Straczynski Gives Harlan Ellison Book Updates

J. Michael Straczynski, executor of Harlan and Susan Ellison’s estate, including Harlan’s literary estate, announced Ellison’s Greatest Hits collection is available for preorder. JMS posted on X:

Hey check it! These days publishers tend to do a “soft launch” of their books to see who’s paying attention, and Union Square, owned by Barnes & Noble, just put up a page for Harlan Ellison’s Greatest Hits! Available now for pre-order! (Cover coming soon)

Greatest Hits by Harlan Ellison, which features Ellison’s best and most award-winning stories from across the many years of his career, will be released on March 12, 2024. The collection has an introduction by JMS and a foreword by Neil Gaiman.

Greatest Hits features these stories and many more: 

  • “‘Repent Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” (1966) – Hugo Award winner
  • “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” (1999) – Bram Stoker Award winner
  • “Mefisto in Onyx” (1993) – Bram Stoker Award winner
  • “Jeffty Is Five” (1979) – British Fantasy Award winner
  • “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” (1974) – Edgar Allan Poe Award winner

About the job of picking which stories to include Straczynski says:

It was terribly hard. Some stories like ”’Repent, Harlequin’” and “I Have No Mouth…” are no-brainers…but beyond that it became a matter of finding the most recognized stories that also showed his amazing range… going from speculative fiction, to urban fantasy, to some things that were just two degrees away from mainstream…to show all the different shades of his work. I think we hit the right balance.

LAST AND OTHER DANGEROUS VISIONS. Straczynski also told Twitter followers that Last Dangerous Visions is “done, in final copyediting stage with the publisher, and will be out fall ’24.” And he had more to say on Facebook:

Since there’s a lot of interest in what’s happening with Dangerous Visions, and a lot I can’t say pending announcements, let me say what little I can say.

As I write this, the copyedited Last Dangerous Visions has been sent from the publisher for any final notes or edits on my part. This is the last stage before locking the galleys for review and publication. The file is sitting in my computer and I have until next week to turn it around so we can hit publication deadlines.

The publisher of the three Dangerous Visions books has coordinated the re-release of the first Dangerous Visions to the release of Harlan Ellison’s Greatest Hits by the other publisher involved. This will let them combine publicity and marketing strategies to get the most bang for their respective bucks and make that month (which will be announced soon I hope) basically Harlan Ellison Month. This will be all about putting Harlan’s work in front of critics, university bookstores, online and print press, and basically making a lot of noise.

Again, Dangerous Visions will then be released 3 months later, and The Last Dangerous Visions three months after that. The publisher and I are now working on designing a unified series of covers to span all three books.

We are hoping to have a launch party for Greatest Hits and the first DV republication at Harlan’s house, which will also be the launch of the place as a memorial library/museum. By then all the repairs, renovations and refits to make it safe for (very small) tour groups and academics will be completed, and we hope to have a lot of press in attendance as well as folks from the City of LA to help ensure that the house is designated a historical landmark for long term preservation.

Big Book of Cyberpunk TOC Released

The Big Book of Cyberpunk arrives September 26. Editor Jared Shurin tells File 770, “As with any attempt at a definitive collection, I suspect (and hope) it will provoke conversation!”

At over a thousand pages it is the largest anthology of the genre to date, representing a half-century of global cyberpunk, with authors from over two dozen countries.

Shurin’s table of contents includes Delany’s “Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones”, and by anticipating the later cyberpunk movement that way Shurin makes a down payment on the debate.  

The U.S. edition can be preordered from a variety of sellers (see list here.) The UK edition is coming in 2024.

  1. Yasser Abdellatif – “Younis in the Belly of the Whale” (2011) – translation by Robin Moger
  2. K.C. Alexander – “Four Tons Too Late” (2014)
  3. Madeline Ashby – “Be Seeing You” (2015)
  4. Ryuko Azuma – “2045 Dystopia” (2018) – first translation by Marissa Skeels
  5. Jacques Barcia – “Salvaging Gods” (2010)
  6. Greg Bear – “Petra” (1982)
  7. Steve Beard – “Retoxicity” (1998)
  8. Bef – “Wonderama” (1998) – first translation by the the author
  9. Bruce Bethke – “Cyberpunk” (1983)
  10. Lauren Beukes – “Branded” (2003) 
  11. Russell Blackford – “Glass Reptile Breakout” (1985)
  12. Maurice Broaddus – “I Can Transform You” (2013)
  13. Pat Cadigan – “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)
  14. Myra Çakan – “Spider’s Nest” (2004) – translation by Jim Young
  15. Beth Cato – “Apocalypse Playlist” (2020)
  16. Suzanne Church – “Synch Me, Kiss Me, Drop” (2012)
  17. Samuel R. Delany – “Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones” (1968)
  18. Paul Di Filippo – “A Short Course in Art Appreciation” (1988)
  19. Philip K. Dick – “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (1966)
  20. Cory Doctorow – “0wnz0red” (2002)
  21. Candas Jane Dorsey – “[Learning About] Machine Sex” (1988)
  22. George Alec Effinger – “The World As We Know It” (1992)
  23. Greg Egan – “Axiomatic” (1990)
  24. Isabel Fall – “Helicopter Story” (2020)
  25. Minister Faust – “Somatosensory Cortex Dog Mess You Up Big Time, You Sick Sack of S**T” (2021)
  26. Fabio Fernandes – “WiFi Dreams” (2019) – translation by the author
  27. Taiyo Fujii – “Violation of the TrueNet Security Act” (2013) – translation by Jim Hubbert
  28. Ganzeer – “Staying Crisp” (2018)
  29. William Gibson – “The Gernsback Continuum” (1981)
  30. William Gibson and Michael Swanwick – “Dogfight” (1985)
  31. Eileen Gunn – “Computer Friendly” (1989)
  32. Omar Robert Hamilton – “Rain, Streaming” (2019) 
  33. Karen Heuler – “The Completely Rechargeable Man” (2008)
  34. Saad Hossain – “The Endless” (2020) 
  35. Gwyneth Jones – “Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland” (1996)
  36. Richard Kadrey – “Surfing the Khumbu” (2002)
  37. Khalid Kaki – “Operation Daniel” (2016) – translation by Adam Talib
  38. James Patrick Kelly – “Rat” (1986)
  39. John Kessel – “The Last American” (2007)
  40. Cassandra Khaw – “Degrees of Beauty” (2016)
  41. Christian Kirchev – “File: the death of Designer D” (2009)
  42. Aleš Kot – “A Life of Its Own” (2019) 
  43. Nancy Kress – “With the Original Cast” (1982)
  44. Naomi Kritzer – “Cat Pictures Please” (2015)
  45. Lavanya Lakshminarayan – “Études” (2020)
  46. David Langford – “comp.basilisk.faq” (1999)
  47. Oliver Langmead – “Glitterati” (2017)
  48. Fritz Leiber – “Coming Attraction” (1950)
  49. Jean-Marc Ligny – “RealLife 3.0” (2014) – first translation by N.R.M. Roshak
  50. Arthur Liu – “The Life Cycle of a Cyber Bar” (2021) – translation by Nathan Faries
  51. Ken Liu – “Thoughts and Prayers” (2019)
  52. Steven S Long – “Keeping Up with Mr Johnson” (2016)
  53. M. Lopes da Silva – “Found Earworms” (2019)
  54. James Lovegrove – “Britworld™” (1992)
  55. Nick Mamatas – “Time of Day” (2002)
  56. Phillip Mann – “An Old-Fashioned Story” (1989)
  57. Lisa Mason – “Arachne” (1987)
  58. Tim Maughan – “Flyover Country” (2016)
  59. Ken MacLeod – “Earth Hour” (2011)
  60. Paul J McAuley – “Gene Wars” (1991)
  61. Sam J. Miller – “Feral Arcade Children of the American Northeast” (2021)
  62. Misha – “Speed” (1988)
  63. Janelle Monáe and Alaya Dawn Johnson – “The Memory Librarian” (2022)
  64. Sunny Moraine – “I Tell Thee All, I Can No More” (2013)
  65. Michael Moss – “Keep Portland Wired” (2020)
  66. T.R. Napper – “Twelve Minutes to Vinh Quang” (2015)
  67. Kim Newman – “SQPR” (1992)
  68. Mandisi Nkomo – “Do Androids Dream of Capitalism and Slavery?” (2020)
  69. Jeff Noon – “Ghost Codes of Sparkletown” (2011)
  70. Brandon O’Brien – “fallenangel.dll” (2016)
  71. Craig Padawer – “Hostile Takeover” (1985)
  72. Victor Pelevin – “The Yuletide Cyberpunk Yarn, or Christmas_Eve-117.DIR.” (1996) – first translation by Alex Shvartsman
  73. Harry Polkinhorn – “Consumimum Igni” (1990)
  74. Gerardo Horacio Porcayo – “Ripped Images, Rusty Dreams” (1993) – first translation by the author
  75. qntm – “Lena” (2021)
  76. Jean Rabe – “Better Than” (2010)
  77. Yurei Raita – “The Day a Computer Wrote a Novel” (2019) – translation by Marissa Skeels
  78. Cat Rambo – “Memories of Moments, Bright as Falling Stars” (2006)
  79. Paul Graham Raven – “Los Pirates del Mar de Plastico” (2014)
  80. Justina Robson – “The Girl Hero’s Mirror Says He’s Not the One” (2007)
  81. Pepe Rojo – “Grey Noise” (1996) – translation by Andrea Bell
  82. Nicholas Royle – “D.GO.” (1990)
  83. Rudy Rucker – “Juicy Ghost” (2019) 
  84. Erica Satifka – “Act of Providence” (2021)
  85. Nisi Shawl – “I Was a Teenage Genetic Engineer” (1989)
  86. Lewis Shiner – “The Gene Drain” (1989)
  87. John Shirley – “Wolves of the Plateau” (1988)
  88. Zedeck Siew – “The White Mask” (2015) 
  89. J.P. Smythe – “The Infinite Eye” (2017)
  90. Neal Stephenson – “The Great Simoleon Caper” (1995)
  91. Bruce Sterling – “Deep Eddy” (1993)
  92. Bruce Sterling and Paul Di Filippo – “The Scab’s Progress” (2001)
  93. Charles Stross – “Lobsters” (2001)
  94. E.J. Swift – “Alligator Heap” (2016)
  95. Wole Talabi – “Aboukela52” (2019)
  96. Molly Tanzer – “The Real You™” (2018)
  97. K.A. Teryna – “The Tin Pilot” (2021) – translation by Alex Shvartsman
  98. Jeffrey Thomas – “Immolation” (2000)
  99. Lavie Tidhar – “Choosing Faces” (2012)
  100. James Tiptree Jr. – “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” (1973)
  101. Vauhini Vara – “Ghosts” (2021)
  102. Marie Vibbert – “Electric Tea” (2019)
  103. Corey J. White – “Exopunk’s Not Dead” (2019)
  104. Yudhanjaya Wijeratne – “The State Machine” (2020) 
  105. Neon Yang – “Patterns of a Murmuration, in Billions of Data Points” (2014) 
  106. E. Lily Yu – “Darkout” (2016)
  107. Yun Ko-eun – “P.” (2011) – first translation by Sean Lin-Halbert
  108. Alvaro Zinos-Amaro – “wysiomg” (2016)

Implications of the Thaler vs Perlmutter Decision. Can You Use Artificial Intelligence in Your Writing?

[Introduction: Francis Hamit, currently running a Kickstarter appeal for Starmen: A Novel, wrote this article as one of the Updates. He’s given File 770 permission to reprint it.]

By Francis Hamit: Not even God can get a Copyright. That’s one of the takeaways from Thaler vs. Perlmutter.  Thaler wanted to register an image generated by a computer program he devised.  Perlmutter, who runs the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, said no.  Only works made by humans can get copyright protection.  Your pet monkey pounding away on a computer keyboard might produce something brilliant that everyone wants to buy but you won’t be able to protect it from infringement.   Likewise anything from a celestial being also falls into the Public Domain. Only work that is the result of human creativity can be protected.

Francis Hamit

Copyright is a global law through various treaties so registration here protects your work in most but not all markets. It lasts a very long time and is about the money and controlling who gets to publish, display, distribute and  adapt original work.

ChatGPT may seem like a brilliant innovation to some but all it really is is a very sophisticated computer program with a huge database.  Even then it has to be trained by humans before it gets those amazing results.  The “ghost in the machine” is us.  (Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.)

To be a real writer you have to be real.  You have to do your own work.  Artificial Intelligence is just that; artificial.   And it shows in recent AI submissions submitted by quick buck artists to magazines in the science fiction field.  There were so many that they closed down the submissions window.   Easily detected and easily dismissed but still a drag on the process because they had to be dealt with.  

I recommend that everyone register their copyrights.  Forget about that mail it to yourself nonsense.  Go online and pay the fees but understand that all you are protecting is the expression, the arrangement of the words, not the idea behnd the words. And all you have is the right to sue some person you think has infringed your work in a Federal District Court.  

I’ve done this and don’t recommend it unless there is life-changing money at stake.  You have to prove the case and the Federal Courts hate copyright cases with a passion. Why? There is the Law, which is simple.  Black Letter as they say.  And then there are the Facts and those are incredibly complicated.

Most cases settle before they get to trial.  Mine did but it took four years and thousands of dollars and thousands of hours before I got paid.  How much I’m not allowed to say.  The Judgment is Sealed.

The Thaler vs.  Perlmutter decision sets a precedent.  Any taint of A.I. in your text can void your copyright registration.  But the judge left open the use of A.I. as a tool similar to a spellchecker as long as that original spark of creativity is preserved.  If you use A.I. to transform your short story into a screenplay is that simply a derivative work?  Will the original copyright registration stretch to cover it? Ask yourself this:  Which is easier? Learning how to write that screenplay yourself or defending your A.I. generated version in Federal Court? 

Uncanny Magazine Issue 54
Launches 9/5

The 54th issue of Uncanny Magazine, winner of six Hugos and a British Fantasy Award, will be available on September 5 at uncannymagazine.com

Hugo Award-winning Publishers Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas are proud to present the 54th issue of their six-time Hugo Award-winning online science fiction and fantasy magazine, Uncanny Magazine. Stories from Uncanny Magazine have been finalists or winners of Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. As always, Uncanny features passionate SF/F fiction and poetry, gorgeous prose, provocative nonfiction, and a deep investment in the diverse SF/F culture, along with a Parsec Award-winning monthly podcast featuring a story, poem, and interview from that issue. 

All of Uncanny Magazine’s content will be available in eBook versions on the day of release from Weightless Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo. Subscriptions are always available through Weightless Books. The free online content will be released in 2 stages- half on day of release and half on October 3. 

Follow Uncanny on their website, or on Twitter and Facebook.

Uncanny Magazine Issue 54 Table of Contents:

Cover

  • For Woman Wild by Grace P. Fong

Editorial

  • “The Uncanny Valley” by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Fiction

  • “Can You Hear Me Now?” by Catherynne M. Valente (9/5)
  • “We Do Not Eat Much Fish” by Grace P. Fong (9/5)
  • “The Curing” by Kristina Ten (9/5)
  • “The Kingdom of Darkness” by Sarah Monette (9/5)
  • “Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (10/3)
  • “The Girl with a City Inside of Her” by Jeannette Ng (10/3)
  • “The Coffin Maker” by AnaMaria Curtis (10/3)
  • “Four Words Written on My Skin” by Jenn Reese (10/3)

Nonfiction

  • “Always Coming Back – My Life on Board Liberator” by Una McCormack (9/5)
  • “Why Fanzines Now?” by Christopher J Garcia (9/5)
  • “Failing the Marshmallow Test: On Not Saving Books for Later” by Marissa Lingen (10/3)
  • “How Becoming the Doctor Made My Heart Bigger on the Inside” by Riley Silverman (10/3)

Poetry

  • “Knight of Wands, Six of Swords” by Ali Trotta (9/5)
  • “Hora Somni” by Tiffany Morris (9/5)
  • “A Siren’s Call, A Banshee’s Wail, A Grandmother’s Dream” by Ai Jiang (10/3)
  • “Wish” by Emily Jiang (10/3)

Interviews

  • Sarah Monette interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (9/5)
  • Eugenia Triantafyllou interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (10/3)

Podcasts

  • Episode 54A (September 5): Editors’ Introduction, “Can You Hear Me Now?” by Catherynne M. Valente, as read by Erika Ensign, “Knight of Wands, Six of Swords” by Ali Trotta, as read by Matt Peters, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Catherynne M. Valente.
  • Episode 54B (October 3): Editors’ Introduction, “The Coffin Maker” by AnaMaria Curtis, as read by Matt Peters, “A Siren’s Call, A Banshee’s Wail, A Grandmother’s Dream” by Ai Jiang, as read by Erika Ensign, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing AnaMaria Curtis.

SFWA Adds Poetry and Translation as Qualifying Works for Membership

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is now accepting poetry and translated fiction as qualifying works for membership in the organization. Interested individuals are welcome to review the full membership guidelines and submit an application.

Since its 1965 founding and 2014 reincorporation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, SFWA members have expanded the organization’s recognition of where science fiction and fantasy writers live and work, the different mediums modern authors use to reach their audiences, and even added “fantasy” to what was once solely a science fiction association. Membership eligibility guidelines have evolved accordingly, and adding translation work and poetry as eligible forms of fiction writing is the next step.

In April, SFWA’s Full members voted to reverse previous referendums that had disallowed poetry and translated works from qualifying for membership. The SFWA Board recognized that opinions had changed in recent years, and thus held new referendums on both categories of fiction writing. The overwhelmingly positive results (90% yes for poetry; 83% yes for translated works) affirm that SFWA members are eager to welcome poets and translators into the organization.

“I love seeing SFWA embrace all the mediums creators employ to bring original SFF works into the world. Reversing this old, exclusionary decision was past due,” said Jeffe Kennedy, SFWA President.

SFWA now welcomes poets and translators into the fold, joining prose, game, comics, graphic novel, and screenwriters working on traditional, work-for-hire, self-publishing, and independent career paths.

SFWA Bylaws still require qualifying works to be written in English. Questions about membership may be directed to [email protected].

[Based on a press release.]

Seattle’s Speculative Fiction Writing Workshops Join Forces

Writing the Other and Clarion West, two Seattle-based writing organizations, are beginning a new partnership.

Clarion West will serve as the fiscal sponsor for Writing the Other, as the organizations explore partnership opportunities and shared resource development. Fiscal sponsorship will enable the two mission-aligned organizations to share resources, which keeps administrative expenses down. Clarion West and Writing the Other have previously partnered on a number of programs and events and already overlap with classes, writers served, and some leadership.

Award-winning author and Writing the Other co-founder, Nisi Shawl, is a graduate of the 1992 Clarion West Six-Week Workshop and has been on the board of directors for over 20 years. Nisi’s work with Writing the Other has helped create a thriving community of diverse writers focused on representation in fiction.

K. Tempest Bradford, a 2003 Clarion West graduate and Writing the Other’s Executive Director, said “In the past four years our online classes and webinars have grown exponentially and we loved expanding the subjects we taught and bringing more experts in to help us help more creators and writers create better representation. Now that we’re partnered with Clarion West, we have a much better foundation from which to grow even more and explore new avenues for the classes and beyond.”

Both organizations host online and in-person classes and workshops for speculative fiction writers and offer full and partial tuition scholarships for writers in need. In addition to gaining access to more resources and administration assistance, the fiscal sponsorship allows Writing the Other to accept tax deductible donations toward expanding their scholarship program and more grant opportunities.

“Since 2016 we’ve been able to offer scholarship spots in every class thanks to generous donations from the community,” said Bradford. “Our Vonda N. McIntyre Sentient Squid Scholarship is named in honor of our first donor, the beloved novelist and tireless supporter of up-and-coming writers. To date, the Sentient Squid Scholarship has provided over $20,000 in financial aid to a wide range of deserving applicants. We’re looking forward to expanding this program even further!”

WtO Scholarship Donation Page: https://writingtheother.com/donate-scholarship/

ABOUT CLARION WEST: The Clarion West Writers Workshop has been held annually in Seattle, WA, since 1986. Their program was founded on the belief that writers from diverse backgrounds need an opportunity to be heard — and to experiment with new forms of storytelling. With over 700 graduates from the Six-Week Summer Workshop, Clarion West has been a significant actor in helping the careers of speculative fiction writers, including women and other writers who have been traditionally underrepresented in the field. Clarion West provides year-round programs to over 1,500 writers annually.

Learn more at www.clarionwest.org. To learn more about their ongoing search for workshop housing: https://www.clarionwest.org/2022/11/21/clarion-west-workshop-needs-new-home.

For a full list of Clarion West scholarships, visit https://www.clarionwest.org/programs/summerworkshop/scholarships/.

ABOUT WRITING THE OTHER: Drawing on the acclaimed reference Writing the Other: A Practical Approach by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward, Writing the Other.com began offering online classes and workshops in 2015 with the idea that representation is fundamental to writing great fictional narratives found in short stories and novels, tabletop roleplaying games and video games, comics and graphic novels, short films and feature length movies. Our goal is to offer classes, workshops, and seminars by subject matter and cultural experts for any writer or creator at any level or point in their career who wishes to represent the “Other” sensitively and convincingly.

Learn more at writingtheother.com.

[Based on a press release.]

Now Available: The SFWA “Take No Prisoners” StoryBundle

*PLEASE NOTE* The StoryBundle release has been delayed by one day to MIDNIGHT July 27 Eastern Time.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has released its newest fantasy StoryBundle, “Take No Prisoners,” for a limited time only, July 26–August 17, 2023. This StoryBundle offers a large selection of ebooks from independent and small press fantasy authors, and can be purchased at https://storybundle.com/sfwa.

The “Take No Prisoners”StoryBundle features 13 novels with plenty of adventure, magic, unlikely heroes, and otherworldly creatures to keep you immersed in different worlds for days. Highlights include The Stones of Resurrection, Book 1 in Tameri Etherton’s Song of the Swords romantic fantasy series, Nebula Award-nominated Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams, and She’s the One Who Thinks Too Much by fantasy powerhouse S.R. Cronin.

SFWA StoryBundles are collections of ebooks offered at a discounted price and curated by the SFWA Independent Authors Committee. The committee had the pleasure of sorting through a hundred excellent books as they narrowed the selection down to these thirteen special stories. 

Readers decide what price they want to pay. For $5 (or more, if they’re feeling generous), they’ll get the core bundle of four books in any ebook format available—WORLDWIDE! 

  • Shadows of Insurrection by Vanessa McClaren-Wray 
  • The Ring and the Flag by William L. Hahn
  • She’s the One Who Thinks Too Much by S.R. Cronin
  • Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn by Danielle Ackley-McPhail & Day Al-Mohamed 

If they’re willing to spend $20, they get all four of the core books, plus these NINE additional books, for a total of thirteen. 

  • A Lonely Magic by S.J. Wynde  
  • Duster by Adam Stemple
  • In Veritas by C.J. Lavigne
  • Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams 
  • No Demons But Us by A.S. Etaski 
  • Sasharia en Garde by Sherwood Smith
  • The Runemaster Homicide by Dan Jolley
  • The Stones of Resurrection by Tameri Etherton
  • Thorfinn and the Witch’s Curse by Jay Veleso Batista

Once August 17 passes, this particular collection will never be available again. Readers will gain a rich collection of fantasy and can opt to donate part of their purchase price to support SFWA’s ongoing work to promote and support speculative fiction genres and writers across the globe. 

[Based on a press release.]

Uncanny Magazine Is Kickstarting Year Ten

Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas have launched a Kickstarter for Year Ten of their five-time Hugo Award-winning professional online Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine: Uncanny Magazine.

Each issue contains new speculative fiction, podcasts, poetry, essays, art, and interviews. Uncanny Magazine is raising funds via Kickstarter to cover some of its operational and production costs for its tenth year, with an initial goal of $30,000, plus added stretch goals of three original covers, flash fiction, and a novella. The Kickstarter will run through August 4, 2023. In the first few hours backers have already donated over $13,000. “Uncanny Magazine Year 10: A Decade of Delightful Defiance”.

Uncanny features passionate SF/F fiction and poetry, gorgeous prose, and provocative nonfiction, with a deep investment in our diverse SF/F culture. We publish intricate, experimental stories and poems with verve and vision, from writers from every conceivable background. With the hard work of the best staff and contributors in the universe, Uncanny Magazine has delivered everything as promised (or is in the middle of delivery) with our Years One through Nine Kickstarters. This year, four stories have been recognized as Nebula Award finalists (with two winning), and five stories, the editors-in-chief, and magazine have been recognized as Locus Award finalists (with two stories winning). We are deeply honored and grateful,” Lynne says.

“We couldn’t have done all of this without the amazing support of our Kickstarter community, who we call the Space Unicorn Ranger Corps after our logo mascot. This is their magazine; their support makes it possible for us to make all of this amazing content available for free on our website. We still feel Uncanny‘s mission is important, especially in these times. And hopefully, we will meet the stretch goals and be able to give everyone a spectacular tenth year of Uncanny,” Michael adds.

For its special tenth year, Uncanny has solicited original short fiction from Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Award-winning and nominated authors and bestselling authors including: Lauren Beukes, John Chu, C.L. Clark, Tananarive Due, Greg van Eekhout, Jeffrey Ford, Arkady Martine, Annalee Newitz, Sarah Pinsker, Eugenia Triantafyllou, Valerie Valdes, and Nghi Vo. (There will also be numerous slots for unsolicited submissions.) Uncanny has also solicited original essays by Sophie Aldred, Amy Berg, Lee Mandelo, Brandon O’Brien, John Scalzi, Cecilia Tan, and G. Willow Wilson, and solicited poetry by Roshani Chokshi, C. S. E. Cooney, Tiffany Morris, Terese Mason Pierre, Ali Trotta, and Fran Wilde.

Uncanny Magazine issues are published as eBooks (MOBI, PDF, EPUB) bimonthly on the first Tuesday of that month through all of the major online eBook stores. Each issue contains 5-6 new short stories, 4 poems, 4 nonfiction essays, and 2 interviews, at minimum.

Material from half an issue is posted for free on Uncanny’s website (built by Clockpunk Studios) once per month, appearing on the second Tuesday of every month (uncannymagazine.com). Uncanny also produces a monthly podcast with a story, poem, and original interview. Subscribers and backers will receive the entire double issue a month before online readers.

For more information, interview requests, or guest blog invitations, please contact Lynne and Michael Thomas at [email protected].

[Based on a press release.]

The Best of World SF Volume 3 ToC and Cover Reveal

Lavie Tidhar today announced the table of contents for his The Best of World SF: Volume 3, a 175,000 word collection with 28 authors from around the world.

The book will be released by Head of Zeus on October 12, 2023. It’s available for preorder.

The stories in the Table of Contents:

1. “A Minor Kalahari” by Diana Rahim (Singapore)

2. “Behind Her, Trailing Like Butterfly Wings” by Daniela Tomova (Bulgaria)

3. “Cloudgazer” by Timi Odueso (Nigeria)

4. “The EMO Hunter” by Mandisi Nkomo (South Africa)

5. “Tloque Nahuaque” by Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas (Mexico) translated by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

6. “The Walls of Benin City” by M.H. Ayinde (UK)

7. “The Foodie Federation’s Dinosaur Farm” by Luo Longxiang (China) translated by Andy Dudak

8. “The Day The World Turned Upside Down” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (The Netherlands) translated by Lia Belt

9. “The Worldless” by Indrapramit Das (India)

10. “Now You Feel It” by Andrea Chapela (Mexico) translated by Emma Törzs

11. “Act of Faith” by Fadzlishah Johanabas (Malaysia)

12. “Godmother” by Cheryl S. Ntumy (Ghana)

13. “I Call Upon the Night as Witness” by Zahra Mukhi (Pakistan)

14. “Sulfur” by Dmitry Glukhovsky (Russia) translated by Marian Schwartz

15. “Proposition 23” by Efe Okogu (Nigeria)

16. “Root Rot” by Fargo Tbakhi (US)

17. “Catching the K-Beast” by Chen Qian (China) translated by Carmen Yiling Yan

18. “Two Moons” by Elena Pavlova (Bulgaria) translated by Kalin M. Nenov and Elena Pavlova

19. “Symbiosis Theory” by Choyeop Kim (Korea) translated by Joungmin Lee Comfort

20. “My Country is a Ghost” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Greece)

21. “Old People’s Folly” by Nora Schinnerl (Austria)

22. “Echoes of a Broken Mind” by Christine Lucas (Greece)

23. “Have Your #Hugot Harvested at This Diwata-Owned Café” by Vida Cruz (Philippines)

24. “Order C345” by Sheikha Helawy (Palestine) translated by Raphael Cohen

25. “Dark Star” by Vraiux Dorós (Mexico) translated by Toshiya Kamei

26. “An excerpt from ‘A Door Opens: The Beginning of the Fall of the Ispancialo-in-Hinirang (Emprensa Press: 2007)’ by Salahuddin Alonto, Annotated by Omar Jamad Maududi, MLS, HOL, JMS.” by Dean Francis Alfar (Philippines)

27. “Ootheca” by Mário de Seabra Coelho (Portugal)

28. “Where The Trains Turn” by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (Finland) translated by Liisa Rantalaiho

Uncanny Magazine Issue 53 Launches 7/4

The 53rd issue of Uncanny Magazine, winner of six Hugos and a British Fantasy Award, will be available on July 4 at uncannymagazine.com

Hugo Award-winning Publishers Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas are proud to present the 52nd issue of their six-time Hugo Award-winning online science fiction and fantasy magazine, Uncanny Magazine. Stories from Uncanny Magazine have been finalists or winners of Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. As always, Uncanny features passionate SF/F fiction and poetry, gorgeous prose, provocative nonfiction, and a deep investment in the diverse SF/F culture, along with a Parsec Award-winning monthly podcast featuring a story, poem, and interview from that issue. 

All of Uncanny Magazine’s content will be available in eBook versions on the day of release from Weightless Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo. Subscriptions are always available through Weightless Books. The free online content will be released in 2 stages — half on day of release and half on August 1. 

Follow Uncanny on their website, or on Twitter and Facebook.

Uncanny Magazine Issue 53 Table of Contents:

Cover

  • A Rest from the Hunt by Elaine Ho

Editorial

  • “The Uncanny Valley” by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Fiction

  • “SuperMAX” by Daniel H. Wilson (7/4)
  • “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200” by R.S.A. Garcia (7/4)
  • “The Big Heavy” by Steph Kwiatkowski (7/4)
  • “Anything with a Void at the Center” by Lee Mandelo (8/1)
  • “Love at the Event Horizon” by Natalia Theodoridou (8/1)
  • “The Ghasts” by Lavie Tidhar (8/1)
  • “Theses on the Scientific Management of Goetic Labour” by Vajra Chandrasekera (7/4)

Reprint

  • “The Music of the Siphorophenes” by C. L. Polk (8/1)

Nonfiction

  • “Book Bans Won’t Take Away Our Voices” by Del Sandeen (7/4)
  • House of the Dragon and the Empress Who Tried to Rule England” by Lizbeth Myles (7/4)
  • “Weirdos” by Suzanne Walker (8/1)
  • “The Matter of King Arthur on the Screen” by Natania Barron (8/1)

Poetry

  • “As Does the Crow” by Beth Cato (7/4)
  • “First Eclipse: Chang-O and the Jade Hare” by Emily Jiang (7/4)
  • “an alternate universe in which Yemọja is my mother” by Sodïq Oyèkànmí (8/1)
  • “Eroticide” by Valerie Valdes (8/1)

Interviews

  • R.S.A. Garcia interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (7/4)
  • Lee Mandelo interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (8/1)

Podcasts

  • Episode 53A (7/4): Editors’ Introduction, “SuperMAX” by Daniel H. Wilson, as read by Matt Peters, “As Does the Crow” by Beth Cato, as read by Erika Ensign, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Daniel H. Wilson.
  • Episode 53B (8/1): Editors’ Introduction, “Love at the Event Horizon” by Natalia Theodoridou, as read by Matt Peters, “Eroticide” by Valerie Valdes, as read by Erika Ensign, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Natalia Theodoridou.