Filed under: news | Tags: brown girl in the ring, canada reads 2008, elizabeth moon, king kieri, nalo hopkinson, news, paksenarrion, Reviews
Anyone who’s been following my entries probably knows I’ve been waiting in anticipation for any Elizabeth Moon news since I heard tell that she’d be returning to the Paks universe, and The Swivet had this little gem about the sale of the new books:
Elizabeth Moon’s KING KIERI, set directly in the aftermath of the author’s “Deed of Paksenarrion” series, describing the struggles of a new king to reunite a land torn asunder by war and riven by resurgent conflict between elves and man, to Liz Scheier at Del Rey, in a significant deal, in a three-book deal (for a likely trilogy), for publication in October 2009, by Joshua Bilmes at JABberwocky Literary Agency (NA).
Haven’t seen much mention of this anywhere else online yet, including Moon’s own site. La Gringa also mentioned that A. Lee Martinez’ In the Company of Ogres (see my review here) has had film rights optioned to the same people involved in The Simpson’s Movie and Futurama. The story could make for a truly excellent movie, depending on how they interpret it… (see The Swivet’s full post here).
Also, for those keeping up with Canada Reads 2008 sadly Nalo Hopkinson‘s Brown Girl in the Ring did not win out. However, congrats to Paul Quarrington’s King Leary, which is apparently a humourous read, if not a speculative one.
OF Blog of the Fallen makes some interesting points about reviews that I don’t fully agree with, but are good to think about nonetheless. The comments are also thought-provoking. I’m thinking about writing more about why I do reviews and how I think about them at a later date. Which brings me to the fact that I’m always open to constructive criticism–I may not follow it, but I certainly appreciate when people give me feedback on the reviews and writing itself, so go to if you feel inclined. (I promise I won’t be too hurt, I might just lick my wounds for a few days before responding 😉 )
And in other news via the CBC, robots equally effective as dogs in curbing loneliness and spotlight on Pseudomonas-infected snow.
Filed under: news | Tags: doranna durgin, elizabeth moon, john jude palancar, peg kerr, red deer press, spectrum
I noticed today at Locus that the 2008 Spectrum Grand Master is John Jude Palancar, whose artwork I have loved since I first saw it… And in fact, I think the most memorable cover by him for me was for The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr.
Then I wondered what happened to Peg Kerr… She wrote two books in the late 1990s, then seemed to disappear. It looks like mainly be life and short fiction happened, as life often does, and short fiction sometimes does. I just hope she eventually comes back to novels, as both Emerald House Rising (1997) and The Wild Swans (1999) are excellent books.
And also, here’s an article about Elizabeth Moon, about her life and writing. She’s one of those people who does many things with her life, and it usually shows up in her writing at some point–there are some really nice takes on EMTs in space in some of her short stories. She makes an interesting comment that science fiction is easier to write than fantasy. I for one am glad that the return to fantasy publication is imminent, but no more news on that front from this article (found via The Swivet).
When I was at McNally Robinson (a local bookseller) a couple days ago, I happened upon a Red Deer Press reprint of Doranna Durgin‘s Dun Lady’s Jess. So excited! I kept trying to get my hands on this book way back when it first came out, and could only ever get sequels because it always seemed to be out of print despite its popularity. And it just takes the cake that it’s a small Canadian press as well. O happy day! So look for a review of that in the near future, though there are some others in progress before that one will be up on the reading block…
Filed under: news | Tags: elizabeth moon, fantasy, michael chabon, science fiction
Tidbit #1: It looks as though screen rights to Michael Chabon’s book, The Yiddish Policeman’s Association, have been acquired by Sony’s Columbia Pictures. Directing the movie? The Coen bros. This excites me a little, but makes me a little wary. The Coen bros. can be brilliant, but sometimes brilliant doesn’t always make for a great movie. The book is on Locus’ must-read list for 2007, and it’s one that I’ve been hoping to get my hands on for some time.
Tidbit#2: Elizabeth Moon returns to the Paksenarrion universe! This is huge news for me, since The Deed of Paksenarrion was a hugely influential book for me when I was in my teens. As far as I can tell, Moon’s website doesn’t have any information on this yet.
Tidbits courtesy of Sci Fi Wire.
Jumpdrives & Cantrips 