Jared Shurin's Blog, page 123

Super 8 and the Big But

So, we finally got around to watching JJ Abrams'Super 8a few nights ago, and it was really fun! I enjoyed it more than I expected. Jared enjoyed it more than he expected. It fell into that particularly robust niche of (arguably peculiarly American) storytelling: a boy reconnects with his estranged father. Their story opens with them as far from each other as they can be; by the end of it, they’re playing catch.

There’s a second, interrelated story being told, too: The kid isweird,man: awkwar...

Post-script: Archaelogy & Unearthed

Only two new purchases this week:

Oh Pure and Radiant Heartby Lydia Millet. A recommendation from Niall Harrison, looks bonkers and fits my whole "read more stuff in translation" ethos. (Abebooks)

Doctor Nikolaby Guy Boothby. Doctor Nikola predates Fu Manchu, but there are more than a few similarities. Boothby's character is one of the great EVIL MASTERMINDS of fiction, the recurring villain in five different books. The copy I found is a battered first edition - I mean, properly battered. Bu...

The Kitschies: Submissions & 2013 Judges

The Kitschies, presented by The Kraken Rum, are very proud to announce the 2013 judging panels. These ten individuals will be searching for the most progressive, intelligent and entertaining books containing elements of the speculative or fantastic.

Red & Golden Tentacle judges (Novel & Debut):

Kate Griffin
Nick Harkaway
Will Hill
Anab Jain
Annabel Wright

Inky Tentacle judges (Cover Art):

Craig Kennedy
Sarah Anne Langton
Barry Nugent
Hazel Thompson
Emma Vieceli

More detail on the judges a...

Underground Reading: The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

This is the latest installment in our scheme to review each and every Hard Case Crime publication, one every week.You can follow along here. After a slight hiatus, we're back with #13 - Stephen King's The Colorado Kid.

This is going to be a very structured review - a bit like a middle school book report. Here's how it'll go:

What happens in The Colorado Kid
What I like about it
What I don't like about it
The greater significance

There's a method to my madness (or, to be more accurate, a ma...

The Lowest Heaven - Limited Edition

The Lowest Heaven isour new anthology of original fiction, published to coincide with the Visions of the Universeexhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. It contains seventeen new stories of (vaguely) science fiction, each inspired by one of our closest celestial neighbours.

For added fun, the anthologyis illustrated with photography and artwork from the archives of the Royal Museums Greenwich - and we've found some amazing (and eclectic) treasures.

The whole thing is wrapped up in gor...

Post-script: Upgrades

The occasional list of recent purchases...

Well, that was a week - two panels, an awards ceremony, a launch and an AMA!All of it, well, bonkers and delightful. And that's not counting the stuff we missed: book launches by Gary Northfield and Al Ewing, talks by Lauren Beukes and Benjamin Percy, SCI-FI LONDON mayhem and the inaugural Write the Future. That's one geeky, geeky seven days.

[Psst. As always, if you were at "Storytelling without limits" with Lauren Beukes, Ben Percy and Warren Ellis...

Dark Societies and AMA

Anne's hanging out with Kitschies' finalists Frances Hardinge, Adam Roberts at Dark Societies tonight. Starts at 6.30 pm and costs £5 at the door (£3 if you're a member of the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club). Other panelists include Tom Hunter (Clarke Award), Rob Grant (Clarke Award and SCI-FI London) and author Jeff Norton. Should be a fun and provocative panel.

Later, I'll be doing an AMA with Justin Landon for Speculative Fiction 2012. Many of the contributors should be there as well, so shoul...

Stories of the Smoke: Going, going...

Stories of the Smokewill only be available for the next 24 hours, then it will disappear from the Amazon and Kobo stores for good.

Part of our shtick is that all our anthologies - including the ebooks - are "limited edition". In the case of the digital formats, it means that they're only on sale for one year. And, as of tomorrow, Smoke's year is up. If you own Smoke, it won't be magically removedfrom your Kindle - you'll own it forever. But, there will no longer be opportunities to purchase...

Review Round-up: Vintage Classics (and Not-So-Classics)

We've just returned from a long weekend in Lyme Regis, our favourite escape. Dinosaurs and literary landmarks! Bakeries on every corner! We spent most of our stay buying delicious foodstuffs and eating them on the terrace (which had a sea view if you stood on the table). Occasionally inclement weather forced us to nap. It was exhausting. To make things worse, the trip was bracketed by train rides to and from London, during which we could only... read.

Lyme Regis has an amazing bookshop, and a...

Everywhere but here...

Really very much not here, as we're off to hunt dinosaurs while our friends move in and spoil the cats for us.

Lots of fun stuff lately, with Adventure Rocketship and Speculative Fiction 2012.

Stories of the Smoke is entering its last week before dissipating, so strike now if you ever want to read amazing stories of talking cities, walking cities, trolls, walruses, angry spirits and the secret history of London's best pubs.

Upcoming books: just approved the proof for Reading Between the Lines...