5) A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin (Bantam) 18, -
MEDIA-RELATED
1) Star Trek: No Time Like the Past, Greg Cox (Pocket) 1, -
2) William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back, Ian Doescher (Quirk Books) 1, -
3) Star Trek: Enterprise: Rise of the Federation: Tower of Babel, Christopher L. Bennett (Pocket) 1, -
4) The Walking Dead: The Fall of the Governor, Part Two, Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga (Dunne) 1, -
5) William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, Ian Doescher (Quirk Books) 7, -
GAMING-RELATED
1) Forgotten Realms: Companions Codex I: Night of the Hunter, R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast) 1, -
2) Forgotten Realms: The Companions, R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast) 7, 1
3) Forgotten Realms: The Godborn, R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast) 2, 2
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson debuted at first place on the hardcover list, and Patricia Briggs’s Night Broken took second. There were no new runners-up, with 43 titles nominated, down from 47 last month.
The Human Division by John Scalzi took the number one spot, with Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire appearing as number two on the mass-market list this month. The new runner-up was Mike Shepherd’s To Do or Die (Ace) out of 45 titles nominated, down from last month’s 57.
John Scalzi’s Redshirts took first on the trade paperback list this month. The new runner-up was Questionable Practices by Eileen Gunn (Small Beer Press), with 34 titles nominated, up one from the 33 we saw last month.
Star Trek: No Time Like the Past, by Greg Cox made its debut at number one among the media-related titles, with no runners-up. There were 14 titles nominated, the same as last month.
Forgotten Realms: Companions Codex I: Night of the Hunter by R.A. Salvatore debuted at number one in the gaming-related titles, with no runners-up. There were 16 titles nominated, up from 11 last month.
Compiled with data from: Bakka-Phoenix (Canada), Barnes and Noble (USA), Borderlands (CA), McNally Robinson (two in Canada), Mysterious Galaxy (CA), Toadstool (two in NH), Uncle Hugo’s (MN), University Bookstore (WA), White Dwarf (Canada). Data period: March 2014.
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B&N/B. Dalton (print)
HARDCOVERS
1) Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson (Tor)
2) Cauldron of Ghosts, David Weber & Eric Flint (Baen)
3) Raising Steam, Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins)
4) A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
5) The Martian, Andy Weir (Crown)
6) Night Broken, Patricia Briggs (Ace)
7) Shipstar, David Weber (Tor)
8) Mentats of Dune, Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson (Tor)
9) The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin)
10) The Undead Pool, Kim Harrison (Harper Voyager US)
PAPERBACKS
1) A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
2) A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
3) A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
4) A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
5) A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
6) Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (Tor)
7) Dead Ever After, Charlaine Harris (Ace)
8) The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien (Del Rey)
9) The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss (DAW)
10) The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson (Tor)
TRADE PAPERBACKS
1) A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
2) Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (Simon & Schuster)
3) Lexicon, Max Barry (Penguin)
4) The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
5) A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
MEDIA-RELATED
1) William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back, Ian Doescher (Quirk)
2) Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi; Into the Void, Tim Lebbon (Del Rey)
3) William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, Ian Doescher (Quirk)
4) The Walking Dead: The Fall of the Governor: Part Two, Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga (Dunne)
5) Star Wars: Book of Sith, Daniel Wallace (Chronicle)
GAMING-RELATED
1) Forgotten Realms: Night of the Hunter, R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast)
2) Forgotten Realms: The Companions, R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast)
3) Halo: Mortal Dictata, Karen Traviss (Tor)
4) Dragon Age: The Masked Empire, Patrick Weekes (Tor)
5) Forgotten Realms: Sentinel, Troy Denning (Wizards of the Coast)
audible.com (audio)
SCIENCE FICTION
1) Calculating God, Robert J. Sawyer (Audible)
2) Star Wars (Dramatized), George Lucas & Brian Daley (HighBridge)
3) The Martian, Andy Weir (Podium)
4) The Junkie Quatrain, Peter Clines (Audible)
5) The Atlantis Gene, A.G. Riddle (Audible)
6) Influx, Daniel Suarez (Penguin Audio)
7) The Atlantis Plague, A.G. Riddle (Audible)
8) Hidden Empire, Kevin J. Anderson (Recorded Books)
9) Dune, Frank Herbert (Macmillan Audio)
10) Code Zero, Jonathan Maberry (Macmillan Audio)
11) Ender’s Game: Special 20th Anniversary Edition, Orson Scott Card (Macmillan Audio)
12) Sand: Omnibus Edition, Hugh Howey (Broad Reach)
13) Dark Eden, Chris Beckett (Random House Audio)
14) The Stand, Stephen King (Random House Audio)
15) Ready Player One, Ernest Cline (Random House Audio)
16) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (Random House Audio)
17) Patient Zero, Jonathan Maberry (Blackstone)
18) Indian Hill 4: From The Ashes, Mark Tufo (self-published)
19) 11-22-63, Stephen King (Simon & Schuster Audio)
20) The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North (Hachette Audio)
FANTASY
1) A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin (Random House Audio)
2) A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (Random House Audio)
3) A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin (Random House Audio)
4) A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (Random House Audio)
5) Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson (Macmillan Audio)
6) A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Random House Audio)
7) The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson (Macmillan Audio)
8) The King, J.R. Ward (Penguin Audio)
9) Across the Nightingale Floor, Lian Hearn (HighBridge)
10) The Serpent’s Shadow, Mercedes Lackey (Audible)
11) The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien (Recorded Books)
12) Outlander, Diana Gabaldon (Recorded Books)
13) Night Broken, Patricia Briggs (Brilliance)
14) Living Dead in Dallas, Charlaine Harris (Recorded Books)
15) The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss (Brilliance)
16) Club Dead, Charlaine Harris (Recorded Books)
17) The Final Empire: Mistborn, Book 1, Brandon Sanderson (Macmillan Audio)
18) The Fellowship of the Ring, J R.R. Tolkien (Recorded Books)
19) Dead to the World, Charlaine Harris (Recorded Books)
20) Dead Ever After, Charlaine Harris (Recorded Books)
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NEW AND NOTABLE
Elizabeth Bear, Steles of the Sky (Tor 4/14) Bear delivers the thematic complexity, deft worldbuilding, and compelling storytelling we’ve come to expect in this concluding volume of the Eternal Sky trilogy, set in a world inspired by 13th-century Asia and The Arabian Nights.
Gregory Benford & Larry Niven, Shipstar (Tor 4/14) Two masters of hard SF once more join forces to conclude the duology they began in Bowl of Heaven, set on an unimaginably vast ship that moves through space powered by a captive star. Combining deep consideration of en
gineering problems, wondrous spectacle, and the adventure of chase and pursuit, this is “full of surprises, perspective shifts, and trapdoors.” [Russell Letson]
Karen Burnham, Greg Egan (University of Illinois Press, 4/14) This installment in the Modern Masters of Science Fiction series provides a critical overview of Egan’s ouevre, with Burnham’s background in physics and engineering making her particularly qualified to examine work by this ambitious and often challenging hard SF writer. Includes an illuminating interview with Egan.
Rjurik Davidson, Unwrapped Sky (Tor 4/14) This debut novel by the acclaimed story writer mingles fantasy, steampunk, and the New Weird in a tale of rebels trying to overthrow the oppressive rulers of the ancient city Caeli-Amur. “In this tough urban setting, influenced by noir mysteries as well as steampunk, heroes plot and carry out atrocities, while villains cling to dreams that could offer redemption beyond the scope of a single human life.” [Faren Miller]
Charles de Lint, Jack in the Green (Subterranean 4/14) This novella is a modern, magical reinvention of Robin Hood set among drug cartels in the barrio. First published as an e-book in 2012, it appears in print for the first time as a lavish volume illustrated by Charles Vess.
Gardner Dozois & William Schafer, eds., The Book of Silverberg (Subterranean 4/14) This original anthology includes nine stories by Kage Baker, Elizabeth Bear, Connie Willis, and others in honor of Robert Silverberg, some set in his worlds, with a tribute by Greg Bear and an appreciation by Barry Malzberg. The “contributors… wrestle and argue with the ideas and conclusions of Silverberg’s original stories… All fine work. But the prize here is Elizabeth Bear’s ‘The Hand is Quicker’, one of the best 2014 stories I’ve seen to date.” [Rich Horton]
Felix Gilman, The Revolutions (Tor 4/14) One of the most innovative voices in modern fantasy moves away from the imaginary worlds of his previous volumes for a historical science fantasy set among warring occult societies in 1890s London – and also in the vicinity of Mars.
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Christopher Moore, The Serpent of Venice (Morrow 4/14) The audacious fantasy humorist once again sets his sights on the Bard of Stratford with this sequel to Fool, a rollicking adventure-comedy set in Venice “a really long time ago,” populated by a cast of Shakespeare’s best-known characters engaging in acts their original author never intended.
Robin Riopelle, Deadroads (Night Shade 3/13) This dark fantasy concerns a trio of siblings raised in a tradition of occult knowledge, who reunite as adults to track down the devil that killed their father. “A Novel of Supernatural Suspense with elements of the Western’s quest, showdown, and vengeance…. Riopelle knows what she’s doing.” [Faren Miller]
Jonathan Strahan, ed., The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Eight (Rebellion/Solaris ) The latest installment in the annual genre-sprawling anthology gathers 28 of the best works of short fiction from 2013, with work by Charlie Jane Anders, Greg Egan, Neil Gaiman, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Sofia Samatar, E. Lily Yu, and many others, with an introduction by Strahan, “a reliably eclectic editor whose tastes run toward the literary and who is willing to test genre boundaries. “ [Gary K. Wolfe]
Shaun Tan, Rules of Summer (Levine 4/14) A new book by this beloved artist/author is always cause for delight, and this surreal and whimsical picture book about what a boy learned from his older brother over the summer is no exception. “Tan’s ability to show the magical and the sinister simultaneously gives depth and weight to his work…. He reminds us of the terrors and routine magic of childhood.” [Karen Haber]
Laini Taylor, Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Little, Brown 4/14) The third volume in the acclaimed dark fantasy Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy brings the epic, worlds-spanning struggle among humans, chimaera, and angels to a conclusion.
Jack Vance, Minding the Stars: The Early Jack Vance, Volume Four (Subterranean 4/14) The newest volume in the ambitious series collecting the late SF Grand Master’s early stories includes eight works from 1952-67, selected by editors Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan. Includes an introduction by the editors.
Dave Wolverton, ed., L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 30 (Galaxy 6/14) The 30th anniversary volume in this venerable series presents 14 original stories by the newest winners of the Writers of the Future contest, as selected by an allstar panel of judges, with illustrations by winners of the Illustrators of the Future competition. Also includes essays on writing and art, plus reprint stories by Orson Scott Card, L. Ron Hubbard, and Mike Resnick.
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TERRY BISSON: THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
June 22, 2034. Drone docks. After an uneventful forty-day voyage, the China Dutchman is eased into Long Beach harbor by an onboard union pilot. The first container ship to cross the Pacific without a crew, the 55,000 ton vessel is powered by a mix of sail and solar steam.
June 14, 2051. Joy to the World. Laptops, pads and phones worldwide play overture to Handel’s Messiah to celebrate 100th birthday of Univac I.
June 19, 2065. Drink up! For the first time since the 2049 Keystone disaster, the Oglala Aquifier is declared ‘‘potable’’ for adults and animals. High Plains tap still unsafe for seniors and infants.
June 2, 2113. Mountaintop retrieval. In an historic EPA settlement, Peabody Coal agrees to restore KY’s Black Mountain to its original 4150 ft. elevation, with an added 3500 ft. penalty. The resulting 7650 ft. peak will be the tallest in the eastern US.
–Gary K. Wolfe
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OBITUARIES
British author MARY STEWART, 97, died May 9, 2014 at home in Loch Awe Scotland. Stewart is best known for her Merlin series of Arthurian fantasy novels: Mythopoeic Award winners The Crystal Cave (1970) and The Hollow Hills (1973), and The Last Enchantment (1979). Related Arthurian novels include The Wicked Day (1983) and The Prince and the Pilgrim (1995), and other novels with speculative elements include Touch Not the Cat (1976), A Walk in Wolf Wood (1980), and Thornyhold (1988). She was also well known for her suspenseful romance novels, publishing over 20 books in all.
Mary Stewart (1960s)
Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow was born September 17, 1916 in Sunderland England, and attended Durham University, graduating in 1938 with a bachelor’s degree and earning a MA in 1941. She went on to teach English there, off and on, through 1956. During WWII she served in the Royal Observer Corps. In 1945 she met and married geology professor Frederick H. Stewart; he was knighted in 1974, making her Lady Stewart, though she seldom used the honorific. Her first novel Madam, Will You Talk? appeared in 1955, and she published steadily through the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, after which her output slowed a bit. Her last novel was Rose Cottage (1997). Stewart’s husband predeceased her in 2001.
AN APPRECIATION OF LADY MARY STEWART by Diana Gill
‘‘I’m sorry, but I’ve just been planting flowers, so my hands are dirty.’’
This, or words to this effect, was the first thing Lady Mary Stewart said when we met.
I was, frankly, nervous – I was meeting an idol. Granted, one I was working with, but an amazing author whose work I’d adored my entire life (my mother credits My Brother Michael with getting her through medical school). Myridden Emrys watching the wasp (and his childhood innocence) from the poisoned apricot is etched in my memory: reissuing her brilliant Arthurian saga at Harper Voyager and handling her backlist romantic suspense titles was – and is – a personal and career highlight.
Several years and blue airmail letters later, my mom and I had traveled to Loch Awe after the 2005 Worldcon to have dinner with Lady Mary and her niece Jenny at their gorgeous old stone house overlooking the loch. At 89, she was still working in the garden.
Whip-smart, down-to-earth, and funny, Mary was an absolute, unpretentious delight – after a wonderful visit talking about writing and traveling (her house is filled with objects from her and her husband Frederick’s travels), gardening, books and
more I unabashedly told my mom that I wanted to trade in my own Grandma to have Mary Stewart as my Nana.
I was honored and privileged to work with Lady Mary and to be one of the myriad readers who have been touched and changed by her stories.
–Diana Gill
•
Swiss artist H.R. GIGER, 74, died May 12, 2014 in a Zurich hospital after being injured in a fall. Giger is best known for his work on the film Alien (1979), particularly his iconic, grotesque aliens; he was part of the team that won an Academy Award for best visual effects. Giger’s style had a huge influence on SF films in following decades. He published numerous art books, and contributed covers to Omni and Twilight Zone, among other magazines.
H.R. Giger (2012)
Hansreudi Giger was born February 5, 1940 in Chur, Switzerland. He studied at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich from 1962-70, with a focus on industrial design and architecture. He married Mia Bonzaningo in 1979, separating soon after and divorcing in 1982. In 2006 he married Carmen Maria Scheifele, who is now director of the H.R. Giger Museum in the Château St. Germain in Gruyères, Switzerland.
Giger’s work combined the organic and the mechanical, often to surreal and disturbing effect. His work was first collected in A Rh+ (1971) and H.R. Giger (1976), but his breakthrough work was H.R. Giger’s Necronomicon (1977), which brought him to the attention of American and British readers, including the Alien producers. Other works include Passagen (1974), H.R. Giger’s Alien (1979), H.R. Giger’s New York City (1981), H.R. Giger: Retrospektive, 1964-1984 (1984), H.R. Giger’s Necronomicon 2 (1985), H.R. Giger’s Biomechanics (1988), Species Design (1996), www HR Giger com (1997), Monsters from the Id: The H.R. Giger Bestiary: A Portfolio of Fantastic Creatures (1998), Icons (2002), H.R. Giger: The Ouevre Before Alien: Works 1961-1976 (2007), and Baphomet (2009). He also created designs for the unproduced film version of Dune by Alejandro Jodorowski in 1975, Poltergeist II (1986), and Species (1995). Giger directed art films in the ’60s and ’70s. He also did artwork for many album covers, and designed furniture and did interior design, including work for the Maison d’Ailleurs museum in Yverdon-les-Bains.
Giger was nominated for a Chesley Award for artistic achievement in 1993, and a World Fantasy Award for best artist in 1997. He was named a Spectrum Grandmaster in 2005, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2013. He is survived by his wife.
Locus, June 2014 Page 27
