With Only Human (hardcover, Kindle), writer Sylvain Neuvel is bringing to a close The Themis Files, the trilogy of epistolary sci-fi novels about giant alien robots buried beneath the Earth that he started with 2016’s Sleeping Giants and continued with 2017’s Waking Gods. But in the following email interview about this final chapter, he reveals that these books would’ve been very different if his kid had a say in their plotting.
In his comedic military sci-fi novel Terminal Alliance (hardcover, paperback, Kindle, audiobook), writer Jim C Hines introduces us to the unsung heroes of the universe: the janitors. But rather than give us an entire book about people emptying trash cans and cleaning up the mess hall, he’s instead given us an epic saga that exposes the truth about our past. Er, future. Whatever.
While it sometimes seems like people are taking the “shared universe” concept a bit far — we’re looking at you, producers of the connected G.I. Joe, Micronauts, and M.A.S.K. movies — there are some who still understand how to do it right. Take writer Seanan McGuire, whose Wayward Children series started with the main book Every Heart A Doorway, and now continues with the stand-alone prequel novel Down Among The Sticks And Bones (hardcover, digital). But in talking to McGuire about how the new novella came together, she revealed the clever way it connects, but also lets you disconnect it, from the main books in her series.
Seventeen years after was first released, Colleen Coover’s sex-positive lesbian comic Small Favors is being celebrated with Small Favors The Definitive Girly Porno Collection (hardcover), which not only includes the comics from both released volumes of Small Favors, but a previously uncollected color special and other fun stuff as well. In the following interview, Coover talks about how the comic initially came together, how this collection came to be, and why no, she’s not going to be writing any more Small Favors.
When it comes to promoting new books, publishers will often get quotes from other writers working in the same genre. But in promoting Jason Rekulak’s geeky new novel The Impossible Fortress (hardcover, digital, audiobook), the good people at Simon & Schuster instead sent me a quote from programmer Dona Bailey, the co-creator of the arcade game Centipede, who said, “I absolutely love this charming and optimistic coming of age tale about making video games for love, not money.” Though if that’s not enough to spark your interest in The Impossible Fortress, maybe the following interview with Rekulak will.
While the most recent Star Trek movies kind of, sort of, but not really rebooted the saga, the Trek novels have continued the timeline of the original series, the other shows, and the previous movies. Which is how we get to Dayton Ward’s Star Trek The Next Generation Headlong Flight (paperback, digital), a new adventure for Captain Picard and crew. Though in talking to Ward about the novel, it turns out we also get there by going through a certain Canadian rock band…
There are a lot of reasons that people write poetry. To describe the beauty in the world. As a coping mechanism. In an attempt to impress the woman they’re in love with even though she doesn’t read poetry and she’s clearly not into me. But in talking about his new poetry book Minivan Poems (paperback, digital), writer Justin Grimbol said he started writing this collection of poems about minivans as a bit of a lark.
With some exceptions, short story collections are usually just a series of unconnected tales. And even when they do have a connection, it’s usually based on some narrative device (all the stories were written by God) or based by where they were first published (The Complete New Yorker Stories). But in Children Of The New World: Stories (paperback, digital), writer Alexander Weinstein connects his sci-fi short stories with a theme, one that not only makes for good storytelling, but good cautionary advice as well.
While the original mission of the Enterprise only made it through three of its planned five year schedule, it’s more than made up for it thanks to numerous Star Trek novels (and comics, and games…). The latest of which is James Swallow’s Star Trek The Original Series The Latter Fire (paperback, digital), which presents yet another adventure for Kirk, Spock, and their coworkers. Though in talking to Swallow about this book, it’s interesting to learn that Star Trek novels come with their own version of The Prime Directive.