Some things I’ve read recently

Or, maybe not that recently, I am very behind.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Look, you should just read this. Rivers is nominated for the Campbell (Not a Hugo) this year on the strength of this book. It would have been an entirely worthy Best Novel finalist, quite frankly. I was late to it partly because I have lots of things to read and very little time to do it in, and also because I was aware that it would be a difficult read–as in, full of violence and death and heartbreak. That’s all true. This is a fabulous book.

Rosewater by Tade Thompson

Read this one, too!

Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless – people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumored healing powers.

I read an ARC of this, it’s out in September. Seriously, it’s excellent.

Langue[dot]doc 1305 by Gillian Polack

When a team of Australian scientists–and a lone historian–travel back to St-Guilhem-le-Désert in 1305 they discover being impartial, distant and objective just doesn’t work when you’re surrounded by the smells, dust and heat of a foreign land. They’re only human after all.

But by the time Artemisia is able to convince others that it’s time to worry, it’s already too late

I have to admit I’m mostly not a fan of time travel stories. For various reasons, but this one really worked for me, not least because Gillian is an actual historian.

Also, since I’m actually really, truly done with revisions on The Raven Tower, I decided to indulge myself and actually…re-read a book! Which I haven’t been able to do for a very long time, even though I used to read favorites over and over again, way back in the day. Anyway, I went back and read The Goblin Emperor again and it was just as good the second time, if not better.

Worldcon Schedule

Sorry, I haven’t been blogging at all lately! I’ve been doing lots of other things–revisions on The Raven Tower and a short story for an anthology, and more stuff that’s not worth mentioning here.

But! Worldcon approaches! And I will indeed be in San Jose. You can see the whole schedule here (though I’d check it a few times between now and the convention, I gather it might well need some updating in the next few days, for various reasons, and I’d like to give a shoutout to Mary Robinette Kowal and her fabulous team).

Here’s my schedule as of today:

Friday August 17, 2018

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Pronouns Matter — Gender Courtesy for Fans

San Jose Convention Center , 210C

Spend an hour talking about pronoun and identity variations, and why they matter to our fellow fans. How do we ask about pronouns? What possible pronouns are there? How can we make our fannish spaces more inclusive when we write, name, and interact with other fans?

Moderator Ann Leckie | Roni Gosch | Angela Lujan | Ellen Kuehnle | Rivers Solomon

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Kaffeeklatsch: Ann Leckie

San Jose Convention Center , 211B

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Autographs

San Jose Convention Center , Autographing

Ann Leckie | Fonda Lee | Shelley Adina | Nick Kanas | Carrie Patel | Stanley Schmidt | Gail Carriger


Saturday August 18, 2018

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Reading: Hugo Finalists – Best Novel

San Jose Convention Center , 211A

Listen to some of this year’s Hugo Novel finalists as they share their work.

Ann Leckie | John Scalzi | Mur Lafferty

So there it is, that’s where you can find me at Worldcon this year. And do please feel free to say hi if you see me around. I can’t promise I’ll have much time to stop and chat, if I’m on my way somewhere with a definite time attached (which can happen at a con), but I do want to see you! Also I plan to have badge ribbons for folks who are interested in that.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all!

Places I’ll Be in the Near Future

I’ve been neglecting the blog, sorry! I’m head down in revisions for The Raven Tower.

But I’ll be some places in St Louis over the next couple of weeks! This coming Wednesday I’ll be at Left Bank Books–not for myself, but to chat with Chandler Klang-Smith, author of The Sky Is Yours. It’s a fascinating book, and I think it will be a great evening. I gather Left Bank is planning to do more SF-related evenings over the coming year, so you might want to keep an eye on that!

SF-STL
Chandler Klang-Smith: The Sky Is Yours

Left Bank Books and Archon present an SF STL event with Chandler Klang Smith, who will sign and discuss her new novel, The Sky Is Yours, with St. Louis science fiction author Ann Leckie!

Wednesday, April 18, 2017
7pm

Left Bank Books

Then next week I’ll be at Lindenwood University. Here’s the info:

Lindenwood Craft Talk Visiting Author Series

Wednesday April 25, 2018
7pm
Lindenwood University
Dunseth Auditorium in Harmon Hall

Things I’ve Read (cont’d)

I haven’t been blogging much lately–being busy will do that! I’ve turned in a book to my editors, and am waiting for the inevitable moment when I’ll have revisions to do, and in the meantime I’m working on another project, and I’ve been doing Stuff. Like, look at this shiny thing I made!

I took some lessons from Elise Matheson, who is a fabulous teacher.

Anyway! I’ve also managed to read some things!

The Waterdancer’s World by L. Timmel Duchamp

I’m not sure I can do better than the description at Aqueduct Press: “Humans have been struggling to live on Frogmore for almost five centuries, adapting themselves to punishing gravity and the deadly mistflowers that dominate its ecology. Financier Inez Gauthier, patron of the arts and daughter of the general commanding the planet’s occupation forces, dreams of eliminating the mistflowers that make exploitation of the planet’s natural wealth so difficult and impede her father’s efforts to crush the native insurgency. Fascinated by the new art-form of waterdancing created by Solstice Balalzalar celebrating the planet’s indigenous lifeforms, Inez assumes that her patronage will be enough to sustain Solstice’s art even as she ruthlessly pursues windfall profits at the expense of all that has made waterdancing possible.”

The review at Strange Horizons suggests a theoretical subgenre called “realistic space opera” within which tWDW might fit, and that rings true to me. It’s about fateful events in the history of Frogmore, but it tells its story almost entirely in terms of the interactions and choices of individual characters. I found it compelling reading.

Which didn’t surprise me–some years ago I bought a copy of Alanya to Alanya in the dealers room at Wiscon, figuring it was a nice hefty book that might take me some time to read, and if I enjoyed it I’d buy the second volume the next year. Once I picked it up, though, I couldn’t put it down, and it only took me a few days to finish reading it. And then I really really wished I had the next book on hand, so next Wiscon I just bought the rest of them in a big stack, and read them in a couple of weeks.

The Waterdancer’s World isn’t so (literally) voluminous (or quite so viscerally upsetting, as the Marq’ssan books are in places, to me), and is maybe a more manageable introduction to Duchamp’s writing.

The Beautiful Ones by Siliva Moreno-Garcia

Y’all should be reading Silvia Moreno-Garcia, if you aren’t already. This particular book is a romance, set in a Not Quite France where some people are born with telekinetic ability–ladies never indulge it in public, of course. If you enjoy the Regency-ish Romances With Magic kind of thing, you’ll want to check this out. I enjoyed it a lot.

And then maybe check out Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s other work, because, seriously.

Nebula Award Finalists!

Hey, everybody, look at this awesome list of finalists for this year’s Nebula Awards!

It’s full of either stuff I’ve read and loved, or stuff I’m really looking forward to reading! Followers of this blog will recognize a few titles as things I’ve recommended in the recent past–like Fonda Lee’s Jade City, and J.Y. Yang’s Black Tides of Heaven. And Martha Wells’ All Systems Red!

Over at File 770, JJ has a list of the nominees with links to free, online excerpts or full copies of the finalists, so check that out for some great reading.

I couldn’t be happier with this group of finalists. Congratulations, all, and for those of you who are up there for the first time–How wonderful and exciting! Take a deep breath if you need it. You’re all awesome, and I am so delighted for you.

Some things I’ve read lately

Yes, it’s time again for Some Stuff I Have Read and Liked Recently. As always–I am not a reviewer or any sort of critic, and I’m not going to try to be one.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

Ever since I heard that Nisi was not only working on a steampunk novel set in the Belgian Congo, but that she had gone and sold that novel to Tor, I’ve been eager to read this. I finally got around to it, and I highly recommend it. It’s pretty epic, really, it covers a couple decades in time, from the POVs of a wide variety of characters. Seriously, check this out if you haven’t already.

Transcendent 2: the Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction edited by Bogi Takács

This is a nice anthology of short fiction by authors I’m already a fan of–like Charlie Jane Anders, Keffy Kehrli, and An Owomoyela–as well as authors I’m very happy to be introduced to. I’ve read way too little short fiction lately, and this was an enjoyable first step toward remedying that.

The Palm Wine Drinkard and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Amos Tutuola

These two books were first published in the 1950s and have not always been well-regarded. In the first, the narrator is a young man devoted to drinking palm wine. The person who works tapping palms to bring him that wine dies, and the narrator goes looking for Dead’s Town so he can find the man and bring him back. In the second, a young boy is separated from his family and ends up in the bush, where he encounters lots of dangerous supernatural creatures. Both are picaresque, their plots essentially one adventure after another, and both are told in the first person in a way that feels to me very much as though these stories were meant to be read or spoken aloud. They were written in a variety of English that may take a few pages to get familiar with, but once it’s in your ear it just goes nicely and enjoyably along. I couldn’t find an ebook version, and my nearby libraries didn’t have it,so I bought a used paper copy. It may be in a library near you!

BONUS the title of the second novel in this volume may seem familiar if you’ve heard of the Brian Eno and David Byrne album of the same name. If you haven’t heard it, or heard of it, give it a listen.

Things I’ve Read

I’ve read some things lately that I enjoyed!

I got an advance copy of Emergence, the next volume in C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series. Look, I’m a longtime fan of these, and I enjoyed the heck out of this one. If you’ve read the previous volumes, you’ll enjoy this one. If you haven’t, DO NOT START THE SERIES HERE. Give Foreigner a go–that’s the first volume–and see what you think.

I’m kind of behind schedule on reading A Matter of Oaths by Helen S Wright. Well, it’s not out until November 23–but it was first published in 1988, and was apparently available for free on the author’s website for a while. This is fun, quick-moving adventury space opera–and this new edition has an introduction by Becky Chambers. There are immortal Space Emperors–two of them!–and a pilots guild, and romance. One major character is an older woman, and another major character has been memory-wiped and has a Mysterious Past. The original cover was whitewashed, a mistake the new publisher has fortunately avoided. I really enjoyed reading it, you might, too.

I’ve not read as much short fiction as I’d like–certainly not as much as I used to–so I’m behind in catching up with Rose Lemberg’s Birdverse stories. This summer Beneath Ceaseless Skies published their story “A Portrait of the Desert in Personages of Power” (that’s part 1, part two is linked at the end of the page), which I only recently read, and I highly recommend it. This is kind of a bonus, because it’s right there on the web, and much shorter than a novel! And they have plenty of other published fiction (the Birdverse stories are marked as such in that list, if you’d like those in particular). They also have a Patreon.

Things I’ve read

Hey, it’s time for a few things I’ve read and enjoyed recently!

First up, the paired novellas The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang. This pair of novellas can, I gather, be read in whatever order you like, but if you’ve got a thing about reading stories in story-chronological order, start with Black Tides. This is some excellent fantasy. Each volume centers on one of a pair of twins, children of a powerful ruler who gave birth to them in order to pay a debt to the Grand Monastery. They both learn to manipulate the Slack, the force that underlies all nature, but one, Mokoya, can see the future. Sometimes. Oh, also, Mokoya rides a dinosaur. You want to read these. Seriously.

I also scored an advance copy of John Hodgman’s Vacationland. This is autobiographical, and if you enjoy Hodgman’s humor, you’ll enjoy this. I do, and I did. It’s also, in places, quite sincere and not particularly funny, intentionally so. It’s out today, I think. Oh, and if you listen to podcasts but you’re not listening to Judge John Hodgman, you might find it an excellent addition to your regular lineup. Judge John Hodgman always manages to give clear-sighted and compassionate verdicts, despite holding incorrect opinions in the matter of the sandwichness of hot dogs.

When I’m in the middle of a project, I often want something to read that’s fairly light and definitely not the sort of thing I’m working on. I find that often classics work–Jane Austen is particularly helpful to me at such times–but historical romances often work nicely. I’d seen a few folks mention enjoying Spectered Isle by K.J. Charles, and it was a whole five bucks, so I figured I’d give it a go. I enjoyed it! It’s set in England in the 1920s, and, well,

Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense…except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.

Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there’s something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.

Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.

It was a really enjoyable read! And there appear to be others in the same series, or universe, or whatever, so I might very well pick one of them up next time I need an entertaining break.

Provenance Vestiges

So, I’m nearly to the last stop on my epic tour! I’ve had a lovely time, and met so many amazing and wonderful people. My readers are the best.

For the trilogy, I was giving out pins, which was great fun, but in all honestly were somewhat difficult to travel with. One pin may not weigh much. Several hundred are another matter entirely. And the mass of them tended to make airport security jumpy.

I wanted to do something fun this time, too, but maybe also something that wouldn’t set off every metal detector on my cross-continent trek, and might be more easily mailable once I got home. And the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like what I wanted was some kind of cool vestige! So I contacted Nikki Thayer. Nikki did me my GigaNotoSaurus banner, and it was Nikki who I turned to when I wanted some Emanations. So this time I went to Nikki and asked her to please make me some cool art to go on the back of some postcards.

If you came to one of my signings, you’ll have gotten (or been able to get) a vestige of the occasion with the first image here, but there are two others! And Nikki says y’all can use these for stuff–make things with them if you want! Do please try to credit Nikki if you can, though.

Also by the time I get home I should have actual postcards of all three images, so if you want one go ahead and send me a SASE (that a regular sized postcard will fit in) and I’ll send you one! Wait till some time next week, though, because I won’t be good for much till then. The address is on my Contact page.

Anyway, here’s the art! None of it is spoilers, really, though none of it makes much sense until you’ve read the book.

BookFest St Louis–this weekend!

So, here I am in St Louis and if you saw yesterday’s blog post you might have noticed there are no St Louis dates on the tour.

BUT.

Thanks to Left Bank Books, there’ll be an event in the Central West End called BookFest St. Louis. There will be lots of writers there, and the vast majority of panels and whatnot are free! (I think there are, like, two exceptions.)

There’s going to be a Science Fiction panel at 5pm on Saturday, September 23, with Charlie Jane Anders, Annalee Newitz, Mark Tiedemann….and me!

If you are in St Louis this weekend, come to BookFest! Left Bank Books is a lovely store with a very nice SF section and worth visiting on its own, but just look at all the folks who are going to be here! Do come to the CWE this weekend if you can!