The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.

 

• It’s been a week of trailers, including one for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. We can’t wait to get a full-on view of Smaug.

• One of the other trailers that went up this week is for Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium. It looks truly amazing.

• Want to be totally creeped out by your food? BoingBoing found this amazing cinnamon-vanilla Sandworm bread. I know what I’ll be baking this weekend. Or attempting to, anyway.

• Lifehacker tackles the question of why we feel guilty when we don’t finish a book or game. Do you feel guilty?

• Did you get excited watching The Hobbit trailer? Probably not as excited as these fans, since Peter Jackson posted the actors’ reaction to their reaction!

• Next time I’m in Portland, I’m definitely visiting the Lovecraft Bar. Where do you want to go? Know of any other bars to add to the list?

• Cosplay Piano has a new video up. This time, they take on Game of Thrones, and it’s fantastic.

And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• eBook Sale: Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Drift by Jon McGoran (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Mist by Susan Krinard (Ends 6/24)
• Goodreads First Reads: Replica by Jenna Black (Ends 6/25)
• Goodreads First Reads: Storm Riders by Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes (Ends 6/26)
• Goodreads First Reads: Traveling Light by Andrea Thalasinos (Ends 6/27)
• Goodreads First Reads: Extremities by David Lubar (Ends 6/28)
• Goodreads Giveaway: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Ends 6/28)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 6/30)
• Summer Grab Bag Sweepstakes (Ends 6/30)
• Goodreads First Reads: Kitty in the Underworld by Carrie Vaughn (Ends 7/1)
• eBook Sale: The Affinity Bridge, by George Mann, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 7/5)

The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.

 

• Check out the book trailer for The Rithmatist, Brandon Sanderson’s new young adult novel! Now we really want to see this as a movie. Don’t you?

• Because some weeks, a hilarious cat video is necessary. Luckily, this week, Mary Robinette Kowal found us an absolutely perfect one. Apparently cats can, in fact, levitate.

• Have you seen these Star Wars pulp covers? Artist Timothy Anderson did a whole series of them, and they’re truly amazing.

• This week marks the anniversary of Ray Bradbury’s death. In honor of one of the titans of genre fiction, why not read some of his work to inspire you? Tor.com has five story suggestions to start with.

• The San Francisco Public Library has chosen Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother as its One City, One Book selection for 2013!

• With Matt Smith’s upcoming departure from Doctor Who after this year’s Christmas special, bookies are already taking odds as to who’ll be cast as the next Doctor. Who do you think it’ll be?

The Tor/Forge newsletter went out this week! Check out these fascinating articles from our authors:

• The Children Who Inspired Battle School by Aaron Johnston
• Krakens: What’s Not to Love? by S. M. Wheeler
• Summer Grab Bag Sweepstakes

And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• Waiting on Wednesday: Replica by Jenna Black (Ends 6/11)
• Goodreads First Reads: Thieves’ Quarry by D. B. Jackson (Ends 6/12)
• eBook Sale: Lamentation, by Ken Scholes, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/14)
• eBook Sale: Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Drift by Jon McGoran (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Mist by Susan Krinard (Ends 6/24)
• Goodreads First Reads: Replica by Jenna Black (Ends 6/25)
• Goodreads First Reads: Storm Riders by Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes (Ends 6/26)
• Goodreads First Reads: Traveling Light by Andrea Thalasinos (Ends 6/27)
• Goodreads First Reads: Extremities by David Lubar (Ends 6/28)
• Goodreads Giveaway: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Ends 6/28)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 6/30)
• Summer Grab Bag Sweepstakes (Ends 6/30)
• Goodreads First Reads: Kitty in the Underworld by Carrie Vaughn (Ends 7/1)
• eBook Sale: The Affinity Bridge, by George Mann, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 7/5)

The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.

Gender-swapped LotR

• LiveJournal user October_26 cast a gender-swapped version of The Lord of the Rings. Some of them are utterly brilliant. Who would you cast?

• Want to know what’s coming up at Tor Books? Here are some of the highlights of our Summer and Fall seasons!

• Tor.com’s Carl shares what we’ve learned about Words of Radiance from Brandon Sanderson’s tour for The Rithmatist.

• We’re very sad to say that this week has seen the loss of both Jack Vance, a giant of genre fiction, and Father Andrew M. Greeley, an outspoken priest and prolific mystery writer. Gentlemen, you will both be missed. Rest in peace.

• On a more positive note, at the Houston Comicapalooza this weekend, Sir Patrick Stewart gave a heartfelt and passionate speech about domestic violence and PTSD. Worth watching the entire seven minutes. With a tissue.

• And, last but definitely not least, two extra stories from John Scalzi’s The Human Division are now available for free on Tor.com.

 
And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• The Ultimate Urban Fantasy Sweepstakes (Ends today!)
• eBook Sale: The Hum and the Shiver, by Alex Bledsoe, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/7)
• Goodreads First Reads: Thieves’ Quarry by D. B. Jackson (Ends 6/12)
• eBook Sale: Lamentation, by Ken Scholes, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/14)
• eBook Sale: Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Drift by Jon McGoran (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Mist by Susan Krinard (End 6/24)
• Goodreads First Reads: Replica by Jenna Black (Ends 6/25)
• Goodreads First Reads: Storm Riders by Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes (Ends 6/26)
• Goodreads First Reads: Traveling Light by Andrea Thalasinos (Ends 6/27)
• Goodreads First Reads: Extremities by David Lubar (Ends 6/28)
• Goodreads First Reads: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Ends 6/28)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 6/30)
• eBook Sale: The Affinity Bridge, by George Mann, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 7/5)

What’s Coming Up for Tor

Between BEA (Book Expo America), Phoenix Comic Con, and the upcoming San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con, we’ve been thinking quite a bit about some of the books we’re excited for this Summer and Fall. So we put together a list of just some of the highlights we have coming up. We hope you’re as excited as we are!

What are you most looking forward to reading this Summer and Fall?

The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.

• Author Brian Staveley reveals how he felt on first seeing the cover to his upcoming novel, The Emperor’s Blades, by artist Richard Anderson. We can’t wait to read it!

• Microsoft and Steven Spielberg have teamed up to create a live-action Halo TV show.

• Have you seen the new Man of Steel trailer? The movie’s looking better and better!

• Astronaut Sally Ride has been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. We think it’s well-deserved – and about time!

• More TV news this week: there’s a new animated Star Wars series coming! We miss Clone Wars, but we’re excited for this new one as well.

• Matt Smith and David Tennant are teaming up for the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who special, and they sat down to do an adorable interview together.

 
And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• The Ultimate Urban Fantasy Sweepstakes (Ends 5/31)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sea Change by S. M. Wheeler (Ends 5/29)
• Goodreads First Reads: Solstice by P.J. Hoover (Ends 5/29)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 5/29)
• eBook Sale: The Hum and the Shiver, by Alex Bledsoe, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/7)
• Goodreads First Reads: Thieves’ Quarry by D. B. Jackson (Ends 6/12)
• eBook Sale: Lamentation, by Ken Scholes, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/14)
• eBook Sale: Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Drift by Jon McGoran (Ends 6/21)

The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.

 

• Astronaut Chris Hadfield made a strong showing to be crowned King of Space before he returned to Earth earlier this week. Case in point? Check him out singing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” in space.

• Book Expo America is at the end of the month, and we’ll be there! Here’s our schedule of panels and author signings – come say hi!

• Tor.com is starting a reread of Glen Cook’s Black Company series! To get the ball rolling, the first ebook, The Black Company, is on sale for $2.99.

• There’s a new, longer trailer for the upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show! We’re really excited about this one. You?

• Congratulations to the nominees for the John W. Campbell Award! Especially to the Tor authors nominated: David Brin, Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross, and Hannu Rajaniemi.

• Ta’veren Tees is currently donating 10% of the proceeds for its new Challenge Coin to the Wounded Warrior Project, in honor of Robert Jordan’s military service. A beautiful item that benefits a great cause. Thanks, Ta’veren Tees!

 
And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• The Ultimate Urban Fantasy Sweepstakes (Ends 5/31)
• Goodreads First Reads: The Navigator by Michael Pocalyko (Ends 5/22)
• Goodreads First Reads: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 5/22)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sea Change by S. M. Wheeler (Ends 5/29)
• Goodreads First Reads: Solstice by P.J. Hoover (Ends 5/29)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 5/29)
• eBook Sale: The Hum and the Shiver, by Alex Bledsoe, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/7)
• Goodreads First Reads: Thieves’ Quarry by D. B. Jackson (Ends 6/12)
• eBook Sale: Lamentation, by Ken Scholes, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/14)
• eBook Sale: Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/21)

The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.
 

 

• The trailer for Ender’s Game is here!

• In addition to the trailer, check out an interview with star Asa Butterfield as he talks about his space camp regimen.

• Congratulations to all the 2013 Locus Award finalists!

• Help send David Brin to Mars!

• The Los Angeles Times blog Jacket Copy dug into their archives and found a great video featuring Harlan Ellison, Isaac Asimov, and Studs Terkel in conversation.

• I would pay money to see a full movie version of this: Star Wars Episode VII: Return of the Junior Jedi.

• The nominees for the 2012 Shirley Jackson Awards have been announced! Congratulations in particular to Tor’s own Brian Evenson and his novel Immobility.

 
The Tor/Forge newsletter went out this week! Check out these fascinating articles from our authors:

• Four Songs for Stealing Planets by Dan Krokos
• Changing the World by Susan Palwick
• Genre Identity Crisis by Paul Cornell

 
And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• The Ultimate Urban Fantasy Sweepstakes (Ends 5/31)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sandstorm by Alan L. Lee (Ends 5/13)
• Waiting on Wednesday: Solstice by P. J. Hoover (Ends 5/14)
• Goodreads First Reads: Requiem by Ken Scholes (Ends 5/15)
• Goodreads First Reads: The Navigator by Michael Pocalyko (Ends 5/22)
• Goodreads First Reads: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 5/22)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sea Change by S. M. Wheeler (Ends 5/29)
• Goodreads First Reads: Solstice by P.J. Hoover (Ends 5/29)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 5/29)
• eBook Sale: The Hum and the Shiver, by Alex Bledsoe, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/7)
• eBook Sale: Lamentation, by Ken Scholes, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/14)
• eBook Sale: Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/21)

The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.

 

• A ten second teaser of the Ender’s Game movie trailer has been released! Plus, here’s an interview with Brandon Soo Hoo, who plays Fly Molo.

• Congratulations to Hank Phillippi Ryan, whose novel The Other Woman won the Mary Higgins Clark Award! And congratulations as well to Ralph Peters, whose Cain at Gettysburg won the W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction!

• Kotaku brings up the possibility of…an EVE Online tv show. What do you think?

• Want to get trivia and exclusive info on Brandon Sanderson? Sign up here or text EPIC to 555111.

• Author Hilary Davidson chose her favorite independent book stores while out on tour. Did any of your favorites make the list?

• D. B. Jackson, the author of Thieftaker, has set up a fundraiser to benefit the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

• Over on Tor.com, Emily has been knocking it out of the park lately. Her recent article on the endurance of Lt. Uhura is another great example.

• I’m sure I’m not the only one who found this both disturbing and fascinating: they’ve found evidence of cannibalism at the Jamestown colony.

 
And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• The Ultimate Urban Fantasy Sweepstakes (Ends 5/31)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sold for Endless Rue by Madeleine E. Robins (Ends 5/6)
• Goodreads Giveaway: A Dog’s Journey by W. Bruce Cameron (Ends 5/7)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sandstorm by Alan L. Lee (Ends 5/13)
• Goodreads First Reads: Requiem by Ken Scholes (Ends 5/15)
• Goodreads First Reads: The Navigator by Michael Pocalyko (Ends 5/22)
• Goodreads First Reads: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 5/22)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sea Change by S. M. Wheeler (Ends 5/29)
• Goodreads First Reads: Solstice by P.J. Hoover (Ends 5/29)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 5/29)
• eBook Sale: The Hum and the Shiver, by Alex Bledsoe, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/7)
• eBook Sale: Lamentation, by Ken Scholes, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/14)
• eBook Sale: Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/21)

The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.
 

 

• It’s been an exciting few weeks for trailers. Catching Fire was last week, and this week, we have…an official Thor trailer!

• Strange Horizons has released data from a 2012 survey of the state of gender in genre fiction. It’s a very interesting look at both publishing and reviewing.

• What should we do if aliens ever appear in the sky? Anthropologists explain their best methods on io9.

• Severus Snape has done some questionable things in his life. On Tor.com, Emily explains why Snape doesn’t deserve your pity.

• Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston were interviewed at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. They talk about the Ender’s Game movie, their roles in it, and possible future Formic Wars books.

• Last but definitely not least: happy birthday to our amazing publisher, Tom Doherty!

 
And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• Grab Bag Sweepstakes (Ends 4/30)
• Fantasy Collection Sweepstakes (Ends 4/30)
• Goodreads Giveaway: Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis (Ends 4/30)
• eBook Sale: Flying in Place eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• eBook Sale: Bitter Seeds eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• eBook Sale: The Way of Kings eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• eBook Sale: Wide Open eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• eBook Sale: Kings of Vice eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• Goodreads Giveaway: A Dog’s Journey by W. Bruce Cameron (Ends 5/7)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sandstorm by Alan L. Lee (Ends 5/13)
• Goodreads First Reads: Requiem by Ken Scholes (Ends 5/15)
• Goodreads First Reads: The Navigator by Michael Pocalyko (Ends 5/22)

The Week in Review

Welcome to the week in review! Every Friday, we comb through the links and images we found and shared this week, and pull the very best for this post. Consider it concentrated genre goodness from all around the web.
 

 

• The first trailer for Catching Fire is here! And wow, this movie looks just incredible.

• Tor.com’s Carl has a lot of opinions about the spren in Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings, and he’s not afraid to share them. Now, he’s also given us a complete catalogue of all the spren we’ve seen so far in The Stormlight Archives.

• We love fantasy maps, and io9 has collected some truly incredible ones.

• Both Brandon Sanderson and Jay Lake did Reddit AMAs this week. Check out all the questions they answered.

• A West Virginian politician wants to put science fiction in our schools. We fully agree.

• The final Star Trek: Into Darkness trailer is here!

• We’re hiring summer interns!

 
And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• April #TorChat Sweepstakes (Ends 4/24)
• Fantasy Collection Sweepstakes (Ends 4/30)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 4/24)
• eBook Sale: Three A.M. eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 4/24)
• Goodreads First Reads: The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos (Ends 4/24)
• Goodreads Giveaway: Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis (Ends 4/30)
• eBook Sale: Flying in Place eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• eBook Sale: Bitter Seeds eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• eBook Sale: The Way of Kings eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• eBook Sale: Wide Open eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• eBook Sale: Kings of Vice eBook is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 5/1)
• Goodreads Giveaway: A Dog’s Journey by W. Bruce Cameron (Ends 5/7)
• Goodreads First Reads: Sandstorm by Alan L. Lee (Ends 5/13)
• Goodreads First Reads: Requiem by Ken Scholes (Ends 5/15)