Martha Wells's Blog, page 67
March 21, 2018
It's happening! Dominaria
And the first story is live:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/return-dominaria-episode-1-2018-03-21
I've been really excited and nervous about this, and grateful for the opportunity. Thanks so much to Nic Kelman, the rest of the worldbuilding and creative teams, and everybody at Wizards of the Coast!
Someone asked if this is will be understandable to people new to the Magic: the Gathering universe, and I think so. The character interactions might not have as much impact without knowing the backstory, but I think anybody who likes fantasy could give it a shot.
There are eleven more parts to the story, and a new part will be posted once a week on Wednesday. The main index of chapters will be here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/columns/magic-story
comments
March 20, 2018
Dominaria Preview
There's a preview of the Dominaria stories I wrote here. First section will be posted tomorrow! (March 21)
http://www.comicsbeat.com/exclusive-story-preview-history-is-rewritten-as-magic-the-gathering-returns-to-its-homeworld-dominaria/
And tomorrow the first section of the story will be posted here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/columns/magic-story
comments
http://www.comicsbeat.com/exclusive-story-preview-history-is-rewritten-as-magic-the-gathering-returns-to-its-homeworld-dominaria/
And tomorrow the first section of the story will be posted here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/columns/magic-story
comments
March 16, 2018
Friday Stuff
Hugo Awards nominations close tonight!
The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red is eligible for Best Novella, The Harbors of the Sun for Best Novel, and Books of the Raksura (last year of eligibility) for Best Series.
Also Yukari Masuike and Jaime Jones are eligible for Best Artist!
My nominations include:
Best Novel: The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera, The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden, Jade City by Fonda Lee, The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard
Best short story includes: "Fandom for Robots" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad and "Bourbon, Sugar, Grace" by Jessica Reisman
***
Finally got to see A Wrinkle in Time. I loved it, cried at least twice.
I've been working on my yard and trying to get vegetables planted, while finishing up the last revisions on Dominaria.
The audio version of The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition narrated by Kevin R. Free is now up for preorder. It'll come out May 8 with the ebook and hardcover edition.
comments
The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red is eligible for Best Novella, The Harbors of the Sun for Best Novel, and Books of the Raksura (last year of eligibility) for Best Series.
Also Yukari Masuike and Jaime Jones are eligible for Best Artist!
My nominations include:
Best Novel: The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera, The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden, Jade City by Fonda Lee, The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard
Best short story includes: "Fandom for Robots" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad and "Bourbon, Sugar, Grace" by Jessica Reisman
***
Finally got to see A Wrinkle in Time. I loved it, cried at least twice.
I've been working on my yard and trying to get vegetables planted, while finishing up the last revisions on Dominaria.
The audio version of The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition narrated by Kevin R. Free is now up for preorder. It'll come out May 8 with the ebook and hardcover edition.
comments
March 14, 2018
Wednesday Bragging and a Rec
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/171863379397/this-is-me-and-kelly-robson-kicking-jk
This is me and Kelly Robson, kicking J.K. Rowling's ass in in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Science Fiction & Fantasy (March 13, 2018)
***
Also wanted to recommend this short story:
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/fandom-for-robots/ Fandom for Robots by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
It's awesome, and nominated this year for a Nebula Award.
comments
This is me and Kelly Robson, kicking J.K. Rowling's ass in in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Science Fiction & Fantasy (March 13, 2018)
***
Also wanted to recommend this short story:
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/fandom-for-robots/ Fandom for Robots by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
It's awesome, and nominated this year for a Nebula Award.
comments
March 12, 2018
Murderbot Excerpt
And here's a long excerpt from Artificial Condition, the second novella in the Murderbot Diaries: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/12/excerpts-martha-wells-artificial-condition/
comments
comments
New Book Monday and New Me
New by Me
Wednesday, March 21, the first chapter in Magic: The Gathering's Magic Story: Dominaria will be posted. I'll post the link here when it goes live. It should be posted in eleven parts, and I hope everyone enjoys it. Me, Nic Kelman, and the rest of the creative team and everyone involved with Magic Story worked really hard on it.
New Books
I've been so busy I got way behind on this, but I'm trying to get back on schedule.
(If you've been following my book rec and new book listing posts for a while, you may have noticed this already, but while most book lists emphasize books by popular straight white men, this one emphasizes everybody else. I include books by straight white men, but in about the same percentage that other book lists include everybody else. I also try to highlight books that are less well known.)
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
* How to Live on Other Planets edited by Joanne Merriam
How to Live on Other Planets: A Handbook for Aspiring Aliens explores the immigrant experience in a science fiction setting, with exciting fiction and poetry from some of the genre’s best writers.
* Monster Portraits by Del Samatar and Sofia Samatar
Relentlessly original and brilliantly hybrid, Monster Portraits investigates the concept of the monstrous through a mesmerizing combination of words and images. An uncanny and imaginative autobiography of otherness, it offers the fictional record of a writer in the realms of the fantastic shot through with the memories of a pair of Somali-American children growing up in the 1980s.
* Shared Dreams by J. Kathleen Cheney
Even before Shironne and Mikael met, their dreams were entwined.... This collection of three short stories introduces us to Mikael Lee and Shironne Anjir, tangled together in their need to solve murders. Mikael Lee, an aide to the king's brother, dreams his way into others deaths, and then follows the clues within back to the killer. Shironne Anjir, a young girl so sensitive to the stimuli around her that she cannot shut it out, has been sharing those dreams with him, and when a death falls closer to her doorstep, she's the one who takes up the task of finding a killer...a path that might give her a direction for the rest of her life.
* Preorder The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow's Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow's Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The Shadow's Child with her.
* Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
In 2267, Earth has just begun to recover from worldwide ecological disasters. Minh is part of the generation that first moved back up to the surface of the Earth from the underground hells, to reclaim humanity's ancestral habitat. She's spent her entire life restoring river ecosystems, but lately the kind of long-term restoration projects Minh works on have been stalled due to the invention of time travel. When she gets the opportunity take a team to 2000 BC to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, she jumps at the chance to uncover the secrets of the shadowy think tank that controls time travel technology.
* Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre
Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell. Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.
* Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
* Lake Silence by Anne Bishop
Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others—vampires, shape-shifters, and even deadlier paranormal beings. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget....
* The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.
comments
Wednesday, March 21, the first chapter in Magic: The Gathering's Magic Story: Dominaria will be posted. I'll post the link here when it goes live. It should be posted in eleven parts, and I hope everyone enjoys it. Me, Nic Kelman, and the rest of the creative team and everyone involved with Magic Story worked really hard on it.
New Books
I've been so busy I got way behind on this, but I'm trying to get back on schedule.
(If you've been following my book rec and new book listing posts for a while, you may have noticed this already, but while most book lists emphasize books by popular straight white men, this one emphasizes everybody else. I include books by straight white men, but in about the same percentage that other book lists include everybody else. I also try to highlight books that are less well known.)
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
* How to Live on Other Planets edited by Joanne Merriam
How to Live on Other Planets: A Handbook for Aspiring Aliens explores the immigrant experience in a science fiction setting, with exciting fiction and poetry from some of the genre’s best writers.
* Monster Portraits by Del Samatar and Sofia Samatar
Relentlessly original and brilliantly hybrid, Monster Portraits investigates the concept of the monstrous through a mesmerizing combination of words and images. An uncanny and imaginative autobiography of otherness, it offers the fictional record of a writer in the realms of the fantastic shot through with the memories of a pair of Somali-American children growing up in the 1980s.
* Shared Dreams by J. Kathleen Cheney
Even before Shironne and Mikael met, their dreams were entwined.... This collection of three short stories introduces us to Mikael Lee and Shironne Anjir, tangled together in their need to solve murders. Mikael Lee, an aide to the king's brother, dreams his way into others deaths, and then follows the clues within back to the killer. Shironne Anjir, a young girl so sensitive to the stimuli around her that she cannot shut it out, has been sharing those dreams with him, and when a death falls closer to her doorstep, she's the one who takes up the task of finding a killer...a path that might give her a direction for the rest of her life.
* Preorder The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow's Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow's Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The Shadow's Child with her.
* Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
In 2267, Earth has just begun to recover from worldwide ecological disasters. Minh is part of the generation that first moved back up to the surface of the Earth from the underground hells, to reclaim humanity's ancestral habitat. She's spent her entire life restoring river ecosystems, but lately the kind of long-term restoration projects Minh works on have been stalled due to the invention of time travel. When she gets the opportunity take a team to 2000 BC to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, she jumps at the chance to uncover the secrets of the shadowy think tank that controls time travel technology.
* Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre
Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell. Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.
* Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
* Lake Silence by Anne Bishop
Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others—vampires, shape-shifters, and even deadlier paranormal beings. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget....
* The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.
comments
March 5, 2018
Cage Match!
It's a cage match between Murderbot and the Last Unicorn written by Cassandra Khaw!
http://www.unboundworlds.com/cage-match-2018/cage-match-2018-round-1-murderbot-vs-the-unicorn/
comments
http://www.unboundworlds.com/cage-match-2018/cage-match-2018-round-1-murderbot-vs-the-unicorn/
comments
February 20, 2018
Nebula Award Nomination
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/20/17032222/2018-nebula-awards-nominations-best-science-fiction-fantasy-books-movies-read-online
I am so happy that All Systems Red is nominated for the Nebula in the Best Novella category, and I am in such awesome company! Congrats to all the other fabulous nominees!
Best Novel
Amberlough, Lara Elena Donnelly (Tor)
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Theodora Goss (Saga)
Spoonbenders, Daryl Gregory (Knopf; riverrun)
The Stone Sky, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Six Wakes, Mur Lafferty (Orbit US)
Jade City, Fonda Lee (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Autonomous, Annalee Newitz (Tor; Orbit UK 2018)
Best Novella
River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey (Tor.com Publishing)
Passing Strange, Ellen Klages (Tor.com Publishing)
And Then There Were (N-One), Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3-4/17)
Barry’s Deal, Lawrence M. Schoen (NobleFusion Press)
All Systems Red, Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)
The Black Tides of Heaven, JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)
Best Novelette
Dirty Old Town, Richard Bowes (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 5-6/17)
Weaponized Math, Jonathan P. Brazee (The Expanding Universe, Vol. 3)
Wind Will Rove, Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s 9-10/17)
A Series of Steaks, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld 1/17)
A Human Stain, Kelly Robson (Tor.com 1/4/17)
Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time, K.M. Szpara (Uncanny 5-6/17)
Best Short Story
Fandom for Robots, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny 9-10/17)
Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience TM, Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex 8/17)
Utopia, LOL?, Jamie Wahls (Strange Horizons 6/5/17)
Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand, Fran Wilde (Uncanny 9-10/17)
The Last Novelist (or A Dead Lizard in the Yard), Matthew Kressel (Tor.com 3/15/17)
Carnival Nine, Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 5/11/17)
The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Get Out (Written by Jordan Peele)
The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit” (Written by Michael Schur)
Logan (screenplay by Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green)
The Shape of Water (Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Written by Rian Johnson)
Wonder Woman (Screenplay by Allan Heinberg)
The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book
Exo, Fonda Lee (Scholastic Press)
Weave a Circle Round, Kari Maaren (Tor)
The Art of Starving, Sam J. Miller (HarperTeen)
Want, Cindy Pon (Simon Pulse)
comments
I am so happy that All Systems Red is nominated for the Nebula in the Best Novella category, and I am in such awesome company! Congrats to all the other fabulous nominees!
Best Novel
Amberlough, Lara Elena Donnelly (Tor)
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Theodora Goss (Saga)
Spoonbenders, Daryl Gregory (Knopf; riverrun)
The Stone Sky, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Six Wakes, Mur Lafferty (Orbit US)
Jade City, Fonda Lee (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Autonomous, Annalee Newitz (Tor; Orbit UK 2018)
Best Novella
River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey (Tor.com Publishing)
Passing Strange, Ellen Klages (Tor.com Publishing)
And Then There Were (N-One), Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3-4/17)
Barry’s Deal, Lawrence M. Schoen (NobleFusion Press)
All Systems Red, Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)
The Black Tides of Heaven, JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)
Best Novelette
Dirty Old Town, Richard Bowes (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 5-6/17)
Weaponized Math, Jonathan P. Brazee (The Expanding Universe, Vol. 3)
Wind Will Rove, Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s 9-10/17)
A Series of Steaks, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld 1/17)
A Human Stain, Kelly Robson (Tor.com 1/4/17)
Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time, K.M. Szpara (Uncanny 5-6/17)
Best Short Story
Fandom for Robots, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny 9-10/17)
Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience TM, Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex 8/17)
Utopia, LOL?, Jamie Wahls (Strange Horizons 6/5/17)
Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand, Fran Wilde (Uncanny 9-10/17)
The Last Novelist (or A Dead Lizard in the Yard), Matthew Kressel (Tor.com 3/15/17)
Carnival Nine, Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 5/11/17)
The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Get Out (Written by Jordan Peele)
The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit” (Written by Michael Schur)
Logan (screenplay by Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green)
The Shape of Water (Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Written by Rian Johnson)
Wonder Woman (Screenplay by Allan Heinberg)
The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book
Exo, Fonda Lee (Scholastic Press)
Weave a Circle Round, Kari Maaren (Tor)
The Art of Starving, Sam J. Miller (HarperTeen)
Want, Cindy Pon (Simon Pulse)
comments
February 19, 2018
Signed Copies of Artificial Condition
It's early, but I wanted to start mentioning this now:
On Saturday, May 12, at 4:30, I'll be doing a signing for The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition at Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas. http://www.murderbooks.com/event/martha-wells
If you can't be there, you can order the book (or any of my books that are still available) through the store and ask for it to be signed (and personalized with your name if you want) and they'll get it signed for you when I'm there and ship it to you.
And tomorrow night I finally get to go see Black Panther, yay!
Now back to work.
comments
On Saturday, May 12, at 4:30, I'll be doing a signing for The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition at Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas. http://www.murderbooks.com/event/martha-wells
If you can't be there, you can order the book (or any of my books that are still available) through the store and ask for it to be signed (and personalized with your name if you want) and they'll get it signed for you when I'm there and ship it to you.
And tomorrow night I finally get to go see Black Panther, yay!
Now back to work.
comments
February 18, 2018
Not a con report
We're back from ConDFW! We had a great time, except for an incident with the hotel where someone claiming to be me checked us out on Saturday morning. Not sure if it was some kind of weird accident/misunderstanding or what.
We passed through some really intense mist and fog on the way back, right as we needed to stop and get gas. (It's a newer prius and it's needed gas maybe twice since November, so it's easy to forget to check it.) We were out in the country and it was too foggy on the highway to see if anything was nearby, then when we exited the road was lower down and really foggy. We finally managed to spot a gas station looming out of the mist.
comments
We passed through some really intense mist and fog on the way back, right as we needed to stop and get gas. (It's a newer prius and it's needed gas maybe twice since November, so it's easy to forget to check it.) We were out in the country and it was too foggy on the highway to see if anything was nearby, then when we exited the road was lower down and really foggy. We finally managed to spot a gas station looming out of the mist.
comments
