the First Law trilogy and beyond, movies, books, video games and much more. Many words of wisdom and mirth.

Words of wisdom: “What’s more important to you? Your family and friends or your house? One’s your life. The other’s the setting for it. That’s a no contest in my book. Worldbuilding’s great, in its place, I just don’t feel that it should ever cramp the characters or the story. It should always be revealed in passing, as the background for the action, never be the focus of anything.”

Words of mirth: “You’ve got to change and develop, even if that’s going to mean some wrong steps along the way. But never say never. Dead horse flogging can be a surprisingly profitable business and daddy needs a swimming pool…”

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Joel Sheperd Attains Critical Mass

Don D’ammassa’s Critical Mass reviews Joel Shepherd’s forthcoming Killswitch: A Cassandra Kresnov Novel,which he calls, “Space opera the way it ought to be written.”

“My favorite android is back. …Espionage, battles, secrets revealed, escapes, political intrigue, personality clashes, high adventure, outer space – it’s all here. Easily the best of the three. I hope there’s more on their way. Most novels with this general background get caught up in the military content and forget about the characters. Shepherd manages to keep everything in balance. “

And, of course, we’re still excited about Publishers Weekly’s “Robert Ludlum meets Elizabeth Moon in this classic military SF adventure, buoyed by Shepherd’s knack for balancing crisp action with characters you can really root for.”

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Adventures in the Multiverse: Michael Moorcock Podcast

Shaun Farrell’s always magnificent podcast, Adventures in Scifi Publishing, has just uploaded his extensive interview with fantasy master Michael Moorcock, discussing his imminent work, The Metatemporal Detective.

Almost the entire 45 minute podcast is devoted to Mike, who talks about the origin of the Sir Seaton Begg character, all his literary allusions, his connection to the Pyatt novels, etc… He also discusses classic science fiction writer Alfred Bester, contemporary literary writer Michael Chabon, the origin of his multiverse, the differences in how he is published in the US and the UK, and much more besides.

Listening to it now myself. My favorite quote: “Tom Paine, addressing the Americans before the Revolution said – I think it’s in Common Sense – that it was unseemly that such a large nation should be ruled by such a small one. And I think that’s true of the science fiction and fantasy world, that it’s such a very large nation indeed being to some extent ruled by a very small nation of critics. Because in terms of sales, you know, there are a lot of literary writers I know who would give a lot to have the kind of sales that many science fiction and fantasy writers have.”

It should be noted too that Shaun is holding a contest to give away three copies of The Metatemporal Detective. Entry details are on his website.

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The Blade Itself – Frustratingly Good

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Rob H. Bedford’s latest review on SFFWorld is up. This time, he proclaims his “frustration” with Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself. “Abercrombie is a damned frustrating writer. He writes so well and his story is so infectious it is difficult to stop reading and even thinking about the layers of his story and world.”

Very gratifying to me are the comparisons with George R R Martin, Greg Keyes, and Scott Lynch. “The novel bears some comparison to Greg Keyes Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone and Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire for the multiple points-of-view and aforementioned wide screen action…” and “One thing I like a lot about Abercrombie’s writing was something I enjoyed about Scott Lynch’s writing – attitude.“

I’ve never read GRRM’s fantasy (I know, I know), but Keyes’ The Briar Kingis a favorite of mine as well as a yardstick for quality, whereas I picked up the Lynch when I was considering The Blade Itself specifically because I knew that Gollancz had marketed them together in the UK and I wanted to see how they compared. (I found them tonally very similar, which was one of the many data points that encouraged me to pick up Abercrombie.) So yeah, Rob, couldn’t agree more!

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