James Frenkel | Tor/Forge's Blog

The Week in Review

February 8, 2013 Leave a comment

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.

Rumors are flying about new Star Wars movies, including the origin story of Han Solo. Tor.com wants to know: who do you think should play a young Han Solo?

Because you needed more books to add to your TBR list: io9 has posted their list of books you can’t afford to miss in February.

The Wheel of Time reread continues with the final volume, A Memory of Light!

All young scientists start somewhere, and this girl has a great story – and video! – of where her future science career will begin. She sent a Hello Kitty doll into space.

Are you following along with Ron Hogan’s read of The Human Division, by John Scalzi? They’re up to Episode 4, “A Voice in the Wilderness.”

Flavorwire compiled a list of some truly amazing fictional libraries. What did they miss?

Tor.com has announced that they’re expanding their short fiction program. Submit your stories now!

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

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

Waiting on Wednesday: The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett (Ends 2/12)
Goodreads First Reads: Deep Down by Deborah Coates (Ends 2/13)
Goodreads First Reads: The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett (Ends 2/13)
Goodreads First Reads: The Six-Gun Tarot by R. S. Belcher (Ends 2/15)
Goodreads Giveaway: Eve of Destruction by Sylvia Day (Ends 2/26)
Goodreads First Reads: Pandemonium by Warren Fahy (Ends 2/27)
eBook Sale: The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 2/28)
Goodreads First Reads: Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal (Ends 3/1)
Goodreads First Reads: Kitty Rocks the House by Carrie Vaughn (Ends 3/1)

A Demented Labor of Love

February 4, 2013 6 comments

Written by James Frenkel, Senior Editor

I have edited, packaged, or been the in-house editor for several dozen anthologies since I started working in publishing, late in the last millennium. I’ve always loved working on them, especially anthologies with original stories, because they give readers (and the editor, too!) a chance to discover talented young writers who haven’t yet made a name for themselves with novels, as well as cool short fiction by wonderful established writers. Anthologies are also perfect new millennium media, especially for people who are too busy to read long books. In an anthology, each story is complete, but doesn’t take a long time to read. And themed anthologies, if they’re done well, like this one, are often a great revelation, as you read one story after another, each one offering a different writer’s original, creative take on the theme.

The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination, brought to me by the obviously demented, twisted John Joseph Adams, has been a labor of love. Twisted, tortured, tied-up-in-baling-wire-that-cut-into-my-bleeding-wrists love, but definitely love.

Its genesis was a long, seriously difficult process: at one point, the longest story in the anthology was hijacked by the editors of another anthology; sadly, one of the contributors died, and we don’t know just how many have fled into the hills . . . but we know Adams himself abandoned the East Coast for what he obviously perceived to be the relative safety of California. Obviously, he doesn’t understand the perils of unstable plate tectonics and multiple fault lines.

Were all these developments really coincidence? Hmmm.

But I had to keep going. Why? Hahahahahaha! Did you read the title? It’s the Mad Scientist’s Guide.

Have you ever noticed, in sf and fantasy books, almost always, the good guys win. The bad guys — Mob bosses, over-ambitious warlords, evil scientists, power-mad wizards — are usually crushed, their hopes and dreams, however misguided, or yes, perhaps even malevolent, turned to ashes.

This book is for them—really, yes, for those maligned, misunderstood MADMEN who merely want to RULE THE WORLD (or destroy it). Cloaked in the sheep’s garb of fiction, hidden within the pages of this guide, are secrets that readers probably will never discover . . . but those for whom this book is really intended (you know who you are, in your secret lairs, your hidden laboratories, your camouflaged hideaways with booby-trapped entrances to trap the uninitiated) will see, will discern the true, masterfully disguised intent!

And then, all the others, the unsuspecting readers who will enjoy the “stories,” will know, to their eternal doom, that what they thought were mere tales by “fiction” writers such as Diana Gabaldon, Daniel Wilson, Austin Grossman, Ben Winters, Naomi Novik, Harry Turtledove, Jeffrey Ford, Mary Robinette Kowal, Alan Dean Foster, Seanan McGuire, David Farland, Carrie Vaughn, Grady Hendrix — there are nine others, and you might find them out if you are clever, but . . . stop me before I say too much! . . . are really plans.

Yes, plans . . .

World domination will be theirs! Even the “cover artist,” Ben Templesmith . . . ha! if you think the image on the cover is mere decoration, you will rue your naive confidence. What does a “temple smith” really do? Have you really considered that? I thought not.

And now it’s too late . . . and I have enabled them . . . if the world ends now, I will know I did my part. For now it is enough to know that nothing can stop them — the “stories” — now! They are free to infect the world . . .

…………………………

From the Tor/Forge February newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

…………………………

More from the February Tor/Forge newsletter: