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Greetings:
And welcome to latest issue of the Pyr ® newsletter. This month we talk to artist John Picacio about the cover for Mike Resnick's Starship series, call out some good reviews for Alexis Glynn Latner's debut novel, recap Michael Moorcock's Austin party for The Metatemporal Detective, round up some good gift ideas for the holiday season, and preview some author appearances for next year. So here we go. |
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John Picacio: Shootin' from the Hip
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This month sees the release of Starship: Mercenary, third in Mike Resnick's acclaimed five book military SF series about the starship Theodore Roosevelt.
 We talked to Mike himself last issue, so this time, we've asked illustrator John Picacio for some words on creating the covers for this series of books:
"I've always wanted to illustrate film posters. Back in the day (20's
through the early 80's), there was a rich tradition of great illustrated
film posters in American film.* Now it's very rare to see one. They're
mostly stock photos and corporate  compromise. As far as I can tell, the
only illustrator that still consistently illustrates film posters is
Drew Struzan, and even those occasions are few and far between. So when
I was given the opportunity to illustrate the covers for Mike Resnick's
Starship series, I imagined these as miniature film poster
compositions. Granted, the final image around the illo is more squarish
than a poster, but the idea is still the same. Our protagonist in this
 series is Cole, and he's the anchor of every Starship composition thus
far, just like a lead character of a film would be the anchor for a
poster composition. Each Starship cover uses a different color for the
typography background, and those choices are driven by the emotional
tone of each book's title and content. So that color choice is an
interesting riff to counterpoint and complement with the illustration.
That's fun stuff. I don't think this kind of approach is a blanket
answer for every space opera series, but for Resnick's series and it's
 super-fun, shoot-from-the-hip tempo, it's definitely the way to go."
*By way of example, Picacio provides links to two inspirational movie posters: Blade Runner poster, illustrated by John Alvin, and
Apocalypse Now poster, illustrated by Bob Peak
Speaking of the Starship series, Publishers Weekly said, "Readers craving intelligent, character-driven SF need look no further." But you don't have to take their word for it. As per always, you can read substantial sample chapters of all three Starship books, Mutiny, Pirate, and Mercenary online!
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Hard SF with a Heart
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 All the critics seem to agree about Alexis Glynn Latner's debut, Hurricane Moon. They unanimously praise this book for being hard SF with both character and romance. Here are two more examples:
"Hard SF with a heart is an apt description of Hurricane Moon.
Latner serves up generous portions of space science, biology, ecology
and theology without ever losing sight of her characters. They talk,
argue, make love and fall in love--and readers will believe in them...
Atmospheric, haunting and evocative, Hurricane Moon is not to be missed." --Penny Kenny, Starlog
Mel's Take, a review segment on the podcast Escape from Cubicle 17, launched with a similarly enthusiastic review of Alexis' novel:
"The
characters are very well-developed. It's a very interesting premise and
a very good story.... I found it impossible to put down, once we got to
P***t Green. ...there's a very good human story and a romantic element
to this novel." 4 1/2 out of 5 stars
And you know what this links to, right?
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A Couple of "Book People"
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As reported last issue, author Michael Moorcock and illustrator John Picacio made a joint appearance together in support of Mike's new book The Metatemporal Detective.
John Picacio reports from the road:
 "Great times in Austin, Texas yesterday...Mike Moorcock and I signed copies of The Metatemporal Detective at BookPeople,
the largest independent bookstore in Texas. Mike did a short reading
from the book, and then answered a wide range of questions from the
audience. Amongst the topics discussed -- the origins of Elric; his
theories on magic; the status of the developing Elric film project; his
relationship with the Weitz brothers; his days with Hawkwind; why
people should read Barry Bayley; and much, much more.
"After that, we signed lots of copies of The Metatemporal Detectiveand hey, even some copies of my artbook, Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio.
Mike's birthday isn't until Dec. 18th, but that didn't stop us from
celebrating with a decadent Chocolate Eruption cake, sponsored by The Metatemporal Detective's ever-loving publisher, Pyr. Damn good. Here's what it basically looked like, but much bigger (scroll down the link above for "Chocolate Eruption").
 After such a fine dessert, Linda Moorcock suggested we have dinner at Hyde Park Grill....fried
egg sandwiches; buttermilk-battered fries; Kobe beef burgers; chicken
fried steak; corn & cheese tamales; sirloin burgers smothered in
cheddar cheese and scallions....so good. If you attended the signing,
thanks for coming out, and if you missed out, maybe we'll try to do it
again in '08 when Elric The Stealer of Souls releases in February."
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'Tis the Season: Two Great Gift Ideas
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 Lisa Tuttle, of The Time's Online, has recommended Ian McDonald's Brasyl as part of The Times Christmas choice: science fiction / fantasy. She says, "Brasyl is
the best novel yet by Ian McDonald, who deserves to be much better
known. Audacious in scope and style, the story he tells is very human,
full of vividly realised characters. It is a magical alternative
history of Brazil and a mind-expanding intellectual adventure in prose
bordering on the hallucinogenic."
 Meanwhile, Jeff Vandermeer, of Amazon's Omnivoracious blog, recommends Michael Moorcock's The Metatemporal Detectiveas part of Four Great SF / F Gifts.
He says, "Put out in a gorgeous hardcover edition from Pyr, featuring
the art of World Fantasy Award winner John Picacio, this collection of
short fictions will entertain anyone who loves wild imagination wedded
to impeccable storytelling, along with liberal doses of humor and
suspense. Detailing the exploits of Seaton Begg and his companion Dr. 'Taffy Sinclair' as they solve mysteries in alternate universes, The Metatemporal Detective
ranges far and wide, from 1960s Chicago to the wild west to Paris and
points unknown. Another example of the range and depth of Moorcock's
prodigious talent." |
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Pyr on the Road
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Looking ahead to next year, here is a quick round-up of where some of our authors are planning on making appearances: Kay Kenyon (Bright of the Sky, A World Too Near)Feb. 15-17 Radcon/Pasco, WA Feb 29-Mar 2 ConDor/ San Diego, CA Mar 13- 16 OmegaCon/ Birmingham, AL July 17 - 20 Readercon/ Burlington MA October 30 - Nov 2 World Fantasy/ Calgary, AB Canada Alexis Glynn Latner (Hurricane Moon)
Jan. 2 Bay Area Writers' League/Clear Lake City, TX appearance as speaker Feb. 28 Fondren Library/Houston, TX Apr. 25-27 Nebula Awards/Austin, TX Jun. 27-29 ApolloCon/Houston, TX Aug. 15-17 ArmadilloCon/Austin, TX Mike Resnick (Starship: Mercenary, Starship: Pirate; Starship: Mutiny; New Dreams for Old; Ivory)Jan. 18-20 ConFusion/Flint, MI Jan. 25-27 CoSine/Colorado Springs, CO Feb. 14-17 CapriCon/Chicago, IL Mar. 14-16 OmegaCon/Birmingham, AL May 30-Jun. 1 ConCarolinas/Charlotte, NC Jun. 26-29 Midwestcon/Cincinnati, OH Aug. 6-10 Worldcon/Denver, CO Oct. 2008 ConStellation/Huntsville, AL (Mike will be the Toastmaster) I'll be at ApolloCon myself, where I'm honored to be Editor Guest of Honor, and I'll also be making appearances at OmegaCon and ConStellation, as well as World Con and World Fantasy. Hope to see you there! |
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That's it for this issue. (That's enough, right?) As ever, be sure to see the coupon at the bottom of this newsletter, and please feel free to check out our entire catalog and drop by our blog. Meanwhile, I'll see you next year!
Have a Happy Holiday,
Lou Anders
Editorial Director, Pyr®
an imprint of Prometheus Books
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