Those Long-forgotten Dreams

For those young at heart – to be reminded of the long-forgotten dreams of castles, ninjas, fantasy and the wild. This selection of books, with their well-designed book covers and thoroughly illustrated book pages, is not to be missed.

Over the hills and far away : the life of Beatrix Potter / Dennison, Matthew
“Matthew Dennison takes a selection of quotations from Potter’s twenty-three stories, with photos of Potter’s life and Potter’s own illustrations, to explore her creativity, personality and her remarkable and unexpected Victorian life. This dramatic narrative charts encompass her past with a love of animals and fairy tales into a bestselling author and canny businesswoman. This biography will delight anyone who has been touched by Beatrix Potter’s work.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)

Ninja : the (unofficial) secret manual / Turnbull, Stephen R
“Ninjas are Japan’s famous black-clad spies, saboteurs, and undercover fighters, equipped with superb martial arts skills and an uncanny aptitude for sneakiness, are the stuff of myth, legend and movie and comic pop culture. Ninja takes the reader to Japan in 1789, conveying the excitement, danger, and subterfuge of the period. Illustrated throughout with contemporary artifacts, documents, and prints taken from the historical original manuals, this lighthearted but informative guide demonstrate real ninja in Japan.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)

Tiny castles / Wills, Dixe
“Dixe Wills unleash his trademark style on the very first compendium of Britain’s most interesting diminutive castles. Praised by BBC Countryfile Magazine for writing “intelligently and amusingly, with evident excitement and imagination.” Beautifully presented, the book uncovers the country’s most compelling and now-standing castles. From Henry VIII’s beautifully preserved St Mawes Castle in Cornwall to Scalloway Castle in Shetland, many of these tiny fortresses occupy a unique place in history.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)

The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm
“This beautiful hardback anthology is based on the Grimm’s popular 1857 edition and features 27 of their best-loved stories. The tales are accompanied by exquisite vintage illustrations from the past 200 years, including masterpieces from the legendary Kay Nielsen, British artists Walter Crane and Arthur Rackham, and giants of 19th-century German illustration Gustav Süs, Heinrich Leutemann, and Viktor Paul Mohn. Additional historic and contemporary silhouettes dance across the pages.” (Amazon.com)

Everything I need to know I learned from Peanuts / Schulz, Charles M.
“Collects Peanuts comic strips that present significant and amusing bits of advice on life, including how to make friends, the importance of perseverance, and how to appear intelligent.” (Catalogue)

 

 

“At night, here in the library, the ghosts have voices”: New SF and fantasy

via GIPHY

At night, here in the library, the ghosts have voices.

Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night

Welcome to another of our monthly round ups of our recently acquired science fiction and fantasy titles. It’s another month of rich variety, well demonstrated by the most recent title that caught our particular attention — a new horror anthology called Ghosts from the library : lost tales of terror and the supernatural.

Haunted libraries are a bit of thing, so we have taken this golden opportunity to look at some supposedly real-life haunted libraries!

First up is St. John’s College Library in Cambridge in the UK — this ancient library dates back to 1624. St John’s is said to be haunted by the headless ghost of Archbishop William Laud who supposedly terrifies readers by kicking his ghostly head along the floor — he was beheaded in 1645. It has been a very long time since anyone has reported seeing him doing this, though the sounds of unaccompanied footsteps have been reported in more recent times.  As the Deputy Librarian said of the hauntings  “we do know that Laud cared passionately about his library, and we like to think he has a friendly presence here.”

Felbrigg Hall library in Norfolk is haunted by its former owner who is said to return periodically to finish off reading books he didn’t have a chance to read when he was alive (we know that feeling well!). People report seeing his ghost seated at a library table or in a reading chair, and there is even one report that he can be summoned when a certain selection of his favourite books are put out.

One of the most haunted libraries in the world  is Senate House Library in London, which holds The famous Harry Price Collection of Magical Literature. This huge collection was amassed by paranormalist Harry Price 1881-1948 and focusses on work about witchcraft, occult, magic and the paranormal, as well as prophecies and spiritual phenomena. Many of the books in the collection are ultra-rare. Reported ghostly activity includes whispering when no one is around, floating books, loud laughter and even a mysterious spectral ‘Blue Lady.’

The State Library of Victoria in Melbourne dates back to 1854 and is said to be haunted by numerous ghosts, including a former librarian called Grace — said to be a benevolent elderly spirit. The library’s music room is also supposedly haunted by a snazzily dressed moustachioed ghost. In fact, there have been so many reports of hauntings in The State Library that several clairvoyants have been brought in to investigate.

Here in New Zealand, we can also lay claim to a library ghost — The Parliament Library built in 1883 and continued in 1899 is rumoured to be haunted, amongst others, by the ghost of former Dunedin MP William Larnach. William Larnach tried his hand at gold-digging, farming and then  worked as a banker before  eventually entering  Parliament as an MP in 1875. Records of the time report that he was known in parliament for his practical jokes as well as his ‘robustious egotism’ and ‘rough and blundering modes of speech’. Sadly he took his own life after financial and relationship troubles, however his ghost is alleged to cause disturbances in the library to this day.

Ghosts from the library : lost tales of terror and the supernatural
“It is said that books are written to bring sunshine into our dull, grey lives – to show us places we want to escape to, lives we want to live, people we want to love. But there are also stories that can only be found in the deepest, darkest corners of the library. Stories about the unexplained, of lost souls, of things that go bump before the silence. Before the screaming. And some stories just disappear. Stories printed in old newspapers, broadcast live on the wireless, sometimes not even published at all – these are the stories you cannot find on even the dustiest of library shelves. Ghosts from the Library resurrects forgotten tales of the supernatural by some of the most acclaimed mystery authors of all time.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The curator : a novel / King, Owen
“Dora, a former domestic servant at the university has a secret desire — to find where her brother went after he died, believing that the answer lies within The Museum of Psykical Research, where he worked when Dora was a child. With the city amidst a revolutionary upheaval, where citizens like Robert Barnes, her lover and a student radical, are now in positions of authority, Dora contrives to gain the curatorship of the half-forgotten museum only to find it all but burnt to the ground, with the neighboring museums oddly untouched. Robert offers her one of these, The National Museum of the Worker. However, neither this museum, nor the street it is hidden away on, nor Dora herself, are what they at first appear to be.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The fairy bargains of Prospect Hill / Miller, Rowenna
“On Prospect Hill, you can get nearly anything you want from the Fae — if you know how to ask and if you can pay the price. Generations ago, the first farmers on Prospect Hill learned to bargain small trades to make their lives a little easier — Alaine Fairborn’s family, however, was always superstitious, and she still hums the rhymes to find her lost shoe and ensure dry weather on her sister Delphine’s wedding day. But when Delphine confides her new husband is not the man she thought he was, Alaine will stop at nothing to help her sister escape his abuse… ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The lies of the Ajungo / Utomi, Moses Ose
“The Lies of the Ajungo, follows one boy’s epic quest to bring water back to his city and save his mother’s life. They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would you believe what they say in the City of Lies? In the City of Lies, they cut out your tongue when you turn thirteen, to appease the terrifying Ajungo Empire and make sure it continues sending water. Tutu will be thirteen in three days, but his parched mother won’t last that long. So Tutu goes to his oba and makes a deal: she provides water for his mother, and in exchange he will travel out into the desert and bring back water for the city…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Flux : a novel / Chong, Jinwoo
“A blazingly original and stylish debut novel about a young man whose reality unravels when he suspects his mysterious new employers have inadvertently discovered time travel — and are using it to cover up a string of violent crimes…” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available, Flux eBook

Assassin of reality : a novel / Di︠a︡chenko, Marina
“In Vita Nostra, Sasha Samokhina, a third-year student at the Institute of Special Technologies, was in the middle of taking the final exam that would transform her into a part of the Great Speech. After defying her teachers’ expectations, Sasha emerges from the exam as Password, a unique and powerful part of speech. Accomplished and ready to embrace her new role, she soon learns her powers threaten the old world, and despite her hard work, Sasha is set to fail. However,  dark mentor, finds a way to bring her out of the oblivion and back to the Institute for his own selfish purposes…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The ten percent thief / Lakshminarayan, Lavanya
“A bold, bitingly satirical near-future mosaic novel about a city run along ‘meritocratic’ lines, the injustice it creates, and the revolution that will destroy it” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Feed them silence / Mandelo, Lee
“What does it mean to “be-in-kind” with a nonhuman animal? Or in Dr. Sean Kell-Luddon’s case, to be in-kind with one of the last remaining wild wolves? Using a neurological interface to translate her animal subject’s perception through her own mind, Sean intends to chase both her scientific curiosity and her secret, lifelong desire to experience the intimacy and freedom of wolfishness. To see the world through animal eyes; smell the forest, thick with olfactory messages; even taste the blood and viscera of a fresh kill. And, above all, to feel the belonging of the pack.  Her research methods threaten her mind and body. And the attention of her VC funders could destroy her subject, the beautiful wild wolf whose mental world she’s invading.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available, Feed them Silence eBook

“Life! Don’t talk to me about life!”: New science fiction and fantasy

alan rickman GIF

Image via Giphy

Life! Don’t talk to me about life!

One of our recently acquired science fiction and fantasy titles this month (find all our picks further below) is a modern science fiction reimagining of The Secret Garden called Moongarden. One of the hugely enjoyable characters in the book, is a daring and spirited robot sidekick nicknamed Bin-ro. Of course, funny or brave robot sidekicks have long been a staple of science fiction films and novels, so we thought what better excuse to take a slight detour and highlight a few of our favourite robot sidekicks in no particular order, and also spotlight some of our items they appear in, that  you can borrow from our collections

Our first pick is of course astromech droid R2-D2 and  protocol droid C-3PO, the real heroes and heart  and soul of the original Star Wars movies. Borrow the original Star Wars trilogy.

Next, we have K9, Doctor Who’s robot companion dog. K9 first appeared in 1977 and was so popular he has appeared in three separate spin-off series. Check out  K9’s adventures in the excellent Sarah Jane Smith Adventures.

Baymax is  the friendly  inflatable computerized medical robot in Big Hero 6. He has also had a series of super hidden cameos in the following films Zootopia, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet and even Frozen II. Borrow Big Hero 6.

One of our favourite literary Robot sidekicks is of course Marvin the Paranoid Android from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Have a browse of our range of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy films, books and Audiobooks.

Gardening robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie (named after Donald Duck’s nephews) star in the visionary (if dated) 1972 ecological science fiction film Silent Running, directed by 2001 special effects wizard Douglas Trumbull.

And after that segue, delve into our picks of this month’s science fiction and fantasy below!

Our picks of the recent science fiction and fantasy:

Moongarden / Barry, Michelle A.
“Crumbling under the pressure at her elite school on the moon, misfit Myra Hodger discovers a lab full of toxic plants and uses her botanical magic to weed out its secrets, but quickly discovers some will do anything to take those secrets to the grave. A stellar update of The Secret Garden, with a little science fiction, a lot of magic, a vibrant heroine, and a plucky robot sidekick to rival R2-D2.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The fish / Stubbs, Joanne
“A few decades into the twenty-first century, in their permanently flooded garden in Cornwall, Cathy and her wife Ephie give up on their vegetable patch and plant a paddy field instead. Thousands of miles away, expat Margaret is struggling to adjust to life in Kuala Lumpur, now a coastal city. In New Zealand, two teenagers marvel at the extreme storms hitting their island. But they are not the only ones adapting to the changing climate. The starfish on Cathy’s kitchen window are just the start. As all manner of sea creatures begin to leave the oceans and invade the land, the new normal becomes increasingly hard to accept.”(Adapted from Catalogue)

The future is female! : more classic science fiction stories by women. Volume two, The 1970s
“These twenty-three wild, witty, and wonderful classics dramatize the liberating energies of the 1970s: separatist female utopias by Joanna Russ and Sonya Dorman Hess furiously upend the sexual politics of their day; near-future dystopias from Lisa Tuttle and C. J. Cherryh imagine world-destroying alliances of science and patriarchy; nuanced space operas by Kathleen Sky and Joan D. Vinge give center stage to women and alien-gendered characters; and chilling tales by Eleanor Arnason and James Tiptree, Jr…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Into the riverlands / Vo, Nghi
“Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of the notorious near-immortal martial artists who haunt the region. On the road to Betony Docks, they fall in with a pair of young women far from home, and an older couple who are more than they seem. As Chih runs headlong into an ancient feud, they find themselves far more entangled in the history of the riverlands than they ever expected to be. Accompanied by Almost Brilliant, a talking bird with an indelible memory, Chih confronts old legends and new dangers alike as they learn that every story bears more than one face…” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Into the windwracked wilds / Baker, A. Deborah
“When the improbable road leaves Avery and Zib in the land of Air and at the mercy of the Queen of Swords, escape without becoming monsters may be impossible. But with the aid of the Queen’s son, the unpredictable Jack Daw, they may emerge with enough of their humanity to someday make it home. Their journey is not yet over; the dangers are no less great.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Grime : a novel / Berg, Sibylle
“The first English translation of celebrated Swiss-German novelist Sibylle Berg’s Grime.  Grime is a manifesto for fury, escape, and individual revolt. The author sprays her fury across the whole landscape of technological and economic manias that are rendering the 21st century intolerable. At turns hilarious, hectoring,  full of hyperbolic prose,  a book which isn’t so much propulsive as relentless. Described by one reviewer as a novel so caustic it should be printed with hydrochloric acid .” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Station eternity / Lafferty, Mur
“Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn’t make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide. But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The deluge / Markley, Stephen
“In 2013 California, environmental scientist Tony Pietrus, after receiving a death threat, is linked to a colorful cast of characters, including a brazen young activist who, in the mountains of Wyoming, begins a project that will alter the course of the decades to come.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Kraken calling : a novel / McBay, Aric
“In 2028 environmental activists hesitate to take the fight to the extreme of violent revolution. Twenty years later, with the natural environment now seriously degraded, the revolution is brought to the activists, rather than the other way around, by an authoritarian government willing to resort to violence, willing to let the majority suffer from hunger and poverty, in order to control its citizens when the government can no longer provide them with a decent quality of life. So it is the activists who must defend their communities, their neighbors, through a more humane and in some ways more conservative status quo of care and moderation. And the outcome here is determined by the actions of those who resist more than it is by the actions of the nominally powerful.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Magic worlds for grown ups: Exploring magic fiction

How many of you read a certain wizarding world series in your youth, and have always longed to capture that feeling of being immersed in a world of magic again?  Never fear, there are plenty of amazing books and series available in adult fiction that weave magical worlds around the reader.  We have selected a handful of titles for you to try…

A deadly education : a novel / Novik, Naomi
“Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered: There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate . . . or die. The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere. El is uniquely prepared for the school’s dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The house in the Cerulean Sea / Klune, TJ
“A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place–and realizing that family is yours.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Plain bad heroines / Danforth, Emily M
“In 1902, at an all girl’s boarding school in Rhode Island, students Flo and Clara are madly in love with each other, as well as completely obsessed with The Story of Mary MacLane, the scandalous debut memoir by 19 year old MacLane. A copy of this book is found splayed in the woods near the two girls’ dead bodies after a horrific yellow jacket attack. Within five years The Brookhants School for Girls is closed. Its buildings left empty. But not before three more people died on the property, each in a troubling way…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Magic for liars / Gailey, Sarah
“Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life: her almost-sustainable career as a private investigator, an empty apartment in the rapidly gentrifying Bay Area, and a slight drinking problem. She doesn’t in any way wish she was like her estranged twin sister, magically gifted professor Tabitha. But when she’s hired to investigate the gruesome murder of a faculty member at Osthorne Academy for Young Mages, Ivy begins to call into question everything she has ever believed.” (Catalogue)

Ninth house / Bardugo, Leigh
“Galaxy ‘Alex’ Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The starless sea / Morgenstern, Erin
“Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues–a bee, a key, and a sword — that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library, hidden far below the surface of the earth. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Senlin ascends / Bancroft, Josiah
“The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines. Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A secret history of witches / Morgan, Louisa
“From early 19th century Brittany to London during the Second World War, five generations of witches fight the battles of their time, deciding how far they are willing to go to protect their family, their heritage, and ultimately, all of our futures. After Grand-mère Ursule gives her life to save her tribe, her magic seems to dies with her. Even so, her family keeps the Old Faith, practicing the spells and rites that have been handed from mother to daughter for generations. Until one day, Ursule’s young granddaughter steps into the circle, and magic flows anew.” (Catalogue)

Borderline / Baker, Mishell
“Millie is a bit of a mess: she’s cynical, disabled, and self-destructive. And she has borderline personality disorder. So she’s a little confused as to why she’s been recruited for a top-secret agency that oversees deals between Hollywood icons and fairy muses. But when her first routine mission takes an unexpected and dangerous turn, Millie finds herself hip-deep in some of the scariest situations Fairyland has on offer – and she may not make it out in one piece…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The final empire / Sanderson, Brandon
“A thousand years ago evil came to the land and has ruled with an iron hand ever since. The sun shines fitfully under clouds of ash that float down endlessly from the constant eruption of volcanoes. A dark lord rules through the aristocratic families and ordinary folk are condemned to lives in servitude, sold as goods, labouring in the ash fields. But now a troublemaker has arrived and there is rumour of revolt. A revolt that depends on criminal that no-one can trust and a young girl who must master Allomancy – the magic that lies in all metals.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Monstress. Volume one, Awakening / Liu, Marjorie M
“Set in an alternate world of art deco beauty and steampunk horror, Monstress tells the epic story of Maika Halfwolf, a teenage survivor of a cataclysmic war between humans and their hated enemies, the Arcanics. In the face of oppression and terrible danger, Maika is both hunter and hunted, searching for answers about her mysterious past as those who seek to use her remain just one step behind… and all the while, the monster within begins to awaken…” (Catalogue)

Parallel universes: Recently acquired science fiction and fantasy

I like libraries. It makes me feel comfortable and secure to have walls of words, beautiful and wise, all around me. I always feel better when I can see that there is something to hold back the shadows.
― Roger Zelazny, Nine Princes in Amber

Welcome to our first selection of newly acquired science fiction and fantasy titles for 2023. We have a rich diversity of voices, themes and approaches in this month’s selection. From Aotearoa, we have Melanie Harding Shaw’s enemies to lover’s, romantic, paranormal, urban fantasy set in a post-apocalyptic, decaying Wellington called City of souls. We also have a collection of short stories from the legend that is Alan Moore, and a fabulous new novel from Hugo and Nebular winner Mary Robinette Kowal called The Spare Man.

Also in this months selection we have a very welcome reissue of Science fiction titan Roger Zelazny’s The chronicles of Amber. Roger Zelazny was both a poet and science fiction writer who won both the Hugo and Nebula awards on numerous occasions. Born in Ohio in 1937, his later work had several recurring themes such as portraying characters from myth, having mortals turned into gods and gods turned into mortals, and the subsequent ramifications of these transformations. He would often include mythical characters from the likes of Norse Mythology, Arthurian mythos, and Egyptian mythology to name but a few in his works. He was also an early proponent of the multiple parallel universe idea. This multiple universe concept plays a key part in The chronicles of Amber series .

He stated that his writing style was often influenced by hardboiled crime authors like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler which accounts for his sharp quick fire and highly readable dialogue. Neil Gaiman described him as the author who influenced him the most, both in the topics he writes about and his writing style.

The SF masterworks omnibus of The chronicles of Amber featured in this blog covers the first five works. The concluding omnibus is due shortly  and you can access further information on that title here.

The chronicles of Amber / Zelazny, Roger
“Amber is the one real world, casting infinite reflections of itself – Shadow worlds, that can be manipulated by those of royal Amberite blood. But the royal family is torn apart by jealousies and suspicion; the disappearance of the Patriarch Oberon has intensified the internal conflict by leaving the throne apparently up for grabs. In a hospital on the Shadow Earth, a young man is recovering from a freak car accident; amnesia has robbed him of all his memory, even the fact that he is Corwin, Crown Prince of Amber, rightful heir to the throne – and he is in deadly peril.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

City of souls / Harding-Shaw, Melanie
“Bounty hunter Hel’s life depends on staying below the radar and passing as human. But when the infuriating Lord of the City of Souls discovers her hidden power is the key to solving his problems, he reclaims her bond-debt and drags her into the spotlight. He’ll protect her secrets on one condition: that she does everything he asks. Winged necromancer Bastion would do anything to save the city he rules from the strange magic menacing their world. Even blackmail the angry, intriguing bounty hunter who despises him. As the rulers of the elemental courts converge to face the threat, he’s not sure who hates him more–them or Hel. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Illuminations : stories / Moore, Alan
“In his first-ever short story collection, which spans forty years of work, Alan Moore presents a series of wildly different and equally unforgettable characters who discover–and in some cases even make and unmake–the various uncharted parts of existence. In “Illuminations,” a nostalgic older man decides to visit a seaside resort from his youth and finds the past all too close at hand. And in the monumental novella “What We Can Know About Thunderman,” which charts the surreal and Kafkaesque history of the comics industry’s major players over the last seventy-five years, Moore reveals the dark, beating heart of the superhero business. ” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Archangel’s resurrection / Singh, Nalini
“For thousands of years, the passion between Alexander, Archangel of Persia, and Zanaya, Queen of the Nile, burned furious and bright, seemingly without end. But to be an archangel is to be bound to power violent and demanding. Driven by its primal energy, Alexander and Zanaya fought as fiercely as they loved. Locked in an endless cycle of devotion and heartbreak, it is only Zanaya’s decision to Sleep that ends their love story. Eons later, it is the Cascade of Death that wakens them both. The passion between them a flame that yet burns, Alexander and Zanaya stand together in one last battle against the ultimate darkness…” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Singer distance / Chatagnier, Ethan
“In December 1960, Rick Hayworth drives his genius girlfriend, Crystal, and three other MIT grad students across the country to paint a message in the desert. Mars has been silent for thirty years, since the last time Earth solved one of the mathematical proofs the Martian civilization carved onto its surface. The latest proof, which seems to assert contradictory truths about distance, has resisted human understanding for decades. Crystal thinks she’s solved it, and Rick is intent on putting her answer to the test–if he can keep her from cracking under the pressure on the way…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The spare man / Kowal, Mary Robinette
“Hugo and Nebula Award Winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense, hard-SF approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high society in this stylish SF mystery. Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon via an interplanetary space liner. Cruising between the Moon and Mars, she’s traveling incognito and reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis, and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodling –And keep the real killer from striking again.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Will do magic for small change : a novel of what might have been / Hairston, Andrea
” Cinnamon Jones dreams of stepping on stage and acting her heart out like her famous grandparents, Redwood and Wildfire. But she’s always been theatrically challenged.  But her family life is a tangle of mysteries and secrets, and nobody is telling her the whole truth. Before her brother died, he gave Cinnamon The Chronicles of the Great Wanderer–a tale of a Dahomean warrior woman and an alien from another dimension who perform at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. They are a story of magic or alien science, but the connection to Cinnamon’s past is unmistakable. When an act of violence wounds her family, Cinnamon and her theatre squad determine to solve the mysteries and bring her worlds crashing together.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Neom / Tidhar, Lavie
“The city known as Neom is many things to many beings, human or otherwise. It is a tech wonderland for the rich and beautiful; an urban sprawl along the Red Sea; and a port of call between Earth and the stars. In the desert, young orphan Elias has joined a caravan, hoping to earn his passage off-world. But the desert is full of mechanical artefacts, some unexplained and some unexploded. Recently, a wry, unnamed robot has unearthed one of the region’s biggest mysteries: the vestiges of a golden man. In Neom, childhood affection is rekindling between loyal shurta-officer Nasir and hardworking flower-seller Mariam. But Nasu, a deadly terrorists, has come to the city with missing memories and unfinished business…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy: Interview with editor Emily Brill-Holland

One of Aotearoa’s most essential annual fiction anthologies (and an excellent way to spot the rising stars of the genre) is the wonderful,  award-winning Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction & Fantasy (now in its fourth  volume).

As always, the fourth instalment of the annual treat for science fiction and fantasy fans highlights and draws attention to the good and the great, the established and the newly arrived, and continues to provide a fabulous platform and spotlight for the wide variety of talent and diversity in Aotearoa.

This year’s anthology is a fantastic and phantasmagorical collection of the weirdest, wildest, and most wonderful short fiction to come out of Aotearoa in 2022.

Including contributions from Andi C Buchanan, Anuja Mitra, James Rowland, Juliet Marillier, Kirsteen Ure, M. Darusha Wehm, Melanie Harding-Shaw, Nat Baker, Octavia Cade, Rem Wigmore, Samantha Lane Murphy and Tehnuka.

With all this in mind, we decided to interview the editor of this year’s instalment of the series Emily Brill-Holland and ask her a few questions about the anthology.

We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Emily  for taking the time out of her busy schedule and “brave lightning Storms” to answer our questions, and for providing such an illuminating insight into her world and work. For more information about the anthology, check out the Paper Road Press website.

This interview was done in conjunction with Caffeine and Aspirin, the arts and entertainment review show on Radioactive FM. You can hear the full interview below:

Links to borrow the various anthologies from the library can also be found below.


Year’s best Aotearoa New Zealand science fiction & fantasy. VI
“Collected together for the first time, the very best science fiction and fantasy short stories published by New Zealand authors in 2018″–Publisher information.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

 

 

Year’s best Aotearoa New Zealand science fiction & fantasy. V2
“Ancient myths go high-tech a decade after the New New Zealand Wars. Safe homes and harbours turn to strangeness within and without.Splintered selves come together again – or not. Twelve authors. Thirteen stories. The best short science fiction and fantasy from Aotearoa New Zealand in 2019. With works by: Juliet Marillier, Nic Low, Rem Wigmore, Andi C Buchanan, Octavia Cade, A.J. Fitzwater, Nicole Tan, Melanie Harding-Shaw, Alisha Tyson, James Rowland, Zoë Meager, and Casey Lucas.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand science fiction and fantasy, V3
“When borders closed last year, Kiwi science fiction and fantasy took readers on flights of imagination through space and time. This anthology contains a selection of the best short science fiction and fantasy stories published by Aotearoa New Zealand writers in 2020.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

 

 

Year’s best Aotearoa New Zealand science fiction & fantasy. v. 4
“Contents : Introduction. I will teach you magic by Andi C. Buchanan,  A thorn in your side by M. Darusha Wehm, Rabbit by Samantha Lane Murphy ,  Clutch, stick, shift by Tehnuka, Plague year by Anuja Mitra,  Basil and the wild by Rem Wigmore,  Data migration by  Melanie Harding-Shaw, Domestic goddess  by Kirsteen Ure,  Below salt-heavy tides by Andi C. Buchanan,  The women who didn’t win Nobels, and how world trees are not a substitute by Octavia Cade, Why we make monsters by  Rem Wigmore,  Interview with the sole refugee from the A303 Incident by James Rowland, Last Bird Island by  Nat Baker and Washing the plaid by Juliet Marillier.” ( Adapted from Catalogue)