Wild Cards World Junket

January 12, 2015 at 1:19 pm

Something old and something new… that's ACES ABROAD, scheduled to be re-released by Tor in a new, expanded trade paperback edition on Tuesday (January 13).

The fourth volume in the original Wild Cards series of mosaic novels, ACES ABROAD is set in 1987, and tells the tale of a global fact-finding junket sponsored by the World Health Organization, to investigate the conditions of aces and jokers around the world. The original book contained stories from Stephen Leigh (featuring Puppetman) , John J. Miller (Chrysalis), Leanne C. Harper (the Hero Twins), Gail Gerstner Miller (Peregrine), Edward Bryant (Wyungare), Walton Simon (Jayewardene and the Great Ape), Lewis Shiner (Fortunato), Victor Milan (Mackie Messer), Melinda M. Snodgrass (Dr. Tachyon), Michael Cassutt (Polyakov), and my own linking interstitial "Journal of Xavier Desmond" (starring Xavier Desmond, of course).

All of those are here, for anyone who missed them first time around… but to sweeten the pot, we've added two brand new originals for this new edition. Kevin Andrew Murphy takes center stage with the untold tale of Troll's adventures in Peru, and we visit Prague with Lady Black and Carrie Vaughn.

We also have a brand new cover, another spectacular piece of art from Michael Komarck.

big

Old stories, new stories, great new art… you can preorder a copy from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Cards-IV-Aces-Abroad/dp/0765335581/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420919494&sr=1-1, or pick it up Tuesday from your favorite local bookstore or online retailer.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, publications, wild cards

Best Books of the Year

January 3, 2015 at 9:17 pm

Another year has come and gone, and all sorts of folks are putting out lists of their favorite books of 2014…

… including the editors at Amazon.

I am pleased to say that our Westerosi worldbook THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE and our anthology ROGUES both made the Top Twenty list in Science Fiction and Fantasy:

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_426357402_25?ie=UTF8&node=10207159011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-leftnav&pf_rd_r=1MX64NEX9Q76GESKDKKX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1968735602&pf_rd_i=10207069011

Thanks, Amazon. And thanks to all of you, my readers. Hope you enjoyed the books as well.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, awards, e-books, world of ice and fire

Dangerous Women Take HPL’s Head

November 10, 2014 at 7:00 pm

DANGEROUS WOMEN, the big crossgenre anthology that Gardner Dozois and I edited for Tor, was announced as the winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology of 2013 on Sunday, at the World Fantasy Convention in Washington, DC.

I wasn't able to attend the con this year (I do hope to be at next year's event, in Saratoga), but Gardner was on hand, and accepted for the both of us.

wfa 2014

The news came as a pleasant surprise… nay, even a shock. Neither Gardner nor I thought we had a prayer of winning. The anthology shortlist was very strong this year. But this one is case where I was glad to be proved wrong.

My thanks to the fans and readers who nominated us, to the judges who chose us as winner, to our editors and publishers and all the rest of the good folks at Tor and Harper. And of course to our writers, whose talents made DANGEROUS WOMEN. We had a great lineup:

INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
SOME DESPERADO, by Joe Abercrombie
MY HEART IS EITHER BROKEN, by Megan Abbott
NORA’S SONG, by Cecelia Holland
THE HANDS THAT ARE NOT THERE, by Melinda Snodgrass
BOMBSHELLS, by Jim Butcher
RAISA STEPANOVA, by Carrie Vaughn
WRESTLING JESUS, by Joe R. Lansdale
NEIGHBORS, by Megan Lindholm
I KNOW HOW TO PICK ‘EM, by Lawrence Block
SHADOWS FOR SILENCE IN THE FORESTS OF HELL, by Brandon Sanderson
A QUEEN IN EXILE, by Sharon Kay Penman
THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR, by Lev Grossman
SECOND ARABESQUE, VERY SLOWLY, by Nancy Kress
CITY LAZARUS, by Diana Rowland
VIRGINS, by Diana Gabaldon
HELL HATH NO FURY, by Sherilynn Kenyon
PRONOUNCING DOOM, by S.M. Stirling
NAME THE BEAST, by Sam Sykes
CARETAKERS, by Pat Cadigan
LIES MY MOTHER TOLD ME, by Caroline Spector
THE PRINCESS AND THE QUEEN, by George R.R. Martin

For those of you who missed DANGEROUS WOMEN in hardcover, the anthology is being released in mass market (in three volumes) by Tor in the US and HarperVoyager in the UK. All three of the British paperbacks and the first two of the American are on the stands, and available from Amazon and other online booksellers. Gardner and I are very proud of this one. We hope you check it out.

For the full list of this year's World Fantasy Awards winners, go to:

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/11/world-fantasy-awards-winners-2014/

This is my third Howard. I won Best Novella for "The Skin Trade" a couple of decades ago, and more recently a Lifetime Achievement Award… which I guess makes this one a post-lifetime achievement. I look forward to lining up my three HPLs on the mantlepiece.

wfawardrev

Aieeeeeeeeee…………………….

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, awards, world fantasy convention

The Rogues Return

September 19, 2014 at 2:05 am

So Gardner Dozois and I put together this gargantuan crossgenre anthology called ROGUES for Bantam, featuring a great lineup of original stories about cads, swindlers, n'eer-do-wells, and scoundrels from some of our favorite writers. It was published in hardcover a few months ago, to terrific sales (debuted at #7 on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list) and some great reviews. Lots of people seemed to like it.

One of them turned out to be Bill Schafer, of Subterranean Press. Who liked it so much he decided that SubPress would do its own edition.

Look for it early next year. Or, better still, start checking the SubPress website so you can place an order as soon as it becomes available, since the SubPress editions tend to sell out… and yes, this one will be limited to 500 copies.

Like all SubPress limiteds, it will be gorgeous. Slipcased, numbered or lettered, signed by Gardner and me and all of our writers, acidfree paper, beautiful design… and lavishly illustrated by Ken Laager, a very talented artist best known for his work in noir.

Here's his cover, based on my own contribution to the volume, "The Rogue Prince."

The Rogues are coming back. Beware.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, limited editions, subterranean

Martians and Women and Rogues, Oh My

July 17, 2014 at 5:06 pm

Hey, lots of good news on the anthology front while I was traipsing around France and Switzerland these past couple of weeks.

OLD MARS led the way, winning the annual Locus Award as the Best Anthology of 2013:

Old Mars cvr rev

You can check out the details at http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/06/2014-locus-awards-winners-2/ And congratulations to my pals Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck as well. As James S.A. Corey, they won the Locus Award for Best SF Novel of the year. (Would that ABADDON'S GATE was on the Hugo ballot as well). And of course, congrats to my co-editor Gardner Dozois, and our amazing lineup of writers, who made the anthology the delight that it is. If you haven't checked out OLD MARS yet, you missed at lot.

((And for what it's worth, OLD VENUS will be even better)).

Next thing, the nominees for this year's World Fantasy Award were announced. OLD MARS wasn't eligible, being science fiction and all… but DANGEROUS WOMEN, the big crossgenre anthology that Gardner and I released last summer, is one of the finalists for Best Anthology (against some mighty stiff competition, I might add).

91EWTSOg1IL._SL1500_

You can check out the full list of Wold Fantasy Award nominees here:
http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/

To round out the triptych, in the midst of all this recognition for the books that Gargy and I did last year, our newest anthology, ROGUES, hit the shelves from coast and coast… and debuted at #7 on the NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller List. No, not the anthology bestseller list, or the SF/ fantasy bestseller list, but the bestseller list for ALL HARDCOVER FICTION. Which is pretty damned extraordinary for an anthology.

http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2014-07-06/hardcover-fiction/list.html

Rogues comp A March 17 lo res

So, all in all, it was a hell of a month.

My thanks to the LOCUS voters, the World Fantasy Con members and judges, and all the readers who snatched up ROGUES.

I love doing anthologies, and introducing great stories and new writers to my fans. It's great to see the books being so well received.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, awards, bestseller lists, locus awards, world fantasy convention

Venus In March

June 19, 2014 at 1:06 pm

Venus is lovely in the spring.

The Old Venus, that is. You know, the steamy, swampy Venus of the SF pulps, with its web-footed Venusians (Venerians), teeming jungles, dinosaurs, and those infamous dens of inquity in Venusburg. The Venus of Leigh Brackett, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Roger Zelazny, C.L. Moore, and Isaac Asimov.

Those who miss the place (like me) will be able to return there next spring. OLD VENUS, an original anthology of retro-SF stories set upon the lost Venus of old, will be released by Bantam Spectra in hardcover on March 3, 2015. We just got our first look at the cover:

The final lineup:

INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
FROGHEADS, by Allen M. Steele
THE DROWNED CELESTRIAL, by Lavie Tidhar
PLANET OF FEAR, by Paul McAuley
GREEVES AND THE EVENING STAR, by Matthew Hughes
A PLANET CALLED DESIRE, by Gwyneth Jones
LIVING HELL, by Joe Haldeman
BONES OF AIR, BONES OF STONE, by Stephen Leigh
RUINS, by Eleanor Arnason
THE TUMBLEDOWNS OF CLEOPATRA ABYSS, by David Brin
BY FROGSLED AND LIZARDBACK TO OUTCAST VENUSIAN LEPERS, by Garth Nix
THE SUNSET OF TIME, by Michael Cassutt
PALE BLUE MEMORIES, by Tobias S. Buckell
THE HEART'S FILTHY LESSON, by Elizabeth Bear
THE WIZARD OF THE TREES, by Joe R. Lansdale
THE GODSTONE OF VENUS, by Mike Resnick
BOTANICA VENERIS: THIRTEEN PAPERCUTS BY IDA COUNTESS RATHANGAN, by Ian McDonald

If you enjoyed OLD MARS (our Locus Award nominee from last year), you'll like this one even better, I think… and there's one story in there that's so bloody good that if it doesn't win the Hugo and Nebula both, I'll count it as a major injustice. Which one? Ah, I will leave you guys to figure that out. But first you'll need to read the book.

March 3. Mark the day on the calendars.

I'll meet you on Venus.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, editing, science fiction

Day of the Rogues

June 17, 2014 at 10:50 pm

The rogues are here.

Today was pub day. ROGUES, the latest gigantic crossgenre anthology from Gardner Dozois and yours truly, is now available at your favorite local bookstore on on-line bookseller.

If you enjoyed WARRIORS and DANGEROUS WOMEN, we think you'll love ROGUES. It may be our strongest anthology yet. We have some amazing writers and some incredible stories in this one. The table of contents:

George R.R. Martin “Everybody Loves a Rogue” (Introduction)
Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over”
Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?”
Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings”
Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig”
Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats”
David Ball “Provenance”
Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties”
Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane”
Bradley Denton “Bad Brass”
Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal”
Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love”
Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die”
Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre”
Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories”
Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila”
Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere”
Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”
Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back”
Connie Willis “Now Showing”
Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree”
George R.R. Martin "The Rogue Prince, or, A King's Brother."

Enjoy the read!

(And yes, New Mexicans, we have copies for sale at the Jean Cocteau, and I will be there tomorrow evening to sign them. We're having a benefit for the New Mexico Book Association. Come join us, have a beer, buy a book, hear me read).

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, editing

Win A Rogue

May 29, 2014 at 1:11 am

ROGUES, the latest gigantic crossgenre anthology from yours truly and Gardner Dozois, is scheduled for release on June 17… but three lucky fans can snag a copy early.

Patrick St. Denis, fantasy blogger and degenerate Dallas Cowboys fan, is having one of his infamous giveaways at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. To enter, just go to

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2014/05/win-copy-of-rogues-edited-by-george-r-r.html

Rogues comp A March 17 lo res

For those who'd like a taste of the treats awaiting them, Pat has also put up an excerpt from Patrick Rothfuss's outstanding novella. You can find that one here:

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2014/05/extract-from-rogues-edited-by-george-r_13.html

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, contest

The Rogues Are Coming…

March 12, 2014 at 11:56 am

. . . and much sooner than expected.

Our good friends at Bantam Spectra have just informed me and my partner-in-crime Gardner Dozois that they have moved up the publication date of our next mammoth crossgenre anthology ROGUES. . . to June 17. Yes, this year. Three months from now, in other words.

Twenty stories not enough for you?

Okay, okay, we've decided to add a twenty-first, for all you fans of fake history.

"The Princess and the Queen," Archmaester Gyldayn's somewhat abbreviated account of the Dance of the Dragons, got a great response from all the folks who read it in DANGEROUS WOMEN, so we've dipped back into the archmaester's somewhat disorganized piles of scrolls and crumbling manuscripts, and brought forth another piece of his unpublished history. "The Rogue Prince, or, the King's Brother," will tell the story of the years leading up to the calamitious events of "The Princess and the Queen" during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen, with particular attention to the role played by the king's brother, Prince Daemon, a rogue if there ever was one. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as you did "The Princess and the Queen."

(And yes, sadly, "The Rogue Prince" is an abridged account as well. For the full version, you will all need to wait some years, until we publish the complete history of House Targaryen in the GRRMarillion… which, by the way, I've decided I am going to call FIRE AND BLOOD, since the GRRMarillion joke has grown somewhat stale by now).

We're got something for everyone in ROGUES — SF, mystery, historical fiction, epic fantasy, sword and sorcery, comedy, tragedy, crime stories, mainstream. And rogues, cads, scalawags, con men, thieves, and scoundrels of all descriptions. If you love Harry Flashman and Cugel the Clever, as I do, this is the book for you.

Oh, and speaking of DANGEROUS WOMEN… it's now HUGO NOMINATION time, and we have lots of great stories in both DW and OLD MARS that are eligible, so I hope you'll remember some of them when filling out your ballots.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, bantam spectra

We’re #18!

December 14, 2013 at 8:06 pm

Which is a lot more exciting than it sounds.

DANGEROUS WOMEN has come roaring out of the gate. The hardcover will debut at #18 on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list for December 22.

That's just a hair too low to make the printed list, which only lists through #15, but it's still a sensational showing for an anthology, especially one as massive and expensive as DW. It’s also on the USA Today list (which aggregates all types of books, hard and softcover, fiction and nonfiction, into a single list) at #70. And it’s #25 on Ingram’s internal “Hardcover Fiction” list.

I love doing anthologies, but it is very rare than one of them sells really, really well. There have been some, of course… DANGEROUS VISIONS way back when, DARK FORCES during the horror boom, LEGENDS and LEGENDS II more recently… It's a short list, though, and Gardner and I are more than thrilled that DANGEROUS WOMEN is now on it.

It's our readers who put it there, of course. So give yourselves a pat on the back, all of you who bought the book. And if you haven't yet… hey, get on it. Maybe we can climb up to #17 next week.

And my thanks go out to Gardner Dozois, world's best co-editor (he does all the heavy lifting) and our incredible lineup of writers. Without you guys, nobody would be buying the book, since there wouldn't be one. Melinda Snodgrass, Diana Rowland, Caroline Spector, Diana Gabaldon, Steve Stirling, Carrie Vaughn, Megan Lindholm, Sharon Kay Penman, Megan Abbott, Brandon Sanderson, Nancy Kress, Lawrence Block, Jim Butcher, Joe Abercrombie, Joe R. Lansdale, Lev Grossman, Sam Sykes, Cecelia Holland, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Pat Cadigan… thanks.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, publishing

Not a Blog

Wild Cards World Junket

Best Books of the Year

Dangerous Women Take HPL’s Head

The Rogues Return

Martians and Women and Rogues, Oh My

Venus In March

Day of the Rogues

Win A Rogue

The Rogues Are Coming…

We’re #18!

Latest Month

Recent Posts

Syndicate