RIP Anne McCaffrey

Groundbreaking fantasy author Anne McCaffrey has passed away of a stroke on Monday, November 21, 2011 at her home in Ireland.  McCaffrey is best known for the Dragonriders of Pernuniverse.  She authored or co-authored nearly 100 books, with a lot of firsts as a writer:

First woman to win a Hugo Award (1968, for “Weyr Search”)

First woman to win a Nebula Award (1969, for “Dragonrider”)

First with a science fiction title on the New York Times Bestseller List (1978, The White Dragon)

McCaffrey was recognized as one of the best ever for her impressive career:

Named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America (2005)

Joined Science Fiction Hall of Fame (June 2006)

The Pern universe was introduced in the award winning short story, “Weyr Search” in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, in 1967.  “Weyr Search,  the novella “Dragonrider,” and a third story were published as the first Pern novel, Dragonflight, in 1968.  The initialDragonrider trilogy was not completed until 1976.  McCaffrey began collaborating with her son Todd McCaffrey since 2003.

Fantasy artist Michael Whelan was strongly associated with McCaffrey due to the numerous covers he did for her books.  Eclipse published three graphic novels based on Dragonflight in 1991.  Mayfair Games produced a Dragonriders of Pern boardgame in 1983.

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BioShock: Rapture Novel Available Now

Just a quick reminder that the new novel, BioShock: Rapture, is now available from your bookseller of choice (well, maybe not all of them). Penned by sci-fi and fantasy author John Shirley, the book tells the story of Andrew Ryan and the beginnings of his underwater metropolis. If you would (kindly) like to add it to your collection, BioShock: Rapture is available in both paperback and hardcover.

In addition, Shirley will host a panel at Comic-Con this Friday. Entitled "Writing in Videogames," the panel begins at 10am in room 32AB. Shirley will also be on hand to sign copies of BioShock: Rapture at the Tor Books booth (#2707) from 12pm to 1pm.

Continue reading PSA: BioShock: Rapture novel surfaces at retail

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‘A Dance With Dragons’ Awaits ‘Game Of Thrones’ Fans

With "Game of Thrones" off the air until next year’s second season, now is as good a time as any to start reading "A Song of Ice and Fire," the novel series that provides the foundation for the HBO fantasy epic. It’s an especially good time to come on board considering that "A Dance with Dragons," the fifth book in the series, is finally in stores after six years of delays. Needless to say, it’s straight to the local book shop after work.

Though we’re still years away from seeing "A Dance with Dragons" on the small screen (assuming, and hoping, that "Game of Thrones" lasts long enough to make it that far), it’s never too early to get excited for more "Thrones" mania. After the jump, find five reasons why we’re looking forward to dancing with "Dragons" in George R.R. Martin’s latest adventure.

A fair warning — if you haven’t read up to "A Feast for Crows," there be spoilers beyond the jump. Another fair warning — this is NOT a place for "Dragons" spoilers. If you’re already deep into the book, keep the plot reveals to yourself!

Winter’s Here, Finally!
Did we mention that it took "Dragons" six years to get here? Yes, we did. What we didn’t mention is that it’s been eleven years since we saw POV chapters from Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow or Tyrion Lannister. That’s right: to borrow a quote from "Almost Famous," ELEVEN! That’s way too long to be apart from our favorite "Ice and Fire" heroes. Now, we’re reunited, and all is well.

A Stark Contrast
Riffing on the previous point, "Dragons" is bound to give us a much healthier dose of the Stark family than we were treated to in the most recent "Ice and Fire" novel, "A Feast for Crows." In "Crows," George R.R. Martin focused much of his energy on the Lannister clan and the goings-on at King’s Landing. With "Dragons," we’ll once again spend time with Jon Snow on the wall and Bran Stark beyond it. Hopefully we’ll see some more of Arya in Braavos and Sansa — err, Alayne — in the Eyrie, too, though their screen time is likely small compared to other members of Team Stark.

There Be Dragons
The title kind of gives this one away, doesn’t it? We know that dragons are back in the world of "Ice and Fire," courtesy of the trio of fire-breathers tagging along with Dany and her crew. We met them as infants. Now, they are growing. What can we expect from Viserion, Drogon and Rhaegal in "Dance"? And are there other dragons to behold, either in Westeros or the lands beyond?

Hail To The Queen
Dany ranks as one of our all-time favorite characters in the "Ice and Fire" saga, which is an impressive feat considering how far removed she’s been from the main cast all this time. But in "Dance," she’ll have the opportunity to engage at least a few of our most loved heroes and hated villains, including the delightfully ambiguous Tyrion Lannister; the wicked dwarf has fled Westeros and is undoubtedly on a collision course with the last scion of House Targaryen. We can’t wait to see what happens if and when they meet.

Spring Comes Closer
While we’re trying to stay focused on "Dragons," it’s hard to not look past this latest book and towards the future of "Ice and Fire" as a whole. We officially have five out of seven books in our possession, and with the HBO series picking up so much steam, it’s suddenly not out of the realm of reality that GRRM’s epic tale will reach its conclusion within the next decade. Perhaps we’re being too optimistic — especially given the bleak nature of this story — but we’re feeling pretty darn good about the "Song of Ice and Fire."

Have you picked up your copy of "Dragons" yet? Let us know in the comments section and on Twitter, but keep it SPOILER-FREE please!

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Google eBooks’ eReader Coming Soon

Google launched an ebook store of its own back in December, appropriately called the Google eBookstore. It’s got tons of free stuff, but using it is kind of a pain on an e-reader — you download the titles to a PC first, then push them over. A new e-reader looking to compete with the cheaper Kindles and Nooks wants to change that.

Called the iriver Story HD — iriver, a company you may remember for its MP3 players back when MP3 players were actually relevant — the unit will be the first to plug directly into the Google eBookstore, and pull titles from there without the help of a meddling PC. That means access to a library Google touts as having 3 million free titles, as well as hundreds of thousands of paid books.

There’s over 80 devices that currently accept Google’s ebook format when transferred over from a PC, including the Nook family, as well as Sony’s reader and the Kobo. None of these e-readers natively support the eBookstore, however, though if you’ve got a smartphone or tablet, you can just use the Google Books app to access the store, no problem.

Look for the iriver Story HD this Sunday at Target or online for $140. For that, you get a Wi-Fi device with a gray and black screen that looks like it doesn’t do much more than get you reading. Lots of buttons for your dollar, too! (For comparison, the ad-free Kindle Wi-Fi and the bare-bones Nook Touch are the same price.)

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Harry Potter eBooks Coming Soon To Pottermore

Yes it looks like pigs are flying today. JK Rowling in association with her publisher and Overdrive have announced that they will be selling ebook versions of the Harry Potter series.

This seems to be a direct reversal of Rowling’s previous statements about how an ebook isn’t a "real" book and she wanted people to experience her books in paper.

Well, this quote from Rowling seems to totally contravene that statement:

Quote:

Self-Published Kindle Author Hits One Million In Sales

Our big, bad digital era’s been caught red-handed overturning media industry business models before, so it comes as no surprise that publishing houses have a new headache on-hand. Straight outta sunny Seattle comes word that Amazon has welcomed its first self-published author to the “Kindle Million Club.”

John Locke (so this is where he wound up after going to that quasi-’heaven’) is the lucky dude who gets to claim the prize, and that’s not all — Mr. independent-author-from-Kentucky now shares bold-face status with the likes of Stieg Larsson and Nora Roberts.

By churning out action / adventure novels on the $0.99 cheap and making heavy use of some leggy lady models, Locke easily blew past the one million mark, and even has a book to tell you how he did it. Take that evil publishing overlords. Hit the break for Amazon’s official PR spiel.

Continue reading Self-published Kindle author breaks one million in sales, legs might have something to do with it

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‘The Walking Dead’ Novels Coming Soon

Robert Kirkman’s Image Comics series The Walking Dead, which has already been adapted into a TV show that will debut on AMC on Halloween, will soon infect the realm of prose thanks to a trilogy of original Walking Dead novels that will be published by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martins Press.

According to Deadline, the books will be “conceptualized and outlined” by Kirkman before being written by horror novelist Jay Bonansinga (Perfect Victim). The novels will take place in The Walking Dead universe, but will feature original plots. Kirkman himself was the first to bring his creation to straight prose with a short story that he wrote entitled “Together, Alone,” which was published in the horror anthology volume The Living Dead 2, which was published by Night Shade Books in September.

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Pearl’s E-Ink Next-Gen Tech Displays Contrast 50 Times Greater

The real “winner” of the e-book wars is E Ink, the Mass.-based (it was spun off from a project at MIT) company that develops the technology behind the screens of all the top readers, including the Kindle and nook. If you’re holding a Kindle or a nook, congrats, you’re holding the same core technology: E Ink’s display. The company has announced that its next-generation display, named Pearl, will be available in “Q2.” Pretty sure the second quarter of the year ended yesterday, so I’m going to go ahead and assume that the next new version of the Kindle, nook, etc. will use the new display. My bad: the new Kindle DX has the Pearl display. That’s even better news, yes.

So what’s new with Pearl? E Ink says it has a contrast ratio that’s 50 times greater than the current display, named Vizplex (seen here, Photoshopped for no particular reason other than that it looks neat). Combine that with a whiter display and you’ve got yourself a highly readable display—text “pops,” so to speak. Considering how readable the current E Ink display is (quite readable, that is), this is most welcomed news indeed.

The new display is also more environmentally friendly than the previous display—never mind the sense of cutting down tree after tree to make paper.

Amazon has a knack for releasing new Kindles in the fall, so I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Pearl make its debut with a new Kindle in the coming months. (Presumably others readers, whenever they’re updated, will make use of Pearl as well.)

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Kindle For Android Is Available Now

Apparently the app will come pre loaded on the Samsung Galaxy Android phone in addition to the Dell Streak.

For those with Android devices you can download it from the Android market.

Stephenie Meyer Says She’s Sick Of Vampires

Twilight fans were crushed back in 2008 when Stephenie Meyer announced she had ceased work on the Midnight Sun companion novel after 12 chapters of her unfinished manuscript were leaked online. But based on a recent interview, there’s now an entirely different reason why the author is holding off on finishing the book, which is meant to show the events of Twilight from Edward Cullen’s point of view rather than Bella Swan’s.

It turns out that unlike her fans anxiously awaiting the premiere of the film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on June 30, Meyer is “burned out on vampires.”

In an interview with twilightseriestheories, the author had this to say when asked how she was coming on the writing of Midnight Sun:

“I know that’s what everyone cares about. I also know that the right answer would be for me to say ‘Oh yah, it’s done! And it’ll be out next month!’ But that’s not true. It’s also not true that I’ve got a ton of work done on it, and that’s what I’m working on. What’s true is that I’m really burned out on vampires. And, I don’t want to write it badly. So I want to wait until I’m excited about the material again, and I’m excited about Edward, and that it’s something that’s motivating. You know, when a story is keeping me up at night, and I’m waking up at 4 am in the morning and thinking ‘Yes! That is what should happen in this moment!’ Then that is when I can write with happiness! So, right now it feels like homework … it really does. And when things feel like homework they go very, very slowly for me.”

Added Meyer: “That should disappoint everyone!”

So—are you disappointed?

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