I have a particular way of reading a new Locus: first I flip through and look at the ads; then I read the news bits about books sold, awards won, etc.; then I browse the reviews. For some reason I rarely read the interviews.
This month I read the interviews first, since it was actually two, one with Terry Pratchett and one with Neil Gaiman, printed side-by-side in honor of the upcoming relaunch of Good Omens (back during the original book tour for it, they were interviewed jointly). Good interview; I was pleased to hear that sales of Discworld books are really taking off in the United States.
News-y bits that I find myself commenting on:
- Sandra McDonald has sold two military SF novels to Tor (proving, if you needed proof, that author stereotypes are dumb; I've met Ms. McDonald and someone less like, say, Tom Clancy's author photos you could hardly imagine), with James D. Macdonald to edit (which is new, I think?).
- Stephen King is editing next year's Best American Short Stories.
- Tor has bought mass-market paperback rights for Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, so that answers the question whether there'd been a US mmpb.
- I see three first novels in the "Books Sold" column: the McDonald noted above, one by John Lambshead, and one by Rena Leigh (and no agents listed for any, interestingly).
- Dzur has been turned in. *dances with impatience*
Ad notes:
- Steven Erikson has a book with Night Shade, The Healthy Dead.
- Patricia McKillip has a new contemporary-fantasy novel, Solstice Wood.
- You know, when a publisher lists its web page as a "hometown.aol.com" address, I'm guessing that you're self-publishing. Not that there's anything wrong with that—but domain names are really cheap and much more professional in appearance, y'know?
Review notes:
- Gary K. Wolfe (who, alas, thinks Scalzi's first name is Richard) has a judicious review of His Majesty's Dragon. *dances with impatience*
- James Morrow has written a book, The Last Witchfinder, which purports to be written by . . . Newton's Principia Mathematica. No, not by Newton, by the book. (Nick Gevers likes it.)
2005 Recommended Reading notes:
- Boy, there's a lot of stuff on here that I'm just not interested in. And considering my backlog, I'm okay with that.
- Has anyone actually read A Princess of Roumania, by Paul Park? I hear no buzz about it around these parts, and what I have heard about it just doesn't interest me; but it appears to be critically acclaimed.
- I was going to go through this in more detail, but I'm going cross-eyed (the cold pills aren't helping) and the laundry needs dealing with. Instead, here are the only books I've read on their list:
- The Hallowed Hunt
- Thud!
- Books I plan to read:
- Olympos
- Anansi Boys
- Mélusine
- Old Man's War
- Inkspell (if I like the first, which I haven't read yet either)
- Books I might read:
- Spin
- Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town
- Pay the Piper
- Magic for Beginners
- The Children of the Company (I'm waiting to see when the series is concluded)
Right, laundry and then more drugs.