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Why has fantasy gotten so gritty and violent? Why are we so obsessed with Game of Thrones and book sagas about severed limbs and dirty deals, instead of epic quests involving elves and singing swords and Ultimate Evil? Writer David Chandler shares a fascinating theory over at SFSignal. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5866663&view=rss&microfeed=true The iPad and other devices may have revolutionized the short story publishing market, judging from a new announcement by Orbit Books. The genre publisher, whose authors include Iain M. Banks and Gail Carriger, is going to start publishing its authors's short fiction electronically — but Orbit's not going the Tor route, where stories are posted online for free. Instead, reading between the lines, it sounds like Orbit wants to publish stories for handheld devices and other sources, through "major retail channels." So instead of buying a collection of an author's stories — or an anthology containing many different authors — you might see that there's a new Joe Abercrombie story and pay a dollar or two to download it. This sounds like a great way to get more people reading short fiction, but not such a great way to help people discover new short fiction authors. But we'll have to wait for more details before passing judgment — here's the Orbit press release: More »
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Richard K. Morgan's The Steel Remains blew us away with its nasty slog through a fantasy world where heroes get forgotten, mistreated or queer-bashed. And we were jazzed about the trend of noir fantasy, so we asked Morgan about it. More »
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Want to discover some cool new authors, and feel in-the-know about one of the most important Hugo awards at the same time? It's your lucky day. You have two easy ways to get to know the nominees for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New SF Writer. Arachne Jericho's Spontaneous Derivation blog has a rundown of the Campbell finalists, including what they've written, their website URLs, and a brief writing sample. And finalist Jon Armstrong is interviewing the other finalists on his podcast, If You're Just Joining Us. Find out how Joe Abercrombie feels about bad reviews, or Mary Robinette Kowal's magic formula for elevator pitches, by clicking the links. [Spontaneous Derivation and If You're Just Joining Us] More »
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