Thursday, October 22, 2015

Title spotlight - "Cemetery Dance Select: Kaaron Warren"

I am always thrilled when a new book by a favorite author is being published, even if it is a reprint or a new collection gathering familiar stories. I am also perfectly aware that even though I would love to see new fiction from my favorite writers coming out each year it is not always possible, there are plenty of things required by such new stories, among them the author’s personal life and inspiration playing very important roles. But since I can always go back to the works that made a writer a personal favorite I am willing to wait patiently for the next book no matter when it comes. Kaaron Warren falls into this category, I am already eager to garb her new short story or novel whenever they will be available, but until then I still have her collections and novels to keep me company. And all those are joined now by another, Cemetery Dance released on June one of their titles spotlighting short fiction, “Cemetery Dance Select: Kaaron Warren”. Five stories previously published are gathered in this volume sampling Kaaron Warren’s exceptional talent. So, if, like me, you wish to revisit some of Kaaron Warren’s short fiction or you wish to discover another excellent writer give “Cemetery Dance Select: Kaaron Warren” a chance. I am certain you’ll not regret it.

“The Blue Stream” (originally published in Aurealis Magazine, No. 14, 1994 – nominated for the 1995 Aurealis Award, Best Fantasy Short Story)
“A Positive” (originally published in Bloodsongs Magazine, No. 10, 1998 – winner of the 1998 Aurealis Award, Best Horror Short Story)
“State of Oblivion” (originally published in “Elsewhere: An Anthology of Incredible Places”, 2003 – nominated for the 2003 Aurealis Award, Best Science Fiction Story)
“All You Can Do is Breathe” (originally published in “Blood and Other Cravings”, 2011 – nominated for the 2012 Ditmar Award, Best Short Story & the 2011 Stoker Award, Best Short Story)
“Air, Water and the Grove” (originally published in “The Lowest Heaven”, 2013 – winner of the 2013 Aurealis Award, Best Science Fiction Story & nominated for the 2014 Ditmar Award, Best Short Story)

Thursday, October 15, 2015

More K.J. Parker fiction coming next year

Since revealing his secret identity K.J. Parker is hard at work in bringing more of his excellent fiction. This year saw the publication of two novels, one in limited edition, “Savages”, and one in a serialization ongoing still, “The Two of Swords”, plus the recently released novella “The Last Witness”. But this is not all, there are more such K.J. Parker goodies looming on the horizon with two other novellas scheduled to be released next year. “The Devil You Know” comes from Tor.com on March 2016 while “Downfall of the Gods” is published by Subterranean Press on April 2016 and I must admit that both sound as exciting and promising as I was used to expect from the pen of K.J. Parker. For certain, next spring I’ll be digging deep within the pages of these two novellas.

The greatest philosopher of all time is offering to sell his soul to the Devil. All he wants is twenty more years to complete his life’s work. After that, he really doesn’t care.
But the assistant demon assigned to the case has his suspicions, because the philosopher is Saloninus–the greatest philosopher, yes, but also the greatest liar, trickster and cheat the world has yet known; the sort of man even the Father of Lies can’t trust.
He’s almost certainly up to something; but what?

If you visit the Temple and ask nicely for forgiveness, you might get it—assuming you aren’t Lord Archias and you haven’t killed the Goddess’s favorite musician, Lysippus. But even goddesses are expected to follow certain rules, and as much as she wants to punish Lord Archias it seems her troublesome, all-powerful father forbids it. So the Goddess will just have to get around that by forgiving Lord Archias if he can manage some simple—or, rather, seemingly impossible—tasks. A Goddess has to do what a goddess has to do.
And in World Fantasy Award winner K.J. Parker’s sharply inventive new novella Downfall of the Gods that means everything from soothing supernatural egos to accompanying the argumentative Lord Archias on an epic quest to save his soul…and get her own way. As the Goddess and her mortal charge make their way across the world to the Land of the Dead, a host of divine surprises await them. Could what they find at the end be the downfall of the gods themselves? Only time will tell. This is a story Parker fans won’t want to miss.

Friday, October 9, 2015

2015 Nocte Awards nominees

The Spanish Horror Writers Association (Asociación Española e Escritores de Terror) has announced the finalists of the 2015 Premios Nocte, the award recognizing the merits of Spanish horror works published throughout a year (plus those translated into Spanish in the respective year). The winners of the 2015 Premios Nocte will be announced during Semana Gótica de Madrid (Madrid Gothic Week) on October 30th in a ceremony held at The National Museum of Romanticism in Madrid.

BEST NATIONAL NOVEL

“Extraños eons” (Strange Eons) by Emilio Bueso (Valdemar)

“Un minuto antes de la oscuridad” (One Minute Before the Darkness) by Ismael Martínez Biurrun (Fantascy)

“El Cuarto Jinete: Destrucción Masiva” (The Fourth Horse Rider: Massive Destruction) by Víctor Blázquez (Dolmen)

“Tormenta sangrienta” (Bloody Storm) by Tony Jiménez (AppleHead Team)

BEST NATIONAL SHORT STORY

“Caballito” (Hobby Horse) by Darío Vilas (Absurdario, Ed. Sven Jorgensen)

“Cuando tú no estás” (When You’re Not Here) by Teresa Viejo (Relatos Insólitos, Ediciones Arconte)

“Los peces” (The Fish) by David Jasso (Donde reside el horror, Edge Entertainment)

“Plastilina” (Plasticine) by Fernando López Guisado (Frankenstein. Diseccionando el mito, Kelonia)

BEST NATIONAL ANTHOLOGY

“Donde reside el horror” (Where the Horror Lives) by various writers (Edge Entertainment)

‘‘El manjar inmundo” (The Unclean Dish) by Javier Quevedo Puchal (Punto en boca)

“Frankenstein. Diseccionando el mito” (Frankenstein. Dissecting the Myth) by various writers (Editorial Kelonia)

“Una hamburguesa para cenar” (A Hamburger for Dinner) by Javi Martos (Tyrannosaurus Books)

BEST TRANSLATED BOOK

“El Rito” (The Croning) by Laird Barron (Valdemar)

“NOS4R2 (Nosferatu)” by Joe Hill (Suma de letras)

“Diez” (Ten) by Gretchen McNeil (Maeva)

BEST TRANSLATED SHORT STORY

“Ese autobús es de otro mundo” (That Bus is Another World) by Stephen King (published in Esquire España magazine)

“Nacido de hombre y mujer” (Born of Man and Woman) by Richard Matheson (Gigamesh)

“Sueños de armario” (Closet Dreams) by Lisa Tuttle (Ignota, Palabras de agua)

Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Two volumes showcasing the best Australian speculative fiction of 2014

Australia is brimming with exceptional talent and there is enough evidence around to prove it. Actually, I believe that enough is not correctly applied here, because although it is said that too much of anything is bad I am convinced that this statement loses its value when it comes to quality fiction. Therefore, two newly released volumes add further proof of Australia’s finest speculative fiction writings and plenty more excellent short stories to read, the fifth entry in “The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror” (Ticonderoga Publications) series of anthologies edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene and the third “Focus: highlights of Australian short fiction” (FableCroft Publishing) compiled by Tehani Wessely, both collections showcasing short fiction from Down Under published in 2014. And while we are at this point it is also interesting to mention that FableCroft Publishing celebrates the apparition of “Focus 2014: highlights of Australian Short fiction” by offering us the chance to grab the first volume of this series for free. The offer is limited so if you are interested in a copy head over to Kindle, Kobo or Smashwords stores to snatch one.

“Shadows of the Lonely Dead” by Alan Baxter (Suspended in Dusk)
“The Changeling” by James Bradley (Fearsome Magics)
“Soul Partner” by Imogen Cassidy (Aurealis 74)
“The Bullet & The Flesh” by David Conyers & David Kernot (World War Cthulhu)
“The Corpse Rose” by Terry Dowling (Nightmare Carnival)
“The Oud” by Thoraiya Dyer (Long Hidden Anthology)
“Metempsychosis” by Jason Franks (SQ Mag)
“Of Gold and Dust” by Michelle Goldsmith (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 60)
“1884” by Michael Grey (Cthulhu Lives: An Eldrich Tribute to H.P.Lovecraft)
“Escapement” by Stephanie Gunn (Kisses by Clockwork)
“Vox” by Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter (The Female Factory)
“Of The Colour Tumeric, Climbing on Fingertips” by Gerry Huntman (Night Terrors III)
“Dolls for Another Day” by Rick Kennett (The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows: Vol 2)
“Chiaroscuro” by Charlotte Kieft (Disquiet)
“Kneaded” by SG Larner (Phantazein)
“Yard” by Claire McKenna (Use Only As Directed)
“A Prayer for Lazarus” by Andrew J. McKiernan (Last Year, When We Were Young)
“Signature” by Faith Mudge (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi)
“The Preservation Society” by Jason Nahrung (Dimension6)
“The Box Wife” by Emma Osborne (Shock Totem: Curious Tales of the Macabre & Twisted #9)
“Shedding Skin” by Angela Rega (Crossed Genres)
“The Love Letters of Swans” by Tansy Rayner Roberts (Phantazein)
“The Badger Bride” by Angela Slatter (Strange Tales IV)
“New Chronicles of Andras Thorn” by Cat Sparks (Dimension6 Annual Collection 2014)
“The Walking-stick Forest” by Anna Tambour (Tor.com)
“Necromancy” by Kyla Ward (Spectral Realms #1)
“Bridge of Sighs” by Kaaron Warren (Fearful Symmetries: An Anthology of Horror)
 “Lady of the Swamp” by Janeen Webb (Death at the Blue Elephant)

“Shadows of the Lonely Dead” by Alan Baxter (Suspended in Dusk)
“The Executioner Goes Home” by Deborah Biancotti (Review of Australian Fiction)
“Wine, Women and Stars” by Thoraiya Dyer (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)
“Vanilla” by Dirk Flinthart (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi)
“Signature” by Faith Mudge (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi)
“The Ghost of Hephaestus” by Charlotte Nash (Phantazein)
“Cookie Cutter Superhero” by Tansy Rayner Roberts (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi)
“St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls” by Angela Slatter (The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings)
“The Seventh Relic” by Cat Sparks (Phantazein)
“Death’s Door Café” by Kaaron Warren (Shadows & Tall Trees)
“The Legend Trap” by Sean Williams (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi)

Monday, October 5, 2015

Hiatus over

It is time to shake off the dust of lazy summer days, saddle the horses and start riding again. So starting tomorrow the longish hiatus Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews took over the last several months will be officially over.