John Joseph Adams's Blog, page 41

Under the Moons of Mars

Readers of all ages have read and loved Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series since the first book, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1912. Fans have marveled at the adventures of John Carter, an Earthman who suddenly finds himself on a strange new world: Mars. Now, in time for the 100th anniversary of that seminal work and the release of a Disney feature film, comes an anthology of original stories featuring John Carter of Mars, in brand new adventures. Collected by veteran anthology editor John Joseph Adams, this anthology features a forward by Tamora Pierce, stories and original art from titans of literature and illustrations such as Peter S. Beagle, Garth Nix, Charles Vess, and many more, plus a glossary of Mars by Richard A. Lupoff.

Note: This book is not licensed or authorized by, or in any way affiliated with, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. or any other entity associated with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: February 7, 2012

LOCUS Recommended Reading List & Year-End Summations

Locus Magazine, in its February issue, just published their recommended reading list and year-end summations.

Here are Locus's picks for the Recommended Reading list from Lightspeed & Fantasy:

All That Touches the Air by An Owomoyela (Lightspeed 4/11)
The Immortality Game by Cat Rambo (Fantasy 6/11)
Woman Leaves Room by Robert Reed (Lightspeed 3/11)
Red Dawn: A Chow Mein Western by Lavie Tidhar (Fantasy 11/11)
The Sandal-Bride by Genevieve Valentine (Fantasy 3/11)

You can see the rest of the recommended reading list over on Locus Online.

In his year-end summation, Gardner Dozois said the following about Lightspeed and Fantasy:

The online magazine Lightspeed … published worthwhile stuff by Robert Reed, David Farland, Vylar Kaftan, An Owomoyela, and Genevieve Valentine. The online magazine Fantasy … recently taken over by Lightspeed editor John Joseph Adams, had a strong year, publishing good fiction by Lavie Tidhar, James Alan Gardner, Sarah Monette, Cat Rambo, Tim Pratt, Kat Howard, Jeremiah Tolbert, Genevieve Valentine, and others.

My only other work to come out in 2011 was my anthology Brave New Worlds, about which Dozois said: "Brave New Worlds, edited by John Joseph Adams, was a good reprint collection of dystopian SF."

You, Too, Can Vote for the Hugos

Anyone who has an attending or supporting membership of this year's Worldcon (Chicon 7) as of January 31, and all members of last year's Worldcon (Renovation), may nominate works for the Hugo Awards. If you didn't attend or support Renovation, and you don't plan to attend Chicon 7, you can still nominate by purchasing a supporting membership. For more information, visit Chicon 7's nomination page. Nominations close March 31.

The Hugos are open to any fan, and I would encourage any of you reading this to seriously consider voting and participating in the process. If you're attending Worldcon (or attended last year's), you have voting privileges—use them! Even if you haven't read a hundred novels or surveyed the entire field of short fiction (and even if you want to nominate things other than Lightspeed!); if everyone nominates material they feel is worthy, then the best stuff will still rise to the top.

Also, ebook readers have even less of an excuse for not voting these days, thanks to the fabulous Hugo Voter Packet that's distributed to members every year. All attending and supporting members of Worldcon now receive a packet containing most of the works nominated for the current year's awards. Meaning, although you may have to pay $50 for a supporting membership, you'll get far more than $50 worth of ebooks in exchange for that, plus you get the right to have some say in what wins the field's most prestigious award. So, come on—let's get out there and vote!

If you'd like to vote for Lightspeed (and/or Fantasy) material from 2011, here's a list of eligible works, sorting them into their proper categories, and including a list of those eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: http://tinyurl.com/2011Hugos-Nebulas.

Win a Copy of Every Anthology I've Edited to Date

The Alpha SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers (ages 14-19) will be held July 18-27, 2012 in Pittsburgh, PA. At Alpha, students can meet others who share their interest in writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They can learn about writing and publishing from guest authors, including Tamora Pierce and Kij Johnson. Also, they will write and revise a short story during the workshop. Applications are due March 1, 2012. For more information about Alpha, check out my article on writing workshops.

Alpha is currently holding a fundraiser to help support the workshop. The auction will run January 13-20, with other donations welcome anytime.

I donated the following item/package: A copy of every English-language anthology I've edited to date, signed and personalized. The opening bid is $150.

New Anthology: Other Worlds Than These

What if you could not only travel any location in the world, but to any possible world?

We can all imagine such "other worlds" — be they worlds just slightly different than our own or worlds full of magic and wonder — but it is only in fiction that we can travel to them, and this anthology will explore that concept — the idea of a person or persons from our world traveling to other worlds or alternate realities.

This reprint anthology will collect the best of these parallel worlds stories, alongside the best portal fantasies. As I've done with most of my other anthologies, I'd like to solicit recommendations, so if you have any outstanding examples of this kind of fiction you'd like to point out to me, please feel free to let me know about them by entering them into my Parallel Worlds database (http://tinyurl.com/OtherWorldsThanThese).

I'm primarily interested in short fiction, but if you want to recommend novels or novel series, that is welcome too, as I may include a "for further reading" list in the anthology.

If you are a writer and would like to recommend your own story, that's fine too, and if so, you should feel free to also email me a copy in RTF or Doc format to jjadams.anthology [at] gmail [dot] com.

Reminder: I'm also soliciting recommendations for an epic/high fantasy anthology.

I'm the Jeddak of Anthsoom!*

I just got my hands on a single finished copy of my new anthology, Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom. The rest of my author copies will be arriving in a couple of weeks, but S&S kindly sent me this one, hot off the presses.

* The post title comes from the exquisitely geeky thought that popped into my head that, since Barnes & Noble called me "the reigning king of the anthology world," if I were on Barsoom, that would make me the Jeddak of anthologies. And since B&N specifically said I was the king of the anthology world, I took anthology and the -soom suffix that Barsoomians use (e.g., they call Mars Barsoom and they call Earth Jasoom). Ahem. It'll probably be funnier if you've read the novels, or after you read the anthology. Or not. Anyway—I said it was exquisitely geeky.

Under the Moons of Mars: Sneak Preview @ io9

io9 is currently featuring a sneak preview of my John Carter/Barsoom anthology Under the Moons of Mars, "A Tinker of Warhoon" by Tobias S. Buckell.

For more about Under the Moons of Mars, visit the promotional site, which includes interviews, artwork, free fiction, and more!

 

New Anthology: Epic

I'm editing a new reprint anthology of epic fantasy short fiction for Tachyon Publications. It will be called Epic and will be released sometime this fall. As I've done with most of my other anthologies, I'd like to solicit recommendations, so if you have any outstanding examples of epic fantasy fiction you'd like to point out to me, please feel free to let me know about them by entering them into my Epic Fantasy Database (http://goo.gl/LDB28).

I'm primarily interested in short fiction, but if you want to recommend novels or novel series, that is welcome too, as I may include a "for further reading" list in the anthology.

If you are a writer and would like to recommend your own story, that's fine too, and if so, you should feel free to also email me a copy in RTF or Doc format to jjadams.anthology [at] gmail [dot] com.

Nebula & Hugo Awards Nomination Periods Now Open

This year's Nebula & Hugo awards nomination periods are now open.

Nebulas: From November 15th, 2011, to February 15th, 2012, 11:59pm PST, Active and Associate SFWA members may submit nominations for the 2011 Nebula Awards. Nominations may be submitted through the online ballot, available here. For more information, visit SFWA's How to Vote page.

Hugos: The 2011 Hugo Awards will be presented in Chicago, IL during Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention (Aug. 30-Sep. 3). Nominations close on Saturday, March 31, 2012, 23:59 PDT. Anyone who has a supporting or full membership of Chicon 7 as of January 31, 2012 and all members of Renovation (last year's Worldcon) may nominate works. If you didn't attend Renovation, and you don't plan to attend Chicon 7, you can still nominate by purchasing a supporting membership. Nominations may be submitted through the online ballot, available here.

Here are all of the 2011 eligible stories/authors that either appeared in Lightspeed or Fantasy, or I'm otherwise affiliated with.

Novelettes (Nebulas / Hugos)

The Nearest Thing by Genevieve Valentine (Lightspeed)
The Old Equations by Jake Kerr (Lightspeed)
The Devil in Gaylord's Creek by Sarah Monette (Fantasy)
Unnatural Disaster by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Fantasy)
The Woman Who Married the Man in the Moon by Peter S. Beagle (first appeared in Beagle's collection Sleight of Hand, reprinted in Fantasy)
The Prince of Thirteen Days by Alaya Dawn Johnson (first appeared in Welcome to Bordertown, edited by Holly Black & Ellen Kushner, reprinted in Fantasy)
House of Gears by Jonathan Howard (Fantasy)

Short Stories (Nebulas / Hugos)

Transcript of Interaction Between Astronaut Mike Scudderman and the OnStar Hands-Free AI Crash Advisor by Grady Hendrix  (Lightspeed)
Sweet Sixteen by Kat Howard (Lightspeed)
Against Eternity by David Farland (Lightspeed)
How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars by Lisa Nohealani Morton (Lightspeed)
Postings from an Amorous Tomorrow by Corey Mariani (Lightspeed)
Woman Leaves Room by Robert Reed (Lightspeed)


Simulacrum by Ken Liu (Lightspeed)
The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan (Lightspeed)


Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son by Tom Crosshill (Lightspeed)
Black Fire by Tanith Lee (Lightspeed)
Long Enough And Just So Long by Cat Rambo (Lightspeed)
Eliot Wrote by Nancy Kress (Lightspeed)


The Parting Glass by Andrew Penn Romine (Lightspeed)
Houses by Mark Pantoja (Lightspeed)
(Lightspeed)
Join by Liz Coleman (Lightspeed)
Thief of Futures by D. Thomas Minton (Lightspeed)
Her Husband's Hands by Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed)
The Defenders by Will McIntosh (Lightspeed)
Snapshots I Brought Back from the Black Hole by K. C. Ball (Lightspeed)
All That Touches the Air by An Owomoyela (Lightspeed)


The Harrowers by Eric Gregory (Lightspeed)
Some Fortunate Future Day by Cassandra Clare (first appeared in Steampunk!, edited by Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, reprinted in Lightspeed)
Choose Your Own Adventure by Kat Howard (Fantasy)
Crossroads by Laura Anne Gilman (Fantasy)
The Lizard Dance by Gio Clairval & Jeff Vandermeer (Fantasy)
The Secret Beach by Tim Pratt (Fantasy)
Lebkuchen by Priya Sharma (Fantasy)
Her Lover's Golden Hair by Nike Sulway (Fantasy)
The Sandal-Bride by Genevieve Valentine (Fantasy)
The God Orkrem by Tanith Lee (Fantasy)
Study, for Solo Piano by Genevieve Valentine (Fantasy)
The Wolves of Brooklyn by Catherynne M. Valente (Fantasy)
News Right Fresh From Heaven by Darby Harn (Fantasy)
Crystal Halloway and the Forgotten Passage by Seanan McGuire (Fantasy)
The World is Cruel, My Daughter by Cory Skerry (Fantasy)
Of Men and Wolves by An Owomoyela (Fantasy)
Red Dawn: A Chow Mein Western by Lavie Tidhar (Fantasy)
Ghost Girl by Lauren Beukes (Fantasy)
The House that Made the Sixteen Loops of Time by Tamsyn Muir (Fantasy)
Seven Spells to Sever the Heart by K. M. Ferebee (Fantasy)
Union Falls by J. S. Breukelaar (Fantasy)
As We Report to Gabriel by Tina Connolly (Fantasy)
Lessons From a Clockwork Queen by Megan Arkenberg (Fantasy)
The Immortality Game by Cat Rambo (Fantasy)
The Celebrated Carousel of the Margravine of Blois by Megan Arkenberg (Fantasy)
Absolute Zero by Nadia Bulkin (first appeared in Creatures, edited by John Langan & Paul Tremblay, reprinted in Fantasy)
You Have Been Turned Into a Zombie by a Friend by Jeremiah Tolbert (Fantasy)
Christopher Raven by Theodora Goss (first appeared in Ghosts by Gaslight, edited by Jack Dann & Nick Gevers, reprinted in Fantasy)
Three Damnations: A Fugue by James Alan Gardner (Fantasy)

Editor, Short-Form (Hugos)

John Joseph Adams (Brave New Worlds, Lightspeed Magazine, Fantasy Magazine)

Semiprozine (Hugos)

Lightspeed Magazine
Fantasy Magazine

Best Related Work (Hugos)

The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast by John Joseph Adams & David Barr Kirtley (Episodes 28-50 released in 2011) [Episode List]

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (Hugos)

J.S. Breukelaar
K. M. Ferebee
An Owomoyela
Cory Skerry
Nike Sulway
Tamsyn Muir
Priya Sharma
Kat Howard
K. C. Ball
Jake Kerr
Grady Hendrix
Lisa Nohealani Morton
Corey Mariani
Tom Crosshill 
Andrew Penn Romine
Mark Pantoja
Maggie Clark
Liz Coleman

Plus, the following Lightspeed/Fantasy staff members are eligible for the Campbell:

Wendy N. Wagner
Christie Yant
Molly Tanzer

Lightspeed: Year One gets a STARRED REVIEW from Publishers Weekly!

Publishers Weekly, the leading trade journal of publishing, just reviewed Lightspeed: Year One, the print anthology that collects all of the fiction published in Lightspeed's first year, and awarded it one of their prized starred reviews, denoting books of exceptional merit. Here's the pull-quote from the review:

"Lightspeed editor Adams (Brave New Worlds) provides an outstanding print anthology of stories collected during the online SF magazine's first year. These stories make it clear why Adams and the magazine have already separately been nominated for Hugo awards. [...] Years of work on F&SF and numerous lauded reprint anthologies have clearly honed Adams's talents and prepared him to be a major force in the field."

You can read the whole review over on the Publishers Weekly website.