Gollancz’s 50th Anniversary Contest!!!

A month ago, major British publishing house Gollancz reached their 50^th year as a beacon of excellence in Science Fiction & Fantasy literature. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Gollancz has put together a fascinating contest. Here’s the official post:

This year Gollancz celebrates 50 years of bringing you the very best in Science Fiction and Fantasy, from classic novels through to modern-day bestsellers.

We've chosen 50 titles published under the Gollancz imprint over the past 50 years. Now we want you to tell us your favourites! Simply visit this website http://www.gollancz50.com/ and select one science fiction title and one fantasy title to cast your vote.

We'll announce the winners in September and then publish the Top Five Science Fiction and Top Five Fantasy titles in a fantastic collectable retro-look edition to celebrate!"

Included below is the complete list of 25 Science Fiction and Fantasy books which are up for vote. From these two lists, five books will be chosen from each category and will be re-published in a special retro-style collector edition with a certifiable yellow/golden Gollancz 50^th Anniversary tag. The voting period ends on May 15, 2011 at Midnight GMT. Five winners will be selected randomly and will receive a subscription to SFX Magazine. The winners will also receive a copy of all of the reissued Top 10 books! These editions will certainly be flying off the shelves so have a look at the titles below and vote for your favorite SF and Fantasy book HERE.

SF Title List	Fantasy Title list
A Case of Conscience by James Blish	Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan	Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
Brasyl by Ian McDonald	Book of the New Sun (Vol 1&2) (Vol 3&4) by Gene Wolfe
The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin	The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick	Conan Volume One by Robert E. Howard
Dune by Frank Herbert	Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Fairyland by Paul McAuley	Elric by Michael Moorcock
The Female Man by Joanna Russ	Eric by Terry Pratchett
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman	Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin
Flood by Stephen Baxter	The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes	The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Gateway by Frederik Pohl	Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Hyperion by Dan Simmons	Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon	I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon	The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Pavane by Keith Roberts	Little, Big by John Crowley
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke	Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds	Memoirs of a Master Forger by William Heaney
Ringworld by Larry Niven	Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner	The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Tau Zero by Poul Anderson	The Runes of the Earth by Stephen Donaldson
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells	Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Separation by Christopher Priest	Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester	Viriconium by M. John Harrison
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts	Wolfsangel by M. D. Lachlan

With so many great titles in either category, it will be hard to predict which ten SF & F titles are selected. The final list will be announced in September. As for me (Mihir), I have voted for “The Lies of Locke Lamora” and “Yellow Blue Tibia” in their respective categories.

In addition to the contest, a number of articles on the topic of “CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF GOLLANCZ” have been posted on the Gollancz blog. They are as follows:

Day One – Simon Spanton talks about two of his favourite SF books.

Day Two – Gillian Redfern talks about her favourite fantasy tale.

Day Three – Jonathan Weir contemplates a book and the mish-mashing of genres.

Day Four – Marcus Gipps reminisces about his reading past.

Day Five – Mark Stay debates the allure of Philip K. Dick’s writing.

Day Six – Paul Stark recollects his 21^st birthday present.

“Skulls” by Tim Marquitz (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Tim Marquitz Website

Order “Skulls” HERE

Read An Excerpt HERE

Watch a Video with Tim Marquitz HERE

Read FBC’s Review of “SE: The Temple Of The Dead”

Read FBC’s Interview with Tim Marquitz

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Tim Marquitz is the author of Armageddon Bound, the first book in the Demon Squad series, and the Sepulchral Earth short stories. He is also an editor, a heavy metal aficionado, a Mixed Martial Arts fan, and is also a member of the Live Action Role Playing organization. Currently, he’s writing the next chapter in the Sepulchral Earth series as well as whatever else catches his imagination. Tim lives in El Paso, Texas with his wonderful family.

ABOUT SKULLS: Life held little interest for Jacob . . . until he found death.

Abused and neglected, Jacob’s only solace comes when he is alone in the woods or in the arms of his new girlfriend. But when he stumbles across a hidden bunker filled with human skulls, he learns what true suffering is. Drawn to examine the skulls, he finds there is more than just empty blackness behind their lifeless stares. Through their eyes he watches them die.

With every glance, he witnesses another murder, the memories of the dead playing out inside his mind until reality becomes a blur. A primal cruelty awakening, Jacob returns to the morbid comfort of the skulls, over and over again. But when he happens upon a fresh skull, a victim tortured and slain for his amusement alone, he knows his time has come. Face to face with death, Jacob must choose whether to resist the darkness that dwells inside or condemn himself forever, murdering his innocence on the edge of an axe...

FORMAT/INFO: Skulls is 122 pages long divided over twenty-six chapters. Narration is in the third-person, mainly via the protagonist Jacob Rile. There are also other POVs featuring supporting characters and the antagonist, but most of these are one-offs. April 1, 2011 marked the Paperback publication of Skulls via Damnation Books. Cover art is provided by Jessica Lucero.

ANALYSIS: Skulls was an experiment of sorts for Tim Marquitz, who wanted to see whether he could bring his dark storytelling ability to a YA novel. Considering that the author’s previous books included the darkly humorous Armageddon Bound and the melancholy tinged Sepulchral Earth:The Long Road, I had no idea what to expect from Skulls...

Skulls begins by introducing us to Jacob Rile, an emotionally neglected and physically abused teen who happens upon a bunker where he discovers a gleaming array of human skulls. Not knowing the reason for their existence, Jacob rapidly exits the bunker with trepidation, but also a hint of curiosity. Before long, Jacob develops a psychic link with the bunker and is able to see and feel the murder of each skull he picks up. This awakens a very dark nature in Jacob as he’s drawn continuously to the skulls and their morbid memories. At the same time, the killer learns about Jacob’s connection to the skulls and is debating whether to kill the teen or apprentice him, while Jacob’s friends start to withdraw from him except for Cassie who tries to rescue Jacob from his own dark nature. From here, the plot escalates as more murders occur and Jacob seems hell-bent on making himself a murder junkie.

Skulls is a dark tale, and even though there is a mystery occurring at the same time, it is not very absorbing. Characterization however, is a major attraction, particularly Jacob Rile, a young soul who is drawn into a vicious web of murder & sadism due to familial neglect and the allure of dark power. Jacob’s struggles are the heart of this tale, which includes a stunning choice he has to make at the end of the story.

Negatively, the identity of the killer is easy to guess which softens the mystery aspect of the tale, but since the killer’s identitiy is not a central thread in the book, it’s not a major issue. Skulls is also a bit on the short side, but increasing the page count would mean losing some of the narrative tension and rapid pacing.

CONCLUSION: All in all, Skulls was a different book from Tim Marquitz’s previous efforts. It was also different from the few other YA books I have read due to its grim content, but it is a very good book because of its characters and plot. In short, I’m glad Tim Marquitz took this chance with Skulls, because it allowed him to showcase his literary skills in a different direction, while providing YA readers with a grim, but entertaining thrill ride...

PRESS RELEASE: Bestselling Independent Author M. R. Mathias announces Kings, Queens, Heroes & Fools!!!

International bestselling independent author, M. R. Mathias, is proud to announce the upcoming release of Kings, Queens, Heroes & Fools, the second installment in The Wardstone Trilogy. The ebook version will be available for download in late June 2011 with an official release date of July 4, 2011. Mathias chose this date to celebrate the freedom his writing has brought him. A preview of the book can be found HERE + HERE.

“Mathias’ is a great story,” says W.R. Potter, founder of the Independent Authors Network. “From writing huge epic novels while in prison for drug abuse, to the top of the Amazon fantasy bestsellers lists worldwide. Not only is he an inspiration for rehabilitation, he has shown thousands of Independent Authors that with self publishing, anything is possible.”

Book one of The Wardstone Trilogy, The Sword and the Dragon (Reviewed HERE), was released less than a year ago and is still at the top of ebook bestseller charts across the board. The third and final novel of the trilogy, The Wizard and the Warlord, is scheduled for release in 2012. Mathias is also the author of the bestselling fantasy series, The Saga of the Dragoneers, as well as the paranormal horror/thriller The Butcher’s Boy that was released in 2010 under the pen name Michael Robb.

The cover of Kings, Queens, Heroes, & Fools was made by GVT Grafix featuring the original artwork of Sandara Tang. “The artwork is perfect,” said the author. “The woman on the dragon is Shaella, the Dragon Queen. I wanted it the second I saw the work. Then when Gary from GVX finished turning the piece into a cover I was just amazed.”

For interviews, ARCs, and publicity queries, please contact the author at michael@mrmathias.com.

NEWS: Fantasy Author Alan Campbell Self-Publishes the novella “Lye Street”!

Back in 2008, Subterranean Press published “Lye Street”, a 26,000 word novella which serves as a prequel to Alan Campbell’s fantasy debut, Scar Night, the opening volume of The Deepgate Codex. “Lye Street” is described as follows:

The Greene family is cursed. Every fifty years Deepgate's scarred angel, Carnival, returns to murder another descendant. Now, five hundred years after the first victim's death, Sal Greene is facing his own doom. His time has almost run out. In a desperate attempt to break the chain of violence and save his family, he summons a demon to the chained city: a warrior he hopes is powerful enough to stand against the angel.

Yet the creature which arrives in Deepgate is not quite the legendary mercenary Sal Greene was expecting...

Unfortunately, “Lye Street” was only available in limited edition with a little over 2000 copies printed and has been long sold out. Thanks to popular demand, Alan Campbell has decided to explore the option of self-publishing  and is offering “Lye Street” as an eBook for the measly price of $0.99. “Lye Street” is currently available in Kindle edition HERE and will be available in ePub format in the near future. At only $0.99, this is quite a deal folks! Not only is “Lye Street” a neat little story all by itself—Read FBC’s Review HERE—but it’s also a great introduction to Alan Campbell and The Deepgate Codex. Plus, the novella also includes an excerpt from Alan Campbell’s awesome new book, Sea of Ghosts (Reviewed HERE).

Gemmell Award Final Voting

Voting for the final winners of the Gemmell Award has opened several weeks ago, though only today I managed to vote. I also did a post about the shortlist vote HERE.


Legend Award for Best Novel:

The Desert Spear (FBC Rv) by Peter V. Brett
War of the Dwarves by Markus HeitzTowers of Midnight (FBC Rv) by Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan
The Alchemist in the Shadows by Pierre Pevel
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
The Black Prism (FBC Rv) by Brent Weeks

I read three of the books (Brett, Sanderson and Weeks), while I have no interest in the Wheel of Time series or the Dwarves novel. The first Pevel novel (and previous Gemmell winner) was a huge meh for me though I may take a look at the second one here at some point, but it is not that high a priority.

As mentioned in the shortlist vote The Black Prism was my #1 traditional fantasy of last year (#3 in fantasy and #6 overall), though I voted there for Mark Newton's City of Ruin as more heroic. Here it was my clear vote by far. I liked The Desert Spear well enough but its subject is at the very limit of my interest and only the author's writing style and the way he managed to keep the story unpredictable so far keeps me in the series. I also liked The Way of Kings a bit unexpectedly since I have not been a Sanderson fan so far, but it was very bloated.

Prediction for winner: The Way of Kings

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Morningstar Award for Best Debut:

Spellwright (FBC Rv) by Blake Charlton
The Warrior Priest by Darius Hinks
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (FBC Rv) by N.K. Jemisin
Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov
Tymon's Flight by Mary Victoria

Here the choice was also an easy one since The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was one of my top debuts of last year as mentioned in the Hugo post. I was very meh on Spellwright and have no real interest in its sequel though Robert quite liked it as you can see in his review linked above, while Shadow Prowler is one of those books that while ultra-cliched for anyone versed with English language fantasy, may be a great introduction to the genre in other countries.

After all I read a ton of Soviet and Romanian sf decades ago when that was essentially my only choice and despite all (cliches...) it still nurtured my love for the genre. I have no interest in The Warrior Priest (the only tie-in universe I read in is the 163* one of Eric Flint) and I checked a sample of Tymon's Flight where I had no interest to read more based on it.

Prediction for winner: if the US/UK vote dominates, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, if the international vote dominates Shadow Prowler

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Ravenheart Award for Best Cover Art:

The Ragged Man
Power and Majesty
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Shadow King
Tymon's Flight

Here you can just go and check the covers at the Gemmell site, but I have a weakness for genre covers that show they are genre in an interesting way, so the cover of The Ragged Man had my vote here.

Prediction for winner: The Todd Lockwood cover for The Ragged Man