Tag: science fiction | Page 2

January 21, 2024January 21, 2024

Episode 152: Nir Yaniv – The Good Soldier

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A long chat with author Nir Yaniv about his new humorous, satirical military science fiction novel, The Good Soldier: “M*A*S*H meets Starship Troopers in outer space,” published by Shadowpaw Press.

Website
niryaniv.com

X/Twitter
@TheNirYaniv

Instagram
@nyfiction

Amazon links
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca

Publisher’s Book Page

Nir Yaniv’s Amazon Page

About the Book

The Imperial Navy has long been at war. It is a well-oiled machine, a mighty galactic power in which nothing can go wrong.

Enter Pre-Private Joseph Fux, self-proclaimed Idiot, Second Class.

When Fux arrives on board the light frigate UPS Spitz, things immediately begin to go wrong. It’s not Fux’s fault. It never is. Accidents just happen when he’s around, despite the best intentions.

And as the always-cheerful Fux bungles his way through one job after another, he throws the whole ship and its orderly crew into chaos. No one is left unscathed: not the responsible and lonely Lt. Lipton, grieving for his lost love; not the mercilessly logical Doctor Nightingale, who may or may not be Lipton’s current romantic interest; not the overzealous Ensign Berseker, or the pompous political officer, Commander Kapust. Not even the hidden, monstrous Captain.

Knowingly or not, Fux is an agent of resistance, his blind stupidity the only sane response to the insanity of war. Something’s gotta give, and the tiny spanner-in-the-works that is Fux threatens at last to destroy the entire machinery of the Galactic Empire . . .

“In this amiable satire of the gung-ho heroics of military sci-fi, Yaniv (coauthor of The Tel Aviv Dossier) sets a seeming simpleton against an immense empire, and the contest is hardly fair . . . (A)n amusing alternative to the usual run of martial marvels and battle-tested warriors. Military SF fans will enjoy this gentle roasting.” – Publishers Weekly

“Drawing on a tradition of anti-war fiction and his own military experience, Nir Yaniv meshes together classical American gung-ho SF with the delightful absurdism of European literature to create an unforgettable far-future fable for our times. Think M.A.S.H. in space, and you’ll come closest to capturing the spirit of The Good Soldier, but you’ll have to enmesh yourself in the (mis)adventures of Idiot-First-Class Fux and company of the good ship Spitz to find out for yourself. This is one explosive novel you do not want to miss!” – Lavie Tidhar, award-winning author of Central Station and Neom

“A madcap dystopian satire that shoulders its way into the ranks of Bill the Galactic Hero and Catch-22, then stands sloppily at attention as it smirks in the face of an apoplectic political officer.” – Alex Shvartsman, Award-Winning Author of The Middling Affliction and Eridani’s Crown

“I really enjoyed this: a rattling, SFnal updating of The Good Soldier Švejk via Starship Troopers (as it might be: Švejkship Troopers): funny, pointed, readable, a subversive depiction of the futility of war and a satire on the perennial logic of the military mind and the structures of the army. Fux is a wonderful anti-hero: a buffoon and an idiot (‘second class’) but also an everyman. Highly recommended.” – Adam Roberts, award-winning author of Jack Glass

About Nir Yaniv

Nir Yaniv, author of The Good Soldier, is an Israeli-born multidisciplinary artist living in Los Angeles. He’s an author, a musician, an illustrator, and a filmmaker. He founded Israel’s first online science fiction magazine and served as its chief editor for ten years, after which he moved on to editing a printed genre magazine. He collaborated with World Fantasy Award-winning author Lavie Tidhar on two novels, including the “deranged sci-fi extravaganza” (per The Jewish Quarterly) The Tel Aviv Dossier, and his English- language collection The Love Machine & Other Contraptions was published by Infinity Plus in 2012. His most recent Hebrew novel, King of Jerusalem, was published in Israel in 2019. His short stories have appeared in Weird Tales, Apex, and ChiZine, among others.

Nir’s musical career includes soundtracks for film, dance shows, and theater. His most recent work is the voice-and-drums animated album The Voice Remains (LifeArt Music, 2021). Nir has also directed several short films and music videos, both live-action and animated.

January 14, 2024January 14, 2024

Episode 151: Robert J. Sawyer – The Downloaded

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A chat with Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer about his latest novel, The Downloaded, now available as an Audible original audiobook and coming in print from Shadowpaw Press on May 7, 2024.

Website
sfwriter.com

Amazon links
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca https://youtu.be/H5pURHwuGg0

Publisher’s book page

Robert J. Sawyer’s Amazon Page

About the Book

The new novel by Canada’s top Science Fiction writer

In 2059 two very different groups have their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in Waterloo, Ontario.

One group consists of astronauts preparing for Earth’s first interstellar voyage. The other? Convicted murderers, serving their sentences in a virtual-reality prison.

But when disaster strikes, the astronauts and the prisoners must download back into physical reality and find a way to work together to save Earth from destruction.

The Downloaded debuted in a six-month exclusive window as an Audible Original narrated by Academy Award-winner Brendan Fraser promoted by national TV and radio ad campaigns. This print edition is coming out immediately after Audible’s exclusivity ends and is being supported by a six-city cross-Canada author book tour.

“The Downloaded absolutely sizzles with fascinating ideas. You want space travel, a ruined Earth, virtual worlds, a cast of relatable characters, and a glimpse into the labyrinth of human destiny? Look no further: this book has all that and more.” —Robert Charles Wilson, Hugo Award-winning author of Spin

“The Downloaded is a wonderful demonstration of Sawyer’s deep understanding of — and compassion for — people, regardless who or what they are, or even what they have done. It’s a rare and potent humanity that elevates his work high above the rest.” —Julie E. Czerneda, Aurora Award-winning author of To Each This World

“In The Downloaded, Sawyer proves he’s not just a master at using science fiction to address social issues but also a master at portraying diverse characters.” —James Alan Gardner, Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning author of Commitment Hour

“The Downloaded is a wicked-smart thrill ride from start to finish. I loved it.” —Sylvain Neuvel, bestselling author of A History of What Comes Next

“One of the best SF novels I’ve read in years.” —Allen Steele, Hugo Award-winning author of Coyote

About Robert J. Sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer–“the dean of Canadian science fiction,” according to the CBC, and a Globe and Mail and Maclean’sbestseller–is the only Canadian to have won all three of the world’s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. A member of both The Order of Canada and The Order of Ontario, Rob has won more Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (“Auroras”) than anyone else in history. The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name; The Downloaded is his twenty-fifth novel.

A popular TEDx and keynote speaker with over 700 radio and TV interviews under his belt, Rob physically lives in Mississauga, and in cyberspace, he’s at sfwriter.com.

August 13, 2023August 13, 2023

Episode 141: Hayden Trenholm

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An hour-long conversation with Hayden Trenholm, award-winning playwright, novelist, and short-story writer and member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association Hall of Fame.

Website
haydentrenholm.com

X
@HaydenTrenholm

Hayden Trenholm’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

Hayden Trenholm is an award-winning playwright, novelist, and short story writer. He has also been a public servant, an actor, a bartender, a freelance researcher and consultant, and a telemarketer for Alberta Ballet. His short fiction has appeared in many magazines, including Analog Science Fiction and Fact, anthologies such as The Sum of Us and Strangers Among Us, and on CBC radio.

His first novel, A Circle of Birds, won the 3-Day Novel Writing competition in 1993; it was later translated and published in French. Each book in his trilogy, The Steele Chronicles, was nominated for an Aurora Award. Stealing Home, the third book, was a finalist for the Sunburst Award.

Hayden has won five Aurora Awards – three times for short fiction and twice for editing anthologies. He purchased Bundoran Press in 2012 and was its managing editor until the press closed in 2020.

He lives with his wife and fellow writer, Liz Westbrook-Trenholm, in Ottawa, having retired in 2017 after fifteen years as a policy adviser to the Senator for the Northwest Territories. In 2022, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association Hall of Fame.

June 25, 2023

Episode 138: Evan Graham

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An hour-long chat with Evan Graham, author of the Calling Void series of science fiction stories and the new novel Tantalus Depths.

Website
evangraham.org

Facebook
@AuthorEvanGraham

Twitter
@evanmgraham

Evan Graham’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

Evan Graham consistently refuses to seek help for his lifelong sci-fi addiction. Since there are not enough stories currently in existence to satisfy him, he had no choice but to start writing his own. His Calling Void stories “celebrating the wonder and terror of the Unknown” have been featured in multiple anthologies. Tantalus Depths is his debut novel, set in the same world.

He has a bachelor’s in Education Studies from Kent State University and resides in rural northeast Ohio.

June 11, 2023June 11, 2023

Episode 137: M.C.A. Hogarth

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An hour-long interview with M.C.A. Hogarth, prolific and award-nominated science fiction/fantasy author and artist.

Website
mcahogarth.org

Twitter
@mcahogarth

M.C.A. Hogarth’s Amazon page

The Introduction

Daughter of two Cuban political exiles, M.C.A. Hogarth was born a foreigner in the American melting pot and has had a fascination for the gaps in cultures and the bridges that span them ever since. She has been many things—web database architect, product manager, technical writer, and massage therapist—but is currently a full-time parent, artist, writer, and anthropologist to aliens, both human and otherwise.

Her fiction has variously been recommended for a Nebula, a finalist for the Spectrum, placed on the Tiptree long list and chosen for two best-of anthologies; her art has appeared in RPGs, in magazines, and on book covers. M.C.A. Hogarth also served as Vice President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for three years.

Her current focus is new business models for artists and independent marketing and distribution innovations. Her first crowdfunded fiction project kicked off in 2004 before the word was even coined. M.C.A. has experimented with everything from “choose-your-own-adventure” style serials online to kickstarting creative projects and is looking forward to future experiments in using technology to bring art directly to the audience.

You can find her bio pages on Wikipedia, TVTropes and WikiFur.

A Selection of Book Covers

March 5, 2023March 5, 2023

Episode 130: James S. Peet

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An hour-long chat with James S. Peet, author of the Corps of Discovery science fiction series, set in the multiverse.

Website
jamespeet.com

Facebook

James S. Peet’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

James S. Peet is a modern-day Renaissance Man. He’s lived on four continents in six countries and visited countless more. He’s been a National Park Service Ranger, a police officer, a tow-truck driver, a college instructor, a private investigator, a fraud examiner/forensic accountant, an inventor (the Simple Shower–sold on Amazon!), and an entrepreneur. He’s walked the Camino de Santiago (two short ones and the long one from St. Jean Pied de Port to Muxia), a walkabout he highly recommends (and wrote a cookbook for his second Camino walk–it’s also on Amazon).

He lives on the top of a small mountain in the foothills of Washington’s Cascade Mountains with his wife, dogs, barn cats, and whatever adult daughter returns to the nest. He’s attended ten colleges and universities, two law enforcement academies, and has three degrees (all in geography) and multiple certificates (he really likes learning).

His Corps of Discovery series is set in the multiverse. His other writing endeavors include several articles on modern sea piracy, economics, and the private investigation of fraud.

February 26, 2023February 26, 2023

Episode 129: Julie Czerneda and Edward Willett

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Listen in as DAW Books authors Julie Czerneda and Edward Willett talk to each other about their latest books, To Each This World (Julie) and The Tangled Stars (Ed).

Websites
czerneda.com
edwardwillett.com
DAW Books

Facebook
@JulieCzernedaOfficialFanPage
@edward.willett
@DAWBooks

Twitter
@julieczerneda
@ewillett
@DAWBooks

Instagram
@julieczerneda
@edwardwillettauthor
@DAWBooks

Amazon Author Pages
Julie Czerneda
Edward Willett

February 19, 2023September 10, 2023

Episode 128: Eli K.P. William

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An hour-long chat with Eli K.P. William, Japanese literary translator and author of the Jubilee Cycle science fiction trilogy, set in a near-future Tokyo.

Website
elikpwilliam.com

Facebook
@elikp.william

Twitter
@Dice_Carver

Eli K.P. William’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

Eli K.P. William is a novelist and Japanese literary translator. He is the author of the Jubilee Cycle trilogy, set in a near future Tokyo, where every action—from blinking to sexual intercourse—is intellectual property owned by corporations that charge licensing fees. The series includes Cash Crash Jubilee, The Naked World, and A Diamond Dream. It has been compared to works of classic cyberpunk by William Gibson and Neal Stephenson and to traditional dystopian literature by Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, and Phillip K. Dick.

Born in Toronto, Canada, he has spent most of his adult life in Japan, and is the only member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (SFWJ) who writes fiction in English. He also contributes book reviews and essays in both English and Japanese to such publications as Subaru, The Japan Times, and The Pacific Rim Review of Books, and has translated literature by some of Japan’s most renowned authors. His translations include Keiichiro Hirano’s bestselling novel A Man and various essays and short stories for Granta, Monkey, Kyoto Journal, The Southern Review, and more.

February 5, 2023February 5, 2023

Episode 127: Monte Schulz

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An hour-long chat with Monte Schulz, novelist, composer, owner of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and eldest son of the late Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz.

Websites
www.monteschulz.com
www.metropolisthebook.com

Facebook
@monte.schulz.7

Twitter
@monteschulz

Monte Schulz, author of the dystopian coming-of-age novel Metropolis (Fantagraphics), received his M.A. in American Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He published his first novel, Down by the River, in 1990, and spent the next twelve years writing a novel about the Jazz Age, available as a whole in Crossing Eden, or in three parts: This Side of Jordan, The Last Rose of Summer, and The Big Town. He wrote it for his father, the late cartoonist, Charles M. Schulz.

Monte is also a composer, songwriter, and producer whose most recent album is titled Seraphonium. In 2010, he became the owner of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. He lives in Santa Barbara, CA.

January 22, 2023January 22, 2023

Episode 126: Robin Stevens Payes

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An hour-long chat with Robin Stevens Payes, author of four novels in the Edge of Yesterday series, intended to entertain young adult readers and spark an interest in STEM/STEAM careers, especially for girls.

Website
edgeofyesterdaybook.com

Facebook
@RobinStevensPayesAuthor

Twitter
@robinstevenspayes

Instagram
@robinstevenspayes

Robin Stevens Payes’s Amazon Page

About the Author

Robin Stevens Payes is the author of four novels for middle-grade to YA readers. She offers workshops on storytelling and is in the process of launching a company that focuses on relationship solutions for mothers and their teen daughters. She was founding editor-in-chief of LearnNow, an online publication on the science of learning, and has written for The American Leader, Discovery Education, the National Girls Collaborative Project, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Her Edge of Yesterday series is intended to entertain young adult readers and spark an interest in STEM/STEAM careers, especially for girls. Robin lives around the DC beltway in Maryland.