Cover art - Chuck Wendig's Miriam Black novels

One of the great joys of this digitized era is the easy access I have to the multitude of excellent works done by so many talented artists, plenty of them at the top of their game. I have a very large list of favorites and you’ll certainly find Joey Hi-Fi included there. I love Joey Hi-Fi’s works a lot and I have a great admiration for his original take on art, especially when I see it on book covers. It’s not easy to match Joey Hi-Fi’s book covers, not for the lack of other very talented artists, but because of its unique approach. This task can be attempted, but the results are dependent on various factors, including a comparison with what Joey Hi-Fi previously did. Well, Saga Press had confidence in tackling the matter, the imprint will release this year new editions of Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black novels, “Blackbirds”, “Mockingbird” and “The Cormorant”, all with new covers. Now, Joey Hi-Fi’s covers done for the editions of Chuck Wendig’s novels published by Angry Robot Books are top notch. They were an instant hit for me, the initial impact of the larger picture leading me straight to digging for all the little details encompassed within worked to perfection in my case. Saga Press went for a different approach and although I’ll always have Joey Hi-Fi’s covers in mind the end result is excellent. Going in a different direction was a good initiative, like I said, matching Joey Hi-Fi’s artwork could only lead to an inevitable comparison and I am not sure how advantageous that can be. So, Saga Press commissioned Adam S. Doyle for the new covers and they hit the jackpot. There are no smaller details this time, only one impacting image with a very interesting style. Adam S. Doyle’s artworks are very attractive, the contrast between the colors (or non-colors depending on how one wishes to address the issue) of the background and the painting has the desired effect and the art pieces make me think of charcoal drawings, which is an amazing technique when it’s done right. The only complaint I have is about the lettering, from its positioning more exactly. I find those to be too big and covering too much of the artwork, fracturing it as a whole. I would have liked it more if the lettering didn’t interfere as much with the artwork. In the end Chuck Wendig is now the proud owner of not one, but two excellent series of covers for his Miriam Black books and we, as readers and art lovers, have nothing but to gain from this. Of course, in my case I’ll have more to gain if I actually manage to catch up with the novels as well, but I’ll certainly do my best to achieve that.

Crowdfunding campaign - "Castles in Spain"

Following the recently released anthology of Spanish steampunk, “The Best of Spanish Steampunk” edited and translated by Marian and James Womack, another collection of Spanish speculative fiction is preparing to hit the market. International speculative fiction began to make a serious push towards the wider English market and “Castles in Spain” is another title taking a step into this direction. Spain has some very talented and excellent genre writers and nowadays they have an excellent opportunity to gather more awareness for their works. “Terra Nova: An Anthology of Contemporary Science Fiction” and “The Best of Spanish Steampunk” opened the road and the upcoming “Castles in Spain” follows close by. Started as a crowdfunding campaign for this bilingual anthology “Castles in Spain/Castillos en el aire” is already a sure thing. Although, with four days left on this campaign, it still needs a little over 200 USD for its successful funding Mariano Villarreal and Sue Burke, the people behind this wonderful project, managed to acquire additional financing and they have enough at the moment to publish seven stories within the collection. Of course, “Castles in Spain” works hard to fund the publication of further three stories and we have a list of the ten stories that Mariano Villarreal and Sue Burke try to translate and publish. It is a bit unclear from the crowdfunding page of this project which of the ten stories listed would be published in case that only seven of them will fit the funded stretch goals, but I am keeping my fingers crossed to see all them in “Castles in Spain”. After all, the list of authors is truly impressive, all of them with exceptional writing careers to prove that. Wherever “Castles in Spain” will include seven or ten short stories, or something in between, the anthology is scheduled to be released on December, while in 2016 Mariano Villarreal and Sue Burke hope to bring us two more similar collections. Again, I am keeping my fingers crossed for all these projects and I am keeping my hopes high that we would also see in the immediate future other anthologies and novels from Spain translated and published into English. And not only from Spain.

“The Star” (La estrella) by Elia Barceló

“The Flock” (El rebaño) by César Mallorquí

“The Ice Forest” (El bosque de hielo) by Juan Miguel Aguilera

“My Wife, My Daughter” (Mi esposa, mi hija) by Domingo Santos

“God’s Messenger” (Mensajero de dios) by Rodolfo Martínez

“In the Martian Forges” (En las fraguas marcianas) by León Arsenal

“The Marble in the Palm Tree” (La canica en la palmera) by Rafael Marín

“The Albatross Ship” (La nave de los albatros) by Félix J. Palma

“The Sword of Fire” (La espada de fuego) by Javier Negrete

“Victim and Executioner” (Víctima y verdugo) by Eduardo Vazquerizo

Final Frontier, the Romanian Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Fair, 4th edition

Two years ago I’ve attended in Bucharest a Romanian book fair, Final Frontier, dedicated to Science Fiction and Fantasy. Although it covered a rather very small niche within the Romanian literature market I was left feeling very optimistic about the local speculative fiction, although Final Frontier was a convention of a miniature scale its cozy and friendly atmosphere, together with a couple of interesting events, expanded this genre book fair beyond its diminutive appearance. Unfortunately, with the 2014 edition suspended my general good feelings died soon after, only to be resurrected again these days when Final Frontier prepares to open the doors of its 4^th edition. Between 28^th and 29^th of March Final Frontier gathers the local genre community for book launches, autograph sessions, debates, panels, writing workshops and contests.

Almost all the specialized publishers are present this year and I am happy to note the birth of another such press, a very rare beast these days in Romania, Crux Publishing. At this edition of Final Frontier Paladin Publishing launches China Miéville’s “Embassytown” and William Gibson’s novels, “Neuromancer”, “Count Zero” and “Mona Lisa Overdrive”, Tritonic Publishing launches Liviu Surugiu’s “Atavic” (Atavic) and “Love and Death Forever” (Iubire şi moarte pentru totdeauna), Lucina Dragoş Bogdan’s “The Wizard from the Inside Cloud” (Vraciul de pe norul interior), Eugen Lenghel's “9 Reused Histories” (9 Istorii reutilizate) and “Countdown” (Numărătoare inversă) and Mircea Naidin’s non-fiction volume, “The Birth of Science Fiction Literature” (Naşterea literaturii Science Fiction), Millennium Books launches Roxana Brînceanu’s “Sharia” (Sharia) and the 6^th issue of Galileo Magazine, the newly founded Crux Publishing launches Oliviu Crâznic’s “The Phantoms’ Hour” (Ceasul fantasmelor), Şerban Andrei Mazilu’s “The Season of Daggers” (Anotimpul pumnalelor) and Dan Rădoiu’s “Stories From the Edge of Reality” (Povestiri de la marginea realităţii), while Nemira Publishing inflicts a facelift to its speculative fiction collection (it was about time, in my opinion, since they had some awful book covers until now). The panels feature talks about the state of the Romanian speculative fiction in 2014, Romcon 2015 (The Romanian Science Fiction Convention), 6 years of SRSFF (The Romanian Society of Science Fiction & Fantasy) and the Science & Fiction Festival 2015 due to take place in Rîşnov. Other events include public interviews with Oliviu Crâznic, moderated by Michael Haulică, and Sebastian A. Corn, moderated by Cătălin Badea-Gheracostea, a session of the Wolf’s Pack Literary Circle, comics and speculative writing workshops and a fan fiction writing contest.

I plan to attend Final Frontier, but there is nothing certain at the moment. Still, I believe this edition would leave as optimistic as the previous one did, even watching it from the distance of my home.

Cover art - "Vermilion" by Molly Tanzer

In my opinion, featuring characters on book covers is a blade that cuts both ways. Most of the times I am not thrilled to see the characters given face on the cover, it leaves my imagination without a blank canvas from where to start its work, I like it more when my mind can project the image of the characters, based on the descriptions found within the pages of the book. There are some such covers, however, I have nothing against. For example, the cover of Molly Tanzer’s debut novel “Vermilion”, although it features the main character the cover leaves plenty of room for my own imagination to weave around it. There is something else about this artwork that makes me like it quite a bit, it reminds me of the western movies, the moment when someone steps beyond the swinging doors of a bar and the figure silhouetted by the outside light casts an air of mystery. True, in the case of Molly Tanzer’s “Vermilion” book cover the character is not shrouded in shadows, but she still radiates an air of mystery. Looking over the cover I want to know what the story of this character is, who she is and what she seeks. Of course, the synopsis of the novel offers a couple of short answers, but at the same time adds further intriguing elements. From my point of view, the combination of gripping synopsis, the previous excellent experience I had with Molly Tanzer’s short stories and the great cover, designed by Osiel Gómez and featuring the art of Dalton Rose recommends “Vermilion” as one of the novels not to be missed this year. The novel will be released on April 15^th by Word Horde.

Gunslinging, chain smoking, Stetson-wearing Taoist psychopomp, Elouise “Lou” Merriwether might not be a normal 19-year-old, but she’s too busy keeping San Francisco safe from ghosts, shades, and geung si to care much about that. It’s an important job, though most folks consider it downright spooky. Some have even accused Lou of being more comfortable with the dead than the living, and, well… they’re not wrong.

When Lou hears that a bunch of Chinatown boys have gone missing somewhere deep in the Colorado Rockies she decides to saddle up and head into the wilderness to investigate. Lou fears her particular talents make her better suited to help placate their spirits than ensure they get home alive, but it’s the right thing to do, and she’s the only one willing to do it.

On the road to a mysterious sanatorium known as Fountain of Youth, Lou will encounter bears, desperate men, a very undead villain, and even stranger challenges. Lou will need every one of her talents and a whole lot of luck to make it home alive…

Table of contents - "The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 7" edited by Ellen Datlow

For the past several years one of my highlights of each reading calendar is Ellen Datlow’s series of anthologies, “The Best Horror of the Year”. Each year, since 2009, “The Best Horror of the Year” not only rewarded me with some excellent short stories, but it also offered me the possibility to discover plenty of others through the list of honorable mentions published by Ellen Datlow in every volume. This year “The Best Horror of the Year” sees the publication of its 7^th volume and yet again Ellen Datlow’s anthology comes with a very interesting list of short stories and a catchy, suggestive cover artwork.

“[Horror fiction] shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion.” —Clive Barker

For over three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the seventh volume of this series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this “light” creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness, as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers.

“As usual, Datlow delivers what she promises, ‘the best horror of the year,’ whether it’s written by the famous (Neil Gaiman) or the should-be famous (Laird Barron and many others).” 
—Washington Post

“The Atlas of Hell” by Nathan Ballingrud (Fearful Symmetries, edited by Ellen Datlow, ChiZine Publications)

“Winter Children” by Angela Slatter (Postscripts #32/33 Far Voyager, edited by Nick Gevers, PS Publishing)

“A Dweller in Amenty” by Genevieve Valentine (Nightmare Magazine, March 2014)

“Outside Heavenly” by Rio Youers (The Spectral Book of Horror Stories, edited by Mark Morris, Spectral Press)

“Shay Corsham Worsted” by Garth Nix (Fearful Symmetries, edited by Ellen Datlow, ChiZine Publications)

“Allocthon” by Livia Llewellyn (Letters to Lovecraft, edited by Jesse Bullington, Stone Skin Press)

“Chapter Six” by Stephen Graham Jones (Tor.com, June 2014)

“This is Not for You” by Gemma Files (Nightmare Magazine, September 2014)

“Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No. 8)” by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Sirenia Digest #100, May 2014)

“The Culvert” by Dale Bailey (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September/October 2014)

“Past Reno” by Brian Evenson (Letters to Lovecraft, edited by Jesse Bullington, Stone Skin Press)

“The Coat Off His Back” by Keris McDonald (Terror Tales of Yorkshire, edited by Paul Finch, Gray Friar Press)

“the worms crawl in” by Laird Barron (Fearful Symmetries, edited by Ellen Datlow, ChiZine Publications)

“The Dog’s Home” by Alison Littlewood (The Spectral Book of Horror Stories, edited by Mark Morris, Spectral Press)

“Tread Upon the Brittle Shell” by Rhoads Brazos (SQ Magazine, Edition 14, May 2014)

“Persistence of Vision” by Orrin Grey (Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Exile Editions)

“It Flows From the Mouth” by Robert Shearman (Shadows & Tall Trees, Volume 6)

“Wingless Beasts” by Lucy Taylor (Fatal Journeys, Overlook Connection Press)

“Departures” by Carole Johnstone (The Bright Day is Done, Gray Friar Press)

“Ymir” by John Langan (The Children of the Old Leech, edited by Ross E. Lockhart & Justin Steele, Word Horde)

“Plink” by Kurt Dinan (Postscripts #32/33 Far Voyager, edited by Nick Gevers, PS Publishing)

“Nigredo” by Cody Goodfellow (In the Court of the Yellow King, edited by Glynn Owen Barras, Celaeno Press)

Review - "Carus and Mitch" by Tim Major

"Carus and Mitch"

by Tim Major

Publisher: Omnium Gatherum Books

Review copy received through the courtesy of the author

Carus is only fifteen but since their mum disappeared, looking after her little sister Mitch is her job. There’s nobody else. Not in their house and not outside, either. There’s something out there, scratching and scraping at the windows.

The barricades will hold.

They have to.

It is said that humans are creatures of habits and I am certain that I have some of my own. I believe I even started to develop another one and that is to fit, as much as possible, more titles released by Omnium Gatherum Books within my readings. The first few ventures I took in their publishing work have been satisfactory. Actually, that is an understatement since the rewards coming out of Omnium Gatherum’s titles I read have been more than just satisfactory. As it proved to be the case with their latest book falling into my hands, Tim Major’s novella, “Carus and Mitch”.

Carus and Mitch are two sisters living alone in a big house, isolated from the outside. Only their home is reduced to only a few rooms and a small yard, with the rest of the house boarded up. Each day they attend their chores, among them exchanging the eggs from the chickens living in their dining room for canned food and checking the barricades raised against the outside world. But things are about to change for Carus and Mitch.

I find myself in a tricky situation, facing an unusual difficult task. I would very much like to talk to some extent about “Carus and Mitch”, but at the same time I am afraid to do so. It is not for the lack of words, but out of the fear of not revealing too much from Tim Major’s novella. Because the beauty and the entire satisfaction of this story is going through it page by page, the plot unfolding with every single word that paves the road to the final destination of “Carus and Mitch”. But I’ll certainly do my best.

Tim Major’s novella starts with an emotional moment, a touching surprise Carus receives for her fifteenth birthday from her younger sister, Mitch. Not only it is the opening scene of the story, but it is also the foundation of the relationship the lone sisters have. It’s a connection that doesn’t lie exclusively on the petals of roses, but on the spins of the stems as well, involving moments of conflict and discordance that siblings often share. The entire connection between Carus and Mitch, with its rises and downfalls, is rendered with sterling realism by Tim Major. There is not a single moment when this family of two members losses its face. The moments of pure love, the little habits one has but the other finds annoying, the innocent teasing and needless mean acts between family members are all there. Likewise, this initial scene is the point from where the story starts to descend into dark corners. The delicate moment of one sister surprising the other for her birthday leads to dark and darker still events, sending the plot to an end where this gentleness remains only a very distant memory.

It could be said that “Carus and Mitch” is a post-apocalyptic story, but I am reluctant to assume this definition and I’ll explain why shortly. There is a constant feeling of an outside menace throughout the novella, the girls are isolated from the outside world in fear of a threat not named. It is a constant sensation and Tim Major enhances this particular atmosphere through his characters. Living constantly with each other, without any apparent means for escape or without seeing anyone else, strains the relationship between the two sisters and builds tension. The daily, repetitive chores Carus and Mitch need to attend add further pressure, accentuated by the limited space in which they live. Limited on their own accord. In this restricted living area Carus and Mitch have a little library though and it is from the books and magazines found there that the seeds of questions start to grow inside Mitch’s mind, where a fertile ground for such a thing already existed. All these whys are not tethered only to the two characters however, they spread to the reader too. More than several times I started to ask questions for the story and not a single time I received an answer. At the first consideration this statement might sound bad, but it is not, all the unanswered questions the reader has work in favor of the story. Tim Major’s novella is solid and compact and all that it lets hanging up in the air is an important part of its composition. Even my assuming that “Carus and Mitch” is a post-apocalyptic story is up to debate in this light. It might be, but very well it might entirely something else. Every little question one could come up with for this tale is up for personal interpretation. It is part of the magic of this wonderful novella and I am certain part of the profit that could be gained from re-reading it.

Habits are not always good, but I am not about to change my newly acquired one of checking as many titles Omnium Gatherum publishes as possible. If Tim Major’s “Carus and Mitch” is anything to go by I embrace this habit with opened arms. And if Tim Major’s future works are as good as his debut novella, “Carus and Mitch”, I am perfectly happy to also acquire the habit of following closely his writing career.

The 2014 Kitschies Awards winners

Yesterday, at London, the Kitschies have announced the winners of the 2014 Kitschies Awards.

THE RED TENTACLE (novel) – judged by Kate Griffin, Adam Roberts, Frances Hardinge, Kim Curran and Glen Mehn

“Grasshopper Jungle” by Andrew Smith (Electric Monkey)

In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend Robby have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises that only want to do two things. This is the truth. This is history. It's the end of the world. And nobody knows anything about it.
Funny, intense, complex and brave, Grasshopper Jungle is a groundbreaking, genre-bending, coming-of-age stunner.

THE GOLDEN TENTACLE (debut) – judged by Kate Griffin, Adam Roberts, Frances Hardinge, Kim Curran and Glen Mehn

“Viper Wine” by Hermione Eyre (Jonathan Cape)

At Whitehall Palace in 1632, the ladies at the court of Charles I are beginning to look suspiciously alike. Plump cheeks, dilated pupils, and a heightened sense of pleasure are the first signs that they have been drinking a potent new beauty tonic, Viper Wine, distilled and discreetly dispensed by the physician Lancelot Choice.

Famed beauty Venetia Stanley is so extravagantly dazzling she has inspired Ben Jonson to poetry and Van Dyck to painting, provoking adoration and emulation from the masses. But now she is married and her “mid-climacteric” approaches, all that adoration has curdled to scrutiny, and she fears her powers are waning. Her devoted husband, Sir Kenelm Digby – alchemist, explorer, philosopher, courtier, and time-traveller – believes he has the means to cure wounds from a distance, but he so loves his wife that he will not make her a beauty tonic, convinced she has no need of it.

From the whispering court at Whitehall, to the charlatan physicians of Eastcheap, here is a marriage in crisis, and a country on the brink of civil war. The novel takes us backstage at a glittering Inigo Jones court masque, inside a dour Puritan community, and into the Countess of Arundel's snail closet. We see a lost Rubens altarpiece and peer into Venetia’s black-wet obsidian scrying mirror. Based on real events, Viper Wine is 1632 rendered in Pop Art prose; a place to find alchemy, David Bowie, recipes for seventeenth-century beauty potions, a Borgesian unfinished library and a submarine that sails beneath the Thames.

THE INKY TENTACLE (cover art) – judged by Jim Kay, Dapo Adeola, Ed Warren and Siân Prime

“Tigerman” by Nick Harkaway, cover by Glenn O’Neill (William Heinemann)

Lester Ferris, sergeant of the British Army, is a good man in need of a rest. He’s spent a lot of his life being shot at, and Afghanistan was the last stop on his road to exhaustion. He has no family, he’s nearly forty and burned out and about to be retired.

The island of Mancreu is the ideal place for Lester to serve out his time. It’s a former British colony in legal limbo, soon to be destroyed because of its very special version of toxic pollution – a down-at-heel, mildly larcenous backwater. Of course, that also makes Mancreu perfect for shady business, hence the Black Fleet of illicit ships lurking in the bay: listening stations, offshore hospitals, money laundering operations, drug factories and deniable torture centres. None of which should be a problem, because Lester’s brief is to sit tight and turn a blind eye.

But Lester Ferris has made a friend: a brilliant, Internet-addled street kid with a comicbook fixation who will need a home when the island dies – who might, Lester hopes, become an adopted son. Now, as Mancreu’s small society tumbles into violence, the boy needs Lester to be more than just an observer.

In the name of paternal love, Lester Ferris will do almost anything. And he’s a soldier with a knack for bad places: “almost anything” could be a very great deal – even becoming some sort of hero. But this is Mancreu, and everything here is upside down. Just exactly what sort of hero will the boy need?

THE INVISIBLE TENTACLE (natively digital fiction) – judged by James Wallis, Laura Grace and Clare Reddington

“Kentucky Route Zero, Act III” by Cardboard Computer

Kentucky Route Zero is a magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky, and the mysterious folks who travel it. Gameplay is inspired by point-and-click adventure games (like the classic Monkey Island or King's Quest series, or more recently Telltale's Walking Dead series), but focused on characterization, atmosphere and storytelling rather than clever puzzles or challenges of skill.

The game is developed by Cardboard Computer (Jake Elliott and Tamas Kemenczy). The game's soundtrack features an original electronic score by Ben Babbitt along with a suite of old hymns & bluegrass standards recorded by The Bedquilt Ramblers.

Congratulations to all the winners!